FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms FREE PRESS Vol. 14 No. 207 | BHOPAL | THURSDAY | JANUARY 9, 2025 | Pages 16 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 www.freepressjournal.in Sports Bumrah reigns supreme as No 1 in Test rankings P.15 ESTD-1983 iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: BHOPAL MONEY UJJAIN PUNE INDORE NASHIK Cinema Spotting Jon Snow P.14 COLD GRIP | State capital records third lowest temperature of season BHOPAL SHIVERS AT 3.6°C Our Staff Reporter WEATHER WATCH Betul Bone-chilling cold gripped Bhopal on Wednesday as the city recorded a minimum temperature of 3.6°C, marking the third lowest of the winter season. The temperature was 6.8°C below the normal for this time of year, with the maximum temperature reaching only 22.4°C, 2.3°C below the usual level. The intense cold wave also affected other parts of state, including Ratlam, Seoni, Neemuch, and districts like Rajgarh, Shajapur, Sehore, which experienced severe cold conditions. The weather department’s Indore 3.20C 6.60C Bhopal Gwalior 3.60C 6.60C Dhar Ujjain 0 5.8 C 6.00C Guna Khandwa 5.40C 100C forecast indicates that the cold wave will persist in places like Rajgarh, with some districts like Bhopal, Vidisha, Raisen, Sehore, Narmadapuram, Betul, and Shajapur likely to experience cold wave conditions. Dense fog is expected in Gwalior, Datia, Bhind, and Morena districts, while cold days may continue in Mandsaur and Neemuch. In Bhopal, MUMBAI Divers recover body of worker from coal mine Pritish Nandy passes away Drone found in Bhopal Central Jail PTI Our Staff Reporter Online Report GUWAHATI BHOPAL The body of one of the nine workers trapped inside a coal mine in Assam's Dima Hasao district was recovered by army divers on Wednesday, the third day of the rescue operations, officials said. The chances of the survival of the eight others appear grim, though a team of navy, army, NDRF and SDRF personnel intensified their efforts to rescue the trapped miners, the officials said. The divers located the body of the worker, identified as Ganga Bahadur Srestho from Udaypur district of Nepal, 85 feet below the surface early in the morning. The rescue teams are taking turns to enter the mine, as the operations are underway. A suspicious drone was found in the Bhopal Central Jail by the jail authorities and the matter was handed over to the police, the officials said here on Wednesday. The jail authorities rushed to the jail premises as one of the jail warders found a drone near the high security cell, near the temple where new barracks are under construction. Jail superintendent Rakesh said that at around 3.30 pm on Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh, flagged delays in the delivery of the Tejas fighter aircraft into service, calling for increased private partnership in developing defence products and providing more funds for Research and Development (R&D). Speaking at the 21st Subroto Mukherjee Seminar on 'Atmanirbharta in Aerospace: Way Ahead', yesterday, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh talked about the emphasis on R&D and how it "loses its relevance if it is not able to meet the timeline." Air Chief Marshal Singh also flagged the delay in procurement of the first batch of the Tejas fighter jet ordered by the Indian Air Force. fp Briefs Indian journalist turned director Pritish Nandy passed away due to cardiac arrest on Wednesday at his residence in Mumbai. The news was confirmed by veteran actor Anupam Kher. The actor took to his X, and shared a note in memory of the late director. He shared two monochromatic images of the late director from decades apart. Anupam wrote, "Deeply deeply saddened and shocked to know about the demise of one of my dearest and closest friends #PritishNandy! Amazing poet, writer, filmmaker and a brave and unique editor/journalist. He was my support system and a great source of strength in my initial days in Mumbai". He further mentioned, "He was also one of the most fearless people I had come across.” the sun stayed behind clouds for most of the day, intensifying the cold, and chilly winds from the Himalayan region contributed to the harsh conditions. Wednesday, jail warder Sonwar Chorasia spotted the drone. 