Wednesday, June 4, 2025 | 30 Pages | `5 & for State (+4 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. 207 | 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) NATION Owaisi's AIMIM aims to contest Bihar assembly elections as an ally of INDIA bloc GAMES TRADE TALKS | Delhi addresses concerns raised by Trump ‘specifically’ and both sides have the ‘right person’ across the table India, US hit sweet spot, deal soon DHARAVI PROJECT Cabinet gives nod to Kurla land transfer US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, right, at the USISPF Leadership Summit, in Washington DC. Kalpesh Mhamunkar PTI MUMBAI WASHINGTON The State Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, has approved changes to the terms and conditions of the land transfer agreement involving 8.5 hectares of land owned by the Department of Dairy Development in Kurla. The land will be allocated to the Dharavi Redevelopment Project to facilitate the rehabilitation of eligible and ineligible residents. Originally transferred under a government resolution dated June 14, 2024, the plot — previously home to the Mother Dairy unit — will now see revised contract clauses to align with the housing and urban development policy. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick has said one should expect a trade deal between India and the US in the "not-too-distant future" as the two countries have found a place that works for them. "So the idea is when they put the right person and India put the right person on the other side of the table, and we've managed, I think, to be in a very, very good place," Lutnick said in his keynote address at the eighth edition of the USIndia Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) Leadership Summit here Monday. "And you should expect a deal between the United 4Contd on | nation States and India in the nottoo-distant future because I think we found a place that really works for both countries," "I would say very optimistic," Lutnick said about the trade deal between India and the US. Noting the high tariffs that India has, Lutnick said that President Donald Trump is willing to call that out straight away. "Now the President is willing to call out things straight away, meaning India is very protectionist with tariffs. They have a 100 per cent tariff on this, and a 100% tariff on that. And if you ask them why, the answer is, 'I don't know why. It just is'." 4Contd on | nation OECD bets on India Impeachment amid global slump JUSTICE VARMA Palazhi Ashok Kumar next session MUMBAI PTI The govt will bring an impeachment motion against Justice Yashwant Varma in Parliament's next session and will seek to build an allparty consensus for action against the Allahabad High Court judge embroiled in a case of suspected corruption. Government sources said on Tuesday that Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju will be speaking to leaders of different parties to get them on board for the impeachment motion against the judge following his indictment by a three-member committee constituted by the then CJI Sanjiv Khanna. Global economic prospects are weakening, with substantial barriers to trade, tighter financial conditions, diminishing confidence and heightened policy uncertainty projected to have adverse impacts on growth, OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)  warned on Tuesday. Although the OECD projects global growth slowing from 3.3% in 2024 to 2.9% in both 2025 and 2026, India’s GDP is projected to grow by 6.3% in FY26 and 6.4% in FY27. 4Contd on | nation 4Contd on | nation NEW DELHI HIGHLIGHTS ■ GDP to grow 6.3% in FY26, 6.4% in FY27 ■ Monetary policy to ease amid rising public investment ■ Demand will drive growth amid emerging external headwinds ■ Inflation projected to average 4% in FY26-27 ■ India expected to cut budget deficit from 4.8% to 4.4% in FY 25-26 ■ Calls for fiscal prudence and reforms to sustain growth KAMAL HAASAN REFUSES TO APOLOGISE IN COURT FPJ News Service BENGALURU/CHENNAI The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday rebuked actor Kamal Haasan for his refusal to apologise over a remark made during the audio release of his film Thug Life, where he reportedly stated that the Kannada language was born from Tamil. The court expressed concern that the statement had sparked unrest and disharmony among people in Karnataka, and that a simple sentence of apology could have defused the controversy. “You may be Kamal Haasan or anybody, you cannot hurt the sentiments of the masses,” the bench remarked during the hearing. The court emphasised that Haasan, as a public figure, must be mindful of the magnitude of his words in a country already divided along linguistic lines. 4Contd on | nation And you should expect a deal between the United States and India in the not-too-distant future because I think we found a place that really works for both countries. For instance, you generally buy your military gear from Russia. That's a way to kind of get.under the skin of America, if you go to buy your armaments from Russia. So I think India is starting to move towards buying the military equipment from the United States, which then goes a long way. And so that's the tradeoff. If I say, 'Look, I'll treat you incredibly kindly on the things that are really important to you, and you bring down your tariffs and give us market access and let's find the proper place in the middle'. Ladakh gets job, language reservations FPJ News Service NEW DELHI The Centre on Tuesday announced sweeping domicile, job reservation, and language policies for Ladakh, aimed at addressing longstanding demands for constitutional safeguards. Eighty-five percent of government jobs in the Union Territory will now be reserved for locals. A third of all seats in the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (LAHDCs) — Leh and Kargil — will be reserved for women, with the allocation rotating across constituencies. To qualify as a domicile of Ladakh, a person must have resided in the UT for 15 years, or studied for seven years and passed Class 10 or 12 from an institution in Ladakh. 