Vol. 35 No. 00 | Sunday, September 8, 2024 | 14 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 www.freepressjournal.in Weekend The spiritual connect of Gen Z with Ganesh Chaturthi EDITIONS: MUMBAI INDORE PUNE WEEKEND BHOPAL JOURNAL NASHIK KONKAN E-paper Weekend Why grandparents turn softies for their grandkids Rinaa Shah has defied stereotypes to prove her mettle in a maledominated world Variety Prasoon Joshi talks about penning the script for Rajadhiraaj FIRST-OF-ITS KIND | After years of denial, General Asim Munir in his Defence Day speech mentioned Kargil along with three wars with India Pak Army chief admits direct role in Kargil war IANS ISLAMABAD In what is being seen as a firstof-its kind confession by the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir has admitted Pakistani military's direct role in the 1999 Kargil war against India. During his Defence Day speech on Friday, Munir mentioned Kargil along with the three wars with India while paying homage to what he termed as "sacrifices rendered through martyrdom" by soldiers of the Pakistan Armed forces. "Certainly Pakistani nation is a powerful and brave nation, which understands the value of freedom and knows how to fp Briefs AIZAWL 33,000 pigs culled Over 12,200 pigs were killed and over 21,000 pigs culled as the outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) continued in Mizoram for over past seven months, officials said on Monday. Mizoram Animal Husbandry and Veterinary (AHV) Department officials said. PESHAWAR Four suicide bombers killed Security forces thwarted a deadly attack on a Frontier Corps unit headquarters and killed four suicide bombers in northwestern Pakistan's restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military said on Saturday. NAIROBI 21 dead in Kenya school fire The number of children who were burned to death in a school dormitory in central Kenya has risen to 21, the government spokesperson said on Saturday. Officials began removing the bodies as they tried to account for dozens of boys who were still missing. ROHTAK ‘Kejriwal will not bow down’ Calling Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal "Haryana ka laal," AAP national convenor's wife Sunita Kejriwal said on Saturday that Arvind Kejriwal will not bow down before the Modi government. 1948, 1965, 1971, the Kargil war between Pakistan and India, or the war in Siachen, thousands sacrificed their lives and were martyred for the safety and security of the country General Syed Asim Munir The statement is being seen as a first-ofits-kind confession by a sitting Army Chief on the direct role of country's military in the Kargil war, a position Islamabad has refrained from taking for the past 25 years. So far, Pakistan had denied involvement in the 1999 war and claimed that it was an action taken by freedom fighters of Kashmir sustain it. 1948, 1965, 1971, the Kargil war between Pakistan and India, or the war in Siachen, thousands sacrificed their lives and were martyred for the safety and security of the country," he told the gathering at the GHQ. Munir's statement is being seen as a first-of-its-kind confession by a sitting Army Chief on the direct role of country's military in the Kargil war, a position Islamabad has refrained from taking for the past 25 years. So far, Pakistan had denied its involvement in the 1999 war and claimed that it was an action taken by "freedom fighters" of Kashmir. Former Army Chief General Pervaiz Musharraf always claimed that the Kargil operation was a successful localized action. Six killed in fresh Manipur violence, 3 bunkers destroyed Agencies IMPHAL/KOLKATA Six people were killed in fresh violence in Manipur's Jiribam district on Saturday, police said. Security forces, on the other hand, destroyed three bunkers of militants in Churachandpur district on Friday after the insurgents launched rocket attacks in adjoining Bishnupur that killed one person and injured six others. On Saturday, one person was shot dead in his sleep while four others were killed in subsequent exchange of fire between people of two warring communities in Jiribam district, a police officer said. Militants entered the house of the person who lived alone at an isolated location around Closed shops at a market after six people were killed in fresh violence in Manipur’s Jiribam district, on Saturday 5 km from the district administration headquarters and shot him dead in his sleep, he said. After the killing, a heavy exchange of fire took place between people of the warring communities in the hills around 7 km from the district administration headquarters, leading to the deaths of four armed persons, including three hills-based militants, the officer said. 4Continued on | NATION Vulture conservation begins in Pench Denied food, drunk driver damages hotel Agencies PUNE: A police officer arrested