27032023_First India Mumbai.pdf

‘Savarkar our idol, won’t tolerate insult to him,’ Uddhav tells Rahul
First India Bureau
Malegaon: Ud-
dhav Thackeray
on Sunday asked
Rahul Gandhi
to refrain from
“insulting” his
“idol”,
Hindutva ideologue VD
Savarkar, but acknowl-
edged that concerted at-
tempts were being made
to the Congress leader.
The Shiv Sena - Ud-
dhav Balasaheb Thack-
eray (UBT) chief said
the Maha Vikas
Aghadi (MVA)
alliance of
three par-
ties--Shiv
Sena - UBT,
C o n g r e s s
and Na-
tionalist Congress Par-
ty (NCP)--was formed to
protect democracy and
it was necessary to work
unitedly to that end.
Addressing a rally in
the Muslim-dominated
textile town of Male-
gaon in Nashik district
of northern Maharash-
tra, Thackeray said,
“Savarkar is our idol
and any insults to him
will not be tolerated if
we have to fight togeth-
er to protect our democ-
racy. Savarkar suffered
unimaginable torture
in the Andaman cellu-
lar jail for 14 years. We
can only read about
what he endured and
sacrificed,” he said.
Gandhi was disquali-
fied from the Lok Sabha
on Friday, a day after a
court in Gujarat’s Surat
convicted him in a 2019
defamation case. Ad-
dressing a press confer-
ence in Delhi over his
disqualification, Rahul
Gandhi on Saturday
said, “My name is not
Savarkar, my name is
Gandhi and Gandhi
does not offer an apolo-
gy to anyone”.
Thackeray said he
supported Gandhi for
his Bharat Jodo Yatra.
“Rahul Gandhi spoke
well at his press confer-
ence yesterday. He
raised valid questions
that the government
doesn’t want to answer,”
he said.
During Saturday’s
press conference, Gan-
dhi had returned to the
question of who owned
the Rs20,000 crore that
was invested in Adani
shell firms and what is
the businessman’s rela-
tionship with the prime
minister.
Targeting the ruling
Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP), Thackeray al-
leged that those who
have no connection
with the country’s free-
dom movement were at-
tempting to finish off
democracy
.
Thackeray, who was
addressing his second
rally here after
Khed in Ratna-
giri district
since losing the
party name and
sym- bol to
Chief Minister Eknath
Shinde, said he was
fighting to save de-
mocracy and free-
dom.
“The fight is not
about me becoming
the chief minister
again,” he
said.
Former Maha
CM urges RaGa
to fight unitedly
for democracy
I want to tell Rahul Gandhi that we have come
together to save our country’s democracy and its
Constitution. But you are deliberately being pro-
voked. If we allow this time to get wasted, then democracy
will cease to exist. 2024 will be the last election.
—Uddhav Thackeray, Shiv Sena - UBT chief
MAXIMUM NEWS WIDER REACH!
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BIG LEAP
IN SKY
ISRO’s LVM3 successfully injects
36 satellites into intended orbits
Sriharikota (PTI):
The Indian Space Re-
search Organisation’s
heaviest LVM3 rocket
on Sunday successfully
placed 36 internet satel-
lites of UK-based One-
Web group company
into intended orbits.
The 43.5 metre tall
rocket blasted off at a
prefixed time of 9 am on
Sunday, from the sec-
ond launch pad of Sat-
ish Dhawan Space Cen-
tre here. This is the sec-
ond dedicated mission
of NewSpace India Ltd
(NSIL), the commercial
arm of Indian Space Re-
search Organisation.
ISRO had signed an
agreement with Net-
work Access Associates
Ltd, United Kingdom, a
OneWeb Group Com-
pany, for the launch of
72 satellites into Low-
Earth orbits (LEO).
LVM3 ROCKET SUITED FOR GAGANYAAN,
IT PERFORMED VERY WELL: ISRO CHIEF
INTERNET SERVICES
TO GET A BOOST
SIKH HARDLINERS
THREATEN INDIAN
EMBASSY IN US
RADICALS ATTACK,
ABUSE DC-BASED
INDIAN JOURNALIST
INDIA RAPS ATTACK
ON JOURNALIST BY
RADICALS IN US
MEA SUMMONS
CANADA HIGH
COMMISSIONER
“This rocket (LVM3-M3) also has the S200
motors that are designed with increased
margins and features which are suited for
Gaganyaan configuration. We are happy
that it performed very well in this mission.”
ISRO Chairman S Somanath said at the
Mission Control Centre.
Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
It reinforces India’s
leading role as a global
commercial launch service
provider in the true spirit
of Aatmanirbharta.
New Delhi: Bharti
Enterprise-backed OneWeb
on Sunday completed its
constellation of 618 low
earth orbit satellites that
would allow it to offer
broadband internet ser-
vices from space in every
corner of the world.
Washington DC: Pro-
Khalistan supporters in
the US threatened the
Indian embassy and
Indian Ambassador to
the United States Taranjit
Singh during their protest
on Saturday (local time).
Washington DC: US-based
Indian journalist Lalit Jha
was attacked and abused
by pro-Khalistan support-
ers while he was covering
a pro-Khalistan protest
outside the Indian Embassy
on Saturday afternoon.
Washington DC: India said,
“We condemn such a grave
and unwarranted attack on a
senior journalist. Such activi-
ties only underscore violent
and anti-social tendencies of
so-called ‘Khalistani protes-
tors’ and their supporters.”
New Delhi: The Ministry
of External Affairs (MEA)
on Saturday summoned
the High Commissioner of
Canada after the secu-
rity breach at the Indian
embassy in Ottawa by pro-
Khalistan supporters. P6
The vehicle
has done ex-
tremely well,
it went up to the right
orbit and placed the
spacecraft at the right
orbit and with very mini-
mal disturbances to it
—S Somanath,
ISRO chairman
Sikh body tells Amritpal
to surrender as hunt is on
First India Bureau
Chandigarh: Akal
Takht Jathedar Giani
Harpreet Singh has
asked fugitive radical
preacher Amritpal Sin-
gh to surrender before
police and cooperate
with investigation.
The Jathedar of Akal
Takht (the highest tem-
poral seat of Sikhs) also
questioned police’s
competence, wondering
why they have not been
able to nab the self-
styled Sikh preacher
despite having such a
big force.
“If Amritpal is out
(of police net), then I
will ask him to present
(before police) and co-
operate with (police)
investigation,” said the
Jathedar.
Singh’s remarks
come in the wake of
Punjab Police crack-
down against radical
preacher Amritpal Sin-
gh and elements of
‘Waris Punjab De’, an
outfit headed by him.
Amritpal Singh has
been on the run since
March 18, when the po-
lice crackdown began.
Pro-Khalistan supporters protest outside Indian Embassy in
Washington DC, USA. —PHOTO BY PTI
BJP will win more than 200 seats
in MP Assembly polls, says Nadda
Bhopal (PTI): BJPchief
JPNaddaonSundaysaid
partywouldwinover200
outof 230Assemblyseats
in Madhya Pradesh,
whereelectionswillheld
at this year end. He per-
formed a ground-break-
ingceremonyforthecon-
struction of a new BJP
office here. “The warm
welcome accorded to
me by the spirited BJP
cadre shows we are go-
ing to more than 200 As-
sembly seats in MP,” he
said. A 10-storey mod-
ern office complex will
come up in Arera Colo-
ny area near Kamala-
pati railway station in
place of an old building
which was demolished.
‘Dis’Qualified MP RaGa:
Congress holds protests across India
New Delhi (PTI): Con-
gress party across India
on Sunday held
“Sankalp Satyagraha”
to protest against dis-
qualification of Rahul
Gandhi from Lok Sab-
ha, with party president
Mallikarjun Kharge
lashing out at the ruling
BJP and asking why it is
pained if fugitives such
as Nirav Modi and Lalit
Modi are criticised.
In the national capi-
tal, Congress chief Mal-
likarjun Kharge, gener-
al secretary Priyanka
Gandhi, Rajasthan CM
Ashok Gehlot, KC Venu-
gopal, P Chidambaram,
Salman Khurshid,
Jairam Ramesh, Mukul
Wasnik, Pawan Kumar
Bansal and others were
among the party’s top
brass taking part in the
satyagraha at Rajghat.
Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyanka Gandhi, P Chidambaram, KC Venugopal
others at Sankalp Satyagraha of Congress in New Delhi, on Sunday.
RAHUL GANDHI
UPDATES HIS
TWITTER BIO
New Delhi: Following his
disqualification from the
Lok Sabha, Congress lead-
er Rahul Gandhi on Sunday
changed his bio on Twitter
where he described himself
as a “Dis’Qualified MP”. He
also wrote “Dis’Qualified
MP” on his official Way-
anad Twitter account. He
was disqualified from Lok
Sabha on Friday, a day after
a Gujarat court convicted
him in a 2019 defamation
case. The disqualification
will prevent Gandhi from
contesting polls for eight
years unless a higher court
stays the conviction.
SHAH SLAMS CONG
FOR QUOTA TO
K’TAKA MUSLIMS
Bidar: Following removal
of four per cent OBC res-
ervation for
Muslims in
Karna-
taka, Union
Home Min-
ister Amit
Shah on Sunday lashed
out at Congress and said
that there is no such provi-
sion in the Constitution to
provide reservation. P6
PM MODI LAUDS
NARI SHAKTI IN
MANN KI BAAT
New Delhi: From ‘Elephant Whisperers’ to the first woman
minister in Nagaland, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pointed
out several examples in his monthly radio programme ‘Mann
Ki Baat’, to showcase the role of India’s ‘Nari Shakti’ in realis-
ing India’s true potential. P6
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR MUMBAI www.firstindia.co.in I https://firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
MUMBAI l MONDAY, MARCH 27, 2023 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI TITLE NO. MAHENG/2022/14652 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 317
INDIA WIN 4
GOLD MEDALS
AT WORLD
BOXING
MUMBAI BEAT
DELHI TO LIFT
INAUGURAL
WPL TITLE
New Delhi: Nikhat Zareen and
Lovlina Borgohain made it a
golden Sunday for India at
the Women’s World Boxing
Championships in New Delhi.
Mumbai: Mumbai Indians
defeated Delhi Capitals by
seven wickets in the WPL 2023
final, at the Brabourne Stadium
in Mumbai on Sunday.

NEWS
MUMBAI | MONDAY, MARCH 27, 2023
02
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First India Bureau
Thane: The Mumbai
Police has registered a
case after a Maharash-
tra Navnirman Sena
(MNS) leader claimed a
life threat to a col-
league following the
party's demand to raze
illegal places of wor-
ship in Mumbra in
Thane district, a police
official said on Sunday.
Thane Maharashtra
Navnirman Sena
(MNS) chief Ravindra
More filed a complaint
saying that a couple of
videos which are doing
rounds on social media
contained threats
aimed at his colleague
Avinash Jadhav, an of-
ficial from the Naupa-
da police station said.
Based on the com-
plaint by MNS chief
Ravindra More’s, a
case under Indian Pe-
nal Code section 506 (2)
for criminal intimida-
tion has been regis-
tered and further in-
vestigation into the
matter was underway,
the Naupada police of-
ficial added.
Nagpur (PTI): Police
have rescued a nine-
month-old baby who
was sold to a childless
couple in neighbouring
Chhattisgarh, an offi-
cial said on Sunday
.
The Anti-Human
Trafficking Cell of the
crime branch rescued
the infant from Raipur
city in Chhattisgarh on
Saturday, the official
said. A gang of four per-
sons had procured the
baby from a poor wom-
an, who already had two
children, by promising
her money and sold the
infant to a childless cou-
ple from Raipur in June
last year, he said.
Mumbai: A 52-year-old
temple priest has been
sentenced to 12 years of
rigorous imprisonment
by a special Pocso court
in Mumbai. The priest
was found guilty of re-
peatedly sexually as-
saulting a 6-year-old girl
who used to visit her
relatives in the building
where the temple was
located.
