TUESDAY 14 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 P10 SENSEX 64,933.87325.58 WEATHER PARTLY CLOUDY SKY. SHALLOW TO MODERATE FOG IN THE MORNING. THE MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WOULD BE AROUND 27 AND 12 DEGREES CELSIUS RESPECTIVELY. RAINFALL: Nil RELATIVE HUMIDITY P11 NIFTY 19,443.5582.00 TEMPERATURE Min: 11.8°C (-2) SUN SETS 17:29 hrs MOON SETS 18:01 hrs ` vs $ 83.3204 PAISE AGENCIES LONDON, 13 NOVEMBER Toxic foam floats on the Yamuna river as the pollution level in the national capital remains in the 'Very Poor' category, at Kalindi Kunj, in New Delhi on Monday.  ANI Nine killed in Hyderabad building fire: Nine persons were killed and a few others injured in a huge fire in a multi-storied building here on Monday. The fire, which broke out in the chemical drums stored on the ground floor, spread to the upper floors, trapping the inmates. The incident occurred in the Bazar Ghat area in Nampal(P4) ly in the heart of the city.  The PM pledged to make Madhya Pradesh self-reliant, assures fulfillment of BJP manifesto promises.  He claimed Congress did nothing for tribal welfare, contrasts it with BJP's Van-Dhan scheme.  Modi also announced the extension of free ration scheme for 80 crore poor for the next five years. are the ones who sent Modi to Delhi to help the poor through such schemes,” Modi told the gathering. He asserted that 140 crore people are with him. He also recounted several other welfare schemes being implemented by the BJP government for the welfare of the poor, farmers and tribals. Continuing his attack on the Congress, Modi cautioned the people saying, “do not trust the Congress. It is corrupt Uttarakhand tunnel collapse: CM Dhami visits site, operation underway to rescue trapped workers AGENCIES UTTARKASHI, 13 NOVEMBER Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami reviews the ongoing rescue operation after a portion of a tunnel under construction between Silkyara and Dandalgaon on the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri national highway collapsed, in Uttarkashi on Monday.  ANI opening has been made to pass oxygen into the tunnel as personnel of several teams work on to rescue the trapped workers. The under-construction tunnel of the Navayuga company from Silkyara to Dandalgaon on the Yamunotri National Highway collapsed at 5 a.m. on Sunday. At least 36 labourers are trapped in the tunnel, and they have been stuck for more than 30 hours. Rescue efforts by personnel from multiple agencies, including the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), and fire brigade, have been going on since Sunday morning. According to the information, the accident happened at a distance of 200 meters from the tunnel entrance towards Silkyara, while the workers were 2,800 meters inside the entrance. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also spoken to the Chief Minister on the phone and has been briefed about the entire incident. PM Modi has assured all possible assistance. Additionally, Uttarkashi District Magistrate Abhishek Ruhela has cancelled the leaves of all officials in the district. Continuous efforts are underway to safely evacuate all workers. The tunnel is a part of the Char Dham project and is supposed to connect Silkyara to Dangal Gaon, reducing the distance between the two places by at least 25 km when completed. BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 81.530.10 Braverman sacked, ex-PM Cameron back as foreign secy P nothing for tribal welfare and there were no roads, electricity or drinking water in tribal areas during the Congress rule,” he claimed, adding that the BJP brought the Van-Dhan scheme for the tribals and for the development of tribal areas. He also said the free ration scheme, providing free ration to 80 crore poor, would be extended for the next five years. “You, the people, will get all the blessings from the poor, because you P12 SILVER 72,400.00 STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE BHOPAL, 13 NOVEMBER THUMBNAILS Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday reached Silkyara to inspect the site where a portion of an under-construction tunnel on the Yamunotri National Highway collapsed on Sunday, leaving at least 36 workers trapped. The Chief Minister also took stock of the rescue efforts. The efforts to remove debris and rescue the trapped workers in the Silkyara Tunnel are underway. Heavy excavator machines have been deployed to remove debris. The rescuers have established contact with the trapped workers on walkie-talkies and all the workers are safe. Authorities are sending the workers food and water through the