Vol. 67 No. 219 | THURSDAY | JUNE 13, 2024 | 27 Pages | `5 & for Pune `6 only Quality at Value www.freepressjournal.in MEMBER: AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATION JANUARY TO DECEMBER 2023 EDITIONS: MUMBAI*, Pune, Nashik, Konkan, Indore, Bhopal, E-paper ISHQ VISHK REBOUND THE FP BULLETIN SUNETRA FOR RAJYA SABHA S unetra Pawar, wife of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, is likely to be nominated to Rajya Sabha. A formal announcement to this effect is expected on Thursday. Sunetra is expected to file her nomination for the bypoll on Thursday, the last day for doing so. Voting for bypolls will be held on June 25. The Rajya Sabha byelection was necessitated after NCP working president Praful Patel resigned, following his re-election to the Upper House of Parliament in February 2024. Ajit Pawar, the NCP president, held a meeting on Wednesday evening with top leaders, including state president Sunil Tatkare, Chhagan Bhujbal and Dhananjay Munde. Ajit Pawar’s son Parth is also among the frontrunners. Bhujbal, Baba Siddique and Anand Paranjape are the other NCP aspirants. Sunetra was defeated by her sister-inlaw and Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule from the Baramati Lok Sabha seat. Parth was defeated in the Maval LS seat in 2019. VANDALISM ON EVE OF PM’S ITALY VISIT A bust of Mahatma Gandhi was vandalised in Italy by Khalistani extremists on Wednesday just hours after its inauguration. The accused also wrote controversial slogans related to slain Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar the at base of the bust. After the incident, the local authorities said that the area was sanitised. The incident happened a day before the G7 Summit in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also participate. The 50th G7 Summit will be held in the luxury resort of Borgo Egnazia in Apulia region from June 13 to 15. According to Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra, PM Modi will be travelling to Apulia on Thursday at the invite of Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. PM’S VARANASI VISIT ON JUNE 18 V aranasi's Member of Parliament Narendra Modi is set to visit the city on June 18, his first visit after being sworn in for a third consecutive term as prime minister. His itinerary includes a dialogue with farmers, a visit to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, and participation in the Ganga Aarti. YADAV FOCUS ON NATIONAL SCENE A khilesh Yadav, President of the Samajwadi Party (SP), has officially resigned from his membership of Vidhan Sabha; he intends to increasingly focus on national politics. Justifying Akhilesh’s decision to forsake UP for national politics, a senior Samajwadi Party leader said UP will have assembly elections in 2027. “There is not much to do in state politics for 3 years,’’ he explained. With Akhilesh relinquishing his role as the Leader of the Opposition in the UP Assembly, a successor will have to be found -either his uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav or Mehboob Ali. The film is all about love triangle, friendship EDIT SHOW OF DISSENT IN NDA IS WELCOME 40 Indians killed in Kuwait blaze NIFTY HITS FRESH ALLTIME HIGH; SENSEX CLIMBS 150 POINTS Fire in MIDC chemical unit N K GUPTA / THANE A massive fire broke out in a chemical factory in Dombivli on Wednesday morning. This is the second such incident in the MIDC complex in three weeks. On May 23, as many as 13 people were killed and more than 60 injured after a blast in a reactor at Amudan Chemical Company also located in , the same area. The two owners of the company Malay , Mehta and his wife Sneha Mehta, have been arrested. In the incident on Wednesday firemen from the MIDC , station rushed to the spot with ten fire engines from Kalyan, Thane, Bhiwandi and Had finger chips, how about finger ice-cream? PRASHANT NARVEKAR / MUMBAI You have heard of lady’s fingers, and perhaps fish fingers and finger chips but finger ice cream? When an Orlem resident, Dr Brendan Serrao, 27, ordered an ice cream cone on Wednesday through a delivery app, little did he realise that his treat had ‘digital’ content and a pop anatomy quiz awaited him. Mid-slurp through the Yummo butterscotch cone, something hard hit his tongue. Naturally he had to investigate. He , extracted the chunk and examined it. One glance was enough to tell him he was looking at was a portion of a human finger, about 2 cm long. Dr Serrao told the FPJ that in the morning, his sister was placing a grocery order on Zepto and he had asked her to add three butterscotch ice cream cones to the list. When the stuff was