MONDAY www.thestatesman.com 25 APRIL 2022 FIND US ONLINE Scan this with your smartphone twitter.com/TheStatesmanLtd facebook.com/thestatesman1875 Pages 12 |` 5.00|LC KOLKATA| NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR ‘STRONG DEMOCRACY CAN’T SURVIVE WITHOUT FREE PRESS’ 7 NATIONAL HIGHWAYS INAUGURATED P5 WEATHER Heat wave like situation likely to prevail. Temperature likely to be in the range of 40-29 degrees Celsius. RAINFALL: Nil RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max.89% TEMPERATURE Max: 39.6 °C(+4) SUN RISES 05:08 hrs MOON RISES 01:43 hrs New moon on 01 ZELENSKYY PUSHES FOR MORE ARMS P8 P10 You won’t face miseries of earlier generations: PM Modi rolled out a slew of development projects pegged at ` 20,000 cr in J&K SP SHARMA Min. 31% JAMMU, 24 APRIL Min: 28.3 °C(+2) SUN SETS 18:00 hrs MOON SETS 13:03 hrs May rime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that the J&K youth will not face miseries like their previous generations, as he laid the foundation of Rs 20,000 crore worth of development projects in Jammu aimed at "reducing Dilli Sey Doori (distance from Delhi)". Speaking on the National Panchayati Raj Day at Palli in Jammu's Samba district, Modi said, “youth of the valley mark my words, you will not face those problems that were faced by your parents and grandparents. I promise I will make it happen and I have come to assure you of that.” Modi, who came here for the first time to address a public rally after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, dwelt on how democracy and development had reached the grassroots in Jammu and Kashmir during the past three years. Striking a chord with the native Dogra community of Jammu, the Prime Minister recited couplets in the Dogri language. Using the “Delhi ki Doorian” phrase again, Modi said the ' Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat' initiative in the past eight years was aimed at reducing distances, whether ' Dilli ki Doorian' or "cultural or linguistic distances.” Modi had earlier used the phrase during his all parties meeting with J&K leaders. “Distances, whether of hearts, languages, customs or resources, their elimination is our very big priority”, he added. He said the connectivity projects initiated across J&K and Ladakh will end the distances from Delhi and several new road projects between Srinagar and Delhi have already reduced the travel time by two hours. "The day is not far when the Kanyakumari Devi will directly be connected with the Mata Vaishno Devi by the underconstruction express way," he added. In the coming 25 years, Modi said, J&K will witness a new era of development. "Investors from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) I met before addressing the rally are excited to invest in J&K. From just Rs.17,000 crore investment in the past 70 years, the figures have touched Rs. 38,000 crores in just two years. Investors are coming here with an open mind," Modi Artists of ‘Street Art Group’ making a portrait on a wall at Connaught Place on Sunday. SUBRATA DUTTA Three LeT terrorists killed in Pulwama: Arif Hazar alias Rehan, deputy of LeT’s top commander, Basit, was among three terrorists killed on Sunday in an encounter in south Kashmir's Pulwama. Arif was Involved in killing of Police Inspector Parvez in front of mosque, Sub-Inspector Arshid and a mobile shop owner in downtown Srinagar, police said. Several FIRs stood booked against him in Srinagar city. Identification of other two terrorists is yet to done, said IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar. Indian sailors held by Houthi rebels released: Seven Indian sailors, in captivity of Yemen's Houthi rebels since January 2 along with their UAE-flagged merchant ship Rwabee, have been released, relatives of some of the sailors said. The sailors included three Keralites - Dipash of Meppayur in Kozhikode, Akhil of Alappuzha, and Sreejith from Kottayam - and their relatives said that they have got information about their release. The Houthi rebels had then claimed that the UAE-flagged vessel Rwabee was carrying "military supplies" and that it had entered Yemeni waters without authorisation. P12 Ashish Mishra surrenders in compliance with SC order INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE LAKHIMPUR KHERI (UP), 24 APRIL Ashish Mishra, son of Union Minister Ajay Kumar Mishra Teni and also the main accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence of October 3, 2021, surrendered in the court of the chief judicial magistrate on Sunday in compliance of the Supreme Court directive. This comes just a week after the Supreme Court cancelled his bail and further granted him a week to surrender. Ashish surrendered in the