FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms VOL. 13 NO. 155 | BHOPAL | SATURDAY | NOVEMBER 18, 2023 | PAGES 16 `3 r Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2021-2023; r RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 QUALITY AT VALUE www.freepressjournal.in FREE PRESS - 76.22%: HIGHEST EVER TURNOUT EDIT POLITICS ON PITCH, TO BE ESCHEWED WEATHER IN TELANGANA, WILL THIRD TIME BE A CHARM FOR BANDI SANJAY KUMAR? Pg-7 EDITIONS: INDORE, BHOPAL, UJJAIN, MUMBAI, PUNE 29.10c. 15.60c Sunrise : 06.40 Sunset : 05.44 ‘I JUST TRY AND BOWL STUMP TO STUMP’ Pg-14 Polling percentage to increase further; One dead in violence in Rajnagar OUR STAFF REPORTER city.bhopal@fpj.co.in andiRaj- 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. CORPORATOR KILLED FACT FILE QUEUE FOR DEMOCRACY: Voters wait in queues for their turn at a polling station in Bhopal North to cast votes during Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections on Friday. Sources said till 5pm, over 75% voters had excercised their franchise. Some polling booths witnessed long queues even after the voting deadline. 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. TWO GROUP CLASHES 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. A centenarian underlined his commitment to electoral democracy and was the cynosure of all eyes at a polling booth in Barwani where he cast his vote on Friday. Nanaji Bhilji Ahira, 113 as per his voters' ID, rode pillion on his great grandson's motorcycle to reach the polling station and cast his vote. CENTENARIAN CASTs VOTE Modi says Deepfakes can trigger major crisis, cites own morphed Garba video NEW DELHI News Brief SIT to probe Ranchi idol vandalism case RANCHI: A special investigation team (SIT) has been set up to probe into the vandalism of idols in five temples at Mudma village in Ranchi district, police said on Friday.Ranchi superintendent of police (rural) Manish Toppo told PTI, "We have formed an SIT to find the people involved in vandalising the idols. Additional security forces have been deployed near the temples in the village." India, OZ to hold '2+2' dialogue on Monday 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. Waqf recruitment case: Court sends 3 to jail NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Friday sent three people, arrested in a case related to alleged irregularities in Delhi Waqf Board recruitment also involving AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan, to judicial custody till Dec 1. Special Judge Vikas Dhull sent Zeeshan Haider, Daud Nasir and Jawed Siddiqui to jail while dismissing ED's application seeking their custodial interrogation 230 148 TOTAL ASSEMBLY CONSTITUENCIES: people generally trust anything associated with the media in the same way anyone clad in 'gedua' (saffron) tends to get respect from others. "A new crisis is emerging due to deepfakes produced through artificial intelligence. There is a very big section of society which does not have a parallel verification system," the prime minister told journalists at the programme where he aired views about a few things and sought their support to raise awareness. Deepfake videos are synthetic media in which a person in an existing image or video is replaced with someone else's likeness. The prime minister noted that earlier a movie with some controversial comments would come and go, but now it goes on to become a big issue. Even screening of such films becomes difficult on the ground that they have disrespected some section of society irrespective of the huge amount of money spent on making them, he said. Modi said he had recently suggested to ChatGPT professionals that as products like cigarettes come with health warnings, deepfakes too should carry disclosures. Of late, deepfake videos featuring several celebrities have surfaced online, including one on Rashmika Mandanna, which led to a police FIR and action by the Union IT ministry . CONTD. ON P8 Stone-pelting in Nuh sparks outrage Police opposes bail plea of NewsClick HR head Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday cautioned that deepfakes created by artificial intelligence can lead to a big crisis and stoke discontent in society, as he urged the media to raise awareness about its misuse and educate people. Addressing the media at BJP's 'Diwali Milan' programme at the party's headquarters here, Modi said he recently saw a video of him performing garba even though he has not done so since schooldays. Even those who love him are forwarding the video, he said in a lighter vein. "In a diverse society like ours, deepfakes can cause a big crisis and even stoke the fire of discontent as Police assure probe as locals demand action AGENCIES/ NUH A large crowd in Haryana's Nuh took to the streets on Friday and staged a protest, demanding an investigation into the stone-pelting incident that took place on Thursday . However, the Haryana Police pacified the protesters, assuring them of an inquiry into the incident. "We have registered an FIR in connection to the stone-pelting incident, and an investigation is underway. Action will be taken against those involved. The people here have protested, demanding an investigation into the same, and we've already initiated that. People have agreed to it. I appeal to people to maintain peace," Nuh DSP Virendra Singh said while speaking to ANI. On Thursday the , Police received a complaint about stones being pelted at some women in Nuh district, following which a case was registered. "Some women were going for 'Kuan Poojan,' when some children from a madrasa allegedly pelted stones," Nuh SP Narendra Singh Bijarniya said. The police appealed to people to maintain peace after the alleged incident, mentioning that people from both groups gathered. "FIR is being filed... We appeal to the people to maintain peace. Relevant action will be taken. CONTD. ON P8 NEW DELHI, Nov 14 (PTI) The Delhi Police on Friday opposed NewsClick human resources department head Amit Chakravarty's bail application before a court here in a case lodged under anti-terror law UAPA over allegations