Vol. 35 No. 7 | SUNDAY | NOVEMBER 12, 2023 | 26 Pages | `5 & for Pune `6 only Reg. No. MCS/048/2021-23; RNI No. 46955/1988 M.p.c.s. office Mumbai-400001 Quality at Value www.freepressjournal.in EDITIONS: MUMBAI*, Pune, Nashik, Konkan, Indore, Bhopal, E-paper Ronan Keating is set to recreate ’90s magic for Indian fans with a blend of his solo hits and Boyzone classics REVISITING THE ‘90S WHO WILL BE CROWNED? SEMIFINALS November 15 India vs NZ Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai November 16 Australia vs S Africa Eden Gardens, Kolkata FINAL November 19 SF-1 winner vs SF-2 winner Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad Time: 2 pm onwards n Live on Star Sports POST-DIWALI SPENDING BLUES ASHISH SINGH / MUMBAI The Mahadev betting app FIR filed by the Mumbai police accuses Saurabh Chandrakar of engaging in terror-funding and narco-terrorism for the DCompany of Dawood Ibrahim. It says the D-Company helped Saurabh Chandrakar's company secure the sponsorship agreement with IFFA 2022 awards. It also says that the funds for the sponsorship agreement were from betting profits. According to the FIR, the complainant, Prakash Bankar, an RTI activist, points to strong ties between Saurabh Chandrakar and D Company Chandarkar has . stances, and transactions commercial relations for the D-Company . with the underworld In the FIR, the comdon Dawood's plainant also menbrother Mustions that Mumtaqeem, involvbai-based assoing illegal ciate of business dealSaurabh Chanings, terrorism, drashekhar synillicit trade of condicate, Amit Shartrolled substances. ma, is a partner in The FIR states that Mustqeem's business whenever Muspartner, inlcuding taqeem comes to in the betting busiDubai from Pakness. istan, he has lengthy EXCLUSIVE On Mustqeem's meetings with instructions, Amit Chandrakar. The FIR empha- Sharma funded various consizes Chandrakar's alleged struction projects in Mira role in terrorism, the illegal Road. During the Mahadev app trade of controlled sub- investigation, the Enforcement THE FPJ ISIS taint: ATS nabs 4 ex-AMU students FPJ NEWS SERVICE / LUCKNOW The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) on Saturday arrested four former students of Aligarh Muslim University in a crackdown of a module on the ISIS. The four who have been arrested — Raqib, Naved, Numan and Nazim Noman — had graduated from AMU two years ago. One of the former students was arrested from Aligarh late on Friday night, while the other three were nabbed from Sambhal district on Saturday The ATS . produced the four in court on Saturday afternoon and sought police remand. On November 4, the ATS had nabbed two extremists — Maaz Bin Tariq and Wajuddin — from Aligarh, and one — Abdullah Arslan — from Chhattisgarh. The three had during interrogation provided information about others associated with the Aligarh module of ISIS. CONTD. ON NATION THE FP BULLETIN SI RAPES 4-YEAROLD GIRL, HELD A police sub-inspector deployed for election duty has been arrested for allegedly raping a 4-year-old daughter of a police constable in the Dausa district of Rajasthan. On Friday, Bhupendra Singh and lured the child to a rented room, where he allegedly raped her. Police have taken the accused into custody. Singh has been suspended and arrested under the POCSO Act on Saturday. TWO KILLED IN PUNE STACK-UP T wo people lost their lives in an accident early on Saturday when a speeding container truck collided with a private bus, a tempo, and a car at Pune’s JambhuclwadiDai Pul. The accident occurred around 3.56 am when the driver of the container truck heading towards Satara lost control of the vehicle that then crashed into three other vehicles that were on their way to Mumbai. ENTER THE MYTHICAL REALM relationships, for example, is expected to be made compulsory According to NDTV which . cited sources, the bill will also seek a ban on ploygamy . The UCC is a poll promise made before the Assembly elections last year. The panel set up to look into this besides Justice Desai, inlcude retired Delhi HC judge Pramod Kohli, social activist Manu Gaur, former chief secretary Shatrughan Singh, and Doon University VC Surekha Dangwal. CONTD. ON NATION People create a record by lighting 24 lakh earthen lamps at Ram ki Pouri during the Deepotsav in Ayodhya on Saturday. –PTI SEE NATION Uddhav fires barbs at Shinde over shakha FPJ NEWS SERVICE / THANE “Those who are high on power bulldozed the shakha (local-level office). I have come here to show you the bulldozer. Our posters were torn. We will tear your arrogance into pieces in the