BHOPAL | MONDAY | DECEMBER 25, 2023 r Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2021-2023; r RNI No.

mpeng/2010/35815

FREE PRESS -

D-11156
 Nepal to send special souvenirs for Ram Mandir inauguration
WORLD INDORE / BHOPAL | MONDAY | DECEMBER 25, 2023
KATHMANDU: Nepal will send special souvenirs consisting of various types of jewellery, utensils, clothes and
sweets for the Ram Mandir’s inauguration ceremony in Ayodhya next month, according to a media report on
Sunday. A Janakpurdham-Ayodhyadham journey will be carried out to deliver the souvenirs, My Republica
newspaper reported.The installation ceremony will take place on January 22.

Iran’s navy adds

sophisticated cruise
missiles to its armoury
DUBAI: Iran’s navy on
Sunday added domestically
produced sophisticated
cruise missiles to its arsenal,
state TV reported.
The TV said both Talaeieh
and Nasir cruise missiles have
arrived at a naval base near
the Indian Ocean in the
southern Iranian port of
Konarak, some 1,400
kilometers (850 miles)
southeast of the capital,
Tehran.
Explosion at Chinese-
owned Nickel plant
kills at least 13
PALU: A smelting furnace
exploded on Sunday at a
Chinese-owned nickel plant
on Indonesia’s Sulawesi
island, killing at least 13
workers and injuring dozens
of others, police and a
company official said. It was
the latest in a series of deadly
incidents at nickel smelting
plants in Indonesia that are
part of China’s ambitious
transnational development
programme known as the
Belt and Road Initiative.
Nickel is a key component in
global battery production for
electric vehicles.
One killed in
shooting at Florida
shopping mall
OCALA: A man died in a
shooting Saturday at a
shopping mall in central
Florida in which the victim
was apparently “targeted”
for the attack, police said.
The man was killed after he
was shot multiple times in a
common area at Paddock
Mall in Ocala, on Saturday
evening . A woman was shot
in the leg, police said. The
suspect fled the scene and
left behind the firearm,
Balken said.
PTI to move court
to regain party
symbol ‘bat’
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said
they would approach the
Peshawar High Court (PHC)
or the Supreme Court
against the Election
Commission of Pakistan’s
(ECP) decision to strip the
former party’s symbol ‘Bat’,
Geo News reported. The
ECP on Friday decided
against letting the PTI retain
its ‘bat’ electoral symbol for
the February 8 general
election.
On Christmas eve, Bethlehem
resembles a ghost town
Celebrations halted due
to Israel-Hamas war
BETHLEHEM (WEST BANK)
The normally bustling biblical
birthplace of Jesus resembled a
ghost town on Sunday, as
Christmas Eve celebrations in
Bethlehem were called off due
to the Israel-Hamas war.
The festive lights and Christ-
mas tree that normally decorate
Manger Square were missing,
as were the throngs of foreign
tourists and jubilant youth
marching bands that gather in
the West Bank town each year
to mark the holiday. Dozens of
Palestinian security forces pa-
trolled the empty square.
“This year, without the Christ-
mas tree and without lights,
there’s just darkness,” said
Brother John Vinh, a Francis-
can monk from Vietnam who
has lived in Jerusalem for six
years.
He said he always comes to
Bethlehem to mark Christmas,
but this year was especially
sobering, as he gazed at a nativ-
ity scene in Manger Square
with a baby Jesus wrapped in a
white shroud, reminiscent of
the thousands of children killed
WITH THE SC ON SIDELINE FOR NOW
Trump’s lawyers press immunity
claims before lower court
WASHINGTON
Donald Trump was acting
within his role as presi-
dent when he pressed
claims about “alleged
fraud and irregularity” in
the 2020 election, his
lawyers told a federal ap-
peals court in arguing
that he is immune from
prosecution.
The attorneys also as-
serted in a filing late on
Saturday night that the
“historical fallout is
tremendous” from the
four-count indictment
charging Trump with
plotting to overturn the
election he lost to Democ-
rat Joe Biden.
No other former presi-
Israel discovers
Hamas bomb belts
adapted for children
TEL AVIV
The Israeli military struck 200 terror
infrastructure targets in Gaza over
the past 24 hours and seized weapons
tree and celebrating as normal, belonging to Hamas, the Israel De-
when some people (in Gaza)
don’t even have houses to go to,”
fence Forces said on Sunday. Among
the facilities was a building in north-
said Ala’a Salameh, one of the
owners of Afteem Restaurant, a
ern Gaza where civilians were stay-
ing that contained a Hamas weapons
family-owned falafel restaurant complex. Soldiers found explosive
just steps from the square. belts adapted for children, dozens of
Salameh said Christmas Eve explosives, hundreds of grenades
is usually the busiest day of the and intelligence documents, the IDF
year. “Normally, you can’t find a said. The weapons complex was locat-
single chair to sit, we’re full ed in close proximity to schools, a
from morning till midnight,” clinic and a mosque.
said Salameh. This year, just Briefing reporters on Saturday
one table was taken, by journal- night, IDF Spokesperson Rear Admi-
ists taking a break from the ral Daniel Hagari disclosed that Is-
rain. raeli forces destroyed and seized ap-
Under a banner that read proximately 30,000 explosive devices,
“Bethlehem’s Christmas bells including anti-tank missiles and
ring for a cease-fire in Gaza,” a rockets, that were in Hamas’ posses-
few teenagers offered small in- sion over the course of the ground
flatable Santas, but no one was war. “There is an immense amount
buying. Instead of their tradi- of weaponry in Gaza; some, as hap-
tional musical march through pened today, is found in schools. Dur-
the streets of Bethlehem, young ing our current operation in Daraj-
scouts stood silently with flags. Tufah, we scanned schools and found
A girl stands with an inflatable Father Christmas (Saint Nicholas or Santa Claus) doll at the Manger A group of local students un- weapons, including a significant
Square outside the Church of the Nativity in the biblical city of Bethlehem in the occupied West furled a massive Palestinian amount of rockets and equipment be-
Bank on Christmas Eve AFP flag as they stood in silence. longing to Hamas’s naval commando
“Our message every year on unit. We seize the weapons, neutralis-
in the fighting in Gaza. Barbed town’s economy. Tourism ac- lehem have been forced to close, Christmas is one of peace and ing Hamas’ terrorism capabilities,”
wire surrounded the scene, the counts for an estimated 70% of leaving thousands of people un- love, but this year it’s a message Hagari said. During a separate oper-
grey rubble reflecting none of Bethlehem’s income - almost all employed. of sadness, grief and anger in ation in the northern Gaza Strip, sol-
the joyous lights and bursts of of that during the Christmas Gift shops were slow to open front of the international com- diers identified a number of terror-
colour that normally fill the season. on Christmas Eve, although a munity with what is happening ists coming out of a military struc-
square during the Christmas With many major airlines can- few did once the rain had and going on in the Gaza Strip,” ture where Hamas had placed obser-
season. celling flights to Israel, few for- stopped pouring down. There Bethlehem’s mayor, Hana vation devices. The forces directed an
The cancellation of Christmas eigners are visiting. Local offi- were few visitors, however. Haniyeh, said in an address to air strike on the building,
festivities is a severe blow to the cials say over 70 hotels in Beth- “We can’t justify putting out a the crowd. eliminating the terror squad.
Nawaz Sharif, Maryam file nominations,
Bilawal puts challenge in Lahore
LAHORE second, according to Geo
will plague our Nation for News.
many decades to come Former Pakistan Prime On the other hand, NA-130
and stands likely to shat- Minister Nawaz Sharif and was won by PTI with PML-
ter the very bedrock of his daughter and senior N turning up as the second-
our Republic - the confi- Vice President of the party, largest party of the con-
dence of American citi- Maryam Nawaz filed nomi- stituency. PTI won PP-159
zens in an independent ju- nation papers for the up- and 160 seats in Lahore
dicial system,” the attor- coming general elections, with a slim margin in the
neys wrote in a brief filed Geo News reported. last general elections, while
with the US Court of Ap- PML-N leader Bilal Yasin PML-N came in second in
peals for the District of submitted the nomination both constituencies. On the
Columbia Circuit. papers on behalf of the par- flip side, PML-N President
dent has ever been indict- At issue before the ty supremo from NA-130 Shehbaz Sharif won the PP-
ed; Trump has been in- court, which has set argu- (Lahore-XIV), while 165 seat effortlessly last
dicted four times, in both ments for January 9, is Maryam submitted her pa- time, but the party lost the
state and federal court, as whether Trump is im- pers for two National As- Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari PP-80 by a wide margin to
he campaigns to reclaim mune from prosecution sembly (NA-119 and NA- the PTI. Meanwhile, Pak-
submits his nomination papers in Larkana on Sunday AFP
the White House. for what defense lawyers 120) constituencies. istan People’s Party (PPP)
“The indictment of Pres- say are official acts that Maryam also submitted tions, PTI’s Rahat Aman Ul- second in the race, whereas Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-
ident Trump threatens to fell within the outer nomination papers from lah Bhatti won the NA-119 PML-N’s Rana Tanveer Zardari has challenged the
launch cycles of recrimi- perimeter of a president’s four constituencies of the (Sheikhupura 1) con- Hussain won NA-120 Sharif brothers in their
nation and politically mo- duties and responsibili- Punjab Assembly. stituency and PML-N’s (Sheikhupura 2) and PTI’s stronghold of Lahore in the
tivated prosecution that ties. In the 2018 general elec- Rana Afzaal Hussain came Ali Asghar Chaudhry came February 8 polls.

Detained Baloch protestors
released after heavy backlash
ISLAMABAD
Days after being held for
protesting against ‘en-
forced disappearances’
against the Pakistani gov-
ernment, the detained
Baloch protestors were re-
leased by the Islamabad
Police on Sunday, after
their bail was approved,
The News International
reported.
The development came
after the Baloch protesters
gave a three-day ultima-
tum to the Islamabad au-
thorities, seeking the re-
lease of all students and
demanding the dismissal
of all the cases against the
protestors.
Earlier on Wednesday
night, the Islamabad po-
lice used excessive force
and rounded up all the
Baloch protestors, who
converged in the capital to
stage a protest demonstra-
tion against “enforced dis-
appearances.” The long
march led by Baloch
women started their jour-
ney from Balochistan on
December 6, The News In-
ternational reported.
Notably, the police action
against the Baloch women
and men triggered wide-
spread condemnations
from human rights bodies
and political parties. Even
the federal ministers ad-
mitted that the
“protestors who reached
Islamabad from Balochis-
tan were not involved in
the violence.”
British Sikh mother,
son jailed for
burglary conspiracy
LONDON
An Indian-origin mother
and son have been sen-
tenced to a total of just un-
der four years of imprison-
ment after conspiring to
steal a large sum of money
collected by the local Sikh
community in south-east
England to pay for a wed-
ding.
Kalwant Kaur, 41, and her
son, Jung Singh Lankan-
pal, 22, of the same address
in Southampton, Hamp-
shire, were charged with
conspiring to commit a
burglary, which they both
pleaded guilty to back in
October. Appearing on Fri-
day at Southampton Crown
Court for sentencing, Kaur
was jailed for 15 months
and Lankanpal handed a
30-month jail term.
British home secretary No plans to bring
under fire for making joke 1lakh migrant workers
about date rape drug from India: Taiwan
TAIPEI
LONDON drug - “in her drink Taiwanese Labour Minister Hsu Ming-chun
every night” was “not on Saturday said that the government has no
British Home Secre- really illegal if it’s only plans to bring as many as 100,000 migrant
tary James Cleverly a little bit”. workers from India to Taiwan, Taiwan’s Cen-
was under fire Sunday The drug, tral News Agency (CNA) reported.
for joking about date colloquially known as a His remarks come in apparent reference to
rape just hours after roofie when it is the statement made by Kuomintang (KMT)
announcing plans to crushed and put into presidential nominee Hou Yu-ih.
crack down on what he someone’s beverage In a press release, Hsu Ming-chun said Tai-
had dubbed a “per- without their knowl- wan had not signed a memorandum of un-
verse” offence. edge, makes the subject drowsy derstanding (MoU) with India to bring in mi-
Cleverly, who oversees national and can lead to unconsciousness grant workers. He further said that the issue
security and law enforcement in and memory loss. was subject to continued evaluation regard-
England and Wales, faced a call to Cleverly apologised through a ing employment cooperation.
step down after he reportedly spokesperson for what he called Hsu stressed that any claims made
joked at an event at the prime an “ironic joke” after he had an- regarding Taiwan seeking to open its doors to
minister’s home about drugging nounced the Conservative gov- 100,000 Indian workers are “fake,” adding that
his wife. ernment planned to update legis- these claims have been made by “ill-inten-
He told women guests at a Dec lation to make clear that such tioned people” to manipulate people’s
18 reception that the secret to a drink spiking is illegal. He de- opinions for electoral gains. Hsu Ming-chun’s
long marriage was having a scribed the practice as a “per- statement came after KMT nominee Hou cited
spouse who “is always mildly se- verse” crime. a media report claiming that an MOU had al-
dated so she can never realise The comments were made dur- ready been signed to bring in Indian migrant
there are better men out there,” ing a drinks reception at 10 workers, CNA reported. Hou Yu-ih’s statement
the Sunday Mirror newspaper re- Downing Street where political during a televised policy presentation forum

‘Illegal & Haram’: Pak’s educational UN calls on Taliban to stop children’s

ported. journalists mingled with on Wednesday was a likely reference to a No-
Cleverly said “a little bit of Ro- political aides, ministers and vember 10 media report claiming a
hypnol” - the so-called date rape Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. prospective MOU between Taiwan and India.

institute issues fatwa against TikTok recruitment in security forces

KARACHI serts that TikTok poses an
increasing danger as a fitna
KABUL

The United Nations (UN) has called on the Taliban to

Jamia Binoria Town, a
prominent religious school
in Karachi, the capital of
Sindh province, has issued
a fatwa (a religious decree)
declaring the use of TikTok
illegal and haram, terming
it the biggest temptation of
the modern era, Pakistani
vernacular media reported.
The institution outlined
ten reasons supporting its
stance. In the past,
religious scholars have
been calling for a ban on
TikTok as a reason for
spreading immorality, and
a partial ban has also been
imposed on TikTok time
and again in Pakistan,
Dawn News TV reported.
The fatwa, delivered on-
line by Jamia Binoria, as-
(temptation) in the present
age and is considered ille-
gal and haram from a
Shariah perspective.
Among the reasons cited,
the app’s inclusion of pho-
tos and videos of animals is
deemed forbidden in
Sharia, and the creation
and dissemination of ob-
scene videos by women on
the platform is highlighted,
Dawn News TV report
added. Furthermore, the
fatwa condemns the prac-
tice of men and women on
TikTok making videos in-
volving dancing and
singing, which is viewed as
a means of spreading ob-
scenity and nudity, deemed
a waste of time and leading
to moral decay.
Zimbabwe holiday passport rush is
recognise individuals under 18 years of age as children
and prevent their recruitment into security forces,
Khaama Press reported.
fed by economic gloom, price hike
The Khaama Press is an online news service for HARARE the table. The finance min-
Afghanistan. The UN has said that Afghan children re- ister’s budget proposals for
main in an extremely vulnerable situation. In a report Atop many Christmas 2024 said passport fees
released on Friday, the UN stated that over two years, wish lists in economically would rise to $200 in Janu-
from the beginning of 2021 to the end of 2022, a total of troubled Zimbabwe is a ary, sparking an outcry.
4,519 cases of violence against 3,545 children ranging travel document, and peo- The hike was then reduced
from a few months to 17 years old have been reported ple are flooding the pass- to $150.
in Afghanistan. The findings indicate that the Taliban port office this holiday sea- Several million Zimbab-
is the main perpetrator of these violations, as per son ahead of a price hike weans are estimated to
Khaama Press. planned in the New Year. have left the southern
The UN stated that the Taliban does not accept the in- The desperation at the of- line at the passport office to get a passport,” said the African country over the
ternational definition of a child as someone under 18 fice in the capital city of but when he arrived at 5 49-year-old father of three. past two decades when its
years old and considers a child to be someone who does Harare is palpable as some am there were already “I have been saving for it economy began collaps-
not show signs of puberty. Special Representative of the people fear the hike could more than 100 people wait- for the last three months ing. The migration has
UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict push the cost of obtaining ing. Some people had slept and I have to make sure I taken renewed vigour in
Virginia Gamba said that despite some actions by the a passport out of reach and outside the office get it before January.” At recent years as hopes of a
Taliban, including the issuance of a decree prohibiting economic gloom feeds a overnight. $120, passports were al- better life following the
the recruitment of children, the group has not yet made surge in migration. “The only thing that can ready pricey for many in a 2017 ouster of longtime
child protection a part of its governance agenda. Nolan Mukona said he make my Christmas a country where the majori- president Robert Mugabe
woke up at dawn to get in cheerful one is if I manage ty struggle to put food on fade.
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VOL. 13 NO. 192 | BHOPAL | MONDAY | DECEMBER 25, 2023 | PAGES 14 `3 r Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2021-2023; r RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 www.freepressjournal.in

FREE PRESS -
EDITIONS: INDORE, BHOPAL, UJJAIN, MUMBAI, PUNE

EDIT

WEATHER
22.70c. 13.10c
MAYAWATI’S STATEMENT YET RTD SSP SHOT BY TERRORISTS Sunrise : 07.04
ICC REJECTS USMAN
AGAIN KEEPS HOPE ALIVE Pg-8 WHILE GIVING CALL FOR ‘AZAAN’ Sunset : 05.48 KHAWAJA’S REQUEST Pg-12

Dawat Food awarded Rs 250 cr Sports Ministry’s swift action

compensation as fire claim
Second largest
award in the
history of Bhopal
OUR STAFF REPORTER
City.bhopal@fpj.co.in
Rs 161 crore 20 lakh with
6 per cent interest rate
which comes to Rs 250
crore to Daawat Foods
Private Limited, Man-
dideep.
It is second highest
compensation passed by
cial) BR Yadav. further said, "After
WFI SUSPENDED FOR
FLOUTING RULES
Advocate Shirish Shri- fire that occurred in
vastava, who appeared on June 2014, Dawat Food
behalf of Daawat Foods
Limited Mandideep, said,
had approached Orien-
tal Insurance Company
"This order of huge which rejected the
amount is the second in claim stating fire is not
the history of Bhopal accident. The plaintiff NEW DELHI

In fire incidence in Rice

factory of Mandideep,
District and Sessions
Court has ordered Orien-
tal Insurance Company
to pay compensation of
Bhopal district court af-
ter interim relief of Gas
Tragedy which was Rs
350 crore. The fire that
took place in Rice Facto-
ry Mandideep on June ,
7,2014. Judge (Commer-
District Court. First or-
der in compensation case
by the district court was
of Bhopal gas tragedy
which was of Rs 350
crore."
Advocate Shrivastava
himself made cause of
fire. After the cancella-
tion, on behalf of
Daawat Foods, he filed
an appeal against can-
cellation of claim in
Bhopal court.
The Sports Ministry on
AD-HOC PANEL TO TAKE
Sunday suspended the CHARGE AGAIN
Wrestling Federation of Tarun Pareek, under secretary
India (WFI), three days af- to the Government of India,
ter it elected new office wrote to Indian Olympic
bearers, for not following Association President PT Usha,
the provisions of its own requesting her to constitute
constitution while taking an ad-hoc panel at the

Cabinet formation of decisions and also asked

IOA to constitute an ad-hoc
panel to manage the affairs
of the sports body.
earliest. "It becomes
incumbent on part of the IOA
to make suitable
arrangements for the interim

Yadav govt today In suspending the WFI,

NEWS BRIEF
Mamata Bengal's
Santa Claus: Hakim
KOLKATA: West Bengal
minister Firhad Hakim on
Sunday said Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee is the
state's Santa Claus, who gifts
people development
initiatives throughout the
year. Hakim is considered to
be close to Banerjee.
"When we were kids, on
Christmas Eve, we used to
think Santa Claus would
come. On Christmas
morning, we used to see
that either toys or
chocolates were gifted. At
that time, I used to think
does Santa Claus really
come? Now I realise Santa
Claus really comes," he said.
PM to virtually distribute
the government cited its
"hasty announcement" of
organising the U-15 and U-
for managing the affairs of
WFI so that sports persons of
wrestling discipline do not
suffer," he wrote.
Vijayvargiya, Patel, Bhargava CM meets Prez, Birla 20 nationals "without fol-
lowing due procedure and WRESTLERS WELCOME SUSPENSION
tipped to become ministers; BHOPAL: During his not giving sufficient notice Sakshi Malik, one of the prominent faces of the agitation against former Brij Bhushan,
swearing-in today: Yadav New Delhi visit, to wrestlers" for prepara- welcomed the ministry move. "It is the first step towards something good happening," Malik,
newly-appointed Chief tions. who had announced her retirement from sports after the WFI elections, said. Bajrang Punia,
OUR STAFF REPORTER Minister Mohan Yadav Hours after getting elect- who had returned his Padma Shri medallion to the government on Friday in protest over
city.bhopal@fpj.co.in met President ed as WFI President on election of Brij Bhushan loyalist Sanjay Singh, said he won't take back his award.
Senior BJP MLAs Kailash Vijayvargiya Droupadi Murmu, Lok Thursday, Sanjay Singh
and Prahlad Singh Patel are likely to be- Sabha Speaker Om had announced that age BRIJ BHUSHAN TAKES RETIREMENT
come ministers in the first cabinet of Mo- Birla and Union group national champi- After his meeting with Nadda, Brij Bhushan announced that he won't be involved in the
han Yadav government which is going to Minister Anurag onships will be held from running of WFI anymore. "I served wrestling for 12 years, good or bad only time will tell. I
take oath at 3.30 pm on Monday. It is learnt Thakur on Sunday. December 28 in Gonda, UP. have taken retirement from wrestling. I am breaking my relationship with the sport. Brij
that around 25 BJP MLAs are tipped to be- It was Yadav's first meeting with President The ministry felt the new Bhushan clarified that the decision to hold the U15 and U20 Nationals was taken in haste
come the ministers in the Mohan Yadav Murmu after taking charge as Chief Minister. WFI body was working un- because he did not want the young players to lose one precious year of their careers.
government. Later, he visited the house of Lok Sabha der the complete control of
The possible names for cabinet posts are: Chairman Om Birla and had a cordial its former office-bearers, Sports Code. Soon after Bhushan Sharan Singh for nounced that he was tak-
Bhupendra Singh, Archana Chitnis, Gopal discussion with him. Om Birla congratulated which was not in conform- WFI's suspension, BJP a meeting after which the ing "retirement from the
Bhargava, Tulsiram Silawat, Krishna him on getting the reins of Madhya Pradesh ity with the National chief JP Nadda called Brij former WFI boss an- sport". CONTD. ON P8
Gaur, Nagar Singh Chouhan, Rakesh and hoped that with his progressive
Shukla, Dr Prabhuram Chauhdhary, Prad- thoughts, he would take Madhya Pradesh to INDIA DOWN OZ TO WIN TEST
hyuman Singh Tomar, Manisha Singh,
Aidal Singh Kansana, Gayatri Raje Pawar,
Sanjay Pathak, Vishnu Khatri, Divyaraj
new heights. The discussion between both
leaders remained focused on different 3 juveniles
Singh, Hemant Khandelwal, Govind Singh
Rajput among others. Some other names
relevant issues. CM also visited the house of
Anurag Thakur. He held discussions on
different sports-related topics and over how
held for killing
are also doing the rounds for induction
into the first cabinet expansion.
to ensure the participation of youths in the
Bharat Nirman Sankalp.
man in Delhi
CONTD. ON P8 NEW DELHI: Three mi-
nors have been apprehend-
JN-1 ADVISORY ed for allegedly killing a 25-
Persons with ILI NCPCR chief to issue year-old man in the Niza-
muddin area of south-east
Delhi, said the police.

dues of Mill workers

Bhopal: Prime Minister
symptoms, foreign
travel must go for
notice over alleged The deceased has been
identified as Azad, a resi-
dent of Nizam Nagar in the

Narendra Modi will virtually
address a programme and
distribute dues worth Rs
224 crore pertaining to
workers of Hukumchand
Mill in Indore on Monday.
The PM will participate in
'Mazdooron Ka Hit,
Mazdooron ko Samarpit'
event to be held at
Kankeshwari ground via
video conference and hand
over a cheque of Rs 224
crore, an official release
said.
Retd SSP shot dead
Srinagar :A 72-year-old
retired police officer and
local "muezzin", Mohammad
Shafi Mir, was shot dead by
terrorists on Sunday
morning while he was giving
a call for "azaan" from a
mosque in north Kashmir's
Baramulla district, leaving
the community in shock.
According to Mir's cousin
Mohammad Mustafa, who
was present at home during
the incident, the call for pre-
dawn prayers was being
given through a loudspeaker
when it abruptly stopped.
RT-PCR: CMHO
OUR STAFF REPORTER
City.bhopal@fpj.co.in
The state health depart-
ment has issued an adviso-
ry in the wake of rise in
cases of JN1 variant of
Covid. In view of rise in the
number of positive and ac-
tive patients of Covid-19 in
the scenario of global pan-
demic and the new variant
JN-1, necessary guidelines
were issued by the Addi-
tional Chief Secretary of
the Public Health and Fam-
ily Welfare Department.
Chief Medical and Health
Officer (CMHO) Dr Prab-
hakar Tiwari said, "In
view of seasonal diseases,
patients suffering from
common cold can also pres-
ent in OPD with symptoms
of Covid-19. All suspected
persons with Influenza-
Like Illness (ILI) symp-
toms, persons who have
traveled abroad in the last
14 days and who have come
in contact CONTD. ON P8
conversions in Dewas
OUR STAFF REPORTER / Bhopal
National Commission for
Protection of Child Rights
(NCPCR) president
Priyank Kanoongo alleged
that during his visit to the
two missionary organisa-
tions in the tribal areas of
Dewas district, he found
evidence of foreign fund-
ing and high political con-
tacts of the institute.
"It is clear that influen-
tial people in the tribal ar-
eas are using their influ-
ence to do the dirty work of
converting innocent chil-
dren," he added in his post
on X.He also alleged that
children have learned
Christian religious
prayers by heart and
vowed to take action under
JJ Act and Madhya
Pradesh Freedom of Reli-
gion Act, 2021.
Alleging that children as
young as 10 years of age
were made to cut grass and
even clean toilets on the
premises, he said action
would be taken by issuing
a notice to the Chief Secre-
tary of Madhya Pradesh
Government.
The NCPCR chief
Kanoongo said he inspect-
ed two different institu-
tions that were run by Mis-
isonary organisations. "To-
day, during my visit to the
tribal areas of Dewas dis-
trict of Madhya Pradesh, I
inspected two different insti-
tutions, both of which were
being run by missionary or-
ganisations," he posted on X.
"Almost all the children
are Hindus. However, the
children offer Christian
prayers at the institution.
The children have learned
Christian religious prayers
by heart. Innocent children
as young as 10 years of age
are made to cut grass, sweep
and even clean toilets on the
premises," he further alleged
in his post. CONTD. ON P8
Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur with teammates celebrates after India won the one-off Test
cricket match against Australia, in Mumbai, on Sunday
Maran's remark on Bihar workers:
Tejashwi condemns comment
CHENNAI/PATNA : A Nagar in South Delhi."Upon
video clip of an alleged
derogatory remark made
months ago by DMK Lok
Sabha MP Dayanidhi
Maran on workers hailing
from Uttar Pradesh and Bi-
har was widely circulated
on social media on Sunday,
which led to a war of
words between the BJP
and Tamil Nadu's ruling
Dravidian party.
The alleged remark that
people from the Hindi heart-
land were constructing
houses, cleaning roads and
toilets in Tamil Nadu was
condemned by Bihar Deputy
old settlement of Hazrat
Nizamuddin Basti.
According to Delhi Po-
lice, "Information was re-
ceived at the Police Station
regarding the apprehen-
sion of three suspects by
emergency response vehi-
cle (ERV) staff. On inquiry,
the suspects were identified
as juveniles." During the in-
vestigation, locals of the
Nizamuddin Basti disclosed
that the juvenile trio mur-
dered Azad and that his dead
body was found at Amir
Khusro Park near Sundar
SAD CONGRESS IS SILENT OVER MARAN’S their confession, the investi-
DEROGATORY REMARKS: VIJAYVARGIYA gating officer (IO) reached
Bhopal, Dec 24 (PTI) BJP general secretary Kailash the spot with the accused
Vijayvargiya on Sunday questioned the "silence" of Congress trio and discovered a half-
over alleged derogatory remarks made by DMK Lok Sabha burnt body lying in Khusro
member Dayanidhi Maran on workers from Uttar Pradesh Park," said police. Further,
and Bihar. A video clip of the alleged offensive comments the crime team inspected
made months ago by Maran was widely circulated on social the crime scene and sent the
media on Sunday, leading to a war of words between the body to AIIMS Hospital.Sub-
BJP and Tamil Nadu's ruling Dravidian party. sequently, a case under sec-
tions 302/201/34 of the Indi-
The RJD leader con- English language. an Penal Code (IPC) was reg-
demning Maran's com- Yadav said, like his party, istered and the Child in Con-
ment assumes significance the RJD, the DMK headed flict with Law (CCL) was for-
in the wake of the BJP by Tamil Nadu Chief Min- mally apprehended.
questioning the 'silence' of ister M K Stalin, was a par- During further investiga-
parties that constitute the ty that believed in social tion and interrogation, the
opposition alliance.The justice and it was unbe- trio revealed that on Decem-

2 India-bound ships with Indian Techie chained,
burnt alive in TN
Chief Minister Tejashwi Ya-
dav, whose party, the RJD, is
a constituent of the INDIA
bloc like the DMK.
DMK has slammed the BJP
for spreading 'falsehood,'
asserting that Maran only
stressed on learning the
coming of a leader of such ber 21, at about 10.00 PM,
a party to have made such they had committed the
a remark.
CONTD. ON P8
murder.
CONTD. ON P8

crew attacked by drones CHENNAI

A transgender man was

NEW DELHI: Two vessels

that were bound for India
and carrying Indian crew
members were attacked by
drones as maritime ten-
sions escalated in the after-
math of the war between
Israel and the Hamas in
the Gaza Strip.
A Gabon-flagged com-
mercial oil tanker, MV
Saibaba, with 25 Indian
crew on board, came under
a drone attack by Yemen's
Houthi rebels in the south-
ern Red Sea. No injuries
were reported, the US mili-
tary and Indian Navy offi-
cials said on Sunday.
An Israeli-linked mer-
chant ship, MV Chem Plu-
to, with around 20 Indian
crew members, was hit by
a drone about 217 nautical
miles off the Porbandar
coast in Gujarat in the Ara-
bian Sea, officials said on
Saturday.
The US Central Com-
mand (CENTCOM) said
the Gabon-flagged vessel,
MV Saibaba, was targeted
by a Houthi drone in the
southern Red Sea. It earli-
er said the ship was an "In-
dian-flagged crude oil
tanker", but the Indian
Navy on Sunday denied it.
CONTD. ON P8
arrested by the Thalambur
police on Sunday morning
for allegedly killing a
woman who had turned
down his proposal, by ty-
ing her up, and burning
her to death near Ponmar
on Saturday night.
After an inquiry, the ac-
cused, identified as Vetri,
will be sent for judicial re-
mand, the police said. The
deceased was identified as
Nandini (25) of Madurai,
who was an engineer in a
software company. While
she was studying in Madu-
rai, she befriended the ac-
cused Vetri, also from
Madurai. Police said Vetri
had not come out to Nandi-
ni as a trans man at the
time.The duo came to
Chennai for work.
CONTD. ON P8
Minors among 303 Indians on plane
grounded in France apply for asylum
AGENCIES
NEW DELHI
At least 10 Indian passen-
gers, including unaccom-
panied minors, who are
among the 303 people on a
Nicaragua-bound plane
that was grounded in
France have applied for
asylum, a source close to
the matter told news
agency AFP on Saturday.
The plane, Romania-
based Legend Airlines, has
been held at Vatry airport,
around 150 kilometres east
Ten Indian passengers, including six gers were still put up in
the airport's entrance hall
unaccompanied minors, have applied for on Saturday morning.
asylum after their plane bound for Nicaragua Their details were not yet
confirmed by French au-
was halted in France's Vatry airport over thorities. The entrance
"human trafficking" hall's glass exterior and
nearby buildings were
of Paris, since Thursday the Airbus A340 jet, the covered with tarpaulin as
after it arrived in Dubai. Paris prosecutor's office the police restricted ac-
The flight was grounded said. Six of them have cess. A source close to the
after officials received an shown interest in apply- case told AFP earlier that
anonymous tip-off that it ing for asylum, Aurore the passengers may have
was carrying potential vic- Opyrchal, a lawyer ap- planned to travel to Cen-
tims of human trafficking. pointed to represent some tral America to illegally
There were 11 unaccom- of the passengers told enter the US or Canada.
panied minors on board AFP. The stranded passen- CONTD. ON P8
 Tiger count at Satpura Reserve to know strength
BHOPAL INDORE / BHOPAL | MONDAY | DECEMBER 25, 2023
Bhopal: Satpura Tiger Reserve has embarked on a mission to know how many tigers have increased inside the park or how many cubs have taken
birth. For this, it has installed 800 camera traps at different locations. Two hundred more camera traps will be placed. Satpura Tiger Reserve director L
Krishnamurthy said tiger count would continue for 25 days. After this, another round of counting will follow. This will help in knowing that how many
tigers have increased and how many cubs have taken the birth. A similar exercise was carried out last year. At that time, reserve had 62 tigers.

