First India Mumbai 10032023.pdf

First India Mumbai 10032023.pdf
BSE SENSEX 59,806.28 541.81 | NSE NIFTY 17,589.60 164.80 MUMBAI l FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 2023 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI TITLE NO. MAHENG/2022/14652 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 300 www.firstindia.co.in I https://firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR & MUMBAI MANISH SISODIA ARRESTED BY ED DAY BEFORE HIS BAIL HEARING New Delhi: AAP leader Atishi is now Delhi govt’s minister for education and her party colleague Saurabh Bharadwaj holds charge of health dept. The two legislators took oath as ministers on Thursday. Delhi is unlikely to get a new Deputy Chief Minister at this point, a charge earlier held by Sisodia. P5 New Delhi: In a major setback to the AAP, the Enforcement Directorate on Thursday arrested senior party leader Manish Sisodia on money laundering charges in connection with its probe into the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam. P5 K KAVITHA TO BE QUESTIONED TOMORROW IN LIQUOR CASE New Delhi: K Kavitha, daughter of Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao, will be questioned on Saturday in Delhi liquor policy case. Enforcement Directorate accepted her request to postpone the questioning, which was scheduled to take place on Thursday. P5 2 NEW MINS JOIN DELHI CABINET, NEW DY CM UNLIKELY SATISH KAUSHIK: APRIL 1956 TO MARCH 2023 The actor-director fell ill at Delhi farmhouse, dies of heart attack New Delhi/Mumbai: Actor- director Satish Kaushik was at a farmhouse in Delhi’s Bijwasan last night when he started feeling unwell and was rushed to a hospital in Gurugram. Preliminary examination suggests that he died of a heart attack and breathed his last before he reached the hospital, police sources said. Nothing suspicious has emerged in the investigation into the 66-year-old actor’s death, sources in Delhi South West police said. Kaushik arrived in Delhi on Wednesday to celebrate Holi with his friends. On Tuesday, he had attended the Holi party at Javed Akhtar-Shabana Azmi’s Mumbai home and posted joyful photos on social media. In one of life’s biggest ironies, Kaushik celebrated a ‘colour- ful, happy’ Holi just two days back, tweeted pics. PM MODI AND HM SHAH CONDOLE DEATH OF ACTOR SATISH KAUSHIK PM Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday mourned demise of noted actor-director Satish Kaushik who passed away following a heart attack, and extended condolences to his family and admirers. Calling Satish Kaushik a creative genius, PM Modi said he won hearts by his wonderful acting and direction. ‘Creative Genius’ no more 9 PCs in 9 States, BJP will reply to the Oppn’s letter First India Bureau New Delhi: Stung by a letter from Opposition parties to PM Modi al- leging misuse of probe agencies against rivals, BJP has decided to strike back through a series of press confer- ences in 9 States. The meets have been organised in home states of Oppn leaders who wrote to PM Modi on Sunday, like Delhi, Punjab, JK, Maharashtra, WB and Kerala. Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari held first PC in New Delhi on Thursday . All the corrupt people of the country have united and Arvind Kejriwal is one of them. Together, the nine leaders wrote a letter to PM. Among them are some who once objected to a photo with Lalu Yadav and today they are hugging his son Tejashwi Yadav. —Manoj Tiwari, BJP MP Cricket, a common passion in India and Australia. —Narendra Modi, Prime Minister On the field, Australia and India are compet- ing to be the best in the world. Off the field, we are co-operating to build a better world. —Anthony Albanese, Australian PM Cricket diplomacy takes centrestage as PM Modi, Albanese attend first day of India-Australia 4th Test A PERFECT PITCH! l 75 long years of friendship through cricket with PM Modi, says Aussie PM l “Memorable morning in Ahmedabad!” PM Modi shares his magical moments Moni Sharma Ahmedabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian PM Anthony Albanese were greeted with loud cheering and applause as they took a lap of honour at a stadium in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad on Thursday before watching a cricket match together. The 2 PMs waved at the crowds as they took a round of the Narendra Modi stadium in a “chariot” fashioned out of a golf cart, before the match. PM Modi and Alba- nese handed over Test caps to their respective team captains, Rohit Sharma and Steve Smith, and shook hands with the teams. They also met players from both sides and stood along side them when the national an- thems of India and Australia were sung. INDIA IS LEADING SERIES BY 2-1 Narendra Modi and Anthony Albanese, Prime Ministers of both the nations shared some light moments with the respective and opponent teams during the match. What apparently became the biggest talking point was a selfie snap of the duo. Australian PM clicked a selfie with PM Modi in the stands and also shared it on his Twitter handle. It was a chai par charcha for them while the PMs watched the match. In the Border-Gavaskar Tro- phy, India is leading series by 2-1. A win in the final Test will ensure the team qualifies for the final of the ICC World Test Cham- pionship, where they will be fac- ing Australia in London from June 7 onwards. Rajnath Singh @rajnathsingh Spoke to the Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister of Australia, Mr @ RichardMarlesMP. India Australia share a compre- hensive strategic partner- ship and the call today was an opportunity to reiterate our commitment towards further strengthening of our defence cooperation. Anurag Thakur @ianuragthakur What an incredible moment for cricket fans in 🇮🇳 🇦🇺 around the world! PM @ narendramodi with PM @ AlboMP at Narendra Modi stadium, celebrating 75 years of friendship through cricket in #Ahmedabad #Bor- derGavaskarTrophy2023! A game to remember! PM Narendra Modi and Australian PM Anthony Albanese with Indian captain Rohit Sharma and Australian captain Steve Smith before the 4th Test match between India and Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, at the Narendra Modi Stadium, in Ahmedabad on Thursday. PM Narendra Modi and Anthony Albanese share lighter moment during the India vs Australia 4th Test match. PM Narendra Modi and Australian PM Anthony Albanese with (L) BCCI President Roger Binny, CM Bhupendra Patel, Governor Acharya Devvrat and BCCI Secretary Jay Shah watching the match. SELFIES, CHAI, CHARCHA - MODI, ANTHONY’S DAY AT STADIUM MAHARASHTRA GOVT'S 'MAHA' BID TO POWER INDIA'S 5 TRILLION DOLLAR DREAM Fadnavis presents blueprint for ‘one-trillion dollar budget’ Sandeep Shukla Mumbai: The budget for the financial year 2023-24 was presented in the Maharashtra Legislature on Thurs- day . Deputy Chief Min- ister and Finance Min- ister Devendra Fad- navis presented the budget in the Legisla- tive Assembly, while School Education Min- ister Deepak Kesarkar presented it in the Leg- islative Council. The budget, an ambitious one, was presented keeping in view the tar- get of one trillion dollars of state’s economy . This means that when India’s economy would reach five trillion, Ma- harashtra’s share in the prosperity would be twenty percent! Notably, this was the first budget of the Eknath Shinde government formed eight months ago. Prima fa- cie it appears to be an election budget in which the government has tried to please all sections of the society. The government presented a budget of about 16 thousand crore rupees deficit. In the paperless budget of about 1 hour 25 minutes, Fadnavis started reading out the budget- ary allocations in the Lower House of the state legislature at 2 pm from an iPad instead of a conventional paper document as the budget focused on farmers, women, youth and healthcare, infrastructure. The Shinde-Fadnavis government proposed Rs6,000 assistance to farmers and Rs 1 crop insurance scheme while also offering relief in professional tax to working women, 50% discount on ticket fares to women in state-run buses and a new scheme for the girl child. This is the first time that Fadnavis presented the state budget as he holds the finance portfolio. During Fad- navis’s tenure as the chief minister between 2014-19, senior Bharati- ya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sudhir Mungan- tiwar was the finance minister. “The budget focuses on sustainable agriculture, prosperous farmers, and inclusivity for women, tribal groups, and backward classes. It also focuses on huge capital investment in infrastructure development, employment gen- eration, skilled youth, environment-friendly development,” he said. Relief in professional tax, discount in bus fares to women MahaCM Eknath Shinde, Maha Finance Minister Devendra Fadnavis and State Marathi Language Minister Deepak Kesarkar during Budget Session of State Assembly, in Mumbai on Thursday. Budget is based on principle of ‘Pancham- rut’, focusing on farmers, women, youth, employment, and environment Budget comes a day after Economic Survey of Maha- rashtra projected state’s growth rate at 6.8% ‘PANCHAMRUT’ Around 50 km of metro lines in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region will become operational this year 50% concession in State buses and 1% discount on stamp duty for women Over 700 Apla Dawakhana dispensaries to be started, free treatment will be given Mahatma Jan Aro- gya Sch allocation raised to Rs 5 lakh Rs 5 lakh insurance scheme for the traditional fishermen with Centre’s assistance State farmers to now get Rs12,000/year cash benefits Maha proposes `5,47,450 crore budget with huge fiscal and revenue deficits Budget has no proposals to improve situation: Chavan Mumbai (PTI):Senior Cong leader Prithviraj ChavansaidtheBudget for2023-24presentedby the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government contained no re- form proposals for stopping the deterioration of the state’s economy . The Economic Sur- vey report shows that the state has slipped to the fifth place in terms of per capita income, behind smaller states like Tamil Nadu, Kar- nataka, Telangana and Haryana, the former chief ministersaidina statement. “Maharashtra is no longertheleadingecon- omyinthecountry .Our economic growth rate islessthanthenational economic growth rate. The Budget did not offer any structural reforms to redress this rapid deterioration in the state’s economy,” Chavan said. TheBudgetmadean- nouncements of build- inggrandmemorialsto great leaders, but even today the work for the Chhatrapati Shivaji memorial in the Ara- bian Sea or Dr Babasa- heb Ambedkar Memo- rial on the Indu Mill land in Dadar was yet to start, he also said. The state is also fac- ingamajoragriculture crisisasfarmersdonot get guaranteed remu- nerative prices for theirproduceandthere is no assured mechanism to compensate themforanylossdueto natural calamities, the former Union minister said.
