FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms Vol. 15 No. 234 | BHOPAL | FRIDAY | FEBRUARY 6, 2026 | Pages 16 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 FREE www.freepressjournal.in ESTD-1983 iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: BHOPAL UJJAIN MONEY Sports TITLE-TILT THRILLER P.14 PRESS PUNE INDORE NASHIK MUMBAI E-paper Edit Mamata’s rare SC appearance P.6 ASSET MONETISATION, STAKE SALE KEEP TARGETS INTACT Cinema ‘No star tantrums, only teamwork’ P.16 ‘Indian women’s unpaid care work worth up to `90 tn a yr’ Atul Gautam IIM-I STUDY INDORE A new study from Indian Institute of Management Indore has revealed that unpaid care and household work performed largely by women in India could be worth anywhere between Rs 30 trillion and Rs 90 trillion annually, amounting to 11–27 per cent of the country’s GDP -- a massive contribution that remains largely invisible in official economic accounts. The study, titled “The Invisible Economy: India’s Care Work Crisis,” was conducted Study finds Indian women spend an average of 299 minutes per day on unpaid household and care work by Madhav Goel, an IPM student at IIM Indore, along with Prof Shweta Kushal from the institute’s communications area. Using data from India’s Time Use Survey and Periodic Labour Force Survey, the researchers applied two standard valuation methods to estimate the economic value of unpaid care work. One approach, known as the replacement cost method, calculates how POWER PIVOT | World is appreciating India-US trade deal, says PM World moving towards new global order: Modi PTI ‘Had concrete info that Cong MPs could carry out unexpected act’ NEW DELHI The world is moving towards a new global order, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday while replying on the President's address, adding that India has emerged as a loud voice of the Global South. The Prime Minister started his reply as Opposition parties raised slogans saying the 'Leader of Opposition should be allowed to speak' amid the stand-off in the Lok Sabha. The Prime Minister took a dig at Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, and suggested he can raise slogans while sitting. Opposition MPs later staged a walkout. The Prime Minister said the world is moving towards a new global order after the Covid-19 pandemic. "It is clear, the world is moving towards a new world order. After the second world war, a world order was created, now the world is moving towards a new world order. If we analyse it independently, it is leaning towards India," fp Briefs BIJAPUR Top Naxalite killed A senior Naxalite carrying a reward of Rs 8 lakh on his head was gunned down on Thursday by security forces in an encounter in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, police said. He was identified as Udham Singh, a 'divisional committee' member of the south Bastar division of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist). Singh was in charge of platoon number 13 of the south Bastar division, the official added. DUBAI Indian teacher wins $1 mn award An Indian teacher and activist known for creating hundreds of learning centres and painting educational murals across the walls of slums won the $1 million Global Teacher Prize on Thursday. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday said he had concrete information that many Congress MPs could carry out an "unexpected act" by reaching the spot where Prime Minister Narendra Modi sits and therefore he asked him not to come to the House to deliver his address. If this incident had taken place, then this would have left the democratic traditions of the country in shreds, Birla said as the House reassembled at 3 PM. In a sharp response to Birla's remarks in the House, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra alleged that Prime Minister Modi is "hiding behind" the Speaker and termed as "absolute lie" the claim that there was any plan to hurt Modi. The world is talking about the global south, India is a loud voice of the global south Narendra Modi Prime Minister Modi said. "The world is talking about the global south, India is a loud voice of the global south," he said. He mentioned the trade deals being finalised with different countries. "We are doing future-ready trade deals with a lot of countries. In the past few days, we RS witnesses noisy scenes, walkout The Rajya Sabha on Thursday witnessed heated exchanges and Opposition walkout after Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge raised the issue of Rahul Gandhi not being allowed to speak in the Lok Sabha. Kharge raised the issue of Gandhi, but when he started to read excerpts from an unpublished book of former army chief M M Naravane, he was disallowed, leading to a walkout by Opposition benches have had nine major trade deals, and the mother of all deals was the one with the European Union," he said. He also took a jibe at the Opposition, which had staged a walkout, and said, "They got tired and left... But some day they will have to reply... How did they bring India to a point that no Min Verma threatens to delete names of Ladli Behnas from list They should remember what PM is doing for them, says minister FP News Service SEHORE Revenue Minister Karan Singh Verma, who