THURSDAY 21 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 KTR SAYS READY TO GIVE UP SEAT FOR A WOMAN CHINESE WHISPERS SUGGEST CAUSE FOR ALARM P7 SENSEX 66,800.84796.00 WEATHER Generally cloudy sky. One or two spells of rain/thundershower very likely to occurMaximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 30 °C and 26 °C respectively. RAINFALL: 10.6mm RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 93 % TEMPERATURE Max: 29.2 °C (-4) SUN RISES 05:25 hrs MOON RISES 09:47 hrs P4 NIFTY 19,901.40231.90 ` vs $ 83.0720 PAISE Min: 27.0 °C (+1) SUN SETS 17:37 hrs MOON SETS 20:50 hrs New Moon on 29 September THUMBNAILS Devotees offering prayer to Lord Ganesh in the Capital on Wednesday. SUBRATA DUTTA ‘PM invites US President to India's 2024 R-Day celebrations’: US President Joe Biden D has been invited to India's January 26-Republic Day celebrations here in the national capital, the Ambassador of US to India, Eric Garcetti revealed on Wednesday. Garcetti said the invitation was extended to Biden by PM Modi on the sidelines of the bilateral that took place between the two leaders at the recently concluded G20 Summit. SILVER 70,500.00300 There were 454 votes in favour of the Bill, just two votes against he Modi Government’s historic Constitution (128th Amendment) Bill, 2023 to reserve one-third seats for women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies was passed by the Lok Sabha by the required two-third majority on Wednesday evening. The Bill was put to vote by Speaker Om Birla. There were 454 votes in favour and two against the Bill. Mr Birla declared the Bill as passed by the required majority of two-thirds of the members present and voting. Several amendments moved or proposed by members were either withdrawn or rejected in voting. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh were present. The passing of a Bill to amend the Constitution requires the support of a majority of the total membership of the House and a majority of not less than BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 92.510.65 3.8 per cent in FY22. Net assets of households were valued at Rs 22.8 trillion in FY21, but the figure dropped to Rs 16.96 trillion in FY22 and further declined to Rs 13.76 trillion in FY23. The rate of increase in financial liabilities in FY22 was BJP women supporters standing outside Rail Bhawan with thanks-giving placards for Mahila Bill in Parliament, in the Capital on Wednesday. SNS two-thirds of the Members present and voting, in each House of Parliament. The Constitution (128th Amendment) Bill, 2023 met the requirements in the Lok Sabha vote. The voting started at 7 pm and continued past 9 pm as some members insisted on voting on their amendments. Law and Justice Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal replied to the day-long debate in which 60 members took part. The House approved official amend- ments moved by the Minister. Home Minister Amit Shah intervened in the debate and assured the House that implementation of the reservation provisions after the delimitation would be legally-sound and therefore required. He said there were only three categories of members in the House ~ General including OBCs, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes ~ and all three will get 33 per cent reservation. the second highest since Independence. The only time the flow was sharper was in Financial Year 2006-07 when it was 6.7 per cent, the data said. The primary cause of decreasing savings and increased borrowing is likely the combination of stagnant or declining household incomes in the face of rising inflation, it highlighted. A separate report by Motilal Oswal research says this collapse in household net financial savings in FY23 marks the lowest level in 47 years. One of the key contributors to this drop in savings has been the rise in household financial liabilities. In FY23, household financial liabilities surged to 5.8 per cent of GDP, a significant increase from 3.8 percent in FY22. Asian Games: Indian debutants to watch out for TRIDIB BAPARNASH NEW DELHI, 20 SEPTEMBER (From top to bottom) Harmilan Kaur Bains, Jyothi Yarraji,Nikhat Zareen, Charanjot Singh, Anahat Singh years, and looks a strong contender for the gold medal in Hangzhou. With an Olympic quota on offer, the 27-year-old from Nizamabad will also look to seal her berth for Paris 2024 by topping the podium at the Asian Games. Harmilan Kaur Bains~ – Women’s 800m, 1500m Having missed out on a chance to represent India at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham due to a knee injury, national record holder in women’s 1500m Harmilan Kaur Bains will be competing in two events (800m and 1500m) at the Hangzhou. Harmilan recently returned with a silver medal at the Birmingham University Grand Prix in July, and also took part other events in the UK (Loughborough and Manchester) to test her comeback. Harmilan STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE GUWAHATI, 20 SEPTEMBER STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 20 SEPTEMBER Net financial savings of households was 5.1 per cent of the GDP in Financial Year 2023, a decline in the savings as compared to 7.2 per cent in FY22 NEW DELHI, 20 SEPTEMBER Canadian govt issues travel advisory for North East India Sonia backs Women’s Quota Bill T STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE The 19th edition of the Asian Games is set to be held in Hangzhou, China, from 23 September to 8 October this year. While some team events like football, volleyball and rowing have already kicked off from 19 September, the Games will officially begin from Saturday. Postponed by a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Asian Games has been a stepping stone for many young athletes to announce their arrival in the big league. Numerous stars have emerged from the continental event every four years, and while some have already made their names in other big ticket events, there are many who will be looking forward to a stellar debut in the prestigious event. For India, there are a few exciting names who will be eyeing a spot at the podium on debut in their respective disciplines. Reigning world and Commonwealth Games champion boxer Nikhat Zareen leads