FOLLOW US: @TheStatesmanLtd @thestatesmanltd thestatesman1875 www.thestatesman.com People’s Parliament, Always in Session India’s National Newspaper since 1818 | Pages 12 | ` 5.00 | KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR | Wednesday, 15 October 2025 SPORTS WORLD NATION TN Assembly mourns Karur victims Page 4 BRIEFLY SC to hear on 15 Oct plea of Wangchuk’s wife: New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday deferred till October 15 the hearing on a plea filed by Gitanjali Angmo, wife of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, challenging his detention under the National Security Act (NSA) and seeking his immediate release. A Bench of Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice N.V. Anjaria adjourned the matter at the request of senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who appeared for the petitioner. “Due to paucity of time, the matter will be taken up tomorrow,” the bench said. Earlier, the court had sought responses from the centre, the Union Territory of Ladakh, and the Superintendent of Jodhpur Central Jail, where Wangchuk is lodged. Sibal has argued that the grounds of detention were never supplied to Wangchuk’s family, rendering the order illegal under Article 22 of the Constitution. Missing bodies of hostages top the list of uncertainties Siliguri, 14 October Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday lashed out at Opposition leaders, particularly those from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing them of exploiting the recent floods in North Bengal for political mileage. The Chief Minister alleged that certain groups, backed by BJP funding, were attempting to mislead and frustrate flood-affected residents in Maynaguri and Dhupguri blocks of Jalpaiguri district. Eradicating LWE will unlock huge economic potential Page 7 Page 9 Seat-sharing tensions spark turmoil in Bihar BJP releases first list of 71 candidates IMRAN MOJIB Patna, 14 October I t was reportedly a sleepless night on Monday at the residences of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav. While the INDIA bloc has yet to finalise seat sharing, turmoil has erupted within the NDA over the allocation of seats. By Tuesday morning, reports emerged that Nitish Kumar was upset with the BJP, as well as with his deputies ~ Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh and Sanjay Jha ~ for allocating nine JD(U)-held seats to the BJP. He reportedly insisted that these constituencies should remain with the JD(U). Meanwhile, speculation intensified after RJD’s de facto chief Tejashwi Yadav returned from Delhi without meeting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Soon after, the BJP moved into action mode, indicating PM Modi and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar sharing a light moment during a public meeting. FILE PHOTO that the NDA’s seat-sharing arrangement could be revisited. To counter the growing speculation, Union Minister Chirag Paswan posted a message on ‘X’ asserting NDA unity. He wrote: “The matter of seat allocation among NDA partners has been resolved amicably. Discussions about which party will contest on which seats are in the final stages and CM slams BJP over ‘politics of disaster’ in relief operations STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE PERSPECTIVE PAGE Speaking to reporters before leaving Sukhia Pokhri for Darjeeling, Miss Banerjee said: “My representatives officially visited the relief camps in Maynaguri and Dhupguri and made all necessary arrangements. Most affected families have already returned home, and government relief has reached them multiple times. Despite this, some leaders are deliberately spreading misinformation to discredit our efforts.” Taking a sharp dig at her political rivals, the Chief Minister added: “They are doing politics with financial support from the BJP. If you want to do your ‘business’, do politics ~ but at least stand by the people at this critical moment.” Accusing the Opposition of indulging only in optics, Miss Banerjee remarked: “BJP leaders visit for a day, take photos, and then leave. The Centre has no real role here ~ it’s all politics and big talk. They, too, have responsibilities.” Criticising attempts to undermine the state’s post-disaster work, she said: “We are providing relief, rebuilding damaged roads and bridges, and taking every step needed after the disaster. Yet they only blame and mislead the people instead of helping them.” Reiterating her commitment to ground-level engagement, the Chief Minister said: “I am always with the people and have been visiting even the remotest areas ~ places other political leaders have never set foot in.” • Another report: Page 2 progressing positively. Under the leadership of Modiji and Nitishji, all NDA partners are fully united and prepared.” Union Minister and JD(U) leader Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh accused the INDIA bloc of spreading misinformation. He claimed that INDIA leaders were not getting public support and were resorting to false narratives. PM Modi and Mongolian President hold talks, multiple MoUs signed STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, 14 October Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mongolian President Khurelsukh Ukhnaa on Tuesday held delegation-level talks here, further cementing the longstanding friendship between the two nations. The leaders exchanged multiple Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) covering