First India-Mumbai Edition-23rd JULY 2022

MUMBAI l SATURDAY, JULY 23, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI TITLE NO. MAHENG/2022/14652 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 78 AMBANIS’ SECURITY CAN STAY WITH CENTRE: SC

New Delhi: Industrialist Mukesh Ambani and his family in Mumbai can continue to have security provided by the central government, the Supreme Court ruled on Friday, dismissing a case challenging the provision.

OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, NEW DELHI & MUMBAI

BSE SENSEX 56072.23

‘NO MOVE TO RUN PASSENGER TRAINS BY PVT OPERATORS’ New Delhi: There is no proposal under consideration for the operation of passenger trains by private players, the railways informed Parliament on Friday, years after the national transporter unveiled plans to hand over certain routes to private parties.

390.28 | NSE NIFTY 16719.50

114.20

RBI WILL ENSURE SOFT LANDING OF ECONOMY: DAS

Mumbai: Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday said the central bank will ensure that the economy has a soft landing wherein inflation is closer to 4 per cent, with minimal impact on growth.

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PM Modi, HM Shah urge people to hoist tricolour at home between August 13-15 First India Bureau

Narendra Modi@narendramodi This year, when we are marking Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, let us strengthen the Har Ghar Tiranga movement. Hoist the Tricolour or display it in your homes between 13th and 15th August. This movement will deepen our connect with the national flag.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday appealed to people to strengthen the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ movement by hoisting or displaying the national flag in their homes between August 13-15.

In a series of tweets, PM Modi said this movement will deepen our connect with the tricolour and noted that

Amit Shah@AmitShah I appeal to everyone to join this campaign by hoisting the tricolour from their homes from 13th to 15th August. By doing so, we will be able to increase the youths respect and attachment to the tricolour, as well as make them aware about the sacrifices of the brave hearts that fought for Freedom. it was on July 22 in 1947 that the national flag was adopted.

“Today, we recall the monumental courage and efforts of all those

who dreamt of a flag for free India when we were fighting colonial rule. We reiterate our commitment to fulfil their vision and build

CBSE BOARD RESULTS 2022

CLASS X, XII PASS PERCENTAGE DIPS, GIRLS OUTPERFORM BOYS

PM: Follow inner calling, pursue subjects you’re passionate about

First India Bureau

New Delhi: The pass percentage of both Class 10 and 12 has dipped this year in the results of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) results that were announced on Friday.

This year the overall pass percentage for both Class 10, 12 has dipped compared to last year. In 2021, the Class 10 overall pass percentage was 99.04 percent, whereas this year the overall pass percentage is 94.40 percent. For Class 12 also, last year the overall pass percentage was 99.37 percent, whereas, this year the percentage has dipped to 92.71 percent.

However, girls have outperformed boys for both Class 10 and Class 12 this year. The overall pass percentage of girls for Class 12 result is 94.54 percent and boys is 91.25 percent. Girls have done better than boys by 3.29 percent.

For Class 10, the overall girls pass percentage is 95.21 percent and boys is 93.80 percent. Girls have done better than boys by 1.41 percent.

“As per earlier decision of the board, no merit list will be declared to avoid unhealthy competition among students. The board is also not awarding first, second and third division to its students,” CBSE Examination Controller Sanyam Bhardwaj said.

CBSE XII RESULTS RECORD JUMP IN PASS AJMER REGION RESULTS HIGHER PERCENTAGE AGAINST PRE-COVID YEARS Delhi (PTI): This year, the overall pass percentage in THAN NAT’L AVG New the CBSE class 12 exam has gone up by over 9 per cent Jaipur: In the CBSE Class 10 and 12 results, the Ajmer region (comprising of Rajasthan and Gujarat) has shown higher results than the national average.

Ajmer’s result is 96.01%.

Ajmer ranks 6th among 16 regions across the country. The overall result of Rajasthan in this region is 95.51%. Here too the girls have scored more. In the 10th, Ajmer region stood 4th in the country with 98.14%. In Class 10 also, girls were ahead of boys.

with a jump in the number of candidates scoring more than 90 and 95 pc marks in comparison to the pre-pandemic academic sessions. This year, the pass percentage stand at 92.71 per cent with 33,432 candidates having scored above 90 per cent and 1,34,797 above 95 pc.

CLASS X

CLASS XII

New Delhi: Mayank Yadav, of Amity International School Noida, topped with full marks.

He scored 100 in all the subjects. At the same time, Diya Namdev of Shamli district in UP scored 500 out of 500 marks. She is a student of Scottish International School.

New Delhi: This year, two students have topped the CBSE class 12 boards, scoring a perfect score – 500 out of 500 marks. They are Yuvakshi Vig of Amity International School Noida and Tanya Singh (18), of Delhi Public School, Bulandshahr.

New Delhi: PM Narendra Modi on Friday urged students who passed their CBSE class 12 exams to follow their inner calling and pursue subjects they are passionate about.

Congratulating the students, he said, “The grit and dedication of these youngsters is commendable. They prepared for these exams through a time when humanity faced a monumental challenge and achieved this success.”

Modi also had a word of motivation for those who may not be happy with their results, saying they must know that one exam will never define who they are. He expressed confidence that they will find more success in the times to come.

the India of their dreams,” the PM said.

Amit Shah also called upon countrymen to join the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign

TMC’S ‘DARJEELING PACT’ WITH BJP TO BLAME, SAYS ADHIR

VICE PREZ ELECTION First India Bureau New Delhi: A day after Trinamool Congress (TMC) announced it will abstain from voting in the vice-presidential election, scheduled for August 6, the joint Opposition’s candidate, Margaret Alva, in a message to Trinamool chief

Renni Abraham Mumbai: Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s birthday resolution is to fine tune, finalize the state cabinet expansion with Chief

CM Eknath Shinde is seen with Dy CM Devendra Fadnavis during a meeting.

—FILE PHOTO

While Independents are being counselled to stay focused on their political priorities and development in their respective assembly constituencies without haggling for cabinet ministerial posts, lucrative chairmanships of corporations and statutory bodies are on offer to ensure the government formation is completed.

“The 6:4 ratio (between BJP and Shinde grouping) was proposed with the independent grouping Turn to P6

Mamata Banerjee, said on Friday that this is not the time for ‘whataboutery’ or ‘ego’, but for ‘courage’ and ‘unity’.

New Delhi: Reacting to TMC’s decision to skip voting in Vice-Prez polls, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has accused CM Mamata Banerjee of having a pact with BJP. He said, “WB Guv Jagdeep Dhankhar often used to have a spat with her.

A few days ago, Guv called Mamata in Darjeeling and they had a meeting in Darjeeling.

The next day he was announced as Vice Presidential candidate, which means there was a Darjeeling pact among them.”

Delhi LG orders CBI probe Agnipath: Oppn into Delhi’s excise policy members walk New Delhi: Delhi’s LGVK Saxena has recommended a CBI investigation into the alleged violations of the Delhi Excise Policy and “deliberate and gross procedural lapses” made by Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, who is also in charge of the excise department.

The CBI inquiry was recommended after a recent report by the Chief Secretary established prima facie violations.

FORMER GRANTHI THRASHED IN ALWAR, HAIR CUT; OPPN LIVID

“NOT SCARED OF JAILS”: KEJRIWAL DEFENDS SISODIA New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday rubbished the allegations made against Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia for violating the new excise policy terming it to be a false case and alleged that the central government could not bear to see the expansion of the AamAadmi Party (AAP).

out of panel meet New Delhi (PTI): Opposition members on Friday walked out in protest from a meeting of the Parliamentary panel on Defence, alleging they were not allowed to discuss the Agnipath scheme. The Congress and BSP members urged committee chairman Jual Oram to allow a discussion on the Agnipath scheme, arguing it has huge implications.

Alwar: A former ‘granthi’ of a gurdwara was allegedly thrashed and his hair cut by unidentified assailants in Alwar district. The incident took place on Thursday night when Gurubaksh Singh was going to Alawada village, the police said. The accused stopped him on the pretext of seeking some help and threw chilli powder in his eyes.

They also thrashed him and cut his hair. An FIR has been registered in the matter and an investigation is underway. BJP leaders Satish Poonia and Rajendra Rathore have condemned the incident.

Maharashtra cabinet expansion, Corporate India style Minister Eknath Shinde in earnest and secure the stamp of approval from the BJP high command in New Delhi.

With less than 2.5 years left before the next elections in Maharashtra--and close to a fortnight lost since its installation--the Shinde-Fadnavis government will induct around 35 cabinet colleagues notwithstanding the turbulence created by 10-odd Independent MLAs, who accompanied Shinde to Assam.

New Delhi: Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Friday criticised PM Narendra Modi, calling it “hypocrisy zindabad,” for presenting a historical fact about Jawaharlal Nehru and the tricolor. The Congress party accused PM Modi’s government of ruining the livelihoods of those who produced the National Flag out of Khadi. Notably, PM Modi urged all Indians to hoist the national flag atop their homes on Friday as the country marks “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.”

Not the time for ego or anger, says Alva on TMC’s decision

T-20 DEVELOPMENT

New council of ministers to bat for development while dropped MLAs will captain state corporations

launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav by hoisting the tricolour from their homes.

‘HYPOCRISY ZINDABAD’ SAYS CONG AS PM TWEETS ON NEHRU, 1ST TRICOLOUR

THE NUMBERS While the BJP is expected to get around 20 cabinet berths for its flock immediately (106 MLAs plus 9 independents), Shinde (40 rebel Sena MLAs plus 10 independents) was offered around 15 cabinet posts. To sweeten the deal, Fadnavis--in consultation with his party high command--is offering large scale funding through GOI schemes along with statutory corporations in the state.

CRUCIAL READ 4 OUT OF 5 UNSC MEMBER NATIONS SUPPORT INDIA’S BID FOR UNSC SEAT

New Delhi: Four out of five permanent members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) have supported India’s candidature for a permanent seat in the top world body, the govt told the Lok Sabha on Friday. Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said India has been consistently taking up China the issue of reform of the UNSC. China is the only country which has not yet supported India’s bid.

RLYS SUFFER ` 259.44 CRORE LOSS DUE TO AGNIPATH AGITATIONS New Delhi: Indian Railways suffered a loss of Rs 259.44 crores due to damage and destruction of its assets in agitations against the Agnipath Scheme, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav told the Rajya Sabha on Friday while giving a written reply to a series of questions asked by Congress leader Akhilesh Prasad Singh.

RAJBHAR’S SECURITY UPGRADED AFTER VOTING FOR MURMU New Delhi: A key ally of Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party was given ‘Y’ security cover after he supported NDA candidate Draupadi Murmu in the Presidential poll. Om Prakash Rajbhar, who heads the SBSP, also met Home Minister Amit Shah before the election to choose the 15th President of the country.

NEWS MUMBAI | SATURDAY, JULY 23, 2022

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Bids invited for BKC station building Focus on Bullet train project, on backburner under MVA, renewed under CM Eknath Shinde First India Bureau Mumbai: Days after Deputy Minister Devendra Fadnavis assured Japanese officials that the Bullet train project was a priority, the National High Speed Railway Corp. Ltd (NHSRCL) has invited bids for the construction of an underground station at Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Corridor.

“Bids invited for design and construction of Mumbai underground station and tunnels for #BulletTrain,” railway minister Ashwini Vaishnav said in a tweet. A NHSRCL official said that bids have been invited for the construction of an underground station along with “one cut and cover tunnel”.

The NHSRCL is the implementing agency for the bullet train pro-

‘KALYAN-MURBAD RAIL LINE PROJECT TO LAUNCH SOON’ First India Bureau

—FILE PHOTO

The Bullet train is expected to halve Mum-Ahd travel time.

PROCESS BEGINS

ject, under which the train will be run between Ahmedabad and Mumbai on a high speed rail corridor at a speed of 320 kmph, covering a distance of 508km and 12

stations.

Deputy CM Fadnavis had on Wednesday assured Consul General of Japan in Mumbai Fukahori Yasukata of fast-tracking infra-

structure projects funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The Rs1.08 lakh crore total cost of the project is and as per the shareholding pattern, the Central government is to pay Rs10,000 crore to the NHSRCL, while the two states involved— Gujarat and Maharashtra—are to pay Rs 5,000 crore each. JICA will fund the rest through a loan at 0.1% interest.