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government on Thursday an- nouncedafinancialben- efit of Rs6,000 per annum to farmers, in addition to a similar amount offered by the Centre to eligible cultivators, and aschemeforsustainable development of agriculture in the state budget for 2023-24. PresentingtheEknath Shinde-Bharatiya Jana- ta Party's first budget in the Assembly , Deputy Chief Minister Deven- dra Fadnavis, who holds the finance portfolio, said inclusiveness is ab- solutelyessentialforsus- tainable development of agriculture. Two initiatives— ‘Mahakrishivikas Yoja- na’ for sustainable development of the farm sector and ‘Namo Shet- kari Mahasanman Ni- dhi’ for financial benefit of farmers—were among the key highlights of the budget. All aspects of farm- ing—from production to value-addition—will be financed by preparing an integrated crop- based plan for taluka and district-wise groups of farmers, Fad- navis said. This will substantial- ly increase the income of farmers and a provi- sion of Rs3,000 crore is being made for this scheme (Mahakrishivi- kas Yojana) for the next five years, he said. Fadnavis said the Namo Shetkari Ma- hasanmanNidhi,which seeks to provide Rs6,000 per annum to eligible cultivators, will benefit 1.15 crore farmer families in Maharashtra. An amount of Rs12,000 will be deposited in the account of eligible state farmers every year, which includes Rs6,000 from the Centre under the Prad- han Mantri Kisan Sam- man Nidhi (PM- KISAN), he said. Under PM-KISAN, eligible farmers in the country are provided with a financial benefit of Rs6,000 per year in three equal in- stalments of Rs2,000 each every four months. The fund is directly transferred to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries. A sum of Rs6,900 crore has been proposed in the 2023-24 budget for the state-level financial scheme for farmers, said the deputy CM. Fadnavis said an insurance cover of Rs2 lakh will be given to families of accident- affected farmers. COMING SOON... WOMEN CHILDCARE EDUCATION HEALTHCARE z `43,000 crore for women and child development proposed z 50% discount for women in state transport buses z 1% discount for women on stamp duty when buying real estate z 50 new hostels will be started for working women z 2,000 new Anganwadi workers to be hired z `5,500: New salaries for Angadwadi helpers, up from the current `4,425 per month z `1,000 to `5,000 for students of Class V to Class VII, `1,500 to `7,500 for students of Class VIII to Class X z Free uniforms for students of all categories up to Class VIII in local body and government schools z Nagpur’s Laxminarayan Institute of Technology (LIT) to be granted “autonomous” status z `50 crore for the development of the first women’s school set up by social reformer Savitribai Phule in Pune z Marathi Vidhyapeeth to be set up in Amravati z `3,520 crore for public health department z `5 lakh: New allocation for Mahatma Jan Arogya Scheme, up from current `1.5 lakh; scheme will include 200 more ailments/diseases z `4 lakh: New grant for kidney transplant operations, up from `2.5 lakh currently z 700: New Apla Dawakhana dispensaries to provide free treatment across the state in the name of late Balasaheb Thackeray BUDGET 2023-24 MAHARASHTRA FARMERS TO GET `6K PER YEAR as Shinde govt eyes political harvest MUMBAI | FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 2023 02 www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia Deputy CM and Finance Minister Devendra Fadnavis, state minister Deepak Kesarkar and others pose for photos with the State Budget for 2023-24, in Mumbai on Thursday. —PHOTO BY PTI `6,900 crore set aside for financial scheme which will benefit 1.15 crore farmer families `3,312 crore set aside to implement `1 crop insurance, where the govt will pay the premium `1 CROP INSURANCE Fadnavis said farmers can register themselves on the portal of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (Centre-sponsored crop insurance scheme) by paying a fee of just Re1. Ann annual outlay of Rs3,312 crore has been proposed in the budget to implement the scheme, which will see the government—and not farmers—pay the crop insurance premium, Fadnavis said. He added that Rs4,683 crore has been directly deposited in the bank accounts of 12.84 lakh farmers as an incentive for regularly repaying crop loans. The mega block which was imposed on development in the state for the last two and a half years is over now. This budget marks the begin- ning of development again. In this budget, special attention has been given to farmers, the deprived, the poor, women, and the youth. The budget will lead to the all-round development of the state. This budget will definitely make Maharashtra a trillion-dollar economy on the lines of the country’s $5 trillion budget by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. All the needy people have been included in this budget. The opposition did not know that the government would present such a budget Eknath Shinde, Maharashtra CM The MVA government of had presented three budgets during the pandemic, but due to lack of cooperation from the Centre, our budgets stagnated. The state had about Rs25,000 crore GST outstanding dues. The budget presented by Fadnavis on Thursday is just like giving ‘Gajar ka Halwa’ to the public. This government only makes announcements, nothing is implemented. The budget is mislead- ing for poor people, including farmers, women, and youth. ‘Bal- asaheb Thackeray Aapla Dawakhana Yojana’ was a scheme brought in by the Mahavikas Aghadi, but the present government has announced to implement it in the entire state. Uddhav Thackeray former Chief Minister CM Shinde’s government will complete its term and will take the work done by us during the general elections to the public. This budget has nothing to do with the elections of Munici- pal Corporations, including Mumbai Municipal Corporation because it has not been decided when the election date will be declared. The matter is pending in the court. The development of the state was halted for the last two and a half years due to Corona. This budget will accelerate the development. It is not an election budget. And, the government will work to implement this budget to the grassroots level. Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy CM Only announcements have been made in this Budget. If we look at the economic condition of the state, it is impossible to implement all of these proposals. The people of the state felt that they had a good Finance Minister in Fadnavis, but he did not know how to write a Budget. It is clearly visible from the economic survey that the state is at a different place than the Budget. This is a matter of concern. There has been a decline in the income of every person in the state. Maharashtra has become the fifth state in the country. The previous five-point programme of our government has been copied in this budget. Ajit Pawar, lLOP, Assembly This government only makes announcements with big figures. It is clear that the budget has not mentioned the price of the produce of the farmers, which proves that it is an anti-farmer budget. Moreover, there is no mention of the old pension scheme, providing employment to the unemployed. This whole budget is to misguide the public. Nana Patole, Congress State President According to the ‘panchamrit sutra’ presented by Fadnavis, the budget is for the development of the common people and Maharashtra. Maharashtra’s contribution of 1 trillion dollars will definitely be there in making India a world captain according to the concept of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and this is the budget that will take us in this direction. Sudhir Mungantiwar, State Forest, Cultural Affairs, and Fisheries Minister In view of the Mumbai municipal elections, only announcements have been made in the budget without any planning. Ignoring the serious and real and dire situation of loss of farmers due to unseasonal rains in the state, apart from rising unemployment, and inflation, the budget is only taking people into the world of dreams. The budget has been presented keeping in mind the upcoming municipal elections. Bhai Jagtap, Mumbai Congress President Shivaji Museum planned on Shivneri Fort First India Bureau Mumbai: A museum dedicated to the life of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj would be set up on Shivneri Fort, Maharashtra Depu- ty Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced while presenting the state’s Budget for 2023-24 on Thursday . Fadnavis, who holds the finance portfolio, also announced an allocationof Rs300crore for the conservation of forts built by the iconic 17th century ruler. Shivneri Fort in Pune district is the birthplace of Shivaji Maharaj. Presenting the Budget in the Assem- bly, Fadnavis said Rs350 crore will be made avail- able for the Shiv Rajyaabhishek Mahot- sav to celebrate Shivaji Maharaj’s 1674 coro- nation June 02-09. A fund of Rs50 crore will be provided for setting up the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Theme Park at Ambegaon in Pune’s Haweli taluka. Public parks with audio-visual media facilities will be developed in Mumbai, Amra- vati, Nashik, Chhatra- pati Sambhaji Nagar and Nagpur where Shivaji Maharaj’s lifes- tory will be exhibited and Rs250 crore have been allocated for this purpose, Fadnavis said. KEY ALLOCATIONS FOR TOURISM CULTURE z `350 crore: Set aside for conservation of forts in Maharashtra z `250 crore: For gardens depicting Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s life journey to be developed at Mumbai, Amravati, Nagpur and Nashik z Three memorials at three places where Jungle Satyagrah was held in Vidarbha z `300 crore: Set aside for development of five Jyotirlings in Maharashtra z African Safari to come up at Nagpur’s Gorewada International Park
MUMBAI | FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 2023 03 www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia EWS l 20,000 gram panchayats will have solar power projects l State Transport will have 500 electric buses l `162 crore investments in waterways; water transport from Mumbai to Navi Mumbai, Thane, Vasai-Virar proposed. l `14,000 crore for road improvement l `19,400 crore for PWD l `14,224 crore for roads and flyover constructions l `13,437 crore for environment dept l `20,000 crore to make Marathwada drought-free l `3,325 crore for water and sanitation schemes l `1,500 crore for Gosikhurd National Irrigation project, slated to be completed in 2024 l `1.63 crore set aside to provide the poor with free ration kits on the occasion of Gudi Padwa and Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar’s birth anniversary. l ‘Lek Ladki’ Scheme: Families with yellow/ orange ration cards to get `5,000 after birth of child, `4,000 after Class IV, `6,000 after Class VI and `8,000 after Class XI. `75,000 will be given to the beneficiary girl after she attains the age of 18 years l Four lakh new PM Awas homes to be constructed l `12,000 crore for housing under Modi Awas Gharkul Yojana `39,000 crore for Metro projects in Thane, Nashik, Pimpri- Chinchwad. `36,000 crore for various mega infra projects Budget promises filip to infra projects in Maharashtra IN LINE WITH UNION BUDGET First India Bureau Mumbai: Deputy Chief Minister Deven- dra Fadnavis, who is also the state’s finance minister, chose to read the Budget presenta- tion from an iPad, rather than the conventional paper document, signalling the government’s push towards technology and infrastructure development. On the ambitious project of Hindu Hriday Samrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharash- tra Samriddhi Highway , Fadnavis said 88% of the work is complete. The stretch from Nag- pur to Shirdi, inaugu- rated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in De- cember, has so far been used by more than 10 lakh vehicles. Now this highway will be expand- ed, and a four-lane highway will be constructed from the Sindkhedaraja node to Shegaon. A Technical and Fi- nancial Feasibility Re- port is being prepared for the 760km Nagpur- Goa Expressway, or Ma- harashtra Shaktipeeth Highway , from Pawanar to Patradevi in Sindhu- durg district. Further, in order to reduce the traffic con- gestion in Pune city, the work of Pune Ring Road is going on at a cost of around Rs27,000 crore, he said. A revised cost of Rs6,695 crore has been approved for the construction of the link between Khopoli and Khandala on the Mum- bai Pune Expressway; 60% of this project has been completed. The work of the coastal