TUESDAY 11 MARCH 2025 www.thestatesman.com X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 SINCE 1818 Pages 16 |` 5.00|LC KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR ‘BENEFITS OF EDUCATION, TECHNOLOGY MUST REACH VILLAGES’ CM STALIN HITS BACK AT UNION MINISTER PRADHAN ON NEP P6 SENSEX 74,115.17 q217.41 WEATHER Mainly clear sky. Maximum and Minimum Temperature most likely to be around 33˚C and 23˚C respectively. MARK CARNEY TO BE CANADA'S NEXT PM P5 NIFTY 22,460.30 q92.20 ` vs $ 87.30 P10 ROHIT SHARMA QUASHES ODI RETIREMENT RUMOURS P16 SILVER `99,000 GOLD `88,525 BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 70.78 Language, delimitation row causes uproar in both houses RAINFALL: 0.0 mm Oppn members staged a walkout from the RS over the issue of delimitation and NEP RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 94% Min. 40% TEMPERATURE Max: 32.4˚C (-0.6) Min: 22.6˚C (+0.9) SUN RISES 05:50 hrs MOON RISES 14:18 hrs SUN SETS 17:44 hrs MOON SETS 03:19 hrs Full Moon on 14 March THUMBNAILS STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 10 MARCH Tibetans in exile take out a march to mark the 66th Tibetan Uprising Day, in Kullu on Monday. nANI Elon MuskÊs X suffers massive outage, Indian users unable to access platform: Elon Musk-run X went down on Monday in a massive global outage, including in India, as users were unable to access the micro-blogging platform. X, formerly Twitter, was nonoperational for millions of users and the company was yet to respond to the reason behind the mega outage. It, however, started to work for some users after facing at least a 30-40 minute outage during the day. According to platform outage tracking platform DownDetector, the X outage peaked at around 15:00 hours. DownDetector reported a huge spike, with users rushing to lodge their complaints about the social media site on other platforms like Facebook and Instagram. T he Opposition created a ruckus in both Houses on Monday on the issue of delimitation, threelanguage policy, and the alleged manipulation of electoral rolls as Parliament reconvened for the remaining part of the Budget Session after a recess of almost three weeks. The first part of the Budget session drew to a close on 13 February. The Tamil Nadu language war echoed in Parliament with disruptions over the alleged ‘Hindi’ language imposition. Opposition members staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha over the issue of delimitation and the New Education Policy (NEP). In the Lok Sabha, the DMK protested the implementation of the NEP in Tamil Nadu. Their members walked into the well and protested on the issue. Amid DMK's opposition to the New Education Policy (NEP), Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan launched a scathing attack on the ruling party in Tamil Nadu and accused it of ruining the future of students. In the Rajya Sabha, Leader of the House and Union Health Minister JP Nadda slammed the Opposition for the notices issued under Rule 267 over the walkout. He called it a vicious design of the Opposition to demand the debate in Parliament to give the impression that they were interested in discussion and that the government does not want to answer or enter into a debate. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Oppo- sition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi demanded a comprehensive discussion on the alleged discrepancies in the voters' list. The Lower House considered the Lading Bill, 2024, while the Upper House considered the Railways Amendment Bill, 2024. Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to move a statutory resolution seeking Parliament’s approval for the proclamation of the President’s rule in the north-eastern state of Manipur. Both Houses were adjourned till March 10 after the JPC report on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill was tabled in Parliament. Additionally, they completed discussions on the Union Budget, with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman addressing the debates. However, Opposition members protested in the Lok Sabha, claiming their dissenting notes were Political slugfest over Ranya Rao case LAKSHMANA VENKAT KUCHI BENGALURU, 10 MARCH The Karnataka gold smuggling case involving popular actress Ranya Rao has paved way for a full-blown political war between the ruling Congress and Opposition BJP with accusations and counter-accusations heating up the political temperature. While the investigators have got custody of the two accused, the information so far coming out has sparked off political war between the ruling Congress in Karnataka and the opposition BJP in the state, with the latter going as far as to allege that a very powerful senior Congress leader and minister was behind the actress. The investigators have seized the electronic devices of the actress and are analysing the data, following which it is being alleged that she had access to politicians from across the political spectrum, which has sparked off a round of accusations and counter accusations between the two national political parties - the Congress and the BJP. The actress is said to have tried to contact a minister while in custody at the airport. With her phone already under the custody of the investigators, the call details