FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms QUALITY AT VALUE FREE PRESS VOL. 13 NO. 344 | BHOPAL | SUNDAY | MAY 26, 2024 | PAGES 16 r Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026; `4 r RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 www.freepressjournal.in - EDITIONS: INDORE, BHOPAL, UJJAIN, MUMBAI, PUNE WEATHER READER'S CORNER NOT SOMETHING THAT I’M KEEN ON AT THIS STAGE OF MY LIFE: HUSSEY SPORTS SUICIDE – NEVER A SOLUTION! 43.30c. 30.30c Sunrise : 05.43 Sunset : 07.05 Amid scorching heat, power cuts leave people high & dry Over 1 lakh ACs escalate Bhopal’s peak demand RAJAN RAIKWAR Bhopal As the scorching sun is baking the state, the people are left to the mercy of air-conditioners, fans and coolers. However, power cuts being done in the name of pre-monsoon preparedness are leaving them high and dry. Power cuts are taking place in Bhopal and all other cities of the state, sometimes lasting for hours. Even industrial production is getting affected in the wake of interruption in power supply. Kanaiya Lal Israni, president of Wholesale Cloth Market, Bairagarh, said power cuts have thrown normal life out of gear in Bairagarh. “Today, the power cut lasted from 6 am to 9 am. The water supply is done from 8 am to 9 am. Owing to this, residents failed to get water. On Friday, there was no power supply from 1 am to 4.30 am,” he fumed. Stating that power interruption is increasing the production cost, CB Malpani, general secretary of Association of All Industries, Mandideep, said, “During the power cut pe- OUR STAFF REPORTER City.bhopal@fpj.co.in No power shutdown in Bhopal till Tuesday In view of the extreme heat, the Central Power Distribution Company has decided not to take up power shutdown till Tuesday in Bhopal. In the meantime, the company has appealed to people not to use unnecessary electric equipment. riod, workers remain without work and production time also increases. Moreover, machines need to be restarted, which leads to increased production cost.” Rural areas are also facing frequent power cuts. AVERAGE POWER CONSUMPTION YEAR 2021 OUR STAFF REPORTER Bhopal/Sidhi NEWS BRIEF 59.06% polling in 6th phase NEW DELHI: An approximate voter turnout of 59.06 per cent was recorded in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Saturday in 58 constituencies across six states and two Union territories with the polling percentage in the Jangal Mahal region of West Bengal touching 78.19. 33 Naxalites surrender in Chhattisgarh BIJAPUR: As many as 33 Naxalites, three of them carrying a cumulative bounty of Rs 5 lakh, surrendered before security forces in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Saturday, police said. PoK is ours and will take it: Shah SHIMLA: Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) is a part of India and "we will take it", Home Minister Amit Shah asserted on Saturday as he castigated the Congress for trying to "frighten" the BJP by saying the neighbouring country possesses atom bombs. Taking cognisance of the incident in which the accused allegedly raped seven college students, including four minor girls and three women, in Sidhi after using a voice modulation app to pose as female college employee and called them to discuss scholarships, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has ordered a probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT). Rewa range IG Mahendra Sikarwar on Saturday an- 318 390 391 402 GM, said, “The high peak power demand is due to the use of ACs. For the last four years' trend and data, we can say that the average consumption of power as well as peak demands both are rising in Bhopal.” Congress MLA and former Home Minister Bala Bachchan said, “I am sitting in a village of my con- stituency in Barwani and there is no power. The electricity supply is totally a mess in rural ar- eas. The Congress will raise the issue in the upcoming Assembly session.” CONTD. ON P7 2022 2023 2024 PEAK POWER DEMAND YEARS/DATES TIME Key accused burnt hands in mishap JUNE 9, 2022 JUNE 14, 2023 MAY 21, 2024 12:00PM 402.60 448.97 4:00PM 490.92 519.97 Used to snatch survivors’ mobiles SIT team members said Prajapati used to commit the crime during the dark hours to avoid police action. He used to pick up the victim on bike wearing helmet and gloves to conceal identity. He also used to snatch away mobile phones of the victim after raping them to evade police action, the police said. Later, he used to sell mobile phones with the help of both of his accomplices Rahul and Sandeep. The police said that 16 mobile phones were seized from the the accused. nounced the arrests of all the three accused and added that a nine-member SIT has been constituted. Sub divisional officer of police (SDOP) of Sidhi, Roshni Singh Thakur, will head the SIT. CONTD. ON P7 Services of guilty officers to be terminated BHOPAL: Taking a serious note of the nursing college scam, the state government has decided to terminate the services of officers found guilty in the scam. Besides, a regulatory body will be formed for nursing colleges and exams will be held for nursing courses on the lines of engineering and medical colleges. Moreover, the officers who helped the unfit colleges in getting recognition will be identified and action will be initiated against them. The then registrar of Nursing Council and secretary will also face the action. Meanwhile, on the directives of CM Mohan Yadav, the medical education department has prepared a roadmap to rectify the things. 