TUESDAY www.thestatesman.com 26 JULY 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 P3 WEATHER GENERALLY CLOUDY SKY. VERY LIGHT RAIN/ DRIZZLE. THE MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WOULD BE AROUND 36 AND 26 DEGREES CELSIUS RESPECTIVELY. RAINFALL: Trace RELATIVE HUMIDITY Min. 62% Max: 35.2 °C (+1) SUN RISES 05:40 hrs MOON RISES 04:03 hrs Min: 26.8°C (0) SUN SETS 19:16 hrs MOON SETS 17:49 hrs THUMBNAILS BJP supporters hold the National flags during the first-ever Tiranga Bike rally flagged off by party National General Secretary Tarun Chugh from Ghanta Ghar, Lal Chowk to Kargil War Memorial to celebrate Kargil Vijay Diwas, at the ANI Clock Tower, in Srinagar on Monday. Trainee aircraft crashes in Pune farm: A trainee aircraft crashed in a farm in Kadbanwadi village of Indapur taluka in the Pune district of Maharashtra due to suspected power loss on Monday. Aircraft belonging to Carver Aviation crashed around 11.30 am today. 22yr-old trainee pilot Bhavika Rathod was injured in the incident. FACT FILE TOTAL CASES 4,39,05,621 ACTIVE CASES 1,50,877 NEW CASES 16,866 NEW RECOVERIES 18,148 TOTAL DEATHS 5,26,074 UNION HEALTH MINISTRY FIGURES AS OF 8.00 A.M. MONDAY 25 JULY 2022 Delhi recorded 463 cases and 2 deaths India records 16,866 fresh Covid cases, 41 deaths in last 24 hours STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 25 JULY India reported 16,866 fresh Covid cases and 41 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 1,50,877 with active cases now constituting 0.34% of the country’s total positive cases. As per the data shared by the ministry, India’s recovery rate stands at 98.46% with 18,148 patients having recovered in the last 24 hours taking the cumulative tally of recovered patients to 4,32,28,670. While the weekly positivity rate in the country currently stands at 4.49 percent, the daily positivity rate shoots to 7.03 percent, as per the data. Besides, the health ministry stated that the last 24 hours saw a total of 2,39,751 COVID-19 tests being conducted taking the cumulative tests to over 87.27 crores. Under the National vaccination drive, 202.17 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far. As per the data, COVID19 vaccination for the age group 12-14 years was started on 16 March 2022. So far, more than 3.85 crore adolescents have been administered the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. More than 7.83 crore balance and unutilised Covid vaccine doses are still available with the states and UTs to be administered. P5 PATEL BREAKS DHONI'S 17-YEAR-OLD RECORD P10 P12 Nation above party politics: PM Modi Murmu takes oath as India’s 15th President STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 25 JULY New President promises to discharge her duties with utmost sincerity Max.89% TEMPERATURE RUSSIAN GOAL TO OUST UKRAINE’S PRESIDENT UDDHAV MOVES SC SEEKING STAY ON ECI PROCEEDINGS ON SHINDE’S PLEA ‘ILLEGAL MINERS TO FACE SEVERE ACTION’ ASHOK TUTEJA NEW DELHI, 25 JULY D roupadi Murmu was today sworn in as the 15th President of India, becoming the first tribal and the second woman to occupy the highest constitutional post in the country. Incidentally, she is also the youngest president who was born in an independent India. At a ceremony held at the Central Hall of Parliament, Murmu was administered the oaths of office and secrecy by Chief Justice of India N V Ramana. Present at the ceremony at which outgoing President Ram Nath Kovind formally handed over the charge to her were Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Union ministers, chief ministers, and MPs from different parties. In an emotional speech after taking charge of the highest office in the land, Murmu recalled her humble background, narrating how she started her journey of life from a small tribal village in Odisha. ''It is a tribute to the power of our democracy that a daughter born in a poor house in a remote tribal area can reach the highest constitutional position in India.'' Parliamentarians repeatedly clapped as the new president went on to say that her election was proof of the fact that the poor in India could have dreams and fulfil them too. ''And it is a matter of great satisfaction for me that those who have been deprived for centuries and those who have been denied the benefits of development, those poor, downtrodden, backwards and tribals are seeing their reflec- tion in me,'' the 64-year-old leader said. She promised that she would discharge her duties with utmost sincerity in the light of the Constitution. ''For me, the democratic-cultural ideals of India and all the citizens will always be my source of energy,'' she assured the nation. Murmu, the NDA's candidate, was elected the country's president last week, defeating joint Opposition nominee Yashwant Sinha by a massive margin. With Murmu occupying the highest office in the country, India has made yet another great stride toward the empowerment of the socially backward sections of society. Her elevation is seen as an inspiration for these deprived sections. Born in a Santali tribal family on June 30, 1958, in Uparbeda village coming under Mayurbhanj district in Odisha, she had her education from Bhubaneswar and went on to work first as a junior assistant in the State Irrigation and Power Department from 1979 to 1983. After this short stint as a clerk, she became a teacher at Sri Aurobindo Integral Education Centre at Rairangpur till 1997. Murmu took a political plunge in 1997 by joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). She was first elected as the councillor of the Rairangpur Nagar Panchayat and then went on to become the chairperson of the same panchayat in 2000. Later, she also served as the national vice president of