FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms Vol. 15 No. 157 | BHOPAL | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 19, 2025 | Pages 14 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 FREE www.freepressjournal.in Sports Aparajith-Baby puts Kerala on victory doorstep P.13 fp Briefs NEW DELHI India-Germany bolster def ties Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh on Tuesday co-chaired the India-Germany High Defence Committee meeting with the State Secretary, German Ministry of Defence Plotner in New Delhi. They discussed a range of bilateral security and defence issues, including priority areas for co-development & co-production of defence equipment.“The co-chairs reaffirmed commitment to enhance military-to-military cooperation with a focus on developing defence ties as a key pillar of the Strategic Partnership between India and Germany,” the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in its press release. DELHI/MOSCOW Looking forward to host Putin: PM Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday told a top Kremlin aide that he is looking forward to host Russian President Vladimir Putin in India, next month. Prime Minister Modi conveyed his "warm greetings" to President Putin as Nikolai Patrushev, aide to the Russian President and Chairman of the Maritime Board of the Russian Federation, called on him in New Delhi. NEW YORK UNSC adopts Gaza plan The UN Security Council on Monday adopted a resolution drafted by the United States in support of US President Donald Trump's proposal aimed at ending the Gaza conflict and permitting the deployment of an international stabilisation force in the Palestinian enclave. The council voted 13 to 0 in favour of the resolution, with abstentions from China and Russia. PATNA Nitish to be leader of NDA Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is all set to be elected as leader of the NDA on Wednesday ahead of the formation of a new government under his leadership in the state on November 20. Kumar, who will take oath as Bihar CM for a record 10th time, will be first elected as leader of the JD(U) legislature party at 11 am on Wednesday. ESTD-1983 iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: BHOPAL UJJAIN MONEY PRESS PUNE INDORE NASHIK Cinema Dhurandhar hits hard P.14 Nat’l shooter molested on moving bus Victim may return to Indore today to file FIR against inebriated driver, conductor Our Staff Reporter INDORE In a shocking incident, a 30year-old national shooter, who had come to Bhopal from Pune to participate in a national shooting championship tournament, was allegedly molested by the drunk conductor and driver of the bus during her return journey. The incident came to light when the bus was stopped at a check point set up in the Rajendra Nagar area. The victim called for help, but before the police could enter the bus, both accused managed to escape. Rajendra Nagar police station in-charge Neeraj Birthare said that a shooting player had travelled from Pune to Bhopal to participate in the national shooting championship. While returning to Pune via Indore on a Verma Travels bus on Sunday night, she was allegedly molested by the conductor and driver, who were in an inebriated state. Around 1 am, when the bus reached the Rajendra Nagar area, where a security checkpoint was installed, the victim warned the accused that she would get them caught. Frightened, they fled the scene, abandoning the bus. Initially, police believed that they had fled simply because they were intoxicated. DCP Krishan Lalchandani said that around 50 passengers were sitting in the bus and the woman was being touched inappropriately in the moving bus. 4Continued on | P8 50 arrested A few hours after the killing of top Maoist Commander Madvi Hidma in Alluri Sitharamaraju district, 50 Maoists, including nine security guards of Maoist Chief Devuji, were arrested during large-scale searches in five districts of Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday. The Maoists were arrested in Vijayawada, Kakinada, Eluru and other places PTI MAREDUMILLI/RAIPUR Top Naxal commander Madvi Hidma and his wife were among the six Maoists killed in an encounter with security personnel in Andhra Pradesh's Alluri Sitaramaraju district on Tuesday, police said, describing the development as "the last nail in the coffin" of insurgency. The forces have also detained 31 members of the banned CPI (Maoist), including eight security guards of a top leader, in different parts of the state, they said. Hidma, who joined the organisation in the late 1990s as a ground-level organiser, masterminded several attacks over the last two decades and became one of the most wanted Maoists after the Tadmetla (Dantewada) attack in which 76 security per- sonnel were killed in 2010. He had then assisted another top Maoist commander, Papa Rao, in executing the strike. An expert in guerrilla warfare, Hidma was known to carry an AK-47 rifle, while members of his huge unit moved with sophisticated weapons. His four-layered security ring inside the forests reportedly made him untraceable for years. He had over Rs 1 crore bounty on his head at the time of his death. A native of Puvarti village in Sukma district in Chhattisgarh, Hidma's age and appearance remained mysterious until his photograph surfaced earlier this year. He was elevated to the Maoists' Central Committee last year. Hidma, 51, also headed the Maoists' People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) Battalion No. 1, the strongest military formation of the outfit in Dandakaranya and parts of Dilemma over whether to revoke land pooling scheme or modify it The govt agrees to cancel the scheme in the presence of Kisan Sangh Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has announced the revoking of the land pooling scheme in Ujjain for Simhastha at a meeting with the representatives of the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh. Now, the government has to give a legal shape to the deci- Plans being made with farmers’ consent: CM Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has informed the media persons that the government is working for Simhastha with the consent of the farmers. ‘‘We will do everything as best as possible,’’ he said, adding that ‘‘as there is no shortage of money, efforts are being made to make the best of arrangements for Simhastha.’’ sion. The government has to decide whether the scheme will be revoked or modified. The scheme, brought under section 52 of the Urban Development Act by the Development Authority, can either be cancelled or modified, according to the provisions. Now, the government has to decide how the land pooling will be stopped. The Town and Country Planning Department has to get an approval for revoking the scheme from the Urban Development Department before issuing an order. It will also require the cabinet’s nod. On the other hand, to modify the scheme, the Ujjain Development Authority must send a proposal. The proposal for modification will be brought to the cabinet through the Urban Development Department. Construction of roads and other works will be done on 50 acres for Simhastha. Land will be required for these works. 4Continued on | P8 'Parasocial', defined as involving or relating to a connection that someone feels with a famous person they do not know, has been named the Word of the Year for 2025, the Cambridge Dictionary announced on Tuesday. Six thousand new words were also added to the dictionary in Taylor Swift's confessional lyrics about dating, heartbreak and desire, leading to what psychologists describe as "parasocial" bonds with stars. Lily Allen's "breakup album" "West End Girl" leant into parasocial interest in her PTI NEW DELHI ZERO TOLERANCE: EAM on terrorism at SCO meeting PTI MOSCOW A widespread internet outage struck several global digital platforms on Tuesday, leaving millions of users unable to access services like X, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Perplexity AI, Google Cloud, and Canva. Popular gaming titles League of Legends and Valorant were also impacted. The disruption has been traced back to a critical network failure at Cloudflare, a web infrastructure company that powers a significant portion of the internet. "Cloudflare is experiencing an internal service degradation. Some services may be intermittently impacted. We are focused on restoring service. We will update as we are able to remediate. More updates to follow shortly," Cloudflare's system status site showed, identifying the problem as a "global network issue" causing widespread API and dashboard failures. 4Continued on | P8 4Continued on | P8 EC to use AI to detect fake, deceased voters during WB SIR Seoni hawala loot: DSP, constable, 2 others held Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL PTI KOLKATA The Election Commission is set to introduce artificial intelligence-based verification systems during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in West Bengal to prevent the inclusion of fake or deceased voters, a senior official said on Tuesday. By analysing facial similarities across photographs in the voter database, the AI system will help identify individuals registered at multiple locations. "We are taking the help of AI because of a rise in the number of complaints regarding the misuse of voters' photographs, especially those of migrant workers," the official told PTI. "AI-enabled facial matching technology will be used to detect instances where the same voter's photograph appears in multiple locations across the rolls," he said. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Seoni hawala loot of Rs 2.99 crore had arrested a DSP posted in Hawak Force Balaghat, a constable posted at crime branch Jabalpur and two more, said police on Tuesday. The court has given twoday police remand of these four accused. On October 15, the Seoni police had arrested 11 other accused, including SDOP Pooja Pandey, police station in-charge of Bandol police station Arpit Badol and other cops. To recall, in the second India on Tuesday said that the world must display "zero tolerance" towards terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, asserting that there can be no justification, no looking away and "no whitewashing". "As India has demonstrated, we have the right to defend our people against terrorism, and will exercise it," External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in his address at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of Government meeting here. Jaishankar said India believes that the SCO must "adapt to the changing global landscape, develop an expanded agenda, and reform its working methods". "We will contribute positively and fully to these objectives," he said. The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan became its permanent RED FORT BLAST PTI consequences. "Parasocial captures the 2025 zeitgeist. It's a great example of how language changes. What was once a specialist academic term has become mainstream. Millions of people are engaged in parasocial relationships; many more are simply intrigued by their rise. The data reflects that, with the Cambridge Dictionary website seeing spikes in lookups for parasocial," Colin McIntosh of the Cambridge Dictionary said. S Jaishankar External Affairs Minister members in 2017. In July 2023, Iran became the new permanent member of the SCO at an India-hosted virtual summit of the grouping. "We must never forget that the SCO was founded to combat the three evils of terrorism, separatism and extremism. 