SUNDAY 03 SEPTEMBER 2023 www.thestatesman.com twitter.com/thestatesman facebook.com/thestatesman INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 Pages 12 |` 5.00|LC KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR AS THE BATTLE LINES GET DRAWN IN INDIA COURT ACCEPTS CBI’S CLEAN CHIT REPORT FOR KERALA EX-CM P4 WEATHER Generally cloudy sky. One or two spells of Rain/Thundershower very likely. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 33 °C and 27 °C respectively. RAINFALL: 22.0 mm RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 92% TEMPERATURE INDIAN MEN’S RELAY TEAM EYEING ASIAD GOLD RAJASTHAN: NADDA FLAGS OFF BJP'S ‘PARIVARTAN YATRA’ P7 P5 Solar mission Aditya -L1 launched successfully P12 GLADIATOR India’s solar observatory has begun its journey to the Sun-Earth L1 point STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 2 SEPTEMBER Min. 65 % Max: 34.3 °C (+2) Min: 29.4 °C (+3) SUN RISES SUN SETS 05:20 hrs 17:54 hrs MOON RISES MOON SETS 19:41 hrs 07:25 hrs New Moon on 15 September THUMBNAILS Cutouts of Mahatma Gandhi and Charka displayed for the upcoming G20 Summit in the Capital on Saturday. SUBRATA DUTTA Parliament summoned for special session: Parliament has been summoned to me- et for a special session from 18th to 22nd September, notifications from the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats said on Saturday. In its notification, the Lok Sabha secretariat said “the Thirteenth Session of Seventeenth Lok Sabha will commence on Monday, 18th September, 2023. Subject to exigencies of Government Business, the Session is likely to conclude on Friday, the 22th September, 2023.” Children hold placards demanding the restoration of peace in the state of Manipur, in Imphal on Saturday.  ANI ays after the historic moon landing, the ISRO’s maiden solar mission, Aditya- L1, was launched successfully from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh on Saturday. The PSLVC57.1 rocket carrying the Aditya-L1 orbiter, lifted off successfully from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh at 11:50 a.m. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said the payload carrying the Aditya L1 spacecraft has been separated as it left Earth's atmosphere following its successful launch from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. “The third stage of the separation of PSLV carrying the Aditya-L1 orbiter has been completed,” ISRO said. The PSLV-C57 vehicle has placed the spacecraft precisely into its intended orbit. India’s first solar observatory has begun its journey to the destination of SunEarth L1 point, the agency said. The successful launch of the maiden solar mission of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) came on the heels of the historic lunar landing mission ~ Chandrayaan-3. ISRO successfully placed a lander on the unexplored lunar South Pole, a feat that put India in the record books as the first country to do so. According to the agency, the Aditya-L1 mission is expected to reach its final orbit in four months. It will D Biden arriving on Thursday for G20 AGENCIES ‘One Nation, One Election’: Kovind panel to recommend amendments to Constitution DEEPAK RAZDAN NEW DELHI, 2 SEPTEMBER Congratulations to our scientists and engineers at @isro for the successful launch of India’s first Solar Mission, AdityaL1.Our tireless scientific efforts will continue in order to develop better understanding of the Universe for the welfare of entire humanity NARENDRA MODI PRIME MINISTER be placed in a halo orbit around Lagrange Point 1 (or L1), which is 1.5 million km away from the Earth in the direction of the sun. A PM will attend ASEAN-India Summit in Jakarta STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 2 SEPTEMBER WASHINGTON, 2 SEPTEMBER US President Joe Biden will travel to India on Thursday for the G20 Summit scheduled to be held in New Delhi on 9 and 10 September. During his visit, he will reaffirm the US commitment to the G20 as the premier forum of economic cooperation, the White House announced in a statement. "While in New Delhi, the President will also commend Prime Minister Modi’s leadership of the G20 and reaffirm the US commitment to the G20 as the premier forum of economic cooperation, including by hosting it in 2026," read the statement. At the G20 Summit, Mr India rode on calculative half centuries from Ishan Kishan (82) and Hardik Pandya (87) (photo) to recover from a shaky start and post a competitive 266 against Pakistan in their Asia Cup opener at the Pallekele International Stadium on Saturday. Electing to bat on a cloudy afternoon with 70 per cent predictions of rain, India were tottering at 66 for 4 after losing the top four in Rohit Sharma (11), Virat Kohli (4), Shubman Gill (10) and Shreyas Iyer (14) against a high quality Pakistani pace attack. The 138-run fifth wicket partnership between Kishan and Pandya helped the Men-in-blue arrest the faulty start. Biden and other G20 partners will discuss a range of joint efforts to tackle global issues, including