FREE PRESS Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2018-2020 INDORE PUNE `4 RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 BHOPAL UJJAIN MUMBAI - VOL. 10 NO. 165 | BHOPAL | SUNDAY | NOVEMBER 29, 2020 | PAGES 14 1ST PHASE OF J&K DDC POLLS SEES 40% TURNOUT Pg-7 WORLD Modi reviews vaccine devpt, manufacturing at 3 facilities Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday visited Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Pune to review the development and manufacturing process of coronavirus vaccines at facilities in these cities. He visited the Zydus Biotech Park in Ahmedabad, Bharat Biotech in Hyderabad and Serum Institute of India in Pune. "The scientists expressed joy that the Prime Minister met them face to face in order to boost their morale and help accelerate their efforts at this critical juncture in the vaccine development journey," an official statement said. "The Prime Minister expressed pride in the fact that Indias indigenous vaccine development has progressed at such a rapid pace so far. He spoke on how India is following sound principles of science in the entire journey of vaccine development, while also asking for suggestions to make the vaccine distribution process better," it said. The statement said Modi stressed that India considers vaccines as not only vital to good health but also as a global good, and it is Indias duty to assist other countries, including the VACCINE FACTS Amazed at how much Modi knew: Adar Pune: Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Punebased Serum Institute of India (SII), its Chief Executive Officer Adar Poonawalla said that he was amazed by the Prime Minister's knowledge about vaccines and vaccine production. SII is conducting the phase 3 trials of AztraZennca and Oxford University's COVID-19 vaccine candidate Covishield. nations in our neighbourhood, in the collective fight against the virus. "He (Modi) asked the scientists to express their free and frank opinion on how the country could further improve its regulatory process. The scientists also presented an overview of how they are also developing various new and repurposed drugs to better fight COVID-19," it said. Modi began by visiting pharma major Zydus Cadila'smanufacturing facility Spl cash package for state govt employees One third amount will be given on purchase of Rs 12,000 News Brief US: $5M for info on 26/11 mastermind WASHINGTON: T welve years after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the US has announced a reward of up to USD 5 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba member Sajid Mir for his "role" in the attacks in Mumbai in 2008. According to statement issued by the US Rewards for Justice program, "Sajid Mir, a member of LeT, is wanted for his involvement in the Nov 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Pak groom gets AK-47 as gift People find themselves in a tight spot when it comes to selecting gifts for somebody’s birthday or wedding anniversary. A couple in Pakistan got a rather unusual gift on their wedding day – an AK-47 rifle. A video of the incident has surfaced on social media in which a lady can be seen gifting the AK-47 rifle to the groom. The 30-second clip shows the groom receiving the present with a smile. OUR STAFF REPORTER BHOPAL The state government has announced a special cash package scheme of up to Rs 4,000 for its employees. Under the scheme, on purchasing goods or services up to Rs 12,000 from the market, class one and two officers will get Rs 4,000, class three employees will get Rs 3000 and class four employees will get special cash package of Rs 2000. The Special Cash Package Scheme will remain in force till March 31, 2021. Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has decided to implement this scheme with a view to activate economic activities to provide direct benefits to the employees and to increase consumer consumption in the scenario of disaster of Covid-19. To avail the benefit of the scheme, material purchase or service that has GST applicable above 12% should be purchased from a registered GST vendor or service provider. The payment should be made digitally. Officer-employees will have to apply to their head of the department for reimbursement. In the application, payment and digital payment proof will have to be submitted for purchase of material / services. CONTD. ON P8 near Ahmedabad. Wearing a PPE kit, he reviewed the vaccine development process at the company's research centre, located over 20 km from Ahmedabad. Modi was extensively briefed about the vaccine work at the plant by the company officials. He was briefed about