First India Mumbai 18022023.pdf

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MUMBAI l SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2023 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI TITLE NO. MAHENG/2022/14652 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 282
OUR EDITIONS:
JAIPUR & MUMBAI
KISKI SENA?
EC DECISION PROVES THAT SHINDE IS
LEADER OF REAL SHIV SENA: FADNAVIS
EC DECISION DANGEROUS FOR
DEMOCRACY, WILL MOVE SC: UDDHAV
Nagpur (FIB): Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis said EC’s
decision in favour of Eknath Shinde established that Shinde leads
“the real Shiv Sena.” “It is now proved that Eknath Shinde leads the
real Shiv Sena. The decision has been given on merit,” Fadnavis
said. “Shiv Sena is a party of ideology. Shinde is taking the ideology
ahead....he is walking in (Sena founder) Balasaheb Thackeray’s
footsteps,” the BJP leader said. He also said that nobody can claim
the ownership of a party like it is a private property. Earlier too,
the Election Commission had decided such cases by taking into
account the percentage of votes obtained by respective factions’
legislators, Fadnavis said. Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar
Bawankule said the EC’s decision was historic.
Mumbai (FIB): Responding to the development, Uddhav
Thackeray on Friday said the EC’s order was “dangerous for
democracy”, and he would challenge it in the Supreme Court.
Speaking at a press conference hours after the EC decision,
Thackeray accused the poll panel of having become the
Union government’s slave.“It may even take away our symbol
of flaming torch tomorrow,” he said. He also appealed to his
followers not to give up, and fight the battle to win. The party
and people were with him, he said. ‘’Let the thieves rejoice
for a few days,” he said, adding, “The Supreme Court is the
last hope to ensure that democracy is alive in the country.
If this hope vanished, we should stop holding elections
forever and become a one-man rule.”
Kartikey Dev Singh
New Delhi: In a ‘water-
shed moment’ in Maha-
rashtra politics, on Fri-
day, Election Commis-
sion of India ruled that
Shiv Sena’s Eknath
Shindefactionwillbeof-
ficialShivSenaandeven
party’s symbol - Bow
and Arrow - belonged to
Shinde faction.
In a unanimous order
on six-month-old peti-
tion filed by Shinde, the
three-member Commis-
sion allowed Thackeray
faction to retain the
name Shiv Sena (Ud-
dhav Balasaheb Thack-
eray) and the flaming
torch’ poll symbol, given
to it in an interim order
last year, till the conclu-
sion of ongoing assem-
bly bypolls in the state.
The Commission said
it applied the principles
of the ‘Test of party
Constitution’ and the
‘Test of Majority’ while
finalising the order.
“The amended Con-
stitution of 2018 is not
on record of the Com-
mission,”theordersaid,
and added that it found
that the party Constitu-
tion, on which the
Thackeray faction was
placing strong reliance,
to be “undemocratic”.
“To put it in a nut-
shell, the party Consti-
tution envisages the
President nominating
the Electoral College
that is to elect him. This
goes against the spirit
of democracy and ne-
gates the very purpose
for which the entire ex-
ercise was carried out,”
the Commission said.
UBT ‘torched’, EC hands Bow and Arrow to Shinde
First India Bureau
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court on Friday
refused to refer pleas
related to the June 2022
Maharashtra political
crisis triggered by Shiv
Sena’s division to a sev-
en-judge bench for re-
consideration of the
2016 Nabam Rebia
judgement.
The 2016 judgment
deals with powers of as-
sembly speakers to de-
cide on disqualification
pleas.
A five-judge Constitu-
tion bench headed by
Chief Justice DY Chan-
drachud said whether
the 2016 Nabam Rebia
judgement requires ref-
erence or not will be
considered with the
merits of the case on
February 21.
“Consequently, hear-
ing on merits of the
case will be held on
Tuesday, 10.30 am,” said
the bench, which also
comprises justices MR
Shah, Krishna Murari,
Hima Kohli and PS Nar-
asimha.
Senior advocates Ka-
pil Sibal and A M Sing-
hvi, appearing for the
Uddhav Thackeray fac-
tion of the Shiv Sena,
had sought reference of
the cases to a seven-
judge bench for a re-
look at the Nabam Re-
bia judgement.
Solicitor General
Tushar Mehta, appear-
ing for the Maharashtra
governor, had also op-
posed any move to refer
the matter to a larger
bench.
The judgement had
come to the rescue of
the rebel MLAs led by
Shinde, now the chief
minister of Maharash-
tra. The Thackeray fac-
tion had sought their
disqualification even
while a notice of the
Shinde group for the re-
moval of Maharashtra
Assembly Deputy
Speaker Narhari Sitar-
am Zirwal, a Thackeray
loyalist, was pending
before the House.
SC refuses to refer plea to larger bench
Officially, now
Shinde faction is
the real Shiv Sena Mumbai (FIB): Even as Shiv
Sena (UBT) leaders - Uddhav
Thackeray and Sanjay
Raut - claimed that the EC's
decision was wrong and that
they would take the matter
to the Apex court, senior
leader and NCP supremo -
Sharad Pawar - had a word
of advice for the 'young'
politicians on the matter.
Talking to the media, Sharad
Pawar said, "Results cannot
be discussed. Get a new
signal (from the situation).
It doesn't happen much.
Indira Gandhi became the
subject of controversy in the
Congress. Then the bullock
pair (previous symbol)
of Congress was gone.
Congress took hand as its
symbol and people agreed
with it. People will accept
the new sign." Sharad
Pawar has expressed his
opinion that there will not
be much effect.
PAWAR ADVISES
UDDHAV TO LEARN
FROM PAST
We will challenge the
decision. Such a decision
was expected. All this has
happened under pressure.
I don't have faith in
Election Commission.
Sanjay Raut,
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader
It was expected that the
poll body would rule in a
particular manner to
help the ruling party.
Prithviraj Chavan,
former Maharashtra CM
I am in shock. Election
Commission is an
autonomous body. How
did they take this
decision?
Supriya Sule,
NCP leader
WITNESSING ‘WONDER’
Union Home Minister Amit Shah along with Shri Gadkari observed the pre-inauguration demonstration
of the world’s largest Futala Fountain and Water Show being built in Nagpur based on the concept of
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Maharashtra
BJP State President Chandrashekhar Bawankule were present at this time. —PHOTO BY AGENCIES
Decision favours Shinde group, which had
opposed the reference to a larger bench
“IRREGULARITIES
INTAXPAYMENTS”
First India Bureau
New Delhi: The In-
come Tax Department
has claimed it has un-
covered irregularities
in the accounting books
of the British Broad-
casting Corporation
(BBC) following a three-
day survey - an opera-
tion widely criticised as
retribution for an un-
flattering documentary
on Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi.
The Income Tax De-
partment said on Fri-
day that the nearly
three-day “survey” at
the BBC’s offices in Del-
hi and Mumbai broadly
looked into a mismatch
between the income
and profits of the broad-
caster’s group entities
and their scale of opera-
tions in India.
I-T DEPT ON BBC 5 BIG
ALLEGATIONS
AGAINST BBC
1 “The survey revealed
that despite substantial
consumption of content in
various Indian languages, the
income/profits shown by
various group entities is not
commensurate with the scale
of operations in India.”
2 “During the survey,
the dept gathered
several evidences pertaining
to operation of the
organisation, which indicate
that tax has not been paid on
certain remittances, which
have not been disclosed as
income in India by the
foreign entities of the group.”
3 “... Services of second-
ed employees have
been utilised for which
reimbursement has been
made by the Indian entity to
the foreign entity concerned.
Such remittance was also
liable to be subject to
withholding tax, which has
not been done... Survey has
thrown up several discrepan-
cies and inconsistencies with
regard to transfer pricing
documentation.”
4 “Survey operation has
resulted in unearthing
of crucial evidences by way
of statement of employees,
digital evidences and
documents which will be
further examined in due
course. It is pertinent to state
that statements of only those
employees were recorded
whose role was crucial
including those connected to,
primarily, finance, content
development and other
production related functions.”
5 “Even though the
department exercised
due care to record statements
of only key personnel, it was
observed that dilatory tactics
were employed including in
the context of producing
documents/agreements
sought.”
THE CBDT ISSUES STATEMENT
New Delhi: The Central Board of Direct
Taxes (CBDT) issued a statement without
naming the media organisation and said
that I-T teams unearthed crucial evidences
by way of statement of employees, digital
proof and documents. The CBDT
statement says:
l Several discrepan-
cies and inconsisten-
cies with regard to
transfer pricing docu-
mentation found.
l I-T teams
unearthed crucial
evidences by way of
statement of employ-
ees, digital proof and
documents.
l Income, profits
shown by various
group entities not com-
mensurate with scale
of operations in India.
UK MP BLACKMAN SLAMS BBC
DOCUMENTARY ON PM MODI
BJP LASHES OUT
AT GEORGE SOROS
CONG DOWNPLAYS
SOROS’ REMARKS
LORD RAMI RANGER SLAMS
BBC DOCUMENTARY ON MODI
New Delhi (ANI): Terming BBC documen-
tary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi as
“propaganda video” and
a “disgraceful piece of
shoddy journalism,” Brit-
ish MP Bob Blackman
has said that it should
never have been released
and that it didn’t look at
the “all-important fact”
that India’s Supreme
Court investigated the claims against Naren-
dra Modi in connection with the 2002 riots.
New Delhi: The Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) on
Friday
launched
a frontal
attack on
billionaire
investor
George Soros, accusing
him of not only targeting
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi but also the Indian
democratic system. P5
New Delhi: The Congress
on Friday said whether the
Adani issue
sparks a
democratic
revival in
the country
depends
entirely on the grand old
party and other Opposition
parties, and it has nothing
to do with billionaire inves-
tor George Soros. P5
New Delhi (ANI): Lord Rami Ranger, a
prominent member of the House of Lords
of the UK Parliament on
Friday said the BBC docu-
mentary on PM Narendra
Modi is “unfortunate,
ill-timed and ill-informed”
based on a handful of
people who have nar-
ratives to show him in
a bad light. Lord Rami
Ranger also slammed George Soros over his
remarks on Hindenburg-Adani row.
Media personnel outside the BBC office during Income Tax Department’s survey operation, conducted
as part of a tax evasion investigation, at KG Marg in New Delhi. —PHOTO BY PTI
l After 3 days, I-T
Dept finished survey
at the BBC offices in
Delhi and Mumbai
on Thursday
l The I-T officials
recorded only those
staffers’ statements
whose role was
crucial
Adani: SC’s ‘no’ to GoI’s
sealed cover suggestion
First India Bureau
New Delhi: A “sealed”
submission by the Cen-
tral govt on a panel to
strengthen regulatory
measures and protect
investors following the
Adani stock collapse
was turned down by the
Supreme Court on Fri-
day, which said it want-
ed “full transparency”
in the matter. The court
had last week asked for
suggestions on the for-
mation of a panel of ex-
perts, including a judge,
to examine the fallout of
the fraud allegations
againsttheAdaniGroup,
which have wiped out
croresininvestorwealth
and triggered fierce at-
tacks on the govt by the
Opposition.
GEORGE SOROS SAYS TURMOIL AT
ADANI MAY WEAKEN MODI GOVT
New Delhi: Philanthropist George
Soros believes the turmoil at Gautam
Adani’s business empire may weaken
PM Narendra Modi’s hold on the govt.
Soros, in a speech at the Munich Secu-
rity Conference on Thursday, said Modi
would “have to answer questions” from
foreign investors and Parliament.
2ND TEST: AUS 263 ALL OUT, IND 21/0
New Delhi (PTI): India dismissed Australia for 263 on the opening day of the second Test of the
Border Gavaskar Trophy on Friday. In reply, India were 21 for no loss when stumps were called on
the opening day of the second Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy here on Friday.