the clean energy transition and combating climate change, mitigating the economic and social impacts of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and increasing the capacity of multilateral development banks. Ahead of the G-20 Summit in Delhi under India’s Presidency, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Jakarta on 6-7 September to attend the 20th ASEANIndia Summit and the 18th East Asia Summit, being hosted by Indonesia as current Chair of ASEAN. Mr Modi has been invited to Indonesia by its President, Mr Joko Widodo. The forthcoming ASEANIndia Summit will be the first Summit since the elevation of India-ASEAN relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2022. Lagrange Point is a location in space where the gravitational pull of two large masses precisely equals the centripetal force required for a small object, in this case the Aditya L1 spacecraft, to move with them in a fixed position relative to the Earth and Sun. Odisha mishap: CBI files charge sheet against 3 arrested railway officials SNS & AGENCIES NEW DELHI,2 SEPTEMBER The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday filed a charge sheet against three railway officials -- Arun Kumar Mahanta, Mohammad Amir Khan and Pappu Kumar -- arrested in connection with the June 2 Odisha train tragedy on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and destruction of evidence. The official said that all the three accused were arrested on July 7 and are currently in judicial custody. A CBI spokesperson said here that the agency filed a charge sheet against Mahanta, SSE (signal) Incharge, Balasore, Incharge, Khan, SSE (Signal), Soro and Kumar, Technician, Balasore in the court of Special Judicial Magistrate, Bhubaneswar in an ongoing investigation of a case related to train mishap at Bahanaga Bazar Railway Station, Balasore on June 2, which left over 290 people dead. The Centre on Saturday formally constituted an eightmember High-Level Committee under former President Ram Nath Kovind to examine the issue of “one nation, one election,” asking it to recommend what specific amendments to the Constitution, and relevant Acts, may be needed for the purpose. Apart from the former President, who is the Chairman, the committee comprises Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, former Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Chairman of 15th Finance Commission N K Singh, former Lok Sabha Secretary General Subhash C Kashyap, Senior Advocate Harish Salve and former Chief Vigilance Commissioner Sanjay Kothari. A Resolution of the Law and Justice Ministry (Legislative Department) said that Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal will attend the meetings of the HighLevel Committee as a special invitee. The Committee has been asked to “commence functioning immediately and make recommendations at the earliest.” The terms and reference of the HLC are: “Examine and make recommendations for holding simultaneous elections to the In Raj shocker, woman paraded naked by husband over alleged affair STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE JAIPUR, 2 SEPTEMBER In a shocking incident, a woman in Rajasthan’s Pratapgarh district was stripped and paraded naked by her husband and in-laws, in the wake of which police have arrested eight persons, including the husband. A purported video of the incident shared by BJP leader Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on microblogging site X, shows a man, identified as the woman’s husband, stripping her naked as she cried for help.(photo) She was later paraded through her in-law's village, the police said. After the video of the incident went viral late last night the Rajasthan government rushed its Additional Director-General of Police (Crime) MN Dinesh to the incident site and the local police force took swift action, the Director General of Police Umesh Mishra told The Statesman this afternoon. The husband, who is the main accused and his seven accomplices were arrested under various IPC Sections 323, 341, 342, 354, 294, 120, 504, 506, 498A, 509 and Sec- tion 4/6 Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act 1986 and 67A IT Act. A five member special investigation team (SIT) has been set up by the state police to further probe the case, the DGP said. Three of the eight accused including the husband were hospitalised as they were injured while trying to escape when the police team reached there to arrest them, the DGP said, adding as soon as they will be discharged, they will be produced before a court. The twenty-four year old woman was married to the accused and had an alleged love affair with another man a couple of months ago. On Thursday, the ex-husband and his seven other accomplice went to her village and kidnapped her and brought her to their village. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot dashed to the village in a helicopter and spoke to the victim and her family. He announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh and a government job to the victim. Condemning the incident, Mr Gehlot told the media there: “Such criminals have no place in a civilized society. The woman complained to the police late at night yesterday. After this FIR has been registered. There are 10 people in it. Police have arrested 8 people so far. The chief minister said that this was a very sad incident. Despite the lack of information facilities in the village, the MLA, SHO and SP of the area have worked seriously. All the accused have been arrested.” Women's safety has been one of the key issues being raised by the Opposition BJP in Rajasthan where Assembly elections are due later this year. Reacting to the incident, BJP leader and former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje said that the administration was not even aware of the incident and held the Gehlot government responsible for women atrocities in the state. “Crime against women in the state has spread to such an extent that Rajasthan is feeling ashamed every day. The Congress government itself is responsible for making the state number 1 in the country in women atrocities…,” she said. Ms Raje also urged people not to share the video on social media. BJP national president JP Nadda also slammed the state CMYK Congress government over the incident. Nadda said that the Rajasthan government is busy settling factional squabbles, therefore, the issue of women’s safety has been completely ignored. “The video from Pratapgarh, Rajasthan is shocking. What is worse is, governance in Rajasthan is totally absent. The chief minister and ministers are busy settling factional squabbles, and the remaining time is spent appeasing one dynasty in Delhi. It’s no wonder the issue of women’s safety is being completely ignored in the state. Every single day, there is an instance of harassment against women. The people of Rajasthan will teach the state Government a lesson,” Mr Nadda, who is in Rajasthan to launch a BJP Parivartan Yatra in the pollbound state, said. House of the People (Lok Sabha), State Legislative Assemblies, Municipalities and Panchayats, keeping in view the existing framework under the Constitution of India and other statutory provisions, and for that purpose, examine and recommend specific amendments to the Constitution, the Representation of the People Act, 1950, the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and the rules made thereunder and any other law or rules which would require amendments for the purpose of holding simultaneous elections.” The Committee has been asked “to examine and recommend if the amendments to the Constitution would require ratification by the States.” It will also “analyse and recommend possible solution in a scenario of simultaneous elections emerging out of hung House, adoption of noconfidence motion, or defection or any such other event.” The Committee will decide its own procedure for conducting its meetings and other relevant functions. The committee will hear all persons and accept representations and communications which can facilitate its work. Mr Nitin Chandra, Secretary, Department of Legal Affairs, shall be the Secretary of the High Level Committee (HLC). The legislative department of the Ministry of Law and Justice will provide office and meet expenditure of the Committee’s work. Stating that frequent elections cost heavily to the exchequer, the Resolution said “in the national interest it is desirable to have simultaneous elections in the country,” and the HLC has been constituted to examine the issue. Elections in the country were held simultaneously in early Fifties till mid-Sixties, but the cycle got broken. The frequent elections require huge security manpower, large election staff and causes disruption in development work. The government has indicated that the subject of one nation, one election is likely to be discussed in the coming special session of Parliament. Assembly polls in five states are scheduled in the country ahead of the Lok Sabha polls next year. Jet Airways founder Goyal diverted bank funds to clear personal loans: ED SNS & AGENCIES MUMBAI, 2 SEPTEMBER The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has contended that Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal, who was arrested late on Friday, had allegedly diverted around Rs 9.50 crore from a public sector bank loan to clear off his private loans. Producing Mr Goyal before a special PMLA court here on Saturday, the ED said that his daughter Namrata Goyal’s production house also got money from Jet Airways accounts to pay salaries and other commitments. The special PMLA court later remanded Mr Goyal to the ED’s custody till 11 September. On Friday, the ED swooped on Mr Goyal’s home, picked him up for questioning and late in the night placed him under arrest for alleged money-laundering linked with a Canara Bank loan fraud case of Rs 538 crore between 2011 and 2019. The money-laundering case arose from a CBI FIR filed against Mr Goyal, his wife Anita, and others in connection with the alleged fraud perpetrated with Canara Bank.