FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms FREE PRESS Vol. 15 No. 100 | BHOPAL | TUESDAY | SEPTEMBER 23, 2025 | Pages 16 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 www.freepressjournal.in iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: BHOPAL P.16 PM: GST reforms will boost savings, benefit all sections PTI NEW DELHI fp Briefs BHOPAL 2 principal & district judges transferred Two principal and district judges have been transferred. Singrauli principal and district judge Hitendra Singh and Dhar principal judge Chaudhar Singh Shaiyam have been transferred. Principal and district judge Hitendra Singh has been shifted to Damoh and Principal and district judge Shaiyam has been shifted at the same place in Dhar. District Bar Association, Tikamgarh Anil Tripathi had complained against Hitendra Singh when he was ADJ Tikamgarh. NEW DELHI Ban on NSCN extended The Centre on Monday decided to extend the ban imposed on the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang) [NSCN (K)] along with all its factions, wings and front organisations for five more years due to its involvement in activities prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India. The ban will be effective from September 28 for a period of five years, a Ministry of Home Affairs notification said. PM Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated the redeveloped Tripureswari temple in Tripura's Gomati district and offered prayers at the shrine. The over 500-year-old temple, one of the 51 'Shakti Peethas', has been redeveloped under the Centre's PRASAD (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive) scheme at Rs 52 crore greater growth and investments and accelerate the progress of every state and region," the prime minister said. An important feature of the next generation GST reforms is that there will mainly be two slabs of 5 per cent and 18 per cent, he said. "Daily essentials such as food, medicines, soap, toothpaste, insurance and many more items will now either be tax-free or fall in the lowest 5% tax slab. Goods that were earlier taxed at 12% have almost entirely shifted to 5%. It is greatly heartening to see various shopkeepers and traders putting up then and now boards which indicate taxes pre-reforms and post-reforms," Modi said in his letter to the people. In the last few years, 25 crore people have risen above poverty and formed an aspirational neo-middle class, he said. "Further, we have also strengthened the hands of our middle class with the massive income tax cuts, which ensure zero tax up to the annual income of Rs 12 lakh. If we combine the income tax cuts and the Next Generation GST reforms, they add up to savings of nearly Rs 2.5 lakh crore for the people," he said. 4Continued on | P8 YADAV WALKS CHOWK LANES FOR GST FEEDBACK Traders, shoppers say rollback in rates brought relief ahead of Navratri Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL Chief Minister Mohan Yadav walked through the narrow lanes of Chowk Bazaar on Monday, meeting traders and customers to gauge public response to the Centre’s recent GST rate cuts. Interacting under the GST Reform Public Awareness Programme, Yadav explained that GST rates were reduced in the larger interest of common citizens, aiming to bring down prices and ease household budgets. CM Mohan Yadav participate in GST Reform Public Awareness Programme in Bhopal on Monday He encouraged people to buy indigenous goods, saying Make in India should apply to even smallest items. “Local goods strengthen local econ- SC issues notices to SP, BJP MLA on ex-Cong MLA’s driver’s murder CBI director, DGP, and CS summoned FP News Service CHHATARPUR The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the superintendent of police and BJP legislator from Rajnagar, Arvind Pateria. The apex court also summoned the CBI director, the Director General of Police (DGP), and the Chief Secretary (CS) with the status report of the case in which the then Congress MLA’s driver was crushed to death by a car. During the 2023 assembly election, the driver of the then Congress legislator Kunwar Vikram Singh, Salman Khan, was crushed to death by a car on November 17, 2023. The wife of Khan, Razia, omy,” he said. To set an example, he bought Khadi clothes from a local shop. 4Continued on | P8 Caught taking bribe, deputy ranger shoots self; critical FP News Service During last assembly election, driver of Kunwar Vikram Singh, Salman Khan, was crushed by car on Nov 17, 2023 BURHANPUR lodged a complaint at the police station, accusing the BJP lawmaker of committing a murder. Since Pateria was not arrested, she filed a petition in the apex court which sought a reply from the SP. Besides, those who provided security to Pateria were also issued notices. The next hearing of the case will be held after two weeks. The complainant, Razia Ali, pleaded with the apex court to order a CBI or SIT probe in the case. A deputy ranger shot himself in the stomach in New Colony, Nepanagar on Monday afternoon. He was caught accepting a bribe on September 16 and had been under immense stress since then. As per reports, Krishna Kumar Burman, a deputy ranger posted in the Forest Department's Dhulkot Range, shot himself in the stomach. He bled profusely and was taken to the Community Health Centre for primary treatment. After receiving first-aid, he was referred to a hospital in Burhanpur. He was said to be in critical condition. Notably, Burman was caught red-handed accepting bribe of Rs 4k by Indore Lokayukta team on September 16. 