the vaccine production procedure. He interacted with scientists and vaccine developers, an official said. "Visited the Zydus Biotech Park in Ahmedabad to know Modi has taken up the offer of his counterpart in Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel, for setting up of a specialised refrigerated vaccine transportation plant in Gujarat to ensure last mile drug delivery to villages all over the country Luxembourg firm B Medical Systems is sending a high-level team to Gujarat next week to set up a vaccine cold chain including solar vaccine refrigerators, freezers and transport boxes. As the setting up of a fullfledged plant will require nearly two years, the company has decided to start by getting only the refrigeration boxes from Luxembourg and source the best content from the domestic market under the "Aatmanirbhar Bharat" programme. more about the indigenous DNA based vaccine being developed by Zydus Cadila. I compliment the team behind this effort for their work. Govt is actively working with them to support them in this journey Modi ," tweeted . Zydus Cadila chairman Pankaj Patel said the company is aiming to complete the vaccine trial by March 2021, and could produce up to 100 million doses a year. CONTD. ON P8 OUR STAFF REPORTER BHOPAL taken later. After verification of the complaint, a trap was laid. Verma called the builder near the water head tank situated near the Thatiput police station. The dealing was done in a car and, as soon as it was completed, the builder gave the signal. At this, the police team standing by near the car, stepped up and caught the planner redhanded. The SP said he was 3 of a family crushed with tractor over land dispute 4 accused beat them up, ran a tractor over them, later surrender OUR STAFF REPORTER Bhopal/Seoni Malwa: Three members of a family were crushed to death by a tractor in Ayapa village over a land dispute on Saturday morning. Four men accused of the murders went to the police station straight away and willingly surrendered themselves. Rajendra Singh Yaduvanshi (37), his 11-year-old son, Ayush, and his 32-year-old brother, Kunvar Singh Yaduvanshi, were killed. Their father Balaram Yaduvanshi, 65, was also injured Superintendent of police Santosh Gaur told the media that both groups had an old grudge against one another which had led to the murder. The dispute had aggravated on Saturday morning, he said. After running a tractor over all three members of the family prime accused , Anvar walked up to the police station in the company of three others and confessed his crime. The police said that Anvar first found one of the brothers watering his farmland. He thrashed him with lathis and pipes and turned him unconscious. They knocked down Kunvar Singh, too, who had rushed to the rescue of his brother. CONTD. ON P8 taken to his residence situated in Vinay Nagar and the EOW team searched his house. They seized cash worth Rs 2 lakh, besides jewellery, property papers, files of Gwalior Municipal Corporation, details of bank accounts and other documents. The team is investigating the case in accordance with the disproportionate assets angle. About two months ago, Verma had reached the sites of the builder and threatened to raze the constructions. Sources said Verma had asked for a bribe of Rs 50 lakh to settle the issue. It is claimed that the builder paid Rs 10 lakh to avoid any action at his site. 3 burnt alive as dumper, van collide OUR STAFF REPORTER BHOPAL Three people were burnt alive as a dumper coming down the wrong side of the road collided head-on with a van near the Sikkheri Kanjar Dera, under the Bhoransa police station area of ewas district, at about 1.30 on Saturday morning. In the horrific accident, both vehicles caught fire. Three people trapped in the trawler were burnt alive. All three were from Piplinaka, in Ujjain. The police rushed to the spot as soon as the news was received. By the time the fire-brigade could bring the fire under control, both vehicles had burnt down. The dumper driv- dos are also soon going to get new boats for operations in the lake are along with the existing infrastructure for operations in the lake, they said. Indian Army's Special Forces including the Para Special Forces and Cabinet Secretariat's Special Frontier Force have been operating in Eastern Ladakh for carrying out special operations for a long time. The IAF Garud Special Forces moved to THOUGHT FOR THE DAY "There is only one pure desire and that is to be one with the Divine, one with the Brahma, one with the God" Her Holiness Mataji Nirmala Devi er escaped after the accident and the police are looking for him. The SHO of Bhoransa