FOLLWO-UP: RGPV CLASH NEXT mandatory to become Two labourers die

‘Students of special group
responsible for violence’
OUR STAFF REPORTER
city.bhopal@fpj.co.in
A clash between two stu-
dent groups at Rajiv Gand-
hi Proudyogiki Vish-
wavidyalaya (RGPV) on
Friday, left 10 students in-
jured, has once again jolt-
ed the campus. The stu-
dents who were injured
have levelled allegations
against students of a spe-
cial group, which triggered
violence.
Gandhi Nagar police
have launched a probe into
the case and a meeting of
all the accused students
with the university’s anti-
ragging committee has
been scheduled on Wednes-
day, in which explanation
will be sought from all the
students. Talking to Free
Press, one of the injured
students Prabhat said sen-
ior students formed a
group called BHEL group.
They often target junior
students and unleash vio-
lence on campus.
He, however, said the
BHEL group has no associ-
ation with PSU Bharat
Heavy Electricals Limited
(BHEL). An FIR has been
registered against six stu-
dents of the university and
a notice has been issued to
20 students of BHEL
group.
Apart from Prabhat, oth-
er students injured in the
clash, requesting
anonymity told Free Press
that NSUI and ABVP mem-
bers interfered with uni-
versity’s affairs and en-
gaged in violent activities.
They have a long-standing
argument with students of
BHEL group, which com-
prises over 100 senior stu-
dents.
On September 4, a clash
had erupted in the uni-
versity, in which a sec-
ond year student was
brutally beaten up by 15
students of the third
year inside the universi-
ty hostel. After 25 days,
all the accused students
had been suspended by
the university.
Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani,
Sowa-Rigpa Ayush docs
OUR STAFF REPORTER
city.bhopal@fpj.co.in
National Exit Test (NEXT)
has been introduced for
Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani
and Sowa-Rigpa AYUSH
graduates and for registra-
tion in State Board and
Central Register. NEXT
will be held every year in
February and August.
Principal of Sarvepalli
Radhakrishnan College of
Ayurveda Hospital and Re-
search Centre and
spokesperson of Ayurveda
Conference Ayush Medical
Association, Dr Rakesh
Pandey said, “Gazette noti-
fication of India has been
issued and is immediately
implemented. Along with
National Exit Test, Nation-
al Teachers Eligibility Test
has also been made com-
pulsory in AYUSH colleges.
This examination will be
conducted at national level
every year in May.”
“Now, it is mandatory for
graduates to clear EXIT to be-
come a doctor and it is
mandatory for postgraduates
to clear National Teachers’
Eligibility Test to become a
medical teacher. It is neces-
sary to obtain 50 per cent
marks in both. National
Teacher Eligibility Test for
Indian System of Medicine
will be valid for 10 years from
the date of passing.” Eligible
candidates will be issued
certificates by the National
Commission for Indian Sys-
tem of Medicine, New Del-
hi. With the gazette notifi-
cation, it will become Indi-
an System of Medicine Na-
tional Commission Regula-
tions, 2023. This will be ap-
plicable to more than 500
AYUSH medical colleges
and doctors across the
country, Dr Pandey added.
as wall collapses
during swimming
pool construction
Bhopal: Two labourers died
when an old wall of an
ashram fell on them in Kiti
village during construction of
a swimming pool in Bhind
district, police said on Sunday.
Umri police station incharge
Ravindra Sharma said incident
occurred in Kiti village when
workers were digging earth
for the construction of a
swimming pool at Trimurti
Ashram on Sunday. "An old
wall of the ashram caved in
and fell on two labourers
who were digging the soil,"
he said. The duo identified as
Kattar Singh Yadav (35) and
Anil Singh (46) was rushed to
a hospital where doctors
declared them brought dead,
he said. The police have
registered the case and have
started investigation. It is
informed that the district
administration will provide
relief amount as per the
government schemes.
Woman abducted,
raped by hubby, friend,
accused booked
OUR STAFF REPORTER
city.bhopal@fpj.co.in
A 23-year-old married
woman who had separated
from her husband, was al-
legedly abducted by him
and one of his friends 15
days back and was held
captive at a deserted place.
During this, her husband s
friend raped her too. The
police have rescued the
woman and a hunt is on to
trace the two accused.
According to Nazirabad
police, her husband did not
like her, owing to which
the duo separated a year
ago. The woman began re-
siding at a rented accom-
modation in Nazirabad. A
fortnight back, the woman
s husband allegedly kid-
napped her with the help of
one of his friends and kept
her captive at another loca-
tion in the city. During
him and his accomplice
Rajkumar Ahirwar has
been registered.
Neighbour rapes
married woman, booked
A 25-year-old married
woman was raped by her
neighbour in the city re-
cently. Ashoka Garden
police station TI Jiten-
dra Kumar Pathak said
the woman had become
acquainted with her
neighbour named Chan-
drakumar Yadav. Three
days back, the woman
told Yadav to bring a
milk packet.
Yadav went to her house
to give her the packet and
finding her alone, he al-
legedly raped her. He even
shot a video of the act and
began blackmailing the
woman. On Saturday, he
even made a video call to

Patwari holds meeting with women wing & YC members
Women members
demand all elections
through EVMs
OUR STAFF REPORTER
city.bhopal@fpj.co.in
State Congress president Jitu
Patwari has asked the Women
Wing of the party to raise the is-
sue of ‘subsidise gas cylinder’
promised to women during As-
sembly election.
The newly appointed PCC pres-
ident took the meeting of Con-
gress women wing and Indian
Youth Congress here on Sunday.
Addressing the meeting of
women’s wing, he asked the
members to focus on promises
made in BJP’s election manifesto
about women-related schemes.
He instructed to prepare the
strategy to sensitized the district
units for demonstration.
He asked to organise the
demonstration at the state level
and also at the district headquar-
ters, so that the people know
about the failed promises made
by BJP during election.
President of Madhya Pradesh
Women Congress, Vibha Patel
said that maximum participa-
tion of women should be ensured
in the organization, if women get
proper respect then they will ex-
press views effectively.
Patwari asked women and IYC
members to prepare their units
for Lok Sabha elections.
While addressing the IYC mem-
bers, he asked them to motivate
youths to join Congress party. He
asked them to use social media
platform to connect them with
the party. He also asked to lift the
issues related to the youths in
BJP’s manifesto. He also asked to
prepare aggressive strategy
against the injustice done by BJP
to youths in past years.
State YC president Vikrant
Bhuria said members were dis-
appointed with the results of the
assembly elections, but our
struggle would continue.
New Cong chief to interact with
party workers for 4 days
OUR STAFF REPORTER
city.bhopal@fpj.co.in
The newly nominated
state Congress president
Jitu Patwari began hold-
ing series of meetings
with party workers here
on Sunday. The meetings
are taken to boost morale
of party workers and pre-
pare them for Lok Sabha
elections to be held next
year.
Jitu Patwari has start-
ed streamlining the
state's cadre. In the
process, he is holding se-
ries of meetings with dif-
ferent segments of party
workers. He will hold
meetings with them for
next three days.
After taking charge as
State Congress president,
he met senior leaders of
the party to seek their
this, the husband s friend
raped her multiple times.
To dodge police, he ap-
proached the police and
woman s husband and
threatened to circulate the
obscene video on social
media. The woman and her
lodged a missing person
complaint there.
husband approached the
police on Sunday and
The police later traced
the woman and learnt
lodged a complaint against
Yadav. The police have be-
support. On Sunday, he
about the entire incident.
A case of rape case against
gun searching for him,
they said.
met former Union minis-
ter Suresh Pachouri. So
far, Patwari has made no
changes and he is leading
the party on the platform
set up by former state
Congress president and
ex-CM Kamal Nath.
The biggest challenge
for Patwari is to keep the
party workers together
and keep their morale
high. The loss in Assem-
bly election has shat-
tered the party workers.
On Sunday, Patwari
held meeting with
women’s wing and Youth
Congress members. On
Monday, he will meet
members of NSUI and
Sewa Dal. On Tuesday, he
will interact with district
Congress presidents and
state office-bearers and
on Wednesday.
 OVERHEARD
HARD TIMES
The state administration has struck a bad patch these
BHOPAL CITY
INDORE / BHOPAL | MONDAY | DECEMBER 25, 2023
days: for the first time, an in-charge chief secretary has
been heading the bureaucracy for a long time. The
government perhaps wants to run the administration with
an in-charge CS until it finds a permanent officer for the After losing mandate in Chhindwara dist Consecration of Lord Ram idol at Ayodhya on Jan 22
post. It is heard that an officer, working on deputation for
the Central Government, may take over as the CS, but it
City temple committees,
5 BJP candidates call on VD,
is not known when he will be sent back to the state.
Because an in-charge CS is running the administration, the
officers are waiting for a permanent CS. On the other
hand, the in-charge CS wants to continue till her
retirement. The officer, who has so far avoided handling
important assignments, is unwilling to quit the position of
traders’ bodies to celebrate big
speak of rift and sabotage
CS. Since the Central Government has virtually taken over OUR STAFF REPORTER installed for watching the ceremony.
the reins of power in the state, it is all set to select an BHOPAL After the ceremony, 1,100 earthen
officer to head the state bureaucracy. lamps will be lit, followed by fire-
CHANGE OF SEASON Local temple committees and works. Prakash Malviya, spokesper-
Despite the ruling party’s return to power, a new traders’ organisations will celebrate son for Badwale Mahadev Mandir
government seems to have taken over the state. Most of Without naming, Sahu tion’ from some local leaders Notably, a few days ago, Sahu, the consecration of Lord Ram’s idol Seva Samiti, said 5,100 lamps would
the bureaucrats, sensing this change, are promoting their points at ex minister which cost them dear in the As- his wife and supporters had tak- in Ayodhya on January 22 in a big be lit in and around the temple. Bal
own welfare, and a principal secretary (PS) is having a sembly elections. Those who ac- en umbrage over the social way. Swaroop of Lord Shiva will be
swing at staying in power. When the Congress formed a OUR STAFF REPORTER companied Sahu included Moni- media post and reported the mat- Manas Bhawan will be decorated shown at the temple. People will be
government, there was an impact on many officers, but city.bhopal@fpj.co.in ca Batti, Jyoti Deharia, Lakhan ter to the local police. In this with colourful lights and its Ram able to watch the ceremony on LED
the PS got a plum posting through his clout. Similarly, the Verma and Nattan Shah. case, fingers were pointed at ex Gallery will be decked up with flow- screens. Traders’ associations will
smart officer got a posting of his choice when the BJP The escalating differences be- Sahu, without naming ex min- minister Chandrabhan Singh but ers. Executive President of Tulsi install LED screens in different
returned to power after ousting the Congress. The officer tween Chhindwara’s BJP district ister Chandrabhan Singh, al- the latter refused to have any- Manas Pratishthan, Raghunandan parts of Old City. About 5,000
has again become active to get an important assignment, president Bunty Sahu and ex leged that a few local BJP leaders thing to do with the post. Sharma, said 125 pictures depicting earthen lamps will be lit by 500 shop-
because he knows, he will be shifted from the department minister Chandrabhan Singh in association with some Con- Meanwhile, BJP candidate Lord Rama’s life from birth to coro- keepers having their establishment
he is heading. He has set his eyes on a department for has reached the party state head- gress people were hatching a con- from Parasia, Jyoti Deharia nation would be displayed in the in Subhash Chowk. Navneet Agarw-
which he has been having a crack at for a long time. The quarters. The party organisation spiracy against him to malign while talking to Free Press said gallery. Visitors will be explained al, spokesperson for Bhopal Sarafa
relatives of the PS also want to see him in this is likely to step in to address the his image. Sahu, who lost the As- that everyone kept before the about Lord Rama’s life. The pro- Association, said that Sarafa Chowk
department, so that they may expand their business. matter. sembly election to Kamal Nath, party head issues related to their gramme at Ayodhya will be will be decorated, five to fifteen
LUCKY ONE Sahu along with four other BJP expressed hope that the party assembly constituencies. streamed live on a LED screen to be lamps will be lit in every shop and
candidates who lost Assembly higher ups would look into the Deharia said she also raised the installed on the premises. quiz on Lord Rama’s life will be con-
Lady Luck is smiling at a man close to the state
bureaucracy. Because he is on good terms with many elections from Chhindwara dis- matter and do justice. He ap- issues of sabotage during the As- Pandit Gopal Mehta from Khedap- ducted in schools. Sellers of clothes,
officers working for the Centre and for the state trict met State party chief V D prised the party president of the sembly election and its adverse ati Hanuman Mandir Samiti, New bangles, chemicals etc will also dec-
government, he is just blissed out. Immediately after the Sharma on Sunday here and complaint he has lodged with the effects on the party in the dis- Market, said January 22 would begin orate their shops, light lamps, hold
Model Code of Conduct was lifted, he plunged into action. brought to his notice the ‘inter- police in connection with a social trict. She said Sharma has as- with recitation of Sunderkand path Ram Durbars and distribute prasad,
As he is on good terms with a few officers holding nal bickering and non coopera- media post. sured to look into the matter. and aarti. A big LED screen will be he said.
important positions, he has told his aides to knock his
doors if they want to get anything done through the
government. This broker is in fact friends with a retired
officer who is wielding power these days. He plans to get
some important work done through the retired
bureaucrat. Once this Sahib made a huge amount of
cabbage through this man and got it invested through him.
Now both want to make money. Another officer has fallen
into the trap of this man through whom both are making a
lot of dough.
Bad days
A principal secretary (PS) has realised how soured
relations may impact anyone. His failure to understand
that has put him in a tight spot after the formation of the
new government. A few days before the Model Code of
Conduct was implemented, the PS had locked horns with
a minister who asked the officer to do some work. He not
only refused to do that but also bandied words with the
minister who took the officer’s conduct to his heart. The
minister had complained to the higher-ups about it, but
nobody paid any heed. The time has changed; and the
minister has been handed over the command of the state.
As soon the minister took over as the head of the state,
he stewed the PS. He not only hauled the PS over the
coals but also punished him, and still is in a mood to teach
him a lesson. There are whispers in the corridors of
power that if the officer does not get a posting in Delhi,
he will always get a rollicking from his new boss.
Sitting pretty
An IPS officer is very happy these days. He has always got
important assignments, but, in the past few years, good
postings eluded him, despite his clout in the
administration. Now this IPS officer hopes to get a posting
in a place of his choice. He is on good terms with two
politicians and both have become powerful these days.
Sahib craves for the post of police commissioner in one of
the two important cities. The government may post police
commissioners in these cities in the coming days. But
some political reasons may get in the way of his posting to
one of the cities. So, the officer is trying to get posted in
the state capital and lobbying for it. At the same time, the
officer already posted in the state capital also wields
power, so it will be difficult for him to get his counterpart
shifted from Bhopal. There are reports that a list of IPS
officers, to be given important positions, is being
prepared. The officer is waiting for the list to be out, so
that he may get the plum posting.
DEPARTURE AHEAD
It is the season of change in the state. As part of it, a
collector of an important district, and the commissioner of
a municipal corporation, are set to go out. The
administration has already taken a decision to shift these
officers from their present places of posting, and begun to
search for new faces for these positions. An officer, has
almost been chosen as municipal commissioner. A
powerful politician recommended the name of this officer
for the job. Likewise, the name of an officer is doing the
rounds for the collectorship. Besides these two officers,
the government is mulling over some other names whom
it may send as collector to the district. It is such an
important district that every officer yearns to go there.
This is the reason why several officers are lobbying for it.
n NITENDRA SHARMA

Bikek falls into

20-ft-deep pit, dies
BHOPAL: A man returning
from a party on his bike died
after his vehicle fell into a 20-
ft deep pit in Ratibad on the
intervening night of Saturday
and Sunday, the police said.
The police added that two
men riding pillion sustained
grievous injuries and were
undergoing treatment at
hospital. Investigating officer
(IO) at Ratibad police station,
those on bike were KP
Mishra said Naveen Dave
(26) Surya and Shubham
Verma.
advt
DISTRICT INDORE / BHOPAL | MONDAY | DECEMBER 25, 2023

NEWS IN BRIEF
DHAR DISTRICT WITNESSES DECLINE
IN SERIOUS CRIMES IN CURRENT YEAR
SP Manoj Kumar witnessed a significant drop in se-
rious crimes such as murder, at-
SP Singh consistently priori-
tised community engagement
Consequently, while 71 murder
cases and 70 attempts to murder
The proactive response of Dhar
police, swiftly reaching crime
Singh expresses tempt to murder, robbery, and at- since he assumed charge. He con- cases were reported in 2022, the scenes, and gathering evidence,
tempt to robbery in the year 2023. ducted extensive tours of remote number decreased significantly led to the arrest of notorious
gratitude for public Dhar district is known for its di- rural areas, organising 'Khatla in 2023, with 58 murder cases re- gangs involved in such activities,
Grand opening ceremony
of SBI branch held
cooperation verse urban and rural tribal cul-
ture. Executing strategic commu-
meetings' to build trust among
villagers towards police.
sulting in the arrest of 91 accused
and 47 attempts to murder cases
effectively reducing the rate of
these crimes in the district.
ALOT: A grand opening ceremony of a branch of the FP NEWS SERVICE nity policing initiatives and effec- With the association of district leading to 72 arrests. SP expressed gratitude for the
State Bank of India (SBI) was organised after the Dhar tive action plans, police success- officers, station in-charges, and Similarly, property-related public cooperation and empha-
completion of renovation here. General manager of the fully instilled confidence in the cyber cell teams, the district con- crimes saw a decline, with only 4 sised the role of community sup-
Bank's Bhopal division Kundan Jyoti, deputy general Under the vigilant leadership of public, leading to a decline in se- tributed significantly to crime robbery cases compared to 5 rob- port in maintaining law and or-
manager of Indore Zone Satishchandra Gupta, and SP Manoj Kumar Singh, Dhar rious crimes. prevention and control. bery cases in the previous year. der.
regional manager of regional business office Ratlam Arun
Kumar Singh attended the event as special guests. The
guests inaugurated the complex by cutting a ribbon.
Branch manager Sunil Mehta welcomed the guests and
MAIDEN VISIT TO DHAR AFTER BECOMING LoP
CBN team seizes
Singhar receives rousing welcome
expressed gratitude towards customers who attended
the programme. 3.065 kg heroin,
Kamla Bai Sanghvi LADLI BEHNA YOJNA WENT WITH FORMER CM SHIVRAJ truck; two held
embraces Santhara SINGH CHOUHAN, GANDHWANI MLA QUIPS FP NEWS SERVICE the successful identifica-
SAILANA: Religious Shravika, assistant of Neemuch tion of the vehicle by CBN
Ratan Muni Maharaj and mother of Nutan officers, the truck was in-
Prabha Maharaj, Kamla Bai Sanghvi, on FP NEWS SERVICE alleged Mahakal temple scam In continuance of anti-drug tercepted.
Sunday, embraced Santhara in a religious Dhar that the Chief Minister should operations, officers of Cen- The truck was carrying
ceremony organised by the members of pay attention to the donation tral Bureau of Narcotics Bamboo sticks as cargo. On
the Jain community. Shravika Kamla Bai is Leader of opposition in the which is being taken from (CBN), Jaora and Mand- sustained questioning, the
the mother of Karun Kumar Sanghvi, president of Shravak state assembly and Gand- devotees for darshan and that saur confiscated six driver revealed that heroin
Sangh Sailana. hwani MLA Umang Singhar the corruption should be packets of heroin weighing was secreted in the dash-
received a rousing welcome stopped. 3.065 kilograms late Satur- board of the truck.
Cong MLAs accorded on his maiden visit to Dhar Regarding the Ladli Behna day night. Since it was not possible
on Sunday after becoming scheme, he said that the Ladli Acting on the basis of spe- to search the truck on spot
warm welcome the opposition leader. Behna scheme went with for- cific intelligence, the team owing to safety and security
MAHIDPUR: Congress MLAs Dinesh Jain Boss of He was accorded a grand mer CM Shivraj Singh intercepted a truck ahead reasons, it was brought to
Mahidpur constituency and Bhairo Singh Parihar of Susner welcome by members of the Chouhan, now the government of Dhakad Chidaya, toward the CBN office. The truck
were accorded grand welcome by party workers on their Dhar district Congress com- led by Yadav should increase Jaora-Taal road, in Jaora was thoroughly searched
maiden arrival after assembly elections. A victory mittee along with thousands the beneficiary amount of the tehsil of Ratlam district. and a total of six packets of
procession was also taken out, traversing through the main of his supporters straight scheme to Rs 3,000. According to information, heroin weighing 3.065 kilo-
streets of the town. The procession began with garlanding from Pithampur to Dhar. While taking a jibe at the BJP the truck has a Punjab reg- grams were recovered.
the statue of Bhimrao Ambedkar. The welcome ceremony The district Congress com- government, he said that the istration and would be car- After completion of legal
was held at Mahadev temple premises in the presence of mittee president Kamal government promised in its rying a huge quantity of formalities, the recovered
Sant Purnanand Bharti. Block Congress committee Kishore Patidar, state Con- manifesto to purchase paddy at heroin from Manipur to heroin along with a truck
president Kamal Singh Chauhan, Seva Dal president Sanjay gress general secretary Mu- Rs 3,100 per quintal instead it is Madhya Pradesh and would and bamboo sticks have
Thakur, and others were present. jeeb Qureshi, Kukshi MLA Honey said that the voice of every Congress being purchased at Rs 2,100 per quin- be delivering it to a person were seized and two per-
Baghel, former district Congress worker would echo in the assembly. tal in Bundelkhand and Ma- en route between Shivpuri sons were arrested under
One killed, another critical president Balmukund Singh “Double engine government will run hakaushal. to Ratlam. the relevant provisions of
Gautam, and party workers in large from Delhi”, Singhar said while ad- Later, Singhar paid obeisance at Officers said that strict the NDPS Act, 1985.
in road accident numbers welcomed Singhar. dressing media persons. Dhareshwar temple and proceeded surveillance on the suspect- Further investigation is un-
BADNAWAR: One person was killed on the spot while Addressing the gathering, Singhar Singhar also highlighted the for further programmes. ed route was kept and after der progress.
another sustained serious injuries in a road accident that
took place on Petlawad Road near Pitgara village on
Sunday afternoon. According to the information, the
deceased identified as Dinesh Bhil, 35, of Betma along with
MLA visits colonies, hears public Teacher gets 4-year jail
his companion Ghanshyam Bhil, 35, were returning from
Ratlam when they were hit by an unknown vehicle. The for taking bribe
police reached the spot and referred the injured to a
hospital in Ratlam in critical condition. The body of the
deceased was sent for post-mortem. grievances & promises solution FP NEWS SERVICE
Barwani
plainant Naman Soni, for
clearance of a school recogni-
tion certificate for his school
Girls' empowerment prog held FP NEWS SERVICE gested streets, inadequate lighting, An assistant teacher posted at Lotus Valley School located in
DHAR: A Jaora and the absence of potable water were the District Institute of Edu- Ojhar village.
district-level raised by residents of these colonies. cation and Training (DIET) Feeling aggrieved by the de-
dialogue was Newly-elected MLA Dr Rajendra Expressing dismay over clogged Barwani has been sentenced mand, Soni had filed a written
held at Pandey, on Sunday, visited a few eco- drains and unsanitary conditions, Dr to four years in prison for de- complaint to Lokayukta
Janjatiya nomically weaker residential areas Pandey promptly summoned munici- manding a bribe of Rs 10,000 police which conducted a raid
Senior Sanyukt coming under his constituency and pal health officer to initiate immedi- for the clearance of a school on Hanif. He was arrested by
Balak directed the officials to ensure provi- ate cleanup measures. recognition certificate. the police while accepting a
Chhatravas sion of civic amenities to the resi- Pandey promised solutions to locals The court also imposed a bribe of Rs 7,000 from the ap-
here under dents. and directed concerned officials to ex- fine of Rs 5,000 on the convict plicant.
'Beti Bachao, Following the legalisation of unau- pedite rectifying these issues. identified as Salim Ahmed The prosecution has suc-
Beti Padhao' and adolescent girls' empowerment thorised colonies, MLA Pandey Senior leaders including Hanumant Hanfi holding him guilty of cessfully been able to prove
programme on Saturday. On this occasion, students were stressed the urgent need for swift and Singh, councilor Dashrath Kasania, the offenses under Sections 7, the demand, acceptance, and
given information on gender and child protection issues comprehensive development in the assembly organiser Mahesh Soni, col- 13(1)(d), 13(1)(a), and 13(2) of recovery of bribe money from
through power play and life skills activities and were made residential areas. Kashiram Colony and actively en- lege public participation committee Prevention of Corruption Act the possession of the accused.
aware of the prevalent discrimination in society. Students He also visited various colonies, in- gaged with concerned officials to out- president Pramod Rawal, BJP munic- 1988. First additional sessions
shared their personal experiences on the topic of gender. cluding Patel Colony 1 and 2, Hatim line immediate action plans. ipal board president Rajesh Sharma, According to the prosecu- court Barwani Kailash
Colony, Sawaria Colony, Tilak Nagar A range of issues such as the lack of municipal assistant engineer Shub- tion, Hanfi had in May 2017 Prasad Markam found him
Extension, Mali Colony, Krishna proper road infrastructure, deficient ham Soni, and others also accompa- demanded and accepted a guilty and pronounced the
Ram Temple Kalash distributed Colony, Patrakar Colony, Katju Nagar, drainage systems, unclean and con- nied the MLA. bribe of Rs 3,000 from com- judgement.
SAILANA:
The Kalash
of Ayodhya
Ram Temple Neemuch to host senior MNREGA commissioner emphasises
was
distributed badminton tourney
in 10
mandals of
Sailana by
FP NEWS SERVICE
Neemuch
would be a Madhya
Pradesh ranking event, in
need for enhanced care for cows
Raghunath as which more than 200 play- FP NEWS SERVICE detrimental impact on
per the rituals. In this regard, officials of Kariya Kashmirilal Arora Gan- ers will participate. Sardarpur pipelines, crops, and roads,
Sakravada, Narayangarh, Indravaal Bedda Kunda, ganagar Memori- The qualifying urging immediate attention
Amargarh, Kolpur, Chandera, and Sailana mandals were al Senior Bad- rounds will be MNREGA Commissioner, to prevent further damage.
given Ram Dhun and Ram Bhajan Kirtan in their minton Tourna- played from Janu- Krishna Chetanya, con- In response, Chetanya in-
respective mandals. A yatra was also taken out in the ment will be held ary 4 to 6 and the ducted a thorough inspec- structed collector Priyank
town, inviting people to Ayodhya on January 22. in the city from main draw tion of the cow shelters Mishra to launch a compre-
January 4 to 9, matches will be during his visit to Sar- hensive investigation into
Goods worth Rs 1.5L stolen 2024. Matches of played from Janu- darpur tehsil on Saturday. the matter.
BADNAWAR: A case of theft was reported at the police men's and ary 7 to 9. The He emphasised the need for Furthermore, the
station after unknown miscreants made away with 10-12 women's singles, matches will be enhanced care and safety sarpanch representative
mobile phones and Rs 50,000 in cash from Hardik Mobile doubles, and played using measures for the cows. stressed the necessity for
and Electronics shop at Modi Chouraha on Jawahar Marg mixed doubles Yonex AS2 feath- During his visit, the com- allocate nearby land for cul- commissioner regarding constructing a boundary
in the wee hours of Sunday. The worth of the stolen will be played Kasmirilal Arora er cock. missioner inspected cow tivating green grass for cat- the passage of heavily wall for the cow sheds and a
goods is estimated to be Rs 1.5 lakh. The theft was during the event. To participate sheds located in Bhopawar tle grazing. Inspecting the loaded vehicles (involved in dam, addressing critical in-
identified by shop owner Ritesh Modi, in the morning The tournament will be in the tournament, inter- and Phulgavdi villages and Phulgavadi nursery, windmill construction frastructure requirements
when he found the lock of the shutter broken. The held under the joint aegis ested players will be able to also provided crucial direc- Chetanya showed his de- work in Bhopawar) through in the region.
miscreants have been captured in the CCTV but have not of Avinash Group and the take entry only after avail- tives concerning the wel- light upon observing over a single road. Collector Mishra and dis-
been identified yet. In the last few days, thieves were Neemuch District Bad- ing ID of the Madhya fare of cattle and ongoing 1,00,000 saplings represent- Makhod highlighted is- trict panchayat CEO
successful in making away with goods worth lakhs of minton Association. Pradesh Badminton Asso- construction work in the ing various plant species. sues, citing the risks posed Shringar Shrivastav, be-
rupees from five shops located in front of Nandram Association president ciation. The tournament cow sheds. Bhopawar gram panchay- by speeding vehicles to sides other administrative
Chopra Vidyalaya. Arul Ashok Arora and sec- will be conducted accord- Expressing contentment at sarpanch representative both public safety and agri- officials, accompanied the
retary Deepak Srivastava ing to the rules of the asso- with the works, he urged of- Madan Makhod handed cultural infrastructure. He commissioner during the
said that this tournament ciation. ficials concerned to over a memorandum to the emphasised the vehicles' inspection.

PANCHANG 25.12.2023
Children in Sabakheda village to get free pick-and-drop services (UTTARAYAN)
Saka 1945

Month
Samvat 2080

: Marg Shris Shukla 14 Monday 5.47 A.M.

Sisodia flags off less of their socio-economic

background. By providing free
STATE-OF-THE-ART CM RISE School will get free pick-up and
drop-off facilities at the school.
Nakshatra : Rohani 9.39 P.M. then Mrig

Yoga : Shubh 4.22 A.M. then Shukla

eight buses for pick-and-drop services, the gov- SCHOOL BUILDING BJP state spokesperson and Karan
Moon
: Garaj 5.49 P.M. then Visti
: Vrisabh - - - - - - - - - -
ernment school is removing former MLA Yashpal Singh Siso-
students of CM transportation barriers that may
The CM Rise School building is being
constructed in Sabakheda for Rs 34 dia flagged off the buses on Sat- PLU
10
VEN, MARS
8

Rise School hinder children from attending

school regularly.
crore. About 54 rooms will be built in urday. Along with this, about 300
children studying at the school SAT
9
MER,
SUN
7

the building, where facilities such as 11

FP NEWS SERVICE
Mandsaur
BJP state spokesman and former
MLA Yashpal Singh Sisodia
flagged off eight school buses at
Notably, on the lines of private classrooms, smart classes, an e- have started getting the benefits 6
NEP,
schools, a modern school build- library, and a sports complex will be of this facility immediately. RAHU
KETU
12
ing is being constructed for Rs 34 available. Teachers have also been On this occasion, Sisodia said 1
crore in Sabakheda village, trained specially to teach at CM Rise that efforts will be made to pro- HER,
JUP
3
5
which falls under the Mandsaur School. Children will get a completely vide better education in these 2 4
assembly constituency. high-quality education at CM Rise schools equipped with modern MOON

Sabakheda village-situated CM
Rise School campus here on Sat-
urday. This is the first govern-
ment school of its kind, where
children start getting free pick
and drop facility.
This innovative initiative aims
to ensure that all children have
easy access to education, regard-
For the first time in the School. A total of 1,600 children resources.
district, the government of Mad- from the Mandsaur assembly The concept of CM Rise School FREE PRESS CL ASSIFIED
hya Pradesh has made available constituency will be benefitted out of will prove to be a millstone in RUNNING CLASSIFIED
eight school buses for the chil- this state-of-the-art education making the education system 7 DAY 500/-
dren studying here. These buses strong and quality-complete. It is DISPLAY CLASSIFIED 15 DAY 1000/-
system. At present, 537 children have 30 DAY 1500/-
are equipped with GPS, and the been admitted to this school, out of also the responsibility of the 50/- SQ.CM. B/W.
75/- SQ.CM.
seating for children is also com- which 300 will immediately benefit teachers to make full use of the (MINIMUM SIZE 1X3) DISPLAY CLASSIFIED
fortable. Through these buses, from the bus facility. modern resources available in FREE PRESS CALL- 9425082195
children studying at CM Rise the school.
 Biker snatches woman’s gold chain
INDORE CITY INDORE | MONDAY | DECEMBER 25, 2023
INDORE: A woman was allegedly robbed of her gold chain by a biker in Annapurna. The woman
named Anjali Jain lodged a complaint that she was going somewhere when a person came on a bike
and snatched her gold chain near Dussehra Maidan on Saturday. However, the police said that a man
was arrested in connection with the robbery and further investigation is on into the case.

UNDER POLICE CUSTODY: Seized Mendola, Silawat, Verma in

race for ministerial berths
vehicles rusting into scrap
ANAND SHIVRE / ARSH RAFIK VISAAL
city.indore@fpj.co.in
The vehicles seized by po-
lice and parked at or near
police stations are now
turning into scrap as
they have been lying
there for years in the
open, facing the brunt of
nature.
Interestingly, most of
these vehicles are kept on
encroached public land!
Many of the vehicles
are related to accident
cases, but most have been
found lying abandoned
and have been seized by
police.
Free Press visited sever-
al police stations and
found that the problem
was pervasive.
At Hira Nagar police
station, some of the
seized vehicles have been
lying there for so long
that they have sunk into
the ground and are half
buried! Only their num-
ber plates and a portion
of the seat is visible.
In Raoji Bazaar police
station, cars have been
placed one on top of an-
other and it has become a
‘mountain of cars’. Now,
these ‘mountains’ are eat-
ing into vital road space
and causing problems for
commuters.
Similarly, at MIG Police
station, the seized vehi-
cles are parked on the
Vehicles parked outside MIG police station LIG main road going to-
wards Patnipura. The ve-
hicles have taken up so
much space that four-
wheelers have a tough
A bike buried in the ground as it has been lying there for years time passing through the
area during rush hour.
Auction at police stations
A s many as 141 two-wheelers and five bicycles seized
by the police in prohibition-related offences will be
W e are forced to park
the seized vehicles
outside as there is
auctioned. The Palasia police will auction 61 two-wheel- insufficient space inside
ers and five bicycles on December 28. The Sanyogitaganj most of the police
police will auction 47 two-wheelers on December 29,
while the Hira Nagar police will auction 33 two-
station premises.
A car placed over the top of another car outside the Raoji Bazaar Police Station wheelers on December 30. POLICE OFFICIALS
OUR STAFF REPORTER
city.indore@fpj.co.in
Though nobody could pre-
dict, who could become
minister given by the choic-
es made by the central lead-
ership of the BJP for CM
candidates, three front-run-
ners have emerged from In-
dore—one each from
Kailash Vijayvargiya, Shiv-
raj Singh Chouhan and Jy-
otiraditya Scindia camps.
While Vijayvargiya him-
self is unlikely to take any
responsibility in Chief Min-
ister Mohan Yadav’s cabi-
net, his protége and four-
time MLA Ramesh Men-
dola, who won with the
highest margin of votes in
the state, may finally get a
ministerial position.
Mendola has been a min-
ister-in-waiting since 2013,
but his proximity with Vi-
jayvargiya could not fetch
him the position as other
factions in the party stood
against the senior BJP
with his loyalist legislators
had crossed over from Con-
gress to BJP in 2020, result-
ing in the fall of the Kamal
Nath government.
Silawat was in the last cab-
inet too and his chances of
getting a ministerial posi-
tion are almost certain.
On the other hand,
Madhu Verma, who is con-
sidered a confidante of
Chouhan, could also be ac-
commodated in the new cab-
inet. He could be made min-
ister as Jitu Patwari, whom
he defeated in Rau assembly
has become Congress state
chief. As a counter to this,
the BJP could make him
minister even though Ver-
ma is first time MLA.
Names of Usha Thakur,
who was cultural and
tourism minister in the pre-
vious cabinet and former
mayor Malini Gaud are also
doing the rounds.
While Yadav is likely to
announce his Cabinet on
Monday afternoon, none of

IIM Indore launches masters programme for working professionals
OUR STAFF REPORTER
city.indore@fpj.co.in
In response to the chal-
lenges professionals face
in managing their careers
alongside a thirst for con-
tinuing education, IIM In-
dore has announced the
launch of its new online
degree programme—the
Master of Management
Studies (MMS).
IIM Indore’s Himanshu
Rai mentioned that at the
heart of this initiative
lies a solution-oriented
approach that addresses
the conundrum faced by
working executives na-
tionwide.
“The MMS is an online
degree programme by IIM
Indore, meticulously de-
signed to empower profes-
sionals to pursue a
quality management de-
gree without interrupting
their current employ-
ment," he said.
Recognising the pivotal
role education plays in ca-
reer advancement, this
programme seamlessly
integrates academic
rigour with the flexibility
essential for professionals
seeking to augment their
skill sets. “In this era of
evolving management
paradigms, innovation is
not merely a concept, it's
our guiding principle,” he
added.
"MMS reflects our dedi-
cation to revolutionising
professional development,
leveraging technology
and safeguarding crucial
assets like data while em-
powering leaders to navi-
gate the complex land-
scape of modern busi-
ness," he went on to add.
The programme’s propo-
sition lies in its contextu-
al design for working ex-
ecutives, coupled with a
faculty team comprising
domain experts renowned
for their expertise.
With a focus on a case-
study approach, the MMS
curriculum offers com-
prehensive knowledge
across diverse domains,
ensuring participants are
equipped with essential
skills, a strong ethical
foundation and the
prowess to take on leader-
ship roles.
In today's landscape,
ethical leadership stands
as a pivotal cornerstone.
“This programme, apart
from imparting world-
class knowledge, also
aims at crafting well-
rounded professionals
primed to lead with in-
tegrity, steer through un-
certainties, and propel or-
ganisational growth,”
Prof Rai said.
MMS comprises 900
hours of immersive
learning sessions con-
ducted on an advanced In-
teractive Learning (IL)
platform, merging online
and offline formats. Par-
ticipants will delve into
specialised modules cov-
ering economics, commu-
nications, finance and ac-
counting, information
systems, OB and HR, OM
and QT, strategy, humani-
ties and Social Sciences.
Through a dynamic mix
of lectures, case discus-
sions, projects and assign-
ments, learners will gain
a comprehensive under-
standing of every facet,
ensuring a well-rounded
education and culminat-
ing in a prestigious com-
pletion certificate from
IIM Indore.
The programme re-
quires a minimum of 2
years of full-time work ex-
perience after
graduation, along with a
bachelor’s degree with at
least 50% marks or equiv-
alent CGPA from a recog-
nised institution.
leader. However, as Vijay-
vargiya has not been given
any big responsibility in the
state so far, Mendola could
these or other MLAs in In-
dore had received phone
calls for taking oath as min-
ister till filing of this report.
get a ministerial position Sources said that all BJP
this time. Another person MLAs were called to
in the race for ministerial Bhopal, those going to get
post is Tulsiram Silawat, a ministerial berths will be
lieutenant of civil aviation revealed after taking oath at
minister Scindia who along the eleventh hour.
Painter dies after falling from first floor
INDORE: A 40-year-old painter allegedly died after falling
from a building in the Lasudia police station area on Sat-
urday.The incident occurred at Omaxe City around 3 PM.
The deceased was identified as Suresh Bise, a resident of
Rustam Ka Bagicha. He was working under a contractor
at the building. The incident happened when he fell down
while painting a wall on the first floor of the building.
Bise sustained severe head injuries. He was taken to a hos-
pital, but could not be saved. He is survived by his wife
and two children.
3 held for robbing man of mobile phone at knife-point
INDORE: Three persons were arrested for allegedly robbing a man of his mobile phone at knife-point in Banganga, the police said on
Sunday. A mobile phone was recovered from the trio.Banganga police station in-charge Neeraj Birthare said that the incident took place
near Sukhliya Square on October 11. Nitesh Chandel of Ganesh Dham Colony had lodged a complaint that he was on his way home from
his duty when three persons pushed him and an argument broke out between them.
INDORE CITY
INDORE | MONDAY | DECEMBER 25, 2023

PM TO ATTEND FUNCTION VIRTUALLY MTH Hospital in dire state

Scarcity of gloves, consumables looms large
Finally, after 30 long years Hukumchand OUR STAFF REPORTER
city.indore@fpj.co.in
Docs have to reuse gloves after
sterilising them with bleaching powder

Mill workers to get pending dues today

OUR STAFF REPORTER
city.indore@fpj.co.in
Around 4,800 workers of
the closed Hukumchand
Mills will get their pending
dues after a 30-year-long
battle, on Monday. The day
also is the birth anniver-
sary of former prime min-
ister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi will attend the func-
tion, being held at Kankesh-
wari Dham grounds, virtu-
ally. The PM will interact
with some of the mill work-
ers on the occasion.
Chief Minister Mohan
Yadav and other local lead-
ers will also be present.
During the programme,
Chief Minister Yadav will
inaugurate 71 works of 8
departments. The total cost
of these development
works is Rs 105.73 crore.
Similarly, bhoomi
pujan/foundation stone of
development works of 3 de-
partments worth Rs 322.85
Hukumchand Mills was
closed in 1992 after run-
ning successfully for 70
years. The liabilities of
mill workers and banks
remained pending in
court and other
processes for 30 years.
The state government
took the initiative for the
first time in 2022 and the
Housing Board was given
the responsibility of pay-
ing the amount. Within a
year, a settlement was se-
cured with all the
claimants and a consen-
sual settlement was also
reached with the labour
union.
On Sunday, BJP general
secretary Kailash Vijay-
Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargav, BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and MLA Ramesh Mendola vargiya, MLA Ramesh
inspect the function ground on Sunday Mendola and other party
leaders and dignitaries
crore will also be held. benefits to the ers to 175 disabled people. inspected the venue site
Vikas Bharat Sankalp Ya- beneficiaries of important Along with this, the Red to ensure that proper
tra Camp will also be or- schemes run by the central Cross app for donations to arrangements have been
ganised at the venue. CM government. He will also the Red Cross will also be made.
Yadav will also distribute distribute retrofitted scoot- launched on this occasion.
Tall claims by Mahatma
Gandhi Memorial Medical
College authorities and
Maharaja Tukojirao
Holkar Hospital adminis-
tration of improving facil-
ities in the hospital fell flat
as the doctors are facing
acute scarcity of gloves
and other consumables.
The situation has turned
so grave that the doctors
have to re-use the gloves af-
ter sterilising them with
bleaching powder. More-
over, the doctors also al-
leged scarcity of OT
linens, while the anaesthe-
sia supplied through gov-
ernment supply is not effi-
cient due to which patients
remain conscious and feel
senses at the time of sur-
gery.
Wishing anonymity, a
duty doctor of the hospital
said, “We are facing acute
scarcity of consumables in
the hospital. The situation
is turning worse with
every passing day. We
faced a critical situation
on Sunday when a patient
was lying on the OT table,
but we did not have gloves
to operate on her.”
AVERAGE 40 DELIVERIES
IN HOSPITAL EVERYDAY
About 40-45 deliveries
take place in the hospital
every day and over 1,500
deliveries have already
taken place this month.
As many as 1,385 deliver-
ies had taken place in
November.
The doctor also men-
tioned that they have in-
formed the Divisional
Commissioner, MGM Med-
ical College Dean, and hos-
pital superintendent about
the same, but to no avail.
“We used to get consum-
ables from the attendants
after taking their consent.
But, after the directions of
the Divisional Commis-
sioner, we have stopped
calling it from the atten-
dants. We have to re-use
the gloves after washing
them with bleaching pow-
der. It might be the reason
for infection among pa-
tients and doctors would
be blamed for the same,”
the duty doctors said.
Hospital superintendent
Dr SumitraYadav accepted
the scarcity of gloves and
other consumables.
“We have written many
letters to the dean and oth-
er authorities for the same
and we believe that we will
get the supply soon,” Dr
Yadav told the media.
Meanwhile, dean Dr San-
jay Dixit said that they
have ordered consumables
at Rs 50 lakh, recently, with
which the problem will be
resolved soon.