and the frequency of her calls contained therein is causing sleepless nights to many politicians. Meanwhile, the Congress claimed the previous regime headed by Basavaraj Bommai had been indulgent towards the actress, allotting a huge tract of land for her factory, the BJP leaders have begun alleginginvolvementofCongress minister, or ministers, and are seeking a thorough investigation into the whole affair. While allegations are flying thick and fast, many politicians and officials could be spending sleepless nights, nervous of what the investigations might reveal. In a bid to distance the party from the scandal, Congress MLAs alleged that the previous BJP regime allotted 12 acres of land to her company which was just one year and few months old. But, senior BJP leader S Prakash, told The Statesman, that the question was as to how Ramya Rao was allowed to carry on with the alleged smuggling trips and how police personnel was allowed to help her escape frisking and checking at the airport. “Everyone who is involved must be brought to book and the nation must know who all are involved. Right now, the Karnataka government is very nervous and scared as to what investigations would reveal,” the senior BJP leader said and added, the police officer, the father of the actress, has not even been suspended. “A very powerful man could be behind her,” Prakash said without revealing his information or suspicions, saying that “we must wait for the investigations as to what they will throw up. “The same Powerful man could be behind the land allotment to Ramya Rao and he was influential even during the previous regime,” is what the BJP leader told the Statesman. (See Page 6) excluded from the report. Responding to this, Union Home Minister Amit Shah remarked, “the government would have no opposition if the opposition's dissent notes were added to the report.” In the second leg of the session, government’s main focus will be to secure Parliament’s approval for the demands for grants, completing the budgetary process, seeking approval for the Manipur budget, and pushing for the passage of the Waqf Amendment Bill, which has already been cleared by the Union Cabinet for introduction in Parliament. On the other hand, the Opposition is set to target the government by raising several burning issues, including delimitation, the three-language formula policy, the US trade tariffs, and the alleged manipulation of electoral rolls. The second part of the Budget Session of Parliament will continue until April 4, with a total of 20 sittings scheduled. Finance Minister Sitharaman will table the budget for Manipur, which has been under President's Rule since the resignation of former Chief Minister N. Biren Singh last month. Parliament will take up discussions and voting on the Demands for Grants for the financial year 2025-26, along with the Appropriation Bill. Several significant legislations are also on the agenda, including the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, Coastal Shipping Bill, 2024, Immigration and Foreigners Bill, 2025, and Railways (Amendment) Bill. Centre not imposing any language anywhere: Pradhan STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 10 MARCH Describing the opposition to the three-language formula a ''political stand'', Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday said the Centre is open to discussing the issue despite Tamil Nadu taking a U-turn just before signing a MoU for the PM Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) scheme. ED raids former Chh’garh CM Bhupesh Baghel in `2,100 crore liquor scam STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE RAIPUR, 10 MARCH In a massive operation, the Enforcement Directorate on Monday raided 14 locations linked to former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, his son Chaitanya Baghel, and their associates in connection with a Rs 2,100 crore liquor scam allegedly perpetrated during Baghel’s tenure (2019–2022). Conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the raids have ignited fierce protests from Congress workers and drawn accusations of political vendetta by the BJP government. ED teams targeted Baghel’s Bhilai-3 Padum Nagar residence, Chaitanya’s premises, and properties of close aides, including Laxmi Narayan Bansal. Using cash counting machines and gold testing devices, officials scrutinized recovered assets, seizing numerous documents and electronic devices. After a 10 hour long search, Baghel stated that the ED removed approximately 32–33 lakh in cash along with crucial documents, including a pen drive linked to the Manturam case. Eyewitnesses described chaotic scenes outside Baghel's residence, where a mob of Congress supporters hurled stones at ED vehicles. Determined protesters blocked roads and even climbed onto police cars, resulting in heated clashes with law enforcement. In a show of defiance, the Congress has announced statewide effigy burnings of both the BJP and the ED on March 11, condemning the raids as an “assault on democracy” and pledging to mobilize public support. With the liquor scam investigation ongoing, Monday's ED raids have become the focal point of a broader political confrontation. While the government insists the probe is impartial and backed by solid evidence, the