26012023_First India Mumbai.pdf

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OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR & MUMBAI
MUMBAI l THURSDAY,
JANUARY 26, 2023
Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI TITLE NO. MAHENG/2022/14652 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 260
AIR INDIA AMENDS
EXISTING IN-FLIGHT
LIQUOR POLICY
New Delhi: Air India has
modified its in-flight alcohol
service policy wherein
cabin crew have beentold
to tactfully refuse further
serving of alcohol if needed.
In new policy, ‘Alcoholic’
beverages must be served
in an appropriate manner.
RELEASE ORDER OF
ASHISH NOT RECEIVED:
JAIL SUPERINTENDENT
Lakhimpur: SC granted an
8-week interim bail to Ashish
Mishra and directed him to
leave UP within one week.
‘Mishra’s release order has
not yet been received and
hence he will not be released
on Wednesday,’ said Jail
Superintendent VK Mishra.
READ
Crucial
Crucial
SENIOR IAS OFFICER RAJ
KUMAR APPOINTED NEW
CHIEF SECY OF GUJARAT
FUTURE RETAIL GROUP’S
EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN
KISHORE BIYANI RESIGNS
LANDSLIDES AND BAD
WEATHER HALT RAHUL’S
YATRA IN JAMMU
Ahmedabad: Senior IAS
officer Raj Kumar has been
appointed as the new Chief
Secretary to the Gujarat
government, a state official
said on Wednesday. Kumar,
a 1987-batch IAS is currently
serving as Addl Chief Secy in
the State Home Department.
New Delhi: Kishore Biyani
on Wednesday has resigned
as executive chairman and
director of Future Retail and
his resignation has been
placed before the Committee of
Creditors, as per the Insolvency
and Bankruptcy Code, company
said in an exchange filing.
Jammu: It was perhaps for
the first time on its 131st day
on Wednesday that the Rahul
Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra
had to halt in the Ramban
district of J&K because of
landslides and bad weather.
The afternoon leg of Rahul’s
Yatra was cancelled. P5
WOMEN’S PREMIER LEAGUE
BCCI rakes in over `4,669
crore for sale of 5 teams
First India Bureau
New Delhi: As the
Board of Cricket Coun-
cil of India (BCCI)
earned `4,669.99 crore
from the bidding of
teams for the Women’s
Premier League (WPL),
the Adani Sportsline
Pvt. Ltd emerged as
the highest bidder.
The Adani-owned
company bought
the Ahmedabad
franchise for
`1,289 crore.
MODI: YOUNGSTERS
WILL BE GREATEST
BENEFICIARIES OF
DEVELOPED INDIA
INDIA AND EGYPT SIGN DEVP PACTS
PM Narendra Modi said on
Wednesday the youth will
be the biggest beneficiaries
of a developed India and
the biggest responsibility to
build it also rests on their
shoulders. PM Narendra
Modi said they represent the
country’s aspirations and
dreams in the ongoing “amrit
kaal”. He said there are a lot of
opportunities for youngsters
in the country as India is
working for the future of the
entire world in sectors ranging
from space to environment.
India and Egypt exchanged MoUs in fields of cyber
security, culture, IT, youth matters and broadcasting
on Wednesday. MoU is a part of efforts put in by
Prasar Bharati, to expand reach of Doordarshan, DD
India channel to showcase country’s progress via
programs that focus on economy, technology, etc.
Adani enters Indian
cricket for 1st time,
gets Ahmedabad
franchise for cost
of `1,289 crore
NEWINDIARISESON
PATHOF‘KARTAVYA’!
This year’s Republic Day theme is “Jan Bhagidari”
DIFFERENT CULTURES, LANGUAGES
HAVE UNITED INDIA: PREZ MURMU
Moni Sharma
New Delhi: Addressing
the nation on the eve of
74th Republic Day
, Presi-
dent Droupadi Murmu
on Wednesday said In-
diasucceededasademo-
cratic republic because
so many creeds and lan-
guages “have not divid-
ed but united us”.
“I commend the roles
of farmers, workers, sci-
entists and engineers
whosecombinedstrength
enables our country to
liveuptothespiritof ‘Jai
Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vi-
gyan, Jai Anusandhan’. I
appreciate every citizen
whocontributestothena-
tion’s progress,” she fur-
ther said.
In her nearly 30-min-
ute speech, President
Murmu touched upon a
wide range of topics,
including India’s G20
presidency, economy,
women’s empowerment
and ambitious Gagan-
yaan to send Indian as-
tronauts to space. P6
President Droupadi Murmu’s first Republic Day address to
nation on the eve of India’s 74th Republic Day celebrations
MoUs exchanged in the fields of cyber security, culture,
information technology, youth matters and broadcasting
The press and offices of
First India will remain closed
on January 26, 2023, on
account of Republic Day.
Therefore, there will be
no edition of the paper on
January 27, 2023. —Editor
HOLIDAY NOTICE
A VERY HAPPY
REPUBLIC DAY
CELEBRATE 74 YEARS
OF INDIA’S GLORY!
ORS PIONEER DILIP MAHALANABIS
TO RECEIVE PADMA VIBHUSHAN
ORS pioneer Dilip Mahalanabis will receive
Padma Vibhushan (posthumous) in Medicine
(Pediatrics), 25 other personalities including
4 from Rajasthan will be awarded Padma
Shri. A list was released on R-Day eve.
MULAYAM, ZAKIR AMONG 106
PADMA AWARD RECIPIENTS
Mulayam Singh Yadav, Zakir Hussain,
KM Birla and Sudha Murty are among
106 Padma Award recipients this
year. The central govt announced on
the eve of the 74th Republic Day.
President Droupadi Murmu addresses to the nation on the eve of
the 74th Republic Day, in New Delhi on Wednesday.
India Egypt declare
‘strategic partnership’
First India Bureau
New Delhi: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi on
Wednesday announced
that India has decided
to elevate bilateral rela-
tions with Egypt to a
strategic partnership.
“We’ve decided that un-
der India-Egypt Strate-
gic Partnership we will
develop a long term
framework for greater
cooperation in the fields
of politics, security
, eco-
nomics and science,”
PM Modi said at a joint
press conference after
holding wide-ranging
talks with visiting
Egyptian President Ab-
del Fattah El-Sisi.
Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi and Presi-
dent Abdel Fattah El-
Sisi also witnessed the
release exchange of
commemorative post-
age stamps to mark the
milestone of 75 years of
the establishment of
diplomatic ties between
India and Egypt.
President Droupadi Murmu, PM Narendra Modi at the
Ceremonial Reception of President of Arab Republic of
Egypt, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, in Delhi on Wednesday.
Anurag Thakur and Sameh Hassan Shoukry exchange
agreement in presence of PM Modi and Prez El –Sisi.
AK ANTONY’S
SON ANIL QUITS
CONGRESS
Anil K Antony,
son of ex-Union
minister AK
Antony, on
Wednesday quit
Congress over
‘intolerant calls to
retract a tweet’ on
BBC docu on PM
Modi. Anil said that
he has his own
unique strengths
which would
have enabled
him to contribute
effectively to party
in many ways.
BBC documentary showdown!
After JNU, the BBC documentary showdown in New Delhi’s Jamia
Millia Islamia, several detained; VC warns of action against students
First India Bureau
New Delhi: High dra-
ma ensued at the Jamia
Millia Islamia univer-
sity in the national cap-
ital over the controver-
sial BBC documentary
on Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi. Several
students have been de-
tained for allegedly cre-
ating ruckus outside
the campus ahead of
the screening.
Earlier in the day
, the
students belonging to
Left leaning SFI said
they would screen the
documentary‘India:The
Modi Question’. Jamia
administration has said
no screening of the film
will be allowed without
permission. P5
Heavy security forces deployed outside the Jamia Millia Islamia
University gate after the ruckus, in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Slogans raised against Proctor,
no connection to BBC series,
say Jamia students. Students
who were locked inside cam-
pus told they were sloganeer-
ing against Proctor for not
issuing a notice that university
gates would be shut.
SLOGANS RAISED AGAINST PROCTOR, NO
CONNECTION TO BBC SERIES: STUDENTS
IT IS BEGINNING OF
A REVOLUTION: JAY
Honourary BCCI secretary
Jay Shah said that it was
a landmark day for the
country and
women’s
cricket.
Shah wrote
that it was a
historic day
for women’s cricket and
that it maks the beginning
of a revolution.
Adani Sportsline
@AdaniSportsline
We are excited
for Ahmedabad to
have its very own
WPL franchise. We are
committed to develop-
ing Women’s Cricket
in India, and we are
looking forward to
what promises to
be a terrific tourna-
ment!
BSE SENSEX 60,205.06 773.69|NSE NIFTY 17,891.95 226.35
Mumbai (PTI): The NCP on
Wednesday said Governor
Koshyari should confirm
whether he had issued a
letter to Eknath Shinde
inviting him to form a
government in June last
year after a revolt in the
Shiv Sena and maintained
Deputy CM Devendra Fad-
navis’ explanation on the
issue was unacceptable.
NCP chief spokesperson
Mahesh Tapase said the
entire episode raises ques-
tion over the constitutional
validity of the government
led by CM Shinde.
Guv, not Fadnavis,
should clarify:
NCP on letter row
AFTER ‘PATHAAN’ RELEASE...
First priority will be Marathi films: MNS leader tells multiplex owners
Mumbai (ANI): Ma-
harashtra Navnirman
Sena leader Ameya
Khopkar on Wednes-
day warned multiplex
owners against setting
aside the screening of
the Marathi films due
to the release of Shah
Rukh Khan’s
‘Pathaan’, and said
that the first priority
in the state would be
films made in the Mar-
athi language.
The MNS leader,
however, clarified that
the party is not pro-
testing against the
film. The remark
comes in the wake of
protests in parts of the
country against the
film’s release.
Khopkar said that
‘Pathaan’ should be
screened in the state,
however, the Marathi
films which are due
for release or have
been making a good
run at the box office
should also be shown.
“Hindi film
‘Pathaan is releasing
across the nation to-
day
. We do not object to
it. Shah Rukh Khan is
making a comeback in
this film, it should
also be screened. But
that does not mean
that the multiplex
owners should not
screen Marathi films,”
hesaid,adding,“Leave
alone theatres, ticket
counters are also not
being opened for Mar-
athi cinema.”
The MNS leader
warned of violent pro-
tests if multiplex own-
ers did not screen
Marathi films.
“The first priority
in Maharashtra
should be Marathi
films and then films
made in other lan-
guages. If a Marathi
film does not get a
place in theatres, then
the glasses of those
theatres are more ex-
pensive, if they break,
then it is
not our responsibili-
ty,” he said, adding
“You can file a case
against us or put us in
jail; we are ready. But
every time a Marathi
film (is slated for re-
lease), we have to agi-
tate so that it gets a
place in the theatre.”
Ameya Khopkar warns violent
protests if multiplex owners do not
screen Marathi films to make
space for SRK-starrer

NEWS
MUMBAI | THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2023
02
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Happy Republic Day
Happy Republic Day
CRUCIAL READ
Mumbai: The police have issued a notice to The Vishva Hin-
du Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal over the release of Shah
Rukh Khan-starrer ‘Pathaan’, following nationwide protests
by various Hindu outfits over the film’s release. ‘Pathaan’
has been garnering sharp responses from all sections since
the release of its trailer over the ‘Besharam rang’ song in
which actor Deepika Padukone is seen in a saffron bikini.
Thane: After a raid at a bar in Thane district, the police have
arrested 11 people, an official said. Based on a complaint,
cops raided the bar and found some women performing
obscene dance acts, senior police inspector Samir Ahirrao
said. Eleven people, including the bar’s operator, cashier
and a singer, were arrested, he said. A search is on for the
bar owner and other persons connected with the case.
STOP PROTEST OR FACE ACTION: NOTICE TO
VHP, BAJRANG DAL OVER ‘PATHAAN’
ELEVEN HELD AFTER RAID IN THANE BAR;
SEARCH ON FOR OWNER, OTHERS
MAN HELD WITH
MEPHEDRONE
WORTH `19.6L
COPS NAB RAPE
ACCUSED WITHIN 3
HOURS OF FIR
Thane: A 54-year-old
man was arrested and
mephedrone worth
Rs19.6 lakh was seized
from his possession,
Thane poilce said. During
patrolling in Kashimira
locality, Anti-Narcotics
Cell officials spotted a
man behaving suspi-
ciously. He then then
tried to flee when he no-
ticed the cops. A search
of his person revealed
that he was carrying 98g
of the banned substance.
