QUALITY AT VALUE VOL. 12 NO. 169 | BHOPAL | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 30, 2022 | PAGES 16 Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2021-2023; RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 FREE PRESS - EDITIONS: INDORE, BHOPAL, UJJAIN, MUMBAI, PUNE KEEP FILM FESTIVALS ABOVE REPROACH FOR 24X7 UPDATES WEATHER 29.00c. 12.50c Sunrise : 06.49 Sunset : 05.41 EDIT WWW.FREEPRESSJOURNAL.IN `3 CELEBRATING LIFE Pg-16 No legal compulsion to get Covid jab, Centre tells SC OUR BUREAU NEW DELHI News Brief China launches 3 astronauts to its space station BEIJING: China on Tuesday successfully launched a spacecraft carrying three astronauts to its under-construction space station where they would meet with their colleagues and conduct a work handover, amid intensifying competition with the United States. The Shenzhou-15 spaceship, atop the Long March-2F Y15 carrier rocket, blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on Tuesday night, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). Rahul offers prayers at Mahakal temple UJJAIN: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday performed puja with rituals at the famous Mahakal temple of Lord Shiva in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh after the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by him entered the holy city. Centre appoints 2 addl judges of Bombay HC NEW DELHI: The Centre on Tuesday notified the appointment of two lawyers as the additional judges of the Bombay High Court.They are : Santhosh Govindrao Chapalgaonkar and Milind Manohar Sathaye. The Supreme Court Collegium had recommended their names for elevation on September 12. Union law minister Kiren Rijiju tweeted their names, saying "my best wishes to them." Campaigning ends in Gujarat first phase AHMEDABAD : Campaigning for the first phase of the Gujarat Assembly elections to be held on December 1 ended at 5 pm on Tuesday. As many as 788 candidates are in the fray for 89 seats across 19 districts of south Gujarat and KutchSaurashtra regions where voting will be held on Thursday. The Centre has clarified to the Supreme Court that there is no legal binding to get the vaccination for Covid-19. In an affidavit, it said the concept of informed consent is inapplicable to the voluntary use of a drug such as a vaccine. "While the government of India strongly encouarages all eligible persons to undertake vaccination in public interest, there is no legal compulsion for the same," the affidavit clarified. The Centre's response came to a petition filed by two parents whose daughters allegedly passed away due to the side effects of the Covid vaccine. "If a person suffers physical injury or death from adverse events following immunization, appropriate remedies in law are open to the , vaccine beneficiary or their family including approaching civil court for a claim of damages/compensation for negligence, malfeasance or misfeasance," affidavit said. Such claims may be decided on a case-by-case basis in an appropriae forum," said he Cenre, submitting taht "there is no material evidence to suggest how the State can be fastened with strict liability for the tragic death of the respective children of the petitioners which is the requirement in law to sustain a claim for compensation against the State under Article 32 of the Constituion." The Centre has opposed the petition seeking compensation from the respondents on the death of their respective children. It said the causation analysis revealed that the death of the daughter of the first petitioner was from a vaccine product-related reaction while in the second dase, there is insufficient evidence to arrive at a definitive conclusion. The affidavit also rejected the prayers for an independent reveiw of the AEFI cases since it would plant a seed of doubt in the existing regulatory and AEFI monitoring mechanism and harm the public interest, urging the court to dismiss the plea. 17 rifles of forest staffers looted in Burhanpur dist 15 to 20 miscreants ransacked place Two police parties formed to track down the accused and recover weapons AGENCIES Burhanpur partment staffers had kept there, the official said. Two police parties have been formed to track down the accused and recover the stolen weapons, said the SP, who visited the post. According to officials, teams from the forest department and police were conducting a drive to remove encroachments and check illegal cutting of trees in the area since the last few days. Unidentified persons looted 17 rifles from a post set up by the forest department in Madhya Pradesh's Burhanpur district, an official said on Tuesday . The incident occurred at Bakdi post under Navra forest area of Nepanagar tehsil around 9.30 pm on Monday Superintendent of , Police (SP) Rahul Kumar Lodha said. A daily-wage employee was on duty at the post when 15 to 20 people arrived there and ransacked the place, he said. The miscreants looted 17 rifles that the forest de- SC's SHIV SENA HEARING ON DECEMBER 12 Suspense over chief secretary continues, Bains retires today OUR BUREAU/ NEW DELHI Constitution 5-judge A Bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, on Tuesday fixed a hearing on December 12 on a batch of petitions to decide which faction between Uddhav Thackeray and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde be recognised as the "real" Shiv Sena and for allotment of the bow and arrow symbol. It also gave time up to December 9 to both sides to submit their written submissions. The Election also had Commission sought the written papers from both sides up to December 9.Besides the CJI, the bench comprises Justices M R Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli and P S Narasimha. Discussions over his extension go on in the corridors of power about Bains's extension depend