delivered, he opened a cone to enjoy it, only to discover the surprise ingredient. He has informed the Malad police about the incident. A senior police officer said the severed digit would be sent to the forensic laboratory and the place where the ice cream was being manufactured and packed would also be searched. “We have taken serious note of this matter,” he added. There is also the painful matter of a worker in an ice cream manufacturing facility who has lost a finger. However, the ice cream manufacturer did not respond to calls and email from the FPJ. NEET grace marks: ’Physics Wallah’ moves Apex Court Belapur fire stations to douse the blaze, said a fire officer. Kalyan DCP Sachin Gunjal said, “No workers or employees were trapped in the company premises. The fire has been brought under control. The fire broke out at Indo Amines, which deals with chemicals used in the manufacture of fertilisers. CONTD. ON NATION ‘Porsche bribe’ paid at Juvenile Justice office FPJ NEWS SERVICE / PUNE The bribe to swap the 17year-old boy’s blood sample in the Pune Porsche crash case was allegedly paid at the Juvenile Justice Board's office. The minor son of realtor Vishal Agrawal allegedly mowed down two IT professionals, Anish Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta, in the Kalyani Nagar area on May 19 in his Porsche that he was allegedly driving. The teen was allegedly under the influence of alcohol at the time. Sassoon General Hospital's Forensics Department head Dr Ajay Taware, Casualty Medical Officer Dr Shrihari Halnor and mortuary staffer Atul Ghalkamble were arrested for allegedly swapping the blood samples of the minor with that of his mother, Shivani. The teen’s father Vishal and Shivani were arrested in connection with the blood swapping. CONTD. ON NATION AGENCIES / NEW DELHI The chief executive of EdTech firm 'Physics Wallah', Alakh Pandey has , moved the Supreme Court against alleged random award of grace marks by the National Testing Agency to over 1,500 candidates who took the NEET-UG exam for admission to medical courses. The petitioner has urged the top court to set up an expert panel under its supervision to "enquire into the 0 0 31 c. 27 c. Sunrise : 06:01 am Sunset : 07:17 pm Fourth encounter in J&K FPJ NEWS SERVICE / JAMMU A fresh encounter broke out in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda district on Wednesday leaving a , soldier injured. This is the fourth encounter the Union Territory has seen in the last three days, and the second in Doda region of Jammu division since Tuesday . In the second Doda encounter, terrorists fired multiple rounds at a temporary check post of the Army in a remote area, following which multiple teams of the army and FPJ NEWS SERVICE KUWAIT CITY At least 40 Indians were killed and scores injured in a massive fire that engulfed a sixstorey building in Kuwait, built by NBTC, the biggest construction group in the region. Kuwait's Interior Ministry in a statement confirmed that the toll had reached 49 by Wednesday evening. The building that housed migrant workers caught fire while the residents were asleep, resulting in the death of many because of asphyxia caused by smoke inhalation, the officials said. A significant number of occupants were evacuated, they said. The fire started in a kitchen in the building in Mangaf area in Kuwait’s southern Ahmadi Governorate, in which nearly 200 workers of the same company reportedly lived, officials said. CONTD. ON NATION Mcap of BSE-listed companies hit record high of ` 429.32 lakh cr police rushed to the spot. Five soldiers of Rashtriya Rifles and a police officer were injured. The fresh wave of terror was unleashed with an attack on pilgrims on June 9 in Reasi in which nine people died. This was followed by an encounter between security forces and terrorists in the Kathua region. A group comprising three to four terrorists is hiding in the higher reaches of Doda, a senior police officer said in the morning, adding a search operation was on to neutralise them on the challenging terrain. JUBILATION MATCHED BY EXPECTATION Chandrababu: Uncanny ability to bounce back End of 24-year-old tenacious hold VJM DIVAKAR/ HYDERABAD SRIMOY KAR / BHUBANESWHAR There is something special about TDP supremo and newly sworn in Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Chandrababu Naidu. Politically speaking, he knows when to kick and when to kiss and make up. He also has the rare ability to bounce back and turn an adverse situation to his advantage. Only months ago, he was in jail after being arrested by the ED in a money laundering probe linked to an alleged skill