FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms FREE PRESS Vol. XLI No. 205 | INDORE | WEDNESDAY | JANUARY 1, 2025 | Pages 16 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. 38281/83 www.freepressjournal.in Sports Turning point was wicket of Pant: Shastri P.14 ESTD-1983 iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: INDORE UJJAIN PUNE BHOPAL MONEY NASHIK MUMBAI E-paper Cinema 2025 promises exciting releases like Sikandar, Baaghi 4 and War 2 P.16 India’s CAD projected at 1% of GDP for FY2025: CRISIL India rises to global leadership in hand transplantation Tarun Tiwari INDORE In just nine years since performing its first hand transplant in 2015, India has emerged as a global leader followed by United States of America, and United Kingdom. According to a report published by Indian Journal of Plastic Surgery, by September 2024, plastic surgeons of the country had successfully completed 73 upper extremity transplants, surpassing all other countries in this specialized medical domain. “It is a matter of pride for us. India has also achieved a Country Transplants tained momentum have set world record in it apart. “In 2015, Amrita 73 double hand trans- India Hospital in Kochi performed plants, performing USA the historic first double 55 33 procedures, rehand transplant in the InFrance 15 flecting country’s efdian subcontinentunder the 15 ficiency and China leadership of DrSubramanigrowing expertise Turkey aIyer and Dr Mohit Sharma. 10 in the field,” Dr DiNow, nine centres are leadnesh Kadam, Prof and Head,Departing the country with hand transplanment of Plastic Surgery, AJIMS, tation,” Dr Kadam said adding “There Mangalore and Editor of Indian Jouris no registry of hand transplant across nal of Plastic Surgery, told Free Press. the globe and he is preparing one He added that although India was through personal communication.” the 15th country to perform a hand 4Continued on | P8 transplant, its rapid progress and sus- Mantralaya to go digital from today Our Staff Reporter Well planned move BHOPAL The move to make Mantralay digital is not a spur-ofthe-moment decision. Rather, detailed planning went into the decision. NIC has given training to officials of all government departments of Mantralaya on how to handle e-files. Officers till class three rank have been trained how to write a comment on the file and sign them digitally. As the digital file movement could be traced by any officer of the concerned department, their clearance will need to be done in time- bound manner. The Mantralaya will start working in e-file mode (digitally) from first day of New Year. All departments will move file in digital format. Chief secretary Anurag Jain has made it clear that he will entertain only digital files from January 1. The General Administration Department (GAD) is the pioneering department in this regard as it has already started working in digital format. Its officers have been doing work on digital files for the last few days. Sources in GAD said that the digital work concept is the brainchild of CS. He wants that work should be done digitally, which will bring transparency into the government work and will also fix responsibility plus accountability. To facilitate the fp Briefs LAHORE Bhagat Singh Gallery opens Pakistan's Punjab government has opened to tourists the Bhagat Singh Gallery at the historical Poonch House here, where the independent freedom fighter's trial was conducted some 93 years ago. The gallery houses historical documents, including pictures, letters, newspapers, details of trial and other memorial articles related to his life and freedom struggle. Punjab Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman inaugurated the gallery on Monday. JAIPUR Leopard rescued in Alwar After being thought to be near a college here for almost a month, a leopard strayed into a residential colony in Rajasthan's Alwar on Tuesday but was rescued after three hours of operation, officials said on Tuesday. The wild cat was seen coming out of RR College earlier and reached Khandana Mohalla creating panic among people who called the forest officials. functioning of Mantralaya in digitally manner, government had hired Newzen company which has done the work of scanning documents of files of all the departments. 4Continued on | P8 Our Correspondent As the new year set in, there was gloom in the house of Nimisha Priya, a Kerala nurse who has been sentenced to death in Yemen. The country’s President Rashad al-Alimi has approved the death sentence given by the courts in Yemen. Reports said she will be executed in a month’s time. In Delhi, a spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said India was "extending all possible help" to the family of the nurse. "We are aware of the sentencing of Nimisha Priya in Yemen. We understand that the family of Nimisha Priya is exploring relevant options. The government is extending all possible help in the matter," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. It was to help her daily wage labourer parents that Priya, a nurse from Palakkad district, left for Yemen in 2008. She worked in a few hospitals in the country. In 2017, she had a fallout with her local partner Talal Abdo Mahdi. Her family said she had opposed his alleged attempts to embezzle funds. In a bid to reclaim her Dr Sanjay Dixit, founder secretary of Indore Society for Organ Donation, said that Indore is also emerging