the chart along with Punjab’s long and middle distance runner Harmilan Bains, and a few more. Here’s a list of five Indian debutants to look out for during the Asian Games: Nikhat Zareen~Boxing Reigning world and Commonwealth champion Nikhat Zareen will make her debut in women’s 50kg category event at the Asian Games. Out of the shadows of the legendary MC Mary Kom, Nikhat has already made a name for herself in the category in the past couple of P12 India issues travel advisory on LS: Women’s Quota Bill Canada, row over Hardeep passed by 2/3rd majority Singh Nijjar’s murder escalates Financial savings of households at lowest in 5 decades Highlighting the spending and saving habits of Indian households, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said the net financial savings of households is at the lowest in decades, reaching 5.1 per cent of the GDP in Financial Year 2023. This shows a decline in the savings as compared to 7.2 per cent in FY22. The RBI said the annual financial liabilities of households rose by 5.8 per cent of GDP in FY23, compared with P5 GOLD 60,230.0010 STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 20 SEPTEMBER Min. 85 % SIRAJ BECOMES NO. 1 RANKED BOWLER IN ODIS ‘TRANSFORMATIVE REVOLUTION FOR GENDER EQUALITY’ made the cut for the Asian Games in both the 800m and the 1500m during the national championships held in Bhubaneswar in June. In the 1500m, she clocked 4:08.50. As such she is India’s medal hopeful in both 800m and 1500m events, despite having mastered in the latter event on many occasions. Jyothi Yarraji~ Women’s 100m Hurdles, 200m National record holder in women’s 100m hurdles, Jyothi Yarraji will make her Asian Games debut in Hangzhou. She is the first Indian woman to run sub-13 seconds in the event. Jyothi recorded her personal best in 100m hurdles - 12.78s - at theWorld University Games in Chengdu last month. As such, she stands a good chance to finish on the podium on her Games debut. This season, the 24-yearold from Visakhapatnam won a gold medal at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok, besides bagging a silver medal at the same tournament in the 200m event and will be in action in both categories in Hangzhou. Charanjot Singh~ FIFA Online 4 India’s Charanjot Singh is the top-seeded athlete in FIFAe, one of the seven official Esports events at this edition. Esports will officially be included for the first time at the Asian Games in Hangzhou after being a demonstration discipline five years ago in Jakarta.Charanjot, who hails from Chandigarh, earned the right to be the top seed after he registered commanding victories over Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in August. He also represented India in the FIFAe Nations Cup 2023. Anahat Singh~Squash Last year, Anahat Singh became the youngest Indian member of the Indian contingent for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Anahat, now 15, will look for a stellar debut at the Asian Games. Fresh from a gold medal win in the U-17 category of the Asian Junior Squash Individual Championships in China last month, Anahat will look to make use of the experience of playing in the country when she opens her campaign in the women’s squash event of the Asian Games. Earlier this year, she emerged winner in the U-15 category of the British Junior Open Squash, beating Sohaila Hazem of Egypt in the final. CMYK Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday extended her full support to the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam 2023’ Bill, aimed at giving 33 per cent reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, and sought its immediate implementation. “I stand in support of Nari Shakti Vandan Adhinyam 2023. Women are being told that they will have to wait more for this Bill to become law. We demand that the bill be made a law immediately. As a delay in implementing the bill is a gross unfairness to women in the country. I appeal to the Government to do this immediately,” she said. (PG 5) Tensions between India and Canada escalated today as New Delhi issued an advisory asking all Indian nationals in Canada and those contemplating travel to the country to exercise utmost caution in view of growing anti-India activities and politically-condoned hate crimes and criminal violence there. The advisory came a day after Canada issued a travel advisory to its citizens about travelling in India amid a row between the two countries over the June 2023 killing of Khalistan supporter Hardeep Singh Nijjar. In its advisory, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said recently, threats have particularly targeted Indian diplomats and sections of the Indian com- In its latest updated travel advisory, the Canadian government has included several states in Northeast India, among them Assam and Manipur, cautioning its citizens against non-essential travel to these regions due to a “heightened risk” of terrorism and insurgency. This travel advisory comes at a time of strained relations between the two countries, stemming from the death of prominent Sikh leader and Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Canada's advisory also advises its citizens to exercise a high degree of cau- tion when traveling in India, citing a general threat of terrorist attacks across the country. Specifically mentioned are the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Gujarat, Punjab, and Rajasthan. The advisory regarding Jammu and Kashmir urges Canadians to avoid all travel to this Union Territory due to the unpredictable security situation, which includes threats of terrorism, militancy, civil unrest, and kidnapping. However, it excludes travel to or within the Union Territory of Ladakh. Additionally, the advisory advises against all travel within 10 km of the border with Pakistan in the states of Gujarat, Punjab, and Rajasthan. munity who oppose the anti-India agenda. “Indian nationals are therefore advised to avoid travelling to regions and potential venues in Canada that have seen such incidents,” it said. The advisory said the Indian High Commissions and Consulates General would continue to be in contact with the Canadian authorities to ensure the safety and well-being of the Indian community in Canada.