Thane: Work on the 28km Kalyan-Murbad railway line in Thane district will begin from September this year, Union minister and local parliamentarian Kapil Patil said on Friday.

An official release from the office of Patil, who is Bharatiya Janata Party Lok Sabha MP from Bhiwandi, said he had met Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in Delhi recently to discuss the project.

The in-principle approval for the line was given in 2016 and a route survey was conducted from Ulhasnagar, Titwala and Murbad in the district.

The then Maharashtra government, under Devendra Fadnavis, had also approved the project but it went into cold storage soon after till the Eknath Shinde dispensation recently told the Centre the state would contribute 50% of cost.

According to the officials, the stations on the route will be Kalyan, Shahad, Ambivli, Kamba Road, Apti, Mamnoli, Potgaon and Murbad.

02

SC allows Centre to continue to provide security for Ambanis New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Friday allowed the Centre to continue with the security cover for industrialist Mukesh Ambani and his family members in Mumbai.

A bench comprising Chief Justice NV Ramana and Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli allowed the appeal of the Central government challenging the Tripura High Court’s direction on a PIL. The Tripura High Court had on a PIL filed by one Bikash Saha passed two interim orders on May 31 and June 21 and directed the Central Government to place the original file maintained by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) regarding threat perception and assessment report of Ambani, his wife and children based on which security has

GOOD POINT?

been granted to them.

A vacation bench, on June 29, had stayed the orders of the Tripura High Court on a PIL challenging the grant of security cover to the industrialist and his family members in Mumbai.

ED questions wife of Sena’s HYD DOC DONATES `33L GOLD CROWN AT SHIRDI Raut aide in Patra Chawl case First India Bureau

Shirdi: A gold crown weighing 707g and costing around Rs33 lakh was donated by an 80-year-old doctor to the famous Shirdi Saibaba Temple town in Maharashtra, an officer of the Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust said.

“The crown is studded with 35g of American diamond,” informed Bhagyashri Banayat, the Chief Executive Officer of the trust.

—FILE PHOTO

Patra Chawl

First India Bureau,

ABOUT THE CASE

Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED), on Friday questioned Swapna Patkar, wife of Sujit Patkar, a close aide of Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, in connection with the Patra Chawl scam case.

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut had earlier been questioned by the directorate and then had appealed Shiv Sena leaders and workers to not to gather around the ED office.

The Shiv Sena leader was scheduled to appear before the probe agency on Tuesday, but his lawyer had sought 13-14 days’ time to pre-

Dr Manda Ramakrishna donating the crown at Saibaba Temple in Shirdi.

Dr Manda Ramakrishna, had visited Shirdi with his wife in

Expat couple gets `10.94L compensation for accident First India Bureau

sent the related documents before the agency. The request, however, was denied.

A second summon was sent by the investigation agency before July 1, as Sanjay Raut had failed to appear before the ED due to the ongoing political crisis in the state.

Raut is being questioned in a scam relat-

ed to the re-development of Patra Chawl of Mumbai.

The ED had attached immovable properties worth Rs11.15 crore, including a flat at Dadar, and eight more land pieces situated at Kihim near Alibag. While the flat is owned by Raut’s wife Varsha, the plots are jointly held by Varsha and Swapna Patkar.

Thane: The Thane Motor Accident Tribunal (MACT) has awarded a compensation of Rs10.94 lakh to a couple from Canada who were injured in an accident during their visit to India 12 years ago.

MACT member HM Bhosale directed the the owner of the offending tourist car and United India Insurance Co. Ltd to jointly pay the claimants with an interest of 8% per annum from the date of filing the compensation.

The order was passed

1992. He was then shown a crown of Saibaba and was urged by

the priest over there to donate a similar one.

“I did not have the

Maha sees 2,515 new nCoV cases, 6 deaths in 24 hours First India Bureau

on July 18 and the copy of the same was made available on Friday.

The claimants, Bipinchandra Kewalanand Kothyari and his wife Archana, both residents of Ontario, Canada, had arrived in Navi Mumbai before proceeding to Delhi by flight. The accident took place when they were travelling in a tourist car to Kaladungi in Uttarakhand on December 19, 2011.

required amount to donate such a crown then but then I promised my wife, that I will donate a gold crown to Saibaba,” he said.

But Dr Ramakrishna’s wife was not there to see the fulfillment of the promise made to her some 30 years ago as she died a few years ago.

“Post retirement, I continued practising in America and using the money earned there, I have offered a gold crown at Saibaba’s feet,” he added.

Mumbai: Maharashtra saw 2,515 COVID-19 cases and six more deaths linked to the infection on Friday, taking the tally to 80,29,910 and the toll to 1,48,051.

The recovery count has risen to 78,67,280, leaving the state with 14,579 active cases.

Of the new cases, the highest, 950, are from Pune circle, followed by 526 in Mumbai, 329 in Nagpur, 294 in Nashik, 181 in Akola, 97 in Latur, 81 in Aurang-

abad and 57 in the Kolhapur circle.

The number of COVID-19 tests in the state rose to 8,28,34,957 after 46,173 samples were examined in the last 24 hours.

Officials also say Maharashtra has logged 142 cases of

swine flu (Influenza A H1N1) and seven deaths from the infection between January 01 and July 21.

Swine influenza, a respiratory disease, is caused by H1N1 virus.

Mumbai accounts for 43 cases of swine flu, followed by 23 in Pune, 22 in Palghar, 17 in Nashik, 14 each in Nagpur city and Kolhapur, seven in Thane city and two in Kalyan.

The swine flu fatalities during this period comprised three in Kolhapur and two each in Thane city and Pune.

TALOJA PRISON

‘Yet to get money from govt to buy new books as asked by HC’ lll

Court had remarked that even a secondary school library will have more books than the prison

First India Bureau Mumbai: The authorities of Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai have said they are yet to receive money from the state government to purchase more books for the library as ordered by the Bombay High Court during a hearing of a bail plea filed by activist Anand Teltumbe.

Teltumbde, an accused in the Elgar Parishad Maoist links case,

is currently lodged in Taloja jail.

The prison authorities had refused to allow Teltumbde a book by British humourist PG Wodehouse in April, after which the court directed them to spruce up the prison library.

Responding to a query filed under the Right to Information Act (RTI), the authorities have said the prison library currently has 2,998 books for over 3,000 inmates lodged in the

Taloja prison

facility.

On April 07, a bench led by Justice SB Shukre had directed that fines of Rs15,000 imposed on

—FILE PHOTO

litigants in different cases be diverted towards purchasing new books for the Taloja prison.

Teltumbde’s counsel, senior advocate Mihir Desai had said prison authorities had refused to hand over the PG Wodehouse book to Teltumbde that had been sent for him by his family members, citing a “security risk”, leading the bench to ask if “humour had been banished from the prison?”

It then sought a list of books provided to inmates.

The government had at the time said that

while the Taloja prison did not have many books, it was not a problem since “not every inmate reads”.

In their response to an RTI query sent last week, the prison authorities said that they had not purchased any new books in the last three years as no money had been received from the state government.

“We are yet to receive the money as directed by the Bombay High Court following its

April 07, 2022 order (imposing cost and saying it be diverted for purchase of books),” the RTI reply reads.

During the hearing on Teltumbde’s bail plea, the state’s counsel Sangeeta Shinde had submitted that the Taloja prison library had “roughly around 2,800 books”. At the time, the court had remarked that even a secondary school library will have more books than the Taloja prison.

MAHARASHTRA MUMBAI | SATURDAY, JULY 23, 2022

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03

14-yr-old crushed as truck turns turtle THE INCIDENT TOOK PLACE IN THANE CITY ON THE MUMBAI-NASHIK HIGHWAY

First India Bureau Thane: A 14-year-old girl, sleeping in a roadside shanty, was crushed to death after an empty truck overturned on her in Thane city on Friday.

The incident took place in limits of Kapurbawdi police station on the MumbaiNashik highway around 6.15 am, they said.

“The victim, identified as Madhu Bhati, was a toy seller from Gujarat. She was sleeping in a roadside shanty when the speeding truck overturned on her. The driver of the

THE TEENAGE GIRL WAS SLEEPING IN A ROADSIDE SHACK WHEN AN EMPTY TRUCK OVERTURNED ON HER

truck travelling from Nashik to Mumbai, apparently lost control over the vehicle which resulted in the accident,” said Avinash Sawant, chief of the Regional Disaster Management Cell (RDMC) of the Thane

CRUCIAL READ JEWELLERY STORE BURGLED; VALUABLES WORTH `41L STOLEN Thane: Unidentified persons broke into a jewellery store and decamped with valuables worth `41lakh in Thane city, police said on Friday. The incident took place in the intervening night of Thursday and Friday, when the accused damaged a wall of a tyre shop and entered the jewellery store located next to it in Vartak Nagar area of the city. The accused stole 652 gm of gold and 40 kg of silver worth Rs 41 lakh from the shop. Based on a complaint lodged by the shop owner, a case under sections 457 (house trespass) and 380 (theft) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered.

MILD TREMOR RECORDED NEAR KOYNA DAM; NO CASUALTY REPORTED Pune: A mild tremor of 3 magnitude struck the Koyna dam area of Maharashtra’s Satara district on Friday, but there were no reports of any casualties or damage to property. The tremor was recorded at 1 pm, with its epicentre 12 km away from Koyna dam, the official from the district administration said. There had been no reports of casualties or property damage in the area, he added.

MAN LODGED IN LOCK-UP TRIES TO COMMIT SUICIDE, BOOKED

Thane: A man has been booked for allegedly attempting suicide in a Badlapur police station lock-up in Thane district, an official said on Friday.

Bharat Narottam Sharma (29) was held on Wednesday for offences including house trespass and was lodged in the lock-up when he tried to end his life some hours later by using a bedsheet.

“He tried to kill himself by making a noose of the bedsheet at 4:30 am on Thursday. He was saved by cops on duty. We have charged him under section 309 (attempt to suicide) of Indian Penal Code,” an official said.

Municipal Corporation (TMC).

After being alerted about the mishap, teams from the fire department and the RDMC rushed to the spot and pulled out the girl trapped under the truck with the help of

a crane, he said.

The girl was rushed to Thane civil hospital, where doctors declared her brought dead, Sawant said, adding that the driver of the truck fled from the spot.

Senior inspector Ut-

tam Sonawane of Kapurbawdi police station said that an offence was registered against the truck driver under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Motor Vehicles (MV) Act, and a search is on for him.

13-YEAR-OLD BOY FOUND DEAD AT SCHOOL HOSTEL IN AMRAVATI First India Bureau Nagpur: A 13-yearold boy was found dead in the hostel of a school for tribal students in Amravati district, police said on Friday.

The boy, identified as Adarsh Konge, was a student of Vidyabharti High School, and was staying in the school’s hostel.

The incident came to light when the boy failed to wake up on Thursday morning despite repeated at-

The boy’s parents lodged a complaint alleging that their son had fought with some of his friends, who may have killed him tempts by the hostel staff. The deceased boy’s parents have lodged a complaint with the Amravati police alleging that their son had fought with

some of his friends, who may have killed him, an official said.

The boy’s body has been sent for postmortem and a probe is underway, he added.

‘Deadline for Marathi signboards extended’ First India Bureau Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday told the Bombay High Court that it has extended the deadline given to shops and other establishments to put up signboards in Marathi script until September.

A division bench, headed by Justice RD Dhanuka, was hearing a petition filed by the Indian Hotel and Restaurants Association challenging the validity of the May 31 deadline to change the language, font size and

New changes on signboards were prescribed by BMC under section 36A of Maharashtra Shops & Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act —FILE PHOTO

Bombay High Court

order of the language on signboards.

BMC advocate Dhruti Kapadia informed the court that the civic body has granted an extension and the

deadline is now September 2022.

Advocate Vishal Thadani, who represents the petitioners, told the court that shops and establish-

Fly ash from power station contaminates crops, water

ments will comply with the directions within the extended time period.

The bench then disposed of the petition.

The petitioners had

stated that the amendment issued did not prescribe a fixed time period.

