FREE PRESS The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms VOL. XXXX NO. 96 | INDORE | WEDNESDAY | SEPTEMBER 13, 2023 | PAGES 14 ‘DECLARE HP CATASTROPHE NATIONAL DISASTER’ Pg-7 `3 - r Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2021-2023; EDITIONS: INDORE, BHOPAL, UJJAIN, MUMBAI, PUNE EDIT AN UPHILL TASK FOR THE TDP CHIEF AP court rejects Naidu’s plea VIJAYAWADA: A local court in Vijayawada on Tuesday rejected a house custody petition filed by TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, who was arrested in an alleged multi-crore scam and is currently lodged at Rajamahendravaram Central Prison in judicial custody for 14 days. House custody was not granted, Naidu's lawyer Jayakar Matta told PTI. SC extends Satyendar’s bail NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended till September 25 the interim bail of former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain in a money laundering case. A bench of Justices AS Bopanna and Bela M Trivedi granted the relief to Jain after Additional Solicitor General SV Raju made a request for adjournment. Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Jain, also agreed to defer the matter. T’gana: Over 70 students fall ill HYDERABAD: As many as 78 students of a residential girls school in Nizamabad district in the state took ill after having their meals and were hospitalised, an official said on Tuesday. Several students of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) in Bheemgal town of the district complained of vomiting and stomach pain after having dinner on Monday, due to suspected food poisoning. A total of 78 students have been admitted to hospitals in Bheemgal and Nizamabad, the official said. Sedition law goes before 5-judge bench A 3-judge bench of the Supreme Court led by CJI DY Chandrachud on Tuesday referred petitions challenging validity of the sedition law under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to a 5-judge Constitution bench, saying it will consider if the issue need to be referred to a 7-judge bench. This was so since a five-judge Bench had in Kedar Nath Singh versus State of Bihar (1962) already upheld the validity of Section 124-A on sedition. Armed men kill 3 tribals in Manipur IMPHAL: Manipur witness more violence on Tuesday when unidentified armed men, suspected to be cadres of banned terror groups, attacked people from the tribal community this morning killing three of them in Kangpokpi district, officials said. The incident took place between Ireng and Karam Vaiphei villages in the tribal-dominated Kanggui area, located at the bordering districts of West Imphal and Kangpopki. India team came up with a superb bowling display to defend a small total and end Sri Lanka's 13-match winning streak in One-Day Internationals (ODI) at R. Premadasa Stadium, on Tuesday. In a low-scoring thriller, India fought back after being bundled out for 213 by defeating Sri Lanka by 41 runs in the fourth match of the Super 4 stage of the Asia Cup and sealed a place in the final. Winning captain, Rohit Sharma said, "It was a good game. For us also to play a game like that under pressure. Challenged a lot of aspects of our game. We definitely want to play on pitches like to see what we can achieve.” Pg-12 MILITANTS’ CALL FP NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI INDIA OFFERED TO FLY HIM BACK: Sources close to the government told a news portal that Centre had offered the services of India’s official aircraft, Air India One, for Trudeau’s return. Canada, however, declined the offer, approximately six hours after it was made, stating that it preferred to await the arrival of their own plane. CONTD. ON P6 Meanwhile, a militant group based in Canada called to India on Tuesday to “shut down” the Indian Embassy in Ottawa and recall the High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma. The call came two days after PM Justin Trudeau’s meeting with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi. The militant group which issued the threat said PM Modi-led government is responsible for Trudeau’s “disrespect”. As per government sources, this is the second threat in the last 48 hours. The group said PM Modi should call his ambassador back otherwise he would face consequences.” Trudeau returns home after being stranded for two days; visit marred by chill in ties over secessionist elements; back home he faces turbulence, too, over his diplomatic fiasco Prez felicitates Dindori Irked BJP workers lock up woman farmer Lahri Bai Union min in party office OUR STAFF REPORTER city.bhopal@fpj.co.in President Draupadi Murmu felicitated woman farmer from Dindori, Lahri Bai with Plant Genome Patron Farmer Award for 2021-22 on Tuesday She was fe. licitated for conserving and promotion of "Sri Anna species". She received cash prize of Rs 1,50,000, a citation and a memento during the investiture ceremony of the Farmers' Rights Global Seminar. The programme was organised at C. Subramaniam Auditorium, New Delhi. Union agriculture and farmers' welfare Monu Manesar arrested FP BUREAU/CHANDIGARH Fugitive cow vigilante and Bajrang Dal activist Monu Manesar who was wanted by the neighbouring Rajasthan police in the brutal murder of two Muslim cattle traders since February, was nabbed by Haryana police from a Gurugram area Tuesday morning. Pertinently, Monu Manesar, 28, was also an accused of inciting the communal violence in Nuh and the adjoining areas on July 31. minister Narendra Singh Tomar was also present in the programme. Lahri Bai, a resident of Bajag tehsil of Dindori district, had developed a seed bank of rare "Sri Anna" species like Kodo, Kutki, Sanwa, Kaag, Sikiya and Madua with the help of Baiga community. CONTD. ON P6 AGENCIES / Bankura (WB) BJP workers locked up Union minister Subhas Sarkar in their party office in West Bengal's Bankura on Tuesday, alleging that he was