CMYK THURSDAY www.thestatesman.com 16 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 ‘VIJAYAN SOUGHT HELP FROM SHARJAH RULERS FOR DAUGHTER’S BIZ’ A DARK CHAPTER P6 WEATHER Partly cloudy sky. Temperature likely to be in the range of 34-27 degrees Celsius. Max.97% TEMPERATURE Max: 32.7 °C (-1) SUN RISES 04:52 hrs MOON RISES 19:36 hrs New moon on 28 Min. 67% Min: 23.9°C (-3) SUN SETS 18:22 hrs MOON SETS 05:20 hrs June THUMBNAILS A view of the Gurudwara Chatti Patshahi as devotees arrive to pay obeisance, in Srinagar on Wednesday. ANI LeT terrorist involved in killing of bank manager among 2 neutralised: Two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists, including the one involved in the killing of a bank manager in Kulgam, were on Wednesday neutralised in an encounter with security forces with Shopian.The encounter started at kanjiular area of Shopian when terrorists fired at a joint team of security forces. Police said one of the killed terrorists identified as Jan Mohd Lone of Shopian. The other killed terrorist has been identified as Tufail Ganai. MHA to give priority to 'Agniveers',says Shah: Union home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday announced that his ministry has decided to give priority to 'Agniveers' who have completed four years under the 'Agnipath' scheme in the recruitment of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and Assam Rifles. Shah said a "detailed planning" work has been started in the Ministry of Home Affairs following the Pg5 decision. Boy trapped in borewell saved after more than 100 hours in Chh’garh Rahul Sahu was rescued by the Indian Army, NDRF and District Administration during the rescue operation, at Pihrid on Wednesday.  ANI JANJGIR-CHAMPA (CHHATTISGARH), 15 JUNE The young boy from Chhattisgarh, Rahul Sahu who fell into a borewell in Pihrid village of Janjgir-Champa district was successfully rescued after over 100 hours of operation, informed the officials. Sahu was safely extricated around midnight on Tuesday. Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel wished for the young boy's recovery. “With everyone's prayers and the relentless, dedicated efforts of the rescue team, Rahul Sahu has been brought out safely. It is our wish that he recovers completely as soon as possible," tweeted Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel adding the state has created history. Rahul Sahu was trapped in a 60-ft deep borewell in Pihrid village of Malkharoda block. Around 150 officials were deployed for the rescue operation. The rescue operation was jointly carried out by the Indian Army, National Disaster Response Force and District Administration. After the operation concluded, Sahu is said to be in a stable condition.ANI P4 P10 P12 Govt for consensus, Opp 5G coming soon, about 10 times faster than 4G: Govt firm on joint candidate Pawar declines proposal to be Opp's President candidate for 18 July polls RAINFALL: 039.5 mm RELATIVE HUMIDITY ‘BCCI TO HAVE WOMEN'S IPL FROM 2023’ UK VOWS TO PURSUE ASYLUM POLICY AFTER RWANDA FLIGHT CANCELLED STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI’KOLKATA, 15 JUNE he government is making a concerted bid for a consensus candidate for the upcoming presidential election, even as 17 Opposition parties announced a decision to put a joint candidate against the NDA pick. Union Minister Rajnath Singh has spoken to Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee among other opposition leaders for the upcoming presidential election.According to sources, Rajnath also spoke to Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Samajwadi Party chief AkhileshYadav earlier today and sought their opinion on candidates for the July 18 presidential elections. However, the three leaders have asked the government to declare the BJP-led NDA's nominees for the Presidential election. However, doubts persist on how successful the BJP bid will be given that many Opposition parties have struck a discordant note. Earlier today, ahead of July 18 Presidential poll, a meeting of opposition leaders called by Trinamul Congress supremo and Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee in the national capital onWednesday decided to field a joint candidate in for the upcoming poll with NCP chief Sharad Pawar declining the proposal as the Presidential candidate of the Opposition. The meeting was held to build consensus for fielding a joint opposition candidate. The Today is the beginning and I think after so many months we sat together and we will do it again... for the bulldozing going on in the country's democratic system. Every institution is totally misused politically and it is necessary we must sit together T MAMATA BANERJEE TMC leader and Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee with Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Leader of Opposition in RS Mallikarjun Kharge and DMK leader TR Baalu at the Opposition leaders' meeting, in the Capital on Wednesday.  