First India Mumbai 26022023.pdf

To achieve growth, get on-field, not online: Shinde tells Uddhav
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Maharashtra
CM Eknath Shinde on
Saturday took a swipe at
his former leader Ud-
dhav Thackeray by stat-
ing good relations have
to be maintained with
the Centre to get devel-
opment funds, and work
gets done on the ground
and not online or from
home.
Speaking at the ABP
conclave, Shinde said
one needed to keep ego
aside for the state, a
swipe at Thackeray
, who
as chief minister of the
Maha Vikas Aghadi dis-
pensation between 2019
and 2022, often sparred
with the Narendra Modi
govt.
Stressing it is impor-
tant to have good work-
ing relations with the
Centre to fuel growth in
the state, Shinde said,
“To achieve growth, one
needs to get on the field.
You can’t get things
done online or through
Facebook. A chief min-
ister has to keep ego
aside when dealing with
the Centre to get funds
for development.”
The Bharatiya Janata
Party would routinely
accuse Thackeray of
ruling from his private
residence ‘Matoshree’
in suburban Bandra in
the metropolis and not
undertaking tours to
the districts, despite the
crippling effects of the
COVID-19 pandemic
since March 2020.
Queried on the Elec-
tion Commission choos-
ing his faction as the
real Shiv Sena and giv-
ing it the bow and arrow
symbol, Shinde said,
“TheShivSenaisfound-
ed by Balasaheb Thack-
eray. Most of the Shiv
Sena MLAs, MPs, (for-
mer) corporators are
with me.” Without nam-
ing Uddhav Thackeray,
the CM said the former
ditched the ideology of
BalasahebThackerayin
the lust for power.
Uddhav Thackeray
had broken his alliance
with the Bharatiya Ja-
nata Party after the 2019
Assembly poll results
claiming the latter had
broken its promise of
sharing the chief minis-
terial tenure. He formed
the Maha Vikas Aghadi
with the Nationalist
Congress Party and the
Congress and ruled till
June 2022, when a rebel-
lion by Shinde brought
down the state govt.
“The Shiv Sena ideol-
ogy faced betrayal when
you (Uddhav) formed
government with Con-
gress and NCP, which
Balasaheb had told you
to keep at arm’s length,”
Shinde said.
Shinde also said he
will not claim properties
of the Shiv Sena (after
recognition of his fac-
tion by the EC) and said
the legacy and ideology
of Balasaheb Thackeray
are what he and his sup-
porters treasure.
BJP does not distribute money to win: Fadnavis
First India Bureau
Nagpur: Maharashtra
Deputy CM Devendra
Fadnavis on Saturday
refuted allegations the
Bharatiya Janata Party
was distributing money
to win the bypoll in Kas-
ba in Pune district.
Earlier in the day, the
Maha Vikas Aghadi
candidate from Kasba,
Ravindra Dhangekar
went on a hunger strike
claiming the BJP dis-
tributed money to vot-
ers. He ended the strike
after police assured
they would investigate
the matter.
Hitting back, Fad-
navis said, “BJP does
not have culture of dis-
tributing money.
Whether we win or lose,
we never distribute
money. When someone
is losing ground they
make such allegations.
We are winning in Kas-
ba and Chinchwad.”
These allegations are
not against the BJP but
are aimed at insulting
the voters of Kasba.
The Congress and NCP
do not have right to
speak about voters like
this,” Fadnavis said.
Pune: Voting for the Kasba and Chinchwad As-
sembly by-poll will be held on Sunday. Voting will
start at 7 in the morning. The bypolls in Kasba and
Chinchwad were necessitated due to the death
of Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs Mukta Tilak and
Laxman Jagtap, respectively. There are 2,75,428
registered voters in Kasba constituency. Chinchwad
constituency has 5,68,954 registered voters.
VOTING FOR KASBA AND CHINCHWAD
ASSEMBLY BYPOLLS TODAY
One needs to keep
ego aside for the
state, Shinde said
CM Eknath Shinde Former CM Uddhav Thackeray
The Shiv Sena
ideology faced
betrayal when
you (Uddhav)
formed
government with
Congress and
NCP, which
Balasaheb had
told you
to keep at arm’s
length,”
Eknath Shinde,
Maharashtra CM
Moni Sharma
New Delhi: PM Naren-
dra Modi on Saturday
said that India and Ger-
many have strong ties
based on shared demo-
cratic values and a deep
understanding of each
other’s interests. Speak-
ing at a joint press meet
along with German
Chancellor Olaf Scholz,
PM Modi noted that
both nations have a
long history of cultural
and economic ex-
change. India has been
advocating for resolu-
tion of Ukraine-Russia
“dispute” through di-
plomacy and dialogue
ever since the start of
conflict last year, PM
Modi said country
was ready to con-
tribute to any
peace process.
❍ DAY 2: 85TH PLENARY SESSION OF THE INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS
Amid speculations over Sonia’s retirement...
KHARGE EMERGES AS
‘NEW CONGRESS BOSS’
Aditi Nagar, Amit Mishra &
Yogesh Sharma
Raipur: On the first day
of the session, the Con-
gress Steering Commit-
tee decided not to hold
elections to the party’s
topcouncil,theWorking
Committee, and author-
ised the new party chief
Mallikarjun Kharge to
nominate its members.
The decision was taken
at a meeting of the par-
ty’s Steering Committee
which was not attended
by the members of Gan-
dhi family
.
Sparking specula-
tions about her retire-
ment from politics, sen-
ior Congress leader So-
nia Gandhi said she was
happy that her innings
could conclude with the
Bharat Jodo Yatra. She
was addressing 15,000
delegates on 2nd day of
party’s three-day 85th
plenary session in
Chhattisgarh’s capital
Raipur. She also
launched an all-out at-
tack on the ruling BJP,
accusing it of “fuelling
the fire of hatred” and
“viciously targeting mi-
norities, women, Dalits
and tribals”.
Arguing that funding
through electoral bonds
was “fatally flawed” and
“fully corrupt”, Cong
called for a contributory
national election fund at
AICC plenary
. P5
Mallikarjun Kharge Sonia Gandhi share a light moment on 2nd day of session in Raipur on Saturday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during their joint statement to the
press personnel at the Hyderabad House, in New Delhi on Saturday. —PHOTO BY PTI
Sonia was talking in
context of tenure as
Cong Prez, not retiring
from politics: Congress
Sonia said she was glad
that her innings could
conclude with the BJY,
with Congress clarifying
that she was talking in
the context of her tenure
as the party president
and was not talking about
retiring from politics.
SONIA GANDHI SPEAKS DURING SESSION
l The victory of the party will be the
victory of the country and we will be
successful under the leadership of
Mallikarjun Kharge.
l BJY has been successful under the
leadership of Rahul Gandhi. It has
renewed the rich legacy of dialogue
between our party and the people
through a mass contact programme.
l Congress has made up its mind
that it will fight to save the country.
We need to work with discipline.
We have to convey our message
to the public.
l Congress is not just a political party
but it reflects the voices of people of
all religions, castes and genders. We
will fulfil the dreams of all of them.
l This is a particularly challenging
time for the Congress and the
country. PM Narendra Modi and the
BJP have captured every institution.
Our victories in 2004
and 2009 under the
able leadership of Dr
Manmohan Singh gave
me personal satisfaction, but what
makes me happy is that my innings
ended with the Yatra, a turning point
for the Congress. It has proved that the
people of India overwhelmingly want
harmony, tolerance and equality.
—Sonia Gandhi,
Senior Congress leader
3 JAWANS KILLED IN
ENCOUNTER WITH
NAXALS IN SUKMA
Sukma: 3 DRG security
personnel, including an
ASI, were killed in action
in an encounter with
Naxals on Saturday in
Chhattisgarh’s insurgency-
hit Sukma district. CM
Bhupesh Baghel expressed
grief over the martyrdom
of the three soldiers.
READ
Crucial
Crucial
BHAGWAT IN D’PUR:
REGULARISE WORK OF
VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT
Dungarpur: On Saturday,
RSS Sarsanghchalak Dr
Mohan Bhagwat attended
inauguration of All India
Gram Vikas and Prabhat
Gram Sammelan organised
by RSS at Bhemai village
and said that by regularizing
work of village devp, good
results will be obtained.
IN A FIRST, INDIA’S LCA
TEJAS TO FLY OVER
FOREIGN SKIES OF UAE
New Delhi: The India’s
indigenously developed
Tejas aircraft will make its
debut at a foreign military
wargame during Exercise
Desert Flag, which will be
held in the United Arab
Emirates (UAE) between
February 27 and March
17, officials said.
Happy my innings
could conclude
with the Bharat Jodo
Yatra: Sonia Gandhi
Congress calls for
national election
fund, says electoral
bonds ‘fully corrupt’
Congress will
provide 50%
reservation to SCs, STs,
OBCs, women in CWC
Street paved with flower petals
to welcome Priyanka Gandhi
in Raipur. Chhattisgarh CM
Bhupesh Baghel is also seen.
MODI-SCHOLZ HOLD
‘FRUITFUL’ TALKS
India ready to contribute
to end Ukraine war: Modi
after talks with Scholz
Germany’s Scholz says want
to deepen relations with
India, meets PM Modi
GERMANY’S SCHOLZ TO GET ‘PERSONALLY
INVOLVED’ IN INDIA TRADE AGREEMENT
President Droupadi Murmu
with German Chancellor
Olaf Scholz during a meet
at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is on a two-
day visit to India said that India has undertaken an
enormous leap which is very good for the relations
between 2 countries. Scholz
said that he and Modi were
committed to making a
free trade deal between
India and the European
Union finally happen.
Scholz described Russian
“aggression” against
Ukraine as a “major catastrophe” that has negatively
impacted globe and said it is important to state “very
clearly where we stand on this subject”, including at UN.
We expressed
our shared
concern about
theongoingdevelopments
in Ukraine. We agree
that these problems can
only be solved through
joint efforts. We are
stressing on this even
during India’s
presidency of the G20.
—Narendra Modi, PM
SETBACK FOR AAP
Delhi HC stays
mayor’s notice
for re-election
New Delhi: Delhi HC
on Saturday stayed re-
election of 6 members
of Standing Committee
of MCD. Bench of Jus-
tice Gaurang Kanth is-
sued a stay on the notice
issued by Mayor Shelly
Oberoi. ‘The court finds
that an election has
been conducted though
result has not been de-
clared yet. No purpose
will be served by fresh
election,’ bench said.
No consensus in G20
meet on Ukraine war
Bengaluru (FIB): Fi-
nance chiefs from the
world’s 20 largest econ-
omies “strongly con-
demned” Moscow for
waging war in Ukraine,
with only China and
Russia itself declining
to sign a joint statement
on Saturday. 2-day G20
Finance Ministers, Cen-
tral bank Guvs meeting
held in Bengaluru end-
ed on Saturday without
a joint communique af-
ter differences over how
to describe Russia’s in-
vasion of Ukraine could
not be bridged. P6
Nirmala Sitharaman addresses
media on FMCBG meet under
chairmanship of G20India, in
Bengaluru on Saturday.
MUMBAI l SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2023 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI TITLE NO. MAHENG/2022/14652 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 290
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OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR MUMBAI
NITISH JOINED
HANDS WITH
CONG, RJD FOR PM
AMBITIONS: SHAH
Patna: Union HM Amit Shah on Saturday lashed out
at Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, by whom BJP was dumped
last year. Shah said JD(U) leader joined hands with
former adversaries Congress and RJD and “betrayed”
BJP because of his “Prime Ministerial ambitions”. P5
Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann
on Saturday said those who took the Sikh holy book
Guru Granth Sahib to a police station as a shield
cannot be called the ‘waris’ (heir) of Punjab. P5
SC CANCELS
ANTICIPATORY
BAIL OF FORMER
MP CHIEF SECY
Bhopal: The Supreme Court has cancelled anticipatory
bail granted by the Telangana High Court to former
Chief Secretary of Madhya Pradesh M Gopal Reddy
while hearing on appeal made by the Enforcement
Directorate (ED) in an alleged money laundering case.
