MONDAY 01 JANUARY 2024 Pages 12 |` 5.00|LC KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR ‘ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR WILL GO ON FOR MANY MORE MONTHS’ KTR ATTRIBUTES BRS DEFEAT TO FAKE PROPAGANDA P9 P4 WEATHER MAINLY CLEAR SKY. MODERATE TO DENSE FOG IN THE MORNING. COLD DAY CONDITIONS AT A FEW PLACES. THE MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WOULD BE AROUND 16 AND 08 DEGREES CELSIUS RESPECTIVELY. RAINFALL: Nil RELATIVE HUMIDITY TEMPERATURE Max: 15.9°C (-5) SUN RISES 07:14 hrs MOON RISES 22:26 hrs P6 PM: Maintain spirit of developed India in ’24 Min: 11.7°C (+5) SUN SETS 17:36 hrs MOON SETS 11:18 hrs THUMBNAILS People gather at the Clock Tower to celebrate the New Year's Eve at Lal Chowk in Srinagar on Sunday.  ANI Centre declares TeH unlawful association under UAPA: Union home minister Amit Shah said here on Sunday that the Central government had declared ‘Tehreek-e-Hurriyat (TeH), Jammu & Kashmir an 'unlawful association' under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) 1967. In a post on X, the home minister wrote, “Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, J&K (TeH) has been declared an 'unlawful association' under UAPA.” P rime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday that India is brimming with self-confidence, imbued with the spirit of a developed India and self-reliance and stressed that the nation should maintain the same spirit and momentum in 2024 as well. "India is brimming with self-confidence, imbued with the spirit of a developed India; the spirit of self-reliance. We have to maintain the same spirit and momentum in 2024 as well," Mr Modi said in this year's last episode of ‘Mann Ki Baat' monthly radio show. Addressing the nation, the Prime Minister recounted several achievements of 2023 and urged the people to take a resolve to grow afresh with new energy in 2024. “In these 108 episodes, we have seen numerous examples of public participation and have got inspiration from them. After reaching this stage, we have to resolve to grow afresh with new energy and at a faster pace and it is such a pleasant coincidence that tomorrow's sunrise would be 2024's first sunrise. We would have entered 2024," the PM said. Mr Modi highlighted the wonderful performance of Indian athletes in Cricket, Asian Games and Asian Para Games. “This year, our athletes have also performed outstandingly in sports. Our athletes won 107 medals in the Asian Games and 111 medals in the Asian Para Games. In the Cricket World Cup, Indian players won everyone's hearts with their performance...Now, Paris Olympics will be organised in 2024 for which the entire nation is encouraging athletes," PM Mr Modi said. He also recalled one of the greatest moments of the year when India successfully landed on the moon and said that he receives congratulatory messages even today. "Even today, people send messages congratulating me for the success of Chandrayaan-3. I am sure, just like me, you would be proud of our scientists, especially our women scientists," Mr Modi said.The Prime Minister called upon the youth of the country to explore AI tools related to real-time translation of speeches. He recalled his recent experience with the technology when his speech at the Kashi-Tamil Sangamam was translated from Hindi to Tamil in real time. “I urge the youths to explore AI tools related to real-time translation and make them 100 per cent foolproof," he said, adding that the technology would bring ease of functioning in different sectors including judiciary and education, once it is implemented there. The Prime Minister acknowledged that people have composed various new bhajans and poems on Lord Ram and Ayodhya, and urged them to share all of these using the hashtag ShriRamBhajan on social media. He also wanted to share with people the experiences of well-known people who talk about physical and mental health. He shared the messages from Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev ji - Fitness of the Mind and actor Akshay Kumar among others. Ram Janmabhoomi not a political Navy steps up surveillance issue to get votes: Rajnath Singh in Arabian Sea after recent AGENCIES TEZPUR, 31 DECEMBER With a couple of weeks left to inaugurate Ram Temple, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that Ram Janmabhoomi is not merely a political issue but a cultural issue for them. “The consecration ceremony will be held on January 22, our Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be present there." When asked about getting electoral benefits from Ram Temple he said, "This is not a political issue for us to get votes, Ram Janmabhoomi is a cultural issue for us." The consecration ceremony in Ayodhya's Ram Mandir will be held over seven days, starting on January 16. On the final day, January 22, after the morning puja, the deity of Ram Lala will be consecrated in 'Mrigashira Nakshatra' in the afternoon. P12 NEW BEGINNING AWAITS Modi recounts nation's feats in last episode of this year's 'Mann Ki Baat' STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 31 DECEMBER Max.91% Min. 78% RONALDO ENDS 2023 AS WORLD'S TOP GOAL SCORER ECONOMIC COMPASS Talking about the country's economy Singh said, "By 2027 India will be among the world's top three economies and by 2047 we will be the world's largest economy." Defence Minister Rajnath Singh was speaking at the 21st convocation of Tezpur University said that students are acceptable to new ideas. Sharing his past experience as a teacher and the academic world, Singh highlighted the acceptability of new ideas among students. He acknowledged the innovative spirit of the youth, stat- ing, "As far as I have been able to understand the youth, I can say that students are more innovative than teachers. A lot can be