26082022_First India_Mumbai.pdf

If RaGa reluctant, Ashok Gehlot
can become Cong prez, says Patole
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Amid the on-
going countdown which
has already begun for
the party president’s
elections, Maharashtra
Congress chief Nana
Patole on Thursday as-
serted that if Rahul
Gandhiisreluctantthen
Rajasthan Chief Minis-
ter Ashok Gehlot can
become the party chief.
“This is an internal
matter of the party
. Ra-
hul Gandhi does not
want to be the party
president, this is com-
ing to light through the
media. If Ashok Gehlot
becomes the party chief,
there is no problem.
There is democracy in
Congress,” said Patole.
Taking a jibe at the
Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP), he said, “BJP’s
politics across the coun-
try runs on the basis of
that family
. Congress
will stand with whoever
is unanimously elected
as the president of the
party
.”
His remarks came
ahead of the elections
for the party chief post
that were scheduled to
be held by September 20.
They have now been de-
layed by a few weeks,
say sources.
The process seems to
remain stuck since Ra-
hul is not willing to con-
test the election, al-
though all the efforts to
convince him are still
going on, they added. If
the logjam continues,
there may be an attempt
to agree on one of the
namesof theleaderslike
Ashok Gehlot, Mallikar-
jun Kharge, KC Venugo-
pal,KumariShailajaand
Mukul Wasnik.
Elections for grand old
party’s nat’l chief post
have been delayed by
few weeks, say
sources
Maha Cong chief Nana Patole.
MNS merges ‘Hindavi’ and Marathi self-pride in slogan overhaul
Satish Nandgaonkar
Mumbai: Raj Thacker-
ay-led Maharashtra
NavnirmanSena(MNS)
on Thursday changed
its slogan, which was
indicative of the merg-
ing of the party’s sons-
of-the-soil agenda for
Marathi self-pride, with
aggressive Hindutva is-
sues in future.
The new slogan was
on display at the MNS
central office in Pune,
where Thackeray
launched a fresh mem-
bership drive for the
party. ‘Mee Hindavi
Rakshak, Mee Maha-
rashtra Sevak’ (I am a
protector of Hindus, I
work for Maharashtra)
was written prominent-
ly in Marathi below the
administrative seal
used during Chhatra-
pati Shivaji Maharaj’s
reign. The seal is also
part of MNS flag’s im-
agery
.
Though the word
Hindu or Hindutva has
not been used, the word
‘Hindavi’ has been bor-
rowed from the phrase
‘Hindavi Swarajya’
which is how Chhatra-
pati Shivaji Maharaj is
believed to have de-
scribed his campaign
against the Mughals in
a letter.
When Thackeray
launched his party in
March 2006, the party
slogan was ‘Mee Maha-
rashtracha, Maharash-
tra Majha’ (I belong to
Maharashtra, Maha-
rashtra is mine), which
focused solely on Mar-
athi self-pride.
In Pune, all MNS
posters and banners
also used saffron liber-
ally, and described Raj
Thackeray as ‘Hindu
Jan Nayak’ (Hindu peo-
ple’s protector), Turn to P6
Thackeray in Pune; (inset) New slogan launched.
MNS posters and imagery in Pune
membership drive project MNS chief Raj
Thackeray as ‘Hindu Jan Nayak’
MAHARASHTRA NAVNIRMAN SENA TIMELINE
As a political party, the MNS has been in its lowest phase after the party man-
aged to win only one seat in the 2019 polls of Maharashtra Assembly. The MNS
had made a spectacular political debut by winning 13 Assembly seats in the
2009 elections on the back of the 2008 violent campaign against north Indian
immigrants. In the 2012 municipal polls, MNS won 27 seats in Mumbai, 29 in
Pune, and even captured power in Nashik Municipal Corporation. However, the
‘Modi Wave’ in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls took the wind out of MNS’ sails, and it
secured only one seat in the Assembly polls. In the 2017 municipal polls, MNS
bagged only seven seats in BMC.
FOR FIRSTTIME,
India votes against Russia
Lalit K Jha
Washington: India for
the first time on
Wednesday voted
against Russia during a
procedural vote at the
United Nations Securi-
ty Council on Ukraine,
as the 15-member pow-
erful UN body invited
Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
to address a meeting
through a video tele-
conference.
This is for the first
time that India has vot-
ed against Russia on
the issue of Ukraine,
after the Russian mili-
tary action began in
February. So far, New
Delhi has abstained at
the UN Security Coun-
cil on Ukraine, much to
the annoyance of the
Western powers led by
the United States.
Western nations, in-
cluding the US, have
imposed major econom-
ic and other sanctions
on Russia following the
aggression.
India has not criti-
cised Russia for its ag-
gression against
Ukraine. New Delhi has
repeatedly called upon
the Russian and
Ukrainian sides to re-
turn to the path of di-
plomacy and dialogue,
and also expressed its
support for all diplo-
matic efforts to end the
conflict between the
countries.
India currently is a
non-permanent mem-
ber of the UNSC for a
two-year term, which
ends in December. —PTI
INDIA CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE
CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES
United Nations
(PTI): Calling for an
immediate cessation
of hostilities in
Ukraine, India reaf-
firmed that it advo-
cates dialogue and
diplomacy to end the
Russia-Ukraine war.
India’s Permanent
R e p r e s e n t a t i v e
Ruchira Kamboj,
speaking during a Se-
curity Council meet-
ing, said it is in col-
lective interest to
work constructively
towards seeking an
early resolution to
the war.
“We continue to re-
iterate that the global
order is anchored on
international law, the
UN Charter and re-
spect for territorial
integrity and sover-
eignty of states,” she
said. “India contin-
ues to advocate for an
immediate cessation
of hostilities and an
end to violence. We
encourage talks be-
tween Ukraine and
Russia. Prime Minis-
ter Narendra Modi
has himself, more
than once, spoken to
them in this regard,”
she said.
“India remains
deeply concerned
over the situation in
Ukraine,” she said.
Russian bombardment of residential area in Nikopol on Monday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the Security Council on Wednesday.
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MUMBAI l FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI TITLE NO. MAHENG/2022/14652 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 111
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, NEW DELHI & MUMBAI
MARKETS
SETTLE LOWER
ON FAG-END
SELL-OFF
GOVT RESTRICTS EXPORT OF WHEAT FLOUR
New Delhi: The government on Thursday decided to put restrictions on the
export of wheat or meslin flour to curb rising prices of the commodity. The
decision was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic
Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi here.
Mumbai: Equity benchmarks ended lower on
Thursday as a fag-end sell-off wiped out early
gains, with IT and bank stocks playing spoilsport
amid monthly derivatives expiry. The Sensex ended
310.71 points lower.
OUT ON BAIL,
SUSPENDED BJP
LEADER T RAJA
HELD AGAIN
Hyderabad: Telangana BJP MLA T Raja Singh was
arrested on Thursday for allegedly making derogatory
remarks about Prophet Mohammed in April, said
the Hyderabad police, which had issued two notices
under CrPC, which allows arrest without a warrant.
BSE SENSEX 58774.72 310.71 | NSE NIFTY 17522.50 82.50
INDIA AIMS TO
ROLL OUT 5G BY
OCTOBER 12
ACB NABS SHO,
DEO, THREE
OTHERS
New Delhi: India is
gearing up for the roll
out of 5G services by
October 12, Union
Communications,
Electronics and
Information Technology
Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw
said on Thursday.
Jaipur: The ACB nabbed
Govindgarh SHO in
Jaipur Harinarayan
Sharma for taking `6
lakh bribe, Barmer DEO
Kesardan Ratnu & 2
brokers with `50,000
bribe, and Vijay Chhabra,
an RSRTC operator,
Hanumangarh Depot with
`40,000 bribe.
PM NARENDRA MODI
TO VISIT GUJARAT
ON SATURDAY
BHUPENDRA
CHAUDHARY IS NEW
UP BJP CHIEF
New Delhi: Prime Minister
Narendra Modi will
inaugurate Smriti Van in
Bhuj, which celebrates the
spirit of resilience shown
by people following the
2001 earthquake in Gujarat,
during his two-day visit to
the state from Saturday.
New Delhi: The BJP on
Thursday announced several
top-level appointments
in various states. In
a significant political
play, Bhupendra Singh
Chaudhary, a minister in the
UP govt and a member of
the Legislative Council, has
been made its UP President.
READ
Crucial
Crucial
Home Minister Amit Shah chairing a review meeting on JK security, in New Delhi on Thursday.
Also seen are JK LG Manoj Sinha, NSA Ajit Doval and Home Secy Ajay Bhalla. —PHOTO BY ANI
AmitShahreviews
JK security at
high-level meeting
New Delhi (ANI): Un-
ion Home Minister
Amit Shah on Thurs-
daychairedahigh-level
meeting to review the
security situation in
Jammu and Kashmir.
The meeting started
around 3 pm at the
Home Ministry in pres-
ence of National Secu-
rity Advisor Ajit Dov-
al, Union Home Secre-
tary Ajay Bhalla, Jam-
mu and Kashmir Lieu-
tenant Governor
Manoj Sinha, Army
Chief Manoj Pandey,
Jammu and Kashmir
Manoj Sinha and Re-
search and Analysis
Wing Chief Samant
Goel. Central Reserve
Police Force (CRPF) Di-
rector General Kuldiep
Singh, Border Security
Force (BSF) chief Pan-
kaj Singh and National
Investigation Agency
(NIA) Director General
Dinkar Gupta also at-
tended the meeting
which was held in hy-
brid mode.
Jammu and Kash-
mir Director General
of Police Dilbagh Sin-
gh was also present at
the meeting.
It is learnt that Shah
was apprised about the
condition of cross-bor-
der infiltration, the
present situation of
terrorism in Jammu
and Kashmir and oth-
er issues linked to it.
INFILTRATION BID FOILED ALONG LOC
IN JK’S URI, 3 INTRUDERS KILLED
Srinagar (Agencies): An infiltration bid on the Line of
Control (LoC) in the Uri sector in Kashmir was foiled
by the Army on Thursday in which three intruders were
killed. Official sources said that alert troops of the Army
foiled the infiltration bid on the LoC in the Kamalkote
area in Uri. “Intruding terrorists were challenged after
which an encounter took place in which three terrorists
were killed. “Arms and ammunition have been
recovered from the slain terrorists. Searches are now
going on in the area,” sources said.
Sonali Phogat’s death: Goa
Police lodges murder case
Bilkis case: Notice
to Guj on remission
of 11 convicts
Many AAP MLAs
‘missing’ ahead
of meet with Kejri
Panaji: The Goa Police
onThursdayregistereda
murder case to probe the
death of BJP leader Son-
ali Phogat. The 42-year-
old actor-turned-politi-
cian died of a suspected
heart attack in Goa on
Tuesday with her family
questioning the circum-
stances leading to her
death.GoaPoliceDGJas-
pal Singh said they will
interrogate BJP leader
and actor Sonali Pho-
gat’s two associates Su-
dhir Sagwan and Sukh-
winder Wasi after her
post-mortemreportmen-
tioned that there were
“multiple blunt force in-
juries” on her body
.
New Delhi: The Supreme
Court on Thursday issued
notice to the Gujarat gov-
ernment on a plea chal-
lenging the remission
granted by the State to 11
convicts who had gang-
rapedBilkisBanoandmur-
dered her family members
during the 2002 Godhra ri-
ots. The court sought a re-
sponse from the Gujarat
government and posted it
forhearingaftertwoweeks.
New Delhi: Arvind Ke-
jriwal’s government in
Delhi is under threat as
some of its MLAs were
unreachable ahead of
the crucial upcoming
meetingof theAamAad-
mi Party’s MLAs at the
Chief Minister’s resi-
dence, said sources on
Thursday
. AAP is alleg-
ing that BJP has been
threatening and luring
AAP MLAs to topple the
kejriwal government.

