FOLLOW US: @TheStatesmanLtd @thestatesmanltd thestatesman1875 www.thestatesman.com People’s Parliament, Always in Session India’s National Newspaper since 1818 | Pages 16 | ` 5.00 | KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR | Saturday, 23 August 2025 SPORTS WORLD PERSPECTIVE ‘This is racial profiling’ Page 9 BRIEFLY Delayed exam results published: Kolkata: The results of the West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination (WBJEE), which was held on 27 April, were published on Friday, 117 days later, following a Supreme Court order that temporarily stayed a High Court ruling linked to reservations for Other Backward Classes (OBCs). Swaraj Paul dies in London, PM Modi condoles death STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, 22 August Lord Swraj Paul, the celebrated NRI industrialist and philanthropist, has died in London at the age of 94. He passed away on 21 August, after a period of illness that led to his hospitalisation. Condoling his death PM Modi on Friday expressed anguish and said his support for the UK's close ties with India will always be remembered. Lord Paul, founder of the UK-based Caparo Group of industries, was ill for some time and was hospitalised recently. The House of Lords peer was born in Jalandhar and relocated to the UK in the 1960s for the treatment of his daughter Ambika, who later succumbed to leukaemia at the age of four. Lord Paul established the Caparo Group in 1968, building it into a multinational with operations in the UK, India, America, etc. New Delhi, 22 August The Supreme Court on Friday modified its 11 August directions on stray dogs in Delhi-NCR, clarifying that captured dogs must be sterilised, dewormed, vaccinated and then released back to the same localities from where they were picked up ~ except those suffering from rabies, suspected to be rabid, or showing aggressive behaviour. At the same time, the Court prohibited public feeding of stray dogs in streets and mandated the creation of dedicated feeding points, while signalling the need for a uniform national policy on stray dog management. A three-judge Bench of Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice N.V. Anjaria Durand Cup: NEUFC face tough test against Diamond Harbour FC Page 5 Page 16 NATION Page 11 Modi opens key metro routes, slams TMC govt RAJIB CHAKRABORTY CM Mamata nostalgic ahead of metro projects inauguration Kolkata, 22 August P rime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched and inaugurated projects worth over Rs 5,200 crore in Kolkata, while launching a sharp political offensive against West Bengal’s ruling Trinamul Congress (TMC). Addressing an administrative event at the Dum Dum Central Jail grounds, followed by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) “Vijay Sankalp” rally, Mr Modi said his government was determined to bring “vikshit Bengal” (developed Bengal). He announced that a Special Intensive Review (SIR) mechanism of electoral rolls would be enforced in the state and declared that leaders who fail to secure bail after being jailed must “vacate their chair”. Among the projects inaugurated were three key routes of the Kolkata Metro Railway, including the Sealdah-Esplanade stretch on the Green Line, the Noapara-Jai Hind Bimanbandar Metro and STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Kolkata, 22 August Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with students during a metro ride in Kolkata on Friday. SNS the Beleghata-Hemanta Mukhopadhyay Metro links. He also laid the foundation for a six-lane elevated Kona Expressway, a 7.2-kilometre stretch to be built at a cost of Rs 1,200 crore. In his rally speech, Mr Modi accused the TMC of corruption and protecting infiltrators. He said: “The biggest hurdle to Bengal’s growth is the politics of appeasement and corruption. The BJP alone can rid Bengal of illegal infiltrators who are snatching jobs from our unemployed youth. Our farmers and land owners properties are being snatched by infiltrators backed by TMC. Once BJP comes to power, such people will be forced to leave the state.” Mr Modi added that the TMC had turned West Bengal into “a state of crime and corruption”, alleging that ministers who had been jailed continued to “run government from behind bars”. CM Mamata Banerjee on Friday waxed nostalgic ahead of the inauguration of several key Metro rail projects by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, noting that she had planned and sanctioned the Metro corridors in and around Kolkata. Taking to social media platform X, Miss Banerjee wrote: "Allow me to be a little nostalgic today. As the Railways Minister of India, I was fortunate in planning and sanctioning series of Metro Railway corridors in metropolitan Kolkata. I had drawn the blueprints, arranged the funds, initiated the works and ensured that the different ends of the city (Joka, Garia, Airport, Sector V, etc.,) were connected by an intra-city Metro grid." Bihar SIR: SC says excluded voters can apply online PARMOD KUMAR New Delhi, 22 August The Supreme Court on Friday ordered that persons excluded from the draft electoral rolls in Bihar during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) can submit applications for inclusion online, without having to file physical forms, and directed 12 recognised political parties in the state to assist voters in the exercise. A Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said that excluded individuals may apply online either on their own