FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms Vol. XLI No. 110 | INDORE | FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 27, 2024 | Pages 16 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. 38281/83 FREE www.freepressjournal.in Sports India aim for 18th consecutive series win P.14 ESTD-1983 iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: INDORE UJJAIN PRESS PUNE BHOPAL NASHIK MONEY MUMBAI E-paper Edit Pune rape is a national shame P.8 Govt pushes for scalable food security measures Cinema Did Urmila unfollow Mohsin? P.13 Domestic Violence Act is religion neutral: SC PTI NEW DELHI The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, is a civil code that is applicable to every woman in India irrespective of her religious affiliation or social background, the Supreme Court has said. A bench of Justice B V Nagarathna and Justice N Kotiswar Singh said the 2005 legislation was applicable to all women for more effective protection of their rights guaranteed under the Constitution. fp "The Act is a piece of civil code which is applicable to every woman in India irrespective of her religious affiliation and/or social background for a more effective protection of her rights guaranteed under the Constitution and in order to protect women victims of domestic violence occurring in a domestic relationship," the bench said. The woman had earlier filed a petition under section 12 of the Act which was allowed by a magistrate in February 2015 granting Rs 12,000 as monthly mainten- The apex court delivered its verdict on an appeal filed by a woman challenging an order of the Karnataka High Court in a matter related to the grant of maintenance and compensation ance and Rs 1 lakh towards compensation to her. The top court noted that the husband had filed an appeal against the order which was dismissed by the appellate court on the ground of delay. It noted that later, he filed another application under section 25 of the Act, which deals with duration and alteration of orders, before a magistrate but the same was dismissed. The bench said thereafter, he filed an appeal before the appellate court, which allowed it and remanded the matter to the magistrate with a direction to consider his application by giving an opportunity to both parties to adduce their evidence. It noted that aggrieved by the order, the woman approached the high court which dismissed her plea in April last year and directed the magistrate to consider the application filed by the man under section 25 of the Act. In its verdict, the apex court referred to section 25 HORROR: The 5-year-old who went missing from a Shahjehanabad multi three days ago Briefs NEW DELHI No more adjournments in Godhra case The Supreme Court on Thursday said it will hear on January 15 the appeals filed by the Gujarat government and several other convicts in the 2002 Godhra train burning case. A bench of Justices J K Maheshwari and Rajesh Bindal made it clear that no adjournment will be given in the matter on the next date of hearing. NEW DELHI SC bail to ex-TN minister Balaji In a relief to former Tamil Nadu minister and DMK strongman Senthil Balaji, the Supreme Court on Thursday granted him bail in a money laundering case after over 15 months, noting there is no possibility of the completion of trial in the near future. The top court said Balaji, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate, has been in jail since last year and his continued detention will amount to an infringement of his fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution. BILKIS BANO CASE was found dead inside water tank in adjoining house, police said she was raped by a neighbour Missing 5-yr-old was raped & murdered by neighbour Our Staff Reporter WITH GIRL’S FAMILY: CM BHOPAL The body of a 5-year-old girl who had gone missing from Vajpayee Nagar multistoryed building in Shahjehanabad area of the city, was found inside a water tank placed inside the house of her neighbour on Thursday morning, the police said, adding that the girl was raped by her neighbour, named Atul. The senior police officials said that Atul as well as his mother and sister have been arrested for trying to destroy evidence. The kin of the girl, as well as residents of the multi where she used to reside, staged sitin near the multi, as well as outside the Shahjehanabad police station on Thursday morning, after the girl was found dead. They were also joined by the Congress MLAs Arif Masood and Atif Aqeel. MLA Masood has warned the BJP of laying siege outside the CM house soon, if the girl isn’t served justice. Commissioner of police (CP) of Bhopal, Harinarayanachari Mishra told Free Press that the incident took place on Tuesday. He added that the neighbour of the girl, named Atul, was trying to escape to Itarsi along with his BAPS temple vandalised in US WASHINGTON Unknown miscreants have vandalised the BAPS Hindu temple in California's Sacramento, desecrating it with expletive-laden graffiti saying "Hindus go back!", the BAPS Public Affairs said. "Less than 10 days after the desecration of the @BAPS Mandir in New York, our Mandir in the Sacramento, CA area was desecrated