FREE PRESS Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2021-2023 INDORE BHOPAL UJJAIN MUMBAI RNI No. 38281/83 PUNE - VOL. XXXVII NO. 247 | INDORE | SUNDAY | FEBRUARY 14, 2021 | PAGES 16 RAHUL BECOMING DOOMSDAY MAN: NIRMALA Pg-7 WORLD DEVELOPMENT IS top priority, says home minister FROM OUR BUREAU NEW DELHI Phase-1 of Budget Session ends NEW DELHI: The first phase of Budget Session concluded on Saturday with the Lok Sabha announcing adjournment of the House till March 8 after day-long proceedings. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla adjourned the House till 4 p.m. on March 8 after the passing of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2021 6 of family killed in accident LUCKNOW: Dense fog continues to take more lives on Expressways in Uttar Pradesh. Six people from a family were killed when their car rammed into a stationary truck on the Lucknow-Agra Expressway near Kannauj early Saturday morning. Quake strikes Tokyo, no tsunami TOKYO: An earthquake of magnitude 7.0 was reported okyo, Japan on near T Saturday evening, according to India's National Centre for Seismology. The epicentre of the quake was okyo. The 306 km NE of T quake struck at 7:37 PM IST at a depth of 60 km from the surface. There was no threat of a tsunami from the quake. Parl panel plans visit to Galwan NEW DELHI: The parliamentary standing committee on defence intends to visit the Galwan Valley and Pangong Lake. However, it may seek the govt's permission before visiting the areas .The 30member committee, chaired by BJP leader Jual Oram and of which Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is a member, intends to visit the Ladakh region in May or June. 7 face pay cut for neglecting parents AURANGABAD: The Latur ZP has started deducting 30% salaries of 7 employees for not taking care of their old parents, its president Rahul Bondre said. Notably, six of 12 staffers against whom complaints of neglecting their parents were received, are teachers. The deducted amount is transferred in the bank accounts of the parents of these employees. Union Home Minister Amit Shah speaking in the Lok Sabha during ongoing Budget Session of Parliament in New Delhi on Saturday J&K plan: Resettlement of Pandits, 25000 jobs, train conenctivity resettle all has hah said Pandits in the valley by 2022 along with creating SKashmirithe governmenttheredecided toconnectivitydisplaced to the and train 25,000 jobs for the people region. The Minister said that the government provides Rs 13,000pm to families of 44,000 Kashmiri Pandits who have relief cards. "The govt also provides free ration and has plans to settle them back in their houses in the Valley by 2022." L Expedite execution of development projects in J-K: LG to officials t Governor Manoj Sinha on Saturday reviewed the functioning of Jammu and Kashmir Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation here and directed officials to expedite execution of development projects in the Union Territory. He also launched JKIDFC's e-Book IV, which gives details about the 800 physically completed projects funded by it, an official spokesperson said. statehood. Where are you drawing such a conclusion," Shah asked. He went on to defend abrogation of Article 370, pointing out that devolution of power has been affected after that and the Panchayats have been given administrative and financial powers. “Nobody, not even our rivals can say that there was fraud or unrest during the elections (DDC). Everyone voted fearlessly and peace. fully 51% votes were cast in the Panchayat elections. CONTD. ON P8 2 NAXALS KILLED IN ENCOUNTER AIMPLB moves SC opposing plea seeking 'uniform grounds of divorce' for all WERE CARRYING Rs 8-L reward BHOPAL: Two Naxalites including a woman having reward of Rs 8 lakh each on head, were killed in an encounter with a joint team of MP Police and Hawk force in village Lalpur of Mandla district on Friday night. The encounter took place in Motinala police station limit and the bodies of Naxals were recovered by the police on Saturday morning. The police received tip-off that six Naxals would reach Lalpur village of Kanha Bhoramdev Badola commit- tee outfit, and before they could reach, the police laid an ambush and waited for them for two days. When they arrived on Friday evening at 7, the police asked them to surrender. However, the Naxals refused to surrender and opened fire at the police, who retaliated, resulting death of two Naxals. The police used 150 cartridges in the firing. SP Mandla Yashpal Singh Rajput on Saturday told the media persons: "Encounter is over. The search is still going on. Two Naxalites, a male and a female, have been killed in the encounter. CONTD. ON P8 73 test +ve, 2 deaths in city Positive percentage @ 4.16 INDORE: As many as 73 patients tested positive out of 1,756 . sample reports received on Saturday Number of positive cases is increasing for last two days while deaths were also reported after 13 days. Rate of positive patients was recorded at 4.16% and the total number of positive cases reached 57,998. Two deaths were reported taking the toll to 926. According to the bulletin released by the CMHO, reports of total samples received till Saturday was 8,07,265. As many as 1673 . samples were tested negative on Saturday Department has taken 1,775 more samples including 1547 for RTPCR for testing. As many as 291 patients are . getting treatment in various hospitals of the city Total 56781 patients have been discharged so far. 32.20c. 15.30c Sunrise : 06.59 Sunset : 06.22 THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Truth has many levels. Fanatical or dangerous people believe their opinion is the only Truth. Master Choa Kok Sui DRIVE