Mumbai: The police
arrested a 25-year-old
man just three hours
after a First Incident
Report was filed
accusing him of raping
and threatening to kill
a 14-year-old girl, an
official said. The FIR
was registered at around
10.30 pm on Monday,
and the man was nabbed
from the reserved coach
of a Tamil Nadu-bound
train around 1.30 am on
Tuesday.
Willwinmorethan150seatsin
BMC elections: Ashish Shelar
Mumbai BJP chief buoyant on BJP-Shinde combine’s chances in overdue civic polls
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The ruling al-
liance between the
Bharatiya Janata Party
and the Balasahebanchi
Shiv Sena will win more
than 150 seats in the up-
coming elections to the
Brihanmumbai Munici-
pal Corporation, Mum-
bai BJP president Ash-
ish Shelar said on
Wednesday
, echoing Un-
ion minister Amit
Shah’s “Mission 150
seats” message.
The Brihanmumbai
Municipal Corporation
has 227 seats in the
House. It is currently
under an administra-
tor as the five-year
term of its elected rep-
resentatives ended in
March last year.
BJP and the Shiv
Sena faction led by
Chief Minister Eknath
Shinde will win more
than 150 seats in the up-
coming BMC elections,
Shelar said, adding that
the next Mumbai mayor
will be from the BJP.
“The BJP along with
our alliance partner
CM Eknath Shinde will
win more than 150 seats.
The mayor of the new
civic body will be from
the BJP,” said Shelar.
Notably, Shiv Sena
has controlled the
BMC, arguably Asia’s
richest civic body with
an annual budget of
about Rs40-45,000 crore,
since 1997. However,
the BJP closed the mar-
gin in the last election,
held in 2017, claiming
82 seats, just two shy of
the Sena’s 84.
After returning to
power in Maharashtra
with an alliance with
Shinde, whose revolt
split the Shiv Sena and
led to the collapse of
the Uddhav Thackeray-
led MVA government
last year, the BJP is
keen to wrest the con-
trol of the BMC from
the Sena.
Shelar said, “There is
a difference between
the Shiv Sena led by late
Balasaheb Thackeray
and the current one un-
der Uddhav Thackeray.
Balasaheb was a large-
hearted person, always
open for dialogue and
the foundation of his al-
liance (with BJP) was
Hindutva.”
Asked about Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi’s role in the BMC
elections, Shelar said,
“He will naturally re-
main the face of our
campaign, like Deputy
Chief Minister Deven-
dra Fadnavis.”
Last week, the party
got PM Modi to lay the
foundation stones and
inaugurate a string of
projects worth Rs38,000
crore aimed at develop-
ing infrastructure, eas-
ing urban travel, and
strengthening health-
care in the country’s
financial capital.
FirstriverbridgeonMum-Ahd
bullettraincorridoralmostdone
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The work on
first river bridge on the
Mumbai-Ahmedabad
bullet train corridor is
nearly finished with
just four pillars remain-
ing. The 320m bridge
being constructed over
Par river in Valsad will
consist of 840m full-
span girders. The
bridge tenders for a
21km underground tun-
nel, including a stretch
passing below Thane
creek, officials said.
According to Nation-
al High-Speed Rail Cor-
ridor Limited (NHSR-
CL) officials, the bridge
is expected to be opened
in early February
.
The tunnel for a dou-
ble-line has been pro-
posed between Bandra
Kurla Complex (BKC)
and Shilphata including
a 7km under-sea tunnel
across Thane creek—
the first undersea tun-
nel in the country
.
The tunnel will be
built using a tunnel bor-
ing machine and the
New Austrian Tunnel-
ling Method.
“We had invited ten-
ders on September 23,
2022, and it is expected
to be opened on Febru-
ary 09. We have already
opened bids for the con-
struction of a station at
BKC,” an official said.
AAP’s Vijay Nair’s
Mumbai house
attached by ED
First India Bureau
Mumbai: In recent de-
velopments in the Delhi
excise policy scam, The
Enforcement Directo-
rate (ED) has attached
properties worth
₹Rs76.54 crore in con-
nection with the case.
This includes a lavish
Rs1.77 crore house in
Crescent Bay of Mum-
bai, belonging to AAP’s
Vijay Nair.
Nair is the Communi-
cation strategist of the
party and the former
CEO of Mumbai-based
entertainment and
event management
company, Only Much
Louder.
The entertainment
and event management
company also seized liq-
uor businessman Amit
Arora’s Rs7.68 crore
Gurugram residence,
and three restaurants—
Chica, La Roca and Un-
plugged Courtyard—
worth ₹Rs3.18 crore
owned by Dinesh Arora.
`40 cr for 28 hours?
Aaditya Thackeray
targets CM on Davos
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Taking a
swipe at Chief Minister
Eknath Shinde, Shiv
Sena - Uddhav Balasa-
heb Thackeray leader
Aaditya Thackeray
asked if Shinde took
“his friends along” on
his recent visit to Davos
to attend the World Eco-
nomic Forum, which
cost the state exchequer
Rs30-40 crore.
“His trip was meant
to be from January 16 to
20, but the CM reached
Davos late and came
back early
. He had
booked a chartered
flight, but what is the
use of it when it reached
late? He wasted the
whole day of January
16. If you consider a
daily expenditure of
Rs10 crore... Did he take
his friends with him? If
yes, who paid for them?”
the former minister
asked, while speaking to
the media. Notably
, CM
Shinde returned from
Davos late on January
18 so as to attend Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi’s events in Mum-
bai on Januaray 19.
Pointing out that the
government had not
announced any agree-
ments or MoUs follow-
ing the CM’s visit,
Thackeray said,
“Whatever MoUs were
signed at Davos, most
of those firms are
based here. Why take
them to Davos and sign
contracts which were
already finalized?”
CM Shinde and Dy CM Fadnavis in conversation during an event. —FILE PHOTO
While sharing power with the BJP in the state government
between 2014 and 2019, Uddhav (Thackeray) once said
that his party had rotted during the more than 25 years of
alliance with the BJP. Before the 2014 assembly elections,
he broke the alliance with us for over just one seat. He again joined
hands with us ahead of the 2019 assembly elections but broke it after
the results were out. He is inconsistent in his behaviour.
—Ashish Shelar, Mumbai BJP chief
Bail for ex-min Deshmukh’s
ex-secy in corruption case
Mumbai (PTI): The
BombayHighCourton
Wednesday granted
bail to Sanjeev Pa-
lande, former private
secretary of NCP lead-
er Anil Deshmukh, in
a corruption case.
Former state minis-
ter Deshmukh, also an
accused in the case, is
currently out on bail.
The Central Bureau
of Investigation is con-
ducting the inquiry
.
A single bench of
Justice MS Karnik al-
lowed Palande’s bail
plea after hearing ar-
guments of both sides.
He is likely to walk out
of the jail on January
27, his lawyer Shekhar
Jagtap said. The HC
had last month grant-
ed Palande bail in a
money laundering
casebeinginvestigated
bytheEnforcementDi-
rectorate.
TheEDhadarrested
PalandeinJune2021in
connection with the
money laundering
case. Later, the CBI
took him into custody
in the corruption case
in April 2022. Former
Mumbai police com-
missioner Param Bir
Singh in March 2021
allegedthatthen-home
minister Deshmukh
had given a target to
police officers to col-
lect Rs 100 crore per
month from restau-
rants and bars in
Mumbai.
The HC had in April
2021directedtheCBIto
carry out a prelimi-
nary inquiry
. The CBI,
based on this inquiry
,
registered an FIR
against Deshmukh
and others for alleged
corruptionandmisuse
of official power.
The central agency
says Palande had in-
structed former
Mumbai police offic-
er Sachin Waze to col-
lect the money, on
Deshmukh’s behalf.
Former stae minister Deshmukh, also an accused in the
case, is currently out on bail.
INTERIM BAIL TO EX-MIN KHADSE’S WIFE
Mumbai (PTI): A special court here has grant-
ed interim bail to former Maharashtra minister
Eknath Khadse’s wife Mandakini in a money
laundering case pertaining to a 2016 land deal
in Pune district. Special judge RN Rokade on
Monday granted interim relief to Mandakini
Khadse, who was not arrested during investiga-
tion, till disposal of her bail application. The order
was made available on Tuesday. “Having regard
to the fact that the accused number 3 (Manda-
kini Khadse) is not arrested during the course
of investigation, I am of the considered view
that prima facie a case is made out for interim
bail,” the judge observed in the order.The other
accused in the case include Eknath Khadse and
his son-in-law Girish Chaudhary.
CONSTRUCTION OF BULLET TRAIN STATION
AT BKC TO START SOON
Mumbai: Work on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-
Speed Rail (MAHSR) has finally begun in the city
with the National High-Speed Rail Corporation
(NHSRCL) putting up barricades at the Bandra
Kurla Complex (BKC) site where an underground
station is coming up. The station will have six
415-metre-long platforms that can accommodate
a 16-coach bullet train. It will also connect to two
Mumbai Metro lines and other nearby modes of
public transit. The BKC station will be the only
underground one on the corridor.
Aaditya Thackeray. —FILE PHOTO
The bridge is expected to open early next month. —FILE PHOTO
DRESSED UP FOR REPUBLIC DAY!
Mumbai landmarks including the iconic Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, administrative seat of the
Maharashtra government, Mantralaya, and the Bombay Stock Exchange are illuminated in the colours of
the national flag, ahead of Republic Day, on Wednesday. —PHOTOS BY BHUSHAN KOYANDE

First India Bureau
Pune: Seven members
of a family, including
three children, whose
bodies were discovered
in the Bheema river-
bed in Pune, may have
been murdered by
their relatives over a
previous incident in-
volving the death of
the son of one of the
accused, a police offi-
cial said on Wednesday.
Based on their inves-
tigation into the deaths
of Mohan Pawar (45),
his wife Sangita Mohan
(40), their daughter
Rani Fulware (24), son-
in-law Shyam Fulware
(28), and three children
aged between three and
seven years, police have
arrested five siblings,
who are cousins of the
deceased Pawar.
The accused have
been identified as
Ashok Kalyan Pawar,
Shyam Kalyan Pawar,
Shankar Kalyan Pawar,
Prakash Kalyan Pawar
and Kantabai Sarjerao
Jadhav, Pune Rural Su-
perintendent of Police
Ankit Goyal said.
Dhananjay Pawar,
son of accused Ashok
Pawar, died a few
months ago in an acci-
dent and a case related
to it was registered in
Pune city, he added.
“Prima facie, it ap-
pears that Ashok held
Mohan’s son responsi-
ble for Dhananjay's
death. These seven per-
sons, including the chil-
dren, seem to have been
killed to avenge the
death of Ashok’s son
Dhananjay
,” Goyal said.
All the accused were
apprehended from
ParnertehsilinAhmed-
nagar district and
booked under Indian
Penal Code Sections 302
(murder) and 120B
(criminal conspiracy),
he said.
“They will be pro-
duced before a court,”
the official said, adding
that further probe is on
into the case.
A post-mortem of
four of the seven bod-
ies—which were found
200-300m away from
each other in the Bhee-
ma riverbed near Par-
gaon bridge in Duand
tehsil of Pune district
between January 18 and
January 24—identified
drowning as the cause
of the death, officials
had earlier said.
The deceased were
from Beed and Os-
manabad districts and
worked as labourers.
MAHARASHTRA
4 IN HOSP AFTER
FIRE IN MUMBAI
HIGH-RISE BLDG
Mumbai: Four people
suffered suffocation and
were hospitalized in a fire
that broke out in a 29-sto-
rey residential building in
Mumbai on Wednesday,
officials said. The blaze
erupted around 1.45 am in
a common passage on the
24th floor of Shivshakti
building in Lokhandwala
complex causing thick
smoke, they said. Four
people, including two
senior citizens, suffered
from suffocation.
NAVI MUMBAI
COASTAL ROAD
GETS MCZMA NOD
Mumbai: The Maharashtra
Coastal Zone Management
Authority (MCZMA) has
finally given the green sig-
nal to the construction of
the Navi Mumbai coastal
road connecting Sector
16, Kharghar and Sector
11 of Central Business
District (CBD), Belapur.
Once constructed, the
road will enable seamless
connectivity between ICP
business centre and Navi
Mumbai International
Airport, officials said.