after THE Cm'S return. Anurag Jain, who is in Delhi, is also coming to OUR STAFF REPORTER Bhopal in January to asBhopal sess the 'Gaati Shakti Scheme' of the Central Chief Secretary Government. Iqbal Singh Bains There are speculais retiring on tions that Jain may Wednesday but susbecome the chief pense over who secretary Against . will succeed him this backdrop, the continues. chances of Bains There were also getting extension speculations about look bright. Iqbal Singh Bains extension of servThe name of addiices of Bains. But it is not tional chief secretary yet clear whether he will (health) Mohd Suleman is get extension or a new also doing the rounds for chief secretary will be apthe top job in the bureaupointed. cracy . Chief Minister Shivraj Nevertheless, it is the Singh Chouhan was in DelChief Minister who will hi to campaign for his partake a decision on the isty for the MCD polls. sue, but he has yet to give Therefore, speculations any indication about it. PORTUGAL BEAT URUGUAY, IN LAST 16 Portugal's Bruno Fernandes celebrates after scoring two goals against Uruguay in the World Cup at Lusail Stadium, in Lusail on Tuesday N-E states pillar of India's Act East Policy: Dhankhar AGARTALA: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar said on Tuesday that Tripura and other northeastern states are the pillars of India's Act . East Policy Inaugurating an exhibition on "Historical & Cultural Heritage of Tripura" and presiding over a seminar on "New Horizon of Educational Development in Tripura" at Maharaja Bir Bikram College in Agartala, the Vice President appealed to the students to follow fundamental duties as these would help them be. come better citizens of the country Praising the glorious history and rich cultural heritage of the state, Dhankhar appealed to the people to maintain the rich cultural tradition and customs. CONTD. ON P6 IMF head urges China to end mass lockdowns BERLIN: It is time for China to move away from massive lockdowns and toward a more targeted approach to COVID-19, the head of the Monetary International Fund said days after widespread protests broke out, a change that would ease the impact to a world economy already struggling with high inflation, an energy crisis . and disrupted food supply IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva urged a "recalibration" of China's tough "zero-COVID" approach aimed at isolating every case "exactly because of the impact it has on both people and on the econo." my Georgieva made the comments in a wide-ranging interview Tuesday with The Associated Press in which she also cautioned it is too early for the US Federal Reserve to back off on its interest rate increases and held out hope that an energy crisis driven by Russia's war in Ukraine will speed the push into renewables in Europe. She also called increasing hunger in developing countries "the world's most significant solvable problem." In China, protests erupted over the weekend in several mainland cities and Hong Kong in the biggest show of public dissent in decades. Authorities have eased some controls but have showed no sign of backing off their larger strategy that has confined millions of people to their homes for months at a time. "We see the importance of moving away from massive lockdowns, being very tarrestrictions," in geted Georgieva said Tuesday in Berlin. "So that targeting allows to contain the spread of COVID without significant economic costs." CONTD. ON P6 ADDING MORE JUDGES NO ANSWER, SC DISMISSES PIL NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed as withdrawn a PIL filed by BJP lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay to double the number of judges in High Courts and trial courts. A Bench of CJI DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha said such "popular measures" and "simplistic solutions" won't solve the problems. The CJ said: ""These are all populist measure. It's difficult to fill the 160 seats in Allahabad HC and you're asking for 320? Have you been to Bombay HC? Not even a single judge can be added there because there is no infrastructure. CONTD. ON P6 NIA files charge sheet against 2 in Jalalabad bomb explosion case NEW DELHI The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday said that they have filed a charge sheet against two accused in a case pertaining to a bomb explosion that occured in Jalalabad town, District Fazilka, Punjab in September 2021. An innocent person was killed in the explosion. supplimentary The charge sheet was filed under sections 3, 4, 5 & 6 of Explosive Substances Act, section 16, 17, 18, 18B, 20, 38 and 39 of UA (P) Act, Section 21B, 27A, 29 of NDPS Act and Section 120B of IPC against Surat Singh alias Surti and Gurucharan Singh alias Channa. CONTD. ON P6 COMMUNISM, FAKE SOCIALISM DAMAGED OUR ECONOMY: SITHARAMAN Rs 2-L cr saved through DBT: FM She praised CM for providing loans for MSME sector OUR STAFF REPORTER city.bhopal@fpj.co.in Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said a whooping Rs 2 lakh crore was saved through direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme. Earlier, in the Congress regime, the money was transferred into those accounts which never exist. In her address, she praised Shivraj Singh Chouhan saying he's the 'most popular CM'. She was delivering a lecture in the Dattopant Thengadi Memorial National Lecture Series, organized by Dattopant Thengadi Research Institute, on 'Economic Potential of Bharat in Global Scenario of the 21st Century', here in Bhopal on Tuesday. The finance minister, in her speech, also highlight- ed the failures of the 'Communism and Socialism' and blamed the then Union government for lack of proper planning. She further added that Dattopant was a visionary , who had given the idea of holistic development through his book 'Third Way'. CONTD. ON P6