BHAGWANT MANN SPEAKS ON AMRITSAR RAMPAGE

NEWS
MUMBAI | SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2023
02
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First India Bureau
Mumbai: An FIR has
been registered against
Nationalist Congress
Party (NCP) leader and
former Maharashtra
Rual Development and
Labour Minister Hasan
Mushrif in connection
with money collection
from members of a sug-
ar factory in Kolhapur, a
police official said on
Saturday
.
However, only a case
has been registered and
probe into the allega-
tions is underway, the
official clarified.
As per the complaint
filed by a member of
Kolhapur’s Santani
Ghorpade sugar factory
at Murgud police sta-
tion, the NCP leader
had allegedly asked
members to deposit
Rs10,000 each, though
they later did not get
sugar for this amount.
“As per the com-
plaint, the sugar fac-
tory has 40,000 mem-
bers and this collec-
tion of Rs10,000 each
would create a cumula-
tive corpus of Rs40
crore. However, we
have just registered a
case and further probe
into the allegations
is underway, said the
official.
First India Bureau
Navi Mumbai: As part
of safety measures and
crime detection, a total
of 36 CCTV cameras
will be installed in sec-
tors 22 and 24 of Turbhe
Gaon in Navi Mumbai
soon. The project,
which is estimated to
cost ` 50 lakh, will be
funded by amount allo-
cated to MLAs.
During the inaugura-
tion function of Rama-
tanu Mata Maidan, Be-
lapur MLA Manda Mha-
tre said, “Apart from
installing CCTV cam-
eras in every section of
Belapur, they will also
be installed in Turbhe
division.”
First India Bureau
Mumbai: As part of
India’s presidency of
the G20 forum, the W20
(Women 20) inception
meeting is set to take
place in Aurangabad
of Maharashtra on
February 27-28.
The W20 is an official
engagement group un-
der G20 and was estab-
lished during the Turk-
ish G20 presidency in
2015.
The group’s primary
objective is to ensure
gender considerations
are mainstreamed into
discussions of G20 and
get translated into the
G20 Leaders’ Declara-
tion as policies and
commitments that fos-
ter gender equality and
women’s economic em-
powerment, a release
said.
W20 India took over
the presidency from
W20 Indonesia on
December 12, 2022.
W20, under India’s
presidency, is focused
on actualizing Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi’s vision of ‘Wom-
en-Led Development’
to create a world of
equality and equity
where every woman
lives with dignity and
gets the opportunity to
thrive, transcend and
transform their lives
and those of others, it
said.
The goal of W20, 2023
is to ensure continuity
of the W20 agenda from
the past presidencies
while establishing a
stronger W20 global and
national network
through inclusive con-
sultations and actions
that will feed into the
‘W20 Communique and
G20 Leaders’ Declara-
tion’, the release said.
“W20, 2023 aims to
ensure the W20 commu-
nique is representative
and comprehensive and
will provide solutions
to enhance the status of
women across the
globe. The five priority
areas of W20 under In-
dia’s presidency are
‘Women in Entrepre-
neurship’, ‘Women
Leadership at Grass-
roots’, ‘Bridging the
Gender Digital Divide’,
‘Education Skill De-
velopment’ and ‘Wom-
en Girls as Change
Makers,” it added.
W20 inception meet to be held in Aurangabad on February 27-28
G20 PRESIDENCY
lll
Main objective
of the group is
to ensure
gender equality,
women’s eco
empowerment
are prioritized
by G20 leaders G20 delegates at the Gateway of India in Mumbai.—FILE PHOTO
CRUCIAL READ
ONE KILLED, THREE
INJURED AS BUS
COLLIDES WITH VAN
NAGPUR POLICE TO
SPEND `2 CR ON
HEALTH CAMP
35-YR-OLD STABS
WOMAN TO DEATH
OVER DISPUTE
Nashik: One person was
killed and three others
were injured as a private
passenger bus collided with
a pick-up van in Nashik
district on early Saturday
morning, police said. The
accident took place near
Shirwade Phata on Mum-
bai-Agra highway at around
5.30 am.The bus was on its
way to Nashik from Male-
gaon while the van was
crossing the highway when
the collision took place.
Rajaram Laxman Chothva
(45), resident of Banpada in
Surgana tehsil, lost his life,
police said.
FIRE BREAKS OUT
IN ST BUS IN
NASHIK, NONE HURT
Nashik: A fire broke out
in a state transport bus in
Nashik in Maharashtra on
Saturday, though passen-
gers managed to alight
safely in time, an official
said. The incident took
place in Upnagar area on
Nashik-Pune highway
when the Maharashtra
State Road Transport
Corporation (MSRTC) bus
was on its way to Shirdi
from Nashik, he said. “The
driver of the bus noticed
smoke emanating from
the underbody of the bus.
He alerted all the passen-
gers, who alighted in time.
The driver, conductor,
passengers doused the
fire in some time after a
Nashik Municipal Corpo-
ration water tanker arrived
at the site,” he said.
Nagpur: City police is
set to spend two crore
rupees to conduct a camp
to mitigate post-COVID
health issues among its
7,357 personnel, an official
said on Saturday. Health
issues have been on the
rise in the force after the
pandemic and the health
camp will undertake sev-
eral tests, including of the
eye and for cancer, Police
Commissioner Amitesh
Kumar said. The fund of
Rs2 crore for the camp will
be provided by the District
Planning Committee, he
added. Some 50 police
personnel have died of
COVID-19 in Nagpur com-
missionerate since March
2020, officials said.
Nagpur: A 35-year-old
woman was stabbed
to death in front of her
mother allegedly by her
neighbour in Nagpur
city on Saturday, a
police official said. The
incident took place in
Rambagh area and may
be the fallout of a property
dispute, the Imambada
police station official said.
“The victim, identified as
Aarti Nicholas, and the
25-year-old accused are
neighbours. The accused
was building a house and
wanted Nocholas to give
up her land,” he said.
During an argument, he
stabbed Nicholas, who
died in a nearby hospital.
NCP leader named in FIR over
money collection at Kolhapur
Remote areas
of Navi Mum
to have CCTV
‘CM Shinde puppet of BJP’s
Amit Shah, DCM Fadnavis’
First India Bureau
Thane: Maharashtra
chief of the All India
Majlis-e-Ittehadul Mus-
limeen (AIMIM) party,
Imtiaz Jaleel, on Satur-
day sought to know
whether renaming of
Aurangabad city as
Chhatrapati Sambhaji-
nagar will end the prob-
lems faced by people
residing there.
He also accused
Chief Minister Eknath
Shinde of being a “pup-
pet” in the hands of the
Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) and said the split
in the Shiv Sena has ad-
versely affected the peo-
ple of the state.
The Aurangabad MP
was speaking to report-
ers in Navi Mumbai on
the first day of his par-
ty’s two-day national
convention.
Sena founder Bal
Thackeray protected the
interests of people,
which Uddhav Thacker-
ay and CM Shinde have
failed to do, said Jaleel.
“CM Shinde is a pup-
pet in the hands of BJP
leaders Amit Shah and
Devendra Fadnavis,” he
alleged.
The Union govern-
ment has approved the
renaming of Aurang-
abad city as “Chhatra-
pati Sambhajinagar”
and that of Osmanabad
city as “Dharashiv”.
Chhatrapati Sambhaji,
the eldest son of warri-
or king Chhatrapati
Shivaji Maharaj, was
the second ruler of the
Maratha state founded
by his father. Sambhaji
Maharaj was executed
on Mughal emperor Au-
rangzeb’s orders in 1689.
“Will changing the
name of Aurangabad
resolve the problems
faced by citizens? Now
that its name has been
changed, the govern-
ment should tell me if
the people residing in
Aurangabad will get
water two times daily.
Even today, the water is
supplied every eight
days,” he said.
Will the unemployed
youths get jobs after the
change in name and
will there be a positive
change in the lives of
the farmers who com-
mit suicide as they do
not get good price for
theircrop?Jaleelasked.
“Instead of resolving
these real issues or talk-
ing about them, they
(BJP) are raking up
emotive issues like
changing names of
roads, buildings, rail-
way stations, airports
or cities,” he alleged.
Will changing
names of places
resolve people’s
issues, asks
AIMIM chief
after Maha cities’
renaming asssent
Imtiaz Jaleel —FILE PHOTO
POLITICAL TAKE
Talking about the split in
Shiv Sena, Jaleel said,
“I pray that it splits further
into four groups so that
we benefit from it. Not
only this, but there should
be a split in the BJP.” The
fight between the two Shiv
Sena factions has adversely
affected the people of
Maharashtra, he said. Sena
founder Bal Thackeray had
protected the interests of
the people of the state,
which Uddhav Thackeray
and CM Shinde have failed
to do, Jaleel said.
The BJP and
Shiv Sena have
been doing this
for years and they con-
tinue to do so now. We
have opposed them and
will keep opposing them.
But it does not mean that
we don’t respect Chhatra-
pati Sambhaji Maharaj
or Chhatrapati Shivaji
Maharaj. These parties
play dirty politics, which
we have never done.
—Imtiaz Jaleel, AIMIM
Entire dist of Aurangabad to be renamed,
Fadnavis responds to Opposition’s backlash
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The rechris-
tening of Aurangabad
to Chhatrapati Samb-
haji Nagar is not lim-
ited to the city but the
entire district, said
Deputy Chief Minis-
ter Devendra Fadnavis
said Saturday. His
clarification came af-
ter Shiv Sena – Ud-
dhav Balasaheb
Thackeray leader Am-
badas Danve raised
question about the re-
naming of Aurang-
abad and Osmanabad.
Fadnavis also said
that the process for re-
namingAurangabadto
ChhatrapatiSambhaji-
nagar and Osmanabad
to Dharashiv is under-
way after the Centre
gave nod for the same.
“The renaming of
Chhatrapati Samb-
haji Nagar is for
the entire Au-
rangabad dis-
trict. We don’t do
anything half-
heartedly. We
d o n ’ t
leave
a n -
ything incomplete,”
Fadnavis said.
Danve, who is the
Leader of Opposition
in the state Legislative
Council, had sought to
know whether the re-
naming was only
for Aurang-
abad city
.
R e -
sponding
to appre-
hensions
raised by
the Oppo-
sition, Fad-
navis re-
t o r t -
ed, “First of all, they
should understand the
process. The Centre
has issued a notifica-
tion on renaming of
Aurangabad and Os-
manabad. Now, the
state’s General Admin-
istration Department
will issue the notifica-
tion. It will be followed
by the Revenue and
Forestdepartmentsno-
tifying it to ensure that
it is implemented in
talukas, corporations
and councils. The re-
naming is for the en-
tire district,” he said.
First India Bureau
Mumbai: All India Maj-
lis-e-Ittehadul Musli-
meen (AIMIM) chief
Asaduddin Owaisi on
Saturday said that the
party will focus on the
upcoming Brihanmum-
bai Municipal Corpora-
tion and other elections
in Maharashtra.
However, he did not
disclose if his party
will contest polls in alli-
ance with any regional
party. The Lok Sabha
MP from Telangana
said alliances for the
upcoming civic polls, as
well as Lok Sabha and
Assembly polls in Ma-
harashtra next year
will be decided in due
course.
Owaisi was speaking
to mediapersons prior
to the first two-day na-
tional convention of the
party, that began on
February 25 in Navi
Mumbai.
