Wednesday, May 7, 2025 | 30 Pages | `5 & for State (+6 pages) `6 Reg.No MCS/048/2021-23; RNI No. 1541/1957 M.p.c.s office Mumbai. PIN 400001 THE FREE PRESS JOURNAL Vol. 68 No. 183 | Leader in E-paper circulation l www.freepressjournal.in ● EDITIONS: ● MUMBAI ● INDORE ● PUNE ● BHOPAL ● NASHIK ● KONKAN ● E-paper ● Member: Audit Bureau of Circulation (July to December 2024) SC DIKTAT | EC given four weeks to issue notification, four months to complete election process Maha told to hold local body polls Online Report NEW DELHI The Supreme Court on Tuesday passed an interim order to hold the local body elections in the State of Maharashtra, stalled since 2022 from litigation relating to the implementation of the reservation for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The Court directed that the elections to the local bodies be held as per the OBC reservation which existed prior to the submission of the Banthia Commission report in July 2022, reports Live Law.  A bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and NK Singh directed the State Election Commission to notify the local body elections within four weeks. Efforts should be made to complete the election process within a period of four months, the bench directed. The Election Commission has been given liberty to seek extension of time if needed. The bench also clarified that the elections will be subject to the outcome of the petitions challenging the Banthia Com- mission and that the order will not prejudice the contentions raised by the parties. The bench said in its order that the Constitutional mandate for democracy at the grassroots level must be "respected and ensured." The elections were deferred after the Supreme Court in August 2022 ordered a status quo on the OBC reservations in the local bodies. In the order, the bench observed : "Since the elected bodies have a prescribed term, no irreversible loss will be caused to those who want the appropriate amendment to the existing laws for inclusion or exclusion of certain OBC communities. All those issues can be considered in due course of time, but meanwhile we see no reason as to why the elections of local bodies be not held in the State of Maharashtra." During the hearing, the bench asked Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, for the State of Maharashtra, why the elections cannot be held. SG also agreed that elections cannot be held up. "Is there any logic? Today bureaucrats are occupying all the Municipal Corporations and Panchayats and taking major policy decisions.” The bench also clarified that the elections will be subject to the outcome of the petitions challenging the Banthia Commission and that the order will not prejudice the contentions raised by the parties. 4Contd on | Nation 4See also | Mumbai ‘INDIA’S WATER, INDIA’S RIGHT’ De-escalation MOCK DRILL MEASURES message after REVIEWED IN KEY MEET UNSC session Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar NEW DELHI UN Security Council member nations are said to have posed tough questions to Pakistan while discussing the Pahalgam terror attack. It refused to issue a statement following the meeting which was held in a consultative room rather than the main hall, effectively dismissing Pakistan's attempt to get a favourable position from the Security Council. The meeting lasted an hour and a half. A Russian diplomat said, "We hope for de-escalation." There was broad condemnation of the terrorist attack and the need to fix accountability for it, sources told PTI after an informal session of the top UN body. "The UN Security Council members raised tough questions for Pakistan at its informal session. It was advised to sort out the issues bilaterally with India," a source said. At the deliberations, the UN Security Council discussed rising tensions between India and Pakistan and Khaleda Zia returns to Bangladesh Agencies DHAKA Bangladesh’s ailing former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia returned to the country from London on Tuesday after four months of medical treatment, adding to pressure for its interim leaders to hold elections. Zia, Sheikh Hasina’s archrival, and her Bangladesh Nationalist Party have been pushing Yunus’ government to hold a national election in December to return the country to democratic rule, reported AP. Zia and Hasina have alternately ruled the country as prime ministers since 1991 when the country returned to a democracy after the ouster of authoritarian President H.M. Ershad. Zia served the country as prime minister three times, twice for full five-year terms and once for just a few months. Under Hasina, many opposition political parties including Zia’s BNP had either boycotted polls or accused the authorities of rigging them. 4Contd on | Nation PAK FEELS CHENAB SQUEEZE Pakistan has recorded a significant decrease in the waters of the Chenab river, after India held the Indus treaty in abeyance and the closure of the gates of Baglihar and Salal dams. According to Pakistan news site Dawn News, the water flows in the Chenab, recorded at the Marala headworks, decreased from up to 35,000 cusecs on Sunday to about 3,100 cusecs on Monday morning. 4Contd on | Nation several envoys called for deescalation. Although the 15-member UNSC did not issue a statement, Pakistan claimed that its own objectives were "largely served". 