IN THE CONSUMER COURT

22-year-old youth Woman’s jewellery
Parking contractor, Traffic diversions in killed as unknown
PWD asked to pay place for CM’s visit vehicle hits bike stolen from bus
OUR STAFF REPORTER OUR STAFF REPORTER

Rs 30K for stolen vehicle OUR STAFF REPORTER

city.indore@fpj.co.in
ROUTES FOR BUSES CARRYING
city.indore@fpj.co.in

A 22-year-old youth was killed after his

city.indore@fpj.co.in

The Rau police have registered a case against

OUR STAFF REPORTER
city.indore@fpj.co.in
In a significant ruling,
the Consumer Court has
directed the PWD and the
parking contractor at
Gandhi Hall to pay Rs
30,000 as compensation
to a man whose bike got
stolen from the parking
lot even though he had
paid parking fees.
Apart from the compen-
sation, the court has also
awarded Rs 10,000 as
damages and Rs 5,000 as
expenses. The court has
asked that the payment
be made within 30 days
or it would attract an 8
per cent interest.
Brajesh Singh Parihar,
a resident of Indore,
parked his vehicle at
Gandhi Hall, paid Rs 5
parking fee, and left for
his court hearing around
noon. Upon returning at
1 pm to retrieve his vehi-
cle, he discovered it miss-
ing.
To his surprise, the
parking contractor sug-
gested filing a theft re-
port at the nearby police
station.
Parihar filed a report at
the MG Road police sta-
tion on September 27,
2016. Subsequent
investigations by the po-
lice ended on October 6,
2018, and the case was
closed as the police said
that the stolen vehicle
was untraceable.
Parihar also moved the
Consumer Court where
he highlighted the negli-
gence of those running
the parking lot.
To substantiate the
case, the complainant
submitted a personal af-
fidavit, a photocopy of
the First Information Re-
port, the vehicle registra-
tion and parking receipt
among other documents.
The complainant ar-
gued that the responsi-
bility for ensuring the se-
curity of his vehicle rest-
ed with the opposing par-
ties (Parking contractor),
which the contractor
failed to provide.
The traffic police have
made arrangements for the
convenience of commuters
in view of Chief Minister
Mohan Yadav’s visit to the
city on Monday. The CM
will first attend a pro-
gramme at Kankeshwari
ground. He will reach the
venue from Scheme No. 136
IDA ground helipad. His
convoy will pass through
Scheme No. 136 Square,
SICA School Square, Sai
Temple Tri-Section, Nyay
Nagar Square, Bapat
Square, Maruti Nagar
Square, and Axis Bank Tri-
section. He will return to
the IDA ground helipad by
the same route.
DIVERTED ROUTE:
n Heavy vehicles coming
from Dewas Naka towards
Niranjanpur Mandi,
Scheme No. 136, Bapat
Square, Chandragupta
Maurya Square, and Luv
Kush Square will be re-
stricted from 6:30 am.
n Heavy vehicles coming
from Ujjain will be re-
VISITORS TO THE PROGRAMME motorcycle was hit by an unknown ve- an unidentified person for allegedly stealing
n Buses carrying visitors coming from Sanver will be able to hicle at Telyakhedi village in Khudel gold jewellery from a woman’s bag in a bus.
drop the visitors at Chandragupta Maurya Square via Luv Kush police station jurisdiction on Saturday. The woman had come to the city via bus
Square and park the buses in ISBT parking. The deceased was identified as Rajesh from Ujjain, when she kept her bag in the
n Buses carrying visitors from Dewas, Kshipra and Mangliya Solanki, a resident of Adarsh Nagar. dickey of the vehicle.
will be able to drop the visitors from Radisson Square, Vijay The accident happened in the evening According to police, Nitu Yadav, a resident
Nagar Square, and Bapat Square at Chandragupta Maurya when Solanki was returning home after of Gurukul Colony, Rau, lodged a complaint
Square and park the buses in ISBT parking. playing cricket with friends in Kis- at Rau police station stating that she had
n Buses carrying visitors from Devguradiya and the bypass side hangarh. come to Indore via bus from Ujjain on Decem-
will be able to drop the visitors from Patel Nagar Tri-section via His family members came to know ber 17. She had placed his belongings, includ-
Labh Ganga, Star Square, Radisson Square, Vijay Nagar Square about the accident when his mother had ing a gold mangalsutra, a pair of gold ear-
at Chandragupta Square and park the buses in ISBT parking. called him and his mobile phone was re- rings and a gold bracelet inside a bag in the
ceived by an ambulance operator. The bus dickey. She got down from the Bus at Sar-
PARKING ARRANGEMENTS FOR VISITORS ambulance operator informed her vate Bus Stand and went to her house in Rau.
ATTENDING THE PROGRAMME about the accident. Solanki was taken Upon reaching home, she opened her bag and
to a hospital but could not be saved. found the jewellery box empty. The police reg-
n Four-wheeler and two-wheeler vehicles coming to the The police are recording statements istered a case against the unidentified thief
programme will be able to park on ITI ground. of the family members. The police have under relevant sections of IPC.
n VIP parking will be near ITI ground. initiated an investigation to know the In another incident, thieves targeted a
n Buses will be parked at ISBT. circumstances under which the acci- house and managed to flee with valuables
Emergency vehicles such as fire brigade, ambulance, police and dent happened and will gather informa- worth Rs 50,000 in Chandan Nagar. According
vehicles related to municipal corporation work will be allowed tion about the unknown vehicle. to police, one Golu Simle, a resident of Chan-
to move. The officials have advised commuters to avoid these Rajesh’s cousin Rahul said that he was dan Nagar E Sector, lodged a complaint with
routes on Monday and use alternative routes. studying BA in a city’s college and also the police, stating that thieves entered his
working as a transport employee in Pi- house and fled with valuables worth Rs 50,000
stricted from Luv Kush Chandragupta Maurya thampur for maintaining the family’s from the almirah on Thursday. The police
Square towards Chan- Square, Bapat Square and economic condition. He has a younger have registered a case against the unidenti-
dragupta Maurya Square. Niranjanpur Mandi will sister and was the only son of his par- fied accused under relevant sections of IPC
They will be allowed to be restricted. ents. and started an investigation.
move from Ujjain towards n Diversion points have
Kshipra and Manglia via been installed at Dewas
Sanwer. Naka, Niranjanpur Mandi
n Heavy vehicles coming Khalsa Chowk, Luv Kush
from Super Corridor Road Square and Barauli Toll
towards Luv Kush Square, Naka.

Man, 2 sons stab

three youths
INDORE: A man and his two sons allegedly stabbed three
youths with knives over a petty issue in Banganga, the po-
lice said on Sunday.
According to the police, Purushottam Kashyap, a resi-
dent of Nandbagh Colony, lodged a complaint that he
along with his friends Sonu Kanwadkar, SourabhPrajapat
and Rithik went to Tigariya Badshah area for some work.
They were talking over some issue when one Babli Ver-
ma started an argument with them over some issue. The
situation turned intense and the accused attacked them
with knives.
According to the complaint, Babli and his sons cordoned
them off and they started using abusive words. When the
complainant and his friends told them not to use abusive
MERRY CHRISTMAS... Youngsters celebrate outside the Red Church on Sunday night PHOTO PINTU NAMDEV words, the accused attacked them with knives. Sonu re-
ceived stab injury in his abdomen, Sourabh received in-
jury on his head and Rithik received injury on his cheeck.

METRO AUTHORITIES HAVE The youths are undergoing treatment in a city hospital.
Police launched a manhunt for the accused.

ROBUST QMS IN PLACE

OUR STAFF REPORTER ence to quality standards. high-grade materials is es-
Indore The diligent inspection and sential for building a robust
monitoring processes car- and durable metro rail sys-
The Madhya Pradesh Metro ried out by MPMRCL tem. Regular construction
Rail Corporation Limited ensure that the construction surveillance, quality audits,
(MPMRCL) has implement- activities meet the required and safety audits are con-
ed a robust Quality Man- specifications and adhere to ducted to identify any non-
agement System (QMS) that the highest quality stan- conformance issues and im-
ensures the highest stan- dards. plement corrective actions
dards of construction and Officials added that using promptly.
operation.
Officials said design, draw-
ings, and method statements
are prepared by contractors
and thoroughly scrutinized
and approved by MPMRCL
to ensure compliance with
quality standards.
Maintaining quality is a
priority at every stage of the
project. MPMRCL adopts a
three-layered inspection and
monitoring system to catch
any non-conformance issues
in a timely manner. This ap-
proach enables a "right first
time" approach, reducing re-
work and ensuring adher-
Man stabbed to death over business dispute, accused on the run
Bhopal: A 25-year-old garment shop owner was stabbed to death by another businessman on Sunday noon, the
police said. The accused is on the run. Bairagarh police station house officer (SHO) Kamaljeet Randhawa said Ankit
Singh (25) ran a garment shop in Bairagarh. Bharat Pariyani (27) runs garment shop adjacent to his.
MADHYA PRADESH BHOPAL | MONDAY | DECEMBER 25, 2023

Hindu families to celebrate Xmas with parties, cakes, midnight mass

SMITA
BHOPAL
Some Hindu organisa-
tions have kicked up a row
over celebration of
Christmas in missionary
schools and have objected
to Hindu students playing
Santa. But there are Hin-
du families who have been
celebrating Christmas
with gusto for many
years. For them, it is a fes-
tival of joy and peace and
it brings happiness and
positivity to their life.
They said Santa is a sym-
bol of happiness who ful-
fils small wishes.
The five-year-old daugh-
ter Myra of Neeti Purohit,
a social activist, has invit-
ed children living around
Ritu Sharma with daughter Kiana
to Christmas party at her
home. Neeti prepares
chocolate and fruit cakes
every Christmas. The
family joins midnight
mass at local church and
Neeti Purohit with mother & daughter Myra
makes sure that a well-lit
and well-decorated Christ-
mas tree sits in their liv-
ing room.
Neeti (44) thinks chil-
dren should know about
Sheetal Dubey with daughter Aarna
festivals of all religions. person who spreads hap-
She finds the controversy piness who fulfils your
over Santa unnecessary. small wishes. And that
“Santa has nothing to do Santa can be your family
with Christianity. It is a member, your neighbour,
symbol of a benevolent your friend, anyone,” she
Ankita Rastogi with daughter Aaradhya
says. Neeti also wants to
know why Hindus should
feel insecure about their
own religion. “Is my reli-
gion so weak that it can-
not withstand my son
dressing up as Santa?”
she demanded to know.
Ritu Sharma, a revenue
inspector posted in Kolar,
will celebrate Christmas
this year too. “My daugh-
ter Kiana is two. And from
her childhood, I want her
to learn and understand
about all religions.
I want her to imbibe the
value of caring and shar-
ing,” she said. On Christ-
mas, Ritu will organise a
party for children of her
friends and neighbours
and she will be joined by
her engineer hubby and
in-laws.
Ritu said that her child-
hood was spent in a
colony with a fair number
of Christian families. “I
always used to hang a pair
of socks for Santa and he
always used to oblige me,”
she said.
Sheetal Dubey (43) who
works with Uday Welfare
Society, has been celebrat-
ing Christmas since child-
hood. “I think Christmas
is a festival of joy and
peace. We decorate Christ-
mas tree and bake cakes.
We invite other children
and celebrate it together,”
she said.
Artiste Ankita Rastogi
believes Christmas brings
happiness and positivity.
“I have been celebrating
Christmas for 12 years
with my daughter Aarad-
hya. We decorate Chrits-
mas tree and we make
plum cake. I become San-
ta,” she said.

Man shot in leg

HC stays construction of
hi-tech slaughter house
OUR STAFF REPORTER
city.bhopal@fpj.co.in
High Court, principal bench
of Jabalpur, has banned fur-
ther construction of hi-tech
slaughter house in Bhopal.
Division bench of Chief
Justice Ravi Malimath and
Justice Vishal Mishra
passed the order.
Qureshi Welfare Society
had filed Public Interest
Litigation (PIL) regarding
new slaughter house on
Jinsi Road at High Court.
It was SC’s order to make
slaughter house hi-tech at
same place where it is lo-
cated on Jinsi Road.
As per HC order, the ex-
RESIDENTS VEXED
DUE TO ELECTRICITY
istence of slaughter
house came up for consid-
eration before National
Green Tribunal with a
prayer that the place at
which the slaughter
house is located not only
causes disturbance to
Police raid gambling den,
people living in the locali-
ty but also pollution.
Considering the same, a
detailed order was passed
by the National Green Tri-
bunal, Central Zone
Bench, Bhopal on Septem-
ber 30, 2015 directing that
the activity at the present
site of the slaughter house
should be closed.
The said NGT order was
challenged by Bhopal Mu-
nicipal Corporation in
Supreme Court.
BMC, in its reply, said,
“Since the site of the new
slaughter house was nei-
ther identified nor any
progress was made and
that the construction of a
new slaughter house had
not started, directions
were again given by NGT
to shut down the slaughter
house.” The stay on the or-
der of the NGT directing
closing down the slaughter
house was granted.
while saving
nephew
Woman forced to deliver
baby in hospital gallery
from goons
Morena: Goons shot at a
man who was trying to
save his nephew from
their clutches on Sunday,
the police said. The man
sustained injuries in the
leg while the goons fled
and are being searched
for.
Unidentified people in-
tercepted local resident
Mukesh Rathore on Sun-
day following a land dis-
pute. The accused who
were five in number, FP NEWS SERVICE spite notifying the hospital health services in Shiv-
hurled abuses at Rathore Shivpuri staff, no one came to assist, puri. The hospital staff ’s
and began thrashing him. and after the delivery, the negligence, especially dur-
Suddenly, Rathore’s uncle A case of mismanagement relatives themselves ad- ing the night and in cold
Rajaram arrived at the at Shivpuri District Hospi- mitted the mother and weather, has become a sub-
spot. tal has come to light, newborn to the ward. The ject of discussion. While
On witnessing the where a pregnant woman newborn was delivered on the hospital administra-
incident, he tried to inter- had to deliver her baby in the hospital gallery floor tion denies any wrongdo-
vene and save Mukesh from the hospital gallery late at before reaching the deliv- ing, stating that the
the clutches of the goons. night due to the cold ery ward. mother and baby were
The goons however, shot at weather. The hospital staff Rajandevi’s mother-in- eventually admitted to the
his leg and then fled from the was informed multiple law, Savotra, stated that al- ward after the delivery,
spot while threatening the
duo with dire consequences.
The onlookers rushed to the
times, but no one arrived
on the scene. The incident
occurred around 1:30 am in
though the staff was in-
formed about the delivery,
no one arrived promptly.
this case adds to a series of
reported issues regarding
the conditions at Shivpuri

10 held with Rs 30k

BILLING PROCESS
Sehore: The residents of Sehore
are vexed due to the billing
process of electricity distribution
company. The electricity
consumers said that they were
unable to comprehend the
benefits of the public welfare
schemes being given to them,
due to the opaque billing process
of the company. They added that
as important details pertaining to
their electricity consumption was
not highlighted in the bill, it was
giving rise to discrepancies.
Further in their statements, the
electricity consumers alleged that
when they go to electricity
distribution company’s office to get
bill details, the employees present
there do not behave with them
properly. A majority of farmers and
daily wage labourers face problems
due to this, sources said.
FP NEWS SERVICE
Seoni-Malwa (Narmadapuram)
The police raided a gam-
bling den in Amlada Kalan
village and arrested 10 peo-
ple engaged in gambling,
the police said. A sum of
Rs 30,000 was seized from
the possession of accused,
police added.
Shivpur police station
house officer (SHO) Vivek
Yadav said that the police
received a tip-off on Sun-
day about several people
engaged in gambling on
the banks of a river in Am-
lada Kalan village. The
cops responded swiftly to
the action, and surrounded
the area.
Accused are Gauris-
hankar, Thakur Lal, Raju,
Saareef Khan, Mushtaq
Qureshi, Aakash, Sabir,
Rohit, Sohail and
Ramshankar. Playing
cards and Rs 30,000 were
seized from their posses-
sion.
All the accused were tak-
en into custody, who said
that three other accused
have fled the place. The po-
lice have launched a man-
hunt to nab the absconding
accused too.
spot and took Rajaram and freezing temperatures. After the delivery, the fam- District Hospital. The lack
Mukesh to the hospital for
treatment. Rajaram’s condi-
Rajandevi Jatav, a resi-
dent of Khorghar village
ily members took the ini-
tiative to admit the mother
of accountability for such
incidents has previously
tion is said to be stable now, in the Sirsod police station and baby to the ward. been raised by the Madhya
after which a police com- area, was brought to the This incident has once Pradesh Human Rights
plaint has been lodged district hospital for deliv- again raised concerns Commission, but tangible
against the accused. ery on Friday night. De- about the deteriorating actions remain elusive.-
UP man kills self at lodge Meeting of Dr Lohia
Morena: A man hailing from Agra in Uttar
Pradesh hanged himself to death at a lodge in
Morena on Sunday, the police said. No suicide note
charitable trust ends
has been recovered. Morena police said that the for the develop-
man took the extreme step at the Lakshmi ment of Dr Ram
Lodge located near Hanuman square. The hotel Manohar Lohia
staff knocked on the room’s door multiple Chowk at Bawli
times. When they received no response, they Chowk. Unfor-
broke the door open to find the man hanging tunately, due to
from the ceiling of the room. On the basis of the the indifferent
Aadhaar card found with the man, the police as- attitude of the
certained his identity as Sahina Baaj, 24, a native municipal coun-
of Agra in UP. He arrived in Morena owing to cil, the develop-
some work two days back. ment of the
Square did not
take place.

Mass marriage of 151 girls in March: Shastri
Chhatarpur: Bageshwar
Dham priest Dhirendra
Krishna Shastri, at a press
conference organised on
the temple premises in
Chhatarpur on Sunday,
said 151 girls would tie
nuptial knot in the temple
premises from March 1 till
8, 2024. Every married girl
will be gifted a motorcycle.
Orphan girls and those
facing financial con-
straints would be regis-
tered on priority.
Shrimad Bhagwat Katha would be procured in
will begin on December Chhatarpur for the con-
30 and struction of a cancer hos-
ser- pital, which will be fully
mons set up in 2029. His book on
will be Sanatan Dharm is under
deliv- publication. On being
ered by asked about the Ram tem-
Shyam ple in Ayodhya, Shastri
Sun- said construction of the
dar temple was the biggest vic-
tory of Hindus, and said
Parashar. Jata Shankar Bhimkund
Further in his state- would be developed as a
ments, he said that a land big pilgrimage centre.
‘Man on the moon, God on the earth’
BHOPAL: With the successful launch of Chandrayaan-3 and the safe landing of
FP NEWS SERVICE
Satna
A complaint
was lodged on
the CM Helpline but even after
reporting the issue, the helpline
Vikram Lander and Pragyan Rover, ISRO is planning to send the first Indian as- was misguided, providing false
tronaut to the moon by 2040. Human beings continue to send The meeting of the Dr Ram information that no funds were
spacecraft and rovers up towards the moon for space explo- Manohar Lohia Charitable received. In response to this, a
ration, whereas God came down on the earth to dwell among Trust was conducted in the proposal condemning the apathy
the human beings. Archbishop A.A.S. Durairaj SVD from premises of Dr Ram Manohar of Unchehara Municipal
Bhopal said that Christmas is all about the loving God who Lohia Ward No 1 Trust in Council was passed during the
landed safely on the earth to bring light and life to the hu- Unchehara. The gathering in- Trust meeting. Additionally, a
manity that was in darkness and distress. It is incredible to cluded discussions on various proposal was approved to file
see God descending to the level of humanity to dwell among subjects including the alloca- public interest litigation (PIL) in
us as Jesus. “Blessed are we that we have received the Good tion of funds for the develop- the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
News of Jesus who is the light of life. We have experienced ment of the trust and other per- Sudip Tapsi, the founder of Lo-
the Good news of God’s love and mercy. Jesus has taught us tinent issues. hia Test, President Sheelu Tapsi,
to reach out to the poor and marginalised through our health care and social It was highlighted during the Vice-President Naval Kishor
service.” Durairaj SVD has pledged to work fervently with the campaign for meeting that 25 years ago, a Agrawal and hundreds of others
clean India, safe traffic and pollution-free environment. sum of Rs 1 lakh was allocated were present at the meeting.

World record of tabla Dolariya Natya Mahotsav:

playing to be set 50 artistes take part
up at Tansen Fest
Bhopal: The UNESCO-recognised musi-
cal city of Gwalior is set to witness a
mesmerising fusion of melody, rhythm
and beat during 99th Tansen Festival. As
part of Tansen Festival, a Tabla Darbar
program is scheduled to create a Guin-
ness World Record for tabla perform-
ance. Sheo Shekhar Shukla, Principal
Secretary of Culture and Tourism and
Managing Director of the Tourism FP NEWS SERVICE val. The two-day drama fes-
Board, announced that during the festi- Narmadapuram tival featured four plays -
val, 1500 tabla players would present an Gudiya ka Jeevan, Main
extraordinary amalgamation of notes, The two-day Dolariya Bhi Maan Ban Gaya, Bahu
rhythms and beats as a tribute to the mu- Natya Mahotsav was organ- ki Vida and Premchand ke
sic maestro Tansen at Gwalior Fort. Tabla ised in Dolariya village in Fate Jhoote aur Meri Ka-

Bhojpuri singer Anupama Yadav players from Kolkata, Mumbai, West Ben-
gal, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya
Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh will participate.
Narmadapuram district by
the Karmveer Jan Shik-
shan Evam Sanskriti Sami-
hani. On the second day,
Bhoomika Group present-
ed, Premchand ke Fate
performs at Bhojpal Mahotsav The live broadcast will be available on
Culture Department’s YouTube channel
ti in collaboration with the
Culture ministry The event
Jhoote aur Meri Kahani
and students from Green
Bhopal: Bhojpuri singer Anupama Yadav and social media handles. Tansen Award witnessed the participation Point School delivered a
performed at Bhojpal Mahotsav on Sunday. for 2022 and Raja Mansingh Tomar Award of 50 artistes. MLA Prem beautiful performance on,
Anupama Yadav started with 'Ram Ghar for 2022 will be presented. Pandit Ganpati Shankar Verma, Janpad Bahu ki Vida.The cultural
Aayenge to Angana Savarungi’ and 'Mere Bhatt Hasnagi will be honoured with member Shiva Rajput, program organised by Kar-
Bharat ka Bacha Bacha Jai Shri Ram Bole- Tansen Award for his notable contribu- Chandan Singh Parihar, mveer Jan Shikshan Evam
ga'. She presented Bhojpuri songs, which tion to singing and Malwa Lok Kala Anil Bundela, Neeraj Singh Sanskriti received acco-
made audience to dance. A huge crowd Kendra, Ujjain, will receive Raja Mans- Chauhan, and Brajkishor lades from all guests and
gathered at the fair. ingh Tomar Award for 2022. Patel inaugurated the festi- viewers.
 Delhi health minister orders inquiry into molestation allegation by contractual worker
NATION BHOPAL | MONDAY | DECEMBER 25, 2023
New Delhi: Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj has directed the chief secretary to constitute an enquiry committee to look into the
allegations of molestation and harassment of women contractual workers at a hospital in north Delhi's Burari.A woman, working as a
housekeeping staff on a contract basis in Burari Government Hospital, has accused her manager and three supervisors of molesting and
harassing her and two other employees, police said.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

WFI suspended for...
"The new body has not followed the WFI constitution.
The Federation stands suspended till further orders.
WFI will not be taking care of day to day activities of
Will abide by decision of
INDIA alliance: Farooq
wrestling. They need to follow the due process and the
rules," a sports ministry official told PTI.
The source explained further the reasons for WFI's
suspension.
"This announcement is hasty, without giving suffi-
cient notice to wrestlers who are to take part in the said JAMMU We do not want bloodshed as innocents are
nationals and without following the provisions of the industries which losing their lives to terror-
constitution of WFI. National Conference chief spread pollution… ism.
"Such decisions are to be taken by Executive Commit- Farooq Abdullah on Sun- We want progress and also Talking to reporters on
tee, before which agendas continued are required to be day said his party would desire that J-K moves the sidelines of a book re-
placed for consideration. As per Article XI of the WFI abide by the decision of the forward. Our children are lease function here, Abdul-
constitution under the Heading 'Notices and Quorum INDIA alliance on seat unemployed. If an election lah slammed the BJP over
for Meetings', minimum notice period for EC meeting is sharing in Jammu and can be held in Kargil, why its claims of normalcy in
15 clear days and quorum is of 1/3rd of representatives. Kashmir for next year's was it not held in Jammu and Jammu and Kashmir.
"Even for Emergency EC meeting, minimum notice pe- Lok Sabha elections. Kashmir "Shouting normalcy or
riod is 7 clear days with quorum requirement of 1/3rd The former J-K chief min- propagating tourist arrivals
of representatives." The ministry also did not appreci- ister asked why the govern- Centre needs to as peace will not finish ter-
ate the fact that WFI Secretary General Prem Chand ment was not holding local address root cause rorism which is still alive.
Lochab, who won from the rival Anita Sheoran-panel, bodies elections when it was They were claiming that
was not consulted before taking decisions. claiming that peace had
of terrorism in J-K terrorism has finished with
"It seems Secretary General has not been involved in been restored in the Union Terrorism is alive in Jam- the abrogation of Article
the said meeting of EC, which was held without any no- Territory. mu and Kashmir and it can- 370 (in 2019) but four years
tice or quorum," the source added. "We are part of the INDIA not be finished by the use of down the line, terrorism is
The source added that the new body had started func- alliance and will abide by its The NC and Peoples Dem- military or police, Farooq still there and will not finish
tioning from the same premises (Brij Bhushan's official decision," the National Con- ocratic Party (PDP) are said on Sunday, urging the till we try to understand its
bungalow) where the previous office-bearers operated ference (NC) leader told re- among the regional parties Centre to find ways to ad- root cause," Abdullah said.
and where the alleged sexual harassment of the players porters while replying to a from J-K that are part of the dress the root cause of the He was reacting to the
had taken place. "Newly-elected body appears to be in query on the sidelines of a opposition bloc. menace. killing of retired police offi-
complete control of former office-bearers in complete book release function here. Abdullah said his message The former chief minister cer Mohd Shafi who was
disregard to the Sports Code He was asked about seat- to the people of Jammu and said the common people shot dead by terrorists in-
sharing among parties in Kashmir is to remain poll- should also understand the side a mosque while deliver- A vendor sells balloons outside the Sacred Heart Cathedral Church
Cabinet formation of ... the Union Territory. ready. futility of the continued ing 'azan' (call for prayer). on the eve of Christmas Day celebrations in New Delhi on Sunday
Raj Bhawan sources told Free Press that Chief Minis-
ter Mohan Yadav has sought time for a meeting with the

PMO takes Mayawati’s statement yet

WFI suspended
Governor on Monday. He is expected to meet the Gover-
nor at 9.30 am.
CM Yadav visited Delhi thrice to meet senior party
leaders and get the names okayed for inclusion in the stock of
cabinet. Even on Sunday, he had gone to Delhi to meet
the senior party leaders to get seal of approval for the
cabinet posts.
Before attending the cabinet expansion, CM Yadav will
under pressure? relief in TN
NEW DELHI: The Prime
again keeps hope alive
go to Indore to attend the Hukumchand Mills pro- BARABANKI (UP) not giving sufficient notice Minister's Office on Sun- It seems the window is open for an alliance INDIA bloc, including BSP.
gramme. PM Narendra Modi will virtually attend the to wrestlers” for prepara- day held a high-level meet- My advice to them is that
programme. The CM will return to Bhopal after which Opposition leaders on Sun- tions. ing to take stock of the they should avoid this, be-
cabinet expansion will take place. day said the government’s Not under pressure: De- post-flood situation in LUCKNOW cause nobody knows who
Notably, when Yadav had taken the oath of CM post, decision to suspend the fending the suspension of Tamil Nadu and deliberat- might need whom in the
Rajendra Shukla and Jagdish Dewda had taken the oath newly-elected WFI was not the newly-elected WFI, ed on various measures to Though Bahujan Samaj future for the sake of pub-
as deputy CMs. The cabinet formation is going to see the enough to give justice to UP’s BJP chief Bhupendra support the state. Party (BSP) chief lic interest and the coun-
regional and caste balance. protesting wrestlers and Singh Chaudhary asserted PMO officials have inter- Mayawati has opted to be try. In this situation, these
questioned why a loyalist the Union Sports Min- acted with Tamil Nadu out of the opposition par- people will have to feel
Persons with ILI... of former WFI president istry's action was not due government functionaries ties' INDIA bloc for the Lok shameful at a later stage.
with a laboratory-confirmed case, all suspected per- Brij Bhushan Sharan to pressure from anyone. to discuss relief and reha- Sabha elections, but her The Samajwadi Party is a
sons who are residents of hotspots or containment Singh was allowed to con- In the first categorical in- bilitation measures in the statement has yet again living example of it."
zones and all hospitalized patients who have shown test the election to the dictment of WFI president, state, official sources said. kept the hope of the BSP Mayawati's BSP has
symptoms of ILI must go for RT-PCR test." sports body in the first the Delhi Police The deployment of the Na- joining it alive. shared a complicated rela-
On the instructions issued by the Additional Chief place. chargesheet states that tional Disaster Response The political meaning of tionship with the SP over
Secretary, the CMHO said trained doctors should assess The sports ministry on based on the “investigation Force (NDRF) as well and Mayawati's recent advice the last three decades.
the clinical condition of Covid-19 patients and ensure Sunday suspended the WFI so far,” of the complaints help from armed forces, in- targeted at the Samajwadi dow open for an alliance. Political analysts said
rational use of oxygen therapy by controlling oxygen re- till further notice after the by six top wrestlers, Singh cluding helicopters, in case of Party (SP) that "one can Recently, Mayawati in a that Mayawati knows very
quirement, oxygen flow and proper saturation. Dry wrestling body made a was “liable to be prosecut- need was also discussed, they never say who will need statement said, "It is not well how to make political
runs should be organized regularly to monitor the avail- “hasty announcement” of ed and punished for of- added. A visit of an inter- whom in the future", is appropriate for anyone to moves. She knows very
ability of beds in hospitals and the capacity of hospi- organising the U-15 and U- fences” of sexual harass- ministerial central team to also being explored. This is make unnecessary com- well what to say and
tals, and contact tracing of all seriously infected per- 20 nationals “without fol- ment, molestation and assess the damage was also being seen as a signal from ments about the parties when… which will impact
sons should be ensured. Adequate ventilation and use of lowing due procedure and stalking. discussed in the meeting. Mayawati to keep the win- which are not part of the politics.
masks should be ensured. Surveillance activities should
be restarted in areas where more cases of Covid are be-
SPECIAL DG BSF VISITS
ing reported. In order to prepare for the upcoming fes-
tivals, it is necessary for the event organizers to manage
the crowd properly.
TROOPS IN JAMMU
Unprecedented convocation Spelling error ruins
NCPCR chief to...
"Due action will be taken by issuing a notice to the Chief
Secretary of the Madhya Pradesh Government," he further
FRONTIER, REVIEWS at JU without chancellor forger’s plot in Delhi
added in his post. in November, the child's body issued a no- SECURITY SITUATION KOLKATA FAKE PASSPORT and dated May 22, 2022
tice to the Collector and Superintendent of Police of the which was a cause of con-
Vidisha district to probe allegations that students of a JAMMU Kolkata's iconic Jadavpur NEW DELHI: A forger here cern.The word 'from' in the
Vidisha school were punished for chanting a religious slo- University (JU) on Sunday fell into the hands of vigi- stamp was written as 'fram' -
gan. The incident occurred at Bharat Mata Convent Special Director General of witnessed an unprecedent- lant law enforcement due to - confirming it to be fake and
School, Ganj Basoda city, on Nov 9. Border Security Force Y B ed convocation ceremony a minor error -- a spelling a work of an amateur.
Khurania visited the troops without the presence of the mistake -- on the fake pass- According to the FIR,on
3 juveniles held... along the International Bor- Governor of the state, who port. the intervening
As per the police, the accused juveniles also revealed der (IB) and Line of Control by virtue of his chair is also It is said that night of December
in the interrogation that they murdered Azad because (LoC) in Jammu frontier, of- the chancellor. "Nakal ke liye 21 and 22, Manjot
the deceased had tried to sexually assault one of the ac- ficials said on Sunday. While the absence of the akal zaruri hai", Singh, a resident
cused juveniles. With the intent to take revenge, the trio Khurania, who heads the Governor and chancellor, meaning one of Patiala (Punjab)
brutally assaulted the deceased and then murdered Chandigarh-based Western C.V. Ananda Bose was quite ju Basu, presided over the education department just needs brains even arrived from
him, according to the police. "The accused trio had also command of the BSF, ar- expected considering that convocation as the modera- a couple of hours before the for cheating. Man- Bangkok at the IGI
tried to burn the body of the deceased and tried to de- rived here on Saturday on a the convocation is being tor. There was no represen- convocation ceremony. jot Singh learnt airport terminal-3
stroy the evidence. The weapons for committing the of- two-day visit to review the conducted without his con- tation from the University The Governor, by virtue of this the hard way. and produced his
fence has also been recovered," added the police. Fur- sent, what was even more Grants Commission (UGC) being the chancellor of all Singh, an Indian passport for ar-
ther investigation into the matter is underway. Probe ordered surprising that even the in-
terim vice-chancellor of JU,
in the convocation as well.
The questions are raised
state universities, had ap-
pointed Sau as the interim
National, arrived
at the Delhi Air-
rival immigration
clearance.
Maran's remark on... NEW DELHI Buddhadeb Sau also did not now over the absence of vice-chancellor in August port by an Air In- "While checking
"We look upon DMK as a party which shares our ideal The Army has ordered a preside over the convoca- Sau as the moderator, espe- this year after the tragic dia flight from Bangkok in his passport during immi-
of social justice. Its leaders should avoid saying things thorough internal investi- tion as the moderator as per cially after the high-drama ragging related death of a the intervening night of De- gration clearance, spelling
that run counter to the ideal", said Yadav, who is known gation into the deaths of traditions. since Saturday, first over fresher at the boys' hostel of cember 21 and 22. When he of 'From' as 'Fram' in the ar-
to share personal equations with Stalin. Addressing an three civilians in the While Sau just attended his removal from the chair the university. Before Sau's showed his passport, the rival immigration date
event in March this year, Maran said that study of both Poonch district of Jammu the convocation as a guest, in the evening by the Gover- appointment, JU was run- alert immigration official April 26, 2023 was found af-
Tamil and English had been championed by his party and Kashmir following al- the pro vice- chancellor nor and then his reinstate- ning headless without a caught something unusual. fixed on page no. 6 of his
all along and the people of TN followed it. Citing the ex- legations that they died in Amitava Dutta, assisted by ment in that chair on Sun- permanent vice chancellor It was the Malaysian im- passport indicating these
ample of Sundar Pichai, a native of Tamil Nadu, Maran its custody, people famil- the JU registrar Snehomon- day morning by the state for a long time. migration stamp on page 6 stamps as fake.
said he now heads Google and had he learnt Hindi, he iar with the matter said
would have been employed in the construction sector as on Sunday.

