30032023_First India Mumbai.pdf

30032023_First India Mumbai.pdf
BSE SENSEX 59900.37 452.90 | NSE NIFTY 17859.50 132.70 www.firstindia.co.in I https://firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR & MUMBAI SENIOR BJP MP GIRISH BAPAT PASSES AWAY Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis pay their last respects to BJP Lok Sabha MP Girish Bapat, who passed away at Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital at the age of 72, in Pune on Wednesday. P2 We have discussed and resolved our issue. If repeated, we will decide on future stance: Raut First India Bureau Mumbai: Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) i.e. Thack- eray group publicly expressed its displeasure recently because of Ra- hul Gandhi’s statement wherein he said ‘I am not Savarkar who would apologise’. Ud- dhav Thackeray had taken the name of Ra- hul Gandhi in a public meeting and boldly said, “We will not tolerate the insult of freedom fighter Savarkar.” After Uddhav Thack- eray’s stand, in the opposition meeting in Delhi, NCP President Sharad Pawar tried to mediate between the Thackeray faction and the Congress. After that talks have taken place between the Con- gress and Shiv Sena (UBT). Thackeray faction leader and MP Sanjay Raut has said that we are satisfied with this issue. RAHUL’S COMMENT ON SAVARKAR I DISCUSSED SAVARKAR ISSUE WITH RAHUL GANDHI SAYS SHIV SENA (UBT) MP RAUT “Two days ago, we objected to Rahul Gandhi’s statement on Savarkar. After that, we remained absent from the opposition meeting called by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday. The objection raised by us has been con- sidered. I have discussed the issue of Savarkar with Rahul Gandhi. This topic is over for us now. Our differences are no more. After that, we attended the meeting of the opposition called today (March 29),” said Sanjay Raut. NO MORE TALK ON THIS ISSUE, OUR DIFFERENCES HAVE BEEN RESOLVED: RAUT Questioned that if Rahul Gandhi makes a statement on Savarkar in future, what will the Thackeray faction do, Raut said, “We don’t want to talk more about this issue. Our differences have been resolved. If Rahul Gandhi raises the same issue again, we will take a decision. But we believe that Rahul Gandhi will not raise Savarkar’s issue.” Amritpal posts video amid news of his surrender New Delhi (FIB): A video of fugitive radical preacherAmritpalSingh surfaced on social media on Wednesday in which he slammed Punjab Po- lice for arresting Sikh y o u t h s during a crackdown againsthim. He said if the state govt had the intention of making an arrest, police could have come to his houseandhewouldhave given up. Meanwhile, Khalistani separatist Amritpal Singh has returned to Punjab and plans to surrender at the Golden Temple, sources said on Wednesday . CHEETAHS BORN ON INDIAN SOIL IN OVER 70 YEARS Welcome to 4 adorable cubs! First India Bureau Sheopur: One of the Namibian cheetahs, Si- yaya, has given birth to four cubs at Kuno Na- tional Park in Madhya Pradesh. The development comes three days after one of the cheetahs, Sasha, died due to akidneyailment.Sasha, along with seven other big cats, was translocated to KNP from the Afri- can country . 7 other cheetahs are doing well. Among these seven, three males and a female were released in the park’s open forest area and they are “totally healthy, active and hunting in a normal manner”, PCCF-Wild- life JS Chauhan said. This comes three days after Sasha, one of the cheetahs, had died due to kidney ailments A cheetah named Siyaya, gave birth to 4 cubs, on Wednesday. Bhupender Yadav @byadavbjp Congratulations. A momentous event in our wildlife conservation history during Amrit Kaal! I am delighted to share that four cubs have been born to one of the cheetahs translocated to India on 17th September 2022, under the visionary leadership of PM Shri @narendramodi ji. Shivraj Singh Chouhan @ChouhanShivraj Honorable PM Shri @ narendramodi ji, with your inspiration and successful efforts, Cheetah has made a happy return to India. MP has become Cheetah State. Today, we all residents of MP are happy with the arrival of four new cubs in Cheetah family in KNP. Narendra Modi @narendramodi Wonderful news. ‘CONFIDENT’ BJP TO PLAY NE FORMULA IN K’TAKA! Moni Sharma New Delhi: The Karna- taka Assembly election is scheduled to be held on May 10 and the results will be announced on May 13, said the Elec- tion Commission of In- dia on Wednesday. The election will be held for all 224 assembly con- stituencies. The election Model Code of con- duct will be implemented from Wednesday . The Congress party announced its first list of 124 candidates on March 25. Siddaramai- ah said this would be his last election and after this, he will stay away from electoral politics. Attributing BJP success in North East and cha- risma of Modi, Home MinisterAmitShahhad recently said that “Modi magic” would work eve- rywhere in India and predicted it would in Karnataka as well. Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar addresses a press conference regarding announcement of the schedule for the Karnataka Assembly elections, in New Delhi on Wednesday. Election Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel are also seen here. Karnataka has 12.15 lakh voters who are 80-plus, including 16,976 centenarian voters. Also, there are 5.55 lakh persons with disabilities registered with the Elec- tion Commission. —Rajiv Kumar, CEC K’TAKA HAS 17,000 VOTERS WHO ARE OLDER THAN STATE EC ‘NOT IN A HURRY’ FOR THE WAYANAD SEAT BY-ELECTION Karnataka has the highest- ever number of voters above the age of 100. The poll body had earlier introduced facility to Vote-from- Home (VFH) for 80+ those with disabilities. CEC said secrecy will be maintained and entire process will be videographed. EC said there was no hurry to declare byelection to Wayanad LS seat. CEC Rajiv Kumar said poll panel has taken decisions on va- cancies that have occurred till Feb, adding, trial court in Surat has given Rahul Gandhi 30 days to seek a judicial remedy the matter. Karnataka elections on May 10 NAT’L ANTHEM CASE: HC REFUSES TO GRANT RELIEF TO MAMATA Mumbai: The Bombay HC on Wednesday refused to grant any relief to West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee in a complaint seeking action against her for allegedly disrespecting the national anthem at an event here in 2022. P6 WITHDRAW REMARKS AGAINST JUDGES: 300 LAWYERS ASK RIJIJU New Delhi: Criticising Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju’s comments that a few retired judges are “part of an anti-India gang”, over 300 lawyers in country in an open letter on Wednesday demanded that min should withdraw the comments. SECURITY FOR JUDGE WHO SENTENCED ATIQ TO LIFE INCREASED Prayagraj: According to top officers in the UP Police, the local police have provided adequate security to the judge, security around the premises of the MP-MLA court in Prayagraj, which convicted Atiq two others, has also been tightened. READ Crucial Crucial BJP’S FACE FOR FOUR DECADES, GIRISH BAPAT PASSES AWAY Pune: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Pune’s MP Girish Bapat passed away on Wednesday at Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital. He was admitted to ICU, was on life support treatment. BJP’s city chief, Jagdish Mulik, informed about the Bapat’s demise. DEMOCRACY ISASPIRIT:PM First India Bureau New Delhi: Prime Min- ister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that India is indeed a mother of democracy where the guiding philosophy is that of “sabka sath, sabka vikas”. He was virtually addressing the leader-level plenary session on Summit of Democracy hosted by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol. PM Modi said the idea of elected leaders was a common feature in ancient India long before the rest of world. He said that there are many historical refer- ences to republic states in ancient India, where the rulers were not he- reditary , adding that the nation is indeed “mother of democracy”. Idea of elected leaders was common in ancient India, it’s indeed mother of democracy: PM Modi PM Narendra Modi delivers his remarks at the 2nd Summit for Democracy, via VC, in Delhi on Wednesday. Also seen here are South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, President of East Timor José Ramos-Horta, Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu, and others. India, despite the many global challenges, is the fastest growing major economy today. This is the best advertisement for democracy in the world. This shows that democracy can deliver. —Narendra Modi, PM Rahul ready with plea to challenge his conviction The party’s top legal advisors will file a petition before the Surat sessions court in a day or two New Delhi (FIB): A petition challenging Con- gress leader Rahul Gan- dhi’s conviction and sentencing by a trial court in Surat in a defamation case is ready and is likely to be filed very soon, sources said on Wednesday . The party’s top legal advisors are working on the review petition which will be filed before the Surat sessions court in a day or two, they added. Gandhi was convicted and was given a two-year sentence in the 2019 defamation case over his remarks on Modi surname, following which he was disqualified as MP of Lok Sabha. Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, KC Venugopal, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and others arrive at Parliament House complex, in New Delhi on Wednesday. SC CLEARS `5K CRORE FROM SEBI- SAHARA FUND TO REPAY DEPOSITORS New Delhi: The SC on Wednesday allowed a plea by the Centre seeking allocation of `5,000 crore out of `24,000 crore deposited by the Sahara group with market regulator Sebi to repay dues of depositors of Sahara Group of Cooperative Societies. P5 Moscow: Russia’s largest oil producer Rosneft and India’s top refiner Indian Oil Corp have signed a term agreement to substantially increase oil supplies and diversify oil grades delivered to India, Rosneft said on Wednesday. The deal was signed during a working trip to India by Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin. RUSSIA’S DEAL WITH INDIA TO INCREASE OIL SUPPLIES MUMBAI l THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2023 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI TITLE NO. MAHENG/2022/14652 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 320 HC acquits all accused in deadly 2008 Jaipur blasts Kamal Kant Vyas Jaipur: The Rajasthan High Court on Wednes- day acquitted all the accused in the 2008 serial Jaipur blast case which claimed 71 lives and left over 180 injured. The accused were given capital punishment by a trial court which was challenged in the High Court. The division bench of justices Pankaj Bhandari and Sameer Jain pronounced judgement on Wednesday. Jaipur was rocked by a series of blasts on May 13, 2008 when bombs went off one after another at Manak Chawk Khanda, Chandpole Gate, Badi Chaupad, Chhoti Chaupad, Tripo- lia Gate, Johri Bazar and Sanganeri Gate. The explosions in the evening left 71 people dead, 185 injured. JAI SHRI RAM! HAPPY RAM NAVAMI