NEWS
MUMBAI | SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2023
02
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YOUTUBER BOOKED
FOR FLYING DRONE
OVER BANDRA FORT
Mumbai: A 25-year-old
Youtuber has been booked
for allegedly flying a drone
over Bandra Fort without
requisite permission, a
Mumbai police official
said on Friday. He flew
the drone on Thursday
afternoon for a Youtube
video shoot, the official
said. “Flying a drone
without police permission
is prohibited. He has been
charged under section 188
of the Indian Penal Code
for disobedience to order
promulgated lawfully by a
public servant,” the official
added.
3 CONSUME POISON
AHEAD OF DEMO,
HOSPITALIZED
Mumbai: Three women
had to be rushed to a
hospital after they allegedly
tried to end their lives by
consuming a “poisonous
substance” in a bid to deter
the Slum Rehabilitation Au-
thority from demolishing a
house in Abhyudaya Nagar
in Mumbai’s Kalachowki
area, an official said on
Friday. “Amid preparations
for the demolitionscheduled
for Friday, the three women
consumed some poisonous
substance and had to be
rushed to hospital. They are
currently out of danger as
per doctors,” he said.
POLICE HUNT FOR
WATCHMAN WHO
ABDUCTED TODDLER
Palghar: Cops in Palghar
district have launched an
investigation to track down
a Nalasopara security guard
who allegedly kidnapped
an 18-month-old girl,
an official said. Accused
Rajendra Kumar worked in
the housing society where
the family of the child lives,
said the official. He often
played with the toddler and
would regularly take her out
of the society premises. The
watchman went out with
the girl on Wednesday but
did not return, prompting
her parents to file a police
complaint, he said.
FIRE DESTROYS
LOOM FACTORY AT
THANE’S BHIWANDI
Thane: A fire broke out at
a loom manufacturing fac-
tory at Bhiwandi in Thane
district on Friday morning,
a civic official said. No one
was injured in the blaze
that destroyed the unit
located in the Narpoli area,
said regional Disaster
Management Cell chief
Avinash Sawant. The fire
started at around 1.15 am
and was put out by local
firefighters by 4 am, he
said. The cause of the fire
is yet to be ascertained,
said Sawant. A similar in-
cident occured at Badlapur
MIDC last week.
ILLEGAL TELEPHONE EXCHANGE BUSTED IN
THANE DISTRICT; ONE HELD BY ATS TEAM
Thane: Police have arrested Tabrez Sohrab Momin (34) for
running an illegal telephone exchange, an official said on
Friday. Momin allegedly received
calls from his overseas clients
through internet-based applications
and then forwarded them to local
numbers with the help of some
gadgets, senior inspector Ankush
Bangar of the Bhoiwada police
station said. Momin was arrested
in Bhiwandi following a raid by
the anti-terrorism squad (ATS)
on Wednesday, he added. In addition to causing a loss of
about Rs70,500 to the government, such an exchange may
also be misused by anti-social elements as it is difficult to
trace the calls routed through them, the official said.
ONE KILLED, THREE INJURED IN REACTOR
BLAST AT PHARMA COMPANY IN PALGHAR
Palghar: A worker died and three others were seriously
injured after a reactor in a pharmaceutical unit explod-
ed at Boisar in Palghar district
around 10 am on Friday morning,
Vivekanand Kadam, chief of the
District Disaster Cell, said. Of the
nearly 50 workers on the premis-
es at the time, four were griev-
ously injured and were rushed
to a local hospital. One of them
died during treatment, he said.
The local firemen and a rescue
team controlled the fire triggered by the blast, said the
official, adding that the cause of the explosion was yet to
be ascertained.
CRUCIAL READ
JPC needed, Modi govt hiding
facts, says Congress’ Khera
ADANI-HINDENBURG ROW
First India Bureau
Mumbai: All India
Congress Committee
spokesperson Pawan
Khera on Friday said a
Joint Parliamentary
Committee must be
formed to probe the
stock manipulation and
accounting fraud alle-
gations against the
firms of billionaire
Gautam Adani and ac-
cused the Narendra
Modi government of
hiding facts on the issue
from the people.
Adani Group stocks
have taken a beating on
the bourses after US-
based short-seller Hin-
denburg Research made
a litany of allegations,
including fraudulent
transactions and share-
price manipulation,
against the business
conglomerate led by
Gautam Adani.
The Adani Group has
dismissedthechargesas
lies, saying it complies
with all laws and disclo-
sure requirements.
Addressing a press
conference here, Khera
said the Congress owes
it to several crore policy
holders of the Life In-
surance Corporation
(LIC) and account hold-
ers of State Bank of In-
dia to get answers on
the issue since it in-
volved hard-earned
money of taxpayers.
“People of the coun-
try need to know the
sources of funding of
the Adani group and
shell companies. They
want to know why core
sectors of the country
were handed over to one
person. The Congress is
not against corporates,
but it is against the mo-
nopoly of one corpo-
rate,” Khera asserted.
If such “ease of doing
business” was extended
to Micro Small and Me-
dium Enterprises, the
Indian economy would
have completely trans-
formed, he added.
Khera said even if
the Modi government
fails to accept the de-
mand of the opposition
parties on setting up a
JPC, people of the coun-
try are watching.
“You can expunge the
remarks of Rahul Gan-
dhi in the Lok Sabha but
howcanyouexpungethe
name of Adani from the
minds of the people as
well as the everlasting
love between the prime
minister and Gautam
Adani?” he asked.
‘Even if govt fails
to accept oppn’s
demand on JPC,
people of the
country are
watching’
The Modi gov-
ernment fears
a JPC as all
the details of its rela-
tionship with Adani
group will come out in
the open. Constituting
a JPC is part of par-
liamentary procedure.
People want to know
why the Reserve Bank
of India didn’t know
about the exposure of
banks in the Adani
group.
—Pawan Khera,
AICC Spokesperson
OnlyAssemblycanremove
menotamerenotice:Zirwal
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Amid the on-
going tussle between the
two Shiv Sena factions
in the Supreme Court,
Assembly Deputy
Speaker Narhari Zirwal
said one cannot remove
him from the post just
by serving a notice of no
confidence.
He wondered how he
could preside over the
election of the speaker
(Bharatiya Janata Par-
ty’s Rahul Narwekar) if
the notice was suffi-
cient to unseat him.
“A mere notice is not
enough to remove me
from the chair. I was
elected unanimously in
the Assembly and hence
my removal can be done
bytheAssemblyitself.If
I cannot preside over the
Assembly because of a
notice of no confidence,
howisitthatIwasonthe
chair for electing the
Speaker,” Zirwal told re-
porters in Nashik.
The Nationalist Con-
gress Party (NCP) lead-
er was responding to
questions on the pro-
ceedingsintheSupreme
Court where a batch of
petitions has raised
many issues, including
the powers of the speak-
er, following the split in
the Shiv Sena last year.
As per Sena MLAs
from the Eknath Shinde
camp, the rival faction
under Uddhav Thacker-
ay had sought their dis-
qualification even when
their notice for the re-
moval of Deputy Speak-
er Zirwal was pending
before the House.
The Supreme Court
on Friday declined to re-
fer pleas related to the
June 2022 Maharashtra
political crisis triggered
by the Sena’s division to
a seven-judge bench for
reconsideration of the
2016NabamRebiajudge-
ment.
In 2016, a five-judge
Constitution bench,
while deciding the Na-
bamRebiacase,hadheld
thattheAssemblyspeak-
er cannot proceed with a
plea for disqualification
of MLAsif apriornotice
seekingthespeaker’s re-
moval is pending before
the House.
Maha Assembly Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal —FILE PHOTO
Maha Assembly dy
speaker responds to
speculations over his
ouster amid SC Shiv
Sena proceedings
First India Bureau
Thane: A local court on
Friday granted interim
protection from Nation-
alist Congress Party
MLA Jitendra Awhad in
connection with the al-
leged assault on a civic
official.
Former state minis-
ter Awhad and six oth-
ers were charged by
Naupada police under
various sections of In-
dian Penal Code in con-
nection with the alleged
assault on Thane Assis-
tant Municipal Com-
missioner Mahesh
Aher, which took place
on Wednesday
.
Aher was allegedly
beaten up by irate NCP
workers after an audio
clip in which he is pur-
portedly issuing threats
was shared widely on
social media.
While hearing the
plea, Thane Additional
Sessions Judge AS
Bhagwat sought a re-
port from Naupada po-
lice on the incident and
granted Awhad interim
protection from arrest
till its submission.
Nagpur (PTI): The
Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) has set a target of
winning 150 seats in the
2024 Assembly polls in
Maharashtra, Deputy
Chief Minister Deven-
dra Fadnavis told the
executive body meeting
of the Nagpur unit of
the BJP on Friday
.
He also alleged that
the Maha Vikas Aghadi
government led by Ud-
dhav Thackeray worked
from home and was
mired in corruption.
The BJP used to rou-
tinely allege Thackeray,
as chief minister, would
rarely move out of
Mumbai, despite press-
ing issues brought
about by the COVID-19
pandemic and the re-
sultant lockdown, as
well as heavy rains dis-
tressing farmers, he
said.
BJP workers, how-
ever, continued to meet
people during the pan-
demic, and a change in
government in June
last year has accelerat-
ed development in the
state, Fadnavis
claimed.
“We are working to
win more than 150 seats
(out of 288 seats) in the
Assembly polls.
Schemes of the Central
government as well as
the eradication of cor-
ruption has brought re-
lief to citizens. The
middle class has got re-
lief in the Union budg-
et, including higher in-
come tax rebate,” he
said.
Maharashtra BJP
chief Chandrashekhar
Bawankule, addressing
the meet, asked booth
workers to take benefits
of welfare schemes of
the state and Central
governments to the citi-
zens through door-to-
door campaigns.
Min Vikhe-Patil invites Cong’s Ashok Chavan to join BJP
First India Bureau
Mumbai: With ten-
sions within the Con-
gress coming to the
fore, the suspension of
Sudhir and Satyajit
Tambe, and leaders
joining the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP), the
party has been in a state
of uproar for the past
couple of months.
Now, state minister
Radhakrishna Vikhe-
Patil has extended an
invitation to senior
Congress leader and
former Maharashtra
Chief Minister Ashok
Chavan to join the BJP.
While making the of-
fer to Chavan, Vikhe-
Patil said, “What is the
future of the Congress
party that Ashok
Chavan is currently af-
filiated with? (It) won
the election in Nashik
graduate constituency
on a personal agenda.
No one in Congress has
the time to think about
theparty
.IthinkChavan
is a capable leader. He
has done good work as
the chief minister.”
Also, the entire world
has accepted the leader-
ship of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi. So (I
believe) everyone
would like to work un-
der his leadership.
Ashok Chavan should
also think about this,
he added. Responding
to Vikhe-Patil’s invita-
tion, Chavan told media
persons, “No such
thought or decision has
been taken. The ques-
tion is whether they
(theBJP)aremyfriends
or enemies. Is this an
attempt to create confu-
sion in Congress? Their
advice is invalid.”
Ashok Chavan —FILE PHOTO Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil —FILE PHOTO
What can I say
about Rad-
hakrishna
Vikhe-Patil? Are they
(BJP) only greedy for
power? The Congress
made him what he is,
and now he is saying
that there is nothing left.
If Congress comes to
power tomorrow, will he
come back to the party?.
—Nana Patole,Maha Congress chief
Work on 1st phase of theme park on Shivaji finished
‘SHIVSRUSHTI’
Interim protection for
NCP’s Jitendra Awhad
Working to win 150 Assembly seats:
Dy CM Fadnavis to Nagpur workers
First India Bureau
Pune: Thefirstphaseof
‘Shivsrushti’ theme
park to be set up near
Pune will exhibit vari-
ous aspects linked to the
warrior king Chhatra-
pati Shivaji Maharaj.
From featuring scenes
from his life in various
art forms to his miracu-
lous escape from Agra
presented using 3D tech-
nology, it will highlight
the glory of forts that
were an integral part of
the Maratha Empire.
Brainchild of Padma
Bhushan awardee late
Shivshahir Babasaheb
Purandare, work on the
park’s first phase is now
complete. It will be
thrown open to the pub-
licafteritsinauguration
by Union Home Minis-
ter Amit Shah on Febru-
ary 19, the birth anni-
versary of the founder
of the Maratha Empire.
