FRIDAY 06 DECEMBER 2024 www.thestatesman.com X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 Pages 12 |` 5.00 KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR JHARKHAND CABINET EXPANDED; 11 MLAS INDUCTED FRANCE'S PM REMOVED IN ROHIT CONFIRMS MOVE TO MIDDLE NO-CONFIDENCE VOTE ORDER ON THE BRINK P5 SENSEX 81,765.86 p809.53 WEATHER Mainly clear sky. Maximum and Minimum Temperature most likely to be around 27˚C and 17˚C respectively. RAINFALL: 0.0 mm RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 95% Min. 36% P6 NIFTY 24,708.40 p240.95 ` vs $ 84.68 P9 GOLD 78,770.00 P12 SILVER 92,000 BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 72.41 Fadnavis takes oath as 21st Maharashtra CM Shiv Sena's Eknath Shinde and NCP's Ajit Pawar took oath as Deputy Chief Ministers TEMPERATURE Max: 28.1˚C (0.0) Min: 17.6˚C (+1.0) SUN RISES 06:03 hrs MOON RISES 09:36 hrs SUN SETS 16:52 hrs MOON SETS 20:34 hrs Full Moon on 15 December THUMBNAILS Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis during the latter's oath-taking ceremony, in Mumbai on Thursday. nANI STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE MUMBAI, 5 DECEMBER A Sikh devotee performs Gatka during a religious procession on the eve of the Martyrdom Day of Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Sikh Guru, in Amritsar on Thursday. n ANI Justice Manmohan sworn in as SC judge: Justice Manmohan, former chief justice of Delhi High Court, was sworn in as the Supreme Court judge on Thursday. He was administered the oath by Chief Justice of India Justice Sanjiv Khanna at a ceremony held in the Supreme Court. With the swearing-in of Justice Manmohan, the working strength of the SC judges is now 32 -- two short of its sanctioned strength of 34 judges. The Supreme Court collegium – comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice B R Gavai, Justice Surya Kant, Justice Hrishikesh Roy, and Justice Abhay S Oka – on 28 November unanimously recommended the elevation of Justice Manmohan – then the Chief Justice of Delhi HC– as a judge of the top court. B JP leader Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as the 21st Chief Minister of Maharashtra, while Shiv Sena's Eknath Shinde and NCP's Ajit Pawar took oath as deputy chief ministers on Thursday, ending the prolonged suspense over ministry formation in the wake of the Mahayuti alliance's massive victory in the state. This is the third time that Mr Fadnavis took oath as the Maharashtra chief minister. The swearing-in ceremony took place at the historic Azad Maidan ground here in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP president J P Nadda, and others. It is the result of almost two weeks of hectic negotiations among the Mahayuti parties after the results of the 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections were declared on 23 November. The BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP Mahayuti coalition has a majority of 230 seats in the 288-member Maharashtra assembly. Earlier during the day, the Shiv Sena stated that Eknath Shinde is all set to meet Amit Shah after the swearing-in ceremony to hold discussions about the contentious home portfolio, which has been eyed by both the BJP as well as the Shindeled Shiv Sena. In a related development, BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar said, “It is most likely that the council of ministers will be sworn in before the winter session of the Maharashtra assembly begins, in order to avoid administrative disruption," after he was asked when the rest of the ministers of the cabinet would take oath. Shortly after Thursday's oath taking event, Maharashtra CM Fadnavis, Deputy CMs Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Ajit Maharashtra Governor C P Radhakrishnan with state Chief Minister designate Devendra Fadnavis during the latter's oath-taking ceremony, in Mumbai on Thursday. nANI Pawar addressed mediapersons at the sixth floor of the Mantralaya (state secretariat) administrative building located in South Mumbai, not far from the Azad Maidan ground where the swearing-in ceremony was conducted. The ceremony was also attended by a bevy of Bollywood stars, including Shah Rukh Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Madhuri Dixit, Ranveer Singh, Ranbir Kapoor, among others. Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar and his wife also graced the occasion. The Mahayuti parties won 236 seats in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly. The BJP won 132 seats, the Shiv Sena 57 and the NCP 41. Mr Fadnavis was sworn in as Chief Minister of Maharashtra for the third time. He was Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 2014-2019. In 2019, he was the chief minister of the BJP-NCP government for 72 hours. Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde served as the Leader of Putin praises Modi’s initiatives for India's economic development STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 5 DECEMBER Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "IndiaFirst" policy and the "Make in India" initiative , emphasising how these policies have contributed to India's development. Speaking at the 15th VTB Russia Calling Investment Forum, he acknowledged India's efforts to foster a stable environment for growth. His remarks came days after the Kremlin announced that President Putin will visit India next year for the annual IndiaRussia Summit with PM Modi. The "Make in India" initiative, aimed at boosting manufacturing and attracting foreign investment, has played a key role in strengthening India's position in the global economy, the Russian leader stressed. He lauded the Indian government and its efforts in creating “stable conditions” for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), particularly highlighting the economic initiatives spearheaded by PM Modi, with a special focus on the "Make in India" programme. President Putin drew parallels between Russia's import substitution programme and India's “Make in India” initiative, expressing Moscow's willingness to establish manufacturing operations in India. Investments in India are profitable, he added. He also emphasised that India's lead- ‘We should not throw baby out with bathwater’: CEA on Q2 GDP growth figures STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 5 DECEMBER Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran on Thursday cautioned against ‘overinterpreting’ the disappointing gross domestic product (GDP) growth performance in the second quarter of the current financial year as the underlying growth story remains intact, and “we should not throw the baby out with the bathwater”. Speaking at the Assocham’s Bharat@100 Summit ‘Fuelling Bharat's Global Rise’, Mr Nageswaran said that the drop in economic growth “should not be over interpreted as a spike in global uncertainty index”. He added that private consumption has held up and exports have improved in the challenging environment. The CEA said the global environment is not conducive for India. "India’s path to lower middle income to upper income is during the scenario when the relative periods of global peace are becoming scarce. Global environment is far from conducive for us, we have to pull all domestic levers for growth," he said. India also needs to integrate itself with China's supply chain to unlock the global supply chain, which can provide a further boost to growth, he argued. Mr he said that with pickup in some sectors, achieving a GDP growth of 6.5 per cent to 7 per cent in FY25 is still feasible. “To achieve 6.5 per cent GDP in FY25, we need 7 per cent real GDP growth in Q3 and Q4, which is doable with pickup in some areas," the CEA said. It is to be noted that as per the recent government data, India's economic growth slowed down in the September quarter to a 7-quarter low of 5.4 per cent on contraction in mining growth, manufacturing and utility services. ership has focused on prioritising its national interests. “Prime Minister Modi has a similar programme called Make in India. We are also ready to set up our manufacturing operations in India. The Indian government, under the Prime Minister's leadership, has been creating stable conditions, driven by a policy of putting India first. We believe that investing in India is profitable,” stated the Russian President. He also said that Russian company Rosneft invested USD 20 billion in the country recently. Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from 20142019. He was also a minister in the Uddhav Thackeray-led government. Later, Mr Shinde became chief minister after he rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray, split the Shiv Sena, formed the BJPShiv Sena coalition government and became the CM, while Devendra Fadnavis became Deputy CM. Ajit Pawar became Deputy Chief Minister in 2010 for the first time. On Thursday, Ajit Pawar took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister for a record sixth time in the present Devendra Fadnavis-led government. Mr Pawar was Deputy CM under four Maharashtra Chief Ministers, namely Prithviraj Chavan, Devendra Fadnavis, Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde. In the Mahayuti government sworn in on Thursday, Ajit Pawar happens to be the senior most and most experienced minister. PM reiterates commitment to Bhutan’s development STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 5 DECEMBER Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday reiterated India's strong commitment to the economic development in Bhutan, highlighting the doubling of New Delhi's development support to the Himalayan nation for its 13th Five Year Plan period. PM Modi this morning received King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema Wangchuck in New Delhi. ISRO launches PSLV-C59 with ESA’s Proba-3 AGENCIES SRIHARIKOTA, 5 DECEMBER The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched the PSLVC59/PROBA-3 mission from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, on Thursday. The PSLV-C59 vehicle is carrying the Proba3 spacecraft into a highly elliptical orbit as part of a dedicated commercial mission by NewSpace India Limited (NSIL). The mission, originally scheduled for Wednesday, was postponed due to an anomaly detected in the PROBA-3 spacecraft. The PSLV-C59 mission is a joint initiative between ISRO and NewSpace India Limited (NSIL). Proba-3 is a technology demonstration mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) and marks ESA's first precision formation-flying mission. It involves a pair of satellites flying together in a fixed configuration, as if forming a single large rigid structure in space, to showcase innovative formation-flying and rendezvous technologies. According to ESA, the mission will demonstrate formation flying within the context of a large-scale scientific experiment. The two satellites will create an approximately 150-metre-long solar coronagraph to study the Sun's faint corona closer to the solar rim than has ever been achieved before. In addition to its scientific goals, the mission serves as a benchmark for achieving precise positioning between two spacecraft, employing a wide range of new technologies. Indian govt supports a two-state solution to W Asia conflict: EAM STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 5 DECEMBER While asserting that issues of terrorism and hostagetaking cannot be underplayed or ignored, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday reiterated India's support for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. Speaking in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, he explained the reasons for India's decision to abstain from voting in some of the resolutions regarding the Gaza conflict in the United Nations General Assembly. In response to TMC MP Saket Gokhale's question on India's stance on a two-state solution to Palestine, Mr Jaishankar said: "We support the two-state solution and we have been public and unambiguous about that. So, there should be no cause for confusion regarding the twostate solution." On being asked about the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former defence chief Yoav Gallant and Hamas leader Mohammad Deif, Mr Jaishankar pointed out that India is not a member of ICC. "The honourable member would be aware that India is not a member of the International Criminal Court. When the International Criminal Court was constituted, the question of our membership was considered. For very good reason after a great deal of deliberation, India considered not becoming a member. So, with regard to any decision passed by the ICC, it is not binding on us. So, it is not a matter on which we have taken a formal position."