06122022_First India Mumbai.pdf

First India Bureau
Mumbai: Supporters of
BJP and Member of Par-
liament Udayanraje
Bhosale blocked the
Pune-Bangalore Nation-
al Highway near Shen-
dre village on Monday
and burnt tires while
raising slogans against
union minister Raosa-
heb Danve for his use of
singular language in ref-
erence to Chhatrapati
Shivaji Maharaj. As
soon as the information
about the incident was
received, the Satara ta-
luka traffic police
reached the spot, cleared
the road by removing the
burnt tires on the high-
way and brought nor-
malcy back to the affect-
ed area.
A few days ago, Gover-
nor Bhagat Singh Koshy-
ariandsomeBJPleaders
madecontroversialstate-
ments while talking
aboutChhatrapatiShiva-
ji Maharaj. Thereafter, a
video of union minister
Raosahab Danve also
surfaced wherein he is
seen speaking about
Chhatrapati Shivaji Ma-
haraj and is reportedly
from two years ago.
Meanwhile, Danve
was also criticized after
this video. After this vid-
eo went viral on social
media, Danve has given
clarification on this and
saidthatheapologizedto
the entire country for
that statement. Danve
clarified that he has not
made any such state-
ment about Shivrai at
present.
Udayanraje's supporters block Pune-Bangalore highway, char tyres!
REMARKS AGAINST SHIVAJI
The Satara royal's
supporters try to
corner current state
govt on remarks by
union minister
Raosaheb Danve
Instead of
rioting and
protesting
around Maharashtra, he
(Udayanraje) should go
to Delhi and force the
central government to
take a decision about the
Governor (BS Koshyari).
—MLA
Shivendrasinhraje
Bhosale
WHY IS BJP NOT TAKING ACTION AGAINST THOSE
WHO INSULTED SHIVAJI,ASKS CONG CHIEF PATOLE
Mumbai: In the last
one month, four-five
BJP leaders have made
statements insulting
Chhatrapati Shivaji
Maharaj. In a scathing
attack, Maharashtra
Pradesh Congress Com-
mittee President Nana
Patole said on Monday
that this has not hap-
pened unknowingly,
but it is a well-planned
conspiracy by the BJP
to defame Chhatrapati
Shivaji Maharaj.
Patole said, "Gov-
ernor Bhagat Singh
Koshyari used to call
Chhatrapati Shivaji Ma-
haraj the old role model.
So, Gadkari was the
new role model and he
insulted Maharaj. After
that BJP spokesperson
Sudhanshu Trivedi made
a shameless statement
that Maharaja had asked
Aurangzeb for five
years." Tourism Minister
Mangalprabhat Lodha
likened the Maharaja's
escape to Agra to a
political rebellion. Then,
MLA Prasad Lad's
son-in-law said that the
Maharaja was born in
Konkan."
"Now the video of
Union Minister Raosa-
heb Danve mentioning
Shivaji has gone viral
on social media. There
is a common thread that
all those who insulted
Chhatrapati Shivaji
belong to the BJP,"
Nana Patole said, add-
ing further, "When such
derogatory statements
are being given openly,
action is expected by
strongly condemning
these statements. But
BJP did nothing like
this. BJP has become a
party without rules. The
audacity to insult great
men has happened due
to the rise of power
and the people of
Maharashtra will never
tolerate insult to their
Gods."
Udayanraje Bhosale Shivendrasinhraje Bhosale
Nana Patole
UDDHAV THACKERAY ATTEMPTS AT
‘POLITICAL RESURRECTION’
BANKS ON BHEEM VOTERS’
‘AASHIRWAAD’!
Sandeep Shukla
Mumbai: With new
challenges befalling the
opposition parties in
the state, newer alli-
ances are being forged
to address these chal-
lenges. In this connec-
tion, Shiv Sena (Uddhav
Balasaheb Thackeray)
Chief and former Ma-
harashtra Chief Minis-
ter Uddhav Thackeray
and Vanchit Bahujan
Aghadi President
Prakash Ambedkar
held a secret meeting in
Mumbai on Monday
. In-
terestingly, a high level
of secrecy was attempt-
ed in organizing this
meeting, however, word
did spread about it in
the political circles.
The meeting between
Thackeray and Ambed-
kar was earlier to be
held at the Four Sea-
sons in Worli, Mumbai,
but suddenly Turn to P6
Uddhav Thackeray attempts a secret meet with Vanchit
Bahujan Aghadi President Prakash Ambedkar, hopes to find
support and relevance in a politically parched landscape
In Monday’s meeting,
both the leaders also
discussed the seat-
sharing formula if the
alliance is decided
for the upcoming Lok
Sabha and Vidhansabha
elections, and whether
Vanchit Aghadi would
have an alliance
only with Shiv Sena
or whether Prakash
Ambedkar will bring
his party directly under
Maha Vikas Aghadi.
Mumbai: Prakash Ambedkar's Vanchit Aghadi
caused a huge loss to Congress-NCP in the last
Loksabha elections. Although Vanchit Aghadi has
no major presence in Maharashtra politics, but in
the last Loksabha elections where the party had
contested, about 14% votes were cast in favour of
the party. Not only this, the Congress NCP had to
lose about 15 seats in the Lok Sabha elections only
because of the Vanchit Aghadi. Like the Lok Sabha,
the alliance between the Vanchit and the AIMIM
caused Congress and NCP's defeat on about 35
seats. Uddhav and NCP understand this issue and
perhaps that is why they are ready for alliance,
but Prakash Ambedkar, the leader of Aghadi, also
understands his political relevance, and hence he
is being cautious in striking a deal.
HOW WILL MVA BENEFIT FROM
ALLIANCE WITH PRAKASH AMBEDKAR?
Mumbai: After the meeting, Uddhav Thackeray
from Shiv Sena, Ajit Pawar from NCP and Balasa-
heb Thorat from Congress came before the media
and slammed the government for its soft stand on
the Maharashtra-Karnataka dispute, Governor’s
remarks in Chhatrapati Shivaji and announced
that the Maha VIkas Aghadi will take out a grand
‘Mahamorcha’ against the government on Decem-
ber 17. This morcha will leave Mumbai’s Jija Mata
Udyan and continue till Azad Maidan. Not only that,
Uddhav Thackeray has appealed that patriots and
those who have faith in Chhatrapati should also
join the procession. Interestingly, this morcha is
for the fight for the survival and political relevance
of the Maha Vikas Aghadi.
MVA ANNOUNCES ‘MAHA-MORCHA’ TO
CORNER SHINDE-FADNAVIS GOVT
We should
not be in
a hurry to
unite Shivshakti and
Bhimshakti. Shivshakti
and Bhim-
shakti are
coming
together
after
Balasaheb
Thac-
keray’s
appeal.
Prabodhankar Thac-
keray and Babasaheb
Ambedkar created an
ideological platform in
the state and if their
grandchildren are
coming together, then
attention should be
paid not to politics but
also to social causes.
If Bhimshakti and Shiv
Shakti come together,
then it can be a wel-
come step.
—Ambadas Danve,
Shiv Sena leader
If Prakash
Ambedkar
and Uddhav
Thackeray think about
an alliance, then it is a
good thing for Maha-
rashtra politics.
—Neelam Gore,
Shiv Sena leader
Mumbai: Maharashtra's Cul-
tural Minister Sudhir Mungan-
tiwar has announced to bring
back the 'Bagh-nakh' (Tiger-
claw weapon) used by Chhatra-
pati Shivaji Maharaj from Brit-
ain to the state on the lines of
Shivaji's 'Jagdamba' sword.
Talking to reporters on Mon-
day
, Mungantiwar said that 350
years would be completed to
Shivarajyabhishekin2024."Itis
a day of pride for the whole
country including Maharash-
tra.OnJune6,2024,aresolution
has been taken to bring the
'Bagh-Nakh' to Maharashtra
during which various pro-
grams will be organized. Mun-
gantiwar told that discussions
are on with Union Home Minis-
ter Amit Shah to bring back the
tiger claw used by Chhatrapati
Shivaji Maharaj. He has as-
sured that efforts will be made
to bring the weapon to the state
before the Shivarajyabhishek.
Maha-govt to
bring back
Shivaji's
'Bagh-Nakh'!
BSE SENSEX 62,834.60 33.90 | NSE NIFTY 18,701.05 4.95
MUMBAI lTUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNITITLE NO.MAHENG/2022/14652 lVol 1 l Issue No.209
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OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, NEW DELHI & MUMBAI
NC PREZ: FAROOQ
ABDULLAH
RE-ELECTED
UNOPPOSED
Ulhasnagar: The Ulhasnagar police has registered an FIR against four
journalists for extortion. The accused recovered forty thousand rupees
to not file complaint against M/s Mamal Polymers LLP regarding
pollutant discharge All the accused are absconding.
Srinagar: Former CM and Lok Sabha member, Dr
Farooq Abdullah was re-elected unopposed as the
president of the National Conference (NC) party
on Monday. NC presidential polls were held at
party headquarters, ‘Nawa-e-Subha’ in Srinagar.
LALU’S KIDNEY
TRANSPLANT
SUCCESSFUL IN
SINGAPORE
Patna: RJD president Lalu Prasad’s kidney
transplant surgery on Monday in Singapore was
successful, his son and Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi
Yadav said. Yadav said his father, elder sister Rohini,
who donated one of her kidneys to dad, were fine.
FIR AGAINST 4 JOURNOS FOR EXTORTION
P4
GUJARAT ASSEMBLY POLLS: POLLING ENDS, EVMs SEALED, EXIT POLL IN FOCUS
BJPSETFOR
LANDSLIDEWIN!
Latest exit-poll surveys indicate that BJP will
be easily able to retain the majority in Gujarat
Moni Sharma
Ahmedabad: The poll-
ing for the second and
the final phase of the
Gujarat Assembly elec-
tions concluded on
Monday. The approxi-
mate voter turnout is
65% till 5 pm. Official
figures will come out
soon. Till 3 pm, it was
50.51%. Till 1 pm, it was
34.74%. A voter turnout
of 63.14 percent was re-
corded in the first
phase of elections held
on 1 December. Naren-
dra Modi, Amit Shah
and others casted votes
in Gujarat.
Meanwhile, ABP
CVoter’s latest survey
indicated that BJP will
be easily able to retain
the majority in the
182-member legislative
state assembly. The re-
sults for the Gujarat
and Himachal Pradesh
Elections will be de-
clared on Dec 8. P5
UNION HOME MIN
SHAH AND FAMILY
CAST THEIR VOTE
Union Home Home Minister
Amit Shah along with his
family members including
wife Sonalben Shah, son Jay
Shah his wife Rishita Patel
on Monday casted vote in
Ahmedabad and appealed
to people to strengthen the
state’s “development model”
by coming out to vote in
large numbers.
PM Narendra Modi shows his ink-marked finger after casting his
vote for 2nd phase of Gujarat elections, in Ahmedabad on Monday.
PM Modi’s 100-year-old mother, Heeraben Modi, casts her vote.
HIGHLIGHTS
z Over 5,200 voters from
4 villages in the Mehsana
district of Gujarat boycott-
ed polls over unresolved
water shortage issue
z Panchmahal Congress
candidate Prabhatsinh
Chauhan was attacked by
unidentified man near Kalol
z Exit polls on Monday
predicted a big majority for
the BJP in Gujarat while
most of them gave an edge
to it in Himachal Pradesh,
indicating re-election of the
ruling party in both states
EXIT POLLS PREDICT SEVENTH
TERM FOR BJP IN GUJARAT
BJP CONG OTHERS
Chanakya 150 19 11
Times Now 109 70 03
Republic Tv 108 74 00
News X 120 75 4
News Nation 128 56 3
India Today 113 82 1
Zee News 113 82 01
News 18 108 74 00
Uddhav Thackeray

NEWS
MUMBAI | TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2022
02
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First India Bureau
Mumbai: Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP)
state President Chan-
d r a s h e k h a r
Bawankule on Mon-
day took potshots at
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief
Uddhav Thackeray’s
political engage-
ments, including
meetings with Vanchit
Bahujan Aghadi and
Nationalist Congress
Party leaders.
He also “congratu-
lated” him for coming
out of Matoshree, the
private residence of the
former chief minister.
The BJP would rou-
tinely criticize Thack-
eray for not leaving
Bandra-based Ma-
toshree or touring the
state when he was chief
minister between 2019
and June this year.
Amid talks of an alli-
ance, Thackeray had
met Vanchit Bahujan
Aghadi chief Prakash
Ambedkar here during
the day
.
