TUESDAY 05 MARCH 2024 www.thestatesman.com Pages 12 |` 5.00|LC Twitter.com/thestatesman Facebook.com/thestatesman INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR P5 SENSEX 73,872.29 PARTLY CLOUDY SKY. THE MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WOULD BE AROUND 25 AND 09 DEGREES CELSIUS RESPECTIVELY. RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 95 % TEMPERATURE Max: 24.9 °C (-3) SUN RISES 6:41 hrs MOON RISES 03:37 hrs P9 ` vs $ 82.89 NIFTY 22,405.60 WEATHER Min. 24 % Min: 09.5 °C (-4) SUN SETS 18:24 hrs MOON SETS 12:43 hrs THUMBNAILS Security personnel with a sniffer dog inspect an area ahead of PM Modi's visit, who is scheduled to address a public rally on March 7, in Srinagar on Monday.  ANI JP Nadda resigns as Rajya Sabha MP from Himachal Pradesh seat: Bharatiya Janata Party national president Jagar Prakash Nadda on Monday resigned as Rajya Sabha MP from Himachal Pradesh, days after he was elected to the Upper House from Gujarat unopposed. Nadda was among 57 Rajya Sabha MPs whose tenure was ending in April 2024. ‘AGRICULTURE TO SPEARHEAD THE NATION TOWARDS BECOMING VIKSIT BHARAT’ SHEHBAZ SHARIF SWORN IN PAKISTAN PRIME MINISTER START-UPS TO GET FINANCIAL AID TO PURSUE DEFENCE INNOVATION P10 GOLD 65,360.00 PM said that nothing changed in T’gana with the coming of Congress instead of BRS STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE HYDERABAD, 4 MARCH S lamming the remark made by RJD chief Lalu Prasad that he has no family, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said that the leaders of INDI Alliance parties were fuming because he was questioning their dynastic politics and that the entire country was his family. Soon after the Prime Minister’s statement at a rally in Adilabad in Telangana, the BJP leaders and ministers changed their “X” bio to read “Modi ka parivar” indicating a campaign similar to the “Main bhi chowkidar” launched by the Saffron party in the runup to the 2019 general elections. The Prime Minister also accused the Congress and the BRS of being hand in glove since the former was busy covering up for the latter over the Kaleshwaram scam. Earlier in the day Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy addressed the Prime Minister as an “elder brother” and sought his cooperation in Telangana’s development. Speaking at a public rally in Adilabad after an official programme, the Prime Minister attacked the parties of INDI Alliance after yesterday’s Jan Vishwas Maharally at Patna which was addressed by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and RJD leaders including Lalu Prasad and Tejaswi Yadav. The RJD chief had said what can they do if Modi did not have a family. Retaliating Mr Modi said “Corruption, dynastic politics and appeasement – the parties of INDI alliance are all submerged in these.” He went on to add “Their leaders are now fretting and fuming. I question their dynastic rule. That is why they have started to say Modi has no family. Tomorrow they might say you have never served a sentence so you cannot come into politics. My brothers and sisters of Telangana my life is an open book ... I left home with a dream that I will live for the people of my country. Every moment will be for you. I will have no dream of my own ... This is why crores of people regard me as their own, that is why I say all the 140 crore people of this country comprise my family.” Attacking the Congress and BRS, the other two major parties in Telangana, the Prime Minister said that nothing changed in Telangana with the coming of Congress instead of the BRS. He said, “ Just like when the STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 4 MARCH ernment has built 22,711 new classrooms. Under Schools of specialised excellence, 38 school campuses have been established across Delhi in 56 domains, including STEM, Humanities, Performing and Visual Arts, and High-End 21st Century Skills. She said a budget of Rs 42 crore has been proposed for SoSEs in 2024-25. The minister proposed Rs 150 crore for the construction of new schools and classrooms, and Rs 45 crore for the maintenance of existing classrooms besides Rs 40 crore for the Entrepreneurship Development Program. She said a budget of Rs 8,685 crore has been proposed in 2024-25 for the Health sector. “A budget of Rs 6,215 crore is proposed for hospitals to maintain good facilities and ensure that Delhi Government hospitals remain worldclass in the upcoming fiscal year,” the minister said. To ensure an adequate SBI seeks time till 30 June to furnish electoral bond details to ECI STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 4 MARCH The State Bank of India on Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking an extension of time till June 30, 2024, to disclose the details of electoral bonds purchased, their purchasers, encashed by political parties, including the date of encashment and the denomination of the electoral bonds. Stating that the timeline of three weeks fixed by the court in its February 15, 2024, judgement would not be sufficient for the entire exercise to be completed, the State Bank of India in its application filed today sought an extension of time till June 30, 2024, to comply with the directions. The Supreme Court on February 15, 2024, while declaring the 2017 electoral bond being “violative of Article 19(1)(a) and unconstitutional” directed the State Bank of India to submit to the Election Commission of