CMYK FRIDAY www.thestatesman.com 06 JANUARY 2023 FIND US ONLINE Scan this with your smartphone twitter.com/TheStatesmanLtd facebook.com/thestatesman1875 Pages 16 |` 5.00|LC KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR WEATHER Mainly clear sky. Temperature likely to be in the range of 22-12 degrees Celsius. RAINFALL : NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max.91% Min. 58% Max: 21.9 °C (-3) SUN RISES 06:18 hrs MOON RISES 15:41 hrs Min: 12.7 °C (-1) SUN SETS 17:7 hrs MOON SETS 04:53 hrs TEMPERATURE Full moon on 07 January THUMBNAILS Participate in water conservation: Modi PM addresses 1st All India Annual State Ministers’ Conference on Water Water Vision @ 2047 is an important dimension of the journey of Amrit Kaal for the next 25 years...... PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 5 JANUARY rime Minister Narendra Modi today called for the maximum participation of public and social organisations and civil societies in campaigns related to water conservation, saying attempts by the government alone in this direction would not be successful. Underlining the need for the conservation of all local sources of water, he asked gram panchayats to prepare an action plan for the next five years on issues ranging from water supply to cleanliness and waste management. He also asked the states to consider ways to ensure that the water budget was prepared at the panchayat level based on how much water was required in which village and what work could be done for it. PM Modi was addressing the 1st All India Annual State Ministers’ Conference onWater via video message. The theme of the conference is ‘Water P A row of shikaras anchored on the banks of a frozen Dal Lake, in Srinagar on Thursday. ANI Air India incident: Taking serious note of the Air India urination incident, the Ministry of Civil Aviation directed the airline to conduct an internal probe into the matter and submit the report as soon as possible, said top government sources on Thursday. A man allegedly urinated on an elderly woman co-passenger during a New York-Delhi flight in November last year. The inebriated male passenger allegedly urinated on an elderly woman and flashed his private parts. PG8 K'taka PSI recruitment scam: In a major development, the Kalaburagi Session Court on Thursday granted bail to alleged kingpin BJP leader Divya Hagargi and 25 others in connection with the sensational PSI recruitment scam.Judge K.B. Patil gave the order granting bail to Hagargi and also to other main accused Manjunath Melakundi and Deputy Superintendent of Police Mallikarjuna and others. The court has granted bail to 36 accused PG4 in the case to date. BJP’s national executive meet on 16-17 Jan Discussion on the forthcoming elections, resolutions, review report from last meeting, are the main agendas of the meeting SNS& AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 5 JANUARY The two-day national executive meeting of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is scheduled on January 16-17 at the NDMC convention centre here. Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with other senior leaders will attend the meeting. Discussion on the forthcoming elections, resolutions, review report from last meeting, are the main agendas of the meeting. Organisational and current issues, discussion on resolutions and reports on future programmes and activities will also be held. Other issues may be taken up with the permission of the chair. Sources said that the decision on the extension of J.P. Nadda's term as the party president can also be taken in the meeting. Nadda's three-year term as the party president ends later this month. There is a strong possibility that his tenure may be extended in view of the coming elections. The last executive of the party took place in Hyderabad in October 2022. The party holds two national executive meetings in a year, usually one in the first quarter of the year and the second in the last quarter. PM meets Microsoft chief Satya Nadella STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 5 JANUARY Prime Minister Narendra Modi today met Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO of Microsoft Corporation and said that India's strides in technology and innovation are ushering in an era of tech-led growth. The Prime Minister tweeted: “Glad to have met you @satyanadella. India's strides in technology and innovation are ushering in an era of tech-led growth. Our youth is filled with ideas which have the potential to transform the planet.” Vision @ 2047’ and its objective is to bring together key policymakers for discussions on ways to harness water resources for sustainable development and human development. Throwing light on the need to increase forest cover in the state for water conservation, he called for coordinated efforts by the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Water in this regard. Highlighting the success of the ‘Catch the Rain’ campaign, he reiterated that such campaigns should become an essential part of the state gov- PM Narendra Modi and Microsoft Corporation Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella in New Delhi.  