Wednesday, October 22, 2025 | Vol. 69 No. 15 | 29 Pages Reg.No MCS/048/2021-23; RNI No. 1541/1957 M.p.c.s office Mumbai. PIN 400001 THE FREE PRESS JOURNAL ‘EK BHARAT, SHRESHTHA BHARAT’ | In a letter to citizens on Diwali, PM says in a world facing crises, the country has emerged as symbol of stability & sensitivity ‘India upheld righteousness through Operation Sindoor’ New Delhi AGENCIES Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday extended Diwali greetings to the citizens of the country through a letter, describing the festival as one filled with energy and enthusiasm, and said that Bharat has upheld righteousness and avenged injustice through Operation Sindoor. In his message, the Prime Minister said the festival of Deepavali this year carries special significance, being the second one after the grand construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Drawing a parallel between Lord Ram’s teachings and the nation’s re- HOLIDAY NOTICE The Free Press Journal offices will remain closed on October 22 on account of Diwali and there will be no edition on October 23. The e-paper can, however, be accessed. China in WTO over India’s PLI schemes Agencies NEW DELHI China has alleged that certain conditions in India's Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes for advanced chemistry cell battery, automobiles and the policy to boost manufacturing of electric vehicles violate global trade rules, and has filed a complaint at the WTO. A WTO statement said China has sought consultations with India on these issues under dispute settlement mechanism. Beijing said India’s policies stress on the use of domestic items and discriminate against Chinese goods. 4Contd on | nation Happy Govardhan Puja INDIA EDITION | www.freepressjournal.in ● Leader in E-paper circulation Happy Balipratipada cent achievements, Modi said that India had witnessed a living example of upholding righteousness and fighting injustice a few months ago during Operation Sindoor. “Lord Shri Ram teaches us to uphold righteousness and also gives us the courage to fight injustice. We have seen a living example of this a few months ago during Operation Sindoor. During Operation Sindoor, Bharat not only upheld righteousness but also avenged injustice,” the Prime Minister wrote. He said, “This Deepavali is particularly special because, for the first time, lamps will be lit in many districts across the country, including remote areas. These are the districts where Naxalism and Maoist terrorism have been eradicated at the root. In recent times, we have seen many individuals abandoning the path of viol- ence and joining the mainstream of development, expressing faith in the Constitution of our country. This is a major achievement for the nation.” AP Japan’s parliament on Tuesday elected ultraconservative Sanae Takaichi as the country’s first female prime minister, ending months of political uncertainty. Her election came a day after her Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) struck a coalition deal with the Osaka-based rightwing Japan Innovation Party (Ishin no Kai), a partnership expected to push her government further to the right. Takaichi, 64, succeeds Shigeru Ishiba, who resigned earlier in the day along with his Cabinet after just one year in office. The change follows the LDP’s heavy election loss in July, which had left Japan in a political vacuum for nearly three months. In a vote in the lower house, which chooses the prime minister, Takaichi secured 237 votes, just four more than the required majority, defeating Yoshiko Noda, leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, who received 149 votes. After the results were announced, Takaichi stood and bowed deeply. Her coalition with Ishin no Kai ensured her victory, as the opposition remains divided. However, the alliance still lacks a majority in both houses of parliament, meaning Takaichi will have to rely on support from smaller opposition NEW DELHI With Delhi's air pollution reaching a four-year high during Diwali, the Opposition and the BJP government indulged in a blame game as residents suffered. AAP accused the government of plunging the city into a pollution crisis and also manipulating real AQI data, while the administration hit back claiming the sharp rise in air pollution in NCR was primarily due to burning of “parali” (crop stubble) in AAP-ruled Punjab. Pollution levels across the NCR rose sharply as people burst traditional firecrackers along with green crackers on Six persons, including a sixyear-old girl and a 17-year-old college student, died of burns in two separate fire incidents in Navi Mumbai during the early hours of Tuesday. While four people lost their lives in a midnight blaze at Raheja Residency in Vashi, a woman and her teenage daughter died in a fire that broke out a few hours later in Kamothe. The first fire was reported around 12.40 a.m. at Raheja Residency, Plot Nos. 48/24, 25, 26, Sector 14, Vashi. Starting on the 10th floor, the fire rapidly spread to the 11th and 12th floors before being brought under control by fire officials after three hours. According to the NMMC Fire Department, multiple fire tenders from Vashi, Nerul, Airoli, and Koparkhairane were rushed to the spot. “Four persons were found 4Contd on | nation South Korean police are seeking an arrest warrant for a woman who set fire to her apartment building while trying to kill a cockroach with an improvised flamethrower, leading to the death of a neighbour. According to the Korea Herald, a woman in her 30s died on October 21 while escaping a fire started by a neighbour, falling from a window after first getting her infant child to safety. According to Osan Police Station, the fire broke out on October 20 at a five-storey commercialresidential building in Osan, Gyeonggi province, at around 5.35am local time. It was sparked by a secondfloor resident who tried to kill a cockroach using a lighter and aerosol spray, an ill-advised method she said she learnt from YouTube. The fire quickly got out of control. When they realised that a fire had broken out, the couple, living in the fifth floor, opened their home window and called for help after they determined they couldn’t escape through the emergency Vidhi Santosh Mehta CHANDIGARH: MUMBAI Japan PM Sanae Takaichi with Japan Innovation Party leader Hirofumi Yoshimura parties to pass legislation. Analysts warn this could make her administration fragile and short-lived. 