FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms Vol. 15 No. 115 | BHOPAL | WEDNESDAY | OCTOBER 8, 2025 | Pages 16 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 FREE www.freepressjournal.in Sports Deepti’s form will make sides very nervous P.14 System needs complete surgery, not medicines By Nitendra Sharma COMMENT S ubstandard cough syrup has claimed the lives of 19 children. Many are battling for life at various hospitals in Nagpur. The government swung into action soon after the tragedy. It is mulling over testing medicines. The agencies are raiding the distributors of medicines and medical stores to seize adulterated drugs. Ironically, checking the quality of medicines has become the government’s priority. Whenever there is a fire in a hospital, the government begins to check the NOC of the medical centre concerned. Whenever a bridge falls, a probe into bridges begins. Similarly, if the roof of a school caves in, the government starts repairing all schools. If a lift falls, the authorities begin to check whether the buildings have any permission for a lift. The arrest of a drug mafia leads to a campaign against drugs. In the same way, if a girl is raped, the police of the area where the incident has taken place become active. If the mobile phone of an IG is looted, the police remain sleepless for 72 hours. Such is our system. Our fp Briefs system comes back to life only when a tragedy occurs. The government is organising a conference of collectors and commissioners. The first thing the participants of the conference should have been told is that they should not wake up after the tragedy, but they must take concrete measures to avoid such incidents. We wait for potholes to come up on the roads to fill them, but we avoid repairing them before they become death traps. The system is gasping for breath, and it needs an oxygen cylinder. Parasia, where the cough syrup tragedy occurred, is just 26 km away from Chhindwara, which has a medical college, but it lacks facilities for treatment. This is the reason that the parents and relatives are taking the ailing children to Nagpur. The government should take lessons from the tragedy that the facilities for treatment should be available in the state itself. The government’s job is to set right the system, and the officers are responsible for answering to the administration. In case of an emergency situation, instead of working on one front, the officers should make the system flawless. The system does not need medicines, but it requires a surgery. Such an action will prove that we have learnt a lesson from the tragedy. BHOPAL UJJAIN PRESS PUNE INDORE NASHIK MUMBAI E-paper Edit Missing voters, missing trust P.6 Cinema Tabu eyed for Chandni Bar 2 P.16 COUGH SYRUP CASE | No methodology in state to check all drugs; Responsibility of product guarantee lies with firms Market brims with drugs, govt tests 6K samples per yr  Rajan Raikwar BHOPAL The medicine market in Madhya Pradesh is teeming with thousands of pharmaceutical products, from common syrups to specialised drugs. However, the capacity of government labs authorised to test these syrups and drugs is only around 6,000 samples per annum.  A senior from the Office of the Controller, Food and Drugs Administration, on the condition of anonymity, said to the Free Press that so far, there is no methodology to determine how many kinds of syrups and drugs are prevalent in the medical market of the state. At the same time, it is nearly impossible to test all such products  due to the shortage of manpower and the limited testing capacity of government labs.  The law mandates that drug manufacturing companies should themselves test their products and get necessary certification before releasing them into the market. It is under this law that companies face the heat in case of violation. At the same time, the state government’s Drug Inspectors are also responsible for checking samples of syrups and drugs at regular intervals. 4Continued on | P8 18 dead as landslide hits bus in Himachal PIL in SC seeks CBI probe A PIL has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a CBI investigation into the deaths of children in MP and Rajasthan after the consumption of toxic cough syrup. The PIL filed sought a retired SC judge to monitor a probe and inquiry into the manufacture, regulation, testing and distribution of contaminated cough syrups. The petition by Advocate Vishal Tiwari called for the constitution of a National Judicial Commission or Expert Committee TOLL MOUNTS TO 19 FP News Service CHHINDWARA The cough syrup-related death toll in the Parasia area in Chhindwara and Betul mounted to 19 after three more children died during treatment on Tuesday. The three children were Dhani from the Junapani area, Jayusha from the Junnardev area, and Bedansh Pawar from Righaura. All of them were undergoing treatment in a hospital in Nagpur. Reacting to the deaths of children because of the consumption of adulterated cough syrup, the district Congress committee president, Vishwanath Okte, said the BJP government has lost all sensitivities. Okte said although the death toll continued to mount, the government did precious little to stop it. The Chief Minister and BJP leaders are busy making statements, he said. Okte wanted to know whether the government was trying to save the health minister. Govt to bear treatment cost of ailing kids due to cough syrup: CM Three teams set up for treatment OUR STAFF REPORTER BHOPAL Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has