highway from Revas in Raigad district to Reddy in Sindhudurg district is underway, at an estimated total cost of Rs9,573 crore. Further, 468km of road works will be undertaken at a cost of about Rs4,000 crore under Phase II of the Asian Development Bank project; while 7,500km road development works will be taken up at a cost of Rs90,000 crore under Part II of the Hybrid Annuity project. Expenditure of Rs14,225 crore is proposed for roads and bridges in 2023-24. The State Budget shows promise in terms of economic development for various communities including by way of 3 lakh homes to be built this year, which will address housing concerns existing in the state. The 1 trillion dollar share of Maharashtra in the 5 trillion dollar Indian economy, as envisioned by the government, will see the real estate market as a solid contributor, owing to consistent demand from homebuyers, redevelopment projects, and commercial projects. Ram Raheja, Managing Director, S Raheja Realty The 1% duty discount on stamp duty for women homebuyers is a move that is welcomed and revered by the real estate sector. This is a major step that will empower more women to become home buyers and thus address a long-due concern of gender disparity in the real-estate development sector. Cyrus Mody, Founder and Managing Partner, Viceroy Properties The Maha budget was well in line with the infra push announced in the Union Budget. The move towards boosting the infrastructure and connectivity will open up opportunities for various segments of real estate developments compris- ing residential, retail, commercial and ware- housing. The connectivity boost will drive the rise of new real-estate micro-markets, resulting in the emergence of new epicentres of Mumbai and MMR. Nitin Bavisi, CFO, Ajmera Realty Infra India BUDGET 2023-24 MAHARASHTRA SPOTLIGHT ON MUMBAI 820PUBLIC UTILITY IMPROVEMENT WORKS HAVE BEEN UNDERTAKEN AT A COST OF RS1,729 CRORE FOR THE BEAUTIFICATION OF MUMBAI A MEMORIAL TO DR BR AMBEDKAR AT DADAR IN CENTRAL MUMBAI WILL BE COMPLETED BY APRIL 2025 WHILE PHASE 1 OF SHIV SENA FOUNDER BALASAHEB THACKERAY’S MEMORIAL WILL BE DONE BY MAY 2023 `424cr A PROJECT WORTH RS424 CRORE IS BEING UNDERTAKEN TO CONNECT THANE AND VASAI CREEKS FOR WATER TRANSPORT AROUND MUMBAI. `162.20cr HAS BEEN SET ASIDE TO CONSTRUCT A JETTY AND RELATED FACILITIES FOR WATER TRANSPORT TERMINAL NEAR THE GATEWAY OF INDIA. THIS WILL FACILITATE WATER TRANSPORT FROM SOUTH MUMBAI TO KALYAN, DOMBIVLI, THANE, VASAI AND NAVI MUMBAI. Mumbai metro to add 50km network this year CONNECTIVITY ON THE RISE First India Bureau Mumbai: As much as 50km of metro network will be added in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) in 2023- 24, Deputy Chief Min- ister Devendra Fad- navis said on Thursday, while presenting the 2023-24 Budget in the state Assembly. Projects including the Mumbai Metro line 10 (Gaimukh to Shivaji Chowk, Mira road) with a total length of 9.2km and estimated cost of Rs4,476 crore, Mumbai Metro Line 11 from Wadala to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Termi- nus (CSTM) with a total length of 12.77km and estimatedcostof Rs8,739 crore, and Metro line 12 from Kalyan to Taloja with a length of 12.77km and estimated cost of Rs5,865 crore will be completed, he said. Shirdi airport to get a new passenger terminal at a cost of Rs527 crore. —FILE PHOTO Airports to be developed Multi-nodal corridor l `527.47 CRORE SHIRDI AIRPORT TO GET A NEW PASSENGER TERMINAL AT A COST OF l A fund of `100 crore will be provided for the MIHAN project in Nagpur. Development works of airports at Belora in Amravati and Shivni in Akola are being undertaken. l `734 crore will be set aside to acquire land for the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Airport l PLANNING FOR THE EXPANSION OF NAGPUR INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AND A NEW INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AT PURANDAR IS IN PROGRESS. THE 126KM MULTI-MODAL CORRIDOR FROM VIRAR TO ALIBAUG IS AN IMPORTANT ROUTE CONNECTING SEVERAL NATIONAL HIGHWAYS, NAVI MUMBAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, JAWAHARLAL NEHRU PORT TRUST, MUMBAI TRANS-HARBOUR PROJECT, DELHI- MUMBAI DEDICATED FREIGHT CORRIDOR AND REVAS PORT. THE CORRIDOR INCLUDES BUS RAPID TRANSIT, METRO RAIL, WATER SUPPLY LINES, GAS LINES AND SEWAGE LINES. THE EXPECTED COST OF THE PROJECT IS RS40,000 CRORE, AND THE WORK OF PREPARING A DETAILED PROJECT REPORT AND FINANCIAL PLAN IS UNDERWAY. First India Bureau Mumbai: With an eye onimprovingthequality of life of those following traditional occupations, the state Budget proposes the setting up of bam- boo clusters in Latur district and Kolhapuri chappal cluster in Kol- hapur district through self-help groups. To further aid such groups, Unity Mall will be established in Mum- bai,Asannouncedbythe Centre in the budget, andspacewillbegivento self-help groups, deputy CM Fadnavis said ,while presenting Maharash- tra’s Budget for 2023-24 on Thursday . Further, the state government has announced a Rs5 lakh insurance scheme for traditional fishermen, which will be established with help from the Union government. Boost for tradional livelihoods and small businesses The state plans to soon set up a gems and jewellery park in Navi Mumbai. —FILE PHOTO KEY HIGHLIGHTS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT l Jagatjyoti Mahatma Basaveshwar Economic Devt Corp. to give aid to self-employed youth, and entrepreneurs of the Lingayat community. l Sant Kashiba Gurav Youth Economic Devt Corp, for the Gurava community. l Raje Umaji Naik Economic Devt Corp. for the Ramoshi community. l Pailwan Kailasavasi Maruti Chavan Wadar Economic Devt Corp. for Wadar Community l Each will get authorized share capital of Rs50 crore
PERSPECTIVE MUMBAI | FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 2023 04 www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia l Vol 1 l Issue No. 300 l RNI TITLE NO. MAHENG/2022/14652 Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Dangat Media Pvt Ltd, No.22, Dighe MIDC, Vishnu Nagar, TTC Industrial Area, Dighe, Navi Mumbai-400701. Published at Plot No. 3 Scheme C of Manglorean Garden Home, CHS Limited, Survey No. 5, 6C (Part) Ville Parle East, Mumbai 400057. Phone 022-46031417. Editor-In-Chief: Dr Jagdeesh Chandra Editor: Kartikey Dev Singh responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act Nitin Gadkari @nitin_gadkari From 2014 to 2023, the government has infused ₹2 lakh crores towards the building of the National Highways in the State of Karnataka. Connecting cities, Accelerating progress: Building a brighter future with #Bengaluru_Mysuru_Expressway. #PragatiKaHighway #GatiShakti Anurag Thakur @ianuragthakur Sh Satish Kaushik was an acclaimed actor director who scripted some of the most memorable cinematic works of our time. He tickled fans with humour his art will live on through his filmography. My condolences on his demise to his family well wishers. SPIRITUAL SPEAK He who walks in the eightfold noble path with unswerving determination is sure to reach Nirvana. —Buddha IN-DEPTH OMINOUS CLOUDS LOOM OVER KCR AND KAVITHA’S ELECTORAL DREAM elhi’s liquor policy investigation has reached the doorstep of Telangana Chief Minister K Chan- drasekhar Rao and president of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) with the Enforcement Di- rectorate summoning his daughter K Kavitha for interrogation. Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia is already in Tihar jail in connection with the scam. His attempts to seek bail have failed. The ED’s move to Telangana does not augur well for KCR, his daughter and their national as- pirations. As has been the fate of several opposition leaders Kavi- tha’s arrest can’t be ruled out. With Telangana elections due later this year her arrest will not only be a setback for BRS but will also give the BJP, which is desperate to grab power in the southern state, an upper hand. The BJP which is in power in Karnataka is expecting another electoral victory this year. A win in Telangana will make it easier for the party to further expand its footprints in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. TOP TWEETS D fter several failed attemptsatcricket diplomacy with Pakistan, India and Australia launchedadiplomaticeffortat Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad where the final Test of Border-Gavaskar Tro- phy began on Thursday . After distributing caps to their respective captains Prime Min- ister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart An- thony Albanese watched the proceedings on field while probably discussing ways to strengthen their mutual ties. The Prime Minister later tweeted, “Cricket, a common passion in India and Austral- ia! Glad to be in Ahmedabad with my good friend, PM @ Albo MP to witness parts of the India-Australia Test match. I am sure it will be an exciting game.” Anthony tweeted about celebrating 75 yearsof friendshipwithIndia. Level of India’s friendship with Australia is already high. The two countries signed an Economic Coopera- tion and Trade Agreement in 2022. Both are members of QUAD to counter China’s aggressive moves in the South China Sea and are close strategic partners. Albanese’s visit to INS Vikrant is proof. Both the countries are keen on cooperating in the field of renewable energy . For India, Australia is important as it backs its candidature in the UN Security Council. India is Australia’s ninth largest trading partner. During his current visit the Australian Prime Minister, so also India, will seek to strengthen ties. In Anthony Albanese’s case the cricket diplomacy can only further cement their friendship. It is unlike India’s diplomatic overtures to Pakistan which could not agree on peaceful relations. So much so, cricketing ties between two neighbours lie broken as Pakistan cannot eschew violence against India. USING CRICKET TO CEMENT TIES After several failed attempts at cricket diplomacy with Pakistan, India and Australia launched a diplomatic effort at Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad A VIABLE RESOLUTIONS UKRAINE CATACLYSM fter a little over one year of war, Russia controls 125 thousand square kilometers of Ukrainian territory . Yes, one fifth of Ukraine is under Rus- sia’s control. With Donbas almost entirely destroyed, Zelenskyy confirmed in an interview that 20% of our territory is under the control of the occupiers. With the help of Wagner Group,Russiahascomecloser to surrounding the city of Bakhmut, considered to be strongest fortress in Donbas Region. In my analysis, the onlyoptionforUkrainenowis tomakeaplannedandfighting withdrawalandselectanother line for battle in depth areas. The only thing lying in the favour of Ukraine is the nature of urban warfare where the defender holds the capa- bility to fight for prolonged years with minimal resourc- es compared to the where- withal of the attacker. During the first half of the last year into this war, ques- tions of timelines and suc- cesses were often put aside under intense pressure to arm Ukraine to fight. All most all NATO states, in uni- son, shared the common concern of enabling Ukraine to defend itself against the Rus- sian onslaught. However, today, thoughts are turning towards the long- term prospects of the battle, and a gradual realisation is seeping into many EU partners.Unfortunately ,divergent interests among the western coalition will become more pronounced with the passage of time.WhileeasternEurope may be willing to sustain the war for several more years, Western European states may be wary of extending the conflict for economic costs and a second winter. So, in my opinion, the pos- sible resolutions that may set- tle the warring factions could be just four as any negotiated peace looks a long way off with countries selling weap- ons wish the pot to continue boiling in their own interest. INVADER SUCCEEDS If Russia pulls off a massive breakthrough in the East before Ukraine re - stabilizes with western support in a few weeks, or if counterof- fensive by the defender fails against unmatched superior- ity of Russia, a ceasefire may be promulgated to retain what has been occupied and captured. However, seeing the speed of operations, it may not be feasible unless fresh mobilisation is ordered and may be China decides to move in to support its ally . QUANTUM LEAP BY UKRAINE Should Ukraine manage to assemble adequate numbers of western tanks and combat vehicles it hopes to use after the spring season eases, to smash through Russia’s de- fensive lines and recapture important cities