Congress claims it is a calculated move by the BJP to divert attention from pressing national issues. India’s agricultural production surges to record high in 2024-25 AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 10 MARCH India has achieved a record production of rice, wheat, maize, groundnut and Soybean during 2024-25, according to the second advance estimates released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare on Monday. The country’s kharif foodgrain production is estimated at 1663.91 lakh metric tonnes (LMT), and rabi foodgrain production is estimated at 1645.27 LMT. Kharif rice production is estimated at 1206.79 LMT as compared to 1132.59 LMT in 2023-24, showing an increase of 74.20 LMT while the production of rabi rice is estimated at 157.58 LMT. Production of wheat is estimated at 1154.30 LMT, which is higher by 21.38 LMT as compared to the previous year's production of 1132.92 LMT. Production of Shree Anna (Kharif) is estimated at 137.52 LMT and Shree Anna (Rabi) is estimated at 30.81 LMT. Further, the Production of Nutri/Coarse Cereals (Kharif) is estimated at 385.63 LMT and the Production of Nutri/Coarse Cereals (Rabi) is estimated at 174.65 LMT. Production of Tur and Gram is estimated at 35.11 LMT and 115.35 LMT, respectively and the production of Lentil is estimated at 18.17 LMT. The production of Kharif and Rabi Groundnut is estimated at 104.26 LMT and 8.87 LMT, respectively while the production of Soybean is estimated at 151.32 LMT which is higher by 20.70 LMT as compared to the previous year’s production of 130.62 LMT and production of Rapeseed and Mustard is estimated at 128.73 LMT. The production of Cotton is estimated at 294.25 Lakh Bales (of 170 kg each) and the production of Sugarcane is estimated at 4350.79 LMT. The Ministry said that while preparing the kharif crop production estimates the Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs) based yield has been considered. The rabi crop production is based on the average yield and is subject to change in the successive estimates on the receipt of better yield estimates based on CCEs. The production of various summer crops will be included in the forthcoming third advance estimates. Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan, while approving and releasing the data on major agricultural crops, stated that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Central Government is continuously working towards the development of the agricultural sector. He highlighted that the Ministry of Agriculture is providing assistance and encouragement to farmers through various schemes, resulting in a record increase in agri- cultural crop production. The crop area received from the States has been validated and triangulated with information received from Remote Sensing, Weekly Crop Weather Watch Group and other agencies, according to a statement. Further, the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare (DoA&FW) took the initiative of Stakeholder consultation with representatives from the industry and other Governmental Departments to receive their opinions, views and sentiments for the Kharif and Rabi season. These have also been considered while finalising the estimates. Further, the yield estimates are based on Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs), previous trends and other contributing factors, the statement added. Speaking in the Lok Sabha, he also rejected apprehensions that the Centre is trying to impose any language anywhere, including in Tamil Nadu. “Tamil will remain the medium of instruction up to the eighth standard. In Tamil Nadu or any state, nobody is imposing any language on anyone,” he told reporters after protesting DMK MPs forced the adjournment of the House. Earlier, responding to a question in the House, Mr Pradhan accused the DMKled Tamil Nadu government of going back on its promise of implementing the PM SHRI scheme in the state. CM shares joy over Centre’s praise for Bengal’s MSME sector STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, 10 MARCH Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has expressed her happiness over the annual survey of unincorporated sector enterprises, which has listed West Bengal at the top for its wonderful performance in the MSME sector. The MSME sector has been the chief minister’s major thrust area over the years and the sector has even drawn praise from many industry bodies apart from the Centre in the past. Mamata wrote on her Xhandle: “Happy to share that the recently published findings of the “Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises” conducted by the National Statistics Office, Government of India, once again establish Bengal’s top position in (MSME) manufacturing industries and, simultaneously, our women's wonderful performance there. West Bengal tops in the country in terms of workers engaged in “Manufacturing Enterprises” (13.81 per cent). At all-India level, West Bengal shares the maximum percentage of “Manufacturing” enterprises (16.02 per cent) and “Other Service” enterprises (13.09 per cent). West Bengal boasts the highest percentage (36.4 per cent) of female headed establishments in India. West Bengal shares the highest percentage (12.73 per cent) in female workers in ‘Unincorporated Sector Enterprises’.”