Vol. 35 No. 21 | SUNDAY | FEBRUARY 18, 2024 | 28 Pages | `5 & for Pune `6 only Quality at Value Reg. No. MCS/048/2021-23; RNI No. 46955/1988 M.p.c.s. office Mumbai-400001 www.freepressjournal.in EDITIONS: MUMBAI*, Pune, Nashik, Konkan, Indore, Bhopal, E-paper cbc 22201/ 0275/2324 /13/ Government of India Scan for more information o Ham Ham a Sankalp Viksit Bharat am mar t THE FP BULLETIN RAJKUMAR SANTOSHI GETS 2 YEARS JAIL A court in Jamnagar in Gujarat on Saturday sentenced renowned filmmaker Rajkumar Santoshi to two years in jail and also directed him to pay Rs2 crore to the complainant in a cheque return case. The court then allowed Santoshi's appeal for a 30-day stay on the order to allow him to appeal in a higher court. Ashok Lal, an industrialist, said he had lent Rs1 crore to Santoshi to produce a film against which the filmmaker gave him 10 cheques of Rs10 lakh each. When the 10 cheques bounced, Lal issued him a legal notice under provisions of Negotiable Instruments Act and approached court in 2017 after Santoshi failed to return the money. A/C FROZEN: CONG CHANNEL T he management of Congress-backed Jaihind TV in Kerala on Saturday alleged that its bank accounts were frozen by the Centre, a day after the national party's main bank accounts were frozen by the I-T department over an outstanding tax demand. The office of the Assistant Commissioner, Central GST and Central Excise in Thiruvananthapuram issued notices to two leading private banks, directing them to recover the amount due to the central government from the news channel's parent company, Bharat Broadcasting Company, leading to the freeze of its accounts, according to sources in the TV channel. 10 KILLED IN TN FACTORY BLAST T en people including four women were killed in an explosion at a fireworks factory in this district on Saturday. The mishap occurred around 12.30 pm on Saturday in the chemical mixing room of the firecracker making unit in the village. Preliminary enquiry revealed that there was overcrowding in the chemical mixing room, and that the explosion could have been triggered when the chemical was being handled, Virudhunagar district collector VP Jayaseelan said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed condolence over the deaths and announced that an ex-gratia of Rs2 lakh from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each deceased. Mo Sarkar odi ki G Guarantee The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday moved an application before the special CBI court to stop the release of a docu-series based on the life of Indrani Mukher- 7 crore 48 lakh Kisan Credit Cards distributed Loan facility of y f given t f i to farmer Tejashwi under scanner All decisions taken by Tejashwi and RJD Ministers come under review FPJ NEWS SERVICE / PATNA Turbulent times lie ahead for RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, till recently the Deputy Chief Minister in Nitish Kumar's government after Bihar`s Economic Offences Unit (EOU) was on Saturday asked to probe alleged poaching attempts made by his party ahead of the newly formed NDA government`s floor test. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has also ordered a probe into alleged corrupt practices in departments Tejashwi or ministers from his party headed in the previous regime. State government has already ordered a review of all decisions taken by Tejashwi and two RJD ministers Lalit Yadav and Ramanand Yadav. Senior most Nitish Kumar: Turning the screws on his former deputy CM officers from health, road construction, urban development and housing and rural works departments have been asked to review all the decisions taken during the previous regime. Lalit Yadav and Ramanand Yadav had headed the public health engineering depart- ment and mines and geology department respectively . Sources claimed that the health department which was headed by Tejashwi had appointed a Haryana-based company allegedly owned by , an RJD leader or close to him, for providing laundry services to government hospitals in the state. The NDA government may investigate it too, sources added. Senior RJD leader and spokesperson Chitranjan Gagan accused Nitish of trying to dent Tejashwi`s image by ordering probes into the functioning of departments held by him and also into the alleged poaching attempts made by the party before NDA government`s floor test. “Like Modi government harassing its political opponents through central agencies, Nitish is also trying to do the same thing but he himself will come under the scope of investigation as he has had the ultimate responsibility as the head of the government,” he remarked. “It is simply a stunt bazi,” he quipped. CONTD. ON NATION Sandeshkhali: TMC block chief held ARITRA SINGHA / KOLKATA Following a statement made under the condition of secrecy by a victim of assault in Sandeshkhali to a magistrate, gangrape sections were added in FIR against Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Shibaprasad Hazra and suspended TMC leader Uttam Sardar. After the addition in the FIR, Nazat po- lice arrested TMC block president Shibaprasad Hazra and he will be produced before Basirhat court on Sunday . TMC leader Uttam Sardar who has been suspended, has been in police custody for a week. Women in Sandeshkhali who have levelled sexual assault charges against the TMC are now demanding arrest of TMC's Shahjahan Sheikh as well. Taking to the Media, DG Rajeev Kumar assured, “There will be camps set up there. We will be visiting places, any evidence we get, we will act on it. No one can escape doing crime. They will be booked. We will talk with women and will record their voices. We will establish the truth. Section 144 CrPc is imposed to maintain peace in Sandeshkhali,” said Kumar. CONTD. ON NATION Pak polls massively rigged, says Pindi Commissioner FPJ NEWS SERVICE / ISLAMABAD The chief election commissioner (CEC) of Pakistan and the chief justice were involved in poll rigging in the February 8 election, Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chattha alleged, triggering a massive political storm, even as jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party began nationwide protests against alleged rigging and stealing of its mandate. Candidates