NEWS
MUMBAI | FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2022
02
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First India Bureau
Aurangabad: A senior
official of the Archae-
ological Survey of In-
dia(ASI)hasexpressed
the need to control
tourist footfall at the
world famous Ajanta
caves in Maharashtra
to preserve its paint-
ings for a longer time.
The popular United
Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNE-
SCO) World Heritage
Site, comprising 30
rock-cut Buddhist cave
monuments, is located
about 100 km from the
Aurangabad district
headquarters.
The caves have paint-
ings depicting the life of
Gautam Buddha.
Every week, thou-
sands of tourists visit
the monument. “The
presenceof alargenum-
ber of tourists increases
humidity inside the
caves, causing a nega-
tive impact on the paint-
ings there,” said Dr Mi-
lan Kumar Chauley
, Su-
perintendent, ASI’s Au-
rangabad circle, at an
event on Wednesday
.
Some of the paint-
ings have got damaged
over a period of time
due to this and other
reasons, he said.
“Hence, to save the
paintings for a longer
period of time, the way
out is to restrict the foot-
fall and allow fewer peo-
ple inside the caves,”
said Chauley
.
He also said they can
send only 40 tourists in-
side the caves at a time
for a period of 10 min-
utes. In such a short
span,thevisitorscannot
even see the paintings
properly as they need
time to get acclimatized
to the darkness inside
the caves, he added.
There is an interpre-
tation centre con-
structed by the state
government outside
the cave complex.
“Earlier, we (ASI) had
demanded to hand it
over to us so that we can
display the replicas of
these paintings there
and the footfall can be
controlled. But the state
government has not
taken any action so far,”
said the official.
Speaking about prop-
ermanagementandpeo-
ple’s responsibility at
tourist sites, Chauley
said India’s north east
region should serve as a
model for the country
.
“If a tourist litters in
north eastern states, the
licence of their vehicle
driver is temporarily
suspended. Even small
tourist destinations
there are well main-
tained and taken care
of,” he said.
In Maharashtra, pro-
fessional people with
tourism background
should be deployed in
offices handling tour-
ism activities, the offi-
cial opined.
People from other
fields cannot easily un-
derstand the needs of
visitors and the tourism
industry
, he said.
‘NEED TO CONTROL FOOTFALL TO PRESERVE ITS ART’
AJANTA CAVES
lll
Presence of
thousands of
tourists at the
UNESCO World
Heritage Site
increases
humidity
causing
negative impact
on paintings,
ASI official
warns
Ajanta-Ellora caves in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra.
—FILE PHOTO
MP Shewale urges
action over actor’s
tweet on Savarkar
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Shiv Sena
MP Rahul Shewale
has sent a letter to
Union Minister of
State Home Ajay Ku-
mar Mishra to take
action against actor
Mona Ambegaonkar
for her tweet against
Vinayak Damodar
Savarkar.
Shewale has re-
quested MoS Mishra
to order the concerned
agencies to remove the
controversial tweet.
“I would like to draw
your kind attention to
the tweet posted by
MonaAmbegaonkarat
6.47 pm on August 22,
2022, against ‘Swatan-
traya Veer’ (freedom
fighter) Vinayak Da-
modar Savarkar. This
tweet is of a very con-
troversial nature and
has no authenticity
,”
Shewale wrote.
“Inmyview,ithasno
historical fact but mal-
iceagainstthefigureof
a great freedom fighter,
who fought against the
English empire for the
independence of In-
dia,” he further stated ,
adding,“Istronglycon-
demn the tweet. I re-
quest you kindly take
strong cognizance and
order the concerned
agency to immediately
remove the tweet from
social media.”
The now-deleted
tweetread:“Savarkar’s
first conviction, was
for the attempted rape
of MargaretLawrence,
in 1908. He confessed to
the crime and was sen-
tenced to four months
in jail. This ‘sanskari’
low criminal is the
Sangh Parivar’s role
model today
. No won-
der most of them are
rapists.”
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The steps
of Vidhan Bhavan on
Thursday saw drama
for the second con-
secutive day as legis-
lators of the Shiv
Sena faction of Ma-
harashtra Chief
Minister Eknath
Shinde targeted for-
mer minister Aadi-
tya Thackeray by
displaying a banner
against him.
The Thackeray scion
countered with a slo-
gan of his own, imply-
ing that MLAs of the
Shinde faction were
paid to switch loyal-
ties, resulting in the
collapse of the Uddhav
Thackeray-led govern-
ment comprising the
Sena, NCP and Con-
gress.
Legislators from the
Shinde faction carried
banners with the mes-
sage: “Yuvrajanchi di-
sha chukli” (the prince
missed his path) on the
steps of the Vidhan
Bhavan where the
state legislature ses-
sion is currently un-
derway.
MLA Bharat Goga-
wale told reporters
that if legislators of
the Shinde group are
targeted repeatedly,
they would not sit with
folded hands.
“We will respond,”
he said.
On the other hand,
Aaditya Thackeray
and some legislators
of the Congress and
NCP shouted slogans
demanding that a “wet
drought” be declared
in Maharashtra to pro-
vide relief to farmers
who lost their standing
crops in the recent
heavy rains and floods.
Aaditya Thackeray
was also seen shouting
the slogan “50 khoke...
chidle boke” (50 box-
es...angry cats), imply-
ing that 50 MLAs re-
ceived cash to revolt
against the party. He
was also apparently re-
ferring to Wednesday’s
scuffle, when an MLA
from the Shinde fac-
tion and a legislator of
the NCP almost came
to blows on the Vidhan
Bhavan premises.
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Chief Min-
ister Eknath Shinde
on Thursday wrote to
Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi, urging
him to approve “clas-
sical language” for
Marathi.
In his letter, Shinde
said the state govern-
ment had sent a detailed
proposal on the issue to
the Centre on Novem-
ber 16, 2013, but that the
matter is still pending
with the Union Culture
Ministry
.
“The state has been
regularly following up
with the Centre about
the status of the pro-
posal. The people of the
state conducted a signa-
ture campaign and col-
lected 1.20 lakh signa-
tures in support of the
demand, which were
sent to the President of
India,” the CM wrote.
Union Culture Minis-
ter G Kishan Reddy had
told the Rajya Sabha on
February 03 this year
that the proposal was
under consideration.
“The proposal has
been under considera-
tion for a long time and I
requestthattheapproval
should be given at the
earliest,” Shinde said in
the letter to the PM.
CM writes to PM on classical
language status for Marathi
DramacontinuesatVidhanBhavan
Shinde group
displays banner
against Aaditya
Thackeray, he
responds with
sloganeering
Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray with other Opposition leaders protests at Vidhan Bhavan on the
last day of the Monsoon Session of the Maharashtra Assembly, on Thursday. —PHOTO BY PTI
LOUD RHETORIC
Mumbai (PTI): State
Assembly Speaker
Rahul Narwekar on
Thursday ruled
that using the term
“should be
ashamed” in the
House was unpar-
liamentary.
He made the state-
ment citing Item
Number 357, which is
the expression
“should be ashamed”,
in the list of words
and expressions held
to be unparliamenta-
ry or otherwise.
Shiv Sena MLA
Aaditya Thackeray,
while attacking the
Eknath Shinde gov-
ernment on malnutri-
tion and problems
faced by Adivasis in
the state, had said
“one should be
ashamed” of the
plight of Adivasis
even after 75 years of
Independence and the
country having a trib-
al President.
However, Forest
Minister Sudhir Mun-
gantiwar objected to
the term and said it
was unparliamentary.
Mungantiwar also
asked Thackeray if he
wanted his father Ud-
dhav Thackeray, who
was chief minister
from November 2019
to June 2022, to be
ashamed as the fig-
ures tabled in the
House belonged to the
last three years.
To this, Aaditya
Thackeray said he
wanted everyone to
feel ashamed that the
plight of Adivasis had
not improved and
asked leaders to work
harder to mitigate
their woes.
Narwekar also said
he would check the re-
cords to see if Aaditya
Thackeray had said
anything unparlia-
mentary.
Maha Speaker Narwekar rules phrase
‘should be ashamed’ unparliamentary
Speaker Rahul Narwekar during a special Session of the state
Assembly. —FILE PHOTO
Farewell for
outgoing MLC
members
Mumbai: The Maha-
rashtra Legislative
Council on Wednes-
day bid farewell to six
members—Amarnath
Rajurkar (Congress),
Anil Bhosale (NCP),
Dushyant Chatur-
vedi (Shiv Sena),
Chandubhai Patel
(BJP), Parinay Phuke
(BJP) and Mohanrao
Kadam (Congress)—
whose terms end on
December 05.
EXPRESSING DISSENT
Members of Mumbai Mahila Congress stage a protest against inflation, in Mumbai, on Thursday. —PHOTO BY PTI
Sena MP Rahul Shewale
CM Eknath Shinde
“Savarkar’s first
conviction, was for
the attempted rape
of Margaret Law-
rence, in 1908. He
confessed to the
crime and was
sentenced to four
months in jail.
This ‘sanskari’ low
criminal is the
Sangh Parivar’s
role model today.
No wonder most of
them are rapists.”
-Tweet by actor Mona
Ambegaonkar

