First India Mumbai 12012023.pdf

Hit by ED raid,
NCP MLA alleges
communal bias
First India Bureau
Pune/Mumbai: Even
as the Enforcement Di-
rectorate conducted
raids at multiple prem-
ises in the state as part
of a money laundering
investigation against
senior NCP leader
Hasan Mushrif and oth-
ers, the former rural
development minister
alleged that the investi-
gative body was target-
ing a particular
community”.
In a video message,
Mushrif, the MLA from
Kagal in Kolhapur dis-
trict, said the ED raided
his residence and that
of his daughter and oth-
er relatives.
“Earlier it was (NCP
leader) Nawab Malik,
then it’s me. Kirit So-
maiya says (action
could be taken against
Congress leader) Aslam
Shaikh. I wonder if they
have decided to target a
particular caste or com-
munity
,” the former Ma-
harashtra rural devel-
opment minister said.
Malik, also a former
minister, was arrested
last February under the
Prevention of Money
LaunderingAct(PMLA)
by the ED in a probe
linked to the activities
of fugitive gangster Da-
wood Ibrahim and his
aides. More on P2
Mushrif said the ED raided his residence and that of his daughter
and other relatives. —PHOTO BY BHUSHAN KOYANDE
MUMBAI l THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2023 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI TITLE NO.MAHENG/2022/14652 l Vol 1 l Issue No.246
l Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, has approved the incentive scheme for the
promotion of RuPay Debit Cards and low-value BHIM-
UPI transactions (person-to-merchant) for a period of
one year from April 2022
l A proposal to constitute the National Cooperative
Export Society, National Level Cooperative Society for
Organic Products, and National Level Multi-State Seed
Cooperative Society was approved.
l The Centre has named its new free foodgrain
scheme under the National Food Security Act, 2013,
as ‘Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana
(PMGKAY)’, the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs,
Food and Public Distribution said Wednesday. P5
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR MUMBAI
P4
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Celebrating Swami
Vivekananda
Jayanti as National
Youth Day
UNION CABINET APPROVES
PM MODI: HONOUR,
HAS MADE EVERY
INDIAN PROUD
PM Modi on Wednesday
congratu-
lated the
“RRR” team
after its hit
track “Naatu
Naatu” won
a Golden Globe award
and said the prestigious
honour had made every
Indian proud.
Anurag Thakur
@ianuragthakur
RRR won hearts and is
making history around the
world by enthralling movie
lovers!Congratulations to
the legendary @ssra-
jamouli, @mmkeeravaani
and the entire RRR team for
their genius and hard work!
#GoldenGlobes2023
#GOLDENGLOBES2023
‘RRR’ TRACK ‘NAATU NAATU’ WINS
AWARD FOR BEST ORIGINAL SONG
First India Bureau
Los Angeles: SS Ra-
jamouli’s ‘RRR’s hit
track ‘Naatu Naatu’ has
won the award for the
best original song–mo-
tion picture. Film’s Tel-
ugu track ‘Naatu Naa-
tu’, composed by veter-
an music director MM
Keeravaani and sung by
Kala Bhairava and Ra-
hul Sipligunj, won the
award for best original
song. Keeravani accept-
ed trophy and thanked
Rajamouli for his “vi-
sion”. Music compos-
er also thanked the
team behind track,
choreographer Prem
Rakshith, lyricist
Chandrabose
and singers
Sipligunj
a n d
Bhairava.
Released last March, the film reportedly
made over `1,200 cr at global box office
Film’s Telugu track ‘Naatu
Naatu’ was composed by
veteran music director MM
Keeravaani, he accepts the trophy
feeling proud thanking film Director SS
Rajamouli for his ‘vision’. Ram Charan and Jr
NTR in ‘Naatu Naatu’ song.
83RD ALL INDIA PRESIDING OFFICERS’ CONFERENCE BEGINS IN JAIPUR
Judiciary expected to follow principle
of separation of powers, says Om Birla
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot greets Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar as Lok Sabha Speaker Om
Birla looks on at the 83rd All India Presiding Officers’ Conference, in Jaipur on Wednesday.
YEAH, HOCKEY COMES HOME!
Men’s Hockey World Cup, 2023
got underway on Wednesday
evening with a spectacular
opening ceremony at Barabati
Stadium in Cuttack. The event
was graced by Union Sports
Minister Anurag Thakur, Odisha
CM Naveen Patnaik and FIH
President Tayyab Ikram. Power-
packed performance by actor
Ranveer Singh was a superhit.
Yogesh Sharma
Jaipur: Lok Sabha
Speaker Om Birla on
Wednesday said that
the judiciary is expect-
ed to follow the princi-
ple of separation of
powers as defined in the
Constitution. He also
said there is a need to
improve the productiv-
ity of the legislature
and its image in the
eyes of people.
Presiding over the
83rd All India Presiding
Officers Conference
here, Om Birla spoke
about the need for a
harmonious relation-
ship between the legis-
lature and the judiciary
.
“Legislatures in our
country have always re-
spected the powers of
judiciary
. The judiciary
is also expected to fol-
low principle of separa-
tion and balance of
powers conferred by the
Constitution,” Speaker
Om Birla said.
He said that all three
organs of democracy –
executive, legislature
and judiciary – draw
their powers and juris-
diction from the Consti-
tution and they should
work in harmony, trust
and balance taking care
of each other.
Speaking about the
India’s G20 presidency,
Birla said India will
strongly present the
country’s solid demo-
cratic tradition, cultur-
al diversity
.
The Opposition
parties do their
own thing. At
such a time, it is very
challenging to reconcile
by listening to both sides
and run the House by do-
ing fair work. The founda-
tion of democracy in the
country was laid in such
a way that importance is
given to the Opposition.
—Ashok Gehlot,
Rajasthan Chief Minister
To make sure
country’s
democracy is
strong, we will have to
make executive more
accountable. I want
that there should be an
amendment in law so
that number of sittings is
increased so that scrutiny
of executive can be done
in a better way.
—Dr CP Joshi, Rajasthan
Assembly Speaker
CM Ashok Gehlot LS Speaker Om Birla share a lighter moment
Also seen here are Dr CP Joshi and Harivansh Narayan Singh.
THE PARLIAMENT’S SOVEREIGNTY CANNOT BE
COMPROMISED BY JUDICIARY: V-P DHANKHAR
V-P Jagdeep Dhankhar questioned landmark 1973 Kesavananda Bharati case
verdict that gave the basic structure doctrine, saying it set a bad precedent
and if any authority questions Parl’s power to amend Constitution, it would
be difficult to say “we are a democratic nation”. He said Parliamentary sov-
ereignty and autonomy are quintessential for the survival of democracy and
cannot be permitted to be compromised by the executive or judiciary.
‘HIGH’TECH
GROUNDED!
Air traffic in the US was paralysed
for over 4 hours after catastrophic
systems failure grounded 5,000 flights
Failure of a key pilot notification system
operated by the FAA disrupted air travel
impacting all borders in US early on Wednesday
Moni Sharma
Washington: The Fed-
eral Aviation Adminis-
tration on Wednesday
announced that its
NOTAM (Notice to Air
Missions) system —
which alerts pilots and
crew to advisories and
information for flights
— has been restoring,
hours after it experi-
enced a major technical
glitch.
“Normal air traffic
operations are resum-
ing gradually across
the U.S. following an
overnight outage to the
Notice to Air Missions
system that provides
safety info to flight
crews. The ground stop
has been lifted,” the
agency tweeted.
l Grounding of all
flights across US
necessary to avoid any
mishap, says expert
l Air Canada says
transborder flights im-
pacted by FAA outage
l Shares of US carriers
fell in the Wednesday’s
premarket trading.
Southwest Airlines was
down 2.4%, Delta Air
Lines Inc, United Air-
lines, American Airlines
were down about 1%
l The US aviation agency
said that cause of the
outage is not yet known
l Soon after the outage,
flight personnel alert
system not processing
updates, alerted the FAA
MAJOR HAPPENINGS
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN DENIES CASE OF A
CYBER ATTACK, DIRECTS DEPT TO PROBE
The White House denied
it as a case of a cyberat-
tack, but President Joe Biden
directed Dept of Transporta-
tion to investigate the cause
of the disruption. He said that
he was briefed by Transporta-
tion Secy Pete Buttigieg, who
told him they still had not
identified what went wrong.
REFORM, PERFORM
AND TRANSFORM!
First India Bureau
Indore: PrimeMinister
NarendraModisaidthat
the International Mone-
taryFundseesIndiaasa
“brightspot”intheglob-
al economy
, while virtu-
ally inaugurating the
seventheditionof Invest
MP-Global Investors
Summit on Wednesday
.
While appreciating
country’s “strong mac-
roeconomic fundamen-
tals”, PM Modi said that
even World Bank con-
siders India in a better
position to deal with the
global headwinds than
many other countries.
As per Morgan Stanley,
India is moving towards
becoming the world’s
third-largest economy
in the next 4-5 years,
while CEO of McKinsey
has said this is not only
India’s decade, but In-
dia’s century, he added.
Guyana President Mohamed Irfaan Ali, Suriname President
Chandrikapersad Santokhi, Prahlad Singh Patel, Chief Minister
Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Kumar Mangalam Birla and other present
dignitaries listen to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address
during MP Global Investors Summit 2023, in Indore, Wednesday.
The IMF sees India as ‘bright spot’ in the
global economy, says PM Narendra Modi
PM MODI SPEAKS
TO ISRAELI
COUNTERPART
PM Narendra Modi on
Wednesday spoke to
his Israeli counterpart
Benjamin Netanyahu and
both leaders agreed on
the potential for further
strengthening bilateral
strategic cooperation in
a variety of areas.
BSE SENSEX 60,105.50 9.98 | NSE NIFTY 17,895.70 18.45

First India Bureau
Mumbai: On a day the
Enforcement Directo-
rate conducted search-
es in a money launder-
ing case against former
Maharashtra minister
and Nationalist Con-
gress Party MLA Hasan
Mushrif, Shiv Sena - Ud-
dhav Balasaheb Thack-
ery leader Sanjay Raut
dubbed the ED’s action
“pressure politics”.
The Uddhav Thacker-
ay-led faction of the
Shiv Sena is part of the
Maha Vikas Aghadi
(MVA) which also com-
prises the NCP and Con-
gress. The ED conduct-
ed searches at multiple
premises in Maharash-
tra as part of a money
laundering investiga-
tion against Mushrif
and others, understood
to be linked to alleged
irregularities in the op-
erations of some sugar
mills based in the state
that are linked to Mush-
rif, officials said.
“This action is pres-
sure politics but Mush-
rif will come out of
this unfazed,” Raut told
reporters.
He said Mushrif is a
leader from the Opposi-
tion who is putting up a
fight against a particu-
lar ideology
.
“Be it me, Anil Desh-
mukh or Nawab Malik
(who all were arrested
by ED in separate cas-
es)… some BJP leaders
hadtalkedaboutputting
Hasan Mushrif behind
bars.Suchlanguagewas
used against Bhavana
Gawli (MP), Yeshwant
Jadhav (both members
of the Eknath Shinde
factionof theShivSena)
and many important
leaders who are part of
the government now.
“But they get relief
and those in Opposition
are facing pressure pol-
itics,” Raut said, adding
Mushrif is a fighter and
the entire Opposition is
with him.
