FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms FREE PRESS Vol. XLI No. 206 | INDORE | THURSDAY | JANUARY 2, 2025 | Pages 16 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. 38281/83 www.freepressjournal.in Sports Kazakhstan move into United Cup semifinals P.15 ESTD-1983 iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: INDORE UJJAIN MONEY PUNE BHOPAL NASHIK MUMBAI E-paper Edit HEALTHY SENSEX IN A NEW YEAR P.8 GST collections rise 7.3% to `1.77 lakh crore in Dec Cinema Ileana expecting again P.14 FINAL JOURNEY | 40 yrs on, chemical waste moves out of Bhopal CM inaugurates 12 trucks with UCC toxic Govt dedicates first decision of e-office system, depts go digital waste off to Pithampur 2025 to farmers Our Staff Reporter Peace march today BHOPAL Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL Chief Minister Mohan Yadav inaugurated e-office system on Wednesday to ensure transparency, promptness and better implementation of public welfare schemes. The e-office system has been ushered for Chief Secretary Office (Mantralaya) and CM Secretariat. CM said that the state had made a significant move towards good governance by embracing digitalisation. The state government aims to bring all systems online, facilitating better implementation of the schemes, improving inter-departmental coor- fp Briefs NEW DELHI Air India offers inflight Wi-Fi Tata group-owned Air India becomes the first airline to offer inflight Wi-Fi Internet connectivity services on domestic flights, according to the airline's press release on Wednesday. According to Air India, passengers can avail of Wi-Fi Internet connectivity service on domestic routes in Airbus A350, Boeing 787-9 and select Airbus A321neo aircraft. "This makes Air India the first to offer in-flight Wi-Fi Internet connectivity on flights within India, enabling travellers - flying for leisure or business - to stay connected to the Internet during their flights, and to enjoy browsing, accessing social media, catching up on work, or texting friends and family," the airline said. dination and accelerating public welfare initiatives. PM views digitalization as essential in today’s era for transparency and efficiency in governance. This initiative was a strong step forward in achieving the goals of good governance. He inaugurated the e-office implementation system from Samatva Bhawan of CM House. He hoped the e-office system would provide significant relief to the general public. Now from January 1, all departmental files would be managed digitally through the e-office system. All the government officials have been trained in this regard. SC to hear Owaisi’s plea on places of worship law PTI NEW DELHI The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on January 2 a plea of AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi seeking implementation of the 1991 places of worship law, which asks to maintain the religious character of a place as it existed on August 15, 1947. Lawyer and MP Owaisi, who heads the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, filed the plea on December 17, 2024, through advocate Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi. 4Continued on | P6 The first truck loaded with the Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) toxic waste came out of the abandoned factory at 8.57 pm and headed towards Ramky Enviro Engineers Limited (REEL), Pithampur in Dhar district on Wednesday, the officials said. The waste will be transported through a dedicated green corridor from Bhopal to the Pithampur site. More than 100 police personnel covered the factory area and secured the entrance of the common people in the area. A large number of people gathered at the factory area to watch the movement of the trucks. At around 8.50 pm, commissioner of police Bhopal Harinarayanchari Mishra reached the spot. He monitored the transportation of IANS Just days after a Bengaluru techie took his own life over alleged harassment by his wife amid divorce and child custody proceedings, another tragic case has emerged from the Model Town area of Delhi. Puneet Khurana, a 39-yearold cafe owner, was found dead at his residence in Kalyan Vihar on Tuesday afternoon. Puneet, who was fighting an acrimonious divorce case with his wife Manika, reportedly faced continuous threats and pressure, according to his family and friends. The couple Rajan Raikwar The upcoming Global Investors Summit (GIS) scheduled for February is going to be different from the previous GIS in many ways. For the first time, department summits have been planned. Along with this, Live Deal Area is going to be made to strike business deals with the interested investors. An officer of the Madhya Pradesh Industrial Development Corporation told Free Press that in the previous GIS held in Indore, a sectoral summit used to be held. The sectoral summit of departments used to get summed up with the lecture given by the speakers and hardly 50 to 100 people used to remain present at the venue. This time, a departmental summit has been planned. Urban Infrastructure summit, tourism summit, Mining Sum- 4Continued on | P6 4Continued on | P6 SECURITY BEEFED UP