development scam. For Naidu, this is his fourth term. Jana Sena Party chief and 'Power Star' Pawan Kalyan was sworn in as a Cabinet Minister along with 23 others, including Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh. PM Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, superstar Rajinikanth, Pawan Kalyan's elder brother and actor Chiranjeevi, former Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan and several other leaders were present at the oathtaking ceremony in Vijaywada. Even before taking oath, Naidu instructed officials that it is business as usual. All departments and ministries have been instructed to keep all files ready from 2019 till date. CONTD. ON NATION Odisha witnessed the grandest ever swearing-in ceremony in its history on Wednesday evening when Mohan Charan Majhi-led BJP government took over the reins of administration, breaking the tenacious 24-yearold hold of Biju Janata Dal (BJD). The event was attended by PM Modi and outgoing Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. The jubilation over the transition was unprecedented, as are the expectations of the four and a half crore people from the new government, which had promised the voters the moon. The change in mandate was not against the former BJD chief minister Naveen Patnaik but because of his excessive dependence on the IAS-turned-politician V K Pandian, in whom he reposed unbridled trust. BJP took advantage of the anger of the people who were disgusted with the governance model despite the slew of freebies Patnaik regime unleashed. CONTD. ON NATION ‘‘Over the past few days, we were getting information about movement of terrorists through the intelligence branch of district police and, accordingly temporary posts jointly , manned by army and police were set up in the higher reaches along with check points on the (inter-state) road," Deputy Inspector General of Police, Doda-Kishtwar-Ramban range, Shridhar Patil, told reporters. Late night reports said the forces have again engaged a group of militants in the upper reaches of Gandoh. INFLATION AT A 12-MONTH LOW FPJ DESK / MUMBAI Consumer price inflation eased to a 12-month low of 4.75 per cent in May com, pared to that in the corresponding month of the previous year. The figures released by the Ministry of Statistics on Wednesday showed that declining fuel and cooking oil prices helped to ease the burden on household budgets. CPI inflation had dipped to 4.83 per cent in April, which was an 11-month low and the declining trend is continuing. While the price rise in spices slowed to 4.27 per cent from 11.4 per cent in April, inflation in pulses stayed high at 17.14 per cent. Vegetable prices, too, shot up by as much as 27.33 per cent, though a little lower than 27.8 per cent in April which remains a pain point for consumers. The prices of cereals also increased by 8.65 per cent during the month; food inflation, which accounts for nearly half of the overall consumer price basket, rose 7.87 per cent in April, as against an 8.52 per cent rise in the previous month. However, inflation is still above the RBI’s mid-term target of 4 per cent. Two killed as dumper hits their mobike GLUED TO THE CREASE N K GUPTA / THANE The conditions didn't allow Suryakumar Yadav to break free, but he stayed glued to the crease to see India through with a fine half century. India beat USA by by seven wickets and ten balls – ICC examination process and results of Pandey in his plea, has also , NEET (UG) 2024." sought a direction to the expert The top court had said on Tuesday panel he has mooted "to come up the sanctity of the examwith improvement in ination has been affected Challenges extra the process of conductand sought responses marks given at ing NEET examination from the Centre and the and without hampering National Testing Agency random to 1,500 the interest of the other on another plea seeking students". candidates holding of the examina"Issue a writ or direct tion afresh on grounds of alleged the respondents (NTA and others) to question paper leak and other mal- take necessary steps to ensure that practices. the process of conducting the NEET examination is without any loopholes," the plea said. The lawyer who appeared for Pandey mentioned the plea for urgent listing on Tuesday before a vacation bench. The bench asked him to approach the apex court registry with his plea. "Multiple petitions have been listed in the court. Some of the petitions were filed before the declaration of results on the basis that there had been a leak of the paper itself. CONTD. ON NATION ELONGATE Two persons, including a police constable from the Thane