4Continued on | P8 4Continued on | P8 offgrid Final S-400 delivery by next year PTI MOSCOW Under the USD 5.43 billion deal signed with India in 2018, Russia will complete deliveries of the S-400 Triumf (Triumph) air defence systems next year, according to a media report on Monday. "Russia will complete the contract to supply India with five S-400 Triumph air defence systems in 2026. Four of these systems have been delivered to date, and the fifth will be delivered next year," a defence source was quoted as saying by the PUNE state-run TASS news agency. According to earlier media reports, the USD 5.43 billion deal (Rs 40,000 crore) was formally signed on October 5, 2018, ignoring the threat of US sanctions. In March 2021, US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin discussed India's planned purchase of Russia's S-400 air missile system and warned that the purchase of S-400 could trigger CAATSA sanctions. So far, the US has not invoked the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act signed by President Donald Trump in his first term as the S-400 deal has not been formally completed. 4Continued on | P8 INDORE NASHIK MUMBAI E-paper Edit Mohanlal, Kerala’s pride P.10 US H-1B visa fee may slow services export growth, remittances GST BACHAT UTSAV | Growth, investments and progress of every state and region will accelerate, says Modi Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the next generation GST reforms will boost savings and directly benefit every section of society, as he asserted that it is imperative to walk on the path of self-reliance to achieve the collective goal of Viksit Bharat by 2047. In an open letter to Indians which he posted on X, Modi said that from September 22, next generation GST reforms have begun to make their presence felt, marking the start of a 'GST Bachat Utsav' or 'GST Savings Festival' across the country. "This year, the festive season brings an added reason to rejoice. These reforms will boost savings and directly benefit every section of society, be it farmers, women, youth, poor, middle class, traders or MSMEs. They will encourage UJJAIN MONEY Sports INDIA SIP THE LAST LAUGH ESTD-1983 Cinema Assam CM announces memorial for Zubeen P.14 Priyank may be made Bhopal collector, Banoth may go to Excise Discussions on third transfer list underway Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL Exercises are underway for issuing the third transfer list of IAS officers after the two lists. Bhopal may get a new collector in the upcoming list. After shifting Bhopal collector Kaushalendra Vikram Singh, collector of Dhar, Priyank Mishra, may be brought to Bhopal as collector. Collectors of some other districts may also be shifted. Shilendra Singh (Chhindwara), Suresh Kumar (Panna), Abhay Bedekar (Alirajpur), Ankit Asthana (Morena), Sanjeev Shrivastava (Bhind), and Narendra Suryawanshi (Betul) may be shifted. 4Continued on | P8 UP bans caste-based rallies, vehicles stickers, signboards Biswajeet Banerjee LUCKNOW The Uttar Pradesh government has issued a sweeping order prohibiting caste-based political rallies and public displays of caste identity, calling them a threat to public order and national unity. The directive, announced late Sunday by officiating Chief Secretary Deepak Kumar, was sent to district magistrates, senior bureaucrats, and police officials across the state. It follows a September 16 ruling of the Allahabad High Court, which directed the state to stop recording caste details in police documents except where required under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The court criticized the rationale offered by the state police chief, calling it detached from social realities and the Arrest memos, personal search memos, and panchanamas should not carry caste details needs of professional policing. The order outlines a 10point framework. It bans caste-based rallies organized for political purposes, directs the removal of signboards or public announcements glorifying caste, and instructs police and district officials to ensure no such displays ap- pear in the future. Caste identifiers in police work have been ordered deleted. Arrest memos, personal search memos, and panchanamas should not carry caste details, and police station notice boards must remove caste columns. The only exception remains cases filed under the SC/ST Act. The order also requires that suspects’ records include the names of both parents, with emphasis on recording the mother’s name alongside the father’s. The National Crime Records Bureau has been told to delete the caste column from the CCTNS portal. Until the system is updated, caste details must be omitted, while technical changes are introduced to record both parents’ names. 4Continued on | P8 SC slams selective release of AI crash report Says publication led to building of a media narrative PTI NEW DELHI The Supreme Court on Monday termed as "unfortunate and irresponsible" the selective publication of a preliminary report on the June 12 Air India crash which outlined lapses on the part of pilots and paved way for a "media nar- rative". A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh, which issued notices to the Centre and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on the aspect of an independent, fair and expeditious probe of the crash, said an element of privacy and dignity of families of victims was also involved. It took note of certain aspects of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) preliminary report issued on July 12 and said "piecemeal and selective" publication of the findings which led to building of a media narrative was "unfortunate and irresponsible". "There should be complete confidentiality of reports of this nature till the inquiry is complete. There is an element of privacy and dignity of the victims involved. That's why we should wait for the final report," the bench observed. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the NGO 'Safety Matters Foundation', earlier said one line of the preliminary report which blamed the pilots for the crash led to building of a narrative in the media across the world. 4Continued on | P8