court a day ahead of the expiry of his bail term. He was granted bail by the Allahabad High Court in February 2022. This pertains to the violence that broke out in Lakhimpur Kheri in October 2021, where eight people including four farmers were killed. Last week, P THUMBNAILS KOHLI GOING THROUGH A ROUGH PATCH said. The Prime Minister said Kashmir was witnessing a boom in tourism. "Kashmir recorded more tourists in just a few months this year than the past few years. All hotels and guest houses booked till June-July”. It's a proud moment that democracy has percolated to the grassroots level in J&K, and from here I am addressing the elected panchayat representatives across the country. It was unfortunate that J&K could not adopt the virtues of the Panchayat Act till recently. For the first time, threetier elections from village to district level were held peacefully. Over 30,000 representatives are now running the village system on their own. Today is a landmark day in the development journey of Jammu and Kashmir” Modi said, due to his long association with the J&K, he understands the issues involved and expressed happiness about the focus on connectivity in the projects inaugurated and for which the foundation stone was laid today. To give a new impetus to the development of Jammu and Kashmir, work is going on at a fast pace. These efforts will employ a large number of youths of Jammu and Kashmir”, he said. Norwegian foreign minister to take part in Raisina Dialogue In tit -for -tat move, India suspends tourist visas of Chinese nationals STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE SNS&AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 24 APRIL NEW DELHI, 24 APRIL Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt along with a high-level business delegation will visit India from April 25-27 to take part in Raisina Dialogue. To coincide with the visit, a Business Seminar on April 25 at the Leela Palace, is planned by Innovation Norway, India. The seminar will include a CEO/Executive Round Table followed by an open Energy Session with representation from the Indian industry and government. A reception for the seminar participants will be hosted in the evening by Ambassador Hans Jacob Frydenlund, at the Royal Norwegian Embassy in New Delhi. The meetings are planned with the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy are planned for April 25, 26. On April 27, an Energy Seminar and a seminar on Circular Economy is planned at the Taj Lands End, Band Stand, Bandra West, Mumbai. The event in Mumbai will also include a visit to the Tata Experience Centre (TXC) at the iconic Bombay House, corporate headquarters of Tata Group. A reception will be hosted in the evening of the 27 April by Consul General Arne Jan Flølo, at the Taj Lands End. Greenstat Hydrogen, India (Norwegian company) set up Centre of Excellence for Hydrogen (COEH) including CCUS and Fuel Cells at Indian Oil R&D. The CoE-H will facilitate the transfer and sharing of technology, know-how and experience through the green hydrogen value chain and other relevant technologies including hydrogen storage and fuel cells. India has suspended tourist visas issued to Chinese nationals, global airlines body International Air Transport Association (IATA) told its member carriers on April 20. India has been vociferously taking up with China the predicament of approximately 22,000 Indian students enrolled in Chinese universities who are unable to go back for physical classes. However, the neighbouring country has to date refused to let them enter. These students had to leave their studies in China and come back to India when the Covid-19 pandemic began at the beginning of 2020. In a circular issued on April 20 regarding India, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said, “Tourist visas issued to nationals of China (People’s Republic) are no longer valid.” The circular said the following passengers are allowed to enter India: nationals of Bhutan, India, Maldives and Nepal; passengers with a residence permit issued by India; passengers with a visa or an evisa issued by India; passengers with an overseas citizen of India (OCI) card or booklet; passengers with a person of Indian origin (PIO) card; and passengers with a diplomatic passport. The IATA also said that tourist visas with a validity of 10 years are no longer valid. India has urged Beijing to adopt a “congenial stance” on the matter as the continuation of the strict restrictions is putting the academic careers of thousands of Indian students in uncertainty, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said on March 17. Bagchi said a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson had stated on