FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms FREE PRESS Vol. XLII No. 178 | INDORE | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 4, 2025 | Pages 14 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. 38281/83 www.freepressjournal.in Sports Players’ complaints over ‘Dictatorial’ coaching style force Harendra’s exit P.12 CHHINDWARA COUGH SYRUP CASE `2cr assets of drug company’s director attached Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL Enforcement Directorate has attached property worth Rs 2.04 crore belonging to director of Sresan Pharmaceuticals, whose Coldrif syrup led to deaths of more than 20 children in Chhindwara district, officials said on Wednesday. Probe found the manufacturer used industrial-grade raw materials instead of pharma-grade, without proper quality checks, to prepare the medicine. ED claimed that annual inspections of Sresa Pharmceuticals were not conducted. 4Continued on | P8 Russia clears def deal ahead of Putin visit PTI NEW DELHI On the eve of President Vladimir Putin’s arrival in New Delhi, Russia’s State Duma on 2 December ratified the Reciprocal Exchange of Logistic Support (RELOS) agreement, a major military logistics pact with India. Signed on 18 February, the pact was forwarded for approval last week by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said the ratification marks “another step toward reciprocity” in the “strategic and comprehensive” India–Russia partnership. A Cabinet note on the Duma website said the agreement will allow mutual use of airspace and port facilities by Indian and Russian warships and military aircraft, enhancing operational coordination. 4Continued on | P8 5 MP crafts secure GI recognition BHOPAL ESTD-1983 iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: INDORE MONEY Rupee crashes to new depths as US Dollar surge intensifies 4Continued on | P8 MUMBAI Rupee breaches 90/dollar The rupee breached the 90a-dollar level for the first time to settle at a fresh all-time low of 90.15 on Wednesday, down 19 paise from its previous close, amid sustained foreign fund outflows and higher crude oil prices. Uncertainty over the India-US trade deal, along with the lack of RBI effort to stop the slide in the local unit, put further pressure on the rupee, according to forex traders. PUNE BHOPAL NASHIK MUMBAI E-paper Edit No Saathi for govt on Sanchar P.6 Cinema Aamir announces Vir Das directorial P.14 ‘Stop forced caesarean delivery in pvt hospitals’ 200 IndiGo flights CM tells officials that staffers of 108 Ambulance Service take patients to private hospitals cancelled, flight Merge dist co-op banks to form new bank duty audit blamed Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has said there are complaints that the private hospitals are forcing the pregnant women to undergo caesarean delivery, which should be immediately stopped. Yadav issued the directive at a review meeting of the health department on Wednesday. There are also complaints that staffers of the 108 Ambulance service are taking the patients to private hospitals, and officials should act against it, he said, adding that irregularities will not be tolerated. The hospitals, where treatment is not available under Ayushman, should be included in the scheme, and the help of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has said the employees and office-bearers of the Cooperative Department should furnish the details of their properties every year. Yadav made the statement at a meeting with the Cooperative Department. If there is any report of shortage or rip-off, the money should be recovered by auctioning the properties of the guilty, he said and added that a plan should be made to set one big cooperative bank by merging all district cooperative banks, keeping in mind all financial aspects for doing the work. remuneration. The medical students, whose fees are paid by the government, and the doctors who have signed bonds should be asked to serve the MP government, Yadav said. Such doctors should be paid attractive remuneration for serving the people in far-flung places and tribal areas in the state, the Chief Minister said. private doctors should be sought to run the community health 4Continued on | P8 centres, he said, adding that such doctors will get attractive PRIVACY CONCERNS| Govt says snooping neither possible nor will happen, reverses pre-install directive after Oppn’s pressure CENTRE ROLLS BACK SANCHAR SAATHI ORDER Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar NEW DELHI Under sustained Opposition pressure and rising public criticism, the Centre on We d n e s d a y Scan & Watch withdrew its order mandating the pre-installation of the Sanchar Saathi safety app on all new smartphones. The reversal came hours after Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia told Parliament that “snooping was neither possible nor would take place through the app,” rejecting allegations that the directive was a covert attempt to monitor citizens. In a statement following Scindia’s remarks, the Ministry of WHY THE APPROAR n DoT's Nov 28 order asked manufacturers to pre-install Sanchar Saathi app on all new mobiles and to issue software update for phones already sold n The aim, govt said, was to ensure phone can't be cloned or SIM can’t be duplicated. Also to help report lost or stolen phones n But Apple refused to preload the app citing privacy risks n The Opposition too voiced similar concerns, calling it a 'snooping app' to turn India into a ‘surveillance state’ n Govt sought to allay fears, saying those who do not wish to use the app can delete it any time Communication defended the original mandate, asserting that the app was introduced “with an intent to provide access to cyber security to all citizens.” It emphasised that Sanchar Saathi was “secure and purely meant to help citizens from bad actors in the cyber world.” The ministry added that the app promoted jan bhagidari by enabling users to report cyber-fraud attempts while protecting themselves from scamsters. Reiterating that the app had no surveillance functions, the Woman gives birth to quadruplets Our Staff Reporter INDORE Shabana Mansuri, who hadlost her husband just three months ago, gave birth to a quadruplets, including three girls and a boy at Cloth Mar- ket