First India Mumbai 10022023.pdf

Maha: PM to flag
off two new Vande
Bharat trains today
Mumbai: Promising an
enhanced rail travel ex-
perience, the Central
Railway Zone of Indian
Railways on Thursday
rolled out the new Vande
Bharat Express, which
will be flagged off by PM
Narendra Modi at Mum-
bai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji
Maharaj Terminus on
Friday
.
Thenewandupgraded
version of Vande Bharat
Expresswillrunbetween
Mumbai and Solapur
and Mumbai and Saina-
gar Shirdi, which is a
gateway to the Deccan
Plateau, offering superi-
or comfort and conveni-
ence for passengers.
M u m b a i - S o l a p u r
train, the ninth Vande
Bharat train to be
launched in the country,
will enhance connectivi-
ty between Chhatrapati
Shivaji Maharaj Termi-
nus and Solapur.
The existing superfast
train takes 7 hours 55
minutes while Vande
Bharat will complete
same journey in 6 hours
30 minutes, thus saving 1
hour30minutesof travel
time.
The10thVandeBharat
Train in the country, the
Mumbai-SainagarShirdi
Vande Bharat Express
willboostconnectivityto
important pilgrimage
centresinMaharashtra’s
Nashik,Trimbakeshwar,
Sainagar Shirdi, and
Shani Shingnapur.
New and
upgraded version
of Vande Bharat
Express will run
between Mumbai
& Solapur and
Mumbai &
Sainagar Shirdi
Amid ED action, Fadnavis
terms Patel ‘brother, friend’!
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Maha Deputy
CM Devendra Fadnavis
on Thursday shared
dais with NCP leader
Praful Patel and called
him his “brother”, a de-
velopment which comes
amid reports that the
ED’s provisional attach-
ment of a Mumbai prop-
erty linked to the Oppo-
sition MP in a case in-
volving late drug smug-
gler Iqbal Mirchi has
been confirmed.
Fadnavis, who holds
the Home portfolio, and
Patel came together at a
function organised in
Gondia, the latter’s
home district in eastern
Maharashtra.
The move of Fad-
navis raised eyebrows
within and outside the
ruling BJP
.
Speaking at the func-
tion, Fadnavis referred
to Patel as his “close
friend” and “brother”.
The NCP parliamen-
tarian, described Fad-
navis as a “dynamic and
visionary leader”.
“As I am here, natu-
rally there will be a lot
of speculation about my
presence. I thank Praful
Patel, for invitation. But
this is the culture of
Maharashtra, where we
do not keep animosity
at individual level de-
spite having differences
at ideological level,”
said the BJP leader.
NCP leader Praful Patel and Maha Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis
Waitafewdays,20-25OppositionMLAswilljoin
Shinde-BJPgovernment,saysBachchuKadu
Kartikey Dev Singh
Mumbai: From time to
time, the Thackeray
group, the NCP and the
Congress - forming the
Maha Vikas Aghadi - has
laid claim that the Shin-
de faction-BJP govern-
ment in the state may
fall anytime. On the
other hand, Shinde fac-
tion and BJP have ex-
pressed confidence that
itsgovernmentwillcom-
plete its stipulated term.
However, now, MLA and
former minister Bach-
chu Kadu has created
ripples in the political
fabric of Maharashtra
by claiming that 20 to 25
opposition MLAs may
join the Shinde faction-
BJP in the next 15 days.
Bachchu Kadu also said
that the entry of these
legislators into the gov-
ernment and cabinet ex-
pansion are getting de-
layed due to the pending
case in the court.
Recently
, Chief Minis-
ter Eknath Shinde was
challenged by Aaditya
Thackeray, who had
asked Shinde to contest
against Thackeray from
Worli seat. Bachchu
Kadu has also reacted to
this. “Challenging has
become old now. There is
no point in these chal-
lenges. This is a bit
childish. He should be
challenged when the as-
sembly elections are an-
nounced. If such is your
(Aaditya’s) spirit, then
contest from Eknath
Shinde’s seat,” said
Bachchu Kadu bitterly
.
MAHA-DHAMAKA?
Due to the pending case in the court,
entry of these legislators into the
government and cabinet expansion
are getting delayed, he claimed
There is no
reason for the
government
to fall. The govt is not in
majority but in majority.
Due to the date given by
the court and the party
entry of the MLAs, the
cabinet expansion is
getting delayed. Ten to
fifteen MLAs are likely
to break. It is likely that
these MLAs will join
the party in the next
fifteen days before the
session. The Thackeray
faction currently has no
MLA left. Because of
this, MLAs from other
parties will also come
to us.
—Bachchu Kadu,
MLA and former minister
NORWAY WEALTH FUND SELLS STAKE
IN ADANI GROUP COMPANIES: REPORT
Norway’s sovereign
wealth fund has sold its
stakes in three Adani Group
companies worth just over
$200 million since the start
of the year, the world’s larg-
est stock investor said on
Thursday. The $1.35 trillion fund at the end of 2022 held
stakes in Adani Total Gas ADAG.NS, Adani Ports & Special
Economic Zone APSE.NS and Adani Green Energy. “Since
year-end, we have further reduced in Adani companies.
We have no exposure left,” Christopher Wright, the fund’s
head of ESG risk monitoring, told a news conference.“We
have monitored Adani for many years (on ESG) issues,
many on their handling of environmental risks,” he said.
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund at the end of 2022 held a
stake in Adani Total worth $83.6 million, a stake in Adani
Ports worth $63.4 million and a stake in Adani Green
Energy of $52.7 million. The fund, managed by a unit of
the central bank, owns 1.3% of all globally listed shares
with stakes in some 9,200 companies.
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR & MUMBAI BSE SENSEX 60,806.22 142.43 | NSE NIFTY 17,893.45 21.75
MUMBAI l FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2023 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI TITLE NO. MAHENG/2022/14652 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 274
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ERDOGAN ADMITS
‘SHORTCOMINGS’
AS QUAKE TOLL
HITS 20,000 PLUS
New Delhi: Indian users will have to pay `900 on Twitter’s mobile app
and `650 for Twitter on the website in order to avail the feature. Annual
subscribers on the website will receive a discount of `1,000 and will have
to pay₹`6,800 instead of `7,800.
Nurdagi: Rescue efforts continued on Thursday as the
death toll crossed 20,000. Turkish Prez Recep Tayyip
Erdogan conceded “shortcomings” after criticism
of his govt’s response to massive quake. Under
‘Operation Dost’ India’s 6th flight reached Turkey.
NSA AJIT DOVAL
MEETS RUSSIAN
PREZ PUTIN IN
MOSCOW
Moscow: National Security Advisor Ajit Doval called
on Russian President Vladimir Putin and agreed to
continue work towards implementing the India-
Russia strategic partnership, the Indian embassy in
Moscow said on Thursday.
TWITTER BLUE SUBSCRIPTION LAUNCHES IN INDIA
Moni Sharma
New Delhi: Some MPs
are bringing disrepute
to the house, said Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi responding to the
sloganeering of the Op-
position members, dur-
ing his reply to the Mo-
tion of Thanks on Pres-
ident’s address.
As PM Modi started
his reply to the Motion
of Thanks on the Presi-
dent’s address, the Op-
position MPs started
raising slogans of
“Modi-Adanibhai-bhai”
in Rajya Sabha. Modi
further took a jibe at the
Opposition with a Hindi
Shayari, “Keechad uske
pas hai, mere pas gulal...
jo bhi jiske pas tha usne
diya uchaal”.
“I want to tell the Op-
position MPs, the more
‘keechad’ (sludge) you
will throw at us, the lo-
tus will bloom even
more. So, you all have
an equal role in making
the lotus bloom, and I
think all of them for
that,” he said.
PARLIAMENT BUDGET SESSION
LOTUS WILL BLOOM
ONLY IN MUD: MODI
Amid the Oppn shouting ‘Modi-Adani,
bhai-bhai’, Modi says, ‘Desh dekh raha
hai, ek akela kitno ko bhari padh raha hai’
The Rajya Sabha adopts the motion of
thanks on President’s address after a
reply by Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi replies to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address in the
Rajya Sabha during the Budget Session of Parliament, in New Delhi on Thursday. Also seen here are
Union Ministers Pralhad Joshi, Piyush Goyal, Rajeev Chandrasekhar and others.
HOPE TO CREATE
MILESTONES, SAYS PT
AFTER CHAIRING RS
Pilavullakandi Thekkepar-
ambil Usha on Thursday
presided over RS proceed-
ings in the ab-
sence of Chair-
man Jagdeep
Dhankhar. Great
power involves
great respon-
sibility as said by Roosevelt
was felt by me in RS. I hope
to create milestones as I
undertake this journey with
trust, faith vested in me by
my people,” Usha tweets.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah at the Parliament House complex
during Budget Session, in New Delhi on Thursday.
❍ HINDENBURG V/S ADANI
Apex court to hear
plea seeking probe
into reports today
First India Bureau
New Delhi: In the latest
development in the Hin-
denburg vs Adani case,
the Supreme Court has
reportedly agreed to
hearapleaseekingprobe
into the Hindenburg Re-
search report on Friday
.
Asperlatestupdates,the
plea is seeking a direc-
tion to the Centre to con-
stituteacommitteemon-
itored by a retired apex
court judget to investi-
gate the Hindenburg Re-
search report.
Thesettingupof com-
mitteehasbeensought
as the Hindenburg
Research report
has made a slew
of allegations
against Ada-
ni-led firms,
especially
that con-
glomerate has indulged
in fraud. Advocate
Vishal Tiwari, who
filed the petition
asked for the list-
ing of the matter
for urgent
hearing before
a bench led by
CJI DY Chan-
drachud.
DELHI HIGH COURT
GRANTS BAIL TO EX-
NSE CEO CHITRA
The Delhi High Court on
Thursday granted bail to
former NSE CEO Chitra Ram-
krishna in the
money launder-
ing case related
to alleged illegal
phone tapping
and snooping on
stock exchange employees.
She was earlier arrested by
the CBI in the alleged NSE co-
location scam, was arrested
in the present case by ED in
July last year.
OTHER COURT ORDERS OF THE DAY
l SC remanded back to the Bombay HC for fresh adjudica-
tion in 4 weeks an appeal filed by the CBI challenging the
nod granted to Mainak Mehta, the brother-in-law of fugitive
diamantaire Nirav Modi, to travel to Hong Kong.
l The Supreme Court will soon have its full strength of 34
judges with the stage having been set for the elevation of
two high court judges, top govt sources said. The notices for
appointment are expected to be issued in the next few days.
l Bombay High Court dismissed a public interest litigation
filed against Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju and Vice Presi-
dent Jagdeep Dhankhar for their remarks on judiciary and the
collegium system for the appointment of judges.
MORE TROUBLE FOR ADANI
SHARES TUMBLE FURTHER AS ‘RAID’ CONDUCTED
AT ADANI WILMAR WAREHOUSE IN HIMACHAL
First India Bureau
New Delhi: On the day
when Adani Enterpris-
es and Adani Ports were
among the biggest los-
ers on the Nifty, one of
the top businessman in
the country, billionaire
Gautam Adani’s FMCG
arm - Adani Wilmer -
came under ‘inspection’
late on Wednesday
night when a team of
Himachal Pradesh
State Excise and Taxa-
tion Department raided
the Adani Wilmar’s de-
potwarehouseinParva-
noo, wherein the check-
ing for documents con-
tinued at the warehouse
till late in the night.
Turn to P6
The officials did not
find any irregularities
in the operations and
dealings conducted
by the company, says
Adani Wilmar
Gautam Adani
ADANI GROUP TO PRE-PAY
$500 MILLION LOAN
Mumbai: The Adani Group plans to
prepay a $500 million bridge loan due
next month after some banks balked at
refinancing the debt following a short
seller report that sent the group’s
assets tumbling. Barclays Plc,
Standard Chartered Plc and
Deutsche Bank AG are among
banks that lent Adani $4.5 billion to
finance the purchase of Holcim Ltd ce-
ment assets last year. A portion of that
loan is due March 9.
In Adani’s 10-stock pack, flagship entity
Adani Enterprises was worst performer
as it was locked in a 15% lower circuit
limit at `1,834.9. Adani Ports NSE -2.83%,
Ambuja Cements NSE -6.98%,
Adani Power NSE -5.0%, Adani
Transmission NSE -5.0%,
Adani Total Gas NSE -5.0%
and Adani Green NSE -5.0% - were trading
5% lower each. Adani Wilmar NSE 4.99%
was the only stock in the group to be trad-
ing on a higher note.