However, through newspaper advertisements and notices is-

sued to the establishments, the BMC had fixed a deadline of May 31, the plea stated, adding that members of the association were ready and willing to change the signboards.

The newly introduced norms will require huge expenses and labour to carry out the changes, the establishment owners had earlier stated.

Failing to abide by the requirement within the deadline will attract a penalty, which could go as high as Rs5,000, the petitioners had said, seeking an extension of six months.

SAYING GOODBYE

First India Bureau Nagpur: The fly ash coming from the Koradi Thermal Power Station (KTPS), after a part of the plant’s Khasala Ash Bund collapsed owing to heavy rainfall has led to the contamination of crops and water in Nagpur, locals say.

“The ash has affected farming activities on my 25-acre farmland.

As the crops cannot fully flourish in these conditions, I have given some area of my farm to a brick kiln on instalment,” said Atmaram Bawankule, a farmer in Khasala village.

“The loss to the brick kiln due to the breaking

Fly ash KTPS has hit farmers hard in Nagpur. —PHOTO BY ANI

of the dam has been really heartbreaking. I feel that the government should compensate workers of the brick kiln as they have suffered heavy loss,” he added.

He further stated that the dam broke because the work of collecting the ashes was not done properly and it created

a lump of waste which resulted in a flood-like situation.

Moreshwar Kapse, Sarpanch of Khairi village said, “I had already written to the higher authorities on the poor condition of the dam.

This unfortunate incident is clearly due to government negligence.”

Late ghazal singer Bhupinder Singh’s wife Mitali Singh and son Nihal Singh during the prayer meet of the veteran singer, in Mumbai on Friday.

—PHOTO BY ANI

CHANGE OF HEART

Murder convict, on run, surrenders as daughters pass Xth Boards lll

Sanjay was arrested for murder in Nov 2003 with his father Shalikram and brothers Vasudev and Namdeo

First India Bureau Nagpur: Murder convict Sanjay Tejne of Nagpur district jumped parole almost 12 years ago and remained on the run all this while, but surrendered on May 12 after his twin daughters scored 86% and 83% in their Class X Maharashtra board exam this year.

Tejne, in his 50s, hid from police and worked

WITH NO ONE TO LOOK AFTER THE FAMILY AND HIS TWIN DAUGHTERS, SANJAY APPEALED BEFORE THE HIGH COURT TO OVERTURN HIS CONVICTION, BUT LOST

at a printing unit to fund his twins’ education — born in 2007 af-

—FILE PHOTO

ter one of his previous furloughs.

Shraddha and Shru-

ti Tejne, now 16, were honoured by NGOs and the prison depart-

ment at Nagpur Central Jail on Thursday.

The sisters were students of Santaji High school, Hudkeshwar Khurd Chikna, Nagpur district.

Sanjay was arrested for murder in November 2003 with his father Shalikram and brothers Vasudev and Namdeo. The four were awarded life imprisonment in 2005. Sanjay twice came to meet his wife Kalpana and

mother on furlough.

When his daughters were born, he appealed in the high court to overturn his conviction. He lost. Then he decided to take parole and become a fugitive until his daughters grew up. He surrendered after jumping parole for 4,200 days, a little less than 12 years.

His time on the run may leave him ineligible for any further leave, and other facili-

ties, including remission, during his life term.

Shraddha said their father would meet them secretly sometimes, and always brought them books.

During their exams, he accompanied them to the centre each day.

“He always motivated us. I want to study engineering and then fulfil my father’s dream of us becoming IAS officers,” she said.

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Why Sri Lanka Imploded

When Sri Lanka’s Rajapaksa family returned to power in 2019, it was riding a wave of support that it sought to sustain with popular but ill-advised economic handouts. By definition, unsustainable policies eventually run into a wall

MUMBAI | SATURDAY, JULY 23, 2022

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IN-DEPTH

BRITAIN, EUROPE REALISE THAT CLIMATE CHANGE IS FOR REAL

G

KAUSHIK BASU

The writer is a former chief economist of the World Bank and chief economic adviser to the Government of India, is Professor of Economics at Cornell University and a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution

A Sri Lanka defaulted on its foreign debt in May. We now know that, rather than turning to International Monetary Fund, whose rescue programs are conditional on tough policy reforms, it approached China for a fresh loan when its coffers were approaching empty. But this merely increased its debt by another $3 billion

s Sri Lanka’s economy unravels before our eyes, one must ask how this could happen in a country that is historically known for its high standard of living and stable economy.

Sri Lanka’s achievements go back decades, giving it a per capita GDP that is 70% higher than India’s, and a life expectancy at birth of 77 years, compared to 73, 70, and 67, in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, respectively.

But now, Sri Lanka’s economy is in free fall. The proximate causes of the crisis are clear enough. Problems stemming from international factors such as COVID-19 and Russia’s war in Ukraine were exacerbated by Sri Lanka’s own policy mistakes. In 2019, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa (who has now fled the country) announced a round of mindless tax cuts, depriving the state of sorely needed revenue. Then, in 2021, his government abruptly banned imports of chemical fertilizer and pesticides.

While the aim of the policy was to stall foreign-exchange

MURMU’S VICTORY

IS OPPN’S LOSS

outflows, the main result was a dramatic reduction in domestic food production, leading to acute food shortages this year.

The coup de grâce was the government’s ongoing effort to keep the Sri Lankan rupee artificially strong. Technically, Sri Lanka uses a “soft peg”: Rather than being fixed by government diktat, the rupee-to-dollar exchange rate is allowed to float, albeit with occasional interventions by the central bank (buying and selling dollars) to prevent excessive fluctuations.

But charting the rupee-todollar exchange rate shows that the country’s soft peg is a misnomer. For years, the exchange rate remained flat, roughly between 175 to 200 rupees to the dollar because, as economist Noah Smith explains, the Sri Lankan central bank was regularly selling dollars to prop up the rupee’s value. Eventually, this longstanding intervention ended the only way that it could: starting around April of this year, the rupee began depreciating sharply.

Within months, the exchange rate had fallen to 350 rupees to the dollar, and the central bank’s dollar reserves had all but vanished.

Sri Lanka defaulted on its foreign debt in May. We now know that, rather than turn-

D

raupadi Murmu, a Santhal woman has become India’s first tribal President, moving from her humble abode in Odisha to the historic Rashtrapati Bhawan. Her election as the country’s First Citizen is indeed a matter of great pride and national celebration. She defines our democracy which, despite odds, is marching ahead to celebrate the 75th year of Independence as Amrit Mahotsav. The incumbent President may want to steer clear of political slugfest between the government and the Opposition over contentious issues like polarization just as her predecessor did.

That should not distract us from the values and simplici-

How did a country with a longstanding reputation for maturity make so many mistakes?

The short answer is that Sri Lanka’s politics sowed the seeds for today’s economic crisis.

The Rajapaksa-led government became increasingly authoritarian after defeating the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ing to the International Monetary Fund, whose rescue programs are conditional on tough policy reforms, it approached China for a fresh loan when its coffers were approaching empty. But this merely increased its debt by another $3 billion and ensured that its inevitable crisis would be even bigger when it eventually arrived.

China’s strategy vis-à-vis Sri Lanka (and other developing countries, like Ethiopia) echoes the approach taken both by earlier colonial powers and by rural moneylenders in developing countries.

As Amit Bhaduri showed in a classic 1977 paper in the Cam-

Draupadi Murmu is not the one to compromise on her righteousness is evident from her clean track record as a politician and as a governor despite her personal & financial hardships ty that Draupadi Murmu will bring to the high office. That she is not the one to compromise on her righteousness is evident from her clean track record as a politician and as a governor despite her personal and financial hardships.

She will help bring tribals closer to the mainstream and

bridge Journal of Economics, rural informal moneylenders typically do not worry about the borrower defaulting; rather, they worry about the borrower not defaulting, because then they cannot turn a bigger profit by confiscating his collateral (usually his land).

Consider Hambantota Port, the pet project of Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka’s president between 2005 and 2015 (and Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s brother). Funded largely with Chinese money, the port opened in 2010 on Mahinda’s birthday. But when Sri Lanka later failed to repay the debt, this “gift” became collateral to be confiscated. China now has a 99year lease on the port.

How did a country with a longstanding reputation for maturity make so many mistakes? The short answer is that Sri Lanka’s politics sowed the seeds for today’s economic crisis. The Rajapaksa-led government became increasingly authoritarian after defeating the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and ending Sri Lanka’s decades-long civil war in 2009. It eroded the country’s democratic institutions, persecuted minorities, and waved away accusations of war crimes.

SOURCE: PROJECT-SYNDICATE

ensure that they get social and economic uplift.

Murmu’s election has a lesson for the disunited Opposition which did not vote for him. Some of the parties like the Congress must have found to their dismay that many of their members were not in agreement with the anti-Murmu and pro-Yashwant Sinha stand and voted for the former. Murmu’s convincing victory makes the efforts for Opposition unity as no more than chasing a mirage. It would have been more graceful for them to have backed Murmu even if she was a BJP candidate. The Opposition parties, mainly the Congress and TMC, have missed the larger point of moving closer to tribals when Lok Sabha elections are close.

lobal warming has never been as real as it is now. Europe is sizzling and the United Kingdom recorded its highest temperature in decades with train signals melting in the heat and rails getting damaged due to fire. The 40 degrees Celsius recorded In Britain was said to be ten times higher than the pre-industrial era temperatures. A severe heat wave is torching parts of Western Europe with forest fires raging in Spain and France. Heat wave deaths were also reported from parts of Europe along with the loss of green cover over lakhs of hectares.

The least unprepared for this onslaught by Nature was Britain where people went looking for electric fans and water bodies to escape the scorching heat.

Worse, the British Met office warned that this phenomenon could repeat every three years.

A UN report on climate change warned that the world is on a “fast track” to disaster. Scientists warn that it’s “now or never” to limit global warming.

SPIRITUAL SPEAK

You are only entitled to the action, never to its fruits.

—Bhagavad Gita

TOP TWEETS Narendra Modi @narendramodi

I congratulate all those who have passed their CBSE Class X exams. I wish them a fruitful academic journey ahead. I am certain these youngsters will scale new heights of success in the coming times.

Dharmendra Pradhan @dpradhanbjp

Congratulate my young friends who have successfully passed the CBSE class X examinations. Heartening to see an overall pass percentage of 94.4%.

Wish the best to India’s next generation of leaders in their future endeavours.

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LOGJAM CONTINUES

PM Modi meets top ministers to discuss strategy in Parliament

n Work affected

1,456 NEET-PG SEATS REMAINED VACANT

due to continous protests by the Opposition

New Delhi: As many as 1,456 seats for the NEET-PG 2021 remained vacant despite five rounds of counselling including a special round, the government told Lok Sabha Friday. The vacant seats in respect of deemed universities were reverted to respective universities, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar said in a written reply.

n Rajnath, Amit

Shah, Pralhad Joshi, Thakur attend meet

New Delh (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held a meeting with top ministers to discuss the government’s strategy in Parliament as the Opposition parties are continuously creating ruckus and forcing adjournment of the Houses.

Union Ministers including Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Pralhad Joshi, Anurag Singh Thakur, Kiren Rijiju, Piyush Goyal were present in the meeting.

Both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha have been adjourned for the day on the fourth day of the Monsoon Session and resumed today at 11 am. This was the fourth successive day since the monsoon session began that both the Houses were adjourned minutes after assembling without any productivity.

Opposition MPs create a ruckus over the issue of inflation and GST hike in the Rajya Sabha during the Monsoon Session of Parliament, in New Delhi on Friday.

—PHOTO BY ANI

‘OPPOSITION WALKOUT FOR NOT TAKING UP AGNIPATH SCHEME’ New Delhi: Opposition members on Friday walked out in protest from a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Defence, alleging they were not allowed to discuss the Agnipath scheme. Members of Congress and BSP urged committee chairman Jual Oram to allow a discussion on the scheme, arguing it has huge implications and required parliamentary scrutiny, but were denied permission.

Congress MPs KC Venugopal and Uttam

4-CR BENEFICIARIES HAVN’T TAKEN A SINGLE VAX DOSE

New Delhi: An estimated 4 crore eligible beneficiaries have not taken even a single dose of COVID-19 vaccine as on July 18, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar informed the Lok Sabha on Friday. A total of 1,78,38,52,566 vaccine doses (97.34 per cent) have been administered free of cost in Government Covid Vaccination Centres (CVCs) till July 18, she said in a written reply.

