FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms Vol. 14 No. 175 | BHOPAL | SUNDAY | DECEMBER 8, 2024 | Pages 16 ` 4 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 FREE www.freepressjournal.in Sports Shami to play last 2 Tests of Aussie tour P.15 fp Briefs BEIRUT ‘Insurgents at suburbs of Damascus’ Syrian insurgents have reached the suburbs of Damascus as part of a rapidly moving offensive that has seen them take over some of Syria's largest cities across the country, opposition activists and a rebel commander said Saturday. It was the first time that opposition forces reach the outskirts of the Syrian capital since 2018, when Syrian troops recaptured the region adjacent to the capital following a yearslong siege. It came after the Syrian army withdrew from much of southern Syria on Saturday, leaving more areas of the country, including two provincial capitals. PTI The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) on Saturday alleged that its centre in Dhaka district in neighbouring Bangladesh was burnt down earlier in the day. Iskcon Kolkata vice president Radharamn Das told PTI that the targetted attack on members of the community and members of the Vaishnavite order goes on unabated Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL/ASTHA The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Bhopal Zonal Office, on Thursday conducted search operations at four places in Sehore and Indore districts in connection with the case related to Manoj Parmar and others under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The search covered the residential premises of key persons, who were the beneficiary of the proceeds of crime or have actively aided or abetted such persons in the bank fraud. During the search, various incriminating documents and details of immovable and movable properties were seized. In the meantime, statements of certain persons were recorded and bank balance of Rs. 3.5 Lakh was freezed. Details of four immovable properties of key persons were also found during the searches. EDITIONS: BHOPAL UJJAIN PRESS PUNE INDORE NASHIK Our Staff Reporter Letter of Intent issued BHOPAL/NARMADAPURAM CM Mohan Yadav addressing Regional Industry Conclave at Naramdapuram on Saturday New Possibilities . Above 4k registrations were received for the summit. More than 3k MSME repre- as "vandals set ablaze idols inside the temple at the Namhatta property." He said in a post on X handle, "ISKCON Namhatta Centre burned down in Bangladesh. The deities of Sri Sri Laxmi Narayan and all items inside the temple were burned down completely The centre is located in Dhaka. Early morning today, between 2-3 AM, miscreants set fire to the Shri Shri Radha Krishna Temple and the Shri Shri Ma- Rs 6 crore diverted The ED initiated investigation on the basis of an FIR and chargesheet filed by the CBI, Bhopal under various sections of the IPC against the senior branch manager of PNB i.e. Mark Pius Karari and Manoj Parmar. Scrutiny of FIR and chargesheet revealed that funds amounting to Rs 6 crore (approx) were availed as loan under the Pradhan Mantri Employment Generation Program (PMEGP) and Chief Minister Yuva Udhami Yojna (CMYUY) schemes, but were diverted and mis-utilised. During the investigation, bank account analysis revealed that the bank funds were diverted to various proprietorship concerns and firms and were subsequently withdrawn in cash for the purpose of investment in properties. Sources said that when the matter related with Parmar came to fore in 2017, PNB s Rajendra Mohan Nayar lodged a police complaint. At that time, Manoj Parmar was arrested and sent to jail. BJP s spokesperson Narendra Saluja said that industrialist Manoj Parmar is having connection with Congress party. E-paper Cinema Awaara Hoon Raj Kapoor’s Untameable... P.14 MP gets proposals exceeding Rs 31K-cr Investment proposals worth Rs 31400 crore were received during sixth Regional Investment Summit held in Narmadapuram on Saturday. Investment by various companies will create 40,543 jobs. The government allotted 531 acres of land to different industries. The specialty of the summit is that along with other regions of the state, around 60pc investment proposals have been received alone for Narmadapuram region. Investment proposals have been received in fields including PV Modules, Aluminum Frames, Green Hydrogen Production Plant, Lithium Battery Modules, Solar Panel manufacturing, Textile, new and renewable energy, IT Sector, food processing and others. Interacting with media persons after the summit, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said that his government wants to develop Narmadapuram as a new industrial hub. The tagline of summit was New Sky MUMBAI Readers’ corner Timeless appeal of Krishna’s... P.8 Rebels closing in on Assad RIC NARMADAPURAM | 40,543 jobs will be created in different fields; region being developed as new Industrial Hub ED searches four places in Sehore, Indore Search covered premises of Manoj Parmar and other accused iii QUALITY @ VALUE WORLD sentatives have participated and of them, many are interest in fields such as new and renewable energy, forest pro- During the summit, Letter of Intent was issued to 98 industrial units. A total of 163 acres of land will be allotted to them. Investment of Rs 910 crore will be done which will create job opportunities for 3900 people. duce, agriculture, food processing and tourism. 