Oppn leader calls Kerala CM a coward

a worker. Since children from Tamil Nadu get educated The three civilians were
and learn English well, they find employment in the In- allegedly picked up by the
formation Technology sector and earn good salaries. Army for questioning in
the wake of the killing of
2 India-bound ships... four Army jawans in an KOCHI against them for destroy- The LoP, at a press meet nessed incidents of vio-
The ship was reportedly on its way to India. The MV ambush by unidentified ing public property. here, questioned the ra- lence on Saturday during
Chem Pluto, carrying around 20 Indian crew members, terrorists in Poonch on Leader of the Opposition Kerala Police on Satur- tionale behind booking protests organised by the
along with crude oil, was attacked by a drone over 200 December 21. (LoP) in the Assembly V D day registered a case the Congress leaders for Kerala Pradesh Congress
nautical miles southwest of Gujarat's Veraval. There Satheesan on Sunday against state Congress criminal offences and de- Committee (KPCC) in
were no casualties when the drone hit the vessel and a security situation, a lashed out at Kerala Chief chief K Sudhakaran, struction of property which a battery of senior
brief fire that broke out on board was extinguished. spokesperson of the border Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Satheesan and the senior when water cannons and Congress leaders in Ker-
guarding force said. calling him a "coward" leaders, including MP a tear gas shell were used ala, including senior MPs
Techie chained, burnt... D K Boora, Inspector Gen- and "arrogant" over the Shashi Tharoor in con- against them while they and MLAs, suffered from
A few months ago, Vetri told Nandini about his gender eral, BSF, Jammu frontier, police allegedly using wa- nection with the violence were speaking on a stage suffocation and some
identity and proposed to her. She turned him down. Six briefed the Special DG ter cannons and tear gas in Thiruvananthapuram near the protest site. were even hospitalised af-
months ago, Nandini started a relationship with anoth- about the prevailing securi- on Congress leaders a day during the party's march State capital Thiru- ter police fired tear gas
er man. Enraged by this, Vetri allegedly plotted to kill ty situation here. ago and lodging a case to the DGP office. vananthapuram wit- shells.
her. On Saturday, Nandhini’s birthday, Vetri told her he
wanted to surprise her and took her out,” said the police.
He then allegedly tied her up in an empty plot near Pon-
mar and set her on fire. The police recovered the body
on Saturday night and sent it for postmortem. On Sun-
Jaishankar to visit Russia from Dec 25-29 THREE COPS BOOKED FOR RAPING
day morning, Vetri was arrested. Further probe is on. NEW DELHI sia partnership has re-
mained stable and resilient
discussion on bilateral,
multilateral and interna-
WOMAN IN RAJASTHAN'S ALWAR
Minors among 303... External Affairs Minister S and continues to be charac- tional issues, it added. JAIPUR also claimed that the ac-
Two passengers who have been in custody since Fri- Jaishankar will pay a five- terized by the spirit of the " Focusing on the strong cused threatened to impli-
day were detained for another 48 hours on Saturday, the day visit to Russia begin- Special and Privileged people-to-people and cultur- Three police constables cate her brother in a false
Paris prosecutor's office said. Authorities questioned ning Monday with an aim to Strategic Partnership," it al ties between our two have been booked for rap- case if she reported the
the detainees to "verify" whether their role "may have discuss various bilateral said.The MEA said the ex- countries, the external af- ing an 18-year-old woman matter, the officer said.
been different than the others in this transport, and un- and global issues. ternal affairs minister will fairs minister's programme for more than a year in Ra- The policemen have been
der what conditions and with what objectives". Hear- Jaishankar will travel to meet Russia's Deputy Prime will include engagements in jasthan's Alwar district, called back from their
ings into the matter were scheduled for Sunday before a Moscow as well as St. Pe- Minister and Minister of In- Moscow and in St. Peters- officials said on Sunday. places of posting and at-
judge who can extend the border police's detention or- tersburg, the Ministry of dustry and Trade Denis burg," the MEA said. Superintendent of Police tached with the Police
der by another eight days, according to AFP. Meanwhile, External Affairs (MEA) Manturov to discuss mat- It is learnt that the two (SP) Anand Sharma told Lines, the officials said. In
the identity of passengers and flight crew were checked said on Sunday, announcing ters related to economic en- sides are expected to dis- PTI that the woman gave a her complaint, she stated
and authorities were verifying the "conditions and pur- the trip. as a part of the ongoing gagement. cuss various aspects of the complaint against the she was raped by them for
poses" of their travel, according to the Paris prosecu- External Affairs Minister high-level exchanges be- Jaishankar will also hold bilateral relations, especial- three policemen to him on more than a year, the SP
tor's office. S Jaishankar will visit Rus- tween the two sides, it said. talks with his Russian coun- ly in areas of trade, energy, Saturday evening. She said.
sia from December 25 to 29 "The time-tested India-Rus- terpart Sergey Lavrov for defence and connectivity.

Printed and Published by ANIL VISHWAKARMA, for the Proprietors, Compac Printers Pvt. Ltd. at F-134/2 Professor’s Colony, Opp. Ravindra Bhawan, Bhopal and printed at Compac Printers Pvt. Ltd., Free Press House, 3/54, Press Complex, A.B. Road, Indore n Editor : Arshit Gautam Phones:- 0755-2660570/71/ 79, FAX: 0755-4271345. E-Mail: news. freepress@gmail.com.
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 n the auspicious occasion of Christmas, I extend my hearty greetings to all fellow
O citizens, especially the Christian brothers and sisters. This festival also inspires us for
selfless service to the humanity. The teachings of Jesus Christ are always relevant to
maintain peace and harmony in the society
SNIPPETS
Former Naxalite
killed by uncle
man who quit
A Naxalism a few
months ago was
killed allegedly by his
uncle and some other
persons in Chhattisgarh's
Bijapur district, police
said on Sunday.
The body of Chhotu
Kursam was found on a
road near Gorna village
on Sunday morning, an
official said. As per
preliminary information,
the man was heading in
an ambulance to
Mankeli village in the
area to pick up a person,
who had met with an
accident, for shifting to
hospital when his
paternal uncle Raju
Kursam and the latter's
four associates stopped
him near Gorna, he said.
2 drone-dropped
packets seized
wo drone-dropped
T packets containing
arms and cash were
seized in a joint
operation by the Army
and the police from a
village near the Line of
Control in Akhnoor
sector here on Sunday,
officials said. The
packets, believed to
have been dropped by
Pakistani drones for
subversive activities,
were noticed lying in an
open field in Channi
Dewano village in the
Khour area at around
7.50 am, they said.
17-year-old dies
after assault
17-year-old boy
A succumbed to
injuries at a
hospital days after being
allegedly assaulted by
some students from his
school in northeast
Delhi's Bhajanpura area,
police said on Sunday.
On December 12, an
altercation took place
between the victim and
the group of students
over a petty issue,
however, the matter was
resolved following the
intervention of some
elders, police said.
"At around 5 pm on
December 15, the victim
was attacked by the
accused and sustained
injuries on his face and
head. He went home
after getting first aid,"
said a senior police
officer.
COVID DASHBOARD
JAMMU
MAHARASHTRA REPORTS 50 NEW CASES; NINE JN.1
INFECTIONS: Maharashtra on Sunday reported 50 new
COVID-19 cases, taking the total number of infections since
the beginning of the spread of novel coronavirus to
81,72,135 nearly three years ago, said a daily bulletin by the
health department. Of the fresh cases, nine were caused by
JN.1, increasing the number of infections tied to the new
sub-variant to 10, it said.
n Kerala records 128 new COVID-19 cases, one death
n Rajasthan reports 11 fresh cases in last 24 hours
n Second case reported in Odisha
PM aims to make 140cr people, including poor, ‘atmanirbhar’: Shah
AGENCIES
Ahmedabad
Union Home Minister Amit Shah
on Sunday said Prime Minister
Narendra Modi wants to make 140
crore people, including the poor, in
the country "atmanirbhar" (self-re-
liant) and has worked with dedica-
tion for it.
PM Modi wants to make India
self-reliant in space technology
and defence, and also aims to make
the poor people self-reliant, Shah
said addressing a gathering here
n DROUPADI MURMU, PRESIDENT
Rtd SSP shot by terrorists
while giving call for ‘azaan’
Following the
incident, a large
number of people
gathered at Mir's
house and at the
mosque complex.
Mir is survived by
his wife, two sons
and a daughter
AGENCIES / Srinagar
A 72-year-old retired police
officer, who was the local
"muezzin", was shot dead by
terrorists while he was giv-
ing the call for "azaan" from
a mosque in Jammu
and Kashmir's Bara-
mulla district on Sun-
day, police said.
Recalling the mo-
ments before Moham-
mad Shafi Mir was killed,
his cousin Mohammad
Mustafa, who was at home,
said the call for the pre-
dawn prayers was being giv-
en by a loudspeaker and
suddenly it stopped. His last
words were "reham (mer-
cy)", he said.
The "azaan" had stopped
at "Ashhadu Anna Moham-
madu Rasool-Allah (I bear
witness that Mohammad is
the messenger of Allah)", he
said.
Police said Mir retired as a
senior superintendent of
police in 2012. He was shot
Cong govt attempting to defame
previous BRS regime, says KTR
HYDERABAD: Alleg-
ing that the white pa-
per on state finances
released by the Con-
K T Rama Rao, who made a
power point presentation on
the financial situation and
gress government in progress achieved when his
Telangana was full of
errors and lies, the op- party was in power from
position BRS on Sun- 2014 to 2023, alleged that
day said the gross
the white paper was a
loans made during its
regime was only Rs jugglery of numbers and
3,17,015 crore and not
Rs 6,71,757 crore as pro-
jected by the govern-
allegations against the
ment. previous BRS government
The BRS chose to
make the presentation,
named 'Sweda Patram'
(document to show hard
work), to expose the Con-
gress government's "hol-
lowness and political bank-
ruptcy," he said.
Telangana will have an
outstanding debt of Rs
6,71,757 crore, including
non-guaranteed loans of
corporations or institu-
of beneficiaries of the PM
SVANidhi scheme, which helps
street vendors get easy loans.
The Union minister said poor
people have benefited the most un-
der the Modi government.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupen-
dra Patel was also present at the
function to give loans to benefici-
aries of the Prime Minister Street
Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM-
SVANidhi scheme).
Shah said Prime Minister Modi
has given a call to make India "at-
manirbhar" and wants to make the
People offer funeral prayers for retired police officer who was killed by unknown militants at
Gantamulla area of Baramulla district of North Kashmir
"Terrorists fired upon Shri Mohd Shafi, a
ABOUT THE retired police officer, at Gantmulla, Sheeri
Baramulla, while praying 'azaan' in the
SHOOTING mosque and succumbed to injuries," the
Kashmir Zone Police said in a post on X.
dead by terrorists inside the
mosque in the Gantmulla lo-
cality of the north Kashmir
district's Sheeri area early
Sunday, they said.
Mir had become the local
"muezzin" -- a person who
calls for prayers -- and he
was devoted to his duties at
the mosque, his family
members said.
Talking to reporters,
Mustafa said, "He (Mir) was
my cousin. He used to call
for prayers every day. This
morning, while I was read-
ing the Quran, as usual, he
contained baseless
tions, by the end of FY 24
against Rs 72,658 crore in
2014-15, the state govern-
ment had said on Decem-
ber 20.
The state government
said in its white paper that
the debt within the limits
of FRBM (Fiscal Responsi-
bility and Budget Manage-
ment) was Rs 3,89,673
crore.
India logs 656
new cases
ndia saw a single-
I day rise of 656
Covid infections
while the active cases
have increased to
3,742, according to
Union health ministry
data updated on
Sunday. The death
toll was recorded at
5,33,333 with one
new death reported
from Kerala in a span
of 24 hours, the data
updated at 8 am
showed. The country's
Covid case tally is
4.50 crore
(4,50,08,620).
The number of
people who have
recuperated from the
disease has increased
to 4,44,71,545, and
the national recovery
rate stands at 98.81
per cent, according to
the health ministry's
website.
country self-reliant in space
technology, defence, all
kinds of businesses and oth-
er fields.
"PM Modi wants to make
140 crore people including
all the poor people at-
manirbhar. Besides space
technology, research and de-
velopment among other
things, the prime minister
has worked with complete
dedication to improve the
standard of life of 60 crore
poor people," Shah said.
started the 'azaan', so I
closed the Quran." "He recit-
ed 'Ashhadu Anna Moham-
madu Rasool-Allah' and
then the 'azaan' stopped. I
only heard a shout of 're-
ham' (mercy). It was in a
heavy voice," he said.
Mustafa said he thought
Mir might have stopped his
call due to some other rea-
son and guessed he could
have collapsed due to dizzi-
ness. But it was after some
time that people came to
know about the incident, he
said.
Religion not method of worship but
form of morality and duty: Yogi
NOIDA: Uttar Pradesh Chief Min-
ister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday
said religion is not a method of
worship, but a coordinated form of
morality, moral values and duty.
Addressing the convocation cere-
mony of Gautam Buddha Universi-
ty in Greater Noida, Adityanath
invoked the teachings of Gautam
Buddha, saying his life is not only
inspirational but also shows a
new path to the country and the
world.
Vice President Jagdeep
CONVICTION IN
BANK SCAM
Cong leader Sunil
Kedar disqualified
from Maha assembly
AGENCIES
Mumbai
Senior Congress leader
and former Maharashtra
minister Sunil Kedar has
been disqualified from the
state legislative assembly
following his conviction by
a court for misappropria-
tion of funds at the Nagpur
District Central Coopera-
tive Bank (NDCCB).
A gazette order of the
state legislature secretari-
at issued on Saturday said
Kedar stands disqualified
as MLA from the date of
his conviction on Decem-
ber 22 under provisions of
Article 19 (1) (e) of the Con-
stitution of India and Sec-
tion 8 of the Representa-
tion of the People Act, 1951.
The order said Kedar's
constituency Saoner, locat-
ed in Nagpur district, has
become vacant from the
date of his conviction.
A magistrate's court in
Nagpur on Friday sen-
tenced Kedar and five oth-
ers to five years' rigourous
imprisonment for misap-
propriation of funds at the
NDCCB.
The case dates back to
2002.
Union Home Minister meets beneficiaries of
PM-Swanidhi Yojna, in Ahmedabad
Cowards behind
it will not be
spared: J&K LG
ammu and Kashmir
J Lieutenant Governor
Manoj Sinha on
Sunday condemned the
killing of a retired police
officer by terrorists in
Baramulla district and
said the cowards behind
the barbaric act would
not be spared. "Pained
beyond words on the
dastardly terrorist attack
on retired police officer
Mohammad Shafi Mir
while he was giving a call
for prayer in the mosque.
Cowards responsible for
this barbaric act will not
be spared," statement
read.
Dhankhar was the chief guest at the
ceremony.
Adityanath said that Gautam
Buddha's teachings inspire peo-
ple to accept problems first in or-
der to be able to find solutions
and also to work as a team,
adding that working under a
single leader is more reward-
ing. "Buddha gives the mes-
sage of following the path of
religion with wisdom and
discretion and acquiring
knowledge," he said.
TO ALLY OR BJP on the horns
NOT TO ALLY of dilemma in AP
AGENCIES / New Delhi
For a party which fetched
less than one per cent of
votes in Andhra Pradesh
in the last Lok Sabha polls,
the BJP finds itself in a
rather sweet spot in the
state ahead of the 2024 gen-
eral elections as the two
main regional parties vie
with each other to keep it
on their side.
With the state's minority
votes of Muslims and
NATION
BHOPAL | MONDAY | DECEMBER 25, 2023
LDF
PARLIAMENT SECURITY BREACH
announces BJP MP breaks silence, says
cabinet ‘PEOPLE WILL DECIDE WHETHER
reshuffle I'M PATRIOT OR A TRAITOR’
AGENCIES mendation of Simha's of-
Two ministers resign, Mysuru (K'taka) fice.
new ministers to take
"Whether Pratap Simha is
BJP Lok Sabha member a traitor or a patriot -- moth-
oath on December 29
THIRUVANANTHAPU-
Pratap Simha on Sunday
speaking on the
Parliament
er Goddess Chamundesh-
wari sitting on the hills of
hey
Mysuru, moth-
RAM: Honouring the com-
mitment made to all coali-
tion partners, the ruling Left
security
breach
case said
T er Goddess
(peop Cauvery who
is sitting on
Democratic Front (LDF) on people will
le) are the
ones who
Brahmagiri,
Sunday announced a cabi-
net reshuffle and said new
ultimately
decide have to
my reader fans
across Kar-
ministers will take oath on
December 29.
whether he ultimately give
was a patriot the judgement. They
nataka
have
who
been
LDF convener E P Jayara- or a traitor, reading my
jan told the media that during the
will decide whether I'm writings for
Transport minister, Antony 2024 Lok Sab- a patriot. I leave it to the last twenty
their decision. I don't
Raju of the Democratic Ker- ha polls. years, and peo-
ala Congress and Ports Min- Not wanting have anything to say ple of Mysuru
ister Ahammad Devarkovil to divulge other than that and Kodgu
of the Indian National anything re- who have seen
n PRATAP SIMHA, BJP
League have tendered their garding the my work for
LOK SABHA MEMBER
resignations. incident and 9.5 years and
"Two ministers have ten-
dered their resignations.
the probe, he
said, will leave it to the gods
my conduct on
issues related country,
New ministers will take oath
on December 29. Their port-
and his reader fans to de-
cide on the alleged "traitor"
dharma and nationalism --
will give their verdict
folios will be decided by the
Chief Minister," Jayarajan
told the media at a press
allegations made against
him.
The protesters who had
through votes in Lok Sabha
polls to be held in April,
2024," Simha said.
meet here. jumped into the Lok Sabha The Congress and some
Ramachandran Kadan- chamber on December 13 organisations had staged a
nappally of Congress (S) and
K B Ganesh Kumar of Ker-
ala Congress (B) will take
oath as ministers for the rest
and set off smoke canisters,
had entered Parliament on
passes issued on the recom-
protest against Simha, fol-
lowing the Parliament secu-
rity breach incident.
of the term.
When the second LDF gov-
ernment came to power in DEATH OF 18 PATIENTS IN 24
HOURS: 2 doctors suspended
the state in May 2021, part-
ners in the CPI(M)-led al-
liance had reached an un-
derstanding to allocate cabi- AGENCIES / Thane
net berths to four single-
MLA parties on a "sharing More than four months after 18 patients died in 24 hours
the term" basis. at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Maha-
rashtra's Thane, the city's civic administration has sus-
pended two doctors for dereliction of duty, an official
said on Sunday.
Thane is the home turf of Chief Minister Eknath
Shinde, and the large number of patient deaths on Au-
gust 12 and 13 at the civic-run facility had prompted the
opposition to target the government, alleging misman-
agement.
According to a spokesperson of the Thane Municipal
Corporation (TMC), an assistant doctor and an associate
doctor have been suspended for dereliction of duty in
connection with the single-day deaths.
Amid political bickering over the deaths, CM Shinde
had ordered the constitution of a high-level committee
to probe the matter. The committee's report was tabled
during the recent winter session of the assembly, said
an official. A source in TMC said that show-cause no-
tices have been issued to a few doctors and senior man-
agement personnel in connection with the patient
deaths on August 12-13.
MODI’S
TÊTE-À-TÊTE
WITH
STUDENTS
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi interacts
with students from
Jammu and Kashmir, in
New Delhi
While the Telugu Desam Party wants an alliance the BJP leadership and has
with the BJP, the state's ruling YSR Congress is keen backed them wholeheart-
that the national party go solo in the coming polls edly without seeking any
share in power," a YSR
like in the 2019 elections, sources in the two Congress leader said.
regional parties said The BJP on its part is
mulling its options, with a
Christians seen as a solid Parliament to underline its section of state leaders
base of the YSR Congress, unquestioned support. keen for an alliance with
its leaders are of the view "The BJP has had differ- former chief minister N
that an electoral alliance ences with its poll allies Chandrababu Naidu-led
with the BJP will not suit but never with us. Our TDP as they believe that is
their party but have noted leader (Chief Minister Y S the only way they can hope
its backing to the Modi Jagan Mohan Reddy) has to win some seats and mo-
government's agenda in maintained good ties with tivate their cadres.
UP is role model of role models: VP
NOIDA: Vice President Jagdeep He said there was frustration among
Dhankhar on Sunday heaped lavish people then because those in power were
praise on Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath not ready to deliberate on issues but now
for transformation of Uttar Pradesh in with a major transformation Uttar
terms of investments, law and order. Pradesh has become "a role model of role
Addressing the convocation ceremony models".
of Gautam Buddha University in Greater "Desh ki baat to chhodiye duniya mein
Noida, he said the transformation under koi baat hoti hai role model ki to maan-
the chief minister has catapulted Uttar neey mukhymantri ji Ko yad Kiya jata hai
Pradesh to the status of a "role model of (Let alone the country, across the world
role models". whenever roll models are discussed, the
"I was amazed when Yogi Adityanath be- chief minister's name is mentioned," the
came the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh vice president remarked.
because law and order and development Dhankhar noted that Uttar Pradesh has
were both a major concern for the state," also made its mark in getting invest-
Dhankhar said. ments.
 ‘Businesses from state being snatched to strengthen Gujarat’
MUMBAI BHOPAL | MONDAY | DECEMBER 25, 2023
Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on
Sunday alleged industries and businesses from
Maharashtra are being “snatched” to make Gujarat
stronger. He also expressed apprehensions that north
Indian migrants in Mumbai and nearby areas will be
forced to shift to Gujarat for employment. “Most of you
are assimilated with local people like sugar and milk. But
be watchful, someone will add salt to spoil this
relationship. Shiv Sena is always proud of its Hindutva
but it was never about hating other religions,” he said.

ISIS, ISI, Ghori terror nexus revealed

Uddhav to sound
poll bugle with Convicted Congress
Nashik rally
FPJ NEWS SERVICE / NASHIK
This is the first time that the involvement of ISI and Ghori in ISIS terror plot has been exposed leader disqualified
The Shiv Sena (UBT), head-
ed by former Maharashtra
ASHISH SINGH / MUMBAI

Investigations into the ISIS

planning to execute.
According to the confiden-
tial report, intelligence inputs
from the Assembly
chief minister Uddhav terror module case have re- revealed crucial information FPJ NEWS SERVICE / MUMBAI

Thackeray, will hold a 'ma-
hashibir' and a public rally
in Nashik on January 23,
2024, the birth anniversary
of Shiv Sena founder Bal
Thackeray, Sena (UBT) MP
Sanjay Raut said on Sunday.
Uddhav Thackeray will
participate in both the
events, Raut told reporters.
The former CM is expect-
A
vealed a dangerous nexus be- on ISIS pan-India operation gazette order of the
tween international terror during Shahnawaz's state- Senior Congress leader and state legislature
organisation ISIS, Pakistan's ment recorded under CRPC former Maharashtra minis- secretariat said Sunil
Inter-Services Intelligence 164 before the magistrate. His ter Sunil Kedar has been Kedar stands disqualified as
(ISI) and the fugitive terrorist statement indicates his con- disqualified from the state MLA from the date of his
Farahtullah Ghori, with the nection with other ISIS terror legislative assembly follow- conviction on December 22
collaboration extending be- module links, including ing his conviction by a under provisions of Article 19
yond ideological support, and Nachan and their associates. court for misappropriation (1) (e) of the Constitution of
delving into logistical help NIA has taken the remand of of funds at the Nagpur Dis- India and Section 8 of the
and illicit financial backing Nachan and other accused to trict Central Cooperative Representation of the People
for a terror operation in Del- unearth various facts, with a Bank (NDCCB). Act, 1951

ed to sound the poll bugle for
the next year's Lok Sabha
elections with the conven-
tion and rally. All the party
leaders will arrive in Nashik
on Monday to work out de-
tails for hosting the two
events, the Rajya Sabha
member said.
The (then undivided) Shiv
Sena contested the Nashik
Lok Sabha election in al-
liance with the BJP and won
the seat in 2014 and 2019. Lat-
er, two-time MP Hemant
Godse switched over to the
Shiv Sena camp led by Chief
Minister Eknath Shinde.
Raut on Friday said his par-
ty will contest 23 of the 48
Lok Sabha seats in Maha-
rashtra.
The Rajya Sabha member
had said he, along with Sena
(UBT) leaders Uddhav
Thackeray and Aaditya
Thackeray, held talks with
Congress president
Mallikarjun Kharge, senior
leaders Sonia Gandhi and
Rahul Gandhi as well as
AICC general secretary KC
Venugopal before the meet-
ing of the opposition bloc IN-
DIA in the national capital
some days back.
Gangster’s
nephew
held with MD
FPJ NEWS SERVICE / MUMBAI
The Malvani police have
apprehended Faisal
Qureshi, the nephew of
gangster Salim Qureshi
aka Salim Fruit, on Satur-
day night in Malvani and
seized 3g mephedrone (MD)
worth Rs5,000 from him, ac-
cording to a senior police
officer.
The police said that after
a specific information, a
trap was set and a decoy
was sent to Qureshi at Mal-
wani on Saturday night.
Qureshi was arrested and
charged under the provi-
sions of the Narcotic Drugs
and Psychotropic Sub-
stances Act.
Salim Fruit, a relative of
fugitive gangster Chhota
Shakeel, at present remains
under the custody of the Na-
tional Investigation Agency
(NIA) over suspected terror
connections.
hi/NCR.
A confidential report of the
National Investigation
Agency (NIA), accessed by
the Free Press Journal, re-
vealed that the arrested ISIS
terror operatives Shahnawaz
Alam and Mohammad
Rizwan Ashraf worked on in-
structions from a foreign-
based ISIS handler, conspir-
ing with ISI and wanted ter-
rorist Farahtullah Ghori to
carry out terrorist activities
in the Delhi/NCR region.
They also received funds, lo-
gistical support and explo-
sives through illegal means
for the operation.
According to reliable
sources in the intelligence
agencies, this is the first in-
stance where the involve-
ment of ISI and Ghori in an
ISIS terror plot has been ex-
posed. Investigation agencies
suspect that ISI, along with
the terror organisation, is
currently orchestrating ac-
Iran behind drone attack
on chemical tanker: Intel
DHARMESH THAKKAR / MUMBAI
Intelligence agencies
suspect that an Iranian
Dhow MV Saviz launched a
drone attack on MT Chem
Pluto, a chemical tanker
which was struck early Sat-
urday morning off Gujarat
coast near Veraval.
At the time of the attack,
MV Saviz was 47 nautical
miles off the attacked ship.
Issuing a statement, the
United States department of
defence alleged that the
drone attack on the Liberia-
flagged, Japanese-owned
and Netherlands-operated
tanker was launched from
Iran. The Pentagon has al-
leged that the Houthi mili-
tants fired a one-way ex-
pendable drone on MT Chem
Pluto, which led to a total
blackout on the chemical
tanker.
Meanwhile, Indian Navy
has deployed frontline war-
ship Visakhapatnam-class
stealth guided-missile de-
stroyer INS Mormugao to as-
sist MT Chem Pluto that suf-
fered structural damage and
loss of power in the drone at-
tack. A naval explosive ord-
F M
arahtullah Ghori has been
involved in many terror
cases, including the
Akshardham temple attack in
Sept 2002. Operating through
dark web, Ghori has been
evading authorities
tivities in India. Foreign-
based handlers may poten-
tially be Pakistan-based ISI
agents or terrorists.
The NIA report reveals the
dismantling of the ISIS Maha-
rashtra module in July 2023
by Pune police, Maharashtra
police's Anti-Terrorism
Squad (ATS) and the NIA. Im-
ran Khan, the mastermind,
and others were apprehend-
ed, but Shahnawaz managed
to escape. During the period,
the ISIS handler shared close
contacts with a person called
ISI Akka (leader) and the fugi-
tive terrorist Gauri to Sha-
hanawaz. Following Akka
and Ghori's instructions,
Shahnawaz and Rizwan
nance disposal specialist
will be boarding the tanker
on its arrival in Mumbai,
which is expected early
Monday morning, to sanitise
the vessel and undertake
further investigation.
The drone attack has
alarmed the Indian security
At the time of the
strike, Iranian Dhow
MV Saviz was 47
nautical miles off the
attacked vessel
establishment and the com-
mercial shipping industry
regarding the global mar-
itime threats extending into
the Indian ocean and the
Arabian Sea from Yemen-
based Houthi militants said
to be backed by Iran. “While
the Iranian coast is 500 nau-
tical miles to the north-west
and the Yemen coast 860
nautical miles from the west
coast of India, the attacks
are now on the doorstep
from the conflict zones of
Red Sea and Gulf of Aden,”
explained a senior defence
analyst.
ohammad
Shahnawaz Alam
played an active
role in the reconnaissance
of various locations
intended for use as
hideouts
THE FPJ
EXCLUSIVE
reached Delhi, where a Delhi-
based unidentified contact
arranged a hideout for them.
According to the report, ISI
and Ghori tasked Shahnawaz
and Rizwan with a critical
mission for a terror
operation in Delhi/NCR. The
Delhi-based contact, who is
currently absconding, man-
aged logistical support,
procuring weapons, arms
and ammunition and provid-
ed funds for the task. They
both established a base in
Delhi, with their objective re-
maining a major terror oper-
CELEBRATE WITH SANTA
Youths dressed as Santa Claus distribute gifts among the children during the celebration on Christmas
Eve in Andheri on Sunday
State to follow city pattern of cleanliness
SHEFALI PARAB-PANDIT
MUMBAI
Chief Minister Eknath
Shinde announced that the
‘Mumbai pattern’ of cleanli-
ness will be implemented all
over the state. He participat-
ed in a deep cleaning drive
at Worli Naka, followed by
Mumbai Central, Mazgaon
S
aquib Nachan is
known for being
convicted for the
2002 and 2003 blasts at
Mumbai Central railway
station, Vile Parle and
Mulund
ation in Delhi/NCR. Before
the operation could take off,
both were arrested by Delhi's
special cell.
According to sources, they
suspect that the Delhi-based
contact person might be the
same individual who not
only arranged logistical and
financial support for Shah-
nawaz's terror operation but
could also be the person who
traveled from Delhi to
Padgha, near Thane, to meet
Saquib Nachan.
Investigators said that the
Delhi man traveled to Mum-
bai on the instructions of the
ISIS handler to discuss plans
for an ISIS terror operation
that Saquib was purportedly
workers are the true heroes
who have played a major
role in the success of this
drive,” said Shinde.
While participating in the
drive with the help of a jet
spraying machine, Shinde
sprayed water on roads near
Acharya Pralhad Keshav
Atre Chowk in Worli Naka.
He directed civic officials to
focus on understanding their
planning for terrorist activi-
ties in Delhi/NCR, Mumbai
and other areas.
Apart from ISI, Ghori's
name continues to surface in
several terror cases over the
past year. NIA investigations
have revealed that Ghori, a
key member of Lashkar-E-
Taiba and Jaish-E-Moham-
mad, is leading Hizb-Ut-
Tahrir (HUT), a global Islam-
ic fundamentalist terrorist
organisation. Operating
through a chat group on the
dark web, Ghori has been
evading authorities.
After years of evading au-
thorities, Ghori resurfaced
with a series of audio-visual
messages. His unexpected
return to social media plat-
forms like Twitter,
YouTube, Facebook and
Telegram in early 2022
grabbed the attention of In-
dian security
agencies.
–SALMAN ANSARI
Mumbai will be a pothole-free city soon
A ll the roads in Mumbai will be concretised in the next two-
and-a-half years so that the citizens will have a potholes-
free ride, assured Shinde. Various beautification work and tree
plantations in chowk, traffic islands and on open places are
also undertaken to make the city green, he added.
A gazette order of the
state legislature secretariat
issued on Saturday said
Kedar stands disqualified
as MLA from the date of his
conviction on December 22
under provisions of Article
19 (1) (e) of the Constitution
of India and Section 8 of the
Representation of the Peo-
ple Act, 1951.
The order said Kedar's
constituency Saoner, locat-
ed in Nagpur district, has
become vacant from the
date of his conviction.
A magistrate's court in
Nagpur on Friday sen-
tenced Kedar and five oth-
ers to five years' rigorous The court said that Sunil
imprisonment for misap- Kedar, who was chairman
propriation of funds at the at the time, and then
NDCCB. The case dates general manager Ashok
back to 2002. Choudhary were entrusted
Kedar, the five-time to invest the funds in the
MLA, was convicted under manner prescribed by the
Indian Penal Code Sections
406 (criminal breach of
law but they committed
trust), 409 (criminal breach breach of trust
of trust by public servant),
468 (forgery for purpose of members of the bank, most
cheating, 471 (whoever
fraudulently or dishonestly
uses as genuine any docu-
of whom are poor farmers
from Nagpur. The court
pointed out that the objec-
ment which he knows or
has reason to believe to be a
forged document), 120(b)
tive and purpose of the co-
operative sector is to en-
hance the status of the eco-
(criminal conspiracy) and nomically marginalised
34 (common intention).
The six convicts were
sections of the society.
The court said Kedar,
also fined Rs 10 lakh each.
As per the prosecution,
who was chairman at the
time, and then general man-
the NDCCB lost Rs125 crore
in government securities in
ager Ashok Choudhary
were entrusted to invest the
2002 as rules were flouted funds in the manner pre-
while investing funds scribed by the law but they
through Home Trade Pri- committed breach of trust.
vate Limited. Kedar was Such criminal breach of
then chairman of the bank. trust is a serious offence,
In her judgement, Addi- the judge said in her order.
tional Chief Judicial Magis- The loss of such a huge
trate Pekhle-Purkar said amount of money is suffi-
Kedar and one other ac- cient enough to bring down
cused were entrusted with the financial position of the
the entire stake of the bank, bank, which in turn would
adding that the fund in affect thousands of mem-
question was hard earned bers and staff of the entity,
money of the people and the court said.
Navy officer
duped of `1.32L
MUMBAI: In another case of
cyber fraud, a Navy officer was
duped of Rs1.32 lakh while
booking a hotel room online.
The complainant, working as a
Communication Officer on INS
Teg, had to go to Pune for some
official work. According to the
Colaba Police, the complainant,
Abhinav Anand, 31, contacted a
phone number which he

‘Fault in common meter room on Sunday.