CRUCIAL READ TEMPLE DESECRATED IN BIHAR TOWN, DONATION BOX LOOTED, ONE HELD

Kishanganj: A temple was desecrated in Kishanganj district of Bihar on Friday by “anti social elements” who also decamped with the donation box kept on the premises, an official said. According to SDM, Kishanganj, devotees found the idol of the presiding deity at the Kali temple in Lahra chowk area vandalised. This evoked and angry response from local office bearers of the BJP, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal who staged a demonstration by burning tyres on the road. Sangh Parivar activists also raised slogans triggering tension in Kishanganj town.

LIP-LOCK VIDEO: CASE AGAINST 8 STUDENTS

4.33 KG SMUGGLED GOLD SEIZED AT HYD AIRPORT

Mangaluru: A case has been registered by the city police against eight students for their involvement in the lip-lock competition at a private apartment in the city, a video of which had gone viral. The students were booked for alleged offences punishable under Sections 376, 354, 354 (C) and 120 (B) of the IPC and different sections of the POCSO and IT Acts, police sources said.

Hyderabad: Air Intelligence Unit officials on July 21 apprehended two male passengers from Dubai, for attempting to smuggle 3.591 kg gold by concealing it in undergarments and rectum. The value of the gold is estimated to be Rs 1.87 crore. In the other case, a male passenger was intercepted on Thursday while trying to smuggle 740-gm gold inside an exhaust fan and electric juicer.

BIHAR CM URGES RLY MINISTER TO RENAME RAGHUNATHPUR STATION Patna: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has written to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav requesting him to rename Raghunathpur railway station after Baba Brahmeshwar Nath. The CM, who on Thursday laid the foundation stone for a beautification project at Baba Brahmeshwar N a t h temple complex in Buxar district, said in the letter that locals had long been making this demand. As per mythology, this is an ancient temple of Lord Shiva. It was established by Lord Brahma. Devotees throng the shrine throughout the year, especially during Falgun & Shravan months.

Reddy, besides BSP’s Danish Ali, who are members of the panel, argued with the chairman that Agnipath scheme has already been discussed in the Consultative Committee on Defence and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and the service chiefs have made a presentation before it. The members said not allowing a discussion amounted to insult to Parliament and not informing the committee about the scheme is a breach of privilege.

CENTRE ASKS ALL DEPTS TO ORGANISE FREE VAX CAMPS New Delhi: The Centre has asked all its departments to organise Covid vaccination camps at the workplaces for providing free precaution doses to the eligible employees and their family members. In an order, the Personnel Ministry asked all departments to enumerate the number of eligible employees and their family members to be vaxed by precaution dose, separately for both Covishield and Covaxin.

NO TO RETURNING MED STUDENTS

New Delhi: No permission has been given by National Medical Commission to transfer/accommodate any foreign medical students in Indian medical institute, the Centre said Friday.

MoS Health Bharati Pravin Pawar made the statement in a written reply to a question on whether the NMC has not approved the decision of states to allow admission in their colleges.

VARUN QUESTIONS CENTRE’S MOVE

New Delhi: BJP MP Varun Gandhi questioned the government’s decision to scrap the concession to senior citizens on trains and asked why this relief to the elderly is seen as a “burden” when MPs continue to get subsidy on rail fare. In another tweet, Gandhi also expressed concern over frequent emergency landings of flights due to snags.

IN THE COURTYARD GST ON MOBILITY DEVICES: HOW DO WE BREAK SHACKLES OF POLICY, SAYS SC New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Friday termed the issue of levy of GST on the mobility devices for people with disability as a “serious matter” and wondered how the court can break “shackles of policy”.

The court was told by advocate Jai Dehadrai that the matter was listed earlier on October 26, 2020, but the court had allowed the petitioners to move a representation to the ministry. He said that they had made the representation but Goods and Services Tax (GST) is still levied on such devices and therefore making them less accessible to people with mobility disabilities.

Dehadrai submitted that for example five percent GST is levied on wheelchairs which increases its cost considerably and similarly for braille paper tax is levied. “No able person has to pay any tax for walking”, he said.

“We understand it is a serious matter and in the larger public interest.

You have a point. We had earlier also sought assistance from the Attorney General in the matter. The problem is how we can break the shackles of policy.

Moreover, we may have to deal with GST on other medical devices as well,” the bench said.

9% jump in pass percentage against pre-pandemic years

30K Guj docs strike work over glass facade rule

New Delhi (PTI): This year, the overall pass percentage in the CBSE class 12 exam has gone up by over 9 per cent with a jump in the number of candidates scoring more than 90 and 95 pc marks in comparison to the pre-pandemic academic sessions.

This year, the pass percentage stands at 92.71 per cent with 33,432 candidates having scored above 90 per cent and 1,34,797 above 95 pc.

In 2021, the pass percentage in class 12 stood at 99.37 per cent, the highest ever recorded by the Board. The pass percentage in 2020 stood at 88.78.

In 2019 i.e. before the outbreak of virus, the pass percentage was recorded at 83.40, whereas the figures in 2018, 2017 and 2016 stood at 83.01, 82.02 and 83.05, respectively.

Ahmedabad(PTI): Over 30,000 private doctors in Gujarat observed a one-day strike on Friday against a recent government diktat on glass facades of hospitals and shifting of ICUs to the ground floor.

These rules were framed after a directive of the HC and the stir was held as the demand to comply within seven days was “illogical”, said Dr Mehul Shah, secretary of Gujarat Branch of IMA. “Our strike was successful as over 30,000 doctors, who are carrying out private practice and are members of IMA, stayed away from work today. Hospitals are getting notices from authorities to implement the new rules within seven days, which is totally illogical and will ultimately affect the people,” he said.

—PHOTO BY ANI Students celebrate after the declaration of Class 12 results of the CBSE, at Rani Laxmi Bai School in Lucknow on Friday.

NO MERIT LISTS FOR CBSE EXAMS TO AVOID ‘UNHEALTHY COMPETITION’ AMONG STUDENTS New Delhi: CBSE will not declare merit lists for board exams to avoid “unhealthy competition” among students, Exam Controller Sanyam Bhardwaj said on Friday. The board did not announce merit lists in 2020 & 2021 because results were declared on the basis of alternate assessment scheme as exams could not be conducted due to covid.

CBSE’S CLASS 10, 12 BOARD EXAMS FOR 2022-23 SESSION FROM FEB 15 New Delhi: CBSE will conduct class 10 and 12 exams for the 2022-23 academic session from February 15 next year, according to exam controller Sanyam Bhardwaj.

Unlike last year, there will be only one exam at the end of the academic session in 2023. “In light of the lessening impact of Covid ... the board has decided to conduct the 2023 exams from February 15, 2023,” Bhardwaj said.

05

HC DISMISSES LT GEN (RETD) TEJINDER SINGH’S PLEA AGAINST FRAMING CHARGES New Delhi: The Delhi HC has dismissed a plea by former Lt Gen Tejinder Singh challenging the framing of charges against him for allegedly offering a bribe to then Army Chief VK Singh in connection with the Tatra-all terrain vehicles. Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav said the trial court order does not call for any interference and dismissed Tejinder’s revision petition challenging the trial court’s August 2, 2019 order framing charges against him. So far as the arguments with respect to various omissions and contradictions in the case of the prosecution are concerned, the same are the subject matter of trial and the present case cannot be said to be a case of no material. “It is made clear that the observations made in this judgement are only for the purpose of deciding the issue of the legality of the order framing charge,” the court said.

SC TO TAKE UP PREZ POLL CASES

PLEA AGAINST DENYING DETAILS

New Delhi: All disputes arising from the election of President or Vice President can only be inquired and decided by Supreme Court, the Delhi HC has said. Justice Sanjeev Narula, dealing with a petition which sought to restrain legislators imprisoned in criminal cases from casting their vote in the recent Presidential election, said the plea was not maintainable.

New Delhi: The Delhi HC reserved its order on an appeal challenging the decision of its single judge dismissing the plea seeking information under the RTI law on the agenda of a SC collegium meeting in 2018 concerning the elevation of judges to the apex court. “We will pass an appropriate order,” a bench of CJ Satish Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad said.

SC CLOSES VIKAS DUBEY CASE, DIRECTS UP TO ACT ON RECOMMENDATIONS OF PANEL New Delhi: A Supreme Court bench led by CJI NV Ramana closed the case pertaining to the death of gangster Vikas Dubey in a police encounter. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta stated that UP government has accepted the recommendations of the inquiry report by a 3-member judicial commission. The apex court thereafter directed the Yogi Adityanath-led government to take appropriate action on the recommendations of the inquiry commission.

Naidu, dignitaries meet President-elect Murmu

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu greets President-elect Droupadi Murmu at her residence, in New Delhi on Friday.

New Delhi (PTI): Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday visited Droupadi Murmu's temporary residence here and congratulated her on being elected as the 15th President of India.

Visitors, including Union ministers and saints, continued to stream in to meet Murmu and congratulate her on being elected to the top constitutional post. Among others who met her included

Union ministers Bhupender Yadav and G Kishan Reddy, religious leaders and functionaries of Brahma Kumaris, a spiritual organisation with which the President-Elect has been associated.

V-P Naidu met Murmu and congratulated her on being elected as the 15th President of India, a tweet by his office said. The meeting lasted for 15 minutes, sources said.

CLOSER TIES

UK hails historic mutual recognition edu pact with India London (PTI): British universities and a leading network of Indian students and professionals have hailed the “landmark” agreement between the UK and India to mutually recognise each other’s higher education qualifications, calling it a longawaited achievement in bilateral ties that will enable significantly smoother movement of students between the two countries.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU), signed on Thursday as part of the UK-India Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP) agreed by Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and Narendra Modi last year, means UK A-levels and their equivalents, undergraduate and postgraduate degrees will now be recognised in India.

It will allow Indian students who graduate from British varsities to

The MoU being signed in New Delhi on Thursday.

apply for postgraduate qualifications, or embark on government careers that require uni-

versity qualifications, wh en they return home.

This is a landmark, historic agreement

which has been many years in the making.

Qualifications students receive will be recognised on both sides, making it easier for students to progress in education and move into jobs, said Vivienne Stern, Chief Executive, Universities UK International (UUKi), which represents over 140 UK universities.

The recognition of UK Masters’ is a particularly important de-

velopment. It means that Indian graduates of the UK’s outstanding universities will receive formal recognition of their outstanding achievements and full access to jobs in the public sector in India, she said.

The National Indian Students and Alumni Union (NISAU) UK hailed the long-awaited move, which students’ groups had been lobbying for over the years.

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‘4 out of 5 members back India’s bid for UNSC seat’

Only China has not yet supported India become a permanent member New Delhi (PTI): Four out of five permanent members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) have supported India’s candidature for a permanent seat in the top world body, the government told the Lok Sabha on Friday. In response to a question, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said India has been consistently taking up China the issue of reform of the UNSC. China is the only country which has not yet supported India’s bid to become a member of the UNSC. “Four out of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council have bilaterally expressed official affirmations of support for India’s candidature to a permanent seat in an expanded UN Security Council,” the minister said.Muraleedharan said the government has accorded the “highest priority” to

At present, the UNSC comprises five permanent members and 10 non-permanent member countries which are elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly of the UN. —FILE PHOTO

PERMANENT SEAT HIGHEST PRIORITY

getting permanent membership for India in an expanded UNSC. “Towards this end, the government has under-

FROM PG 1 Maharashtra cabinet... included within the Shinde faction, despite their demand to be considered as a separate formation for ministerial posts. Time is of essence here in particular, as the next 2.5 years will witness time lapses due to election code of conduct freezing government activities during some local body elections or the other,” a person close to the issue explained.

The Shinde faction will also get a Union Minister from among the 12 rebel Sena MPs, even as every MP will be made responsible for ensuring the winnability of the five to six MLAs in her/his parliamentary constituency.

Likewise, empowered MLAs will be given election targets like corporate entities to ensure development and political disruption to ensure progress with strict timelines, the this person added.