4Continued on | P6 SP walks out of MVA over UBT’s Babri post PTI MUMBAI The Samajwadi Party on Saturday said it was quitting the Maha Vikas Aghadi over Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray's close aide hailing the demolition of the Babri Masjid and a related newspaper advertisement congratulated those behind the act. The Samajwadi Party has two MLAs in the 288-member Maharashtra assembly. "An advertisement was given by Shiv Sena (UBT) in a newspaper congratulating MoS Defence gets Rs 50L ransom threat IANS NEW DELHI those who demolished Babri masjid. His (Uddhav Thackeray) aide has also posted on X hailing the demolition of the mosque," Maharashtra SP unit chief Abu Azmi said. "We are quitting the MVA. I am speaking to (Samajwadi Party president) Akhilesh Yadav," Azmi told PTI. The SP's move comes in response to Sena (UBT) MLC Milind Narvekar's post on Babri Masjid demolition. Narvekar has posted a photo of the demolition of the mosque accompanied by Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray's quote "I am proud of those habhagya Lakshmi Narayan Temple, which fall under the Hare Krishna Namhatta Sangha, located in Dhour village, under the jurisdiction of Turag Police Station, Dhaka district." "The fire was initiated by lifting the tin roof at the back of the temple and using petrol or octane. Address: H-02, R05, Ward-54," he said in the post. 4Continued on | P6 Pope Francis's visit to India likely after 2025 PTI THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Union Minister George Kurian on Saturday said the muchawaited visit of Pope Francis to India is likely to happen after 2025, which has been announced as the "Jubilee Year" by the Catholic Church. He noted that India had already invited the Pope officially and Prime Minister Narendra Modi directly ex- tended him the invitation. The visit would be scheduled as per the convenience of Pope Francis, he told Asianet channel. Kurian was part of the delegation which reached Vatican to take part in the ordination of Archbishop George Jacob Koovakad as Cardinal by Pope Francis at a function to be held on Saturday. Ambulance thief caught after high-octane chase Union Minister of State (MoS) for Defence, Sanjay Seth on Saturday confirmed that Delhi Police is investigating a threatening message he received demanding a ransom of Rs 50 lakh. The MoS reported that the extortion message was sent to his mobile phone on Friday evening. Subsequently, Seth also informed the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) about the threat the same evening and met with senior police officials of the Delhi Police to discuss the matter at his Delhi residence. Speaking to IANS about the incident, Seth stated, "I informed the Delhi Police yesterday itself. The DCP and other senior officials have been investigating the matter thoroughly and with full force." The MoS also reached out to Jharkhand Director General of Police (DGP) Anurag Gupta to file a formal complaint. 4Continued on | P6 PTI Our Staff Reporter IANS HYDERABAD Telangana Police caught an ambulance thief after a dramatic chase on Hyderabad-Vijayawada National Highway on Saturday. The thief hijacked a 108 ambulance in Hayatnagar on the outskirts of Hyderabad and turned it into a getaway car. The police caught the thief after a wild chase for more than 100 kilometres by placing lorries as blockades near Suryapet. Alerted by the ambulance driver after the vehicle was stolen, the police vehicles began the chase, and it soon turned into a filmi-style action as the thief further accelerated the siren-blaring ambulance towards Vijayawada. Weaving through traffic on the highway, the offender outpaced police officers and triggered chaos on the busy road. According to police, the ambulance hit an Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police when he tried to stop the vehicle at Chityala. 4Continued on | P6 The Supreme Court has constituted a special bench to hear a batch of PILs challenging the validity of certain provisions of a 1991 law that prohibits filing a lawsuit to reclaim a place of worship or seek a change in its character from what prevailed on August 15, 1947. A three-judge bench of PLACES OF WORSHIP ACT Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justices Sanjay Kumar and K V Viswanathan is likely to hear the matter on December 12 at 3:30 pm. The top court is seized of the pleas, including one filed by Ashwini Upadhyay who has prayed that sections 2, 3 and 4 of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 be set aside. Among the various reasons submitted was the contention that these provisions take away the right of judicial remedy to reclaim a place of worship of any person Cops crack Rs 10cr FD embezzlement case BHOPAL The Special Investigation Team of the police claimed to have cracked a case, wherein Fixed Deposit (FD) of Rs 10 crore of the Madhya Pradesh Seed Certification Agency was withdrawn by the accused through concocted documents. A total of six accused have been arrested in the case