who were “losing” the elections “were made to win” Chattha said at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, as he resigned from the post taking “responsibility for all this wrongdoing”, according to the Dawn newspaper. “We converted the losers into winners ‘ENGLISH, MARATHI MUST IN PRE-SCHOOL’ MUSAB QAZI / MUMBAI Children in Maharashtra may soon start learning English and Marathi, along with their mother tongue, right from pre-school years. The State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) has released a draft curriculum for the foundational stage, which constitutes three years of pre-primary education for children aged 3-6 years and classes 1 and 2 for those aged 6-8, in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The document, which has been released for public feedback, recommends the two languages as mandatory subjects. Students whose mother tongue is not Marathi will be taught that language as the first language. Other subjects include mathematics, art, work experience and health and physical education. CONTD. ON NATION CBI seeks stay on Sheena Bora serial CHARUL SHAH JOSHI / MUMBAI Mode farming, ern Prosperous farmers jea, accused of murdering her daughter, on the OTT platform Netflix. The series, titled 'The Indrani Mukerjea Story: The Buried Truth' delves into the disappearance of 25-year-old Bora and is scheduled to be pre- miered on streaming platform Netflix on February 23. In its application filed through public prosecutor C J Nandode, the CBI is seeking that the serial not be aired as the case was still ongoing. CONTD. ON NATION with 50,000 votes margin," he was quoted as saying. “I apologize to the returning officers of my division," he said, adding that his subordinates were crying about what they were directed to do. Chattha claimed that even today the election staff are affixing fake stamps on the ballot papers. CONTD. ON NATION 20 stray dogs shot dead in T’gana village FPJ BUREAU / MAHBUBNAGAR (TELANGANA) In a bizarre incident, masked miscreants shot over two dozen stray dogs in the dead of the night at Ponnakal village, Addakula mandal in Mahbubnagar district. The shootings which occurred in the wee hours of Thursday has led to outrage in the area. Locals said that four masked individuals arrived in a car around midnight on Thursday and shot the dogs which they found on the streets with a rifle. While some of the animals perished instantly others , fled with injuries. It is not yet clear exactly how many dogs were injured in the shooting spree. So far 2o dogs have been found dead. CONTD. ON NATION VHP PLEA IN COURT REPRESENTATIONAL PIC Lion Akbar cannot be with Sita Sita is our religious and respected figure. It will hurt the Hindu sentiments. The Safari Park officials should come out clear about the name change. We have spoken with the minister of Tripura government, who is saying that while sending the lions – VHP they had given code names as ‘Ram’ and ‘Sita’. ARITRA SINGHA / KOLKATA Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Saturday moved Calcutta High Court’s Circuit Bench of Jalpaiguri challenging state forest department’s move of naming a lioness ‘Sita’ and keeping it in the same enclosure of a lion called ‘Akbar’ at Siliguri’s Safari Park. The two big cats were brought from Sepahijala Zoological Park in Tripura on February 13 and the forest department officials claimed that they ‘did not’ change any names. Akbar is thought to be seven years old and Sita a year younger. The plea has been placed before Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya and the hearing is scheduled on February 20. “Vishwa Hindu Parishad with deep anguish has observed that the species of cat has been named after ‘Sita’, She is the sacred deity to all Hindus and it is a direct assault on the religious beliefs of all Hindus,” read part of the plea. CONTD. ON NATION JNANPITH FOR GULZAR, RAMBHADRACHARYA PTI / MUMBAI Renowned Urdu poet Gulzar and Sanskrit scholar Jagadguru Rambhadracharya have been named the recipients of the 58th Jnanpith Award, the Jnanpith selection committee announced on Saturday . Sampooran Singh Kalra, popularly known as Gulzar, is celebrated for his works in Hindi cinema and is considered one of the finest Urdu poets of this era. Rambhadracharya, the founder and head of Tulsi Peeth in Chitrakoot, is a renowned Hindu spiritual leader, educator and writer of more than 240 books and texts, including four epics. The Jnanpith selection committee said, "It has been decided to give the award (for 2023) to eminent writers from two languages: Sanskrit litterateur Jagadguru Rambhadracharya and well known Urdu litterateur Shri Gulzar." Gulzar received Sahitya Akademi Award for Urdu in 2002, Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2013, Padma Bhushan in 2004, and at least five National Film awards for his works. CONTD. ON NATION Kamal Nath switching to BJP? OUR STAFF REPORTER / BHOPAL Former chief minister Kamal Nath, referred to often as the “third son of Indira Gandhi”, is all set to join the BJP along with his son Nakul Nath. Amidst the speculation, Nath left Chhindwara for Delhi on Saturday . When the media persons in Delhi wanted to know from him whether he was going to join the BJP Nath , curtly said, if that happened he would at first let them know about it. He did not however deny it. According to sources in Bhopal, a large number of legislators and Congress leaders in MP may leave the party along with Nath. During an informal chat with media persons, a former minister and a close aide of Kamal Nath, Sajjan Singh Verma, hinted at Nath switching over to the BJP If Nath switched . over to the BJP he would follow suit, , Verma said. Sources further said Nath held talks with the BJP’s top leadership and he might join the ruling party along with Nakul Nath and a few other leaders. Nath’s anger against the party leadership came to light after he was suddenly removed from the post of MPCC president. His annoyance deepened after he was denied a ticket to the Rajya Sabha. Apart from that, Nath runs a business empire, and his nephew is involved in AugustaWestland scam. There are allegations against Nath about his involvement in anti-Sikh riots in 1984. CONTD. ON NATION