FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms Vol. 14 No. 271 | BHOPAL | SUNDAY | MARCH 16, 2025 | Pages 16 ` 4 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 FREE www.freepressjournal.in India’s medal hopes shine bright P.16 fp CHITRADA Pawan joins language row Janasena founder Pawan Kalyan has commemorated the 11th formation day of his party and asserted his credentials as a Sanatan champion and his party's success against several odds. Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister waded into the language controversy raging between Tamil Nadu and the Centre, emphasising that more languages are needed to keep the integrity of the country. He castigated people for opposing Hindi and arguing against dubbing Tamil films into the language. MUZAFFARNAGAR Narrow escape for Tikait Farmer leader and national spokesperson of Bharatiya Kisan Union, Rakesh Tikait, had a narrow escape in Muzaffarnagar district when a nilgai collided with the front portion of his vehicle, officials said on Saturday. According to Tikait, the accident took place when his vehicle was near the Meerpur bypass road. A nilgai suddenly appeared on the road and collided with his car, even as the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader escaped unhurt. KYIV Russia-Ukraine trade attacks Russia and Ukraine traded heavy aerial blows overnight, with both sides reporting Saturday more than 100 enemy drones over their respective territories. The attacks come less than 24 hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin met with US envoy Steve Witkoff to discuss details of the American proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in the war with Ukraine. HYDERABAD 64 Maoists surrender A total of 64 members of the banned CPI (Maoist) surrendered before the police in Bhadradri Kothagudem district of Telangana on Saturday. The 64 Maoists, belonging to various cadres, including an Area Committee Member (ACM) from Chhattisgarh and bordering villages of Telangana, decided to abandon the path of naxalism and lead a peaceful life with their families. They surrendered before the IGP Multi-Zone I and District Police, according to a police release. BENGALURU Rao's stepfather sent on leave Actor Ranya Rao's stepfather, a senior cop in Karnataka, has been sent on "compulsory leave" days after the actor was arrested in a gold smuggling case. The order for the Director General of Police (Karnataka State Police Housing Corporation) K Ramachandra Rao's leave was issued on Saturday. It did not specify any reason. iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: BHOPAL UJJAIN WORLD Sports Briefs ESTD-1983 PRESS PUNE INDORE NASHIK MUMBAI E-paper readers’ corner Strengthening women... JUI-F leader injured in mosque blast P.6 Cinema Paul W.S. Anderson’s genre... P.14 Indian student Rs 1L crore to be required self-deports as US cancels visa for pension in eight years FINANCE DEPT ESTIMATE | Provision of Rs 28,961 crore has been made in this year’s budget for pension GOVT TO TAKE RS 6K CR LOAN Nitendra Sharma BHOPAL The government employees, who have joined after 2005, have been demanding old pension scheme. But it is running the new pension scheme. In the budget, the government announced the formation of a high-powered committee for unified pension scheme. Amid the discussion, the Finance Department has released an estimate about the expenses the government will incur for pension. According to the estimate, the government will require more than Rs 1,00,000 crore in 2033-34 to give pension to its employees. The state government is once again going to take a fresh loan of Rs 6,000 crore by selling its securities of seven years tenure. The loan money will be utilised in financing productive development programmes and in implementation of different projects. Previously, the government had taken loans from the market on many occasions. The total debt position of the state government as on March 31, 2024 (revised estimate) was Rs 3,75,578.52 crore. In 2024-25, a sum of Rs 25, 381 crore was spent on pension. In this year’s budget, a provision of Rs 28,961 crore has been made it. The Finance Department worked out estimated spending on pension with 17% hike in the coming days. The government spends 2122% of its revenue receipts on salary and 9-10% on pension. In 2024-25, a sum of Rs 2, 60, 983 crore was spent on revenue expenditure, and a sum of Rs 67, 381 crore was spent on capital expenditure. Such a huge amount of decrease in capital expenses in comparison to revenue expenses hardly augurs well for the fiscal health of the state in the coming days. According to financial experts, the amount of debt being equal to that of the Irked over Holi colours, pickup driver kills youth Our Staff Reporter budget, the burden of pension and freebies are set to impact the state’s financial health. A major part of the state budget is spent on salaries, pension, and freebies. Nearly 14% of this year’s budget will be spent only on debts and paying the interests. Experts say the government has to take some strong measures to stop it. Explosion outside Amritsar temple, opposition slams AAP government PTI NEW YORK/WASHINGTON An Indian student at Columbia University, whose visa was revoked for allegedly "advocating for violence and terrorism" and involvement in activities supporting Hamas, has self-deported. Ranjani Srinivasan, a citizen and national of India, entered the United States on a F-1 student visa as a doctoral student in Urban Planning at Columbia University, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement on Friday. It added that Srinivasan was "involved in activities supporting" Hamas, a terrorist organisation. The Department of State had revoked her visa on March 5. The Department of Homeland Security said it has obtained video footage of Srinivasan using the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Home App to self-deport on March 11. