FRIDAY 22 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 NAIDU ARREST: TDP MLAS SUSPENDED FROM A.P ASSEMBLY . PEACE NEEDED TO TACKLE GLOBAL EMERGENCIES P7 SENSEX 66,230.24570.60 WEATHER Generally cloudy sky. A few spells of Rain / Thundershowers very likely. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 30 °C and 26 °C respectively. RAINFALL: 27.2mm RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 98 % TEMPERATURE Max: 28.8 °C (-4) SUN RISES 05:25 hrs MOON RISES 10:47 hrs P4 NIFTY 19,742.35159.05 ` vs $ 83.0720 PAISE Min: 26.2 °C (0) SUN SETS 17:36 hrs MOON SETS 21:38 hrs New Moon on 29 September THUMBNAILS The Joint Delhi Tribal Student's Forum stages a protest against the violence in Manipur, at Jantar Mantar, in the Capital on Thursday.  SUBRATA DUTTA Manipur violence: Several people were injured on Thursday when security forces fired tear gas shells on protesters in Manipur’s valley districts who were trying to storm police stations and court arrest demanding the unconditional release of five arrested youths. Thousands of agitators, mostly women, tried to storm various police stations in five valley districts but were stopped by security forces who fired tear gas shells. The authorities have also reimposed total curfew in the twin districts of Imphal East and Imphal west. GOLD 60,050150 SILVER 74,500 Parliamentary approval for women’s reservation STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 21 SEPTEMBER he Constitution (128th Amendment) Bill, 2023, providing for 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies, on Thursday received Parliamentary approval with the Rajya Sabha passing it unanimously. The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. Just before the Rajya Sabha took up voting on the Bill, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said 132 MPs had spoken on the Bill in both Houses and urged the Upper House to support the Bill unanimously.The Bill received 214 votes in favour and none against. After a spirited debate that lasted till just before 10 p.m, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar put the Bill to vote and it received unanimous support of the House in the first instance. Voting by division had to follow as support by twothird of the members pres- Bill’s passage will lead to new confidence among citizens: PM T SNS & AGENCIES NEW DELHI , 21 SEPTEMBER Women visitors attend the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha in New Delhi on Thursday.  ANI ent and voting was to be ascertained. Clause-byclause voting followed from 10.15 p.m. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman intervened in the debate on behalf of the government and said the Bill was not brought because of the coming general elections. The BJP was consistent in supporting reservation for women in Parliament, and gave them quota in the party at various levels also, she said. As many as 72 members participated in the debate. Mrs Sitharaman said the Space missions will be beneficial for common people, Rajnath says STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 21 SEPTEMBER inspire the young minds to do something in the future,” he further said. On the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, the minister said it was not an exception, but a result of the development of India’s social, cultural, and scientific trends. He described the success as a testament to the robust scientific ecosystem taking shape in the country. “Chandrayaan-3 shows that science education is improving in our schools and colleges, and industries are producing and supplying quality products. Efforts were also made by previous governments. Therefore, everyone who has contributed towards developing scientific temperament within the nation deserves compliments,” he said. Mr Singh termed Chandrayaan-3 as a huge achievement for the entire nation and stated that there are many developed countries which, despite being more resourcerich, are trying to reach the Moon, while India has become the first country to reach the south pole of the Moon with limited resources. He credited the success to the intellectual prowess and dedication of Isro scientists towards the development of the nation. Today, India is among the leading nations in the field of science due to their relentless efforts, he said. ISRO seeks to revive Vikram, Pragyan as day breaks again on the Moon SNS & AGENCIES NEW DELHI/BHUBANESWAR, 21 SEPTEMBER The Vikram lander and the Pragyan rover of Chandrayaan-3, which are currently in "sleep mode" near the Moon’s South Pole after having completed their set tasks, are expected to awake on Friday (22 September). ISRO is now gearing up to try to reestablish communication with the solar-powered lander and rover, to revive them so that they can continue with scientific experiments. “We have put both the lander and rover on sleep mode because temperature would go as low as minus 120200 degree Celsius. From 20 September onwards, sunrise will be going on at the Moon and by 22 September we hope that the solar panel and other things will be fully charged, so we will be trying to revive both the lander and rover,” ISRO's Space Applications Centre Director Nilesh P5 RS passes Women’s Quota Bill unanimously, with no abstentions and no opposition Min. 86 % Rejecting the notion that the achievements in space do not in any way benefit the people, defence minister Rajnath Singh said there are multidimensional uses of India’s space missions which have a huge impact on the people as well. Mr Singh said this during a discussion in the Lok Sabha on the success of Chandrayaan-3 mission and other achievements of the nation in the space sector, on Thursday. Giving examples, Mr Singh said better predictions of cloudbursts will be beneficial for farmers and better prediction of cyclones will be beneficial for those living in coastal areas and fishermen. “More importantly, space missions to the Moon or Sun help to awaken the scientific temperament in a child living in a remote village. These BADAL: PUNJABIS IN CANADA IN ‘STATE OF PANIC’ Desai told a news agency. “If our luck is good, we will have revival of both lander and rover and we will get some more experimental data, which will be useful for us to further do investigation of the Moon's surface,” he said, adding that whatever fresh data they get would be a ‘bonus’. “The Chandrayaan-3 landed successfully and it worked for almost 14 