NEWS MUMBAI | THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2023 02 www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia DRIVER SEEKS BAIL IN MUM JOGGER HIT AND RUN CASE Mumbai: THE 23-YEAR- OLD man arrested for allegedly running over a 58-year-old woman at Worli Sea Face last week approached the sessions court for bail on Tuesday, stating that the spot of the incident was a blind spot with a sharp turn and the jogger was running in the wrong direction. The metropolitan magistrate in Dadar rejected the bail plea of Sumer Merchant, stating that photographs of the spot submitted by the police show that there is no such blind spot. Merchant then approached the sessions court, which directed the police to file a reply. NMMC HOLDS PROGRAMMES ON WORLD TB DAY Navi Mumbai: To observe World Tuberculosis Day on March 24, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corpo- ration’s health department organized various events such as seminars, rallies, workshops, and street plays to raise awareness about tuberculosis (TB). The theme for this year’s event is “Yes!, We Can End TB”, with the aim of educating the public about the disease, which continues to be an epidemic in many parts of the world. Tuberculosis claims the lives of approximately 1.5 million people worldwide, including in numerous developing nations. BURGLAR HELD FROM PALGHAR; STOLEN JEWELLERY AND CASH RECOVERED Thane: A 46-year-old criminal with at least 40 cases lodged against him was arrested from Nalasopara in Palghar district in connection with the burglary of cash and gold jewellery worth more than Rs23 lakh, police said on Wednesday. The accused and his accomplices had broken into a locked house in Kashmira locality on March 23/24 night and decamped with jewellery and cash totalling Rs23.10 lakh, a senior police officer said. The accused was nabbed after being identified by CCTV footage. Police recovered the stolen jewellery and cash from him. CRUCIAL READ MAN ASSAULTED AND ROBBED ON HOWRAH MAIL IN MUMBAI BY VENDORS Thane: A 25-year-old passenger travelling on Howrah Mail was attacked with a stone and robbed of cash by three persons including two vendors in Mumbai, GRP officials said on Wednesday. “A vendor selling earphones accused a passenger sitting next to the victim of stealing money. When the victim tried to defend the passenger, two more vendors appeared on the scene and attacked him with a stone and robbed Rs2,500 cash he was carrying,” a Gov- ernment Railway Police (GRP) official said. BJP MP Girish Bapat passes away after prolonged illness Pune (PTI): BJP Lok Sabha member from Pune and former state minister Girish Bapat passed away at a hospital here on Wednesday after a prolonged illness. The 72-year-old BJP leader, ailing for the last one-and-a-half years, was admitted to the ICU of Deenanath Man- geshkar Hospital in critical condition and was on life support. “Today is a sad day. Senior BJP leader and MP Girish Bapat left us today. For the last one and half years, he was undergoing treatment,” said Jagdish Mulik, BJP city unit president said on Wednesday af- ternoon, adding that Bapat’s last rites would be performed at Vai- kunth crematorium in the evening. Bapat had served as the MLA from Kasba Peth constituency in Pune five times. He was elected to Lok Sabha in 2019. Bapat’s last public ap- pearance was on Febru- ary 26 when he cast vote for the Kasba Peth As- sembly bypoll sitting in a wheelchair with his nasal cannula on. The Opposition then accused the BJP of playing with Bapat’s health. Despite his ill health, Bapat had addressed BJP workers briefly at Kesariwada. The senior BJP leader enjoyed a good rap- port with Opposition leaders as well and was looked upon as a men- tor by many politicians from Pune district. “In his long political career of four decades, Bapat always took an all-inclusive stand. The news of his demise is extremely saddening,” NCP chief Sharad Pa- war tweeted. After winning the Kasba Peth bypoll, Con- gress candidate Ravin- dra Dhangekar visited Bapat’s residence to seek his blessings. Born on September 03, 1950, in Talegaon Dabhade in Pune district, Bapat worked with the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh in his initial years. During the Emergen- cy, he was lodged in Na- shik jail for 19 months. He became a corpora- tor of PMC in 1983 and after 12 years he was elected as MLA from the Kasba Peth constituency . He served as the Min- ister for Food, Civil Supplies, Consumer Protection, Food and Drugs Administration, and Parliamentary Af- fairs in the then state government headed by Devendra Fadnavis. 5-time MLA from Kasba Peth constituency in Pune, he was also elected to Lok Sabha in 2019 During his visit to Pune city last month, Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited Bapat at his home. —FILE PHOTO Tributes pour in: ‘It’s like losing a father figure’ Mumbai: Maharash- tra BJP president C h a n d r a s h e k h a r Bawankule said Bap- at’s demise is a big loss for the party . Senior BJP leader and Maharashtra cab- inet minister Chan- drakant Patil said Ba- pat was like a guru and a father figure. “It is like losing a father figure. His friendship across the party lines and con- tacts with people and party workers were unparalleled. He was dedicated to the party and its growth. His demise is a huge loss to the party,” Patil said. Leader of Opposi- tion Ajit Pawar said Pune district has lost a leader who believed in taking everyone along. “In Bapat’s death, a cultured face of politics has been lost,” he said in a statement. BJP Rajya Sabha member and former Union minister Prakash Javadekar, who hails from Pune, said Maharashtra has lost an honest party worker in Bapat. “Bapat and I were together since our school days and today I am saddened after our companionship of 58 years ended today,” he said. Javadekar said Ba- pat rose through the ranks in public life. He had served as the head of the standing committee in Pune municipal corporation (PMC) and went on to become an MLA and an MP. “He always highlighted issues con- cerning Pune,” he said. Condoling Bapat’s death, Prime Minister Naren- dra Modi said he was a humble and hardworking leader who served society diligently and worked ex- tensively for the development of Maharashtra and was passionate about the growth of Pune. PM CONDOLES DEATH Narendra Modi (@ narendramodi) His passing away is saddening. Condolences to his family and supporters. Om Shanti An all-inclusive, generous leadership is lost. While fighting the illness, Bapat worked towards giving energy to his party, and as an MLA, MP, and minister, he always took a lead to address the issues of the common people. He had friendships across the party lines and had a great people connect. —Eknath Shinde, CM 3 September 1950— 29 March 2023 TROUBLE BREWING First India Bureau Mumbai: The metropo- lis could be in for a dry and thirsty summer, despite having seen excessive rainfall--which continued well into Oc- tober--last monsoon season. At the end of October, the dams had 97% water storage. Now, stored water in the seven reservoirs that supply water to Mumbai is down to 37% of the total capacity, less than the 40% from this time last year. Udhrav Vaitrana, Modak Sagar, Tansa, Madhya Vaitrana, Bhat- sa, Vihar and Tulsi supply Mumbai with 3,800 MLD (million litres a day) of water. The current stored water will have to last Mumbaikars for four months, including two months of summer. Already, the Brihan- mumbai Municipal Corporation has announced a 15% water cut across Mumbai for 30 days beginning March 31 to fix a hole in a crucial supply tun- nel. With the mercury rising, more cuts could soon follow, especially if the current odd spells of rainfall affect the on- set of the monsoon. Stored water down to 37% from 97% in Mumbai’s seven reservoirs Mumbai: With a water shortage rearing its head in Taloja, Shiv Sena - Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Gurunath Patil has raised concerns over the situation in Khargar’s Dhamole village. Most of the 60-odd families who live in Dhamole are from tribal communities. Patil has written to the Panvel Municipal Corporation (PMC), asking that a water tanker be sent to the village. “There are around 60 tribal families residing in Dhamole village, and they are not getting enough water to meet their daily needs. Since they reside in a hilly area, it is very difficult for them to go to other places and bring water. I have requested the civic administration to send at least one water tanker every day for their daily needs,” Patil said. MEANWHILE IN KHARGHAR… Udhrav Vaitrana, Modak Sagar, Tansa, Madhya Vaitrana, Bhatsa, Vihar and Tulsi provide Mumbai 3,800 MLD water Last year's excessive rainfall saw the Modak Sagar overflowing in July. —FILE PHOTO Govt change set in motion on orders from Fadnavis: Min Aurangabad (PTI): The process to effect a change of government in Maharashtra started on the instructions of BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, Health Minis- ter Tanaji Sawant has claimed. The Uddhav Thacker- ay-led Shiv Sena-NCP- Congress government in Maharashtra col- lapsed in June 2022 with the rebellion of Sena leader Eknath Shinde, who then formed the new government with BJP’s Fadnavis as deputy chief minister. “We (Shiv Sena leaders of the Shinde camp) and Devendra ji had meetings. (Current Chief Minister) Eknath Shinde and I held 100- 150 meetings in two years (to bring down the Thackeray government),” Sawant told re- porters in Osmanabad on Tuesday . “On (now Deputy CM) Devendra Fad- navis’s orders, Shiv Sena and BJP came together in Osmanabad Zilla Parishad....It started from there,” Sawant said. Reacting to Sawant’s statement, Leader of Opposition in Maha- rashtra Legislative Council Ambadas Danve said it made clear that the “seeds of betrayal” were already there in the minds of the MLAs of the Shinde group. The reasons given for the rebellion such as Thackeray not meeting party MLAs regularly or Sena ministers and MLAs not getting funds were hollow excuses, said Danve, a Thacker- ay loyalist. “Seeds of betrayal” were already there in the minds of the MLAs of the Shinde group, said Ambadas Danve No respite for farmers as onion prices fall on glut First India Bureau Navi Mumbai: As many as 180 onion-lad- en trucks lined up outside the Vashi Agricul- ture Produce Market Committee (APMC) did nothing to mitigate concerns among the state’s growers of shoddy re- turns. The onion prices that reached around Rs12 to Rs14 per kg in the wholesale market dropped to Rs8 to Rs10 per kg on Tuesday . The good arrival has brought down its prices in both wholesale and retail markets. “The an- nual season for new onion has already begun and the largest wholesale market for potatoes arrived last week,” a trader said. At present, the large onions are command- ing a price of Rs9-11 per kg. However, the smaller ones are available at a lower price of around Rs7-9 per kg. There has been a glut in the market this year, leading to shoddy prices for farmers. Earlier this month, irate farmers had shut down an onion auction at the Lasalgaon Agri- culture Produce Market Committee (APMC), Asia’s largest onion market, after per-kg price of onion came down to Rs2-4. This had prompted Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to assure farmers that Na- tional Agricultural Co- operative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) has pur- chased 18,743 quintals of the key pantry staple from the market, and would likely purchase more. UNSEASONAL RAIN HIT 19K FARMERS IN PALGHAR Palghar (PTI): As many as 18,869 farmers have lost their crops and agricultural produce due to unseasonal rains between March 01 and 19 in Palghar district, as per an official release. Due to the spell, winds, and dew, crops and agricultural produce across 3,502.83 hectares of land were destroyed. The destruction is more than 33% of the agricultural and horticultural produce, the release said. An assistance of Rs7,87,36,125 has been sought from the government for the farmers affected by the unseasonal rains and other calamities, it said. Onion prices that reached around Rs12-14 per kg have dropped to Rs8-10 per kg . —FILE PHOTO First India Bureau Mumbai: A government white paper on the key projects that “left the state”--including the Vedanta Fox- conn one, Tata’s Airbus unit and the bulk drug park--will be released within seven to eight days, state Industries Minister Uday Samant has said. Notably, this comes five months after Sa- mant first announced the paper in November. That the time, he had announced that it wouldbeoutinamonth. The Shinde government had come under pressure from the Op- position after Vedanta Foxconn and the Tata Airbus project opted to shift to Gujarat. After all this time, Sa- mant has reportedly told the media that the “report is being printed”. Notably, the paper could have been tabled at either of the two sessions of the state legis- lature, which occurred in the interim. Samant attributed the delay to the fact that the state had sought re- sponses from the firms involved. He had also said a three-member committee headed by a retired judge would be set up to look into why big-ticket projects had left Maharashtra. The committee was to have submitted its report in 60 days. ‘White paper on lost investments in a week’ Uday Samant, seen here with CM Shinde. —FILE PHOTO
