FREE PRESS The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms VOL. 13 NO. 79 | BHOPAL | SATURDAY | SEPTEMBER 2, 2023 | PAGES 16 - `3 r Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2021-2023; EDITIONS: INDORE, BHOPAL, UJJAIN, MUMBAI, PUNE WORLD ASIA CUP IS NOT FITNESS TEST FOR INDIA CUP, SAYS ROHIT Pg-15 KYIV: DRONE ATTACK ON PSKOV AIRBASE FROM INSIDE RUSSIA r RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 QUALITY AT VALUE WEATHER FP 31.30c. 21.40c Sunrise : 06.09 Sunset : 06.45 FPJ: www.freepressjournal.in for 24x7 updates AN INTRIGUING SPY DRAMA Pg-14 Tomato, onion, potato spur inflation hike, says RBI guv OVER 10 BILLION UPI TRANSACTIONS IN A MONTH ATUL GAUTAM / Indore Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das, during an interaction with students in Indore, blamed tomato, onion and potato as the 'mischievous' vegetables that were responsible for high inflation. Addressing the students at DAVV he said, "The errant veg, etables within the vegetable basket are what we call the TOP vegetables -- T for tomato, O for onion and P for potato. For the past several years, the price of one or the other of these three vegetables has Replying to a query from a student, Das said that RBI made UPI the largest payment system in the world. "The number of transactions per month in the UPI has exceeded 10 billion in August. This figure will further exceed. The main challenge in the UPI is that it needs a smartphone. Though smartphones have become very cheap, but a large number of people still have feature (keyboard) phones in our country. There are many parts of the country where internet connectivity is weak. We are now trying to launch some products to help feature phones to operate UPI facility," he added. spiked, and its impact has spread to the rest of the vegetables. This time, it was the turn of tomato. Its prices went up and inflation reached 7.4 per cent. We expect inflation will start moderating from September onwards." Das, who had come for the central board meeting in Indore, said that the purpose of holding interaction with stu- dents was mainly to share the thinking that goes behind policy making. While speaking on macroeconomic stability, Das touched upon three of its components viz inflation, growth and financial stability . "The RBI, from the outside, may appear at times to be mystifying. People try to understand what goes on inside that building; how we operate, the decisions we make and our process of decision making. Questions are sometimes asked whether the RBI is grounded. CONTD. ON P6 RBI board meets in Indore, reviews economic challenges The 603rd meeting of the Central Board of Directors of Reserve Bank of India was held on Friday in Indore under the Chairmanship of Governor Shaktikanta Das, an official release said. The Board reviewed the global and domestic economic situation and associated challenges including the impact of current global geopolitical developments. The Board also discussed various areas of operations of the RBI including the functioning of Local Boards and activities of select Central Office Departments. One nation, Will contest together, but... one election SPECIAL PARLIAMENT SESSION AGENDA RBI Governor Shaktikant Das replies to a query by a student at an interaction in DAVV auditorium on Friday. Photo by Anand Shivre I.N.D.I.A FORMS 14-MEMBER COORDINATION COMMITTEE SEAT-SHARING TO be decided in spirit of 'give and take' News Brief SC extends Jain's bail till Sept 12 NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday extended interim bail to former Delhi Minister Satyendra Jain on medical grounds till September 12 in a money laundering case. Meanwhile, SC judge, Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra recused from hearing the matter. The matter was listed before a bench of Justice AS Bopanna and Justice PK Mishra.Thereafter Justice AS Bopanna listed the matter for Sept 12 after obtaining orders from the CJI regarding placing the matter before another bench. Fodder scam: Court sends 35 to jail for 4-yr RANCHI: A special CBI court here on Friday sentenced 35 persons convicted in a fodder scam case earlier this week to four years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed fines ranging from Rs 75,000 to Rs 1 crore. The case is related to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 36.59 crore from Doranda treasury of undivided Bihar between 1990 and 1995. CBI special public prosecutor Ravi Shankar said special CBI judge Vishal Srivastav pronounced the quantum of sentence against the 35 convicts, who were once suppliers and officers of the animal husbandry department of Bihar. They were held guilty by the court on Tuesday. Air India-Vistara merger cleared NEW DELHI: Competition Commission on Friday approved the proposed merger of Air India and Vistara subject to certain conditions.The development is a major step forward for Tata Group in consolidating its aviation business.In a post on platform X, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Friday said it has approved the merger."CCI approves the merger of Tata SIA Airlines into Air India, and acquisition of certain shareholding by Singapore Airlines in Air India subject to compliance of voluntary commitments offered by the parties," it said. CENTRE FORMS committee to be headed by Kovind OUR BUREAU NEW DELHI Even while refusing to elaborate the agenda for the Special Parliament session from September 18 to 22, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Friday admitted that there will be a discussion on "One Nation, One Election," terming it as an evolution of the Indian democracy and asked why the Opposition is scared of it. "There will be a discussion (on 'One Nation, One Election') in Parliament. why is the Opposition scared (about it)? Democracy is about evolution; India is the mother of democracy. This is part of evolution," Pralhad Joshi said. "In this evolution every new proposal that benefits the nation will be discussed. For now, a committee has been formed and they will give their suggestion and then discussion will be held on the subject. There were simultaneous polls for Lok Sabha and State Assemblies till 1967. Now there are polls every few months and it is a huge expenditure. This must be discussed," he said. CONTD. ON P6 BJP HAS SENSED IT WON'T WIN 2024 LS ELECTIONS: RAJ CM GEHLOT Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot on Friday said the BJP-led Centre's move to form a committee to explore the possibility of 'one nation, one election' indicated that the ruling party has sensed it would be trounced by the INDIA alliance in the general elections. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi is so worried due to the INDIA alliance that he and the Central government have sensed they are not going to win the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the BJP's defeat is also certain in the states where assembly elections are going to be held this year," said Gehlot. DMK opposes, AIADMK supports 'one nation, one election' push The ruling DMK on Friday opposed the proposal to hold simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, to examine which a committee has been set up by the union government. Tamil Nadu's principal opposition party and an ally of the BJP the AIADMK, supported the proposal. , MUMBAI: The INDIA bloc Friday resolved to fight the 2024 Lok Sabha polls together "as far as possible" and vowed to conclude their seat-sharing arrangements at the earliest in a spirit of "give-and-take", while exuding confidence that they would easily defeat the BJP. Amid speculation of early polls and the formation of a panel to explore the possibility of 'one nation, one election', Opposition bloc leaders took crucial decisions, including setting up of a 14-member coordination committee that will act as the top decisionmaking body of the alliance and will start work on seat sharing. Sources said the body has been asked to work out a seat sharing formula by the end of this month, a suggestion made during informal talks between leaders. PM thinks Adani's money will finish off Congress: RaGa Referring to fresh allegations against Adani group, Rahul Gandhi said, "Modiji thinks his relation with Adani ji will finish off the Congress." He hit out at the Adani group over the redevelopment of Dharavi for which the conglomerate has won bid."These people have not realised what Dharavi is and its people. The Congress party will explain to them what Dharavi is. They think the real India, the India of the poor can be wiped out. But it cannot be wiped out," Gandhi said. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge with Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, NC chief Farooq Abdullah, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury and other opposition leaders during the INDIA meeting, in Mumbai on Friday In a resolution passed at the meeting here, the INDIA bloc said, "We, the INDIA parties, hereby resolve to contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections together as far as possible. Seat-sharing arrangements in different states will be initiated immediately and concluded at the earliest in a collaborative spirit of give-and- Didi opposes caste census Amid all the bonhomie on display, the third meeting of the INDIA alliance also saw one of the first major differences emerge between the opposition parties since they decided to band together in June. While the JD (United), SP and RJD pushed for the caste census demand, the charge against it was led by Mamata Banerjee. Interestingly, after the second meeting of the alliance in July, the 'samuhik sankalp' (joint resolution) had specifically called for the implementation of the caste census. "We have come together to defeat the hatred and violence being manufactured against minorities; stop the rising crimes against women, Dalits, adivasis and Kashmiri Pandits; demand a fair hearing for all socially, educationally and economically backward communities; and, as a first step, implement the Caste Census," the parties had said in their resolution passed "in one voice". Politicians confused about talks over one nation, one election THERE IS confusion over the ensuing assembly elections NITENDRA SHARMA BHOPAL A panel set up by the Centre to discuss the one-nation- one-election proposal amid the ensuing assembly election in Madhya Pradesh has raised confusion among politicians. Two types of discussions are taking place in the state. One of them is that whether the Lok Sabha elections will be held with state polls. The Lok Sabha elections will be held in April next year and the assembly polls in November CHOUHAN ADVOCATED IT IN 2008 Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan raised the issue of one nation, one election in 2008. He said that there should one election to curb the poll expenses. When Chouhan spoke about it, the issue kicked up political dust in the state, but it gradually ran out steam. But now, has hogged the limelight, since the Central Government is advocating for it. CONSTITUTIONAL AMEND NEEDED: NATH MPCC president Kamal Nath said it would not possible to implement such a proposal without the nod of the Assemblies.There is a need for a constitutional amendment for it, Nath said. Besides, it cannot be done by passing a bill in Parliament but it also needs to be ratified by the state assemblies, he said. "The BJP-ruled states like Haryana and Maharashtra, can pass a one-line resolution to dissolve their assemblies for holding elections with MP Chhattisgarh and , Rajasthan along with the LS polls, but what about (TMC-ruled) West Bengal? It is not possible to do so in every state," he said. this year. The issue has stirred up a hornet's nest after the Centre formed a committee on one nation, one nation election under Kovind and called a special PM taking another historic decision: VD State BJP president VD Sharma said, "Whether it is one nation one election or one nation, one ration card, PM Modi has made many changes within the system." Sharma further said many historic decisions have been taken under the leadership of the PM. session. Politicians are discussing that if the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections are held