THURSDAY 30 JANUARY 2025 www.thestatesman.com X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 SINCE 1818 Pages 12 |` 5.00 |LC KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR ‘COVERT ATTEMPT TO HELP MILITANTS REGROUP IN NORTH-EAST’ STRATEGIC TIES P6 SENSEX 76,532.96p631.55 WEATHER Partly cloudy. Hazy in the evening. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 29°C and 21°C respectively. TEMPERATURE Max: 29.4˚C SUN RISES 06:16 hrs MOON RISES 06:55 hrs P8 23,163.10p205.85 ` vs $ 86.56 Min: 21.5˚C SUN SETS 17:23 hrs MOON SETS 18:17 hrs 30 pilgrims lose lives in Mahakumbh stampede THUMBNAILS President Droupadi Murmu is received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on arrival to witness the Beating Retreat ceremony at Vijay Chowk, in New Delhi on Wednesday. n UNI PAN now to be used by information utilities to verify usersÊ identity: PAN (Permanent Account Number) has now been included on par with other officially valid documents for use by information utilities to verify the identity of users. Amended guidelines issued by the IBBI require the information utility to obtain a sub-authentication user agency licence from the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for demographic authentication of users during the registration process. t least 30 people, mostly women, died and around 60 people were injured after a "stampede-like" situation broke out at the Sangam on Wednesday amid the ongoing Mahakumbh as a large number of pilgrims turned up for a holy bath on Mauni Amavasya. The incident occurred in the early hours of Wednesday amid a sea of pilgrims converging at the Sangam and all other ghats created along a 12km long stretch of river bank for the Mahakumbh. The Triveni Sangam ~ confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati ~ is considered the holiest by Hindus, with a belief that taking a dip in it during Mahakumbh and particularly on auspicious days like Mauni Amavasya washes away people's sins and provides them 'moksha' or salvation. The 'Amrit snan' of the 13 akharas, after being deferred, was completed ISRO launches 100th satellite NVS-02 from Sriharikota STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 29 JANUARY In a historic feat, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Wednesday announced its 100th launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The GSLV-F15 launcher with the NVS-02 satellite lifted off from the spaceport’s second launch pad at 6.23 a.m. “The first launch of 2025 has been successfully accomplished. The satellite has been placed into the intended orbit,” newly-appointed ISRO chairman V Narayanan said. The GSLV-F15 is the 17th flight of India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) and the 11th flight with Indigenous Cryo stage. It is the 8th operational flight of GSLV with an indigenous Cryogenic stage. The NVS02 satellite was designed, developed and integrated at the U R Satellite Centre (URSC) with the support of other satellite-based work centres. The first launch, on 10 August 1979, was the experimental flight of Satellite Launch Vehicle-3 (SLV-3 E10) carrying the Rohini Technology Payload, which was only partially successful. BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 77.19q0.30 Mahakumbh stampede: Chief Minister Mamata condoles deaths STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, 29 JANUARY late today amid tight security measures. Deputy Inspector General of Police Vaibhav Krishna told reporters here that 30 pilgrims succumbed to their injuries. He said 25 deceased have been identified. Among them 4 were from Karnataka and one each from Gujarat and Assam. He said 36 people are still admitted in the hospital. The Uttar Pradesh government has announced a helpline toll-free number, 1920, for tracing missing persons. The DIG said that today no VIP protocol was entertained and this norm will continue during the next Amrit Snan during Basant Panchami on 3 February. “Situation is normal now and the Amrit Snan has also been completed,” he added. The DIG said pilgrims broke the barricades on the Akhara Marg which led to the stampede. The barricades had been placed in the mela and akhara areas for lane management but they gave way under the pressure of the jostling throng, he said. As the barricades broke, people fell on those sitting and waiting for taking the holy dip during the 'brahm muhurt' (early ‘AAP-Da’s’ boat will sink in Yamuna in the Assembly polls: PM Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal over his charge that the BJP-led Haryana government had ‘poisoned’ the Yamu- P12 SILVER 1,04,000 GOLD 83,330.00 A Full Moon on 12 February NEW DELHI, 29 JANUARY P7 STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE MAHAKUMBH NAGAR, 29 JANUARY Min. 71% NIKHIL VYAS VARUN CHAKRAVARTHY RISES TO FIFTH IN T20I BOWLER RANKINGS Early morning surge on Akhara Marg leads to tragedy; 60 injured RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 88% NIFTY ‘SLOWDOWN STRUCTURAL, NOT CYCLICAL’ na’s water, saying the ‘AAPda’ is in panic fearing a humiliating defeat in the Assembly elections in Delhi. “In their political interest, 'AAP-da' people have committed another grave sin and this sin can never be forgiven. A former Chief Minister of Delhi has made disgusting allegations against the people of Haryana. ‘AAP-da’ people are in panic due to fear of defeat. Is Haryana different from Delhi?” he said without directly naming Kejriwal. “Don't the children, families and relatives of the people of Haryana live in Delhi? Can the people of Haryana mix poison in the water of their own children?” Mr Modi questioned. Arvind Kejriwal levelled serious allegations against the BJP, saying that the BJP-ruled Haryana government has "poisoned" the Yamuna water supplied to Delhi so that "people die" and the blame falls on the AAP. morning time considered auspicious to perform certain activities), he said. Today, over 5.7 crore devotees had a dip in the Sangam till 6 p.m. President Draupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other political leaders condoled the loss of lives in the incident. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered a judicial probe into the incident. He also pledged Rs 25 lakh ex-gratia to the families of each of the deceased. In the last Mahakumbh in 2013, over 36 pilgrims had died in a stampede at the Prayagraj Railway station on Mauni Amavasya. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday, expressed her condolences over the unfortunate deaths in the stampede at the Prayagraj Mahakumbh earlier in the day. "I am deeply saddened to learn of the tragic stampede at the Mahakumbh, which has claimed at least 15 innocent lives. My thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved pilgrim families. My learning from our Gangasagar Mela is that planning and care must be maximal in matters relating to pilgrims' lives in vast assemblies of people. Prayers for the departed souls,” a statement from the Chief Minister stated. Miss Banerjee’s remark that ‘planning and care must be maximal’ when it comes to managing vast assemblies, was seen by many as a subtle jab at the Uttar Pradesh government and the Centre. Supreme Court strikes down domicile-based reservations in PG medical admissions PARMOD KUMAR NEW DELHI, 29 JANUARY The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that domicile-based reservations in postgraduate medical courses are impermissible, and declared them unconstitutional for being violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India, guaranteeing equality before law. While holding that providing for domicile residence- based reservations in admission in PG medical courses within the state quota is constitutionally impermissible, a three-judge bench said that the state quota seats are to be filled up on the basis of merit in the NEET exam. The court, however, clarified that the judgment will only affect future admissions and will not affect the domicile reservation that has already been granted to the students. (Details on Page 5)