Notably, the ED had
arrested the Rajya Sab-
ha MP in August this
year for his alleged role
in financial irregulari-
ties in connection with
the redevelopment of
the Patra Chawl (row
tenement) in suburban
Goregaon. He was re-
leased on bail in No-
vember, after 100 days
in jail.
NEWS
MUMBAI | THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2023
02
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CRUCIAL READ
MAN SEEKS BRIBE
TO PROTECT
‘KIDNAPPER’, HELD
NEW DRUG FOR
ADVANCED BREAST
CANCER PATIENTS
MISSING MUMBAI
BOY FOUND IN MP’S
KHANDWA TOWN
DRUNK MAN
ASSAULTS GIRL
AND HER FRIEND
GIRL, BOYFRIEND
STEAL JEWELS TO
FUND B’DAY PARTY
Thane: The Anti-Corrup-
tion Bureau (ACB) has
filed a case against a man
for allegedly demanding a
bribe of Rs2 lakh to pre-
vent the arrest of a person
in an offence of kidnap-
ping, an official said on
Wednesday. Thane ACB’s
Deputy Superintendent of
Police Ashwini Patil said
that the man allegedly
demanded Rs2 lakh on
behalf of public servants
from the person who was
accused of kidnapping
over a monetary dispute.
Mumbai: Sun Pharma-
ceutical on Wednesday
launched its version of
Palbociclib under the
brand name Palenotm for
patients with advanced
breast cancer. The generic
drug will be available in
75mg, 100mg, 125mg
variants, the firm said. Kirti
Ganorkar, chief executive
of Sun Pharma’s domestic
business, said the new
drug will be “affordable”
but did not specify the
price. Palbociclib has been
approved by the USFDA,
EMA and CDSCO.
Mumbai: A nine-year-old
Mumbai boy, who went
missing five days ago
after his tuition teacher
asked him to complete
homework, has been
traced to Khandwa town
in Madhya Pradesh, a
police official said on
Wednesday. The Mumbai
cops got a phone call
from their MP coun-
terparts informing of a
minor boy from the me-
tropolis in their custody.
It is unclear as to how the
child reached Khandwa.
Mumbai: A girl from
Manipur and her male
friend were beaten up by
a drunk man while they
were walking down a
street in the Kalina area,
officials said. CCTV foot-
age from a nearby build-
ing shows an apparently
inebriated man appearing
drunk girl and her friend,
and slapping them. The
video was later tweeted
to the police. While the
accused has been identi-
fied, the victims have not
yet lodged a complaint.
Thane: A case of theft has
been registered against
a girl and her boyfriend
after she allegedly handed
over her family’s jewellery
to the boy to fund their
common birthday party.
She first tried to frame
another boyfriend of hers,
a minor, by accusing him
of blackmail, Assistant
Commissioner of Police
Nilesh Sonawane said.
However, the investigation
revealed that she and her
18-year-old beau sold the
jewels for Rs53,000.
First India Bureau
Mumbai: State Excise
Minister Shambhuraj
Desai on Wednesday
asked officials in
transport and police
departments to take in-
novative and practical
steps to improve road
safety. He also advised
parents to ensure their
young children are
well aware of traffic
rules before giving
them vehicles to drive.
Desai was speaking
after inaugurating the
34th Road Safety Drive
2023 at a function at the
National Centre for the
PerformingArts(NCPA)
in South Mumbai. The
event coincided with the
National Road Safety
Week, which is celebrat-
ed from January 11 to 17.
Chief Minister
EknathShinde,whoalso
holds the transport port-
folio, and his deputy De-
vendra Fadnavis were
slated to attend the func-
tion, but they did not
turn up for the event.
Chief secretary Manu
Kumar Shrivastava also
did not attend.
Addressing the func-
tion,Desaiaskedauthor-
ities to come out with
innovative and practical
steps on improving road
safety instead of observ-
ingtheweekinaconven-
tional manner.
“This time, some
new, different, innova-
tive and practical sug-
gestions should be put
forth, to help people
take lessons on safe
driving,” he said.
Highlighting some
recent road accidents
involving state leaders,
Desai said drivers
alone cannot be blamed
for such tragedies as
politicians make them
drive for long hours, es-
pecially at night. “We
(politicians) should
also show some disci-
pline,” he said.
Veteran politician Vi-
nayak Mete died in a
road accident on the
Mumbai-Pune Express-
way in August last year.
Nationalist Congress
Party leader Dhananjay
Munde received minor
injuriesinanaccidentin
Beed district last week.
Innovative, practical steps needed to improve road safety: Min
RIGHT GUIDANCE
lll
State min
Shambhuraj
Desai highlights
responsibility of
parents to
ensure their kids
know and follow
traffic rules Excise Minister Shambhuraj Desai. —FILE PHOTO
3 of family killed after
truck hits motorbike,
horse cart in Nashik
First India Bureau
Nashik: A speeding
truck hit a horse cart
and a motorcycle in Na-
shik, killing three mem-
bers of a family and in-
juring one other, police
said on Wednesday
.
The accident took
placenearIgatpuriwhen
a51-year-oldmanandhis
nephew were going
home on a horse cart
along with his two sons,
who were on a motor-
bike. A speeding truck
hit the two-wheeler and
the horsecart. While the
man received minor in-
juries, his two sons-
-Kushal Sudhakar Adole
(20),andPrabhakarSud-
hakarAdole(22)--andhis
nephew,RohitBhagirath
Adole (18), died, an offi-
cial said, adding that the
truck driver fled the
crime scene.
The Igatpuri police
reached the spot and
took the man to a nearby
hospital. A case was reg-
istered and police are
looking for the abscond-
ing driver.
3 COPS INJURED IN
ROAD ACCIDENT
ED action against Mushrif is
PRESSURE POLITICS: Raut
Former Maha minister will come out of this unfazed, MVA ally
Sanjay Raut says, adds ‘the entire Opposition is with him’
Hasan Mushrif addresses the press on Wednesday. Sanjay Raut. —FILE PHOTO
—PHOTO
BY
BHUSHAN
KOYANDE
Aurangabad (FIB): Reacting to the ED’s raids on
his party colleague Hasan Mushrif in a money
laundering case, NCP
leader Ajit Pawar said
ruling parties should
not act with “politi-
cal revenge”. “The law
should be equal for
everyone. The MLAs
of Shiv Sena have also
received notices from
the Anti-Corruption
Bureau. Agencies have
the authority to inquire but the ruling parties
should not act with political revenge,” Pawar told
reporters in Aurangabad.
‘POLITICAL REVENGE’ UNBECOMING
OF RULING PARTIES: AJIT PAWAR
BREAKING THE LAW?
Lawyers protest against traffic cops, after one of their colleagues was allegedly manhandled
while trying to drive on the wrong-side near the Nagpur district court, in Nagpur on Wednesday.
—PHOTO
BY
PTI
Senior Congress leaders give
state executive meeting a miss
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Maharash-
tra Congress’s extend-
ed state executive
meeting witnessed ab-
sence of several senior
party leaders. The
prominent leaders who
did not appear in the
meeting were former
state Congress unit
presidents Balsaheb
Thorat and Ashok
Chavan, former cabi-
net minister Yashoma-
ti Thakur and former
ministers of state Satej
Patil and Vishwajeet
Kadam.
As per sources, the
leaders cited personal
health and other rea-
sons for not attending
the meeting, which
was organized to plan
the upcoming ‘Haath
se Haath jodo’ cam-
paign, scheduled to be-
gin from January 26.
However, party
sources said the state
leaders were absent as
they had not been con-
sulted before finalizing
the date of the meeting.
“An extended state
executive meeting is
unnecessary to plan
the details of the cam-
paign. Such a meeting
is more about speeches
and less about plan-
ning,” said a senior
party leader.
We’ll inform people of BJP’s
unfulfilled promises: Patole
First India Bureau
Nagpur: Hitting out at
the Bharatiya Janata
Party, Maharashtra
Congress president
Nana Patole on Tuesday
said his party Congress
would go before the peo-
ple and remind of the
promises made by the
saffron party in the 2014
and 2019 general elec-
tions which have not
been fulfilled yet.
“The BJP is trying to
divert attention from
main issues, but we
will bring back those
issues before the peo-
ple,” said the Congress
leader.
Patole said the state
Congress has resolved
to reach out to the last
man in the line with
the message of Mem-
ber of Parliament Ra-
hul Gandhi and the
party’s ideology
through its Haath Se
Haath Jodo mass out-
reach campaign slated
to begin January 26.
Under the two-
month-long nation-
wide campaign, the
Opposition party will
take out padyatra cov-
ering all gram pan-
chayats and booths.
He was talking to re-
porters here after a cru-
cial meeting of the Ma-
harashtra Pradesh Con-
gress Committee
(MPCC) which dis-
cussed preparations for
the ‘Haath se haath jodo’
campaign and approved
seven resolutions on dif-
ferent issues.
Patole said one of
the resolutions passed
at the meeting thanked
common citizens, Con-
gress workers, non-
governmental organi-
zations, civil society
members and doctors,
among others, for sup-
porting rallies at
Nanded and Shegaon
which were organized
when the Bharat Jodo
Yatra passed through
Maharashtra in No-
vember last year.
Nana Patole with national Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during
the party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in Akola in November. —FILE PHOTO
Cong has resolved to reach out to the last man,
through its Haath Se Haath Jodo mass outreach
campaign set to begin January 26
Dabholkar
murder case:
HC asks CBI for
status update
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The Bombay
High Court on Wednes-
day gave the Central Bu-
reau of Investigation
(CBI) a January 30 dead-
line to inform it of the
status of the investiga-
tion into the murder of
rationalist Dr Narendra
Dabholkar in 2013.
A division bench of
Justices AS Gadkari
and PD Naik was hear-
ing a petition filed by
Dabholkar’s daughter
Mukta Dabholkar seek-
ing that the court
continue to monitor the
investigation.
In 2014, the HC had
transferred the probe to
theCBIfromPunepolice
following a petition by
activist Ketan Tirodkar
and later by Mukta Dab-
holkar. Since then, the
HC has been monitoring
the progress in the case.
Dr Dabholkar was killed on
Aug 20, 2013. —FILE PHOTO

MAHARASHTRA
03
Traffic woes to ease as Milan subway tank work
in last phase; tenders worth `23.38 crore invited
IN AROUND THE CITY
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The Brihan-
mumbai Municipal
Corporation’s (BMC)
Storm Water Depart-
ment (SDM) has under-
taken the final phase of
construction of an un-
derground water tank
near Milan subway in
Santacruz. The tank’s
holding capacity for
storm water is two
crore litre. After the ap-
proval of Iqbal Singh
Chahal, Municipal
Commissioner, the civ-
ic body has invited ten-
ders worth Rs23.38
crore for it.
Many underground
subways in the city
have railway tracks
and express highways
running overhead and
during monsoon, these
get affected resulting
in long traffic jams.
This leads to inconti-
nence for the commut-
ers going to work. The
situation is such that
sometimes, the water
level rises a few metres
in height. With the on-
going work in Milan
subway and Hindmata,
the traffic woes will
ease very soon as both
these areas report wa-
ter logging incidents
very frequently.