SHOCKER SHARE: ADANI
ENTERPRISES TOP LOSER

NEWS
MUMBAI | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2023
02
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Mumbai: Nine undertri-
als in the custody of the
Nalasopara police are
undergoing treatment for
suspected food poisoning
at the civic hospital, cops
said. All of them are out
of danger, they added. An
investigation is underway
to find out the cause of the
illness. Around 2.30 pm
on Tuesday, around 10-12
undertrials were served
rice and dal for lunch. A
little later, some of them
complained of nausea.
The Nalasopara cops said
the food was served from
the government-approved
canteen.
Mumbai: Dindoshi sessions
court recently rejected the
anticipatory bail application
filed by Karamvir Rajpu-
rohit, a developer accused
of cheating a Borivli-based
real estate firm. Rajpurohit,
who had sought bail on the
grounds that the matter
was of civil nature and
not a criminal case, has
now decided to approach
the Bombay High Court.
Borivli police lodged the
FIR in the case on January
11 following the complaint
by Peerless Constructions
Private Limited. The firm
alleged that Rajpurohit and
two other real estate agents
had cheated it of Rs1 crore
by asking to invest redevel-
opment project.
Mumbai: A two-bedroom
flat worth Rs2 crore on
Goregaon-Mulund Link
Road has been attached
under the Securitisation
and Reconstruction of
Financial Assets and
Enforcement of Security
Interest Act (SARFAESI)
after an autorickshaw
driver was arrested by
the Bhandup police for
allegedly cheating people
in a Ponzi scheme, as
per media reports. The
Punjab National Bank filed
a complaint alleging that
Haroon Sattar Shaikh, his
wife Nilofar Shaikh, and
another woman Halima
Shaikh obtained a Rs1.8
crore home loan from the
bank in 2019.
Mumbai: The Mumbai
cyber police have busted
another insurance fraud
racket, arresting six
alleged scamsters from
various districts of Uttar
Pradesh. The gang target-
ed elderly people across
the country on the pretext
of renewing insurance
policies or luring them
with bonuses. The police
claim they have nabbed all
the racketeers, including
the accused who leaked
data from the insurance
company, the owner of the
bank account into which
the victims’ money was
transferred, the person
who opened the account
among others.
Thane: Five occupants of
a car had a narrow escape
after the vehicle caught
fire in the wee hours of
Thursday, a civic official
said. Incident took place at
around 1.40 am at Gaimukh
on Ghodbunder Road when
three men and two women,
in age group of 45 to 65
years, were returning home
in Mira Road area here
from Karad, Thane Munic-
ipal Corporation's regional
disaster management cell
chief Avinash Sawant said.
After noticing the fire, oc-
cupants immediately came
out of the vehicle, he said.
NINE UNDERTRIALS
HOSPITALIZED FOR
FOOD POISONING
ACCUSED OF FRAUD:
DEVELOPER DENIED
BAIL BY COURT
`2 CRORE FLAT OF
AUTORICKSHAW
DRIVER SEIZED
GANG OF SIX
RUNNING INS SCAM
NABBED FROM UP
CAR CATCHES
FIRE; OCCUPANTS
ESCAPE UNHURT
CRUCIAL READ
Man held for attack on Congress MLC Pradnya Satav
First India Bureau
Aurangabad: Police
have arrested a 40-year-
old man for allegedly
attacking Congress
MLC Pradnya Rajeev
Satav in Maharashtra’s
Hingoli district, an of-
ficial said on Thursday
.
Satav claimed an un-
known person attacked
her from behind on
Wednesday and that
there was a threat to
her life.
The MLC also said
this was the second at-
tack on her since No-
vember last year and
she expected more se-
curity to be provided
to her.
A police official in
Hingoli said they ar-
rested a man, identified
as Mahendra Dongar-
dive, after the MLC filed
a complaint.
When contacted,
Hingoli Superinten-
dent of Police G Shree-
dhar said, “The man,
who was inebriated,
attacked MLC Pradnya
Satav from behind in
Kasbe Dhawanda.” An
offence has been regis-
tered against accused
Dongardive at Balapur
police station under In-
dian Penal Code Sec-
tions 352 (assault or
use of criminal force
otherwise than on
grave provocation), 353
(assault or use of crim-
inal force to deter a
public servant from
discharge of duty) and
323 (voluntarily caus-
ing hurt), he said.
Satav in a tweet on
Wednesday said, “To-
day I was brutally at-
tacked at Kasbe Dha-
wanda, village Kalam-
nuri. An unknown per-
son attacked me from
behind. It was a serious
attempt to injure me
and there is a threat to
my life.”
“An attack on lady
MLC is an attack on De-
mocracy. Fight from
front don’t be a cow-
ard,” added the legisla-
tor, who is the wife of
late Congress leader
Rajeev Satav.
“I was also attacked
during the Bharat Jodo
Yatra of Rahul Gandhi.
But, I could escape be-
cause people around me
saved me,” she told a
regional news channel
on Thursday
.
The legislator said
she would urge the state
government to make
necessary provisions
and prevent such at-
tacks on women in pub-
lic life.
Patole slams Maharashtra
govt, demands strict action
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Maharash-
tra Pradesh Congress
Committee(MPCC)
President Nana Patole
slammed the state gov-
ernment and demand-
ed immediate arrest
of those who attacked
MLC Pradnya Satav
and demanded strict
action against them.
“The attack on Sat-
av is an example of
the increased morale
of criminals in Maha-
rashtra. Crime has
increased in the Shin-
de-Fadnavis govern-
ment and Home Min-
ister Devendra Fad-
navis has no control
over the police force.
In the Shinde-Fad-
navis government,
even the public repre-
sentatives are not safe,
which is a serious is-
sue,” he alleged.
Patole further said
that in the Shinde-
Fadnavis government
the MLAs of the rul-
ing party are only
openly bullying the
public, threatening to
break people’s bones,
and open fire in broad
daylight but no action
is taken against them.
“Y-level security
has been provided to
ruling party MLAs
and security to oppo-
sition leaders has
been withdrawn,” he
pointed out. “It is a
sign of insensitivity
that even when a
woman MLA was at-
tacked, the state home
minister did not even
utter a single word,”
he further added.
An attack on lady MLC is an attack on
Democracy. Fight from front don’t be a
coward. —Paradnya Satav
‘WorkasMahavikasAghadiwewillwin’
I will not disrespect public
sentiment: Rahul Kalate
First India Bureau
Mumbai: As today is
the last day for the
withdrawal of nomina-
tion papers in the
Chinchwad by-elec-
tions, many political
events are likely to take
place in the constitu-
ency. It is being said
that Thackeray group
leader Sachin Ahir is
going to meet the
group’s rebel leader
and independent candi-
date Rahul Kalate. At
the same time, Kalate
has said, “I am firm on
contesting the Chinch-
wad by-elections. I will
not disrespect public
sentiment.”
Mahavikas Aghadi’s
Nana alias Vitthal Kate
is the official candi-
date, therefore rebel
Rahul Kalate has filed
an independent candi-
dature, which has in-
creased the problems
of Mahavikas Aghadi.
Kalate said, “I contest-
ed from Chinchwad as-
sembly in 2019. No one
thought of contesting
independent elections
then. I stood against
the late Laxman Jag-
tap. At that time, people
showered a lot of love.
A few days ago, it was
thought that the by-
election would be held
unopposed. But after
Mahavikas Aghadi
came forward to con-
test the elections, I de-
cided to contest too.”
I contest-
ed from
Chinchwad
assembly in 2019.
No one thought of
contesting independent
elections then. I stood
against the late Laxman
Jagtap. At that time,
people showered a lot
of love. A few days
ago, it was thought that
the by-election would
be held unopposed.
But after Mahavikas
Aghadi came forward to
contest the elections, I
decided to contest too.
—Rahul Kalate
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Opposition
leader Ajit Pawar spoke
to the office bearers of
his party in Pimpri-
Chinchwad on Thurs-
day. Pawar said,
“Chinchwad assembly
by-election will be the
beginning of the trans-
formation of the city.
There must be success
in the Chinchwad as-
sembly by-elections.
MLA Sunil Shelke,
city president Ajit Ga-
vane, women city presi-
dent Kavita Alhat, for-
mer city president San-
jog Waghere, candidate
Nana alias Vitthal Kate,
etc., were present on
this occasion. Pawar ap-
pealed to the officials to
forget their differences
and start working. He
said that everyone
should work as Mahavi-
kas Aghadi, and victory
will be ours.
Pawar said, “Con-
gress candidate has
withdrawn his nomina-
tion form in Pune. We
will make such an effort
sembly too. The picture
of the Chinchwad as-
sembly by-election will
be clear tomorrow. We
want to elect a Mahavi-
kas Aghadi candidate.”
Pawar appealed to the
office bearers that the
workers of Congress,
Shiv Sena, and NCP
should devote them-
selves.Hefurtheradded,
“Sharad Pawar is keep-
ing an eye on Chinch-
wad by-elections, along
withme.Wehaveonly18
days in hand. We need to
understand the respon-
sibility of the election.
Hard work will make
this election easier. I
have always loved the
city of Pimpri-Chinch-
wad. It is my sincere de-
sire to see the city de-
velop. This election
should be contested on
the issue of develop-
ment, not sympathy
.”
“We have to show the
same strength in the
Chinchwad assembly
by-elections as we
overthrew the 25-year
rule in Maval,” com-
mented Pawar.
It is my sincere
desire to see the
city develop. This
election should be
contested on
the issue of
development, not
sympathy: Pawar
The Congress
candidate has
withdrawn his
nomination
form in Pune. We will
make such an effort
sembly too. Tomorrow
is the day to withdraw
nomination papers.
The picture of the
Chinchwad assembly
by-election will be clear
tomorrow. We want
to elect a Mahavikas
Aghadi candidate.
—Ajit Pawar
MLA Patil’s convoy
collides with biker,
one dead, one hurt
First India Bureau
Mumbai: A motorcy-
clist was killed, and his
partner was seriously
injured in an accident
with the police vehicle
of Balasaheb’s Shiv
Sena MLA Adv. Sha-
hajibapu Patil’s convoy
.
The accident took place
between Malwad-Nazre
in Sangola taluka
around 4.30 pm on
Thursday
.
According to the re-
ports from the Sangola
Rural Hospital, the
name of the 50-year-old
deceased bike rider is
Ashok Nana Wa-
ghamare. Nana Amone,
who was sitting as the
pillion on the bike, is
seriously injured, and
his condition is critical.
Patil had gone to visit
the health camp organ-
ized at Nazre on the oc-
casion of Chief Minis-
ter Eknath Shinde’s
birthday
. While return-
ing from there to San-
gola, close to Nazre vil-
lage, the Scorpio car of
the police, stationed for
protection, collided
with a bike rider com-
ing from the opposite
direction. No one in the
MLA’s convoy was in-
jured.
‘Patole’s decision to resign taken as
per directions of Cong President’
First India Bureau
Nagpur: While criticiz-
ing the statement made
by 'Samana' on the resig-
nation of Congress state
president Nana Patole
from the post of Assem-
bly Speaker, state Con-
gress chief spokesper-
sonAtulLondhewarned
the Shiv Sena Thacker-
ay group that they
should respect the deci-
sionof theallies.Hewas
responding to the com-
ment on Patole’s resig-
nation being termed as
inappropriate.
“In Congress, deci-
sions are taken accord-
ing to the decision-mak-
ing process. It was a de-
cision taken by Sonia
Gandhi in the interest
of the party after seeing
the political situation.
This allegation makes
no sense that after Pa-
tole's resignation, a se-
ries of problems began
before the Mahavikas
Aghadi government. If
Patole had remained the
Assembly Speaker, the
next incident would
have been avoided. This
if-then has no meaning
in politics. It is also not
correct to say that the
Mahavikas Aghadi got
into trouble due to Pa-
tole's resignation,” said
Londhe.
“What decisions
should be taken by Con-
gress party is an inter-
nal matter of party
. Ob-
jecting to thedecisionof
the allied party and pub-
licly criticizing it by al-
leging that the decision
was wrong is not right
as per the religion of the
Aghadi,” added Londhe.
‘A PROCESS’
Mumbai: MP Sanjay
Raut and Congress
leader Vijay Wadettiwar
said on Thursday that
if Nana Patole had not
resigned from the post
of Assembly Speaker,
the next embarrass-
ment could have been
avoided. Meanwhile,
NCP leader and former
Home Minister Dilip
Valse Patil also sup-
ported this statement
while speaking in a
press conference. “This
issue should have been
discussed in Mahavikas
Aghadi. Actually, Nana
Patole should not have
left post of Speaker at
that time. All this would
not have happened if
he had not left post.
