FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms FREE PRESS Vol. XLII No. 126 | INDORE | MONDAY | OCTOBER 13, 2025 | Pages 12 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. 38281/83 www.freepressjournal.in iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: INDORE MONEY Sports Stojkovic resigns as Serbia coach following defeat to Albania P.11 BREAST CANCER AWARENESS DAY ESTD-1983 Global trade war roaring back NDA’S SEAT PLAN FOR BIHAR OUT Dheeraj Kumar P ranav (Monu) Verma has kept alive the historic Bholaram Ji Ustad Vyayamshala, which has shaped bodies and minds with unwavering passion. Turn to Indore page to find out how. SEE P2 fp Briefs KOLKATA Stampede at Barddhaman A major accident occurred at Barddhaman railway station on Sunday evening after a stampede broke out amid a heavy rush of passengers. At least 10 to 12 people were injured in the chaos, railway officials said. Six of the injured, including both men and women, have been admitted to Bardhaman Medical College and Hospital, where they are undergoing treatment. RAIPUR Eight Maoists arrested Security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district arrested eight active Maoists during a joint operation conducted on Sunday. The operation was carried out by personnel from the District Reserve Guard (DRG), Basaguda Police Station, and the 168th Battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). The arrests took place near Polampalli, along the route from Putkel to Polampalli, under the jurisdiction of Basaguda Police Station. NEW DELHI Smuggling bids foiled Alert troopers of the Border Security Force (BSF) have foiled foiled multiple cross-border smuggling attempts, seizing five drones carrying heroin and a pistol along the Amritsar and Tarn Taran India-Pakistan border areas in Punjab, an official said on Sunday. A statement mentioned that acting on specific intelligence input, BSF troopers recovered a total of five drones from areas near Naushera Dhalla, Havelian, Rajatal and Dal villages. NEW DELHI Canada min to meet EAM Canada’s Foreign Minister Anita Anand arrived in Delhi on Sunday. On Monday, she will meet her Indian counterpart S Jaishankar to for discussions on boosting bilateral trade, energy and security ties. She will also hold talks with meet Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal. The ruling NDA on Sunday announced its seat-sharing deal, with BJP and JD(U) getting 101 seats each, while Union minister Chirag Paswan's LJP(RV) will contest 29 in the elections to the 243-member assembly. In a post on X as the meeting of BJP's Central Election Committee, which also includes PM Narendra Modi, started, Union minister and the party's Bihar poll in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan said Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi-led HAM(S) and Upendra Kushwaha-led RLM will field their candidates on six seats each. Manjhi accepted the decision of the “high command” , but asserted that NDA may face repurcussions for “undervaluing” his party. The deal followed extensive deliberations in New Delhi and Patna involving senior NDA leaders as well as interactions with LJP, RLM, and HAM leadership. Paswan, who had initially demanded 40 seats, agreed to the reduced share of 29. It will be the first time that BJP and JD(U) will contest equal number of seats since 2005. In the October-November 2005 assembly polls, JD(U) contested 139 and BJP 102. In the 2010 assembly elec- BATTLELINES DRAWN INDIA TUSSLE NDA FORMULA 101 101 JD(U) BJP 29 6 LJP(RV) RLM The Opposition bloc is yet to announce its seat-sharing pact although political circles indicate that RJD may contest 138 seats, Congress 52, Left parties 35, VIP 15, RLJP 2 and JMM 1 6 HAM(S) PK DASH Poll strategist Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party has released its first list of 51 candidates for the 243-member assembly OTHER PLAYERS Kejriwal-led AAP has announced its first list of 11 candidates AIMIM, headed by Asaduddin Owaisi, to contest 100 seats; 32 candidates named tion, JD(U) contested 141 seats while BJP 102. In 2015, JD(U) contested assembly polls with RJD and its allies. In the 2020 assembly polls, JD(U) contested 115 seats and BJP 110. With BJP and JD(U) agreeing to contest polls on equal numbers this time, both parties want to give a clear message to the electorate that there is no dispute over issues PUNE BHOPAL NASHIK MUMBAI E-paper Edit A Talibani diktat in India P.6 World Trump directs Pentagon to pay troops OFF THE BLOCKS | 101 seats each for JD(U) and BJP, Chirag corners 29, Manjhi sulks PATNA UJJAIN Af, Pak escalate border clashes Both sides claim they have inflicted heavy casualties on rival forces Agencies ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR At least 23 Pakistani soldiers and over 200 Taliban and affiliated terrorists were killed in intense overnight clashes along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, the Pakistani Army said on Sunday, as tensions escalated between the two neighbours amid mutual accusations of cross-border aggression. The statement came amid Pakistan's seizure of 19 Afghan military posts and "terrorist hideouts" in response to what it termed "unprovoked" attacks by Afghan forces in the border areas, while Kabul claimed that 58 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 30 others injured during the retaliatory operations. Zabihullah Mujahid, chief 4Continued on | P8 Other means if talks fail: Muttaqi Agencies NEW DELHI Afghanistan’s Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on Sunday expressed Kabul’s desire to resolve ongoing tensions with Islamabad through peaceful means, but issued a stern warning that spokesperson of Afghanistan's Taliban government, demanded that Pakistan hand over key ISIS-K terrorists hiding on its soil or expel them, warning that "these actions will have severe and undesirable consequences" if Islamabad fails to act. He said the Afghan operation was halted following