Crime Branch Unit 5 were killed after being hit by a dumper in Vartak Nagar in Thane on Wednesday The . driver of the dumper fled the spot. The deceased, both Thane residents, have been identified as Sunil Rawate, 40, and Meena Rampurkar. Rawate lived with his wife and two children in Thane. Rawate was on his motorcycle and Rampurkar was riding pillion as the duo was on its way to Raymond Company opposite Vedant Hospital in Thane for a secret investigation. Police sources said that Rawate had been appointed to the special squad of the Anti-Narcotics Cell, Thane, to gather information. Around 7.30am on Wednesday Rawate left home, reach, ing the Crime Branch at 8am. At 10.30am, he left for the head office of the Anti-Narcotics Cell in Thane. Police sources said that prima facie, it appears that Rampurkar may have been an informant who had provided a tip-off, and had set off with Rawate. CONTD. ON NATION TAILPIECE Musk’s inappropriate overtures at Space X Spike in Donkey Population in Pak FPJ NEWS SERVICE SAN FRANSISCO Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has been accused of having sexual relationships with two of his employees, including an intern, and approaching another worker to have his babies. According to The Wall Street Journal, Musk, in his companies Tesla and SpaceX, created a culture which made the women staff uncomfortable. Women employees at Tesla claimed that they were shown "an unusual amount of atten- tion or pursued" by Musk. A SpaceX flight attendant had alleged that in 2016 the tech billionaire exposed himself to her and offered to buy her a horse in exchange for sex acts. Another woman who left the company in 2013 alleged in exit negotiations with SpaceX human resources and legal executives that Musk had asked her to have his babies. Yet another woman, a fourth, had a month-long sexual relationship with Musk in 2014 while she directly reported to him. The relationship ended with recriminations as she left the company and signed an agreement prohibiting her from discussing her work for Musk. The WSJ reports that both former and fired SpaceX em- ployees, who complained to the National Labor Relations Board in 2022, say a high-level group around Musk fails to apply his company’s own rules to the CEO, contributing to a culture of sexism and harassment. Musk didn’t reply to requests for comment. Several female employees at SpaceX told friends and family that Musk showed an unusual amount of attention or pursued them. The article, the WSJ said was based on conversations with more than 48 people - former employees, people famil- iar with Musk’s interactions with female subordinates and friends and family of the women – and emails, text messages and other documents. A SpaceX policy frowns on employees from directly overseeing romantic partners. A college student studying engineering met Musk in the early 2010s during her summer internship at SpaceX. She and Musk went out for a meal after she sent him ideas about how to improve the company she told friends. , They bonded over “Star Wars” and kissed, according to the WSJ. CONTD. ON NATION FPJ NEWS SERVICE ISLAMABAD Pakistan’s population of donkeys has increased by 1.72 per cent to reach 5.9 million during the fiscal year 2023-24, according to the Pakistan Economic Survey (PES) 2023-24. The population of the “beasts of burden” was 5.5 million in 2019-2020, 5.6 million in 2020-21, 5.7 million in 2021-22, and 5.8 million in 2022-23, while it jumped to 5.9 million in 2023-24, the data shows. However, there has been no change in the numbers of horses and mules, close cousins of donkeys for the last five years, which remained at 0.4 million and 0.2 million, respectively . Donkeys may be the last hope for many Pakistanis, especially those living in the countryside, where the rural economy is closely associated with the animals. The survey unveiled by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb also provided details of other livestock, which showed that the cattle population increased to 57.5 million, buffalo to 46.3 million, sheep to 32.7 million, and goats to 87 million. However, the number of camels in Pakistan, which remained stagnant for four years, has increased to 1.2 million from 1.1 million during the past fiscal year. Livestock, which accounts for 60.84 per cent of the agricultural sector and 14.63 per cent of GDP grew by 3.89 per , cent in 2023-24, up from 3.70 per cent last year, according to PES 2023-24. The gross value addition of the livestock sector has shown an increase, rising to Rs5,804 billion in 2023-24 from Rs5,587 billion in 202223, marking a growth rate of 3.9 per cent.