However, it is not
appropriate to discuss
this publicly now. We
will discuss this at our
level,” said Dilip.
THIS WOULDN’T
HAVE HAPPENED
IF HE HAD NOT
LEFT POST: PATIL
If you seek
sympathy,
defeat is
certain: More
Pune: Maharashtra
Navnirman Sena leader
Vasant More has tar-
geted the Shinde-Fad-
navis government.
In his verbal attack,
More said,“Elections
are being held there im-
mediately as your votes
will decrease. City has
had no people’s repre-
sentative (Corporator)
for the past year. Ad-
ministration has laid
the streets of city
.”
“I have a question
for the Shinde-Fad-
navis government.
Two BJP MLAs from
Pune and Pimpri
Chinchwad passed
away recently. You will
immediately hold elec-
tions in those places so
that your votes do not
decrease. MLAs and
MPs in Pune should
put their feet in our
shoes. If you are avoid-
ing elections because
of which party will get
sympathy, then consid-
er your defeat as cer-
tain,” said More.

MAHARASHTRA
03
Eight projects under NICDIT sanctioned and approved by govt
First India Bureau
New Delhi: Eight pro-
jects under National
Industrial Corridor
Development and Im-
plementation Trust
(NICDIT), including
Dholera Special In-
vestment Region in
Gujarat, Integrated
Multi Modal Logistics
Hub at Nangal Chaud-
hary in Haryana un-
der Delhi Mumbai In-
dustrial Corridor
(DMIC) have been
sanctioned and ap-
proved by the Union
government, said Som
Parkash, Minister of
State for Commerce
and Industry.
Out of eight pro-
jects, for four, namely
Dholera Special In-
vestment Region in
Gujarat, Shendra Bid-
kin Industrial Area in
Maharashtra, Inte-
grated Industrial
Township in Greater
Noida, Uttar Pradesh
and Integrated Indus-
trial Township -
Vikram Udyogpuri in
Madhya Pradesh,
Parkash said in reply
to a parliamentary
question. “The land al-
lotment has started to
industries and other
users through the Spe-
cial Purpose Vehicles
(SPVs) formed with
respective state gov-
ernments.
A Total of 229 plots
measuring nearly 1,601
acres have been allotted
to companies with an
investment of more
than Rs,18,691 crore in
these four greenfield
smart industrial re-
gions, nodes and areas.
Besides, approx. 4,900
acres of developed land
parcels are available
for immediate allot-
ment across multiple
uses,” the minister fur-
ther said.
Talking about the Tu-
makuru Node in Karna-
taka under Chennai
Bengaluru Industrial
Corridor (CBIC), the
minister said that an
EPC contractor for the
construction of trunk
infrastructure has been
appointed. “Detailed
master planning and
preliminary engineer-
ing activities for an
area of 1,736 acres as an
activation area have
been completed. Envi-
ronment Clearance has
been obtained. The
state government has
transferred 1668.30-acre
land to the SPV of the
project,” he also added.
Total of 229
plots measuring
nearly 1,601
acres have been
allotted to the
companies
Fellingofmangrovetrees:Nod
fromHCfor8-laneexpressway
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The Bombay
High Court paved the
wayfortheconstruction
of an eight-lane Va-
dodara-Mumbai Ex-
pressway by allowing
the National Highways
Authority of India
(NHAI) to fell 350 man-
grove trees to clear the
way for its construction,
observing that it will
“benefit large sections
of the population”.
“Vadodara-Mumbai
greenfield expressway,
which forms part of
Delhi-Mumbai express-
way corridor, will ben-
efit large sections of
the population in Ma-
harashtra, Gujrat and
Union Territory of Da-
man, Dadra Nagar
Haveli... considering its
importance... we deem
it appropriate to grant
permission,” said the
HC bench Acting Chief
Justice Sanjay V Gan-
gapurwala and Justice
Sandeep V Marne in its
ruling.
The NHAI represent-
ed by Additional Solici-
tor General Anil Singh
submitted that though
originally it sought the
cutting of 1,001 man-
grove trees, only 350 in
the Coastal Regulation
Zone of Vaitarna river
were required to be
felled for the execution
of the entire project.
The HC directed the
NHAI to abide by its un-
dertaking that it will
comply with all condi-
tions set out in the ap-
provals given to the
project by the Union
Ministry of Environ-
ment, Forest and Cli-
mate Change and other
authorities, including
compensatory affores-
tation and developing a
nursery to raise
seedlings of forestry
species.
The plea said the
project of development
of Vadodara Mumbai
Expressway (Phase-II
Main Alignment) from
Km 26+320 to km
104+700 (km 390.864 of
NH-8) of the Main
Expressway(Length
78.118 km).
Leave is sought as
some portion of the
project comes within
the Coastal Regulation
Zone - IA area.
The project would
affect 2686 mangrove
trees within the pro-
posed Right of Way,
out of which 1,001
mangrove trees are lo-
cated within the con-
struction zone, which
are required to
be felled.
THE DIRECTIONS
Benefits large
section of the
population, the
court observed
350 trees in the Coastal Regulation Zone of Vaitarna river are required to be cut for the project.
First India Bureau
Navi Mumbai: City
and Industrial Develop-
ment Corporation's (CI-
DCO) Managing Direc-
tor and Vice chairman,
Sanjay Mukherjee, con-
ducted surprise visits
at two stations during
peak hours and was not
pleased with the poor
conditions of civic
amenities at the Nerul
and Koparkhairane
railway stations.
Following the visits,
Mukherjee directed the
contractors to resolve
all issues faced by the
commuters and asked
engineers to create an
efficient management
system to monitor and
execute daily activities.
He instructed the con-
tractors to ensure the
cleaning of station
premises and re-
strooms, directed them
to repair all defunct
fans and lights, and
asked to install eleva-
tors or escalators as per
the requirements.
CIDCO has set up a
special committee un-
der the chairmanship
of the Joint Managing
Director of CIDCO to
review and solve the
problems faced by the
commuters of the sub-
urban railway in Navi
Mumbai. This commit-
tee consists of CIDCO
engineers and officers,
representatives of
NMMC and representa-
tives of Indian Rail-
ways.
CIDCO chief not pleased
with poor state at rly stn
Mumbai: A 25-year-old
man allegedly killed his
sister’s husband after the
latter had a fight with her in
Palghar district, police said
on Thursday. The incident
took place in Mokhada
taluka following which the
accused was arrested, they
said. The deceased, Mahen-
dra Bhoye(30), used to
have frequent quarrels with
his wife. In a similar fight,
the woman’s brother Dileep
Mahale caught hold of his
brother-in-law and allegedly
attacked him with an axe.
Sangli: Police in Sangli
city have arrested two men
for allegedly possessing
ambergris or whale vomit
worth Rs5.5 crore, an
official said on Wednesday.
The police got a tip-off that
they would be coming to
sell ambergris in the city,
following which the duo
was arrested. Upon ques-
tioning, they told the police
that the ambergris was
purchased with the help of
an accomplice from Malvan
in the coastal Sindhudurg
district of the state.
Mumbai: A 15-year-old girl
riding pillion on a motorcy-
cle behind her 17-year-old
sister and a male friend died
after a crane brushed past
them on Western Express
Highway. The driver, Amars-
ingh Yadav(23) was arrested
by police on charges of neg-
ligence. Since riding triple
seat and without a helmet is
illegal, the motorcycle rider,
Akshay Pujari (20), who is
also the victim’s friend, has
been issued a challan, the
police said.
Mumbai: The police
seized gutka and other
tobacco products worth
Rs17.82 lakh from a
godown complex in Thane
district, a police officer
said on Wednesday. Food
and Drug Administration
officials conducted a raid
on Tuesday and found the
stock of banned items
stored in two tempos
at the godown complex
located at Purna village
in Bhiwandi, an official
said. The police have
filed charges against 11
persons in the case.
Mumbai: The police
registered a case against
seven suspects for
defrauding a jeweller of
Rs12.31 crore. According
to the police, Jeweller
Bipin Mehta(65), alleged
that some people had tak-
en money and gold worth
Rs12.31 crore from him,
on pretext of lucrative
returns. Based on the
complaint, police booked
7 people from Damas
Gold pvt ltd on grounds
of cheating.
MAN KILLS SISTER’S
HUSBAND OVER
DOMESTIC ISSUE
TWO HELD WITH
AMBERGRIS WORTH
`5.5 CR IN SANGLI
15-YEAR-OLD
RIDING TRIPLE SEAT
DIES AS CRANE HITS
BANNED TOBACCO
PRODUCTS WORTH
`17.82 LAKH SEIZED
7 BOOKED FOR
DUPING JEWELLER
OF `12.31 CRORE
CRUCIAL READ
CIDCO has set up a
special committee to
review and solve the
problems faced by
suburban railway
commuters
Sub-inspector
killed for halting
increment by
subordinate
Thane (PTI): The po-
lice have booked a Rail-
way Protection Force
(RPF) constable for al-
legedly killing a 56-year-
old sub-inspector in
Thane district, an offi-
cial said on Thursday.
As per the police offi-
cials from Kolsewadi
police station, the con-
stable killed the sub-in-
spector because he halt-
ed his increment for the
last two years.
Mahendra Desh-
mukh, Senior Police In-
spector, Kolsewadi po-
lice station said, “ The
accused RPF constable
Pankaj Yadav and the
victim, RPF sub-inspec-
tor Basavraj Garg had a
major fight two years
back and since then
there had been bad
blood between them.
Also, Garg was close to
senior police officers,
and he had used his po-
sition to institute an
inquiry against Yadav
and further managed to
reduce Yadav’s salary
.”
According to a police
release, Garg was alone
in his barrack on
Wednesday night as his
roommate had gone
out. He was listening to
music when the ac-
cused barged into his
room and allegedly at-
tacked him with a wood-
en log and killed him.
Now single-window portal for NRIs, foreign students
Mumbai (PTI): In or-
der to attract more for-
eign nationals to profes-
sional courses in the
state, and to streamline
the admission process
for them, the govern-
ment has launched a
single-window portal
for them. A separate
link has been provided
on the cetcell.mahacet.
org which will cover
foreign nationals, NRIs,
PIOs, OCIs, etc.
The portal was
launched by Chandra-
kant Patil, minister of
Higher Education, on
Tuesday
. It will not only
simplify the process for
aspirants but will also
help in increasing the
enrolment of interna-
tional students.
Patil said that many
of the innovative cours-
es offered in institu-
tions here are in de-
mand outside and the
portal will assist stu-
dents looking for the
same.
The Higher Educa-
tion secretary, Vikas
Rastogi, said that the
state government wants
to create a single inter-
face for all foreign stu-
dents seeking admis-
sions in professional
courses.
“The idea of a sepa-
rate window is to con-
nect these students to
colleges which can ad-
mit international stu-
dents and give them a
better and smoother
experience,” he said.
Since the portal went
live on Tuesday, the
CET cell has already
started receiving in-
quiries.
An official from the
CET cell said that most
of these students are
interested in technical
courses offered in state
institutions. He added
that the state hopes to
target students from
countries, which cur-
rently do not see India
as a destination for
higher studies.
The state government
wants to create a
single interface for all
foreign students
seeking admissions in
professional courses
Trafficcrashdeathsdownby50%;
Over10kviolatorsbookedinstate
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The state
transportation depart-
ment has reduced traf-
fic fatalities on the
Mumbai-Pune corridor
by more than 50%, ac-
cording to an announce-
ment made on Wednes-
day by Transport Com-
missioner Vivek Bhi-
manwar.
In the previous two
months, a record 10,251
offenders have been ar-
rested and almost 25,000
have received road safe-
tycounselling.Thenum-
ber of fatal accidents
decreased from nine to
six this year as com-
pared to last, while the
number of fatalities on
the Mumbai-Pune roads
decreasedfromfourteen
to six during this time.
As per the data on
road crashes, about 23%
of people caught speed-
ing beyond 100 kmph
were made to attend
counsellingsessionsand
sign a safety pledge. Ac-
cording to information
provided by the trans-
port commissioner’s of-
fice, 2,351 occurrences
of overspeeding, 1,741
lane cutting, 1,453 per-
sons charged for not
wearing seatbelts, and
579 cases of incorrect
parking were among the
casesreportedinthelast
two months.
Violators were also made to attend counselling sessions.
Mumbai-Mauritius flight:Vistara
announces service from Mar 26
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Full-service
airline Vistara an-
nounced the launch of
its flight services to
Mauritius from the
city
, starting March 26.
The five times weekly
flight services will be
catered with a long
range A321 aircraft,
which the airline in-
ducted in its fleet re-
cently, in a three class
configuration (busi-
ness, premium econo-
my and economy),
Vistara said.
