First India Mumbai 10032023.pdf

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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
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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 exami-
nation 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 ar-
rived 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 big-
gest 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 organ-
ised 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 dol-
lars 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 govern-
ment 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 pre-
sented a budget of
about 16 thousand crore
rupees deficit. In the
paperless budget of
about 1 hour 25 min-
utes, 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, infrastruc-
ture.
The Shinde-Fadnavis
government proposed
Rs6,000 assistance to
farmers and Rs 1 crop
insurance scheme
while also offering re-
lief 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 present-
ed 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 agricul-
ture, prosperous farm-
ers, and inclusivity for
women, tribal groups,
and backward classes.
It also focuses on huge
capital investment in
infrastructure develop-
ment, 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 dispen-
saries to be started,
free treatment will
be given
Mahatma Jan Aro-
gya Sch allocation
raised to Rs 5 lakh
Rs 5 lakh insur-
ance scheme for the
traditional fisher-
men 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 govern-
ment contained no re-
form proposals for
stopping the deteriora-
tion of the state’s econ-
omy
.
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 of-
fer any structural re-
forms 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 mecha-
nism to compensate
themforanylossdueto
natural calamities, the
former Union minister
said.

Mumbai (PTI): The
Maharashtra govern-
ment on Thursday an-
nouncedafinancialben-
efit of Rs6,000 per an-
num to farmers, in addi-
tion to a similar amount
offered by the Centre to
eligible cultivators, and
aschemeforsustainable
development of agricul-
ture 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 de-
velopment of the farm
sector and ‘Namo Shet-
kari Mahasanman Ni-
dhi’ for financial bene-
fit of farmers—were
among the key high-
lights of the budget.
All aspects of farm-
ing—from production
to value-addition—will
be financed by prepar-
ing 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 fami-
lies in Maharashtra.
An amount of
Rs12,000 will be depos-
ited in the account of
eligible state farmers
every year, which in-
cludes 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 pro-
vided 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 in-
surance 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
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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 govern-
ment—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 devel-
opment 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 develop-
ment of the state. This
budget will definitely
make Maharashtra a
trillion-dollar economy
on the lines of the coun-
try’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 govern-
ment 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 govern-
ment has announced
to implement it in the
entire state.
Uddhav Thackeray
former Chief Minister
CM Shinde’s govern-
ment 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, includ-
ing Mumbai Municipal
Corporation because it
has not been decided
when the election date
will be declared. The
matter is pending in
the court. The develop-
ment 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 announce-
ments 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 an-
ti-farmer budget. Moreover,
there is no mention of the old
pension scheme, providing
employment to the unem-
ployed. This whole budget is
to misguide the public.
Nana Patole,
Congress State President
According to the ‘panchamrit sutra’ pre-
sented by Fadnavis, the budget is for the
development of the common people and
Maharashtra. Maharashtra’s contribution of 1 tril-
lion 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 an-
nouncements 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 port-
folio, 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 set-
ting up the Chhatrapati
Shivaji Maharaj Theme
Park at Ambegaon in
Pune’s Haweli taluka.
Public parks with
audio-visual media fa-
cilities will be devel-
oped 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