TAPS IN HALF OF MUMBAI TO RUN DRY FOR
24 HOURS AMID WATER CUT ON JANUARY 30
Mumbai: Half of the city will not get water for 24 hours,
from January 30 at 10 am to January 31 at 10 am, due to
repair work. Dadar will get 25% less water. The water sup-
ply will be at low pressure from January 29 to February 4
and will be completely cut off in nine wards, namely K East,
K West, P South, P North, R South, R Central, R North, H
East, and H West. Water supply will also be cut off in areas
of S, N, and L wards in the eastern suburbs.
CRUCIAL READ
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The Federa-
tion of Grantees of Gov-
ernment Land (FGGL)
has appealed to activists
and voters to choose
None of the Above
(NOTA) in the next BMC
elections,inabidtoforce
authorities’handsonthe
issue of converting land
allotted to cooperative
housing societies by the
government into free-
hold land.
“Converting it to free-
holdlandwillallowusto
undertaketheredevelop-
mentof thousandsof old
and dilapidated build-
ings,” FGGL president
Salil Rameshchandra,
and general secretary
Vikaramaditya Dhamd-
here said in a statement.
Latur (PTI): Police
have arrested two em-
ployees of the local rev-
enue department for
the alleged embezzle-
ment of Rs22.87 crore
from a nationalized
bank in Latur district,
an official said.
According to tehsil-
dar Mahesh
Parandekar, who is the
complainant in the
case, an order was is-
sued to distribute funds
under the government's
Jalyukt Shivar Abhi-
yan, a water conserva-
tion project, a police
official said.
Accordingly
, two de-
mand drafts were given
towaterconservationof-
ficers to disburse the
amounts of Rs12,27,297
and Rs41,06,610 through
RTGS (Real Time Gross
Settlement).
When relevant docu-
ments were submitted
to the bank, it was
found that the balance
in the account was
only Rs96,559, police
inspector Sanjivan
Mirkale said. An audit
was then conducted
through which an al-
leged embezzlement of
Rs22.87 crore came to
light, he said. Based on
a complaint by the
tehsildar, the police on
Sunday arrested the
accused, the official
said, adding that a case
has been registered.
5 relatives held for murder
after 7 of family found dead
Bodiesofcouple
intheir40s,
daughter,son-in-
lawand3
grandchildren
werediscovered
200-300maway
fromeachother
inariverbed
Police personnel conduct an investigation along the bank of the Bheema river, where the bodies were found between Jan 18 and Jan 24.
‘Lackofevidence’sees
7acquittedinattemptto
murderunderMCOCA
First India Bureau
Thane: A special
court here has ac-
quitted seven per-
sons who had been
charged with attempt
to murder under the
Maharashtra Control
of Organized Crime
Act (MCOCA), ob-
serving that the pros-
ecution had failed to
prove the charges
and that the accused.
The witnesses ap-
peared to have had
some sort of settle-
ment outside the
court, special (MCO-
CA) Judge Amit M
Shete observed in his
order passed on Jan-
uary 18, a copy of
which was made
available on Tuesday.
According to court
documents, the ac-
cused had attacked
the complaint with
swords over past en-
mity at Kashimira in
the district back in
February 2016.
The alleged attack-
ers, including five in
their 20s, were booked
under the Indian Pe-
nal Code (IPC), the
Arms Act and the
stringent MCOCA.
In his order, Special
Judge Shete held that
the prosecution had
failed to prove the
charges against the
alleged accused “who
need to be acquitted”
of all charges.
“The prosecution
witnesses failed to
establish any offence
against the accused
persons. The evi-
dence which is ad-
mitted by the accused
as well as produced
by the prosecution is
not reliable and not
that much trustwor-
thy so as to say that
the prosecution suc-
ceeded to prove any
charge,” the judge
said in his order.
Action against the witnesses was
required, however, considering
the nature of offence as well as
the relationship between them, that is
not worth or advisable.
—Amit M Shete, Special (MCOCA) judge
AMCs to use BMC funds for emergency civil works
BUDGET WOES
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The Brihan-
mumbai Municipal
Corporation is standing
firm in its decision to
not provide develop-
ment funds to council-
lors or wards in the
civic budget for 2023-24,
given that BMC terms
ended on March 08,
2022. However, the civic
body will give funds to
the Assistant Munici-
pal Commissioners of
various wards, to be
used for emergency civ-
il work, an official said.
Under BMC rules,
each councillor is allo-
cated `60 lakh to be used
for development works
at their discretion.
However, this fund was
not allocated last finan-
cial year, since the
councillors’ term had
ended. This year too,
there will be no provi-
sion for electorate ward
funds in the budget for
2023-24, which BMC ad-
ministrator Iqbal Singh
Chahal will present—
and pass—on Feb 02.
Notably
, the BMC, the
country’s richest civic
body
, has an average an-
nualbudgetof `40,000cr.
“There was no provi-
sion for councillors’
funds in this year’s
budget. But ward offices
recommendedemergen-
cy civil work. Later the
BMC undertook beauti-
fication projects and
public toilet repair
work as special projects
in every ward,” a BMC
official said. The admin-
istration had provided
`750 crore for the beau-
tification project and
Rs240 crore for public
toilet repairs in every
administration ward.
“The Assistant Com-
missioner has the au-
thority to use the fund
that will be provided
now. This year also, I
will suggest some works
in the ward. But I am
not sure how many of
them will get funds.
Also with this Rs60
lakh, councillors get
more than `1 crore ex-
tra fund every year. But
even this fund was not
provided,” former Op-
position leader Ravi
Raja told the media.
“Apart from beautifi-
cation and toilet re-
pairs, there is other
work also that needs to
be done in wards, espe-
cially in slum pockets
like repairs of foot-
paths, installation of
lights, and distribution
of bins. But these works
are being delayed,” one
councillor said, asking
not to be named.
03
Happy Republic Day
Funding to
councillors has
been in limbo since
their terms ended
in March last year
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. —FILE PHOTO
147 hurt while attempting physical
test for jobs with Mumbai fire dept
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Their search
for employment in the
Mumbai Fire Brigade
has left 147 candidates
injured, the Brihan-
mumbai Municipal
Corporation said in a
release.
While 142 received
minor injuries, five as-
pirants had to be hospi-
talized for broken bones
sustained during physi-
cal tests held as part of
the ongoing recruit-
ment drive. Most of
these injuries occurred
when the candidates
were jumping off a
19-foot-high platform
onto a safety sheet held
by trained firemen, it
added.
With the Mumbai
Fire Brigade attempt-
ing to fill 910 vacant
fireman positions, 7,532
candidates have under-
gone physical tests at a
ground in suburban Da-
hisar since January 13.
“Out of these, 147
candidates have sus-
tained various injuries.
All the injured were
taken to municipal hos-
pitals in ambulances
immediately,” the re-
lease said.
Barring five candi-
dateswhowerehospital-
ized due to fractures, all
others were provided
medical treatment and
allowed to go home, the
BMC said, adding all
safety precautions were
being followed during
therecruitmentprocess.
The Mumbai Fire Brigade is attempting to fill 910 vacant fireman
positions. —FILE PHOTO
Most candidates
sustained injuries
while jumping off a
19-ft platform onto a
safety sheet held by
trained firemen
2 revenue dept staffers held
for embezzling `22.87 crore
BMC polls:
Press NOTA,
FGGL asks
REVENGE KILLING?

PERSPECTIVE
04
The Border Security
Force’s (BSF) camel
contingent will have
women participants
for the first time. For
the first time, only
‘Made in India’
weapon systems will
be part of this
year’s display
Happy Republic Day
‘ATMANIRBHAR’ BHARAT TO
WITNESS MANY ‘FIRSTS’!
The first Republic Day celebrations hosted at the ceremonial
boulevard after Rajpath was renamed to ‘Kartavya Path’
74TH REPUBLIC DAY
n India, the Republic Day and
Independence Day are the two
most significant national holi-
days. Across the nation, people
celebrate the day with fervour
and patriotism. This Republic
Day parade will be a unique
spectacle. The ceremonial
boulevard Rajpath’s new name,
Kartavya Path, will see the first
appearance of tanks, weapons,
and soldiers.
32,000 E-TICKETS
This year, Central Vista Avenue
will host the 74th Republic Day
festivities. According to de-
fence ministry officials, the
Central government has made
32,000 tickets available for on-
line purchase by the general
public. According to the news
agency, they stated that all of-
ficial invitations for the cere-
monial event will be sent online
for the first time.
MAKE IN INDIA WEAPONS
In an effort by the government
to move away from the rem-
nants of the colonial era, the 21-
gun salute given to the Presi-
dent prior to the start of the
parade will be fired for the first
time by Indian guns rather than
British guns.
This year, as the government
pushes its Make in India initia-
tive, 105 mm Indian field guns
will replace the vintage artil-
lery with 25-pounder guns that
typically fires the thunderous
ceremonial 21-Gun Salute dur-
ing the Republic Day celebra-
tions. Along with the IL-38
planes, the Kartavya Path will
see the debut of formations like
“Bheem” and “Vajrang.”
“DAREDEVILS”
MOTORCYCLISTS
Another highlight of this year’s
Republic Day is a group of
“Daredevils” motorcyclists
from the Corps of Signals who
will participate in the parade
under the co-command of a fe-
male officer. Women will join
the BSF Camel Contingent for
the first time.
EGYPTIAN ARMY
MILITARY CONTINGENT
An Egyptian Army military
contingent will participate in
the Republic Day parade in In-
dia. 144 members of the Egyp-
tian military contingent will
march in the parade. “This is for
the first time that the Pres-
ident of the Arab Re-
public of Egypt has
been invited as Chief
Guest on our Re-
public Day.
A military
c o n t i n -
gent from the
E g y p t i a n
A r m y
will also
par tici-
pate in the
Republic Day
parade,” the
MEA said in
an official
state-
ment on Monday
.
PARAM VIR
CHAKRA RECIPIENTS
Six Marching Contingents, nine
Mechanized Columns, Mounted
Columns of the 61 Cavalry, and
a fly-past by Army Aviation hel-
icopters will serve as the Indian
Army’s representatives. This
year’s Parade will also feature
three recipients of the Param
Vir Chakra and three recipi-
ents of the Ashok
Chakra.
3-D ANAMORPHIC
PROJECTION
For the first time, a 3-D
anamorphic projection
will be organised
during Beating
Retreat Cere-
mony 2023 on
the façade of
North and
South Block.
THE VIEWS
EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE
PERSONAL
I
Nine Rafale aircraft
will participate in the
aerial display, along
with the Navy’s IL-38,
which will be displayed
for the first and
possibly final time.
Senior Indian
Air Force (IAF) official
INDIGENOUSLY-MADE 105 MM FIELD
GUNS TO BE USED FOR THE 1ST TIME
Before 2023, British guns were used to accord the
21-gun salute to the President of India before the
parade. Now, however, under the government’s ‘Make in
India’ scheme, indigenously-made 105 mm field guns
will replace the vintage artillery of 25-powder guns.
VETERANS’ TABLEAU
Another highlight of the parade this year will be
Veterans’ Tableau, with the theme ‘Towards
India’s Amrit Kaal with Resolve – A Veterans’
Commitment’. It will provide a glimpse of veterans’
contributions in the last 75 years and their initiatives
in shaping India’s future during ‘Amrit Kaal’.
VERY SPECIAL INVITEES
The 74th Republic Day
celebrations this is year will
see some special invitees. This
time, the invites have been sent
to common people from all walks
of the society such as Shramyogis
involved in construction of
Central Vista, Kartavya Path,
New Parliament Building, milk,
vegetable vendors, and street
vendors etc. These special
Invitees will be prominently
seated at Kartavya Path and enjoy
the pride of new India.
MONI SHARMA
The writer is Editor (News) in
First India, Jaipur
l Vol 1 l Issue No.260 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

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05
INDIA
New Delhi (ANI): Un-
ion Minister of Power
and Non-Renewable En-
ergy (NRE) R K Singh
on Wednesday chaired
the Review Planning
Monitoring meeting
with States and State
Power Utilities in the
presence of Krishan
Pal, Minister of State
for Power and Secretary
(Power).
Union Minister Sin-
gh appreciated the ef-
forts made by all the
stakeholders in ad-
dressing ATC’s loss in
the country which has
resulted in an overall
reduction of ATC loss-
es by 5 percent in the
Financial Year (FY)
2021-22.