together, the dates for assembly elections in MP, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana will be extended. It is also being discussed whether Lok Sabha elections will be held before the polls in these states. Children of invalid marriages have right on parents' property: SC OUR BUREAU/ NEW DELHI The top court has held on a 2011 petition pertaining to the vexatious legal issue of whether non-marital children were entitled to share in the ancestral property of parents under the Hindu laws. It said on Friday that children born out of "void or voidable" marriages are legitimate and can claim rights over their parent's properties. The ruling, however, clarified that it applies only to the Hindu joint family properties governed under the Hindu Mitakshara Law. It said children born out of void/voidable marriages are entitld to inherit a share in the property of their deceased parents. However, they are not entitled to thee properties of any coparcener other than their parents. According to the Hindu law, the man and woman in a void marriage do not have the status of husband and wife, but they have such a status in a voidable marriage. In a void marriage, no decree of nullity is required to annul the mar- riage, while in a voidable marriage decree of nullity is reuired. "We have now formulated conclusion. 1. A child of a marriage which is null and void is statutorily conferred with the legitimacy . 2. In terms of Section 16(2)of the Hindu Marriage Act where a voidable marriage is annulled, a child begotten before decree is deemed to be legitimate," held a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud in a judgment. "Equal rights have been take." It also resolved to "organize public rallies at the earliest in different parts of the country on issues of public concern and importance" The resolution said the INDIA parties will coordinate their communications and media strategies and campaigns with the theme 'Judega Bharat, Jeetega India' in different languages. granted to daughters in the same manner," the court said.The top court decided the question of whether the share of such children is limited only to the self-acquired property of their parents under Section 16(3) of the Hindu Marriage Act. A 3-judge Bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud was hearing a reference against the 2-judge bench ruling in Ravanasiddappa vs Mallikarjun (2011) which had held that children born out of void/voidable marriages are entitled to inherit their parents' properties, whether self-acquired or ancestral. Pradhan: NCERT given deemed-to-be-univ status NEW DELHI: The NCERT has been granted deemed-tobe-university status, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced on Friday . He made the announcement while addressing the 63rd foundation day of the NCERT. "NCERT has been given the status of a deemed-to-beuniversity It has established . a formidable presence in research, and actively shaped school education, teacher training and adult literacy . NCERT, on becoming a research university will offer , opportunities for global collaborations and contributions to the global educational landscape," he said. Addressing the media after the India bloc's third meeting, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, "I am confident the INDIA bloc will defeat the BJP. We may have differences, but we all work with great flexibility." He said the alliance will propose a clear development path that involves poor people in the progress of country CONTD. ON P6 . ISRO all set for Sun mission with Aditya launch today SRIHARIKOTA Days after landing on the Moon, India will aim for the Sun on Saturday with its maiden solar expedition, as ISRO's trusted PSLV will carry the Aditya L1 mission on a 125-day voyage to the Sun. The 23.10 hour countdown for the launch of Aditya L1 onboard PSLV C57 commenced here on Friday, ISRO said. The Sun observatory mission will be fired from the second launch pad at this spaceport at 11.50 am on Saturday, and comes close on the heels of India's successful moon expedition last month, Chandrayaan-3. ISRO Chairman S Somanath said the Sun mission will take 125 days to reach the exact radius. Aditya L1 is designed for providing remote observations of the solar corona and conduct in-situ observations of the solar wind at L1 (Sun-Earth Lagrangian point), which is about 1.5 million kilometres from the Earth. CONTD. ON P6 Ghamandia comment smacks of BJP's arrogance: Pawar Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar on Friday slammed the BJP for terming the opposition bloc INDIA "ghamandia" and said that the jibe smacks of the ruling party's arrogance. Pawar asked, "Who is a ghamandia. those who don't even like us meeting and interacting." He said the alliance has offered a credible alternative to the country's people. Preparations in the final phase for India's solar mission, Aditya L1 onboard the PSLV-C57, ahead of its launch on Saturday Prabhunath Singh gets life term for 1995 double murder NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday handed life imprisonment to former Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Prabhunath Singh in the double murder case of 1995, and also awarded a seven-year jail term for the offence of attempt to murder under Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code. With pronouncing its judgement in the case, a bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Abhay S. Oka and Vikram Nath also di- rected a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each for both the families of the deceased persons and Rs 5 lakh each for the injured. The compensation is to be paid by the Bihar government and the convict separately . On August 18, a special bench comprising Justices S.K. Kaul, Abhay S. Oka and Vikram Nath held the former MP guilty in the case, reversing the acquittal decision rendered by the Patna High Court. CONTD. ON P6 CLASH OF TITANS Cricket fans, with their faces painted in the Indian and Pakistani national flags colours, pose for photographs ahead of the Asia Cup match between India and Pakistan, in Ahmedabad, on Friday