FP FREE PRESS The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms VOL. XXXX NO. 300 | INDORE | SATURDAY | APRIL 6, 2024 | PAGES 16 `3 - r Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2021-2023; AGENCIES / New Delhi NEWS BRIEF First-ever Telugu TV news reader dies HYDERABAD: First-ever Telugu television news reader Shanti Swarup, who was a household name in undivided Andhra Pradesh during the 1980s, died here on Friday, Doordarshan sources said. He was 74. Swarup was admitted to a private hospital here two days ago with heart-related issues and the end came today, sources said. SC grants bail to activist Shoma Sen NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to academic- activist Shoma Kanti Sen, who was arrested in June 2018 in connection with the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case. A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Augustine George Masih directed that she be released on bail on such conditions as the special court may consider fit and proper. CM Sukhu gets defamation notice SHIMLA: A day after Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu claimed six Congress rebels and three independents were sold for Rs 15 crore each, one of them, Sudhir Sharma, Friday sent a defamation notice to him asking for a Rs 5crore compensation. EC removes Anuppur’s ASP & SDOP BHOPAL/ ANUPPUR Election Commission removed ASP, Anuppur district, Shivkumar Singh on Friday He has been posted . as Assistant Inspector General (AIG), Police Headquarters. Sub Divisional Officer of Police, Pushprajgarh (Anuppur) Sonali Gupta was relieved of her charge with immediate effect on Friday. She was posted as DSP, Police Headquarters. It is learnt that the home town of both the cops was Anuppur hence they were removed from the district. Dropping references to the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, the killing of Muslims in Gujarat riots and Hindutva, and tweaking the reference to Manipur's merger with India are among the latest set of revisions made public by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) in its textbooks. RAM JANMABHOOMI According to a document detailing the changes prepared by the curriculum drafting committee of the NCERT, the references to the Ram Janmabhoomi movement have been tweaked "as per latest development in politics". Doordarshan's call to air The Kerala Story triggers political row Special Police Establishment (SPE) Lokayukta police Jabalpur arrested an ASI, posted in STF, for taking bribe of Rs 1 lakh from a complainant, on Thursday evening, said the police on Friday . The ASI fabricated case against the complainant who is a builder by profession and threatened him that he and his brothers would be jailed if the bribe was not paid, said the police. CONTD. ON P8 ASI KNEW THE COMPLAINANT T he ASI knows the complainant personally, and had collected all information about his business, financial condition and family. Whenever Javed was called by the ASI, he was told to keep the mobile out of the office. Whenever he was called in public place, he was told to keep the mobile at a nearby shop. On Thursday, Javed was asked to reach the spot at around 8 pm, when it grew dark, Javed was called in a dark place to handover the amount. Interestingly one of the member of a trap team was wearing the t-shirt of delivery boy and as soon as they got the signal, the ASI was arrested. WEATHER 36.60c. 18.40c Sunrise : 06.18 Sunset : 06.42 any riots people across communities suffer. It cannot be just one community". PAK-OCCUPIED KASHMIR On Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, the earlier textbook stated "India claims that this area is under illegal occupation. Pakistan describes this area as Azad Pakistan". The changed version says, "However, it is the Indian territory which is under illegal occupation of Pakistan and called as Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK)." The NCERT's rationale behind the alteration is that the "change that has been introduced is in complete concurrence with the latest position of the Govt of India in regard to Jammu and Kashmir". CONTD. ON P8 A FRESH CHAPTER KEY PROMISES n Right to apprenticeship n A legal guarantee for MSP n Passing a constitutional amendment to raise the 50 per cent cap on reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs n A nation-wide caste census n Scrapping Agnipath scheme WHO WILL BE THE PM FACE? I BJP calls it ‘bundle of lies’ T NDIA bloc has decided that we are together fighting an ideological election, after winning the election, who will be the leader, the PM, the whole coalition will jointly decide n RAHUL GANDHI he BJP on Friday dubbed the Congress' manifesto a "bundle of lies" and alleged that the grand old party which ruled the country for several decades did not not fulfil any of the promises made in its earlier manifestos for the assembly and Lok Sabha elections. NEW DELHI: The Congress party launched its manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections at the party headquarters on Friday , making a slew of promises for diverse sections of society including women, farmers, youths and the elderly . The manifesto, focusing on five "pillars of justice" and 25 guarantees under them, was released at the AICC headquarters in the presence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. In the 45-page document