“Uddhav Thackeray,
who never stepped out
(of Matoshree), goes to
meet Prakash Ambed-
kar and then goes to
(NCP leader) Ajit Pa-
war’s house with the
proposal. Congratula-
tions to him for his
journey from monarchy
to democratic values.
BJP has always wel-
comed every develop-
ment that upholds dem-
ocratic values,” said
Bawankule in a series
of tweets.
Bawankule, in anoth-
er tweet, claimed a for-
mal invitation was giv-
en to Thackeray and
NCP chief Sharad Pa-
war on November 15 in
connection with a meet-
ing related to G20 pro-
grammes but the Shiv
Sena (UBT) chief chose
to hold a meeting with
Ambedkar.
First India Bureau
Thane: National Con-
gress Party (NCP)
leaderJitendraAwhad
was a hit on social me-
dia after his sarcastic
remarks on Chief
Minister Eknath Shin-
de went viral.
The leader had tweet-
ed about him being
framed in a pickpocket-
ing case after CM’s
event at the Thane Mu-
nicipal Corporation
(TMC) headquarters.
Taking a dig at CM
Shinde, Awhad tweet-
ed, “Earlier, I was false-
ly framed in a molesta-
tion case when I went
for the Kalwa bridge
inauguration event re-
cently. On Saturday, the
TMC had invited me to
the CM's ‘Mukhy-
amantri Aanche
Badalte Thane’ cam-
paign launch, but I will
avoid going there be-
cause if I stand beside
the CM, the police will
falsely frame me in a
pickpocketing case.”
Awhad added, “When
I ask Shinde about
framing me, he will say
‘you know I haven't
done it’ while the police
will say that we have re-
ceived orders from top
officials. I know my
days are not good but
they will pass.”
Bombay HC seeks Maha govt, SRA reply on nature park inclusion
Mumbai (PTI): The
Bombay High Court
on Monday directed
the Maharashtra gov-
ernment and Slum Re-
habilitation Authori-
ty (SRA) to file affida-
vits in response to a
petition challenging
the inclusion of the
Mahim Nature Park
in the Dharavi rede-
velopment project.
A division bench
comprising Chief Jus-
tice Dipankar Datta and
Justice Abhay Ahuja
was hearing a public in-
terest litigation (PIL)
claiming that the Ma-
him Nature Park, which
is a protected forest, has
been unlawfully includ-
ed in the redevelopment
of Dharavi, Asia’s larg-
est slum.
The PIL filed by NGO
Vanshakti and environ-
mental activist Zory Ba-
thena stated that it
wants to ensure that the
park, admeasuring 27
acres, is not unlawfully
covered under the pro-
posed Dharavi Redevel-
opment Project.
The petitioners had
earlier written to the
project authority seek-
ing a clarification on
whether the park was
included within the
Dharavi notified area,
whenitshouldhavebeen
entirelydeletedfromthe
project documents.
Senior counsel
Milind Sathe, appear-
ing for the project au-
thority, told the court
on Monday that it has
already clarified to the
petitioners that the Ma-
him Nature Park was
not included in the re-
development project.
But the authority
was, however, silent on
whether the park would
be shown in the catego-
ry of “excluded area” in
the tender documents.
The bench then di-
rected the state govern-
ment and SRA to file
their affidavits clarify-
ing their stand by Janu-
ary 02, 2023.
As per the plea, the
Mahim Nature Park
was declared as a pro-
tected forest in 1991.
The petition chal-
lenged the demarcation
and inclusion of the pro-
tected park forest in the
category of “excluded
area” in project tender.
“This demarcation
and inclusion would al-
low project proponent
to develop the park in
violation of its protect-
ed status,” it stated.
DHARAVI REDEVT PROJECT
PIL filed challenging mention of
Mahim Nature Park under ‘excluded
area’ in project tender documents
OUTRAGED
In October 2022, a
tender was issued
calling for bids for
the redevelopment of
Dharavi. The tender
grants the project
proponent the right
to acquire excluded
areas, including the
Mahim nature park,
the PIL alleged. “The
Mahim Nature Park
should never have
been included within
the boundary of the
Dharavi project and
should be deleted
from project docu-
ments,” it added.
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Deputy
Chief Minister Deven-
dra Fadnavis on Mon-
day addressed the
Maharashtra-Karna-
taka village border
row and said Chief
Minister Eknath Shin-
de will take the final
call on whether the
ministers appointed
for coordinating the
dispute should visit
contested areas.
State ministers Chan-
drakant Patil and
Shambhuraj Desai, who
have been appointed as
coordinating ministers,
are scheduled to meet
activists of Maharash-
tra Ekikaran Samiti
(MES) at Belagavi in
Karnataka on Decem-
ber 06. They plan to
hold talks with them on
the border issue.
Speaking to reporters
in Mumbai, Fadnavis
said, “The two minis-
ters, who had earlier an-
nounced their visit of
the disputed areas,
were invited by locals
on the occasion of Dr
Babasaheb Ambedkar’s
death anniversary. Our
opinion is to avoid any
legal complications by
arranging such a visit
to the disputed areas.
However, the final call
on the ministers’ visit
will be taken by the
chief minister.”
Belagavi, Karvar and
many villages on the
Maharashtra and Kar-
nataka border are in
dispute over which
state should get their
administrative control.
The dispute is pending
before the Supreme
Court since Maharash-
tra’s inception in 1960.
“Nobody should be
prohibited from visiting
a place, as we are an in-
dependent country
.
However, the case relat-
edtothedisputedareais
still going on in the Su-
preme Court and we
want to avoid any fur-
ther complications in
the issue. Nobody can
stop the ministers from
visiting the disputed ar-
eas if they decide to do
so,” said the deputy CM.
Earlier in the day,
Karnataka CM Basa-
varaj Bommai had said
that he will ask his Ma-
harashtra counterpart
Shinde not to send his
cabinet colleagues to
Belagavi, as their visit
may disrupt the law and
order situation in the
border district.
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The Bombay
High Court on Mon-
day extended appear-
ance relief granted to
Congress leader Ra-
hul Gandhi in a defa-
mation case till Janu-
ary 25, 2023. The com-
plaint pertains to his
alleged remarks
against Prime Minis-
ter Narendra Modi.
A single bench of
Justice Amit Borkar ad-
journed hearing till
January 20, 2023 on the
plea filed by Gandhi
challenging the sum-
mons issued to him by
the local court.
“The interim relief
granted earlier shall
continue till January
25, 2023,” said Justice
Borkar.
Gandhi’s advocate
Sudeep Pasbola told the
court this is a case
where a person is claim-
ing to be defamed by al-
leged comments made
on the prime minister.
Justice Borkar said
the court would hear
the matter on January
20.
The local court had
directed Gandhi to ap-
pear before it in a defa-
mation complaint filed
by one Mahesh
Shrishrimal, claiming
to be a BJP party work-
er. The complaint had
been filed for Gandhi’s
“commander-in-thief ”
remark against Prime
Minister Modi in 2018
over the Rafale fighter
jet deal.
Gandhi had later ap-
proached the high court
challenging the sum-
mons issued to him.
‘Final call on mins’ visit
to disputed areas on CM’
MAHARASHTRA-KARNATAKA BORDER DISPUTE
Matter in court,
fight it legally:
Bommai to Shinde
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Karnata-
ka Chief Minister
Basavaraj Bommai
on Monday swaid
he has appealed to
Maharashtra Chief
Minister Eknath
Shinde to fight the
border dispute is-
sue legally in court.
“We have already
communicated to
them that it will cre-
ate a law and order
problem, therefore,
it’s not the right time
to come. I appeal to
the Maharashtra CM
that the matter is in
court and fight it le-
gally,” said Bommai
while speaking to
mediapersons in
Bengaluru.
CM Bommai also
warned of ‘strict ac-
tion’ if the ministers
arrive in Belagavi.
On the other hand,
Maharashtra Deputy
Chief Minister Dev-
endra Fadnavis said
since the matter has
landed in court nei-
ther Maharashtra
nor Karnataka gov-
ernments can take a
decision on it.
Maharashtra min-
isters Chandrakant
Patil and Shamb-
huraj Desai, who
were scheduled to
visit Belagavi on De-
cember 03, have post-
poned their visit to
December 06.
Dy CM Fadnavis
expresses govt
wish to avoid legal
complications over
visit of state
ministers to K’taka
ACTIVISTS PROTEST IN BELAGAVI
A number of pro-Kannada activists from across
Karnataka flocked to Belagavi on Monday to stage
a protest ahead of Maharashtra ministers’ visit
to the border city. Demonstrators gathered at the
Rani Chennamma circle in the city and raised slo-
gans against Maharashtra ministers Chandrakant
Patil and Shambhuraj Desai. They demanded that
the ministers not be allowed entry into the state.
Mahim Nature Park is a protected forest located in Mumbai city. —FILE PHOTO
6 BARGES, 2 BOATS
SEIZED IN SAND
MINING RAID OP
MAN HELD FOR
DUPING SINGER OF
`2.5 LAKH IN GOA
UNION MIN VISITS
VILLAGE HIT BY
MILD TREMOR
PRISONER
ESCAPES FROM
LOCK-UP, NABBED
Alibag: At least six
barges and two boats
were seized during
raids against sand
mining in the creeks
of Raigad district, an
official said on Monday.
As per a release, the
raids were conducted
by the police in creeks
at Panvel, Taloja and
Kharghar recently. Sand
worth crores recovered.
Mumbai: A 32-year-old
man was arrested from
Goa for allegedly posing
as an Indian Police Ser-
vice officer and duping
singer Ashok Arjun
Nikhalje (42) of Rs2.5
lakh on the pretext of
organizing a show of the
latter. The accused had
asked the singer to de-
posit Rs2.5 lakh into his
account for the show.
Thane: Union Minister
of State Kapil Patil
on Monday visited a
village in Thane district
where a mild tremor
was experienced last
week. Patil inspected
the damages to 15
houses and assured
villagers of government
aid. He distributed
Rs10,000 to 15 fami-
lies affected by quake.
Palghar: A 28-year-old
man escaped from the
lock-up at Mandvi police
station in Palghar and
was apprehended from
a jungle in the vicinity.
The accused, who was
in custody in over a case
of house-breaking and
theft, jumped out of the
window of a toilet and
escaped into the jungle
on Sunday.
Thane: Three persons were arrested allegedly with
ganja worth Rs10 lakh in Thane, a police official said.
They were nabbed from the GB Road area on Satur-
day. A search of their car led to the seizure of 80kg of
ganja worth Rs8 lakh, said Crime Unit V (Wagle Estate)
Senior Inspector Vikas Ghodke. They led police to a
closed hotel where a consignment of 20 kg of ganja
worth Rs2 lakh was hidden. A case has been lodged.
THREE HELD WITH 100KG OF GANJA
WORTH `10 LAKH IN THANE DISTRICT
CRUCIAL READ
Relief to RaGa in
defamation case
hearing appearance
Maha BJP chief mocks Uddhav over
political meets,‘hails’ him for going out
Ahwad’s dig at CM grabs social media

MAHARASHTRA
03
CBI UNEARTHS `74 LAKH
scam in EPFO, books officials
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The Central
Bureau of Investiga-
tion (CBI) has uncov-
ered a scam and
booked officials of the
Employees Provident
Fund Organization
(EPFO) after investiga-
tion on the basis of a
complaint lodged with
it. The agency has re-
ported loss to the tune
of Rs73.97 lakh under
359 bogus claims.
It is also revealed that
between 2016 and 2019,
officials of the EPPO
Aurangabad, in cahoots
with an accountant at
the Maharashtra State
Cooperative Cotton
Growers Marketing
Federation Ltd (MSC-
CGMFL), approved
fraudulent claims in
the names of employees
of the federation.
According to the cen-
tralagency
,theactionof
suspects caused wrong-
fullosstotheEPFOwith
corresponding gain to
themselves. It had re-
ceived a complaint from
the Regional Provident
Fund Commissioner
(Vigilance), EPFO.
Anundertakingof the
Government of Maha-
rashtra’s Textiles Minis-
try
, MSCCGMFL was es-
tablished to procure cot-
ton from growers. It has
a zonal office at Aurang-
abad and pension ac-
counts of its employees
are registered with the
local EPFO office.
“The concurrent au-
dit cell of EPFO identi-
fied certain irregulari-
ties in payments in
some pension accounts
of theEPFO.Itobserved
that multiple payments
involving an amount of
Rs7.49 lakh were affect-
ed to the same members
with different member
IDs, with the same date
of joining and date of
leaving, while granting
withdrawal benefits un-
der EPS in respect of
ex-employees of (the
federation),” stated the
CBI in its FIR.