AWAY LAST-MINUTE BLUES Pg-12 OXFORD UNIVERSITY TO TEST COVID-19 VAX SAFETY IN KIDS Pg- 10 STATEHOOD TO J&K AT RIGHT TIME: SHAH News Brief WEATHER www.freepressjournal.in Lok Sabha passes J&K Reorganisation Bill-2021. Bill seeks to merge J&K cadre of civil services with AGMUT Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday declared in the Lok Sabha that Jammu and Kashmir will get the status of a state at an “appropriate time." The Lok Sabha on Saturday passed the J&K Reorganisation Bill 2021. Replying to a debate on the J&K Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill that was passed earlier on February 8 by the Rajya Sabha, he said: “I have said in this House and say it again that this Bill has nothing to do with the statehood of J&K.” Even at the time of bringing the J&K Reorganisation Act in August 2019 to abrogate Article 370 from the Indian Constitution, Shah had assured to grant the statehood to J&K after development works and . restoration of normalcy The Bill is to merge the J&K cadres of IAS, IPS and Indian Forest Service in Arunachal of cadre Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories, including Delhi, (AGMUT) to enable the government to depute the officers in J&K from other union territories. Many opposition MPs said the Bill indicates that the J&K would never get back the statehood. "Nowhere it's written that J&K won't get `4 Quality at Value NEW DELHI :The AIMthe moved has PLB Supreme Court against a "uniform seeking plea grounds of divorce" for all citizens of the country, keeping with the spirit of the Constitution and international conventions. The AIMPLB has opposed the plea filed by advocate and BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay seeking uniform grounds of divorce on the basis that personal laws cannot be tested on the anvil of Articles 14, 15, 21 and 44 of the Constitution. “The applicant would like to submit that the expression and 'Custom and Usage' in Article 13 of the Constitution does not include faith of a religious denomination embedded in personal laws," the plea said while seeking impleadment in the petition . filed by Upadhyay The Constituent Assembly was aware of the istinction between 'personal law' and the 'custom and usage' and chose advisedly to exclude personal law and include custom and usage in Article 13 of the Constitution,” it said. Senate skips witnesses in Trump trial, moves toward vote Rohit leads India on Chepauk turner WASHINGTON House Democrats began wrapping up their impeachment case against Donald Trump on Saturday after a chaotic morning in which they gave up a lastminute for plan witness testimony that could have significantly prolonged the trial and delayed a vote on whether the former president incited the deadly Capitol insurrection. An unexpected vote in favour of hearing witnesses threw the trial into confusion just as it was on the verge of concluding. But ultimately sides both reached a deal to instead enter into the record a statement from a Republican House lawmaker about a heated phone call on the day of the riot between Trump and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy that Democrats say established Trump’s indifference to the violence. Republicans are anxious to get the trial over with and discussion of Trump and the Capitol invasion behind them. Democrats, too, have a motive to move on since the Senate cannot move ahead on President Joe Biden’s agenda including COVID-19 relief while the impeachment trial is in session. While most Democrat were expected to vote to convict the former president, acquittal appeared likely with a two-thirds majority required for conviction and the chamber split 50-50 between the parties. Republican leader Mitch McConnell said he would vote to acquit Trump, according to a person familiar with his thinking. Rohit Sharma raises his bat after he scored 150 runs during the 1st day of second cricket test match between India and England, at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Saturday Right to protest cannot be anytime and anywhere: SC DISMISSES REVIEW pleas filed by 12 activists FP BUREAU New Delhi The Supreme Court on Saturday dismissed review petitions filed by 12 activists against its earlier verdict, which ruled that "the right to protest cannot be anytime, and everywhere." A 3-judge bench of the SC, headed by Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Aniruddha Bose and Krishna Murari on Feb 9, 2021, had passed the order on the review petitions filed by 12 activists, including Kaniz Fatima. The top court also refused a request made by the petitioners, in their review petition, to list the matter in an open court. The 12 petitioners had moved the apex court and filed the review petition challenging the SC's earlier October 2020 order, holding that 'demonstrations ex- pressing dissent have to be in designated places alone.' While dismissing the review petitions, the top court said, “We perused the review petition and are convinced that the order of (Oct2020), which review has been sought, does not suffer from any error apparent warranting its consideration.” “The right to protest cannot be anytime, and everywhere. There may be some spontaneous protests, but in case of prolonged dissent, or protest, there cannot be continued occupation of public places affecting the rights of others," the SC said in its order. It also said: "We have considered the earlier judicial pronouncements and recorded our opinion that the constitutional scheme comes with a right to protest and express dissent, but, with an obligation to have certain duties." Farmer unions seek high-level judicial inquiry into tractor rally violence AGENCIES New Delhi Protesting farmer unions