Vol. 64 No.

259 | TUE SDAY | MARC H 2, 2021 | ` 4 | E DITIONS: Mumbai*, Pune, Indore, Bhopal, E -Paper

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CHINA HAND IN CITY BLACKOUT
Cyber sabotage can’t be ruled out; State Govt takes cognisance of
NYT report; it is a vindication of FPJ story on power grid collapse
SANJAY JOG
Mumbai
T
he Maharashtra Gov-
ernment has taken
cognisance of a New
York Time report claiming
Mumbai power outage on
October 12, 2020, was because
of Chinese cyber attack or
cyber sabotage.
A massive power outage in
Co-Win not
so winsome
Technical glitch,
long waiting hours
cause flagging of
seniors’ enthusiasm
SWAPNIL MISHRA &
PRATIP ACHARYA
Mumbai
Technical glitches cast a
damper on the opening day
of the third phase of the
mass immunisation drive in
the city, delaying the process
for over three hours.
In this phase, citizens
above 60 and those
aged 45 years and
above with comor-
bidities were sup-
posed to get their
first dose of the
Covid vaccine,
starting 9.30am on
Monday. Upgrading
to Co-Win 2.0 failed to
weed out technical is-
sues in the centralised app,
resulting in a dismal start to
the proceedings.
But despite all the starting
trouble, more than 3,000 sen-
ior citizens and 45+ benefici-
aries were vaccinated at the
CLASS 12 ISC,
CLASS X ICSE
EXAM DATES
RONALD RODRIGUES
Mumbai
The Council for the Indian
School Certificate Examina-
tions (CISCE) on Monday
announced that the Class 10
Indian Certificate of Sec-
ondary Education (ICSE)
board examination would be
conducted offline from May
5 to June 7, 2021, while the
Class 12 Indian School Cer-
tificate (ISC) board exams
would be conducted from
April 8 to June 16, 2021. The
CISCE said the ICSE and ISC
board exam results would be
issued through conveners to
the heads of affiliated
schools by July 2021 and
would not be available from
the office of the council in
New Delhi.
On Monday, the CISCE re-
leased a circular to all
schools, informing about the
timetables for the Classes 10
and 12 board exams. The
CISCE said, "Candidates
must always follow Covid-19
safety protocols strictly at
exam centres, by ensuring
that they wear a face mask,
carry a hand sanitiser, and
avoid touching the face with
their hands. The use of
gloves is optional.
LAST WORD
After Azad, Anand strikes discordant note
Says Cong could not be
selective about its fight
against communal forces
FPJ NEWS SERVICE / New Delhi
A
fter Ghulam Nabi Azad, it is the
turn of Congress leader Anand
Sharma to strike a discordant
note – that too in public – much
against the ethos of a party where no-
Vol. 64 No. 259 | TUESDAY | MARCH 2, 2021 | 14 Pages | ` 4 | EDITIONS: Mumbai*, Pune, Indore, Bhopal, E-Paper
GST COLLECTIONS CROSS
RS 1.1L CR FOR THIRD
STRAIGHT MONTH IN FEB Pg 7
Mumbai in October, which
stopped trains and shut
down hospitals and the stock
exchange for hours, may
have been linked to these ac-
tivities by a group of Chi-
nese hackers, says the report
that has been shared with
the government.
Free Press Journal broke
the story on October 15 in
which energy minister Nitin
end of the
day, with a
turnout of 78
per cent of ben-
eficiaries at the
44 vaccine cen-
tres across Mum-
bai. Of the 7,530
people who received their
first doses on Monday, there
were 1,982 in the general cat-
egory, including 1,722 senior
citizens and 260 between 45
and 60 years of age with co-
morbidities.
Will you marry
the victim?
CJI’S POSER TO ALLEGED RAPIST
WHO IS ALREADY MARRIED
FROM OUR BUREAU
New Delhi
A Supreme Court bench head-
ed by Chief Justice of India
Sharad Bobde on Monday
granted protection to two al-
leged rapists, one from Maha-
rashtra and another from Ut-
tar Pradesh.
It asked Mohit Subhash
Chavan (23) from Maharash-
tra, accused of raping a minor
girl studying then in Class IX
in 2016 when she was 16,
whether he will marry her. It
was hearing a petition filed by
the man who is now an elec-
tricity department employee
in the state, against an order
of the Aurangabad Bench of
the Bombay High Court, can-
celling his anticipatory bail.
The FIR against him was
lodged in 2019 by the victim
girl on turning a major, under
Sections 376, 417, 506 of the In-
dian Penal Code and under
Sections 4 and 12 of the Pro-
tection of Children from Sex-
ual Offences Act (POCSO
Act), 2012. She alleged that
Chavan had forcibly entered
body speaks out of turn.
Sharma is upset at the party's West
Bengal poll strategy and has asserted
that the Congress could not be selec-
tive about its fight against communal
forces. For a party that swears by its
secular credo such a claim by its
prominent leader is nothing short of
blasphemy.
The former Union Minister was pos-
sibly reacting to visuals of Bengal
Congress chief Adhir Ranjan
NATIONWIDE VACCINATION
KEY TO ECONOMIC GROWTH
Raut had sounded the possi-
bility of a cyber attack being
behind the power failure.
However, the state govern-
ment appointed technical
committee or the panel set up
by the Central Electricity Au-
thority in their reports have
not directly referred to a cy-
ber attack which may have
caused the power failure.
CONTD. ON P13
The BMC had shortlisted
five civic-run facilities, in-
cluding the Seven Hills Hospi-
tal and the NESCO Jumbo
Covid Centre and three pri-
vate hospitals for the drive.
There was chaos at all the
eight centres. The on-site reg-
istration process began at
9am, but the portal crashed,
delaying the drive by as much
as three hours at some of the
centres and the inoculation
could only start after 1pm.
CONTD. ON P13
here house and raped her and
persisted with the sexual as-
sault till she was in class XII.
To a pointed question by the
CJI "will you marry her?" his
counsel Anand Dilip Langde
said he will have to take in-
structions from the client, not-
ing that Chavan will be sus-
pended from service if arrest-
ed in the case. "If you want to
marry, we can help you. If not,
you lose your job and go to jail
for seducing and raping a mi-
nor girl," the CJI remarked.
The girl had gone to the po-
lice after the first rape. Cha-
van's mother held out an as-
surance that he would marry
her and a document was even-
tually drawn up stating that
the marriage would take place
CONTD. ON P13
Chowdhury at a rally, sharing the dais
with the Left and the ISF (Indian Secu-
lar Front).
"Congress's alliance with the ISF and
similar parties goes against its core
ideology, and the secularism advocated
by Gandhi and Nehru, which is the
soul of the Congress. These issues
should have been discussed by the
Congress Working Committee (CWC),"
Sharma tweeted in Hindi.
330c. 230c.
Sunrise: 06:57 am
Sunset: 06:45 pm
Truth is
honesty
in a harmless
way.
Master Choa Kok Sui
PETROL DIESEL
` 97.57 ` 88.60
EDIT
NATIONALISM IS NOT
Per litre Per litre
ALL BLACK AND WHITE:
www.freepressjournal.in
twitter.com/fpjindia
SUMEET VYAS Pg 22 Reg. No. Mcs/048/2018-20; RNI No. 1541/1957
M.p.c.s office Mumbai-400001
Pg 19
PM SETS EXAMPLE
China hackers
ambush Indian
vaccine makers
FPJ NEWS SERVICE
Mumbai
The Chinese disruptive at-
tempts are not restricted to
inflicting power outages but
also hacking IT systems of
Indian vaccine makers.
Two such companies
which the Chinese have am-
bushed in recent times are
the Hyderabad-based Bharat FROM OUR BUREAU the mask off for a photo shoot
Biotech and the Pune-based New Delhi during the vaccination.
Serum Institute of India At 71 (d.o.b 17.09.1950), he
(SII), the world's largest vac- Prime Minister Narendra was eligible for the third
cine maker. Modi on Monday took the phase of vaccination that be-
The coronavirus shots be- first dose of COVID vaccine gan on March 1 for senior cit-
Javed Akhtar defamation complaint ing rolled out by these two for senior citizens at the All izens who are 60 plus and
Warrant out over
firms are the centrepiece of India Institute of Medical those above 45 with specified
the country's immunisation Sciences, setting an example co-morbidities to be certified
campaign. Goldman Sachs- and spurring others in his by registered medical practi-
backed cyber intelligence age category to do so as well. tioners. He was the first to
Kangana no-show firm Cyfirma told Reuters
that the Chinese hacking
group APT10, also known as
Stone Panda, had identified
An early riser, he landed at
AIIMS at 7 AM, to ensure no
inconvenience to others, be-
fore flying off to Assam for
be inoculated in this phase
as the actual registration for
it began only two hours later
at 9 AM.
BHAVNA UCHIL / Mumbai CONTD. ON P13 the poll campaign. He took CONTD. ON P13
An Andheri magistrate court on Monday is- SAYING MERIT MUST NOT FAIL...
sued a bailable warrant against actor Kan-
gana Ranaut after she failed to remain
present before it despite having been sum-
moned last month, in connection with a crim-
inal defamation complaint filed against her
HC orders extra MBBS seat
NARSI BENWAL A bench of Chief Justice Di- when a candidate scoring as
by lyricist Javed Akhtar, saying that her ab- Mumbai pankar Datta and Justice low as 219 marks in the
sence “shows her conduct”. Girish Kulkarni was seized NEET 2020 obtains admis-
Magistrate RR Khan ordered issuance of Observing that the admis- with a plea filed by a girl seek- sion to the MBBS course be-
bailable warrant of Rs 1,000 against sion process is tainted, with ing admission to the NAMO cause of a quota for the
Kangana for “wilful absence without any jus- meritorious students facing college in the district. Coast Guards (to which we
tified reasons despite service of summons”. the heat, the Bombay high The girl was denied admis- have no qualms) whereas
The court also noted that no exemption plea court recently ordered the sion as the authorities con- a candidate like the petition-
had been filed by her for her absence. Directorate of Medical and sidered another candidate er, scoring as high as 559
Akhtar’s advocate Vrinda Grover, through Health services in Dadra & who had secured 219 marks marks in the same qualify-
an application had sought that a non-bailable Nagar Haveli to create an ad- in the NEET exams under ing examination, is left high
warrant be issued against Kangana. This, ditional seat for an MBBS as- the category reserved for and dry and suffers for
Magistrate Khan found, would be a ‘harsh pirant, who had scored 559 Coast Guards. no fault on her part, com-
step’ considering the nature of the litigation. marks in the NEET 2020 ex- The judges, having consid- pelling her to seek judicial
CONTD. ON P13 ams, but wasn’t given admis- ered the facts of the case, intervention.”
sion because of reservation. said, “It is rather painful CONTD. ON P13
BETWEEN
THE LINES
SC JUDGES GET
THE JAB TODAY
Judges of the Supreme Court
will get inoculated for COVID-
19 from Tuesday. The families
of the judges, both serving and
retired, will also be eligible.
The Supreme Court registry has
arranged a vaccination facility
at the court complex, but the
judges and their families have
the option to get the shot at
any hospital listed by the
government. However, they
will not have an option to
choose which vaccine they
want to take.
UK HUNT FOR MISSING
PERSON WITH BRAZIL
STRAIN: Britain on Monday
appealed to a person infected
with a powerful Covid-19
strain from Brazil to come
forward. The variant that
emerged in Manaus, northern
Brazil, has been detected in six
people in the UK, one of whom
cannot be located after they
failed to fill in their contact
details on a form after taking
their test. The public appeal
came a week before England is
due to start unwinding its third
Covid lockdown.
PRASHANT KISHOR BACK IN
PUNJAB: Prashant Kishor, the
political whiz kid, has returned
to his old employer Captain
Amarinder Singh. Four years
after helping the Congress
wrest control of Punjab, Kishor
has signed on as "principal
advisor" to the Chief Minister,
who tweeted to say the two
would "work for the
betterment of the people of
Punjab". Punjab is scheduled to
hold Assembly elections in
early 2022. Kishor had signed
on to help Nitish Kumar retain
his position in November polls,
but was expelled after openly
criticising his stand on the
citizenship law, reports NDTV.
CONTD. ON P13
MUMBAI MUMBAI | TUESDAY | MARCH 2, 2021
HC allows Varavara Rao to furnish cash surety for release
MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Monday allowed
ailing poet-activist Varavara Rao, accused in the Elgar
Parishad-Maoist links case, to furnish a temporary cash
surety for release on bail until the process of submitting
solvent sureties is completed. Rao (82) was last week
granted interim bail on medical grounds for six months by
the HC which had asked him to furnish a personal bond of
Rs 50,000 and two solvent sureties of the like amount.

BUDGET SESSION

FIRST CLEAR MLC NOMINATIONS: PAWAR

As a reply to the LoP’s attack, Dy CM assures the Vidarbha & Marathwada Statutory Boards will be declared the day the 12 names to MLC are declared or the next day
PIC: BL SONI

Congress ministers
SANJAY JOG | Mumbai

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Leader

of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis, in the state legislative
assembly on Monday, sparred over the allocation of funds
to the underdeveloped Vidarbha and Marathwada regions
arrive on bicycles to
and also on the formation of statutory development
boards for these two regions. protest against rise MSCB SCAM

Court seeks state's

Pawar announced that the statutory development boards
for Vidarbha and Marathwada will be formed immediately
after Governor BS Koshyari approves the nomination of 12
names from his quota to the legislative council. The
in auto fuel prices
government had forwarded these names last year.
However, the governor, despite reminders, is yet to clear
them.
FPJ POLITICAL BUREAU | Mumbai