pipe. Authorities said a narrow GOLD 61,960.00 PM Modi confident of BJP win in MP rime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday exuded confidence that the BJP will again form the government in Madhya Pradesh on the basis of the numerous welfare work done for the poor. Addressing a mega poll rally at tribal-dominated Barwani, he asserted that the party's aim is to make Madhya Pradesh self-reliant. Clad in a colourful tribal waistcoat, he assured the people that, “it is Modi’s guarantee that all the promises in the BJP’s ‘sankalp patra’ (manifesto) for MP will be fulfilled.” He slammed the Congress, saying “the Congress is corrupt and steals money from the poor and farmers.” The PM also accused the Congress of not doing anything for the tribals. “It was only during late Atal Behari Vajpayee’s reign as the PM, that a separate ministry for tribal welfare was set up in the union government,” Modi pointed out. “Today, the budget for tribal welfare schemes is about Rs 1.25 lakh crore,” he said. “The Congress did DJOKOVIC CLINCHES YEAR-END NO. 1 RANKING P5 Exudes confidence that welfare schemes for people will be appreciated Max.100% Min. 45% Max: 27.3°C (-1) SUN RISES 06:43 hrs MOON RISES 08:36 hrs ‘PEOPLE OF CHHATTISGARH HAVE FAITH IN PM MODI’ COURT ISSUES ARREST WARRANTS FOR IMRAN ‘VOTE FOR THE BRIGHT FUTURE OF MADHYA PRADESH’ and did nothing for the poor, farmers and tribals.” “The Congress only wants to capture Madhya Pradesh so that its leaders can fill up their coffers,” he alleged. “I am certain that the way the sisters and mothers are working for the party, the Congress is terrified and the BJP’s victory is certain." He also lauded Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for the ‘Laadli Behna’ and ‘Laadli Laxmi’ schemes for the welfare of women. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sacked his interior minister Suella Braverman on Monday after her criticism of the police's handling of a pro-Palestinian march divided his party and threatened his authority. Under fire from opposition lawmakers and members of the governing Conservative Party to eject Braverman, Sunak seemed to have brought forward a long-planned reshuffle to bring in allies and remove ministers he felt were not performing. The ever-controversial Braverman defied Sunak last week in an unauthorised article accusing police of "double standards" at protests, suggesting they were tough on right-wing demonstrators but easy on pro-Palestinian marchers. The opposition Labour Party said that inflamed frictions between a pro-Palestinian demonstration and a far-right counter protest on Saturday, when nearly 150 people were arrested, as per reports. "Rishi Sunak has asked Suella Braverman to leave government and she has accepted," a government source said, according to reports. She was replaced by foreign minister James Cleverly, who was seen walking up to Sunak's Downing Street office on Monday. David Cameron has returned to the UK government as Foreign Secretary, in a stunning comeback for the former premier that highlighted Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's willingness to take risks as he looks to revive his political fortunes, according to multiple media reports on Monday. Downing Street announced on Monday that Cameron would join the government, accepting a peerage to do so, as part of a wider reshuffle in which Suella Braverman was sacked as home secretary and replaced by the foreign secretary, James Cleverly. A spokesperson also confirmed Jeremy Hunt would remain as chancel- lor, The Guardian reported. Cameron stood down in 2016 after losing the Brexit referendum but reportedly told friends in 2018 he wanted to return to frontline politics, preferably as foreign secretary, The Guardian reported, as per reports. Since then he has maintained a relatively low profile, though he became embroiled in scandal two years ago when he lobbied government ministers to provide financing for the now-insolvent financial services company Greensill Capital. He returned to the headlines last month when he said Sunak's decision to cancel the HS2 high-speed train line between Birmingham and Manchester was wrong, adding: "We are heading in the wrong direction.” Jaishankar gifts bat with Virat Kohli's autograph to Sunak on Diwali CHINAR CHARMS STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 13 NOVEMBER A woman gets herself clicked amid the fallen Chinar leaves at the Nishat Bagh on an autumn afternoon, in Srinagar on Monday  ANI External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on the occasion of Diwali and presented him a cricket bat with the autograph of cricketer Virat