that the news portal received money to spread pro-China propaganda. In a brief hearing, police questioned the maintainability of the application before Special Judge Hardeep Kaur and sought the dismissal of the plea. The counsel appearing for Chakravarty claimed that he was not named as an accused in the FIR. "Chakravarty only has 0.09 per cent share in NewsClick, and he has no role in the management or the journalism," the counsel submitted. CONTD. ON P8 GENERAL SEATS: 35 ST SEATS: 47 SC SEATS: 2,533 2,280 Female: 252 CANDIDATES: MALE : 5,60,58,521 MALE: 2 ,87,82261 FEMALE: 2,71,99,586 THIRD GENDER: 1,292 TOTAL VOTERS: FIRST TIMER: 22.36 LAKH 6.53 lakh 80-PLUS VOTERS: 100 YEARS OLD: 5078 (Male 1422, Female 3656) TOTAL BOOTHS: GENDER RATIO: 64,626 945 HC quashes Haryana law providing 75% quota in pvt jobs CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana High Court Friday quashed a 2020 Haryana government law providing 75 per cent reservation in private sector jobs to the residents of the state. The verdict was pronounced by Justices G S Sandhawalia and Harpreet Kaur Jeewan. Senior advocate Akshay Bhan said the bench quashed the complete act. Bhan, one of the counsels for the petitioners, said it was argued that the Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Act, 2020 violated Articles 14 and 19 of the Constitution. The court had admitted multiple petitions against the implementation of the act that provided 75 per cent reservation in jobs in the private sector to candidates from the state. 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 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. VIPs queue up to cast vote OUR STAFF REPORTER city.bhopal@fpj.co.in Besides 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 daughter- CHHATTISGARH: 67.34% 5 LeT terrorists killed in Kulgam TURNOUT TILL 5 PM encounter AGENCIES/ RAIPUR Chhattisgarh recorded 67.34 per cent voter turnout till 5 pm in the second phase of state Assembly polls on Friday, the Election Commission informed. Ambikapur recorded a voter turnout of 65.05 percent whereas Bharatpur Sonhat recorded 67.94 percent. Bilaspur recorded 56.28. Till 5 pm, the maximum voter turn out has been recorded in the Kurud constituency with 82.60 percent, as per Election Commission. The election body stated that that history has been created as for the first time, all the polling booths in the Raipur North Assembly Constituency were staffed and managed completely by women polling personnel. At 3 pm, voter turnout in Chhattisgarh was 55.31 per cent. The second phase of polling in Chhattisgarh, to its 90-seat Assembly on Nov 17, began in 70 constituencies spread over 22 districts in the State. The timing for polling is from 8 am to 5 pm except for nine polling booths in the Naxal-affected Bindranawagarh seat in Rajim district, where voting was held from 7 am to 3 pm. A total of 958 candidates are in the fray across the 70 seats for which polling is being held currently . Over 18,800 polling stations have been set up for the second phase of polling. Congress and BJP are engaged in a fierce fight with both parties seeking to outdo each other in terms of poll promises. CONTD. ON P8 Global South should work towards self-reliance, says Jaishankar AGENCIES New Delhi The Global South should work towards self-reliance to mitigate various vulnerabilities as the Covid-era was a stark reminder of the "perils" of dependence for basic necessities on far away geographies, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Friday . Though Jaishankar did not make any specific references while making the remarks at the second virtual Voice of Global South summit, the comments are largely seen as a veiled dig at China as he also talked about reliability of supply chains and challenges of economic concentrations. He also said that there continues to be a "resistance" for a greater role for in-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 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. INDIA PROUD TO PUT VOICE OF GLOBAL SOUTH ON G20 AGENDA: PM The message from the second Voice of Global South summit is that the Global South wants its autonomy and is ready to take big responsibilities in world affairs, PM Modi said on Friday. He made the remarks at the concluding session of the second virtual summit of the developing countries that was hosted by India. Talking about participation of leaders from around 130 countries in the summit, Modi said the message that came out from it is that the Global South is ready to take big responsibilities in global affairs and that it wants autonomy. the Global South in shaping solutions for the key contemporary issues. "We also need to work towards self-reliance to mitigate our vulnerabilities vis-a-vis economic concentrations. The Covid era is a stark reminder of the perils of dependence for basic necessities on far away geographies," he said. "We need to not only de- mocratise and diversify production, but build resilient and reliable supply chains and promote local solutions. Only then can the Global South secure its future," he said. In the last few years, India has been positioning itself as a leading voice flagging concerns, challenges and aspirations of the Global South. CONTD. ON P8 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," Inspector General of Police (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. The security forces had launched a cordon-andsearch operation in Nehama village of Kulgam following information about the presence of terrorists in the area on Thursday officials said. , The search operation turned into a gunbattle as the terrorists opened fire towards the security personnel, they added.While the security forces maintained a tight cordon around the area where the ultras were trapped, the operation was suspended at night, the officials said.Gunshots were exchanged in the early hours of Friday after a night-long lull at Samno in the Nehama area, the officials said.The house where the terrorists were hiding caught fire in the exchange of fire in the morning, forcing the ultras to come out.