FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms Vol. XLI No. 39 | INDORE | WEDNESDAY | JULY 17, 2024 | Pages 14 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. 38281/83 FREE www.freepressjournal.com Sports Harman climbs to 12th, Shafali rises to 15th P.14 fp ESTD-1983 iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: INDORE UJJAIN PRESS PUNE BHOPAL NASHIK MONEY BHOPAL Rs 2 hike in Sanchi milk Sanchi milk federation has increased milk price Rs 2 per litre for all variants from July 17. Last time, price was hiked on December 2022. RPS Tiwari, CEO Milk Federation, said, “ we have increased Rs 2 per liter for all variants from July 17 in Madhya Pradesh.” Cinema Kim deletes photo with Lord Ganesha MUMBAI 5 pilgrims dead in mishap At least five persons were killed and 42 injured when a bus carrying `warkaris' or pilgrims headed for Pandharpur hit a tractor on Mumbai-Pune Expressway, police said on Tuesday. The bus was ferrying 54 warkaris, devotees of Lord Vitthal, on their way to Pandharpur in Solapur district for Ashadhi Ekadashi celebrations from Dombivli near Mumbai. Notably, tractors are not allowed on the expressway. DARBHANGA/PATNA Ex-Bihar min’s dad stabbed In a ghastly incident that has sent shock waves across Bihar, former state minister Mukesh Sahni's 70-year-old father was found stabbed to death at his native home in Darbhanga district, a top police officer said. According to Jitendra Singh Gangwar, ADG (Headquarters), two persons have been taken into custody for questioning, on the basis of CCTV footage obtained from cameras installed in the vicinity of the site of the crime. SRINAGAR 3 tourists killed in J&K Three tourists, including two women, died in a road accident on Zojila axis on Srinagar-Kargil Highway in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday, police said. "A vehicle fell into a gorge on Zojila Axis resulting in the death of three tourists and injuries to one," a police official said. The deceased include two women while the injured -- a minor girl -- has been rushed to a hospital here in critical condition. Called back to academy, training put on hold Kalpesh Mhamunkar Points finger at Pune DC MUMBAI In the latest development in the ongoing saga of trainee IAS officer Puja Khedkar, her district training has been put on hold by the state government and she has been directed to return to the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie before July 23. The academy is a training institution for civil servants. The 34-year-old 2023 batch officer is under the scanner over allegations of lying about visual and mental disabilities in order to clear the civil services entrance examination (there are reports that she allegedly made 11 attempts, exceeding the maximum of nine tries a candidate with disabilities is allowed), and then abused Trainee IAS officer Puja Khedkar has accused Pune Collector Suhas Divase of harassment, police sources said. Khedkar is being investigated over allegations she lied about visual and mental disabilities. Someone must have doubted rainee IAS officer Puja Khedkar - under scrutiny over claims about disabilities to clear the Civil Services exam - was sent for a medical check-up because "someone must have doubted" her claim of infirmities, a senior AIIMS doctor told media. her position as assistant collector in Pune, to avail of perks not available to junior officers. Her OBC certificate too is in the media glare and her alleged attempts to misrepresent her age. It is understood that Khedkar had submitted multiple medical certificates to the Union Public Service Commission. It has also emerged that at the time of clearing joining formalities for the civil services, Khedkar had skipped multiple calls for a medical test to confirm her infirmities. Trainee IAS officers undergo one year of district training in their allotted state cadre. On Tuesday afternoon, Puja was recalled from her post in Washim, where she had been transferred after the controversy erupted. With the recall, she has been also relieved from duty. Last week, the government had set up a one-member panel to investigate her controversial claims. Additionally, the offices of the Maharashtra chief secretary and the director of The Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration have launched inquiries into the allegations of forgery against Khedkar. Donald Trump's running mate for US vice president has declared that UK under Labour might be the first "truly Islamist" country with nuclear weapons, remarks that were brushed aside by the Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner who quipped, J D Vance had said “quite a lot of fruity things in the past." FP News Service DHAR Three children lost their lives, and one was critically injured when lightning struck a neem tree under which they had taken shelter from the rain, in Dhar on Tuesday afternoon. Kotwali police station incharge Sameer Patidar said the incident took place at around 4.30 pm. The victims, Pankaj (15), Ganesh (10), and Vijay (10), along with Shubham (10), had been playing in an open field on Phadke 4 more bravehearts