330c. 240c. Sunrise: 06:40 am Sunset: 06:50 pm GOVT RULES OUT FUEL EXCISE DUTY CUT BY RS 8.50 PER LITRE Pg 7 NO SCAM, NO SCANDAL CAN SHAKE MAHA VASULI AGHADI ‘I WANT TO BUILD MY IDENTITY’: AADAR JAIN Pg 20 Wherever there is Prema there is Paramatma. Bhagwan is everywhere to guide all. Guidance comes from pure love. Sri Ma Vol. 64 No. 277 | TUESDAY | MARCH 23, 2021 | 14 Pages | ` 4 | EDITIONS: MUMBAI*, Pune, Indore, Bhopal, E-Paper EDIT NOT GOING WITHOUT A FIGHT Pg 15 Moves SC, seeks CBI probe into “corrupt practices of HM before evidence is destroyed’’ FROM OUR BUREAU New Delhi Mumbai's former Commissioner of Police Param Bir Singh (58) on Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the "corrupt practices of Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh before the evidences are destroyed.’’ He has also sought quashing of the March 17 order of his transfer by Deshmukh. Singh is understood to have engaged senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who was the attorney general of India in the first Modi dispensation, to plead for an urgent hearing, possibly on Tuesday before the Chief , Justice of India, before the court goes into a week's holiday after Friday on account of Holi. Singh has prayed for an immediate CBI inquiry , which is unbiased, uninfluenced, impartial and fair, into the various alleged corrupt malpractices of Deshmukh. CONTD. ON P13 SANJAY JOG Mumbai SANJAY JOG Mumbai GOVERNMENT READIES ITS DEFENCE The Maharashtra Government will soon file an affidavit defending the former Mumbai Commissioner of Police Param Bir Singh’s transfer in the Home Guards Department. The government will submit that Singh has been transferred as per the Section 22 N (2) of the Maharashtra Police Act, 1951, which specifically talks of midterm transfers of any police personnel in 'exceptional cases' or in public interest. CONTD. ON P13 BETWEEN THE LINES KANGANA IS THE ‘BEST’ FROM OUR BUREAU New Delhi MVA Govt mulls suspension The Maha Vikas Aghadi Government is mulling the suspension of ex-Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh as per the provisions of FPJ EXCLUSIVE Rule 3 of All India Service (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1969. Further, the government is also actively considering initiating departmental and criminal action to look into the details of the allegations of the demand of Rs 100 crore For some, bloom of WHF is fading BHAVNA UCHIL Mumbai As the one-year anniversary of work-from-home nears, how are those still working out of home feeling? Most are ready to come in to work, it seems. They are missing canteen trips with colleagues and the office banter, while there is another section that is feeling what psychologists call ‘social anxiety’ about getting back to the old normal. When Covid-19 made working from home the norm, Aniruddha Bhajan, a software engineer with a private firm, said he felt good about not having to make the daily gruelling commute through traffic or in crowded trains. “Now, I have mixed feelings about it. I wake up and start working in bed. Though the office has provided a worktable, chair and laptop, home has started feeling like a workstation,” he says, add-ing that once the situation improves, he looks forward most to small joys like going to the canteen with his colleagues. CONTD. ON P13 per month by the home minister, as claimed by Singh. This was one of the options discussed by the ruling partners at the meeting chaired by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday . CONTD. ON P13 STAFF REPORTER / Mumbai TRIPTI NATH / New Delhi: The Centre on Monday revised the time window within which the 2nd dose of Covishield vaccine can be taken, asking all states and Union Territories to administer it between 4-8 weeks, instead of 4 to 6 weeks. The belated realisation is that protection is enhanced if the second dose of Covishield is administered between 6 to 8 weeks, but not later than stipulated period of eight weeks, a ministry official said. The revised interval, however, applies only to Serum Institute of India's Covishield - the vaccine CONTD. ON P13 See pages 3 and 5 ASTRA 79% POTENT, SAFE, US NOD SOON AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine has performed better than expected in a major latestage trial, potentially paving the way for its emergency authorization in the United States and bolstering confidence in the shot after numerous setbacks in Europe. The drug maker said on Monday that trials in Chile, Peru and the United States found the vaccine, developed in conjunction with Oxford University, was 79% effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19. Also, crucially, it posed no increased risk of blood clots. More than a dozen European countries, including Germany and France, had halted use of the AstraZeneca vaccine earlier this month after some reports linked it to blood clots in a very small number of people. They have since resumed inoculation. 24,465 3,260 fresh cases in State Day 1 off to slow start cases in Mumbai STEPPED-UP TESTING AT CROWDED SPOTS: on March 20, the BMC had said that every municipal ward had to carry out at least 1,000 Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT) daily in multiple crowded locations. The letter further stressed the testing of at least 400 patrons in every mall, every day But the tar. geted goal remained largely unmet on Day 1. Although the exact number of tests done was not revealed, sources in the civic body said they were able to test only 25-30 per cent of the target on Monday . “Monday was the first day of the drive and we are ramping up our manpower and facilities in a phased manner. We are hopeful that the numbers will pick up by the middle of the week or early next week,” said Additional Municipal Commissioner (Health) Suresh Kakani. CONTD. ON P13 ter a criminal