A deep cleaning drive has
been undertaken in one
ward of every civic zone on
needs to be repaired by society’ the weekend from December
3. The chief minister, ac-
companied by Guardian
plan and included in the sale ister the sale deed by paying Minister for Mumbai City
agreement. Can I split the stamp duty and penalty in and Suburbs Deepak Ke-
flat and terrace as I intend order to initiate redevelop- sarkar and MangalPrabhat
to keep the terrace for my ment of our building. Is Lodha participated in the
use? there any way out to get the drive for four hours.
– Vinod Sharma, Nerul sale deed registered and “The cleanliness drive is
HOUSING SOCIETY Every building is constructed seek waiver of the penalty being implemented to make
QUERIES in accordance with the plan and the stamp duty as a long
approved by the local author- time has elapsed?
ity. The number of flats, –Rahan Shetty, Powai
Mumbai clean, beautiful
and pollution-free. Several
schools and NGOs have also
wash roads, footpaths, walls
and bus stops of BEST.
He also inspected the
cleaning of roads outside the
obtained from the internet to
book the room. The person who
attended the call asked Anand
he need to pay an advance to
head office of Maharashtra
State Road Transport Corpo-
ration at Mumbai Central
book the room and took the
details of his credit card. After
taking the details, the accused
and Maharana Pratap asked for the OTP number from
Chowk at Mazgaon. Anand, which he gave. After
The drive will be imple- giving the OTP, Rs1.32 lakh was
mented for the next two debited from the complainant's
months. The additional account. When the complainant
manpower deployed for the asked, he told that the money
drive will ensure that each had been transferred by mistake.
of the lanes is cleaned prop-
erly. The BMC has also de-
cided to appoint marshals to
However, realising that he has
been cheated, Anand he refused
to give the details and called
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde with BMC workers during a

T
here was a sudden
power failure in my
house for about six
hours, which was due to
some issue in the society’s
common meter room. I got it
rectified and paid the elec-
trician. But the society is re-
fusing to reimburse the
amount. Can the society ask
me to bear the cost of recti-
fication for a problem aris-
ing in the common meter
room?
– Denver Mendez, Nahur
Bye Laws 68(a) and 159 (a)
provide for the repair and
maintenance costs for the us-
shops, closed garages, etc, are The state government has come forward to be a part of prevent illegal parking customer care and got the card
constructed as per the ap- come up with an amnesty this drive. Our sanitation across the city. cleanliness drive in Nagpada area –PTI blocked. –Vishal Singh
proved plan. Subsequently scheme known as ‘Abhay Yo-
the society is formed and the jana, 2023’ offering waiver on
membership is given as per the stamp duty and penalty
the number of flats depending on the time of exe-
mentioned in the plan. Mem- cution of the instrument and
bership is given to the owners the stamp duty originally
Mumbai underworld’s penchant for quirky names
DHARMESH THAKKAR / MUMBAI called Salim Passport be- Dawood Ibrahim's close archy while lambu and chho- prisoners.
of flat, which has been payable. The scheme shall be cause of his skills in forging aide and right hand man Sha- tu refer to the short and tall “The quirky names actual-
defined in the MCS Act as implemented in two phases. The colorful names of the passports and Abu Salem keel is referred as Chhota stature. ly help the police and even
well as the Bye Laws of the The first phase begins Mumbai gangsters recently gang member Salim Haddi's Shakeel because of short The 1993 Bombay blast ac- the gang members remember
societies. Definition of from December 1, cited in the winter session of prominent Adam's apple height. Shakeel is also called cused Ibrahim Memon who's who in the criminal hi-
‘flat’ is exhaustive 2023 to January 31, the State Assembly at earned him the name Haddi Pav Takla by his rivals and earned his name Tiger Mem- erarchy. Nicknames are giv-
and inter alia in- 2024, for docu- Nagpur might invoke fear- (bone in Hindi). police because of his receding on after injury during a en by gang members, the po-
cludes block, ments executed some and blood thirsty crim- Salim Patel who worked as hairline. cricket match in school. lice or assumed by the gang-
chamber, dwelling on a valid stamp inals but the strange driver for Dawood Ibrahim Chhota Shakeel's brother- “Memon was badly injured sters themselves while their
unit, office, shop, paper from Jan- monikers like Salim Kutta real names get forgotten with
etc, but does not in- uary 1, 1980 to and Haddis having nothing to passage of time,” concedes a

age of common areas re-
quired to be carried out by the
society at its own cost, which
include “electric lines up to
the main switches in the
flats”. Further, the Bye Law
68(b) provides that all repairs
not covered by the Bye Law
159 (a) shall be carried out by
individual members at their
cost. Any fault in your soci-
ety’s meter room is required
to be repaired by the society
at its own cost. You may in-
form these provisions of the
Bye Laws to the managing
committee and ask it to bear
the cost.
I wish to sell my flat, which
includes a terrace as ap-
proved in the municipal
R D F
clude terrace. Gen- December 31, do with canines and bones. ajendra rug ugitive former gang member of the
erally the terrace is 2000. The second The Mumbai mafia is pop- Sadashiv lord gangster D-Company.
supposed to be a com- Sharmila Ranade phase will be Feb- ular with their colourful per- Nikalje was Iqbal Dawood Javed Patel alias Javed
mon property of the ruary 1, 2024 to sonas and unusual quirky given the nickname Memon got Ibrahim is Chikna who was taxi driver
society. However, in your March 31, 2024, applicable for names that usually cracks a Chhota Rajan since the moniker known as in Mumbai and accused in
case the terrace is adjacent to documents executed from smile on Mumbai Police. he worked with Mirchi from Muchchad and 1993 boats. He now handles
your flat in accordance with January 1, 2001, to December “Kutta was added to Da- Rajan Nair, alias trade in red Sheth by the the counterfeit racket of fake
the approved and hence the 31, 2020. For details please re- wood aide Salim Kuttanelur Bada Rajan. He was also chillies as a front for police, gang members and his Indian currency notes
entire flat and terrace will be fer to the notification avail- to differentiate him from oth- addressed as ‘Nana’ by his gang narcotics trafficking rivals in the criminal world Jawed Fawda was a sharp
considered one residential able on the website of the IGR er Salims in the gang. He shooter and prime accused in
unit. Splitting it separately as Stamps rmaharashtra.gov.in hails from Kuttanelur in became Salim Goa Gutka af- in-law Salim Qureshi known but continued to play and the killing of bollywood mu-
flat and terrace may not be al- and click on the Abhay Yo- Thrissur district of Kerala ter taking over a leading Gut- as Salim Fruit was arrested won the match. He played sic baron Gulshan Kumar.
lowed until you obtain per- jana, 2023 link. which was shortened to ka manufacturer facility in by Mumbai Police for extor- like a tiger and friends He was called fawdq (spade)
mission from the municipal Kutta to identify him,” ex- Pakistan for the D Company. tion and criminal intimida- started calling him Tiger because of protruding buck
authority for which you will The questions are plained a senior Mumbai Po- The nicknames given by tion. Memon," recalled a senior po- teeth.
require the permission of the answered by Sharmila lice crime branch official. the gang boss or the police Another Dawood associate lice officer who investigated Another Dawood gangster
society. Ranade, a legal expert Another Salim became Sal- were based on a particular with the same name Shakeel the Memon family's role in Faheem became Machamach
associated with Mumbai im Kurla as he lived near trait, trade, place or unique was simply referred as Sha- the 1993 blasts. for talking too much while
I purchased a resale flat in Grahak Panchayat. Kurla station and the one physical characteristics, de- keel Lambu because of his Another popular name in making calls on behalf of his
1996 and the sale deed was The questions, in brief, from Mazgaon became Salim rived from memorable inci- tall height. the Mumbai criminal net- boss Chhota Shakeel.
not registered. I have been may be sent to Mazgaon. dents, habits, place of birth The Chhota and Bada refer work is Rafique Dabba for de- Faheem Chhota was one of
asked by my society to reg- fpjchs@gmail.com Yet another Salim was and personality. to seniority in the gang hier- livery of homemade food to Shakeel's close henchmen.
GM employees union's chain hunger strike enters 85th day
PUNE: The chain hunger strike initiated
by the General Motors Employees Union
has now entered its 85th day. The
workers are steadfast in their demand
for the transfer of all employees to
Water crisis leaves Aundh residents
agitated, demands immediate solution
GUNWANTI PARASTE
Aundh Road residents in
Pune have grappled with an
acute water crisis, impacting
seven societies including
Chetan Society, Ram Com-
plex, Kavita Society, Bhise
Chambers, Kanak Society,
Janaki Apartments, and
Janaki Niwas, for the past
week.
The water shortage forced
the residents to raise com-
plaints with the civic body,
Pune Municipal Corporation
(PMC), but still the water
scarcity persists, stretching
over three days, cribbed some
of the members residing in so-
cieties of Aundh Road.
Disheartened by the ongo-
ing situation, many even ex-
pressed frustration and con-
cern. "Complaints to PMC
seemingly have fallen on deaf
ears, leaving us without a ba-
sic necessity for days," said
one of them.
Statements from affected
residents reveal growing ex-
asperation and disappoint-
ment.
As the plight continues,
residents seek an urgent reso-
lution and emphasise the im-
portance of efficient commu-
nication and immediate ac-
Protest in support of farmers
by MVA from December 27
STAFF REPORTER
To echo grievances of the
farmers, an extensive protest
march has been organised by
Mahavikas Aghadi (MVA)
from December 27 to 30, start-
ing from fort Shivneri to
Pune Collectorate office.
The aim of the protest is to
draw attention to critical is-
sues plaguing the agricultur-
al community, urging the
government to address and
resolve their pressing con-
cerns immediately.
The protesters have articu-
lated primary demands, in-
cluding the immediate lifting
of the ban on onion exports
and the formulation of a per-
manent policy governing
onion exportation.
MVA advocates for fair
subsidies for milk-producing
farmers, irrespective of their
affiliation with private or
Guardian minister Desai’s convoy
targeted in an incident in Satara
RAMBHAU JAGTAP
Shambhuraj Desai, Satara's
Guardian Minister, encoun-
tered an alarming incident
while leaving the Collec-
tor's office on Friday.
An escalating argument
between a mentally
challenged individual
and a street vendor at
Powai Canal led to an
empty bottle thrown to-
wards Desai's convoy,
causing a stir.
Details revealed that a frus-
trated person, demanding free
snacks, hurled the bottle at the
minister's passing car. Despite
police noticing the incident,
the convoy continued without
LAST WORD
Pune Book Festival 2023: Literary fervour and Guinness World records
JAGRUTI KATKAR
More than three lakh Pune
residents gathered at Fer-
gusson College for the Pune
Book Festival, a celebration
of literature and knowledge
that concluded on Sunday.
Organised by the National
Book Trust in partnership
with the Pune Municipal
Corporation (PMC), the fes-
tival spanned from Decem-
ber 16 to 24, drawing an
overwhelming response.
Eminent personalities, in-
cluding Deputy Chief Minis-
ter Devendra Fadnavis,
renowned scientist Raghu-
nath Mashelkar, and minis-
ters Tanaji Sawant and
Chandrakant Patil, graced
the event.
Notably, Punekars
Hyundai Motor, the company set to
acquire the Talegaon plant. The union
asserts that approximately 1,000
General Motors workers are at risk of
unemployment.
HALT CONSTRUCTIONS, SULE SAID
Last month, Sule had warned
PMC of potential agitation
Recently, last month, NCP leader, Supriya Sule had
pointed out to the PMC warning of a water crisis in
the city and across the state. She even asked the
city administration to halt the ongoing
constructions in the city as the residents
complained of struggling with water shortage and
water cuts. She had even warned of a potential
agitation in case the municipal corporation fails to
listen as many residents failed to store proper
drinking water and some even faced shortage of
water for irrigation needs.
REPRESENTATIVE PIC
government sectors.
Emphasising the necessity
of uninterrupted daytime
power supply in leopard at-
tack-prone talukas to support
agricultural activities, the
protesters stress the urgency
of this measure.
The protestors vehemently
oppose the arbitrary prac-
tices of crop insurance com-
panies and seek prompt com-
pensation for incurred losses.
A significant demand high-
lighted in the protest is the
call for a comprehensive loan
waiver for farmers grappling
with financial burdens. Addi-
tionally, they seek the imple-
mentation of a standardised
'Educational Loan' policy
aimed at facilitating the edu-
cation of farmers' children.
The march will see promi-
nent leaders from MVA in-
cluding Supriya Sule, Amol
Kolhe etc.
stopping.
Namya Bhosle, a resident of
Fadtarewadi, Satara, was de-
tained late Friday in connec-
tion with the event. Notably,
Desai faced prior inci-
dents, including an at-
tempted self-
immolation in front of
his house a month ago.
A comprehensive in-
vestigation initiated at
the Powai checkpoint
focused on the incident's
nature. Conversations with the
street vendor clarified that the
bottle thrower, mentally chal-
lenged and seeking snacks, im-
pulsively tossed the bottle in
frustration after being denied,
without intending harm.
achieved four Guinness
World Records during this
literary extravaganza.
Among the Guinness
World Records, the festival
witnessed the creation of
'Bharat,' consisting of 7,500
books in 22 languages, pro-
moting India's Multilingual-
ism. Additionally, Punekars
set records for the largest
reading activity by 3,066 par-
ents and the longest word
and sentence made of books,
titled 'Jaitu Bharat,' com-
prising 18,751 books.
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi commended Pune's
achievement in promoting
the reading culture, recog-
nizing the record-breaking
reading activity where 3,066
parents read to their chil-
dren. This initiative sur-
Korea-India art celebration:
50-year-old partnership
STAFF REPORTER
The historical and cultural
ties between Korea and India,
rooted over two millennia,
formalised into diplomatic re-
lations in 1973. Since then,
their partnership has thrived
in politics, economy, and cul-
ture.
Cultural exchanges have
blossomed, nurturing con-
nections through events and
education. Nami Island Arts
and Education (NAE) in Ko-
rea serves as a hub for global
cultural festivals and art ex-
changes, notably with India.
NAE emphasises cultural
sensitivity through nature in-
teractions.
To commemorate 50 years
of diplomatic ties, the Korea-
India Artist Camp united ten
artists in September on Nami
Island.
Under the theme "Tagore
and Nature - A River," they
created collaborative paint-
ings. Now showcased at Indo
Korean Centre King Sejong
Institute Pune (IKC KSI
Pune), these artworks sym-
CELEBRATION OF INDIAN CULTURE, BHIMTHADI JATRA!
passed China's previous
record, underscoring the
city's commitment to nur-
turing a love for reading.
Another astounding feat
emerged as 11,043 Indians
set a new world record for
reading a single paragraph
in just 30 seconds, surpass-
ing China's participation.
Swapnil Dangorikar from
Guinness World Records ac-
knowledged these achieve-
ments and awarded certifi-
cates to the organisers.
The festival also featured
'Silence, Pune is Reading,' a
unique event that engaged
teachers, students, govern-
ment employees, and organ-
isations, contributing to
Pune's celebration of read-
ing and literature.
Dr Neelam Gorhe, Deputy
bolise bilateral collaboration.
The event marked a mile-
stone, featuring an MOU
signing ceremony between
IKC and NAE. IKC KSI Pune's
talented dancers, fluent in
Korean, enchanted the audi-
ence with a performance in-
tertwined with the artworks.
Students presented on the
Korean language's role in fos-
tering the Korea-India rela-
tionship, captivating around
200 attendees.
Additionally, IKC KSI
The five-day Bhimathadi Jatra ended today.
Held in Pune's College of Agriculture, the
fair had 320 stalls that offered diverse
dishes like Khandeshi Puran Mande and
showcased rural women's crafts. The
cultural event, is held to celebrate India's
crafts and cuisine, focusing on
sustainability.
Chairperson of Maharashtra
Legislative Council, and
Chandrakant Patil, Minister
of Higher and Technical Ed-
ucation, Textiles, and Par-
tion from local authorities to
rectify the essential water
supply.
Promising to look into the
matter, MLA, Shivajinagar
constituency, Sidharth Shi-
role said, "We did speak to the
civic body and found out that
the SNDT Pumping station
repair work is still underway,
hence the disruption. Chatur-
shringi pumping station wa-
ter release from SNDT main
to Chaturshringi is stalled
due to some problem. This is
leaving the residents with
less water supply but now we
assure that soon the problem
will be sorted out."
Similarly, the PMC official
too assured to resolve the is-
sue promptly.
“It is not only Aundh, but
many parts of the city are go-
ing through a water crisis
amidst the poor rainfall this
year. Hence, it makes it im-
portant for us to save water
so that next year there is
enough storage for the city.
Besides this, repair work of
pumping stations too has
been underway, which is
also one of the reasons why
people need to use water
mindfully,” said one of the
senior officials from the
PMC on anonymity.
Pune students showcased
their dance performances
against landmarks like
Shaniwar Wada and the
bustling Phoenix Mall in Vi-
man Nagar.
These acts were part of the
'Eldorado' dance drama, em-
bodying the fusion of Indo-
Korean cultures.
The celebration bridged
cultures, showcasing the
deep-rooted artistic collabo-
ration between Korea and In-
dia.
liamentary Affairs, inaugu-
rated the festival.
Marked by collaborative
efforts between various in-
stitutions and government
BHOPAL | MONDAY | DECEMBER 25, 2023
Christmas and holiday season call
for an urgent traffic adjustment
JAGRUTI KATKAR
City is draped in a blanket of
festive joy for Christmas cele-
brations, with city streets
shimmering with a kaleido-
scope of twinkling lights, vi-
brant decorations, and splen-
did Christmas trees, enchanti-
ng residents and visitors alike.
However, amidst the hustle
and bustle, especially in
Pune's Camp area, market-
place echoes with last-minute
shoppers picking from an as-
sortment of festive
ornaments, Santa Claus
masks, and other essentials to
commemorate the season.
Adding to the jubilant at-
mosphere, Santa Claus cos-
tumes and the iconic red caps
have always been a focal point
at traffic signals across the
city.
In preparation for the antic-
ipated crowds during the
Christmas festivities and holi-
Woman killed for
not cooking meal
for husband
STAFF REPORTER: In the
Dattanagar area of Katraj, a
horrifying incident unfolded
as a woman was ruthlessly
beaten to death by her hus-
band for not preparing food,
an official said on Sunday.
The deceased has been
identified as Madhura Tanaji
Kamble (42). The police swift-
ly arrested the husband,
Tanaji Shivaji Kamble (43), in
connection with the case. The
victim's son, Piyush Tanaji
Kamble (19), filed a complaint
at the Bharati Vidyapeeth Po-
lice Station.
Tanaji, a labourer and alco-
hol addict, returned home
around 10 pm and, enraged by
the unprepared meal, brutally
assaulted his wife. She sus-
tained severe injuries and
was rushed to the hospital,
where she succumbed to her
injuries. Tanaji is now in cus-
tody, facing charges of mur-
dering his wife, with
Assistant Police Inspector
Swapnil Patil leading the in-
vestigation.
Pune-Thon 2023:
A city’s triumph
STAFF REPORTER: The
Jagdish Mulik Foundation
orchestrated Pune-Thon 2023,
aiming to make Pune India's
cleanest city by 2027.
Higher and technical educa-
tion minister of
Maharashtra, Chandrakant
Patil flagged off the
marathon, praising Pune's
cultural heritage and encour-
aging health awareness
through such events.
Joined by dignitaries like
Sunil Deodhar, the marathon
bodies, including the Min-
istry of Education, the Gov-
ernment of Maharashtra,
and Savitribai Phule Pune
University, the Pune Book
PUNE
day season, the Pune police
had announced an essential
traffic alteration in the Pune
Camp area. The adjustments
aim to manage the anticipated
influx of visitors on main
roads and connecting streets
amidst the festive season, said
one of the police personnel.
To manage the crowd in the
market area of Pune's Camp,
Deputy Commissioner of Po-
lice (Traffic) Vijaykumar Ma-
gar issued an official order as-
suring a smoother flow of the
traffic. Every year, Pune
Camp and its neighboring
Man held for brutally
attacking retired
police inspector
STAFF REPORTER
A man has been apprehended
by Wanwadi Police in connec-
tion with the vicious assault
on retired police inspector
Wazir Shaikh, an official con-
firmed on Sunday.
Wazir Hussain Shaikh (58)
was assaulted with a stone,
sustaining severe injuries,
around 8:30 pm on Friday.
Rushed to Ruby Hall Clinic in
Wanwadi, the retired inspec-
tor was admitted for treat-
ment. Initial investigations
point to a dispute arising over
a restaurant's location.
The arrested individual,
Pramod Kakade, a 45-year-old
resident of Wanwadi Bazar,
was identified in a complaint
lodged by Isha Wazir Shaikh,
aged 56. Wazir Shaikh, the re-
tired inspector and owner of
Nature Grow Tourism Hotel
at Constitution Square, had
leased the premises for ten
years.
emphasised PM Narendra
Modi's cleanliness initiative.
Mulik expressed satisfac-
tion with the event's commu-
nity engagement. Partici-
pants from diverse age
groups ran across three cate-
gories, with the 10km run of-
fering prizes totaling ₹15
lakh, including an electric
bike and electronics.
The marathon united Pune
residents, showcasing a col-
lective commitment to a
cleaner, more beautiful city.
Festival was not just a liter-
ary celebration but also a
platform fostering reading
culture, education, and in-
tellectual exchange.
churches draw significant
footfall in the evenings
leading up to Christmas, par-
ticularly on Mahatma Gandhi
(MG) Road and connecting
lanes, becoming a hub for fes-
tivities and shopping.
TRAFFIC
ADJUSTMENTS
THIS FESTIVE
SEASON
“To facilitate traffic diversion,
various routes have been
mapped, ensuring efficient
travel. Furthermore, teams
from local police stations and
the Traffic Control Branch have
been actively deployed to
implement the traffic
adjustments during the
designated evenings,” said
Magar.
Exceptions are made for
vehicles on emergency
services, such as fire tenders,
ambulances, police, and
military vehicles, exempted
from these traffic constraints,
as outlined in the directive by
DCP Magar.
The conflict stemmed from
Kakade's unregulated occu-
pancy and Shaikh's inquiry
into his tenant status. Kakade
had been taking money with-
out a formal tenancy agree-
ment and had a history of alco-
hol-related issues.
The altercation on the inci-
dent night escalated from a
discussion to a heated argu-
ment. Kakade, in a fit of anger,
attacked Shaikh with a stone,
causing grave injuries to his
face. The retired inspector
was swiftly hospitalised.
Pramod Kakade faces
charges of attempted murder,
confirmed by Wanwadi police
station's senior inspector,
Sanjay Patange.
4-year-old
reunited with
mother
STAFF REPORTER: In a
heartening reunion, the MIDC
Bhosari Police Station under
the Pimpri Chinchwad Police
successfully reunited a lost 4-
year-old boy with his family.
The incident unfolded
when a man named Akash
Chandrakant Shinde found
the boy at Spine City Mall,
Moshi Authority on Saturday.
Upon bringing him to the
police station, officers proac-
tively engaged with the child
to gather information about
his home and school. He re-
vealed that he attended Hello
Kids school.
The police promptly con-
ducted a Google search, lo-
cating the school's contact
details. Subsequently, they
reached out to the school,
connecting with the teach-
ers and obtaining the con-
tact number for his family.
Through efficient coor-
dination, the Pimpri
Chinchwad Police contact-
ed the family, ensuring a
swift and joyful reunion
between the child and his
mother.
Governor extends Christmas greetings
HYDERABAD: Telangana Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan has
extended greetings to all the Christian fraternity and the people of the
State on the auspicious occasion of Christmas festival. In a release
issued by Raj Bhavan here on Sunday, the Governor said the Christmas
QUIT FROM DUTIES IF ANYONE FEELS
DIFFICULTY IN WORKING WITH GOVT
FPJ BUREAU/HYDERABAD
Chief Minister Revanth Red-
dy has suggested the senior
officials to quit from the du-
ties if anyone feels difficulty
in working with the State gov-
ernment. The Chief Minister
made these remarks during
the Collectors and SPs meet-
ing held at the Secretariat
here on Sunday.
He said that the Congress
government is very ope-
minded and it takes sugges-
tions to be given by officials.
At the same time, every offi-
cer has to work according to
instructions of the govern-
ment. If anyone has prob-
lems, they can leave from du-
ties immediately, Revanth
Reddy said.
Chief Minister A Revanth
Reddy unveiling his Govern-
ment’s flagship programme
‘Prajapalana’ to be organised
from December 28 to January
6, 2024, wanted the District
Collectors and Superintend-
ents of Police to win the
‘Govt will ensure protection
and welfare of minorities’
FPJ BUREAU/HYDERABAD
Irrigation and Civil Supplies
Minister N Uttam Kumar Red-
dy underscored the commit-
ment of the new Congress Gov-
ernment in Telangana to the
welfare and well-being of all mi-
nority communities in the state.
He was speaking to media
persons after meeting Cardinal
Poola Anthony, the Head of the
Catholic Christian Community
in South India, here on Sunday
to greet him and the entire
Christian community on the
eve of Christmas.
Uttam Kumar Reddy empha-
sized the truly secular nature
of the Congress party, express-
ing its dedication to providing
equal opportunities for all com-
munities, particularly minori-
ties. He highlighted the Con-
gress party's historical record
of treating all communities
fairly and ensured that Chris-
tians and other minorities
would be granted protection
and safety for their rights, prop-
Special Trains from Hyderabad to Tirupati & Kakinada Town
FPJ BUREAU/HYDERABAD
In order to clear extra rush
of passengers, the South Cen-
tral Railway will run 20 spe-
cial trains between Hyder-
abad – Tirupati – Hyderabad
and Hyderabad – Kakinada
Town – Hyderabad.
Train No. 07489 Hyderabad
–Tirupati starts at 18.15 (Fri)
and reaches at 07.50 (Sat) on
December 29, 2023.
Train No 07490 Tirupati –
Hyderabad starts at 20.25 (Sat)
and reaches at 08.50 (Sun) on
December, 30, 2023.
Train No. 07449 Hyderabad
– Tirupati leaves at 18.10
(Wed) and reaches at 06.45
(Thu) December 27, 2023.
Train No 4 07450 Tirupati –
Hyderabad leaves at 17.15
(Thu) and reaches
destination at 07.30 (Fri) De-
is a joyous occasion to celebrate the birth of Jesus and cherish his
ideals."Jesus life symbolizes love, forgiveness, truth, compassion,
brotherhood and sacrifice. I wish this Christmas to bring in boundless
joy, love, peace and prosperity to all," the Governor said.
hearts of the people first. He
announced that the ‘Pra-
japalana’ would be held in all
Villages and municipal wards
from 9 am to 5 pm with a
break at 2pm. Addressing the
first Collectors and SPs con-
ference at the conference hall
on the seventh floor of the Dr
BR Ambedkar Telangana
State Secretariat on Sunday
reminded them that the peo-
ple of Telangana would not
tolerate any undue hindrance
Uttam Kumar Reddy
criticized the BJP-led
government at the Center
for allegedly fostering a
sense of insecurity
among minorities.
erties, and religious freedom.
Asserting the fulfillment of
specific promises made to mi-
norities, particularly the
Christian community, during
elections, Uttam Kumar Reddy
criticized the BJP-led govern-
ment at the Center for allegedly
fostering a sense of insecurity
among minorities. He cited in-
cidents such as attacks on pas-
tors and accused the BJP of not
taking prompt action. In con-
trast, he assured that the Con-
gress Government in Telan-
gana would adopt a zero-toler-
ance approach towards inci-
dents of hatred and religious
discrimination, ensuring total
protection and welfare of all
communities.
cember 28, 2023.
Train No. 07451 Hyder-
abad– Kakinada Town leaves
at 20.30 (Fri) and reaches at
08.00 hrs (Sat) on December
You might belong
to any State, but
now you are a
part of
Telangana. Try to
understand the
local people and
their psyche.
Implement the
law with a
human touch
because the DNA
of the people
here is different
– Revanth Reddy
to their freedom.
“You might belong to any
State, but now you are a part
of Telangana. Try to under-
stand the local people and
their psyche. Implement the
law with a human touch be-
cause the DNA of the people
here is different,” he cau-
tioned the officers. He said
that Telangana differed from
other States of the Country
because the people loved self-
rule and hated bossism. He
‘Value creation by BRS Govt more than Rs 50 lakh crore’
FPJ BUREAU/HYDERABAD
BRS party working president
KT Rama Rao today claimed
that the BRS Government in
the last decade has ensured a
value creation of more than
Rs 50 lakh crore in Telangana.
The party has put out a strong
counter to the Congress Gov-
ernment's narrative that the
K Chandrashekar Rao's
(KCR) regime has turned
Telangana into a debt-ridden
State in the last 10 years.
Releasing the 'Telangana
Swedha Patram', the party's
white paper on the status of
finances in Telangana, at the
Telangana Bhavan on
Sunday, KTR said, "There is
an attempt to discredit the
work of the BRS Govern-
ment. In the recent Assembly
session, we were not given a
fair chance to represent our
views when they (Congress
Government) presented a
white paper. There is a re-
sponsibility upon us to ex-
plain to the people of our tire-
less work in the State.
"The Congress Government
says we pushed the State into a
Transfers & postings of IAS Officers
FPJ BUREAU/HYDERABAD
The following transfers and
postings of IAS Officers are
ordered, in the exigency of
administration.
Dr Jyoti Buddha Prakash,
IAS (2002), Commissioner,
Prohibition & Excise is trans-
ferred and posted as Commis-
sioner, Transport. E. Srid-
har, IAS (2004). Spl. Secretary
to Government, Tribal Wel-
fare Department is trans-
ferred and posted as Commis-
sioner, Prohibition & Excise
vice Dr Jyoti Buddha
Prakash, IAS (2002), trans-
ferred.
The MoS is also placed in
FAC of the post of Vice Chair-
29, 2023.
Train No. 07452 Kakinada
Town - Hyderabad starts at
21.00 (Sat) and reaches desti-
nation at 09.00 (Sun) on De-
reminded them that the peo-
ple of Telangana fought for a
separate State for years and
may sacrificed their precious
lives for statehood. “Please
don’t reject an application for
the sake of rejection. Consid-
er it with positivity,” Revanth
Reddy pointed out.
Recognising their role in
implementing the decisions
taken at the Secretariat to the
grassroots, the Chief Minis-
ter wanted the officials to first
find out the real beneficiary
who was waiting for the bene-
fit sitting at the last eagerly
waiting for his or her turn.
Calling upon the Collectors
and SPs he said that the Gov-
ernment was keen on effec-
tively implementing the six-
guarantees and said that the
Government would not toler-
ate any laxity when it came to
the implementation of wel-
fare schemes.
“We are friendly so far you
are effective. Try to under-
stand the mindset of the local
people,” the CM told the offi-
debt which stands at Rs 6,71,157
crore according to its white pa-
per. But our debts are just Rs
3,17,015 crore because the rest
are loans raised for capital in-
vestments under self-hypothe-
cation and by certain corpora-
tions which have much bigger
asset base and can clear the
loans on their own. The Con-
gress Government's claim in its
white paper that its Govern-
man & Managing Director
and Executive Director, TSIiC
vice E.V.Narsimha Reddy, IAS
(2017) transferred.
Bharati Hollikeri, IAS
(2010), Collector & District
Magistrate, Rangareddy is
transferred and directed to
report to General Adminis-
tration Department.
Gowtham Potru, IAS
(2015), Collector & District
Magistrate, Medchal-Malkaj-
giri is placed in FAC of the
post of Collector & District
Magistrate, Rangareddy vice
Bharati Hollikeri, IAS (2010),
transferred.
Shruti ojha, IAS (2013),
Addl. Commissioner, GHMC
is transferred and posted as
These special trains will stop at Secunderabad,
Jangaon, Kazipet, Warangal, Mahbubabad,
Khammam, Vijayawada, Tenali, Bapatla, Chirala,
Ongole, Nellore, Gudur and Renigunta stations in
both the directions.
cember 30, 2023.
Train No. 07489/07490 Hy-
derabad – Tirupati – Hyder-
abad Special Trains (two
services): These special trains
will stop at Secunderabad,
Nalgonda, Miryalaguda,
Nadikude, Sattenapalli, Gun-
tur, Tenali, Bapatla, Chirala,
Ongole, Nellore, Gudur and
Renigunta stations in both
the directions. All these spe-
cial trains will consist of AC
II Tier, AC III Tier, Sleeper
Class, and General Second-
class Coaches.
HYDERABAD
cers. Asking them to emulate
the ‘people’s IAS’ officer SR
Sankaran, the CM said that
he used to go through every
single file from morning to
night to benefit the poorest of
the poor.
The Chief Minister said he
will be strict in terms of the
work and police are given full
freedom to take action against
the illegals. "Strict action
should be taken against land
grabbers. The word land grab
should not be heard in the
Telangana State. The police
should keep an eye on the
management of Book My
Show and Sunburn and find
out the real facts," the Chief
Minister ordered. He also di-
rected the officials to take
stringent action against those
who are involved in the supply
of spurious seeds and Ganja.
Deputy CM Mallu Bhatti
Vikramarka, Cabinet Minis-
ters, Chief Secretary Santi
Kumari, and DGP Ravi Gupta
were among the others who
attended the conference.
ment had spent Rs 4.98 lakh
crore for Telangana during its
60-year rule is also false. Con-
trary to the 1956 ‘Gentleman
Agreement’, the Congress par-
ty spent the revenue generated
in Telangana elsewhere despite
suggestions by several commit-
tees that Telangana deserves its
rightful share," he said.
Explaining the financial
situation of the State when
Director. Intermediate Edu-
cation & Secretary, Board of
Intermediate Education duly
relieving Navin Mittal, IAS
(1996) from FAC of the said
post'
On transfer, E.V. Narsimha
Reddy, IAS (2017) is posted as
Director, Tribal Welfare duly
relieving Dr Christina
z.Chongthu, IAS (2001) from
the said post.
Devendra Singh
Chauhan, IPS (1997), who is
waiting for posting is
posted as Commissioner,
Civil Supplies and EO, Prl.
Secretary to Government,
CAF & CS, duly relieving
Anil Kumar, IAS (Retd)
from FAC of the said post.
Train No. 07449 / 07450 Hy-
derabad – Tirupati – Hyder-
abad Special Trains (02 Serv-
ices):
These special trains will
stop at Secunderabad, Jan-
gaon, Kazipet, Warangal,
Mahbubabad, Khammam, Vi-
jayawada, Tenali, Bapatla,
Chirala, Ongole, Nellore,
Gudur and Renigunta sta-
tions in both the directions.
All these special trains will
consist of AC II Tier, AC III
Tier, Sleeper Class, and Gen-
eral Second-class Coaches.
HYDERABAD | MONDAY | DECEMBER 25, 2023
Students should focus on creative
hobbies: Sandeep Prakash
FPJ BUREAU/HYDERABAD
The Chief Commissioner of
GST and Customs of the State
today exhorted the students to
study hard and focus on cre-
ative hobbies for their intend-
ed purpose. "There are many
ways in which students can
make use of creativity in their
school career, not only to
make learning a little fun, but
also to go a long way in achiev-
ing academic goals," he said.
The closing ceremony of the
21st annual sports
competitions of DRS Interna-
tional School was held at Gund-
la Pochampally of Maisam-
maguda on the outskirts of Hy-
derabad city. Sandeep Prakash,
who was the chief guest at the
event, lit the lamp and inaugu-
rated the closing ceremony.
Speaking on the occasion,
Sandeep Prakash said it was
a pleasure to see an amazing
display of resilience, pa-
tience, perseverance, leader-
ship and accountability at the
DRS International school's
annual sports meet. He said
Sports could bring students
together in a way that
nothing else could do and
added that sports could teach
them how to win and lose. He
urged the students to achieve
their goals in education and
participate in the collective
effort to shape the future of
the country by following the
traditional Indian values of
honesty, integrity and service
with modern ideas.
The DRS international
school founder and chairman
Dayanand Agarwal said the
programme to showcase the
talent of children was a
Telangana was born, KTR
said, "When KCR took over as
Chief Minister, the finances
were in doldrums. Political
conspiracies aside, we were
tasked with distribution of
employees and assets post bi-
furcation. There was a 2,700-
megawatt power deficit. “We
have inherited issues like flu-
orosis due to lack of clean
drinking water, water scarci-
MLA get stuck in
lift at hospital
FPJ BUREAU/HYDERABAD
Secunderabad Cantonment
BRS party MLA Lasya Nandi-
ta got stuck in the lift of a pri-
vate hospital in New Boina-
pally in the city today . MLA
Lasya Nandita attended the
anniversary of the hospital
on Sunday. The MLA boarded
the lift to go to the third floor
of the hospital. Along with
her, several others boarded
the lift beyond the its capacity
. Due to a technical fault in the
lift, the lift door was closed.
After this , the lift descended
down into the cellar. As a re-
sult, the MLA was stuck in the
lift for fifteen minutes.
Train No. 07451/07452Hy-
derabad–Kakinada Town-Hy-
derabad Special Trains (two
services): Enroute, Train
no.07451 will stop at Secun-
derabad, Jangaon, Kazipet,
Warangal, Mahbubabad,
Khammam, Rayanapadu, Gu-
divada, Kaikalur, Akividu,
Bhimavaram Town, Tanuku,
Rajahmundry and Samalkot
stations.
In the return direction
Train No.07452 will stop at
Samalkot, Rajahmundry,
Tanuku, Bhimavaram Town,
Akividu, Kaikalur, Gudivada,
Vijayawada, Guntur, Sattena-
palle, Piduguralla, Miryalgu-
da, Nalgonda and Secunder-
abad stations.
These trains consist of AC
II Tier, AC III Tier, Sleeper
and General Second Class
Coaches.
The closing ceremony of
the 21st annual sports
competitions of DRS
International School was
held at Gundla
Pochampally of
Maisammaguda on the
outskirts of Hyderabad city.
source of encouragement for
other children as well. He
congratulated the teachers
for organizing such an amaz-
ing event. "For the last 20
years, DRS International
School has been continuing
to be an institution of excel-
lence that provides the
knowledge and teaching re-
quired for the growth of stu-
dents, encourages them to be
confident, responsible and
collaborate with global mem-
bers. We are organizing com-
petitions for all kinds of
sports, general knowledge
and mock parliament ses-
sions and providing opportu-
The Congress Government's claim in its white paper
that its Government had spent Rs 4.98 lakh crore for
Telangana during its 60-year rule is also false.
Contrary to the 1956 ‘Gentleman Agreement’
ty, lack of medical facilities
and so on. We have tasked
ourselves to work on improv-
ing the livelihood of farmers,
boosting law and order and ir-
rigation challenges.”
Stating that Telangana pro-
gressed in the last 10 years,
KTR said, "The per capita in-
come grew from Rs 1,12,162 in
2014 to Rs 3,17,115 in 2023.
Similarly, GSDP grew from Rs
4.51 lakh crore to Rs 13.27 lakh
crore in 2023. Poverty too re-
duced from 21.92 per cent in
2014 to just 5.8 per cent in the
current fiscal year." KTR sug-
gested to the current Con-
gress regime to concentrate
on its responsibilities instead
of defaming the previous
Government.
“In the white paper by the
Congress, the party said the
expenditure incurred by the
KCR Government in the last 10
years was Rs 13,72,930 crore. If
My son will contest from
Nalgonda if high
command asks us: Gutha
FPJ BUREAU/HYDERABAD
Telangana Legislative Coun-
cil Chairman Gutha Sukhen-
der Reddy said his son Gutha
Amit Reddy will contest from
Nalgonda or Bhuvanagiri
parliamentary constituency
if the party permits his fami-
ly to do so.
In an informal chat with
media persons, he said in
Telangana, only four districts
were in favour of the Con-
gress party and added that
mixed results were obtained
in the remaining districts in
the recent assembly
elections. He said Hyderabad
and Medak districts were
dominated by the BRS party.
He said the opposition to the
MLAs was clearly visible and
added that that he had never
dreamt that the BRS govern-
ment would be lost. He said
people wanted KCR to be the
chief minister, but the result
was reversed due to the defeat
of the MLAs. He said the
newly formed government
should allocate a budget on
the pending irrigation proj-
ects in Nalgonda district. “On
my part, I have given sugges-
tions on the projects and
added that the newly elected
government should strictly
implement the protocol for all
public representatives.
Commenting on the prom-
ises made by the Congress
party, Sukhender Reddy said
six guarantees cannot be im-
plemented at the moment. Re-
ferring to the recent incident
nities to students to showcase
their skills,” he said.
Dayanand Aggarwal
urged the students to reach
new heights with firm com-
mitment and become respon-
sible global citizens after
coming out of the school cor-
ridors by studying diligently
and developing a sense of ed-
ucation.
Sandeep Prakash pre-
sented medals, trophies and
certificates to the students,
who have won in the annual
sports competitions and con-
gratulated them.
Later, the students held a
cultural program and enter-
tained everyone with music,
songs and dance performanc-
es from Indian culture, as
well as western music and
songs. The directors of the
school Anjini Kumar Agarw-
al, Sanjay Agarwal, Garv
Agarwal, principal Shan-
mugam Paramasivan, alum-
nus of the school, film actress
Simran Choudhary and oth-
ers were also present.
– KT Rama Rao
true, then the BRS
government spent in just 10
years of its rule almost three
times of what the previous
governments in the last 65
years. However, they say the
BRS Government did not work
properly. Isn't this proof that
the Congress government has
given false calculations in its
white paper? Don't you under-
stand that their aim is to throw
mud at BRS?" KTR asked.
"Politically run your cam-
paigns against us. But don't
discredit the projects and cre-
ate a wrong perception for in-
vestors. I want you all to
check if there is any village in
the Congress and the BJP
ruled States in the entire
country that has drinking wa-
ter connections to every
household, nurseries, funeral
places of different religions?
These facilities are available
only in Telangana.”
“On my part, I have
given suggestions on
the projects and
added that the newly
elected government
should strictly
implement the
protocol for all public
representatives.
of intrusion into the Lok Sab-
ha, he said the smoke bomb
attack on Parliament clearly
shows the security lapses.
Reddy said the State Govern-
ments should work for the fu-
ture and development of the
State and added that there
were no governments in the
country without allegations.
“Allegations are also being
levelled against the BRS gov-
ernment. Any government
should act with dignity,” he
added.
EDIT BHOPAL | MONDAY | DECEMBER 25, 2023
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Justice without force is powerless;
force without justice is tyrannical.
— BLAISE PASCAL