Shah will inaugurate
the key element of the
first phase – “Sarkarwa-
da”, the main structure
of the project. Sarkar-
wada comprises exhibi-
tion galleries, including
“Durg Vaibhav” (glory
of forts), where stories
about different forts like
Devagiri, Purandar,
Vishalgad, Panhalgad,
Rajgad,Pratapgad,Sind-
hudurg and Sinhagad
would be unfolded
throughtheAVmedium,
said Jagdish Kadam,
trustee of the Shivch-
hatrapati Pratishthan.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah to
inaugurate it on Feb 19; life of warrior
king presented through latest technology
The project is being developed at estimated cost of Rs438 crore
at Ambegaon in Pune. —FILE PHOTO

MAHARASHTRA
03
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The Brihan-
mumbai Municipal
Corporation’s decision
to revive its plan to
build an underground
parking lot underneath
the Raosaheb Patward-
han Garden in Bandra
has been met with re-
sistance from locals and
environmentalists. Ac-
cording to reports, civic
officials even reviewed
potential sites in Ban-
dra and Juhu areas of
the city on February 02.
However, according
to a Times of India re-
port, the BMC is now
considering building an
underground parking
lot under the adjoining
plot. This move comes
after officials claimed it
has fewer trees.
The BMC had report-
edly also floated a Rs88
crore tender for the pro-
ject in 2018, which did
not take off. It also had
a provision for the pro-
ject in the 2017-18 civic
budget.
A senior official had
also stated that the
BMC will not disturb
the garden and instead
use the adjoining RG
plot, which is located
near Bal Gandharva
Rang Mandir.
The tender will be
floated only after a thor-
ough examination of
soil below both plots, a
civic official added.
Meanwhile, a Midday
report stated that the
civic body has also pro-
posed an underground
parking below the popu-
lar Pushpa Narsee park.
The project is also be-
ing met with resistance
from local residents
and environment activ-
ists.
As per a resident, lo-
cals have been demand-
ing for a parking lot for
the past few years as
unknown vehicles are
often parked in their
area. He suggested us-
ing a dumping yard as
the location for the pro-
posed parking lot, in-
stead of uprooting the
park.
BMC officials, on the
other hand, have said
that they will utilize the
central lawn portion
and re-establish park on
the upper portion in the
JVPD scheme.
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Outgoing
Maharashtra Gover-
nor Bhagat Singh Ko-
shyari was given a cer-
emonial Guard of Hon-
our by an Indian Navy
contingent in Raj
Bhavan here on Friday.
The event was at-
tended by state Chief
Secretary Manuku-
mar Shrivastava, Di-
rector General of Po-
lice Rajnish Seth,
Mumbai Police Com-
missioner Vivek
Phansalkar, ACS (Pro-
tocol) Manisha Mhasi-
kar, among others.
Koshyari prayed at
the Siddhivinayak
Temple at Prabhadevi
on the way to the air-
port, from where he
left for Dehradun in
his home state Uttara-
khand on board a spe-
cial aircraft, a Raj
Bhavan release stated.
Earlier in the day,
Chief Minister Eknath
Shinde and Deputy CM
Devendra Fadnavis
met Koshyari, who
took charge as gover-
nor in September 2019.
“Chief Minister
Eknath Shinde and
Deputy Chief Minister
Devendra Fadnavis
called on the outgoing
Governor of Maha-
rashtra Bhagat Singh
Koshyari at Raj
Bhavan Mumbai. They
felicitated the Gover-
nor and wished him a
long and healthy life,”
the governor’s office
tweeted on Friday.
While the outgoing
Governor was present-
ed with figures of Lord
Hanuman and Lord
Krishna by the Deputy
CM, CM Shinde hon-
oured him with a
shawl and a miniature
frame of the Kedar-
nath Temple.
Ramesh Bais, who
will succeed Koshyari
as Maharashtra gover-
nor, will take charge at
12.40 pm on Saturday.
Bhagat Singh Koshyari bids Raj Bhavan adieu, leaves for Dehradun
CHANGE OF GUARD
The Navy gave the outgoing governor a Guard of Honour. —PHOTOS BY BHUSHAN KOYANDE BS Koshyari waves as he heads to the airport on Friday. Outgoing Guv Koshyari leaves Raj Bhavan for the last time.
Outgoing Guv
gets Guard of
Honour from
Navy; visits from
CM, Dy CM
BMC REVIVES PLAN FOR PARKING
UNDERGROUND, MUMBAI SAYS NO!
Final call will be taken after soil examination of Raosaheb Patwardhan Garden (in picture) and RG plot.
—FILE
PHOTO
NEW REVISION
The BMC is now considering building an under-
ground parking lot under the adjoining plot. This
move comes after officials claimed it has fewer trees.
The civic body had reportedly also floated a Rs88 crore
tender for the project in 2018, which did not take off. A
senior official had also stated that the BMC will not dis-
turb the garden and instead use the adjoining RG plot,
which is located near Bal Gandharva Rang Mandir.
All public parks
and places should
be free of construction.
The green and open
space is being systemat-
ically destroyed.
—Anand Pendharkar,
Ecologist
Officials visit parks
in Bandra and Juhu
on Feb 02; locals,
environmentalists
voice their dissent First India Bureau
Mumbai: An incident
involving a 76-year-old
man, who lost con-
sciousness while swim-
ming at the Mahatma
Gandhi Memorial pool,
has called into question
the Brihanmumbai Mu-
nicipal Corporation’s
management of the
public site.
According to reports,
Pramod Sarangdhar
reached the pool at
around 6 am and lost
consciousness while in
the water 10 minutes
later. He was rushed to
a hospital in a cab.
Sarangdhar was
pulled out from the wa-
ter after being spotted
by a lifeguard and fel-
low swimmers.
A member of the pool
said that the man re-
gained consciousness
partially after he was
given mouth-to-mouth
resuscitation.
He was then taken to
HindujaHospital,where
he regained full con-
sciousness within 30
minutes. The Shivaji
Park police were alerted
by the hospital authori-
ties at around 8 am.
In the wake of the in-
cident, several members
have complained about
the poor scheduling of
lifeguards and security
guards at the pool.
A similar incident
took place there a few
days ago when a man
fainted at the poolside
and had to be revived by
CPR, as there was no
doctorpresenttoprovide
first aid.
Safety concerns arise after
76-year-old faints in pool
Members of Shivaji
Park pool have raised
questions about
lifeguard scheduling
First India Bureau
Thane: The Thane Ad-
ditional District Con-
sumer Disputes Re-
dressal Commission
(TADCDRC) has or-
dered an interior de-
signer to pay Rs50,000
compensation to a
claimant after finding
him guilty of deficien-
cy in service.
In the recent order,
Commission President
RP Nagre and its mem-
bers also directed the
interior designer to pay
the outstanding
amount of Rs1 lakh to
the complainant.
In her complaint,
Nasreen Shaikh, a resi-
dent of Seawoods in
Navi Mumbai, told the
commission that she
had hired the services
of Nishtana Interior
and Engineers from
Mumbai’s Goregaon for
renovation and interior
designing of her flat.
Based on the initial
quotation, she paid
the firm Rs15 lakh of
the total Rs16 lakh in
December 2019. While
the work went well
initially, the contrac-
tor stopped the work
during the pandemic.
When he restarted it,
he hiked the amount.
The complainant
told the commission
that during the renova-
tion work, she also had
to rent a house for sev-
en months and pay
monthlly rent of
Rs10,000, the complain-
ant said.
Besides, the work
done by the firm was
not up to the mark. She
approached the com-
mission and sought Rs3
lakh compensation.
The commission
held that there was de-
ficiency in services by
the interior designer
and ordered him to pay
Rs30,000 to the com-
plainant for the mental
and physical suffering
caused and Rs20,000 to-
wards legal expenses.
First India Bureau
Thane: The 2023-24
budget for the Navi
Mumbai Municipal
Corporation (NMMC)
was approved by Com-
missioner Rajesh
Narvekar on Friday
.
The budget’s high-
light is the absence of
any new tax in what is
most likely an election
year for the civic body
.
As per the budget, in-
come of Rs4,925 crore is
expected, while the ex-
penditure will be an es-
timated Rs4,922.50
crore, a marginal sur-
plus of Rs2.50 crore,
said a civic official.
A sum of Rs1,318.29
crore will be spent on
civic amenities, Rs752
crore for administra-
tive purposes, Rs568.53
crore for water supply
and sanitation. Another
Rs556.84 crore for other
civic amenities and
Rs125.08 crore for e-gov-
ernance, he said.
“A sum of Rs406.37
crore has been provided
for cleanliness and
waste management,
which is significant as
Navi Mumbai has
bagged the third spot in
Swachh Survekshan
2022. The budget also
earmarks Rs225.23
crore and Rs184.48 crore
for health and educa-
tion, respectively,” said
the official.
A major chunk
Rs1,626.35 crore of the
income of the civic
body will come from lo-
cal body tax and goods
and service tax, while
property tax and devel-
opment fees will ac-
count for Rs801 crore
and Rs360 crore, respec-
tively, he added.
Interior firm to compensate
client `50K for shoddy work
2023-24 budget: NMMC to
spend `1.3K cr on amenities
First India Bureau
Mumbai: A court
here on Friday re-
manded social media
influencer Sapna
Gill to police custody
until February 20 for
allegedly manhan-
dling Indian cricket-
er Prithvi Shaw and
attacking his car fol-
lowing an argument.
Gill and her male
friend allegedly at-
tacked Shaw after the
player refused to
click selfies with her.
Gill was arrested
onThursdayevening.
As per the com-
plaint, Thakur and
Gill approached
Shaw for a selfie at a
hotel early on
Wednesday morning.
Initially, the cricket-
er obliged. But when
they insisted on
more selfies, Shaw
turned them down,
leading to the row.
The complaint also
said that both of
them (Gill and
Thakur) were in an
inebriated condition.
Meanwhile, Gill
told the court that
Shawhadbeendrunk
at the time, and that
he had assaulted her.
Two more people
were arrested on Fri-
day evening, offi-
cials said.
SELFIE ROW: SOCIAL
MEDIA INFLUENCER
IN POLICE CUSTODY
Sapna Gill told the
court that Shaw had
been inebriated,
and turned violent
Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation —FILE PHOTO
First India Bureau
Thane: Thane Mu-
nicipal Commission-
er Abhijit Bhangar
has said that 150m of
area around the city
railway station has
been cleared of
hawkers for free and
safe movement of
people. However,
maintaining the situ-
ation will require
support from the po-
lice, he added, while
addressing a meeting
of senior police and
civic officials at the
TMC headquarters
on Thursday
.
The civic body
was taking all meas-
ures required to
keep the area around
the railway station
permanently free of
hawkers. The city
police and traffic
branch need to main-
tain a strict vigil and
take action against
autorickshaw driv-
ers if they are found
violating rules,
Bhangar said.
He asked the city
police to deploy
teams from 8 am to
11 pm everyday in
two shifts in the rail-
way station area to
keep an eye on au-
torickshaw drivers,
he added.
Disciplining rick-
shaw drivers is the
duty of the city po-
lice, he said while
asking the police to
take action against
hawkers if they are
found operating with-
in the specified area.
AreaaroundThane
rlystationclearedof
hawkers:Civicchief
Civic chief Bhangar asked the city police to deploy teams
to keep an eye on autorickshaw drivers around the station.
—FILE
PHOTO

PERSPECTIVE
04
l Vol 1 l Issue No. 282
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
Whatever action is performed
by a great man, common
men follow in his footsteps,
and whatever standards he
sets by exemplary acts,
all the world pursues.
—Bhagavad Gita
IN-DEPTH
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
This further adds to India’s efforts
to become #Aatmanirbhar in #Urja.
PM @narendramodi ji’s vision
is catalysing new possibilities in
Odisha and eastern India.
