MONDAY 16 DECEMBER 2024 www.thestatesman.com INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 Pages 12 |` 5.00 X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR ‘CENTRE TAKING A VINDICTIVE ATTITUDE TOWARDS KERALA’ AMIT SHAH PLEDGES MAOIST-FREE CHH’GARH BY 2026 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% T TEMPERATURE Max: 26.1˚C SUN RISES 06:09 hrs MOON RISES 17:48 hrs Ministers from NCP, Shiv Sena to hold office for only two-and-a-half years Min: 15.4˚C SUN SETS 16:55 hrs MOON SETS 07:03 hrs New 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 Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake arrives in India: Sri Lanka President President Anura Kumara Dissanayake arrived in New Delhi on Sunday for a three-day visit intended to boost bilateral ties and cooperation with India. Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Dr. S. Murugan and other diplomatic officials welcomed Mr. Dissanayake upon his arrival in India. He is scheduled to hold discussion on bilateral matters with Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar. 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 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, speak- ing at Deshpande Hall in Nagpur, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar specified that ministers from NCP and Shindeled Shiv Sena, who were sworn in, would get to head their portfolios only for a period of two-anda-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 Shindeled Shiv Sena were sworn in only after being made to give in writing and signing on their oath docu- Atul Subhash suicide case: Wife, kin arrested AGENCIES BENGALURU, 15 DECEMBER Three accused in the Atul Subhash's suicide case ~ his wife, her mother and brother ~ who were arrested by Bengaluru Police, have been sent to 14-day judicial custody, officials said here on Sunday. A senior police officer said Atul Subhash’s wife Nikita Singhania was arrested from Haryana’s Gurugram and her mother Nisha Singhania and brother Anurag Singhania were arrested in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. The three were produced before the court and were sent to judicial custody for 14 days. The Karnataka Police had brought the three to Bengaluru on Saturday late at night. More details are yet to emerge in the case. Preliminary investigations have revealed that Atul Subhash (photo) had planned to commit suicide 15 days before taking the extreme step. He had written the death note three days before and searched legal matters on Google. The police registered an FIR against the accused persons under Sections 108, 3 (5) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) on 9 December. Bikas Kumar, the deceased Atul’s younger brother had lodged a police complaint alleging abetment to suicide with the Marathahalli police in Bengaluru. The FIR was lodged against Subhash’s wife Nikita Singhania, mother-in-law Nisha Singhania, brotherin-law Anurag Singhania and relative Sushil Singhania. The police are yet to arrest the fourth accused, Sushil, in the case. Bikas Kumar alleged in the complaint that false cases were lodged against his brother Atul Subhash by the accused and the accused had demanded Rs 3 crore to settle the case. He had also alleged that his brother was taunted in the court during the proceedings that he had to either give Rs 3 crore or commit suicide. Nikita’s family had alleged that the deceased Atul Subhash demanded a hefty dowry from her family which resulted in the death of her father. Subhash, who was work- ing with an automobile company in Bengaluru, allegedly committed suicide as a demand of Rs 3 crore was made for a divorce settlement. He ended his life at his apartment in the early hours of 9 December, leaving behind a 90-minute video and a 40-page death note, explaining how harassment by his wife Nikita Singhania and her family compelled him to take the extreme step. The note left by him read: "If the court decides that the corrupt judge and my wife and other harassers are not guilty, then pour my ashes into some gutter outside the court. Don't do my 'asthi visarjan' till my harassers get punished." However, the family collected the 'asthis' from the Bengaluru crematorium where Subhash’s final rites were conducted. The family stated that the ashes would be taken to Patna, from where the family originally hails from and it will be immersed into the river as per the traditions. ments that they would resign from their ministerial positions after completing two-and-a-half years. Deputy CM Ajit Pawar said that after two-anda-half years, other aspirants would be sworn in as ministers in their place, in order to keep