FREE PRESS `3 FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms VOL. 11 NO. 149 | BHOPAL | FRIDAY | NOVEMBER 12, 2021 | PAGES 16 - Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2021-2023; EDITIONS: INDORE, BHOPAL, UJJAIN, MUMBAI, PUNE RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 ‘Don’t accept illegal Chinese occupation’ WWW.FREEPRESSJOURNAL.IN FOR 24X7 UPDATES EDIT MULLAPERIYAR DAM NEEDS SCRAPPING Pg- 6 MEGHAN APOLOGISES FOR MISLEADING COURT Pg-13 MEA WAS RESPONDING TO QUESTIONS ON PENTAGON REPORT WHICH SAYS CHINA BUILT A 'LARGE VILLAGE INSIDE DISPUTED TERRITORY’ BETWEEN TIBET AUTONOMOUS REGION AND ARUNACHAL News Brief Manipur Guv to decide disqualification of 12 BJP MLAs, SC told NEW DELHI: The Solicitor General on Thursday assured the Supreme Court that the Manipur Governor will take a decision soon on the Election Commission of India opinion on disqualification of 12 BJP MLAs in the office-of-profit matter. A bench headed by Justice L. Nageswara Rao told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that he should use his good offices in the matter. Srabanti Chatterjee quits BJP KOLKATA: Bengali actor Srabanti Chatterjee, who had joined the BJP before this year's assembly elections and unsuccessfully contested rinamool Congress against T heavyweight Partha Chatterjee, quit the saffron party on Thursday citing its “lack of initiative and sincerity to further the cause of West Bengal”. The 34-year-old actor had been maintaining a distance from the BJP after it failed to unseat Mamata Banerjee's government from power in the eastern state despite a highpitched campaign. BJP spent Rs 252 cr in poll campaign NEW DELHI: The BJP spent Rs 252 crore in the assembly elections held in Assam, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Kerala earlier this year with almost 60 per cent used for campaigning in the Trinamool Congress-ruled state. according to the Election Expenditure Statement submitted to the poll panel, of the Rs 252,02,71,753 spent by the , BJP Rs 43.81 crore was for the Assam polls and Rs 4.79 crore for the Puducherry assembly election. MP logs 12 Covid-19 cases BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh on Thursday reported 12 new coronavirus infections and zero fatalities, the state health department said. The COVID-19 case tally in the state rose to 7,92,936 while the death toll remained unchanged at 10,524. The recovery count increased to 7,82,336 after 17 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day.The number of active corona cases decreased to 76. Wankhede's caste certificate case MUMBAI: The Mumbai police has recorded the statement of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) zonal director Sameer Wankhede in connection with an allegation of forgery of caste certificate against him, an official said on Thursday. An Assistant Commissioner of Police recorded Wankhede's statement recently and is conducting further probe, he said. NEW DELHI China undertook construction activities in the past several years along the border areas, including in areas it illegally occupied over the decades, the Ministry of External Affairs . said on Thursday Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that India has taken note of the US Department of Defense report to the US Congress, also inter-alia which makes a reference to the construction activities carried out by the Chinese side along the India-China borders, particularly in the eastern sector. "India has neither accepted such illegal occupation of our territory nor has it accepted the unjustified PMLA case: ED attaches Rs 483 cr Nagpur mall MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has taken physical possession of a mall in Nagpur -- Empress Mall (constructed on commercially diverted land of 2,70,374 square feet). Worth Rs 483 crore, the mall, registered in the name of KSL & Industries Ltd. has been seized in connection with a case of bank fraud by the Tayal Group of Companies. It had initiated a money laundering investigation on the basis of three FIRs registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation against three different companies of Tayal Group of Cos -- Actiff Corporation Ltd., Jaybharat Textiles & Real Estate Ltd. and Eskay Knit Ltd., for alleged fraudulently availing loans of Rs 524 cr from the Bank of India and Andhra Bank, Mumbai, in 2008. Adding India to Five Eyes intel-sharing club is recipe for new Cold War: Pak dding India to the Five AEyes intelligence-sharing club would hurt US-Pakistan the claims," Chinese spokesperson said. Bagchi also stressed on the fact that the government has always conveyed its strong protest to such activities through diplomatic channels and will continue to do so in the future. "Further, as conveyed earlier, the government has also stepped up border infrastructure, including the construction of roads, bridges etc., which has provided much-needed connectivity to the local population along the borders," he said. CONTD. ON P8 relations as Islamabad tries to coordinate a regional response to a growing Afghanistan terror threat, Defense One reported citing a senior Pakistani official as saying. "It's a recipe for a new Cold War, a recipe for a new divide, and if you are going to have that, the lines will be drawn," Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, who leads the Senate Defence Committee, told reporters at a private event, the report said. BHOPAL HOSPITAL FIRE TRAGEDY One of twins lost, Rajgarh couple mortgages land to save surviving son TOOK LOAN of Rs 1 lakh from moneylender KUMAR ANKUR BHOPAL Having lost one of their kids in the fire tragedy, a Rajgarh couple is now struggling to save the surviving son admitted to a private hospital here. The couple claims their son, one of the twins, died on the day of tragedy at Kamala Nehru Hospital and the