SUNDAY www.thestatesman.com 12 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 ‘CHINA’S MILITARY ACTIVITY AROUND TAIWAN THREATENS REGION BIGSHOTS’ GAMEPLAN P6 WHY FRANCE’S PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS ARE IMPORTANT TO MACRON P11 P10 Generally cloudy sky with light rain. Temperature will be in the range of 34-27 degrees Celsius. Remark row: Fresh violence in Howrah RAINFALL: 018.2 mm RELATIVE HUMIDITY Sec 144 imposed; Bengal BJP president Majumdar held on way to Howrah Max.95% SNS & AGENCIES WEATHER TEMPERATURE Min. 73% Max: 32.7 °C (-2) Min: 23.4 °C (-4) SUN RISES SUN SETS 04:51 hrs 18:21 hrs MOON RISES MOON SETS 15:03 hrs 01:57 hrs Full moon on 14 June THUMBNAILS Artistes perform a dance during an event 'Women Economic Forum 2022' at India International Center, in New Delhi on Saturday. ANI Celebrity fashion designer Prathyusha Garimella found dead at her residence : TCelebrity fashion designer Prathyusha Garimella was found dead on Saturday in suspicious circumstances at her Banjara Hills residence in Hyderabad, Telangana.Prathyusha, who was the founder of her own label named Prathyusha Garimella, used to run a fashion studio in Banjara Hills and had top clients from Tollywood, Bollywood and also from other sectors. Terrorist killed in encounter at Pulwama:One terrorist has been killed in an ongoing encounter with security forces at Drabgam area in South Kashmir's Pulwama district, officials said on Saturday."One terrorist killed. Operation going on," police said. This is the second encounter on a single day in Kashmir. Hyderabad gang rape: Hyderabad police on Saturday began questioning five juveniles arrested in connection with the 28 May gang rape of a 17-year-old girl in a car. The police until now was questioning only the accused who is a major.The minors were brought to Jubilee Hills police station, where they have been lodged since their arrest a few days ago. KOLKATA, 11 JUNE midst fresh violence in Howrah on Saturday over remarks against Prophet Muhammed, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said that some political parties were responsible for the violent protests in the district for the last two days and reiterated that strict action will be taken against those who were trying to instigate violence. Taking to Twitter, Miss Banerjee questioned why common people should suffer because of the ‘sin', committed by the BJP . Section 144 was imposed in Howrah after fresh clashes took place between police and a group of protesters at Panchla Bazaar in Howrah amid a row over remarks against Prophet Muhammad. Police used tear gas shells to disperse them as protesters pelted stones. Violent protests broke out in Howrah on Friday over controversial remarks of suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma. Section 144 of CrPC imposed in and around the stretches of National High- A People stage a protest against suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma over her alleged remarks on Prophet Mohammad, in Kolkata on Friday.  ANI ways and Railway Stations under the jurisdiction of Uluberia-Sub Division, Howrah has been extended till June 15. Later in the day, the state government temporarily stopped internet services in certain areas of Beldanga, Rejinagar and Shaktipur police station area in Murshidabad district because of intelligence inputs that the internet may be used for spreading rumours. Amidst the violence, The state home department replaced Howrah city police commissioner C Sudhakar with Praveen Tripathy. Swati Bhangalia would take charge as the new SP (Rural) replacing Soumya Roy. While C Sudhakar had been transferred to Kolkata police as Joint CP Soumya Roy was , made DC in Kolkata police. Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar was arrested while he was on his way to trouble-hit areas in Howrah. Earlier in the day, Majumdar was stopped by the police from visiting violence-affected areas, citing the current law and order situation. He was then placed under house arrest. The state BJP chief jumped barricades outside his residence as he was getting ready to leave for Panchla town in Howrah. BJP national president JP Nadda has condemned Majumdar's arrest. In a tweet, he said, "The Bengal government raises the spirits of criminals, gives shelter to antisocial elements, while on Two killed, 20 hurt in Ranchi AGENCIES RANCHI, 11 JUNE Two people died and over 20 others were injured in the violence in Ranchi during protests against suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma's remarks on Prophet Muhammad. Authorities at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences confirmed that two people brought to the hospital after the protesters clashed with police have succumbed to their injuries. Among the 22 injured, 10 are policemen and the others protesters. Three of the injured are in a critical condition. Several parts of the Jharkhand capital were put under curfew after protesters clashed with police yesterday. The protesters demanded the arrest of suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma, whose remarks on Prophet Muhammad have kicked up a storm. the other hand suppresses the voice of those fighting people's rights