India all the details of the Electoral Bonds purchased since April 12, 2019, within three weeks - by 06 March 2024. In turn, the top court had directed the Election Commission of India to publish the information on its official website within one week of the receipt of the information from the SBI by March 13, 2024. The State Bank of India was asked to give details of the election bonds that would include “the date of purchase of each Electoral Bond, the name of the purchaser of the bond and the denomination of the Electoral Bond purchased” and the details of each Electoral Bond encashed by political parties which shall include “the date of encashment and the denomination of the Electoral Bond.” Having directed the SBI to furnish to the ECI the details of the Electoral bonds as directed, the constitution bench had ordered that the directed information must reach the poll panel within three weeks - by 06 March 2024 and the ECI shall publish the information on its official website within one week of the receipt of the information by March 13, 2024. The deadline fixed by the top court is March 6. If it is extended to June 30, it will mean nothing will be known until the Lok Sabha poll results are out. supply of essential medicines in Delhi government hospitals and to provide free medications to all those in need on time, she said a budget of Rs 658 crore has been earmarked. Atishi also proposed a budget of Rs 400 crore for the construction of new hospitals and the expansion of existing hospitals through remodelling. Citing that under the Mukhyamantri Teerthyatra Yojna, 87,000 elderly people and their families have gone on pilgrimages through 92 trains since 2019, she said, “A budget of Rs 80 crore is proposed in 2024-25 for this scheme.” For the power sector, the minister earmarked Rs 3,353 crore. She said more than 22 lakh families receive zero electricity bills and 40.22 lakh domestic electricity consumers were getting the benefits of electricity subsidy from the Delhi Government. Mentioning that about 30 TRS became BRS, nothing had changed ; similarly after the Congress took the place of BRS (in state government), nothing is going to change because they are all the same. The BRS had committed scams like Kaleshwaram during its reign, the Congress government instead of taking action are sitting on the files. You are good, I am good, you had your fill now it is my turn – this is what they do.” Earlier in the day, at an official programme where the Prime Minister unveiled completed projects and laid the foundation stone for new ones, worth Rs 56,000 crore, he was welcomed by Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy. Reddy solicited the Prime Minister’s cooperation in developing the state. He said “Only with the help of an elder brother, chief ministers of different states can develop their region. My request is that if Telangana has to progress like Gujarat, your help is a must.” He then urged the Prime Minister to help his government in expanding the Metro network, Musi river bank development project, establishing semiconductor industry and irrigation project for Adilabad. per cent of Delhi's power supply comes from green and renewable energy, the minister said, “The Delhi government aims to have solar plants on the roofs of every building belonging to it, with a target of 4500 MW, or 25 per cent of the total power supply, coming from green energy by 2027.” Atishi said to ensure the right to water and sewerage facilities for every household in Delhi, a budget of Rs 7,195 crore is proposed for the Delhi Jal Board. Approximately 62.5 per cent of homes in Delhi, which is around 17 lakh families, receive water completely free of cost, she said. On road infrastructure, she proposed Rs 1,768 crore for road and flyover projects in Delhi, while Rs 5,702 crore to improve the public transportation system and Rs 900 crore for development of villages. (MORE REPORTS ON PAGE 2) You abused your rights: SC to Udaynidhi on Sanatana row STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 4 MARCH The Supreme Court on Monday questioned Tamil Nadu Minister Udaynidhi Stalin over his remarks calling for the eradication of ‘Sanatana Dharma’ and told him that he is “not a layman but a minister”. A bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta told senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appearing for Stalin that the DMK leader was not a layman but a minister and he should know the consequences of his remarks. The bench said, “You abuse your rights under freedom of speech and expression and right to freedom of religion and then come to the Supreme Court for protection under Article 32? Don’t you know the consequences of what you said?” Stalin approached the top court seeking the clubbing of multiple FIRs registered against him in several states over his remarks. Singhvi sought relief from the top court to club all the FIRs, saying FIRs are registered in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, and Maharashtra. Singhvi, during the hearing, relied on the cases of Arnab Goswami, Nupur Sharma, Mohd Zubair, and Amish Devgan where the top court had agreed to club FIRs. "If I have to move six High Courts, I will constantly be tied up in this... This is persecution before the prosecution." To this, the bench commented, “You are not a layman. You are a minister. You should know the consequences.” P12 SILVER 73,600 Bharat is my family: PM hits