CMYK FRIDAY www.thestatesman.com 13 MAY 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 CATHOLIC CARDINAL HELD IN HONG KONG OVER SECURITY LAW WEST V REST? P6 WEATHER Partly Cloudy sky. Rain/thundershowers likely to occur. Temperature likely to be in the range of 34-27 degrees Celsius. RAINFALL: 8.2mm RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max.92% TEMPERATURE P9 ‘Citizens, students going abroad can take boosters’ COLOMBO, 12 MAY Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks at the 2nd Global Covid Summit, in New Delhi on Thursday.  ANI STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 12 MAY Nurses light candles holding the portrait of Florence Nightingale as a tribute to her on International Nurses Day, in Chennai on Thursday.  ANI Kashmiri Pandit killed in Budgam dist: In yet another targeted killing, terrorists on Thursday shot dead a Kashmiri Pandit employee in a government office in Budgam district of central Kashmir.Police said that terrorists fired upon an employee of revenue department namely Rahul Bhat from minority community in the Tehsildar office at Chadoora in Budgam. He was rushed to Srinagar's SMHS hospital Pg5 where he succumbed to his injuries. IMA urges Mandaviya to reschedule NEET-PG P exam: The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has requested Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya to reschedule the NEET-PG examination, which is scheduled to be held on May 21. Highlighting the delay in All India Quota counselling for NEET PG 2021, IMA said that the difference between the NEET PG 2022 exam date and the completion of 2021 counselling is too short for an aspirant to prepare and appear for such an difficult exam like NEET-PG. TOTAL CASES 4,31,13,413 NEW DELHI, 12 MAY THUMBNAILS ddressing the second Global Covid Virtual Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today underlined the need for a coordinated global response to combat future health emergencies, saying all nations must together build a resilient global supply chain and enable equitable access to vaccines and medicines. “WTO rules, particularly TRIPS, need to be more flexible. WHO must be reformed and strengthened to build a more resilient global health security architecture,” he said at the summit convened by US President Joe Biden and attended by several world leaders. Mr Modi also called for streamlining the WHO's approval process for vaccines and therapeutics to keep supply chains stable and predictable. “As a responsible member of the A Indian citizens and students travelling abroad can now take the precaution dose against Covid as required by the guidelines of the destination country, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said today. This new facility would be available soon on the CoWIN portal, he tweeted. This effectively reduces the gap between the second Covid shot and booster dose for those travelling abroad. They will no longer be required to wait for nine global community, India is ready to play a key role in these efforts,” he added. Noting that Covid continued to disrupt lives and supply chains and test the resilience of open societies, he said India has adopted a peoplecentric strategy against the pandemic. “We have made the highest ever allocation to our annual healthcare budget,” he added. The PM pointed out that India's vaccination programme was the largest in the world. ''We have fully vaccinated almost 90 per cent of the adult population, and more than 50 million children. India man- ACTIVE CASES 19,067 NEW CASES months after the administration of the second dose to take the precautionary dose. At present, the third precaution dose of the Covid vaccine has been made available to the 18+ population at private vaccination centres. However, according to guidelines, only those adults who have completed nine months after the administration of the second dose would be eligible for the precaution dose. ufactures four WHO approved vaccines and has the capacity to produce five billion doses this year,” he said. The PM also told the global leaders that India supplied over 200 million doses to 98 countries, bilaterally and through COVAX. India has developed low-cost COVID mitigation technologies for testing, treating and data management. 'We have offered these capabilities to other countries.” He said India's Genomics Consortium has contributed significantly to the global database on the virus. ''I am 2,827 NEW RECOVERIES 3,230 TOTAL DEATHS 5,24,181 UNION HEALTH MINISTRY FIGURES AS OF 8.00 A.M. THURSDAY 12 MAY 2022 Bengal recorded 42 cases and zero deaths happy to share that we will extend this network to countries in our neighbourhood,” he added. He said India also extensively used its traditional medicines to supplement the fight against Covid and to boost immunity, saving countless lives. “Last month, we laid the foundation of “WHO Centre for Traditional Medicine” in India, with an aim to make this age-old knowledge available to the World,” he said. US President Joe Biden announced that the US will share the critical Covid technologies through the WHO Covid technologies