FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms Vol. 15 No. 185 | BHOPAL | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 17, 2025 | Pages 16 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 FREE www.freepressjournal.in iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: BHOPAL P.14 Permanent, temporary post distinction removed Our Staff Reporter The state cabinet on Tuesday decided to reduce the number of categories of sanctioned permanent and temporary posts in government offices from 10 to five. Officials said the move will help in addressing issues faced by government employees during probation period and after retirement. Interacting with media persons after a cabinet meeting at the Mantralaya, Deputy Chief Minister Rajendra Shukla said that the 10 categories of government posts have been reduced to five as the of the rest categories were not necessary for departments. Earlier, the 10 types of categories included ‘contractual employees’, ‘outsource employees’ and ‘work charged employees’. During the meeting, the cabinet gave its approval for necessary provisions in service recruitment rules to 6-member panel to probe HIV blood transfusion Our staff reporter BHOPAL Decision after delay in permanent panel meetings Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL Earlier, the 10 categories used for employee posts were work charged, contingency, permanent categorised, special time period, temporary, regular, contractual, part-time, outsource and permanent. Of these, only five categories will be used. These are regular, contractual, part time, outsource and permanent. When any one was getting inducted as a temporary employee, they were later put under the ‘permanent’ category after a permanent committee meeting. Later, it was obconvert existing sanctioned temporary posts into perma- served that meetings to recommend a permanent status for such employees were not held for long periods of time. Due to this reason, many temporary employees even missed their annual increment. Mantralaya Employees Union leader Sudhir Nayak said that since 2000, the meetings recommending permanent status to employees were not held though there was a norm to hold them annually.  He asserted that there was no distinction between permanent and temporary employees as all the facilities such as salary allowance were the same.  nent posts.  The government also de- cided to declare all posts under the ‘work charged’ and ‘contingent establishment’ categories as non-sanctioned and not to make new appointment to these new posts.  As per a finance department proposal, ‘work charged’ and ‘contingent establishment’ and ‘sthayikarmi’ posts have been declared as ‘dying cadre’ (supernumerary) posts. Mantralaya Employees Union leader Subash Verma told Free Press that the government’s decision “will render these posts into oblivion once the employee retires from service”. “The decision will not benefit the employees of such categories much,” he added. Officials, on the other hand,  told Free Press that the said decision will help the employees of dying cadre categories in doing away with many kinds of problems they face after retirement and during their probation period as well. fp NEW DELHI SC to hear Justice Varma’s plea The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear Allahabad High Court judge Yashwant Varma's plea challenging the constitution of an inquiry committee by the Lok Sabha Speaker to probe corruption charges against him. A bench of justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih issued notices to the office of the Lok Sabha Speaker and the secretaries-general of both the Houses of Parliament and sought their responses. NEW DELHI Over 100 flights affected Low visibility at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport has disrupted aviation operations, leading to cancellations and delays for a significant number of flights on Tuesday. According to official reports, 126 flights have been affected to date, including 49 departures and 77 arrivals. NASHIK MUMBAI E-paper Edit Pak exposed, terror proven P.6 Cinema 2025 Music Rewind P.16 13 dead in fog-triggered pile-up on Yamuna E-way Simhastha Land Pooling Scheme cancelled Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL PTI The state government has finally cancelled the Simhastha land pooling scheme. The land pooling plan, introduced by the Ujjain Development Authority for permanent construction related to Simhastha, has been scrapped. According to the order issued by the Urban Development Department, Schemes 8, 9, 10, and 11 brought by the Ujjain Development Authority in the Simhastha area had earlier been modified; these schemes have now been completely cancelled. The Bharatiya Kisan Sangh had been opposing the Simhastha land pooling scheme. The farmers’ organization had also warned of launching a “Ghera Dalo, Dera Dalo” agitation starting December 26. Due to the opposition from the Kisan Sangh, the government convened a meeting at the Chief Minister’s residence on November 17 and announced the cancellation of the scheme. MATHURA Thirteen people died of burns, and 43 sustained injuries when a vehicle pile-up in dense fog on the Yamuna Expressway here early Tuesday turned into an inferno, according to police. Eight buses and three smaller vehicles collided with each other in the thick fog around 4.30 am, the officer said. The incident occurred under the Baldev Police Station jurisdiction. "The vehicles collided due to low visibility on the Agrato-Noida side of the Yamuna Expressway. Some vehicles also caught fire. All injured have been sent to the hospital," Mathura Senior Superintendent of Police