Vol. 66 No. 113 | MONDAY | SEPTEMBER 12, 2022 | 15 Pages | SWIATEK BEATS JABEUR FOR 1ST US OPEN TITLE, HER THIRD OVERALL SLAM TRIUMPH WILL NEVER BOW TO DELHI: PAWAR THE FP BULLETIN CGST busts invoice racket worth `132 cr T Dwarka seer dies aged 99 D warka Peeth Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati, 99, died in Madhya Pradesh’s Narsinghpur district on Sunday, his aide said. Swaroopanand, who was the shankracharya of Dwarka, Sharda, and Jyotish Peeth, was not keeping well for more than a year, he said. He passed away at his ashram around 3.30pm, Swami Sadanand Maharaj, secondin-command (known as ‘dandi swami’) of the Dwarka NATION Peeth, said. EDIT ADVANCE PLANNING FOR 2024 ELECTION With several Opposition leaders under the scanner of central probe agencies, NCP president Sharad Pawar on Sunday said his party would never surrender before the “rulers in Delhi” and urged all non-BJP parties to work together to keep the saffron party away from power. Addressing the eighth national convention of the NCP in the country’s capital, Pawar slammed the Narendra Modi government for rising inflation and unemployment, its handling of farm- for and protests, ers’ “fanning hatred” against religious minorities. “We have to democratically challenge the present government, which is misusing central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate and CBI and money power. We have to be prepared for a fight,” the 81-year-old Rajya A fter accessing the situation in flood-hit Pakistan, UN SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres has said that he has “never seen climate carnage” on such a scale. The UN chief said he has “simply no words” to describe what he has seen. Guterres said that he hopes his visit will galvanise support for Pakistan, which put the provisional cost of the catastrophe at more than $30 billion. The UN chief’s two-day trip was aimed at raising awareness of WORLD the disaster. Queen’s coffin on last journey Q ueen Elizabeth II’s coffin began its journey on Sunday from Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire to the late monarch’s official Scottish residence of Holyroodhouse Palace, Edinburgh. The coffin will rest in the Throne Room of Holyroodhouse until Monday afternoon for the royal household to pay their respects. It will make an onward journey to London later in the week after Buckingham Palace unveiled plans for the State Funeral, which will take place at Westminster Abbey on Monday, September 19. WORLD Sabha member told party workers. Pawar, who was unanimously re-elected party pres, ident on Saturday said the legendary Maratha ruler Chhatrapati Shivaji never bowed before Delhi’s rulers and the NCP follows his path and has established itself as . a progressive national party Pawar stressed on the significance of the venue for the convention: the Talkatora Indoor Stadium. “It is at this very place that Bajirao Peshwa had camped with his army in 1737 and challenged the rulers of Delhi,” he said. CONTD. ON NATION PAGE SANJAY JOG Mumbai Eknath Shinde with Chief Justice Lalit. With them are Justice Abhay Oka (right) and Justice Bhushan Gavai (second from left) JEE toppers who made us proud ALOK PAREKH / Mumbai The Indian Institute of Bombay (IIT-B) declared the Joint Entrance Examination . (JEE) 2022 Advanced results on Sunday In all, 1,600,38 candidates had registered, of which 1,55,538 appeared for both papers. From this, 40,712 qualified. While AIR toppers included RK Shishir and Tanishka Kabra, closer home, Mumbai and its sister cities also sported toppers. Mumbai’s girl topper was Jahnabi , Roy the best in Navi Mumbai was Utkarsh Pant, and Thane’s champion was Riddhi Agarwal. Mumbai city topper Roy said that she “took the exam as a game and went on with it”. “There were times when I was under pressure but I just considered it as a challenge and solved the required questions. I did not let the stress have a negative impact on me. I rather took it ,” positively she said. Roy said she wanted to pursue computer science from either of the top three IITs. Covid-19, unlike normal people, was a boon for her, she said. CONTD. ON NATION PAGE Jahnabi Roy Utkarsh Pant Riddhi Agarwal A day after he shared the dais with Chief Justice of India (CJI) Uday Umesh Lalit, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde came under severe criticism from the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi . (MVA) alliance on Sunday Lalit was felicitated at an , event in Mumbai on Saturday where Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju was present. Shinde called Lalit Maharashtra’s “son” and said his elevation in the Supreme Court was a proud moment for the state. Given that the CJI is hearing a 7-day break in Gateway ferry services KALPESH MHAMUNKAR Mumbai The BMC has asked organisers of passenger ferry services from Gateway of India, Colaba, to not conduct services near the iconic monument for the next seven days so that boats do not hit debris floating in the sea after Ganesh immersions. Earlier, the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) had given conditional permission for immersions at the Gateway of India. MbPT had directed the BMC to remove debris, wooden planks, etc. The BMC said it will start removing debris from Mon. day But the municipality has now decided to stop ferries for at least a week to allow big idols to dissolve. CONTD. ON NATION PAGE PROMOTE MARATHI, HC TELLS STATE STAFF REPORTER Mumbai The Bombay High Court has observed that the state should hold exams for prosecutors in Marathi as well, while saying administration the that should implement its policy to promote the language. The direction came in an order of Sep 7 on a petition filed by one Pratap Jadhav. Currently the exam can only be taken in English. Jadhav said that Marathi is the local language and that he had studied in Marathi. Proceedings before the judicial magistrate first class and civil judge junior division are carried out mostly in Marathi, he said. The division bench of Justices SV Gangapurwala and RN Laddha said in the order that the government ought to have been serious about