of Donbask and may be, cut through the land linkage of Crimea from Russian mainland, it shall force the aggressor to come to negotiating table to avoid a prolonged war and strengthen its economy . The worry is that this option is purely op- timistic and may take many more months of conflict before Moscow allows a dramat- ic change in its war strategy . SHATTERED AND DEBILITATED WEST Putin anticipates he can in- volve NATO in a long drawn conflict that will wear them out militarily and economically. The cracks are visible in EU unity over Sanctions against Russia within one year. Can the Europe witness another winter without energy is the major question. To top it all, what if Biden looses election in 2024? Sup- port to Ukraine may just take a back seat in US policy . As it is, continued European war, in my thinking, is not a fa- vourable issue in presidential elections. NEW LEADERSHIP Wars are unpredictable. It is often seen that failure to achieve pre meditated victory often asks for change in leadership. Ukraine may soon reach there if west’s support in supplying war equipment dilutes or fails, or the country under Zelenskyy does not achieve a break through against the attacker. AsforRussia,thesamemay not be true. Though, Putin is probably in the weakest posi- tionhehaseverfaced,butstill his grip on the Kremlin and thecountrymenremainsrath- er strong. Suppose, as a wild thought, if Putin were to be ousted, it is hard to believe that his successor would change the policy on Ukraine. It is visible that disappointment against NATO policies on Ukraine is growing in Eu- rope as the war drags on. Many EU leaders are advocating shunning ties with US Britain and moving closer to Moscow because of geographical contiguity . Even US appears concerned about the growing costs and the risks to its economy posed by prolonged conflict which are now outweighing the benefits. Sooner than later, the war is likely to end in the favour of the Russians. THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL A It is visible that disappointment against NATO policies on Ukraine is growing in Europe as the war drags on. Many EU leaders are advocating shunning ties with US and Britain and moving closer to Moscow because of geographical contiguity. Even US appears concerned about the growing costs and the risks to its economy posed by prolonged conflict which are now outweighing the benefits. Sooner than later, the war is likely to end in the favour of the Russians After a little over one year of war, Russia controls 125 thousand square kilometers of Ukrainian territory. Yes, one fifth of Ukraine is under Russia’s control. With Donbas almost entirely destroyed, Zelenskyy confirmed in an interview that 20% of our territory is under the control of the occupiers COL ANUPAM JAITLY (R) The writer is defence expert, motivational speaker and corporate trainer
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MUMBAI | FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 2023 05 INDIA www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia READ Crucial Crucial KARNATAKA BRIBE: BJP MLA APPEARS BEFORE LOKAYUKTA Bengaluru: Karnataka Lokayukta police are con- templating to challenge the granting of bail to BJP MLA Virupakshappa Madal in the Supreme Court in the alleged bribe for tender scam, sources stated on Thursday. The sources also revealed that the investigating officers have held meet- ings with the Lokayukta Justice B.S. Patil in this regard has already begun the preparations. The matter is coming before the Karnataka High Court on March 17. MORBI: OREVA YET TO PAY 1st INSTALLMENT TO VICTIMS KIN Ahmedabad: Oreva Group is yet to release the first installment of compensation to victims of the Morbi Bridge suspension bridge collapse, the Gujarat High Court, which has initiated a suo motu case in the tragedy, was told on Thursday. A suspension bridge over the Machchhu River collapsed on October 30, killing 135 people, including 35 children. As Oreva Group Director Jaysukh Patel’s counsel told the court that as he is in jail. MINING: CBI COURT ORDERS DETAILS FROM TO 4 NATIONS Bengaluru: A special Central Bureau of Inves- tigation (CBI) court here has ordered the issuance of letters of request to authorities in Switzerland, Singapore, Isle of Man and UAE to furnish details of mining baron and former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhan Reddy’s money trail in connection with the multi-crore illegal mining case. In the order passed on March 4, special judge for CBI cases Chandrakala had ruled this. “CHECK ILLEGAL EXTRACTION OF GROUNDWATER” New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal NGT has sought a factual report from a panel on alleged illegal extraction of groundwater by Mitsui Kingzoku Components India Pvt Ltd in the industrial town of Bawal in Rewari District of Haryana. The NGT was hearing a petition claiming the project proponent (PP) was violating the conditions of the Central Ground Water Authority’s (CGWA’s) no objection certificate (NOC). New Delhi (ANI): Lok SabhaSpeakerOmBirla will lead an Indian Par- liamentary delegation (IPD)tothe146thAssem- bly of the Inter-Parlia- mentary Union (IPU) to beheldinManama,Bah- rain from March 11-15. According to an official statement, Birla will meet IPU president Duarte Pacheco on March 10 and discuss matters of mutual interest. Later in the even- ing, Birla will interact with members of the Indian community in Manama. On March 11, the Indian Parliamen- tary delegation will participate in the Asia Pa- cific Group meeting of the IPU. Later, Birla will lead members of the In- dian delegation at the opening ceremony to be held in the Plenary Hall under the patronage of the King of Bahrain. During its stay in Ma- nama, the Indian Parlia- mentary delegation will also attend the General Debate of the 146th As- sembly of the IPU on March 12. Birla will address the Assembly on the topic: “Promoting peacefulco-existenceand inclusive societies: Fight against intolerance”. In addition, Birla will also hold bilateral meet- ings with his counter- parts from several countries.Amongotherdigni- taries,Birlawillmeetthe Presiding Officers of the Parliaments of the G20 countriesandpersonally invite them to the P20 Summit to be held in NewDelhilaterthisyear. Birla will also visit the 200-year-old Shrinathji (Shri Krishna) Hindu Temple in Manama. The Indian Parlia- mentary Delegation left for Manama from Delhi on Thursday . The Delegation con- sists of Lok Sabha MPs Bhatruhari Mahtab, Poonamben Maadam, Vishnu Dayal Ram, Hee- na Vijaykumar Gavit, RakhshaNikhilKhadse, DiyaKumariandApara- jita Sarangi and Rajya Sabha MPs Tiruchi Siva, Sasmit Patra, Rad- ha Mohan Das Agrawal and Lok Sabha Secre- tary General Utpal Ku- mar Singh. Birla to lead IPD to 146th IPU Assembly in Bahrain STRENGTHENING TIES Led by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, the Indian Parliamentary Delegation left for Manama on Thursday. —PHOTO BY ANI Modi tallest leader of India, says Himanta Biswa Sarma Guwahati (PTI): As- sam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday asserted that all parties contest- ingpollsinthenortheast must understand that they will have to eventually support the BJP . Talking to reporters here, Sarma also said thatPrimeMinisterNar- endra Modi is the “tallest leader” of the country ,andeveryonefavours him in the region. AskedabouttheJD(U) and NCP extending support to the NDPP-BJP in Nagaland, he said, “All parties before entering northeast to contest polls must understand that water will flow into the ocean. Prime Minis- terNarendraModiisthe tallest leader, everyone favourshim,”theNorth- East Democratic Alli- ance (NEDA) convenor added. Sarma, however, de- clined comment when asked if the Nagaland development signaled JD(U) supremo and Bi- har CM Nitish Kumar’s return to BJP-led NDA. “Ihavenotresearched much on him. But with Nitish Kumar, you can’t guarantee anything,” the BJP leader quipped. Assam CM says any party entering northeastern states will have to support PM Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma perform ‘abhishek’ at Mahabhairav temple, in Tezpur, on Thursday. —PHOTO BY PTI CONRAD SANGMA’S PARTY MLA THOMAS SANGMA ELECTED UNOPPOSED AS MEGHALAYA SPEAKER Shillong: Thomas A Sangma of National People’s Party-led MDA coalition was on Thursday elected as the speaker of the Meghalaya Assembly. The Megha- laya Democratic Alliance (MDA) 2.0 government, which was sworn in this week, has the support of 45 MLAs — of which 26 are from the NPP, 11 of the UDP and two members each of the BJP, the HSPDP and the People’s Democratic Front (PDF), besides two Independent legislators. Thomas Sangma, a former Rajya Sabha member and NPP leader, was elected unopposed as three opposition parties – the Congress, Trinamool Congress and the Voice of the People’s Party — did not field any candidate. Atishi, Bharadwaj take oath as Delhi Ministers New Delhi (ANI):AAP MLAs Atishi and Sau- rabh Bharadwaj were sworn in as Delhi Min- isters on Thursday . The swearing-in ceremony took place in the Auditorium at Raj Ni- was, Delhi. Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena administered the oath to new ministers. “In terms of the noti- fication issued by the Ministry of Home Af- fairs, Government of India, Atishi Marlena and Saurabh Bharad- waj have been appointed as Ministers in the National Capital Terri- tory of Delhi,” read the official statement from the General Adminis- tration Department. This comes after Pres- ident Droupadi Murmu Tuesday accepted the resignations of former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and Minister Satyendar Jain, both currently lodged in Tihar jail. President Murmu on Tuesday appointed Ati- shi and Bharadwaj as ministers in the Delhi cabinet on the advice of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, with effect from the date they are sworn in, stated Minis- try of Home Affairs. Kejriwal had for- warded the names to the Lieutenant Gover- nor for their appoint- ment to the Cabinet. Atishi represents the Kalkaji constituency and has been a key member of Sisodia’s education team. Atishi and Saurabh Bhardwaj during their oath-taking ceremony as Delhi Ministers, in New Delhi, on Thursday. —PHOTO BY PTI JAILED MANISH SISODIA NOW ARRESTED BY ED IN DELHI LIQUOR POLICY CASE New Delhi: The ED has arrested Manish Sisodia in connection with the alleged money laundering probe into Delhi govt’s now-scrapped liquor policy, a day before a CBI court is likely to hear his bail plea in the case. Reacting to it, CM Arvind Kejriwal tweeted: “Manish was first arrested by the CBI. CBI did not find any evidence, no money was found in the raid. There is a bail hearing on. Manish would have been released tomorrow. So today ED arrested him. They have only one aim – to keep Manish inside at all costs. By creating new fake cases everyday. The public is watching.” SISODIA, JAIN WILL TAKE OVER AS MINISTERS AFTER RELEASE: ATISHI New Delhi: Jailed Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain will take charge of the education and health departments once they are out, newly appointed minister Atishi said. “Satyendar Jain and Manish Sisodia have delivered historical work since Independence as the health and education ministers. The way Lord Ram went into exile and his brother, Bharat, handled the kingdom, we will work like that,” Atishi said. “When they come back from jail, they will take charge of their ministries,” she added. “We want cooperation from the L-G’s office. We want him to let work happen. Wo rokte rahe, hum kaam karte rahe (He kept stopping us but we kept working).” HM to dedicate development works to Ahmedabad New Delhi: Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah will e-inaugurate various development works of Ahmedabad Munici- pal Corporation and Ahmedabad Urban De- velopment Authority on Friday morning. Shah will inaugurate the development works through video conferencing around 10.30 am on Friday . The Lok Sab- ha member from Guja- rat’s Gandhinagar, Amit Shah will dedicate the development works of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) and Ahmedabad Urban De- velopment Authority (AUDA) to the city that areestimatedtobeworth more than Rs 150 crore. KavithapraisesSonia,invites18 partiestojoin1-dayhungerstrike New Delhi: A day ahead of hunger strike to demand for the introduction of the Women’s Reservation Bill in Par- liament, BRS leader K Kavitha on Thursday praised Sonia Gandhi for pushing the bill during the UPA tenure. Kavitha has invited 18 political parties, including