FP FREE PRESS The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms VOL. 13 NO. 238 | BHOPAL | SATURDAY | FEBRUARY 10, 2024 | PAGES 16 UPA PUT FAMILY FIRST, LEFT INDIA IN DIRE STRAITS IN 2014: SITHARAMAN NATION `3 - r Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2021-2023; EDITIONS: INDORE, BHOPAL, UJJAIN, MUMBAI, PUNE EDIT 26.10c. 12.10c WEATHER Bharat Ratna for ex-PMs Rao, Charan Singh, agronomist M S Swaminathan TUNNEL VISION OF DEVELOPMENT IN ELECTION YEAR, MODI GOVT BUCKS THE TREND AGENCIES New Delhi Former prime ministers P V Narasimha Rao, who is widely recognised for ushering in economic reforms in the 1990s, and Chaudhary Charan Singh, a champion of farmers' cause, and Green Revolution pioneer Dr M S Swaminathan will be conferred with the Bharat Ratna, it was announced on Friday . The announcement was made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, days after the Centre named former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur, a champion of backward empowerment, and L K Advani, a founding BJP member credited with charting the course of its rise through the 1990s, for Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian honour. At five, one more than the four announced in 1999, this is the maximum number of Bharat Ratnas announced for a year. With this, the number of recipients of the prestigious award, instituted in 1954, has risen to 53, Four of the five awards this year are posthumous. Advani, 96, is DIL JEET LIYA The honour for Charan Singh comes at a time when the RLD, led by his grandson Jayant Chaudhary, is believed to be in talks with the BJP for an alliance for the Lok Sabha polls. Chaudhary, who is the Rashtriya Lok Dal(RLD) president, said the Centre won his heart with the announcement of Bharat Ratna to his grandfather. "Dil Jeet Liya," he posted on X. SLIGHTLY LATE Rao's daughter and BRS MLC Vani Devi said although the award has come 'slightly' late, it's ok because it is the highest civilian honour. Today is a historic day, a happy moment. A good day which will be written in history with golden letters," she said."We are delighted that the first Telugu Prime Minister born on the soil of Telangana has been conferred with Bharat Ratna PROUD & HAPPY Swaminathan's daughter Dr Soumya Swaminathan, exchief scientist and former deputy DG at the WHO, said “Naturally we are very happy, delighted and feel honoured that he has been honoured with the highest civilian award of the country that is given to the country's most eminent citizens. I think it's a fitting tribute for somebody who spent his whole life working for the country. So it's a very happy and wonderful day today." RAJ THACKERAY SEEKS BHARAT RATNA FOR SHIV SENA FOUNDER BAL THACKERAY MNS president Raj Thackeray has demanded the Bharat Ratna for his uncle and Shiv Sena founderpatriarch the late Balasaheb Thackeray who played a major role in the Hindutva movement, here on Friday. "Now that the BJP-led government at the Centre has shown political generosity by honouring P.V. Narasimha Rao, Chaudhary Charan Singh, and Pranab Mukherjee a few years ago, they must show the same generosity and declare Balasaheb Thackeray Bharat Ratna as well," he said. the only one alive. Prime Minister Modi, who took to microblogging platform X to make the announcement, lauded the contributions made by the three awardees. Later, the Rashtrapati Bhavan in a press commu- PREPARING FOR GENERAL ELECTIONS Many collectors may be shifted before model code comes into force TRANSFER LIKELY after publication of voters' list OUR STAFF REPORTER BHOPAL NEWS BRIEF Pansemal tehsildar suspended BHOPAL: Indore divisional commissioner Mal Singh suspended tehsildar of Pansemal, Hitendra Kumar Bhavsar for misconduct on Friday. Recently, a video had surfaced in which Bhavsar is seeing slapping a farmer. ‘UPA compromised national security’ NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Friday that national security was compromised under the erstwhile Congress-led UPA government, which ruled the country from 2004 to 2014. Maha firing: Priyanka writes to Shah NEW DELHI: After Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Abhishek Ghosalkar was shot dead on Thursday by unidentified assailants in Mumbai, party leader Priyanka Chaturvedi wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday about the reported deterioration in law and order situation in Maharashtra. The government is getting ready to reshuffle the field officers after the publication of the voters' list. It plans to shift the collectors from many districts which may experience the impact of administrative reshuffle before the Model Code of Conduct is implemented before the Lok Sabha election. Collector of Panna Harjindar Singh and that of Damoh Mayank Agarwal may be shifted. Similarly, collector of Shahdol Vandana Vaidya and that of Ashoknagar Subhash Kumar Dwivedi are also likely to be transferred. Sandeep Makin from Datia, Dinesh Jain from Neemuch, Arun Vishwakarma from Niwari, Umashankar Bhargava from Vidisha, Sanjay Kumar from Sheopur and Fating Rahul Haridas from Barwani may also be shifted. Before the work of electoral list began, the collectors of a few districts had been transferred. When the work started from January 5, transfer of collectors was under the jurisdiction of the Election Commission. The government may transfer the officials after the publication of the voters' list on February 8 till the date Model Code of Conduct comes into force. Because the government has carried out administrative reshuffle in Mantralaya, it is preparing to transfer field officers. Besides the collectors, the government may also transfer the commissioner of Indore Mal Singh and that of Jabalpur Abhay Verma. Sunrise : 07.03 Sunset : 06.19 nique said the President has been pleased to award Bharat Ratna to the three eminent