Vol. 66 No. 333 | THURSDAY, JUNE 1, 2023 | 22 Pages | `5 & for Pune `6 only Quality at Value www.freepressjournal.in EDITIONS: MUMBAI*, Pune, Nashik, Konkan, Indore, Bhopal, E-paper INDIA HAS TRANSFORMED IN A DECADE MINOR IS LYNCHED FPJ NEWS SERVICE / MUMBAI I n a tragic incident, a mob in Maharashtra's Parbhani district brutally assaulted three teenage boys, mistaking them for goat thieves. The assault resulted in the death of a 14-year-old boy while the other two vic, tims, also minors, sustained serious injuries. The police have registered a case against six individuals involved in the incident and have arrested four of the accused, including the former sarpanch of the gram panchayat, Akram Patel, according to reports. The police have registered a case under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the accused, according to officials. It has been reported that a video of the incident, which took place on Saturday is , available and the police are trying to zero in on the other assailants. The victims belong to the Sikh community . The incident, which took place near Ukhlad village in Parbhani district, has sparked outrage and condemnation from various quarters. Harjinder Singh Dhami, the president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), has strongly condemned the incident, calling it a heinous crime and a blot on humanity . Dhami has urged the police to identify and apprehend all the culprits involved in the attack, underscoring the need for strict and exemplary punishment. The incident brings back memories of the alleged lynching of three individuals in Palghar, Maharashtra, in 2020. The victims in that case were attacked by a mob while travelling to attend a funeral. THE FP ANTI-TOBACCO WARNING: India has decided to introduce anti-tobacco warnings on OTT platforms. The health ministry and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting will take strict action upon failure to comply with the rules. NEWLY WED DIE IN CRASH: Four of a family, including a recently married couple, were burnt alive in Madhya Pradesh after their car crashed into a tree on Wednesday. Videos show the car engulfed in flames. The deceased couple had been married six months ago. Morgan Stanley's report says India is different from what it was in 2013 Right to worship Hindu deities inside Gyanvapi mosque ONLINE REPORT / ALLAHABAD The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday upheld a  Varanasi court order that had deemed maintainable a suit filed by Hindu parties seeking rights of worship inside the Gyanvapi Mosque. The High Court had reserved the verdict on December 24 last year, reports Bar and Bench. The verdict was given by a single bench of Justice JJ Munir in the case. The High Court's dismissal of the Muslim side's plea has given way for the Varanasi court to hear the Hindu side's petition. A civil court in Varanasi will hear the petition by the Hindu worshippers on July 7. The case arose after Hindu devotees approached the civil court claiming the right to Filmmaker Onir explains why celebrating this month is crucial for the LGBTQ+ community in India 0 Sunrise : 06:39 am Sunset : 06:04 pm worship inside the premises of the Gyanvapi Mosque, on the ground that it was a Hindu temple and still houses Hindu deities. The civil court had ordered a survey of the Mosque by an advocate commissioner. The advocate commissioner then conducted the videographed survey and  submitted a report to the civil court. The Muslim parties had KALPESH MHAMUNKAR MUMBAI GDP IS SITTING PRETTY AT 7.2% Q4 GDP rises to 6.1% after falling for two quarters OUR BUSINESS EDITOR India's economy is on a sound footing. That's what the latest GDP numbers tell us.  Several economists expected the GDP to grow by 5.1 per cent in January-March. But, the latest numbers beat their expectations. The country's GDP FY23 growth rate  accelerated  for the first FY22 time in three quarters to 6.1 percent FY21 in  the fourth FY20 quarter (JanuaryMarch) of 2022-23, FY19 the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation said on Wednesday is a signifi. It cant rise from 4.4 per cent in the third quarter (October-December). The growth in real  GDP  during 2022-23 is estimated at 7.2 per cent, which is higher than the earlier estimate of 7.0%; however, it is lower than 9.1 per cent in 2021-22. Speaking to CNBC TV18, chief economic adviser V Anantha Nageswa7.2% ran said: “We can 9.1% stick our neck out and say we will be 5.8% able to see a further upward revi3.9% sion in GDP num6.5% bers.” surge in The growth in the last quarter of 2022-23 was led by the manufacturing sector, whose Gross Value Added (GVA) rose by 4.5 percent year-on-year CONTD. ON NATION STATE OF THE ECONOMY The fiscal deficit has narrowed to 6.4 per cent of the GDP in 2022-23 from 6.71 per cent in FY22. and the status report of the investigation will be submitted to court. The Delhi Police deleted its initial tweet and the public relations officer also removed the message she had shared in the official WhatsApp group for reporters. As the news came out in the media, the Delhi Police also took to Twitter to say: "It is clarified that this news is "wrong" and the investigation into this sensitive case is under progress with all sensitivity ." Amid the Delhi Police flipflop, Brij Bhushan, the embattled chief of the WFI and a BJP Member of Parliament, issued a defiant statement, once again refuting all charges. "If a single allegation against me is proven, I will hang myself. CONTD. ON NATION It’s almost here, the water cut that Mumbai has been anticipating with dread. The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation is likely to announce a 10-15 per cent water cut next week. Stock in the seven lakes that supply potable water to Mumbai has dropped to 12.76 per cent, with levels dropping by 0.43 million litres each day . The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has also predicted the late arrival of the monsoon. Officials of the hydraulic department will meet in the first week of June to decide about the water cut in Mumbai. TAKING STOCK (AS ON MAY 31, 2023) Lakes Modak  Sagar The BMC has also approached the state government and requested the release of reserve water stock, to tide over the situation till the arrival of the monsoon. Unfortunately it seems the , state government has not been taking the issue seriously Sources said that  . engineers of the hydraulic department have been regularly doing the rounds of Mantralaya from May but clearly water is yet to , Tansa