FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms FREE PRESS Vol. 15 No. 219 | BHOPAL | TUESDAY | JANUARY 20, 2026 | Pages 14 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 www.freepressjournal.in Sports ‘India never began well’ - batting flaws exposed in NZ series loss P.12 fp Briefs KOLKATA 24 B’deshi fishermen held The Indian Coast Guard on Monday arrested 24 Bangladeshi fishermen for allegedly crossing the international marine border in the Bay of Bengal in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal and entering Indian waters, and handed them over to the coastal police wing of the West Bengal Police. Early on Monday morning, a patrolling vessel of the Indian Coast Guard spotted a Bangladeshi fishing trawler with 24 fishermen within Indian waters. NEW DELHI/CHENNAI CBI quizzes TVK’s Vijay The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has completed the second phase of questioning Tamil Nadu Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) leader Vijay in connection with the Karur stampede case, in which 41 people lost their lives during a political campaign rally last year. According to sources, Vijay was questioned for nearly five-anda-half hours on Monday, marking a key stage in the ongoing investigation. NEW DELHI RDI fund roll out by month end The Rs 1 lakh crore Research, Development, and Innovation (RDI) fund for industry-backed projects will start by the end of this month, said Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, on Monday. Addressing a review meeting for the RDI Fund scheme, the Minister noted that the funding framework has entered into the execution phase, and two public sector institutions are poised to start funding industrybacked projects. LUCKNOW/NOIDA SIT probe into techie’s death The Uttar Pradesh government on Monday removed the Noida Authority CEO and ordered an SIT probe into the death of the software engineer after his car plunged into a water-filled pit at an under-construction site in Noida, amid mounting outrage over the incident and allegations of official and developer negligence. CM Yogi Adityanath directed constitution of a high-level SIT. ESTD-1983 iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: BHOPAL MONEY SC rejects minister Vijay Shah’s apology Pulls up state govt over delay in sanction for prosecution Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL Shah had said: They killed our Hindus by removing their clothes, and Modiji sent his sister to their house to beat them up, referring to Op Sindoor Surya Kant, Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Joymalya Bagchi questioned why state had not acted on SIT request for prosecution sanction. Government has been sitting on SIT report since August 2025, now it is January 19, 2026, bench observed. SC noted that SIT had sought approval for prosecution. Shah’s Nitin Nabin all set to be elected as BJP national president Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar NEW DELHI With 37 sets of nomination papers filed in his favour and none against, BJP’s national working president Nitin Nabin on Monday remained the lone candidate in fray for the election of the new party president due on Tuesday. His election to the post thus now remains a mere formality. Earlier in the day, BJP national president J.P. Nadda and several union ministers, including Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah and Nitin Gadkari, accompanied Nabin to the office of the BJP’s national returning officer and MP K. Laxman for the filing of his nomination. A former Bihar minister and five-term MLA, 45-yearold Nabin was in December 2025 picked by the BJP as its new national working presi- PUNE dent and his formal election to the post of president had thereafter seemed only a matter of time. After the process of filing of nominations came to an end at 4 p.m., Laxman announced that the election process for the next BJP national president was initiated after the election of 30 state presidents out of 36 states had been completed. He added that this was well above the requirement of completing such elections in a minimum of 50 per cent of the states. Subsequently, he noted that on January 16 the notification of schedule of elections was announced and the electoral roll was published. Today, the returning officer said, the nomination process was completed between 2 p.m. an 4 p.m. and in all 37 sets of nomination papers were received in favour of Nabin. “On scrutiny, all sets of nomination papers were found to be duly-filled up in the required format and were valid,” Laxman said, 4Continued on | P8 counsel informed SC that minister had already tendered apology. On May 14, 2024, High Court took suo motu cognizance of Shah’s remarks and directed state police to register FIR. Consequently, he was booked under Sections 152, 196(1)(b), and 197(1)(c) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Later that evening, Shah posted a social media video apologising for comments and calling Colonel Qureshi “nation’s sister.” However, on May 15, High Court expressed dissatisfaction with FIR and said it would monitor investigation to ensure fairness. The controversy stems from provocative speech delivered by Shah on May 11, 2025 in Indore’s Mhow. Shah had said: “They killed our Hindus by removing their clothes, and Modiji sent his sister to their house to beat them up,” referring to “Operation Sindoor.” 