FRIDAY www.thestatesman.com 10 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 JOHNSON SURVIVES KERALA OPP DEMANDS VIJAYAN’S RESIGNATION P4 WEATHER PARTLY CLOUDY SKY WITH POSSIBILITY OF VERY LIGHT RAIN/DRIZZLE TOWARDS AFTERNOON/EVENING. THE MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WOULD BE AROUND 43 AND 29 DEGREES CELSIUS RESPECTIVELY. RAINFALL: Nil RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max: 51% Max: 43.8°C (+4) SUN RISES 05:23 hrs MOON RISES 14:52 hrs P6 P9 Presidential polls to be held on 18 July: EC Counting of votes will be held on 21 July; Kovind’s term ends on 24 July STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 9 JUNE Min: 19% TEMPERATURE Min: 28.1°C (+0) SUN SETS 19:19 hrs MOON SETS 02:38 hrs THUMBNAILS Devotees arrive to take a dip in the Ganga river on the occasion of Ganga Dussehra, at Har Ki Pauri Ghat, in Haridwar on Thursday.  ANI SA win high scoring thriller: South Africa batsmen showed great grit in chasing down India's 211/4 in 20 overs. Earlier, Ishan Kishan's explosive 76 of 48 and contributions from Shreyas Iyer (36) and Hardik Pandya (31) powered India to a mammoth 211/4 in the first T20I clash against South Africa here at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Thursday.The day was memorable for the Indian batters, who smashed the Proteas bowlers all over the (See earlier report in pg12) park. Mayank Kumar Agrawal given addl charge of CEO, Prasar Bharati: Director General of Doordarshan and Doordarshan News, Mayank Kumar Agrawal has been given additional charge of the CEO, Prasar Bharati, official said. On Wednesday, Shashi Shekhar Vempati's tenure as CEO Prasar Bharati, came to an end. The Minister of Information and Broadcasting has approved granting the additional charge of the CEO, Prasar Bharati to Agrawal with effect from 9 June until further orders or till joining of regular incumbent to the post of the CEO Prasar Bharati, whichever is earlier. T he election to choose the next President of India will be held on 18 July and the result will be announced on 21 July, the Election Commission of India (ECI) declared on Thursday. Announcing the schedule for the election of the President at a press conference here, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said the term of office of President Ram Nath Kovind is ending on 24 July. As per the poll schedule, notification for the presidential election will be issued on 15 June while the last day of filing nomination will be 29 June. Scrutiny of nomination papers will be held on 30 June, while the last day of withdrawal of nomination papers will be 2 July. Polling, if required, will be held on 18 July and counting will take place on 21 July. The SecretaryGeneral of the Rajya Sabha will be the Returning Officer for this election. As per Article 62 of the Constitution, an election for the next President must be held before the completion of the incumbent's term. The last Presidential election was held on 17 July 2017, while the declaration of the winner was made three days later on 20 July. As per Article 54 of the Constitution of India, the President is elected by the members of the Electoral College consisting of elect- Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar during a Press conference where he announced the schedule of the Presidential elections.  SNS ed members of both Houses of Parliament and elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of all States including the National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Union Territory of Puducherry. Nominated members of either Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha or Legislative Assemblies of the States are not eligible to be included in the Electoral College and therefore, they are not entitled to participate in the election. Similarly, members of the Legislative Councils are also not electors for the Presidential election. Article 324 of the Constitution read with the Presidential and VicePresidential Elections Act, 1952, and the Presidential and Vice - Presidential Elections Rules, 1974 vests the superintendence, direction and control of the conduct of election to the office of the President of India in the Election Commission of India. Mr Kumar said, "The value of the vote of an MP will be 700. Those in preventive detention can vote and those in jail will have to apply for parole and if they get parole, they can vote.” “The value of votes of the elected members of State Legislative Assemblies and both Houses of Parliament is governed by Article 55(2) of the Constitution. The total value of votes for MLAs for the 16th Presidential Election is 5,43,231. The total value of votes for MPs is 5,43,200. The total value of vote of electors for the Presidential Election, 2022 is 10,86,431,” he said. “A total of 4,809 electors to vote in the Presidential elections in 2022. No political party can issue a whip to its members,” Kumar said. The Chief Election Commissioner said, "A nomination paper of a candidate has to be subscribed by at least 50 electors as proposers and by at least other fifty electors as seconders. An elector can subscribe to only one