SECRET OF SUCCESS 08 JUNE 2025 THE BREAK-UP EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT www.thestatesman.com PONTING ENDORSES SHUBMAN GILL AS INDIA’S NEW TEST CAPTAIN X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 PAGE 20 SINCE 1818 KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR Nari Shakti’s Spirit of Entre epreneurship gets Wing gs CBC 46101/13/0009/2526 PAGES 20|` 5.00 |LC With ove 35 crore loans, nearly 70% er of Mudra Yojana a WEATHER Partly cloudy sky. Thundery development towards evening. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 35 °C and 28 °C respectively. RAINFALL: Nil RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 98 % PM underscores need for decisive international action against terrorism and its backers Min. 65 % TEMPERATURE Max: 33.7˚C (-1.5) SUN RISES 04:51 hrs MOON RISES 15:52 hrs UK Foreign Secy meets PM, backs fight against terror Min: 22.6˚C (-4.6) SUN SETS 18:20 hrs MOON SETS 02:57 hrs Full Moon on 11 June THUMBNAILS Children after offering Namaz on the occasion of Eid al-Adha at Jama Masjid in New Delhi on Saturday. n SUBRATA DUTTA T Rabi Sankar appointed as part-time member of Finance Commission: The President has appointed Mr T. Rabi Sankar, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), as a part-time member of the 16th Finance Commission (XVIFC). Mr Sankar's appointment follows the resignation of one of the full-time Members of the 16th Finance Commission, Mr Ajay Narayan Jha. Seven Maoists killed in Chhattisgarh operation: Five Maoists were killed in two encounters with security forces in an ongoing operation in the Indravati National Park area of Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, police said on Saturday. With the latest casualties, seven Maoists, including top leaders Sudhakar and Bhaskar, were neutralised in the last three days, they said. (Pg 5) STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 7 JUNE T he United Kingdom Saturday strongly condemned the Pahalgam terror attack and expressed support for India’s fight against cross-border terrorism. UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, “strongly condemned the Pahalgam terror attack and expressed support for India’s fight against cross border terrorism”. Responding to his gesture, PM Modi underscored the need for a decisive international action against terrorism and those who support it. “Pleased to meet UK Foreign Secretary Mr. David Lammy. Appre- NEW DELHI, 7 JUNE Refuting the allegations made by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi regarding alleged irregularities in Maharashtra electoral rolls, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday termed the charges as “completely absurd”. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, in an article published in a national daily, alleged “match-fixing” by the BJP in the Maharashtra Assembly elections. The article ignited a political controversy, with opposition parties claiming that it exposes the alleged scale of electoral manipulation in the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections and points to the ECI's “silence” on critical questions raised by the INDIA bloc. Reacting to Mr Gandhi’s allegation, an official in the poll panel said: “The Maharashtra electoral roll revision process was undertaken under the full glare of 1,03,727 Booth Level Agents appointed by the political parties, including 27,099 BLAs by the Indian National Congress themselves,” claiming that there was no basis for the Congress leader to insinuate vitiation PM Modi expressed satisfaction at the successful conclusion of the IndiaUK Free Trade Agreement and Double Contribution Convention and appreciated the constructive engagement by both sides that led to this milestone. Mr Modi also welcomed the growing momentum in bilateral and expressed support for India's fight against cross border terrorism. PM Modi underscored the need for a decisive international action against terrorism and those who support it," the statement added. Mr Modi also conveyed his warm greetings to the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and reiterated the invitation for his visit to India at the earliest mutual convenience. “Thank you Prime Minister Narendra Modi for your warm welcome to India. Building on the Free Trade Agreement between our great countries, we will continue working together to deepen our partnership, celebrate our unique living bridge, and deliver growth and security,” Mr Lammy posted on X. We will never countenance perpetrators of evil being put at par with its victims: Jaishankar STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 7 JUNE Union Minister of External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar on Saturday asserted that India will never countenance perpetrators of evil being put at par with its victims. During his meeting with UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Jaishankar ECI refutes Rahul’s poll rigging claims as ‘completely absurd’ STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE ciate his substantive contribution to the remarkable progress in our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, further strengthened by the recently concluded FTA. Value UK's support for India's fight against cross-border terrorism," PM Modi posted on X after the meeting. During the meeting, ties and expressed satisfaction at the deepening of the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. He welcomed the continued collaboration under the Technology Security Initiative and noted its potential to shape trusted and secure innovation ecosystems. “FS David Lammy conveyed UK's strong interest in further enhancing cooperation across key sectors including trade and investment, defence and security, technology, innovation, and clean energy. He expressed confidence that the FTA will unlock new economic opportunities for both countries," a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office said. “UK Foreign Secretary strongly condemned the Pahalgam terror attack of the electoral process. The Congress leader on Saturday asked the poll panel to answer the questions which he raised in his article: “Dear EC, You are a Constitutional body. Releasing unsigned, evasive notes to intermediaries is not the way to respond to serious questions. If you have nothing to hide, answer the questions in my article and prove it by: • Publishing consolidated, digital, machine-readable voter rolls for the most recent elections to the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas of all states including Maharashtra • Releasing all post-5pm CCTV footage from Maharashtra polling booths. Evasion won’t protect your credibility. Telling the truth will." Earlier, the ECI in a statement said: “Unsubstantiated allegations raised against the Electoral Rolls of Maharashtra are affront to the rule of law. The Election Commission had brought out all these facts in its reply to the INC on 24th December 2024 itself, which is available on ECI's website. It appears that all these facts are completely being ignored while raising such issues again and again...” thanked the Government of the United Kingdom for its condemnation of the Pahalgam terror attack. “We will never countenance perpetrators of evil being put at par with its victims. I thank the Government of the United Kingdom for the strong condemnation of the barbaric terrorist attack in Pahalgam in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and for your solidarity and support to India in the fight against terrorism,” he said. He also asserted that India expects partner countries to understand the practice of zero tolerance policy against terrorism. “We practice a policy of zero tolerance against terrorism and expect our partners to understand it.,” said the minister. His remarks came amid India's efforts to counter the Pakistani narrative and expose the country for harbouring terrorists and using them for crossborder attacks in India. Last month, India and Pakistan returned from the brink of an all-out war, after four days of confrontation following India's Operation Sindoor air strikes on terror groups in Pakistan and PoK. The strikes were launched to destroy the terror launchpads and training centres in response to the 22 April Pahalgam attack. KSCA secretary and treasurer resign after Chinnaswamy stampede AGENCIES BENGALURU, 7 JUNE The Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) has been rocked by high-level resignations in the wake of the tragic stampede that claimed 11 lives during the Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) IPL 2025 victory celebration at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium earlier this week. On Saturday, KSCA secretary A Shankar and treasurer ES Jairam stepped down from their posts after the horrific incident unfolded on Wednesday. The resignations come amid mounting legal scrutiny and public outrage, with both officials citing “moral responsibility” as the reason behind their decision. In a joint statement released on Saturday, the The resignations come amid mounting legal scrutiny and public outrage, with both officials citing „moral responsibility‰ as the reason behind their decision. two officials said: “This is to inform that due to the unforeseen and unfortunate events that have unfolded in the last two days and though our role was very limited, but owing moral responsibility, we wish to state that last night we have tendered our resignation to our respective posts as the Secretary and Treasurer of the Karnataka State Cricket Association, by way of a letter dated 06.06.2025 to the President of Karnataka State Cricket Association.”