HEART OF THE MATTER WHEN ICE ARRIVED IN CALCUTTA 25 MAY 2025 GT MEET CSK, EYE TOP-TWO FINISH www.thestatesman.com X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 PAGE 20 SINCE 1818 PAGES 20 |` 5.00|LC KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR WEATHER Generally cloudy sky. Light rain / thundershower likely to occur. RAINFALL: 0.0 mm PM pitches for 'one state, CM Mamata Banerjee skips NITI Aayog meeting in Delhi one global destination' PM suggested that states should develop at least one tourist destination RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 95% Min. 62% STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 24 MAY Min: 25.8 ˚C (-1.1) SUN SETS 18:14 hrs MOON SETS 15:17 hrs P TEMPERATURE Max: 32.6˚C (-2.8) SUN RISES 04:53 hrs MOON RISES 02:16 hrs New Moon on 27 May THUMBNAILS Tea garden workers pluck fresh tea leaves from a tea garden, at Durgabari Tea Estate in Agartala on Friday. nANI X faces outage, users unable to access platform: Elon Musk-owned X (formerly Twitter) suffered a major outage with users across India and some other countries reporting difficulties in accessing the social media platform, according to Downdetector.com. Many users, attempting to use the microblogging platform, came across notification that read: "Cannot retrieve posts at this time. Please try again later." According to Downdetector.com, a website performance tracking tool, more than 2,000 users in India reported issues with the platform. rime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday made a strong pitch for "one state, one global destination" stressing that states must work towards "future-ready" cities and develop at least one tourist destination with all global standards, facilities and infrastructure. Chairing the 10th Governing Council meeting of Niti Aayog under the theme - 'Viksit Rajya for Viksit Bharat 2047 - the Prime Minister said if the Union government and states work together like Team India, "no goal is impossible." The Prime Minister's pitch for the development of world standard tourist destination has significant connotations as it comes in the backdrop of the recent Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir in which 25 tourists and one local person were killed. The incident triggered an exodus of tourists and came as a severe blow to the combined efforts of both the government and private stakeholders in reviving Kashmir’s tourism sector. He suggested that states should develop at least one tourist destination at par with global standards and by providing all facilities and infrastructure. "One State, One Global Destination. It would also lead to the development of the neighbouring cities as tourist places," the Prime Minister further said, emphasizing, "We should work towards future-ready cities." Urging state chief ministers to step up the pace of development, Mr Modi said, "We have to increase the speed of development." “India is getting rapidly urbanised. We should work towards future-ready cities… We should have the aim of making each state viksit, each city viksit, each nagar palika viksit and each village viksit. If we work on these lines, we will not have to wait till 2047 to become Viksit Bharat,” he added. "We should work in a manner so that policies implemented bring change in the lives of common citizens. Only when people feel the change, it strengthens the change and transforms the change into a movement. We have a great opportunity as a team to fulfill the aspirations of 140 crore people," he added. The Governing Council is the apex body of Niti Aayog which includes all state chief ministers, lieutenant governors of Union Territories, and several Union ministers and the Prime Minister is the chairman. Growth, innovation and sustainability should be the engine for the development of India's cities, he added. Advocating the need to work towards the inclusion of women in the workforce, the Prime Minister said: "We must make laws and policies so that they can be respectfully integrated into the workforce." The 10th Governing Council meeting of Niti Aayog provided a platform for the Centre, states and UTs to deliberate on measures to advance the vision of Viksit Bharat@2047 and build consensus on how states can be the building blocks for making India a developed nation. STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, 24 MAY West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee skipped the 10 governing council meeting of the NITI Aayog in New Delhi on Saturday, sources said, amid signs of rising tensions between the state government and the BJP-led Centre. No official statement was issued on who would represent West Bengal at the meeting in Banerjee’s absence, though state government sources indicated chief secretary Manoj Pant may attend. However, his participation could not be confirmed at the time of reporting. A senior leader of Trinamul Congress (TMC), speaking on condition of anonymity, said the