FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms FREE PRESS Vol. XLII No. 38 | INDORE | WEDNESDAY | JULY 16, 2025 | Pages 14 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. 38281/83 www.freepressjournal.in Shubhanshu Shukla’s father Shambhu Dayal & mother Asha get emotional ESTD-1983 iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: INDORE UJJAIN WORLD PUNE BHOPAL NASHIK n Asha Shukla, Cinema No sequels for RGV P.14 SHUBHANSHU’S STELLAR RETURN Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla greets as he reaches Earth with other crew members of the mission aboard the Dragon spacecraft Shubhanshu Shukla’s mother PTI join the nation in welcoming Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla as he returns to Earth from his historic mission to Space is role in piloting of Axiom Mission 4 to the International Space Station has created a new milestone for India's space exploration as well as for international collaboration in science and technology n PM Narendra Modi NEW DELHI n Mohan Yadav, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister I Father-in-law of CM passes away UJJAIN Chief Minister Mohan Yadav’s father-in-law, Brahmanand Yadav, passed away on Tuesday afternoon in Sultanpur, UP, after a prolonged illness. He was around 97. A dedicated worker of the RSS-affiliated Vidya Bharti, he lived in Rewa and is survived by three sons and daughter Seema, wife of the CM. His body is being brought to Rewa, where the last rites will be performed on Wednesday. The CM, currently in Spain, has been informed of the demise. fp Briefs MUMBAI Actor Dheeraj Kumar dies Veteran actor-producer Dheeraj Kumar, known for starring in Manoj Kumar's "Roti Kapda Aur Makaan" and producing hit television shows "Om Namah Shivay" and "Adalat", has passed away at a hospital here, a family friend said on Tuesday. He was 79. Kumar was suffering from acute pneumonia and was admitted to an intensive care unit of the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital. H With waves and smiles, Shubhanshu Shukla returned to Earth on Tuesday after an 18-day stay on the International Space Station, a feat that holds the promise to herald India's own human spaceflight ambitions. The Lucknow-born Shukla and three other astronauts of n Droupadi Murmu, President hukla's achievement will be a source of inspiration for countless youth not only in India but also in the world S SEIAA ISSUE Kothari, Uma set to go n Sibi may be shifted from CMO, n Order will be issued after CM’s return from foreign tour Nitendra Sharma BHOPAL Principal Secretary of Environment Navneet Kothari, member secretary of the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), and executive director of Environment Planning Coordination Organisation (EPCO) Uma Maheshwari are set to go after the incident in which the SEIAA chairman’s office was locked. Both Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and Chief Secretary Anurag Jain are angry after the incident. After Yadav returns from a foreign trip, an order will be issued, transferring Kothari and Maheshwari. Jain is also out of the state capital. The bitter wrangling in SEIAA has put the state government to shame. The issue has snowballed into a major problem after Kothari approved the deemed permission. When Maheshwari was on leave, Shriman Shukla signed the permission. After Maheshwari returned from leave, a cold war between Maheshwari and Chouhan was on. The government has decided to remove both the of- ficers from the department. Along with this, there will be changes in the Chief Minister’s Secretariat. Sibi Chakravarty is also set to go from the CM’s secretariat. Chakravarty may be posted to some other place. After Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Neeraj Mandloi was shifted to the CM’s Secretariat, the government appointed Alok Singh as secretary and Vikas Mishra as deputy secretary. Another officer may be shifted to CM’s Secretariat in place of Chakravarty. 4Continued on | P8 the private Axiom-4 mission splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the San Diego coast in California in the pre-dawn darkness at 2:31 am Pacific Time (3:01 pm IST) amid cheers from the citizens of India, literally on the other side of the world. Shukla, a Group Captain in the Indian Air Force, became the second Indian to travel to space after Rakesh Sharma's 1984 sojourn as part of a Soviet Russian mission. He also scripted history by becoming the first Indian to travel to the International Space Station with the longest stint -- 20 days -- in orbit around the Earth. For India, Hungary and Poland, this mission has realised the return to human spaceflight, with astronauts from these countries travelling to space for the first time in more than 40 years. 