MAHARASHTRA
03
First India Bureau
Mumbai: A magis-
trate court on
Wednesday allowed
the Central Investi-
gation Bureau’s
(CBI) petition seek-
ing to keep in abey-
ance the trial in an
extortion case involv-
ing former Mumbai
Police Commissioner
Param Bir Singh.
The extortion case
was registered at Ma-
rine Drive police sta-
tion in south Mumbai
against Singh, his close
associate and builder
Sanjay Punamiya, po-
lice inspectors Nand-
kumar Gopale, Asha
Korke and business-
man Sunil Jain.
The case was initial-
ly probed by the Maha-
rashtra Criminal In-
vestigation Depart-
ment (CID). But follow-
ing a Supreme Court’s
order, the case is now
being investigated by
the CBI.
Recently, the federal
probe agency had ap-
proached the addition-
al chief metropolitan
magistrate court pre-
siding over the matter
to keep in abeyance the
trial in the case.
On Wednesday, the
court, after hearing
the response of police,
allowed the CBI’s plea.
Admittedly, the mat-
ter is handed over to
the CBI for investiga-
tion as per the direc-
tions of the Supreme
Court. Considering the
facts and circum-
stance, the trial is kept
in abeyance, said the
court.
The magistrate then
directed the CID to
hand over the docu-
ments, statements and
articles in their posses-
sion to the CBI.
The CID had filed its
charge sheet against
Gopale, Korke, Jain
and Punamiya in the
case. However, Singh
has not been named in
the charge sheet.
The CBI has taken
over probe into four
cases of alleged mis-
conduct and corrup-
tion against Singh.
First India Bureau
Mumbai: With
Ganesh Chaturthi just
days away, the city’s
idol makers say they
have been hit badly by
inflation and the re-
cent GST imposition,
even as public enthu-
siasm is very high af-
ter two years of COV-
ID-19 restrictions.
Higher material costs
and a labour shortage
have meant production
costs have now risen by
40-50%, said an idol
maker.
“Inflation and GST
have increased the price
of raw materials. More-
over, many migrant la-
bourers who went to
their hometowns after
the pandemic hit are yet
to return. So, we have to
pay higher wages to
those who remain. All
this has increased pro-
duction costs by 40-50%,
so we have had to in-
crease the cost of fin-
ished idols by around
20% just to break even,”
said the idol maker.
“Increased costs has
notaffectedorders,since
devotees are “excited” to
celebrate without re-
strictions,” he said.
Inflation hits Ganesh Chaturthi festival amid public enthusiasm
FESTIVE SEASON
ARMS WORTH `2L SEIZED AHEAD OF GANESH FESTIVAL
Artists give finishing touches to an idol of Lord Ganesh, made from paper pulp to raise awareness
on the environment, ahead of Ganesh Chaturthi in Mumbai on Thursday. —PHOTO BY PTI
Pillion rider dies after
falling off bridge
First India Bureau
Nagpur: A 35-year-old
woman fell off a
bridge and plunged to
her death after a car
hit the motorcycle she
was riding pillion on,
on Nagpur-Bhandara
Road near Mathni,
said police.
Thewomanwasgoing
on the two-wheeler with
her husband and two
minor children when
the accident occurred.
The deceased woman
was identified as Bhara-
ti Tijare (35), they said,
adding that her hus-
band Raju Tijare (40),
daughter Siddheshwari
(8) and son Krishnaram
(12), residents of Chir-
wa village in Mauda
tehsil, were seriously
injured in the accident.
“The Tijare family
was heading towards
their village on a motor-
cycle and a car was also
moving behind them.
But the driver of the car
suddenly lost control
over the vehicle, due to
which it hit their two-
wheeler,”saidanofficial
of Mauda police station.
The impact was so
powerful that Raju’s mo-
torcycle hit the railing
off thebridgeandBhara-
tiwasthrownoff.Shefell
onthebankof theKanan
river below and suffered
grievous injuries. Her
husband and children
also sustained serious
injuries. The also car hit
another motorcycle
parked on the bridge,
said police.
The five occupants of
the car fled from the spot
immediately
. The in-
jured were taken to a
hospital, where Bharati
was declared dead. The
condition of her son
Krishnaram is critical.
First India Bureau
Pune: The family of
Nagesh Pawar (29),
accused in eight cas-
es of robbery, has al-
leged that he died
due to torture after
being arrested by the
Government Railway
Police (GRP).
The GRP claimed that
he died while undergo-
ing treatment for pneu-
monia at the Sassoon
General Hospital on
Tuesday night. But Pad-
ma Shri recipient activ-
ist Girish Prabhune,
who knew Pawar as a
student, and Pawar’s
relatives alleged on
Wednesday that he died
due to custodial torture.
Sadanand Wayse-Pa-
til, Superintendent of
Police,GRP
,said,“Pawar
was part of a big gang
operating in Maharash-
traandAndhraPradesh.
His father-in-law was
also involved. We arrest-
ed him and his father-in-
law on August 17 and
they were in police cus-
tody
,” said the official.
On August 20 he was
admittedtoSassoonhos-
pitalafterhecomplained
of a cold and fever.
“While in the hospital,
the court extended his
police custody through
video conference on Au-
gust22.Duringthevideo
conference, when the
judge asked him, he said
he was not tortured,”
Wayse-Patil added.
CCTV footage of the
lock-up does not show
any objectionable inci-
dents, the SP said. But
Prabhune claimed that
Pawar, who lived at his
in-law’s house in Karjat-
Jamkhedarea,hadcome
to the city recently and
sold the Tricolour and
balloonsonAugust13,14
and 15 in Akurdi area.
“On August 16, police
picked up Pawar and
his father-in-law from
Pawar’s sister’s house,”
he said. Police did not
inform the family about
his hospitalization un-
til his death, Prabhune
alleged. A case of acci-
dental death has been
lodged,” said officials.
Activist, kin allege custodial
torture after 29-yr-old dies
First India Bureau
Latur: A 35-year-
old man set him-
self on ablaze and
died after allegedly
stabbing his moth-
er-in-law to death
in Latur district,
police said, adding
that the man’s sev-
en-year-old son was
also injured during
the incident on
Tuesday night.
According to As-
sistant Police Inspec-
tor Srishailya Kolhe,
R a j i n i k a n t
Suryakant Ved-
pathak (35) was mar-
ried to the daughter
of Chandrasena San-
jaykumar Vedpathak
(50), a resident of
Veer-Hanmantwadi.
As the couple did
not get along, his
wife was living with
her parents for the
past few years. Ved-
pathak would often
demand that her par-
ents send her back to
his house.
On Tuesday, Ved-
pathak visited his in-
laws around 7 pm
and allegedly at-
tacked his son with a
sharp weapon. When
his mother-in-law
tried to shield the
child, he allegedly
stabbed her.
After the incident,
the accused set him-
self on fire. A police
team rushed to the
spot after being alert-
ed and admitted him
to a government hos-
pital where doctors
declared him dead.
Man sets himself on
fire after stabbing
mother-in-law to death
Court allows CBI’s plea
to keep ex-PC Param
Bir Singh trial on hold
Former Mumbai PC Param Bir Singh. —FILE PHOTO
Mumbai (PTI):
Businessman Raj
Kundra has filed an
application before a
magistrate’s court
seeking that he be
discharged from a
case related to al-
leged creation and
distribution of porn
films through apps.
Kundra, married
to Bollywood actor
Shilpa Shetty, was
arrested in the case
in July 2021. He is
now out on bail.
His lawyer Pras-
ant Patil filed the
discharge applica-
tion on July 20. Its
details became avail-
able on Wednesday
.
Police found no
evidence that Kun-
dra made any mone-
tary or other kind of
gain from the al-
leged offense, and
the prosecution has
not attributed to him
any intention to
commit offense, said
the application.
The court has
asked the prosecu-
tion to file its reply
on September 08.
Accused in porn case, Raj
Kundra seeks discharge
Kundra after his release
from jail. —ANI PHOTO
Tourist guides must explore other ‘verticals’: Marathwada Uni VC
First India Bureau
Aurangabad: Apart
from cultural sites,
tourist guides should
explore different
“tourism verticals” for
other, improved job av-
enues, Dr Pramod Yeo-
le, Vice-Chancellor of
Dr Babasaheb Ambed-
kar Marathwada Uni-
versity
, said on
Wednesday
.
Speaking at a tourist
guides’ event, he added
that there was a need to
explore other dimen-
sions of employment
apart from the tradition-
al ways of employment.
“Tourism is not lim-
ited only to cultural
sites. Other tourist ver-
ticals should also be ex-
ploredforemployment,”
he said while inaugurat-
ing the 23rd annual na-
tional convention of
Tourist Guides Federa-
tion of India (TGFI) on
Wednesday
.
According to him,
other types of tourism
were also growing. “We
have started a curricu-
lum of medical tour-
ism in our university,”
he said.
The Archaeological
Survey of India’s Au-
rangabad circle super-
intendent Dr Milan Ku-
mar Chauley also
agreed that guides
should not keep their
scope of work limited
to traditional cultural
sites. “They should
take tourists to other
sites also to increase
footfall there,” he said.
Chauley was also
against “regionalism”
and said that sign-
boards displaying in-
formation at tourist
sites “should be in a
language which is eas-
ily understood by eve-
ryone”.
“Regionalism would
divide our country,” he
said.
The event, which saw
participation from 80
delegates from across
the country, discussed
issues varying from
non-traditional job ave-
nues for tourist guides
to immersive and inter-
active tourism.
Another delegate, Dr
Bina Sengar, called for
exploration of new
routes to reach tourist
sites. She also talked
about creating aware-
ness about engaging
school students at sites.
After hitting Tijare’s vehicle,
the car hit another motorcycle
parked on the bridge.
—FILE PHOTO
Boards displaying informa-
tion at tourist sites should be
in a language which is easily
understood by everyone. Regional-
ism would divide our country.
--Dr Milan Kumar Chauley,
Aurangabad Circle Superintendent, ASI
Increase in
production costs
make idols
expensive, but
that hasn’t fazed
excited devotees
Extortion case was
earlier being probed
by Maha CID, was
transferred on apex
court’s order
SEEKING JUSTICE
Activists
demand justice
for Indra
Meghwal, a
Dalit boy from
Rajasthan who
died after he
was allegedly
beaten up by
his teacher,
in Mumbai on
Thursday.
—PHOTO
BY PTI
Dr Pramod Yeole