Middle Vaitarna Bhatsa Vihar Tulsi Water level in mn ltr 37,163 36,351 20,655 80,268 7,727 2,589 flow under this bridge. The state government has water reserves in the Bhatsa and Upper Vaitarna lakes, for emergencies. CONTD. ON NATION Ahmednagar to be renamed after Ahilyabai ABHIJIT MULYE  MUMBAI / Ahmednagar will be renamed after Maharani Ahilyabai Holkar, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced at an event celebrating the 298th birth anniversary of the Maratha queen at her birth- ‘Vishwaguru can make Vishwa ke guru his disciple’ place Chondi in the Jamkhed taluka of Ahmednagar district on Wednesday . “The state government has decided to rename Ahmednagar as Ahilyadevi Nagar. Ahilyadevi is known for her Himalayan works. Her name will bring honour to the dis- Bihar model alleges rape, bid to convert trict,” CM Shinde said, as he made the announcement. “We are all indebted to Ahilyadevi and to the land where she was born. She worked tirelessly for people all her life. Our government too is toiling for the people,” CONTD. ON NATION he added, LALIT K JHA / SANTA CLARA (US) There are people in India who think they know more than God and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is "one such specimen", Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said. Reacting sharply to Gandhi's targeting of Prime Minister Modi, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Wednesday described the former Congress president as a "fake Gandhi" and as a person "who knows nothing" but has become an expert on everything. Speaking at the event, 'Mohabbat Ki Dukaan,' organised by Indian Overseas Congress in California on Tuesday , Gandhi said these people are "absolutely convinced" that they know everything and can explain history to historians, science to scientists and warfare to the army . "The world is too big and complicated for any person to know everything. That is the disease…There is a group of people in India who are absolutely convinced they know everything. They think they know even more than God. "They can sit with God and explain to him what's going on. And, of course, our prime minister is one such specimen. If Modiji sits with God, he will explain to God how the universe works and God will get confused CONTD. ON NATION Block Hop APOORVA AGASHE / MUMBAI A 22-year-old model has alleged that the owner of a Jharkhand-based grooming institute raped and blackmailed her for a period of one year. She also accused the man of threatening to send her obscene photos to her relatives if she narrated her ordeal to anyone. He also tried to force the woman to marry him and pressured her to change her religion, the model has alleged, according to a complaint filed with the Versova police station. The victim, who hails from Bihar but lives in Mumbai, had filed a complaint against the accused in 2021 but withdrew it on his insistence. On May 28, she filed a complaint with the Versova police, saying that she was about to end her life but was persuaded not to do so by a friend. In 2021, the model had en- rolled in a grooming institution based in Ranchi, according to the FIR. The owner of the institution had introduced himself as Yash to the model, but later she learnt that his name is Tanvir Khan. Khan, the model alleged, had touched her inappropriately and also clicked photos without her consent during a Holi party He also offered her . a job in the institution and allegedly raped her, according to the FIR. CONTD. ON NATION LAST WORD Exposed iron rods can net culpable homicide rap URVI MAHAJANI / MUMBAI Leaving dangerously exposed vertical iron bars embedded in RCC columns at construction sites is an overt act and prima facie makes out a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, the Bombay High Court noted and refused to quash a case against two subcontractors of a Goregaon site where a worker died after falling on exposed iron bars in an RCC column. The sub-contractors Pinkesh Patel and Hiren Rangani prima facie had knowledge that men in cabins of 0 34 c. 23 c. then filed an application challenging the maintainability of the suit on ground that the Places of Worship Act of 1991, which was introduced at the height of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, seeks to protect the status of all religious structures as it stood on August 15, 1947. Section 4 of the Act states that the religious character of a place of worship existing on August 15, 1947 shall continue to be the same as it existed on that day It bars . courts from entertaining cases regarding such places of CONTD. ON NATION worship. Dreaded water cut in city, almost here MIKA AZIZI #MeTOO probe against wrestling body chief and BJP MP The Delhi Police on Wednesday took an abrupt u-turn on the sexual harassment probe against Wrestling Federation chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh by initially saying that they have not found sufficient evidence to prove the allegations and arrest Singh and then clarifying that the matter is under consideration AN UNLIKELY COMPROMISE PRIDE MONTH EXCLUSIVE HINDU PLEA IS VIABLE: HC No evidence, say cops; then U-turn FPJ NEWS SERVICE / NEW DELHI EDIT cranes suspended in mid air over these bars were carrying out construction work and, therefore, leaving dangerously exposed vertical iron bars was an invitation for disaster, observed a division bench of Justices Sunil Shukre and Milind Sathaye. “It is this material which prima facie makes out a case for proceeding further against the petitioners in the present criminal trial,” the court said. Amitkumar Gound, a construction worker at a site in Goregaon, had fallen from a crane on iron bars in an RCC column and died. His wife, Savitri, alleged that the builder and the contractor did not provide a safety belt, helmet, or safety jacket, to him and were responsible for his death. An FIR was registered against them for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Prashant Aher, the advocate for Patel and Rangani, argued that culpable homicide not amounting to murder is not made out in this case and also contended that there is no allegation in the FIR regarding the intention to cause death. Aher cited the order of the labour commissioner which held that it was an accident, while granting compensation to Savitri. However, additional public prosecutor Jayesh Yagnik submitted that leaving exposed vertical iron bars in the column led to Gound’s death. Further, whether or not there was any intention is a matter of trial, he argued. CONTD. ON NATION www.blockhop.in n