First India Mumbai 03032023.pdf

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MUMBAI l FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2023 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI TITLE NO. MAHENG/2022/14652 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 295
OUR EDITIONS:
JAIPUR & MUMBAI
BJP loses Pune stronghold to Cong in bypoll
First India Bureau
Pune: In a blow to the
Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP), Congress candi-
date Ravindra
Dhangekar has defeat-
ed the former’s nomi-
nee Hemant Rasane in
the bypoll to the Kasba
Peth Assembly seat in
Pune district, which
the saffron party had
held for 28 years.
Girish Bapat, the
current BJP MP from
Pune, represented the
seat five times until
2019. In 2019, BJP’s
Mukta Tilak won the
Kasba Peth seat. She
died after battling can-
cer in December 2022,
necessitating the bypoll
to the constituency, lo-
cated in the old area of
Pune city
.
However, Thursday’s
counting showed that
Dhangekar, who was
supported by the Maha
Vikas Aghadi compris-
ing the Nationalist Con-
gress Party, Congress
and Shiv Sena —Ud-
dhav Balasaheb Thack-
eray
,managedtobreach
the BJP’s stronghold.
Dhangekar received
73,194 votes while
Rasane got 62,244 votes.
The Congress’s win is
significant, as it was
the first direct contest
between the ruling
BJP-Eknath Shinde-led
Shiv Sena combine and
the MVA, since the gov-
ernment fell in June
last year.
“This is the people’s
victory. The day I filled
the nomination form,
people of Kasba Peth
constituency decided to
make me victorious,”
said an elated
Dhangekar, who was
seen being carried by
Congress workers on
their shoulders outside
the votes counting cen-
tre here after the result
was declared.
BJP’s Rasane, while
conceding defeat, said
he as a candidate failed
in this election and will
introspect what went
wrong and where.
z Saffron party had
held the Kasba Peth
Assembly seat for a
whopping 28 years
z Bypoll marks 1st
face-off between
ruling Shinde-BJP
combine and MVA
Speaker Rahul
Narwekar snubbed
Congress leader Nana
Patole when the latter,
through a Point of
Information, told the
House that his party
(candidate Ravindra
Dhangekar), had won
the by-election to
Kasba Assembly seat
in Pune and demanded
that the Chair to give
the new member a
place to sit. “You have
been the speaker for
11 months. The Elec-
tion Commission will
inform the Legislative
Assembly about the
result and accordingly
the new member will
be given a place to sit,”
Narwekar said.
SPEAKER SNUBS
BUOYANT PATOLE
Maha Congress chief Nana Patole looks on as party workers
celebrate Ravindra Dhangekar's win, in Mumbai on Thursday.

—
PHOTO
BY
BHUSHAN
KOYANDE
‘Crisis is political, judiciary
can’t be asked to adjudicate’
New Delhi (PTI): The
Shiv Sena leader Eknath
Shinde’s faction on
Thursday told the SC
thatconstitutionalissues
arising out of the rift
with the Uddhav Thack-
eraygroupfellwithinthe
realmof politicsandthat
the judiciary cannot be
asked to adjudicate the
crisis.
Political
w a t e r s
take dif-
f e r e n t
turns at
different points,
senior advocate
Harish Salve, ap-
pearing for CM
Shinde and MLAs
of his faction, said,
addingthatthecourt
should not embark
on “assumptions”.
“It would be ex-
tremelyperilousforthis
court to embark on this
journey
. Thackeray (Ud-
dhav) resigns. Governor
calls for a floor test for a
sitting CM. Floor test
doesn’t happen. How do
you know who would
have supported whom?
What if one of his coali-
tion partners said, ‘Sor-
ry, we don’t want to sup-
port you’? We don’t
know…. And it’s not for
us to decide as lawyers.
This is in the realm of
politics. How can your
lordships be invited to
hazardthatguess,”Salve
told a five-judge Consti-
tution bench headed by
Chief Justice DY Chan-
drachud and also com-
prising Justices MR
Shah, Krishna Murari,
Hima Kohli and PS Nar-
asimha.The hearing will
resume on March 14 af-
ter Holi vacation.
Petitions facing
court was
“academic”,
Salve said,
submitting that
Uddhav never
faced floor test
PM,LoP,CJI’s panel to select
CEC and Commissioners: SC
First India Bureau
New Delhi: A constitu-
tion bench of the Su-
preme Court on Thurs-
day revamped the selec-
tion mechanism to ap-
point the Chief Elec-
tion Commissioner
(CEC) and Election
Commissioners (ECs),
ruling that a panel com-
prising the Prime Min-
ister, the LoP, and the
CJI, shall appoint them
until Parliament brings
a law in this regard.
In the absence of an
LoP, the leader of the
single largest party
in Parliament will
be included in
the collegium
to appoint the
CEC and ECs,
clarified the
bench.
PM MODI SMILES AS GIORGIA MELONI CALLS HIM...
‘MOST LOVED ONE OF ALL LEADERS’
First India Bureau
New Delhi:AsIndiaand
Italy celebrate the 75th
anniversary of their bi-
lateral relationship this
year, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi wel-
comed his counterpart
GiorgiaMelonionThurs-
day on her first visit to
India to hold a bilateral
meeting in New Delhi.
‘We are announcing
establishment of ‘Start
Up Bridge’ between In-
dia and Italy. India and
Italy are working shoul-
der to shoulder in fight-
ing terrorism and sepa-
ratism,” said PM Modi
after talks with Meloni.
“In defence sector in In-
dia, opportunities for
co-production and co-
development are aris-
ing which can be benefi-
cial for both countries.
We have also decided to
conduct regular joint
exercise and training
courses,” he said. After
holding bilateral meet-
ing, Meloni praised PM
Modi and called him the
most loved one of all
leaders. Full report on P6
l PM Modi holds talks with his
Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni
l India should use G20 to help end
Ukraine war, says Italy’s PM Meloni
l We are announcing ‘Start Up
Bridge’ between India, Italy: PM
Country will further strengthen its
relationship with Italy in the fields of
renewable energy, hydrogen, IT, telecom,
semiconductors and space. —Narendra Modi, PM
We wanted to further boost this rela-
tion and this is the reason why we have
decided to turn our partnership into a
strategic partnership because we have very solid
relationship. —Giorgia Meloni, Italian PM
PM Narendra Modi at the Ceremonial Reception of Italian PM
Giorgia Meloni, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on Thursday.
MODI SPEAKS
ADANI ROW
l One Earth, One Fam-
ily, One Future’ signals
the need for unity of
purpose as well as the
unity of action
l Post World War global
governance failed in
both its mandates of
preventing future wars,
fostering international
cooperation on issues of
common interests
l No group can claim
global leadership without
listening to those most
affected by its decisions
l India’s G20 Presi-
dency has tried to give a
voice to the Global South
l We should not allow
issues that we cannot re-
solve together to come in
the way of those we can
Top court seeks probe report
from panel within 2 months
SEBI ASKED TO COOPERATE
WITH THE EXPERTS PANEL
New Delhi: The SC on Thursday set up a six-member
panel of experts headed by a retired top court judge to
assess existing regulatory framework and make recom-
mendations to strengthen it to protect investors in wake of
Adani-Hindenburg saga. Panel constituted
by SC will be headed by retired SC judge
Abhay Manohar Sapre and will include
OP Bhat, Justice JP Devdhar, KV Kamat,
Nandan Nilekani and Somasekhar
Sundaresan. A bench of CJI DY Chan-
drachud said panel will make an overall
assessment, suggest measures to make
investors aware and strengthen the
existing regulatory measures
for stock markets.
Gautam Adani @gautam_adani
The Adani Group welcomes the order
of the Hon’ble Supreme Court. It will
bring finality in a time bound manner. Truth
will prevail.
TRIPURA, MEGHALAYA, NAGALAND ASSEMBLY ELECTION RESULTS
‘STAR’ MODI
‘SHINES’ IN NE!
Moni Sharma
New Delhi: The BJP
has scored a perfect
three in the latest round
of polls in three north-
eastern states on Thurs-
day
. Tripura and Naga-
land under its belt, with
the help of allies, efforts
are on to form govern-
mentinMeghalayaafter
renewing its tie-up with
Conrad Sangma.
In the evening, PM
Narendra Modi ad-
dressed BJP workers af-
ter the party managed to
secure big win in Naga-
landandTripuraAssem-
bly elections. PM Modi
said that the poll result
showedahugechangein
northeast. He added that
the northeastern states
arenow“naDillisedoor,
na dil se door’.
“Inpastyears,BJPhas
witnessed several such
occasions. Today
, we got
another such occasion. I
am thankful to people of
Tripura,Meghalaya,and
Nagaland. People of
these states have given
full support to BJP and
its allies,” Modi said. P5
BJP gets 3 out of 3: Keeps Nagaland,
Tripura; reunites with Meghalaya ally
Na Dilli se door, na dil se door: PM
Modi after the BJP wins big in NE
Narendra Modi, the
only Prime Minister
who visited the NE
region over 50 times
Today’s election
result is a mes-
sage to the na-
tion and to world. It shows
that in India, people trust
democracy and democrat-
ic values. That democracy
is thriving in India.
—Narendra Modi, PM
A“historic
day” for the
Northeast.
“It is evident again that
for development and
prosperity, BJP led by
PM Narendra Modi is
people’s preference.
—Amit Shah, Union
Home Minister
BJP’s success
in the Northeast
is due to Prime
Minister Modi’s efforts to
bring it into mainstream
and policy decisions for
its development.
—JP Nadda,
BJP national president
‘TRIVENI’ DRIVES
BJP’S SUCCESS
FLASHLIGHTS IN HONOUR OF
THE NORTHEASTERN PEOPLE
RESULTS OF BY-
POLLS IN 5 STATES
SANGMA CALLS
HM FOR BACKUP
MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS
‘MR CLEAN’ SAHA WINS SEAT, POSSIBLY
A SECOND TERM AS THE CM OF TRIPURA
PM Narendra Modi thanked
the hardworking party work-
ers and requested them to
open the flashlight of their
mobile phones in honour of
the people of the Northeast.
Countings of bypolls for
Ramgarh in Jharkhand,
Sagardighi in West Bengal,
Erode East in TN and Kasba
and Chinchwad in Maha
held on Thursday. Con-
gress won 3 seats, BJP 2,
and BJP-backed AJSU 1,
as votes were counted for
bypolls held for 6 Assembly
constituencies in 5 States.
P5
Meghalaya CM Conrad
Sangma called up HM
Amit Shah to seek his
help in securing another
term after his NPP fell
short of a majority in state
elections. His request was
met without delay.
l As new-found friends
Left, Congress fail to
impress, and a royal waits
in wings, the saffron party
is king in Tripura
l Nagaland’s second
woman MLA Salhou-
tuonuo Kruse is an activist
associated with women’s
organisations
l Guiding BJP campaign
before polls, steering it to
govt now, Himanta Biswa
Sarma is again man of the
moment
l Nagaland gets its first
two women MLAs in
NDPP’s Hekani Jakhalu,
Salhoutuonuo Kruse
l BJP and allies back in
power in Northeastern
states, focus shifts to
government formation
Manik Saha, tipped to be Tripura’s CM for a second term,
defeated Congress’s Ashish Kumar Saha,
by a margin of 1,257 votes from Town
Bardowali despite detractors within his own
party predicting a “tough time” for him in
the prestigious constituency. From Saha
joining the saffron party in 2016 to being
made CM last year in a brand renewal exercise.
1THE WORK OF THE
BJP GOVERNMENTS
2THE WORKING
STYLE OF THE BJP
3THE KARYAKARTAS
OF SAFFRON PARTY
TRIPURA
Alliance Results Change
BJP+ 33 -11
Cong+Left 14 -2
TIPRA 13 +13
OTH 0 0
NAGALAND
BJP+ 37 +7
NDPP
NCP 7 +7
NPP 5 +3
OTH 11 -17
MEGHALAYA
NPP 26 +6
UDP 11 +5
Cong 5 -16
TMC 5 +5
BJP 2 0
OTH 10 0
Prime Minister Narendra Modi being garlanded by BJP President J P Nadda and Union Minister Amit Shah during celebrations after
the party’s good performance in Nagaland, Tripura and Meghalaya Assembly polls, at the BJP HQ in New Delhi on Thursday.