Mauritius is 12th in-
ternational destina-
tion that Vistara is con-
necting with Mumbai.
Airline has already an-
nounced commencing
flight services to Co-
lombo and Dammam
from Mumbai.
“Vistara announces
addition of Mauritius
to its constantly ex-
panding network. Be-
sides being a popular
tourist destination,
Mauritius is an impor-
tant business hub and
home to many global
financial institutions.
“New route will fur-
ther aid growing traf-
fic between two coun-
tries,” said Vinod Kan-
nan, Chief Executive
Officer at Vistara. The
Tata-Singapore Air-
lines-run Vistara is in
the process of merging
with Air India, which
was acquired by the
Tata Group last year.

PERSPECTIVE
04
l Vol 1 l Issue No. 274
l RNI TITLE NO.
MAHENG/2022/14652
Printed and published by
Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of
First Express Publishers. Printed at
Dangat Media Pvt Ltd, No.22, Dighe
MIDC, Vishnu Nagar, TTC Industrial
Area, Dighe, Navi Mumbai-400701.
Published at Plot No. 3 Scheme C
of Manglorean Garden Home, CHS
Limited, Survey No. 5, 6C (Part) Ville
Parle East, Mumbai 400057.
Phone 022-46031417.
Editor-In-Chief: Dr Jagdeesh Chandra
Editor: Kartikey Dev Singh
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
Teach this triple truth to all:
A generous heart, kind speech,
and a life of service and
compassion are the things
which renew humanity.
—Buddha
IN-DEPTH
Amit Shah
@AmitShah
PM @narendramodi’s speech revived the
trust he has built among the poor, tribals
and the deprived by giving them their
due rights lifting their living standards.
And this bedrock of trust now cannot
be shaken by the ones who kept them
deprived for decades after independence.
Anurag Thakur
@ianuragthakur
Adoption of best global practices,
accreditation, standards quality
checks is the key to growth and
innovation. India features in the world’s
Top 5 accreditation systems, led by the
national accreditation system under
Quality Council of India! Overall QI
infra is amongst top 10!
TOP TWEETS
TRIPURA RIVALS
JOIN HANDS TO
TAKE ON BJP
FOR DEMOCRACY
ith Tripura assembly
elections approach-
ing, all eyes are on
Congress and the
CPI-M. The two par-
ties, which fought several elec-
tions against each other in the
past, have entered into a pre-poll
agreement to take on their two
common rivals---the BJP and the
Trinamool Congress. That
makes Tripura somewhat differ-
ent from West Bengal’s political
scene where the Congress, TMC
and CPM fought the state elec-
tions against one another. What
makes Tripura battlefield inter-
esting is that the Congress had
been the ruling party for several
years before the BJP dislodged
it from power and is now allying
with the CPM.
The Congress-CPM combina-
tion faces a challenge also from
TIPRA Motha, a party of tribals
led by the former Congress re-
bel Pradyot Kishore Manikya
Debbarman. Pradyot has re-
fused to join the Congress alli-
ance although the BJP thinks
he is in touch with the CPM.
The non-BJP alliance minus the
TMC is considered strong but it
is the BJP which will have the
last laugh.
W
ladimirZelenskyy
presented Sir
LindsayHoyle,the
speaker of Brit-
ain’s Parliament
with a unique gift. It was a
helmet of a Ukrainian pilot
with, “We have freedom. Give
uswingstoprotectit,”written
onit.HelatertoldBritishMPs
that Ukraine badly needs
fighter jets and overhead mis-
siles to keep Russians at bay
.
He made the same request
with European Union mem-
bers. So far there has been
reluctance on the part of Eu-
rope, especially Germany and
the US to equip Kyiv with
their fighter jets which would
pose a greater threat not only
toEuropebutalsototheworld
as it will be treated as escala-
tion of war by the West.
Ukraine’sdemandformodern
fighter planes is akin to its re-
quest for Germany’s latest
Leopard and America’s
Abrams battle tanks.
Zelenskyy is seeking war
machines to “protect Eu-
rope’s way of life” but Eu-
rope and the US realize the
grave risks that will entail.
Russians could treat it as a
proxy war by NATO and may
retaliate accordingly. The
West is also wary of exposing
its modern fighting ma-
chines to damage given the
inexperience of Ukrainians
in handling them. That is
why the focus at present is to
train the Ukrainians and pro-
vide them with more air de-
fence systems and drones.
Reluctance to provide high-
end fighter jets and tanks to
Ukraine is like keeping it
guessing about its formal
membership of the European
Union. So far it is only an of-
ficial candidate of the EU.
Ukraine applied for EU mem-
bership only four days after
Russia invaded it in 2022.
EUROPE RELUCTANT
TO GRANT KYIV’S WISH
Vladimir Zelensky
presented Sir Lindsay
Hoyle, the speaker of
Britain’s Parliament with a
unique gift. It was a
helmet of a Ukrainian pilot
with, “We have
freedom. Give us
wings to protect it,”
written on it
V
he South China Sea (SCS) has
abundance of minerals and
oil resources and estimated to
contain 11 billion barrels of
oil and 190 trillion cubic feet
of natural gas. The area wit-
nesses roughly 30% of the
global maritime trade pass-
ing through it on its way to
the highly trafficked ports in
Southeast Asia. The conflict
among the five states, namely
the Philippines, Vietnam,
China, Brunei, Taiwan, and
Malaysia, has remained unre-
solved for decades. The claim-
ant states, have divergent and
sometimes overlapping terri-
torial claims based on a vari-
ety of historical and geo-
graphical data. The current
problems stem from the 1951
San Francisco Treaty, which
followed Japan’s defeat in
World War II. Within the
terms of its surrender, Japan
gave up its rights to its islands
in the South China Sea, leav-
ing a power vacuum in the
region. No country was ex-
plicitly granted sovereignty
over these waters, and China
asserted its advantage by sub-
mitting the now infamous
“nine-dotted line” claim cov-
ering almost the entire South
China Sea in 1947. This line
became its official claim and
is known today as the “Nine-
Dash Line”. In 1982, the Unit-
ed Nations law established
the exclusive economic zones
(EEZs) but China reiterated
its nine-dash line, refusing to
clarify the limits of this line
and rejecting the claims of
other claimant countries.
Ever since, tensions have
built up over who owns the
South China Sea and now
China turning seven reefs
into seven military bases, has
made the South China Sea
one of the most contentious
areas of sea in the world.
THE MAIN STAKES OF
THESE TERRITORIAL
DISPUTES ARE
The abundant natural re-
sources of the region, the
geostrategic situation of the
disputed area which is the
gateway to the strait of Ma-
lacca and the port of Singa-
pore, a control over the Para-
cels and the Spratlys islands
ensures control over the sup-
ply of the economies of
Northeast Asia and finally
the region is one of the most
important economic and
strategic regions in the
world. As of now it looks like
a frozen conflict where none
of the states is ready to give
up any ground to reach a
common solution accepted
by all and thus, risk of armed
conflict breaking out at any
time always remain high.
HINDERANCES TO THE
CONFLICT RESOLUTION
Inability of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) to arrive at any
common decision and play a
leadership role to resolve the
conflict. Most members in the
region have either total de-
pendency for economic and
trade development or are ma-
jor trading partners with
China who has always insist-
ed on bilateral talks to resolve
any conflict and hence the
blockade to any real solution.
Though the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the
Sea (UNCLOS) establishes
the rights of a sovereign state
over the continental shelf
surrounding it and the crea-
tion of exclusive economic
zones (EEZs), China has al-
ways used “Nine-Dash Line”,
to justify its viewpoint. Even
a judgement by International
Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2013
establishing EEZ rights of
Philippines in SCS have been
rejected by China as it doesn’t
recognise the ICJ ruling call-
ing it as an encroachment on
its sovereignty
. China intends
“to prevent an internationali-
zation or regionalization of
the dispute and would like to
prevent or weaken any move
towards solidarity within
ASEAN on these issues and
continue to address them on
a bilateral basis.” The recent
US initiatives like creation of
AUKUS, new alliance group
in the region among Austral-
ia, United Kingdom and Unit-
ed States, and the formation
of QUAD to which India is
also a part adds to Chinese
discomfort.
INDIA’S STAKES AND
CHANGE IN POLICY
India’s 55 % of trade passes
through the Strait of Malac-
ca which opens into the
South China Sea. If China
controls the region, it will
upset the global trade prac-
tices and countries like India
will directly get affected. In-
dia has historically taken a
neutral position in the dis-
putes along the South China
Sea involving China and
countries of Southeast Asia,
even as the tensions have
threatened the security in
the region. The shock of last
year’s border clash and con-
tinuing tensions along the
Line of Actual Control (LAC)
has upended most assump-
tions underlying India’s Chi-
na policy. India has recali-
brated its response to China
both on land and sea. In a
major message to Beijing, the
Indian Army confronted
PLA on land and the Indian
Navy made its presence felt
in the waters of the South
China Sea when a task force
of four warships sailed on a
two-month deployment with
India’s Quad partners, the
United States, Japan and
Australia, and also conduct-
ed bilateral exercises with
naval forces from South Chi-
na Sea littoral states, includ-
ing Singapore, Vietnam, In-
donesia and the Philippines.
India has been pushing for a
rules-based order in the re-
gion, including by means of
upholding the United Na-
tions Convention on the Law
of the Sea.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
SOUTH CHINA SEA CONFLICT
CHANGE IN INDIA’S STANCE
DISCOMFORTS DRAGON
T
India’s increased
cooperation with US and
QUAD for a free, open,
prosperous and inclusive
Indo-Pacific region. Indeed,
the change is driven by the
new perception in India -
that there is no division
between strategic interest
and economic/business
interest; both are very much
part of national interest.
Second, security and
business opportunities
influence India to delve into
the potential of the South
China Sea. This change in
stance must take a permanent
shape and form while dealing
with China in future
The South China Sea
(SCS) has abundance of
minerals and oil
resources and estimated
to contain 11 billion
barrels of oil and 190
trillion cubic feet of
natural gas. The area
witnesses roughly 30% of
the global maritime trade
passing through it on its
way to the highly
trafficked ports in
Southeast Asia
COL RAJESH BHUKAR
The author is a Post Graduate in
International Studies, Alumni of Defense
Services Staff College, Wellington
and College of Combat, Mhow

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05
INDIA
New Delhi (ANI):
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi has shared a
“personal account” of a
student named Lopoli
Melo from Arunachal
Pradesh, who got the op-
portunity to participate
in the ‘Parakram Diwas
2023’ celebrations in the
Lok Sabha secretariat.
“You will enjoy read-
ing this very personal ac-
count of Lopoli Melo
fromArunachalPradesh.
I would like to laud
Speaker Om Birla Ji for
taking the lead for such
an initiative which also
gave me the opportunity
to meet bright young-
sters,” PM tweeted.
Parakram Diwas is
celebrated on January
23 in order to mark the
birth anniversary of
freedom fighter Subhas
Chandra Bose, who is
fondly known as ‘Netaji.
Lopoli Melo, student
of Rajiv Gandhi Univer-
sity, Arunachal
Pradesh, was selected
to attend the ‘Parakram
Diwas 2023’ celebra-
tions in the Lok Sabha
secretariat. In her arti-
cle titled ‘A day in the
Parliament and PMO’,
she recalls her journey
throughout the day
.
“I had to represent
my university, Rajiv
Gandhi University
(RGU), and my state in
the higher education in-
stitute (HEI) division in
the Parliament for the
‘Parakram Diwas’, 2023
- a programme launched
by the Parliamentary
Research Training In-
stitute for Democracies
(PRIDE) of the Lok Sab-
ha secretariat,” Lopoli
pens in her blog.
“My journey started
on 21 January. My
brothers were so scared
to send me alone that
they accompanied me
till the Guwahati air-
port. From there, I had
to do it all alone. Delhi
was welcoming, and felt
like home,” she said.
Lopoli says, “I was
seated in the fourth col-
umn from the left,
fourth seat from the
first, exactly at the cen-
tre of the hall” And so
he did, and gave us a
good namaste.”
Finally, talking about
her interaction with
PM Modi, she says,
“The long-awaited day
ended with an interac-
tion programme be-
tween the students and
the PM at his residence
at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg,
New Delhi.
PM shares student’s article ‘A day in the Parliament and PMO’
FIRST PERSON ACCOUNT
New Delhi (PTI): More
than 16 lakh Indians re-
nounced their Indian
citizenship since 2011
including 2,25,620 last
year, the govt said in Ra-
jya Sabha on Thursday
.
