Vol. 67 No. 137 | FRIDAY | MARCH 8, 2024 | 27 Pages | `5 & for Pune `6 only Quality at Value www.freepressjournal.in MEMBER: AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATION THE FP BULLETIN FPJ CAMPAIGN RIGHT TO PEE T he Free Press Journal has started a campaign for Mumbai women’s right to urinate, which assumes significance because of the lack of adequate toilet facilities for them, with only one public toilet seat for every 1,500 women. The situation faced by working women in the city is particularly pathetic. Women in Mumbai also endure poor hygiene and safety concerns, as public toilets are often dirty, have broken doors, lack running water, and have inadequate lighting. PART 1 OF CAMPAIGN ON MUMBAI SAIBABA WALKS OUT OF JAIL F ormer Delhi University professor GN Saibaba was released from the Nagpur Central Jail on Thursday, two days after the Bombay High Court acquitted him in an alleged Maoist links case, noting that the prosecution failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt. Saibaba was lodged in the jail here since 2017 after his conviction by a trial court in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district. Before that, he was in prison from 2014 to 2016 and was subsequently SEE MUMBAI granted bail. EDITIONS: MUMBAI*, Pune, Nashik, Konkan, Indore, Bhopal, E-paper PM on song in J&K See how the times have changed, Prime Minister Modi pointed out. People have come to know the truth that they were misled on Article 370 and Jammu and Kashmir was kept in chains for the benefit of a few families, he declared FROM OUR BUREAU / NEW DELHI Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asserted in a meeting at Srinagar's Bakshi Stadium that the Congress had "misled" the people of Jammu and Kashmir on Article 370. In his first visit to Kashmir since abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, he also unveiled 53 development projects worth Rs 6,400 crore for J&K and participated in the "Viksit Bharat, Viksit Jammu Kashmir." He emphasised that since the abrogation of the article, the J&K youth have been receiving due respect and they are presented with new opportunities. “Freedom from restrictions has come after the removal of Article 370 in force. For decades, for political gains, Congress and its allies misled the J&K people and the country he said. “Did J&K benefit ,” from Article 370? Or were only a few political families taking advantage of it? The people have come to know the truth that they were misled as J&K was kept in chains for the ben- SC CALLS FOR ORIGINAL RECORDS SENA VS SENA AGENCIES / NEW DELHI The Supreme Court on Thursday summoned original records pertaining to the plea of the Uddhav Thackeray group seeking disqualification of MLAs, including Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, from the office of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar. The speaker had, in an or- SP rules out truck with BSP BISWAJEET BANERJEE / LUCKNOW efit of a few families,” he declared. He said that Jammu and Kashmir is "breathing freely" after the abrogation of Article 370 and pledged accelerated progress over the next five years. “Modi will not leave any stone unturned to repay this debt of affection. This is Modi sanz (Modi’s in Kashmiri) guarantee,” he said. Modi said the new Jammu and Kashmir has the spark for the future in its eyes and "140 crore citizens feel at peace when they see the smiling faces of the people of Jammu and Kashmir". "Jammu and Kashmir has broken the shackles after the abrogation of Article 370," he said. “There was an era when law implemented in other parts of the country could not be enforced in J&K. There was an era when schemes for welfare of poor were implemented across the country , but our brothers and sisters of J&K were deprived of the benefits. See how the times have changed”, the PM said. He also talked of J&K being a huge victim of "parivarvad" and corruption. CONTD. ON NATION Samajwadi Party (SP) President Akhilesh Yadav subtly suggested that the candidates fielded by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) could potentially play into the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. He firmly ruled out the possibility of forming an alliance with the BSP for these elections, during a chat with reporters. When asked about the potential alliance with the BSP Yadav emphasized that , time constraints have made such an alliance impractical for the impending Lok Sabha polls. CONTD. ON NATION der on January 10, declared the Shiv Sena bloc led by Shinde as the "real political party" after its split in June 2022. He had also rejected the Thackeray faction's plea to disqualify 16 MLAs of the ruling camp, including Shinde. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra sent for the original documents after the Shinde faction alleged forgery in the records by the Thackeray camp. The bench sent for the original documents after the Shinde faction alleged forgery in the records by the Thackeray camp The top court, which had issued notice on the Thackeray group's petition, asked Shinde and his MLAs to file a response positively on or before April 1, and listed the plea for final hearing on April 8. The bench said it was keeping the issue of maintainability of the petition open. On January 22, the top court had sought responses from the chief minister and other lawmakers of his group on the plea. The Thackeray faction, in its petition filed through MLA Sunil Prabhu, has alleged that Shinde "unconstitutionally usurped power" and is heading an "unconstitutional government". CONTD. ON NATION CM to throw open Phase 1 of Coastal Road tomorrow S BALAKRISHNAN / MUMBAI The first phase of the ambitious Coastal Road project of the BMC will be inaugurated chief minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday March 9 at 4 a.m. On Wednesday the FPJ took a , ``dekho" of the world-class project which is the BMC's latest gift to the metropolis. The 10.5 km Phase One which starts near the Worli-Bandra sea link and ends near Princess Street flyover is an engineering marvel building at a cost of over Rs 12,000 cr. Phase Two of the project which will take motorists from Princess Street flyover to the Worli-Bandra sealink is ex- Light at the end of the tunnel pected to be ready by June, 2024. A civic body which is unable to provide pothole-free roads to its citizens has sprung a big sur- prise by coming up with a project which will make its citizenry very proud.CONTD. ON NATION MORE ON MUMBAI