NEWS
MUMBAI | FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2023
02
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LOP Pawar’s ‘anti-Maha govt’ remark draws ire
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Alleging
that Leader of Opposi-
tion in the Assembly
Ajit Pawar had de-
scribed the state gov-
ernment led by Chief
Minister Eknath Shin-
de as being anti-Maha-
rashtra, the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP)
moved a breach of
privilege motion
against him in the Ma-
harashtra Legislative
Council on Thursday.
BJP’sPravinDarekar
submitted the motion
against the Nationalist
Congress Party leader
to deputy chairperson
Neelam Gorhe.
On the eve of the
Budget Session, Ajit Pa-
war had called the Shin-
de-led state government
“anti-Maharashtra” for
allowing big-ticket in-
vestment projects go
out of the state.
“Pawar has insulted
the government which
is formed by elected
representatives. His
words were: ‘We (the op-
position) will not attend
the high-tea invitation
of anti-Maharashtra
government’. Leader of
Opposition in the Coun-
cil (Ambadas Danve)
was also sitting next to
him,” Darekar said.
“The high-tea invita-
tion was from the gov-
ernment. Should we
consider it an insult to
all MLAs and MLCs
who are part of this
government? A person
holding the post of
Leader of Opposition
should not have used
such inappropriate
language,” the BJP
leader added.
A serious note should
be taken of such com-
ments, he also said, and
demanded that action
be taken against Pawar.
Deputy chairperson
Gorhe said a decision
on the issue would be
taken after March 08.
A day earlier, BJP
leaders had moved a
breach of privilege mo-
tion against Shiv Sena
- Uddhav Balasaheb
Thackeray Rajya Sabha
member Sanjay Raut
for allegedly calling the
“vidhimandal” (legisla-
ture) a “chormandal”
(a body of thieves).
The Assembly Speak-
er also formed a com-
mittee to hear it.
On the same day, LOP
in the Legislative Coun-
cil Ambadas Danve also
moved a similar motion
against CM Shinde for
allegedly referring to
Opposition legislators
as “anti-national”.
Referring to the Op-
position’s boycott of
the customary pre-Ses-
sion tea party, Shinde
had said it had saved
him from having tea
with “anti-nationals”.
BREACH OF PRIVILEGE
Ajit Pawar poses for selfies with a fan outside Vidhan Bhavan on Thursday. —PHOTO BY BHUSHAN KOYANDE
‘If he is anti-national, I will
call him anti-national’, CM
on jailed NCP leader Malik
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Refusing to
withdraw his earlier
remark calling the Op-
position “anti-nation-
al”, Chief Minister
Eknath Shinde on
Thursday specifically
called jailed National-
ist Congress Party
(NCP) leader and for-
mer minister Nawab
Malik “anti-national”.
He also said that if
calling an anti-nation-
al person an anti-na-
tional is a crime, then
he would do it 50 times.
Malik has been in
jail since his arrest
last year in a money-
laundering case
linked to the activities
of Dawood Ibrahim.
“The information
received indicates
that NCP leader and
former cabinet minis-
ter Nawab Malik had
illegally purchased
land allegedly linked
to Dawood, the main
accused in the 1993
Mumbai blasts. Da-
wood not only killed
people here but also
supported terrorism
against India. How
can anyone support
those associated with
him?” Shinde asked in
the Upper House.
“Malik is indeed an
anti-national and I
will not withdraw my
comments,” he added.
If I have
committed
a crime of
calling an
anti-national person
an anti-national, then I
will repeat it 50 times. I
never called LOP in the
Assembly Ajit Pawar
or LOP in the Council
Ambadas Danve as
anti-nationals. How-
ever, they called our
government anti-Ma-
harashtra. How can we
even tolerate it?
—Eknath Shinde, CM
VOCAL PROTESTS
LOP in the Legislative Assembly Ajit Pawar and Maha Vikas Aghadi MLAs protested against the state government over the
hike in the price of LPG cylinders and other issues during the Budget Session, in Mumbai, on Thursday.
—PHOTO BY BHUSHAN KOYANDE
NAFED has bought 18,743 quintals of
onions,Dy CM Fadnavis tells Assembly
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Days after
farmers halted an auc-
tion at the Lasalgaon
Agriculture Produce
Market Committee
(APMC), Asia’s largest
onion market, Deputy
Chief Minister Deven-
dra Fadnavis on Thurs-
day said that the 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.
Fadnavis was reply-
ing in the Assembly to
Nationalist Congress
Party leader Chhagan
Bhujbal’s demand that
NAFEDpurchaseonions
directly from farmers.
Growers in the state
have raised concerns
over the falling prices
of the key kitchen sta-
ple in the wholesale
market.
The per-kg price of
onion came down to
Rs2-4 on Monday at the
Lasalgaon APMC,
prompting angry farm-
ers to stop the auction
of the kitchen staple.
Three farmer-produc-
er organizations (FPOs)
have been entrusted
with the task of buying
onions on behalf of
NAFED, said Fadnavis.
The FPOs have already
launched 10 procure-
ment centres and have
been told to open more
on APMC premises,
Fadnavis told the Lower
House. He said NAFED
has purchased 18,743
quintals of onions from
the market.
Onion prices will stay
low until the arrival of
thelongshelf liferabior
winter crop in the mar-
kets in mid-March, ex-
perts have said. There is
a supply glut in the mar-
ket which has led to
farmers getting a pit-
tance for the produce,
they said.
Lastmonth,aSolapur
farmer earned a profit
of Rs2.49 after selling
512kg onions.
Onion stocks wait to be sold. —FILE PHOTO
‘Everyone
should know
of traditional
knowledge’
MLA’s remark
on NCP chief
leads to short
adjournment
First India Bureau
Nagpur: Mohan Bhag-
wat, the chief of the
Rashtriya Swayamse-
vak Sangh, on Thursday
saideveryIndianshould
have some basic aware-
ness of the country’s
traditional knowledge
base.
Speaking at the inau-
guration of the Aryab-
hattaAstronomyParkat
Kanholibara in Nagpur,
he said: “Everyone
should have at least
somebasicknowledgeof
what we have in our tra-
dition, which can be
gained through the edu-
cation system as well as
through general conver-
sationsbetweenpeople.”
If Indians explored
traditional knowledge
bases, “many problems
of the world can be
solved with our solu-
tions”, he said.
Mumbai (PTI): The
Maharashtra Assem-
bly had to be adjourned
briefly on Thursday af-
ter Nationalist Con-
gress Party MLAs ob-
jected to an alleged
disrespectful remark
about their party chief
Sharad Pawar by
Bharatiya Janata Party
legislator Ram Satpute.
Presiding officer Yo-
gesh Sagar adjourned
the House for 10 min-
utes amid NCP de-
mands that Satpute
apologize.
When the House re-
sumed, Speaker Rahul
Narvekar said he would
go through the records
and expunge the re-
marks, though NCP leg-
islators continued to
seek an apology.
The Speaker eventu-
ally asked Satpute to
apologize, which the
latter did.
NCP hails ruling
on appointment of
CEC, ECs by SC
Mumbai (PTI): The
Party on Thursday
hailed the Supreme
Court’s ruling that the
Chief Election Com-
missioner and election
commissioners will be
appointed by the Presi-
dent on the advice of a
committee comprising
the Prime Minister,
Leader of Opposition in
the Lok Sabha and the
Chief Justice of India.
It was a landmark de-
cision that will
strengthen democracy
as the entire nation
looks up to the EC to
conduct free and fair
polls, NCP chief spokes-
person Mahesh Tapase
said.
As of now, Chief
Election Commissioner
and ECs are appointed
in terms of Article 324
of the Constitution by
the President on the
recommendation of the
Centre.
NCP MLA Jayant Patil and others addressed the media during the
Budget Session, in Mumbai on Thursday. —PHOTO BY PTI
SENSITIVE ISSUE
Sanjay Raut’s comments should
be seen in totality: Sharad Pawar
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Expressing
reservations over the
composition of the panel
formedtohearthebreach
of privilege notice
against Shiv Sena -Ud-
dhav Balasaheb Thack-
eray leader Sanjay Raut,
Partychief (NCP)Sharad
Pawar on Thursday said
the former’s comments
should be seen in their
“totality”.
Following the chaos
that ensued in the wake
of Raut’s alleged com-
ments equating the leg-
islature with a “chor-
mandal” (council of
thieves), Speaker Rahul
Narwekar on Wednes-
day set up a 15-member
privileges committee of
the House for 2023-24.
Noting that the com-
mittee is being headed
by BJP legislator Rahul
Kul, Pawar—through a
series of tweets—asked
how one could expect
justice if the complain-
ant is tasked with deliv-
ering justice. Members
who demanded strict
action against Raut are
part of the privileges
committee, added.
Notably, no one from
the Sena - UBT has been
included in the panel.
Terming Raut’s com-
ments serious and an
insult of the legislature,
the Speaker had said he
would conduct an in-
quiry and give his rul-
ing on March 08.
Pawar pointed out
that, previously
, during
the tenure of Vasantda-
da Patil, the Opposition
had equated the govern-
ment with “
Ali Baba and
the 40 Thieves”. He said
such criticism of the
state legislature is not
acceptable. However, he
added, the case needs to
be handled sensitively
and it is to be seen
whether Raut’s com-
ments referred to a par-
ticulargrouporthestate
legislature.
The members of the
privileges committee
should have been unbi-
ased and senior legisla-
tors, said Pawar, adding
that Raut is a senior
member of the Rajya
Sabha and considera-
tion should be given to
legal advice and consti-
tutional provisions be-
fore taking any action in
this matter.
NCP chief
expresses
reservation over
composition of
breach of
privilege
committee
Sharad Pawar —FILE PHOTO
‘INAPPROPRIATE’

MAHARASHTRA
03
NERUL WARD
REMOVES OVER
185 HUTMENTS
Navi Mumbai: NMMC’s
Anti-Encroachment De-
partment demolished 185
huts and 3 structures in
Nerul’s Sector 22, which
was reserved for a park.
CIDCO had transferred the
plot to NMMC for park de-
velopment. The demolition
was done with the help
of 1 Pokalan machine,
2 JCBs and 2 dumpers,
in the presence of ward
officials, police and En-
croachment Department
staff. The Deputy Com-
missioner (Encroachment)
of NMMC supervised the
process.
UPGRAD CHEATED
BY TWO STAFFERS
OF `12.76 CRORE
Mumbai: UpGrad Educa-
tion pvt ltd, has filed
a complaint of fraud
against two of its senior
executives for allegedly
defrauding it of ₹12.76
crore. The accused
sent bogus invoices to
UpGrad’s finance depart-
ment and fraudulently
received the salaries of
vendors and 102 teachers
between September 2021
and November 2022.
Varun Garg, President of
Learning Experience at
UpGrad, on Tuesday filed
the complaint against the
two accused.
MAN POSES AS
UNION MEMBER TO
EXTORT `1.2 LAKH
Mumbai: The police
arrested a 23-year-old
Khar Danda resident on
Wednesday for extorting
Rs 1.2 lakh from a repair
and renovation com-
pany. Posing as a Mathadi
kamgar union member, he
had visited the Altamonte
Road flat where the work
was being done and
demanded money. The
police then tracked the
account details and ar-
rested the accused, Mobin
Haneef Shaikh.
MAN FOUND DEAD;
HUNT ON FOR
UNKNOWN KILLERS
Thane: Body of a 40-year-
old man with injury marks
is found in Thane follow-
ing which police have
registered a case of mur-
der against unidentified
persons, an official said. A
body with wounds on the
neck was discovered on a
dumping ground in Kon-
gaon area on Wednesday
night. The deceased was
identified as local resident
Govind Bablu Kamble and
a bamboo stick was found
near body, he said.