PERSPECTIVE
04
l Vol 1 l Issue No. 111
l RNI TITLE NO.
MAHENG/2022/14652 Printed
and published by
Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of
First Express Publishers. Printed
at Dangat Media Pvt Ltd, No.22,
Dighe MIDC, Vishnu Nagar,
TTC Industrial Area, Dighe, Navi
Mumbai-400701. Published
at Plot No. 3 Scheme C of
Manglorean Garden Home, CHS
Limited, Survey No. 5, 6C (Part)
Ville Parle East, Mumbai 400057.
Editor-In-Chief: Dr Jagdeesh Chandra
Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
Nitin Gadkari
@nitin_gadkari
It is our government’s effort to
reach out to every last person in the
society and develop them and we are
committed to it.
Smriti Z Irani
@smritiirani
Met the UK Minister for Women
Baroness Deborah Stedman-Scott on
the concluding day of G20 Ministerial
Conference on Women Empowerment
in Bali. She was extremely appreciative
of PM @narendramodi Ji’s leadership
towards enhancing women’s welfare.
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
Death is as sure for that
which is born, as birth is
for that which is dead.
Therefore grieve not for
what is inevitable.
—Bhagavad Gita
IN-DEPTH
PEGASUS
SPYWARE: MUCH
ADO ABOUT
NOTHING, SAYS
APEX COURT PANEL
n a relief to the Cen-
tral government a
Supreme Court-ap-
pointed committee to
probe into the
Pegasus spyware scandal has
concluded that it did not find the
spyware in any of the 29 mobile
phones it examined. Instead, the
committee said in its report, that
some other malware was found
in five of the 29 mobiles. Headed
by former Supreme Court judge,
Justice RV Raveendran, the com-
mittee submitted its report to
the court. It means that the Cen-
tre did not snoop on hacks. The
committee’s only comment
against the government was that
it did not cooperate with the in-
quiry
. A three-judge bench of the
court headed by the outgoing
Chief Justice of India NV Ra-
mana said that the report may be
uploaded on the court’s website.
The sophisticated spyware
was alleged to have been used to
spy on journalists and impor-
tant functionaries in India. The
Guardian claimed that the
Pegasus was used in at least 50
countries, many of whom de-
nied using it.
TOP TWEETS
I
he Jharkhand
Mukti Morcha
(JMM)-led coali-
tion government
is in the doldrums
as CM Hemant Soren faces
disqualification as MLA for
allegedly granting himself
andhisaidesmininglicences.
By doing so Soren is said to
have violated section 9-A of
theRepresentationof Peoples
Act, the basis on which the
BJP is seeking his disqualifi-
cation. A letter from the Elec-
tion Commission of India to
Governor Ramesh Bais in a
sealed envelope purportedly
suggests Soren’s disqualifica-
tion. The chief minister said
he did “not know anything as
of now about any order for
me”. In any case he is unlike-
ly to accept the EC verdict
without a challenge. Soren
has the option of challenging
the decision in a court and ap-
pointing someone else to run
the government.
It is now being speculated
that the Bharatiya Janata
Party may take advantage of
the unstable situation and
form a government of its
own. The party is said to be
counting on Congress legisla-
tors, some of whom cross-
voted in the elections for
President. Three others were
caught with unaccounted
cash in West Bengal. They
were subsequently arrested.
The Jharkhand govern-
ment is a coalition of JMM
(30), Indian National Con-
gress (16), RJD (1) and NCP
(1). The BJP has 26 MLAs. To
form a government it has to
carry out a Maharashtra-like
Operation Lotus to wean
away the Congress legisla-
tors. Given the state of disar-
ray the Congress is in, it may
not be impossible.
The charge against Soren
is serious. The chief minis-
ter, however, said that the
BJP was blatantly misusing
ED and the CBI.
JHARKHAND CM
FACES TOUGH TIMES
SA letter from the Election
Commission of India to
Governor Ramesh Bais in
a sealed envelope
purportedly suggests
Soren’s disqualification.
The chief minister said he
did “not know anything
as of now about any
order for me”.
T
IS A GLOBAL RECESSION
INEVITABLE?
he Big Question is a regular
feature in which Project Syn-
dicate commentators con-
cisely address a timely topic.
In this Big Question, we
ask Jeffrey Frankel, Anne O.
Krueger, Jim O’Neill, and
Stephen S. Roach how steep
the world economic down-
turn is likely to be.
JEFFREY FRANKEL
No. A global recession is en-
tirely avoidable.
True, the odds of a down-
turn are much higher than
usual in Europe, which has
been hit hard by reduced sup-
plies of Russian natural gas;
China, where COVID-19 lock-
downs already turned growth
negative in the second quar-
ter; and other countries, in-
cluding emerging-market
economieswithdebttroubles.
Even the US economy is ex-
periencing a slowdown. I still
maintain that the two con-
secutive quarters of negative
GDP growth reported by the
Bureau of Economic Analy-
sis do not signify that a US
recession started in the first
part of 2022. There are three
reasons for this. First-quarter
GDP will be revised on Sep-
tember 29, and second-quar-
ter GDP on August25; other
indicatorslikegrossdomestic
income (GDI) and employ-
ment were positive; and the
recession ruling is up to the
National Bureau of Econom-
ic Research. But rising inter-
est rates and the gloomy out-
look among America’s trad-
ing partners do mean that a
US recession is more likely
than usual at some point over
the next two years. But a
“global recession”? The Unit-
ed States is not the only place
where a negative growth rule
is not an agreed criterion for
defining recession.
Consider global GDP
. It has
been rare in the postwar pe-
riod for global growth to fall
below zero even for a single
quarter, let alone two. Not
even the severe downturns of
1974 and 1981 qualified. Even
in times of apparent reces-
sion, negative growth in ad-
vanced economies is usually
outweighed by still-positive
growth among emerging-
market and developing econ-
omies. (Two exceptions were
the 2008 global financial cri-
sis and the 2020 pandemic-
induced recession.)
ANNE O. KRUEGER
When the COVID-19 pandem-
ic began, people cut their
spending. Although unem-
ployment rose and supplies
fell sharply due to pandemic
containment measures, much
of the potential income loss
was offset by government
policies. In the United States,
itevenpaidtobeunemployed.
The result was that per-
sonal savings shot up. When
COVID-related restrictions
were later relaxed, demand
increased rapidly. Supply-
chain disruptions, the time
needed to restart production,
and continuing worker short-
ages resulted in significantly
slower supply responses.
The Fed’s balancing act is
difficult: Some, but not too
much, dampening of de-
mand is warranted. At the
same time, inventories (in-
creases in which partly re-
flected stockpiling during
supply shortages and will
inevitably be run down) are
beginning to accumulate and
retail sales are losing some
momentum. Whether the
Fed’s policy tightening will
check demand growth just
enough as supply increases
will determine whether in-
flationary or recessionary
pressures dominate in the
US. If policymakers’ judg-
ment is correct, the US could
re-attain the Fed’s target in-
flation rate and satisfactory
growth without falling into
recession.
JIM O’NEILL
In contrast to the common
practice in Western econo-
mies, a global recession is not
really defined as two consecu-
tive quarters of negative GDP
growth, because in many
large emerging economies,
suchasIndia,suchconditions
rarely arise. Even if many
Western economies are expe-
riencing back-to-back quar-
ters of negative growth, we
can end up with a “global”
recessioninwhichworldGDP
growth averages around 2%.
Over the past 25 years, the
US and China between them
often have accounted for
more than 80% of annual
global GDP growth. So, if
these two economies are both
in their respective versions
of recession, then that will
virtually guarantee a global
downturn. Given their cur-
rent weaknesses and chal-
lenges, such a scenario is
quite possible.
But I am less convinced of
this than I probably was a
few months ago. That is be-
cause there is creeping evi-
dence that the inflationary
surge has – at least so far –
been transitory, with com-
modity prices easing and
measures of long-term infla-
tion expectations quite sta-
ble. If this continues, central
banks will become less hawk-
ish and will not have to weak-
en their economies further to
stabilize prices.
STEPHEN S. ROACH
Notwithstanding the pitfalls
of forecasting anything these
days, my cracked and worn
crystal ball sees a global re-
cession occurring in the next
year.
For me, recession risk as-
sessment has always been a
two-step process: the stall-
speed alert and the impacts
of inevitable shocks. Econo-
mies – whether of single
countries or the world as a
whole – approaching the stall
speed lack the resilience to
withstandtheblowof shocks.
For the global economy
, the
last five recessions have all
occurred when world GDP
growth fell below the 2.5%
threshold. That represents a
one-percentage-point short-
fall from the post-1980 aver-
age of 3.5%. As such, when
global growth falls into the
2.5% to 3.5% range, my rule
is to sound a stall-speed alert.
The lower half of that range,
2.5% to 3%, is especially omi-
nous – a perfect predictor of
global recession.
Source: project-syndicate.org
T
Just as the world economy
appeared to be recovering
from the impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic,
headline GDP growth has
decelerated sharply or turned
negative in several leading
economies in 2022. And with
annual inflation in many
countries fast approaching
double digits, it is not easy to
see where global growth will
come from.
The International
Monetary Fund now
projects that global GDP
growth will slow from
6.1% in 2021 to 3.2%
in 2022 and 2.9% in
2023. That is a
momentous deceleration.
But it still leaves world
growth unlikely to meet a
two-negative-quarters
threshold.

