Vol. 67 No. 118 | THURSDAY | FEBRUARY 15, 2024 | 25 Pages | `5 & for Pune `6 only Quality at Value www.freepressjournal.in EDITIONS: MUMBAI*, Pune, Nashik, Konkan, Indore, Bhopal, E-paper Mod Sarkar ki di Government of India given to farmers till now cbc 22201/13/0269/2 2324 Scan for more information Hamara S Sankalp Viksit Bharat B KATI PATANG: A ‘DESI JUGAD’ To counter ‘teargas’ drones RAJESH MOUDGIL / CHANDIGARH HINDUISM ROCKS IN SAND DUNES ONLINE REPORT / ABU DHABI P rime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday inaugurated Abu Dhabi's first Hindu stone temple, built for Rs 700 crore, amid devotional chants and in the presence of spiritu- Sec 144 is back in Sandeshkhali; BJP in a scuffle al leaders of the Swaminarayan sect. Dressed in a light pink silk dhoti and kurta paired with a sleeveless jacket and stole, the prime minister touched the feet of Mahant Swamimaharaj as he participated in the temple rituals. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president Sukanta Majumdar collapsed at Taki following a scuffle with the state police and is hospitalized, even as the police on Wednesday reimposed Section 144 in 19 pockets in Sandeshkhali till February 19, just a day after the Calcutta High Court lifted prohibitory orders. Meanwhile, Governor C V Ananda Bose is said to be considering recommending formation of a Special Task Force or a Special Investigation Team by the state govt. CONTD. ON NATION FORMAL END OF BHUJBAL I-T CHAPTER CHARUL SHAH JOSHI / MUMBAI The Special Court for MP and MLA has disposed of the complaint filed by the income-tax department against NCP leader (Ajit Pawar faction) Chhagan Bhujbal, his son Pankaj and nephew Sameer, for the possession of benami properties under the amended law. The case was disposed of in the wake of the Bombay High Court order passed in December 2023, quashing the proceedings initiated against the Bhujbals and their firms for benami transactions. The order was placed before the special judge to formally close the case. CONTD. ON NATION Talks today with farmers Incidentally Wednesday hap, pened to be ``Basant Panchami’’ when kite flying marks the festival. Another interesting ``jugad’’ was the use of wet gunny sacks (‘boris’) which were being ferried by dozens of youth; the sacks were ingeniously used to douse the teargas shells the movement one would fall on the ground and filter the smoke emitted by it. CONTD. ON NATION OUR BUREAU/ RAJESH MOUDGIL / NEW DELHI/CHANDIGARH meeting between farmer leaders and Union minA isters Arjun Munda, Piyush Goyal and Nityanand Rai will be held on Thursday even as protesting , farmers seemed reconciled to a long-drawn battle with MSP remaining the pivotal demand. The Punjab Government is facilitating the meeting with Central ministers through video-conferencing, sources in Chandigarh said, adding that farmers want written assurances from the government and it is being discussed. CONTD. ON NATION FPJ EXCLUSIVE / MALABAR HILL RESERVOIR Hanging Gardens’ fate Govt won’t extend land conversion deadline is still left hanging URVI MAHAJANI / MUMBAI SHEFALI PARAB-PANDIT MUMBAI ARITRA SINGHA / KOLKATA The temple is spread over 27 acres; in 2015, the then crown prince and current UAE President, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, donated 13.5 acres of land for the construction of the temple. In 2019, he gifted an additional 13.5 acres. CONTD. ON NATION There is nothing like ``desi jugad’’ to counter the high-handedness of the administration. So, it took a bunch of crafty youngsters to devise a way to counter the intermittent shower of teargas shells. Result: if ‘Day One’ was marked by utter chaos with the drones carrying gas canisters and the aerial shower catching the farmers by surprise, ‘Day 2’ saw dozens of kites fluttering on the Shambhu border skyline, ostensibly to counter drones employed by the government. It was an ingenious strategy involving use of the long string of a kite to entangle the rotor of a drone, potentially causing it to crash. However, there were no reports of any such ``success’’ till filing of this report. T he Malabar Hill Reservoir (MHR) is in good structural condition and no demolition or reconstruction would be required in the next 10-15 years, as there is no danger of collapse or disruption of water supply , says the draft of the final report sent by four members of the expert panel to the BMC. The report has also suggested annual inspection of the tanks, since the conclusion reached by the structural engineering experts was based on feasible visual inspection. However, the three IIT professors who are also members of the expert committee have yet to share their views in the final report. Last November, the BMC had appointed an eight-member expert panel to decide the fate of the MHR. A visual inspection of five tanks of the MHR was carried out by the members in December. The interim report submitted by the four members of the com- mittee on January 8, has said that its present condition is safe and can be maintained for a sufficiently long time, enough to plan minor repairs in detail and execute them carefully However, the BMC . has not accepted the report, and has requested the Indian Institute of Technology to have the recommendations of the local representative