External Affairs Min-
ister S Jaishankar pre-
sented the details.
He said the number
of Indians who re-
nounced their Indian
citizenship in 2015 was
1,31,489, while 1,41,603
people gave it up in 2016
and 1,33,049 in 2017.
In 2018, the number
was 1,34,561, while
1,44,017 Indians re-
nounced their citizen-
ship in 2019, 85,256 in
2020 and 1,63,370 in 2021.
The number in 2022
was 2,25,620. For refer-
ence purposes, Jais-
hankar said the data for
2011 was 1,22,819 while
it was 1,20,923 in 2012,
1,31,405 in 2013 and
1,29,328 in 2014.
Over 16 lakh renounced Indian
citizenship since 2011: EAM in RS
New Delhi: Domestic air-
lines reported 2,613 sig-
nificant technical snags in
their planes
in the last
five years,
MoS (Civil
Aviation)
VK Singh
told the Lok
Sabha on Thursday. He
said the regulations re-
quire occurrences relating
to system and component
failure to be reported to
the Directorate General of
Civil Aviation (DGCA).
New Delhi (PTI): Those
criticising the budgetary
allocation for MNREGA
should understand that
the scheme is “demand
driven”, Union Rural
Development
Minister
Giriraj Singh
said on
Thursday,
adding that
the Narendra
Modi government has
always allocated sufficient
funds for the programme.
Amid criticism over the
budgetary allocation for
the flagship rural em-
ployment programme
— Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employ-
ment Guarantee Scheme
— Singh said the Modi
government’s allocation
are higher than that by the
UPA govt. “Those criticis-
ing the allocation should
understand what MNREGA
is before saying that the
allocation has gone down.
In 2020, we had only Rs
62,000 crore allocation
and the expenditure was
Rs 1,12,000 crore,” Singh
told reporters on the side-
lines of an event here.
“2,613 SNAGS IN
DOMESTIC FLIGHTS
IN LAST 5 YEARS”
SUFFICIENT FUNDS
BEING PROVIDED IN
MNREGA, SAYS
GIRIRAJ SINGH
Bengaluru: Confusion
continued over the
BJP’s chief ministerial
candidate for the assem-
bly elections in Karna-
taka with former CM BS
Yediyurappa stating
that the final decision
would be taken by the
party high command.
Speaking to media
Yediyurappa stated that
theparty
,PrimeMinister
Narendra Modi and the
high command will take
a call on who is going to
be the CM candidate.
“Their decision is fi-
nal. We do not have any
objections if the high
command decides to
make any leader as the
CM. The BJP is going to
win 140 seats in the up-
coming assembly elec-
tions and we will form
the govt,” he said.
Commenting on the
statements of former
CM HD Kumaraswamy
naming the BJP as the
party of Brahmins,
Yediyurappa stated that
earlier the BJP was
called the party of Lin-
gayats. Now, it is being
called the party of
Brahmins. “90 per cent
of Lingayats are still
with the BJP and we are
with them,” he said.
Asked about naming
Shivamogga airport af-
ter him, Yediyurappa
clarified that he had
told the party not to go
ahead with the plans
and it is not correct.
Confusion continues over BJP’s CM face in K’taka
BJP MULLS YEDIYURAPPA’S NAME FOR
NEW AIRPORT, CENTRE TO TAKE CALL
Bengaluru: The Union govt is taking a call regarding
the naming of Shivamogga airport after party veteran,
Lingayat strongman BS Yediyurappa. The BJP state gov-
ernment has cleared the proposal in the cabinet meeting
and already sent it to the consideration of the Centre.
All eyes within the BJP and other political parties of the
state are on the decision of Prime Minister Narendra
Modi government in this regard. Shivamogga airport is
the dream project of Yediyurappa. During his successive
terms as the CM of the state, Yediyurappa pursued the
project. His supporters have been demanding that the
airport should be named after him as a mark of respect
to his commitment and work. However, the BJP insiders
say that the party is also considering naming the airport
after luminaries of the district or national heroes.
Dehradun (PTI): Utta-
rakhand CM Pushkar
Singh Dhami on Thurs-
day appealed to the
youth not to let them-
selves be misled by any-
one saying efforts are
on to ensure that re-
cruitment examina-
tions are held in the
state in a transparent
way
. “We are soon going
to bring the strictest
anti-coyping law in the
country. It will be en-
sured that use of unfair
means in recruitment
examinations stops
completely and they are
held in a transparent
manner,” Dhami said.
Bringing anti-copying law
soon: U’khand CM Dhami Hyderabad (PTI): Tel-
angana Municipal Ad-
ministration Minister
KTRamaRaoonThurs-
day accused the BJP-led
NDA govt of adopting
an unhelpful attitude
towards the State govt
in taking up the strate-
gic road development
programme (SRDP)
works in defence lands
at Secunderabad here.
Replying to a query in
the Legislative Assem-
bly on addressing traffic
problems from Secun-
derabad to Bowenpally
and others in the city if
the defence authorities
don’t give permission to
carryoutSRDPworksin
defencelands,healleged
that the Centre is not
ready to cooperate
though the State govt
has been pursuing with
the Centre since the last
eight-and-a-half yearsto
address the defence land
issues for building flyo-
vers to address traffic
problems.
“Though the govern-
ment is in favour of
building a skyway from
Patny to Suchitra, simi-
lar to the PV Narasimha
Rao Expressway (in the
city), we have tried in
Delhi several times, un-
fortunately, the Central
government is not com-
ing forward to cooper-
ate. This is painful and
also shameful,” he said.
“Centre not helping in road work in T’gana”
New Delhi: Union Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju,
replying to a question on reservations in the judiciary in
the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, said that
there is no reservation policy in the
Indian judiciary presently but reminded
the collegium to include those who
are not represented adequately in
the system. During Question Hour in
the Rajya Sabha, the matter related
to whether the government will
consider the possibility of intro-
ducing a reservation policy in
the appointment of judges was
raised by DMK leader Tiruchi
Siva. “As per the existing poli-
cies and provisions,
there is no reserva-
tion in the Indian
judiciary,” Rijiju said.
TOLD COLLEGIUMS TO INCLUDE MEMBERS
NOT REPRESENTED IN JUDICIARY: RIJIJU
CONG WORKERS’ MURDER: COURT BANS
PUBLISHING WITNESSES’ STATEMENTS
Kochi: A CBI court in Kerala’s Kochi on Thursday
directed the media not to publish the statements
of witnesses in the Periya twin murder case where
two Youth Congress workers were brutally killed
in the state’s Kasargode district in 2019. The
accused include top local CPI-M leaders and also
a former CPI-M legislatore. Special judge, CBI K
Kamanees has also barred the entry of media in
the court hall for reporting the case.
New Delhi: An Indian woman has filed a lawsuit
against leading hotel chain, Hilton Hotels, after she
was allegedly robbed in its hotel in Madrid, Spain,
where she stayed for business purposes. Jasmeet
Kaur, CEO of KBI Industries and a resident of Noida,
filed the lawsuit in the Court of Plaza de Castilla,
Spain. Kaur shared her ordeal on social media and
alleged that the robbers assaulted her and stole her
belongings on January 27.
INDIAN WOMAN FILES SUIT AGAINST
MADRID HOTEL IN ROBBERY CASE
New Delhi: The Delhi HC on Thursday asked the city
govt to ensure strict compliance of the motor vehicle
law, including the standard operat-
ing procedure, on accepting elec-
tronic copies of driving licenses
and other transport-related docu-
ments. A bench observed that no
further orders were required to be
passed in the matter as the central govt has taken steps
in this regard and the Delhi govt was strictly following
the statutory provisions and protocols.
COURT: COMPLY WITH SOP ON ACCEPTING
ELECTRONIC COPIES OF DRIVING LICENCES
IN THE COURTYARD
Uttarakhand CM Pushkar
Singh Dhami at an event.
BJP national president JP Nadda, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha and others during the
Vijay Sankalp Rally, at Khayerpur, in West Tripura on Thursday. —PHOTO BY ANI
Agartala: A week
ahead of the Tripura
assembly election, the
ruling BJP on Thurs-
day promised greater
autonomy to tribals,
increase in farmers’
financial assistance
and setting up of rub-
ber, bamboo and agar-
based industries to
make ‘Unnato Tripu-
ra, Sreshtho Tripura’.
The BJP said that if
it returns to power af-
ter the February 16
assembly polls, it
would establish the
Maharaja Bir Bikram
Manikya Tribal Uni-
versity, provide
cooked food three
times a day at Rs 5 per
meal under the PM
Kisan -- increase the
financial assistance
from Rs 6,000 to Rs
8,000 per annum, dou-
ble the per-family an-
nual cap from Rs 5
lakh to Rs 10 lakh un-
der the Ayushman
Bharat Yojana and
housing to all regis-
tered beneficiaries.
In party’s manifes-
to, Nadda also an-
nounced setting up a
Regional Institute of
Medical Sciences hos-
pital in Agartala.
TRIPURA ASSEMBLY POLLS
BJPwoosTripuratribals
withgreaterautonomy
NADDA, TRIPURA CM OFFER PRAYERS
AT MATA TRIPURA SUNDARI TEMPLE
Udaipur (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
National President Jagat Prakash Nadda along with
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha offered prayers at
Mata Tripura Sundari
Temple in Udaipur on
Thursday morning.
While talking to ANI,
Nadda said, “Today
I got the opportunity
to offer prayers at
Mata Sundari Temple.
Whenever I come here, I get new energy. Under PM
Modi’s leadership we are taking society forward with
the mantra of ‘Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas’.”
BS Yediyurappa
Telangana Minister KT Rama Rao. —FILE PHOTO
‘Parakram Diwas 2023’ participants pose with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. —FILE PHOTO
Lopoli Melo, a
student of
Arunachal
Pradesh, was
selected to
attend the
‘Parakram
Diwas 2023’
celebrations
BUDGET
SESSION
S Jaishankar presents the details in the Upper House while replying to a question
EAM S Jaishankar speaks in Rajya Sabha as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman looks on.

06
INDIA
First India Bureau
Gurugram: President
Droupadi Murmu on
Thursday said the
mindset that bringing
up children and manag-
ing home are the re-
sponsibility of women
onlyhastochangewhile
noting that in spite of
their increased partici-
pation they fail to make
the cut above a certain
level owing to family re-
sponsibilities.
Inaugurating a national
convention on ‘Women
as Foundation of Value-
based Society’ and
launching an all India
awareness campaign
‘Empowering the Fami-
ly’ at the Om Shanti Re-
treat Centre of Brahma-
kumaris at Gurugram,
she said women have
played a very important
role in shaping values
and ethics in Indian so-
ciety
. Lauding the Brah-
makumaris organisa-
tion for reviving Indian
values
by keeping wom-
en at the centre, Murmu
said this is the world’s
largest spiritual institu-
tion run by women and
more than 46,000 sisters
of this organisation are
carrying forward the
tradition of spirituality
and Indian culture in
about 140 countries.
Empower the families: Murmu
PREZ AT BRAHMAKUMARIS EVENT
VILLAGE HEAD
KILLED IN BIHAR’S
GOPALGANJ DIST
PRESSURE COOKER
BOMBS, WEAPONS
FOUND IN J’KHAND
WOMAN HELD
FOR SMUGGLING
GOLD IN COCHIN
LABOURER FALLS
FROM DELHI
BUILDING, DIES
Patna: A village mukhi-
ya (headman) in Bihar’s
Gopalganj district
was gunned down on
Thursday, police said.
Mohammad Qurash, 32,
was on his way from
his house in Phalguni
Panchayat village to
his brick kiln in Thawe
block on his bike. When
he reached Narayanpur
village, four or five
gunmen opened fire on
him indiscriminately.
Ranchi: The police
and paramilitary forces
seized two pressure
cooker bombs, among
several other weapons
of Maoists, from a forest
in Latehar district. The
weapons were hidden in
an underground bunker
in the forest and were
recovered on Thursday.
Two rifles, a carbine
gun, 33 live bullets and
8 charger clips were
seized, sources said.
Kochi: The Cochin Air
Customs on Thursday
took into custody a
woman, who arrived
on a flight from Riyadh
in Saudi Arabia, for
smuggling gold. She
tried to get through the
Green Channel by say-
ing that she was having
her monthly period.
The woman was found
carrying 582 grams of
gold valued at Rs three
million.
New Delhi: A 35-year-
old labourer died after
falling from the first
floor of a building fol-
lowing the collapse of a
wall during renovation
work here on Thursday.
The incident took place
in northwest Delhi’s
Subhash Place. Victim
Raghubansh, who hails
from Banka district of
Bihar, was taken to a
hospital where he suc-
cumbed to injuries.
