CMYK SATURDAY 20 MAY 2023 Pages 12 |` 5.00|LC* www.thestatesman.com KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR ‘NO COORDINATION WITH CENTRE’ TITANIC TRIBUTE P6 WEATHER Humid and discomfort weather very likely. Rain/thundershower likely to occur towards afternoon/evening. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 36 °C and 27°C respectively. Max. 98 % TEMPERATURE Max: 33.3°C (-3) SUN RISES 04:56 hrs MOON RISES 04:25 hrs P7 Min. 52 % Min: 23.0°C (-4) SUN SETS 18:11 hrs MOON SETS 18:1 hrs New Moon on 19 May THUMBNAILS Congress leader Sachin Pilot meets protesting wrestlers in the Capital on Friday. SUBRATA DUTTA Madhyamik results out, district-wise Kolkata w ranks 3rd: This year’s Madhyamik results were declared on Friday which showed that the pass percentage is 86.15 per cent, a tad lower than last year’s 86.60 per cent.Announcing the results, president of West Bengal Board of Secondary Education Ramanuj Ganguly said there is a significant rise in the number of female candidates 3,76,068 in comparison to male Pg3 candidates 3,06,253. Modi says onus is on Islamabad to create a conducive environment ndia wants “normal and neighbourly relations” with Pakistan but it is incumbent on Islamabad to create a conducive environment free from terrorism and to take necessary steps, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in an interview with Nikkei Asia. Mr Modi said India wants normal bilateral ties with Pakistan, adding that “it is incumbent upon them to create a conducive environment free from terrorism and hostilities. The onus is on Pakistan to take necessary steps in this regard.” India has repeatedly raised its concern over Pakistan's support to crossborder terrorism and has asserted that terror and talks cannot go together. Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto had attended the SCO Foreign Ministers' meeting in Goa earlier this month but there were no bilateral talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. PM Modi's interview to Nikkei Asia, which is part of Nikkei, one of Asia's I PM Narendra Modi interacts with members of the Indian diaspora in Hiroshima on Friday.  ANI largest independent business media groups, comes ahead of G7 Summit in Japan, happening at a time of increasing global challenges. During the interview, the Prime Minister also answered queries related to ties with China and spoke about India's efforts to amplify the voices and concerns of the Global South. “India is fully prepared and committed to protect its sovereignty and dignity,” PM Modi said. A standoff erupted with China in Eastern Ladakh in the summer of 2020 following actions of the Chinese army and while talks have led to disengagement Interim stay on termination of jobs of Bengal primary teachers STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, 19 MAY A Division Bench of Calcutta High Court on Friday placed an interim stay on an earlier order for termination of the services of 32,000 primary teachers in different staterun schools in West Bengal on charges of irregularities in recruitments. The Division Bench of Justices Subrata Talukdar and Supratim Bhattacharya stayed the earlier order by the single-judge Bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay till 23 September. Initially, Justice Gangopadhyay ordered the termination of services of 36,000 primary teachers. Later, the figure was revised to 32,000. Despite placing an interim stay on the termination part, the Division Bench directed the West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) to continue with the process of interview for fresh recruitment as directed by Justice Gangopadhyay. On 12 May, while passing The Division Bench of Calcutta High Court stayed the earlier order by the singlejudge Bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay till 23 September the order for termination of services of the primary teachers, Justice Gangopadhyay observed that they were not trained and they got the appointment without appearing for the mandatory aptitude tests. However, WBBPE challenged that observation, claiming that these primary teach- ers received post-job training in the open and distance learning (ODL) mode. In his order, Justice Gangopadhyay had held Trinamool Congress legislator and former WBBPE president Manik Bhattacharya responsible for the irregularity and observed that if the WBBPE wants, it can recover the cost of the process of filling up the vacancies from Mr Bhattacharya, who is currently in judicial custody because of his alleged involvement in the scam. Justice Gangopadhyay however said that these primary teachers will be able to continue in their schools for the next four months and during which they will be paid the salary of para-teachers instead of that for regular teachers. If any candidate among these 36,000 completes the requisite training in the interim period, he/she will be eligible for appearing for examinations in the next recruitment phase, Justice Gangopadhyay had said. SC gets 2 new judges, apex court at full strength for brief period SNS & AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 19 MAY Andhra Pradesh High Court Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and senior advocate K.V. Viswanathan were swornin as Supreme Court judges on Friday. The oath of office was administered by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud. With the appointment of two new judges, the apex court's strength rose to 34, which is its sanctioned strength. The appointments were announced by new Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Twitter on Thursday. However, the full strength of the apex court will last only for a brief period. Justices K M Joseph, Ajay Rastogi and V. Ramasubramanian will retire on 17,18 and 30 June respectively. The Supreme Court collegium, in a resolution on Tuesday, said: “After carefully evaluating the merit, integri- P4 P12 Want normal bilateral Adani issue: SC panel says no sign of regulatory failure ties with Pak, says PM STATESMAN NEW SERVICE TOKYO, 19 MAY RAINFALL: 4.7 mm RELATIVE HUMIDITY KNIGHTS UP AGAINST SUPER GIANTS KCR DISMISSES CONGRESS WIN IN KARNATAKA ty and competence of eligible chief justices and senior puisne judges of the high courts and also accommodating a plurality of considerations, the collegium finds Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra, Chief Justice, Andhra Pradesh High Court (PHC: Chhattisgarh) to be more deserving and suitable in all respects for being appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India. “The collegium is conscious of the fact that the present Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court who was appointed as a judge on March 31, 2009, is drawn from the par- ent High Court of Chhattisgarh and ranks senior to Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra. However, having considered all relevant factors, the collegium is of the view that Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra is worthy of appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court." The collegium said at present there is only one member from the Bar directly appointed to the Supreme Court bench, and in their considered opinion, Mr Viswanathan is eminently suitable for being appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court.” Justice Viswanathan was born on 26 May 1966, he would serve as a judge until 25 May 2031. On the retirement of Justice Jamshed Burjor Pardiwala on 11 August 2030, Mr Viswanathan would be in line to assume office as the Chief Justice of India till his retirement. from some areas, some friction points remain. “Peace and tranquillity in the border areas are essential for normal bilateral ties with China. The future development of India-China relationship can only be based on mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interests,” Mr Modi said, noting that "normalising" the ties would benefit the wider region and the world. PM Modi on Friday reached Hiroshima in Japan to attend the G7 Summit. India has been invited as a guest country for the Summit. India has been participating in the G7 Sum- RBI withdraws Rs 2,000 note from circulation, to remain legal tender STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE MUMBAI, 19 MAY The Reserve Bank of India has decided to withdraw the Rs 2,000 denomination banknotes from circulation but they will continue to remain as legal tender. The Central bank has advised banks to stop issuing Rs 2,000 denomination banknotes with immediate effect. The RBI said that citizens will continue to be able to deposit Rs 2000 banknotes into their bank accounts and/or exchange them with banknotes of other denominations at any bank branch up to 30 September 2023. The Rs 2,000 denomination banknote was introduced in November 2016 after the sudden demonetisation of all Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes in circulation at that time. The banknote was introduced primarily to meet the currency requirement of the economy of the time in an expeditious manner, the RBI stated. The objective of introducing Rs 2,000 banknotes was met once banknotes in other denominations became available in adequate quantities. Therefore, the printing of Rs 2,000 banknotes was stopped subsequently in 2018-19, stated the Central bank. About 89 per cent of the Rs 2,000 denomination banknotes were issued prior to March 2017 and are at the end of their estimated life span of four-five years. The total value of these banknotes in circulation has declined from Rs 6.73 lakh crore at its peak as of 31 March 2018 (37.3 per cent of Notes in Circulation) to Rs 3.62 lakh crore constituting only 10.8 per cent of Notes in Circulation on 31 March 2023. “It has also been observed that this denomination is not commonly used for transactions. Further, the stock of banknotes in other denominations continues to be adequate to meet the currency requirement of the public,” the RBI said Friday. CMYK mit since 2003. In a statement before his departure from New Delhi, he said his presence at the G7 Summit there was particularly meaningful as India holds the G20 Presidency this year. “I look forward to exchanging views with the G7 countries and other invited partners on challenges that the world faces and the need to collectively address them. I would also be holding bilateral meetings with some of the leaders attending the Hiroshima G7 Summit,” he added. Asked whether India can play a mediator role in Russia-Ukraine conflict, PM Modi said his country's position on the Ukraine conflict “is clear and unwavering”. “India stands on the side of peace and will remain firmly there. We are committed to supporting those who face challenges in meeting their basic needs, especially in the face of rising costs of food, fuel, and fertilizers. We maintain communication with both Russia and Ukraine,” PM Modi said, adding that "cooperation and collaboration should define our times, not conflict". SNS & AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 19 MAY The Supreme Courtappointed expert committee constituted to look into the Adani-Hindenburg row has said it would not be possible for it to conclude that there has been a regulatory failure around the allegation of price manipulation. “At this stage, taking into account the explanations provided by SEBI, supported by empirical data, prima facie, it would not be possible for the Committee to conclude that there has been a regulatory failure around the allegation of price manipulation," the expert committee said in its report submitted to the apex court earlier this month. The committee noted that it was submitted by Sebi that while the price of shares of Adani Enterprises Ltd. (AEL) rose, no evident pattern of manipulative contribution to price rise could be attributed to any single entity or group of connected entities. The committee said it is apparent that Sebi was actively engaged with developments and price movements in the market. “It would not be possible to return a finding of regula- tory failure...since SEBI has an active and working surveillance framework to take notice of high price and volume movements and has applied itself to the data generated by such surveillance, applying objective criteria, to consider if the integrity of the natural price discovery process has been manipulated,” noted the committee. The report said in the case of the Adani stocks, 849 alerts were generated by the system, and were considered by stock exchanges resulting in four reports to Sebi, two well prior to the Hindenburg Report and two after 24 January 2023. “In all the four reports, the stock exchanges considered the factors...and prima facie, found no evidence of any artificiality to the price rise and did not find material to attribute the rise to any single entity or group of connected entities," said the report. It also said that empirical data showed that retail investors' exposure in the group has increased after 24 January 2023, when the Hindenburg report came out. The committee also concluded, based on empirical evidence, that the Indian market as a whole was not "unduly volatile". “The volatility in the Adani stocks was indeed high, which is attributable to the publication of the Hindenburg report and its consequences,” the committee said. The market has re-priced and re-assessed the Adani stocks, it noted. “While they may not have returned to the pre-January 24, 2023 levels, they are stable at the newly re-priced level," the committee added. On 2 March, in the wake of the publication of the Hindenburg report, which led to a sizable wipeout of the Adani Group's market value, the apex court directed capital market regulator SEBI to investigate any violations of securities law by the Adani Group. The Court set up an expert committee on the issue arising from the Hindenburg Research report on Adani Group companies. The committee was headed by former apex court judge Justice AM Sapre.