MAHARASHTRA MUMBAI | THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2023 03 www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia First India Bureau Mumbai: Hindustan Construction Company (HCC), the execution partner of the Mumbai Coastal Road (South) project, has filed a plea, leading to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) recalling its orders regarding the project’s construction. According to the Noise Pollution Rules, the tribunal ruled in August that the maxi- mum allowed noise level in residential areas during the day should be 55 dB and during the night it should be 45 dB. The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has been instructed by the tribunal to bring the noise pollution within per- missible limits within three weeks. Failure to do so will result in the tribunal taking action against the defaulting agency. Prior to the tribunal’s ruling, AVP Partners’ counsels Ativ Patel and Siddhant Buxy, representing HCC, argued that any adverse ruling against their client would be a violation of natural justice as they were not given a chance to be heard. A Joint Technical Committee (JTC) had recommended on De- cember 20, 2011 that around 35.60 km of the coastal road be con- structed, involving a cost of around Rs5,303 crore. The project is supposed to provide benefits like easy access to basic services and various products, access to improved health and education facilities, strengthen- ing of the economy by easy transportation of various materials of daily use, etc. The proposed connectivity project in Mumbai is expected to reduce commuting time by 70% and fuel consumption by 34%, while also reducing carbon footprint. The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) was allowed by the Supreme Court to proceed with the project, which was halted by a Bombay High Court order. However, contractor HCC has expressed concern that the Board may take co- ercive action against it in the future. The Na- tional Green Tribu- nal’s Pune bench noted that the prescribed noise levels cannot be maintained due to the construction activity, but also acknowledged that higher noise levels already existed due to traffic and sea waves. NGT recalls Mumbai Coastal Road construction noise pollution orders NOISE OF DEVELOPMENT lll The tribunal had ruled that noise levels in residential areas must not exceed 55dB during the day and 45dB at night The 35.6 km coastal road is expected to cost around `5,303 crore Queer tribal student leader at TISS alleges discrimination First India Bureau Mumbai: The students’ union president of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) has alleged discrimination after they were turned away from a lecture on March 25 for wearing “inappropriate attire”. Pratik Permey, who identifies as trans, took to Twitter to voice their discomfiture. “I was invited to the Ambedkar Memorial Lecture as a represent- ative of the students’ union, to welcome the guests and do some for- malities. When I reached the venue, around 6 pm I showed up in my usual outfit of a blouse and a skirt,” they said. The event was an hour late to begin, and about five minutes before it started, a professor and a few members of the organizing committee asked them to leave and come back after changing into something more appro- priate. They told me, “for an event like this, you cannot wear something like that,” Permey, said, adding that it was not okay for the institute to curb what students wear. “I really felt violated and humiliated. My right and my freedom were curbed. I was not allowed to represent,” the student leader said, adding, “Apart from being an indigenous tribal person, I am also queer. (The incident made me feel that) my queerness was not allowed to represent or rather I was not allowed to because of my queerness.” A professor respond- ed saying that TISS is known for its inclusive nature and that authorities would look into any incidents of alleged discrimination. TISS is perhaps the only institution in the country with a gender- neutral hostel. TISS is known for its inclusive nature with all support- ive mechanisms in place for students of all genders and identities to co-exist, the professor said. Permey has also expressed incredulity that such an incident occurred on the TISS campus. Tata Institute of Social Sciences —FILE PHOTO Claims, was not allowed at event over ‘inappropriate’ outfit; professor says will look into it I really felt violated and humiliated. My right and my freedom were curbed. Apart from being an indigenous tribal person, I am also queer. (The incident made me feel that) my queerness was not allowed to represent or rather I was not allowed to because of my queerness. —Pratik Permey, Student leader, TISS ❍ IIT-B STUDENT DEATH Waiting for kin to lodge abetment complaint: Cops First India Bureau Mumbai: Police have begun the process to register an FIR (First Information Report) in an abetment case in the alleged suicide of Dar- shan Solanki, at the In- dian Institute of Tech- nology Bombay, officials said on Wednes- day. However, they are still waiting for Solan- ki’s family to lodge a formal police complaint against his hostel mate who was named in his “suicide note”. The Special Investi- gation Team (SIT) looking into Solanki’s death on Monday said a note, mentioning the name of an engineering student who lived on the same floor of the hostel, was recovered on March 03 from the room of the deceased. Police are analysing the handwriting in the alleged suicide note by comparing it with Solanki’s handwriting, the official said. “Police are seeking answer papers or some other documents submitted by the deceased in his handwriting to IIT Bombay,” he added. Solanki, a first-year student of the B Tech (Chemical) course, allegedly committed suicide by jumping off the seventh floor of a hostel building located on the campus on February 12. His family had claimed he faced discrimination at the IITB for belonging to a Scheduled Caste community and suspected foul play in his death. Solanki’s family has previously expressed suspicions of foul play. —FILE PHOTO First india Bureau Thane: On Wednesday morning, a police constable who had previously served as a bodyguard for a former state ministerwasdiscovered dead on railway tracks in Taloja, Thane district. Officials believe that the constable may have taken his own life. The Government Railway Police have identified the deceased constable as Vaibhav Kadam, who was a bodyguard of ex-minister and Nationalist Con- gress Party (NCP) leader Jitendra Awhad, said an official. Kadam was also one of the accused in a case where a man named AnantKarmuseclaimed he was assaulted at Awhad's Thane home due to a Facebook post. According to an official, Kadam is believed to have hurled himself in front of a fast-moving train and perished. Bodyguard of former minister found dead Tolls on Mumbai-Pune Expressway to rise 18% from Sat First India Bureau Mumbai: The roughly 1.5 lakh vehicles that traverse the country’s first access-controlled road will now have to shell out more for the privilege, with tolls on the Mumbai-Pune Ex- pressway rising 18% from April 01. According to a senior official of the Maha- rashtra State Road De- velopment Corporation (MSRDC), the toll increases by 6% annually but it is implemented cumulatively at 18% after every three years, in keeping with a government notification from August 09, 2004. The toll will not be revised in 2026, mean- ing the new rates will remain in place until 2030, the official added. About 95km long, the six-lane Mumbai-Pune Expressway was fully operationalized in 2002. Toll is collected at five toll plazas. Vehicle type Old Toll New Toll (in `) (in `) Cars and jeeps 270 320 Mini-buses and tempos 420 495 Two-axle trucks 585 685 Buses 797 940 Three-axle trucks 1,380 1,630 Multi-axle trucks and machinery-vehicles 1,835 2,165 REVISED RATES Toll increases by 6 percent annually, it is implemented cumulatively at 18% after every three years The ones at Khalapur and Talegaon are the main two of the five toll plazas. —FILE PHOTO Man granted bail one year after his arrest in Thane lynching case Illegal river sand dredging makes rail bridge unsafe; Case filed against two Thane (PTI): A man who was arrested a year ago for his alleged in- volvement in a lynching case in the state’s Thane district has been granted bail on the ground that the chargesheet has been filed and he has no criminal antecedents. Additional Sessions Judge PM Gupta, in his order of Tuesday , grant- ing bail to the accused Altaf Badshah directed that he should be released after furnishing a bond of Rs50,000. On March 15 last year, a group of people severely beat a boy in the Bhiwandi area accusing him of theft. The boy died of the injuries sustained during the beating. The court noted that the accused has no criminal antecedents and that a co-accused in the case has already been granted bail. Since the investigation is complete and the chargesheet has been filed, his further custo- dy is not required, said the judge. First India Bureau Palghar: The illegal dredging of sand from the Vaitarna river is threatening the safety of the rail bridge between Vaitarna and Sa- fale stations, in Palghar district, police said on Wednesday. Vaitarna and Saphale railway stations lie next to Virar on the western line of the Mumbai suburban network. A criminal offence was registered against two persons recently at Mandvi police station under section 151 of the Railways Act (Dam- age to or destruction of certain railway properties), various sections of the Indian Penal Code, and the Environment Protec- tion Act for illegal sand mining. “During the inspection of the bridge on Monday, police found a suction pump was pulling out sand from the Vaitarna river. The pump was found mounted on a boat in the vicinity. The sand was being collected and heaped at the site,” he said. Police destroyed the suction pump and the boat. No arrest has been made so far in the case, a police officer said. First India Bureau Thane: A special court in the state has convicted a 20-year-old man under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) Act for raping a 14-year-old girl in 2018 and sentenced him to rigorous imprisonment for seven years. Judge V V Virkar, of a special court on Tues- day imposed a fine of Rs6,000 on the convict. The incident occurred in Navi Mumbai on July 19, 2018, when the accused lured the girl, a student of class 9, out of her house under some pretext and raped her, the prosecution told the court. A case was registered at Vashi police station under POCSO Act and Indian Penal Code. The prosecution has proved the charges against the accused beyond reasonable doubt for which he needs to be convicted and sentenced, the judge noted in the order. Sand dredging —FILE PHOTO During an inspection, cops found a suction pump mounted on a boat pulling sand out from the riverbed Man gets seven-year RI for 2018 rape of minor girl Altaf is accused of beating a boy to death in the Bhiwandi on March last year on suspicion of theft