“If an MLA feels loss of entitlement over missing the housing ministry, she/he may be made head of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA). Sim-

taken various initiatives aimed at building international support for India,” he said.

He also referred to

Video of namaz at Prayagraj

railway station goes viral

Om Prakash Rajbhar

‘Y’ CATEGORY SECURITY TO RAJBHAR Lucknow (PTI): The UP government has accorded ‘Y’ category security to Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) president Om Prakash Rajbhar, an alliance partner of the SP. Under the ‘Y’ category security cover, a protectee is provided 11 security personnel, including two personal security officers. The development comes days after Rajbhar’s party broke ranks with the SP and voted for Droupadi Murmu, who was the NDA’s candidate in presidential election and emerged victorious over her rival and the Opposition’s nominee Yashwant Sinha.

Yogi govt orders probe; another incident after Lulu Mall case Prayagraj (ANI): A video showing a group of people offering namaz at Prayagraj railway station has gone viral and prompted U.P police to order a probe. Over 10 people are seen in a waiting room where they completed the prayers.

The incident reportedly took place last night. This comes after a similar incident was reported in Lucknow after a video sparked a controversy in which some people were seen offering namaz inside the Lulu mall and protests followed.

Earlier on July 16, UP Police detained three people from Lucknow’s Lulu Mall for allegedly attempting to recite Sundarkand inside the mall premises. As per police officials, the three arrested people belonged to Hindu Samaj Party.

They were detained at the mall’s entry gate.

Haridwar (PTI): Eight people were arrested for offering ‘namaz’ at a weekly market in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar, police said on Friday.

The accused were later granted bail by the subdivisional magistrate’s (SDM) court, they said.

Following a tip-off, Nizam (22), Nasim (52), Sajjad Ahmad (50), Mursalin (38), Ashraf (45), Asgar (37), Mustafa (35) and Ikram (47) were arrested in Shivalik Nagar colony late on Thursday evening for offering ‘namaz’ at a weekly market, Superintendent of Police (City) Swatantra Kumar said. They were arrested under Section 151 of the Criminal Procedure Code (design to commit any cognisable offence) and produced before the SDM’s court. The court gave them a warning and granted them bail, he said.

Lucknow: 18 IPS officers, of DIG rank, have been transferred in UP. These include IPS Sabharaj as DIG SCRB Lucknow, Swami Prasad as DIG Special Investigation Cell Lucknow, Saumitra Yadav as DIG 112 Lucknow, Ramesh DIG Intelligence Headquarters Lucknow, Baburam DIG CB-CID, Dayanand Mishra DIG Food Cell, Yogesh Singh DIG Women and Child Protection Organization Lucknow and Geeta Singh DIG Prosecution Lucknow.

Bhopal (PTI): The Maharashtra state transport bus driver's attempt to overtake resulted in the vehicle plunging into the Narmada river in Madhya Pradesh, in which 12 passengers were killed earlier this week, police said on Friday.

The accident had occurred on July 18 between Khalghat and Thigari in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh. Of the 12 deceased, seven passengers hailed from Maharashtra, four

The accident had occurred on July 18 between Khalghat and Thigari in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh.

—FILE PHOTO

from Rajasthan and one from Indore.

"As per the probe, the accident took place after

the man at the wheel tried to overtake a truck running ahead of it. In the process, the driver

increased the speed of the bus, but lost control over the vehicle, which fell into the river after breaking off the railings on the bridge," district superintendent of police (SP) in MP's Khargone, D S Yadav, told PTI. The police have recorded the statement of a man, who was going on a motorcycle behind the bus when it fell into the river. He is the only witness of the accident, he said. It was he who informed the police about the mishap.

Amarnath Yatra suspended Assam bikers, on way to Arunachal’s due to inclement weather Tawang, found dead in deep gorge Jammu (PTI): The Amarnath Yatra on Friday has been suspended from Jammu due to due inclement weather and bad condition on Jammu-Srinagar national highway, officials said.

No fresh batch was allowed to proceed from here to the base camps of the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas, they said.

The highway was reopened for one-way traf-

fic on Thursday night after its closure due to landslides and shooting stones triggered by heavy rain at several places in Ramban district, officials said.

Itanagar (PTI): Bodies of four people from Assam were found in a deep gorge in Arunachal Pradesh's West Kameng district on Friday, a police officer said.

They were members of different motorcycle riding clubs of Assam, and were on the way to Tawang in a car, he said.

Their families lost contact after they entered Arunachal Pradesh on July 19, he added. The deceased were identified

The victims Nayan Basumatari, Bedanta Bormahela, Hirak Boro and Sanjiv Das.

as Nayan Basumatari (30) and Bedanta Bormahela (30) -- both from Nagaon, Hirak Boro (32)

‘10-20% Covid patients experience long-term effects’ State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar said in a written reply.

“According to the World Health Organisation, most people who develop coronavirus fully recover, but current global evidence suggests that approximately 10 per cent-20 per cent of people experience a variety of midand long-term effects after they recover from their initial illness,” Pawar said in her reply.

The symptoms of

8 HELD FOR OFFERING NAMAZ IN PUBLIC, RELEASED

Driver’s bid to overtake led to bus falling in Narmada river that killed 12: MP police

PANDEMIC BLUES

New Delhi (PTI): Current global evidence suggests approximately 10 to 20 per cent of people who develop Covid-19 experience a variety of mid- and long-term effects after they recover from their initial illness, the Lok Sabha was informed on Friday.

The Union health ministry had on October 21, 2021 issued National Comprehensive Guidelines for Management of Post-Covid Sequelae, Minister of

Over 10 people are seen in a waiting room where they completed the prayers.

18 IPS officers transferred in UP First India Bureau

ilarly, if one faction is given the ministership of a department then, the other faction will have the Minister of State (MoS) in the department. A lot of hard work is being done to ensure demographics of caste (Tribal, SC, ST, Dalits factors) and winnability in 2024 are scrutinized for the 20:20 match that will ensue in the Lok Sabha as well as state assembly elections in Maharashtra,” the person added.

Past precedent (read: 2014-2019) was also factored in, and the crucial Cooperatives Department (with BJP) will see the appointment of a mature politician for which Radhakrisha Vikhe Patil, Harshvardhan Patil are being considered. Tribal development will also be crucial to ensure that the proliferation of Naxal and Maoist activity, as well as forced conversions are curbed in Maharashtra.

comments by a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson last year following India-China consultations on the UNSC. Muraleedharan said the spokesperson, responding to a question, said that China supports UNSC reforms in a manner that increases the authority and efficacy of the body and increases the representation and voice of developing countries.

SYMPTOMS

A woman receiving covid vaccine at a medical centre. —FILE PHOTO

long Covid may include fatigue, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, memory, concentration or sleep

problems, persistent cough, chest pain, difficulty in speaking, muscle aches, loss of smell or taste, depression or

06

anxiety and fever.

The National Comprehensive Guidelines for Management of Post-Covid Sequelae

contains detailed guidance for doctors on managing post-covidcomplications affecting cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, nephrological, neurological and respiratory systems and rehabilitation from such complications, Pawar stated.

She was responding to a question on the problems that occur over the long-term because of C-19 and the estimates of the number of people suffering from such symptoms.

from Sonapur in Kamrup and Sanjiv Das (34) of Rangapara in Sonitpur district.

No plan to extend deadline for filing IT returns: Rev secy

Tarun Bajaj

New Delhi (PTI): The government is not considering extending the last date for filing income tax returns as it expects most returns to come in by the due date of July 31, a top official said on Friday.

Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj said over 2.3 crore income returns were filed by July 20 for fiscal 2021-22 and the numbers are picking up. Last fiscal (202021), about 5.89 crore ITRs were filed by the extended due date of December 31, 2021.

"Now on a daily basis, we are getting between 15 lakhs to 18 lakh returns. This will slightly go up to 25 lakh to 30 lakh returns," he told PTI. Typically, return filers wait till the last day to file returns.

Yogeshwar Mishra touted to be Vns commissioner?

Ahtesham Siddiqui Lucknow: In Uttar Pradesh, out of 18 divisions of 75 districts of the state, 15 divisions have Director IAS officers as commissioners, whereas only 3 divisions are occupied by IAS officers.

Out of that, IAS Dinesh Kumar Singh, commissioner of Chitrakoot division and Dr. Ajay Shakar Pandey, commissioner of Jhansi division, are retiring in July 2022. That’s why there is a discussion in

the corridors of the bureaucracy that it may be that IAS Yogeshwar Ram Mishra, who has been the DM of Varanasi, may be appointed as Commissioner of Varanasi.

Notably, Director IAS officers have the responsibility of a very large circle which includes Agra, Aligarh, Ayodhya, Azamgarh, Bareilly, Devipatan (Gonda), Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Lucknow, Meerut, Moradabad, Prayagraj, Saharanpur, Varanasi.

COMMODITIES

CURRENCIES

Commodity

Price

Change

% Chg

Currency

Price

Change

% Chg

GOLD

50,341.00

594.00

0.011 (Per 10g)

USDINR

79.90

0.05

0.1376

SILVER

55,164.00

998.00

0.018 (Per 1kg)

GBPINR

95.3067

0.1941

0.2032

MUMBAI | SATURDAY, JULY 23, 2022

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business BRIEFS UAE ACCOUNTS FOR 15% OF IND’S GEMS, JEWELLERY EXPORT

Dubai: The UAE is an important export market for Indian gems and jewellery, accounting for around 15% or $5.8 billion in FY 2021-22, according to a top official of an industry body. Colin Shah, Chairman of the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), said that India’s plain gold jewellery exports to the UAE jumped 63% to 135.27 million in May and 29% to $116.70 million in June this year on a year—PTI on-year basis.

BATTERY STORAGE POTENTIAL TO BE 600 GWh BY 2030

New Delhi: India will have a battery storage potential of 600 gigawatt hour (GWh) by 2030, and demand for electric vehicles, stationary storage and consumer electronics will mainly drive adoption of battery storage, a Niti Aayog report said. The report further said a coherent regulatory framework incentivising all stakeholders to participate in the recycling process will help in the development of a battery recycling ecosystem in the country.

“Based on our analysis, the total cumulative potential for battery storage in India will be 600 GWh by 2030 – considering a base case scenario and with segments like EVs and consumer electronics projected to be major demand drivers for the adoption of battery storage in India,” it said. —PTI

EXIM BANK MULLS RAISING $3.8 BN IN FY23: MD BANGARI

Rupee holding up well relative to emerging market peers: RBI Guv Mumbai (PTI): Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday said the rupee is holding up relatively well when compared to the currencies of emerging market peers and advanced economies.

Days after the domestic currency breached the 80-level against the dollar, Das said Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has zero tolerance for volatile and bumpy movement in the rupee and added that the central bank actions have helped in smoother movement.

He said RBI has been supplying US dollars to the market to ensure adequate supply of liquidity and also clarified that the central bank does not target a particular level for the currency.

Further, Das said there was no need to be alarmed by unhedged exposures on foreign borrowings. Bulk of such exposures are by state-owned companies and the government can pitchin with help if need be, he added.

According to him, the inflation targeting framework has worked well since adopting it in 2016 and stressed that the same should continue in the interest of the economy and the financial sector.

“We should not shift the goal posts to suit the immediate requirements,” Das said.

mid the rupee falling against A the US dollar, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday said

Reserve Bank Governor

“you buy an umbrella to use it when it rains!’, indicating that the central bank is using foreign exchange reserves to deal with currency volatility. Das also said that by eschewing sudden and volatile shifts, the central bank has ensured that expectations remain anchored and the forex market functions in a stable and liquid manner. He also noted that the central bank will continue to engage with the forex market and ensure that the rupee finds its level in line with its fundamentals.

He also said that imported inflation is a challenge because India is a key importer of commodities.

The Governor, who heads the six-member monetary policy committee, said we

are still in the mode of withdrawal of accommodation and referred to the repo rate being under the pre-COVID pandemic levels even after the two consecutive hikes.

We should not shift the goal posts to suit the immediate requirements.