However, a few years
ago, the BMC under-
took certain remedial
measures, the impact
of which was seen in
the 2022 monsoon. The
BMC installed high ca-
pacity pumps at Hind-
mata and built a huge
water collection tank
under Pramod
Mahajan Udyan and
under the St Xavier’s
ground.
AFTER LONG WAIT,MALABAR HILL
ROAD TO FINALLY BE REOPENED
Mumbai: Within a week, BG Kher road in the city will be reo-
pened for traffic movement after over two and a half years. The
road was closed after a landslide in Malabar Hill on August 5,
2020 and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials
hope that
traffic con-
gestion will
be reduced
after the
road opens.
Additional
Municipal
Commission-
er P Velrasu
said BG Kher
Road will be opened for traffic in a week. Speaking on why the
repair work took long, a BMC official said that the main water
pipeline under the road was replaced, and other utilities like the
stormwater drain were also replaced. —FIB
Mumbai: The Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC), body
in charge of the Mahalaxmi Race Course has been asked by
the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to clear the
due arrears of Rs5.99 crore since 2013. The civic body has
sent a letter for the same, also stating that claiming the rent
does not mean that lease
for land parcel has been
renewed. “The lease for the
race course got over in 2013
and the last paid rent was
Rs56 lakh. However, despite
the tenure of the agreement
getting over and the BMC not renewing it, the management
didn’t vacate the premises and enjoyed the benefits. There-
fore, the outstanding arrears for using the plot for the past
10 years now stand at Rs5.99 crore,” said an official. —FIB
BMC ASKS RACE COURSE TO
CLEAR DUES WORTH `5.99 CR
Mumbai: Soon, Premium buses to ferry people and
ease travel from Kharghar in Navi Mumbai to Bandra
Kurla Complex (BKC) in Bandra East. The Brihan-
mumbai Electricity
Supply and Transport
Undertaking (BEST)
will soon launch its
luxury services on the
36-kilometre route.
The BEST undertaking
launched the luxury bus service from Thane to BKC
in December and received a good response from the
commuters. With the Thane-BKC premium service
route, Mumbai became the first city in India to have
an all-electric premium city bus service, according to
Lokesh Chandra, General Manager, BEST. —FIB
SOON, LUXURY BUSES
FROM KHARGHAR TO BKC
Man attacked, pvt
parts injured; case
filed against three
Thane (PTI): A case of
attempt to murder was
registered against three
persons after they alleg-
edly attacked a 31-year-
old man following a dis-
pute, injuring his pri-
vate parts in Thane
district, an official said.
The incident took
place in Kalyan on the
intervening night of
Monday and Tuesday,
he said. The accused
and the victim were
neighbours and worked
in the same factory.
They had a dispute for a
long time, the official
from Manpada police
station said.
They had a fight at a
party after which two
of the accused held the
victim while the third
one allegedly stabbed
him with a knife, caus-
ing injury to his private
parts, he said.
The victim was taken
to a nearby hospital,
where his condition was
severe, the police said.
MAN ATTACKED IN
PALGHAR OVER
ENMITY; 3 HELD
FOR MURDER BID
Palghar: A 20-year-old
man was attacked with
iron rods over an old
enmity. Police have
arrested three persons
in connection with the
case, an official said on
Wednesday. The accused
allegedly attacked the
man and his friend,
injuring both of them,
who were later admitted
to a hospital, N Gandat,
Assistant Police Inspec-
tor, Pelhar police station
said. The police arrested
the three accused on
Tuesday night and
booked them on charges
of armed rioting and
attempted murder, the
official said.
Bundleup!Coldwaveset
tohitMahathisweekend
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Parts of Ma-
harashtra will see a
drastic drop in the tem-
perature this weekend,
with officials predicting
a cold wave on the heels
of icy winds blowing in
from the Himalayas.
The India Meteoro-
logical Department
(IMD) declares a “cold
wave” when the mini-
mum temperature dips
to 4 °C or below and/or
is 4.5 notches less than
normal.
According to an IMD
alert, Nandurbar,
Dhule, Jalgaon and Na-
shik will experience
the coolest tempera-
tures during the cold
wave, since they are lo-
cated in the state’s
northernmost end. Dis-
tricts in central Maha-
rashtra like Aurang-
abad, Jalna, Beed, Parb-
hani, Latur and
Solapur, will be moder-
ately affected, while
Mumbai, Pune, Raigad
and Thane will experi-
ence minimal effects.
Theminimum(night)
temperature in several
parts of Maharashtra,
including Pune, is al-
ready being recorded in
single digits. “We can
expect the mercury lev-
els to dip further be-
tween January 15 and
18,” Mahesh Palawat of
Skymet Weather Ser-
vices Pvt Ltd said, add-
ing “The primary cause
of the cold wave is the
chilly northern winds
that have started to
blow from the Himala-
yas towards the west-
ern part of the country
.
The western distur-
bances are also over, so
there is no obstruction
for these winds now.”
However, the mini-
mum temperature in
Mumbai is expected to
hover in the 14-16 °C
rangeduringthisperiod.
SHRC raps Maha govt for not
protecting animals from harm
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Slamming
the state Home Depart-
ment, police and Ani-
mal Husbandry Depart-
ment, the Maharashtra
State Human Rights
Commission (MSHRC)
has passed severe re-
strictions against them
for not fully implement-
ing the Maharashtra
Animal Preservation
Act, 1976. It also criti-
cized them for failing to
enforce the ban on the
slaughtering of cows
and its progeny
.
The commission has
ordered the additional
chief secretary (Home),
director general of po-
lice and the principal
secretary of the Ani-
mal Husbandry Depart-
ment to be present at a
meeting scheduled for
February 09.
A summons has been
issued to officials by
Commission Chairper-
son Justice KK Tated.
He has also asked them
to file their affidavits
with respect to a com-
plaint filed by animal
activist Ashish Barik.
Advocate Siddhi Vid-
ya, who appeared for
Barik, said no action
was being taken against
unauthorized slaughter
houses in Maharashtra.
She also claimed that
police did not take ac-
tion despite complaints
from non-governmental
organizations (NGOs).
“Many animal lovers
were attacked by own-
ers of illegal slaughter
houses and cow smug-
glers,” she said.
“Unfortunately, no
oneremainedpresenton
behalf of the additional
chief secretary (Home),
Mantralaya (state secre-
tariat) despite summons
served. Therefore, we
are of the opinion that a
show cause notice
should be issued to the
Home Department on
whyactionshouldnotbe
takenagainstthem,”the
commission observed.
The commission also
noted that the standard
operating procedure
does not seem to be im-
plemented in its true
spirit. “In December
2022, a party probing a
complaint of illegal
slaughter was attacked
in Malegaon, but offi-
cials of the Home and
police departments
were unaware of the
incident,” stated Vidya.
“Such an approach in
dealing with a sensitive
matter like this de-
serves to be condemned
in strong words,” noted
the commission.
The commission has taken cognizance of a complaint filed by an animal activist. —FILE PHOTO
THE CONTENTION
Unfortunately, no one remained present on behalf of the additional
chief secretary (Home), Mantralaya (state secretariat) despite sum-
mons served. Therefore, we are of the opinion that a show cause notice
should be issued to the Home Department on why action should not be taken
against them. —Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission
Issues summons
to officials of
Home, Animal
Husbandry and
police depts over
Maha Animal
Preservation Act
Senior citizens exercise in winter. —FILE PHOTO
As per the India
Meteorological
Department , cold wave
is when min drops to
4C “and/or 4.5 notches
less than normal”
STP at Thane stn to treat 45KL waste per day
First India Bureau
Thane: In a bid to en-
sure that the Thane
railway complex be-
comes a “zero-waste”
and “zero effluent” fa-
cility, the Central Rail-
way has launched a
sewage treatment plant
on the premises of the
Thane station which
will treat 45 kilolitres
(KL) of waste per day,
an official said.
Inaugurated on
Wednesday, the plant
will treat waste gener-
ated by various facili-
ties on the Thane rail-
way station premises,
Railway Colony, offices,
a hospital and other in-
stitute facilities.
“This plant is part
of steps by the Indian
Railways towards en-
vironment sustaina-
bility. The plant aims
to make the Thane
central railway com-
plex a zero-waste, ze-
ro-effluent facility.
This complex will no
longer burden the al-
ready over-stressed
sewage infrastructure
of the Thane munici-
pality,” said Amren-
dra Singh, ADRM
(Mumbai Division)
Central Railway.
The new facility will
reduce municipal wa-
ter consumption by up
to 60% and produce ap-
proximately 100kg of
compost every month
for use in gardens and
residential colonies,
he added.
Plant is launched on premises of Thane station. —FILE PHOTO
TO WORK ON...
3 chain-snatching incidents in 30 mins
First India Bureau
Thane: Police are in-
vestigating three cases
of chain snatching, re-
ported within a span of
30 minutes in Kalyan,
officials said on
Wednesday, adding that
the three crimes oc-
curred within a radius
of 7km and followed the
same modus operandi.
At 10.25 am on Tues-
day, two motorcycle-
borne men brandish-
ing a knife snatched a
62-year-old woman’s
gold mangalsutra
worth Rs64,000, a police
official said. They also
tried to rob her friend’s
gold chain, but man-
aged to pull away only
its string.
Barely five minutes
later, two men on a mo-
torcycle brandished a
knife tried to strangle a
45-year-old woman re-
turning from a temple
with her scarf, and
snatched her man-
galsutra worth
Rs70,000, official said.
Ten minutes after
that, at around 10.40 am,
a 55-year-old woman
who was walking along
with her friend in Wald-
huni area was robbed of
her gold chain worth
Rs1.60 lakh, the official
said.

PERSPECTIVE
04
arendra bhai would say 21st
century is the century of
technology. In 2009, after
Deepavali, ministers, mem-
bers of parliament, members
of legislative assembly and
members of the sangathan
got together for a ‘Sneh Mi-
lan’ at a community hall at
the ministers bungalow, and
Narendra Bhai was part of it.
As always, he would share a
special message with every-
one and use that platform for
outreach. This time he want-
ed me to apprise everyone of
the growing influence of so-
cial media and the impor-
tance of using it effectively
through a presentation. Now
this was when people had not
been introduced to Whatsapp.
Whatsapp came to India in
2010 if I am not wrong. Twit-
ter and Facebook too were
comparatively newer social
media platforms back then.
You know, 90% of the audi-
ence that day had not even
heard of these tools and Nar-
endra bhai said to me, “Social
media will be the driving
force of 21st century
. Human
life will revolve around these
platforms. And the sooner we
master the nuances of han-
dling these tools, the faster
and more effective our way of
working will become.” He
also spoke about how this
technology will make “maxi-
mum governance, minimum
government” a reality by
making governance faster, ef-
ficient and transparent. He
asked everyone to ensure that
they start using technology
and understanding the finer
tools of making e-governance
the order of the day
.
Post my presentation when
I got down from the stage, sev-
eralseniorofficialsexpressed
their disbelief about this
emerging phenomenon.
Some were outright critical
and dismissive of the fact
that such technology even ex-
isted and if it did, they were
convinced that politics was
not the right place for its us-
age. They simply dismissed
the idea that governance was
possible using such tools and
said that this was just anoth-
er fad, a dream! They were of
the opinion that the influence
of social media was limited
to just talk and nothing that
was discussed that day will
be implemented in practical
life. Facebook and Twitter
politics was akin to day
dreaming at the time.