is known for creating controversies, kicked up another row at a public meeting in Sehore on Thursday when he said the names of the Ladli Behnas absent from the meeting would be deleted from the list of beneficiaries. Earlier, another minister of the state, Vijay Shah, also known for courting controversies by his statements, made a similar remark as Verma did in Ashta. Verma, made the statement during the inauguration of a sub-health centre at Dhamanda village in Ashta Tehsil. Wheat is being sent to every house from Delhi because of the initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and a sum of Rs 1,500 is transferred to the accounts of Ladli Behnas every month, he said, adding that the Congress never gave a single penny to women. Farmers are also getting financial assistance because of Modi’s initiative, Verma said. The government is providing financial aid worth Rs 1,500 a month to 894 Ladli Behnas in Dhamanda village, he said. 4Continued on | P8 country was coming forward to have a trade deal with us." He also accused former Congress-led governments of destroying India's image. He further said "the whole world is appreciating" the India-US trade deal. He added that the trade deal will especially be beneficial for the Indian youth. CJI in Bhopal today to attend Chintan Shivir Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice Surya Kant will arrive in Bhopal on Friday. The state government will host a dinner in his honour. He will participate in a twoday programme, “Chintan Shivir,” on judiciary at the National Judicial Academy, starting Saturday and continuing on Sunday. Registrar of the National Judicial Academy Vijay Chandra said CJI Surya Kant will attend the two-day programme along with all Chief Justices of states. Besides him, other SC judges and High Court judges will also join the sessions. much it would cost to pay workers for domestic and care services. The second, the opportunity cost method, estimates the income women forgo by engaging in unpaid work instead of paid employment. Together, these methods highlight the sheer scale of economic activity that goes unrecognised because it does not involve monetary transactions. The study found that Indian women spend an average of 299 minutes per day on unpaid household and care work, compared to just 42 minutes for men, reflect- ing a seven-fold gender gap. Women account for nearly 87% of the total economic value generated by unpaid care work, pointing to what the authors describe as systematic economic extraction. India’s situation mirrors a global trend but with greater intensity. According to OECD data, women perform around 75% of unpaid care work worldwide, while the International Labour Organisation estimates such work contributes between 10% and 39% of GDP across economies. ‘India, US may sign trade deal by mid-March’ 4 yrs on, state yet to make online mobile gaming law PTI NEW DELHI India and the US are likely to sign the first tranche of the much-awaited bilateral trade agreement by mid-March, that would lead to Washington lowering import duties on Indian imports, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday. Following the signing of the pact, India will begin reducing import duties on certain goods imported from the US. Goyal also said that the two countries are expected to finalise and sign a joint statement on the first tranche of the bilateral trade agreement within 45 days, following which tariffs imposed by America will come down to 18 per cent. The two countries finalised the agreement earlier this week. Under this, tariffs on Indian goods entering the US will be reduced to 18 per cent from 50 per cent. 4Continued on | P8 Experts call for digital wellbeing in school syllabi, parent sensitisation Our Staff Reporter Four years after announcement, Madhya Pradesh government is yet to enact a law to regulate online mobile gaming. In January 2022, the then Home Minister Narottam Mishra had announced plans to bring such legislation following suicide of an 11-yearold boy in Bhopal while playing online game Free Fire. Since then, state has witnessed a series of suicides involving children addicted to online gaming. On February 3 this year, 14-year-old AnshSahu died by suicide in Piplani area of city. Family members said he was heavily addicted to Free Fire and had NEW DELHI Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Thursday launched Bharat Taxi, the country's first co-operativerun ride-hailing platform, which will start services in Delhi-NCR and Gujarat initially and pan-India in the What triggers suicides » Children use parents’ or grandparents’ bank accounts without permission to buy virtual upgrades, leading to fear of punishment when discovered » Games use psychological manipulation to push children into completing dangerous tasks » Failure to buy upgrades due to lack of money » Withdrawal symptoms when mobile phone is confiscated spent Rs 28,000 from his grandfather’s bank account on in-game purchases. In August this year, a 13year-old student ended his life in Indore after losing Rs 2,800 in an online battle game. Earlier, in July 2021, a Class 6 stu- MP GOVT SUBMITS REPLY IN VIJAY SHAH CASE Next hearing on February 9 Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL The state government on Thursday submitted its reply in Vijay Shahcase to the Solicitor General’s office in New Delhi. Additional Chief Secretary (Home) SheoShekhar Shukla and Secretary (Home) KrishnaveniDesabastu filed the response on behalf of the state. The next hearing is scheduled for February 9. The Supreme Court had earlier directed the state gov- SC earlier directed state government to decide within two weeks on granting sanction for prosecution ernment to decide within two weeks on granting sanction for prosecution in connection with an FIR registered against Minister Vijay Shah over his remarks referring to Colonel Sofiya Qureshi as a “sister of terrorists.” The state government had already constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) on the court’s directive. The SIT may seek more time for investigation. Earlier, the SIT had submitted its report to the state government seeking sanction, which is mandatory for the court to take cognisance of offences under Section 196 (1) (a) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. The Supreme Court was informed that the state government had not taken any decision on the request for sanction, citing pendency of the matter before the court. The SC had expressed disappointment over the delay of five months. commission and are offering many other incentives, in- 4Continued on | P8 CM announces aid after woman dies of bee attack FP News Service CM Mohan Yadav expressed grief over the death of Kanchan Bai Mewal, an Anganwadi worker from Ranpur village in Neemuch district, who recently died from a bee attack. The CM announced financial assistance of Rs four lakh for the bereaved family on humanitarian grounds. Additionally, the state government will bear all education expenses for Kanchan Bai's children to ensure the family faces no future difficulties. CM Yadav assured that the government stands with the family during this difficult time. 18 killed in Meghalaya coal mine blast PTI SHILLONG At least 18 labourers were killed, and several others feared trapped following an explosion at an "illegal" coal mine in Meghalaya's East Jaintia Hills district on Thursday, officials said. Rescue teams have been engaged in search oper- ations, Director General of Police I Nongrang said, adding that the incident occurred in the Thangsku area in the morning. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that an exgratia of Rs 2 lakh would be provided to the next of kin of each deceased, while the injured would be given Rs 50,000. Condolences to those who lost their loved ones. May the injured recover at the earliest," the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) quoted Modi as saying in a post on X. Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma expressed grief over the incident and announced a probe. "Pained by the mishap in East Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya. cluding free rides to customers, seeing the success of Bharat Taxi during the pilot operation. However, Shah emphasised that Bharat Taxi is giving ownership to drivers, which no other ride-hailing platform can offer. "From today, Bharat Taxi has been commercially launched in Delhi-NCR and Gujarat. Within three years, the service will be expanded to all states. Nobody should have any doubt about this," he said. "You will be the driver, and you will be the owner of Bharat Taxi platform," Shah told the gathering. Around 800-1,000 drivers attended the event held at Vigyan Bhawan in the national capital. He said the profit will be shared with drivers associated with Bharat Taxi. 4Continued on | P8 4Continued on | P8 US seizes 200 website domains tied to India-based organisation PTI next three years. Bharat Taxi platform, which has been established by India's top eight co-operative organistions including dairy major Amul, will enhance drivers' income significantly, besides giving them ownership, the minister highlighted. Addressing an event after launching the service, Shah said the rival ride-hailing platforms have reduced dent died by suicide in Chhatapur after losing Rs 40,000 while playing Free Fire. He left behind a suicide note apologising for financial loss incurred from his mother’s account. NEEMUCH India’s first coop ride-hailing platform launched PTI » Sudden withdrawal and isolation from family » Decline in academic performance and loss of interest in sports or hobbies » Secrecy around mobile phone use and latenight gaming » Unexplained deductions from bank accounts BHOPAL offgrid Nationwide roll out in 3 years Warning signals NEW YORK US federal authorities have seized more than 200 website domains tied to an Indiabased transnational criminal organisation having illegal online pharmacies allegedly responsible for at least six fatal and four non-fatal overdoses. The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) field offices throughout the country also conducted multiple oper- ILLEGAL ONLINE PHARMACIES ations leading to the arrest of four individuals, it said in a statement said on Wednesday. The DEA, with the cooperation of the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, announced the seizure of more than 200 website domains tied to the Indiabased transnational criminal 4Continued on | P8