said the government will bear the cost of those children who are suffering from kidney infection after consuming cough syrup. The children down with kidney infections are undergoing treatment at hospitals in Nagpur. The Nagpur Government CHEATING CASE SC transfers trial against Cong MLA from MP to Delhi Medical College, AIIMS, Colours Hospital, New Health City Hospital, and Get Well City Hospital are treating the children. According to a government press release, at present, nine children are undergoing treatment in these hospitals. The collector of Chhindwara set up three teams in connection with the treatment of children. The teams consist of deputy collectors and doctors. Besides looking after the treatment of the children, they will send reports about their health to the Chhindwara district administration. Body parts of young woman found in Kolar Head missing, police search for missing parts Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL Parts of an unidentified woman’s headless body were found in a vacant plot filled with rainwater at South Extension in Kolar police circle on Tuesday afternoon. According to reports, children playing near the plot found a human leg floating and raised an alarm. Kolar police reached the spot with FSL team after being informed. Police said that water was drained out of the plot using a pump to recover body parts stuffed inside a plastic sack used for packing cement. However, the Collectors must leave imprint on people’s memory in districts: CM Two-day conference begins with thrust on answerability PTI NEW DELHI At least 18 passengers were killed while three were rescued as a private bus they were travelling in was struck by a massive landslide in Himachal Pradesh's Bilaspur district on Tuesday evening, officials said. The accident took place in Bhalughat area in Jhandutta assembly segment around 6:30 pm, they said, adding the bus carrying 30-35 passengers was on its way from Marotan to Ghumarwin. Intermittent rains have been lashing the area since Monday. So far 18 bodies have been recovered from the debris and three people rescued and sent to hospital, BJP MLA from Jhandutta J R Katwal, who was on the spot, told PTI over the phone. Police and district administration officials are at the spot and rescue operations are going on in full swing. Whole mountain came crashing down on the bus, said an eyewitness engaged in the rescue operations. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and Deputy CM Mukesh Agnihotri have expressed grief over the accident. CM Sukhu directed the officials to expedite the rescue operations, an official statement said. The Supreme Court on Tuesday transferred the trial in a cheating case against Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti from Madhya Pradesh to Delhi after taking note of the claim that efforts were made to intimidate defence witnesses. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta passed the order while hearing a plea filed by Bharti, who said there was an attempt to intimidate the defence witnesses in the case. During the hearing, the counsel appearing for Madhya Pradesh said the state was willing to provide police protection to the witnesses and the trial should not be transferred. The bench emphasised that justice must not only be done, but must also be seen to be done. It allowed the petition and transferred the trial from Madhya Pradesh to Delhi. While hearing the matter in February this year, the apex court had said prima facie, it appeared that there was enough material placed on record before the trial court containing an allegation that defence witnesses were tried to be intimidated. 4Continued on | P8 Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has told collectors to work in such a way that the people of the districts remember them even after they leave their places of work. Yadav made the statement during the inauguration of a two-day collector-commissioner conference in Bhopal on Tuesday. Yadav said he had set up a system in which everyone is answerable, and the officers, too, must follow it. “Developing confidence among people that the government is with you is the aim of good governance,” Yadav said. He appealed to the officers to meet the ordinary people and to improve the public hearing system. 4Continued on | P8 Chief Secretary Anurag Jain welcomes CM Mohan Yadav VC TWICE A MONTH: CS Chief Secretary Anurag Jain has said there will be virtual conferences twice a month. Good outcomes will emerge from districts only when officers and employees work in tandem, Jain said. The officers can find solutions to any problem by holding talks with the common man, he said. The Chief Secretary advised the officers to tour a place for two days, and the collectors make night halts in villages. The collectors should also interact with the officers working under them to easily understand the districts, Jain said. The CS said the officers should pay attention to the CM Helpline complaints. FP News Service SEHORE At a time when the death of 19 children due to consumption of cough syrup has rattled the state, a two-yearold girl in Pipliya Meera village of Sehore district died because of wrong treatment by a quack. The family members of the girl alleged that she was suffering from fever and died because of wrong injection given by the quack. The family members of the girl laid her body on the road and blocked traffic on Bhopal road near Barkhedi village. 