COPS USE FRIEND TO LURE 26-YEAR-OLD
IT ENGINEER DRIVER WHO INJURED COP
Mumbai: The Bandra police arrested a 26-year-old IT engi-
neer, Sahil Abbas Ali, in connection with a hit-and-run case
where a red Audi injured a constable on the Bandra Worli
Sea Link (BWSL) early on Saturday morning. The police
traced the car with the help of CCTV cameras at the BWSL.
A police officer said, “We took the help of a friend of his,
who requested him to come to the city on an urgent basis.
When he arrived, we arrested him under Sections 279 and
337 of the Indian Penal Code, which deal with rash driving.”
64-YEAR-OLD DIES AFTER CONSUMING
WRONG MEDICINE, PHARMACIST HELD
Mumbai: The Bhoiwada police arrested a pharmacist for
selling the wrong medicine which resulted in the death of a
64-year-old Parel man. The pharmacist was released on bail
the same day. Janardan Doiphode, who was hospitalised at
KEM hospital in Parel along with his 54-year-old wife, died
on Saturday. The deceased’s wife was discharged from the
hospital on Tuesday evening with instructions to monitor
her health. Officials of the Food and Drugs Administration,
Maharashtra, visited Bharatiya Generic Aushadhe after the
FIR was filed and seized the whole batch of Methotrexate
7.5 and its order and sale invoices.
ONE KILLED, ANOTHER SEVERELY HURT
AFTER CAR RAMS INTO AUTO-RICKSHAWS
Thane: One person was killed while another was severely
injured after a car rammed into two auto-rickshaws at
Thane’s Eastern Express Highway, police said. The de-
ceased has been identified as Abhimanyu Arjun Prajapati.
The injured person identified as Ahmed Ansari is an advo-
cate by profession. “A car rammed into two rickshaws in
which the rickshaw driver died on the spot and one person
was injured. After the accident, the car driver fled leaving
the car on the spot,” said the police.
CRUCIAL READ
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The Brihan-
Mumbai Municipal
Corporation (BMC) has
cautioned citizens
against damaging or
cutting down trees dur-
ing the upcoming Holi
celebration, as those
who violate this rule
could face heavy fines
and a prison sentence
of up to one year.
Drawing attention to
the provisions of Maha-
rashtra (Urban Areas)
Tree Protection Con-
servation Act, 1975, the
BMC said it is “a crimi-
nal offence to cut any
tree without prior per-
mission of the Tree Au-
thority”.
BMC has warned that
thoseindulginginunau-
thorised tree-felling ac-
tivities can be fined be-
tweenRs1,000toRs5,000,
and a jail term ranging
from one week to one
year for committing the
criminal offence.
The Brihanmumbai
Municipal Corporation
(BMC) has appealed to
citizens to be alert and
report any illegal tree-
felling activities dur-
ing Holi in the city to
the civic officials or the
local police station.
They have also urged
‘green vigilantes’ to
take action against
such activities.
Everyyear,thousands
of tonnes of wood are
reduced to ashes during
Holika in Mumbai,
alarming environmen-
talistsandnaturelovers,
with many instances of
trees being chopped or
felled illegally, even as
the city grapples with
the effects of global cli-
mate change.
This year, Holi, the
festival of colours is
due to be celebrated on
March 08, with the ‘Ho-
lika Dahan’ (burning)
on the previous
night, with a host of
related events lined up
by ordinary folks and
celebrities.
BMC warns of fine/one year jail for harming trees
HOLIKA DAHAN
Every year, thousands of tonnes of
wood is burned during Holika Dahan,
causing concern among nature lovers
due to illegal tree chopping and felling
KEEPING A CHECK
—File Photo
HC relief for govt staff who
retired a day before pay hike
First India Bureau
Mumbai: In relief to
more than 60 senior citi-
zens,Aurangabadbench
of the Bombay High
Court has directed state
chief secretary and
principal secretary (fi-
nance department) to
pay dues to government
employees who retired
on June 30.
As per the recom-
mendations of the 6th
pay commission, July
01 was fixed for the date
of increment for all
state and Central gov-
ernment employees, to
maintain uniformity
.
Thecourthadmerged
petitions of over 60 state
government employees
who retired between
2015 and 2021, leading
legalexpertstopointout
that the order has made
it clear that such issues
need not even reach the
courtascourtshavecon-
tinuallypassedordersto
this effect.
Details of the order,
which was passed on
February 16, were made
available only recently
.
In their twenty-three-
page order, Justices San-
jay Deshmukh and
Ravindra Ghuge ob-
served: “His (a petition-
er’s) retirement fell on
June30,2019,andhadhe
retired on July 01, 2019,
he would have been enti-
tledtoannualincrement
as is provided under
Rule 10 of the Central
Civil Services (Revised
Pay) Rules, 2008. Consid-
ering this provision,
Government of Maha-
rashtra revised the Ma-
harashtraCivilServices
(RevisedPay)Rules,2009
and brought uniformity
in the payment of an-
nual increments vide
sectionno29.Thereisno
dispute that petitioner
had worked up to June
30, 2019. He has thus
completed one year pri-
or to his retirement. He
would be entitled to an
annual increment, but
for the fact that Rules
prescribedthathewould
be entitled to such an in-
crement if he worked on
July 01, 2019, when it be-
came payable. The issue
raised in this petition
has been squarely cov-
eredbyjudgementdeliv-
ered by the learned divi-
sion bench of the Ma-
dras high court on Sep-
tember 15, 2017, in the
writ petition filed by P
Ayyamperumal vs The
Registrar, Central Ad-
ministrative Tribunal
and others.”
Litigants
petitioned that
they are entitled
to the increment
which came into
effect a day after
they retired
from the service
We direct the
chief secretary
and principal
secretary (finance de-
partment) of Maharash-
tra to issue appropriate
directions to all depart-
ments concerned to ap-
peal to such candidates
who fall in such category
having retired on June
30 of the particular
years and who have
earned the annual incre-
ment on account of per-
forming work for 12
months ending on June
30, to tender their appli-
cations to the authorities
concerned.
—Bombay HC
Man held for raping child,
dumping body after murder
First India Bureau
Palghar: A 45-year-old
man from Maharash-
tra’s Palghar district
has been arrested on the
charge of kidnapping,
rape and murder of a
10-year-old girl, an offi-
cial said on Thursday
.
The girl from Talasa-
ri taluka went to school
but did not return
home, prompting her
family to approach the
police, said Sachin Nav-
adkar, the public rela-
tions officer of the Pal-
ghar rural police.
Four police teams
pieced together many
leads and intelligence
inputs to zero in on a
neighbour of the girl.
He was then taken into
custody on suspicion,
the official said.
During interroga-
tion, the man said he
took girl to Sanjan in
Gujarat, less than 20 km
from Talasari, where he
raped and killed her be-
fore dumping the body
in a forest, official said.
Palghar police then re-
covered the body and
sent it for a post-mor-
tem, he added.
20-year jail term for man
who raped minor niece
First India Bureau
Palghar: A man was
sentenced to 20 years
in jail by a court for
raping his wife’s
brother’s minor
daughter several
times in 2019. He was
convicted by Special
Judge MS Deshpande
under Indian Penal
Code and Protection
of Children from Sex-
ual Offences (POCSO)
Act on Tuesday, and
details of the order
were made available
on Thursday
.
The minor’s father
was a fisherman and
her mother died some
time ago, due to which
she was in the care of
her grandmother and
otherkin.Theaccused
would often rape her
when no one was
around and threaten
her to not reveal the
ordeal to anyone, as
per the prosecution.
The accused was
arrested after she
confided in the ac-
cused’s son, who in
turn told her father,
after which a case
was filed at Gholwad
police station.
FOR LUCK!
Students are welcomed with flowers on the first day of Secondary School Certificate exams at
Saraswati Mandir High School in Mahim area on Thursday. —PHOTO BY BHUSHAN KOYANDE
Five tigresses to be shifted
from Chandrapur to NNTR
First India Bureau
Gondia: Four to five ti-
gresses will be shifted
from Chandrapur dis-
trict to the Nawegaon
Nagzira Tiger Reserve
in the next 10 days and
preparations for this
translocation are in the
final stages, a forest de-
partment official said
on Thursday
.
On Wednesday, Prin-
cipal Chief Conserva-
tor of Forests Mahep
Gupta and Conservator
of Forests and Field Di-
rector (NNTR) Jayar-
ame Gowda R visited
the area to review prep-
arations, he said.
“In the first phase,
two tigresses will be re-
leased. NNTR’s core
area is 656 square kilo-
metres, while the buffer
area is 1,200 square kilo-
metres. It has the poten-
tial to host 20-25 tigers
as per experts of the
Wildlife Institute of In-
dia whereas the present
population is 10,” he
said.
“Most importantly,
the male to female ratio
of tigers is poor in
NNTR. We have five
males and three fe-
males. In an ideal sce-
nario, the number of
females must be two
times that of the males.
This translocation
from Chandrapur hope-
fully will set some of
these aspects right,” he
added.
Officiating Deputy
Forest Officer Pradip
Patil said the plan was
to release tigresses
with minimum human
imprints and from
“wild to wild” to avoid
conflict situations, and
favourable habitat and
prey conditions are be-
ing set up.
Honorary Wildlife
WardenSawanBahekar
(Gondia) and Nadeem
Khan (Bhandara) wel-
comedthemove,though
both said more work
must be done for weed
eradication in the re-
serve and improving
water availability
.
BMC raises retirement age, faces MMTA ire
First India Bureau
Mumbai: After the Bri-
hanmumbai Municipal
Corporation’s (BMC)
approval to the propos-
al of increasing the re-
tirement age of medical
teachers from 62 to 64,
the Municipal Medical
Teachers Association
has now decided to pro-
test over the same.
The civic body’s de-
cision has agitated all
the medical teachers as
according to them, it
will affect their promo-
tions and is a one-sided
decision.
Dr Ravindra Deokar,
Secretary, MMTA said
the decision is unaccep-
table, stating that the
solution to the vacant
positions is not age ex-
tension but time-bound
promotions and recruit-
ments through the Ma-
harashtra Public Ser-
vice Commission. They
argue that if senior
staff are given an exten-
sion, it will further de-
lay the promotion pros-
pects of those waiting.

PERSPECTIVE
04
l Vol 1 l Issue No. 295
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
FROM SARKARI
TO SWANKY
henever we think of a govern-
mentoffice,whatreallycomes
to our mind? Old dilapidated
buildings, dimly lit long cor-
ridors, cramped rooms where
babus are buried over a pile
of dusty files, and ofcourse
the sight of peons carrying
tea around. Isn’t it?
Well, you will be in for a big
surprise if you climb up to
the first floor of the Vigyan
Bhavan building on Delhi’s
Maulana Azad Road. This
quasi-government organiza-
tion in Delhi’s posh locality
looks anything but “sarkari”.
Swanky corporate office with
young professionals busy on
their laptops. We are talking
about the office of Invest In-
dia, the government’s invest-
ment promotion agency
.
This organization is work-
ing day in and day out to ful-
fill PM Modi’s vision of
transforming “red tape into
red carpet”. What started in
2009 as a joint venture be-
tween the center and the pri-
vate sector remained largely
dead till 2015. Thats when
Deepak Bagla was appointed
as head of Invest India and
the turnaround story there-
after, is simply mind-blow-
ing. Since then this organiza-
tion has remarkably worked
to drive foreign investments
into the country and seal In-
dia’s position on the global
investments map.
INVEST INDIA 2.0
Modi’s government after
coming to power in 2014,
rolled out the Make in India
campaign in September 2014.
The government needed a
dedicated agency that could
target foreign companies and
pursue them to invest in In-
dia. Instead of creating a new
agency altogether, they de-
cided to give life to the exist-
ing one. This led to the birth
of Invest India 2.0 which was
given the mandate of chasing
big foreign companies with
little presence in India and
handhold them to set up fac-
tories in the country
.