Shlok Kumar said. Two of the deceased were identified as 44-year-old Akhilendra Pratap Yadav, a resident of Prayagraj, and 75-year-old Rampal, from Maharajganj district, Baldev Police Station SHO Ranjana Sachan said. A third, identified later by a chief medical officer from Vrindavan, was 62-year- Continued on | P8 IANS Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Jordan has paved the way for deepening bilateral ties between India and the West Asian country with the signing of five MoUs in the areas of renewable energy, water resource management, cultural exchange, digital solution and twinning between Petra and Ellora, according to an official statement issued on Tuesday. PM Modi held extensive discussions with King Abdullah II of Jordan on ways to 4Continued on | P8 Briefs INDORE PM announces Rs 2L ex-gratia PM Narendra Modi on Tuesday expressed deep grief over the loss of lives in a tragic multi-vehicle accident on the Yamuna Expressway in Mathura district of UPand announced ex-gratia assistance for the victims from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund old Sultan Ahmed, a resident of Gonda district All 13 died of burns, Sachan said. Visuals from the spot revealed charred buses and cars, reduced to mere mangled shells. Cranes were called in to remove them from the road. "We are preserving the DNA of charred bodies to match them with the information provided by their relatives. We have identified three dead passengers and are contacting their relatives," Kumar said. District Magistrate Chandra Prakash Singh said arrangements are being made for the last rites of those whose bodies have been identified, and treatment is being provided to the injured. The DM ordered a fourmember team to investigate the road tragedy and submit a report in two days. India-Jordan cement economic 4 ties, five key MoUs signed Bhopal @4.8 °C: Lowest temp this season  Yellow alert issued for Bhopal NEW DELHI Health department has constituted a six-member committee for investigation of HIV blood transfusion in Satna. The committee will give report in seven days. The members of the committee are Dr Satya Awadiya, regional director, Rewa division; Dr Rubi Khan, deputy director (health); Dr Romesh Jain (AIIMS), Dr Sima Naved (BMHRC); Sanjiv Jadon (senior drug inspector, Hoshangabad) and Priyanka Chaubey (FDA inspector, Bhopal). See Page 2 PUNE Rupee risks breaching 92/USD as capital flight deepens mkt jitters CABINET NOD |Categories of employee posts reduced to 5 from 10 BHOPAL UJJAIN MONEY Sports BACK AT THE PINNACLE PRESS ESTD-1983 GOA NIGHTCLUB FIRE Luthra brothers deported from Thailand, taken into police custody PTI NEW DELHI Gaurav Luthra and Saurabh Luthra, co-owners of the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub in Goa where a massive fire killed 25 people, were arrested on Tuesday as soon as they landed in Delhi after being deported from Thailand. The brothers arrived in the Indian capital in an Indigo flight and were immediately handed over to authorities for further legal proceedings, 10 days after a blaze tore through the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub in Arpora in Scan & Watch North Goa. 4Continued on | P8 Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL Crown Prince of Jordan Hussein bin Abdullah al-Hashimi drives PM Narendra Modi to Jordan Museum Modi reaches Ethiopia PM Narendra Modi on Tuesday said he was looking forward to engaging with the Ethiopian leadership to further strengthen the partnership in diverse areas, as he arrived in the African nation on his maiden bilateral visit. On arrival at the airport, in a warm and special gesture, PM Modi was received by his Ethiopian counterpart Abiy Ahmed Ali ‘Slain Bondi beach shooter Hyd native’ PTI HYDERABAD/MELBOURNE Bhopal saw the coldest night of this year’s winter season as the minimum temperature dropped to 4.8 degrees Celsius on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday.  The cold wave conditions, dense fog, below normal temperatures and icy winds from north India are causing significant dips in minimum tempera- Indore’s Riddhi emerges as MP topper in CLAT She secures AIR-6 whereas Bhopal’s Parth bags AIR-11 Our Staff Reporter Sajid Akram, the 50-year-old slain suspect in a mass shooting at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Australia, was an Indian citizen hailing from Hyderabad, Telangana Police revealed on Tuesday. While he had migrated to Australia 27 years ago, Akram carried an Indian passport. Akram, along with his 24year-old son Naveed Akram, recently travelled to the Philippines on an Indian passport. Akram, one of the two suspects in the mass shooting that has left 15 people dead and dozens injured, migrated to Australia in 1998 and had limited contact with his family here since then, the Telangana DGP's office said in a statement. "Sajid Akram (50) is originally from Hyderabad, India. INDORE He completed his B.Com degree in Hyderabad and migrated to Australia in search of employment, approximately 27 years ago, in November 1998," it said. He married a Europeanorigin woman before settling permanently in Australia. The couple have one son, Naveed (the second suspect who is in custody at a hospital in Australia) and one daughter, it said. Indore lass Riddhi Agrawal was state topper in the State in Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) 2026. She brought pride to Madhya Pradesh by securing All India Rank (AIR) 6 and All India Women Rank 2. Bhopal lad Parth Jedhe, who secured Madhya Pradesh Rank 2, secured AIR 11.   The CLAT 2026 results, which were declared on Tuesday by Consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs), once again highlighted Indore’s strong presence among the country’s top law aspirants. 