FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms FREE PRESS VOL. 13 NO. 268 | BHOPAL | MONDAY | MARCH 11, 2024 | PAGES 14 r Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2021-2023; `3 r RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 QUALITY AT VALUE www.freepressjournal.in - WORLD ‘BUT...WHY DID ARUN GOEL QUIT?’ NATION NETANYAHU IS HURTING ISRAEL MORE THAN HELPING IT: BIDEN WEATHER EDITIONS: INDORE, BHOPAL, UJJAIN, MUMBAI, PUNE 32.20c. 16.40c Sunrise : 06.39 Sunset : 06.34 TEST CRICKET IS HARD: DRAVID SPORTS BORN FREE Cheetah Gamini gives birth to five cubs in Kuno Man kills bro with axe There are now 13 cubs and 13 for turning off music adult cheetahs OUR STAFF REPORTER city.bhopal@fpj.co.in A wave of happiness swept through the Kuno National Park when South African female cheetah 'Gamini' gave birth to five cubs on Sunday. South African male cheetah Pavak is father of the cubs. Gamini and Pavak were kept inside the same enclosure for mating and this experi- ment proved fruitful. Union Minister for forest and climate change, Bhupender Yadav took to his "X" account (former twitter) to say that female Cheetah Gamini, age around 5 years, brought from Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, South Africa has given birth to 5 cubs today (Sunday). This takes the tally of the Indian born cubs to 13. This is the fourth litter on Indian Soil and the first litter of cheetahs brought from South Africa. "Congratulations to all, especially the team of forest officers, vets and field staff who have ensured a stress free environment for cheetahs which was led to successful mating and birth of the cubs. The total number of cheetahs includes cubs in Kuno National Park is 26," he said. Field director of Kuno National Park, Uttam Ku- mar Sharma said to the Free Press that with the birth of five cubs (littered by Gamini), there are now equal numbers of adult cheetahs and cubs. "There are 13 cubs and 13 adult cheetahs in Kuno" he said. The sources in Kuno National Park said that after being recaptured from the wild conditions, Gamini and Pavak were on either side of the enclosures. From time to time, they were released into each other enclosure for mating. It was in last monsoon season that they were cap- PM inaugurates new terminal of Gwalior Airport virtually It has been constructed in 16 months for Rs 498 cr CM’S GIFT TO WORKERS OUR STAFF REPORTER city.bhopal@fpj.co.in Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated the new terminal of Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Gwalior Airport on Sunday. He said that Gwalior has presented the example of fast working by completing the airport construction work in 16 months. When PM was virtually inaugurating the new terminal, Governor Mangubhai Patel, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and Union aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia were present in the programme held at Gwalior Airport. PM inaugurated various projects across the coun- PM Narendra Modi virtually inaugurates new terminal of Gwalior Airport, on Sunday try including the new terminal of Gwalior airport at a programme held in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh. PM said that development in country is going on continuously. "We are running at a great speed to turn country into a developed nation by 2047," he said. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav expressed his gratitude toward Union aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia for expanding air connectivity in Madhya Pradesh. Jyotiraditya Scindia said that by dedicating and laying foundation stones of 15 airports simultaneously in country, PM made Sunday a historic day in aviation field. He added that along with country, air services are also being expanded in Madhya Pradesh. Gwalior's connectivity CM announced that Rs 40,000 would be given to workers for buying EScooter. Moreover, he announced increasing the wage of unskilled workers to Rs 11,450, semi-skilled workers to Rs 12,446, and landless labourers to Rs 9,160. The part-time workers will be connected to Sambal scheme. Meanwhile, he disbursed Rs 678 crore to 30,551 labour families with a single click under Mukhya Mantri Jan Kalyan Sambal Yojana 2.0 in the programme. He also increased financial assistance from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 4 lakh given to workers on becoming handicapped, or to their families following their death. with main cities of the country has been ensured. Gwalior Airport has been expanded on 144 acres of land and it is now the biggest airport in the state. In Jabalpur, an airport measuring 1 lakh square feet is also being inaugurated. Airports will be constructed in Rewa, Satna, and Datia as well. Air stripes will be expanded to Ujjain, Guna and Shivpuri. With this, the state will now have ten airports. Now, around one thousand aeroplanes are arriving per week in the state. Assembly Speaker Narendra Singh Tomar said inauguration of new terminal of Gwalior airport will give a new dimension to Gwalior city. Notably Gwalior Airport terminal has been constructed at the cost of Rs 498.50 crores and it has been constructed in just 16 months. The terminal can handle 1400 passengers, parking facility for 700 vehicles, 16 