ANI In his reply, Nadella tweeted: “Thank you @narendramodi for an insightful meeting. It’s inspiring to see the government’s deep focus on sustainable and inclu- sive economic growth led by digital transformation and we’re looking forward to helping India realize the Digital India vision and be a light for the world.” ernments.“Instead of waiting for the rains, all the planning needs to be done before the rains,” he added. Pointing out that in the constitutional system of the country, the subject of water came under the control of the states, he said it was the states' efforts for water conservation that would go a long way in achieving the collective goals of the country.“Water Vision @ 2047 is an important dimension of the journey of Amrit Kaal for the next 25 years,” he added.Reiterating his vision of the ‘whole of government’ and ‘whole of the country’, the PM emphasised that all governments should work like a system wherein there should be constant interaction and dialogue between different ministries of state governments, such as Water, Ministry of Irrigation, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Rural and Urban Development and Disaster Management. He added that the biggest advantage of public participation was the awareness that was created among the public about the efforts being put into the campaign and the money being spent. Govt okays continuation of schemes for N-E development STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 5 JANUARY The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the continuation of schemes of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER) with an outlay of Rs 12882.2 crores, for the balance period of the 15th Finance Commission (2022-23 to 2025-26).Based on the Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) recommendations, the outlay for the North East Special Infrastructure Scheme (NESIDS) will be Rs. 8139.5 crores, including committed liabilities of ongoing projects. The outlay for ‘Schemes of NEC’ will be Rs. 3202.7 crores, including committed liabilities of ongoing projects. The Ministry’s new scheme “Prime Minister’s Development initiative for the North Eastern region - PM-Devine” (with an outlay of Rs. 6600 crores), has been approved ear- lier in October 2022 separately, under which larger and high-impact proposals under infrastructure, social development and livelihood sectors are taken. The objectives of the schemes of the MDoNER are to supplement the efforts of the different central ministries and departments on the one hand and the felt needs of the NE region states on the other, for uncovered development/welfare activities. The MDoNER Schemes help provide gap-filling support to the eight North Eastern States as per their felt needs, by taking up projects – e.g., for developing infra- Covid scare: Mandaviya cautions people not to panic, avoid rumours STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 5 JANUARY Amid recent spike in cases of Covid in some countries, including China, Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday asked the people not to panic and avoid rumours about the new variant of the virus. The Union health minister further asked people to remain alert and follow the directives issued by the Union government. Mandaviya said Covid variants will keep coming but the important thing is which variant will react and people should only believe information shared by government sources to avoid any kind of panic in the country. He said that the Centre is alert and making all preparations. Meanwhile, in India eleven types of Covid Omicron Subvariants were detected during testing of international passengers at airports and sea- In India eleven types of Covid Omicron Sub-variants were detected during testing of international passengers at airports and seaports between December 24 to January 3, official sources have said A healthcare worker collects an oral swab sample from a passenger at a railway station in Jalandhar.  ANI ports between December 24 to January 3, official sources have said. A total of 19,227 samples of international travellers were tested, out of which 124 were found positive and were isolated, the sources said."Of the 124 positive samples, genome sequencing results of 40 were received of which XBB including XBB.1 was found in the maximum 14 samples. BF 7.4.1 has been found in one sample," as per the official sources. The other variants that are reported after samples from these international travellers are BA.5.2, BQ.1.1, BQ. 1.1(22), BQ.1.1.5, CH.1.1, CH.1.1.1, BB.3, BN.1.2, BN1.3, BY1 and BF.The sources further said that these all variants are already present in the country.India saw a slight increase in Covid infections on Thursday as it witnessed 188 new cases in the last 24 hours according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare . The country recorded 175 new cases on Wednesday. structure to mitigate connectivity and social sector deficits and enhancing livelihood and employment opportunities in the region. Extension of the approved schemes for the balance of the 15th finance commission period, i.e. up to fy 2025-26, would enable better planning for implementation of the schemes in terms of project selection, front loading of sanction of the projects, and project implementation during the scheme period.Efforts will be made to complete a maximum number of projects by 2025-26 so that there are minimum committed liabilities beyond this year. India hosts Y20 Summit for the first time STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 5 JANUARY Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Thakur will tomorrow launch themes, logo and website of the Y20 Summit India, being held in India for the first time.The event being held at Akashwani Rang Bhawan here will have two sessions, beginning with the launch of the logo,website and release of themes in the first session by the Minister. In the second session, panel discussions by young achievers will take place. These will be anchored on how India can harness its youth population to be a superpower and discuss the personal success stories of the panelists.In the Youth20 Engagement Group, India's key focus is to bring young leaders from all across the globe and discuss ideas for a better tomorrow and draft an agenda for action. CMYK Ram Mandir to be ready by 1 Jan, 2024: Amit Shah SNS & AGENCIES AGARTALA, 5 JANUARY Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Thursday that Ram Mandir would be ready by 1 January , 2024. The Minister said this while flagging off BJP's 8-day-long “Rath Yatra” in Tripura (in photo). He also claimed that the BJP would come to power after the upcoming Assembly elections in Tripura with a two-third majority. Weeks before the announcement of Assembly elections in Tripura, the ruling BJP initiated the ‘Rath Yatra’ across the state.Shah also urged the people to book their tickets to go to Ayodhya where Ram Mandir would be ready by January 1 next year. Alleging gross misrule during the CPI-M led Left Front government in Tripura, the former BJP president said that for every aspect, people had to go to the CPI-M leaders as the entire Left Front government administration was controlled by the Left cadres. Referring to Tripura chief minister Manik Saha, Shah said that the Prime Minister has promised HIRA (Highway, I-way, Railway and Airway) to Tripura, but people of the state also got “Manik” (ruby/ gem)After traversing the 1,000 km route covering all the 60 Assembly constituencies in the state, the eight-day long Yatra would culminate in Agartala on January 12, when a mega public rally would be held which would be addressed by BJP's national President J.P Nadda. . Tripura BJP President Rajib Bhattacharjee said that the Rath Yatra titled ‘Jana Vishwas Yatra’ is part of the party's mission to connect with around 10 lakh people across the state.Bhattacharjee told the media that two chariots on Thursday moved from South Tripura and North Tripura districts.Tripura chief minister Manik Saha, former chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb and several central and state leaders participated in the Rath Yatra.Shah said that “Communist parties have been finished from the entire world and the Congress has been finished in India”. Flagging off BJP's “Rath Yatra” from Dharmanagar in northern Tripura and Sabroom in southern Tripura, Shah while addressing two separate rallies also said that Jammu and Kashmir would remain permanently with India. SC stays eviction in U’khand’s Haldwani STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 5 JANUARY Observing that 50,000 people can’t be uprooted by using force without examining their rights, the Supreme Court on Thursday stayed Uttarakhand High Court’s direction for the eviction of more than 4000 families having their dwellings in Haldwani’s Banbhoolpura area whose ownership is now being claimed by railway for the expansion of Kathgodam Railway station. Staying the High Court’s order that has led to protests in Haldwani, a bench of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Abhay S. Oka said that 50,000 people cannot be uprooted overnight without examining their rights. Issuing notice to Railways, and the Uttarakhand government, the court posted the matter for further hearing on February 7. “Issue notice. In the meantime, there shall be a stay of the directions passed in the impugned order. There should also restrain any more construction or development on the land,” the court said in its order. Recognising the railway’s need for creating infrastructure, Justice Kaul said that there is a human dimension of the issue as people are living there for over sixty years, they have got to be segregated between the occupant and those having no rights while underlining the need for their rehabilitation. SEEPG5