Bhupender Yadav
@byadavbjp
The 12 cheetahs arriving from South
Africa, under the visionary leadership
of PM Shri @narendramodi ji to
restore our ecological balance, have
begun their journey to India. Indian
Air Force’s C-17 Globemaster aircraft
will get them home tomorrow. Get
ready to welcome them.
TOP TWEETS
BIG SETBACK FOR
DELHI L-G OVER
ELECTIONS FOR
THE MAYOR
nashotinthearmfor
theAamAadmiParty
initsfightagainstthe
BJP and Delhi Lieu-
tenant Governor, the
Supreme Court has ruled that
Aldermen are not entitled to vote
intheMCDmayoralelection.The
BJP councillors were repeatedly
stalling the mayor’s election de-
manding that nominated mem-
bers should be allowed to vote.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Ke-
jriwal expressed the hope that
the LG and the BJP will now “toe
theconstitutionalline”. Kejriwal
has been accusing the LG of put-
tinghurdlesinthefunctioningof
a democratically elected govern-
ment. He also accused the Cen-
tral government of using “dis-
honest tactics”.
The mayoral elections have
been stalled since December last
year. The AAP won 134 of the 250
wards. The BJP won 104. The
BJP initially announced that it
will put up a candidate for the
mayoral poll but later dropped
the idea. Three meetings to elect
a mayor were adjourned amid
ruckus over voting rights of
members nominated by the LG.
I
he government of
Prime Minister
Shehbaz Sharif
introduced Fi-
nance (Supple-
mentary) Bill 2023 in the Na-
tional Assembly to mop up
PKR 170 billion in taxes by
June this year to meet Inter-
national Monetary Fund’s
tough conditions for the re-
lease of $1.1 billion of the
$7billion loan package. One
demand of the IMF was to
end all subsidies on petrole-
um products which Pakistan
did by hiking petrol price by
PKR 24 per litre and that of
diesel by PKR 17.2 per litre.
As a consequence, petrol is
now being sold in Pakistan at
a record high of PKR 272.89
per litre and diesel at Rs 280
a litre. With its foreign ex-
change reserves at less than
$3 billion, it can meet only
three weeks of imports. Ex-
perts predict that Pakistan
defaulting on loan repay-
ment seems inevitable even
as the price hike will aggra-
vate inflation which is at an
all-time high of 25 percent.
Moving the Finance Bill,
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar
criticised the previous gov-
ernment of Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaaf party led by
Imran Khan for “increasing
the country’s debts signifi-
cantly”. Its gross public debt
has increased over 1500 per-
cent. Prime Minister Imran
Khanpromisedtobringdown
the country’s debt to PKR 20
trillion but left a higher debt
burden of PKR 44.3 trillion.
Pakistan’s economic crisis
is perhaps the worst in its
history
. And most of it is due
to the army establishment
supporting terrorism and the
ineptness of successive civil-
ian governments. The IMF is
in no hurry
. It will watch Pa-
kistan’s fiscal performance
before releasing the loan
tranche due from last year.
PAKISTAN GOING
DOWN AND DOWN
Pakistan’s economic
crisis is perhaps the
worst in its history.
And most of it is due to
the army establishment
supporting terrorism
and the ineptness of
successive civilian
governments
T
Indo-American Relations Warming Up:
Russian and Chinese Angle
he recently released National
Security Strategy by Biden
administration emphasises
India’s centrality in Ameri-
ca’s Indo-Pacific strategy
. It
states India is world’s largest
democracy and a major de-
fence partner of the United
States and the US will work
with India both bilaterally
and multilaterally
, to support
commonly shared vision of a
free and open Indo-Pacific.
The U.S. not only needs India
in the Indo-Pacific, but would
also like India to play a larger
role in South, Central, and
Southeast Asia. Indo-Pacific
Quad(Australia,India,Japan,
United States) the U.S.-EU
Trade and Technology Coun-
cil, AUKUS (Australia, United
Kingdom, United States) and
I2-U2(India,Israel,UAE,Unit-
ed States) are all created by
the US initiative to develop
strong, resilient, and mutual-
lyreinforcingrelationshipsto
ensure world order for peace
and development.
The year 2022 has been a re-
markable and historic year
for the India-US relationship,
and 2023 is expected to be
more momentous year for the
ties between the world’s larg-
est and oldest democracies
that will determine the future
of technologyandinnovation.
The tangible outcomes like
resolutionof someoldmarket
access issues, the first-ever
maintenance of a US Naval
Ship in India, the Quad focus
on STEM, signing of an In-
vestment Incentive Agree-
ment, the launch of Technol-
ogy Innovation Hubs as a col-
laboration of the respective
science agencies, record level
of tradeandinvestmentshave
cemented the Indo US ties.
India’s close defence coop-
eration and strategic ties
withRussia,standonUkraine
war, abstention on U.N. votes
condemning Russia and re-
fusal to stop buying Russian
oil and military equipment
are definitely irritants for
warming Indo US ties. How-
ever, India has unequivocally
condemned the violence and
called for the resolution of
the conflict through dialogue
and diplomacy. India also
sent humanitarian aid to
Ukraine. Despite all this, In-
dia still remains at the heart
of the U.S. approach to its
peer competition with China.
The United States may not
like India’s ties with Russia,
but it seems willing to accept
them as the necessary price
for keeping India onboard in
dealing with a rising China.
Russia has been a histori-
cally dependent ally and big-
gestsupplierof defenceequip-
ment and trading partner
with India. However, the
Americans may be aiming to
help India in case of possible
military aggression from Chi-
nabytheirsupportinmeeting
India’s defence needs and this
will accelerate India’s transi-
tion away from weapons and
defence systems manufac-
tured in the Russia. Another
issueisIndia’shistoricalpref-
erence for a multipolar world
order and strategic autonomy
whichhaskeptitoutof falling
in any ‘Camp’. The United
States is beginning to accept,
India’spreferenceformultipo-
larity and its close relation-
ship with Russia. While com-
plete detachment from Russia
is impossible, India has cer-
tainly prioritised those of its
strategic interests that re-
quire closer cooperation with
the Western countries.
China is like an urgent
threat but a necessary part-
ner for India. Despite clashes
on LAC the bilateral trade is
up and India has been reluc-
tant to have any direct con-
frontation with China. Con-
stant security threats from
China and Pakistan imply
that it would take time for In-
dia to diversify its defence
imports and also increase in-
digenous production of arms.
Rather Indo- US proximity
discomforts China and it will
definitely put every kind of
pressure on India to keep out
of American influence. Rus-
sia who is biggest exporter of
defence equipment to India
may be a possible Chinese
card to seek normalisation of
India-China relations as this
not only benefits global and
Asian security but keeps the
USdominationundercontrol.
India has to stand up to Chi-
na without being belligerent
charting its own course even
as it draws close to the United
States, Europe and Australia.
For the United States, the In-
dian imperative to stand up to
China continues to present an
opportunity for deepening co-
operation. The United States
and India have a common
cause in their tensions with
China, as well as a “natural
partnership” on technology
investments. In assuming the
presidencies of both the G-20
andtheShanghaiCooperation
Organization (SCO), India is
set to host leaders from across
the globe in 2023. As India pre-
pares for general elections in
2024, it may be increasingly
sensitivetoglobalperceptions
of how it handles possible
shocks - external or internal -
ranging from escalation on its
borders to incidents of com-
munal violence.
Chinawithatagof regional
hegemon and a strong ally of
Pakistan has emerged as the
most important perceived
threat to Indian interests in
South Asia. Russia remains
India’s most dependable part-
ner for its defence and energy
needs. But the possibility of
Russia playing junior partner
of Chinaattheendof Ukraine
war to counter NATO and US
threat leaves India with little
optionsbuttorespondwarmly
to US initiatives to rope in In-
dia as not only security part-
ner of first resort but to be the
premier partner in India’s ex-
traordinary growth story
.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
T
India has to stand up to
China without being
belligerent charting its own
course even as it draws close
to US, Europe Australia.
For the United States, the
Indian imperative to stand
up to China continues to
present an opportunity for
deepening cooperation.
The US India have a
common cause in their
tensions with China, as well
as a “natural partnership”
on technology investments
China is like an urgent
threat but a
necessary partner for
India. Despite clashes on
LAC, bilateral trade is up
and India has been
reluctant to have any
direct confrontation
with China. Constant
security threats from
China Pakistan imply
that it would take time
for India to diversify its
defence imports
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
Sharat K Verma
New Delhi: Congress’s
decision to retain Con-
gress President Mall-
ikarjun Kharge for two
posts has proved cor-
rect. The party made an
exception to the princi-
ple of one person, one
post for Kharge. He is
the National President
of the party as well as
the Leader of the Oppo-
sition in the Rajya Sab-
ha. In the first phase of
the budget session of
Parliament, it has been
proved once again that
Kharge has been able to
unite the opposition.
Since the presenta-
tion of the budget, he
continued to hold meet-
ings with the opposition
parties and till the last
day of the first phase,
the parties of the oppo-
sition made their strat-
egy by sitting in his
chamber. Ever since
Kharge was made the
leader after Ghulam
Nabi Azad, he has been
uniting the opposition
in a better way
. But after
becoming the national
president, his stature
has increased further.
He is now doing opposi-
tion politics with more
authority
. As a result of
his efforts, 15 opposition
parties gathered in each
of his meetings. Even
MPs from Aam Aadmi
Party (AAP) and Bharat
Rashtra Samithi attend-
ed his meeting.
The AAP, the Bharat
Rashtra Samithi and
the Uddhav Thackeray
faction of the Shiv Sena
took a different stand on
the issue of participat-
ing in the discussion on
the Adani issue, but
these three parties sup-
ported the Congress in
cornering the govern-
ment, raising the issue
in the House and dem-
onstrating in the Parlia-
ment House complex.
Is Kharge seeing early success in uniting Oppn?
KEEPING THEIR DIFFERENCES ASIDE
Foreign forces are trying to
destroy our democracy: Irani
New Delhi (PTI): The
BJP on Friday launched
a frontal attack on bil-
lionaireinvestorGeorge
Soros, accusing him of
not only targeting PM
Narendra Modi the In-
diandemocraticsystem.
This war is being
mounted against India
andwhatstandsbetween
thewarandIndia’sinter-
ests is Modi, Union min-
ister Smriti said.
She alleged that Soros
wants to destroy Indian
democracy and wanted
some “hand-picked”
peopletorunthegovern-
ment. We have defeated
foreign powers earlier
too and will do so again.
“Soros wants a gov-
ernment that is pliable
to his needs for making
his nefarious plans suc-
cessful. He has declared
funding of over one bil-
lion dollars particular-
ly to ‘target’ leaders like
PM Modi, which is sig-
nificant,” she said.
‘INDIAN PARLIAMENT ATTACKED’: IRANI
LASHES OUT AT BILLIONAIRE SOROS
‘WHY BE AFRAID?’
ARE JOURNALISTS UNDER ATTACK?
‘MISOGYNISTIC
AND SECTARIAN
ATTACKS’
AN ATTACK ON
DEMOCRACY, SAYS
JD(U) LEADER
CONGRESS SLAMS GEORGE SOROS
OVER ‘DEMOCRATIC REVIVAL’ REMARK
CONGRESS MP RAJNI PATIL DEMANDS
JPC PROBE INTO ADANI ISSUE
New Delhi: Hitting back at George Soros over his com-
ments, Union Minister Smriti Irani said the man who
broke the Bank of England and a man, who is designated
as an economic war criminal, has now expressed his
desire to attack our parliament. She also said that the
attack by Soros came at a time when India has risen to
become the 5th largest economy in the world, and when
India has received gratitude from global leaders.
New Delhi: The BBC documentary explored Modi’s time
as CM of Gujarat state during religious riots that killed at
least 1,000 people. The documentary did not air in India
but provoked a furious response from the government,
which dismissed its contents as “hostile propaganda”.
A BJP spokesman, said this week’s raids on the BBC
offices were lawful and the timing had nothing to do with
the documentary’s broadcast. If you have nothing to
hide, why be afraid of an action,” he told reporters.
