FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms Vol. 14 No. 197 | BHOPAL | MONDAY | DECEMBER 30, 2024 | Pages 12 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 FREE www.freepressjournal.in Sports Aussie tail wags after Bumrah magic P.10 ESTD-1983 iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: BHOPAL MONEY UJJAIN PRESS PUNE INDORE NASHIK MUMBAI E-paper Edit Of Accidental PM, FM and Reformer P.8 India’s increasing oil demand attracting global players World Trump backs visas for skilled workers P.9 Clean-up of 337 MT UCC chemical waste begins India ‘not lucky’ on Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL REEL container at UCC plant for loading chemical waste fp Briefs BHARUCH 4 die after toxic gas leak Four workers died after inhaling toxic fumes following a gas leak at a chemical plant at Dahej in Gujarat's Bharuch district, police said on Sunday. The company said all four were given immediate medical care but could not be saved. It has announced Rs 30 lakh ex gratia to the kin of each victim. A company employee and three contractual workers fell unconscious after poisonous fumes leaked from a pipe at a production unit of the Gujarat Fluorochemicals Limited (GFL) on Saturday night, Dahej police station inspector BM Patidar said. They were rushed to a private hospital where all four of them died, he said. NEW DELHI WAVES summit in February India will host the World Audio Visual Entertainment Summit (WAVES) for the first time in February next year which will be a global platform for its creative talents, fostering collaborations and showcasing the country's potential as a hub for world-class content creation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke extensively about the WAVES Summit in his monthly 'Mann ki Baat' Radio address on Sunday. "This Summit is an important step towards making India a hub of global content creation," he said. The Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Department (BGTRRD) started clean-up at the Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) plant to remove the 337 MT chemical waste lying for the last 40 years on Sunday morning amidst tight security. Heavy police force was deployed at the UCC plant. Masked handlers have been pressed for removal of the chemical waste under the guideline of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The Madhya Pradesh High Court, principal bench of Jabalpur, had ordered the state government on December 3, 2024 to dispose off that DEADLY CRASH | Aircraft skids off runway, slams into fence 179 dead as South Korea plane bursts into flames 181 2 AP SEOUL A passenger plane skidded off a runway at a South Korean airport Sunday, slammed into a concrete fence and burst into flames after its front landing gear apparently failed to deploy. All but two of the 181 people on board died in one of the country's worst aviation disasters. The Jeju Air plane crashed while landing in the town of Muan, about 290 kilometres south of Seoul. The Transport Ministry said the plane was a 15-year-old Boeing 737-800 jet that had arrived from Bangkok and that the crash happened at 9:03 am. A total of 179 people - 85 women, 84 men and 10 others whose genders weren't immediately identifiable - died in the fire, the South Korean fire agency said. Emergency workers pulled two people, both crew members, to safety. Health officials said they are conscious and not in lifethreatening condition. 4Continued on | P6 ON BOARD RESCUED Fire and smoke rise from the tail section of a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 series aircraft after the plane crashed and burst into flames at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla Province, 288 kilometres southwest of Seoul An Air Canada flight coming from St John's city on Newfoundland Island had a rough landing at the Halifax airport in Goffs in Nova Scotia province that saw the aircraft skid down the runway and part of it catching fire. A statement issued by the airport said the incident involved Air Canada Flight 2259, which was operated by PAL Airlines, CBC News reported. The incident happened around 9:30 pm local time. The statement does not say how many people were on the plane. The people on board were evacuated, and then taken to a hangar to be checked out by paramedics, CBC News said. 'Physical relations' cannot mean sexual assault: Delhi HC PTI NEW DELHI The Delhi High Court has acquitted a man in a POCSO case, saying the use of phrase 'physical relations' by the minor survivor cannot automatically mean sexual assault. A bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Amit Sharma allowed the appeal by the accused, who was awarded imprisonment for the remainder of his life, and observed that it was unclear how the trial court concluded that there was any sexual assault when the survivor had voluntarily gone with the accused. The court asserted that the leap from physical relations or 'samband' to sexual assault and then to penetrative sexual assault must be established by evidence and cannot be deduced as an inference. "The mere fact that the survivor is below 18 years cannot lead to a conclusion that there was penetrative sexual assault. The survivor, in fact, used the phrase 'physical relations', but there is no clarity as to what she meant by using the said phrase," the court said in