4Continued on | P8 Dreaded criminals in Anda Cell In the Central Jail, around 70 members of SIMI, HuT, PFI, and other antinational organisations are kept in a high security cell known as Anda Cell. Their safety and security is a big task for the jail authorities and the new development of drones in the jail has raised the eyebrows. E-paper Edit Centrist Cascading Collapse P.10 GDP growth likely to be 6.3% in FY25: SBI report BHOPAL MUMBAI The weather department has forecast a slight increase in temperatures from Thursday, bringing some relief, with further warming expected on Friday. IAF chief flags delay in delivery of Tejas 4Continued on | P6 Maoists back farmers' stir, call for ‘Dilli Chalo’ march Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL Pamphlets and banners issued by the banned CPI (Maoist) extending their support to the ongoing farmers' protest at Delhi borders have surfaced in the forests of Balaghat district. The police have recovered two-page pamphlets and a banner in the Rupjhar area of the district, sources revealed on Wednesday. The pamphlets, issued by the Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh Special Zonal Committee of CPI (Maoist), call for a march to Delhi. The pamphlets state, “The ongoing farmers’ stir is not just the agitation of farmers from Punjab and Haryana but is, in fact, a movement of every farmer in the country, who has been ruined due to the antifarmer policies of the Modi government.” The Maoists have urged people, farmers, labourers, and allied organisations, including environmentalists and intellectuals in the three states—Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh—to support the farmers’ movement in every possible way. 4Continued on | P8 Members handed over 18K-page report Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar MALAPPURAM The first meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on two bills related to the One Nation One Election was held in the Parliament premises on Wednesday. Following the meeting, all the members were provided a bag containing the report on ONOE that runs into nearly 18,000 pages. The JPC was constituted to review the proposed legislation, officially known as the Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill, and to examine the feasibility and framework for conducting simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies. Twenty-three people were injured when a captive elephant ran amok during a religious ceremony at a mosque near Tirur on Wednesday. Of the injured, one person is in critical condition after being picked up and tossed by the elephant, police said. The remaining 22 individuals suffered minor injuries in the stampede caused by panic-stricken people following the elephant's attack at around 12.30 am, an official at the Tirur police station said. inferno engulfs LA More than 30,000 people evacuated their homes as wildfire ripped through an upscale coastal area of Los Angeles overnight, with Hollywood celebrities among those fleeing by car and on foot as flames engulfed homes and set hillsides ablaze The flames from a fire that broke out Tuesday evening near a nature preserve in the inland foothills northeast of LA spread so rapidly that staff at a senior living centre had to push dozens of residents in wheelchairs and hospital beds down the street to a parking lot Affected celebrities include Ben Affleck, Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Mark Hamill, Mandy Moore, Miles Teller, Keleigh Sperry and Eugene Levy. Bulldozers have been deployed to barge cars out of the roads to clear a path for emergency vehicles to reach the blaze The powerful winds forced a change President Joe Biden's travel plans, grounding Air Force One in Los Angeles. He had planned to make a short flight inland to the Coachella Valley for a ceremony to create two new national monuments in California offgrid 13-yr-old girl leaves family for spiritual life Agencies PRAYAGRAJ In a surprising turn of events at the Mahakumbh, 13-yearold Rakhi Dhakre has made the bold decision to leave her family and adopt the life of a sannyasini. Now known as Sannyasini Gauri Giri, she has chosen to reside with her guru, Mahant Kaushal Giri Maharaj, dedicating herself to spiritual practices. Mahant Kaushal Giri remarked, "Baba Giri is a challenging path. My child, you must understand, that you are not yet ready to take on this responsibility." In response, the young girl firmly rejected his statement, asserting, "I will become a hermit." However, Mahant Kaushal Giri cautioned her, saying, "You still have time to reconsider before the rituals are performed." "She is closely observing our daily life and traditions, contemplating whether she can integrate into our way of life, Giri said. Giri added, "The man is the master of his wish; is there no freedom in this India? Everyone has been given freedom; India gave such a rule to everyone that she has made everyone free.' Gauri Giri, aka Rakhi Dakhe, said," I was 11 years old when I took Guru diksha. I took sanyas at the age of 13." She added, " It was my childhood wish to take sanyas and be- come a saint but being the younger one, my family members did not listen to me. When I came to the fair of Maha Kumbh, I told Guru ji and he refused. At first he smiled and kept laughing and said that it is not an easy thing to become a saint. It is very difficult to become one. Not everyone can become one." 4Continued on | P8 Probe team busy with small fish, kingpins go scot-free Who charged Rs 1L from accused for ‘facility’ NIRUKT BHARGAVA UJJAIN The Mahakaleshwar Temple’s paid darshan scam continues to unravel. Despite over a dozen arrests, key masterminds behind