FOLLOW US: @TheStatesmanLtd @thestatesmanltd thestatesman1875 www.thestatesman.com People’s Parliament, Always in Session India’s National Newspaper since 1818 | Pages 12 | ` 5.00 | KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | MUMBAI | BHUBANESWAR | LUCKNOW | SILIGURI ‘Commerce was a way of life’ Page 10 BRIEFLY ATF prices for int’l airlines cut by 27 per cent, domestic unchanged: New Delhi: In a significant relief to the overseas carriers, the Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices for international airlines were cut by 27 per cent in monthly revision on Monday. However, domestic airline rates remained unchanged for a second consecutive month.  The reduction lowers jet fuel prices for international carriers by more than $400 per kilolitre to about $1,100 per kl. Domestic carriers will continue to pay ₹104,927.18 per kilolitre for ATF. Earlier on May 1, rates for international carriers rose by $76.55, or 5.33 per cent, to $1,511.86 per kl after increasing more than two-fold in April to $1,435.31 amid a surge in international energy prices. Earlier, Indian airlines asked the government for urgent help due to rising ATF prices, stating the industry is under extreme stress and on the verge of stopping operations. Tuesday, 02 June 2026 SPORTS WORLD BUSINESS | PM Modi hails 6 years of PM SVANidhi Never dreamt of this: Patidar savours back-to-back IPL titles with RCB Page 5 Tehran targets American troops in Kuwait Page 12 NATION Page 9 Team Suvendu expanded as 35 ministers take oath STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Kolkata, 1 June C hief Minister Suvendu Adhikari-led West Bengal's BJP government on Monday carried out its first major expansion,with 35 legislators taking oath as ministers at Lok Bhavan. Governor R.N. Ravi administered the oath of office and secrecy, taking the strength of the council of ministers to 41, just three short of the constitutionally permitted maximum. The ministers who took oath during the day comprise 13 Cabinet ministers, three Ministers of State (Independent Charge) and 19 Ministers of State. The portfolios of the newly inducted ministers are expected to be announced later this week, while sources indicated that a reshuffle of some existing departments is also likely now that a full ministry has been formed. Those sworn in as Cabinet ministers were Swapan Dasgupta, Shankar Ghosh, Arjun Singh, Tapas Roy, Sharadwat Mukhopadhyay, Jagannath Chattopadhyay, Dudhkumar Mondal, Deepak Barman, Manoj Oraon, Gourishankar Ghosh, Kalyan Chakraborty, Ajay Poddar and Arup Kumar Das. Rajesh Mahato, Indranil Khan and Malati Rava Roy took oath as Ministers of State with Independent Charge. The Ministers of State inducted into the government are Juel Murmu, Harekrishna Bera, Anandamoy Barman, Ashok Dinda, Nadiarchand Bauri, Bishal Lama, Dibakar Gharami, Shantanu Pramanik, Purnima Chakraborty, Moumita Biswas Mishra, Gargi Ghosh Das, Umesh Rai, Kaushik Chowdhury, Bhaskar Bhattacharya, Kalita Maji, Biraj Biswas, Dipankar Jana, Sumana Sarkar and Amiya Kisku. The expansion reflects the BJP's effort to balance regional and social representation. Notably, 10 MLAs from eight districts of North Bengal have been inducted into the ministry, including four Cabinet ministers, one Minister of State with Independent Charge and five Ministers of State. Interestingly enough, Biraj Biswas, MLA from Karandighi, became the youngest member of the ministry at 32 years of age. Despite the BJP winning 40 of North Bengal’s 54 Assembly seats, no MLA from Jalpaiguri district, where the party secured all seven seats, was included in the Cabinet. South Dinajpur also did not get ministerial representation. Also, some prominent names who were expected to feature in the ministerial council — notably Rudranil Ghosh and economist Sanjeev Sanyal — did not make the cut. Six women legislators were inducted as Ministers of State, taking the number of women ministers in the government to seven. Speculation about the inclusion of celebrity MLAs in the ministry also proved unfounded, as none were inducted. The Cabinet expansion comes less than a month after the BJP secured a decisive mandate in the Assembly elections, winning 208 of the 294 seats and ending the Trinamul Congress’ 15-year rule in the state. India, Myanmar push for stronger economic & security partnership STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Apex court gets five new judges as President approves appointments PARMOD KUMAR New Delhi, 1 June The five judges — Justice Sheel Nagu, Justice Shree Chandrashekhar, Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva, Justice A r u n Pa l l i a n d s e n i o r advo cate V. Mohana — whose elevation to the Supreme Court was cleared by the Central government, will be sworn in on Tuesday, June 2. The oath of office will be administered by the Chief Justice of India, Justice Surya Kant, at the Supreme Court auditorium. Senior advocate