03
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, rath-
er than the convention-
al paper document,
signalling the govern-
ment’s push towards
technology and infra-
structure development.
On the ambitious pro-
ject 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 high-
way 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 con-
struction 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 un-
dertaken at a cost of
about Rs4,000 crore un-
der Phase II of the
Asian Development
Bank project; while
7,500km road develop-
ment works will be tak-
en up at a cost of
Rs90,000 crore under
Part II of the Hybrid
Annuity project.
Expenditure of
Rs14,225 crore is pro-
posed for roads and
bridges in 2023-24.
The State Budget shows
promise in terms of
economic development
for various communi-
ties 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 de-
mand 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 con-
cern of gender disparity
in the real-estate develop-
ment 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 connectiv-
ity 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 propos-
es 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 gov-
ernment has an-
nounced a Rs5 lakh in-
surance scheme for tra-
ditional fishermen,
which will be estab-
lished 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
04
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 daugh-
ter 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 re-
spective 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 ag-
gressive moves in the South
China Sea and are close stra-
tegic 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 thou-
sand 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 na-
ture 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 con-
cern 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 part-
ners.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 con-
flict 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 be-
fore 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 strength-
en its economy
. The worry is
that this option is purely op-
timistic and may take many
more months of conflict be-
fore 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 economi-
cally. The cracks are visible
in EU unity over Sanctions
against Russia within one
year. Can the Europe witness
another winter without en-
ergy 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 presiden-
tial elections.
NEW LEADERSHIP
Wars are unpredictable. It is
often seen that failure to
achieve pre meditated victo-
ry 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 disappoint-
ment against NATO policies
on Ukraine is growing in Eu-
rope as the war drags on.
Many EU leaders are advocat-
ing shunning ties with US
Britain and moving closer to
Moscow because of geo-
graphical contiguity
. Even US
appears concerned about the
growing costs and the risks to
its economy posed by pro-
longed conflict which are
now outweighing the bene-
fits. Sooner than later, the
war is likely to end in the fa-
vour 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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05
INDIA
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 sus-
pension 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, includ-
ing 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 connec-
tion 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 il-
legal extraction of ground-
water 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 offi-
cial statement, Birla
will meet IPU president
Duarte Pacheco on
March 10 and discuss
matters of mutual inter-
est. 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 par-
ticipate 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 ad-
dress 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 coun-
tries.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 eventu-
ally support the BJP
.
Talking to reporters
here, Sarma also said
thatPrimeMinisterNar-
endra Modi is the “tall-
est leader” of the coun-
try
,andeveryonefavours
him in the region.
AskedabouttheJD(U)
and NCP extending sup-
port 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 opposi-
tion 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 cer-
emony 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 appoint-
ed 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 con-
nection with the alleged money laundering probe into Delhi
govt’s now-scrapped liquor policy, a day be-
fore 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 tomor-
row. 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 vari-
ous development works
of Ahmedabad Munici-
pal Corporation and
Ahmedabad Urban De-
velopment Authority on
Friday morning.
Shah will inaugurate
the development works
through video confer-
encing 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 intro-
duction of the Women’s
Reservation Bill in Par-
liament, BRS leader K
Kavitha on Thursday
praised Sonia Gandhi
for pushing the bill dur-
ing the UPA tenure.
Kavitha has invited
18 political parties, in-
cluding Congress to
join the one-day hunger
strike to press the de-
mand. “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 represent-
ative 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 be-
come 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 re-
porters 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 en-
sure 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 re-
gard has been present-
ed 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 elec-
tions 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 vari-
ous political parties to
seek their suggestions.
CEC Rajiv Kumar with ECs
Anup Chandra Pandey and
Arun Goyal arrive in Karnataka.

06
INDIA
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 tigress-
es 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 cap-
tured 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 securi-
ty arrangements were
made in for the presi-
dent’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 obei-
sance 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 be-
coming president.
After paying obei-
sance, she went to the
“langar hall” (commu-
nity 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 pre-
sented 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 reli-
gious body of the Sikhs,
including one pertain-
ing to the release of
Sikh political prison-
ers, its general secre-
tary 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 prison-
ers through democrat-
ic means for a long
time, Harjinder Singh
Dhami said in the
memorandum.
“...we feel that by not
releasing the Sikh
prisoners, they are be-
ing 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 pris-
oners and give neces-
sary 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 in-
ternational 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 ex-
pect 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 plac-
es, including at the
houses of Hurriyat
leaders, in a case linked
to “selling” of MBBS
seats in Pakistan to
Kashmiri students, of-
ficials said here.
The raids were con-
ducted 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 conduct-
ed simultaneous raids
at the three locations.
The raids are being
carried out in connec-
tion with the case relat-
ed 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 al-
lowed to write examina-
tion wearing burqa,
was counselled by prin-
cipal 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 ap-
peared for their exams.
The student was in-
sisting 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 af-
ter 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 investiga-
tion into the cause of
the tragedy and gave
condolences to the fam-
ilies 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 po-
lice 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 im-
pact 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 ques-
tion 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 ag-
grieved candidates, they
could not be sworn in.
“Keeping in view the
public demands and
memorandum submit-
ted 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 mul-
ti-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 po-
lice station area in
Karnataka’s Ben-
galuru district,
police said.
According to po-
lice, 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 con-
nection to help
them find the for-
mer.
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 pho-
tos 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

