FREE PRESS The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms VOL. 13 NO. 213 | BHOPAL | MONDAY | JANUARY 15, 2024 | PAGES 12 GULBADIN NAIB’S FIGHTING 57 PROPELS AFGHANISTAN TO 172 Pg-10 `3 - r Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2021-2023; EDITIONS: INDORE, BHOPAL, UJJAIN, MUMBAI, PUNE EDIT POSITIVE RUN UP FOR LS POLL Rahul promises to bring back peace WEATHER FP 28.60c. 14.60c Sunrise : 07.10 Sunset : 06.02 HAZARIBAG (JHARKHAND): Poppy plants cultivated illegally on over 100 acres of land in Jharkhand's Hazaribag district were destroyed amid tight security, a police officer said on Sunday. The operation to destroy the poppy plants estimated to be valued at Rs 15 crore, which began on Saturday in several villages in Chouparan area, was completed during the day, Sub-Divisional Police Officer of Barhi, Nazir Akhtar, said. Around 200 police and CRPF personnel were present while earthmovers were driven on the land where the poppy was planted. ‘Indian armed forces finest in the world’ NEW DELHI: The Indian armed forces have transformed with changing times to meet the challenges of the "entire spectrum of warfare," IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari said on Sunday. In his address at an event hosted here to mark the 8th Armed Forces Veterans Day, he also asserted that resilient spirit, leadership, and vision of its veterans have laid the foundation of today's armed forces. Gurugram shivers at 2.7 degrees C GURUGRAM: The residents of Millennium City on January 13 experienced the coldest day of the season with the mercury sliding to 2.7 degrees Celsius, the Met Office said on Sunday. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the mercury rose by 2 notches on Sunday, with the minimum temperature recorded at 4 degrees Celsius. The maximum temperature here on Sunday was 18 degrees Celsius. AGENCIES Manipur Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday embarked on the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from here in Manipur with a promise to bring peace and harmony in the ethnic violence-hit state. The violence that broke out in the northeastern state in May last year has claimed more than 180 lives and rendered thousands homeless. Addressing a public meeting in Thoubal, which is south of Manipur capital Imphal, Gandhi also hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying perhaps for the BJP and the RSS, Manipur was not a part of India. Your pain is not their pain," Gandhi said. "We understand the pain that the people of Manipur have been through, we understand the hurt, the sadness. We will bring back harmony, peace and affection for which this state was known," he said. The yatra will cover a dis- West Bengal Police on Sunday said that they have arrested two more persons in connection with the attack on ED and CAPF personnel which took place at Sandeshkhali in North 23 Parganas district on January 5. Kolkata, Jan 14 (IANS): West Bengal Police on Sunday said that they have arrested two more persons in connection with the attack on ED and CAPF personnel which took place at Sandeshkhali in North 23 of faced but the prime Lakhsnot peoplehere to losses,your tears, holdminister has come wipe your hand or embrace you. Maybe for Narendra Modi, the BJP and the RSS, Manipur is not a part of India n RAHUL GANDHI tance of 6,713 km, straddling 100 Lok Sabha constituencies and 337 assembly segments and covering 110 districts. It will conclude in Mumbai on March 20 after 67 days. Earlier, Congress presi- dent Mallikarjun Kharge also slammed the prime minister, saying that he came to the northeastern state only to seek votes and not to share the grief when the people of the state are in pain. CONTD. ON P6 Taking a swipe on "Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra" of Rahul Gandhi, former Chief Minister Uma Bharti said that Bharat Jodo will be relevant when India is getting broken. As of now, entire country is integrated in the name of Ram Rajya. If Rahul Gandhi really wants to help India then instead of Manipur, he should take out Yatra from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK). To go there, he doesn't have the courage, hence he went to Manipur. She suggested that Rahul should go to Ayodhya. She added that it was during the period of Congress that India got divided. India was broken when atrocities were done against Sikhs. In Modi regime, section 370 had been removed from Kashmir to connect it from the country . CONTD. ON P6 MALDIVES WANTS Indian troops out by Mar 15 NEW DELHI Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu on Sunday asked India to withdraw its military personnel from his country by March 15 even as the two sides deliberated on finding a "mutually workable solution" to enable continued operation of the Indian military platforms in the island nation. The issue was extensively discussed at the first meeting of the India-Maldives high-level core group in Male. The two sides decided to set up the core group on the contentious issue following a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maldivian President Muizzu on the sidelines of the COP28 summit in Dubai last month. "Both sides also held discussions on finding a mutually workable solution to enable continued operation of Indian aviation platforms that provide humanitarian and medvac services to the people of Maldives," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. Abdulla Nazim Ibrahim, the principal secretary to the Maldivian president, said at a media briefing in Male that