THE “NEW INDIA”
“We are good at joining the
dots”. That’s how Mr. Bagla
describes his team. Invest In-
dia under his leadership was
alone instrumental in getting
investments worth Rs. 3 lakh
crores ($33 billion). In fact,
India received a record level
of FDI worth $83 billion in
2021-22, despite the pandemic
and the ensuing lockdown
worldwide. From having 452
startups in 2015, India has
come a long way
.
WHAT SETS THIS
STARTUP APART?
From offering personalized
services to a dedicated RM
for each investor, this “start-
up of the Government of In-
dia,” has a unique business
strategy to attract foreign
investments. Let’s under-
stand what really sets them
apart from other govern-
ment-led organizations.
l QUASI PRIVATE
Government has a 49% eq-
uity stake in Invest India
while the rest is equally di-
vided among three industry
bodies — CII, FICCI, and
Nasscom — thereby techni-
cally making it a private en-
tity. More than 23 states also
have a stake in Invest India.
The involvement of the pri-
vate sector has been para-
mount to avoid bureaucratic
delays in its functioning.
l YOUNG AND
DRIVEN TEAM
The team comprising of 411
people with a rich pedigree
and prior experience in re-
puted financial and consult-
ing firms. The average team
age of 29 years is completely
unheard of in any govern-
ment operation. This has en-
sured a professional culture
within the organization with
a focused and driven attitude.
l ONE-STOP-SHOP
The idea behind Invest India
was to remove red tape and
bureaucracy and provide ded-
icated service throughout,
from location hunting to get-
ting approvals and funding.
They have strived to provide
a one-stop point of contact for
foreign investors and have
handheld them in the entire
process. There have been sev-
eral successful use cases, par-
ticularly their Startup India
mission. They have boot-
strapped startups like the
pharma-based 1mg, which
has now been acquired by the
Tata group, allowing them to
get in touch with the right
people and entry into the
highly competitive market.
l LOW BUDGET
Invest India has been one of
the world’s most successful
investment promotion agen-
cies (IPA) and operates on the
lowest budget. Most employ-
ees worked in the private sec-
tor and have chosen to take
pay cuts, ranging from 7% to
93%. Praised for their “can
do” mindset, they have deliv-
ered outstanding results
with effective utilization of
resources.
l INNOVATIVE
SOLUTIONS
Invest India has charted its
path to success by offering in-
novative solutions to com-
plex problems. An example
would be how they landed
Sweden-based safety airbags
manufacturer Autoliv de-
spite other favourable invest-
ment markets available like
Philippines, Vietnam, and
Thailand. Invest India found
out that the company had
shortlisted a location in
Chennai but backed out due
to cost concerns. They sim-
ply offered another piece of
land a bit farther away from
Chennai in Cheyyar town
and opted for a lease model.
l STATE
PARTICIPATION
Invest India has brought FDI
to 31 states and Union terri-
tories, encouraging partici-
pation and creating competi-
tion between the states where
they are vying against the
others for investment. Every
state tries to exhibit the best
practices and weaker states
are partnered up with strong
ones to encourage the devel-
opment of the entire country
.
This is a significant improve-
ment from previous instanc-
es where the bulk of FDI was
pocketed by a few larger
states only
.
Rajnath Singh
@rajnathsingh
Congratulations to PM Shri @
narendramodi and Party President Shri
@JPNadda for scripting new success
stories in the North East. I appreciate
the hard work of BJP karyakartas in
Tripura, Nagaland Meghalaya. I
express my gratitude to the people for
their support to the BJP.
Anurag Thakur
@ianuragthakur
Aastha, stressed on the role of youth
as decisive stakeholders in democracy.
Her thoughts resonate with young
India which is a contributor in India’s
growth story today!
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
Let him not deceive
another nor despise
anyone anywhere. In
anger or ill will let him
not wish another ill.
—Buddha
IN-DEPTH
AFTER THE CRIME,
SPECIAL COURT’S
“SHOCKING” ORDER
IN HATHRAS CASE
Special SC/ST
court’s judgment ac-
quitting three of the
four accused in the
2020 rape and murder
case of a 19-year-old Dalit and
convicting the main accused
Sandeep Singh only for culpable
homicide not amounting to mur-
der and sections of the SC/ST
Act but not of rape in has left the
victim’s family shocked. The
family has a reason for that.
The woman was criminally
assaulted and killed by four up-
per caste men in Hathras on Sep-
tember 14, 2020. Eleven days af-
ter the brutal crime the woman
died in Delhi’s Safdarjung Hos-
pital. Her body was allegedly
cremated without the consent of
her family members at 3.30 am
which the Allahabad High Court
said “is prima facie an infringe-
ment on the human rights of the
victim and her family. The CBI
which investigated the case filed
chargesheet against the four ac-
cused for rape and murder. If
there was no rape and murder,
what did the CBI based its
chargesheet on?
TOP TWEETS
A
ppointments to
the Election Com-
mission have
been under scru-
tiny after growing
perception that pliable bu-
reaucrats helming the poll
body were compromising the
institution’s independence.
The Supreme Court’s five-
judge Constitution bench
headed by CJI DY Chandra-
chud has, in a unanimous
landmark verdict, ruled that
the election commissioners
will be appointed by a three-
member committee compris-
ing the prime minister, lead-
er of Opposition and the
Chief Justice of India. This
will give some hope to those
who feared that one demo-
cratic institution after an-
other was being made to kow-
tow to the government’s will.
Whether this mechanism,
which will be in place until a
law is framed, would be suc-
cessful is hard to predict.
The court which had ques-
tioned “the tearing hurry” in
the appointment of Arun
Goel in 2022, observed “Elec-
tion Commission has to be
independent, it cannot claim
to be independent and then
act in an unfair manner. A
person in a state of obliga-
tion to the State cannot have
an independent frame of
mind. An independent per-
son will not be servile to
those in power.” Last year the
SC asked if it would not be “a
complete breakdown of sys-
tem” if the CEC does not act
against the prime minister.
Opposition parties would
often recall TN Seshan’s con-
tribution in giving the Elec-
tion Commission the gump-
tion to take on political mas-
ters. JM Lyngdoh carried on
Seshan’s legacy with equal
firmness. In the recent past,
however, some who ques-
tioned the govt’s actions were
shown the door. To insulate
CEC and ECs from political
whims the bench ordered
that they can be removed
only through impeachment.
A RAY OF HOPE
FROM TOP COURT
Appointments to the Election
Commission have been
under scrutiny after
growing perception that
pliable bureaucrats
helming the poll body
were compromising the
institution’s independence
A
TRENDS FUELLING
INDIA’S FDI STORY
W
INDIA @100
The organization can pick
up lessons from China
which has successfully
transformed into the
factory of the world.
Nowhere is this
phenomenon more
apparent than in China.
China has outpaced not
just India but all other
emerging countries when it
comes to building the right
ecosystem for foreign
investments. Whether it is
the development of
supporting infrastructure,
a strong workforce,
financial incentives, or
favourable policies. For
countries like China and
India, FDI is very crucial
for spurring development
and sustaining the
country’s economy as a
competitive one in the
global marketplace. India
too needs to build the right
complementary ecosystem
Modi’s government
after coming to
power in 2014, rolled
out the Make in India
campaign in September
2014. The government
needed a dedicated
agency that could target
foreign companies
and pursue them to
invest in India

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05
INDIA
DON’T THREATEN,
LEAVE MY COURT:
CJI TO SCBA PREZ
New Delhi (PTI): A heated
exchange of words was wit-
nessed in the SC between
Chief Justice D Y Chandra-
chud and Supreme Court
Bar Association (SCBA)
president Vikas Singh in a
case related to allotment of
land for lawyers’ chambers
with the CJI directing the
senior lawyer not to raise
his voice and leave the
court. Singh told the bench
that he was struggling to
get the matter listed for the
last six months.
HIGH COURT
REJECTS ‘LOVE
JIHAD’ CLAIM
Mumbai (PTI): A relation-
ship cannot be dubbed
as a form of ‘love jihad’
just because the boy and
the girl belong to different
religions, the Aurangabad
bench of the Bombay HC
has said while granting
pre-arrest bail to a Muslim
woman her family. A
division bench of Justices
in the order passed on
February 26 granted antic-
ipatory bail to the accused
who were denied relief by a
local court in Aurangabad.
COURT DISMISSES
BAIL PLEA FILED
BY SIVASANKAR
Kochi (ANI): A Special
Prevention of Money
Laundering Act (PMLA)
Court on Thursday
dismissed the bail plea
filed by M Sivasankar,
former Principal Secretary
to the Kerala CM Pinarayi
Vijayan in connection with
the LIFE Mission Scam
Case. He is currently
under judicial custody
till March 8. Last month,
the PMLA court sent Siv-
asankar to judicial custody
till March 8.
BAIL TO IO IN RAPE
VICTIM’S FATHER’S
DEATH CASE
New Delhi (ANI): The Del-
hi High court on Thursday
granted interim bail of two
weeks to the Investigation
Officer (IO) of the case of
custodial death of Unnao
rape victim’s father. He
was sentenced to ten
years imprisonment in
the matter. Justice Dinesh
Kumar Sharma granted in-
terim bail to Kamta Prasad
Singh for the period from
March 4 to March 18.
His son’s engagement is
scheduled on March 11.
SUKESH CHALLENGES MONEY LAUNDERING
CHARGES, DELHI HC SEEKS STAND OF ED
New Delhi (ANI): Sukesh Chandrashekhar has challenged
the order framing charges against him in a money laundering
case related to the Election Commission bribery case of 2017.
Incidentally, the main case has been stayed by the Delhi HC.
Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma after hearing the arguments
for Sukesh Chandrashekhar and Enforcement Directorate (ED)
asked them to file their written submissions. He said that the
matter needs further consideration. Justice Sharma said, “I
am not issuing notice. Both of you file written submissions.”
CRUCIAL READ
New Delhi (Agencies):
For Congress leader Ra-
hul Gandhi said during
his lecture on Tuesday
at the University of
Cambridge that the an-
ger over shifting of
manufacturing from
“democratic countries”
like India and the US to
China needs “urgent at-
tention and dialogue”.
Speaking at the uni-
versity’sJudgeBusiness
School on the subject
‘Learning to Listen in
the 21st Century’, Gan-
dhi focussed on the “art
of listening” and called
for a new thinking to
promote a democratic
environment globally
.
The “art of listening”,
when done consistently
and diligently, is “very
powerful,” he said.
“We simply cannot af-
fordaplanetthatdoesn’t
produce under demo-
cratic systems. So, we
need new thinking
about how you produce
in a democratic environ-
ment compared to a co-
erciveenvironment,and
a negotiation about
this,” he said.
Gandhi’s lecture in-
cluded the mention of
the Bharat Jodo Yatra,
the recently-concluded
4,000-km walk led by
him through 12 states
from September 2022 to
January 2023 to draw at-
tention to “prejudice,
unemployment and
growing inequality in
India”. He explained to
the MBA students that a
“yatra” is a journey or
pilgrimage in which
people “shut themselves
down so they can listen
to others”.
His lecture also ad-
dressed the “two diver-
gentperspectives”of the
US and China since
World War II, especially
since the 1991 collapse of
theSovietUnion.Gandhi
said that in addition to
sheddingmanufacturing
jobs, the US had become
less open after the Sep-
tember 11, 2001, terror
attacks. Meanwhile Chi-
na,hesaid,“idoliseshar-
mony” through organi-
sation around the Chi-
nese Communist Party
.
In the final leg of his
lecture, Gandhi talked
about the “Imperative
for a Global Conversa-
tion”, as he knitted the
different strands togeth-
er in a call for a new type
of receptiveness to vari-
ous viewpoints.
Rahul Gandhi calls for new thinking to promote democratic environment globally
RAHUL SPEAKS AT CAMBRIDGE IN NEW AVATAR
lll
RaGa’s lecture
included Bharat
Jodo Yatra,
which he said
was held to
draw attention to
“unemployment,
inequality”
THE CAMBRIDGE CONNECTION
NORTH EAST ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS
‘WillacceptalldemandsofTipra
Motha,exceptGreaterTipraland’
State BJP chief
spokesperson
said the party
was marching to
form next govt
Agartala : The BJP on
Thursday said it was
ready to accept all de-
mands of Tipra Motha,
except for Greater Ti-
praland, if the new par-
ty led by former royal
Pradyot Debbarma ex-
tends its support.
