FRIDAY 10 NOVEMBER 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 PURSUING PM’S VISION OF SECURE BHARAT: SHAH ‘INDIA NEW ENGINE OF GLOBAL GROWTH WITH YOUNG DEMOGRAPHIC’ P8 SENSEX 64,832.20143.41 WEATHER Mainly clear sky.Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 30 °C and 21 °C respectively. RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY P10 NIFTY 19,395.3048.20 ` vs $ 83.291 PAISE P9 GOLD 60,760440 Min. 46 % Max: 29.4°C (-2) SUN RISES 05:45 hrs MOON RISES 02:2 hrs Min: 21.2°C (0) SUN SETS 16:56 hrs MOON SETS 14:32 hrs New Moon on 13 November THUMBNAILS STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 9 NOVEMBER ndia has filed an appeal in the matter of the eight Navy veterans who were sentenced to death by a Qatar court in October, the ministry of external affairs confirmed on Thursday. MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the government would remain engaged with the Qatari authorities in the matter. An appeal has been filed in the case and India also got a sec- The eight were employees of Doha-based Dahra Global, a private defence services provider, and were arrested in August 2022 for espionage I ond consular access to the eight Indians on 7 November, Mr Bagchi said. The judgment in the case, he said, was confidential and has only been shared with the legal team. They (legal team) are now pursuing further legal steps, he said. “We are in touch with their families...we will continue to provide them legal and consular support,” the spokesperson added. He noted that external affairs minister S Jaishankar had recently met the famili es of the eight Indians and assured them that India would do everything to sec ure their release. The court sentenced the eight Navy veterans on 26 October on charges that are yet to be made public officially. All eight were employe es of Doha-based Dahra Glo bal, a private defence serv ic es provider, and were ar rested in August 2022 for esp io nage. India called the ruling deeply shocking and has opened all diplomatic channels with Qatar in the case. (Representational image) India condemns threat by SFJ terrorist to blow up flights Border Security Force personnel perform during the passing-out parade of the new recruits of the BSF on the outskirts of Srinagar on Thursday.  ANI Winter session of Parl to be held from 4 to 22 December: The winter session of Parliament will be held next month from 4 to 22 December. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said in a post on X that the session will have 15 sittings spread over 19 days. The session will be held a day after the declaration of results of Assembly polls in five states - Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Telangana. LS Ethics panel adopts draft report against Mahua by 6:4 majority STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 9 NOVEMBER India on Thursday strongly condemned the threat issued by designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, founder of the banned Canada-based Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), asking people to avoid taking Air India originating from and terminating in Canada after 19 November as their 'lives may be in danger' and asserted that Indian security agencies were doing everything to ensure the safety of passengers. At a media briefing here, MEA spokesperson Arindam STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 9 NOVEMBER India and the United States will discuss various bilateral issues as well as regional developments at the fifth ‘2+2’ ministerial dialogue between the two countries here on Friday, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said. At a media briefing, Mr Bagchi said on Thursday that he could not prejudge specific issues that would be taken up by the two sides at the dialogue. However, it is understood that the IsraelHamas conflict and the war in Ukraine will figure prominently during the dialogue. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will lead the Indian delegation while Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin will head the American side at the dialogue. The US defence secretary has already arrived for the meeting while Mr Blinken Defence minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs minister S Jaishankar will lead the Indian delegation while Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin will head the American side at the dialogue The two sides will utilise the opportunity to progress the futuristic roadmap for the India-US partnership as envisioned by PM Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden, in their discussions in June and Sept this year will reach the Indian capital tonight. The 2+2 will enable a high-level review of progress being made in cross-cutting aspects of defence and security cooperation, technology value chain collaborations and people-to-people ties, the MEA spokesperson said. The two sides will utilise the opportunity to progress the futuristic roadmap for the India-US partnership as envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden, in their discussions in June and September this year. Both sides will also take stock of contemporary regional issues and exchange views about shared priorities for augmenting cooperation in multilateral platforms, and through frameworks such as Quad. Mr Singh and Mr Jaishankar are also scheduled to have bilateral meetings with their respective US counterparts, which will mark a continuity of the ministerial dialogue and reaffirm the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic partnership. The last '2+2' dialogue between the two countries was held in April 2022. India has a ‘2+2’ format dialogue mechanism on strategic and security issues only with four countries. They are Russia, Australia, the US and Japan. SC issues directions for speedy disposal of criminal cases against MPs, MLAs 3 new judges take oath, SC back to full strength NEW DELHI, 9 NOVEMBER PARMOD KUMAR NEW DELHI, 9 NOVEMBER The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a slew of directions for the speedy disposal of criminal cases against members of Parliament and state legislatures. A Bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra also asked high courts across the country to register suo motu cases for effective monitoring and speedy disposal of such cases. Stating that it was difficult for it to frame a uniform guideline for the trial