THEATRE AND THE BENGALI HIKING IN HONG KONG 20 JULY 2025 ‘GILL MUST START SETTING EXPECTATIONS CLEARLY’ www.thestatesman.com X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 PAGE 16 SINCE 1818 PAGES 16 |` 5.00 KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR WEATHER GENERALLY CLOUDY SKY. VERY LIGHT RAIN. THE MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WOULD BE AROUND 36 AND 26 DEGREES CELSIUS RESPECTIVELY. RAINFALL: 000.0 mm RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 92% TEMPERATURE Max: 34.3°C (-0.9) SUN RISES 05:37 hrs MOON RISES 01:36 hrs War of words between TN Bills case: SC notifies 5-judge Bench to decide CMs Mamata, Himanta Presidential reference Sarma accuses Mamata of encouraging illegal encroachment for the sake of power Min. 61 % Min: 23.6°C (-3.6) SUN SETS 19:19 hrs MOON SETS 15:10 hrs THUMBNAILS STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA/GUWAHATI, 19 JULY Kanwariyas (Shiva devotees) return after collecting Ganga water from Haridwar during the 'Kanwar Yatra' in Meerut on Saturday.nANI Bihar SIR revision: 95.92 per cent of electors covered; draft roll to be out on 1 August: The Election Commission of India has said 95.92 per cent of electors in Bihar has been covered in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls as of date, and with six days left for the completion of the enumeration phase, the draft electoral roll is set to be published on 1 August. C hief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday vowed to stand by those who fight for the dignity of their language and identity along with their democratic rights, as she accused the BJP-led government in Assam of persecuting Bengali-speaking residents in the state. Miss Banerjee, in a statement posted on the ‘X’ social media platform, US President claims ‘five jets were shot down’ during India-Pakistan conflict AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 19 JULY US President Donald Trump has claimed that five jets were shot down during the India-Pakistan conflict in May early this year. He, however, didn't elaborate which side the jets belonged to. Mr Trump also repeated his claim that he resolved the conflict using trade. The US president said that his side clearly told India and Pakistan that the US will not sign a trade deal if they continue to attack each other. “We stopped a lot of wars. And these were serious, India and Pakistan, that was going on. Planes were being shot out of there. I think five jets were shot down, actually. These are two serious nuclear countries, and they were hitting each other. You know, it seems like a new form of warfare. You saw it recently when you looked at what we did in Iran, where we knocked out their nuclear capability, totally knocked out that... But India and Pakistan were going at it, and they were back and forth, and it was getting bigger and bigger, and we got it solved through trade,” he said at a private dinner at the White House. In the wake of Mr Trump’s latest statement, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi make a clear statement in Parliament about the claims. Following the Pahalgam attack, India launched air strikes on several terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistanoccupied Kashmir. In response, Pakistan also launched a massive drone and missile strikes on several Indian cities but most of the attacks were foiled by multilayered Indian air defences. wrote: “The second most spoken language in the country Bangla, is also the second most spoken language in Assam. To threaten citizens, who want to coexist peacefully respecting all languages and religions, with persecution for upholding their own mother tongue is discriminatory and unconstitutional. “The divisive agenda of the BJP in Assam has crossed all limits and the people of Assam will fight back. I stand with every fearless citizen who is fight- KOLKATA, 19 JULY Five persons alleged to be involved in the gunning down of a murder convict undergoing treatment at a Patna hospital earlier this week were detained by the Bihar STF in association with the Bengal STF from a plush housing complex at New Town. Police sources said that out of the five, four were allegedly directly involved in the killing of Chandan Mishra, a notorious history sheeter, at the Paras Hospital in Patna on Thursday. According to the police, four of the five were detained from two flats at the Sukho Brishti Housing complex at New Town. Later, a fifth person had been detained from another place. A large number of documents had also been seized by the police from the two flats. Police sources said they were able to trace the mobile phone tower locations of the alleged gangsters, which led to the breakthrough. According to the police, the accused persons were hiding in a housing complex in the New Town area after fleeing Patna after the daring murder of Chandan Mishra AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 19 JULY The Supreme Court has constituted a special 5judge Bench to decide the reference made by the President under Article 143 of the Constitution in the aftermath of the apex court verdict in the Tamil Nadu Bills case. As per the cause list published on the website of the apex court, a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai, and of Justices Surya Kant, Vikram Nath, PS Narasimha and Atul S Chandurkar, will take up the reference titled “In Re: Assent, Withholding or Reservation of Bills by the Governor and the President of India” for hearing on 22 July. In May this year, President Droupadi Murmu, in her reference to the top court, had