CMYK TUESDAY www.thestatesman.com 17 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 KIM BLASTS PANDEMIC RESPONSE AS COVID OUTBREAK SURGES UK WILL ACT ON N IRELAND RULES IF EU WON’T P10 WHEN CAMARADERIE WON THE DAY BJP WORKS TO SUPRESS, DESTROY TRIBALS’ HISTORY, CULTURE P9 P5 Generally clear. Hazy. Maximum and minimum temperature most likely to be around 36 °C and 29 °C respectively. Amid threats Mamata to visit Jangalmahal RAINFALL: Nil RELATIVE HUMIDITY SNS & AGENCIES India-Nepal ties unshakeable like Himalayas: PM Modi In the coming days, the CM will make similar visits to Purulia and Bankura Max.77% P12 WEATHER TEMPERATURE Min. 65% KOLKATA, 16 MAY Max: 36°C Min: 29°C SUN RISES SUN SETS 04:56 hrs 18:10 hrs MOON RISES MOON SETS 19:40 hrs 05:39 hrs Full moon on 30 May n the backdrop of frequent recovery of Maoist posters and intelligence alerts about the resurgence of the Leftwing extremist (LWE) activities in pockets of West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will be in Junglemahal for two days from Tuesday. Although the Junglemahal area is scattered over three districts of West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia, this time the chief minister will restrict her activities in West Midnapore district only. In the coming days, the chief minister will make similar visits to Purulia and Bankura as well, confirmed sources from the state secretariat of Nabanna. Sources said that on May 17, the chief minister will first reach the Circuit House in Midnapore town. I THUMBNAILS Devotees celebrating the 2566th Buddha Jayanti at Shanti Stupa, in the capital on Monday. SNS India rejects OIC's comments on J&K: India today rejected the comments made by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on the delimitation exercise in J&K, saying it should refrain from carrying out its communal agenda vis-a-vis India at the behest of ''one country'' ostensibly Pakistan. The General Secretariat of the OIC expressed "deep concern" over what it called India's attempts to redraw the electoral boundaries of J&K in contravention of the relevant UNSC resolutions and SNS international law. Minor fire near Parliament House: A minor fire broke out in two labour containers near Parliament House on Monday afternoon, a fire department official said. The official informed that they received a call about the fire at 4.16 p.m. in two containers near Parliament in central Delhi after which as many as five fire tenders were immediately pressed into service. The fire was put out by 4.55 p.m, informed the official. Labourers working on the construction of the new Parliament House were IANS residing in those two containers. On the same day, around 3 p.m. she will chair an administrative review meeting, which will be attended by district magistrates and district police superintendents and other senior bureaucrats and police officers from the district. Next day, she will address a rally of the party workers and leaders in the district at the Midnapore College Grounds. A member of the state cabinet, who did not wish to be named, told IANS that the chief minister is concerned about the reports of possible resurgence of the Maoist activities in the state."She has got reports that a section of the people in the three districts scattered over the Junglemahal area are dissatisfied with the slow progress of the developmental projects. Complaints about rampant corruption have gripped a sec- tion of the political and administrative sections in the state. Even there are reports that the BJP is taking that advantage and trying to fuel the grievances of the people on this count. So, the chief minister will review the situation at the administrative review meeting and suggest corrective measures," the member of the state cabinet said. On April 26, at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Eastern Zonal Council that took place at the West Bengal state secretariat of Nabanna, the Union home ministry officials cautioned about the resurgence of Maoist activities in the four eastern Indian states of the West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand and Bihar. During the two-day West Midnapore visit, the chief minister is also expected to review the deployment of the Central Armed Forces there. ‘Chinese carrying out capability enhancement near LAC’ SNS & AGENCIES GUWAHATI, 16 MAY The Chinese army is carrying out capability enhancement in terms of infrastructure, and operational capability close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in a large measure, said General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Eastern Command Lt Gen RP Kalita on Monday. Briefing media persons here, Lt Gen Kalita said, "We talk about border