back at Opp Atishi presents `76,000-crore budget for c Delhi; special focus on education, health Delhi Finance minister Atishi on Monday presented a Rs 76,000 crore Budget for the Financial Year 2024-25. In her maiden Budget speech in Delhi Assembly, the minister said, “We all are inspired by the life of Lord Ram, hence we pledged to realise the dream of ‘Ram Rajya’ in Delhi. For the past 9 years, we have been striving to bring improvement in the life of every person in Delhi, making efforts to bring happiness, prosperity, and a healthy life to every family.” She said under the leadership of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal they were working hard in Delhi to bring prosperity as it was in Lord Ram’s Ayodhya. In the Education sector, Atishi allocated a budget of Rs 16,396 crore for the year 2024-25. “In last 9 years, the gov- RAHUL ALL SET FOR IPL COMEBACK BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 83.25 Corruption, bribery by legislators erode probity in public life: SC PARMOD KUMAR NEW DELHI, 4 MARCH In a significant judgment, a seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court on Monday unanimously ruled that the lawmakers do not enjoy immunity of privileges from prosecution in the case of accepting bribe for casting vote or making speech in the legislature – both in the Parliament and the State Assemblies, stating that “corruption and bribery by members of the legislatures erode probity in public life.” Overruling the 1998 majority judgment by a five-judge constitution bench which had granted immunity from prosecution to a member of the legislature who had allegedly engaged in bribery for casting a vote or speaking in the legislature, Chief Justice DY Chandrachud heading a sevenjudge bench today said, “Articles 105 and 194 of the Constitution seek to sustain an environment in which debate and deliberation can take place within the legislature. This purpose is destroyed when a member is induced to vote or speak in a certain manner because of an act of bribery.” Speaking for the bench, Chief Justice Chandrachud said, “Bribery is not rendered immune under Article 105 (2) and the corresponding provision of Article 194 because a member engaging in bribery commits a crime which is not essential to the casting of the vote or the ability to decide on how the vote should be cast. The same principle applies to bribery in connection with a speech in the House or a Committee.” Besides Chief Justice Chandrachud, the seven-judge bench also comprising Justice AS Bopanna, Justice MM Sundresh, Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha, Justice JB Pardiwala, Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice Manoj Misra while overruling the majority view in 1998 judgment, said that protecting from prosecutions a lawmaker allegedly engaged in bribery for exercising vote or speaking in the legislature has “wide ramifications on public interest, probity in public life and parliamentary democracy.” In an important conclusion, the court said that an act of a lawmaker entering into an act involving acceptance of bribe in itself is sufficient to initiate prosecution against him irrespective of whether the consequent act of casting vote or making speech was in conformity with the understanding of quid pro quo. Historical growth in coal production: Govt STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 4 MARCH The coal production, which was 382.62 million tons (MT) in 200405, has grown to 893.19 MT in 2022-23 and is all set to touch 1000-MT mark in the year 2023-24, the government claimed on Monday. The overall annual coal production has surged from 565.77 MT in FY 2013-14 to 893.19 MT in FY 2022-23, witnessing a massive growth of 57.87 per cent over the last ten years. The Compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of coal production from 2008-09 to 2013-14 was 2.8 per cent. Had this trend continued, the coal production in 2022-23 would have been only 725.39 MT. ''With the continuous proac- tive initiatives of the government, the CAGR has been at a 5.20 per cent high with the production in 2022-23 being 893.19 MT. This jump in production of 167.80 MT (savings of approx. of Rs 2.71 Lakh crore) has helped in reduction of coal import, which the country would have been compelled to import had the CAGR remained at the meagre 2.8 per cent as was the scenario prior to 2014,'' the Ministry of Coal said. India meets most of its coal needs through domestic production and supply. Notably, Coal India Limited (CIL) plays a dominant role, contributing over 80 per cent of the country's indigenous coal production and supply. Under the current system, public sector coal companies, including CIL, supply coal to the power sec- tor at notified prices. There has been no increase in notified price by the CIL since 2018. The recent price revision was done by the CIL in May 2022, in which the company has hiked only the notified prices for high grade coal of Grade G2 to G10 by 8 per cent to increase production of high grade coal & reduce the dependence on imports, and this marginal increase in price will effect less than 28 per cent dispatches of CIL and incremental revenue will be only about 3.37 per cent. In FY 2022-23, CIL’s Average Fuel Supply Agreement (FSA) price was around Rs 1450/- per tonne, a 3.37 per cent increase in the overall FSA Pricing translates to increase in average FSA rates by only around Rs 48/- per tonne.