4Contd on | Nation 4Contd on | Nation 4See | Mumbai, Nation P SALMAN ANSARI Agencies NEW YORK Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan on Tuesday held a meeting with the chief secretaries of the states on the Civil Defence Mock Drill that is scheduled to be conducted on Wednesday in connection with preparations to meet any emergency situation that may arise due to rising tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam attack. The meeting was also attended by the Director General of Civil Defence, DG of National Disaster Response Force and senior officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs. It comes a day after the Ministry had decided to organize Civil Defence Exercise and Rehearsal across the 244 categorized Civil Defence Districts of the country on May 7. Most of these districts are located in states bordering Pakistan. The Home Ministry had written to the chief secretaries of all states and the administrators of all the union territories about how it planned to conduct the exercise, which included mock drills, across 244 districts to assess and enhance the readiness of civil defence mechanisms. Mock drill preparation begins by Railway protection forces at CST station in Mumbai IAF border drill India on Tuesday announced a major air exercise along the southern section of the India-Pakistan border, with a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) issued ahead of the drills scheduled for May 7 and 8. The Indian Air Force (IAF) will carry out intensive aerial operations in Rajasthan as part of its regular operational preparedness efforts. The exercise will begin at 3.30 p.m. on May 7 and continue until 9.30 p.m. on May 8, during which airspace in the region will be restricted to ensure safety and operational integrity, IANS reported. NSA meets PM National Security Adviser Ajit Doval on Tuesday again met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence to brief him about the developments in connection with the stand-off with Pakistan over the Pahalgam terror attack, the second such meeting in the last 48 hours. rime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday spoke on the suspension of the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan saying that the water belonging to India will flow in India and will be brought to use in the country. He asserted that water which once flowed to “another country" will now be reserved for the benefit of Indians. Without naming Pakistan, the Prime Minister’s remarks appeared to reference watersharing arrangements under the Indus Waters Treaty. "Earlier the water meant for Indians was going outside. Ab Bharat ka paani, Bharat ke haq me bahega, Bharat ke Haq me rukega aur Bharat ke hi kaam ayega... (But now, the water from India will flow in India's interest. The water will be stopped in India's interest and will be used in India)," PM Modi said at ABP Network's India At 2047 Summit at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. Omar, Mehbooba in crackdown caution ANI SRINAGAR Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said it was necessary to make sure that innocent locals are not affected due to the new security measures. He said that while the efforts are ongoing to catch the terrorists involved in the Pahalgam attack, it is also important to ensure that this doesn't "affect the innocent people of Jammu & Kashmir." "We all under- stand the situation here, we cannot ignore it or refuse its existence, but we must look into it so that we don't affect the innocent people of Jammu & Kashmir in our efforts to catch those who were involved in the Pahalgam attack. We have conveyed this concern of ours where we can," the JK CM told reporters. "It should not look like that to catch a few perpetrators, we are arresting multiple locals. We need to be careful and take steps logically," Abdullah added. People's Democratic Party supremo Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday wrote to Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and said security agencies' response to the Pahalgam attack appeared to be 4Contd on | Nation KHARGE CHARGE C ongress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had cancelled his Kashmir visit after "receiving an intelligence report three days before" the Pahalgam terror attack last month. He also claimed that the Centre accepted "intelligence failure" in an all-party meeting and said it should be held accountable for "not reinforcing" security arrangements in Kashmir to protect people. "I got information that three days before the attack, an intelligence report was sent to Modi Ji, and that is why Modi Ji cancelled his visit to Kashmir. 