Congress to join the one-day hunger strike to press the demand. “I salute Madam Sonia Gandhi for hav- ing backed the Women’s reservation Bill despite leading a coalition govt at Centre,” she said. Kavitha said she has spoken to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and General Secretary KC Venugo- pal to send a representative to the protest. The BRS leader, who is pushing for women reservation bill, has to appear before the ED in Delhi excise policy case. SUMMONS FROM ENFORCEMENT DIRECTORATE WERE MODI’S SUMMONS, SAYS KT RAMA RAO Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC K Kavitha addresses a press conference, in New Delhi on Thursday. —PHOTO BY ANI Hyderabad: BRS leader KT Rama Rao on Thursday launched a scathing attack on PM Narendra Modi and the BJP-led Cen- tre, accusing it of crony capitalism and “misusing” agencies such as the Enforcement Di- rectorate to harass opposition leaders. Rao, who alleged that the central agencies have become puppets in the hands of the Modi government, claimed that several BRS leaders have been targeted by the Centre. The summons issued by the ED to his sister and BRS MLC K Kavitha in connection with a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy are “not ED summons but Modi summons”, he said. 18 OPPN PARTIES TO PARTICIPATE IN HUNGER STRIKE TODAY New Delhi: BRS MLC and Telangana CM K Chan- drashekar Rao’s daughter K Kavitha on Thursday said that a hunger strike will be held in the national capital on Friday and that 18 political parties have said that they will participate in the protest launched to seek introduction of the Women’s Reservation Bill in the current session of Parliament. She said that she will face ED as she has not done anything wrong. CONGRESS NO LONGER A NAT’L PARTY: KAVITHA’S “TEAM PLAYER”ADVICE New Delhi: The Congress must be a “team player” and join forces with regional powers if it wants to defeat the BJP, BRS leader K Kavitha said on Thursday. The legislator, who is the daughter of Telangana Chief Minister and BRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao, told reporters in Delhi that the Con- gress is no longer a national party and wondered when it will “shed its arrogance and face reality”. Yogi Adityanath govt to begin prisoners’ trial in virtual mode Lucknow (ANI): To ensure the speedy settling of court cases, the Yogi government is prepar- ingtobegintrialthrough video conferencing of such prisoners in jails, who have not appeared beforethecourtformore than a year. A proposal in this regard has been presented by the Department of Prison Administra- tion and Reforms before the Chief Secretary . Af- ter the approval of the CM on this proposal, it will be implemented. It is notable that there are many such prisoners in the jails of the state, who are not being summoned for an appearance by the court due to transfer, or con- viction. Therefore, the department has recom- mended running their trials through video conferencing. UP CM Yogi Adityanath performs aarti at Holi celebration, in Gorakhpur. YOGI CONSECRATES MAA KALI, GANESH, KALBHAIRAV IDOLS Gorakhpur: UP CM Yogi Adityanath on Thursday morning consecrated the idols of Maa Kali, Lord Ganesh and Lord Kalbhairav in the newly constructed Shrikali Mata Temple on the Gora- khnath Temple premises, as per an official release. The rituals were held in a devotional atmosphere, following which a large number of people had the ‘prasada’ at ‘Bhandara’ held on the occasion. ECIteaminK’takato reviewpollpreparations Bengaluru: A team of Election Commission officials led by CEC Ra- jiv Kumar on Thursday arrived in the city to as- sess the readiness for assembly elections in the state. The team com- prising election com- missioners Anup Chan- dra Pandey and Arun Goel is on a three-day visit to Karnataka, where assembly elections are due by May. After reaching the state capital, the team held a meeting today at the Vi- kasa Soudha with the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Karnataka Manoj Kumar Meena and other officers. It will interact with the representatives of various political parties to seek their suggestions. CEC Rajiv Kumar with ECs Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goyal arrive in Karnataka.
MUMBAI | FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 2023 06 INDIA www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan along with Union Minister Jyotiradi- tya Scindia and state forest minister Vi- jay Shah on Friday will release a wild tiger captured from an institute in Bho- pal and two tigresses into enclosures in a bid to revive the big cat population in Shivpuri’s Madhav National Park. Shivpuri borders Sheopur district, which houses the KunoNationalPark, a new home for 20 cheetahs brought from Namibia and South Africa under the ambitious rein- troduction project for the species. “The tiger captured from the Maul- ana Azad National Institute of Technol- ogy’s(MANIT)inOc- tober will be brought from Satpura Tiger Reserve, while the two tigresses will be brought from Panna and Badhavgarh Ti- ger Reserves,” MNP director Uttam Shar- ma said. 3 tigers to be released into Madhya Pradesh’s National Park today BIG CATS’ DAY OUT Amritsar (PTI): Presi- dent Droupadi Murmu paid obeisance at the Golden Temple here on Thursday . Tight security arrangements were made in for the president’s day-long visit. Accompanied by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Commit- tee (SGPC) chief Har- jinder Singh Dhami, the president paid obeisance at sanctum sanc- torum of the Golden Temple and listened to “kirtan”. She also took “karah prasad”. This was her first visit to the city after becoming president. After paying obeisance, she went to the “langar hall” (community kitchen) and visit- ed the area where uten- sils are washed. Afterwards, she went to the Information Cen- tre of the Golden Tem- ple where she was presented a robe of honour, a set of Sikh religious books, a replica of the Golden Temple, and a set of woolen shawls. The president is also scheduled to visit Jal- lianwala Bagh, Durgi- ana Temple and Bhag- wan Valmiki Ram Ti- rath Sthal. During her visit to the Golden Temple, the president was given two memorandums by the SGPC, the apex religious body of the Sikhs, including one pertaining to the release of Sikh political prisoners, its general secretary Gurcharan Singh Grewal said. The SGPC has been seeking the release of Sikh prisoners who, it claims, continue to be in jails despite comple- tion of their sentences. On the “Bandi Sin- ghs”, the SGPC has been demanding the release of Sikh prisoners through democratic means for a long time, Harjinder Singh Dhami said in the memorandum. “...we feel that by not releasing the Sikh prisoners, they are being discriminated against and their hu- man rights are being violated grossly in the world’s largest democ- racy,” he said. “We demand from you to take cognizance of this important issue of release of Sikh prisoners and give necessary directions to the Government of India and concerned State Governments for their release,” Dhami wrote to the president. United Nations (PTI): India has said it expects that the territory of Af- ghanistan should not be used for sheltering, training or financing of terror acts, specifically terroristindividualsand entities proscribed by theUNSecurityCouncil. “As a contiguous neighbour and long- standing partner of Af- ghanistan,andgivenour strong historical and civilisationallinkagesto the Afghan people, India has direct stakes in en- suring the return of peaceandstabilitytothe country ,” India’s Perma- nent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj said on Wednesday (local time). Speaking at the Secu- rity Council briefing on United Nations Assis- tance Mission in Af- ghanistan (UNAMA), Kamboj said the collec- tive approach of the international community has been articulated in the Security Council Resolution 2593 of Au- gust 2021, which was adopted under India’s Presidencyof theUNSC. “In accordance with the Resolution, we expect that the territory of Afghanistan should not be used for sheltering, training, planning, or financing terrorist acts, specifically terrorist in- dividuals and entities proscribed by the UN Security Council,” she said, adding that it also means acting against drug trafficking. Srinagar (PTI): The ED Thursday carried out raids at three places, including at the houses of Hurriyat leaders, in a case linked to “selling” of MBBS seats in Pakistan to Kashmiri students, officials said here. The raids were conducted at the houses of Qazi Yasir in Anant- nag, Jammu and Kash- mir Salvation Move- ment chairman Zaffar Bhat in Bagh-e-Mehtab area here, and Moham- mad Iqbal Khwaja in Mattan area of Anant- nag, they said. The ED personnel along with the JK Police conducted simultaneous raids at the three locations. The raids are being carried out in connection with the case related to “selling” of MBBS seas in Pakistan to Kashmiri students and using the money to sup- portandfundterrorism. Bengaluru: A student of Malleshwaram Pre University College, who was insisting to be allowed to write examination wearing burqa, was counselled by principal after which she agreed to remove it and appeared for the exam, here on Thursday . The board exams for the Class 12 students have commenced across the state. Students appeared for their exams. The student was insisting till the last min- ute that she should be allowed to write exams wearing hijab. Though authorities rejected her requests, the student remained adamant. However, the Principal, who was on examination duty, spoke to the student and told her about the rules and convinced her. New Delhi: The Indian Army said they did not fire any mortar at Deuri Dumri range in Bihar’s Gaya district, a day after three people died in an explosion near the firing range. On Wednesday, the men likely took the shell that fell at the firing range on an earlier date and took it away to remove scrap metal for sale. The army said it will support any investigation into the cause of the tragedy and gave condolences to the families of those who died in the explosion. “The incident has been misreported by certain sections of the media that the deaths occurred due to army mortar firing. It is clar- ified that on March 8, no firing of mortars were carried out at the Deuri Dumri Field Firing Ranges,” the army said. It said the army takes clearances from the police and the civil admin- istration before mortar- firing practice. “No such clearance was asked for mortar-firing on March 8,” the army said, adding visuals on social media of a circu- lar hole on the ground indicating it as the impact point of the mortar shell is not true. “Mortar shell detona- tion on impact do not leave such signatures. Ostensibly , this could be a case of unauthorised collection of a mortar blind shell which fell in the designated impact area on an earlier date, and efforts to dismantle it to extract scrap metal for sale,” the army said. Itanagar (PTI): Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu Thurs- day said the appoint- ment of Chairman and members of Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) have been cancelled. Responding to a question raised by Congress MLA Nabam Tuki on the present status of the APPSC paper leak issue, Khandu informed that the chairman and the members of the Com- mission were appointed but due to agitation launched by the aggrieved candidates, they could not be sworn in. “Keeping in view the public demands and memorandum submitted by the aggrieved candidates, the state government decided to cancel the appoint- ments,” he said. Kolkata: Tollywood actor Bonny Sengupta aka Anupriyo Sengup- ta, who appeared before the ED on Thursday for questioning in the multi-crore teachers’ re- cruitment scam in West Bengal, has admitted to accepting cash to the tune of around Rs 40 lakh from youth TMC leader Kuntal Ghosh, who has been arrested in the scam. After receiving ED summon on Thursday , SenguptareachedtheED office at around 1 p.m. After being interrogated for over two hours, he was given a half-an-hour break during which he admitted accepting cash from Ghosh before the waiting mediapersons . Bengaluru: A groom escaped from his car while he was stuck in a traffic jam, a day after returning to his house from his wedding in the Mahadevapura police station area in Karnataka’s Ben- galuru district, police said. According to police, the incident had taken place on February 16. After searching for the groom for two weeks, the bride’s family lodged a com- plaint in this connection to help them find the former. Police said that the newly-wed man earlier had an affair with a woman and the latter had threat- ened that she would publish their private photos and videos on the social media. It is suspected that fearing shame, the groom had disappeared. TEAM OF 300 SEARCH FOR BIG CAT AFTER 4 CUBS FOUND IN AP VILLAGE Hyderabad: For 72 hours, forest officers in Nandyal- Kurnool area of Andhra Pradesh are looking for a tigress so that they can return her four cubs to her. The cubs, who had strayed into an agricultural field, were found by villagers. They first shifted them to a make- shift shelter to protect them from stray dogs. Once the forest department was informed, they were moved to a veterinary centre. Villagers are worried that the tigress, upset over losing her cubs, may turn aggressive. PREZ MURMU IN PUNJAB, PAYS OBEISANCE AT GOLDEN TEMPLE Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and SGPC chief Harjinder Dhami accompany President President Murmu at Golden Temple on Thursday. Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and SGPC President Harjinder Dhami also seen. PRESIDENT MURMU APPROVES THESE PUNJAB, TELANGANA BILLS New Delhi: A Punjab bill which aims at giving property rights to more than 11,200 tenants occupying over 4,000 acres of land after paying due compensation has received presidential assent, officials said on Thursday. President Droupadi Murmu also gave her assent to a Telangana bill which allows imposition of fine on people standing surety for securing bail in cases of grave offences if he or she fails to produce the accused on the date fixed by the court. The Punjab Bhondedar, Butemar, Dohlidar, Insar Miadi, Mukarraridar, Mundhimar, Panahi Qadeem, Saunjidar, or Taraddadkar (Vesting of Proprietary Rights) Bill, 2020 was passed by the Punjab assembly when the Congress govt was in power in 2020, an official said. Afghanistanterritoryshouldn’t beusedforterroracts:India ‘Selling’MBBSseats:ED raidsat3locationsinValley K’taka student removes hijab, writes exam after counselling India’s Permanent Representative to UN Ruchira Kamboj. Security personnel during ED raid at Hurriyat leader Qazi Yasir’s house. —Pic for representational purposes U U HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE Didn’t fire mortar, says Army after 3 killed in blast near Bihar Range APPSC chief, members removed: CM Khandu Arrested TMC leader gave `40 lakh to actor Army said the people may have taken an old shell for scrap metal. Arunachal CM Pema Khandu TMC leader Kuntal Ghosh Groom runs away amid traffic jam in Bengaluru ALBANESE IN MUMBAI! (L) Union Minister Piyush Goyal interacts with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, in Mumbai on Thursday. (Top) Australian PM Anthony Albanese with Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar onboard aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, in Mumbai on Thursday. —PHOTOS BY ANI
MUMBAI | FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 2023 07 www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia Commodity Price Change % Chg GOLD 55,025.00 80.00 0.14 (Per 10g) SILVER 61,955.00 390.00 0.62 (Per 1kg) COMMODITIES Currency Price Change % Chg USDINR 82.02 0.07 0.08 GBPINR 97.12 0.03 0.03 CURRENCIES Reliance brings back Campa in 3 flavours Mumbai (ANI): Reliance Consumer Products (RCPL), the subsidiary of Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL), on Thursday announced the launch of the iconic brand, Campa, made for a new-age India. The Campa portfolio will initially include Campa Cola, Campa Lemon and Campa Orange in the sparkling beverage category. The launch of this brand was in line with the company’s strategy to promote homegrown Indian brands that not only have a rich heritage but also boasted a deep-rooted connect with Indian consumers, RCPL said. The company said RCPL’s roll-out of its cold beverage portfolio across India, starting with Andhra and Telangana, is aligned with the company’s overall vision of offering value and choice to Indian consumers through high- quality products at afford- able price points. ICONIC BEVERAGE BRAND RETURNS MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS z The Campa portfolio will initially include Campa Cola, Campa Lemon Campa Orange in the sparkling beverage category z The launch of this brand was in line with the company’s strategy to promote homegrown Indian brands business BRIEFS New Delhi: Byju’s is seeking to raise as much as $250 million through the issuance of convertible notes by its tutoring service unit Aakash Educa- tional Services. Aakash Educational Services will issue the notes that will convert into equity at a discount of 20% to the listing price of the unit’s planned IPO. Some inves- tors in Byju’s are expected to participate in the round. The pre-IPO round at Aakash will help the startup to tide over a li- quidity crunch as talks to raise funds at a parent level are getting delayed with a prolonged due dili- gence process. —FIB New Delhi: Bank of Baro- da (Bank), one of India’s leading public sector banks, on Thursday announced the reduction in its home loan interest rates by 40 basis points (bps) to 8.50%* p.a. Fur- ther, the Bank has also re- duced its MSME loan interest rates starting at 8.40%* p.a. Both offers are with effect from March 5, 2023 and are valid for a limited period till March 31 2023. This is one of the lowest and most competitive interest rates in industry. —PTI BoB SLASHES HOME LOAN INTEREST RATES BY 40BPS BYJU’S SEEKS $250 MILLION IN AAKASH PRE-IPO FUNDING New Delhi: Gold price fell `80 to `55,025 per 10 grams in the national capital on Thursday, according to HDFC Securities. The precious metal had closed at `55,105/10 grams in the previous trade. Silver also plunged `390 to `61,955 per kilo- gramme. “Spot gold prices in the Delhi markets traded at `55,025 per 10 grams, down `80 per 10 grams,” Saumil Gandhi, Senior Analyst - Com- modities at HDFC Securi- ties, said. —PTI GOLD RATES FALL BY `80/10 GM; SILVER PLUNGE `390/KG New Delhi: Amid the on- going financial crunch in Pakistan, Honda announced to close its plant citing severe disruption in supply chain as major reason. Honda Atlas Cars --the assembler of Honda automobiles in Pakistan blamed current economic situation for its decision and said that the plant will remain closed from March 9 to March 31. It said that it would not be able to continue with its production and will be shutting down its plant for the remainder of the month. —ANI HONDA CLOSES ITS PLANT IN PAK DUE TO FINANCIAL CRUNCH *Rates till the edition went to print. ADIA NEARS BUYING $500-MILLION STAKE IN LENSKART: REPORTS New Delhi: Abu Dhabi Invest- ment Authority (ADIA) is near- ing a deal to acquire a stake in omnichannel eyewear startup Lenskart for about $500 million, according to sources. The Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund is finalising an agreement to buy a mix of existing Lenskart shares and new equity. Lenskart is set to close its funding round amid a global rout for tech companies that’s prompted layoffs in the thousands. —FIB IOB DISBURSES LOANS WORTH `5.02 CRORE TO SELF-HELP GROUPS New Delhi: Public sector Indian Overseas Bank has disbursed `5 crore worth of loans to self help groups during a campaign held in the city recently co- inciding with the Women’s Day celebrations, the bank said on Thursday. The women entrepreneur branch of Indian Overseas Bank in the city sanctioned loans worth `1.53 crore during the campaign organised by Chennai-I Region and Chennai II and another financial institution. —PTI OTHER STORIES MERCEDES-BENZ TO INCREASE PRICES BY `2-12 LAKH ACROSS MODELS FROM APRIL 1 New Delhi: Luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz India on Thursday said it will increase prices of its vehicles ranging between `2 lakh to `12 lakh across different models from April 1, to offset rising input costs specially the adverse impact of foreign exchange. This will be the second time in three months that the company is increasing prices of its vehicles. The ex-showroom price of the company’s model range will increase by up to 5% from April 1, 2023, the company said. From April, prices of the company’s A-Class limousine will go up by `2 lakh. —PTI XIAOMI TO ASSIST OVER 4K STUDENTS IN DIGITAL LEARNING, JOINS HANDS WITH UNITED WAY INDIA New Delhi: Smart device maker Xiaomi on Thursday announced it has teamed up with United Way India to establish Innovative Tinkering labs to supplement the learning process for over 4,000 children across 12 government and one government-aided schools located in Karnataka and Delhi- NCR. Under the collaboration, Xiaomi India aims to develop sustainable futur- istic skill-sets among children by offering them access to multiple technologies and enabling them to build new solutions to solve the challenges. —PTI INCREASED SLIGHTLY India’s unemployment rate increases to 7.45% in Feb New Delhi (FIB): The unemployment rate in India has increased slightly to 7.45% in February 2023. Earlier in January 2023, it was at 7.14%. With this, the total number of unemployed people in the country has reached 33 million. The reason behind this has been a big increase in unemployment among the rural people. The CMIE says that it was showing a decline in last four months. According to CMIE's weekly labor market analysis, India's labor participation rate increased margin- ally to 39.92% in February last month. Earlier in Jan- uary 2023, it was at 39.8%. With this, the labor force has increased from 440.8 million to 442.9 million. However, only 0.6 million people have been able to get employment, he said. While the remaining 1.5 million people have remained unemployed. Ac- cording to him, this ex- plains that the unemployment rate has increased in February . The unemployment rate in rural India has increased from 6.48% in Jan- uary to 7.23% in February. That is, 2.3 million unemployed people have joined the rural workforce, which leaves the trend of the last few months. CMIE said that the increase in unemployment rate in February seems surprising, as rural unemployment was on a declining path during the last four months. The urban unemployment rate has come down from 8.55% in January to 7.93% in February. This shows that the number of unemployed people has fallen by about 0.73 million in February to 11.3 million. According to CMIE, it is interesting that the unemployment rate in rural and urban India has seen a decline during the last three months. DATA IN NUMBERS z The unemployment rate in India has increased slightly to 7.45% in February 2023. Earlier in January 2023, it was at 7.14% z With this, the total number of unemployed people in the country has reached 33 million. This figure stood at 31.5 million in January this year ‘IPEF will prove to be more economically impactful than FTA’ New Delhi (PTI): US Com- merce Secretary Gina Raimondo on Thursday expressed hope that the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) will prove to be more economically impactful than a free trade agreement (FTA) with India. The IPEF was launched jointly by the US and other partner countries of the Indo-Pacific region on May 23 in Tokyo. The 14 IPEF partners represent 40% of global GDP and 28% of global goods and services trade. The framework is struc- tured around four pillars relating to trade, supply chains, clean economy, and fair economy (issues like tax and anti-corruption). India has opted out of the trade pillar and has decided to join the remaining three subjects pertaining to supply chains, clean economy and fair economy . Raimondo said that a trade agreement with In- dia is at present not on the table and the US Congress has stated that there is no appetite for an FTA. “My hope is that the IPEF...my strong belief is that it will prove to be in many ways more economically impactful than an FTA,” she said. She added that this framework would be a modern equivalent of a trade agreement. “And this is what we are tryingtofigureoutthrough IPEF and if we do it right”, it would help in more job creation in both the countries than the traditional FTA. ASSURES POWER MIN India taking steps for adequate power supply New Delhi (PTI): The government has asked power companies to ensure that there is no load shedding during the summer season and urged all stakeholders to take proactive actions to meet the rising electricity demand. Union Power Minister R K Singh chaired a review meeting on March 7, with senior officials from Power, Coal and Railways ministries on various aspects in a bid to meet high electricity demand in