FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms Vol. 14 No. 282 | BHOPAL | THURSDAY | MARCH 27, 2025 | Pages 16 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 FREE www.freepressjournal.in iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: BHOPAL UJJAIN MONEY Sports Argentina crush Brazil P.15 fp ESTD-1983 PRESS PUNE INDORE NASHIK NEW DELHI SC remark on cutting trees The Supreme Court's remark that cutting a large number of trees is worse than killing human beings should be a "wake-up call" for the central government, which has been "weakening" forest protection laws, and for states that have been "mindlessly" clearing green cover for development, environmentalists said on Wednesday. The apex court made the observation while rejecting the plea of a man who had chopped down 454 trees in the protected Taj Trapezium Zone. Cinema ‘Is your account hacked?’ P.16 BENGALURU Muda scam: Order reserved Karnataka court reserves order in MUDA scam case, verdict on April 3 Mar 26 (PTI) A Special Court for MPs and MLAs here has reserved its order in the MUDA case involving Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. The verdict is set to be pronounced on April 3. On March 26, the court of CCH82 Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge heard arguments in the case filed by complainant Snehamayi Krishna against Siddaramaiah. India rubbishes US body’s demand to sanction RAW Agencies What report says NEW DELHI U S panel has recommended that India be designated as a "country of particular concern" over alleged violations of religious freedom and "impose targetted sanctions" against R&AW. It also alleged that PM Modi and the ruling BJP "propagated hateful rhetoric and disinformation against Muslims and other religious minorities". In a strongly-worded rebuttal, India said today that it is the US religious freedom body USCIRF that should be designated internationally as an "entity of concern" for its repeated "pattern of biased and politically motivated assessments" and "misrepresentation" of facts. New Delhi's statement came hours after the US body's annual religious freedom report claimed that minorities in India continue to face deteriorating treatment. The panel's report also called for imposing sanctions on India's external intelligence agency R&AW over its alleged involvement in the "assassination" plots against 'Khalistani' separatists and extremists overseas. "We have seen the recently released 2025 Annual Report of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), which once again continues its pattern of issuing HC allows Rashid Engineer to attend Parliament Rs 11 crore drainage bill scam exposed in IMC, FIR registered   PTI Our Staff Reporter NEW DELHI INDORE Jailed MP from Jammu and Kashmir, Engineer Rashid, attended the Parliament session amid heavy police security today after getting leave from the Delhi High Court to attend the ongoing budget session. The court, however, said he has to attend the rest of the budget session while "in-custody". The court has also restrained him from using phone or internet and addressing the media. A fraud of Rs 11 crore has come to light in the drainage department of the Indore Municipal Corporation. The MG Road police station has registered an FIR in the case on a complaint by the additional commissioner of the finance department of IMC, said DCP (zone-3) Hansraj Singh while talking to Free Press. The fraud came to light during an internal checking of 185 files of drainage bills by the biased and politically motivated assessments," India's Ministry of External Affairs said, raising concerns on the authenticity of the body over such "agenda-based" claims. Indirectly calling the panel's report fake, India questioned if at all the USCIRF is even genuine in its work and concerns on religious freedom. IMC wherein it was found that the inward and outward numbers of about 169 files did not match. These files pertain to the time period between 2012 and 2019. These fake bills resulted in payment of about Rs 11 crore to the bank account of one Sajid, who according to sources was booked earlier in E-paper Edit A populist budget P.6 ‘Private investment can help India overcome risks’ REACTION: USCIRF running deliberate agenda: Foreign ministry Briefs MUMBAI "The USCIRF's persistent attempts to misrepresent isolated incidents and cast aspersions on India's vibrant multicultural society reflect a deliberate agenda rather than a genuine concern for religious freedom," the foreign ministry said. 4Continued on | P8 another drainage bill scam and is in jail for the same. In the over 100 crore drainage bill scam that was exposed last year, the police had put up a charge sheet before the court. Executive engineer Abhay Rathore and other IMC employees and contractors were arrested in this case. The police have registered a separate FIR in this latest scam. The role of other people is also being investigated by the police. Further information is also being gathered from the audit department and relevant IMC officials.   