last night with anti-Hindu hate: "Hindus go back!" We stand united against hate with prayers for peace," the BAPS Public Affairs said in a post on X. Wednesday night's incident comes after the desecration of the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Melville, New York, on September 17. Grieving family of girl outside a hospital NO FEAR OF LAW F ear of law among criminals is in moribund state. The recent incidents of crime denote that wrong-doers are no more afraid of the Khaki-clad men. Besides the opposition, leaders of the ruling dispensation have begun to question mark the efficiency of the sentinels of law. The shameful incidents, like raping of a minor girl in a school and the murder and rape of another minor girl in the past few days, have saddened residents of the state capital. The main reason for the boldness of the criminals is that they are not worried about what will happen to them if they are caught. MP was the first state to have announced capital punishment for rapists of Comment By Nitendra Sharma minor girls. Nevertheless, none of the rapists have been hanged. There may be many reasons for delay in handing punishment to the rapists, but that has failed to instill fear in the minds of the rapists. 4Continued on | P6 4th RIC in Sagar today, to focus on cottage industry CM to interact with industrialists Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL/SAGAR The fourth Regional Industries Conclave being organised at Jawaharlal Nehru Police Academy Ground in Sagar on Friday, will focus on local and cottage industry. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav will take part in sectoral sessions at the conclave and have one-to-one discussions with industrialists. Industrialists and investors from India and abroad will participate in the conclave. In the opening session, the country's leading industrialists will put forward their views on investing in the state. An action plan will be discussed in a separate session based on bidi industry. In 'One DistrictOne Product', there will be a discussion on world class quality, marketing and processing of local products of all districts of Sagar division. Yadav will also virtually inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of various new and proposed projects. 4Continued on | P6 People with corrupt mindset cannot have any place in society. There is a provision of death penalty for such heinous crimes and our government will try to ensure that such criminals get the harshest punishment. Along with this, the government is committed to ensuring speedy justice in all such cases through fast track courts. My sympathies are with the family of the victim. Madhya Pradesh is with the bereaved family in this hour of grief. mother and sister. The trio was detained by the police and questioned on Thursday. After hours of questioning, Atul revealed that on Tuesday noon, at around 12 pm, when the BMC teams were carrying out fogging and fumigation drives in the area, his room’s door was open, and he was alone inside the room. The girl, unable to see anything clearly amid the fogging drive, eventually landed inside the room. Finding her alone, Atul raped her, and then strangled her to death. 4Continued on | P6 Macron backs India’s UNSC bid NEW YORK French President Emmanuel Macron has supported India's bid for permanent membership in a reformed United Nations Security Council, while advocating the expansion of the powerful UN body. "We have a Security Council that is blocked...Let's make the UN more efficient. We have to make it more representative," Macron said at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday. "That's why," he said, "France is in favour of the Security Council being expanded. Germany, Japan, India, and Brazil should be permanent members, as well as two countries that Africa will decide to represent it." offgrid Jhumpa chooses headscarf over award Agencies WASHINGTON Pulitzer Prize winning author Jhumpa Lahiri declined to accept an award from New York City's Noguchi Museum after it fired three employees for wearing keffiyeh (head scarf), an emblem of Palestinian solidarity, following an updated dress code. It was not immediately clear what the prize and said it was evident that an aggrieved person or a respondent as defined under the Act can seek for alteration, modification or revocation of an order made under the provisions of the Act if there was a change in the circumstances as per sub-section (2) of section 25. The bench said a magistrate, while exercising discretion under section 25(2) of the Act, has to be satisfied that a change in the circumstances has occurred, requiring to pass an order of alteration, modification or revocation. constitutes, other than attending a gala dinner. "Jhumpa Lahiri has chosen to withdraw her acceptance of the 2024 Isamu Noguchi Award in response to our updated dress code policy," the museum said in a statement on Wednesday. “We respect her perspective and understand that this policy may or may not align with everyone's views." Lahiri received the Pulitzer Prize in 2000 for her book "Interpreter of Maladies." Reuters and New York Times report that