Today we are in 2023 and
every single one of us is mak-
ing full use of social media
platforms and technology has
revolutionized e-governance.
But Narendra bhai was the
sole Statesman who set the
narrative for social media be-
ing the driving force of poli-
tics, effective communication
and governance in 2009.
What’s more surprising is
that usually it is the leader-
ship of the central govern-
ment that sets the agenda for
states and state leadership fol-
lows the trends set by the cen-
tre. However, this was vice-
versa. Narendra bhai was CM
then and he got about this
massive change in the outlook
of politicians with regard to
technology and social media
tools. Although he was a state
leader, people of the country
started to follow him as he is
indeed a true visionary
. Peo-
ple took to using Facebook,
Twitter and began to follow
Narendra bhai on social me-
dia as well. You can see the
reality today yourself. All
those people who used to treat
social media with contempt
and laughed at the idea of be-
ing active on Twitter today
are using the platform with
gusto! Narendra bhai turned
a new leaf in the chapter of
Indian polity by popularizing
inclusion of social media for
effective communication and
effective governance.
What I remember clearly is
Narendra bhai telling me that
facelessadministrationisvery
importantfortransparentgov-
ernance. When the applicant
and the officer responsible for
resolving the applicant’s con-
cern do not interact face-to-
face, it becomes faceless gov-
ernance. Sometimes face-to-
face interaction goes awry as
itdigressesintoareaswhereit
shouldnotandthat’swhenthe
applicant feels harassed and
disappointed with the system.
So when officers do not come
to know whose file they are
dealingwithandtheissuegets
resolved, a non-corrupt and
transparent administration is
born. Narendra bhai has been
my inspiration and based on
his concept of faceless admin-
istration, I introduced several
initiatives and tools to make
non-corrupt governance a re-
ality in my sector.
United Nations dedicated
the period of 2015 to 2030 to
sustainable goals in 2015. But
Narendra bhai was the actual
pioneer of sustainable devel-
opment in India because in
2010, he began with develop-
ment work in a place like
Dang in Gujarat. I was the
Director of Gujarat Tourism
then. This place has a huge
forest cover and had few op-
tions for earning a livelihood.
You would have heard about
Saputara, the only hill station
in Gujarat. Narendra bhai
created sustainable develop-
ment goals for Dang and
Saputara when the world was
yet to begin to think on these
lines. He wanted development
that would provide the locals
better and greater means of
earning their daily bread
without causing any harm to
the ecosystem. He chose de-
velopment of the tourism in-
dustry in these hilly areas to
begin the much needed work
of sustainable development.
There was a paragliding pi-
lot named Roshan Thakur in
Himachal Pradesh and Nar-
endra bhai used to do para-
gliding in the 90’s with him.
Narendra bhai asked me to
get in touch with Roshan
Thakur and find out what was
possible in Saputara. Dang
and Saputara are truly beauti-
ful places but the four months
of monsoon season would see
very little footfall and hotels
had less than 10% occupancy
during those months. Naren-
dra bhai decided to tap into
these four months of mon-
soon season and develop
Saputara and Dang. He initi-
ated the Monsoon Festival in
Saputara which resulted in
110-112% occupancy in hotels.
Today the traffic has in-
creased so much that there
are plans to develop four-lane
roads in the area!
Generating employment
while protecting the environ-
ment has been Narendra
bhai’s endeavour in our state
and I am fortunate to have
been part of such sustainable
development initiatives un-
dertaken by him.
Not just this, nobody could
havedreamtof somethinglike
the Rannutsav in the White
Desert. He visualized a three-
month long festival in Kutch
and this he did in the 70’s
when he used to visit Kutch as
a karyakarta. He used to say
that there was no place more
beautiful than Kutch on the
planet and if he ever got the
opportunity
, he would develop
it into a thriving desert. He
became CM and did exactly
that!Todayallbigconferences
are happening in Dhordo, in
Kutch. Rann Utsav is a global
tourist destination now, all
thanks to Narendra bhai!
TO BE CONTINUED...
UNTOLD STORIES OF PM MODI - PART 27
‘MODI HAI TO MUMKIN HAI…’
COMPILED AND EDITED BY
SHASHIKANT SHARMA
AND SHWETA SHARMA
N
YOU READ PART 26 ON JANUARY 9, 2023
Today we are in 2023 and every single one of
us is making full use of social media
platforms and technology has revolutionized
e-governance. But Narendra bhai was the sole
statesman who set the narrative for social media
being the driving force of politics, effective
communication and governance in 2009
‘NARENDRA BHAI
SAYS WE MUST USE
TECH EVERYWHERE’
Whatsapp came to India in
2010 if I am not wrong.
Twitter and Facebook too were
comparatively newer social
media platforms back then. You
know, 90% of the audience that
day had not even heard of these
tools and Narendra bhai said to
me, “Social media will be the
driving force of 21st century.
He asked everyone to ensure
that they start using technology
and understanding the finer
tools of making e-governance
the order of the day.
‘FACELESS ADMN IMP
FOR TRANSPARENT
GOVERNANCE’
What I remember clearly is
Narendra bhai telling me
that faceless administration is
very important for transparent
governance. When the applicant
and the officer responsible
for resolving the applicant’s
concern do not interact face-
to-face, it becomes faceless
governance. Sometimes face-
to-face interaction goes awry as
it digresses into areas where it
should not and that’s when the
applicant feels harassed and
disappointed with the system.
MODI: THE PIONEER OF GOOD GOVERNANCE
AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA
From faceless, transparent and non-corrupt governance to being a pioneer of sustainable development in the state, the
narrator shares with us how PM Modi has been a Statesman way ahead of his times. He is a true visionary and has the
power to transform the lives of his people for the better through his enterprising initiatives and farsightedness
MAKE INDIA A DIGITAL
‘SUPER POWER’
NaMo’s
VISION
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
l Vol 1 l Issue No. 246 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: DrJagdeesh Chandra Editor: Kartikey Dev Singh responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act

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05
INDIA
Punjab: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi paid obeisance
at Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib Wednesday morning
before beginning Punjab leg of the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra'.
He sported a turban and wore a half-sleeved T-shirt
to the place of worship. Gandhi was accompanied by
Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja War-
ring and other party leaders. Gandhi had on Tuesday
offered prayers at the Golden Temple in Amritsar after
concluding the Haryana leg of the march in Ambala
district. He reached Sirhind in Fatehgarh Sahib Tuesday
evening and stayed for the night there.
Sharat K Verma
New Delhi: Jharkhand
Director General of Po-
lice Neeraj Sinha’s
term is about to end
and the state is about to
get a new police chief.
In Bihar, which is ad-
joining Jharkhand,
firebrand police officer
RS Bhatti has recently
been made DGP. Simi-
larly, in Jharkhand too,
preparations are on to
hand over the com-
mand of the police to a
flamboyant officer.
Keep in mind that last
time there were many
vicissitudes regarding
the post of police chief
and extremely high
profile and flamboyant
officer KN Choubey
could not complete the
tenure. When Neeraj
Sinha was also made
DGP, many questions
were raised about him
and a legal dispute also
took place. The govern-
ment is trying to avoid
this also.
According to in-
formed sources, the
new police chief of the
state could be an officer
with CBI experience.
Out of the three names
for the police chief, two
are those who have CBI
experience. The names
of Additional Director
of CBI Ajay Bhatnagar
and senior police offic-
er Anil Palta, who was
in CBI, are discussed.
What will happen if ei-
ther Bhatnagar or Palta
becomes Jharkhand po-
lice chief? Will this give
some relief to the He-
mant Soren govern-
ment of the state? Keep
in mind that many cas-
es are going on against
him in central agencies.
However, earlier the
name of SN Pradhan
was also discussed, but
now it is being said that
his name is not in the
panel. He is also on dep-
utation to the Central
Government. Apart
from Bhatnagar and
Palta, the third name is
that of senior police of-
ficer AK Singh.
Jharkhand's new police chief will be an ex-CBI officer!
SEARCH IS ON
FARMERS’ KILLING
TRIAL MAY TAKE 5
YRS: UP GOVT TO SC
‘UPHAAR CINEMA
SERIES ATTACKING
MY PERSONALITY’
New Delhi: The trial in the
Lakhimpur Kheri violence,
in which Union Minister
Ajay Kumar Mishra’s
son is an accused, could
take around five years to
complete, the judge who
is hearing the case, told
the Supreme Court on
Wednesday, in a status
report filed by the Uttar
Pradesh government. In a
letter sent to the top court,
the additional sessions
judge said there are 208
prosecution witnesses,
171 documents and 27
FSL reports in the case.
New Delhi: Real estate
tycoon Sushil Ansal,
convicted in the 1997
Uphaar cinema fire case,
Wednesday contended
before the Delhi High
Court that web series
‘Trial by Fire’, stated
to be based on the
incident and scheduled
for release on Netflix
on January 13, directly
attacks his personality.
Ansal urged the court
to grant an injunction
against the release of the
web series.
LAKSHADWEEP MP
SENTENCED TO 10
YEARS IN PRISON
SC AGREES TO
EXAMINE PLEA IN
CASTE CENSUS
Lakshadweep: A court
in Lakshadweep on
Wednesday, January 11,
sentenced NCP Lok Sabha
member Mohammed
Faizal from Lakshadweep
to 10 years imprison-
ment in an attempt to
murder case. Along with
Faizal who is the second
accused, two of his broth-
ers, and another person
have also been sent to
jail in the same case.The
case pertains to a scuffle
that broke out during the
2009 Lok Sabha election
campaign.
New Delhi: The Supreme
Court on Wednesday
agreed to examine a plea
seeking quashing the Bihar
government’s decision to
conduct a caste survey
in the state, on Friday. A
counsel mentioned the plea
for hearing before a bench
headed by Chief Justice
D.Y. Chandrachud. The pe-
tition has been filed by one
Akhilesh Kumar, a social
worker from Nalanda, con-
tending that this decision
fell under the domain of the
Union government.
ANTITRUST ORDER MAY STALL ANDROID
GROWTH IN INDIA: GOOGLE TO SUPREME COURT
New Delhi: The growth of Google’s Android ecosystem is
on the brink of stalling in India due to an antitrust order
that asks the company to change how it markets the
platform, the US company
has said in a Supreme
Court challenge seen by
Reuters. The CCI in October
fined Alphabet Inc-owned
Google $161 million for
exploiting its dominant
position in Android, which powers 97% of smartphones
in India, and asked it to change restrictions imposed on
smartphone makers related to pre-installing apps. Google
has so far said the CCI decision will force it to change its
long-standing business model, but its SC filing for the
first time quantifies the impact and details the changes the
company will need to make.
Punjab (PTI): Con-
gress leader Rahul Gan-
dhi on Wednesday ac-
cused the BJP of
spreading fear and ha-
tred in the country
, even
as he asserted that In-
dia stood for brother-
hood,unityandrespect
and that is why his
'Bharat Jodo Yatra' was
successful.
Gandhi paid obei-
sance at Gurdwara
Fatehgarh Sahib before
the start of the Punjab
leg of the Yatra. . He
later also visited Rauza
Sharif dargah.
Addressing a gather-
ing at Sirhind here, the
former Congress chief
said, An atmosphere of
hatred and violence has
been spread in the coun-
try. The BJP and the
RSS people are dividing
the country, pitting one
religion against the
other, one caste
against the other, and
one language against
the other. And they
have spoiled the atmos-
phere of the country
.