Washington Post column-
ist Rana Ayyub has been a
persistent target of Modi
supporters since conduct-
ing an investigation that
alleged government officials
were implicated in the 2002
Gujarat riots. UN-appointed
experts singled out her case
said she had endured
“relentless misogynistic
and sectarian attacks”.
l Journalists have long
faced harassment, legal
threats and intimidation for
their work in India but more
criminal cases are being
lodged against reporters
than ever, according to the
Free Speech Collective.
l Criminal complaints
were issued against a
record 67 journalists
in 2020, the latest year
for which figures are
available, the local civil
society group reported.
l Ten journalists were
behind bars in India at the
start of the year, accord-
ing to Reporters Without
Borders.
l Once arrested, reporters
can spend months or even
years waiting for the cases
against them to proceed
through the courts.
Patna, Bihar: Holding
the Central government
responsible for the nearly
60 hours long I-T survey,
JD(U) spokesperson
Sunil Singh said “BBC is
a press, and the press is
a fourth pillar of democ-
racy. This operation is an
attack on democracy and
the Central government is
responsible for this.”
New Delhi: Hitting out at billionaire
investor George Soros over his com-
ment that the turmoil in Gautam Adani’s
business empire may bring about a
“democratic revival in India”, Congress
invoked the party’s Nehruvian legacy to
state that the people like him “cannot
determine our electoral outcomes”.
New Delhi: Making a fresh attack on the Central govern-
ment over the Hindenburg-Adani controversy, Congress MP
Rajni Patil demanded the formation of a Joint parliamentary
committee (JPC) so that the truth could be revealed. “What-
ever speech they give but when it comes to Adani they don’t
utter a word. How Adani became the second richest person
in the world by capturing the wealth of India,” Patil said.
BJP slams billionaire George Soros for comments on PM Modi over Adani issue
The conspiracy to damage PM Modi’s
image has been going on for the last
several years. India has defeated for-
eign powers in the past and will defeat them in
the future as well. —Smriti Irani, Union Minister
Union Minister Smriti Irani addresses a press conference on
Billionaire investor George Soros’s remarks on Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, at BJP Headquarters, in New Delhi on Friday.
BBCtaxraidsputIndia’s
pressfreedominspotlight
New Delhi (Agencies):
JustweeksaftertheBBC
aired a documentary ex-
amining Indian Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi’s role in deadly
2002 sectarian riots, tax
inspectors descended on
thebroadcaster’soffices.
Modi’s Hindu nation-
alistBJPsaysthetwoare
notconnected,butrights
groupssaytheBBCraids
this week show the par-
lous state of press free-
dom in the world’s big-
gest democracy
.
Newsoutletsthatpub-
lish unfavourable re-
porting find themselves
targeted with legal ac-
tion, while journalists
critical of the govern-
ment are harassed and
even imprisoned.
The three-day lock-
down of the BBC’s of-
fices in New Delhi and
Mumbai is the latest of
several similar “search
and survey” operations
against media houses.
“Unfortunately, this
is becoming a trend,
there is no shying away
from that,” Kunal Ma-
jumdar of the Commit-
tee to Protect Journal-
ists told AFP.
At least 4 outlets that
had critically reported
on the government were
raided by tax officers or
financial crimes investi-
gatorsinthepast2years,
he said. As with BBC,
those outlets said offi-
cials confiscated phones
accessed computers
used by journalists.
“When you have au-
thorities trying to go
through your material,
go through your work,
that’s intimidation,”
Majumdar added.
Police official outside the BBC office where the survey is being
conducted by Income Tax officials, in New Delhi. —FILE PHOTO
10 sensitive installations in 6 states declared
out of bound for public: Union Home Ministry
New Delhi: Ten sensi-
tive installations in six
states and one Union
territory have been de-
clared out of bounds for
the general public, with
the Centre saying any
information with re-
spect to certain activi-
ties carried out at these
premises may be useful
to India’s enemies.
Invoking the Official
Secrets Act, the Union
Home Ministry said in a
notificationthatthesen-
sitive installations are
situated in Telangana,
Rajasthan, Chhattis-
garh, Madhya Pradesh,
Bihar, Kerala and Anda-
man Nicobar Islands.
“The central govern-
ment is satisfied that
the information with
respect to certain ac-
tivities carried on in
the places specified...
shall be useful to an en-
emy. And, whereas, the
government considers
it expedient that special
precautions shall be
taken to prevent access
of unauthorised per-
sons to such places. Ra-
jasthan, Madhya
Pradesh Bihar have 2
such installations each.
Cong accuses
BJP govt of
harming small
businesses
New Delhi: The Con-
gress on Friday accused
the Modi government
of benefitting its crony
capitalist friends and
harming the medium
and small businesses
which provide employ-
ment opportunities to
12 crore people.
Congress president
Mallikarjun Kharge
termed it as “Cease of
doingsmallbusinessun-
der Modi Government”.
Congress General
Secretary, Communica-
tions, Jairam Ramesh
also accused the gov-
ernment of harming
the MSME sector in or-
der to benefit its crony
capitalist friends.
“Inordertobenefithis
crony capitalist friends
more, the Modi govern-
ment has harmed the
micro, small and medi-
um enterprises (MSME)
which provides employ-
ment to 12 crore people
of the country
,” he
charged.
Congress slams NPP over
‘poor’ healthcare system
Shillong: The Congress
in Meghalaya alleged
that the ruling National
People’sParty(NPP)has
failed to protect women
and children, “with the
state faring poorly on
the infant and maternal
mortality rate indexes”.
In a press meet in the
poll-bound state, AICC
media coordinator Bob-
beeta Sharma said that
the NPP had in 2018 elec-
tionmanifestopromised
to empower women in
Meghalaya but “data
tells us another story”.
“The fifth round of
the National Family
Health Survey (NFHS-5
2019-20) has exposed the
condition of the health-
care system in the state.
Only 26% of all chil-
dren under the age of
12 months have re-
ceived any immunisa-
tion,” she stated.
MEGHALAYA POLLS 2023
AICC media coordinator
Bobbeeta Sharma
‘PROMISE TO
EMPOWER WOMEN’
THE ‘VOICELESS HEROES’
Asserting that her party
was sensitive to the needs
of women of Meghalaya,
Sharma said efforts will
be made to find them all a
meaningful source of in-
come, if the Congress comes
to power. “We understand
that the needs of women
change across age groups.
We will work with women
for their empowerment,” she
said. Sharma stated that the
Congress is committed to
providing free health care for
all citizens and entrepreneur-
ship training for women.
Sharma stated that the
Congress is committed to
providing free health care for
all citizens and entrepreneur-
ship training for women.
Indian sniffer dogs, dubbed “nameless heroes”, worked
around the clock over the rubble of collapsed buildings
searching for trapped survivors. These dogs are con-
sidered ideal for rescue work as they can smell humans
trapped underneath concrete and metal. In another
incident, Rambo led the rescue operation from the site in
Turkey’s Gaziantep when he sent a signal of life from the
debris of a multi-storeyed building.
Turkey earthquake: NDRF team,dog squad
members return after 10-day rescue task
New Delhi: A 47-mem-
ber NDRF team along
with dog squad mem-
bers Rambo and Honey
returned to India on
Friday after conducting
a 10-day-long rescue op-
eration from earth-
quake-hit Turkey
. Julie,
Romio, Honey and Ram-
bo were part of a four-
member Indian dog
squad engaged in res-
cue operations in earth-
quake-hit Turkey
.
The Labradors,
trained in sniffing and
rescue work, left for
Turkey with 2 separate
teams of NDRF , a day
after a massive earth-
quake hit Turkey, kill-
ing more than 40,000
people and leaving mil-
lions homeless.
NDRF personnel along with dog squad members return from earthquake-hit Turkiye after rescue
and relief operation, at Hindon Air Force Station in Ghaziabad, on Friday. —PHOTO BY PTI
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge —FILE PHOTO
—PHOTO
BY
ANI
Bommai’s surplus budget is
jumla budget for Congress
Bengaluru: Karnataka
CM Basavaraj Bommai
presented his second
and last budget of the
ruling BJP government
on Friday at the state
legislature ahead of as-
sembly polls in the state.
Bommai presented a
revenue surplus budg-
et, with the outlay
crossing Rs 3 lakh crore
mark. However, Ran-
deep Singh Surjewala,
Karnataka Congress in-
charge, ridiculed CM
Bommai as ‘Liar in
Chief’ and dubbed it as
a ‘Jumla’ budget.
CM Bommai pro-
posed a revenue surplus
of Rs 402 crore and
broke the deficit budg-
ets for the last two con-
secutive years.
CONGRESS LEADERS
WEAR FLOWERS
BEHIND THEIR EARS
Bengaluru: In a peculiar
protest against the ruling
BJP in Karnataka, Opposition
leader Siddaramaiah and
other Congress leaders came
to the state Assembly wear-
ing flowers behind their ears,
alleging that the BJP govern-
ment has cheated people and
made them fools.

06
INDIA
Mahesh Sharma
New Delhi: Bihar
Chief Minister Nitish
Kumar, these days,
passes remarks on eve-
rything that he does not
know. When asked
about any incident, his
first reaction is ‘we
don’t know when it hap-
pened.’ But now it
seems that he does not
even know that he is the
Chief Minister. Recent-
ly, when he was asked
about cabinet expan-
sion, he said ask Tejash-
wi Yadav. Doesn’t Nit-
ish Kumar know that he
is the Chief Minister
and it is the prerogative
of the Chief Minister to
make or expand the
cabinet or reshuffle it?
How then can he com-
ment to ask the Deputy
Chief Minister about
cabinet expansion?
Even the Chief Minis-
ter of Maharashtra,
Eknath Shinde, cannot
say this, where the real-
ity is that Deputy Chief
Minister Devendra Fad-
navis is running the
government!
But Nitish Kumar
has said this. When
asked about cabinet ex-
pansion, he said that
Congress people had
come to him and asked
him to talk to Tejashwi.
Even if it was so, then
what is the need to say
it publicly? It is true
that the vacancy in the
state cabinet is only for
Tejashwi’s party RJD
and Congress.
Has Nitish handed reins of govt to his deputy?
BIHAR CABINET EXPANSION
New Delhi (ANI): Un-
ion Home Minister
Amit Shah on Thursday
said that Kashmir has
become a tourist desti-
nation rather than a
place for protests, stone
pelting, and revolution.
While speaking at
the 76th Raising Day
celebrations of Delhi
police at Kingsway
camp, Shah said, “In-
dia’s law and order, and
safety have seen posi-
tive development since
2014. Every day in
Kashmir used to be a
place for protests,
stone pelting revolu-
tion. Today, Kashmir is
filled with tourists.”
Shah was referring
to the development
that had taken place in
Kashmir post abroga-
tion of Article 370
of the Constitution of
India.
“It is a moment of
pride that I am part of a
legacy of more than 75
years. Delhi Police has
been known for their
work since independ-
ence to the present day
and has been appreci-
ated by the whole na-
tion,” he added.
“We feel empowered
as we think of Kashmir
as we travel across the
country. The instances
of leftist politics ex-
tremism have de-
creased now consider-
ably,” he stated.
On Thursday, Shah
said the government is
going to bring changes
to all three laws of the
IPC, CRPC, and Evi-
dence Act.
Speaking at the 76th
Raising Day celebra-
tions of Delhi police at
Kingsway camp, Shah
said, “The government
is going to bring chang-
es to all the three laws
of IPC, CRPC and Evi-
dence Act in the com-
ing days.”
“We have launched a
trial in Delhi Police and
are going to make it
mandatory (for police
personnel) to visit the
forensic team for every
crime with a punish-
ment of more than 6
years,” Shah added.
Kashmir is filled with tourists
after Article 370, says Shah
Shah said, India’s law order, and safety have seen positive development since 2014
Union Home Minister Amit Shah waves to the supporters during
a public meeting ahead of Meghalaya Assembly elections,
Rangsakona, Meghalaya, on Friday.