“Subsequently
, the re-
gional office of the
EPFO, Aurangabad, an-
alyzed the withdrawal
benefitclaimsprocessed
inthepreceding10years
in respect of various es-
tablishments, including
MSCCGMFL, through a
committee headed by
the Assistant Provident
Fund Commissioner. It
was observed that MSC-
CGMFL failed to pro-
vide the contribution
details after verifying
the annual returns sub-
mittedbyMSCCGMFL,”
the FIR added.
The analysis showed
that a total contribution
of only Rs2.80 lakh was
received from the ex-
employees while the to-
tal withdrawal benefit
paid to them was
Rs73.97 lakh.
MODUS OPERANDI
In violation of existing procedure, the suspect officials of the EPFO Au-
rangabad processed and approved the aforesaid false claims without
verifying the actual contributions made. —First Information Report
Over 359 bogus claims were filed by EPFO Aurangabad employees. —FILE PHOTO
Accused
colluded with
accountant of
MSCCGMFL,
who approved
fraudulent
claims
BMC EYES TO POPULARIZE
‘DEBRIS ON CALL’ SCHEME
First India Bureau
Mumbai: With an
aim to create aware-
ness about its
chargeable facility
for disposing of de-
bris, the Brihan-
mumbai Municipal
Corporation (BMC)
has now decided
to publicize the
initiative.
The civic body has
started distributing
pamphlets about it
and there are plans to
reach out to housing
societies, with details
of the service.
According to Sew-
age Waste Manage-
ment (SWM) Deputy
Commissioner Chan-
da Jadhav, we impose
fines on trucks if
they are found throw-
ing debris on the
street. Usually, these
trucks throw debris
where CCTVs aren’t
installed.
“Kanjurmarg, Vikh-
roli and Ghatkopar
are some of the areas
where you can see de-
bris thrown besides
the road. We are think-
ing of installing more
CCTVs in such areas,”
Jadhav said.
She further added,
“A few years back, we
tried to reach societies
in Zone 3 which com-
prise Bandra, Khar,
Mahim, Andheri and
Vile Parle areas. We
used to distribute
pamphlets in socie-
ties. We had got good
response from citizens
hence we are restart-
ing the initiative. Our
‘Debris on Call’
scheme is more rea-
sonable than private
contractors.”
The BMC swung
into action mode after
noticing that several
unidentified trucks
dumped debris on the
road hence defacing
the city. Despite sev-
eral complaints, such
incidents have not de-
creased. Hence, the
civic body took the
step to popularize its
facility of calling the
civic body for getting
rubble lifted from the
societies.
The civic body has
begun distributing
pamphlets; plans to
reach out to housing
societies and
spread the word
on scheme
COP HELD FOR
TAKING `35,000
BRIBE IN THANE
CUSTOMS DEPT
SEIZES GOLD
WORTH `2.5 CR
FOUR ARRESTED
WITH AMBERGRIS
WORTH `70 LAKH
TEEN BOY HELD
FOR RAPING
5-YEAR-OLD GIRL
Thane: The Anti-Cor-
ruption Bureau (ACB)
on Monday arrested a
policeman for allegedly
accepting a bribe, an
official said. Based on
a complaint, Thane unit
of the ACB laid a trap
and arrested an assis-
tant police inspector of
Mumbra police station
while accepting the
bribe. A case under rel-
evant sections has been
registered. The accused
had allegedly demanded
Rs80,000 from a man.
After negotiations, the
accused settled for
Rs35,000.
Mumbai: The Mumbai
Airport Customs seized
4.7 kg of gold worth
Rs2.5 crore and arrested
three people in two
different cases, said a
senior Customs official
on Monday. In the first
case, the department
seized 1.8 kg gold
hidden in specially-de-
signed undergarments,
and in another one, 2.8
kg of the precious metal
hidden in the toilet of a
fligt during a search. A
total of three accused
have been arrested for
gold smuggling and
further investigation is
underway.
Palghar: Four persons
were arrested with Am-
bergris (whale vomit)
worth Rs70 lakh in
Palghar district, police
said on Monday. Crime
branch team raided a
hotel on Sunday on a
tip-off and seized 788
gm Ambergris from the
possession of the four,
an official said. The sale
of Ambergris, which is
used to make perfumes,
is prohibited by law,
as the sperm whale is
an endangered species
that is protected under
the Wildlife Protection
Act (WPA).
Palghar: A teen boy
has been arrested in
Palghar district for
allegedly raping his
5-year-old neighbour.
The accused, from Van-
jarwada, took the girl
to his house at around
2:30 pm on Sunday and
raped her, after which
he threatened to kill
her if she revealed the
ordeal to anyone, the
Boisar police station
official said. After she
confided in her mother,
the latter filed a com-
plaint. The 19-year-old
boy has been charged
with rape and other
offences under IPC.
CRUCIAL READ
Thane: A professor of a women’s college in Thane
district and one more person were arrested on Mon-
day for allegedly accepting a bribe from a colleague
who was on medical leave and wanted to get her job
back as well as wages of the previous months, an
Anti-Corruption Bureau official said. The principal of
the college, who first sought the bribe, was on the
run, the official added. “The complainant was working
as a professor in the college and was on medical
leave for three months. When she approached college
authorities to get her job back and also her wages,
the principal sought a bribe of Rs5 lakh. The accused
later brought down the demand to Rs2 lakh,” he said.
PROFESSOR, PEON OF COLLEGE HELD
FOR BRIBERY; PRINCIPAL ON THE RUN
Ring Road: Maharashtra’s nod to
`3,500 crore for land acquisition
School van owners to go on indefinite strike from today
First India Bureau
Navi Mumbai: School-
going students of the
Panvel area are likely
to face difficulties in
reaching schools from
Tuesday as around 700
school van owners
may go off the road.
According to the
sources, the school van
owners are going on an
indefinite hunger strike
from December 06 to
press their demand to
bring changes in licence
renewal process to ferry
students from schools.
They claim that a
number of vans are op-
erating without licence
as they could not renew
due to changes in the
procedures. A letter of
consent from the con-
cerned school is made
mandatory for vans to
get a new license or re-
new old ones.
Speaking to media,
President of Panvel
Rickshaw Vidyarthi Va-
hak Sanstha (PRVVS)
Pandurang Humane
said that as per plan,
only representatives of
van owners will go on an
indefinitehungerstrike,
butvanownersmayjoin.
He further added that
the consent letter from
school is mandatory to
apply for a new licence
or renew old one.
“We have held several
meetings with the RTO,
and district education
department but could
not reach a conclusion,”
he informed.
The van owners are
going to press their
demand to bring
changes in licence
renewal process
to ferry students
from schools
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Two groups
clashed with each
other after a minor
boy
, riding a bicycle
hit a 45-year-old man
in Santacruz area of
Mumbai, police said
on Monday
.
The incident took
place on Sun-
day night when the
man was standing in
frontof amosque.After
incident, the man then
allegedly slapped the
boy and took the bicy-
cle into his possession,
an official from Vakola
police station said.
The minor boy re-
turned home
and nar-
r at -
ed the ordeal to his fa-
ther, who along with
others went to the spot
and allegedly assaulted
the man who had
slapped his son, the of-
ficial added.
The 45-year-old man
and his supporters also
beatupmembersof the
rival group and pelted
stones at them, the po-
lice said. The situation
becametenseandshops
in the area were closed
for sometime.
The police brought
the situation under
control and registered
cases against members
of both the groups, the
official said.
First India Bureau
Pune: Maharashtra
state government has
given in-principle ap-
proval for Rs3,500
crore from the Hous-
ing and Urban Devel-
opment Corporation
(HUDCO) for land ac-
quisition in Pune ring
road project.
The proposed project
would ease the traffic
woes by providing peo-
plewithalternateroutes
to pass through the city
without entering its ar-
terial roads.
It will be a six-lane ex-
press highway
, with ex-
pandable provisions,
with a vehicle speed
limit of 120km per hour.
Rs17,412 crore (approx)
is the estimated con-
struction cost without
includingthelandacqui-
sition cost.
With the availability
of funds, the ring road
project work is likely to
speed up as it could not
have begun till 80 per
cent of the land acquisi-
tion work is complete.
TheMSRDChasstart-
ed granting compensa-
tion to land owners.
Clash between 2 groups after
boy’sbicyclehitsmaninMum
Signature drive by locals to oppose transfer of ‘honest IAS’
First India Bureau
Thane: The citizens’
forum from Amber-
nath, Badlapur, Ulhas-
nagar and Kalyan
have initiated a signa-
ture campaign to pro-
test the arbitrary
transfer of IAS officer
Tukaram Mundhe
from the Maharashtra
State Health Depart-
ment in just two
months.
The signature cam-
paign started on Decem-
ber 03 and will continue
till December 06 from 7
pm to 9 pm at Shivaji
Chowk in Ambernath.
The members of the
citizens forum feel that
Mundhe is being pun-
ished for acting against
the corporate lobby in
the health department.
Accordingtosocialac-
tivist from Ambernath
and Founder of Amber-
nath Citizens Forum
(AMF) Satyajit Burman,
we have initiated the sig-
nature campaign to pro-
test the arbitrary trans-
fer of IAS officer Tukar-
am Mundhe.
“We are aiming at get-
ting5,000signaturesand
also planning to mail
around 1 lakh letters to
the Maharashtra Chief
Minister Eknath Shinde
to stop the transfer of
honest officer Mundhe,”
Burman said.
On Saturday
, in just
two hours from 7 pm to 9
pm, around 600 signa-
tureswerereceived.Peo-
ple also are drafting let-
ters urging the CM to
cancelthetransferorder.
“We will write letters
to PM Narendra Modi
saying that if an honest
officer like Tukaram
Mundhe is transferred
for doing his duty with
dedication, then in fu-
ture no officer will per-
form his duty honestly
,”
Burman said.
We are aiming at getting 5,000 signatures
and also planning to mail around 1 lakh
letters to the Maharashtra Chief Minister
Eknath Shinde to stop the transfer of honest officer
Mundhe… We will write letters to PM Narendra Modi
saying that if an honest officer like Tukaram Mundhe
is transferred for doing his duty with dedication, then
in future no officer will perform his duty honestly.
—Satyajit Burman, founder of Ambernath Citizens Forum
IAS Tukaram Mundhe

PERSPECTIVE
04
l Vol 1 l Issue No. 209 l RNI TITLE NO. MAHENG/2022/14652 Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Dangat Media Pvt Ltd, No.22, Dighe MIDC, Vishnu Nagar, TTC Industrial Area, Dighe, Navi Mumbai-400701.
Published at Plot No. 3 Scheme C of Manglorean Garden Home, CHS Limited, Survey No. 5, 6C (Part) Ville Parle East, Mumbai 400057. Phone 022-46031417. Editor-In-Chief: DrJagdeesh Chandra Editor: Kartikey Dev Singh responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
UNTOLD STORIES OF PM MODI - PART 21
‘MODI HAI TO MUMKIN HAI…’
he narrator shares his vari-
ous experiences with Naren-
dra Modi and how every inter-
action with the PM left him
enlightened and wiser. He be-
lieves that Modiji has the acu-
men of an industrialist and
his ideas are truly transfor-
mational and futuristic.
When I met him for the first
time, he was very direct in
telling me, “No, you won’t ex-
pand your business in Vapi.
You will do it in Kutch.” It was
2002 and the devastating
memoriesof Bhujearthquake
were as alive as if it was yes-
terday
. I was in disbelief of
what Modiji had just said. I
replied, “Sir, Kutch is still
reeling under the tremors of
the quake. There is no water,
electricity
, roads. How can we
establish a textile plant in
such a place?” Modiji said
“No Goenkaji. You do not
know the strength of Kutch.
The land in Kutch has the
power to yield a dollar for a
rupee worth of investment
you make!” He continued, in a
very matter of fact tone “You
are a businessman Goenkaji
and I am a politician. But this
suggestion to build Kutch is
personal. And rest assured,
whatever support you need, I
will facilitate that.”
Well, any industrialist
would have considered the
decision to enter Kutch over
and again at that point. But I
gathered courage which was
ultimately built on the tre-
mendous faith I have on
Modiji. His suggestion to me
was so genuine, that it
touched a chord in my heart.
His words were so replete
with confidence, that I was
sure that this was not the
voice of politics, it was indeed
the voice of his mann. We ex-
ported the first towel in 9
months. We managed water
via a 300km pipeline from
Narmada. We made available
electricity and roads. Today
we have more than 25,000 em-
ployees. We also invested Rs
25,000 crore. Well, at that time,
it was difficult for anyone to
think of investing in Kutch.