Calling media his
friend, Rahul Gandhi
rued that the fourth es-
tate was showing Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi's face round-the-
clock and not raising is-
sueslikeunemployment
or inflation.
He also said that his
Yatra has been receiv-
ing an overwhelming
public response as it
moves from one state to
another.
Indiaaboutbrotherhoodunity:RaGa
BJP RSS people are dividing the country, putting one religion against the other, one caste against other, Rahul added
Rahul Gandhi lead the party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, at Sirhind, in Fatehgarh on Wednesday. Amrinder Singh Raja and Charanjit Singh
Channi also seen. —PHOTO BY ANI
New Delhi (ANI): Un-
ion Home Minister
Amit Shah on Wednes-
day stressed that In-
dia’s independence
would have been de-
layed by decades if
“armed revolution had
not started”.
Referring to the Con-
gress-led movement,
the Home Minister said
that it was successful
“only because of” the
spark created by the
armed revolution by
freedom fighters like
Bhagat Singh and oth-
ers. “History is ruth-
less, it can’t be distort-
ed. It shines like light-
ning on a dark night
and eventually, it comes
out and has to be ac-
cepted. Nobody can
suppress or hide the
history of India’s inde-
pendence,” he added.
Shah’s remarks came
at a book launch event
by Sanjeev Sanyal ti-
tled ‘Revolutionaries
(The other story of how
India won its freedom).
“When Bhagat Singh
was hanged by the Brit-
ish, people from La-
hore to Kanniyaku-
mari lamented his
death. I am not only
talking about Bhagat
Singh but we need to
understand that if the
violent revolt against
the British hadn’t
started independence
would have been de-
layed by decades,”
Shah said.
HM Amit Shah
stresses on
armed revolution
Chandigarh: The Pun-
jab Civil Services (PCS)
officers on Wednesday
called off their mass
casual leave protest af-
ter a meeting with ad-
ditional chief secretary
of chief minister Bhag-
want Mann.
The PCS officers will
join their duties imme-
diately, additional
chief secretary Venu-
prasad said.
The president of the
PCS Officers' associa-
tion Rajat Oberoi said
they would withdraw
their call for mass casu-
al leave.
Earlier in the day,
chief minister Mann
had warned PCS offic-
ers, who had gone on
mass casual leave, to
join duties by 2pm or
else face suspension.
The tough stand of
the chief minister came
after services at admin-
istrative offices in the
state were hit as Punjab
Civil Services officers
went on five-day mass
casual leave beginning
Monday against the ar-
rest of PCS officer Nar-
inder Singh Dhaliwal in
Ludhiana by the state
vigilance bureau.
PCS officerscalloffmasscasual
leaveprotestafterMann’sultimatum
IN THE COURTYARD
Chandigarh (PTI):
Chief Minister Bhag-
want Mann today
warned Punjab civil
service officers, who
are on mass leave to
protest the illegal ar-
rest of their colleague,
to join duty this after-
noon, failing which
they will be suspend-
ed. Such a strike
amounts to blackmail-
ing and arm-twisting,
he said.
The tough stand of
Mann came after ser-
vices at administra-
tive offices in the state
were hit as the officers
went on five-day mass
casual leave begin-
ning Monday to pro-
test the arrest of PCS
officer Narinder Sin-
gh Dhaliwal in Ludhi-
ana by the state vigi-
lance bureau.
In a tweet, Mann
said, It has been
brought to my notice
that some officers are
not attending duty in
the garb of some
strike. They are pro-
testing against strong
action taken by the
govt against corrupt
officers. Let this be
very clear to everyone
that this govt has zero
tolerance to corrup-
tion. Such a strike
amounts to blackmail-
ing and arm twisting.
It cannot be tolerated
by any responsible
govt, he said.
Suspend officers who don’t join:
CM Bhagwant Mann cracks down
New Delhi (PTI): In a letter to the presidents of the
parties, he said from the beginning of the yatra, the
Congress has sought the participation
of every like-minded party and on the
invitation of Rahul Gandhi, MPs of
several political parties have joined it
at different stages. “I now invite you to
personally join the concluding function
of the Bharat Jodo Yatra to be held in
Srinagar on January 30 at noon,” Kharge wrote.
Jammu: Extending support
to the Rahul Gandhi-led
Bharat Jodo Yatra which
is scheduled to enter JK
next week, Shiv Sena leader
Manish Sahni on Wednesday
said they will join the march
in Jammu. Sahni, president
of the J-K unit of Shiv Sena
(Uddhav Balasaheb Thack-
eray), praised Gandhi for the
initiative and appealed to peo-
ple to join the march in huge
numbers to give a befitting
reply to those who do politics
of hatred and religion. We
will welcome and join the
Yatra on its arrival in the city
of temples as per the instruc-
tions of party's national
secretary and MP Anil Desai.
Karnataka (PTI): Hitting the road in Karnataka, the
Congress began its statewide bus tour called ‘Praja
Dhwani Yatre’, jointly led by party state unit President
D K Shivakumar and Leader of Opposition in the
Assembly Siddaramaiah. The tour kickstarted at ‘Veer
Soudha’, a memorial where Mahatma Gandhi had pre-
sided over the Congress session in 1924, after paying
tributes to the father of the nation. Randeep Surjewala,
and senior leaders including campaign committee chief
M B Patil, were among others present.
KHARGE INVITES 21 LIKE-MINDED
PARTIES TO JOIN BJY IN SRINAGAR
RAHUL GANDHI PAYS OBEISANCE
AT FATEHGARH SAHIB GURDWARA
STATE SHIV
SENA UNIT TO
JOIN RAGA’S BJY
IN JAMMU
CONG KICKS OFF STATEWIDE BUS
TOUR AHEAD OF K’TAKA ELECTIONS
Ajay Bhatnagar Anil Palta
Objective of Bharat
Jodo Yatra is clear, it's
against inflation, un-
employmnet and poli-
tics of hatred. There is
a need to unite opposi-
tion to fight against
BJP. They are misus-
ing all the agencies for
their benefit.
—KC Venugopal,
Congress leader
Revolutionaries from
every part of India
were housed in cellular
jail and this proves
that the violent revolu-
tion against the Brit-
ish was not an isolated
effort. Those responsi-
ble for writing India’s
independence history
failed to present the In-
dian perspective.
—Amit Shah,
Home Minister
BHARAT JODO YATRA
Chennai (ANI): Tamil
Nadu MLA Thiru. N.
Eramakrishnan on
Wednesday moved a
‘Motion of Thanks’ on
Governor R N Ravi’s
address, with a men-
tion of the word ‘ago-
ny’ over his action on
January 9.
“...That this House
records its agony for
the act of Hon. Govenor
by omitting and includ-
ing some portions in
the Governor’s Address
which was sent by the
Tamil Nadu Govern-
ment, approved by the
Hon. Governor and cir-
culated in the Assem-
bly: That the Members
of the Tamil Nadu Leg-
islative Assembly are
grateful to the Hon.
Governor for the Ad-
dress, recorded in the
House on the 9th Janu-
ary
, 2023,” the motion of
thanks read.
Tamil Nadu Assembly
thanks Governor for
speech, but with ‘Agony’
RN Ravi’s remark during his address at the opening session of
the House triggered an uproar.

06
INDIA
New Delhi(Agencies):
Lal Bahadur Shastri,
the second Prime Min-
ister of the country,
was born on 2 October
1904 in Mughalsarai
(Uttar Pradesh) in a
Kayastha family
. His fa-
ther Munshi Sharda
Prasad Srivastava was
a teacher in primary
school.
His mother’s name
was Ramdulari. Being
the youngest in the
family, Lal Bahadur
was called as Nanhe by
the family members.
When Lal Bahadur was
only one and a half
years old, his father
passed away.
After that, his moth-
er took Lal Bahadur to
his maternal grandfa-
ther Hazarilal’s house
in Mirzapur. While liv-
ing in Nanihal, he re-
ceived primary educa-
tion. After this he did
his education at Har-
ishchandra High
School and Kashi Vid-
yapeeth. After receiv-
ing the title of Shastri
from Kashi Vidyap-
eeth, he replaced Sriv-
astava with Shastri. In
the year 1928, Lal Baha-
dur Shastri was mar-
ried to Lalita, daughter
of Ganesh Prasad, a
resident of Mirzapur.
They had 6 children, in
which 2 daughters-Ku-
sum and Suman and
four sons Harikrishna,
Anil, Sunil and Ashok.
Lal Bahadur Shastri
had an active partici-
pation in all the impor-
tant programs
movements of the In-
dian freedom struggle
and also went to jail
several times. He is
also remembered for
his slogan, ‘Jai Jawan
Jai Kisan’.He was
greatly influenced by
Mahatma Gandhi’s
thoughts.
LalBahadurShastri:Rememberingthe2ndPrimeMinister
57TH DEATH ANNIVERSARY
WILL NAVEEN PATNAIK’S ‘SPORTS
DIPLOMACY’ BEAR FRUITS?
Mahesh Sharma
New Delhi: Odisha
Chief Minister Naveen
Patnaik is engaged in
politics through sports
diplomacy. Lok Sabha
elections are going to be
held simultaneously in
his state next year.
This means the elec-
tion year has begun and
it begins with the men’s
hockey World Cup. This
time the Hockey World
Cup will be held in two
cities of Odisha Bhu-
baneswar and Rourkela.
It will be held from
January 13 to 19 at the
Kalinga Stadium in
Bhubaneswar and the
Birsa Munda Stadium
in Rourkela. Before
that, Patnaik an-
nounced that if the In-
dian team wins the
World Cup, then the
state government will
give one crore rupees to
each player.
Naveen Patnaik’s
government had started
many big projects re-
garding this event. New
aviation service was
also started from Rour-
kela just before this
event, which was
flagged off on January
7. It started under the
UDAN scheme of the
central government but
the state government
made it its own event.
The picture of Avia-
tion Minister Jyotiradi-
tya Scindia was not seen
anywhere in the adver-
tisement of this event.
Not only this, the name
or picture of Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi was also not print-
ed. BJP leader of Odis-
ha and Union Minister
Dharmendra Pradhan
has objected to this.
However, it is also
being said that Naveen
Patnaik has invited all
the opposition leaders
for the inauguration
of the Hockey World
Cup event.
Mind you, Naveen
Patnaik has so far
stayed away from ef-
forts to unite the oppo-
sition against the BJP.
He gave a message of
equidistance from the
BJP and the opposition
but largely continued to
provide issue-based
support to the BJP cen-
tral government.
GLITTERING OPENING
CEREMONY HELD FOR
HOCKEY WORLD CUP 2023
New Delhi: The open-
ing ceremony of the
Men’s Hockey World
Cup 2023 took place at
Barabati Stadium in
Cuttack on Wednesday
evening (January 11).
The event was wit-
nessed by thousands of
hockey lovers from
across the country and
abroad.
Odisha Chief Minis-
ter Naveen Patnaik
inaugurated the
Men’s Hockey World
Cup 2023 in the pres-
ence of Union Minis-
ter Anurag Thakur.
Naveen Patnaik ex-
pressed his immense
delight with the way the
FIH Men’s Hockey
World Cup has returned
to Odisha.