the ensuing summer months. During the meeting, Sin- gh asked power companies to ensure that there is no load-shedding during the summer months, a power ministry statement said. He asked all stakeholders to closely monitor the situation and take proactive actions to meet the electricity demand during the coming months. He also asked the Cen- tral Electricity Authority to ensure that a fair and transparent mechanism is devised for allocation of coal to various States/UTs. As per estimates of the Central Electricity Author- ity, the peak electricity demand is expected to be 229 GW during April this year. The demand then tapers off as monsoon season picks up from the southern part of the country and covers the whole country over the next 3-4 months, it said. With GDP growing at close to 7%, the power demand has been growing in the country at close to 10% per annum, it added. TOP TALKING POINT z The government has asked power companies to ensure that there is no load shedding during the summer season and urged all stakeholders to take proactive actions to meet the rising electricity demand Kotak Bank has small exposure to Adani Group New Delhi (PTI): Private sector lender Kotak Mahi- ndra Bank has a small exposure to the embattled Adani Group which has been made in line with its credit philosophy, a senior official has said. Paritosh Kashyap, president and head for wholesale banking at Kotak Mahindra Bank, said the issues surrounding Adani Group are more of a capital market and valuations issue and not a credit issue. We have a small exposure to the group. We do business with every corporate in the country, and our exposures are in line with our credit philosophy and size of our balance sheet, Kashyap said. It can be noted that a report by the US short-seller had called Adani as the biggest con in corporate history, making wide-ranging allegations on governance practices among other aspects to say that the stocks are overvalued by 85%. Jio’s Radisys to buy Mimosa Networks Hillsboro (ANI): Jio Plat- forms on Thursday said its subsidiary -- Radisys Cor- poration -- would acquire Mimosa Networks from Airspan Networks Hold- ings for $60 million on a debt-free, cash-free basis. Mimosa's product development, manufacturing, and sales teams of 56 employees will continue with Mimosa following the acquisition by Radisys, according to a statement from Radisys. Airspan maintains a reseller chan- nel for specific joint 4G/5G and fixed wireless access (FWA) projects and will continue marketing Mimo- sa products to some of its customers following the acquisition. Mimosa has a diverse portfolio of point- to-point and point-to-multi- point products based on WiFi 5 and the newer WiFi 6E technologies as well as related accessories, such as twist-on antennas. Sensex snaps three-day winning run; falls 540 pts Mumbai (PTI): Equity benchmark Sensex de- clined nearly 540 points on Thursday, pressured by heavy selling in index heavyweights Reliance In- dustries, Bajaj Finserv and ICICI Bank amid a sluggish trend in the global markets. Besides, a weak rupee against major currencies overseas further weighed on sentiment, traders said. Snapping its three-day gaining streak, the 30-share BSE Sensex opened strong but came under severe selling pressure to close 541.81 points or 0.90% lower at 59,806.28. ` FALLS 7 PAISE TO CLOSE AT 82.02 AGAINST US DOLLAR Mumbai (PTI): The rupee pared its initial gains and settled for the day lower by 7 paise at 82.02 (provisional) against the US currency on Thursday. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 81.93 against the greenback and closed at 82.02 (provisional), registering a fall of 7 paise over its previous close of 81.95.
MUMBAI | FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 2023 08 2NDFRONT www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia Nature reaches out to our soul and which is why we feel a deep rooted happiness when we commune with nature. — Dr Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India First India Bureau Mumbai: Bharatiya Ja- nata Party MLC Ram Shindeandhispartycol- league and cooperation minister Atul Save dukeditout,overalleged delays in action against a sugar mill reportedly linked to Nationalist CongressPartyMLARo- hit Pawar, in the Maha- rashtra Legislative Council on Thursday . Shinde--through a calling attention mo- tion--raised the issue of Maharashtra Sugar Commissioner not taking any action against Baramati Agro Ltd, a sugar mill linked to Pa- war, who is the grand- nephew of NCP chief Sharad Pawar. Incidentally, Rohit Pawar had defeated Shinde in the 2019 As- sembly polls. Shinde became an MLC in June last year. “The Indapur-based Baramati Agro Ltd started its crushing before the designated date of October 15, when all the mills were supposed to start its crushing season. Despite several complaints, the sugar commissioner did not take any strong action against the mill,” Shin- de told the House. When Save respond- ed that the necessary action would be taken against the mill, adding that an FIR had already been registered against its management, Shin- de asserted that the sugar commissioner had taken five months to act. There was no point in taking action so late, he said. Shinde also said the sugarcommissionerand cooperation department swung into action only after he raised the issue, adding the FIRs and complaints were lodged just a few days ago. When Save tried to explain his stand, Shin- de interrupted him, and claimed the sugar commissioner must be held responsible as no strong action had been taken against the mill. Save and Shinde continued to argue on the issue for some time, before Save finally said the sugar commissionerate would conduct an inquiry without the involvement of the sugar commissioner. Delay in action on NCP leader’s mill has BJP MLC, Min sparring SUGAR RUSH lll Argument finally ended with promise that ‘sugar commissionerate would conduct an inquiry without the involvement of the sugar commissioner’ Ajit Pawar alleges `500 cr scam First India Bureau Mumbai: Leader of Opposition in the Ma- harashtra Legislative Assembly Ajit Pawar on Thursday alleged that a scam of Rs500 crore took place in the state Information and Publicity Department during the tenure of the government led by Devendra Fadnavis, between 2014 and 2019. Government officials gave approval to publish media advertisements worth more than Rs500 crore in 2019 without the then- CM’s sanction, Pawar claimed and demanded incumbent Chief Min- ister Eknath Shinde to punish the officials in- volved in the scam. Speaking in the As- sembly, the senior Na- tionalist Congress Party (NCP) leader said, “The file states that department officials informed the CM that Rs500 crore had been spent to publish advertisements, but he had not sanctioned the expenditure.” The information and publicity department is handled by the CM. The Fadnavis-led government of the Bharatiya Janata Par- ty (BJP) and Shiv Sena (undivided) ruled the state during 2014-19. “In 2019-20, the government had withheld the payment of these advertisement bills since there was no approval. But now the present government has given orders to make the payments. This is serious and the government shouldn’t support such activities,” Pawar said. “Such culprits should be punished with suspension. The CM’s approval is man- datory for media advertisements. In this case, an unsanctioned ad spend of more than Rs500 crore was approved in an election year (2019),” he claimed. Without naming the officials, Pawar said an inquiry into these advertisements conducted under former CM Uddhav Thackeray in- dicted the then principal secretary social justice and DG of information and publicity. Brijesh Singh, who was the director general of the information and publicity department in 2019, is now with the CMO as principal secretary. The inquiry report had also said that all departments should get the sanction of the chief secretary, the minister concerned and the deputy chief minister, who holds the finance department, Pawar said. Information and Publicity Dept approved spends on advertisements without sanction from then-CM Fadnavis in 2019, LOP alleges NCP leader Ajit Pawar —FILE PHOTO The file states that officials informed the CM that Rs500 crore had been spent to publish advertisements, but he had not sanctioned the expense. In 2019-20, the government had withheld the payment of these advertisement bills since there was no approval. But now the present government has given orders to make the payments. This is serious and the government shouldn’t support such activities. —Ajit Pawar, LOP, Maha Assembly Opposition stages walkout over aid to rain-hit farmers First India Bureau Mumbai: The Maha- rashtra Assembly saw noisy scenes on Thurs- day, when the Opposi- tion demanded immediate relief for farmers whose crops were dam- aged by the unseasonal rainfall and hailstorms earlier this week. Maharashtra Con- gress chief Nana Pa- tole submitted an ad- journment notice, which was rejected by Speaker Rahul Nar- wekar who said the issue would be taken up for debate on Friday. However, an adamant Patole, with support from Leader of Opposi- tion Ajit Pawar, NCP MLA Chhagan Bhujbal and Congress’ Balasa- heb Thorat, soon had MLAs on their feet. Bhujbal sought an immediate discussion on the issue as “nothing could be more important than providing relief to farmers. Some opposition MLAs trooped into the Well of the House and shouted slogans against the government. LOP Pawar criticized the government for not comforting distressed farmers Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said his government would nev- er leave farmers in the lurch, and added that directives have been given for “panchna- mas” (loss assessment) to be carried out on war footing. He then asked the Opposition not to indulge in politics on the issue. Speaker Narwekar attempted to continue with Question Hour, but Opposition members shouted slogans in the Well of the House. The opposition, led by Pawar, later staged a walkout after terming the Shinde dispensa- tion as “anti-farmer”. HIGH DRAMA Highlighting farmer sui- cides in the constituency of agriculture minister Abdul Sattar (Sillod in Aurangabad), LOP Pawar asked what was the use of Question Hour if citizens in distress did not get relief. NAFED has still not procured onions, and what the state government says is not being implemented on the ground, he alleged. LOP Ajit Pawar and MVA MLAs demanded relief for farmers, at Vidhan Bhavan on Thursday. —PHOTO BY BHUSHAN KOYANDE The Indian Navy’s major operational level exercise TROPEX 2023, conducted over four months, concluded in the Arabian Sea this week. The exercises included coastal defence exercise, sea vigil and an amphibious exercise. About 70 Naval ships, six submarines and 75 aircraft were part of TROPEX 23, which also saw significant participation from the Indian Army, the Indian Air Force and the Coast Guard. WAR GAMES WAR GAMES Cavity along tracks affects train traffic on Central Rly line Mumbai (PTI): Train traffic on Central Rail- way’s main line was affected after a cavity was formed amid micro-tunnelling work near Um- bermalistationinThane district on Thursday , an official said. Pre-monsoon work of micro-tunnellingtopush a pipe structure was underway at the site, some 115kmfromCentralRail- way’s CSMT headquar- ters, when a cavity was noticed in the embank- ment at 6.30 am, Shivaji Sutar, CR chief public relations officer said. For safety reasons, train operations on the UP line (CSMT-bound line) was stopped at the spot for around 45-50 minutes, which led to bunching of suburban and long distance trains like Punjab Mail, Vid- arbha Express. “The cavity has been filled with bags and the track was declared safe, after which train move- ment began with speed restrictions at 7.20 am,” Sutar said. Meanwhile, passenger activists from the Kalyan-Kasara belt said several suburban trains were delayed and cancelled due to the incident. Cavity was noticed during pre-monsoon micro-tunnelling to push in a pipe stucture Maha to catalogue work of folk artistes, Min says Mumbai (PTI): The state will set up a portal that will catalogue the work of folk artistes of Maharashtra and help them get orders, cultural affairs minister Sudhir Mungantiwar told in the Legislative Council on Thursday . He was responding to a question raised by Leader of Opposition Ambadas Danve re- garding folk artistes. “We are setting up a portal that will catalogue the folk artistes in the state. The portal will have description of their art, a small video, which region or city they live. This catalogue will help them to get new work orders,” Mungantiwar said. Responding to a question related to pending dues of folk artistes, the minister said, “At present, the finance department clears the proposal of honorarium and then we dis- burse it to the artistes. I have asked my department to come up with a plan to use Direct Ben- efit Transfer system to pay honorarium.” Jagtap, Dhangekar take oath as MLAs First India Bureau Mumbai: Ravindra DhangekarandAshwini Jagtap of the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party , respectively , were sworn in as members of the Assembly on Thurs- day , a week after they were declared winners of the recent by-elections to Kasba Peth and Chinchwad,respectively . They were administered the oath by As- sembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar. While Jagtap bowed before the opposition and treasury benches after taking oath, Dhangekar--whose win ended the BJP’s 28-year- old stranglehold on the Kasba Peth seat--was welcomed by opposition legislators with thump- ing of benches. The bypolls were ne- cessitated due to deaths of BJP MLAs Laxman JagtapandMuktaTilak. Kasba Peth's new MLA Ravindra Dhangekar, and Maha Congress chief Nana Patole addressed the media at Vidhan Bhavan on Thursday. —PHOTOS BY BHUSHAN KOYANDE Chinchwad's new BJP MLA Ashwini Laxman Jagtap arrives at Vidhan Bhavan. Passengers said several suburban trains were delayed and cancelled on the Kalyan-Kasara belt. —FILE PHOTO Atul Save —FILE PHOTO Ram Shinde —FILE PHOTO