EPFO to allow PF withdrawals via UPI, ATMs by mid-2025 IANS NEW DELHI The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is likely to introduce a major change that will allow its members to withdraw their provident fund (PF) instantly through UPI and ATMs by the end of May or early June 2025. With this update, employees will no longer have to go through long and timeconsuming procedures to access their PF savings. The initiative is being implemented with the support of the Ministry of Labour and Employment and has received approval from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). This move is expected to bring greater convenience to millions of EPFO members across the country. Sumita Dawra, Secretary at the Ministry of Labour and Employment, said employees will be able to withdraw up to Rs 1 lakh instantly. She mentioned that members will also be able to check their PF balance directly on UPI platforms and transfer funds to their preferred bank accounts without delays. This will make it easier for employees to access their money in times of need. Currently, withdrawing PF funds involves submitting online claims and waiting for approvals, which can take several days or even weeks. 4Continued on | P8 JUDGE CASH ROW ISSUE Nadda, Ramesh meet to discuss judicial accountability Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar NEW DELHI BJP president and Leader of House in Rajya Sabha J.P Nadda on Wednesday held a discussion with Congress MP and general secretary Jairam Ramesh on the issue of the recovery of cash from the official residence of former Delhi High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma. The development came a day after House Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar held a meeting with floor leaders of various political parties on the issue of judicial accountability. During the meeting, both the leaders are learnt to have discussed the issues raised in Dhankar’s meeting and how a coordinated response, if any, could be provided on the subject. Meanwhile, Dhankar informed the House on Wednesday about the interaction which took place on the issue of judicial accountability the previous day. “We yesterday had a very fruitful interaction on the issue that is agitating the minds of the public.” Dhankar said the Leader of the House (J.P. Nadda) and the Leader of the Opposition (Mallikarjun Kharge) were among those present at the meeting. He said the deliberations were consensual, reflecting cooperation and concern”. He said both the leaders submitted that after wider consultations among all concerned in their respective parties they would come to the Chairman for further deliberations. This, he said, was the “conclusion” after both the leaders had shared their thoughts along with others. Dhankar said the issue is not between institutions inter se. “It is not that the executive, legislature or judiciary are pitted against each other. All the institutions in the country have to function in tandem and in togetherness. Also, there are checks and balances which are well meant.” BEIJING India, China talk Kailash yatra India and China have made further progress on the modalities to resume Kailash Manasarovar Yatra in 2025, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said following the official consultation between Foreign Ministries of India and China, held in Bejing on Wednesday. NEW DELHI UPI down in India A widespread UPI outage disrupted financial services across India on Wednesday, with users reporting that they are unable to make payments through UPI apps such as Google Pay, PhonePe, and Paytm. While some banks like ICICI remained operational, others, such as HDFC Bank, experienced issues. MATCH NO. 7 SRH Vs LSG HYDERABAD; 7.30 PM (Detail on Sports Page) India tests vertically-launched SAM Agencies NEW DELHI In a boost to India's precision firepower, the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Navy conducted the successful flight-test of indigenously-developed Vertically-Launched Short-Range Surface-to-Air Missile (VLSRSAM) on Wednesday, an official statement said. The test-firing, at the Inte- grated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur off the coast of Odisha at noon on Wednesday, was carried out from a land-based vertical launcher against a high-speed aerial target at very close range and low altitude and established the missile system's Near-Boundary-Low Altitude capability. During the test, the target was completely destroyed by the missile executing the high turn rate required for engaging targets at very close range, and establishing the missile’s agility, reliability & pinpoint accuracy, the statement said. The test was conducted with all weapon system elements deployed in combat configuration. These elements, including a missile with an indigenous Radio Frequency seeker, Multi-Function Radar and Weapon Control System, have performed as per expectations. The performance of the system was validated by the flight data captured by various Range Instruments developed by ITR Chandipur, the statement said. Congratulating the DRDO, Indian Navy and the industry, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh termed the missile system as proof of India’s strong design and development capabilities in defence R&D. "It will be an excellent force multiplier for the Navy," he said. 4Continued on | P8 Insensitive, inhuman: SC stays All’bad HC remarks on rape charges SC takes firm stand against misleading advts PTI PTI The staying of the high court's observations would mean the same cannot be used in any judicial proceeding to seek relief by the present set of accused or others. NEW DELHI The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the Allahabad High Court's recent observations on grabbing of a woman's breasts and pulling the drawstrings of her "pyjama" not amounting to an attempt to rape and said it reflected total "insensitivity" and "inhuman approach". Taking a strong exception to the high court's observations made in its March 17 verdict, the apex court termed it a "very serious matter". "In normal circumstances, we are slow in granting