WEDNESDAY 03 JANUARY 2024 www.thestatesman.com Pages 12 |` 5.00|LC Twitter.com/thestatesman Facebook.com/thestatesman INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR PILGER’S OWN WORDS ‘NOT SURPRISING, SFI IS KNOWN FOR KILLING PEOPLE’ P4 SENSEX 71,892.48379.462 WEATHER Mainly clear sky with Fog/ Mist in the morning.Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 23 °C and 15 °C respectively. RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY P5 ` vs $ 83.3211 PAISE GOLD 64,090220 Min. 53 % Max: 22.5°C (-3) SUN RISES 06:17 hrs MOON RISES 22:33 hrs Min: 15.5°C (+1) SUN SETS 17:4 hrs MOON SETS 10:29 hrs New Moon on 11 January THUMBNAILS A child is seen sitting on a bag as people wait to board a bus on a cold winter day, in Gurugram on Tuesday.  ANI S Korean Opp leader is stabbed in the neck: South Korea’s tough-speaking liberal opposition leader, Lee Jae-myung, was stabbed in the neck by an unidentified knife-wielding man who attempted to kill him during his visit to the southeastern city of Busan, police said. Lee, 59, the head of the main opposition Democratic Party, was airlifted to a Seoul hospital for surgery after receiving emergency treatment in Busan. (PG 9) P12 SILVER 78,900300 BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 76.830.19 Govt stands by you: Mamata Transporters stage to students on Students Day protests across India STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Representatives of transporter bodies meet Union home secretary Max. 93 % TEMPERATURE P6 NIFTY 21,665.8076.10 INDIA TO SEEK REDEMPTION AT CAPE TOWN ‘SECULARISM HAS NOW BECOME PEJORATIVE FOR THOSE IN POWER’ KOLKATA, 2 JANUARY STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 2 JANUARY On Students Day today Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee assured them of every help by the state government to fulfil their dreams. In her message Miss Banerjee wished them and said the state government will always be by the side of the new generation to fulfil their dreams. On 23 October 2015 Miss Banerjee started distribution of Sabuj Sathi bicycles to the students at a function at Gopiballavpur Block II. The cycles are given free of cost to the students studying between classes IX to XII in state run, sponsored schools and madrassas. More than 1 crore cycles have been distributed so far. The project has received global recognition by the United Nations. The scheme has successful brought the number of school drop outs and prevented child marriage, as revealed by a study conducted by the Pratichi Trust founded by Nobel Laureate Professor Amartya Sen. The schools are now given school bags, books shoes free of cost. The Self Help Groups have been assigned to make the school dress. epresentatives of the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) on Tuesday met Home Secretary AK Bhalla to discuss the new hitand-run law, while truck drivers across the country staged protests against the new legislation. Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla is reported to have said that the new rule regarding the hitand-run law has not been implemented yet and the Centre would have a discussion with AIMTC representatives before implementation. The AIMTC has called for the repeal of the provisions that recommend stern punishment and stricter penalty in the hitand-run cases under the new Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS). Under the BNS, which replaced the Indian Penal Code (IPC), drivers who cause a serious road accident by negligent driving and run away without R Truck drivers blocked the road at Kidderpore area, Kolkata on Tuesday.  SNS informing the police or any official from the administration can face punishment of up to 10 years or a fine of Rs 7 lakh. Earlier, the punishment in such cases was two years in the IPC. A senior AIMTC member said that truckers are unwilling to work in the wake of the new laws that were passed in December last year. The chairman of the core committee of the AIMTC, while speaking to Planes catch fire after a collision at Tokyo’s Haneda airport, 5 dead media earlier in the day, said that the protests across different parts of the nation were a spontaneous reaction to the new hit-and-run law. He said that they were trying to put in efforts towards defusing the protest that may have an impact on lives, as the situation is serious, and also urge the government to do the same. Truckers across the nation, especially a large number of petrol and YSRTP leader Y S Sharmila to join Cong diesel supply tankers in several states, have stopped operations. The agitating drivers are also not allowing those who want to operate to do so. Petrol pumps in many places, particularly in smaller towns remote areas, are either already dry or are on the verge of