FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms Vol. 14 No. 200 | BHOPAL | THURSDAY | JANUARY 2, 2025 | Pages 16 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 FREE www.freepressjournal.in Sports Kazakhstan move into United Cup semifinals P.15 ESTD-1983 iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: BHOPAL UJJAIN MONEY PRESS PUNE INDORE 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 Trapped for 10 Govt dedicates New Year’s 12 trucks with UCC waste off days, girl pulled to Pithampur out of borewell first decision to farmers 2025 GIFT | Enhanced crop insurance allocation, DAP subsidy PTI NEW DELHI IANS JAIPUR After a gruelling 10-day rescue operation, Chetna, a three-year-old girl, who had fallen into a 700-foot-deep borewell in Kotputli on December 23, was finally pulled out from a depth of 170 feet on Wednesday evening. However, her chances of survival remain critically low, said officials. The rescue operation, led by the district administration, involved digging a parallel tunnel to reach the child. At 6:25 p.m. on Wednesday, NDRF jawan Mahavir Jat brought Chetna out wrapped in a white cloth. 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 WiFi 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. She was immediately transported to Kotputli's BDM Hospital via ambulance. This challenging operation faced multiple setbacks, with more than five failed attempts to rescue the child. The lack of movement from Chetna for the past eight days has raised concerns about her condition. Collector Kalpana Agarwal explained that the borewell was tilted after a certain depth, complicating the rescue. Experts from Delhi and Jaipur Metro were called in to assist in locating and accessing the borewell. 4Continued on | P6 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 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 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 Narendra Modi Prime Minister the fertiliser at affordable prices, he added. 10 dead, 30 injured after car plows into New Year’s crowd 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 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- Many farmers from Haryana have welcomed the move, terming it farmerfriendly and also a winwin deal for both farming class and insurance firms. Rajkumar, a farmer speaking to IANS 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, and it will work in favour of farmers. Roshan Sharma, another Kurushetra-based farmer said, "It is like a New Year gift for the farmers." GST collection rises 7.3% to Rs 1.77 lakh cr AP PTI NEW DELHI A driver in a pickup truck who officials said was "hellbent on carnage" sped through a crowd of pedestrians in New Orleans' bustling French Quarter district, killing 10 and injuring 30 revellers early on New Year's Day. The attack occurred around 3.15 am along Bourbon Street, known worldwide as one of the largest destinations for New Year's Eve parties, and with crowds in the city ballooning in anticipation for the Sugar Bowl college football playoff game at the nearby Superdome later in the day. At a news conference, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell described the killings as a "terrorist attack" and the city's 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. 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 police chief said the act was clearly intentional. But an assistant FBI agent in charge declared that is was "not a terrorist event." The news Cafe owner kills self amid divorce case, family blames wife, in-laws NEW DELHI Farmers welcome decision NEW ORLEANS 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 (Govt's) first decision of the New Near is dedicated to crores of farmer brothers and sisters of our country The Cabinet approved continuation of the 'Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana' and Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme till 2025-26 with an overall outlay of Rs 69,515.71 crore for 202122 to 2025-26. The decision will help in risk coverage of crops from non-preventable natural calamities for farmers across the country till 2025-26, a statement said. It also approved the proposal of the Department of Fertilizers for extension of One-time Special Package on DAP beyond the NBS subsidy at Rs 3,500 per MT for the period starting from Wednesday till further orders to ensure sustainable availability of DAP at affordable prices to the farmers. The tentative budgetary requirement for this would be approximately up to Rs 3,850 crore, the statement said. 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 conference ended before authorities could reconcile the two characterisations. 4Continued on | P6 Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL 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 the waste and said the first truck came out of the factory at 8.57 and the last truck left the factory at 9.05 pm. An SP rank officer escorted the convoy and all the police stations lying between Bhopal and Pithampur are on alert. They will stay vigilant and monitor the traffic movement. Swatantra Kumar Singh, director of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation department said the waste was packed, loaded and transported in 12 specialised containers. 4Continued on | P6 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. Process begins for Manmohan memorial CM inaugurates e-office system, all depts to work digitally PTI BHOPAL Our Staff Reporter 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. 4Continued on | P6 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 coordination 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 im- plementation 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. offgrid 2024 warmest year in India since 1901 PTI NEW DELHI The year 2024 was the warmest on record in India since 1901, with the average minimum temperature settling 0.90 degrees Celsius above the long-period average, the IMD said on Wednesday. The annual mean temperature in 2024 was 25.75 degrees Celsius, 0.65 degrees above the long-period average. The average maximum temperature stood at 31.25 degrees Celsius, 0.20 degrees above normal. The average minimum temperature was 20.24 degrees Celsius, 0.90 degrees above normal, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD) Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra. The year 2024 surpassed 2016, which had recorded a mean land surface air temperature 0.54 degrees Celsius above normal, making it the warmest year since 1901. The average minimum temperature was the highest on record for July, August, September and October, and the second highest for February, the IMD chief said. According to the European climate agency Copernicus, 2024 likely ended as the warmest year globally and the first with average temperatures 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial (1850-1900) levels. According to a yearly review by two independent groups of climate scientists - World Weather Attribution and Climate Central -- the world experienced 41 additional days of dangerous heat in 2024. Mohapatra said the rise in minimum temperatures in 2024 was "quite high". "Long-term data shows most parts of the country are witnessing a rising trend in minimum temperatures, particularly in post-monsoon and winter seasons," he said. The IMD said La Nina conditions, characterised by cooler ocean surface temperatures in the central Pacific Ocean and usually associated with colder winters in north India, were expected to develop in January but would be short-lived. 4Continued on | P6