WEDNESDAY 22 MAY 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 ‘POK BELONGS TO INDIA, WE WILL TAKE IT BACK’ DAYS OF FUNERALS BEGIN FOR RAISI, OTHERS KILLED P9 SENSEX 73,953.3152.62 P5 NIFTY 22,529.0527.05 IPL ELIMINATOR: RR FACE STERN TEST AGAINST RCB TRAUMATIC TALES P6 ` vs $ 83.31 P12 SILVER 94,600 GOLD 76,370.00 BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 81.230.32 Thunderstorms developing in the afternoon. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 35 °C and 28°C respectively. PM attacks Cong, RJD ‘After failure of Sandeshkhali plot, BJP may try to ignite riots’ on reservation issue RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY Basirhat will be a new district, masterplan on anvil for Sunderbans, says Mamata Banerjee WEATHER Max. 81% Min. 68% Max: 35.3°C SUN RISES 04:53 hrs MOON RISES 17:13 hrs Min: 28.5°C SUN SETS 18:12 hrs MOON SETS 03:40 hrs TEMPERATURE STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, 21 MAY rinamul Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday cautioned the people of Basirhat and Barasat against the possibility of riots which she warned the BJP may engineer to create trouble before polling for the Lok Sabha elections. Both the constituencies will go to the polls on 1 June which is the last phase of the seven-phase elections. Trinamul Congress has fielded Hazi Nurul Islam in Basirhat, replacing Nusrut Jahan who had won in 2019 general election. The BJP has fielded Rekha Patra, the main face of the movement in Sandeshkhali which falls under this constituency. The Trinamul Congress has nominated Dr Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, the sitting MP, for the third consecutive time from Barasat. “After the conspiracy of BJP failed in Sandeshkhali, they are T Full Moon on 23 May THUMBNAILS A man walks past a mirage that appeared at Kartavya Path on a hot summer day, in New Delhi.  ANI One killed, two hurt in post-poll clash in p Bihar: One person died and two others were injured in post-poll violence between RJD and BJP supporters in Bihar’s Chapra city. Two BJP supporters, Ramakant Singh and Ravikant Singh have been arrested in connection with the violence and the district police have also recovered the weapon which was used in the commission of the crime. Internet services have also been suspended for two days. They vandalised some private and government properties, and vandalised (P5) Sadar Hospital after the killing. World sees India on cusp of economic take-off: RBI report this afternoon. Coming down heavily on the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Miss Banerjee said: “I have never seen such a Prime Minister in my life who speak more lies than truth. Every day he is coming to Bengal to speak volumes of lies. He is making false promises. Rest assured that there is no Modi wave this time because everybody knows that whatever he says is bogus,” she said. Miss Banerjee said BJP rience broadly stable and rapid growth according to the OECD, while inflation should moderate further provided food prices remain insulated from extreme weather events. The OECD’s May 2024 Economic Outlook points to strong momentum in India in recent monthly indicators and expects “strong investment and improving business confidence in India …tosustainreal GDP growth”. The RBI bulletin also states that there is considerable appreciation for the dramatic reduction in poverty in India. Food regulator finds no trace of ethylene oxide in Indian spices AGENCIES BANGKOK, 21 MAY MUMBAI, 21 MAY Man dead, many injured after flight hits severe turbulence AGENCIES AGENCIES Internationally there is a growing optimism that India is on the cusp of a longawaited economic take-off, according to the RBI’s monthly bulletin released on Tuesday. It states that recent indicators are pointing to a quickening of the momentum of aggregate demand and nonfood spending is being pushed up by the green shoots of rural spending recovery. The RBI bulletin points out that while revising India’s GDP growth upwards by close to 2 percentage points for 2023-24, the IMF’s April 2024 World Economic Outlook (WEO) alludes to the robustness of growth expected in 2024 and 2025 as “reflecting continuing strength in domestic demand and a rising working-age population.” It highlights that India is expected to continue to expe- now planning to engineer riots in the area to disturb peace. We are not going to tolerate this. We will foil any attempt to organise riots and give stringent punishment to those involved in such incidents. The BJP does not believe in development and does divisive politics. They let loose one community against the other,” she said while addressing a public meeting at Medudandi Sluice Gate Football Ground in Basirhat constituency NEW DELHI, 21 MAY A Singapore Airlines flight fell 6,000 feet in a span of a few minutes in severe turbulence over the Indian Ocean, the carrier said Tuesday, leaving a British man dead and more