CMYK SATURDAY 18 MARCH 2023 Pages 12 |` 5.00|LC www.thestatesman.com KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR HC SEEKS CENTRE, RBI & SEBI RESPONSE ON SWAMY’S PLEA ON YES BANK ‘TARGETING AAP A DIVERSION’ P7 WEATHER Generally cloudy sky. Rain/ thundershower accompanied with gusty wind very likely. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 28 °C and 22 °C respectively. RAINFALL: 02.7 MM RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 87 % TEMPERATURE Max: 26.4 °C (-8) SUN RISES 05:45 hrs MOON RISES 02:17 hrs PROTESTS ERUPT IN FRANCE OVER MACRON’S RETIREMENT AGE PUSH P8 P10 Akhilesh backs TMC on Cong-less Opp alliance Min: 20.7 °C (-3) SUN SETS 17:47 hrs MOON SETS 13:8 hrs New Moon on 21 March THUMBNAILS A farmer looks at his crop that got damaged due to heavy rain and strong wind, in Jalandhar.  ANI SC gives more time to 8 states on laws regulating inter-faith marriages: The Supreme Court f on Friday give more time to eight states ~ Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, and Haryana ~ to respond to a batch of petitions challenging their respective laws regulating inter-faith marriages and curbing forced conversion as Himachal Pradesh was the lone State to file its reply.Directing the eight States to file their reply in three weeks, a Bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala gave the petitioners two weeks thereafter to file their rejoinder and directed listing of the matters for hearing on the completion of pleadings. (Pg5) amajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav called on Trinamul Congress (TMC) chairperson Mamata Banerjee on Friday evening for an hour-long meeting during which MrYadav is said to have backed the TMC’s effort to forge an Opposition alliance against the BJP without the Congress Party. MrYadav, who is in the city for a meeting of the Samajwadi Party’s national working committee, called on Miss Banerjee at the latter's Kalighat residence this evening. Mr Yadav was accompanied by Mr Kironmoy Nanda. While neither of the leaders disclosed what was discussed at their meeting to the Press, sources in the Trinamul Congress said the Samajwadi Party is in agreement with the TMC on the issue of staying away from the Congress while forging an Opposition alliance. MrYadav, earlier in the day, told mediapersons: “In Bengal, we are with Mamata didi. Right now, our stand is we want to maintain equidistance from both the BJP and the Congress.” Senior Trinamul Congress leaders said Miss Banerjee will start getting in touch with likeminded regional parties. In this connection, Miss Banerjee will hold a meeting with Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on 23 March.Miss S Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav being welcomed by Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee during a meeting in Kolkata on Friday.  ANI Banerjee plans to go to Delhi and meet leaders of like-minded regional parties in early April, said party leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay this afternoon. Mr Bandyopadhyay, the Trinamul Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, held a Press conference along with state minister Chandrima Bhattacharya after a two-hour long strategy meeting of the Trinamul Congress which was held at Mamata Banerjee’s residence in Kalighat today. Mr Bandyopadhyay said it was decided that Trinamul would increase its strength in other states. At present the party has no desire to go with the Congress party, he said, contending that the Congress is not giving the regional parties the proper respect due to them. “In Bengal they are In Bengal, we are with Mamata Didi. Right now, our stand is we want to maintain equidistance from both the BJP and the Congress AKHILESH YADAV SAMAJWADI PARTY PRESIDENT working with CPI-M and BJP to cause trouble to Trinamul and in Delhi they want us to be by their side. This is ridiculous, “ he commented. Mrs Bhattacharya said that in Meghalaya, the TMC bagged five seats and in 12 seats, the party stood second. “This is encouraging and Congress is losing ground everywhere. But the party has failed to realise this,” she said. Mr Bandyopadhyay added: “Modi wants Rahul Gandhi as the face of the Opposition as it will help him to win 2024 Lok Sabha election. The Trinamul’s view is very clear in the matter. The name of the PM’s candidate will be announced once the election is over. The person is not important, the like-minded parties should work together to oust the BJP from the Centre.” He further alleged that the BJP had stalled the functioning of Lok Sabha so that the Opposition parties could not raise questions on key issues. “The BJP wants that Rahul Gandhi should tender apology for his statement abroad. This is just a plea. They want to divert the attention of people from key issues like the deterioration of the financial health of SBI and LIC and the scam involving the Adani group. Trinamul had raised these issues on 14 March in New Delhi.”Mrs Bhattacharya said Trinamul was mature enough to launch political movement on its own and did not need to learn from any one. Mr Bandyopadhyay said it had been decided that Mamata Banerjee would meet party leaders from the districts three days in a month. He said that she did not give any instructions regarding the forthcoming Panchayat election