16122022_ First India New Delhi.pdf

Acid attack:
Victim is able to
see, says family
New Delhi: The family
of the 17-year-old acid
attack survivor on
Thursday said that the
girl’s eyesight has not
been affected and her
facial burn injuries, as
per doctors, will also
heal over time.
She is still in the ICU
of Safdarjung Hospital,
said the victim’s uncle.
“Doctors at the hospi-
tal said the facial burns
will heal, but it will take
time,” he told PTI. The
girl had also suffered
injuries to her eyes in
the attack. “Her vision
has not been affected.
She is able to see and is
talking,” the uncle said,
adding that it was
“shocking” for them to
learn about a neigh-
bour’s involvement .
Prime accused
Sachin Arora, 20, and
his two friends have
been arrested.
Bones recovered from forest confirmed to be Shraddha’s: Police
First India Bureau
New Delhi: A jawbone
recovered by the police
from the Mehrauli jun-
gle while probing the
murder of Shraddha
Walkar has been con-
firmed to be hers,
sources in Delhi Police
said on Thursday. DNA
from some of the 13
bones retrieved from
the jungle — including
the pelvis — and from
blood samples found in
Aaftab’s flat in Mehrau-
li have matched with
samples of Shraddha’s
father, the sources said.
The Central Forensic
Science Laboratory
(CFSL) and the Foren-
sic Science Laboratory
(FSL), Rohini, have sub-
mitted two reports —
DNA and Aftaab’s poly-
graph — to the Delhi
Police’s investigating
team. “The two reports
corroborate the police’s
investigation and Aaft-
ab’s statements,” the
source said.
Delhi Special Com-
missioner of Police, Sa-
gar Preet Hooda, told
the media on Thursday
that the CFSL and FSL
Rohini reports had been
helpful to the investiga-
tion. The police still
await Aaftab’s narco-
analysis report from
FSL Rohini. Once that
is in, all three reports
will be sent to court, on
the basis of which the
police will apply for fur-
ther custody
.
According to police
sources, the DNA evi-
dence will prove to be a
critical evidence in the
case. “The DNA reports
confirm that it was in-
deed Shraddha Walkar
who was killed. We col-
lected samples from her
father and brother after
the incident came to
light,” a source said.
Meanwhile, Lt Gover-
nor V K Saxena ap-
proved a proposal of
Delhi Police to appoint
two special public pros-
ecutors — Madhukar
Pandey and Amit Pras-
ad — in the case.
Special public prose-
cutors are usually ap-
pointed to ensure fo-
cused attention on the
prosecution of accused
and expeditious trial.
They are appointed ei-
ther by the state or by
judicial orders, as hap-
pened in the 2G and the
coal scam cases.
Police searching the forest area in Mehrauli to look for body parts of Shraddha Walkar in November.
DNA from bones
in Mehrauli forest,
blood in Aaftab’s
flat matches with
that of Shraddha’s
father: Sources
Delhi Law and Order Special CP Sagar Preet Hooda speaks to the
media regarding the Shraddha Walkar murder case, in New Delhi
on Thursday. —PHOTOS BY ANI
DNA REPORT COMES IN
PM pays tribute to ‘Iron
Man’ on death anniversary
New Delhi: PM Naren-
dra Modi on Thursday
paid homage to Sardar
Vallabhbhai Patel on his
72nd death anniversary
and recalled everlasting
contribution of the ‘Iron
Man’toIndia.ThePrime
Minister said, “I pay
homage to Sardar Patel
on his Punya Tithi and
recall his everlasting
contributiontoIndia,es-
pecially in uniting our
nation and giving impe-
tus to all-round develop-
ment.”Patelwasbornon
October 31, 1875 in Na-
diad, Gujarat and rose to
become one of the most
influential leader.
INDIA CARRIES OUT SUCCESSFULLY NIGHT
TRIALS OF AGNI-5 WHICH CAN REACH BEIJING!
Bhubaneswar: Amid simmering
tensions with China following the
clashes between the two countries
in Tawang sector of Arunachal
Pradesh, India on Thursday suc-
cessfully carried out the night trials
of the Agni-5 nuclear-capable ballis-
tic missile, which is capable of strik-
ing targets at ranges up to 5,000
kilometres with very high degree of
accuracy. The test was carried out
to validate new technologies and
equipment on the missile that are
now lighter than before, and has
proved that the missile can now hits
targets further away than before.
New Delhi: Congress
chief Mallikarjun
Kharge on Thursday
took a dig at the Union
government for trying
to dodge a discussion in
Parliament over the In-
dia-China Tawang clash
of December 9.
Using terms like “lal
aankh” and “Chinese
glasses”, Kharge’s tweet
in Hindi could roughly
be interpreted as “the
once glaring eyes of the
Modi government have
been covered with Chi-
nese glasses”. Kharge
alsoquestionedwhether
permission was needed
to speak against China
in Sansad Bhawan. Op-
position leaders raised
the issue to hold a de-
tailed discussion on the
clash when the House
assembled on Wednes-
day and Deputy Chair-
man Harivansh allowed
‘Zero Hour’. But when
Chair disallowed a dis-
cussion on the issue, the
17 parties staged the
walkout.
PARLIAMENT SESSION
Oppn walks out hearing
Puri’s claims on VAT
New Delhi: Dissatisfied
with the reply of Petro-
leum Minister Hardeep
Puri on the increased
prices of petrol and die-
selinthecountry
,opposi-
tion parties staged a
walkout from the Lok
Sabha on Thursday
. Re-
sponding to a question
during the Question
HouronThursday
,Union
PetroleumMinister said,
“While the average price
of Indian basket of
Crude oil increased be-
tween November 2020
and November 2022, the
retailpricesof Petroland
Diesel have increased in
Indiabyonly18.95%and
26.5 % during this peri-
od.” “To insulate the In-
dianconsumersfromthe
impact of high interna-
tional crude oil prices,
Central Government re-
duced the Central Excise
duty twice on 21 Novem-
ber2021and22May2022,”
the Minister informed.
To insulate the Indian consumers from the impact,
Government reduced the Central Excise duty twice
‘WHY GOVT WAS NOT SHOWING ‘LAAL ANKH?’
CONGRESS SEEKS WHITE PAPER ON CHINA
New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday demanded a white paper on China, including the
recent transgressions, and taunted the Central government by saying “why it was not show-
ing ‘laal ankh’ (angry eyes) to the neighbouring country”. Leader of the Congress party in the
Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury raised the matter during Zero Hour. Trinamool Congress
leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay also sought a discussion on the China issue. Chowdhury was
alluding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2014 remark, when he had talked about showing
“laal ankh” to the Chinese over repeated transgressions at the Line of Actual Control (LAC)
and had also spoken about the might of a “56-inch chest”.
‘CHINESE GLASSES’ COVERING
‘RED EYE’ OF MODI GOVT: KHARGE
CHINESE TROOPS
RESORTING TO
HOOLIGANISM
BEIJING GAINED
LOT OVER TIME:
GEN NARAVANE
New Delhi: Former Army
General MM Naravane hit
out at the Chinese Army
for descending to the level
of “prehistoric times” by
using “clubs and barbed
wires” in the scuffle and
said that the Indian Army
in warfare would rather
open fire than resort to
such ridiculous tactics.
He said that based on
assessments, the Indian
Army felt that threat from
India’s northern borders
is increasing.
New Delhi: General Nara-
vane said that China’s at-
tempts to change status
quo on LAC by resorting
to “salami slicing” tactics
led to a “more assertive”
response from Indian
Army. He said that the
Chinese army has been
trying to alter status quo
along the LAC in very
“small incremental steps”
and over a period of time
Beijing has gained a lot.
Congress MP Mallikarjun Kharge speaks in the Rajya Sabha during the ongoing Winter Session of
Parliament, in New Delhi. —PHOTO BY PTI
BIHAR HOOCH DEATHS: BJP MPs PROTEST
RS ADJOURNED TWICE AMID UPROAR
Several BJP MPs from Bihar in Lok Sabha on Thurs-
day sought strict action against those responsible for
sale of illicit liquor in the state, while blaming the state
government for deaths of more than 20 persons.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour in Lok Sabha, BJP
MP from Paschim Champaran Sanjay Jaiswal alleged
that fake liquor is being distributed in Bihar through the
local administration, which has led to deaths. P5
RS was adjourned twice for 15 minutes on Thursday
following an uproar by the opposition members after
being denied notices. Seven Opposition members had
given notices to the chairman on various issues, but
were not allowed. In reaction, the opposition members
indulged in sloganeering and the House was adjourned
twice, first from 11.12 a.m. for 15 minutes and second
time from 11.35 a.m. to 11.50 a.m.
PM TO START
TRIPURA POLL
CAMPAIGN
New Delhi: On December
18, PM Modi will kick-
start 2023 Tripura Assem-
bly elections campaign
in the state and also hold
a BJP core committee
meeting. He will also ad-
dress a public gathering
in Agartala and inaugurate
some projects.
With the landing of the 36th and the final fighter
jet, the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Thursday
received the delivery of all the aircraft for which it
had entered into a Rs 58,000-crore deal with France’s
Dassault Aviation in 2016. “The pack is complete. The last of
the 36 IAF Rafales landed in India after a quick enroute sip from a
UAE Air Force tanker,” the IAF said in an official statement.
THE PACK IS
COMPLETE, SAYS IAF
AS LAST OF 36 RAFALE
JETS LAND IN INDIA
‘Jo piyega woh marega’:
Nitish as hooch toll rises
Patna: After Bihar’s
hooch toll climbed,
Chief Minister Nitish
Kumar on Thursday
warned that if people
drink spurious liquor,
they may well die, as the
prohibition policy of
his government came
under attack from vari-
ous quarters. “Jo piye-
ga woh marega” (those
who drink spurious al-
cohol will die), thun-
dered Bihar Chief Min-
ister Nitish Kumar who
stood his ground main-
taining that prohibition
was “not my personal
wish but a response to
the cries of the women
of the state”.
PRESIDENT’S RULE SHOULD BE IMPOSED IN
BIHAR, SAYS BJP MP SUSHIL KUMAR SINGH
BJP MP Sushil Kumar Singh said that there is anarchy in
Bihar. “Liquor and sand mafia are dominant and there is
nothing left in the name of law and order, so the government
of the Grand Alliance should be dismissed and President’s
rule should be imposed in Bihar,” Singh said.
States ruled by the
saffron party had
the worst track
records in terms of spurious
liquor deaths. Madhya
Pradesh and Karnataka
stood at the top in terms of
the number of hooch deaths
while even Gujarat, a dry
state, fared much worse
than Bihar which is under
the spotlight over the Saran
hooch tragedy that has killed
over 20 people
—Tejashwi Yadav,
Deputy CM Bihar
Mallikarjun Kharge
@kharge
It seems that the
“red eye” of the
Modi government
is covered with
Chinese glasses.
Is it not allowed
to speak against
China in the Indian
Parliament?
BSE SENSEX 61799.03 878.88 | NSE NIFTY 18414.90 245.40
NEW DELHI l FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI TITLE NO. DELENG/2021/19840 l Vol 2 l Issue No. 107
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/delhi I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, NEW DELHI MUMBAI
NIRAV MODI
LOSES BID TO
APPEAL AGAINST
EXTRADITION
New Delhi: SC’s Constitution bench on
Thursday held that direct evidence of demand
for bribe by public servants is not necessary to
convict them under the (PC) Act and it can also
be proved through circumstantial evidence.
New Delhi: Diamond merchant Nirav Modi suffered
another setback in his legal battle against his
extradition to India. The High Court in London
denied Nirav Modi permission to appeal against his
extradition order in the UK Supreme Court.