Ministers and legislators of the Congress arrived response on a plea

against clean chits
Fadnavis flayed the Maha Vikas Aghadi for holding on the first day of the budget session at the state
Vidarbha and Marathwada as ransom for the nomination legislature on bicycles to protest against the rise
of 12 names to the state legislative council. Bharatiya in fuel prices. The party shares power with Shiv
Janata Party (BJP) also boycotted the proceedings in the Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in the
assembly over the issue. Mooting the issue for discussion Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra.
in the assembly, BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar alleged Ministers Balasaheb Thorat, Aslam Shaikh, The plea challenged the clean chit and the closure
that the government had not formed the board despite Yashomati Thakur and Satej Patil, former Chief report filed by the economic offences wing of the
Pawar’s assurance on December 15 last year.
In reply, Pawar said the MVA government was of the view
that the boards must be set up. It will make provisions in
the March 8 budget assuming that the boards exist. ' We
Supplementary demands Minister Prithviraj Chavan, Maharashtra Pradesh
Congress Committee president Nana Patole and
Mumbai Regional Congress Committee president
Bhai Jagtap were among those who took part in
city police in the case, which gave a clean chit to
Ajit Pawar and 75 other accused, including the
directors of several cooperative banks

of `21,076.32 crore tabled

wanted to form it as soon as possible. However, the state
cabinet had taken a decision of recommending 12 names
to the governor for their nomination as members of the
legislative council from his quota. The Vidarbha and
Marathwada Statutory Boards will be declared the day the
12 names are declared or the next day,” he added.
Fadnavis asked what the people of Vidarbha and
Marathwada have to do with the nomination of 12 names
to the state council, which is an issue between the state
government and the governor. He said that people of the
two regions will not ‘forgive’ Pawar's stand on the issue
and added that his party would continue
to fight till ‘we get what the
Constitution has given us’.
SANJAY JOG | Mumbai
The Maharashtra government, which is struggling
to cope up with its shortfall in revenue, on
Monday, presented supplementary demands
worth Rs 21,076.32 crore on the first day of the
budget session. Of Rs 21,076.32 crore, the
government has earmarked Rs 16,200 crore to
repay the advances taken under the Special
Drawing facility, Rs 2,650.61 crore for pension, Rs
2,000 crore for the Mumbai Nagpur expressway
equity and Rs 1,149.67 crore for Metro 2A, 2B
and 7, of which the actual allocation will be Rs
826 crore. The government has also allocated
Rs 268.59 crore to the state Disaster Response
Fund.
The supplementary demands were tabled by
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who holds the
Finance and Planning Departments, in the
state legislature. The government has
allocated Rs 2,650.60 crore for the Finance
Department, Rs 2,052.50 crore for public
works and Rs 1,866 crore to
MahaVitaran for providing relief to
agriculture consumers in the payment
of long-pending dues.
Further, the government has
earmarked Rs 546.09 crore to
public health, Rs 455.18 crore to
the bicycle march. Patole accused the central
government of mocking people and committing
the ‘sin’ of snatching food from their mouths. NARSI BENWAL | Mumbai of several cooperative banks.
“The state government has made the life of the Opposing the plea, AG
the National Rural Health Mission, Rs 487.55 common man difficult with the rise in petrol The Maharashtra government, Kumbhakoni told the judges
crore to water resources and Rs 400 crore to clear prices...the central government is mocking the on Monday, raised a preliminary that Arora's protest petition
bills for irrigation and land acquisition and for the people,” he alleged. objection to the petition filed by against the closure report is
Prime Minister Krishi Sichai Yojana. The Former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, an activist in the Bombay High already pending in the sessions
government has made an allocation of Rs 289.36 however, passed the buck on to the state Court against the clean chit court.
crore to the Revenue and Forest Departments, Rs government, saying it can cut taxes and provide given to Deputy Chief Minister "A detailed probe was
280.38 crore for woman and child welfare, Rs relief. Ajit Pawar and others accused in conducted, after which the EOW
241.71 crore to the Agriculture, Animal Already Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tijaswi the alleged multi-crore filed a closure report before the
Husbandry, Milk and Fisheries Departments, Rs Yadav in Bihar, opposition legislators in Madhya Maharashtra State Cooperative sessions court. The probe was
102.50 crore to general administration, Rs 200 Pradesh and Robert Vadra in New Delhi had Bank (MSCB) scam. conducted after the orders of
crore for the Nanaji Deshmukh Krishi Sanjivani earlier taken bicycle rides against increasing A bench of Justices Sambhaji this court in 2019 on a similar
Scheme and Rs 100 crore for the e-governance prices of petrol and diesel. PIC: BL SONI Shinde and Manish Pitale posted plea filed by the same petitioner
project. the hearing till March 22 with a (Arora)," the AG said. "It was
The Maha Vikas Aghadi government, since it directive to state's advocate their prayer in that plea of 2019
assumed the office in November 2019, has tabled general Ashutosh Kumbhakoni to transfer the probe to the CBI.
supplementary demands worth Rs 1,12,645.32 to file a detailed reply in the This court, however, refused to
crore, comprising Rs 16,120 crore in December matter. handover the probe directly to
2019, Rs 24,273 crore in February 2020, Rs The bench was hearing a fresh the central agency and instead
29,084 crore in September 2020, Rs 21,992 crore petition filed by activist Surinder had first ordered a preliminary
in December 2020 and Rs 21,76.32 crore in Arora through his counsel Satish probe by the EOW and we have
March 2021. Out of the revenue collection target Talekar, seeking to transfer the complied with the orders," the
of Rs 3,47,456 crore, the state government has probe in the matter to the AG added.
collected only Rs 1,88,542 crore at the end of Central Bureau of Investigation Having considered the
January 2021. This is 35 per cent less than the (CBI). He challenged the clean submissions advanced by the
budgetary estimate and 21 per cent lower than chit and the C-summary (closure AG, the judges asked him to file
the collection in the same period in the previous report) filed by the economic a detailed response in the
year. The government has raised a record Rs offences wing of the city police matter and highlight this
73,000 crore through borrowings during April- in the case, which gave a clean preliminary objection, before the
December 2020. chit to Ajit Pawar and 75 other next date of hearing, which is
accused, including the directors on March 22.

GOVERNOR SAYS

State committed towards justice for `29,290 cr Goods and Services Tax MVA undertook massive humanitarian
CBI court rejects DHFL
Marathi-speaking people at borders
MUMBAI: Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, at the joint
dues pending from central government
MUMBAI: Maharashtra Governor BS Koshyari, on Monday, said that
programmes amidst pandemic & cyclone
MUMBAI: Governor BS Koshyari, on Monday, at the joint sitting of the bail pleas of promoters
session of the state legislature on Monday, said that the state despite the central government’s delay in clearing the long-pending state legislature, said the Maha Vikas Aghadi government undertook
government is committed to serve justice to the Marathi-speaking Goods and Services Tax (GST) compensation dues and the financial massive humanitarian programmes as jobs and livelihood were MUMBAI: The bail applications (PCA). On January 13, the duo
people of the border areas. “My government has strongly presented crunch arisen because of COVID-19 pandemic, lockdown and affected because of medical emergency and several economic of Dewan Housing Finance had approached the CBI court
the case of Maharashtra in the original suit filed in the Supreme economic downturn, the state government has provided priority challenges. “Under the National Food Security Act, wheat, rice and Corporation Limited (DHFL) for bail. In their bail pleas, the
Court on Maharashtra-Karnataka Border Dispute and, henceforth, funding to the Departments of Public Health, Medical Education and coarse grains were distributed to about 7 crore people at just Rs 1 to Rs promoters Kapil Wadhawan and brothers had told the court that
will continue to present the same. My government expresses its Drugs, Relief and Rehabilitation, Food and Civil Supplies and Home 3 per kg. My government also provided food grains to about 40 lakh Dheeraj Wadhawan were on the debentures for investment in
commitment to the Marathi-speaking people of the border areas and during the pandemic. To stimulate the economy, the state farmers from 14 suicide-prone districts at the cost of nearly Rs 750 Monday rejected by a special which by Yes Bank they had
is committed to get them justice. It has recently published a volume government has provided for 75 per cent of the budgetary provision crore. About 17,000 tons of rice and 762 tons of chana dal was Central Bureau of Investigation allegedly paid bribe to its ex-
titled Maharashtra Karnataka Seemavaad : Sangharsh Aaani Sankalp for capital expenditure and released 100 per cent money to the distributed to 35 lakh stranded and migrant labourers and students court in the Yes Bank scam case. CEO Rana Kapoor, were
to comprehensively present the issue. Copies of this book will be Local Development Fund, district planning committee schemes and without ration cards,” he said. The governor said that the state Earlier, their pleas were rejected oversubscribed by over 2.73
made available to the members of the state legislature in this Dongri Vikas Karyakram (hilly region development). The governor, at government not only tackled the medical crisis, but also successfully by a magistrate court on times. DHFL, they said, did not
session,” said Governor. the joint session of the state legislature, said by the end of February handled multiple natural disasters. The Nisarg cyclone devastated January 8 to which the case had need Yes Bank’s money and had
The governor’s statement came days after a war of words broke 2021, the central government owes dues worth Rs 46,950 crore certain areas of the coastal region of Konkan. Rs 609 crore as relief was been transferred in July last year many eager investors. Further,
between the political leaders from the Maha Vikas Aghadi in towards GST. “The central government has paid just Rs 6,140 crore paid to those affected by this cyclone at enhanced rates. Rs 179 crore at the stage of taking their plea stated that, until
Maharashtra and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in and Rs 11,520 crore as loan for the (GST) compensation. GST was distributed for flood relief in Nagpur. In addition, heavy rainfall and cognisance. It had been today, CBI has not managed to
Karnataka on the long pending border dispute. It all started after compensation to the tune of Rs 29,290 crore is overdue from the floods from June to October, 2020, caused widespread damage to life, transferred as the CBI had not secure sanction to prosecute the
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had proposed that areas central government,” he noted. The governor’s statement comes a cattle, agricultural crops, houses and public properties. “A package of Rs secured the necessary sanctions duo under the PCA and, hence,
dominated by Marathi-speaking people on the state’s border with day after Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had slammed the 10,000 crore for the damages caused due to this calamity has been required to prosecute public that they cannot be charged
Karnataka should be declared as a union territory till the Supreme Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government at the Centre for announced. Rs 5,500 crore was earmarked to farmers for crop servants in cases under the under it.
Court gives its final verdict on the issue. -Sanjay Jog clearing the GST compensation arrears. -Sanjay Jog damages,” he said. -Sanjay Jog Prevention of Corruption Act -Staff Reporter

New Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte Maharashtra continues

has tête-à-tête with NCP president
FPJ POLITICAL BUREAU
Mumbai
Newly appointed Maharashtra
Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte,
on Monday, met Nationalist
Congress Party chief Sharad
Pawar at the latter’s residence
and discussed various issues.
Kunte, a 1985 batch Indian
Administrative Services (IAS)
officer, on Sunday took over as
the Chief Secretary from
program." "I wished him well for
expedite the vaccination drive
to top in GST collection
SANJAY JOG | Mumbai 13,546 crore as against Rs
13,579 crore in September 2019
Maharashtra continues to be at (o per cent); in August, it was Rs
the top amongst all states with a
Goods and Services Tax (GST)
11,602 crore as against Rs
13,407 crore (minus 13 per cent);
MU declares
collection of Rs 16,103.50 crore
in February against Rs 15,734.66
crore during the corresponding
in July, it was Rs 12,508 crore as
against Rs 15,102 crore (minus
17 per cent); and in June, it was
TYBA sem
Sharad Pawar and daughter Supriya
period last year, a rise of 2 per
cent. India's GST collection for
Rs 14,987 crore as against Rs
15,143 crore (minus 1 per cent). five results
February was reported at Rs Even though Maharashtra
Sule get a dose of COVID-19 vaccine 1,13,143 crore. This is despite
the fact that the state is yet to
remains on the top, the state
government has been urging the
RONALD RODRIGUES | Mumbai

incumbent Sanjay Kumar who
retired yesterday.
After the meeting, Pawar in a
tweet said, "Sitaram Kunte, the
newly appointed Chief Secretary
of the Government of
Maharashtra visited me today.
We discussed various issues
pertaining to Maharashtra,
especially pertaining to COVID-
19 and the vaccination
TIK TOK STAR SUICIDE CASE
a successful tenure," added
Pawar, whose party is an ally of
the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi in
the state.
Meanwhile, Kunte, who was
welcomed by Deputy Secretary
Uday Chaudhary in the presence
of former CS Sanjay Kumar, said
he would focus on the successful
implementation of the COVID-19
containment measures and
across the state. Other priorities
include revival of the state
economy affected by the
pandemic and the completion of
the government’s ambitious
projects in a time-bound manner.
Kunte urged people to follow
the COVID-19 norms and
cooperate with the state
government to curb the spread
of the virus.
MUMBAI: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar recover from the pandemic,
and his daughter Supriya Sule, on Monday, were administered a lockdown and economic
shot of the COVID-19 vaccine at JJ Hospital in south Mumbai. Pawar downturn.
in a tweet said, “I took my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Sir Maharashtra, being a
JJ Hospital, Mumbai, today. To strengthen the vaccination drive, I manufacturing state, has been
appeal to all those who are eligible to take the vaccine and join the way ahead in GST collection
fight against coronavirus.” compared with other states. The
Meanwhile, Minister of State for Social Justice Ramdas Athawale state-ruled by Maha Vikas
said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken the COVID-19 vaccine Aghadi raked in Rs 17,699 crore
today. “I appeal to all the people to take the vaccine that is needed in December 2020 as against Rs
to save lives,” he noted. -FPJ Political Bureau 15,001 crore in 2019, an
increase of a record 17.98 per
cent. In October, the state’s GST
revenue collection was Rs 15,799
central government for an early
clearance of its GST dues worth
Rs 29,290 crore by the end of
February. The government has
argued that, if the Centre pays
the compensation at the earliest,
it will bring relief in the financial
crunch. Out of the revenue
collection target of Rs 3,47,456
crore for 2020-21, the state has
collected just Rs 1,88,542 crore
at the end of January 2021. This
is 35 per cent less than the
budgetary estimate and 21 per
Around 12,530 students have
passed, as the much-awaited
results of the Third Year Bachelor
of Arts (TYBA) Undergraduate
(UG) programme semester five
were declared on Monday by the
University of Mumbai (MU). The
pass percentage of the winter
semester five results of final year
BA course is 94.51 per cent.
The winter semester five
examinations of TYBA
programme of the Humanities
discipline were conducted in

Non-cognisable case against ex-CM for 'defaming' dead woman
AGENCIES | Mumbai
A non-cognisable case was
registered on Monday against
former Maharashtra chief minister
Devendra Fadnavis and five other
leaders of the BJP in Washim
district after a complaint was
lodged against them for allegedly
defaming the woman from Pune
district whose death set off a
political row leading to resignation
of a minister.
The offence was registered under
sections 500 (Punishment for
defamation) and 501 (Printing or
engraving matter known to be
defamatory) of the Indian Penal
Code at Manora police station.
Besides Fadnavis, who is the
Leader of Opposition in the state
Legislative Assembly, the
complaint also named Leader of
Opposition in Legislative Council
Pravin Darekar, former ministers
Sudhir Mungantiwar and Ashish
Shelar, Mumbai MLA Atul
Bhatkhalkar, and BJP leader Chitra
crore against Rs 15,109 cr in
October 2019 (5 per cent); in
September 2020, it was Rs
cent lower than the collection in
the same period in the previous
year.
January 2021 via online mode.
Out of 14,274 students who
appeared for the winter
Wagh. PIC: BL SONI against him. The complaint semester TYBA examination,
The complaint also named Prasad against Fadnavis and others was 12,530 have cleared the
Lad, Shantabai Chavan, and lodged by Shyam Sardar Rathod, examination, leading to a pass
woman activist Trupti Desai. who heads youth wing of the percentage of 94.51. The result
The 23-year-old woman died in Rashtriya Banjara Parishad in of this examination is published
Hadapsar area of Pune in Washim district, as per the copy of on the university website
February. Her death triggered a the complaint. Shyam Sardar http://www.mumresults.in/.
huge political controversy with the Rathod also accused some news Till date, MU has announced 92
BJP alleging link of Shiv Sena MLA channels of defaming the results of the winter semester
Sanjay Rathod to the case. deceased woman and the Banjara examinations. On Monday, the
Rathod, a Banjara community community. He also threatened to university announced four
leader, resigned as state Forest launch a protest if a strict action is results, including TYBA semester
minister on Sunday but had not taken against the accused five and TYBA semester five (7
denied all allegations raised persons. grade points).
Three Cox and Kings executives sent to EOW custody
MUMBAI: The custody of Cox and Kings Group promoter
Ajit Peter Kerkar, group’s CFO Anil Khandelwal and its
internal auditor Naresh Jain was on Monday sent to the
Economic Offences Wing (EOW). The trio is currently in
judicial custody in the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) case
against them for defrauding Yes Bank. The EOW moved a
special court on Monday for handing over their custody in
a case registered last year. - Staff Reporter
MUMBAI
MUMBAI | TUESDAY | MARCH 2, 2021