titled 'Nyay Patra', featuring pictures of Kharge and Rahul and Bharat Jodo Yatras, the opposition party said it would implement 10 per cent quota in jobs, educational institutions for economically weaker sections (EWS) for all castes, communities without discrimination if it comes to power. CONTD. ON P8 CINEMA Jolt for I.N.D.I.A: Papers of SP candidate from Khajuraho cancelled Form did not have signature; old voters' list was attached to it OUR STAFF REPORTER BHOPAL The I.N.D.I.A alliance received a jolt on Friday when the nomination of SP candidate from Khajuraho was cancelled. MEERA YADAV SP candidate Meera Yadav's nomination papers were cancelled. After the cancellation of Yadav's name, there is no opposition candidate left in the fray in Khajuraho from where BJP's state president VD Sharma is contesting the election. Now that the nomination papers of Yadav were cancelled, there is a walkoverlike situation for Sharma. CONTD. ON P8 N Murder of democracy: Akhilesh, Patwari ational president of SP Akhilesh Yadav and MPCC president Jitu Patwari said the cancellation of nomination papers of the party candidate was a murder of democracy. Yadav said because there was no signature on the paper, the officer concerned should have refused it. It is just a pretext and shows the BJP's disappointment, Yadav said. Not happy, wanted to fight: VD Sharma Reacting to the cancellation of rival candidate's nomination form, BJP candidate from Khajuraho and party's state unit president VD Sharma said he was prepared for a fight and loved to contest the election. Now that the rival's nomination has been cancelled, he is feeling slightly disappointed, Sharma said. CONTD. ON P8 SC stays HC order scrapping UP Madarsa law Congress makes slew of promises in poll manifesto AGENCIES Thiruvananthapuram TAKING BRIBE: Jabalpur ASI caught red-handed OUR STAFF REPORTER city.bhopal@fpj.co.in GUJARAT RIOTS CPI(M), Cong unite The ruling CPI(M) and Congress in Kerala on Friday lodged separate complaints with the Election Commission of India (ECI) against Doordarshan's decision to air the controversial movie 'The Kerala Story', alleging it could potentially polarise society along religious lines and urged the poll panel to intervene and stop its screening. The BJP claimed that the theme of the movie was real and wondered why the Left and the Congress were opposing it. Doordarshan has announced that the movie will be telecasted on April 5. The Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the youth wing of the ruling CPI(M), expressed strong protest on Friday against the decision to telecast the movie and said it would organise a protest march to the Doordarshan office in the state capital. The Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, V D Satheesan, sent a letter to the Election Commission today, seeking to direct Doordarshan to withdraw from its decision to telecast "the extremely malicious 'The Kerala Story' movie". CONTD. ON P8 EDIT ROBERT VADRA – ASSET OR LIABILITY? While NCERT did not comment on the topics being dropped, officials said the tweaks are part of the routine updation and are not linked to the development of new books as per the New Curriculum Framework (NCF). The changes have been made in Political Science textbooks of classes 11 and 12, besides others Chapter 8 on Secularism in class 11 textbook earlier said, "More than 1,000 persons, mostly Muslims, were massacred during the post Godhra riots in Gujarat in 2002." It has been changed to "more than 1,000 persons were killed during the post Godhra riots in Gujarat in 2002". The NCERT's rationale behind the change is "in AGENCIES New Delhi ‘Main course yet to come’ o matter how Nmuchwhatever has happened, has happened till now is a trailer. What Modi has done so far, it was just an appetiser and the main course is still to come. There is a lot to be done... there are a lot of dreams. We have to take the country far ahead n PM NARENDRA MODI SEE PG6 In a breather to about 17 lakh madarsa students, the Supreme Court on Friday stayed an order of the Allahabad High Court that scrapped the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madarsa Education Act, 2004 calling it "unconstitutional" and violative of the principle of secularism. Observing that the issues raised in the petitions merit closer reflection, a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud issued notices to the Centre, the Uttar Pradesh government and others on the pleas against the high court order. "The object and purpose of Madarsa board is regulatory in nature and the Allahabad HC is not prima facie correct that establishment of board will breach secularism," the bench, also comprising Justices J Cong’s Sharma richest candidate with Rs 132 cr in second phase RAMU TEKAM poorest with Rs 7.9 lakh RISHITA TOMAR City.bhopal@fpj.co.in The Congress candidate from Hoshangabad Sanjay Sharma is the richest and party’s Betul candidate Ramu Tekam the poorest SANJAY SHARMA RAMU TEKAM among candidates whose fate would be sealed in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections. Satna, Hoshangabad, Betul, Rewa, Khajuraho, Damoh, and Khajuraho would go to polls in the second phase. BREAKDOWN OF CANDIDATES AND THEIR NET WORTH: n Sanjay Sharma (Congress) from Hoshangabad has a net worth of more than Rs 132 crore, comprising movable assets worth Rs 33 crore and immovable assets