gone FPJ News Service DODA The Neem tree Masked man loots Rs 6.64L at gunpoint from PNB Daylight bank robbery at Vijaynagar Eyewitness account Our Staff Reporter INDORE An eyewitness, Shivam Saule, who has a coconut water cart across the road, said, "I heard a gunshot and saw a man wearing a raincoat and mask coming out of the bank with a gun and a bag. He calmly exited and was not in a hurry. He started his bike and fled. A bank employee, Sandeep Verma, came out of the bank and followed him with a customer for a short distance." A single masked man, wearing a raincoat committed robbery at PNB bank in broad daylight, stealing Rs 6.64 lakh at gunpoint under the Vijay Nagar police station's jurisdiction on Tuesday. The incident occurred at 4:40 pm in Scheme No. 54 which is one of the busiest areas of the city. The suspect fired a shot at the cashier's window, causing panic among the staff and customers. He then demanded that the cashier fill his bag with money before fleeing the scene. Additional CP Amit Singh said, "The robber is suspected to be a se- IMF raises India’s GDP forecast to 7% Officers told to submit report on STP location The robber committed at a private bank located at Pardeshipura Square on July 10, 2020 in which some masked men entered the bank carrying firearms and fled with approximately Rs 5.35 Lakh. Later, the police caught the accused at Super Corridor two days after the incident. curity guard, carrying a licensed rifle and was wearing Chief Minister Mohan Yadav suddenly left for Delhi on Tuesday night. His trip to Delhi was planned at noon. During his stay there, Yadav National Green Tribunal (NGT) has asked Indore collector and Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) to submit report regarding location of Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) and nature of constructions for conservation of Sirpur lake in Indore. IMC administration has also been directed to ensure the provisions of Wetland Rules are followed and there is no discharge of sewage or solid waste into the Sripur Lower Lake. The action taken report and the further progress report may be filed within 3 weeks. Applicant Rashid Noor Khan said, “Our concern is encroach- Focus on devpt To a question about giving a cabinet berth to Kamlesh Shah who has won the assembly by-election from Amarwada, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said the focus would be only on development for two years. ment and permanent construction over the Sirpur Wetland, a Ramsar site, Indore, by the IMC in violation of provisions of Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and Wetland (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017.” Advocate Harshwardhan Tiwari, appeared on behalf of applicant. 4Continued on | P6 4Continued on | P6 Our Staff Reporter NGT order on Sirpur Lake Sample these: I’m a ‘never Trump’ guy. I never liked him.” “My God! What an idiot.” “I find him reprehensible.” That was from JD Vance, first time senator from Ohio, in interviews and on Twitter in 2016, when his memoir ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ shot him to fame. The BBC reports that he wrote privately to an associate on Facebook: "I go back and forth between thinking Trumps picks as a running mate who, observers note, is both an agent of change and the subject of it Trump is a cynical asshole ... or that he's America's Hitler". Now, Vance is Trump's running mate, figure that out. A columnist in the Atlantic describes him thus: But what should we call J. D. Vance, the self-described hillbilly turned Marine turned Ivy League lawschool graduate turned venture capitalist turned Senate candidate? Words fail. His perfidy to his own people in Marg, in front of the CMHO office. The area is a popular playground for local children. As the rain intensified, the children took refuge under a neem tree. Unfortunattely, lightning struck the tree, sending the children sprawling on the ground. The intensity of the strike was so great that the bark of the tree peeled off. 4Continued on | P6 Four army personnel, including a captain, died after being injured in a gunfight with heavily armed terrorists in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir. Those killed in the encounter have been identified as Captain Brijesh Thapa, Naik D Rajesh, Sepoy Bijendra and Sepoy Ajay. This was the third major encounter between security forces and terrorists in the forests of Doda in the past three weeks. The responsibility for the attack was claimed by 'Kashmir Tigers', a shadow group of Pakistan-backed terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammad. This is the same group which had earlier claimed responsibility for the attack on an Army convoy in Kathua on Captain Brijesh Thapa WILL SALUTE HIM: FATHER ather of martyred Army captain Brijesh Thapa on Tuesday said he was proud of his son who was killed in action and that he would salute his coffin like a soldier when it arrives in their hometown Darjeeling. “He used to roam around as a child in my army uniform. He had done his engineering but still wanted to join the Army. F July 