ARMY ORGANISES
WOMEN’S SNOW
CRICKET IN J-K’S
KUPWARA
JK (ANI): As part of the
Khelo India initiative, the
Indian Army organized a
Women's Snow Cricket
tournament in Kupwara
of North Kashmir on Fri-
day. The event witnessed
a total of four teams from
Kralpora and Meelyal
Block. It was a first-
of-its-kind event in the
Kupwara district, wherein
girls played cricket on a
snowy field, demonstrat-
ing communal harmony
and passion for sports.
I am grateful to the
Indian army for provid-
ing us with a chance to
participate in such an
event. We are witnessing
for the first time a cricket
tournament being played
on snow in Kashmir,
Saira Bashir (Player),
who participated in the
snow cricket tournament.
UStriestowooIndiaaway
fromRussiawithF-35s
Bengaluru: The
United States brought
its most advanced
fighter jet, the F-35, to
India for the first time
this week alongside
F-16s, Super Hornets
and B-1B bombers as
Washington looks to
woo New Delhi away
from its traditional
military supplier,
Russia.
India, desperate to
modernise its largely
Soviet-era fighter jet
fleet to boost its air
power, is concerned
about Russian supply
delays due to the
Ukraine war and faces
pressure from the
West to distance itself
from Moscow.
The American dele-
gation to the week-
long Aero India show
underlines the grow-
ing strategic relation-
ship between the Unit-
ed States and India.
In contrast, Russia,
India’s largest weap-
ons supplier since the
Soviet Union days,
had a nominal pres-
ence. Its state-owned
weapons exporter
Rosoboronexport had
a joint stall with Unit-
edAircraftandAlmaz-
Antey
, displaying min-
iature models of air-
craft, trucks, radars
and tanks.
Patna (PTI): Bihar
Chief Minister Nitish
Kumar on Friday
frowned upon the
Sangh Parivar’s con-
cept of India as a “Hin-
du” nation, underscor-
ing that this militated
against what Mahatma
Gandhi stood for.
The veteran social-
ist leader, who ended
his long alliance with
the BJP last year, was
responding to queries
from journalists about
the “Hindu rashtra”
clamour, which was
openly endorsed ear-
lier this week by his
UP counterpart Yogi
Adityanath.
“We must not listen
to anything that goes
against what Bapu
stood for. In this coun-
try, people of all reli-
gions live together.
Bapu stood for unity
and this was the reason
for his assassination”,
said Kumar, who draws
inspiration from the
Mahatma’s views in
formulating his ideas
of governance.
He also warned that
any deviation from Gan-
dhi’s insistence on secu-
larism could lead to per-
versions (jo isse kuchh
alag karna chahta hai,
vo ulta pulta karna
chahta hai). A product
of the Bihar movement
of 1974, Kumar had
aligned with the BJP
way back in the 1990s
and held important
portfolios in the Atal Bi-
hari Vajpayee govt.
The longest serving
CM assumed power in
Bihar in 2005 and his
rule has been marked by
a refusal to give in to the
BJP’s “Hindutva” plank
despite alliance.
‘Concept of Hindu Rashtra against Gandhi’s ideals’
Srinagar: The Aam
Aadmi Party today said
it is on hunger strike
here to demand a formal
order from the Jammu
and Kashmir adminis-
tration to spare poor
residents and shopkeep-
ers from the ongoing
anti-encroachment
drive. “Our vice-presi-
dent Nazir Ahmad Ittoo
started the hunger
strike last night but due
to security reasons, we
were not allowed to sit at
thePressColony
.Wehad
to shift to our office,”
AAP youth leader Mu-
dasir Hassan said.
“The hunger strike
will continue till a for-
mal order is issued by
the administration,” he
added. Hassan said the
administration was
making statements day
in and day out that poor
people will not be af-
fected by the demoli-
tion drive.
“Weareaskingthead-
ministration to issue a
formal order to this ef-
fect,” he said.
Spare poor
from anti-
encroachment
drive,AAP says
New bill proposes `1 crore fine, 10 year
jail term for exam paper leak in Gujarat
Gandhinagar (ANI):
The Gujarat Public Ex-
amination (Prevention
of Unfair means) Bill,
2023 which was intro-
duced to members of
the Gujarat Assembly
has proposed a maxi-
mum punishment of 10
years imprisonment
and a fine not less than
Rs 1 crore for indulging
in the crime of leaking
question papers of vari-
ous govt recruitment
examinations.
The Bill is expected
to be taken up for for-
mal discussion during
the upcoming budget
session As per the new
bill draft, any person
found guilty of miscon-
duct shall be liable to
imprisonment for a
term that may extend to
three years and a fine
of less than one lakh
rupees. And in case of
default in payment of
fine, such candidates
may also be punished
with imprisonment.
When any person,
whether or not an au-
thorized person en-
trusted with the respon-
sibility of conducting
the examination, con-
spires or commits or
attempts to commit
malpractice in tamper-
ing with the question
paper, such person shall
be punished with im-
prisonment.
Kolkata: West Bengal
Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee on Friday
sought to know why a
central team was not
sent to probe the death
of a mother-daughter
duo in BJP-ruled Uttar
Pradesh during an evic-
tion drive.
The duo died alleg-
edly due to self-immola-
tion during an anti-en-
croachment drive in
Kanpur's Dehat district
on February 13.
Banerjee claimed
that the drive in UP was
being conducted to
evict poor people.
But no probe is insti-
tuted in such cases; why
was no central team
sent there? she asked,
while speaking at a pro-
gramme in Bankura.
Mamata questions lack
of Central team in UP
Bengaluru: An indigenously-developed jetpack has
elicited the interest of the defence forces, especially the
Indian Army which has called for a demonstration, the
device manufacturer said on Friday. Absolute Composites
Private Limited which manufactures Unmanned Aerial
Vehicles (UAV) has come up with a jetpack propelled by
turbojet engines. It is a working model. We have trained
pilots also, Raghav Reddy, managing director of the
company, told PTI. He said the firm has not yet received
orders but the Indian armed forces evinced interest.
ARMY SHOWS INTEREST IN INDIA-MADE
JETPACK ON DISPLAY AT AERO INDIA
Nitish spoke to
journalists on the
sidelines of
a function where
his deputy
Tejashwi Yadav, of
current ally RJD,
was also present
There can be 36
ministers in the
Bihar govt, out of
which five spots
are vacant which
belongs to RJD
Cong quota
Mamata Banerjee
APPSC PAPER LEAK CASE, 10 INJURED
60-YEAR-OLD MAN
THRASHES WIFE TO
DEATH IN PUNJAB
EXPEDITE RETURN
OF STRANDED
WORKERS:J’KHAND
Chandigarh: A 60-year-old
man was arrested after he
thrashed his wife to death
and tried to cremate her
body at his residence in
Punjab's Gurdaspur district,
police said today. The inci-
dent took place on Thursday
night when Sansar Chand,
a resident of Paniar village
in Dinanagar in Gurdaspur
badly thrashed her wife
following an argument
over some issue, they said.
Mahindro (55) died after
sustaining serious injuries.
Sansar Chand, who works
as a labourer, then tried to
burn her body at his house.
Ranchi: The Jharkhand govt
has written to the Indian
embassy in Tajikistan,
requesting it to expedite
the safe return of migrant
labourers from the state,
who have been stranded in
the central Asian country for
the last several months, an
official said on Friday. An
e-mail to the Indian embas-
sy in Tajikistan, on behalf
of the labour department,
has been sent on February
15, requesting to expedite
the return of labourers to
the state and a letter is also
being sent today, Johnson
Topno of SMCR told PTI.
Assam: Over 300 shops were destroyed in the massive
fire which broke out in the Chowk Bazaar area of Jorhat
in Assam on Thursday night,
officials said. Over 300 shops
were destroyed in the fire but
no casualties were reported in
the incident, said Pulak Mahan-
ta, the Deputy Commissioner of
Jorhat on Friday. As per latest
information, the blaze was brought under control on Friday
morning. The fire broke out at around 8.30 pm and a fire
brigade was informed. By the time the fire brigade arrived,
three-four shops were already destroyed, said a local.
Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai,
who is an avid dog-lover, on Friday said an online software
will be developed for taking
care of stray dogs and to allow
the public to adopt them. Pre-
senting his govt's last budget
in the Legislative Assembly, he
said with this an opportunity is
created for dog-lovers to adopt
dogs by registering their names. Further pointing out that
Mudhol Hound Dog Breed has been recognised as an Indian
native breed by the National Bureau of Animal Genetic
Resources (NBAGR), the Chief Minister also said.
ASSAM: OVER 300 SHOPS GUTTED IN
MASSIVE FIRE AT JORHAT MARKET
KARNATAKA TO LAUNCH ONLINE SYSTEM
FOR ADOPTION OF STRAY DOGS
NEWS DIGEST
Nitish Kumar Tejashwi Yadav. —FILE PIC
Mumbai (PTI):
Former policeman
Sunil Mane has
moved an applica-
tion before a special
court here seeking
pardon in the case
pertaining to the re-
covery of an explo-
sives-laden SUV
outside industrial-
ist Mukesh Amba-
ni's south Mumbai
residence and the
subsequent murder
of businessman
Mansukh Hiran.
The court today
directed the NIA to
file its say on the
plea of Mane.
The application
seeking pardon was
received by the
court on Thursday
and Special NIA
Judge AM Patil
took it on record on
Friday, after which
he asked the prose-
cution to respond.
As per the NIA,
Mane was part of
the conspiracy to
kill Mansukh Hi-
ran, a Thane-based
businessman, who
purportedly owned
the explosives-lad-
en vehicle that was
found parked near
Ambani's house
'Antilia' on Febru-
ary 25, 2021.
Dismissed
cop Sunil
Mane seeks
pardon
Nitish Kumar

07
Commodity Price Change % Chg
GOLD 55,950.00 285.00 0.50 (Per 10g)
SILVER 65,005.00 620.00 0.95 (Per 1kg)
COMMODITIES
Currency Price Change % Chg
USDINR 82.84 0.14 0.16
GBPINR 98.91 0.81 0.81
CURRENCIES
Telecom subscriber base rises marginally
New Delhi (PTI): Telecom
subscriber base rose mar-
ginally to 1,170.38 million
in December 2022 on ac-
count of an increase in
fixed line connections, ac-
cording to official data.
The total subscriber
base in the country was at
1,170.17 million in Novem-
ber last year.
“The number of tele-
phone subscribers in India
increased from 1,170.18 mil-
lion at the end of Novem-
ber to 1,170.38 million at the
end of December, thereby
showing a monthly growth
rate of 0.02%,” telecom
regulator TRAI said in its
monthly subscriber report
for December 2022.
Wireline subscribers in-
creased to 27.45 million in
December from 27.13 mil-
lion in November, with a
net increase of 0.32 million
in the wireline subscriber
base. The TRAI report
showed that the growth in
the wireline segment was
driven by Reliance Jio.