The child was seen
making a round figure
with her fingers and in-
serting another finger
into it. When the moth-
er asked what she was
doing, the child re-
vealed that the accused
had taught her this be-
havior.
The defense's claim
that the accused was
falsely implicated is not
convincing, stated the
judge.
Refuting this, he
added, The way in
which the incident was
brought to light ap-
pears to be completely
natural and not staged
in any manner. Sup-
ported by the victim's
statement and the
manner in which the
incident was dis-
closed.
The accused has
been in jail since 2017,
but this does not auto-
matically entitle him
to a minimum sen-
tence. The judge be-
lieves a severe punish-
ment is necessary to
send a message.
Thane: A 28-year-old man employed at a jewellery store
allegedly ran off with Rs45 lakh cash in Thane district,
police said on Sunday. The owner of a jewellery store in
Kalyan town had given his employee Rs45 lakh cash to be
deposited in the bank on Saturday. But when there was no
sign of the accused, a complaint was lodged, senior in-
spector A B Honmane of MFC police station said. A police
team has left for Rajasthan in search of the accused, as it
is suspected that he might flee to his hometown Jalore,
the official said.
Thane: A physically-chal-
lenged man allegedly burned
another passenger in a local
train in the Thane district.
The incident occurred in the
compartment for physically-
challenged persons on
a train from Chhatrapati
Shivaji Terminus to Kalyan.
The accused allegedly
set fire to a handkerchief
smeared with some narcotic
substance and threw it on
the victim Prasade Wadekar
who sustained burns on
his hands. The victim was
admitted to KEM Hospital,
senior inspector Pandhari
Kande of Thane GRP said.
Mumbai: A mentally un-
stable man climbed on the
iron bar above the overhead
wire at Chhatrapati Shivaji
Maharaj Terminus in Mum-
bai and threatened to take
his life. After half an hour,
he jumped onto a coach of
a train and was taken into
custody. Railway officials
switched off the power
supply to the wire and police
and fire brigade personnel
tried to persuade him not to
commit any rash act. The
man finally jumped on a
coach of the Gadag Express
and the drama ended.
Thane: A railway employee
has lodged a cheating
complaint with Thane police
against an Ayurvedic treat-
ment centre for allegedly
duping him of Rs15.22 lakh
by promising to treat his
wife’s cancer. The victim,
who works as a painter
with the railway, filed the
complaint at Naupada police
station. “He has alleged
there was no improvement
in the condition of his wife
since the treatment started
last year. Persons from
the centre were booked on
Saturday for cheating and
other offences,” he said.
Thane: A female security
guard in Thane, Maharash-
tra was arrested for running
a sex racket. The racket was
being operated through
WhatsApp, and women
were sent to customers’
chosen locations. Acting
on a tip-off, the woman
was arrested from Mumbra
railway station on Friday,
Anti Human Trafficking Cell
senior inspector Mahesh
Patil said. The woman has
been booked under the
Indian Penal Code and the
Immoral Traffic (Prevention)
Act, he added.
RAJASTHAN BASED JEWELLERY STORE STAFFER
ABSCONDS WITH `45 LAKH IN KALYAN
DISABLED MAN BURNS
FELLOW PASSENGER
ON LOCAL TRAIN
MAN CLIMBS ON BAR
ABOVE OVERHEAD
WIRE AT CSTM
MAN DUPED OF `15 L BY
AYURVEDA CENTRE OVER
WIFE'S TREATMENT
WOMAN GUARD HELD
FOR OPERATING SEX
RACKET IN THANE
CRUCIAL READ
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Deputy
Chief Minister Deven-
dra Fadnavis has an-
nounced that the state
government will send a
committee to study the
Bihar pattern of the
caste-based census.
This move comes in re-
sponse to the demand
for a caste-based cen-
sus in the state. Bihar
is currently the only
state in India that has
initiated a caste-based
census. The census is
being sought to provide
valuable information
on the socio-economic
status of different caste
groups in the country.
It will also help tailor
the reservation policy
to ensure equitable rep-
resentation for all.
The deputy CM stated
that the 2011 census was
conducted by the Centre
and was the Socio-Eco-
nomicandCasteCensus
(SECC), but the data
was not released due to
various problems.
“During the Maratha
reservation, I had
sought the data of
SECC but found it in-
correct. For example,
Ahmednagar which
has a large population
of Maratha community
was shown with just
14% of them and in
Nandurbar, which is a
tribal district popula-
tion, the Maratha com-
munity was shown as
28%. Wrong data would
lead to a social crisis.
So, if the Bihar model
succeeds then we can
think of it in our state,”
Fadnavis said.
Janata Dal (United)
MLC Kapil Patil had
raised the question of
the caste-based census
in the legislative coun-
cil and demanded to
conduct the same in
Maharashtra on the
lines of Bihar. Patil
claimed that such a
census would deter-
mine the population of
not just OBC’s in the
state, but the govern-
ment will get data on
the population of all
communities in Maha-
rashtra.
First India Bureau
Mumbai: “Water, water
everywhere and not a
droptodrink’--theiconic
line form Samuel Col-
eridge’spoem,TheRime
of the Ancient Mariner
couldwellbecomeareal-
ity in Maharashtra over
the next few years, the
Intergovernmental Pan-
el on Climate Change
(IPCC) has warned in its
latest report.
Inadditiontothetwin
challenges of both wa-
ter scarcity and flood-
ing, the IPCC’s Synthe-
sis Report, released ear-
lier this week, has also
predicted higher tem-
peratures for the state.
The report outlines a
comprehensive assess-
ment of the current
stateof scientificknowl-
edge related to climate
changeandpredictsthat
temperatures will con-
tinue to rise globally
.
Rising temperatures
could lead to more heat
waves which could pose
a serious health threat,
as well as make some
crops harder to grow,
the report says.
Maharashtra has al-
ready experienced se-
vere flooding in recent
years, and this could
become more common
in the future, it adds.
“Sea levels are set to
rise 1.1m by the end of
the century. This, com-
bined with the state’s
long coastline could
threaten coastal com-
munities and infra-
structure, leading to in-
creased flooding and
erosionalongthecoast,”
the report highlights.
The report’s findings
specific to Maharash-
tra have been authored
by Anjal Prakash, re-
search director of the
Bharti Institute of Pub-
lic Policy at the Indian
School of Business,
and Joyashree Roy, a
professor at the energy
economics programme
of the Asian Institute
of Technology.
The authors assert
that the Maharashtra
government will need
to adapt to the chang-
ing climate and take
steps to reduce green-
house gas emissions.
Maha to face water scarcity, flooding and higher temperatures: IPCC
BAD NEWS
lll
Rising sea levels,
along with the
state’s long
coastline, could
pose a threat
to coastal
communities and
infrastructure Sea levels are set to rise by the end of the century, the report states.
Committeetostudy‘Bihar
pattern’ofcaste-basedcensus
‘Sankalp Satyagraha’ against
RaGa disqualification : Maha Cong
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Congress
leaders and party work-
ers in Mumbai held a
“Sankalp Satyagraha”
in Mumbai, to protest
against the disqualifi-
cation of Rahul Gandhi
as Lok Sabha MP over
his conviction in the
“Modi surname” case.
Notably
, the Congress
party also held the
Sankalp Satyagraha at
Raj Ghat in the national
capital. Here in Mum-
bai, several Congress
leaders like Prithviraj
Chavan, Balasaheb
Thorat and Bhai Jagtap
participated in the pro-
test, held in front of a
statue of Mahatma
Gandhi, at the party
headquarters.
Former Maharashtra
CM Prithviraj Chavan
said that they are trying
to “protect democracy”
through their peaceful
Satyagraha.
“Disqualification of
Rahul Gandhi means
hurting and ending de-
mocracy. We are mak-
ing an effort to protect
democracy. This is our
peaceful Satyagraha.
Further course of ac-
tion will be decided. We
all legally appeal
against this action (dis-
qualification), and a le-
gal battle will be fought.
The political battle will
also continue, as you
can see,” he said.
Rahul Gandhi, on
Friday
, was disqualified
as a member of the Lok
Sabha, a day after a Su-
rat court sentenced him
to two years imprison-
ment in a defamation
case filed against him
over his 'Modi surname'
remark. The decision
came pertaining to his
remark made in April
2019, where he had said
“How come all the
thieves have Modi as a
common surname?” at
a Lok Sabha election
rally at Kolar in Karna-
taka. The court ap-
proved Gandhi’s bail on
a surety and stayed the
sentence for 30 days to
allow him to approach
the higher courts.
The Congress has
said that Rahul Gandhi
is not alone and mil-
lions of Congressmen
and people irrespective
of their political affilia-
tions will join him in
this fight for truth and
justice.
Leaders including Prithviraj Chavan, Balasaheb Thorat and Bhai Jagtap participated in the protest at
the party headquarters in Mumbai on Sunday. —PHOTO BY BHUSHAN KOYANDE
Party has said
Rahul Gandhi is
not alone and
millions of
Congressmen
will join him in
‘fight for truth
and justice’
Bodies of tigress, cub found in Chandrapur
Chandrapur (PTI):
The bodies of a tigress
and a cub were found in
Chandrapur district,
with forest officials on
Sunday citing dehydra-
tion and starvation as
possible causes for the
death of the cub.
The carcass of the
four-month-old cub was
foundonFridayevening
in Dongargaon beat in
compartment 163 of
Dhaba range, while a
search of the vicinity
led to the recovery of
the dead body of a ti-
gress on Saturday in
compartment 161, 78km
away from the district
headquarters, an offi-
cial said.
“All the organs of the
female cub were intact
and, prima facie, it
seems it died of dehy-
dration. However, the
death of the tigress is
under investigation as
the body has decom-
posed,” he said.
“Representatives of
the animal husbandry
department, forest de-
partment and the Na-
tional Tiger Conserva-
tion Authority are
probing the case and
have already completed
the panchnama.
Organsamplesarebe-
ing sent to the Forensic
Sciences Laboratory
here,” he added. Nota-
bly, on Saturday, Forest
Minister Sudhir Mun-
gantiwar informed the
Maharashtra Vidhan
Sabha that the forest de-
partment is making all
efforts to capture the fe-
male tiger known as T6
in Wadsa Forest Divi-
sion forest department
of Chandrapur district.
It was informed on Saturday that the forest dept is making all efforts
to capture the female tiger known as T6 in Wadsa Forest Division.
The claim comes after party’s demand to raze illegal places of worship.
Dehydration,
starvation likely
causes for death of
4-month-old cub
Priest gets 12 years
in jail for sexually
abusing 6-yr-old child
The court in its
ruling observed
that people often
place blind trust
in these persons
believing them
to be above such
heinous actions
Leaderclaimslifethreatafter
standonillegalworshipplaces
Cops rescue
baby sold to
childless couple
Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis —FILE PHOTO

MAHARASHTRA
03
First india Bureau
Mumbai: If the BMC
does not withdraw it's
circular extending the
retirement age from 62
to 64 years, the Munici-
pal Medical Teachers
Association (MMTA)
has warned that it will
launch a protest from
April 01 and submit a
written petition to the
Bombay High Court.
The decision of the
BMC will have a signifi-
cant impact on numer-
ous associate and assis-
tantprofessorswhohave
been denied promo-
tions to professor and
associate professor
positions for more
than 10 years.
“We are being
threatened by
our superiors
over joining
the protest with
adverse remarks
in confidential
service re-
cords, which
will ruin our
future pros-
pects,” a senior
MMTA doctor
said. MMTA secre-
tary says t h e
decision
directly
a f f e c t s
the future
of teaching
faculty
.
Dr. Ravindra Deokar,
secretary, MMTA, said
the body opposes the de-
cisions, which directly
affects the future of
teaching faculties, who
have been at the fore-
front during the Cov-
id-19 pandemic. MMTA
alleges deans of civic-
run colleges wrote let-
ters to increase the age
to 64 years.
