FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms FREE PRESS Vol. 14 No. 331 | BHOPAL | THURSDAY | MAY 15, 2025 | Pages 14 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 www.freepressjournal.in ESTD-1983 iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: BHOPAL UJJAIN MONEY Sports Sneh spins redemption into record books P.13 PUNE INDORE NASHIK Cinema ‘Tacky, absolute disaster’ P.12 GUTTER LANGUAGE | Jabalpur High Court takes suo motu cognizance of minister Vijay Shah’s derogatory, communal and sexist comments on Colonel Sofia Qureshi FIR ON SHAH AS HC ACTS OVER INSULT TO COLONEL Minister may have to quit over his jibe FP News Service Mhow’s Manpur police late on Wednesday night complied with Madhya Pradesh High Court’s order to DGP to lodge an immediate FIR against Minister Vijay Shah for using scurrilous and offensive language against a senior Indian Army officer. Earlier in the ay, a division bench comprising Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Anuradha Shukla took suo moto cognisance of the issue and issued the directive in response to the minister’s remarks made during a public event at Raikunda village in Dr. Ambedkar Nagar (Mhow) on Monday. The court ordered that an FIR be lodged under Sections 152, 196(1)(b), and 197(1)(c) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and stressed that the registration must be completed by Tuesday evening. The court warned that failure to comply may result in con- fp Briefs NEW DELHI JNU ends ties with Turkish University Jawaharlal Nehru University has suspended an academic memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Turkiye's Inonu University, citing national security considerations, officials of the university here confirmed on Tuesday. The MoU was inked on February 3 for a period of three years. NEW DELHI 31 Maoists killed in 21 days Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said that security forces killed 31 notorious Naxalites in the Kurraguttalu Hills (KGH) on the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border in the biggest ever operation against Naxalism. In a post on X, Shah said, "Achieving a historic breakthrough in the resolve of #NaxalFreeBharat security forces killed 31 notorious naxalites in the Kurraguttalu Hills (KGH) on the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border in the biggest ever operation against Naxalism." NWC too condemns Shah Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL Minister Vijay Shah used “language of the gutters” against Colonel Sofia Qureshi. His comments are “disparaging and dangerous”, not just to the officer, but to the military institution itself Jabalpur High Court Bench CONG FILES PLAINT Congress on Wednesday lodged a police complaint at Shyamla Hills station demanding an FIR against Tribal Affairs Minister Vijay Shah for his derogatory remarks against Colonel Sofiya Qureshi. Led by state chief Jitu Patwari, the party accused Shah of insulting a woman Army officer and defaming the armed forces. Patwari also urged PM Modi to sack Shah. tempt proceedings against the DGP.“The AG office is directed to ensure that this order is immediately trans- mitted to office of DGP,” the court stated. 4Continued on | P8 Pakistan hands over BSF jawan to India after 21 days Possibilities of minister Vijay Shah’s resignation have increased after the high court ordered registration of an FIR under various sections of the sedition law. The BJP was trying to quell the public anger against Shah by asking him to apologise for his obscene comments on Colonel Sofia Qureshi. The police had to register an FIR after the court order. The pressure is mounting PTI NEW YORK India and Pakistan on Wednesday handed each other's borderguarding personnel captured by the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Pakistan Rangers respectively at the International Borders (IB) between the two countries, officials said. BSF jawan Purnam Kumar Shaw was handed over to India, 21 days after he was apprehended by the Rangers from along the International Border in Punjab. Shaw was apprehended by the Pakistan Rangers a day after the Pahalgam terrorist attack in which 26 people were killed. The officials said a Pakistan Ranger apprehended by the BSF from the Rajasthan border on May 3 was also handed back to the neighbouring country. Constable Shaw was handed over to the BSF by the Pakistan Rangers at 10.30 am at the joint check post (JCP) Attari in Amritsar district opposite Pakistan's Wagah, a BSF spokesperson said. A picture of the jawan released by the force showed a bearded Shaw with ruffled hair and wearing a dark green round-neck T-shirt. "Today at 1030 hours Constable Purnam Kumar Shaw has been taken back from Pakistan by the BSF at the AttariWagah border," the spokesperson said. Shaw had "inadvertently" crossed over to the Pakistan territory while on operational duty in the Ferozepur sector on April 23 around 11.50 am and detained by the Pak Rangers, he said. 4Continued on | P8 An Indian-origin college student from the US died in the Bahamas after accidentally falling from a hotel balcony just days before he was set to graduate. Gaurav Jaisingh was a student at Bentley University, Waltham, Massachusetts and was in the Bahamas for an annual senior class trip when he died in the accident on Sunday. Jaisingh was set to graduate later this week. Bentley University said in a post on X that "it's been a difficult few days and our community is feeling the emotional toll of the tragic loss of Gaurav Jaisingh '25. Our hearts go out to Gaurav's family and friends. We plan to honour Gaurav at the undergraduate commencement ceremony," scheduled for May 17. 