FP FREE PRESS The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms VOL. 13 NO. 305 | BHOPAL | WEDNESDAY | APRIL 17, 2024 | PAGES 14 `3 - r Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2021-2023; WEATHER NATION PM, DIDI SPAR OVER RAM NAVAMI CELEBRATIONS 37.40c. 24.00c Sunrise : 06.05 Sunset : 06.47 HUGE CACHE of sophisticated weapons seized NEWS BRIEF 2 arrested for firing at Salman's home MUMBAI: Two persons including a man who allegedly opened fire outside Bollywood actor Salman Khan's residence in Mumbai have been arrested from Gujarat, police said on Tuesday.The two persons Vicky Gupta (24) and Sagar Pal (21) - who were on the run after firing outside Khan's house on Sunday, were nabbed late Monday night from a temple premises at Mata No Madh village in Gujarat's Kutch district. IAF veteran Dalip Majithia dies at 103 NEW DELHI: Veteran air warrior Squadron Leader (retd) Dalip Singh Majithia, who joined the Indian Air Force during the tumultuous years of World War II and distinguished himself as a "fearless aviator" during his career, has died. He was 103. The centenarian, who had "over 1,100 flying hours to his name", including missions in aircraft such as Hurricanes and Spitfires, passed away at Uttarakhand's Rudrapur in the early hours of Tuesday, IAF sources said. He was affectionately called 'Maji' by his fellow air warriors. India to test Astra Mark-2 NEW DELHI: In a major capability boost for the Air Force's fighter fleet, India is planning to carry out the first test of the 120-130 km strike range Astra Mark 2 air-to-air missile in next few months. The Astra Mark-1 air-to-air missile with strike range of around 90-100 kms is already in the Indian Air Force and is already integrated with the LCA Tejas and the Su-30 MKI fighter jets. The work on developing the 120-130 km strike range Astra Mark-2 air-to-air missile is going on and we are looking to carry out the first test firing in the next few months, defence officials told ANI. The Astra Mark 2 would give the Indian Air Force an edge over the adversaries in airto-air combat and can also be offered as an export product to friendly foreign countries operating the Russian origin Sukhoi, they said. Rs 60 lakh cash found in Duronto MUMBAI: Police found Rs 60 lakh cash stashed in two parcel packets that arrived in Nagpur-CMST Duronto Express on Tuesday, an official said. A checking of the parcel was conducted by the Railway Protection Force at platform no.17 after the arrival of the train, an official said."During checking, an RPF team spotted a suspicious packet and informed officials of the Government Railway Police. The parcel was opened which contained Rs 40 lakh," he said. Later another packet containing Rs 20 lakh was found. KANKER At least 29 Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district on Tuesday, police officials said. Three security personnel suffered injuries in the fierce gun-battle and a large quantity of weapons was also recovered from the spot, they said. The gunfight took place at around 2 pm in Hapatola forest between Binagunda and Koronar villages under Chhotebethiya police station limits, when a joint team of the Border Security Force (BSF) and the state police's District Reserve Guard (DRG) was out on an anti-Naxal operation, Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) Sundarraj P said. The operation was launched based on inputs about the presence of senior cadres of north Bastar division of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) Shankar, Lalita, Raju and others, he said. During patrolling in the An injured security personnel being treated after an encounter with Naxalites in Kanker district on Tuesday. area, a fierce gun-battle broke out between the two sides, the senior IPS officer said. "Bodies of 29 Maoists along with a huge cache of weapons, including AK-47, SLR, Insas and .303 rifles, were recovered from the spot," the IG said. Polling in the Naxalitehit Bastar Lok Sabha seat will take place on April 19 in the first phase, while the Kanker constituency, part of the Bastar region, will vote in the second round of general elections on April 26. The search operation was still underway in the area amid intermittent firing between security personnel and Naxalites, said Sundarraj. "Three security personnel sustained injuries in the gunfight and their condition was stated to be out of danger," he said, adding they were referred to hospital for treatment. After the latest encounter, 79 Naxalites have been killed in separate gun-battles with security Shah road show in Nath’s bastion Chhindwara HE INTERACTED with local leaders till late at night OUR STAFF REPORTER BHOPAL Union Home Minister Amit Shah has held a road show in Chhindwara Lok Sabha seat which has become the most important of all constituencies in the state. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, BJP's state unit president VD Sharma and Urban Development Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya, party's candidate Vivek Sahu and others were present in the road show held on Tuesday . Thousands of people took part in the event. The purpose of organising the road show one day ahead of the end of electioneering was to mount pressure on former chief minister Kerala HC CJ taken ill UJJAIN: Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court, Ashish Desai, was admitted to a private hospital in Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain after he complained of vomiting and uneasiness during his visit to the Mahakaleshwar temple early Tuesday morning, an official said.Dixit was given a preliminary treatment on the temple premises and was later taken to the Ujjain heart care hospital, he said."The Kerala HC CJ Justice Ashish Desai was admitted to a private hospital here after he complained of vomiting and uneasiness," Ujjain heartcare hospital's Dr Chirag Desai said. CONTD. ON P7 Kamal Nath. The BJP wanted to convey a message to Nath that it would spare no effort to defeat his son Nakul Nath this time. As Shah's helicopter could not land in Chhind- wara because of inclement weather, he had to reach there by road from Nagpur. The road show could begin at 8:20pm. Shah who was accorded a traditional welcome during the road show made night halt in Chhindwara where he spoke to a few BJP leaders and to the people of different communities. According to sources, Shah told the BJP leaders that they must win this seat at any cost. The BJP leaders seem to have put in their all might to win the seat this time. Security personnel during an encounter with Naxalites forces in the Bastar region, comprising seven districts, including Kanker, so far this year. On April 2, as many as 13 Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security forces in Bijapur district. RAM TEMPLE to remain open for 19 hrs on Ram Navami AYODHYA: The Ram temple in Ayodhya will remain open for 19 hours starting from Mangala Aarti at 3.30 a.m. on Wednesday till 11 p.m. and curtains of the temple will be drawn for five minutes each during the four 'bhog' offerings to Lord. This is being done on the occasion of Ram Navami and in view of the expected huge turnout of devotees on the first Ram Navami in Ayodhya after the consecration ceremony The Shri Ram . Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has issued an appeal to distinguished guests to visit Ayodhya for the darshan of Ram Lalla only after April 19. It has also cancelled all special pass bookings for Darshan and Aarti of Ram Lalla between April 16 and 18. Everyone will need to follow the same path as other devotees to enter the Ram Mandir, said the Trust. CONTD. ON P7 EXPLOSION IN FIRECRACKER FACTORY, 3 HURT FP NEWS SERVICE Mhow/Indore A devastating blast tore through a firecracker manufacturing facility in Ambachandan, Mhow tehsil, on Tuesday afternoon, leaving three workers with severe burns. The explosion triggered a ferocious fire, engulfing the volatile materials and finished products stockpiled within the factory premises. According to Manoj Patidar, the area's patwari, the factory employs approximately 20 workers, including seven women and they were on duty at the factory when the explosion occurred. The incident occurred as some workers were engaged in the process of mixing chemicals vital for the production of explosive materials utilised in firecracker manufacturing. Among the injured are Rohit Sarwal, hailing from Datoda village, Arjun Rathore from Maharashtra, and Umesh Chouhan from Maharashtra, who found themselves trapped amidst the flames and blast. CONTD. ON P7 700 Tihar inmates hired by hotels: DG prisons NEW DELHI Around 700 inmates are employed and 12,00 more are presently getting training to work in various sectors after coming out of jail, Tihar's Director General (prisons) Sanjay Baniwal said. In an interaction with 1,200 others getting trained to work in hospitals PTI editors at its headquarters on Monday, Baniwal, a 1989 batch IPS officer, said that he is happy to see inmates, who get employed after spending their jail term. Beniwal, who had a stint of Chandigarh DGP, has been posted as Tihar DG since November 2022. Replying to a question over jail reforms during his tenure in Tihar, Baniwal said, "We have started skill development pro- QUALITY AT VALUE www.freepressjournal.in EDITIONS: INDORE, BHOPAL, UJJAIN, MUMBAI, PUNE TOP MAOIST LEADER AMONG 29 KILLED IN KANKER ENCOUNTER IMPACT PLAYER RULE HAS DEFINITELY WORKED: MITHALI SPORTS r RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 gramme with the help of Urban Development Ministry inside the prisons. Under this programme, around 700 inmates have got the job in hotel industry and 1,200 are getting training to get the job in hospitals." According to jail officials, an infrastructure is provided inside the prisons for training undertrial prisoners (UTP). The programme was launched in early 2023. Baniwal said skilling and empowering inmates is something that makes them worth. CONTD. ON P7 TELUGU TAKEOVER SEXIEST REMARK Surjewala banned from campaigning for 48 hours NEW DELHI : The Election Commission on Tuesday banned Congress leader Randeep Surjewala from campaigning for 48hours over his alleged "derogatory remarks" against Bharatiya Janata Party MP Hema Malini. ECI bars Randeep Surjewala from holding any rally, public appearances and interview. The poll body issued a show-cause notice to Surjewala for allegedly making "vulgar" remarks about Hema Malini. "Now, therefore, the Commission without prejudice to any Order/Notice issued or to be issued subsequently to him in the matter relating to MCC violations, hereby, strongly condemns the impugned statement made by him during election campaign held in Haryana and reprimands Randeep Singh Surjewala for the above said misconduct," the Election Commission stated. "The Commission, under Article 324 of the Constitution of India and all other powers enabling in this behalf, bars him from holding any public meetings, public processions, public rallies, road shows and interviews, public utterances in media (electronic, print, social media) etc. CONTD. ON P7 CINEMA Bhopal’s Ayan tops UPSC-2023 exam in state Ayan Jain Akash Agrawal OUR STAFF REPORTER BHOPAL Ayan Jain of Bhopal with an all-India rank (AIR) 16 topped the state