SUBRATA DUTTA meeting adopted a resolution to field a common candidate in the election slated for 18 July. In the meeting, a resolution was passed to field a common candidate in the next Presidential poll. “In the forthcoming Presidential election which is being held on the 75th anniversary of India's independence, we have decided to field a common candidate who can truly serve as custodian of the Constitution and stop the Modi government from doing further damage to Indian democracy and India's social fabric," it said. Banerjee said all important political parties sent their representatives and several senior leaders attended the meeting. “One or two parties did not attend the meeting and they must have their reason. All the members in the meeting unanimously named Sharad Pawar. If Pawar is ready, it is ok. If not, then names will come for political parties. It (name) will be discussed and decided. Today is the beginning and I think after so many months we sat together and we will do it again... for the bulldozing going on in the country's democratic system. Every institution is totally misused politically and it is necessary we must sit together,” she said. An opposition leader present in the meeting said that the TMC supremo proposed the name of NCP chief and everyone agreed. “But Pawar refused and said he will be active in politics till his death.” Banerjee also suggested names of Farooq Abdullah and Gopalkrishna Gandhi for opposition nominee for Presidential polls but no discussion was held on the names. It is learnt that opposition leaders will meet again on 21 June to finalise the candidate. Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, NCP chief Pawar, Congress' Kharge, Jairam Ramesh, and Randeep Singh Surjewala, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, National Conference's Omar Abdullah, Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav, DMK's TR Balu, Shiv Sena's Priyanka Chaturvedi, RJD's Manoj Jha and others attended the meeting. After the meeting, the BENGAL CHIEF MINISTER TMC supremo said,“Several parties were here today. We’ve decided we will choose only one consensus candidate. Everybody will give this candidate our support. We will consult with others. This is a good beginning.We sat together after several months, and we will do it again.” Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP did not participate in the meeting and Telangana Rashtra Samithi led byTelangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao did not send a representative. EC issues notification for presidential polls, 11 file nominations: The Election Commission on Wednesday issued the notification for 16th Presidential election, scheduled to be held on 18 July. As per the notification, the nominations can be filed till 29 June and the scrutiny of the papers will be held on 30 June. The last date for withdrawing from the electoral fray is 2 July. The counting will take place on 21 July. As per a source, 11 candidates filed the nomination for the country's top constitutional post after the notification was issued. However, one nomination was rejected due to incomplete documents, the source said. STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 15 JUNE The long-awaited 5G services, which will be about ten times faster than 4G, are expected to be rolled out soon with the Union Cabinet today giving its nod to a proposal from the Department of Telecommunications to conduct the 5G spectrum auction. Through this auction, the spectrum will be assigned to the successful bidders for providing these services to the public and enterprises, an official note said. Digital connectivity has been an important part of policy initiatives of the government through its flagship programmes such as Digital India, Start-up India, Make in India etc. Broadband, especially mobile broadband, has become an integral part of the daily lives of citizens. This received a big boost through the rapid expansion of 4G services across the country since 2015. Through such pathbreaking policy initiatives, the government has been able to promote access to mobile banking, online education, telemedicine, eRation etc. to Antyoday families. The 5G test bed setup in 8 top technology institutes of India is speeding up the launch of domestic 5G technology in India. The PLI (ProductionLinked Incentives) schemes for mobile handsets, and telecom equipment and the launch of the India Semiconductor Mission are expected to help build a strong ecosystem for the launch of 5G services in India. The time is not far away when India is going ICMR: Covaxin booster enhances vax effectiveness against Delta, Omicron India sees uptick in Covid cases INDO ASIAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 15 JUNE  To boost digital connectivity, the Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister has approved the proposal of the Department of Telecommunications to conduct a spectrum auction through which spectrum will be assigned to the successful bidders for providing 5G services to public and enterprises.  