The second day of the
convention will be held
in Chembur. More than
1,300 office bearers,
MLAs, MPs, MLCs,
councillors and state
president will attend
the gathering.
Meanwhile, Owaisi
also refused any possi-
bility of meeting Shiv
Sena leader Uddhav
Thackeray
.
Referring to the kill-
ings of two men from
Rajasthan in Haryana
on February 16, Owaisi
said the Modi govern-
ment had given a long
rope to such ‘gau rak-
shaks’ (cow protectors).
Nasir and Junaid
were murdered on sus-
picion of cow killings.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi —FILE PHOTO
AIMIM to focus
on upcoming BMC
elections: Owaisi
In Maharashtra
for national
party
convention,
AIMIM chief
rules out plans
of any alliance
ahead of polls
Latur (PTI): Soybean
farmers should be giv-
en training in proper
fertilizer use and culti-
vation techniques as it
is a major crop of Ma-
harashtra’s Latur dis-
trict and was routinely
getting afflicted by dis-
eases and attacked by
pests, a senior official
said on Saturday.
Latur Collector
Prithviraj BP was
speaking at the inaugu-
ration event of the Shri
Siddheshwar Krishi
Mahotsav 2023.
“The Agriculture De-
partment should take
the initiative in develop-
ing various varieties of
soybean to help farm-
ers. They are facing dis-
tress due to soybean
crop getting afflicted by
diseases like yellow mo-
saic, conch slug, among
others,” he said.
He also pitched for a
‘Latur brand’ soybean
seed as the price of the
crop in the country is
determined by rates in
the district.
‘Helpfarmersprotectsoybean
producefromdiseases,pests’
Crops prone to
attacks from pests,
getting afflicted with
diseases in district

MAHARASHTRA
03
Four out of 10 Mumbaikars at high risk of heart diseases
First India Bureau
Mumbai: A World
Health Organisation
STEPS survey done by
the Health department
of Brihanmumbai Mu-
nicipal Corporation
(BMC) reveals that four
out of 10 adults in the
city are at a higher risk
of contracting cardio-
vascular disease (CVD).
The people reportedly
had three or more risk
factors namely regular
smoking, no proper in-
take of fruits and vege-
tables, lesser physical
activity, being over-
weight, and high BP
and blood sugar levels.
Not living an active
lifestyle is taking a toll
on the people of Mum-
bai. CVD is affecting
people
with a
laidback
lifestyle
and also
i n c re a s e s
mortality
.
The WHO
s u r ve y
a s - s e s s e s
i n d i v i d u a l
health status
and behaviours in a
population. It helps
countries, states, and
cities build and
strengthen data on risk
factors of non-commu-
nicable diseases (NCD).
Currently
, data on these
risk factors are availa-
ble at the national level,
but there is no data re-
lated to a specific city.
The BMC undertook
the assessment for city-
level risk factors to help
make informed data-
driven policy changes
and formulate effective
strategies aligned with
the city-specific data.
It partnered with
WHO-India, and pro-
vided support through
STEPS. A total of 5,199
adults participated in
survey—2,601 men and
2,598 women. Study re-
veals that around 37%
of respondents (almost
four out of 10 Mumbai-
kars) aged 18-69 years
reported having three
or more risk factors out
of the six risk factors.
WHO recommends
that eating at least 400 g
or five portions/serv-
ings of fruits and vege-
tables per day reduces
the risk of NCDs.
BAD LIFE CHOICES
CVD is affecting
people with a
laidback lifestyle,
increases chance
of fatality with
high risk factors
Risk factors are
smoking, less
intake of fruits
vegetables, less
physical activity,
extra weight,
high BP blood
sugar levels
Citizens
asked to
join drive
for birds
First India Bureau
Navi Mumbai: A city-
based environmental-
ist Subhajit Mukherjee
has now urged people
of Mumbai and Navi
Mumbai to join the Wa-
ter for Birds campaign.
The initiative aims to
inform residents of the
importance of keeping
water bowls for birds
as heatwaves have hit
the city, causing tem-
perature to rise high.
Mukherjee said that
water bowls made un-
der this initiative
would be distributed
for free to educational
institutions.
While talking to the
media, he said, “#Wa-
terForBirds is an initi-
ative to ensure that no
living organism suffers
during heatwaves. Un-
der this campaign, we
are making water
bowls that can be
placed in various loca-
tions away from direct
sunlight and water bod-
ies. These bowls are
priced at ₹200.” “We
urge schools to come
forward and take these
bowls to help save birds
and also educate stu-
dents on how to help
other organisms,”
he added.
Thane: A doctor and his
three associates from a
village in Thane district
were allegedly duped
of more than one crore
rupees by a Chen-
nai-based company on
the promise of giving
a loan of Rs10 crore,
police said. The victims
are from Sonarpada
village near Dombivli,
they said. Based on the
complaint lodged by Dr
Harshavardhan Thakur,
a case was registered, a
police official said.
Palghar (PTI): Police
have arrested a man
from Virar for allegedly
stabbing his 60-year-old
mother-in-law to death,
an official said. The mur-
der incident occurred on
Friday, he said. “The ac-
cused was not on good
terms with his wife and
her family member and
frequently quarrelled. On
Friday, during a heated
argument at their house,
the man’s mother-in-law
got stabbed while saving
her daughter,” police
said.
Thane: Minor broth-
er-sister duo was
injured after some
plaster of the ceiling of
their house at Kalwa on
Saturday fell on them,
civic official said. The
incident occurred at
around 11.45 am in
their first floor flat in a
four-storey building, he
said. “Plaster of ceiling
fell on two siblings, in
which they suffered
injuries. While the boy is
four-year-old, his sister
is aged seven,” said
the official.
Thane: A total of 116
persons were arrested
and 129 cases were
registered in Thane
city after an “all out”
anti-crime combing op-
eration was carried out,
an official said on Sat-
urday. The drive, which
started late Friday night,
saw the deployment of
223 officials and 1,054
constables, Additional
Commissioner of Police
(Crime) Ashok Morale
said. “We seized prop-
erty worth Rs1,13,070
during all night opera-
tion,” he said.
DOCTOR, 3 OTHERS
DUPED OF `1
CRORE BY FIRM
MAN HELD FOR
STABBING 60-YO
MOTHER-IN-LAW
DUO HURT AFTER
CEILING PLASTER
FALLS ON THEM
116 HELD, 129
CASES FILED IN
COMBING OP
CRUCIAL READ
Seven students in
distress saved from
losing academic yr
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Seven HSC
students, who were in
distress, get a sigh of
relief as the Mumbai
division of the state
board saved the aca-
demic year of these
children. While three
diabetic students and
two with neurological
ailments were worried
that they won’t be able
to give the exam,
the forms of two others
were withdrawn
by the school for low
attendance.
Seeing their 16-year-
old child anxious a day
before the first paper,
the parents approached
the Mumbai division of
Maharashtra State
Board of Secondary
and Higher Secondary
Education (MSBSHSE)
and sought help.
“The boy
, who needed
to use an insulin pump
during the exam, was
worried that he
wouldn’t be able to fin-
ish in time. The coun-
sellors and officials en-
couraged him to appear
in the exam and allowed
an additional 30 min-
utes,” said Nitin
Upasani, Chairman,
Mumbai division, MSB-
SHSE. Two other stu-
dents were helped simi-
larly. All three of them
were allowed to give
their papers from a sep-
arate room at their re-
spective centres,
Upasani told mid-day
.
The principals and
parents had approached
MSBSHSE, requesting
help for two students
with neurological ail-
ments. The board al-
lowed them, too.
The board helped two
other students, whose
forms were withdrawn
by their schools as they
had low attendance.
Man held for hoax call
about drug, explosives
landing at port for blasts
First India Bureau
Mumbai: A man was
arrested for allegedly
making a hoax call to
the police control room
about 90 kilograms of
“MD”, apparently a ref-
erence to mephedrone
drug, and explosives
landing at a port to car-
ry out blasts in JJ Hos-
pital, Bhendi Bazaar
and Nal Bazaar areas of
south Mumbai, an offi-
cial said on Saturday
.
The call was received
at the South Region po-
lice control room on Fri-
day afternoon and the
accused had said the
contraband and explo-
sives had reached the
port here on Thursday,
the official informed.
“Following the call,
the port area, its land-
ing points and sensitive
locations in the vicinity
werecombedandsearch
operations were held,
but nothing suspicious
was found. We tracked
the call to a mobile
phone number in Da-
hanu in the neighbour-
ing Palghar district,” he
said. A team left for Pal-
ghar and nabbed the ac-
cused, who is a resident
of Nagpur, within nine
hours of the call being
made, he added.
The man has con-
fessed to the act and has
been arrested under In-
dianPenalCodesections
506(3),505(1),182,179for
providing false informa-
tion, criminal intimida-
tion and other offences,
the official said.
Accused called
South Region
police control
room, said
blasts to be
carried out at JJ
Hosp, Bhendi
and Nal bazaar
Elderly man collapses at police
station, dies; son accuses cops
First India Bureau
Thane: A 63-year-old
man died after collaps-
ing at a police station in
Kalyan town in Thane,
where his son was
brought by the police for
questioning following a
combing operation.
The incident oc-
curred late on Friday
night at the Kolsewadi
police station, he said.
The police said that
the man collapsed fol-
lowing a seizure attack
and the incident was
captured on the CCTV
cameras installed at the
police station.
However, the local
court has ordered that
an inquest panchnama
of the incident and
post-mortem of the de-
ceased be carried out.
An inquest panchna-
ma is conducted after a
person dies as a result
of crime or under sus-
picious circumstances.
“During an ‘all-out
operation’ conducted
last night, the police
picked up a 24-year-old
man, who is a local resi-
dent, and took him to
Kolsewadi police station
for inquiry
. His father
Deepak Bhingardive, 63,
followed him to the po-
lice station to know why
his son was brought
there,” Deputy Commis-
sioner of Police (Zone
III- Kalyan) Sachin Gun-
jal said in a release.
While police was in-
terrogating man, his
father videographed it
on his mobile phone. As
he was arguing with po-
lice, he was made to sit
behind station house of-
ficer’s block at the po-
lice station, he said.
“However, there he
suffered a seizure at-
tack and collapsed. He
was rushed to the hospi-
tal, where doctors de-
clared him brought
dead,” he added.
Later, Chief Judicial
Magistrate ordered Ju-
dicial Magistrate First
Class (JMFC) to ar-
range inquest panchna-
ma and post-mortem
reports of the deceased,
he said. Another son of
the deceased accused
the police of beating his
father to death.
He had arrived
at Kolsewadi
chowky after
police picked up
his son for
questioning;
probe ordered
POLITICAL FURORE
BMC to begin 320 beautification works,
road concretization, upgrading of sewer
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The Brihan-
mumbai Municipal
Corporation (BMC) will
undertake 320 beautifi-
cation works, cement
concretization of 52 km
of roads as well as up-
grading of sewage lines
in several parts of
Mumbai, an official
said on Saturday
.
The foundation
stones of these projects
will be laid at an event
in Tilak Nagar in the
eastern part of the city
by Chief Minister
Eknath Shinde and his
deputy Devendra Fad-
navis on Sunday, a civic
release said.
The work includes ce-
ment concretization of
111roadswithacumula-
tive length of 52 km, of
which24roadsareinthe
eastern suburbs, 61 in
the western part and 26
in the island city
, it said.
The sewage lines of
Sahakar Nagar, Nehru
Nagar and Tilaknagar
will be upgraded as
well, the release said.
In December, the
BMC undertook 500
beautification works,
of which 121 have been
completed, the release
added.
THE KING OF FRUITS!
