FP FREE PRESS The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms VOL. XXXX NO. 310 | INDORE | TUESDAY | APRIL 16, 2024 | PAGES 14 `3 - r Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2021-2023; EDITIONS: INDORE, BHOPAL, UJJAIN, MUMBAI, PUNE CINEMA AN EXERCISE IN CONTINUITY WEATHER NO RELIEF FOR KEJRIWAL, TO STAY IN JAIL TILL APRIL 29 VISIT ME NOT! EDIT 37.40c. 24.00c Sunrise : 06.05 Sunset : 06.47 SUPREME COURT issues notice to ED on Delhi CM’s plea NEW DELHI NEWS BRIEF Monsoon above normal this year NEW DELHI: India will experience above-normal monsoon rains this season on the back of favourable La Nina conditions, the IMD said on Monday, bringing cheer to farmers and policy-planners. M Ravichandran, the secretary in the Ministry of Earth Sciences, said that the seasonal rainfall will be on the higher side of 'abovenormal', and pegged it at 106 percent of the longperiod average (87 cm). LS polls: Seizure worth Rs 4,650 cr NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Monday said authorities under its supervision have made seizure worth Rs 4,650 crore, including drugs worth Rs 2069 crore, in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections. Stay on Idgah mosque survey New Delhi:The Supreme Court on Monday extended the stay on the operation of the Allahabad High Court order that allowed a courtmonitored survey of the Shahi Idgah mosque complex adjoining the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple in Mathura. Trump’s trial begins in NY NEW YORK: Donald Trump arrived Monday at a New York court for the start of jury selection in his hush-money trial, marking a singular moment in American history as the former president answers to criminal charges that he sought to stifle stories about his sex life. X bans over 2L account in India NEW DELHI: Elon Musk-led X Corp has set a new precedent in India by banning a staggering 212,627 accounts within the span of a month, marking a significant crackdown on content promoting child sexual exploitation and nonconsensual nudity. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday did not get any interim relief from the Supreme Court which sought a response from the Enforcement Directorate by April 24 on his plea challenging his arrest in a money-laundering case stemming from the alleged excise policy scam. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta issued notice to the ED on Kejriwal's plea challenging the Delhi High Court's April 9 order that had upheld his arrest in the case. The bench said the matter would be heard in the week commencing April 29. Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Kejriwal, questioned the timing of his arrest after the model code of conduct for the general elec- Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann talks to the media outside the Tihar jail after meeting the jailed Delhi CM and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, in New Delhi on Monday DELHI CM GIVEN TERRORISTS-LIKE TREATMENT: MANN Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who visited Delhi Chief Minister in Delhi’s Tihar Jail on Monday, said that he is being given terrorists-like treatment by the jail authorities.“Kejriwal is given terrorists-like treatment by the jail authorities. He is not being provided basic facilities. There was a glass wall between me and him when we met,” the Punjab Chief Minister said. Sources said that the meeting between the two took place within the confines of the prison's 'Jangla Mulakat' room, a space partitioned by a glass wall with intercom facilities on both sides. After coming out of the Tihar prison premises, Mann spoke to reporters, saying that Kejriwal asked the people not to worry about him. Paisa kisi ka bhi ho, paseena mere desh ka lagna chahiye PM MODI ON ELON MUSK'S INDIA PLANS NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly believes that investment from across the globe is welcome but the products should have the essence of the country's soil and its citizens should be engaged in the manufacturing process. PM Modi, in an interview with ANI ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, asserted that whoever wishes to invest in India can do so, but it must be produced by Indians so that youth can get employment opportunities. "I want investment to come in India because in India, it doesn't matter who has invested money, (but) the sweat put into the work must be of our own people. The product should have the essence of our soil, so that our youth in the country will get employment opportunities," PM Modi said, to a question on Elon Musk's Tesla and Starlink's possible entry into India. During the interview, the Prime Minister was asked A group of 21 retired judges of the Supreme Court and high courts have written to the Chief Justice of India on the escalating attempts by "certain factions to undermine the judiciary through calculated pressure, misinformation, and public disparagement". These critics are motivated by narrow political interests and personal gains and are striving to erode public confidence in the judicial system, they said. Though the retired judges, including four from the top court, did not specify the incidents which prompted them to write to the CJI, their letter came amid amid a war of words between the ruling BJP and opposition Rahul’s chopper checked cannot have a shortcoming, Modi has accused the opposition parties of "spreading lies" over the electoral bonds scheme, which has been struck down by the