days. It was designed to work for 14 days (on the moon). Its life period was only 14 days because the moon's temperature falls to (-) 250 degrees during the (lunar) nighttime. So it worked during the sun hours or daytime and during that it had already given all the data (it was supposed to),” said Bhubaneswar-based space scientist Suvendu Patnayak. India took a giant leap when Chandrayaan-3’s lander module successfully landed near the moon's South Pole on 23 August, making it the first country to have achieved the historic feat and bringing to an end the disappointment over the crash landing of Chandrayaan-2, four years ago. Bill has been thoughtfully crafted. It is not a “jumla”, she said. She said there would be no delay in the implementation of the legislation. But there were legal processes to be followed; supplementary amendments in the laws, quasi-judicial delimitation, and the Census were necessary requirements. She said as far as the OBC issue is concerned, there is no Constitutional reservation for them. Therefore the Bill deals with 33 per cent for General, SCs and STs only. DGCA suspends Air India’s flight safety chief for norm failures STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 21 SEPTEMBER The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has suspended Air India’s chief of flight safety in response to safety concerns within the carrier. The directorate suspended Captain Rajeev Gupta for a month after it conducted a comprehensive surveillance of the airline on 25 and 26 July and found serious deficiencies in various critical areas. During the surveillance, DGCA scrutinised key aspects, including internal audits, accident prevention efforts, and the availability of essential technical manpower. The findings raised significant concerns about Air India’s adherence to safety protocols and regulatory requirements. A major concern identified with the airlines was the inadequacy of accident-prevention measures. The DGCA noted that the organisation fell short of ensuring comprehensive accident prevention work, which is pivotal in safeguarding passengers and flight operations. Shortage of the required technical manpower, a vital element in maintaining aviation safety standards, was another shortfall observed. Air India was found to be lacking in the number of technical personnel needed as specified in the approved flight safety manual and relevant civil aviation requirements. The DGCA found fault with the internal audit and spot checks carried out by the airline, stating that some of these inspections were conducted in a token manner, failing to meet regulatory requirements. Following this, the directorate reviewed AI’s actiontaken report and subsequently issued show-cause notices to the responsible post holders. After getting their replies, the DGCA, citing a lack of diligence, directed Air India not to assign any audit, surveillance or spot checks related to DGCA compliance to the auditor involved in the perfunctory inspections. CMYK Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that the Parliament passing the Women's Reservation Bill will lead to a new confidence in the people of the country. "This Bill will lead to a new confidence in the people of the country. All members and political parties have played a significant role in empowering women and enhancing 'Nari Shakti'. Let us give the country a strong message," PM Modi said in the Rajya Sabha before the vote on the Bill. He sought unanimous support for the Bill. He said there has been a discussion on the Women’s Reservation Bill in the two Houses for the past two days and over 132 members took part in the meaningful discussion which will be helpful. Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, just before the Bill was taken up for voting, asked when would the law be implemented and whether the OBCs would be provided reservation. He said: “You can implement the law now; when the number goes up, you can revise it. You have taken so many steps like demonetisation, farm laws etc suddenly. You did not provide for the OBCs. More than 60 per cent population is OBC, how will their women get the reservation. Give a date when the law will be implemented; otherwise it will be considered a jumla.” STARC, MAXWELL OUT, SMITH IN FOR FIRST ODI P12 BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 92.800.45 India suspends visa services in Canada STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 21 SEPTEMBER India on Thursday suspended its visa services in Canada and asked Ottawa to reduce its diplomatic strength here, alleging Canadian diplomatic interference in the internal affairs of this country amidst an escalating row over the killing of 'Khalistan' supporter Hardeep Singh Nijjar. “You are aware of the security threats being faced by our High Commission and Consulates in Canada. This has disrupted their normal functioning. Accordingly. Our High Commission and Consulates are temporarily unable to process visa applications. We will be reviewing the situation on a regular basis," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said. He confirmed that e-visa services would also remain suspended. “The issue is not about travel to India. Those who have valid visas, OCI (cards) are free to travel to India. The issue is the incitement of violence, inaction by the Canadian authorities and the creation of an environment that disrupts the functioning of our Consulates which is what is making us temporarily stop the issuance of visa services,” he said. Mr Bagchi said India has A view of the Canadian High Commission, at Shantipath in New Delhi on Thursday. ANI already categorically told Canada that there should be parity in strength and rank of the diplomatic staff of the two countries. The number of Canadian diplomats in India was much higher than the Indian diplomats posted in Canada. “We have conveyed our position to them...discussions are going on. I assume there will be a reduction on the Canadian side,” he added. Asked if Canada had shared any information with India over Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's charge about the involvement of Indian agencies in the June 2023 killing of Nijjar, Mr Bagchi said no specific information has been shared so far. “We are willing to look at any specific information,” he added. “To us, it seems that these allegations by the Government of Canada are primarily politically driven,” Mr Bagchi said.