FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms FREE PRESS Vol. XLI No. 309 | BHOPAL | WEDNESDAY | APRIL 23, 2025 | Pages 16 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 www.freepressjournal.in ESTD-1983 iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: Sports MONEY Raghunathan to lead Indian charge ... P.15 BHOPAL India less susceptible to external headwinds: RBI UJJAIN PUNE INDORE NASHIK MUMBAI E-paper Edit Tribute to a humble Pope P.6 Cinema Sustainable living push P.16 Maximum 200 couples to tie knot under govt scheme Cabinet decision comes in the wake of complaints about fake cases Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL The state government has changed the rules for Mukhyamantri Kanya Vivah Yojna and Nikah Yojna after receiving complaints about these schemes. A minimum of 11 couples and a maximum of 200 will tie the knot at a single mass wedding ceremony. The cabinet took the decision on Tuesday. The cabinet has also decided that only those young girls and boys whose parents live below the poverty line (BPL) will get the benefits of these two schemes. The cabinet has also made BPL portal verification mandatory for getting benefits under the schemes. The government will issue MUKHYAMANTRI KANYA VIVAH YOJNA an annual calendar for mass wedding ceremonies, and the administration will organise the functions according to the dates mentioned in the calendar. The civic bodies will scrutinise the applications of the young men and women who wish to tie the knot. KYC of the couples must be available on the Samagra Portal. Social welfare organisations will be part of the wedding ceremonies, the cabinet said. The government will take the help of those who are well-established and prosperous for organising the wedding ceremonies, the cabinet said. The government provides Rs 55,000 under Kanya Vivah Yojna. Out of the amount, it gives Rs 49,000 to a girl and spends Rs 6,000 on the wedding function. Rs 145 cr sanctioned for tiger reserve buffer zone The cabinet has principally sanctioned Rs 145 crore for the development of the buffer zone around the tiger reserve. The government will use the money for various projects in the buffer zone, which is highly sensitive. As part of the programme, the government will put up chain link and do fencing around the area. The government plans to protect wildlife and deal with the incidents of fire besides developing water sources. The health of wild animals will be regularly examined, and the citizens will be imparted training in skill development. PAHALGAM ATTACK | Terrorists open fire at famed meadow in what is the deadliest attack in the Valley since the Pulwama strike in 2019 26 TOURISTS KILLED IN J&K TERROR STRIKE 2 test COVID positive, woman dies during treatment 8 of family killed as vehicle plunges into dry river in Damoh Our Staff Reporter INDORE PTI PAHALGAM Terrorists opened fire at a famed meadow near Kashmir's Pahalgam town on Tuesday afternoon, killing 26 people, mostly tourists, in what is the deadliest attack in the Valley since the Pulwama strike in 2019. The 26 dead included two foreigners and two locals, a high ranking official said without getting into details. The toll is still being ascertained, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said while describing the terror attack as "much larger than anything we've seen directed at civilians in recent years". The attack, which comes as US Vice President J D Vance is visiting India and just as the tourist and trekking season is picking up momentum, took place around 3 pm, officials said. Baisaran, about six kilometres from the resort town of Pahalgam, is an expansive meadow ringed by dense pine forests and mountains and a favourite with visitors NEW DELHI Gold breaches Rs 1 lakh-mark Gold prices surged by Rs 1,800 to zoom past the crucial Rs 1 lakh-mark for 10 grams in the national capital on Tuesday amid buying rush by local jewellers and stockists in anticipation of increased demand during Akshaya Tritiya and wedding season even as global macroeconomic uncertainties continued to fuel safe-haven chase. The precious metal of 99.9 per cent purity climbed Rs 1,800 per 10 grams. from across the country and the world. Armed terrorists came into the grassland, dubbed 'mini Switzerland', and started firing at tourists milling around eateries, taking pony rides or just picnicking, officials and eyewitnesses said. At least 20 people were injured in the strike in the volatile Kashmir Valley where tourists have so far mostly been spared. They (terrorists) will not be spared! Their evil agenda will never succeed. Our resolve to fight terrorism is unshakable and it will get even stronger 4Continued on | P8 Narendra Modi Shah reaches Srinagar Prime Minister Transfer policy to be announced in next Cabinet meeting: CM Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has said the government will announce its transfer policy in the next cabinet meeting. The government would carry out transfers from May 1 to 31.The state government lifted the ban on transfers for the last time in October 2022. The state government recently gave powers to transfer officials in the event of serious illness and court cases. The other cases of transfers go to the chief minister.  