V. Mohana will become the second woman practising lawyer from the Supreme Court B a r, a f t e r J u s t i c e I n d u Malhotra, to be directly elevated to the Supreme Court Bench. Justice Malhotra was appointed a Supreme Court judge in 2018. Along with Justice B.V. Nagarathna, Mohana will be one of the two women judges currently serving in the Supreme Court. She will be the 12th woman judge to serve on the apex court. Appointment of the five judges was shared by Union Minister of State (in charge) of Law and Justice Arjun Pakistani deepfake targets Army chief, falsely links India to Taliban strategy STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, 1 June In a fresh attempt to spread disinformation and fuel geopolitical misinformation, Pakistani propaganda accounts have circulated a digitally manipulated video falsely attrib uting controversial remarks on Afghanistan and the Taliban to Chief of Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi. The fabricated clip, which has been widely shared on social media, seeks to portray the Indian Army Chief as advocating support for the Afghan Taliban against Pakistan and Iran, a claim categorically rejected by the Government of India. The Press Information Bureau's Fact Check unit dismissed the viral video as "fake" and confirmed that the clip had been digitally altered to insert fabricated statements that were never made by the Army Chief. According to the manipulated video, General Dwivedi was falsely shown as saying that while India was pausing Operation Sindoor, Pakistan was carrying out an "Operation Tandoor" in Afghanistan. Rejecting the claim, the PIB Fact Check unit stated in a post, "This claim is FAKE. Indian Army Chief G eneral Up endra Dwivedi did NOT make any such statement. The viral c l i p h a s b e e n d i g i t a l ly manipulated to falsely attribute remarks to the Army Chief." Ram M e g hwa l this morning. With the swearing-in of the five judges, the Supreme Court's strength will rise to 37 judges, just one short of its sanctioned strength of 38. The Court's sanctioned strength was increase d from 34 to 38 judges through an ordinance issued last month. Besides the existing vacancy, two more vacancies will arise later this month up on the retirement of Justice Pankaj Mittal on June 16, 2026, and Justice J.K. Maheshwari on June 28, 2026. In the order of seniority, the five judges to be sworn in are Justice Sheel Nagu, Justice Shree Chandrashekhar, Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva, Justice Arun Palli and senior advocate V. Mohana. India, Australia at peak of strategic convergence PARWINDER SANDHU New Delhi, 1 June India and Australia on Monday signalled a major expansion of their defence partnership, with Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles declaring that the two countries are more strategically aligned than ever before and are entering a new phase of military, industrial and maritime cooperation. Speaking ahead of the second India-Australia Defence Ministers' Dialogue in the national capital, Marles said the relationship had evolved significantly in recent years and was now anchored in deep trust, shared interests and growing defence collaboration. "We have never been more strategically aligned. And that alignment is underpinned by deep trust. And I think in the history of the bilateral relationship between Australia and India, right now, we are at a high-water mark," Marles said. The Australian leader's remarks came as he held talks with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, with both sides reviewing progress achieved since the inaugural dialogue in Canberra in October 2025 and charting a roadmap for future cooperation. Describing the annual ministerial mechanism as a milestone in bilateral engagement, Marles said, "Let me just say, it is indeed such a thrill and a pleasure to be back here in India and in New Delhi and to be here with you. I feel very honoured that with you and me, under our respective leadership of our defence establishments, we have elevated the defence relationship between Australia and India to one where we now have an annual Defence Ministers' Dialogue." Marles highlighted tangible outcomes emerging from the growing partnership, particularly in information sharing, military exercises, maritime cooperation and defence manufacturing. New Delhi, 1 June Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Myanmar President U Min Aung Hlaing on Monday held extensive bilateral talks in New Delhi, reaffirming their commitment to deepen cooperation across trade, investment, connectivity, security, technology and development sectors, while underscoring that peace and stability in Myanmar remain vital for regional security and the wider Southeast Asian region. Briefing reporters after the meeting, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said the two leaders reviewed the full spectrum of bilateral ties and explored