villages created close to LAC which have dual-use possibilities. If we put everything together, it would suffice to say that PLA is carrying out capability enhancement whether in infrastructure, or operational capability in a large mea- sure." He emphasized that India is acting towards enhancing infrastructure and operational capabilities in order to respond to any emergent situation. "All our agencies, including armed forces, are continuously monitoring this situation. We are also upgrading our own capabilities whether in terms of infrastructure or in terms of operational capabilities. If we talk about the LAC in the eastern theatre, across the LAC in Tibet there has been a lot of development in the infrastructure which is taking place. We all keep hearing about it," Lt Gen stated.The military standoff with China has been going on for over two years now when the Chinese side attempted to change the status quo unilaterally by moving troops in large numbers against Indian positions. In view of the Chinese threat, the Indian Army has shifted six Divisions that were earlier deployed in counter-terrorism roles and after taking care of the Pakistan front. STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 16 MAY Prime Minister Narendra Modi today hailed the ties between India and Nepal as "unshakable like the Himalayas" and he assured the neighbouring country of New Delhi's support in the development of the hydropower sector and in encouraging interested Indian developers to expeditiously explore new projects. The growing friendship between India and Nepal would work for the benefit of the entire humanity amid the kind of global situation that was emerging today. ''The devotion to Lord Buddha binds us together, makes us members of one family,'' he said at a Buddha Jayanti event in Lumbini in the Himalayan nation. Modi paid a day-long visit to Lumbini to Nepal, coinciding with the occasion of Buddha Purnima, at the invitation of his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba. As PM, this was Modi’s fifth visit to Nepal and first to Lumbini.Upon arrival, the two PMs visited the Mayadevi temple, within which lies the birthplace of Lord Bud- dha. At the temple, they attended prayers conducted as per Buddhist rituals and made offerings. They also lit lamps and visited the historical Ashoka Pillar, which carries the first epigraphic evidence of Lumbini being the birthplace of Lord Buddha. They also watered the holy Bodhi tree that was brought as a gift by Prime Minister Modi during his visit to Nepal in 2014. PM Modi and Deuba participated in the "Shilanyas” ceremony for the construction of the India International Centre for Buddhist Culture and Heritage at a plot in Lumbini belonging to the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC) based in New Delhi. The plot was allocated to the IBC by the Lumbini Development Trust in November 2021. After the "Shilanyas” ceremony, the two leaders also unveiled a model of the Buddhist centre, which is envisaged as a Net-Zero compliant world-class facility that would house prayer halls, meditation centre, library, exhibition hall, cafeteria and other amenities and would be open to Buddhist pilgrims and tourists from Covid: 2,202 fresh cases reported in last 24 hours Rajnath to induct two indigenous warships into Indian Navy STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 16 MAY India has reported 2,202 fresh cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed on Monday. The ministry also informed that 191.37cr vaccine doses have been administered so far under Nationwide Vaccination Drive which has brought down India's Active caseload which currently stands at17,317. As per the ministry statement, the cumulative tally of recovered patients (since the beginning of the pandemic) is now at 4,25,82,243. The active cases in the country stand at 0.04% with the recovery Rate currently at 98.74%. The daily positivity rate in the country is 0.74%. Corbevax price slashed NEW DELHI, 16 MAY Vaccine maker Biological E. Ltd (BE) on Monday announced that it has reduced the price of its Covid-19 vaccine corbevax, from Rs 840 to Rs 250 a dose inclusive of GST, for private Covid vaccination centres. For the end user,the price would be Rs 400 a dose, including taxes and administration charges. Corbevax said it has lowered the price of its vaccine with the aim of making it more affordable and help increase IANS the reach. FACT FILE TOTAL CASES 4,31,23,801 ACTIVE CASES 17,317 2,202 2,550 5,24,241 NEW CASES NEW RECOVERIES TOTAL DEATHS UNION HEALTH MINISTRY FIGURES AS OF 10.00 P.M. TUESDAY 01 SEPTEMBER 2020 Bengal registered 14 Covid cases and zero deaths. NEW DELHI, 16 MAY The nation will witness a landmark event in the history of indigenous warship building tomorrow when two frontline warships of the Indian Navy--Surat, a Project 15B Destroyer and Udaygiri, a Project 17A Frigate--will be launched concurrently at Mazgaon Docks Limited, Mumbai. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be the chief guest for both events. The Project 15B class of ships are the next generation stealth guided-missile destroyers of the Indian Navy being built at the Mazgaon Docks Ltd, Mumbai. ‘Surat’ is the fourth ship of Project 15B Destroyers which heralds a significant makeover of the P15A (Kolkata Class) Destroyers and is named after the commercial capital of the state of Gujarat and also the second-largest commercial hub of western India after Mumbai. Surat city has a rich maritime & shipbuilding history and vessels built in the city in the 16th and 18th centuries were known for their longevity (of more than 100 years). The ship Surat has been built using the Block construction methodology which involved hull construction at two different geographical locations and has been joined together at MDL, Mumbai. The first ship of this class was commissioned in 2021. The second and third ships have been launched and are at different stages of outfitting/ trials. ‘Udaygiri’, named after a mountain range in Andhra Pradesh, is the third ship of Project 17A Frigates. These are follow-ups of the P17 Frigates (Shivalik Class) with improved stealth features, advanced weapons and sensors and platform management systems. ‘Udaygiri’ is the reincarnation of erstwhile ‘Udaygiri’, the Leander Class ASW Frigate, which saw numerous challenging operations in its illustrious service to the country spanning over three decades from 18 Feb 1976 to 24 Aug 2007. Under the P17A program, a total of seven ships, with 04 at MDL and 03 at GRSE are under construction. Various novel concepts and technologies like Integrated Construction, Mega Block Outsourcing, Project Data Management/ Project Lifecycle Management (PDM/PLM) etc have been adopted for the first time in indigenous Warship Design and Construction in this project. It may be recalled that the first two ships of the P17A Project, were launched in 2019 and 2020 at MDL and GRSE respectively. Both 15B and P17A ships have been designed in-house by the DND, around 75% of the orders for equipment and systems have been placed on indigenous firms including MSMEs which is a true testament of ‘Atmanirbharta’ in the country. around the world. At a bilateral meeting later, the two leaders followed up on their discussions held on 2 April in New Delhi. They discussed specific initiatives and ideas to further strengthen cooperation in various sectors, including culture, economy, trade, connectivity, energy and development partnership. The two sides agreed in principle to establish sister-city relations between Lumbini and Kushinagar, which are among the holiest sites of Buddhism and reflect the shared Buddhist heritage between the two countries. The two leaders expressed satisfaction at the progress made in bilateral power sector cooperation in recent months, which covers the development of generation projects, power transmission infrastructure and power trade. Deuba invited Indian companies to undertake the development of the West Seti hydropower project in Nepal. The two PMs agreed to further expand educational and cultural exchanges to bring the people of the two countries closer. A luncheon was hosted in honour of the Indian PM by Deuba. They also participated in a special event to mark the 2566th Buddha Jayanti celebrations that were organised by Lumbini Development Trust under the aegis of the Government of Nepal. India and Nepal inked a slew of agreements during the visit, including collaboration between their higher education institutions and state power authority. Man held for making fake FB ID of Amit Shah PATNA, 16 MAY The Gopalganj police have arrested a person for allegedly creating a fake Facebook ID of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and making abusive remarks about former MLA of Baikunthpur, Mithilesh Tiwari. The incident came to light after Tiwari filed a complaint with the Mohamadpur police. After investigation, the police arrested a person named Vicky Kumar Singh."Following the arrest of Vicky, former JD-U MLA Manjeet Singh reached Mohamadpur with his supporters and sat on IANS a dharna. SC to hear challenge for survey Gyanvapi mosque on Tuesday DGCA issues show cause notice to IndiGo SNS & AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 16 MAY The Supreme Court will on Tuesday hear a plea against the Allahabad High Court order which dismissed a petition challenging a Varanasi court's order to appoint an advocate