But Kutch is exactly from
where we started to grow. The
Welspun Group had definite-
ly started out on its road to
success from Kutch.
From then, I got the oppor-
tunity to travel with Modiji
and got to know him closely
as one of the most genuine
persons one can ever know. I
was part of the delegations
that visited Australia, China
and what I realized during
these interactions with
Modiji was that he had a
completely unique perspec-
tive about everything. He
looks at everything in a way
nobody does! His level of in-
quisitiveness is unparalleled.
After his visit to the solar
park in China, he ensured
that solar power in India too
witnessed an enormous
growth. In 2006-07, he got the
solar policy for the first time
in India. His vision was su-
premely ambitious. His vi-
sion of providing energy at
Rs 19 per unit and giving Rs
14 per unit on an average in a
period of 15 years came at a
time when people knew very
little about solar power. No
one was prepared to believe
in it! Modiji was convinced
that solar energy was the
greatest power alternative in
India which could help us re-
duce our dependence on oil
and gas. He would always talk
of renewables! He would en-
vision panels over the Nar-
mada canal, and then put up
a technical question to me
“How do you think this will
benefit us?” I would say “Sir
we will save on land, farmers
will get electricity.” “No!”
Modiji would correct me. The
biggest advantage is that ef-
ficiency would go up by 2%.
When water flows below the
panel, it has a cooling effect.
The panel works better.”
Thus, going into the minutest
detail of everything is a hall-
mark of Narendra Modi.
Let me tell you, when we
will look back from 2030, we
will see that it was this man’s
vision to make India the larg-
est in renewable energy
. And
we are sure to be somewhere,
whether we talk about hydro-
gen, ammonia, or solar. India
is going to be absolutely self-
reliant. This dream which
was envisioned in 2006-07 will
becomearealityby2030.India
is already a global example
now in the renewables sector.
As far as I am concerned,
he was very sure what he
wanted from me. “I want 5 Fs.
I don’t want just a cotton ex-
porter. I don’t want yarn. I
want Farms; from farms I
want Farming; from farming
I want Factories. From facto-
ries I want to tap into Fash-
ion; and from fashion I want
Foreign exchange” he would
say. So he wanted maximum
value-addition in India, job
creation, and that the GoI
should get foreign exchange.
He was the CM then and
came up with Vibrant Guja-
rat in 2007-08. The entire
world was reeling under the
great recession sparked by
the crash of the Lehman
Brothers. But he came up
with Vibrant Gujarat. I met
him and said “Sir, we must
defer Vibrant.” He said
“What do you say Goenkaji?
Now is the opportunity.” I
said “No investor is going to
turn up. The world has taken
an economic downturn.” But
Modiji was determined. Be-
ing at the helm of leadership
in the state, he just said noth-
ing doing. There is an oppor-
tunity here as well.
ThusModijiisvision,deter-
mination and leadership dif-
fused together. When I met
him recently, he spoke about
changing the ship industry,
how shipping could incorpo-
rate e-shipping, how we could
use wind turbines and gener-
ate hydrogen from water and
use the energy to run ships!
Nowagain,thisisallaboutthe
vision of this extraordinary
gentleman,thedreamsthathe
has for India. These are all
transformational, futuristic
ideas. And he is making them
a reality
. They are happening
in our country now. Take
Start-upIndia,StandUpIndia,
child education, focus on the
girl child, for example. The
way he mingles with children,
his exuberance, warmth and
playfulness is worth admir-
ing. He has given all the press-
ing issues of India a concrete
form and transformed them
into revolutionary ideas. Who
would not be inspired by such
leadership?
TO BE CONTINUED...
T
‘MODIJI IS ONE OF THE MOST GENUINE
PERSONS ONE CAN EVER KNOW, MEET’
F
rom then, I got the opportunity to travel
with Modiji and got to know him closely as
one of the most genuine persons one can
ever know. I was part of the delegations that
visited Australia, China and what I realized during
these interactions with Modiji was that he had a
completely unique perspective about everything.
He looks at everything in a way nobody does! His
level of inquisitiveness is unparalleled.
PM MODI: THE MAN WHO HAS
DREAMT THE INDIAN DREAM!
COMPILED AND EDITED BY
SHASHIKANT SHARMA
AND SHWETA SHARMA
This is all about the vision of this
extraordinary gentleman, the dreams
that Modiji has for India. These are all
transformational, futuristic ideas. And
he is making them a reality. They are
happening in our country now. Take Start-up
India, Stand Up India, child education, focus
on the girl child, for example
I want 5 Fs. I don’t want just a cotton exporter. I
don’t want yarn. I want Farms; from farms I want
Farming; from farming I want Factories. From
factories I want to tap into Fashion; and from
fashion I want Foreign exchange.
—Narendra Modi, Prime Minister
YOU READ PART-20 ON NOVEMBER 29, 2022
NaMo:
HARBINGER
OF NEW AGE
‘BHARATIYA
VICHAR’

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05
INDIA
BATTLEGROUND
GUJARAT
EXIT POLLS PREDICT BIG MAJORITY
FOR BJP IN GUJ, EDGE IN HIMACHAL
People wait in a queue to cast their votes during the second and final phase of Gujarat Assembly elections, at a polling station in Ahmedabad on Monday. —PHOTO BY PTI
New Delhi (PTI): Exit
polls on Monday pre-
dicted a big majority for
the BJP in Gujarat
while most of them gave
anedgetoitinHimachal
Pradesh, indicating re-
election of the ruling
party in both states.
However, two exit
pollsshowedadeadheat
betweentheBJPandthe
Congress in Himachal
Pradesh where results
could go either way
.
The counting of votes
in both states will take
place on December 8.
Elections for the
Himachal Pradesh As-
sembly took place on
November 12, while
polling in Gujarat hap-
pened in two phases on
December 1 and 5.
Most exit polls pre-
dicted a big mandate for
the BJP in Gujarat in
the range of 117-148
seats in the 182-member
assembly, while the
Congress was predicted
to bag seats in the range
of 30-51 seats. The Aam
Aadmi Party was pro-
jected to bag anything
between three and 13
seats. The majority
mark in Gujarat is 92.
InHimachalPradesh,
the exit polls projected
a range of 24-40 seats
for the BJP and 26-40
seats for the Congress.
The AAP was projected
to bag seats in the
range of 0-3. The ma-
jority mark is 35
seats.
According to the
News X-Jan Ki
Baat exit poll on
Gujarat elections,
the BJP was
likely to get 117-
140 seats, Con-
gress-NCP 34-51,
AAP 6-13 and others 1-2.
RepublicTVP-MARQ
predicted 128-148 seats
for the BJP, 30-42 for the
Congress-NCP, AAP
2-10 and others 0-3.
TV9 Gujarati forecast
that the BJP would get
125-130 seats, Congress-
NCP 40-50, AAP 3-5 and
others 3-7.
ALL SECTIONS OF
PEOPLE COME
OUT TO VOTE
Ahmedabad: Bed-
ridden people, patients
on oxygen support,
senior citizens includ-
ing centenarians, and
transgender persons
were among those who
came out to vote in the
Gujarat Assembly elec-
tions on Monday, setting
an example for others to
exercise their demo-
cratic right. Physically
challenged Ankit Soni,
who was born without
arms, took everyone by
surprise as he used his
toes to sign a form at the
polling booth and push
the button on the EVM
in Nadiad town of Kheda
district.
CongressallegesPMviolatedmodelcode
bytakingout‘roadshow’duringpolling
New Delhi (PTI): The
CongressonMondayac-
cused Prime Minister
Narendra Modi of vio-
lating the model code by
taking out a “road-
show” before casting
his vote in the second
phase of polling in Gu-
jarat and claimed that
the Election Commis-
sion is “afraid” to act.
Congress head of
media and publicity
PawanKheraalleged
inaction on the part
of theElectionCom-
mission on its com-
plaintsoverthelast
several weeks and
said the party is
deliberating on
taking necessary
legal measures on
the issue.
“The BJP is continu-
ously violating the mod-
el code but the EC is not
acting against them and
has turned silent. It
seemstheECisafraidof
taking action,” he said.
Khera said the value
of the vote of the prime
minister or that of any
common man is the
same. “But how is it
that the PM holds a
roadshow for 2.5 hours
when he goes to vote,”
he said.
“What are the com-
pulsions of the Election
Commission that it can-
not see any violations
by the prime minister,”
he said.
“We have been mak-
ing representations to
the Election Commis-
sion at various levels.
Every second or third
day, we have made some
representations or the
other in Gujarat, in Del-
hi, but, I am afraid the
Election Commission
looks like it is willingly
under pressure,” he
told reporters.
PM Narendra Modi waves at supporters as he leaves after casting his vote at a polling booth during the
second and final phase of Gujarat elections, at Ranip area in Ahmedabad on Monday. —PHOTO BY PTI
Bypolls: SP, BJP
trade charges
in UP, EVM
snags in Odisha
New Delhi (PTI): Mod-
eratepollingwasrecord-
ed till noon in the bypoll
tosixassemblyconstitu-
encies in five states and
theMainpuriLokSabha
seat in UP on Monday
amid complaints of
glitches in EVMs and al-
legations by the Sama-
jwadi Party that the po-
lice and administration
were preventing people
from casting vote.
Rampur Sadar and
Khatauli in Uttar
Pradesh, Padampur in
Odisha,Sardarshaharin
Rajasthan, Kurhani in
Bihar and Bhanupratap-
pur in Chhattisgarh are
the assembly seats
wherebypollswereheld.
All eyes are on Main-
puri seat which was
represented by SP patri-
arch Mulayam Singh
Yadav five times in the
past. The poll is a battle
of prestige for Akhilesh
Yadav whose wife Dim-
ple Yadav is contesting
the polls. She is pitted
against BJP’s Raghuraj
Singh Shakya.
The bypoll to Main-
puri Lok Sabha seat is
taking place due to the
death of Mulayam Sin-
gh Yadav, while the by-
polls in Rampur Sadar
and Khatauli were ne-
cessitated after SP MLA
Azam Khan and BJP
MLA Vikram Singh
Saini were disqualified
following their convic-
tion in separate cases.
In Odisha’s Padam-
pur,over29percentpoll-
ing was recorded in the
first four hours of vot-
ing.Odisha’sChief Elec-
toral Officer SK Lohani
said glitches in EVMs
were reported in four
booths following which
theEVMswerereplaced.
PM Modi inaugurates two-day
meeting at BJP headquarters
New Delhi (ANI): PM
Narender Modi on Mon-
day inaugurated a two-
day high-level meeting
with officer bearers at
BJP headquarters in
the national capital.
The meeting is un-
derway at BJP head-
quarters. PM Modi, BJP
national president JP
Nadda, the party’s State
presidents and general
secretaries are among
those present at meet.
National General sec-
retaries Dushyant Gau-
tam, Bhupender Yadav,
Baijant Panda, Tarun
Chugh, and CT Ravi are
participating in the
meeting. Along with
them, UP BJP president
BJPpresidentBhupend-
er Chaudhary, Uttra-
khand BJP president
Mahendra Bhatt and
other BJP state presi-
dents are present at the
meeting. It is being told
that in this meeting, the
upcoming strategies
will be discussed.
According to the
sources, the review of
preparations in the
states where assembly
elections are going to be
held next year, and vari-
ous organizational ac-
tivities from booth com-
mittees will also be dis-
cussed.
PM Narendra Modi with BJP chief JP Nadda during party’s National
Office Bearers Meeting, in New Delhi on Monday. —PHOTO BY PTI
MODI, NADDA ATTEND
OPENING SESSION OF
2-DAY NAT’L MEET
New Delhi: PM Narendra
Modi, BJP national president
JP Nadda and other leaders
attended the opening ses-
sion of the two-day national
office bearers’ meeting of the
BJP at party headquarters in
the national capital on Mon-
day. The PM arrived in the
national capital after casting
his vote in the Assembly
elections of Gujarat.
COURTYARD
In the
In the
APEX COURT PULLS UP
PUNJAB OVER SALE
OF SPURIOUS LIQUOR
New Delhi: In an impor-
tant development, the Su-
preme Court on Monday
pulled up the Punjab gov-
ernment over the issue of
sale of spurious liquor in
the state, saying “Punjab
is a border state and this
is a very serious matter”.
The top court asked the
state government to
come up with specific
steps to curb the menace
of spurious liquor, while
adding that the youth will
be finished.
