THURSDAY 10 APRIL 2025 www.thestatesman.com X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 SINCE 1818 Pages 16 |` 5.00 |LC KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR REVANTH REDDY VOWS TO STOP BJP IN TELANGANA KHARGE CALLS MAHA POLLS OUTCOME 'FRAUD' P5 SENSEX 73,847.15 q379.93 P6 NIFTY 22,399.15 q136.70 ` vs $ 86.72 RCB TO FACE IN-FORM CAPITALS NETANYAHU-TRUMP MEETING REVEALS GAPS ON KEY ISSUES P10 P16 SILVER `93,000 GOLD `92,410 RAINFALL: 0.0 mm Attempts to snatch others’ property: CM on Waqf Act RELATIVE HUMIDITY BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 60.39 CM said that TMC is determined to protect the minority community's interests & properties WEATHER Partly cloudy sky. Maximum and Minimum Temperature most likely to be around 34˚C and 27˚C respectively. Max. 86% 26/11 attack accused Tahawwur Rana will be in India soon: Sources Min. 40% TEMPERATURE Max: 34.2˚C (-1.0) Min: 25.7˚C (+0.5) SUN RISES 05:22 hrs MOON RISES 14:58 hrs SUN SETS 17:55 hrs MOON SETS 03:14 hrs Full Moon on 13 April STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 9 APRIL THUMBNAILS A staff gives bath to an elephant in its enclosure during a hot summer afternoon, at the National Zoological Park in New Delhi on Wednesday. nANI STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, 9 APRIL PM Modi invited by Russia for Victory Day parade: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been invited by Russia for its May 9 Victory Day parade, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal confirmed on Wednesday. ''Our Prime Minister has received an invitation for participation in the Victory Day celebrations. We will be announcing our participation in the Victory Day celebrations at the appropriate time," he said at a media briefing. The Victory Day celebrations will mark the 80th anniversary of Russia’s victory over Germany in World War II. Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko was quoted by Russian news agency Tass as saying that an invitation has already been sent to Mr Modi and the visit is being worked out. “It’s being worked out, it should be this year. He (Mr Modi) has an invitation,” he said. J ust as no one has the right to snatch my property, I too do not have the right to snatch others' property. In West Bengal, I will never allow that, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday. She was addressing a programme on Vishwa Navkar Mahamantra Divas in Kolkata. The chief minister on Wednesday launched an indirect attack against the Centre over the newlypromulgated Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 and described it as an "attempt to snatch others' property". The chief minister said that she and her government are determined to protect the minority community's interests and properties. "In West Bengal, the people from the minority community are almost 33 per cent of the population. Always remember that your Didi is there to protect you and your property. Our mission should be - jio aur jine do (live and let live)'," CM Banerjee said. The chief minister's observation comes amid the tension in Jangipur of Murshidabad district following violence over the Waqf (Amendment) Act. Speaking on the occasion, she also indirectly attacked the Union government and the BJP for "ruining" the future of the country through the politics of "dividing" people. "Attempts to divide people will ruin the future of the country. It will ruin the economy of the country. It will weaken the country. The country will get stronger only if the path of unity is followed," the chief minister said. Speaking on the occasion, CM Banerjee also appealed to the people to fight for the sake of unity. "We will have to fight for the sake of unity. We will have to think of unity. We will have to work for unity. Even if I am shot, I will not distract from the path of unity," she said. Later, the chief minister wrote in her X-handle: “If there’s one RBI MPC announces rate cut by 25 bps to 6 pc; Governor flags US tariff concerns thing I believe with all my heart and soul, it is this: the spirit of unity and brotherhood that defines Bengal will remain untarnished, no matter the attempts made by a few to divide us. With this message, I was honoured to observe Vishwa Navkar Mahamantra Divas with my Jain brothers and sisters. It is a matter of pride that Lord Mahavira spent time in Bengal in meditation and spiritual pursuit. The city of Bardhaman derives its name from 'Vardhaman', another revered name of the Lord. “May his teachings continue to illuminate our path. May we stand united, lead by example, and carry this message of compassion, harmony, and togetherness across the world.” India clears biggest-ever fighter jet deal: 26 Rafale Marine jets for Navy approved PARWINDER SANDHU NEW DELHI, 9 APRIL STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 9 APRIL The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has unanimously decided to reduce the repo rate by 25 bps to 6 per cent, said Governor Sanjay Malhotra on Wednesday. Presenting the first monetary policy for the financial year 2025-26, he announced that the MPC has decided to change the stance to 'accommodative' from 'neutral'. The Governor also announced that the Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) rate now stands at 5.75 per cent, while the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate have been revised to 6.25 per cent. The RBI Governor also discussed the US tariff, saying it has posed 'new headwinds' for global growth and inflation. "Overall, the year has begun on an anxious note for the global economy. Slow down in global growth could entail further softening in commodity and crude oil prices," he said. “The recent trade tariffrelated measures have exacerbated uncertainties clouding the economic outlook across regions, posing new headwinds for global growth and inflation. Financial markets have responded through a sharp fall in the dollar index and equity sell-offs with significant softening in bond yields and crude oil prices,” the Governor said. On the GDP, Governor Malhotra projected the growth at 6.5 per cent and on a quarterly basis, he said the GDP for Q1 is projected at 6.5 per cent; Q2 at 6.7 per cent; Q3 at 6.6 per cent; and Q4 is 6.3 per cent. Further, on the inflation, he said for FY26, the inflation is projected at 4 per cent. For Q1, it is projected at 3.6 per cent; Q2 at 3.9 per cent; Q3 at 3.8 per cent; and Q4 at 4.4 per cent . The outlook for food inflation has turned decisively positive. There has been a substantial and broad-based seasonal correction in vegetable prices. In such challenging global economic conditions, the benign