4Contd on | Nation India, UK seal trade deal, Modi calls it ‘historic milestone’ PTI NEW DELHI BIZ BOOST India and the UK on Tuesday sealed an ambitious free trade agreement along with a double contribution convention. This landmark deal, PM Narendra Modi said, would catalyse trade, investment, growth and job creation in both the economies. "In a historic milestone, India and the UK have successfully concluded an ambitious and mutually beneficial Free Trade Agreement, along with a Double Contribution Convention," Modi said in a social media post after a phone conversation with his British counterpart Keir Starmer. The deal was finalised by commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal during his talks with Britain's business and trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds in London on Friday. It's the biggest trade deal the UK has done since leaving the EU. It will now go through the process of legal text formalisation to be approved by the British parliament before it comes into force. The conclusion of a "balanced, equitable and ambitious" FTA, covering trade in goods and services, is expected to significantly enhance bilateral trade, generate new avenues for employment, raise living standards, and improve the overall The deal aims to boost bilateral trade by 25.5 bn pounds ($34 billion) by 2040 It offers liberal market access and eased trade restrictions Whisky tariffs will be halved from 150% to 75% It lowers tariffs on advanced manufacturing parts and food products It will allow more UK firms to compete for contracts in India, and enable Indians to travel to UK for work well-being of citizens in both countries, an Indian readout said. "It will also unlock new potential for the two nations to jointly develop products and services for global markets." The FTA is expected to increase bilateral trade, which stands at 41 billion pounds a year, by an additional 25.5 billion pounds. 4Contd on | Nation 4See also | Money Transparency push: SC makes public assets of its judges Agencies NEW DELHI In a significant step towards enhancing transparency following the recent allegations of corruption in the judiciary, the Supreme Court has uploaded details of assets of 21 of its 33 judges on its website. The judges include CJI Sanjiv Khanna and three judges who are next in line to be the chief justice in the near future. Statements of 12 judges are yet to be made public. Their statements "will be uploaded as and when received," a release issued by the top court said. The SC had decided on April 1 to disclose the properties of its judges following the controversy surrounding the alleged recovery of cash from the official premises of Justice Yashwant Varma, who was then serving as a judge of the Delhi High Court. As per the declarations, CJI Sanjiv Khanna, who will superannuate on May 13, has Rs 55.75 lakh in a fixed deposit, a three-bedroom DDA flat in south Delhi, and a fourbedroom apartment measuring 2,446 square feet in the Delhi's Commonwealth Games Village. He also has over Rs 1.06 crore in PPF, GPF of Rs 1,77,89,000, 250 grams of gold and 2 kg of silver (which is mostly inherited and gifted) and a 2015 Maruti Swift car. CJI-designate Justice BR Gavai, who will take charge on May 14, has more than Rs 19.63 lakh in bank, a house in Maharashtra's Amravati inherited from his deceased father, apartments in Mumbai's Bandra and Delhi's Defence Colony, and agricultural lands in Amravati and Nagpur. His movable assets include gold ornaments and jewellery worth Rs 5.25 lakh, his spouse has jewellery worth Rs 29.70 lakh and a cash deposit of Rs 61,320. 4Contd on | Nation offgrid India climbs to 130/193 in Human Development Index PTI NEW DELHI India rose on the Human Development Index (HDI), ranking 130 out of 193 countries in the 2025 Human Development Report (HDR) released on Tuesday by the UN Development Programme. It was ranked 133 in the year 2022. The report said India's HDI value increased from 0.676 in 2022 to 0.685 in 2023. India remained in the medium human devel- opment category, moving closer to the threshold for high human development (HDI = 0.700), the report said. The report also pointed out that inequality reduces India's HDI by 30.7 per cent, one of the highest losses in the region. While health and education inequality have improved, income and gender disparities remain significant. Female labour force participation and political representation lag, though recent steps such as the con- stitutional amendment reserving one-third of legislative seats for women offer promise for transformative change, the report said. In India, the report said life expectancy increased slightly from 71.7 years to 72.0 years, marking the highest level recorded for the country. While expected years of schooling remained nearly unchanged, moving from 12.96 to 12.95 years, mean years of schooling saw a notable increase from 6.57 to 6.88 years. The report lauded India's progress in school education, especially from 1990, and credited initiatives like the Right to Education Act, Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, and the National Education Policy 2020. However, quality and learning outcomes remain areas for continued focus, it said. Additionally, India's Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, measured in 2021 purchasing power parity (PPP), rose from USD 8,475.68 to USD 9,046.76, reflecting ongoing economic growth. The 2025 HDR, "A Matter of Choice: People and Possibilities in the Age of AI," highlighted the critical role of artificial intelligence in shaping the next chapter of human development - par- ticularly in fast-growing economies like India. "We congratulate India on its notable progress in the Human Development Index, rising from rank 133 in 2022 to 130 in 2023. This advancement reflects sustained improvements in key dimensions of human development, particularly in mean years of schooling and national income per capita," said Angela Lusigi, Resident Representative, UNDP India. 4Contd on | Nation