FREE PRESS
FOR FREE FLOW OF TRUTH
Decoding BJP’s CM choices in heartland states
erational shift for the BJP. everyone with their choice of the change, to introduce new faces too.
Let us take the case of the ‘side- chief ministerial name — Vishnu and promote freshness in the par- In Rajasthan, where forward

Corruption is a Comment
lined’ leaders of the three states —
Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Vasund-
hara Raje Scindia, and Raman
Singh. Madhya Pradesh was con-
Deo Sai — though Singh has been
accommodated as Speaker of the
Assembly.
This is not the first time that the
ty. Or is it a strategy to counter the
politics of social justice, a move
embraced by I.N.D.I.A bloc parties
like the Janata Dal (United) and
castes have prominence in poli-
tics, Bhajan Lal being a Brahmin
may have been one of the reasons
for his selection to lead the state;
non-issue for voters ÷ A L I Chougule sidered a no-hope state for the
BJP. But under Chouhan’s chief
ministership the BJP went on to
BJP central leadership has re-
placed prominent state leaders. A
few years ago, it had also sidelined
Congress as a counter to the BJP’s
politics of Hindutva? It is difficult
to fault political analysts who
the other reason is said to be that
he is a confidant of home minister
Shah. Political messaging to the

W
hen it comes to corruption, politicians every-

T
he choice of chief ministers
where are the same. Neither higher literacy for the states of Madhya
rates nor higher per capita incomes nor, for that Pradesh, Rajasthan, and
Chhattisgarh, where the
matter, socio-economic backgrounds of politicians seem to
Bharatiya Janata Party emerged
make a wee bit of difference. Politicians in southern states victorious in the recent Assembly
cannot claim the moral high ground against their elections, not only surprised
northern counterparts, notwithstanding the airs they many people in the BJP but also
might give themselves. Also, corruption cuts across par- confounded political analysts. It is
true that the party did not project
ties, with the Marxists no better at resisting the temptation a chief ministerial face in any of
to line their pockets as against their centrists and rightist the three states but fought the
rivals. The fact that the dubious role of no other than elections under collective leader-
Pinarayi Vijayan, the Marxist Chief Minister of the 100%- ship. But in all the three states,
post-election the BJP cast aside es-
literacy state, Kerala, is mentioned in multiple corruption
tablished and well-known leaders
cases, though nothing concrete has surfaced to directly and new leaders were selected to
link him, suggests that the business of politics invariably lead the governments. What does
leaves all its practitioners tarred with the same black it signify?
brush. Clearly, the choice of chief min-
isters has the unambiguous im-
Now, in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu the ruling print of the party’s central leader-
regime of Chief Minister M K Stalin was forced on the back ship, especially the power and au-
foot when a few months ago the Enforcement Directorate thority of Prime Minister Naren-
arrested V Senthil Balaji, Minister for Electricity, Prohi- dra Modi and Home Minister
Amit Shah. Does this indicate a to-
bition and Excise, on charges of money-laundering. The
tal control over the party of Modi
cash-for-jobs case pertained to the time he was the Trans- and Shah? The answer is obvious,
port Minister in the earlier AIDMK government. Three though there might have been
FIRs were lodged against him in 2018 while the ED regis- other considerations too, which
tered another case in 2021. It may not come as a surprise to includes the Modi-Shah duo’s
strategy for a return to power in
anyone that the ruling DMK leaders had taken the lead in 2024. As all the names were
accusing Balaji of corruption. Ironically, the same DMK surprises, there is a possibility
leaders led by Stalin now accused the Narendra Modi gov- of clear political plans behind
ernment of vendetta politics when the ED began to inves- each of them, which are for the
longer term for the party. The sec-
tigate the very charges they had labelled against Balaji
ond question is whether the shuf-
when he was with the AIADMK. Despite going right up to fle in leadership represents a gen-
the apex court for bail, Balaji and his wife continue to cool
their heels in jail, given the seriousness of charges against
the two.
Even as Stalin’s defence of Balaji failed to shield him
from the ED, another minister in his government was con-
victed last week for corruption. Senior cabinet minister
Questionable actions and unnecessary inaction
and a DMK functionary, K Ponmudy, was convicted by the
Madras High Court for possessing assets disproportionate
to his income. The case was launched when the AIADMK
Guest
win a surprisingly landslide victo-
ry. Collective leadership can be
given credit for the party’s im-
pressive performance, but a lot of
credit also goes to Chouhan and
his welfare schemes. Thus, the ob-
vious choice for the chief minis-
ter’s post was expected to be
Chouhan, still a popular leader
even after his 16-year-long stint as
chief minister. But the party’s cen-
tral leadership’s choice for Mad-
hya Pradesh was Mohan Yadav,
who belongs to the state’s domi-
nant OBC community.
In Rajasthan, the hold of two-
time chief minister Vasundhara
Raje Scindia over the party’s state
unit was so strong that after
sidelining her initially, the BJP
central leadership was forced to
acknowledge her clout and accom-
modate her supporters in ticket
distribution. She may not have
been a favourite for the chief min-
ister’s post but the party could not
afford to marginalise her com-
pletely. However, much against
expectations, the BJP chose first-
time MLA Bhajan Lal Sharma
over Scindia and other expected
names like Gajendra Shekhawat
and Diya Kumari.
In Chhattisgarh, also a no-hope
state for BJP, it was assumed that
former three-time chief minister
Raman Singh would get the job in
case the BJP won the election. But
Modi and Shah chose to surprise
on the ED and PMLA laws raises
an alarm over the abuse of law.
Former Supreme Court Justice
Sushil Kumar Modi for the deputy
chief minister’s post in Bihar, af-
ter winning the 2020 assembly poll
in which Sushil Kumar had cam-
paigned in a similar manner to
Shivaraj Singh’s campaign in
Madhya Pradesh. While he was
It is difficult to fault political analysts who have seen a
combination of both caste calculations and winds of
generational change to explain the choices BJP has
made to lead the governments in the three states
expected to be ‘accommodated’ in
the central cabinet, given his expe-
rience and loyalty to the BJP and
RSS, Sushil Kumar Modi was al-
most relegated to insignificance
and later sent to the Rajya Sabha.
His position in the party is now pe-
ripheral. Whether Shivraj and Va-
sundhara would meet the same
fate as Sushil Kumar remains to
be seen in the ‘era of surprises’
ushered in by Modi and Shah, but
it seems certain that their inde-
pendent stature has been weak-
ened.
Interestingly, the ‘sidelined’
leaders are much younger than 75,
the age that the Modi-Shah duo
has set for retiring from politics in
the BJP. The question that arises
is whether the BJP leadership is
deliberately sidelining experi-
enced leaders for a generational
rule imposed on numerous occa-
sions. Now the present central
government appears to have over-
have seen a combination of both
caste calculations and winds of
generational change to explain the
choices BJP has made to lead the
governments in the three heart-
land states.
For instance, Vishnu Deo Sai, a
tribal leader, has both ministerial
and organisational experience
and his selection is being consid-
ered as a sign of importance that
the BJP is trying to give to the
tribal community, which forms
about 30% of Chhattisgarh’s popu-
lation and 9% of the national pop-
ulation. It is also being seen both
as a symbolic extension of the elec-
tion of Draupadi Murmu as
India’s president and a commit-
ment to the state’s tribal con-
stituency. In Madhya Pradesh, it
is said, the choice of Mohan Yadav
as chief minister is aimed at tak-
ing the wind out of the Congress’
caste census platform: the move
demonstrates that OBCs are well
assimilated into the Hindutva so-
cial and cultural discourse. As an
OBC leader, he is also expected to
have an impact in UP and Bihar
methods are used for splits in case
of Shiv Sena and NCP. While there
is inaction by the Constitutional
Brahmin community in the Hindi
heartland was necessary, particu-
larly after an OBC chief minister
was selected in Madhya Pradesh
and a tribal leader in Chhattis-
garh. Since the Ram temple move-
ment in the 1990s, Brahmins in the
Hindi heartland have thrown
their lot in with the BJP. Their
large-scale desertion is said to
have played a significant role in
the erosion of the Congress in
north India.
While caste and community
seem to be the key motives behind
the BJP’s leadership choices in
each state, it is difficult to ignore
the centralised functioning of the
BJP under Modi and Shah, which
has become a party driven com-
pletely by the high command with
all decisions coming from the top.
This was evident earlier in the se-
lection of chief ministers in As-
sam, Uttarakhand, and Gujarat
and now in MP, Rajasthan, and
Chhattisgarh. The choices may or
may not have particular signifi-
cance for the 2024 election, but the
message is that the BJP will rely
overwhelmingly on Modi’s appeal,
issues like the Ayodhya temple,
the Article 370 verdict and the
caste balances and social engi-
neering that it has been working
on to win the Lok Sabha poll.
The writer is a senior independent Mumbai-
based journalist. He tweets at @ali_chougule
Parliament being more than one
year. An argument was made on
behalf of the then BJP MLAs for

government was in power and pertains to the time Pon- Column Deepak Gupta in his lecture on
Fundamental Rights two months
taken the previous governments
on this front within a short span of
authorities indefinitely, we call
ourselves the world’s largest and
revoking their one-year suspen-
sion from the state Assembly dur-
mudy was a minister in the Karunanidhi Government. ago asserted that some of the judg- nine and a half years. The only dif- an ideal democracy. We have wit- ing the MVA regime. Among the
The trial court acquittal was reversed by the High Court. ÷ Prateek Rajurkar ments were an attack on liberty ference between the previous and nessed many instances of Consti- reasons considered by the
and freedom. He recalled Justice the present governments is that tutional institutions and authori- Supreme Court for revoking their
Pointedly, the case was investigated and charges filed by Krishna Iyer's observation that the incumbent has not declared ties flaunting their loyalty to the suspension was that the represen-
the AIADMK government. The ED was at no stage in-

S
ince 2014, the Prevention of
volved either in investigations or in prosecution, though Money Laundering Act and
the ED is investigating a money-laundering case against the functioning of the En-
forcement Directorate have been
him for handing out sand mining licenses in return for
widely criticised. Given the num-
bribes. Dropped from the ministry following his ber of cases registered by the ED
conviction by the Madras High Court, Ponmudy can still and the consequent punishment
appeal in the Supreme Court against his conviction but meted out, this criticism appears
given the strong evidence of corruption he is unlikely to valid. No law has ever been doubt-
get relief. The High Court has sentenced him and his wife
ed for its misuse in the past 76
years like the PMLA. Even if the
to three years in prison and a fine of Rs 50 lakh. courts reveal the invalidity of the
Admittedly, the above two were not the only senior min- law or its provisions, the system of
isters in the Stalin regime embroiled in corruption amending it as required by the
force of the majority is detrimental
charges. Several more face accusations of illicit money-
to the Constitution and democracy.
making. Why, a couple of months ago Stalin himself and Any law misused as a weapon is fa-
the extended Karunanidhi family was accused of tal to equality, freedom, and the
amassing huge wealth over the years by none other than Constitution. The basic principle
his own finance minister. The audio tape of Palanivel Thi- of the law as “innocent until
proven guilty” has been replaced
agarajan’s allegations against the chief minister and his by the practice of “guilty until
family soon led to his transfer to a relatively insignificant proven innocent”. The segregation
ministry, though he protested that the tape was doctored of accused versus innocent seems
to cause trouble for him. Anyway, Stalin penalised him for to be based only on political align-
ment and not on legal provisions,
daring to speak what everyone in Tamil Nadu has known
hence the whole process remains
for long — which is that the Karunanidhi family has accu- political and not legal.
mulated enormous moveable and immoveable assets The increase in guidelines, com-
thanks to their long stints in power. If ordinary people ments and reviews by the courts
aware of the corruption of their leaders still elect them, the
fault lies with them, and not with the leaders. Though
fierce antagonists in politics, J Jayalalithaa or Karunanid- Alone, yet
hi shared a weakness for unearned lucre. Both D Raja and
Dayanidhi Maran as ministers in the Manmohan Singh not lonely!
government were at the centre of multiple corruption — Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
scams. Therefore, to suggest that only voters in Bihar
continue to elect leaders corrupt leaders like Laloo
Prasad Yadav is wrong. For voters in the South too corrup-
I
f you think nobody loves
you, know for sure that
you are loved. The earth
tion is passe, a non-issue. Tamil Nadu is a case in point.
loves you; that’s why it is
Corruption is the common denominator of Indian politics.
Period.
holding you upright.
The love of the earth is its
FPJ Archives
INDIA 75 YEARS AGO
DECEMBER 25, 1948
gravitational force. The air
loves you; that’s why it
moves through your lungs
even when you are sleeping.
The Divine loves you very
dearly, deeply. Once you re-
alise this, you will never
feel lonely.
Someone's company
cannot fill your loneli-
ness. Even if it does, it
is very short-lived.
If you could be
comfortable being
alone for some
time, then you
GUIDING LIGHT
will not feel lonely.
If you enjoy being with
your Self, you will not be a
boring personality. If you
are lonely, then you can be
boring to others. And that
will make you more lonely!
Any company looks very
good from a distance.
Those who are in
company all the time look
for the comforts of solitude
and those who are in soli-
tude feel lonely and want to
be in company. Everyone is
looking for a perfect bal-
HYDERABADIS MUST CLOSE UP THEIR RANKS ance.
Hyderabad, December 24. Swami Ramanand Tirtha, President of From time to time, keep a
the Hyderabad State Congress, and members of his Working little distance from whom-
Committee met Pandit Nehru, for over an hour this afternoon and soever close to you. So
presented a comprehensive memorandum. sometime during the day,
bail is the rule and jail is an excep- Emergency formally. President's rulers rather than to the Constitu- tation of any constituency cannot
tion. Justice Gupta commented on rule imposed by this government tion. The central government was be left vacant for more than six
the merits of two Supreme Court in Uttarakhand and Arunachal reluctant to retain the ED chief. months. The caste validity of the
judgments, Zahur Ahmad Shah Pradesh in March 2016 and Janu- The Chief Justice of the Supreme MPs of Solapur and Amravati is
and Vijay Madanlal Chaudhary, ary 2016 respectively was struck Court is excluded from the selec- not yet decided although their
under the UAPA and the PMLA tenure is nearing an end. The then
Act respectively. Justice Gupta, Renaming or modifying the titles of statutes from the Union Law and Justice Minister
while setting out the conflicting Kiren Rijiju openly called some re-
facts regarding ED, referred to the colonial era won't meet the ends of justice. Laws and tired judges anti-India while criti-
fact that the reply given to the ED provisions need to be interpreted in a logical way cising the existing judicial system.
officers could be used as evidence A new practice of passing laws
as they were not police officers, without any discussions has
but on the other hand they were down by the courts. There has tion committee for selecting the emerged in Parliament, where
given all the powers of the police. been a 95% increase in registra- chairman of the Election Commis- laws are enacted on the strength of
Justice Gupta further asked, tion of offences under PMLA after sion despite the court's verdict. majority and not through debates
while the burden of proving the 2014, but the conviction rate has There can be no greater injustice and consensus in the legislature.
crime lies with the investigating not changed. Moreover, the trials than not to deliver justice when Renaming or modifying the titles
agency, while there is no require- are delayed. When the Supreme one is empowered to do justice. of statutes from the colonial era
ment to prove anything in the Court ruled in favour of the Delhi For the last two years, elections to won't meet the ends of justice.
PMLA, why is the case not settled government recently, the central local bodies have been indefinitely Laws and provisions need to be in-
in two or three months? Justice government amended the law in postponed without citing any terpreted in a logical way. Contro-
Gupta is of the opinion that if the its favour. During the MVA valid reason. The Election Com- versial raids by various investiga-
case is tried for 6-8 years, then the regime, the appointments of MLCs mission is a Constitutional body, tive agencies on journalists and
accused is definitely entitled to were kept in abeyance indefinitely but is still unable to explain the news media definitely raise ques-
bail and no one's fundamental by the Governor. After a verdict reasons for withholding Lok Sab- tions about an opaque and impar-
rights can be taken away under on the power struggle in Maha- ha by-elections. Elections to Chan- tial investigation.
any law. rashtra due to inaction by the drapur and Pune Lok Sabha seats
Previous governments were crit- Speaker, the second round of liti- that fell vacant due to the death of Prateek Rajurkar is a practising lawyer
icised by those today in power for gation arose which is sub judice in two Parliamentarians were not at the Bombay High Court, Nagpur
the Emergency and President’s a Writ Jurisdiction. Identical held despite the remaining term of Bench. Views are personal
LETTERS for PwDs, wheelchairs, permitting a
companion to accompany a blind/infirm
While watching both matches, one felt
there were no apparent chinks in the
TO THE EDITOR
voter, accessible toilets and adequate
signages explaining the process of voting
armour of the Indian team. The full credit
must go to the entire team and the
Disabled-friendly etc. All the above efforts are meant to coaching team for the outstanding show.
encourage voters to come to the polling That you cannot single out one or two
decisions by EC booth and have a secure ,comfortable and players in the wins, shows that it was a
sit for a few minutes and
meditate. Then you will not
feel lonely even when you
T he Election Commission is trying its best
to promote the principle of accessibility
and inclusivity in the elections and in this
pleasant voting experience. The
Commission has also introduced the home
voting facility, which PwD voters with a
total team’s achievement and that should
be the way to go and grow.
Deepak Odhekar
are alone. regard has issued a set of guidelines to benchmark disability of 40% may avail of.
One way to get over the
feeling of loneliness is to do
political parties, particularly advising them
not to use derogatory or offensive
While the guidelines represent a positive
step forward, it is essential to ensure their
Time is short for I.N.D.I.A
some service (seva) and be
useful to people around you.
The service you did will
language in the political discourse about
Persons with Disabilities (PwDs), and also
in their writings, outreach material or
effective implementation. The Election
Commission must monitor political
campaigns and take appropriate action if
W ith reference to the editorial ‘Big
ambition for I.N.D.I.A. bloc’ (Dec 21),
SP would leave I.N.D.I.A if BSP is asked to
bring a revolution inside political speeches. Political parties have parties violate these guidelines. As India join and Mamata Banerjee is not sure
you. been directed to provide a training module prepares for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, whether she would accommodate both Left
Every time you are lonely, on disability for party workers at all levels it is imperative that political parties and Congress in West Bengal. Each
you are just coming in of the political process, and appoint a embrace these guidelines and contribute to regional outfit wants to protect their home
touch with your own bound- nodal authority to hear complaints from building a more inclusive and respectful turf, and obviously so. But egos will have
aries. PwDs pertaining to usage of ableist political discourse. to be swallowed and some sacrifices made,
It is your limitation language. Parties should also include more Yash Pal Ralhan if this Opposition bloc is really keen on
and boundary that is PwDs at levels such as members and party dislodging the BJP from power in a few
the real cause of
your unhappiness.
workers to shed the attitudinal barrier of
the party and public and provide equal
Boost for women’s cricket months time. Time is running out.
Bal Govind
Just be grateful and
pray
peace. That
for
opportunities.
The EC is already providing facilities such
as location of polling station at the ground
T he two back-to-back victories of the
Indian women’s team over England and
Australia will go down in women’s cricket
Dear reader,
We are eager to know your opinions, comments and
suggestions. Write to editor.indore@fpj.co.in Using snail
very moment, you will start floor, Braille signage on the Ballot Unit of annals as historic. The wins should change mail? Send your letters to Free Press, Free Press House, 3/54,
smiling and however hope- EVM, construction of ramps with proper the attitudes and outlook of cricket fans Press Complex, AB Road, Indore 452008
less the situation is, you gradient, separate queues (priority entry) and authorities towards women's cricket.
will walk through it.
You cannot force enthusi- MIKA’S MATRIX
asm and confidence to come
back to you. When you feel
useless, use that time to be
prayerful and you will see
that you will gain back your
confidence and enthusiasm.
Whether it is extreme joy
or happiness or terrible
misery, there is a part of
every human being that re-
mains untouched by that.
Similarly, you can’t go on
mourning all your life...
Our wish should be that
whomever we meet be hap-
py and radiate happiness.

EVENTS TO WATCH
Dec 28 US Initial Jobless Claims data
Dec 29 Trade Balance, Foreign debt
and Infra output data
MONEY
Visa, agri, GSP likely to figure in India-US trade policy forum meet in Jan
Issues about visas, promoting agri trade and resumption of Katherine Tai will be here for a meeting with Commerce and
benefits under the American generalised system of preferences Industry Minister Piyush Goyal. "Both sides will discuss ways to
(GSP) are expected to figure in the meeting of India-US Trade increase trade and investments between the two countries during
Policy Forum in January, an official said. US Trade Representative the two-day meeting from January 13, 2024," the official said. BHOPAL | MONDAY | DECEMBER 25, 2023

BIZ BULLETIN
Mcap of 3 of top-10 firms
jump `70,312.7 crore
The combined market valuation of three
of the 10 most valued firms jumped Rs
70,312.7 crore last week, with Reliance
Industries emerging as the biggest
winner, amid volatile market conditions.
From the top 10 pack, Reliance
Industries, HDFC Bank and Hindustan
Unilever were the gainers, while Tata
Consultancy Services (TCS), ICICI Bank,
Infosys, State Bank of India, ITC, Bharti
Airtel and Life Insurance Corporation of
India (LIC) faced erosion to the tune of
Rs 68,783.2 crore. Last week, the BSE
benchmark declined 376.79 points or
0.52 per cent after a record-breaking
rally.
421 infra projects hit by
cost overrun of `4.40L cr
As many as 421 infrastructure projects,
each entailing an investment of Rs 150
crore or more, were hit by cost overrun
of more than Rs 4.40 lakh crore in
November this year, an official report
said. According to Ministry of Statistics
and Programme Implementation (MoSPI),
which monitors infrastructure projects
worth Rs 150 crore and above, out of
1,831 projects, 421 reported cost
overrun and 845 projects were delayed.
"Total original cost of implementation of
the 1,831 projects was Rs 25,10,577.59
crore and their anticipated completion
cost was...Rs 29,50,997.33 crore, which
reflects overall cost overruns of Rs
4,40,419.74 crore (17.54 per cent of
original cost)," the ministry's latest report
for November 2023 said.
Office demand up 92% in
Oct-Dec in top 6 cities
Office space demand surged 92 per cent
during October-December period across
six major cities on better demand of
workspace from corporates and
coworking operators, according to
Colliers India. Real estate consultant
Colliers India report shows that gross
leasing of office space stood at 20.2
million square feet in the fourth quarter
of this calendar year from 10.5 million
square feet in the year-ago period.
Helped by strong demand during the
December quarter, the total leasing of
office space rose 16 per cent to 58.2
million square feet during the 2023
calendar year from 50.3 million square
feet last year.
20K sellers on Meesho
see 10 times jump in biz
Around 75,000 sellers achieved double-
digit growth while over 20,000 sellers
witnessed a 10-times jump in their
business on Softbank-backed e-
commerce firm Meesho, the company
said on Sunday. Meesho is the first
unicorn e-commerce firm to have
reported profit this year and it claims to
have maintained the profitability since it
first reported the performance in July.
AIK Pipes sets IPO price
at `89 per share
Pipe maker AIK Pipes and Polymers on
Sunday said it has fixed a price of Rs 89
per share for its Initial Public Offering
(IPO), which will open for public
subscription from December 26-28. The
initial share-sale is entirely a fresh issue
of 16.88 lakh equity shares and the
company aims to raise about Rs 15.02
crore from the IPO, AIK Pipes said in a
statement.
NABARD to hold
three-day agri expo
The National Bank for Agriculture and
Rural Development (NABARD) will hold a
three-day agri expo here to promote
products from over 50 farmer-producer
organizations (FPOs). The expo to be
held at Dilli Haat will see the
participation of FPOs from 21 states,
NABARD said in a statement.
HOP Electric eyes 3-fold
rise in sales in 2024
HOP Electric is targeting up to three-fold
rise in its annual sales in 2024 and is
preparing to launch an electric
motorcycle equivalent to the mass
market entry level bikes of conventional
engines to shore up volumes, according
to company Founder & CTO Rahil Gupta.
The company, which has two electric
scooters and an electric bike in its
portfolio, is also looking to raise around
USD 25 million next year to fund
production capacity expansion.
SIAM Cement BigBloc to
start ops at its unit soon
SIAM Cement BigBloc Construction
Technologies a joint venture between
Gujarat based BigBloc Construction and
Thailand’s Siam Cement Group (SCG)
expects commercial operation of its first
plant at Kapadvanj, Gujarat in the next
3-4 months. The joint venture company
will manufacture AAC Blocks and ALC
panels at the facility and will market its
products under the brand name ‘ZMART
BUILD’. —Agencies
PWC'S 2023 GLOBAL RISK SURVEY
FPIs POUR `57,300-CR IN EQUITIES No takers for rupee
payment for oil imports
IN DEC ON POLITICAL STABILITY
PTI / New Delhi
India's push for rupee to be used
Robust economic growth and steady decline in US bond yields also led to strong inflow of funds to pay for import of crude oil has
PTI / New Delhi change in the strategy of FPIs. not found any takers as suppliers
"India's market engine is revving: Strong have expressed concern on repa-
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have in- GDP growth exceeding estimates, coupled triation of funds and high trans-
jected over Rs 57,300 crore into the Indian eq- with a burgeoning manufacturing sector, actional costs, the oil ministry
uity markets this month so far owing to polit- paints a vibrant picture for investors, " told a parliamentary standing
ical stability, robust economic growth, and a Mayank Mehraa, smallcase manager and committee. actional costs associated with
steady decline in the US bond yields. principal partner at Craving Alpha, said. The default payment currency conversion of funds along with
With this, total investment by FPIs sur- Globally, the US Fed has signalled three for all contracts for import of exchange fluctuation risks," the
passed Rs 1.62 lakh crore this year. potential rate cuts next year, indicating the crude oil is US dollar as per the oil ministry told the parliamen-
Going forward, the New Year is expected to end of the rate hike cycle, which bodes well international trade practice. tary department related standing
witness declines in U.S. interest rates, and for emerging markets like India. However, in a bid to internation- committee.
FPIs are likely to increase their purchases in
2024, V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment TAKING LONG BETS
Bhuvan Rustagi, COO and Co-Founder, of
Per Annum & Lendbox, said that easing Fed
alise the Indian currency, the Re-
serve Bank of India on July 11,
The ministry, whose subimis-
sions are part of the committee's
Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said. tightening, declining US treasury yields, and 2022 allowed importers to pay report which was tabled in Par-
According to the data, FPIs made a net in-
vestment of Rs 57,313 crore in Indian equities
`1.62L CR Total investment by
foreign investors in 2023 softening dollar.
Additionally, there were India-specific fac-
with rupees and exporters be
paid in rupee. While there has
liament last week, said Indian Oil
Corporation (IOC) has informed
in this month (till December 22). This was the tors that prompted FPIs to invest such as ro- been some success with non-oil that it incurred high transaction
highest monthly inflow by them in a year. vastava, Associate Director- Manager Re- bust economic growth, political stability, im- trade with a select few countries, costs as crude oil suppliers pass
This came following a net investment of Rs search, Morningstar Investment Research proved corporate earnings, and attractive rupee continues to be shunned by on the additional transactional
9,000 crore in October. India, said. valuations. oil exporters. costs to IOC." The RBI, it said, had
Before this overseas investors withdrew Also, the country's stable and robust econ- With regards to bonds, the debt market at- "During FY 2022-23, no crude last year permitted opening of ru-
39,300 crore in August and September, data omy, coupled with impressive corporate tracted Rs 15,545 crore during the period un- oil imports by oil PSUs was set- pee vostro accounts in the
with the depositories showed. earnings and a string of Initial Public Offer- der review. This came after receiving an in- tled in Indian rupee. Crude oil partner trading country.
The robust inflow from FPIs into the ings (IPOs), has attracted foreign investors to flow of Rs 14,860 crore in November and Rs Rs suppliers (including UAE's AD- "Payments for crude oil can be
Indian stock markets can be attributed to explore investment opportunities in India, he 6,381 crore in October, data showed. NOC) continue to express their made in Indian rupee, subject to
various factors. Primary among these are po- added. In terms of sector, FPIs were big buyers in concern on the repatriation of the suppliers' complying with
litical stability and positive sentiments pre- Vijayakumar said that the steady decline financial services and also showed interest in funds in the preferred currency regulatory guidelines in this re-
vailing in the Indian markets, Himanshu Sri- in U.S. bond yields has caused this sudden sectors like autos, capital goods, and telecom. and also highlighted high trans- gard," the ministry said.
Steel production
Mkts likely to remain range-bound Economic growth to boost grows 11% to
in holiday-shortened wk: Analysts corporate sector: Fitch Says India will be among world's fastest-growing
11.7 MT in Nov
PTI / New Delhi
PTI / New Delhi creased likelihood of a stable gov-
ernment at the centre. Addition- countries, with resilient GDP growth of 6.5% FY’25 India has registered an increase
Stock markets are likely to re- ally, with FPI holdings at a 10- of 11.4 per cent in its crude steel
main range-bound in this holi- year low and potential foreign PTI / Kolkata production at 11.7 million tonne
day-shortened week amid a lack buying in the debt market ahead (MT) in November this year, ac-
of any major domestic triggers, of India's inclusion in the JP Mor- Leading credit rating firm Fitch cording to World Steel Associa-
analysts said. gan Emerging Market Govern- Ratings expects that India's re- tion (worldsteel).
Stock indices may also face ment Bond Index, may provide silient economic growth will During January-November,
volatility during the week amid some stability to the INR," Jiten- boost demand of the corporates. the country's production was 12.1
the monthly derivatives expiry Stock indices may also dra Gohil, Chief Investment In its latest research report on per cent higher year on year (y-o-
on Thursday. Equity markets
face volatility during the Strategist, Kotak Alternate Asset 'India Corporates: Sector Trends y) at 128.2 MT, the global body said
would remain closed on Monday Managers Limited said. 2024', Fitch said that this is a se- This is despite a challenging in its latest report.
for Christmas. week amid the monthly Analysts said markets were on quel to the robust performance of global backdrop and the cumula-
"This week, as global cues re- a record-setting spree for a while the corporates in 2023 and will off- tive impact of the recent mone- During Jan-Nov, India's
derivatives expiry on
main sparse due to the Christmas and have been in an overbought set weakness from slowing tary tightening, it said. production was 12.1%
holiday, domestic market dy- Thursday zone, so hiccups were expected in growth in the key overseas mar- Sectors like cement, electricity
namics are expected to steer sec- the form of profit-taking and kets. Rising demand and easing and petroleum products are ex-
higher y-o-y at 128.2 MT
tor and stock-specific move- points or 0.49 per cent. hence concluded the week with input cost pressure should boost pected to witness a strong
ments," Santosh Meena, Head of
Research at Swastika Investmart
The decline in the markets
came after a record-breaking ral-
declines following seven consecu-
tive weeks of gains.
margins of the corporates in the
next financial year, Fitch said.
demand with high-frequency
data in 2023 sustained well above
The global steel production in
November was at 145.5 MT, 3.3 per
Ltd, said. With limited cues, the ly where both the benchmark eq- "As we enter into the holiday Fitch said that with strong do- pre-COVID pandemic levels. cent up over same month in 2022.
December F&O expiry could in- uity indices Sensex and Nifty hit mood, we expect markets to re- mestic demand growth, it is ex- Fitch said that India's improv- The world output rose marginally
ject volatility into the markets, their all-time high levels on De- main range-bound with stock- pected that India will be among ing infrastructure will also boost by 0.5 per cent to 1,715.1 MT in
Meena added. cember 20. specific action this week," Sid- the world's fastest-growing coun- steel demand. Slowing down in January-November 2023, world-
Last week, the BSE benchmark "While India's equity market dhartha Khemka, Head - Retail tries, with resilient GDP growth the US and the Eurozone is likely steel said.
declined 376.79 points or 0.52 per valuation is expensive, they may Research at Motilal Oswal Finan- of 6.5 per cent during the fiscal to moderate growth of the IT serv- China produced 76.1 MT steel
cent and the Nifty dipped 107.25 remain elevated due to the in- cial Services Ltd, said. 2024-25. ices. in November, up 0.4 per cent over
November 2022. It produced 952.1
MT in January-November,
NaBFID MD Rajkiran Rai G Increasing exports, reducing imports higher 1.5 per cent y-o-y.
In November, Japan's output
fell 0.9 per cent to 7.1 MT, while
bats for re-introduction of new way ahead for patriotism: Gadkari the overall production was 2.8 per
cent lower at 80 MT during Janu-
ary-November 2023.
S4A-like debt recast scheme The aim of my life is to
stop import of petrol and
PTI / New Delhi money we save will go to the poor.
That is why we have introduced
The US produced 6.6 MT steel
in last month and 73.9 MT in the
PTI / Mumbai Increasing exports and reducing alternative fuels like bio fuel. Re- eleven-month period of 2023.
imports is the new way ahead for diesel, says Gadkari duction in imports and increase Russia produced 6.4 MT in No-
National Bank for Financing In- patriotism and "swadeshi", and it in exports is the way forward for vember and 70.2 MT in January-
frastructure and Development's will be a "new freedom" for India "Till this import is not stopped, patriotism and swadeshi," he as- November 2023. South Korea's
(NaBFID) managing director Ra- when not a drop of petrol or diesel terrorism will not stop across the serted. production stood at 5.4 MT in No-
jkiran Rai G has said there is a is imported, Union Minister Nitin world. The aim of my life is to stop Gadkari said the size of the au- vember and 61.3 MT in the 11-
need to re-introduce the Scheme Gadkari said on Sunday. import of petrol and diesel. I con- tomobile industry in India was Rs month period of 2023.
for Sustainable Structuring of Addressing the 'Sagar sider it to be a new freedom for In- 7 lakh crore when he took over (in In November this year, Ger-
Stressed Assets (S4A) scheme to Manthan 2.0' event, the Union dia when not a drop of petrol and 2014) and now it was Rs 12.5 lakh many produced 2.7 MT, Türkiye
help infrastructure finance in the
future.
which it was brought and how it
was used. And now, we are talk-
Minister of Road Transport and
Highways also said stopping the
diesel is imported into the coun-
try," he said.
crore, adding the sector gives em-
ployment to 4.5 crore people.
produced 3 MT, and Brazil 2.7 MT.
Worldsteel represents steel pro-
Rai said at present, there is not ing in a totally different context," import of petrol and diesel was "The import bill for petrol and It is the industry that gives ducers, national and regional
a single asset calling out for such Rai told PTI, pushing for the in- linked to arresting terrorism in diesel stands at Rs 16 lakh crore highest GST to state governments steel industry associations, and
help but it is essential to get a fa- troduction of the S4A scheme. the world. now. If we reduce this import, the and the Centre, he added. steel research institutes.
cility which will enable "rightsiz- The veteran banker who joined
ing of debt" and make it more sus- the National Bank for Financing
tainable. He also said that given
the present system, no entity can
exploit the S4A scheme by in-
Infrastructure and Development
(NaBFID) after heading state-run
Union Bank of India, said there
Steady near 4% CPI view key for policy change: MPC member Bhide
dulging in things like the ever- was a huge pile of NPAs which INFORMIST / New Delhi target is important," Bhide told Bhide says adequate buffers on sector growth were more moder-
greening of loans. the banking system was saddled Informist in an email interview. both the monetary and fiscal ate in Jul-Sep. According to him,
The RBI had introduced the
S4A scheme in 2016 and ended in
with back then, whereas the same
was not the case now. NPAs were
For any change in policy, data
must support that the projected
"There has been a decline in infla-
tion rate, but there have also
sides are required to ensure sta-
ble policy. A mechanical move-
lower inflation, amid a lattice of
domestic and external triggers, is
February 2018. Debt was split into also arising out of court orders, CPI inflation rate is consistently been upward price pressures on ment in interest rates is less rele- more important than loosening
sustainable and unsustainable delays in environmental clear- close to the Reserve Bank of In- the food inflation front." vant considering the growth and monetary policy.
based on cash flows under the ances for projects, cancellation of dia's 4% target, says Shashanka In the quarters until December inflation shocks of the past two "For services on the supply
scheme, which was focused on mines etc, he said, adding that the Bhide, an external member of the 2024, India's CPI inflation is ex- years, he says. side and private consumption on
corporate loans and also had a banking system used the scheme central bank's Monetary Policy pected to come down to the RBI's The minutes showed Bhide the demand side, both domestic
threshold above which an to delay the recognizing a non- Committee. 4% target only once, in Jul-Sep, noting that while growth in the and external triggers, including
account could qualify. performing asset and make provi- "At this point, getting the infla- before picking up again in Oct- manufacturing sector had lower inflation rate would help
"We need to see the context in sions accordingly. tion rate to be aligned with the Dec. zoomed, services and agriculture faster expansion," Bhide said.
‘Govt took many pro-active steps to control prices of food items’ Green shoots visible on
PTI / New Delhi "Today, India has become the
fastest growing large economy.
that 140 new price monitoring
centres have been set up to keep a corporate lending side, says
Food and Consumer Affairs Min- Going forward, we will keep in- close watch on wholesale and re-
ister Piyush Goyal on Sunday
noted that the Centre has taken
flation under check and also en-
sure economic growth," Goyal
tail prices of essential commodi-
ties. "Today, prices are being
Kotak Mahindra Bank director
many pro-active steps in last few said. Retail inflation inched up to monitored at 550 (consuming) PTI / New Delhi
years to control retail prices of a three-month high of 5.55 per centres on a daily basis. This
food items and said the govern- cent in November driven by helps in insulating consumers Green shoots are beginning to
ment will keep inflation under higher food prices, according to from price rise," Goyal said. become visible as far as invest-
control while ensuring country's latest official data. In the last two years, he said, ment cycle is concerned led by
economic growth. The retail inflation based on when the entire world witnessed government spending in the in-
He was addressing an event, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) very high inflation, especially in frastructure sector, Kotak
organised by the ministry here, was at 4.87 per cent in October. 6.83 per cent. the food items, India was able to Mahindra Bank whole-time di-
to celebrate National Consumers Inflation had been declining On steps taken by the central control inflation through pro-ac- rector Shanti Ekambaram said.
Day. since August when it touched government, Goyal highlighted tive fiscal and monetary policies. "I think the last 18 months
have been very good on the con-
sumer credit side but you are be- Asked about RBI's tightening
ginning to see green shoots even norms for unsecured consumer