“We had a meeting
with Iqbal Singh Cha-
hal, the BMC chief, and
have asked them to re-
think the decision. If we are left with no op-
tion, we will soon file a
writ petition in the
Bombay High Court,”
the doctor said.
The MMTA has ac-
cused deans of civic-
run medical colleges
of writing a self-rec-
ommendation letter to
increase the age
limit for retire-
ment from 62 to
64 years on Feb-
ruary 27, 2023,
which was ap-
proved by Cha-
hal. The dean of
LTMG hospital de-
nies these claims,
while the Additional
Municipal Commis-
sioner has prom-
ised to discuss
the MMTA's is-
sues and ensure
hospital services
are unaffected.
MMTA threatens stir from
Apr 01 over retirement age
Govt yet to sanction `1,500 cr scholarship money
First India Bureau
Mumbai: As many as
50,000 students across
Maharashtra are wait-
ing for the state govern-
ment to disburse schol-
arships—cumulatively
worth a whopping
Rs1,500 crore—that has
been due to them over
the past two years.
The Association of
Management of the Un-
aided Institutes in Ru-
ral Areas (AMUIRA)
has written to the state
urging it to clear the
pending amount, on the
grounds that private in-
stitutions are facing a
financial crunch.
“We have been pay-
ing the fees for scholar-
ship students since the
government has not dis-
bursed the amounts for
several years. In the
past two years alone,
more than 50,000 stu-
dents are due Rs1,500
crore in scholarships,”
AMUIRA president
Ramdas Zol said.
Asked about the situ-
ation, commissioner of
the Social Welfare de-
partment, Prashant
Natnavre said, “Some
amount has been re-
leased recently
. We have
been following up to
clear the dues at the ear-
liest so that colleges
continue to admit stu-
dents from reserved cat-
egories.”
Meanwhile, the state
directorate of higher
education said that they
were following-up with
the finance department
and that the disburse-
ment was awaited.
According to a report
in the Times of India,
some private institu-
tions have been running
on a no-profit, no-loss
basis, and have also re-
sorted to taking loans to
meet operational costs.
Notably, School Edu-
cation Minister Deep-
ak Kesarkar last week
told the Legislative As-
sembly that the state
has reimbursed self-fi-
nanced schools Rs875
crore, of which Rs425
crore has been re-
ceived from the Centre
till last year.
A committee has
also been formed to re-
solve the issues aris-
ing out of non-pay-
ment of fees in some
private schools in the
state so that students
do not have to face any
hardships.
Nationalist Con-
gress Party (NCP)
MLA Rajesh Tope said
as 25% seats in self-fi-
nanced schools are re-
served under the RTE
Act, the government
should reimburse the
schools.
Dues piling up
since 2011-12,
when the state
told educational
institutes not to
collect fees
from students
of reserved
categories
State sees record 3.6L
RTE quota applications
First India Bureau
Mumbai/Pune: The
state has received 3.6
lakh applications for
the roughly one lakh
seats at the entry-level
to primary classes on
Saturday
, the last day
of submission. The lot-
tery round for the ad-
missions to these 25%
free Right To Educa-
tion Act quota seats,
spread across 8,828
schools in Maharash-
tra, will likely be held
early next month, offi-
cials said.
Students who get ad-
missions under the
RTE quota are entitled
to free education till
Class VIII in private
schools. The govern-
ment is supposed to re-
imburse a certain
amountperstudentper
yeartotheschools.The
online application pro-
cess began March 01.
Pune had the high-
est number of appli-
cations at 77,413. Giv-
en that there are
15,655 RTE seats va-
cant in Pune, roughly
five students vying
for each seat there.
Officials attribute
the record number of
applications received
on the government
website to greater
greater awareness
among people about
the Act.
However, activists
warnthatseveralappli-
cations may turn out to
be fake, with people
furnishingfakeincome
certificates, which
wouldmakeitmoredif-
ficult to get a fair
chance at admission.
This year, the educa-
tion directorate made
Aadhaarcardscompul-
soryforapplicationun-
der the RTE Act. To aid
parents who did not
have the document, au-
thorities granted a 90-
day window to get one.
LONG PENDING
With 77,413
applications, roughly
five kids are vying
for each of the for
15,655 seats in Pune
Five women hospitalized after fire breaks out in high-rise
Mumbai (PTI): Five
women, including three
senior citizens, were
hospitalized after a fire
broke on the fourth
floor of a residential
high-rise in Kanjur-
marg in Mumbai on
Sunday morning, an of-
ficial said.
The fire broke out in
the ground-plus-14 sto-
rey building in Mhada
Colony in Karve Nagar
at 9.26 am and was
doused some 45 min-
utes later, he said.
“The fire was con-
fined to the wiring, elec-
tric installation in the
common meter cabin
on the ground floor as
well as the electric duct.
Fire brigade and police
personnel arrived at the
spot and rescued five
persons who were
trapped,” he said.
“They have been hos-
pitalized after suffering
injuries and suffoca-
tion from smoke inha-
lation. They are all in a
stable condition,” he
added.
The fire broke
out in the 14
storey building
in Mhada Colony
in Karve Nagar
at 9.26 am and
was doused
some 45
minutes later
FIRE IN THANE
FOREST AREA; NO
INJURIES
Thane: A fire broke out
in a forested area on a
hill in Thane district on
Sunday, a civic official
said. No casualties were
reported in the blaze that
erupted on Mama Bhanja
Hill around 2.30 pm,
said Avinash Sawant,
chief of the RDMC. The
forest department team
rushed to the scene and
doused the flames within
an hour, he said, adding
that the extent of dam-
ages in the forest area
and cause for the blaze
are yet to be ascertained.
Firefighters at work —File photo
SHARING FOOD, BUILDING BONDS
Members of the Muslim community observing Ramzan break their fast after dusk at the Minara Masjid, one of Islam’s
oldest places of worship in India, in Mumbai on Sunday. —PHOTO BY BHUSHAN KOYANDE
Three held for
duping people
of `65.8L in
Ponzi scheme
Nagpur (PTI): An of-
fence has been regis-
tered against three peo-
ple for allegedly duping
people of more than
Rs65 lakh in a ponzi
scheme in Nagpur city,
police said on Sunday
.
The accused had al-
legedly collected Rs65.82
lakh from several resi-
dents of Tajbag and
Hasanbag areas of the
city between December
2022 and January this
year, an official said.
They promised to
double the invested
amount every month
and had initially extend-
ed some benefits to a few
persons but later started
defaulting, he said.
Basedonacomplaint,
a case under Sections
420 (cheating) and other
relevant provisions of
the Indian Penal Code
has been registered
against the trio, the of-
ficial added.
VALID CONCERN?
Wife, daughter were Grant Road Stabber’s intended victims
First India Bureau
Mumbai: When54-year-
old Grant Road-resident
Chetan Gala was arrest-
ed on Friday after a
20-minute rampage
which left three people
deadandatleasttwooth-
ers seriously injured, of-
ficials had initially as-
sumed he was mentally
unstable.
However, they have
since learnt that Gala—
who was remanded to
policecustodybyacourt
on Saturday—had in-
tended to kill his es-
tranged wife Aruna and
their daughter.
Gala’s next-door
neighbours Ilaben Mis-
try (70) and her husband
Jayendrabhai (77) were
fatally stabbed simply
because the dagger-
wieldingmaniacthought
they had provided his
fleeing wife and daugh-
ter with refuge.
His attack on 18-year-
old Jenil Brahmbhatt—
over which he has since
expressed regret—was
equally opportunistic.
The teen had come run-
ning up from the first
floor, into the killer’s
sights on the second
floor.
According to media
reports, Gala also tried
to kill an eight-year-old
boy but let him go after
peoplewhohadgathered
outside the building
started attacking him
with stones.
Jayendrabhai had
managed to call the po-
lice before Chetan found
him, and teams were im-
mediately dispatched to
the spot. Meanwhile,
other residents took
Aruna and her daughter
intoashopontheground
floor and locked them
inside for their safety
.
“Gala then locked
himself in his house,
changed his clothes and
hid the blood-soaked
ones. He even hid the
murder weapon and
gave us a clean kitchen
knife when we arrived.
However, the video of
the murder helped us
identify that we had the
wrong weapon. We
searched the house and
recovered the dagger,”
an officer with the DB
Marg police station said.
Meanwhile, Rajesh
Mohite, 55, Bharat, 80,
and two others took it
upon themselves to stop
Gala’s rampage.
“We grabbed whatev-
er we could—sticks,
cricket stumps—and ac-
costed Gala, who tried to
attack us but lost his
nerve when he saw he
was outnumbered, after
which he locked himself
inhishouse,”Mehtatold
the media.
Originally thought to be mentally
ill, Gala hid the murder weapon
and gave cops a clean kitchen knife

PERSPECTIVE
04
l Vol 1 l Issue No. 317
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.
Phone 022-46031417.
Editor-In-Chief: Dr Jagdeesh Chandra
Editor: Kartikey Dev Singh
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
Amit Shah
@AmitShah
Without Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel,
Kalyan Karnataka would not have
become a part of India. The statue of
Patel Ji, which was inaugurated today,
is an expression of India’s gratitude to
the great unifier for his immense and
unparalleled contribution.
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
Progress of Odisha remains a top
priority for the #ModiGovt.Thank PM @
narendramodi ji and @nitin_gadkari ji
for fulfilling a much-awaited demand of
Odisha and sanctioning `169.27 crore
for the construction of a 9 km-long
bypass to Nabarangpur town on NH-26.
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
Do your work with the
welfare of others always
in mind.
—Bhagavad Gita
IN-DEPTH
NITIN GADKARI’S
PLAINSPEAK ON
MAINTENANCE OF
INDIAN ROADS
road cave-in here, an-
othersomewhereelse
leading to repair over
and over again does
not happen due to
poor load bearing capacity of the
construction alone. It also hap-
pens because the road construc-
tion quality gets compromised
because of a nexus between con-
tractors, babus and politicians.
As a result roads in several states
of India can be found to be in
pitiable conditions and authori-
ties remain unconcerned. The
easy way out for authorities is to
relay the top layer which gener-
ally wears off during monsoon
with regular repair fetching
them monetary benefits.
Union Road Transport Minis-
ter Nitin Gadkari hit the nail on
its head when he said, “Some-
where people with vested inter-
est are behind frequent mainte-
nance of roads. Some officers,
contractors and politicians have
interest in this. They create a
cartel and every year they get a
budget for maintenance.” This
cartel, he said, is not interested
in finding a permanent solution
to the problem which is “more
on the non-NH stretches”.
TOP TWEETS
A
eservation poli-
tics is being
played out in
Karnataka before
the state assem-
bly elections with the clear
intent of pleasing the two
dominant communities---the
Lingayats and the Vokkali-
gas. The 4% quota for OBC
Muslims has been scrapped
and their share has been
equally divided between the
two Hindu sects. Of the two,
Lingayats are more power-
ful. With the extra two per-
cent each the Vokkaligas
will get 6 percent reserva-
tion and the Lingayats 7 per-
cent. Muslims have been
placed in the “larger pool”
of the Economically Weaker
Section (EWS) category.
Chief Minister Basavaraj
Bommai justified the deci-
sion to shift Muslims to the
EWS category by stating
that Dr BR Ambedkar had
said that reservations were
for castes and not religion.
Muslims are upset with
the decision and Maulana
Mahmood Madani, the Ja-
miat Ulema-i-Hind has con-
demned it. Madani called the
decision to abolish quota for
backward Muslim sub-castes
“as harmful to nation’s com-
prehensive development
policy” was against PM
Modi’s assertions to uplift
the Pasmanda Muslims. He
said he will move court to
seek justice. The 4 % quota
for “socially educationally
backward” Muslims was
started by HD Deve Gowda
govt in 1994.
Union Home Minister
Amit Shah, who is campaign-
ing in Karnataka, blamed the
quota for Muslims on Con-
gress and its “policy of ap-
peasement.” He said that
there’s no provision for quota
for religious minorities in
the Constitution.