CHILD BEGGARS:
DELHI HIGH COURT
RAPS AAP GOVT
New Delhi: The Delhi High
Court has rapped the Delhi
govt for not submitting the
status report on a petition
seeking direction to take
steps to eradicate begging
by children and related
problems in and around
Delhi. “The govt either
doesn’t file the response,
doesn’t provide a copy to
the respondents or files a
defective one, to delay the
proceedings,” it said.
SC JUNKS PIL ON
‘WRONG HISTORICAL
FACTS’ ON TAJ MAHAL
New Delhi: The Supreme
Court on Monday refused
to entertain a plea seek-
ing removal of what the
petitioner claimed were
“wrong historical facts”
related to the construc-
tion of the Taj Mahal from
history books. This is the
second such petition it
has heard in the last two
months. A bench asked
the petitioner, “What kind
of PIL is this?”
What will be the next course of action of RJD and Left leaders?
Shamsher Singh
New Delhi: The Left
parties had opposed the
BharatJodoYatraof the
Congress in Kerala.
Since in Kerala there is
a one-on-one contest be-
tween the two parties
and both the parties
openly fight against
each other, there was no
question of the leaders
of the Communist par-
ties joining Rahul Gan-
dhi’s visit there. But it is
not known what will be
the stand of the commu-
nist parties going for-
ward. Keep in mind that
there is good co-opera-
tion between the Con-
gress and the Commu-
nist parties and in West
Bengal both fought the
elections in coordina-
tion.InKerala,theparty
usually runs according
to Prakash Karat, but
elsewhere Sitaram
Yechury has more pow-
er and Rahul Gandhi
has a very good relation-
ship with Yechury
. Only
then it is being specu-
lated that communist
leaders may also partici-
pate in the two-month-
long yatra.
It is being expressed
that if the leaders of
Rashtriya Janata Dal
and Janata Dal U, the al-
lies of the Congress in
Bihar, join the Bharat
Jodo Yatra, then along
with them the leaders of
the communist parties
can also be a part of the
yatra. CPI, CPM and
CPIML are part of all
three Grand Alliance in
Bihar. Although the
MLAsof thesethreepar-
ties are not part of the
government, they have
extended outside sup-
port to the government.
That’s why it is being
speculated that the lead-
ers of the parties of the
Grand Alliance may at-
tend the Congress rally
.
However,Chief Minister
Nitish Kumar and Depu-
ty Chief Minister
TejashwiYadavhavenot
yet decided in this re-
gard. Now the Congress
yatra will remain in the
state of North India and
the leaders of the Con-
gress believe that if the
leaders of RJD, JDU and
Left join the yatra then
there can be benefit in
theelection-boundstates
of Rajasthan, Madhya
Pradesh and Chhattis-
garh.
POST CONG’S BHARAT JODO YATRA
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and State Deputy Chief Minister
Tejashwi Yadav at an event, in Patna. —FILE PHOTO
Congress’newin-charges
forRaj,C’garhandHaryana
New Delhi (FIB): Con-
gress pesident Mallikar-
jun Kharge appoints
new in-charges for
Chhattisgarh,Rajasthan
andHaryanaonMonday
.
Ajay Maken has been
relieved of his charge
from Rajasthan at a time
when the Bharat Jodo
Yatra bhas entered the
State. He has been re-
placed by Sukhjinder
Singh Randhawa as the
Rajasthan in-charge.
Maken had urged
Kharge to relieve him of
his responsibilities in
the wake of a leadership
tussle between CM
Ashok Gehlot and his
former deputy
, Sachin
Pilot and his failure to
hold a meeting of the
Congress Legislature
Party in Rajasthan.
KumariSelja,hasbeen
made the new in-charge
for Chhattisgarh by re-
lieving PL Punia. This
Congress-ruled State too
hadseenatusslebetween
CM Bhupesh Baghel and
minister TS Singhdeo.
I’M NOT GOING TO
NCP: CONG’S
SHASHI THAROOR
Kochi: Hours after an
offer made by NCP state
president PC Chacko,
Congress MP Shashi Tha-
roor made it clear that he
is not going to NCP. Tha-
roor also said there was
no such matter discussed
with Chacko. Tharoor
reacted to Chacko’s com-
ment at Kochi while he
was speaking to report-
ers. Tharoor said, “I need
to be welcomed if I am
going there. I am not go-
ing to NCP. Such matters
were not discussed with
PC Chacko.” On Sunday
Chacko, who was in
Congress for a long time
welcomed Tharoor to his
party at Kannur.
Mallikarjun Kharge

06
INDIA
New Delhi (PTI):
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi on Monday
chaired an all-party
meeting at the Rashtra-
pati Bhavan to solicit
suggestions for the G20
summit next year.
West Bengal CM
Mamata Banerjee, her
Odisha counterpart
Naveen Patnaik, Sik-
kim’s Prem Singh Ta-
mang, and Maharash-
tra’s Eknath Shinde at-
tended the meeting.
Also in attendance
were Delhi CM Arvind
Kejriwal, Andhra
Pradesh CM Jagan Mo-
han Reddy, Tamil Na-
du’s MK Stalin, BJP
President JP Nadda,
CongressPresidentMal-
likarjun Kharge, former
PM H D Deve Gowda,
CPI(M) general secre-
tary Sitaram Yechury,
CPI general secretary D
Raja, TDP chief Chan-
drababu Naidu.
Those on the govt side
present at meeting in-
cluded Home Minister
Amit Shah, Defence
Minister Rajnath Singh,
Finance Minister Nir-
mala Sitharaman, Ex-
ternal Affairs Minister
SJaishankar,andUnion
Minister Piyush Goyal.
At the meeting, the
Ministryof ExternalAf-
fairs is expected to make
a presentation about the
programmesplannedby
the government during
India's presidency of
G20, sources said.
India officially as-
sumed the G20 presi-
dency on December 1.
The country is expect-
ed to host over 200 pre-
paratory meetings
across the country be-
ginning this month. The
next G20 Leaders' Sum-
mit at the level of heads
of statesorgovernments
is scheduled to be held
on September 9 and 10
next year in New Delhi.
First India Bureau
UAE: Union Minister
Dr Jitendra Singh on
Monday described India
as a key Global Player in
the Space sector and re-
iterated that under PM
Narendra Modi, India is
keen to take its Space
cooperation with the
United Arab Emirates
(UAE) to newer heights.
Addressing the Open-
ing Ceremony of the
UAE summit, “Abu Dha-
bi Space Debate”, Dr
Singh acknowledged
the presence of the UAE
President, Sheikh Mo-
hamed Bin Zayed at the
Opening Ceremony and
conveyed PM Modi’s
warm greetings to him
and the people of UAE.
DrSinghisleadingthe
Indian delegation at the
2-dayinternationalmeet.
Apart from Sheikh Mo-
hamed bin Zayed Al
Nahyan, President of Is-
rael, Isaac Herzog, and
Diplomats from several
countries attended the
opening ceremony
.
He greeted the UAE
peopleontheoccasionof
51 years of formation of
thiscountryonbehalf of
India. He said, another
laudable achievement
for the UAE this year is
completion of the silver
jubilee of its space odys-
sey with several golden
milestones.
“India keen to take Space cooperation with UAE”
BOOSTING TIES
MoS Dr Jitendra Singh addressing the Opening Ceremony of the
UAE summit “Abu Dhabi Space Debate”, on Monday.
MoS TO INAUGURATE MEET ON “WOMEN
LEADING CHANGE IN HEALTH” TODAY
New Delhi: Union Minister of State (MoS) (Indepen-
dent Charge) Dr Jitendra Singh will inaugurate a con-
ference titled, “Women Leading Change in Health and
Science in India” in New Delhi on Tuesday. Dr Bharti
Pravin Pawar, Union Minister of State for Health and
Family Welfare, Melinda French Gates, Co-chair and
Trustee Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Amie
Batson, Executive Director, WomenLift Health will also
address the conference.
READ
Crucial
Crucial
IMD ISSUES RED
ALERT FOR 13 TN
DISTRICTS ON DEC 8
Chennai: The Indian Me-
teorological Department
on Monday issued a red
alert for 13 districts of
Tamil Nadu on December
8. This warning comes
following the possibility
of heavy rains in these
districts. The districts
that were issued red alert
are Villupuram, Chen-
galpattu, Kanchipuram,
Thiruvallur, Perambalur,
Chennai, Kallakurichi,
districts of Tamil Nadu.
First India Bureau
New Delhi:Presidentof
India has approved in-
troduction of a new de-
sign for the President’s
Standard and Colour
and Indian Navy Crest
for the Indian Navy
,
which were unveiled at
VisakhapatnamonNavy
Day on Sunday
.
Resonant to the ongo-
ing National endeavour
to move away from the
colonial past, the Naval
Ensign was amended to
anewDesignthatdraws
inspiration from our
history where in the
Red Horizontal and Ver-
tical Lines on the White
Ensign were replaced
with an Blue Octagon
with Twin Golden Bor-
ders encompassing the
National Emblem atop
a clear anchor and ‘Na-
tional Emblem ‘Satya-
mev Jayate’ inscribed
on the stock of the An-
chor. Further, the Na-
tionalFlagwasretained
on the upper left can-
ton. The erstwhile de-
sign of the President’s
Standard and Colour
for the Indian Navy was
instituted on Septem-
ber 6, 2017. The design
comprised one each
horizontal and vertical
red bands intersecting
at the centre and the
National Emblem in-
serted at their intersec-
tion. The National Flag
was at the upper left
canton adjacent to the
staff and a Golden Ele-
phant was at the lower
right canton on the fly
side. This design was
inspired from the erst-
while Naval Ensign.
The Indian Navy
adopted a new Naval
Ensign on September 2
this year, and the new
design of the Presi-
dent’s Standard and
President’s Colour
awarded to the Indian
Navy incorporates this
change. The new design
of the President’s
Standard and Colour
comprises three main
constituents - the Na-
tional Flag in the upper
left canton adjacent to
the staff, the State Em-
blem underscribed
with ‘Satyamev Jayate’
in Golden Colour on
the upper right canton
on the fly side, and a
Navy Blue - Gold Octa-
gon below the Golden
State Emblem.
New design of President’s Standard
Colour,andIndianNavyCrestunveiled
President Droupadi Murmu unveils President’s Standard and Colour and Indian
Navy Crest for the Indian Navy, at Visakhapatnam on Navy Day on Sunday.
New Delhi (PTI): Ex-
ternal Affairs Minister
S Jaishankar and his
German counterpart
Annalena Baerbock on
Monday held wide-
ranging talks focusing
on ways to ramp up bi-
lateral ties, especially
in areas of energy
, trade
and climate change.
Baerbock arrived
here this morning on a
two-day visit, four days
after India formally
took over the presiden-
cy of the G-20 grouping.
In a statement, Baer-
bock described India as
Germany’s “natural
partner” and that the
country will have a deci-
sive influence in shap-
ing the international
orderinthe21stcentury
.
“The Indian govern-
ment has set itself am-
bitious goals not only in
the G20 but also at home
for its own people.
When it comes to ex-
panding renewable en-
ergies, India wants to
push ahead with the
energy transition more
than before. Germany
stands by India’s side,”
Baerbock said.
“Becausethedramatic
effects of the climate cri-
sis affect us all, destroy-
inglivelihoodsinEurope
as well as in India. That
we want to strengthen
our economic, climate
andsecuritypolicycoop-
eration with India be-
yond our strategic part-
nership, are not empty
words,” she added.
EAM Jaishankar holds
talks with German
counterpart Baerbock
EAM S Jaishankar with German
Foreign Minister Annalena
Baerbock, in New Delhi on
Monday. —PHOTO BY ANI
Kurnool (Agencies):
Thousands of people
participated in the ‘See-
ma Garjana’ (Roar of
Rayalaseema) in Kur-
nool district of Andhra
Pradesh in support of
the YSR Congress Party
(YSRCP) government’s
plan to build three state
capitals.
After ‘Visakha Gar-
jana’ that was held last
month, the supporters
of three capitals organ-
ised a massive public
meeting addressed by
some state ministers
and leaders of the rul-
ing party.
People from different
parts of Rayalaseema
region attended the
‘Seema Garjana’ organ-
ised by the Joint Action
Committee comprising
groups supporting de-
centralisation.
Several attend Kurnool meet
in support of 3 Andhra capitals
ManyCMsattendmeetchairedbyPM
Mamata Banerjee (WB), Naveen Patnaik (Odisha), Kejriwal (Delhi), Jagan Mohan Reddy (AP) and other CMs in attendance
Udaipur (ANI): As In-
dia takes over the Presi-
dency of Group of
Twenty (G20) amid
global crisis, G20 Sher-
pa Amitabh Kant has
described this period as
an “opportunity” and
said the host nation will
try to do everything
possible to be positive
and forward-looking.