Supreme Court, and said "everyone will regret it when there is an honest reflection". ED doing good job Refuting the opposition parties' allegations of ‘being sent to jail by the BJP government", PM Modi said political leaders are involved in only 3 per cent of the ED cases and 97 per cent of cases are registered against the ones who do not belong to the politics. Noting that he had never said that a decision taken about Elon Musk publicly saying that the latter was a fan of Modi. To that, PM Modi responded by saying that Musk is a supporter of India. "Look, the first thing saying that Elon Musk is supporter of Modi is one thing, basically, he is a supporter of India. CONTD. ON P6 On electoral bonds Cong slams letter NEW DELHI The Congress on Monday alleged that the letter by 21 judges to the Chief Justice of India was part of an "orchestrated campaign of the prime minister" to "threaten, browbeat and intimidate" the judiciary that has flexed its muscles in recent months. parties over the actions against some opposition leaders in corruption cases. CONTD. ON P6 AGENCIES Nilgiris (Tamil Nadu) Election officials here on Monday conducted checks in a helicopter carrying Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The flying squad officials conducted the search after the helicopter landed here, police said. Gandhi was on his way to his parliamentary constituency, Kerala's Wayanad, where he has a slew of campaign activities, including public meeting. He is fighting the April 26 Lok Sabha polls from Wayanad, seeking a successive term. 8-yr-old boy fabricates his kidnapping story OUR STAFF REPORTER city.bhopal@fpj.co.in An eight year old boy told a fabricated story of his kidnapping to his sister in Adhartal area, Jabalpur, which alarmed his family members and they approached the police on Friday to lodge a complaint. Police said the boy lives in Adhartal with is sister and brother-in-law while his parents live in Chitrakoot. On Friday, after attending his karate classes, he DEVYANI KHOBRAGADE, AN IFS OFFICER, HAILS FROM MAHARASHTRA was returning home but stopped mid-way to play with his friends to play and got late. On reaching home, when his sister asked why he was late he said two youths on a motorcycle had kidnapped him. He told his sister that he some how managed to escape. The alarmed family members went to Adhartal police station to get the matter investigated. When the police questioned the boy, he came out with the truth. Police have not reggistered any case. A diplomatic Apsara in Cambodia FP NEWS SERVICE / MUMBAI Devyani Khobragade, an Indian Foreign Service officer and ambassador to Cambodia, has made the headlines yet again, albeit fleetingly. This time for taking cultural diplomacy several steps forward in the country she has been posted to. She dressed up as Apsara in a traditional Khmer costume for Khmer New Year celebrations. The Indian mission characterised the cultural outreach as a manifestation of a “deep admiration for Khmer culture” and described her outing as “elegantly dressed Khmer Apsara.” Although many eye brows went up in appreciation, for not many can carry it off the way Ambassador Khobragade, a one time MBBS doctor, did, there were the usual demurrals. The TMC spokesman and the second youngest MP Saket , Gokhale, bared his political fangs on X: “Over 5000 Indians are currently trapped in Cambodia and kept hostage by www.freepressjournal.in RASHID KHAN FUMES AS AUSTRALIA REFUSE TO TOUR THE COUNTRY SPORTS Iran to allow Indian officials to meet crew of seized ship NEW DELHI Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has said that Tehran will allow Indian authorities to meet 17 Indian crew members of a cargo vessel that was seized by the Iranian military near the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday . Amir-Abdollahian conveyed this to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during a telephonic conversation on Sunday, according to an Iranian readout. In the talks, Jaishankar called for release of the Indians onboard Portugueseflagged cargo vessel MSC Aries. "We are following up on the details of the seized ship and soon it will be possible for the representatives of the Indian government to meet with the crew of the said ship," the Iranian readout quoted AmirAbdollahian as saying. It said Jaishankar expressed his concern about the situation of the 17 Indian crew members and requested assistance from Iran in this regard. Special Naval Forces of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) seized 'MSC Aries' reportedly in view of its links with Israel. The MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Company) said on Saturday that it is working closely with relevant authorities for the well-being of 25 crew members and the return of the vessel. CONTD. ON P6 POLITICAL SCENE HEATS UP IN CHHINDWARA Police reach Nath’s residence, case against Miglani EX-CM’S AIDES accused of making BJP candidate’s obscene video viral OUR STAFF REPORTER Chhindwara As the date for polling in Chhindwara is nearing, the political scene in this constituency is heating up. On the complaint of BJP candidate Vivek Sahu and a journalist Sudesh Nagwanshi, a case has been registered against RK Miglani, a close aide of former chief minister Kamal Nath and a local scribe Sachin Gupta. A team of local police, consisting of CSP and cops of three police stations, reached Nath’s residence in Shikarpur and quizzed people there. Miglani has given the clue of his poor