access pool. The US President said that $ 450 million in seed funding for pandemic preparedness and global health security fund would be established this summer. United National Party (UNP) leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was on Thursday sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka amid the worst economic crisis faced by the country that has seen violent anti-government protests. Meanwhile, Mahinda Rajapaksa, who recently tendered his resignation from the position of the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, has been barred from leaving the country by a local court, Wickremesinghe, who has served as Prime Minister five times, was administered the oath of office by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Wickremesinghe accepted the post of Prime Minister after securing the support of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MPs, the Daily Mirror reported. Earlier today, Sri Lanka's Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa said that his party will "devise a strategy" if A Sri Lankan navy soldier guards a street during a relaxation in a nationwide curfew in Colombo on Thursday. AP UNP leader Ranil Wickramasinghe is made the prime minister of the country. On Monday, groups of pro and anti-government activists clashed in Colombo amid the state of emergency and a nationwide strike demanding the resignation of the president. Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa stepped down from office in a bid to mitigate the ongoing crisis. The protesters set his house on fire. On Thursday, a local court barred Mahinda Rajapaksa from leaving the country by a local court. The travel ban has also STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA 12 MAY Chief minister Mamata Banerjee today wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that the Centre is not releasing funds to the state for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and the PM Awas Yojana and sought his intervention for releasing funds “without any further delay”. “Considering the significance of the projects and the hardships being faced by the common people, I would request you for your immediate intervention and direction to the concerned Ministry to release the funds without further delay,” she wrote. Miss Banerjee said her government was unable to make wage payments for over four months now. “It is very astonishing that the Government of India is not releasing funds to West Bengal for MGNREGA and PM Awas Yojana. You are aware that the wages for MGNREGA form an important part of the livelihood of rural people and considering this importance, the Act Tata Sons appoints Campbell Wilson as CEO and MD of AI NEW DELHI, 12 MAY STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI , 12 MAY Rajiv Kumar, the senior-most Election Commissioner, was today named as the next Chief Election Commissioner. He will take charge of his office on 15 May consequent upon the retirement of Sushil Chandra. “The President is pleased to appoint Shri Rajiv Kumar, the senior-most Election Commissioner, as the Chief Election Commissioner in the Election Commission of India. Shri Rajiv Kumar will assume the charge of the office of the Chief Election Commissioner on 15 May 2022 vice Shri Sushil Chandra consequent upon his demitting the office of the Chief Election Commissioner on 14 May 2022,” a press note from the Ministry of Law and Justice said. Sharing the order on his Twitter account, Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju said; “My best wishes to Shri Rajiv Kumar.” Born in 1960, Kumar will demit office sometime in the middle of February 2025. Besides the Presidential and the Vice Presidential elections due shortly, he is expected to oversee the 2024 Lok Sabha and several assembly polls. Kumar was the chairman of the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) when he was appointed an Election Commissioner. He took charge as an Election Commissioner on 1 September 2020, after a vacancy was created following the resignation of Ashok Lavasa. A 1984-batch Indian Administrative Service officer of the Bihar/Jharkhand cadre, Kumar superannuated from service in February 2020. India's retail inflation surged to eight-year high of 7.79 per cent in April due to a sharp jump in fuel and edible oil prices, the government data showed on Thursday. The headline inflation is the highest in eight years. Consumer Price Index inflation in April 2022 is the highest since May 2014, when it stood at 8.33 per cent.Retail inflation has risen sharply. It stood at 6.95 per cent in March 2022. April 2022 retail inflation data is almost double from 4.23 per cent recorded in Apr il 2021.The price rise was sharper in rural India. Rural retail inflation rose to 8.38 per cent in April as compared to 7.66 per cent in the previous month and 3.75 per cent in April 2021.Urban retail inflation surged to 7.09 per cent in April as compared to 6.12 per cent in March and 4.71 per cent in April 2021,according to data released by the National Statistical Office.ANI Pg 8 Tata Sons today announced the