case against certain Government officials and individuals in Coimbatore, who cut a cake with the Tricolour icing, during a Christmas celebration over seven years ago. The cake measured 6 ft. in length and 5 ft in breadth; the icing on it carried a Tricolour with the outline of the Indian map and Ashoka Chakra in the middle. It was cut, distributed and consumed by the special guests and about 2,500 participants, including 1,000 children. An office-bearer of a fringe Hindu outfit had sought registration of criminal cases against the officials, including the Collector and Deputy Commissioner of Police and individuals who cut and consumed the cake. CONTD. ON P13 Mere 25-30% of the target segment reached PRATIP ACHARYA Mumbai Starting Monday the Brihan, mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had set up an ambitious target of conducting 47,800 tests daily at multiple , crowded locations of the city including shopping malls, railway stations, bus depots and market areas. In an official letter released Cutting cake with Tricolour icing is not an insult: Madras HC LAST WORD I N CHITHRA / Chennai n a significant verdict, the Madras High Court on Monday held that cutting and consuming a cake with an icing of the national flag would not amount to insulting or dishonouring the Tricolour. Justice N Anand Venkatesh set aside an order of a Judicial Magistrate to regis- The BJP and the Opposition members clashed in both the Houses of Parliament on Monday over the allegations against Maharashtra home minister, levelled by the former police commissioner of Mumbai Param Bir Singh. Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar led the attack in the upper house, asserting that the entire nation has been a witness to the murky shenanigans in the state. In the Lok Sabha, BJP's Rakesh Singh (Jabalpur) and Poonam Mahajan (Mumbai North-Central) demanded imposition of President's rule. Singh wanted a probe by a central team and sought the resignation of Chief Minister CONTD. ON P13 Per litre DIESEL ` 88.60 Per litre www.freepressjournal.in twitter.com/fpjindia One-man Pawar squad bid to defuse HM bomb Reg. No. Mcs/048/2018-20; RNI No. 1541/1957 M.p.c.s office Mumbai-400001 HOSPITAL ALIBI FOR DESHMUKH SANJAY JOG Mumbai Pawar claims Deshmukh was hospitalised in Nagpur because of coronavirus from February 5 to 15 and then quarantined for another two weeks up to February 28; so, there was no question of his meeting police officers at his Mumbai residence, as alleged by Param Bir Singh Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, tried to take the steam off the BJP’s tirade against Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh and the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, by saying that from February 5 to 15, Deshmukh was in hospital with coronavirus and in home quarantine till February 27. “Anil Deshmukh was in hospital from February 5 to 15 and from February 15 to 27, he was in home isolation in Nagpur,” said Pawar, who has called for a probe into former Mumbai Police chief Param Bir Singh's allegations. Citing Deshmukh’s Covid treatment ‘records’, Pawar said that Deshmukh could not have met Sachin Vaze between February 5 and February 15 as claimed in the letter. Singh had alleged that suspended Mumbai cop Sachin Vaze, arrested by the National Investigation Agency had met , Deshmukh around this time. “We will share all these records with the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. The question of resignation does not arise now,” Pawar said. He added that there was no pressure from the Sena for Deshmukh’s resignation and in the wake of documents in his possession, there was no question of Deshmukh’s resignation. He said it was the prerogative of Chief Minister Uddhav to order an inquiry into Singh’s allegations. Further, Pawar claimed that Singh had written the letter to divert attention from the ongoing investigations into the bomb scare case and Mansukh Hiran death case. CONTD. ON P13 gaon case. Swamy was arrested in October last year. At that time, the court had rejected his temporary bail application which was filed on medical grounds. That plea had cited his vulnerability to the Covid-19 pandemic and sought relief till there was respite from the situation. In the present bail application filed on the merits of the case in November last year, Swamy had cited his age, his hearing loss in both ears and Parkinson's disease. Further, the application had mentioned that his name did not figure in the original FIR and narrated how in 2018, search procedures were not followed by the Pune police team, as the search order CONTD. ON P13 MORE TIME NIA court denies bail to 83-year-old activist BETWEEN TWO DOSES PICS: BL SONI Late actor Sushant Singh Rajput-starrer "Chhichhore" has been adjudged the best Hindi film and will get the National Award for the year 2019. Kangana Ranaut, meanwhile, has won her fourth national award in the Best Actress category for her work in Manikarnika and Panga. The National Award for Best Actor was shared by Manoj Bajpayee for his performance in Bhonsle with Dhanush for Asuran which also won Best Tamil Film. Vijay Sethupathi won Best Supporting Actor for Super Deluxe and Pallavi Joshi was awarded Best Supporting Actress for The Tashkent Files. Sikkim was declared the most film-friendly state. Gumnaami, based on Netaji Subhash Bose, won the award for Best Bengali Film and Best Adapted Screenplay. The National Awards, given out by the Directorate of Film Festivals, were not announced last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. President's rule sought PETROL ` 97.57 A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in the city has denied bail to the 83-year-old tribal rights activist from Jharkhand, Stan Swamy an accused in the El, gar Parishad-Bhima-Kore- BHIMA-KOREGAON CASE