police station said that deceased Devendra Singh Thakur, Shivnarayan Namdev and Shyam Mali are all residents of Piplinaka, Ujjain. They are drivers with their own vehicles who had brought a consignment of wedding items belonging to one Jaideep Singh from Ujjain to Bhopal at about 4 pm on Friday in three vehicles. Jaideep had his niece’s wedding in Bhopal and the trawler was carrying some wedding baggage. After leaving their cars in Bhopal, all three were going back to Ujjain in Shyam Mali’s trawler. CONTD. ON P8 As farmers begin protesting in Burari, Tomar invites them for talks on Dec 3 NEW DELHI: As farmers from Punjab and Haryana started protesting against the new farm laws on Nirankari Samagam Ground in Burari on Saturday, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar reiterated that the government was ready for talks with the farmer unions' leaders on December 3 to resolve their issues. "The government is ready to do anything that is required for the prosperity of farmers. We have invited them for talks on December 3 and I hope that they will come," Tomar said. While the government has maintained that the three laws will do away with middlemen, enabling farmers to sell their produce in the markets directly, protesters fear that these could dismantle the minimum support price (MSP) system, thereby disrupting their timely payments. Tomar said under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Centre has continuously increased the MSP in, creased procurement at the increased MSP and also set up a Rs 1 lakh crore infrastructure fund for the farmers. He accused the political opponents of the BJP of politicising the issue. "If political parties want to do politics, they should do so on their own, not in the name of our farmers." Responding to a picture posted by Congress leaders showing a UP ordinance against forcible religious conversions gets Governor's nod LUCKNOW The UP ordinance aimed at curbing forcible or fraudulent religious conversions including those for the sake of marriage has got the assent of Governor Anandiben Patel with the new law providing for a jail term of up to 10 years for any violations. The law, which has been published in the UP gazette, comes into force at once, an official spokesperson said on Saturday The ordinance . was promulgated by the Governor on Friday with immediate effect. Under the law which deals with different categories of offences, a marriage will be declared "null and void" if the conversion of a woman is solely for that purpose, and those wishing to change their religion after marriage need to apply to the district magistrate. The Yogi Adityanath government on Tuesday approved the draft of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020, which also curbs religious conversions only for the sake of marriage, dubbed by BJP leaders as 'love jihad'. "The way in which religious conversions are done using deceit, lies, force and dishonesty is heart wrenching, and it was necessary to have a law in this regard,” Cabinet minister Sidharth Nath Singh had said. MARCOS deployed near Pangong Lake, will get new boats soon NEW DELHI: Amid the ongoing stand-off between India and China, the Marine Commandos (MARCOS) of the Indian Navy have been deployed in the Pangong lake area in eastern Ladakh. The idea behind the deployment of MARCOS in Eastern Ladakh where IAF's Garud operatives and Army's Para Special Forces, which have been there since day one of the conflicts, is to enhance the integration of the three services and provide the naval commandos exposure to extreme cold weather conditions, government sources said. "The MARCOS have been deployed in the Pangong lake area where the Indian and Chinese forces have been engaged in a conflict situation since April-May Navy comman. 25.00c. 11.80c Sunrise : 06.49 Sunset : 05.41 INDIA HAVE LITTLE TIME TO RECOVER, FIND THE RIGHT MIX Pg-14 Gwalior city planner caught taking Rs 5 lakh bribe The Economic Offences Wing has arrested city planner Pradeep Verma of Gwalior for taking a bribe of Rs 5 lakh from a builder in the city on Saturday The . SP EOW, Amit Singh, said the builder had filed a complaint stating that, when he wanted to start a pending and incomplete housing project in the city, Verma had asked for a bribe of Rs 50 lakh to give the new approval. After bargaining, the planner asked the builder to give Rs 5 lakh as a first instalment and said the decision on the subsequent payment would be WEATHER www.freepressjournal.in IRAN VOWS REVENGE OVER KILLING OF TOP SCIENTIST Pg- 9 AGENCIES Ahmedabad/Hyderabad/Pune Quality at Value hilltops on the strategic heights on the LAC along with