February 8 that China was looking into the matter in a coordinated manner and that arrangements for allowing foreign students to return to China were being examined. “But let me clarify that to date, the Chinese side has not given any categorical response about the return of Indian students. We will continue to urge the Chinese side to adopt a congenial stance in the interest of our students and that they facilitate an early return to China so that our students can pursue their studies,” Bagchi said. He said the issue was also taken up with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during a meeting in Dushanbe in September last year. The two foreign ministers had held talks in the Tajik capital city on the sidelines of a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). The Prime Minister underlined the changed system of working in the Jammu and Kashmir, by giving the example of the 500 KW solar plant that was established in three weeks whereas earlier even the movement of files from Delhi used to take 2-3 weeks. Modi referred to India’s leadership on international environmental and climate change platforms and expressed pride in the strides that Palli Panchayat is making towards becoming the first carbon-neutral panchayat. “Palli Panchayat is moving towards becoming the first Carbon Neutral Panchayat in the country. Reiterating his push for organic farming the Prime Minister said that it is critical to free mother earth of chemicals as it is harming the land and groundwater. He said if our villages move towards organic farming that will benefit entire humanity. Referring to the process of inclusion of Jammu and Kashmir in the development journey of the nation, the Prime Minister said that more than 175 central laws have become applicable in Jammu and Kashmir. The biggest beneficiaries of this have been the women, poor, Valmikis and deprived section of the area. the apex court, while hearing the petitions filed by farmers challenging the accused's bail, ruled against Ashish Mishra. The three-judge bench noted that the victims of the violence were denied the right of hearing in the Allahabad High Court which had granted bail to Mishra. It also asked the high court to reconsider the bail granted to Ashish Mishra. The incident dates back to October 3, 2021, when a group of farmers was protesting in Lakhimpur Kheri district against the Centre's three farm laws. However, a violent clash broke out between the farmers following which an SUV reportedly owned by Union MoS Ajay Mishra, ran over the farmers, killing four of them. As alleged by the protesting farmers, Ajay Mishra's son Ashish Mishra was inside the car when the accident took place. Following this, a case was registered and the Supreme Court also appointed retired Punjab and Haryana High Court judge Rakesh Kumar Jain to monitor and investigate the incident. An SIT was also reconstituted by the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government, which included three IPS officers. At the same time, the minister's son was also arrested. However, after investigation and filing a charge sheet, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court granted bail to Mishra on February 10, 2022. India logs 2,593 fresh Covid cases, 44 deaths STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 24 APRIL India logged 2,593 fresh Covid-19 cases and 44 fatalities in the last 24 hours, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Affairs on Sunday. The country witnessed a marginal increase over the 2,527 infections registered the previous day, With this, the active caseload has increased to 15,873, accounting for 0.04 per cent of the country's total positive cases and the fatalities have increased to 5,22,193. Besides, 1,755 patients have recovered in the last 24 hours taking the cumulative tally to 4,25,19,479. Consequently, India's recovery rate stands at 98.75 per cent. Apart from this, a total of 4,36,532 tests were conducted across the country in the last 24 hours, increasing the overall count to 83.47 crore. While the weekly positivity rate stood at 0.54 per cent, the daily positivity rate reported a considerable spike at 0.59 per cent, according to the health ministry. As far as vaccination is concerned, India's Covid19 vaccination coverage exceeded 187.67 crore, and achieved via 2,30,29,745 sessions. Over 2.65 crore adolescents have been administered with a first dose of FACT FILE TOTAL CASES 4,30,57,545 ACTIVE CASES 15,873 NEW CASES 2,593 NEW RECOVERIES 1,755 TOTAL DEATHS 5,22,193 UNION HEALTH MINISTRY FIGURES AS OF 8.00 A.M. SUNDAY 24 APRIL 2022 Bengal recorded 41 cases and 01 death the Covid-19 jab since the beginning of the vaccination drive for this age bracket.