A wholesale dealer segregates his mango produce at Crawford Market in Mumbai on Saturday. With the summer season
beckoning, fresh mango harvest from the Konkan region has already arrived in the city. —PHOTO BY BHUSHAN KOYANDE

PERSPECTIVE
04
l Vol 1 l Issue No. 290
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
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
To keep the body in good
health is a duty...
otherwise we shall not be
able to keep our mind
strong and clear.
—Buddha
IN-DEPTH
Jagat Prakash Nadda
@JPNadda
The news of many casualties in the road
accident in Sidhi of Madhya Pradesh is
extremely painful. The administration
is actively engaged in the rescue work.
I express my deep sympathy to the
family members. May God grant speedy
recovery to the injured.
Anurag Thakur
@ianuragthakur
PM @narendramodi had launched - a
global initiative called ‘Lifestyle for
the Environment - LiFE Movement’.
Such initiatives encourage a lifestyle
called “Pro-Planet People” will
further the efforts towards #FitIndia
and a healthy nation.
TOP TWEETS
PUNJAB CAN’T
WASTE TIME TO
DEVISE STRATEGY
AGAINST RADICALS
unjab, which has had
a troubled past, once
again saw pro-Khal-
istan forces raising
their heads. In a bra-
zen act, hundreds of armed sup-
porters of a 29-year-old radical
leader Amritpal Singh stormed
the Ajnala police station and
forced the cops to free his aide
who was an accused in a kidnap-
ping case. Amritpal is the chief
of Waris Punjab De outfit and is
a self-styled preacher. Amritpal
dresses like Bhindranwale who
masterminded the Khalistan
movement in the Eighties which
led to the Operation Blue Star
and the assassination of former
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
The open display of force by
Amritpal’s followers and meek
surrender by the police has
raisedquestionsaboutBhagwant
Mann’sadministration.Forsome
reason the police offered no re-
sistanceandthere’snoassurance
that they would in future. So no
attacker has been arrested even
after injuries to several police-
men. To prevent the border state
from slipping into violence and
lawlessness, the Mann govern-
ment must not waste time in de-
vising an effective strategy
.
P
shama Sawant
achieved some-
thing that was
hard to imagine
in the US city of
Seattle by getting an ordi-
nance banning caste dis-
crimination passed by the
City Council. Sawant, who
originally hails from Mum-
bai, is a member of the City
Council and had been wag-
ing a struggle against the
prevailing anti-Dalit bias in
the US. Sawant said she felt
“proud to bring forward
first-in-the-nation legisla-
tion to ban caste-based dis-
crimination”.
Ambedkarites consider
this ban as a major victory
which came amidst stiff op-
position from the high caste
Hindus who called the ordi-
nance “anti Hindu”. Oppos-
ing the ordinance the Coali-
tion of Hindus of North
America urged the Council
to say “NO” on council mem-
ber Kshama’s legislation.
The Hindu American Foun-
dation which was opposed to
the ordinance said “the law
singles out Hindu Americans
for additional legal scruti-
ny”. Dalit groups in America
welcomed the legislation. Se-
attle is home to several big
corporate houses like Ama-
zon, Microsoft, Boeing, Star-
bucks, Costco et cetera who
may now be required to sen-
sitize their staff against
caste-based discrimination.
The Seattle law may see other
states enacting a similar law.
It is unfortunate that Indi-
ans carry their social preju-
dices to far away countries
only to torment their fellow
countrymen instead of sup-
porting them. Until the Seat-
tle City Council’s legislation
caste was not recognised by
law as a category of discrim-
ination as it did not exist in
that society. Dalit groups
have however been complain-
ing of caste discrimination
by high caste Hindus in sev-
eral tech companies. Two
years ago, the Swaminarayan
temple in New Jersey was
raided by police for exploit-
ing Dalit workers.
CASTE FAULT LINES
MOVE TO SEATTLE
Sawant, who originally
hails from Mumbai, is a
member of the City
Council and had been
waging a struggle against the
prevailing anti-Dalit bias in
the US. Sawant said she felt
“proud to bring forward
first-in-the-nation
legislation to ban caste-
based discrimination”
K
YEAR 2022:
ANNUS HORRIBILIS
he year 2022, should be
termed Annus Horribilis – a
year of disaster and misfor-
tune incidents e.g. The earth-
quake in Turkey. Where do I
begin. Corona of course.
Where did it first appear?
Truly in laboratory in Wu-
han in China. For months
China vigorously denied that
the disease had started in
Wuhan. The doctor who
found it was hounded got Co-
rona and died. The WHO
which gets huge donations
from China was equivocal in
its answers. The killer dis-
ease spread like a global fire.
For almost 2 years the World
almost came to a halt. To this
day a cure for the disease has
not been discovered.
CLIMATE CHANGE
This has finally caught up
with us. Many attempts have
beenmadetotakeworthwhile
decisions. The industrialized
countries have their own
agenda. The almost non-func-
tioningof UnitedNationreso-
lutions are blatantly ignored.
Floods in the USA, Germa-
ny
, Chile, Pakistan, China,
New Zealand, Indonesia and
India have destroyed crops,
homes,hospitalsanduniversi-
ties.Largepartsof Africahave
had no rain for several rainy
seasons. The canals in Venice
have dried up, while the river
PO is not short of water.
Greenland, Iceland, the
Arctic and Antarctic, the
Himalayas, all are getting
less and less of snow, while
America, Europe and Cana-
da are getting excess. Lakes
and river are drying up in
America. Temperatures are
in some parts rising-in Ra-
jasthan’s Shekhawati the
mercury goes over 50 degree
centigrade. In Delhi it ap-
pears that the middle of
March has arrived. The
weather pattern in America
is changing. Do something
about this not about jaunts to
the moon.
UKRAINE WAR
Who started the war? Russia
of course. Why? Because
Ukraine wants to become a
member of NATO, which so
farhasnotgiventhegreensig-
nal. Tens of thousands of
Ukrainian soldiers, men,
women and children have
died.Whowilltakecareof the
orphans - no mother to em-
brace, father killed on the bat-
tle field. A posthumous medal
is awardee. Who will receive
it?Thisiswar,thisiswarthey
say
. We know. But here M/s
PutinandZelenskyylearntno
lessons from 1939-1945. Obvi-
ouslynot.Butwehave.Forme
it is a matter of immense
pride that India has, never
started a war. Skirmishes are
not war. The other night the
President of Ukraine said at a
pressconferencethatUkraine
will win the war against Rus-
siain2023.Areyoubeingface-
tious or serious?
AFGHANISTAN
Brutality comes with ease to
Taliban, not the Afghans.
One Taliban leader told a
world famous lady corre-
spondent, “Educating girls is
not in our culture.” Some cul-
ture. In which chapter of the
Holy Quran is this to be
found. I am sure there exist
good and compassionate Tali-
ban. Why do they wish to live
in the 17th century
. Afghani-
stan is geographically so stra-
tegically located that the peo-
ple should made aware of the
geography of the country
.
For the past two or three
years there has been an in-
crease on demolition of Tem-
ples, Churches, Mosques and
other religious places. These
barbarous acts are now being
committed from Australia to
America. A man wearing a
turban is beaten up. By
whom, unfortunately by
hoodlums and a whole people
are condemned for the crime.
The increase in shooting
school children and univer-
sity students is frequent in
the USA so is police’s brutal
misconduct on the rise. In In-
dia we are indifferent to pov-
erty, dirt, unrighteousness
and unpunctuality. If a man
or woman is hit by a car, falls
down, with blood pouring
from various parts of his/
her body, no cycle wallah, no
motor cycle rider or car driv-
er will stop to help the in-
jured lady, fearing that the
police might implicate them.
Such, I gather are our laws!
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
T
In India we are
indifferent to poverty, dirt,
unrighteousness and
unpunctuality. If a man or
woman is hit by a car, falls
down, with blood pouring
from various parts of his/her
body, no cycle wallah, no
motor cycle rider or car
driver will stop to help the
injured lady, fearing that the
police might implicate them.
Such, I gather are our laws!
Who started the war?
Russia of course. Why?
Because Ukraine wants
to become a member of
NATO, which so far has
not been given the green
signal. Tens of
thousands of
Ukrainian soldiers,
men, women and
children have died
K NATWAR SINGH
The author is Former Minister
of External Affairs of India

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05
INDIA
Raipur (PTI):Congress
president Mallikarjun
Kharge on Saturday
said his party is willing
to forge a viable alterna-
tive by aligning with
like-minded parties in
order to get rid of the
“anti-people” Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) gov-
ernment in the 2024 Lok
Sabha polls, and is
ready to make any sac-
rifice required to
achieve the goal.
In his address at the
Congress’ 85th plenary
session, Kharge also
took a swipe at Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi, alleging that the
“pradhan sevak of Del-
hi, who gets advertise-
ments printed every
day, is serving his own
friend”.
The Congress chief
launched a blistering
attack on the BJP-led
government at the Cen-
tre, alleging that “the
DNA of those sitting in
Delhi is anti-poor” and
they are attempting to
“destroy” democracy.
He also called for a peo-
ple’s movement against
the prevailing situation
in the country
.
New Delhi (PTI):The
new National Educa-
tion Policy (NEP) has
reoriented education
and skilling according
totheaptitudeof young-
sters and demands of
the future, Prime Minis-
ter Narendra Modi said
on Saturday
.
Lamenting the lack
of flexibility in the edu-
cation system over the
years, the prime minis-
ter said the sector has
been “rigid”.
“Education and skill-
ing have been reorient-
ed according to the ap-
titude of the young-
sters and demands of
the future. Equal em-
phasis is being given to
both education and
skilling as part of the
NEP. The move encour-
ages the government to
undertake further re-
forms in the education
and skilling sectors
while unburdening our
students from the regu-
lations of the past,” he
said while addressing a
post-budget webinar on
“Harnessing Youth
Power — Skilling and
Education”.
The webinar was the
third in a series of 12
post-budget webinars
organised by the gov-
ernment to seek ideas
and suggestions for the
effective implementa-
tion of the initiatives
announced in the Union
Budget 2023-24.
New Delhi (ANI): Un-
ion Minister Anurag
Singh Thakur on Satur-
day said that the bicycle
rally conducted as a
part of ‘Project Carbon
Shunya’ shows the pow-
er of “Individual agen-
cy, Public Accountabil-
ity, and Affirmative Ac-
tion” towards environ-
ment conservation and
sustainability
.
Thakur flagged off
and participated in a
Cyclathon at Shangrila
Hotel in Delhi’s Janpath
on Saturday morning.
While addressing the
gathering, the Union
Minister said, “Today’s
bicycle rally shows the
power of Individual
agency
, Public Account-
ability, and Affirmative
Action towards envi-
ronment conservation
and sustainability
.”
“As coastlines in-
creasingly disappear,
resources become rare,
geographical territo-
ries are obliterated and
large human popula-
tions are brutally dis-
placed; there is no deny-
ingthatClimateChange
is the single most defin-
ing issue of our time.
The problem is global in
scope and unprecedent-
ed in scale,” he added.
He said, “It is our
seemingly small actions
that will unknowingly
impact both our present
and future generations.
This is why it is impor-
tant to lend a voice and
effort towards mitigat-
ingtheimpactourchoic-
es have on the planet.”
Cycle to re-cycle environment, says Anurag Thakur
PROJECT CARBON SHUNYA
NEP has reoriented education
systemforfuturedemands:PM
Kolkata: Former RAW
chief Amarjit Singh Dulat
feels that Prime Minister
Narendra Modi may at
some stage later this year
hold out the olive branch
towards Pakistan and even
“bail out” the neighbour-
ing state which has been
experiencing a political
and economic crisis for
the last few months. Dulat
also warned of a “formi-
dable” Iran-Russia-China
axis coming into being
while stating that India’s
newfound ally USA “is far
away, our neighbours are
nearer.” In an interview to
PTI video, the former RAW
director said, “Every time
is the best time to talk to
Pakistan. We need to keep
our neighbours engaged.”