“There is a lot of cri-
sis in the world includ-
ing disrupted supply
chains, geopolitics,
global debt, climate fi-
nance and other chal-
lenges. A crisis is an
opportunity and this
(G20 presidency) is the
greatest opportunity we
have got. We are putting
together the agenda and
our leadership will be
very decisive and ac-
tion-oriented. We will
try and do everything
possible to be positive
and forward-looking”,
said Amitabh Kant.
Talking about yester-
day’s event on sustain-
able development goals
in the era of multiple
crises, the G20 Sherpa
added the session fo-
cussed on women’s
leadership and climate
finance.
PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI THANKS WORLD
LEADERS FOR SUPPORTING INDIA’S G20 PRESIDENCY
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on Monday thanked world lead-
ers, including US President Joe Biden
and French President Emmanuel
Macron, for their support to India’s
G20 Presidency. Responding to
a tweet by Biden, the Prime
Minister said: “Thank you @
POTUS. Your valued support
will be a source of strength for
India’s G-20 Presidency.
It is important we
all work together
to build a better
planet.” Respond-
ing to a tweet by
Macron, Modi
wrote: “Thank you, my dear friend @
EmmanuelMacron! I look forward to
consulting you closely during India’s
G20 Presidency, as we work to focus
the world’s attention on the issues
that affect humanity as a whole.”
In response to a congratulatory
tweet by Japanese Prime Min-
ister Fumio Kishida, Modi said:
“Your solidarity is vital. Japan
has contributed a lot to global
well-being and I am
confident the world
will continue to
learn from Japan’s
successes on
various fronts.”
ALL-PARTY MEET TO STRATEGISE 2023 G20 SUMMIT
OurG20Presidencywillbe
positive,forward-looking,
saysSherpaAmitabhKant
G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant (centre) with Sherpas of various nations,
in Udaipur on Monday. —PHOTO BY ANI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi attends G20 All-Party Meeting, in New Delhi on Monday. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Home
Minister Amit Shah and other dignitaries also seen. —PHOTO BY ANI
LINGAYAT SCANDAL:
MOTHER OF VICTIMS
WRITES TO PREZ
Mysuru: The mother
of two victims in the
Lingayat Mutt sex scandal
on Monday wrote a letter
to President Droupadi
Murmu, mentioning that
they either be given
justice or granted consent
for mercy killing. “Give
justice or grant us mercy
killing. You are the rep-
resentative of oppressed
classes. You are like a
mother to us and give us
justice,” the letter read.
“Few officers have come
to the conclusion that
the accused seer had not
done anything and it is
a conspiracy by us and
our children,” the letter
complained.
‘political...
the meeting was
canceled and held at the
Hyatt Hotel in San-
tacruz. It should be not-
ed that Uddhav Thack-
eray and Prakash
Ambedkar had come
together on the stage in
front of the people in a
program just a few days
ago and at that time
also, the talk of MVA
uniting with Vanchit
Bahujan Aghadi had
generated immense ‘in-
terest’ in the political
circles of the state.
Word is that Prakash
Ambedkar is ready for
alliance with Shiv Sena.
But whether Ambedkar
is ready for alliance
with UPA or not, that
aspect was necessary to
discuss. Not only this,
NCP chief Sharad Pa-
war and Vanchit Agha-
di chief Prakash
Ambedkar do not see
eye to eye with each
other. Political experts
know, Shiv Sena had to
keep this meeting confi-
dential because it was
necessary to convince
Prakash Ambedkar that
MVA, Ambedkar will
have to obey Sharad Pa-
war’s words and his ges-
tures. Moreover, it was
necessary for Uddhav
Thackeray to know that
Ambedkar would walk
together in MVA and
Prakash Ambedkar is
still not fully agreed on
this issue.
After the split in Shiv
Sena, the biggest chal-
lengeforUddhavThack-
eray is that the politics
of Maharashtra needs
to be shown that Thack-
eray has good leader-
ship abilities and that
although Uddhav may
have suffered a political
loss, but he still has a
good understanding of
politics. Although
Thackeray knows that
if his meeting with
Ambedkar fails, this
will be another major
loss for him, politically,
after the split of Shiv
Sena, and hence an at-
tempt was made to
maintain secrecy
. Nota-
bly, Shiv Sena MP Vi-
nayak Raut and party
secretary Milind
Narvekar were also pre-
sent in the meeting
along with Uddhav
Thackeray and Prakash
Bedkar.
FROM PG 1

07
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/delhi I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
Commodity Price Change % Chg
GOLD 54,386.00 227.00 0.41 (Per 10g)
SILVER 67,270.00 1166.00 1.73 (Per 1kg)
COMMODITIES
Currency Price Change % Chg
USDINR 81.80 0.47 0.57
GBPINR 100.47 0.69 0.69
CURRENCIES
WOMEN LAGGING DUE TO DIGITAL DIVIDE
First India Bureau
New Delhi: The percent-
age of men owning phones
in India is as high as 61%
while only 31% of women-
owned phones in 2021, ac-
cording to a new report,
which claimed that coun-
try’s growing inequalities
based on caste, religion,
gender, class, and geo-
graphic location are being
worryingly replicated in
the digital space.
Oxfam India’s latest ‘In-
dia Inequality Report 2022:
Digital Divide’ report said
on Monday that the reach
of digital technologies re-
mains limited to largely
male, urban, upper-caste,
and upper-class house-
holds and individuals. “8%
of the General caste have a
computer or a laptop
whereas less than 1% of
the ST and 2% of the SC
have it. The report analy-
ses primary data from the
CMIE household survey
from Jan 2018 to Dec 2021.
OXFAM INDIA REPORT
MAJOR
FINDINGS
z 8% of the General caste
have a computer or a
laptop whereas less than
1% of the Scheduled
Tribes (ST) and 2% of the
Scheduled Castes (SC)
have it.
z Women are less likely to
use mobile internet by 33%
when compared to men in
2021
business
BRIEFS
New Delhi (PTI): Aggre-
gate technical and com-
mercial (ATC) losses of
power distribution utilities
declined to 17% in 2021-
22 from 22% in the previ-
ous year. Reduction in
ATC losses improves fi-
nances of utilities (dis-
coms), enabling them to
better maintain the sys-
tem and buy power as per
requirement and benefit
the consumers, a power
ministry statement said.
The ATC loss and ACS-
ARR (Average Cost of
Supply-Average Realizable
Revenue) gap are key in-
dicators of discoms’ per-
formance.
New Delhi (PTI): Larsen
and Toubro (LT) on
Monday said it has
bagged another “large”
order in the proposed
Mumbai-Ahmedabad bul-
let train project from the
National High-Speed Rail
Corporation. The project
involves commissioning
of a depot spread over
around 82 hectares in Gu-
jarat. Though the engi-
neering and construction
giant did not reveal the
worth of the order,it is as-
sumed that it is in the
range of `2,500 crore to
`5,000 crore.
LT BAGS LARGE
ORDER IN BULLET
TRAIN PROJECT
DISCOMS ATC
LOSSES DOWN TO
17% IN FY22
New Delhi (PTI): The total
electricity trade volume on
IEX has registered a 9%
year-on-year growth to
7,392 million units (MU)
in Nov 2022. The overall
consumption of energy
has grown 13% y-o-y to
113 billion units (BU) dur-
ing November 2022. “The
total electricity volume
traded in November was
7,392 MU, an increase of
9% on YoY,” it said. How-
ever, the overall electricity
trade volume including
the Green Power trade
and RECs stood at 7,764
MU in November 2022, a
fall of 16% y-o-y, it said.
TOTAL ELECTRICITY
VOLUME TRADE ON
IEX GROWS 9%
New Delhi (PTI): Tata
Motors is looking to in-
crease passenger vehicle
prices from next month in
order to make its model
range compliant with
stricter emission norms
which kick in from April 1
next year. TaMo MD - PVs
and EVs Shailesh Chandra
said the price revision
would also offset the im-
pact of commodity prices,
which have remained high
for the most part of the
year. He noted that even
the battery prices have
gone up and the same
has not been passed on
to the market.
TATA MOTORS LIKELY
TO HIKE PV PRICES
IN JANUARY 2023
*Rates till the edition went to print.
DUE TO STRONG DEMAND
CANARA BANK HIKES
DAILY DEBIT CARD
TRANSACTION LIMIT
New Delhi (FIB): Canara Bank
has announced a revision in
its daily debit card transac-
tion limit for
ATM cash
withdrawals,
Point of Sale
(POS) and
e-commerce transactions for
its customers with immediate
effect. The daily ATM cash
withdrawal cap for Classic
Debit Card has been raised
from `40,000 to `75,000.
The POS limit for these cards
would increase from the
present limit of `1,00,000 to
`2,00,000 per day.
INDIA’S HIRING
ACTIVITY GROWS 27%
IN NOVEMBER 2022
New Delhi (FIB): India’s job
market rebounded to the pre-
festive levels
in November
registering
a growth of
27% month-
on-month, said the Naukri
JobSpeak index. The annual
growth rate stood at 43%.
This can be attributed to the
post-festive recovery. The
Insurance sector witnessed
a robust growth of 42% fol-
lowed by Banking and Real
Estate sectors which recorded
a 34% and 31% growth
respectively.
AFFORDABILITY LEVEL
IN TOP 7 HOUSING
MARKET DIPS IN 2022
New Delhi (PTI): Affordability
level to buy housing properties
is estimated
to have
declined this
year across
seven major
cities due to rise in mortgage
and property rates, property
consultant JLL India said.
Affordability index in all seven
cities, except Mumbai, is
in comfortable zone. Kol-
kata, Pune and Hyderabad are
expected to remain the most
affordable. Kolkata, with an
estimated value of 193, is the
most affordable market.
INDIA’S E-VEHICLE
REVOLUTION COULD
BEAR FRUIT BY 2030
New Delhi (FIB): A private
consumer expectation survey
on Monday showed that
around 66%
of Indians said
that electric
vehicles will
surpass petrol
and diesel cars by 2030. The
survey, conducted by ACKO
and YouGov India, also
showed that a majority of In-
dian consumers, around 57%,
want to invest in EVs because
of their practical benefits while
56% want to purchase an
EV because it is good for the
environment.
GOVT TAKING STEPS TO MAKE INDIAN MSMEs
STRONGER, GLOBALLY COMPETITIVE: MINISTER
New Delhi (PTI): Micro, small and medium enterprises are among
the most important pillars of India’s economy and the govern-
ment is working to make the sector
stronger and more developed, MoS
for MSME Bhanu Pratap Verma said.
“We will also work to ensure that
interrelationship between the MSME
sector and other important pillars
of the Indian economy are further
strengthened as India grows,” the minister said. He urged the
industry and other stakeholders to work with the government to
make India a $5 trillion economy along with becoming self-reliant.
OTHER STORIES
Services PMI hits 3-month high in Nov
New Delhi (PTI): India’s
services sector output
growth touched a three-
month high in November
as business inflows rose
markedly amid accommo-
dative demand conditions,
a monthly survey said on
Monday
.
The seasonally adjusted
SP Global India Services
PMI Business Activity In-
dex rose from 55.1 in Octo-
ber to 56.4 in November,
indicating a sharp increase
in output that was the
quickest in three months
even amid higher operating
expenses.
Survey participants
linked the latest expansion
to demand strength, suc-
cessful marketing and a
sustained upturn in sales.
For the 16th straight
month, the headline figure
was above the neutral 50
threshold. “Indian service
providers continued to reap
the benefits of strong do-
mestic demand, with PMI
data for the penultimate
month of 2022 showing fast-
er increase in new business
and output,” said Pollyan-
na De Lima, Economics As-
sociate Director at SP
Global Market Intelligence
on Monday
.
On the Jobs front, sus-
tained expansions in new
work intakes and demand
buoyancy continued to pro-
mote job creation in the
service economy
.
On the prices front, ser-
vices companies across In-
dia reported higher operat-
ing expenses. In addition to
greater transportation
costs, firms reported high-
er prices for energy, food,
packaging, paper, plastic
and electrical products.
TOP TALKING
POINTS
z The seasonally adjusted
SP Global India Services PMI
Business Activity Index rose
from 55.1 in October to 56.4 in
November, indicating a sharp
increase in output that was the
quickest in three months.
z On the Jobs front, sustained
expansions in new work
intakes and demand buoyancy
continued to promote job
creation in service economy.
z On the prices front, services
companies across India
reported higher operating
expenses.