State BJP chief
spokesperson Subrata
Chakraborty said his
party was marching to
form the next govern-
ment in the state.
“We are forming the
next government in the
state as we have been
saying since the begin-
ning. Two central lead-
ers Phanindranath Sar-
ma Sambit Patra are
here to oversee the situ-
ation, hopefully
, more
central leaders will be
arriving today
,” he said.
On the possibility of
taking the support of
the Debbarma-led party
,
he said, “Except Great-
er Tipraland, the BJP is
ready to accept all their
demands.” The BJP was
leading in 33 seats in
the 60-member House,
while its partner IPFT
was ahead in one seat.
The Tipra Motha,
was leading in 11 seats.
The opposition Left-
Congress alliance was
ahead in 15 seats.
BJP supporters during the victory celebrations in the state assembly elections, in Agartala on Thursday. —PHOTOS BY ANI
BJP supporters celebrate Tripura Chief Minister and party
candidate from Bordowali Town Manik Saha’s victory in the state
assembly elections, in Agartala on Thursday.
‘BJP WILL NOT BE ABLE
TO SIDELINE ISSUES’
NAGALAND GETS ITS
FIRST WOMAN MLA
LEFT-BACKED CONGRESS CANDIDATE LEADS
TRINAMOOL IN BENGAL’S SAGARDIGHI
IN TAMIL NADU’S ERODE, CONGRESS CANDIDATE
ELANGOVAN AHEAD BY OVER 31,000 VOTES
New Delhi: Pradyot
Manikya Debburman,
whose tribal-dominated
party Tipra
Motha made
headlines in
the assem-
bly polls in
Tripura said
that their
growing presence will
ensure that the BJP will
not be able to “sideline”
issues relating to tribals.
New Delhi: Two women
created history in Naga-
land, becoming the first
two women
to win the
Assembly
polls. Hekani
Jakhalu and
Salhoutu-
onuo Kruse
are both from Nagaland
Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio’s
Nationalist Democratic
Progressive Party (NDPP).
Sagardighi: Congress candidate Bayron Biswas is march-
ing ahead of his rivals in minority-dominated Sagardighi
assembly seat of West Bengal’s Murshidabad district,
where counting of votes for a by-election is underway,
according to the Election Commission (EC). Mr Biswas,
who enjoys the support of the Left, was leading by 14,157
votes over TMC candidate Debashish Banerjee, EC trends
revealed around 1.30 pm. The Congress leader bagged
56,203 votes, and Banerjee 42,046 votes thus far. Dilip
Saha of the BJP secured 18,732 votes.
Sagardighi: EVKS Elangovan, the Congress candidate in
Tamil Nadu’s Erode byelection, is leading by a comfortable
margin against AIADMK’s KS Thennarasu, initial trends show.
With 31,884 votes, Congress is leading ahead of AIADMK
and DMDK. The byelection was necessitated by the death of
Congress MLA Thirumahan Everaa earlier. Thirumahan, son of
Elangovan, died of a cardiac arrest. Congress workers started
celebrating as initial trebds started showing Elangovan, sup-
ported by the DMK, leading at Erode assembly constituency.
NAGALAND BJP CHIEF TEMJEN IMNA
ALONG WINS FROM ALONGTAKI SEAT
Kohima: Nagaland BJP chief Temjen Imna Along
on Thursday won the assembly election from
Alongtaki constituency. The state BJP chief defeat-
ed Janata Dal (United) candidate J Lanu Longchar
by a margin of 3,748 votes. He bagged a total of
9,274 votes with a vote share of 62.5%. As per the
latest counting trends, shared by the (ECI at 3.05
pm today, the ruling alliance of BJP and NDPP has
bagged 19 seats so far. Nagaland Chief Minister
bagged a total of 17,045 votes, which comes to
92.87 per cent of the total votes polled in the seat.
BYPOLLS IN 5 ASSEMBLY SEATS
Congress gets its first MLA
in WB Assembly as Biswas
wins Sagardighi bypoll
Sagardighi: The Con-
gress on Thursday se-
cured a seat in the pre-
sent Bengal assembly
as its candidate Bayron
Biswas won the Sagar-
dighi bypoll, defeating
the nearest rival of the
TMC by 22,980 votes.
After 16 rounds of
counting, Biswas, who
enjoys the support of
the Left, bagged 87,667
votes, according to the
EC website.
Debasish Banerjee of
the TMC garnered
64,681 votes, while Dilip
Saha of the BJP re-
ceived 25,815 votes, the
EC wsebsite revealed.
Byelection to the con-
stituency
, seen as a pres-
tige fight for state Con-
gress president Adhir
Chowdhury in his home
districtof Murshidabad,
was necessitated follow-
ing the death of state
minister Subrata Saha
in Dec 2022. In the 2021
assemblyelections,Con-
gress and the Left Front
had failed to open their
account in the WB as-
sembly
, for the first time
since independence.
CPIM backed Congress candidate Bayron Biswas has won the
Sagardighi bypoll. —FILE PHOTO
Mann meets Shah; state-Centre
to work together on security
BRS protest in
Hyd against
price hike of
LPG cylinders
New Delhi (PTI): Pun-
jab Chief Minister
Bhagwant Mann on
Thursday met Union
Home Minister Amit
Shahanddiscussedwith
him prevailing law and
order situation in the
state and decided that
the central and state se-
curity agencies will
work together to deal
with all security related
issues, sources said.
Mann briefed Shah
about the circumstanc-
es leading to the Ajnala
incident. On February
23, self-styled Sikh
preacher and Khalistan
sympathiser Amritpal
Singh and his support-
ers, some of them bran-
dishing swords and
guns, broke through
barricades and barged
into a police station in
Ajnala on the outskirts
of the Amritsar city, ex-
tracting an assurance
from the police that his
aide and kidnapping
case accused Lovepreet
Singh would be re-
leased, sources said.
Mann said in a tweet
in Punjabi that the
“Center-Punjab will
work together on the is-
sue of law and order”.
The CM said he had dis-
cussed with the home
minister the issue of
drones and drugs along
the border. He said the
issue of shifting the
barbed wire along the
border was discussed.
Mann said he has asked
Shah to release Pun-
jab’s stalled rural devel-
opment fund soon.
Hyderabad (ANI):
Bharat Rashtriya
Samithi (BRS) party
workers on Thursday
staged a protest in Hy-
derabad against the
hike in prices of com-
mercial and domestic
LPG cylinders.
BRS protestors were
seen participating in
the protest holding “No
more BJP” placards.
Protests have been go-
ing on in various parts
of the country against
the recent hike in prices
of LPG cylinders.
Congress workers
held a protest while in
Maharashtra the price
hike saw opposition
leaders staging a protest
on the steps leading to
the Vidhan Bhavan. The
ongoing budget session
of the Assembly saw
stormy scenes with op-
position raising the is-
sue of the price hike.
Samajwadi party
leader Shivpal Yadav
also stated the recent
hike in LPG cylinders
will create problems for
the common masses.
Democratic Youth Fed-
eration also organized a
protest outside the ac-
countant general office.
Mann briefed Shah about the circumstances leading to the
Ajnala incident.
Def min inaugurates
‘Vijay Sankalp Yatra’
Belagavi (Karnataka)
(ANI): Defence Minis-
ter and Bharatiya Ja-
nata Party (BJP) leader
Rajnath Singh on
Thursday inaugurated
the ‘Vijay Sankalp
Yatra’ in the poll-bound
state Karnataka.
On the occasion
Chief Minister Basa-
varaj Bommai, Union
Minister Pralhad Joshi
and state BJP president
Nalinkumar Kateel
were also present.
Earlier in the day De-
fence Minister arrived
in Karnataka’s Belaga-
vi to inaugurate the ‘Vi-
jay Sankalp Yatra’ in
the poll-bound state.
Earlier on Wednes-
day, party President JP
Nadda flagged off the
‘Vijay Sankalp Yatra’ in
Karnataka’s Chamara-
janagar. Meanwhile,
Home Minister Amit
Shah will also flag off
two ‘Vijay Sankalp Rath
Yatra’ and inaugurate
various projects in his
day-long visit to Karna-
taka on March 3.
‘DIGGING GRAVE’
Where the Congress is weak,
we need to work harder. We
need to introspect in the area
where the Congress was earlier strong
and has now become weak. We will
have to make a new strategy. We
need to introspect. MLAs were lured before elec-
tions in Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura.
—Sachin Pilot, former Deputy CM of Rajasthan

06
INDIA
Mumbai: Some areas
always witness instanc-
es of wildlife coming in
contact with humans.
So, these tips will help
you deal with such situ-
ation when you face one.
Keep it clean
It is imperative to man-
age waste lands in the
city. In markets, often
dust bins and dumping
grounds lay open and
uncovered. This invites
Monkeys and Leopards
to find their food in
these spaces.
Lights on
Incaseof Leopardsight-
ings, it is important to
keep the places well-lit.
Do not feed injured
Sometimes people feed
an injured bird out of
care and concern. What
they don’t realise is that
this is more dangerous.
Contact a local vet to
learn about first aid.
Dispose edible waste
Due to monsoon, snakes
come out of drainage
sources with the pur-
pose of hunting in resi-
dential areas. Drainage
serves as a thriving
habitat for snakes as
they find food, shelter.
Experts share hacks to deal with wildlife
animals in human-dominated spaces
CELEBRATING WORLD WILDLIFE DAY
New Delhi (ANI): Ex-
ternal Affairs Minister
S Jaishankar on Thurs-
day met Chinese For-
eign Minister Qin Gang
on the sidelines of G20
meeting and conveyed
that the current state of
bilateral relationship
was “abnormal” in the
context of challenges
especially that of peace
and tranquility in the
order areas.
This was the first
meeting between the
two ministers and the
meeting lasted about 45
minutes. “I met the
Minister on the side-
lines of the conference
this afternoon. It’s our
first meeting after he
took over as Foreign
Minister. We spent may-
be about 45 minutes
talking to each other
and the bulk of our con-
versation understanda-
bly was about the cur-
rent state of our rela-
tionship, which many
of you heard me de-
scribe me as “abnor-
mal” and I think those
were among the adjec-
tives I used in that meet-
ing,” Jaishankar said at
a press conference after
the G20 Foreign Minis-
ters meeting.
He said there are real
problems in the rela-
tionship that need to be
looked at, “that need to
be discussed, very ope-
nely and candidly be-
tween us”.
“That’s what we
sought to do today
. We
also had a brief discus-
sion on what was hap-
pening in the G20 frame-
work,” Jaishankar said.
EAM HOLDS TALKS; SAYS CURRENT STATE OF RELATIONSHIP WAS “ABNORMAL”
India, China discuss border
tensions in bilateral meeting
ANOTHER ARREST
MADE IN DELHI
EXCISE SCAM
INDIA SUPPORTS
BANGA FOR WORLD
BANK PREZ POST
The Enforcement
Directorate (ED)
arrested businessman
Amandeep Dhall in the
alleged liquor policy
scam three days after
the Central Bureau of
Investigation arrested
Delhi’s deputy CM
Manish Sisodia. Dhall
was placed under arrest
last evening after being
questioned for hours in
connection with the
case. He was arrested
under the Prevention
of Money Laundering
Act on the basis of
evidence against him,
sources said.
New Delhi: India on
Thursday extended
support to candidature
of Ajay Banga as World
Bank President, saying
his nomination comes at
a time when multilateral
lending agency is con-
sidering next-generation
reforms. “Congratulations
to Ajay Banga on being
nominated to lead World
Bank. India supports Ban-
ga’s nomination
and looks
forward
to his
leader-
ship of
World
Bank,”
the
finance
ministry.
New Delhi (ANI): Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting Secretary Apurva Chandra is set to
visit Ayodhya on Thursday. During his tour of the
city, Chandra will visit the construction site of the
Ram temple. The Secretary will also interact with the
workers engaged in the temple construction work.