body was handed over to them the next day. Ramesh Dangi, father of the kid, said there was no financial assistance from anyone and the family had to spend at least Rs 10,000 daily on the treatment of the surviving 8-day-old kid. The family, as the couple claims, has mortgaged its land in their native district in Rajgarh, to bear the medical expenses now. The couple claims its son's death is excluded from the police records of mishap victims. The child's mother is unconscious after the incident, and is unable to come to terms with her loss. The family had come to Bhopal from Rajgarh with a hope for better treatment in Hamidia Hospital. Also, affordability was a reason for them to admit their children in the government hospital. However, the fire incident in the hospital shattered their hopes after they lost one of their twins. They shifted their other child to a private hospital with the fear that they might lose him too. Ramesh Dangi further said his wife was unconscious ever since the fire incident occurred and whenever she gained consciousness she wanted to see the second child. "The doctors have prevented us from visiting our child as he is prone to infection", he said. "We could not bear the expense of private hospitals but now we want to save our son for which we have mortgaged our land in the village. I have taken a loan of Rs 1 lakh from a money lender in my village against my 2 bigha of land", said Dangi. Man gets 20-yr-RI for Retd IAS officer defrauded raping minor in Ujjain Rs 12 lakh a year ago UJJAIN A special court has sentenced a 21-year-old man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping a minor in Ujjain district. The Special POCSO court on Monday awarded the sentence to Rahul Fularia on the basis of DNA tests after the 15year-old victim did not cooperate with the prosecution. Sessions Additional Judge Dr Aarti Shukla Pandey said “The courts should not only notice the rights of the accused, but the interest of the victim and the society at large.” A balance should be struck between the seriousness of the crime and the punishment. Inadequate punishment will hugely harm the victim and the society, the judge said, while handing down 20 years RI to the convict and imposing a fine of Rs 3,000 on him. On January 6, 2020, the victim's mother lodged a complaint with the police stating that the girl had gone missing while she had gone to drop her grandson prosecution school, at deputy director Saket Vyas said. Following a probe, the police zeroed in on the accused, a resident of Shajapur. The victim during the course of trial backtracked from her statement to the police against the accused and did not cooperate, the prosecution said. A DNA test was conducted on both the victim and the accused, and it was proven that the girl was a The accused was minor. convicted of offences under section 376 (3) and other relevant provisions of the IPC and the POCSO Act, it was stated. Quality at Value WEATHER 29.10c. 14.00c Sunrise : 06.38 Sunset : 05.44 SC CONFUSED ON CHAR DHAM 3 youths feared ISSUE, RESERVES RULING drowned OUR BUREAU NEW DELHI The Supreme Court on Thursday concluded its hearing since Monday on the Centre's plea to widen the 900-km long Char Dham highway, reserving its ruling and asking the Centre to suggest a balance between the defence needs and and sensitive fragile ecology of the Himalayan ranges. Insisting on allowing the highway width increased from 5.5 metres to 100 metres, Attorney General K K Venugopal listed a number of heavy Army equipment and the width of the trucks that would be required to transport BrahMos and mediumrange supersonic cruise missiles reach the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on the border with China only if the highway is widened to 10 metres. The Army's needs can be met only if the highway is widened and care is taken to deal with the massive landslides to which the roads are prone in the Uttarakhand hills, he said, stressing that the Armed Forces have to be provided with all "technical, physical and financial support." As regards the report of a high-powered committee the against widening of the road, he said it was in a different context and different environment. He said a lot of road widening has been already done in different stretches. NGO "Citizens for Green Doon," however pressed to halt the Char Dham widening project forthwith. Its senior lawyer Colin Gonsalves pleaded that what required immediately is to restore the Char Dham area that existed three decades ago, when it used to attract the saints and seers. CONTD. ON P8 in pond FP NEWS SERVICE Balaghat Three youths met their watery grave in Lalbarra area on Wednesday, sources said. According to reports, five youths went to the Tekadi pond to take a bath. Two of them swam to safety but three others were reportedly drowned. All the three victims were residents of Lalbarra area, sources said. As the pond is full to its ca, pacity it was difficult for the policemen to locate the missing youths. The police have not yet confirmed what had happened to the youths. On getting information, the police and a team of Disaster Emergency Response Force (SDERF) rushed to the spot to search for the missing youths. The missing youths have been identified as Pankaj Patle, Deepankar Bisen and Ashwini Brahme. Cong MLA's son shoots self, dies OUR STAFF REPORTER BHOPAL Son of Congress MLA Sanjay Yadav from Bargi constituency of Jabalpur district allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself from a revolver, said police officials on Thursday.The incident occurred at MLA's residence in Hathital locality under Gorakhpur police station on Thursday afternoon. , ASP Gopal Khandel told Free Press that, Yadav's younger son Vibhu Yadav, 16, shot himself on his head in the changing room of his bedroom at around 4 pm. On hearing the sound of