in the prestigious Civil Service Examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission. The results were announced in Delhi on Tuesday afternoon. Ayan's father Mukesh Jain is a retired IPS officer and mother is financial advisor. This was his third attempt. In the first attempt he could not clear the mains, in the second attempt he secured AIR 87 and was selected to IPS. In the third attempt, he has secured AIR 16 and has opted for the IAS. He has completed his schooling from Sanskriti school, Delhi and cleared JEE Advanced 2017 with AIR 237. He completed BTech in Electrical Engineering from IIT Delhi. He decided to prepare for BALLOT VS EVM Don't try to bring down system: SC NEW DELHI Hearing petitions seeking cross-verification of votes cast on Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) with paper slips generated through the VVPAT system, the Supreme Court today pointed to problems with the secret ballot voting method. "We are in our 60s. We all know what happened when there were ballot papers, you may have, but we have not forgotten," Justice Sanjiv Khanna told Prashant Bhushan, counsel for one of the petitioners, Association for Democratic Reforms. Bhushan was arguing how most European countries that had opted for voting through EVMs have returned to the paper ballots. "We can go back to paper ballots. Another option is to give VVPAT slip to the voters in hand. Otherwise, the slips fall into the machine and the slip can be then given to the voter and it can be put into the ballot box. Then the VVPAT design was changed, it had to be transparent glass, but it was changed to dark opaque mirror glass where 'My home state's population is more than Germany's' NEW DELHI: In a sharp response to petitioners citing examples of foreign countries to argue in favour of the ballot voting system, a Supreme Court judge said the population of his home state is more than that of Germany and that "European examples don't work here". "My home state West Bengal's population is more than that of Germany,” Justice Dipankar Datta said. it is only visible when the light is on for second seconds," he said. "Ninety-seven crore is the total number of registered voters. We all know what happened when there were ballot papers," Justice Khanna said. When senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, counsel for one of the petitioners, said votes cast on EVMs should be tallied with VVPAT slips, Justice Khanna replied, "Yes, 60 crore VVPAT slips should be counted. Right?" CONTD. ON P7 Sameer and Sachin Goel UPSC when he was studying in college. He used to study for at least 9-10 hours daily The other successful candidates from the capital include Tejas Agnihotri (AIR 37), Chhaya Singh (AIR 65), Akash Agarwal (105), Sachin Goel (209), Sameer Goel (222), Riju Shrivatava (227), Arnav Bhandari (232), Kshtij Aditya Sharma (384), Aditya Dohar (603), Bharti Sahu (850) and Neeraj Songara (964). Chhaya is the daughter of IAS Chhote Singh. Sachin and Sameer Goel are brothers. Their father Sanjay Goel is the executive director of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Bhopal and mother Dr. Sangeeta Sharma is a paediatrician. Palak Goel from Narmadachal secured 479th rank. Palak is a daughter of social worker and coloniser Narendra Ranjana Goel. CONTD. ON P7 Case against borewell owner after child’s death OUR STAFF REPORTER city.bhopal@fpj.co.in Rewa police have arrested the owner of the agricultural field where a six-yearold boy died after falling in a borewell, an official said on Tuesday . SP Vivek Singh said the owner has Brijendra Mishra had been booked on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder (Section 304 of IPC) and 174 (non-attendance in obedience to an order from public servant) .The owner had du the borewell and had failed to cover it. On Friday afternoon, the boy, Mayank Kol, fell into the open borewell located at the field in Manika village of Janpad Teonthar. He along with his friends was picking up the leftover stalks from the harvest. A rescue operation was launched which lasted 45 hours, but Mayank died before the team could reach him. The probe indicated the borewell was dug up twothree years back and it was found to be dry, but Mishra left it as it is without covering it, the SP said. 6 dead, 5 rescued & 3 missing as boat capsizes in Jhelum SRINAGAR A boat carrying mostly school children capsized in the Jhelum river on the outskirts of the city on Tuesday, leaving six people dead, officials said. The incident took place around 8 am in Gandbal Nowgam area here and six people have been pulled out of the river whose water level had risen over the last couple of days due to incessant rains in the Kashmir valley . The exact number of people on the boat was not clear. Deputy commissioner, Srinagar, Bilal Mohi-ud- Din Bhat, said six people have died and their bodies have been retrieved. "Six people have unfortunately died, while we have rescued six others -- out of which three are under treatment but stable. The rest three are at home," Bhat told reporters. "The unfortunate incident occurred between 7:45 am and 8 am. We are ascertaining how many people were travelling in the boat, but the information we have so far is that 15 people were on it, including seven minors," he said. The deputy commissioner said the rescue operations were on. Asked if the administration had warned the people in view of an increase in the water levels of various rivers and streams in the valley, Bhat said the authorities had issued an alert on Monday asking people living near the embankments of the river to remain cautious. CONTD. ON P7