chief minister stayed away from the highlevel meeting as a mark of protest. "In the last meeting, she was forced to cut short her speech. While NDA-ruled states were given more than 15 minutes to speak, she was allotted only five," the leader said. Sources close to Banerjee said her decision also reflects a hardening stance against the central government, ahead of visits to West Bengal next week by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah. The governing council meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Modi, is the first major Centre-state interaction since the launch of Operation Sindoor – a central development push targeting lagging regions. The session is expected to discuss the vision for "Viksit Rajya for Viksit Bharat @2047", and review the implementation of key budgetary initiatives and challenges facing the Indian economy. Several opposition chief ministers also stayed away. Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah cited a prior engagement and deputed a representative to read out his speech. Kerala’s Pinarayi Vijayan nominated finance minister K N Balagopal in his place. Puducherry chief minister N Rangasamy of the NDA-allied AINRC also skipped the meeting. Bangladesh’s Yunus cites ‘foreign India rebuts Pakistan's disinformation conspiracy’ behind poor governance on Indus Water Treaty at the UNSC AGENCIES DHAKA, 24 MAY Confronting a major political crisis after a chaotic last few months, the interim government in Bangladesh led by Muhammad Yunus on Saturday blamed "defeated forces" and "foreign conspiracy" for obstructing the normal functioning environment and creating confusion and suspicion among the public. Yunus chaired a two-hourlong unscheduled meeting of the Advisory Council at the Planning Commission office in Dhaka on Saturday afternoon amid increasing political tensions and growing speculation over the stability and continuity of the interim government which had also reportedly led to him offering resignation from the post of Chief Advisor. "Despite all obstacles, the Interim Government continues to fulfil its responsibilities by putting national interests above group interests. However, if — under the instigation of defeated forces or as part of a foreign conspiracy — the performance of these responsibilities becomes impossible, the government will present all rea- sons to the public and then take the necessary steps with the people," read a statement issued by the Advisory Council after the meeting. "The Council discussed how unreasonable demands, deliberately provocative and jurisdictionally overreaching statements, and disruptive programmes have been continuously obstructing the normal functioning environment and creating confusion and suspicion among the public," the statement detailed. The meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council included detailed discussions on three primary responsibilities entrusted to the interim government – elections, reforms, and justice. STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 24 MAY India has strongly refuted Pakistan's claims regarding the Indus Water Treaty at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), saying that the neighbouring country has violated the treaty's spirit by inflicting three wars and thousands of terror attacks on India, resulting in over 20,000 Indian lives lost in the last four decades. Accusing Pakistan of spreading disinformation over the Indus Water Treaty, India reiterated its commitment to responsible water management even amid persistent cross-border terrorism. Delivering the statement at the Arria Formula Meeting on "Protecting Water in Armed Conflict - Protecting Civilian Lives", Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations Parvathaneni Harish highlighted Pakistan's violation of the treaty's spirit through its support for cross-border terrorism and its obstructionist approach to modifying the treaty. Harish affirmed that India has always acted responsibly as an upper riparian state and accused Pakistan of distorting facts. "India entered into the Indus Water Treaty 65 years ago in good faith," he said, recalling that the agreement was signed in a spirit of goodwill and friendship. "Pakistan has violated the spirit of the treaty by inflicting three wars and thousands of terror attacks on India. In the last four decades, more than 20,000 Indian lives have been lost in terror attacks, the most recent of which was a dastardly targeted terror attack on tourists in Pahalgam last month. India has shown extraordinary patience and magnanimity throughout this period. Pakistan's state-sponsored cross-border terrorism in India seeks to hold hostage the lives of civilians, religious harmony, and economic prosperity," he added. Harish added that Pakistan's state-sponsored terrorism threatens civilian lives, religious harmony, and economic prosperity. He emphasised that significant changes have taken place in the past 65 