The scrapping of quota
will help the BJP gain votes
more than its continuation.
KARNATAKA SCRAPS
QUOTA FOR MUSLIMS
Union Home Minister
Amit Shah, who is
campaigning in K’taka,
blamed quota for Muslims
on Cong its “policy of
appeasement.”He said
that there’s no provision
for quota for religious
minorities in Constitution
R
BJP’S BIG ‘PASMANDA’ PUSH AND
ELECTORAL MATHS AROUND IT
n order to make inroads
among the Muslim voters in
the upcoming Lok Sabha
elections, the BJP-ruled gov-
ernment has come up with
several schemes. Highlight-
ing the backwardness among
Pasmanda Muslims, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi has
delivered on reaching out to
the most deprived sections of
the society through his vari-
ous welfare schemes.
The PM said, “We should
provide facilities to our
tribes in more than 200 dis-
tricts and more than 22,000
villages. We have Pasmanda
Muslims among our minori-
ties, especially Muslims, how
should we benefit them..this
government is thinking. Be-
cause Even after so many
years of independence, they
are still far behind.”
In July last year, at the BJP
National Executive meeting,
PM Modi talked about Pas-
manda Muslims. After this,
he has been stressing about
the backwardness of Pas-
manda in the Delhi session
of the National Executive,
where a ‘Sneh Yatra’ was an-
nounced in order to woo the
Pasmanda Muslims.
Pasmanda community
leader Danish Ansari, who
hails from Ballia, is also a
minister in the Yogi Adity-
anath government of BJP-
ruled Uttar Pradesh.
Whopping 85% of total
Muslim population
Muslims in India are broadly
categorised into three social
groups – Ashraf, the “noble” or
upper caste, Aljaf, backward
casteMuslims;andArzal,lower
caste or Dalit Muslims. While
Ashraf are considered the tra-
ditionallydominantgroupcom-
prising Sheikh, Syed, Turk
(Mughal) Pathan clans, Aljaf
and Arzal are collectively
knownasPasmanda,aPersian
word for “ones left behind.”
Pasmanda is a term for
Other Backward Class (OBC)
Muslims comprising eco-
nomically and socially back-
ward members of society.
According to Pasmanda lead-
ers and rights activists, out
of the total Muslim popula-
tion in the country
, around 85
per cent are backward or Pas-
manda Muslims.
‘Only 60 Pasmanda
Muslims reached Lok
Sabha’
The community has often
raised concerns over the lack
of representation in political
leadership positions despite
being the numerical majority
.
They claim that out of the
roughly 400 Muslims elected
tothefirst14LokSabhas,only
60 were Pasmanda Muslims.
Demands of Pasmanda
Muslim Mahaj?
All India Pasmanda Muslim
Mahaj is an organization of
Pasmanda Muslims from all
over the country
. As soon as it
heard the news of BJP’s Sneh
Yatra, the organisation wrote
alettertoPrimeMinisterModi
and demanded that Scheduled
Castestatusshouldbegivento
about a dozen castes in Pas-
mandaMuslims,whocurrent-
ly come under OBC.
Thisdemandisnotnew.But
amidst the news of BJP mak-
ing inroads among Pasmanda
Muslims, it has once again
raised this demand afresh.
Mahaj claims that if the
government really wants to
do good to the Pasmanda
Muslims, then their old de-
mand should be accepted.
If experts are to be be-
lieved, without accepting
this demand, it is a bit diffi-
cult for the Pasmanda Mus-
lims to go with the BJP. This
demand is standing as a rift
between BJP and Pasmanda
Muslims.
Who are Pasmanda
Muslims?
‘Pasmanda’ is a Persian word
meaning ‘those who are left
behind,’ it is believed to be a
category of Muslims belong-
ing to Shudra (backward)
and Ati-Shudra (Dalit) castes.
Till 1998, Pasmanda Muslims
were just a group, mainly ac-
tive in Bihar.
For this reason, All India
Pasmanda Muslim Mahaj
Sangathan believes that ‘Pas-
manda’ are in every religion
and in the same way they are
also in Muslims.
Caste census has not been
done in India for years. Ac-
cording to an estimate, 15 per-
cent of the total population of
India are Muslims, out of
which about 85 percent are
Pasmanda Muslims. Accord-
ing to the latest figures of the
National Family Health Sur-
vey
, about 45 percent of Mus-
lims get the benefit of OBC.
Pasmanda includes people
who are socially, education-
ally and economically back-
ward and forms the majority
of the Muslim community in
the country. The term Pas-
manda is used by Muslim as-
sociations in Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar and other parts of In-
dia to describe themselves as
historically and socially op-
pressed Muslim communi-
ties by caste.
The backward, dalit and
tribal Muslim communities
are now uniting under the
identityof Pasmanda.Among
themKunjare(Rayan),Julahe
(Ansari), Dhunia (Mansuri),
Butcher (Qureshi), Fakir
(Alvi),Hairdresser(Salmani),
Scavenger (Halalkhor), Gwa-
la (Ghosi), Washerman (Ha-
wari), Blacksmith-Carpenter
(Saifi), Manihar (Siddique),
Darji (Idrisi), Vangujjar, etc.
Pasmandas seek
answers from ‘secular’
parties
The Bharatiya Janata Party
accused the Samajwadi Party
and the Congress of using
Muslims as mere vote banks
while the community
strengthened these parties
for over seven decades with
their blind support.
Pasmandas, or ones left be-
hind, have asked the so-called
‘secular’ political parties to
spell out their plans for Other
Backward Classes and Dalit
Muslims. Activists fighting
for the Pasmanda bloc have
for long insisted that caste
cuts across religions, and that
non-Ashraf (well-heeled)
Muslims also face caste dis-
crimination just like back-
ward and Dalit Hindus.
Opposition parties have so
far remained mum on the
matter.
Can’t address Muslims
without Pasmandas
While the politics is making
sure that the ‘Muslim ques-
tion’ cannot be addressed
without talking to Pasman-
das, which comprise majori-
ty of Indian Muslims, in the
upcoming Lok Sabha elec-
tions, with the BJP trying its
best to win Muslim voters in
its favour, it is left to be seen
to what extent it succeeds in
garnering their support.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
I
MOHD FAHAD
The writer is senior journalist,
and alumnus of AJKMCRC,
Jamia Millia Islamia
‘Pasmanda’ is a Persian
word meaning ‘those who
are left behind,’ it is
believed to be a category of
Muslims belonging to
Shudra (backward) and
Ati-Shudra (Dalit) castes.
Till 1998, Pasmanda
Muslims were just a group,
mainly active in Bihar. All
India Pasmanda Muslim
Mahaj Sangathan believes
that ‘Pasmanda’ are in
every religion

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05
INDIA
Bidar (ANI): Following
the removal of four per
cent OBC reservation
for Muslims in Karna-
taka, Union Home Min-
ister Amit Shah on Sun-
day lashed out at Con-
gressandsaidthatthere
is no provision in the
Constitution to provide
reservation on the basis
of religion.
In a cabinet meeting,
the Karnataka govern-
ment scrapped the four
per cent OBC reserva-
tion for Muslims and
distributed it to two
dominant communi-
ties, Veerashaiva-Lin-
gayats and Vokkaligas.
It also decided to move
OBC Muslims to the 10
per cent Economically
Weaker Section (EWS)
category
.
Shah inaugurated the
‘Garota Shaheed
Smarak’ and a memori-
al of Sardar Vallabh
Bhai Patel. He also
hoisted a 103-ft high na-
tionalflaginKarnataka.
While addressing a
public meeting, Shah in
poll-bound Karnataka,
Shah said, “Reserva-
tions provided to the mi-
nority was not as per
Constitution. There is
no provision in the Con-
stitution to provide res-
ervation on the basis of
religion.” Attacking
Congress’polarisedpoli-
tics, Shah said that in
the greed of the vote
bank, Congress never
commemoratedthemar-
tyrs of independence
‘Hyderabad mukti’.
“Due to Congress’
politics of polarisation,
in the greed for the vote
bank, they never com-
memorated the people
who sacrificed them-
selves for independence
and ‘Hyderabad muk-
ti’”, said Shah.
New Delhi (Agencies):
One of the 11 men who
gangraped Bilkis Bano
during the 2002 Gujarat
riots and were released
prematurely, was seen
sharingstagewithaBJP
MPatagovernmentpro-
gramme in Gujarat yes-
terday
. The release of
the men has been chal-
lenged in the Supreme
Court and the case will
be heard on Monday
.
The group water sup-
ply scheme event took
place on in Karmadi
Village of Dahod dis-
trict on March 25.
Shailesh Chimanlal
Bhatt was seen on stage
with Dahod MP Jasvant
Sinh Bhabhor and Lim-
kheda MLA Sailesh
Bhabhor and posing for
photos at the event. The
two leaders were not
available for comment.
The 11 convicts were
released on Independ-
ence Day last year, trig-
gering a flood of out-
rage across the country
.
They were convicted in
2008 for gangraping
Bilkis Bano and killing
7 members of her fami-
ly
. Her 3-year-old daugh-
ter was among those
killed. Seven other rela-
tives, who she says were
also killed, were de-
clared “missing”.
JUSTICE DIWAKER
SWORN IN ALLD HC
CHIEF JUSTICE
UMESH PAL MURDER: MAFIA AHMED TO BE
PRODUCED IN MP MLA COURT ON MARCH 28
New Delhi (ANI): Rummaging Gangster Atique Ahmed
will be produced in Prayagraj’s MP MLA court at 11 am
on March 28, an order copy said. Umesh Pal and one of
his armed security escorts were shot dead in Prayagraj
on February 24 while he was returning home from court.
On March 17, after completing the hearing in the court,
the decision was reserved. The order was issued by
Judge DC Shukla of MP MLA Court on March 23 to pro-
duce Atique Ahmed for a hearing. Umesh was also a key
witness in the murder of former BSP leader Raju Pal and
had an old rivalry with Mafia Don Atiq Ahmad.
Prayagraj (PTI): Justice
Pritinker Diwaker was
sworn in as the chief
justice of the Allahabad
High Court on Sunday. He
was administered the oath
of office by Uttar Pradesh
Governor Anandiben Patel
in the courtroom of the
chief justice. During the
ceremony, all the judges
of the court, including
the Lucknow bench, and
most of the lawyers were
present. The governor was
given a guard of honour
in the court compound on
her arrival. In a notifica-
tion dated March 24, Pres-
ident Droupadi Murmu
appointed Justice Diwaker
as the chief justice of the
Allahabad HC with effect
from the date he assumes
charge of his office.
IN THE COURTYARD
DELHI COURT GRANTS BAIL TO POCSO
ACCUSED LANGUISHING IN JAIL
New Delhi (ANI): The Dwarka District Court has grant-
ed bail to an accused in custody for about five years
in a case under Protection of Children from Sexual
Offences (POCSO) Act. The accused was charged
under Section 5(l) r/w 6 of the POCSO Act which is
punishable with rigorous life imprisonment. The Ad-
ditional Sessions Judge Pooja Talwar on Friday while
considering the bail plea said, “Keeping in mind the
facts that all the material witnesses have already been
examined and the accused is in custody for about 5
years, accused Kanhaiya Lal is hereby released on bail.
Lucknow (ANI): Sa-
majwadi Party chief
Akhilesh Yadav on
Sunday said the big-
ger question facing
the country is wheth-
er democracy will
survive or not.
The biggest ques-
tion is whether de-
mocracy will survive
or not. BJP is not a
party, it is an organi-
zation, he said. Akh-
ilesh welcomed the
Congress' Sanklap
Satyagraha to pro-
test against the dis-
qualification of Ra-
hul Gandhi as a
member of the Lok
Sabha.
I want to congrat-
ulate the Congress
party and Rahul
Gandhi for the saty-
agraha, the former
UP chief minister
said.