4Continued on | P8 Delhi, Mumbai, B’luru, Chennai world's top 130 cities for students PTI NEW DELHI Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai are among the world's top 130 cities for students with the national capital being ranked as the most affordable city globally for students, according to QS rankings announced on Tuesday. All four Indian metropolises featured in the 2026 QS Best Student Cities ranking Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai - have improved their positions, reflecting growing momentum in 4Continued on | P8 Cartoons on PM, RSS: SC grants protection to cartoonist PTI NEW DELHI The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted protection from coercive action to a cartoonist accused of sharing online objectionable content on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and RSS workers. The top court also expressed anguish over increasing objectionable posts on social media and underscored the need to pass a judicial order to curb the malaise. "Log kisi ko bhi, kuch bhi keh dete hain (People say anything to anyone)'," a bench comprising justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Aravind Kumar said, "we will have to do something about it." Royal Rendezvous Britain’s King Charles III meets members of the India men's Test team Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant and captain Shubman Gill during an audience in the gardens of Clarence House, London on Tuesday AP/PTI Pregnant woman gang-raped, thrown into 300-foot gorge, 2 held FP News Service KATNI A pregnant woman was allegedly gang-raped and thrown into a 300-foot-deep gorge in Katni, police said on Tuesday. Luckily, she survived. Police have arrested both accused Pawan Burman and his cousin, Nigam Raikwar, for the crime. According to reports, the victim was in a relationship with Pawan Burman. He ex- ploited her sexually by promising marriage, and she became pregnant. When she informed Pawan, he began pressuring her to have an abortion. The execution of the Indian nurse Nimisha Priya which was scheduled for July 16 in Yemen has been postponed. Priya, who had been convicted for the death of her Yemeni business partner Talal Abdo Mehdi in 2017, had been handed the death sentence by a local court in Yemen. However, government officials have disclosed that sustained efforts from various quarters, including the intervention of Kerala-based spiritual leader Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad, who was said to be in touch with Yemeni religious authorities, had led to the postponement. “The Government of India, which has been extending all possible assistance since the beginning of the case, made concerted efforts in recent days to seek more time for Ms. Nimisha Priya’s family to reach a mutually agreeable resolution with the victim’s family,” a source said. Nimisha was sentenced to death in 2020, and her final appeal was rejected in 2023.     The breakthrough is welcome as the government had acknowledged earlier that there was very little it could do to save the nurse from Kerala. Appearing before a bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta Attorney General R Venkataramani stated that “there’s not much the Government of India can do, looking at the sensitivity of Yemen. 4Continued on | P8 mapped legacy of bridging traditional Indian knowledge with contemporary science. "This integration of traditional knowledge with modern scientific education is intended to develop curiosity, environmental awareness, ethical values and critical thinking," the foreword of the book notes. "Long before modern vaccines, India had a traditional method called variolation to protect against smallpox," reads a section titled 'Our Scientific Heritage' in the chapter 'Health: The Ultimate Treasure'. Variolation is a practice that predates Edward Jenner's work on vaccination. The chapter also features an 'Ever Heard Of?' section Agencies TIANJIN (CHINA) Days after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh declined to endorse a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) declaration as it failed to flag terrorism, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar told the grouping that it needs to remain true to its founding objective of combating terrorism and extremism and take an “uncompromising” position on combating the challenges. He pointedly told his counterparts from Pakistan, China and other SCO nations that the Pahalgam attack was “deliberately conducted” to undermine the tourism economy of J&K and sow a religious divide, asserting that India will remain firm in its response to confront terrorism. He said India would continue to approach new ideas and proposals positively asserting that such cooperation must be based on “mutual respect”, “sovereign equality” and in accordance with “territorial integrity and sover- Delhi focus: Afghanistan xternal Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday called on member nations of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to provide greater development assistance to Afghanistan. Batting for Afghanistan, he posted on X, Highlighted that: Afghanistan has been long on the SCO agenda. The compulsions of regional stability are buttressed by our longstanding concern for the well-being of the Afghan people. The international community, particularly SCO members, must therefore step up with development assistance. India, for its part, will certainly do so.” E eignty” of member states. 