The grand Opening
Ceremony of FIH Men’s
Hockey World Cup 2023
was held at Barabati
Stadium in Cuttack,
Odisha today
.
Many Bollywood
stars like Disha Patani
Ranveer Singh per-
formed at the inaugural
under tight security
.
Srinagar (FIB): Three soldiers, including a junior
commissioned officer (JCO), died after they slipped
into a deep gorge during
patrolling along the LoC in
Kupwara district of Jammu
and Kashmir, the Army said
on Wednesday. The incident
took place in Machil sector
when they were on a regular operation task in the for-
ward area. Five CRPF jawans hurt in IED blast : The
Maoist ultras on Wednesday made their presence felt
by triggering a blast. Five CRPF jawans were injured in
an IED blast triggered at a jungle under the Tonto po-
lice station area of West Singhbhum dist in Jharkhand.
3 SOLDIERS DIE AFTER SLIPPING INTO A
GORGE ALONG LINE OF CONTROL
CRUCIAL READ
New Delhi: A Vande Bharat Express from Maha-
rashtra’s Nagpur to Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh was
damaged after a collision
with cattle on Monday. The
animals collided with the
train along the Moodhipar
Parmalkasa rail section.
The accident led to agita-
tion in the area and locals threw stones at the train
at several halts. The collision took place around
5:30 pm on Monday, damaging the front part of
the train. Following the incident, arrangements
were made to send the train back to Nagpur from
Bilaspur on Tuesday.
ANOTHER VANDE BHARAT DAMAGED
AFTER COLLISION WITH CATTLE IN MAHA
New Delhi: An international passenger was arrested
from the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport for
allegedly urinating in front
of the departure gate at
Terminal 3 a few days ago,
the Delhi Police informed
on Wednesday, adding that
he was later released on a
bail bond.The arrest was in made on the heels of two
separate peeing incidents onboard Air India flights.
IGI AIRPORT: MAN HELD FOR URINATING
AT DEPARTURE GATE, RELEASED ON BAIL
IAS OFFICER, EX-
RJD MLA BOOKED
FOR GANGRAPE
FATEHPUR: 4 DEAD
AS COLD WAVE
WREAKS HAVOC
New Delhi: Senior IAS
officer Sanjeev Hans
and former RJD MLA
Gulab Yadav in Bihar
have been booked for
an alleged gangrape
of an advocate. While
Sajeev Hans is posted
as principal secretary
in the state energy
department, Yadav is a
former legislator from
Jhanjharpur. An FIR
was filed after a court
ordered the police to
register a rape case
against the accused.
New Delhi: A severe
coldwave and a dense
fog condition has been
prevailing in the entire
north Indian belt for
the past five days. In
just 24 hours, four
people, including a PRV
constable and three
farmers, died reportedly
due to the cold wave in
UP’s Fatehpur district.
Rajendra, a resident of
Raghunathganj, was
posted to PRV 1181 in
Khaga Kotwali area of
Fatehpur district.
FAMILY OF DELHI
POLICE ASI GETS
` 1 CR RELIEF
MINOR BOY
KILLED IN ‘HUMAN
SACRIFICE’ RITUAL
New Delhi (PTI):
CM Arvind Kejriwal
announced an ex-gratia
of Rs 1 crore for the
family of Delhi Police
assistant sub inspector
Shambhu Dayal, who
died after being stabbed
by a snatcher.The entire
country is proud of
him. He did not care
for his own life. He
martyred. There is no
price for his life still we
will provide Rs 1 crore
to his family in his hon-
our,” said Kejriwal.
Silvassa (PTI): A
nine-year-old boy was
kidnapped and decap-
itated as part of a “hu-
man sacrifice” ritual for
getting money and later
his body was chopped
into pieces, police said
on Wednesday. Police
arrested two men and
detained a teenage
boy last week after the
headless body was
found dumped near a
canal at Vapi in Valsad
district in neighbouring
Gujarat.
Joshimath (Agen-
cies): In Uttarakhand’s
‘sinking’ town of
Joshimath, hotels and
other buildings that
have developed wide
cracks and are on the
brink of collapse will
be demolished within a
week, a top official said
today.
Senior officer
Himanshu Khurana
also told media offi-
cials that every affect-
ed family will be given-
Rs 1.5 lakh as immedi-
ate compensation for
losing their home.
Hundreds protested
on the streets and sat
guard outside the
buildings overnight in
the bitter cold. The res-
idents also expressed
worry that bulldozers
would end up exacer-
bating the damage to
neighbouring build-
ings.
Residents demanded
that the state govern-
ment help relocate
them to Badrinath, the
holy town that draws
thousands of pilgrims
and big business
every year.The ad-
minis-tration met with
the residents and as-
sured them relief.
Massive cracks have
developed in over 700
houses because of
years of unplanned in-
frastructure develop-
ment, roads power
projects.
JOSHIMATH ‘SINKING’
Government announces immediate
compensatison hotel demolitions
CRACKS FOUND IN THE WALLS OF
BADMINTON COURT, SAYS REPORT
Joshimath (Agencies):
At the badminton
court, the cracks in the
walls are so wide that
a human hand can slip
in, as per media report.
The floors are sagging,
and the windows are
askew in the complex.
The doors are barely
hanging off hinges and
parts of the roof are
crumbling. Some of
the rooms are barely
standing. The scale of
damage is most visible
at the Jaypee power
plant, currently the
most dangerous build-
ing in Joshimath.
CRACKS IN TEHRI GARHWAL HOUSES,
LOCALS DEMAND GOVT INTERVENTION
Tehri Garhwal (ANI): Uttarakhand’s Tehri
Garhwal is also facing land subsidence and
locals, in fear of landslides, urged the govern-
ment on Wednesday to take cognisance of the
issue and take necessary action. Landslides
are happening in the villages adjacent to Tehri
lake and cracks have increased in the houses
above and near the Chamba Tunnel, putting
over a half dozen families in danger, informed
local people.
Locals shift their belongings after the district administration declared their houses under as unsafe
following cracks widening due to land subsidence, at Joshimath, in Chamoli on Wednesday.
LAL BAHADUR SHASTRI’S DEATH
Lal Bahadur Shastri
died on January
11, 1966, in Tashkent,
Uzbekistan, just a day
after the peace treaty
was signed for the end
of the 1965 Indo-Paki-
stan War. Today is the
occasion to remember
him on his anniversary
of death. The cause of
death was reported as
a cardiac arrest but the
Shastri family claimed
it to be poisoned. This
year marks the 57th
anniversary of the
death of Shashtri, and
his death remains still a
mystery.
THE LUXURIOUS JOURNEY
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the ‘world’s longest river cruise’, MV Ganga Vilas,
and inaugurate a ‘Tent City’ on the banks of the Ganga river in Varanasi on January 13.
BMRCL suspends 3 officers
in Metro pillar collapse case
Bengaluru (Agen-
cies): A day after the
under-construction
metro pillar collapsed
in Bengaluru that took
the lives of two people,
the BMRCL (Bangalore
Metro Rail Corporation
Limited) has issued a
suspension order to
three of its officers. An
enquiry has also been
ordered by BMRCL on
the suspended officers.
In a statement, the
BMRCL said, “The in-
charge Deputy Chief
Engineer, Executive
Engineer and the site
engineer are suspend-
ed pending enquiry. An
internal technical team
has been constituted to
investigate the cause of
the accident and sub-
mit the report at the
earliest.”
FCI corruption: CBI searches
50 locations; DGM arrested
New Delhi (PTI): The
CBI on Wednesday
launched a crackdown
on alleged corruption
in the Food Corpora-
tion of India, conduct-
ing searches at 50 loca-
tions in Punjab, Hary-
ana and Delhi after ar-
resting a DGM-ranked
officer, officials said.
The role of officials
from technical assis-
tants to executive direc-
tors in the FCI are under
the agency’s scanner,
they said. The searches
were started after the ar-
rest of a deputy general
manager (DGM) while
taking a bribe of Rs
50,000, they said.
AROUND ` 60 LAKH
RECOVERED
New Delhi (ANI): Central
Bureau of Investigation has
recovered about Rs 60 lakh
so far in the massive
operation against the
corruption related to the
Food Corporation of India
(FCI). “Rs 60 lakh(approx)
recovered so far in massive
operation being undertaken
against channelised cor-
ruption in FCI procurement,
storage and distribution,”
CBI informed in a statement
on Wednesday.
—PHOTO
BY
ANI
Raids underway at FCI offices.
YOU READ IT FIRST IN FIRST INDIA
JANUARY 11, 2023
WILL PAY `1 CR,
CAN YOU BRING
BACK MY
DAUGHTER?:
VICTIM’S FATHER
The father of the woman,
who was killed along with
her toddler son after a pillar
fell on them at an under-
construction site asked the
Karnataka government to
punish those responsible for
the accident and said it is not
about compensation. “I don’t
need their compensation.
I will pay them Rs 1 crore.
Can the chief minister bring
back my family? It is not
about money,” he said.

07
Commodity Price Change % Chg
GOLD 56,126.00 89.00 0.02 (Per 10g)
SILVER 69,218.00 677.00 0.05 (Per 1kg)
COMMODITIES
Currency Price Change % Chg
USDINR 81.56 0.18 0.22
GBPINR 98.97 0.67 0.67
CURRENCIES
‘India can be No.1 auto market in world’
Greater Noida (FIB): In-
dia has the potential to be-
come the number one auto-
motive market in the world
and small cars have an im-
portant role to play in it,
Suzuki Motor Corporation
Representative Director
and President Toshihiro
Suzuki said on Wednesday
.
He also said electric ve-
hicles alone will not be the
solution to India’s quest for
carbon neutrality and the
company will explore other
technologies such as flex
fuels, hybrids and CNG.
“I can see that there can
be a time when India would
be positioned as number
one market (of automo-
biles) in the world. Maruti
Suzuki and Suzuki as a
group, we would like to cap-
ture this opportunity. We
would like to develop tech-
nology for providing the
right mobility solutions to
this market,” he said.
However he declined to
share the possible timeline
for India to reach the top.
SAYS SUZUKI MOTOR PRESIDENT
MAJOR
TAKEAWAYS
z Suzuki Motor Corporation
Representative Director
and President Toshihiro
Suzuki said electric
vehicles alone will not
be the solution to India’s
quest for carbon neutrality
and the company will
explore other technologies
such as flex fuels, hybrids
and CNG
business
BRIEFS
Mumbai: Commercial
lending origination vol-
umes declined by 4.3% to
22.2 lakh loans in the
COVID-affected FY22. If
one has to look at the
originations by value,
there was a 73% jump to
`66.49 lakh crore, while
the portfolio outstanding
at the end of the fiscal
grew 8.5%, the report by
Crif High Mark said. Com-
mercial lending includes a
credit of over `10 lakh to
any commercial entity
and is further classified
as micro, small, medium
or large exposures. —PTI
COMMERCIAL LOAN
ORIGINATION
VOLUMES DIP 4.3%
Greater Noida: Hyundai
Motor India on Wednes-
day launched its all elec-
tric model Ioniq 5 priced
at `44.95 lakh (ex-show-
room). The model is
based on the company’s
dedicated battery electric
vehicle platform E-GMP.