The Congress is
holding Sankalp
Satyagraha at Raj
Ghat. Priyanka Gan-
dhi arrived at Raj
Ghat for the protest
on Sunday. Congress
President Mallikar-
jun Kharge, party
general secretary KC
Venugopal and sev-
eral other party lead-
ers also joined the
protest.
SP chief however
reminded that what
happened with Rahul
Gandhi had also hap-
pened with Azam
Khan and his son as
well.
If the educated
people of our coun-
try start accepting
lies as truth then
what will happen to
the democracy of the
country, Akhilesh
wondered.
Bigger question is
whether democracy
will survive: Yadav
Bilkis Bano’s rapist shares
stage with Guj’s BJP MP,MLA
Sailesh Chimanlal Bhatt was seen on stage with MP Jasvant Sinh.
Reservations provided
to Muslims not as per
Constitution, says HM
Home Minister Amit Shah waves to the crowd during the public
meeting for the upcoming MP Assembly elections, in Chhindwara.
Congress Government due to its polar-
isation politics provided reservation
to the minority. BJP scrapped that
reservation and provided reservations to Vok-
kaliga and Lingayat communities.
—Amit Shah, Union Home Minister
SeniorTelanganaleaderreturnstoCong
Hyderabad (Agen-
cies): Former MP of
Bharat Rashtra
Samithi (BRS) D Srini-
vas on Sunday re-
joined the Congress,
nearly nine years after
he had quit the party
.
The senior leader
along with his son
Dharampuri Sanjay
joined the party in the
presence of Telanga-
na Congress in-charge
Manikrao Thakare,
state Congress chief
A. Revanth Reddy and
other leaders.Srini-
vas reached Gandhi
Bhavan, the state
headquarters of the
Congress party, in a
wheel-chair.
The former Rajya
Sabha member Srini-
vas was re-inducted
into the party in the
presence of many sen-
ior leaders.
Srinivas with party leaders
Congress supporters during the party’s ‘Satyagraha’ against disqualification of Rahul Gandhi
from the Lok Sabha, at Rajghat in New Delhi on Sunday. —PHOTO BY PTI
The BJP slammed Con-
gressandcalledits'Saty-
agraha' as 'Duragraha'
onSunday
.TheCongress
is staging 'Sankalp Saty-
agraha' at the Rajghat
against the disqualifica-
tion of Rahul Gandhi
from Parliament.
BJP leader R.P. Singh
said, It is clear from
this what kind of Satya-
graha the Congress is
doing. The murderer of
Sikhs (Jagdish Tytler)
has joined this Satya-
graha. Congress cannot
survive without Tytler.
The party invites him to
every event.
Singh said that this is
not Satyagraha, but an
attempt is being made to
reinstateJagdishTytler,
who is accused of kill-
ing Sikhs. In February
this year, Tytler was
elected a member of the
Congress Committee.
Poonawalla hit out at
Congress and said the
Satyagraha was a 'Dura-
graha' against the OBCs
Courts. Poonawalla
said, Today's so-called
Satyagraha showed
their Duragraha for
court and for the consti-
tution because it was a
court that convicted Ra-
hul Gandhi...It is a Du-
ragraha against the
OBC samaj to support
such a statement.
BJP LAUNCHES SCATHING ATTACK OVER CONGRESS PROTEST
Duragraha not Satyagraha:
BJP lashes out at Congress
Congress holds
nationwide
protests against
Rahul Gandhi’s
disqualification
Former finance minister and
senior Cong leader P Chidam-
baram said his party’s leader
Rahul Gandhi’s disqualifica-
tion from Lok Sabha would
strengthen the Congress
party, helping its prospects
in next year’s general elec-
tion. Describing the political
landscape as an “undeclared
emergency”, Chidambaram
said the ruling BJP has made
the Congress its “prime tar-
get” wishing its elimination in
order to more easily manage
the regional parties.
Thiruvananthapuram
(ANI): Senior Congress
leader Shashi Tharoor
on Sunday wondered
whether it was good for
the democracy of this
country when a principal
opposition leader is not al-
lowed to raise his voice in
Parliament. “Is this good
for our country”? Con-
gress MP Shashi Tharoor
said. “Let us forget party
politics. This is damaging
to India. It is not damag-
ing to Rahul Gandhi,”
he said. On being asked
about ongoing Sankalp
Satyagraha, he said, “This
(Satyagraha) is not just
about congress party
or Rahul Gandhi, this is
about Indian democracy”.
New Delhi (PTI): Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge
on Sunday slammed the BJP over its charge that Rahul
Gandhi insulted OBCs with his
remark for which he has been
convicted in a criminal defama-
tion case, and said why is the rul-
ing party pained if fugitives such
as Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi are
criticised. Addressing a gathering
at “Sankalp Satyagraha” of the
Congress right outside Rajghat,
Kharge also thanked all Opposition parties for standing
with Rahul Gandhi and the Congress to save democracy.
New Delhi (ANI): Attacking the BJP-led centre over the dis-
qualification of Rahul Gandhi as a Lok Sabah MP, Congress
president Mallikarjun Kharge said that the former MP was
“sued for defamation only to suppress his voice.” Talking
to ANI, Kharge said, “The whole Congress party is standing
with Rahul Gandhi. BJP and Modi government is not allow-
ing Rahul Gandhi to speak,” he added. He further said that
the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi only means that the
government does not want to let Rahul Gandhi speak.
Chennai (Agencies): Tamil
Nadu Congress legislators
will hold a sit-in protest in
the Assembly on Monday to
condemn the disqualification
of Rahul Gandhi from Parlia-
ment. The protest will con-
tinue for 24 hours and end on
Tuesday. Congress party will
also move a special resolution
in the Assembly to protest
the “murder of democracy”.
This was announced by the
Congress legislative party
leader, Selvaperithungai on
Sunday while interacting
with mediapersons.
Lucknow (ANI): UP Chief
Minister Yogi Adityanath on
Sunday targeted Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi and
scoffed at the party’s
‘Sankalp Satyagraha’ against
the disqualification of Rahul
Gandhi as an MP. “One who
walks on the path of untruth
cannot talk about Satya-
graha,” CM Yogi said adding
that the inspiration was
given by Bapu to follow the
path of Satyagraha, those
who weaken democracy can-
not do Satyagraha.
‘THIS WILL PUT IN
MORE STEEL IN
GRAND OLD PARTY’
IT IS DAMAGING
TO OUR INDIAN
DEMOCRACY:
SHASHI THAROOR
KHARGE SLAMS BJP, ASKS WHY IS
GOVT PAINED IF FUGITIVES CRITICISED
RAHUL GANDHI DISQUALIFIED ONLY
TO SUPPRESS HIS VOICE: KHARGE
CONG MLAs TO
HOLD 24-HR
PROTEST IN TN
UP CM YOGI MOCKS
CONG’ SANKALP
SATYAGRAHA
New Delhi (PTI): Con-
gress general secretary
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on
Sunday said a martyred
prime minister’s son
who walked thousands
of kilometres for national
unity can never insult
the country. She alleged
that Rahul Gandhi was
disqualified for question-
ing the prime minister
on industrialist Gautam
Adani and people will give
a befitting reply to those
behind the action.
‘MARTYR PM’S SON CAN NEVER INSULT COUNTRY’
BJP scared of Rahul’s popularity so conspiring: Raj CM Gehlot
Ashvini Yadav
New Delhi: Raj CM
Ashok Gehlot on Sunday
said that ‘BJP is scared
of Rahul Gandhi’s popu-
larity after which con-
spiracies were hatched
againsthim.Hesaidthat
PM Modi is accusing Ra-
hul as part of election
strategy
.
“Modi has played this
card as the last weapon
even in Gujarat elections.
Heisdeliberatelytryingto
mislead the OBC class,”
Gehlot said in New Delhi
where he participated in
‘Satyagraha’.
“Congress has always
caredforOBC,SCandST
classes. I myself belong
to the OBC category and
I am the CM for a third
time,” he said. Gehlot
said that Rahul’s Bharat
Jodo Yatra got immense
response and therefore
the BJP is scared of him.
“The way people have
gathered here for the
party’s Satyagraha gives
a message to the nation,”
Gehlot said.
Raj CM Ashok Gehlot during Sankalp Satyagraha at Rajghat in New
Delhi on Sunday. Senior Congress leader Selja Kumari is also seen.
CONGRESS ‘SATYAGRAHA’ IN SUPPORT OF
RAHUL GANDHI BEGINS IN RAJASTHAN
Jaipur: The Congress’ Rajasthan unit on Sunday began its day-
long “Sankalp Satyagraha” here in support of Rahul Gandhi
following his disqualification from the Lok Sabha. The party’s
state unit chief Govind Singh Dotasra, Food and Civil Supplies
Minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas and several other leaders
are taking part in the protest at the Collectorate Circle. Similar
protests are also being organised in other districts.
OBC card was
played as last
weapon even in
Gujarat elections,
says Raj CM Gehlot
RTDC Chairman Dharmendra Rathore during the Cong’s ‘Sankalp
Satyagraha’ in Ajmer.Also seen here is Naseem Akhtar and others.

06
INDIA
Srinagar(ANI):World’s
highest railway bridge
over the Chenab river in
Jammu and Kashmir is
soon to get operational
for rail traffic.
The much-awaited
world’s highest railway
bridge spans the Chen-
ab River at a height of
359 m (1,178 ft) above the
river, which is 35 meters
taller than Paris’ Eiffel
Tower. The arch bridge
between Bakkal and
Kauri in the Reasi dis-
trict of JK is 1,178 feet
above the riverbed,
forming a crucial link
from Katra to Banihal.
It is part of the Udham-
pur-Srinagar-Baramul-
la Railway Link (US-
BRL), a dream project
worth Rs 35000 crore.
The bridge has
passed all the manda-
tory tests. However, the
Chenab railway bridge
is near completion at
present as the incum-
bent regime laid a spe-
cial focus on the project
worth Rs 1400 crore.
Thepeoplewillgetthe
bridge after two decades
of waiting since the pro-
ject was approved in
2003 but was delayed
shortly due to fears of
stability and safety
.
In 2008, the contract
for constructing one of
the highest railway
bridges was awarded by
the then government.
World’s highest railway bridge to be operational soon
IN THE VALLEY
ANTI-INDIA PROTESTS IN CANADA
PM Modi talks about importance
of organ donation in ‘Mann Ki Baat’
New Delhi: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi on
Sunday (March 26) ad-
dressedthenationinthe
99thepisodeof ‘MannKi
Baat.’ Opening the 99th
edition of his monthly
radio programme PM
Modi compared the epi-
sode’s mark with crick-
et’s ‘nervous nineties’.
He said that the mark of
99 is generally consid-
ered a difficult mile-
stone to cross. However,
it becomes a source of
inspiration when it is
about Indians and their
‘Mann Ki Baat.’
In the 99th episode of
‘Mann Ki Baat’ PM
Modi talked about the
impact and power of or-
gan donation that
changes the course of
lives for several people.
“With the technological
advancement in the
Medical Science, organ
donation has become a
powerful medium of
giving life to someone,”
said PM Modi. “After
death, when a person’s
body is given for organ
donation it may change
the life of nearly 8-9
people,” added PM.
PM Modi further said
that it is really satisfy-
ing to know that the
awareness about organ
donation has increased
in the country recently
and the cases of organ
donationhaveincreased
to 15,000 as of 2022 from
a mere 5,000 in 2013.
Duringtheradioshow,
PM also talked to the
familiesof peoplewhose
bodies were donated for
organ donation. The do-
nors saved the lives of
several people and were
touted as ‘saviours’ even
after their death.
‘NORTHEAST INDIA
NOW KNOWN FOR
ALL-ROUND
DEVELOPMENT’
New Delhi: PM Nar-
endra Modi said that
earlier the Northeast re-
gion was known as for
blockades and violence,
but now it is known
for its developmental
strides and all-round
development. Modi was
responding to Home
Minister Amit Shah
where he informed that
“PM Modi led Govern-
ment has once again
decided to decrease
the disturbed areas in
Nagaland, Assam and
Manipur under the AF-
SPA”. Shah added that
this decision has been
taken on account of
significant improvement
in the security situation
in North-East India.