nomination paper of a candidate as either a ‘India’s bio-economy has grown eight times in 8 yrs’ STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 9 JUNE Noting that India’s bio-economy has grown eight times in the last eight years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said the country was not too far from reaching the league of top-10 nations in biotech's global ecosystem. “We have grown from $10 billion to $80 billion,” he said and listed several reasons why India was being considered a land of opportunities in the field of biotech. He said the country, among other things, has a diverse population and diverse climatic zones; it has a talented human capital pool; it was making increasing efforts towards the ease of doing business; the demand for bio-products was increasing in the country continuously and the biotech sector has an exemplary track record in the country. Inaugurating the Biotech Startup Expo - 2022 at the Pragati Maidan in New Delhi, the SC grants custody of Covid orphaned child to paternal grandparents NEW DELHI, 9 JUNE The Supreme Court on Thursday granted the custody of a five-year-old boy who lost both his parents to Covid last year, to his paternal grandparents, saying that paternal grandparents would better take care of the child than his maternal aunt, as they are "more emotionally attached" to him. It quashed the Gujarat HC order which had granted custody to the maternal aunt, aged 46.The boy lost his father and mother on May 13 and June 12, 2021, respectively. SNS PM Narendra Modi along with Union Ministers Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan during inauguration function of Biotech Start-up Expo 2022, in the Capital on Thursday. SUBRATA DUTTA PM said today when the country was taking new pledges during the 'Amrit Kaal', the role of the biotech industry was very significant in its development. Talking about the growing reputation of Indian professionals on the global stage, he said; “trust in the skill and innovation of our IT professionals in the world is at a new high.” Modi said his government has worked tirelessly for improving the potential and power of the Indian economy. He emphasised that there was stress on “the whole of the government approach”. The 'mantra' of Sabka SaathSabka Vikas was applicable to different sectors of India also, he said. This has resulted in a reversal of the situation when only a few selected sectors were focused upon and others were left to fend for themselves. Today, he said, every sector was giving an impetus to the development of the country. Therefore, every sector’s ‘Saath’ and every sector ‘Vikas’ were the need of the hour. This change ‘HAPPY BUT COULD HAVE DONE BETTER’ BASIL RAJAPAKSA QUITS PARLIAMENT AMIDST SL CRISIS in thinking and approach was giving results, he added. Modi said unprecedented steps were being taken in the biotech sector which was clearly manifested in the startup ecosystem. “In the last eight years, the number of start-ups in our country has increased from a few hundred to 70000. These start-ups are made in about 60 different industries. In this also, more than 5000 startups are associated with biotech. Every 14th startup in the biotechnology sector and more than 1100 such biotech start-ups emerged in the last year itself”, he said. Further talking about the shift of talent towards the sector, the PM said the number of investors in the biotech sector has risen by nine times and biotech incubators and funding for them has increased by seven times. The number of biotech incubators has increased from six in 2014 to 75 now. Biotech products have increased from ten products to more than 700, he said. proposer or a seconder." A candidate can file a maximum of four nomination papers. The security deposit for the election is Rs 15,000, which is required to be made along with the nomination paper, or should be deposited in Reserve Bank of India or a Government Treasury under the relevant Head of Accounts for the purpose, prior to filing of nomination. Members of Parliament are expected to cast their votes at the place of polling in the Parliament House and Members of State Legislative Assemblies are expected to vote at the respective State Legislative Assembly. Mr Kumar mentioned that the election to the office of President will be by secret ballot and therefore, the electors are expected to scrupulously maintain secrecy of vote and any violation of the voting procedure will entail cancellation of the ballot paper by the Presiding Officer. For marking the vote, the Commission will supply particular pens. The pen will be given to the electors in the polling station by the designated official when the ballot paper is handed over. Electors have to mark the ballot only with this particular pen and not with any other pen. Voting by using any other pen will lead to invalidation of the vote at the time of counting.Counting of votes will be held in New Delhi under the supervision of the Returning Officer. Govt launches Rashtriya puruskar Portal STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 9 JUNE The Government has launched a common Rashtriya puruskar Portal (https://awards.gov.in ) for various awards given by different Ministries and departments of the Government. The portal will bring together all awards of the Government under one digital platform to ensure transparency and public partnership (Jan Bhagidari). This portal will facilitate citizens to nominate individuals or organizations for the various Awards.Currently, nominations and recommendations are open for Padma Awards (nominations till 15 September, 2022); Sardar Patel National Unity Award (nominations till 31 July, 2022); and Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award. P12 MEA: Remarks,tweets against Prophet don’t reflect govt’s views STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 9 JUNE With the controversy over the remarks made by two suspended BJP functionaries Prophet Muhammad refusing to die down, New Delhi today made it clear that their comments do not reflect the views of the Government of India. “We have made it pretty clear that the tweets and comments don't reflect the views of the government. This has been conveyed to our (foreign) interlocutors,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a media briefing. He said India has also drawn the attention of the foreign governments toward the action taken by the BJP against its spokesperson Nupur Sharma and the party's media head in charge Naveen Jindal. ''Action has been taken by the concerned quarters against those who made the comments and tweets,'' he said. On reports that Indian nationals were being targeted in certain countries in the wake of the remarks made by the suspended BJP leaders, the spokesperson said the government was continuously monitoring the situation to ensure the security of Indian nationals and Indian assets. The spokesperson denied that Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian raised the issue of the FIRs against Nupur, Owaisi, Narasimhananda & others STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 9 JUNE The Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operation (IFSO) unit of the Delhi Police has registered two separate cases in connection with alleged hate speeches made by various political leaders of different parties. A senior police official said that those who have been named in the FIRs are former BJP leader Naveen Kumar Jindal and Nupur Sharma, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, Shadab Chauhan, Saba Naqvi, Maulana Mufti Nadeem, Abdur Rehman, Gulzar Ansari and Swami Yati Narasimhananda. "We have lodged the FIR against those who were spreading messages of hate, inciting various groups and creating situations which are detrimental to the maintenance of public tranquility. The FIRs against multiple individuals cut across religions. We will investigate the roles of various social media entities in promoting false and wrong information with an intention to create unrest in the cyber space. They are compromising with the social fabric of the country," said a police official. The official said one of the FIRs was lodged under sections 153, 295, 505 of IPC. In this FIR various leaders were named. A separate case was registered against Nupur and others. remarks made against the Prophet at his meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in New Delhi yesterday. But the Iranian media said Abdollahian raised the issue of the "negative atmosphere" triggered by "disrespectful" comments on the Prophet at his meeting with National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval. The Indian side reaffirmed the government's respect for Prophet Mohammad, saying the offenders would be "dealt with in such a way that others will learn a lesson”. Covid surge: Lens on Maha, Kerala, Delhi ASIAN NEWS INTERNATIONAL NEW DELHI, 9 JUNE After a surge in Covid cases across the country, Union Health Ministry is closely monitoring the situation in the states like Maharashtra, Kerala, Delhi and Karnataka and has asked them to follow the five-fold strategy and amp-up testing, said official sources on Thursday. The Ministry has also asked the States to monitor clusters of new Covid cases and follow Covid appropriate behaviour, sources said. Recently, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan wrote to the officials of five states, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Tamil Nadu to closely monitor emerging clusters, maintain adequate number of testing and send samples from infected individuals for genome sequencing. "There are few states which are reporting a higher contribution to India's cases indicating the possibility of a localised spread of infection. There is, there- FACT FILE TOTAL CASES 4,31,97,522 ACTIVE CASES 32,498 NEW CASES 7,240 NEW RECOVERIES 3,591 TOTAL DEATHS 5,24,723 UNION HEALTH MINISTRY FIGURES AS OF 8.00 A.M. THURSDAY 09 JUNE 2022 Delhi recorded 622 cases and 2 deaths fore, a need to follow a risk assessment based approach on the public health responses without losing the gains made so far in the fight against the pandemic, " reads the letter. India on Thursday witnessed another jump in the daily cases as the country reported 7,240 infections in the last 24 