being "dictatorial" in running the district unit. Sarkar, the MoS for Education and MP of Bankura, was chairing a meeting around 1 pm when a group of BJP workers shouting slogans marched into the party's district office and locked him up. One of the protesters, Mohit Sharma, alleged that Sarkar was not giving importance to dedicated party workers and making people close to him members of the district committee. Amid the chaos, another group of BJP workers reached the spot, and a scuffle broke out between the two sides. A large police contingent went to the party office and rescued Sarkar, a police officer said. CONTD. ON P6 REMARKS AGAINST SANATAN DHARMA The Kerala High Court recently held that watching pornography in private without exhibiting it to others is not an offence, reports Bar and Bench. Justice PV Kunhikrishnan opined that such an act cannot be declared an offence because it is a citizen’s private choice and interference with the same would amount to intrusion of the person’s privacy “The ques. tion to be decided in this case is whether a person watching a porn video in his private time without exhibiting it to others amounts to an offence? A court of law cannot declare that the same amounts to an offence for the simple reason that it is his private choice and interference with the same amounts to an intrusion of his privacy the court said ,” in its judgment. Therefore, NIPAH Virus kills R 2 in Kerala RETAIL INFLATION COOLS TO 6.8 PC Kerala has been hit by nipah scare as two persons in Kozhikode have died to infection from the deadly virus. A high alert has been sounded in the district and a control room has been opened to coordinate measures against the spread of the virus. Restrictions have been imposed on four wards of the panchayats. This follows confirmation from the Pune virology institute that the samples from the dead persons had the presence of nipah virus. The dead include a 49-year old from the Maruthonkara panchayat and a 40-year old from the neighbouring Ayancherry panchayat. Both are close the locality where 17 persons lost their lives due to nipa virus in 2018. The first victim was admitted to a private hospital in the city on August 28, but he died two days later. The man from the neighbouring panchayat apparently had no connection with the first victim. Five relatives of the two persons are under treatment in hospitals in Kozhikode for Nipah-like symptoms. The condition of one of them, a child, is reported serious and is on ventilator. Detailed contact lists are being drawn up to quarantine those who had exposure to the affected persons. Health minister Veena George rushed to A high alert has been sounded in Kozhikode and a control room has been opened to coordinate measures against spread of virus Kozhikode and held consultations with the local health officials on the urgent measures to be taken. The minister spoke to Union health minister Mansukh Mandavya and briefed him about the steps being taken. The Union minister informed her that a central team is being rushed to study the situation and help the state authorities. He confirmed the findings of the virology institute, but Veena George said the state government was yet to receive the reports about the samples taken from the patients undergoing treatment. ONLINE REPORT / Jaipur Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has said anyone who speaks against the Sanatan Dharma would have his tongue pulled out and his eyes gouged out. A video of Shekhawat making the purported remarks went viral on social media. He was speaking at a public rally in Barmer district of poll-bound Rajasthan last week during BJP's Pari- vartan Yatra. Reacting to the recent comments made by Tamil Nadu Youth Welfare Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin against the Sanatan Dharma, Shekhawat said, “We have to stand up to the challenge. We will pull out the tongue of anyone who speaks against Sanatan. We will also gouge out those eyes raised against Sanatan.” “We challenge that no person who speaks against Sanatan will be able to maintain political position and power in this country They try to attack our . culture and history he said. ,” On September 2, Udhayanidhi Stalin, son of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, had alleged that the Sanatan Dharma is against equality and social justice, and that it should be eradicated. He also likened Sanatan Dharma to coronavirus, malaria, and dengue fever. the Court held that seeing an obscene photo in private cannot be an offence under Section 292 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which penalises the sale, distribution and display of obscene books and objects. “I am of the considered opinion that, watching of an obscene photo by a person in his privacy by itself is not an offence under Section 292 IPC. Similarly, watching of an obscene video by a person from a mobile phone in his privacy is also not an offence under Section 292 IPC. If the accused is trying to circulate or distribute or publicly exhibits any obscene video or photos, then alone the offence under Section 292 IPC is attracted,” the court ruled. Hence, the Court quashed a case against a man booked under Section 292 after he was seen standing on the side of a road watching obscene videos on his mobile phone. The prosecution case was that the complainant had seen the accused watching obscene videos on his mobile phone. CONTD. ON P6 etail or consumer price index (CPI) inflation in India moderated to 6.83 per cent in August on an annual basis after surging to 7.4 per cent in July, according to data released on Tuesday by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. This has come on the back of a decline in food inflation, which accounts for nearly half of the overall basket, to 9.94 per cent, down from 11.51 per cent in July 2023. However, retail inflation still remains above