IN DECEMBER 2022
MAJOR
FINDINGS
z According to official data,
telecom subscriber
base rose marginally
to 1,170.38 million in
December 2022 on account
of an increase in fixed line
connections
z The total subscriber base
in the country was at
1,170.17 million in
November last year
business
BRIEFS
New Delhi: India’s big-
gest gas firm GAIL is
looking to buy up to 26%
stake in a LNG project in
the United States in an at-
tempt to shore up supply
sources to meet rising
demand. GAIL (India) Ltd,
had run into supply dis-
ruptions last year. The
company has issued a
tender seeking expression
of interest (EoI) from op-
erators of existing lique-
fied natural gas (LNG) liq-
uefaction plants or pro-
posed projects in the US
that will be commissioned
by 2027. —PTI
GAIL LOOKS TO BUY
26 PERCENT STAKE
IN US LNG PROJECT
New Delhi: Gold prices
declined by `285 to
`55,950 per 10 grams in
the national capital on Fri-
day amid weak global
trends, according to
HDFC Securities. The pre-
cious metal had settled at
`56,235 per 10 grams in
the previous trade. Silver
also tumbled `620 to
`65,005 per kg. “Spot
gold prices in the Delhi
markets traded at
`55,950 per 10 grams,
down `285 per 10
grams,” Saumil Gandhi of
HDFC Securities, said. In
the overseas market, both
gold and silver were trad-
ing lower at $1,821 per
ounce and $21.29 per
ounce, respectively. —PTI
GOLD PRICES FALL
BY `285; SILVER
TUMBLES `620/KG
Mumbai: Merger-bound
mortgage lender HDFC on
Thursday concluded its
rupee-bond sale through
the private placement
route, mopping up
`25,000 crore. HDFC said
it has raised `25,000
crore of 10-year money
by issuing non-converti-
ble debenture (NCDs)
carrying a coupon rate of
7.97% per annum. This
translates to a spread of
49 basis points over
Wednesday’s closing of
the 10-year government
securities yield. —PTI
HDFC RAISES
`25,000 CRORE
THROUGH NCDs
New Delhi: Amid layoffs
and a severe cost-cutting,
Twitter has closed offices
in Delhi and Mumbai and
asked staff to work from
home. The micro-blog-
ging platform’s Bengaluru
office that largely has en-
gineering staff remains
operational, the sources
said. The Delhi and Mum-
bai offices shuttered a
few weeks ago, with re-
maining staff now work-
ing from home, sources
privy to the matter said.
However, the number of
employees affected by the
move could not be imme-
diately ascertained. —PTI
TWITTER SHUTS TWO
OF 3 INDIA OFFICES;
STAFF ASKED TO WFH
*Rates till the edition went to print.
INDIGO PLANS FLIGHTS
TO NAIROBI, JAKARTA:
CEO PIETER ELBERS
New Delhi: The country’s
largest airline IndiGo, which is
“back with a bang”, is looking
to start flights
to Nairobi,
Jakarta and
some central
Asian destina-
tions as the carrier focuses on
internationalisation, according
to its chief Pieter Elbers. Amid
intensifying competition and
Air India set for expansion
with massive plane orders, the
IndiGo chief asserted that there
is a lot of growth ahead in the
Indian market that “justifies
multiple airlines”. —PTI
‘MINES MINISTRY TO
IDENTIFY MINERAL
BLOCKS IN SEA’
New Delhi: The government
is in the process of identifying
mineral blocks like nickel in the
sea and would
gradually
put them on
sale, mines
secretary
Vivek Bharadwaj said on Friday.
The mines ministry is amend-
ing the Offshore Areas Mineral
(Development and Regulation)
Act, 2002 and has sought the
stakeholders’ views on the
same. The ministry is in the pro-
cess of identifying these blocks
in the sea and as there are no
stakes in there. —PTI
OTHER STORIES
INDIA RANKS 4TH AMONG 51 COUNTRIES IN HAVING
QUALITY ENTREPRENEURSHIP ECOSYSTEM: REPORT
London: India has been ranked fourth out of 51 countries in having a
quality entrepreneurship ecosystem, a new global report said, reflect-
ing the steady rise in the nation’s business environment over the
years. The ranking of India in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor
(GEM) National Entrepreneurship Context
Index (NECI) report is a drastic turna-
round following a much lower score in
2021 which was 16th overall. India’s lat-
est score of 6.1 reflects a steady increase
in the country’s overall entrepreneurial
environment over the years. —PTI
‘Budget made considering external risks’
Hyderabad (PTI): The Un-
ion Budget 2023-’24 has
been prepared keeping
growth in focus and also
external economic chal-
lenges such as fuel prices,
Finance Minister Nirama-
la Sitharaman said.
She said the focus was on
the common man and
weaker sections and to en-
sure that their businesses
are supported, their educa-
tion is supported, the op-
portunities which are
available for them to skill
themselves are also given
enough provision.
“The priority is to keep
the growth momentum as
it is and also to make sure
that the further support
measures for sustaining
growth…And be conscious
of the fact that challenges
which are extraneous to
India. External challenges
will have to be kept in
mind. We should be ready
for any unpredictable
events from outside of our
border,” she said when
asked what the priorities
were when the budget was
given a final shape.
“Economic challenges
which are even today prev-
alent in terms of fuel and
fertilisers. Fertilisers are
coming down a bit, but
even then it is a factor
beyond us. These are the
primary concerns,” she
further said.
Sitharaman said the
budget was prepared keep-
ing in view every section of
the society including SC,
ST, OBC and OBCs.
Replying to a query on
the allegation that the Cen-
tre is curbing states financ-
es by limiting their bor-
rowings, Sitharaman said
as per Article 293 of the
Constitution Centre is au-
thorised to look at States’
borrowings. She said it is
the practice over several
years that the Centre moni-
tors State borrowings.
“There is a well estab-
lished, over the last 70
years practice of the Con-
stitution that the Centre
looks at the borrowing lim-
its of the states. It is not
new. It has not come in
2014. It is not something
which we have changed to
the disadvantage of the
states,” she said.
KEPT FOCUS ON
COMMON MAN
z In an interactive session on
the Budget, Finance Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman said the
focus was on the common
man and weaker sections
and to ensure that their
businesses are supported,
their education is supported,
the opportunities which are
available for them to skill
themselves are also given
enough provision.
Budget should have focused more
on asset monetisation: Ex-Niti VC
New Delhi (PTI): Former
Niti Aayog Vice Chairman
Rajiv Kumar said the Budg-
et should have focused
more on asset monetisation
and privatisation, besides
allocating more funds to
the social sector schemes.
Kumar said, “there
should be (have been) a lot
more focus on privatisation
and asset monetisation,
which I do not find refer-
ence to here (Budget)”.
He also said `51,000 crore
disinvestment target is
way too low. “And in some
sense, I feel that the space
for private investment, ac-
tually has been shrinking
in the economy
. And I think
that’s something which can
also be seen in the fact that
we brought the commercial
bank credit growth in dou-
ble digits finally, but the
commercial bank credit to
industry is still in the very
mid single digits, hardly
any demand for credit at
all,” he said. He suggested
that funds raised through
asset monetisation should
be used to retire public
debt. For the next fiscal
2023-24, the Budget has
pegged disinvestment rev-
enue at `51,000 crore.
The government has also
scaled down the disinvest-
ment target for the current
fiscal to `50K cr, from `65K
cr budgeted last year. Fur-
ther, about `10K cr is ex-
pected to come from mon-
etisation of government
assets in the current year
and well as in next fiscal.
INDIA’S FOREX
RESERVES
DECLINE BY
$8.31 BILLION
New Delhi (PTI): India’s
foreign exchange reserves
declined by $8.31 billion to
$566.94 billion in the week
ending on February 10, ac-
cording to the Reserve
Bank of India’s latest data
released on Friday. India’s
reserves fell 8.3%, logging
the biggest decline in more
than 11 months.
Data released in the pre-
vious week showed that
India’s foreign exchange
reserves dropped by $1.49
billion to reach $575.27 bil-
lion as of February 3, snap-
ping a three-week rising
trend.
In Oct 2021, the country’s
forex kitty had reached an
all-time high of $645 bil-
lion. The reserves have
been declining as the cen-
tral bank deploys the kitty
to defend the rupee amid
pressures caused majorly
by global developments.
India’s foreign currency
assets (FCA) fell by $7.11
billion to $500.59 billion.
Expressed in dollar terms,
the FCA includes the effect
of appreciation or depre-
ciation of non-US units
like the euro, pound and
yen held in the foreign ex-
change reserves.
Gold reserves fell by $919
million, taking the re-
serves to $42.86 billion
while SDRs fell by $190 mil-
lion to $18.35 billion.
India’s exports to UAE
may cross $31 billion
New Delhi (PTI): The
country’s exports to the
UAE, with which India has
implemented a free trade
agreement on May 1 last
year, is expected to cross
$31 billion during the cur-
rent fiscal on account of
healthy demand for sectors
such as gems and jewellery
,
machinery and auto, an of-
ficial said on Friday
.
The government official
said that the agreement is
helping India to promote
its outbound shipments to
the UAE.
During June 2022-Janu-
ary 2023, India’s non-oil
exports rose by 5% to $15.2
billion as against $14.5 bil-
lion in the same period
previous year.
Imports during the peri-
od increased by 3% to $16.8
billion.
Earlier in 2016-17, India’s
exports to the UAE touched
$31.2 billion.
Sensex declines 317 pts
on weak global markets
Mumbai (PTI): Bench-
mark indices Sensex and
Nifty closed down by half a
per cent on Friday follow-
ing losses in IT and bank-
ing shares amid overall
weak global market trends.
The BSE Sensex declined
316.94 points or 0.52% to
settle at 61,002.57.
The NSE Nifty went low-
er by 91.65 points or 0.51%
to end at 17,944.20.
Nestle, IndusInd Bank,
Mahindra Mahindra,
SBI, Kotak Mahindra
Bank, TCS HCL Technolo-
gies, Axis Bank, Infosys
and Bharti Airtel were
among the major laggards.
` FALLS 14 PAISE TO
CLOSE AT 82.84
AGAINST US DOLLAR
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee depre-
ciated 14 paise to close at 82.84
(provisional) against the US cur-
rency on Friday. At the interbank
foreign exchange market, the ru-
pee opened at 82.77 against the
greenback and finally settled for
the day at 82.84 (provisional),
registering a fall of 14 paise over
its previous close.
Air India will require
more than 6,500 pilots
Mumbai (PTI): Air India
will require more than 6,500
pilots to operate 470 aircraft
that are to be supplied by
Airbus and Boeing in the
coming years, according to
industry sources.
Currently, Air India has
around 1,600 pilots to oper-
ate its 113 aircraft fleet and
in recent times, there have
been instances of ultra-
long haul flights getting
cancelled or delayed due to
shortage of crew.
The airline’s two subsid-
iaries -- Air India Express
and AirAsia India -- togeth-
er have around 850 pilots
for flying their 54 planes
while the joint venture
Vistara has more than 600
pilots. The latter has a fleet
of 53 aircraft, one of the
sources said. Air India, Air
India Express, Vistara and
AirAsia India together
have little over 3,000 pilots
to operate the combined
fleet of 220 aircraft.
India’s exports
may rise by 3-5%
this fiscal: FIEO
New Delhi (PTI): India’s
exports are expected to
grow by 3-5% to $435-445
billion in this fiscal, ex-
porters’ body FIEO said on
Friday
.
In 2021-22, the country’s
exports touched an all-time
high of $422 billion.
FIEO) President A Sak-
thivel said that the coming
months are going to be lit-
tle challenging unless both
global economic growth
and geopolitical situation
improve drastically
.
“However, we will be on
course to cross the previ-
ous year’s goods export tar-
get quite easily touching
almost $435-445 billion with
a growth of over 3-5% this
fiscal,” he said.
Contracting for the sec-
ond month in a row, India’s
exports dipped by 6.58% to
$32.91 billion in January
due to a slowdown in global
demand.

08
2NDFRONT
At times, it seems as if humanity has
mastered nature, but just a single minute
of the powers unleashed by nature is
enough to dissuade us from such arrogance.
— Dr Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
First India Bureau
Palghar: Police have
filed a chargesheet in
the case related to the
alleged suicide of tele-
vision actor Tunisha
Sharma in a court in
Palghar district of Ma-
harashtra, an official
said here.
Sharma's co-actor
Sheezan Khan (28) was
arrested for alleged
abetment to suicide af-
ter Sharma (21) was
found to have hanged
herself on December 24
last year. The incident
took place on the set of
a TV serial near Valiv
in Palghar district near
Mumbai.
Valiv police filed the
chargesheet in the Va-
sai sessions court on
Thursday, the local po-
lice official said with-
out disclosing much
details. It contains call
details, chats and other
communications ex-
changed between Shar-
ma and Khan, he said.
Khan is in judicial
custody at present.
Sharma and Khan, who
were in a relationship
but later parted ways,
were co-stars in TV se-
rial 'Ali Baba: Dastaan-
E-Kabul'.