He will also interact with the local people about the
project’s impact on them, especially in terms of
economic and employment opportunities.
New Delhi (PTI): Students can be imposed a penalty
of Rs 20,000 for holding dharnas and face admis-
sion cancellation or a fine of up to Rs 30,000 for
resorting to violence at Jawaharlal Nehru University,
its latest rules stipulate. The 10-page ‘Rules of Dis-
cipline and proper conduct of students of JNU’ has
laid out punishments for different kinds of acts like
protests and forgery, and procedures for proctorial
enquiry and recording a statement.
INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING
SECY TO VISIT AYODHYA TEMPLE SITE
RS 20,000 FINE FOR DHARNA, ADMISSION
CANCELLATION FOR VIOLENCE AT JNU
‘Ukrainecrisiscan
beresolvedthrough
dialogue,diplomacy’
‘Pendency of Aus visa
applications discussed
at bilateral forum’
PM Narendra Modi Italian PM Giorgia Meloni at the Ceremonial
Reception, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on Thursday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan meets Australian
Education Minister Jason Clare, in New Delhi.
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi on Thursday
saidthattheUkrainecri-
sis can be resolved
through dialogue and
diplomacy
. In a joint
statement after bilateral
talks with his visiting
ItaliancounterpartGior-
gia Meloni, Modi said
that “India has made it
clearfromthebeginning
thatUkrainedisputecan
be resolved through dia-
logue and diplomacy”.
On her part, Meloni
expressed hope that In-
dia having the G20 Pres-
idency can play a cen-
tral role in facilitating a
negotiating process for
the cessation of hostili-
ties in Ukraine.
“Keeping the multi-
lateral community to-
gether is important and
we hope the Indian
presidency can do it
even more,” Meloni,
who is on her first visit
to India, said.
“PM Modi knows he
can rely on us, on our
cooperation for the G20
summit, to further en-
hance our relationship.
I believe there is a lot
we can do together.
Modi welcomed Italy’s
active participation in
the Indo-Pacific region.
New Delhi (PTI): The
pendency of Australian
visa applications from
Indians has been dis-
cussed again at a bilat-
eral forum, Union Edu-
cation Minister Dhar-
mendra Pradhan said
on Thursday. The min-
ister discussed the is-
sue with his Australian
counterpart Jason
Clare, who is on a visit
to India till March 5.
“After the COVID-19
pandemic, the visa pro-
cess for students and
the workforce had sig-
nificantly slowed down.
Last year, the Australi-
an government assured
us to add more manpow-
er and enhance the ease
of the process,” Prad-
han told reporters on
the sidelines of an event
here. “The pendency of
four lakh visa applica-
tions from Indians has
been reduced in the last
five months. Still a size-
able number is pending.
The issue was again dis-
cussed at the bilateral
forum when we spoke
of student mobility,” he
added.
Clare is leading a del-
egation of Australian
higher education lead-
ers to promote institu-
tional partnerships and
boost the collaboration
between the two coun-
tries. His visit builds on
Pradhan’s trip to Aus-
tralia last year.
India and Australia
have also signed a
framework mechanism
for mutual recognition
of qualifications that
will help ease the mobil-
ity of students and pro-
fessionals between the
two countries.
Worthy of great power: Russian
minister on India’s global stance
Not satisfied with performance of
fast track special courts, says Rijiju
Didi hails SC verdict
on appointment
of CEC,ECs
India urges
G-20 ministers
to look beyond
East-West crisis
New Delhi (PTI): West
Bengal CM Mamata Ba-
nerjee on Thursday wel-
comed the SC’s decision
on the appointment of
election commissioners
(EC) and the chief elec-
tion commissioner
(CEC), describing it as a
“democratic victory”.
The TMC supremo
also said that the verdict
shows the “will of the
people prevails over ill-
fated attempts of op-
pressive forces”. TMC
MP Derek O’Brien, too,
hailed the verdict.” So
Extremely Compro-
mised can again strive
to become Extremely
Competent,”heclaimed.
Top diplomats from the
world’s major industri-
alized and developing
nations on Thursday
opened what are expect-
ed to be contentious
talks dominated by Rus-
sia’s war in Ukraine and
China’s moves to boost
its global influence.
Host India appealed
for all members of the
fractured Group of 20 to
reach consensus on is-
sues of deep concern to
poorer countries even if
the broader East-West
split over Ukraine can-
not be resolved.
Prime Ministers
Modi urged them not to
allow current tensions
to destroy agreements
that might be reached
on food and energy se-
curity, climate change
and the debt crisis.
“We are meeting at a
time of deep global divi-
sions,” the PM told the
group, which included
U.S. Secretary Antony
Blinken, Chinese For-
eignMinisterQinGang.
New Delhi (PTI): Union
Law Minister Kiren Riji-
ju on Thursday said he
was “not very satisfied”
with the present perfor-
mance of fast track spe-
cial courts set up in vari-
ous parts of the country
,
and pitched for strength-
ening investigation
agencies and forensic
labs for overall effective-
ness of such courts.
He said this in his ad-
dress at a conference
hosted by the National
Human Rights Commis-
sion (NHRC) , without
naming anyone or any
state, adding that chief
justice of some HCs
chief ministers of some
states “must do much
more”. The Fast Track
Special Courts scheme
is being looked after by
the Department of Jus-
tice. “I have to ensure
thatwhateverlegislative
actions are taken, are
taken down to the
ground,” the minister
said.“Thisisacentrally-
sponsoredschemeandit
was started initially for
1 year in 2019 which has
been extended, and fur-
ther extension of the
schemeisunderprocess.
I can give my assurance
that we will take it for-
ward,” he said.
New Delhi (PTI): Rus-
sian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov blamed
Western countries for
G20 foreign ministers’
meeting not being able
to come out with a joint
communique, saying
their “rhetorical state-
ments” around Ukraine
did not yield any good
were “damaging”.
Addressing a press
conference on the side-
lines of meeting, Lavrov
hailed India’s “highly
responsible” and “wor-
thy of a great power”
stance on key matters of
global agenda. Refer-
ring to PM Narendra
Modi’s address at the
G20 meet, the Russian
minister said the PM
had presented “a bal-
anced and responsible
position” of the country
as president of the G20.
“Modi was not just
speaking about some
isolated individual situ-
ation, because the West
is trying to divide the
geopolitical picture
into individual epi-
sodes. Modi gave assess-
ment of the situation
across the globe in gen-
eral terms,” he said.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar meets Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on the sidelines of
G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, in New Delhi on Thursday. —PHOTO BY ANI
G20 MUST
PROVIDE
DIRECTION TO
WORLD: EAM
CONFLICT IS
AFFECTING
THE GLOBAL
SOUTH: EAM
New Delhi (PTI):
India urged the G20
grouping to send
a collective mes-
sage affirming its
resolve to address
the complex global
challenges, includ-
ing that of food and
energy security,
amid an increasingly
bitter rift between the
West and the Russia-
China combine over
the Ukraine conflict.
In his remarks at
the G20 foreign
ministers’ meeting,
External Affairs Min-
ister S Jaishankar,
without mentioning
the Ukraine conflict,
said the grouping
must find common
ground and provide
direction to the
world though there
are some “matters of
sharp differences”.
EAM MEETS US
SECY OF STATE,
SAYS REVIEWED
BILATERAL TIES
New Delhi (ANI): External
Affairs Minister S Jais-
hankar said he reviewed
ties with the United States
and discussed global is-
sues at a bilateral meeting
with US Secretary of State
Antony Blinken here at
the Rashtrapati Bhavan
premises here.
‘MEET MARRED
BY RUSSIA-
UKRAINE WAR’
GLOBAL DECISION-MAKING MUST
BE DEMOCRATISED: JAISHANKAR
The Group of 20 (G20)
meeting of foreign
ministers has again
been marred by Rus-
sia’s unprovoked and
unjustified war against
Ukraine, U.S. Secretary
of State Antony Blinken
said on Thursday, as
he called for the bloc
to call on Russia to
withdraw its forces.
New Delhi (ANI):
External Affairs Minister
S Jaishankar highlighted
the flaws in the global
decision-making pro-
cess at the United Na-
tions while addressing
at the G20 Foreign Min-
isters’ Meeting. “Current
global architecture is
in its 8th decade. The
number of members of
the UN has quadrupled
in this period. It neither
reflects today’s politics,
economics, demograph-
ics or aspirations. Since
2005, we have heard
sentiments for reform
being expressed at the
highest level. But as we
all know, these have
not materialised. Global
decision-making must
be democratised if it has
to have a future,” said
Jaishankar in an open-
ing remark.
New Delhi (ANI):
Noting that there
were issues con-
cerning the Ukraine
conflict, External
Affairs Minister S
Jaishankar said that
the chair summary
outlined the con-
cerns of the Global
South and “it is just
on two paragraphs
that were not able
to get everybody on
the same page.”
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju at the National Conference on Child
Sexual Abuse Material organized by NHRC.
Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov during G20
Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, in
New Delhi on Thursday.
CRUCIAL READ

HONDA TO FOCUS ON PREMIUM PRODUCTS
New Delhi (PTI): Japa-
nese auto major Honda on
Thursday said it plans to
launch at least one new
model every year in India
with a focus on premium
products as it looks to get
its business on track in the
country
.
The company, which on
Thursday introduced an
updated version of its mid-
size sedan -- City, plans to
focus on products which
are over `10 lakh price tag
powered by petrol and hy-
brid powertrains.
The company, which is
present in India through a
wholly-owned subsidiary,
plans to do away with die-
sel models in the country
.
In a press briefing, Hon-
da Cars India President
and Chief Executive Offic-
er (CEO) Takuya Tsumura
said the company would
focus on the `10 lakh and
above segment over the
next few years.
“In the passenger vehi-
cle segment more than 40%
sales are coming from mod-
els priced over `10 lakh. We
expect this to grow more.
Our focus would be on mod-
el introductions in over `10
lakh segment,” he noted.
Tsumura said that for
Honda models like Amaze
and City, top trims current-
ly contribute over 60% of
the sales.
He noted that new mod-
els would be a mix of new
models and full model
changes of the existing
product range.
TO GROW INDIA BUSINESS
MAJOR
HIGHLIGHTS
z The company, which on
Thursday introduced an
updated version of its mid-
size sedan — City, plans to
focus on products which
are over `10 lakh price
tag powered by petrol and
hybrid powertrains
z The company, plans to do
away with diesel models in
the country
business
BRIEFS
New Delhi: Telecom op-
erator Bharti Airtel on
Thursday announced that
it has surpassed the 1
million 5G user mark on
its network in Mumbai.
Airtel recently crossed the
10 million unique cus-
tomer mark on its 5G net-
work nationally. The Sunil
Mittal-led telco said it is
well poised to cover every
town and key rural areas
with Airtel 5G services by
end of March 2024. The
Airtel statement said it
had surpasses 1 million
customer mark on its 5G
network in Mumbai. —PTI
AIRTEL CROSSES 1
MN 5G SUBSCRIBERS
IN MUMBAI
New Delhi: India’s Febru-
ary palm oil imports
dropped 30% from Janu-
ary to their lowest in 8
months as refiners pre-
ferred to lower their
stocks as inventories
piled up following exces-
sive imports during Octo-
ber-January. The reduc-
tion in palm oil imports
by India, the world’s big-
gest importer of vegeta-
ble oils, could weigh on
Malaysian palm oil pric-
es. India’s palm oil im-
ports fell to 586,000
tonnes last month, the
lowest since June 2022,
according to the average
of the estimates from the
five dealers. —FIB
INDIA’S PALM OIL
IMPORTS FALL TO
EIGHT-MONTH LOW
New Delhi: Gold prices
declined by `295 to
`55,700 per 10 grams in
the national capital on
Thursday, according to
HDFC Securities. In the
previous session, the pre-
cious metal had settled at
`55,995 per 10 grams.
Silver also tumbled by
`640 to `64,380 per kg.