the BJP Scheduled Tribe Morcha. Murmu became a member of the council of ministers in the BJP and Biju Janata Dal coalition government in Odisha, first becoming the minister of state with independent charge for commerce and transportation from March 2000 to August 2022 and then minister for fisheries and animal resources development from August 2002 to May 2004. In 2015, Murmu became the first woman governor of Jharkhand. She also became the first woman tribal leader from Odisha to be appointed as the governor of a state. During her political journey, she faced several lows in life, including the deaths of her husband and two sons. But she overcame all the challenges with fortitude and now becomes the new occupant of the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Opposition accuses govt of Four Congress MPs suspended for entire disrespecting Kharge at Monsoon session over ‘unruly behaviour’ Murmu’s oath-taking STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 25 JULY The Opposition today accused the government of showing disrespect to Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, saying he was made to sit in a seat not commensurate with his position at the swearing-in ceremony of President Droupadi Murmu. In a letter to Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu, they said "We are writing to express our shock and protest at this deliberate disrespect shown to a very senior leader violating the warrant of precedence and not in accordance with protocol courtesies due to him." The letter, shared by Congress communication incharge Jairam Ramesh on his Twitter account, is signed by leaders of the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena, Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marx- ist), and the Rashtriya Janata Dal. Rejecting the Opposition's charge, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said the Congress leader was given a seat in the first row. "To respect the position of Mallikarjun Kharge, he was provided with a seat in the first row. When he still complained that it was on the corner, the staff offered to move him to the centre, but he refused," he said. "On Saturday, for the farewell function, he was duly invited. He had been allotted a seat close to the PM. But he did not show up. In a way, it was an insult to the outgoing President, the Chairman, and the Speaker," the minister added. STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 25 JULY Four Congress MPs were suspended from Lok Sabha for the entire Monsoon session on Monday after they displayed placards and disrupted the Parliament proceedings despite a warning by Speaker Om Birla. The suspended Congress MPs are- Manickam Tagore, TN Prathapan, Jothimani and Ramya Haridas. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi later moved a resolution to suspend the four MPs. The House then passed the resolution by voice vote and Rajendra Agarwal, who was chairing the House proceedings, announced their suspension. The MPs were suspended according to Rule 374 for ‘unruly and disrespectful behaviour towards the Chair.’ Sources said that the four MPs were suspended as they showed placards in the House despite promising the Speaker to cooperate in the smooth functioning of the House. According to the sources, Birla had warned the Opposition MPs that members might be asked to leave the House if they continued protesting after 3 pm. Following the warning, all MPs met in the Speaker’s room. The Opposition parties had at the time promised Speaker Birla to not create a ruckus in the House. But despite their assurance, the MPs displayed placards when the House resumed after 3 pm. Earlier, Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 3 pm amid Opposition protests over price rise. Speaker Om Birla had warned the protesting members, including from the Congress, TMC and DMK, that those who continue to shout slogans, and display placards will have to do it outside the House after 3 pm. When the House resumed after 3 pm, a visibly irked Birla told the Opposition that the government was ready to discuss issues raised by them and stressed that people want the House to function. CBI arrests four in `100 crore RS seat racket AGENCIES The accused were identified as Karmalakar Premkumar Bandgar, Ravindra Vithal Naik, Mahendra Pal Arora and Abhishek Boora. However, the fifth accused identified as Md. Alaz Khan is still at large. NEW DELHI, 25 JULY The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday claimed to have arrested four people for allegedly running a racket by promising seats in Rajya Sabha and other government organisations for Rs 100 crore. The CBI also conducted raids at seven locations in Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra which led them to the recovery of incriminating documents. The accused were identified as Karmalakar Premkumar Bandgar, Ravindra Vithal Naik, Mahendra Pal Arora and Abhishek Boora. However, the fifth accused identified as Md. Alaz Khan is still at large. Soon after their arrests, all the four accused moved a bail plea before the Rouse Avenue Court which released them on bail. Bandgar was also impersonating a CBI official. The CBI had been inter- cepting a few calls which led them to bust the racket. They were cheating people on the pretext of offering them Rajya Sabha seats, governorship, or appointment as chairperson of government organisations, ministries and departments. Arora hatched the con- spiracy and discussed the idea with Bandgar and they zeroed in on people who could pay them a handsome amount. Later, other accused also joined them. Bandgar also claimed that he had links in government. The CBI has mentioned in the FIR that to impress their targets, the accused