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05
INDIA
Sharat K Verma
Patna: Bihar Chief
Minister Nitish Ku-
mar’s national cam-
paign will start next
month as there is a
meeting of the national
executive of his party,
Janata Dal-United
(JDU). This meeting
will be held in Patna on
September 3 and 4, in
which Nitish Kumar
will be positioned as
PM material on behalf
of the party
. Although a
similar positioning has
been done in the past as
well, but it is being said
that a ‘proposal’ can
also come in this meet-
ing. Informed leaders
of the party say that the
proposal can be accept-
ed in the meeting of the
National Executive that
if the opposition par-
ties agree, then Nitish
Kumar will be an-
nounced as the prime
ministerial candidate.
Keep in mind that
JD(U) is not taking any
initiative from its side
nor is it giving the mes-
sage that Nitish Kumar
is anxious to become
the prime ministerial
candidate. Unlike Delhi
Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal, Nitish and his
party are being very
careful. The party’s na-
tional president Rajiv
Ranjan Singh alias La-
lan Singh said that Nit-
ish Kumar has no ambi-
tion to become the
prime ministerial can-
didate but if the opposi-
tion parties ask, he will
be ready forit. Party
Parliamentary Board
President Upendra
Kushwaha said the
same thing in a differ-
ent style. He said JD(U)
would not create any
hurdle in opposition
unity
. That is, if the op-
position parties say
then Nitish will be the
contender and if the op-
position parties decide
the name of any other
leader, then JDU will
support the united op-
position.
It’s a very smart trick
and suits Nitish’s na-
ture perfectly
. He never
prefers to take the first
step and thus exposing
himself, rather he cre-
ates such situations
that others take the ini-
tiative. However, Nitish
Kumar will come to
Delhi after the party’s
national executive
meeting. After break-
ing rapport with BJP
and forming govern-
ment with RJD and
Congress, he has not
come to Delhi yet.
Tejashwi Yadav and La-
lan Singh had definitely
visited Delhi and said
that after the formation
of the cabinet, Nitish
will come to Delhi and
meet Sonia and Rahul
Gandhi.
It is possible that Nit-
ish will come to Delhi
only after the party’s
executive meeting and
meet both the top Con-
gress leaders. Apart
from the courtesy meet-
ing, the common politi-
cal strategy of the op-
position will also be
discussed then. It is be-
ing told that Nitish Ku-
mar and Arvind Kejri-
wal can also meet at
that time and K Chan-
drashekhar Rao can
also meet Nitish in Del-
hi. He is also likely to
meet Sharad Pawar.
WillNitishbeginhisPrimeMinisterial‘campaign’fromnextmonth?
EYES ON 2024
PMSecuritybreach:SCpanel
holdsFerozepurSSPresponsible
New Delhi (ANI): The
SupremeCourtonThurs-
day said that the five-
member committee ap-
pointedbyithassaidthat
Ferozepur SSP failed to
discharge his duty
though the sufficient
forceswereavailabledur-
ing Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi’s Punjab
visit on January 5.
A bench of Chief Jus-
tice NV Ramana and
Justices Surya Kant
and Hima Kohli said
while reading from the
committee’s report that
the committee headed
by a former top court
judge, Justice Indu Mal-
hotra, said there should
be an oversight commit-
tee for periodic revision
of ‘Blue Book’.
“The Ferozepur SSP
failed to discharge his
duty to maintain law
and order. He failed to
do this even though suf-
ficient force was avail-
able and even though he
wasinformedtwohours
in advance that Prime
Minister will enter that
route,” it said.
The apex court said it
will send the report of
the five-member com-
mittee to the Centre for
appropriate action.
There are remedial
measures and safe-
guards needed for the
Prime Minister’s secu-
rity, said the bench
while reading the com-
mittee’s report.
The Supreme Court
had earlier set up a
five-member Commit-
tee headed by a retired
top court judge, Jus-
tice Indu Malhotra to
probe into the security
lapse during Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi’s Punjab visit.
Cong presidential poll likely
to be deferred by few weeks
New Delhi (Agencies):
The election for Con-
gress president is likely
to be postponed for a
few weeks, sources said
on Thursday, and the
final schedule will be
decided in the Congress
Working Committee
(CWC) meeting sched-
uled on August 28.
Sources said that it
was likely that instead
of the election process
to get completed by
September 21, the
whole process may
now be completed in
October or November.
The decision on the
new schedule will be
taken by the Congress
Working Committee
(CWC) on Sunday.
Sources also said that
the new decision to de-
fer has been taken
since the party leaders
will be busy in ‘Bharat
Jodo Yatra’, which will
commence on Septem-
ber 7 and the Gandhis,
including Sonia Gan-
dhi are abroad.
The Congress has
called a meeting of its
Working Committee on
August 28 to decide the
poll schedule for the
party president’s post.
Owaisi demands
T Raja’s arrest
Hyderabad (ANI): De-
manding arrest of sus-
pendedBJPMLATRaja
Singh, AIMIM chief
Asaduddin Owaisi on
Thursday said protests
in some parts of the city
were a direct result of
the alleged hate speech
by the BJP party leader.
He said AIMIM MLA
Ahmed bin Abdullah
Balala and the party’s
corporators of Greater
Hyderabad Municipal
Corporation have been
working all night to de-
escalate the situation.
Some of the sensitive
areas of the city have
witnessed sporadic
Owaisi tweeted that
after his intervention
into the matter, 90 pro-
testers were detained by
police on Wednesday
night at Shalibanda of
Old City
, Hyderabad.
The series of tweets
read, “On my represen-
tation to DCP South, 90
protesting youth from
Shah Ali Banda and
Asha Talkies have been
released. AIMIM MLA
Ahmed bin Abdullah
Balala and our corpora-
tors have been working
all night to de-escalate
the situation. I have
been in touch with them
and the police too.”
Will continue to recruit
Gorkhas inArmy:Centre
New Delhi: India on
Thursday reiterated
that it will continue re-
cruiting Gorkha sol-
diers to the Indian
Army under the Ag-
nipath scheme.
In a weekly media
briefing,theMinistryof
External Affairs official
spokesperson, Arindam
Bagchi said, “We have
been recruiting Gorkha
soldiers to the Indian
Army for a long time.
We look forward to con-
tinuing to recruit
Gorkha soldiers to the
Indian Army under the
Agnipath scheme.”
The Union Cabinet
on June 14 approved a
recruitment scheme for
Indian youth to serve in
the three services of the
Armed Forces called
Agnipath and the youth
selected under this
scheme will be known
as Agniveers.
Phogat death:
‘CBI probe if
family wants’
Chandigarh: Haryana
Chief Minister Mano-
har Lal Khattar on
Thursday said the state
is open to ordering a
probe by the Central
Bureau of Investiga-
tion (CBI) in the mur-
der case of Sonali Pho-
gat, an actor and BJP
leader, in Goa. “If
that’s what the family
wants, we will do it,”
he told reporters in
Chandigarh.
He also said that as
per the family’s wishes,
a part of her viscera
will be examined at a
government lab in
Chandigarh, besides
Goa. “The most impor-
tant thing is to heed by
the family’s wishes.”
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar with Lalu Prasad Yadav. —FILE PHOTO
There was security lapse during PM’s Punjab visit on January 5.
RAJ CM GEHLOT
TOP CHOICE
Rajasthan CM Ashok
Gehlot has emerged as
the top choice for the
Congress president’s post.
Sources have said that
Sonia Gandhi had request-
ed him to contest during
a meeting which she held
before heading abroad
for medical checkup and
treatment. The Gehlot
camp has not confirmed
the development, but
sources have confirmed
that the Congress is look-
ing beyond the Gandhis
for the top post. Gehlot
himself has said that these
things were coming up in
the media and he had no
knowledge of it.
IN THE COURTYARD
SC APPOINTED TECH PANEL COULDN’T FIND
PEGASUS SPYWARE ON SUBMITTED PHONES
New Delhi: The Supreme Court appointed committee to
probe into the allegations regarding use of Pegasus spy-
ware by the Govt of India has concluded that the spyware
was not found in the 29 mobile
phones examined by it. A bench
after examining a voluminous
report submitted by the three-
member expert committee, noted
that while some malware was
found in 5 of the 29 devices,
the same was not Pegasus.“We
are concerned about technical committee 29 phones were
given... in 5 phones some malware was found but the tech-
nical committee says it cannot be said to be Pegasus. They
say it cannot be said to be Pegasus,” the bench remarked.
WB COAL MINING:
CUSTODY PAROLE TO
GURUPADA MAJI
SC AGREES TO
RELOOK SWEEPING
PMLA JUDGMENT
New Delhi: The Delhi High
Court on Thursday granted
custody parole to Gurupada
Maji, accused in a money
laundering case linked to an
alleged coal mining scam in
West Bengal. Maji is one of the
partners of Anup Majee, the
kingpin of illegal coal mining
business activities in West
Bengal The court granted
parole to Maji till September 3.
Maji has approached the Delhi
HC for interim bail stating his
mother was expired a few days
ago and his presence is neces-
sary for rituals in his town.
Court on Thursday said
that prima facie two issues
relating to the provisions
of the Prevention of Money
Laundering Act (PMLA) need
to be reconsidered. A bench
issued notice to the Centre
on the two issues. The two
issues which the court prima
facie finds to reconsider is
judgement upholding various
provisions of the PMLA
including non-providing of
Enforcement Case Investiga-
tion Repor and reversal of
presumption of innocence.
DELHI HC DISMISSES
WHATSAPP, FB PLEAS
AGAINST CCI PROBE
TEESTA’S BAIL: GUJ
GOVT GETS MORE
TIME TO REPLY
New Delhi: The Delhi high
court dismissed the appeals
of WhatsApp and Facebook
on Wednesday, August 25
against an order rejecting
their challenge to a probe
ordered by the Competition
Commission of India (CCI)
into the instant messaging
platform’s updated privacy
policy of 2021. A bench of
Chief Justices Satish Chan-
dra Sharma and Subramo-
nium Prasad said the single
judge’s order was well-
reasoned and the appeals
are devoid of merits.
Court has listed the hearing
of activist Teesta Setalvad’s
bail plea in connection with
the Gujarat 2002 riots case to
August 30. The hearing was
postponed after solicitor gen-
eral Tushar Mehta, appearing
on behalf of the Gujarat gov-
ernment, sought additional
time to make some correc-
tions in the government’s
response to the case. Initially,
a three-judge bench led by
Justice UU Lalit had asked
Mehta to submit the response
at 2 pm on Thursday.
JHARKHAND CHIEF MINISTER HEMANT SOREN’S OFFICE OF PROFIT
JHARKHANDGOVERNORRECEIVES ECIRESPONSE
Ranchi: Jharkhand
Raj Bhavan has re-
ceived the opinion of
the Election Commis-
sion of India (ECI) on
CM Hemant Soren’s of-
fice of profit matter.
The letter in this re-
gard was received by
Jharkhand Raj Bhavan
on Wednesday. The
hearing in the Hemant
Soren mine leasing
case, in which the BJP
has accused him of ex-
tending himself a min-
ing lease and sought
his disqualification as
an MLA, was conclud-
ed in the ECI on Mon-
day.
The ECI on Tuesday
sent its opinion to
Jharkhand Governor
which was received by
Raj Bhavan on Wednes-
day. Sources said that
the letter by ECI was
received by Jharkhand
Governor Ramesh Bais
office, but details of the
ECI opinion can’t be re-
vealed as it is sent in a
sealed cover. On August
12, the legal team of
Soren concluded its ar-
guments before the
Election Commission
following which the
BJP — the petitioner in
the case — gave a re-
joinder. On August 18,
the two sides submitted
their written submis-
sions to the poll panel.
On Thursday Nishikant
Dubey, BJP Member of
Parliament from God-
da, Jharkhand, tweeted
that the letter from the
ECI has reached the Raj
Bhavan.
CEC recommends Hemant
Soren’s disqualification as MLA
SOREN DISMISSES RECEIVING ECI REPORTS
Ranchi (ANI): CM Hemant
Soren on Thursday dis-
missed reports of receiving
any communication from
the ECI or Governor with
regards to his disqualifica-
tion as an MLA on the office
of profit matter. The CMO
released a statement after
several media reports made
the rounds that ECI has sent
a report to the governor
about Soren’s disqualifica-
tion. “The Chief Minister is
apprised of several media
reports about ECI send-
ing a report to Honorable
Governor -Jharkhand ‘ap-
parently recommending his
disqualification as an MLA’.
No communication in this
regard has been received
by CMO from either ECI or
Governor,” read statement.
Ranchi: The Chief
Election Commission
has sent a letter to
Jharkhand Governor
Ramesh Bais recom-
mending cancellation
of the Assembly mem-
bership of CM He-
mant Soren. He will
then have to resign
from the post of chief
minister. Former
Jharkhand CM
Raghubar Das and the
BJP have been de-
manding disqualifica-
tion of Soren as MLA
in an office of profit
matter. They accused
Soren of extending a
mining lease to him-
self. Terming it as vio-
lation of the office of
profit and Representa-
tion of the People’s
Act, the BJP and
Raghubar Das have
written a letter to the
governor. With the is-
suance of the Gover-
nor’s order on the in-
structions of the Elec-
tion Commission,
Soren’s membership
will end. In such a
situation, Soren may
have to resign as the
CM. However, the
JMM-Congress alli-
ance which is led by
Soren has a majority
in the Assembly. So,
after the resignation
he can again stake
claim to form the gov-
ernment. An an-
nouncement in re-
gard to the EC’s rec-
ommendation is ex-
pected after that. It is
not clear whether
Soren has also been
disqualified from con-
testing elections. The
lease of a stone quar-
ry in Angada block in
Ranchi was issued in
the name of Soren
which he had surren-
dered later.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren
AGNIPATH
SCHEME: GOI’S
REPLY SOUGHT
New Delhi: The Delhi
High Court on Thurs-
day asked the Centre
through concerned
ministries to file a con-
solidated response to a
batch of petitions chal-
lenging the Agnipath
scheme in regards to
the recruitment in the
armed forces.