PERSPECTIVE MUMBAI | THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2023 04 www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia l Vol 1 l Issue No. 320 l RNI TITLE NO. MAHENG/2022/14652 Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Dangat Media Pvt Ltd, No.22, Dighe MIDC, Vishnu Nagar, TTC Industrial Area, Dighe, Navi Mumbai-400701. Published at Plot No. 3 Scheme C of Manglorean Garden Home, CHS Limited, Survey No. 5, 6C (Part) Ville Parle East, Mumbai 400057. Phone 022-46031417. Editor-In-Chief: Dr Jagdeesh Chandra Editor: Kartikey Dev Singh responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act SPIRITUAL SPEAK Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. —Bible IN-DEPTH Amit Shah @AmitShah The death of Pune MP and senior BJP leader Girish Bapat is an irreparable loss to the BJP. Bapatji remained devoted to the interests of the country and organization till his last breath. The entire organization stands with his family on this sad occasion. May the departed soul rest in peace. Om Shanti! Jagat Prakash Nadda @JPNadda The news of the demise of senior BJP leader and Pune MP Girish Bapat ji is extremely sad. Your entire life was devoted to public service and organization. In this hour of grief, the BJP family is with the bereaved family members. May God give the departed soul a place at his feet. Om Shanti! TOP TWEETS BHUTAN ARGUES FOR CHINA AS STAKE-HOLDER IN DOKLAM DISPUTE hutan has left India worried with the statement by Prime MinisterLotayTsher- ingonChinahavinga stake in resolving the Doklam dispute. Much against New Del- hi’s line of thinking, Tshering told a Belgian newspaper that China has equal say like India and Bhutan in the Doklam issue. The tri-junction between In- dia, Bhutan and China saw a military standoff between India and China about six years ago. Subsequently, there were reports of Chinese build-up on its side of the Doklam border. New Delhi sees China’s attempt to complicate the issue of border violation by its army . New Delhi believes that China has illegally occupied the high-altitude plateau and disputes Bhutan’s territorial claims over the plateau. Tshering said, “There are three of us. There is no big or small or small country , there are three equal countries, each counting for a third.” India is opposed to China’s footprints reaching Doklam, which lies close to the Siliguri corridor and would bring it closer to India. B he Election Com- mission has announced Karna- taka Assembly election dates. In a single-phase election the state will go to poll on May 10 and the results will be out on May 13. The announcement of the poll comes a few days after Chief Minister Basa- varaj Bommai scrapped the 4 percent quota for poor Mus- lims and distributed it equally between the Lingayat and Vokkaligga communities. Muslims have been brought in the Economically Weaker Section category where they will be sharing the 10 percent reservation meant for EWS. For a party facing serious charges of corruption, this was the best way of ensuring the bigger support in the polls rather than the minori- ty community which has been rendered electorally in- consequential by the BJP . Sig- nificantly , Asaduddin Owaisi of the MIM pointed out that while “BJP’s Muslim hatred is well-known. But Congress and JDS (Janata Dal-Secular) are also silent. What is their stand?” The reason is not too difficult to figure out. Both the JD-S and Congress are also dependent on the votes of Lingayats and the Vokka- liggas. The Congress particu- larly can’t risk losing the support of the two dominant communities, especially Vok- kaliggas, as it desperately needs to win these elections to increase the number of states in its belt. . For the JD-S, which is already a fringe party, these polls are about its political future. These elections are crucial for Chief Minister Bommai, who has to break a jinx as per which a ruling party in Karnataka has not returned to power since 1985. A defeat here could damage BJP’s prospects in neigh- bouring states. BREAKING A JINX IN KARNATAKA EC has announced Karnataka Assembly election dates. In a single-phase election State will go to poll on May 10 and the results will be out on May 13. The announcement of the poll comes a few days after CM Basavaraj Bommai scrapped the 4% quota for poor Muslims and distributed it equally between the Lingayat and Vokkaligga communities T INDIA’S BOOM IS A DANGEROUS MYTH ndian elites are giddy about their country’s economic prospects, and that optimism is mirrored abroad. The In- ternational Monetary Fund forecasts that India’s GDP will increase by 6.1% this year and 6.8% next year, making it one of the world’s fastest-growingeconomies.Other international commentators have offered even more effu- sive forecasts, declaring the arrival of an Indian decade or even an Indian century . In fact, India is barreling down a perilous path. All the cheerleading is based on a disingenuousnumbersgame. More so than other economies, India’s yo-yoed in the three calendar years from 2020 to 2022, falling sharply twice with the emergence of COVID-19 and then bouncing back to pre-pandemic levels. Its annualized growth rate over these three years was a feeble 3.5%, about the same as in the year immediately preceding the COVID crisis. All forecasts of higher future growth rates are extrap- olating from the latest pandemic rebound. Yet, even with pandemic-related con- straints largely in the rear- view mirror, the economy slowed in the second half of 2022, and that weakness has persisted this year. Describ- ing India as a booming economy is wishful thinking clothed in bad economics. Worse, the hype is masking a problem that has grown over the 75 years since inde- pendence: anemic job crea- tion. Over the next decade, India will need 200 million more jobs, on net, to employ those who are of working age and seeking work. But this challenge is virtually insur- mountable, considering that the economy failed to add any net new jobs over the past decade, when 7-9 million additional jobseekers were en- tering the market each year. This demographic pressure often boils over, fueling protests and episodic vio- lence. In 2019, 12.5 million people applied for 35,000 job openings in the Indian railways: a job promised for every 357 people who sought one. In January 2022, the railway authorities announced that they were not ready to make the job offers. The applicants went on a rampage, burning train cars and vandalizing railway stations. With urban jobs scarce, tens of millions of workers returned during the pandemic to eking out meager liveli- hoods in agriculture, and there many have remained. India’s already distressed agriculture sector now employs 45% of the country’s workforce. Farming families suffer from stubbornly high un- deremployment, with many members sharing limited work on plots rendered stead- ily smaller through genera- tional subdivision. The epidemic of farmer suicides persists. To those anxiously seeking support from rural employment-guarantee pro- grams, the government un- conscionably delays wage payments, triggering recur- rent protests. India’s heroic run with startup unicorns is also fad- ing. The sector’s recent boom relied on cheap funding and a surge of online purchases by a small number of cus- tomers during the pandemic. But most startups have dim prospects for achieving prof- itability in the foreseeable future. Purchases by the small customer base have slowed, and funds are drying up – even for firms like ed- tech giant Byju. Looking past the illusion created by India’s rebound from its COVID depths, the country’seconomicprognosis appears bleak. As the demand for jobs continues to grow, the economy will struggle ever- more to supply decent, honor- ableemployment.Ratherthan indulge in wishful thinking and gimmicky industrial in- centives,policymakersshould aim to power economic development through investments in human capital and by bringing more women into the workforce. SOURCE: PROJECT SYNDICATE I ASHOKA MODY The writer is a visiting Professor of International Economic Policy at Princeton University, previously worked for the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund That is what all economically successful countries since the Industrial Revolution have done. India’s broken state has repeatedly avoided confronting its long-term challenges, and now, instead of overcoming fundamental development deficits, officials are seeking silver bullets. Stoking hype about an imminent Indian century will merely perpetuate the deficits, helping neither India nor the rest of the world Indian elites, official forecasters, and international media have piled into the narrative that India’s economy is booming and positioning the country to become the great success story of the twenty-first century. But looking past the illusion created by headline GDP numbers, nothing could be further from the truth
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MUMBAI | THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2023 05 INDIA www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia New Delhi: The Supreme Court rejected a petition seeking direction to the Centre to make gender and religion-neutral laws on uniform marriage age, divorce, maintenance and alimony. A bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud noted the Centre’s submission saying that they are not inclined to entertain this plea. The Centre has submitted that the government does support uniform laws but such an intervention can only be through legislation. SEXUAL ASSAULT ALLEGATIONS ROCK UTTARAKHAND CRICKET, COACH BOOKED New Delhi: A former office bearer of the Cricket Associa- tion of Uttarakhand (CAU) and coach of an national-level women cricketer has been booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act after a pur- ported audio recording of him having an obscene phone call with a minor girl student at the academy went viral. The coach, Narendra Shah, was posted as the co-conve- nor of the women’s cricket in Uttarakhand until Saturday. He also runs a cricket academy in Dehradun, and is the secretary of the Chamoli district cricket association. SEBI-SAHARA FUND: SC ALLOWS PLEA SC SEEKS ANDHRA GOVT’S RESPONSE New Delhi: The SC issued notice to the Andhra Pradesh government and Sakshi Media Group on an appeal by the publishers of Eenadu daily, questioning a government order to provide allowance to village and ward volunteers to purchase the newspaper, which the appellants say is owned by CM Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy. New Delhi: The Supreme Court allowed a plea by the Central government seeking Rs 5,000 crore allocation out of Rs 24,000 crore, which was deposited by Sahara group with the SEBI, to pay back to the depositors. A bench, passed the direction on the application filed by the