Tuesday, December 9, 2025 | Vol. 69 No. 55 | 28 Pages Reg.No MCS/048/2021-23; RNI No. 1541/1957 M.p.c.s office Mumbai. PIN 400001 THE FREE PRESS JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION DAY INDIA EDITION | www.freepressjournal.in ● Leader in E-paper circulation NATION Punjab Congress suspends Navjot Kaur Sidhu over her ‘CM’s chair’ remarks GAMES Cinema BB 19 Winner Gaurav Khanna: ‘Dil jeete hai isliye show jeeta hoon!’ Gill, Pandya make their way back as India start T20 WC prep in Cuttack Edit An inferno foretold PM ON SONG | Modi accuses Nehru of appeasement politics over the 150-year-old anthem ‘Cong backstabbed Vande Mataram’ Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar NEW DELHI A special committee of Parliament began deliberations on Monday on the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram, triggering a charged political confrontation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Congress over the song’s historical treatment. The discussion, intended as a commemorative exercise, quickly descended into a fierce exchange over what the Prime Minister termed a “betrayal” of the national song by the Congress under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru. Opening the debate in the Lok Sabha, Modi said Congress compromised on Vande Mataram and surrendered before the Muslim League. Congress did a 'tukde-tukde' of Vande Mataram," he said. He accused the Congress of having bowed to “appeasement politics” in 1937 when it allegedly truncated portions of Vande Mataram under pressure from the Muslim League and Mohammed Ali Jinnah. He said the song, which had energised the freedom movement and carried “the cultural energy of thousands of years”, was reduced to a political compromise, despite Mahatma Gandhi having endorsed it as suited for the national anthem as early as 1905. Modi claimed that the Muslim League’s intensifying opposition to the song had led Jinnah to raise slogans against it from Lucknow on 15 October 1937. “Instead of firmly countering these baseless objections, Nehru—then the Congress president—began questioning the song himself,” the Prime Minister alleged. He cited a letter Nehru wrote to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, suggesting that the song’s Anand Math background “may provoke Muslims”. According to Modi, this moment marked a political and moral weakening within the Congress. “Under the pressure of appeasement, the Congress bowed to the division of Vande Mataram, and therefore it bowed to the partition of India,” he declared, insisting that the party had not changed its approach even today. 4Contd on | nation 4See also | nation ‘LET’S TALK ABOUT Not taking IndiGo IndiGo seeks Fed jitters Kerala actor Dileep TODAY’S ISSUES’ fiasco lightly: Govt more time sink market cleared in sex case mood IndiGo has sought more time from the DGCA to submit a detailed explanation for the massive nationwide disruption, even as the regulator said it would take action “in due course”. According to the DGCA, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers and the airline’s chief operating officer have submitted their preliminary responses to the show-cause notices. Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar pose of the special discussion, Gandhi accused the government of seeking to divert attention from pressing public issues. She argued that the timing of the debate was linked to upcoming elections in Bengal and that the ruling party was using Vande Mataram to manufacture fresh grievances against freedom fighters. “This government wants people to ignore the present and future and just keep looking back at the past,” she said. 4Contd on | nation Arun Patil The Congress response was immediate and combative. Speaking on behalf of her party, MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accused Modi and the BJP of habitually belittling Nehru and distorting history for electoral gain. She challenged the ruling party to hold a detailed debate exclusively on Nehru and close it once and for all. "Let's close the chapter for once and all. After that, let's talk about today's issues - price rise and unemployment," she added Gandhi reminded the House that Nehru had spent 12 years in prison—“the same time span that Modi has been Prime Minister”—and argued that modern India continued to benefit from institutions he founded. “Without ISRO there would have been no Mangalyaan; without AIIMS, the government could not have managed COVID,” she said. Questioning the very pur- has forced theCentre to confront what it now calls a sysNEW DELHI & MUMBAI temic failure within India’s largest airline. What began as a IndiGo’s operational meltdown scheduling disruption linked to snowballed into a political and the enforcement of stricter aviation sector flashpoint Flight Duty Time Limitaon Monday, with the govtion (FDTL) norms soon ernment vowing “very exposed deeper cracks. strict action” as disAccording to Civil Aviruptions entered their ation Minister Ram Scan & Watch seventh straight day. DeMohan Naidu, the crisis spite the airline regaining some was not triggered by FDTL stability, operating around itself but by IndiGo’s “crew ros1,800 flights with an improved tering and internal planning on-time performance of 91%, systems.” the scale of cancellations, chaos at airports, and public outrage 4Contd on | nation Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar & Dhairya Gajara NEW DELHI 4Contd on | nation Trump avenue in Hyd T he Telangana government has decided to rename the road housing the US Consulate General in Hyderabad as Donald Trump Avenue, honouring the 45th and 47th US President. The state will soon write to the Ministry of External Affairs and the US Embassy to formalise the proposal. CM Revanth Reddy had earlier floated the idea of naming key Hyderabad roads after global corporations to project Telangana as a hub of innovation and international partnership. The renaming move is part of a broader citywide plan. The upcoming Greenfield radial road linking Raviryala to the Nehru Outer Ring Road and the new Radial Ring Road will be named after industrialist Ratan Tata. Naval splendour Navy personnel rehearse for the Navy Day celebrations at the Gateway of India in Mumbai on Monday. Maharashtra Governor Acharya Devvrat will grace the event as chief guest on December 10. The event will showcase drill and traditional Sailor’s Hornpipe Dance as well as aerial display by naval helicopters. See mumbai ‘DON’T TARGET TRAVELLING INDIANS’ PTI MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Thursday urged China to ensure that Indian nationals travelling to or transiting through Chinese airports are not “selectively targeted, arbitrarily detained or harassed.” He said India expected Beijing to respect regulations governing international air travel. “MEA would advise Indian nationals to exercise due discretion while travelling to China or BANGKOK Thailand launched airstrikes along the disputed border with Cambodia on Monday as both sides accused the other of breaking a ceasefire that halted fighting earlier this year. Longstanding border disputes erupted into five days of combat in July that killed dozens of soldiers and civilians. US President Donald Trump pushed the Southeast Asian neighbours to sign a truce agreement in October, but tensions have continued to simmer. The Thai army said that more than 50,000 people have left areas near the border for shelters, while Cambodia's Information Minister Neth Pheaktra said that residents of several villages near the border have been evacuated. The latest round of clashes has killed at least one Thai soldier and four Cambodian civilians, officials Scan & Watch said. 4Contd on | nation NEW DELHI INDIA TELLS CHINA transiting through the country,” he added. Responding to questions on India-China relations, Jaiswal said talks were continuing, and the relationship was “gradually moving in a positive direction,” adding that India wished to maintain that momentum. On terrorism, Jaiswal said India had taken note of and welcomed recent steps by the UK government to crack down on Khalistani separatists. The UK Treasury last week froze the assets of British Sikh businessman Gurpreet Singh Rehal, linked to the Panjab Warriors sports investment firm, after suspecting him of involvement with organisations engaged in terrorism in India. The Treasury also announced an asset freeze against the Babbar Akali Lehar for promoting and supporting the Babbar Khalsa. “We welcome the steps that have been taken by the UK government to sanction anti-India extremist entities, which strengthen the global fight against terrorism and extremism and help curb illicit financial flows and transnational crime networks,” Jaiswal said. 4Contd on | nation ERUNAKULAM MUMBAI Indian equities tumbled on Monday as anxiety over the US Federal Reserve’s upcoming policy announcement prompted investors to cut exposure and retreat to safety. A cocktail of fragile global cues, a weakening rupee and persistent foreign portfolio outflows deepened the risk-off undertone, dragging benchmark indices sharply lower. The BSE Sensex slid nearly 610 points to close at 85,102.69. The NSE Nifty lost 225.90 points to finish at 25,960.55. Selling pressure was broadbased, with frontline stocks bearing the brunt. Bharat Electronics, Eternal, Trent, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, Adani Ports, Bajaj Finserv, SBI, PowerGrid, Asian Paints, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, Titan, NTPC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Larsen & Toubro and Bharti Airtel were among the key laggards. Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank managed to eke out modest gains, but their support was insufficient to offset the prevailing market gloom. . 