the Reserve Bank of Indiaâ ™s upper tolerance limit of 6 per cent. Overall inflation in rural and urban areas stood at 7.02 per cent and 6.59 per cent each, while core inflation for August stood at 4.8 per cent, as against 4.9 per cent in July . Food prices have been a key concern for policymakers since last year as erratic weather conditions have hurt the output of vegetables, milk and cereals. However, apart from softer vegetable prices, a slide in prices of meat and egg products and fish also led to lower food inflation print. But Cereals and pulses inflation are seeing an uptick and this trend could be sticky. The recent measure to lower LPG prices will have a 0.2-0.25 per cent impact on inflation in September. While inflation for September will move towards the 6 per cent mark and probably be lower, this will not be very comforting yet for monetary policy, said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Bank of Baroda. The Reserve Bank of India has projected the CPI inflation at 5.4 per cent for 2023-24. Tit-for-tat Biden impeachment WASHINGTON: The Republican Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, bowed to pressure from his partyâ ™s hard right on Tuesday and gave the go-ahead for an impeachment investigation into President Joe Biden. The members had threatened to oust Kevin if he did not oblige. “I am directing our House committee to open a formal impeachment inquiry,” he said, saying the Democratic president lied to the American people about his son Hunter’s foreign business dealings. McCarthy had been under pressure for months from the right-wing of the party , loyal to former President Donald Trump, to open an impeachment inquiry into 80-year-old Biden. Several Republicans, including those from districts Biden won, had indicated they did not support an impeachment inquiry unless investigators could tie the business dealings of Hunter Biden, the president’s son who engaged in transactions with overseas firms, to his father, or uncover evidence of high crimes and misdemeanours. After months of digging, Republicans have found no such proof, though they argue they have received enough information to warrant more investigation. “House Republicans have uncovered serious and credible allegations about President Biden’s conduct. Taken together, these allegations paint a picture of a culture of corruption,” he said. The business dealings of Joe Biden’s son Hunter while his father was vicepresident under Barack Obama have been a constant target of Republicans. However, no credible evidence has emerged so far that the elder Biden was involved in anything illegal. Raj Cong MLA shaves head Lt Col hammers Nepali lover to death in Dehradun protest. Some issues were put before the Chief Minister for a very long time. Our Chief Minister is a known Gandhian.” “He has done excellent work as Chief Minister. Many times I drew his attention to important issues and his compulsion was that he gave protection to some corrupt people by not paying attention to those issues. "Those who rule may face many compulsions. But the Chief Minister talks Gandhian about ideology Gand. hiji's entire life was based on truth.” “I have directly telling the Chief Minister that his honour is dead. It is in our culture that when someone dies, those related to him get their head tonsured. I have seen the Chief Minister's honour dying.” CONTD. ON P6 DEHRADUN: An Army officer allegedly killed a woman of Nepali origin with whom he was having an extramarital affair after she pressured him to marry her, police said on Tuesday . The accused identified as Lieutenant Colonel Ramendu Upadhyay was arrested on Monday, SSP Dilip Singh Kunwar said. During interrogation, Upadhyay, 42, confessed to the crime. Upadhyay told police that he met Shreya Sharma in a dance bar in Siliguri when he was posted in West Bengal and became friends with her. Their friendship tuned into an affair. Upadhyay said that he and Shreya used to live as husband and wife in Siliguri. "After getting posting in Dehradun, I brought her with me, but when my wife got to know about Shreya, I sent her back to Siliguri," Upadhyay said. CONTD. ON P6 Will pull out tongue & gouge out eyes: Union minister Demands not heard by CM, Watching porn in private not an offence ONLINE REPORT FPJ: www.freepressjournal.in for 24x7 updates FP BUREAU Thiruvananthapuram CANADIAN PM FINALLY OUT OF MODI’S GRASP Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his delegation finally flew out of the national capital on Tuesday afternoon after the technical glitch in his aircraft was addressed. Trudeau, who arrived in Delhi on Friday for the G20 meet, was scheduled to leave on Sunday but was stranded for two days. A substitute plane dispatched from Canada to ferry Trudeau had been diverted to London, causing further delays in his departure, reports said. No explanation was given for the unexpected diversion to London either, despite its intended route via Rome. QUALITY AT VALUE 27.00c. 21.60c Sunrise : 06.12 Sunset : 06.36 IF TRUTH BE TOLD Pg-14 HUDDLE OF RELIEF: TEAM INDIA IN FINAL OF ASIA CUP News Brief r RNI No. 38281/83 WEATHER FP AGENCIES / Jaipur Bharat Singh Kundanpur, the Congress MLA from Sangod, has shaved his head and offered his hair to Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot as a mark of protest, claiming that his demands have not been heard by the CM. In a letter written to Gehlot, Bharat Singh said, "You openly supported Bhaya's (state minister Pramod Bhaya) corruption. Khan Ki Jhopriya village was not included in Kota district. This does not suit Gandhian Ashok Gehlot. Your honour is dead. I am getting my head shaven and offering my hair to you. Please accept this humble gift. Remember Mahatma Gandhi and reflect on the seven sins mentioned by him. This post of Chief Minister is not permanent." Singh added, "I am shaving my head as a symbolic