4Continued on | P8 MP U-19 end 80-year wait, lift maiden Cooch Behar Trophy Our Sports Reporter INDORE/VALSAD INDORE NASHIK Madhya Pradesh Under-19 created history by winning their first-ever Cooch Behar Trophy, defeating Gujarat by six wickets at Valsad on Monday. After conceding a first-innings lead, MP bowled Gujarat out for 133, with Yashbardhan Singh Chauhan starring. Kushagra Nagar’s composed 71 led the chase, supported by Pushkar Vishwakarma and Sparsh Dhakar, sealing a landmark triumph after decades of near misses. (Detail report on sports page) AP IMF raises India’s GDP growth projection to 7.3% PTI NEW DELHI The IMF on Monday raised India's growth projection to 7.3 per cent for fiscal 2025-26, up 0.7 percentage point from its October forecast, on the back of better-than-expected performance of the economy. The Washington-headquartered multilateral lending agency has also revised India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth forecast to 6.4 per cent for fiscal year 2026-27 beginning April 1, 2026, from its earlier estimate of 6.2 per cent. "In India, growth is revised upward by 0.7 percentage point to 7.3 per cent for 2025 (fiscal FY26), reflecting the betterthan-expected outturn in the third quarter of the year and strong momentum in the fourth quarter," it said in its World Economic Outlook (WEO) update. Growth is projected to moderate to 6.4 per cent in 2026-27 and 2027-28 as cyclical and temporary factors wane, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said. According to India's statistics ministry, GDP during April-September of 2025-26 registered a growth rate of 8 per cent, on the back of a robust 8.2 per cent growth in July-September period. IANS NEW DELHI Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) President, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on Monday, decided to double India-UAE bilateral trade to $200 billion by 2032, according to a joint statement issued on Monday after a meeting held here. The two leaders welcomed the robust growth in trade and economic cooperation since the China's population shrank for the fourth consecutive year as birth rates in 2025 fell by about 10 million from a decade earlier, a trend widely blamed on the longterm effects of the former one-child policy. According to the data released by National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday only 7.92 million babies were born in 2025 compared to 9.54 million in 2024, a decline of 17 per cent. This marked the lowest birth figure since records began in 1949 and broke the previous lowest record set in 2023, the year India overtook China as the most populous country, according to a United Nations report. Based on the current fer- As per NBS data, China's population fell by 3.39 million in 2025 to 1.4049 billion from 1.4083 billion a year earlier tility rates in China, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) estimated in 2024 that China's population After Kanyal, Rathi, and Singhal, Dileep Yadav gets important assignment Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL Punishment awarded to the officers by the government for showing negligence in work or for creating controversies does not last long in the state. The officers, who had been shifted for accidents or for some other reasons, were given important postings afterwards. The then commissioner of Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC), who was removed after the deaths of several people due to contaminated water, was posted as managing director of MP Tourism Development Corporation. The posting has raised a storm. Before Yadav, a few other officers who had been shifted from their places of posting as punishment were given important positions. After taking over as Chief Minister, Mohan Yadav transferred collector of Guna district Tarun Rathi and several other officers because of a bus accident, but, after a while, Rathi was appointed health Those responsible for deaths rewarded: Patwari Reacting to the transfer of Dileep Yadav, MPCC president Jitu Patwari said those who had been responsible for deaths were rewarded. He said the order suspending additional commissioner Rohit Sissoniya was yet to be made public. Similarly, Dinesh Maurya, who was removed after the deaths of children due to toxic cough syrup, was posted as deputy secretary of the General Administration. The Leader of the Opposition, Umang Singhar, said after the deaths in Indore, the IMC commissioner had been promoted within 16 days of the incident commissioner. According to the transfer list issued on Sunday, Rathi was posted as commissioner of the Tribal Welfare Department. Collector of Shajapur district Kishore Kanyal was removed for misbehaving with a driver. Now, Kanyal is the collector of Guna. Before this, he had been posted to Sheopur. The then collector of Seoni, Kshitij Singhal, was shifted after the death of cows. He was recently sent as commissioner of IMC. Before joining IMC, Shingal was the MD of Central Region Power Distribution Company. a train carrying some 300 pas- would decline to 633 million by 2100. As per NBS data released on Monday, China's total population fell by 3.39 million in 2025 to 1.4049 billion from 1.4083 billion a year earlier. Also, China is currently grappling with a rapidly ageing population. According to the official data at the end of 2024, the number of people aged 60 and above in The then collector Deepak Arya, who was transferred from Sagar after the deaths of children due to the collapse of a wall, was posted as the chief executive officer of the MP Rural Road Development Authority (MPRRDA). Navneet Kothari, who was transferred after the controversy in the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), was posted as principal secretary in Lok Bhawan, which was earlier known as Raj Bhawan. 4Continued on | P8 signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement in 2022 and noted the rapid growth of bilateral trade, which reached $100 billion in FY 2024-25, the statement said. The two leaders endorsed the outcomes of the 13th High-Level Task Force on Investments held in September 2025, and the 16th India-UAE Joint Commission Meeting and 5th Strategic Dialogue held in December 2025. 