DELHI HC
RESERVES
ORDER ON
UDDHAV’S PLEA
New Delhi: Delhi HC on Thursday reserved orders
in Uddhav Thackeray’s appeal against an order of
HC dismissing his plea challenging the Election
Commission of India’s decision to freeze claim over
the “Shiv Sena” party name and symbol.
PUBLIC SERVANTS’
CONVICTION ON
CIRCUMSTANTIAL
EVIDENCE

CAPITOL
NEW DELHI | FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2022
02
Nagpur (PTI): The
Rashtriya Swayamse-
vak Sangh (RSS)-affili-
ated Bharatiya Kisan
Sangh (BKS), a farmers’
organisation, on Thurs-
day said it would take
out national level
‘Kisan Garjana’ protest
march in Delhi on De-
cember 19 to seek vari-
ous relief measures for
the cultivators to im-
prove their condition.
BKS’s executive com-
mittee member Nana
Aakhre said in a release
that farmers, who pro-
vide food grains, vege-
tables, fruits, milk, etc,
are “very disappointed”
today due to lack of re-
turns to their farm pro-
duce, and are commit-
ting suicide due to it.
“In order to address
the woes of the farm-
ers, the BKS demands
profitable prices on all
the farm produce. Also,
Goods and Services
Tax (GST) should not
be levied on the farm
produce and the finan-
cial relief provided un-
der the Kisan Samman
Nidhi should be in-
creased,” it said.
Aakhre said that
lakhs of farm workers
from across the country
will participate in the
‘Kisan Garajna’ rally in
the national capital on
Monday
. The BSK also
said the government
shouldnotgiveapproval
to the GM (genetically
modified) mustard seed.
The export and im-
port policy of the coun-
try should be in the in-
terest of the people, it
added.
RSS-linked BKS to take out ‘Kisan Garjana’ protest march in Delhi
FARMERS’ WOES
lll
BKS will seek
various relief
measures for the
cultivators to
improve their
condition during
the national-
level protest to
be held on
December 19 Lakhs of farm workers will participate in the ‘Kisan Garajna’ rally in the national capital on Monday.
MAIN DEMANDS
MCD likely to announce
mayornameinfirstmeet
New Delhi (ANI): The
first meeting of the Mu-
nicipal Corporation of
Delhi (MCD) will be held
on January 6, marking
the beginning of a five-
yeartenureof thecorpo-
ration. Lt Governor VK
Saxena on Thursday ap-
proved the proposal to
convene the first meet-
ing of the newly elected
Corporation.
Aseniormunicipalof-
ficial said the agenda of
the first meeting in-
cludes oath and affirma-
tion of 250 councillors,
election of the mayor
and deputy mayor and
election of the six mem-
bers of the standing
committee.
The move came as
per the powers vested in
the Lt Governor VK
Saxena vide Section 73
of the Delhi Municipal
Corporation Act, 1957.
The proposal to this ef-
fect was moved by the
Commissioner (MCD)
on December 12.
Earlier as per re-
ports, speculation of
delay in the Delhi may-
or's election made
rounds. However, the
Commissioner's file, ap-
proved by Deputy CM
Manish Sisodia and CM
Arvind Kejriwal, was
received in Raj Niwas
on Thursday while LG
Saxena accorded his ap-
proval on the same day,
informed sources.
The high-stakes bat-
tle for control over the
Delhi Municipal Corpo-
ration ended with the
AAP winning 134 of the
total 250 wards in the
capital's civic body
polls, uprooting 15-year
rule by the BJP.
As the Delhi State
Election Commission
announced the final re-
sults today
, AAP won 134
wards while BJP came
second with 104 wards.
Congress managed to
get 9 wards while three
wards were bagged by
Independents.
“Thanks to the peo-
ple of Delhi for this
grand victory and many
congratulations to all.
Now all of us together
have to make Delhi
clean and beautiful,”
tweeted AAP national
convenor and Delhi CM
Arvind Kejriwal.
NEW BEGINNING
Lt Governor
approves proposal
to hold first meet of
corporation on Jan 6
Newly-elected
councillors of
the MCD will take
oath in the meeting
Six members of
the standing
committee will
also be elected
Lt Governor VK Saxena with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at an event. —FILE PHOTO
New Delhi (ANI): A cleric (maulvi), who was ab-
sconding after allegedly raping a 12-year-old boy in
Delhi’sSaraiRohillaarea,wasarrestedonThursday
,
police said. The accused has been identified as Mo-
hammadIsran.ThepolicehadfiledanFIRunderthe
POCSO Act and 377, 506 sections of IPC.According
to Sagar Singh Kalsi, DCP North Delhi, the accused
had committed unnatural sex with the victim sev-
eral times after sedating him.
EarlierinanotherinstancefromMadhyaPradesh,
Maulvi Abdul Samad was arrested and sent to judi-
cial custody for allegedly molesting a 5-year-old girl
insideamadrasainKhandwainOctober,policesaid.
The accused was the Maulvi of Emanual Madrasa
of Zakaria Masjid, Khanshawali in Khandwa.
First India Bureau
New Delhi: The nation-
al capital recorded the
coldest day of the sea-
son on Thursday with
the minimum tempera-
ture dipping to 6.4 de-
grees Celsius, two
notches below the sea-
son’s average
The air quality in Del-
hi was recorded in the
‘moderate’ category on
Thursday as the maxi-
mum temperature set-
tled at 23.4 degrees Cel-
sius.
According to the data
by Central Pollution
Control Board (CPCB),
the 24-hour average AQI
on Thursday stood at 189
(moderate category).
An AQI between 0 and
50 is considered “good”,
51and100“satisfactory”,
101 and 200 “moderate”,
201 and 300 “poor”, 301
and 400 “very poor”, and
401 and 500 “severe”.
Absconding maulvi held
for raping minor boy
Delhi records 6.4 deg Celsius,
season’s minimum temp
FIGHTING FOR RIGHTS
National
Platform for
Domestic
Workers raise
slogans during
a protest
demanding
comprehensive
social
protection, at
Jantar Mantar
in New Delhi
on Thursday.
—PHOTO
BY PTI
New Delhi (ANI): The
Rouse Avenue Court of
Delhi on Thursday took
cognisance on a
chargesheet filed by the
Central Bureau of In-
vestigation (CBI)
against Vijay Nair and
Abhishek Boinpally,
two public servants and
others named in the
chargesheet filed in
connection with the
Delhi liquor policy case.
Taking cognisance of
the chargesheet, special
judge MK Nagpal on
Thursday issued sum-
mons to all accused
named in it. According
to the CBI, besides Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP)'s
communications in-
charge Vijay Nair and
Abhishek Boinpally
, the
others named in the
chargesheet are Mootha
Gautam, Arun R Pillai,
Sameer Mahendru and
two former officials of
Delhi's Excise depart-
ment -- Kuldeep Singh
and Narender Singh.
Only Nair and Boin-
pally were arrested by
the CBI in the case and
later granted bail.
However, Nair, Boin-
pally and businessman
Mahendru are still in
judicial custody in con-
nection with a related
case filed by the ED
against them. Their
bail pleas in the matter
are presently under the
consideration of the
court.
Excise policy case: Court takes cognisance
of CBI chargesheet, summons all accused
New Delhi (PTI): The
Delhi High Court
Thursday reserved its
judgement on a batch of
petitions challenging
the Centre's Agnipath
scheme for recruitment
in armed forces.
Besides pleas directly
challenging Agnipath,
the high court also re-
served its verdict on pe-
titions concerning the
recruitment processes
for the armed forces un-
der certain previous
advertisements.
A bench of Chief Jus-
tice Satish Chandra
Sharma and Justice
Subramonium Prasad
asked the counsel for
the petitioners and the
Centre to file written
submissions by Decem-
ber 23, after which the
court will go on vaca-
tion. The Agnipath
scheme, unveiled on
June 14, lays out rules
for the recruitment of
youths in the armed
forces.
According to these
rules, those between
17-and-a-half and 21
years of age are eligible
to apply and they would
be inducted for a four-
year tenure. The
scheme allows 25 per
cent of them to be
granted regular service
subsequently. After the
scheme was unveiled,
protests erupted in sev-
eral states against the
scheme.
OrderonpleaschallengingAgnipathreserved
A woman participates in the high jump as part of physical test for
the Indian Army's recruitment scheme ‘Agnipath’, in Lucknow.
Ghaziabad (PTI): Three persons, including
a couple, have been run over by a speeding
train while they were making videos with
mobile phones on a railway track here, police
said on Thursday
. The incident happened near
Kaloo Garhi railway crossing under Masuri
police station area on Wednesday night
around 9 pm and all the three died on the spot,
a senior police official said. Deputy Commis-
sioner of Police (rural) Iraj Raja said that in-
vestigation has revealed that they were mak-
ing videos with their mobile phones to upload
on social media at the time of incident.
They were so engrossed in filming the video
that they could not notice the Padmavat Ex-
press passenger train, en route from Old Del-
hi to Pratapgarh junction, coming on their
way, the DCP said. The deceased have been
identified as Nadeem (23), his wife Jainab (20)
and Shakeel (30) of Mushahid Colony under
Masuri police Station area, police said.
THE SCHEME
New Delhi (ANI): Of-
ficials of Delhi Police
on Thursday arrested
two persons and busted
a racket, involved in the
circulation of fake cur-
rencies, in Rohini.
Two persons alleged-
ly circulating fake cur-
rencies have been ar-
rested by a special staff
of Delhi Police in Rohi-
ni and counterfeit cur-
rencies worth over Rs 1
lakh were recovered,
officials said.
Earlier this month,
the GRP
, Mathura, bust-
ed an interstate gang in-
volved in printing fake
currency notes and ar-
rested the kingpin. Ma-
thura GRP along with
joint teams of Police
Commissionerate Vara-
nasi on Sunday arrested
Mukesh alias Raunak,
the mastermind who
was carrying a bounty
of Rs 25,000 on his head.
Racket circulating
fake currencies
busted; 2 held
Three run over by
train while making
videos on rail track
Relatives of youths who were killed after being hit by a
train, outside a mortuary on Thursday. —PHOTO BY PTI
The temp is expected to dip to 6 degrees Celsius
in the coming days. As per the forecast by IMD, clear
skies are expected throughout the day till Friday
—FILE
PHOTO
The two arrested accused in
police custody on Thursday

CAPITOL
03
Delhi now even more unsafe for women
First India Bureau
New Delhi: Ten years
ago, on this day
, an inci-
dent in Delhi shocked
the entire world. A
23-year-old woman
named Jyoti Singh
(known as Nirbhaya)
was gang-raped on a
moving bus on the night
of December 16, 2012.
The young woman
fought back but suffered
internal injuries and
was thrown out naked
from the bus. She died
within two weeks.
The incident forced
everyone to consider –
how much violence
would women continue
to suffer in India?
The massive protests
over the Nirbhaya case
did bring about a cer-
tain amount of change
– laws were amended to
recognise wider and
more nuanced defini-
tionsof violenceagainst
women, set penalties for
inefficient police action,
and create stricter pun-
ishments for perpetra-
tors – including, signifi-
cantly
, the death penalty
.
A decade later, dan-
gers for women in Delhi
continue to grow in var-
ious ways. The crime
rate against women has
increased by more than
50% in the past decade.
TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF NIRBHAYA GANG RAPE
Water cannons being used in Delhi on people protesting against the government and police over the
horrific gang-rape of Nirbhaya on a moving bus in Delhi. —FILE PHOTO
DELHI: CRIMES AGAINST WOMEN
z Out of 43,414 cases of crime against women
registered in 2021, Delhi accounted for 32.20%
among all 19 metro cities.
z Delhi also recorded a significant surge of 40%
and reported 13,892 cases in 2021 compared to
9,782 in 2020.
z The national capital reported the highest num-
ber of crimes against women related to kidnap-
ping, cruelty by husbands, and girl child rapes,
besides 2,022 cases of assault with the intent to
outrage a woman’s modesty.
z Mumbai and Bengaluru followed Delhi in
crimes against women in 2021.