than two dozen other passengers injured. The flight was then diverted and landed in stormy weather in Bangkok. Authorities said the 73year-old British man may have suffered a heart attack, though that has not been confirmed. His name was not immediately released. The Boeing 777 flight from London’s Heathrow airport to Singapore, with 211 passengers and 18 crew members aboard, landed at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport after hitting severe turbulence over the Andaman Sea, near Myanmar. Amid the global furore over the alleged presence of a "cancer-causing substance" in certain spices from India, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has cleared more than a dozen samples of spices from the MDH and Everest brands. According to the analysis report, the extensive testing found no traces of ethylene oxide (ETO) in the samples collected from several states. The rigorous process of testing for ethylene oxide was performed at NABL-accredited laboratories notified by the FSSAI. The food regulator also picked up 300 spice samples of other brands for testing and found "no presence of ETO". The testing process began after several countries started monitoring spice prod- Sambit Patra apologises for Jagannath comments, to fast for 3 days STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge posting on microblogging site X said it reinforces “our charge that a BJP, drunk with power, will not even spare our Gods, let alone India’s people”. BHUBANESWAR, 21 MAY BJP spokesperson and the party’s Puri Lok Sabha candidate, Sambit Patra, apologised for his ‘slip of the tongue’ calling Lord Jagannath a devotee of PM Narendra Modi and on Tuesday said he will undertake a three-day fast in atonement. “I bow down at the feet of Mahaprabhu Jagannath, beg His forgiveness,” stated Mr Patra. He clarified that after the PM’s road show at Puri he had given several bytes to media channels and said the PM is a devotee of Lord Jagannath, but while doing so, in one of his interactions with a news channel he had said the opposite. “It was a slip of the tongue,” he said. The BJP leader faced a fierce backlash from political rivals on Monday. Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik condemned the statement and termed it should not have played with the dignity of women in the trouble-tor n Sandeshkhali area as the "saffron camp's conspiracy now stands exposed". “I am sorry for whatever has happened to the women of Sandeshkhali and the way they have been humiliated. I express my sadness from the core of my heart. Nobody should dare to play with the dignity of women," Miss Banerjee said. While reiterating that the BJP will not be coming back to power, Miss Banerjee added: “We need more seats as stronger we are in Bengal, it will be possible for us to make the INDIA bloc stronger in Delhi.” She said Trinamul Congress is an integral part of INDIA bloc but “we are not siding with the Congress in Bengal. It is a party that is holding the hands of CPI-M which had unleashed a reign of terror in Bengal for 34 years. Our memory of CPI-M is fresh and we still remember the way they had killed our supporters,” as an insult to the Lord which hurt the sentiments of millions of devotees. “I strongly denounce the statement made by the BJP Puri Lok Sabha candidate and appeal to BJP to keep the Lord above any political discourse” said the Chief Minister. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge posting on micro-blogging site X said it reinforces “our charge that a BJP, drunk with power, will not even spare our Gods, let alone India’s people”. “The comments made by BJP’s Puri candidate is an insult to Mahaprabhu Shree Jagannatha revered by crores of people,” Mr Kharge said. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal condemned the statement and went on to state the BJP have started thinking that they are above God. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said: “When the Prime Minister starts considering himself as an emperor and the courtiers start considering him as God, then it is clear that the downfall of the Lanka of sin is near. Who gave a handful of BJP people the right to hurt the sentiments of crores of people? This ego is becoming the cause of their destruction”. The Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee also lodged a formal complaint with the Election Commission of India. The food regulator also picked up 300 spice samples of other brands for testing and found "no presence of ETO" ucts manufactured by Indian spice giants MDH and Everest over the alleged presence of a ‘cancer-causing’ agent. Food regulators in Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand warned against using certain products from MDH and Everest over the presence of ethylene oxide at “levels exceeding the permissible limit”. The Spices Board, under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, had said that all spice consignments would be accompanied