FRIDAY 15 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 P11 SENSEX 67,519.0052.01 WEATHER Partly cloudy sky with rain /thundershower very likely. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 31 °C and 28 °C respectively. ‘ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION NEED OF THE HOUR’ KAVITHA SUMMONED BY ED AGAIN IN DELHI LIQUOR SCAM CASE BIDEN BRUSHES OFF IMPEACHMENT ISSUE P4 NIFTY 20,103.1033.10 P5 ` vs $ 83.0304 PAISE GOLD 60,430.00 ‘Bharat is the Vishwamitra in the world today,’ Narendra Modi asserted Max. 88 % GAURAV CHANDRA BHOPAL, 14 SEPTEMBER Min. 81 % Max: 31°C Min: 28°C SUN RISES SUN SETS 05:13 hrs 18:05 hrs MOON RISES MOON SETS 09:58 hrs 21:30 hrs New Moon on 15 September THUMBNAILS An artist makes an idol of Lord Ganesha for the upcoming Ganesh Chaturthi festival, at Dhalpur, in Kullu on Wednesday.  ANI Anantnag encounter: The army operation against the terrorists in the Kashmir valley continued for the second day, a day after two senior Army offices and a J&K police DSP were killed in a gunfight in Anantnag district. Police claimed to have "encircled" two Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists in the higher reaches of Anantnag district of south Kashmir. aunching a scathing attack on the Opposition coalition ‘INDIA’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said people should be vigilant and prepared to give a fitting reply to the openly increasing attacks by such forces and organisations that aim to destroy the centuries-old Sanatan Dharma in the country. Addressing a large gathering at Harkal in Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh during the foundation laying ceremony of a petrochemical complex worth Rs 49,000 crore at the Bina refinery and other industrial units worth Rs 1,800 crore across MP the Prime Min, ister asserted: “Bharat is the Vishwamitra in the world today.” He pointed out how India had shown its worth as a global leader through the successful hosting of the recent G20 Summit in New Delhi. “The success of G-20 is not Modi’s success but it is the success of the 140 crore Indians,” the PM said amidst The success of G-20 is not Modi’s success but it is the success of the 140 crore Indians. L NARENDRA MODI PRIME MINISTER OFINDIA Prime Minister Narendra Modi receives a warm welcome from Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, in Bina on Thursday.  ANI loud applause and cheers by the crowd. “However, there are certain organisations that are hell-bent on destroying the country’s image and dividing the society and the nation,” Mr Modi said. Calling the Opposition alliance NDA by mistake, and then immediately correcting himself by terming it 'INDI Alliance' (INDIA), Mr Modi charged: “The opposition alliance has no leader and their political ideology is also confused.” “Nonetheless, the aim of the INDI Alliance is to destroy Bharat’s culture and tradition by attacking Sanatan Dharma,” the PM said. Stressing the power of the Indian consulate seeks action against US cop heard mocking death of Indian student STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 14 SEPTEMBER The Consulate General of India in San Francisco has taken cognizance of the viral video in which a US cop is heard laughing over the death of an Indian student, who was hit by a speeding police van in Seattle. Terming the incident "deeply troubling", the Indian Consulate has raised the issue with authorities in Washington as well as local administration in Seattle and demanded action against the accused policeman. “Recent reports, including in media of the handling of Ms Jaahnavi Kandula’s death in a road accident in Seattle in January are deeply troubling. We have taken up the matter strongly with local authorities in Seattle & Washington State as well as senior officials in Washington DC for a thorough investigation & action against those involved in this tragic case. The Consulate & Embassy will continue to closely follow up on this matter with all concerned authorities,” the Indian mission wrote on Twitter (now renamed X). In a shocking case of apathy, a US cop is heard mocking the death of an Indian student Jaahnavi Kandula in a road accident in Seattle, US. The victim identified as 23year-old Jaahnavi Kandula was hit by a police van while crossing the road in January this year. The van was being driven by a policeman named Kevin Dave. However, the incident came to light only this week after a purported body-cam video of the cop was flagged by a police department investigator. The video believed to be shot from the cop’s body camera was recorded just after the incident. In the video, Seattle Police Officers’ Guild Vice President Daniel Auderer is heard laughing and saying that the girl was of a “limited value.” Shortly after saying “she’s dead”, Auderer laughs and says “it’s a regular person”, referring to Kandula. He then says “just write a check — $11,000, she was 26 anyway, she had limited value”. Auderer also mentions that Dave was “going 50 (miles an hour)”, stating how “that’s not out of control” for a trained driver. According to reports, the officer was driving at 74 miles per hour. Sanatan Dharma, Mr Modi said the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi said ‘Hey Ram’, as his last words. The PM also mentioned Devi Ahilyabai Holkar, Rani of Jhansi, Sant Ravidas, Rani Durgavati, Mata Shabri, Maharishi Valmiki and the martyrs of the Indian freedom struggle who upheld the power of Sanatan and laid down their lives and fought against oppression. The PM congratulated MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan and the state government for successfully organising different meetings of the G20 groups in the state. He said the Union government has given Rs 49,000 crore for Bina’s petro- chemical complex, and that sum is more than the annual budget of some of the states in the country. “This is a clear indication of our commitment to the development and welfare of MP the PM asserted. ,” Stressing the importance of transparency in governance and exterminating corruption for the development of any state or country, the Prime Minister recalled the time when Madhya Pradesh was considered amongst the BIMARU states in the country. “Those who ruled in Madhya Pradesh for decades had nothing to offer apart from crime and corruption,” the PM charged, in a reference to the Congress that ruled in MP for many years before 2003. He said during that time, no industrialist dared to come to MP but now investors are lining up to set up projects in MP and the Bundelkhand region. SNS & AGECNIES A day after the first meeting of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc’s coordination committee, the sub group of media on Thursday announced to not participate in the news shows of 14 anchors. Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera shared a note of the INDIA bloc media group decision on his 'X' handle and said, "The following decision was taken by the INDIA media committee in a virtual meeting held this afternoon." In the note, the media group of INDIA said: “Persuant to the decision taken by the INDIA coordination committee in its meeting on September 13, the INDIA parties will not send their representatives on the shows and events of anchors: Aditi Tyagi, Aman Chopra, Amish Devgan, Anand Narsimhan, KOLKATA, 14 SEPTEMBER times, serving as a minister six times with five different portfolios (twice as Railways Minister, once as Union Minister of State for Human Resources Development, once as Coal and Mines Minister, once as Women and Child Development Minister and once as Youth Affairs and Sports Minister). She has been elected Chief Minister three consecutive times and Special session: BJP, Congress issue whip for all MPs to be present STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 14 SEPTEMBER With the Lok Sabha expected to take up several important Bills during its Special Session scheduled from 18 to 22 September, both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress have issued a whip to their MPs to attend House proceedings on all days. The three-line whip of the BJP Parliamentary Party said: “All BJP Members in Lok Sabha are hereby informed that some very important Legislative Business will be taken up for discussion and passing in the Lok Sabha from Monday, the 18th September to Friday, the 22nd September, 2023.” “All Members of BJP in Lok Sabha are therefore, requested to be positively present in the House throughout on all the five days i.e. from Monday, 18th September to Friday, the 22nd September 2023 and support the Government’s stand,” the Whip issued by BJP’s Chief Whip (Lok Sabha) Rakesh Singh said. The Congress also issued a three-line whip to all its MPs, in view of some key agenda that may be brought in during the session. "Very important issues will be taken up for discus- MEDIA BOYCOTT NEW DELHI, 14 SEPTEMBER DOLA MITRA correspondent: “While Mamata Banerjee herself has never expressed any such agenda, she is extremely qualified to lead the nation if not more so than others ~ with all due respect to them ~ if you consider her experience and expertise. How many other political leaders have the kind of trajectory that Mamata Banerjee has?She has been a Member of Parliament seven BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 92.601.40 “Very important issues will be taken up for discussion in the Rajya Sabha from 18 to 22 Sept,” the Congress whip states. sion in the Rajya Sabha during this special session i.e. from September 18 to 22, 2023. All members of Congress party in the Rajya Sabha are requested to kindly remain present in the House from 11 a.m. onwards till the adjournment of the House from September 18 to September 22 without fail and support the party's stand," the three-line whip states. "This may be treated as most important," it added. A similar whip was issued for all Congress MPs of the Lok Sabha. A special discussion on Parliament’s journey of 75 years, starting from the Constituent Assembly is listed for 18 September, the first day of the Special Session. The government has also listed the Bill on the appointment of the chief election commissioner and other election commissioners to be taken up for consideration and passage during the session. The Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha INDIA to stay away from news shows of 14 anchors  The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc's media subgroup has decided not to participate in the news shows of 14 specific news anchors.  This decision was announced following the first meeting of the INDIA bloc's coordination com- mittee.  The list of anchors on whose shows INDIA parties will not send their representatives includes Aditi Tyagi, Aman Chopra, Amish Devgan, Anand Narsimhan, Arnab Goswami, Ashok Shrivastav, Chitra Tripathi, Gaurav Sawant, Navika Kumar, Prachi Parashar, Rubika Liaquat, Shiv Aroor, Sudhir Chaudhary, and Sushant Sinha.  The media subgroup's decision was made in accordance with the authorization given by the coordination committee during their meeting at the residence of NCP Chief Sharad Pawar. Arnab Goswami, Ashok Shrivastav, Chitra Tripathi, Gaurav Sawant, Navika Kumar, Prachi Parashar, Rubika Liaquat, Shiv Aroor, Sudhir Chaudhar y and Sushant Sinha.” On Wednesday, while addressing the media after the first meeting of coordination committee at the residence of NCP Chief The following decision was taken by the INDIA media committee in a virtual meeting held this afternoon. PAWAN KHERA CONGRESS SPOKESPERSON Will Didi lead the INDIA coalition then? When the Sri Lankan President bumped into West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee at the Dubai Airport and asked if she will be the one to lead the newly-formed I.N.D.I.A bloc, it became quite clear that the question is now being raised not just throughout India but also across the globe. The chance meeting, which took place during a stopover, as