Kohli, a statement said on Monday. Jaishankar and his wife visited the house of the British Prime Minister Sunday night. During the meeting, they expressed their best wishes to Indian communities across the globe as they celebrated the festival of lights, it said. "The Indian minister presented to Sunak a cricket bat with the autograph of top Indian Cricketer Virat Kohli on it and a Lord Ganesh statue," the statement said. Jaishankar, who is currently on a five-day visit to the United Kingdom, prayed at the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, London. Goldman Sachs upgrades Indian equities, lowers Chinese stocks PM Modi to launch vulnerable tribal groups mission on 15 November STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 13 NOVEMBER In a positive development, Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares in India, citing the market’s strategic appeal while it lowered its rating on Hong Kong-traded China stocks due to low earnings growth and a potential consensus downgrade. According to Goldman, India is expected to see the best structural growth prospects in the region with mid-teens earnings growth over the next two years. The market’s strategic appeal, particularly given its largely domestically driven growth, offers investors a wide array of alpha-generating themes, including make-inIndia, large cap compounders and mid-cap multibaggers, they said. “With valuations generally at fair levels relative to the macro backdrop, we expect earnings to be the main driver of returns,” strategists including Timothy Moe wrote in a note, referring to Asia markets. The Wall Street bank cut Hong Kong-listed Chinese companies to market-weight and Hong Kong firms to underweight. It downgraded views on China equities several times this year amid pessimism in the country’s stock market. In August, it cut the full-year earnings-per-share growth estimate for the MSCI China Index to 11% from 14%, and reduced the 12-month index target to 67 from 70. The gauge has lost nearly 3% since then. However, Goldman remains overweight on Chinese onshore shares. It said that the sectors relat- ed to China’s rebalancing toward areas of higher productivity and greater self-sufficiency such as artificial intelligence and new infrastructure might have a good run. “These ‘alpha’ opportunities, which are more widely present in the onshore market, counterbalance the structural challenges of slowing growth stemming from the housing sector downturn, high debt levels, and adverse demographics,” the strategists wrote. It is to be noted that China slipped back into deflation in October. A mild drop into the red, admittedly, consumer prices fell just 0.2% year on year. Despite a slowdown, the future doesn't look very bleak for the Chinese economy as recently the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasted 5.4% growth in China's economy this year. STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 13 NOVEMBER In a big step to empower tribals, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the PM PVTG (Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups) Development Mission on Wednesday. This will be a first of its kind mission, since Independence. The Rs 24,000 crore scheme will aim at ensuring holistic development of PVTGs on the occasion of Jan Jaatiya Gaurav Divas. In the 2023-24 Budget, the launch of the Pradhan Mantri PVTG Development Mission was announced to improve socio-economic conditions of the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs). This will be a first of its kind mission, since Independence. The `24,000 crore scheme will aim at ensuring holistic development of PVTGs on the occasion of Jan Jaatiya Gaurav Divas. There are 75 PVTGs in 18 States and Union Territories living in 22,544 villages (220 districts) having a population of around 28 lakh. These tribes stay in scattered, remote and inaccessible habitations, often in forest areas and hence a mission is planned to saturate PVTG families and habitations with basic facilities such as road and telecom connectivity, electricity, safe housing, clean drinking water and sanitation, improved access to education, health and nutrition and sustainable livelihood opportunities. The Mission will be implemented through convergence of 11 interventions of nine Ministries, like PMGSY, PMGAY, Jal Jeevan Mission etc. Some scheme norms will be relaxed to cover these remote habitations. In addition, separately, saturation will be ensured for PMJAY, Sickle Cell Disease Elimination, TB Elimination, 100 per cent immunisation, PM Surakshit Matritva Yojana, PM Matru Vandana Yojana, PM Poshan, PM Jan Dhan Yojana.