OTHER PROMINENT CASES
More than 3,00,000 rape cases were reported
in India in the years 2011-2020, some of them
catching public attention due to the bestiality
and case atrocity involved.
n The incident
forced everyone
to consider: how
much violence
would women
suffer in India?
2020 HATHRAS
Four upper caste men gang-raped a 19-year-old
Dalit woman in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras. She died
two weeks later in a hospital in Delhi.
2019 HYDERABAD
A 26-year-old veterinary doctor’s body was discov-
ered, the day after she was murdered. Four men
were arrested for allegedly raping and killing the
doctor by brutally smothering her and later burn-
ing her body. All four accused were shot dead by
the police when they allegedly tried to run away.
2018 KATHUA
An 8-year-old from a nomadic tribe girl was ab-
ducted, gang raped, and murdered at a temple in
Kathua, Jammu and Kashmir.
2017 UNNAO
A 17-year-old girl was raped in Unnao, Uttar
Pradesh, allegedly by the local MLA of the ruling
party BJP, Kuldeep Singh Sengar. Sengar was later
convicted of the murder of the victim’s father.
2014 BADAUN
Two girls were gang-raped and murdered. After a
long investigation, the CBI concluded that there
was ‘No Rape’ and the suspects were released.
The POCSO court rejected the CBI closure report.
After an SIT investigation, the three main accused
confessed to the rape and murder of the two girls.
New Delhi (PTI): A
unique robotics compe-
tition to nurture excel-
lence in the field among
Delhi school students
will begin Friday, as the
state government has
been emphasising edu-
cational opportunities
for students to learn Ar-
tificial Intelligence, a
circular from the Direc-
torate of Education
(DoE) has said.
An event will be or-
ganised at BR Ambed-
kar School of Special-
ised Excellence at Sura-
jmal Vihar on Decem-
ber 16 and the competi-
tion will be open to all
schools of Delhi be-
tween December 2022 to
June 2023.
“Robotics has
emerged as a promising
field in Education and
NEP 2020 has given spe-
cial emphasis on educa-
tional opportunities to
learn Robotics and Ar-
tificial Intelligence. A
programme is to be or-
ganised to launch Delhi
Robotics League at Dr
BR Ambedkar SOSE,
Surajmal Vihar on De-
cember 16,” the DoE cir-
cular said.
As per the DoE, the
idea of this competition
is to nurture excellence
in robotics among
school students.
Live streaming of the
launch of the league
will be broadcast in all
government schools
and government-aided
schools through the
website of the DoE.
Delhi govt schools to kick off robotics competition
TO BE LIVE STREAMED
lll
Starting with
‘Delhi Robotics
League’ launch
today, the
competition will
be open to all
schools in Delhi
between
December 2022
and June 2023
All students
and teachers
of morning
shift will view the live
streaming at schools;
evening shift students
will have access to it at
their home.
—Circular,
Issued by Directorate of Education
New Delhi (PTI): The Central Board of Second-
ary Education Thursday warned students and par-
ents against a fake website of the board and asked
them not to make any payments on the portal for
downloading admit cards for class 10 and 12 exams.
“It has come to the notice of the board that cer-
tain unscrupulous elements have created a website
resembling the official CBSE website www.cbse.
gov.in.
“This fake website has been created with the
address https://cbsegovt.com/ and is blatantly
duping unsuspecting students, schools and par-
ents by sending messages to deposit money for
creating and downloading the admit card for CBSE
class 10 and 12, 2023 examinations,” the board said
in an advisory
.
It asked the public and stakeholders to be “ex-
tremely careful and not respond to any such fake
messages and websites”.
CBSE warns students
against fake website
17-year-old acid attack
survivor continues to
remain in the burns
ICU of Safdarjung Hos-
pital and is conscious, a
doctor said. “The pa-
tient is conscious, well
oriented and afebrile.
She has suffered 8 per
cent chemical burns on
the face. Eyes have also
been affected. Treat-
ment is on. Ophthalmol-
ogists are also provid-
ing conservative and
supportive treatment.
She continues to be in
the Burn ICU,” a senior
doctor said.
Three men—prime
accused Sachin Arora,
20, and his two friends
have been arrested.
New Delhi (PTI): Flipkart on Thursday con-
demned the acid attack on a 17-year-old girl in west
Delhi and said it has blacklisted the seller from its
platform and is extending all support to the probe
agencies. Earlier in the day, the Delhi Commission
for Women issued notices to Flipkart and Amazon
for allegedly allowing sale of acid on their plat-
form. The Delhi Police had also issued a notice to
Flipkart after it found that the acid was procured
from Flipkart. Flipkart said in a statement, “We
strongly condemn this unfortunate incident, and
our thoughts and prayers are with the victim.”
Founder of Rashtriya Prashuram Parishad, Pandit Sunil Bharala, and other members of Prashuram Swabhiman Sena stage a
protest over the recent anti-Brahmin remarks on walls of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus, at Jantar Mantar in
New Delhi on Thursday. —PHOTO BY ANI
Nothing has changed
for women: Parents
Tanya Chugh
New Delhi: “In the last
10 years, we do not
think anybody except
Nirbhaya got justice.
No change has come,”
Nirbhaya's mother
Asha Devi said on the
eve of the 10th anniver-
sary of the tragic, hor-
rific incident.
Her husband, Badri
Narayan Singh, la-
mented that women are
not safe even today
.
“Criminals are con-
tinuously committing
crime,” he said.
However, one positive
change that has come
about is that more sexu-
al assualt survivors are
speaking out, Devi said.
Barely two days
ahead of the 10th anni-
versary of the Nirb-
haya incident, a 17-year-
old girl was attacked
withacidbytwomasked
motorcycle-borne men
in west Delhi's Mohan
Garden. When asked
about the attack, Nirb-
haya's father said,
“When girls face such
attacks, it is sad. What
was her fault? She was
going to school. Her life
has been spoilt.”
“I don't think any
change has come. Even
today, we are in the
same situation as 2012,”
Asha Devi said. —PTI
Man kills tenant, PhD student,
dumps body parts at 3 locations
First India Bureau
Ghaziabad: Police here
on Wednesday arrested
a man named Umesh
Sharma from Modina-
gar in Ghaziabad dis-
trict for allegedly kill-
ing his tenant, Ankit
Khokar, and chopping
his body into pieces
that he threw in three
different places, includ-
ing in two canals.
The victim had re-
cently sold his ances-
tral land in Baghpat
from which he had got `
1 crore, which the killer
was eyeing, police said.
A friend of the killer,
identified as Parvesh,
has also been arrested.
Ankit Khokar lived
alone ever since his par-
ents died some years
ago, and was a PhD
scholar enrolled with a
university in Lucknow.
Police got involved
only after his friends
tried searching for him
as they sensed some-
thing wrong when he
did not answer calls.
The now-arrested
landlord—to whom An-
kit Khokar had given
`40 lakh as loan, and
whose wife he called
‘sister’—told them he,
too, did not know where
he had gone.
Police say they have
found out that he had
strangled Ankit Khokar
to death on October 6,
He chopped up the body
into at least three parts
using a saw, and packed
them up in aluminum
foil, said Iraj Raja, DCP
Ghaziabad Rural.
BRAHMINS
PROTEST
Ankit Khokar lived alone ever
since his parents died some
years ago.
Survivor conscious,continues to be in ICU
Flipkart says seller blacklisted as
DCW seeks details of acid sale
The burns ward at Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi.
New Delhi (PTI): Lt
Governor VK Saxena
has approved a proposal
of the Delhi Police to
appoint two special
public prosecutors to
argue in the Shraddha
Walkar murder case,
Raj Niwas officials said
on Thursday
.
“The matter relates
to the gruesome Shrad-
dha murder case. Mad-
hukar Pandey and Amit
Prasad, advocates, will
be accordingly repre-
senting the Delhi Police
as special public prose-
cutors in the matter,”
an official told PTI.
Shraddha Walkar
case: LG approves
proposal for 2 spl
public prosecutors
Noida (PTI): A rape
suspect was arrested
after a brief gunfight
with police in Noida on
Thursday morning, a
senior officer said.
The man, who was
taken to a hospital for
treatment after the en-
counter, is accused of
raping a four-year-old
girl, the officer said.
“A case was lodged on
Wednesday
. The suspect
was at large. This morn-
ing, police officials got
a tip-off about the sus-
pect's movement near
Sector 83 metro sta-
tion,” Additional DCP
(Central Noida) Saad
Miya Khan said.
“When the suspect
was surrounded, he
tried to escape by open-
inggunfireattheteam,”
DCP Khan said.
Rape suspect held after gunfight
The suspect, identified as Pramod Das, a native of Bihar, in police
custody on Thursday.
People say
that time
heals every-
thing, but the pain has
not gone away. No-
body knows how long
girls will continue to
face such situations.
—Asha Devi,
Mother of Nirbhaya

l Vol 2 l Issue No.107
l RNI TITLE NO. DELENG/2021/19840
Printed and published by
Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of
First Express Publishers. Printed at
Impressions Printing and Packaging
Limited, C-21, 22 Sector-59,
Noida-201301. Published at G-20,
3rd Floor, 309, Preet Vihar, New
Delhi-110092. Phone 011-49846474.
Editor-In-Chief: Dr Jagdeesh Chandra
Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
PERSPECTIVE
04
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
Work done with anxiety about
results is far inferior to work
done without such anxiety, in the
calm of self-surrender. Seek
refuge in the knowledge of
Brahma. They who work
selfishly for results are
miserable.” —BhagavadGita
IN-DEPTH
Piyush Goyal
@PiyushGoyal
75 handwoven Saris commemorating
75 years of Independence.Be a part
of this unique month-long celebration
beginning tomorrow and show your
support for our handloom weavers.
#MySariMyPride
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
Accompanied the delegation of MPs
from @BJP4Odisha to seek the personal
intervention of Shri @mansukhmandviya
for pursuing the Govt. of Odisha to
implement #AyushmanBharat in the
state for the larger benefit of 4.5 core
people in Odisha.
TOP TWEETS
REVIEWING DELHI
AIRPORT INFRA
TO END WOES OF
PASSENGERS
he frustration of be-
ing confined to their
homes because of
the travel restric-
tions due to the pan-
demic is being let out now with
people rushing to catch the first
flight to execute their travel
plans. Lack of infrastructure is
another reason for the over-
crowding. So heavy is the foot-
fall that Delhi international air-
port’s Terminal 3 has been wit-
nessing chaotic scenes for the
last few day. The seemingly un-
ending breakdown of arrange-
ments at the airport forced the
Civil Aviation Minister Jyotira-
ditya Scindia to personally visit
the airport to find out what the
bottlenecks were. Other major
airports also are witnessing
scenes which some flyers com-
pared with a ‘fish market’.
After the minister’s visit a
slew of measures were an-
nounced. It was found that more
counters of different airlines
were needed and the process of
security check at the entry point
and baggage clearance needed
to be expedited in view of long
queues of travellers. The plans
have not worked so far.
T
ow quickly eco-
nomic interests
take over national
sentiments is best
illustrated by In-
dia’s relations with China. In
a burst of justifiable anger
after the violent clashes in
Galwan in 2020, there were
callstoboycottChinesegoods.
The boycott call, strongly
backed by the Confederation
of All-India Traders (CAIT),
especially targeted decorative
lights, idols of Lord Ganesh
and goddess Lakshmi and
firecrackers which register
brisk sale during Diwali. The
CAIT expected a business loss
of about 75, 000 crore to Chi-
na. The response was signifi-
cant as Chinese goods disap-
peared during that year’s fes-
tive season.
