76.22% FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms VOL. XXXX NO. 161 | INDORE | SATURDAY | NOVEMBER 18, 2023 | PAGES 16 `3 r RNI No. 38281/83 r Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2021-2023; QUALITY AT VALUE www.freepressjournal.in FREE PRESS STATE RECORDS HIGHEST EVER VOTER TURNOUT Madhya Pradesh recorded highest ever polling percentage of 76.22% on Friday amid few incidents of violence, including death of a councillor in Raj Nagar area of Chhattarpur. The voting began on a dull note but picked up pace in afternoon. The voters began to turn up at polling booths in large numbers and polling percentage stood at 76.22%. In 2018 assembly election, the polling percentage was recorded at 75%. The polling began at 7am when only a few voters cast their votes at different polling stations across the state. Just as the morning slipped into afternoon, polling picked up pace though it still remained low in many districts. At 3 pm, in Bhopal, the voting percentage stood at 45.34%. At the same time, voting percentage in Indore district was 54.89%. It was during the evening hours that voters particularly women flooded the polling stations to cast votes. By seeing the long queues at many polling stations, the EC decided to allow the people to vote past 6 pm. In Naxal affected areas of Balaghat, Mandla and Dindori, voting was held from 7 am till 3 pm. In Balaghat, three assembly constituencies, including Baihar, Lanji and Paraswada, 47 polling centre of Mandla and 40 polling centres of Dindori went for polling between 7 am till 3 PM. EDIT POLITICS ON PITCH, TO BE ESCHEWED FACTFILE TOTAL ASSEMBLY SEATS SCHEDULED CASTE SEATS 35 Haryana law on pvt sector jobs CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana High Court Friday quashed a 2020 Haryana govt law providing 75% reservation in private sector jobs to the locals. The verdict was pronounced by Justices G S Sandhawalia and Harpreet Kaur Jeewan. Senior advocate Akshay Bhan said the bench quashed the act. Bhan said it was argued that the Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Act, 2020 violated Articles 14 and 19 of the Constitution. 148 47 VIPs queue up to cast vote CANDIDATES 2280 252 FEMALE TOTAL VOTERS People waited patiently in long queues to exercise their franchise at a booth in Musakhedi in Indore on Friday ONLY ONE VOTE IN NATH'S SHAHPUR CHHINDWARA: Only one voter from Shahpur village in Chhindwara assembly constituency cast vote in the state elections on Friday as the rest of the locals boycotted polling to protest the denial of ticket by the Congress to a local leader from another seat. Sitting MLA and state Congress chief Kamal Nath and the BJP's Vivek Bunty Sahu are the main contestants from Chhindwara. CORPORATOR KILLED A councillor accompanying Congress candidate from Rajnagar, Kunwar Vikram Singh Natiraja, died in early morning hours of Friday. Natiraja alleged that it men of BJP candidate Arvind Pateria ran over the vehicle on Salman and one another. On his complaint, police booked Pateria and others under IPC sections 302, 307, 147, 149, 294 and 506. BJP state president VD Sharma reacted strongly over the FIR registered against Pateria by stating that police have filed case on the baseless allegations of Congress. He said that those who filed the bogus FIR would not be spared and a complaint was made with EC and police in this regard. BHIND, LAHAR & ATER CANDIDATES PLACED UNDER HOUSE ARREST Bhind district administration placed candidates of three constituencies – Bhind, Ater and Lahar – under house arrest on Friday to ensure free and fair elections. Sources said that the Bhind district administration and police placed Rakesh Choudhary (Congress), Narendra Kushwah (BJP) and Sanjiv Kushwaha (BSP MLA) under house arrest. The three candidates from Lahar constituency MLA Dr Govind Singh (Congress), BJP Avnish Sharma (BJP) and Rasal Singh (BSP) and Ater constituency’s Hemant Katare (Congress), Munna Singh Bhadoria (SP) and MLA Arvind Singh Bhadoria (BJP) were placed under house arrest. The candidates were released around 5pm, when the polling was in the last leg. TWO GROUPS RESORT TO STONE-PELTING IN DIMNI, ONE INJURED Tension prevailed during polling in high-profile Dimni assembly constituency when two groups clashed by resorting to stone pelting. One youth was injured. There is also news that firing took place in Dimni, but could not be confirmed. From Dimni, Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar is the BJP Candidate. In another incident, BJP candidate from Mehgaon, Rakesh Shukla was injured as a group of people allegedly threw stones on him. The guard of Shukla had to fire in air to save him. In Shujalpur, supporters of BJP candidate and School Education Minister Inder