FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms FREE PRESS Vol. 14 No. 49 | BHOPAL | FRIDAY | AUGUST 2, 2024 | Pages 16 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 www.freepressjournal.com Sports A GAME CHANGER IN LIFE & SPORT P.15 ESTD-1983 iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: INDORE UJJAIN MONEY PUNE BHOPAL NASHIK MUMBAI E-paper Edit Wayanad: No brownie point please P.8 VC investment in India surge in April-June as China faces huge decline Cinema Nora Fatehi regrets remarks P.16 QUOTA IN QUOTA: Constitutional bench delivers landmark verdict SCs NOT HOMOGENEOUS CLASS, SAYS APEX COURT Kusale lands 3rd medal for India ‘States can sub-classify SCs to grant quota to more backward castes within reserved category’ PTI PTI CHATEAUROUX NEW DELHI Swapnil Kusale doesn't quite know just why it has taken so long for him to be at the Olympics, where he landed a medal on debut on Thursday. A medal that is definitely life-changing for him personally but also historic in significance for Indian shooting given that it's the first time that a rifle shooter has managed to do it in the physically draining 50m 3 positions event. Kusale began shooting in 2009, made his international debut in 2012 but it took him another 12 years to make his Olympic debut. The 50m rifle shooter was not in the scheme of things in Today heartbeat was on the higher side. I just tried to control my breathing and did not try anything different. Everyone is more or less the same at this level. Swapnil Kusale Rio 2016 and missed out on a Tokyo 2020 berth narrowly as per the then selection criteria which gave more importance to performance in international events. 4Continued on | P6 In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court on Thursday held that states are constitutionally empowered to make sub-classifications within the Scheduled Castes, which form a socially heterogeneous class, for granting reservation for the uplift of castes that are socially and economically more backward. A seven-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, by a majority of 6:1, set aside the apex court's five-judge bench verdict of 2014 in the EV Chinnaiah vs State of Andhra Pradesh case which had held that no sub-classification of Dissenting judgement Scheduled Castes (SCs) can be allowed as they are a homogeneous class in themselves. "The State in exercise of its power under Articles 15 (nondiscrimination against any citizen on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth) and 16 (equality of opportunity in public employment) of the Constitution is free to identify the different degrees of social backwardness and provide special provisions (such as reservation) to achieve the specific degree of harm identified," held the CJI in his 140-page judgement. "Historical and empirical evidence demonstrates that the SCs are a socially heterogeneous class. Thus, the state in exercise of the power under Flood situation continues to be grim in Jabalpur division Canal breached in Rewa; youth drowns in Son river Our Staff Reporter fp Briefs LATEHAR 5 Kawarias electrocuted Five Kanwar Yatra pilgrims, including two minors, were electrocuted to death in Jharkhand's Latehar district on Thursday morning when their vehicle came into contact with a hightension overhead wire, police said. Five others were injured in the accident that occurred at Tam Tam Tola in Balumath Police Station area around 3 am. RAINFALL IN LAST 24 HOURS BHOPAL Places Katni (Slimnabad) Mandla (Bichhia) Shivpuri (Pichhore) Dindori (Amarpur) Gwalior (Ghatigaon) Morena (Jaura) Jabalpur (Sihora) Sheopur Kalan (Baroda) Ashoknagar (Chanderi) Vidisha (Kurwai) Flood-like situation continued to be grim in Jabalpur division on Thursday after water-level of Narmada River continues to be high. Today, some villagers had gone for Bhandara but a woman was trapped in flood at Budner River at Naigaon village in district. SDRF team rescued her. Just a couple of days back, gates of Bargi dam gates were also opened. Similarly, in Rewa district, mini Bansagar canal damaged on intervening night of Wednesday-Thursday, damaging kucha houses Ramgarwa village panchayat. Rescue oper- 12 dead in U'khand Dehradun: Twelve people, including three of a family, were killed and six injured in heavy overnight rains that triggered flooding and house collapse. (P7) Stepmom brands child with iron for bedwetting CHENNAI FP News Service Fisherman dead in Lankan vessel hit GUNA A fisherman from Tamil Nadu's Rameswaram died and another went missing when their boat capsized mid-sea when a Sri Lankan Navy ship collided with it, a senior official said here on Thursday. The mechanised fishing boat capsized when the Sri Lankan Navy attempted to arrest the men onboard for "illegal fishing", the senior fisheries official said. Rainfall(mm) - 173.2 mm 167.2 mm - 117 mm - 115.3 mm 112.1 mm - 109 mm 107 mm - 105 mm 95 mm Rescued by SDRF 92.4 mm In a shocking incident in the Chanchauda area of Guna, a woman has been accused of burning her five-year-old stepson with a hot spatula after he urinated on the bed while sleeping. The child, Taufiq Shah, sustained burns on his wrists, private parts, hips, and chin. The incident came to light when Raisa Bano (44), the child’s grandmother and wife of Babu Shah, a resident of Barbat Pura, lodged a complaint with the local police. She reported that the incident occurred around 6 am on Wednesday. Enraged by the bedwetting, the stepmother, Razia Bano, resorted to physical punishment and used a hot spatula to burn the child. According to Raisa Bano, Razia Bano, who is Taufiq’s stepmother, inflicted severe injuries on the child. The burns left multiple marks on his body. Upon discovering the abuse, the child's grandmother and father intervened and rushed him to the government hospital in Binaganj for treatment. 