The patriotic fervour of
2020 didn’t last long. Chinese
fancy lights were back to
swarm Indian markets. De-
spite the after-effects of pan-
demic and inflation, demand
was at its peak. China is un-
derstood to have exported
$710 million worth of LED
light related products, about
135% more than the corre-
sponding period in 2020.
Stronger national sentiments
are needed for decoupling
with China by replacing Chi-
nese products with those
made in India. Cost is one
factor which makes Indian
products uncompetitive in
comparison to those from
China. Besides import of
fancy lights, China remains
India’s 2nd biggest trading
partner after US. While India
exported $21.25 billion worth
of goods to China in 2021-22,
imports stood at $94.57 bil-
lion. These figures may wrongly
be interpreted to suggest that
China’sdesignsonIndia’sterrito-
rial integrity are being ignored.
With Indian economy now on a
brisk march, it will take some
time to reduce the country’s de-
pendence on Chinese products.
THE DISSIPATION
OF GALWAN ANGER
Stronger national
sentiments are needed for
the decoupling with China
by replacing Chinese
products with those made
in India. Cost is one
factor which makes Indian
products uncompetitive
in comparison to
those from China
H
MISSION POK
(Bangladesh Victory Season 2.0)
ndia celebrates VIJAY DI-
WAS on 16 Dec to commemo-
rate 51 years of Victory in
Bangladesh. Last month,
Hon’ble Raksha Mantri Ra-
jnath Singh was on a day’s
visit to the India-China bor-
der in Eastern Ladakh. This
was his second visit during a
span of a few weeks. He made
a specific mention of the part
of the State of Jammu and
Kashmir under Pakistan’s il-
legal occupation and said
that India will take back POK
in accordance with a resolu-
tion passed unanimously in
Parliament in 1994. Is India
preparing for Bangladesh
War Season 2? Let’s have a
reality check.
POLITICAL WILL
India had gone to UN in 1948
with the Kashmir issue and
thereafter in various forums,
India has always reiterated
that sanctity of ‘Line of Con-
trol (LC)’ should be main-
tained. Pakistan leaves no
opportunity to keep the
Kashmir issue alive in inter-
national forum. LC is now
accepted as ipso facto border
between India and Pakistan.
Even during Kargil war the
sanctity of LC was honoured
by India. India had 4 golden
chances that Pakistan pre-
sented in the form of four
wars they lost, but we didn’t
do it that time. However, the
Hon’ble Raksha Mantri’s
statement on POK manifests
the changed political will of
New Bharat.
India is progressing well
as the fastest growing econo-
my in the world and today we
are a power to reckon. Any
misadventure will derail the
economic progress and take
the country back by more
than a decade or so. War is a
costly hobby and the price of
war in terms of economy and
human lives will have to be
clearly weighed by the deci-
sion makers, before we un-
dertake such bold action.
MILITARY CAPABILITY
India Armed Forces are
among the world’s largest de-
fence forces with experience
of four wars. However, to un-
dertake an offensive of the
magnitude of taking POK
back will need a detailed
thought. The following as-
pects merit consideration-
l India and Pakistan have
formidable defence system
along the ‘Line of Control
(LC)’ in JK. The pace of
operations will therefore
be slow in such obstacle
ridden rugged terrain.
l Any initiative of India in
the context could result in
a two front war with Chi-
na and Pakistan.
l China has heavily invested
in POK and won’t let it slip
out. It will provide all
help to Pakistan thereby
keeping India embroiled
in the conflict without any
tangible gains.
l Even if China doesn’t open
up the Eastern Borders of
India actively take part
with Pakistan, China will
certainly deploy it’s forces
on LAC with India and tie
down a large amount of
Indian forces, in the East-
ern theatre of war.
l India has three strike
corps, as offensive forces.
One is poised for China
Sector, the second for de-
serts of Western Sector
and only one strike corps
is left for offensive in Jk.
Therefore, taking entire
POK with one strike corps
may not be feasible and
committing more troops
in POK will unbalance the
entire western front.
l Support of local popula-
tion is essential for such
operations but it’s not
likely in the case in POK.
INTERNATIONAL
OPINION
India’s stand of principled
neutrality during Russia’s
aggression in Ukraine has
also not been taken kindly by
the west and the USA. The so-
called free world has framed
a negative impression of In-
dia. India has also made it
clear in the Ukraine conflict
that it does not favour war as
a means to resolve interna-
tional disputes. PM Modi is
on record to say-“This is not
an Era of war.”
China being member of
UNSC will take the lead to
declare India as an aggressor.
Large no of economic and
diplomatic sanctions will be
slapped on India. Presently,
India is a fragile economy
with large portion of war
equipment and oil being ex-
ported. After Ukraine war
and prolonged sanctions,
Russia will be too weak to
support India and veto such
resolutions, against the wish-
es of China. Therefore, India
will be throttled to stop war,
by the West and China.
CHAOS IN PAKISTAN
Pakistan is in utter chaos to-
day due to economic crisis
and political turmoil. Nature
has also not been kind and
ravaging floods have also add-
ed to its woos. Hardliners and
extremist organizations are
calling the shots over weak-
ened Govt and non assertive
Pak Army
. Pakistan society
today is almost on the brink
of a civil war. Further rise in
tempers will lead to more
violence and civil unrest.
The POK region has also
been linguistically and cul-
turally marginalized by Paki-
stan rulers, for nearly 75
years. People of POK are be-
ing deprived of all basic
rights by Pakistan and it
remains an underdeveloped
territory. China is making
inroads into this territory to
fulfill its ambitions. POK is
presently at the crossroads
of Conflicting Interests of
India, China and Pakistan.
CONCLUSION
Crystal gazing into future in-
dicates that there is consider-
able anti-China feeling
spreading in Pakistan. USA
is already alienated with
Pak. India is making new
friends in the Arab world and
Pakistan has been snubbed
many a times. It is possible
that Pakistan may be isolated
from its closest allies - USA,
China and the Arab world. In
the time-frame that this
change comes about, India
would be militarily powerful
to take back POK by force,
economically strong to with-
stand sanctions that will ac-
crue and politically strong to
justify the actions in the in-
ternational forum. Once that
is done, taking POK will be
a cakewalk. It’s a ‘feel good’
factor whose time has not yet
come but we can keep the pot
boiling.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
I
India is progressing well as
the fastest growing economy
in the world and today we
are a power to reckon. Any
misadventure will derail
the economic progress and
take the country back by
more than a decade or so.
War is a costly hobby and
the price of war in terms of
economy human lives
will have to be clearly
weighed by decision makers
MAJ GEN
CP SINGH (RETD)
The writer is a scholar soldier accredited
with MA, MSc, LLB, MBA, M Phil (Def Mgt)
and M Phil (International Strategic Affairs)

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INDIA
05
Will Rahul Gandhi take command
in South and Priyanka in North?
Shamsher Singh
New Delhi: Rahul Gan-
dhi started his Bharat
Jodo Yatra from South
India. It was not a spon-
taneous decision, but it
was done after a lot of
thought. Priyanka Gan-
dhi Vadra also did not
participate in the yatra
anywhere in South In-
dia, but as soon as the
yatra left the south, she
joined the yatra in Mad-
hya Pradesh with her
husband and son, and
traveled with her hus-
band and daughter in
Rajasthan. In future
too, the states where
Congress will go on
Bharat Jodo Yatra, she
can join there. She cam-
paigned fiercely in the
hill state of Himachal
Pradesh and Uttar
Pradesh and also got
the party to victory in
the Himachal elections.
So, it looks like the Con-
gress is going to divide
the responsibility be-
tween Rahul Gandhi
and Priyanka Gandhi
Vadra in the next Lok
Sabha elections.
Rahul Gandhi will
contest the Lok Sabha
elections from the Way-
anad seat in Kerala and
will lead the party in
South India, while Pri-
yanka Gandhi Vadra
will contest from the
Rae Bareli seat and will
lead the party in North
India. However, this
does not mean that Ra-
hul will not campaign
in the states of North
India. He has emerged
as the supreme leader
of the party from the
Bharat Jodo Yatra and
the party will make full
use of his new image in
the campaign.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with his sister and party General
Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra during Bharat Jodo Yatra.
COURTYARD
in the
in the
COURT TELLS COPS
TO LODGE FIR
AGAINST MP AJMAL
Guwahati: A court in
Kamrup Metropolitan
district of Assam has
ordered Guwahati Police
to register an FIR against
Lok Sabha MP Badrud-
din Ajmal for his alleged
controversial remarks
on women and Hindu
men. The court asked
the officer-in-charge of
Hatigaon Police Station
in Guwahati to register
the FIR.
100 DAYS OF BHARAT JODO YATRA
Rahul Gandhi, leaders walk
on road to Congress revival
Jaipur (PTI): As the
‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ en-
ters its 100th day Friday
,
Congress watchers feel
it has found some an-
swers the party had
been looking for on the
road to 2024 but ques-
tions remain whether it
will yield electoral divi-
dends going forward.
The Kanyakumari to
Kashmir foot march
has also courted many
controversies in the last
three months and led to
several fiery exchanges
between the Congress
and the BJP including
on Rahul Gandhi’s ever-
growing grey beard and
his Burberry T-shirt.
With over 2,800 km
under his belt, Gandhi
has managed to catch
the attention of his sup-
porters as well as de-
tractors and seen quite
a few celebrities includ-
ing from the tinsel town
and academia walking
alongside him from
time to time.However,
some political pundits
feel the party should
have had more tangible
political objectives for
the yatra and ques-
tioned the party for
skipping poll-bound
states of Gujarat and
Himachal Pradesh.
Amid questions over
the yatra translating
into any electoral divi-
dend, two recently- con-
cluded assembly elec-
tions turned out to be a
mixed bag for the Con-
gress as it was drubbed
in Gujarat to its lowest-
ever tally while won in
Himachal.
A clearer picture of
the impact on the par-
ty’s electoral fortunes
would emerge in the as-
sembly polls next year,
including in Karnata-
ka, Madhya Pradesh
and Rajasthan, which
were covered well by
the Yatra.
Rahul Gandhi with athletes from Rajasthan during the party’s
Bharat Jodo Yatra, in Dausa district on Thursday. —PHOTO BY PTI
AICC TO MEET WITH SENIOR LEADERS;
CMs OF CONG-RULED STATES INVITED
New Delhi: All India Congress Committee decided to hold a
meeting, scheduled on December 23, with senior party lead-
ers, including Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled states under
the rubric of ‘Haath Se Haath Jodo Abhiyan’, party’s general
secretary KC Venugopal said on Thursday. In a letter to party
leaders, the party’s general secretary and MP Venugopal
said, “Dear Friend, A meeting of AICC General Secretaries/
In-charges, PCC Presidents and CLP Leaders is scheduled to
be held on December 23, 2022, at AICC Office at 1430 hrs.”
“The party will discuss “Hath se Hath Jodo Program and
other Organizational issues,” the statement read.
BJP chief JP Nadda takes jibe at
BRS, says it will soon get VRS
Karimnagar (PTI):
BJP chief JP Nadda on
Thursday attacked the
BRS government in Tel-
angana for alleged cor-
ruption and said the
time has come to bid
goodbye to Chief Minis-
ter K Chandrasekhar
Rao, also addressed as
KCR. Addressing a pub-
lic meeting here to
mark the conclusion of
the fifth phase of the
State-wide ‘padayatra’
by State BJP president
and MP Bandi Sanjay
Kumar, Nadda said the
TRS which has recently
been renamed as BRS
would soon get VRS
(voluntary retirement).
JP Nadda, senior leader BS Yediyurappa, Karnataka CM Bommai
and State BJP chief Nalin Kumar Kateel, in Koppal, on Thursday.