4See also | money Thailand hits Cambodia in fresh flare-up Ashwin Ahmad FPJ News Service FPJ News Service A Kerala court on Monday acquitted Malayalam actor Dileep in the 2017 abduction and sexual assault case involving a well-known actress, while convicting six others, including the main accused Sunil NS, also known as Pulsar Suni. The verdict in State of Kerala v. Sunil NS @ Pulsar Suni was delivered by Ernakulam Principal District and Sessions Court Judge Honey M Varghese in a packed courtroom. The judge held that the prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Dileep conspired or orchestrated the abduction and assault, leading to his exoneration and three others Charlie Thomas, Sanilkumar alias Mesthiri Sanil, and Sarath G Nair. Meanwhile, the first six accused Sunil NS alias Pulsar Suni, Martin Antony, Manikandan B, Vijeesh VP, Salim H alias Vadival Salim, and Pradeep were convicted of gang rape, criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, use of criminal force, outraging the modesty of the survivor, wrongful confinement and disrobing. They were convicted under Sections 120B, 342, 354, 354B, 357 and 376D of the Indian Penal Code as well as Sections 66E and 67A of the Information Technology Act for filming and transmitting the video of the assault, Bar & Bench reports. The court said, “The acts of the Accused numbers 1 to 6 amounts to an offence punishable under sections 120B, 342, 354, 354B, 357 and 376D of IPC and Sections 66E and 67A of the Information Technology Act, 2001… they are convicted thereof." The sentence for the convicted men will be announced on December 12. Law minister P Rajeeve said that the government would appeal against the verdict in the High Court after studying the detailed order. 4Contd on | nation 4See also | nation Luthra bros, owners of Goa inferno club, flee to Phuket FPJ News Service MUMBAI A four-member magisterial inquiry committee has been formed to identify the lapses that led to the catastrophic fire at the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub in Arpora on Saturday night. Hours after a fire killed 25 people at a Goa nightclub, its owners, Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, fled to Phuket in flight and it was promptly activated. 6E 1073 even as police sought Such a circular alerts authInterpol’s assistance to track orities at all entry and exit them down. Earlier on Mon- points — airports, seaports day, a Goa Police team and land borders — to detain reached Delhi to locate the anyone flagged in the system. brothers—named in the FIR— But by the time the alert but found their Hudson Lane went live, it was already too residence near Delhi late. Immigration offiUniversity locked. cials at Mumbai airport Police had asked the later discovered that the Bureau of Immigration two accused had to issue a lookout circuboarded a 5.30 am flight lar by Sunday evening, Scan & Watch to Phuket, Thailand, slipping out of the country just hours after the deadly blaze. Meanwhile, the Goa government on Monday constituted a four-member magisterial inquiry committee to identify the lapses that led to the catastrophic fire at the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub in Arpora on Saturday night. 4Contd on | nation Indian origin nurse sentenced for Queensland slaying Agencies SYDNEY Rajwinder Singh, a former nurse who fled Australia and hid in India for years, has been found guilty of the brutal murder of 24-yearold Toyah Cordingley, a case that shocked Queensland and triggered a long and complex international manhunt. Cordingley, a popular health store worker and animal shelter volunteer, was out for a Sunday afternoon walk with her dog on Wangetti Beach in October 2018 when she was attacked. She was stabbed at least 26 times. Her father discovered her half-buried body in the sand dunes along the wellknown coastal stretch between Cairns and Port Douglas, the BBC and Australian Broadcasting Corporation report. Singh, 41, originally from Punjab and living in Innisfail at the time, fled the country the very next morning. He left behind his wife, three children, and his parents, all of whom were financially dependent on him. The sudden disappearance raised immediate suspicion. The police identified Singh as a person of interest about three weeks into the investigation after noticing that movements of his blue Alfa Romeo matched those of Ms Cordingley’s phone away from the beach. Cordingley’s body was discovered roughly 800 metres away from her parked car, while her dog was found safe, tied to a nearby tree. According to police, Cordingley was the victim of a “personal and intimate attack”. 4Contd on | nation Toyah Cordingley (left) was found dead on a coastal stretch in 2018. Rajwinder Singh (above), a former nurse, has been found guilty of her brutal murder. Singh booked a one-way flight to New Delhi, telling a travel agent his grandfather was very sick. Before leaving, Singh told his wife he was going out ‘for a couple of days’, but never contacted his family again for more than four years. His family eventually lost their home. Queensland police announced a record $1 million reward for information on Singh. Weeks later, he was taken into custody in New Delhi.