www.firstindia.co.in I https://firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/ thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09 MUMBAI | FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 2023 ith designers regain- ing their mojo, offering new takes on historical sym- bols, and flipping the fashion show idea on its head, Mi- lan affirmed its not- to-be-missed position. The best looks of Milan Fashion Week have echoed the magic of after seasons of flamboy- ance and statement- laden maximalism and have returned fashion to expedien- cy with clothes you can wear. During the fashion week, some extraordinary Indi- an influencers and designers were part of Milan Fashion Week this year, and making India proud, Lokesh Sharma, an Indian choreogra- pher has entered this league. In one of its kind of fashion moments after a long Indian choreog- r a p h e r- d i r e c t e d show at Milan Fash- ion Week 2023. He is known for doing international shows such as Arab Fash- ion Week, Mercedes Benz fashion week Doha and India Fashion Week Lon- don to name a few along with many In- dian shows and beauty pageants. When asked about his experience, the talented choreogra- pher mentioned, “The fashion shows and requirements over there are quite different from the Indian ones. The shows are less dra- matic and focused more on the product display at hand. The shows are high fashion with a model pool and have different varieties as well. Directing move- ment for this kind of international show is huge for me and I am glad I am here! In the process, I also got to learn a lot about how to deal with different people who are coming from different communities and repre- senting different languages, cultures and thoughts. It was indeed one of its kind experience for me and I am certain- ly looking forward to coming again and Experiencing this again.” Lokesh’s shows re- flect his constant pursuit of magnifi- cence and perfec- tion. The shows he directed were for Francesca Libera- tore for the Main Calendar. Along with this he also directed shows for Mi- chael Cinco Dubai and Rocky Star from India, and MM Milano from Milan. HIS POWER TO CREATE MAGIC! City First highlights the mesmerizing work of talented show director Lokesh Sharma, who recently directed astonishing collection during Milan Fashion Week UTTKARSHA SHEKHAR uttkarsha.shekhar@firstindia.co.in W Show Director Lokesh Sharma Designer Francesca Liberatore Designer Michael Cinco Designer Rocky Star
10 ETC MUMBAI | FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 2023 www.firstindia.co.in I https://firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia SIMRAN MODI, Model FACE OF THE DAY! Aries MARCH 21 - APRIL 20 Yoga would help in raising energy levels. Some of you are going experience emotional fulfillment. Place emphasis on domestic affairs to enhance the domestic tranquility and harmony. Associating yourself with humanitarian group on social front would benefit you. Gemini MAY 21 - JUNE 21 A sound monetary position would enable you to keep pace with changing times. Avoid raising controversial issues at home. Successful imple- mentation of new ideas and projects would add to your prestige on the professional front. It is a wonderful day to build new connections. Leo JULY 24 - AUGUST 23 Chances of being misled by competitors in business are high, so remain alert. You may get a chance to pursue old hobby. Health tips from an expert will enable you to get closer to your fitness goals. Your generous behavior would enable to enjoy some lovely moments with family. Libra SEPTEMBER 24 - OCTOBER 22 Your hard work and dedication are likely to be noticed by seniors. Better to consult an expert in financial matters before making an investment. A promising day overall as you stay in limelight without any efforts. Harsh words may create a rift in your romantic relationship; be careful. Sagittarius NOVEMBER 23 - DECEMBER 22 You will succeed in resolving misunder- standing with family members. You will remain much in demand on social front. You need to stand by romantic partner during testing times to make the relationship stronger. Seek opinion of expert before opting for a health supplement. Aquarius JANUARY 21 - FEBRUARY 19 Avoid being indulgent in your spending to balance budget. Continue to put in efforts at work and you will see promising opportunities coming your way. Matrimonial match for siblings will bring happiness for entire family. You will get a good price for your property. Taurus APRIL 21 - MAY 20 It is good day to confess your love as stars appear favour- able for positive reply. Your sole dependency on friends may fail to bring any respite from loneliness today.A sound financial health of businessmen would enable to give monetary benefits to employees. Cancer JUNE 22 - JULY 23 Distant relatives may drop in for a surprise visit. Investment antiques and jewellery would bring hand- some financial gains. On professional front, recognition for good work would motivate you. Those awaiting an affirmation on romantic front are likely to get lucky today. Virgo AUGUST 24 - SEPTEMBER 23 Senior management will be appreciative of your creative inputs on professional front. Seek the opinion of your family before finalizing a property deal. An impromptu invitation to a function from an unexpected friend is likely to be received. Your bold initiatives on romantic front bring back passion. Scorpio OCTOBER 23 - NOVEMBER 22 Rewards and recognition will come your way for your involvement in a social endeavour. It’s a very good day to take calculated risks in financial matters. Those suffering from chronic ailments may find remarkable improvement in their health with home remedies. Capricorn DECEMBER 23 - JANUARY 20 Develop a good adaptability to handle pressurized situation on professional front. Paying special attention to plan your career would give immense joy. You are likely to get clearance or approval for your construction plans. You find things moving in the way you want them. Pisces FEBRUARY 20 - MARCH 20 Don’t give a firm commitment in financial matters before considering the viability of the project. You succeed in completing an important project. Disagreements on the family front are foreseen. Be careful about the legal apprehensions in the property you are planning to buy. YOUR DAY Horoscopeby SaurabbhSachdeva Whatsapp Subscription Subscribe “First India” Daily E-News Paper For Free On Whatsapp To Receive the Most Exclusive News from the Power Corridors of Mumbai. t has long been a type of spiritual practice to visit new places, whether they are man-made or natural. Travel not only renews and revital- izes our feeling of wonder, but it also fosters a stronger sense of self-care and connectedness to the land, other people, and oneself. Some well-known spiritual locations have been built according to certain belief systems, and some are simply recognized as such based on energy and vibration. That being said, many locations continue to hold great religious signifi- cance for some groups and have a long history. However, like with so many communities with stronger spiritual ties, the majority of spiritually significant locations ac- cept those of all faiths who are courteous and dedicated to learning more. You’ll be able to establish stronger ties with the environment, other people, and yourself by visiting one of these top six spiritual locations on the planet! MRIDULA SHARMA cityfirst@firstindia.co.in I VARANASI, INDIA Varanasi, the oldest city in the country and the “Spiritual Heart of India,” is a riot of color and mayhem that is situated directly on the banks of the Ganga River. Many people, including Buddhists and Hindus, travel to this historic city to pray on their daily basis. It is thought that this is where Buddhism is claimed to have its roots. In Varanasi, cows are allowed to roam freely, remains are publicly burnt in the river, and you will be forced to face your beliefs about life and death. BOROBUDUR, INDONESIA Borobudur, a two-million-stone block structure on the Indonesian island of Java that depicts a perfect world in the form of a mandala, was constructed against a backdrop of a luxuriant forest. The building is really a pyramid of stairs that believers climb around anticlockwise, with the center of the pyramid standing in for Nirvana. As you make the symbolic trip up the stairs at Borobudur, you’ll be overcome by the special spirit of the place. The views are also rather nice! CAPE REINGA, NEW ZEALAND The northernmost point of New Zealand’s North Island is where Cape Reinga, often referred to as Te Rerenga Wairua, is located. Cape Reinga is revered by the Maori people and known as the “leaping place of the spirits” because they think that the souls of recently departed Maori use the cape as a gateway to the afterlife. The setting at Cape Reinga is stunning and magical. The Tasman Sea joins the Pacific Ocean as waves crash over cliffs, and miles of unobstructed scenery may be seen. The Maori ask that you do not eat at Cape Reinga and that you keep the area untouched since it is a holy location. CAMINO DE SANTIAGO, SPAIN A world-renowned hiking trail in Spain, the Camino de Santiago was originally used as a route for pilgrims to reach the city of Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain, where (it’s rumored) Saint James is buried.Millions of Christians thought that by traveling the path and arriving in Santiago de Compostela, they might avoid purgatory after death. This belief caused the route to becoming extremely well- known, during the Middle Ages. TEMPLE CIRCUIT, JAPAN The Japanese island of Shikoku, which translates to “Four Provinces,” is circled by a 1,200-kilometer route known as the Temple Circuit. Temples 1 through 23 stand for awakening, temples 24 through 39 for austerity and discipline, temples 40 through 65 for achieving enlightenment, and temples 66 through 88 for attaining Nirvana, according to the beliefs of pilgrims who believe that traveling through these four provinces and visiting all 88 official Buddhist temples on the circuit is a path to enlightenment. Every year, around 10,000 pilgrims go by tour bus or on foot to the circuit and the temples. Although it was once a Buddhist project, now the circuit is finished for both spiritual and touristic purposes. ANGKOR WAT, CAMBODIA Angkor Wat, the biggest spiritual complex in the world and a historical collection of temples established in the 12th century, was initially created as a Hindu temple to house King Suryavarman II’s ashes. The building eventually underwent a transformation into a Buddhist temple and served as a gathering place for monks. The entire Angkor Wat complex is vibrant and thought-provoking, and it is one of humanity’s most incredible architectural achievements. People from various walks of life have been visiting the location for years in order to feel a stronger spirituality, healing, and vitality.

First India Mumbai 10032023.pdf

First India Mumbai 10032023.pdf

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