government in a PIL by Pinak Mani Mohanty. IN THE COURTYARD New Delhi (ANI): Un- ion Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednes- day launched an attack on Rahul Gandhi stating that he was disqualified as MP from Lok Sabha because of his “arrogance” while also alleging that the Con- gress leader considers it his “birthright” to rule the country since he is born in a certain family . Vaishnaw said, “Ra- hul Gandhi has been disqualified because of his arrogance. He thinks it is his birthright to rule this country and that is causing all this cognitive disso- nance in his mind.” Earlier today, addressing a press conference here, the Union Minis- ter alleged that Rahul does the politics of entitlement asked if he is above the law. “When the court gave the decision over the insult of the OBC community, Rahul Gandhi today says that the court is wrong. Rahul Gandhi thinks that ruling this country is his birthright. He does the politics of entitlement. He thinks that it becomes his birthright to rule the country since he is born into a certain family. He considers himself above the Constitu- tion, court and Parlia- ment,” Vaishnaw said. “He considers himself above the country’s institutions. Rahul Gan- dhi thinks no court can give a judgement against him... He thinks that the provision in the Constitution for disqualification should not be applied to him because he is in politics with a feeling of entitlement,” he added. Furtherlashingoutat the opposition which is attempting to show unity against the Centre on the Adani issue, the Ministersaidthatallthe “corrupt” have come together on a single stage. “All the corrupt people have come together on a single stage. Their only objective is to de- rail and disturb the government and the new energy in the country. Those people should re- member how the country was looted during the UPA government and conspiracy was hatched to weaken the institutions,” he said. “When agencies take action against those who are deeply rooted in corruption, they attack the agencies. When courts pronounce order, questions are being raised on the judicial system,” he added. RaGa has been disqualified because of his arrogance: Vaishnaw RAHUL GANDHI VICTIM OF CONGRESS CONSPIRACY? ParladjournedamidruckusbyOppn OppositionsdemandedJPCtoprobeAdaniissue,raisedslogansinsupportoftheirdemand Opposition MPs wearing black attires stage a protest in the Lok Sabha demanding a JPC inquiry into the Adani Group issue during the Budget Session of Parliament, in New Delhi on Wednesday. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh speaks at the agreement signing ceremony and launch of the 7th round of the Commercial Coal Mine Auction organised by Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi, in New Delhi on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI New Delhi (ANI): Both Houses of the Par- liament were adjourned within minutes of their commencement on Wednes- day at 11 am to meet again later in the day. Like-minded Opposi- tion Party leaders held a meeting in the chamber of the Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge before the commencement of the Houses. TMC MPs staged a protest against the Cen- tre at the Ambedkar statue in the Parlia- ment seeking PM Nar- endra Modi’s reply on the Adani row among other issues. Congress has been demanding the constitution of a Joint Parlia- mentary Committee over the Adani Group issue and has also been leading the charge of the protest against Ra- hul Gandhi’s disqualification as MP from Lok Sabha. Meanwhile, Congress and Opposition parties are contemplating moving a no-confidence motion against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla next week on the ground that opposition members are not being allowed to speak, the sources said. UPROAR IN BOTH HOUSES New Delhi (Agencies): The Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023 was sent to a select committee, amid strong protest from the Opposition, especially senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, who heads the Standing Committee on Science, Technology, Environment and Forest. He called it “yet another subversion of Parliament”, accusing the government of deliberately bypassing the parliamentary panel on the subject. In the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister Bhupender Yadav moved a motion to nominate the members to the joint select committee instituted to look at the Bill. TMC MPs TO PROTEST AGAINST GOVERNMENT IN PARLIAMENT New Delhi (ANI): Trinamool Congress MPs will stage a protest at Ambedkar Statue in the Parlia- ment at 10 am on Wednesday which coincides with a two-day dharna by the party’s supremo Mamata Banerjee who will protest against the Centre in Kolkata. The TMC MPs will hold the protest over the issue of ‘Save Democracy, Feder- alism and Parliament’ while Mamata will protest for allegedly not disbursing funds for West Bengal and the Centre’s “anti-people policies”. She will protest at the Ambedkar Statue in the capital city of Kolkata at 12 pm. In a major development, the TMC backed Rahul Gandhi and Congress over his disqualification and joined the Congress meeting on March 27 in the Parliament building. New Delhi: The energy crisis faced during the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict has drawn the world's attention to- wardstheimportanceof becoming self-reliant in energy needs, said De- fence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday . He said no matter how big and developed a nation is, if it is not self- reliantforenergyneeds, then there will be hur- dles to its development. Speakingattheagree- ment signing ceremony and launch of the 7th round of commercial coal mine auction in New Delhi, Singh said India is among the world's fastest-growing economies and has become the fifth largest economy in the world. In the future, due to urbanisation and in- dustrialisation, Singh said more houses, schools, colleges, hospi- tals etc will be needed for the people. Due to the government's far- sighted policies, the country has also at- tracted the attention of foreign companies, and we have emerged as a favourite investment destination of foreign companies, he said. And it going to lead to an unprecedented consumption of energy in the country in future. In view of these needs, the government has placed the energy sector at its highest position, Singh said. Ukraineconflict taughtustobe self-reliant:Singh New Delhi (PTI): Hit- ting back at Prime Min- ister Narendra Modi for his corruption jibe at the Opposition, Con- gress president Mall- ikarjun Kharge on Wednesday accused him of running a “bhrashtachari bhagao abhiyan” (make the corrupt flee campaign) and said he must stop his image makeover by pos- ing as an anti-corruption crusader. Addressing a gather- ing after inaugurating an extension of the BJP headquarters, Modi linked the coming together of opposition parties against the BJP to his government’s campaign against corruption and said “anti-India” forces are attacking constitu- tional institutions the strong foundation of a rising India to stall the country’s growth. Congress president Kharge said Modi must look within, and asked why the BJP government in Karnataka was accused of taking 40 per cent commission. KhargeslamsPMoverhiscorruptionjibeatOppn ‘CONGRESS MUST ACT AS ‘ELDER BROTHER’ FOR OPPN PARTIES’ Srinagar (PTI): PDP president Mehbooba Mufti asked Congress to act like an “elder brother” and create space for opposition parties in their fight for democracy. “Congress will have to behave like an elder brother. It should not choke space, it should create space for other opposition parties, which have been its alliance partners in the past, to save the democracy in the country,” Mufti said. She also said the current struggle was not only about disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from the LS but for the very survival of democracy in the country. DO NOT WANT TO PLAY THE ROLE OF BIG BROTHER TO ANY PARTY: KHURSHID Srinagar (PTI): Amid unity efforts in the opposition ranks, Congress leader Salman Khurshid Wednes- day said the party does not want to play the role of a “big brother” to any party and called for a collective fight against the “big challenge.” Addressing a press conference at Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee head office here, Khurshid said it is for the collective leadership of the opposition parties to decide who will get what responsibility. “We do not want to play the role of a big brother to anyone,” Khurshid said. ‘WHY DIDN’T ANY LAWYERS INTERVENE?’ GUESTS OF HONOUR President Droupadi Murmu exchanges greetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and BJP MP Hema Malini during a breakfast hosted for the Members of Parliament from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim, at Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre, in New Delhi on Wednesday. New Delhi: Soon after the proceedings started at 11 am, the Upper House resumed following the first break earlier in the day. The House had already been suspended till 2 PM. In the midst of opposition protests in the Lower House during the current Budget Session of the Parliament, the Lok Sabha was called to adjourn earlier today. It will reconvene on April 3 at 11 am. Within the Parliament, the opposition Lawmakers shouted for a JPC investigation into the Adani-Hindunberg situation. Earlier in the day, just after convening at 11 am, LS was adjourned till its next session. BOTH HOUSES TO MEET AGAIN ON APRIL 3 H H ESSENTIAL STEPS Rajya Sabha LoP, Mallikarjun Kharge holds a like-minded Opposition Party leaders meeting at his chamber in parliament to discuss the strategy for the floor of the House, in New Delhi on Wednesday. Ashwini Vaishnaw Rahul Gandhi BUDGET SESSION —PHOTO BY ANI —PHOTO BY ANI LS SENDS FOREST AMENDMENT BILL TO SELECT PANEL GENDER-NEUTRAL LAWS ON MARRIAGE: SC REFUSES TO ENTERTAIN PLEA
