Vol. 35 No. 48 | Sunday, August 25, 2024 | 31 Pages | `5 & for Pune `6 only | Reg. No. MCS/048/2021-23; RNI No. 46955/1988 M.p.c.s. office Mumbai-400001 THE SUNDAY FREE PRESS Leader in E-paper circulation l www.freepressjournal.in Weekend Gen Z opines about current spate of sexual crimes and paedophiles EDITIONS: MUMBAI INDORE JOURNAL PUNE BHOPAL PLAY & PAUSE Sunday Read Singer Jayateerth Mevundi on his concert Centre unfurls unified pension scheme Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar Briefs Reusable rocket launched Tamil Nadu-based startup Space Zone India on Saturday launched its first reusable hybrid rocket, Mission RHUMI2024, onboard a mobile platform to take up research on global warming and climate change. City-headquartered Space Zone India has been conducting various projects under Mission RHUMI over the last two years. The RHUMI rocket launched early in the day at Thiruvidanthai, near Chennai, is powered by a generic-fuel-based hybrid motor and electrically triggered parachute deployer. "It is 3.5 metre tall rocket and was launched at about 7.25 am," Space Zone India FounderCEO Anand Megalingam said. It is named after his son Rhumithran. "It is more of a sounding rocket. It flew to an altitude of about 35 kms and right now my team is there to collect it as per our plan (since it is a reusable rocket)," he told PTI. PM to visit Jalgoan Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Jalgaon in Maharashtra on Sunday to felicitate 11 lakh new 'Lakhpati Didis' who achieved the mark during the third term of his government. 'Lakhpati Didis' are women members of self-help groups who earn Rs 1 lakh annually. One crore women have joined already joined the rank. 22 injured in boiler blast Scheme provides 50 per cent of last 12 months average basic salary as pension and provision for 60 per cent immediate withdrawal by members upon a pensioner’s death be proportionate for a lesser service period up to a minimum of 10 years of service. Further, the minister said, under the family pension scheme, the family would be able to immediate withdraw 60 percent of the employee’s pension upon their demise. The third main aspect of the scheme is that it would assure a minimum pension of Rs 10,000 per month after retirement for those government employees who have completed a minimum of 10 years of service. The scheme also provides for inflation indexation on assured pension, on assured family pension and assured minimum pension. Further it provides for dearness relief based on All India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (AICPI-IW) as in case of service employees. The final element of the scheme is that it provides for lump sum payment at super- Silent, sit-in protests across state FPJ Political Bureau MUMBAI ‘Abuse went on for a fortnight’ Prajakta Pol MUMBAI Across the state the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) came out undeterred by pouring rain in many parts of the state, to express solidarity with the victims of the Badlapur sexual abuse and demanded security for women and the implementation of the Shakti criminal laws. The MVA changed its plan to organize statewide bandh following the Bombay High Court ruling restraining them from doing so. Instead, the MVA allies decided to stage silent sit -in protests across the state and these were held in Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Nagpur and other parts of the state. 4Contd on | Nation 4See also | Mumbai More damningly the report by a two member committee says that the school administration delayed action on the complaint for 48 hrs A preliminary report by the two member committee appointed by the State Education Minister has made shocking revelations about the Badlapur minors assault case. Sources said that the accused, Akshay Shinde, who began work as a contractual the toilet is located far from the employee on August 1, was staff room and is lacking in adhired without any background equate CCTV coverage. verification and he had unreMore damningly the report stricted access said the school to the school administration BADLAPUR SHAME premises, indelayed action cluding the female restrooms, on the complaint for 48 hours. without carrying any identifica- The school principal informed tion card. the trustee about the incident They say the report details on August 14, 2024, but the adthat the sexual assault on mi- ministration failed to engage nors is suspected to have oc- with the parents afterward. curred multiple times over the past fifteen days. It noted that 4Contd on | Nation 4Contd on | Nation CONGRESS COY ON CM CANDIDATE Heavy rains predicted for Mumbai Both the Congress and NCP SCP's Sharad Pawar have distanced themselves from naming one MUMBAI FP J Dialogue Ravikrian Deshmukh MUMBAI “Our priority and first duty is to save the Maharashtra state from the current phase of deterioration and this is the Congress' stand. We do not want a fight over the Chief Minister's post, for one chair”, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) chief Nana Patole, told