or with the help of booth-level agents (BLAs) of the 12 recognised political parties. The Court formally impleaded all 12 recognised parties, directing them to mobilise their BLAs to facilitate filing of applications in their respective booths. Pointing out that Bihar has about 1.6 lakh BLAs belonging to all the political parties, the Bench said: “If each agent helps fill just 10 forms a day, there would be 16 lakh applications for registration of excluded voters each day.” It expressed surprise that despite such a vast network, only two objections had been filed so far, and noted complaints that local officers were not acknowledging objections raised by BLAs of the political parties. The Court in the last hearing on 14 August, directed that booth-wise lists of the nearly 65 lakh voters deleted from the draft rolls be displayed on panchayat bhavans and block offices, in addition to being uploaded on the websites of District Electoral Officers and the Chief Electoral Officer. Public notices in English and vernacular newspapers must inform voters in “layman-friendly” language that Aadhaar cards as well as any of the 11 notified documents can be submitted for inclusion. The Bench directed political parties to issue specific instructions to their booth-level workers to assist excluded voters, except those who are dead or have migrated voluntarily, in filing applications before the 1 September cut-off date. The Court was hearing a batch of petitions challenging the Election Commission of India’s 24 June directive ordering a Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar just ahead of assembly elections. Petitioners, including NGOs Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), RJD MP Manoj Jha, TMC MP Mahua Moitra, activist Yogendra Yadav and others, have argued that the directive violates constitutional guarantees and risks disenfranchising large sections of the electorate. The Election Commission of India (ECI), in an affidavit, informed the Court that the list of omitted voters had been uploaded online and physical copies displayed locally ~ at Panchayat Bhavans and block and panchayat offices. It added that advertisements had been issued across newspapers, radio and television. Shah accuses INDIA bloc’s VP nominee of supporting Maoism PM defends 130th Amendment Bill at Bihar rally AGENCIES Batting for the 130th Constitutional Amendment Bill during an election rally in Gaya, Bihar on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed the Opposition parties for opposing the legislation, saying those who are out on bail are afraid for their political career. Their anger stems from fear, he said. The Bill aims at removing a Prime Minister, state Chief Minister, Central or state minister Kochi, 22 Agencies Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday accused retired Supreme Court Judge B Sudershan Reddy, the INDIA bloc's nominee for the upcoming Vice Presidential election, of having supported Naxalism (Maoism) through his judicial pronouncements. Speaking at a public event Stray dogs to be released after vaccination, says SC PARMOD KUMAR EAM wraps up Russia visit, discusses Ukraine with Putin Famine grips Gaza, food crisis authority says said that while public safety is paramount, the issue requires a “holistic approach” that balances human concerns with animal welfare. It stayed the 11 August order of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice R. Mahadevan, which had required all stray dogs picked up in Delhi-NCR to be permanently housed in shelters and not returned to the streets. Expanding the scope of the issue to make it pan-India, the Court said municipal bodies across the country must ensure that only sterilised and immunised dogs are returned to their original areas. Rabid or dangerously aggressive animals may be quarantined or kept in shelters. “Dogs that are picked up shall be sterilised, dewormed, vaccinated and released back to the same area,” the Bench directed. This marks a significant departure from the 11 August ruling, which had barred the release of stray dogs under any circumstance. here, Mr Shah referred to Justice Reddy's 2011 Salwa Judum judgment, which had declared as "illegal" and "unconstitutional" the state-sponsored arming of young tribal men as special police officers in Chhattisgarh. The ruling ordered that such militias be disbanded, stressing that the state must address the root causes of the insurgency through lawful governance rather than vigilante groups. IMRAN MOJIB HE ALSO BLAMED THE CONGRESS AND THE RJD FOR ALL THE SUFFERINGS OF THE PEOPLE OF BIHAR ~ FROM UNEMPLOYMENT AND MIGRATION TO INFILTRATION AND LEFT WING EXTREMISM. Patna, 22 August whoever is facing allegations of corruption or serious offences and has been detained for at least 30 days consecutively. Mr Modi said: “Those who have committed wrongdoings mayhidethemselvesfromothers. I have been in public life for so many years, but not a single stain of corruption has been found on my government.” In contrast, he remarked, the Opposition governments that ruled before him have a long list of corruption cases against them. InBihar,corruptionbyOpposition parties is known to every child, hesaid.He said if a government clerk can be automatically suspended on being arrested and remaining in custody for 50 hours, why should a chief minister or minister enjoy the privilege of power even while in jail. He cited recent instances where files were being signed and official orders issued directly from jail.