TN GOVERNOR RAVI MEETS VP DHANKHAR UDDHAV AGREES TO JOIN HANDS WITH RAJ THACKERAY 20 APRIL 2025 GUJARAT RIDE BUTTLER SHOW TO THRASH DELHI www.thestatesman.com X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 PAGE 05 PAGE 04 PAGE 12 SINCE 1818 PAGES 12 |` 5.00|LC KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR Partly cloudy sky. Maximum and Minimum Temperature most likely to be around 34˚C and 26˚C respectively. RAINFALL: 0.0 mm RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 91% TEMPERATURE Max: 33.4˚C (-2.2) SUN RISES 05:13 hrs MOON RISES 23:39 hrs Govt condemns minority leader's killing in B’desh India calls out Pakistan’s shenanigans in OIC ‘The killing follows a pattern of systematic persecution of Hindu minorities’ WEATHER NEW DELHI, 19 APRIL Min. 59% Min: 25.2˚C (-0.9) SUN SETS 17:58 hrs MOON SETS 09:25 hrs New Moon on 28 April THUMBNAILS STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 19 APRIL Indian Air Force's Surya Kiran Aerobatic Team (SKAT) perform during an air show, at Namkum Army Ground in Ranchi on Saturday. nANI Naveen Patnaik elected BJD President for 9th successive term: The Leader of the Opposition in the Odisha Assembly and Biju Janata Dal chief Naveen Patnaik, was elected unopposed to the post of BJD president for the ninth term in a row at the party headquarters here on Saturday. The regional party is named after his late father Biju Patnaik. Naveen Patnaik has been elected unopposed as party president eight times in a row since the party's formation in 1997. At least eleven killed, over a dozen injured in building collapse in Delhi STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 19 APRIL At least eleven people were killed and nearly a dozen injured as a four-storeyed residential building collapsed in north-east Delhi’s Mustafabad early this morning, police said. Police said they were informed about the incident at around 3:02 a.m. The building, which is said to have some unauthorised construction, belongs to one Tehsin, who also died in the collapse. According to the Delhi Fire Service (DFS), they were alerted about the incident at 02:50 a.m, following which 9 fire tenders were rushed to the spot. So far, 22 people have been rescued and shifted to the GTB Hospital, out of which 11 were declared brought dead by the attending team of doctors, a police official said. Among the deceased were the owner of the building, 60-year-old Tehsin, his wife Zeenat, son Chan and Daughter in law Chandani. The other deceased were identified as Danish (23M), Naved (17M), and Reshma (38F), Nazeem (30M), Tehsin (60M), Shahina (28F), Afreen (4F), Afan (2M), Ishaq (75M) and six-year-old Anas. Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (North East) Raman Lamba told The Statesman that the rescue operation was completed in the evening, which was carried out by Delhi Police, NDRF and DFS. PM to visit Saudi Arabia next week I ndia on Saturday strongly condemned the abduction and brutal killing of a Hindu minority leader in Bangladesh and reminded the interim government in Dhaka to live up to its responsibility of protecting all minorities, including Hindus, without inventing excuses or making distinctions. ''We have noted with distress the abduction and brutal killing of Bhabesh Chandra Roy, a Hindu minority leader in Bangladesh. This killing follows a pattern of systematic persecution of Hindu minorities under the interim government, even as the perpetrators of previous such events roam with impunity,'' Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a social media post on the X platform. He said: ''We condemn this incident and once again remind the interim government to live up to its responsibility of protecting all minorities, including Hindus, without inventing excuses or mak- ing distinctions.'' Roy was a resident of Basudebpur village under Shatagram Union and served as vice-president of the Biral unit of the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad. He was widely respected within the local Hindu community. The post mortem of Roy, who was allegedly abducted and beaten to death earlier this week in Dinajpur district, Biral upazila, Bangladesh, has been completed, police said on Saturday. According to reports, Roy had received a phone call around 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. His wife, Shantana Roy, told a local daily that the call was allegedly made by the perpetrators to confirm his presence. About 30 minutes later, four men arrived and forcibly took him. Witnesses said he was taken to Narabari village and brutally assaulted. That evening, his unconscious body was returned to his family in a van. Locals helped rush him to the Biral Upazila Health Complex and later to Dinajpur Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared him dead. Indian student killed after being hit by a stray bullet in Canada shooting STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 19 APRIL An Indian student was killed in the town of Hamilton in Ontario, Canada, after being hit by a stray bullet during a gangland-style shooting, Hamilton police said. She has been identified as Harsimrat Randhawa from Punjab. According to police, Randhawa was studying at Mohawk College and was standing at the bus stop on her way to work when she was killed. The tragic incident took place on 17 April at approximately 7:30 p.m (local time). The Indian student was hit on the chest and rushed to a hospital, but succumbed to her injuries during treatment. “Hamilton Police are investigating a homicide after an innocent female bystander was struck by a stray bullet during gunfire on Upper James. On April 17, 2025, at approximately 7:30 p.m., Hamilton Police received reports of a shooting near Upper James and South Bend Road. When police arrived, they found a 21year-old female with a gunshot wound to the chest. She was transported to hospital and later died from her injuries,” the police said. The police said that a passenger of a black Mercedes SUV fired at the occupants of a white sedan in a gangland-style shooting. One of the bullets hit Randhawa, an innocent bystander. After the shooting, both the cars fled the scene. Some of the bullets also pierced the window of a nearby residence where the occupants were watching television a few feet away. Fortunately, no one was injured in the home. The police have started an investigation into the case and efforts are on to catch the occupants of the cars involved in the firing. The Consulate General of India, Toronto, said that they were saddened by the tragic death of the Indian student and that they are extending all necessary assistance. "We