“Spot gold prices in the
Delhi markets traded at
`55,700/10 grams, down
`295/10 grams,” said
Saumil Gandhi, Senior
Analyst - Commodities at
HDFC Securities. —PTI
GOLD PRICES FALL
BY `295; SILVER
TUMBLES `640/KG
New Delhi: MG Motor In-
dia on Thursday said it
has christened its upcom-
ing electric vehicle as
Comet. The name derives
inspiration from the icon-
ic 1934 British airplane
which participated in the
England-Australia Mac-
Robertson Air Race, the
automaker said. “We at
MG, through ‘Comet’, in-
tend to take the needed
decisive steps and a ‘leap
of faith’ in the direction of
creating solutions for a
better future for each one
of us,” MG Motor India
President and MD Rajeev
Chaba said. —PTI
MG MOTOR’S
UPCOMING EV
NAMED AS ‘COMET’
07
Commodity Price Change % Chg
GOLD 55,700.00 295.00 0.52 (Per 10g)
SILVER 64,380.00 640.00 0.99 (Per 1kg)
COMMODITIES
Currency Price Change % Chg
USDINR 82.60 0.11 0.13
GBPINR 98.95 0.61 0.61
CURRENCIES
*Rates till the edition went to print.
GDP growth may exceed 7% this fiscal: CEA
New Delhi (PTI): Chief
Economic Advisor V Anan-
tha Nageswaran on Thurs-
day expressed hope that the
GDP growth for the current
financial year will exceed
the projected 7% in view of
the expected revision of
high frequency data.
On Tuesday, the second
advance estimate released
by the National Statistical
Office (NSO) maintained
thegrowthprojectionof 7%
as was projected in the first
advance estimate which
was released in January
.
“Given the high frequen-
cy indicators and the pace
at which they are recover-
ing, I do believe that the
current year’s (GDP num-
bers)... Are more likely to
(be) revised upward than
downward,” he said here.
GDP at Constant (2011-
12) Prices in the year 2022-
23 is estimated at `159.71
lakh crore as against the
first revised estimate of
GDP for the year 2021-22 of
`149.26 lakh crore.
The growth in real GDP
during 2022-23 is estimated
at 7% as compared to 9.1%
in 2021-22. The growth
slowed to 4.4% in the Octo-
ber-December quarter,
mainly due to a contraction
in the manufacturing sec-
tor. On Tuesday, the NSO
revised GDP growth data
for the past three years —
2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22
— and also released the sec-
ond advance estimate of
GDP for 2022-23.
While the growth rate for
2021-22 has been revised up
by 40 basis points to 9.1%
from 8.7%, the GDP for
2020-21 too has been revised
upwards to (-) 5.8% from (-)
6.6%. For 2019-20 also, the
growth has been revised
upwards to 3.9% from 3.7%.
Nageswaran said the ris-
ing interest rates need not
necessarily be a cause of
lower growth but simply
reflects the fact that there
is healthy underlying
demand for credit.
Real interest rate is not
very high at the moment,
he said, adding there is
pent up demand in certain
sectors.
‘Have lot of admiration, respect for Gautam Adani’
New Delhi (PTI): Former
Australian Prime Minister
Tony Abbott, a known
backer of Adani Group’s
coal mine projects in his
country
, on Thursday came
out in support of the em-
battled group’s Chairman
Gautam Adani, saying he
has a lot of admiration and
respect for the tycoon and
his company
.
Abbott, who had in 2015
as the Prime Minister of
Australia decried a court
ruling against Adani
Group’s Carmichael coal
mine project, said the rele-
vant regulators will “do
their job” regarding any
allegation of wrongdoing
by the apples-to-airport
conglomerate. “I have a lot
of respect and admiration
for Adani and Adani
Group,” Abbott said.
The coal produced from
Adani’s Carmichael mines
in Australia “will certainly
be part of the ongoing pro-
cess of electrification here
in India”.
“I am all in favour of
Adani mine. I thank Adani
and his team for what they
have done to provide elec-
tricity to Indians and jobs
and prosperity to Austral-
ia,” he said.
Sensex, Nifty fall nearly
1% on weak trends
foreign fund outflows
Mumbai (PTI): Market
benchmarks ended nearly
1% lower on Thursday
amid weak trend in global
equities and continuous
foreign fund outflows.
The BSE Sensex tumbled
501.73 points or 0.84% to
settle at 58,909.35. During
the day, it tanked 544.82
points or 0.91% to 58,866.26.
The NSE Nifty declined
129 points or 0.74% to end
at 17,321.90.
From the Sensex pack,
Maruti, Axis Bank, Tata
Consultancy Services, Nes-
tle, Infosys, Mahindra
Mahindra, Tech Mahindra
and Bharti Airtel were the
major laggards.
Power Grid, Sun Phar-
ma, HCL Technologies,
Larsen Toubro and Ul-
traTech Cement were the
gainers.
RUPEE FALLS 11 PAISE TO CLOSE AT 82.60
AGAINST US DOLLAR
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee depreciated by 11 paise to close at 82.60
(provisional) against the US currency on Thursday. At the interbank
foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 82.57 against the
greenback and closed at 82.60 (provisional), registering a fall of 11
paise over its previous close of 82.49. During the session, the do-
mestic unit witnessed an intra-day high of 82.54 and a low of 82.61
against the American dollar.
PM GatiShakti, logistics policy
to help improve competitiveness
New Delhi (PTI): Commerce and industry minister Pi-
yush Goyal on Thursday said that PM GatiShakti nation-
al master plan and logistics policy together will help im-
prove competitiveness of businesses and attract invest-
ments into India.
He said that layers of data are there at PM GatiShakti
portal where different geological, ecological and infra-
structural elements across the country were mapped and
captured. Currently, there are about 1,300 layers of data,
consisting of forests, wildlife sanctuaries, rivers, UNE-
SCO world heritage sites, among others, he said and
added that GatiShakti would not only address critical
gaps in infrastructure but also help in planning social
infrastructure such as schools, nursing homes, hospitals.
FOR MFG ROPEWAYS
Union Min Gadkari invites Austrian
companies to set up plants in India
New Delhi (PTI): Union
minister Nitin Gadkari on
Thursday invited Austrian
companies to set up plants
for manufacturing rope-
ways and cable car compo-
nents and equipment in
India.
Gadkari, minister for
road transport and high-
ways, met Austrian delega-
tion led by Ambassador of
Republic of Austria to In-
dia Katharina Wieser.
Gadkari informed the
delegation that several
ropeways and cable car
projects are being executed
by India. He appreciated
the high quality of rope-
ways and cable car compo-
nents and equipment that
are being manufactured by
Austrian companies and
emphasised on collabora-
tions in technology trans-
fer and manufacturing the
same in India.
GADKARI MET
DELEGATION
z Nitin Gadkari met
Austrian delegation led by
Ambassador of Austria to
India Katharina Wieser
z He informed the delegation
that several ropeways and
cable car projects are being
executed by India.
RIL, Tata bid for
India’s $2.4 bn
solar incentives
New Delhi (FIB): Solar
module makers including
RelianceIndustriesLtd.and
Tata Power Co. are among
bidders for 195 billion ru-
pees ($2.4 billion) in finan-
cial incentives that India is
offering to expand domestic
manufacturing and curb
panel imports from domi-
nant producer China.
Others showing interest
include US firm First Solar
Inc. and Indian companies
JSW Energy Ltd., Avaada
Group and ReNew Energy
Global Plc, according to
people familiar with the
matter. The embattled Ada-
ni Group was not among
the bidders.
INDIANS OPTING TO GIVE
ONLINE GIFT CARDS
New Delhi (PTI): Online
travel platform Make-
MyTrip on Thursday said
it has witnessed an increas-
ing trend of consumers
opting to give online gift
cards to their friends, rela-
tives, and colleagues this
wedding season.
MakeMyTrip has seen a
30% increase in sales of
travel ‘Shagun’ card this
wedding season (Dec 22-
Jan 23) compared to last
year (Dec 21-Jan 22), it stat-
ed. `10,000-card is the most
sold denomination, fol-
lowed by `5,000, and `1,000.
The card allows couples to
book holiday packages, ho-
tels, flight tickets, train
tickets, bus tickets, and fun
activities. “We have seen a
direct correlation between
the sale of online gift cards
with the marriage season,”
said Raj Rishi Singh of
MakeMyTrip.
He shared that there is a
growing trend of people
wanting to gift experienc-
es, a shift from the past
when cash and gold were
the only options.
RCAP CAN PROCEED
WITH SECOND ROUND
OF AUCTION: NCLAT
New Delhi: The NCLAT on
Thursday allowed lenders
of Reliance Capital to hold
an extended
challenge
mechanism or
second round
of auction for
the sale of the debt-ridden
financial services company. A
two-member bench of NCLAT
also said lenders of Reliance
Capital had the power to nego-
tiate and call for a higher bid.
It overturned an order of the
Mumbai bench of NCLT which
had declared the extended
challenge round illegal. —PTI
STEPS BY CENTRE TO
INCREASE EXPORTS BY
MSME SEC: OFFICIAL
Kolkata: The Centre has taken
steps to enhance exports by
micro, small and medium
enterprises
(MSME) sec-
tor by setting
up facilita-
tion centers
across the country, an official
said on Thursday. The export
facilitation centers will provide
the requisite mentoring and
handholding support to the
sector and also help to set up
a network of entrepreneurial
leaders, the joint director of
IEDS under the union MSME
ministry. —PTI
SEVERAL STEPS TAKEN TO ADDRESS EMERGING
CHALLENGES, SAYS COMMERCE MINISTRY
New Delhi: India has taken several steps to boost tea output, create
a niche brand for the Indian tea and ensure the welfare of families as-
sociated with this industry, the commerce
ministry said on Thursday. India is the
second largest tea producer and the larg-
est black tea producer and is self-suffi-
cient in meeting domestic requirements
and export obligations. It said the Indian
tea is exported to various destinations and
is the fourth largest tea exporter besides
catering to a large number of domestic consumers. —PTI
OTHER STORIES
STEEL INDUSTRY SEEKS GOVT INTERVENTION TO
ENSURE AVAILABILITY OF 161 MT COKING COAL
New Delhi: The domestic steel industry has sought a roadmap to
ensure 161 million tonnes of coking coal is available for scaling up the
country’s annual steel making capacity to
300 million tonnes by 2030. Coking coal
and iron ore are the two key raw materials
used for manufacturing steel through the
blast furnace route. While iron ore is avail-
able domestically, the industry is depend-
ent on imports for coking coal. —PTI

08
2NDFRONT
The space for personal growth is
limitless, it’s only limitation that is your
own excuse for your lack of potential.
— Dr Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
z You have worked
with Bansilal and
Chautala ji.
CM ML Khattar: We
never joined Chautala
ji’s government. We al-
ways supported his gov-
ernment from outside
and the reason for ex-
tending an outside sup-
port is that if something
is not in the benefit of
state, society or nation,
that can be kept away.
And that issue is always
with Congress. So, if
Congress has to be kept
away, one has to forge
coalitions and thus, BJP
used to walk together
with Devilal ji and fam-
ily and prior to that Jan
Sangh. We used to move
together and the Con-
gress used to move on
its own path. It was so
then, and it is exactly
the case now too.
z So is this a contra-
diction that Dushy-
ant’s party contested
the Zila Parishad and
Panchayat elections
on its own? In future,
do you have trust and
faith that you will
contest in coalition?
It is not that they have
gonetheirseparateways.
It is just that this time
around, we had left the
electionondistrictunits.
Itisnotthatthepartydid
not contest on its level.
Of course the BJP con-
tested and the JJP also
contested, but we gave
the freedom to make this
decision to the district
units that where they
want to contest together
theycanandif theywant
to contest separately
,
they can do so as well.
However, even after con-
testing against each oth-
er, at places where we
have had to make chair-
man at various places,
we have come together
andmadeourChairman.
Atplaces,theVice-Chair-
man is theirs’ and the
Chairman is ours’ and
vice -versa. In total, at 20
places, we have our own
leaders, that is, 17 Chair-
men of BJP and 3 of JJP
.