He recognized the ef-
forts made by States,
who have achieved
more than a 3 percent
reduction in ATC loss-
es from FY 2020-21 to FY
2021-22, and appreciated
the initiatives taken to
meet such reduction.
These States include
Andhra Pradesh, Hary-
ana, Jharkhand, Karna-
taka, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Megha-
laya,Punjab,Rajasthan,
Tripura, and West Ben-
gal. A few States like
Gujarat, Himachal
Pradesh, Kerala, and
Uttarakhand were also
appreciated for steadily
maintaining their loss-
es within reasonable
limits.
Further, the States
that have not been able
to improve on their loss-
es were advised to take
up measures for achiev-
ing loss reduction tar-
gets under RDSS.
He stressed the need
to address inefficien-
cies in the distribution
sector with priority on
the reduction of losses,
maintaining proper
subsidy accounts, en-
ergy accounting, and
ensuring prepaid smart
metering implementa-
tion to enhance revenue
realization and thereby
avoid undesirable bor-
rowings.
“Various aspects re-
lated to the financial vi-
ability of the power sec-
tor and issues related to
fiscal discipline and
payment of dues to-
wards GENCOs were
also deliberated” he
added.
RKSinghchairsmeetingwithStatespowerutilities
ADDRESSING INEFFICIENCIES
New Delhi (ANI):
Speaking about the con-
troversial BBC docu-
mentary on Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi
and the Gujarat riots in
2002, Congress Thiru-
vananthapuram MP
Shashi Tharoor said
that the argument that
it would affect India’s
sovereignty was not
convincing. He added
that India’s national se-
curity and sovereignty
weren’t fragile.
Talking about the
BBC documentary,
Shashi Tharoor said, “I
am glad that the govern-
ment has said it won’t
interfere with freedom
of expression. The
youth organisation in
Kerala organised the
screening as a protest
against censorship,
which I was also in fa-
vour of.”
He further added,
“The argument that it
will affect India’s sover-
eignty is not convinc-
ing. It’s not that fragile.
Our national security
and sovereignty are not
something that can be
affected so easily by a
documentary
. We are a
strong country
. The ar-
gument that the issue
has been laid to rest in a
legal sense is accurate.
The argument that peo-
ple continue to have
their own misgivings
and reservations is also
accurate.”
“In our democracy
, all
issues can be discussed.
If the govt had asked for
my advice, I would have
told them to ignore it
and that it be passed,”
he added.
Further, speaking out
about Anil Antony re-
signing from Congress,
Tharoor said that he
hadn’t spoken to Anil. “I
think he can speak for
himself,” said the Con-
gress MP
.
Veteran Congress
leader and former min-
ister AK Antony’s son,
Anil, on Wednesday, re-
signed from all his posts
in the party following
“intolerant calls” and
“abuses” over his tweet
against the controver-
sial BBC documentary
.
Antony took to Twit-
ter on Wednesday morn-
ing and wrote, “I have
resigned from my roles
in @incindia @INCKer-
ala. Intolerant calls to
retract a tweet, by those
fighting for free speech.
I refused. @facebook
wall of hate/abuses by
ones supporting a trek
to promote love! Hypoc-
risy thy name is! Life
goes on. Redacted resig-
nation letter below.” He
also attached his resig-
nation letter.
BAN IS AN OVERREACTION BY
CENTRE: SHASHI THAROOR
IN THE COURTYARD
Kerala: In a relief to former Lakshadweep MP Mohammed
Faizal, Kerala HC suspended his conviction and 10-year sen-
tence in an attempt to murder case.The court
extended the same relief to the other three
convicts, including Faizal’s brother. The detailed
order of the HC is not yet available. DSGI Manu
S, who represented the island administration,
confirmed the HC order which came on the
joint plea moved by the convicts against their conviction and
10 year jail term by a Sessions Court in Lakshadweep.”
New Delhi: The SC on Wednesday asked a special court
in Ghaziabad, which has summoned journalist Rana Ayyub
in a money laundering case lodged by the ED, to adjourn
the proceedings scheduled for January 27 to a date after
January 31. The top court said it will hear on January 31
the petition of Rana Ayyub challenging the summons issued
to her by the special court. A bench of Justices Krishna
Murari and V Ramasubramanian was informed by advocate
Vrinda Grover, appearing for Rana Ayyub, that the petitioner
has been summoned by the Ghaziabad court on Jan 27.
ATTEMPTED MURDER CASE: KERALA HC
STOPS CONVICTION OF EX-LAKSHADWEEP MP
SUPREME COURT POSTPONES JOURNALIST
RANA AYYUB’S APPEAL IN LAUNDERING CASE
HC STAYS TRIAL
COURT PROCEEDINGS
AGAINST MP VERMA
AIR INDIA PEE-GATE:
SHANKAR MISHRA
FILES BAIL PLEA
New Delhi: The Delhi
High Court on Thursday
stayed the Trial Court
proceedings against Delhi
BJP MP Parvesh Sahib
Singh Verma in a defama-
tion case filed by Delhi’s
Deputy Chief Minister
Manish Sisodia. Sisodia
had filed a case against
several BJP leaders in
2019 for alleging corrup-
tion in the construction
of classrooms in Delhi’s
government schools in a
press conference.
Kolkata: Shankar Mishra,
accused of urinating on
a woman on board an
Air India flight from New
York to New Delhi, on
Wednesday moved a bail
plea in Sessions Court of
Delhi’s Patiala House Court.
The District and Sessions
Judge will hear the bail plea
on Jan 27. Recently Mish-
ra’s bail plea was dismissed
by the Magistrate court. He
was arrested by the police
on Jan 6 and is presently in
judicial custody.
JHARKHAND HIGH
COURT GRANTS BAIL
TO BJP MLA DHULLU
DELHI HC ASKS
ANSALS’ REPLY IN
UPHAAR CASE
Ranchi: The Jharkhand
HC on Tuesday granted
bail to BJP MLA Dhullu
Mahto, who was convicted
to 18 months in prison for
impeding authorities’ work
and shredding a police
officer’s uniform in order
to help a person escape
from police custody. Two
co-accused Rajesh Gupta
and Chunmun Gupta were
also granted bail along
with Mahto in same case.
New Delhi: The Delhi
HC Wednesday sought
the response of real
estate tycoons Sushil
and Gopal Ansal on a
plea by the Delhi Police
seeking enhancement of
punishment for tampering
with evidence in the 1997
Uphaar cinema fire which
claimed 59 lives.The
police have challenged the
trial court’s July 19, 2022
order releasing the Ansal
Congress cancels Bharat Jodo
Yatra amid landslides in Jammu
Rahul Gandhi with KC Venugopal and t Vikar Rasool Wani during
Bharat Jodo Yatra, in Ramban on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
Jammu and Kashmir
(ANI): Due to poor
weather conditions and
landslides, the after-
noon leg of the Bharat
Jodo Yatra in Ramban
and Banihal has been
cancelled, informed
Congress leader Jairam
Ramesh on Wednesday
.
The yatra will re-
sume Friday morning
while thursday will be a
rest day, he said. Taking
to Twitter, Jairam
Ramesh said, “Due to
poor weather condi-
tions and landslides in
the area, the afternoon
leg of #BharatJodoY-
atra in Ramban and
Banihal has been can-
celled. Tomorrow is a
rest day and the Yatra
will resume the day af-
ter, January 27th at 8
am.”
Congress leader Ra-
hul Gandhi’s Bharat
Jodo Yatra initially re-
sumed from Bathi in
Rambantodaymorning.
Guvs, Lt Guvs hindering
elected govts: Kejriwal
Egypt shows
keen interest in
procuring Tejas
New Delhi: Egypt on
Wednesday reaffirmed
its interests in procur-
ing the Tejas light com-
bat aircraft, radars,
military helicopters
and other platforms
from India, with both
sides vowing to ramp
up the overall defence
engagement in the face
of the evolving regional
security matrix.
The Egyptian side
conveyed its keenness
on acquiring the Indian
platforms during dele-
gation-level talks be-
tween Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and
Egypt’s President Ab-
del Fattah El-Sisi, peo-
ple familiar with the
matter said.
The 68-year-old influ-
ential Arab leader ar-
rived here on a three-
day visit on Tuesday.
He will grace the Re-
public Day celebra-
tions as the chief guest
on Thursday.
New Delhi: DelhiChief
Minister Arvind Kejri-
wal today alleged that
several states in the
country are being har-
assedbyCentre-appoint-
ed governors and Lt
Governors, who have
been doing it by ob-
structing the elected
government’s work,
even as he wondered
whether a “dark shad-
ow” was being cast over
democracy
.
“On the 74th Republic
day, we need to ponder
how to save democracy
from these Laat
Sahibs(gover nors/
LGs),” Kejriwal said at a
Republic Day function.
The AAP chief also
referred to alleged “tus-
sle” of the Centre with
thejudiciary
,stategovts,
as well as farmers and
traders, and called for
an end to such fights so
that India could become
the “number one” coun-
try in the world.
RAMESH’S ‘TALE OF TWO
SONS OF TWO CMS’ IN
REPLY TO ANTONY’S EXIT
SHEHZAD SLAMS CONG’S
‘INTOLERANT’ MINDSET
OVER ANTONY’S RESIG
AAP APPOINTS ASU
KEYHO AS NAGALAND
STATE PRESIDENT
New Delhi: In the first
reaction to Anil Antony’s
resignation from the party,
Congress general secretary
Jairam Ramesh said Anil is
reveling in his day in the sun
having ignored his duties
to the party and the Bharat
Jodo Yatra. In his dig, how-
ever, Jairam Ramesh did not
mention his name. Neither
did he mention the name of
Chandy Oommen, whom
he praised in his tale of two
sons of two CMs from the
same state.
New Delhi: Reacting to
the resignation of former
Union minister AK Antony’s
son Anil K Antony from
the Congress, BJP national
spokesperson Shehzad
Poonawalla on Wednes-
day said the grand old
party should first think of
“Congress Jodo”, instead of
Bharat Jodo Yatra. Taking
note of Anil Antony’s resig-
nation from the Congress
party, Poonawalla said that
nothing has changed in the
party since his exit.
New Delhi (ANI): AAP on
Wednesday appointed Asu
Keyho as the state president
of the poll-bound state of
Nagaland, where the party
is looking to make inroads.
In an official release dated
January 25, duly signed by
National General Secretary
Organisation Sandeep
Pathak, the party said, “AAP
hereby appoints the follow-
ing office bearer: State Pres-
ident Asu Keyho”. The EC
on January 18 announced
the schedule for Assembly
elections to the northeastern
states of Tripura, Meghalaya
and Nagaland to be held in
February-March this year.
Pompeo says Sushma
was not important
Washington (PTI):
Former US Secretary
of State Mike Pompeo
has said he never saw
his counterpart Sush-
ma Swaraj as an “im-
portant political play-
er” but got along fa-
mously with External
Affairs Minister S
Jaishankar, hitting it
off with him in their
first meeting itself.
In his latest book
‘Never Give an Inch:
Fighting for the Amer-
ica I Love’ that hit the
stores on Tuesday,
Pompeo describes
Swaraj somewhat dis-
paragingly, using the
American slang words
“goofball” and “heart-
land political hack”
for her.
Swaraj served as ex-
ternal affairs minister
in the first Modi gov-
ernment from May
2014 to May 2019. She
died in August 2019.
“On the Indian side,
my original counter-
part was not an impor-
tant player on the In-
dian foreign policy
team. Instead, I
worked much more
closely with National
Security Advisor Ajit
Doval, a close and
trusted confidant of
PM Modi,” 59-year-old
Pompeo writes in his
book. “My second In-
dian counterpart was
Subrahmanyam Jais-
hankar. In May 2019,
we welcomed “J” as
India’s new foreign
minister. I could not
have asked for a better
counterpart. English
is one of the seven lan-
guages he speaks, and
his is somewhat better
than mine,” writes the
former top American
diplomat.
‘INDIA-PAK WERE
ON BRINK OF
NUCLEAR WAR’
DISRESPECTFUL: S
JAISHANKAR ON
POMPEO REMARKS
Washington: Former
US secretary of state
Mike Pompeo wrote
in a book published
Tuesday that India
and Pakistan came
close to nuclear war
in 2019 and that US
intervention prevent-
ed escalation.
“I do not think the
world properly knows
just how close the
India-Pakistan rivalry
came to spilling over
into a nuclear confla-
gration in February
2019,” he wrote. In-
dia in February 2019
broke precedent by
launching airstrikes
inside Pakistani
territory after blaming
a terrorist group there
for a suicide bombing
that killed 41 CRPF
jawans in Kashmir.
