CMYK THURSDAY www.thestatesman.com 11 AUGUST 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 HOSPITALITY SECTOR LOOKING UP , SAYS ITC CHIEF SENATE VICTORY P6 WEATHER One or two spells of rain/thundershower very likely. Temperature likely to be in the range of 30-25 degrees Celsius. P8 P10 PM lambasts Congress over inflation protest RAINFALL: 9.6 MM RELATIVE HUMIDITY Calls black cloth protest 'black magic’ that won’t win back people’s confidence Max.93% SNS & AGENCIES TEMPERATURE Min. 76% Max: 30.9 °C (-2) Min: 25.6 °C (-1) SUN RISES SUN SETS 05:12 hrs 18:12 hrs MOON RISES MOON SETS 17:01 hrs 02:49 hrs Full moon on 12 August THUMBNAILS The world’s highest single-arch Golden Joint Chenab Bridge in Jammu and Kashmir will be launched on 13 August.  ANI SC grants bail to Varavara Rao in Bhima Koregaon violence case: The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted regular bail to activist and poet P Varavara Rao, who was accused in the 2018 Bhi- ma Koregaon violence case.Rao has been gra- nted bail on medical grounds. He was arrested on 28 August, 2018, from his home in Hyderabad and was an under-trial in the Bhima Koregaon case for which FIR was lodged by the Pune Police at Vishrambagh Police Station on January 8, 2018, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and several other provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Rao was taken into police custody on 17 November, 2018, and was later shifted to Taloja Jail. Mexican Prez proposes Modi on panel for global truce NEW DELHI, 10 AUGUST rime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday launched a blistering attack against the Congress, terming its “black cloth” protest against price rise as “black magic” that will not be able to win them the confidence of the people again. After dedicating to the nation a Rs 900 crore-second generation ethanol plant at Panipat, Mr Modi also said that freebies impeded India's effort to become self-reliant and also a burden on taxpayers. Stopping short of naming the Congress party, he said some people out of frustration resorted to black magic on August 5.“On August 5, we saw how some people tried to spread “black magic”. These people think that by wearing black clothes they can end their despondency.But they do not know that by engaging in witchcraft, black magic and superstition, they cannot earn the trust of people again,” Mr Modi said. The Congress-led protest against the price rise saw its leaders wearing black clothes in Parliament and outside as part of a nationwide protest P PM Narendra Modi dedicates to the nation Indian Oil's 2G Ethanol Plant at Panipat Refinery via video conferencing on the occasion of World Biofuel Day.  ANI on August 5. “Some people think wearing black clothes can ward off their pessimism and negativity but they don't know that they can resort to any such tactics but can't win back people's confidence,” he said. “Black magic cannot end your bad days,” Mr Modi said, targeting the Congress.He also targeted certain opposition par- ties for engaging in the politics of freebies, saying such things would only do a disservice to the nation as it hampers investment in new technology. He said that if there is selfishness in politics, then anybody can even promise free petrol and diesel.“Such steps will amount to depriving our children of their due and prevent the country from becoming self-sufficient. Such selfish policies will put more burden on honest taxpayers of the country," Modi said Those who promise freebies will never be able to find resources for investment in new technologies, he said. “This is not a right policy but a misleading one; this is against the nation; this is not nation building but an effort to push back the country.” The PM on Wednesday inaugurated the second generation (2G) Ethanol Plant in Panipat and said it will help reduce pollution in Delhi, National Capital Region (NCR) and Haryana. Addressing the event via video conferencing on World Biofuel Day, the Prime Minister said stubble (agriculture waste) was a burden for the farmers and would now become a means of additional income for them with the help of a 2G ethanol plant. “The bio-fuel plant of Panipat will be able to dispose of the stubble without burning. Mother Earth will be relieved of the pain she endured due to stubble burning. The stubble was a burden for the farmers, a cause of trouble, it would become a means of additional income for them,” he said. P12 After oath-taking, Nitish calls for Opp unity, takes potshots at PM STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE PATNA, 10 AUGUST Moments after Nitish Kumar was sworn in as Bihar chief minister on Wednesday after parting ways with the BJP and joining the Grand Alliance to form government in the state, he called for a united Opposition ahead of the General elections scheduled to be held in 2024. Kumar parted ways with the BJP alleging that the party was trying to break the JD(U), and joined hands with the political opponents RJD in the Mahagathbandhan on