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said in the statement that it is a "privilege to be granted a visa to live and study in the United States of America". "When you advocate for violence and terrorism, that privilege should be revoked, and you should not be in this country. I am glad to see one of the Columbia University terrorist sympathisers use the CBP Home app to self-deport," Noem said. 4Continued on | P8 Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL A tribal family allegedly bludgeoned a youth to death in Mauganj on Saturday. When a police team reached the spot to save the victim, they too were attacked by the accused family members. ASI Ramcharan Gautam was killed, while others sustained injuries in the attack. Following the incident, the collector has imposed section 163 in the village. Sources said that the incident occurred in Gadra village of Shahpur police station in Mauganj. The entire incident is a fall out of an old rivalry. Two months ago, Ashok Kumar Adivasi was killed in a road accident. However, his family alleged that Sunny Dwivedi was behind the incident. The family members of Ashok caught Sunny and locked him inside a house and thrashed him, who later died. On getting the information, a police team rushed to spot to save the victim but they too were attacked. It was learnt that women police officials were kept as hostage by the accused during the attack. PTI BHOPAL AMRITSAR Enraged after being doused in colour during Holi celebrations, a pickup driver ran over a youth in Ashoka Garden area, dragging him for 200 metres before fleeing. The victim later succumbed to his injuries in hospital. Police have registered a case and launched investigation. According to reports, 27year-old Shailendra Singh, also known as Appu, a resident of Subhash Colony, was celebrating Holi with friends on Friday evening when they playfully threw colour at a passing pickup truck. The driver, enraged by the act, stopped his vehicle and confronted the group. A heated argument ensued, but bystanders intervened and managed to pacify the situation. She allegedly supported Hamas ASI, YOUTH KILLED IN MAUGANJ The body under the killer vehicle (in circle) However, moments later, as the driver initially drove ahead, he suddenly reversed the vehicle towards the group. While most managed to jump out of the way, Shailendra was struck and trapped underneath. The driver continued moving, dragging the victim nearly 200 metres before he was able to free himself near a speed breaker. Shailendra sustained critical injuries and was rushed Baby's eyes damaged as tantrik hangs it upside down over fire to a private hospital, where he died later that night during treatment. Locals said that he had recently become engaged and was due to be married soon. Inspector Hemant Srivastava of Ashoka Garden police station said that CCTV footage captured Shailendra being dragged under the moving vehicle. However, police are still determining whether the driver intentionally targeted the victim A blast occurred outside a temple in Amritsar around midnight when an unidentified attacker who came on a motorcycle hurled an explosive device towards the building, damaging a portion of its wall and shattering window panes, officials said on Saturday. Punjab Police said it suspects the role of Pakistan's spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in the attack on Thakur Dwar temple and vowed to apprehend the culprits soon. There have been many incidents of explosions targeting police posts in Amritsar and Gurdaspur in the past four months but this is the first such attack on a temple. 4Continued on | P8 Religious discrimination affects followers of all faiths: India at UN PTI UNITED NATIONS India has said it stands united with the UN members in condemning incidents of religious intolerance against Muslims, as it underlined the need to recognise that religious discrimination is a broader challenge affecting followers of all faiths. "India is a land of diversity and pluralism. We are home to followers of virtually every major religion in the world and India has been the birthplace of four world religions namely Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. With over 200 million of its citizens India slams Pak ndia has slammed Pakistan for its "unjustified" reference to Jammu and Kashmir in the UN General Assembly, with New Delhi asserting that such remarks will neither validate the country's claim nor justify its practice of cross-border terrorism. "As is their habit, the former foreign secretary of Pakistan today has made an unjustified reference to the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir," India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador P Harish, said. I practising Islam, India is home to one of the largest Muslim populations in the world," India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador P Harish said on Friday. Addressing the informal meeting of the plenary in the UN General Assembly to com- memorate the International Day to Combat Islamophobia, Harish said that fostering a world free from religious discrimination, hatred and violence has been a way of life for India since time immemorial. 