New Delhi: EAM
S Jaishankar has
condemned the
“disrespectful
colloquialism” used
for his predecessor
late Sushma Swaraj
by former US Secy of
State Mike Pompeo.
In his latest book
‘Never Give an Inch:
Fighting for the Amer-
ica I Love’, Pompeo
said that he never
saw his counterpart
Swaraj as an “import-
ant political player”
in the Indian foreign
policy system but got
along famously with
Jaishankar. He used
the American slang
words “goofball” and
“heartland political
hack” as he described
Swaraj in a critical
manner in his book.
BBC DOCUMENTARY ROW
Students at the Hyderabad Central University watching the screening of the Modi documentary. Shashi Tharoor
BBC DOCUMENTARY SCREENED AT
HYDERABAD, KERALA UNIVERSITIES
Hyderabad/Thiruva-
nanthapuram: The first
part of the blocked BBC
documentary on PM Na-
rendra Modi was illegally
screened by a students’
group on the campus
of the University of
Hyderabad last Saturday,
officials of the central
institute confirmed
Tuesday amid reports of
similar screenings across
Kerala by youth organi-
sations affiliated to CPM
and Congress. Fraternity
Movement, the group
that organised the Hyder-
abad screening, thanked
the audience of around
200 students for turning
up to watch “India: The
Modi Question” and de-
clared it would arrange to
screen the second part of
the documentary soon.
The statement coincid-
ed with the university
instituting an inquiry into
the screening and ABVP
demanding “concrete
action” against those
behind it within 48 hours.
Registrar Devesh Nigam
said the dean of students’
welfare had rushed to the
venue on January 21 and
requested the organisers
to stop the screening, but
they remained defiant.
MAHUA MOITRA
SHARES PART 2 OF
BBC DOCUMENTARY
Kolkata: Days after
sharing the link to episode
1 of a controversial BBC
documentary on the 2002
Gujarat riots, Trinamool
Congress MP Mahua Moi-
tra on Wednesday tweeted
the link to episode 2 of the
documentary.The govt had
on Friday directed social
media platforms to block
links to the documentary
titled “India: The Modi
Question”. The MEA has
trashed the documentary
as a “propaganda piece”
that lacks objectivity
and reflects a colonial
mindset.
Mike Pompeo
Happy Republic Day

06
INDIA
New Delhi (PTI): As
the Election Commis-
sion aims to ensure 75
per cent voter turnout
in future elections, Pres-
ident Droupadi Murmu
on Wednesday urged
people to consider vot-
ing as their contribu-
tion to nation-building.
She said people must
vote with the spirit of
“nation paramount”.
Addressing an event,
she said it is a great
achievement of India’s
election process and de-
mocracy that the active
participation of women
in the democratic pro-
cess is continuously in-
creasing. In the 2019 Lok
Sabhaelections,thenum-
ber of women voters was
slightly higher than that
of men. She noted that
for the first time in the
history of Indian Parlia-
ment, the total number
of women MPs in both
theHousestogetherhave
reached the 115 mark.
President Murmu urges all citizens to consider
voting as their contribution to nation-building
13TH NATIONAL VOTERS’ DAY CELEBRATIONS
R-DAY CELEBRATIONS BEGIN WITH PATRIOTIC FERVOUR
Republic Day celebrations began
with full dress rehearsals,
roadshows, rallies, functions, and the
illumination of historical buildings
across India. From the armed forces to
school children, people from all walks
of life are celebrating this national
festival. Also, this year, a military
contingent of the Egyptian Army will
march in the Republic Day parade.
SIX NCC CADETS FROM PA-
RUL UNIVERSITY ARE ALL
SET TO MARCH BEFORE
THE PM AT THE REPUBLIC
DAY PARADE
TELANGANA HC
DIRECTS STATE
GOVT TO CONDUCT
REPUBLIC DAY
EVENT
The Vice President, Shri
Jagdeep Dhankhar
greeted the nation on the
eve of Republic Day. Fol-
lowing is the
text of the
message: “I
convey my
warm greet-
ings and best
wishes to all
our citizens on the joyous
occasion of 74th Republic
Day. Republic Day provides
an opportunity to reaffirm
our faith in the age-old civi-
lizational values enshrined
in our Constitution. It is
also a solemn occasion to
recall the contributions of
all the eminent freedom
fighters, great thinkers and
unsung heroes whose sac-
rifice has laid the founda-
tions to our Republic as we
know it today.”
VICE PRESIDENT
GREETS NATION ON
THE EVE OF 74TH
REPUBLIC DAY
48 GALLANTRY
AWARDS TO CRPF
30 CBI OFFICERS
GET POLICE MEDALS
New Delhi (ANI): As many
as 47 personnel have been
awarded the President's
Fire Service Medals for
distinguished service,
according to an official
release. Out of these, Fire
Service Medal for Gallantry
is awarded to two person-
nel for their act of valour
and gallantry, the release
said. President's Fire
Service Medal for Distin-
guished Service is awarded
to seven personnel and Fire
Service Medal for Meritori-
ous Service is awarded
to 38 personnel for their
respective distinguished
and meritorious records of
service, it said.
PREZ’S MEDALS
FOR FIRE SERVICE,
HOME GUARDS AND
CIVIL DEFENCE
New Delhi (ANI): Among
the personnel receiving
Gallantry Awards, 48 are
from Central Reserve Force
(CRPF) followed by 31 from
Maharashtra; 25 from JK
Police, 9 from Jharkhand;
7 from Delhi, Chhattisgarh
Border Security Force
remaining from the other
states, Union Territories
Central Armed Police Forces.
Thirty CBI officers were
awarded police medals
on Wednesday. Six officers
of the Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) were
awarded the President’s
Police Medal for Distin-
guished Service (PPMDS)
while 24 were awarded the
Police Medal for Meritori-
ous Service (PMMS).
The winners include
Param Vir Chakra
and Ashok Chakra.
Param Vir Chakra win-
ners Subedar Major
(Honorary Captain)
Bana Singh, 8 JAK LI
(Retd); Subedar Major
(Honorary Captain)
Yogendra Singh Yadav,
18 Grenadiers (Retd)
Subedar (Honorary
Lieutenant) Sanjay
Kumar, 13 JAK Rifles.
Ashok Chakra winners
are Major Gen CA
Pithawalla (Retd);
Colonel D Sreeram
Kumar Lieuten-
ant Colonel Jas Ram
Singh (Retd).
PROUD WINNERS
OF GALLANTRY
AWARDS
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
New Delhi: The Edi-
tors Guild of India has
written to Electronics
and Information Tech-
nology Minister Ash-
wini Vaishnaw, urg-
ing him to expunge
the amendments to IT
Rules that seek to direct
social media platforms
to take down news or
information identified
as fake by the PIB's
Fact Checking Unit.
In a letter sent to
Vaishnaw, the Guild
asked the ministry to
initiate consultations
with press bodies, me-
dia organisations and
other stakeholders on
the regulatory frame-
work for digital media,
so as not to undermine
press freedom.
The Guild said it was
deeply concerned by
the proposed amend-
ment giving sweeping
powers to the Press In-
formationBureau(PIB).
This new procedure
basically serves to
make it easier to muzzle
the free press, and will
give sweeping powers to
the PIB, or any 'other
agency authorised by
the Central government
for fact checking', to
force online intermedi-
aries to take down con-
tent that the govern-
ment may find problem-
atic, it said.
The Guild noted that
the role of the PIB was
limited to disseminat-
ing information to news
organisations on affairs
of the government.
By this proposed
amendment, sweeping
regulatory powers are
sought to be given to
this agency
, which is pa-
tently illegal and un-
constitutional, it said
in the letter.
The Guild reiterated
that regardless of the
absence of procedures,
the amendment was in
itself an illegal move as
the PIB has no constitu-
tional authority to be a
regulator of the press
in any capacity
.
Expunge amendments to IT rules on
social media content: Editors Guild
New Delhi: More than
1,500 cases of stone pelt-
ing on moving trains
were recorded across
the country in 2022 and
over 400 people arrested
for the offence, the Rail-
ways said Wednesday
.
Vande Bharat trains
have also suffered dam-
age due to stone pelting,
the most recent being in
West Bengal.
New Delhi: Airlines
will now have to reim-
burse 75% of the ticket
costs to flyers whose do-
mestic flight tickets
have been downgraded.
As per aviation regula-
tor Directorate General
of Civil Aviation new
norms, the reimburse-
ment amount for the
downgrade of interna-
tional tickets will vary
from 30% to 75% of the
ticket costs, including
taxes, depending on the
distance covered by the
particular flight.
Over 1,500 cases
of stone pelting
on moving trains
in 2022: Railways
Airlines will now
have to refund
up to 75% cost
CM YOGI ENSURES
NO POWER OUTAGE
ON R-DAY IN UP
President Droupadi Murmu graces the 13th National Voters’ Day
celebrations, in New Delhi on Wednesday. Kiren Rijiju and Rajiv
Kumar are also present during the function. —PHOTO BY ANI
Assam Rifles will have a mixed marching Contingent at this year’s Republic Day parade as
it comprises 72 male (Riflemen) and 72 female (Riflewomen), in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Plants are placed in a way to represent the map of India on the eve
of Republic Day, at Birsa Munda Park, in Dhanbad on Wednesday.
—PHOTOS BY ANI
A man dressed in tri-colour performs a street play on the
eve of Republic Day, in Bhubaneshwar on Wednesday.
COPTER WITH RAVI
SHANKAR MAKES
EMERGENCY HALT
SANIA, BOPANNA
REACH MIXED
DOUBLES FINAL
FORMER ODISHA CM
GAMANG, SON
SISHIR QUIT BJP
New Delhi: A helicopter
carrying Art of Living
founder Sri Sri Ravi
Shankar 3 others made
an emergency landing at
the Ukiniyin tribal hamlet in
Tamil Nadu's Erode district
on Wednesday. The spiritual
leader was travelling to Tir-
upur from Bengaluru. The
other people in the chopper
were two of his assistants
and the pilot. Sources told
that the helicopter made
the emergency landing due
to poor weather conditions
and the pilot complained of
difficulty in navigating.
New Delhi: Sania Mirza, in
the final Grand Slam of her
career, alongside com-
patriot Rohan Bopanna,
reached the final of the
mixed doubles of Austra-
lian Open after defeating
the third-seeded pairing
of England’s Neal Skupski
and United States’ Desirae
Krawczyk 7-6 (4), 6-7
(5), (10-6). After showing
steely resolve to serve out
a first set, and win it in a
nervy tiebreaker.
Hyderabad: Former
Odisha Chief Minister
Giridhar Gamang and his
son Sishir have resigned
from the BJP. The two are
likely to join the Bharat
Rashtra Samithi soon. The
father-son duo, who joined
the BJP in 2015 after quit-
ting Congress, announced
their resignation from the
primary membership of the
party at a press confer-
ence at Bhubaneswar
on Wednesday. Agency
reports said they had sent
their resignation letters to
BJP president JP Nadda.
CRUCIAL READ
New Delhi (ANI): India has formally sent invitations to all
members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)
including Pakistan and China for
the upcoming foreign ministers’
meeting which will be held in
Goa from May 4. The invitation
includes invites to the Pakistani
foreign min Bilawal Bhutto. In-
dia took over the chairmanship
of the 9-member mega grouping in September 2022 will
be holding key ministerial meetings the summit this year.
INDIA INVITES FOREIGN MINISTERS OF CHINA,
PAKISTAN FOR SCO MEET IN GOA: REPORT
STRENGTHEN
ACTIVE
PARTICIPATION IN
POLLS: PM MODI
YOUNG VOTERS ARE FUTURE OF INDIAN
DEMOCRACY, SAYS CEC RAJIV KUMAR
CONSULTATIONS WITH STAKEHOLDERS MUST
FOR ELECTORAL REFORMS, SAYS RIJIJU
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on
Wednesday greeted
people on National
Voters’ Day and called
for everybody to work
together to further
strengthen active par-
ticipation in elections.
National Voters’ Day
has been celebrated on
January 25 every year
since 2011 to mark the
foundation day of the
Election Commission of
India, January 25, 1950.
Young voters are the future of
Indian democracy. The next
generation, born around and
after 2000 have started joining
our electoral rolls, Chief Election
Commissioner of India Rajiv
Kumar said on the occasion of
National Voters' Day (NVD).
Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said comprehensive consulta-
tions with stakeholders, including political parties, are
essential for implementing electoral reforms. Referring to
proposals on electoral reforms moved by the EC, he said
consultations discussions are a symbol of a vibrant
democracy changes made in election laws have resulted
in addition of over 1.5 crore new voters in the electoral list.
IT Min Ashwini Vaishnaw
‘DEEPLY
CONCERNED’
Happy Republic Day
Happy Republic Day
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath instructed the
officials to make sure that
there be no power outages
in the state on the occasion
of Republic Day. The UP
government is committed
to providing a 24-hour
electricity supply through-
out the entire state. The
Chairman of the Power Cor-
poration, following the di-
rectives by CM Yogi, further
informed that the officers
and personnel engaged in
distribution at the local level
have been asked to exercise
full vigilance. “Availability
of manpower and materials
would be ensured to fix
local issues,” he said.

07
Every 1 in 4 Indians worried about layoffs
New Delhi (FIB): Every
one in four Indians is con-
cerned about the threat of
job layoff while three out
of four are worried about
rising inflation yet half of
them believe that the coun-
try’s economy will grow in
2023, according to a survey
by marketing data and ana-
lytics firm Kantar.
In its second edition of
India Union Budget survey
,
Kantar found that consum-
ers expect an announce-
ment in policy changes
with respect to income tax,
with increasing basic in-
come tax exemption limit
from current Rs 2.5 lakh
being the most common
expectation.
“At a macroeconomic
level, most have a positive
outlook – 50% believe that
the Indian economy will
grow in 2023 as against
31%, who feel there will be
a slowdown. Non-metros at
54% are more optimistic as
compared to metros,” Kan-
tar said.
ACCORDING TO A SURVEY BY KANTAR
MAJOR
FINDINGS
z Every one in four Indians
is also concerned about
the threat of job layoff. This
is relatively higher in the
affluent (32% ), older 36–55
year-olds (30%) and salaried
classes (30%).
z Three out of four people
are worried about the rising
inflation
business
BRIEFS
New Delhi : Gold price
fell `198 to `56,972 per
10 gram in the national
capital on Wednesday
amid weak global trends,
according to HDFC Secu-
rities. The precious metal
had settled at `57,170 per
10 gram in the previous
trade. Silver also declined
`270 to `68,625 per kilo-
gram. In the overseas
market, gold and silver
were trading lower at
$1,928/ounce and
$23.55/ounce, respective-
ly. Comex spot gold price
is trading lower by 0.40%
at $1,928/ounce. —PTI
GOLD PRICES FALL
BY `198 AMID WEAK
GLOBAL TRENDS
New Delhi: The country’s
largest two wheeler mak-
er Hero MotoCorp on
Wednesday said it has
commenced deliveries of
its electric scooter VIDA
V1 in Delhi after having
started the process in
Bengaluru and Jaipur.
The company said it is
planning rapid expansion
of its sales and charging
network across multiple
cities coinciding with the
start of the sales process.
Hero MotoCorp had
launched VIDA V1 in Oc-
tober last year in two var-
iants Pro and Plus. VIDA
V1 competes with the
likes of OLA S1 Pro,
Ather 450X and TVS
iQube. —PTI
HERO MOTOCORP
STARTS DELIVERIES
OF VIDA EV IN DELHI
Mumbai: Mumbai Airport
has said it is looking to
deploy more than 100
electric vehicles at the fa-
cility by FY24 to reduce
its carbon footprint and
promote sustainable
transportation. As part of
the plan, the airport oper-
ator on Wednesday rolled
out 45 EVs at the facility,
MIAL said. The private
airport operator also said
it intends to replace all its
ICE-powered vehicles
with EVs as part of its Op-
erational Net Zero mis-
sion by 2029. —PTI
MUMBAI AIRPORT
PLANS TO DEPLOY
MORE THAN 100 EVs
New Delhi: Tata Motors
on Wednesday reported a
consolidated net profit of
`3,043 crore in the third
quarter ended December
31, 2022, on account of
robust sales across mar-
kets. The Mumbai-based
auto major had reported a
net loss of `1,451 crore
in the October-December
quarter of the previous
fiscal. Total income in-
creased to `88,489 crore
in the period under review
from `72,229 crore in the
year-ago period, Tata Mo-
tors said in a regulatory
filing released on
Wednesday. —PTI
TATA MOTORS BACK
IN BLACK WITH NET
PROFIT OF `3,043 CR
GOVT TO SELL 30 LAKH
TONNES OF WHEAT
FROM BUFFER STOCK
New Delhi: The government
will sell 30 lakh tonnes of
wheat in the open market from
its buffer stock
to control
rise in prices
of wheat and
wheat flour
(atta), sources said. The aver-
age prices of atta have risen to
around `38 per kg. The food
ministry will offload 30 lakh
tonnes of wheat under the
Open Market Sale Scheme,
they said. Wheat stocks will
be sold to flour millers and
traders among others. —PTI
SL THANKS INDIA FOR
BACKING ITS $2.9 BN
BAILOUT PACKAGE
Colombo: Debt-ridden Sri
Lanka on Wednesday thanked
India for issuing the necessary
guarantees
sought by the
IMF that would
help Colombo
to unlock the
$2.9 billion bailout package.
India’s ministry of finance
recently issued a letter to the
IMF to confirm its support to
Sri Lanka on the issue of debt
restructuring. The Governor of
the Central Bank of Sri Lanka
Nandalal Weerasinghe thanked
India. —PTI
AIR PASSENGERS TO GET REIMBURSEMENT FOR
TICKET DOWNGRADES, NEW NORMS FROM FEB 15
New Delhi: Airlines will reimburse 75% of the ticket costs to
passengers whose domestic flight tickets have been downgraded,
with aviation regulator DGCA putting
in place new norms. For downgrade
of international tickets, the reimburse-
ment amount will vary from 30% to
75% of the ticket costs, including taxes,
depending on the distance covered by
the particular flight. The new norms will
be effective from February 15, a senior
official at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said on
Wednesday. —PTI
INDIA SHOULD CONSIDER REDUCING TDS RATE ON
CRYPTOCURRENCY TRADE: REPORT
New Delhi: India should consider lowering the 1% TDS on cry-
tocurrency trade as a high rate is causing a flight of capital and
users to platforms in foreign jurisdic-
tions and the grey market, a report
said on Tuesday. “The existing 1% TDS
on crypto trade, combined with the
absence of comprehensive regulations,
is causing a flight of capital and users
to platforms in foreign jurisdictions and
the grey market,” it said. The govt, from
April 1 last year, has brought in a 30% I-T plus surcharge. —PTI
OTHER STORIES
SAYS UK TRADE MINISTER
High-quality FTA with India a priority
London (PTI): Britain's
trade minister in charge of
negotiating a FTA with In-
dia says clinching a high-
quality deal is among her
top priorities for the year,
while admitting the talks
hadhitabitof animpasse”
which she broke by flying to
New Delhi last month.
In a speech addressing
business leaders at Lancas-
ter House in London on
Tuesday, UK Trade Secre-
tary Kemi Badenoch insist-
ed the FTA talks are now
“back on track”. It comes
after the Diwali 2022 dead-
line for the FTA set by for-
mer prime minister Boris
Johnson was missed last
October amid political tur-
moil in Britain.
Some of you will know I
was a software engineer
and a systems analyst be-
fore I became a politician.
That means I'm a problem
solver at heart,” said Bad-
enoch. So when our Indian
trade talks hit a bit of an
impasse, I didn't pick up the
phone, I got on a plane. That
deal's not done yet, but it's
back on track,” she said.
Badenoch was in New
Delhi in early December to
hold talks with her coun-
terpart, Commerce and In-
dustry Minister Piyush
Goyal, and kick off the
sixth round of FTA talks.
The seventh round is ex-
pected in the UK in the
coming weeks, with both
sides reluctant to set a new
deadline for completing the
negotiations.
We will seal high-quali-
ty deals with India and
CPTPP [Comprehensive
and Progressive Agree-
ment for Trans-Pacific
Partnership] – they have a
combined population of
nearly 2 billion consumers
– opening exciting opportu-
nities in fast-growing mar-
kets for years to come,
Badenoch said.
But I want to be clear
that just signing on the dot-
ted line is not the objective.
These deals will only be
agreed if they are the right
deals for the people of this
country. Bringing in jobs
and investment to left-be-
hind communities and
capitalising on those areas
in which we specialise,”
she added.
TOP TALKING
POINTS
z UK Trade Secretary Kemi
Badenoch insisted the FTA
talks are now “back on
track”. It comes after the
Diwali 2022 deadline for the
FTA set by former PM Boris
Johnson was missed last
October
z Badenoch was in New Delhi
in early Dec to hold talks
with Piyush Goyals
Rising cost of data a
concern: MoS IT
New Delhi (PTI): Rising
prices of data and devices
are a concern for the rapid
proliferation of digitisa-
tion, Minister of State for
Electronics and IT Rajeev
Chandrasekhar said on
Wednesday
.
The comments have
come against the backdrop
of a recent hike of about
57% in the minimum
monthly recharge plan by
the country's second-larg-
est telco Bharti Airtel.
Rise in cost of data or
cost of devices are of con-
cern because they are im-
pediments in rapid digiti-
sation, Chandrasekhar
said.
The minister said that he
is not exactly aware of the
hike in mobile services
rates by Airtel and the min-
istry may approach tele-
com regulator Trai to ex-
amine if the hike is going
to have a short-term or
long-term impact.
He said that there has
been an impact on prices
across the world due to the
Russia-Ukraine war and
the impact of data price
need to be examined.
Bharti Airtel has in-
creased the price of its
minimum recharge for the
28-day mobile phone ser-
vice plan by about 57% to
`155 in eight circles, includ-
ing Karnataka, Andhra
Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar
Pradesh West.
Freeze import
duties for next five
years: GTRI to Govt
New Delhi (PTI): The gov-
ernment should not make
any changes in the cus-
toms duties for at least five
years with a view to pro-
moting domestic manufac-
turing, economic think
tank GTRI said on Wednes-
day in its pre-Budget
recommendations.
The Global Trade Re-
search Initiative (GTRI)
also suggested retaining
import duty on compo-
nents; removal of inverted
duty issues; and reduction
of customs duty slabs to 5
from 25 at present to avoid
confusion and minimise
litigation.
The think tank noted
that countries worldwide
have turned inwards to
brace for the tough global
conditions and against this
background India should
announce a five-year duty
freeze.
Happy Republic Day
Digital currency
to further
bolster digital
economy: RBI
Chandigarh (PTI):
Digital currency will
further bolster the dig-
ital economy, make
payment system more
efficient, reduce cost
involved in physical
cash management and
also contribute to fur-
ther financial inclu-
sion, RBI Executive
Director Ajay Kumar
Choudhary said on
Wednesday
.
The RBI has already
launched pilots of
CBDC (Central Bank
Digital Currency) in
wholesale and retail
segments last year.
Chaodhary said the
CBDC (Central Bank
Digital Currency) is
just a digital form of
the physical currency
and will have all its
characteristics.
It is non-remunera-
tive that is it does not
carry any interest like
any currency, noted
Choudhary
, adding, “E-
rupee is also expected
to offer features of
physical cash like safe-
ty and settlement of
transactions.”
Asserting that digi-
tal currency is aimed
to compliment rather
than replace current
forms of money, he
said, “it should not be
construed as a step to
replace any of the ex-
isting bouquet of pay-
mentwhicharealready
available with us.”
Stock market investors
expect balanced budget
New Delhi (PTI): Stock
market investors are ex-
pecting a balanced Budget
with a focus on job crea-
tion, increased spending
on infrastructure, reigning
in the deficit, and bringing
the economy back on track,
experts said on Wednesday
.
Stock markets have been
subdued in the run-up to
the Union Budget with
BSE’s benchmark Sensex
is almost flat so far this
month. Even the corporate
earning season failed to ex-
cite the markets, while
some indices like IT and
bankex have seen some
positive movements.
The muted performance
of the markets could be due
to FPIs moving funds out
of India as they are looking
for emerging markets with
cheaper valuations. They
have taken out over `16,500
crore from domestic equi-
ties so far this month.
Narendra Solanki, Head-
Equity Research Anand
Rathi Shares Stock Bro-
kers, said that investors are
expected to remain focused
on three key factors from
the pre-election year Budg-
et 2023, firstly equity inves-
tors are expecting a uni-
form tax structure for capi-
tal gains which might help
taxpayers to have more
disposable income.
