FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms Vol. 14 No. 111 | BHOPAL | FRIDAY | OCTOBER 4, 2024 | PAGES 14 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 FREE www.freepressjournal.in Sports Felt alive again after winning WC: Rohit P.13 ESTD-1983 iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: INDORE UK gives up Chagos Islands Britain today said it will give up sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, but will keep its strategic joint military base with the US in Diego Garcia. NEW DELHI Isha case: SC takes over In a relief for Jaggi Vasudev's Isha Foundation, the Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Tamil Nadu Police to not act further in pursuance of the Madras High Court order asking it to probe alleged illegal confinement of two women at its ashram. The apex court transferred to itself a habeas corpus petition filed before the high court. well known. "Our views on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) are well known. It is a biased organisation with a political agenda. It continues to misrepresent facts and peddles a motivated narrative about India. We reject this malicious report, which only serves to discredit USCIRF Oil up 5% as Biden speaks of Israeli strike on Iran oil assets CS talks tough, points defects in metro design Agencies Says responsibility should be fixed for the shortcomings WASHINGTON and places of worship have been demolished. These events constitute particularly severe violations of religious freedom," the commission said in the document. further," Jaiswal said. Urging the commission to look within, the spokesperson also said that its time would be better spent addressing human rights issues in the United States. "We would urge USCIRF to desist from such agendadriven efforts. The USCIRF would also be well advised to utilise its time more produc- tively on addressing human rights issues in the United States," he added. In the India section of its annual report, the USCIRF said misinformation and disinformation has been used to incite attacks against religious minorities and their places of worship in the country. 4Continued on | P6 4Continued on | P6 Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL Chief Secretary (CS) Anurag Jain took charge on Thursday. In his first meeting with the officers after taking over as CS, Jain displayed his toughness as an administrator. He directed the officials to fix responsibility for the faulty design of the metro project and take action against the guilty. A problem cropped up in the design of the metro and flyover near the Gayatri temple. Since the road beneath the metro lines was high, dumpers running on the road were touching the flyover. When the issue came to ACS Rajesh Rajora with CS Anurag Jain light, the road was dug up to manage the system. The same situation occurred near Aishbagh where the PWD bridge is touching the flyover meant for metro. Those who have shown negligence in such an important work should be punished, Jain said, adding that the officers should not count on consultants and use their intelligence to appreciate the pros and cons of a project. Jain also expressed anger at the slow progress of mining and tourism projects. The state should send the projects to the Central Government after full preparation. If there is any problem with the Central Government, he should be informed about it, Jain said, adding that the state government has a fine opportunity to work for the Central Government’s projects. When the officers began to introduce themselves, Jain said there was no need for it, as he knows almost all the officers. He further said the important projects of the Central Government and those of the state government should be done on priority. There are many land banks in MP which should be properly used, he said, adding that something must be done to improve financial condition of the state. Guest teachers did not have permission to stage protest, say police The Centre has told the Supreme Court there is no need to criminalise marital rape as there are other "suitably designed punitive measures". The Centre said it is not within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to criminalise Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL A day after scores of guest faculty teachers had congregated at the Ambedkar Ground at Second number bus stop in Bhopal, to protest against the state government and the education department and demand regularisation, the police have registered an FIR against four of the guest faculty members. ‘NOT TERRORISTS’ State president of Guest Faculty Samanvay Samiti, Sunil Singh Parihar, condemned the lathi-charge and FIRs by the police. He said that the police must withdraw the FIRs registered against the guest faculty members. “The guest faculty members are neither terrorists nor criminals, and the demands raised by them are completely justified. If the FIRs are not withdrawn, 1 lakh guest faculty members shall again congregate and protest against the government,” he added. ‘Savarkar ate beef, not against cow slaughter’ PTI Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao has claimed that Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar used to eat meat and was not against cow slaughter. "Savarkar, a 'Chitpavan Brahmin', used to eat meat. He was a non-veg eater and he was not against cow slaughter. He was modern in a way," he said at an event here on Wednesday. "Some say that he used to eat beef as well. As a Brahmin, he used to eat meat and was openly propagating eating meat. So he had that thinking," the Minister claimed. Rao added that Mahatma Gandhi was a vegetarian and had a firm faith in Hinduism "but his actions were different. He was a democratic person." "(Founder of Pakistan Muhammad Ali) Jinnah was another extreme. He was a hardcore Islamist believer. He used to drink wine and it is said that he used to eat pork as well but he became a Muslim icon after the two-nation theory and politics. But Jinnah was not a fundamentalist but Savarkar was a fundamentalist," he said. On Thursday, explaining the context in which he made the comments, the Minister said there was a discussion on Mahatma Gandhi's assassination in a book release event where he had a 'very healthy discussion'. "It was basically an observation on the contrast between Mahatma Gandhi and Savarkar. 