learned from students, and they are receptive to new ideas." “Assam has given such icons to the country who have excelled in art, valour, religion, politics and almost all fields," added Rajnath. Talking about start-up culture and innovation ecosystem prevailing in the country, he said, "To enhance the capabilities of youth like you, we have promoted start-up culture and innovation ecosystem. Due to the efforts of the government and the youth entrepreneurship initiative, today we have more than 1 lakh start-ups and there are more than 100 Unicorns in India. We have promoted innovation through start-ups in the Defence Industrial Corridor," he added. attacks on merchant ships STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 31 DECEMBER The Indian Navy said on Sunday that it has substantially enhanced maritime surveillance in the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Adenefforts in Central/North Arabian Sea and augmented force levels in the wake of recent incidents of attacks on merchant vessels transiting through international shipping lanes. Task Groups comprising destroyers and frigates have been deployed to undertake maritime security operations and render assistance to merchant vessels in case of any incident. Aerial surveillance by longrange maritime patrol aircraft and Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAs) has been enhanced to have com- plete maritime domain awareness. Towards effective surveillance of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the Indian Navy is operating in close coordination with the Coast Guard. The Navy said the piracy incident on MV Ruen approximately 700 nautical miles from the Indian coast and recent drone attack on MV Chem Pluto, about 220 nautical miles South West of Porbandar indicates a shift in maritime incidents closer to the Indian EEZ. “The overall situation is being closely monitored by the Indian Navy in coordination with national maritime agencies. The Indian Navy remains committed to ensuring safety of merchant shipping in the region,” an official statement said. The US claimed that the strike on MV Chem Pluto was fired from Iran. A view of the last sunset of the year 2023, in Kolkata on Sunday.  MOUL MONDAL Centre constitutes 16th Finance Commission with former Niti Aayog V-C Dr Arvind Panagariya as its head STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 31 DECEMBER The Centre on Sunday appointed Dr. Arvind Panagariya, former Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog, and Professor, Columbia University, as the chairman of the 16th Finance Commission, an official notification by the Ministry of Finance said. Ritvik Ranjanam Pandey has been appointed as Secretary to the Commission, the notification said. “The Government of India, with the approval of the President of India, has constituted the Sixteenth Finance Commission, in pursuance to Article 280(1) of the Constitution," the Ministry said in a statement. Members of the Sixteenth Finance Commission would be notified separately, the statement said. The Sixteenth Finance Commission will make recommendations as to the matters, namely the distribution between the Union and the States of the net proceeds of taxes which are to be, or may be, divided between them under Chapter I, Part XII of the Constitution and the allocation between the States of the respective shares of such proceeds. The principles which should govern the grants-inaid of the revenues of the STATUTORY BODY  Dr Panagariya is a professor at Columbia Universi- ty, USA.  The Sixteenth Finance Commission will make recommendations as to the matters, namely the distribution between the Union and the States of the net proceeds of taxes which are to be, or may be, divided between them under Chapter I, Part XII of the Constitution and the allocation between the States of the respective shares of such proceeds. States out of the Consolidated Fund of India and the sums to be paid to the States by way of grants-in-aid of their revenues under article 275 of the Constitution for the purposes other than those specified in the provisos to clause (1) of that article; and The measures needed to augment the Consolidated Fund of a State to supplement the resources of the Panchayats and Municipalities in the State on the basis of the recommendations made by the Finance Commission of the State. The Sixteenth Finance Commission may review the present arrangements on financing Disaster Management initiatives, with reference to the funds constituted under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 (53 of 2005), and make appropriate recommendations thereon. “The Sixteenth Finance Commission has been requested to make its report available by 31st day of October, 2025 covering a period of five years commencing on the 1st day of April, 2026,” the statement said. Heavy agenda awaits SC as it resumes work after winter break IAF to extend life of Russian Su-30MKI PARMOD KUMAR NEW DELHI, 31 DECEMBER A heavy agenda awaits the Supreme Court as it resumes its working from Tuesday ~ 2 January 2024 – after twoweeks-long winter holidays ~ that includes, besides hearing of an important matter by seven-judge Constitution Bench, the adjudication of TMC leader Mahua Moitra’s challenge to her expulsion from the Lok Sabha, likely decision by the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker on the cross petitions seeking the disqualification of rival Shiv Sena lawmakers in the State assembly and the inaction by certain Governors in the Oppositionruled states on the laws passed by the respective state legislatures and sent them for assent. As a part of its calendar, a seven-judge Constitution Bench will adjudicate a number of issues including whether the 2018 amendments to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, could