on Saturday demanded a high-level judicial inquiry into the violence during the tractor rally in Delhi on January 26 and the alleged 'false" cases slapped on the peasants. Addressing a press conference at the Singhu border, Samyukta Kisan Morcha leaders asked farmers who are getting police notices not to appear before the force directly and instead approach the legal cell constituted by the unions for any assistance. Kuldeep Singh, a member of SKM's legal cell, said that a retired judge of the Supreme Court or high court should probe the incidents to unravel the "conspiracy" behind the January 26 violence and the alleged "false cases" against the farmers. According to SKM leaders, 16 farmers who had participated in the tractor parade are still untraceable. In the R- Day violence, over 500 police personnel had been injured, while a protestor had died. Tara Gandhi Bhattacharya, granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi, with BKU spokesperson Rakesh Tikait at farmers' protest site in Ghazipur, on Saturday TIKAIT AGAINST RAIL ROKO ON FEB 18 LUCKNOW: Difference of opinion resurfaced within Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) when the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) chief Naresh Tikait opposed the Rail Roko call given by the morcha to intensify farmers agitation. We are not in favour of holding programmes to stop rails or buses. We should not indulge in any activity which causes problems to the general public. It is our duty to ensure that our agitation is peaceful and it does not affect , the lives of people of the country said Tikait. On January 26, thousands of protesting farmers who reached ITO from border Ghazipur the clashed with the police. Driving tractors, many of them reached the Red Fort and entered the monument, where a religious flag was hoisted. CONTD. ON P8 JeM man recced Doval's office, sent videos to his Pak masters NEW DELHI/JAMMU The video clip of NSA Ajit Doval's office and several other top locations in the national capital were recovered from the phone of an arrested Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist. The development has sent security officials into tizzy leading to additional security measures being deployed, official related to the develop. ment said in Saturday A senior Jammu police official said: "The Jammu police arrested a person named Hidayat-Ullah Malik on Feb 6. During interrogation he confessed that he has done recce of Doval's office and several other locations and sent it to the commanders of JeM in Pakistan." The official said that Malik, a resident of Shopian was arrested and a case was registered against him under several sections of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act at the Gangayal police station in Jammu. The official said that Malik is the chief of a Jaish front group, Lashkar-e-Mustafa, and was arrested from Anantnag. Police also recovered arms and ammunition from his possession. UK media watchdog slaps 50K pound fine on Khalsa TV Indian-origin staff at UN to run for Secy-Gen LONDON The UK media watchdog, Office of Communications (Ofcom) has imposed a fine of 50,000 pounds on Khalsa Television Ltd in Britain for broadcasting a music video and a discussion programme that contained an indirect call for Sikhs living in the UK to commit violence. The Ofcom said in a statement that the programme also had a terror reference. "We have today fined KTV PS50,000 for airing content which had the potential to incite violence and cause harm. KTV also must not repeat the content concerned, and air a summary of our decision," Ofcom tweeted. The watchdog in a statement said that it has imposed financial penalties of 20,000 and 30,000 (pounds) on Khalsa Television Limited in relation to its service KTV for failing to comply with their broadcasting rules. The 20,000-pound penalty re- lates to a music video. The 30,000-pound penalty relates to a discussion programme. "On 4, 7 and 9 July 2018, KTV broadcast a music video for a song called Bagga and Shera. In our Decision published on 25 February 2019 in issue 373 of the Broadcast and On Demand Bulletin, Ofcom found that the music video was an indirect call to action for Sikhs living in the UK to commit violence, up to and including murder," the statement said. SHE WILL CHALLENGE Antonio Guterres AGENCIES United Nations An Indian-origin employee at the UN has announced her candidacy to be its next SecretaryGeneral, the first person to throw her hat in the ring against incumbent Antonio Guterres, who is seeking a second five-year term beginning as 2022 January chief of the world organisation. Arora Akanksha, 34, working as an audit coordinator for the UN Development Programme (UNDP), said she will run for the the post of world's top diplomat and launched her campaign #AroraForSG this month. "People in my position aren't supposed to stand up to the ones in charge. We are supposed to wait our turn, hop on the hamster wheel, go to work, keep our heads down and accept that the world is the way it is," Akanksha said in a two and half minute campaign video posted online. The video shows Akanksha walking inside the sprawling UN headquarters, as her voiceover says that people who have come before her have failed to hold the UN accountable. "For 75 years, the United Nations has not fulfilled its promise to the world - refugees haven't been protected, humanitarian aid has been minimal, and technology and innovation has been on the back-burner. We deserve a UN that leads progress," she said. "That is why I am running for the Secretary-General of the UN. I refuse to be a by-stander. I will not accept this is the best the United Nations can do," Arora Akanksha said in the video.