FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms FREE PRESS Vol. 15 No. 208 | BHOPAL | FRIDAY | JANUARY 9, 2026 | Pages 14 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 www.freepressjournal.in Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL The National Green Tribunal (NGT), Central Zone Bench, Bhopal, on Thursday transferred a case on largescale tree felling for development projects to its Principal Bench in New Delhi. The Tribunal also requested the chairperson to frame a pan-India policy addressing ongoing tree cutting in the name of economic development and infrastructure expansion. The order was passed in Nitin Saxena vs National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), concerning the proposed Ayodhya Bypass project in Bhopal. The case relates to a 16-km-long, 10-lane bypass stretching from Asaram Ti- UN projects GDP growth at 6.6% A UN report projects India's GDP growth at a robust 6.6% even as it expects the global economic growth to slow down to 2.7% during 2026. iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: BHOPAL Rajesh Moudgil CHANDIGARH Haryana police have booked national shooting coach Ankush Bhardwaj for allegedly “sexually harassing” a minor athlete. According to information, the incident took place in Faridabad on December 16 after the athlete participated in a national-level shooting competition at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, New Delhi. In her complaint to the po- NASHIK MUMBAI E-paper Edit Withdrawal suicidal for US P.6 Cinema Emraan leads Taskaree P.14 ABATTOIR 500% tariff threat looms SEALED as Trump ‘greenlit’ bill US President Donald Trump has "greenlit" a sanctions bill that could impose 500 per cent tariffs on countries buying Russian oil, giving him "tremendous leverage" against countries like China and India to stop them from purchasing cheap oil from Moscow. Senator Lindsey Graham said he had a "very productive meeting" with Trump at the White House on Wednesday, during which the President "greenlit" the bipartisan Russia sanctions bill that has been in the works for months. Lab test confirms cow meat in seized truck Poland satisfied with Russian oil cut Poland has expressed support for India amid its growing standoff with the US over its continued purchases of Russian crude oil, even as Washington sharpened its tariff threats against New Delhi. Speaking in Paris after India’s inaugural engagement with the Weimar Triangle grouping on Wednesday, Polish Foreign Minister Radosaw Sikorski said he was satisfied that India had begun cutting back on Russian oil imports. “I expressed my satisfaction that India has reduced Russian oil imports because this is fuelling Putin’s war machine,” Sikorski said while standing alongside External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and other European leaders. "This will be well-timed, as Ukraine is making concessions for peace, and Putin is all talk, continuing to kill the innocent. This bill will allow President Trump to punish those countries who buy cheap Russian Shooting coach booked Trump withdraws for minor’s sexual assault US from over 60 Suspended INDORE OIL SANCTIONS | Bill would give US prez tremendous leverage against countries like China, India and Brazil PTI 4Continued on | P8 PUNE India to ease curbs on Chinese contractors NEW YORK/WASHINGTON raha to Karond and Ratnagiri Tiraha. Between 8,000 and 12,000 trees are estimated to be affected. The Bench, comprising Justice Shiv Kumar Singh, said that trees act as “lungs” of the city and their preservation is vital in public interest. The recurring issue of mass tree felling across states, it said, requires a comprehensive national policy rather than fragmented state-specific decisions. UJJAIN MONEY Sports 'Just be in it' P.12 NGT transfers largescale tree-felling case to Delhi, seeks pan-India policy ESTD-1983 global institutions lice, the 17-year-old nationallevel shooter alleged that Bhardwaj asked her to meet him at his hotel in Surajkund area of Faridabad, Haryana, saying that her performance required to be evaluated. The coach called the minor athlete to his room when she reached the hotel and subsequently sexually harassed her, she alleged, adding that he also threatened to ruin her sports career if she disclosed the incident to anyone. UN/WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has withdrawn the US from over 60 international organisations, including UN bodies and the India-France-led International Solar Alliance, calling the institutions "redundant" and "contrary" to America's interests. Trump signed the memorandum on Wednesday titled 'Withdrawing the United States from 4Continued on | P8 4Continued on | P8 oil, fuelling Putin's war machine," Graham said in a post on X on Wednesday. "This bill would give President Trump tremendous leverage against countries like China, India and Brazil to in- centivise them to stop buying the cheap Russian oil that provides the financing for Putin's bloodbath against Ukraine," he said. 4Continued on | P8 ED searches I-PAC office; Mamata storms raid sites PTI KOLKATA/NEW DELHI The ED on Thursday conducted searches at the office of the political consultancy firm I-PAC and the residence of its director Pratik Jain in Kolkata, an action that ignited high drama, with West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee unexpectedly storming into the sites during raids, alleging that the central agency was trying to seize the TMC's sensitive data ahead of the high-stakes state polls. In a strong rebuttal, the ED, which maintained that the searches were part of a money laundering probe into an alleged multi-crore rupee coal pilferage scam, accused Banerjee of obstructing a lawful investigation and claimed that she and the state police forcibly removed "key evidence" during the raids. 4Continued on | P8 Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL Bhopal Municipal Corporation on Thursday sealed slaughterhouse at Jinsi Crossing in Jahangirabad after a forensic report confirmed that packets seized from a container were carrying banned cow meat. The incident dates back to December 17 last year, when activists of Hindu organisations led by Chandrashekhar Tiwari and Bhanu Hindu intercepted a container bearing a Meerut registration number near Police Headquarters, under jurisdiction of Jahangirabad police station. Activists alleged container was transporting cow meat and claimed it was being supplied from slaughterhouse to different parts of country and even to foreign countries. Police reached the spot and Case under cow slaughter law Jahangirabad police station in-charge Man Singh Chaudhary said forensic report confirmed that samples belonged to cow or its progeny. Based on findings, police registered a case under Sections 4, 5 and 9 of Madhya Pradesh Cow Slaughter Prohibition Act, 2004, along with Section 61(2) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against Aslam Qureshi alias Chamda, container driver Shoaib and another person. seized container along with meat packets. Investigation revealed that container was carrying a total of 26.5 tonnes of meat. 4Continued on | P8