FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms FREE PRESS Vol. XLI No. 321 | INDORE | TUESDAY | APRIL 29, 2025 | Pages 14 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. 38281/83 www.freepressjournal.in Sports Preity Zinta reminisces first meeting with Virat P.12 ESTD-1983 iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: INDORE MONEY Attari border closure hits Afghan dry fruit supplies UJJAIN PUNE BHOPAL NASHIK Cinema International Dance Day P.14 ‘Direct assault on Kashmiriyat’ JAMMU The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly unanimously passed a resolution on Monday expressing shock and anguish over the terrorist attack in Pahalgam and resolved to fight resolutely to defeat the nefarious designs to disturb communal harmony and hinder progress. The resolution, moved by Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary during a special session of the Assembly, was passed by voice vote. At the beginning of the session, House members observed a two-minute silence to pay homage to the 26 people killed in the tragedy last week. The security in Jammu and Kashmir is not the responsibility of the elected government, but I will not use this opportunity (terror attack) to seek statehood. How can I push for statehood using the Pahalgam terror attack? Omar Abdullah Chief Minister, J&K "The Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir reaffirms its unwavering commitment to foster an environment of peace, development, and inclusive prosperity for all its citizens, and to resolutely defeat the nefarious designs of those who seek to disturb the communal harmony and progress of the nation and of Jammu and Kashmir," the resolution stated. Concluding a discussion on the resolution, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who also holds the tourism portfolio, condemned the Pahalgam terror attack and admitted that he failed in his responsibility of ensuring a safe return for tourists. "The security in Jammu and Kashmir is not the responsibility of the elected government, but I will not use this opportunity (terror attack) to seek statehood. How can I push for statehood using the Pahalgam terror attack?" ity (CCS) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleared the procurement on April 9. The Rafale-M is a multirole fighter jet armed with longrange cruise missiles, AM39 Exocet anti-ship missiles, and the Meteor beyond-visualrange air-to-air missile. It has proved its capabilities in French Navy operations and is deployed from the country's prestigious aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. The government has blocked 16 Pakistani YouTube channels for allegedly disseminating "false, provocative and communally sensitive content" about India and has also strongly objected to the BBC's reportage on the Pahalgam attack, officials said on Monday. The government's move follows recommendations from the Ministry of Home Affairs in the wake of the April 22 attack. Also, the Ministry of External Affairs will be monitoring reporting of the BBC, which termed terrorists as militants, officials said. The YouTube channels blocked are Dawn News, Irshad Bhatti, SAMAA TV, ARY NEWS, BOL NEWS, Raftar, The Pakistan Reference, Geo News, Samaa Sports, GNN, Uzair Cricket, Umar Cheema Exclusive, Asma Shirazi, Muneeb Farooq, SUNO News and Razi Naama. The channels were banned for disseminating provocative and communally sensitive content, false and misleading narratives and misinformation against India, its Army and security agencies, officials said. In a missive to BBC India head Jackie Martin, the MEA conveyed the country's strong sentiments over the reporting on the Pahalgam terror attack. 4Continued on | P8 4Continued on | P8 Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar NEW DELHI: fp Briefs BEIJING Indians can visit Tibet soon Advanced preparations are on between China and India to resume the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra for the Indian pilgrims this summer, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday. The Yatra will be resumed after a gap of nearly five years after its initial suspension in 2020. NEW DELHI Rana custody extended Special NIA judge Chander Jit Singh extended the custody of the 26/11 Mumbai attack accused Tahawwur Rana by 12 days on NIA's request after his 18day remand got over. Rana was produced in court with face covered amid tight security. Agencies NEW DELHI Kashmir since the reading down of Article 370 and 35(A) in August 2019. The meeting between the PM and the Defence Minister lasted nearly 40 minutes. There has been a great deal of speculation around how India would respond to this latest provocation. 4Continued on | P8 Dassault Aviation for deployment on board aircraft carrier INS Vikrant and INS Vikramaditya. The sealing of the mega deal came three weeks after the Cabinet Committee on Secur- Bill to develop Bhopal, Indore as metros in monsoon session Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL Chief Minister Mohan Yadav chaired a crucial meeting on Monday evening to expedite the development of Indore and Bhopal as metropolitan areas. It was decided that a draft proposal would be prepared within a week and presented to the Chief Secretary. The government plans to introduce a bill on Madhya Pradesh Metropolitan Planning in the upcoming monsoon session of the Assembly. The plan envisions Bhopal’s metropolitan region including Bhopal, Sehore, Biaora (Rajgarh), Mandideep (Raisen) and Vidisha. Indore’s metropolitan area would cover Indore, Ujjain, Dewas and Dhar. Sources said discussions were held on the extent of the areas to be included and panchayats that would fall under the new metropolitan jurisdictions. The Chief Minister stressed that all groundwork related to the metropolitan expansion must be completed quickly, with a detailed landuse plan. He also emphasised promoting industrial growth SC seeks Centre’s reply on plea against OTT content PTI NEW DELHI The Supreme Court on Monday called it an "important concern" and sought responses from the Centre and others on a plea seeking a ban on streaming of sexually explicit content on OTT and social media platforms. A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih said it was either for the legislature or the executive to come out with measures to deal with the issue. "This is not within our domain. As it is, there is lot of allegation that we are en- croaching upon the legislative and executive powers," Justice Gavai said in an apparent reference to recent attacks on the judiciary. Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, said the government would not take it as an adversarial litigation. "Kindly monitor it here. We will come out with something which balances the freedom of speech while (Article) 19 (2) is taken care of," he said. Mehta said some of the contents were not only obscene but also "perverse". 4Continued on | P8 and ensuring strong transport connectivity, particularly focusing on strengthening railway links alongside roads. It was noted that Dewas and Sehore regions, lying adjacent, could create new opportunities for integrated development across the two metropolitan areas. Brand identity Discussions were held on whether the new metropolitan regions should adopt a name similar to Delhi National Capital Region (NCR) model 4Continued on | P8 Putin declares 72-hour May 8 ceasefire FP news Service MUMBAI Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday announced a unilateral 72-hour ceasefire in Ukraine to mark Victory Day celebrations, starting from May 8, but Kyiv swiftly dismissed it as insufficient. Ukraine reiterated its demand for an immediate and lasting 30-day truce, as previously proposed by US President Donald Trump. The Kremlin described the move as a humanitarian gesture tied to commemorations of Russia's WWII victory. 4Continued on | P8 offgrid India’s defence budget 9 times of Pak Agencies India spent almost nine times more money than Pakistan did on defence in 2024, Swedish think tank the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said on Monday. India's defence spending, which ranks fifth highest in the world, saw a 1.6 per cent increase, totaling $86.1 billion during the year, while Notably, China's military spending rose by 7.0 per cent to an estimated USD 314 billion Pakistan's military expenditure stood at $10.2 billion, SIPRI's data showed. This analysis comes in the context of escalating tensions between the two heavily-armed nations following the Pahalgam attack. The report showed that the five largest military spenders globally — the United States, China, Russia, ED raids 11 places in Bhopal, Indore and Mandsaur FP News Service 4Continued on | P8 India and France on Monday inked an intergovernmental agreement to procure 26 naval variants of Rafale fighter jets at a cost of around Rs 64,000 crore.. The deal has been signed for 22 single-seater jets and four twin-seater trainers, with deliveries expected to be completed by 2031. The pact was sealed at a virtual event. India is procuring the jets from French defence major Govt blocks 16 Pak YouTube channels for anti-India content NEW DELHI Rajnath briefs PM Pact signed for 26 Rafale naval jets from France On a day when tension along the India-Pakistan border was running high following the April 22 Pahalgam attack, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence about the preparedness of the security forces. Singh’s meeting with the PM assumed significance as only yesterday he had met the Chief of General Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan to discuss how the military planned to respond to one of the worst terror attacks in Jammu and E-paper Edit Caution against bulldozer justice P.6 STRONG RESOLUTION | J&K Assembly denounces Pahalgam terror attack, vows to defeat designs of those who seek to disturb communal harmony PTI MUMBAI Germany, and India — accounted for 60 per cent of total worldwide military expenditures, amassing a combined total of USD 1,635 billion. Notably, China's military spending rose by 7.0 per cent to an estimated USD 314 billion, marking three decades of uninterrupted growth, as stated in the study titled "Trends in World Military Expenditure 2024." Agencies/ Our Staff Reporter INDORE/ BHOPAL The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday conducted searches at multiple locations in the state as part of a money laundering probe linked to alleged about Rs 50 crore worth irregularities in liquor trade from 2015 to 2018. At least 11 premises belonging to different liquor contractors in Bhopal, Indore and Mandsaur are being raided under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Officials informed that the money laundering case stemmed from a state police FIR filed against liquor contractors for allegedly causing loss of government revenue to the tune of Rs 49,42,45,615 through forgery and manipulation of treasury challans and for unlawfully obtaining a ‘No Objection Certificate’ (NOC) for the acquisition of liquor during the FY 2015-16 to FY 2017-18. Pic: Anand Shivre LIQUOR SCAM The ED suspects that the accused liquor contractors used to prepare challans of small amounts and deposit them in the bank. In the prescribed format of the challan, there were ‘Rs. in figures’ and ‘Rs in words’ columns. The value was filled in with figures but blank space was left after the ‘Rs in words’ column, officials said. After remitting the amount, the depositor would later write the increased amount in the form of lakh or thousand in the above-mentioned blank space and copies of the socalled challans of such increased amounts would be submitted at the respective country liquor warehouse or at the district excise office in case of foreign liquor. In Indore, the action is being conducted against the liquor contractors’ premises in Basant Vihar and Tulsi Nagar areas. In this case, six officers of the state excise department were suspended.