have been brought and passed as a Money Bill (part of the 2018 Finance Act) and whether a Speaker is disabled from acting on the petitions seeking the disqualification of lawmakers under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution if he has been served with notice of removal. A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice A.M. Khanwilkar, Justice Dinesh Maheshwari (both since retired) and Justice C.T. Ravikumar by a 27 July 2022 judgment while upholding the validity of various stringent provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act empowering the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to arrest, provisionally attach properties suspected to be the proceeds of crime, had left it for a larger seven-judge bench to decide the question whether some of the 2018 amendments to the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002 could have been enacted by the Parliament by way of a Finance Act. The petitioners have challenged the introduction of amendments to PMLA Act as a Money Bill, part of 2018 Finance Act. On the question whether a Speaker gets disabled to act under Tenth Schedule of the Constitution if a notice seeking his removal has been served on him, the Bench would be revisiting a 13 July 2016 five-judge Constitution Bench judgment which had held that a Speaker cannot act in exercise of his powers under the Tenth Schedule, if notice for his removal as Speaker is pending. Other important issues that would be adjudicated by the seven-judge Constitution Bench include ‘Interplay between breach of privilege and fundamental rights’, ‘Whether central institutes like Aligarh Muslim University can have minority status’ and the ‘Validity of sub-classification within SC/ST quotas.’ Also awaiting adjudication by a five-judge constitution bench, is the Kejriwal government’s challenge to the validity of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act, 2023, vesting in the Lieutenant Government powers to override the recommendations by the Authority in the transfer and posting of senior ranking bureaucrats serving under the Delhi government. Besides this, a number of judgments are awaited to be pronounced that includes judgment on the challenge to the validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act which was inserted in furtherance of the 1985 Assam Accord, Electoral Bonds, pre-mature release of convicts in the Bilkis Bango gangrape and murder of nine members of her family including her threeyear old daughter during 2002 Gujarat riots. In Bilkis Bano case judgment was reserved on October 12, 2023. Another judg- ment that is awaited is on the question whether Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PC Act), that requires prior approval of the Governor for initiating prosecution against a Chief Minister or a Minister, would be effective retrospectively or prospectively from the date of its incorporation in the PC Act – 26 July 2018. The issue has surfaced in the former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nareea Chandrababu Naidu’s challenge v to the registration of FIRs against him in alleged graft cases rooted in Rs. 371 crore Andhra Pradesh Skill Development project scam and in Fibernet case. On 12 December 2023, a five-judge constitution bench had reserved its judgment on a batch of petitions challenging constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, that was inserted in pursuance to the 1985 Assam accord for granting citizenship to the immigrants from Bangladesh who had crossed over to India between 1 January 1966 to 25 March 1971. fighter jet fleet by more than 20 years AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 31 DECEMBER Having started the induction of Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jets about two decades ago, the Indian Air Force is now planning to extend the service life of its Russian-origin combat aircraft by more than 20 years. The Indian Air Force has inducted 272 of the Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft operating in its fleet and the twin-engine planes are going to be the mainstay of the force for at least the next 15-20 years. “Indian Air Force is looking to extend the service life of the fighter jets by another 20 years or more. Indian Air Force carries out extensive tests on the airframe and other parts of the aircraft to extend their service life and has had earlier experience in doing so," defence officials told ANI. “Service life extension would help the Indian Air Force to maintain the fleet of its mighty Su-30s around 2045-2050," they said. Indian Air Force is also working on boosting the capabilities of the aircraft by The IAF has inducted 272 of the Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft operating in its fleet and the twin-engine planes are going to be the mainstay of the force for at least the next 15-20 years. equipping it with major upgrades in terms of indigenous advanced radars, avionics and weapon systems. It is working to upgrade its fleet of Sukohi-30 MKI fighters with indigenous weapon systems and radar named Virupaaksha. "Virupaaksha radar is being developed indigenously, keeping in view the requirements of IAF in different sectors and would be the most advanced one among all the Sukohi-30 variants being flown around the globe," the government sources said. Sources added that the Indian Air Force has been working on a mission mode to indigenize the equipment in its inventory and looking to buy equipment from Indian firms worth over Rs three lakh crore in the near future. The Su-30MKI is a multi-role air dominance fighter that can carry a versatile array of weapons including the Astra Mk-1 longrange air-to-air missile, Brahmos Air Launched missile, and an array of bombs, among others.