health, and the police sent him a notice seeking a reply from him. The police are also questioning Gupta and have seized his mobile phone. As soon as he came to know of the police reaching his residence, Nath left electioneering and went there. He then returned from his residence and took feedback on the case from his aides. According to sources, the police are also searching for Sahu’s video which went viral, so that they might reach the main source of the video. In the application handed over to the police station in-charge, Sahu said both Gupta and Miglani had prepared a bogus video with the help of copy shop and AI. The video is completely bogus. Sahu demanded action against Gupta and Miglani. In his complaint, Nagwanshi said that Miglani and Gupta had spent Rs 30 lakh to make a fake and obscene video of Sahu. Both Gupta and Nagwanshi reportedly said that the video should be made viral through another person. Nagwanshi said it was he who informed Vivek Sahu about the case and that a complaint was lodged at the police station. CONTD. ON P6 Sankalp Patra has immense possibilities for MP: CM Appeasing vote bank Modi questioned the Congress for its refusal of the invitation to attend the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of the Ram Janambhoomi Mandir. He said that the Congress and its allies had used the Ram Mandir issue like a political weapon. "This matter could have been dealt with in the court. There could have been a solution to the problem, he said Need to safeguard judiciary, retired judges write to CJI NEW DELHI tions had come into force and said it was done to disable him from campaigning. Terming it a "very unusual matter", not just because Kejriwal was a chief minister, Singhvi told the bench that he wanted to show some facts which would "shock" the conscience of the court. He said a lot of "selective leaks all over the place" was giving everybody a wrong impression. "I am not aware of selective leaks," Justice Khanna said, adding, "Let a notice be issued." Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, who represented the ED, said the probe agency will file its reply to the petition. "I am now asking for an extremely short date of Friday for a reason," Singhvi said, underlining the need for the matter to be heard early . CONTD. ON P6 QUALITY AT VALUE r RNI No. 38281/83 traffickers. But what’s the Indian Ambassador there doing? Playing fancy dress by “dressing as an Apsara” and doing photo shoots.” He may be slightly off the tangent. It is questionable if her political boss Dr Jaishankar could have carried it off with similar aplomb but it may be CONTD. ON P6 SUGGESTION of covering those above 70 under Ayushman came from state OUR STAFF REPORTER city.bhopal@fpj.co.in Madhya Pradesh too has contributed in giving suggestions to BJP manifesto 'Sankalp Patra'. The suggestion to cover older people above 70 years under Ayushman Scheme was suggested from the state. Suggestion boxes were kept at 1100 places across the state and 26,000 suggestions were collected. Releasing the Sankalp Patra of BJP at party office, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said that FIRING OUTSIDE SALMAN’S HOUSE Cops quiz bike owner AGENCIES Mumbai The police are questioning the owner of the motorcycle allegedly used by unidentified persons in the firing outside Bollywood superstar Salman Khan's house in suburban Bandra here, an official said on Monday . The motorcycle, which was abandoned near Mount Mary Church, a little over a kilometre from the actor's house, was registered in the name of a man living in the Panvel area of Navi Mumbai, the official said. The man had recently sold the two-wheeler to someone else, assistant commissioner of police Panvel Ashok Rajput said. Two persons fired four rounds outside Bandra's Galaxy Apartments, where the actor resides, around 5 am and fled from the spot. CONTD. ON P6 CM Mohan Yadav, BJP state president VD Sharma and others release party "Sankalp-Patra" with "Modi Ki Guarantee" on Monday. Sankalp Patra is a commitment of PM Narendra Modi and its implementation will open immense possibilities in the field of tourism, medical education, agriculture and other sectors in the state. As far as tourism related opportunities are concerned, the state government is working on Cheetah project and heritage project. Religious tourism has taken a big leap after the construction of Mahakal Lok, Devi Lok etc. CONTD. ON P6 Bishop among four stabbed in Sydney church SYDNEY Police in Australia say a man has been arrested after a bishop and three churchgoers were stabbed in Cops guard church premises Sydney. There are no life-threatening inand rushing to the bishop's juries. It occurred during a aid. The church website televised service at the identified the bishop as church on Monday Mar Mari Emmanuel. evening, police said. The NSW Ambulance service Orthodox Assyrian church said it had treated a man in streams services online. his 50s for multiple cuts A video on social media and taken him to a hospishows a man dressed in tal, and three others were black approaching a cleric treated for one or more at the altar identified as cuts at the scene. the bishop at Christ the "A large police response Good Shepherd in suburis underway and the public ban Wakely and appearing is urged to avoid the area," to stab him repeatedly in police said. Crowds gaththe head and upper body . ered outside the church Members of the congreand the hospital. gation are seen screaming CONTD. ON P6