the Free Press Journal on Saturday. He was participating in the FPJ Dialogue. It has thus become clear that only the Shiv Sena UBT is keen on declaring the Chief Minister canidate to the upcoming assembly elections and neither the Congress nor the NCP SCP is keen. NCP SCP chief Sharad Pawar has already made it clear that no one from his party was interested in the Rucha Kanolkar CM's post. Now, the state Congress unit has further distanced itself from the contentious issue. The Congress and NCP's gains significance in view of the aggressive posture adopted by the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) ally Shiv Sena UBT on the issue of the CM candidate. During his recent Delhi tour Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray reportedly discussed this issue during his meetings with Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and the leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi. When no direct response came in, Thackeray brought up the question again while speaking at the MVA meeting held on August 16 at the Shanmukhananda Hall. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned of intense rainfall across Maharashtra over the next five days. Red alert is issued for Raigad district today, indicating the potential for extremely heavy rainfall within 24 hours. The IMD has also issued an orange alert for Palghar, Thane, and Ratnagiri districts, signaling very heavy rainfall, while Mumbai is under a yellow alert, indicating heavy rainfall till August 26. According to the Regional Meteorological Center (RMC) in Mumbai, the city and its suburbs are expected to experience heavy to very heavy rain in the next 24 hours, accompanied by gusty winds reaching speeds of 30-40 km/h. The maximum and minimum temperatures for the city are forecasted to hover around 30°C and 25°C, respectively. 4Contd on | Nation 4Contd on | Nation Crashlanding Wreckage of the helicopter that was flying from Mumbai to Hyderabad after it crashed at Mulshi tehsil, in Pune, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024. All four occupants, though injured, survived the crash, according to officials. – ANI Report on Mumbai CBI preps for lie detector tests Aritra Singha KOLKATA The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday began preparing to conduct polygraph tests on seven people including former RG Kar principal Sandip Ghosh, prime accused Sanjoy Roy, four trainee doctors and a civic volunteer close to Roy. A special CBI team arrived in Kolkata to conduct the tests, which are said to be time consuming. On Thursday, the central sleuths moved Sealdah court to seek permission for conducting the test on Ghosh and four trainee doctors who were seen with the victim before she had her dinner at 1 am on August 9. As per the protocol of conducting the test, the CBI had moved the court for the nod. The second step requires the gaining of consent from the persons on whom the tests will be performed. 4Contd on | Nation The extraordinary life and times of Nari Hira Convention hall of By invitation Suguna Sundaram N As many as 22 workers were injured in a boiler explosion at a steel factory in MIDC area in Jalna city of Maharashtra on Saturday, police said. The condition of three workers is critical, said Superintendent of Police Ajay Kumar Bansal. The explosion at Gaj Kesari Steel Mill, which occurred around noon, resulted in molten iron falling on workers, he said. Three workers were admitted to a private hospital in critical condition. ari Hira, the unforgettable publishing icon, and suave media legend left suddenly on Friday night, 23rd August 2024. He always hated long drawn out farewells. Stardust magazine was an Farmers to get `225Cr entity that was spoken of in hushed whispers, since its inception in 1971 by the flamboyant and maverick publisher Nari Hira. Published under the umbrella of Magna Publishing Company, which also encompassed the extremely popular glossies Society, Savvy, Society Interiors, Health & Nutrition (the only one of its kind) Citadel, Showtime, and later on Mandate, Starweek and more. In the eighties, the film world was simmering with a new generation of handsome NEW DELHI and beautiful Adonises and Venuses, waiting to be discovered. Nari Hira was the pioneer of video films, created under his banner Hiba Films, established in the early eighties. Bold and unabashedly blatant, Hiba Films’ productions were the launching pad for so many of those swashbuckling dreamers, with stars in their eyes, fire in their veins, and flaunting searing hot bods, male and female. Nari Hira had an unerring eye for beauty and talent. And he was generous to a fault. There were a number of newcomers, some who made it, and some that didn’t, but there were always second and third chances. If there is one thing that this legend will be remembered for, it would be his willingness to take chances with new talent, nurture and encourage them with work, putting his money where his mouth was, and building and sustaining warm relationships, built on goodwill, that endured