NC GOVT WILL TREAT ALL REGIONS OF J&K EQUALLY: OMAR 20 OCTOBER 2024 DRONE TARGETS ISRAELI PM’S HOUSE AS STRIKES IN GAZA KILL MORE THAN 50 ANOTHER INDIAN BATTING COLLAPSE PUTS NZ ON CUSP OF HISTORIC TEST WIN www.thestatesman.com X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 PAGE 12 PAGE 9 PAGE 3 INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 PAGES 12 |` 5.00|LC KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR WEATHER MAINLY CLEAR SKY. THE MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WOULD BE AROUND 35 AND 18 DEGREES CELSIUS RESPECTIVELY. RAINFALL: Nil RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 93 % Min. 34 % TEMPERATURE Max: 36.5 °C (+4) SUN RISES 06:26 hrs MOON RISES 19:55 hrs Min: 20.2 °C (+2) SUN SETS 17:47 hrs MOON SETS 10:41 hrs THUMBNAILS Special Forces from India, Australia, Japan and the United States take part in the 28th Edition of Maritime Exercise Malabar 2024 that concluded on 18 October in Visakhapatnam on Friday. ANI EC orders removal of Jharkhand DGP Gupta ahead of Assembly polls: Ahead of the Assembly polls, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has asked the Jharkhand government to remove DGP Anurag Gupta with immediate effect.“The ECI has directed the Jharkhand government to remove Anurag Gupta from his position as the Acting Director General of Police (DGP) with immediate effect by handing over charge to the senior most DGP level officer available in the cadre,” sources said on Saturday. (PG3) Delhi chokes as air quality drops into ‘poor’ category Delhi's overall AQI clocked 278, people face breathing problems NIKHIL VYAS NEW DELHI, 19 OCTOBER P eople living in the national capital faced breathing difficulties on Saturday due to the hazardous air as the city grappled with rising air pollution after the air quality in the national capital fell into the “poor” category. Delhi's overall AQI clocked 278 on Saturday as per the 4 p.m. AQI bulletin provided by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). It was a hazy morning in the city and a thin layer of smog engulfed the national capital with Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded at 278. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered “good”; 51 and 100 “satisfactory”; 101 and 200 “moderate”; 201 and 300 “poor”; 301 and 400 “very poor”; and 401 and 500 “severe”. According to the Central Pollution Control Board, the AQI when marked under the 'Poor' category can cause breathing discomfort tomostpeopleonprolonged exposure, whereas, when under the ‘Very poor’ category can cause respiratory illness on prolonged exposure. According to data from the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR)India, the AQI in Anand Vihar at 5 p.m. was recorded in the 'severe' range and was 453. However, some places in the national capital continued to battle ‘very poor’ levels of air quality with AQI levels clocking over 300 at 5 p.m. on Saturday. According to data from the SAFAR, the AQI at Mundka area was 364, followed by 349 at Wazirpur, while the AQI at Bawana was 345. The AQI in Jahangirpuri was 337, in Dwarka it was 328 and in Narela it was 327. Rahul, Babu and Pratap, who live in Delhi, shared their concern over the present air quality in the national capital, saying that pollution levels have significantly risen in recent days. They are experiencing breathing difficulties, eye irritation, and sore throat, prompting them to wear a mask while outdoors. Pollution has made it extremely hard to breathe, they said. The overall Air Quality Index in Delhi stood at 297 at 10 a.m, putting it under the 'Poor' category. Meanwhile, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla went to the Yamuna bank in Kalindi Kunj area in Delhi and slammed the Aam Aadmi Party, alleging that it is the “poisonous politics” of former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal that has made the water and air in the national capital poisonous. Mr Poonawalla further challenged Mr Kejriwal to come along with his party's leaders and take a dip in the Yamuna. “The Yamuna water has turned into poison. Arvind Kejriwal claimed that he would clean Yamuna till 2025. They previously said 2020, then, they claimed 2025. Now if the situation is such before Chhath Puja, the women who will come here will have to suffer so many diseases. Yamuna river has been polluted because the fund that was allocated for the cleaning of Yamuna river has been spent by Arvind Kejriwal for advertisements and on himself," the BJP national spokesperson said. In order to curb increasing pollution, the Delhi government on Tuesday implementedGRAP-1.Delhi Chief Minister Atishi and Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai had a meeting with officials regarding the increasing pollution in the national capital. After this meeting, it was announced that 99 teams would inspect the construction sites to check dust pollution. Two hundred anti-smog guns from PWD, 30 from MCD, 14 from the NCRTC and 80 from DMRC will also be deployed.. INDIA bloc to jointly contest Jharkhand polls, JMM-Congress to field candidates in 70 seats GST on term life insurance premiums, Sr citizens’ health cover may be exempted STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 19 OCTOBER AGENCIES Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Saturday announced that the INDIA bloc would jointly contest the forthcoming Assembly polls. He said that the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Congress would field candidates in 70 of the 81 constituencies, and in the remaining seats, nominees from other parties of the Opposition alliance including Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) would contest. The Chief Minister and senior