democratically." Several incidents of violence were reported from different parts of the country over the controversial remarks of Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal on Friday. Even on Saturday, an uneasy calm prevailed in many cities with many being rounded up for creating unrest. Following the protests, the Ministry of Home Affairs asked the police heads of states and Union Territories to be prepared and alert as they will be on target. The MHA also has asked all the states to take preventive actions, keep a check on borders and identified sensitive areas. Earlier on Friday, a massive crowd also gathered to protest at Park Circus in Kolkata adding to the resentment against the sacked leaders. A BJP office was vandalised and torched in Uluberia, Howrah district. People also held a protest at Dasnagar railway station on the Howrah-Kharagpur railway route. While appealing for peace, Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar tweeted: “Expect CM to sternly warn law violators- they will not be spared.” SEE PG3 Prayagraj mastermind held over UP violence AGENCIES PRAYAGRAJ, 11 JUNE Uttar Pradesh Police has detained the "mastermind" of the violence which broke out during a protest over in Prayagraj after Friday prayers on June 10. Names of some people linked with All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) have surfaced, said Prayagraj Senior Superintendent of Police Ajay Kumar, adding that there could be more masterminds. See pg 5 4 die after oil tank explodes in Nayagarh RS polls: Big blow to MVA as BJP’s surprise victory in Maha, Haryana Holy Relics of Lord Buddha to be taken to Mongolia NAYAGARH (ODISHA) , 11 JUNE SNS/ AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 11 JUNE As many as four people were killed and one was critically injured after an oil tanker at village Itamati in Odisha's Nayagarh exploded on Saturday morning. According to the reports, the incident took place when the local residents reached the place where the tanker slid off the Bada Pandusara bridge at Itamati. The tanker was coming from Paradip at around 1.45 AM when the driver lost control over it and fell off after hitting the bridge's fence. After the incident, the locals rushed to the spot to launch a rescue operation, but the oil tanker got exploded while the operation was underway, and hence all the four people involved in the rescue were charred to death. “At about 2 AM, two trucks carrying Diesel and Petrol were coming from Paradip to Nayagarh side when one of them hit the wall of a bridge near Bada Pandusara and fell into the river," Superintendent of Nayagarh Police, Alekha ch Pahi told ANI. “Meanwhile, the staff of the second tanker went to rescue the members of the first tanker, when a sudden explosion took place and four persons died, while one received severe injuries," he added. The deceased persons have been identified as Pankaj Nayaj, Dipu Khatua, Sameer Nayak and Chandan Khatua, while the injured Rakesh Samantray was shifted to Bhubaneswar hospital after his conditions deteriorated at Nayagarh district headANI quarters hospital. MUMBAI/ CHANDIGARH, 11 JUNE The ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government got a rude shock as the BJP on Saturday secured the win of its additional candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls from Maharashtra. Elections were held for six vacancies, with seven candidates were in fray, including three from BJP, two from Shiv Sena, and one each from Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress. All the BJP candidates -Piyush Goyal, Anil Bonde and Dhananjay Mahadik have won the Rajya Sabha elections. The victors from the MVA are -- Sanjay Raut (Shiv Sena), Praful Patel (NCP) and Imran Pratapgarhi (Congress). In a huge upset, the Sena's second candidate Sanjay Pawar lost We never fought the election for the sake of contest but to win it DEVENDRA FADNAVIS BJP LEADER OF OPPOSITION the polls, stunning the MVA, in the results that were declared around 4 a.m.From the beginning it was clear that the battle was between Mahadik, a former Kolhapur MP and Pawar, the Shiv Sena District President from Kolhapur. “We never fought the election for the sake of contest but to win it,” said the Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis, who ensured BJP's win. Raut said that certain expected votes did not fall in the MVA's favour, due to some reasons that led to the Sena candidate's loss. “We had predicted that all the four MVA candidates would win. What went wrong will surely be studied, and analysed,” said Congress Legislature Party leader and Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat. Meanwhile, in a humiliation for Congress candidate Ajay Maken in Haryana, the state ruling BJP got its candidate and its supported candidate elected to both Rajya Sabha seats early Saturday after high drama that put the counting of ballots on hold for nearly eight hours. BJP's Krishan Lal Panwar and Jannayak Janata Party ( JJP)-backed Independent candidate, Kartikeya Shama, who got the BJP support, were declared elected. While Panwar polled 31 votes, media baron Sharma 28 and Maken 29. One Congress vote was declared invalid, while its MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi had cross-voted for Sharma. In a special gesture towards the people of Mongolia, four Holy Relics of Lord Buddha are being taken from India to Mongolia for an 11-day exposition as part of celebrations of Mongolian Buddh Purnima falling on 14 June. A 25-member delegation, led by minister of law and Justice Kiren Rijiju accompanying the sacred relics will leave for Mongolia tomorrow. The Holy Relics will be displayed at the Batsagaan Temple within the premises of Gandan Monastery. The Holy Buddha Relics, currently housed in the National Museum, are known as the ‘Kapilvastu Relics’ since they are from a site in Bihar first discovered in 1898 which is believed to be the ancient city of Kapilvastu. Briefing media persons about the visit, Rijiju said that it is another historic milestone in India-Mongolia relations and will further boost cultural and spiritual relations between the two counSNS tries. SERIES AGAINST S.A. OPPORTUNITY FOR PANDYA P12 Mamata invites Opp, calls meet on 15 June on Presidential polls STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, 11 JUNE Ahead of the Presidential elections, chief minister Mamata Banerjee today urged the Opposition leaders and state chief ministers of non-BJP parties to participate at a meeting at the Constitution Club in New Delhi on 15 June. Miss Banerjee is likely to go on a three-day visit to Delhi on 14 June. The EC has announced that polling for election of the next President of India will be held on 18 July as incumbent President Ram Nath Kovind's term ends on 24 July. “The Presidential elections are around the corner, presenting the perfect opportunity for all progressive opposition parties to reconvene and deliberate on the future course of Indian politics. The election is monumental because it gives legislators the opportunity to participate in deciding the Head of our State who is the custodian of our democracy. At a time when our democracy is going through troubling times, I believe that a fruitful confluence of opposition voices is the need of the hour, to echo Poll for the President will be held on July 18 with 4,809 members of the electoral college comprising MPs and MLAs set to elect the successor to incumbent Ram Nath Kovind. the deprived and unrepresented communities,“ she wrote. Miss Banerjee has written to 22 leaders, including Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Kerala CM and Left leader PinarayiVijayan, Odisha CM and BJD head Naveen Patnaik and Maharashtra's chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. She has written that a nation with a robust democratic character requires a strong and effective opposition. “All progressive forces in this country needs to remain aligned and resist the divisive force that is plaguing us today.” “Opposition leaders are being deliberately targeted by PM: Reforms have furthered ease of doing business STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 11 JUNE KOHIMA, 11 JUNE The Special Investigation Team (SIT), set up by the Nagaland government to probe the killing of 14 people in Mon district in December last year, has named 30 Army men including a major, in its charge sheet submitted to court, officials said on Saturday. A senior Nagaland Police official said that the SIT submitted its charge sheet to the District and Sessions Court in Mon district on May 30 through the additional public prosecutor and named 30 members of the operation team of 21 Para (Special Force) - the major, two A senior Nagaland Police official said that the SIT submitted its charge sheet to the District and Sessions Court in Mon district on May 30 through the additional public prosecutor and named 30 members of the operation team of 21 Para (Special Force) one major, two subedars, eight havildars, four nayaks, six lance nayaks and nine paratroopers. subedars, eight havildars, four nayaks, six lance nayaks and nine paratroopers. “A CID report seeking sanction for prosecution is forwarded to the Department of Military Affairs in the first week of April and reminder letter sent in May. The sanction for prosecution is still awaited. Meanwhile, the charge sheet has been filed, pending sanction for prosecution against the 30 accused. “In the CID Report, the SIT has also made various observations with regard to the manner in which the operation was carried out and pointed out the need to address those issues and requested the appropriate authority for taking necessary action," the Nagaland Police said in a statement. It said that investigation has revealed that Alpha team of 21 Para (Special Force), consisting of 31 personnel led by a major rank officer launched an operation in Oting Tiru area on December 3 last year, based on the intelligence input about presence of a group of militants belonging to the NSCN-K-YA and the ULFA. Prime Minister Narendra Modi today claimed that his government has brought in several reforms which have furthered “Ease of Doing Business”. In a tweet, Modi said many outdated laws which slowed growth have been removed. With the Mantra of Reform, Perform and Transform, India has emerged as the fastestgrowing major economy in the world. “Guided by the principle of ‘Reform, Perform and Transform’ the Government of India has brought in several reforms which have furthered ‘Ease of Doing Business.’ At the same time, many outdated laws which slowed growth have been removed,” he tweeted. Modi shared the details of reforms during the last eight years in the field of Ease of Doing Business and for spreading widespread prosperity and encouraging entrepreneurship. He shared a MyGov tweet thread and articles from his website and Namo App.The Indian economy grew by 8.7 per cent in the year ended March 2022, the fastest among the major economies across the world. The real GDP or Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at On December 4, at around 4.20 p.m., the operation team, which had laid an ambush at Longkhao between Upper Tiru and Oting village and opened fire at a white Bolero pick up vehicle which was carrying eight civilians belonging to Oting village, most of whom were working as labourers in a coal mine at Tiru without ensuring positive identification and failing to carry out challenging procedure. The statement said that the investigation has also revealed that the operation team had not followed the standard operating procedures and the rules of engagement and resorted to INSACOG to review genomic surveillance data:Sources NEW DELHI , 11 JUNE Constant (2011-12) Prices in the year 2021-22 is estimated to attain a level of Rs 147.36 lakh crore, as against the first revised estimate of Rs 135.58 lakh crore for the year 2020-21, released on 31st January 2022. The growth in GDP during 202122 is estimated at 8.7 per cent as compared to a contraction of 6.6 per cent in 202021, as per the latest data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO). The tweet highlighted that India has achieved its highest-ever merchandise and services exports. India achieved an alltime high annual merchandise export of $417.81 billion in FY 2021-22, an increase of 43.18 per cent over $291.81 billion in FY2020-21 and an increase of 33.33 per cent over $313.36 billion in FY2019-20, as per the Ministry of Commerce & Industry data.Meanwhile, Modi on Friday emphasized on increasing India's contribution to the global space industry and said that participation of the private sector in the country's space programme will play a big role in that. Nagaland killings: State govt SIT names Major among 30 soldiers INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE different Central agencies, the country’s image is maligned internationally and bitter dissensions are created within. It is time to strengthen our resistance,” she wrote. According to sources, senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha held consultations with Miss Banerjee and leaders of the DMK, CPI, CPI-M and the AAP on the possibility of fielding a joint opposition candidate. Mr Kharge dialed Miss Banerjee and told her that the opposition should put up a consensus candidate for the top job. Miss Banerjee is also said to have held preliminary discussions with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav about fielding a consensus Opposition candidate. The fact that Mamata Banerjee will go all out in playing a leading role in forging opposition unity on the issue of presidential polls was made clear by her in March this year.A senior member of the state cabinet, on condition of anonymity, said that the purpose of the mission is basically to consider some names which can be proposed as a unanimous opposition candidate. indiscriminate and disproportionate firing, leading to immediate killing of the six occupants of the vehicle on the spot and grievously injuring two persons. When the villagers of Oting and Tiru reached the incident spot in search of the missing villagers and the pick up vehicle,they turned violent on discovering the dead bodies and a scuffle ensued between the villagers and the security personnel. Almost all Naga organisations including Eastern Nagaland People's Organisation, All Naga Students' Association, United Naga Council organised a series of agitations against the killings. In view of the surge in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country, the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) will be reviewing the data of genomic surveillance of variants in the country next week in a meeting, sources informed ANI on Saturday. INSACOG is jointly initiated by the Union Health Ministry of Health and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). On Friday, Dr Samiran Panda, the Additional director-general of the ICMR said, "Panic does not serve as an appropriate Covid, pandemic, or public health response.Panic does not help to analyse the data, it doesn’t serve any purpose.” “It is about examining the data very carefully. So, if from a particular site or from a district or a few districts in the state upsurges or peak is being observed, then we need to look at the number of tests conducted in that area. The local data needs to be examined carefully for local-level decision makANI ing,” he added. FACT FILE TOTAL CASES 4,32,13,435 ACTIVE CASES 40,370 NEW CASES 8,329 4,216 NEW RECOVERIES TOTAL DEATHS 5,24,757 UNION HEALTH MINISTRY FIGURES AS OF 8.00 A.M. SATURDAY 11 JUNE 2022 Bengal recorded 139 cases and zero deaths