opportunities to broaden engagement in both traditional and emerging sectors. “This morning Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the President of Myanmar U Min Aung Hlaing held detailed talks covering the entire gamut of bilateral relations, including trade and economic ties, defence and security issues, bordermanagement,development assistance, cultural exchanges and the regional situation,” he added. He noted that both countries expressed a strong desire to expand collaboration in several key areas. “Both sides expressedinterestinstrengthening cooperation, particularly in trade and investment, development cooperation, health, education, energy, and advanced technology sectors such as artificial intelligence and space,” he said. Connectivity emerged as a major pillar of the discussions, with both leaders stressing its importance in promoting economic integration and strengthening people-to-people ties. The two sides agreed to accelerate work on flagship infrastructure projects linking India with Southeast Asia. “Both sides also underlined the importance of connectivity for enhancing people-to-people contacts and agreed to work towards the early completion of the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project and the Kalewa-Yagyi segment of the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway,” Misri said. Monsoon misses 1 June onset date in Kerala, now likely in 2-3 days VIBHA SHARMA New Delhi, 1 June The much-awaited southwest monsoon has missed its normal June 1 onset date with Kerala and is now likely to arrive on Indian mainland in the next two to three days, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The weather office said the Northern Limit of Monsoon has remained unchanged over the past couple of days. However, conditions are favourable for its further advance into parts of the southwest and southeast Arabian Sea, Lakshadweep, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and more areas of the Bay of Bengal during the next two to three days. The weather office had on May 15 forecast an early onset over Kerala around May 26, with a model error margin of ±4 days. The IMD uses specific criteria to declare the onset of the monsoon over Kerala, say experts. Around 60 per cent of 15 designated weather stations across Kerala, Lakshadweep and coastal Karnataka must record at least 2.5 mm rainfall for two consecutive days. In addition, westerly winds must strengthen to 15-20 knots and extend up to about 12,000 feet, while satellite observations must show Outgoing Longwave Radiation (OLR) below 200 Watts per square metre, indicating deep convective clouding. The monsoon is declared a day after the conditions are met simultaneously. However, the criterion is yet to be satisfied. The required combination of rainfall, wind and cloud conditions is expected to be achieved around June 2 or 3, when the onset may be officially declared. The southwest monsoon normally reaches Kerala on June 1, but the date is not exactly set in stone, it can vary. The seasonal rains arrived early in the previous two years, making landfall on May 31 in 2024 and May 27 in 2025. Meanwhile, the IMD has forecast isolated heavy rainfall and thunderstorms over northeast and south Peninsular India during the week. Moderate to severe thunderstorms, accompanied by squally winds of up to 70 kmph and isolated hailstorms, are likely over northwest, central and adjoining east India. But the relatively comfortable weather being experienced currently in northwest may change as day temperatures are expected to rise gradually by 4-6 degrees Celsius across many parts. The June-September monsoon season is crucial for India as it provides more than 70 per cent of the country's annual rainfall and is vital for agriculture, water resources and the broader economy.For 2026, however, the IMD has projected below-normal seasonal rainfall at 90 per cent of the Long Period Average (LPA), with a model error margin of ±4 per cent. The LPA, based on data from 1971-2020, is 87 cm. According to the forecast, below-normal rainfall is likely over most parts of the country, except some areas of northwest and northeast India, eastern parts of the south peninsula, adjoining east-central India and isolated pockets of east India, where normal to above-normal rainfall is expected. Rainfall is likely to remain below normal over central, northwest and south peninsular India, as well as the Monsoon Core Zone, which comprises most of the country's rain-fed agricultural regions. Northeast India is expected to receive normal rainfall. According to the weather office, neutral El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions are transitioning towards El Niño conditions over the equatorial Pacific, with climate models indicating a likely development during the season. Neutral Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) conditions are expected to continue through the four-month season.