He added that it was im-
perative to keep talks open
with “a little more public
engagement.” “In this
year, my hunch is Modi ji
will bail out Pakistan. No
inside information, but it is
my hunch,”
MY HUNCH MODI WILL BAIL OUT PAKISTAN,
SAYS EX-RAW CHIEF AMARJIT SINGH DULAT
Patna (Agencies): Un-
ionHomeMinisterAmit
Shah on Saturday as-
serted that BJP has shut
its door forever for Bi-
har CM Nitish Kumar.
“Kumar is a person
who dreams about the
prime minister’s chair
every three years and
resorts to ‘paltimar’ tac-
tics. He did the same in
August last year and
went to those whom our
NDA was opposed to
right from the start. We
have now decided never
to open our doors for Ni-
tish Kumar in BJP,”
Shahsaidwhileaddress-
ing the media here.
“During the 2020 As-
sembly elections, the
people of the state had
made BJP a single larg-
est party in the state.
But we honoured our
promise and gave the
chief minister’s chair to
NitishKumarbuthehas
the habit of changing
the goal post,” he said.
Nitish Kumar, always
vocal against Jungle
Raj, is now sitting in the
lap of its progenitor.
BJP will form a full ma-
jority govt in Bihar in
2025 and the process
will start in 2024. I urge
the people of the state to
bring in BJP and throw
out those who brought
Jungle Raj,” Shah said.
“Nitish promised
Lalu to make his son
Tejashwi the CM but is
not specifying the date.
If he has promised it,
then he should reveal
the date of offering the
CM post to Tejashwi. If
TejashwiYadavbecomes
the chief minister, there
would be complete Jun-
gle Raj,” he said.
BJP has closed its door for
Nitish Kumar: Amit Shah
PM Narendra Modi says govt focused on providing
outside-the-classroom exposure to youth
Ready to align with like-minded parties
to defeat BJP in 2024 LS polls: Kharge
Mallikarjun Kharge at the INC’s
Plenary Session, in Raipur. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi greets Avinash Pande.
PM Narendra Modi addresses a post-budget webinar via video
conferencing, in New Delhi, on Saturday. —PHOTO BY PTI
Amit Shah at an event in Patna, on Saturday. —PHOTO BY PTI
Lovepreet Toofan (C) and Amritpal Singh at Golden Temple (R).
“Those who used Guru
Granth Sahib as shield
can’t be Punjab’s waris”
MP: Death toll in
Siddhi accident
rises to 14
Chandigarh (PTI):
Punjab Chief Minister
Bhagwant Mann on
Saturday said those who
took the Sikh holy book
Guru Granth Sahib to a
police station as a shield
cannot be called the
‘waris’ (heir) of Punjab.
His remarks came
days after self-styled
Sikh preacher and
Khalistani sympathiser
Amritpal Singh and his
supporters, some of
them brandishing
swords and guns, broke
through barricades and
barged into a police sta-
tion in Ajnala on the
outskirts of the Amrit-
sar city on Thursday,
extracting an assur-
ance from the police
that his aide and kid-
napping case accused
Lovepreet Singh would
be released.
CALLING ME TERRORIST
IS TERRORISM: AMRITPAL
DON’T CONSIDER MYSELF
INDIAN CITIZEN: AMRITPAL
Amritsar (ANI): Amritpal
Singh, who is considered
to be a radical preacher and
sympathizer of Khalistan
separatist Jarnail Singh Bhin-
dranwale, on Saturday said
that calling him a “terrorist is
terrorism” itself and said that
he works for the people of
Punjab and has an influence
on the youth “not for wrong,
but for right reasons”.
Amritsar (ANI): ‘Waris Punjab
De’ chief Amritpal Singh on
Saturday denounced that he
does “not” consider himself
a citizen of India calling the
passport merely a “travel doc-
ument” and said that it does
not make him an Indian. He
said that his remarks against
Amit Shah were “not a threat”
to the Union Home Minister,
but rather a threat to them.
Previous UP govt was
only skilled at playing
‘game’ of scams: Yogi
AAP’s ‘villain’ Atishi orchestrated
violence in MCD House, says BJP
I am retiring from the electoral
politics on my own:Yediyurappa
Lucknow (ANI):
Training his guns on
Samajwadi Party
chief AkhileshYadav,
Uttar Pradesh CM
Yogi Adityanath on
Saturdaysaidthatthe
previous government
was skilled at playing
‘games’ of scams
which include laptop
scam ‘game’, Gomti
riverfront scam
‘game’ among others.
While addressing
the UP Assembly
during the ongoing
Budget Session, he
said: “The CAG re-
port, which was re-
cently released, cit-
ed Rs 97,00,000 crore
scam during his
tenure. Muzaffarna-
gar riots, the Ram-
vriksha scandal in
Mathura, burning
the journalist alive,
the Bundelkhand
Crisis, the land ma-
fia, and the recruit-
ment scam were all
such ‘games’ that
occurred in the
state during their
tenure.”
Yogi continued:
“In addition to this,
there was also a
“game” being played
to have the terrorists’
cases withdrawn.
How far are these
players going to take
these “games”? Noth-
ing like that is played
by me. I am a normal
person.”
The CAG re-
port, which
was recently
released, cited Rs
97,00,000 crore scam
during his (former
Chief Minister Akh-
ilesh Yadav’s) tenure.
—Yogi Adityanath,
Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh
UP CM Yogi Adityanath speaks during the Budget Session.
Union Minister Anurag Thakur flags off cyclothon event, in New Delhi.
PM MODI TO INAUGURATE SHIVAMOGGA
AIRPORT IN KARNATAKA ON MONDAY
WILL WIPE OUT BJP IN 2024 LOK SABHA AND 2025
BIHAR ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS, SAYS LALU YADAV
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will
visit Karnataka on Monday and inaugurate an
airport in Shivamogga and several other develop-
ment projects, according to an official statement.
The prime minister will take a walk-through and
inspect the newly built airport, after which he will
inaugurate and lay the foundation of multiple pro-
jects in Shivamogga, according to the statement
issued on Saturday.
Purnea (PTI): In his first major speech after re-
covering from a kidney transplant operation, RJD
Supremo Lalu Prasad on Saturday launched a
frontal attack on his old rival the BJP, alleging the
right-wing party was trying to divide the country
on caste and religious lines. The BJP and RSS
are against the country’s minorities, the former
chief minister of Bihar claimed in a virtual speech relayed from
his Delhi residence to the rally of the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ or
Grand Alliance of which RJD in a constituent.
New Delhi (PTI): The
BJP took a dig at AAP
MLAAtishionSaturday
,
calling her a “villain”
and accusing her of or-
chestrating a ruckus
during elections for
6-memberstandingcom-
mittee in MCD House.
Sharing a mock-up
film poster with mor-
phed pictures of Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP)
MLAs Atishi and
Durgesh Pathak along-
side Delhi Mayor Shelly
Oberoi, the Delhi BJP
tweeted in Hindi,
“AAP’s ‘khalnayika’
who orchestrated vio-
lence and dictatorship
in the House.” There
was no immediate reac-
tion from the MLA or
the AAP.
The Municipal Cor-
poration of Delhi
(MCD) House witnessed
high-decibel protests by
the BJP councillors af-
ter Oberoi declared that
a vote cast during the
election was “invalid”.
Bengaluru:BJPCentral
Parliamentary Board
member and former CM
BS YediyurappaonSat-
urdaytoldtheinfluential
Lingayat community
that he is retiring from
electoral politics on his
own and urged them not
to have any hard feelings
about it.
Speaking to report-
ers, he stated, “I appeal
with folded hands to the
Veerashaiva-Linagayat
community. I am retir-
ing on my own as I am
completing 80-years on
February 27. My broth-
ers of the community
should not misunder-
stand this.”
“The leadership of
PM Narendra Modi and
Union Home Minister
Amit Shah has given us
strength. PM Modi is
arriving in Shivamog-
ga on February 27,”
Yediyurappa stated.
Delhi BJP working chief Virendra Sachdeva (C) addresses media.
Sidhi: The death toll in
Friday night’s accident
in Madhya Pradesh’s Si-
dhi district has risen to
14 people, while the
count of injured has
gone to 56, the police
said.“
Atotalof 14deaths
have been confirmed in
the accident so far and
56 people injured. Of
these injured, 39 people
are undergoing treat-
ment at Sanjay Gandhi
Hospital in Rewa dis-
trict,” Rewa SP Mukesh
Srivastava said.
Raipur (PTI): Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday said
that “mentality of western countries” was imposed on India
for 70 years but the way of thinking is changing now. He also
cautioned the youth to remain alert against the forces trying
to break up the country using “a report, billionaire and other
means.” Thakur was speaking at Yuva Samvaad India @2047
organized by the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangthan Chhattisgarh
unit at Rawatpura Sarkar University in Dhaneli village. “We
should be proud of our heritage, history, art, culture and
tradition. The mentality of western countries was imposed on
our country for 70 years. The work of changing this thinking
has been done in the last eight years,” the BJP leader said.
MENTALITY OF WESTERN COUNTRIES WAS
IMPOSED ON INDIA FOR 70 YEARS: THAKUR

06
INDIA
Dr Ahtesham Siddiqui
Lucknow: IAS officer
Ravindra Pal Singh, a
2015 batch Director at
Hindi Insti-
tute and
Special Sec-
retary Lan-
guage de-
m a n d e d
VRS. Earlier, he was
SpecialSecretaryHome.
He will retire in 2035.
IAS Singh’s wife, IAS
Nidhi Srivastava, who
is currently Special
Secretary Infrastruc-
ture and Industries,
has now become an IAS
officer from PCS. As
per sources, IAS Singh
has mentioned person-
al reasons for this. He
might agree and take
back his VRS in the fu-
ture because recently
he has been promoted
from PCS to IAS and
technically, it is diffi-
cult to accept his VRS.
IAS officer
Ravindra Pal
Singh seeks VRS
New Delhi (Agencies):
The President, Droupa-
di Murmu addressed
the 99th annual convo-
cation of the University
of Delhi today on Satur-
day in Delhi.
Speaking on the occa-
sion, the President said
that it can be said that
Delhi University re-
flects India in all its
richness and diversity.
It can also be said that
there is a bit of Delhi
University in every area
of excellence in India
and abroad. However no
institution can rest on
its laurels. In today’s
world of rapid changes,
an institution has to
continuously reinvent
itself. The Delhi Univer-
sity community should
feel duty-bound to lead
other Universities in
the country on parame-
ters of excellence, and
thereby, earn a place
among globally compa-
rable institutions of
higher learning.
The President said
that we should respect
and welcome all lan-
guages and cultures,
but always stay con-
nected to our roots. Re-
juvenation and creativ-
ity come from the roots.
She urged youth to fol-
low Gandhiji's advice
of getting the excellent
knowledge available in
the world, while stay-
ing connected to the In-
dian soil.
Addressing the stu-
dents, the President
said that she was the
first girl from her vil-
lage to go to town for
study. Among their
classmates too, there
may be many such stu-
dents from whose fam-
ily or village no one
would have been able to
get university level edu-
cation before them.
Such students are very
talented and hardwork-
ing. They come to the
University with great
enthusiasm to fulfill
their dreams. Some-
times they become vic-
tims of 'inferiority
complex'. This should
not happen in any sen-
sitive society. It is
the responsibility of
teachers and other stu-
dents to encourage
such first-generation
university students.
