THE SUNDAY Vol. 35 No. 41 | SUNDAY | JULY 7, 2024 | 27 Pages | `5 & for Pune `6 only | Reg. No. MCS/048/2021-23; RNI No. 46955/1988 M.p.c.s. office Mumbai-400001 FREE PRESS www.freepressjournal.in Good Life Kissing, an often taken-for-granted gesture, has numerous health benefits EDITIONS: MUMBAI INDORE PUNE BHOPAL JOURNAL NASHIK PLAY & PAUSE Sunday Read Interview of Bharat Bala, creator of Maa Tujhe Salaam PEZESHKIAN PULLS IT OFF Agencies Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian won Iran's runoff presidential election Saturday, besting hard-liner Saeed Jalili by promising to reach out to the West and ease enforcement on the country's mandatory headscarf law after years of sanctions and protests squeezing the Islamic Republic. Friday's run-off vote was between Masoud Pezeshkian, the sole moderate in the original field of four candidates, and hardline former nuclear negotiator Jalili. Pezeshkian, a 69year-old cardiac surgeon, has pledged to promote a pragmatic foreign policy, ease tensions over now-stalled negotiations with major powers to revive a 2015 nuclear pact fp Briefs SRINAGAR 4 terrorists, soldier killed in 2 encounters Four terrorists and an army soldier died on Saturday in the two ongoing gunfights between the security forces and the terrorists in the Kulgam district. Officials said that the terrorists were killed in Chanigam and that a terrorist commander was among the dead. In another encounter in the same district, one army soldier was killed. AGRA Agniveer suicide A 22-year-old Agniveer from Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia district, Srikant Kumar Chaudhary, allegedly died by suicide while on sentry duty at the Air Force Station in Agra late Tuesday night. Srikant, who joined the Indian Air Force (IAF) in December 2022, was upset over not being granted leave. The IAF has formed a board of inquiry. and improve prospects for social liberalisation and political pluralism. "Dear people of Iran, the election is over, and this is just the beginning of our working together. A difficult road is ahead. It can only be smooth with your cooperation, empathy and trust," Pezeshkian said in a post on social media platform X. “I extend my hand to you and swear on my honour that I will not abandon you on this path. Do not abandon me." Pezeshkian promised no radical changes to Iran's Shiite theocracy in his campaign and long has held Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the final arbiter of all matters of state in the country. But even Pezeshkian's modest aims will be challenged by an Iranian government still largely held Reaching out: ‘Do not abandon me’ by hard-liners, the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, and Western fears over Tehran enriching uranium to near-weapons-grade levels, reports AP. A vote count offered by authorities put Pezeshkian as the winner with 16.3 million T Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar NEW DELHI On a day of some confusion over the “cancellation” of the NEET-UG counselling for admission to medical colleges, the Congress demanded that the exam conducted by the National Testing Agency be conducted again in view of all allegations of paper leak and other irregularities. All India Radio News tweeted saying, “Health Ministry clarifies that news of the deferment of #NEETUG counselling is incorrect as the date for counselling has not been notified yet.” Through the earlier part of Saturday, there was a buzz and reports in the media that the counselling for the examination -- which was conducted on May 5 and whose result was announced on June 4 – had Hathras: ‘Sevadars fully responsible’ Biswajeet Banerjee LUCKNOW been deferred. These reports took it for granted that the counselling was scheduled to begin on Saturday. Since there were allegations of irregularities in the exam, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh also Drunk tries to set Pune cop ablaze Agencies The Superintendent of Police (SP) Hathras Nipun Agarwal told reporters that Dev Prakash Madhukar, along with his sevadars and committee members, were fully responsible for the barricading, entrance, exit, seating arrangements, parking, and other facilities around the pandal of the satsang. The accused, Madhukar, and his team prevented the police administration from interfering with the venue’s arrangements. Sevadars, dressed as commandos, managed all the arrangements inside, allowing PUNE unrestricted videography and photography. Despite these responsibilities, the arrangements were poorly executed, violating many conditions of the administration’s permission letter and affecting the traffic system. Contd on | nation See also | nation By invitation Roshan Bourget Pen’s far right-wing party, Rassemblement National or the National Rally, in the European elections, over 2.5 million proxy votes were established. This number has gone up to 3.3 million between the first round of elections that was held on June 30 and the second round that will be held today. Proxy voting is when you have the option of giving a proxy to a registered voter to vote on your behalf. The National Rally’s (RN) victory in the first round of elections forecasts two scenarios. Contd on | nation In a shocking incident, a drunken man in Pune allegedly attempted to set ablaze a woman traffic police officer who had stopped him during a drunk-and-drive combing operation. The incident happened around 8 pm on Friday when the traffic police officer, assistant police inspector Shailaja Jankar was on duty on Laxmi Road with her colleagues. Sanjay F Salve, 32, was stopped by the team. He was asked to get down from the vehicle and accompany them to the nearby traffic police station. He started arguing and later fled only to return later with a bottle of petrol. Talking to reporters, Jankar said, "We were taking action against some drunk drivers, and the accused was one of them. We requested him to cooperate with us, but he started arguing.” “He poured petrol on a constable and me,” she added, “and took out a lighter from his pocket.” He lunged at her with the lighter but was pinned down by the police. Contd on | nation offgrid David crushes Goliath in Harare Haridev Pushparaj MUMBAI Zimbabweans must have missed Team India’s Victory Parade in Mumbai two nights ago that was literally a shout out screaming ‘We are the World Champions’. Either that or they cocked a snook at the