OLD IS FINE
WR installs MTRC in 100 trains Maha reports

Wary auto & taxi drivers ferry giving real-time info to travellers
6,397 fresh
COVID cases on

public amid new (un)fare hike

Drivers say fares hiked at the wrong time; fear new rates will keep passengers away
SHASHANK RAO
Mumbai
The auto and taxi drivers
feel that they are better off
charging the old fare than
going with new ones that
came into effect from March
1. The test drive done by
Free Press Journal showed
that these drivers didn't
even bother checking the
new tariff card.
The drivers of both autos
and taxis told that they
would better go with the ex-
isting tariff although they
know about the revised
rates applicable from March
1. The FPJ on March 1 re-
ported about the apprehen-
sion of the drivers in charg-
ing the new rates.
Ramnaresh Yadav, an auto
rickshaw driver from Kan-
divali said that he doesn't
want to take risk of de-
manding revised higher tar-
iff though his e-meter
shows the earlier version.
"Unnecessarily don't want
to get into arguments with
passengers. As it is people
are trying to lessen expendi-
ture," he said.
The auto rickshaw drivers
are now allowed to charge
Rs 21 as base fare. Even the
late-night charges have in-
creased in this fare hike.
The drivers had a meeting
with the unions asking
A COSTLY RIDE
� Rickshaw drivers are
now allowed to charge
Rs 21 as base fare
� Taxi drivers are now
allowed to charge Rs 25
as base fare
them to see if anything can
be done about the fare hike.
A taxi driver from Mum-
bai Central said that it
would have been better if
the fare would have been Rs
20 from the earlier Rs 22 as
base fare, however the gov-
ernment revised it to Rs 25.
"Who is going to travel in an
expensive cab? This hike
happened at the wrong
time," said the taxi driver.
These drivers are allowed
to carry a physical copy of
the tariff card until they re-
calibrate their e-meters for
which the deadline is till
May 31. The RTOs will test
the recalibrated e-meters af-
ter it's changed and tested
by ITI institutes and other
agencies across Mumbai.
“Already the drivers are
complaining about lesser
earnings in the past few
weeks since lockdown has
been eased. Now with the
fare hike, many have in-
formed us about how it
would further hurt their
earnings,” said KK Tiwari,
auto rickshaw union leader
who has held few meetings
with drivers ever since the
hike was announced.
At the meetings, the driv-
ers told the union that peo-
ple were still concerned
about travelling long dis-
tances in autos and cabs.
And people are using these
autos and taxis to ply only
till railway stations.
SHASHANK RAO
Mumbai
Every time there is a failure
and the train comes to a halt,
commuters are left clueless
about the cause of the halt.
Now, just as the airports have
Air Traffic Control (ATC),
the Western Railway (WR)
introduced Mobile Train Ra-
dio Communication (MTRC)
on Monday.
This will be for the first
time on Indian Railways that
such a system would be avail-
able that would give real-time
update to commuters travel-
ling in suburban trains; in
case of an emergency or un-
toward incident on rail lines.
The WR authorities have
installed this MTRC technol-
ogy in all its 100 trains. This
will enable the central con-
trol room to not only get in
touch with motormen and
guard of local trains but also
inform the commuters
through the train's passenger
announcement system. The
time taken for a call would be
less than 300 milliseconds.
Sources said that informa-
tion will be provided after 10
minutes of an incident being
occurred. There are towers
at Mahalaxmi, Borivali, Vi-
rar, Churchgate, Bandra and
Jogeshwari that will help in
supplementing this system.
This system was first pro-
posed in 2012-13 at a cost of
around Rs 6 crore.
"The MTRC will enable in-
formation to be dispersed
from the control room to the
motorman and even com-
muters inside local trains. It
has a combination of cam-
eras, microphones, digital
audio and video recorders as
well. There are six signal
towers that will help in sup-
porting the MTRC," said a
WR official.
Until now, the motormen
and guard used to contact
station masters who then
used to communicate with
the control room to update
the situation. This was later
updated to the motormen
and guards of trains. The
MTRC will prove useful espe-
cially during monsoon when
tracks get waterlogged and
trains make an abrupt halt in
the middle of the track.
This system can help the
rail authorities disseminate
information to commuters
stuck inside trains about the
actual situation. Likewise
even when there is a techni-
cal problem like signal fail-
ure, OHE snapping, track
failure or trespassing acci-
dent; such information can
be provided sooner to com-
muters.
WR General Manager A
Kansal said that the MTRC
can communicate with all
the 100 trains and 200 motor
cabs of these trains. Each
train can be communicated
with individually or a broad-
cast call can be made to all lo-
cal trains from central con-
trol or a group call can be
made to predefined as well as
a dynamic group of trains, if
required. Even motormen
can speak to other motormen
using this system to check
the extent of failure to get up-
dates.
drop in tests
SWAPNIL MISHRA / Mumbai
In the wake of a dip in coro-
na testing in the last 24
hours, there was a slight
drop in the number of coron-
avrus cases in Mumbai and
Maharashtra on Monday.
The state reported 6,397 new
COVID infections and 30 fa-
talities in the last 24 hours,
pushing its tally of positive
cases to 21,61,467 and 52,184
deaths.
Mumbai reported 855 new
cases and four COVID deaths
on Monday, increasing its to-
tal positive counts to 3,26,770
and deaths to 11,474 so far.
The recovery rate of the
state and city dropped to 93
per cent from 94 per cent.
There was 25 per cent and 27
per cent drop in the number
of COVID tests on Monday as
compared to the tests con-
ducted on Sunday. Dr
Archana Patil, Director, Di-
rectorate of Health Services
(DHS), said they were focus-
ing on improving the health
infrastructure to deal with
any situation, considering
the spurt in cases.

FIR against patient, bar for COVID Two arrested for

rule violation; groom’s kin booked
DIPTI SINGH
Mumbai
For the second day in a row,
Brihanmumbai Municipal
Corporation's (BMC) M
(West) ward lodged an FIR
against a 37-year-old Chem-
bur resident for flouting the
COVID-19 quarantine rules
despite having tested positive
for the virus. The is a second
such FIR by the ward offi-
cials in just 24 hours against
COVID positive patient flout-
ing quarantine.
Meanwhile, the Mumbai
Police registered an FIR
against two members of a
bridegroom's family for
inviting more than 500 guests
for his marriage held at a
ground in Kalina, civic and
police officials said on Mon-
day. As per pandemic norms,
only 50 people are allowed to
attend a marriage function
in Maharashtra, which is
seeing a surge in new infec-
tions since mid-February.
"When we came to know
about violations of rules at
the wedding held on Sunday,
we rushed to the spot with
police officials. We found
around 500 people attending
the marriage," said Dr Satish
Badgire, Health Officer,
H/East ward.
The BMC M (West) ward
lodged a case with the Chem-
bur's Basant Park Police
against a 37-year-old coron-
avirus positive patient who
was found to be roaming out
at around 12:45 pm on Mon-
day despite having 'no essen-
tial work' said a civic official
from the ward.
Dr Bhupendra Patil, med-
ical officer of health (MoH) M
(West) ward said that it is
criminal that people who test-
ed positive are freely roaming
in public places. "The per-
son's wife too was tested posi-
tive. Despite being a covid19
patient the person was seen
moving around despite them
required to be quarantined.
They are putting not only
their own but even others life
if at risk," said Patil.
The BMC officials said a
member of the residential so-
ciety where the person re-
sides reported to the BMC
that the man was seen freely
moving in public. A team
from the civic health depart-
ment reached the spot. (With
PTI inputs)
killing 77-yr-old
woman in Worli
STAFF REPORTER / Mumbai
Three days after a 77-year-old
woman was allegedly murdered
at her Worli Sea Face bungalow,
the Worli Police arrested two
persons including a house help
for allegedly killing Vishni
Dolwani.
The accused have been
identified as Amarjit Karmaraj
Nishad, 22, a house help and
his accomplice Abhijit Joria, 22.
Dolwani was found dead
around midnight on Friday,
bound and gagged. Gold
ornaments worth Rs 4 lakh were
stolen from their safe which was
found open. Nishad, who was
working there for three months,
was a prime suspect as he went
missing after the murder. The
Worli Police sent teams after
Nishad, a resident of Sultanpur
in UP. According to the police, to
make easy money, Nishad took
help of Joria, a domestic help
working at Walkeshwar.
Pandemic cases jump 40% across Maha in Feb
SWAPNIL MISHRA
Mumbai
There has been a 40 per cent
rise in the number of
COVID-19 cases across Maha-
rashtra during the last
month as compared to Janu-
ary this year when the cases
had dropped 12 per cent.
According to the data pro-
vided by the state health de-
partment, there were 90,673
cases between January 1 and
31 which increased to 1,26,723
during February. Officials
have attributed this surge to
the laxity on the part of the
citizens in not following the
COVID norms and increase
in the number of coron-
avirus testing facilities
across the state.
The spurt in the number of
cases began in the second
week of February, which is
being seen as a result of gen-
eral laxity, mutation of
COVID-19 strains and un-
locking. Moreover with the
state's COVID-19 curve flat-
tening, the state started to
ease restrictions that were
imposed to break the chain
and control the spread and
transmission of the virus.
“We are urging citizens to
follow COVID protocols as we
do not want the same situa-
tion as it was in the month of
June, July and September
when cases were on peak.
Moreover we have intensi-
fied all our protocols to curb
the cases and have alerted all
the ward officers to take
strict action if the cases in
their area have surged,” he
said.
Dr Subhash Salunkhe, tech-
nical adviser to the Maha-
rashtra government on
COVID-19, said it is very dif-
ficult to say whether this is a
second wave, but the virus is
showing a concentrated
spurt in some areas like Vi-
darbha, starting from Nag-
pur, Amravati to Au-
rangabad (in Marathwada
region). Now, the virus is
slowly getting transmitted to
other districts like Pune and
Mumbai.
"If we do not control it, it
will spread to other states in
the country. Whether it will
spread 100 per cent, nobody
is sure, but yes, it has the po-
tential," he said. Health ex-
perts said that there is no
need for any new strategy to
tackle the situation as the ex-
isting strategies are quite ad-
equate and effective.

Residents demand action After BJP’s criticism,

against traders flouting corona Guv hails MVA’s fight
norms at Deonar goat mkt against coronavirus
DIPTI SINGH / Mumbai
As the BMC scaling up
COVID safety protocols in
wake of the rising number of
coronavirus cases in the city,
residents of Deonar have ap-
pealed to the civic body to
take action against traders
coming to the Deonar goat
market for flouting social dis-
tancing norms and not wear-
ing masks.
The administration of the
abattoir, however, said that
they have been penalised
those entering the market
without a facemask.
Residents have alleged that
many traders who have been
visiting the goat market are
hardly seen wearing masks,
also social distancing is not
seen many a time.
"We have seen people going
in and out of the slaughter-
house without a mask. They
have put up posters on
COVID awareness. However,
none is followed by the
traders, it seems. The BMC
need to take stern action
against such people," said
A BMC health worker collects
nasal swab sample of a trader
at Deonar goat market.
Rafiq Shaikh, a resident of
Deonar.
According to Yogesh
Shetye, BMC official and gen-
eral manger of Deonar Abat-
toir, the civic body restricted
the time limit for the slaugh-
terhouse's functioning. "The
goat market is open only on
two days on Tuesday and Sat-
urday. It was made mandato-
ry for the butchers to keep
the livestock in the abattoir
for at least 24 hours and it
should undergo fitness certi-
fication before slaughter.
These changes were made
when we decided to reopen it
on July 3, 2020," he said.
SANJAY JOG
Mumbai
A day after BJP alleged ram-
pant corrup-
tion in the
COVID-19
management
in Mumbai,
Governor BS
Koshyari in
his speech at
the joint session of the state
legislature hailed the Dhar-
avi model and the successful
implementation of May
Family My Responsibility
campaign and the recently
launched Mi Jababdar drive
to curb spread of infection by
the Maha Vikas Aghadi gov-
ernment.
The Governor said the state
government took several
measures for control and
management of the COVID-
19 pandemic which have be-
come a model for the rest of
the States and even in other
countries. ‘’Maharashtra has
most effectively managed the
epidemic by bringing down
the number of active cases
and successfully dealing
with difficult settlements
like Dharavi,’’ he viewed.
The ‘Majhe Kutumb, Majhi
Jababdari’ (My Family My
Responsibility) an innova-
tive health check-up mission
in the country was imple-
mented in the State. Under
the said mission, all families
in the State were surveyed in
two rounds.
The special survey of high-
risk individuals and senior
citizens was also done. Due to
which, several patients af-
fected by Covid infection
could be detected. This mis-
sion helped in preparing the
State health map. ‘’By partic-
ipation of citizens in the
management of Covid-19
pandemic our State ensured
successful control of this epi-
demic. But the battle against
the Covid is still on and now
the “Mi Jababdar” (I am re-
sponsible) mission has been
launched,’’ he noted.
Governor said the state gov-
ernment is implementing the
vaccination programme re-
garding COVID-19 disease.