check-in counters, 4 lifts etc. tured along with other free ranging cheetahs and were kept inside the enclosures. This is the fourth cheetah litter on Indian soil and the first litter of cheetahs brought from South Africa. In March last year, cheetah Jwala (Namibian name Siyaya) had given birth to four cubs but only one managed to survive. Jwala gave birth to her second litter of four cubs in January this year, which was followed by cheetah Aasha delivering three cubs. OUR STAFF REPORTER city.bhopal@fpj.co.in SATNA : A man allegedly hacked his brother to death with an axe after the latter turned off the music and stopped him from dancing at a family function in Satna district, police said on Sunday . The police have arrested the accused, Rajkumar Kol (30), for the murder that occurred at Mauhar village under Kothi police station limits on Friday night, an official said. Rajkumar's brother Rakesh (35) had organised a function at his house, during which music was being played on a sound system, said Rupendra Rajput, in-charge of Kothi police station. The victim later turned off the music, and the accused wanted to continue dancing, he said. CONTD. ON P6 YUSUF PATHAN, MAHUA in TMC’s 1st list of candidates Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee walks the ramp with party candidates for upcoming Lok Sabha polls during partys "Janagarjan Sabha" rally against the Central Government, at Brigade Parade Ground, in Kolkata on Sunday 42 names announced Nusrat, 6 other MPs dropped KOLKATA The TMC on Sunday released its candidate roster for all 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal, ushering a major overhaul by dropping seven incumbent MPs and introducing numerous new faces, including former cricketer Yusuf Pathan. The Trinamool Congress maintained a harmonious blend of experienced leaders and fresh talent, amid the alleged power tussle between the old guards and the next-gen leaders. Film star-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha, who won the Asansol seat in a by-poll on a TMC ticket in 2022, has been re-nominated, while former MP Haji Nurul Islam replaces actor Nusrat Jahan in the Basirhat Lok Sabha seat, where the trouble-torn Sandeshkhali is situated. While 16 of 23 sitting MPs were retained, the TMC opted not to renominate seven TO GO SOLO IN WB "We will contest the Lok Sabha polls in Bengal alone and will fight against the Congress, BJP, and the CPI(M). We will also contest elections in Assam and Meghalaya. We are in talks with Akhilesh Yadav (of SP) for contesting one Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh," said Mamata incumbents and notably excluded BJP defector Arjun Singh from Barrackpore, who joined the TMC two years ago. CONTD. ON P6 Hisar MP quits Deepak Singh becomes Indore Comm LoP demands cancelling Lokayukta’s appointment IAS officers BJP, joins Cong 6transferred NEW DELHI NEWS BRIEF Man-eater tigress dies during rescue RISHIKESH: A man-eater tigress captured in July 2022 died at a rescue centre in the Corbett Tiger Reserve, an official said on Sunday. The 11year-old tigress died of old age at the Sanwaldeh rescue centre on Saturday night, the Reserve's Deputy Director Diganth Nayak said. It was declared a man-eater after it killed several persons including bikers in the Panod Nala area, he said.The tigress had been at the rescue centre since July 2022 when it walked on its own into a cage put up in a forest near the Kosi River, he said. Omar Ayub Pak LoP ISLAMABAD: Jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's PTI and the Sunni Ittehad Council have jointly nominated his party leader Omar Ayub Khan as the leader of the opposition in Pakistan's National Assembly. The PTI-SIC formalised the nomination by submitting his documents to the office of National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq on Saturday, the Dawn newspaper said on Sunday. Brijendra Singh, the former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Haryana's Hisar joined the Congress on Sunday hours after resigning from the ruling party . Singh formally became a part of the opposition party at Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge's residence in New Delhi. While resigning from the BJP, Singh attributed his decision to "compelling political reasons". "I have resigned from the primary membership of the BJP due to compelling political reasons. I extend gratitude to the party, national president JP Nadda, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Amit Shah for giving me the opportunity to serve as the Member of Parliament for Hisar,' Mr Singh posted on X earlier today . He also announced that he has also resigned from the Lok Sabha membership. "I am grateful to the people of Hisar for giving me the opportunity to represent them and raise their demands as their MP. The resolve of public service with which I left the IAS job and entered politics will continue," he added. Later, after joining the Congress at the party President's official residence, Brijendra Singh said that he had 'ideological differences' with the party . "I quit the BJP and joined the Congress because of political and ideological differences. From farmers' issues to Agniveers to the wrestler's protests - I differed on many things. I am very happy to join the Congress family," he said. OUR STAFF REPORTER city.bhopal@fpj.co.in Six IAS officers were transferred in state late on Sunday night. Deepak Singh, commissioner Gwalior division has been moved as commissioner Indore Division. Mal Singh Baydiya, Indore com- missioner, has been appointed as secretary. Sanjeev Kumar Jha, principal secretary, Anand department has been appointed as OSD cum commissioner Chambal division. Dr Sudam Pandrinath Khade, commissioner, Health Services has been transferred as commissioner Gwalior division.Akshay Kumar Singh, collector Gwalior, has been posted as additional TAJ IN KASHMIR secretary. Ruchika Chauhan, additional secretary, has been appointed as collector Gwalior. 