9, which had resulted in the loss of five soldiers. CUSTODIAL DEATH may hold talks with a few Union ministers about certain issues related to the state. The CM will meet BJP president J P Nadda and Home minister Amit Shah tomorrow Seven months have passed since the government was formed, but the ministers have yet to get charge of districts. The ministers may be allotted districts after central leadership’s nod. Ramniwas Rawat, who switched over to the BJP from the Congress and was recently sworn in as minister, is yet to get a department. Yadav may also hold discussions with the central leadership over Rawat’s department. He may discuss some political issues of the state with some people associated with the BJP and the RSS. BHOPAL The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday raised India's GDP growth forecast for 2024-25 to 7 per cent from 6.8 per cent projected earlier on the back of “improving private consumption, particularly in rural India". "The forecast for growth in India has also been revised upward, to 7 per cent, this year”, the IMF said in its World Economic Outlook report. The IMF has left unchanged its estimate for India’s economic growth for 2025-26 at 6.5 per cent. “Growth in India and China will account for almost half of global growth in 2024. Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL Last bank robbery : The last bank robbery was IANS NEW DELHI CM in Delhi, decision on allotting districts to ministers likely From “never a Trump guy” to his standard bearer Agencies Lightning kills 3 kids, injures one in Dhar 4Continued on | P6 offgrid WASHINGTON E-paper World Shooter’s last day of his life P.9 Sebi amends REIT, InvIT rules IAS PROBATIONER CASE: More trouble for Puja Khedkar Briefs MUMBAI Ohio is too big to allow him to escape with the label of “opportunist,” and yet the shabbiness and absurdity of his Senate campaign is too small to brand him a defector or a heretic. Women strip at collectorate to register their protest FP News Service GUNA The death of a groom in police custody in Guna, led to protest by women of the Pardhi community at the collectorate premises on Tuesday. The groom, Deva Pardhi, was taken into police custody a day before his wedding on suspicion of theft and died during interrogation. Following the death of Deva, women from the Pardhi community reached the collectorate for a public hearing. When they were not allowed to meet the collector, the situ- Family members protest at Guna collectorate ation escalated. In their frustration and grief, the women began tearing their clothes. The police tried to intervene, resulting in minor injuries to some of the women. The administrative officials, including the tehsildar, attempted to calm the situation by explaining the protocol and assuring the women that a few representatives could meet the collector to submit their memorandum. Despite this, the women insisted on meeting the collector as a group. After further negotiation, a small delegation of 4 to 5 representatives was finally allowed to meet the collector, which helped to diffuse the tension. 4Continued on | P6 Special wagons used to SC gets 2 new judges, first rescue injured cubs from Manipur Our Staff Reporter PTI BHOPAL/ SEHORE NEW DELHI A special railway wagon was used in rescue operation of two injured cubs at Midghat of Sehore district on Tuesday. It was with the help of special railway wagon that both cubs were brought to Bhopal and were later shifted to another vehicle to take them to Van Vihar National Park for treatment. Sehore collector Praveen Kumar Adhayach, chief conservator of forest Rajesh Khare, district forest officer MS Dawar were part of the entire rescue operation. “The special railway wagon consisted of one engine and one AC coach. The rescue team put both the cubs in the special railway wagon at Mid ghat.From there it moved to Budhni and from there it took the U turn and went to the outer of Habibganj railway station. 4Continued on | P6 Speed rules broken The speed of trains passing through the Midghat area is fixed to 20 km so that if any wild animal including tiger are crossing the track gets enough time to go to the other side. “ I myself saw that one train passed at the speed of around 80 km per hour against the fixed 20 km per hour. I will write a letter to Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) to ensure that trains speed is limited till 20 km,” said CCF Rajesh Khare to the Free Press The Supreme Court is all set to attain its full strength with the elevation of Justices N Kotiswar Singh and R Mahadevan. The apex court has a sanctioned strength of 34 judges, including the chief justice, and was functioning with 32 judges. CJI D Y Chandrachud is likely to administer the oath of office to the two judges on Thursday. The Supreme Court will function with 34 judges until Justice Hima Kohli retires on September 1, 2024, followed by CJI Chandrachud, who superannuates on November 10 this year. On July 11, the fivemember collegium presided over by the CJI had recommended to the Centre the names of Singh and Mahadevan for elevation to the apex court.