RUPEE FALLS 2
PAISE TO END AT
81.65 AGAINST $
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee
slipped 2 paise to close at
81.65 (provisional) against
the US dollar on Wednes-
day. At the interbank foreign
exchange market, the rupee
opened strong at 81.59 to a
dollar against the previous
close of 81.63. The local unit
moved in a range of 81.50 to
81.75 during the day. It finally
settled at 81.65 (provisional)
against the US dollar.
Sensex crashes 774 pts,Nifty nears 17,900
Mumbai (PTI): Bench-
mark indices Sensex and
Nifty tanked more than 1%
on Wednesday due to heavy
selling in IT, financial and
oil shares amid mixed
global trends.
The 30-share BSE barom-
eter plunged by 773.69
points or 1.27% to 60,205.06
as 22 of its scrips declined
while eight advanced. The
index opened lower and
later fell by nearly 900
points during the day to
touch a low of 60,081.36.
The broader Nifty of the
National Stock Exchange
declined sharply by 226.35
points or 1.25% to close be-
low the 18,000 level at
17,891.95. Among Sensex
stocks, SBI, IndusInd Bank,
HDFC Bank, Axis Bank,
HDFC, Tech Mahindra,
ICICI Bank, Ultratech Ce-
ment, LT, Bajaj Finserv,
Reliance, HCL Tech, Asian
Paints, Wipro and MM
were the major losers.
Currency Price Change % Chg
USDINR 81.65 0.02 0.02
GBPINR 100.40 0.35 0.35
CURRENCIES
*Rates till the edition went to print.
Commodity Price Change % Chg
GOLD 56,972.00 198.00 0.34 (Per 10g)
SILVER 68,625.00 270.00 0.39 (Per 1kg)
COMMODITIES

08
2NDFRONT
Happy Republic Day
AFTER BJY, CONG GEARS UP
FOR ‘HAATH SE HAATH JODO’
Senior Congress leader Ajay Maken, along with party’s Mumbai unit chief Bhai Jagtap, unveiled
‘charge sheet’ against the BJP and Union government, under the title ‘Bharatiya Jumla Party’
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Senior Con-
gressleaderAjayMaken
on Wednesday said his
party will undertake a
nationwide Haath Se
Haath Jodo campaign to
highlight prevailing is-
sues like unemploy-
ment, inflation and the
“wideninggap”between
the rich and the poor in
the country
.
This campaign will
be launched after the
ongoing Bharat Jodo
Yatra led by party lead-
er Rahul Gandhi culmi-
nates in Srinagar on
January 30, he said in a
press conference at the
Mumbai Pradesh Con-
gress office here.
Maken along with
Congress’sMumbaiunit
chief Bhai Jagtap un-
veiled a “charge sheet”
against the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) and
the Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi-led central
government with the ti-
tle “Bharatiya Jumla
Party”.
Last week, senior
Congress leader Jairam
Ramesh had announced
that the party will
launch the Haath Se
Haath Jodo, a two-
month-longdoor-to-door
campaign across the
country to spread Rahul
Gandhi’s message
among the masses.
Maken said, “The
Haath Se Haath Jodo
campaign will highlight
the issues of unemploy-
ment, price rise and the
increasing gap between
the poor and the rich.
Our ‘charge sheet’ will
be distributed to every
household along with
the copy of Rahul Gan-
dhi’s letter addressing
fellow Indians.”
This charge sheet
will be in Hindi, Eng-
lish and Marathi lan-
guages, he said.
Unemployment in the
private sector is rising.
In the government sec-
tor, there are 62 lakh va-
cancies, including 2.66
lakh in railways, 2 lakh
in banks, 3.30 lakh in
health care sector and
anganwadis. Besides,
there are 9.10 lakh va-
cancies in the central
government depart-
ments and 2.55 lakh va-
cancies in the Army
, the
Congress general secre-
tary said.
At present, there are
48 crore unemployed
people in the country
, he
added.
“The gap between the
poor and rich is rising.
In our country
, the poor
are becoming poorer,
while the rich are be-
coming richer,” Maken
said, adding that the 100
top businessmen in the
country earned Rs13
lakh crore during the
COVID-19 pandemic.
ECI sets new
dates for
Chinchwad,
Kasba bypolls
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The Election
Commission of India
(ECI) has changed the
date of the Kasba and
Chinchwad by-polls. Ac-
cording to the informa-
tionprovidedbytheECI,
theby-pollstoKasbaand
Chinchwad constituen-
cies will now be held on
February 26, 2023, a day
earlier than the prior set
date of February 27,
2023. This revision
comes in the wake of
Class 12 and graduate
exams in the state. The
counting of votes for all
by-polls will be held on
March 02.
The election in these
constituencies was ne-
cessitated by the deaths
of BJP leaders Mukta
Shailesh Tilak last De-
cember and Laxman
Pandurang Jagtap on
January03, respectively
.
Earlier, the ECI also
announced the sched-
ule for Assembly elec-
tions in Tripura,
Meghalaya, and Naga-
land to be held in Febru-
ary-March this year.
The results of the three
states will be declared
on March 02.
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Cracking
down on aggregators
who provide app-based
bike, auto and car taxi
services, the Maharash-
tra government has
banned the use of non-
transport vehicles for
aggregation and ride-
pooling (car-pooling),
citing the safety and se-
curity of passengers.
Non-transport vehi-
cles are ones with white
number plates and are
notallowedtobeusedfor
commercial purposes.
As per a government
resolution (GR) issued
on January 19, non-
transport vehicles in-
cluding two-wheelers,
three-wheelersandfour-
wheelersarebanned(for
the ride pooling and ag-
gregation) “in order to
ensureroadsafetyof the
general public and pas-
sengers at large”.
The move comes
closely on the heels of a
row over bike-taxi ag-
gregatorRapido’sopera-
tions.
Earlier this month,
the Bombay High Court
pulled up Rapido for op-
erating without a li-
cence from the Maha-
rashtragovernmentand
directed it to suspend its
services immediately
.
While the firm has
nowmovedtheSupreme
Court against the HC or-
der, the GR cites the or-
derof thedivisionbench
of Justices Gautam Pa-
tel and SG Dige, which
said: “It is observed that
use of non-transport ve-
hicles as transport vehi-
cles is on the rise enor-
mously and raises seri-
ous practical and secu-
rity concerns and may
cause serious threat to
the road safety of the
general public and pas-
sengers at large.”
The government also
expressed concerns
about plying of non-
transport vehicles regis-
teredoutsideMaharash-
traaffectingtheeconom-
ic viability of the vehi-
cles operating on valid
permits in the state.
“The number of vehi-
cles registered in the
non-transport category
is very large, therefore
the non-transport vehi-
cles registered outside
the state of Maharash-
tra may also be used for
vehicle aggregation
and may affect the eco-
nomic viability of the
vehicles operating on
valid permits in the
State of Maharashtra,”
the GR reads.
White number plate? No ride-pooling allowed, says Maha govt
SAFETY AND SECURITY
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BAPPA!
A large statue of Lord Ganesha sits amid a detailed miniature replica of the heritage Shroff Chawl—known as the mill
workers’ colony—in the Lalbaug-Parel area, as part of the Maghi Ganesh Jayanti festival, in Mumbai’s Girgaum, on
Wednesday. While the popular Ganesh Chaturthi commemorates the elephant god’s birth, Maghi Ganesh Jayanti is
considered to be his actual birthday. —PHOTO BY BHUSHAN KOYANDE
Bageshwar Dham chief cleared
in‘promoting superstition’ case
First India Bureau
Nagpur: The Nagpur
police on Wednesday
gave self-styled godman
and Bageshwar Dham
chief Dhirendra Krish-
na Shastri a clean chit,
just days after an anti-
superstition crusader
filedacomplaintagainst
him for allegedly pro-
moting superstitious ac-
tivities.
The inquiry failed to
reveal anything that
could attract action un-
der the Black Magic Act,
Nagpur Police Commis-
sioner Amitesh Kumar
said.
Shyam Manav, found-
er of ‘
Akhil Bharatiya
Andhashraddha Nir-
moolan Samiti’, had
lodged the complaint on
January 08, stating that
Dhirendra Krishna
Shastriconducted‘Shree
Ram Katha’ event in
Nagpur from January
05-13, during which he
held ‘Divya Darbar’ and
‘Pret Darbar’ pro-
grammes that promoted
superstition.
In his complaint, Ma-
nav demanded action
under the Maharashtra
Prevention and Eradica-
tion of Human Sacrifice
andotherInhuman,Evil
and Aghori Practices
and Black Magic Act,
2013 and the Drugs and
Magic Remedies (Objec-
tionable Advertise-
ments) Act, 1954.
On January 09, Ma-
nav had challenging
the godman to prove
his ‘Divya Shakti’ (di-
vine power) and win a
Rs30 lakh cash reward.
Shastri is the head
priest of Bageshwar
Dham in MP’s Chhatar-
pur district.
“Police conducted an
inquiry based on the
complaint lodged
against Bageshwar Ma-
haraj by Manav and a
video submitted by him
as evidence, but found
that the programme in
questiondoesnotattract
action under any these
laws,” CP Kumar said.
In the video, Bagesh-
war Maharaj could be
seen reciting some lines
from Hanuman Chalisa,
like ‘Bhoot pishach ni-
kat nahi aave’, which is
not a black magic prac-
tice, the police commis-
sioner said.
Woman kills cheating husband, held
First India Bureau
Palghar: Police have
arrested a 36-year-old
tribal woman and four
others on the charge of
killing her husband
over his alleged infidel-
ity, an official said on
Wednesday
.
The man was found
dead in his home at Kon-
dle-Bandanpada village
of Wada taluka around
10 pm on January 20,
said Sachin Navadkar,
the public relations of-
ficer of the Palghar po-
lice. The police first reg-
isteredacaseof acciden-
taldeathbutupgradedit
with IPC sections 302
(murder) after a post-
mortem showed that he
had been strangled to
death, and also had in-
ternal head injuries.
A team from Wada
police station worked
on certain leads and in-
telligence inputs to
zero in on five suspects,
including the de-
ceased’s wife, and ar-
rested them on Tues-
day, said the official. So
far, the investigation
indicates that the man
was having an extra-
marital affair with an-
other woman, which en-
raged his wife so much,
she sought the help of
the four men to kill him,
said the official.
Congress general secretary Ajay Maken (right) and Mumbai unit chief Bhai Jagtap (left) address the
press, at the party office, in Mumbai on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
nCoVvax:Noneedfor
4thdose,expertsays
Pune (PTI): Dr Ra-
man Gangakhedkar,
former head of epide-
miology and commu-
nicable diseases at the
Indian Council of
Medical Research,
has discounted the
need for the fourth
dose of COVID-19 vac-
cine given the current
evidence about the
novel coronavirus
and its variants.
If a person has tak-
en a third dose of the
anti-COVID-19 vac-
cine, it means his T-
cell immune response
has been trained
thrice, Dr Gan-
gakhedkar said on
the sidelines of a
function here.
“The core virus (of
COVID-19) has not
been changed so
much that a new vac-
cine would be needed,
so try and have trust
in our T-cell immune
response,” he said.
“Looking at the
current evidence (of
variants of the vi-
rus), it is not that big
that there is any need
for the fourth dose of
the COVID-19 vac-
cine,” he said.
“For the fourth
dose, I think, there is
still time to think, be-
cause if any new var-
iant comes, it would
not be from the SARS-
COV2 family. It could
be a completely new
variant and when it
comes, we will think
about it as our
genomic surveillance
is still going on. No
need to get worried
now,” he said.
Mumbai saw one new case and zero deaths on Wednesday.
—FILE
PHOTO
Ban targets app-based aggregators who
provide cab-taxi services using vehicles
registered under the non-transport category
The Bombay HC recently pulled up bike-taxi aggregator Rapido
for operating without a licence. —FILE PHOTO
Greetings on Republic Day. Let
us recommit and once again
pledge to uphold the Constitution
of Mother India, today and everyday.