The district administration and the police are closely monitoring the Ramky unit in Sector 1, Tarapur Hills, where the toxic waste will be burned. CSP Vivek Gupta said all security arrangements have been made. Over 100 barricades have been set up on the 4-kilometer route around the unit and traffic will be completely closed during the green corridor. Hundreds of policemen have been deployed on the route to avoid any untoward incident. the waste and said the first truck came out of the factory at 8.57 and the last truck left FP News Service GST collection rises 7.3% to Rs 1.77 lakh cr PTI NEW DELHI NEW ORLEANS At least ten people were dead and 30 injured when a man, “hell-bent on carnage,” drove a pickup truck into a crowd of NY revellers in New Orleans. The attack occurred along Bourbon Street, popular for New Year eve parties. The driver rammed into the group at high speed, then got  out and started firing a weapon. Witnesses claim the suspect was 'wearing full body armour' and 'armed with an assault rifle.' Videos circulating on social media show multiple casualties on the ground with shots ringing out in the background. People were also seen fleeing from the area. A man, who claimed to witness the incident while out with his wife, wrote on X that he saw the SUV 'speeding' SUSPECT DEAD The suspect in the New Orleans truck crash that killed 10 people and injured 30 revellers in New Orleans on New Year's Day was killed after a firefight with police, law enforcement officials said down the road and 'running people over'. Another witness said she saw the vehicle strike the crowd and multiple officers open fire at the suspect. Cafe owner kills self amid divorce case, family blames wife, in-laws NEW DELHI the factory at 9.05 pm. All political and social organisations in Pithampur are unitedly opposing the burning of the toxic waste from Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), Bhopal. They argue that the waste is hazardous to the health of the people of Pithampur. A meeting was held at the Pithampur Municipal Council's auditorium to discuss the issue, which was attended by councillors, social organisation representatives and common citizens. 10 NY revellers die as driver runs amok had been married for eight years and were partners in their cafe business. However, they had been living apart for the last two years following frequent disputes. Detailing the events leading to the incident, one of Puneet's friends said, "He called us on Monday evening, saying he was under immense stress and needed to talk. He expressed concern that Manika's family might harm his father and other relatives. We stayed with him till 2 a.m., trying to reassure him that justice and the law were on his side. 4Continued on | P6 Departmental summit, Live Deal Area to be main highlight of GIS BHOPAL FP News Service PITHAMPUR (MHOW) mit, MSME and Start Up Summit, New and Renewable Energy summit, IT and Technology Summit are going to take place. In other words, departments will hold their own small investors summit to attract investment. Another officer of the MPIDC added that under the departmental summit, departments would be able to ink Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs). 4Continued on | P6 Harassed by wife, Karnataka techie jumps into river Close on the heels of the sensational Atul Subhash suicide case in Bengaluru on December 9 over alleged harassment by his wife, followed by the suicide of a policeman on December 13, an incident of a software professional committing suicide over alleged torture by his wife was reported from Hassan district of Karnataka on Wednesday. Pg7 She says she started running and only escaped 'by the grace of god'. 4Continued on | P6 Process begins for Manmohan memorial PTI The gross GST collection rose 7.3 per cent year-on-year to Rs 1.77 lakh crore in December despite significant increase in both domestic and export refunds. The Central GST collection stood at Rs 32,836 crore, State GST at Rs 40,499 crore, Integrated IGST at Rs 47,783 crore and Cess at Rs 11,471 crore, according to government data released on Wednesday. The total gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue grew 7.3 per cent to Rs 1.77 lakh crore in December as compared to Rs 1.65 lakh crore in the same month a year ago, it said. During the month under review, GST from domestic transactions grew 8.4 per cent to Rs 1.32 lakh crore, while revenues from tax on imports rose about 4 per cent to Rs 44,268 crore. PTI NEW DELHI Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday that the government's first decision in the New Year is dedicated to farmers, as the Union Cabinet headed by him enhanced allocation to crop insurance scheme and raised subsidy to a key fertiliser. He said on X, "(Govt's) first decision of the New Near is dedicated to crores of farmer brothers and sisters of our country. We have approved increasing the allocation for crop insurance scheme. This will provide more security to farmers' crops and will also mitigate their concerns about any damage." The Cabinet's decision on extending the one-time special package on Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) will help farmers by ensuring 4Continued on | P6 Narendra Modi Prime Minister the fertiliser at affordable prices, he added. 