by a cleared analytical report for ETO issued by the Spices Board. Both MDH and Everest have said their products are safe for consumption. ECI bars Abhijit Gangopadhyay from campaigning for 24 hours STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 21 MAY The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday banned BJP leader Abhijit Gangopadhyay from campaigning for 24 hours in the Lok Sabha elections over his derogatory remarks against West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chairperson Mamata Banerjee. The poll panel’s action against Mr Gangopadhyay, who is also the BJP’s nominee from Tamluk parliamentary seat in West Bengal, comes a day after it received a reply from him in response to the show cause notice to him following a complaint from the TMC alleging that he had passed objectionable remarks against Miss Banerjee during a public meeting held on 15 May in Haldia. (See Pg 2) CMYK she said. She said the BJP had withheld the dues of 59 lakh job card holders under the MGNREGA, which the state government had cleared. “ Take it from me: We will pay the first instalment of the Awas Plus scheme to 11 lakh beneficiaries by 31 December this year. The BJP does not have money to pay the dues, but it is spending crores of rupees to give false advertisements in the media,” she remarked. Miss Banerjee said the state government will prepare a master plan for Sunderbans and Basirhat will be a new district. Also, there will be a proper scheme for the bheris. The bheri owners will have to pay a fee to the state government and will not be allowed to encroach upon the property of others. She urged people to vote for the Trinamul Congress that keeps promises and carries out all-round development without any discrimination. NEW DELHI, 21 MAY Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday attacked the Congress and the RJD on the reservation issue, saying had Babasaheb Ambedkar not been there, Jawaharlal Nehru would not have allowed reservation for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) and had written a letter to chief ministers to oppose it. Addressing a BJP election rally in Purvi Champaran, Bihar, he said the “jungleraj parties” are planning to subvert the reservation scheme and are speaking lies on the Constitution. From Nehru to Rajiv Gandhi, all Prime Ministers of the Congress family opposed OBC reservation, he said. The Congress has been dishonest with the poor, SCs, STs, OBCs and women, and is now left with only one vote bank, the Prime Minister said. To appease it, the Congress wants to snatch the SC, ST, and OBC reservation on the basis of religion and wants to give it to the “votejihad” people. Since the Constitution does not allow it, the party wants to change the Constitution, he said. “You have seen Modi’s track record. Modi has in the last 10 years used the support of about 400 MPs to its government to strengthen the poor, Dalits, the backward and deprived sections of people. The NDA first made a Dalit son and then a tribal daughter President of the country, and gave constitutional status to the Backward Classes Commission,” he said. Interests of the SCs, STs, and OBCs were never more protected than under the BJP and NDA, he said. The scope of reservation was extended to medical admissions and in schools. To ensure this level of social security continues, he told the crowd, “You must ensure a strong government at the Centre under Modi.” Former WFI chief Brij Bhushan denies sexual harassment allegations, opts for trial AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 21 MAY The Rouse Avenue Court on Tuesday formally framed charges against BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in the sexual harassment allegations levelled by women wrestlers. However, Mr Singh denied the charges and now faces trial. Vinod Tomar, former WFI assistant secretary was also charged; he too denied the charges and opted to face trial. Mr Singh, an MP, was dropped from the BJP's candidate list for the upcoming elections and his son, Karan Singh, was fielded for the Kaisarganj Lok Sabha seat. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Priyanka Rajpoot framed charges against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh which he denied and claimed a trial. The Rouse Avenue court on 10 May directed the framing of charges against Mr Singh and ex-WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar on the sexual harassment allegations levelled by several women wrestlers. Meanwhile, the court has sought the response of Delhi Police on the plea of Mr Singh and has sought the supply of CDR and travel documents for Mr Singh during his tenure as WFI chief. His contention is that he never stayed in the same hotels where women wrestlers stayed abroad. The Court has directed Delhi Police to file a reply with an advance copy with defence within two days. The matter has been listed on 1 June at 2 p.m. for replies and arguments.