the test of time over many decades. Nari Hira did not hesitate to tell life stories as they played out- raw, passionate, sensual, and complicated. The N Convention, jointly owned by actor Nagarjuna, being demolished in Hyderabad. –PTI Can Feluda solve the Kolkata murder? The famous detective ‘Feluda’ or Pradosh Chandra Mitter was pacing up and down the marbled floor of his drawing room while his assistant ‘Topshe’ was anxiously watching the street outside from a Venetian window. The detective known for solving such remarkable cases as the theft of a Mughal emperor’s ring, cracking the smuggling of Indian artefacts by an international gang and the horrendous murder in Gangtok which recently hit the headlines, was waiting for his old friend Chief Inspector PN Mukherjee from Calcutta Police’s detective branch. While Topshe or Tapesh Ranjan was waiting for the duo’s old friend and accomplice - the writer Lal Mohan Ganguly better known by his penname ‘Jatayu’.  PN as he is fondly called by all his colleagues at Lalbazar, headquarters of the city’s police force, arrived at almost the same time at 21 Rajani Sen Road, in the city's upmarket Ballygunge area, as did ‘Jatayu’. “Good Lord! You are here? What a state of affairs! What a horrible way for a young girl to die!” Jatayu exclaimed as he bumped into moustachioed chief inspector. “Mmm … that’s why I am here really. I need to consult Mr Mitter urgently,” mumbled PN. A 31-year-old lady doctor doing her post graduation at the R.G.Kar Medical College was found strangled to death Nagarjuna razed 4Contd on | Nation sunday musings Jayanta Roy Chowdhury The Central government on Saturday directed an insurance company to pay pending claims of up to Rs 225 crore to about 2 lakh farmers in Maharashtra's Parbhani district within a week. The order follows Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's interaction with farmers in Nanded on August 21, where issues of pending soyabean crop insurance claims were raised. annuation in addition to gratuity. This would be calculated on the basis of 1/10th of monthly emoluments (pay + DA) as on the date of superannuation for every completed six months of service. The minister said as per the current pension scheme, the employees are required to contribute 10 per cent while the central government contributes 14 per cent while under the UPS this percentage of government share will be increased to 18 per cent. The minister also said that the employees will also have the option to choose between the National Pension Scheme and the Unified Pension Scheme. Pic: Wikimedia Commons fp E-paper social skills POLL SOP | It will benefit 23 lakh employees and the announcement comes ahead of the assembly elections The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Saturday approved the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) under which nearly 2.3 million central government employees will receive 50 per cent of their last drawn basic salary as pension. Announcing the salient features of the scheme, Union Minister Ashwini Vaisnav said there are three key pillars of the UPS. He said the pension scheme assures 50 per cent of the average basic salary for the last 12 months before retirement as pension for government employees who have completed a minimum of 25 years in service. This pay will KONKAN Live Smart Screens v/s Easy guide to Janmashtami rituals, food, and more NEW DELHI NASHIK on August 9 in the hospital where she was on duty for 36 long hours. The entire city had since come out in protest against what the newspapers headlined as the second Nirbhaya style rape in a city billed as a safe metropolis for women. Feluda lit a Charminar cigarette and said, “Of course I will gladly try and help. Topshe will you tell Banshi, the cook to bring some tea as we listen?” As PN settled down in the ancient Burma-teak sofa-set, he wiped his brow and began: “Everything in the investigation has gone wrong. Though all the clues are there. 4Contd on | Nation Vjm Divakar HYDERABAD On Saturday, the recently constituted Hyderabad Disaster Response and Assets Monitoring and Protection (HYDRA) authority commenced the dismantling of Telugu matinee idol Akkineni Nagarjuna’s prestigious N Convention Centre following accusations of encroachment on protected lake areas. The news sent shock waves among several high profile film, political, business, and industrial personalities who have encroached upon several lakes in Hyderabad. Though this was an open secret, no stringent ac- tion was taken until now. The N Convention, which is a favourite destination for high profile weddings and events, is alleged to have illegally grabbed 1.12 acres of Thammidikunta Lake's Full Tank Level (FTL) and an extra 2 acres within its buffer zone, of the lake's total FTL area of about 29.24 acres. The FTL represents the maximum area a water body covers, where construction activities are prohibited. Buffer zones are established alongside FTL areas to safeguard water bodies from encroachments and environmental degradation. 4Contd on | Nation