Shaktikanta Das,

Sensex reclaims

56K MARK

RELIANCE Q1 NET PROFIT JUMPS 46%

New Delhi: Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries on Friday reported a 46% jump in its June quarter net profit on bumper earnings from oil refining as well as an uptick in telecom and retail businesses. The oil-to-retail-to-telecom conglomerate’s consolidated net profit stood at `17,955 crore, or `26.54 a share, in April-June compared to `12,273 crore, or `18.96 per share, a year back, the firm said in a statement —PTI on Friday.

z Intense buying in banking and finance counters also drove the indices higher

rupee fell by 5 paise at 79.90 against TthehetoUSclose dollar on Friday as

stronger $ and elevated crude oil prices weighed on investor sentiment.

However, a firm trend in domestic equities restricted the rupee’s fall, forex traders said. At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened lower against the greenback and finally settled at 79.90, registering a fall of 5 paise.

During the day, the local unit witnessed an intra-day high of 79.86 and a low of 79.92 against the US $.

z The broader NSE Nifty climbed 114.20 points or 0.69% to 16,719.45

z Infosys, NTPC, Power Grid, Wipro and IndusInd Bank were the major laggards z Among the Sensex constituents, UltraTech Cement, HDFC, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Titan Company, Kotak Mahindra Bank & HUL were lead gainers.

New Delhi (Agencies): Aviation traffic in the country is growing continuously, with DGCA data showing that passengers carried by domestic airlines grew 66.73% from 343.37 lakh to 572.49 lakh in the January to June period.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation data said that this also shows a monthly growth of 237.65%.

The passenger load factor (PLF) or occupancy rates for IndiGo was 78.6%, 84.1% for SpiceJet, 83.8% for Vistara, 75.4% for Air India, 75.8% for Air Asia, 78.7% for GoFirst, 66.9% for Alliance Air, 54.2% for Fly Big, and 81.8% for Star Air in June. The DGCA’s June report said that the overall cancellation rate of the scheduled domestic airlines for the month has been recorded at 0.59%.

IndiGo had the largest

RUPEE FALLS 5 PAISE TO END AT 79.90 AGAINST US DOLLAR

z Benchmark indices rallied on Friday with the BSE Sensex climbing over 390 points to settle above the 56,000-mark amid fresh buying by foreign funds and largely positive global market trends New Delhi: The Export Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) plans to raise $3.8 billion through foreign currency fund mop-up in the current fiscal year under its global medium-term note (GMTN) programme, a top official said. Being a policy bank, fully-owned by the union government, the bank also has a budgeted allocation of `1,500 crore for the current fiscal year. “As regards our requirement, we are a financial institution so we will have a capital mix of equity and debt. For the year FY23, we have a foreign currency resource raising programme of about $3.8 billion,” Harsha Bangari, Managing Director, Exim Bank told —PTI PTI.

‘Airtel to be at forefront for 5G in India’

z Rising for the sixth straight session, the 30-share BSE benchmark jumped 390.28 points or 0.70% to settle at 56,072.23

ACCORDING TO NOBROKER

RENTAL PROPERTIES WITNESSING HIGH DEMAND IN MAJOR METROS New Delhi (PTI): Rental properties are seeing high demand in major metros and many of them are getting rented out within six hours of posting advertisements online, according to a realty portal.

The trend also comes amid many companies embracing both work from home as well as office post the coronavirus pandemic, it said in a report.

Nobroker offers rental properties in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune. It claims to have over

New Delhi (PTI): Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal has said that the company will be at the forefront of bringing 5G connectivity to India with a powerful network to support the country’s digital-first economy.

The comments from Mittal assume significance as the countdown for 5G spectrum auctions has begun.

A total 72 GHz of radiowaves worth at least `4.3 lakh crore will be put on the block during the auction, scheduled to begin on July 26.

In annual report 202122, Sunil Mittal said, “We can proudly say that Airtel will be at the forefront of bringing 5G connectivity to India with a powerful network that will support India’s digital-first economy.”

Mittal noted that Airtel took the lead in 5G by testing the network ahead of the competition and became the first operator in India to demonstrate a 5G cloud gaming experience and conduct a successful 700 Mhz band trial for rural connectivity.

Mittal further said digital services, in the next few years, will add several billion dollars to the company’s revenue while maintaining an asset light approach.

Domestic air traffic records 66.73% growth ‘YOU BUY UMBRELLA TO USE IT WHEN IT RAINS’: DAS ON USING FOREX

SALIENT OUTCOMES z Nobroker, which does

not charge brokerage, gets over 2.5 lakh rental postings every month

z Around 40% of the deals

were closed in less than 6 hours after posting of the rental advertisements

1.8 crore registered users.

The portal, which does not charge brokerage, gets over 2.5 lakh rental postings every month, its Co-Founder and Chief Executive Of-

ficer Amit Agarwal said.

Data available with the portal for the April-June period showed that properties are getting rented out within six hours of being

07

listed on the Nobroker platform since April, led by Bengaluru, where the rental occupancy has grown five times from the pre-pandemic level.

AKASA AIR TO LAUNCH OPERATIONS ON AUG 7

ew airline Akasa Air will N launch commercial flights on August 7 on Mumbai-Ahmedbad

route. Rakesh Jhunjhunwalaowned Akasa Airlines has already received its flying permit from DGCA. In a statement, the carrier said it has opened ticket sales on 28 weekly flights it will be operating on Mumbai-Ahmedabad route from August 7, as well as on 28 weekly flights it will operating on Bengaluru-Kochi route from August 13. The carrier will launch commercial operations with two 737 Max aircraft.

market share in the AprilJune period at 56.3%, followed by Go First at 10.4%, SpiceJet at 9.7%, Vistara at 8.9%, and Air India at 7.5%.

OTHER STORIES NO PLAN TO EXTEND DEADLINE FOR FILING ITR: REVENUE SECRETARY TARUN BAJAJ

New Delhi: The government is not considering extending the last date for filing income tax returns as it expects most returns to come in by the due date of July 31. Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj said over 2.3 crore income returns were filed by July 20 for fiscal 202122 and the numbers are picking up.

Typically, return filers wait till the last day to file returns. “Last time 9-10% filed on last day. Last time, we had over 50 lakh (filing returns on the last date). This time, I have told my people to be ready for 1 crore (returns being filed on the last day),” he said. “So far, there is no thinking of extending the last date of filing,” he said.

WHEAT STOCKS TO BE 80% HIGHER THAN BUFFER REQUIREMENT

New Delhi: The government on Friday said wheat stocks in FCI godowns is expected to be 134 lakh tonnes at the start of next fiscal, 80% more than the buffer norm. Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal said the central pool stock of wheat as on July 1, 2022 is well above the foodgrains stocking norms.

“As on July 1, 2022, Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state government agencies have 285.10 lakh tonnes of wheat stock under central pool against the stocking norm of 275.80 lakh tonnes,” he said.

SUGAR OUTPUT IN 2022-23 MAY DIP TO 355 LAKH TONNES

New Delhi: India’s sugar production may fall slightly to 355 lakh tonnes in the 202223 marketing year starting October, due to diversion of sugarcane towards ethanol manufacturing, according to industry data.

Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) on Friday released the preliminary estimates for sugar production for 2022-23 marketing year (October-September). As per the ISMA, the sugar production in 2022-23 is estimated at 355 lakh tonnes as against 360 lakh tonnes in the current marketing year ending September.

ALL MAJOR PORTS TO BE MADE SELF SUSTAINABLE ON ELECTRICITY BY 2030

New Delhi: The government is committed to reduce emissions from the shipping sector and all the major ports will be made fully self-sustainable on electricity by 2030. Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal said that to develop global standard ports in India, Maritime India Vision (MIV) 2030 has identified initiatives, such as developing worldclass Mega Ports, transhipment hubs and infrastructure modernisation of ports. According to the minister, as a part of Sagarmala Programme, more than 800 projects at an estimated cost of around `5.5 lakh crore have been identified for implementation during 2015 to 2035 across all coastal states.

A truly kind person is one who loves people more than they deserve.

— Dr Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor-in-Chief, First India

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2ND FRONT MUMBAI | SATURDAY, JULY 23, 2022

08

SARMA PLAYS MODI’S EMISSARY, MELTS DIDI’S HEART Renni Abraham

Mumbai: The bond between Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee, dating back to the 1980s when they were both Youth Congress functionaries, came into play again when Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent Sarma to win Didi’s tacit support for NDA presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu.

A source says, “Mamata and Himanta are CMs of neighbour-

ing states, but also share political ties from their Youth Congress days. Similarly, both dynamic politicians were ignored despite their work and had to leave the Congress. Sarma was the logical emissary for Modi and has pulled off a coup through his diplomacy over tea with Didi.”

When the Assam CM reached out to Didi— whose party TMC had already announced the candidature of Yashwant Sinha for the presidential elections— the latter surprised her own partymen by

WB CM Mamata Bannerjee tacitly supported Modi’s Presidential nominee Draupadi Murmu, TMC to abstain from vice-prez election

WB Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar with CM Mamata Banerjee and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma at Raj Bhavan in Darjeeling on Wednesday.

—FILE PHOTO

Fire evacuation lifts must for high-rises

choosing to meet her “younger brother”.

“Didi said that she could not decline Sarma’s overtures since— although he is a BJP CM—they lead neighbouring states. More importantly, they are also former political colleagues who each had to prove their mettle in India’s political arena. When the two met over tea, Didi was pleasantly surprised when he conveyed the BJP’s offer to withdraw WB Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar with whom she was at loggerheads and, on the verge of ini-

tiating impeachment proceedings,” the source reveals.

The TMC Chief was only too happy to dissipate the matter with Dhankhar’s exit from WB and was also issued a brotherly commitment of an amenable Governor to be next installed in WB. For her part, the firebrand TMC CM not only allowed party MPs to cross vote for Murmu as Indian President but also announced that her party would abstain from voting in the Vice-Presidential elections that follow in

August.

If Sarma secured a big win for the BJP, Mamata also got the Modi Sarkar to quickly process the name change of West Bengal to Bangla, while upsetting the apple cart of opposition political formations.

The Mamata-Modi political war has turned into mutual respect and understanding with Didi now single-mindedly focused on the battle of local bodies due in her state in 2023, without any political distractions from the Centre.

A FOR EFFORT!

Developers have to install the lifts and obtain license for their construction and operation in tall buildings, says energy dept Satish Nandgaonkar Mumbai: In a bid to improve fire safety, the state energy department has in association with local bodies and Fire department, has made it mandatory for developers to install and operate fire evacuation lifts in every high-rise building taller than 70m built since January 2018.

A circular to this on the issue was July 20 and made applicable with immediate effect.

The move follows several recent fires reported in high rises, especially in Mumbai, which have claimed the lives of both residents as well as fire department personnel. The circular states that emergency evacuation via staircases becomes impractical in tall buildings in case of a fire, and notes that safer, more effective and reliable evacuation strategies need to be implemented at the design stage itself.

The circular also notes that although some buildings in Mumbai and its suburbs have fire evacuation lifts,

The move follows several recent fires reported in high rises, especially in Mumbai.

—FILE PHOTO

LIFE SAVERS Estimated to evacuate approximately 100 people in 30 minutes, Fire evacuation lifts can collect occupants from the highest floors first, shuttle them down to the exit level, and return swiftly to carry more. They can even be programmed accordingly, thus enabling fire fighters to reach top floors quickly and easily. these do not conform to the standards of design construction and operational procedures, and were installed without getting necessary approvals from concerned

competent authorities.

A recent high-level meeting to create a policy in this regard was attended by top officials from the Mumbai civic body, fire, engineering

and Chief Electrical Inspector of Industries, Energy and Labour department.

Accordingly, it is mandatory to obtain the permission for erection and license for operation of fire evacuation lifts in Maharashtra, the circular says.

Estimated to evacuate approximately 100 people in 30 minutes, Fire evacuation lifts can collect occupants from the highest floors first, shuttle them down to the exit level, and return swiftly to carry more. They can even be programmed accordingly, thus enabling fire fighters to reach top floors quickly and easily.

The lifts are also expected to provide a much awaited solution to the fire brigade teams across cities in combating high rise fires as they can swiftly reach higher floors which their tallest fire ladders cannot reach.

In some instances, the fire fighters had to lug breathing apparatus and physically climb more than 20 floors to reach the people stuck on higher floors.