The 5G test bed setup in 8 top technology institutes of India is speeding up the launch of domestic 5G technology in India to emerge as a leading country in the field of 5G technology and the upcoming 6G technology. Spectrum is an integral and necessary part of the entire 5G eco-system. The upcoming 5G services have the potential to create newage businesses, generate additional revenue for enterprises and provide employment arising from the deployment of innovative use-cases and technologies. A total of 72097.85 MHz of spectrum with a validity period of 20 years will be put to auction to be held by the end of July 2022. The auction will be held for spectrum in various Low (600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz), Mid (3300 MHz) and High (26 GHz) frequency bands. It is expected that the Mid and High band spectrum will be utilised by Telecom Service Providers to roll out 5G technology- ASIAN NEWS INTERNATIONAL India reported 8,822 fresh Covid cases in the last 24 hours, a steep rise against 6,594 infections on the previous day, the Union Health Ministry said on Wednesday. During the same period, 15 Covid deaths were recorded taking the nationwide toll to 5,24,792. The active caseload has risen to 53,637 cases, accounting for 0.12 per cent of the total positive cases.The recovery of 5,718 patients in the last 24 hours took the cumulative tally to 4,26,67,088. Meanwhile, Daily Positivity rate has slightly declined to 2.00 per cent, while the Weekly Positivity Rate currently stands IANS at 2.35 per cent. SPEED UP NEW DELHI , 15 JUNE NEW DELHI, 15 JUNE The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has found in a study that a Covaxin booster dose enhances the vaccine effectiveness against the Delta variant infection and gives protection against the Omicron variants BA.1.1 and BA.2. The protective efficacy of Covaxin following the second and third dose immunisations were compared against the Delta variant and also studied the efficacy of Covaxin against Omicron variants in a Syrian hamster model in the study. The ICMR scientists also studied the antibody response, clinical observations, viral FACT FILE TOTAL CASES 4,32,45,517 ACTIVE CASES 53,637 NEW CASES 8,822 NEW RECOVERIES 5,718 TOTAL DEATHS 5,24,792 UNION HEALTH MINISTRY FIGURES AS OF 8.00 A.M. WEDNESDAY 15 JUNE 2022 Bengal recorded 230 cases and one death load reduction and lung disease severity after virus challenge. "Protective response in terms of the reduction in lung viral load and lung lesions were observed in both the 2 doses as well as 3 doses Covaxin immunised group when compared to placebo group following the Delta variant challenge," the ICMR study said. The study said that in spite of the comparable neutralising antibody response against the homologous vaccine strain in both second dose and third dose immunised groups, considerable reduction in the lung disease severity was observed in the third dose immunised group post Delta variant challenge indicating the involvement of cell mediated immune response also in protection. However, the findings of the study are a preprint and have not been certified by peer review. based services capable of providing speed and capacities which would be about 10 times higher than what is possible through the current 4G services. The spectrum auction will be benefitted from the Telecom Sector Reforms announced in September 2021. The reforms include zero Spectrum Usage Charges (SUC) on the spectrum acquired in the upcoming auction, providing significant relief to the service providers in terms of the operating cost of telecom networks. Further, the requirement of submitting a financial bank guarantee equivalent to one annual instalment has also been done away with. Continuing the pace of Telecom Sector reforms, the Cabinet announced various progressive options with regard to the spectrum to be acquired by bidders through the forthcoming spectrum auction for facilitating ease of doing business. For the first time ever, there is no mandatory requirement to make upfront payment by the successful bidders. Payments for spectrum can be made in 20 equal annual instalments to be paid in advance at the beginning of each year. This is expected to significantly ease cash flow requirements and lower the cost of doing business in this sector. The bidders would be given an option to surrender the spectrum after 10 years with no future liabilities with respect to balance instalments. The availability of a sufficient backhaul spectrum is also necessary to enable the roll-out of 5G services. Delhi police entered AICC office, beat up workers, says Congress Congress on Wednesday alleged Delhi Police entered party office and beat up workers protesting Enforcement Directorate (ED) move on party Gandhi Rahul and claimed that the “act of absolute goondaism” was perpetrated at the behest of BJP-led government. Addressing a press conference, party leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said action of Delhi Police was "criminal trespass" which will not be tolerated and will be accounted for. He demanded that FIR should be lodged and action taken against those involved. “In an act of absolute goondaism by Delhi police at the stance of government, they entered Congress office and beat up workers. This is criminal trespass. Their goondaism has reached its zenith. This won't be tolerated and will be accounted for," Surjewala said. Speaking at a press conference earlier in the day, Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel said the BJPled government was trying to suppress the voice of the Wayanad MP and will have to pay a "hefty price". “We