re- Afghanistan is prepared to defend itself if diplomacy fails. Speaking from New Delhi during his six-day visit to India, Muttaqi — who quests from Qatar and Saudi Arabia. As Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement calling for "self-restraint" to avoid further escalation, Pakistan said it preferred constructive diplomacy and dialogue over violence and belligerence. "We will not tol- 110 Coldrif bottles found in Seoni Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL like who is the big brother in the alliance in Bihar. In the present deal, Paswan emerged as a “big gainer” as he finally got 29 seats even when BJP had initially offered him 26 seats. To satisfy his demands, BJP has even reportedly conceded its some sitting seats to him. Following incidents in Chhindwara and Jabalpur, 110 bottles of Coldrif cough syrup from Sresan Pharma have been seized in Seoni. The stock, held by a local wholesaler, has been frozen, and eight bottles have been sent for testing. The results are awaited. A Drug Inspector in Seoni toldFree Press that on a tip-off, four wholesalers of Sresan products were searched on Surprise checks in Jabalpur Drug Inspectors in Jabalpur conducted surprise inspections at medical shops on Sunday. Shop owners were instructed to follow norms strictly, ensure syrups carry the required warning for children under four and display awareness pamphlets on safe usage of cough syrups. October 5. Around 110 bottles were recovered from Sriram Medical Agency, all with batch number SR 039 and purchased last year. No bottles were sold before the seizure. Other Sresan products from remaining three wholesalers were also frozen. The supply to Seoni came via Jabalpur stockist Kataria Pharmaceuticals, which had earlier supplied bottles that reached Chhattarpur, where at least 22 children died after consuming the toxic syrup. POLITICAL STORM OVER OP BLUE STAR 2 held in feet-washing, drinking incident Agencies There was a way to retrieve and capture all militants but Operation Blue Star was the wrong way and I agree that Mrs (Indira) Gandhi paid with her life for the mistake P Chidambaram Former Union home minister SHIMLA/NEW DELHI Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram has triggered a political controversy with his remarks that the 1984 Operation Blue Star in Amritsar’s Golden Temple was a mistake for which the then PM Indira Gandhi "paid with her life". Congress sources said on Sunday that the top leadership was "very upset" with Chidam- China slams US tariffs as hypocritical Agencies BEIJING baram’s comments and felt that senior leaders like the Rajya Sabha MP should be careful before making public Do not go out at night, Didi tells hostel women Aritra Singha China has pushed back against US President Donald Trump's decision to impose new tariffs on Chinese goods, calling the move hypocritical and defending its own export restrictions on rare earth materials and related equipment, Al Jazeera reported. In a lengthy statement on Sunday, China's Ministry of Commerce said its export controls on rare earths, which Trump had labelled "surprising" and "very hostile", were introduced in response to a series of US measures since their trade talks held in Madrid, Spain, last month. "China's stance is consistent," the ministry said in a statement posted online. "We do not want a tariff war, but we are not afraid of one." statements that create embarrassment for the party. The party was left red-faced as BJP hit out at it saying his- KOLKATA The West Bengal Police on Sunday arrested three men for their alleged involvement in the “gangrape” of a medical student in West Bengal's Paschim Bardhaman. A Durgapur subdivisional court remanded the three accused, all Durgapur residents, to 10-day police custody and pressed charges, including gang-rape and criminal conspiracy. As two alleged accused were missing, police used drones to find if they had escaped from the forest. Talking to the media, the survivor’s father said he wanted harshest punishment for the accused to prevent recurrence. “I have heard that the three accused men have been arrested. I would appeal to CM to give them strict punishment so such a crime doesn’t get repeated and women in West Bengal are safe,” he said. Abhaya Manch created after the rape and murder of junior medic of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital and joint forum of doctors also visited Durgapur college and slammed the state government for not taking steps to prevent such crimes. CM Mamata Banerjee said the culprits would be given strict punishment and urged female students staying at the hostel not to venture out at night. 4Continued on | P8 tory must record the truth that it was not a national necessity but a "political misadventure" by Indira Gandhi. Chidambaram made the remarks during a book launch in Himachal Pradesh's Kasauli on Saturday. "There was a way to retrieve and capture all militants but Operation Blue Star was the wrong way and I agree that Mrs Gandhi paid with her life 4Continued on | P8 DGCA asks AI to reinspect RAT on planes MUMBAI: Aviation safety regulator DGCA has directed Air India to reinspect the RAT (emergency power source) for stowage on all aircraft whose power conditioning module was replaced by the Tata Groupowned airline in recent times. At the same time, the aviation safety regulator has sought a "comprehensive report" from the US aircraft maker Boeing on the preventive measures to be implemented with respect to the un-commanded Ram Air Turbine (RAT) deployment incident. The development comes in the wake of two back-to-back incidents involving Air India 787 aircraft recently, and the pilots' grouping Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), writing a letter to the Civil Aviation Minister, urging the government to ground Air India's entire B787 aircraft fleet, besides a special audit of the airline. Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL Damoh police have arrested two accused in the feet-washing and drinking case, while two others remain on the run, officials said on Sunday. The main accused has been taken into custody. SP Shrutkirti Somwanshi said the controversy began after villagers of Sataria had decided on total prohibition of liquor in the village during a meeting on September 14. On October 6, Anuj Pandey allegedly broke the agreement and used abusive language against villagers. The next day, villagers asked Anuj to apologise at Shankar temple, but he failed to appear. A protest rally was held. On October 8, Purshottam Patel, using AI, prepared a Agencies NEW DELHI Over 33 lakh students in India are enrolled in over 1 lakh single-teacher schools, with Andhra Pradesh recording the highest number of such i n s t it u t i o n s and UP leading with the most number of student enrolments in BSF air wing gets first woman flight engineer PTI The Border Security Force (BSF) air wing has got its first woman flight engineer in its over 50 years history following completion of a first in-house training capsule. Inspector Bhawna Chaudhary along with four male subordinate officers were recently awarded their flying badges by BSF director general Daljit Singh Chawdhary. The border force is tasked to operate the aviation unit of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) since 1969 and it caters to the operational requirements of all the paramilitary forces and special forces like the NSG and the NDRF. Officials told PTI that five subordinate officers were "trained ab-initio by the instructors of the BSF air wing and they recently completed their two-month long training." The five personnel were skilled for 130 hours during the two months in- wing flew operational sorties including during the recent floods in Punjab and other states. "The BSF air wing has been facing a critical shortage of flight engineers in its Mi-17 helicopters fleet. "The Indian Air Force (IAF) trained the first batch of 3 subordinate officers but the second batch of five personnel could not get a training slot there due to various constraints," an official said. house training starting August and they also had real exposure to the work as various assets of the BSF air On October 10, the act was carried out at the temple. Some villagers recorded and circulated a video of incident photograph showing Anuj wearing a garland of shoes. Villagers called him to the temple and asked him to delete the photograph and pay Rs 5,100, which he did. The Brahmin community then demanded that Purshottam should apologise to Anuj by washing his feet and drinking the water. On October 10, the act was carried out at the temple, and some villagers recorded and circulated a video of the incident on social media. 4Continued on | P8 abruptly cancelled a scheduled trip to Agra — sent a firm message to Pakistan. He stated that Afghanistan remains united in the face of any "external invasion" and would not tolerate violations of its sovereignty. 4Continued on | P8 erate the treacherous use of Afghan soil for terrorism against Pakistan," the army said in a statement, noting that "serious provocation" came during Taliban's acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi's ongoing visit to India. 4Continued on | P8 Modi gets invite for Gaza peace meet, MoS Singh to represent India PTI NEW DELHI Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh is set to represent India at a peace summit in Egypt's Red Sea resort city of Sharm elSheikh on Monday, people familiar with the matter said. It is learnt that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was invited for the summit that is expected to be attended by US President Donald Trump and nearly 20 other world leaders. However, New Delhi deputed Singh to attend the summit. The 'Sharm el-Sheikh Peace Summit', being hosted by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, will discuss ways to bring lasting peace to Gaza as well as to the wider MiddleEast. It will be co-chaired by al-Sisi and Trump. Minister of State for External Affairs Singh will represent India at the peace summit, the people cited above said. Aid trucks roll into Gaza Preparations were underway on Sunday for a rampup of aid entering the war-battered Gaza Strip. The Israeli defence body in charge of humanitarian aid in Gaza, COGAT, said the amount of aid entering Gaza Strip is expected to ramp up on Sunday to around 600 trucks per day, as stipulated in the agreement See World Single-teacher schools: 1 lakh offgrid NEW DELHI P.9 4Continued on | P8 them. As per education ministry data, there were 1,04,125 schools run by a single teacher each. Such schools catered to 33,76,769 students, an average of about 34 students per school. The Right To Education Act, 2009 mandates a pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) of 30:1 at the primary level (classes I-V) and 35:1 at the upper primary level (classes VI-VIII). The highest number of "single-teacher" schools are in Andhra Pradesh, followed by UP, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Lakshadweep. On student enrolment in such schools, UP tops the list, followed by Jharkhand, West Bengal and MP. 4Continued on | P8 EU’s digital entry system kicks in for all travellers PTI LONDON Travellers to Europe, including Indians, will be subject to new entry registrations from Sunday under a phased implementation of the European Union's new digital border system. The EU's Entry Exit System (EES) requires non-EU citizens to register at the border when entering any of the EU countries by scanning their passport and having their fingerprints and photograph taken. EES will be a requirement when entering Schengen area countries including Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, with Ireland and Cyprus exempt. For travellers using the Port of Dover, Eurotunnel at Folkestone or Eurostar at St Pancras International in London, the process will take place at the border before they leave the UK. 4Continued on | P8