The President said
that we should pay at-
tention to some basic
issues such as need for
clean toilets for girl
students, world-class
laboratories, real qual-
ity education and
needs of persons with
disabilities.
The President said
that due to the consum-
erist concept of devel-
opment and civiliza-
tion, the challenges of
pollution, climate
change and lifestyle dis-
eases are taking a more
formidable form. Our
past generations have
done many good things
but they also made
some mistakes. She
urged the young gener-
ation to carry forward
the good things and do
away with the mistakes.
President Murmu graces 99th annual convocation of Delhi University
Bengaluru (PTI): In-
dia, which is holding
G20 Presidency, has
asked the IMF and Fi-
nancial Stability Board
(FSB) to jointly prepare
a technical paper on
crypto assets, which
could be used in formu-
lating a coordinated
and comprehensive
policy to regulate them.
The international or-
ganisations are expect-
ed to present their joint
paper during the 4th
Finance Ministers and
Central Bank Gover-
nors Meeting in Octo-
ber 2023, said a finance
ministry release.
“To complement the
ongoing dialogue on
the need for a policy
framework, the Indian
Presidency has pro-
posed a joint technical
paper by the Interna-
tional Monetary Fund
(IMF) and the FSB,
which would synthe-
sise the macroeconom-
ic and regulatory per-
spectives of crypto-as-
sets. This would help in
the formulation of a
coordinated and com-
prehensive policy ap-
proach to crypto as-
sets,” it said.
Given the concerns
over greater intercon-
nectedness between
crypto assets and the
traditional financial
sector as well as
the complexity and vol-
atility around crypto
assets, policymakers
are calling for tighter
regulation.
India asks IMF to make tech
paper on regulating crypto
There is no global
policy framework
for crypto assets,
Finance Minister
Sitharaman said
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman addresses a press
conference after the G20 Finance meetings under India’s G20
Presidency, in Bengaluru, on Saturday.
H D R Lyngdoh, a former state home minister and candidate of
United Democratic Party, had died of cardiac arrest on February 20.
The hustle and bustle
of over a month-long
election campaign for
the February 27 Megha-
laya Assembly poll end-
ed at 4 p.m. on Saturday
.
Voting would be held
in 59 of the 60 Assembly
constituencies in 12 dis-
tricts under a heavy se-
curity cover on Monday
.
The polling would
not be held in Sohiong
Assembly Constituency
in East Khasi Hills dis-
trict following the death
of United Democratic
Party (UDP) candidate
H. Donkupar Roy Lyng-
doh, who died on Febru-
ary 20 due to illness.
Meghalaya Chief
Electoral Officer (CEO)
F.R. Kharkongor said
that movement of poll-
ing parties to the 3419
polling stations across
59 Assembly constituen-
cies started on Saturday
.
CampaigningforMeghalaya
ends;votingonFebruary27
Shillong (Agencies): in
view of the upcoming As-
sembly polls on February
27, the state's borders with
Bangladesh and Assam will
remain sealed until March 2,
the counting day. Megha-
laya shares a 885 km-long
border with Assam and 443
km with Bangladesh. Chief
Electoral Officer, Meghalaya,
F.R. Kharkongor said: To
ensure a free and fair poll,
we have taken preventive
measures to ensure a free
and fair election in the State.
Shillong (PTI): The EC has
adjourned February 27
poll in Sohiong assembly
constituency of Meghalaya
after the demise of one of
the candidates, an EC of-
ficial said. H D R Lyngdoh,
former state home minister
and a candidate of the
United Democratic Party for
the constituency, had died
of cardiac arrest on Febru-
ary 20. “The poll is hereby
adjourned until the poll date
is notified by the ECI,” an
official said in an order.
ASSAM TO
REMAIN CLOSED
TILL MARCH 2
POLLING IN SOHIONG
ADJOURNED AS EX
HOME MIN DIES
Jammu (PTI): Amid
outrage over the imposi-
tion of property tax,
Jammu and Kashmir
Lieutenant Governor
Manoj Sinha on Satur-
day defended the move
and said it will be imple-
mented in consultation
with the general public.
Property tax will en-
sure financial self-sus-
tainability of cities and
improvement of public
amenities, he said. The
Jammu and Kashmir
administration on Tues-
day ordered the imposi-
tion of property tax in
municipal areas from
April 1, drawing strong
protests from people
from almost all walks of
life. Political parties are
demanding an immedi-
ate rollback of the order.
Property tax in JK
will be one of lowest in
country: L-G Sinha
Temple, mosque structures
demolished by PWD in ITO
I was considered failed
captain: Kohli on not
winning ICC trophy
New Delhi(Agencies):
A temple and a mosque
in the national capital’s
ITO area were demol-
ished by the Public
Works Department
(PWD) as a part of its
anti-encroachment
drive.Alargenumberof
police personnel have
been deployed in the
areatomaintainlawand
order situation.
Saturday’s develop-
ment comes after the
Delhi High Court on
Thursday directed the
PWD to carry out work
to make a pedestrian
pathway at “Jheel ka
Piao” on Mathura Road,
ITO, even if it called for
demolishingaportionof
the temple and the
mosque. The single
judge bench of Justice
PrathibaSinghobserved
that the issue was con-
cerningthedevelopment
of a pathway on an ex-
tremely busy road
wherein documents and
other photographs show
that the temple and the
mosque are abutting the
pedestrian pathway
.
Talismanic India batter
Virat Kohli has said
that he was considered
a ‘failed captain’ for In-
dia due to not winning
any ICC trophy during
his leadership tenure.
But at the same time, he
stated that he will not
judge himself from that
point of view.
Kohli is India’s most
successful Test cap-
tain, leading the side to
40 victories, including
holding on to the top-
ranked spot in the
rankings for 42 months.
Apart from winning 65
ODIs and 30 T20Is as
captain, what has been
absent from Kohli’s
achievement as an
Indian skipper has
been a global trophy.
Under his leadership,
India became runners-
up in the 2017 Champi-
ons Trophy, and the
2021 World Test Cham-
pionship final, apart
from reaching the semi-
finals of the 2019 ODI
World Cup, and not
reaching the last four
stages in the 2021 Men’s
T20 World Cup.
KASHMIRI PANDIT’S
WIFE EMPLOYED
Jammu (PTI): Jammu and
Kashmir Lieutenant Governor
Manoj Sinha on Saturday
handed over a government
job appointment letter to
Suneeta Pandith, wife of
Suneel Pandith, a Kashmiri
Pandit who was shot dead
by terrorists in Shopian last
year. The LG handed over the
appointment letter to Suneeta
at Raj Bhavan in the presence
of her family members, an
official spokesperson said.
Prez Droupadi Murmu presents a gold medal certificate to a student during the 99th annual convocation
of the University of Delhi, in New Delhi on Saturday. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan also present.
INDIA RANKS 42
ON INT’L IP INDEX
Boundary walls of temple, mosque brought down by bulldozers.
Kohli while speaking at the
Season 2 of the RCB Podcast.
CRUCIAL READ
WOMAN SMUGGLER
HELD WITH 252 GM
SMACK WORTH RS 20L
Gwalior: A woman smug-
gler was arrested along
with around 252 grams
of smack (kind of drug)
worth Rs 20 lakhs in MP’s
Gwalior district, a police
official said on Saturday.
He added that two more
accused with seven
illegal weapons were also
arrested in another case in
the district. The smuggler
brought the smack from
Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh.
WANTED SHARPSHOOTER OF GOGI-DEEPAK
GANG NABBED AFTER EXCHANGE OF FIRE
New Delhi: After brief exchange of fire, the Special Cell of
Delhi Police has arrested a sharpshooter of the infamous
Gogi-Deepak Boxer gang who was wanted in nine heinous
crimes, including murder, registered in Delhi and Haryana,
an officer said on Saturday. The accused was identified
as Ankit Gulia alias Ankit Pistoli (26), a resident of district
Sonepat, Haryana.
‘GET NO-DRUG
DECLARATION’
NAME OF SUSPECT’S
WIFE SURFACES
Chennai: The Tamil Nadu
Police have directed
courier companies across
the state to get no-drug
declaration from custom-
ers before accepting the
couriers to be delivered.
The decision came after
when several instances
were reported.
Kolkata: The name of the
wife of an absconding sus-
pect of CBI sleuths probing
the teachers’ recruitment
scam in West Bengal has
surfaced. The name came
up after the arrested youth
said that one Haimanti
Ganguly is aware of where
the main proceeds of the
scam had gone.
—PHOTO
BY
ANI
Hyderabad (ANI): A
22-year-oldmanalleg-
edly killed his friend
for texting and mak-
ing calls to his girl-
friend, who was pre-
viously in a relation-
ship with the victim,
police said on Satur-
day
. The accused lat-
er beheaded the de-
ceased, removed his
heart and private
parts, chopped his
fingers, and later
walked to the police
station to surrender
himself. Police
launched a detailed
investigation after
registering a case on
the accused’s state-
ment and recovered
the body and sent to a
local govt hospital.
New Delhi (ANI):
The Indian defence
forceshadwitnessed,
over a year ago, ob-
jects similar to the
alleged Chinese spy
balloonbustedbythe
American Air Force
in the skies over the
Andaman Nicobar
Islands territories.
However, unlike the
Americans, no ac-
tion was taken as the
origin and the intent
or origin of the bal-
loon-type object
were not clear. The
Americans spotted
many of these bal-
loons over their
skies which had
come there evading
multiple American
chains of radars.
Man kills friend
for messaging
girlfriend, later
surrenders
‘Balloon-type’
flying object
spotted over
Andaman
New Delhi (ANI): The
government of Jammu
and Kashmir is making
all the necessary ar-
rangements for the up-
coming G20 summit,
which will take place in
May this year.
In such a situation,
the meeting is consid-
ered to be very impor-
tant from the point of
view of tourism and the
tourism department is
taking various meas-
ures in this regard.
Along with the publicity
campaign, various tour-
istplacesarebeingmade
attractive. According to
the Director of Tourism
Fazl Al-Huseeb, efforts
are being made to pro-
mote Kashmir better
with such measures, as
this meeting is very im-
portant for promoting
the tourism sector.
He said, “The facili-
ties are being further
improved at the impor-
tant tourist places here
and much work has
been taken up to make
them more attractive.
Under this link, 75 new
places in Jammu and
Kashmir to develop the
tourism sector. are be-
ing brought on the tour-
ist map and all possible
basic facilities are be-
ing provided for the
tourists to access these
new places.”
JK: G20 meeting preparations in full swing
TOURISM IN STATE THAT WAS ONCE HIT BY TERRORISM
GOVT WORKING TO
HARDSELL INDIAN
TOURISM TO WORLD
Over one lakh tourists are
likely to come from G20
countries. The govt is mak-
ing such arrangements that
tourists will talk about the
whole world as brand am-
bassadors of Indian tourism
on their return. During the
discussion, the director of
tourism said that in this way,
the G20 meeting is restoring
the glory and splendour of
the historical places.

07
business
BRIEFS
Bengaluru: Spain Minister
of Economy Nadia Maria
Calvino Santamaria on
Saturday said G20 finance
ministers should not “go
back” on the language
agreed by leaders in Bali
Summit on the Ukraine
crisis continuing over a
year. At the last G20 Sum-
mit in Bali in November
2022, the declaration read:
“Most members strongly
condemned the war in
Ukraine.” However, some
member countries held
“other views and different
assessments of the situa-
tion and sanctions”. —PTI
‘NO STEP BACK FROM
BALI AGREEMENT ON
UKRAINE CRISIS’
Kolkata: The Bharat Auc-
tion model for tea, which
is already functional in
south India, will be intro-
duced in north India from
end of March, an official in
the industry said on Satur-
day. The pilot project will
be conducted on March
one so that all the features
get tested by the stake-
holders, following which
the Bharat Auction model
will be introduced in Kolk-
ata, Guwahati and Siliguri
from March 22, 2023.