4See also | World Justice Gavai sworn in as CJI PTI NEW DELHI Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai, who has been part of several benches that delivered landmark rulings including the one upholding the Centre's decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370 bestowing special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was on Wednesday sworn in as the 52nd Chief Justice of India. The 64-year-old was administered oath by President Droupadi Murmu at a brief ceremony at the Ganatantra Mandap in the Rashtrapati Bhavan. He succeeds Justice Sanjiv Senior leader of the BJP and former chief minister Uma Bharti also demanded removal of Vijay Shah from the ministry. She said the minister should be sacked and an FIR should be registered against him. Uma further said the minister had put the nation to shame. on the minister to resign after the FIR. 4Continued on | P8 BJP’s state unit president sent a team of party workers led by former minister Manvendra Singh to the residence of Colonel Sofia Qureshi in Nowgong. The party workers led by Singh tendered an apology to Sofia’s family. “Sofia is the daughter of our nation,” Singh said. PTI AMRITSAR Uma Bharti demands minister’s removal VD sends BJP workers to Sofia’s residence Indian-origin college student from US dies in Bahamas Khanna, who demitted office on Tuesday on attaining the age of 65. CJI Gavai, who was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court on May 24, 2019, will have a tenure of over six months and would demit office on November 23. He took the oath of affirmation in Hindi. Soon after he took oath, CJI Gavai sought blessings of his mother Kamal Tai Gavai by touching her feet. 4Continued on | P8 If a woman can fly Rafale fighter jet in the Indian Air Force, then why are fewer women officers in gender neutral posts of Judge Advocate General (legal) branch of the Army, the Supreme Court wondered recently and questioned the Centre's rationale on a 50-50 selec- tion criterion. A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Manmohan on May 8 reserved its verdict on the plea of two officers Arshnoor Kaur and Astha Tyagi, who despite securing 4th and 5th ranks respectively -- higher in merit than their male counterparts -weren't selected for the JAG department due to fewer vacancies earmarked for women. The officers challenged the disproportionate vacancies for men and women and said they could not be selected as there were only three vacancies for women out of the total six posts. "Prima facie, we are satisfied with the case set up by the petitioner 1 Arshnoor Kaur," the bench noted while reserving its verdict. The top court went on, "Accordingly, we direct the respondents to initiate whatever action is required for the purpose of her induction Semiconductor boost: Cabinet okays Rs 3.7K cr HCL-Foxconn unit PTI Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar NEW DELHI/BEIJING NEW DELHI India on Wednesday outrightly rejected as "vain and preposterous" China renaming some places in Arunachal Pradesh and said such attempts will not alter the "undeniable" reality that the state "was, is, and will" always remain an integral part of India. New Delhi's reaction came in response to Beijing announcing Chinese names for 27 places in Arunachal Pradesh, including 15 mountains, four passes, two rivers, a lake and five inhabited areas. China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet. "We have noticed that China has persisted with its vain and preposterous attempts to name places in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. "Consistent with our principled position, we reject such attempts categorically," he said. Jaiswal was responding to a media query on the issue. The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the setting up of a semiconductor unit near the upcoming Jewar airport near Noida in Uttar Pradesh under the India Semiconductor Mission. This would be the country’s sixth unit as five semiconductor units are already in advanced stages of construction. A Cabinet note said the unit approved in the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be a joint venture of HCL and Foxconn. It said HCL has a long history of developing and manufacturing hardware while Foxconn is a global major in electronics manufacturing. The new unit will attract an investment of Rs 3,700 crore. “Together they will set up a plant near Jewar airport in Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority or YEIDA,” the government said, adding that “this plant will manufacture display driver chips for mobile phones, laptops, automobiles, PCs, and a myriad of other devices that have display.” The plant would fabricate 4Continued on | P8 Yadav hands over land allotment letter for 148 acres to BEML Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL Unit to produce 20,000 wafers, five other units already in various stages of development 20,000 wafers per month while the overall design output capacity would be 36 million units (smaller units) per month. A wafer contains many dies or units. The Cabinet also stated that students and entrepreneurs in 270 academic institutions and 70 startups are working on creating world class latest design technologies for developing new products and 20 products developed by the students of these academic students