the issue. It pointed out that exams for magistrates and civil judges could be answered in Marathi. “In fact, it is the general stand of the government to promote the local language [Marathi],” the order said. Government Additional Pleader Molina Thakur submitted that this year 7,700 candidates were appearing for the exam. She claimed that only Jadhav had raised objections, and that it may not be possible to find an examiner to assess the answer papers in Marathi. . The exam was held Sunday Russians flee as Ukraine makes gains WAR IN EUROPE Sunrise: 06:26 am Sunset : 06:44 pm REMEMBERING MOTHER MARY AGENCIES Kyiv As the war in Ukraine marks 200 days, the country has reclaimed broad swaths of the south and east in a long-anticipated counteroffensive that has dealt a heavy blow to Russia. The counterattack began in the final days of August and at first focused on the southern region of Kherson, which was swept by Russian forces in the opening days of the invasion. But just as Moscow redirected attention and troops there, Ukraine launched another, highly effective offensive in the northeastern region of Kharkiv. Facing the prospect of a large group of its forces becoming surrounded, Moscow ordered a troop pullback from Kharkiv, in a dramatic change of the state of play that posed the biggest challenge to the Kremlin since it launched the invasion Feb 24. “The Ukrainian army has taken advantage of the relocation of the bulk of the Russian forces to the south and is trying to direct the course of the war, excelling in maneuver and showing great ingenuity said Mykola Sunhurovskyi, ,” a military expert with the Razumkov Centre, a Kyiv-based think tank. Ukraine’s quick gains, he added, are “important both for seizing initiative and raising troops’ spirit”. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy commended the military in a video address late Saturday saying it , has reclaimed about 2,000 square kilometres of territory so far this month. CONTD. ON NATION PAGE BEST to launch BKC-Thane service on Navratri KAMAL MISHRA Mumbai Devotees visit the Mount Mary Basilica in suburban Bandra to celebrate the birthday of Mother Mary on Sunday. It marks the start of the weeklong Bandra fair. PIC: SWAPNIL SAKHARE Oppn cries foul as Shinde meets CJI D Climate carnage: UN chief in Pak 300c. 250c. FILE PIC AGENCIES New Delhi Comic tells VHP to denounce Godse ays after his shows in Gurugram were called off following threats by rightwing groups, Kunal Kamra on Sunday wrote an open letter to the VHP challenging it to , condemn Nathuram Godse. The comic was scheduled to perform at Studio Xo Bar on September 17 and 18. Last Friday the VHP and Bajrang Dal submitted a letter to police demanding the show’s cancellation, saying Kamra “makes fun of Hindu gods”. Kamra also demanded they produce proof suggesting he mocks Hindu deities. NATION 10TH EDITION OF SIIMA; HIGHLIGHTS INSIDE Patel says NCP chief uniquely placed to unite the Oppn PIC: SWAPNIL SAKHARE he Central Goods and Services Tax Commissionerate in Bhiwandi has busted a racket involving issuance of fake invoices amounting to Rs132 crore and availing of input tax credit of Rs23 crore, an official said. One person was arrested in connection with the case on Friday, he said. The commsissionerate investigated six firms and raided the residence of the accused, who was wanted in eight other cases of fraud, the official said, adding he has been remanded in custody till September 23. CITY EDITIONS: MUMBAI*, Pune, Nashik, Konkan, Indore, Bhopal, E-paper Questions about propriety day after CM attends felicitation event for UU Lalit clutch of petitions from factions of the Shiv Sena, the opposition questioned the propriety of the CM sharing the stage with Lalit. “While the hearing of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his government’s legitimacy is going on before the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, the chief minister sitting on a dais with the chief justice does not look good,” state NCP chief Jayant Patil said. CONTD. ON NATION PAGE Top VC to focus on India with growth buyout fund CH UNNIKRISHNAN Mumbai The US venture capital giant Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP), which raised fresh capital worth $4.6 billion last weekend, is improving its flexibility to support growth buyouts in India. The VC announced the new capital across two funds — $3.85 billion for its 12th flagship fund, BVP XII, and $780 million for its inaugural BVP Forge fund. BVP typically focuses on early- and growthstage venture capital invest- With new funds, BVP expands it ability to support growth investment with different capital structures ments through its current funds — a $2.475 billion BVP XI fund, $825 million Century II growth fund, and a $220 million early-stage focused India Fund. However, it has now launched BVP Forge and its dedicated Forge Fund by improving its flexibility to support growth buyouts. SEE MONEY BEST will launch a premium bus service between Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) and Thane on September 26, which marks the beginning of Navratri. The service will run during peak hours, with limited halts. BEST has placed an order for 200 buses, and by the end of the year, premium vehicles will cover most of the city’s busiest routes. The most striking feature of these buses will be the fares. Although the rates have not been finalised yet, officials have said they will be cheaper than shared auto-rickshaws and taxis, with the facility of monthly pass. Passengers will be able to book seats in advance, for slots, time particular through the Chalo App. The service aims to cater to the demands of mainly officegoers. One official said no standees will be allowed. After rolling out the BKCThane service, BEST will expand to other busy routes, such as Powai-South Mumbai and Navi Mumbai-South Mumbai. “You can relax and even charge your laptops and mobile phones while travelling. The app will help you track the bus, give you information on the occupancy and also allow you to purchase seats in real-time before the vehicle arrives at the stop,” the official said.