FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms FREE PRESS VOL. XXXX NO. 241 | INDORE | WEDNESDAY | FEBRUARY 7, 2024 | PAGES 16 r Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2021-2023; `3 r RNI No. 38281/83 QUALITY AT VALUE www.freepressjournal.in - EDIT MAYANK AGARWAL RETURNS TO LEAD KARNATAKA AGAINST TN IN RANJI TROPHY SPORTS RESTORE DEMOCRACY IN CHANDIGARH WEATHER EDITIONS: INDORE, BHOPAL, UJJAIN, MUMBAI, PUNE 29.40c. 14.00c Sunrise : 07.04 Sunset : 06.17 FEELING OVERWHELMED CINEMA HARDA: BLAST AND BLAZE AT FIRECRACKERS FACTORY KILLS 11 MORE THAN 200 INJURED, 3 HELD BLAST DASHBOARD D istressed by the loss of lives due to the mishap at a cracker factory in Harda, Madhya Pradesh. Condolences to all those who have lost their loved ones. May those injured recover at the earliest. The local administration is assisting all those affected. Rs 2 lakh from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each deceased. The injured will be given Rs 50,000 OUR STAFF REPORTER/AGENCIES Harda/Bhopal An explosion and subsequent blaze at a firecrackers factory in Madhya town killed 11 people and left 200 others injured on Tuesday, officials said. Three persons were arrested in connection with the incident, a senior official said. The incident occurred in Bairagarh locality on Magardha Road, on the outskirts of Harda town, prompting the state government to seek Army's helicopters for evacuation. "So far, 174 people have been rescued from the incident site -- 34 were referred to Bhopal and Hoshangabad and seven to Indore, while many others were undergoing treatment in district hospital. One death has been reported from among the people who were referred, and 10 deaths have been reported from the district hospital," Narmadapuram Commissioner Pawan Sharma told reporters. CONTD. ON P6 n PM NARENDRA MODI T he news of death of many people due to fire in Harda, Madhya Pradesh is extremely sad. I express my deepest condolences to the bereaved families and pray for the speedy recovery of those injured n DROUPADI MURMU, PRESIDENT T he incident in Harda is heartwrenching. Today I have postponed the night stay programme at Aharwada village of Chhindwara district. We will not spare the culprits. The state government will take strict action against the culprits. Relief work and providing treatment to the injured is our priority n CM MOHAN YADAV Now, ED wrath on Kejriwal’s PA NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday searched some premises of CM Arvind Kejriwal's personal assistant Bibhav Kumar and others as part of its probe into charges that the AAP and some officials received kickbacks of Rs 21 crore from a Delhi Jal Board contractor, official sources said. A dozen premises in the national capital were searched by the federal agency's officials from 7 am under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). While approving a 15% hike in annual price of liquor shops in 2024-25, the state Cabinet on Tuesday also banned such shops within one to 1.5km of educational and religious institutions. The above-mentioned decisions were taken after the Cabinet approved excise policy 202425. The Cabinet also approved of 5% hike in annual liquor shop price to enhance revenue. The policy would regulate 25 has been liquor shops, countrymade and liquor shops supply arrangement and retail sale of “Bhang” and “Bhag Ghota”. ‘Find my son, get Rs 1 crore’ Dad of missing tourist from TN announces hefty reward OFFICERS FLY TO HARDA IN CHOPPER: Responding to the tragedy, Chief Minister Yadav directed senior minister Uday Pratap Singh, Additional Chief Secretary Ajit Kesari and Director General (Home Guards) Arvind Kumar to travel to Harda by helicopter to take stock of the situation and oversee relief and rescue operation. A report from Indore said four injured women were admitted to the governmentrun MY Hospital in the city, a health official said. HIGH-POWER PANEL: The government constituted a threemember committee headed by Additional Chief Secretary (Home) to conduct a detailed probe into CM FOR STRICT ACTION AGAINST ILLEGAL LIQUOR SALE: Chief Minister Mohan Yadav spoke of illicit liquor sale that often led to loss of human lives. He asked the ministers to ponder on ways to check the malpractice and also the strict action to curb the menace. VICE-CHANCELLORS NOW TO BE CALLED ‘KUL GURU’: The Cabinet also cleared Madhya Pradesh University (Amendment) Act 2024, thus paving the way for vice-chancellor to be rechristened as ‘Kul Guru’. Cm Mohan Yadav had pushed the same amendment as higher education minister in the previous Shivraj government but could not get it cleared. 