Bandgar, Arora, Khan and Naik used to show that they have links in Government. Boora was acting as a middleman with them. Bandgar even used to call Police personnel impersonating as CBI officials and would threaten them to help his friends. He also tried to influence investigations of the cases of his known persons. Prime Minister Narendra Modi today invoked his predecessor Atal Bihari Vajpayee to underline the primacy of the nation above party politics. “Parties exist because of democracy, and democracy exists because of the country. Most of the parties in our country, especially all the non-Congress parties have also followed this idea and the ideal of cooperation and coordination for the country, he said addressing a programme on the tenth death anniversary of Harmohan Singh Yadav, a towering figure and leader of the Yadav community. Modi gave examples of the 1971 war, the Atomic test, and the fight against the Emergency to illustrate the feeling of political parties to put up a united front for the country. “When the country's democracy was crushed during the Emergency, all the major parties, we all came together and fought to save the Constitution. Chaudhary Harmohan Singh Yadav ji was also a brave soldier in that struggle. That is, the interests of our country and society are always bigger than ideologies”, he added. However, “in recent times, there has been a trend to put ideological or political interests above the interest of the society and the country. Many times, some opposition parties put obstacles in the work of the government because when they were in power, they could not implement the decisions themselves,” Modi said. The people of the country, he said, do not like this. “It is the responsibility of every political party that the opposition of a party or an individual should not turn into opposition to the country. Ideologies and political ambition have their place, and they should have. But, country, society and nation come first” The PM dwelt on Dr Lohia’s concept of cultural strength. In the original Indian thought, society is not an issue of contention or debate and is seen as a framework of cohesion and collectivity. Don’t support corruption: Bengal Chief Minister STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, 25 JULY Two days after senior minister Partha Chatterjee’s arrest, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee today said she does not support “corruption or any wrongdoing” and if anyone is found guilty then he should be life-imprisoned while distancing herself from the Trinamul Congress leader added that her party never spares the guilty, even if he’s a minister. Miss Banerjee nonetheless said that it was to be seen whether the incident occurred or was created. “We don’t know what had actually happened and whether it was a trap or not,” she said. She further said that BJP was wrong if it thought it can break her party by engaging agencies saying: "If anyone is found guilty, he or she must be punished, but I condemn any malicious campaign against me. The truth must come out but within a time frame." State commerce and industry minister Chatterjee was arrested on Saturday on money-laundering charges linked to the school jobs scam. He was accused of allegedly illegal appointments of schoolteachers and staff in government-run schools when he was education minister. Around Rs 20 crore in cash was found from the house of a close associate of Mr Chatterjee, Arpita Mukherjee. Mr Chatterjee was arrested after midnight. The Enforcement Directorate said the minister was in contact with Miss Mukherjee and that the cash found in her home was "proceeds of crime". Meanwhile, an Arrest Memo of ED revealed that Mr Chatterjee had made three calls to the chief minister after his arrest but all three went unanswered. He had chosen Miss Banerjee for his call to a "relative/friend whom the person taken in custody intends to inform". His first call to her, after his arrest at around 1.55 am, was made at 2.33 am. He called again at 3.37 am and 9.35 am, but without luck. The Trinamul Congress had denied the calls. No night landing facility at 25 airports in India AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 25 JULY There are 25 airports across the country which don't have night landing facilities. Kushinagar airport, Shimla airport and recently inaugurated Deoghar airport in Jharkhand are among the list of 25 airports. The ministry of civil aviation on Monday said in the Rajya Sabha that the upgradation or modernisation of airports, including provision of night landing facility is a continuous process and is undertaken by Airports Authority of India (AAI) and other airport operators from time to time depending on the availability of land, commercial viability, socio- economic considerations, traffic demand and willingness of airlines to operate to/from such airports etc. "Presently night landing facility which is purely demand and need based on operational requirement of airlines and availability of land is not available at 25 operational airports with scheduled flight operations," said the ministry. The list of airports not having night landing facility also include airports like Kullu and Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh, Bilaspur and Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh, Kalaburagi in Karnataka, Kolhapur and Sindhudurg in Maharashtra and and Ludhiana in Punjab among others. AAI has undertaken installation of a night landing facility at Kolhapur airport. A team of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has carried out the inspection of the airport on June 10, 2022. AAI has already initiated action for compliance of the observations made by DGCA during the inspection.