4Contd on | nation Diwali. With air pollution already rising due to crop residue burning and little wind movement, AQI level soared, with some areas like Naraina recording even more than 1800, a good six times of the hazardous level of 301 or higher. 4Contd on | nation 4See also | city Haryana police has booked former Punjab DGP Mohammad Mustafa, his wife Razia Sultana, a former minister, among four, in connection with the death of their son, Aqil Akhter, 35, who was found dead under “suspicious circumstances’’ on October 16, at his residence in Panchkula’s MDC sector 4, near here. Haryana police, which has formed a SIT to probe the matter, registered an FIR under Sections 103(1) and 61, of BNS, for murder and criminal conspiracy, respectively, on October 20. Stating that the FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint lodged by Shamshuddin Choudhary of Malerkotla, on October 17, police said besides Mustafa, Sultana, Aqil’s sister and his wife have also been named as the accused. Police said the family members were informed about the death, their statements were reported and the body was handed over to them after the post mortem. The family took Woman killing a cockroach sets home afire Agencies 4Contd on | nation vice versa? FPJ News Service offgrid SEOUL dead during the rescue operation, while around 10 to 15 others were safely evacuated,” said Purushottam Jadhav, Chief Fire Officer, NMMC. “The fire originated from a flat on the 10th floor, though the exact cause is still being investigated,” he added. Prima facie, the police said, a short-circuit in the air conditioner of flat 1005 is suspected. The deceased were identified as Vedika Sundar Balakrishnan (6), her parentsSundar Balakrishnan (44), and Pooja Rajan (39) from flat no. 1205— and a bedridden senior citizen identified as Kamla Hiralal Jain (84) from flat no. 1005. The injured include Manabendra Ghosh (69), Malika Manabendra Ghosh (58), and Ritika Manabendra Ghosh (39) from flat no. 1106, who are undergoing treatment at Fortis Hiranandani Hospital. Punjab’s ex-DGP booked Snappy query, for son’s suspicious death silly reply or AAP-BJP fireworks as Delhi AQI shoots up Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar Raina Assainar NAVI MUMBAI The Prime Minister also underlined that Bharat has emerged as a symbol of stability and sensitivity in a world facing multiple crises. “In a world going through multiple crises, Bharat has emerged as a symbol of both stability and sensitivity,” he wrote. Highlighting recent economic decisions, Modi mentioned the implementation of lower Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates on the first day of Navratri. Calling it a historic step, he said that the decision has resulted in massive savings for citizens across the country during the ongoing ‘GST Bachat Utsav’ (Savings Festival). Coalition fetches Japan its first female premier Tokyo TWO NAVI MUMBAI FIRES LEAVE 6 DEAD Using an improvised flamethrower, a woman tried to kill a cockroach and set her apartment, on the second floor of a five storey building, on fire. The fire spread and a woman on the fifth floor died when she fell in her attempt to escape the spreading inferno staircase because of thick smoke which would affect their newborn. They handed their baby through the window to a neighbour in the adjacent block, which was less than one meter apart from their building before trying to evacuate themselves. After handing the baby, the husband followed, but the wife, when she tried to do the same thing, fell and sustained critical injuries. She was taken to the nearby Ajou University Hospital for treatment, but was pronounced dead at around 10.40am local time. The woman, who is in her 20s, told police that she tried to torch a cockroach with a lighter and a flammable spray, adding she had used the method before. But on Monday, items in her home caught fire. Police in the northern city of Osan said the woman could be charged with accidentally starting a fire and causing death by negligence. Blasting cockroaches -- with blowtorches or homemade flamethrowers -- have emerged as a novel way of getting rid of house pests, made popular by videos on social media. In 2018, an Australian man set fire to his kitchen while trying to kill cockroaches with a homemade flamethrower made from insect spray. Police said they believed the couple had tried escaping through the window because thick smoke from the fire had blocked the stairway, local media report. The building houses commercial shops on its first floor and 32 residential units from its second to fifth floor. Eight other residents suffered from smoke inhalation because of the fire. It took fire tenders 40 minutes to put out the blaze. the body to their native village in Saharanpur, UP, and performed the last rites. According to police, Aqil, an advocate at Punjab and Haryana HC, was found unconscious by his family at his home, and was taken to nearby General Hospital, where he was declared brought dead. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday lashed out at Huffington Post reporter S.V. Dáte, calling him a “left-wing hack” after he questioned her about President Donald Trump’s upcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. The exchange began when Dáte texted Leavitt asking whether the president was aware of the significance of Budapest, where Russia in 1994 had promised not to invade Ukraine if it gave up nuclear weapons under the Budapest Memorandum. “Does he not see why Ukraine might object to that site? Who suggested Budapest?” Dáte asked. Leavitt replied, “Your mom did.” When Dáte responded, “Is this funny to you?”, Leavitt shot back, “It’s funny to me that you actually consider yourself a journal.” 4Contd on | nation 4Contd on | nation Haryana Police set up SIT after video surfaces where son Aqil accuses father of having affair with his wife, and blames his mom and sister of conspiracy against him