4Continued on | P6 TT Nagar ACP Chandrashekhar Pandey told Free Press that four guest faculty members, against whom an FIR has been registered, have been identified as KC Pawar, the state president of the guest faculty association, and three other members of the association - BM Khan, Mukesh Joshi and Santosh. A case has been registered against them under Section 223 of the BNS, he added. ACP Pandey said that the police had to resort to lathicharge, and take the legal course, as the protests had been taking place without permission. The police had even warned the agitating guest faculty that they would open fire on them. Cabinet to meet in Singrampur tomorrow Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL The second meeting of the Mohan Yadav-led cabinet outside the state capital is going to be held in Singrampur area on Saturday. The area is known as the capital of queen Durgavati. The cabinet members will also visit the historical places around Singrampur. The ministers will also visit the fort of queen Durgavati, offer prayers and garland the statue of the queen. A conference on Ladli Behna will also be held in Singrampur village together with the cabinet meeting. At the meet, Yadav will transfer money to the accounts of the beneficiaries of the Ladli Behna Yojna and those of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojna. Yadav will interact with Behnas. 4Continued on | P6 offgrid SC bans caste-based discrimination in jails PTI NEW DELHI In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court on Thursday banned caste-based discrimination like division of manual labour, segregation of barracks and bias against prisoners of de-notified tribes and habitual offenders by holding as "unconstitutional" the jail manual rules of 10 states for fostering such biases. Observing that "right to live Cinema Bhaskar Jha celebrates Oscar nod P.14 No need to criminalise marital rape: Centre to SC CHANDIGARH The high-octane campaign in Haryana for the October 5 assembly polls came to an end Thursday evening as the BJP hopes to buck anti-incumbency to retain power for a third consecutive term and the Congress eyes a comeback after a decade-long hiatus. E-paper FIR against four protesting guest faculty members BENGALURU Campaigning ends in Haryana MUMBAI Edit No walkover in Haryana, J&K P.8 US President Joe Biden said he was discussing possible Israeli strikes on Iranian oil facilities, in comments that sent oil prices spiking Thursday just a month before the US presidential election. Biden told reporters at the White House however that he was not expecting Israel to launch any retaliation for Tehran's missile barrage on Israel before Thursday at least. When asked by a reporter if he supported Israel striking Iran's oil facilities, Biden said "we're discussing that. I think that would be a little... anyway." Oil prices jumped five percent over concerns about the Middle East after Biden spoke. CHARGES LEVELLED IN REPORT NEW DELHI NASHIK “This report highlights how, throughout 2024, individuals have been killed, beaten, and lynched by vigilante groups, religious leaders have been arbitrarily arrested, and homes Agencies NEW DELHI fp BHOPAL 15 Hezbollah militants killed in Israeli strike India alleges bias, trashes US Religious Freedom report Briefs PUNE WORLD STRONG REACTION: MEA says USCIRF’s time would be better spent addressing human rights issues within the United States Rubbishing a report by a US federal government commission which has pointed to the alleged worsening of religious freedom in India and called for it being designated a "country of particular concern", the Ministry of External Affairs has termed it an attempt to "peddle a motivated narrative". Responding to queries on the annual report by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), the ministry's spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, said its views on the "biased organisation with a political agenda" are UJJAIN PRESS By way of Article 17, our Constitution strengthens the equality of status of every citizen SC Bench with dignity extends even to the incarcerated", a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said, "Criminal laws of the co- lonial era continue to impact the postcolonial world." It asked the Centre and the states to amend their prison manuals and laws within three months, and file compliance reports before it. It dealt with certain discriminatory provisions of jail manuals of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Kerala, Maharashtra Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh and set them aside. Referring to right against touchability, it said Article 17 enunciates that everyone is born equal. 4Continued on | P6 Agencies NEW DELHI marital rape. The Centre said the issue of marital rape is a more social issue than a legal one, as it will have a direct effect on society. This issue (marital rape) cannot be decided without proper consultation with all stakeholders or without taking into account the views of all states, the Centre said. New Delhi: The Centre has told the Supreme Court there is no need to criminalise marital rape as there are other "suitably designed punitive measures". The Centre said it is not within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to criminalise marital rape. The Centre said the issue of marital rape is a more social issue than a legal one, as it will have a direct effect on society. This issue (marital rape) cannot be decided without proper consultation with all stakeholders or without taking into account the views of all states, the Centre said. 4Continued on | P6