FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms FREE PRESS Vol. XLII No. 224 | INDORE | MONDAY | JANUARY 19, 2026 | Pages 14 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. 38281/83 www.freepressjournal.in ESTD-1983 iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: INDORE UJJAIN PUNE BHOPAL NASHIK MUMBAI E-paper FREE PRESS painting competition Brushes, colours and boundless energy: Over 4,000 schoolchildren transform Free Press premises into a festival of art, creativity, and inspiration at the annual ‘On The Spot’ painting competition at Free Press House on Sunday NO HOLDS BARRED | At Singur, Modi says TMC ‘playing with nat’l security’ by aiding infiltrators END ‘MAHA JUNGLE RAJ’: PM ON DIDI TURF fp RAIPUR Four Naxals killed Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma announced that security forces have killed four Naxals, including senior cadre Dilip Bedja, in an operation in Bijapur district, marking a significant blow to the Maoist presence in the National Park area. JAMMU 8 soldiers hurt in Kashmir Eight Army soldiers were injured in a gunfight with terrorists in a remote forested area in the upper reaches of J&K’s Kishtwar district on Sunday, officials said.The intense exchange of fire lasted several hours before the guns fell silent. previous day, the PM inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for projects worth Rs 3,250 crore. Modi mentioned that the NDA-led central government’s push gave classical language tag to Bengali language. come to the state only when law and order improved, and that such an environment was possible only under BJP. "TMC is playing with the security of West Bengal and the country. They protect infiltrators because they form their vote bank," he said, al- leging that illegal immigration along borders had been allowed to flourish under the state government's watch. Modi said, "Border fencing has been stalled for years. Fake documents are being made. The Central Information Commission (CIC) has ruled that advocates cannot use the Right to Information (RTI) Act to seek details regarding cases they are handling for clients, observing that using the transparency law in this manner fails to advance its core objectives. Dismissing a second appeal filed by an advocate in a dispute related to the termination of a fruits-and-vegetables supply contract at a Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in Haryana, Information Commissioner Sudha Rani Relangi noted that the appellant had sought information 4Continued on | P8 4Continued on | P8 On Day 2, `830-cr gift KOLKATA Briefs PTI NEW DELHI KOLKATA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched development projects worth over Rs 830 crore in West Bengal and flagged off three Amrit Bharat trains connecting Kolkata with other parts of the country. On the FP News Service On his second day of West Bnegal visit, PM Narendra Modi on Sunday stepped up his attack on the Mamata Banerjee government, urging the electorate to end the ruling TMC’s “maha jungle raj” in the upcoming Assembly election. He was addressing a rally at Singur in Hooghly district, a site etched in the state’s political memory for the agitation led by Banerjee in 2008 against land acquisition that forced Tata Motors to pull out its Nano car project. Modi accused the TMC of "playing with national security" Advocates can’t seek info under RTI for clients’ cases: CIC by protecting infiltrators for vote-bank politics, and said defeating it was vital to restoring law and order, development and investor confidence. He urged voters to back BJP's "double-engine government" model, arguing that industry and investment would WEF MEET Delegation of IAS officers leaves for Davos CM’s visit after Jan 20 Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL A delegation comprising at least half-dozen senior IAS officers left for Davos to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) meet on Sunday. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav will leave for Davos after January 20. The meeting will see sessions on investment, mutual cooperation in fields like manufacturing and strategic discussion etc. The WEF meet will start from January 20 and will continue till January 24. Ex-MLA targets Rambhadracharya, Anirudhacharya over ‘wife’ remark Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL Former MLA from Chandla in Chhattarpur district, R D Prajapati, stirred a major controversy on Sunday by making sharp and objectionable remarks against seer Rambhadracharya and Katha Vachak Anirudhacharya during a public convention in state capital. Addressing a joint convention of SC, ST and backward classes at BHEL Dussehra Ground, Prajapati alleged that a blind saint had claimed the word “wife” means “Wonderful Instrument for Fun and Enjoyment”. Targeting Rambhadracharya indirectly, he said, “You too have been born from an enjoyable mother… that is why your eyes got damaged.” Taking Anirudhacharya on target, Prajapati alleged that one Baba, who applies lipstick, claims girls attend religious sermons to enjoy their youthfulness. He demanded that such saints, who make objectionable statements from Vyas Peeth, should be paraded with garlands of shoes. Prajapati demanded capital punishment for those making such remarks and sought termination of IAS officer Santosh Verma. However, he said action should first be taken against seers who make objectionable statements against women. He said that statements made by Katha VachaksDheerendra Krishna Shastri and Anirudhacharya against women and girls were unacceptable in any society. Agencies DHAR The long-standing dispute over the Bhojshala-Kamal Maula complex in Dhar, Madhya Pradesh, has intensified as Basant Panchami coincides with a Friday on January 23. In a fresh development, the Hindu Front for Justice has approached the Supreme