The PM also said
that he is looking
forward to ideas
for 100th episode
of Mann Ki Baat
New Delhi (Agen-
cies): The centre has
summoned the Cana-
dian High Commis-
sioner over Khalistan
protests outside the
Indian missions and
consulates over the last
few days over.
“The High Commis-
sioner of Canada was
summoned to convey
our strong concern
about the actions of
separatist and extrem-
ist elements against our
diplomatic Mission and
Consulates in Canada
this week,” the Ministry
for External Affairs
said. “The Government
of India sought an ex-
planation on how such
elements were allowed,
in the presence of po-
lice, to breach the secu-
rity of our diplomatic
Mission and Consu-
lates,” it further said.
India summons envoy
and seeks explanation
Chandigarh (PTI): The Ajnala
court in Punjab on Saturday
sent 10 associates of Waris
Punjab De, headed by fugitive
radical Sikh preacher Amrit-
pal Singh, to judicial custody
till April 6 in connection with
a case related to the clash
between Khalistan supporters
and the police. Another ac-
cused, Sukhpreet Singh, was
remanded to four-day police
custody, an official said.
Chandigarh (PTI): The
Punjab Police has arrested a
woman from Patiala for alleg-
edly sheltering fugitive radical
preacher Amritpal Singh and
his aide. As per police, Am-
ritpal and his aide Papalpreet
Singh had allegedly stayed at
the residence of Balbir Kaur
in Patiala’s Hargobind Nagar
on March 19. Kaur allegedly
sheltered Amritpal and Papal-
preet for five to six hours.
AMRITPAL’S 10 AIDES
SENT TO JAIL OVER
CLASH WITH POLICE
WOMAN ARRESTED
FOR HARBOURING
AMRITPAL SINGH
Police take Atiq to Prayagraj amid tight security
Uttar Pradesh Police on
Sunday came to the Sa-
barmati central jail in
Ahmedabad on Sunday
and took gangster-
turned-politician Atiq
Ahmed to Prayagraj
amid tight security
.
Atiq Ahmed will be
producedbeforeacourt
on March 28 when it
passes an order in a
kidnapping case in
which he is an accused.
Atiq has been accused
of orchestrating the
kidnappingandassault
on a real estate busi-
nessman, Mohit Jaisw-
al,whileinjail. Ahmed
wasshiftedfromSabar-
mati central jail as per
the Supreme Court’s
order. Atiq and his fam-
ily are in the news after
theirnamescroppedup
intherecentmurderof
lawyer Umesh Pal, a
prime witness in the
2005 BSP MLA Raju Pal
murder case.
Oppn set to 'grill' BJP
govt during Assembly
session, says Goa LoP
Panaji: Leader of Op-
position in Goa Assem-
bly Yuri Alemao said
on Sunday that the Op-
position MLAs are all
“set to grill” the BJP
government during
the Budget Session, be-
ginning from March
27, on issues concern-
ing the state.
Congress leader Ale-
mao said that facts and
figures detailing “the
crores of rupees spent
on self-glorification
events and advertise-
ment’s by the BJP gov-
ernment will come to
light in the upcoming
Assembly session”.
“This session will ex-
pose the true face of the
failed BJP government.
It will be proved that
the rattled BJP govern-
ment is curtailing the
session instead of cur-
tailing wasteful expend-
iture,” Alemao added.
Kathmandu: The Civil
Aviation Authority of
Nepal (CAAN) has sus-
pended three employees
of the air traffic control-
lerdepartmentforcare-
lessness, as per CAAN
spokesperson Jagan-
nath Niroula on Sunday
.
On Friday, an Airbus
A-320 aircraft of the Ne-
pal Airlines coming to
Kathmandu from Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia and
an Air India plane com-
ing to Kathmandu from
New Delhi almost col-
lided. The Air India air-
craft was descending
from 19,000 ft while the
Nepal Airlines aircraft
was flying at an altitude
of 15,000 ft at the same
location, Niroula said.
The 2 aircraft were in
proximity, the Nepal
Airlines aircraft de-
scended to 7,000 ft, the
spokesperson said.
Air India, Nepal
Airlines planes
almost collided,
3 suspended
AP CM congratulates ISRO for
launch of largest rocket LVM3
Amaravati (ANI):
Andhra Pradesh Chief
Minister YS Jagan Mo-
han Reddy on Sunday
congratulated the Indi-
an Space Research Or-
ganisation (ISRO) team
for the successful
launch of India’s larg-
est rocket LVM3 carry-
ing 36 satellites.
It was OneWeb’s sec-
ond venture propelling
India’s capability in
global space technology
.
“The success of
LVM3-M3/Oneweb In-
dia 2 Mission stands as
a milestone in Indian
space history”, the
Chief Minister said. He
also wished ISRO all
success in future en-
deavours.
The ISRO launched
India’s largest LVM3
rocket carrying 36 satel-
lites from Andhra
Pradesh’s Sriharikota
on Sunday morning.
LVM3 was launched
from Satish Dhawan
Space Centre in Sri-
harikota at around 9
AM. “LVM3 standing
43.5 metres tall and
weighing 643 tonnes
lifted off from the sec-
ond launch pad rocket
port carrying OneWeb’s
final instalment of 36
Gen1 satellites”, said
the officials. Reported-
ly, the LVM3 is a three-
stage rocket with the
first stage fired with
liquid fuel, the two
strap-on motors pow-
ered by solid fuel, the
second by liquid fuel
and the third is the cry-
ogenic engine.“
One Web also men-
tioned the importance
of collaboration be-
tween the UK and Indi-
an space industries.
Man held for duping
women devotees
A man who duped 50 to
60 women devotees on
the pretext of providing
them a tour package to
Vaishno Devi has been
held by the Delhi Police.
The accused Madhur
Kumar used to target
women devotees during
Navratri and other fes-
tivals. Rohit Meena,
DCP of Shahdara dis-
trict, said that the ac-
cused used to spread
captivating message on
social media to dupe
women devotees. The
official said that they
got a complaint in this
respect from one Ana-
mika Sharma. She told
the police that she got a
message on a Facebook
group about a tour
package to ‘Mata
Vaishnao Devi’.
New Delhi: India
logged 1,890 new coro-
navirus cases, the high-
est in 149 days, while
the active cases in-
creased to 9,433, accord-
ing to the Union Health
Ministry data updated
on Sunday
. The country
had recorded 2,208 cas-
es in a single day on Oc-
tober 28 last year.
The death count has
increased to 5,30,831
with seven deaths.
While two deaths each
were reported by Maha-
rashtra and Gujarat in
a span of 24 hours,
three were reconciled
by Kerala, the data up-
dated at 8 am stated.
The daily positivity
was recorded at 1.56 per
cent while the weekly
positivity was pegged at
1.29 per cent. The Covid
case tally was recorded
at 4.47 crore (4,47,04,147)
The active cases now
comprises 0.02 per cent
of the total infections,
while the national COV-
ID-19 recovery rate has
beenrecordedat98.79%,
the ministry said.
1,890newCovidcasesin24hours
2 MORE TESTS TO BE CONDUCTED
SOON FOR STABILITY SAFETY
The construction of the bridge was started again,
after it missed several deadlines. To make the
bridge ready for commissioning, all the mandatory
tests have been conducted successfully. The tests
that have been conducted to check the stability
and safety of the world’s highest bridge include
high-velocity winds test, extreme temperatures
test, earthquake-prone test and hydrological im-
pacts due to water level increase. The Union Minis-
ter of Railway, Communications and Electronic and
Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw has
said that two more tests are to be conducted to-
morrow, which include running a motor trolley and
bolero customised rail operation on the bridge.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the 99th edition of the ‘Mann Ki Baat’ on Sunday.
Pro-Khalistan protest in Canada. —FILE PHOTO
Jailed-mafia Atiq Ahmed
outside Sabarmati Central
Jail, in Ahmedabad, Sunday.
Bhopal: A missionary school in Madhya Pradesh’s Morena
district was sealed after liquor and condoms were found
in the principal’s room during a surprise inspection. The
inspection was conducted by the State Commission for the
Protection of Child Rights on Saturday. The SCPCR team
found beds, liquor and condoms and also egg trays and
gas cylinders. “I saw there was a gas cylinder and other
objectionable stuff, including liquor bottles. Police are in-
vestigating the whole matter,” Nivedita Sharma, a member
of the SCPCR inspection team said, adding that she had
brought the matter to the notice of the District Collector.
Hyderabad: In what could
be a suicide pact, four
members of a software
engineer’s family, includ-
ing 2 kids, were found
dead in their flat. Police
suspect that children’s
ill-health might have
forced the couple to resort
to the extreme step. The
victims are believed to
have consumed poison to
end their lives. Police said
that G Satish, 39, his wife
G Veda, 35, and their chil-
dren, G Nishiket, 9, and G
Nihal, 5, were found dead
in their Park Royal Apart-
ment flat at Kandiguda.
New Delhi A man was ar-
rested in Delhi on Sunday
for allegedly duping over
50 women on the pretext
of providing them with a
tour package to Vaishno
Devi. The matter came to
light in February. Madhur
Kumar (36), from Hary-
ana’s Panipat, became part
of several Facebook groups
formed by devotees and
posted captivating mes-
sages to lure people with
his fake tour packages, the
police said. He targeted
victims in festive seasons,
especially during Navratri,
police said.
MISSIONARY SCHOOL SEALED IN MP AFTER
LIQUOR, CONDOMS FOUND IN INSPECTION
4 OF HYDERABAD
TECHIE’S FAMILY
DIE IN SUICIDE PACT
MAN HELD FOR
CHEATING PEOPLE
OVER TOUR PACKS
The success of LVM3-M3/Oneweb India
2 Mission stands as a milestone in In-
dian space history.
—YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Chief Minister, Andhra Pradesh
CRUCIAL READ
I KNOW, THEY WANT TO KILL ME: AHMED
New Delhi: Soon after stepping out of the Sabarmati
central jail, gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed
expressed fear that he might be murdered. When
some reporters asked him when he was being taken
to a police van, the former MP said, “Mujhe inka
programme maloom hai…Hatya karna chahte hain (I
know their programme…They want to murder me).”
The accused Madhur Kumar
used to target women devotees
during Navratri other festivals.

07
Commodity Price Change % Chg
GOLD 59,840.00 00.00 0.00 (Per 10g)
SILVER 73,400.00 100.00 0.13 (Per 1kg)
COMMODITIES
Currency Price Change % Chg
USDINR 82.48 0.00 0.00
GBPINR 101.36 0.00 0.00
CURRENCIES
RELIANCE UNVEILS BIG PRICE WAR PLAN
New Delhi (PTI): After
stirring a price war in the
soft drink segment with
the relaunch of Campa,
billionaire Mukesh Amba-
ni-led Reliance has entered
the personal and home
care segment of FMCG, of-
fering products at 30 to
35% lesser price.
Experts say “the jury is
out” and a competitive of-
fering from Reliance would
attract the customers to try
its products and evaluate
performance, quality and
perception in comparison
to the same from the estab-
lished brands.
Products of RCPL, the
FMCG arm and wholly-
owned subsidiary of Reli-
ance Retail Ventures Lim-
ited (RRVL), are available
only in selected markets
but the company is build-
ing a dealer network on a
pan-India basis, and the
availability of its products
will be scaled up across
modern and general trade
channels.
SOFT DRINKS TO SOAPS
PRICE LOWER
THAN RIVALS
z Reliance Consumer
Products (RCPL) has priced
its Glimmer beauty soaps,
Get Real natural soaps,
and Puric hygiene soaps at
`25, which is much lower
than the products of leading
brands such as Lux (`35 for
100 gm), Dettol (`40 for 75
gm) and Santoor (`34 for
100 gm) etc
business
BRIEFS
New Delhi: Foreign inves-
tors have pumped `7,200
crore into the Indian equi-
ties so far this month,
mainly driven by bulk in-
vestment in the Adani
Group companies by the
US-based GQG Partners.