BEST mgmt unhappy over action against 74 drivers

PRATIP ACHARYA
Mumbai
The management committee
members of the Brihan-
mumbai Electricity Supply
and Transport (BEST) un-
dertaking expressed their
discontent on the manage-
ment for taking action
against BEST drivers driving
above at a speed above 45
kmph.
In January, the BEST un-
veiled its new 'Command and
Control' room at the Wadala
Depot. The control room is
equipped with all the smart
features including an Intelli-
gent Traffic Monitoring Sys-
tem (ITMS) which allows the
officials to monitor the move-
ment and ETA of the bus. As
a result, in each bus a special
Bus Tracking System (BTS)
device has been installed,
which also lets tracking of
the speed limit in the BEST
control room.
Senior BEST committee
member Sunil Ganacharya
said that last week, 74 BEST
drivers of Bandra Depot
were called by the manage-
SPEED LIMIT
VIOLATION
ment for driving their buses
in a speed limit, above 45
km/hour.
"This is absolutely unjusti-
fiable, driving the buses at a
slow speed will not just lead
to increased fuel consump-
tion, but will also delay their
arrival in the destination,"
Ganacharya told FPJ.
"This is an added pressure
in the minds of BEST driv-
ers, which distracts them
also," he added. Ganacharya
also brought the issue last
week during the BEST com-
mittee meeting.
However officials in the un-
dertaking mentioned, this is
not any new rule and have
been there for a long time
since the management want-
ed to curb rash driving.
"If the rule was there, then
why did the management call
the drivers last week? This
only after ITMS was intro-
duced the management start-
ed to scrutinise the speed
limit," said the committee
member.
Major fire breaks out at wood factory in Bhiwandi; no casualty
THANE: A major fire was broke out into a wooden
godown in Bhiwandi, during the wee hours on
Monday. The incident led to huge damage of
machineries and wood materials kept in godown.
However, no injury or casualty was reported this
incident. -PRIYANKA DHOMSE
MMR
MUMBAI | TUESDAY | MARCH 2, 2021

OVERCROWDING IN COURTS
Covid effect: Number of PhD,
Follow Covid norms or won't Actor, bizman MPhil scholars at MU dwindle
hear matters, warns HC judge files
Official attributes the decline in the number to lack of resources for research
RONALD RODRIGUES

Sachiin Joshi Mumbai

bail plea
Research papers, disserta-
tions or theses by Doctor of
Justice Shinde cites the Amravati incident wherein at least 60 advocates tested positive for Covid-19 Philosophy (PhD) and Mas-

NARSI BENWAL
Mumbai
One of the senior-most
judge of the Bombay High
Court on Monday warned
litigants against overcrowd-
ing in his court hall. The
judge said if the parties in-
cluding the advocates fail to
adhere to the social distanc-
ing and other Covid-19
norms in the court hall, he
would not hear their mat-
ters.
Justice Sambhaji Shinde,
a senior-most judge of the
HC is presently heading a
division bench that com-
prises Justice Manish
Pitale. The bench is as-
signed to hear criminal
matters such as quashing
FIRs, criminal appeals
against convictions or
death sentences, and other
criminal work.
Usually, the court hall of
the bench that is assigned
with such matters is jam-
courtrooms.
On Monday, when Justice
Shinde arrived in the court
hall, he saw the usual rush
and this irked the judge.
"Tell the policemen,
lawyers, and other litigants
to wait outside the court
hall," a visibly irked Justice
Shinde told his staff.
"Let's not crowd in this
courtroom," he then told
everyone from his dias,
adding, "If you all fail to ad-
entire board (of cases) for
the day."
By Monday evening, Jus-
tice Shinde also issued a cir-
cular notifying that from
Tuesday he would only hear
60 matters every day, with
only 12 matters per hour.
As per the notice, the
bench led by Justice Shinde
will hear 12 matters from 11
am to 12 am and according-
ly till 5 in the evening would
hear 60 cases.
still in force and is binding
on each individual who en-
ters the court premises.
"The SOP is for each one of
us and only for our safety.
Thus, it is all the more im-
portant for everyone to ad-
here to the SOP and the so-
cial distancing norms," the
judge said while pointing
out that even the judges are
sitting with a safe distance
between them.
Further, Justice Shinde
cited the incident at Amra-
vati, wherein at least 60 ad-
vocates have tested positive.
"We are fortunate that we
aren't subjected to any such
untoward situation. We
have come in the right di-
rection till now and don't
want to go back to virtual
hearings," the judge added.
Notably, last week another
judge of the HC - Justice
Prithviraj Chavan - had re-
fused to take up matters if
the arguing counsel failed
to wear a mask. He had re-
in special court
STAFF REPORTER / Mumbai
Actor and businessman
Sachiin Joshi on Friday
filed a bail plea in the
Omkar Group fraud case in
whose connection he had
been arrested for money
laundering.
The 37-year-old has been
accused of laundering funds
the Group had secured from
Yes Bank for slum redevel-
opment projects.
The ED had arrested him
on 15 February and there-
after he had been under the
agency’s custodial interro-
gation till 22 February. The
agency has alleged that
Omkar Group had trans-
ferred funds to his and his
company’s accounts in the
name of SRA eviction and
tenants’ rehabilitation
work, but no actual work
was done by him.
Joshi, the ED says, had
ter of Philosophy (MPhil)
students of the University of
Mumbai (MU) for the aca-
demic year 2020 have not
been uploaded on the Shod-
hganga website. The num-
ber of PhD students which
is equivalent to the number
of final year research theses
submitted has reduced from
413 in 2019 to 152 in 2020
while, the number of MPhil
students has reduced from
350 in 2019 to 60 in 2020.
The research papers com-
pleted in 2020 have not been
uploaded on the Shodhgan-
ga website which is a plat-
form for research students
to deposit their PhD theses
and make it available to the
entire scholarly community
with open access. Every
year, submission of theses is
done by May-June followed
by result declaration in July.
But due to the Covid-19
pandemic, the University
Grants Commission (UGC)
has provided a 12-month ex-
tension first from June 30,
2020 to December 31, 2020
and then from December 31,
2020 till June 30, 2021. The
UGC said, "Due to the Covid-
19 pandemic, universities
have remained closed for the
past several months. There-
fore, students have not been
able to conduct their re-
search or experiments in
university laboratories.
Also, they were not able to
access library services that
are critical for completion of
thesis."
A senior official of MU
said, "Students have not sub-
mitted their theses because
the UGC has given an exten-
sion till June 2021. Also,
many students do not have
access to necessary re-
sources for their research
work." There are 78 Re-
search Department Centres
affiliated to MU.
The reason for the dip in
the number of research
scholars in both PhD and
MPhil courses of MU is the
non-availability of online re-
search guides, irregular for-
mation of the Research and
Recommendation Commit-
tee (RRC) and non-payment
of stipend for research
work, said Shomit Salunke,
a PhD and professor of Law
of MU. Salukhe added, "Both
PhD and MPhil students
have not received a monthly
stipend of Rs 8,000 under fel-
lowship funds for research
work since the last one and a
half year. How are students

HC dismisses plea of builder Lahoriya

packed with hundreds of here to the social distancing The judge further cited moved a matter from his helped the Group layer and
lawyers, clients, and even norms, we will not hear any the Standard Operating board after the counsel for- siphon off the monies and
policemen present in the matter and discharge the Procedure (SOP) which is got to wear his mask. caused a loss to Yes Bank.

seeking transfer of trial to another court

4 held for abducting, killing stray dogs NARSI BENWAL / Mumbai of his plea, ordered Judge
Vaishnav to consider seeing
PRIYANKA NAVALKAR / Mumbai the accused later dumped it saw the dog being taken In a setback for the son of de- the CCTV footage at the end
in the mangroves. away by an auto-rickshaw veloper Sunil Lahoriya, who of the trial, provided the
Six held for Four men including the sec-
retary of an Andheri-based
A few days later, an animal
activist, Tushar Gogia, who
driver in a bus vehicle, fol-
lowing which he checked the
was shot dead in his office,
the Bombay High Court on
same is certified to be au-
thentic under the Informa-

attempting building were arrested for

giving a ransom of �5,000 to
get rid of the stray dogs in
fed the strays in the neigh-
borhood, noticed that a num-
ber of strays who frequently
CCTV camera footage. With
evidence at disposal, Gogia
approached police and
Monday refused to transfer
the trial in the case from
Judge R R Vaishnav's court case fairly and impartially.
tion & Technology (IT) act.
The plea further alleged
that the judge had a huge

robbery bid the area. During one such ab-

duction, one dog was smoth-
visited were missing. Gogia
searched for the missing
lodged a complaint at Verso-
va police station.
to some other court.
A bench of Justices Samb-
The bench was seized with
a plea filed by Sandeep seek-
heated argument with the
prosecutor and had in fact

in Dahisar
STAFF REPORTER / Mumbai
The Dahisar Police arrested
six men who were about to
rob a shop in suburban
Mumbai, wherein police
seized items like cutter,
knives, choppers, and mo-
biles from the accused. Ny-
lon rope, pepper were also
seized from them. Police act-
ed on a tip-off and nabbed
ered and succumbed, whose
body was later dumped in
the mangroves. All accused
were booked under relevant
sections of the Indian Penal
Code.
According to police, the
secretary had paid a ransom
of �5,000 to three auto-rick-
shaw drivers to clear the
Grantof �21K maintenance to wife who
stray dogs from the locality.
The accused then were clear-
ing the dog menace and had
picked up one of the strays,
who was forced in an auto-
rickshaw. During the scuffle,
one of the accused had unin-
tentionally choked the stray.
Panicked with the incident,
dogs and saw a restlessness
among strays. It was earlier
suspected that the dogs were
afraid of the civic vans and
officials, but it was learnt
that the civic body had not
undertaken any drives re-
cently.
A further probe revealed
that a building watchman
BMC set to restart work on major water supply tunnel 187 more birds found dead
Police arrested the four,
identified as Navnath build-
ing secretary Sunil Jaising
and the three auto drivers—
Yasin Maniyar (38), Arvind
Yadav (24), Raj Singh (23).
They were all produced be-
fore the Andheri Court on
Monday and were released
on bail.
haji Shinde and Manish
Pitale said Lahoriya's son
Sandeep failed to put forth
an appealing case to show
any wrong on part of the
judge in dealing with the
case.
The bench, however, asked
Judge Vaishnav to expedite
the trial and proceed with the
ing transfer of the trial from
Judge Vaishnav's court. He
through his counsel Himan-
shu Khode pointed out that
the judge had refused to con-
sider CCTV footage, where-
in, his father is seen to be
alive before reaching the
hospital.
The judges while disposing
BIRD FLU IN MAHARASHTRA
left the court and rejected
certain applications of the
prosecution from his Cham-
bers.
Notably, the HC had specif-
ically ordered Judge Vaish-
nav to conduct a trial in the
case, while disposing of an-
other plea of Sandeep in Au-
gust 2019.

the accused men, who all

happen to be history-
sheeters.
According to police
sources, a team from Dahis-
ar police station, who were
on patrolling duty, had re-
ceived a tip-off that a few
men were to rob a mobile
shop. Acting on this infor-
mation, police laid a trap
near Parbat Nagar in Dahis-
ar (E). At around 2.30 am,
the accused men reached
the spot with equipment to
break in.
Police observed that the
accused had arrived in two
auto-rickshaws, MH 47 X
4552 and MH47 AD 9528, fol-
lowing which police inter-
cepted them. Police seized
their valuables worth
�2,92,080 and arrested them.
They were booked under rel-
evant sections of the Indian
earned �30K not unreasonable: Court
BHAVNA UCHIL
Mumbai
Refusing to interfere in a
magistrate court's order for
a man to pay Rs. 21,000 as
interim monthly mainte-
nance to his wife in a do-
mestic violence case, a
Mumbai sessions court has
said in an appeal filed by
the husband that such a
grant to a woman who used
to earn Rs. 30,000 before
marriage is not unreason-
able.
The court said that it is to
be noted that the wife too
was earning before mar-
riage and used to get a
salary of Rs. 30,000 which
was not spent on anything
other than herself. Addi-
monial discord. He had fur-
ther stated that there is
nothing in the order to show
she is entitled to the
amount. The court said that
his claim of having to ten-
der resignation due to mari-
tal unrest does not absolve
him of the liability to main-
tain his wife.
The wife Simran Kaur, 28,
had claimed monthly inter-
im maintenance of Rs 1
lakh stating that her hus-
band earned Rs 34 lakh an-
nually. The salary slips pro-
duced by him before court
showed that he earned Rs
90,000 monthly between
January and September
2019.
The court also said that
prima facie there was do-
STAFF REPORTER / Mumbai
After facing a delay of al-
most a year, BMC all set to
restart its work on the Ver-
avali-Powai-Ghatkopar wa-
ter supply tunnel. The civic
body will be getting a new
Tunnel Boring Machine
(TBM) soon, and the project
will now cost around Rs 300
crore including the cost of
purchasing the new TBM.
To augment the water sup-
ply in the western and east-
ern suburbs of Mumbai and
strengthen the water line
network, BMC’s water sup-
ply department is con-
structing a 6.6-km tunnel
from Veravali to Ghatkopar.
For this, in August 2019, a
TBM – of German make
was brought from Her-
renknecht tunnelling sys-
tems. However, the project
was stuck for almost a year
after TBM got stuck in the
same tunnel it was drilling
near Powai. During the
monsoon last year, the tun-
nel was flooded and the
stuck TBM is now covered
by muck all around.
"Mumbai is reclaimed the
city, the soil strata is unpre-
dictable. Now, we have bet-
ter information about the
soil strata that exists at the
alignment of the tunnel.
The previous TBM was
drilling soil strata made of
Pyroclastic Ash, which is
very loose in nature. We had
approached all TBM experts
even globally to find a way
out. Finally, we have now de-
cided to appoint a new con-
tractor and restart the work
and try to cover up the time
we have lost. It is a huge
challenge before us," said a
senior BMC official.
According to BMC offi-
cials, the decision was tak-
en after series of meetings
with civil engineers and ex-
perts from IIT-Mumbai. The
civic body is planning to ap-
point a new contractor who
will be getting the new TBM
to complete the remaining
tunnelling and drilling.
SANJAY JOG
Mumbai
A total of 187 poultry birds
including 135 in Beed, 43 in
Latur and 9 in Nandurbar
were found dead due to bird
flu in Maharashtra. The
samples are being sent to
the National Institute of
High Security Animal Dis-
eases in Bhopal and Disease
Investigation Section, Pune.
Incidentally, no mortality
was reported in other birds
including herons, sparrows,
parrots and crows.
According to the depart-
ment of animal husbandry,
so far, 9,65,148 poultry birds
including 7,97,604 birds
from Navapur in Nandur-
bar district, 30,00,341 eggs
and 83,694 kg poultry feed
have been scientifically de-
stroyed within a radius of 1
km from the poultry farm in
the infected zones.
The government has re-
leased compensation of Rs
3.38 crore to the poultry
farmers where the culling
of poultry birds, disposal of
eggs and poultry feed have
been carried out in the in-
fected zones for contain-
ment of bird flu.

NMMC election likely to be delayed

Penal Code (IPC) for rob-
bery and voluntarily caus-
ing hurt.
The accused were identi-
fied as Ramzan Shaukat Ali,
35, Ayub Sarwar Ali Ansari,
26, Avinash Kamble, 37, Anil
Jadhav, 26, Yusuf Shaikh,
38, and Rizwan Kankali, 19.
All the accused were resi-
dents of Dahisar and had
stolen the two auto-rick-
shaws from Ratan Nagar to
commit a robbery.
Police suspect that the ac-
cused had committed simi-
lar robberies using the same
modus operandi in the past.
tional Sessions judge UM
Judge Padwad opined in
his judgment passed on 20
February that the parties
apparently are well educat-
ed and used to lead a gener-
ous life and this being so, a
grant of Rs. 21,000 to a lady
who once had Rs 30,000 to
spend over herself cannot
be said to be unreasonable.
The woman’s husband
Ajitpal Singh, 32, had chal-
lenged the Dadar magis-
trate’s order of January last
year and stated that he had
lost his job as he could not
perform due to their matri-
mestic violence on the
woman and that she had
quoted numerous instances
of these and simply be-
cause they are denied by
her husband and his family,
it cannot be said that the al-
legations are without sub-
stance.
The couple got married in
April 2019. The woman in
her domestic violence com-
plaint alleged that Singh
and his family harassed her
for dowry, made her work
like a donestic help, and
that her husband would
physically assault her.
Murder accused gets bail as
probe hints a failed suicide pact
AGENCIES / Mumbai
The Bombay High Court re-
cently granted bail to a 26-
year-old man, who is ac-
cused of killing his 22-year-
old girlfriend, after investi-
gation in the case suggested
that the attack was part of a
suicide pact between the
two that went wrong.
The copy of Justice
Prakash Naik's order grant-
ing bail to the accused Kun-
dan Acharya on a bond of
Rs 30,000 on February 16
was made available on Mon-
day. Acharya was arrested
in November, 2019 by the
Thane rural police.
The duo decided to end
their lives by assaulting
each other after their par-
ents opposed their relation-
ship, the high court was
told.
AMIT SRIVASTAVA
Navi Mumbai
The civic election of Navi
Mumbai Municipal Corpo-
ration (NMMC) is likely to
be delayed further as the fi-
nal voter lists will not be
published on March 3, as
per the earlier plan. Now,
the State Election Commis-
sion will decide on the re-
vised date for the publica-
tion of the final voter list af-
ter completion on the in-
quiry of objections and sug-
gestion raised by citizens.
The NMMC administra-
tion has received a total of
3,497 objections and sugges-
tions from citizens on the
draft voter lists, published
last month.
As per the directions of
the State Election Commis-
sion (SEC), the Municipal
Commissioner, Abhijeet
Bangar constituted a com-
mittee for each ward office
under the guidance of
deputy municipal commis-
sioner level officials.
Meanwhile, the number of
active cases of Covid-19
started increasing and offi-
cials had to be shifted to
Covid management. In the
short span of time, inquiry
of all objections and sug-
gestion was not possible;
the civic body sought more
time.