everybody satisfied. The swearingin 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 Minister Devendra Fadnavis landed in Nagpur where BJP leader Nitin Gadkari and BJP workers gave him a grand welcome. NEW DELHI, 15 DECEMBER The “Nehru Development Model” inevitably produced a Nehru foreign policy and the government is seeking to correct that abroad, just as it is trying to reform the consequences of the model at home, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Sunday. “In fact, the resistance to one is based on an attachment to the other. In my view, the two need to be tackled as an integral whole. The paradox is, that for more than three decades now, there is actually a national consensus, that this development model eventually failed the country,” he observed at the launch of The Nehru Development Model, a book by former NITI Aayog vice chairman Prof Arvind Panagariya. However, he said, there is still a reluctance to confi- dently explore alternatives. “As a result, we usually end up doing the reforms we must, rarely the reforms we should,” he added. The minister said there was a strong ideological drive in India to advance a particular economic model for the country after it attained freedom. The belief which propelled it was modulated from time to time, but never fundamentally changed. Its root cause was an analysis that the only counter to imperialism lay in socialism, he said. “Not just in general terms, but one particular paradigm that was centered around heavy industry. For that reason, the author (Prof Panagariya) actually characterised it as a Nehru Development Model. Now, this may have worked for the USSR; or at least it appeared to do so then. The problem was that India was not the USSR,” the minister said. Mr Jaishankar noted that Prof Panagariya has suggested in his book that Nehru’s choices set India on a deterministic path. “The model and its accompanying narratives permeated our politics, the bureaucracy, of course the planning system, the judiciary, the public space including media, and most of all, teaching. Think about it: both Russia and China today, reject unambiguously, the economic assumptions of that period, which they did more than anyone else, to propagate. Yet, these beliefs appear to live-on with influential sections of our country even today. Certainly, after 2014, there has been a vigorous effort towards course correction. But the author does suggest – with good reason – that it still remains an uphill task,” he added. P12 Govt defers introduction of Bills related to ‘One Nation, One Election’ in Lok Sabha STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE 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. However, 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 of Representation of Sched- uled 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. On Thursday, the Union Cabinet approved the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment Bill), 2024. The same were circulated to MPs on Friday evening. A high-level committee chaired by former President Ram Nath Kovind that had been set up to study the feasibility of holding simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies had submitted its findings in March, noting the challenges posed by prolonged election cycles. The report suggested that simultaneous elections could ensure policy stability, alleviate voter fatigue, and boost electoral participation. AAP releases final list: Ex-CM Kejriwal to contest from New Delhi, Atishi from Kalkaji STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 15 DECEMBER Releasing its fourth and final list of 38 candidates on Sunday, the AAP has become the first party in the city to declare candidates for all 70 Assembly seats in Delhi, even before the announcement of the Assembly elections by the Election Commission of India (ECI). AAP National Convenor and former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal will contest from the New Delhi assembly seat as a sitting MLA. He is pitted against Congress’ contender Sandeep Dixit. Delhi Chief Minister Atishi will once again contest from Kalkaji while her cabinet colleague Saurabh Bharadwaj has been nominated from his Greater Kailash Assembly segment. Similarly, other Delhi Cabinet Ministers will contest from their seats. Mukesh Ahlawat from Sultan Pur Majra, Imran Hussain from Ballimaran, Gopal Rai from Nehru Development Model failed India: Jaishankar STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE TWIN TONS PUT OZ AHEAD IN GABBA He said there is no question that India has benefitted from greater openness in the last 33 years. But the situation today is much more complex than