years, including escalating security concerns, growing requirements for clean energy, climate change, and demographic shifts. "In these 65 years, farreaching fundamental changes have taken place not only in terms of escalating security concerns through cross-border terror attacks, but also growing requirements for producing clean energy, climate change, and demographic change. Technology for dam infrastructure has transformed to ensure safety and efficiency of operations and water use. Some of the old dams are facing serious safety concerns," he added. "Some old dams face serious safety concerns," he said, pointing out that terrorists even attacked the Tulbul Navigation Project in Jammu and Kashmir in 2012. "In fact, in 2012, terrorists even attacked the Tulbul Navigation Project in Jammu and Kashmir. These cynical acts continue to endanger safety of our projects and lives of civilians," added the Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations. New era begins: Shubman Gill named India’s Test captain; Pant appointed VC TRIDIB BAPARNASH NEW DELHI, 24 MAY Marking the start of a new era in Indian Test cricket, the BCCI’s senior selection committee on Saturday unveiled Shubman Gill as the new captain while announcing the 18-member squad for the upcoming five-Test series in England, slated to begin on June 20. Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has been named his deputy, ahead of premier quick Jasprit Bumrah, who was India's vice-captain at the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and led in the two Tests former skipper Rohit Sharma had missed. The Statesman had on Friday reported that the 25-yearold was the front-runner to the top job that emerged after the recent retirement of Rohit Sharma from the longest format. Announcing the squad, selection committee chief Ajit Agarkar said the decision to appoint Gill was after discussing every option at their disposal. “You discuss every option that's there. Over the last year, we've looked at Shubman. We've taken feedback from the dressing room as well. And we're hopeful we've picked the right guy,” Agarkar said in a press conference at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai shortly after the selection meeting on Saturday when asked about the decision to choose Gill. Exuding confidence on their selection of skipper, Agarkar emphasised that the elegant Punjab right-hander was appointed with a longterm vision in mind. “You don't pick captains for one or two tours,” Agarkar said when asked about the future, especially keeping in mind the upcoming WTC cycle. "We've seen some progress [in Gill] over the last year or two. It is going to be as tough as it gets for five Tests in England; maybe he'll have to learn on the job. But we're very confident.” Gill’s elevation to captaincy signals the dawn of a new era in Indian cricket. He will assume leadership of a youthful Indian side following the retirements of Ravichandran Ashwin last December and, more recently, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, bringing to a close a storied era in the nation’s Test cricket legacy. At 25 years and 258 days, Shubman Gill becomes the fifth-youngest player to lead India in Test cricket, following in the footsteps of Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi (21 years, 77 days), Sachin Tendulkar (23 years, 169 days), Kapil Dev (24 years, 48 days) and Ravi Shastri (25 years, 229 days). Having made his Test debut at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, on India’s previous tour of Australia in 2020-21, Gill has so far featured in 32 Tests, notching up 1893 runs at an average of 35.05. In all his 32 Tests, Gill has so far played as a top-order batter, initially starting off as an opener before being handed the No.3 spot. Shami left out, Arshdeep makes cut: Among notable absentees, pacer Mohammed Shami is not a part of the India setup. Agarkar revealed that Shami has been left out of the squad following advice from the medical team, which deemed him unfit to endure the rigours of Test bowling at this stage. The selectors also recalled Shardul Thakur, whose allround capabilities are expected to be valuable in English conditions. He joins a group of all-rounders that includes Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, and Washington Sundar. Kuldeep Yadav, who was unfit for the Australia tour, returns as the lone frontline spinner. The five Tests against England will be India's first in the 2025-27 WTC cycle. They play the first Test at Headingley (from June 20), the second at Edgbaston (from July 2), the third at Lord's (from July 10), the fourth at Old Trafford (from July 23), and the final at The Oval (from July 31). They begin the tour with a four-day match against India A at Beckenham on the outskirts of London between June 13 and 16. India Test squad for England: Shubman Gill (capt), Yashasvi Pant (vc, wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Arshdeep Singh.