4Contd on | nation Centre grants 85% job reservation to Ladakh locals, reserves 33% council seats for women. Five official languages and stricter domicile rules announced to protect culture and identity. alms & the men Beggars’ homes go a-begging Ravikiran Deshmukh 14 of Maharashtra’s beggars’ homes lie nearly empty, housing just 350 out of a capacity of 4,000 MUMBAI When citizens think twice before handing out money to beggars, the government seems to do the same. After 61 years, Maharashtra’s state government has hiked the emoluments paid to beggars housed in state-run beggars’ homes — from a paltry `5 per month to `40 per day. This long-overdue raise may partly explain why these 14 beggars’ homes now house just 350 inmates against a total capacity of over 4,000. According to the rules under the Mumbai Prohibition of Begging Act, 1959, any physically fit beggar is required to perform an eighthour workday in these homes Cinema Neil Nitin Mukesh recalls Salman’s big advice for him Suryakumar, Shivam Dube in action on the opening day of T20 Mumbai League as part of their rehabilitation. For decades, the compensation for this labour remained unchanged — `5 per month — until the state cabinet finally decided to revise it to `40 per day in late April. The new rate is expected to come into effect soon after an official notification is issued. The original `5 rate was fixed in 1964, when the rules were formally notified. “The idea was to train beggars in various skills so they could earn a livelihood post-release,” said a senior government official. “But with such an insulting wage, it’s no surprise that only 350 beggars are housed in these homes despite a total capacity of 4,220.” 4Contd on | nation Edit India’s evolving federalism and the governer’s role in it ECI quickens voter reporting Oppn writes to PM, seeks Op Sindoor Parl session FPJ News Service MUMBAI In a bid to boost transparency and speed in the electoral process, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has introduced a tech-driven system to provide near realtime updates on voter turnout trends. This new mechanism is designed to replace the older, manual reporting process, which often resulted in delays of four to five hours. Under the new system, presiding officers (PROs) at each polling station will enter approximate voter turnout figures every two hours directly into the ECINET app. 4Contd on | nation Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar NEW DELHI many aircraft we destroyed and how many radars we destroyed. We'll make a rough assessment and come out with that shortly," CDS Chauhan said while delivering a special lecture on 'Future Wars and Warfare' at Savitribai Phule University. Sixteen parties of the INDIA bloc have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking a special session of Parliament to discuss the recently concluded Operation Sindoor and India’s strategic response to Pakistan’s alleged terror links. The demand, initiated by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, was signed by senior leaders including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Trinamool Congress’s Abhishek Banerjee, DMK’s T.R. Balu, and Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Aaditya Thackeray. Meeting at the Constitution Club, the opposition leaders put aside recent electoral rifts to rally around the issue. However, the Aam Aadmi Party, still smarting from post-poll disunity, abstained from the meeting and did not sign the letter. Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, speaking to reporters after the meeting, said, “This is not a routine letter. We are demanding accountability. Parliament must be briefed so the country’s prestige remains intact.” He also took a swipe at the government: “If a ceasefire can be announced at President Donald Trump’s behest, surely 4Contd on | nation 4Contd on | nation RCB are IPL Kings The wait is over, King Kohli has his crown! After 18 years of unwavering loyalty, Virat Kohli and Royal Challengers Bengaluru are finally IPL champions. Dominant RCB outplayed Punjab Kings by 6 runs in the final in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. SEE GAMES OP SINDOOR EFFECT ON PAKISTAN Government to reveal rough assessment of damage: CDS Agencies PUNE Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan said that the armed forces would evaluate the data concerning the strikes' results based on technical parameters and come out with a rough assessment shortly of the damage inflicted on Pakistan "Since there's always this inquisitivity as to the result of strikes, which was visible more in the psychological domain, to all of us and everyone globally. We will take out this particular data based on technical parameters and share it with you. We will tell you how