Gujarat Assembly
to elect Speaker
on Monday
Gandhinagar: The Gu-
jarat govt will hold As-
sembly session on Mon-
day to elect the new
Speaker and Deputy
Speaker.Protemspeaker
Yogesh Patel will chair
the proceedings, till the
Speaker and Deputy
Speaker are elected. The
BJP has nominated
Tharad MLA Shankar
Chaudhary and Shehra
MLA Jethabhai Bhar-
wadasSpeakerandDep-
utySpeakerrespectively
.
BIHAR HOOCH TRAGEDY
DEATH TOLL
SOARS TO 39
In the wake of the tragedy, SHO
Ritesh Mishra and Constable
Vikesh Tiwari were suspended in
Chhapra with immediate effect
There is prohibition in Bihar as
sale and consumption of alcohol
were banned in Bihar by the Nitish
Kumar government in April 2016
Saran (ANI): The death
tollintheChhaprahooch
tragedy
, due to the con-
sumption of spurious
liquor, in Bihar’s Saran
district has soared to 39.
In the wake of the
Hooch tragedy in
Chhapra, the Station
House Officer (SHO)
Ritesh Mishra and Con-
stable Vikesh Tiwari
were suspended with
immediate effect on the
recommendation of
Marhaura Sub-Divi-
sional Police Officer,
Yogendra Kumar. Bihar
excise Minister Sunil
Kumar on Wednesday
had “confirmed” six
people have died after
allegedly consuming
spurious liquor in the
Chhapra area of state's
Saran district. The min-
ister vowed that govt
would take “strict ac-
tion” against culprits
responsible for deaths.
“Process of filling an
FIR is underway
. I have
spoken over the phone
with SP. He confirmed
the death of six people
sofar,”SunilKumarhad
said after being asked
about police taking any
action in this case.
EarlieronWednesday
,
Bihar Minister SK Ma-
haseth urged the people
of state to give up drink-
ing alcohol. “Best if you
give up drinking. Poi-
son and not liquor are
coming here. If we build
strength via sports, we
might tolerate it but
people will have to build
that strength. Give it up!
It’s prohibited being
wrongly pushed here,”
said Mahaseth.
BJP MLAs holding placards shout slogans as they stage a protest over the Chhapra hooch tragedy
during the ongoing Winter Session of Bihar Assembly, in Patna on Thursday. —PHOTO BY ANI
‘JO PIYEGA WOH MAREGA’, SAYS
NITISH AFTER HOOCH TOLL RISES
Patna: After Bihar’s hooch toll climbed, Chief Minister
Nitish Kumar on Thursday warned that if people drink
spurious liquor, they may well die, as the prohibition
policy of his government
came under attack from
various quarters. Political
strategist turned activist
Prashant Kishor described
the state's prohibition law
as a farce and demanded
scrapping of the prohibi-
tion law. Jo piyega woh marega (those who drink
spurious alcohol will die), thundered Bihar Chief
Minister Nitish Kumar who stood his ground maintain-
ing that prohibition was “not my personal wish but a
response to the cries of the women of the state”.
BJP’S BIHAR ALLY DEMANDS ENDING
PROHIBITION, SLAMS NITISH KUMAR
New Delhi: BJP ally Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party, headed
by Union Minister Pashupati Kumar Paras, on Thursday
demanded ending prohibition in Bihar, claiming that the
policy has been a failure with a
large number of people dying
due to supply of spurious
liquor. The party alleged that
over 40 people have died in
the hooch tragedy in Saran
and said a delegation of its
MPs led by Paras will meet Bi-
har Governor Phagu Chauhan over the incidents of deaths
in the state due to consumption of spurious liquor and also
the “deteriorating” law-and-order situation. Rashtriya Lok
Janshakti Party spokesperson Shravan Kumar Agrawal
said party members, including its four MPs from the state,
will organise a protest in Patna on December 17 over the
tragedy in Saran. “Prohibition should be ended,” he said.
CRORES DRINK, SHOULD
THEY DIE: SUSHIL MODI
SLAMS BIHAR CM NITISH
New Delhi: Crores of people
drink liquor in the country,
should all of them die, senior
BJP leader
and Rajya
Sabha MP
Sushil Kumar
Modi asked
on Thursday,
slamming
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish
Kumar for his “jo piyega, woh
marega” jibe as political heat
rises in the state amid mount-
ing toll in a hooch tragedy.
TAKE ACTION AGAINST
BIHAR GOVT: BJP LOK
SABHA MPs TO CENTRE
New Delhi: BJP Lok Sabha
MPs on Thursday termed
the deaths in Bihar due to
the hooch tragedy as “mass
murder” and urged the Centre
to take immediate action
against the government under
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar,
holding it responsible for the
incident. Raising the issue
during Zero Hour, BJP’s
Paschim Champaran MP
Sanjay Jaiswal claimed that
spurious liquor sale has been
flourishing in Bihar under the
protection of police officers
despite a prohibition in place.
(Top) Family members and
relatives of people, who died
after allegedly consuming
spurious liquor, mourn near
their mortal remains, at
Ishuapur police station area in
Bihar’s Saran district. (Left) A
victim of Saran hooch tragedy
being treated in Patna Medical
College and Hospital in Patna
on Thursday.
—PHOTOS BY PTI
SIT formed to
probe case;
whip cracked on
errant officials
Chhapra/Patna (PTI):
A special investigation
team (SIT) has been set
up to crack the hooch
case in Saran district of
Bihar, where 26 people
have died and at least 12
others have taken ill
since Tuesday night.
During a press con-
ference in Chhapra, the
district headquarters,
Saran DM Rajesh Mee-
na on Thursday said
that action has been
taken against officials
concerned.
“We have also con-
ducted intensive raids
across the district in the
last48hoursandnabbed
126 hooch traders. More
than 4,000 litres of illicit
liquor have also been
seized,” he said.
Superintendent of Po-
lice Santosh Kumar, who
was also present at the
press conference, de-
clinedtodivulgewhether
the arrested persons in-
cluded those directly in-
volvedinthelatesthooch
case, saying that “the
matter is still under in-
vestigation and disclos-
ing much at this stage
couldhampertheprobe”.
BJP-RULED STATES HAVE ACCOUNTED FOR
MOST HOOCH DEATHS: TEJASHWI YADAV
Patna: Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav on Thursday launched a
counterattack on the BJP, claiming that states ruled by the saffron
party had the worst track records in terms of spurious liquor deaths.
The RJD leader gave a statement before the media, outside the Assem-
bly which is in session, claiming that Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka
stood at the top in terms of the number of hooch deaths while even
Gujarat, a dry state, fared much worse than Bihar which is under the
spotlight over the Saran hooch tragedy that has killed over 20 people.
“I am reading out from a statement given on the floor of Parlia-
ment by Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai, who
incidentally hails from Bihar, on July 19... BJP leaders here
may do well to wear this on their chests,” he remarked.
PIL AGAINST SIKHS
CARRYING KIRPANS
ON FLIGHTS
Delhi High Court on
Thursday said that it
would pass an order
on a PIL against the
permission accorded to
Sikhs to carry kirpans
while travelling on
civilian flights in India.
“Arguments heard. Order
reserved. We will pass
appropriate order,” said
a bench headed by Chief
Justice Satish Chandra.
EX-PROMOTERS OF
DHFL ACCUSED OF
TERROR FUNDING
New Delhi: The Delhi
High Court on Thursday
sought to know the
Centre’s stand on a plea
seeking a probe by NIA
against several persons,
including former DHFL
promoters Kapil and
Dheeraj Wadhawan
facing prosecution in a
multi-crore bank loan
scam case, for alleg-
edly indulging in terror
funding.

INDIA
06
Kolkata (PTI): Bolly-
wood megastar Shah
Rukh Khan on Thurs-
day said that whatever
happens around people
like him, they will stay
positive.
The comments came
in the midst of a row
over a song in his up-
coming film ‘Pathaan’.
Addressing a gather-
ing on the occasion of
the inauguration of the
Kolkata International
Film Festival (KIFF),
Khan said, “Hamare
jaise positive log zinda
hai (We are positive and
alive).”
Protests have been
staged in various parts
of the country alleging
a community has been
offended by the content
of the song ‘Besharam
Rang’ in the yet to be re-
leased movie ‘Pathaan’.
Khan also said in his
speech, “Cinema brings
to the fore humanity’s
immense capacity for
compassion, unity and
brotherhood.”
“Cinema is the best
place to sustain a coun-
ter-narrative that
speaks to the larger na-
ture of humankind,”
Khan, the guest of hon-
our at KIFF, said.
The superstar also
described cinema as a
vehicle “for people of
different colours,
castes and religions to
better understand each
other”.
Wearepositive
andalive:SRK
Banihal/Jammu: The 12.89 km ‘escape tunnel’, the
longest such in India, on the 111-km under-con-
struction Banihal-Katra railway
line in JK was completed on
Thursday, officials said. It is
part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-
Baramulla Railway Line (US-
BRL) project. This is the fourth
tunnel on the Banihal-Katra route following the 12.75
km tunnel T-49 (longest tunnel of Indian Railways),
which was completed in January this year.
INDIA’S LONGEST ESCAPE TUNNEL ON
BANIHAL-KATRA RAIL LINK COMPLETED
Indian Air Force, bol-
stered by its full com-
plement of Rafale com-
bat jets, on Thursday
launched a major exer-
cise covering the
Northeastern region
amid a fresh spike of
border tension with
China along the Line of
Actual Control in
Arunachal Pradesh.
The two-day mega ex-
ercise is involving al-
most all its frontline
fighter jets and other
assets deployed in the
region, people familiar
with the drill said. In a
tweet, the IAF said the
last of the 36 Rafale jets
joined the force. The
IAF inducted the Rafale
aircraft into its 101
Squadron of the East-
ern Air Command at
the Hasimara last year.
Al Khor(ANI): Theo
Hernandez and Randal
Kolo Muani’s goals
guide defending cham-
pions France to a 2-0
win over Morocco in
the semi-final being
played here at the Al
Bayt Stadium and set
up a final clash with
two-time champions
Argentina in the FIFA
World Cup 2022.
France started off ag-
gressively as in the fifth
minute Antoine Griez-
mann’s assist helped
Kylian Mbappe take a
left-footed shot from the
centre of the box but it
was blocked.
Theo Hernandez’s
left footed shot from the
left side of the six yard
box went on to hit the
bottom left corner giv-
ing the 2018 champions
a 1-0 lead in the fifth
minute of the match.
Morocco weren’t too
far behind as Noussair
Mazraoui’s assist
helped Azzedine Ouna-
hi’s right-footed at-
tempt from outside the
box was saved in the
bottom right corner.
In the 11th minute,
Antoine Griezmann
tries a through ball, but
Kylian Mbappe was
caught offside.
In the 17th minute,
Achraf Hakimi’s right-
footed shot from outside
the box was blocked
coming from Selim
Amallah’s assist. Ten
minutes later Sofiane
Boufal of Morocco was
shown a yellow card for
a bad foul.
In the 31st minute, So-
fiane Boufal tried a
throughballforMorocco
but Noussair Mazraoui
was caught offside.
Two minutes later
Kylian Mbappe’s assist-
ed Aurelien Tchoua-
meni of France’s right-
footed shot from outside
the box was blocked.
There were numer-
ous attempts made by
defending champions
France but they could
not double their lead go-
ing into half-time with
a solitary goal lead.
France had much
lesser possession of 39
per cent in comparison
to Morocco who had 61
per cent while both
teams had the same
number of shots on tar-
get of three each.