Going ahead, FPIs are
likely to be cautious in the
near term since there is a
risk-off sentiment in equi-
ty markets globally. Ac-
cording to the data with
the depositories, foreign
portfolio investors (FPIs)
invested `7,233 crore
in Indian equities till
March 25. —PTI
FPIs INVEST `7,200
CRORE IN INDIAN
EQUITIES IN MARCH
New Delhi: Existing mu-
tual fund investors have
time till March 31 to nom-
inate a beneficiary or opt
out of it by submitting a
declaration form, failing
which their folios will be
frozen, and they will not
be able to redeem invest-
ment. The Sebi had made
it mandatory for mutual
fund subscribers to sub-
mit the nomination details
or declaration to opt out
of the nomination on or
after August 1, 2022. The
deadline for all the exist-
ing mutual fund folios, in-
cluding jointly-held ones,
was set as March 31,
2023, failing which the
folios will be frozen for
debits. —PTI
MFs NOMINATION
DEADLINE TO END
ON MARCH 31
New Delhi: As many as
346 infrastructure pro-
jects, each entailing an in-
vestment of `150 crore or
more, have been hit by
cost overruns of more
than `4.46 lakh crore, as
per an official report. Ac-
cording to Ministry of Sta-
tistics and Programme
Implementation, which
monitors infrastructure
projects worth `150 crore
and above, out of 1,418
projects, 346 reported
cost overruns and as
many as 823 projects
were delayed. —PTI
346 INFRA PROJECTS
SHOW COST OVERRUN
OF `4.46 LAKH CRORE
New Delhi: Five of the top
10 most valued firms to-
gether lost `86,447.12
crore in market valuation
last week, with Infosys,
Tata Consultancy Services
and State Bank of India
taking the biggest hit.
While Reliance Industries
Limited, Tata Consultancy
Services, HDFC Bank, In-
fosys and State Bank of
India suffered erosion
from their valuation, ICICI
Bank, Hindustan Unilever
Limited, ITC, HDFC and
Bharti Airtel posted gains.
RIL continued to rule the
top 10 most valued firms
chart. —PTI
5 OF TOP 10 FIRMS
LOSE `86,447 CRORE
IN M-CAP LAST WEEK
*Rates till the edition went to print.
=
=
=
Q3 OF FY23: ONLY 15%
INSOLVENCY CASES
REACH RESOLUTION
Mumbai: Only 15% of the 267
insolvency cases admitted in
company law tribunals during
October-
December
2022 reached
resolution
with overall re-
covery of just 27% of claimed
amount, the IBBI data showed.
As much as 45% cases were
concluded through liquidation.
On quarter-on-quarter basis,
the second quarter of FY23
saw 256 cases in NCLTs, mas-
sively down from the yearly
run-rate of 2,000 cases in
FY20. —PTI
GOVT HIKES DUTY ON
X-RAY MACHINE
IMPORTS TO 15%
New Delhi: The government
has hiked customs duty on
import of X-ray machines and
non-portable
X-ray genera-
tors to 15%
with effect
from April
1. Currently, portable X-ray
machines and non-portable X-
ray generators and apparatus
attract 10% import duty. The
changes in the customs duty
rate was brought in as part
of the amendments to the
Finance Bill, 2023, which was
passed by the Lok Sabha last
Friday. —PTI
CABINET TO CONSIDER PRICE CAPS ON GAS TO
STAVE OFF RATES RISING TO $10.7 PER MMBTU
New Delhi: The Union Cabinet is likely to soon consider imposing
caps or a ceiling on price for majority of natural gas produced
in the country to keep input costs for
users ranging from CNG to fertilizer
companies in check, sources said. The
government bi-annually fixes prices of
locally produced natural gas -- which is
converted into CNG for use in automo-
biles, piped to household kitchens for
cooking and used to generate electricity
and make fertilisers. —PTI
HOUSING SALES UP 14% ANNUALLY IN JANUARY-
MARCH TO 1.13 LAKH UNITS IN TOP SEVEN CITIES
New Delhi: Housing sales in India’s top seven cities are estimated
to rise 14% during January-March to over 1.13 lakh units on
strong demand despite increase in prices
by 6-9%, according to Anarock. Anarock
said the “bull run” continued in the
housing segment of Indian realty sector
despite rise in interest rates on home
loans. According to the data, housing
sales are estimated at 1,13,770 units in
January-March, up 14% from 99,550
units in the year-ago period across seven major cities. —PTI
OTHER STORIES
SAYS NITIN GADKARI
‘India’s highways infra to
matchUnitedStatesby2024’
Ranchi (PTI): India’s
highways infrastructure
will match that of the US
by 2024 for which work in
time bound ‘mission mode’
is on including construc-
tion of green expressways
and rail over bridges, Un-
ion Road Transport and
Highways Minister Nitin
Gadkari said. He said cabi-
net nod to ‘Bharatmala 2’ is
likely soon and once ob-
tained it will meet the re-
quirements of a robust in-
frastructure in the country
.
“I am confident that In-
dia’s highways will be on
par with that of the US by
2024. Work in a time bound
mission mode is on to build
a robust infrastructure in-
cluding a network of green
expressways across the
length and breadth of In-
dia,” Gadkari said.
He said in this year rail-
way over bridges are being
constructed at a cost of
`16,000 crore which will be
increased to `50,000 crore
in five years. On the
Kailash Mansarovar high-
way project via Pithora-
garh, Gadkari said “Ninety
three per cent work on
Kailash Mansarovar pro-
ject has been completed.”
With the completion of
this project, the arduous
trek through treacherous
high-altitude terrain can
be avoided by pilgrims of
Kailash Mansarovar Yatra
and the period of journey
will be reduced by many
days. At present, travel to
Kailash Mansarovar takes
around two to three weeks.
On Bharatmala Phase 2,
the minister said: “Nod is
likely soon to Bharatmala
Phase 2 that will further ac-
celerate the making of
highways.”
HIGHLIGHT
FROM INTERVIEW
z I am confident that India’s
highways will be on par
with that of the US by 2024.
Work in a time bound
mission mode is on to
build a robust infrastructure
including a network of green
expressways
Govt caps maximum
GST cess rate on pan
masala and tobacco
New Delhi (PTI): The gov-
ernment has capped the
maximum rate of GST
compensation cess that
would be levied on pan
masala, cigarettes and oth-
er forms of tobacco and
linked the highest rate to
their retail sale price.
The capping of the cess
rate was brought in as part
of the amendments to the
Finance Bill, 2023.
As per the amendment,
the maximum GST com-
pensation cess rate for pan
masala will be 51% of the
retail sale price per unit. In
the current regime, the
cess is charged at 135% ad
valorem.
The rate for tobacco has
been fixed at `4,170 per
thousand sticks plus 290%
ad valorem or 100% of the
retail sale price per unit.
So far, the highest rate
was `4,170 per thousand
sticks plus 290% ad valo-
rem. The cess is levied over
and above the highest
Goods and Services Tax
(GST) rate of 28%.
Changes in schedule-I
of GST compensation cess
Act, brought in via amend-
ment in Finance Bill, has
capped the maximum cess
that can be charged on
Pan masala and tobacco
products.
TOP TALKING
POINTS
z The capping of the cess rate
was brought in as part of the
amendments to the Finance
Bill, 2023
z As per the amendment,
the maximum GST
compensation cess rate for
pan masala will be 51% of
the retail sale price per unit.
In the current regime, the
cess is charged at 135%
RBI may go for 25 bps
rate hike next month
Mumbai (PTI): With retail
inflation remaining above
the comfort level of 6% and
most global peers includ-
ing US Fed continuing
hawkish stance, the Re-
serve Bank of India too
may go in for a 25 basis
points hike in the bi-
monthly monetary policy
to be announced on April 6,
opined experts.
The two key factors
which the committee will
deliberate intensely while
firming up the next mone-
tary policy are elevated re-
tail inflation and the recent
action taken by central
banks of the developed na-
tions especially the US Fed-
eral Reserve, European
Central Bank and Bank of
England.
The Reserve Bank on In-
dia (RBI) has been raising
benchmark rates since
May 2022 to contain infla-
tion which has been largely
driven by external factors,
especially the disruption
of the global supply chain
following the outbreak of
the Russia-Ukraine war.
“Given that CPI inflation
has been 6.5% and 6.4% in
the last two months and
that liquidity is now near
neutral, we may expect the
RBI to raise rates once
again by 25 bps and proba-
bly change stance to neu-
tral to signal that this cycle
is over,” opined Madan Sab-
navis, Chief Economist,
Bank of Baroda.
India Ratings and Re-
search Chief Economist D
K Pant too expects the cen-
tral bank to raise policy
rate by 25 bps (basis points)
next month.
UK-India trade has potential to
double by 2030: British official
Kochi (PTI): Notwith-
standing the impact of Rus-
sia’s war with Ukraine, the
UK and India are heading
towards an era of positive
engagement in trade and
business relations, with
steps underway to promote
mutual investments in
both the nations, UK’s Dep-
uty Trade Commissioner
for South Asia Chandru
Iyer said.
Iyer spoke in detail about
the trade and investments
between the UK and India
and said there was poten-
tial to double the business
by 2030.
“If you look at the flow
of business or the trade
numbers between the UK
and India for the period
ending Q4 of last year, the
number stood at 34 billion
British pounds. For the
same period ending the
year before last, it was
around 19 billion pounds.
So it’s been a big jump in
trade and business,” Iyer
said.
“The interest in UK is so
high that people want to
come there and set up their
business. The aspirations
have the potential to dou-
ble the trade and invest-
ment numbers by 2030,”
Iyer said.
Unseasonal rain
slows AC sales
momentum
New Delhi (PTI): The un-
seasonal rainfall has put a
brake on the sales of resi-
dential air conditioners,
which had started to pick
up early this year from
mid-February as the tem-
perature was rising.
Now, in the second half
of March, sales of AC have
been impacted, however,
makers see it as a “tempo-
rary phenomenon” and are
hopeful of reaching their
targets from April onwards
when heat waves would
start.
MARKETS TO TRACK GLOBAL
FACTORS THIS WEEK: ANALYSTS
New Delhi (PTI): Stock markets may face volatility in a
holiday-shortened week ahead amid monthly derivatives
expiry, besides global factors and foreign fund trading
activity would continue to
dictate terms, analysts said.
Factors such as movement
of global oil benchmark
Brent crude and the rupee
would also guide the trend in
equities. Markets would re-
main closed on Thursday for
Ram Navami.
While volatility may increase locally before the March
Futures and Options (FO) expiry, the position of major
international banks will continue to play a significant
role in the direction of the market globally
.

08
2NDFRONT
Survival is the basis of human and all
life, but an intellectual person aspires
for more- ‘service can be the more.’
— Dr Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
At rally in Maha,
Telangana CM calls
for farmers’ unity
First India Bureau
Aurangabad: Claim-
ing that the plight of
farmers has not
changed in 75 years, ir-
respective of which of
the major two parties
remained in power, Tel-
angana Chief Minister
K Chandrasekhar Rao
on Sunday highlighted
the need for unity
among agriculturists.
“In the past 75 years,
only two parties have
ruled the country
whereas other parties
got nearly five years.
But we don't find any
difference in the condi-
tion of farmers,” Rao
said in a veiled swipe at
the Congress and the
Bharatiya Janata Par-
ty, while speaking at a
rally in Loha tehsil in
Maharashtra’s Nanded
district. The Maha-
rashtra government
decided to give Rs6,000
assistance to farmers
only after he addressed
a gathering in Nanded
last month, the Bharat
Rashtra Samithi (BRS)
leader added.