persons. Modi said Rao's visionary leadership was instrumental in making India economically advanced, laying a solid foundation for the country's prosperity and growth. Rao, a Congress veteran, was prime minister from 1991 to 1996. He also said the dedication of Singh to farmers and commitment to democracy during the Emergency inspires the country . The then prime minister Indira Gandhi had imposed Emergency in 1975. Singh, a Jat leader from western Uttar Pradesh who was prime minister in 1979-80, was one of the pioneers of anti-Congress politics. Modi also said it is a matter of immense joy that his government is conferring the Bharat Ratna on Swaminathan in recognition of his monumental contributions to the nation in agriculture and farmers' welfare. The honour for Swaminathan comes against the backdrop of protests by farmers in the NCR region and plans for similar stir in the coming days. CONTD. ON P8 SC no need to set up regional benches: Law Minister AGENCIES New Delhi Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Friday said according to the Supreme Court, there is no need to have its regional benches as of now. Responding to a supplementary during Question Hour on the government accepting a recommendation of a parliamentary panel that regional benches of the top court be set up, Meghwal said the recommendations of the standing committee on Law and Personnel is a separate thing. "But when the matter reached the court, the Supreme Court said as of now, there is no need for it." CONTD. ON P8 IMRAN KHAN'S PARTY-BACKED CANDIDATES LEAD IN PAK POLLS ISLAMABAD Jailed ex-Pakistan premier Imran Khan's partybacked independent candidates on Friday sprung a surprise by winning 86 seats out of the 201 results declared following unusual delays and allegations of rigging, as the country appeared heading towards a hung assembly . Votes are still being counted after Thursday's general election which was marred by allegations of rigging, sporadic violence and a countrywide mobile phone shutdown. There were dozens of parties in the fray but the main contest was among Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI), whose candidates are running as independents, former three-time premier Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) and Bilaw- al Bhutto Zardari's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). To form a government, a party must win 133 seats out of 265 in the National Assembly. Election to one seat was postponed after the death of a candidate. Overall, 169 seats are needed to secure a simple majority out of its total 336 seats, which include the reserved slots for women and minorities. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) data shows that results of 201 constituencies have been declared, which include 86 independents (mostly supported by PTI), PML-N 59, PPP 44 and 12 seats going to smaller parties. CONTD. ON P8 Sharif claims win 'without majority’ Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday claimed victory in national elections, saying that his political party has emerged as the largest in the vote and will discuss forming a coalition government. Sharif did not disclose how many seats his party had won and counting was still underway in the last few of the 265 seats that went to the polls. The latest count published by the election panel showed his PML-N winning 61 seats, much below the 133 mark needed to stake a claim to form a government. PM’s suprise visit to Parl canteen, wows MPs NEW DELHI He came. He ate with them. And, reports suggest, he won them over. Prime Minister Narendra Modi caught fellow MPs by surprise when he asked them to join him for lunch at the parliament canteen. "I'm going to punish you today, come with me," the Prime Minister reportedly said to the MPs, mock-seri- ously. Rice, daal, khichdi, til ka laddoo were among the fare served at the vegetarian lunch. Ram Mohan Naidu from TDP, Ritesh Pandey from BSP, BJP's Ladakh MP Jamyang Namgyal, Union Minister L Murugun, Sasmit Patra of BJD, and BJP's Maharashtra MP Heena Gavit were among the attendees. During the 45-minute lunch, MPs, across party lines, asked about the Prime Minister's lifestyle, when he wakes up, and how he manages such a packed schedule. "It was a purely casual, cordial meeting with the PM for lunch at the MPs' canteen. It was a good gesture," one of the MPs told media. "It did not feel like we were sitting with the Prime Minister," said another. CONTD. ON P8 r RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 QUALITY AT VALUE www.freepressjournal.in ROOT’S TRUTH BOMB FROM VAUGHAN SPORTS 97 cr to vote in upcoming General Elections: EC NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Friday said nearly 97 crore Indians will be eligible to vote in this year's Lok Sabha elections. It also said over two crore young electors in age group of 18 to 29 years have been added in the voters' list. There has been a six per cent increase in registered voters from 2019, when the last Lok Sabha polls were held. The registered voters then were 91.20 crore. "The largest electorate in the world -- 96.88 crore are registered to vote for the forthcoming General Elections in India," the EC said. The gender ratio has increased from 940 in 2023 to 948 in 2024, the poll panel said. The Commission has put special emphasis on purity and health of the electoral roll along with disclosures and transparency in the revision of electoral rolls, an official pointed out. Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar had explained at a press conference in Pune the various tasks involved in revision of electoral rolls along with participation of political parties at every stage. Over 2.63 crore new electors have been included in the electoral roll, out of which around 1.41 crore are women who surpassed the newly-enrolled male voters (1.22 crore) by over 15 per cent, the poll authority said. CONTD. ON P8 No time limit for increasing LBS sum to Rs 3K: Govt OUR STAFF REPORTER city.bhopal@fpj.co.in The State Government has said that it was not possible to set a time limit as to when the amount given to Ladli Behnas would be increased to Rs 3,000 per month. Notably, during the assembly election, the state government headed by Shivraj Singh Chouhan had reiterated in every public programme that the sum given to Ladli Behnas’ would be increased to Rs 3,000 in a phased manner. CONTD. ON P8 FULFIL PROMISE: RAWAT Taking part in the discussion on second supplementary budget, Congress MLA Ramniwas Rawat said that the figures of money given to beneficiaries of LBS are constantly changing. He apprehended that difference in sum disbursed under the scheme somewhere points towards financial irregularity. He asked the govt to fulfil the promise to give Rs 3,000 per month to the beneficiaries. NUMBER OF BENEFICIARIES HAS DECLINED Compared to December 2023, the number of eligible women under Ladli Behna Scheme has declined in January 2024. There are some reasons behind this. First, women on completion of 60 years by January 1, 2024, got evicted from the eligibility criteria. Second, some women have voluntarily refused to take benefit of the scheme. Deletion of names from SAMAGRA, delinking of SAMAGRA from Aadhar and deaths are some other reasons why number of Ladli Behnas has declined. There is no proposal to include women from 18 to 21 years years of age under the Ladli Behna Scheme. Moreover, it is impossible to give a specific time limit to include the remaining women in the scheme. This was informed in a written reply by Women and Child Development Minister Nirmala Bhuria to the Assembly on Friday. She was answering a written question by MLA Jhuma Solanki. Solanki wanted to know whether the number of Ladli Behna had declined in January 2024 compared to December 2023 and if this had happened then what are the reasons. HARDA HORROR FIRECRACKERS FOUND DUMPED NEAR TRACKS TOLL RISES TO 13 OUR STAFF REPORTER city.bhopal@fpj.co.in A huge amount of highly explosive firecrackers were found dumped near the railway line, posing a potential danger to passing trains. On Friday morning, passersby found the dumped bombs and informed the police, who came and seized them. Sources informed that on Friday morning as many as 70 bags full of ‘Sutli bomb’ were found dumped near the railway line. It is claimed that if these bombs had somehow come in contact with fire it would have caused a huge explosion and would have hurt passengers of passing trains. After the blast in a cracker factory on Tuesday, the district administration started inspections of the factories and the premises where manufacturing of crackers was being done. Fearing action, many cracker makers had allegedly dumped half-made bombs at night wherever SUBMIT report in 4 wks: NHRC to CS, DGP National Human Rights Commission has served notice to chief secretary and director general of police to submit detailed report on Harda firecrackers factory blast. NHRC, India has taken suo motu cognizance of a media report that about 11 people died and nearly 200 were injured in a series of explosions at a fireworks factory in the outskirts of Harda district on February 6th . The impact of the blast was felt several kilometres around the factory in the nearby areas. Reportedly, viral video showed victim’s bodies scattered on the roads and in the fields The factory has been under the scanner earlier also for certain illegalities. It was ordered to be closed in the year 2022 and the owner was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment in the year 2021 after the death of two workers in a blast which had taken place in 2015, inside the factory but he challenged the order. they found some vacant space. Even the local administration has found crackers dumped on the road side they are throwing them at the outskirts of the city . 6 killed in violence over madarsa demolition HALDWANI: Six people were killed and three critically injured in violence that broke out over the demolition of an illegally-built madrasa and a place for offering namaz inside its premises in this Uttarakhand town where a curfew has been imposed and shootat-sight orders have been issued, officials said on Friday . Nainital District Magistrate (DM) Vandana Singh and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Prahlad Meena, who held a joint press conference here, confirmed the two deaths in the violence that erupted on Thursday . Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami held a highlevel meeting at his official residence in Dehradun on Friday and instructed Additional Director General of Police (ADG), Law and Order, A P Anshuman, to camp in Haldwani to ensure peace and law and order in the town's Banbhoolpura area. Taking strong note of the attack on police personnel and administrative officials and an attempt to spread unrest in the area during the removal of illegal construction, the chief minister ordered strict action against unruly elements. CONTD. ON P8 The death toll in a blast at a firecracker has reached 13 on Friday after an 8year-old boy succumbed to injuries in a hospital in Bhopal, an official said. CONTD. ON P8 Biden nominates PIO Judge to US court for New York AGENCIES Washington President Joe Biden has nominated Indian-origin judge Sanket Jayshukh Bulsara, an expert in securities, contract, bankruptcy, and regulatory matters, for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. A child of immigrants from India and Kenya, Mr Bulsara, 46, has been a US Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of New York since 2017. He was the first South Asian American federal judge to serve on any court in the Second Circuit when he was appointed as a Magistrate Judge.