the extortion network are still at large. The scandal, which came to light on December 19, 2024, reveals a pattern of corruption within the temple's management, where Mahakaleshwar Temple Management Committee (MTMC) employees extorted money from devotees in exchange for Bhasmaarti and paid darshan facilities. The probe team has desisted from touching a few highranking officials suspected of facilitating this racket, thus raising a question over the ongoing probe. The probe continues but will the real culprits face justice? Sources privy to the probe told Free Press that during interrogation, the prime accused claimed that they paid Rs 1 lakh per month to two MTMC officials for patronage. Despite the claims, the two officials were never named as accused in the case. Instead, one of them was even ‘rewarded’ with key responsibility in the day-to-day affairs of the temple. Sources claimed that the probe team came to know about a self-styled media person who constructed two houses through bank loans. However, both loans were repaid within a short duration. The accused is on the run. C o l l e c t o r- c u m - M T M C chairman Neeraj Kumar Singh said that only 30% of probe had been completed so far. As the scam was continuing for past several months, time was needed to complete the probe. However, Mahakal TI Narendra Singh Parihar told Free Press that half of the probe was over. 4Continued on | P8 Oppn questions cost, constitutional validity NEW DELHI Elephant goes berserk MAHAKAL DARSHAN SCAM Prior to the meeting, JPC chairperson and BJP MP PP Chaudhary told mediapersons that repeated elections and consequent expenditure put an additional burden on the public. On the rationale behind simultaneous polls, he was quoted by ANI as saying, “The elections to Lok Sabha ONOE JPC MEET used to be held together (with state Assemblies). Later, the sequence was disturbed since many governments were dissolved. It has been felt that due to repeated elections, the expenditure increases a lot and the public is burdened.” The introduction of the ONOE Bills in the Lok Sabha had taken place on December 17 after a division of votes in which 269 MPs had voted in favour and 198 against. The Four devotees killed in Tirupati stampede IANS Bills were then referred to the JPC for further scrutiny. The JPC was constituted with 39 members of whom 27 are from Lok Sabha and 12 from Rajya Sabha. The meeting on Wednesday was attended among others by Congress leader and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Speaking during the daylong meeting, Vadra raised various questions around the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) required for such a mammoth exercise of holding simultaneous polls and if it would be an economically viable exercise. Though on emerging from the meeting she did not speak about the proceedings, she answered a question to former BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri making some remarks about her cheeks, saying, 4Continued on | P8 Sambhal Masjid case: Allahabad HC stays civil court proceedings PTI TIRUPATI PRAYAGRAJ Four devotees were killed and some others were injured in a stampede at three places during the sale of Tirumala temple darshan tickets in Andhra Pradesh's Tirupati on Wednesday night. The incident occurred at three places where Vaikunta Dwara Darshan tickets were to be issued on Thursday morning. A large number of devotees had gathered to stand in queues for special darshan tickets, leading to the stampede. Three women were among four devotees killed in the incident. One of the deceased women was from Tamil Nadu. Some others fell unconscious and they were shifted to Ruia Hospital. The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), which manages the affairs of the famous Tiru- Injured being taken to hospital mala temple, had announced that special darshan tickets will be issued at 94 counters at nine places in Tirupati from 5 a.m. on Thursday. However, a large number of devotees started gathering since Wednesday morning. There was chaos when devotees were allowed at the counters. They pushed each other to surge forward, resulting in the stampede. According to officials, there was a stampede at Srinivasam, Bairagipatteda, and Satyanarayanapuram. 4Continued on | P8 The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday stayed further proceedings before a civil court hearing the dispute over Jama Masjid in UP's Sambhal. Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal passed the direction on a revision plea filed by the mosque's management committee. The plea was filed after a Supreme Court order related to the matter and challenges the proceedings aside from the maintainability of the suit filed over the dispute in the Sambhal district court. The plea alleged the suit was filed on the afternoon of November 19, 2024, and within hours, the judge appointed a court commissioner, and directed him to carry out an initial survey at the mosque site.