Markets settle on flat note;
Sensex declines 34 points
Mumbai (PTI): Equity
benchmark indices ended
on a flat note on Monday,
with the BSE Sensex fall-
ing nearly 34 points, re-
cording its second day of
decline after an eight-day
rally
.
In a volatile trade, the
30-share BSE benchmark
dipped 33.9 points or 0.05%
to settle at 62,834.60. During
the day, it fell 360.62 points
or 0.57% to 62,507.88.
The broader NSE Nifty
eked out marginal gains
and ended 4.95 points or
0.03% higher at 18,701.05.
Among the Sensex pack,
Reliance Industries, Tech
Mahindra, UltraTech Ce-
ment, Dr Reddy’s, Axis
Bank, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj
Finserv and Mahindra
Mahindra were the major
laggards.
Tata Steel, NTPC, State
Bank of India, IndusInd
Bank and Power Grid were
among the winners.
` FALLS 47 PAISE
TO CLOSE AT 81.80
AGAINST $
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee pared
its initial gains to settle down by
47 paise at 81.80 (provisional)
against the US dollar on Monday
weighed down by weak domestic
markets and rise in crude oil
prices. Forex traders said a weak
dollar in the overseas market
cushioned the downside for the
local unit. At the interbank foreign
exchange market, the local unit
opened at 81.26, but pared the
gains and ended at 81.80, down
47 paise over its previous close.
During the day, the local unit
witnessed an intraday high of
81.25 and a low of 81.82.
Air India to lease 12 more aircraft
Mumbai (FIB): Air India
on Monday said it will lease
12 more aircraft compris-
ing both A320 neo and Boe-
ing 777, which are expected
to be inducted in its exist-
ing fleet in the first half of
2023.
The new planes will be
deployed on the airline’s
short, medium and long-
haul international routes,
Air India said in a state-
ment.
Air India said it has
leased 42 aircraft since its
privatisation in January
this year.
Of the 12 new leased
planes, six are wide-body
Boeing 777-300ER, while
the remaining six are nar-
row-body Airbus A320 neo,
as per the statement.
The airline in Sept this
year announced that it will
be adding 30 leased aircraft
-- 21 A320, 4 A321 and 5
B777-200LR in its fleet over
a 15-months period, amid
its plan to have 30% share
in both domestic and inter-
national markets.
RBI’s MPC starts
deliberations
Meta-Airtel to
invest in telecom
infrastructure
Mumbai (PTI): The Re-
serve Bank’s rate-setting
panel on Monday started
brainstorming for the next
round of monetary policy
amid expectations of a
moderate interest rate hike
of 25-35 basis points as in-
flation has started showing
signs of easing and eco-
nomic growth tapering.
The RBI has hiked key
benchmark lending rate by
50 bps thrice since June.
RBI Governor Shakti-
kanta Das would be an-
nouncing the bi-monthly
monetary policy on
Wednesday (December 7)
on the conclusion of the
three-day of Monetary Pol-
icy Committee (MPC) meet.
New Delhi (PTI): Social
media giant Meta Plat-
forms and Bharti Airtel on
Monday announced a col-
laboration to jointly invest
in telecom infrastructure
to cater to the rising de-
mand of high speed data
and digital services in In-
dia. The announcement
comes on the back of tele-
com operators’ demand to
share revenue with service
providers to build
networks.“Airtel and Meta
will jointly invest in global
connectivity infrastruc-
ture and CPaaS based new-
age digital solutions to sup-
port the emerging require-
ments of customers and
enterprises in India.”
India records over 23
bn digital payments
First India Bureau
New Delhi: India logged
23.06 billion digital trans-
actions worth `38.3 lakh
crore in the third quarter
of FY23, stated a report on
Monday. These digital
transactions include pay-
ment done by Unified Pay-
ments Interface (UPI), deb-
it and credit cards, prepaid
payment instruments like
mobile wallets, and pre-
paid cards. The UPI related
transactions clocked over
19.65 billion transactions
in volume and `32.5 lakh
crore in terms of value.
The UPI transactions vol-
ume and value almost dou-
bled since last year as it
recorded about an 88% in-
crease in volume and over
71% increase in value in Q3
as compared to the same
quarter last year.
The top three UPI apps
in terms of volume and
value were PhonePe, Goog-
le Pay and Paytm Pay-
ments Bank App.
New Delhi (FIB): IndiGo has announced 32 new con-
necting flights to Europe through its codeshare partner-
ship with Turkish Airlines. Effective December 07, the
new routes include several major destinations including
Milan, Manchester, Birmingham, Rome, and Venice.
Codesharing allows an airline to book its passengers
on its partner carriers and provide seamless travel to
destinations where it has no presence.
IndiGo announces 32 new flights

08
2NDFRONT
HC ISSUES NOTICES ON
PLEA FOR SUBURBAN
INCINERATORPLANTSHIFT
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The Bombay
High Court on Mon-
day directed the state
government, Maha-
rashtra Pollution Con-
trol Board (MPCB),
and Brihanmumbai
Municipal Corpora-
tion (BMC) on a peti-
tion seeking the shift-
ing of the incinerator
plant from suburban
Govandi due to the re-
lease of toxic gases.
A division bench com-
prising Chief Justice
Dipankar Datta and Jus-
tice Abhay Ahuja said
thepublicinterestlitiga-
tion (PIL) filed by resi-
dents of Govandi New
Sangam Welfare Society
,
comprising residents of
the area, has raised seri-
ous concerns.
The petitioners de-
manded the permanent
closure of the plant and
its relocation to a place
at least 500 m away from
theirlocalityinGovandi
in a time-bound manner.
The petition also re-
quested imposition of
appropriate environ-
mental compensation
on the company operat-
ing the plant, SMS
Envoclean Pvt Ltd, for
failing to adhere to the
bio-medical waste man-
agement rules.
The petitioners’ advo-
cate Zaman Ali told
the HC the number of
tuberculosis cases in
the vicinity has risen
sharply due to the toxic
emissions.
“Concerns expressed
in the PIL are serious.
We are of the view that
this PIL ought to be
heard with the other pe-
tition (raising similar
concerns). Matter post-
ed on January 16, 2023.
Respondents can file
reply affidavits by
then,” said the bench.
The petition referred
to a notice issued by the
MPCB issuing the clo-
sure directions to the
plant. The notice was
challenged by the com-
pany in the HC and the
effect of the order had
been stayed in 2019.
In their petition,
the Govandi New
Sangam Welfare Socie-
ty stated the operation
of the plant commenced
in 2009 sans any envi-
ronmental clearance
and conducting an
environmental impact
assessment.
IN VIOLATION
Concerns expressed in the PIL are serious.
We are of the view that this PIL ought to be
heard with the other petition (raising simi-
lar concerns). Matter posted on January 16, 2023.
Respondents can file reply affidavits by then.
—Bombay High Court
Div bench seeks
replies of Maha
govt, MPCB and
Mumbai civic
body; takes
cognizance of
‘serious concerns’
Elgar Parishad accused Navlakha’s
partner surrenders liquor, cigarettes
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Elgar Pari-
shad-Maoist links case
accused Gautam Nav-
lakha’s partner Sahba
Husain has surren-
dered liquor bottles
and cigarette packets
to police at the place
where the former is
under house arrest.
The National Investi-
gationAgency(NIA)had
raised an objection over
such items brought to
the premises, said an of-
ficial on Monday
.
On November 19,
70-year-old Navlakha
was released from pris-
onandtakentothehouse
in Belapur-Agroli area
of neighbouring Navi
Mumbai town to be kept
under house arrest for a
month. Husain, who is
staying with Navlakha,
had brought two liquor
bottlesandcigarettesfor
personal consumption,
said the official.
She had declared her
purchases to NIA offi-
cialswhentheycamefor
a search. She had told
agency sleuths that the
items were for her con-
sumption and not for
Navlakha, who neither
consumes liquor nor
smokes.
The NIA sleuths, how-
ever, took objection to
the items and hence,
thoseweregivenintothe
custody of CBD Belapur
police, he said.
The house where Navlakha has been kept under house arrest in
Mumbai. —FILE PHOTO
Indian Army
recruitment
rally to be held
from Dec 6-11
Pune (PTI) : The re-
cruitment rally for the
Agniveer general duty
(women military po-
lice) will be held at BEG
Centre in Kirkee from
December 6 to 11, an of-
ficial said on Monday
.
The main aim of the
rally is to give women
from Maharashtra, Gu-
jarat, Goa, and Daman
an opportunity to be
screened into the Indi-
an Army thereby giving
them a chance to serve
the nation, a Defence
release said.
Prospective candi-
dates will be screened
over the next three to
four days, it added.
Candidates will have
to undergo a physical,
and medical exam and
take a common en-
trance exam as part of
the selection process.
Only candidates who
are found physically
and medically fit can
take the written exam,
the release said.
The final selection
will be based on merit
and thereafter, they will
be called to join the In-
dian Army in the Corps
of Military Police as
Agniveers, it stated.
Crash cushion installed at
Cyrus Mistry accident spot
15 students injured in bus
crash near Lohagad fort
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The Nation-
al Highways Authori-
ty of India (NHAI)
has installed impact
attenuator, also
known as crash cush-
ions, at the spot where
industrialist Cyrus
Mistry’s car met with
an accident.
Although a case of
overspeeding was filed
against the driver of the
vehicle, NHAI has im-
plicitly accepted the
flaw in their design with
this step. Now, the NHAI
is planning to install
similar safety measures
on other river bridges.
A crash cushion ab-
sorb the energy and can
redirect colliding vehi-
cle. It protects vehicles
from damage when they
collide with a structure
and can potentially save
the lives.
First India Bureau
Mumbai: As many as
15 students and two
caretakers accompa-
nying them were in-
jured when their bus
fell in a ghat section
near Lohagad hill fort
in the state’s Pune dis-
trict, police said on
Monday
.
Theincidentoccurred
onSundayeveningwhen
the students of a tuition
class centre from Pen
town in Raigad district
and their caretakers
werereturningafterpic-
nicking at the fort.
The injured students
areintheagegroupof 12
to 15 years. Two caretak-
ers were also injured.
Primafacie,thedriver
of the bus lost control of
the vehicle due to the
failure of brakes.
The accident took place at
4 pm in Dudhiware Pass.
We genuinely laugh and
cry only with those
closest to us.
—Dr Jagdeesh Chandra,
CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
Kurla gang rape case takes
U-turn,victim’s claims
bogus say cops,file FIR
Sandeep Shukla
Mumbai: In what
could be termed as a
complete U-turn in
the shocking case of
gang rape of a Mum-
bai woman by three
men at knife-point,
the Mumbai police
on Monday, instead
of catching the ac-
cused men, filed a
First Information Re-
port (FIR) against
the alleged victim.
According to the FIR,
the woman was in-
volved in trade of
drugs. Moreover, the
woman’s claim of being
raped, has also been
found to be a untrue,
said an official.
After filing the FIR
against the woman, the
cops initiated a search
for the ‘victim’ who has
reportedly gone miss-
ing. The Mumbai police
has taken the step on the
basis of doctor’s reports
which state that the
woman was neither
raped nor her private
parts were found with
burn marks, as claimed
by her in the FIR.
The FIR, a copy of
which is with First In-
dia, states that the FIR
has been registered
against the woman and
her clients and after
registering the FIR, the
cops have initiated a
search for the woman
and the buyers.
Notably, the matter
came to light when
three men were booked,
on Sunday, for gang
rape of a 42-year-old
woman after the trio al-
legedly broke into her
home in Mumbai’s Kur-
la area, attacked her
with a sharp weapon
and burnt her with cig-
arettes on her private
parts in the early hours
of last Wednesday
.
Based on doctor’s report, Kurla police
find the woman had lied about rape;
cops uncover drug trade involvement
Questions that
need answering
BHARAT JODO YATRA’S 89TH DAY: FIRST DAY IN RAJASTHAN
PEOPLE OF RSS, BJP WILL HAVE TO SAY
‘HEY RAM, JAI SIYARAM’: RAHUL GANDHI
Deeply impressed by Bharat yatris,
they will be an asset, says Gehlot
Jhalawar: On Monday,
the first day of Bharat
Jodo Yatra in Ra-
jasthan, Congress lead-
er Rahul Gandhi lashed
out at BJP and RSS.