are deeply saddened by the tragic death of Indian student Harsimrat Randhawa in Hamilton, Ontario. As per local police, she was an innocent victim, fatally struck by a stray bullet during a shooting incident involving two vehicles. A homicide investigation is currently underway. We are in close contact with her family and are extending all necessary assistance..." the Indian mission said in a post on X. India-US trade talks: Key negotiations to begin in Washington next week AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 19 APRIL A team of negotiators, led by Commerce Secretarydesignate Rajesh Agarwal, is likely to travel to Washington, DC, next week to advance discussions on the proposed India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA). The high-level meetings are expected to take place over three days starting 23 April, according to reports. As per officials, the agenda for the talks has been finalised and will cover an extensive range of issues spread across 19 chapters. These include key areas such as tariffs, non-tariff barriers, rules of origin, trade in goods and services, customs facilitation, and regulatory cooperation. This round of talks is being closely watched, with both New Delhi and Wash- ington aiming to conclude an early harvest agreement before the fall deadline. India and the US have targeted to conclude the first phase of the BTA by the fall (September-October) of this year, with an aim to more than double the bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030, from about $191 billion currently. Both the nations are working to sign the first tranche of a BTA to bring down tariffs before the agreed timeline of the fall of 2025 as the the terms of reference for the pact have already been finalised. “India and US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) terms of reference have been finalised when the US team was here. The first tranche negotiations will start virtually on the various chapters within this week, and the talks in the physical mode may start at the end of the month," Additional Secretary, Commerce, Rajesh Agarwal said this week "India has decided to go for a path of trade liberalisation with the US," Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal told journalists. He said both India and the US would benefit if the trade deal is wrapped up before the fall of 2025. "When we said we want to do a first tranche of BTA with the US by fall, that doesn't mean we can't do it before fall. If we end up doing the BTA before fall, then it will be good for both India and the US," he added. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is also set to embark on an official visit to the USA and Peru, beginning 20 April, where she is slated to participate in multilateral dialogues to showcase India’s economic dynamism. AGENCIES India on Saturday again slammed Pakistan's repeated attempts to highlight matters concerning India's internal affairs at the meetings of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). At a media briefing organised ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's two-day visit to Saudi Arabia next week, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri debunked Pakistan's false claims and attempts to misuse the forum. “It is a habit of long standing, one that we have regularly spoken out against and also raised with our friends and partners in the OIC. There is a certain view about these shenanigans that Pakistan practices in the OIC on the part of our colleagues and friends amongst the other members of the OIC but we will continue to share our views and bring to their attention what exactly we think of these attempts that Pakistan habitually makes," Mr Misri told reporters in New Delhi. STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 19 APRIL Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay an official visit to Saudi Arabia on 22 and 23 April at the invitation of Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom, Mohammed bin Salman. This will be the PM's third visit to the Kingdom. His previous visits took place in 2016 and 2019. The visit follows the state visit of Prince Salman to New Delhi in September 2023 to attend the G20 Summit and co-chair the first meeting of the IndiaSaudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Saturday. India and Saudi Arabia share close and friendly ties with a long history of socio-cultural and trade contacts. As strategic partners, the two countries share strong bilateral relations across various areas, including political, defence, security, trade, investment, energy, technology, health, education, culture and people-topeople ties. India’s relations with the Kingdom have evolved into a stronger and enduring partnership in the past decade, expanding into many strategic domains, with growing investment commitments, broadening of defence cooperation and intensive high-level exchanges across sectors. “The visit of the PM reflects the importance India attaches to its bilateral relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It will provide an opportunity to further deepen and strengthen our multifaceted partnership, as well as to exchange views on various regional and international issues of mutual interest,” the MEA added. Saudi Arabia is India's fifth-largest trading partner and India is Saudi Arabia's second-largest trade partner. During 2023-24, India's imports from Saudi Arabia reached $ 31.42 billion and exports to Saudi Arabia were worth $11.56 billion. In 202324, bilateral trade stood at $42.98 billion, with Indian exports at $11.56 billion and imports at $31.42 billion. ‘Looking forward to visiting India later this year’ STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 19 APRIL A day after he spoke with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the phone, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Saturday said he is looking forward to visiting India later this year. "It was an honour to speak with PM Modi. I am looking forward to visiting India later this year!" Mr Musk posted on the social media platform X. During their telephonic conversation yesterday, PM Modi and Mr Musk discussed a range of topics, including the immense potential for collaboration in the areas of technology and innovation. “Spoke to Elon Musk and talked about various issues, including the topics we covered during our meeting in Washington DC earlier this year. We discussedtheimmensepotential for collaboration in the areas of technology and innovation. India remains committed to advancing our partnerships with the US in these domains,” PM Modi wrote on X later.