FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms r Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 r RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 `3 VOL. 14 NO. 4 | BHOPAL | TUESDAY | JUNE 18, 2024 | PAGES 14 FREE PRESS www.freepressjournal.com EDITIONS: Sports Neeraj set to resume Olympic build-up at Paavo Nurmi Games fp INDORE UJJAIN PUNE BHOPAL MUMBAI NASHIK E-paper Member: Audit bureau of circulation Jan to Dec 2023. INCLUDING TRANSPORTATION Cinema Dancing diva turns judge MONEY Govt mulls personal tax rate cuts Nation India to hold Project-75 trials in Spain soon Rahul Gandhi decides to keep mother’s constituency Raebareli Briefs Palghar 3 held for raping 3 minors Three persons were arrested for allegedly raping three minor sisters in Maharashtra's Palghar district, a police official said on Monday. The parents of the victims had separated and they were in the care of their father, who is an alcoholic, Senior Inspector Jitendra Vankoti of Pelhar police station said. "The three accused, Datta Kshirsagar (35), Nishad Khan (19) and Sayyed (27), took advantage of the distress of the three sisters and raped them repeatedly over the past one year. The three men were arrested on Sunday for rape and other offences under Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act provisions," he said. New Delhi Cong for rollback of Agnipath The Congress on Monday demanded the abolition of the Agnipath scheme and urged the government to start permanent recruitment in the armed forces as before. Addressing a press conference here, party leader Deepender Hooda said for the past few days, there have been reports that a lot of flaws related to the Agnipath scheme are being mentioned in the Army's internal survey and various suggestions have come out. He said different newspapers have published how shortcomings can be rectified in the recruitment scheme. Some things that have come out include extending the duration of Agnipath by four years and instead of retaining 25 per cent in Agnipath, 60-70 per cent Agniveers should be retained besides increasing the training period of Agniveers, added Hooda. Guwahati Flood situation worsens in Assam The flood situation in Assam worsened on Monday with over 1.05 lakh people reeling under the deluge across eight districts, an official bulletin said. According to the daily flood report of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), more than 1,05,700 people are hit due to the floods in Baksa, Barpeta, Darrang, Dhemaji, Goalpara, Karimganj, Nagaon and Nalbari districts. Karimganj is the worst hit with over 95,300 people suffering. Priyanka to take electoral plunge from Wayanad New Delhi Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will retain the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh and vacate his Wayanad seat in Kerala from where his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will make her electoral debut. Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge announced the decision on Monday after the party's top brass held discussions on the issue at his residence here. Besides, Kharge and Rahul, Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and party general secretaries K C Venugopal and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were present at the meeting. If elected, this will be the first time Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will enter Parliament as an MP. This will also be the first time that all three Gandhi family members - Sonia Gandhi, Rahul and Priyanka - will be in Parliament together. The BJP has, however, attacked the Congress for the decision saying it is a clear case of dynastic politics being practised. Ruling party spokesperson Shezad Poonawala said, "It proves that the Con- gress is not a party but a family company". Rahul Gandhi has to vacate one of the seats within 14 days of the Lok Sabha results, which came out on June 4. "Rahul Gandhi won from two Lok Saba seats but as per the law, he has to vacate one seat. Rahul Gandhi will retain Rae Bareli and we have decided that Priyanka ji will fight from Wayanad," Kharge told reporters after the meeting. "We thank her for keeping our word and having agreed to contest from Wayanad," he said while lauding Priyanka Gandhi's efforts in helping the party win a number of seats in Uttar Pradesh, including in Rae Bareli. Priyanka was the party's star campaigner during Lok Sabha polls and had not contested herself. Asked whether Rahul has decided to take the Leader of Opposition position in Lok Sabha, after the Congress Working Committee urged him to do so in a unanimous resolution, Kharge said that a decision will be taken soon. "But, 'dhamki to dee hai as president of the party' (he has given a threat as party president)," Rahul Gandhi said when asked if he has agreed to 15 dead, 60 injured as goods train rams into Kanchanjunga Express the CWC decision to take up the LoP position. Rahul Gandhi, while thanking the people of Wayanad for electing him again, said he will keep visiting the constituency and fulfil all the promises he has made to the people there. He said both Rae Bareli and Wayanad "will get two MPs", while noting that they have personal ties with the people of Rae Bareli and Wayanad. "Dono ko do sansad mil rahe hain (both will get two MPs each)," he said. While Sonia Gandhi has now become a member of the Rajya Sabha, representing Rajasthan state, Rahul Gandhi will represent Rae Bareli and Priyanka Gandhi, if elected in the bye-elections, will represent Wayanad constituency. Sonia Gandhi held the Rae Bareli constituency for the last over two decades and Rahul Gandhi had earlier held the Amethi