leader of the JMM made the announcement while addressing the media in Ranchi, days after the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the schedule for the Assembly elections in two phases. Citing the schedule of the Assembly polls announced by the poll panel, Mr Soren said: “The INDIA bloc, while taking this election very seriously and keeping every aspect in mind, have decided to fight the elections together. “Of the 81 Assembly constituencies, it was decided that JMM and Congress will contest in 70 seats and in the remaining Assembly seats there will be candidates of other parties of the INDIA bloc including RJD,” the Chief Minister said. In Jharkhand, there would be a direct contest between the ruling JMM-Congress led alliance and the BJP in the Assembly polls. In the 2019 Assembly polls, the JMM won 30 seats, Congress 16 and BJP 25 constituencies. The polling for the first phase (in 43 Assembly constituencies) would take place on 13th November and second phase (in 38 seats) on 20th November. The counting of votes would take place along with those of the Maharashtra Assembly elections on 23 November. NEW DELHI, 19 OCTOBER The Group of Ministers (GoM) on GST that met on Saturday more or less decided to exempt the goods and services tax (GST) on term life insurance premiums and premiums paid by senior citizens for health cover. Exemption or reduction of GST on life and health insurance is a long-pending demand of the industry as the move would alleviate the tax burden on both insurers and policyholders. While most of the panel members of the GoM, led by Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary, pitched for "full exemption" on health and life policy premiums, a few panel members suggested reducing the rate to 5 per cent from the current 18 per cent. The ministerial panel, tasked to rationalise rates, is scheduled to submit its recommendation to the GST Council by 31 October. The final decision in this regard will be taken by the GST Council when it meets next. At present, 18 per cent GST is levied on life and health insurance premiums. The GST Council took up the matter in the September meeting, following the debate over the 18 per cent GST levied on life and health insurance premiums. The panel is learnt to have discussed the revenue impli- Keep abreast of tech to serve citizens, PM tells civil servants STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 19 OCTOBER Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday asked civil servants to keep themselves abreast with latest technological developments so as to meet the need for rising standards of public service and demands of citizens. He was speaking at the launch of the Karmayogi Saptah, the National Learning Week, a part of the government’s Mission Karmayogi which aims at creating human resources that would become the driving force of the country’s development. Addressing a gathering at Dr Ambedkar International Centre, he expressed satisfaction at the progress made, and said that “if we keep working with this passion, no one can stop the country from making progress.” He said the new learning and experiences during the National Learning Week will provide strength and help in improving working systems which will help achieve the goal of Viksit Bharat by 2047. The PM discussed the steps taken to change the mindset of the government over the last ten years, and said their impact is being felt by people today. He said this has become possible due to the efforts of the people working in the government and through the impact of steps like Mission Karmayogi. Mr Modi emphasized that while the world views Artificial Intelligence (AI) as an opportunity, for India, it presents both a challenge and an opportunity. He spoke about two AIs, one being the Artificial Intelligence and the other, Aspirational India. In this context, he stressed the importance of balancing both and said that if “we successfully utilise Artificial Intelligence to drive progress for Aspirational India, it could lead to transformative change.” The PM said that information equality has become a norm due to the impact of the digital revolution and social media. With AI, information processing is also becoming equally easy, making the citizenry informed and empowering it to keep a tab on all activities of the government. The Mission Karmayogi can prove to be of help to civil servants to meet the need for rising standards and being in touch with latest technology. Mr Modi stressed the need for innovative thinking and following a citizen-centric approach. He mentioned seeking help from startups, research agencies and youngsters for getting new ideas and asked government departments to have a system of feedback mechanism. He lauded the iGOT platform and said that more than 40 lakh government employees have registered on the platform. Over 1400 courses are available and more than 1.5 crore certificates of completion in various courses have been received by the officers. He noted that Civil Services training Institutions have been a victim of working in silos. “We have tried to increase partnerships and collaborations among them,” he said. Mr Modi urged the training institutions to establish proper channels of communication, to learn from each other, discuss and adopt global best practices and inculcate a whole-of-government approach. The Mission Karmayogi was launched in September 2020 envisioning a futureready civil service rooted in Indian ethos, with a global perspective. The National Learning Week (NLW) will provide fresh impetus towards individual and organisational capacity development for Civil Servants creating a “One Government” message and aligning everyone with national goals and promoting