MONDAY 16 DECEMBER 2024 www.thestatesman.com INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 Pages 12 |` 5.00 |LC X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR AMIT SHAH PLEDGES MAOIST-FREE CHHATTISGARH ‘CENTRE TAKING A VINDICTIVE ATTITUDE TOWARDS KERALA’ P5 ADHIR RANJAN DEFENDS IMPOSITION OF EMERGENCY P4 P3 Generally clear. Hazy in the evening. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 26°C and 15°C respectively. Maha ministry expanded as 39 ministers take oath RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE MUMBAI, 15 DECEMBER WEATHER Max. 76% Min. 59% Max: 26.1˚C SUN RISES 06:09 hrs MOON RISES 17:48 hrs Min: 15.4˚C SUN SETS 16:55 hrs MOON SETS 07:03 hrs TEMPERATURE Full Moon on 31 December THUMBNAILS Devotees throng Har Ki Pauri to take a dip in the river Ganga on Margashirsha Purnima in Haridwar on Sunday. n ANI Kejriwal to contest from New Delhi, Atishi from Kalkaji: Releasing its fourth and final list of 38 candidates on Sunday, the AAP has become the first party to declare candidates for all 70 Assembly seats in Delhi, even before the announcement of the Assembly elections by the Election Commission of India. Arvind Kejriwal will contest from the New Delhi assembly seat as a sitting MLA, while chief minister Atishi will contest from Kalkaji. Ministers from NCP, Shiv Sena to hold office for only two-and-a-half years T he BJP-led Mahayuti government's 39 ministers were sworn in on Sunday evening at the green, sprawling, and picturesque colonial Raj Bhavan (Governor's Residence) lawns in Nagpur by Governor CP Radhakrishnan without announcing any of their portfolios. Sources confirmed that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will retain the home ministry, which had become a bone of contention between the BJP and Shiv Sena. The decision was reportedly made during a late-night meeting in Mumbai on Friday to resolve differences in the cabinet allocation formula. The BJP has retained 19 ministerial posts, including Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena got 11 ministerial posts, including Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, while the AjitPawar-led NCP got 9 portfolios, including Deputy CM Ajit Pawar. More clarity on the ministerial portfolios of those sworn in is expected during the Winter ses- Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar took oath as members of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on day 1 of the State Assembly’s special session, in Mumbai on Saturday. n ANI sion of the Maharashtra Assembly, which begins on Monday, 16 December, in Nagpur, the winter capital of Maharashtra. The first MLA to take the oath of office and secrecy was BJP Maharashtra State President Chandrashekhar Bawankule. It is learnt that "final touches" were given to the list of ministers to be sworn in, as late as Sunday morning which led to Dhananjay Munde of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP receiving a phone call inviting him to take the minister's oath of office merely hours before the event began. Earlier, speaking at Deshpande Hall in Nagpur, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar specified that ministers from NCP and Shinde-led Shiv Sena, who were sworn in, would get to hold their portfolios only for a period of twoand-a-half years. This is because there are too many ministerial aspirants and everybody's aspirations would have to be satisfied. It is learnt that ministers from the Ajit Pawar-led NCP and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena were sworn in only after being made to give in writing and signing on their oath documents that they would resign from their ministerial positions after completing two-anda-half years. Deputy CM Ajit Pawar said that after two-and-a-half years, other aspirants would be sworn in as ministers in their place, in order to keep everybody satisfied. The swearing-in ceremony which was originally scheduled at 4 p.m. was delayed and began only at 4:48 p.m. A few hours before the event, Maharashtra Chief MinisterDevendraFadnavis landed in Nagpur where BJP leader Nitin Gadkari and BJP workers gave him a grand welcome. TWIN TONS PUT OZ AHEAD IN GABBA P12 Govt defers introduction of Bills related to ‘One Nation, One Election’ in Lok Sabha STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Zakir Hussain ‘very critical’ but still alive, says family NEW DELHI, 15 DECEMBER The Government will not introduce the two Bills related to “One Nation, One Election” in the Lok Sabha on Monday. The list of revised business of the Lok Sabha for 16 December does not mention the introduction of the two Bills ~ the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024 and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024 ~ in the House which were earlier mentioned in the previous list of business. The first Amendment Bill is to provide for conducting simultaneous elections of Lok Sabha and state Assemblies and the other Bill was for aligning the elections for the Assemblies in Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir and Puducherry. Sources have said these two Bills could be tabled later this week in the House, or the government can always put them on the legislative agenda at the last minute through ‘Supplementary List of Business’ with the permission of the Lok Sabha Speaker. The revised business list of the Lok Sabha for 16 December mentions that Union Law and Justice Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal will move The Readjustment NEW DELHI, 15 DECEMBER of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Assembly Constituencies of the State of Goa Bill, 2024. The Bill will enable reservation of seats in accordance with Article 332 of the Constitution for effective democratic participation of members of Scheduled Tribes and to provide for the readjustment of seats in the Legislative Assembly of the state of Goa, in so far such readjustment is necessitated by the inclusion of certain communities in the list of the Scheduled Tribes in the state of Goa. The previous list of business of the Lok Sabha had mentioned: "... Arjun Ram Meghwal to move for leave to introduce a Bill further to amend the Constitution of India. Also to introduce the Bill." Mr Meghwal was also to move 'The Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024 to amend the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963, the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019. Tabla maestro and five-time Grammy Award winner Zakir Hussain is “very critical” but still alive after being admitted to the ICU of a San Francisco hospital with heart-related ailments, his family said on Sunday in response to reports of his demise. “He is still alive. Please, I request you to pray for him. I am in touch with the family. He is very critical, but he is still breathing,” Hussain’s sister, Khurshid Aulia, was quoted as saying. An ‘X’ user, who identified himself as Hussain’s nephew, Ameer Aulia, also posted: “I am Zakir Hussain nephew and he has not passed away. We ask for prayers for my Uncle's health. Can you please remove this misinformation. He is in a serious condition and we ask for all his fans around the world to pray for his health.” Several media outlets reported Hussain’s demise late Sunday evening, prompting an outpouring of tributes to the maestro, though there was no official statement from Hussain's family. AGENCIES
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