Cyber risks biggest threat faced by Indian organisations
PTI / New Delhi
Cyber risks are cited as the biggest
threat faced by Indian organisa-
tions with 38 per cent of respon-
dents feeling highly or extremely
exposed to it, says a survey.
With this, cybersecurity has
jumped two spots from number
three to number one on the risk
radar when compared to the 2022
Global Risk Survey, the PwC's 2023
Global Risk Survey- India edition
stated.
PwC said the final results of the
survey are based on 3,910 survey re-
sponses from Business and Risk
Management leaders (CEO, board,
risk management, operations, tech-
nology, finance, audit) across 67 ter-
ritories providing their views on
the status and direction of risk in
their organisation. 163 Indian or-
ganisations were a part of this sur-
vey.
Other digital and technology
risks are also top concerns for busi-
ness leaders in India (at 35 per cent).
To address the challenges,
Indian organisations are making
bold investments in cybersecurity
with more than half of the respon-
dents planning to invest in cyberse-
curity tools (55 per cent) and AI, ma-
chine learning and automation
technologies (55 per cent) in the
next 1-3 years, according to survey
findings.
To back these investments, 71
per cent of Indian organisations are
gathering and analysing cyberse-
curity and IT data for risk manage-
ment and opportunity identifica-
tion. Globally 61 per cent of the or-
ganisations are doing the same.
in the investment cycle," she
told PTI.
The government focus on in-
frastructure development in the
last three years has created
space for capital expenditure by
the private sector as well.
"I think it is moving from in-
frastructure led by government
spending to capex although in a
small way but I think that is go-
ing to build up," she said.
credit, she said, whenever the
regulator perceives excess, they
do so. NBFC and fintech have
been aggressive on lending
small ticket unsecured loan in
the last 6 to 12 months.
"They just put out the caution
to say you need to provide for
more capital...banks are looking
very stable even now when you
look at the small ticket," she
said.
 Muddappa becomes most-decorated motorsports athlete
CHENNAI,: Ten-time national drag racing champion Hemanth Muddappa became the most-decorated motorsports athlete with an
unprecedented dozen titles after remaining unbeaten in top two classes to emerge a double champion in the MMSC-FMSCI Indian
National Motorcycle Drag Racing Championship here on Sunday.He made it a sweet double emerging triumphant in both the Unrestricted
Class and the 1051 to 1650cc class in the fourth and final round at the Madras International Circuit (MIC) at Irungattukottai near here.
SPORTS
BHOPAL | MONDAY | DECEMBER 25, 2023

SPORTS DIGEST SPANISH LEAGUE 1st Differently Abled Sports Awards

Karan, Divya take T2 air pistol trials
NEW DELHI: Karan Sehrawat of Haryana and Divya TS
of Karnataka emerged victorious at the men’s and
women’s 10m air pistol trials (T2) here on Sunday,
concluding the new season’s first two national selection
trials for rifle and pistol.
10-man Atletico edge past Sumit Antil, Sheetal
Devi declare best male
and female athlete
Sevilla to end mini-slump
The international season begins early in 2024, when the
Indian rifle and pistol squad heads to Jakarta, Indonesia, NEW DELHI freestyle swimmer Murlikant
to take part in the Petkar, who won gold at the
Asian Olympic World record holder, world 1972 Paralympics, was also ho-
qualifying event champion and 2020 Paralympic noured with the Lifetime
for which the Games gold medalist Javelin Achievement award. The Indi-
teams have been BARCELONA thrower in the F64 category an Blind Chess team, which
already Sumit Antil, and recent Arjuna won gold and multiple medals
announced. Ten-man Atletico Madrid Awardee and double Asian at the Hangzhou Para Games,
Olympian Saurabh edged Sevilla 1-0 at home
Chaudhary on Saturday to ensure it
extended his good entered the Spanish
run to a second league winter break still
day, topping the in touch with the front-
men’s 10m air runners.
pistol T2 The game in Spain’s cap-
qualifications with ital was originally sched-
a world-class score uled for September but
of 586. He was was postponed due to a
followed by his forecast for bad weather.
senior Olympian Halftime substitute Mar-
Gurpreet Singh cos Llorente made an im-
who shot the same mediate impact by scoring
score but had seven lesser inner 10s than Saurabh. just a minute after the
Three Haryana shooters took the final three qualifying restart. Atletico then de- Para Games gold medallist won the Major Dhyanchand
spots, with Aditya Marla and Sehrawat finishing sixth fended with poise while archer Sheetal Devi, won the Team of the Year award pre-
and seventh, while eventual runner-up Shiva Narwal playing a man down for coveted Best Male and Best Fe- sented by the hockey wizard’s
claimed the eighth and final spot with a 583.They the final 20 minutes after male athlete crowns at the 1st son and former Hockey World
turned the tables in the final, however, denying Saurabh substitute Caglar Soyuncu Differently Abled Sports Cup winner Ashok Kumar
a repeat of his T1 win on Saturday. received a direct red card Awards, here. Dhyanchand.
Sehrawat played the perfect final as he led throughout in the 70th.”When you Sumit, who threw the Javelin Addressing the gathering
the 24-shot decider with his opponent giving a scare come off the bench you al- 73.29 meters in the recent Dhyanchand said, “I am hon-
only after the 20th shot, getting within just 0.1. That ways try to give your team Asian Para Games in oured to be a part of today’s
was the closest he would get as Karan took the title something extra,” en-point lead over Atletico control of a long ball from been on the field for four Hangzhou, China for his world memorable event to honour
with a final score of 243.0 to Shiva’s 242.6. Llorente said. “We only and Barcelona one round Koke Resurrección before minutes. record mark and Sheetal Devi, our special athletes. These
Jaismine, Arundhati ease into quarters had winning on our before the competition he finished off a rebound Atletico defender Reinil- who won two golds and a silver award functions are there to
GREATER NOIDA: 2022 Commonwealth Games bronze minds. Now it is time to reaches its halfway point. of his own pass to beat do Mandava went on as a at the same Games in Com- encourage our athletes who
medalist Jaismine (60kg) and former youth world disconnect and then we Atletico had been in a bit goalkeeper Marko Dmitro- late substitute in his first pound Archery, were among give their best for our country
champion Arundhati Choudhary (66kg) registered are right back at it.” Real of a slump after winning vic. Soyuncu was sent off appearance since needing 250 nominations received from in their respective fields. I con-
victories on the Madrid and surprise pack- just one of its previous for a dangerous tackle on surgery to repair a torn as many as 20 federations in 23 gratulate all the special
third day to age Girona are at the top of four league games. Lucas Ocampos after the right-knee ligament in award categories.India’s first athletes and the federations
enter the the standings with a sev- Llorente used exquisite Turkey international had February. paralympic gold medallist and who have worked so hard.
quarter-finals of
the ongoing 7th INTER BEATS LECCE JAIPUR PINK PANTHERS’ CAPTAIN SUNIL KUMAR SAYS
Elite Women’s
National Boxing
‘DEFENDER REZA MIRBAGHERI
Championships
at the GBU
Indoor Stadium.
Osimhen sent off for WAS DETERMINED TO RAID FOR US’
Representing
SSCB, Jaismine showcased her experience as she secured
a commanding 5-0 victory over Thongam Kunjarani Devi
of Manipur in the round of 16 bout. Jaismine will now
Napoli in loss at Roma CHENNAI

face Poonam Kaithwas of Maharashtra in the ROME Roma broke the The Jaipur Pink Panthers
quarterfinals.Meanwhile, the former youth world deadlock 10 minutes pulled off a gripping 25-24
champion Arundhati went head to head against Amita Victor Osimhen followed later when attempts victory over Tamil Tha-
of All India Police. Arundhati’s skillset and power-packed his contract renewal with by Sardar Azmoun laivas in the Pro Kabaddi
punches were on display as she secured a 5-0 victory in Napoli in the worst and then Stephan El League Season 10. The
the bout. The boxer will be now up against Komalpreet possible way as he got sent Shaarawy were teams were locked at 22-22
Kaur of Punjab in the quarterfinals. off in a 2-0 defeat at Roma in charged down but the with three minutes to go on
Serie A on Saturday. latter turned into an the clock when the Panthers
Ram Charan joins Indian Street Premier Defending champion assist for Pellegrini, sent the defender Reza
League as Hyderabad team owner Napoli ended the match who fired the home Mirbagheri for a Do-or-Die
MUMBAI: “RRR” star Ram Charan on Sunday said he with nine men as Matteo Tuesday. side ahead. raid and he changed the
has joined the Indian Street Premier League (ISPL) as the Politano was also red-card- The tension was high at Osimhen renewed his game for his team.
owner of team Hyderabad. The ISPL is India’s first tennis ed shortly before Lorenzo the Stadio Olimpico with contract earlier Saturday Speaking about sending in
ball T10 cricket tournament that will be played inside a Pellegrini scored the open- both coaches booked for to 2026 and was eager to cel- Reza for the raid, the Jaipur
stadium.The er. Romelu Lukaku sealed dissent in the first half ebrate with a goal but, in- Pink Panthers Captain
inaugural the match for Roma, which amid a large number of stead, he received a second Sunil Kumar said, “Only let’s send him for the raid the turning point of the
edition will moved up to sixth, a point fouls and protests. It was of yellow card in the 86th, 13 myself, Reza and Ankush since he was showcasing match. The Thalaivas’ de-
feature 19 high- above Napoli and three little surprise when Poli- minutes after his first were on the mat before the confidence.” fence unit played very well,
intensity points below fourth-placed tano was shown a straight booking, and was sent Do-or-Die raid. We were Sunil further added, “Our but our defenders also stood
matches, Bologna. red card in the 66th minute off.Roma doubled its tally thinking of bringing in a team made a great tall.”
boasting a line- Napoli was looking to for kicking out at Nicola in stoppage time when raider instead of Reza, but comeback in the match. The Jaipur Pink Panthers
up of six teams bounce back from a 4-0 hu- Zalewski after having his Lukaku combined with he told me that he’s confi- Reza Mirbagheri pulled off a clinched the victory on the
- Hyderabad, miliation at home to Frosi- jersey tugged by the Roma Evan Ndicka to finish off a dent about attaining a raid couple of brilliant Super back of 11 tackle points in
Mumbai, none in the Italian Cup on midfielder. counterattack. point. Then our Coach said Tackles. His raid point was the game.
Bengaluru,
Chennai, Kolkata, and Srinagar. Ram Charan made the
announcement about joining the ISPL on his official X
EXPANDING, INNOVATING AND INSPIRING Zhejiang overpowers Beijing 125-107 in CBA
page.”Excited to announce my ownership of Team
Hyderabad in the Indian Street Premier League! Ultimate Kho Kho revolutionizes traditional sport JINAN When Beijing lost its key scorer Zou
Yuchen with an injury in the last
“Beyond cricket, this venture is about nurturing talent,
fostering community spirit, and celebrating street BHUBANESWAR Kho into a global sport. The Zhejiang Lions cruised past the period, Sun remained hot with his
cricket’s essence. Join me as we elevate Hyderabad’s With the thrill of last year’s Beijing Royal Fighters 125-107 in the shots to ensure the victory for Zhe-
presence in the ISPL, crafting memorable moments and As the exhilarating kickoff blockbuster season still echo- Chinese Basketball Association jiang.Sun scored a game-high 28
igniting passion,” the actor wrote in the post. to Season 2 of the Ultimate ing, Niyogi also shares the key (CBA) League. points and made 10 assists, while
Kho Kho League approach- changes shaping this new Zhejiang took control of the first Hu Jinqiu grabbed eight rebounds
EPL has its first female referee as es on Sunday, Tenzing chapter in the league. India’s half, with Sun Minghui scoring 18 for Zhejiang. Liao Sanning bagged
Rebecca Welch handles Fulham-Burnley Niyogi, the CEO and first-ever professional Kho- points to help it lead at 68-56, reports 21 points for Beijing.Also on Satur-
LONDON: The English Premier League has its first league commissioner, un- Kho league revamped the in- Xinhua.After Beijing started the day, the Tianjin Pioneers defeated
female referee and Burnley manager Vincent Kompany veils the extraordinary digenous game of Run & Chase third quarter with a 5-0 run, Zhe- the Fujian Sturgeons 106-91, and
called it a “milestone moment” on Saturday.Rebecca journey of transforming an popularly called Kho Kho in a jiang had its 8-5 run and continued Shenzhen Aviators nosed out the
Welch controlled Burnley’s 2-0 win at Fulham.Kompany indigenous gem like Kho completely new avatar. the momentum in the quarter. Ningbo Rockets 108-103.
spoke to Welch
at fulltime. BHOPAL SPORTS
“I wanted to
congratulate her
because it’s a
big moment,”
he said. “It’s fair
Arera Cricket Academy defeats Akira Cricket State Equestrian Academy
to say that it’s a
milestone
moment and
may there be
Academy in the Mushroom Senior Cricket Cup wins gold, silver in sub
more, and the best thing will always be when someone
is judged on merit. “But you have to have a first and
this is it, so well done (to her) and I’m happy to be part
OUR STAFF REPORTER
Bhopal
junior category
of this moment.” Welch was applauded by spectators as
she emerged from the tunnel at Craven Cottage. Arera Cricket Academy OUR STAFF REPORTER medal with Jaiwant
She previously made history when she refereed an FA defeated Akira Cricket Bhopal Nawele (on horse Astrid
Cup fixture in 2022 and a second-tier Championship Academy by 6 runs, while Louk) and Aradhaya Singh
match in 2021. Welch has already worked as a fourth Central Strikers Indore se- Madhya Pradesh State (on horse Astrid Rocke-
official in the Premier League in November. cured a victory over Equestrian Academy won teer) leading the charge.
Bhopal Masters by 76 runs medals in equestrian com- Jaiwant Nawele also won
Liverpool defender Tsimikas injured in Mushroom World Mas- petition held at State individual bronze medal.
after colliding with Klopp ters and Seniors Cup In the Sub Jun-
LIVERPOOL: Liverpool defender Kostas Tsimikas broke Cricket tournament or- ior Group 1
his collarbone when he collided with Jurgen Klopp on ganised by the Sports Club Jumping catego-
the sideline during the English Premier League game of Bhopal. ry, MP State
against In the first match be- Equestrian Acad-
Arsenal on tween Arera Cricket emy won silver
Saturday. Academy and Akira medal. The win-
Tsimikas Cricket Academy, Akira ning team in-
was won the toss and chose to cluded Shanskar
challenged bowl. Arera posted 144 Rathore (on
by Arsenal runs, losing 9 wickets in Chandni), Krish-
forward 20 overs with Ayan scor- na Gour (on
Bukayo ing 44, Rajveer 21, Ranvir Amara) and Di-
Saka and 20, Naman Prajapati 15 vya Raj Singh
stumbled and Madhur scoring 14 (on horse Aiza-
into Klopp, runs. Tanishk Yadav took two 18 overs. Jitendra con- 103 runs in 17.1 overs. De- an).
who fell on Gaurav Dhakad took 3 wickets each for Arera. tributed 66 runs, Akshay vendra Singh Parihar The Academy’s
top of him.The game ended 1-1 and Klopp said wickets for Akira while Naman Prajapati was Shrivastav 44, Rajesh scored 21, Suraj Bagora thoroughbred
Tsimikas’ collarbone was “definitely broken” adding he Akash claimed 2 wickets named the Man of the Kanojiya 28 and Rajesh and Sameer Mirikar horses outshone
will be “out for a long time.” Klopp was OK after the and Piyush, Sankalp, and Match. Soni scored 13 runs. added 18 runs each, and in the competi-
35th-minute incident.Arsenal led after four minutes Mukul took one wicket In another match within Laxman Sonkar took Amitabh contributed 10 tion, leaving be-
through Gabriel. Liverpool replied in the 29th when Mo each. In response, Akira the Masters Group, Cen- three wickets for Bhopal runs. Sheikh Saadik took hind the Em-
Salah hit his 151st Premier League goal to move up to Cricket Academy scored tral Strikers faced Bhopal Masters, while Atul Khare three wickets while Tan- bassy team that
10th on the list of the competition’s top scorers.Arsenal 138 runs in 19.5 overs with Masters. Central Strikers, and Vikram claimed two may took two for Central Equestrian Academy in comprised warm blood
stayed top of the standings, one point ahead of second- Shubham Sharma scoring having won the toss, chose and one wicket respective- Strikers. Jitendra Likhar Bengaluru on Sunday. horses. The Embassy’s
placed Liverpool. 35, Prakhar 26 and to bat first and scored 179 ly. In reply, Bhopal Mas- was declared Man of the The Sub Junior Group 2 team secured third place in
Sankalp 28. Naman and runs, losing 6 wickets in ters were bowled out for Match. Dressage team won gold the competition.
 England’s Tom Curran loses appeal
SPORTS BHOPAL | MONDAY | DECEMBER 25, 2023
SYDNEY: English all-rounder Tom Curran’s appeal to have his four-match ban overturned for intimidating an
umpire during a recent Big Bash League match has been dismissed. Cricket Australia had charged Curran on
Thursday with a level-three offence under clause 2.17 in the code of conduct following an incident that occurred
during the Sydney Sixers’ team warm-up before its match against the Hobart Hurricanes on December 11.

WIN BY 8 WICKETS IN ONE-OFF WOMEN’S TEST FIRST TEST AGAINST PROTEAS FROM DEC 26

India record maiden Virat, Rohit sweat it

out as life moves on
Test win over Australia
Playing more than one Test at home for the first time since 1995, there was hardly a
While Kohli, who came back from London after a short break
with family, joined the training after half an hour, Rohit did
look a bit more relaxed after shutting himself off for three
weeks. The two batted in different nets and centre practice
moment when the team put a foot wrong While India scripted the biggest win for any team
strip, and also faced throwdowns for more than an hour
by margin of runs against England, their first-ever triumph over Australia in 11 Tests now
CENTURION or left-arm bowler
has ensured more entries in the column of ‘matches won’ compared to ‘matches lost’.In 40 for you).” The
Tests, India now have seven wins and six defeats, while 27 have been drawn It has now been more than skipper was fine
a month since the forget- with anything as
table World Cup final but it the former skipper
MUMBAI still hurts like hell. already started his
However, Rohit Sharma knocking at other
It was a befitting end to In- and Virat Kohli are two nets.
dia Women’s first ‘home battle-hardened profes-
season’ of Test cricket in 28 sionals who know that it’s
Ashwin could
years as they recorded a important to move on as miss out again
historic maiden victory they sweated it out in com-
over a venerable Australia panionable silence. Against a four-
in the one-off Test here on There’s a 31-year jinx in In- pronged pace at-
Sunday. dian cricket having missed tack comprising
On the final day, India out on a Test series win in Kagiso Rabada,
produced their best both the ‘Rainbow Nation’ and Lungi Ngidi, Mar-
with the ball and bat to in the twilight zone of their co Jansen and
thwart a spirited Aus- careers, both would want Indias Virat Kohli with coach Rahul Dravid possibly Gerald
tralian resurgence, first to achieve which no other during a practice session PTI Coetzee, it is un-
sparking a collapse in the Indian teams could. likely India will
visitors’ ranks to snaffle There was hardly any
the remaining five wickets conversation between
for 28 and then knocking them even when they took
off a meagre target of 75 short breaks in between.
without much ado to script Unlike the World Cup nets
an eight-wicket win. Indian players pose with the trophy after winning the one-off Test cricket match against Australia, in Mumbai, Sunday PTI when there was a mix of
Smriti Mandhana (38 not both focus and laughter,
out) and Jemimah Ro- triumph over Australia in ets in the first 45 minutes the only sound that made
drigues (12 not out) em- 11 Tests now has ensured of the day and concede the you sit up and take notice
braced each other in a more entries in the column game to India. was that of the red leather
warm hug when the objec- of ‘matches won’ compared Pooja Vastrakar began colliding with the
tive of beating a world- to ‘matches lost’. the damage by trapping willow.Coach Rahul
dominating side was ac- In 40 Tests, India now Ashleigh Gardner for sev- Dravid had a hawk eye on
complished, bringing back have seven wins and six en in front of the wickets, centre nets as KL Rahul
memories of India’s defeats, while 27 have been and Rana tiled the game in put his pads on quickly.
shushed reaction in 2008 in drawn. India’s favour when she With Kona Bharat not
Australia when MS India’s dominating show struck twice to remove even bothering to don the
Dhoni’s side beat the hosts warrants the attention of Annabel Sutherland (27) big gloves during the first
and made a statement by the game’s custodians to and Alana King (0). hour, one had no doubt
not indulging in any pas- ruminate over more ‘home’ Rajeshwari Gayakwad, who would keep wickets.
sionate celebrations. Tests in future since such who was unlucky to have The first to enter the
India Women’s stuck to games have only been few not got any success on the nets, Rohit and young
the promise of playing and far between.If the win third day when she got a Yashasvi Jaiswal were
breakthrough nearly seen taking turns while Indias batter Rohit Sharma during a warm-up session ahead of the
Harmanpreet’s spell on third day was thrice, cleaned up Kim facing Jasprit Bumrah, first Test cricket match PTI
Garth (4) for her first wick- Shardul Thakur for five
turning point: Sneh Rana et in the innings. deliveries each before com- After some time, King lessen their batting depth

S
kipper Harmanpreet Kaur’s spell on the third evening Gayakwad then bamboo- ing in for next round.How- Kohli walked out of the and hence, Shardul could
was the turning point. Kaur brought herself on after zled Jess Jonassen (9) with ever, the signature Rohit main arena and padded up once again pip Ravichan-
Australia’s resurgent batting display kept India on a delivery that turned into came to fore when he slog for the throwdown nets dran Ashwin in the pacer-
the field for a large part of the third day and dismissed the left-hander sharply swept Ashwin deep into where Rohit and Jaiswal friendly conditions where
Tahlia McGrath (73) and Alyssa Healy (32), after they had and crashed into middle the grass embankments. would join in a few min- underlying moisture is ex-
reduced the first-innings deficit of 187 runs and taken a and leg, with the last recog- One knew that nothing has utes.”Tujhko pehle jana ki pected due to forecast of
slender lead of 46 runs. nised Australian batter changed as per Rohit the main jaaon (You will go heavy showers on Day
“We were not thinking much and wanted to stay in the nearly toppling over on opener is concerned. first or should I go),” Rohit 1.But Shardul will be the
present. Harmanpreet’s two wickets were the turning her front foot.Australia India Womens skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana
point,” Rana told the media after India’s maiden win over were bundled out for 261 in pose for a photo AFP
Australia in Tests when asked about the turning point in their second innings, hav-
the match. Rana seconded India captain Kaur in ing scored a moderate 219
acknowledging that head coach Amol Muzumdar had a in their first essay after It’s not even a blip: Healy

A
key role to play in their strong performances.”As electing to bat.India were ustralia’s first-ever loss to India in the one-off
Harmanpreet said, he had an important role in the team. supreme with the bat women’s Test is not even a “blip” and next year’s
He has been a very experienced player and all his inputs again as they made 406 in T20 World Cup in Bangladesh remains their
have been good,” Rana said. the first essay to also ultimate goal, said captain Alyssa Healy on Sunday.
record their highest total The eight-wicket win was India’s first-ever triumph over
‘positive cricket’, weath- over England last week ever against Australia in Australia in 11 Tests.
ered all mini storms along saw the emergence of new Tests. “Probably not even a blip,” Healy told media after the
the way and largely dictat- Test stars in Jemimah Ro- Shafali Verma cracked match when asked where does this defeat leave her side
ed terms against fancied drigues, Shubha Satheesh the first ball of the in- given their dominant record.
opponents in Australia and Renuka Singh Thakur, nings for four but Garth “It is a format where we are not overly familiar with
and England.In fact, there the one against Australia produced a peach to find conditions.” Healy said Australia’s squad has undergone a
was no disparity in Team witnessed the 20-year-old an outside edge off her lot of change but they are comfortable with where they
India’s clinical perform- Richa Ghosh arriving at bat, caught by skipper are currently placed.”Within our group, we are really
comfortable with where we are at and sort of the
Indian players Shreyas Iyer and Yashasvi Jaiswal during a
ance in the two home Tests the scene with 52 on debut. Alyssa Healy, for the first practice session PTI
played on different sur- On the fourth day morn- breakthrough of the in- progression that we are on and where we we want to get
faces here at the ing, Indian spinners ruled nings.Beth Mooney to moving forward,” she said. asked his younger fourth pacer and if one
Wankhede Stadium and at the roost as the trio of Sneh dropped a sitter off Gard- opening partner goes by nets, Mukesh Ku-
the DY Patil Stadium Rana (5-2-9-2), Rajeshwari ner to give Richa Ghosh (4) fell in the first over. Mooney 33; Sneh Rana 4- Indian player Jasprit Bumrah bowls who wants the sen- mar, although a few yards
against England, consider- Gayakwad (1.4-1-0-2) and (13) an early reprieve Rodrigues and 63, Harmanpreet Kaur 2- during a practice session PTI ior to take strike. lesser in pace than Prasidh
ing they were playing at Deepti Sharma (3-2-5-0) when the batter was yet Mandhana then complete 23, Rajeshwari Gayakwad One of the throw- Krishna, bowled good
home for the first time in teamed up to wreck havoc to open her the task. 2-42) lost to INDIA 406 & As the skipper was in the down specialists channels and beat the bat a
almost a decade. on the Australian resist- account.Ghosh went on BRIEF SCORES: AUS- 75/2 in 18.3 overs (Smriti midst of his first stint, in Dayanand asked his skip- lot of times.
While India scripted the ance. Australia, looking to to add 51 for the second TRALIA 219 & 261 all out Mandhana 389 not out, walked Kohli and had a per, “Dada aapke liye Prasidh though bowled
biggest win for any team build on their slender lead wicket with Mandhana in 105.4 overs (Tahlia Mc- Jemimah Rodrigues 12 not brief chat with coach kaunsa bowler rakhein, his back of length deliver-
by margin of runs against of 46 runs, collapsed spec- (38 not out off 61 balls, Grath 73, Ellyse Perry 45, out; Kim Garth 1-19, Ash- Dravid as he watched Ro- right arm ya left-arm ies, which didn’t trouble
England, their first-ever tacularly to lose five wick- 6x4s) after Shafali Verma Alyssa Healy 32, Beth leigh Gardner 1-18) hit’s batting. (Should I keep right-arm most of the batters.

STARC ON TURNING DOWN PUT DOVE STICKER ON BAT AND CSK CEO KS VISWANATHAN SAYS DESERT VIPERS ALL-ROUNDER
MULTIPLE IPL FORTUNES SHOES FOR BOXING DAY TEST ARYAN LAKRA SAYS

Prioritizing international
cricket has helped my game
SYDNEY
Senior Australian seamer
Mitchell Starc has admitted
that he had in the past
turned down multiple lucra-
tive offers from the Indian
Premier League (IPL) to pri-
oritise his international ca-
reer, which has “helped”
him in improving his game.
Starc has been roped in by
two-time winners Kolkata
Knight Riders for a
record Rs 24.75 crore
during the auction last
week, and it would be his
first stint in the tourna-
ment since 2015.Starc said
that the break during the
IPL allowed him to recharge
himself and stay fit for the
international assignments.
“Juggling one cricket
schedule is hard enough,
let alone when there’s
two in a relationship.
So, I’ve always spent
that time away from
cricket with Alyssa
or time with family
and recharging my
body for being as
fit and as ready as I can for
Australian cricket,” he was
quoted .”I don’t regret any
of it. I think it’s certainly
helped my Test cricket. The
money is always nice and
certainly was this year, but
I’ve always prioritised in-
ternational cricket, and I
think that’s helped my
game.” Starc’s last outing in
the IPL was with
Royal Chal-
lengers Banga-
lore, the only he
has represented
in the competi-
tion till date.
ICC rejects Usman MS will start working ‘Want to replicate Azam
Khawaja’s request in the nets soon Khan’s style in my game’
CHENNAI And, probably in another DUBAI humble beginning playing
MELBOURNE Declaration of Human ten days, he will also start school cricket went on to
Rights: “All human beings KS Viswanathan, the CEO working in the nets. With Making an impactful inter- captain the UAE U16 and
Ahead of Australia’s Box- are born free and equal in of Chennai Super Kings the season set to start national debut is not a U19 squads including the
ing Day Test match against dignity and rights. They (CSK), said legendary around March 22, we are privilege too many crick- one that participated in the
Pakistan a the MCG, the are endowed with reason wicketkeeper-batter and planning for a camp in eters can boast of but 2020 ICC U19 World Cup,
International Cricket and conscience and should skipper MS Dhoni will Chennai by the Aryan Lakra made his where he played a crucial
Council (ICC) has rejected act towards one another in start working in the nets first week of presence felt when he role in their
veteran opener Usman a spirit of brotherhood.” soon as part of preparation March,” scored 84 on his ODI debut qualification.Just as he
Khawaja’s request to put a “Khawaja checked the for IPL 2024. against USA in August, was to transition into the
dove sticker on his bat and logo with Cricket After captaining CSK to 2022. senior national team, he
shoes during the match. Australia and the Aus- IPL 2023, their fifth cham- The Desert suffered a setback. “I was
As per a report in The tralian Cricketers Associa- pionship win, Dhoni un- Vipers have ac- supposed to make my de-
Sydney Morning Herald, tion ahead of the MCG Test derwent a left knee quired the services but for the senior team
Khawaja trained at the and received no surgery in Mumbai after of all-rounder Aryan against Ireland in early
MCG wearing logos of a objection from having issues with it dur- Lakra for season 2 2021 but I tested positive
black dove holding an either body. ing the tourna- of the DP for. This delayed my debut
olive branch during But a rejection ment, espe- World In- by about 16 months but I
Australia’s prac- of his appli- cially re- ternational eventually had the oppor-
tice session. The cation ar- stricting League T20 tunity to make my ODI de-
logo was on his rived from his move- after finishing but against USA where I
right shoe and the ICC on ment as runners-up did well and 11 days later, I
also on the Sunday morn- while in the inaugu- made my T20I debut
back of ing,” said the running ral edition against Singapore. I also
his report. between the of the went on to play for UAE in
bat.The wickets. tourna- the ICC Men’s T2o World
logo on the Viswanathan also ment.The Cup in Australia later that
bat was ac- said CSK may start left-arm- year,” said the 22-year-old
companied its preparatory camp in spinner- Aryan Lakra who has his
by a refer- Chennai in the first week cum- roots in Haryana,
ence to Ar- of March. left- India.Aryan believes the
ticle One “He is doing well now. He hand- DP World ILT20 provides a
of the Uni- has started his rehab and batsman massive platform for
versal is working in the gym. who made a young players like him.
BHOPAL | MONDAY | DECEMBER 25, 2023