gunshot, family members ran to his room and took him to a nearby hospital, where he was declared dead. He was a student of Class 12 of a reputed school of Jabalpur. The police added that no suicide note was found. Police registered a case and further investigations are on to ascertain as to what prompted the minor to take the extreme steps.The police said that the revolver was registered in the name of MLA Sanjay Yadav. As soon as news about the incident spread like wildfire, a large number of people including r Congress leaders thronged outside the hospital. CONTD. ON P8 Pakistan's captain Babar Azam hits a boundary during the Cricket Twenty20 World Cup second semi-final match between Australia and Pakistan in Dubai, UAE, on Thursday but case lodged recently Khurshid likens Hindutva OUR STAFF REPORTER Bhopal One year has passed since a retired IAS officer was defrauded of Rs 12 lakh but the police registered a case against the culprit, recently. According to reports, Mani Jain, 65, a resident of E-7 Arera Colony had received a phone call from an unknown number on July 16, 2020. The caller introduced himself as bank manager. To take Jain, a retired IAS officer, into confidence, the caller told her certain details about her bank accounts. Then, the caller informed Jain that her ATM card had been blocked because of some technical issues. The caller asked for cer- tain details about the account. He later asked her to tell him the OTP she had received. As soon as she told the OTP to the caller, she received a message that Rs 12 lakh had been deducted from her account. Officer Investigation Shesh Nath said that Jain apimmediately had proached the police and lodged a complaint. "As the fraudster had transferred the amount from Jain's account to another account, the latter's account was frozen. But, the fraudster had managed to use 5 lakh," Nath told journalists. He further said that a case had been registered and a team would soon be sent to Jharkhand to obtain the account details of the accused. to jihadist philosophy FP NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid has ignited a bushfire with his book on Ayodhya wherein he has likened Hindutva to the radical philosophy espoused by jihadist outfits like the ISIS and Boko Haram. In the chapter "The Saffron Sky," Khurshid writes, ‘‘Sanatan Dharma and classical Hinduism known to sages and saints were being pushed aside by a robust version of Hindutva, by all standards a political version similar to the jihadist Islam of groups like ISIS and Boko Haram of recent years." A Delhi-based lawyer Vi- Comparing Hindutva with ISIS, Boko Haram factually wrong: Azad New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Thursday dismissed as "factually wrong and an exaggeration" the comparison of Hindutva with the jihadist Islam of terrorist groups such as ISIS and Boko Haram in party colleague Salman Khurshid's latest book. Azad tweeted, "In Mr Salman Khursheed's new book, we may not agree with Hindutva as a political ideology distinct from composite culture of Hinduism, but comparing Hindutva with ISIS and Jihadist Islam is factually wrong and an exaggeration." neet Jindal has taken offence and on Thursday filed a complaint with the police Congress the against leader. In his complaint, the lawyer alleged that the instigating and provocative statement has infuriated several followers of the Hindu. "Our constitution provides every citizen with the freedom of speech and expression but the misuse of this right is inexplicable when it threatens the honour and harmony of the country and provokes its citizens…then it is a grave offence," the petition read. CONTD. ON P8 Kangana says India attained freedom in 2014 and 1947 was bheek, triggers outrage FP NEWS SERVICE New Delhi Chhath Puja concludes with offerings to rising sun at Sheetal Das Ki Bagia Upper Lake, on Thursday. has Ranaut Kangana stirred a hornet’s nest with her remarks in a TV show that India got its freedom in 2014 when PM Modi came to power. As regards what Nehru described as ‘India’s tryst with destiny’, she is convinced what was wrested from the colonial masters in 1947, after a longdrawn struggle by freedom fighters, was ‘bheekh’ or ‘charity’. The “Manikarnika” actor, known for her penchant for making provocative and often inflammatory statements, found herself in the eye of a storm yet again. The Aam Aadmi Party lost no time in petitioning the Mumbai Police demanding that a case be registered against her for "seditious and inflammatory" comments. Politicians of all hues, including BJP MP Varun Gandhi, reacted with outrage on social media. Slam- ming her, Varun tweeted in Hindi, "Insulting the sacrifice of Mahatma Gandhi sometimes, praising his killer at other times, and now the disdain for the sacrifices of Mangal Pandey, Rani Laxmibai, Bhagat Chandrashekhar Singh, Subhash Netaji Azad, Chandra Bose and lakhs of freedom fighters. Should I call this mind-set madness or treason?" "It (her utterance) is an anti-national act and must be called out as such. To not to do so would be a betrayal of all those who shed blood so that today we may stand tall and free as a nation," Gandhi said, warming up to his theme. AAP leader Preeti Sharma Menon said actor should also be charged under section 504 of the IPC – causing “an intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace.” She sees in the statements a desire to create "public mischief." Targeting the Congress party, Kangana also said at the show, "If we get freedom as 'bheek', is it even freedom? What the British left behind is the Congress... The party was an extension of the British....” Incidentally, Ranaut was awarded a Padma Shri earlier this week. The inscrutable actress, whose Twitter account has been suspended, hit back on Instagram at her detractors. The dormant Con. gress reacted sharply CONTD. ON P8