4Continued on | P8 Anmol Bishnoi deported from US PTI MUMBAI week of October, during routine vehicle checking, the staff of Bandol police station in Seoni district had stopped a car in the Siladehi forest area, During search they found huge cash of Rs 2.96 crore, which was being transported from Katni in MP to Jalna in Maharashtra. The police beat the driver, chased him away and tried to usurp the money. They kept Rs 1.45 crore and the rest was given back to the operator. The money belonged to a trader of Maharashtra. Later he complained to the IG, Jabalpur who formed an SIT to investigate the case. Gangster Anmol Bishnoi, a key accused in the murder case of NCP leader Baba Siddique, is being deported to India from the US, a police official said here on Tuesday. Bishnoi, also a wanted accused in the case related to a firing on Bollywood star Salman Khan's residence in April 2024, is expected to land in Delhi on Wednesday, he added. Mumbai Police had sent two proposals about his extradition, the official said, adding there are multiple cases registered against the gangster across the country, and the Union government 4Continued on | P8 4Continued on | P8 Bhopal cops too want Al Falah chancellor’s bro in fraud case Our staff reporter BHOPAL love life. The spontaneity, imperfection and confessional nature of podcast hosts have been said to replace real friends and to catalyse parasocial relationships. The emergence of parasocial relationships with AI bots saw people treat ChatGPT as a confidant, friend or even romantic partner. These led to emotionally meaningful - and in some cases troubling - connections for users, and concerns about the As India has demonstrated, we have the right to defend our people against terrorism, and will exercise it Video glorifying suicide attack found in perpetrator’s phone NEW DELHI Parasocial is Cambridge dictionary’s Word of Year PTI Cloudflare outage hits X, Perplexity, ChatGPT, Canva, Google Cloud Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Telangana, and Maharashtra, apart from Bastar, for several years, Chhattisgarh officials said. Alluri Sitaramaraju district superintendent of police (SP) Amit Bardar said the encounter happened between 6.30 am and 7 am in the forested area of Maredumilli mandal. "This morning, between 6:30 AM and 7:00 AM, an exchange of fire (EOF) occurred between Maoists and the police party in the Maredumilli Mandal area. During the encounter, six Maoists were neutralised," Bardar said in an official press release. Two women and four men were killed in the exchange of fire, it said, and added that based on reliable sources and field verification, police confirmed that Hidma, his wife Madakam Raje, Deve, Lakmal (Chaitu), Malla (Mallalu), and Kamlu (Kamlesh) died. offgrid 2025, including 'delulu', 'slop', 'skibidi' and 'tradwife'. According to Cambridge officials, the year was marked by interest in one-sided parasocial relationships that people form with celebrities, influencers and AI chatbots. When Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce announced their engagement, many fans felt a deep connection to the singer and the American footballer, even though most had never met them. Millions of fans related to Earlier, on November 6, a woman passenger travelling on a bus from Mumbai to Indore had also faced similar harassment in the Barwani district. Rajendra Nagar police had then registered a zero FIR and sent the case diary to Barwani. Following the incident, the passengers were stranded on the road as the bus remained stationary for over three hours. Police contacted the bus travel agency and ensured they arranged a new driver and conductor. Around 4 am, the bus resumed its journey to Pune after the staff was replaced, added TI Birthare. Top Naxal Hidma, wife among six killed in AP Police say ‘last nail in the coffin’ of insurgency Previous similar incident Passengers stranded, police arranges new staff BLOW TO MAOISTS | He masterminded several attacks over last two decades and became one of the most wanted ultras Chief Minister Mohan Yadav met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Tuesday evening and informed him about the withdrawal of the land pooling scheme and the basic works done for Simhastha. Yadav also informed Shah about the reasons for the acquisition of land for doing some important work before Simhastha. Yadav was accompanied by Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) of the CM’s Secretariat, Neeraj Mandloi; ACS of the Urban Development Department, Sanjay Dubey; and the commissioner of Ujjain, Ashish Singh. NEW DELHI E-paper Edit When faith meets tragedy P.6 From Fragile Five to Top Five CM meets Shah, gives information Delulu, slop among new entrants MUMBAI Jammu and Kashmir Police have recovered a mobile phone of the Red Fort suicide bomber, Dr Umar-un-Nabi, and the extracted data has provided chilling evidence to show that he had prepared a video justifying the suicide attack as a 'martyrdom operation'. The critical evidence was unearthed after the detention and subsequent interrogation of Zahoor Illahi, brother of 4Continued on | P8 Arrested from Hyderabad for fraud-related cases registered in Mhow, al Falah University’s chancellor Jawad Ahmad Siddiqui’s brother Hamood was also wanted by Bhopal police in an investment fraud-related case registered against him in 1999 and was carrying a reward of Rs 5000 on his arrest, police officials said. The case was registered against Hamood Ahmad Siddiqui and some others at Shahjehanabad police station on the complaint of a man who was assured by Hamood that his investment would be doubled in a few years. However, Hamood and his aides vanished soon afterwards. 4Continued on | P8 ED arrests Al Falah group chairman The ED on Tuesday arrested Jawad Ahmed Siddiqui, chairman of the Al Falah group, after it conducted simultaneous searches in Delhi-NCR against the trustees and promoters of Faridabad-based Al Falah University,