Officials oversee pilot projects of new ways to fix potholes including those using geo polymers, paver blocks, rapid hardening concrete and M60, which sees potholes filled with concrete and steel plates placed on it, in Mumbai on Friday. The civic body has been looking for more permanents solutions to Mumbai’s monsoon woes. —PHOTOS BY BHUSHAN KOYANDE

Ahead of polls, SEC to declare OBC quota for 14 municipalities on Aug 05 63 out of 236 wards will be set aside for OBCs in line with 27% reservation First India Bureau Mumbai: After the Supreme Court cleared the decks for holding the local body polls with 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes, the State Election Commission on Friday announced a fresh schedule for ward-wise reservation

lottery for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and 13 other corporations. Of Mumbai’s 236 wards, 63 will be reserved for Other Backward Classes, including 32 which will be set aside for OBC women.

The SEC had on May 31 declared ward-wise reservations for gen-

IN MEMORIAM

Khazana Ghazal fest to pay tribute to Lata Mangeshkar Proceeds of the musical event will go towards treatment of thalassemic children and cancer patients First India Bureau Mumbai : The 2022 edition of Khazana— a festival of ghazals, founded by renowned Ghazal singer Pankaj Udhas, will pay tribute to legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar at its upcoming edition. The festival will be organized at a hotel in South Mumbai on July 29 and July 30, after a two-year gap.

Lata Mangeshkar played an important

role in popularizing ghazals through cinema. She passed away in February.

The festival that was first organised 20-years ago, aims at giving a platform to budding ghazal singers. The proceeds from the event are donated for the treatment of thalassemic children and cancer patients.

Udhas, who founded the event, has expressed his gratitude towards the audience, organizers and spon-

Lata Mangeshkar

sors of the event. “"I hope and I'm also

confident that this year also the show will prove

to be a resounding success. We are pleased to inform you that with your participation, the help of various sponsors and the audiences we have been able to generate sizable funds to help cancer patients and thalassemic children in the last two decades. All proceeds in terms of donations will go to the charity to help the treatment of thalassemic children and cancer patients”, the singer said.

Budding ghazal singers from 75 cities of the country participated in the Khazana Artist Alound Talent Hunt and two winners— Surendra Kumar Raw-

al from Kota and Aparajita Lahiri from Ranchi, will perform along with veterans such as Rekha Bhardwaj, Talat Aziz, Anup Jalota, Hariharan and Vishal Bhardwaj.

Cancer Patients Aid Association & Parents Association Thalassaemic Unit Trust (PATUT), will be aided by the event.

Musicians such as Sudeep Banerji, Pratibha Singh Baghel, Rahul Deshpande, Priyanka Barve, Pooja Gaitonde, Ghansham and Shivani Vaswani and Runaa Rizvii Shivamani, will also be participating in the event.

eral category women, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes without the OBC reservations. The general category reservation for women has now been scrapped. The suggestions and objections on ward-wise reservations will be invited from July 30 to August 02 and, after evaluat-

ing them, the final reservation will be announced on August 05.

Along with Mumbai, 13 other municipal corporations are going to polls including Navi Mumbai, Vasai-Virar, Kalyan-Dombivli, Kolhapur, Thane, Ulhasnagar, Nashik, Pune, P i m p r i - C h i n ch w a d , Solapur, Amravati, Akola and Nagpur.

The reservations announced for BMC had stirred a controversy with many stalwarts from the Opposition discovering that their wards had been reserved.

Pharmacist murder: 7 sent to 14-day judicial custody Mumbai (PTI): A special court on Friday sent seven accused, arrested in connection with the killing of an Amravati pharmacist last month, to 14-day judicial custody after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) did not seek their further remand.

The pharmacist, Umesh Kolhe (54), had allegedly shared social media posts backing former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma, whose objec-

tionable remarks on Prophet Mohammad had triggered a huge controversy.

Kolhe was stabbed to death in Amravati on the night of June 21 when he was returning home after closing his shop, apparently over his posts backing Sharma. The anti-terror agency, which took over the probe into the case from the Amravati police, produced the accused before the in-charge NIA court at the end of their remand period.

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09

MUMBAI, SATURDAY, JULY 23, 2022

P

ooja Hegde is one of the popular personalities in the entertainment industry. She has made a mark for herself in the industry with her talent. She has worked in movies such as Radhe Shyam, Beast, Housefull 4, and others.

The actress is currently on a vacation and has filled social media with some droolworthy photos. Speaking of which, just a while ago, Pooja shared cute photos as she relished ice cream on her vacation. She looked super adorable in a yellow dress. While posting the photo, she wrote, “Softies have my heart”. Her fans showered love on her in the comment section as well.

They also dropped heart and fire emoticons on her photo. In other news, earlier, she went to Bangkok for a vacation.

Her post...

Pooja Hegde

Croissants in Paris

B Her post...

ollywood actress Anushka Sharma is currently vacationing in Paris with her husband, cricketer Virat Kohli and daughter Vamika. The actress recently took to her Instagram account and shared pictures from her hotel balcony, where she could be seen bing-

ing on croissants and coffee. Seems like croissants are one of her favourites as she wants to eat as many of them during her vacay.

In the pictures, Anushka donned a white bathrobe and leaned on her balcony door. Sharing the photos she wrote, “When is Paris... eat many croissants.”

Earlier, the actress had shared a picture of her hotel room and wrote, “Hello Paris! 41 Degree Celsius,” with a hotface emoticon. In contrast to the actor’s morning heat wave post, a story published at night depicted Paris’s rains.

Spotted...

PAPPED AT AIRPORT

Drug Consumption Case Mom-to-be on Koffee with Karan S hraddha Kapoor’s brother had made it to the headlines last month after Siddhanth Kapoor’s name had come ahead in a drug consumption case.

The news of his arrest had sent a shockwave across fans but Shakti Kapoor’s son had also gotten bail after 1 day. Now he is back in the headlines after Bengaluru’s Ulsoor police have summoned him in connection with the drug consumption case filed against him.

According to the sources, Police had summoned him to verify CCTV video from the night when there was a party and when he was caught with four others. Reportedly, Kapoor told police that he had been given a drink by one person and a cigarette by another and was unaware of how drugs ended up in his system. About 35 people present at the party were subjected to blood tests, and five of them, including Siddhanth, tested positive.

E

S

onam Kapoor Ahuja is following in her friend Kareena Kapoor Khan’s footsteps. We have heard that the heavily pregnant Sonam Kapoor Ahuja shot for a Koffee With Karan 7 episode. As per our sources, Sonam along with her bhaiya Arjun Kapoor shot for a Koffee With Karan episode two days back. This will be Sonam’s first onscreen appearance with her baby bump. Sonam Kapoor recently entered the third trimester of her pregnancy and her baby shower which was supposed to take place in Mumbai a few weeks back had to be cancelled due to the sharp rise in the COVID-19 cases.

Shraddha Kapoor

Sonam Kapoor Ahuja

ALIA WEARS ‘KAPOOR’ T-SHIRT

Alia Bhatt

R

anbir Kapoor’s much anticipated Shamshera has hit the theatres today and fans can’t keep calm about it. In fact, the team has been busy promoting Shamshera of late and didn’t leave any stone unturned to create a buzz about the movie.

And now, Alia Bhatt has also taken to social media to urge people to shower love on Shamshera. The actress, who is enjoying her pregnancy period, shared a beautiful pic of herself as she rooted for Shamshera. In the pic, Alia was seen wearing a blue coloured t-shirt which

k Villain Returns is the sequel to the super-hit thriller drama Ek Villain, starring Sidharth Malhotra, Shraddha Kapoor and Ritiesh Deshmukh.

The upcoming Mohit Suri directorial is making the right amount of noise and has managed to get people hooked onto the movie by a ripper of a trailer and three instant hit songs namely Galliyan Returns, Shaamat and Dil. ‘Villains’ Arjun Kapoor, Tara Sutaria and Disha Patani have been promoting their film for about two weeks now. On Thursday Arjun, Disha and Tara were spotted at the Mumbai airport after promoting their film in Indore. Disha looked pretty in her white crop top and printed purple shorts. Tara Sutaria looked stunning in her amazing all-white top and bottoms. Arjun Kapoor looked smart in his red full-sleeved t-shirt and black trousers.

Her post...

had ‘Kapoor’ written on it in Hindi. In the caption, she wrote, “It’s Kapoor Day! Shamshera in

theatres NOW!!!!

Go watch” along with a heart emoticon.

Tara Sutaria

ETC MUMBAI | SATURDAY, JULY 23, 2022

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STUDIES EXPOSE THE ‘UN-SOCIAL’

ARIES

LIBRA

MAR 21 - APR 20

SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22

TAURUS

SCORPIO

APR 21 - MAY 20

OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22

GEMINI

SAGITTARIUS

MAY 21 - JUNE 21

NOV 23 - DEC 22

CANCER

CAPRICORN

JUNE 22 - JULY 23

DEC 23 - JAN 20

LEO

AQUARIUS

JULY 24 - AUGUST 23

JAN 21 - FEB 19

VIRGO

PISCES

AUG 24 - SEP 23

FEB20 - MARCH 20

Some clarification will need to be sought on a financial issue, before you take the next step. A project left halfway by someone else may come on your shoulders, but your efforts will be acknowledged. Some of you are all set to enjoy a splendid vacation.

MEDIA

You will derive great benefit from an exercise routine that you keenly follow.

Extra workload is foreseen at work, but nothing that you cannot handle within office hours. Taking the family on a trip seems impossible today due to your professional commitments, so postpone it for some other day.

Assistant Professor GD Goenka University

T

witter has indeed filed a case in the Kar nataka High Court against the Union government’s demands to block accounts and content. The social media company is ready for a legal fight against the government on account of preserving the Right to freedom of expression but it is also correct that these social media companies have become a threat to news and its authenticity. Chief Justice of India NV Ramana said in December 2021, “It is almost impossible to hold social media platforms accountable even after they host most derogatory and defamatory stuff which has potential to harm careers and lives.” Not only the CJI but also the 2021 Nobel laureate Philippine journalist Maria Ressa said that technology giants had allowed a virus of lies to infect each of us. This is evident when we see Twitter and Facebook were asked to remove objectionable posts by our Courts and governments.

The population of the world is 8 billion and 58% of our population is now active on social media. Around 30% of this social media active population is below 30 years of age. Every user on average has accounts on two or more platforms.

So it is interesting to know that there are 19 billion social media active users in the world of 8 billion population. The active population can be distributed into four categories i.e. Consumers, Curators, Creators and Collaborators.

A report by the Reuters Institute for the study of journalism has found that fact-checks in English

negative news feeds has risen on social media which is resulting in depression among the users. As per a New York Times report, a Global group of news organizations revealed through Facebook papers that Facebook has become a Fakebook in India. Elections are influenced through fake accounts and 70% of new voters get affected

by social media posts.

It claimed that Facebook is aware of all this but it is not investing in the resources to stop this menace.

A very crucial study was done by the Sydney University of technology. In October 2021 after reviewing 50 pieces of research on social media between 2003 and 2018, the University had listed 46 kinds of ill effects of social media which could impact jobs and studies negatively.

These could also instigate users to take financial risks. The ill effects included anxi-

ety, depression, being harassed, incitement to suicide, cyberstalking and information overload. One most important ill effect was flaming also known as ‘roasting’, which is the act of posting or sending offensive messages over the internet to get some kind of response.

In November 2021, a Michigan University study concluded that in the US third of the total 7 to 9 years and half of the 10 to 12 years old kids use social media and their parents expressed helplessness in keeping an eye on them.

Back in March 2020, a report by Intercept revealed that TikTok is spreading more negativity than Facebook or Instagram and the screen time of American children increased by double. On the other hand, in November 2021 an American newspaper revealed that Facebook is more dangerous than other platforms. As per the study mental disorders are being faced by Facebook users.

Around 12.5% of users worldwide said that they are now digitally addicted to the platform. Sleep, interpersonal relations and productivity are being affected.

It is not that only these studies reflect on their ill effects, we have seen the disadvantages of social med i a in our daily examples from newspapers too. In November 2021, we saw news reports that hate speech against Hindus on social media continued in

Bangladesh. After the January 26, 2022 incident in Kasturba Nagar, Delhi where a 20-year-old girl was raped, police claimed that Social media was being used to disturb social harmony. Messages were made viral from Canada, Saudi Arabia, Britain and America. In April 2022, one news headline claimed that a mob attacked a police station in Karnataka over a WhatsApp post and 40 accused were held.

