FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms Vol. XLII No. 243 | INDORE | MONDAY | FEBRUARY 9, 2026 | Pages 12 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. 38281/83 FREE www.freepressjournal.in iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: INDORE MONEY Nation Rahul is urban naxalite: Dubey ESTD-1983 P.7 Trade breakthrough redefines scale of India–US commerce UJJAIN PRESS PUNE BHOPAL NASHIK D Cinema Actor Sunil Thapa passes away P.12 fp Briefs NEW DELHI Seychelles Prez arrives Seychelles President Patrick Herminie on Sunday arrived in New Delhi after concluding his engagements in Chennai and Mumbai. Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Anupriya Patel welcomed Herminie at the airport. JAISALMER Fire breaks out in train A fire broke out in a moving train in Rajasthan's Jaisalmer on Sunday, causing widespread panic, officials said, adding that no casualties have been reported so far and that the blaze was swiftly contained. The fire erupted beneath a coach of the Swarn Nagari Express, which was travelling from Delhi to Jaisalmer. On the third day of the 10-day ‘Shiv-Navratri Festival’ at Mahakaleshwar Temple, the presiding deity was adorned as ‘Sheshnaag’ in Ujjain on Sunday FP Photo ‘No double standards, no compromise on terrorism’ PTI ‘True friend, full of trust’ KUALA LUMPUR India and Malaysia on Sunday vowed to expand their ties in the high-priority sectors of trade and investment, defence, energy, advanced manufacturing and semiconductors with PM Narendra Modi asserting that both sides are committed to peace and stability in the IndoPacific. Following his talks with Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim, Modi reiterated India’s position on combating terrorism: “Our message on terrorism is clear; no double standards, no compromise.” The two sides inked a total of 11 agreements and documents to expand cooperation in a range of key areas, including a framework pact for deeper engagement in the semiconductor sector. Both PM Narendra Modi with his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim in Kuala Lumpur Sunday. Modi, who arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, and Ibrahim appreciated efforts to promote the usage of local currencies, the Indian Rupee and Malaysian Ringgit, for trade settlement. “We will pave the way for 364 BAMS seats vacant in MP, SC refuses to lower cut-off Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL The Supreme Court has refused to reduce NEET UG qualifying cut-off for 2025–26 BAMS (Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery) admissions, rejecting a plea by private colleges to lower standards to fill vacant seats. At present, around 364 seats remain unfilled in Madhya Pradesh. Across the country, there are 43,626 UG Ayurveda seats, including 3,480 in the state. SC said that lowering cut-off would compromise educational quality, as academic SC says lowering cut-off would compromise educational quality, as academic sessions have commenced sessions have already commenced. A bench comprising Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe stated that the selection and appointment process for 2025–26 should now be concluded. The court considered a cut-off change inappropriate despite concern about vacant seats. Fury over BJP video targeting minorities Agencies NEW DELHI Congress on Sunday hit out at BJP over a purported video posted on the X handle of the ruling party’s Assam unit, claiming it shows the “targeted pointblank murder of minorities” and the judiciary must act with no leniency shown in the matter. The now-deleted video showed Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma purportedly taking aim with a rifle and firing a shot at two people -- one wear- ing a skull cap and the other with a beard, with “pointblank shot” as the caption. Congress general secretary in charge of organisation, K C Venugopal, slammed BJP over the issue. “An official BJP handle posted a video showing the targeted, ‘point-blank’ murder of minorities. This is nothing but a call to genocide -- a dream this fascist regime has harboured for decades,” Venugopal said on X. FP Special BANGLADESH MANDATE Sufia Chowdhury DHAKA vised, and brimming with youthful certainty, ended, improbably, with the exile of Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India after more than a decade SC concurred with the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM), noting that lowering the cut-off would undermine training standards. The ruling highlighted that classes for 2025–26 session have already begun, and the academic year is nearing its end, making any reduction impractical. NCISM maintained that a minimum qualification is essential for admission to AYUSH courses, i.e., the qualifying NEET UG percentile marks. The petition was filed by NRI Institute of Ayurveda and others. 4Continued on | P8 India-Canada ties in reset mode Agencies NEW DELHI in power. It felt, at the time, like a correction of history: a reset button pressed by a generation tired of managed democracy. But now after 18 months, an unemployed Mazumdar, back in his hometown of Rajshahi, speaks of that moment with a kind of embarrassed nostalgia. With elections scheduled for February 12, he feels less like a citizen of a reborn republic, and more a spectator to a slow-motion unravelling of Bangladesh. India and Canada have agreed to establish security and law-enforcement liaison officers during a meeting with NSA Ajit Doval and Nathalie Drouin, Deputy Clerk and National Security and Intelligence Adviser to the Canadian Prime Minister. According to an MEA statement, both sides agreed during a meeting in Ottawa to build on their working relationship. The meeting was part of the regular bilateral security dialogue and the two countries acknowledged progress on initiatives to ensure the safety and security of their citizens and agreed on a shared work plan to guide cooperation on national security and law enforcement priorities. Ties cratered at the end of 2023, when then Canada PM Justin Trudeau accused Indian officials of being linked to the killing of pro-Khalistani Hardeep Singh Nijjar. 4Continued on | P8 4Continued on | P8 4Continued on | P8 Fewer choices, fear stalks In August of 2024, when the streets of Dhaka filled with students and the air carried the familiar smell of tear gas and burned rubber, Kamaal Mazumdar believed he was witnessing the birth of a different country. The protests, impro- economic transformation through strategic trust," Modi said, describing the India-Malaysia relationship as “special". Modi also announced India’s decision to establish an Indian Consulate General in Malaysia. Ibrahim noted India’s E-paper Edit Mayor Tawde’s dilemma P.6 SPECIAL BOND | Modi vows stronger India-Malaysia relations in key areas of trade, defence & energy as two sides ink 11 pacts r Rohit Maheshwari, Neuro Physiotherapist, has built a legacy defined by service, science and compassion. Turn to Indore page to find out how. SEE P2 MUMBAI Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim on Sunday called PM Narendra Modi a "true friend" with whom he had a "trustworthy" exchange. Ibrahim said, "We consider this meeting and these exchanges very vital, very strategic and critical to advance and enhance relations between India and Malaysia... We had longstanding relations since 1957, but we have elevated it to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2024" economic growth and said his country would benefit immensely if it could secure more ways and opportunities to collaborate with New Delhi. 4Continued on | P8 Will be easy to purchase $500 bn US goods: Goyal PTI NEW DELHI India will have no difficulty in purchasing goods worth USD 500 billion from the US over the next five years, as envisaged under the bilateral trade pact, and in fact, this is an "extremely" conservative number for a country which aspires to become a USD 30 trillion economy, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Sunday. 4Continued on | P8 HC CJs warn against media trials Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL The Conference for High Court Chief Justices addressed issues of media trials, emphasising that justice must be delivered in court to protect presumption of innocence. The National Judicial Academy India concluded its twoday Conference for Chief Justices of High Courts, cen- tering on building a unified, efficient and people-centric judiciary. Under the guidance of Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant and senior Supreme Court judges, the summit focused on institutionalising administration and formulating a National Judicial Policy to transform judicial governance from a traditional model into a strategic, data-driven system. This aims to equip High Courts to navigate modern legal complexities while maintaining institutional integrity nationwide. A strategic roadmap was envisioned to tackle case backlogs by streamlining procedures and prioritizing trials for offences punishable by up to 7 years. 4Continued on | P8