Tinsukia: An insurgent belonging to the banned United
Liberation Front of Asom (Independent) outfit was
killed in an encounter with
security forces in Assam’s
Tinsukia district on Thurs-
day.Tinsukia Superintendent
of Police Gaurav Abhijit
Dilip said that a tip-off was
received about seven to nine ULFA(I) militants, led by
Uday Asom and Mrigankha Asom, taking shelter in
Margherita and Lekhapani areas for the last 8-10 days.
Hyderabad: A minor girl was allegedly gang-raped
by five youths after giving her sedatives at a birthday
party in Hyderabad. The
shocking incident occurred
in the old city of Hyderabad
on February 4, but came
to light on Wednesday
when the victim lodged a
complaint with the police.The police also arrested
a girl and her boyfriend for abetting the offence.
The 16-year-old girl had gone to a medical shop in
Chatrinaka area on the night of February 4. She was
lured by another girl from the same area to come to
a friend’s place at Bhoiguda for a birthday party.
UNITED LIBERATION FRONT OF ASOM (IND)
MILITANT KILLED IN ENCOUNTER IN ASSAM
MINOR GIRL GANG-RAPED BY 5 YOUTHS
AT BIRTHDAY PARTY IN HYDERABAD
CRUCIAL READ
84K cr orders pending, 55K
crmorecomingup:HALchief
Ananthakrishnan says Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd order book position is comfortable
Bengaluru (ANI): In
the wake of Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi’s
recent assertion that
the state-owned Hindu-
stan Aeronautics Lim-
ited has a huge number
of orders for aircraft
and choppers, the chair-
man of the PSU said
that the state-owned en-
tity has pending orders
worth Rs 84,000, while
orders worth Rs 55,000
were in the pipeline.
Hindustan Aeronaut-
ics Ltd (HAL) CMD CB
Ananthakrishnan said,
“We have been generat-
ing revenues of Rs 25,000
crores which has shown
a growth of eight per-
cent. We have sufficient
contractstobeexecuted.”
“Almost Rs 84,000
crore orders are pend-
ing. Another Rs 55000
crore orders are in the
pipeline,likelytomateri-
alize in next six months
to one year. So, all in all,
we will have a healthy
orderbook.Ourcapacity
is 30 helicopters per an-
num,” he said.
“We will try to ramp
it up to 60 helicopters. If
demand is at its peak,
then we can take it to 90
helicopters,” he stated.
He said sanction for
the LCA (Light Combat
Aircraft) Mark II, has
come and that the De-
fence Research and De-
velopmentOrganisation
(DRDO) and HAL will
together be able to roll
outthefirstLCAMarkII
sometime in 2024-25.
About HAL’s Ad-
vanced Medium Com-
bat Aircraft (AMCA)
project, the HAL chief
stated,”We are also a de-
sign partner in building
prototypes in this pro-
ject. In another five to
six years, the product
should be available.”
“The execution time-
frame is starting from
February 2024. We are
confident that we will
be able to deliver the
first aircraft in Febru-
ary 2024,” he added.
PM Modi had while
inaugurating a HAL
helicopter factory in
Karnataka’s Tumakuru
recently lashed out at
the Opposition for
spreading “misinfor-
mation” about Hindu-
stan Aeronautics Lim-
ited (HAL) in the past.
Modi also recalled
earlier Parliamentary
sessions that were dis-
rupted by the Opposi-
tion over the demand
for a Joint Parliamen-
tary Committee probe
into the Rafale deal.
“Tumakuru has got a
big helicopter factory
today. Karnataka is a
land of young talent and
innovation. The world
is seeing the manufac-
turing power of Karna-
taka from drone manu-
facturing to Tejas fight-
er planes. The double-
engine government has
made Karnataka the
first choice of investors.
The inauguration of the
helicopter factory is an
example of how the dou-
ble-engine government
works,” PM Modi said.
HAL CMD CB Ananthakrishnan speaks to the media on Thursday.
HAL ON A HIGH
DELHI EXCISE POLICY CASE
ED arrests advertising
company’s director
New Delhi (PTI):
The Enforcement Di-
rectorate (ED) has
arrested director of
an advertising com-
pany, who is alleged
to have ran the AAP
campaign during the
2022 Goa assembly
polls, in connection
with its
m o n e y
launder-
ing in-
vestiga-
tion into
alleged
irregularities in the
Delhi excise policy,
officials said on
Thursday
.
Rajesh Joshi, the
director of Chariot
Productions Media
Pvt Ltd, was placed
under arrest under
sections of the Pre-
vention of Money
Laundering Act
(PMLA). He was pro-
duced before a local
court where the
agency sought his
custody in the case.
ADVT COMPANY DIRECTOR SENT
TO ED’S CUSTODY TILL FEB 13
New Delhi: A court
here on Thursday
sent the director
of an advertising
company, who is
alleged to have ran
the AAP campaign
during the 2022 Goa
assembly polls, to
ED’s custody for in-
terrogation in a Delhi
excise policy-related
money launder-
ing case.Rajesh
Joshi, director of
Chariot Produc-
tions Media Pvt Ltd,
was sent for cus-
todial interrogation
till February 13.He
was arrested by
the ED on Wednes-
day. The agency
sought his ten days’
custody, saying he
was required to be
confronted with
other accused in the
case to unearth the
larger conspiracy. It
said the links of the
advertising company
promoter with regard
to alleged diversion
of “kickbacks” for the
Goa assembly polls
in 2022 are under the
ED scanner.
PM to inaugurate
Global Investors
Summit 2023 in
Lucknow today
New Delhi: Prime Min-
ister will visit Lucknow
on Friday to inaugurate
the Uttar Pradesh Glob-
al Investors Summit
2023, read a statement
by Prime Minister’s Of-
fice.The Prime Minister
will inaugurate the Ut-
tar Pradesh Global In-
vestors Summit 2023.
He will also inaugurate
Global Trade Show and
launch Invest UP 2.0,
added the press release.
Uttar Pradesh Global
Investors Summit 2023
is scheduled from 10-12
February 2023.
SHARES TUMBLE...
Adani Wilmar is a 50:50
joint venture between
business conglomerate
Adani Group and Singa-
pore-based Wilmar. On
Thursday, Adani Wilmar
released a statement and
said, “The officials did not
find any irregularities in the
operations and dealings
conducted by the company.
We would like to clarify
that the concerns specific
to GST payments in cash,
citing GST law under Rule
86B, the company is not
required to pay the tax li-
ability.” “The staff extended
their support during this
routine inspection, fully
cooperating with the of-
ficials and local authori-
ties,” the company said,
adding depot operations
are functioning normally
after the visit. The state-
ment noted that this was
actually a routine inspected
by the authorities and not
a raid and all its operations
are in compliance with the
relevant laws and regula-
tions.Interestingly, it seems
that Adani group is going
through a ‘rough phase’
after the recent Hindenburg
report followed by the dip in
Adani’s shares. On the other
hand, there are murmurs in
‘power corridoors’ that the
sixty thousand crore rupees
Adani Solar project’s MoU
with Rajasthan government
may also be cancelled.
Notably, Congress leader
Rahul Gandhi had recently
targeted the Adani group in
the Parliament.
WBSSC to terminate
800 secondary teachers
Kolkata: The West Ben-
gal School Service Com-
mission (WBSSC) will
soon terminate 800 ille-
gally-appointed teach-
ers at the secondary
level in different state-
run schools from ser-
vice, the commission
informed the Calcutta
High Court on Thurs-
day
. It is learnt that the
process will start after
WBSSC issues an offi-
cial notification on this
count next week, in
which the names of
these 800 teachers will
be published. Sources
in the state education
department said that
these 800 teachers will
be those whose num-
bers in the OMR sheets
varied from those in the
central server of the
commission.
18 die in separate mishaps in 3
states, victims include 11 children
New Delhi (ANI): As
many as 18 persons
were killed, including
11 children in separate
mishaps in three states
on Thursday
.
In an accident, seven
school children were
killed and four severely
injured after the auto-
rickshaw they were in
collided with a truck in
Chhattisgarh’s Kanker
district, officials said.
In another accident,
As many as seven la-
bourers reportedly died
due to suffocation while
they were engaged in
the removal of oil
sludge in an edible oil
tanker on Thursday in
Andhra Pradesh’s Kaki-
nada district. Officials
immediately rushed to
the spot and took up the
investigation. The inci-
dent sent shock waves
to the village.
In another mishap, a
fierce fire broke out in
the slum of Gagret sub-
division of the Una dis-
trict in Himachal
Pradesh which alleged-
ly killed four minors
during the midnight
hours of Wednesday
.
Pawan Hans launches
helicopter routes in Assam
New Delhi: Pawan
Hans has started its hel-
icopter services on six
routes in Assam. These
new helicopter services,
launched under the RCS
UDAN scheme, will pro-
vide connectivity on the
Dibr ug arh-Jorhat-
Te z p u r- G u w a h a t i -
Tezpur - Jorhat- Dibru-
garh network.
The RCS UDAN of
the Ministry of Civil
Aviation is giving spe-
cial impetus to provid-
ing air connectivity to
remote places of north-
eastern states which
have inadequate rail
and road connectivity
.
Officials said the RCS
UDAN helicopter ser-
vices in Assam will
boost air connectivity
within the state by offer-
ing the fastest mode of
travel to connect Tezpur,
Jorhat, and Dibrugarh
from Guwahati. The ser-
vices will play a key role
in promoting tourism
activities in the state.
—PHOTO
BY
ANI
President Droupadi Murmu at the event in Gurugram on Thursday.
SUPER SHOT!
Union Information Broadcasting, Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Anurag Singh Thakur plays cricket amid snowfall. He was
participating in the opening ceremony of 3rd edition of Khelo India National Winter Games, in JK on Thursday.
FROM P1

India-Pakistan trade stood at $1.35 billion
New Delhi (PTI): The bi-
lateral trade between India
and Pakistan has increased
to $1.35 billion during
April-December 2022 as
against $516.36 million in
the whole 2021-22, Parlia-
ment was informed.
Similarly, the country’s
trade with China has ag-
gregated at about $87 bil-
lion during the nine-month
period of this fiscal, ac-
cording to the data provid-
ed by Minister of State for
Commerce and Industry
Anupriya Patel in a written
reply to the Lok Sabha.
In 2019, Pakistan sus-
pended bilateral trade with
India after New Delhi re-
voked the special status of
Jammu and Kashmir.
The trade with Pakistan
stood at $329.26 million in
2020-21 and $830.58 million
in 2019-20, the data showed.
“The government con-
tinues to engage pro-active-
ly with SAARC countries
to strengthen trade and
economic relations.
DURING APRIL-DECEMBER 2022
DATA IN
NUMBERS
z The bilateral trade between
India and Pakistan has
increased to $1.35 billion
during April-Dec 2022 as
against $516.36 million in
the whole 2021-22
z According to the data, the
trade with Pakistan stood at
$329.26 million in 2020-
21 and $830.58 million in
2019-20
business
BRIEFS
New Delhi: Gold price
rose `35 to `57,410 per
10 grams in the national
capital on Thursday, ac-
cording to HDFC Securi-
ties. Silver, however, fell
`5 to `67,941 per kilo-
gram. “Spot gold prices
in the Delhi markets trad-
ed at `57,410/10 grams,
up `5 per 10 grams,”
Saumil Gandhi, Senior
Analyst - Commodities at
HDFC Securities, said. In
the overseas market, both
gold and silver were trad-
ing flat at $1,880 per
ounce and $22.50 per
ounce, respectively. —PTI
GOLD JUMPS `35 TO
`57,410 PER 10 GM,
SILVER DOWN BY `5
New Delhi: ONGC Videsh
Ltd, the overseas invest-
ment arm of state-owned
Oil and Natural Gas Cor-
poration (ONGC), is eying
exploration and produc-
tion assets in Africa and
Latin America. OVL
signed a memorandum of
understanding with YPF
SA of Argentia on the
sidelines of the India En-
ergy Week in Bengaluru, a
company statement said.
OVL is India’s flagship
overseas oil firm. It cur-
rently has a stake in 32 oil
and gas projects in 15
countries, spanning from
Venezuela to Vietnam.