France beat Morocco to set final clash with Argentina
FIFA WORLD CUP 2022
New Delhi (Agencies):
The Lok Sabha on
Thursday passed the
Constitution (Sched-
uled Tribes) Order (Sec-
ond Amendment) Bill,
2022. The Bill will
amend the Constitution
(Scheduled Tribes) Or-
der, 1950, with respect to
its application to Tamil
Nadu. The Order lists
the tribal communities
deemed to be Scheduled
Tribes in states and un-
ion territories.
The bill includes
Narikoravan and Kuri-
vikkaran communities
in the list of Scheduled
Tribes in Tamil Nadu.
Replying to the discus-
sion on the Bill, Union
Minister for Tribal Af-
fairs Arjun Munda said
that under the leader-
ship of PM Modi many
schemes have been ini-
tiated by government
for benefit of tribals.
Expenditure on
scholarship for tribals
has been increased and
government has al-
lowed all applications
which come for scholar-
ship. Many other mem-
bers including Malook
Nagar of BSP, Saugata
Ray of Trinamool con-
gress participated.
LOK SABHA PASSES (ST) ORDER (2ND
AMENDMENT) BILL
The Order lists Narikoravan and Kurivikkaran tribal communities deemed to be Scheduled Tribes in States and Union territories from now on
Proceedings of Lok Sabha underway during the Winter Session of Parliament, in New Delhi on Thursday. —PHOTO BY ANI/SANSAD TV
government on Thurs-
day asserted that nu-
clear plants in the coun-
try are ‘well protected’
from intrusions includ-
ing from cyber attacks.
Minister of State (Inde-
pendent Charge), De-
partment of Atomic
Energy, Jitendra Singh
also said the govern-
ment has entered into
I n t e r- G ove r n m e n t
Agreements with the
Russian Federation for
setting up Kudankulam
Nuclear Power Project.
He was asked about
the steps being taken by
the government to pre-
vent cyber attacks on
nuclear plants. Cer-
tainly there was one
such report last year
following which we
have put in place a
mechanism whereby
different levels of
screening is done and
monitoring is done.
I can assure this
House that the nuclear
plants are well protect-
ed from all kinds of in-
trusions including the
cyber attacks, Singh
said in Rajya Sabha.
Nuclearplantsare‘wellprotected’fromallintrusions:Govt
French team celebrates after France qualifies for the FIFA World
Cup 2022 finals, at Al Bayt Stadium, in Al Khor on Thursday.
Indian Air Force’s ‘Surya Kiran’ team performs during the ‘Air Fest
2022’, in Nagpur on Saturday. —PHOTO BY ANI
IAF carries out air exercise in N-E region
1 DEAD, 41 HURT
AS TWO BUSES
COLLIDE IN INDORE
2 KILLED BY
ELEPHANTS IN
JHARKHAND
Indore (PTI): A 25-year-
old passenger died, while
41 others were injured,
four of them seriously,
in a collision between
two private buses on the
Indore-Khandwa road in
MP on Thursday, police
and health officials said.
Accident took place under
Simrol police station limits
in Indore district when two
buses coming from op-
posite directions collided
with each other, a police
official said.
Jharkhand: Two villagers
were trampled to death at
different places by a wild
elephant in Dumka district
on Tuesday, a forest
department official said.
Thirty-five-year-year-old
Sibudhan Hansda was
caught by the elephant
and trampled to death in
Fatehpur village under
the jurisdiction of Maslia
police station in the
morning, Divisional Forest
Officer (DFO) Abhirup
Sinha said.
Raipur: A 14-year-old boy was arrested for allegedly
raping and killing an eight-year-old girl in Raipur, a police
officer said on Thursday. The boy
lives in the same building where the
minor girl was staying. Raipur SSP
Prashant Agarwal said, “A missing
complaint on the eight-year-old
girl was received on December 7
evening. Acting on the complaint,
the police registered a case and started searching for the
girl.” “Five days later, the minor girl was found dead at a
deserted place just behind the colony where she lived.”
TEEN HELD FOR RAPING, ABDUCTING
KILLING 8-YR-OLD GIRL IN CHHATTISGARH
CRUCIAL READ
WINTER SESSION OF PARLIAMENT
MAN KILLS LIVE-
IN PARTNER IN
TRIVANDRUM
Thiruvananthapuram
(Kerala) (ANI): Kerala Po-
lice on Thursday took into
custody a man accused of
killing his live-in partner
in broad daylight in Kerala
capital Thiruvananthapur-
am. Rajesh, the accused,
allegedly attacked his part-
ner Sindu with a machete,
a sword-like weapon, on
Thursday morning. The
victim was rushed to the
hospital but was declared
brought dead.
New Delhi (PTI): Opposition members in RS on Thurs-
day said the government should take a holistic approach
by coordinating across various ministries
and bringing agencies together to tackle
the effects of global warming. Tiruchi
Siva of the DMK, Pramod Tiwari of the
Congress and Sandosh Kumar P of the
Communist Party of India (CPI) raised a
short duration discussion in the Upper
House of Parliament on the serious effects of global
warming and the need for remedial steps to tackle those.
Siva said global warming is threatening not just India
but the entire planet and humanity.
OPPN ASKS GOVT TO TAKE MEASURES TO
TACKLE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING
‘DURING LAST 7
YRS, 6 MORE
AIRPORTS
CONSTRUCTED’
‘60L PLUS
COMPLAINTS
AGAINST STATES,
UTs IN PAST 3 YRS’
New Delhi (FIB): There
were 24 international air-
ports in the country before
2014. During last seven
years, 6 more airports
have been constructed/
declared as international
airports. During the last
seven years, four Green-
field airports namely,
Kannur in Kerala, Shirdi in
Maharashtra, Kushinagar
in Uttar Pradesh and Mopa
in Goa have been con-
structed as international
airports. In addition, two
existing airports namely,
Vijayawada and Tirupati
in Andhra Pradesh were
declared as international
airports in the year 2017,
said MoS (Civil Aviation)
Gen VK Singh (Retd).
New Delhi (PTI): Over
60 lakh public grievances
were received against
various states and Union
territories between 2020
and November this year,
the Rajya Sabha was
informed on Thurs-
day. “About 60,15,388
complaints have been
received on Central-
ized Public Grievance
Redress and Monitoring
System (CPGRAMS)
during the last three
years from 01.01.2020 to
30.11.2022,” Union Minis-
ter of State for Personnel
Jitendra Singh said in a
written reply, “CPGRAMS
allows filing of public
grievances against central
States govt Dept.”
Union Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth
Sciences Jitendra Singh speaks in Rajya Sabha during the Winter
Session of Parliament on Thursday. —PHOTO BY ANI
177 FOREIGN SATELLITES LAUNCHED BY ISRO
Noida: Noida Power
Company Limited has
granted net-metering
connections of around
24 MW to various con-
sumers under the Roof-
top Solar PV Regula-
tions of the Hon’ble U.P.
Electricity Regulatory
Commission (UPERC).
Under the net-metering
arrangement, consum-
ers can inject surplus
generation of their so-
lar plants into the grid,
which can be utilised by
them on needed.
NPCL formed a dedi-
cated roof-top solar PV
cell to facilitate residen-
tial and agricultural
consumers' applica-
tions for net metering
connections. Consum-
ers may seek informa-
tion on procedure for
the installation of a net
meter for their roof-top
solar PV plants through
e-mail (rooftopsolar@
noidapower.com). Con-
sumers may aapproach
NPCL’s Customer Care.
NPCLformsdedicatedroof-topsolar
PV cell to facilitate consumers
NPCL BECOMES
STRICT ON
MULTI-POINT
CONNECTIONS
Noida Power Compa-
ny Limited will now
deal strictly with those
builders and societies
that are reluctant to
convert single point
connections into
multipoint connections.
The company has sent
notices to 9 builders
in Greater Noida and
Greater Noida West,
asking them to install
multipoint connections
at the earliest.
5 RAFALE PARTS
MADE IN DRAL TO
BE INTEGRATED
Nagpur (PTI): Five Rafale
parts being manufactured
in the Dassault Reliance
Aerospace plant in Nagpur
are sent to France to get fit-
ted in all the Rafale jets, not
just the Indian ones. Consul
General of France in Mumbai
Jean-Marc Sere-Charlet and
a delegation of regional eco-
nomic service of embassy
visited two French compa-
nies (DRAL) Air Liquide.
—PHOTO
BY
ANI
—PHOTO
BY
PTI
MAN HACKS
TODDLER TO
DEATH, LYNCHED
Bulandshahr: A man was
lynched by villagers after
he allegedly hacked a one-
and-a-half-year-old child
to death here, police said
on Thursday. Kishanpal
(35) took the child, who
was playing outside his
house, to a cane field and
hacked him to death. The
accused also attacked the
villagers with a knife when
they tried to stop him, fol-
lowing which they lynched
Kishanpal.

07
Commodity Price Change % Chg
GOLD 55,554.00 420.00 0.75 (Per 10g)
SILVER 68,254.00 869.00 1.27 (Per 1kg)
COMMODITIES
Currency Price Change % Chg
USDINR 82.76 0.27 0.32
GBPINR 102.28 0.08 0.08
CURRENCIES
business
BRIEFS
New Delhi: Electronics
manufacturing services
company Elin Electronics
on Thursday fixed a price
band of `234 to `247 per
share for its `475 crore
IPO. The initial share-sale
will open for public sub-
scription during Decem-
ber 20-22, the company
said in a statement. The
company has cut the pub-
lic issue size to `475
crore from `760 crore
planned earlier. Now, the
IPO comprises fresh is-
sue of shares aggregating
up to `175 crore and an
offer for sale of up to
`300 crore by promoters
and other selling share-
holders. —PTI
ELIN ELECTRONICS’
IPO PRICE BAND AT
`234-247/SHARE
New Delhi: Gold price fell
`420 to `54,554 per 10
grams in the national cap-
ital on Thursday amid
weak global trends, ac-
cording to HDFC Securi-
ties. In the previous trade,
the precious metal had
closed at `54,974 per 10
grams. Silver also tum-
bled `869 per kg to
`68,254 per kilogram. In
the international market,
gold was trading in red at
$1,788 per ounce while
silver was down at $23.14
per ounce. —PTI
GOLD FALLS `420;
SILVER ALSO
TUMBLES `869
New Delhi: Hyundai Mo-
tor India Ltd on Thursday
said it will increase prices
of its vehicles across
models from next month
citing rising input cost.
The company joins the
likes of market leader
Maruti Suzuki India, Tata
Motors, Mercedes-Benz,
Audi, Renault, Kia India
and MG Motor, who have
also made the year-end
announcements to hike
prices from next month to
partially offset the impact
of rising input costs. In a
statement, Hyundai Motor
India Ltd (HMIL) said on
Thursday. —PTI
HYUNDAI TO HIKE
VEHICLE PRICES
FROM JANUARY
Mumbai: Led by retail-fo-
cused players, non-bank-
ing financial companies
(NBFCs) are likely to
close the current fiscal
and the next with a loan
growth of 10-12% and
see around 50 basis
points improvement in
profitability, a report said.
According to Icra Ratings,
retail-focused NBFCs are
expected to grow 12-14%
while the housing finance
companies may grow at
10-12%. The forecast is
based on the asset quality
improvement and the
overall pick up in credit
demand. —PTI
REPORT SEES NBFCs
GROWING AT 10-12%
THIS FISCAL NEXT
*Rates till the edition went to print.
