SATURDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2024 www.thestatesman.com Pages 12 |` 5.00|LC Twitter.com/thestatesman Facebook.com/thestatesman INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR ANDHRA CM CALLS ON PM, SEEKS RELEASE OF PENDING FUNDS ‘NEW HOPE IN MP CONGRESS’ PTI-BACKED INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES TAKE EARLY LEAD IN PAK ELECTIONS P4 P9 P7 SENSEX 71,595.49167.06 WEATHER MAINLY CLEAR SKY. MIST IN THE MORNING. THE MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WOULD BE AROUND 24 AND 06 DEGREES CELSIUS RESPECTIVELY. RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 84 % TEMPERATURE Max: 24.0 °C1) SUN RISES 7:03 hrs MOON RISES 08:08 hrs NIFTY 21,782.5064.55 ` vs $ 83.034 PAISE BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 81.480.14 Bharat Ratna for Charan Singh: ‘Dil jeet liya’, says RLD chief, BJP- RLD alliance sealed? STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 9 FEBRUARY STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 9 FEBRUARY T Haldwani mob unrest was pre-planned, p says admin; toll 4: Haldwani remained tense on Friday following clashes between police and unruly mobs that left as least four people dead, as the administration alleged that the violence was pre-planned by the rioters. According to Nainital district administration, the rioters used the five-day notification period ahead of the demolition that triggered the riots to plan violence and terrorise people. (Pg 10) SILVER 74,500 Announcement came 6 days after BJP stalwart L K Advani was named for award Min: 06.8 °C (-3) SUN SETS 18:07 hrs MOON SETS 18:38 hrs Tulips are in full bloom in the Capital on SNS Friday. P12 Bharat Ratna for former Sonia-led NAC ruined economy under UPA: FM PMs, M S Swaminathan Min. 29 % THUMBNAILS GOLD 63,16070 ‘SHREYAS IYER LIKELY TO MISS LAST THREE TESTS’ he government has decided to confer the Bharat Ratna, the nation's highest civilian award, posthumously on former Prime Ministers Charan Singh and P V Narasimha Rao and legendary agriculture scientist M S Swaminathan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Friday. The announcement came six days after BJP stalwart and former Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani was named for the award. “The President has been pleased to award Bharat Ratna to the following eminent persons: Shri Chaudhary Charan Singh (posthumously), Shri P V Narasimha Rao (posthumously), Dr M S Swaminathan (posthumously),” a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique said. Earlier, in separate social media posts on X, Mr Modi paid rich tributes to the two former PMs for their incomparable contribution to the nation and lauded the role of Dr Swaminathan, considered architect of India's ‘Green Revolution’, for his pivotal role in helping the country achieve self-reliance in agriculture during challenging times. Both Chaudhary Charan Singh and Mr Narasimha Rao come from non-BJP backgrounds. “This only shows the government's belief in conferring national honours in a very party agnostic manner,” a BJP source said, adding the award to Dr Swaminathan exemplifies the Modi regime's commitment to the agricultural sector. Sources said two of the three awardees ~ Mr Expressing his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for announcing nation's highest civilian award Bharat Ratna to former Prime Minister Charan Singh on Friday, an elated Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary said ‘’Dil jeet liya’’. The Prime Minister announced on social media that the government has decided to confer Bharat Ratna posthumously on former Prime Ministers Charan Singh and P V Narasimha Rao and legendary Agriculture Scientist M S Swaminathan. The award for Chaudhary Charan Singh comes at a time when his grandson and chief of the RLD Jayant is said to be holding talks with the BJP for an alliance for the Lok Sabha election. Talks were underway between BJP and RLD for the past couple of days. After the announcement, it seems that a deal for RLD to join NDA is now sealed. Narasimha Rao and Dr Swaminathan ~ hail from South India, showing that the PM values the contribution and expertise from all corners of the country. Incidentally, the award for Chaudhary Charan Singh comes at a time when his grandson and chief of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) Jayant Chaudhary is said to be holding talks with the BJP for an alliance for the Lok Sabha election. Mr Narasimha Rao was the ninth Prime Minister of India who led a minority Congress government from 1991-1996 and successfully tackled the unprecedented financial crisis the country was facing at that time. STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 9 FEBRUARY Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said the Indian economy suffered during the UPA rule because of interference from an extra-Constitutional body, the National Advisory Council (NAC), while the Narendra Modi government worked with a vision to bring it back on the rails, and to meet aspirations of the people. She was replying to a day-long discussion on the Modi government’s White Paper on the economy in the Lok Sabha. The finance minister said the White Paper is a serious document with documental evidence on everything it said, prepared with the intention to inform the House on the efforts made by the NDA government during its 10 year rule to correct the mistakes made during the 10-year rule of the Congress-led UPA. Ms Sitharaman said there was mismanagement during the UPA rule because it was rudderless and leaderless and there was pressure on the government from the National Advisory Council (NAC) led by Congress leader Mrs Sonia Gandhi. She said as many as, 710 government files were sent to the extra-Constitutional National Advisory Council during the UPA rule for approval, while the NAC was known to be an unaccountable and unanswerable body. This led to big scams, the Finance Minister said. “We respect PM Manmohan Singh and while he was on a foreign tour, a Government Ordinance was torn in the House, insulting their own Prime Minister,” she said. This showed arrogance, and they lecture the NDA on institutions; where were the Opposition leaders talk- ing now, she said. The non-Constitutional body was directing the Government then, she said. The Opposition should be fair in its judgement, “you had a kitchen cabinet then,” and an elected Government today cannot bring a While Paper, she asked. She said the UPA claims credit for UIDAI but there was no consensus on it then. The committee which examined the UIDAI said it was conceptualised with no purpose, she said. At least three Central Ministries, Food, Civil Supplies and Rural and Labour Ministry opposed Aadhaar, she said. There were questions on connectivity. The NDA Government showed leadership for effective implementation of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). PMLA prosecutions were few during the UPA rule, she said. ED was not given any freedom and therefore there were zero convictions. There are 58 convictions under the Narendra Modi Government. Restitution of money was also zero during the UPA rule. There were no red corner notices under PMLA during the UPA rule. People who fled with money will be brought back, she said.
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