Active Covid-19 cases MBMC’s admission under RTE from March 3
in MBMC surge to 607
SURESH GOLANI / Mira Bhayandar
The sudden surge in the
number of fresh Covid-19 de-
tections, coupled by compar-
atively lower recoveries, the
active cases in the twin-city
has now jumped to 607.
While just 112 cases were
reported between February
14 to 19, 394 people have test-
ed positive in the last week of
February, intensifying wor-
ries for citizens and the
health department of the
Mira Bhayandar Municipal
Corporation (MBMC).
42 more people tested posi-
tive on Sunday. The steady
decline in the number of
fresh detections supported
by healthy recovery rate cas-
es had ensured that the num-
ber of active cases oscillated
from 300 to 325 and occasion-
ally dipping below 300 in the
past couple of months.
With the latest additions
the number of cumulative
positive cases has reached
27,101. The number of active
cases in the twin-city has
now jumped to 607 till Sun-
day night.
SURESH GOLANI / Mira Bhayandar
In order to avail admission under the Right
to Education (RTE), parents can now fill the
application form online from March 3, for
the academic year 2021-22. As per the notifi-
cation released by the Education Depart-
ment in the Mira Bhayandar Municipal
Corporation (MBMC), the online applica-
tions forms can be uploaded on govern-
ments student portal https://student.maha-
rashtra.gov.in from March 3 to 21.
Last year, the admission process under
RTE was hampered due to the Covid-19 in-
duced lockdown. Introduced in 2009, the
Right to Education (RTE) Act is aimed at
changing the face of education in India and
to ensure that every child between the age of
6 and 14 years is entitled to free and compul-
sory education.
The RTE mandates 25% allocation of entry-
level seats in unaided private schools for chil-
dren from weaker sections and disadvan-
taged groups. With an availability of more
than 1,300 seats, around 90 private schools
were under the ambit of the RTE till 2019.
However, MBMC’s education department has
always been on radar for its apathy towards
the effective implementation of the guaran-
teed admission scheme in the twin-city.
Hundreds of students who intend to pursue
further education after passing out from
MBMC-run primary schools every year are
forced to drop out when they fail to get ad-
mission to the eighth standard in private
schools.
34-yr-old ward boy
held for molesting
pregnant woman in
KDMC COVID centre
THANE: A ward boy of a
Kalyan Dombivali Munici-
pal Corporation-run COVID
care centre was arrested for
allegedly molesting a preg-
nant patient there, police
said on Monday.
The ward boy, identified
as Shrikant Mohite (34), en-
tered the room where the
victim was resting and mo-
lested her, but was caught
by others at the centre after
she raised an alarm, a
Bazarpeth police station of-
ficial said.
KDMC medical officer Dr
Ashwini Patil said the civic
body was also conducting a
probe into the incident.
Now, CIDCO puts 63 residential
plots in prime locations on sale
AMIT SRIVASTAVA
Navi Mumbai
Continuing the supply of
land in the satellite city, the
City and Industrial Develop-
ment Corporation (CIDCO)
has come up with 63 resi-
dential plots in Ghansoli,
Kharghar and New Panvel
nodes for which the filling of
e-tenders began on Monday.
The minimum offset price of
these plots ranges from Rs
70,000 to Rs 1,00,000.
Last month, CIDCO had of-
fered 106 bungalow and row
house plots across Navi
Mumbai for which the ten-
der will open next week.
Of the 63 plots, Kharghar
has maximum 29 plots and
its size ranges from 44 sqm
to 115 sqm and the offset
price is Rs 1,00,000. New
Panvel node has 28 plots
while Ghansoli has only six
plots. The lowest offset price
is Rs 70,000 of New Panvel
plots.
Last month, CIDCO of-
fered 106 residential plots
for auctions in prime loca-
tions of Nerul, Kharghar,
Ghansoli, New Panvel and
Airoli nodes and the mini-
mum offset price was Rs
70,000 while the size of plots
ranges between 20 sqm and
436 sqm.

BIZ BUZZ
IREDA likely to be listed on exchanges in
the next fiscal, says government official
As part of its efforts to list more public sector companies on
MONEY
Europeans get 'right to repair' for some electrical goods for up to 10 years
Companies that sell refrigerators, washers, nent. The "right to repair," as it is sometimes
hairdryers or TVs in the European Union will need called, comes into force across the 27-nation bloc
to ensure those appliances can be repaired for up to Monday. It is part of a broader effort to cut the en-
10 years, to help reduce the vast mountain of elec- vironmental footprint of manufactured goods by
trical waste that piles up each year on the conti- making them more durable and energy efficient. MUMBAI | TUESDAY | MARCH 2, 2021

GST collections cross Rs 1.1 L cr

bourses, the government is likely to conduct an initial public
offering of the Indian Renewable Energy Development
Agency in the next financial year starting April, a senior
finance ministry official said. “We are short-listing candidates
that can be listed in the next 12-24 months, one such
BPCL to sell entire 62%
stake in Numaligarh
for third straight month in Feb
company is IREDA," the official told Informist. In June 2017,
the Cabinet had approved the initial public offering of IREDA.
�----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shyam Metalics files draft papers for
Rs 1,107 crore public offering Refinery for Rs 9,880 cr
Shyam Metalics and Energy Ltd has refiled the draft red
herring prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of
India for its 11.07-bln-rupees initial public offering of shares.
AGENCIES
Mumbai Feb manufacturing NEW DELHI: The board of Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd has approved
the sale of its entire 61.65% stake in Numaligarh Refinery Ltd to a
The company had initially tried to tap the capital markets in
August 2018 and had even got the regulator's approval for a
GST collections crossed the Rs 1 lakh
crore-mark for the fifth month in a row
PMI growth flat consortium of Oil India Ltd and Engineers India Ltd, and to the state
government of Assam for 98.8 bln rupees, the company said.
9.1-bln-rupee offering in early 2019. The company that in February, rising 7% annually to over The total consideration will be from the consortium in case of non
specialises in production of long steel products and ferro Rs 1.13 lakh crore, indicating economic NEW DELHI: India's manufacturing participation by the state government, it said.
alloys plans to utilise the net proceeds towards repayment of recovery, the finance ministry said. activity remained firm in February, The expected date of completion of the stake sale will be within a
its debt and for its subsidiary Shyam SEL and Power Ltd. Goods and Services Tax (GST) collec- with the Purchasing Managers' Index month from obtaining all requisite approvals, it said. Oil India,
�---------------------------------------------------------------------------- tions had risen for two straight months coming in at 57.5 due to better demand which already owns 26% stake in Numaligarh Refinery, is the lead
Reliance Jio's new offers not to affect to touch record Rs 1,19,875 crore in Jan-
uary and Rs 1.15 lakh crore in December.
conditions.
While the index fell from its three-
member of the consortium.
BPCL's exit from Numaligarh Refinery is a precursor to the former's
Bharti Airtel's 2G subscriber base The gross GST revenue collected Feb-
THE MOP-UP
month high of 57.7 in January, it re- privatisation, which the government expects to complete in the first
New offers by Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, for its fourth
generation feature phones, may not dent the 2G subscriber
ruary 2021 is Rs 1,13,143 crore, of which
Central GST is Rs 21,092 crore, State Rs 21,092 cr central GST mained above the long-run average of
53.6, according to IHS Markit.
half of 2021-22 (Apr-Mar).
BPCL Director (Finance) N. Vijayagopal had said last month that
base of Bharti Airtel Ltd, but could cause stress for Vodafone
Idea Ltd, analysts said. The company on Friday had launched
'NEW JIOPHONE 2021 OFFER'. Customers who buy a new
GST is Rs 27,273 crore, Integrated GST
is Rs 55,253 crore (including Rs 24,382
crore collected on import of goods) and
Rs 27,273 cr state GST A Purchasing Managers’ Index read-
ing above 50 shows expansion in ac-
tivity, while one below 50 indicates
the consortium of Oil India and Engineers India would acquire 48%
stake in Numaligarh Refinery, while the Assam government would
pick up 13.65%, taking its stake in the refiner to 26%.
JioPhone can avail of unlimited voice calls and unlimited data
of 2 GB per month without having to recharge at 1,499
Cess is Rs 9,525 crore (including Rs 660
crore collected on import of goods).
Rs 55,253 cr Integrated GST contraction.
This is the seventh consecutive
As Numaligarh Refinery is part of the Assam Accord, the
government did not include it in BPCL's privatisation plan and
rupees for one year and 1,999 rupees for two years. GST revenue in February last year month in which manufacturing activ- decided that its controlling stake in the Assam-based refinery would
The figure is, however,
�----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Power consumption grows marginally
by 0.88% in February
was Rs 1.05 lakh crore.
"In line with the trend of recovery in
the GST revenues over past five months,
the revenues for the month of February
� lower than the record
Rs 1,19,875 crore collected
ity has risen, after having contracted
earlier due to COVID-19 and conse-
quent lockdowns.
"Indian goods producers reported a
be sold to another public sector oil and gas company or a
consortium of such companies. Both Oil India and Engineers India
are under the administrative control of the petroleum ministry.
Oil India will become the largest shareholder in the refiner once
India's power consumption grew 0.88% in February at 2021 are 7% higher than the GST rev- in the previous month healthy inflow of new orders in Feb- the transaction is completed. Numaligarh Refinery is the biggest
104.73 billion units (BU) due to a slight rise in temperature in enues in the same month last year. ruary, a situation that underpinned a consumer of crude oil produced by Oil India from its fields in the
the month, official data showed. Power consumption in "During the month, revenues from further upturn in output and quantity region. Numaligarh Refinery is currently in the process of expanding
February 2020 was 103.81 BU, according to the power import of goods were 15% higher and are 5% higher than the revenues from of purchases," said Pollyanna De its refining capacity to 9 mtpa from 3 mtpa.
ministry data. However, the peak power demand met, which the revenues from the domestic trans- these sources during the same month Lima, economics associate director at The cost of this project is pegged at around 226 bln rupees, and it
is the highest supply in a day, recorded a growth of 6.7% at action (including import of services) last year," the ministry said. IHS Markit. is likely to be completed in 2024.
188.15 GW in February 2021 compared to 176.38 GW in

Automakers report double-digit SBI reduces home loan

February 2020.
LENDER TO WAIVE OFF PROCESSING FEES TILL MARCH 31
�----------------------------------------------------------------------------
‘Strive for seamless digital payments,
lessons to be learnt from NSE's tech glitch’
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday asked civil
accounts officers to have a clear roadmap for seamless digital
payments, saying there are lessons to be learnt from the
"technology-driven glitch" that happened at National Stock
sales growth on robust demand interest rates to 6.7%
Exchange. Addressing the 45th Civil Accounts Day she said MARUTI SUZUKI SALES RISE 12%, HYUNDAI SPURTS 29% ON COVID-LED DEMAND AGENCIES home finance, takes ownership in
the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), who is the New Delhi bolstering consumer sentiments.
bookkeeper of government accounts, has adopted great NEW DELHI: Leading car makers to pre-Covid level sales," HMIL Di- The affordability for the con-
systemic reforms. She said to keep government accounts Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Tata rector (Sales, Marketing & Serv- State Bank of India (SBI) has sumer increases immensely with
transparent, the CGA will have to adapt and keep pace with Motors reported robust sales growth ice) Tarun Garg said. sweetened its offers on home loans the present offerings as equal
changing technology to keep government account transparent. in the domestic market in February Both domestic and export de- by reducing interest concession of monthly installments will be re-
�---------------------------------------------------------------------------- as the demand for personal mobility mand have recorded healthy dou- up to 70 basis points with interest duced."
Air passenger traffic still down, cargo amid COVID-19 pandemic continues ble digit growth last month, re- rates starting from 6.7%. Customers can also apply from
to drive the market. flecting an all-round improvement The country's largest lender said the ease of their home via the
operations continue to climb: AAPA Others, including Toyota Kir- in buyer sentiment, he added. it is also giving 100% waiver on YONO app to get additional inter-
Preliminary January air passenger traffic figures released by loskar Motor (TKM), Mahindra & Tata Motors saw its passenger processing fees till March 31. est concession of 5 basis points. On
the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) on Monday Mahindra, and Honda Cars India, vehicle sales surging over two- The interest concession are based the eve of International Women's
showed that airline operations are still depressed as the also reported strong wholesale folds to 27,225 units in the domes- on the loan amount and CIBIL day, a special 5 basis points conces-
spread of Covid-19 variants resulted in tighter border dispatches to dealers last month. tic market last month. score of the borrower. sion is being made available to
restrictions in international as well as domestic markets. The country's largest carmaker rose 18.9% to 26,884 units, as com- Similarly, Mahindra & Mahindra SBI said it is important to extend women borrowers.
Meanwhile, air cargo demand keeps improving as world Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said its pared to 22,604 units in the year- reported a 41% increase in its pas- better rates to customers who SBI is the largest commercial
trade starts to gain renewed momentum. Asia Pacific airlines domestic sales increased 11.8% to ago month. senger vehicle dispatches to deal- maintain good repayment history. bank in terms of assets, deposits,
carried a combined total of 1.3 million international 1,52,983 units last month, as against Sales of mini cars, comprising ers last month. The company sold Its home loan interest rates start branches, customers, and employ-
passengers in January, just 3.9% of the same month last year 1,36,849 units in February 2020. Alto and S-Presso, however de- 15,391 units last month, as com- from 6.7% for loans up to Rs 75 lakh ees. It is also the largest mortgage
when 33.5 million passengers flew on the region's carriers. The company's sales during the clined by 12.9% to 23,959 units, as pared with 10,938 units in the year- and 6.75% for loans above Rs 75 lender in the country. Its home loan
�---------------------------------------------------------------------------- month were driven by compact compared to 27,499 in the same ago period. lakh. portfolio recently crossed the mile-
Goyal: Cut quality testing charges for and utility vehicle segments. month last year. "Demand continues to remain "SBI, being the market leader in stone of Rs 5 lakh crore.
Last month, sales company's Rival Hyundai Motor India re- buoyant for our range of SUVs
MSMEs, startups, women entrepreneurs

LPG cylinder price

compact segment models, includ- ported a 29% increase in its domes- and Pick-ups and we have a robust
Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday ing Swift, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno tic sales at 51,600 units as against order pipeline. However, supply of
said the charges for testing quality of products should be and Dzire, increased by 15.3% to 40,010 units in February 2020. semiconductors, as we all know, is
reduced for MSMEs and initial phase of startups and women 80,517 units, as against 69,828 cars "The company has been consis- a global issue and it is likely to

up Rs 25, ATF 6.5%

entrepreneurs to encourage them to get their products in February last year. tently striving to drive a resur- continue for another 3 to 4
certified and meet standard norms. Goyal, who is also Similarly, utility vehicle dis- gence in sales, thereby contribut- months," M&M Chief Executive
railways and commerce minister, virtually presided the 3rd patches to dealers, including Vi- ing towards economic recovery Officer Automotive Division Vee-
Governing Council meeting of the Bureau of Indian Standards tara Brezza, S-Cross and Ertiga, and bringing the industry closer jay Nakra said.