Moreover, noted Indian writer Chetan Bhagat in his newspaper article claimed that social media is being used for polarization in society. A concept called ‘Virtue Signaling’ is being used as a shortcut to increase social media engagement on one’s page and these ‘hungry’ users are becoming polarizers only to increase engagement on their page for monetization.

More dangerously, social media is a weapon in the hands of terror organisations too.

As per a report by Brookings Institution, around 70,000 active accounts of the Islamic State are present on Twitter each having 1,000 followers. This means not less than 70 million people are attached to IS. This report claims that 40% of foreign terrorists are recruited via social media. As per a report came in 2018, Facebook has one thousand accounts of the IS in 96 countries. Haifa University’s professor Gabriel Weimann’s study says 90% of terror activities are run via social media. In February 2020, an American company Blackbird did a case study that said that about one million tweets in 47 languages relate to terror activities.

In this desperate scenario, until and unless platforms find solutions to their ill effects, verification must be made mandatory while making social media accounts and KnowYour-Customer-like checks are done from time to time on all the account holders. There is a ray of hope in one more study which says that 73% of millennials now feel negative about social media.

Your stars favour a bright beautiful day. A setback you have recently experienced can make you come out stronger. Tax advisor will be a big help in saving taxes, so don’t hesitate to contact one. It is difficult for the relationship of friends turned lovers to fall apart, so relax.

Overall a very good day for you.

Previous investments are likely to give you good returns.

Some of you may decide to follow in the footsteps of celebrities and visit the very same exotic destination that they had been to.No amount of excuses will dispel lover’s suspicions about your tendency to stray the path.

Continue doing whatever you are doing to remain healthy.

Some of you will have to curb your splurging ways. Family life will cruise along smoothly with much love and bonhomie. Don’t speed up on the road.

Chance of moving to a new location on transfer is likely for some.

People falling under this sign will have very refreshing day.

Visiting a mall or watching a movie with family is likely to be the highlight of the day for some. You may enjoy travelling to a tourist destination recommended by your friends. Reignite the flickering romance by spending more time together.

YOUR DAY Horoscope by

Money put together on previous occasions is likely to come in handy now. A family youngster is keen to learn from you, so don’t disappoint. Settling down in a new house is indicated for some.You may have to awaken partner’s interest in you once again.

Something you have implemented at work is likely to profit the company and get you noticed. You will celebrate the achievement of a family youngster in a grand way. You will shift into your house soon. An exotic island destination beckons, for which you may already be making plans!

Money coming from various streams will keep you in an elated state of mind.

A new fitness regime that you have adopted promises to keep you in the pink of health. Getting an old furniture upholstered may be at the top of the mind of some homemakers. Your search for partner may soon be over.

You are likely to find the day most auspicious. Your knowledge about your line of work will be roundly appreciated and get you the thumbs up from higher ups. Friends and family may get together to give you a surprise and make your day. Business travel may leave little time for romance.

A vacation you only dreamed about is likely to become a reality soon. Healthy eating will help prevent digestive ailments.

Money will be no constraint in buying what you like.

Driving down with lover to a happening place is indicated today. Overall a very good day for you.

Your financial situation is set to improve, as earning opportunities come to you.

Help from co-workers in a time consuming task will be forthcoming on the work front. Support of family will encourage you to take up a challenge. Socially, your presence will be much looked forward to.

FA CE OF TH ED AY

AMIT KUMAR CHHABRA

had gone up by 900 per cent between January and March 2020. However, coronavirus misinformation was growing at a much faster rate at the same time, keeping fact-checkers on their toes. Most fake news impact is being felt in India but penalties and punishment are the least here. Indian users spend 2.36 hours on social media whereas research says spending more than 30 minutes on social media could be dangerous. Every month 4 to 5 crore posts on Facebook and 2 million accounts on Twitter spread fake news.

Not only fake news but various latest researches also conclude that these social media platforms are proving to be harmful to the younger generations and kids. The use of social media is impacting teens’ life satisfaction. In the name of fashion, beauty and fitness, youth are being misled by celebs on social media. The trend never stops as these platforms’ algorithms advise them to follow related accounts and subjects automatically.

As per news reports in Oct 2021, Essex University of Britain did a study during the Covid-19 period which said that social media can fill us with negativity in even two minutes of use and it can spoil our whole day. Negative social media is named Doomscrolling which is a new term referring to the tendency to continue to surf or scroll through bad news, even though that news is saddening, disheartening or depressing. The trend of nonauthentic

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Saurabbh Sachdeva

GEETASHA RANA, MODEL

ETC www.firstindia.co.in I https://firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia

Marvellous Mahima:

A rising star The spectacular diva from Jaipur spoke to City First about her journey as a model. She also shared how important it is to work hard in the modelling world

DHANUSHREE VYAS cityfirst@firtsindia.co.in

S

tyle is something that expresses who you are in your way because the joy of fashion is also an art. City First spoke to one such wonderful soul Mahima Sharma who believes that being genuine is the true expression of beauty. Here are some excerpts of that tete-a-tete.

Describe yourself for us. What are the challenges that you faced in the fashion industry?

My name is Mahima Sharma and I am from the Pink City i.e. Jaipur, Rajasthan. I always dreamt of being a supermodel from a very young age. Therefore, I participated in Elite Miss Rajasthan to pursue my dreams and it allowed me to fulfil my dreams as a model.

Being a government employee, I found it very difficult to join this industry. However, I am thankful to my family and friends who supported me. I have devoted three years to transforming myself into a model. I am still learning about the fashion industry. I have given my heart and soul to it to become a supermodel.

What inspired you to get into the world of modelling?

I decided to be a model and no one inspired me to join this

industry. However, I gained many supporters, who inspired and supported me in every step, after I joined this industry. I would like to thank Gaurav Gaur for mentoring me throughout this journey.

Talk to us about the most memorable moments in your career.

There have been many memorable moments in this journey. One of the best moments that I witnessed was when I was awarded the best ramp walk model in Rajasthan. I am a government employee so I do not get enough time to pursue my dreams in modelling. Therefore, I have taken a long leave to open my agency titled Elite Modeling School to teach about modelling.

Any message for the upcoming models?

I would like to share with the upcoming models that it is a wonderful industry and all you need is an easy-going approach with a will to go the extra mile. A genuine person is more likely to be rebooked for other shoots. Always remember that you are a part of a team hence coordinate with your team members well. You will have to pull your weight because nobody likes highmaintenance divas.

MUMBAI | SATURDAY, JULY 23, 2022

11

CITY

STAY MASKED

GET VACCINATED

MUMBAI | SATURDAY, JULY 23, 2022

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SHAHID-MIRA RECREATE

ICONIC DDLJ SCENE

BUZZ

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AMAZING TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH

SUCH BIG PROJECTS: MANUSHI

Shahid Kapoor and Mira Rajput Kapoor

ASHISH TIWARI

cityfirst.mumbai@firstindia.co.in

E

His post...

S

hahid and Mira have treated their Insta family to unseen pictures of her and Shahid from their recent vacation to Switzerland.

The power couple had recently flown to

Europe for a long family vacation and they have been sharing beautiful pics from their trip. However, what grabbed our attention was the second picture of the couple in which the couple recreated Shah Rukh

Khan and Kajol’s train scene from the movie DDLJ. In the image, Shahid is holding Mira’s hand and flashing their million-dollar smile. Sharing the photo, Mira captioned it as “Acting chill // also cheesy”.

HOODA LOSES 15 KILOS

A

Poster...

ctor Randeep Hooda made a rare public appearance on the Gray carpet of the Gray Man screening which was held last night.

The much-awaited film which is all set to release had the biggest of stars from Bollywood be a part of the red carpet event.

Making his social appearance after a long time, Randeep shared some insiders from his upcoming biopic Swatantra Veer Savarkar.

RANVEER BARES IT ALL

R

anveer Singh is a cheerful and enigmatic personality who knows how to capture the attention of his audience. There are rare times when the actor lays naked in front of his audience for them to see his deepest and darkest thoughts.

Giving a tribute to Cosmopolitan’s 1972 cover of Burt Reynolds, Ranveer laid naked in front of the

Ranveer Singh

camera for a beautiful but naturally controversial shoot for this still-too-conservative society. Talking about his photoshoot, Ranveer bared his soul out when he said that he has been naked in his performances as well.

“It’s so easy for me to be physically naked, but in some of my performances, I’ve been damn fucking naked. You can see my fucking soul.

How naked is that?

That’s being actually naked. I can be naked in front of a thousand people; I don’t give a shit. It’s just that they get uncomfortable.”

The versatile actor of Bollywood revealed, “I have lost 14 - 16 kilos till now for Veer Savarkar and I am planning on to lose even more 10kilos for the same.”

Randeep in his conversation also mentioned that “the trailer of The Gray Man was fantastic and I am sure the Russo’s have made a great film. I have always been admiration of their work and I am really looking forward to it.”

thereally gorgeous Bollywood actress M a n u s h i Chhillar has been signed with John Abraham for producer Dinesh Vijan’s Tehran, a film inspired by true events!

Manushi is ecstatic to have landed her third big Bollywood project.

Manushi says, “I’m thrilled to have signed my third film and it’s amazing that I have been noticed because of my work in my debut film in which I really put in my everything. I personally love this genre of films that are inspired by true events and I hope to do my best in Tehran. I have to thank my producer Dinesh Vijan for his trust in me and for making me a part of this incredible project.”

The young actress adds, “I’m really looking forward to working with John Abraham and creatively collaborating with him in Teh-

ran. I thank my director Arun Gopalan for believing that I can be a part of his vision. It is amazing to be associated with such big projects at the start of my career and this validates my belief in myself as an actor. I want to give it my all in Tehran and I hope I get love from media and audiences.”

Tehran has been generating great buzz ever since its announcement and the addition of Manushi has made the casting of the film even more exciting. Manushi is happy that media and audiences have also loved her new look (she sports short hair) in this hugely mounted film.

She adds, “I sport a

new look in this film and I’m really excited about it. I want to do varied roles and be a part of the best films being made in our industry.

Tehran gives me an opportunity to shine bright and I hope I can do justice to the role on screen. I will work very hard for it.”

A Maddock Films production in association with Bake My Cake Films, Tehran has been directed by Arun Gopalan, written by Ritesh Shah and Ashish Prakash Verma and produced by Dinesh Vijan, Shobhna Yadav and Sandeep Leyzell.

WAS KJO BIASED TOWARDS JANHVI?

Manushi Chillar

ANUPAM AS JP NARAYAN

K

offee With Karan 7 has just reached its third episode but it has already given a lot of content for gossip and memes. Janhvi and Sara were quite chaotic in the second episode. What caught the attention of the viewers was the unabashed biasness of Karan Johar towards Janhvi Kapoor, whom he had launched in his ‘Sairat’ remake, Dhadak.

But during the trailer launch of Dharma’s upcoming pan-India film, Liger, Karan was asked about the same which he uprightly denied. The filmmaker claimed that he was not being biased but considerate towards Janhvi as she had lost both the hampers. He believed that his consideration came out as being biased which was not the truth. He further stated that he loves both of them dearly as he has seen them grow into talented young women ever since they were as young as three years old.

Janhvi Kapoor

Poster...

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he first look of K a n g a n a Ranaut starrer ‘Emergency’ hit the airwaves around a week back and garnered praise and applause for the actress who has played the role of the former PM Indira Gandhi to the T. Now, the makers of the film have unveiled the poster of one of the most important characters from the film --- activist, socialist, theorist and politician, J P Narayan who was also honoured with the Bharat Ratna.

Essaying this signifi-

cant role is none other than the versatile actor, Anupam Kher. Talking about bringing Anupam Kher on board, director Kangana Ranaut says, “J P Narayan was the most powerful human being to have happened after Mahatma Gandhi in politics in recent Indian history. Anupam with his stature, his acting skills, and his overall persona fit into the role perfectly. I am privileged and humbled that he chose my script. I am nobody to choose him. He chose my script and I am honoured, to say the least.”