OVL’s biggest investment
is in Russia where it has
4 projects. —PTI
ONGC VIDESH EYES
ASSETS IN AFRICA
AND LATIN AMERICA
New Delhi: Walt Disney
Co announced a sweeping
restructuring under re-
cently reinstated CEO Bob
Iger, cutting 7,000 jobs as
part of an effort to save
$5.5 billion in costs and
make its streaming busi-
ness profitable. The lay-
offs represent an estimat-
ed 3.6% of Disney’s glob-
al workforce. The steps,
including a promise to re-
instate a dividend for
shareholders, addressed
some of the criticism
from activist investor Nel-
son Peltz. —FIB
DISNEY TO CUT 7,000
JOBS IN MAJOR
REVAMP, SAYS CEO
New Delhi: India’s agri-
cultural and processed
food exports increased by
13% to $19.69 bn from
April through December
of this fiscal year, accord-
ing to data released by
the commerce ministry.
“For 2022-23, an export
target of $23.6 billion has
been fixed by the APEDA
that works under the min-
istry,” it said. From April
to December, basmati rice
exports climbed by
40.26% to $3.33 bn.
Shipments of non-Bas-
mati rice increased by
3.35% to $4.66 bn during
that time. —PTI
AGRI, PROCESSED
FOOD EXPORTS UP
13% IN APR-DEC
07
Commodity Price Change % Chg
GOLD 57,410.00 35.00 0.06 (Per 10g)
SILVER 67,941.00 5.00 .007 (Per 1kg)
COMMODITIES
Currency Price Change % Chg
USDINR 82.54 0.00 0.00
GBPINR 100.17 0.32 0.32
CURRENCIES
*Rates till the edition went to print.
=
HIRING ACTIVITY IN
E-RECRUITMENT SPACE
DIPS BY 2%: REPORT
Mumbai: Hiring activity in
the e-recruitment white-collar
space in January witnessed
2% year-on-
year decline
mainly due to
slowdown in
sectors includ-
ing IT, telecom, manufacturing
and healthcare, a report said.
E-recruitment refers to the
process of employing talents
using various online sources.
Demand for jobs in production
and manufacturing declined by
8% as did in healthcare (7%),
telecom (5%). —PTI
OLA ELECTRIC TO
OPEN 500 EXPERIENCE
CENTRES BY MARCH
New Delhi: Ola Electric will
open 500 experience centres
across India by March this
year as it
seeks to be
closer to
consumers,
company
founder and CEO said. The
company, which currently has
200 experience centres across
the country, is also planning
to bring an electric bike to the
market. Ola’s experience cen-
tres help consumers explore
and buy its vehicles and also
get servicing. —PTI
STATES TO INTEGRATE WITH NATIONAL SINGLE
WINDOW SYSTEM BY DEC: DPIIT SECRETARY
New Delhi: All the states, union territories and 32 central govern-
ment departments will integrate with the National Single Window
System (NSWS) by December this year,
through which companies can seek all
approvals and clearances for their busi-
nesses, a top official said on Thursday.
So far 19 states/UTs and 27 central
government departments are already
onboarded, including Andhra Pradesh,
Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh,
Jammu Kashmir, and Karnataka, the Secretary in the DPIIT
Anurag Jain said. —PTI
NOKIA EXTENDS PRODUCTION OF FIBRE
BROADBAND EQUIPMENT TO INDIA
New Delhi: Telecom equipment maker Nokia on Thursday said
it will extend manufacturing of PON optical line terminals (OLTs)
to its factory in Sriperimbudur near Chennai to cater to rising de-
mand from local customers in India and
global markets. PON stands for Passive
Optical Network. In a statement, Nokia
said shifts in consumer behaviour, from
home working to data-rich entertain-
ment services, are driving demand for
broadband. —PTI
OTHER STORIES
ON STICKY INFLATION
RBI may hike rates again
Mumbai (PTI): Analysts
are of the view that after
delivering the seventh
hawkish policy on Wednes-
day the central bank may
pause after delivering a
likely 25 basis points in-
crease in the April review.
For Abheek Barua, the
chief economist at HDFC
Bank, the 25 bps repo hike
and keeping its withdrawal
of accommodation stance
unchanged are on expected
lines, the policy tone was
hawkish as the RBI-MPC
has recognised that they
are still away from achiev-
ing their objective of dura-
ble disinflation, which still
looks distant as the core
inflation continues to re-
main sticky
.
“Even as headline infla-
tion is likely to moderate
over the coming months,
core inflation could remain
sticky, and if the RBI
chooses to continue seeing
signs of durable modera-
tion in core inflation as a
yardstick for policy tight-
ening, another 25 bps rate
hike in April is likely. But
we see a change in stance to
neutral is unlikely until
the RBI pauses its rate hike
cycle,” Barua said.
He said that the more-
than-expected hawkish
stance was clear from how
the market reacted--- the 10-
year bond yield rose to
7.34% post-policy from the
last closing level of 7.31%.
He expects the 10-year pa-
per to trade 7.30-7.35% in
the near term and the ru-
pee to trade 82-83 levels in
the near term as global
risks continue to remain
elevated.
RATE HIKES WILL NOT IMPACT NBFCS'
COLLECTIONS: ICRA
Mumbai (PTI): A day after the Reserve Bank delivered another
rate hike, a domestic ratings agency on Thursday said the
increases will not impact collection efficiencies for non-bank
lenders. This is so primarily because of the collaterals given
by borrowers and the priority they accord to repayments, Icra
Ratings said. The agency said typically housing loans and
loans against property pools carry interest rate risks. ... The
continuation of rate hikes will not have a significant bearing on
the collection efficiencies given the association of the borrower
with the underlying collateral (residential properties) and the
priority given by borrowers to repay such loans, it said. The
agency added that the collection efficiency is expected to remain
robust on the back of strong outlook for majority of the sectors
though impact of the uncertain global environment is difficult to
ascertain at present.
Sensex, Nifty clock gains for 2nd day
Mumbai (PTI): Rising for
the second straight ses-
sion, equity benchmark
Sensex climbed 142 points
on Thursday following
buying in IT and finance
stocks amid a higher open-
ing in European markets.
After a see-saw session,
the 30-share BSE Sensex
ended 142.43 points or
0.23% higher at 60,806.22.
During the day, the index
witnessed a high of
60,863.63 and a low of
60,472.81. The broader NSE
Nifty advanced 21.75
points or 0.12% to finish at
17,893.45.
Bajaj Finserv topped the
Sensex gainers' chart, ris-
ing 2.30%, followed by
Asian Paints, IndusInd
Bank, Infosys, Bajaj Fi-
nance, LT and TCS.
In contrast, Bharti Air-
tel, UltraTech Cement,
Tata Motors and Sun Phar-
ma were among the lag-
gards, shedding up to
1.03%. In the broader mar-
ket, the BSE midcap gauge
slipped 0.01% and the
smallcap index dipped
0.15%.
` SETTLES FLAT AT 82.54 AGAINST US DOLLAR
New Delhi (PTI): The rupee pared initial losses and settled on a
flat note at 82.54 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday,
supported by a rebound in domestic equities. At the interbank
foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 82.59 against
the American currency and touched a low of 82.66 and a high of
82.48 intra-day. It finally settled at 82.54 against the greenback,
unchanged from its previous close.
Jio-bp rolls out
E20 petrol with
20% ethanol
New Delhi (PTI): Jio-bp,
the fuel and mobility joint
venture of Reliance Indus-
tries Ltd and UK's bp, has
launched petrol blended
with 20% ethanol, align-
ing with the government
programme to cut oil im-
ports and reduce carbon
emissions.
In line with the road-
map set by the Govern-
ment, Jio-bp has become
one of the first fuel retail-
ers in India to make E20
blended petrol available,
the company said in a
statement.
India’s sugar exports
at 27.83 lakh tonnes
in 2022-23 so far
New Delhi (PTI): India
has exported 27.83 lakh
tonnes of sugar till Febru-
ary 9 of the ongoing 2022-23
marketing year, with Bang-
ladesh and Indonesia being
the top markets, trade body
AISTA said on Thursday
.
Among other nations, In-
dia has exported 2.47 lakh
tonnes of the sweetener to
Djibouti, 2.46 lakh tonnes
to Somalia and 2.06 lakh
tonnes to the UAE during
October-February 9 of the
current marketing year,
the All India Sugar Trade
Association (AISTA) said.
Mills have exported a to-
tal of 27,83,536 tonnes of
sugar from October 1, 2022
to February 9 this year.
About 4.24 lakh tonne is
under loading, while 3.79
lakh tonne of sugar has
been delivered to refiner-
ies, considered to be
deemed export in the said
period, it added.
Sugar exports from In-
dia, the world’s major sug-
ar producing nation, stood
at 112 lakh tonnes in the
2021-22 marketing year.
As per AISTA’s initial
projections, sugar output
will be lower at 35.8 million
tonnes during the 2022-23
marketing year.
ACCORDING
TO AISTA DATA
z India has exported 27.83
lakh tonnes of sugar till Feb
9 of the ongoing 2022-
23 marketing year, with
Bangladesh and Indonesia
being the top markets
z Among other nations, India
has exported 2.47 lakh
tonnes of the sweetener to
Djibouti and 2.46 lakh tonnes
to Somalia
Equity mutual funds inflow
hits 4-month high in January
New Delhi (PTI): Driven
by buoyant SIP flows, eq-
uity mutual funds have at-
tracted `12,546 crore in
January, making it the
highest net infusion in four
months, despite volatility
in stock markets.
This was way higher
than `7,303 crore inflow
seen in December, `2,258
crore in November and
`9,390 crore in October. Pri-
or to that, equity mutual
funds witnessed flow to the
tune of `14,100 crore in Sep-
tember. This was also the
23rd straight month of in-
flows into equity-oriented
mutual fund schemes, data
with the Association of Mu-
tual Funds in India (Amfi)
showed on Thursday
.
Unemployment rate in
youth falls to 12.9%
Mumbai (PTI): The unem-
ployment rate for the youth
in the country has reduced
to 12.9% in 2020-21, from
17.8% in 2017-18, Parlia-
ment was informed.
The official data on em-
ployment and unemploy-
ment is collected through
Periodic Labour Force Sur-
vey which is conducted by
the Ministry of Statistics
Programme Implementa-
tion since 2017-18, Minister
of State for Labour and
Employment Rameswar
Teli said in a written reply
to Rajya Sabha.
The survey period is
July to June of next year.
As per the latest available
annual PLFS reports, the
estimated unemployment
rate on usual status for per-
sons aged 15 years and
above was 6%, 5.8%, 4.8%,
and 4.2% during 2017-18,
2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21,
respectively, he said.
“This shows that unem-
ployment rate in the coun-
try has declined,” Teli said.
AS PER ANNUAL
PLFS REPORTS
z Estimated unemployment
rate on usual status for
persons aged 15 years and
above was 6%, 5.8%, 4.8%,
and 4.2% during 2017-18,
2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-
21, respectively
z Estimated unemployment
rate on usual status for
youth ages 15-29 years was
12.9 per cent in 2020-21
IN 2020-21

08
2NDFRONT
A successful man manages the credit
and debit, not just of his finances but
also of his well-being, prudently.
— Dr Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
First India Bureau
Pune: Maharashtra
minister Sudhir Mun-
gantiwar on Thursday
claimed that Gautam
Adani prospered dur-
ing the Congress re-
gime in Gujarat and
said one cannot become
the prime minister by
growing a “beard”, re-
ferring to Rahul Gan-
dhi’s remarks on the
industrialist in Parlia-
ment.
“I believe that no one
can become the prime
minister by growing a
beard, one becomes
(PM) by growing intel-
lect. Today, when you
(Gandhi) are talking
about Adani, don’t you
know when Adani pros-
pered?” he said.
Mungantiwar was
talking to reporters
during the BJP’s cam-
paign kick-off for the
bypoll in the Kasba
Peth constituency,
scheduled to be held on
February 26.
“In 1993, when Chi-
manbhai Patel was CM
of Gujarat, it was you
(Congress) who gave
land to Adani at 10 paise
per square metre. When
Chhabildas Mehta was
CM, the Mundra port
work was given (to Ada-
ni group),” said Mun-
gantiwar. The minister
said there is an attempt
by the Congress to
spread lies about the
Adani controversy
.
Asked about com-
ment on Congress state
chief Nana Patole in
Shiv Sena mouthpiece
Saamana and whether
there is disquiet within
MVA the minister said
there was no need for
them to check what is
happening in MVA.
“Our work is not for
power, our work is for
truth. Our work is for
dharma (righteous-
ness) and not adharma
(unrighteousness). I do
not see any need to
comment on what is go-
ing on there (in MVA),”
he said.
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The Mumbai-
Ahmedabad bullet train
is a “dream project of
this country and of na-
tional importance and
in public interest”, the
Bombay High Court
said on Thursday dis-
missing a petition filed
by Godrej Boyce com-
pany challenging acqui-
sition proceedings initi-
ated by the Maharash-
tra government and the
NHSRCL in Mumbai’s
Vikhroli area for the
project.