4Continued on | P8 PM Narendra Modi with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on latters arrival, in New Delhi. Don’t help fuel terror infra in our SIT set up to probe banned neighbourhood: EAM to Poland meat supply PTI Poland should display "zero-tolerance" for terrorism and not help "fuel" the terrorist infrastructure in India's neighbourhood, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told his Polish counterpart Radoslaw Sikorski on Monday in a blunt message apparently over the mentioning of Kashmir in a Poland-Pakistan joint statement in October. At a meeting with Sikorski, Jaishankar also expressed his anguish over the unfair and unjustified "selective targeting" of India over the Ukraine sengers on the route from Malaga to the capital, Madrid, went off the rails at 7:45 pm. It slammed into an incoming train travelling from Madrid to Huelva, another southern Spanish city, according to rail operator Adif. The head of the second train, which was carrying nearly 200 passengers, took the brunt of the impact, Spanish Transport Minister Oscar Puente said. See World China’s population shrinks to historic low PTI After punishment transfers, officers get key positions India, UAE target doubling trade to $200 bn offgrid BEIJING P.6 from BMC abattoir NEW DELHI ADAMUZ at 7:45 pm when the tail end of E-paper Cinema Randeep enters wellness... P.14 39 killed in Spanish high-speed train collision Spanish police said Monday that at least 39 people are confirmed dead in a high-speed train collision the previous night in the south of the country, as efforts to recover the bodies continue with authorities expecting the death toll to rise. The crash occurred Sunday MUMBAI Edit Never bored of peace Louvre’s first-ever exhibition in Shanghai REMARK ON COL SOFIA | Top court gives state 2 weeks to decide on sanction for prosecution Supreme Court on Monday pulled up Madhya Pradesh government for delaying decision on granting sanction to prosecute minister Kunwar Vijay Shah, months after SIT sought approval over his remark against Colonel Sofia Qureshi. SC has given state government two weeks to decide whether to grant sanction for prosecution. Besides, SC rejected Shah’s apology when raised during hearing. SC was hearing petitions filed by Shah challenging High Court’s suo motu order for registration of an FIR against him over his reference to Colonel Qureshi as a “sister of terrorists.” The bench of Chief Justice UJJAIN China had hit 310 million. By 2035, this demographic is projected to exceed 400 million. By sheer numbers last year marked the steepest annual population decline on record, apart from during China's devastating famine from 1959 to 1961, the Hong Kong based South China Morning Post reported. 4Continued on | P8 Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL EAM S. Jaishankar with Polands Deputy PM and Foreign Affairs Minister Radoslaw Sikorski in New Delhi conflict, in what is seen as a reference to Western nations' criticism of New Delhi over its energy ties with Russia. 4Continued on | P8 Trump ties Nobel prize grievance to Greenland control Agencies WASHINGTON DC A letter shared by PBS Newshour Correspondent Nick Schifrin, attributed to President Donald Trump and recently circulated among European diplomats in Washington, has triggered fresh concern across allied capitals after it explicitly links US security interests, the Nobel Peace Prize, and American control of Greenland. The message was addressed to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store and later forwarded by National Security Council staff to several European ambassadors, with instructions that it be shared with their respective heads of government or state. The text, posted by Schifrin on his X account, revives and sharpens themes Trump has raised publicly in the past, while framing them in unusually blunt and personal terms. The letter opens with a grievance over the Nobel Peace Prize, which is awarded by a committee appointed by Norway's parliament. Trump asserts that Norway's failure to award him the prize has altered his approach to global affairs and alliance politics. "Dear Jonas: Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, 4Continued on | P8 A Special Investigation Team (SIT), formed on instructions of Police Commissioner Harinarayanachari Mishra, will conduct a detailed probe into the high-profile banned meat supply case from BMC slaughterhouse at Jinsi. The SIT will be headed by ACP HabibganjUmesh Tiwari and assisted by officers including Jahangirabad police station in-charge Man Singh Chaudhary and Shapura police station in-charge Lokendra Singh. Officials said investigation will cover all aspects of the case, including questioning slaughterhouse operator Aslam Qureshi, aka Aslam Chamda, his aides, workers and other staff. The SIT will also re-examine CCTV footage and visit the facility with an FSL team to collect further evidence related to banned meat supply. Police sources said that Aslam Qureshi may be taken on police remand for detailed questioning. Officials believe the probe could reveal additional names linked to the banned meat supply chain from Jinsi slaughterhouse. The BMC slaughterhouse at Jinsi was sealed on January 8, after an FSL report confirmed banned meat in packets seized from a container intercepted near PHQ area on December 17. In connection with the case, Aslam Qureshi and container driver Shoaib were arrested and sent to jail. The veterinary doctor overseeing slaughtered animals at the facility, along with eight others, were suspended for negligence.