stay at this stage. But since the observations appearing in paragraphs 21, 24 and 26 are totally unknown to the cannons of law and depict total insensitive and inhuman approach, we are inclined to stay the said observations," a bench of Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih said. The top court took suo motu cognisance of the matter after "We the Women of India" collective wrote to to Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna. "Until further orders, there shall be stay to the observations made by the judge in paragraphs 21, 24 and 26 of the tulips in bloom Visitors at Tulip Garden after it was opened for the public, in Srinagar on Wednesday NEW DELHI order dated March 17, 2025," the bench held. The high court's verdict held that the attempt to rape offence was not made out against the accused and they were liable to be summoned for the lesser offence of assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe her. "There is no allegation that the accused tried to commit penetrative sexual assault against the victim," the HC further said. The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the states and union territories to create a grievance redressal mechanism against misleading advertisements. A bench of Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said misleading advertisements could cause great harm to the society and it was essential to stop them and save the ignorant masses. The state governments, the court said, should create such mechanisms for members of the public to lodge complaints against objectionable ads prohibited under Drugs and Magic Remedies Act, 1954. 4Continued on | P8 4Continued on | P8 CBI raids premises of ex-CM Baghel FP News Service RAIPUR The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has conducted massive raids at 60 locations in four states including Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Bhopal and Kolkata in Mahadev Satta online betting app. In Chhattisgarh CBI carried out raids at the residential and official premises of former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, his two close then Official on Duty (OSD)s Ashish Verma and Manish Banchor, his secretary Soumya Cong condemns raids Congress party condemned the action and said the raids were politically motivated. 15 days ago, ED conducted raids and now CBI. Action indicates that raids are biased, Congress State President Dipak Baij said. Chaurasia, MLA Devendra Yadav, retired IAS Anil Tuteja and 4 IPS officers Anand Chhabra, Abhishek Pallav, Arif Sheikh, Prashant Agarwal.    4Continued on | P8 offgrid Narmada ghats gasp for breath amid pollution, apathy: Report Rajan Raikwar BHOPAL A recent survey on Narmada’s ghats has painted a grim picture of environmental degradation, lack of basic amenities and serious safety concern. The report states that chemical farming near 66% of the ghats is polluting the river, while 76% suffer from poor waste management, turning these once-sacred sites into envi- ronmental hazards. Pilgrims, too, face major inconveniences, as only 11% of ghats provide changing rooms, creating discomfort, especially for women. Only 19.9% of the ghats have toilets, while 807 ghats have no security barrier, putting visitors at risk. Lighting conditions are equally dire, with 770 ghats struggling with inadequate illumination, increasing the chances of accidents after dark.Out Conducted by the Atal Bihari Institute of Good Governance and Policy Analysis, the "Maa Narmada Ghat Sarvekshan Report 2024" assessed 861 ghats along the river and found a startling lack of basic infrastructure. of 861 ghats, there are 223 such ghats whichhave an adjoining drain (nullah) that falls in sacred Narmada. The neglect extends beyond infrastructure to the religious and cultural heritage of the ghats. Only 22% of the ghats witness the revered Narmada Aarti, while 33% of major ghats lack proper signboards and directional indicators, leaving pilgrims and tourists confused. Out of the 861 ghats, there are only 163 display signs for the "Parikrama Path," making the pilgrimage route tough for many. To combat this crisis, the report suggests an urgent government intervention to restore and modernise the ghats. It recommends developing model ghats inspired by Varanasi’s Namo Ghat and Uttarakhand’s Chandi Ghat while also promoting organic farming by offering farmers financial aid for three years. A strict ban on plastic and hazardous materials is also proposed, besides plan to increase greenery and sustainable landscaping. Floating hospitals could be expanded to all major ghats, providing much-needed healthcare access to pilgrims. Moreover, efforts should be made to improve security, signage and lighting across these spiritual sites. GE delivers first engine to HAL for Tejas ANI NEW DELHI GE Aerospace has delivered the first of 99 F404-IN20 engines to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft Mk 1A fight jet, the company said on Wednesday. "On Tuesday (March 25), we were excited to deliver the first of 99 F404-IN20 engines to our valued customer Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft Mk 1A fight jet," the company added. According to a blog on the company's website, the F404-IN20 engine is a tailored design for India's single-engine fighter with the highest thrust within the F404 family and a higherflow fan, unique single-crystal turbine blades, and numerous special components. The F404 engine is one of the most successful in military aviation history, powers thousands of combat aircraft worldwide, as per GE Aerospace. 4Continued on | P8