Vol. 66 No. 71 | FRIDAY | JULY 22, 2022 | 17 Pages | INDIA’S TRIBAL DAUGHTER IS th 15 PRESIDENT ADB CUTS FISCAL 2023 INDIA GDP GROWTH FORECAST 30 BPS TO 7.2% FPJ NEWS SERVICE / NEW DELHI Droupadi Murmu (64) is the 15th President of the Republic: she is not only the first tribal – hers is a life-story of constant struggle, sheer grit and determination – but is also the second woman in the Rashtrapati Bhavan after Pratibha Patil, in what has been essentially a male preserve. She secured 64% valid votes. PM Modi’s first pick, the outgoing President Ramnath Kovind, a Dalit from Kanpur, while in office had been low-key but correct and dignified. And now Murmu, whose journey from a tribal hamlet in Odisha’s backwaters to Rashtrapati BETWEEN THE LINES BUZZ OVER BIDEN CANCER REMARKS U S President Joe Biden’s remarks that he ‘has cancer’ set the grapevine abuzz in political corridors. A video of the 79-year-old US President started doing the rounds on Twitter, where he talked about the damage caused by oil refinery emissions in his childhood hometown, Delaware. “My mother drove us rather than us being able to walk and guess what? The first frost, you know what was happening? You had to put on your windshield wipers to get literally the oil slick off the window. That’s why I, and so damn many other people I grew up with, have cancer and why for the longest time, Delaware had the highest cancer rate in the nation," he said. The buzz over Biden’s remark prompted the White House to issue a clarification that he was referring to treatment for nonmelanoma skin cancers he underwent last year before assuming the office. RLYS TAGS `50 TO SNACKS, MEALS T he Railways has removed on-board service charges on all meals and beverages that are not pre-ordered, that is at the time of booking of tickets, on premium long-distance trains like Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duronto Express, but instead added Rs 50  the prices of to snacks, lunches and dinners with immediate effect. The new circular on its move was issued by the Railway Board last Friday. As per the circular, the new rates will be applicable only on those passengers who will not opt for the catering services at the time of the booking of their tickets. –Kamal Mishra/mumbai – see city GOVT IS KEEPING TABS ON DOKLAM T aking note of media reports of Chinese activities near Doklam plateau, the government has said it is keeping a tab on all developments impacting national security. “While I do not have specific comments on the report, please be assured that the government keeps a constant watch on all developments having a bearing on India’s security and takes all necessary measures to safeguard the same,” . External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said. He was asked about satellite images that showed construction of a Chinese village east of the Doklam plateau on the Bhutanese side. DUBAI TO KOCHI FLIGHT DIVERTED A ir India's Dubai-Kochi flight was diverted to Mumbai on Thursday after the pilot-incommand reported a loss in cabin pressure, officials of aviation regulator DGCA said. The DGCA has grounded the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft and off-rostered the flight's crew. Bhawan epitomises the struggle of millions of her compatriots who have risen from grinding poverty and squalor by dint of their hard work and dedication. It was not immediately clear how much of the non-NDA vote she attracted but sources said 17 opposition MPs cross-voted in her support. The lack of Opposition unity stands exposed and may undermine efforts to cobble together a joint front in the 2024 elections. The first indication in this direction came with TMC indicating it won’t support Opposition nominee Margaret Alva in the vice-presidential election. CONTD. ON NATION PAGE EDITIONS: MUMBAI*, Pune, Nashik, Konkan, Indore, Bhopal, E-paper EDIT GST IMPOSITION WILL AFFECT PUBLIC HEALTH SANAH KAPUR-STARRER SAROJ KA RISHTA TO RELEASE ON SEPTEMBER 16 TMC WILL ABSTAIN IN VP POLL B CROSS-VOTING BARES FAULTLINES O fficial figures are not out but sources said as many as 17 MPs and over 125 MLAs cross-voted for Droupadi Murmu, apart from about half-adozen non-NDA parties that refused to align with the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance. The number of such MLAs is expected to further go up when the counting is complete. –See Nation ARITRA SINGHA KOLKATA reaking its silence, Trinamool Congress has decided to ‘abstain’ from the voting for the Vice President election. Addressing the media, party national secretary Abhishek Banerjee said that TMC was not ‘consulted’ while selecting Margaret Alva as the candidate of the opposition. “Someone had said that ‘he’ (read Sharad Pawar) had called TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee but ‘he’ (Pawar) had placed the call after the meeting was over. We had a couple of names in our mind who could have been the opposition candidate. Though Mamata had good relations with Alva but the manner in which the decision was taken on her name, the TMC has decided to abstain from the voting process,” said Banerjee. CONTD. ON NATION PAGE 310c. 250c. Sunrise: 06:12 am Sunset : 07:18 pm ARREY, AAREY GAYA: STAY ON CARSHED GOES SANJAY JOG MUMBAI The Shinde-Fadnavis government has vacated the stay granted by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government on the development of the metro carshed in Aarey Colony Chief Minister .  Eknath Shinde and his deputy , Devendra Fadnavis, strongly defended the government’s decision on Thursday saying , that the development of the metro carshed and the completion of Colaba-Seepz Metro 3 were important for Mumbaikars, as it would provide them relief in commuting and also help reduce pollution. Shinde said nearly 17 lakh commuters would travel by the metro.  