cannot bring our own staff to the AICC office now. Office-bearers cannot come to office.We were told that only two chief ministers can come here and no one else has permission. This kind of situation never rose where members of political parties cannot enter the office. Why is this happening?" “It is because one person is raising his voice against the wrongdoings of the Centre for the last 8 years. The person is Rahul Gandhi. Be it GST, demonetization, Covid, mismanagement, lockdown, unemployment, inflation or the security of borders, Rahul Gandhi has been raising his voice against every important issue," he said. Cal HC to CBI: Form SIT to Children born outside wedlock are Sippy Sidhu murder case: probe recruitment scam eligible to get family property : SC Judge’s daughter arrested INDO ASIAN NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, JUNE 15 Extending its earlier order, the Calcutta High Court's single judge bench of Justice Avijit Gangopadhyay on Wednesday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to form a Special Investigation Team (SIT) for conducting a probe into the primary teachers' recruitment scam in West Bengal. Justice Gangopadhyay said that members of the SIT should not be assigned to other cases till this probe is completed. The members of the SIT cannot also be transferred before the completion of the probe. “I expect the CBI will do exemplary work in the probe process. I hope that this investigation does not face the same fate as the Saradha chit fund scam. My only wish is that those deprived because of corruption get proper employment scope," he said. Meanwhile, the CBI sleuths, on Wednesday afternoon conducted a raid at the office of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) and seized all the documents pertaining to the recruitment. On June 13 this year, Justice Gangopadhyay while ordering the CBI probe into the primary teachers' recruitment scam, also ordered the immediate cancellation of the appointment of 269 candidates to the post of primary teachers. Recently, Justice Gangopadhyay had expressed frustration over the slow progress of the central agency probe in all these cases. INDO ASIAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 15 JUNE Setting aside a Kerala High Court order, the Supreme Court has ruled that the illegitimate children of a couple living together for a long time without getting married can have a share of the family property. The apex court was dealing with a plea filed against the high court order that denied the property share claim of an alleged illegitimate child citing the parents of the plaintiff did not engage in marriage. However, observing that the couple was living together for a long time, the top court noted that their relationship is as good as marriage. "It is well settled that if a The court also referred to its earlier order in which it was stated that "Law leans in favour of legitimacy and frowns upon the bastardy." man and a woman live together for long years as husband and wife, there would be a presumption in favour of wedlock. Such a presumption could be drawn under Section 114 of the Evidence Act. Although the presumption is rebuttable, a heavy burden lies on him who seeks to deprive the relationship of legal origin to prove that no marriage took place," it said. It also said that the Trial Court on examination of the CMYK evidence on record held that the couple Damodaranand Chiruthakutty was cohabiting for a long time. According to the plaintiffs, Damodaran married Chiruthakutty in 1940. However, there is no direct evidence of their marriage. The first plaintiff Krishnan was born in the year 1942. “The documents produced by the plaintiffs were in existence long before the controversy arose between the parties. These documents, coupled with the evidence would show the long duration of cohabitation between Damodaran and Chiruthakutty as husband and wife," stated the order passed by the bench of Justices S. Abdul Nazeer and Vikram Nath. ASIAN NEWS INTERNATIONAL NEW DELHI, 15 JUNE The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday arrested the daughter of Himachal Pradesh High Court Chief Justice in connection with the killing of nationallevel shooter Sukhmanpreet Singh Sidhu who was shot dead in Chandigarh in 2015. The accused has been identified as Kalyani Singh, posted as an Assistant Professor at a Post Graduate Government College in Chandigarh. On September 20, 2015, Sukhmanpreet Singh Sidhu, also known as Sippy Sidhu, a national-level shooter was shot dead at a park in Sector 27 in Chandigarh. The CBI had registered a case on April 13, 2016, at the request of the Chandigarh Administration and had taken over the investigation related to the murder of Sukhmanpreet Singh on the night of September 20, 2015 in Sector 27 in Chandigarh by unidentified persons. The shooter had started his own Law firm in the name of M/s Sippy Sidhu LLB at Mohali (Punjab). During further investigation, the alleged involvement of the accused came forth in the case. Accordingly, she was examined and arrested. The arrested accused was produced on Wednesday in the Court of Special Judicial Magistrate, Chandigarh and remanded to four days of police custody.