Only at two places, INLD
and Congress have got
their Chairmen. So, only
two are of other parties,
remainingareof thecoa-
lition party i.e. Ours’.
z Did you find any
impact of Rahul
Gandhi’s ‘Yatra’ in
Haryana?
There is no impact in
Haryana. In fact, it is
more like a routine,
where people gather to
have a glimpse of any
other leader. Of course,
they have their party
workers and if 10 or
20,000 people walk to-
gether, then it is not a
major threat for us.
z So is there any
threat from the
Hooda factor?
None what so ever. They
will get burdened under
their own weight. What-
ever is happening
around them, means
they are not a factor.
z What about AAP
and Owaisi’s AIMIM?
They do not have any
impact here. In fact, in
this State, only the Me-
wat region is the one,
which has three assem-
bly constituencies and
at different times, these
seats have had different
characteristics. When
we first came to power,
those seats were with
INLD, thereafter, all
three fell in Congress’
kitty
. Now the situation
is that the Chairman of
the Zila Parishad is of
BJP. This is for the first
time that the Chairman
is of BJP. The local
councillors, 17 in total,
are with BJP.
z The Khalistan issue
has crept in Punjab.
Do you think Presi-
dent rule should be
imposed in that State?
It is an extremely seri-
ous issue. Everyone
shouldlookatthematter
with utmost serious-
ness. Haryana is alert
andvigilantandtheCen-
tral government too is
staying extremely vigi-
lant.Also,peopleinPun-
jab should think over it.
I feel that there is a state
of confusion in Punjab,
because the Congress is
onbackfoot,Akalishave
been disenfranchised
and the BJP has had a
major base there. Now,
since no one is there and
people need someone to
be there, so they chose
AAP and soon after that
party came to power,
people realised that this
is something else. They
gave so many things as
‘revaris’ or the fact that
they did not take admin-
istration along. In fact,
once you are in power,
you should establish co-
ordination with the ad-
ministration and take
them along. They can
not do things going
againstbureaucracyand
administration.Thereis
no clear direction. As a
result, what happened
was after Bhagwant
Mann became the CM
and stepped down from
his Parliamentary con-
stituency
, by polls were
conducted and within
three or four months of
Mann’s stepping down,
AAP lost the seat! Sim-
ranjeetSinghMannwon
the election from that
seat.So,youseeforyour-
self what kind of situa-
tion arose within people
in Punjab.
z Some people are
saying that if the sit-
uation prevails, then
President rule will
have to be imposed in
Punjab.
See, I will not comment
on this because the Cen-
tralGovernmentandthe
Union Home Ministry is
keeping an eye on all
these issues. But yes, the
matter is serious and
how to control such seri-
ous issues? If the State
Government shows will
power and works to cur-
tailit,thendefinitelythe
Central Government
will also help it, because
this issue is not about
parties rather it is about
establishingpeaceinthe
State. And if the State
Government fails, then
theCentralGovernment
will think about it.
z There are govern-
ments of different par-
ties in all the states
neighbouring Hary-
ana like Delhi and
Punjab. Do you face
any difficulty in coor-
dinating with them?
No. See when it comes to
carryingoutour‘padosi-
dharma’ we talk to eve-
ryone, be it the CM of
Punjab or Rajasthan.
When I speak to the
Chief Minister of Delhi
on issues such as pollu-
tion, environment and
water; we keep our is-
sues before them and
talk in an open environ-
ment. When we decide
on moving head in the
same direction, so we
move ahead and where
there are difficulties in
finding the right ap-
proach or path ahead,
we talk openly
. We have
a dispute with Punjab
and the matter is now in
SupremeCourt.Wehave
held three rounds of
talks also after the Su-
premeCourtdirectedso.
But no middle path
could be found. The
court had said that we
shouldfindawayforwa-
ter sharing, but they
(Punjab govt) do not
come to that question
and clearly say they will
not share water. Al-
though how much water
should we get, is a mat-
ter pertaining to tribu-
nal. That tribunal is
there and everyone will
putforwardtheirsideof
the issue and then it will
be decided on the basis
of need and availability
of water. Today
, the need
is increasing with each
passingday
,evenDelhi’s
demandfordrinkingwa-
ter is increasing and
that pressure falls on
Haryana. We say that
even our population is
also growing like that of
Gurgaon, Sonipat and
Faridabad. The demand
for drinking water in
NCR is increasing and
we have limited sources
of water.If youlookatit,
Haryana does not have
its own source of water.
If its Yamuna, then we
have to share with Uttar
Pradesh and it has Del-
hi’s share too. Similarly
,
remaining rivers are in
Punjab and none flows
throughHaryana.So,we
have to reach an agree-
menttotakesomewater.
z You said you speak
to CMs of neighbour-
ing states. Recently
the incident of two
youth from Rajasthan
happened here. How
did you handle that?
When we spoke, we
shared one line discus-
sion that those behind
it will not be spared. Be
it those who died or
those who killed them.
Because those who have
died they also have a
past character and it
does not end with their
death. It was kind of a
clash. So, those who
have killed them, have
taken the law in their
hands. Thus, we will
have to think on both
aspects and will have to
come to an agreement
of sorts so that such in-
cidents do not happen
in the future.
z So if Rajasthan po-
lice goes and takes
action, then law of
the land will take its
course?
They have made a few
arrests already
.
z So there is no issue
in it?
See we have told our
people to ensure peace.
We conducted a meet-
ing of the Peace Com-
mittee in Nuh so that
mutual discord does not
happen. The incident
has happened which is
unfortunate and the
onus of it should fall on
the right person.
z What about the
Sports Minister?
Has it been decided
that he is not being
removed?
See, merely accusing
someone does not term
him or her guilty
. For ex-
ample, if there is a law
that as soon as someone
is accused of anything, I
think, all the Lok Sabha
and State Assemblies
willbecomeempty
.Then
anyonecouldlayaccusa-
tions on you or me and
we too wouldn’t be seat-
ed here. So, filing an FIR
on a complaint doesn’t
prove anyone guilty
. The
police is investigating
the matter and in fact, it
is Chandigarh police
that is investigating, the
Haryana police has no
role in it. So, after inves-
tigation, it is obvious
that they will present
‘challan’ in court and
thenafterhearing, court
terms the person guilty
,
then we will take a step.
However, having said
that, we have taken a
precaution that since
the matter pertains to
the Sports department,
so we have taken that
charge from Sandeep
Singh so that one day
someone may not say
that as Minister he
could influence the in-
vestigation.
z Does your bureau-
cracy support you?
Are you satisfied?
If someone becomes the
Chief Minister and is
capable of running the
government, then the
bureaucracy supports
such people. I once nar-
rated a story to bureau-
crats and they burst out
laughing. The story
went on that once there
was a king and he took
a liking to some dish.
So, he called his Minis-
ter and said that he
liked the food because
the dish was superb. He
enquired what the dish
was made up of and the
Minister said that it
was brinjal. The Minis-
ter said that brinjals
have several qualities
but its name is such. It
has qualities like it
shines, has a crown etc.
A week down the line
the King told his Minis-
ter that his stomach
was upset perhaps due
to food. The Minister
enquired what did the
King eat and he said
that it was ‘brinjal.’ The
Minister immediately
quipped, what sort of
vegetable is ‘brinjal.’ It
should be ‘Be-Gun’ and
the Minister narrated
several shortfalls in the
vegetable. The King
then questioned, if the
statement made by the
Minister seven days ago
was right or the one
made by him now is cor-
rect ? The Minister said
both are correct the
King asked as to how is
that possible? The Min-
ister replied saying, “I
have to work for you,
not the ‘brinjal!”
z You have been head-
ing the State for eight
years. What do you
think has been your
biggest achievement?
See, firstly, whatever
work the State Govern-
ment does, we do not
leave it in the middle.
Otherwise, what hap-
pens in governments is
that in some aspects,
they go way ahead and
in some others, they lag
leading to unequal de-
velopment. We are mov-
ing ahead with the mot-
to of ‘Sabka Saath,
Sabka Vikas’ given by
the Prime Minister. No
sector is out of bounds,
no section of the socie-
ty is out of bounds for
us. If we have to dis-
criminate, we will do so
only to bring those who
have fallen behind, to
the main stream.
Punjab’s situation serious, however, the Centre
is extremely vigilant and alert: Khattar
During the show
#JCWithManoharLal
trended top All-India
on Twitter
Dr Jagdeesh Chandra greets Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar during The JC Show.
In a tete-a-tete with Chief Minister of Haryana, Manohar Lal Khattar, CEO and Editor-in-Chief,
Bharat24-Vision of New India and First India; CMD, First India News, Dr Jagdeesh Chandra raises
pertinent questions about the situation in Punjab, how Khattar has been co-ordinating with
neighbouring states on issues such as water and pollution, what is the impact of various parties in the
State and how JJP and BJP have held on to the coalition despite contesting the Zila Parishad and
Panchayat elections separately. Excerpts.. (Part-2)
YOU READ IT IN FIRST INDIA ON MARCH 2, 2023

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 | FRIDAY,
MARCH 3, 2023
night to remem-
ber, March 1
saw some of the
most eminent
names in Jaipur
gather under
the starry sky
for the grand launch of
the dazzling trophy and
celebration of the up-
coming 14th season of
The Fashion Connect.
One of the mega fashion
and glamour extrava-
ganzas titled ‘Fashion
Connect’ is back with its
14th season at Oaks Ibn
Battuta Gate Hotel, the
crowned jewel of Dubai.
The dazzling event will
bring together a medley
of fashion designers
showcasing their vi-
vacious and
most delin-
quent collec-
tions. The
ostentatious
and charis-
matic gala
night took
place at
Dyore, Jaipur. With a
massive reaction and
netizens going crazy
over the incredible line-
up and digital prepared-
ness, the show won an
incredible victory over
the fashion industry
.
Jagdeesh Chandra
graced the occasion with
his presence and
launched the astonish-
ing trophy of the Luxury
Lifestyle Awards 2023.
He congratulated Rishee
Miglani and Lokesh
Sharma and
wished them
all the best.
Brand Am-
b a s s a d o r
R i s h e e
Miglani ex-
hilarated the evening
into a glamorous conclu-
sion. Various who’s who
of the city including
Show Director Lokesh
Sharma, Dr Sandeep
Bakshi, JNU Vice Chan-
cellor, Film Distributor
Raj Bansal, Sudhir Ka-
sliwal, famous designer
Wrikie Angrish, Vriti,
Nitika Panjwani, Ishita
Gupta and Aishwarya
among others were pre-
sent on the occasion.
Fashion Connect Sea-
son 14, presented by
First India News,
this No. 1 fashion
event is scheduled to
take place on March 19,
2023. Fashion Connect
is an extravagant pa-
rade of beautiful mod-
els, talented designers
and mesmerizing art-
works.
An experiential show
at the forefront of art,
design, fashion, and im-
mersive offerings is
back with its fourteen
Seasons. Asia’s most
loved and India’s favour-
ite fashion designer,
Anju Modi, will be show-
casing her scintillating
garments at this year’s
Fashion Connect event.
ANEWREVOLUTION
ANDPERSPECTIVE
City First highlights the
incredible moments from
the trophy launch and
celebration of the
upcoming 14th season
of The Fashion Connect,
held at Dyore, Jaipur on
Wednesday!
UTTKARSHA SHEKHAR
uttkarsha.shekhar@firstindia.co.in
Jagdeesh Chandra with (L-R) Itika Kamra, Ashmita, Kashvi, Nitika, Swapnil Jain and Priyanka Kamboj
Jagdeesh Chandra with (L-R) Sidharth, Swapnil Jain, Narendra Singh,
Shailendra Singh, Rishee, Pallavi, Nitika, Kashvi and Itika
(L-R) Lokesh Sharma, Raj Bansal and Rishee Miglani
Clockwise:
Anchal, Bhanvi, Anchal,
Shreya and Shaina
—PHOTOS BY SANTOSH SHARMA
A

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