363 500 474 515 POWER PEAK DEMAND DATES May 23 May 24 The IG said that during interrogation Brijesh Prajapati told the cops that three years back he worked in a steel factory in Jabalpur. Prajapati suffered serious burns in his hands and legs in an explosion in the factory. Later, he went to Gujarat and upon return, he planned the crime, Sikarwar added. Furthermore, Prajapati used a voice modulation app to imitate the voice of a woman college employee and called the target woman to a deserted area to commit the despicable act. NURSING COLLEGE SCAM POWER(MW) 20:00 16:00 20:00 23:23 JULY 17, 2021 CM orders SIT probe into Sidhi rape case THREE accused arrested so far POWER(MW) Over 1 lakh air-conditions (ACs) are operating in Bhopal, taking the peak power demand up. The peak power demand, which was 480 MW previous year, spiralled to 550 MW this year. For the last three to four years, the average consumption as well as the peak power demand have been increasing in the capital city, according to the officials of the MP Madhya Kshetra Vidyut Vitaran Company Limited (MPMKVVCL). MP Siddiqui, DGM Bhopal Circle MPPMKVVCL, said, “ACs are the main consumer of power in the state capital. Just because of ACs, the peak power demand is high.” Stating that the all-time high power demand is recorded in the mid-night, Zahid Aziz Khan, MPMKVVCL Three kids drown in river in Agar Malwa FP NEWS SERVICE / Agar Malwa Three children, including two siblings, drowned in a river in Agar Malwa district, police said on Saturday. The incident occurred at Chhalda village, some 35 km from the district headquarters, on Friday evening, said Shashi Upadhyay, in-charge of Nalkheda police station. Following the death of a family member and subsequent final rites, a few women had gone to take a bath in the Lakhundar river. These three children were also accompanying them, said the police official. When the women returned to the bank after taking a bath, they found the children missing. After being alerted about the incident, the authorities launched a search. Later, personnel from the state disaster emergency response force (SDERF) fished out the bodies of the kids, the official said. Police identified the children as Monu (7), his sister Muskan (8) and their relative Pankaj (7). 8:00PM 475.53 488.07 PEAK MW 527.23 542.90 Take care of your country: Kejriwal snubs ex-Pak min who endorsed his election post NEW DELHI Slamming the former Pakistan minister Fawad Hussain over his remark on the general elections in India, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the situation in Pakistan is very bad and he should take care of it. In a post on X, Pakistan ex-minister Fawad Hussain while reacting to Kejriwal's post on voting said, "May peace and harmony defeat forces of hate and extremism." Reacting to it, Kejriwal said, "Chaudhary Sahab, I and the people of my country are fully capable of handling our issues. Your tweet is not needed. The situation in Pakistan is very bad right now. You take care of your country ." "The elections taking place in India are our internal matter. India will not tolerate interference from the biggest sponsors of terrorism," Kejirwal further said. Earlier today, Delhi CM Kejriwal along with his family cast their vote in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha polls. After casting his vote, the Delhi CM said he had voted to end unemployment and inflation. "I voted today with my father, wife and children. My mother is very ill. She could not go. I voted against dictatorship, unemployment and inflation. You too must go and vote," he said. Anasuya wins Un Certain Regard best actress trophy at 2024 Cannes CANNES Anasuya Sengupta, one of the lead stars of Bulgarian director Konstantin Bojanov's Hindi-language movie "The Shameless", has created history by bagging the Best Actress award in the Un Certain Regard category of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. Sengupta, who hails from Kolkata, is the first Indian artiste to win the category's top acting honour, marking a significant milestone for India at the prestigious film gala. The festival will conclude on Saturday . In her acceptance speech on Friday night, Sengupta dedicated the award to the "queer community and other marginalised communities" for bravely fighting for their rights all over the world. "You don't have to be queer to fight for equality, you don't have to be colonised to know that colonising is pathetic - we just need to be very very de, cent human beings," the actor said. The win at Cannes is a landmark moment in Sengupta's career. She earlier played a supporting part in 2009 Bengali movie "Madly Bangalee", directed by Anjan Dutt, and worked as a production designer after shifting to Mumbai. CONTD. ON P7 CHEERS TO ANOTHER YEAR CINEMA EC releases absolute numbers of voter turnout in first 5 phases NEW DELHI: The Election Commission (EC) on Saturday released the absolute number of voters for all the completed phases - six of the seven phases - of the Lok Sabha elections 2024. In a statement, the EC also said it has "noted a pattern of false narratives and mischievous design to vitiate the electoral process." The EC statement came a day after the Supreme Court adjourned - till after the Lok Sabha election - petitions seeking release of voter turnout data, including votes polled and/or rejected, within 48 hours of end of polling at each booth. The petitions had sought directions to the EC to compile and publish this data on its website after each phase, beginning with the next round