07
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 an-
nounced 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 spar-
kling beverage category.
The launch of this brand
was in line with the com-
pany’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 seek-
ing to raise as much as
$250 million through the
issuance of convertible
notes by its tutoring ser-
vice 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 expect-
ed 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 an-
nounced 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 in-
terest 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 cap-
ital on Thursday, accord-
ing 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 pric-
es 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 an-
nounced 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 start-
up Lenskart
for about $500
million, ac-
cording 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 un-
employment 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 unem-
ployed people in the coun-
try has reached 33 million.
The reason behind this has
been a big increase in un-
employment among the ru-
ral people. The CMIE says
that it was showing a de-
cline in last four months.
According to CMIE's
weekly labor market analy-
sis, India's labor participa-
tion 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 re-
mained unemployed. Ac-
cording to him, this ex-
plains that the unemploy-
ment rate has increased in
February
.
The unemployment rate
in rural India has in-
creased from 6.48% in Jan-
uary to 7.23% in February.
That is, 2.3 million unem-
ployed people have joined
the rural workforce, which
leaves the trend of the last
few months. CMIE said
that the increase in unem-
ployment rate in February
seems surprising, as rural
unemployment was on a
declining path during the
last four months.
The urban unemploy-
ment 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 mil-
lion. According to CMIE, it
is interesting that the un-
employment 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 economi-
cally 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 decid-
ed 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 economi-
cally 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 coun-
tries than the traditional
FTA.
ASSURES POWER MIN
India taking steps for
adequate power supply
New Delhi (PTI): The gov-
ernment 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 minis-
tries on various aspects in
a bid to meet high electric-
ity 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 stakehold-
ers to closely monitor the
situation and take proac-
tive 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 de-
mand 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 de-
mand 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 ex-
posure 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 surround-
ing Adani Group are more
of a capital market and
valuations issue and not a
credit issue.
We have a small expo-
sure to the group. We do
business with every corpo-
rate 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 re-
port by the US short-seller
had called Adani as the big-
gest con in corporate his-
tory, making wide-ranging
allegations on governance
practices among other as-
pects 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 devel-
opment, manufacturing,
and sales teams of 56 em-
ployees will continue with
Mimosa following the ac-
quisition by Radisys, ac-
cording 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 sell-
ing 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.

08
2NDFRONT
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 tak-
ing 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 be-
fore the designated date
of October 15, when all
the mills were supposed
to start its crushing sea-
son. 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 com-
missioner must be held
responsible as no strong
action had been taken
against the mill.
Save and Shinde con-
tinued to argue on the
issue for some time, be-
fore Save finally said the
sugar commissionerate
would conduct an in-
quiry without the in-
volvement 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 offi-
cials gave approval to
publish media adver-
tisements 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 offi-
cials 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 gov-
ernment of the
Bharatiya Janata Par-
ty (BJP) and Shiv Sena
(undivided) ruled the
state during 2014-19.
“In 2019-20, the gov-
ernment had withheld
the payment of these
advertisement bills
since there was no ap-
proval. But now the
present government
has given orders to
make the payments.
This is serious and the
government shouldn’t
support such activi-
ties,” Pawar said.
“Such culprits
should be punished
with suspension. The
CM’s approval is man-
datory for media adver-
tisements. In this case,
an unsanctioned ad
spend of more than
Rs500 crore was ap-
proved in an election
year (2019),” he
claimed.
Without naming the
officials, Pawar said an
inquiry into these ad-
vertisements conduct-
ed under former CM
Uddhav Thackeray in-
dicted the then princi-
pal secretary social jus-
tice and DG of informa-
tion and publicity.
Brijesh Singh, who
was the director gen-
eral of the information
and publicity depart-
ment in 2019, is now
with the CMO as prin-
cipal 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 depart-
ment, 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 immedi-
ate 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 is-
sue 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 impor-
tant than providing re-
lief 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 af-
fected after a cavity was
formed amid micro-tun-
nelling work near Um-
bermalistationinThane
district on Thursday
, an
official said.
Pre-monsoon work of
micro-tunnellingtopush
a pipe structure was un-
derway 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, passen-
ger 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, cul-
tural 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 cata-
logue the folk artistes
in the state. The portal
will have description of
their art, a small video,
which region or city
they live. This cata-
logue will help them to
get new work orders,”
Mungantiwar said.
Responding to a ques-
tion related to pending
dues of folk artistes,
the minister said, “At
present, the finance de-
partment clears the
proposal of honorari-
um and then we dis-
burse it to the artistes.
I have asked my depart-
ment 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-elec-
tions to Kasba Peth and
Chinchwad,respectively
.
They were adminis-
tered 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 design-
ers regain-
ing their
mojo, offer-
ing new
takes on his-
torical sym-
bols, and flipping
the fashion show
idea on its head, Mi-
lan affirmed its not-
to-be-missed posi-
tion. 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 fash-
ion 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 in-
ternational 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 fash-
ion with a model
pool and have differ-
ent 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 peo-
ple who are coming
from different com-
munities 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 di-
rected 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
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 profes-
sional 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 nat-
ural. Travel not
only renews and revital-
izes our feeling of wonder,
but it also fosters a strong-
er sense of self-care and
connectedness to the land,
other people, and oneself.
Some well-known spir-
itual 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 estab-
lish stronger ties with the
environment, other peo-
ple, and yourself by visit-
ing 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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