and two more are yet to be nabbed. The police said that peon of the Madhya Pradesh Seed Certification Agency, Brijendra Das Namdev, is the main accused and he was arrested from Rewa. Namdev, in connivance with department’s class 3 employee Deepak Panthi and others, including agent Varun Kumar, Shailendra Pradhan alias Acharya Baba and branch manager of Central Bank of India (Branch Imami Gate) Noyal Singh, deposited two FDs of the Seed Certification Agency, each worth Rs 5 crore. Later, with the help of the bank manager, both the FDs were withdrawn and two Demand Drafts were prepared. In the meantime, agent Varun Kumar’s accomplice and senior sales manager of Yash Bank (MP Nagar) Dhananjay Giri helped Namdev in opening an account in which Rs 10 crore were transferred. Giri had shown Namdev as Seed Certification Officer. 4Continued on | P6 Rajnath's Russia visit Navy's new frigate to be commissioned IANS NEW DELHI The Indian Navy will commission its multi-role stealth-guided missile frigate INS Tushil in Russia's Kaliningrad on December 9. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be the chief guest of the event, to be attended by high-ranking Indian and Russian government officials. Rajnath Singh is set to leave for a three-day visit to Russia, starting December 8. On December 9, the Defence Minister will witness the commissioning of the Navy's latest missile frigate 'INS Tushil'. He will be accompanied by Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi in the commissioning ceremony. INS Tushil, an upgraded Krivak III class frigate under Project 1135.6, will be the seventh ship in the series. Six are already in service - three Talwar class ships, built at Baltiysky shipyard, St. Petersburg and three follow-on Teg class ships, built at Yantar shipyard, Kaliningrad. Upon commissioning, INS Tushil will join the 'Sword Arm' of the Navy under the Western Naval Command and will rank amongst the most tech- nologically advanced frigates in the world. Apart from the commissioning of INS Tushil, a slew of programmes were scheduled for the Defence Minister's Russia visit. Rajnath Singh and his Russian counterpart An- who did this". The Shiv Sena (UBT) secretary also posted images of Uddhav Thackeray, Aaditya Thackeray and himself in his message. "If anyone in the MVA speaks such language, what is the difference between the BJP and them? Why should we stay with them?" Azmi asked. He said the mosque was demolished and no one was punished for it, adding that people had forgotten about it but wounds are being reopened. 4Continued on | P6 SC to take up pleas on Dec 12 NEW DELHI ‘B’desh ISKCON centre burned’ KOLKATA ESTD-1983 drey Belousov will co-chair the 21st meeting of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military and Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGCM&MTC) in Moscow on December 10. The two leaders will review the multi-faceted relations between the two nations in defence, including military-to-military and industrial cooperation. They will also exchange views on regional and global issues of mutual interest. or a religious group. The matter will be heard in the backdrop of several suits filed in various courts, including related to Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi, Shahi Idgah Mosque in Mathura and Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal, claiming that these were built after destroying ancient temples and seeking permission to offer Hindu prayers there. The Muslim side in most of these cases have cited the 1991 law to argue that such suits are not maintainable. As many as six petitions, including those filed by former Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy, have been filed against the provisions of the 1991 law. While former Union minister Swamy wanted the apex court to "read down" certain provisions to enable Hindus to stake claim over the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi and Shahi Idgah Mosque in Mathura, Upadhyay claimed the entire statute was unconstitutional and no question of reading down arises. 4Continued on | P6 US denies BJP allegations of anti-India agenda PTI NEW DELHI The US on Saturday rejected the BJP's allegations that organisations funded by the US State Department and elements in the American "deep state" were behind attempts to destabilise India through targeted attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and business tycoon Gautam Adani. A spokesperson at the US embassy described the allegations as "disappointing" and asserted that the US government has been a champion of media freedom around the world. The BJP alleged on Thursday that the US deep state colluded with the media portal OCCRP (Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project) and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to "damage" India's image. The BJP had cited Gandhi's use of reports by OCCRP to attack the Adani Group and to accuse it of having closeness with the government. "It's disappointing that the ruling party in India would make these kinds of accusations," the US embassy spokesperson said. The OCCRP, headquartered in Amsterdam, is a media platform that largely focuses on stories relating to crime and corruption.