cooperation in humanitarian aid, heritage restoration, immigration, geology and mineral resources, cooperative promotion, and digital solutions. Marking the occasion, both leaders jointly released commemorative stamps celebrating the 70th anniversary of India-Mongolia bilateral relations, a milestone underscoring decades of close partnership. Google to invest $15 bn in new AI hub in Vizag THE AI HUB WILL BE GOOGLE’S LARGEST CENTRE OUTSIDE THE US, COMBINING POWERFUL AI INFRASTRUCTURE, DATA CENTRE CAPACITY, NEW LARGE-SCALE ENERGY SOURCES AND AN EXPANDED FIBRE OPTIC NETWORK. STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Hyderabad, 14 October US tech giant Google on Tuesday announced plans to invest $15 billion over the next five years to set up an Artificial Intelligence (AI) hub in Visakhapatnam to enable it to deploy its full AI stack to accelerate AI-driven transformation across India. The new AI hub will be Google’s largest centre outside the USA, combining powerful AI infrastructure, data centre capacity, new large-scale energy sources and an expanded fibre optic network all in one place. Hailing the investment, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the hub will be a powerful force in democratising technology and secure India’s place as a leader in global technology. The announcement about the AI hub by Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurien came at Bharat AI Shakti, an event hosted by Google in New Delhi and a pre-event to AI Impact Summit 2026. Expressing delight over the announcement, PM Modi wrote in a post on X: “This multi-faceted investment that includes gigawatt-scale data centre infrastructure aligns with our vision to build a Vikshit Bharat. It will be a powerful force in democratising technology. It will ensure AI for All, delivering cutting-edge tools to our citizens, boosting our digital economy and securing India’s place as a global technology leader!” Google CEO Sundar Pichai revealed that he had shared with the prime minister the plans for the first-ever Google AI hub in Visakhapatnam, which he termed a landmark development. “This combines gigawatt-scale compute capacity, a new international subsea gateway and large-scale energy infrastructure. Through it, we will bring our industry-leading technology to enterprises and users in India, accelerating innovation and driving growth across the country,” said Mr Pichai. Patna: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced its first list of 71 candidates for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections on Tuesday, amid ongoing political turmoil within the NDA over seat-sharing arrangements. The BJP’s first list has no major changes, except for denying a ticket to veteran leader and Assembly Speaker Nand Kishore Yadav. The party has fielded Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary from Tarapur and Vijay Kumar Sinha from Lakhisarai. Former Deputy Chief Ministers Tarkishore Prasad Yadav and Renu Devi were retained as candidates, from Katihar and Bettiah, respectively. Page 5 Rahul fifty helps India seal 2-0 clean sweep over West Indies Page 12 Rohtak cop found dead, leaves video, 3-page note accusing late IPS officer Y Puran Kumar of graft STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Chandigarh, 14 October Amid the controversy surrounding Haryana Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Y Puran Kumar's alleged suicide in Chandigarh last week, another police officer was found dead on Tuesday, leaving behind a purported three-page “suicide note” and a video in which he levelled corruption allegations against Kumar. The body of the officer, Assistant Sub Inspector Sandeep Lathar (photo), was found in a room near an agriculture field on the Ladhaut-Dhamar Road in Rohtak with a gunshot wound. The purported handwritten suicide note and the pre-recorded video message level corruption allegations against Y Puran Kumar, asserting that the IPS officer took his own life fearing exposure of alleged wrongdoing. The authenticity of the ‘suicide note’ and the video have not been verified. Lathar, who was investigating corruption charges against Kumar, an ADGP-rank officer, was posted in the cyber cell of Rohtak police. Police sources said Lather played a role in the arrest of head constable Sushil Kumar, an aide of Puran Kumar, in connection with a bribery case. The development came a week after Kumar himself was found dead at his Chandigarh residence in what is presumed to be a sucide, and a day after state Director General of Police Shatrujeet Kapur was sent on leave amid the demand of Kumar's family for action against him and other officers for harassing the deceased IPS officer. Kapur is among several IPS and IAS officers who are named in Y Puran Kumar’s purported suicide note as his key tormentors. The death of Puran Kumar, alleged to be a suicide, continues to generate political furore, institutional pressure and procedural standoffs in Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana. Six days after his death, the body of Kumar remains in the mortuary at PGIMER here, as the family has not given consent for the postmortem. The family is demanding that those named in the officer’s “final note” first be arrested, before a postmortem is permitted. Meanwhile, on the request of Puran Kumar’s wife, the police have amended the FIR to invoke the more stringent Section 3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, in addition to earlier invoked sections.