CMYK TUESDAY www.thestatesman.com 07 JUNE 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 ‘THERE SHOULD BE NO ANIMOSITY BETWEEN RULING PARTY & OPPN’ S’PORE NAMES LAWRENCE WONG AS DEPUTY PM P9 WEATHER Partly cloudy. Hazy.Temperature likely to be around 36°C and 29°C. RAINFALL: 17.3 mm RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 80% TEMPERATURE INDIA TO DOUBLE MARINE PRODUCT EXPORTS IN FIVE YEARS P5 P8 Unwarranted: India refutes Pak PM, OIC comments Pakistan should focus on safety of its minorities, says MEA spokesperson STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 6 JUNE Min. 67% Max: 32°C Min: 26°C (1) SUN RISES SUN SETS 04:51 hrs 18:19 hrs MOON SETS MOON SETS 11:17 hrs 20:22 hrs Full moon on 14 June THUMBNAILS Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) mountaineers practise yoga at an altitude of 22,850 feet in the Himalayas amid the snow conditions near Mount Abi Gamin, in Chamoli on Monday.  ANI Musk says may drop Twitter deal: Elon Musk warned he may walk away from his $44 billion deal to acquire Twitter Inc if the social media network fails to provide data on spam and fake accounts, the billionaire said in a letter to the company on Monday. The letter said Twitter was in a "clear material breach" of its obligations and that Musk reserves all rights to terminate the merger agreement. In March, Musk said he would put the deal "temporarily on hold", while he waits for the social media company to provide data on the proportion of its fake accounts. Kerala reports two confirmed cases of Norovirus among school-going children: In June g 2022, Kerala reported two confirmed cases of Norovirus among school-going children in Vizhinjam, Trivandrum. The SSO, Kerala, has been asked to submit a detailed report which will be submitted shortly, added the sources. An estimated 685 million cases of Norovirus are seen annually, including 200 million cases among children under five. ndia today hit back at Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for their unwarranted comments on the raging controversy over the remarks made by now suspended two BJP functionaries against Prophet Muhammad. In response to media queries about Sharif's tweet yesterday, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said; ''The absurdity of a serial violator of minority rights commenting on the treatment of minorities in another nation is not lost on anyone. The world has been witness to the systemic persecution of minorities including Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and Ahmadiyyas by Pakistan.'' He asserted that the Government of India accorded the highest respect to all religions. This was quite unlike Pakistan where fanatics were eulogised and monuments built in their honour. ''We call on Pakistan to focus on the safety, security and well-being of its minority communities instead of engaging in alarmist propaganda and attempting to foment communal disharmony in India,” the spokesperson added. Sharif had yesterday tweeted; ''I condemn in strongest possible words hurtful comments of India's BJP leader about our beloved Prophet (PBUH). Have said it repeatedly I India under Modi is trampling religious freedoms & persecuting Muslims. World should take note & severely reprimand India. Our love for the Holy Prophet (PBUH) is supreme. All Muslims can sacrifice their life for the Love & Respect of their Holy Prophet (PBUH).'' Earlier, the MEA spokesperson issued another statement saying; "We have seen the statement on India from the General Secretariat of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The Government of India categorically rejects OIC Secretariat's unwarranted and narrow-minded comments." "The Government of India accords the highest respect to all religions. The offensive tweets and comments denigrating a religious personality were made by certain individuals. They do not, in any manner, reflect the views of the Government of India. Strong action has already been taken against these individuals by relevant bodies," the statement added. Meanwhile, Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, have condemned remarks on Prophet Muhammad made by two BJP leaders--Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal-- who have since been suspended. The controversy erupted amid Vice President Venkaiah Naidu's tour of Qatar, causing embarrassment to New Delhi. Saudi Arabia described Nupur Sharma's comments as "insulting" and called for "respect for beliefs and religions", according to a foreign ministry statement. Riyadh is the latest to condemn the remarks. Qatar, Kuwait and Iran summoned the Indian envoy on Sunday amid widespread calls on social media for a boycott of Indian goods in the Gulf. India has said that the remarks were made by fringe elements and did not reflect the government's opinion. The government also