4Continued on | P6 ation carried out in village panchyat. In Umaria, a youth drown in Son River. SDRF team has been pressed into service to fish out body. 4Continued on | P6 8 Indians killed in Russia PTI Justice Trivedi, in her 85-page dissenting judgement, said it is only Parliament which can include a caste in the SC list or exclude it, and states are not empowered to tinker with it. The SCs, she ruled, are a "homogeneous class" incapable of being sub-classified further. "The States have no legislative competence to enact the law for providing reservation or giving preferential treatment to a particular caste/castes by dividing/sub-dividing/sub-classifying or regrouping the castes, races or tribes enumerated as the 'SCs' in the notification under Article 341. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on Thursday announced that Hamas military wing c o m mander M o hammed Deif had b e e n killed in an airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip on July 13. In a post on X, IDF stated, "We can now confirm: Mohammed Deif was eliminated." https://x.com/IDF/status/181892 6099432161437 The Israeli military said that it obtained intelligence confirming his death in the past few hours. Deif was targeted in a strike at Hamas' Khan Younis Brigade commander Rafa'a Salameh's compound in Khan Younis area on July 13, The Times of Israel reported. A day later, the IDF confirmed the death of Salameh. However, it did not have final information on Deif. The IDF believed that its intelligence indicated that Deif visiting the compound belonging to Salameh was highly accurate and A 14-year-old boy spent four days with his mother's body in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Thursday. The 44-year-old woman died in their flat at a housing complex in the Kalyan area and the matter came to light after neighbours complained of a foul smell on the premises. NEW DELHI A Delhi court on Thursday denied anticipatory bail to former IAS probationer Puja Khedkar who has been accused of cheating and wrongly availing of OBC and PwD (person with disabilities) quota benefits. Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala said Delhi Police "must also investigate if anyone from inside the UPSC helped Khedkar". The judge also widened the probe and directed Delhi Police to investigate if other persons have availed of benefits under OBC without entitlement. During the proceeding, the prosecution as well as the counsel appearing for the UPSC had opposed the application, claiming that she has "cheated the system". FP News Service BHOPAL/SATNA/SINGRAULI Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has said Rs 1,500 will be transferred to the accounts of Ladli Behnas on August 10. Out of Rs 1,500, Rs 1,250 is part of Ladli Behna Yojna and an additional amount of Rs 250 will be given as Rakshabandhan gift, Yadav said. The government will also give a financial aid of Rs 450 to refill the gas cylinders to those who women who are getting the benefits of Ladli Behna Yojna and Ujjwala Yojna. He made the statement at the in- CM with Ladli Behnas auguration of Ladli Behna Utsav in Chitrakoot on Thursday. Rakshabandhan will be celebrated on August 19, but it will be solemnised throughout the month of Shravan, he said. The function has been organised in every district to get the blessings of Ladli Behnas, Yadav said. HC rejects Muslim side's petition on Mathura temple-mosque dispute The Allahabad High Court on Thursday ruled that the trial in 18 cases relating to the Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah dispute in Mathura can continue, dismissing a petition filed by the mosque committee that challenged the maintainability of these suits. Justice Mayank Kumar Jain had on June 6 reserved his judgment on the plea moved by the Muslim side on maintainability of the suits. The court has now fixed August 12 as the date for framing of is- File pic Around 25 police personnel were suspended across the state for not joining the ‘police band party’. The resentment against the band was so intense that while some have been suspended, some had filed petition in the court seeking exemption from the band party. On December 18, 2023, a circular was issued by the Police Headquarter, Bhopal in which a team of Police Band was made part of each battalion. Policemen from the rank of constable to ASI (upto 45 years) were to be part of the band and those interested had to give written consent. However, not many appeared to be interested and the senior officials made a list on their own without 4Continued on | P6 Additional Rs 250 for Rakhi sues. The suits filed by Hindu litigants seek "removal" of the Shahi Idgah mosque adjacent to the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple. The petitions claim that the Aurangazeb-era mosque was