The yatra reached
Chandrabhaga inter-
section of Jhalrapatan
at 6 pm. While address-
ing the Nukkad Sabha,
Rahul Gandhi charged
at BJP on several is-
sues including reli-
gion, demonetisation
and GST. “I want to ask
the BJP that earlier
there was a slogan Jai
Siyaram. Without Sita
there is no Ram and
without Ram there is
no Sita.
l RaGa says, there is a magic and no
fatigue in the Bharat Jodo Yatra l Rahul
Gandhi becomes messiah for poor family,
brings a literal ‘Diwali’ to their home!
Rahul Gandhi, CM Ashok Gehlot, KC Venugopal, Govind Singh Dotasra, Sachin Pilot, Jitendra Singh, Pratap
Singh Khachariyawas, Lalchand Kataria, Krishna Poonia, Rajendra Singh Gudha, Vaibhav Gehlot and
others walk as the Rajasthan leg of Bharat Jodo Yatra starts from Nahardi area, Jhalawar on Monday.
MAJOR HAPPENINGS
l Rahul began Rajasthan leg
of his Yatra from Jhalawar
l 89th day of BJY started
from Kali Talai in Jhalrapa-
tan, on Rajasthan-MP border
l Gandhi set off the yatra at
6.10 am when temperature
was 13 degrees Celsius
l Rahul was comfortable
walking in a half sleeves T-shirt,
trousers and sports shoes
l Other leaders and workers
were seen in the jackets
l Rahul sipped his morning
tea at a dhaba in Jhalawar
Rahul ji is main yatri this is not a yatra to win polls; rather yatra issues
are related to common people, hence it is getting immense support here
Jhalawar: Amid Rahul
Gandhi’s ongoing
“Bharat Jodo Yatra”
that is passing through
Rajasthan, CM Ashok
Gehlot held a presser on
Monday in Jhalawar
and claimed that he was
extremely impressed
with the yatris.
“These yatris will
prove to be assets. Peo-
ple from all over the
world including UAE
and Belgium are in-
volved in the yatra and
thus this yatra is impor-
tant for the whole world
and for democracy
. The
atmosphere in the coun-
try is against the poli-
cies of the central gov-
ernment. The Yatra is
taking place at a time
when the whole country
is worried,” he said.
“Bharat Jodo Yatra is
not a journey of any
one person. Rahul ji is
the main yatri of this
yatra.
Rahul Gandhi, CM Ashok Gehlot and others during yatra on Monday.
TheYatra is covered by First India reporting team,
Aditi Nagar,Yogesh Sharma, Bhanwar S Charan,
Dimple Sharma,Tripti Gautam and Arif Mansoori
and Photojournalist Santosh Sharma

e do not need magic
to change the world,
we carry all the pow-
er we need inside
ourselves already:
we have the power to
imagine better and
Bhanushree has proved
that a strong soul shines
after every storm. The
diva is also one of the
finalists of the Miss In-
dia Queen.
When asked
about herself
shesaid,“Iama
20-year-old be-
liever from
Bangalore,
who strongly
believes that
it takes a
strong soul
with a real
heart to devel-
op smiles out of a situation that
makes us weep. My hobbies in-
cludecooking,sketching,artand
craft, decor etc which are the
bestwaysIusetoexpressmyself
none of my strongest sides be-
sides my interests I am a great
listener and I believe that I am
kind, punctual and ambitious
and love animals a lot.”
The stunning beauty is cur-
rently learning fashion de-
sign from JD institute of fash-
ion technology Bangalore.
Like every other dreamer
this fighter has also faced
many barriers, speaking
more about it she said, “I lost
my mother when I was 18 and
that made me even stronger
spiritually mentally and emo-
tionally to face any kind of situ-
ation in life also I come from an
orthodox Brahmin family
which always had certain set-
backs like how one must be in
terms of education and career,
but my passion made them feel
something about the decision
that I took and they started sup-
porting me for what I’m doing
today.” The diva continued, “I
have been body shamed a lot for
being lean and at the same time
appreciated for the beautiful
facial features that I have so
sometimes it feels strange to
live in society as such but I be-
lieve that one must embrace
our flaws too and I believe in
myself and self-confidence is
something that can never shake
me from anything that takes
place in life.”
While sharing about the most
memorable moment, she said,
“First India Queen has really
given wings to my dreams and
I am very thankful to Dr
Jadeesh Chandra sir for provid-
ing me with this golden oppor-
tunity
.”
www.firstindia.co.in I https://firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/
thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
MUMBAI, TUESDAY,
DECEMBER 6, 2022
“I believe that one must embrace our flaws too,” said
Bhanushree, one of the finalists of First India Queen,
as she shares her inspiring journey with City First!
UTTKARSHA SHEKHAR
uttkarsha.shekhar@firstindia.co.in
W

10
ETC
www.firstindia.co.in I https://firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
any friends
and col-
l e a g u e s
frequently
ask me
what I will
do after my
retirement
from the
Indian Forest Service.
There have also been ques-
tions about the fundamen-
tal priorities before super-
annuation. I have, almost
always, evaded these ques-
tions. Here, I address these
now.
It shouldn’t be a sur-
prise that there are many
people who can do many
things equally proficient-
ly. They can be farmers,
teachers, managers, regu-
lators, scientists, journal-
ists, authors, drug devel-
opers, and many more. To
be extraordinary, however,
they must cover a little ex-
tra beyond those ordinary
miles. Why and how such
a feat materialises is com-
plicated to communicate
in words. You have to live
and work with them to dis-
cern the novel insights of
their journey. On the face
of it, the struggle is nei-
ther surprising nor a se-
cret. It takes a fire perpet-
ually burning within. It
takes every minute of a
life well invested. It re-
quires tossing away a
mindset of narrow em-
phasis on income or
wealth. Indeed, human
flourishing demands
much more and provides
more abundantly than our
imagination. It takes great
mental and physical
health. It embodies a ro-
bust meaning and durable
purpose, character and
virtue, and resilient social
relationships. It requires
wisdom that in turn yields
happiness, life satisfac-
tion and well-being.
As with everyone else, I
would continue to grow
wisdom—a substantial de-
terminant of human
flourishing. This wisdom
is expected to continue to
keep me happy because
wisdom is the mother of
happiness. Wisdom is a
holistic, multidimension-
al personality trait associ-
ated with greater well-be-
ing, satisfaction with life,
and overall better health
and happiness. I have dis-
covered and followed sev-
eral mechanisms to be-
come wiser. First, pro-so-
cial behaviors, empathy,
compassion, altruism, and
a sense of fairness to all.
Second, emotional regula-
tion, self-control and be-
ing oneself even when
provoked. Third, self-re-
flection, personal insights,
and learning. Fourth, ac-
ceptance of divergent per-
spectives and tolerance of
different view-point. Fifth
is decisiveness or the abil-
ity to make timely and ef-
fective decisions even un-
der uncertainty. Sixth, a
general knowledge of life
and social decision-mak-
ing, and finally, a mindset
that embraces spirituality
in daily life. I have also be-
lieved very strongly, and
continue to act accord-
ingly, that nothing is un-
achievable for those who
have scholarship, thought-
fulness, wisdom, atten-
tiveness, diligence and ac-
tion. I continue to be deep-
ly aware of the fact that
really wise people rarely
get drunk with wisdom!
Pseudo-wise is another
lot. In a nutshell, this
mindset weighs a few
smiles much more than
millions of dollars in the
pocket. This has made me
what I am. This has given
me what I have.
I am someone who was
born in a remote village
nestled amidst rivers and
hills. Obviously, it re-
quired learning survival
strategies to face the va-
garies and beauty of the
inhospitable landscape.
One must be a farmer, a
labourer, or an ordinary
human being willing to
acquire traditional skills
for survival. No wonder
then, given the necessity, I
can do farming in my
farmlands. I can construct
a village pond and grow
water chestnuts for liveli-
hoods. I can also help you
cross a rapidly flowing
river in the boat that I
built. I can also raise a
mango orchard for the
benefit of generations of
humans, birds, insects
and other life forms. I
could construct a mud
house and practice animal
husbandry with equal
ease. I can do a lot more,
not because I am willing to
learn everything afresh
but because I have already
done all these to survive in
my village before I left for
wilder grounds. All along,
I have never forgotten that
knowledge is great but do-
ing is greater still.
In another parallel,
soon after my retirement
in May 2023, I can teach to
facilitate learning of
Ayurveda that I learnt be-
fore the age of 18. I can
also take on teaching Ya-
jurveda chanting to a
brand-new generation of
youth. Teaching forestry,
environmental govern-
ance and sustainability
science at some of the
best-known institutions
worldwide is always avail-
able to me. Again, all this
will be possible not be-
cause I am willing to learn
afresh, but because I have
already done that by tak-
ing numerous detours
from the Indian forest ser-
vice.
I have been a professor
earlier, and even today I
continue to be a visiting
professor at the National
Institute of Ayurveda. I
would be happy to take on
a few more such assign-
ments from among many
that I am invited to. It is
this group of activities
where one can raise the
skills of someone else to
bring a smile and to make
them more worthwhile to
society.
No gift is greater than
the gift of knowledge! I
would always love to work
as a scientist once again in
the world’s best institu-
tions working on forest
and livelihoods, forest gov-
ernance, and environmen-
tal regulations. Doing
work on the ground as
well as producing new
knowledge based on expe-
rience and science contin-
ues to be my passion. I can
also work as a journalist
in a cutting-edge media
house—print, electronic,
and social included. Jour-
nalism has been my first
job way back in 1975 or so!
As a forester, I can help
protect, manage, restore
and rewild forests and pro-
tected areas. It is possible
because this beautiful pro-
cess of learning and con-
tribution has been a major
part of my life. Apart from
improving the health of
the ecosystems, I can also
facilitate the improve-
ment of the health of peo-
ple by designing drugs and
providing preventive
strategies that can save
humanity from some of
the worst ailments. Again,
I will not need to learn the
whole process all over
again. I have already done
that parallel to numerous
other activities that I not-
ed here.
I would be happy to im-
prove the environmental
governance, environmen-
tal compliance, and regu-
latory environment with-
in any corporate house
such that they are able to
adhere to all the manda-
tory regulations required
to have complied, plus nu-
merous proactive steps
that can provide an edge to
the business over competi-
tors.
Let us now move on to
priorities. After a satisfy-
ing career in various posi-
tions in the Indian Forest
Service, the five priorities,
apart from routine works,
set soon after taking on as
the Principle Chief Con-
servator of Forests (Head
of Forest Force) are now
getting accomplished.
One, with a large num-
ber of posts vacant, Forest
Department was working
with almost half the num-
ber of officials in the field.
We have recruited and will
now have all the posts
filled to work full throttle
for the next decade. Two,
field staff remained de-
prived of their promotions
for 3-4 years for a variety
of reasons. The process
has been completed, except
for one rank that is soon
going to be accomplished.
Three, through new exter-
nally aided projects, we
will have a resource of 3600
to 4500 crore rupees to in-
vest in the protection of
forests, wildlife and biodi-
versity, mitigation and ad-
aptation to climate change,
and improvement of liveli-
hoods of the local commu-
nities. Four, good imple-
mentation is a knowledge-
intensive journey that re-
quires a robust evidence
base. We have generated
and provided cutting-edge
scientific and experiential
knowledge for restoration
and rewilding.
Implemented is now on
throughout the State. At
least 10 new conservation
reserves, another leopard
reserve, and one new tiger
reserve have become a real-
ity
. Another Tiger Reserve
may soon become a reality
.
Thus, Forest Department
will have forest force, re-
sources and knowledge to
work over the next 10 years
that coincide with the UN
Decade on Ecosystem Res-
toration (2021-2030). The
fifth priority remains to be
realized, but there are six
months to concentrate on.
Hopefully
, with the support
of the Government of Ra-
jasthan, and facilitation by
colleagues in the Govern-
ment and Forest Depart-
ment, we should be able to
resolve several long-pend-
ing legitimate demands of
staff and officials in the
field. This is what I love to
call flourishing beyond
woods and words. We shall
meet again!
FLOURISHING BEYOND
FLOURISHING BEYOND
WOODS AND WORDS!
WOODS AND WORDS!
DR DEEP NARAYAN PANDEY
Principal Chief Conservator
of Forests (Head of Forest Force)
Aranya Bhawan
M
(Dr.Deep Narayan Pandey is in the Indian Forest Service;was
awarded the highest national honour in forestry—the IPVM
Award for the year 1994 and;the Dhanvantari Award of the
Department of Ayurveda,Government of Rajasthan for his
contributions to Ayurveda.He has more than 38 years of
experience working with national and international
organizations.)The views expressed here are personal and
driven by the principle of the Global Common Good.They do
not in any way represent the views of the institution or service
to which the author belongs.

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