a drunk driver after he crashed his truck into a hotel when he was refused food in Indapur taluka on Saturday. The incident, which took place at Hotel Gokul on the Pune-Solapur Highway, has gained widespread attention on social media. According to a police report, the driver, travelling from Solapur to Pune, stopped at the hotel and asked for food. The hotel owner declined, stating that the establishment was closed for the day. Enraged, the driver then rammed his truck into the hotel, causing major damage. He also destroyed a two-wheeler and two fourwheelers parked nearby. The police arrived at the scene, arrested the driver. NAGPUR The Pench Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra's Nagpur on Saturday launched an initiative for the conservation of critically endangered vultures, under which villagers will dump carcasses of animals at designated places to ensure availability of food for these scavenger birds. The programme is titled 'Jatayu Gram Mitra', an official said. "The Pench Tiger Reserve, in collaboration with Mumbai-based Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) is working towards the conservation and restoration of the critically endangered vulture species," Deputy Director of Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR) Prabhu Nath Shukla said in a release. Ten long-billed vultures (Indian vultures) were brought from the Jatayu Conservation and Breeding Centre from Pinjore in Haryana, and placed in a pre-release aviary in East Pench in Pipariya in January this year, he said. These vultures were kept in this aviary before they were released into their natural habitat in the PTR. 4Continued on | NATION Ganesha’s homecoming Devotees transport Lord Ganeshs idol in a train ahead of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival, at Mumbai Central Railway Station on Sunday Fire breaks out at residential bldg in Kurla; 3 injured Agencies Centre sacks Puja Khedkar from IAS Agencies NEW DELHI MUMBAI Three people were injured after a fire broke out at a residential building in Mumbai's Kurla area, an official said. As per the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the trapped people have been rescued safely and the fire is now under control. The reason for the fire is yet to be ascertained, an official said. "Three people were injured after a fire broke out in a building in the Kurla area. The trapped people have been rescued safely and the fire is now under control. The reason for the fire is yet to be ascertained," (BMC) Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. Further information is awaited. The Centre on Saturday sacked Puja Khedkar from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) with immediate effect. The move came a month after the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) cancelled her selection in government service. Khedkar has been found guilty of faking and wrongly availing OBC and disability quota benefits. After cancelling her selection, the UPSC had also barred her for life from taking the entrance exam after founding her guilty of faking her identity to take the exam multiple times. In a status report submitted to the Delhi High Court three days ago, Delhi Police had contended that Maharashtra cadre probationary IAS of- ficer Puja Khedkar had submitted two separate disability certificates for her UPSC exam. The disability certificates dated 2018 and 2021 citing ‘multiple disabilities’ were purportedly issued by the Ahmednagar District Civil Hospital for her UPSC attempts made in 2022 and 2023. However, as per Delhi Police’s status report, the hospital authorities had denied that the certificates claiming ‘multiple disabilities’ were issued to her by them. ‘Won’t tolerate if anyone calls Shivaji Maharaj a looter’ Being viewed from the prism of English historians: Fadnavis PTI MUMBAI Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday said Shivaji Maharaj's description as a looter won't be tolerated, a day after NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil claimed the Maratha king had sought extortion from Surat for the expansion of Swarajya. Fadnavis also appealed to Indian scholars to unite and debunk the incorrect portrayal of the founder of the Maratha empire by English historians. Shivaji Maharaj is being viewed from the prism of English historians, the BJP leader said. He called for scholars to rectify the mistakes wherein the 17th-century king was being wrongly portrayed. "My only point is my king was never a looter. I will not tolerate anyone calling my king a looter. Maharaj was never a plunderer. He never bothered a common man," Fadnavis told reporters in Mumbai. Hitting out at the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), Fadnavis said the ones (leaders) whose dispensation was dubbed an extortionist government, will only think about extortion. He was responding to NCP (SP) Maharashtra unit president Jayant Patil's remarks that Shivaji Maharaj had demanded extortion from Surat. "Chhatrapati Shivaji had informed Surat that we (Maratha army) need extortion of a specific amount," Patil said at an event on Friday. He said Shivaji Maharaj didn't get the amount he had demanded, instead a messenger was sent by Mughals to attack the Maratha king. The messenger was later killed. This incident led to the looting of Surat by Shivaji Maharaj, Patil had said. Patil also said looters commit the act to fill in their coffers whereas Shivaji Maharaj brought the wealth to Swarajya. 