4Continued on | P8 LG defamation case: HC reserves order on Medha's plea against conviction Helipads will be built with cement and concrete in dist headquarters NEW DELHI More than one helipad will be constructed in the big cities in the state. Bhopal, Indore, Ujjain, Gwalior, and Jabalpur have been identified for it. The Chief Minister and other VIPs are required to go to the airport or any other state hangar. But VIP movements on the road cause traffic gridlocks, and it takes a lot of time to reach the destination. This is the reason that the aviation department has decided to set up more helipads in the cities where VIP move- 2 teachers, their friend held for raping college student PTI ment is frequent. Additional Chief Secretary Sanjay Shukla held a meeting with officials of the department and issued instructions that a committee consisting of the collector, SP, and executive engineer of PWD should be set up in every district. The committee members should identify places where helipads can be set up. Other than government lands, efforts will also be made to set up helicopters in private places. The work may start from the super corridor in Indore. Making a helicopter land on buildings on the pattern of metro cities may begin from Indore. Along with this, helipads will be set up on large areas. The Delhi High Court on Tuesday reserved its order on activist Medha Patkar's plea against her punishment in a defamation case filed by Delhi LG V K Saxena. Justice Shalinder Kaur allowed the parties to file written submissions by July 18. Saxena filed the case 23 years ago when he was heading an NGO in Gujarat. While Patkar was represented by senior advocate Sanjay Parikh, advocate Gajinder Kumar argued on behalf of Saxena. The 70-year-old Narmada Bachao Andolan leader challenged the April 2 sessions court order upholding her conviction handed out by a magisterial court in the case. 4Continued on | P8 4Continued on | P8 HELLO! MUSK’S TESLA MAKES INDIA ENTRY FP Online T spotlighting India's recent contributions to global health. "Indian vaccine companies played a key role during the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to support the global health efforts," it says, linking ancient practices to modern advancements. 4Continued on | P8 4Continued on | P8 4Continued on | P8 Pahalgam attack was ‘deliberately conducted’: EAM More than 1 helipad to be constructed in Indore, Ujjain, Bhopal wo lecturers from a private college and their friend have been arrested in Bengaluru's Moodabidri for allegedly raping a college student on multiple occasions and blackmailing her with videos and photos. According to reports, the incident came to light after the accused blackmailed the victim and demanded further sexual favours. Unable to endure the abuse, the student confided in her parents, who then approached the Karnataka Women's Commission. The accused have been identified as Narendra, a Physics lecturer; Sandeep, a Biology lecturer; and their friend Anoop. Both lecturers were employed at the same college where the victim was a student. With ‘Curiosity’, NCERT maps legacy From ancient philosopher Acharya Kanad's concept of atoms ('parmanu') to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) missions, the new Class 8 Science textbook called 'Curiosity' by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has Ashwin Ahmad NEW DELHI BHOPAL from ‘Parmanu’ to ISRO... PTI Nurse Nimisha’s execution postponed Our Staff Reporter 4Continued on | P8 NEW DELHI E-paper Edit Misplaced J&K priorities P.6 Heavy rains, flash floods sweep across US North BACK TO EARTH, BOUND FOR HISTORY | Shukla is the 2nd Indian to travel to space after Rakesh Sharma's 1984 sojourn Excitement is endless, we are very proud. I’m feeling very happy that my child is finally coming back after so many days. He told me yesterday it would be his last call from space, and that he was packing to leave. I just kept praying for his safe return. The next generation should take inspiration from him and move ahead MUMBAI Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis attends the inauguration of India’s first Tesla Experience Centre, in Mumbai on Tuesday PTI MUMBAI Global EV giant Tesla on Tuesday made its muchawaited entry into India, launching its Model Y with price starting at Rs 59.89 lakh while opening its first experience centre here. Tesla, led by American tech billionaire Elon Musk who had in the past cited India's high import tariffs for the company not entering the country earlier, will be importing the Model Y as a completely built unit (CBU), from its Shanghai manufacturing facility in China. The mid-sized electric SUV Model Y, which was once the world's best-selling car, will be offered in India in two variants -- rear-wheel drive with base price at Rs 59.89 lakh and long-range rear wheel drive at a base price of Rs 67.89 lakh. 4Continued on | P8