appointment of Campbell Wilson as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) of Air India. According to a statement issued by Tata Sons, Wilson, 50, has 26 years of aviation industry expertise across both full service and lowcost airlines. He is currently the CEO of Scoot, the wholly-owned lowcost subsidiary of Singapore Airlines (SIA). The Air India board approved the appointment of Wilson subject to requisite regulatory approvals, the statement said. Earlier this year, Tata Group announced the appointment of former Turkish Airlines chairman Ilker Ayci as CEO and MD of Air India. However, Ayci turned down the offer saying his appointment had been "coloured" by the Indian media. Commenting on Wilson's It is an honour to be selected to lead the iconic Air India and be a part of the highly respected Tata Group. Air India is at the cusp of an exciting journey to become one of the best airlines in the world, offering worldclass products and services with a distinct customer experience that reflects Indian warmth and hospitality appointment, N Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Air India said, "I am delighted to welcome Campbell to Air India. He is an industry veteran having worked in key global markets cutting across multiple functions." Wilson has nearly three decades of experience in the aviation industry. He started his career as a management trainee with SIA in New Zealand in 1996. He then worked for SIA in Canada, Hong Kong and Japan before returning to Singapore in 2011 as the founding CEO of Scoot, which he led until 2016. Wilson then served as the Senior Vice President Sales & Marketing of SIA, where he oversaw Pricing, Distribution, eCommerce, Merchandising, Brand & Marketing, Global Sales and the airline's overseas offices, before returning for a second stint as the CEO of Scoot in April 2020. “It is an honour to be selected to lead the iconic Air India and be a part of the highly respected Tata Group. Air India is at the cusp of an exciting journey to become one of the best airlines in the world, offering world-class products and services with a distinct customer experience that reflects Indian warmth and hospitality,” Wilson said in a statement. Gyanvapi survey to continue, Allahabad HC dismisses plea on Taj Mahal AGENCIES VARANASI/LUCKNOW, 12 MAY A Varanasi court on Thursday rejected a plea to change the court-appointed advocate commissioner for conducting a video survey of the GyanvapiShringar Gauri complex and appointed two additional advocate commissioners to assist him. The court also said the survey should be completed by 17 May. Separately, the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court rejected a plea seeking to open 22 closed rooms in the Taj Mahal to ascertain the presence of the idols of Hindu deities, even as it sharply pulled up the petitioner. In the Gyanvapi Masjid vs Shringar Gauri case, a Varanasi district court appointed Vishal Singh and Ajay Singh as assistant commissioners along with retaining the earlier appointed commissioner Ajay Kumar Mishra. Advocate Madan Mohan Yadav, representing the Hindu petitioners in court, said, "Two more lawyers have been appointed as commissioners to accompany the Court commissioner Ajay Kumar Mishra for the survey. The Commission is to submit a report by May 17 before the court." The two other lawyers were appointed after Mishra was accused of being biased by the Anjuman Intezamia Mosque Committee.The court refuses to remove Mishra and added that the video inspection of the Gyanvapi mosque will continue and should be completed by Tuesday (May 17). There has been a protest over the survey of several deities, including Shringar Gauri, located in Varanasi's Kashi Vishwanath temple premises and the Gyanvapi Masjid complex. Following the courtappointed commissioner's survey in Gyanvapi Masjid in Varanasi, Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee on Saturday filed an application seeking the removal of the officer due to his alleged bias over the matter.Meanwhile, the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court on Thursday rejected the plea seeking to open 22 closed rooms in the Taj Mahal to ascertain the presence of the idols of Hindu deities.The plea was filed by Rajneesh Singh, a BJP youth media incharge, that sought directions to the Archaeological Survey CMYK been imposed on Mahinda Rajapaksa's son and former Minister Namal Rajapaksa, Johnston Fernando, Pavithra Wanniarachchi, C. B. Rathnayake, Sanath Nishantha, and Sanjeewa Edirimanne, among others, News Wire reported citing sources. "I personally will extend my fullest cooperation to any investigation that is taking place with regard to the unfortunate events that took place on Monday. Neither my father nor myself have any intention to leave Sri Lanka and will continue to remain here," Namal Rajapaksa said in a tweet. Mamata claims delay in Central funds Rajiv Kumar to be next CEC, Retail inflation surges to to take office from 15 May 7.79% in April NEW DELHI, MAY 12 The Election Commission of India on Thursday announced that polls for 57 Rajya Sabha seats spread