worth Rs 99 crore. n Congress candidate from Rewa, Neelam Mishra has total net worth of Rs 34 crore, including movable assets worth Rs 5 crore and immovable assets worth Rs 29 crore. n Ganesh Singh, BJP candidate from Satna, is third with net worth of Rs 9 crore, encompassing movable assets worth Rs 4 crore and immovable assets worth Rs 5 crore. n Janardan Mishra, the BJP candidate from Rewa, has a net worth of Rs 5 crore, including movable assets worth Rs 1.3 crore and immovable assets worth Rs 3.7 crore. n VD Sharma, the BJP candidate from Khajuraho, commands total wealth of Rs 4 crore, comprising movable assets worth Rs 1 crore and immovable assets worth Rs 3 crore. CONTD. ON P8 ‘This time, China to use AI Kejri using lawyers to to disrupt polls in India’ run govt from jail: ED hile content in Wsuchthe impact of swaying audiences remains ONLINE REPORT M icrosoft has issued a warning that China will attempt to disrupt elections in the US, South Korea, and India this year using artificial intelligence-generated content, following a trial run during the presidential election in Taiwan. The US tech firm, in a report by its threat intelligence team published on Friday, stated that it anticipates Chinese statebacked cyber groups, with involvement from North Korea, to target high-profile elections in 2024. According to the report, Microsoft expects China to create and distribute AIgenerated content via social media platforms to influence these elections. Although the impact of such QUALITY AT VALUE www.freepressjournal.in EDITIONS: INDORE, BHOPAL, UJJAIN, MUMBAI, PUNE NCERT tweaks paras on Babri Masjid, Guj riots PLAYING FOR MUMBAI INDIANS WILL BE LIKE ICING ON THE CAKE: LALWANI SPORTS r RNI No. 38281/83 low, China’s increasing experimentation in augmenting memes, videos and audio will continue – and may prove effective down the line n MICROSOFT content remains low, the company cautioned that China's experimentation with AI-made content could prove effective in the future. The report highlighted China's attempt to influence the Taiwan presidential election in January mark, ing the first instance of a state-backed entity using AI-generated content to sway a foreign election. A Beijing-backed group known as Storm 1376 was active during the Taiwanese election, disseminating AIgenerated memes and fake audio content to discredit certain candidates. Additionally, Microsoft noted that Chinese groups continue to conduct influence campaigns in the US, using social media platforms to pose divisive questions and gather intelligence on key voting demographics ahead of the US Presidential election. ONLINE REPORT / New Delhi The Enforcement Directorate on Friday opposed the plea moved by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal before a city court for more time with his lawyer, saying special privileges cannot be extended to him merely because he wants to run the government from inside the jail. Following a request by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal seeking an increase in the number of meetings allowed with his counsel in Tihar jail, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday said that the request was Kejriwal’s counsel Vivek Jain stated that 30 minutes per day (one hour per week) was not enough as the Aam Aadmi Party chief had 35-40 cases going on against him across the country allegedly being sought because it was becoming difficult for the AAP leader to run the government from jail without the help of his lawyers who would convey his instructions to other ministers. CONTD. ON P8 f the concern Iwasthat the to ensure students of Madarsas receive quality education, the remedy would not lie in striking down the Madarsa Act but in issuing suitable directions to ensure that the students are not deprived of quality education n SC B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said. The top court said the high court "prima facie" misconstrued the provisions of the Madarsa Act, which does not provide for any religious instruction. "The finding of the high court that the very establishment of the board would violate secularism appears to conflate Madarsa education with the regulatory powers of the board. CONTD. ON P8 Inflation elephant is out of the room FP NEWS SERVICE MUMBAI The RBI has left untouched at 6.5% its key interest rate for the seventh consecutive time, in line with expectations that growth will remain robust. According to Reuters, the repo rate had gone up by a total of 250 basis points between May 2022 and February 2023. “Robust growth prospects provide the policy space to remain focused on inflation and ensure its descent to the target of 4%,” RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said. Monetary policy must remain actively disinflationary at this stage, Das explained. Inflation was the “elephant in the room” for the Indian economy two years ago, he said. “The elephant has now gone out for a walk and appears to be returning to the forest. We would like the elephant to return to the forest and remain there on a durable basis.” But Das indicated that food price volatility remains a concern, although core inflation has fallen sharply in recent months to below 4%. “While low core inflation provides comfort, the uncertainty on food inflation remains a worry,” said Upasna Bhardwaj, chief economist at Kotak Mahindra Bank, reports Reuters.