06
INDIA
Mahesh Sharma
New Delhi: Nanda-
muri Taraka Rama Rao
ie NTR was the most
wondrous leader of
Andhra Pradesh and a
super star of Telugu
films. When he formed
the party, he formed the
government with a big
majority in the very
first election. Later his
son-in-law Chandraba-
bu Naidu took over his
party during his life-
time. Then some of
NTR’s children also
helped Naidu as NTR
had married a woman
much younger than
him and decided to
hand over the leader-
ship of the party to her.
Despite this, it is a fact
that Chandrababu
Naidu’s capture of the
party was not liked by
many in NTR’s family.
Only when Jr NTR has
become active, it is be-
ing said that history
can repeat itself.
Jr NTR is a super star
of Telugu films and is
the grandson of NTR.
His father Nandamuri
Harikrishna was a
Member of Parliament.
NTR Junior met former
BJP National President
and Union Home Minis-
ter Amit Shah in Hy-
derabad recently. It is
being told that Shah has
asked him to become ac-
tive in politics again. If
he comes back into ac-
tive politics, BJP can
make him the party
face. Keep in mind that
there is no place for
Junior NTR in his
grandfather’s party
TDP.
There, Chandrababu
Naidu’s son Nara Loke-
sh has taken over. Only
then is it possible that
NTR Jr. joins the BJP
and becomes a pivot of
Telugu politics. In
Andhra, the direct con-
test is between Jagan
Mohan Reddy’s YSR
Congress and TDP.
Will Junior NTR repeat NTR’s history?
NEW KID IN THE BLOCK
New Delhi: Given the task of its organisational
affairs in West Bengal Telangana, BJP general
secretary Sunil Bansal will
be on a 3-day visit to the
eastern state from August
28. Sources said he will
attend a training pro-
gramme in Bengal where
BJP leaders from different
parts of the state will
participate, giving Bansal a chance to interact with
the start party’s functionaries at one place.
BJP GENERAL SECRETARY SUNIL BANSAL
TO VISIT BENGAL FROM AUGUST 28
Srinagar: Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief
Minister and National Conference (NC) president,
Farooq Abdullah denied of
differences which could
lead to the breaking up
of the People’s Alliance
for Gupkar Declaration
(PAGD). Replying to a
question about Wednes-
day’s resolution passed
by the provincial committee of the NC that said the
party would on its own contest all the 90 Assembly
seats during the JK polls, Abdullah said, “Many
would want an end to PAGD, but the alliance will
not be affected.”
NO DIFFERENCES, GUPKAR ALLIANCE IS
INTACT, SAYS FAROOQ ABDULLAH
CRUCIAL READ
‘WORK WITH PASSION TO ENSURE
INDIA 2047 IS MORE PROSPEROUS’
Tells Prez Droupadi Murmu to 175 IAS officers of 2020 batch in an interaction
New Delhi (ANI): 175
IAS officers of 2020
batch, currently deput-
ed to various ministries
and departments as As-
sistant Secretaries,
called on President
Droupadi Murmu at
Rashtrapati Bhavan on
Thursday
.
Addressing the offic-
ers, the President said
as civil servants, they
have an important role
to play in the emergence
of India as a global hub
of knowledge, supply-
chain, innovation, tech-
nology-development
and various other fields.
At the same time, India
has to strengthen the
leadership position it
has taken in the areas of
socially inclusive and
environmentally sus-
tainable development.
Pointing to the fact that
by 2047, officers of 2020
batch will be among the
senior-most decision
makers, the President
said that by working
with passion and pride,
they can ensure that the
India of 2047 will be
much more prosperous,
strong and happy
. She
said for shaping that In-
dia of 2047, they have to
work witha modernand
service-oriented mind-
set. She noted that Mis-
sion Karmayogi is a ma-
jor initiative to make
civil servants more
modern, dynamic and
sensitive in approach.
President Murmu
said with tremendous
growth in infrastruc-
ture, it has become easi-
er to reach remote parts
of the country
. She said
it is expected from civil
servants to reach the
last person or the most
deprived person in their
area of responsibility
and improve her living
condition. They can
open up opportunities
for those who are not
aware of the welfare
schemes or develop-
ment programmes. She
reminded them that any
welfare initiative can be
rated truly successful
only if its benefits reach
the poor, the downtrod-
den and such other peo-
ple at the lowest strata
of society
. She said civil
servants should try to
reach such underprivi-
leged people. Under-
privileged should not be
put into the difficulty of
reaching them for help.
India condemns
‘horrific attack’
on Rushdie
New Delhi: India
wished author Salman
Rushdie a speedy recov-
ery and condemned the
‘horrific attack’ on the
writer. “India has al-
ways stood against vio-
lence and extremism.
We condemn the hor-
rific attack on Salman
Rushdie and we wish
him a speedy recovery,”
external affairs minis-
try spokesperson Arin-
dam Bagchi said Thurs-
day afternoon. Rushdie
suffered three stab
wounds to his neck and
four to his stomach.
Twin Towers: Chetan
Dutta to press button
Noida: Supertech Twin
Towers will soon have a
park in its place. In the
map passed by Noida
Authority, the location
of both the towers has
been shown as areas for
greenery
. So it has been
decided that after the
fall of the towers, a park
will come up again. The
Twin Towers, to be de-
molished, are the tallest
towers in the country
.
In the latest develop-
ment, Mayur Mehta,
Project Manager of Edi-
fice Company, said in-
stead of Joseph Brix-
man, Chetan Dutta, an
Indianblaster,willpress
the button for the blast.
Mayur Mehta said
preparations were com-
plete and work of demo-
lition will start at 2.30
p.m. on August 28. He
stated that all the no-
objection certificates
have been obtained. The
final meeting has been
held and now the wiring
work is going on. He
added that the people of
the surrounding socie-
ties are giving full coop-
eration and the societies
will be completely evac-
uated by 7 a.m. on the
said day
.
Uniqueness prevails: Odisha CS gets another extension
Rakesh Ranjan
Bhubaneswar: For the
first time in its 22 years
rule, the Naveen Pat-
naik Government in
Odisha has extended a
Chief Secretary’s term
not once but twice.
With the Centre approv-
ing the request to ex-
tend the services of CS-
Suresh Chandra Ma-
hapatra, 1986 batch IAS
officer, for another six
months the uniqueness
prevails.
This is the second
time that Mahapatra’s
tenure has been extend-
ed. He got six months
extension beyond his
retirement due on Feb-
ruary 28, 2022, and now
his tenure endd on Feb-
ruary 28, 2023.
Odisha bureaucracy
was abuzz with talks
that the government
took this step as it did
not want to consider
Pradeep Kumar Jena,
Development Commis-
sioner, for the CS post.
For the first time in its
22 years rule, the
Naveen Patnaik Gov-
ernment in Odisha has
extended a Chief Secre-
tary’s term not once but
twice. With the Centre
approving the request
to extend the services
of CSSuresh Chandra
Mahapatra, 1986 batch
IAS officer, for another
six months the unique-
ness prevails.
This is the second
time that Mahapatra’s
tenure has been extend-
ed. He got six months
extension beyond his
retirement due on Feb-
ruary 28, 2022, and now
his tenure endd on Feb-
ruary 28, 2023.
Odisha bureaucracy
was abuzz with talks
that the government
took this step as it did
not want to consider
Pradeep Kumar Jena,
Development Commis-
sioner, for the CS post.
Back in February spec-
ulations were rife that
the Chief Minister
wanted to bring back
Union Secretary for
Corporate Affairs
Rajesh Verma, a 1987
IAS officer of Odisha
Cadre, as the state’s
next CS instead of con-
sidering PK Jena. Re-
portedly, back then ei-
ther Centre or Verma
himself wanted more
time to get relieved
from Central deputa-
tion and this con-
strained Patnaik to ac-
cord the first-ever ex-
tension in Odisha to a
CS in January 2022.
16 UP trainee IAS officers get postings
Ahtesham Siddiqui
Lucknow: The Uttar
Pradesh government
has issued a posting or-
der for the training of 16
trainee IAS officers of
2021 batch. The training
of these 16 IAS officers
is going on at LBS Na-
tional Academy of Ad-
ministration, Mus-
soorie, and after the
completion of Profes-
sional Courses Phase 1,
the officers will be post-
ed as Assistant Magis-
trates for training. The
officers have also given
their joining before the
district collector
Amongst these offic-
ers,
Jagriti Awasthi became
Assistant Magistrate at
Meerut, Ankita Jain be-
came Assistant Magis-
trate at Rae Bareli,
Sarthak Agarwal, Pray-
agraj, Shashwat Tripu-
rari as Assistant Magis-
trate Gorakhpur, KK
Singh, Ayodhya, Divya
Mishra as Assistant
Magistrate Hardoi, Pra-
khar Singh, Azamgarh,
JS Rolpally, Banda, MA
Joshi, Aligarh, Pooja
Gupta, Agra, Dhruv
Khadia, Mathura, Kanti
Raj as Assistant Magis-
trate Saharanpur, Sha-
hid Ahmed as Assistant
Magistrate Jhansi, KK
Kishor,Varanasi,Hashi-
kha Singh Moradabad
and Himanshu Gupta as
A s -
sistant Magistrate Kan-
pur.
Notably, Himanshu
Gupta’s wife IPS Shiva
Singh is ACP Kanpur
Commissionerate.
Officers in bureau-
cracy say that after
traininginMussoorie,it
is necessary for IAS of-
ficers to take training in
the field.
Shahid Ahmed Himanshu Gupta Ankita Jain Jagriti Awasthi
President Droupadi Murmu with the IAS officers at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Thursday.
BE SENSITIVE TO PEOPLE: PRESIDENT’S ADVICE
New Delhi: Presi-
dent Droupadi Mur-
mu said civil servants
should try to reach
underprivileged peo-
ple, and reminded
them that welfare ini-
tiatives can be rated
truly successful only
if their benefits reach
those in the lowest
strata of society
.
Addressing a group
of 175 Indian Admin-
istrative Service offic-
ers of the 2020 batch,
President Murmu
said it was expected
from civil servants to
reach the last person
or the most deprived
person in their area
of responsibility and
improve their living
condition.
Rameshwar Thakur
is HPPSC chairman
Shimla (PTI): IPS of-
ficer Rameshwar Sin-
gh Thakur was on
Thursday appointed
as the chairman of
the Himachal Pradesh
Public Service Com-
mission,daysafterthe
state government can-
celledHPPSCmember
Rachna Gupta’s ap-
pointment to the post
without any clarifica-
tion.
“In exercise of the
powers vested in him
under Article-316 of
the Constitution of In-
dia, the Governor,
Himachal Pradesh, is
pleased to appoint
Shri Rameshwar Sin-
gh Thakur, IPS, as
Chairman, Himachal
Pradesh Public Ser-
vice Commission for a
term of six years from
the date on which he
enters upon his office
or until he attains the
age of 62 years, which-
ever is earlier,” the
notification issued by
state’s Chief Secre-
taryRDDhimanread.
In a notification on
August 17, the state
government had ap-
pointedRachnaGupta
as its chairperson,
and the oath-taking
ceremony was sched-
uled next morning.
The ceremony was,
however, called off at
the eleventh hour.
This move drew
criticism from the Op-
position with LoP in
assembly Mukesh Ag-
nihotri demanding an
explanation from CM
Jai Ram Thakur.
It is expect-
ed from civ-
il servants
to reach the
last person or the most
deprived person in
their area of responsi-
bility.
—Droupadi Murmu, President
Suresh Chandra Mahapatra
FAMOUS SCIENTIST SAMIR V
KAMAT APPOINTED DRDO SECY
New Delhi: Distin-
guished scientist
Samir V Kamat was on
Thursday appointed
as Secretary of the
Department of Defence
Research and Develop-
ment and Chairman of
the Defence Research
and Development
Organisation (DRDO),
according to a Person-
nel Ministry order.
Kamat, who is Director
General, Naval Systems
Materials, at the
DRDO will succeed
G Satheesh Reddy
who has been named
as scientific adviser
to Defence Minister
Rajnath Singh. DRDO
is the research and
development wing of
the Defence Ministry.
The Appointments
Committee of the
Cabinet (ACC) has ap-
proved the appointment
of Kamat as Secretary
of the Department
of Defence Research
and Development and
Chairman of DRDO
from the date of his
assumption of charge
till he attains age of
60 years, it said.
MNS merges...
a reference similar to
‘Hindu Hriday Samrat’
used to describe Shiv
Sena founder Balasaheb
Thackeray as a Hindut-
va icon. The MNS lead-
er’s photographs on the
posters showed him
sporting a saffron stole.
Earlier, Thackeray
had dropped enough
hints that strident Hin-
dutva will be his future
political plank, when he
launched a party cam-
paign to remove loud-
speakers used in
mosques during morn-
ing prayers (azan) in
Maharashtra. The cam-
paign was successful,
with several mosques
voluntarily taking down
the loudspeakers, fol-
lowing norms set by the
Supreme Court.
Thackeray then
planned a visit to Ayod-
hya’s Ram Janmabhoo-
mi temple in June, but
cancelled the trip after a
fall at his residence,
whichnecessitatedahip
bone surgery and kept
him out of action for
two months. While he
was recuperating from
the hip surgery, BJP’s
Deputy Chief Minister
Devendra Fadnavis
called on Thackeray at
his ‘Krishna Kunj’ resi-
dence at Shivaji Park.
“Fadnavis urged Thack-
eray to go all out during
Brihanmumbai Munici-
pal Corporation (BMC)
polls and contest all 227
seats. He also pointed
out that the Shiv Sena,
with its strength re-
duced to 15 MLAs, was
at its most vulnerable at
this juncture, and it was
an opportune time for
MNS to fill the political
vacuum and rejuvenate
the party
,” said sources.
On Tuesday, in his
first public address to
party workers, Thack-
eray firmly supported
Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) Spokesperson Nu-
pur Sharma on the con-
troversyoverherProph-
et Mohammed remarks.
FROM PG 1

07
Commodity Price Change % Chg
GOLD 52,297.00 402.00 0.76 (Per 10g)
SILVER 56,191.00 711.00 1.26 (Per 1kg)
COMMODITIES
Currency Price Change % Chg
USDINR 79.93 0.07 0.08
GBPINR 94.61 0.38 0.40
CURRENCIES
Hiringincreasesby29%inApril-June2022
Employers increased hir-
ing by 29% in April to June
2022, as compared to a 20%
increase in the previous
quarter, findings from the
quarterly hiring tracker
released by job site, Indeed,
have revealed.
The tracker also found
that 37% of all jobseekers
looked for a job or a job
change during the quarter,
as compared to 46% during
the previous quarter.
“Sectors such as IT,
healthcare, E-commerce
will continue to grow and
with the advent of 5G, we
will see a sharp rise in tel-
ecom jobs as well in the
next few quarters,” said
Sashi Kumar, Head of
Sales, Indeed India.
IT/ITeS continued to
lead all sectors, with 91%
of the employers in the sec-
tor hiring during the quar-
ter (83% in the previous
quarter). Tech roles found
favour as the most in-de-
mand for the quarter.
INDEED TRACKER
FINDINGS FROM
THE REPORT

z The tracker found that
37% of all jobseekers
looked for a job or a job
change during the quarter,
as compared to 46% in
previous quarter.