their Igla shoulder-fired air defence systems in the early days of the conflict to take care of any fighter or other aircraft of the enemy which may have tried to violate Indian air space. The special troops belonging to both the Army and IAF have been there for more than six months now. On August 29-30 also, the Indian side had used the special forces to occupy strategic heights along the LAC to preempt the Chinese from doing so. The Chinese have also maintained special troops on their side of the LAC. Navy has deployed teams of its MARCOS in the Wular lake area of J&K to tackle terrorism there. The IAF started deploying Garuds in Valley after the Pathankot operations to give them the feel of real operations as part of plans of the then Army chief and now CDS Gen Bipin Rawat. Soon after their deployment, the Garuds proved their mettle and earned one Ashok Chakra, three Shaurya Chakras, and many other gallantry awards for eliminating a team of terrorists led by the nephew of 26/11 terrorist Zaki Ur Rehman Lakhvi. Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) members gather at Ghazipur border to enter Delhi, during their 'Delhi Chalo' protest against the Centre's new farm laws, in New Delhi, on Saturday Fight against farm laws will continue till they are repealed: Rahul Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said Modi government cannot change strong intentions of farmers through "fake FIRs" and the fight against "anti-agriculture" laws will continue till they are repealed. Gandhi said in a tweet that raising voice against injustice is not crime but a duty.He attached a media report which said police had registered FIRs against protesting farmers. Govt fails to address farmers' issues: BKU Hundreds of farmers under the banner of the Bharatiya Kisan Union headed to Delhi from Uttar Pradesh's Meerut to protest against the new farm laws, demanding a rollback. Rakesh Tikait, leader of the Bharatiya Kisan Union said the Centre has failed to address the issues of the farmers. police officer purportedly attacking a farmer, the Union minister said that the Congress only knew how to do politics using evil and lies. "The Congress uses only hate and evil for their politics because they don't have anything true to tell the people. They were in power for 10 years and they didn't achieve anything, so they are using lies now," he said. Gangster Munne Irani’s camps busted in Bhopal rly station 40 shops demolished OUR STAFF REPORTER BHOPAL After the attack on a police team at Irani Dera in Aman Colony, in the Karond area, a few days ago, the district administration and Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC), in a major joint anti-encroachment drive on Saturday, removed gangster Munne Irani’s Irani camps (dera) from the Platform No. 6 area of the railway station on Saturday A . heavy police contingent was deployed to check protests and avoid any untoward incident during the anti-encroachment drive. On November 20, several policemen were injured and the police had to fire four to five rounds in the air to quell the unruly mob. The mob, which included several women, hurled chilli powder at the eyes of the cops and hit them with rods to snatch accused Rizwan Hussain back from police custody . CONTD. ON P8 ‘IT WAS NEVER GOVT LAND’ ‘The government can declare any land as government land. Actually, it’s not 12,000 sq.ft (3 acres), but 5 acres and it is totally private land. It was auctioned in 1951 and my forefather bought it for Rs2500 from the PWD. There are many stake-holders. Later, the Hussain Kalyan Samiti of Munne Irani grabbed the land and staked his claim to it. So, it’s a fight between the Hussaini Kalyan Samiti and us. It was never government land’ — Cong leader Jitendra Daga 8 states, UTs reported 69% of new Covid cases in 24 hrs NEW DELHI: Over 69 per cent of the 41,322 new COVID-19 cases reported in a span of 24 hours are from eight states and UTs with Maharashtra recording the highest number of new infections followed by Delhi and Kerala, the Union health ministry said on Saturday . With 11,57,605 tests conducted in a span of 24 hours, India's cumulative tests have surged to 13.82crore, while the number of tests per million population has crossed the 1lakh mark and now stands at 1,00,159.7, the ministry said. The active COVID-19 caseload of the country is 4,54,940 and it comprises 4.87 per cent of the total coronavirus infections. The ministry issued a statement saying "69.04 per cent of the daily new cases of COVID-19 are contributed by eight states/UT i.e. Maharashtra, Delhi, Kerala, West Bengal, Rajasthan, UP, Haryana, and Chhattisgarh". CONTD. ON P8