lifelong learning. cation in various options suggested by the Fitment Panel, comprising revenue officials of the Centre and states. Other options discussed during the GoM meeting included exempting premiums paid by senior citizens and premiums with coverage up to Rs 5 lakh, or alternatively, only exempting premiums paid by senior citizens from the GST ambit. Last month, the GST Council, headed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, set up a GoM on slashing the tax rate on life and health insurance, as well as reducing the GST on cancer drugs. The 54th GST Council meeting, held on 9 September, reached a “broad consensus” to bring relief to individuals and senior citizens with a decision on the GST applied to health insurance premiums. Remaining Indian diplomats ‘clearly on notice’, says Canadian Foreign Minister AGENCIES OTTAWA, 19 OCTOBER Days after India recalled its six diplomats from Canada after they were declared "persons of interest" in the investigation of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar's killing, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly warned over a dozen Indian diplomats, who are still in the country to respect the law. “They're clearly on notice,” Joly said, as quoted by CBC News. “Six of them have been expelled, including the high commissioner in Ottawa. Others were mainly from Toronto and Vancouver.” “Clearly, we won't tolerate any diplomats that are in contravention of the Vienna Convention,” she added. Her remarks are aimed at the 15 Indian diplomats who are still in Canada. The diplomatic row between India and Canada underwent a fresh escalation when Canada declared India's High Commissioner and other diplomats as "persons of interest" in the investigation of Nijjar's killing Following this, India decided to call back its High Commissioner and five other diplomats from Canada. India has repeatedly accused Canada of not taking action against extremist and separatist elements in the country for the sake of "vote bank politics". Ms Joly’s comments come days after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) accused the Indian government, its agents and diplomats of links to criminal activity in Canada, including coercion, extortion and killings. The charges have been strongly rejected by India, which termed it "preposterous imputations" and accused the Justin Trudeau government of indulging in "vote bank politics." The RCMP has alleged there have been over a dozen credible and imminent threats to members of the South Asian community, particularly Sikh members of the pro-Khalistan movement. It also said it has evidence that India's diplomats and consular officials in Canada engaged in clandestine activities, including gathering intelligence for its government, as reported by CBC News. The Canadian Foreign Minister further stressed that the threat was real and that is the reason why the RCMP decided to announce that Canadians were being intimidated. “There was definitely a threat and that's exactly why the RCMP decided to take the extraordinary measure of making public the fact that Canadians were being intimidated, [were] victims of extortion or even [received] death threats because agents and diplomats from India were linked to these criminal actions,” Ms Joly said at a press conference in Montreal. Ms Joly accused Russia of carrying out this kind of transnational repression in Germany and the UK. However, she noted that it has never been seen before in Canada at this scale and the government "needed to stand firm on this issue," CBC News reported. “We've never seen that in our history,” Ms Joly further said. "That level of transnational repression cannot happen on Canadian soil." Over 30 flights receive bomb threats AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 19 OCTOBER Over 30 flights of various Indian carriers, including Vistara, Air India and IndiGo, received security alerts on Saturday relating to bomb threats, causing flight delays and disruption in the normal schedule. At least five flights of Akasa Air (QP 1323, QP 1371, QP 1373, QP 1385, QP 1405), five of Vistara (UK 106, UK 27, UK 107, UK 121, UK 131), five of Air India (AI 101, AI 105, AI 126, AI 119, AI 161), and five Indigo flights (6E 11, 6E 17, 6E 58, 6E 108, 6E 184) are reported to have received bomb threats through social media since Saturday morning. An Air India Express flight from Dubai to Jaipur made emergency landing at the Jaipur airport around midnight last night following a bomb threat. The passengers were safely debarked and the aircraft subjected to a thorough search and security checking. This resulted in the return Dubai flight being delayed by several hours, leaving the passengers stranded at the airport. Flights of Air India, IndiGo, Akasa Air, Vistara, SpiceJet, Star Air and Alliance Air received threats, sources said. So far this week, at least 70 flights of Indian carriers have received bomb threats with all of them turning out to be hoaxes. In a Vistara flight, UK624 from Udaipur to Mumbai, a note was found in the aircraft’s lavatory saying there was a bomb in the flight. A Star Asia flight to Kishangarh from Lucknow at was delayed for over 2 hours after receiving a bomb threat. On Friday, three international flights of Vistara received bomb threats which turned out to be hoaxes and one of the flights was diverted to Frankfurt as a precautionary measure. The Civil Aviation Ministry plans to put in place strict norms to prevent incidents of hoax bomb threats to airlines, including placing the perpetrators in the no-fly list. Earlier, the Ministry of Home Affairs sought a report from the Ministry of Civil Aviation on the series of bomb threats to various airlines across the country.