Tuesday. After taking oath as Bihar chief minister an eighth time, thus continuing in the chair with a change of partners, Nitish Kumar took a shot at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the next Lok Sabha elections: "He won in 2014, but will he in 2024?". He also dismissed speculations of his harbouring prime ministerial ambitions, “I would like all (opposition) to be united for 2024. I am not a contender for any such post (on PM post),” he said while speaking to the reporters here.Elections in Bihar are due now only in 2025, a year after the Lok Sabha contest. Soon after the swearingin ceremony, Kumar said that the party made the decision together to leave the BJP . “The party made the decision together (to leave BJP). I did not want to be the chief minister after the previous election. But a lot of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav greets each other after taking oath, at Raj Bhawan in Patna. ANI pressure was put on me to handle the post. When there were talks with them (points towards Tejashwi Yadav), the decision was made. whether I will stay or not (till 2024)...they can say what they want, but I will not live in the year 2014,” he said. Nitish Kumar was sworn in as the chief minister while RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav became his Deputy in the Bihar government. TejashwiYadav, after taking the oath, touched the feet of chief minister Nitish Kumar and took his blessings. Nitish Kumar also greeted Tejashwi warmly. Before going to the Raj Bhawan, Nitish Kumar spoke to RJD chief Lalu Prasad over the phone.Earlier today, Union minister Nityanand Rai, while addressing the speculations about Nitish Kumar’s national ambitions after quitting the NDA, said that the JD(U) leader will “never be the Prime Minister” of the country, adding that the post of the head of the gov- No-confidence motion against Speaker:The leaders of the Mahagathbandhan headed by Lalit Yadav brought a no-confidence motion against present Assembly Speaker Vijay Kumar Singh. A letter signed by 50 MLAs of the Mahagathbandhan was submitted before the secretary of the Bihar Vidhan Sabha on Wednesday. With this, Vijay Kumar Sinha has to prove the majority inside the Assembly to retain his position as Speaker. If he does not have the adequate numbers, he will have to step down from the post and resign. If Vijay Kumar Sinha will challenge the noconfidence motion, then he will have to prove the majority in the Vidhan Sabha. At present, the BJP has 77 MLAs, which is not good enough for Sinha to survive in the Speaker's post. ernment is “reserved” for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Tarkishore Prasad, who was Nitish’s Deputy in the NDA government from which Kumar walked out yesterday, said that the people of Bihar will give a “befitting reply” if a leader acts as per his “own personal ambitions”.Some people in Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s party wanted him to become Vice President, BJP MP Sushil Kumar Modi said. Prez appoints Justice Delhi Police to probe all Govt nod to Corbevax UU Lalit as 49th CJI cases against Nupur: SC as precaution dose STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE SNS & AGENCIES INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 10 AUGUST MEXICO CITY , 10 AUGUST Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is planning to submit a written proposal to the UN to create a commission, made up of three world leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to promote a world truce for a period of five years, MSN web portal reported. “I will make the proposal in writing, I will present it to the UN. I have been saying it and I hope the media will help us to spread it. Because they do not speak when it is not convenient for them," MSN quoted Obrador as saying during a press conference. The Mexican President proposed that the top commission should include Pope Francis, the UN SecretaryGeneral, Antonio Guterres, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The aim of the commission would be to present a proposal to stop the wars around the world and reach an agreement to seek a truce for at least five years. “The three of them meet and soon present a proposal to stop the war everywhere, and reach an agreement to seek a truce of at least five years, so that governments around the world dedicate themselves to support their peoples, especially the people who are suffering the most from the war and its effects; that we have five years without tension, without violence and with peace,” he said. According to Obrador, the proposed truce would facilitate “reaching agreements in the case of Taiwan, Israel and Palestine, and not be promoting, provoking more confrontation”. Furthermore, he urged that all the governments around the world should join in support of the UN and not the bureaucratic mechanism in which proposals and initiatives are preANI sented. ‘GREAT FOR INDIA THAT RAHUL IS BACK’ GOP RALLIES AROUND TRUMP AFTER FBI SEARCH OF HIS ESTATE NEW