z IT/ITeS continued to lead
all sectors, with 91%
of the employers in the
sector hiring during the
quarter.
SUGAR EXPORT MAY
DECLINE 28.57% TO
8 MN TONNES
New Delhi: The country’s
sugar exports are likely to
decline by 28.57% at around 8
million tonne
in the 2022-23
season on
expected
lower opening
balance stock and higher di-
version for ethanol. However,
whether to permit export un-
der an open general licence or
prevailing quota system will be
decided after assessing price
situation once the sugarcane
crushing ops begin. —PTI
BHARTI TELECOM
ACQUIRES 3.33%
STAKE IN AIRTEL
New Delhi: Bharti Airtel
promoter Bharti Telecom
will buy a 3.33% Airtel stake
from Singtel
for about
`12,895 crore
in 90 days’
time. Bharti
Group chairman Sunil Bharti
Mittal’s family and Singtel are
co-investors in Bharti Telecom
(BTL). Singtel in a statement
said that after the transaction,
Singtel Group is expected
to own an effective stake of
29.7% in Bharti Airtel. —PTI
ESIC SCHEME ADDS
15.47 LAKH NEW
MEMBERS IN JUNE
New Delhi : Around 15.47 lakh
new members joined the ESIC-
run social security scheme in
June 2022,
according to
official data
released on
Thursday. It
showed that the gross new
enrolments with ESIC rose
to 1.49 crore in 2021-22,
from 1.15 crore in 2020-21.
According to the report, net
new enrolments with retire-
ment fund body EPFO stood at
18.36 lakh in June 2022.—PTI
INDIA POST GEARING
UP TO PROVIDE
SERVICES AT DOORSTEP
New Delhi: India Post is work-
ing on projects and technolo-
gies to provide government
services at the
doorstep and
add 10,000
post offices
this year to
enhance its reach. Depart-
ment of Posts Secretary Aman
Sharma at a CII conference
said that the government has
provided the department with
`5,200 crore for the moderni-
sation of the post offices using
technology. —PTI
HERO ELECTRIC PARTNERS WITH JIO-BP FOR
CHARGING, BATTERY SWAPPING FOR EVs
New Delhi: Hero Electric on Thursday said it has partnered with
Jio-bp for charging electric two-wheelers. As per the collabora-
tion, the customers of Hero Electric will
get access to the widespread charging
and swapping network of Jio-bp, which
is also open to other vehicles, the elec-
tric two-wheeler maker said in a state-
ment. The companies will bring the best
of their global learning in electrification
and apply them to the Indian market, the
statement added. —PTI
OTHER STORIES
business
BRIEFS
New Delhi: Hyundai Mo-
tor India on Thursday said
it has commenced book-
ings for Venue N Line, its
second product under the
performance-oriented N
Line range, as it looks to
cater to the customers
looking for sporty vehi-
cles. The compact SUV
comes with various exteri-
or and interior changes to
give it a sporty styling, in-
spired by motorsport. In
September last year, the
automaker introduced the
i20 N Line in the country.
The model comes with a
1-litre turbo petrol engine
mated with seven-speed
DCT (automatic) trans-
mission. —PTI
New Delhi: LIC has dilut-
ed its stake in Nagpur
Power Industries by
over 2% through open
market sales, bringing
down its stake to 8.33%.
LIC said its shareholding
in Nagpur Power Indus-
tries has diluted from
10.56% (13,82,743
shares) to 8.33%
(10,90,747 shares) of the
paid-up capital of the
company. There is a de-
crease of 2% in holding
during the period from
Sept 30, 2021, to Aug 24,
2022, at an average cost
of `58.94, LIC said. —PTI
LIC DILUTES STAKE
IN NAGPUR POWER
INDUSTRIES
HYUNDAI MOTORS
OPENS BOOKINGS
FOR VENUE N LINE
New Delhi: Indian Oil Cor-
poration, the nation’s larg-
est oil firm, on Thursday
committed `2 lakh crore
to achieve net zero carbon
emission target by 2046,
chairman S M Vaidya
said. The firm’s oil refin-
ing and petrochemicals
business has a total emis-
sion of 21.5 million
tonnes of CO2, he said.
The firm plans to decar-
bonise refining and petro-
chemicals operations
through energy efficiency,
electrification and fuel re-
placement, he said. —PTI
IOC EYES NET ZERO
CARBON EMISSIONS
BY 2046
New Delhi: Sebi on
Thursday came out with
the disclosure framework
for asset management
companies, mandating a
scheme-wise disclosure
of investments in securi-
ties of entities that are ex-
cluded from the definition
of “associate”. This came
after Sebi, earlier this
month, amended mutual
fund rules to remove the
applicability of the defini-
tion of “associate” to
sponsors that invest in
various companies on be-
half of the beneficiaries of
insurance policies or such
other schemes. —PTI
SEBI COMES OUT
WITH DISCLOSURE
REQ FOR AMCs
*Rates till the edition went to print.
India’s strong economic
growth offers room for the
Reserve Bank of India to
raise rates by another 60
basis points as the central
bank seeks to stamp out
high inflation, DBS Group
Research said in a note on
Thursday
.
India’s gross domestic
product (GDP) in the first
quarter of current fiscal
year likely surged 16%
year-on-year based on most
leading indicators, the re-
search house estimated.
Favourable base effect after
the onset of Delta coronavi-
rus variant last year will
additionally lift the year-
on-year GDP numbers, Ra-
dhika Rao, senior econo-
mist at DBS Group Re-
search, wrote in the note.
It expects India’s first
quarter (April-June)
growth to be at 16%. The of-
ficial GDP is expected to be
issued on August 31. It
maintains an overall FY23
growth forecast at 7%,
whichwillseeIndiaemerge
as the fastest-growing
economy in Asia this year.
“Resumption in service
sector activity added to the
momentum, besides manu-
facturing,” Rao said.
Broad-based improve-
ment in vaccination rates
and relaxation of lock-
downs benefited urban
consumption, while unem-
ployment rates returned to
pre-pandemic levels, Rao
said. On the investment
side, “lead indicators have
been encouraging.”
India’s retail inflation
rate has remained above
RBI’s upper tolerance limit
for seven straight months.
“Public capex is likely to
be a bigger support in this
cycle as private sector par-
ticipation might be in the
slow lane, due to rising in-
put prices and renewed un-
certainty over the global
growth outlook,” Rao
wrote.
WHAT DOES THE
REPORT SAY...

z India’s gross domestic
product (GDP) in the first
quarter of current fiscal year
likely surged 16% year-on-
year based on most leading
indicators, the research house
estimated.

z Favourable base effect after
the onset of Delta coronavirus
variant last year will
additionally lift the year-on-year
GDP numbers.

z It expects India’s first
quarter growth to be at 16%.
The official GDP is expected to
be issued on August 31.
5G in India by
October 12, says
Vaishnaw
Union IT minister Ashwini
Vaishnaw on Thursday
said that 5G services will
be launched in India by Oc-
tober 12 after which it will
be scaled further in cities
towns. “Our expectations
are that 5G should reach in
every part of the country
in the next two to three
years. We’ll ensure that it
remains affordable. The in-
dustry is focusing on both
urban as well as rural are-
as,” he said.
“We are planning to roll
out 5G services rapidly, tel-
ecom operators are work-
ing in that regard instal-
lations are being done.
Hopefully, we should be
launching 5G services by
October 12 then would
further scale up in cities
towns,” he added.
The DoT has received
payment of around `17,876
crore from service provid-
ers -- Bharti Airtel, Reli-
ance Jio, Adani Data Net-
works and Vi for spectrum.
INDIA’S STRONG ECONOMY MEANS
RBI CAN HIKE RATES
ONCE AGAIN
No threat to India’s
creditworthiness:SP
New Delhi (PTI): India
has built up buffers against
cyclical difficulties and has
ample foreign exchange re-
serves to withstand pres-
sure on credit worthiness,
SP Global Ratings said.
SP Sovereign Inter-
national Public Finance
Ratings Director Andrew
Wood said the country has
a strong external balance
sheet and limited external
debt, making debt servic-
ing not so expensive.
“The country has built
up buffers against cyclical
difficulties like those,
which we are experiencing
right now,” Wood said.
He said the rating agen-
cy does not expect the near-
term pressures to have a
serious impact on India’s
credit worthiness.
“We are expecting a
strong level of GDP growth
of 7.3% this fiscal,” he said,
adding the rupee exchange
rate movement against the
US dollar has been moder-
ate. Wood said India has
“ample buffer” in its for-
eign exchange reserves and
the forex kitty is expected
to recover to $600 billion by
the end of this year. Forex
reserve stood at $570.74 bil-
lion as of August 12.
The US-based agency has
a ‘BBB-’ rating on India
with a stable outlook.
STRONG EXT
BALANCE SHEET

z SP Sovereign
International Public Finance
Ratings Director Andrew
Wood said the country has
a strong external balance
sheet and limited external
debt, making debt servicing
not so expensive.
New Delhi (PTI): Telecom
companies will not require
any approval from authori-
ties for laying cables or in-
stalling mobile towers or
poles over private proper-
ties, according to new Right
of Way Rules notified by
the government recently.
The govt also notified rules
for using electric poles, foot
over bridges etc for instal-
lation of small mobile ra-
dio antennas or laying
overhead telecom cables
along with charges to ease
roll out of telecom net-
works specially 5G service.
No approval
needed for laying
telecom infra
India restricts export of wheat flour
New Delhi (PTI): The gov-
ernment on Thursday de-
cided to put restrictions on
the export of wheat flour to
curb rising prices of the
commodity
.
The decision was taken
at a meeting of the Cabinet
Committee on Economic
Affairs (CCEA), chaired by
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi.
The decision of the Cabi-
net “will now allow to put a
restriction on the export of
Wheat Flour which will en-
sure a curb on rising prices
of wheat flour and ensure
food security of the most
vulnerable sections of the
society,” an official state-
ment released on Thursday
said.
The Directorate General
of Foreign Trade (DGFT)
will issue a notification to
this effect.
Wheat flour exports
from India have registered
a growth of 200% during
April-July 2022 compared
to the corresponding peri-
od in 2021.
The increased demand
for wheat flour in the inter-
national market led to sig-
nificant price rise of the
commodity in the domestic
market.
RBI MPC Member Goyal
lauds govt’s reforms push
New Delhi (PTI): Eight
years of systemic econom-
ic reforms under the Modi
govt have increased India’s
macroeconomic stability
and its capacity to with-
stand any external shocks,
RBI Monetary Policy Com-
mittee (MPC) Member
Ashima Goyal has said.
“Just before the Modi
govt came in, the country
was facing serious macroe-
conomic instability after
the global financial crisis.”
“After 8 years of systemic
reforms, the economy has
been able to ride out more
severe global shocks with
macroeconomic stability, a
healthy financial sector,
food security and a govt and
industry that have learnt to
work together,” she said.
Sensex falls 311 pts on Thursday
Mumbai (PTI): Equity
benchmarks ended lower
on Thursday as a fag-end
sell-off wiped out early
gains, with IT bank
stocks playing spoilsport.
After remaining in the
positive territory for most
part of the trade, the BSE
Sensex suddenly came un-
der selling pressure during
the last half-hour of the
session, declining 310.71
points or 0.53% to settle at
58,774.72. Similarly, the
broader NSE Nifty dropped
82.50 points or 0.47% to end
at 17,522.45.
From the Sensex pack,
Bajaj Finance, IndusInd
Bank, Infosys, Tata Consul-
tancy Services, Axis Bank,
Power Grid, NTPC, Larsen
Toubro and HDFC were
the major laggards.
Maruti Suzuki India,
State Bank of India, Dr
Reddy’s and Titan were the
gainers.
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee declined by 7 paise to close at 79.93
(provisional) after moving in a narrow range against the US
dollar on Thursday. At the interbank foreign exchange market,
the domestic currency opened at 79.80 per dollar. It hovered
in a range of 79.80 to 79.93 during the session. The domestic
unit finally settled at 79.93, down 7 paise over its previous
close of 79.86.
` GOES DOWN 7 PAISE TO CLOSE AT 79.93
AGAINST US DOLLAR