0 % LOAN TO FARMERS TO CONTINUE: To increase agriculture production, Cabinet approved the proposal to continue 0% loan scheme (short term) to farmers. The loans would be provided to farmers through cooperative banks. Under Kharif Seaon, the due date of loan is March 28 and under Rabi season, due date is June 15. SHIMLA Father of a tourist from Tamil Nadu announced a reward of Rs 1 crore to anyone who finds his son who has been missing since an accident in Himachal Pradesh's Kinnaur district, officials said on UTTARAKHAND TAKES UP UCC REGISTER LIVE-IN RELATIONSHIPS, OR.... ...face imprisonment & fine DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand government on Tuesday tabled the Uniform Civil Code bill in the state assembly, which when passed will be the first such legislation to be implemented in any state after Independence. The bill proposes a common law on marriage, divorce, land, property and inheritance for all citizens irrespective of their religion in Uttarakhand, excluding the Scheduled Tribes. The bill stipulates registration of live-in relationships in the state and imprisonment of three months for failure to do so within a month. Any child born out of such a relationship will be considered legitimate. The Uniform Civil Code (UCC) of Uttarakhand, 2024 bill was tabled in the House by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who HIGHLIGHTS n Provisions of the UCC Bill do not apply to tribal communities n The Bill aims to regulate livein relationships n The Bill prohibits bigamy or marriages with more than one person n Marriage age of men and women, and ‘degrees for prohibited relationship’ exception remain in a symbolic gesture, entered the assembly with a copy of the original Constitution. Treasury benches welcomed the tabling of the bill with thumping of desks and chants of "Bharat Mata Ki Jai", "Vande Mataram" and "Jai Shri Ram". CONTD. ON P6 A s many as seven injured including five women and a man were admitted to Maharaja Yeshwantrao Hospital. Meanwhile, district administration extended help to Harda and sent 20 ambulances. Collector Asheesh Singh said, "We have sent 20 ambulances including 108 Ambulances and ambulances of private hospitals. We have also sent some fire tenders, and will send a team of doctors as well." FORTY BEDS have been reserved in the hospital along with 23 beds in Burn Unit. INDORE MUNICIPAL CORPORATION has sent 11 fire fighting vehicles and a fire officer has also been sent to Harda to contribute in the rescue. MEANWHILE, EFFORTS WERE UNDERWAY TO ASCERTAIN THE EXACT NUMBER OF PEOPLE FEARED TO BE TRAPPED IN AND AROUND THE FACTORY No liquor shops within 1.5km of edu & religious institutions OUR STAFF REPORTER city.bhopal@fpj.co.in INDORE EXTENDS HELPING HANDS, SENDS AMBULANCES Tuesday. The car he was travelling in plunged into Satluj river near Pangi Nallah on Sunday. The driver was killed in the incident while one tourist was injured and the other was still missing, they said. CONTD. ON P6 RAPING GIRL IN TEMPLE: Man gets 30 yrs in jail AGENCIES New Delhi Upholding the conviction of a man for raping a seven-year-old girl in a temple in Madhya Pradesh in 2018, the Supreme Court has sentenced him to 30 years in jail while noting that his action was barbaric. The victim girl's grandmother lodged an FIR against the man who was 40 years old at the time of the crime, for kidnapping and raping the minor. The convict took the victim to a temple and raped her. After finding the man guilty, the trial court awarded him the capital punishment under Section 376 AB (rape on woman under 12 years of age) of the Indian Penal Code. The Madhya Pradesh High Court, however, commuted the same to life imprisonment for the remainder of the convict's natural life. A bench of Justices C T Ravikumar and Rajesh Bindal took into account the present age of the petitioner and the fact that he has already undergone incarceration. While modifying his sentence, the top court also imposed a fine of ? 1 lakh on the convict. Noting how the incident may haunt the victim, the top court said every visit to any temple may hark back to the unfortunate and barbaric action to which she was subjected to. CONTD. ON P6 the explosion. The other members of the high-powered committee are -- Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Intelligence, Jaideep Prasad and Public Works Department (PWD) Secretary RK Mehra. The panel is also mandated to fix the responsibility of those officials who were supposed to prevent such incidents. BLACK TUESDAY Who is responsible for deaths? NITENDRA SHARMA W henever a tragedy occurs, the administration wakes up and opposition sheds tears. The government sets up inquiry committees and comes up with several measures which though are never implemented. Both the government and the opposition blame each other for such tragedies and the matter stops there. So Harda firecracker factory blast that occurred on Tuesday will also pass into history as happened to Petlawad firecracker factory explosion that claimed 80 lives in 2015.The question is who is responsible for such tragedies? The answer is a corrupt system that protects owners of such factories. The administration was acquainted with the fact that the factory was illegally running. Its licence was suspended and it was allowed to make firecrackers only from one floor of the building, but its owners began to use the second floor, too. It was just happening under the nose of the district administration, but the officials concerned never acted against the owners. It seems a few people were hand in glove with those who were running the organization which virtually turned into a killing ground. CONTD. ON P6