JLR to write off 1.5 bn pounds in Jan-Mar

(BIS), an official statement said.
�---------------------------------------------------------------------------- AGENCIES costs Rs 819 as against Rs 794 at
SBI, other banks seek bids to sell Mumbai which they were supplied on Sun-
day.
stressed loans of Soma Enterprise Cooking gas LPG price was on The increase is applicable across
On behalf of a consortium of lenders, State Bank of India has MUMBAI: Tata Motors Ltd- about 2.5 bln pound sterling per Monday hiked by Rs 25 per cylin- all categories, including sub-
sought bids from asset reconstruction companies, banks, non- owned Jaguar Land Rover Ltd annum, the company told in- der across all categories, includ- sidised and non-subsidised users.
banking finance companies and other financial institutions to will write off 1.5 bln pound ster- vestors. ing subsidised fuel and those LPG is available only at one rate,
sell stressed loans of Soma Enterprise Ltd. As on Mar 2020, ling (approximately 153.8 bln ru- JLR plans to phase out its in- availed by Ujjwala scheme benefi- market price, across the country.
the consortium's fund-based debt exposure stood at 20.99 pees) in Jan-Mar, as part of its ternal combustion engine vari- ciaries - the fourth increase in The government, however, gives a
bln rupees, and investment in Soma Enterprise was at 13.45 restructuring, the company said ants by 2025-26 (Apr-Mar) and rates in a month's time. small subsidy to select customers.
bln rupees. The assets are being offered on a 100% cash in its investor presentation. have battery-powered electric ve- LPG prices have gone up by Rs However, this subsidy has been
basis. The reserve price for the assets is 8.10 bln rupees. This would include 1.0 bln hicles make up for more than 125 per 14.2-kg cylinder since the eliminated in metros and major
�---------------------------------------------------------------------------- pound sterling of non-cash 60% of its volumes by 2029-30. beginning of February, price data cities through successive price in-
SBI General forges bancassurance write-down and 0.5 bln pound
sterling in cash. cash net-of-debt by 2025.
It will also rationalise its plat-
forms with three new electric-
from state-owned oil marketing
companies showed.
creases over the past couple of
years. So, in places like Delhi,
tie-up with Indian Overseas Bank JLR had recently announced Under its 'Reimagine' strategy, first plans including modular Also, jet fuel prices were hiked there is no subsidy paid to cus-
SBI General Insurance on Monday said it has tied-up with its plan to become an all-electric the company plans to have a longitudinal, electrified modu- by a steep 6.5% on the back of a tomers since May 2020 and all LPG
Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) for a bancassurance partnership luxury brand, improve prof- more focused product portfolio lar and oure battery electric ehi- rally in international oil prices. users pay the market price, which
for selling its non-life products. Through the alliance, SBI itability and achieve positive and reduce annual spending to cle. A 14.2-kg cylinder in Delhi now currently is Rs 819.
General will offer a range of general insurance solutions and

HDFC Bank net banking HDFC Securities hit by glitch GDP growth lifts
innovative products to IOB customers, SBI General said.
Chennai-headquartered IOB has over 3,200 branches across
the country and also has overseas presence.

in cash segment orders in NSE Sensex 750 pts

�----------------------------------------------------------------------------

faces issues yet again

Bank of India recruits 23 sportspersons
for clerical and officer posts
State-owned Bank of India (BOI) on Monday said it has NEW DELHI: Leading stock ex- ed that there was no issue on fresh MUMBAI: Equity benchmark in-
recruited 23 sportspersons for clerical and officer grade posts changes NSE and BSE on Monday orders or square-offs at the ex- dices traded firm on Monday due
at the bank. The lender had invited job applications from INFORMIST/ Mumbai said all their operations are func- change. "... all segments working to upbeat sentiment in global mar-
various sports disciplines such as archery, athletics, boxing, tioning in a normal manner after fine statement was given in re- kets and India getting technically
gymnastics, wrestling, swimming, weight lifting and table Some customers of HDFC Bank HDFC Securities sponse to brokers out of recession with Q3 GDP data
tennis. The candidates were chosen from categories, including have been unable to conduct on- flagged that confir- and investors report- showing 0.4% growth.
Olympics, World Championships, World Cups, Asian line transactions as the lender's mations were not re- ing the problem on Aiding the sentiment was the
Championships, Youth Olympic championships and police, internet banking services were ceived for orders twitter on a compet- country kicking off an expansion
among others, a bank release said. down since early Monday. placed in the NSE ing exchange today of its Covid-19 vaccine campaign
�---------------------------------------------------------------------------- While customers were able to lo- cash segment due to morning. No one has with PM Narendra Modi getting in-
OAKS Asset Management launches gin into their internet banking ac- a "technical glitch". reported any prob- culcated.
count, they could transfer funds. ment. You can complete this After mentioning lems in trading at At the closing bell, the BSE S&P
Rs 500 crore consumer fund The transfer of 2,000 rupees at transaction by using a different about the technical glitch in a @bseindia today or last week any Sensex was up by 750 points or
Leading private equity fund OAKS Asset Management has around 1030 IST was not complet- payment option'." tweet at 10.01 am, HDFC Securities, day," BSE CEO Ashish Chauhan 1.53% at 49,850 while the Nifty 50
launched its second fund, OAKS India Consumer Fund, ed because the one-time password According to a bank official, the at around 11.53 am, issued a state- tweeted. ticked higher by 232 points or 1.6%
according to a press release. The category-II alternative came after 30 minutes, a user, who problem is not widespread and ment saying the issue "got resolved HDFC Securities said there was a to 14,762.
investment fund, registered with Securities and Exchange wished not to be named, told In- only some customers could be fac- at 9.50 am" and that investigation is technical glitch due to which con- Except for Nifty PSU bank which
Board of India, has a fund size of 5 bln rupees along with a formist. "In another instance, the ing intermittent issues. going on to find out the root cause. firmations for orders placed in the slipped marginally, all other sec-
green-shoe option of 2.5 bln rupees. The fund will aim to credit card bill payment could not "The bank is looking into the is- An NSE spokesperson said that NSE cash segment were not re- toral indices at the National Stock
invest in a set of 10-12 entrepreneur-led consumer businesses take place," he added. sue to ensure that customers are all the operations on its platforms ceived and that the issue has been Exchange were in the green with
in India with an investment size ranging between 250 mln "There was message from able to use the services smoothly," were "functioning smooth and nor- resolved. It also added that the mat- Nifty auto up by 2.4%, metal by
rupees and 1 bln rupees per investee company. The fund has BillDesk stating that 'HDFC Bank the official said, while apologising mal". ter is being investigated to find out 1.9%, financial service by 1.8%, pri-
received an initial commitment of 4 bln rupees. Limited is unavailable at the mo- for the inconvenience caused. At little past 10.10 am, BSE tweet- the root cause. vate bank by 1.3% and IT by 1%.

MONTHLY RENTALS FOR LUXURY RESIDENTIAL PROPERTIES UP 17-26% IN LAST 6 YEARS WHILE CAPITAL VALUE ROSE 15%

Govt may retain inflation target Rentals beat luxe property prices hands down
NEW DELHI: India is likely
to retain the current infla-
tion target of 4%, within a
band of 2% to 6%, for the
next five years starting
April, a senior finance min-
istry official said.
"I think everyone is in
agreement that the existing
target should remain," the
official told Informist. The
inflation target for the Re-
serve Bank of India's Mone-
tary Policy Committee is
likely to be notified around
mid-March after approval of
the finance minister and
from the Prime Minister's
Office, the official said.
The current medium-term
inflation target, which was
notified in August 2016, ends
on March 31.
According to the RBI Act,
the government has to set
the inflation target once
every five years in consulta-
tion with the central bank. NEW DELHI: The growth rate of compared to the preceding year. Citing Anarock data, Puri said
The decision to retain the rentals in the top seven luxury Anuj Puri, Chairman of also reveals that from 2014 to 2020,
current inflation target for housing markets of the country Anarock Property Consultants rental prices in the top luxury
the next five years is "very rose by 17-26% in the past seven said: "The average rentals for a markets saw consistent year-on-
much" in consultation years, surpassing the rise in luxu- house of minimum 2,000 square year growth, averaging between 3-
with the central bank, the ry property prices in the same lo- feet size in the top seven cities' key 6% annually.
official said. calities during the same period, luxury hotspots rose anywhere be- "In contrast, capital appreciation
The RBI has for some with average capital prices in- tween 17% to 26% in 2020, as com- either remained range-bound or
time been arguing for re- creasing by 15%, according to an pared to 2014. In the same period, varied each year. Some years saw a
taining the current infla- Anarock report. average capital prices in these mi- decent yearly rise, even as high as
tion target of 4% within a It noted that 2020 was an outlier cro-markets saw a maximum rise 7%, while prices dropped by
band of 2-6%. year for all rental markets with al- of 15%, and some even saw a mar- around 5% in other years, particu-
most no change in monthly rentals ginal dip." larly in 2017,” he said.
 MUMBAI | TUESDAY | MARCH 2, 2021
MONEY

Spectrum bids cross Rs 77K cr

BIZ BUZZ
Kotak Securities sees muted returns Multiple suitors line
up for Shipping Corp
from equities for most of 2021

on Day 1, all telcos participate

Kotak Securities is of the view that the Indian equity market
could witness consolidation in the coming months and that
further gains are likely only by the end of 2021, when there is NEW DELHI: London-based
clarity about earnings estimates for 2022-23 (Apr-Mar). The private equity firm Fore-
brokerage firm expects muted returns from the market over sight Group is among the
the next few months because expensive valuations and the multiple bidders who have
likelihood of higher bond yields might overshadow potential AGENCIES/ New Delhi "Total value of spectrum put to auc- put in preliminary bids for
earnings upgrades. tion was about Rs 4 lakh crore. In this, buying the government's
India's first auction of spectrum in 700 MHz band was a costly band, and entire stake in Shipping
Godrej buys 1.5 acre land parcels worth five years attracted Rs 77,146 crore of
bids on the opening day with Reliance
that cost itself is Rs 1.97 lakh crore,"
the minister said adding that the gov-
Corporation
sources said.
of India,

Rs 166 cr for residential proj in Mumbai Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea ernment will take a call on 700 MHz The government is selling
Realty firm Godrej Properties Ltd has bought around 1.5 acre participating in the bidding process - a band, used for 5G, in case it remains its entire stake of 63.75 per Dubai-based GMS.
land parcels for Rs 166 crore in Mumbai to develop a response that the government said was unsold in the ongoing auctions. cent in Shipping Corpora- Essar Group as well as
residential project. In a regulatory filing, Godrej Properties Ltd better than expected. Excluding 700 MHz and 2500 Mhz tion of India, along with the Adani Group have not bid
(GPL) announced the addition of a new residential project in There were, however, no takers for bands, the bidding accounted for 60 per transfer of management for Shipping Corp privati-
Sanpada, Navi Mumbai. Spread over around 1.5 acres, this spectrum in 700 MHz and 2500 MHz "The winning bids that have come till cent of the spectrum that was put to control. The last date for sation, the sources added.
project will offer about 4 lakh square feet of development bands on the first day, and the auctions 6 PM today is Rs 77,146 crore. We auction. submitting the expression In November last year, the
potential comprising primarily of premium residential will continue and conclude on Tues- thought since there are only three The 700 MHz band went unsold dur- of interest was February Cabinet had given an in-
apartments with a small amount of high street retail. The day. players, and spectrum replacement is ing the 2016 auctions, too. During 2016, 13, which was later extend- principle approval for
Mumbai-based developer posted a 69 per cent decline in its About 2,308.80 MHz of spectrum, that happening...our estimation was that when there were seven bidders, the ed to March 1. strategic divestment of
consolidated net profit at Rs 14.35 crore for the quarter ended carry telecom signals, in seven bands the bids will touch about Rs 45,000 spectrum sold was 41 per cent by quan- Department of Invest- Shipping Corp and Contain-
December. Total income of the company fell to Rs 311.12 worth nearly Rs 4 lakh crore at the re- crore, but it is a matter of assurance tity and 12 per cent by value of the to- ment and Public Asset Man- er Corp of India Ltd. How-
crore in the third quarter of this fiscal year, from Rs 517.47 serve or start price, was offered for that it has gone as high as Rs 77,146 tal spectrum put to auction. The corre- agement (DIPAM) Secre- ever, the plans were delayed
crore in the corresponding period a year ago bidding in the auction that began on crore," Prasad said. sponding figures in the 2021 spectrum tary Tuhin Kanta Pandey due to the pandemic.
Monday. The bidder-wise details were not auction so far are 37 per cent and 19 on Monday tweeted "multi- In her Budget Speech 2021-
SP Group's litigation stalls resolution Communications Minister Ravi
Shankar Prasad said Rs 77,146 crore
available immediately. A total of
2,308.80 MHz spectrum is being put to
per cent respectively, with three par-
ticipants.
ple expressions of interest
have been received for pri-
22, Finance Minister Nir-
mala Sitharaman had said,
process for Reliance Home Finance worth of spectrum was bid on the first auction, out of which there have been Spectrum will be offered for a validi- vatisation of Shipping Cor- "a number of transactions
The debt resolution process of Reliance Home Finance Ltd day but there were no takers for the bids for 849.20 MHz so far, an official ty period of 20 years. Successful bid- poration of India Limited. namely Bharat Petroleum
(RHFL), which is at the final stages, has been hit by the airwaves in the premium 700 MHz as release said. ders can pay entire bid amount in one The transaction will now Corp Ltd, Air India, Ship-
Shapoorji Pallonji (SP) Group's litigation against the home also 2500 MHz bands. The response Bids were received in 800 MHz, 900 go, or exercise an option to pay a cer- move to the second stage". ping Corp of India, Con-
finance company. The lenders of RHFL are unable to proceed from players and the bids received sur- MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz and 2300 tain amount (25 per cent for spectrum The sources said Fore- tainer Corp of India, IDBI
with the resolution process due to a coercive stay obtained by passed government's internal esti- MHz bands, as players gave the prized won in 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz sight Group has bid in con- Bank, BEML Ltdamong oth-
the SP Group from the Delhi High Court in November 2019. mates, that had anticipated bids worth 700 MHz band a miss on the first day of bands or 50 per cent for spectrum won sortium with Belgium- ers, would be completed in
As per the stay order, RHFL is prohibited from disposing, Rs 45,000 crore. auctions. in 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz bands. based Exmar NV and 2021-22."
alienating, encumbering either directly or indirectly or
otherwise part with the possession of any of its assets, thus
directly impacting the ongoing debt resolution process.