4Continued on | P8 Pak, Bhutan on Trump's potential travel ban list Mutilated body of newborn found on Khargone hospital campus Advocates protesting assault on colleague manhandle TI Our Staff Reporter Online Report PTI INDORE WASHINGTON  A large number of advocates staged a protest at the high court intersection on Saturday, blocking the road for about two hours to protest an FIR filed against an advocate and his two sons following a dispute in the Pardeshipura area. The lawyers claimed that five police personnel had assaulted high court lawyer Arvind Jain and his sons Apoorv and Arpit Jain during the dispute. The protest turned aggressive when Tukoganj police station in-charge Jitendra Singh Yadav was allegedly manhandled by the protesters. Accusing him of being intoxicated, they chased him away from the protest site, forcing him to flee for The Trump administration is considering issuing sweeping travel restrictions for the citizens of dozens of countries as part of a new ban, according to sources familiar with the matter and an internal memo seen by Reuters. The memo lists a total of 41 countries divided into three separate groups. The first group of 10 countries, including Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Cuba and North Korea among others, would be set for a full visa suspension. In the second group, five countries, including Eritrea, Haiti, Laos, Myanmar, and South Sudan, would face partial suspensions that would impact tourist and student visas. KHARGONE PTI SHIVPURI An occultist's horrific 'exorcism' ritual left a six-monthold baby almost blinded in eyes after he was hung upside down over fire in Madhya Pradesh's Shivpuri district, setting police on the trail of the self-proclaimed tantrik. Officials on Saturday said the ritual badly damaged the eyes of the infant and it is difficult to predict whether his eyesight will be restored. The shocking incident occurred under Kolaras police station area on March 13 after the baby's parents took him to tantrik Raghuveer Dhakad's house to 'treat' him for discomfort, officials said. What followed was an 'exorcism' ritual after the tantrik told parents that their son was being haunted by some shadows. The baby was hanged upside down over a fire with his parents watching and enduring his cries hoping he would be "cured". The incident came to light when the parents took their son to the Shivpuri district hospital, police said. "The boy is being treated at the hospital," said Superintendent of Police Aman Singh Rathod. The severed body of a newborn child with two dogs roaming near it was found on Saturday on the premises of Khargone District Hospital in Madhya Pradesh, police said. This incident was reported days after a distressing video of a stray canine carrying a dead newborn in its mouth and running in alleys of Rewa city went viral. Police suspect that someone might have dumped the newborn at a deserted place after it was delivered at the Khargone hospital's maternity ward, and stray dogs tore off the body. 4Continued on | P8 4Continued on | P8 safety.  To control the situation, police deployed force from five stations and diverted traffic going to the high court intersection. The protesters also allegedly attacked several people trying to cross the blockade. As tensions escalated, the advocates sat on the road and offgrid Sunita poised for return as new crew lifts off AP CAPE CANAVERAL The replacements for NASA's two stuck astronauts --Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams -- launched to the International Space Station on Friday night, paving the way for the pair's return after nine long months. Wilmore and Williams need SpaceX to get this relief team to the space station before they can check out. Arrival is set for late Saturday night. NASA wants overlap between the two crews so Wilmore and Williams can fill in the newcomers on happenings aboard the orbiting lab. That would put them on course for an undocking next week and a splashdown off the Florida coast, weather permitting. The duo will be escorted back by astronauts who flew up on a rescue mission on SpaceX last September alongside two empty seats reserved for Wilmore and Williams on the return leg. Reaching orbit from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the newest crew includes NASA's Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, both military pilots; and Japan's Takuya Onishi and Russia's Kirill Peskov, both former airline pilots. They will spend the next six months at the space station, considered the normal stint, after springing Wilmore and Williams free. "Spaceflight is tough, but humans are tougher," McClain said minutes into the flight. As test pilots for Boeing's new Starliner capsule, Wilmore and Williams expected to be gone just a week or so when they launched from Cape Canaveral on June 5. A series of helium leaks and thruster failures marred their trip to the space station, setting off months of investigation by NASA and Boeing on how best to proceed. 4Continued on | P8 chanted Hanuman Chalisa, further intensifying their demonstration. They demanded that an FIR be registered against the accused police men. Additional district magistrate Roshan Rai also tried to pacify the protesters but failed to convince them. 4Continued on | P8 Thumka lagao: Tej Pratap threatens to suspend cop PTI PATNA RJD leader Tej Pratap Yadav found himself at the centre of a fresh controversy on Saturday when a policeman was commanded by the former Bihar minister to perform a 'thumka' (pelvic thrust) or face suspension. The lurid drama unfolded at the official residence of Yadav, the elder son of former chief ministers Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi, dur- ing holi celebrations. In a style reminiscent of the 'kapda faad Holi' that his father used to organise, Yadav tore off clothes of supporters who poured in to greet him, and also drove a scooter on the streets adjoining his house, screaming "Happy Holi Paltu Chacha", a taunt obviously aimed at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who has aligned with and dumped the RJD twice. 4Continued on | P8