4Continued on | NATION BHOPAL offgrid ‘MP BJP chief is napunsak’ Former MP Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh’s 'napunsak' (impotent) jibe at state BJP chief and Khajuraho MP V.D. Sharma triggered a political storm on Saturday. Responding to the Sharma's accusation that the he has “strong connections with terrorist organisations”, the veteran Congress leader said, “If V.D. Sharma thinks I am a supporter of terrorist organisations, 'toh mujhe unki napunsakta pe nirasha hoti hai' (I regret his impotency).” Boeing’s troubled capsule returns to Earth empty Two astronauts left behind in space Agencies NEW MEXICO Boeing's first astronaut mission ended Friday night with an empty capsule landing and two test pilots still in space, left behind until next year because NASA judged their return too risky. Six hours after departing the International Space Station, Starliner parachuted into New Mexico's White Sands Missile Range, descending on autopilot through the desert darkness. It was an uneventful close to a drama that began with the June launch of Boeing's long-delayed crew debut and quickly escalated into a dragged-out cliffhanger of a mission stricken by thruster failures and helium leaks. For months, Butch Wilmore and SunitaWilliams' return was in question as engineers struggled to understand the capsule's problems. Boeing insisted after exten- sive testing that Starliner was safe to bring the two home, but NASA disagreed and booked a flight with SpaceX instead. Their SpaceX ride won't launch until the end of this month, which means they'll be up there until February - more than eight months after blasting off on what should have been a quick trip. Wilmore and Williams should have flown Starliner back to Earth by mid-June, a week after launching in it. But their ride to the space station was marred by the cascade of thruster trouble and helium loss, and NASA ultimately decided it was too risky to re- turn them on Starliner. So with fresh software updates, the fully automated capsule left with their empty seats and blue spacesuits along with some old station equipment. "She's on her way home," Williams radioed as the white and blue-trimmed capsule undocked from the space station 260 miles (420 kilometers) over China and disappeared into the black void. 4Continued on | NATION Khedkar's troubles began in June when Pune Collector Suhas Diwase wrote to Maharashtra Chief Secretary Sujata Saunik flagging her demands for perks such as car, staff and an office which she was not entitled to during her twoyear probation period. Amid the row, her selection for IAS came under scrutiny. It was found that she availed relaxed criteria for OBC candidates and persons with disabilities. It then came to light that her father, a former Maharashtra government officer, had property to the tune of Rs 40 crore and that she did not qualify for the non-creamy layer OBC quota. Meanwhile, a video of her sarpanch mother Manorama Khedkar brandishing a gun to threaten farmers had also emerged. Manorama was later arrested. UP man held for molesting 8-year-old girl in Thane PTI THANE Police have arrested a man from UP for allegedly molesting an 8-year-old girl at her residence in Thane district, an official said. The incident occurred on August 19 in Nandivali village of Kalyan, and the 48-year-old accused was placed under arrest on Friday after the victim's parents traced and nabbed him, he said. "The accused, Ramesh Murlidhar Yadav, had come to stay at the house of the victim's family. When the girl tried to keep her toy in a cupboard, the accused touched her inappropriately. The girl later told her parents about it," the official of Kolsewadi police station said. Based on the complaint lodged by them, the police registered a case under section 74 (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 79 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and also the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, he said. "There was a delay in lodging the complaint as the parents of the victim first traced and nabbed the accused on their own and brought him to the police station," he said. A local court remanded the accused in judicial custody