asked the Supreme Court to consider whether timelines can be imposed on Governors to act on Bills in the absence of a constitutionally-prescribed time limit. Further, the President had asked the apex court to report its opinion on constitutional options available to a Gov- Odisha: Minor girl set ablaze in broad daylight STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE BHUBANESWAR, 19 JULY Within days of the shocking self-immolation of a girl student at FM College, Balasore, a 15year-old girl was torched by three unidentified miscreants in broad daylight in a village of Puri district, triggering widespread outrage. The minor sustained 70 to 75 per cent burn injuries and is battling for life at AIIMS Bhubaneswar. The girl managed to run to a nearby house and seek help. She said that three masked miscreants waylaid her and put a handkerchief on her mouth following which she lost consciousness. They took her to a deserted spot on the Haripur-Balanga road and poured kerosene and set her afire. Asutosh Biswas, Director of AIIMS Bhubaneswar, said the condition of the girl is critical. She has sustained 70 to 75 per cent burns. She is talking and is traumatized, he said. She has suffered second Five detained from Kolkata for gangster’s murder in Patna hospital STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE ing for the dignity of their language and identity and their democratic rights.” Earlier this week, speaking after leading a march to protest against the harassment of Bengali workers in BJP-run states she had vowed to fight for those who had been attacked for speaking in their mother tongue anywhere in the country. Reacting sharply to Miss Banerjee’s criticism, the Assam chief minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, countered by accusing her of endangering Bengal’s future by playing votebank politics. In a statement of his own on ‘X’, Mr Sarma wrote: “Didi, let me remind you ~ unlike you, we are not fighting our own people. We are fearlessly resisting the ongoing, unchecked Muslim infiltration from across the border, which has already caused an alarming demographic shift.” He claimed that illegal infiltration was not merely a political issue, but a threat to national security and identity. The Assam chief minister further alleged that this unchecked migration has led to Hindus becoming minorities in several districts of Assam. “We do not divide people by language or religion. Assamese, Bangla, Bodo, Hindi ~ all languages and communities have coexisted here. But no civilisation can survive if it refuses to protect its borders and its cultural foundation,” he wrote. He further accused Miss Banerjee of encouraging illegal encroachment and communal appeasement for the sake of political power. at the ICU in Patna’s Paras Hospital. Bihar police had set up a special Investigation team comprising officers of senior ranking officers, who came to Kolkata in pursuit of the alleged killers. Mishra was lodged at the Beur Jail in Patna and had gone to the hospital for treatment on parole. At least 24 cases were pending against him in several police stations of Buxar district, and he was serving a jail sentence in one of those cases. According to the police, Mishra was killed a day before he was scheduled to be released from the hospital. The hospital shooting raised serious questions on the law and order situation in the Bihar capital, which had been in the limelight for the wrong reasons in the recent past over multiple cases of murder in the past few weeks. and third degree burn injuries, he added. A police team with a magistrate is reportedly recording her statement. The latest incident comes close on the heels of an undergraduate female student of Balasore FM College setting herself on fire after her allegation of sexual harassment by a teacher was not addressed by the government agencies. Her death earlier this week after battling for her life for two days had grabbed national media headlines and triggered a state wide shutdown following a call by the INDIA bloc. The Opposition BJD also continues to stage protests on a daily basis seeking justice to the bereaved family. Following the latest incident, the Opposition BJD and Congress staged protests at AIIMS Bhubaneswar and at the residence of Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida. Security at the house of Ms Parida and the CM was beefed up. Congress workers hurled eggs and tomatoes at the house of Ms Parida. Police will nab the mis- creants at the earliest stated DGP Y B Khurania. Condemning the horrible crime, former chief minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik said “it shows how Odisha is becoming highly unsafe for women due to government inaction and political patronage”. It has happened just within a week of the terrible incident of a young girl setting herself ablaze in FM College after she was denied justice--even after knocking on every door, and a month after the horrific incident in Gopalpur, Patnaik stated on his ‘X’ handle. CM Majhi launches ‘Shaktishree’: Stung by rising public outrage over repeated incidents of violence against women in Odisha, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Saturday unveiled a comprehensive new initiative titled Shaktishree aimed at ensuring the safety, security, and empowerment of girl students across colleges and universities in the state. ernor when a Bill is presented to him under Article 200 of the Constitution of India. “Is the Governor bound by the aid and advice tendered by the Council of Ministers while exercising all the options available with him