GOVERNMENT’S SHARE
SALE IN IRCTC
OVER-SUBSCRIBED
New Delhi: The sale of gov-
ernment’s up to 5% stake in
IRCTC got over-subscribed on
the first day of
the offer, with
institutional
investors
putting in
bids worth `3,800 crore. In
the two-day OFS, the govt is
selling 4 crore shares or 5%
stake in IRCTC at a floor price
of `680 a share. The OFS
consists of base issue size of
2 crore shares or 2.5% stake,
with an option to retain over-
subscription. —PTI
IREDA TO LEND RUPEES
4,444 CRORE TO SJVN
GREEN ENERGY
New Delhi: IREDA on Thurs-
day said that it has inked a
loan pact with SJVN Green
Energy for
financing Rs
4,444.71 crore
for latter’s
1,000MW so-
lar power project at Bikaner in
Rajasthan. “Indian Renewable
Energy Development Agency
Ltd signed a historic loan
agreement for Rs 4,444.71
crore with SGEL, a subsidiary
of SJVN Ltd, today for a 1,000
MW solar power project at Bi-
kaner,” a statement said. —PTI
‘BUILDING, OTHER CONSTRUCTION WORKERS
BOARDS HAVE `38,209 CR LYING WITH THEM’
New Delhi: Building and other construction workers’ boards in
states and UTs have `38,209.59 crore lying with them which was
collected through cess from construc-
tion firms as on November 1, 2022. The
BOCW Welfare Cess Act, 1996 provides
that state/UT governments are mandated
to collect the cess. State/UT BOCW-
WBs are also mandated to maintain the
data of financial status (cess details),
registered workers etc. MoS for Labour
Rameswar Teli said state BOCWWBs collected `87,478.79 crore
cess and spent `49,269.20 crore till November 1, 2022. —PTI
COUNTRIES WITH THRIVING ONLINE GAMING
INDUSTRY LEVY GST ON GROSS GAMING REVENUE
New Delhi: Most countries with a thriving online gaming industry
levy tax on ‘Gross Gaming Revenue or the fees charged by online
gaming portals, said a report by law
firm Lakshmikumaran Sridharan. It
said countries, like the United Kingdom
and France, that are following the turno-
ver tax model currently, are proposing
to shift to the GGR tax model. In India,
the online gaming industry currently
pays GST at the rate of 18% on GGR
amounting to over `2,200 crore per year, firm said. —PTI
OTHER STORIES
SAYS CREDIT SUISSE
Upgrade: India
growing faster than
official data shows
Mumbai (PTI): India is
growing faster than what
is captured by the coun-
try’s official data, and it
presents a case for an up-
grade of equities outlook,
a Swiss brokerage said on
Thursday
.
Upgrading Indian equi-
ties to ‘benchmark’ from
‘underweight’, Credit Sui-
sse said there is a scope for
a growth of up to 14% on
the benchmark indices.
The brokerage firm’s
head of research Neel-
kanth Mishra said the
country will grow at 7% in
FY24, as against the con-
sensus estimates which
peg the real growth to slip
below 6%.
Mishra told reporters
that the consensus esti-
mates are based on official
data alone, whereas the
brokerage analysis has
taken into account a broad
data set to arrive at its ex-
pectation.
Mishra said the growth
in dense fuels — which is
typically below the real
GDP growth as fuel effi-
ciencies go up — is over 4%
per annum for the last
three years.
Similarly, revenue
growths of the BSE500
companies also point out to
a faster growth, he said.
MAJOR
HIGHLIGHTS
z Upgrading Indian equities
to ‘benchmark’ from
‘underweight’, Credit Suisse
said there is a scope for a
growth of up to 14% on the
benchmark indices
z The brokerage firm’s head of
research Neelkanth Mishra
said the country will grow at
7% in FY24
‘Govt focusing on last-mile
connectivitytoTier-IIIcities’
New Delhi (PTI): Civil
Aviation Minister Jyotira-
ditya Scindia on Thursday
said the government is con-
centrating on last-mile con-
nectivity to Tier-III cities to
ensure democratisation of
civil aviationinthecountry
.
Scindia said India has
tremendous connectivity
between Tier I-II cities.
“What needs to be
strengthened is last-mile
connectivity to Tier-III cit-
ies. Our government is
concentrating on last-mile
connectivity to make sure
the democratisation of
civil aviation does truly
take place in the country,”
Scindia said.
The minister said the
government is looking at
the small aircraft scheme
launched last year under
which sub-20 seater air-
craft are being used to pro-
vide last-mile connectivity
.
In the last round of
UDAN, 132 routes have
been awarded of which in
the major sectors, 16 are
helicopter routes.
AIR INDIA LAUNCHES
DIRECT FLIGHT
BETWEEN MUMBAI
SAN FRANCISCO
New Delhi (PTI): Civil Aviation
Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on
Thursday inaugurated Air India’s
direct flight between Mumbai
and San Francisco. The flight will
be operated thrice a week. Cur-
rently, Air India operates services
from Mumbai to Newark. After
San Francisco, the airline plans
to connect Mumbai with New
York next year. Air India CEO and
MD Campbell Wilson said the
Mumbai-San Francisco service
is a significant step forward in
the journey of the new Air India.
According to him, the carrier will
be starting non-stop flights from
Mumbai to New York, Paris and
Frankfurt in early 2023.
New Delhi (PTI): India’s civil aviation market is poised for a double-digit growth
in the next decade and the country’s carriers should have more wide-body planes
to capture the long haul segment, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia
said on Thursday. “We have 86 international carriers coming into India and only
5 national carriers taking people to international destinations outside India. How-
ever, these 5 carriers that fly overseas hold 36% market share. We have to look at
increasing international to international traffic. That is why I have been urging all
our carriers that we need to have more wide-body aircraft so that we can capture
the long haul route market,” he said. He also said that Indian carriers’ share of
international to international traffic is only around 2% compared to flag
carriers of different countries.
INDIAN CARRIERS NEED TO HAVE MORE WIDE-BODY
PLANES TO CAPTURE LONG-HAUL SEGMENT: SCINDIA
Sensex slumps 879
points as hawkish Fed
floors global markets
Mumbai (PTI): Equity
benchmarks Sensex and
Nifty faced heavy drubbing
on Thursday, falling over
1% each, in tandem with
weak global markets fol-
lowing the US Federal Re-
serve’s interest rate hike
and its hawkish stance.
The 30-share BSE Sensex
tanked 878.88 points or
1.40% to settle at 61,799.03.
During the day, it tumbled
962.3 points or 1.53% to
61,715.61.
The broader NSE Nifty
plummeted 245.40 points or
1.32% to end at 18,414.90.
From the Sensex pack,
Tech Mahindra, Titan, In-
fosys, HDFC, ITC, Tata
Steel, HDFC Bank, Tata
Consultancy Services, and
State Bank of India were
the major laggards.
NTPC and Sun Pharma
were the only winners.
INDIAN RUPEE FALLS 27 PAISE TO END AT
82.76 AGAINST AMERICAN CURRENCY
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee declined by 27 paise to close at 82.76
(provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday after the US Federal
Reserve’s interest rate hike and its hawkish stance dented investor
sentiments. At the inter-
bank foreign exchange
market, the rupee
opened sharply lower at
82.63 against the green-
back and witnessed a
high of 82.41 and a low
of 82.77. It finally settled
at 82.76, down 27 paise
over its previous close
of 82.49.
Elon Musk sells $3.58 bn worth of Tesla stock
First India Bureau
New Delhi: Elon Musk
sold another $3.58 billion
worth of Tesla stock this
week, but it wasn’t clear
where the proceeds were
being spent.
The Tesla CEO, and new
owner of Twitter, sold the
shares from Monday
through Wednesday, ac-
cording to a filing posted
Wednesday night by the US
Securities and Exchange
Commission.
Musk has sold nearly $23
billion worth of Tesla stock
since April, with much of
the money likely going to
help fund his $44 billion ac-
quisition of Twitter.
The sale comes as shares
of the electric vehicle and
solar panel maker have col-
lapsed, losing over half
their value since Musk
first disclosed in April that
he was buying up Twitter
stock. The falling shares
have bumped Musk from
his status as the world’s
wealthiest person, with his
net worth falling to $174 bil-
lion, according to Forbes.
He was passed last week
by Bernard Arnault.
The takeover of Twitter
has not been smooth, and
some big companies have
halted advertising on the
social media platform.
Musk has said that Twit-
ter had “a massive drop in
revenue” due to the adver-
tiser losses.
SOLD SHARE
ON MON-WED
z The Tesla CEO, and new
owner of Twitter, sold
the shares from Monday
through Wednesday,
according to a filing posted
Wed by the US Securities
and Exchange Commission
Wheat stocks seen at 159 lakh
tonnes on Jan 1, 2023: Govt
New Delhi (PTI): The gov-
ernment on Thursday said
wheat stocks in the central
pool will be about 159 lakh
tonnes on January 1, 2023
as against the buffer norm
of 138 lakh tonnes.
“Government of India
has sufficient food grain
stocks under central pool
to meet the requirement of
NFSA and its other welfare
schemes as well as for ad-
ditional allocation of PMG-
KAY,” an official statement
said. About 159 lakh tonnes
of wheat will be available
asonJanuary1,2023,which
is well above the buffer
norm requirement of 138
lakh tonnes. As on Dec 12,
around 182 lakh tonnes of
wheat is available in the
central pool. “Govt of India
is well aware of the price
scenario of wheat and is
constantly monitoring it
regularly on weekly basis
along with other commodi-
ties and taking corrective
measures, as and when re-
quired,” it said.
Avg construction cost stable since March
First India Bureau
New Delhi: The total con-
struction cost of residen-
tial buildings has remained
stable since March this
year but it has risen 28%
from the pre-pandemic lev-
els, according to property
consultant Colliers India.
In its report, the consult-
ant has done analysis on
prices of key construction
materials and also the over-
all average construction
costs for standard Grade-A
residential buildings of 15
floors and also for standard
pre-engineered Grade A in-
dustrial buildings.
The average cost of con-
struction for residential
buildings increased from
`2,200 per square feet in No-
vember 2021 to `2,300 per
square feet in March 2022.
The construction cost re-
mained stable at `2,300 per
square feet in November
this year as well with a sof-
tening of prices of many
raw materials.
UP 28% FROM PRE-PANDEMIC LEVEL
DETAILED
ANALYSIS
z In its report, Colliers India
has done analysis on
prices of key construction
materials and also the
overall average construction
costs for standard Grade-A
residential buildings of 15
floors. Colliers India has
also analysed for its report
standard pre-engineered
Grade A industrial buildings

08
2NDFRONT
Remember, your first personal
community is your family-
Through them you can gain greater
understanding, insight and wisdom.
—Dr Jagdeesh Chandra,
CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
Union home secy reviews crowding at airports
New Delhi (PTI): An
additional 1,400 CISF
personnel has been
sanctioned to secure the
expanding terminal ar-
eas of the Delhi Airport
and also to meet the
challenge of its growing
passenger traffic, offi-
cials said on Thursday
.
This was conveyed at
a high-level meeting
chaired by Union Home
Secretary Ajay Bhalla
along with the repre-
sentatives of the Civil
Aviation Ministry, the
Bureau of Civil Avia-
tion Security (BCAS),
Bureau of Immigration
among others.
The meeting was
called to review meas-
ures taken to ease the
recent congestion re-
ported at large airports,
particularly in Delhi,
Mumbai, and Bengalu-
ru. It was informed dur-
ing the meeting that an
additional force of 1,400
Central Industrial Secu-
rity Force personnel
would soon be deployed
at the Indira Gandhi In-
ternational Airport
where expansion is go-
ing on at three termi-
nals—1,2,and3—apart
from its cargo hold area.
The terminal 1 reno-
vation and expansion
was scheduled to be
completed by December
next year or January
2024butthegovernment
wants it to be expedited
and finished by Novem-
ber 2023, the start of the
holiday season.
More CISF personnel
will be required to se-
cure the expanding ar-
eas of the IGI and hence
the new manpower
sanction, they said.