across 15 states will take place on June 10. The biggest share of seats for the Upper House of Parliament comes from Uttar Pradesh where 11 seats will go for election. Out of 11 seats from Uttar Pradesh, the ruling BJP which is in power in the state, as well as at the Centre, is likely to get seven seats and Samajwadi Party may claim the remaining four seats. With the retirement of Satish Chandra Mishra, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) will have just one Member of Parliament in the Upper house. Among those members who are retiring but will return to the Rajya Sabha are Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who was elected from Karnataka, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi from Jharkhand and Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal from Maharashtra. Another retiring member YSRCP parliamentary leader Vijay Sai Reddy will certainly get re-elected from Andhra Pradesh. Two Rajya Sabha members from Andhra Pradesh- former union minister YS Chaudhary and TG Venkatesh, who left the Telugu Desam Party to join the BJP are also , retiring on June 21. All the four seats from Andhra Pradesh that are falling vacant are likely to go to YSR Congress Party (YSRCP). Six members from Maharashtra--former Union Minister P Chidambaram, Praful Patel and Shiv Sena parliamentary leader Sanjay Raut-- will also retire on ANI July 4. ASIAN NEWS INTERNATIONAL FACT FILE STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE P12 Wickremesinghe Lanka’s new PM, ex-PM barred from leaving country Covid meet: PM says WTO rules, particularly TRIPS, need to be more flexible Max: 32.8 °C (-2) Min: 27.4 °C (+1) SUN RISES SUN SETS 04:58 hrs 18:08 hrs MOON RISES MOON SETS 14:22 hrs 02:15 hrs Full moon on 16 May NEW DELHI , 12 MAY P10 Modi pitches for unity to tackle health issues Min. 65% Elections to 57 RS seats on 10 June MCCULLUM IS NEW ‘TRUMP MUST PAY $110K, MEET CONDITIONS HEAD COACH OF ENGLAND’S TEST TEAM TO END CONTEMPT’ of India to probe the 22 closed doors in the Taj Mahal to ascertain the presence of the idols of Hindu deities. The plea sought the constitution of a fact-finding committee and the submission of a report by the ASI. The plea also cited the claims by some historians and some Hindu groups about the monument being an old Shiva temple.The two-judge bench ripped into the petitioner, saying during the hearing: “Tomorrow you will ask for permission to see our chambers. Please, don't make mockery of the PIL system.” The petitioner said he is asking for a fact-finding committee to be constituted to get to the bottom of the issue and reiterated his demand to be allowed access to the 22 rooms as the "truth" needs to emerge about the Taj Mahal. Citizens need to know why multiple rooms in the monument are said to be locked due to "security reasons", he said. The bench responded sharply, saying: "Who are you asking the information from? If you are not satisfied that the rooms have been closed for security reasons, use your remedies in law to challenge that. Do some research first ~ do MA, Ph.D, enroll yourself somewhere. Don't make a mockery of this.” mandates that the wages must be paid within fifteen days” her letter read. She claimed that the wage payment for MGNREGA in Bengal is pending for more than four months as the Centre is yet to release funds to the state to the tune of Rs 6,500 crore, namely Rs 3,000 crore against the wage liabilities and Rs 3,500 crore against non-wage liabilities. Besides MGNREGA, Miss Banerjee also asserted that the fresh allocation of funds to the state by the ministry of rural development was pending. SW Monsoon to reach S Andaman Sea on 15 May NEW DELHI, 12 MAY The Southwest Monsoon is likely to advance into South Andaman Sea and adjoining Southeast Bay of Bengal around 15 May, almost four days earlier than its normal expected date, the India Meteorology Department announced on Thursday. Kerala, too, may witness monsoon arrival four days early on May 26, as indicated by the IMD's extended range forecast. However, the official announcement regarding the exact date would be made around May 15 when the IMD issues its second stage South-West Monsoon forecast. "Fairly widespread to widespread light/moderate rainfall is very likely over Andaman and Nicobar Islands during the next five days. Isolated heavy rainfall is very likely over the region between May 14-16 even as squally weather with wind speed reaching 40-50 kmph, gusting to 60 kmph, is also likely over south Andaman Sea on May 15 & 16,” the IMD statement said. Southwest Monsoon considered the real Finance Minister of India~has a wide ranging impact on India's economy with agriculture, economy, trade, travel, almost everything decided by the rainfall quantum and timing. Former Secretary, Earth Sciences, M Rajeevan Nair, said: "Generally SouthWest Monsoon reaches Andaman & Nicobar Islands by May 1920. This time it is at least a week in advance."The heavy rainfall that Kerala has been witnessing is a side impact of the Asaniand its remnant system on the east coast,but things would change in the next two days. ANI (See Pg4)