have already been prepared by SCL Mohali. The government said the “eco system partners” have also established their facilities in India to take the semiconductor journey forward. “Applied Materials and Lam Research are two of the largest equipment manufacturers. Both have a presence in India now. 4Continued on | P8 Madhya Pradesh”. He informed potential investors that the state has introduced a new industrial policy and established industry facilitation cells in all districts. He highlighted the availability of land bank, as well as adequate water and electricity, which make Madhya Pradesh a highly viable investment destination. Urging industrialists to set up their manufacturing units in MP, CM Yadav thanked them for showing confidence in the state. He said that commitments made during the Global Investors Summit have been successfully implemented at the ground level. Madhya Pradesh has received investment proposals worth Rs 7935 crore during the roadshow led by Chief Minister Mohan Yadav in Bengaluru, Karnataka, on Wednesday. These proposed investments are expected to create 18,975 employment opportunities in the state. A major highlight of the event was CM handing over a land allotment letter for 148 acres to Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML). The company is set to establish a metro coach manufacturing unit in the Umaria area of Raisen district, with an investment of Rs 1800 crore. The foundation stone of the WPI inflation dips to 13-month low of 0.85% Balochistan is not Pakistan: Baloch leader declares independence CM Mohan Yadav handing over the land allotment letter to the CMD of BEML in Bengaluru, Karnataka PTI Agencies NEW DELHI BALOCHISTAN Wholesale price inflation dropped to a 13-month low of 0.85 per cent in April with softening in prices of food articles, fuel and manufactured products, with experts projecting further easing in the data of next month, government data showed on Wednesday. WPI-based inflation was 2.05 per cent in March. It was 1.19 per cent in April last year. WPI inflation lower than 0.85 per cent was last recorded in March, 2024, when it was 0.26 per cent. As per the WPI (Wholesale price index) data, deflation in food, and fuel and power WPI, along with disinflation in manufactured products drove the moderation. Baloch representative Mir Yar Baloch on Wednesday declared independence from Pakistan, citing decades of violence, enforced disappearances, and human rights violations in the region. In a post on X, he said the people of Balochistan have given their "national verdict" ‘If women fly Rafale, why few JAG posts for them’ PTI Preposterous: India rejects China renaming of places in Arunachal MP bags Rs 7,935 crore investment proposals at CM’s Bengaluru roadshow offgrid NEW DELHI E-paper Edit The troll army’s toxic politics P.6 ‘Defence exports surge to `23,622 cr in FY25: Rajnath JABALPUR MUMBAI in the next available training course for appointment as Judge Advocate General (JAG)". The bench referred to a newspaper article that a woman fighter pilot would be flying Rafale aircraft and said in such a scenario she could be taken as a prisoner of war. 4Continued on | P8 project is expected to be laid within a month. The Chief Minister also held one-on-one meetings with key industrialists during an interactive session titled “Investment Opportunities in and that the world must no longer stay silent. "Tum Maroge Hum Neklengy, Hum Nasal Bachany Nekly Hain, Aao Hamara Sath Do. Baloch people across Pakistan Occupied Balochistan are up on streets and this is their national verdict that Balochistan Is Not Pakistan and world can't be a silent spectator any more," he said. He also urged Indian India successfully tests counter-swarm drone system ‘Bhargavastra’ citizens, especially media, YouTubers, and intellectuals, to avoid calling Balochs "Pakistan's own people." "Baloch Narrative!! Dear Indians patriot media, the YouTube comrades, the intellectuals fighting to defend Bharat are suggested not to refer to Balochs as 'Pakistan's Own People.' 4Continued on | P8 COPYCAT SHEHBAZ PTI LAHORE were conducted by firing one rocket each. One trial was conducted by firing two rockets in salvo mode within 2 seconds. All four rockets performed as expected and achieved the required launch parameters underscoring its pioneering technology in mitigating largescale drone attacks. Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited Pasrur Cantonment in Sialkot on Wednesday and interacted with officers and soldiers involved in the recent military confrontation with India. Pasrur Cantonment, Sialkot, is some 130kms from Lahore. Operation Sindoor was launched by India on the intervening night of May 6 and 7 to avenge the killings of 26 people in the Pahalgam terror attack. Indian armed forces targeted nine terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, killing over 100 terrorists.˘ 4Continued on | P8 4Continued on | P8 Agencies NEW DELHI A new low-cost Counter Drone System in Hard Kill Mode 'Bhargavastra', has been designed and developed by Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited (SDAL) signifying a substantial leap in countering the escalating threat of drone swarms. The micro rockets used in this counter-drone system underwent rigorous testing at the Seaward Firing Range, Gopalpur achieving all designated objectives. Three trials were conducted for the rocket at Gopalpur on May 13 in presence of senior officials of Army Air Defence (AAD). Two trials 4Continued on | P8