Singh Parmar and Congress candidate Ramveer Singh Sikarwar exchanged heated words. At the time of incident, Parmar was present. In Gwalior East assembly constituencies, BJP and Congress supporters came face to face over the victory related claims. This incident left two persons injured. RAIPUR NEW DELHI : Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defence Minister Richard Marles are set to visit India to take part in the two-plus-two ministerial dialogue on Monday that is likely to focus on further shoring up strategic ties between the two countries, people familiar with the matter said. SCHEDULED TRIBE SEATS 230 This time the voter turnout was a whopping 73.75%, which was 2.3% more when compared to the last Assembly polls in 2018 when 71.45 % of voters exercised their franchise. The highest 82.42% voting was recorded in Depalpur and the lowest 67.37% was recorded in Indore-2. The highest voting was registered in Depalpur (82.42), Sanwer (80.23%), Mhow (77.35%) and Rau (75.98). The lowest voting was recorded in Indore-2 (67.37%), Indore-5 (67.90%), Indore-3 (71.24) and Indore-1 (72.08%). PG3 Chhattisgarh polls: 70.59% voter turnout in 2nd phase India, OZ to hold '2+2' dialogue on Monday GENERAL SEATS 2533 ust five days after Festival of Lights, voters of the district turned up in large numbers on Friday to take part in the Festival of Democracy which was by and large peaceful, save a few stray incidents following which four FIRs were registered. News Brief AN ORDINARY SURVIVAL DRAMA Pg-16 29.10c. 15.60c Sunrise : 06.40 Sunset : 05.44 MALE 73.75% J VOTING IN INDORE UJJAIN RECORDS 78.64% VOTING EDITIONS: INDORE, BHOPAL, UJJAIN, MUMBAI, PUNE WEATHER IN TELANGANA, WILL THIRD TIME BE A CHARM FOR BANDI SANJAY KUMAR? Pg-7 OUR STAFF REPORTER city.bhopal@fpj.co.in - A voter turnout of 70.59 per cent (provisional) was recorded in the second phase of Chhattisgarh assembly elections for 70 constituencies on Friday, where voting was held under a thick security blanket of police and paramilitary personnel, officials said. A jawan of the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) was killed in a blast triggered by Naxalites in Gariaband district of the state when a polling team being escorted by security personnel was returning after conducting voting, they said. Polling in 70 constituencies began at 8 am and concluded at 5 pm, except in nine polling booths in the Naxalaffected Bindranawagarh seat in Gariaband district, ITBP jawan killed in IED blast Gariaband: An Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) jawan was killed in an IED blast carried out by Naxalites in Chhattisgarh's Gariaband on Friday, said police. The IED blast was carried out by the Naxals, targeting the polling party, when they were returning from Bade Gobra polling station. where voting was held from 7 am till 3 pm for security reasons, a poll official said. "An average voter turnout of 70.59 per cent was recorded in 70 seats. However, this figure may go up as it takes time to receive final data from many booths," the official said. Of the 70 seats, the highest turnout was recorded in Sanjari-Balod seat (Balod district) at 84.07 per cent, while the lowest voting percentage was recorded in Raipur City South- an urban constituency, at 52.11 per cent, as per the Turnout app of the Election Commission of India (ECI). In terms of the districts, Raipur district, which has seven assembly seats, recorded a low voter turnout of 58.83 %. Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel's constituency Patan saw a significant turnout of 83.90 %. The second phase of polls will decide the electoral fate of political heavyweights like Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, his deputy T S Singh Deo, eight state ministers and four members of Parliament. CONTD. ON P8 A Sunny (Leone) vision in pink was witnessed at the Ganga ghat in Varanasi on Thursday, as the actor was seen offering prayers and participating in the Ganga Aarti ritual. She was accompanied by ex-IAS officer and actor Abhishek Singh. Dressed in a pink salwarkameez, head covered by a dupatta, a garland around her neck and forehead sporting tilak and kumkum, the actor was all attention as the priest recited the prayer and could be seen turning towards Singh from time to time, to ensure she was doing the right thing, as instructions were being conveyed by gesture, to keep the recitation flowing. When it came to raising hands after the aarti, the actor was seen looking around and taking her cue from the people behind her and Singh, who stood be- 2,87,82,261 MALE 2,71,99,586 FEMALE 1,292 THIRD GENDER 22.36 lakh FIRST TIMER 6.53 Lakh 80-PLUS VOTERS 5,078 100 YEARS OLD 1422 3656 MALE FEMALE 64,626 TOTAL BOOTHS 945 GENDER RATIO OUR STAFF REPORTER city.bhopal@fpj.co.in Apart from common voters, many VIPs cast vote in the state on Friday. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan cast vote at model voting centre set up at Government Middle School in Jait village in Sehore district. His wife Sadhna Singh, sons Kartikey Singh Chouhan and Kunal Chouhan also exercised their franchise. The chief minister and his family stood in a queue and waited for their turn for ballot. Former chief minister and State Congress president Kamal Nath voted in Shikarpur village in Sausar Assembly constituency in Chhindwara district. He was accompanied by son Nakul Nath and daughterin-law Priya Nath. State BJP president VD Sharma cast his vote in Huzur Assembly constituency. Speaking to media, he charged Congress with hooliganism. Talking about violent incidents that took place in some parts of the state, he said SUPERGAME SUPERSATTA 5 LeT men killed in Kulgam encounter SRINAGAR: Five Lashkare-Toiba (LeT) terrorists were killed on Friday following an overnight encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district, police said. "The bodies of the slain terrorists have been retrieved and the area is being sanitised," IGP, Kashmir Zone, V K Birdi told PTI after the 18-hour gunbattle came to an end. Birdi said the bodies of the slain terrorists were located with the help of drone footage. CONTD. ON P8 Sunny sight at Ganga Ghat in Varanasi FP NEWS SERVICE / VARANASI 5,60,58,521 side her. The video has been shared by ANI and has gone viral. The actor duo was reportedly seeking blessings for their latest song, Third Party Leone later shared a . video on Instagram, depicting the scenic and mystic view of the aarti, captioning the clip, The most amazing experience in Varanasi watching the Ganga Aarti. CONTD. ON P8 Q India stands at 45 paise and Australia at 57 paise Q Bookmakers see `35,000 crore changing hands JOE WILLIAMS & S BALAKRISHNAN / MUMBAI Cricket gurus foresee a balanced ICC World Cup final, echoing the sentiment in the satta market, where India stands at 45 paise and Australia at 57 paise. Amidst Ahmedabad s preparations for a memorable event, the satta market is abuzz 24/7, ensuring punters stay in the loop with the latest global odds. Bookmakers project a staggering exchange of over Rs 35,000 crore in the days ahead. The thrill of betting spans the toss to the final ball, capturing every moment of anticipation. A regular punter told the FPJ on Friday, I have never witnessed so much tension and excitement in the past. The match has raised the frenzy to an unprecedented new level. The Dawood Ibrahim gang is in full form through its vast network of bookies spread across Mumbai, Indore, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Karachi, Dubai and Bangkok. In the past, top bookies like Vinod Chembur, who had the backing of the Chhota Rajan gang, were able to prevent the D Company from monopolising the betting racket. But following the death of Vinod Chembur in April 2015, following a liver ailment, Karachi-based Dawood Ibrahim has had a virtual monopoly over almost all betting syndicates. If any of the syndicates renege on making payments to winning punters, then the gang ensures that money is given to the winners. CONTD. ON P8 party workers gave befitting reply whether it was Dimni, Khajuraho or Sidhi. Union Minister and BJP candidate from Dimni Assembly constituency in Gwalior Narendra Singh Tomar voted at polling centre in Government Primary School in Murar. Union aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia balloted in Gwalior East. Former Chief Minister and Congress MP Digvijaya Singh voted in Shymlla Hills. Modi warns against deepfakes FP DESK / NEW DELHI Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday warned of digital media deep fakes and cited the time he came across a video in which his look-alike is shown jiving to a Garba number. But the reality is that I have not done garba since school. Someone had made my deep fake video,” the prime minister explained. It was therefore important to educate people on how Artificial Intelligence works, as it could be an exercise in subterfuge to purposefully spread false information with malicious intent. A deep fake can be a video, an audio recording or an image using deep learning algorithms, which misrepresent what a person is saying or doing. The technology can be used to impersonate, to inflict scams. PM Modi was addressing a Diwali Milan program at the BJP headquarters. Just as cigarette packets carry a warning, deep fake videos should also be labelled, the Prime Minister said. Deepfakes can be designed to harass, intimidate, demean and undermine people. Deepfakes can also create misinformation and confusion about important issues. CONTD. ON P8