Vol. 67 No. 147 | WEDNESDAY | MARCH 20, 2024 | 27 Pages | `5 & for Pune `6 only Quality at Value www.freepressjournal.in MEMBER: AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATION SAMANTHA’S CITADEL: HONEY BUNNY EDITIONS: MUMBAI*, Pune, Nashik, Konkan, Indore, Bhopal, E-paper Actress says, “I never would have imagined that I would do action” EDIT SBI TO BLAME FOR ITS OWN TROUBLES KILLER IN KHAKI INDIA CAN SUSTAIN 8% GROWTH, EVEN HIGHER: RBI The Bombay High Court on Tuesday convicted  encounter specialist  Pradeep Sharma in the 2006 fake encounter of Ramnarayan Gupta alias Lakkhan Bhaiyya, alleged aide of Chhota Rajan, and sentenced him to life in prison. The HC reversed Sharma’s acquittal by the sessions court, observing that it was perverse and unsustainable as the overwhelming evidence produced by the prosecution had been ignored. The court has emphasised that a ‘squad’ existing under Sharma had executed the encounter, though the same had been banned by the then commissioner of police.  “The prosecution on its own steam and merit has also proved that Ramnarayan was killed by the police, by trigger-happy cops, and the same was made to look like a genuine encounter,” a bench of Justices Revati MohiteDere and Gauri Godse said.  While allowing the appeal filed by the state government and Lakkhan Bhaiyya’s brother, Advocate Ramprasad Gupta, challenging Sharma’s acquittal, the HC has asked Sharma to sur- Court reverses Pradeep Sharma’s acquittal by the sessions court, observing that it was perverse and unsustainable and emphasised that a ‘squad’ under Sharma  had executed the encounter, though the same had been banned by the then police chief. render in three weeks. The high court convicted Sharma on all charges, including criminal conspiracy murder, kidnapping and , wrongful confinement and sentenced him to life imprisonment. Notably Sharma is currently , out on bail in a case registered by the National Investigation Agency in connection with the Antilia terror threat case and the murder of businessman Mansukh Hiran. He was granted bail by the Supreme Court last August. The HC also upheld the convictions of the 13 other accused, including 12 policemen and a civilian. CONTD. ON NATION BJP TRYING TO STEAL A THACKERAY ONLINE REPORT / NEW DELHI The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought the response of the Central government to a plea for a stay on the recently notified Citizenship (Amendment) Rules of 2024 which effectively brought into force the Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019 (CAA). A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud with Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra issued notice and asked the Centre to file its reply by April 2, reports the Bar and Bench. "Let submissions be made on the stay application limited to five pages till April 2. Let respondents file a 5page reply to the application by April 8,"the Court said. The matter will be heard next on April 9. "We direct that the proceedings be listed after three weeks. File the reply only in one case. Response not needed in all the petitions. Reply can oppose the interim prayer. We will keep this on April 9,"the Court ordered. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the Central government initially sought four weeks to file the Central government's response to the plea for a stay . Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the petitioners, opposed it. CONTD. ON NATION STAFF REPORTER / MUMBAI Only Hindu faith is being targeted: PM N CHITHRA / CHENNAI In a blistering attack, the Prime Minister has declared that the alliance, of which the Congress and the DMK are key constituents, repeatedly insults Hinduism but never targets any other faith. Addressing a BJP public meeting in Salem in western Tamil Nadu, which was attended by NDA leaders, including its latest ally the PMK, Modi said, “The election campaign has just begun and the Opposition’s ill-intentioned plan is out in the open at their very first rally .” "They repeatedly and deliberately insult Hindu faith; every statement made by them is well thought out," he said. Before he launched this broadside, Modi again harked back to the theme of Shakti, in response to a Rahul Gandhi barb at Shivaji Park in Mumbai. "At Shivaji Park, the Opposition alliance brazenly declared they will destroy Shakti, which is essentially faith. What does Shakti mean in Hinduism -- everybody in Tamil Nadu knows that," he told the BJP rally . CONTD. ON NATION Tuesday of transfers Ambedkar blow to MVA FPJ NEWS SERVICE / MUMBAI The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) suffered a severe setback on Tuesday with the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi led by Prakash Ambedkar saying that he will have nothing to do with the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar). Ambedkar said representatives were humiliated by leaders of both the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) during seatsharing talks. These two parties had insulted Dalits and "They had even opposed the installing of the sacred Sengol in Parliament because it is connected with the Mutts," Modi charged The BJP realises that only the Thackeray name can fetch votes in Maharashtra. Therefore, they are trying to "steal a Thackeray former ,’’ Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said in a telling comment after the meeting between Raj Thackeray and Union minister Amit Shah. Speaking at a gathering in Nanded, Uddhav said the BJP "knows very well that they won’t get votes in the name of PM Narendra Modi in Maharashtra... People vote here in the name of (Bal) Thackeray". "This realisation prompted the BJP to try and poach leaders from outside.  