08
2NDFRONT
Life is a series of tests, we decide that
does it show our weakness or discovers
our strength!
— Dr Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
Have taken contract for Maha development: CM
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Chief Minis-
ter Eknath Shinde on
Thursday said he has
taken a “contract” to
develop the state and
to ensure prosperity
and welfare of its peo-
ple, hitting back at his
opponents over their
constant jibe at him
since assuming the
top office.
Speaking in the As-
sembly, Shinde defend-
ed his revolt against
the Shiv Sena leader-
ship in June, which
brought down the two-
and-a-half-year-old
Maha Vikas Aghadi
(MVA) government,
and asserted his act
was neither unconsti-
tutional nor illegal.
Replying to an Oppo-
sition sponsored de-
bate on various issues
facing the state on the
last day of the mon-
soon session, the chief
minister said he has
been often described as
a “contract CM” by his
opponents.
Shinde maintained
people’s welfare was
his only agenda.
“When Union minis-
ter Narayan Rane
made some comments
(last year) against the
then-chief minister
(Uddhav Thackeray),
he was arrested. But I
would say I have taken
a contract for develop-
ment of the state, pros-
perity and welfare of
its people,” he said.
In an apparent ref-
erence to being con-
stantly targeted as a
“traitor” by the Ud-
dhav Thackeray-led
faction of the Shiv
Sena since his rebel-
lion, Shinde described
criticism against him
as a sign of “ideologi-
cal bankruptcy”.
“I will respond to the
ideological bankruptcy
through my work,” he
said.
In a speech laced
with Marathi couplets,
Shinde said his govern-
ment will soon unveil a
‘vision document’ for
Maharashtra.
When Jayant Patil
(NCP) asked him who
had written these cou-
plets, the CM indicated
they were written by
him, saying “I have tal-
ent. I was never al-
lowed to showcase it.”
Shinde also justified
his appeal to say “Van-
de Mataram” over the
phone instead of hello,
a move which drew
criticism from certain
quarters.
“Freedom fighters
went to the gallows
singing Vande Mata-
ram. Why should one
object to being asked
not to say hello (while
replying over the
phone)?” he asked.
Who has betrayed the ideology of
(Shiv Sena founder) Balasaheb
Thackeray and mandate of the people
by forging an unnatural alliance for the sake
of power? I just corrected what went wrong.
—Eknath Shinde, CM
Often termed
“contract CM” by
detractors,
Eknath Shinde
defends rebellion
against Shiv Sena
CM Shinde arrives at Vidhan Bhavan on the last day of the
Monsoon Session of Maha Assembly, on Thursday. —PTI PHOTO
HC questions AAI over relaxation
HC questions AAI over relaxation
of restrictions on building height
of restrictions on building height
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The Bombay
High Court on Thurs-
day sought to know
from the Airports Au-
thority of India (AAI)
if the height restric-
tion for buildings in
the vicinity of the pro-
posed Navi Mumbai
International Airport
has been relaxed.
A division bench
comprising Chief Jus-
tice Dipankar Datta and
Justice MS Karnik was
hearing a public inter-
est litigation (PIL) filed
by advocate Yashwant
Shenoy raising con-
cerns over dangers
posed by high rises near
the Mumbai airport.
On Thursday, She-
noy said while the situ-
ation in the Mumbai
airport’s vicinity was
beyond repair, the au-
thorities have now de-
cided to lift the height
restrictions for build-
ings near the proposed
Navi Mumbai Interna-
tional Airport from
55.1m up to 160m.
Shenoy submitted a
press note dated July
30, 2022 by the City
Industrial Develop-
ment Corporation’s
(CIDCO) vice chair-
man and managing di-
rector, commending
the Union Ministry of
Civil Aviation, AAI
and the Directorate
General of Civil Avia-
tion for having agreed
to grant No Objection
Certificate (NOC) for
construction of build-
ings within 20 km ra-
dius of the Navi Mum-
bai airport above the
permissible height re-
striction of 55.1m.
The bench directed
Shenoy to place said
note on affidavit and
directed the AAI to re-
spond to the same by
August 29, when the
matter would be heard
again.
Authorities have decided to lift height restrictions for buildings near the
Navi Mumbai Int’l airport from 55.1m to 160m. —FILE PHOTO
INFO NEEDED
A bench is hearing a PIL raising
concerns over dangers posed by high
rises near Mumbai airport
38 BOOKED FOR THEFT OF 1.12 LAKH
UNITS OF ELECTRICITY WORTH `20L
16 PASSENGERS RECEIVE MINOR
INJURIES AFTER 2 ST BUSES COLLIDE
TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS REGISTERED
AGAINST 261 PERSONS IN 1 DAY
NCP MAN HELD FOR DEATH OF
‘GOVINDA’ IN JANMASHTAMI EVENT
Thane: Police have booked 38 persons for allegedly
stealing 1.12 lakh units of electricity worth Rs20
lakh over the course of a year in Bhiwandi, based on
a complaint filed by the Maharashtra State Electricity
Distribution Co. Ltd (MSEDCL), an official said on
Thursday. A MSEDCL team raided residential areas
of Pimplas and Kongaon villages on July 08, and
found that several residents were using hooks to
draw power illegally or had tampered with meters,
an official of Shanti Nagar police station said. No
arrest has been made so far.
Mumbai: Sixteen passengers were injured when
two Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation
buses collided on Thursday morning in Ratnagiri
district, over 330 kilometres from here, a police
official said. The incident took place in Dapoli at
7.30 am and 16 passengers were discharged after
treatment for minor injuries at a state-run hospital
there, he said.
Palghar: The Palghar police have registered criminal
offences against 261 people between 10 am and 10
pm on Tuesday as part of the monthly “Operation
All Out” carried out in the district, Palghar district
Superintendent of Police Balasaheb Patil said on
Thursday. During the operation, the police also
arrested six wanted criminals and registered 21
offences related to prohibition and two cases under
the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances
(NDPS) Act, he also said, adding that cops also con-
ducted checks on 127 people involved in anti-social
activities.
Mumbai: A Nationalist
Congress Party leader was
arrested in connection with
the death of a “govinda” at
a Janmashtami function in
Vile Parle on August 19, a
police official said on Thursday. NCP district presi-
dent Riyaz Sheikh (36) was held on Tuesday, a day
after Sandesh Dalvi (22), a participant in the human
pyramid formed to break the handi (butter pot), died
after falling and suffering serious head injuries. A
case was registered under Indian Penal Code sec-
tions for causing death by negligence and causing
grievous hurt by act endangering life, he said.
CRUCIAL READ
60 yrs on, Nashik villagers await bridge across Daman
First India Bureau
Nashik: People resid-
ing in three villages
of Nashik district are
still awaiting the
state government to
build a bridge near
the Daman river.
Successive govern-
ments in Maharashtra
have been neglecting
the demand of the peo-
ple residing near the
Daman river, who have
been compelled to risk
their lives for the past
60 years.
Villagers com-
plained that “they have
been asking for con-
struction of the bridge
for the past 60 years,
but no government has
fulfilled their request.”
Residents of Mu-
rumabadi, Tadlachi
Bari and Cholmukh
villages in Harsul of
Nashik district said
that they have to cross
the Daman river—by
risking their lives eve-
ry day—to reach their
farms and schools, due
to the absence of a
bridge.
One of the locals
working at the Zila
Parishad Primary
School said, “I work at
the Zila Parishad Pri-
mary School in Mu-
rumabadi village.
These villagers are en-
gaged in farming and
have to traverse neck-
deep water to even
reach their farms. Stu-
dents also take the
same route to reach
their school in the
neighbouring village.
People living here have
been demanding that a
bridge be built for the
past 60 years.”
One student added:
“We have to cross the
river to get to the
school. Even when the
water level goes up
during monsoon, we
cross the river to go to
school. We also do not
have any shops nearby,
so we have to cross the
river to get groceries
and other essentials.
We demand that the
government build a
bridge here.”
BRIDGE TOO FAR?
Local residents are forced to wade
through the river to get to school,
get groceries and other essentials
Children are compelled to
risk their lives to cross the
river. —FILE PHOTO
‘Our family is SC, hasn’t embraced any other religion’
First India Bureau
Washim: Former
Mumbai zonal di-
rector of the Nar-
cotics Control Bu-
reau (NCB) Sameer
Wankhede on Thurs-
day filed an affida-
vit in a court in
Washim district,
stating that his fam-
ily belongs to a
Scheduled Caste
(SC) community and
has not embraced
any other religion.
He submitted the af-
fidavit in a defama-
tion complaint filed
by his cousin Sanjay
Wankhede against
former state minister
Nawab Malik.
Sanjay Wankhede
had filed a complaint
at a special court in
Washim, seeking reg-
istration of a case un-
der the Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled
Tribes (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act
against Nationalist
Congress Party (NCP)
leader Malik.
Malik had alleged
thatSameerWankhede
submitted a fake caste
certificate to get a gov-
ernment job.
Following an inves-
tigation, the Mumbai
district caste certifi-
cate verification com-
mittee of the Maha-
rashtra Social Justice
Department recently
gave a clean chit to Sa-
meer Wankhede. “The
Indian Revenue Ser-
vice (IRS) officer was
not a Muslim by birth
and it has been proven
that he belonged to
the Mahar caste,
which is a Scheduled
Caste,” he said.
Former NCB director
files affidavit in Maha
court over defamation
complaint filed by his
cousin Sanjay
Ex-MP calls
for CBI probe
into BMC’s
`12K cr road
expenditure
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Milind De-
ora, a senior Maha-
rashtra Congress lead-
er and former Lok
Sabha MP
, demanded
that the Central Bu-
reau of Investigation
(CBI) look into the
Rs12,000 crore spent
on road works by Bri-
hanmumbai Munici-
pal Corporation from
2017 to 2022.
“Between 2017 and
2022, the BMC spent
Rs12,000 crore on Mum-
bai’s roads—a stagger-
ing 10% of the NHAI’s
annual budget! Mum-
baikars brave potholes
every year and deserve
to know who is looting
India’s richest civic
body
,” Deora tweeted on
Wednesday
.
Seeking a CBI inves-
tigation, Deora said the
roads were just the tip
of the iceberg, as the
BMC had spent an ad-
ditional Rs45 crore per
year—Rs225 crore in
five years—on road
maintenance, including
clearing potholes with
cold mix.
According to Deora,
the BMC spent Rs2,300
crore in 2017-18, Rs2,250
crore in 2018-19, Rs2,560
crore in 2019-20, Rs2,200
crore in 2020-21 and
Rs2,350 crore in 2021-22
for road works.
Meanwhile, Ravi
Raja, the Congress’
group leader in the civ-
ic body whose tenure
ended recently
, tweeted:
“The cold mix method
used by the BMC has
always given a bad re-
sult, but the adminis-
tration still insisted on
it. This raises suspicion
and inquiry must be
conducted.”
BMC recently trialled new
technologies to fix the city's
roads. —FILE PHOTO
Cong’s Milind Deora
claims Mumbai civic
body spent additional
Rs45 crore per year on
road maintenance

www.firstindia.co.in I https://firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/
thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
MUMBAI, FRIDAY,
AUGUST 26, 2022
TWINING
TIDES!
Good vibes happen on the tides and
best of fashion happen on vacation,
City First brings to you the adorable
fashion from vacation!
s summer is slip-
ping away very
fast with the
pleasant and
balmy rain and I
still can’t believe
that August is al-
most gone. It is true when
we say ‘Summer means
happy times and good
sunshine, perfect weath-
er to heal and relax, but
ever wonder what we can
wear to make ourselves
shine in the scorching
heat in the day during the
vacation time. Because
Vacation has no fixed
time, when all else fails,
take a vacation. The sea-
son is the same. We’re the
ones who are changing.
Packing for a warm-
weather trip means
smashing the right bal-
ance between cosy and
trendy, and creating cute
beach vacation out-
fits that look ef-
fortless–which,
ironically, can
be stressful.
The idea of
an escape is to
de-stress and
have fun, so
instead of get-
ting fraz-
zled
over what to wear to the
beach and beyond during
your next trip, take style
inspiration from some of
the best-dressed ladies
under the sun.
Cropped or Traditional
White Tee, Cropped Trou-
sers, Bucket Hat, Multi-
faceted Mini Skirt, Pair
Of Blue Jeans there are
so much to choose from
but remember when on
vacation less is more.
Leaving all chic sexy out-
fits at home and choosing
comfort is a top priority.
Wearing matching sets
set is breezy enough for
the beach but elevated
enough for sightseeing or
seaside dinner. Just dress
it up with minimalist
heeled sandals.
If you wish to avoid
feeling hot or cold, layer-
ing is the way to go. This
way you can take some-
thing off when you start
to overheat and put some-
thing on when you feel
chilly.
In addition, layered
outfits always look more
stylish. For example, a
cute dress paired with a
comfy cardigan and a
lightweight scarf will
look great on you and
keep you cosy during
your trip.
UTTKARSHA SHEKHAR
uttkarsha.shekhar@firstindia.co.in
A

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