Appealing to farmers
to unite, Rao said,
“When you showed
your power in the past,
the rulers had to apolo-
gise. We should not get
divided along the lines
of religions but unite
as peasants.”
He said 41 crore acres
of land in India is suit-
able for agriculture.
“I came here only
once and a provision to
give each farmer
Rs6,000 per year was
found in the Maha-
rashtra budget. Why
was it never done ear-
lier?” he asked, add-
ing, “This aid is like
sprinkling water on a
fire. We do not want it.
We want that farmers
be given Rs10,000 per
acre so they can use it
to invest in agricultur-
al activities,” Rao said.
He also took potshots
at BJP leader and Ma-
harashtra Deputy
Chief Minister Deven-
dra Fadnavis for saying
that Rao should con-
centrate on Telangana.
“I appeal to Fadnavis
to implement 24-hour
water, free electricity
for farmers, and pur-
chase their yield.
(Then) I will stop com-
ing to Maharashtra,”
the Telangana CM re-
marked.
Telangana CM KCR pays floral tribute to the bust of BR Ambedkar
during a public meeting, in Nanded in Februrary. —FILE PHOTO
‘`6,000 aid for
farmers by Maha
govt is not
enough; we want
`10,000 per
farmer per acre’
BRS TO CONTEST PANCHAYAT ELECTIONS
IN MAHARASHTRA
“BRS leaders will visit villages and membership
drives will be organized,” Rao said, announcing that
his party would stand for Panchayat elections in
Maharashtra. Former Lok Sabha MP from Maha-
rashtra Haribhau Rathod, ex-MLAs Shankar Dhondge
and Harshvardhan Jadhav, and local political leaders
joined the BRS in the presence of KCR, as Rao is
popularly known, at the rally on Sunday.
Mumbai (PTI): Mum-
bai police have appre-
hended a man from Ra-
jasthan in connection
with an email threaten-
ing actor Salman Khan
that was received at the
latter’s office here re-
cently, an official said
on Sunday.
The accused was
nabbedbyateamof Ban-
dra police station and is
being brought to Mum-
bai, an official said.
The accused Dhakad
Ram Bishnoi (21) is a
resident of Siyagon ki
Dhani in Rohicha Ka-
lan village under the
Luni police station in
Jodhpur. He was on
bail in a case of Arms
Act, police said.
Jodhpur's DCP (West)
Gaurav Yadav said a
team from Mumbai's
Bandra police station ar-
rivedheretoarrestBish-
noi on Sunday
.
“They asked us to as-
sist them in detaining
Bishnoi. We provided
them support and hand-
ed Bishnoi over to the
Mumbai Police,” Yadav
said. The complaint
about the threat e-mail
was recently lodged at
the Bandra police sta-
tion by one Prashant
Gunjalkar, who accord-
ing to police, frequently
visits the Bandra-based
residence of Salman
Khan and runs an artist
management company
.
When Gunjalkar was
present in Khan's office
in Galaxy Apartment re-
cently
, he noticed an
email had been received
from the ID “Rohit
Garg”.Thesenderof the
e-mail, written in Hindi,
said: “Goldy Bhai (gang-
ster Goldy Brar) wanted
to talk to Salman Khan
face-to-face to close the
matter,” adding, “Agli
baar, jhatka dekhne ko
milega (You'll see some-
thing shocking),” the po-
lice had said.
“After a detailed tech-
nical investigation, po-
lice got information
about the accused’s
whereabouts, following
whichateamwassentto
Rajasthan and the man
was nabbed,” he said.
Teak wood from Chandrapur to adorn Ram Temple in Ayodhya
MAHA CONTRIBUTION
Thane (PTI): Several
leaders and activists
of the Shiv Sena (UBT)
faction from Malegaon
and Nashik on Sunday
joined the party fac-
tion led by Maharash-
tra Chief Minister
Eknath Shinde.
According to a state-
ment released by the
party, a number of ex-
district level party of-
ficials and past corpo-
rators who were previ-
ously associated with
Shiv Sena (UBT) have
now joined the Shinde
group in Thane city.
“As these activists
have shown full faith in
us and joined the party
,
problems of Nashik dis-
trict will surely be re-
solved by the state gov-
ernment, which is com-
mitted to the develop-
ment of the state and its
citizens, the CM said.
The Guardian Min-
ister of Nashik, Dada
Bhuse, Lok Sabha MP
Hemant Godse, party's
state coordinator and
former mayor Naresh
Mhsake, and district
chief Ajay Boraste
were present for the
induction.
Since I took the of-
fice, decisions have been
taken to protect the in-
terest of the common
man. This was reflected
in the recently passed
state budget, CM Shin-
de said while speaking
to the newly inducted
leaders and functionar-
ies from Nashik.
Sena - UBT leaders
from Nashik join
Shinde-led faction
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde —FILE PHOTO
UBT BANNER TORN; CASE REGISTERED
IPL FEVER BEGINS
Even as players and fan were waiting with bated breath for the face-off between Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals in the final of the inaugural Women’s
Premier League on Sunday afternoon, mural artists in Mumbai were already moving on to the next cricket extravaganza—the 16th edition of the Indian
Premier League—which is set to begin at the end of the month. —PHOTO BY BHUSAN KOYANDE
Mumbai (PTI): Chief
Minister Eknath Shinde
on Sunday paid a visit to
Maharashtra Navnir-
man Sena (MNS) presi-
dent Raj Thackeray at
the latter’s Shivtirth
building residence at
Shivaji Park residence
in Mumbai.
With elections over-
due in the Brihanmum-
bai Municipal Corpora-
tion, the visit sparked
rumours of a three-way
alliance between the
MNS, Shinde’s Shiv
Sena and the BJP in the
coming days, especially
given that MNS recent-
ly changed its slogan to
include Hindutva along
with its sons-of-the-soil
plan.
Thackeray’s wife
Sharmila, son Amit,
and some party work-
ers were present dur-
ing Shinde’s visit,
which comes days after
theMNSchief slammed
the state for spending
Rs1,700 crore to beau-
tify Mumbai.
However, a day after
the MNS chief showed a
video of a “mazar” or
mausoleum-like struc-
ture being constructed
illegally off the coast of
Mahim area of Mumbai
at his Gudi Padwa Mela-
va on Wednesday
, the
structure was demol-
ished on Thursday
.
Raj Thackeray had
also blamed Uddhav
Thackerayfortheexitof
many Shiv Sena leaders
from the party
, in his re-
volt last June.
CM’s courtesy visit to MNS chief at
home, sparks rumour of alliance
CM Shinde met MNS chief Raj Thackeray at the latter’s house in
September as well. —FILE PHOTO
Salman Khan threat email: Mumbai
cops apprehend man from Rajasthan
Accused Dhakad Ram
Bishnoi (21) is a
resident of Siyagon ki
Dhani in Jodhpur’s
Rohicha Kalan village
Nagpur (PTI): In a
tragic incident in Nag-
pur on Saturday, a
30-year-old man was
crushed to death by a
speeding bus after he
fell off a motorcycle, po-
lice said on Sunday
.
The incident took
place in the Ganeshpeth
police station area of
the city on Saturday af-
ternoon, an official
said.
The victim, who was
riding pillion on a mo-
torcycle, fell off the ve-
hicle on a bridge and
was run over by a speed-
ing private bus, he said.
An offense under sec-
tion 304 (a) (death due to
rash and negligent driv-
ing) and other relevant
provisions of the Indi-
an Penal Code has been
registered in this re-
gard, the official said.
Speeding bus runs
over 30-year-old,
crushes him to death
First India Bureau
Mumbai:TheRamTem-
ple at Ayodhya will in-
clude a bit of Maharash-
tra, with the state gov-
ernment here clearing
the decks to send con-
signments of Chan-
drapur district’s tough
anddurableteakwoodto
the UP city
.
Makingtheannounce-
ment, Maharashtra For-
est Minister Sudhir
Mungantiwar said this
wood will be sent with
huge fanfare with a pro-
cession, prayers, puja,
and even dance perfor-
mances on March 29.
The cast of Door-
dashan’s TV show
“Ramayan”, including
Arun Govil, Deepika
Chikhalia, Sunil Lahiri
and others have been in-
vited to join the proces-
sion, as have Ramdev
Baba, Sadguru Sri Jaggi
VasudevandSriSriRavi
Shankar, along with
ministers, MPs and
MLAs from both states.
Theprocessionwillstart
at Ballarpur with the
worship of two ancient
trees named 'Ram and
Laxman' and another
procession from the Ma-
hakali Temple.
These will see a dis-
play of 43 types of folk
arts of Maharashtra by
2,100 artistes. As the pro-
cessions proceed, flow-
ers will be showered on
the wood, with the road-
sidesdecoratedwithran-
golis and torans on the
entire route.
Maharashtra's 'Nar-
ishakti' and 'Sade Tin
Shaktipithe' tableaux—
whichbaggedthesecond
prize in this year's Re-
public Day celebrations,
and Uttar Pradesh's tab-
leaux that won the third
prize—will also join the
Chandrapur proces-
sions.
Singer Kailash Kher
will render Lord Ram's
bhajans and devotional
songs at a special pro-
gramme that evening
aftertheprocessionsend
near the Ram Temple in
Chanda Chowk.
Temple authorities
chose teak wood from
Chandrapur for its con-
struction, as they were
looking for “the best
wood, which could last
for more than a thou-
sand years”, according
toapersonfamiliarwith
the development.
Two-thirds of the work on the temple is reportedly complete.
—FILE PHOTO
Wood will go into making the temple’s
main doors, inside doors, the entrance to
the sanctum sanctorum, forest min says

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 | MONDAY,
MARCH 27, 2023
aks Ibn Bat-
tuta Gate Ho-
tel, the
crowned jew-
el of Dubai,
hosted one of
India’s pre-
mier single-day fash-
ion events called
Fashion Connect, sea-
son 14, Presented by
First India News and
Bharat24-Vision of
New India on Sunday
,
March 19. Jagdeesh
Chandra graced the
evening and appre-
ciated the designer,
Wrickie Angrish
for his esoteric col-
lection. His High-
ness Sheikh Juma
Bin Maktoum Al
Maktoum was pre-
sent as the Chief
Guest and Yakoob Al
Ali, Executive Di-
rector and Private
Advisor in His
Highness Office
attended the
show as the
special guest.
Designer Wrickie An-
grish took everyone on
a ride to the glittery
world with evening
cocktail colours black
infused with metallic
silver and gold vibes.
While describing his
gorgeous collection,
the talented designer
said, “My couture col-
lection ‘ANGRISH
spring Summer 2023’
collection is a lot about
keeping the edginess,
rawness, styled with
the glitters and zip-
pers, inspired from the
rock n roll life of the
70s. Ladies and gentle-
men, let’s have a look
at characters and ele-
ments of ANGRISH.”
“ANGRISH show-
cased mix line up
starting with pret-line
evening cocktails”
he added. ANGRISH
was started in 2010 as
a clothing trading
house and has seen
several transitions
during this whole dec-
ade, from 2016 launch-
ing the private label
design house, to a ma-
jor add-on transition
in 2019 towards envi-
ronmentally sustaina-
ble clothing, by using
fabrics, designs and
aesthetics which are
more sustainable,
street influential and
e nv i r o n m e n t a l l y
friendly and mostly
naturally printed and
produced.
WHEN IN DOUBT,
ADD SPARKLE!
The outstanding Fashion Connect presented by First India
and Bharat24- Vision of New India was held at Oaks Ibn
Battuta Gate Hotel Dubai on March 19. City First highlights
some glimpses of highly acclaimed designer Wrickie
Angrish’s collection showcased at the grand show!
KAVITA CHAUHAN
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
O
Dari, Kristine and Oleksa showcasing designer collection
Clockwise: Sophia, Irena, Irena, Amin and Claudia
Designer Wrickie Angrish with Claudia and
Irena showcasing the exquisite collection
—PHOTOS
BY
SANTOSH
SHARMA

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