constituency, which he lost to Smriti Irani in 2019 and shifted to Wayanad. Rahul Gandhi said it was a difficult decision for him as he has an emotional relationship with both Rae Bareli and Wayanad. Contd. on P6 AI app solves UPSC prelim paper in 7 mins Chouhan gets impt job, made Jharkhand election in-charge Union Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been handed one more important responsibility. Chouhan has been appointed party’s election incharge in Jharkhand where assembly polls will be held in November 2024. After Chouhan won the Lok Sabha election from Vidisha with a huge margin, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inducted him into the Union Cabinet and gave him important departments like Agriculture and Rural Development. Now, by appointing him incharge of an election-bound state, the party has given him organisational work. Assam Chief Minister Hemant Biswa Sarma has been made co-incharge of Jharkhand election along with Chouhan. Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav has been made incharge of Maharashtra and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw his deputy. Likewise, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has been made party’s election in-charge in Haryana and MP Biplab Kumar Deb his deputy. Union minister G Kishan Reddy has been made election in-charge in Jammu and Kashmir . At least 15 passengers died and 60 others were injured, after three rear coaches of the stationary Sealdah-bound Kanchanjunga Express derailed on Monday morning as a goods train collided with it in West Bengal's Darjeeling district, officials said. The toll could rise, as multiple agencies of the state and Centre were simultaneously working on war footing along with locals to rescue passengers who could still be trapped inside, they said. The deceased include the pilot and co-pilot of the goods train, and the guard of the passenger train, a senior railway official said. The injured were being shifted to the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, police said. The three rear compartments derailed under the impact of the collision from behind by the locomotive of the goods train near Rangapani station, about 30 km from North Bengal's New Jalpaiguri station, the official said. In a post on X, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the "railway accident in West Bengal is saddening. Condolences to those who lost their loved ones". "I pray that the injured recover at the earliest. Spoke to officials and took stock of the situation. Rescue operations are underway to assist NITENDRA SHARMA Here's the past five deadliest 5 train accidents in India: 2023: Nearly 300 people were • 1,000 injured in the triple-train killed and over crash in Balasore, Odisha. 2016: The train derailed near • Kanpur in Indore-Patna Expressat least 150 pasUttar Pradesh, killing • • • • • sengers. 2010: Jnaneswari Express crashed into a goods train in West Bengal and killed 146 people. 2002: Kolkata-New Delhi Rajdhani plunged into the swollen Dhabi River, killing at least 120 people. 1999: At least 285 people died in a collision between two trains in West Bengal. 1998: At least 210 people died after Sealdah Express collided with a derailed train in Punjab. 1995: Over 300 died after the Kalindi Express collided with the Purushottam Express in Ferozabad near Agra. the affected. The Railways Minister Shri @AshwiniVaishnaw Ji is on the way to the site of the mishap as well," he said. Meanwhile, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who on Monday left for West Bengal to take stock of relief operations following the train accident, announced ex-gratia compensation to the victims. While Rs 10 lakh would be given to the next of kin of the deceased, Rs 2.5 lakh would be provided to the grievously injured and Rs 50,000 to those with minor injuries, Vaishnaw posted on X. Contd. on P6 An Artificial Intelligence based app, PadhAI, scored over 170 marks out of 200 in the UPSC preliminary exams 2024 solving the entire paper within seven minutes and qualifying above the general score which usually remains under 100. The score places PadhAI's score in the top 10 nationally, if not rank 1, an official release said. The app developed by a team of IITians took the exam in a public setting on Sunday, right after the UPSC preliminary exam in presence of guests from the education sector, UPSC community, and media professionals at Delhi's The Lalit hotel. It took under seven minutes to solve the entire paper, the release said. The event was live-streamed at livestream.padhai.ai and YouTube, where the questions and answers are publicly available, it added. The AI's answers were also compared with broad AI models commercially available from big tech companies such as OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google by using answer keys released by top coaching institutes. "This is the highest score achieved in the last 10 years of UPSC exams. We believe that while our event is first of its kind, in a few years, such events will become commonplace as several educational institutions race to solve papers quickly and precisely with AIs," PadhAI's CEO Karttikeya Mangalam said. UAD minister scraps MPHB plan OUR STAFF REPORTER CITY.BHOPAL@FPJ.CO.IN UAD minister Kailash Vijayavargiya on Monday cancelled the Rs 2,300 cr re-densification plan of MP Housing Board which proposed construction of bungalows for MLAs/MPs in Tulsi Nagar and Shivaji Nagar, in middle of the state capital. UAD minister’s post on X says, "The redevelopment plan for New Bhopal, considering environmental conservation and the presence of existing trees in the area, has