courts across the country for the speedy disposal of cases against MP/MLAs, the bench suggested that the suo motu cases may be heard by special benches headed by the Chief Justice or a bench assigned by him/her. Bagchi, without naming any specific country, said India has been cautioning foreign governments against the activities of radical and terrorist elements like Pannun. “We will continue to ask foreign governments not to provide any space to such extremist elements,'' he added.Pannun recently claimed that Air India would not be allowed to operate on 19 November. ‘India, US to discuss topical issues, regional developments at 2+2 talks’ NEW DELHI , 9 NOVEMBER Six members of the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee supported the report on the 'cash-forquery' charges against Trinamul Congress MP Mahua Moitra, including suspended Congress MP Preneet Kaur, while four members opposed it, panel chairman Vinod Sonkar said on Thursday. The meeting of the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee was held on Thursday. Mr Sonkar said that the panel will submit a 'detailed report' to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Friday...The action, whatever it is, will be taken by the Speaker,” Mr Sonkar said. The Committee, in its draft report, accused Ms Moitra of being involved in 'unethical conduct' and sharing her ID login and password with unauthorised persons, and recommends her expulsion from the Lok Sabha, sources said on Thursday. (Details on Page 3) P12 SILVER 73,200300 BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 80.140.82 ‘Engaged with Qatar on KIFF to kick off on 5 Dec: Navy vets on death row’ CM at Bijoya Sammelan An appeal has already been filed in the case, says MEA spokesperson Max. 90 % TEMPERATURE BLINKEN URGES SINGLE KIWIS BOLSTER CHANCE OF CLAIMING FUTURE PALESTINIAN GOVT FOR GAZA, W BANK SEMI-FINAL SPOT “The special bench of the High Court to be headed by the Chief Justice or a bench assigned by him may list the matter at regular intervals as may be felt necessary and could take the assistance of the Advocate General or prosecutor," the court said. It also directed that cases against MP/MLAs which are punishable with death sentence should be prioritised over other cases that are punishable with imprisonment for five years or more. The trial in the cases, the court directed, shall not be adjourned except for rare and compelling reasons. The top court’s direction came on a plea filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay. In the course of the hearing, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) had informed the court that there are 51 members of Parliament (MPs) and 71 members of the state legislatures (MLAs)~ both sitting and former ~ facing charges under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The CBI too stated that 121 cases are pending trial against sitting and former MPs and MLAs. Senior advocate Vijay Hansaria, who was assisting the court in the matter as amicus curiae, had highlighted “glaring case of inordinate delay” in the trial against lawmakers, pointing out that the cases are pending for over five years. Justices Satish Chandra Sharma, Augustine George Masih and Sandeep Mehta were sworn in as Supreme Court judges on Thursday. The Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud, administered the oath of office to them. The Supreme Court Collegium on Monday recommended the names of the new judges for the appointment of apex court judges. The Centre reportedly cleared the recommendation on Wednesday. Delhi High Court Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, Rajasthan High Court Chief Justice Augustine George Masih and Gauhati High Court Chief Justice Sandeep Mehta were recommended for elevation to the Supreme Court by the AGENCIES Collegium. CMYK He noted that the final of the Cricket World Cup would also be played on this date and claimed that the Delhi airport would be closed and renamed. The development came amidst strain in India-Canada ties ever since Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Indian government agents of involvement in the killing of separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, 9 NOVEMBER The Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) will be inaugurated on 5 December, chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced at a Bijoya Sammelan organised by the state government at Alipore Jail museum this evening. She invited all the guests gathered at the venue to come for the KIFF. The inaugural function will be held at the Netaji Indoor Stadium so that more people could be accommodated at the inaugural function. Besides Nandan, films will be exhibited at several different venues, including Nazrul Tirtha in New Town. Miss Banerjee went to meet the guests who attended the Bijoya Sammelan personally and exchanged pleasantries. Pandit Ajay Chakraborty, Indranil Sen, Madhurima Dutta Chowdhury, Aditi Munshi, Anindiya Chattopadhyay, Sriradha Bandopadhyay, Anindya Jana sang songs while Tarun Goswami whistled a tune composed by Salil Chowdhury. Directors Kaushik Ganguly, Prabhat Roy and Haranath Chatterjee were present along with actor Churni Ganguly. Tridip Chattopadhyay and Sudhangshu Dey of the Publishers and Booksellers Guild and Satyam Roy Chowdhury, the chancellor of Sister Nivedita University attended the Bijoya Sammelan. State chief secretary HK Dwivedi, home secretary BP Gopalika, chief advisor to the chief minister, Alapan Bandyopadhyay, chairman, New Town Kolkata Development Authority, Debashis Sen, and senior bureaucrats and retired bureaucrats attended the event. Trinamul Congress leaders including Mala Roy, Firhad Hakim, Dr Shashi Panja, Chandrima Bhattacharya, Sujit Basu, Dola Sen were present at the function. Amit Mitra former state finance minister and economic adviser to the state government was present . This is for the first time that the function was held at the Alipore Jail Museum. The area reserved for the Light and Sound programme was the venue of the programme. Members of the Chambers of Commerce, Football Clubs were present this evening. Miss Banerjee came to the venue at 3.40pm before the guests arrived and oversaw the arrangements. Electric carts were provided to take the guests to the venue of the programme. The entire museum campus was brightly illuminated. Miss Banerjee gave boxes of sweets to the guests.