which would be held in peaceful atmosphere. He said Trinamul had full faith in the investigating agencies but the way in which they are behaving at times had raised questions regarding their impartiality even by the judiciary. Trinamul wants them to work independently and they should not be puppets in the hands of the saffron party. PM MITRA mega textile parks ‘Issue of simultaneous to be set up in seven states: PM polls with Law panel’ SNS & AGENCIES STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 17 MARCH Prime Minister Narendra Modi today declared that PM MITRA mega textile parks would be set up in Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh to boost the textiles sector in line with 5F (Farm to Fibre to Factory to Fashion to Foreign) vision. In a tweet, the PM said; ''The PM MITRA mega textile parks will provide state-of-theart infrastructure for the textiles sector, attracts investment of crores and create lakhs of jobs. It will be a great example of 'Make in India' and 'Make For the World.' #PragatiKaPMMitra”. Earlier today, the Textiles Ministry announced the sites for setting up the parks. ''It is expected that these parks will enhance the competitiveness of the textiles industry by helping it achieve economies of scale as well as attract global players to manufacture in India,” the ministry said. These seven sites were chosen out of 18 proposals for PM MITRA parks which were received from 13 states. Eligible states and sites were evaluated using a transparent challenge method based on objective criteria taking into account a variety of factors such as connectivity, existing ecosystem, textile/industry policy, infrastructure, utility services etc. The PM Gati Shakti- National Master Plan for Multi-modal Connectivity was also used for validation. PM MITRA Parks will help in creating world-class industrial infrastructure that would attract large-scale investment, including foreign direct investment (FDI), and encourage innovation and job creation within the sector. The Textiles Ministry will oversee the execution of these projects. An SPV owned by the Centre and the concerned state government will be set up for each park which will oversee the implementation of the project. NEW DELHI, 17 MARCH The issue of simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies is with the Law Commission for further examination to work out a practicable road map and framework. This was informed by Minister of Law and Justice, Kiren Rijiju in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Friday."The Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice had examined the issue of simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies in consultation with various stake-holders including ECI. The Committee has given certain recommendations in this regard in its 79th Report. The matter now stands referred to the Law Commission for further examination to work out a practicable road map and framework for simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and State Assemblies,” said the reply. The Minister informed that the simultaneous elections would result in huge saving to the public exchequer, avoidance of replication of effort on part of administrative and law and order machinery in holding repeated elections and bring considerable savings to political parties and candidates in their election campaigns.Further, asynchronous Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly elections (including bye-election) result in prolonged enforcement of Model Code of Conduct with its concomitant adverse impact on developmental and welfare programmes, the Minister's reply said. Fake PMO official takes J&K admin for a ride, held STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE JAMMU, 17 MARCH J&K Police have arrested a conman who posed as a top officer in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and made at least three trips to Kashmir, enjoying VVIP treatment in 5star hotels, bulletproof car and Z+ security cover of paramilitary forces. The man, identified as Kiran J Patel (in photo) from Gujarat, also held meetings with officers of the Union Territory government and travelled to sensitive places along the Line of Control (LOC), Gulmarg, Doodpathri etc where he got himself photographed with security personnel standing around him.The conman has been sent P12 Parliament adjourns till Monday after a week of clashes Venugopal submits notice of privilege against Modi Mamata to meet Naveen Patnaik, leaders of other regional parties STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, 17 MARCH Min. 65 % KL RAHUL’S BRILLIANT KNOCK GUIDES INDIA TO VICTORY to 15 days judicial custody.He took the J&K administration for a ride by posing as an additional director for strategy and campaigns in the Prime Minister’s Office. He reportedly claimed that the Central government had tasked him to look into improvement in hotel facilities at important tourist destinations.Mr Patel has a verified Twitter handle and has over a thousand followers. He had posted on his social media account several videos and pictures of his visits to Kashmir.Mr Patel was arrested by alert security officials on 3 March during his third visit to the Kashmir Valley. He was arrested by police from a 5-star hotel in Srinagar.He was produced before a court in Srinagar