DELHI, 10 AUGUST President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday appointed Justice UU Lalit as the next Chief Justice of India (CJI) with effect from August 27. Justice Uday Umesh Lalit was appointed as the 49th CJI. A statement from the Ministry of Law and Justice said: "In exercise of the power conferred by clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India, the President has appointed Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, judge of the Supreme Court as the Chief Justice of India. Justice Uday Umesh Lalit will take over as the 49th Chief Justice of India on 27th August 2022". Current Chief Justice of India NV Ramana will demit office on August 26 on superannuation. Justice Lalit was appointed as judge of the Supreme Court in August 2014 from the Bar. He will become the sec- ond Chief Justice of India to be directly elevated to the Supreme Court from the Bar, after Justice S.M. Sikri, who served as the 13th CJI in 1971. Justice Lalit has served as a Member of Supreme Court Legal Services Committee for two terms. An official release said Justice UU Lalit has to his credit several landmark judgments. Justice Lalit was born on November 9, 1957 at Solapur, Maharashtra. He enrolled as an advocate by the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa in June 1983. He practised in the High Court of Bombay till December 1985 before shifting his practice to Delhi in January 1986. The Supreme Court on Wednesday transferred all the FIRs lodged against suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma over her controversial remarks on Prophet Muhammad to Delhi Police. The top court gave her the liberty to approach the Delhi High Court for quashing of the FIRs, and also declined to entertain a plea moved by the West Bengal government for a court-monitored SIT probe.A bench comprising justices Surya Kant and J.B. Pardiwala ordered clubbing of all the FIRs registered across the country against Sharma, which will be probed by the Delhi Police. The top court in the process brushed aside vehement opposition by the West Bengal government, which wanted its police to be part of the SIT with the Delhi Police or a courtappointed SIT. The bench allowed Sharma to move the Delhi High Court seeking quashing of the FIRs lodged or to be lodged for her alleged remarks in the future. It added that all the FIRs to be lodged in future in connection with her remarks will be transferred to Delhi Police. The top court made it clear that protection from arrest to Sharma will continue in all pending and future FIRs. The bench also noted that an FIR has been registered by the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit of Delhi Police, which is a specialised agency, and suggested that it should carry out the investigation. Senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy, representing the West Bengal government, objected to the transfer of FIRs to Delhi Police by saying that the first FIR against Sharma was registered in Mumbai, and argued that the accused cannot be allowed to pick the jurisdiction. Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for Sharma, said the top court's intervention is required, as his client has received life threats after the TV debate where she made the alleged remarks. On July 19, the top court had ordered that no coercive action can be taken against Sharma in FIRs already registered and also in future FIRs in connection with her remarks.The top court had said: "Meanwhile, as an interim measure it is directed that no coercive action shall be taken against Nupur Sharma pursuant to the impugned FIRs." NEW DELHI, 10 AUGUST The Union government has approved Biological E's Corbevax as a heterologous precaution dose for adults above 18 years for restricted use with two doses of either Covishield or Covaxin, official sources said on Wednesday. According to the sources, the Corbevax vaccine will be considered as a precaution dose after completion of six months or 26 weeks from the date of administration of the second dose of either Covaxin or Covishield vaccines. The Union government has approved Biological E's Corbevax for restricted use in an emergency as a heterologous booster dose, official sources confirmed onWednesday. On Tuesday, a news agency had reported that Corbevax booster for heterologous first has been approved by the Cen- RBI releases first set of norms for digital lending Centre to remove cap on airfares from 31 Aug ASIAN NEWS INTERNATIONAL MUMBAI , 10 AUGUST The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) onWednesday released the first set of norms to regulate digital lending to crack down on the growing number of online frauds and unlawful activities. As per the new norms, all loan disbursals and repayments have to be executed only between the bank accounts of the borrower and the regulated entity without any pass-through or pool account of the lending service provider (LSP) or any third party. The Reserve Bank's regulatory framework is focused on the digital