committee members analysed by a panel of experts and submit the final report on the reconstruction of the MHR. CONTD. ON NATION 3 IIT PROFS YET TO SHARE THEIR VIEWS Nadda for RS but from Guj; Nod for Chavan GAURAV VIVEK BHATNAGAR NEW DELHI The BJP has re-nominated its national president JP Nadda for the Rajya Sabha. The names of Nadda and six other candidates were announced. The others nominated to the Upper House include former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan, who had joined the BJP on Tuesday . The elections to 56 Rajya Sabha seats in 15 states are due on February 27 and the last day for filing nominations for these is February 15. In the case of Nadda, who became working president of BJP in June 2019 before being elevated as president in January 2020, the party decided to field him from Gujarat this time as it did not have the numbers to ensure his victory from Himachal Pradesh. Nadda’s term, along with that of nine BJP ministers is due to end in April. Apart from Nadda, BJP also announced the names of three other candidates from Gujarat. They are Govindbhai Dholakia, Mayankbhai Nayak and Dr Jashvantsinh Parmar and their election is almost certain because the party enjoys a complete majority in the state. As for Nadda, the election from a safe seat ensures that he has time for the party’s campaign and preparations for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. There is, however, also talk of his being given some other role once the elections get over and a new government is formed. Chavan is the other `star’ nominee of BJP whose name was announced as a candidate for the Upper House. Along with him, CONTD. ON NATION BULLETIN SUMMONS AGAIN D elhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the liquor policy scam case. This is the sixth ED summon to the Delhi CM in the case. He has not joined the investigation so far in the case in which two of his senior party leaders– Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh– are behind bars. TN ‘NO’ TO ONE NATION, POLL T he Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on Wednesday adopted two resolutions moved by Chief Minister MK Stalin opposing the proposed post-2026 delimitation process and the one nation, one election policy. Stalin said the proposed delimitation is a conspiracy to reduce the reduce the representation of southern states, in particular Tamil Nadu, and should be nipped in the bud. In another resolution, Stalin said the one nation, one election proposal went against democracy. LAST WORD Couple, twins found dead in California PTI / NEW YORK An Indian-origin family including their 4, year-old twin boys, has been found dead at their home in California with the police investigating the case as a murdersuicide, the second such incident in less than two months that has shocked the community in the US. The victims, hailing from Kerala, have been identified by the friends as Anand Sujith Henry his , wife Alice Priyanka, and their 4-year-old twin boys, NBC Bay Area reported. The incident took place in San Mateo on Monday police were quoted as saying. , On Monday Police said a 911 call , spurred a welfare check at the location after someone reported they hadn't heard from the residents for some time. They ar- rived and checked the exits of the home and found no signs of forced entry . "Unfortunately we located four de, ceased people inside the home. One adult male. One adult female and two children," said Jerami Surratt, public information officer with the San Mateo Police Department. The case is being investigated as a murder-suicide, police said on Tuesday . According to court records, the husband filed for divorce in December 2016 but apparently did not go through with it. The two young children were found inside a bedroom, police said. "The children did not have any gunshot wounds. Unfortunately they were found , deceased, so that will be part of the autopsy to figure out the cause of (the chil, dren's) death," Surratt said at a Tuesday afternoon press conference. Sources with direct knowledge of the investigation said police believe the boys were smothered, strangled, or given a lethal overdose because there was no sign of trauma on CONTD. ON NATION their bodies. The Maharashtra government will not extend the deadline of March 8 for receiving applications from housing societies and private entities for land conversion from leasehold to freehold, it told the Bombay High Court on Wednesday . The government had in December 2012 increased lease rent by 25 per cent for residential properties and by 50 per cent for commercial properties. It had also allowed these entities to purchase the land through conversion from leasehold to freehold by paying 20 per cent of the ready reckoner rate. Several housing societies had then approached the high court challenging the December 2012 government resolution (GR). In the meantime, the government issued another GR on March 8, 2019, under which it permitted land conversion on payment of 15 per cent and 50 per cent of the lease amount for residential and commercial properties respectively for the first three years after the GR was issued. After that, the charges would be 60 per cent and 75 per cent for residential and commercial properties respectively . CONTD. ON NATION