Didi left for a two-week tour of Spain to scout for industrial investment before the Bengal Global Summit later this year and the question asked by the neighbouring country's President has put the spotlight back on Didi as a possible Prime Ministerial candidate in the scenario that the INDIA bloc does come to power. In an interview to The Statesman, Trinamul Congress Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Dola Sen told this P12 SILVER 73,500.00 PM castigates Opp over Sanatan Dharma RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY TEMPERATURE WENGER CONFIRMS VISIT TO INDIA IN OCT her party's strength in the Assembly has risen significantly each time, going from 186 seats in 2011 to 211 seats in 2016 to 217 seats in 2021.” Miss Banerjee herself responded to the Sri Lankan President's question with friendly laughter and a remark, exclaiming: “Oh my goodness!....That is up to the people, you know.” Last month on a rainy Sunday afternoon, supporters of the idea that Mamata Banerjee should lead the alliance gathered near the Jatin Das Park Metro Station near the Kalighat residence of Didi and held a roadside conclave, the chief agenda of which was to declare that “Bengal wants to see Mamata as PM”. The group, called FAM (Fearless AITC Members) was joined by Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim and other Trinamul leaders. The thought of Didi as PM is however not the result of the formation of the INDIA alliance alone. Even as early as before the Parliamentary elections of 2014, the noted writer and Magsaysay award winner (late) Mahasweta Devi endorsed the idea in a public meeting. The formation of the INDIA grouping has further reinforced the idea. And clearly the idea is no longer limited only within the borders of India but transcended beyond. CMYK Sharad Pawar, Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal said, “The co-ordination committee authorised the sub group of media to decide upon the names of the anchors on whose shows none of the INDIA parties will send their representatives.” The INDIA bloc also announced 19 member working group for media with Congress' Jairam Ramesh, RJD's Manoj Jha, Shiv Sena's Arvind Sawant, NCP's Jitendra Ahwad, AAP's Chaddha, JD-U's Rajiv Ranjan and Manish Kumar, CPM's Pranjal, Samajwadi Party's Ashish Yadav and Rajeev Nigam, JMM's Supriyo Bhattachar ya and Alok Kumar, CPI's Dr. Bhalchandran Kango, NC's Tanvir Sadiq, Prashant Kannojia, AIFB's Naren Chatterjee, CPI-ML's Sucheta De, PDP's Mohit Bhan as its members on September 1 during the third meeting of INDIA in Maharashtra’s Mumbai. during the last Monsoon session. Among the other Bills coming up before the Lok Sabha are the Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Press and Registration of Periodicals Bill, 2023 which were passed by the Rajya Sabha on 3 August last and laid on the table of the Lok Sabha on 4 August. The Post Office Bill, 2023 and the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023 were introduced in the Rajya Sabha on 10th August. These two Bills will be taken up by the Lok Sabha after they are passed by the Rajya Sabha and laid on the table of the Lok Sabha during the coming session. The government has also convened a meeting of the floor leaders of all political parties on 17 September, a day before the start of the five-day session. Three injured as private aircraft skids, crashes at Mumbai airport MUMBAI, 14 SEPTEMBER At least three persons were injured after a private business aircraft with six passengers and two crew flying from Vizag to Mumbai skidded off the runway and crashlanded at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, officials said here on Thursday. VT-DBL, a non-scheduled charter Learjet business aircraft, skidded off the runway and crashed while landing. According to preliminary information, the mishap is attributed to heavy rains and low visibility at the time of the incident, around 5.30 p.m. Flight operations have been suspended and the three injured persons have been hospitalised, while details of the other passengers and IANS crew are awaited. Indian-origin economistTharman sworn in as Singapore President SNS & AGENCIES SINGAPORE, 14 SEPTEMBER Indian-origin economist, Tharman Shanmugaratnam was sworn in as the ninth Singapore President on Thursday, two weeks after his landslide victory in the polls, The Strait Times reported. Tharman (66) took the oath on Thursday evening at his inauguration ceremony after completing an inspection of the guards at the Istana. Tharman, an economist and a civil servant served mainly at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, before joining politics in 2001. He has served as Minister for Education and Finance and was Deputy Prime Minister from 2011 to 2019. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also congratulated Tharman after his victory and said he looks forward to working with Shanmugaratnam to further strengthen the India-Sin- gapore Strategic Partnership. In his inauguration speech, Tharman reiterated his plans to unite the nation. Shortly before Tharman’s oath, his predecessor, Madam Halimah Yacob, had also inspected the guards and bade farewell to the line of honour before departing the grounds for the last time as president. She was accompanied by her husband, Mohamed Abdullah Alhabshee. Tharman said he was honoured and humbled to have been elected and stressed the Singaporeans to grow their sense of togetherness. “This was a vote of confidence in Singapore’s future, a future where we all progress together and deepen our solidarity as Singaporeans. It will make us a better society, and add to our ballast as we face a more turbulent world,” The Strait Times quoted him as saying. Talking about the strong mandate given to him by the people, Tharman said he will work with the Government, community groups and other voluntary organisations, and the entire nation to strengthen multiracialism and nurture a more inclusive society.