FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms FREE PRESS Vol. XLI No. 47 | INDORE | THURSDAY | JULY 25, 2024 | Pages 14 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. 38281/83 www.freepressjournal.com Sports She’s in really good place P.13 ESTD-1983 iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: INDORE Bhalchandra Chorghade MUMBAI fp Briefs AHMEDABAD 8 killed in Guj rains As many as eight persons were killed in rain-related incidents and more than 800 people evacuated after swollen rivers and overflowing dams cut off several villages and inundated low-lying areas in large parts of Gujarat amid torrential downpour on Wednesday, officials said. NEW DELHI Sailor's body found BHOPAL NASHIK Stating that the Centre had made a record allocation of Rs 15,940 crore for developing railway network and infrastructure in Maharashtra, Vaishnaw said the state was making tremendous progress in developing new railway projects. Seeking the state government’s support in further enhancing the rail network, Vaishnaw said the Railways will be investing Rs 81,850 crore in projects such as doubling lines while for other projects such as station im- provement and a dedicated freight corridor, an investment of Rs 1.30 lakh crore would be made within next five years. “We have increased the new track-laying capacity to 183km in the last 10 years while 128 railway stations are being modernised and developed under the Amrit Bharat Scheme,” the minister said, adding that the Central government was confident of meeting the 2026 deadline for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train operational. Rahul meets farmers in Parliament PTI NEW DELHI 4Continued on | P6 DEAD 19 ONBOARD Pilot the only survivor 1 min Security personnel inspect the remains of a Saurya Airlines flight after it crashed during takeoff at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on Wednesday Terrorists will either land in jail or ‘jahannum’, says Rai NEW DELHI PTI World's hottest day NEW DELHI J&K TERROR ATTACKS 59 rescued from marooned island in Chhatarpur The Earth experienced its hottest day in at least 84 years on July 22, with the global average temperature reaching a record high of 17.15 degrees Celsius, according to the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). BHOPAL In past few days, 28 terrorists have been killed in J&K and some security personnel have also lost their lives, which is very unfortunate Nityanand Rai BHOPAL Madhya Pradesh has got Rs 14,738 crore to carry out plans for railways under the Union Budget which was presented in Parliament on Tuesday. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw made the statement at a video conferencing on Wednesday. Eighty-one big projects of railways are going on in the state, and 80 stations are being developed under the Amrit Bharat Yojna, Vaishnaw said, adding that the railway has been fully electrified. The state government is cooperating with the Centre in Heavy rains wreaked havoc in Bina and some other cities including Chhatarpur, Tikamgarh and Sagar during the last 24 hours. As many as 59 people were rescued from a An elderly person being rescued by a team in Bina village marooned island in Chhatarpur. Some people were also rescued from flood-affected carrying out these projects, and the process for land acquisition for schemes is moving very fast, he said. The work of Amrit Bharat Yojna began with the Rani Kamalapati railway station in Bhopal, which is going on across the country, Vaishnaw said. He, however, did not say anything about the number of trains the state would get under the budget. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav expressed gratitude to the Centre for giving facilities relating to railways. The amount allotted to the state to provide rail facilities is very important, Yadav said. PAPER LEAKS ‘Prison term and Rs one crore fine’ Bihar passes anti-paper leak bill to enforce measure against malpractices PTI PATNA The Bihar assembly on Wednesday passed a bill aimed at curbing the scourge of question paper leaks and other malpractices in recruitment tests conducted by the state. The Bihar Public Examinations (PE) (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024, was moved by state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary. and passed through voice vote amidst a walkout staged by the opposition. The new legislation targets curbing malpractices in competitive examinations, including the leak of question papers, in the state which, incidentally, has also been at the centre of the NEET 2024 paper leak controversy. The bill stipulates severe punishment for those involved in such malpractices, including a prison term of three to five years and a fine of Rs 10 lakh. Service providers, a term used to describe agencies entrusted with conducting such tests, could be slapped with a fine of Rs one crore besides debarment of services for up Heavy rains wreak havoc in Bina, Chhatarpur Our Staff Reporter Terrorists active in Jammu and Kashmir will either land in jail or be sent to 'jahannum' (hell), Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday while asserting that the Modi government has zero tolerance for terrorism. Rai was replying to a supplementary question from Congress MP Pramod Tiwari. Terrorist activities witnessed recently will soon end, the minister said. "They (terrorists) will not succeed in their design," he added. In the past few days, 28 terrorists have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir and some security personnel have also lost their lives, which is very unfortunate, Rai said. According to the minister, MP gets Rs 14,738 cr for rail projects, says Vaishnaw Our Staff Reporter The INDIA bloc will put pressure on the government and ensure that the farmers get a legal guarantee for MSP, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said on Wednesday after he met a delegation of farmer leaders in the Parliament House complex. The delegation comprised 12 farmer leaders from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka. It apprised Gandhi of the issues being faced by the farmers. "Our manifesto promised a legal guarantee for MSP. We have done a full assessment and it is feasible. We had a meeting and it was decided that we will have a discussion with INDIA bloc leaders and will try and put pressure on the government to ensure that the farmers get a legal guarantee for MSP," Gandhi told reporters after the meeting. Later, in a post on X, the former Congress chief said, "Legal guarantee for MSP is the right of farmers. INDIA will ensure that they get this right." After meeting Gandhi, a farmer leader said, "We met Rahul Gandhi and he gave us a patient hearing. A long discussion took place on our demand for a legal guarantee for MSP. 18 The body of Leading Seaman Sitendra Singh, who went missing following a major fire onboard India's