FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms FREE PRESS Vol. XLII No. 202 | INDORE | SUNDAY | DECEMBER 28, 2025 | Pages 16 ` 4 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. 38281/83 www.freepressjournal.in ESTD-1983 iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: INDORE WORLD Sports Garth admits pain of semis loss P.15 Min temp on Friday-Saturday Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL INDORE All set for capacity leap Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav announced that train handling capacity of Indore, Mhow, and Laxmibai Nagar railway stations will be doubled in the next five years. In a statement, he emphasised that doubling the existing operating capacity was essential to cater to the rapid rise in passenger travel demand. (See Page-2 ) fp Briefs MOSCOW Russian army holds Kupyansk The Russian army holds control of the strategic city of Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region, and conducted a large-scale strike on Ukrainian militaryrelated targets overnight, Moscow said on Saturday. and significant temperature drop, especially at night, with some areas having minimum temperature below 5 degrees Celsius, according to metrological department. An alert for cold wave has been issued at isolated places in Bhopal, Sehore, Rajgarh, Indore, Shajapur, Mandsaur, Anuppur, Shahdol, Seoni district in next 24 hours. Dense fog at isolated places like Singrauli, Sidhi, Rewa, Mauganj, Satna, Panna, Chhatarpur is likely to occur in next 24 hours. Moderate fog is likely at isolated places in Gwalior, Datia, Bhind, Umaria, Tikamgarh, Niwari and Maihar district. On Saturday, Bhopal recorded maximum temperature of 23.5 degrees Celsius, which was 2.1 degrees below normal. It recorded minimum temperature of 4.6 degrees Celsius, which was 6.1 degrees below normal. Indore Online Report In a political twist in Mattathur panchayat of Kerala's Thrissur district, all eight elected Congress members resigned and joined hands with the BJP to take control of the council. With the BJP's support, Tessy Jose Kallaraykkal, a Congress rebel, has now be- °C 2.9 3.1 3.2 3.8 4.6 4.6 4.7 4.8 5.0 5.6 5.8 6.0 6.2 7.0 7.0 7.0 recorded day temperature of 26.3 degrees Celsius while its night temperature at 6.2 degrees Celsius was 4.7 degrees below normal. Power of organisation: Diggy creates flutter by sharing Modi’s picture Vidhi Santosh Mehta MUMBAI Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh on Saturday triggered a controversy after sharing a black-and-white photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the 1990s and praising the Bharatiya Janata Party and its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which the Congress has often criticised. In a post on X, Digvijaya Singh said he found the picture on Quora and described it as “very impressive”. In the post, he wrote in Hindi for which the English translation of the image showed Allu Arjun named among 23 accused in charge sheet Zelenskyy doesn’t have anything until I approve it: Don’s tough tone PTI PUSHPA-2 STAMPEDE HYDERABAD The city police have filed a charge sheet in a court here against 23 persons, including top Telugu actor Allu Arjun, in connection with the death of a woman in a stampede during the premiere of 'Pushpa-2' film. The theatre management has been named as the prime accused in the charge sheet filed recently, while Arjun has been named as accused no 11. come the new panchayat president heading a newly formed front, ending the 23year rule of the Left in Mattathur. The results of the 24member panchayat were tight: Left Democratic Front 10, United Democratic Front 8, NDA 4 and 2 independents. The UDF had decided to support KR Ouseph, an independent who won as a Con- 4Continued on | P8 Agencies Earlier, Allu Arjun was arrested after the 35-year-old woman died and her eight-year-old son was injured in the stampede during the screening of 'Pushpa 2' movie at Sandhya theatre here on December 4, 2024. The stampede occurred as fans gathered to catch a glimpse of the actor during the 'Pushpa 2' premiere. 4Continued on | P8 Cong leaders quit, tie up with BJP to take control of Kerala panchayat THRISSUR City Mandsaur Shajapur Shahdol Rajgarh Bhopal Nowgong Umaria Pachmarhi Khajuraho Malajkhand Rewa Raisen Indore Shivpuri Mandla Damoh gress rebel. But just before the election, Ouseph joined hands with the LDF, leaving Congress leaders shocked. Angered by this, all eight Congress members quit the party. They said in their resignation letters that the local Congress leadership had acted unfairly and ignored loyal workers. 