4Continued on | P8 4Continued on | P8 tures, metrological department officials said. On Tuesday, the maximum temperature in Bhopal was recorded as 26.6 degrees Celsius. At 4.8 degrees Celsius, the minimum Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL Appearing for the state during the hearing of a petition filed against the government over the new promotion policy, senior advocate CS Vaidyanathan on Tuesday requested the Madhya Pradesh High Court to fix another date for the case hearing as physical appearances were essential for the arguments in the case. After hearing the argument, the Jabalpur bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court fixed Thursday noon as the date of next hearing.  Vaidyanathan requested the bench that arguing the case through video conferencing (VC) was not possible and requested that another date be fixed. When asked by the HC bench about the time he would need for arguments, Vaidyanathan said one hour.  5 MP players sold for Rs 17.25 crore BHOPAL Five players from Madhya Pradesh were sold out for 17.25 crore so far at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 mini-auction at Dubai on Tuesday. All-rounder Venkatesh Iyer from Indore was sold for Rs 7 crore. He was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). In the previous IPL season, Kolkata had bought him for Rs 23.75 L-R-- Venkatesh Iyer, ShivamKumar,Mangesh Yadav and Akshat Raghuvanshi. crore. Iyer's base price for IPL 2026 was Rs 2 crore. Previously, for IPL 2024, Kolkata Knight Riders had bought Iyer for Rs 23.75 crore. The team retained him for the following season. In the last season, Venkatesh Iyer played 11 matches and scored only 142 runs. Overall, he has scored 1468 runs in 62 IPL matches so far, in- Venkatesh fetches Rs 7 cr; Akshat Rs 2.20, Mangesh Yadav Rs 5.20 cr and Shivang Kumar Rs 30 lakh, Kuldeep Sen for Rs 75 lakh cluding one century and 12 half-centuries. Akshat Raghuvanshi from Ashoknagar, was bought by Lucknow Super Giants for Rs 2.20 crore. His base price 4Continued on | P8 City Temp Shajapur Mandsaur Bhopal Shahdol Nowgong Rajgarh Pachmarhi Rewa Raisen Malajkhand Umaria Narsingpur Damoh Datia Betul 4.40 4.60 4.80 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.20 5.50 6.50 7.10 7.20 8.00 8.20 8.30 8.50 NATIONAL Govt requests physical HERALD CASE appearance during Gandhis not hearing, HC fixes new date entitled to IPL 2026 mini-auction Our Staff Reporter temperature was 6.1 degrees Celsius below normal. In Indore, day temperature reached 26.6 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, while night temperature was recorded as 5.4 degrees Celsius which was 5.6 degrees Celsius below normal. As moderate fog and cold wave conditions prevail in some parts of the state, a yellow alert has been issued for isolated places in Bhopal. Weather experts said moderate fog is likely at isolated places in Vidisha, Singrauli, Shahdol, Umaria, Katni, Jabalpur, Damoh, Sagar and Maihar districts. CHILL CHART was Rs 30 lakh. Sunrisers Hyderabad also bid for Akshat, but later withdrew. He has been practicing at the Faith Club in Bhopal for a long time. Akshat had a stellar performance in the Madhya Pradesh League (MPL) 2025. Playing for Indore Pink Panthers, he scored 239 runs in 4 matches and was among the select few players to score a century in the tournament. 4Continued on | P8 NEW PROMOTION POLICY The arguments from the petitioners’ side have concluded and now the state government has to present its arguments, but the Advocate General expressed his inability to argue on behalf of the government. Advocate General Prashant Singh had requested the court to schedule the cases after the winter vacation. However, Madhya Pradesh High Court Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva stated that considering the seriousness of the cases, the hearing should not be delayed and would be held on December 18 at 12pm.  The court then stated that the Advocate General should be aware that the arguments from the petitioners’ side have concluded and that he is the one who needs to present the arguments. copy of police FIR: Delhi court PTI NEW DELHI A court here on Tuesday set aside a magisterial court's order directing the Delhi Police to provide a copy of an FIR registered by them against Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi in connection with the National Herald case. Special Judge Vishal Gogne was hearing a plea filed by the Delhi Police, challenging the magisterial court's order, arguing that Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and others mentioned in the case are not entitled to a copy of the FIR. The judge, however, ruled that the accused may be informed that the FIR has been registered. 4Continued on | P8 CBI court awards 5-yr RI to 10 in Vyapam Patwari Exam scam Our Staff Reporter INDORE In a significant verdict in the infamous Vyapam recruitment scam, a CBI special court in Indore on Tuesday sentenced 10 accused to five years of rigorous imprisonment each for cheating and using forged documents in the Patwari Recruitment Examination, 2008. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 3,000 on each of the convicts. Those sentenced in- clude Rameshwar, Rakesh, Devendra, Chetan, Balram, Harpal, Gopal, Jitendra, Dinesh and Digvijay Singh Solanki. The case pertains to large-scale irregularities detected in the Patwari Recruitment Examination conducted by the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (Vyapam) in 2008. During investigations, it emerged that several candidates had resorted to 4Continued on | P8