been completely rejected after thorough deliberation. Directives have been issued to explore alternative locations for the proposed plan." Vijayvargiya rejected the proposal as it would have meant cutting 29,000 trees and there were several protests against it. Several state ministers and MLAs expressed had also expressed their reservations. Since June 12, continuous protests have been held against this project. On June 13, women launched Chipko-Andolan to save 29,000 trees. Just a couple of days later, many people tied Raksha-sutra to trees with a pledged to save them. Contd. on P6 OUR STAFF REPORTER BHOPAL BJP appoints in-charges for assembly polls New Delhi : BJP national president J P Nadda has appointed state election in-charges and co-incharges for the upcoming assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir, the party said on Monday. In a letter dated June 17, Arun Singh, National General Secretary and Headquarters In-charge said that for Maharashtra, Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav has been appointed as state election incharge with Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav as state election co-incharge. Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan resigned from the Budhni assembly seat on Monday. Chouhan, who has won the Vidisha parliamentary seat, was the sixth-time MLA from Budhni. He was elected legislator for the first time from Budhni in 1990. Chouhan has been five-time MP from Vidisha. In 2005, after he took over as the chief minister, he won the by-election from Budhni in 2006. Afterwards, he has been MLA from this constituency only. When he was putting in his papers as MLA, Chouhan said he was very emotional. The people of Budhni are at my heart, he said, adding that he started his political career by winning election from Budhni. People of Budhni ensured his victory by a margin of over one lakh votes, Chouhan said, adding that he will continue to serve Budhni as an MP of Vidisha. Yadav to run his govt from field, not from Mantralaya NEW DELHI New Jalpaiguri/Kolkata Shivraj resigns from Budhni assembly seat OUR STAFF REPORTER BHOPAL BHOPAL Chief Minister Mohan Yadav is sketching out a plan to run the government. He has swung into action immediately after the conclusion of the Lok Sabha election. Yadav intends to run the government from the grounds instead of doing so from Mantralaya. Yadav wants to spend time touring the state as his predecessor and Union Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan used to do. Yadav’s purpose is to understand the ground realities and take decisions accordingly. He is planning to tour the state thrice a week. During these tours, he will inspect the government offices. Inspection of the collector- CM to inspect collectorates, Tehsils and police stations; he will be on tour for three days a week CM: Plans for devpt afoot ates, Tehsils, municipal corporations, Nagar Palikas, police stations and other offices is part of his trip to see how people’s welfare work is done. The officers loyal to the Chief Minister are working on how he should tour the state for three days and review the functioning of various departments sitting in Bhopal for three days. Contd. on P6 Estonia batter Sahil smashes quickest T20I ton off 27 balls Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has said he is drafting plans for development. He made the statement in an interaction with media persons at the BJP office on Monday. “The government will work for the people. MP’s election record cannot be broken,” he said.”The BJP has got 60% of votes, but the Congress is confined to only 30%, he said, adding that he is working more to win people’s confidence. Juvenile held for trying to run over woman with his car New Delhi Pune Estonia batter Sahil Chauhan on Monday produced an outrageous knock against Cyprus, as he smashed the fastest-ever T20I century off just 27 balls. In the process, Chauhan broke the record previously held by Namibia's Jan-Nicol Loftie Eaton, who got to the threefigure mark off just 33 balls in February this year. Chauhan, 32, hit a blistering 144 not out off just 41 deliveries and propelled Estonia to chase down Cyprus' 191/7 in blazing fashion after the side quickly lost openers. The number four batter hit 24 boundaries in his innings, including 18 maximums, scoring at an astonishing strike-rate of 351.21 as he single-handedly decimated the Cyprus bowling attack. He brought up his century off just Police have taken a 17-year-old boy into custody for allegedly trying to run over a woman with his car following a heated argument in Maharashtra's Pune district, officials said on Monday. The incident, which occurred at Vadgaon Ghenand village in the Alandi area on Saturday, has drawn comparisons to the infamous Porsche car case from May 19, where a juvenile boy struck a motorbike in Pune's Kalyani Nagar locality, resulting in the deaths of two IT professionals. In the earlier case, the juvenile remains in a correctional facility while his parents, two doctors, and an alleged middleman are currently in judicial custody. In this recent incident, a video circulating on social media captures the reckless driving of a car that struck a woman. 27 balls, bettering the previous record held by Loftie Eaton. Chauhan's 18 sixes is also a new Men's T20I record for a single innings in the format, going past Afghanistan's Hazratullah Zazai and New Zealand's Finn Allen, who previously had the record with 16 maximums each. Estonia now lead the sixmatch series in Cyprus 2-0, having chased down a target of 196 in the opening match of Monday's double-header with three balls and five wickets remaining.