across the world, protesters demanding an end to Israel's war in Gaza have worn the black-andwhite keffiyeh, made famous by Yasser Arafat, former president of the Palestine National Authority. Anti apartheid South African leader Nelson Mandela was also seen wearing the scarf on many occasions. The museum, founded nearly 40 years ago by Noguchi, a Japanese American designer and sculptor had recently announced that during their working hours employees could not wear clothing or accessories that expressed “political messages, slogans or symbols.” Visitors, however, are exempt from this dress code. 4Continued on | P6 SC rejects Guj plea to remove comments PTI NEW DELHI In a big blow to the Gujarat government, the Supreme Court on Thursday refused to remove comments made in its order related to the release of convicts in the Bilkis Bano case. The state requested removal of certain remarks against it when the top court overruled the premature release of 11 men convicted of raping Bilkis Bano and killing her family during the 2002 Gujarat riots. The Gujarat government petition also flagged the court's comment that it had "acted in collusion and colluded with the convicts". The state government argued the comment was inappropriate and against the record of the case, and also biased against the petitioner. 25% quota in jobs says govt, rules out regularisation Eligibility criteria for guest teachers’ quota too fixed The High Court had directed the School Education Department to take action according to rules Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has said that guest teachers in Madhya Pradesh will not be granted regularisation but will instead be given 25% reservation in direct recruitment. This decision follows a petition by guest teachers, which was resolved by Commissioner of Public Instruction Shilpa Gupta on the instructions of the High Court. The High Court had directed the School Education Department to take action according to the rules. Following the directions of HC, DPI cites the Madhya Pradesh State School Education Service (Educational Cadre) Service Conditions and Recruitment Rules 2018 and the revised rules of December 1, 2022. Under these rules, the recruitment of teachers will be conducted through a teacher selection test following the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET), as outlined in Rule-8 sub-rule (5). Additionally, sub-rule 7b (4) of Rule-11 reserves 25% of available teacher posts in direct recruitment for guest teachers. Guest teachers who have served for at least three academic sessions and 200 days will be eligible for the 25% reservation. 4Continued on | P6 46 drown during 'Jivitputrika' festival in Bihar districts The festival is for the long life of children Family of one of the deceased Agencies PATNA Altogether 46 people, including 37 children, drowned and three others went missing while taking holy dips in rivers and ponds in separate incidents during the 'Jivitputrika' festival in Bihar, the state government said on Thursday. The incidents occurred in 15 districts of the state during the festival held on Wednesday. During the 'Jivitputrika' festi- val, women fast for the wellbeing of their children and both take holy dips. "A total of 43 bodies have been recovered so far. Further search operation is on," a statement issued by the Disaster Management Department (DMD) said. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar PM launches Param Rudra announced a compensation of Rs4 lakh for the next of families of those who died. The process of providing the compensation has begun and family members of eight of those who died have already received it, the statement said. 4Continued on | P6 Gehlot’s OSD in firing line of BJP IANS JAIPUR PTI PUNE Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said a country can aim for high achievements only if it has a big vision and asserted that technology upgradation should be to empower the poor. Speaking after launching via video link three PARAM Rudra supercomputers, developed indigenously under National Supercomputing Mission, Modi asserted that today's India is carving new opportunities in the infinite sky of possibilities. Modi said his government has taken steps to ensure research in technology benefits the common man. "We started the national supercomputing mission in 2015 and now quantum computing technology has taken a lead which will help improve IT, manufacturing, MSMEs and startups," he said. Modi said his government is giving priority to science, technology and research. 4Continued on | P6 Former Rajasthan minister Pratap Singh Khachariyavas on Thursday said that the ex-OSD to former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Lokesh Sharma, is a coward and will land up in jail soon for changing his statement in the phone tapping case. "Cowards like Lokesh Sharma were enjoying the benefits till yesterday and today he is talking nonsense. He is no celebrity and no one knows him. He is only known after he takes the name of Ashok Gehlot four times a day," said Khachariyavas. He said that the former OSD keeps on changing his statements due to which he can land up in jail soon.