SATURDAY 25 JANUARY 2025 www.thestatesman.com Pages 16 |` 5.00 | LC X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 SINCE 1818 KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR ‘NATIONALISTS MUST WIN, NOT DEVOTEES OF MOEED KHAN’ PEACE GAMBLE P6 SENSEX 76,190.46q329.92 WEATHER Morning clouds followed by afternoon sun. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 27°C and 16°C respectively. NIFTY P8 23,092.20q113.15 P7 ` vs $ 86.22 GOLD 82,790.00 Oppn MPs suspended from Waqf Bill JPC after ruckus The JPC chairman accused Oppn members of causing disruptions, while the latter raised objections to the functioning of the panel RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Max. 70% Min. 64% NEW DELHI, 24 JANUARY Max: 27.5˚C SUN RISES 06:17 hrs MOON RISES 02:30 hrs Min: 16.3˚C SUN SETS 17:20 hrs MOON SETS 13:14 hrs TEMPERATURE A New Moon on 29 January THUMBNAILS Students take part in the full-dress rehearsal ahead of the Republic Day parade, at Guru Gobind Singh Stadium in Jalandhar on Friday. n ANI Activists Rona Wilson, Sudhir Dhawale released from jail in Elgar case: Activists Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale, accused in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case, were released from prison on Friday, more than two weeks after being granted bail by Bombay High Court. On 8 January 2025, Bombay High Court granted bail to Wilson and Dhawale, noting they had been in jail since 2018 and the trial in the case, in which antiterror act UAPA has been invoked, was yet to start. heated session of the Joint Parliamentary Committee ( JPC) on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 resulted in the suspension of several Opposition members, including TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee, DMK's A Raja and AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday. The motion for suspension, moved by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, was passed by the committee after repeated disruptions during the meeting held on Friday. The MPs were suspended for a day. Committee Chairman Jagdambika Pal said the meeting had to be adjourned multiple times due to Opposition MPs creating a ruckus, using unparliamentary language, and sloganeering. “We kept requesting them to let the invited delegation from Jammu and Kashmir speak, but they continued their protests,” Mr Pal stated. The Opposition members expressed strong objections to the functioning of the JPC, accusing the committee of rushing matters in view of the Delhi Assembly elections. Congress MP Imran Masood, who was among the suspended members, accused the committee of acting arbitrarily, alleging that the bill aims to “crush Waqf properties”. “They are doing everything in a lot of hurry and from the very first day, it looked like they want to grab the Waqf properties...We agreed to a meeting on 25th and 26th January, now SHAMI IN FOCUS AS INDIA FACE ENGLAND IN 2ND T20I ‘POLITICS FOLLOWS A CYCLE’ they have postponed it to 27th January. They are working arbitrarily...They are not at all serious, they just want to crush the Waqf properties...We all wanted the meeting which is to be held on 27th January to be postponed to 31st January...The situation in the JPC is not very good,” he said. Congress MP Md Jawaid, also suspended from the committee, echoed similar concerns, questioning the intentions behind the Bill and alleging that it is part of an RSS agenda. “We got a message at 11.30 pm that the meet- ing slated for 25 January is postponed to 27 January. Is it right to waste MPs' time like this? Members have come here from all the states. Are we not supposed to celebrate Republic Day with the people of our constituency?... This Waqf bill has been brought to grab the land of Masjids, Madrassas and graveyards... RSS is running an agenda that a place where Namaz is offered becomes Waqf land. We took the oath in the Parliament with 'Bismillah', does it make it a Waqf land? Will we claim the Parliament House? People are being misguided,” he stated. Meanwhile, Mr Pal clarified that a delegation led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the chief cleric of Kashmir, was present at the meeting and would present their views before the committee. He added that the clause-by-clause discussion of the Bill is scheduled for 27 January, with the final report to be presented in the forthcoming Budget session of Parliament. India asks Pak to take strict action to stop cross-border terrorism MEA reacts to obstructions to Emergency film screening in UK STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE P12 SILVER 1,05,000 BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 76.55p0.26 Maharashtra: Ordnance factory blast kills eight; several others injured STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE MUMBAI, 24 JANUARY A massive explosion that ripped through a defence ordnance factory in Jawahar Nagar in Bhandara district of Maharashtra at around 10.30 a.m. on Friday killed eight factory workers and injured several others. The blast was so powerful that it was heard up to five kilometres away, sources said, adding that the death toll is likely to go up. The explosion occurred in a section of the factory where raw materials are used to make Research and Development Explosive (RDX) for the armed forces. The blast caused a huge fire, and smoke spread throughout the area, as people fled from the area due to falling debris. The deceased were identified as Chandrashekar Goswami (59), Manoj Meshram (55), Ajay Nagdeve (51), Ankit Barai (20), Laxman Kelwade (38), Abhishek Chaurasia (35), Dharma Rangari (35) and Sanjay Karemore (32). Among the injured were Sanjay Raut (59), Narendra Vanjari (55), Rajesh Badwaik (33), Sunil Kumar Yadav (24), Jaideep Banerjee (42) and Manoj Meshram (59). They are undergoing treatment at Laksh Multispeciality Hospital in Bhandara. The cause of the blast is not yet known and officials are conducting further investigations. Earlier on Friday, rescue and medical teams were rushed to search for survivors after the blast brought down the roof of the factory, as it collapsed on the workers inside. Around 14 workers were reported to be trapped. Seven workers were rescued after JCB machines were pressed into service to clear the debris and look for survivors. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said he was “deeply saddened” by the incident. All efforts were being made to provide assistance to the affected people, he said on microblogging platform X. (With agency inputs) AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 24 JANUARY India on Friday strongly criticised Pakistan for supporting terrorism, saying that the whole world knows who is the progenitor of cross-border terrorism. Addressing a media briefing here, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said everyone knows that there are nations responsible for cross-border terrorism and India has called upon Pakistan to take strict action to stop cross-border terrorism. Asked about Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement claiming that the Indian Army is being politicised after the Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi said terror activities in Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir were linked with Pakistan, Mr Jaiswal responded: "The whole world knows, who is promoting ter- rorism. In India, when we have terror-related attacks, where it is coming from, we all know the genesis, the root of cross-border terrorism." "So, in this context, when the whole world knows who is the progenitor of crossborder terrorism, to say that we are trying to politicise something etc is totally immaterial. Everyone knows that there are people, there are countries who are responsible for cross-border terrorism and we call upon Pakistan to take strict action to stop cross-border terrorism," the MEA spokesperson said. Pakistan's ISPR issued the statement after Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi termed Pakistan as the epicentre of terrorism and said that 80 per cent of terrorists active in Jammu and Kashmir are Pakistanis. In his annual Army Day press conference on 13 January, General Dwivedi blamed Pakistan for the violence levels in the Union Territory saying it was being orchestrated by the epicentre of terrorism that is Pakistan. On the issue of fencing at the India-Bangladesh border, the MEA spokesperson said fencing the border is necessary so that crime-related incidents can be prevented. "There have been many agreements between India and Bangladesh to fence the border. Fencing the border is necessary so that crime-related incidents can be prevented... We want that the agreements made with Bangladesh to fence the border should also be positively implemented with us... The fencing being done on both sides of the border is being done as per the agreements made between the two countries,” Mr Jaiswal said. The MEA spokesperson also briefed the media regarding the upcoming visit of Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri to China on 26 and 27 January. BIDDING ADIEU NEW DELHI, 24 JANUARY Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Friday that freedom of speech and expression cannot be applied selectively, and urged the authorities in the United Kingdom to hold those responsible for obstructing the screening of the film Emergency in some UK theatres accountable. "We have also seen several reports on how the film, Emergency, which was being screened in several halls was being obstructed. We consistently raise