built after the demolition of a temple that marked the spot where Lord Krishna was born. But the mosque management committee and the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board argued that the suits were barred under Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 that prohibits changing the status of any place of worship from what it was on the day of the country's Independence. Hindu side counsel Vishnu Shankar Jain told reporters that with the dismissal of the plea challenging maintainability, the high court will continue to hear all the cases. taking the consent of the police personnel. Just after the list was prepared many of them raised their voice against their name figuring in the band party. SP Khandwa, Manoj Kumar Rai told Free Press that as many as four constables were asked to join the band as a party of contingent, but in place of following the orders they At the function, the Ladli Behnas presented a 30-footlong Rakhi to Yadav. Chitrakoot is the place where Lord Ram and Nanaji Deshmukh did penance, he said, adding that efforts are being made to develop Chitrakoot on the pattern of Ayodhya. 4Continued on | P6 Connectivity with C-Edge restored after cyber attack PTI MUMBAI refused to join it. Following the disobedience they were suspended. Similarly, SP Mandsour, Anurag Sujania informed that the personnel were instructed to participate in the band, but they did not followed the orders, “For disobeying the orders 10 police personnel has been suspended”. In a relief to bank customers of around 300 lenders, the NPCI on Thursday re-established connectivity with the ransomware attack-infected C-Edge Technologies' systems, allowing the account holders to undertake transactions like ATM withdrawals or UPI payments. Customers at some Regional Rural Banks and cooperative banks faced an outage since Monday in key paymentrelated services like fund transfers using the NEFT or UPI route or also ATM withdrawals as a result of C-Edge facing ransomware attack. The connection has been re-established following a security review by an independent forensic auditing firm, NPCI said in a statement posted on the microblogging site X, adding services dependent on C-Edge have been restored as a result of the same. "Investigation confirms that the impacted systems have been isolated by C-Edge to contain potential spread of the ransomware," the NPCI statement said, 4Continued on | P6 4Continued on | P6 4Continued on | P6 25 cops face music for not joining police band Our Staff Reporter the two Hamas military officials were together in the building that was hit with several heavy munitions, according to The Times of Israel report. Israeli fighter jets had patrolled the building for half a day before conducting the strike after the IDF had early indications that Deif was with Samaleh. The two jets were in the air above the site. After the military received confirmation that Deif had arrived at the compound, the jets were given the order to target, which was conducted within just a few minutes. Ladli Behnas to get Rs 1,500 on August 10, promises CM baja baj gaya BHOPAL Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stated that Israel had provided the grounds for "harsh punishment for itself" and it was Tehran's duty to avenge Ismail Haniyeh's death. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has ordered a "direct attack" on Israel in retaliation for the killing of top Hamas's leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran, The New York Times reported. No interim bail for Puja 4Continued on | P6 THANE Teen spends 4 days with mom’s body Khamenei orders attack on Israel CJI. The CJI, in the majority verdict, held, "If the SCs are not similarly situated for the purposes of the law (or the specific harm identified), there is nothing in Articles 15, 16 and 341 (President's power to classify SCs) which prevents the State from applying the principle of sub-classification to the class. "Thus, the SCs can be further classified if: (a) there is a rational principle for differentiation; and (b) if the rational principle has a nexus with the purpose of sub-classification," Justice Chandrachud said. PRAYAGRAJ Eight Indians working in the Russian armed forces have died and 12 others already left the military, the government said in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. In reply to a question, Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh said another 63 individuals are seeking early discharge. "Eight deaths have been reported where the citizenship of the deceased has been verified as Indian," Singh said. The government has received requests for facilitation of early discharge of some Indian. ANI TEL AVIV Articles 15(4) and 16(4) can further classify the SCs if (a) there is a rational principle for differentiation; and (b) the rational principle has a nexus with the purpose of sub-classification," the CJI held. The six judgements, running into 565 pages, were penned on the contentious issue by the CJI, who wrote for himself and Justice Manoj Misra, and Justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath, Pankaj Mithal, Satish Chandra Mishra and Justice Bela M Trivedi. Except for Justice Trivedi, the other five judges concurred with the findings of the PTI NEW DELHI Now, Hamas military leader killed: Israel