World Champions. Nothing else would explain what their team pulled off on Saturday, exactly a week after India won the coveted T20 World Cup title in Barbados. Cricket is a game of such glorious uncertainties and the T-20 format makes it even core was believed to be mostly the urban middle class and young - that had been widely disillusioned by years of security crackdowns that stifled any public dissent from Islamist orthodoxy. The vote was declared in Pezeshkian's favour after he secured 53.3% of the more than 30 million votes counted. Jalili polled at 44.3%. Videos on social media showed his supporters dancing in streets in many cities and towns across the country and motorists honking car horns to cheer his victory. Pezeshkian, a member of the Iranian parliament, is critical of Iran’s notorious morality police and caused a stir after promising “unity and cohesion”, as well as an end to Iran's “isolation” from the world. Contd on | nation NEET counselling date confusion cleared Macron in his labyrinth oday, July 7, is voting day again for the French – round two of the crucial legislative elections. They will elect the 577 deputies of the NationalAssembly, the lower house of the French Parliament. On June 9 when the French President, Emmanuel Macron (46) with his wounded ego announced a dissolution of and fresh elections to the National Assembly owing to his allies’ shameful defeat to Marine Le votes to Jalili's 13.5 million in Friday's election. Overall, Iran's Interior Ministry said 30 million people voted in an election held without internationally recognised monitors. Pezeshkian managed to win with a constituency - whose more so. This is evidenced by the fact that the same Zimbabwe team, down to the last man, who had failed to make it to the T20 World Cup after a crucial loss to Uganda in the qualifiers should hand the World Champions such a defeat. Given India had bowled out Zimbabwe for a paltry 115, where at one stage they were 90/9, and were expected to canter home in a jiffy. India’s IPL superstars and young turks led by the brilliant Shubman Gill were expected to herald a whole new era for the national team after the retirements of the legendary Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. However, what followed was a procession of fallen wickets with three debutants Abhishek Sharma (0), Riyan Parag (2) and Dhruv Jurel (6) beating a hasty retreat to the pavillion, missing out on a golden opportunity to create a great first impression. Contd on | nation E-paper Live Smart Tips to navigate first day at the workplace Investigating the famous prisons turned tourist attractions IRAN | Disillusioned voters hope he will ease tensions in the country, and the West DUBAI KONKAN latched on the charges and posted a tweet, saying: “The whole NEET-UG issue is getting worse by the day. The nonbiological PM and his biological Education Minister are adding further proof to their demonstrated incompetence and insensitivity. The future of lakhs of our youth is simply unsafe in their hands.” Contd on | nation Flak over `11 crore to cricket team Budget session from July 22 FPJ News Service Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar MUMBAI NEW DELHI The Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT) have slammed the ruling Maha Yuti coalition in Maharashtra for its decision to give Rs 11 crores to the Indian cricket team for winning the T20 cricket world cup. The decision was announced by chief minister Eknath Shinde on Friday at a function in Vidhan Bhavan to felicitate Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube and Yashwasvi Jaiswal. Interestingly, the NCP (Sharad Pawar), which is an ally of the Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT) is maintaining a studied silence on the issue. The opposition parties said that while they were proud of the cricketers' achievement, there was no need to give Rs 11 crore from the state coffers and asked the chief minister to pay the amount from his own pocket. BJP legislator Pravin Darekar, however, hit back at the Congress, accusing it of politicising the issue. Talking to reporters later, Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, Vijay Wadettiwar, said, "What was the need to give Rs 11 crore from the state coffers? This is to pat your own back...Let the coffers get empty... Let the poor die. But the government The Budget Session of Parliament will be held from July 22 till August 12 and the Union Budget will be presented on July 23, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju announced on Saturday. In a post on ‘X’, Rijiju wrote “President of India, on the recommendation of Government of India, has approved the proposal for summoning of both the Houses of Parliament for the Budget Session, 2024 from 22nd July, 2024 to 12 August, 2024 (Subject to exigencies of Parliamentary Business). Union Budget, 2024-25 will be presented in Lok Sabha on 23 July, 2024.” In view of the Lok Sabha elections, the Budget was not presented earlier this year and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had presented the vote on account on February 1. She had stated then that, “It is a matter of truth that the February 1, 2024, Budget will be just a vote on account… we will be in election mode… so the Budget will just be to meet the expenditure no spectacular announcements are made at that time”. The vote on account only covers the essential expenditures of the government such as salaries of central govern- Contd on | nation This will be Nirmala Sitharaman’s seventh consecutive Budget presentation. With this, she will surpass the record held by Morarji Desai, who had presented six consecutive Budgets – of which five were regular and one interim. ment staff, funding of ongoing projects, and other expenses, till the time the full Budget is presented. Sitharaman had in February become the first woman finance minister to have presented six Budgets, including an Interim Budget. She had then exceeded the number of Budget presentations by her predecessor, the late Arun Jaitley. Following the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance’s return to power, Sitharaman was again made the Finance Minister. As such, this would be her seventh consecutive Budget presentation. On doing so she will surpass the record held by Morarji Desai, who had presented six consecutive Budgets – of which five were regular and one interim.