MUMBAI | THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2023 06 INDIA www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia Mahesh Sharma Patna: As the Lok Sab- ha elections are coming closer, the restlessness of the Bahujan Samaj Party leaders is increas- ing. They do not under- stand what their party will do and what they should do. In fact, the problems of BSP leaders, especially the MPs of the party, have increased since the time of assembly election results. The party became completely inactive in the assembly elections. As a result, the party lost all but one seat it had won earlier. BSP won 17 MLAs in 2017 but in 2022, only one of its candidates won. That’s why the MPs are worried that if the BSP and its leader Mayawati remain inactive in the Lok Sabha as well, then what will happen to them? They fear that in a di- rect fight between the BJP and the SP alliance, the BSP will be wiped out in the Lok Sabha as well as in the Vid- hansabha. That’s why it is being told that BSP MPs are running from pillar to post and half of the 10 MPs of the party are preparing to change the party. It is being told that they are feeling that they cannot win by staying with the BSP. That’s why they are looking towards BJP or Samajwadi Party. Re- cently, BSP MP from Ambedkar Nagar Ritesh Pandey had met Samajwadi Party national president Akh- ilesh Yadav. He was earlier the leader of BSP in the Lok Sabha but a few days back Mayawati removed him from the post of leader. It is being said that he may join the Samajwadi Party. His father Rakesh Pandey has already joined Samajwadi Par- ty. Many MPs of BSP are anxious to save the Lok Sabha seat. WHAT ARE BSP LEADERS WORRIED ABOUT? BSP FACING TROUBLE FROM WITHIN AND OUTSIDE Terrorism among most serious threats to world peace: Ajit Doval New Delhi (ANI): Na- tional Security Advi- sor (NSA) Ajit Doval on Wednesday said that terrorism in all of its forms and its financing are amongst the most serious threats to international peace and security . He made the remarks at the 18th meeting of the Secretaries of Security Council of SCO member states, underlining that any act of terrorism, regardless of its motivation, is unjustifiable. “Terrorism in all its forms and manifesta- tions and its financing are amongst the most serious threats to international peace and security . Any act of terrorism, regardless of its motivation, is unjustifiable,” Doval said during his opening remarks at the Shanghai Group Meeting. Doval, in his remarks also called upon the member states to have mutual respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of member states. “The Charter calls upon member states to have mutual respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity of states, non-use of force or threat of its use in international relations, and seeking no unilat- eral military superior- ity in areas,” he added. The NSA thanked the top delegates for ac- cepting his invitation to the meeting and said the participation of officials will not only en- rich the discussions but also prepare the ground for a successful summit in a few months’ time. Regard- ing connectivity, he said that it remains a key priority for India. “We stand ready to cooperate on investing in and building connectivity in the region. Expanding connectivity is also important to ensure that such initia- tives are constituted,” he said. Doval also un- derlined that India’s foreign policy is based on these very princi- ples and reflects “our commitment in every possible manner”. He also highlighted the issue of Chabahar port during the meeting. “India is committed to fulfilling its obliga- tions in the under the International North- South Transport Cor- ridor and the inclusion of the Port within the framework of INSTC,” Doval stated. India became a member of SCO in June’17, but our relations with SCO countries go back several centuries, he added. India became a full member of SCO on June 2017, while the SCO was established in 2001. India currently holds its Presidency and is holding a series of events. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval with the top officials as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) level NSA meeting starts, in New Delhi on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI Bengaluru (ANI): Karnataka Chief Min- ister Basavaraj Bom- mai today exuded confidence in winning the state Assembly polls slated to take place on May 10 and said that the BJP is an “ever-ready party” which is prepared for the elections. The Election Com- mission of India announced the schedule for the Karnataka As- sembly polls today. Chief Election Com- missioner said that the polling will take place on May 10 and the counting of votes will be done on May 13. Speaking to the re- porters after the announcement of dates, Bommai said that the party will return to power on the basis of the work it has done for the public. “TheECIhasdeclared the election dates. Elec- tion Commission has announced the dates. Polls will take place on 10th May results will be announced on 13th May . BJP is an ever- ready party with strong organisation and we are prepared for the polls. The double-engine government has done a good job in terms of in- frastructure and others. People cutting across all sections have shown a great deal of support. I am sure that on May 13, BJP will get an absolute majority ,” he said. KARNATAKA CHIEF MINISTER ON STATE ASSEMBLY POLLS Bengaluru: Congress’s RahulGandhiwillbegin his Karnataka cam- paignnextmonthforthe state elections. In what is seen as a mark of defi- ance, the April 5 rally will be held in Kolar -- the place where Gandhi made the comment on PM Narendra Modi’s surname that led to his two-year jail term. “Rahul Gandhi will return to Kolar and begin his Satyameva Jay- ate Rally . We had re- questedhimtobeginthe electionyatrafromhere. Where he had made this statement, and which the BJP condemned his statement, he will begin his mega rally from here,” said state party chief DK Shivakumar. At a rally in the run- up to the 2019 elections, Gandhi had said, “How come all thieves have the common surname Modi” in an apparent dig at the PM with a ref- erence to fugitive busi- nessmen Lalit Modi and Nirav Modi. RaGa to start K’taka campaign from site of 2019 remark on PM Congress is Strong, will win, says Kharge on K’taka Election CVoter survey predicts clear majority for Congress New Delhi: Soon after the schedule for the Karnataka Assembly polls was announced, Con- gress president Mal- likarjun Kharge said that the party will win the polls and the high command with the opinion of vic- torious candidates will decide the chief ministerial face. New Delhi: ABP- CVoter opinion poll or survey, released on Wednesday, 29 March, has predicted a clear win for the Congress party. As per poll, Con- gress will win 115 to 127 seats, BJP will get 68 to 80 seats, and the Janata Dal (Secular) will get 23 to 35 seats. Resolve to throw out the 40 per cent commission govt, says Congress Bengaluru (Agencies): The Congress said that it is ready to face elections and resolve to throw out the “anti-people 40% commission government”. Randeep Surjewala, General Secretary In-charge of Karnataka, said the Congress will form the government with the blessings of people.“As Kar- nataka goes to polls on 10th May, 2023, Congress resolves to usher in a New Era of Peace-Progress- Prosperity and rebuild Brand Karnataka, Restore Kannadiga Pride, with Congress Guarantees at the centre of a welfare driven Government,” he said. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi arrives at the Parliament House, in New Delhi on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI Ensure no one suffer injustice: Yogi to officials UP CM Yogi Adityanath at a Janata Darshan in Gorakhpur. Gorakhpur (ANI): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adity- anath on Wednesday instructed the officials to deal strictly with those mistreat- ing the weak, help- less, and poor citi- zens and ensure that no person has to suffer injustice. During the Janata Darshan organised in Gorakhpur, the CM said, “Strictest legal action should be taken against the ones illegally en- croaching land. The government is determined not to let injustice happen to anyone and bring prosperity to everyone’s life”. On the occasion, Yogi addressed the issues of about 700 people and assured them that there would be no injustice to anyone during his tenure. Referring to everyone’s letters to the concerned authorities, along with giving instructions for quick and satisfacto- ry disposal, the CM assured the people that the government was determined to solve the problems of every complainant. Thiruvananthapuram: A case has been registered by the police against Kerala BJP President, K Surendran, in connection with his alleged derogatory remarks against women CPI(M) leaders. The case was registered against him on the complaint by CPI(M) leader and former MP C S Sujatha. An FIR under relevant sections has been registered. BJP KERALA CHIEF SUED FOR ALLEGED REMARKS AGAINST LEFT WOMEN LEADERS CRUCIAL READ Guwahati: The Assam government spent Rs 1.1 crore from a tiger conservation fund to pay for food, tents, carpets, and other things during ex-President Ram Nath Kovind’s visit to Kaziran- ga National Park last year. The information was revealed in response to an RTI query. ASSAM GOVT SPENT RS 1 CR FROM TIGER CONSERVATION MIZORAM: YOUTH ORGANIZATION TO SEAL BORDER New Delhi: Mara Thyutlia- Py (MTP), or Mara youth organization, which has its headquarters in the Siaha district of southern Mizoram, has decided to permanently close the border between Mizoram and Myanmar on March 29. The decision was made shortly after 3 people were murdered in Myanmar. Mamata on two-day dharna to protest Centre’s ‘discrimination’ UP govt clears promotion of 10 IAS officers Dr Ahtesham Siddiqui Lucknow: Apex DPC has approved the promotion of 10 IAS officers of the 1990 batch from Principal Secre- tary to Upper Chief Secretary in the country’s biggest bureau- cracy, Uttar Pradesh. Inthismeetingheldat Lok Bhavan under the chairmanship of Uttar Pradesh Chief Secre- tary Durga Shankar Mishra, Central Ferti- lizer Secretary IAS Arun Singhal from the Central Government and Additional Chief Secretary Appointment and Personnel Dr De- vesh Chaturvedi from the UP Government were present. After the approval of the Apex Committee, the file has been sent to the Chief Minister for approval. Post approval from CMO, the order will be issuedinthisregard.Af- ter promotion, all these 10 IAS officers will get a pay scale equal to the Chief Secretary rank. At present, there are 14 ACS in UP . There are rank officers, out of which 4 are retiring this year. In place of these, promoted IAS officers will be posted. ACS rank officers retiring in 2023 include IAS Sanjeev Ku- marMittal,IASNavneet Kumar Sagar, IAS Dr Prashant Trivedi and IAS Sanjay Bhoosreddy . Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the two-day sit-in that she started here on Wednesday to protest the BJP-led Union government’s alleged dis- criminatory attitude against the state was on behalf of her party, Tri- namool Congress, and not on part of the state government. Stating that she is doing a “double duty” (as West Ben- gal chief minister and TMC supremo), Baner- jee showed a copy of the Constitution at the protest site and said that the demonstration is also to “save India, save democracy”. “People were asking me wheth- er I am demonstrating on behalf of the state government or the Tri- namool Congress. I would like to tell them that I have two respon- sibilities. I am the CM of West Bengal and also the TMC chairperson. IAS Anita Singh IAS Nitin Gokarn IAS Rajneesh Gupta IAS Archana Agarwal Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav and BSP MP from Ambedkar Nagar Ritesh Pandey. BJP will return to power: Bommai