First, they stole the photo of Bal Thackeray but it doesn't , really matter," Uddhav said, in what was seen as an allusion to Eknath Shinde, who is partnering the BJP   . "Now, they are trying to steal another Thackeray by bringing him on board but my people can counter that ," Uddhav added, shrugging off his cousin’s niche appeal to a section of voters. The MNS, formed in 2006 after the cousins parted ways and which depends on its antioutsider plank, has made little headway politically . KALPESH MHAMUNKAR MUMBAI the memory of Babasaheb Ambedkar, he claimed. Ambedkar’s statement shows that the alliance announced a few weeks ago by him and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray has come apart well before the elections. CONTD. ON NATION The much-awaited IAS transfers were carried out in Maharashtra on Tuesday Two . days ago, the EC directed the  chief secretary of the state  transfer those IAS ofto ficers who had completed three years in a particular department or office. The transfers were necessary to conduct impartial and fair elections in Maharashtra. Earlier, the EC had directed the transfer of BMC Commis- sioner and Administrator Iqbal Singh Chahal, since he had completed more than three years as BMC chief. A decision on Chahal’s transfer has not been taken yet  he but was likely to be replaced by Bhushan Gagrani. Additional Municipal Commissioner (Eastern Suburbs) Ashwini Bhide has been transferred to the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation as MD while she will be replaced by the mission director of Jal Jeevan at CIDCO, Amit Saini.  CONTD. ON NATION LAST WORD NCP gets to keep & blow its trumpet OUR BUREAU / NEW DELHI In a big victory for the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party faction, the Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed use of the name NCP-SCP where , SCP stands for Sharad Chandra Pawar, and the symbol of "a man blowing turrah (trumpet)" for both the Lok Sabha and the Assembly elections. The top court has also asked the Election Commission to ensure that the ‘trumpet’ symbol should not be allotted to any other party or candidate. The Supreme Court has also directed the Ajit Pawar faction to issue a public notice in English, Hindi and Marathi media and mention in all its campaign ads that the ‘clock’ symbol allotted to it is subject to the outcome of the case pending before it. The case stems from the legal challenge to the ECI order recognising Ajit Pawar’s group as the ‘real NCP’. Last week, a bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and K V Viswanathan pulled up the Ajit Pawar camp over the alleged use of Sharad Pawar’s name and pictures for campaigning. “You are a different political party now. You have chosen not to be with him. So why use his picture… Go with your own identity now,” the bench said. CONTD. ON NATION 0 Sunrise : 06:43 am Sunset : 06:49 pm THE MOST POLLUTED AJEET MAHALE / MUMBAI Hottest decade AFP / GENEVA Sharma is currently out on bail in a case registered by the National Investigation Agency in connection with the Antilia terror threat case and the murder of businessman Mansukh Hiran SC NOTICE TO CENTRE ON PLEA TO STAY CAA 0 34 c. 24 c. BREATHLESS IN A FURNACE DELHI IS Life term for ‘encounter specialist’ in 2006 custodial death of alleged Chhota Rajan aide; HC also upholds convictions of 13 other accused, including 12 policemen and a civilian URVI MAHAJANI & CHARUL SHAH JOSHI / MUMBAI Real GDP growth was at a 6-qtr high in the Oct-Dec period of 2023-24 Global heat records were "smashed" last year, the UN confirmed on Tuesday with , 2023 rounding out the hottest decade on record, as heatwaves stalked oceans and glaciers suffered record ice loss. The United Nations' World Meteorological Organization issued its annual State of the Climate report, confirming preliminary data indicating that 2023 was by far the hottest year ever recorded. And it came at the end of "the warmest 10-year period on record", the WMO report said. UN chief Antonio Guterres said the report showed "a planet on the brink". "Earth's issuing a distress call," he said, pointing out that "fossil fuel pollution is sending climate chaos off the charts", and warned that "changes are speeding up". CONTD. ON NATION Bihar's Begusarai was the world's most polluted metropolitan area in 2023, according to the World Air Quality Report 2023 put out by Swiss organisation IQAir. The report also identified Delhi as the capital city with the poorest air quality and India as the country with the third poorest air quality with an average annual PM2.5 concentration of 54.4 micrograms per cubic metre after Bangladesh (79.9 micrograms per cubic metre) and Pakistan (73.7 micrograms per cubic metre). Begusarai, the industrial and financial capital of Bihar, stood out as the most polluted metropolitan area globally with an average PM2.5 concentration of 118.9 micrograms per cubic metre. CONTD. ON NATION RAJ GRAVITATING TOWARDS BJP GAURAV VIVEK BHATNAGAR / NEW DELHI T he BJP has co-opted Raj Thackeray , the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief, thus signalling the possibility of MNS joining hands with the Mahayuti alliance for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the state. Thackeray met Home Minister Amit Shah at his residence in New Delhi with son Amit by his side; the meeting was also attended by BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde. Thackeray’s arrival in Delhi was preceded by his meetings with Maharashtra deputy chief minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai. It is learnt that the BJP which was , supported by Thackeray in 2014 before he moved away and opposed it in the 2019 polls, always wanted the flagbearer of the Hindutva ideology back in the NDA fold. An alliance would be beneficial to both. CONTD. ON NATION