A division bench of
Justices R D Dhanuka
and M M Sathaye said
the project was one-of-
its-kind and collective
interest would prevail
over private interest.
The court said in cas-
es of conflict on inter
fundamental rights and
intra fundamental
rights, the court has to
examine as to where
lies the larger public in-
terest while balancing
the two conflicting
rights.
“It is the paramount
collective interest
which would ultimate-
ly prevail. In the facts
of this case, the private
interest claimed by the
petitioner does not pre-
vail over the public in-
terest which would sub-
serve infrastructural
project of public im-
portance which is a
dream project of this
country and first of its
kind,” it said.
“In our view the bul-
let train project is an
infrastructural project
of national importance,
a large number of pub-
lic would be benefited
and would have saved
other benefits for the
betterment of this
country
,” the court said.
Of the total 508.17
kilometres of rail track
between Mumbai and
Ahmedabad, about 21
km is planned to be un-
derground. One of the
entry points to the un-
derground tunnel falls
on the land in Vikhroli
(owned by Godrej).
The state govern-
ment and the National
High-Speed Rail Corpo-
ration Limited (NHSR-
CL) had claimed the
company was delaying
the entire project
which was of public
importance.
The bench, in its
judgment, said the pro-
visions of the Fair Com-
pensation Act empow-
ers the government to
take the acquisition
proceedings already
initiated to its logical
conclusion.
The court also re-
fused to accept Godrej’s
contention that the
compensation was ini-
tially decided to be Rs
572 crore but was re-
duced to Rs 264 crore
when the final award
was passed.
“The compensation
derived at the stage of
private negotiation can-
not be considered as fi-
nal and binding since
the said private negotia-
tion had admittedly
failed,” HC said.
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Maharashtra
ATS has claimed the
Popular Front of India
(PFI), banned by Centre
last year, aimed to es-
tablish “rule of Islam”
in India by 2047, and
also had plans to obtain
weapons and ammuni-
tion with the help of
foreign countries or
other organisations to
achieve their targets.
The ATS stated this
in its chargesheet filed
in a local court last
week against five PFI
members who were ar-
rested last year for al-
legedly indulging in
unlawful activities and
waging a war against
the country. The state
ATS arrested the five
PFI members - Mazhar
Khan, Sadiq Shaikh,
Mohammad Iqbal
Khan, Momin Mistry
and Aasif Hussain
Khan - following raids
my multiple agencies
across various states in
September last year.
In the chargesheet
filed on February 2, the
ATS claimed to have
seized a document
called “India 2047- to-
wards rule of Islam in
India.”
The chargesheet said
the PFI wanted to create
a split among several
communities by pro-
jecting the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh
(RSS) as an organisa-
tion interested only in
the welfare of upper
caste Hindus.
‘Notinclinedtograntanyrelief,petitionisdismissed’
BOMBAY HIGH COURT DISMISSES MAJOR PETITIONS
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The Bombay
HighCourtonThursday
dismissed a public inter-
est litigation filed
against Union Law Min-
ister Kiren Rijiju and
Vice President Jagdeep
Dhankhar for their re-
marks on judiciary and
thecollegiumsystemfor
appointment of judges.
The plea filed by Bom-
bay Lawyers Associa-
tion had claimed Rijiju
and Dhankhar showed
lack of faith in the Con-
stitution with their re-
marks and conduct. It
had sought for orders to
restrain Dhankhar from
discharging duty as the
vice president, and Riji-
ju from discharging
duty as cabinet minister
for the central govern-
ment.
The PIL claimed the
“frontal attack not just
on the judiciary but the
Constitution” by the
two executive officials
has lowered the pres-
tige of the Supreme
Court in public.
A division bench of
Acting Chief Justice S
V Gangapurwala and
Justice Sandeep Marne
briefly heard the peti-
tioner’s lawyer, Ahmed
Abdi, and Additional
Solicitor General (ASG)
Anil Singh for the re-
spondents.
“We are not inclined
to grant any relief. The
petition is dismissed.
Reasons would be re-
corded later,” the court
said.
While Abdi argued
that Dhankhar and Rij-
iju had lowered
the reputation
of the judici-
ary with their remarks,
ASG Singh said the plea
was frivolous and a pub-
licity stunt.
Singh said the re-
spondents (Dhankhar
and Rijiju) respect the
Constitution of India
which is the supreme
and there was no ques-
tion of them attacking
the Constitution.
“The petition is frivo-
lous, a waste of the
court’s time and noth-
ing but a publicity
stunt. Exemplary cost
should be imposed,”
Singh said.
Abdi argued that
Dhankhar and Rijiju
are constitutionaries
and hence should ab-
stain from making such
remarks.
“We are not against
debate and criti-
cism but it
should be held
in Parliament and not
in such public domain.
This is lowering the ju-
diciary’s reputation
and image and affecting
the faith people have in
judiciary,” Abdi said.
This was a very dan-
gerous trend that would
ultimately lead to anar-
chy, he claimed.
“Respondent 1
(Dhankhar) and Re-
spondent 2 (Rijiju) as
constitutional function-
aries are supposed to
have faith and alle-
giance to the Constitu-
tion of India,” the PIL
had said.
“The Vice President
and the Law Minister
are attacking the colle-
gium system as well as
the doctrine of basic
structure openly in a
public platform. This
kind of unbecoming be-
haviour by respondents
who are holding consti-
tutional posts is lower-
ing the majesty of the
Supreme Court in the
eyes of the public at
large,” claimed the peti-
tion, filed through advo-
cate Eknath Dhokale.
Rijiju recently said
the collegium system of
appointing judges was
“opaque and not trans-
parent”.
Bombay HC
dismisses PIL
seeking action
against Vice
President
Dhankhar and
Union Law
Minister Rijiju
Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train: Godrej
Boyce plea against land acquisition nixed
It is the paramount collective interest
which would ultimately prevail. In the
facts of this case, the private interest
claimed by the petitioner does not prevail over
the public interest which would subserve infra-
structural project of public importance which
is a dream project of this country and first of
its kind. —Court said
We dream 2047, where the political
power has returned to the Muslim com-
munity from whom it was unjustly tak-
en away by the British Raj. The roadmap to-
wards this first starts with the socio-economic
development of Muslim community for which a
separate roadmap was already provided in the
name of Empower India Foundation.”
— As per the chargesheet
Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju
Vice Prez Jagdeep Dhankhar
—FILE PHOTO
Adani prospered
during Cong rule in
Guj: Mungantiwar
Maharashtra minister Sudhir
Mungantiwar
PFI wanted to turn India into Islamic
state by 2047: Maharashtra ATS
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Congress
party worker Balasa-
heb Dabhekar rebelled
and filed an independ-
ent application in the
Kasba assembly by-
election, but later with-
drew the nomination.
Will the same situation
be seen in Chinchwad
as well? On this ques-
tion, NCP leader Ajit
Pawar said on Thurs-
day, ‘We can only make
as much efforts. There
has been success in
Kasba assembly con-
stituency. Efforts are
going on in Chinchwad
also, if it is successful
then it is fine, other-
wise we will move
ahead.”
On the question
floating about in politi-
cal circles that maxi-
mum expenditure has
been made on adver-
tisements in the Shin-
de-Fadnavis govern-
ment, Pawar said,
“This matter pertains
to the government.
Will present our side
on this soon. I have
also served as the Fi-
nance Minister. Where
should the money be
spent, who should be
given priority, if it has
been spent for the ne-
glected and deprived
sections, needs to be
looked into.”
We can only do so
much: Ajit Pawar
“One can’t become
PM by growing beard,
one becomes (PM) by
growing intellect”
‘Had Nana not resigned, MVA govt would have survived’
WADETTIWAR MEETS KHARGE
First India Bureau
New Delhi: Congress
leader and MLA Vijay
Wadettiwar called on
Congress President
Mallikarjun Kharge in
Delhi on Thursday and
discussed the internal
matters in Congress
and Balasaheb Thorat’s
resignation from the
post of Legislature Par-
ty leader. Meanwhile,
when asked whether
the resignation of Bala-
saheb Thorat from the
post of Legislature Par-
ty leader has been ac-
cepted, Wadettiwar
said, “the Congress
high command will de-
cide whether to accept
the resignation of Bala-
saheb Thorat or not.”
Wadettiwar said,
“Decision on
Thorat’s resigna-
tion and state
president will be
taken by the
Congress high
command. I
h a v e
m e t
Mall-
ikarjun Kharge for the
first time in Delhi after
he became the Congress
President. This time I
have conveyed to him
the state’s situation.”
Sanjay Raut had re-
cently given a state-
ment that the
Maha Vikas
Aghadi govern-
ment fell because
of Nana Patole.
When Vadetti-
war was
a s k e d
a b o u t
t h i s ,
Vadettiwar said that
Nana Patole is a capable
leader. “He did a good
job as Speaker of the
Assembly
. But his resig-
nation caused great em-
barrassment. The new
chairman could not be
elected. The result was
that the Mahavikas
Aghadi government
had to step down from
power. He should not
have resigned. Every-
one felt that if Nanab-
hau had not resigned,
this government would
have survived,” he said.
CONG REBEL WITHDRAWS NOMINATION
Mumbai (FIB): Balasaheb Dabekar, who rebelled against the Congress and filed an inde-
pendent candidature, withdrew his candidature on Thursday. After the withdrawal, it was
said that the Congress felt highly relieved that it has been successful in suppressing the
rebellion. Rebelling from the Congress, Balasaheb Dabhekar on Tuesday filed his nomina-
tion for the Kasba Assembly bypoll. Efforts were started by the Congress to withdraw
Dabekar’s nomination. Congress supervisor MLA Sangram Thopte, in-charge city presi-
dent Arvind Shinde and other Congress officials discussed with Dabekar on Wednesday
night. During this discussion, Dabhekar’s mind got stuck. Dabhekar had announced that
he would announce the decision after discussing with the workers. Accordingly, on Thurs-
day, Dabekar withdrew his candidature.

www.firstindia.co.in I https://firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/
thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
hite is the
lightest colour,
meaning puri-
ty, innocence,
and integrity.
It is considered
to represent
perfection, as it is the
purest and most com-
plete colour. It is the
colour that represents
new begging and eras-
es any trace of past ac-
tions. It is like a piece
of white paper not be-
ing written yet. It
leaves the mind open
and free to whatever it
might create in the
way. White colour is a
classic, whatever the
fashion of any particu-
lar time white is al-
ways in fashion. White
is one of the few col-
ours that is easy to
match with most out-
fits and also never goes
out of fashion, espe-
cially in the summer
sunshine. The colour
white is mostly worn
during the summer. Al-
though, it should be
worn during the entire
year and not confined
to just one season. It is
also not the easiest col-
our for wearing be-
cause it “gets dirty”
quickly. White can be
worn to feel uplifted. It
conveys a feeling of
newness, so it’s a nice
colour to wear on the
first day of a new en-
deavour. White is clas-
sic, simple yet versa-
tile, and it looks great
on Indian skin tones.
Colours play a big role
in the fashion sense
but the white colour in
fashion staples makes
it a stand-alone piece.
There are several white
outfits that are trendy
and should be a part
of every individual’s
wardrobe. White-on-
white is considered
an uplighting outfit
and makes an indi-
vidual feel more con-
fident. More than
men, women are
seen using this col-
our as a symbol of
power. The white
shirt is the most com-
mon staple in every-
one’s closet as it is a
go-to outfit when
nothing comes to
mind. White shirts
paired up with dark
tops are one of the
most common styl-
ish looks. Brides
are also dropping
the idea of wear-
ing traditional
red and other vi-
brant colours in
their wedding
functions and
c h o o s i n g
white lehen-
gas instead.
We can say
that ‘white
colour is the
new dark’
c u r r e n t l y.
But not only
white lehen-
ga, other
white ethnic
outfits like
sharara, sa-
ree, suits,
sherwani, etc
are also com-
mon these
days. White is a
universal col-
our and is eve-
ryone’s first
choice when it
comes to fash-
ion,beitcasual
or traditional.
W
SHUBHANSHI PATHAK
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
WHITE IS THE MOST
POWERFUL COLOUR.
IT’S OPTIMISTIC AND
POWERFUL. CITY
FIRST BRINGS TO YOU
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF
THE COLOUR WHITE
IN THE FASHION
WORLD...
SYMBOLOFPURITY
MUMBAI, FRIDAY,
FEBRUARY 10, 2023

First India Mumbai 10022023.pdf

First India Mumbai 10022023.pdf

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