Averageincrementstodropto9.1%in2023 Mumbai (PTI): Average increments are likely to drop to 9.1% this year in almost all sectors following inflation, higher interest rates and a slowdown in the economy, according to a study . The average increment in 2022 was 9.4%, Deloitte India Talent Outlook 2023 stated on Wednesday . The study found that in 2023 increments are expected to be lower across almost all sectors, compared to 2022 actual increments. While the Life Sciences sector is expected to witness the highest increments in 2023, the IT sector will likely witness a major drop in increments as compared to last year, the study said. Additionally, attrition in India reached 19.7% in 2022, up from 19.4% in 2021, it stated. The Deloitte India Talent Outlook 2023 study is based on a survey in January 2023. ACROSS SECTORS MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS z Average increments are likely to drop to 9.1% this year in almost all sectors following inflation, higher interest rates z The average increment in 2022 was 9.4% z Attrition in India reached 19.7% in 2022, up from 19.4% in 2021 business BRIEFS New Delhi: Oil and Natu- ral Gas Corporation’s de- layed Krishna Godavari basin KG-D5 project is likely to start crude oil production in May this year and gas output a year later, a senior official said. ONGC was originally to start gas production from Cluster-II fields in block KG-DWN-98/2 (KG- D5) in June 2019 and the first oil was to flow in March 2020. The company blamed contracting and supply chains issues due to the pandemic for shifting the start of oil production first to No- vember 2021, then to third quarter of 2022 and now to May 2023. —PTI New Delhi: Online travel services provider, Make- MyTrip on Wednesday said it plans to grow its franchise base by over 50% this year to expand its reach in smaller cities and towns across India. The company is seeking to tap into the opportuni- ties provided by the government’s initiative to increase the number of airports in India by adding 80 airports over the next three years, taking the number to 220 by 2025, MakeMyTrip (MMT) said in a statement. —PTI MAKEMYTRIP PLANS TO GROW FRANCHISE BASE BY OVER 50% ONGC TO START OIL PRODUCTION FROM KG BLOCK IN MAY New Delhi: Zee Entertain- ment Enterprises Ltd on Wednesday said it has entered into an agreement with IndusInd Bank Ltd to settle all disputes and claims between the two parties. On February 24, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal stayed the insolvency proceedings that was ini- tiated against Zee Enter- tainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) on a petition filed by IndusInd Bank before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).—PTI ZEEL SETTLES DISPUTES WITH INDUSIND BANK New Delhi: Gold prices fell by `110 to `58,740 per 10 grams in the national capital on Wednes- day amid weak global trends, according to HDFC Securities. The yel- low metal had closed at `58,850 per 10 grams in the previous trade. Silver, however, jumped by `350 to `70,100 per kg. “Spot gold prices in the Delhi markets traded at `58,740 per 10 grams, down `110 per 10 grams,” Saumil Gandhi, Senior Analyst - Com- modities at HDFC Securi- ties, said. —PTI GOLD FALLS `110 PER 10 GM; SILVER JUMPS `350 PER KG MUMBAI | THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2023 07 www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia Commodity Price Change % Chg GOLD 58,740.00 110.00 0.18 (Per 10g) SILVER 70,100.00 350.00 0.49 (Per 1kg) COMMODITIES Currency Price Change % Chg USDINR 82.31 0.15 0.18 GBPINR 101.69 0.70 0.69 CURRENCIES *Rates till the edition went to print. TATA POWER SOLAR SYSTEMS BAGS 300 MW PROJECT New Delhi: Tata Power Solar Systems Ltd has bagged a 300 MW project worth `1,755 crore from state-owned NLC Ltd. The company will also do the operation and maintenance of the project for 3 years after the commercial operation declara- tion. The 300 MW Domestic Content Requirement (DCR) based project located at Bars- ingar in Bikaner is expected to generate more than 750 million units renewable energy and reduce 6 lakh tonne of CO2 annually. —PTI HONDA SETS UP DEDICATED UNIT FOR E-2WS IN K’TAKA New Delhi: Honda Motorcycle Scooter India on Wednesday said it is setting up a separate unit at its Nar- sapura plant in Karnataka to roll out electric two-wheelers with the first two models expected to hit the market in the next fiscal itself. The company aims to touch 10 lakh electric vehicles production capacity annually by 2030. “Electric mobility is growing in India and our aim is to build the country’s best EV business structure,” HMSI MD, Presi- dent and CEO said. —PTI NCLAT UPHOLDS `1,337.76 CR FINE ON GOOGLE, MAKE SOME MODIFICATIONS IN CCI ORDER New Delhi: The NCLAT on Wednesday upheld the orders of the fair trade regulator CCI imposing a penalty of `1,337.76 crore on tech major Google in the Android mobile devices case, with some modifications. A two-member bench of the NCLAT has directed Google to implement the direction and deposit the amount in 30 days. “We upheld this penalty… The appellant (google) is allowed to deposit the penalty” after adjusting 10% of the amount already deposited as per its previous order of January 4 within a period of 30 days, it said. —PTI TATA POWER PROPOSES NEW 400 KV TRANSMISSION CORRIDOR FOR MUMBAI Mumbai: Tata Power, one of India’s largest integrated power companies has proposed setting up of a high voltage 400 KV line corridor for Mumbai, to the state government and the state regulatory authority. This new transmission corridor of 400 KV will help meet the city’s growing electricity demand and enhance electricity distribution to as high as 15,000MW in future. —FIB OTHER STORIES ‘RBI EXPECTED TO DELIVER 25 BPS HIKE NEXT WEEK’ Mumbai (PTI): The Re- serve Bank may go for a final 25 basis points increase in the current rate hike cycle next week and a re- duction would come in only by the end of third quarter of FY24, economists at Axis Bank said on Wednesday . As per reports, RBI officials met economists on Tuesday, and the latter have suggested the central bank to go for a 25 basis points hike in key rates. The RBI has been hiking rates with an eye to tame inflation, which mostly remained beyond the upper tolerance limit of 6%. “I am leaning towards a further and final 0.25 per- centage point hike in rates,” Chief Economist at Axis Bank Saugata Bhat- tacharya said, adding that the hike will tame the stubbornly high core inflation. He also said the slowdown in growth visible in anecdotal evidence at present, coupled with some cool down in inflation, should prompt the six- member Monetary Policy Committee to cut rates by the end of the third quarter of FY24. He also noted that it is too early to change the “withdrawal of accommo- dation” stance of the RBI and that some tweaks can be expected in the way it is communicated at the next review on April 6. The RBI will shift the stance to “neutral” in June review. Bhattacharya said there is anecdotal evidence pointing to signs of slowdown in growth, which makes him peg the FY24 real GDP growth estimate at 6%, much below the RBI's own estimate of 6.4%. He said the evidence in- cludes working capital cy- cles getting elongated, non- bank lenders not being able to pass on rate hikes to their borrowers for fear of losing business, low-cost automobile sales getting impacted largely because of higher compliance costs pushing up prices of end goods, and, low and mid- level housing projects wit- nessing sluggish sales and enquiries. MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS z RBI officials met economists on Tuesday, and the latter have suggested the central bank to go for a 25 bps hike z Since May 2022, the RBI has hiked rates by 250 basis points, hurting borrowers z The Reserve Bank has been hiking rates with an eye to tame inflation India to start coal export by 2025-26: Coal Minister Joshi New Delhi (PTI): Assert- ing that India has adequate coal reserves, Union Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi on Wednesday said the country will start exporting the dry fuel by 2025-26. From a net importer of coal, India is moving towards becoming a net ex- porter of non-coking coal, Joshi said. The minister also assured of an uninter- rupted supply of coal in the approaching summer season — when the peak demand is expected to be 229 GW during April. Domestic demand for coal is estimated to reach 1,087 million tonnes in the ongoing financial year. The industry meets some parts of its requirements through imports. India's cumulative total estimated coal reserve as of April 1, 2022, was 3.61 lakh million tonnes (MT). On a question related to imports, he said India’s imports of substitutable coal were 90 MT, which will be stopped by 2025-26 when the country will start exporting the dry fuel. GOVT LAUNCHES 7TH ROUND OF COAL MINE AUCTIONS New Delhi (PTI): Defence Minis- ter Rajnath Singh on Wednesday launched the seventh round of auctions for commercial mining of coal blocks, putting 106 mines under the hammer. Of the total mines offered under the seventh round, 61 blocks are partially explored and 45 mines are fully explored. As many as 95 non- coking coal mines, 10 lignite mines and one coking coal mine are being offered in the latest round of auction. Sensex rallies 346 pts, Nifty near 17,100 on firm global markets Mumbai (PTI): Bench- mark Sensex rose by 346 points while Nifty closed near the 17,100 level on Wednesday amid fresh foreign fund inflows and firm trends in global markets. Buying in services, real- ty, commodities and auto stocks also added to the positive momentum. The 30-share BSE Sensex advanced 346.37 points or 0.60% to finish at 57,960.09. During the day, it jumped 510.48 points or 0.88% to 58,124.20. The broader NSE Nifty climbed 129 points or 0.76% to end at 17,080.70. Among the Sensex firms, HCL Technologies, Tata Motors, Hindustan Unile- ver, NTPC, IndusInd Bank, BajajFinserv,BajajFinance and Mahindra Mahindra were the major gainers. Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and Asian Paints were the laggards. ` FALLS 15 PAISE TO 82.31 AGAINST US $ Mumbai (PTI): The rupee declined 15 paise to close at 82.31 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday amid a rise in crude prices and a firm greenback in the overseas market. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic unit opened sharply lower at 82.26 and touched an intra-day high of 82.23 and a low of 82.37 against the greenback. It finally ended at 82.31 (provisional), register- ing a fall of 15 paise over its previous close of 82.16. Maruti Suzuki India sells over 25 lakh units New Delhi (PTI): Au- tomaker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd on Wednesday said it has crossed the 25 lakh units milestone of cumulative exports. The company , which started exports with shipments to Bangla- desh and Nepal in 1986-87, said it currently exports to nearly 100 countries, including markets in Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East. The 2.5 millionth landmark vehicle is a Maruti Suzuki Bale- no, shipped from Gujarat's Mundra Port to Latin America, the company said in a statement. No charge on normal UPI payment: NPCI New Delhi (PTI): National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on Wednes- day said there is no charge for the bank account to bank account-based UPI payments or normal UPI payments. However, interchange charges are only applicable for the prepaid payment instruments (PPI) merchant transactions and there is no charge to cus- tomers, NPCI clarified. NPCI has permitted the PPI wallets to be part of in- teroperable UPI ecosystem and levied 1.1% charge on unified payment interface (UPI) transactions above `2,000 while using PPI. “The interchange charges introduced are only applicable for the PPI merchant transactions and there is no charge to cus- tomers, and it is further clarified that there are no charges for the bank account to bank account- based UPI payments (i.E. Normal UPI payments),” it said. TOP TALKING POINTS z National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) said there is no charge for the bank account to bank account-based UPI payments or normal UPI payments z Interchange charges are only applicable for the prepaid payment instruments (PPI) merchant transactions INDIA’S MERCHANDISE IMPORTS TO CROSS $700 BILLION IN FY23 New Delhi (PTI): India’s merchandise imports are estimated to grow by about 16% to $710 billion in this fiscal due to a jump in inbound shipments of crude oil, coal, diamonds, chemicals and electronics, a report by economic think tank GTRI said on Wednesday . It also said that the Indian economy will be moderately impacted by weak global demand and recession in large economies. Six product categories - petroleum, crude oil; coal, coke; diamond, precious metals; chemicals, pharma, rubber, plastics; electronics; and machinery - account for 82% of India's total merchandise imports.