Hyundai, which already
sells one EV model, Kona
Electric in the country,
said the price of Ioniq 5 is
introductory and would
hold for the first 500 cus-
tomers. “Ioniq 5 repre-
sents our shift towards
future mobility with tenets
that encapsulate intelli-
gent technology, innova-
tion and sustainability,”
Hyundai Motor India MD
and CEO said. —PTI
HYUNDAI MOTOR
DRIVES IN ALL
ELECTRIC IONIQ 5
Greater Noida: MG Motor
India on Wednesday an-
nounced prices of its
next-gen Hector, ranging
between `14.72-22.42
lakh. Hector is now avail-
able in five variants —
Style, Smart, Smart Pro,
Sharp Pro and Savvy Pro.
SUV is available in five,
six, and seven-seater
configurations. The next-
gen Hector has key safety
features such as six air-
bags and a 360-degree
HD camera. Hector was
introduced by MG Motor
India in 2019. —PTI
MG MOTOR TAGS
NEXT-GEN HECTOR
AT `14.72 LAKH
New Delhi: Funding for
Indian startups dropped
by 33% to $24 billion in
2022 as compared to the
previous year though it
was nearly double the
amount recorded in 2019
or 2020. Global investors
were still positive about
the Indian startup ecosys-
tem despite the global
slowdown, as per the re-
port. “Funding for Indian
startups in CY22 was
nearly $24 billion, a drop
of 33% in comparison to
CY21 but was still more
than twice the funds
raised in CY20 and CY19
each”, it said. —PTI
STARTUP FUNDING IN
INDIA DROPS 33%
TO $24 BN IN 2022
*Rates till the edition went to print.
GOVT TO INVITE EoIs
FOR CONCOR
PRIVATISATION
New Delhi: The government
will this month invite Expres-
sion of Interest or preliminary
bids for
privatising
Container
Corpora-
tion of India
(Concor), an official said on
Wednesday. “We are trying
hard to issue the Preliminary
Information Memorandum
inviting Expression of Interest
(EoI) for Concor as quickly as
possible. It should be issued
this month, subject to ap-
proval,” the official said. —PTI
CABINET APPROVES
SETTING UP OF 3 NEW
CO-OP SOCIETIES
New Delhi: The government
on Wednesday decided to
establish three new coopera-
tive societies
to promote
organic prod-
ucts, seeds
and exports.
Briefing media, Union Minister
Bhupender Yadav said, “Co-
operatives that are associated
with farmers, farmers’ income
and agriculture production
are an important part of rural
India. The Cabinet today took
three main decisions in the
field of cooperatives”. —PTI
NCLAT REFUSES INTERIM RELIEF TO GOOGLE ON
CCI’S `936-CR PENALTY IN PLAY STORE MATTER
New Delhi: In a setback to Google, the NCLAT on Wednes-
day declined to grant interim relief to the tech giant seeking a
stay on competition watchdog CCI’s
`936.44-crore penalty on it for abuse
of dominant position with respect to
its Play Store policies. Meanwhile, the
Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed
to hear a plea of Google against a recent
order of NCLAT refusing an interim stay
on `1,337 crore fine imposed by CCI on
the company for anti-competitive practices in relation to Android
mobile devices. —PTI
DOMESTIC CONSUMPTION OF COMPOSITE
MATERIALS TO TOUCH 7.68 LT BY 2027: REPORT
New Delhi: The consumption of composite materials in India is
expected to witness a sharp uptick and touch 7.68 LT by 2027,
led by demand from sectors like RE, EVs, defence, among others.
Composite materials or fibre-reinforced
plastics help in circular economy as
these are manufactured by combining
multiple materials with different proper-
ties. Examples of composite materi-
als are polymer matrix, metal matrix,
ceramic matrix composites. —PTI
OTHER STORIES
WORLD BANK SEES
‘INDIA’S GROWTH WILL SLOW
TO 6.6 PER CENT NEXT FISCAL’
New Delhi (PTI): India’s
economic growth rate will
slow to 6.6% in next finan-
cial year from an expected
6.9% in 2022-23, the World
Bank said in its latest eco-
nomic update.
The growth rate of 6.9%
in current fiscal year (April
2022 to March 2023) com-
pares with 8.7% in the pre-
vious year. For 2024-25, the
growth rate is projected at
6.1%. “The slowdown in
the global economy and ris-
ing uncertainty will weigh
on export and investment
growth,” it said.
The government has in-
creased infrastructure
spending and various busi-
ness facilitation measures.
However, it will crowd-in
private investment and
support the expansion of
manufacturing capacity
.
“Growth is projected to
slow, to 6.6% in FY2023/24
before falling back toward
its potential rate of just
above 6%,” it said.
The GDP expanded by
9.7% on an annual basis in
the first half of fiscal year
2022-23, reflecting strong
private consumption and
fixed investment growth.
Consumer inflation in
most of the last year was
above the Reserve Bank’s
upper tolerance limit of
6%, prompting the policy
rate to be raised by 2.25 per-
centage points between
May and December.
India’s goods trade defi-
cit has more than doubled
since 2019, and was $24 bil-
lion in November, with
deficits for crude petrole-
um and petroleum prod-
ucts ($7.6 bn) and other
commodities (for eg, ores
and minerals at $4.2 bn) ac-
counting for the widening.
The World Bank said In-
dia used its international
reserves (at $550 billion in
November, or 16% of GDP)
to curb excess exchange
rate volatility helping to
limit the rupee deprecia-
tion, and its sovereign
spread has remained
broadly stable at 1.4% in
December, similar to aver-
age levels in the five years
before the pandemic.
MAJOR
HIGHLIGHTS
z The World Bank said in its
latest economic update on
Wednesday said that India’s
economic growth rate will slow
to 6.6 per cent in next financial
year from an expected 6.9 per
cent in 2022-23
z India however is expected
to be the fastest growing
economy of the seven
largest emerging-market and
developing economies
z The growth rate of 6.9% in
current fiscal year (April 2022
to March 2023) compares with
8.7% in the previous year
MARKETS END ON
FLAT NOTE AFTER
CHOPPY SESSION
Mumbai (PTI): In a highly
volatile trade, equity
benchmarks ended on a flat
note on Wednesday amid
unabated foreign fund out-
flows and a weak trend in
index heavyweight Reli-
ance Industries.
Continuing its previous
day decline, the 30-share
BSE Sensex dipped 9.98
points or 0.02% to settle at
60,105.50.
The broader NSE Nifty
skidded 18.45 points or
0.10% to end at 17,895.70.
From the Sensex pack,
Bharti Airtel, Hindustan
Unilever, Titan, Reliance
Industries,Nestle,IndusInd
Bank, Bajaj Finserv and
NTPC were the major lag-
gards. Sun Pharma, UltraT-
ech Cement, Tata Motors,
Larsen Toubro, Tata Con-
sultancy Services, HDFC
Bank and Tata Motors were
among the winners.
Foreign Institutional In-
vestors (FIIs) offloaded
shares worth `2,109.34
crore on Tuesday
.
RUPEE GAINS 18 PAISE TO CLOSE AT 81.56
AGAINST US DOLLAR ON WEDNESDAY
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee gained 18 paise to close at 81.56 (provi-
sional) against the US dollar on Wednesday, driven by foreign inflows
from bonds selling and overall weak-
ness in crude oil prices. At the interbank
foreign exchange market, the local unit
opened at 81.73 and touched an intra-
day high of 81.52 and a low of 81.82
against the greenback. It finally ended
at 81.56 (provisional), registering a rise
of 18 paise over its previous close.
MSEs corner 55 per cent of total
orders placed on GeM portal
New Delhi (PTI): Micro
and small enterprises
(MSEs) have cornered over
55% of the total orders
placed on the public pro-
curement platform GeM
since FY 2020-21, a senior
government official said.
The Government e-Mar-
ket (GeM) portal was
launched on August 9, 2016,
for online purchases of
goods and services by all
the central government
ministries and depart-
ments.
GeM CEO P K Singh said
that the public procure-
ment policy for MSEs man-
dates 25% of buying of
goods and services from
these units and 3% MSEs
owned by women.
“On GeM, MSEs have se-
cured 55.2% (`1,41,887
crore) of total order value
(`2,57,263 crore) and MSEs
owned by women have se-
cured 8% (`11,373 crore) of
the MSE orders since FY
2020-21 till now. The num-
bers reflect inclusivity on
GeM,” Singh said.
Procurement of goods
and services from govern-
ment portal GeM has
crossed `1 lakh crore so far
this fiscal on account of an
increase in buying activi-
ties by different ministries
and departments.
`2.6K cr perks
okayed to hype
RuPay, BHIM
New Delhi (PTI): The
Cabinet on Wednesday
approved a `2,600 crore
scheme for promoting
RuPay debit cards and
low-value BHIM-UPI
transactions.
Under the scheme, banks
would be provided finan-
cial incentives for promot-
ing Point of Sale (PoS) and
e-commerce transactions
using RuPay and Unified
Payments Interface (UPI)
in current financial year.
It would help in building
a robust digital payment
ecosystem.
Realty sees surge in
setting up of investment
platforms: JLL India
New Delhi (PTI): Indian
real estate saw a surge in
setting up of investment
platforms in 2022 and an
amount of $4.52 billion has
been committed, which
will be deployed over the
next few years, according
to JLL India.
Foreign as well as do-
mestic investors tie up
with real estate developers
to establish an investment
platform for the develop-
ment of different realty
projects like warehousing
parks, office assets, student
housing and data centres
among others.
According to the data,
platform deals/partner-
ships worth $1,651 million
were announced in 2019,
$1,880 million in 2020 and
$3,320 million in the 2021
calendar year.
“Platform deals/ part-
nerships amounting to
$4,527 million were an-
nounced during 2022, to be
invested in the next few
years,” JLL India said.
TOP TALKING
POINTS
z Indian real estate saw
a surge in setting up of
investment platforms
in 2022 and an amount
of $4.52 bn has been
committed, which will be
deployed over next few years
z Platform deals/ partnerships
amounting to 4,527 million
US Dollars were announced
during 2022
FINANCIAL BIDS FOR IDBI BANK
EXPECTED BY SEPT: DIPAM
New Delhi (PTI): The government is expecting to get
financial bids for IDBI Bank’s strategic sale by Septem-
ber, DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said.
Several global and domestic institutions have ex-
pressed interest in buying
about 61% of the government
and LIC stake in IDBI Bank
and had put in preliminary
bids, the last date of which
was January 7. “Overall, we
are looking at financial bids at
least before second half of next fiscal year,” Pandey said.
The DIPAM, which manages govt holding in state-owned
enterprises, had in October invited bids for selling 30.48%
stake in IDBI Bank, along with 30.24% stake of LIC.

08
2NDFRONT
Greetings on National Youth
Day! The empowered youth
of the nation shall propel our
country to greatest heights!
— Dr Jagdeesh Chandra,
CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
Congress veteran
Jaiprakash Chhajed
dies of heart attack
Nashik (PTI) : Veteran
Congress leader and
Maharashtra INTUC
unit chief Jaiprakash
Chhajed died at 75 after
a heart attack in Nashik
city, party leaders said
on Wednesday
.
Chhajed had been
suffering from various
ailments. He was sched-
uled to attend a Con-
gress meeting at Nag-
pur but his sons asked
him not to travel in
view of his health,
sources said.
On Tuesday evening,
Chhajed suffered a
heart attack while he
was talking to his son.