Court recently with an urgent appli- cation seeking “exclusive” access for Hindus to perform Saraswati Puja throughout the day on January 23. The site, a protected monu- ment under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), is claimed by Hindus as an ancient temple dedicated to Goddess Vagdevi (Saraswati) Umrao loses mining; after Indore water tragedy, Dilip is now MD tourism devpt Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL The state government carried out a major administrative reshuffle on Sunday. Ahead of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav’s visits to Delhi and Davos, several senior officers were transferred. Dilip Yadav, who was removed from the post of Municipal Commissioner following deaths caused by contaminated drinking water in Indore, has been posted as Managing Director of the Tourism Development Corporation. Former minister Narottam Mishra’s close relative, Shriman Shukla, has been sent to the loop line. Significant changes have also been made in the Health Department, which has been facing controversies. Secretary Alok Singh from the Chief Minister’s Secretariat has been given additional charge as Secretary of the Mining Department. Principal Secretary (Personnel) M. Selvendran has been appointed as Principal Secretary, Science and Technology Department. Chief Minister’s Secretary Ilaiya Raja has been posted as Secretary, Why Americans paying for AI in India: Navarro Former minister Narottam Mishra’s close relative, Shriman Shukla, has been sent to the loop line Over 10 injured, 6 critical FP News Service JABALPUR Tourism Department, and Managing Director, Tourism Development Board. Kumar Purushottam has been given additional charge as MD, MARKFED, along with his post as MD, Mandi Board. The Tourism Department has been taken away from Additional Chief Secretary Shivshekhar Shukla, while he will continue to hold charge of the Home, Culture, and Religious Trusts Departments. The Mining Department charge has been withdrawn from Principal Secretary Umakant Umrao, who will now serve only as Principal Secretary, Animal Husbandry Department. After a long stint in the loop line, Shobhit Jain, Member Secretary of the State Food Commission, has been appointed Principal Secretary, AYUSH Department. 4Continued on | P8 4Continued on | P8 Man held for raping minor daughter PTI FP News Service GUNA and “built by Parmar king Raja Bhoja in the 11th century”, and by Muslims as the Kamal Maula Mosque. The plea demands to”prohibit” from allowing any member of the Muslim community to offer namaz (prayer) that day, strict security arrangements by the ASI and state government, and an expedited hearing of the main case pending before the apex court. White House trade advisor Peter Navarro has renewed his criticism of India, questioning why Americans are paying for Artificial Intelligence in India. Navarro's comments on Saturday came amid a strain in India-US ties, which began after US President Donald Trump slapped a 50 per cent tariff on New Delhi, including a 25 per cent additional duty for its purchase of Russian crude oil. In an interview on Real America's Voice, Navarro said,".It's like, why are Americans paying for AI in India? Chat GPT (is) operating on US soil, using American electricity, servicing large users of Chat GPT, for example, in India and China and elsewhere around the world. 4Continued on | P8 4Continued on | P8 A man was arrested for allegedly raping his 15-year-old daughter in Madhya Pradesh’s Guna district, police officials said on Sunday. Police said that an FIR was registered against the accused father on Saturday and he was arrested. He was presented before the court and has been sent to jail. In her complaint to the police, the girl alleged that she had accompanied her father to collect money related to a property from a person in Bamori. On the way, her father reportedly suggested that they take a shortcut through the forest to reach faster and the girl agreed. While they were walking through the forest, the father allegedly forced the girl to remove her clothes. Out of fear, the minor girl obeyed. The accused then allegedly raped her and threatened to 4Continued on | P8 Speeding car crashes into labourers on lunch break, five killed A speeding car ploughed into a group of daily wage workers sitting on the roadside for a lunch break near Barela toll post in Jabalpur district, leaving five women dead and around 10 labourers injured on Sunday. As per reports, the workers were employed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to paint highway grilles and were sitting on the roadside when a white car without a number plate lost control and allegedly ran over them. The atmosphere was immediately filled with chaos and screams. Bystanders alerted  the police and 108 ambulance services. Two women workers, Lachho Bai and Chainwati Bai, died on the spot. Both were residents of Biharia village in the Bijadandi police station area of Mandla district and were camping in the Jabalpur area as labourers. NEW YORK/WASHINGTON Hindu group seeks ‘exclusive’ access to Bhojshala BASANT PANCHAMI MAJOR IAS RESHUFFLE: 33 OFFICERS AFFECTED See Pg 2 & 12 Bamori police registered an FIR against accused under POCSO Act kill her if she told anyone about the incident. The accused and the complainant both returned to their village later. The girl claimed that her mother wasn’t at home when the incident occurred. On December 15, when the girl met her mother she told her about the alleged incident. The girl’s mother then took her to Cantonment police station to file a complaint. The Cantonment police station registered the case as a zero FIR and then transferred it to Bamori police station. Based on the complaint, Bamori police registered an FIR against the accused under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) Act.