concerns with the UK Government regarding incidents of violent protest and intimidation by antiIndia elements, freedom of speech and expression cannot be applied selectively and those obstructing it must be held accountable,” he told mediapersons at the weekly MEA briefing. Novak Djokovic, responding to booing fans with two thumbs up, retired from Friday's semifinal match at the Australian Open due to a torn muscle he suffered in his left leg during his quarterfinal win over Carlos Alcaraz. The Serbian, who was seeking his 25th Grand Slam title, called it quits after losing the first set to Alexander Zverev. Zverev will now face Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open men’s singles final. n AP (Match report on Page 12) ISRO's 100th rocket launch from Sriharikota set for 29 January Defence Minister Rajnath Singh flags off AGENCIES SRIHARIKOTA, 24 JANUARY The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is set to mark another significant milestone in the Indian space programme with the GSLVF15 mission, tentatively scheduled to launch at 6.23 a.m. on 29 January. The launch, which will take place from the Second Launch Pad (SLP) at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), will celebrate the 100th launch from India's renowned spaceport in Sriharikota. It will also be the 17th flight of India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) and the 11th with an Indigenous Cryogenic Stage. At the heart of the mission is the NVS-02 satellite, which will be deployed into a geosynchronous transfer orbit to enhance India’s Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) system. NavIC is India's autonomous regional navigation satellite system designed to offer precise Position, Velocity, and Timing (PVT) services. It provides services not only to users within India but also to a region extending about 1500 km beyond the Indian landmass. NavIC offers two distinct services: the Standard Positioning Service (SPS) and the Restricted Service (RS). The SPS is capable of providing position accuracy better than 20 meters (2σ) and timing accuracy better than 40 nanoseconds (2σ) across its service area. The NVS-02 is part of a new generation of NavIC satellites, joining the ranks of the NVS-01 launched in May 2023. NVS-02, with a lift-off mass of 2250 kg and a power handling capacity of approximately 3 kW, is designed with an advanced navigation payload covering L1, L5, and S bands. Additionally, it is equipped with a ranging payload in C-band, similar to its predecessor, NVS-01. This satellite will replace IRNSS-1E at the 111.75ºE position, significantly enhancing the accuracy and reliability of the NavIC system. The NVS series is set to provide enhanced features through its second-generation satellites, which incorporate L1 band signals, expanding the reach of NavIC services. The successful launch and integration of these satellites will ensure the continuity and future robustness of the NavIC network. The NVS-02 satellite, developed and integrated at the U R Satellite Centre (URSC), has undergone extensive testing, including thermovac and dynamic tests to ensure its readiness for launch. It was flagged off to SDSC-SHAR on 5 January 2025, and is currently undergoing pre-launch campaign activities. The successful placement of NVS-02 into orbit will further bolster India's navigation capabilities, contributing to its growing space-based infrastructure and technological prowess. 'SANJAY' Battlefield Surveillance System STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 24 JANUARY Defence Minister Rajnath Singh flagged off the ‘SANJAY Battlefield Surveillance System (BSS)’ from the South Block, here today. This advanced, automated system integrates inputs from various ground and aerial battlefield sensors, processes them for accuracy, eliminates duplication, and synthesises them into a unified Common Surveillance Picture. This will be transmitted over a secure Army Data Network and Satellite Communication Network, enhancing battlefield oversight. The system will support the Indian Army’s Command and Army Headquarters through a Centralised Web Application, which also feeds into the Indian Army Decision Support System. SANJAY is developed indigenously by the Indian Army in collaboration with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), The system marks a significant milestone in the drive toward ‘Aatmanirbharta’ (self-reliance). It follows the Indian Army’s ‘Year of Technology Absorption,’ high- lighting the push for domestic technological advancements. The system, valued at Rs 2,402 crore, is set for induction across all operational Brigades, Divisions, and Corps in phases from March to October 2025, aligning with the Ministry of Defence’s declared ‘Year of Reforms.’