polls,” former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said on Saturday in an attack on the Shiv Sena faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, without naming anyone. Thackeray made the statement in Mumbra, where he had gone to visit the site where a shakha of the Shiv Sena (UBT) was razed on November 2. The former Chief Minister was, however, prevented from going to the site of the branch office reportedly for security reasons, according to police. Police had a tough time keeping the warring factions at bay even as supporters of , the Shinde faction chanted “Chale jao, Chale jao” and waved black flags at Thackeray who beat a hasty retreat de, DAL LAKE HOUSEBOAT FIRE KILLS 3 TOURISTS PTI / SRINAGAR Three foreign tourists, believed to be from Bangladesh, were charred to death in a houseboat blaze on the Dal Lake that broke out at 5.15 am in the morning on Saturday . Officials said the victims were burnt beyond recognition and their bodies were retrieved from the debris of the gutted houseboats near Ghat Nine on the lake, a popular attraction for tourists visiting Jammu and Kashmir's summer capital, the officials said. Preliminary investigations revealed that the fire, which gutted five houseboats and as many huts attached to those, could be due to malfunctioning of a heating appliance in one of the houseboats. The victims' DNA samples have been taken to establish their identities, the officials said, adding they are believed to be from Bangladesh. One of them was a woman, according to the records maintained by the houseboat operators. Property worth crores of rupees were destroyed in the fire. This was the second ma- spite being accompanied by a large number of supporters. “The entire Maharashtra is seeing that the administration has become desperate. If something had happened here today Maha, rashtra would have lost its glory Those who enjoy the . seat of power have already disgraced Maharashtra,” Encounter breaks out at Pulwama jor fire incident involving houseboats that are anchored on the Dal and the Nigeen lakes. In April 2022, seven houseboats were gutted in a devastating fire on Nigeen Lake, mostly popular among foreign tourists, on the outskirts of the city However, no . one was hurt in that incident. AGENCIES / SRINAGAR An encounter broke out on Saturday between security forces and terrorists in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said. The police and army launched a cordon-andsearch operation in the Parigam area after receiving information about movement of terrorists there, according to officials. Initially there was a , brief exchange of fire between the terrorists and security forces after which the cordon was tightened and search intensified. No casualties have been reported so far, the officials said. LAST WORD Bad air: Throat infections soar SWAPNIL MISHRA / MUMBAI Exposure to ‘very poor’ quality air across the city has taken toll on asthma patients and people suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to respiratory medicine experts. The heavily polluted air has also led to a spike in cases of throat infection and persistent dry cough, they said, adding that there has been a 20-25 per cent rise in the number of people who need immediate medical attention and oxygen support. This could have a long-lasting impact on human health, the experts said. The poor air quality has prompted a state task force to work on guidelines for reducing air pollution. “We have started assessing patients with respiratory illnesses related to pollution. This can provide valuable insights into the health impacts and help develop strategies for prevention and intervention. It is Don’t bomb babies: Macron FPJ NEWS DESK / PARIS The report apparently talks about uniformity in personal laws, gender equality and equal rights for daughters in ancestral properties mittee led by a retired Supreme Court Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai is soon to hand over its recomendations which will form the template of the bill to be tabled in the Assembly . The report apparently talks about uniformity in personal laws, gender equality and equal rights for daughters in ancestral properties. It will cover marriage registration, divorce, property rights, maintenance, custody of children. Reports say that registration of live in Author Amish Tripathi talks about his new book, Idols, and Diwali Directorate discovered that Saurabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal were collaborating with D-company to operate the Kheloyar Betting app in Pakistan. It