4Continued on | P8 Indian student visas to US drop over 44% The United States issued nearly one-fifth fewer student visas in August following a crackdown by President Donald Trump, led by a steep drop for India, which was overtaken by China as top country of origin, data showed on Monday. The US issued 313,138 stu- dent visas in August, the most common starting month for US universities, a drop of 19.1 percent from the same month in 2024, according to the International Trade Commission. India, which last year was the top source of foreign students to the US, saw the most dramatic drop with 44.5 percent fewer student visas issued than a year earlier. Visa issuance also dropped for Chinese students but not nearly at the same rate. The US issued 86,647 visas 4Continued on | P8 Trio wins Nobel in physics for advanced quantum technology AP John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis won the Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday for research on the weird world of sub-atomic quantum tunnelling that advances the power of everyday digital communications and computing. One of the winners said that quantum mechanics research already has wound up in our everyday communications. Speaking from his cellphone, Clarke said: "One of the underlying reasons that cellphones work is because of all this work.' Clarke, 83, conducted his research at the University of California, Berkeley; Martinis, 67, at the University of California, Santa Barbara; and Devoret, 72, is at Yale and also at the University of California, Santa Barbara. 4Continued on | P8 2-yr-old girl dies, kin allege MP among 4 states quack gave wrong injection to get multi-tracking offgrid Online Report head was missing. Recovery of internal organs and partial limbs indicated that the body was brutally mutilated before being dumped in the plot. Clothes indicated that the remains were of a young woman. Advanced stage of decomposition indicated that the woman was killed 10 days back, said the cops “She was murdered somewhere else and body parts dumped in plot to cover up the crime,” said an official. OUR STAFF REPORTER PTI NEW DELHI Children playing near plot found a human leg floating and raised alarm. Police reached the spot with FSL team STOCKHOLM BHOPAL SHIMLA The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed all the states and Union Territories to frame road safety rules within six months by regulating the movement of non-motorised vehicles and pedestrians in public spaces. A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan directed all the states and UTs to frame such rules under Sections 138 (1A) and 210D of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. "We direct all the states and UTs to formulate rules under Section 138(1A) of the Motor Vehicles Act within a period of six months.” EDITIONS: MONEY Modi wishes Putin on b’day SC bats for safety of pedestrians iii QUALITY @ VALUE FM SAYS SEVERAL DEEPFAKE VIDEOS OF HER CIRCULATING NEW DELHI Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday greeted Russian President Vladimir Putin on his birthday even as the two leaders vowed to further deepen India-Russia special and privileged strategic partnership. Modi dialled Putin and warmly congratulated him on his 73rd birthday and conveyed best wishes for good health and success, according to an Indian readout. It was the fourth phone call between the two leaders since early August. Putin had also called up Modi on September 17 to greet him on his birthday. ESTD-1983 to students from mainland China in August, more than double the number issued to Indians. The statistics do not reflect overall numbers of US-based students, many of whom remain on previously issued visas. Trump has put a top priority since returning to the White House both on curbing immigration and on weakening universities, which his administration sees as a key power base of the left. Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefly suspended processing of student visas in June, a peak month, as he issued orders that US embassies vet applicants' social media. 4Continued on | P8 railway projects Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL The Union Cabinet has approved four railway multitracking projects for four states, including Madhya Pradesh. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Modi, approved the four multi-tracking projects at a meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday. The Cabinet Committee approved 237 km fourth line between Itarsi-Bhopal-Bina in the state. In MP, the project section will enhance rail connectivity to major sites such as Sanchi, Satpura Tiger Reserve, Bhimbetka rock shelters (noted for prehistoric human remains and ancient rock art), Hajra Waterfall, and Navegaon National Park. The route will also serve the transport of coal, cement, containers, fly ash, food grains, and steel. These projects, formulated under the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan, aim to enhance multi-modal connectivity and logistics efficiency through integrated planning and stakeholder consultation. They will provide seamless connectivity for citizens, goods, and services. The approved multitracking projects will improve connectivity in Vidisha. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said the expansion of railway line would increase mobility, operational efficiency, and reliability of railways. Multitracking (increasing the number of railway tracks) will ease train operations and benefit passengers. Yadav expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the projects.