He was rushed to a pri-
vate hospital in Nashik
city where he breathed
his last at around 10.30
pm, they said.
The former Member
of the Legislative
Council (MLC) is sur-
vived by his wife and
ex-Nashik Deputy May-
or Shobha Chhajed and
three sons.
He had worked in the
party organization in
various capacities. One
of the trusted lieuten-
ants of then chief min-
ister Vilasrao Desh-
mukh, Chhajed had
contested Assembly
elections thrice but
could not win. He was
later elected as member
of Legislative Council.
He went on to become
the Maharashtra unit
president of the Indian
National Trade Union
Congress (INTUC). Dur-
ing his tenure, he unit-
ed various unions of
Maharashtra State
Road Transport Corpo-
ration (MSRTC) work-
ers and fought for their
rights.
He was cremated on
Wednesday evening.
BJPactivistcase:Pre-arrest
baildeniedtoBSSleader,wife
First India Bureau
Thane: A court on
Wednesday rejected the
pre-arrest bail applica-
tions of a leader belong-
ing to Balasahebanchi
Shiv Sena (BSS), his
wife, and a former city
councillor booked in
connection with the at-
tack on a BJP function-
ary last month.
Additional sessions
court judge AS Bhagwat
noted the applicants are
not entitled for anticipa-
tory bail currently as it
could hamper the probe.
Police on December
31, 2022, registered an
FIR against 10 persons,
including BSS leader
Vikas Repale, his wife,
and an ex-councillor for
allegedly attacking BJP
activist Prashant Jad-
hav in Thane city over
putting up a banner. A
cross complaint was
also registered against
Jadhav, who was in-
jured in the attack and
hospitalized.
In their pleas seeking
pre-arrest bail, the cou-
ple and the ex-councillor
stated they were falsely
implicated in the case
over political enmity
.
The prosecution op-
posed the applications
filed by the trio citing
the safety of witnesses.
Advocate Makrand
Abhyankar, who ap-
peared for the com-
plainant Prashant Jad-
hav, also opposed the
bail applications.
“After considering
the FIR, it appears the
names of the applicants
are prominently ap-
pearing in the FIR and
specific acts of violence
are attributed to them
along with other people.
The use of weapons has
also been alleged along
with beating on the
head and private parts.
Hence a strong prima
facie case is appearing
against the applicants,”
said the court.
CARE RATINGS: Maha bests
Guj to claim bragging rights
First India Bureau
Chennai: In the overall
rankinglistbycreditrat-
ing agency CARE Rat-
ings, Maharashtra has
scored highest on social,
financial inclusion and
fiscal categories.
It is followed by Guja-
rat at second rank far-
ing well in economic
and fiscal categories,
while Tamil Nadu takes
third place with an edge
in social and govern-
ance categories.
According to CARE
Ratings, the rankings
are based on seven pil-
lars—economic, fiscal,
social, infrastructure,
financial inclusion, en-
vironment, and govern-
ance. It covers over 46
indicators to rank ma-
jor states in the country
.
The ranking report
attempts to provide a
comprehensive quanti-
tative evaluation of
states’ performance.
“The state ranking
study is aimed at captur-
ing comprehensive per-
formance of the states.
This study highlights
areasinwhichtheyhave
shown healthy perfor-
mance and those which
needfurtherattentionof
thepolicymakers.Inthis
comparative study
, the
leadingstatescouldoffer
the others a model to fol-
low,” said Mehul Pan-
dya, Managing Director
andCEO,CARERatings.
Maharashtra, the fi-
nancial capital of the
country, tops the rank-
ing with a favourable
score, not just in finan-
cial inclusion, but also
in state government’s
finances and social in-
dicators, he added.
The state topped the
rankings in financial
inclusion with best per-
formance in credit/
GSDP ratio, NBFC sanc-
tions and health insur-
ance penetration. It also
fared well in mutual
fund penetration.
While the Union Ter-
ritories were excluded
from the study, CARE
Ratings had the states
into two categories—
Group A (large states)
and Group B (North-
east, hilly and small
states).
The ranking covers
not just the state’s eco-
nomic, infrastructure
and fiscal performance,
but also aspects of sus-
tainability and inclusive
growth.
“Wehavelookedatthe
performance of the
states, not just in terms
of economic growth,
physical infrastructure
andinvestment,butalso,
given due importance to
social indicators, envi-
ronmental aspects, gov-
ernance and financial
inclusion. This is with
the recognition that in-
clusive and sustainable
growthistheneedof the
hour,”saidRajaniSinha,
Chief Economist, CARE
Ratings.
OTHER STATES
Maha and Guj
score well in
financial, social
markers; third
ranked TN does
better in social,
governance sectors
As expected the top few ranks have been tak-
en by the western and southern states. While
the former have scored high on the fiscal and
economic category, southern states have outperformed
in the social and environmental category.
—Rajani Sinha, Chief Economist, CARE Ratings
CARE Ratings report provides quantitative evaluation of states’ performance. —FILE PHOTO
State Cong chief Nana
Patole remembered
Chhajed as the leader
who always fought for
rights of workers
HC quashes govt order revoking JJ’s baby powder licence
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The Bombay
High Court on Wednes-
day permitted Johnson
Johnson to manufac-
ture, sell and distribute
its baby powder. It
quashed three orders of
the state government re-
voking the company’s
licence and asking it to
stop the product manu-
factureandsale,terming
them as “stringent, un-
reasonable and unfair”.
A division bench
comprising Justice
Gautam Patel and Jus-
tice SG Dige also came
down heavily on the
state Food and Drug
Administration (FDA)
for its delay in carrying
out tests on a sample of
the company’s baby
powder seized in De-
cember 2018.
The bench noted that
while maintaining
standards of quality
and safety are of ut-
most importance for
cosmetic products, at
the same time it does
not seem reasonable to
shut down the whole
manufacturing process
when there is a slight
deviation in one of the
products.
Such an approach
would result in consid-
erable amount of “com-
mercial chaos and
wastefulness”, it said.
The orders of suspen-
sion and revoking of li-
cense were passed based
on the report of a lab
which found the powder
contained higher pH
level than prescribed.
The HC in its order
on Wednesday noted
the fresh tests conduct-
ed showed all batches
of the baby power
product were compli-
ant with the norms
prescribed.
“The executive can-
not use a hammer to
kill an ant. Is it always
inevitable that when
there is a single case of
deviation or non-com-
pliance (to prescribed
norms) by a product the
only option left with the
regulatory authority is
to cancel or revoke the
license of the manufac-
turing company?” the
court observed.
This seems
to us as an
extreme
approach. There seems
to be an unfairness
and unreasonableness
in the executive action.
There is also nothing
to show that the FDA
has adopted such a
stringent approach for
any other product
of the petitioner
company or any other
company.
—Bombay High Court
Terms it ‘stringent, unreasonable and unfair’ to the
company; says fresh test results compliant with norms
The court also slammed the FDA for delay in testing of baby
powder samples seized in December 2018. —FILE PHOTO
22-year-old
held for raping
paralysed
senior citizen
First India Bureau
Nashik: A 22-year-old
man has been arrested
here for allegedly rap-
ingabed-ridden60-year-
old woman, police said
on Wednesday
.
The woman, who
lives alone in her house
of corrugated iron
sheets in Upnagar area
of Nashik city, has been
bed-ridden for the last
seven years following a
paralytic attack. Her
brother lives nearby,
the police official said.
Around 1 am on Tues-
day
,theassailantentered
the house and allegedly
raped her repeatedly af-
ter threatening her of
direconsequencesif she
raised an alarm.
He also clicked her
photographs before
leaving, she reportedly
told the police.
The woman told her
brother about the inci-
dent when he came in
the morning to give her
tea, following which a
police complaint was
registered.
Students denounce violence
against women. —FILE PHOTO
‘GREEN’ ENDEAVOUR
Rakesh Tikait, National Spokesperson, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), was felicitated during a farmers rally organized by the
Bahujan Sangarsha Samiti, in Nagpur on Wednsday. —PHOTO BY PTI
Court acquits
man, mother
in abduction,
rape case
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Giving them
the benefit of doubt, a
court in Thane district
has acquitted a man
and his mother accused
in the abduction and
rape of a 14-year-old girl
in 2011.
In the order passed
on January 06, Sessions
Judge Dr Rachna R Teh-
ra held that the prose-
cution failed to prove
charges against the ac-
cused “beyond reason-
able doubt and hence
they need to be set free.”
A copy of the order
was made available on
Tuesday
.
The prosecution told
the court that on April
29, 2011, the girl left her
home in Navi Mumbai
and did not return.
Her parents searched
for her, but could not lo-
cate her whereabouts.
Later,theycametoknow
that a 31-year-old man
had abducted her.
“All in all, from the
material on record it is
crystal clear that the
prosecution has failed to
establish charges lev-
elled against accused
persons,” noted Judge
Tehra, while acquitting
the man and his mother.
The judge noted that
the prosecution
examined only two
witnesses and that
‘they have not
supported the case’

MUMBAI, THURSDAY,
JANUARY 12, 2023
www.firstindia.co.in I https://firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/
thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
Dressing
LIKE WHIPPING
Dalgona
ACADEMIA STYLE
Academia style is not unusual for us to
be greeted with new trends on social
media platforms like TikTok, Instagram,
or Twitter every other month. City First
introduces you to Gen Z aesthetics
P
eople use social
media as a plat-
form for self-ex-
pression, experi-
menting with
new ideas in
hopes of im-
pressing others who
share their interest.
While certain pandemic
lockdown fads, may have
come and gone, many
aesthetics, including cot-
tagecore, e-girl or e-boy
core, and academic aes-
thetics, flourished
throughout this unset-
tled period. The academ-
ic aesthetic has spawned
a number of subgenres,
including art academia,
romantic academia and
chaotic academia, and
the most well-known of
these are dark academia
and light academia. The
Vou claims that light aca-
demia encourages opti-
mism, companionship,
drive,andgoodoutcomes
over pessimism, melan-
choly
, and sensitivity.
Dark academia, in con-
trast, is based on murky
ideas like literary trag-
edy, life’s purpose, es-
capism, and death. The
desire to learn about
traditional literature,
music, art, and history
unites the two.
The distinction be-
tween light and dark aca-
demics in terms of style
is made by the colour
schemes used. While the
light academia gravi-
tates toward lighter and
brighter varieties of
browns, beiges, and pas-
tels, the dark academia
embraces deep browns,
grey
, and black. To
achieve any academic ap-
pearance, essential items
of clothing like turtle-
necks, wool, tweed, or
plaid jackets, pleated
skirts, and stylish trou-
sers are a must.
The aim, as always, is
to appear refined and
straightforward. Your
allies include wool,
tweed, beige, brown, and
plaid. White, beige, and
brown are the best col-
our combinations for
mild academic settings.
With a white shirt, pleat-
ed or checkered mini-
skirt, and a beige coat or
cardigan for layering,
you may look stylish and
feminine. On the other
hand, if you like a more
casual look, go for beige
turtlenecks with either
brown dress pants or
corduroy shorts. Add a
belt, and you’re good to
go! To obtain the dark
academic style, you
might replace the light-
er apparel with some-
thing darker in
brown and blend
it with black.
Consider the
Hogwarts out-
fits, but add a
little of
y o u r
o w n
flair!
ADITI KUSHWAHA
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

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