International
BHOPAL | MONDAY | DECEMBER 25, 2023
UK VISA POLICY CHANGES IMPACT INTERNATIONAL
STUDENT ENROLLMENT FOR JAN 2024
SUNIDHI VIJAY
T
he new visa policies by
Rishi Sunak’s government
in the UK may have already
started affecting the enrolment of
international students, especially
Indians, for January 2024.
According to the latest data pub-
lished by Enroly Data Insights in
November, there is a marginal fall
in the number of International
students enrolling in UK universi-
ties for January 2024.
The data indicates that, com-
pared to January 2023, total de-
posit payments have decreased by
52%, CAS issuance has decreased
by 64%, and visa issuance has de-
creased by 71%.
For the Indian market, the data
predicted a fall in deposits which
is down by 52% and CAS/visa is-
sued is down by 66%.
Enroly is a privately-held com-
pany that automates the arrival
and onboarding processes for
agents, students, and universities.
The numbers are down and to
confirm the same, The Free Press
Journal (FPJ) spoke to counsellors
and housing firms to check if it
correlates.
Daniel Smith, the founder of
Student Housing Consultancy
said that the ban, visa delays and
general anti-immigration rhetoric
from Sunak and James Cleverly
are detrimental to the UK’s repu-
U.S. Consulate Germany unveils new labour force integration
responds to Indian initiatives for foreign students and graduates
students’ deportation I
Minister reveals challenges, U.S. response
underscores admissibility criteria scrutiny.
KRISHA BHATT
T
he U.S. Consulate General in
Mumbai has acknowledged
that 28 Indian students were
deported in 2023. A consulate official
has informed The Free Press Jour-
nal that they are aware of the con-
cerns raised by the Indian govern-
ment on the issue.
According to Greg Pardo, the
spokesperson of the U.S. Consulate
General, the burden of proving ad-
missibility into the U.S. lies with the
applicants.
"U.S. Customs and Border Protec-
tion processes all indi-
viduals pursuant to
immigration laws and
reviews all available
evidence at the time of
application for admis-
sion to make a deter-
mination of admissi-
bility at the port of en-
try", Pardo explained.
Furthermore, he
emphasised the confi-
dentiality of individ-
ual visa records under
U.S. law, preventing
the disclosure of spe-
cific details regarding
the affected students.
Earlier, Minister of State for Ex-
ternal Affairs, V Muraleedharan, in-
formed the Lok Sabha on Dec 15 that
a total of 28 Indian students were de-
ported from the U.S. to India in the
year 2023.
"According to information avail-
able with the Ministry, 28 Indian stu-
dents were deported from the USA to
India in 2023. State-wise data regard-
ing Indian students deported from
the USA is not available", Muraleed-
haran stated.
CAMPUS CHRISTMAS: INDIAN STUDENTS
LIGHT-UP CELEBRATIONS IN THE UK
From Christmas tree wonderlands to dormitory
parties – here's how Indian students celebrate.
SUNIDHI VIJAY
C
hristmas celebrations are
already in full swing all
across the world. The UK is
all decked up for the holiday sea-
son with lights and carnivals. The
universities in the UK are closed
and many students have already
gone back home for the holiday
season. However, many interna-
tional students, especially Indi-
ans, are staying back and cosying
up to the festive atmosphere. Al-
most all the universities in the
UK have scheduled programmes
and events for students staying
back on campus to help them feel
at home and take in the way the
tation as a world-leading higher
education destination.
"I've spoken to various agents
and students accommodation
marketplace, they are all telling
me that demand for January
courses is between 40-60% down
year-on-year", Smith said, adding
that figures for September 2024
may also be down by over 20%.
However, several others think
that the enrollments may have
only slowed down which is not as
consequential.
"The numbers have not gone
down but have merely slowed
down. I term it as healthy regres-
sion. The numbers have been go-
ing strong for the past two/three
years so a slowdown is bound to
happen", Saurabh Arora, founder
of University Living, informed the
FPJ.
Arora also mentioned that there
is a lot of uncertainty regarding
the new visa policies in the market
and thus students will look away
from the UK for some time.
Karan Gupta, a career counsel-
lor, believes that the numbers re-
main down for the January mar-
ket anyway because many univer-
sities start their programmes in
September itself.
"That being said, the UK gov-
ernment has created an impres-
sion that international students
are not welcome", Gupta said.
The numbers have not budged
This disclosure came in response
to questions raised by Pratima Mon-
dal and Sougata Ray, members of
the Trinamool Congress, seeking
clarity on the status of Indian stu-
dents facing deportation from the
U.S.
Expressing concerns over these
incidents, Muraleedharan disclosed
that the Indian government has al-
ready communicated its apprehen-
sions to the U.S. authorities. He em-
phasised the importance of ensuring
fairness in the treatment of Indian
students with valid student visas.
"Whenever such issues/instances
PIC: ROBERT LINDER ON UNSPLASH.COM
come to the attention of our Em-
bassy/Consulates in the USA, they
also provide consular assistance to
the Indian students", Muraleedha-
ran added.
As diplomatic discussions contin-
ue between the Indian government
and U.S. authorities, the incident
raises questions about the criteria
and processes leading to the deporta-
tion of these students, with both na-
tions working towards a resolution
that ensures fairness and adherence
to immigration laws.
UK celebrates Christmas.
Samir Ahuja, a University of
Worce student, informed that
there are several events, includ-
ing games, quizzes and a carol
singing competition that their
university holds over the Christ-
mas week to make them feel in-
cluded.
“The biggest event that our col-
lege is planning this year is the
Christmas tree festival. This is
my first time celebrating Christ-
mas in the UK and I am very ex-
cited to witness it all”, he said.
Bournemouth University is
holding a mini Christmas celebra-
tion, wherein they are organising
Christmas tree wonderland and
Student from Australia A 19-year-old student from Australia
who travelled to Jodhpur tested
taken samples from her ten family
members who have had contact with her.
positive for COVID-19, according to According to Deputy Chief Medical and
tests positive for health officials on Friday. The student has Health Officer Preetam Singh, the student
Covid-19 in Jodhpur
been held in isolation at her residence,
after she tested positive following minor
has shown no severe symptoms and has
been under medication, as advised by
symptoms. Medical personnel have also physicians.
From Mumbai to
MY SPACE
for Amberstudent as well. "How-
Chemnitz: An Indian
student’s German
ever, challenges meeting the
Odyssey unveiled
skilled work visa's minimum
wage requirements after two-and-
a-half years have led to
exploration of alternative destina-
The tale of a Mumbai boy's academic
tions", said Madhur Gujar, the co- journey in a quiet German town
founder and chief business officer
I’
at amberstudent. m from Mumbai, and copyright and citations,
Gujar also said that factors such currently soaking in the which I didn’t have to do in
as Australia's reopening, improv- serenity of Chemnitz, India.
ing Canada relations, and France's Saxony. My academic jour- However, I have seen that
new five-year post-study work ney has been quite a ride. Af- Indian teachers do care a bit
visa may contribute to reduced ter completing my BSc (IT) about the students but here
UK student demand. back in Mumbai, I leapt to they don’t seem to care that
According to the UK Home Of- pursue an MSc in Web Engi- much. Not that it is a deal-
fice, the new measures would af- neering here in Germany. breaker for me but it’s some-
fect approximately 300,000 people Transitioning was a blend of thing that I noticed.
who would no longer be able to en- excitement and uncertainty. Yet, it's not all work and no
ter the country. Germany has been a land play. One of the perks of re-
The measures entail a threefold of surprises. I am currently siding in Europe is the prox-
increase in the minimum pay that residing in Chemnitz. Its imity to dream destinations.
migrants must earn in a skilled tranquillity is a stark Exploring neighbouring
profession. contrast to Mumbai's relent- countries and forging friend-
International students can’t less pace. The town comes to ships have been parts of my
bring their dependents to the UK a halt by 8 pm and the journey so far.
unless they are enrolled in post- Sundays are quiet, Living in Ger-
graduate research courses. which was a cul- many isn't without
There are also questions if stu- tural shock for its challenges. Co-
dents should be included in net someone who existing with five
migration calculation at all. More- has grown up roommates from
over, students can’t switch to watching Mum- diverse back-
work visas until their courses are bai’s bustling grounds posed its
complete, according to the new streets. set of challenges,
regulations. The German recy- from cultural clash-
The new laws are said to curb cling system is an
Rohit Thukral es to basic conflicts.
immigration ahead of general art in itself, which is tough to Additionally, the bureaucrat-
elections likely to be held next master for someone new. ic maze of paperwork re-
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak year. Choosing Germany for my mains a constant hurdle.
higher studies was a calculat- Whenever homesickness
ed decision. The allure of tu- creeps in, the bonds forged
ition-free public universities abroad act as a balm. Engag-
coupled with Germany's de- ing in
mand for IT professionals immersing myself in the vi-
made it an apt choice.
hobbies
brant student life helps keep
and
My university experience nostalgia at bay.
here has been welcoming, Financially, the German
with orientation weeks dedi- government's support has
SIMPLE VISHWAKARMA students studying in Germany to understand the po- cated to fostering cama- been crucial, offering assis-
tential impact of these initiatives on their academic raderie among students. tance to tackle inflation and
n a major development to foster international tal-
ent integration, Germany's Federal Ministry of
Education and Research, in partnership with the
German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), has in-
troduced two innovative initiatives. FIT (Promotion
and professional journeys.
Navigating the German job market with FIT
Rohit Thukral, pursuing an MSc in Web Engineer-
ing at TU Chemnitz, sees the FIT programme as a
My aspirations to become a securing a working student
scrum master found fertile job to ensure a comfortable
ground here, with ample op- lifestyle.
portunities to hone my skills. In essence, my German so-
The German education journ has been a blend of aca-
of International Talent for Integration into Studies promising solution to the challenges of adapting to system is a complete 180-de- demic pursuits, cultural dis-
and the Labour Market) and Profi plus (Academic the German job market. gree opposite of India’s educa- coveries, and personal
Adaptation Qualification for the German Labour "The FIT programme does sound like a great initia- tion system, which has a lot of growth. Through challenges
Market) are expected to revolutionise the landscape tive as it seems to solve the problem of adapting to the hand-holding and and triumphs, I continue to
for foreign students and graduates in Germany. German job market. It can be extremely useful for me emphasises a lot on rote cherish every moment, draw-
as well to prosper better in Germany as we have had learning. Over here, we have ing strength from the com-
FIT programme: Tailored support for international students not enough support to cope with the studying and ca- to be thorough with our con- munity around me.
The FIT programme emerges as a beacon of support reer aspects of the country", Thukral told the FPJ. cepts and also there’s very lit-
for foreign students. Scheduled to start in spring 2024, Manthan Kohli who is pursuing an MSc. in Ad- tle hand-holding we get. In The author is an MSc Web
FIT aims to fund up to 70 projects in German Univer- vanced Manufacturing, specialising in Work Design our research assignments, we Engineering student at TU
sities. and Sustainability Management at TU Chemnitz em- have to be extra careful with Chemnitz, Germany
Dhanashree Deodhar, the regional officer of the phasises the role of FIT in bridging the knowledge
DAAD, sheds light on the pro- gap.
gramme’s comprehensive ap- "I believe there is a lack of
proach. FIT and Profi plus knowledge that the students pos-
“The FIT programme provides
tailored support measures for in- programmes are expected to sess regarding studying and em-
ployability in Germany, and FIT UChicago Paves Way For Cross-Cultural
ternational students during vari- provide a fillip to internation- aims to bridge the gap between
ous phases of their studies. This
includes preparatory courses, al students studying
what students know and what is
actually expected from them",
Learning Experiences For Indian Students
support for successful studies, in- in the country. Kohli said. KRISHA BHATT ing social sciences, liberal arts,
tegration into university and so- public policy, and medicine.
T
ciety, and assistance for entry Profi plus: A gateway to the German he University of Chicago On the topic of student ex-
into the workforce. Up to 70 projects will be funded un- job market has collaborated with IIT changes, Guha highlighted the
der FIT, with approximately 1 million available per Thukral draws parallels between Profi plus and Bombay to collaborate on university's commitment to facili-
project until 2028", Deodhar explained. preparatory initiatives for students. "This initiative joint research activities, confer- tating exchanges at both the un-
seems very similar to the newly announced Profi plus ences, exchanges of information, dergraduate and graduate levels.
Profi plus: Crafting academic excellence for the German programme, just for the German job market. Anyone and faculty and scholar visits. The The Crown Family School of Social
labour market who wants to come to Germany to work without cooperation is emphasising pro- Work, for instance, organises ex-
Simultaneously, the Profi plus initiative is positioned going through the studying phase again, it looks like moting cooperation in quantum changes where selected students
to support international academics in fine-tuning a way to go", he said. information science, climate and spend five weeks in Mumbai.
their qualifications for the German job market. Kohli highlights the benefits of Profi plus in adapt- energy, advanced microelectron- He also shed light on cultural ex-
With an emphasis on specialist training, job appli- ing qualifications to the German job market. "Not ics, artificial intelligence, etc. change opportunities for Indian
cation coaching, language proficiency, and practical only will it help educate the students and help them to In an exclusive interview with students within the university, cit-
experience, Profi plus sets out to empower foreign adapt their qualifications with what the job market in The Free Press Journal (FPJ), ing the South Asian Students' As-
graduates. Germany requires. There is a vast difference between Supratik Guha, the Faculty Direc- sociation and activities at the In-
employment in Germany and India", Kohli told the tor of the University of Chicago, ternational House as avenues for
Deodhar elucidated the programme's goals. FPJ. provided insights into the institu- cross-cultural experiences.
"Profi plus aims to support international academics tion's plans, collaborative efforts According to him, Indian stu-
in adapting their qualifications to the German labour Challenges and opportunities with IIT Bombay, and opportuni- dents are well-represented across
market. This includes additional specialist training, In addressing challenges faced by Indian students in ties for Indian students at the all disciplines at the undergradu-
job application coaching, language and communica- Germany, Thukral points out the paramount impor- renowned university. ate and graduate levels. He in-
tion training, and practical experience in companies tance of learning the German language. "The number Guha discussed the memoran- formed the FPJ that the university
in the respective university region. Up to 25 one concern I faced/still face while integrating into dum of understanding values Indian students and
university projects will be funded under Profi plus, the German market is the need to learn German." (MoU) between the Uni- consistently encourages
with around 700,000 available per project until 2028", Kohli sheds light on the intricate application versity of Chicago MoU their participation.
Deodhar detailed. process as a significant challenge. "Recognising the and IIT Bombay, with IIT Bombay Highlighting the
different needs of every job posted and altering your emphasising pro- paves the way for a university's con-
Students voice their opinions application is the best chance of getting a job and also moting coopera- collaboration on joint tributions to
The Free Press Journal (FPJ) engaged with Indian integrating into the job market itself." tion in quantum higher education
information sci- research activities, in India, Guha
ence, climate and conferences, exchanges highlighted the
energy, advanced
microelectronics,
artificial intelli-
gence and data science.
of information,
and faculty and
scholar visits
role of its Delhi
centre, which will
turn 10 in 2024. The
centre serves as a hub
He highlighted joint re-
search projects,
for teaching, research, and
faculty dialogue, fostering intellectual col-
exchanges, and knowledge shar- labo-ration with Indian institu-
ing as integral components of this tions.
collaboration. Guha also underscored the glob-
Westbourne Christmas festival. "In early September, the Univer- al engagement contributing to a di-
Malvika Kariappa, a student at sity of Chicago and IIT Bombay an- verse and inclusive learning envi-
Bournemouth said, “We had lots nounced a science and technology ronment at the university, with in-
of delicious food on the campus partnership to promote coopera- ternational students comprising
and played many games. On tion in fields such as quantum in- 24% of its population. He
Christmas day, we are going to formation science, climate and en- expressed the university's commit-
have a get-together of all the stu- ergy, advanced microelectronics, ment to accepting exceptional stu-
dents staying back for the holi- artificial intelligence, and data sci- dents worldwide. Regarding future
days.” ence. IIT Bombay also joined the collaborations, he affirmed the
“My university organised a Chicago Quantum Exchange university's eagerness to expand
Christmas market before the hol- (CQE) as an international partner. collaborations with Indian educa-
idays started. For those staying In these areas, we anticipate joint tional institutions, emphasising
over the holidays, our dormitory research activities, conferences, India's significance as a key part-
is holding a Christmas party, exchanges of information, and fac- ner, particularly in science and
where we can all bring our tradi- ulty and scholar visits", Guha ex- technology.
tional Christmas food and get to- plained. Addressing challenges related to
gether with everyone else. We Discussing specific joint re- access, quality and relevance in In-
also played Secret Santa”, said search projects outlined in the dian higher education, Guha high-
Namitha Kannur, a student at MoU, he mentioned upcoming lighted the university's commit-
Cardiff University. workshops on quantum science ment to enrolling a diverse and tal-
Many universities are also and battery technologies. Guha ented student body globally, in-
hosting plays centred around emphasised that the cluding financial aid eligibility for
Cardiff University decorated for Christmas Christmas. collaborations extend beyond sci- international undergraduate stu-
ence and technology, encompass- dents.
 BHOPAL | MONDAY | DECEMBER 25, 2023
A still from The Archies
A STARRY
LAUNCH
VIJAYALAKSHMI NARAYANAN
ctress Santana Roach has left a lasting
A impact with her portrayal of Midge
Klump in Zoya Akhtar's The Archies.
The Free Press Journal team inter-
views the sole Anglo-Indian cast member,
who has garnered significant acclaim for her
performance.
Sharing her views about the unwarranted
backlash the film has received for promoting
nepotism, Santana says, “Honestly, I don't get it.
Before the film was out, there was already so
much of a backlash. I get it if people weren't re-
lating to the teaser and the trailer. But, isn't that
what the entertainment industry is supposed to
be? It is supposed to be a fantasy world and an
escape from reality. So, why do you need to re-
late to it firstly? Also, I feel that the backlash
that Agastya (Nanda), Suhana (Khan) and
Khushi (Kapoor) have received is so unneces-
sary. As Zoya rightly said in her interviews that
there are 7 people in the poster, but you have
conveniently picked out 3. All the attention was
drawn to them, why? The film is a beautiful
world to be a part of, which is very different
from the stark reality that we're living in.”
Since the film highlights the Anglo Indian
community, a lot of the general public seem un-
aware about its existence. What does Santana
opine? “It surprises me when people still do not
know enough about the community. We have
been around since ages and we've been as pres-
ent as everyone else.”
Celebs and family attend
Arbaaz Khan’s intimate Nikaah
ceremony in Mumbai
Iulia
Vantur
Salman Khan
Father Salim Khan
Mother Salma Khan Raveena Tandon with daughter Rasha
Newcomer
Santana Roach
opens up about
playing Midge
Klump in The
Archies
How does she react to the length and promi-
nence given to her role in the film considering
she’s the sole cast member representing the
community? “I think it’s Zoya’s film and she
has allotted the required screen-time to each
character. I feel that there is enough purpose
for everyone to serve,” Santana asserts.
The premiere of The Archies was one of the
most star-studded evenings in the post-pan-
demic age. Does Santana hold a fond memory
of the night? “That entire day went by in a
blur. I was in shock during the premiere.
From walking the red carpet to seeing the
movie in the theatre, the praise I received
was just, for the lack of a better word,
dreamy. I can't really put it into words, but
it was one of the most beautiful nights of my
life,” she gushes.
As the world celebrates Christmas today,
what are Santana’s fond memories of the fes-
tivities in her hometown Delhi and how
does she plan to celebrate the festival this
year? “The entire essence of Christmas
comes from the winters. Which we do not
have here in Mumbai. (laughs) But, in Delhi,
it's cold and chilly and that's how you'd like
Christmas to be. You just want to be in your
blanket and watch Christmas movies
through the day. I also love the delicacies
that my mum makes, from the cakes to the
coconut cookies. There is an entire spread at
home. This Christmas, I'll be working though. I
don't mind it. I'm glad I have a working Christ-
mas,” she concludes.
PICS: VARINDER CHAWLA
Baba and Zeeshan
Siddiqui
Brother Sohail Khan and nephew
TIS THE SEASON!
Celebs talk about their festive plans, celebrations & more
SAGARIKA CHOUDHARY
s the world rings in Christ-
A mas on December 25, Monday,
The Free Press Journal got
in touch with celebs like Sree-
jita De, Mohit Malik and Meghna
Naidu, who gave an insight into their
festive celebrations, yearly rituals,
wishes from Santa Claus, and more.
Meghna Naidu
It's my 7th wedding anniversary on
December 25 so I'll be in Goa with
my husband and a few of our
friends, chilling on the beach. This
will be our first Christmas in India
after a very long time. Christmas is
all the more special for us as not just
our wedding anniversary, but it
also coincides with my mother's
birthday. The one ritual that we
have followed is going to the church
every Christmas, as my mom loved
ringing in her birthday over there.
All I ask from Santa every year is to
Sreejita De
keep my family and friends' health
good. Apart from that I don't ask for Christmas is always a very special
time. For me, the festivities start from
much. I just accept and thank Santa
for all the things that he has given December 1 itself. This year, Christ-
mas is different and even more special
to me until now without asking.
for me as Michael and I are in Thai-
land and it is just us with each other
by the beach. It's all about relaxation
and rejuvenation this year. The best
part about Christmas is that it is all
very merry everywhere with the
lights, decoration and laughter. My
most favourite Christmas memory has
to be from 2019, when it was the first
time that I met Michael's entire family
as his girlfriend. It was the most beau-
tiful Christmas of my life. We all
cooked a lot of food, baked cookies,
went shopping; it was just lovely.
Mohit Malik
This year, I have promised
my son Ekbir that I will take
him around Mumbai to
show him the Christmas
trees, lights and decor. We
will go to the Mount Mary
church in Bandra and have
a cosy family dinner at some
nice place. I feel it is the best
time of the year and though
it's Jesus Christ's birthday, I
love how everyone just
comes together and cele-
brates the festival. There is
this happy vibe in the air and people are in a very jovial mood. At our house too,
our son gets all excited talking about Santa Claus and he keeps busy decorating
the Christmas tree and the entire house is filled with his infectious laugh. I don't
really want to ask for anything from Santa, but I wish to express my gratitude to
the Lord for giving me whatever I have achieved today.
CAUGHT ON CAM Celebs grace the red John
Abraham
carpet at Umang 2023
Taha Shah
Badussha
with Babil Jeetendra
Khan
Arbaaz Khan’s wife
Varun Sharma
Huma
Qureshi
Sister Alvira Khan and brother-in-law
Atul Agnihotri Alia Bhatt Jahnvi Kapoor
 www.freepressjournal.in/brandsutra
"IN OUR PERFECT WAYS. IN
THE WAYS WE ARE
BEAUTIFUL. IN THE WAYS
WE ARE HUMAN. WE ARE
HERE. HAPPY NEW YEAR’S.
LET’S MAKE IT OURS."
— BEYONCE
BHOPAL | MONDAY | DECEMBER 25, 2023

Dukes to drive general trade expansion, propel innovation

Cream wafers and biscuits major Ravi Foods made a strategic decision to focus on modern trade five years ago. Starting January 2024, it will up its game
in the much larger general trade space, explain MD RAVINDER AGARWAL and CEO RAJENDRA SAKIBANDA.
RA: We have been very selective on general trade. The future
BY GOKUL KRISHNAMOORTHY strategy is that we will be going big on general trade in 2024-’25.
We're trying to create a base now for general trade – with the

R
avinder Agarwal was three when his father passed away
in 1967. His brothers, the eldest of whom was 16, took
charge of their father’s provision shop. Coming from a
humble background, the large family from Rajasthan went into
several businesses enduring several challenges, recalls Agarwal.
Now, these Agarwals who have called Hyderabad home for over
100 years, are known nationally and globally for their brand of
cream wafers and biscuits, Dukes.
“In 1984, we entered this industry with one of our cousins who
was already into the biscuits business. It was called Rajco Foods.
We progressed economically. The requirements of the family
were met. Everything was slowly taken care of and the journey
till now has been good. God has been kind. And it's all because of
the endless blessings of our father and mother. She is 93 and still
around to bless us. My eldest brother is 73 years old and is very
much active in the business. Another brother, Rameshji (71) is
the architect of the family on the business side,” says Agarwal.
Ravi Foods was born in 1995 and Ravinder Agarwal was asked
to run it. In its very first year, the company bagged an export or-
der. It was like ‘reaching the moon’ says the company’s MD..
“I remember when we executed that transaction, when the
manufacturing was happening, when the container was getting
loaded and the first time we received money from exports... we
were so thrilled. Since then, we have grown more and more in ex-
ports,” he adds. The growth was slow to start with. Today the ex-
ports are twice the size of the domestic business.
“We are one of the largest exporters of biscuits from India to-
day. 40 pc of our export now goes to the US, 40 pc to African coun-
tries and 20 pc to various other countries. We export to 138 coun-
tries. I don't know how many are in the world,” quips Agarwal.
Private label and branded products contribute equally to ex-
ports, which rakes in close to Rs.1,000 cr, growing at 40 pc last
year. Edited excerpts from an interview with Ravi Foods’ Ravin-
der Agarwal and CEO Rajendra Sakibanda.
Ravi Foods was born from within the family business. Who
set it up?
Ravinder Agarwal (RA): My brothers were handling other
units and I was asked to look after Ravi Foods. My brothers have
mentored us and help us even today. We are very proud to be to-
gether as a family.
Was Dukes Lemonade (owned by someone else) also around
at that point? How did the name ‘Dukes’ come about?
RA: I was travelling with my elder brother Rameshji around
Andhra Pradesh. It was a very rainy day and we were both sitting
in the car. This was around 1993-’94 or maybe the beginning of
1995. We were about to name the brand. I started scribbling some
names on the paper, even without knowing what I wanted to do or
how to do it. I wrote 45 names and showed it to my brother. He
picked Dukes. I only knew that ‘Dukes’ meant something of high
value that people look up to. The only thing I had heard was ‘Duke
of Edinburgh’ from my school days. And I knew about the lemon-
ade as well. We registered the name under our category.
How did the portfolio expand?
RA: We started with biscuits, launched cream wafers around
2000, confectionery in 2005, followed by chocolates in 2008.
Which is the biggest category for Dukes?
RA: Cream wafers. Technically, our product is called cream-
filled wafers.
What is the geographic presence and how much does each
product contribute?
RA: We have a pan-India presence. Dukes has a legacy of more
than 25 years as a brand. The biggest advantage of this brand is
its very high recall. It is synonymous with the cream wafers cat-
egory. And today this category contributes about 45 pc within
our domestic portfolio.
Confectioneries and chocolates – How big are those for
Dukes?
RA: We have not played big on confectioneries and chocolates.
n the overall FMCG industry,
e-commerce is only some 3 pc and
around 8 pc is your modern
organised trade. The rest is your
independent channels, mainly general
trade. So we are still to go into around 90
pc of the market in a big way.”
– Rajendra Sakibanda, CEO, Ravi Foods
Chocolates contribute 10 pc to the overall portfolio. Around 5 pc
comes from confectionery.
We are focusing on the growing centre-filled candy category
with Dukes Jigs. For this there is innovation required to fill the
centre – the flavour has to be isolated from the overall shell and
injected. It's all done thanks to our R&D. There are a few more
products which are already in the pipeline.
Tell us about the distribution channels and how much each
contributes.
RA: Five years ago, we made a strategic shift to revamp the
sales channels. We said rather than just being everywhere, we
will give a strong value proposition to consumers. We wanted to
be a household brand. To become this household brand, we first
moved into modern trade. Today our cream wafer is number
one in modern trade. We are present across Reliance, DMart,
More Retail, other chains and regional modern trade.
RS: Out of our total turnover, 50 pc is from modern trade, 20 pc
is from institutional sales, 20 pc from general trade and 10 pc
from e-commerce.
RA: We aspire to be among the top five brands in the categories
we are present in. We don't aspire to have a market share of 30 or
40 pc. We are not taking that route because it is so cluttered. If
we have to give a value proposition for consumers, we should
not spend too much on logistics and operational costs. We said
let us pass that cost benefit onto the consumer
We strategically focused on modern trade. More than market
share, we believe in ‘Share Among Handlers’ (SH or counter
share). Our SH at Reliance or DMart will be somewhere like 70
to 80 pc. If there are 100 pieces of cream wafers sold in a modern
retail outlet, 70 of them will be Dukes Waffy.
Secondly, we have been very confident on the price points, like
the magic price points of Rs.10 and Rs.20. Coming to e-com-
merce. You have two major players in Flipkart and Amazon.
Apart from that you have quick commerce players. We are there
now across quick commerce and we are among the top five
brands.
In e-commerce and in particular quick commerce, which is im-
The future strategy is that we will
be going big on general trade in
2024-’25. We're trying to create a
base now for general trade – with the right
assortment of products, the right
investments in people and right investments
for the market including brand activities.”
– Ravinder Agarwal, MD, Ravi Foods
pulse-led, no one can influence the channels. It's purely demand-
led. We have been targeting the millennials through digital cam-
paigns, investing more on digital. That has helped get traction.
But unless your product ratings are above four on a scale of
five,the product doesn't get traction. And this cannot be created.
It is purely an open platform where the consumer is the deciding
factor. Also, the biggest trend today across modern trade and e-
commerce is super saver packs.
You say you are among the top five brands on e-commerce.
Does that include products other than cream wafer brand
Waffy?
RS: It’s across – Bourbon, Nice, Digestive… The category of bis-
cuit is segmented. There is cream, cookies, plain biscuits and so
on. Cream wafers is also a kind of biscuit. Cookies is the largest
(across industry) at around 29 pc followed by cream at 18 pc. So if
anyone has to really win the market, they have to be strong in
these two categories. But that comes with a lot of operational
cost. And it is a highly cluttered segment currently.
What we did is we picked Bourbon from creams and we played
big. Now, in modern trade we are also number one in Bourbon.
Dukes Bourbon’s counter share will be almost 60 pc. That’s be-
cause we have given a value proposition to the consumers. The
per-kilo pricing, the recipe and product quality which we offer
to a consumer, nothing compares with it.
What is the price difference between Dukes Bourbon and oth-
ers?
RS: Dukes Bourbon is priced at Rs.18 for 135 grams. ITC’s is at
Rs,20 for 120 grams. Britannia’s is higher than that, I think Rs,25
for 120 grams.
The general trade (GT) is a large category that you say you
have been selective on. Is that an opportunity?
RS: In the overall FMCG industry, e-commerce is only some 3 pc
and around 8 pc is your modern organised trade. The rest is your
independent channels, mainly general trade. So we are still to go
into around 90 pc of the market in a big way.
right assortment of products, the right investments in people and
right investments for the market including brand activities.
When you say the right assortment, do you mean launching
new products within these categories?
RA: We have to benchmark ourselves because it is a highly clut-
tered market in the categories we are in, especially confectionery
and biscuits. The branded products account for 60 to 70 pc of the
market and that means there is a large non-branded market
available. We have to ensure we go with the right assortment to
give a better experience to consumers. We also want to ensure as-
pects like freshness – we want to ensure that the product is not on
the shelf beyond a month or two.
The product and the price point we want to play in becomes
very critical. Largely, it will be the Rs.10 price point and within
cookies, we'll pick butter. We are also going to refresh the exist-
ing SKUs. After more than five years, our Bourbon will see a new
and fresh packaging.
RS: Secondly, we'll be doing brand extension as a strategy. We
want to increase the market size for cream wafers with a new ex-
tension, Dukes Duetz Waffy. We'll be the first mover on this inno-
vation within cream wafers. Within the wafer, there will be two
different flavours, two creams. One of them will be chocolate and
the other orange. Another variant has orange with strawberry.
We have already piloted this in a few modern trade stores and
we'll be playing big from January 2024. The response is good and
the product is good to kick off pan India.
In Bourbon, there's no one offering a coffee flavour. So far it is
only chocolate. We'll be launching that on very select platforms.
We are piloting cakes and it is doing extremely well.
The strategy is very clear. The competitive advantage will ei-
ther be through comparative advantage or differential advan-
tage. The comparative advantage is a price game. To leverage dif-
ferential advantage, we're going to introduce some premium
products and take a premium pricing also.
There's a new category which is evolving, which is within non-
salt crackers. We have launched Dukes Cream Square, which is
like a sandwich cream cracker. We are creating and growing
some new categories.
We have introduced a product which we have very consciously
launched in general trade and only in DMart – Dukes Italian
Crisps. These are crunchy thin biscuits. I can tell you it is irre-
sistible in taste. We have adopted a bridge pricing strategy and
are offering a one-plus-one at launch to get people to try it.
RA: We export this kind of product to the US and Europe. Be-
cause we have the advantage of our own production and we are
exporters, we know what is the next thing happening globally.
That is the biggest advantage we carry.
Within the larger group, we have the experience and the infra-
structure of manufacturing not just for exports but even for other
companies, like ITC, Parle and Britannia.
So once you get into general trade, will you need to go a little
aggressive on marketing?
RA: We already allocate 12 to 15 pc of our revenue for marketing
and R&D (combined). Both modern trade and e-commerce re-
quire substantial marketing spends to ensure visibility. The
brand is not new. With the Duke's brand, we'll get immediate pen-
etration in general trade. But today the way distribution has
evolved, the cost module is high compared to the past.
We need not talk about the brand, which is well accepted; it's
more of making it available. It is available today, but in a very se-
lective way because we are slowly expanding. It has to be produc-
tive also – I have to give a better experience to the consumer and
better profitability to my channel partners.
Even within general trade, we largely have plans of limiting
ourselves to 50k population towns and above.
Will you be able to give the same kind of value proposition
after building in the distribution and the sales network costs?
RS: We will definitely be able to. That's why the assortment is
very critical for us. We will definitely ensure that we are compet-
itive.
MN4U SYNDICATE

Chandrayaan, G20, Modi: ‘Hits’ of the Year 2023 reveal an India swelling with pride
In the study, Shubhman Gill’s score amongst men was lower than amongst women. There was near unanimity that he is a future India captain and that he would marry an actor like Virat Kohli did.

T
he ‘Hits of the Year 2023’ study by Red
Lab, a specialist consumer insights The ones in the top 36 picked by the expert
think tank at ad agency Rediffusion, panel that did not make it to the ‘Hits Top 20’
lists things that ‘drove’ India, or inspired In- (in alphabetical order):
dia in 2023. The top three on the list are the
successful Chandrayaan-3 launch, India l Adani - Hindenberg saga
chairing the G20 Summit and Prime Minister l Barbenheimmer - Success of Barbie and
Narendra Modi, indicating a sense of nation- Oppenheimer
alistic pride. l Diljit Doshanj performs at Coachealla
Researchers scanned headline-making
news/newsmakers to create a long list. An l Eknath Shinde government survives SC scrutiny
expert panel of thought leaders, culture l Flight of the Unicorns - India start up boom
czars and business captains distilled this continues
down to 36. This shortlist was put to a popu- l Gen Z Nepo-kids - Lead stars of Netflix India’s
lar poll amongst 2,078 respondents across Archies
India (18-45 years, M 56 pc:F 44 pc) in end- has great vision, great commitment to that unanimity that he is a future India
November/early December to arrive at the vision and that he invests great captain and that he would marry a l Glen Maxwell’s 200 against Afghanistan
Top 20. energy in making the vision a Bollywood wife just like Virat l Instagram Threads - The opportunity to upstage
reality. Kohli. Twitter
THE TOP 20 l Chandrayaan is seen by l AI caught popular
l Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre
1. Chandrayaan-3: India’s Tryst with the most Indians as a ‘victory’ imagination with everyone
Inauguration
Moon for India especially after trying to get a hang of its
2. G20 Summit: The World Comes Home to In- the previous attempt failed. usage at one level, and l New parliament building
dia l G20 had mass recognition as marvelling at its zillion l Novak Djokovic’s 23rd Grand Slam tournament
3. Narendra Modi: Leader of the Hour an event as it was spread to possibilities on the other. win
4. SRK: The Return of the King many cities around the country. While AI is still not being l Rahul Gandhi - Bharat Jodo Yatra
5. AI: The Artificial Intelligence Generation Hence there was high understood by the
6. The Uttarakhand Tunnel Rescue relatability. Not too many ordinary man, one thing l Rachin Ravindra - Kiwi who won Indian hearts
7. Virat Kohli: The Man, The Myth, The Leg- people really understood what is clear – ‘It is l Twitter becomes X
end it was but most were clear something that will l Women’s IPL won by Mumbai Indians
8. The International Year of Millets that big nations were shape my world going
9. Shubman Gill: Big Hitter is a Big Hit involved and India was in ahead.’
10. A Historic Asian Games for India the chair. “The Hits of the have benchmarks for comparison – so the
11. Naatu Naatu: Indian Cinema on the Global l Rahul Gandhi did make the Year survey was first study will become more useful,” said Divyan-
Stage shortlist of Top 36 but did not piloted last year by shu Bhadoria, Chief Strategy Officer, Rediffu-
12. India Goes Electric garner enough votes to make us at Rediffusion. It sion, who oversees Red Lab.
13. Gold is Back the Top 20. His Bharat Jodo helped us figure out “The Hits survey serves as a sociological
14. Quick Commerce, Domestic Tourism Ris- Exclusive insights from the Red Lab team: Yatra got him many mentions how to identify the barometer for the country. Next year we will
ing l One of the important dimensions that shone of support. hits, segregate look to see if we can compare Hits of India ver-
15. The ODI Cricket World Cup through in the survey was the enormous l The research team had expected them and rank sus Hits of Bharat. That would be a real eye
16. ‘Just Looking Like a Wow’ pride in India – a general belief that as Shubman Gill to do even better them by popular- opener as it is possible that what excites us in
17. The Great Indian Celebrity Wedding Indians we are starting to count globally and in the rankings but his score ity. The conduct the metros and big cities may not vibe with the
18. Mahua Moitra: One Woman Army we are at the forefront of the world. amongst men was lower than of the re- citizenry in smaller towns,” adds Dr. Sandeep
19. The Never-Ending Season of Deals l Mr. Modi came through clearly as the tallest amongst women. Women scored search this year Goyal, Chairman & MD, Rediffusion.
20. Authentic is In – No Fakes, Fake News or (and most respected, most admired leader) him better on looks than on his was therefore much Next year, the study will also look at compil-
Deep Fakes in the country. He is seen as a leader who cricket! There was near smoother. In 2024, we will also ing a list of brand and marketing ‘Hits’.

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