4Continued on | P6 Farmers welcome decision Many farmers from Haryana have welcomed the move, terming it farmer-friendly and also a win-win deal for both farming class and insurance firms. Rajkumar, a farmer said, "It is a very good move. Farmers will benefit a lot from this. DAP cost was high earlier, this decision will ease the burden on farmers." Another farmer said that the government has taken a good decision. Roshan Sharma, anotherfarmer said, "It is like a New Year gift for the farmers." Russia ceases gas supply via Ukraine AP KYIV Ukraine on Wednesday halted Russian gas supplies to European customers through its pipeline network after a prewar transit deal expired at the end of last year. Ukraine's energy minister, Herman Halushchenko, confirmed on Wednesday morning that Kyiv had stopped the transit "in the interest of national security." "This is a historic event. Russia is los- ing markets and will incur financial losses. Europe has already decided to phase out Russian gas, and (this) aligns with what Ukraine has done today," Halushchenko said. Russia's Gazprom said in a statement that it "has no technical and legal possibility" of sending gas through Ukraine, due to Kyiv's refusal to extend the deal. Moscow can still send gas to Hungary, as well as non-EU states Turkiye and Serbia, through the TurkStream pipeline across the Black Sea. Mumbai terror attacks: Rana extradition process gathers speed IANS NEW YORK/MUMBAI NEW DELHI The government has started the process of identifying a site for setting up a memorial to former prime minister Manmohan Singh and is in touch with his family to finalise the location. Sources said Central Public Works Department (CPWD) officials visited sites around the Sanjay Gandhi memorial in the Rashtriya Smriti Sthal and identified some spots where a memorial could come up. (Govt's) first decision of the New Near is dedicated to crores of farmer brothers and sisters of our country Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Rana could soon be extradited to India for his role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that killed around 175 people, sources in the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Mumbai Police's crime branch confirmed on Wednesday. The sources claim that the extradition process had intensified after a federal appeals court in the US had quashed Rana's appeal in August, last year. They did not provide any details, however. The California-based Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals had upheld a lower federal court verdict permitting Rana's extradition and ruled that the 1997 extradition treaty between India and the US covered his offences. Rana, a Canadian citizen living in Chicago, was arrested in the US in 2009 for plotting to bomb a Danish newspaper, 'Jyllands-Posten,' which had published a controversial image of Prophet Mohammed. He faced three main charges in a Chicago federal court relating to his involvement in the Danish case, providing support to Lashkar, and conspiring for the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. He was acquitted of the Mumbai attack charge, but convicted in the other two and sentenced to 14 years. 4Continued on | P6 offgrid 2024 warmest year in India since 1901 FP News Service MUMBAI The year 2024 has been recorded as the warmest year in India since 1901, with average minimum temperatures rising 0.90 degrees Celsius above the longperiod average. This unprecedented heat has brought significant shifts to the country’s climate patterns, with the mean land surface air temperature for the year 0.65 degrees Celsius higher than the typical levels. Surpassing the 2016 record, 2024 now holds the distinction of being the hottest year in over a century. Across the globe, 2024 has also been marked as the warmest year ever, with the Copernicus climate agency confirming it as the first year with global temperatures 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. This marks a concerning milestone in The world saw an additional 41 days of hazardous heat in 2024 global climate change, with scientists warning that the Earth is entering a phase of sustained, unprecedented warming. The rising temperatures have had a profound impact on weather patterns, with India experiencing extended periods of dangerous heat. In fact, the world saw an additional 41 days of hazardous heat in 2024. The increase in minimum temperatures has been particularly noticeable in postmonsoon and winter months, underscoring a worrying long-term trend. While La Nina conditions are expected to emerge briefly in early 2025, their cooling effects are unlikely to reverse the overall warm- ing trend. Experts remain deeply concerned about the future, highlighting that the global average temperature is already 1.3 degrees Celsius higher than the baseline period of 1850-1900. The Paris Agreement’s target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius now seems increasingly out of reach, as the world’s temperatures continue to climb.