—Dr Jagdeesh Chandra,
CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
Dhirendra Krishna Shastri —FILE PHOTO
Dhirendra
Krishna Shastri
was accused of
promoting
superstitious
activities
through his
public
programmes
Dr Gangakhedkar warns that old people and
those suffering from chronic morbidities
should continue to take precautions such as
the wearing of masks and maintaining hygiene

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 | THURSDAY,
JANUARY 26, 2023
oday, on 26th January
1950 was the day when
our beloved mother-
land- India became a
sovereign state, three
years after we gained
independence. The
day dawned sunny
and clear on that memo-
rable Thursday and a
thread of excite-
ment ran through
the people and joy-
ous citizens of Free
India took out im-
promptu processions
beating drums, conch shells
and singing patriotic songs
across the nation. Dr Ra-
jendra Prasad, the First
President of India also
began his tenure on this
day in 1950.
Make a thermos of tea and
sit down in front of the televi-
sion as soon as the Republic
Day parade starts, im-
merseyourself inthecul-
tural tableaux celebrat-
ingtherichtraditionsof
India, watch with head
held high, the march
pastbythecontingents
of our Defence forces,
let your hearts be filled
with wonder at the amazing feats
by our special forces, soak up the
amazing military strength of In-
dia bolstered by it’s brave soldiers
– do all this and more as India cel-
ebrates its independence fiercely
and commits itself again and
again to its freedom!
On this memorable day on
1950 it was at 10:18 am that C. Ra-
jagopalachari, the outgoing Gov-
ernor-General of the Dominion
of India declared our nation a
SOVEREIGN DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC and at 10:24 am the
First President of Independent
India, Dr Rajendra Prasad was
sworn in by Chief Justice of In-
dia Shri Harilal Kania. 31 guns
boomed as the National anthem
was sung. Close your eyes and
imagine this moment…
The union cabinet was sworn
in by Dr Rajendra Prasad at 10:38
am led by Prime Minister Jawa-
harlal Nehru. The first Republic
Day parade was held at Irwin
Stadium, now Dhyan Chand Sta-
dium and the Chief Guest was
Indonesian President Sukarno.
On that first Republic Day the
President gave gal- l a n t r y
awards also including Param Vir
Chakra to Major Somnath Shar-
maandLanceNaikKaramSingh
(both posthumously) for their
bravery and sacrifice in the war
with Pakistan in 1948.
Today, you will see for the first
(and last) time the Indian Navy’s
spy plane IL 38 flying over the
Kartavya Path and also the
Garud Special Forces of the IAF
will be marching the first time.
The Republic Day fly-past will
comprise 45 Indian Air Force
(IAF) aircraft, one from the In-
dian Navy and four helicopters
from the Indian Army
.
All this and more awaits you,
a day to celebrate being the citi-
zen of this powerful nation
which also teaches the lesson of
‘Vasudhaiva kutumbakam’ to
the entire world…
Let us salute our freedom
fighters, soldiers and each citi-
zen who toils for the mother-
land… from the
heart… today we
are all one… and let
us pledge to be
that.. always..
just INDIAN!
ANITA HADA
anita.hada@firstindianews.com
T
On January 26, 1950, the Preamble to the Constitution of India
-- a statement presenting the key principles of the Constitution
-- came into effect. This completed the country’s transition to
a sovereign republic. The Constitution establishes fundamental
rights that should be enjoyed by all citizens of this country,
regardless of their political beliefs. It also establishes some
fundamental duties for all citizens of the country to abide by.
Today, 26th January 2023, as we observe our
74th Republic Day, we should celebrate it from the
heart! Today is not just a holiday, it is a day to immerse
yourself in the tricolours of patriotism. City First wishes
all its readers a Happy Republic Day!

10-11
ETC
www.firstindia.co.in I https://firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
Every year on January 26, India celebrates Republic Day
with full fervour and great enthusiasm. On this day, the
people of India not only celebrate and honour the
achievements of the nation, but they also pay tribute to
the people who sacrificed their lives for the independence
of the country! City First highlights glimpses from the
intriguing celebrations across the nation!
FIRST REPUBLIC DAY 26 JAN 1950

Jagdeesh Chandra reached
the First India News Channel
office on the eve of the
Republic Day to greet all
the staff members on the
momentous occasion.
Everyone gathered for the
cake-cutting ceremony and
re-pledged their love and
commitment to the nation.
Jagdeesh Chandra said that
it is a matter of pride for us
that on the 74th Republic
Day, India is a global leader
and blossoming on all fronts
under the charismatic
leadership of our popular
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi. Nikhil Sharma,
Founder Oppnik Group was
also present as a special
guest. He also welcomed
Mukesh Sharma, Reporter
and Ayushi Maharishi,
Anchor to First India News.
Editor Jinendra Singh
Shekhawat, Rainu Singh,
Anita Hada, Vishal Mathur,
Shishir Awasthi, Lalit
Gangwani, Nirmal Tiwari,
Mahesh Sharma, Aishwarya
Pradhan, Naresh Sharma,
Shahnawaz, Jatin Sharma,
K K Mishra, Vijendra Solanki,
Mahesh Paliwal, Navin
Sharma, Kavita Chauhan,
Ashish Aman, Javed
Siddiqui , Megha, Shikha,
Dimple, Tripti, Anita, Simran,
Ayushi, Mukesh Sharma,
and others were present.
REPUBLIC
REPUBLIC DAY CELEBRATIONS!
CELEBRATIONS!
Jagdeesh Chandra with Nikhil Sharma and the First India Team.
Jagdeesh Chandra greeted by Rainu Singh and the First India family.
Jagdeesh Chandra welcomes Mukesh Sharma
and Ayushi Maharishi, also seen are Lalit Gangwani,
Jinendra Shekhawat, Nirmal Tiwari, Mahesh Sharma,
Mahesh Paliwal and Nikhil Sharma Jagdeesh Chandra cuts the cake with the First India family.
—PHOTOS
BY
MUKESH
KIRADOO
S
hah Rukh Khan re-
turns to the screens
afterfourlongyears
with YRF’s
Pathaan. The film also
stars Deepika Padu-
kone and John Abra-
ham. The film is a part
of YRF’s spy universe.
It is the story of an ex-
army man turned under-
cover agent Pathaan (Shah
Rukh Khan) and his arch
nemesis Jim (John Abra-
ham). The entire film is
about good versus bad.
The story of the film re-
volves around India’s revo-
cation of article 370 (spe-
cial status of Jammu and
Kashmir) and a Pakistani
officer’s ego who wants In-
diatopayforthis‘mistake’.
The Pakistani officer as-
signs Jim, an Ex RAW
agent wronged by his peo-
ple to get a scientist to cre-
ate a Biological weapon
todestroyIndia.Jimis
helped by Rubina an
ex-ISI agent (Deepika
Padukone) with ambigu-
ous motives. Pathaan, Jim
andRubinaembarkonthis
action-filled journey and
indulge in a dangerous
game of betrayal and re-
venge. The three races de-
stroy and protect the lives
of innocentpeoplewhocan
be a victim of this virus.
Overall the film is classy
and stylish with patriot-
ism linked to it The actors
have done a fabulous job
and apart from Shahrukh
and Deepika the actor who
has made a big difference
to the film is Abraham
who’s acting and style have
made people go bonkers.
Pathan Is here to lift the
mood of Bollywood. The
movie is great and the di-
rector has done his best.
The entire film be it direc-
tion, acting, VFX, action,
or music is worth a watch.
PATHAAN
RATING:
DIRECTOR
Siddharth Anand
CAST CREW
Shahrukh Khan, Deepika Padukone,
John Abraham, Ashutosh Rana, Dimple
Kapadia etc.
HIGH-OCTANE
SPY THRILLER
KAVITA CHAUHAN
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
12
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CITY BUZZ
GET VACCINATED
STAY MASKED
angana Ranaut
never shies
away to talk
her mind out
publicly and
mostly her go-
to platform is
Twitter. The actress has
been banned for a long
time from the micro-
blogging site, however,
she has now made a re-
turn yesterday
. Looks
like the emergency ac-
tress has been waiting
for her Twitter account
to restore so she can
again take a dig at the
film industry
. Indeed
Kangana Ranaut is back
on Twitter, and so are
her vitriolic tweets
aimed at the Hindi film
industry
. Amid Pathaan
release, she called Bol-
lywood ‘crass and
crude’, which projects
success by throwing
‘flashy currency digits’
in people’s faces. How-
ever, she didn’t name
the film. Taking to Twit-
ter, she wrote, “Film in-
dustry is so crass and
crude that whenever
they want to project
success of any en-
deavour/creation/
art they throw
flashing currency
digits in your face as if
art has no other pur-
pose.. it exposes their
lowly standards and the
kind of deprived lives
they live ..”
“Primitively art blos-
somed in temples and
reached literature/thea-
tres and eventually in-
side cinemas. It is an
industry but not de-
signed for major eco-
nomic gains like other
billion/trillion dollar
businesses, that’s why
art/artists are wor-
shipped not industrial-
ists or billionaires,” she
added in another tweet.
Kangana added, “So
even if artists indulge
in polluting the very fi-
bre of art and culture in
the nation they must do
it discreetly not shame-
lessly…” Later in the
day, Kangana took to
Twitter again and spoke
about how the film “in-
dustry got obsessed
with money
.” In a
Twitter thread,
Kangana spoke
about how the trend
of entering the 100
crore club is “toxic.” Af-
ter her account got sus-
pended in 2021, Kanga-
na Ranaut got back on
Twitter on Tuesday
.
On the professional
front, Kangana is
working on her
next directorial
film Emergency
.
The film is
billed on the
watershed mo-
ment of 1975
when Indira
Gandhi was
prime min-
ister of In-
dia and had
called for an emergency
.
In the film, the actress
will essay the role of
former prime minister
Indira Gandhi. Recently
she mortgaged her
property to
complete
her film.
KANGANA CALLS THE FILM
INDUSTRY ‘CRASS AND CRUDE’
ASHISH TIWARI
cityfirst.mumbai@firstindia.co.in
K
F
ilmmaker SS
Rajamouli's
period action
blockbuster
RRR on Tuesday
created history
with the film's hit
track Naatu Naa-
tu earning an Os-
car nomination in
the Best Original
song category. In
the category, the
movie was nomi-
nated alongside
' A p p l a u s e '
from “Tell It
Like a Wom-
an”, 'Hold My
Hand' from “Top
Gun: Maverick”,
Lift Me Up' from
“Black Panther:
Wakanda Forever”
and 'This Is a Life'
from “Everything
Everywhere All at
Once”. WE CRE-
ATED HISTORY!!
Proud and privi-
leged to share that
#NaatuNaatu has
been nominated for
Best Original song
at the 95th Acade-
my Awards, tweet-
ed the official web-
site of the movie.
This is the third
major internation-
al recognition for
“Naatu Naatu”,
composed by
MM Keer-
avaani and
penned by Kala
Bhairava and Ra-
hul Sipligunj after
Keeravani won a
Golden Globe as
well as a Critics
Choice award for
the track earlier
this month.
Naatu Naatu creates
history at Oscars
MEET GREET!
Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Dr Raman Singh was
greeted by Upendra Rai, Chairman, MD and Editor-in-
Chief of Bharat Express News Network during a courtesy
visit on Wednesday.
Anurag Kashyap
reviews Pathaan
I
t is Pathaan day
and social me-
dia is only buzz-
ing with
Pathaan reviews.
The film starring
Shah Rukh Khan,
Deepika Padukone,
and John Abraham
has attracted a
major crowd to
the theatres
and the ad-
vance booking
records have al-
ready been broken.
Well, it is like a fes-
tival today for all
the fans who have
been waiting to see
SRK on the silver
screen for almost 4
years and now
Filmmaker Anurag
Kashyap can’t
stop raving
about actor
Shah Rukh
Khan‘s recent re-
lease, Pathaan. The
filmmaker went to
watch the first day,
the first show along
with actor Karan
Mehta and called
Shah Rukh’s film
‘khatarnak’. Anur-
ag gave his reac-
tion outside the
cinema hall
where he went
to watch the
show in Mumbai
and said, “Shah
Rukh Khan itna ha-
seen, itna sundar
pehle kabhi laga
nahi. Mujhe nahi
lagta unhone is
tarah ka action
pehle kiya hai. Kya
body banayi hai
(Shah Rukh Khan
has never
looked this
beautiful and
we came to
watch him. I
don’t think
he has
done any-
t h i n g
like it
before).”
Anurag Kashyap Kangana Ranaut
Ankur Khandelwal, Ashok Rathore, Raj Bansal,
Priyanshu Sharma cutting SRK’s theme cake

26012023_First India Mumbai.pdf

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