highlighted that the rul- ing BJP had taken action against the leaders - one of whom was the party's national spokesperson and the other its media chief. The decision was welcomed by Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The comments were made by Nupur Sharma during a TV debate last week in the backdrop of a series of communal incidents across the country. BJP media chief Naveen Jindal posted a tweet about the Prophet, which he later deleted. In a statement on Sunday, the BJP said it is "strongly against any ideology which insults or demeans any sect or religion" and "does not promote such people or philosophy". The Congress hit out at the BJP. Taking to Twitter, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor tagged a post which said that supermarkets in Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain, removed Indian products after insulting remarks were made by ruling party leaders. FOOT INJURY SPELLS FURTHER TROUBLE FOR NADAL P12 Bengal CM Mamata to replace Governor as Chancellor at state-run universities, cabinet clears proposal STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 6 JUNE The state Cabinet today approved a proposal to replace the Governor by the education minister from the post of visitor of private universities. It has also given its nod to appoint the chief minister as Chancellor of the state-aided universities by replacing the Governor. In order to implement the two decisions, a Bill in this regard will have to be passed in the Assembly and get Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar’s nod. Infact, the proposed Bill will be introduced in the upcoming Assembly session, which is scheduled to commence from 10 June. Around six or seven Bills of the higher education department will be introduced during this session. According to sources, the government was open to opt an ordinance route if Mr Dhankhar does not clear the proposed bill to appoint chief minister Mamata Banerjee as the Chancellor of state-aided universities and education minister Bratya Basu as visitor of private universities instead of him. As per the current guidelines for setting up private universities, the governor has to be appointed the 'visitor' and he can preside over the convocations. The 'visitor' also has the power to call for any paper or information relating to the affairs of the universities. On 26 May, the state Cabinet had decided to appoint Miss Banerjee in place of Mr Dhankhar as the Chancellor of stateaided universities. The Cabinet today decided that universities under departments other than the higher education department will also have the chief minister in the post of Chancellor. These universities are the West Bengal Health Sciences under health and family welfare department, the Bidhan Chandra Krishi Vishwavidyalaya and the Uttar Banga Krishi Vishwavidyalaya under agriculture department and the West Bengal University and Animal and Fishery Sciences under animal resources development department. The move to appoint the chief minister as the Chancellor comes in the backdrop of Mr Dhankhar’s clash with the state government over appointments of vicechancellors across universities.Next, the Cabinet approved a proposal to appoint 2,500 Asha (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers. These workers are trained women community health activists who are trained to work as an interface between the community and the public health system. India logs 4518 fresh Covid cases, 9 deaths STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 6 JUNE Showing a constant upward trend in the number of cases, India reported 4518 fresh Covid infections and nine deaths in the last 24 hours, stated the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Monday. With this, India’s active caseload now stands at 25,782 with active cases now constituting 0.06% of the country's total positive cases.As per the data shared by the ministry, India’s recovery rate stands at 98.73% with 2779 patients having recovered in the last 24 hours taking the cumulative tally of recovered patients to 4,26,30,852.While the weekly positivity rate in the country currently stands at 0.91 percent, the daily positivity rate shoots to a whooping 1.62 percent, as per the data. Besides, the health ministry stated that the last 24 hours saw a total of 2,78,059 COVID-19 tests being conducted taking the cumulative tests to over 85.29 crore. FACT FILE TOTAL CASES 4,31,81,335 ACTIVE CASES 25,782 NEW CASES 25,782 NEW RECOVERIES 2,779 TOTAL DEATHS 5,24,701 UNION HEALTH MINISTRY FIGURES AS OF 8.00 A.M. MONDAY 06 JUNE 2022 Bengal registered 53 cases and zero deaths WhatsApp chats of Kanpur accused point to conspiracy NEET PG 2021: SC agrees to examine plea seeking fresh mop-up round for vacant AIQ seats SNS & AGENCIES No plan to replace Gandhi’s face on banknotes: RBI SNS & AGENCIES KANPUR, 6 JUNE NEW DELHI, 6 JUNE The central bank Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cleared the air by saying that it has no proposal to bring about changes to the existing currency and bank notes by replacing the face of Mahatma Gandhi with that of others. "There are reports in certain sections of the media that the Reserve Bank of India is considering changes to the existing currency and banknotes by replacing the face of Mahatma Gandhi with that of others," the central bank said in a statement on Monday. The statement added that there is no such proposal in the central bank. As per multiple reports, the RBI and the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India (SPMCIL), which comes under the Finance Ministry, sent two separate sets of samples of Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore and APJ Kalam-watermarked notes to IIT-Delhi's Dilip Shahani. After reports emerged in the media, the same has been shared extensively on various social media platforms over the past 24 hours or so. But the RBI has now denied that there is any IANS such proposal. Police have accessed the WhatsApp chats of Zafar Hayat Hashmi, a key conspirator in the Kanpur violence. The police found 114WhatsApp groups on Hashmi's phone in which messages regarding the closure of shops in Kanpur on June 3 were discussed.The messages were sent to six other mobile phones that are now being tracked. Violence erupted in Kanpur on June 3 after one group tried to force shopkeepers to shut down shops in the city's Parade Chowk area to protest the remarks made by former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma against Prophet Muhammad The police came across a WhatsApp group named 'MM Johar Fans association Kanpur team', on which the pictures of shops being shut before the violence were shared. Hashmi, the national president of the Maulana Muhammad Jauhar Ali Fans Association, is among the 40 accused named in the FIR after the violence erupted. Police said Hashmi had called for the market shutdown.It is alleged that Hashmi incited the people, which led to stone pelting and clashes between two groups that left more than 30, including several police personnel, FM intervenes as Covid orphan receives loan recovery notices SNS & AGENCIES injured.He has been detained and taken in for questioning. Besides him, 38 others have also been arrested. The police have also retrieved CCTV footage from a petrol pump located in the area where violence broke out. A bottle that appears to be full of petrol can be seen being handed over to a man. The CCTV videos concerned are from June 2 and 3 before the violence broke out. Several petrol bombs were hurled during the violence.The administration has now suspended the license of the petrol pump which allegedly provided petrol in bottles before the violence. Selling petrol in bottles is strictly prohibited. STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE PATNA, 6 JUNE Bhopal was an LIC agent and had taken a loan from his office. Since Vanisha is a minor, LIC has blocked all her father's savings and the commissions he would get every month, as per the report. Her father died during the second wave of Covid in 2021. She had reportedly received the last legal notice on February 2, 2022, to repay Rs 29 lakh, or else would be subjected to legal consequences, the report said. The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine a plea by medical students seeking a fresh mop-up round to fill vacant postgraduate medical seats under the All-India Quota (AIQ) in the NEET 2021. A vacation bench comprising Justices M.R. Shah and Aniruddha Bose asked the advocate representing the petitioners to serve a copy of the petition to the respondents -- Medical Counselling Committee (MCC), National Board of Examination, and the Centre. The top court has scheduled the matter for further hearing on June 8. The petitioners have sought a direction to MCC to conduct a special stray round of counselling to allow the candidates to participate for the vacant seats which are available after the conduct of the stray vacancy round of AIQ. The petitioners also sought a direction to MCC to provide the exact number of vacant seats after the conduct of the stray vacancy round of AIQ. The plea, filed through advocate Milind Kumar, said: "On 11.05.2022, vide a reply to an RTI, the petitioners were informed that some seats are still vacant and that the information regarding the same runs into 101 pages. This ignited a ray of hope in the petitioners as they were still without a seat and that these vacant seats would provide a fair chance to all the candidates placed similarly as the petitioners." The plea contended that the petitioner made umpteen efforts to contact the appropriate authorities by emails to obtain information regarding the vacant seats