The enhanced man-
power, over and above
the existing strength of
about 5,000 personnel,
has been recently ap-
proved after a four-
month-long joint sur-
vey undertaken by se-
curity agencies. The
proposal was finally
moved by the BCAS and
approved by the Civil
Aviation ministry
.
The joint review had
estimated the creation
of about 2,400 posts for
the CISF to meet the
upcoming needs at the
IGI but the manpower
was finally rational-
ised at 1,400 personnel
apart from filling up
the existing vacancies
in the sanctioned 5,000
personnel strength,
sources said.
The IGI will have a
total strength of about
6,500 men and women
personnel after the in-
duction of the fresh
manpower, they said.
The new CISF
strength will not only
be used to render the
core duty of the force
—of providing an anti-
terrorist and anti-hi-
jack cover at the hyper-
sensitive facility -- but
also to meet the chal-
lenge of the ever-grow-
ing passenger footfall,
both for domestic and
international travel,
sources said.
Centre approves 1,400 more CISF
personnel to tackle the growing
passenger rush at Delhi airport
A high-level meeting was convened in the wake of continuous
complaints from passengers about the massive rush at the entry
gates, luggage dropping and security check areas in IGI Airport.
Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla.
DELHI AIRPORT CEO SKIPS MEETING,
PARL PANEL EXPRESSES DISPLEASURE
New Delhi (ANI): The department-related Parliamen-
tary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism, and
Culture, including aviation members, expressed unhap-
piness over DIAL CEO Videh Jaipuriar’s absence from
the committee meeting despite the summons issued to
him. “DIAL group deputy MD (DIAL) Narayan Rao and
others are in the committee meeting on behalf of DIAL
CEO,” a committee member told ANI. The Committee,
earlier on December 13 had summoned the chief execu-
tive officer of Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL)
and others amid reports of passengers facing conges-
tion at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport.
Ghazipur (ANI): Gang-
ster-turned-politician
Mukhtar Ansari was
convicted on Thursday
in another case and sen-
tenced to 10 years im-
prisonment under the
UP Gangsters Act.
Testimony, debate
and cross-examination
of 11 witnesses were
completed in the 5 gang
charges against the for-
mer MLA. The MLA’s
aide Bhim Singh has
also been given 10 years’
imprisonment by the
court. The conviction
relates to several cases,
including the one per-
taining to Ghazipur
that involved an assault
on the Additional Su-
perintendent of Police.
Case number 165/96
Section 148,307,332, IPC
Police Station Kotwali
Ghazipur along with
case number 192/96 Sec-
tion 3 (1) of UP Ghaz-
ipur Police Station Kot-
waliwhichrelatedtothe
fatal attack on the Addi-
tional SP and some oth-
er policemen in Ghaz-
ipur was being heard
againstMukhtarAnsari
in court. The case was
filed long back in 1996.
10 years in jail for Mukhtar
under UP Gangsters Act
First India Bureau
New Delhi: The alleged
mastermind of the mul-
ti-crore heist in Gur-
gaon, Vikas Lagarpuria
(32), was arrested near
the Delhi-Gurugram
border on Thursday, a
special task force (STF)
official said.
The wanted gangster
carried a bounty of Rs
2.5 lakh on his head.
While Rs 2 lakh reward
was announced by STF
Haryana, Rs 50,000 was
announced by Delhi po-
lice, STF Inspector Gen-
eral B Satheesh Balan
said adding that Lagar-
puria was travelling in a
cabwhenhewasnabbed.
“The most wanted
criminal Lagarpuria
was produced in a city
court and we have taken
him on 10 days remand.
The accused confessed
to the conspiracy of the
last year’s multi-crore
heist in Gurugram,”
STF Inspector said. “He
revealed that he got
about Rs 22 crores of
the heist,” the IG added.
The IG also said,
“Based on specific intel-
ligence we got to know
that gangster Vikas La-
garpuria was going to
his village in a car. Our
team started checking
vehicles on the Delhi-
Gurugram border.”
“We had detained
three persons in differ-
ent cars, including La-
garpuria, who was in a
cab. Two were let off
after they submitted
proofs of their identity
but Lagarpuria was try-
ing to mislead the
team,” he said.
Almost 2 hours later,
he revealed his identity
as Vikas Lagarpuria
confessed his involve-
ment in Gurugram’s
multi-crore heist. He
also revealed that the
cash was stolen from
here and was kept with
two people in Delhi. We
are questioning him af-
ter taking him on re-
mand,” Balan said.
GANGSTER VIKAS LAGARPURIA,ACCUSED
IN MULTI-CRORE GURUGRAM HEIST, HELD
The wanted gangster Vikas
Lagarpuria hails from Haryana.
New Delhi: STF said
that Lagarpuria hails
from Lagarpur village
in Haryana’s Jhajjar
district and has several
cases of murder, attempt
to murder, robbery,
extortion and kidnapping
lodged against him. The
accused also confessed
to the conspiracy of the
last year’s multi-crore
heist in Gurugram.
ACCUSED IN
MULTIPLE CRIMES
SC GRANTS
BAIL TO
‘STONE-
PELTER’ IN
GODHRA
CASE
First India Bureau
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court on
Thursday granted
bail to a man facing
conviction for pelt-
ing stones in the
2002 Godhra train
burning incident, in
which 59 people in-
cluding women and
children,wereburnt
alive inside a train.
The counsel ap-
pearing for the con-
vict urged the court
to release him on
bail, stating he has
been behind bars
for the last 17 years.
A bench compris-
ingChief JusticeDY
Chandrachud and
Justice PS Narasim-
ha took note of the
submissionof alaw-
yer, appearing for
one of the convicts,
Faruk, that he be
granted bail consid-
ering the period un-
dergone till now.
The appeals
against conviction
of several convicts
are pending adjudi-
cationinapexcourt.
B-TOWN AT KOLKATA INT’L FILM FESTIVAL
Amitabh Bachchan lights the lamp to inaugurate the 28th Kolkata International Film Festival, in Kolkata on Thursday.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, director Mahesh Bhatt, actor-turned politician Shatrughan Sinha, actor Shah Rukh Khan
and other dignitaries also seen. —PHOTO BY PTI
Don’t keep talking of what Indira,
Rajiv did: Rahul to Congress
First India Bureau
New Delhi: Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi,
whose Bharat Jodo
Yatra passed through
Rajasthan’s Dausa dis-
trict on Thursday, took
exception to a leader
comparing him to Ma-
hatma Gandhi.
“This is totally
wrong. We are not in
the same league and
there should be no com-
parison. He was a great
man. He devoted his life
to fighting for the coun-
try’s freedom, stayed in
jail for 10-12 years. No-
body can fill his shoes
and my name should
not be taken along with
his,” Rahul said.
“What Rajiv Gandhi
and Indira Gandhi did,
they became martyrs,
they did well. But the
Congress should not
dwell on it at every
meeting. Indira Gandhi,
Rajiv Gandhi, Sardar
Vallabh Bhai Patel,
Jawaharlal Nehru, Ma-
hatma Gandhi, they did
all they could. They
have done their share.
We should focus on
what we are going to do.
It is better to think
about what we are doing
for the people,” he told
party workers.
“For one, it has re-
vived the political brand
of Rahul Gandhi. The
BJPcannotridiculehim
anymore using their
‘fake news malicious
campaign’. Secondly,
the Congress has at last
connected directly with
the people through this
mass movement,” for-
mer party leader Sanjay
Jha said.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with supporters during the party’s
Bharat Jodo Yatra in Dausa district on Thursday.
ISI-run drug nexus busted with
arrest of juvenile girl from LoC
Jammu (PTI): Securi-
ty agencies have busted
a Pakistan ISI-run nar-
cotics trafficking racket
with the arrest of a
school-going girl living
along the Line of Con-
trol (LoC) in Jammu
and Kashmir, official
sources said Thursday
.
The juvenile, a stu-
dent of Class 10, has
been apprehended with
400 grams of “suspected
heroin” in a joint opera-
tion conducted by the
Border Security Force
(BSF) the JK Police.
The agencies have
been informed about
another cache of drugs
that the juvenile alleg-
edly hid in a ditch near
her house even as her
questioning is going on,
the sources said.
The security agencies
havealsoidentifiedaPa-
kistani ‘handler’,
Ashaiq, who reportedly
used to visit the juve-
nile’shousetohandover
the narcotics to her for
further supply to school
students youngsters
living near the LoC.
AAP’s former leader Naveen Jaihind held
First India Bureau
New Delhi: Police on
Thursday arrested for-
mer Aam Aadmi Party
leader Naveen Jaihind
in Rohtak for allegedly
assaulting a govern-
ment official on duty
.
He also prevented a
government servant
from performing offi-
cial duty along with his
aides at PGIMS’ Rohtak
hospital campus on
Wednesday, police said.
A video of the brawl
has also gone viral on
social media in which
Jaihind is seen entering
into a heated argument
with the official and
then slapping him.
A case has been regis-
tered against Jaihind
and his accomplice Ish-
war Sharma on charg-
es, including assault,
rioting and obstructing
a government employee
from performing offi-
cial duty
.
Police said verifica-
tion of documents for
the recruitment of
nurses in Haryana was
going on when the inci-
dent took place.
Former Haryana AAP president Naveen Jaihind in police custody.
The conviction relates to several cases, including one in Ghazipur
that involved assault on the Additional Superintendent of Police.

www.firstindia.co.in I https://firstindia.co.in/epapers/delhi I twitter.com/
thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
NEW DELHI, FRIDAY,
DECEMBER 16, 2022
ou might not be an
Ivy Leaguer, but
because we’re all
now enrolled at
Harvard and the
year is 1865, you
best have your
horse and carriage ready.
Even though it had a quite
different appearance at the
time, the varsity jacket was
initially created on the Har-
vard campus in Cambridge,
Massachusetts. The origi-
nal varsity was a thick knit
sweater that athletes wore
as a uniform rather than a
jacket. The “letterman jack-
et” was first made when the
Harvard Baseball team
made the decision to sew
enormous “H”s into the
middle of their jerseys.
The letter came with
some restrictions, too. If
you were a good enough
player, you could retain
your jersey and the letter,
but if you sat on the bench
the entire season and
didn’t play, you had to give
your jersey back at the end
of the year, which added to
the letters’ competitive ap-
peal. After a decade, Har-
vard’s football team start-
ed wearing lettered jer-
seys, and gradually but
surely, other colleges and
teams all around the coun-
try began donning their
own variations of the var-
sity sweater.
Of course, each team
handled things somewhat
differently, altering the let-
ter’s size or type, moving it
around, and eventually
gradually modifying the
style until, by the early
20th century, the letter had
found its final location on
the side of the sweater.
Athletes started looking
for something a little more
substantial as the fashion
gained popularity, and in
the 1930s the varsity jacket
was produced. The varsity
jacket, which had a wool
body and contrasting
leather sleeves as well as,
of course, a large and
proud letter on the side,
came to represent author-
ity at one’s particular in-
stitution. According to the
custom, a player would
need to first demonstrate
his skill on the field before
being granted a letter. The
athlete would then pur-
chase a varsity
jacket to attach on
so that everyone
could see how tal-
ented he was. The
fact that designers
may tinker with
fabrics and col-
ours to make a jacket for
just about everyone shows
that the varsity has always
offered a lot of customis-
ing options. The varsity is
gradually evolving into the
typical man’s autumn
wardrobe staple, from
Gant Rugger’s neo-classic,
vivid red Homerun Jacket
to Comme Des Garcons’
darker version for the
more avant-garde set.
ADITI KUSHWAHA
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
DRESS LIKE A
BOSS
Y
Every student during their time in high school and
college loves winter because they get to wear these
custom-tailored letterman coats. When individuals
can connect themselves with their particular high
schools or colleges, they feel proud. City First
brings to you the significance of the Varsity Jacket

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