when a Bill is presented before him under Article 200 of the Constitution of India?” the President asked the Supreme Court. Further, it questioned if the exercise of constitutional discretion by the Governor on Bills is justiciable, when Article 361 of the Constitution puts an absolute bar to judicial review in relation to gubernatorial actions. “In the absence of a constitutionally-prescribed timeline and the manner of exercise of powers by the President, can timelines be imposed and the manner of exercise be prescribed through judicial orders for the exercise of discretion by the President under Article 201 of the Constitution of India?” President Murmu asked the top court to consider and report its opinion thereon. In April 2025, a twojudge Bench of the Supreme Court, using its inherent powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, resolved a standoff between the Tamil Nadu government and Governor R.N. Ravi over the delay in granting assent to Bills passed by the Assembly. It ruled that Governor Ravi's refusal to approve 10 Bills in Tamil Nadu was both "illegal and arbitrary" and set a threemonth deadline for Presidential and gubernatorial approval of Bills passed by the legislature for a second time. “The President is required to take a decision on the Bills reserved for his consideration by the Governor within a period of three months from the date on which such reference is received," said a Bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan. Sharda University student dies by suicide, alleges mental harassment by faculty; 2 arrested AGENCIES GREATER NOIDA, 19 JULY A second-year Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) student at Sharda University was found dead by suicide in her hostel room on Friday, officials said on Saturday. The student, a resident of Gurugram, Haryana, allegedly ended her life after facing sustained mental harassment from faculty members. The tragic incident has sparked protests on campus and led to the arrest of two teachers. The young woman was discovered hanging in her hostel accommodation on the university’s Knowledge Park campus. A handwritten suicide note found in her room explicitly blamed two faculty members ~ identified in the note as Mahender Sir and Shairg Ma'am ~ for causing her emotional distress and pushing her to take the extreme step. In the note, she wrote: “If I die, the teachers of PCP and Dental Material will be responsible for this. Mahender Sir and Shairg Ma'am are responsible for my death. They mentally harassed me. They insulted me. I have been under stress for a long time. I want them to suffer the same. Sorry, I cannot live anymore.” Upon receiving the alert, officers from the Knowledge Park Police Station rushed to the scene, secured the hostel premises, and sent the body for post-mortem. A forensic team and senior police officials conducted a detailed investigation at the spot, collecting evidence from the room. Based on a complaint filed by the student’s family, police registered an FIR and arrested both faculty members under relevant sections of the BNS, including charges related to abetment of suicide. Media reports on AAIB’s preliminary findings on AI crash premature, speculative: US body STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 19 JULY Extending support to the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), which is inquiring into the deadly Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has urged the media and public to wait for the final report, saying “investigations of this magnitude take time”. The NTSB, a US federal agency tasked with investigating aviation and major transportation incidents, termed the recent media reports on the AI171 London-bound flight meeting with the accident last month, as “premature and speculative”. “India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau just released its preliminary report. Investigations of this mag- nitude take time. We fully support the AAIB’s public appeal, which was released Thursday, and will continue to support its ongoing investigation,” NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said in a statement posted on X. All investigative questions should be addressed to the AAIB, he added. Earlier, , the AAIB had cautioned against “selective and unverified reporting”, calling such coverage “irresponsible and potentially damaging to the probe’s integrity”. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that a cockpit recording of dialogue between the two pilots of the ill-fated Air India flight, that crashed last month, purportedly indicates the captain cut the flow of fuel to the plane's engines. “It has come to our attention that certain sections of the international media are repeatedly attempting to draw conclusions through selective and unverified reporting,” said AAIB in a statement. "Such actions are irresponsible, especially while the investigation remains ongoing. We urge both the public and the media to refrain from spreading premature narratives that risk undermining the integrity of the investigative process,” the investigating agency added. Meanwhile, the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) objected to the exclusion of pilot representatives from the AAIB team, and called for a thorough probe before "assigning blame". “At the outset, we would like to register our dissatisfaction with the exclusion of pilot representatives from the investigation process. Assigning blame before a thorough, transparent, and data-driven investigation is both premature and irresponsible,” the FIP said in an official statement.