hours, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Hyd cops want 5 juveniles to be tried as adults for max punishment STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE STRINGENT ACTIONS AGAINST GANG-RAPE HYDERABAD, 9 JUNE  Out of six accused in the With five of the six accused in the Jubilee Hills gang rape case turning out to be juveniles Hyderabad Police is considering appealing to the Juvenile Justice Board in order try them as adults in the trial to ensure harsher sentences. Commissioner of Police CV Anand had said that the police has solid evidence against the accused and the provisions under which they are being charged will attract a maximum sentence of 20 years or even death. But among the six accused only one, Saduddin Malik is an adult the rest are all 17-year- case, only one Saduddin Malik is a major and the police on Thursday took him into three days custody for further questioning  Police are reportedly planning to bring to the Board's notice an amendment made to the Juvenile Justice Act in 2015. old including one who is just a month short of adulthood. If tried as a juvenile, the five minors can be given a maximum sentence of only three years in a special home. The Hyderabad police intend to take advantage of an amendment in the Juvenile Justice Act of 2000 introduced in CPM activists protesting against ‘gangrape on minor girl’ in Hyderabad 2015 following the Nirbhaya case. Police received support from the government with industry minister KT Rama Rao saying: “I welcome and support the stand of Telangana Police. If you are adult enough to commit a crime as heinous as rape, one must also be punished as an adult and not as a juvenile.” The amended act has a provision which allows children in conflict with law to be tried as adults under certain circumstances. It distinguishes children in the age group of 16 to 18 as a separate category who can be tried as adults if charged with committing a heinous offence, which attracts a minimum sentence of seven years. An increase in the number of offenders at this age group had prompted the government to propose the amendment though it was opposed by child rights activists. In the Hyderabad rape case, the CP said the CCTV footage made it clear that the accused had already made plans to kidnap and sexually molest the girl before exiting the pub. In case the Hyderabad police decides to appeal under this provision then the juvenile justice board will conduct a preliminary assessment to determine whether the child should be tried as an adult or under the juvenile justice system under which a maximum term of three years in a special home. The board will assess if the child has the mental and physical capacity to commit a heinous crime and understand its consequences and the circumstances in which the crime was committed. If the board rules in favour of try- ing the child as an adult then the case goes to children’s court which will again review the decision of the board.The case which involved at least five persons from political and influential families led to considerable outrage among the people. The police also tried to give clean chit to the son of the AIMIM MLA saying that he had got down from the car before the sexual assault but later videos shot by the accused showed him molesting the rape survivor though he did not participate in the gang rape. One of the accused is the son of minority board chairman and two others are sons of TRS corporators. Monitoring developments along LAC, says Bagchi STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 9 JUNE India today said it was carefully monitoring developments along the LAC, including the construction of infrastructure by the Chinese side in the eastern Ladakh sector. The comments came following remarks by an American military commander that some of the defence infrastructures that China was creating near its border with India in Ladakh were “alarming"”. “The government is committed to and takes all adequate and appropriate measures to safeguard the territorial integrity and sovereignty as the developments in recent years have clearly demonstrated,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said. He said that the government of India has taken various measures in recent years to develop infrastructure along the border areas to not only meet India's strategic and security requirements but also facilitate the economic developments of the areas. US Army's Pacific Commanding General Charles A Flynn yesterday spoke about the infrastructure development by China along its borders with India in the Ladakh sector and called the Chinese activities in that region "eyeopening". “As far as the current situation (in eastern Ladakh) is concerned, we have maintained continuous communication with the Chinese side both through diplomatic and military channels," the Indian spokesperson said. He said India would also continue its dialogue with the Chinese side to resolve the military stand-off in eastern Ladakh. The spokesperson said India's expectation was that the Chinese side would work with it to resolve the stand-off as prolonging the issue was not in the interest of either side.