of voting in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The EC feels duly strengthened by the Supreme Court's observations and verdict on the process of release of turnout data, the poll body said in a statement today while voting was going on in the sixth phase. The final phase is on June 1. The EC said the whole exercise of release of 27 DEAD IN FIRE AT GAMING ZONE IN RAJKOT RAJKOT: Twenty seven people have died in the massive fire that broke out at a gaming zone in Gujarat's Rajkot on Saturday evening, said officials. A relief and rescue operation is underway . "Extremely distressed by the fire mishap in Rajkot. My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones. Prayers for the injured. The local administration is working to provide all possible assistance to those affected," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel had instructed officials to prioritize arrangements for immediate treatment of the injured. "Instructions have been given to the Municipal Corporation and the administration for immediate rescue and relief operations in the fire incident in the game zone in Rajkot. It has also instructed to prioritize arrangements for immediate treatment of the injured," Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said. "The rescue operations are on. The fire is under control. We are trying to retrieve as many bodies as possible. As of now, around 27 bodies have been recovered and they have been sent to the hospital for further investigation. Investigations will be carried out. The gaming zone is owned by a person called Yuvraj Singh Solanki. We will be registering an offence for negligence and the deaths which have occurred," Rajkot Police Commissioner Raju Bhargava said. INDIA bloc performing mujra for its vote bank, says Modi PRIYANKA RETORTS BUXAR/DEHRI/BIKRAM Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday vowed to thwart alleged attempts to rob Dalits and backward classes of reservations by the INDIA bloc which he accused of "enslavement" and performing "mujra" for Muslim vote bank. Addressing back-to-back rallies in Buxar, Karakat and Patliputra Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar, the prime minister also charged the opposition coalition with indulging in "scaremongering", and claimed that he had been working "without fear" to wipe out terrorism and root out corruption. "Bihar is the land which has given a new direction to the fight for social justice. I wish to declare on its soil that I will foil the plans of the INDIA bloc to rob SCs, STs and OBCs of their rights and divert these to M Muslims. They may remain enslaved and perform 'mujra' to please their vote bank," the PM said. Modi also alleged that the people of Bihar have been hurt by insulting remarks against migrants of the state from leaders of the Congress in Punjab and Telangana and the DMK and the TMC in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal respectively and claimed, "These RJD , people who keep doing 'mujra' with their lantern (poll symbol) do not have the courage to speak a word in protest." CONTD. ON P7 Rare Indian banknotes from 1918 shipwreck to be auctioned in London LONDON: A pair of rare 10rupee banknotes that were recovered as they floated away from a shipwreck on their way from Bombay to London in 1918 are to be auctioned next Wednesday . Noonans Mayfair auction house in London will offer the notes as part of their World Banknotes sale and are estimated to fetch between GBP 2,000 and 2,600. The two 10-rupee banknotes were recovered from the wreck of the SS Shirala, which was sunk by a German U-boat on July 2, 1918, and bear the date of 25 May 1918 on them. "Whole blocks of these notes, along with lots of provisions ranging from marmalade to ammuni- tion, were on their way to Bombay from London when the boat was sunk by a German U-Boat," said Thomasina Smith, Worldwide Head of Numismatics at Noonans. "Many notes floated to shore, including unsigned 5 and 10 Rupees, and signed 1 Rupees – one of which also features in this auction. Most were recovered and subsequently destroyed by the authorities and new ones were printed to replace them, however a very few examples remained in private hands," she said. CONTD. ON P7 odi ji gave a speech in Bihar and uttered such words for opposition leaders which no prime minister in the history of the country would have said. The way he (Modi) is speaking today, the sad thing is that his reality has been exposed RJD FIRES SALVO A fter machhli (fish), mutton and mangalsutra, it is now the turn of 'mujra'. Does it behove the prime minister of the country to speak such language? He has torn norms of civil discourse to shred MANOJ KUMAR JHA Google map lands tourists in Kerala stream KOTTAYAM: Using Google maps to navigate resulted in a tourist group from Hyderabad driving into a stream swollen with water near Kuruppanthara in this south Kerala district, police said today . The incident occurred late Friday night when the four-member group, including a woman, were going towards Alappuzha. The road they were travelling on was covered by water overflowing from the stream due to the heavy rains and since the tourists were unfamiliar with the area, they drove right into the water body while navigating using Google maps, they said. All four managed to escape unharmed due to the rescue efforts of a nearby police patrolling unit and local residents, but their vehicle sank. "Efforts are on to pull out the vehicle," an officer of Kaduthuruthy police station said.