the judgement passed on December 23. "Even the use of the words 'samband banaya' is not sufficient to establish an offence under Section 3 of the POCSO Act or under Section 376 IPC. Though consent would not matter if the girl is a minor under the POCSO Act, the phrase 'physical relations' cannot be converted automatically into sexual intercourse let alone sexual assault," it held. The court said the benefit of doubt ought to be in favour of the accused and, therefore, ruled, "The impugned judgement completely lacks any reasoning and also does not reveal or support any rationale for the conviction. Under such circumstances, the judgement is liable to be set aside. The appellant is acquitted." The complaint in this case was lodged in March 2017 by the minor girl's mother, alleging that her 14-year-old daughter had been lured and kidnapped from her home by an unknown person. 4Continued on | P6 50% drop in student suicides in Kota PTI The Kota district administration has claimed that there has been a 50 per cent decline in the number of suicides by students this year as compared to 2023 in this coaching hub of Rajasthan known for preparing students for IIT-JEE entrance tests. However, no specific breakdown of the numbers has been provided by the officials. "In comparison to last year, the suicide rate among coaching students has decreased by 50 per cent this year, which is a significant figure in terms of the efforts yielding results. We expect this trend to continue in the future," Kota Collector Ravindra Goswami told PTI in a brief interview. Kota witnessed 17 cases of suicides by coaching students in 2024, compared to 26 such cases in 2023, as per reports. According to Goswami, the decline in suicide cases can be attributed to strict compliance with guidelines for coaching institutes and hostels under the vigilance of the district administration. Other measures, such as Principal Secretary of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Department to fulfill statutory obligations and warned that failure to comply would lead to contempt of court proceedings. The Central government has sanctioned Rs 126 crore for the clean-up. See Page 3 security front, can't sit quiet: Rajnath 4Continued on | P6 Guna borewell claims 10-yr-old boy's life FP News Service/PTI GUNA A 16-hour rescue operation ended in tragedy as 10-yearold Sumit Meena, who fell into a borewell while flying kites in Guna district's Raghogarh area, could not be saved. The child was found trapped 39 feet below ground, with his body submerged in water. According to CMHO Dr Rajkumar Rishishwar, when Sumit was finally retrieved and brought to the hospital, his clothes were wet, his mouth was filled with mud and his organs had stopped functioning due to prolonged exposure to cold. The incident occurred on Saturday evening in Pipliya village when the boy was flying kites and accidentally fell into the open borewell. 4Continued on | P6 FP News Service MHOW Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday visited Bhim Janm Bhoomi, a memorial dedicated to Dr BR Ambedkar, and paid floral tribute to the architect of the Constitution at his birthplace. Singh also visited three premier training institutes of the Indian Army—Army War College (AWC), Infantry School and Military College of Telecommunication & Engineering (MCTE). He was accompanied by Chief of the Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi and other senior officers of the Indian Army. While addressing the Army personnel at the Mhow cantonment, Singh said, “India is ‘not very lucky’ nation on the security front and urged sol- diers to keep a sharp eye on internal and external foes who he said are always active.” "Taking security scenario into account, India is not a very lucky country because our northern border and western border continuously face challenges," Singh said. "We also face challenges on the internal front. In the backdrop of this, we can't sit quiet, unconcerned. Our enemies, whether internal or external, always remain active. In these circumstances, we must keep a close eye on their activities and take appropriate and timely effective steps against them," he further added. Addressing Armymen, he said that to make the country a developed and self-reliant nation by 2047, the role of the Army is very crucial. 4Continued on | P6 Air Canada flight catches fire on landing offgrid KOTA waste in four weeks. It was a writ petition of Zehreeli Gas Kand Sangharsh Morcha (“Zehreeli”)’s Alok Pratap Singh Vs Union of India in MP High Court, principal bench— WP2802/2004. The waste will be transported for incineration in Ramky Enviro Engineers Limited (REEL), Pithampur. The HC directed the gate-keeper training for hostel wardens based on WHO norms and the implementation of SOS Help services, have also contributed to the reduction in suicide cases. Regular interactive sessions with coaching students through events like 'Dinner with Collector' and 'Samwad,' as well as the deployment of the Kalika Squad for women's safety and the safety of girl aspirants, have played a role in this change, Goswami added. The district collector said he interacted with over 25,000 coaching students this year through events like 'Dinner with Collector' and 'Samwad,' where he addressed their concerns. However, industry stakeholders have pointed out that