but received no response. The plea said as per the notification released by MCC on April 18, 2022, a special stray round was organised in the UG counselling for the vacant 323 seats in order to make sure that precious seats do not go to waste. "The MCC has taken steps to ensure that the vacant seats do not go to waste in the UG counselling, they can adopt a similar method with respect to PG counselling. In the interest of justice, this will provide a fair opportunity to everyone who could not secure a seat in the previous rounds of counselling and also be advantageous to the colleges as it will generate revenue for them," added the plea. Birth Control: Education for girls Nitish’s mantra NEW DELHI, 6 JUNE After reports emerged of a teenage Covid orphan being troubled by loan agents for the repayment of outstanding debt left behind by her late father, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman intervened and asked officials to take up the case. The finance minister has asked the Department of Financial Services and Life Insurance Corporation to look into the matter. "Please look into this. Also brief on the current status," Sitharaman tweeted while attaching the news report titled "Orphaned Topper Faces Loan Recovery Notices" with it. The father of 17-yearold Vanisha Pathak from NEW DELHI, 6 JUNE Amid mounting pressures from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders for bringing in population control laws, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar today cited the example of China to highlight how legislating laws won’t serve any purposes. Rather, he laid emphasis on educating the female class for bringing down the fertility rate. The chief minister said a study conducted by his government had noticed a significant relation between the fertility rate and female education. “We had conducted a study in 2012-13 which brought forth a significant result. It found that higher the literacy rate among girls, lower is the fertility rate,” the chief minister said. Based on this study, the chief minister added, the state government has now focused its attention on providing education to females. It was the result of this effort that the fertility rate in the state has now come down to three from 4.3. “We are now working hard to bring it further down to two in the next 5-7 years,” the chief minister told the media on the sidelines of the weekly Junta Durbar today. Refusing to go into any controversy, the chief minister said legislating laws won’t serve any purposes and cited the example of China where, he added, how the situation had turned disastrous post, imposing population control law. “During my weeklong trip to China some time ago, I tried to personally know about this law but what I gathered from the local people was very shock- CMYK ing. Those who had one child were not being taken care of properly. So, this will bring serious trouble in future,” the chief minister said, adding bringing laws to control population won’t help any much. The chief minister rather wants to put more focus on increasing literacy rate among girls and providing more education to them. “I am sure the fertility rate will automatically come down once the girls are educated and that’s why our government is paying more atten- tion to educating the girls,” he said.The chief minister’s observation is in sharp contrast to the BJP leaders who want to bring some harsh laws for population control. Only last week, Union minister Prahlad Singh Patel said a law to tame population boom would be brought soon. “It (population law) will be brought soon, don’t worry. When such strong and big decisions have been taken then the rest too (will be taken),” the minister had told the media in Raipur last week.BJP leader and Union rural development minister Giriraj Singh has also been constantly demanding for legislating laws for population control. Describing stabilization of population as very essential for the development of the country, Singh has said, “China produces 10 children on an average in a minute, whereas in our coun- try we give birth to 31-33 children in a minute. Population control law is very important.” He already has supported the population control measures quite like on the pattern of the UP government. The UP government policy 2021-2030 is aimed at bringing down the reproductive rate to 2.1 per cent by 2026 and 1.9 per cent by 2030, media reports have said. India is expected to add nearly 273 million people to its population between now and 2050, a UN report said in 2019, forecasting that the country will cross China as the world's most populous country by 2027. India will remain the most populated country through the end of the current century, the report said. In 2019, India had an estimated population of 1.37 billion and China 1.43 billion, according to the UN figures.