WEDNESDAY 04 DECEMBER 2024 www.thestatesman.com X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 Pages 16 |` 5.00|LC KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR FM MOVES BANKING LAWS (AMENDMENT) BILL TO STRENGTHEN GOVERNANCE PARL RETURNS TO NORMAL BUSINESS ON DAY SEVEN P6 SENSEX 80,845.75p597.67 WEATHER Generally clear. Hazy in the evening. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 29°C and 18°C respectively. TRUMP’S THREAT P12 NIFTY 24,457.15p181.10 ` vs $ 83.74 P8 De-escalation next priority: Jaishankar ‘Peace & tranquility in border areas prerequisite for growth of India-China ties’ Max. 72% STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 3 DECEMBER Max: 29.1˚C SUN RISES 06:01 hrs MOON RISES 08:46 hrs Min. 55% Min: 18.8˚C SUN SETS 16:51 hrs MOON SETS 19:31 hrs Full Moon on 15 December THUMBNAILS A view of the snow-covered area after fresh snowfall in Gurez Valley, in Bandipora on Tuesday. n ANI Rahul, Priyanka lead INDIA bloc's protest over Adani issue at Parliament: Congress MPs, including Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, along with members of the INDIA bloc, staged a protest at Parliament premises, demanding an investigation into allegations surrounding the Adani Group. The members raised slogans against the government and demanded the industrialist's arrest and a JPC probe into the allegations. S tating that disengagement has now been fully achieved in Eastern Ladakh through a step by step process, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday made it clear that the maintenance of peace and tranquility in border areas is a pre-requisite for the development of India-China ties. ''In the coming days, we will be discussing both de-escalation as well as effective management of our activities in the border areas,'' he said, making a statement in the Lok Sabha on India-China ties and the border understanding reached in October. He said India-China ties have been abnormal since 2020 when peace and tranquility in the border areas were disturbed as a result of Chinese actions. ''Recent developments that reflect our continuous diplomatic engagement since then have set our ties in the direction of some improve- ment," he added. Dr Jaishankar said India remains committed to engaging with China to "arrive at a fair, mutually acceptable framework for boundary settlement". The minister's remarks came nearly two months after India and China announced a major breakthrough in talks to end the prolonged military stand-off in eastern Ladakh. He also said that in the months following the June 2020 Galwan Valley clash, "we were addressing a situation that had not only seen fatalities for the first time in 45 years but also a turn of events serious enough for heavy weaponry to be deployed in close proximity to the LAC". He said India's engagement with China since 2020 was focused on ending the border stalemate. The engagement took place at various levels, involving different arms of the government. Since June 2020, 17 meetings of the Working Mechanism for Cooperation and Coordination (WMCC) at the diplomatic level and 21 meetings of Senior Highest Military Commanders took place, he said, adding, ''in this background, I would like to inform the House today about the agreement reached on 21 October, 2024 regarding Depsang and Demchok. The twin considerations of an unstable local situation and an impacted bilateral relationship were clearly the drivers for these recent endeavours.'' He said India was and remains very clear that the three key principles must be observed in all circumstances: (i) both sides should strictly respect and observe the LAC, (ii) neither side should attempt to unilaterally alter the status quo, and (iii) agreements and understandings reached in the past must be fully abided by in their entirety. Dr Jaishankar said the conclusion of the disengagement phase on LAC now allows India to consider other aspects of the bilateral engagement in a calibrated manner, keeping national security interests first and foremost. P16 SILVER 1,00,000 GOLD 78,670.00 RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY TEMPERATURE JAISWAL CHASES SACHIN'S RECORD AT ADELAIDE TEST BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 73.01p1.18 Fadnavis meets Shinde at his residence but leaves tight-lipped On Monday, Fadnavis confidant and BJP leader Girish Mahajan met Eknath Shinde shortly after Shinde finished his health check-ups at Jupiter Hospital in Thane STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE MUMBAI, 3 DECEMBER Devendra Fadnavis, the BJP's frontrunner for chief minister’s post in Maharashtra, met Caretaker CM Eknath Shinde in Mumbai late on Monday evening. The development came after it became known that Shinde had agreed to be one of the two deputy CMs. On Monday, Fadnavis confidant and BJP leader Girish Mahajan met Eknath Shinde shortly after Shinde finished his health checkups at Jupiter Hospital at Thane in the afternoon and reached his official residence 'Varsha' in South Mumbai a few hours later. There was a closed-door discussion for half an hour between Mahajan and Shinde. After the meeting, they went straight to 'Sagar', the bungalow of Devendra Fadnavis in South Mumbai. B’desh suspends visa services in Agartala STESMAN NEWS SERVICE AGARTALA, 3 DECEMBER The Bangladesh Assistant High Commission in Agartala has suspended all visa and consular services indefinitely, citing security concerns. The decision follows an incident on Monday, when the office premises were attacked by members of a group, who desecrated and burned the national flag of Bangladesh during a protest. In a public notice, First Secretary Md. Al Amin stated, “Given the security situation, all visa and consular services at the Bangladesh Assistant High Commission, Agartala, will remain suspended until further notice. This decision takes immediate effect and is for the information of all visa and consular service seekers.” The protest was organized by the Hindu Sangharsh Samity, a right-wing group, to highlight alleged atrocities against Hindu minorities in Bangladesh.