Muizzu asked the Maldivian delegation to inform Indian officials in the core group meeting that the troops must be withdrawn by March 15. Indian military personnel cannot stay in the Maldives. This is the policy of President Dr Mohamed Muizzu and that of this administration, Ibrahim said. CONTD. ON P6 India, Maldives officials hold talks MALE: Officials from the Indian High Commission in the Maldives met with officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Male, Maldives, local media reported on Sunday. According to local newspaper SunOnline International, Maldives and India have initiated official talks regarding the withdrawal of Indian military personnel stationed in the Maldives. However, the Ministry of External Affairs has not issued any statement on the reported meeting so far. The newspaper cited Ibrahim Khaleel, the Minister at the President's Office for Strategic Communications, as saying that the meeting was that of the high-level core group that Maldives and India agreed to set up during the meeting between Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the COP28 in December. TWO MORE held for attack on ED officials AGENCIES Kolkata ‘Rahul should take out Yatra from PoK’ OUR STAFF REPORTER city.bhopal@fpj.co.in Congress leader Rahul Gandhi poses for a photo with an elderly woman in Manipur, on Sunday Parganas district on January 5. Police have identified the two accused as Ali Hossain Gharami and Sanjay Mandal. Police said that Gharami was arrested from Minakhan in North 24 Parganas district and Mandal was arrested from Nazat area in the same district. With Sunday's arrest, the total number of arrests in the case has risen to four. On January 12, the police also arrested Sukamal Sardar and Mehboob Molla. They were identified from the video footage of the attack. CONTD. ON P6 THAROOR MAKES POLL PROPHECY Pg-7 JOINS SHIV Sena led by CM Shinde to 'walk dev path' MUMBAI In a setback for Congress in Mumbai ahead of Lok Sabha polls, former Union minister Milind Deora on Sunday quit the party "to walk the path of development" and joined the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, ending a "55 years old association" of the Deora family with the Grand Old Party . With Deora resigning just before the start of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, the Congress alleged that the timing of the announcement of his departure from the party was determined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for headline management to counter the yatra, and asserted that it would have no impact. The former Mumbai South MP announced his decision to resign from the primary membership of the party on social media platform X in the morning hours on Sunday . "Today marks the conclusion of a significant chapter in my political journey . I have tendered my resig- India's batter Shivam Dube plays a shot during the 2nd T20I cricket match between Afghanistan and India, at the Holkar Stadium in Indore, Sunday ENJOY THE CHILL: Cold conditions are back in Kashmir BUT... W Minus 4.2 degrees Celsius recorded in Srinagar AGENCIES / Srinagar/Jammu Cold wave conditions returned to Kashmir as the mercury plunged several degrees below freezing point after a day's respite provided by a feeble western disturbance on Saturday officials said on Sunday , . A dry and largely snowless winter in Kashmir has resulted in freezing nights and warmer than usual days as Srinagar's day tem- ater level in Jhelum hits lowest as dry spell continues in Kashmir Srinagar, Jan 14 (PTI) The water level in the Jhelum river has hit the lowest due to a prolonged dry spell in Kashmir, officials said on Sunday. "River Jhelum was flowing at -0.75 feet at Sangam (Anantnag district) and -0.86 feet at Asham (Bandipora district) on Sunday morning. This is the lowest water level in the river," the officials said. It had dropped to this level at Sangam in November 2017, they said. peratures were over eight degrees above the normal for this time of the year, officials said here. Srinagar city recorded a minimum temperature of minus 4.2 degrees Celsius on Saturday night, 4.4 degrees less than Friday's 0.2 degrees Celsius. Jammu, the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir, recorded the coldest night of the season with the minimum temperature plummeting 4.5 notches below normal to settle at 2.5 degrees Celsius, they said. CONTD. ON P6 Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde welcomes former Congress leader Milind Deora who joined Shiv Sena (Shinde faction), in Mumbai on Sunday. PM'S 'HEADLINE MANAGEMENT' TO COUNTER YATRA Imphal: The Congress on Sunday alleged that the timing of the announcement of Deora’s departure from the party was determined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for headline management to counter the yatra, and asserted that it will have no impact. nation from the primary membership of the Congress, ending my family's 55-year relationship with the party. I am grateful to all leaders, colleagues and karyakartas for their unwavering support over the years," Deora stated. He later went to Siddhivinayak Temple in Prabhadevi to offer prayers. In the afternoon, Deora joined the Shiv Sena in the presence of Eknath Shinde in a function at Varsha, the official residence of the chief minister. KOLKATA/NEW DELHI AYUSH department said. This stretch along the border has been named "Arogya Path" (healthy street) and QR codes have been affixed which when scanned will give details about the plants, the official said, requesting