frontline warship INS Brahmaputra at the naval dockyard in Mumbai three days ago, was found on Wednesday, officials said. The warship was severely damaged and tilted heavily to one side following the fire on Sunday evening. E-paper Cinema TV actors will be way bigger than film stars... P.14 NEPAL PLANE BURSTS INTO FLAMES The accident happened less than a minute after the plane took off MUMBAI Edit When bigotry corrupts policing P.8 Kamala Harris leads Don 44% to 42% Hang on commuters, relief is 5 years away the disruption in services faced by people, particularly during monsoon, the minister said necessary efforts were being taken to reduce the disruptions. “However, the heavy rains being experienced by the city in short spans is proving to be major hindrance in executing those measures,” the minister said and lauded the Central Railways for indigenous modification and development of point machine covers in flood-prone locations. PUNE WORLD POST-BUDGET | Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw promises 250 more suburban services Relief awaits the harried local train commuters of Mumbai, all in good time – five years, to be precise. Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said that his ministry will be introducing an additional 250 suburban local trains for Mumbai in five years, to reduce pressure on the existing services. Similarly, 50 to 100 long-distance trains too will be introduced for commuters. “We are taking all-round efforts to make travel smooth for the people of the city. Necessary instructions have been given to both, the Central and Western Railways, for implementing corrective measures and ensure that people face minimum problems while commuting,” Vaishnaw said, in a video conference with the media on Wednesday. “Four new terminuses at Panvel, Kalyan, Kurla and Parel have also been proposed besides further expansion of the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus that will reduce pressure on the existing ones and improve quality of service,” the minister said. Specifically asked about UJJAIN villages in Bina. Sources said that owing to heavy rains, Dhashan river was at spate in Chhatarpur. At least 59 people have gone to a place of worship situated on a hilly area and it got cut-off from all sides due to the flood in Dhashan river. ‘All of them were rescued by using boat,’Chhatarpur collector Sandeep GR told Free Press. 4Continued on | P6 The bill was passed through voice vote amidst a walkout staged by the opposition to four years and even attachment of properties, Chaudhary told the House. He also said the bill, "brought with the future of lakhs of young men and women in mind", provided that investigating officers in such cases shall "not be below the rank of a Deputy Superintendent of Police". A portion of the total cost of conducting such an examination will also be recovered from the offending service provider, the minister said. 4Continued on | P6 Shop catches fire: Elderly couple burnt alive in Tikamgarh OUR STAFF REPORTER BHOPAL An elderly couple was charred to death after a home furnishing shop caught fire on Wednesday morning. The couple resided in house above the shop, said Tikamgarh police. The incident occurred in densely-populated Katra Bazaar area, police said. The shop owned by Manoj Jain was located in a residential building. He lived on the upper floor. His uncle used to live in a portion of the house along with his wife, Kotwali police station in-charge Anand Raj said. A fire broke out in Jain's shop amid rains in the wee hours of Wednesday. On seeing the blaze and smoke, pedestrians and locals gathered at the spot and woke up Jain, he said. Jain ran out from the rear door of the house, but his uncle - Devendra Jain and his wife Sulochana –failed to do so. They were charred to death as the fire engulfed the entire building, he said. Though the exact reason is yet to be ascertained, shortcircuit is suspected to be the culprit. Five fire tenders took more than six hours to douse the flames. Fire tenders were requisitioned from neighbouring towns as well, he said. Engineer jumps off Atal Setu Raina Assainar NAVI MUMBAI A 38-year-old engineer, who had returned from Kuwait and was formerly employed with the Lodha Group, reportedly jumped off the Atal Setu on Wednesday afternoon. He has been identified as Karuturi Srinivas, a resident of Palava City in Dombivli, where he lived with his wife and a five-year-old daughter. On Wednesday, around 12.35pm, he is alleged to have reached the bridge in his car and then jumped off, after parking his car. The toll control room at the bridge alerted the Nhava Sheva police. Go back to India: Pannun warns Indo-Canadian MP PTI OTTAWA In a staunch response to separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun's video demanding him and his HinduCanadian friends return to India, Canadian Member of Parliament Chandra Arya said that Canada is their land and that they have enriched the multicultural fabric of the country. He said the country was being "polluted" by Khalistani extremists. Sharing a post on X, the Canadian MP wrote, "In response to my condemnation of the vandalism of the Hindu temple BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in Edmonton and other acts of hate and violence by Khalistan supporters in Canada, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun of Sikhs for Justice has released a video demanding me and my Hindu-Canadian friends to go back to India." Blocked roads Seoni twins delivered, '3-Idiots style' Minister of State for Home Affairs Our Staff Reporter security forces have killed about 900 terrorists in the region after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. "Modi government has zero tolerance for terrorism. We will end terrorism. They (terrorists) will be either in jail or jahannum... I want to assure the House," Rai said. 4Continued on | P6 BHOPAL The child-delivery scene from the Amir Khan starrer ‘3 Idiots’ was re-enacted when a woman went into labour amid torrential rains in the Seoni area in Madhya Pradesh. As the torrential rainfall battered the city on Tuesday, it was difficult for the family to send the woman to a hospital. Then amidst thunder and rain emerged a trained midwife as a silver lining in the dark cloud. In this real life drama, the champions were Dr Manisha Sirsam and midwife Reshna Banskar. They delivered the twins successfully. DOCTOR AND TEAM STUCK IN RAIN... On the night of July 23, heavy rains pelted Seoni district, cutting off several villages, including Jorabadi in Seoni Tehsil. Raveena Banshilal Uike, a pregnant woman from Jorabadi, went into labour unexpectedly. With all routes to the city being blocked, the family of woman initially contacted an ASHA worker, who was unavailable, because she was busy at the district hospital. The family then contacted district health officer Dr Manisha Sirsam. 4Continued on | P6