Monday, December 8, 2025 | Vol. 69 No. 54 | 28 Pages Reg.No MCS/048/2021-23; RNI No. 1541/1957 M.p.c.s office Mumbai. PIN 400001 THE FREE PRESS JOURNAL INDIA EDITION | www.freepressjournal.in ● Leader in E-paper circulation BODHI DAY GAMES NATION India’s defence output up from `46,000 crore in 2014 to `1.51 lakh crore now: Rajnath Singh Cinema On his 90th birthday, Dharmendra's forgotten movies Gambhir backs Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma for the experience they bring Edit Prices set to rise further as rupee touches the 90 mark NORMS FLOUTED? | Questions about ‘illegal operations’; FIR against club’s 2 owners; 4 employees held; sarpanch detained 25 KILLED IN GOA NIGHTCLUB BLAZE Agencies PANAJI nuja Kohli Mariwala's passion for food and community is helping feed 1,200 Mumbai children every day. Turn to the Mumbai page to find out how. SEE Mumbai A Briefs Milind Sathe is Maha Advocate General now Senior advocate Milind Sathe has been appointed the new Advocate General of Maharashtra, effective Monday. Sathe will now represent the state’s position in all court proceedings. Sathe joined the Bar in 1982 and was designated a senior advocate by the Bombay High Court in 2005. He also served as president of the Bombay Bar Association for seven years, from 2014 to 2021. He has appeared in several public interest litigations, legal aid matters, and as amicus curiae (friend of the court). Sidhu’s wife stirs ‘CM’s chair’ row Congress leader Navjot Kaur Sidhu has sparked a political row by saying "one needs Rs 500 crore for the CM's chair" in Punjab, with the BJP and AAP claiming her comments exposed the "ugly truth" of how the grand old party functions, and the "money bag" politics it indulges in. Her remarks on Saturday also drew flak from her own party members, with a senior MP wondering if her husband and former Punjab Congress chief, Navjot Singh Sidhu, intended to destroy the party. "We always speak for Punjab and Punjabiyat. But we do not have Rs 500 crore to give for sitting on the CM's chair," she had said. The former cricketer was earlier a BJP leader. A jampacked nightclub in north Goa turned into a death trap after midnight on Sunday as a massive fire tore through it, claiming 25 lives and leaving six injured while raising serious questions about `illegal' operations and flouting of safety norms. While the police said earlier in the day that a cylinder blast seemed to have started the blaze, a tourist who survived the tragedy claimed that fireworks were set off when dancers were performing, and it was the likely cause. All 25 victims, including 20 members of the staff and five tourists, have been identified, authorities said. Among the five tourists, four were from Delhi, including three members of a single family. The fifth tourist was from Karnataka. Most of the deaths were caused by suffocation, as the victims got trapped on the ground floor of `Birch by Romeo Lane' nightclub at Arpora, 25 km from Panaji, a fire official said. While CM Pramod Sawant vowed action against officials who allowed the club to operate despite flouting safety rules, and an FIR was registered against the owners, a village official claimed that the structure itself was illegal. The establishment did not possess even an NOC from the fire department or the permission to sell liquor, a Congress leader alleged. "We have registered an FIR against Saurabh Luthra and Gaurav After Putin, Trump aide visits India Agencies WHAT SPARKED THE DEADLY INFERNO The 'Birch By Romeo Lane' nightclub was hosting 'Bollywood Banger Night' Initial probe showed "electric firecrackers" were set off inside which started the blaze, Goa CM Pramod Sawant said Some of the victims reportedly ran to the kitchen downstairs where they got trapped and choked to death Eyewitnesses said there were makeshift structures made of palm leaves, and they easily caught fire Luthra, the owners, under the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita sections," a senior police officer said. An FIR was also registered against the club manager and event organisers, he said, adding that the sarpanch of Arpora-Nagoa, Roshan Redkar, who had issued a trade licence for the club in 2013, was detained. President Droupadi Murmu, PM Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, among others, expressed grief over the tra- The nightclub has a narrow entry and exit. It is connected to the main road through narrow lanes, which posed a challenge for the fire engines gedy. An ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from the PM's National Relief Fund will be given to the next of kin of each deceased and the injured would be given Rs 50,000, the PMO said. A preliminary inquiry indicated that the fire started on the first floor, and due to congestion and small doors, customers could not move out. "Some of them rushed to the ground floor and got trapped there," Sawant said. "We will take action against the club management Another arrest in Pune land scam Varad Bhatkhande NEW DELHI PIMPRI-CHINCHWAD Allison Hooker, the US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, is on a five-day visit to India from Sunday to advance bilateral strategic and economic ties. The visit by the official comes two days after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s trip to New Delhi. Hooker's trip to New Delhi and Bengaluru assumes significance amidst increasing strain in IndiaUS ties after Washington slapped a whopping 50% tariff on Indian goods, including 25% levies for India's procurement of Russian crude oil. In a major development regarding the case registered at Bavdhan Police Station under the Pimpri-Chinchwad Police Commissionerate (PCPC) against Amadea Enterprises LLP, sub-registrar Ravindra Balkrushna Taru was detained by the police on Sunday evening. Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar’s son Parth Pawar is a partner in Amadea Enterprises LLP. The company and sub-registrar Taru were accused of the transaction of 40 acres of government-owned Mahar Watan Land in Pune’s Mundhwa area by cheating the government. In this matter, a case was registered late at night on November 6 based on a com- 4Contd on | Nation A video showed a dancer swaying to the beats of Sholay's 'Mehbooba o Mehbooba' when fire broke out plaint filed by Joint District Registrar Santosh Hingane at Bavdhan Police Station. Bavdhan Police had named Digvijay Amar Singh Patil, Sheetal Kishanchand Tejwani, and Ravindra Balkrushna Taru as the accused. According to police reports, the allegation against the accused is that the accused conspired to register a sale deed for government-owned land without paying the mandatory stamp duty and cess worth Rs 5.89 crore. After the offence was registered, sub-registrar Taru was suspended. He was accused of conspiring to register a sale deed for 40 acres of government-owned Mundhwa land on May 20 by illegally evading mandatory stamp duty and cess. 4Contd on | Nation and also against the officials who allowed it to operate despite flouting safety norms. This is an unfortunate incident during the peak tourist season," the CM said, adding, "We will conduct a detailed inquiry through a magistrate and stringent action will be taken against Scan & Watch the guilty." 4Contd on | Nation 4See also | Nation Mandhana calls off wedding, bats for privacy PTI NEW DELHI India batter Smriti Mandhana on Sunday announced that her wedding had been called off and urged fans and media to stop the speculation, while music composer Palash Muchhal confirmed that he had "decided to move on" from the relationship. Muchhal also warned of legal action against those spreading defamatory rumours. Mandhana issued her first public statement on social media after rumours about her personal life had intensified over the past month. 4Contd on | Nation A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A DOC WHO DEFIED ODDS Three-foot-tall, sky-high courage Melvyn Thomas BHAVNAGAR ● "I was never afraid of my height. I was only afraid of failures." Until November 27, Sir Takhtasinhji Hospital was known as Bhavnagar’s largest government hospital with a centre of cadaver donation. Today, it become a centre of attraction with the motivating presence of 25-yearold Dr Ganesh Baraiya, a threefoot-tall doctor whose story has touched countless hearts. The journey of Dr Ganesh, who joined the hospitals as a medical officer at the trauma centre, is far from extraordinary. He waged a long legal battle to earn the right to study medicine. “He didn’t fight just for himself,” says a hospital employee, “He fought for every physically challenged child who is told he can’t dream.” People from Bhavnagar and neighbouring regions land at the hospital to catch a glimpse of the young doctor who defied the odds. Some even bring their children along, hoping they too learn no dream is too big and no challenge too small to over- come. "I am meeting dozens of people each day," Dr Ganesh says. For him, height is not a barrier. He recalls his first day at the hospital emergency ward when a tall, broad-shouldered labourer arrived, who was unsure if the “small doctor” who weighs just 20 kg could treat his deep wound in the arm. Dr Ganesh examined him and cleaned his injury, stitched it with precision and told him, "Pain baddha nu ek jevu hoy che, height thi farak natthi padto (pain is the same for everyone, height should not be a barrier)." He grew up facing physical limitations that made even simple tasks difficult. 4Contd on | Nation Turmoil eases, IndiGo pays `610 cr in refunds RETURN FLIGHT Dhairya Gajara MUMBAI IndiGo continued to grapple with its operational crisis but progressed steadily towards normalisation on Sunday, which was celebrated as International Civil Aviation Day. The airline recorded less than 500 cancellations but improved its on-time performance significantly. India’s largest airline IndiGo brought the country’s aviation sector to a standstill over the past one week with thousands of cancellations due to its rostering mismanagement according to the new Flight Duty Time Limit (FDTL) rules. After the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) placed the rules in abeyance, the airline is now slowly progressing towards operational normalcy. On Sunday, the airline's operations went up from 1,565 flights to about 1,650 flights on Sunday, connecting 137 out of the 138 operational destinaScan & Watch tions. 4Contd on | Nation ■ On Sunday, IndiGo operates over 1,650 flights, up from 1,500 the previous day ■ 137 out of 138 destinations served; ■ On-time performance hits 75%, cancellations less than 500 up from Saturday's 30% Step by step, we are getting back, says IndiGo's CEO Pieter Elbers IndiGo says it will carry out a ‘root cause analysis’ of the crisis House panel to summon airline execs, ministry & DGCA officials Agencies NEW DELHI A parliamentary panel is likely to summon top executives of private airlines and the civil aviation regulator over the mass cancellation of IndiGo flights that has left thousands of travellers stranded across the country's airports. The Parliamentary Stand- ing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture, chaired by JD(U) leader Sanjay Jha, is likely to seek an explanation from top executives of airlines and officials from the DGCA and the Ministry of Civil Aviation about the cause of disruption in air services and possible solutions. 4Contd on | Nation PM to open LS Vande Mataram debate, Cong to field Priyanka Agencies NEW DELHI PM Narendra Modi will initiate on Monday the Lok Sabha debate on the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram. It is expected to bring to light several important and previously unknown facets about the national song. Lok Sabha has allocated 10 hours for the 'Discussion on the 150th anniversary of national song Vande Mataram'. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is ex- pected to be the second speaker in the debate. Congress deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi, and party stalwart Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are among other MPs who will take participate in the discussuions. The Parliment debate is part of the year-long celebrations on the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram, a poem written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, and set to tune by Jadunath Bhattacharya. Modi had earlier hit out at the Congress, accusing it of removing key stanzas from the song in 1937 and sowing the seeds of partition. 4Contd on | Nation