before. “We live in an era of weaponised economics, one that throws up questions as to what exactly we are exposing abroad, and to whom. This is aggravated by increasingly technology-centric growth and high data sensitivity. The key concepts, therefore, today are less of openness, and more of resiliency, reliability, redundancy and trust. In the debates that understandably take place in this domain, perhaps ‘openness with caution’ is a better approach,” he added. He was of the view that “Atma nirbharta” (selfreliance) should not be taken as a synonym for protectionism. “It is actually a call to think and act for ourselves, as much as it is to ensure national security,” he added. Babarpur, and Raghuvinder Shokeen from Nangloi Jat. Among senior AAP leaders, Durgesh Pathak will contest from Rajinder Nagar, Somnath Bharti from Malviya Nagar, Satyendra Kumar Jain from Shakur Basti, Amanatullah Khan from Okhla, Kuldeep Kumar from Kondli, Jarnail Singh from Tilak Nagar, and Sahi Ram from Tughlakabad. The party has dropped its sitting MLA from Kasturba Nagar Madan Lal and nominated Ramesh Pehlwan as its candidate from the constituency. Pehlwan, along with his wife and councillor Kusum Lata, joined the AAP after quitting the BJP just before the announcement of the list. In place of Narsh Balyan, who is under judicial custody, the party has fielded his wife Posh Balyan from Uttam Nagar. Additionally, Sanjeev Jha will contest from Burari, Ajesh Yadav from Badli, Mohinder Goyal from Rithala, Jai Bhagwan from Bawana, Bandana Kumari from Shalimar Bagh, Preeti Tomar from Tri Nagar, Rajesh Gupta from Wazirpur, Akhilesh Pati Tripathi from Model Town, Shoaib Iqbal from Matia MAhal, Vishesh Ravi from Karol Bagh, Shiv Charan Goel from Moti Nagar, Dhanwati Chandela from Rajouri Garden, Som Dutt from Sadar Bazar. Moreover, Raj Kumar Dhillon will contest from Hari Nagar, Mahendra Yadav from Vikaspuri, Vinay Mishra from Dwarka, Virender Kadyan from Delhi Cantonment, Pramila Tokas from RK Puram, Naresh Yadav from Mehrauli, Ajay Dutt from Ambedkar Nagar, Dinesh Mohaniya from Sangam Vihar and Surendra Kumar from Gokalpur. After announcing the final list of candidates, Arvind Kejriwal posted on X: “Today, the Aam Aadmi Party has announced its candidates for all 70 seats. The party is contesting the elections with full confidence and thorough preparation. The BJP is nowhere to be seen. They have no CM face, no team, no planning, and no vision for Delhi. They have only one slogan, one policy, and one mission—' Remove Kejriwal’”. ` 71,889 crore released to states under various heads for FY25 till now: Centre AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 15 DECEMBER The government on Sunday said that based on the recommendations of 15th Finance Commission (XV-FC), Rs 71,889 crore has been released to the states to date under various heads for FY 2024-25. The 15th Finance Commission had recommended the grants-in-aid of Rs 71,889 crore to the state governments under heads like grants to local bodies; post devolution revenue deficit grant; central share of state disaster response fund and state disaster mitigation fund and health sector grant, among others, for the year 2024-25 (upto December 10). In a post on X social media platform, the Ministry of Finance also said that “based on the recommendation of @MinOfPower, Department of Expenditure @FinMinIndia The 15th Finance Commission had recommended the grants-in-aid of `71,889 crore to the state governments under heads like grants to local bodies. allowed additional borrowing of 0.5 per cent of GSDP worth around 1.56 lakh crore linked to performance in power sector for FY2024-25”. “The Department of Expenditure @FinMinIndia allows extra borrowing ceiling of nearly Rs 9.40 lakh crore to states in FY2024-25,” it further added. According to the ministry, Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) through Public Financial Management System (PFMS) supports ‘Digital India’ by enabling electronic payment and receipt for ministries/departments in both centre and states. “Department of Expenditure @FinMinIndia has been consistently improving DBT linkages between beneficiaries and onboarding with external systems to facilitate greater #EaseOfLiving,” the ministry posted. Meanwhile, the government has also unveiled the Delegation of Financial Powers Rules, 2024 — a landmark initiative that aims to imbue financial regulations with simplicity and clarity for streamlined decision-making and enhanced operational efficiency. Also, based on the recommendation of the New Pension System (NPS) Review Committee, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) in August this year.