IDBI Bank to set off Rs 45K cr losses

Top marketers to decode I-T dept searches premises of MSN Labs
against balance in premium account
LIC-controlled IDBI Bank will set off its accumulated losses
‘Brands and Consumers: NEW DELHI: The Income
Tax Department has de-
tected "unaccounted" in-
of which the assessee
group has admitted an ad-
ditional income of Rs 350
and non-existent entities,
artificial inflation of cer-
tain heads of expenditure,
worth Rs 45,586 crore against the balance in the securities
premium account, according to the bank's draft scheme.
Its accumulated losses (or debit balance of profit or loss
2021 and Beyond’ come of about Rs 400 crore
after raids on a major
pharmaceutical group
crore," the CBDT claimed
in a statement.
It added that Rs 1.66 crore
alongwith suppression of
receipts relating to by-
product sale were detected.
account) at the end of March 31, 2020, stood at Rs 45,586 STAFF REPORTER/ Mumbai based MSN Labs in Hyder- cash was also seized dur- "Evidence of on-money
crore. And, they were at Rs 44,739 crore as on December 31, abad, the Central Board of ing the operation. payment for purchase of
2020. The accumulated losses as at March 31, 2021, shall be In order to understand the Direct Taxes (CBDT) said "Incriminating evidence lands was also found," it al-
ascertained after the audited financial statements are strategies devised by top on Monday. in the form of digital me- leged.
approved by the bank's board, said the lender, as per the brands to tackle the chal- The searches were car- cal ingredients (APIs) and dia, pen drives, documents, Multiple other legal is-
draft scheme addressed to its shareholders for setting off the lenges of the global pandem- ried out on February 24 at formulations, and majori- etc. have been found and sues were also identified
accumulated losses. ic and to look beyond it, the around 20 locations spread ty of its products are ex- seized," the CBDT said. such as personal expenses
Indian Society of Advertis- across five states. ported to European coun- The statement said digi- being booked in the compa-
Rail min directs IRCTC to terminate ers (ISA), in association with
the Free Press Journal and
The CBDT said the phar-
maceutical group is en-
tries and the USA.
"The search has led to un-
tal evidences were gath-
ered from SAP-ERP soft-
ny's books and land pur-
chased by related concerns
all contracts of mobile catering ABP Network, organised a gaged in the business of earthing of evidence relat- ware. or individuals below gov-
The railway ministry has directed Indian Railway Catering and webinar ‘Brands and Con- manufacturing of interme- ing to unaccounted income "Issues relating to pur- ernment value, the CBDT
Tourism Corp Ltd to cancel all existing mobile catering sumers: 2021 and Beyond’. Brands and Services? What diates, active pharmaceuti- of around Rs 400 crore, out chases made from bogus said.
contracts that involve providing food prepared at base While the first part of are the lessons learnt in

Sebi for dual nod to appoint ind directors

kitchens as per existing terms and conditions, the company this series was a huge suc- overcoming the challenges
said in a regulatory filing. The government's directive follows
the issue of mobile catering being raised by the petition
cess, the second part that
will be held on March 3 will
posed by lockdown, WFH
and fears caused by Covid
Mobility biz
members of Indian Railways' Mobile Caterers Association, or
IRMCA, on Jan 19, in which the Madras High Court had
be no less. In the second
session, the best Marketing
cases? To answer these
questions, we have four recovery in NEW DELHI: Seeking to profit-linked commission for
directed the railway department to consider representation by
the association to restore its services.
minds from across the
service sector will share
prominent leaders from
four different services, India strong, further strengthen the reg-
ulatory framework for inde-
independent directors as
part of reviewing their re-

their best practices during
US manufacturing activity jumps the pandemic and the way
to look beyond.
to three-year high in February Commenting on the two-
US manufacturing expanded in February at the fastest pace part webinar initiative,
three years with the arrival of a surge in new orders. The Sunil Kataria, ISA Chair-
Institute for Supply Management reported Monday that its man, said, “Over the years,
gauge of manufacturing activity rose to a reading of 60.8 per ISA has been organising
cent last month, 2.1 percentage-points above the January knowledge seminars/webi-
level of 58.7 per cent. It was the strongest performance since nars for the benefit of the
February 2018. Any reading above 50 indicates expansion in ecosystem of advertisers
the manufacturing sector. and marketers. Continuing
the same, our two-part we-
US spending on construction projects binar series focuses on the
issue most of us are facing:
sharing their thoughts in
the second session of
‘Brands and Consumers:
2021 and Beyond’ hosted by
ISA and Free Press Jour-
nal on March 3, 2021. All
are welcome to join.”
This session will have
names like President and
Group Head-Marketing,
Service Quality, Financial
Services & Innovation,
Thomas Cook (India) Lim-
ited; Ajay Kakar, Chief
Marketing Officer, Aditya
says Uber
NEW DELHI: Ride hailing
major Uber on Monday
announced that its
mobility business in India
is showing strong signs of
recovery fuelled by rising
rider demand for low cost
products Auto and Moto.
Low-cost products like
Auto have already
surpassed pre-Covid
levels, the company said
pendent directors, Sebi pro-
posed putting in place a
dual approval system for
their appointment as well
as removal, and disclosure
of entire resignation letters
of such directors.
In a significant move, the
regulator has suggested
that independent directors'
appointments should be
cleared by the "majority of
the minority" shareholders
under the dual approval
system. Minority share-
holders would mean those
other than the promoter
and promoter group.
Besides, the watchdog has
mooted whether ESOPs with
a vesting period of five years
should be allowed instead of
muneration structure.
Sebi on Monday issued a
consultation paper for re-
viewing the regulatory pro-
visions related to independ-
ent directors, giving minor-
ity shareholders a greater
say in their appointment,
re-appointment and re-
moval.
Other proposals include
broadening eligibility crite-
ria for independent direc-
tors.

rises 1.7% in January Brands & Consumers-2021
Spending on US construction projects rose 1.7 per cent in
January as new home building continues to lift the sector.
Last month's increase followed small revised gains in
and Beyond. We bring you
leadership views
strategies from across the
and
December and November. Spending on residential
construction rose 2.5 per cent in January, with single family
home projects up 3 per cent, the Commerce Department
Manufacturing and the
Services sectors."
The upcoming session on
reported Monday. ‘Services’ will be moderat-
ed by Narendra Ambwani,
Developers must be cautious about ISA Executive Council
Member and former MD,
hiking property prices, say experts Johnson & Johnson. Com-
With the property market in the country witnessing menting on the session,
momentum on account of lower interest rates and various Ambwani said, “All aspects
government incentives, developers should ensure that real of our lives were impacted
estate prices do not appreciate much which could hit by the pandemic during
demand, feel experts. Over the past few months, home sales 2020. Brands and Con-
have surged in few regions, including in Mumbai, driven by sumers expectation as well
lower interest rates and cut in stamp duty. as behaviours faced many
challenges. Of course,
True North to pick up minority stake everyone discovered vari-
ous ways to handle the sit-
in Anthem Biosciences uation. Many new opportu-
Private equity fund True North on Monday announced that it nities also emerged. Which
will be acquiring a minority stake in Bengaluru-based pharma changes will become future
player Anthem Biosciences by investing an undisclosed sum in expectations from the
the company. True North has signed definitive documents to
Birla Capital; Mohit
Kapoor, Group Vice Presi-
dent -Advertising & Inno-
vations, Jio Platforms Lim-
ited; and Ravi Desai, Direc-
tor, Mass & Brand Market-
ing International, Amazon
India. All speakers are ISA
members.
Abhishek Karnani,
Director, The Free Press
Journal, said, “This initia-
tive will be significant to
all advertisers and mar-
keters who want to strate-
gise the future course of
actions for their brands.”
The knowledge partner
for the webinar is Mogae
Media and Laqshya is the
outdoor partner.
Catch the upcoming webi-
nar live from 5 pm onwards
on March 3 on the YouTube
channel of the Free Press
Journal and ABP Live.
in a statement.
Kolkata, Hyderabad and
Mumbai are among Uber's
fastest recovering metro
markets, it added.
Uber Auto's recovery
across India, in terms of
gross bookings, has now
exceeded pre-Covid levels
with Mumbai, Delhi,
Hyderabad, Mysore,
Bhubaneswar, Jaipur,
Nagpur, Indore, Nashik
and Kochi showcasing the
strongest growth.
"As tens of millions of
Indians start travelling in
the new normal, the
strong recovery in smaller
towns underscores
success for the company's
'India to Bharat' strategy,
which offers new
products in regional
markets," the statement
said.
Govt eyes Rs 3.4 L cr investment
at Maritime India Summit 2021
AGENCIES
New Delhi
The government is aiming
to attract investment worth
Rs 3.39 lakh crore during
Maritime India Summit
2021 in various projects.
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi is scheduled to inau-
gurate Maritime India Sum-
mit 2021 (MIS 2021) on Tues-
day, which will be held vir-
tually and is likely to be
participated by many na-
tions, including Russia,
Uzbekistan, Qatar, Den-
mark, Iran, Afghanistan,
and Armenia.
"The Ministry of Ports,
Shipping, and Waterways
(MoPSW) is in process of fi-
nalising more than 487
MoUs for investments
worth approx Rs 3.39 lakh
Crore," the government
said in a statement on Mon-
day.
These are likely to be
signed during the second
edition of the Maritime In-
dia Summit to be held from
March 2 to 4.
These MoUs will be signed
with different coastal states
and stakeholders of the sec-
tor. These agreements are
focused on attracting in-
vestment, skilling, and gen-
erating employment in the
sector, the statement said.
The signing of these
MoUs will help in stream-
lining the process of ship
manoeuvring, resulting in
more business to the ports
and economic stability to
the sector and its stakehold-
ers, it said.

What's holding FMCGs down?

acquire the stake and looks to partner with founders Ajay
Bhardwaj, Ganesh Sambasivan and KC Ravindra as Anthem
invests growth capital towards expanding capacity and
capability for its rapid growth phase.
NSE, MCX, INX sign
pact to set up bullion
Credit to services rises,
PGCIL board okays interim dividend
of Rs four per share for 2020-21
TEJI MANDI

FMCG sector has come under pressure

despite the strong demand outlook due to
State-run Power Grid Corporation (PGCIL) on Monday said its the rising raw material prices.
board has approved an interim dividend of Rs 4 per share for Home and Personal care (HPC) companies
2020-21. The interim dividend shall be paid to the members are particularly impacted as the impact is
on March 30, 2021, the company said in a BSE filing. "Board highest among these segments.
of Directors in its Meeting held today i.e. on 1st March, 2021 Home and Personal Care companies to see
have approved the payment of Interim Dividend of Rs. 4 per margin erosion in March quarter. Palm Fatty
equity share of Rs. 10/- each (@40% of the paid up equity Acid Distillate (PFAD) is witnessing steep
share capital) for the Financial Year 2020-21," the filing said. inflation during the quarter due to 36% YoY
increase in palm oil prices.
Bank credit to grow 400-500 bps PFAD is the key raw material for soap
manufacturers, HUL and Godrej Consumers.
higher at 9-10% next fiscal: Crisil High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) has also
Bank credit is seen growing 400-500 basis points (bps) higher witnessed a surge in prices, up 28% YoY,
at 9-10 per cent next fiscal as the Indian economy recovers, during the current quarter as Crude prices
supported by budgetary stimulants and measures announced have increased 16% YoY. HDPE is a
by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Crisil said on Monday. he packaging raw material.
ratings agency has already raised India's GDP growth forecast The surge in Crude and HPDE will impact
for next fiscal to 11 per cent, or 100 bps higher than what all FMCG companies.
was presaged in December 2020. In the current fiscal, bank Copra prices have continued to remain in
credit is seen rising 4-5 per cent despite the sharpest an uptrend.
contraction the Indian economy has seen since Independence. It has increased by about 24% YoY and 5%
QoQ. During the quarter, other important
Paytm claims to cross 1.2 billion raw materials like
Liquid paraffin oil (LLP) is up 28% YoY and
monthly digital payment transactions 16%. It is a key ingredient for hair oil. It will
Digital payments firm Paytm on Monday said that it has put pressure on the margins of Marico along
crossed 1.2 billion monthly transactions driven by high with inflation in HDPE.
growth in offline payments and financial services. Marico has already increased the prices of
The company said that it maintains the highest market share Parachute coconut oil to mitigate the impact
in offline merchant payments with 15 per cent month-on- of the rising cost of copra. It is likely to take
month growth. Paytm, which has over 150 million monthly a price hike in its value-added hair oil
active users has witnessed that the majority of its account category as well during the quarter.
holders embrace and adopt banking, lending, insurance, Paint companies have also started to
wealth and other financial services on the platform. witness the impact of inflation in key raw
materials like Crude, TiO2, and HDPE.
Inflation in Titanium Dioxide (TiO2), key raw
material for paints, has gone up by 9% YoY
and 3% QoQ. Crude prices have also gone
up 16% YoY.
Among the Agri commodities, wheat prices
have dropped by 5% QoQ benefiting food-
based FMCGs like Nestle and Britannia.
However, that impact is nullified by the
hike in milk prices which has gone up from
Rs 24 to Rs 31 in last six months. Prices of
Palm Oil and Coffee also continue to remain
on a higher side.
Teji Mandi (TM Investment Technologies
Pvt. Ltd.) is a SEBI registered investment
advisor. No information in this article should
not be construed as investment advice. Please
visit www.tejimandi.com to know more.
exchange at GIFT City
AGENCIES
New Delhi
The National Stock Exchange of In-
dia Ltd, Multi Commodity Exchange
of India Ltd, India INX Internation-
al Exchange Ltd, National Securi-
ties Depository Ltd and Central De-
pository Services (India) Ltd have
signed a memorandum of under-
standing to set up market infra-
structure institutions.
This will comprise an internation-
al bullion exchange, clearing corpo-
ration and depository at Gujarat In-
ternational Finance Tec-City, NSE
said in a press release.
It will be in line with the Centre's
objective to make India a price-set-
ter in bullion through GIFT Interna-
tional Finance Service Centre in ac-
cordance with the International Fi-
nancial Services Centres Authority
(Bullion Exchange) Regulations,
2020 and other applicable laws.
The Centre had notified the bullion
spot delivery contract and bullion
depository receipt as financial prod-
ucts and related services under the
International Financial Services
Centres Authority Act, 2019. The In-
ternational Financial Services Cen-
tres Authority will run the opera-
tions of the bullion exchange.
ebbs for large industries
AGENCIES/ New Delhi
As credit flow from banks
improve with the accelera-
tion in economic activities
post the gradual lifting of
the lockdown restrictions,
credit growth has not been
on the same lines across
sectors.
As per the the Reserve
Bank of India's data, loans
towards large industries de-
clined on the back of
stressed assets in the seg-
ment, while that in the serv-
ices sector increased.
Industrial credit includes
credit to micro, small, medi-
um and large industries, de-
pending upon the firms' in-
vestment in plant and
machinery
turnover.
and their
Large industries consti-
tuted around 82 per cent of
the credit offtake to the in-
dustrial sector, while the
micro, small and medium
industries together consti-
tuted the rest in November
2020.
Credit to the industrial
sector has generally re-
mained weak in the recent
years. A peak of 6.9 per cent
was achieved in April 2019
but there has been a contin-
uous decline in credit off-
take since then, with credit
growth turning negative in
October 2020, it noted.
The recent decline in cred-
it growth was mainly due to
the large industries.
"Owing to the stressed as-
sets in large industries,
there was a general reluc-
tance on the part of
bankers to lend to these in-
dustries, with the problem
getting compounded by the
pandemic," it said.
The silver lining has been
the robust growth of credit
to the medium industries.
The services sector, on the
other hand, witnessed a ro-
bust credit growth.
Prithviraj Chavan heads Assam screening panel
NEW DELHI: The Congress on
Monday constituted a screening
committee for selection of the Assam
Assembly candidates, with former
Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan
as its chairman and Kamleshwar
Patel and Dipika Pandey as its
members. –Our Bureau
THE GAME IS ON MUMBAI | TUESDAY | MARCH 2, 2021