business has slowed down for coaching centres and hostels in Kota following negative publicity over student suicides, new guidelines regulating coaching centres, and the expansion of coaching brands to other cities. The number of students in Kota has fallen to 85,000 to 1 lakh this year, down from the usual 2-2.5 lakh, leading to a reduction in annual revenues -- from Rs 6,500-7,000 crore to Rs 3,500 crore, they said. MLA Preetam demands DNA test of Sharma His mother threatens to file defamation suit against him Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL The raid against former transport constable Saurabh Sharma has taken a new twist after BJP MLA from Pichore, Preetam Singh Lodhi demanded DNA test of Saurabh. He even demanded that investigation be done that what kind of relations are between Saurabh’s mother and KP Singh. Saurabh Sharma’s mother has taken strong umbrage over the assertion made by Preetam Singh Lodhi and threatened him to sue with a defamation case. She even appealed to PM Narendra Modi and CM Mohan Yadav to take action against Preetam Singh Lodhi for questioning her character. Expressing utter shock over the objectionable statement of Preetam Singh Lodhi, she told that she could not believe that in politics, one can stoop so low. The matter (raid against her son) is something else and what kind of things are being spoken. ‘I don’t have any enmity with him (Preetam Singh Lodhi). I want to appeal to PM Narendra Modi and CM Mohan Yadav that one BJP MLA killed my character and soul, spoke baseless things against my son. If he wants DNA test of my son, I am ready. 4Continued on | P6 Duo who robbed Indore bizman caught by Delhi cops after encounter Our Staff Reporter INDORE Two wanted criminals, who committed a bike theft and two armed robberies in the city, were arrested by the Delhi police after a brief encounter on Sunday. It is said that the criminals were involved in 80 cases in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and other states. According to the Delhi police, the duo’s location was found in Madipur. Multiple teams were formed to cover all possible exit routes in the area before the encounter. The suspects were seen around 4.30 am. They reportedly opened fire when the police asked them to stop, hitting bulletproof jackets of some police personnel though no one was injured. The accused sustained gunshots on their legs in counter firing by the police. The accused are undergoing treatment in a Delhi hospital, the police said. The accused were identified as Rohit Kapoor, a known criminal from Dwarka district and Rinku, a history-sheeter from Khyala in West Delhi. Together, they were involved in nearly 80 criminal cases, including that of armed robbery, in Delhi and MP. Amit Singh, Additional CP (law and order) also confirmed the incident and he in- formed Free Press that the accused will be taken to the city for their involvement in three incidents here after the investigation by the Delhi police. It is noteworthy that, a businessman, his son and nephew were robbed of their gold ornaments worth Rs 18 lakh on Roshan Singh Bhandari Marg under the Tukoganj police station jurisdiction in the city on November 11. The businessman along with his son and nephew and a neighbour was standing in the parking lot of their residential apartment when the accused had robbed them in the morning at knife-point. 4Continued on | P6 Former MP arrested for assault at paddy procurement centre Man uses puppy to outsmart scammer posing as cop FP News Service MUMBAI Online Report BALAGHAT Police arrested former MP from his residence on Friday for allegations of assault and disruption at paddy procurement centre in Dhapera Mohgaon, Lalbarra tehsil. An FIR was registered against Kankar Munjare and four associates based on a complaint by the centre incharge and a computer operator, who accused them of assault and obstructing operations on December 27. The incident, reportedly captured on CCTV, began when a farmer named Ramlal was refused permission to sell his paddy due to sub-standard quality. Angered by rejection, Ramlal called Munjare, who arrived with his companions and allegedly engaged in a heated argument and assault. A police team led by sub divi- sional police officer(SDOP) Abhishek Chaudhary arrested the accused, drawing a large crowd outside his house. The accused denied allegations, claiming his arrest was a conspiracy to silence him for raising farmers’ issues. He criticised the administration for refusing farmers' paddy without valid reasons and ignoring theft complaints. The case is under investigation, with police examining CCTV footage and other evidences. Further developments are awaited. A Mumbai man decided to turn the tables on a digital scammer by cleverly using his puppy. The hilarious moment was shared on Instagram, where a man answered a video call from a fraudster pretending to be from the Andheri East police station in Mumbai. The video begins with the "police officer" saying, "I am calling from Andheri East police station," before demanding that the man show his face to the camera. Instead of complying, the man picks up his small puppy and holds it in front of the camera. "Yeh lijiye, sir. Aagya main camera ke saamne," (Here you go, sir. I'm here in front of the camera), he says, holding the puppy closer. 4Continued on | P6