as a court commissioner to inspect the Gyanvapi mosque complex. A bench comprising Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and P.S. Narasimha will hear the plea filed by Committee of Management Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Varanasi. On May 13, the apex court had declined to immediately stop the survey of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, and agreed to list the matter. Senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, representing the petitioner, mentioned a plea before the top court filed by the Committee seeking a stay Varanasi: Lawyers claim presence of Shivling in mosque SNS&AGENCIES After the survey of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple-Gyanvapi Mosque complex in Varanasi concluded, lawyers on Monday claimed that a Shivling was found in the Gyanvapi Mosque. "It was the third day of the survey. A stone was found there. We are claiming it to be Shivling. It is around 3 feet tall. It was at the spot where Muslims performed wuzu. They had claimed it to be a fountain but after cleaning it was found to be Shivling," lawyer Deepak Singh said. "We have filed an appeal before the court that this place be secured as it can be tampered with. Court has ordered the same," Singh added. Advocate Subhash Chandra Chaturvedi, who was part of the survey team, said that the team found a pond and there is a well-like structure in the middle of the pond. on survey of the complex. The plea challenged the validity of Allahabad High Court's April 21 order, which dismissed the plea against the civil court's order for the survey.Ahmadi mentioned the plea before a bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana.The bench said: "We don't know anything about the matter... We have no details. How can we pass the order?" Ahmadi said "please grant status quo", and added that the mosque has been covered under Places of Worship Act. The bench said: "Let me look at the papers, let me see..."A Varanasi court on a suit filed jointly by five Hindu women, last month ordered an inspection of the premises through advocate commissioner Ajai Kumar Mishra. The Allahabad High Court affirmed the civil court order. VARANASI, 16 MAY The petitioners urged the court for year-long access to pray at a shrine behind the western wall of the mosque complex.The women petitioners also want permission to pray to other "visible and invisible deities within the old temple complex".On May 12, a Varanasi court ordered resumption of the video survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex, including the basement and closed rooms.The Muslim parties had objected to the survey. The court said the survey report should be submitted on May 17. The Varanasi court also declined to entertain the demand of Muslim parties to remove advocate commissioner Ajai Kumar Mishra, instead appointed two additional commissioners -lawyers Vishal Singh and Ajay Pratap Singh -- to assist him. CMYK Airlines over Ranchi airport incident SNS & AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 16 MAY The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) inquiry found inappropriate handling of passengers by the IndiGo staff thereby resulting in certain non-conformances with the applicable regulations. On May 7, staff of Indigo airlines had barred a specially-abled child accompanied by parents from boarding a flight at the Ranchi airport as he was in "a state of panic", following which the aviation regulator DGCA had ordered a probe and asked the airline to submit a report. The fact finding committee formed by DGCA to probe the incident has submitted their report on Monday. The statement released by DGCA reads that a fact find- ing enquiry was ordered by DGCA into the unfortunate event of denying boarding to a special child along with the family at Ranchi Airport by Indigo Airline on May 7, 2022. The committee has submitted its report. The proceedings of the committee were partly held in the open and partly in camera as per the request of the affected fam- ily, it reads. "The findings of the committee prima facie indicate inappropriate handling of passengers by the Indigo staff thereby resulting in certain non-conformances with the applicable regulations," it mentioned. In view of this, it has been decided to issue a show cause notice to the concerned airline through its authorized representative to explain as to why suitable enforcement action should not be taken against them for the non-conformances, it reads. It further mentioned that to meet the ends of justice, the Airline has been provided an opportunity for personal hearing as well as for making written submissions in the next ten days from today i.e. till 26th of May 2022.