AIADMK faces dilemma as BJP

insists on taking Sasikala on board
N CHITHRA / Chennai VK Sasikala
The ruling AIADMK faced an
unusual dilemma with a BJP
delegation headed by Union
Home Minister Amit Shah re-
portedly insisting that they
take on board the Amma
Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam
(AMMK) floated by VK
Sasikala’s nephew TTV Dhi-
nakaran for the coming As-
sembly polls. BJP state president
Shah was involved in a late
night discussion with the
Murugan claimed that this
AIADMK leadership of Chief was an internal issue of
Minister Edappadi
Palaniswami and his deputy
K AIADMK and BJP did not
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi does push-ups with a school student obliging her challenge, at in Government O Panneersel- make any suggestion to
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visits the birthplace of Srimanta Sankardeva's primary
Mulagumoodu, Tamil Nadu. –PTI disciple Sri Madhavdev, in Lakhimpur on Monday.
vam that lasted beyond mid- take the AMMK on board
night Sunday. According to

TN should show the way to Priyanka begins

sources in the AIADMK,
Shah said that the AMMK since he is not fully resigned
could be taken on board so to accepting Palaniswami as
that a stronger alliance can Chief Ministerial candidate;

India in keeping out BJP: RG 2-day Assam visit

AGENCIES
Kanyakumari
Tamil Nadu should show the
way to India in keeping away
forces that are inimical to
language and culture and
those projecting "one culture,
one nation and one history"
concept, Congress leader
Rahul Gandhi said on Mon-
day.
The Lok Sabha MP partici-
pated in multiple engage-
ments in this district as part
of his three-day tour of
Tamil Nadu, ahead of the
April 6 Assembly polls in the
state which his party is fac-
ing in alliance with the M K
Stalin-led DMK.
If he were to interview
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, Gandhi said he would
ask "why are you convinced
that all answers should come
from you".
He also said the National
Eligibility cum Entrance
Test (NEET), strongly op-
posed to by Tamil Nadu polit-
ical parties, was a "big issue"
and "not beneficial" for stu-
dents.
The Wayanad MP displayed
his fitness when he effort-
lessly did multiple pushups,
including one-handed, while
he shook a leg with the stu-
dents he interacted with, as
accompanying Congress
leaders Dinesh Gundu Rao
and K S Alagiri joined him.
At a public address in
Nagercoil in the district,
Gandhi said history has
shown nobody can rule
Tamil Nadu other than the
Tamil people.
"This election will show the
same thing that only a per-
son who truly represents the
Tamil people can be a Chief
Minister of Tamil Nadu," he
said.
"Tamil Nadu chief minis-
ter (K Palaniswami) who
bows to Prime Minister
Narendra Modi will never be
able to do this.
AGENCIES / Guwahati
Congress leader Priyanka
Gandhi Vadra began her
two-day visit to poll-bound
Assam on Monday by offer-
ing prayers at the famed Ka-
makhya Temple in Guwa-
hati.
The AICC general secre-
tary, accompanied by the par-
ty's Assam in-charge Jiten-
dra Singh, was received at the
Lokpriyo Gopinath Bordoloi
Airport here by state unit
chief Ripun Bora and other
party leaders.
She halted at Jalukbari
area, where Congress sup-
porters felicitated her, before
proceeding to the Shakti
Peeth atop Nilachal Hills.
Clad in a red outfit, the
prevalent colour symbolising
Shakti, the Congress leader
said that she wanted to visit
the temple for long and "her
wish has come true". "I
sought blessings for myself,
my family and above all for
the people of Assam," she
told reporters.
Asked about the forthcom-
ing elections in the state, she
said she will talk later about
politics. "I come to temples to
seek blessings and offer
thanks to the God who has
given me a lot," she added.
Earlier, the Congress leader
posted on her Facebook page,
"Today I will start my two-day
Assam tour by visiting Maa
Kamakhya Devi. I will take
part in the dialogue with the
sisters-brothers and party
workers of Assam on many
important issues."
Bora said that entire Assam
is "looking forward to her
two-day visit and the enthusi-
asm is evident".
"Her visit, which further fu-
els hope in the heart of every
last person in Assam, de-
ceived by lies and fake prom-
ises in these five years, of a
new dawn of progress await-
ing the state under Congress
rule," Bora tweeted.
take over the DMK-led Secu-
larProgressive Alliance.
“We understand that the
BJP leaders said that the
AIADMK can allot them
around 33 to 35 seats and it
would in turn allot a section
of these seats to the AMMK. It
was also suggested that the
AMMK candidates could con-
test on the AIADMK’s ‘Two
Leaves’ symbol. Our top lead-
ership was taken aback,” said
an AIADMK leader.
Meanwhile, another ally
DMDK played truant de-
manding 23 seats on a par
with the PMK. Party founder
Vijayakant’s brother-in-law L
K Sudhish indicated that the
party would go it alone if the
demand was not met.
While it is believed that Pan-
neerselvam, who in the past
rebelled against Sasikala,
may be open to the suggestion
the latter is in no mood to
compromise. “Palaniswami
had made it clear that he will
have no truck with Sasikala
or Dhinakaran. If the
AIADMK accepts the propos-
al, it will lead to confusion
among cadres at this ad-
vanced stage of election sea-
son,” a source said.
BJP state president L Muru-
gan, however, claimed that
this was an internal issue of
AIADMK and the BJP did not
make any suggestion to take
the AMMK on board. He said
the seat sharing talks would be
finalised in a day or two.
Meanwhile, the DMK allot-
ted five seats between two
Muslim parties – IUML (3) and
Manithaneya Makkal Katchi
(2). Its talks with the Congress,
MDMK and VCK remained in-
conclusive as they could agree
on the numbers.

Plea in Apex court

Tejashwi tells Biharis living
in Bengal to back Mamata
ARITRA SINGHA
Kolkata
Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD)
leader Tejashwi Yadav met
West Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee on Mon-
day and assured full support
to the TMC to beat the BJP.
After a half-an-hour meet-
ing with the TMC supremo at
the West Bengal secretariat,
Yadav said that to beat the
'communal' BJP, RJD will
lend full support to the ruling
Trinamool Congress.
"There are sizable Biharis'
residing in West Bengal. I
would urge all the people
from Bihar and everyone else
to vote for the TMC. The BJP
is privatizing everything.
They should not come to
power," urged the RJD leader.
Speaking with the media,
Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee said that even if
RJD gives candidates, people
should know that it is for the
TMC.
"Tejashwi is a young leader
and I know that RJD will rule
Bihar one day. Everyone
should understand that
where Tejashwi is fighting, I
am fighting. And where I am
fighting, he is fighting," men-
tioned the TMC supremo.
According to poll analysts,
inclusion of other regional
parties will cut the votes of
Hindi speaking people resid-
ing in West Bengal.
"Not just from Bihar there
are several Hindi speaking
people who are the perma-
nent citizens of West Bengal.
With inclusion of RJD, the
Hindi votes will be cut be-
tween RJD and the BJP,"
mentioned the analysts.
However, West Bengal BJP
chief Dilip Ghosh said that
inclusion of more regional
parties will not affect the
vote bank of the BJP.
Another Bengali
actor joins BJP
KOLKATA: Celebrities joining
the politics and fighting polls is
not new in West Bengal. With
the TMC supremo Mamata
Banerjee starting this legacy in
2011 assembly polls, even the
2021 Assembly polls will not
have much difference as now
both the TMC and the BJP is
depending on the celebrity
faces as their probable
candidates.
With Bengali actor Srabanti
Chatterjee joining the BJP, it
was clear that she will contest
the poll scheduled in eight faces
starting this month.
The actor was welcomed by
West Bengal BJP chief Dilip
Ghosh and West Bengal BJP
observer Kailash Vijaywargiya
at a five-star hotel in Kolkata.
Joining the saffron camp the
Bengali actor said that she is
ready to contest the poll and
left the party's senior leaders to
decide the rest.
–Our Correspondent
BJP leader Rakesh Singh
remanded in police custody
ARITRA SINGHA
Kolkata
BJP leader Rakesh Singh,
accused in the cocaine case,
was sent to police custody
till March 9.
On production before the
Alipore NDPS court on
Monday, the court ordered
police custody for the BJP
leader and his close aides
till March 9.
While being taken to the
court, the BJP leader
Rakesh Singh cried foul stat-
ing it is a ploy of TMC MP
Abhishek Banerjee and po-
lice officer Murlidhar Shar-
ma.
"The nephew of the Chief
Minister and Murlidhar
Sharma had plotted against
me. The truth will come out
soon. The police have even
arrested those who used to
work in my house," said
Singh.
Notably, earlier in the day,
Kolkata Police had arrested
one Suraj Kumar Sahu
whom Rakesh called to be
his servant.
Amrit Singh, another sus-
pect in this case had escaped
from the police but Rakesh
denied to even know him.
It can be recalled that BJP
youth wing leader of West
Bengal, Pamela Goswami
was arrested by the police
from New Alipore area as
she was found with cocaine
worth rupees lakhs in her
car and handbag.
Post her arrest on Febru-
ary 20, Goswami had said
that Rakesh Singh, who is a
close aide to BJP West Ben-
gal observer Kailash Vijay-
wargiya had plotted
against her.
against Bengal
polls in 8 phases
OUR BUREAU
New Delhi
Delhi lawyer Manohar Lal
Sharma, known for filing the
PILs in Supreme Court at a
drop of the hat, on Monday
moved it to declare as
unconstitutional the Election
Commission's decision last
Friday to hold the West Bengal
assembly elections in eight
phases.
He has claimed in his petition
that conducting the elections in
so many phases violates the
right to equality and life under
Article 14 and 21 of the
Constitution.
No date is yet fixed for hearing
his plea for an urgent direction,
pleading to take it up
immediately since the
notification for the first phase
of polls is to be issued on
March 2.

FAST NEWS
Ponzi scam: ED summons FINALISING CANDIDATES UP ATS bust

WB parties hold closed-door meetings

TMC leader Kunal Ghosh
OUR CORRESPONDENT/ Kolkata
TMC spokesperson Kunal
Ghosh has been called by the
ED in connection to the Sara-
da ponzi scam on March 2.
Talking to Free Press Jour-
nal, Kunal said that he will
visit the CGO complex in Salt
Lake area in ED office and
ensure all help to the officials
and also that he will carry
the letter of the Sarada ponzi
scam kingpin Sudipta Sen
where Sen has mentioned
the names and amount of
leaders whom Sen has given
money.
“Since 2013, whenever ED
is calling me I am supporting
them with everything they
want. I just want to remind
them that there are political
leaders who have taken mon-
ey from the Sarada kingpin. I
will carry the letter written
mer TMC Rajya Sabha MP.
Notably, Ghosh, who is out
on bail in the Sarada case. In
2013, the former TMC Rajya
sabha MP was suspended for
alleged anti-party activities,
but was later reinstated as
the party spokesperson.
Meanwhile, the ED had
again held a raid in different
parts of the state in connec-
tion to the coal smuggling
case. In a fresh arrest of six
businessmen it was found
ARITRA SINGHA / Kolkata
With the Assembly polls
starting this month in the
poll bound West Bengal both
the TMC and the BJP are
busy with finalising
their candidates list
at least for the first
phase.
The ruling Tri-
namool Congress
who were supposed to
declare their candi-
dates on Monday held
a closed door meeting
with the party's elec-
tion committee to fi-
nalise the names.
According to the TMC
sources, a total of 40 names
had been decided for the first
phase of the polls that is
scheduled on March 27 and
also that the TMC supremo
walks of life had been decid-
ed. Candidates above 80 years
of age won't be allowed to
contest the polls. People with
mass connect and having a
clean image will be given
tickets," added the sources.
TMC MP Sougata Roy stat-
ed that the TMC Supremo
knows every district of the
state so nicely that she is the
one who can decide upon the
suitable candidate.
observer Kailash Vijay-
wargiya along with senior
leaders held a closed door
meeting at a five-star hotel in
Kolkata to decide upon the
candidates of the first two
phases.
"Though we have de-
cided the probable
candidates list but we
are yet to send it to the
Delhi leadership. Not
just the actors but
people belonging
from every profession
will be given tickets,"
mentioned Dilip
Ghosh.
CONG TO CONTEST 92
SEATS: Congress senior
leader Adhir Ranjan
Chowdhury said the
Congress will contest 92
gang involved
in illegal entry
of Rohingya
LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh
Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) busted
a gang, involved in facilitating
illegal entry of Rohingya
Muslims into different parts of
the country, by arresting two
brothers from Myanmar.
The arrested persons have been
identified as Farooq alias Hasan
and Shahid. Both are brothers,
Rohingya Muslims and residents
of Myanmar. The ATS have
recovered two passports,
incriminating documents and Rs
5 lakh cash from their
possession. The ADG (Law and
Order) Prashant Kumar said that
the two brothers were involved
in helping Myanmar’s Rohingya
Muslims settle in different parts
of the country.
“They will help them cross the
border illegally and prepare
their Indian documents to get
Another Dalit girl raped, killed in UP
LUCKNOW: Another Dalit girl was allegedly raped and murdered
in the Jayaganj area under Akbarabad police station of Aligarh
district in Uttar Pradesh. Irate villagers pelted stones at the police
and blocked the road by setting on fire several vehicles to block
entry of police into the village for taking away body of the
deceased Dalit girl. Two police officers were injured in the clash. A
16-year-old Dalit girl had gone to the field to collect fodder on
Sunday in Jayaganj village. When she did not return home, her
family launched a search only to return emptyhanded. Later, her
blood-soaked body was found on the outskirts of the village. The
police came to know of the incident when a video of recovery of
Dalit girl’s body went viral on the social media. Her family
suspected their daughter was raped and murdered by unidentified
persons. They alleged her undergarment was soaked with blood
and clothes were torn. Agitated villagers blocked the road, pelted
stones on police to deny them taking the body of the deceased for
post mortem.
3 labourers killed in UP wall collapse
LUCKNOW: Three labourers were killed when a wall of an
underconstruction house collapsed late on Sunday night in
Mahoba district of Uttar Pradesh. SP Mahoba RK Gautam said the
construction was being carried out at night illegally as the area
falls into historical Keerat Sagar Sarovar, protected by the ASI. On
Sunday night, a wall suddenly caved in and 3 labourers were
buried under its debris. Neighbours informed the police about the
incident and helped police rescue the three labourers early
Monday morning. They were rushed to the hospital where they