inflation and moderate growth outlook demand that the MPC continues to support growth, he said. ‘India hopes to conclude trade deal with US soon’ STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 9 APRIL Amid the heated nationwide debate on the reciprocal tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump on India and other nations, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar said on Wednesday that India is currently negotiating a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) with America, which could be concluded by the fall of this year. Asked how India is going to deal with the reciprocal tariffs at a media summit here, he said, "I don't think it is possible to speak about the impact because we don't know." He said India's strategy has been to engage with the US in concluding the BTA. "Our strategy is pretty clear; we decided that we will engage the Trump administration earlier on this set of issues, and we were very open with them, constructive with them as they were with us. What we agreed to do was try to negotiate a bilateral trade agreement by the fall of this year," the minister added. "To the best of my knowl- edge, and I could be corrected here, I think we are the only country after President Trump has resumed the presidency the second time, which has reached such an understanding (for a BTA) in principle," Mr Jaishankar said. Since tariffs have been imposed on almost every country, each is drawing up its own strategy to deal with the US, he said, adding, "In our case, our strategy has a goal, which is to see whether it is possible to actually deal with this situation by concluding a bilateral trade agreement, and I should add that in an interesting way, this has long been our objective." With the tariffs in place, he underscored that the present situation may have created the circumstances for such a serious conversation, but India had been pursuing a trade deal even during President Trump's first term. "So, from the Indian perspective, working out a bilateral deal with the United States is not a negative or unwanted situation. On the contrary, it is something which has long been our objective," he added. Talking about Sino-Indian relations, the minister said the relationship was now much better than before. "The relationship is much better than before. I think the disengagement, particularly the Depsang Demchok, was important," he said. "We are now addressing, to some extent, the issues on the border because there has been a force build-up over a period of years. There were many other things that also happened during this period. Some of it was collateral for the situation. Some of it was a carryover from the Covid era," Mr Jaishankar said. The relations between the two countries during 2020-2024 in the wake of the military stand-off at eastern Ladakh were not in anyone's interest. "For example, our direct flights stopped during Covid. They were not resumed. The Kailash Mansarovar Yatra stopped during Covid, it did not resume. So, I think there is work to be done. We are at it. We are trying to see whether a lot of this post-COVID and parallel to the border tension, the combination of these issues, how much we can progress on this. We are looking at it because, at the end of the day, we've always maintained that the situation that we saw between 20202024 was not in the interest of either country,'' he said. In what is seen as a major diplomatic win for India, Tahawwur Rana, an accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, is expected to be extradited to India from the United States in the next 48 hours. Sources on Wednesday said his extradition process is being coordinated by a multi-agency team with the authorities concerned in the US. The development comes after the US Supreme Court on Monday rejected Rana's plea, paving the way for his extradition to India to face Indian law. He has exhausted all legal remedies that were available to him in the US. Speaking at a press conference, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, "As far as the extradition of Mr Rana is concerned at this point, I do not have an update...but we will provide you an update at the appropriate time." Meanwhile, Rana's extradition is said to be based on the provisions of the India-US Extradition Treaty. Once he is brought back to the country, his custody will depend on certain grounds which will be set out in the extradition order. Most likely, the NIA will take his custody when he lands here. He is being brought to the country in connection with the conspiracy case filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), back in the year 2009, which was also related to the Mumbai terror attacks. Rana, who is a PakistaniCanadian national, was also linked to the banned terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and allegedly provided support to those behind the Mumbai 26/11 terror attacks that claimed over 160 lives. The Government of India has been relentlessly seeking Rana's extradition for years and pursued the matter with successive governments in Washington. During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's trip to Washington in February, US President Donald Trump announced that his administration had approved the extradition of “very evil” Rana, wanted by Indian probe agencies. Rana and David Headley were detained by the FBI at the Chicago airport in October 2009 when they were allegedly flying out to execute an alleged mission to attack a Danish newspaper that had published controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Their arrests also revealed their alleged role in the Mumbai attacks. In a major move aimed to boost Indian Navy’s air might, the Central government has given a nod to purchase 26 Rafale Marine fighter aircraft worth Rs 63,000 crore from France. The clearance was given by the Cabinet Committee on Security, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As part of the inter-governmental deal between India and France, the country would receive 22 singleseater variants and four twinseater variants of the jet, designed in accordance with its Naval fleet’s requirements. Official sources stated that apart from the fighter jets, the deal would also include weapons, a simulator, spares, associated ancillary equipment, personnel training and logistical support from the French. It may be noted that currently Indian Air Force holds 36 Rafale fighter jets, first inducted in 2016, stationed at two air bases at Ambala, in Haryana and Hasimara in West Bengal. Under the new deal, spares and logistical support would also be extended to the existing Rafales in the country’s defence fleet.