lending ecosystem of RBI's Regulated Entities (REs) and the Lending Service Providers (LSPs) engaged by them to extend various permissible credit facilitation services. As regards entities autho- rised to carry out lending as per other statutory/regulatory provisions but not regulated by RBI the respective regulator/ controlling authority may consider formulating or enacting appropriate rules/regulations on digital lending based on the recommendations of WGDL. For the entities lending outside the purview of any statutory/ regulatory provisions, the WGDL has suggested specific legislative and institutional interventions for consideration by the Central Government to curb the illegitimate lending activity being carried out by such entities. The Reserve Bank is statutorily mandated to operate the credit system of the country to its advantage. In this endeavour, the Reserve Bank has encouraged innovation in the financial system, products and credit delivery methods while ensuring their orderly growth, preserving financing stability and ensuring protection of depositors' and customers’ interest. Recently, innovative methods of designing and delivery of credit products and their servicing through Digital Lending route have acquired prominence. However, certain concerns have also emerged which, if not mitigated, may erode the confidence of members of public in the digital lending ecosystem. The concerns primarily relate to unbridled engagement of third parties, mis-selling, breach of data privacy, unfair business conduct, charging of exorbitant interest rates, and unethical recovery practices. Against this background, the Reserve Bank had constituted a Working Group on 'digital lending including lending through online platforms and mobile apps' (WGDL) on January 13, 2021. The report submitted by the WGDL was placed on the RBI website, inviting comments of stakeholders and members of the public. Taking into account the inputs received from diverse set of stakeholders, a regulatory framework to support orderly growth of credit delivery through digital lending methods while mitigating the regulatory concerns, has been firmed up. This regulatory framework is based on the principle that lending business can be carried out only by entities that are either regulated by the Reserve Bank or entities permitted to do so under any other law. CMYK ASIAN NEWS INTERNATIONAL NEW DELHI , 10 AUGUST The Ministry of Civil Aviation has decided to withdraw the fare cap on air tickets imposed during the initial days of COVID-1 in 2020. The cap on fares will be removed from August 31, 2022. “After review of the current status of Scheduled Domestic Operations viz-a-viz passenger demand for air travel, it has been decided to remove the fare bands notified from time to time regarding the airfares with effect from 31.08.2022," the ministry tweeted on Wednesday while attaching an order copy. The cap on airfares was imposed by the ministry on May 21, 2020. Delhi-Mumbai flight ticket was then priced between Rs 3,500 and Rs 10,000. The flight duration was divided into seven categories - 0-30 minutes, 30-60 minutes, 60-90 minutes, 90-120 minutes, 120-150 minutes, 150180 minutes, and 180-210 minutes“The decision to remove airfare caps has been taken after careful analysis of daily demand and prices of air turbine fuel," Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia tweeted. “Stabilisation has set in and we are certain that the sector is poised for growth in domestic traffic in the near future.” The order by the Civil Aviation Ministry said the airlines/operators shall, however, ensure that the guidelines to contain the spread of Covid are strictly adhered to and appropriate behaviour is strictly enforced. FACT FILE TOTAL CASES 4,41,90,697 ACTIVE CASES 1,28,261 NEW CASES 16,047 NEW RECOVERIES 19,539 TOTAL DEATHS 5,26,826 UNION HEALTH MINISTRY FIGURES AS OF 8.00 A.M. WEDNESDAY 10 AUGUST 2022 Bengal recorded 519 cases and five deaths tre.Last month the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) recommended Biological E's Corbevax as a heterologous booster for adults above 18 years old. So far, India's cumulative Covid-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 207.03 crore (2,07,03,71,204) till 7 am on August 10. J&K: Security forces kill 3 LeT terrorists STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE JAMMU, 10 AUGUST In a big success, security forces in an encounter in Budgam onWednesday killed all three Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists, including Lateef Rather who was involved in several civilian killings in Kashmir.“All the three hiding LeT terrorists have been neutralised", said ADGP (Kashmir) Vijay Kumar. The long stretched encounter had started at Waterhail area of Budgam district in the wee hours when a joint team of Army, CRPF and J&K Police cordoned the area following inputs about presence of terrorists. Lateef was involved in several civilian killings including those of a Kashmiri Pandit Rahul Bhat and TV artist Amreen Bhat.