The ministers have been demanding the lifting of the ban on transfers for a long time. The government has not completely lifted the ban on transfers after Yadav took over as the CM. According to sources, the government will also fix the limit of transfers. Along with this, the transfers will be distributed between the districts and the districts. In the districts, the incharge ministers will get the powers to transfer. Nevertheless, the transfers in the school education department will be separately decided. Yadav said the government was working for the welfare of the officers and employees so that they might get the salary and allowances. The government is also moving fast towards fulfilling the vacant posts, Yadav said. The work of every department is being reviewed to give opportunity to able-bodied youths in the recruitment drive, he said. The government is making efforts to conduct the long-pending examinations for recruitment through MPPSC, he said. Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in Srinagar to review the security situation in Kashmir following a deadly terror attack in Pahalgam in which 26 people were killed, officials said.Hours after the attack on tourists, Shah rushed to Srinagar and drove straight to the Raj Bhavan from the airport. Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police Nalin Prabhat briefed the home minister upon his arrival. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan and Director of Intelligence Bureau Tapan Deka were present at the time of the briefing. The officials had earlier said Shah was scheduled to chair a high-level meeting of security officials. PTI JAIPUR US Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday called on India to drop non-tariff barriers, give greater access to its markets and buy more American energy products and military hardware as he outlined a roadmap of deeper ties between the two nations for a prosperous and peaceful 21st century. In an address at an event here, Vance repeatedly praised PM Narendra Modi describing him as a "special person" and emphasised on the need for India and the US to work unitedly to deal with global challenges. "I really believe that the future of the 21st century is going to be determined by the strength of the USIndia partnership," he said. 4Continued on | P8 PM Narendra Modi accorded grand welcome in Jeddah Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL More than 30 candidates from Madhya Pradesh have cleared Civil Services Exam 2024. The UPSC CSE final result was declared on Tuesday afternoon. Aayushi Bansal from Gwalior secured 7th rank and topped in the state. Earlier, Aayushi Aayushi Bansal he secured the top rank in CA examination. His father Rakesh Agarwal is a businessman. Romil Dwivedi who hails from Rewa has got 27th rank. His father KK Dwivedi is a joint Commissioner in the Cooperatives Department. Last year he was selected for Indian Railway Service. Rishabh Chaudhary from Mandsaur and Kshitij Aditya Sharma from Bhopal secured 28th and 58th ranks respectively. Besides, Ashish Raghuvanshi (202nd rank), Divyanshi Agarwal (249th rank), Swarnim Chaudhary (258th rank) , Yugansh Bhatnagar Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL Eight members of a family were killed and six others were injured when their vehicle fell off the bridge onto a dry river bed under Nohata police station at about 10 am on Tuesday, said Damoh police. The incident occurred when the driver of a vehicle carrying 15 passengers lost control on wheels near Sunar River bridge near Simri village. Damoh SP Shrut Kirti Somvanshi said the passengers were residents of Jabal- Jeddah: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday arrived in Jeddah on a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, where he will hold talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to strengthen the friendship between the two countries. Upon his arrival at King Abdulaziz International Airport, Modi was received by Prince Saud bin Mishaal bin Abdulaziz, the Deputy Governor of Makkah Region, and Dr. Majid Al-Kassabi, the Minister of Commerce. DEO suspended for ignoring Jan Sunwai Charge handed over to joint collector Our Staff Reporter INDORE In a decisive move, divisional commissioner Deepak Singh has suspended district education officer (DEO) Sushma Vaishya with immediate effect. IPS officer Aayushi tops MP, Kshitij AIR 58 had secured 97th rank in UPSC-2023 and 188th rank in 2022. At present, she is a Karnataka-cadre IPS officer. Her parents worked in LIC. Her father died when she was 9. After schooling, she came to Delhi to prepare for IIT entrance. After graduating from IIT-Kanpur, she worked for McKenzie. She quit in 2022 and started preparing for UPSC CSE. Madhav Agarwal from Gwalior secured 16th rank. He is undergoing IPS training in Hyderabad. In the year 2019, Deceased include 5 sisters pur district. Among the deceased were five sisters from the same family along with a niece and a grandson. He added that six occupants of the vehicle died on the spot while two children, aged eight and ten, succumbed to injuries at Damoh District Hospital. The remaining injured passengers were treated in Damoh before being transported to Jabalpur Medical College through a specially arranged green corridor to ensure swift medical care. The family members told police that after attending a marriage function, they visited Jageshwar Dham. While returning from there, they met with accident. PM Modi in Saudi Arabia Vance urges India to drop non-tariff barriers offgrid 30 from MP clear Civil Services Exam Two people including a 74year-old woman tested COVID-19 positive in the city. Of the two, the elderly woman has died, health officials said on Tuesday. The officials said that the woman had been admitted to a city hospital due to some kidney-related problem and sepsis and she later tested positive for COVID-19.  The woman, a resident of Nanda Nagar area, was admitted to the hospital on April 19 and she died during treatment late Monday night. She was suffering from cough, cold and fever for a few days. According to chief medical and health officer Dr BS Saitya, the 74-year-old woman and a 39-year-old man from Dewas  have been tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday evening The other patient’s health condition is stated to be stable.  (307th rank), Ayush Jain (344th rank), Monu Sharma (359th rank) Manav Modi (388th rank), Kritika Naugreya ( 400th rank), Sachin Goel (420th rank,) Ramlakhan Gurjar ( 505th rank), Yogesh Rajput (540th rank ), Priyanka Rathore (696 rank), Nitesh Dhakad (719th rank), Devangi Meena (764th rank), Prateek Sisodiya (753rd rank), Javed Mev (815th rank) and Arun Malviya ( 893th rank) have also qualified in the exam. This action follows a proposal from collector Ashish Singh, citing Vaishya's repeated absences from Jan Sunwai (public hearing) sessions despite clear directives to attend. Collector Ashish Singh confirmed the suspension, stating, “I had sent a proposal to the divisional commissioner for the suspension of DEO Sushma Vaishya due to her repeated failure to comply with official orders.” The suspension is seen as a strong stance against her disregard for attending these crucial sessions, which are meant to address public grievances. 4Continued on | P8 3 bookies from MP held for IPL betting in Goa IANS PANAJI Three bookies from Madhya Pradesh involved in betting on a T-20 IPL cricket match were arrested in Goa's Calangute along with digital equipment and phones worth Rs 1.10 lakh, an official said on Tuesday. The three accused, who were accepting bets online on the match between Kolkata Night Riders and Gujarat Titans on Monday, were identified as Ankit Rathore (34) from Bhopal; Badal (32) from Sagar; and Ajay (32) from Sagar, the police said. Calangute Police registered a case against three individuals following a raid past midnight on Monday. The raid was conducted between 12:35 a.m. and 2:45 a.m. at Flat No. 203, Arsh's Nest, Saldana Kayle Garden, Baga Calangute Bardez Goa, the police said. During the operation, the police seized a laptop and seven mobile phone worth Rs 1.10 lakh, said an official. PM Narendra Modi’s aircraft being escorted by F-15s of Royal Saudi Air Force in Saudi airspace Can't allow HCs to exercise power under Article 142: SC PTI NEW DELHI The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea which sought the power of the top court under Article 142 of the Constitution to be granted to the high courts. Article 142 empowers the top court to pass "any decree or order necessary for doing complete justice in any case or matter pending before it" within the country. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan wondered how could it allow such a plea and said, "How can we grant such prayer? It requires an amendment to the Constitution. You go to Parliament. Prayer made in this petition is completely misconceived. Power conferred under Article 142 of the Constitution is only on this court and not the high courts. Therefore, we cannot allow high court to exercise power of this court under Article 142."