was revealed that, on the instructions of Dawood Ibrahim, Chandrakar fronted Amit Sharma to form a partnership with Dawood Ibrahim's brother, Mustaqueem Ibrahim Kaskar, to operate the app. The Enforcement Directorate disclosed this partnership in 2021, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It was also revealed that Mustaqeem oversees the betting business in Pakistan, providing protection and logistical support to Chandrakar's app. CONTD. ON NATION AYODHYA DEEPOTSAV SAJAD HAMEED The Uttarakhand government is poised to move forward on a bill on Uniform Civil Code, which could set the tone for similar implementation in other states. It could also set contours of the debates for the 2024 poll agenda and seel to outflank the caste census being pushed by the opposition poll narrative. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has previously said that the bill would come into being before the end of this year. To this end, there could be a special sessionof the Assembly . A five-member expert com- Has the festive season created a hole in your pocket? Tips to help you tide through D-Company link to Mahadev app BJP UNIFORM CODE VIA UTTARAKHAND FPJ NEWS SERVICE / NEW DELHI HAPPY DIWALI crucial to understand the specific effects of pollution on respiratory health to implement effective measures for public well-being,” said a senior doctor who is a member of the state task force. This is the first time that the air quality of Mumbai is very poor and is having a severe im- BMC AIR POLLUTION APP The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is going to introduce a mobile app to help people track the status of action taken by the civic body with regard to air pollution. The app will show daily AQI and the AQI data of one week. BMC had on October 23 highlighted measures to tackle air pollution. It has so far has issued notices to 1,000 construction sites in this regard. pact on health, said Dr Madhukar Gaikwad, of the medicine department at JJ Hospital. Asthma patients are facing great difficulty because of the poor air quality and this has also led to an increase in hospital admissions, he said. “The visits to the outpatient department for breathing difficulty and dry cough have doubled in the past couple of weeks. We are also seeing a 5 per cent increase in hospitalisation among people with asthma and COPD,” he said. As much as 25-30 per cent patients in the ICU have acute respiratory tract ailments, with several needing non-invasive or invasive ventilation. CONTD. ON NATION Thackeray later said at a public meeting. “The government has demolished our branch. Our place has been encroached upon,” Thackeray claimed. Those in power will be taught a lesson and the people will not tolerate such brazen display of power by the Chief Minister, the UBT leader said. CONTD. ON NATION French President Emmanual Macron has called for a halt to the Israeli bombing in Gaza saying there was "no justification" for it. He told the BBC that a ceasefire would benefit Israel. While recognising Israel's right to protect itself, "we do urge them to stop this bombing" in Gaza, he said. "I hope they will", he answered when asked if UK and US would endorse his calls for a ceasefire. He was speaking after the conclusion of a humanitarian aid conference Paris Peace Forum. According to President Macron, all governments and agencies present at the conference were convinced that "there is no other solution than first a humanitarian pause, going to a ceasefire, which will allow [us] to protect... all civilians having nothing to do with terrorists". "De facto - today civilians are , bombed - de facto. These babies, these ladies, these old people are bombed and killed. So there is no reason for that and no legitimacy So we do . urge Israel to stop", , he told the BBC. He clarified that it was not his role to judge whether international law had been broken. "I'm not a judge. I'm a head of state," he told the BBC. He said it would not be right to criticise Israel in this way - "a partner and a friend" just a month after it was attacked. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu swiftly responded to Macron's comments, saying nations should condemn Hamas, not Israel. Macron clarified France "clearly condemns" Hamas's attacks on Israel on 7 October which sparked the war. "We do share [Israel's] pain. And we do share their willingness to get rid of terrorism. We know what terrorism means in France." But he said there was "no justification" for the ongoing bombing of civilians in Gaza. CONTD. ON NATION