KalyanaSundaram said
owing to the implementa-
tion of the new auction
system, CTTA had post-
poned Sale 8 by a week,
while Sales 9, 10 and 11
have been dropped. —PTI
NEW TEA AUCTION
PROCESS TO BEGIN
IN MARCH IN N INDIA
New Delhi: India needs to
strengthen its Aircraft Ac-
cidents Investigation Bu-
reau (AAIB) and overcome
the shortage of technical
personnel to get into the
top 20 ranking of the Inter-
national Civil Aviation Or-
ganisation (ICAO), Arun
Kumar, Director General of
the Directorate General of
Civil Aviation (DGCA) said
on Saturday. Kumar added
that Indian civil aviation
system was rapidly grow-
ing and in the next few
years, airlines would be
adding more aircraft. —ANI
‘CIVIL AVIATION
SHOULD AIM FOR
‘UNDER-20’ RANKING’
Mumbai: Artificial Intelli-
gence (AI) is a massive
technology tool for in-
creasing productivity and
India should take a lead in
adopting it, Bhavish Ag-
garwal, co-founder and
Chief Executive Officer of
Ola Cabs, said. Aggarwal
also discounted the notion
that embracing such tech-
nology would result in job
losses. Technology trends
like AI are so disruptive.
While one can think that it
(the adoption of AI)
threatens jobs, “I see it as
a massive technology tool
for increasing productivi-
ty”, he said. —PTI
INDIA SHOULD LEAD
IN ADOPTING AI
TECH: OLA CEO
*Rates till the edition went to print.
atteries play a
critical role in
this transition,
but a relatively
new type of bat-
tery i.e. the lithi-
um batteries will
dominate in both personal
electronics, as well as in
transportation and heavy
industrial applications.
INDIA STRIKES
WHITE GOLD
The Geological Survey of
India discovered 5.9 mil-
lion tonnes of inferred
lithium reserves in the
Reasi district of the Jam-
mu region of very high
quality with an estimated
concentration of 550 ppm
(parts per million) as op-
posed to 220 ppm found
elsewhere. With this dis-
covery alone, India now
has the fifth-largest lithi-
um reserves in the world,
marginally lower than
China and just ahead of the
US. Lithium is often re-
ferred to as ‘white gold’ due
to the increasing value of
lithium batteries in manu-
facturing items like
phones, laptops, and elec-
tric vehicles.
WHY INFERRED?
The reserves found are
called “inferred” as more
levels of verification will be
carried out to assess the
grade and viability of the
resource. A 1,600-tonne de-
posit was earlier found in
Karnataka but was com-
mercially unviable. GSI has
taken up projects on lithi-
umandassociatedelements
discovery across India, this
being the first success.
WHY IS IT A HUGE
DEAL?
The importance of lithi-
um is being widely felt and
this discovery has defi-
nitely put India on the
global map. India till now
was completely dependent
on imports for this shiny
gray metal. This discovery
may likely help the Indian
government deliver on a
recent promise to increase
the number of private
electric cars by 30% before
2030. India imported ₹173
crore worth of lithium
and ₹8,811 crore worth of
lithium ions in 2021 and
the requirements will only
go up.
CHINA’S LION SHARE
Despite Latin America
holding the world’s largest
Lithium reserves China is
the largest producer of Li-
ion batteries with 73% of
the global capacity, fol-
lowed by the USA which is
home to about 12% of glob-
al capacity. Six of the 10
biggest EV battery produc-
ers are based in China—
one of them, CATL, makes
three out of every ten EV
batteries globally. While
companies like Tesla and
OneCharge are trying very
hard to find US suppliers,
China’s cost advantage
seems unbeatable. China
controls at least two-thirds
of the world’s lithium pro-
cessing capacity, and this
ensures its stranglehold on
the battery market for
years to come.
HOW DOES CHINA
PRODUCE SO
CHEAPLY?
The simple answer to this
question is cheap labour
which it has in abundance
followed by the cost advan-
tage in green tech like so-
lar panels of which it is
the largest producer
worldwide. China also has
a definite cost advantage
since it holds Lithium re-
serves of its own and has
seized the momentum in
the market by signing
preferential deals with
lithium-rich nations
and huge government in-
vestment in the complex
steps between mining and
manufacturing.
BUT THE CATCH IS…
While Lithium is a rela-
tively abundant metal, vi-
able reserves are rare and
there’s an important piece
missing between mining
and manufacturing. Turn-
ing lithium ore into lithi-
um carbonate or lithium
hydroxide needed for bat-
teries is an expensive and
complex process and facto-
ries have long gestation
periods. Impact of lithium
mining and refining also
has a huge environmental
impact.
India has initiated a bat-
tery production-linked in-
centive (PLI) scheme worth
₹18,100 crore for five years
to set up battery cell manu-
facturing. The refining ca-
pability is still at a very
nascent stage. China is way
ahead and enjoys the first
mover advantage.
Also, the ecological ef-
fects of the mining activi-
ty need to be considered
specifically in the wake of
the Joshimath issue which
reminded us about the
need to respect the eco-
sensitivity of the Himala-
yas. The deposits are after
all located at the foothills
of the Vaishno hills which
is a heavily populated and
religiously important
area.
OUR TAKE
For India to achieve its EV
Vision 2030, it needs to
work on securing its lithi-
um reserves at the earliest
as the race to be the “li-ion
king” is intense and the
pressure on the world’s
scarce lithium reserves
keeps mounting. It cur-
rently imports 95% of its
requirements from China
and Hong Kong and just
the PLI scheme and duty
exemptions are not
enough, a partnership be-
tween the government and
private sectors is required
to have a firm footing on
the global map.
WILL LITHIUM DISCOVERY
be a game changer in India’s EV adoption story?
The world is increasingly turning electrified. Electrification of cars is one prominent phenomenon.
By 2040, over half of the cars on the roads are projected to be powered by electricity
B
WHAT’S SO SPECIAL ABOUT
LITHIUM?
Lithium is one of the lightest elements, and it has the
strongest electrochemical potential of any element. This
enables a lithium-based battery to pack a lot of energy
storage in a small, light battery. As a result, lithium-ion
batteries have become the battery of choice in many
consumer electronics such as laptops and cell phones.
Infact, the price of Lithium has shot up by 90% since
COVID-19.
Jammu
Kashmir
Rajasthan
Jharkhand
Chhattisgarh
Meghalaya
Nagaland
Arunachal
pradesh
Note: During
field season
programme 2022-
23,GSI has been
taken up 18 pro-
jects on Lithium
and associated
elements in these
stated.
Source: Ministry of Mines
LITHIUM DISCOVERY PROJECTS IN INDIA
Commodity Price Change % Chg
GOLD 55,429.00 158.00 0.28 (Per 10g)
SILVER 63,461.00 890.00 1.38 (Per 1kg)
COMMODITIES
Currency Price Change % Chg
USDINR 82.75 0.00 0.00
GBPINR 99.45 0.00 0.00
CURRENCIES
=
=

08
2NDFRONT
Choose a life of adventure, excitement
and continuous learning to live it to
the fullest, everyday.
— Dr Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Three resi-
dents of Maharashtra,
including two jewellers,
were detained by the
Gujarat police at Valsad
and around 173 kilo-
grams of silver anklets
worth Rs1.10 crore were
seized from them, said
the officials. They were
on their way to sell the
ornaments at Udaipur
in Rajasthan.
Police have identified
detained as Vijay Patil
(car driver), Santosh
Odkey and Satish Od-
key
, all residents of Kol-
hapur in Maharashtra.
After receiving a tip-
off, the police kept a
watch on NH-48 near
the sugar factory at Val-
sad and tried to stop a
speeding car at Atul vil-
lage, coming from
Mumbai direction.
“Our teams were un-
der watch to intercept
the vehicles carrying
liquor bottles and
caught three people in a
car with seizure of sil-
ver payals (anklets).
The two jewellers told
us that they had pur-
chased jewellery from
Kolhapur in Maharash-
tra and were on their
way to sell it to jewel-
lers in Udaipur,” said
AK Verma, Deputy Su-
perintendent of Police,
Valsad district.
As per police, driver
tried to escape but the
police chased car and
intercepted the vehicle.
On questioning, the
driver failed to give sat-
isfactory answers, and
hence the police
checked the vehicle,
and found the silver an-
klets hidden, they said.
Nashik dist farmers decry low prices for their onion produce; Ask Centre ‘to do something about it’
‘Give us fair
price or nod
to commit
SUICIDE’Onion prices have dipped in the state recently. —FILE PHOTO
First India Bureau
Nashik: In the face of
financial difficulties,
farmers in the state’s
Nashik district have
asked the Central gov-
ernment to grant them
‘permission’ to commit
suicide. Agricultural
workers are in dire
straits as onion prices
have dipped recently
.
Farmers have alleged
that it has become dif-
ficult for them to even
recover the amount of
money they use to grow
their crop.
While talking to ANI,
a farmer said, “The on-
ions are being sold at
Rs300-400 per kg in the
mandi (vegetable mar-
ket).Ihavealreadyspent
Rs3.5 lakh but I will not
be able to make even Rs1
lakh now. I do not know
how to deal with this is-
sue. The Modi (Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi) government
should look after farm-
ers’ issues. But he is
leastbotheredaboutus.”
We deserve to get fair
prices for our crops, or
else, the government
should give us permis-
sion to commit suicide.
We can’t even think of
buying a Rs10 chocolate
for our children,” the
farmer added.
Echoingasimilarsen-
timent, a female farmer
also expressed disap-
pointment over low on-
ion prices. “We have on-
ions in a one-acre area. I
have grown onions after
mortgagingmygold.My
total expense was
Rs50,000butwhenIwent
to the market to sell my
produce,Icouldnoteven
get Rs20,000-25,000. The
Central government
should do something
about it.”
“Centre must in-
crease prices or we
won’t be able to pay the
school fees of our chil-
dren. We work hard to
grow the onions, but
unfortunately, we are
getting the right price
for it. We want permis-
sion to just end our
lives,” the woman rued.
Warning of a move-
ment against the Centre
if no action is taken, a
farmer explained farm-
ers’situation.“Webegin
the preparations three
to four months in ad-
vance,butwhenwegoto
the market with our pro-
duce, we end up getting
Rs300-Rs400 per kg.
Farmers spend almost
Rs50,000 to Rs60,000 on
the land but get only
Rs10,000 to Rs11,000 for
one tractor-full crop.
There is no profit, we
are suffering only loss.”
SAME STORY
Last week, 63-year-old farmer Rajendra Chavan,
who resides in Barshi tehsil of Solapur, was
compensated `2.49 for 512kg of onion at a rate of
`100 per quintal. After deduction of transportation,
weighing, labour and other costs, he received the
paltry sum for his crop.
The onions are being sold at `300-400
per kg in the mandi (vegetable market). I
have already spent `3.5 lakh but I will not
be able to make even `1 lakh now. I do not know
how to deal with this issue. We deserve to get fair
prices for our crops, or else, the government should
give us permission to commit suicide. —A farmer
First India Bureau
Mumbai: There are 11
hotspots where maxi-
mum deaths from cross-
ing tracks take place,
reveals an analysis con-
ducted by the Central
Railway (CR). Between
January and September
2022, 113 casualties were
reported from these hot-
spots, stated a report.
A recent media re-
port stated that CR pro-
posed placing new
boundary walls, fenc-
ing and foot-over-bridg-
es (FOBs).
The study, as to the
report, pointed out that
in spite of infrastruc-
ture being available at
some locations, people
do not use it or the pub-
lic has broken down
walls to use gaps and
access railway tracks.