4Continued on | P8 WASHINGTON As US President Donald Trump and Zelenskyy plan to meet in Florida this Sunday, Trump has said that any possible peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia will need his approval as Zelenskyy prepares a new 20-point peace plan, Politico reported. In an interview, Trump said, "He doesn't have anything until I approve it," Trump said. "So we'll see what he's got." Zelenskyy is expected to meet Trump in Florida on Sunday. He has said he will present a new 20-point peace plan aimed at ending the nearly four-year-long war with Russia. The peace plan proposed by US and Ukrainian officials is 90 per cent ready, Zelenskyy said on Friday. The proposal reportedly includes the idea of a demilitarised zone and discussions on security guarantees from the United States. Meanwhile, Trump is positive towards the upcoming meeting with leaders to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. offgrid China tests train @700 kmph FP News Service MUMBAI Researchers at the National University of Defence Technology of Hebei province have successfully accelerated a tonne-class magnetic levitation vehicle to a record speed of 700 km/h in less than two seconds on a 400-metre test track, marking the fastest acceleration ever achieved by a superconducting electric maglev system. The vehicle was also brought safely to a stop within the short test line, demonstrating both extreme acceler- ation and precise high-power control. The test has set a new global benchmark and placed China in the top tier of ultra-high-speed maglev technology. Footage aired by state broadcaster China Central Television showed a chassis-like vehicle flashing across the track, leaving a visible trail of mist as it reached peak speed almost instantly before stopping at the end of the line, according to a report by South China Morning Post. 4Continued on | P8 BHOPAL NASHIK MUMBAI E-paper Cinema Katrina wishes love & light to... P.13 COLD WRAPS STATE Cold wave disrupts normal life in Bhopal, dists PUNE Readers’ Corner All Is Well… But Is It? P.6 Prez: Kyiv strikes show Putin’s true attitude WINTER BITE | 2.9°C in Mandsaur, 3.1 in Shajapur, 3.2 in Shahdol; cold wave alert issued at isolated places Madhya Pradesh continued to reel under biting cold as minimum temperature that plunged below 10 degrees Celsius in most cities on intervening night of FridaySaturday. State is caught in a broader winter system bringing biting cold and fog, prompting health advisories. Cold wave has paralysed normal life in Bhopal and other districts. The state is experiencing biting cold ahead of New Year due to withdrawal of western disturbance, allowing frigid, dry northwesterly winds from Himalayas to sweep across central parts of country, causing rapid radiative cooling, clear skies, dense fog, UJJAIN BJYM leader runs car over 5; two dead Escapes from custody FP News Service MORENA A BJYM leader allegedly ran his car over five people, resulting in the death of two and injuring three others from the same family in Morena district.The incident took place in Porsa town late Friday night. Accused Dipendra Bhadoria is the town unit president of BJP Yuva Morcha. According to information, Bhadoria's recklessly driven car hit five people and later collided with another vehicle. Eyewitnesses claimed that Bhadoria was intoxicated while he was at the steering wheel.Angry locals caught the accused and beat him up before handing him over to the police. However, Bhadoria allegedly escaped from custody soon after. 4Continued on | P8 Satna to get Narmada water from Bargi dam: CM Yadav performs bhoomi pujan of 650-bed hospital on government medical college premises ISBT will be named after Vajpayee FP News Service SATNA Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has said the residents of Satna will get the Narmada River water through the Bargi dam by the next year, which will permanently solve the water shortage in the district. He also said that the newly built ISBT will be named after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Yadav, who was on a day’s trip to Satna city on Saturday, made the statements during the inauguration of the ISBT bus stand. 4Continued on | P8 Industrial park to be set up on 100 acres Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has said the Vindhya region is an important place for trade and commerce. He further said a new industrial park would be set up on 100 acres for industrial development. He also said that eight acres would be allotted to Vindhya Chambers of Commerce, and a Gita Bhawan would be built in Satna for holding events related to business and cultural activities. The building will be constructed on PPP mode, he said. Acting on ‘sixth sense’, SC quashes rape conviction PTI NEW DELHI The Supreme Court has quashed the conviction of a man in a rape case, noting the complainant and the convict have married each other and observed that the consensual relationship between the parties was given a criminal colour owing to a misunderstanding. A bench of Justices B V Na- garathna and Satish Chandra Sharma said that when the matter came up before the top court, after considering the facts of the case, "we had a sixth sense that the appellant and the respondent prosecutrix could be brought together once again if they decided to marry each other". It noted the parties had married each other in July this year and had been residing together since then. "This is one of those rare cases where, on the intervention of this court, the appellant herein, who had applied to seek suspension of his sentence, was ultimately benefited by quashing of his conviction as well as the sentence," the bench said in its December 5 verdict. The top court delivered its verdict on an appeal by the man challenging an April 2024 Madhya Pradesh High Court order rejecting his application seeking suspension of the sentence. A trial court had convicted the man in the case and sentenced him to rigorous imprisonment for 10 years along with a Rs 55,000 fine. 4Continued on | P8