as a leading centre for donation and transplants. “Recently, a 68-year-old brain dead man’s hands were retrieved and airlifted to Mumbai on December 30 for transplantation. Indore has also seen highest number of cadevar donations as well.” India is leading the world and Indore too added to the streak. Indore sees highest number of organ donations in Central India. It is a matter of pride for the nation. We are leading the world in hand transplant amid many challenges. Union and states must take initiatives to boost organ donation. Dr Sanjay Dixit Dr Dinesh Kadam Founder secretary, Indore Society for Organ Donation Prof and Head, Department of Plastic Surgery, AJIMS, Mangalore APPEAL: Forgive, forget mistakes, hope normalcy returns Manipur CM apologises for ethnic clashes in state PTI Accounts for 77% of total violence NEW DELHI Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Tuesday said "sorry" for the unfortunate developments in the northeastern state due to the ethnic clashes that started last year. The Chief Minister, however, said the year ends on an optimistic note and that he hoped that normalcy will return to the state in 2025. "This entire year has been very unfortunate. I want to say sorry to the people of the state for what's happening till today since last May 3. Many people lost their loved ones. Many people left their homes. I feel regret. I apologise. But now, I hope after seeing the last three to four months progress towards the peace, I believe by Noose tightens around Kerala nurse in Yemen THIRUVANANTHAPURAM/NEW DELHI: Indore too emerges as leading centre passport confiscated by the Yemeni national, she allegedly injected him with sedatives. However, an overdose of the sedative resulted in his death. She was arrested while attempting to flee Yemen and was convicted in 2018. She was sentenced to death by a trial court in Sana’a in 2020. Yemen’s Supreme Judicial Council had dismissed her appeal in November 2023 while keeping the option of paying blood money open. Nimisha’s family had hoped that they would be able to save her after convincing the victim’s family to accept the blood money. Nimisha’s mother Prema Kumari, 57, had been trying hard for the past many years to save her daughter. She has been staying in Yemen to secure a waiver of the death penalty and negotiate the blood money with the victim's family. 4Continued on | P8 Manipur, which has been witnessing prolonged ethnic violence between majority Meitei and tribal Kuki communities, accounted for about 77 per cent of the total violence in the entire northeastern region in 2023, according to the latest annual report of the Ministry of Home Affairs. In 2023, Manipur witnessed an increase in violent incidents owing to the prevailing ethnic strife and the resultant increase in the casualties of civilians and security forces personnel as compared to 2022. 2025, the normalcy will be restored in the state," the Chief Minister said. "I want to appeal to all the communities in the state, whatever happened has happened. You have to forgive and forget the past mistakes and we have to start a new life (towards) a peaceful and prosperous Manipur," he said, adding that all 35 tribes in Manipur should live together In harmony. The violence in Manipur has claimed over 180 lives since May last year, when violence erupted over the Meities community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status and the tribal Kukis' opposition to this. The Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in Imphal Valley. The tribals, including Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent of the population and reside mainly in the hills. Meanwhile, in a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the people of Manipur cannot understand their neglect by the prime minister, whom he accused of deliberately avoiding a visit to Manipur. 4Continued on | P8 In what could easily qualify as one of the most peculiar crime sagas of the year, a 23year-old unemployed graduate from Meerut has been arrested for a bizarre crime spree—randomly slapping pedestrians. His motivation? A self-described "dopamine rush." Kapil Kumar, a young man grappling with depression after his father’s death and his mother’s remarriage, decided to take his frustrations out in the most unconventional way. According to police, the "slap enthusiast" admitted during questioning that he had been dealing with suicidal thoughts and joblessness, leaving him desperate Director, NOTTO It is all in your hands FP News Service MUMBAI Indore’s 26-year-old Arvind Mishra, who lost both hands in an electrocution accident, has been given a second chance at life, thanks to a lifechanging bilateral hand transplant in Mumbai. This remarkable surgery was made possible by the compassionate decision of Surendra Porwal’s family to donate his organs after he was declared brain-dead. Porwal, a 58-year-old trader and a passionate advocate of organ donation, had pledged his organs in life—a wish his family honored after his untimely demise from a stroke. Among his many donations, his hands traveled via a green corridor to Mumbai’s Gleneagles Hospital, where Dr. Nilesh Sathbhai and his team worked tirelessly through the night to perform the intricate transplant. The operation marks a triumph of modern medicine An Indore man who had lost both his hands becomes the recipient of a transformative gift, thanks to a brain-dead