MUMBAI | THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2023 08 2NDFRONT www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia We must plan for a beautiful perfect healthy life but a sensible person also prepares for the hiccups along the way. — Dr Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India HC grants interim protection to AAP leader in SC/ST Act case First India Bureau Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednes- day granted interim protection from any co- ercive action to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Na- tional Executive member and its Mumbai unit president Preeti Sharma Menon and another party worker in connection with a case filed against them under the stringent SC/ST (Prevention of Atroci- ties) Act. A division bench of Justices SB Shukre and Miling Sathaye also stayed investigation into the case for four weeks. The bench was hear- ing a petition filed by Menon and her party colleague Manu Pillai seeking to quash the FIR (first information report) registered against them. The FIR was lodged on March 16, 2023, at the Andheri police station in suburban Mumbai on a complaint of AAP memberSanjayKamble. According to the complainant, who joined the AAP last year, on February 24 when the party's national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was in Mumbai along with his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann, he (Kamble) raised an issue of mismanagement at a meeting. At that time Pillai allegedly made casteist comments, he said. Following this, Kam- ble asked Menon to take action against her party colleague, as per the complaint. Later, on March 10, another meeting was held at AAP's Andheri office to discuss some organisational issues. However, when Kam- ble spoke at the meeting, Menon is alleged to have said that his men- tality was low, while Pillai assaulted him. Kamble was allegedly not allowed to leave the party office, where a lot of sloganeering took place. Based on the complaint, Menon and Pillai were booked under sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 500 (defamation), 504 (intentional insult) and 506 (criminal intimida- tion) of the Indian Penal Code along with relevant provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atroci- ties) Act, 1989. Menon, in her plea, has denied all the charges and claimed the FIR was lodged under the influence of ri- val political parties. Division bench of Justices SB Shukre and Miling Sathaye also stayed investigation into the case for four weeks First India Bureau Mumbai: The Con- gress has reiterated its demand for a Joint Par- liamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the Adani issue and alleged that the Modi government was scared of this inquiry . “The Congress has demanded that the Ada- ni scam be investigated by a JPC. But the Modi government is scared of it. Why is the Modi government afraid of a JPC inquiry into the Adani scam?” Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera asked, addressing a press conference here on Wednesday . “Who has invested Rs 20,000 crore in Adani Group of industries? This investment in- volves a citizen of Chi- na. Who is that person? Rahul Gandhi had raised this issue so that the people of the country should be informed about it,” he said. Khera accused the Modi government of showing special favour to the Adani group. “Adani was given a loan from the SBI (State Bank of India). Prime Minister Narendra Modi pressured the Sri Lankan government to award power sector contracts in that country to him. Modi lobbied for Adani to get the power supply contract in Bangladesh. LIC (Life Insurance Corpo- ration) investors were forced to invest their moneyinAdani’sfirm,” the Congress leader claimed. He said by questioning the rela- tionship between Adani and Modi, Rahul Gan- dhi put the central government on edge. A large part of Rahul Gandhi’s Lok Sabha speech was expunged. Congress chief Mall- ikarjun Kharge’s question on Adani was also removed from the proceedings of Parliament, Khera said. The Congress has been persistent in its attack on the government weeks after Ada- ni Group stocks took a beating on the bourses after US short seller Hindenburg Research alleged in a report that the Adani group was “engaged in a brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud”, and used offshore shell companies to inflate stock prices. The group has denied all Hinden- burg allegations, calling them “mali- cious”, “baseless” and a “calculated attack on India”. Modi govt scared of JPC probe into Adani issue, alleges Congress REITERATED DEMANDS lll Addressing the press in Mumbai, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera accused Centre of showing special favour to the Adani group AICC Media, Publicity dept chairman and Spokesperson Pawan Khera (C) along with MPCC chief Spokesperson Atul Londhe (L) and AICC Spokesperson Charan Singh Sapra address the press in Mumbai on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY BHUSHAN KOYANDE Active nCoV tally tops 2.5K with 483 additions, 3 deaths First India Bureau Mumbai: The state on Wednesday witnessed 483 new cases of COV- ID-19, taking the overall tally to 81,42,992, the health department said. Three patients suc- cumbed to the infection in the state--for the second consecutive day- -pushing up the toll to 1,48,441, said the department in a bulletin. On Tuesday, Maha- rashtrahadreported450 COVID-19 cases and three fatalities. According to the bulletin, 11,628 COVID-19 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, taking their cumulative count to 8,66,07,675. The Mumbai admin- istrative circle reported the highest 268 cases, followed by 130 in the Pune circle, 24 in Kol- hapur, 22 in Nashik, 12 in Nagpur, nine each in Latur, Akola and Au- rangabad circles, said the department. Anadministrativecir- cle consists of multiple districts. Of the eight circles, Kolhapur reported two deaths and the Mumbai circle one fatality . According to the bulletin, Mumbai city witnessed 139 COVID-19 cases, but zero fatalities, taking the overall tally to 11,55,801, while the death toll remained un- changed at 19,747. The financial capital of the county has reported more than 100 cases for the fourth time in the last few days. The number of recov- eries rose to 79,92,045 after 317 patients recuper- ated from the viral infection during the day . State’s active caseload crossed the 2,500-mark (2,506) from 2,343 a day ago,saidthedepartment. As per the bulletin, recovery rate stood at 98.15%, while the case fatality rate was 1.82%. Of the 2,506 active COVID-19 cases, the highest (731) are in Mumbai districts followed by 637 in Pune and 455 in Thane. —FILE PHOTO CM honoured with DLitt from DY Patil deemed University First India Bureau Thane: Chief Minis- ter Eknath Shinde has been awarded D.Litt by DY Patil deemed University in Navi Mumbai for his contribution to the political and social fields. The chancellor of Dr DY Patil University also awarded the D.Litt. to Vijay Darda- -the chairman of the editorial board of Lokmat Media Group and veteran parliamentarian--at the 17th convocation ceremony held on Tuesday in the presence of gover- nor Ramesh Bais and others. Darda, who received the honour for his contribution to the fields of social service and media, said it was a very prestigious, re- spected and inspiring award. “This award is very special for me as it is given by an educa- tional institution like DY Patil, which is one of the most reputed and internationally acclaimed universi- ties. What makes the degree very signifi- cant for me is that it is conferred on me for my service to society,” he said. Darda said this degree was a tribute to the ideals and teachings of his father and Lokmat Media Group founder Jawaharlal Darda. “I have carried for- ward his teachings through my work towards social development while discharg- ing my responsibili- ties as a journalist, parliamentarian, edu- cationist, author, thinker, social worker and philanthropist,” he said. Vijay Darda, Chairman of the editorial board of Lokmat Media Group, also received the honour Chief Minister Eknath Shinde —FILE PHOTO Malegaon case: 31st witness turns‘hostile’ First India Bureau Mumbai: A witness who is related to an ab- sconding accused on Wednesday became the 31stprosecutionwitness to turn hostile in the 2008 Malegaon blast trial, in which BJP MP from Bhopal, Pragya Singh Thakur, is one of the key accused. The witness, in his statement to the Maha- rashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), had allegedly said that this ab- sconding accused had met Pragya Thakur on multiple occasions. Crucially, he had allegedly also told the in- vestigative agency that hehadseentheabscond- ing accused riding a motorcycle which purport- edlybelongedtoThakur. The probe agency had claimed that this motor- bike was found at the blast site. However, during his deposition on Wednes- day , the witness told the court that these state- mentswerenottrue.Fol- lowing which, the court declared him as hostile. Earlier,duringadepo- sition two days ago, a retired IPS officer denied that he had accord- ed sanction to prosecute the accused in the case under the Unlawful Ac- tivities (Prevention) Act to bolster the theory of “saffron terrorism” being behind such attacks. 6 people were killed and more than 100 injured on Sept 29, 2008, when an explosive device went off near a mosque in Malegaon. —FILE PHOTO Aurangabad (PTI): The Bharatiya Janata Party’s ‘Gaurav Yatra’ in support of late Hin- dutva ideologue VD Sa- varkar in Aurangabad district will start from April 02, the party’s local leadership announced on Wednesday . This came a day after the BJP announced that SavarkarGauravYatras would be taken out in each district to honour Savarkar's contribution to the country and to counter Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's criti- cism against him. The Savarkar Gaurav Yatra in Aurangabad will commence on April 02 from Nirala Bazar where the statue of Sa- varkar is located, said BJP's city president Shirish Boralkar. The Yatra will go on in one constituency for two days, he said. In a press meet, BJP leader and state Co-operative Minister Atul Save said, “For the past few days, leaders of opposition parties are using insulting words against Savarkar. The people of Maharashtra cannot tolerate this for long. Therefore, BJP has decided to take out Savarkar Gaurav Yatra in every constituency,” he said. The first rally of Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders is also scheduled in Aurangabad on April 02 on Marathwa- da Sanskrutik Mandal ground. Former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, NCP leader Ajit Pawar and Con- gress state unit president Nana Patole will address the rally here. Mumbai (PTI): A magistrate's court here on Wednesday imposed a cost of Rs 1,000 on Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut for seeking adjournment in a defamation complaint filed against him by Medha Somaiya, wife of BJP leader Kirit Somaiya. The matter was listed for cross-examination of Medha Somaiya by Raut's lawyer. But the lawyer sought adjournment for the day, stating that the defence was not ready for cross-examination. Metropolitan Magis- trate (Sewree court) PI Mokashi allowed adjournment, but imposed a cost of Rs1,000 on the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader. The next hear- ing will be on April 10. Somaiya moved the courtclaimingthatRaut made baseless allegations that she and her husband were involved in a Rs100 Cr scam related to the construction and maintenance of public toilets in Mira Bhayander area. Asking for adjournment, Sanjay Raut fined `1000 BJP’s Savarkar Yatra to begin Apr 02 in Aurangabad Min Save made the announcement. —FILE PHOTO
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, MARCH 30, 2023 AttempttheImpossible! “I am fighting for many things in my life but I am sure I’ll be on the top someday,” stated gorgeous Aakriti Sanwelya who is also one of the finalists of Elite Miss Rajasthan Season 9 veryone experi- ence failure at some point in their life, even the most successful people. Although failure can be dis- couraging, it’s important to never give up and keep going, believes stunning diva Aakriti Sanwelya from Jaipur who is also one of the finalists of the Elite Miss Rajasthan Season 9. “I am a 20-year-old girl who hails from Jaipur. I am a model by profession and also an Inter- national karate champion. I am a human who loves to try new things in life and with my journey I want to motivate people,” the beauty informed. While speaking on her experi- ence of being nothing to everything she stated, “My journey began during the lock- down period in 2020. It was my life-changing decision when I decided to try modeling after watching an advertisement for a beauty pag- eant. I auditioned for Elite Miss Rajasthan and got selected as one of the top 30 finalists at the first attempt and it is all because of my mother’s support. The diva talked about the challenges she faced during the journey and how she is still determined to be on the top. Speaking on the same she conveyed, “Peo- ple think that my life is easy but it’s not true. I had to fight for everything in my life because coming from an orthodox society it was really difficult for me to enter this field. My father never supported me and initially, I had to fight for myself. During the adventure, many people tried demotivating me by saying I don’t fit the criteria of being a model but I never gave up, I’m still fighting for many things in my life but I am sure I’ll be on the top someday .” Talking about her achieve- ments she informed, “I have won Gargi Award from Rajasthan Government in studies. Apart from that I am also a 5 times International Karate Medallist, I was also a finalist of Elite Miss Rajasthan Season 9.” E MRIDULA SHARMA cityfirst@firstindia.co.in —PHOTOS BY MUKESH KIRADOO

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