FOLLOW US: @TheStatesmanLtd @thestatesmanltd thestatesman1875 www.thestatesman.com People’s Parliament, Always in Session India’s National Newspaper since 1818 | Pages 12 | ` 5.00 | KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | MUMBAI | BHUBANESWAR | LUCKNOW | SILIGURI | Friday, 04 September 2026 SPORTS PERSPECTIVE Iran targets Kuwait in retaliation against US strikes Missing voters Page 7 Why is there speculation? BCCI backs Rohit Sharma amid World Cup doubts Page 9 EDITORIAL India Post could rejuvenate rural India Page 12 WORLD Page 6 India, Belgium deepen ties in defence, energy, semiconductors Diamonds have long been a link between India and Belgium. Today, we are transforming this historic connection into a new and more comprehensive relationship. STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, 3 September I ndia and Belgium on Thursday moved to significantly broaden their bilateral partnership beyond their traditional diamond trade, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever agreeing to deepen cooperation in defence, clean energy, critical minerals, semiconductors, maritime affairs, technology and investment, while setting a target of doubling bilateral trade over the next five years. The two leaders held extensive bilateral talks at Hyderabad House in New Delhi and witnessed the exchange of key memoranda of understanding and agreements. Both sides also backed dialogue and diplomacy for an early end to the conflicts in Ukraine and West Asia and reaffirmed their commitment to eliminating NARENDRA MODI, PRIME MINISTER terrorism in all its forms. Welcoming Mr De Wever on his first visit to India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the Belgian Prime Minister had a longstanding association with India from his years as Mayor of Antwerp, where he supported the large Indian community and the IndiaBelgium diamond trade. “The roots of India-Belgium relations run deep in history,” PM Modi said, recalling the courage and sacrifice of thousands of Indian soldiers in Belgium during the First World War. He said democratic values, market economies and strong people-to-people ties had made India and Belgium “natural partners”. PM Modi recalled his own visit to Belgium a decade ago and said the partnership had made “remarkable progress” since then. BCI has no disciplinary jurisdiction over NALSAR law students: SC PARMOD KUMAR New Delhi, 3 September The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the Bar Council of India (BCI) has no jurisdiction to take disciplinary action against students pursuing legal education, holding that such power rests with the university or educational institution in which they are enrolled and that the statutory body’s regulatory authority over an individual comes into play only after a law graduate enrols as an advocate. A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana said the Advocates Act, 1961, under which the BCI has been constituted, conferred no express or implied power on it to initiate disciplinary proceedings against law students. Considering that the BCI had already withdrawn its circular against students of NALSAR’s 2026 batch, the On defence cooperation, PM Modi said India and Belgium were working together on advanced defence equipment, including the Zorawar tank, and announced that the two countries had agreed to enhance military exchanges and training cooperation. Intelligence sharing and cooperation between the two countries' agencies to combat crime would also be strengthened. Defence Minister Grateful to India, says Zelenskyy after meeting Jaishankar STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, 3 September court closed the matter, declaring its 13 August communication and subsequent modified communications to have been issued “without jurisdiction”. It also made absolute its earlier direction restraining the BCI from taking punitive action against NALSAR, its students or faculty, or any other national law university. The bench said that while the BCI could prescribe and enforce standards of legal education under the statutory framework and applicable regulations, disciplinary control over students remained with their respective university or educational institution. CJI Surya Kant observed that, as far as the conduct of law students was concerned, the BCI had neither jurisdiction nor statutory competence. Its role in regulating an individual as an advocate arose only after the student graduated and enrolled with the statutory body, he said, pointing out that none of the NALSAR students concerned had enrolled as advocates. Justice Bagchi drew a distinction between disciplinary control during legal education and scrutiny at the stage of enrolment as an advocate. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Kyiv and said Ukraine is grateful to India for its commitment to end the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, which has entered its fifth year. After meeting Mr Jaishankar, Mr Zelenskyy, in a post on X, said: “We are grateful to India for its commitment to ending this unjust war Russia’s war against Ukraine. This certainly must not be a time of war. Peace is needed. This is India’s clear position." Earlier, Mr Jaishankar met Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and expressed India’s readiness to help “in any manner” to end the war. ‘We need an ecosystem in which energy & food security reinforce each other’ STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, 3 September Dr J P Gupta (photo), Chair of the Environment and Climate Change Committee at PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) has called for a ‘Corn Revolution’ on a war-footing, saying the country can create an integrated ecosystem in which energy security, and food security reinforce each other. He said the ongoing conflict in West Asia has exposed serious vulnerabilities in energy security, adding that selfreliance in this domain has become a matter of national security. He also suggested ways to give a push to self-reliance in the energy domain. As a senior scientist and technocrat, he firmly believes that one of the most powerful opportunities before India presently is in creating a stronger connect between agriculture and energy security. Dr Gupta, while addressing the 6th International Climate Summit on Energy Security and Food Security, at New Delhi on Wednesday, stated that replacing LPG with ethanol should also be a priority. He said that the country has commercially proven technologies, operating plants, and an ecosystem that can support this transformation. He noted that corn is not just a food crop, but, can be an important substitute for crude oil, and feedstock for ethanol, bio-ethylene, sustainable aviation fuel, chemicals, thermoplastics, e-methanol, hydrogen, and other products. According to Dr Gupta, India’s achievement in advancing ethanol blending is incredible and represents crucial step in reducing dependence on imported petroleum. “As a Scientist and Technocrat, I certify apprehensions regarding the negative effects of ethanol blending are largely ‘factually incorrect’ and ill-founded,” Dr Gupta said. Dr Gupta said that Bio-ethylene can offer economic advantages over petro-ethylene, and should be considered not just for carbon credits, but as an economically viable industrial opportunity. Rajnath Singh and Belgian Defence and Foreign Trade Minister Theo Francken, who is part of the Belgian delegation, separately reviewed bilateral defence and industrial cooperation, with multiple MoUs and contracts signed aimed at combining Belgian technology with Indian skills and scale. Clean energy and critical minerals figured prominently in the discussions, while semiconductor cooperation was identified as another promising frontier. On economic cooperation, PM Modi said India had set up an Investment FastTrack Mechanism for Belgian companies and would make the India-Belgium Business Forum a regular mechanism. The two sides will also strengthen coordination among financial, fintech and regulatory institutions. “Through all these initiatives, we will realise our goal of doubling bilateral trade over the next five years,” he said. (Photo: Subrata Dutta) CM Adhikari accuses previous govts of damaging Bengal’s education system STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Kolkata, 3 September Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday criticised previous governments over the state’s education system, alleging that opportunities to learn English were severely curtailed during the Left Front era and that the situation deteriorated further during the final decade of the subsequent TMC government. Speaking at an annual programme of an RSS-affiliated organisation in Kolkata’s Golpark on Thursday, Mr Adhikari said the state’s education system had been pushed to a point where major reforms were necessary to prevent further deterioration. Referring to Bengal’s political history, the chief minister said people in the state had traditionally given sufficient time to the governments and had provided opportunities for change. Alleging “language terrorism” by the previous government, the CM said: “The previous TMC government has introduced certain words which have no relation with the Bengali language. They have polluted the language and a correction is inevitable.” Mr Adhikari said his government had aligned the state with the National Education Policy after coming to power. He also reiterated the government’s position on singing the full version of Vande Mataram, warning that institutions that did not comply would lose access to government grants and assistance. The chief minister further accused previous governments of damaging the curriculum and undermining the dignity of the teaching profession by allegedly making appointments through blank appointment letters. He also alleged that discrimination between Hindus and Muslims had been encouraged in educational institutions and that the National Cadet Corps (NCC) had been banned. “We will not allow these kinds of things to happen in the state. There should be no discrimination,” the chief minister said. Speaking about the history of Bengal’s freedom struggle, Mr Adhikari said: “It is unbelievable that the contributions of revolutionaries such as Matangini Hazra and Khudiram Bose had been inadequately represented in school textbooks and instead some unimportant things have been given prominence.” He alleged that distortions had been introduced into history syllabi for Classes V to VIII.