last evening for the extension of his police remand. A case under relevant provisions relating to cheating and forgery was registered against him.Security agencies got suspicious after he landed at the Srinagar airport on 2 March as there was no information of any VIP movement. After his questioning and subsequent arrest, security officials reportedly recovered forged identity cards from his possession. Agency reports quoted a police source as saying that a deputy commissioner posted in one of the districts in the Valley had recommended him for security cover.A number of people have so far been questioned in this case.Reports also said that the same person is wanted in over a dozen other cases of fraud in Gujarat. Meanwhile, lambasting the BJP-controlled Jammu and Kashmir administration for sharing information with the Gujarat-based fraudster who hoodwinked senior J&K administration officials by impersonating an officer of the PMO, former minister and working president of J&K Congress Committee Raman Bhalla on Friday demanded a high- level probe into this security breach. Terming the incident as the biggest-ever security breach in the militancy-plagued Jammu and Kashmir, Mr Bhalla expressed surprise at how a cheater from Gujarat was allowed to convene meetings with Deputy Commissioners of highly sensitive districts of Kashmir Valley without verifying his credentials.“It is a very serious matter that without verifying the credentials of a person, he was allowed to convene meetings and also provided Z-Plus Security to visit different parts of Kashmir Valley,” Mr Bhalla said and pointed out that this episode has exposed the casual approach of those at the helm of affairs. (with input from agencies) CMYK STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 17 MARCH Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi join Opposition MPs during a protest demanding a JPC probe in the Adani issue, at Parliament House. SUBRATA DUTTA STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 17 MARCH Both Houses of Parliament on Friday adjourned till Monday within minutes of sitting as ruling members continued to clash with the Opposition over Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's speeches and demanded his apology for his comments on Indian democracy and Parliament. The two Houses witnessed familiar scenes as the BJP members shouted for apology by Mr Gandhi before allowing the Opposition to take up any other issue. The Opposition parties too repeated their demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into allegations of financial irregularities and stock market manipulation by the Adani Group. The Lok Sabha sat for a little more than 20 minutes and its proceedings appeared muted within a few minutes of a noisy start. The Treasury benches started sloganeering demanding Mr Gandhi’s apology, while members from the Congress, DMK and others came into the Well demanding a JPC into the Adani Group matter. Trinamul Congress, NCP and other Opposition party members were also on their feet. The Rajya Sabha had less than 20 minutes of proceedings during which Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar rejected all 11 notices for suspension of business under Rule 267. The notices referred to the members' demand for a JPC probe into allegations of corporate fraud and stock market manipulation against the Adani Group and the government's "questionable" role in promoting its business interests. There was a demand to discuss the Hindenburg report on the business group. The Congress, AAP and other members trooped into the Well of the house, raising the demand to constitute a JPC on the issue. Other opposition party members including Trinamul Congress, DMK and Left were on their feet.Treasury benches countered the Opposition parties by reiterating their demand for Mr Gandhi’s apology. The Chairman adjourned the proceedings for the day, even as he was referring to a point of order by Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge. Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member K C Venugopal on Friday submitted a notice of privilege against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Rajya Sabha for his alleged defamatory remarks against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, both Lok Sabha members, in a speech in the first part of the current Budget Session. In a letter to Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, Mr Venugopal wrote that he was submitting the notice under Rule 188 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Rajya Sabha against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for having cast reflections upon Members of Parliament during his reply on the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address on 9th February, 2023. MrVenugopal quoted Mr Modi as having stated in the House in Hindi while replying to a debate on the motion of thanks on the President's address: “...if Nehru ji's name is left out by us, we would correct our mistake as he was the first prime minister of the country.” “But I do not understand why anyone from his generation (peedhee) is afraid of keeping Nehru surname? Is there any shame in having the Nehru surname? What is the shame?When the family is not ready to accept such a great personality, why do you keep questioning us.”