FRIDAY 27 DECEMBER 2024 www.thestatesman.com X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 Pages 12 |` 5.00 KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR POPCORN PARADOX SOUTH KOREAN OPPN SUBMITS MOTION TO IMPEACH ACTING PREZ P9 SENSEX 78,472.48q0.39 WEATHER Generally clear. Hazy in the evening. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 28°C and 17°C respectively. RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 71% Min. 53% NIFTY MALAYALAM FILM-MAKER MT VASUDEVAN NAIR PASSES AWAY P6 23,750.20p22.55 AAP accuses Congress of colluding with BJP for Delhi polls Min: 17.3˚C SUN SETS 17:00 hrs MOON SETS 13:29 hrs New Moon on 31 December THUMBNAILS An aerial view of Gurudwara Sri Fatehgarh Sahib as devotees throng on the occasion of Veer Bal Diwas, on Thursday. n ANI India's defence exports touched record Rs 21,083 crore in 2023-24, marks 32.5 pc growth: India's defence exports continue to rise touching a record Rs 21,083 crore (about USD 2.63 billion) in the FY2023-24, a growth of 32.5 per cent over the previous fiscal when the figure was Rs 15,920 crore. The figures indicated that the exports grew by 31 times in the last 10 years as compared to FY 2013-14. T he Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), two major constituents of INDIA bloc, were on a collision course on Thursday with the AAP accusing the grand old party of being hand in glove with the BJP in Delhi ahead of the Assembly elections, likely to be held in February. The AAP on Thursday sought action by the senior leadership of the Congress within 24 hours against its leader Ajay Maken for reportedly calling former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal 'anti-national' and said it will call for the expulsion of the grand old party from the INDIA bloc if no action is taken. AAP leader Sanjay Singh while addressing a press conference here, asserted that the party will ask all the other parties of the INDIA bloc to take a serious view of Mr Maken calling Mr Kejriwal anti-national, the insult to AAP and the FIR against Mr Kejriwal by Youth Congress, if the grand old party does not take appropriate action against its leader. The senior AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh alleged that the Congress in Delhi is in favour of the saffron party, and is doing everything that will benefit BJP in the upcoming Assembly polls. He accused Congress leader Maken of working at the behest of the saffron party and making statements as asked by the BJP. Mr Singh alleged: “Yesterday Maken crossed all the limits by calling the most popular leader of Delhi and AAP chief antinational.” The AAP leader further said that the Congress has never called out any BJP leader in this manner, and alleged that Mr Maken was reading out the script written by the saffron party. Sharpening his attack on the grand old party and its leader, the AAP leader said that Mr Kejriwal is the same person who campaigned for the Congress in the last Lok Sabha elections in Delhi and also in Chandigarh. AAP has always stood with the Congress with regard to the decisions in connection with parliamentary affairs, said the MP. Mr Singh accused the Congress party of not being ready to contest the recent Haryana Assembly polls in alliance with the AAP, despite efforts made by his party till the end. He said that no AAP leader ever made any statement against the grand old party despite not contesting polls together. The Chief Minister Atishi, who was also present at the press conference, claimed that her party has got to know from official sources that the poll expenses of the Congress candidates are being financed by the BJP. She alleged that the election expenses of prominent candidates of the Congress, including Sandeep Dikshit and Farhad Suri are being funded by the saffron party. Ms Atishi alleged that the Congress and BJP have colluded to inflict damage to the AAP in the upcoming polls. P12 SILVER 1,00,000 GOLD 78,595.00 INDIA partners AAP, INC on collision course TEMPERATURE Max: 28.2˚C SUN RISES 06:14 hrs MOON RISES 02:50 hrs P4 ` vs $ 85.27 STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 26 DECEMBER BOXING DAY TEST: BATTERS HELP AUS DOMINATE OPENING DAY BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 73.66p0.49 Bengal govt to allow construction of more shopping malls Kohli penalised for heated altercation with Konstas at MCG STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 26 DECEMBER: TRIDIB BAPARNASH KOLKATA, 26 DECEMBER The state government will allow construction of more shopping malls in the city and all district headquarters as a part of the drive to make artisans economically selfreliant, chief minster Mamata Banerjee said today. The state cabinet today cleared the proposal to allow construction of two more shopping malls in the city. In both the cases the state government will ask the private players to carry out constructions. One mall will come up on the plot of land opposte the Alipore zoo. "There is a plot of land where an acquarium of Alipore zoo is situated along with a clinic run by the state animal husbandary department. The proposed mall will house both," Miss Banerjee said. The other shopping mall will come up opposite Alipore Jail Museum. “It will be a leather hub where leather goods made by local craftsmen will be displayed and sold. Five lakh people work in the leather complex,” she said adding: “The shopping mall will help local buyers to purchase quality leather products." Miss Banerjee said in the districts super-markets will be set up for the benefit of the people. “The buildings will have two floors reserved for the SHGs, there will be a car park on the ground floor and a cinema hall and cafeteria for the visitors," she said. Miss Banerjee these steps have been taken to economically boost local artisans and self help groups. There will be Bengal Global Business Summit on 5 and 6 February, 2025. "Bengal''s economic growth is steady and it will grow further soon," she said. Miss Banerjee said on 30 December she will go to Sandeshkhali to take part in a public distribution programme. More than 20,000 people will receive various benefits, she said. Former India skipper Virat Kohli has been docked 20 per cent of his match fee and awarded one demerit point for his heated exchange with Australia debutant Sam Konstas on the opening day of the fourth Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday. The incident took place early into the first session of play when Kohli and Konstas bumped shoulders while moving across the pitch between overs. A heated exchange followed the confrontation, before Konstas' opening partner Usman Khawaja and umpire Michael Gough interrupted to cut the altercation short. Kohli was sanctioned for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct that relates to “inappropriate physical contact with a Player, Player Support Personnel, Umpire, Match Referee or any other person (including a spectator during an International Match”. No formal hearing was required as Kohli accepted the sanctions. The collision evoked memories of Gautam Gambhir's intentional shoulder tackle of Shane Watson in Delhi in 2008.