Fadnavis said 25 per cent of the carshed had been constructed and the balance would be completed soon, adding that the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal had given clearance for the same site. Besides, the land had been selected by the CongressNCP government and later on, it was the BJP-led government zeroed in on it after carrying out a comprehensive environment appraisal, he said.  CONTD. ON NATION PAGE Abortion can’t Praful Patel property attached be denied to an P FLUTTER AFTER CM unwed woman SANJAY JOG MUMBAI OUR BUREAU NEW DELHI The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed a 25-year-old unmarried woman to abort her pregnancy of 24 weeks arising out of a live-in relationship, overturning Delhi High Court's denial with a ruling that "abortion can't be denied solely because a woman is unmarried." In an ad-interim order, a Bench led by Justice D Y Chandrachud allowed her abortion, subject to a medical board of the AIIMS Delhi concluding that it won't jeopardise her life. It directed the AIIMS Delhi Director to constitute a medical board within 24 hours and if the board concludes that the foetus can be aborted without any danger to the life of petitioner, the AIIMS shall carry out the abortion and the report shall be furnished to the court after completion of the procedure. The court has issued notice to the Union Government and sought the assistance of Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati on the legislative interpretation. The Bench, which also comprised Justices Surya Kant SC nod to abort 24-week foetus provided there is no risk to the mother's life; pregnancy stemmed from a consensual live-in relationship that floundered and A S Bopanna, observed that Delhi High Court took an "unduly restrictive" view of the provisions of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy rules in denying interim relief to the woman. Noting that after the 2021 amendment, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act uses the word "partner" instead of "husband" in the explanation to Section 3, the court said that this shows the legislative intent to cover "unmarried woman" under the Act. CONTD. ON NATION PAGE Sonia to be quizzed again on Monday OUR BUREAU NEW DELHI The Enforcement Directorate questioned Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Thursday for about two hours in an alleged money laundering case related to the National Herald newspaper. The interrogation was undertaken by the same assistant director-level investigation officer who had interrogated her son Rahul Gandhi in the case. Priyanka Gandhi accompanied Sonia to the ED office and later Rahul joined them. The ED has summoned Sonia for a second round of questioning on Monday . The ED officials claimed the interrogation session on Thursday ended on Sonia Gandhi's request as she is still recouping from Covid-19. Congress chief spokesman Jairam Ramesh, immediately after his release from the Kingsway Camp police station with other party leaders, said this was a total lie, circulated by a wire agency which cited ED sources. At 12.20, when the interrogation began, she was told that she will get a lunch break but has to return for further questioning. However, at 2.20 pm, the ED officials told her that she can go for lunch break return on Monday for the second round. CONTD. ON NATION PAGE On a day the Congress was protesting against the Enforcement Directorate summons to Congress president Sonia Gandhi for questioning in a money laundering case, the agency attached some units on four floors of the Ceejay house at Worli owned by NCP leader Praful Patel. This is not the first time that the ED has acted against Patel in the Iqbal Mirchi case. In 2021, the NCP leader had visited the ED office in a case related to two floors of the Ceejay house building. Phone calls to Patel remained unan- raful Patel was questioned by the ED in 2019, in connection with the property Ceejay House developed by a firm owned by him and his family at Worli in which family members of late gangster Iqbal Mirchi also owned some properties. During the questioning by the ED, Patel had denied any connection with Iqbal Mirchi. ED’s action against Patel is signal to Pawar who played a major role in Alva’s nomination for VP election swered.  Further, ED’s action against Patel, who is a close confidant of NCP Chief Sharad Pawar, came after Pawar took the initiative to CONTD. ON NATION PAGE Had claimed Murmu will get support of 200 legislators; the NDA nominee got 181 votes, as against Sinha’s 98 SANJAY JOG MUMBAI Shinde’s claim proves hollow SANJAY JOG MUMBAI Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s claim of winning 200 out of 288 legislators in Maharashtra has proven to be hollow as the NDA presidential nominee Droupadi Murmu got 181 votes, while the Opposition nominee Yashwant Sinha got 98. Murmu's nomination was supported by both the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and the Shinde camp. Thackeray-led Shiv Sena’s 15 legislators voted for Murmu. One legislator each from the BJP and the Shinde camp did not cast their votes as they were absent during polling held on July 18. Shinde, who had secured 164 votes against MVA’s 99 during the floor test, on July 14, during Murmu’s visit to Mumbai, had claimed that she would get the support of 200 legislators due to the discontent among the NCP and the Congress. However, Shinde’s calculations failed as there was no split in the opposition’s vote. The state assembly Speaker did not vote. Shinde and DCM Devendra Fadnavis had expected to exploit the uncertainty in the NCP and the Congress to seek votes from their legislators, as it had done in the Rajya Sabha and state council elections. However, they failed to create the same magic during the presidential election. Though Mumbai and the rest of Maharashtra continue to be in the grip of the new Omicron variants and other communicable diseases in the wake of heavy rains, the Shinde-Fadnavis government announced on Thursday that the upcoming Ganesh festival, Dahi Handi and Muharram would be observed without Covid restrictions, in accordance with orders from the high court and Supreme Court.  Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, after meetings with various government departments, civic bodies and mandal representatives and organisations, announced that the government had relaxed the curbs on the height of Ganesh On fees charged by club to carry mobile phone inside racecourse The Bombay High Court recently held that the Maharashtra government cannot levy entertainment tax on the fees charged by the Royal Western Indian Turf Club to allow persons to carry mobile phone inside the race course. The order was passed by a division bench of Justices KR Shriram and Milind Jadhav while hearing a plea filed by Royal Western Indian Turf Club (RWITC). The court was hearing a petition by RWITC challenging the Maharashtra government’s resolution of December 2001. The GR said that the charges collected for carrying a mobile phone into the race course during a race are to be treated as payment for admission as defined in Section 2 (b)(iv) of the said Bombay Entertainments Duty Act. Hence it was decided to levy entertainment duty on same in accordance with the provisions of the Act. CONTD. ON NATION PAGE Cricket can wait, ensure every village gets water first: HC LOPSIDED PRIORITIES You want to play cricket, which is not our original game... You are fortunate your parents can buy jazzy cricket bats, abdomen guards...If they can buy you all these, they can buy litres and litres of water... URVI MAHAJANI MUMBAI Noting that there were more serious issues to be dealt with like ensuring that every village had water, the Bombay high court on Thursday rapped an advocate, also a district-level cricketer, seeking directions against the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) and civic bodies for hygiene facilities like toilets, water and medical assistance on all public grounds. A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice M S Karnik remarked that “cricket was not our game” and the priority would be to ensure that there was water in villages. The court even asked the petitioner-advocate, who argued in person, whether bodies like the MCA and BCCI came under the definition of state, wherein the court could pass directions against it in a public interest litigation (PIL). CJ Datta said: “Do you know Aurangabad gets water once a week? Why don’t you bring water from your home? You want to play cricket, which is not POLITICAL BUREAU MUMBAI Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s meeting with veteran Shiv Sena MP Gajanan Kirtikar, a confidant of the party founder Bal Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray, on Thursday to inquire about his health after surgery has surprised many in the Thackeray camp, sparking a buzz about Kirtikar jumping ship to join the Shinde camp. However, Kirtikar, who is recovering from his surgery, has scoffed at such speculation and has reiterated his faith and confidence in Uddhav Thackeray. Interestingly, the Thackeray camp has stepped up its vigil on the party legislators and MPs who continue to remain with it. CONTD. ON NATION PAGE Ganeshotsav, Dahi Handi and Muharram free of Covid curbs No scope for entertainment tax: HC URVI MAHAJANI / MUMBAI CALLS ON SENA MP our original game from India. First let us ensure villages in Maharashtra get water.” The HC was hearing a PIL filed by an advocate, Rahul Tiwari, a professional cricket player who had participated in various state- and district-level tournaCONTD. ON NATION PAGE ments. AFTER 2 YEARS… Single-window approval for Ganeshotsav mandals through CM Govt relaxes registration fee, guarantee letter for mandals Sets up technical committee on use of PoP Ganesh idols idols and had directed the administration to provide online single-window approvals and also waive the registration fee.  “All agencies should work in coordination to ensure that Ganeshotsav, Dahi Handi and Muharram, as well as other upcoming festivals are celebrated with peace, enthusiasm and gaiety The police de. partment has been asked to ef- fectively implement steps to maintain law and order. The district administration has been directed to take immediate action on issuing licences to Ganeshotsav mandals online and under the single-window scheme,” said Shinde. He added that the mandals had been urged to celebrate Ganeshotsav in an environmentally CONTD. ON NATION PAGE BHAVNA UCHIL MUMBAI formity suffered by her was physical as well as cosmetic in nature, being visible to her and bound to have a psychological effect. Tribunal chairman V M Mohite said the applicant was a young lady and the amputation had disfigured her foot, which had adversely affected her matrimonial prospects.  On September 23, 2016, Sandhya Gaikwad was commuting in a BEST bus from the Goregaon railway station to Gokuldham in Goregaon east. She was near the exit door as her stop was nearing. She alleged in her plea for compensation that the bus stopped suddenly and she fell, sustaining injuries. Her parents lived nearby and had taken her to the hospital. The opposite party had negated the contention and said that she had fallen down as she was feeling giddy . CONTD. ON NATION PAGE `10L for 25-yr-old who fell off moving bus and lost a toe Observing that a female applicant was only 20 years old in 2016 at the time of the accident in which she fell out of a BEST bus and lost a toe, a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) acknowledged that she would have to carry the deformity throughout her life and ordered the payment of a compensation of more than Rs 10 lakh to her.  The MACT said that she had undergone as many as three surgeries till date and her injuries had worsened, causing her to develop gangrene. Noting that the third toe of her right foot was amputated and the second one lacked movement, the tribunal said that there was no doubt that she was unable to carry on daily activities as before. It said too that the de-