Hospital, on Tuesday morning. The family termed it as “four-fold blessings.” Doctors confirmed that both the mother and newborns were healthy and stable. The complex pre-term King Kohli silences doubters again Haridev Pushparaj Caesarean surgery was successfully performed at 8:30 am by a team led by Dr Farhan Pathan and Dr Hemlata Gupta, under the supervision of neonatologist Dr Ritesh Palia. Full Report. Page 3 Restricting talent flow will hurt nations: EAM PTI NEW DELHI MUMBAI Five ancient handicrafts from MP have received Geographical Indication (GI) tags. They include Khajuraho's stone craft, Chhatarpur's furniture, Betul's Bhareva metal craft, Gwalior's stone craft and Gwalior paper mache craft. A year ago, NABARD, MP, provided financial support for Khajuraho's stone craft, Betul's Bhareva metal craft, Gwalior's stone craft, and Gwalior paper mache, while SIDBI, Madhya Pradesh, supported Chhatarpur furniture. UJJAIN Few athletes command a sense of timing and occasion the way Virat Kohli does. The higher the stakes, the sharper his response: as murmurs about his 2027 ODI World Cup prospects grew louder, he answered in the only language he knows: runs, and plenty of them. His back-to-back ODI tons in Ranchi and Raipur against a combative South Africa have not merely revived the conversation around his selection — they have reframed it. When speculation swirled about whether an ageing Kohli fit into head coach Gautam Gambhir’s forward-looking blueprint, the former India captain turned the debate on its head with performances stamped with authority. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday cautioned that countries creating excessive roadblocks to the movement of professionals across borders will ultimately be “net losers”, especially as advanced manufacturing increasingly demands high-skilled talent. Speaking at a conclave on mobility, Jaishankar’s remarks came amid concerns over the US decision to impose additional fees on H-1B visas under President Donald Trump’s ongoing immigration tightening. Without naming any country, he said India must persuade partners that crossborder talent mobility yields “mutual benefit”. 4Continued on | P8 4Continued on | P8 Indore’s Pooja gets ‘Best Divyang Award’ from Prez Our Sports Reporter INDORE/ NEW DELHI In a stirring ceremony at Vigyan Bhawan, international para-athlete and social changemaker Pooja Garg was today honoured with the ‘Best Divyang Award – Personal with Disability’ by President Droupadi Murmu, recognising her extraordinary journey from paralysis to becoming a global symbol of resilience. Pooja’s life defies limits. After a spinal cord injury left her lower body paralysed, she not only became an international para-canoeist, winning two bronze medals at the 2024 Asian Para Canoe Championship, but also became the first differently-abled woman in the world to complete a 4,500 km extreme motorcycle expedition. She has carried the Indian flag to 14,400 feet at Nathula Pass, a feat recognised by the London Book of World Records. “Receiving this honour from the Hon’ble President is not just an award — it is a reminder that no disability is greater than human courage,” Pooja stated. As the Director of the Pankhon Ki Udaan Charitable Foundation, she leads grassroots initiatives in disability empowerment, child protection, and women's Her story, celebrated internationally as “Turning Pain into Power,” truly embodies An Unbreakable Spirit!, inspiring a nation to see ability beyond disability. government said users were free to delete it at any time—reflecting Scindia’s clarification a day earlier that the app was optional. However, despite these assurances, the Centre announced on Wednesday that “given Sanchar Saathi’s increasing acceptance,” it had decided not to make pre-installation mandatory for mobile manufacturers. The ministry highlighted that 1.4 crore users had already downloaded the app and were collectively contributing information on 2,000 fraud incidents daily. It claimed the mandate was originally intended to accelerate adoption and “make the app available to less aware citizens easily.” 4Continued on | P8 Agencies NEW DELHI SC defers OBC quota hearing amid state lawyers’ absence IndiGo, India’s largest airline, faced a major operational meltdown for the second consecutive day, with nearly 200 flights cancelled and hundreds more delayed across major airports on Wednesday. The crisis follows a sharp drop in the carrier’s on-time performance, which plunged to 35% on Tuesday, indicating delays in over 1,400 flights. Airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad reported heavy disruption, with passengers stranded for hours. Our Staff Reporter 4Continued on | P8 18 flights hit in Indore As many as 18 IndiGo flights, both arrivals and departures, were cancelled through the day, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded and many in panic. Several travellers also missed their connecting international flights, worsening the distress. P3 BHOPAL The Supreme Court postponed hearing on 27 per cent OBC reservation to Thursday. It was originally listed for Wednesday, but designated lawyers of the state government and unreserved category were not present, citing other work. They sought more time, but after protest from OBC lawyers, SC fixed the next hearing for December 4. The OBC reservation case has been pending for six years, putting future of selected candidates at stake. In 2019, Madhya Pradesh government amended the law to raise OBC reservation from 14% to 27%. 4Continued on | P8 Rubio flags Trump’s India-Pak role Says Prez deserves credit for mediating high-risk conflicts PTI NEW YORK/WASHINGTON US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said President Donald Trump deserves “tremendous credit” for brokering several high-stakes peace agreements, including what he described as “very dangerous ones like India and Pakistan.” Speaking at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Rubio said Trump had reshaped American foreign policy by focusing solely on whether decisions made the US “safer, stronger and more prosperous,” calling this clarity “transformational.” Rubio praised Trump for mediating multiple global disputes, echoing the President’s own claims made earlier in the meeting. 4Continued on | P8