Track crossing or tres-
passing, as officially
called, is a leading
cause of casualties on
the suburban railway
network. Nearly 1, 585
casualties were report-
ed in the Mumbai divi-
sion of the CR last year.
The experts spotted
two spots between Kur-
la and Vidyavihar sta-
tions, one between Ti-
lak Nagar and Chem-
bur, Chembur and Go-
vandi, Mankhurd and
Vashi, Wadala and
King's Circle, Wadala
and Ravli cabin, Kalyan
and Thakurli, Ghat-
kopar and Vikhroli and
besides one each at
Kopar and Thakurli.
The analysis showed
that despite having a
foot overbridge be-
tween Kurla and Vid-
yavihar, commuters
don't use it. A similar
pattern is observed in
Kopar and Thakurli as
well but these areas
also need a boundary
wall to prevent casual-
ties, the experts noted.
Now,CentralRailwaysurvey
recognizes11‘deadly’spots
Nearly 1, 585 casualties were reported in the Mumbai division of
the Central Railway last year. —FILE PHOTO
173kg silver anklets
seized; three arrested
First India Bureau
Palghar: As part of a
beautification plan to
welcome delegates at-
tending the G20 meet-
ing in Aurangabad, a
456 feet long Warli wall
painting was drawn by
six artists from Palghar.
The G20 inception
meeting is scheduled to
be held at Aurangabad
on February 27 and 28.
The group named
Warli Mahila- The
Dhavaleri Group along
with 120 local artists
painted wall from Cen-
tral bus stand to Ma-
havir Chowk in Aurang-
abad. While Adivasi
YuvaSevaSangh(AYSS)
obtained geographical
indications for Warli
painting, artist group,
which is associated
with AYSS, offered their
services free of cost.
Touted to be the big-
gest Warli painting in
Aurangabad city, it was
completed on February
17 and took only six
hours. The theme of the
wall painting was ‘In-
digenous Women Tradi-
tional Rights’, where
the life cycle of Adivasi
(tribal) women was de-
picted in the painting
from birth to death.
Notably
, a group of six
renownedAdivasiartists
from Palghar district su-
pervised the paintings,
correctedthemistakesof
local artists, and also
helpedpaintafewcrucial
parts. Incidentally
, the
Adivasi and Warli com-
munities do not have
prieststoperformrituals
from birth to death. The
women perform all the
rituals and both commu-
nities have given due re-
spect to women from the
ancient period.
Theteam,whichmade
paintingareality
,includ-
ed Kirti Nilesh Vartha
from Mahim, Poonam
Koal from Waki, Raje-
shree Golim from Nihe,
Tara Bombade from Pal-
ghar,TanayaUradefrom
Rothe and Shalini Kasat
from Palghar.
Palghar artists create large Warli painting
ARTISTIC ENDEAVOUR
The six artists pose in front of the painting.
‘Warli Mahila-The Dhavaleri Group’
contributed to the beautification
of Aurangabad city, ahead of G20 meet
Mirch Masala
FIRST INDIA SUNDAY SPECIAL
BY TRIDIB RAMAN
The author is a journalist and political
commentator and views expressed are his personal
Ahigh-level meeting
of BJP leaders was
held in Delhi recently
regarding Haryana.
If sources are to be
believed, in this meet
it has been decided by
consensus that ‘BJP
will fight the 2024 polls
with JJP. BJP’s focus
is on non-Jat voters.
The party knows that
Chautala’s JJP has the
potential to make a big
dent in Jat vote bank
and party strategists
are confident that the
Jannayak Janta Party
can garner at least 30%
of the Jat votes. BJP
strategists know that if
Dushyant succeeds in
making a dent in the Jat
vote bank in upcoming
polls, then the saffron
party can cross the elec-
toral battle by betting
big on its non-Jat vote
bank. Sources reveal
that in this important
meeting in Delhi, it has
also been decided that
Haryana Chief Minister
Manohar Lal Khattar
will not be replaced till
2024. Moreover, in the
24 elections, the BJP
will cancel the tickets of
its existing MPs in bulk,
replacing them with new
ones as it wants to bet
on the faces.
The political circles are speculating
whether the checkmate game between
Vasundhara Raje Scindia and the BJP
Delhi top brass has come to an end? It was
being alleged that a ‘pact’, of sorts, has
been reached between Vasundhara Raje
Scindia and the Satish Poonia camp on
the lines of ‘Na Tum Haare, Na Hum Jeete’
and that the Rajasthan BJP has also heaved
a sigh of relief after a long gap. This was
being said since, Madam, who was absent
from the BJP’s flag-poster till now, has now
started registering her presence in BJP’s
official programs as well. Sources reveal
that BJP’s seat-by-seat survey work
was going on in Rajasthan for
some time, and the results of
this survey informed the party
top that ‘without taking Vasund-
hara along, it will not be easy to
overcome the Gehlot factor in
Rajasthan’.
Less than ten months
are left for the assembly
elections in Ra-
jasthan. Till now,
separate programs
of Vasundhara
and the state
BJP were going on in the state. However,
there was a grapevine in the ‘relevant
political circles’ that the state unit will
also be seen with Raje in the grand pro-
gram organized at Salasar in Churu on
the occasion of Vasundhara’s birthday.
Although Raje’s birthday falls on March
8, and since this time Holi festival is on
March 8, Vasundhara has shifted her
birthday program by 4 days.
However, it now seems that all is still
not well between Raje and Poonia camp
since on March 4, the youth wing of state
BJP - BJYM - has organized a program to
gherao the state assembly and state
president Satish Poonia himself
will be present and spearhead the
rally. Other organizations of the
state BJP will also take part in the
protest and Poonia, on Saturday,
made strategy regarding the
protest. Therefore, although on
the surface it appeared that
the concerned parties had
made amends, but, a
political observer has
pointed, that, all is
not what it may
seem!
Telangana CM KCR
wants to expand his
party at the national
level; He is visiting dif-
ferent states is also in
constant contact with non-
BJP satraps as he wants
to ‘be a part of opposition
unity’ and emerged as
a major pivot.’ Sources
reveal that KCR’s personal
astrologer has advised
him that ‘if he conducts
early polls, he can regain
power ‘with a bang’. Sept
2023 is said to be the
most favourable time for
elections, while the tenure
of current assembly is till
Jan 16, 2024. Following
the advice, KCR told loyal-
ists, ‘You people should
start preparing for the
elections ahead of time.’
Recently, when Rahul Priyanka Gandhi were
skiing in the snow in Gulmarg, they had also
sent an invitation to National Conference leader
Omar Abdullah to go skiing with them. Omar
had readily agreed to this, but his father, Farooq
Abdullah, rejected the idea outright, and is said to
have told Omar in an almost reprimanding manner
- ‘Do you have the
slightest presumption
that you can ski like
this? What would the
Kashmiri people of
the state think? What
political message
would be conveyed
by this? Umar could
not resist his father’s
words and refused
to accompany Rahul.
After this Rahul’s din-
ner was fixed with PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti. But
when Rahul’s skiing photo became viral on the so-
cial media, Mehbooba also cancelled the dinner on
the pretext that she was going to attend the Jammu
session of the party, so she could not attend the
dinner. Interestingly, like always, Rahul seems to be
taking some time to read the political signals.
Akhilesh’s close friends also now feel that SP
supremo Akhilesh Yadav couldn’t handle the
Ramcharit Manas case with ‘maturity.’ In this
matter, showing haste, Akhilesh has unnecessarily
decided to fight with the State’s forward castes. SP
spokesperson Richa Singh and Roli Tiwari Mishra,
who lodged a quick
protest against
Swami Prasad Mau-
rya’s controversial re-
marks on Ramcharit
Manas, were expelled
from the party by
Akhilesh saying that
‘both these leaders
are involved in anti-
party activities’. In
fact, Akhilesh was in
London when Maurya
made the remark couldn’t be contacted. Exhaust-
ed, Richa Singh wrote a long message to Akhilesh’s
wife Dimple Yadav told her that ‘you are also the
daughter of a Kshatriya, how are you tolerating all
this?’ Dimple called up Akhilesh and said, ‘What is
all this going on in the party?’ After talking to Dim-
ple, Akhilesh called up Richa and Roli, ‘who were
adamant about protest.’ Akhilesh got angry and at
the same time showed both of them the door.
OMAR’S ‘NO’ TO RAHUL’S PROPOSAL
AKHILESH KEEPING DISTANCE FROM ELDERS
BJP CONTINUES
TO ALIGN WITH
CHAUTALAS
DID THE TOP BJP LEADERSHIP REALLY ‘MANAGE’
MADAM? IT SURELY DOESN’T APPEAR SO
TELANGANA ELECTIONS MAY BE HELD AHEAD OF TIME

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 | SUNDAY,
FEBRUARY 26, 2023
arments themed
and designed on
Azure Hues, Oce-
anic Splendor,
Beatnik Bril-
liance, Divine
Chronicles, Stip-
pled Visions, Retro Reviv-
al, Svelte Silhouettes, Syl-
van Bellissima, and Folk
Couture captivated entire
crowd of spectators as 44
beautiful and stunning
models step up on the
beautifully decorated
ramp with mesmerizing
backdrops at Creations
2023. The 12th Fashion
show of IIS (deemed to be
University) - CREATIONS
2023 was held on February
24 at IISU back lawns by
the Department of
Fashion and Textiles
of IIS University.
Jagdeesh Chandra
along with Rajiv
Arora, Chairman
of Raj Small In-
dustries Corpora-
tion graced the oc-
casion and moti-
vated the partici-
pants with their
e n c o u r a g i n g
words. Municipal
commissioner Su-
rat, Shalini Agar-
wal also graced the
occasion and moti-
vated her with her
valuable words. Dr
Raakhi Gupta,
Registrar of the
IIS University
was also present
as the special
guest. Around 43
talented young
designers from
the Depart-
ment dis-
played their
bright, enter-
taining and
well-crafted
work that de-
picts the
fashion and culture of our
society. Creation 2023 has
always been a platform to
not only boost the morale
of young designers but also
prepare them to showcase
their talent on bigger plat-
formsinfutureendeavours.
In the same episode, Crea-
tions 2023 also announced
theIISU’sdesignstudio.The
young and talented design-
ers of IIS University show-
cased their astonishing col-
lections depicting Indian
art and culture through In-
do-Westerns casuals, Street
Wear and Formal Western
outfits in their finest form.
The judges Kshipra Goyal
(FounderChrysalis,Jaipur)
and Sadhna Garg (Founder
Raasika, Jaipur) appreciat-
edtheworkof thedesigners
and blessed them to be a
part of the mainstream
fashion industry
. Creations
2023 was choreographed by
David. The best collections
wererewardedwithawards
including Azure Hues
bagged the title whereas
Retro Revival and Beatnik
Brilliance were awarded
second and special jury
awards respectively
.
CITY FIRST BRINGS TO YOU GLIMPSES FROM CREATIONS 2023,
A GRAND FASHION SHOW ORGANISED AT IIS DEEMED TO BE A
UNIVERSITY, THE MEGA FASHION SHOW SHOWCASED 43
BUDDING DESIGNERS A GRAND LAUNCH OF IISU
DESIGNER STUDIO ‘AAKAAR’ ON FRIDAY
CREATION: REBELLION OF
G
KAVITA CHAUHAN
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
Gorgeous divas flaunting the astonishing outfits
—PHOTOS
BY
SANTOSH
SHARMA
Jagdeesh Chandra with Sadhna Garg,
Shalini Agarwal, Dr Ashok Gupta and
Dr Radha Kashyap along with the students

First India Mumbai 26022023.pdf

First India Mumbai 26022023.pdf

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