Our govt with BJP formed legally: CM
Shah to attend
Lokmat event
in Nagpur
Nagpur (PTI): Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah on Saturday will
attend a programme or-
ganised by the Lokmat
Media group in Nagpur
to celebrate the birth
centenary of its found-
er-editor and veteran
freedom fighter Jawa-
harlal Darda, popularly
known as ‘Babuji’, and
golden jubilee of its
Marathi newspaper’s
edition from the city
.
Chief Minister
Eknath Shinde and dep-
uty CM Devendra Fad-
navis will be the guests
of honour at the event,
a Lokmat Media state-
ment said on Friday
.
At the programme to
be held at Suresh Bhat
Auditorium at Reshim-
bag, Shah will release
a special issue of the
Nagpur edition of Lok-
mat, a leading regional
language newspaper in
the country, said the
statement.
The senior Bharati-
ya Janata Party (BJP)
leader will also release
a commemorative coin
in the memory of
‘Babuji’ and a special
postage stamp on Lok-
mat’s golden jubilee, it
added.
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
First India BUreau
Mumbai: Chief Minis-
ter Eknath Shinde, who
heads a faction of the
Shiv Sena, on Friday
saidhispartybelievesin
judiciary and expects
that the Supreme Court
willgiveitsverdictinthe
case related to the June
2022 Maharashtra politi-
calcrisisbasedonmerit.
Sanjay Raut, a leader
of Shiv Sena (UBT),
however asserted that
the party led by Uddhav
Thackeray is the “real”
Shiv Sena and truth
will prevail when the
apex court hears the
case on February 21.
The Supreme Court
on Friday refused to
refer pleas related to
the June 2022 Maha-
rashtra political crisis
triggered by the Shiv
Sena’s division to a
seven-judge bench for
reconsideration of the
2016 Nabam Rebia
judgement. The 2016
judgment deals with
powers of assembly
speakers to decide on
disqualification pleas.
A five-judge Constitu-
tion bench headed by
Chief Justice D Y Chan-
drachud said whether
the 2016 Nabam Rebia
judgement requires ref-
erence or not will be
considered with the
merits of the case on
February 21.
Reacting to the devel-
opment, CM Shinde
said, “We trust the judi-
ciary. We expect a ver-
dict based on merit. We
are a majority govern-
ment formed legally
.”
‘SC will give verdict in the case on
2022 political crisis based on merit’
Eknath Shinde
The march saw participation from large crowds.
Tunisha Sharma
Tunisha Sharma suicide
case: Cops file charge sheet
First India Bureau
Mumbai: A sessions
court in Mumbai on
Friday rejected the ap-
peal filed by Amravati
MP Navneet Rana's fa-
ther against a procla-
mation order issued by
a magistrate, terming
him an absconder.
A metropolitan mag-
istrate court had last
month issued the proc-
lamation order against
the lawmaker's father
Harbhajan Kundles for
not appearing before it
although multiple sum-
monses were issued
against him.
As per a complaint
lodged at Mulund police
station in Mumbai,
Rana and her father al-
legedly forged docu-
ments to obtain a caste
certificate as the Amra-
vati seat is reserved for
Scheduled Caste (SC)
candidates.Kundleshad
then filed a review peti-
tion before a sessions
court here against the
magistrate's order.
After hearing both
sides, additional ses-
sions judge Santosh
Kulkarni rejected Kun-
dles' plea, advocate
Sachin Thorat, who rep-
resents the complainant
in the case, said.
First India Bureau
Mumbai: As the Elec-
tion Commission ruled
in favour of Shinde fac-
tion terming it to be the
“legitimate” Shiv Sena,
responding to this,
Chief Minister Eknath
Shinde said that this is
the victory of Balasa-
heb's thoughts. “This is
the victory of democ-
racy and Indian consti-
tution,” he said.
Shiv Sena has gone
out of the hands of Ud-
dhav Thackeray. Now
the name of Shiv Sena
and the symbol of bow
and arrow have come as
Eknath Shinde. Eknath
Shinde has also said
that we will take the
next step with the
thoughts of Balasaheb.
We had faith in the
Election Commission.
We rebelled and then
fought a legal battle. We
had handed over all the
documents to the Elec-
tion Commission. This
decision has come after
that, Shinde said.
Meanwhile, Shinde
faction leader Shamb-
huraj Desai also wel-
comed the decision
and said, We have re-
ceived the bow and ar-
row and the name of
the party after the
documents submitted
by us. We haven't done
anything illegal. The
Central Election Com-
mission has given us a
fair verdict. Truth
has won today. We
have got justice from
this decision.
Another Shinde fac-
tion leader Uday Sa-
mant said, “Respected
Balasaheb Thackeray's
wish has been fulfilled
today. Bow and Arrow
and Shiv Sena have
come to us. Today the
ideas of Balasaheb
Thackeray have won.”
NEW GUV IN TOWN!
Maharashtra Governor-designate Ramesh Bais and his wife Rambai Bais arrived in Raj
Bhavan in Mumbai on Friday and were accorded a grand welcome by staff and officials.
A Raj Bhavan release said Santosh Kumar, principal secretary to the governor, and joint
secretaries Shweta Singhal and Prachi Jambhekar were present. Bais will take oath as
governor of Maharashtra on Saturday. —PHOTO BY BHUSHAN KOYANDE
FAKE CASTE CERTIFICATE CASE
EC'S DECISION ON SHIV SENA SYMBOL
Court rejects appeal filed by Navneet
Rana’s father against‘absconder’ tag
Navneet Rana
Mumbai: Reacting to the
what is perhaps the biggest
political development in
Maharashtra, after the fall of
the MVA government, NCP
Parliamentarian Supriya
Sule questioned the decision
taken by EC.
I have heard
about Emer-
gency. I was
very young
then, so did
not see Emer-
gency. But now I don't know
whom to trust and how to
trust. I have always believed
that Election Commission is
transparent. But how was
this decision taken, I can not
understand. It seems that
we have lagged behind in
seeking justice from the Elec-
tion Commission. Shiv Sena
was founded by respected
Balasaheb Thackeray. It was
decided when Balasaheb and
his associates were alive
That Uddhavji will be the
successor of Shiv Sena. Raj
Thackeray walked out and
formed his own party. I am in
shock. Election Commission
is an autonomous body. How
did they take this decision?
First India Bureau
Sangli: A Hindu march
was held in Islampur on
Friday
, demanding anti-
love jihad and prohibi-
tion of conversion. On
this occasion, a demand
was made on behalf of
the entire Hindu com-
munity that Islampur
should be renamed Ish-
warpur and Sambhaji
Maharaj's sacrifice day
should be celebrated as
Dharmaveer Day
.
The Hindu Garjana
Morcha, joined by the
entire Hindu commu-
nity, organized the
march at Shivaji
Chowk. This march was
taken out through Gan-
dhi Chowk, Bramhan-
puri, Ganesh Mandai,
and Yama Chowk. The
march concluded near
the Chhatrapati Shivaji
Maharaj statue.
The purpose of the
march was to raise five
demands such as an an-
ti-love jihad law, a law to
prevent apostasy, strict
enforcement of the cow
slaughter ban law, re-
naming Islampur to Ish-
warpur, and celebrating
Chhatrapati Sambhaji
Maharaj's martyrdom
day as Dharmaveer Day
.
Thousands of activ-
ists, including former
Mayor Nishikant Patil,
VikramPavaskar,Rahul
Mahadik, Sanjay Bhag-
wat, Anandrao Pawar,
VaibhavPawar,Darsheel
More, Madhukar Hu-
bale, Sunita Nishikant
Patil, Vandana Thorat,
Shobha Jagtap, Surekha
Jagtap, Jayashree Rand-
ive, Smita Pawar, Nita
Kadam, participated in
the march.
First India BUreau
Dapoli: In a unani-
mous order on the six-
month-old petition
filed by Shinde, the
three-member Elec-
tion Commission al-
lowed the Thackeray
faction to retain the
name Shiv Sena (Ud-
dhav Balasaheb Thack-
eray) and the flaming
torch’ poll symbol,
given to it in an inter-
im order last year, till
the conclusion of on-
going assembly bypolls
in the state.
Predictably, this has
led to unease in politi-
cal circles in Maharash-
tra. On Friday, soon af-
ter the EC’s annouce-
ment, supporters of
both Sena factions
clashed in Dapoli.
On Friday, after the
EC announced that it
was allotting the Shive
Sena name and bow and
arrow symbol to the
Shinde faction, workers
from the latter group
claimed that they are
now the legal Shiv Sena.
As a result the party
office in Dapoli was
also theirs by rights,
they claimed.
Those who were pre-
sent said Shinde group
workers forcefully at-
tempted to take over
the Thackeray group
‘shakha’ (branch) here.
This led to serious
tensions and argu-
ments, officials said.
Those familiar with the
issue say the police at-
tempted to round up
workers from both sides
following the ruckus.
Eventually, the po-
lice had to intervene
and calmed frayed
nerves to deescalate
the dispute between
the two groups.
Notably, here was a
dispute between two
groups here a few days
back as well.
Rename Islampur as
Ishwarpur: Protesters
Cops intervene as
Shinde-Thackeray
factions face off
ThisisvictoryofBalasaheb'sthoughts:Shinde
CM terms EC’s decision to allot his group ‘Shiv
Sena’ name and ‘bow and arrow’ poll symbol
‘victory of democracy and Indian constitution’
Eknath Shinde
'HOW DID THEY TAKE
THIS DECISION?'
PEOPLE HAVE LOST FAITH IN THE ELECTION COMMISSION : RAUT
Mumbai: Commenting
on EC's decision, Thack-
eray group MP Sanjay
Raut said on Friday that
people have lost faith in
the Election Commission
of this country today. It
became clear today. The
party which was built by
Balasaheb Thackeray and
lakhs of Shiv Sainiks with
their blood and sacrifice,
that party and its symbol
have been bought by forty
men. This will be recorded
in history. People have
lost faith in the Election
Commission of this
country today,
he said. Sanjay
Raut further said,
“An attempt is
being made
to enslave all autonomous
systems in this country.
This is an important
step in that. Courts,
investigative agencies,
Election Commission
are seen as slaves
of someone. We will
definitely challenge this
decision. But if 40 men
can buy Balasaheb's
Shiv Sena and
Dhanush Baan
with the power
of money, then
the people of the country
will lose faith in democ-
racy. It has all happened
under pressure. This is an
attempt to take revenge
from Maharashtra. This
is a trap thrown for Shiv
Sena or Marathi people
to have no control over
Mumbai, the capital of
Maharashtra in future. We
do not trust the Election
Commission. This decision
will be of no use in the
Supreme Court.
Mumbai: The Election
Commission of India’s
decision to recognise the
Eknath Shinde faction as
the real Shiv Sena was on
expected lines, said Con-
gress leader and former
chief minister Prithviraj
Chavan on Friday. Chavan
told PTI that the poll panel
considered the legislative
and Parliamentary majority.
“It was expected that the
poll body would rule in a
particular manner to help
the ruling party,” he said.
Uddhav Thackeray should
move the appropriate
appellate court against the
EC’s decision as he enjoys
wide support at the district
and taluka levels, he added.
As it ordered the allocation
of the Shiv Sena’s “bow
and arrow” poll symbol to
the group led by Shinde,
EC allowed the Uddhav
Thackeray faction to keep
the “flaming torch” symbol
allocated to it till the com-
pletion of the assembly
bypolls in the state. The
Commission said MLAs
backing Eknath Shinde
got nearly 76 per cent of
votes polled in favour of
the 55 winning Shiv Sena
candidates in the 2019 Ma-
harashtra Assembly polls.
The Uddhav Thackeray
faction’s MLAs got 23.5
per cent of votes polled in
favour of the winning Shiv
Sena candidates, the three-
member Commission said
in a unanimous order.
UDDHAV SHOULD MOVE COURT AGAINST EC’S ORDER: PRITHVIRAJ CHAVAN
Shinde suuporters
attempted to take over
Dapoli Sena ‘shakha’
claiming it was theirs,
following the EC
decision to grant them
the official party name

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