anonymity. He added that the "path" doubles up as a nursery . Villagers of Kadirpur in Nadia have been engaged in different works such as planting and watering the fruit-bearing and aromatic medicinal plants, and digging pits to extend the hedge, as part of the first phase of the project. An official of the Border Security Force (BSF) said 40 bee boxes have been fixed on poles of the metal fence over the last two months with the help of the National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB). The board, which comes under the Union AYUSH Ministry, has committed its resources of experts, manpower, and plants for the "unique initiative", the official said and added that more bee boxes have reached the area and are being installed. The bees in the hives, the BSF feels, will act as a deterrent to cross-border criminals and smugglers who come closer or dare to cut the fence and breach it for smuggling cattle, narcotics, gold, Earlier in the day, when Deora stepped out of his residence 'Ramalayam' in south Mumbai, he told reporters that he was "going to walk on the path of development". Deora, who was recently appointed the joint treasurer of the All India Congress Committee, had expressed disapproval at the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) staking a claim to the Mumbai South Lok Sabha constituency which he had represented in the past. CONTD. ON P6 XI CLASS student drowns in Tincha falls Friends make up false story to mislead everyone OUR STAFF REPORTER city.indore@fpj.co.in In a tragic incident, a 17year-old boy drowned while bathing in Tincha Waterfall in Simrol police station area on Saturday. The incident occurred around 12 pm when he went into the waterfall for bathing, and he drowned. He left home for school at around 9:30 am, but instead of attending school, he went to the waterfall with his four friends. The police are investigating the case to know the circumstances under which the incident happened. According to the police, the deceased was identified as Enock son of Anand Topno, a resident of Pushpa Nagar, Khajrana. He was a student of Class XI in a city school. He left for the school but his four friends met him on the way and took him to the Tincha Waterfall. Enock drowned in the waterfall and his four friends came to their house and did not inform anyone about the incident. Enock’s father’s friend Shivkumar Yadav said that Enock’s mother is an accountant in BSF to take help of bees to curb smuggling at Indo-Bangla border To prevent the smuggling of cattle and narcotics, the BSF will now have a second line of deterrence -- a thick hedge of more than 60,000 medicinal plants and 40 bee boxes -along a three-kilometer fenced stretch of the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal's Nadia district. "Beehives on the Fence" was launched in November last year as part of the central government's "Vibrant Village Programme", and according to officials, it not only aims at preventing cross-border crimes but also generating employment for locals through apiculture and horticulture. The flowering plants will also create an ecosystem for the bees to pollinate, a senior official of the QUALITY AT VALUE www.freepressjournal.in JOLT TO CONG as Milind Deora quits BHARAT JODO NYAY YATRA SET IN MOTION; TO COVER 100 LS SEATS, 15 STATES IN 67 DAYS NEWS BRIEF Poppy plants worth Rs 15cr destroyed r RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 silver, and other items. Experts and officials from various central and state government departments are engaged in the project. Tulsi, Ekangi, Satmuli, Ashwagandha, and Aloe Vera are among the plants that will make the hedge. More saplings, around 60,000, are in the process of being sent to the area by the NMPB and the AYUSH ministry, the AYUSH department official said. On creation of employment, the official said through this project, locals can earn through apiculture and horticulture. Commanding Officer (CO) of the BSF's 32nd Battalion, Sujeet Kumar, who devised the initiative, said the enthusiasm of locals and authorities towards the project is unparalleled. CONTD. ON P6 the same school and when she came to the house in the evening, she asked her husband why Enock had not come to the school. When his parents contacted one of his friends, he informed them that Enock had gone to Ralamandal and misled them about the incident. His friends made up a false story and told his parents that Enock had gone with his three friends that he met near Ralamandal. Enock’s parents came to know about the incident in the night when his friends told the truth and informed them about Enock’s drowning. They told that they had planned to visit Ralamandal but they changed their plan halfway as one of them had gone previously to the waterfall and they took Enock there. They went downwards in the waterfall and one of them did not go into the water as he had a fever. CONTD. ON P6 6-year-old killed after throat slit by nylon string FP NEWS SERVICE / Dhar A 6-year-old boy named as KanishkChouhanwas killed after a nylon string slitted his throat in Dhar on Sunday. The incident happened when the boy and his father were on a motorcycle. The child's throat was slit by a nylon string during the journey, resulting in fatal injuries. Despite immediate hospitalisation, the young victim couldn't be saved. The father, identified as Vinod Chauhan, accompanied the child on the ride. The names of other children involved remain undisclosed. Authorities are actively investigating the circumstances surrounding this tragic event.