donor. and the profound humanity of organ donation. For Arvind, the return of his hands is more than a physical restoration—it is the rekindling of dreams lost in the wake of his accident. The story resonates far beyond hospital corridors. Sandipan Arya, an activist with Muskaan, noted how Porwal’s donations benefited several lives: kidneys saved two Indore patients, his liver was transplanted in Mumbai, and his skin and eyes brought hope to others. Porwal’s send-off was a moving ceremony, with hospital staff laying a red carpet and showering flowers, a poignant tribute to a man who gave others a second chance at life. Lokayukta fails to trace ex-RTO constable Sharma Our Staff Reporter Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL BHOPAL A 1987-batch retired IAS officer Manoj S h r i va s t ava was appointed State Election Commissioner (SEC) on Tuesday. Shrivastava’s tenure of service will continue till 2027. An officer can work on the post of SEC up to 66 years. Shrivastava was retired in April 2021. Before this, Shrivastava was a member of the State Administrative Reforms Commission. He resigned from the post. During his service, he was the additional chief secretary of the Panchayat and Rural Development Department, principal secretary of the Commercial Tax Department, the Public Relations Department and PS to the Chief Minister. The tenure of the present SEC BP Singh ended on Tuesday. He became the SEC on January 1, 2019. But because the government could not select someone for the post, Singh’s tenure of service was extended for six months. change for providing a favourable inspection reports to nursing colleges affiliated with the Nursing Council of the state. Following the arrest, the CBI terminated inspector Raj's services on May 21, 2024, and initiated a comprehensive investigation into the case. The Lokayukta police once again conducted searches to find former RTO constable Saurabh Sharma, but returned empty handed officials said here on Tuesday. Several notices were served to the constable to appear in their office, but he did not responded, so police reached his house to search for him. The Lokayukta sleuths swung into action 10 days after their raid. After three days of ED raid the Lokayukta police officers reached the house of the constable and tried to take the statements of constable’s mother and other workers of the house. The investigation officer Virendra Singh Gaur informed Free Press that the police wanted the statements of the main accused Saurabh. The police had already served the notice to the accused to appear in the office to record his statements, but he did not reached the office even after 10 days. 4Continued on | P8 4Continued on | P8 Year-end vigil Border Security Force personnel stand guard along the fence at Suchetgarh border post, on the outskirts of Jammu on Tuesday MHA cancels ex-CBI inspector’s award Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL The Central government has cancelled the Union Home Minister's Medal for Excellence in Investigation-2023 awarded to Rahul Raj, a former inspector of the Central Bureau of Investigation, following his arrest in an al- leged bribery case in exchange for manipulating inspection reports for Nursing Colleges in the state. In May 2024, Raj was arrested by the CBI's Internal Vigilance Unit for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 10 lakh from Anil Bhaskaran, the chairman of Malay College of Nursing, Indore. The bribe was reportedly solicited in ex- Dopamine fuelled slap-gate ends in arrest Biswajeet Banerjee Dr Anil Kumar Retired IAS officer Manoj Shrivastava becomes SEC offgrid MEERUT India is one of the leading nations in hand transplant with over 73 successful transplants, so far. We have started preparing registry for hand transplant as well. For months, Kumar zipped through the streets of Meerut on his scooter, slapping unsuspecting strangers in a bid to boost his mood. Among his victims were a retired PCS officer and a woman, sparking outrage and confusion in equal measure for excitement. “He told us he wanted to see if doing bad things might bring some good into his life,” said SP Ayush Vikram Singh. Kumar’s slapping spree finally came to an end when vi- deos of his antics began circulating on social media, prompting the police to act. CCTV footage showed him brazenly riding up to a pedestrian, delivering a quick slap, and speeding away. Neighbors and locals were left dumbfounded. “This is not the kind of ‘youth empowerment’ we were expecting,” quipped one bystander, shaking his head at the absurdity of it all. Kumar’s backstory is, admittedly, tragic. He lost his father five years ago and struggled to adjust after his mother remarried. 4Continued on | P8 No shifting of Carbide waste due to New Year Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL/SEHORE Union Carbide Corporation (UCC)’s 337 MT chemical waste has not been transported to Ramky Enviro Engineers Limited (REEL), Pithampur, because of New Year. Police officials said that police deployment to maintain law and order and to check New Years revelers at night was a major challenge so UCC waste has not been transported. Commissioner of police Harinarayan Mishra as well as commissioner Gas Relief Swatanra Kumar Singh confirmed it stating, “UCC waste will not be shifted today.” Police commissioner Mishra said, “UCC waste will not be transported tonight.” 4Continued on | P8