2 IPS transferred Rajesh Singh, Gwalior SP, has been transferred as assistant inspector general of police , Police Headquaters on Sunday. Dharamveer Singh, SP Khargone, has been appointed as SP Gwalior. Artists work to create a snow sculpture of Taj Mahal cum igloo on the foothills of Thajiwas at Sonamarg in Ganderbal district of central Kashmir India, EFTA ink free trade agreement USD 100 bn investment in next 15 yrs NEW DELHI India and the four-nation European bloc EFTA on Sunday signed a free trade agreement under which New Delhi received an investment commitment of USD 100 billion in 15 years from the grouping while allowing several products such as Swiss watches, chocolates and cut and pol- ished diamonds at lower or zero duties. The bloc committed an investment of USD 100 billion -- USD 50 billion within 10 years after the implementation of the agreement and another USD 50 billion in the next five years - which would facilitate the creation of 1 million direct jobs in India. This is a first-of-its-kind pledge agreed upon in any of the trade deals signed by India so farThe commitment is the key substance of the TEPA (Trade and The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland Economic Partnership Agreement), which took almost 16 years to conclude, for India in return for opening its markets for several products coming from the EFTA nations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the signing of the trade agree- ment between India and the four-nation European bloc EFTA is a "watershed moment" as it symbolises a shared commitment to open, fair and equitable trade. "EFTA countries gain market access to a major growth market. Our companies strive to diversify their supply chains while rendering them more resilient. India, in return, will attract more foreign investment from EFTA," Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin, speaking on be- half of the EFTA member states, said. The biggest trading partner of India in the bloc is Switzerland, which already has zero customs duties on almost all industrial goods. Due to this, the Swiss side cannot offer anything in the goods category and in the agri sector, there are sensitivities for them. India has low trade volumes with the remaining three countries. India would get duty concessions on processed agricultural products. CONTD. ON P6 OUR STAFF REPORTER city.bhopal@fpj.co.in Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar has objected to the appointment of Lokayukta and has asked the government to cancel the notification, claiming that it violates appointment norms. Meanwhile, it is being claimed by sources that prior information was sent to LoP about the appointment. On Saturday the state government issued notification of the appointment of Justice Satyendra Kumar Singh, as the Lokayukta. He will replace Justice NK Gupta. LoP Singhar in his letter stated that the state government has taken a one-sided decision and his advice was not taken. He also claimed that the advice of Chief Justice of High Court was also not taken. He claimed that according to the norms, the advice of the LoP and HC Chief Justice is mandatory for the appointment of the Lokayukta. He asked the government to cancel the appointment notification, restart the appointment process, and include his advice in the selection process. However, sources claim that on March 8th, a letter was given to LoP to participate in the selection process, but he did not respond. Even Chief Minister Mohan Yadav called and Justice Singh takes oath Former High Court Judge Justice Satyendra Kumar Singh was administered the oath of office as the Lokayukta of the state Madhya Pradesh, here on Sunday. Governor Mangubhai Patel administered the oath of office of Lokayukta to Singh at a ceremony at the Raj Bhavan Sunday evening, according to an official statement. The state government has issued the notification related to the appointment of Justice (retired) Singh as the Lokayukta on Saturday. Justice Singh worked as district judge in Ujjain, Bhopal and in Alirajpur. He was the principal secretary of law and legislative department. The tenure of the present Lokayukta NK Gupta ended in the October last year. His term was extend for a year because the state government was not able to appoint the new Lokayukta. His services were extended to a year citing an amendment in section 5 of the Lokayukta Act 1981. asked him to join the process, but now LoP is writing a letter with allegations. Sources also informed Madhya Pradesh High Court Chief Justice has also been consulted.