running out of auto fuels because of the strike by tanker drivers. Long queues were witnessed at petrol pumps at many places as people thronged them fearing shortage of fuel. Transporters and drivers staged protests across states, including Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar, Punjab, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Private bus and truck drivers on Monday enforced a 'chakka jam' across the state of Madhya Pradesh in protest against a new hit-and-run law. A similar protest also broke out in the Chhattisgarh capital, Raipur, where bus drivers staged a demonstration against the new central law. On 23 October 2015 Miss Banerjee started distribution of Sabuj Sathi bicycles to the students at a function at Gopiballavpur. Kanyashree has helped the students to pursue higher education up to the university level. Students’ Credit Card has been helped the students to pursue higher education. The students can take loans from the banks and the state government will be the guarantor. The scheme can be availed by students intending to study abroad. The scheme has been a popular scheme Modi: India’s achievements make it best time for young Indians AWAITED MOMENT AGENCIES TOKYO, 2 JANUARY A passenger plane and a Japanese Coast Guard aircraft collided on the runway at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on Tuesday and burst into flames. (Photo) Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito confirmed that all 379 occupants of Japan Airlines flight JAL-516 got out safely before the plane was entirely engulfed in flames. The pilot of the coast guard plane also escaped, but five crewmembers died, Mr Saito said. Local TV video showed a large eruption of fire and smoke from the side of the Japan Airlines plane as it taxied after landing. The area around the wing then caught fire. Footage an hour later showed the plane fully on fire. The JAL plane was an Airbus A-350 that had flown from Shin Chitose airport, near the city of Sapporo, to Haneda, the transport minister said. Coast Guard spokesperson Yoshinori Yanagishima said its plane was MA-722, a Bombardier Dash-8. The plane, which is based at Haneda, had among the students and many of the meritorious students coming from economically challenged background have availed the scheme to pursue higher studies particularly engineering. Miss Banerjee has over and again assured the students she would always be by their side as she wanted them to go to the best universities abroad and do well there. NEW DELHI, 2 JANUARY been due to head to Niigata to deliver relief goods to residents affected by a deadly earthquake in the region on Monday that killed at least 48 people. Swede Anton Deibe, 17, who was a passenger on the Japan Airlines plane, told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that “the entire cabin was filled with smoke within a few minutes. We threw ourselves down on the floor. Then the emergency doors were opened and we threw ourselves at them. Mr Saito said Haneda is currently closed while the collision is under investigation by aviation safety investigators and police, but that they are doing their best to reopen the airport Wednesday or sooner. He added that said officials STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE HYDERABAD, 2 JANUARY are doing their utmost to prevent any delays in the relief goods delivery and other operations for the disaster-hit region. Haneda is one of the busiest airports in Japan, and many people travel over the New Year holidays. With YSRTP leader Y S Sharmila all set to join the Congress, Andhra Pradesh will see a political face-off between YSRCP supremo and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and his sister in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. According to sources, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had sent an emissary to YS Sharmila to dissuade her from joining the Congress but talks broke down after she refused to join YSRCP. Sharmila will now leave for Delhi tomorrow along with party leaders to officially merge her party YSRTP with the Congress. She is said to have been offered the post of APPCC. (Page 4) Students of the Gurukul School of Art make paintings of Lord Ram, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple ahead of its consecration ceremony, in Mumbai on Tuesday.  ANI Prime Minister Narendra Modi said here on Tuesday that it is the best time to be young in India as the country’s domestic achievements and international interventions have opened numerous opportunities for them to grow and take the country to new heights. The prime minister was addressing the 38th Convocation ceremony of the Bharathidasan University in Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu. This was his first public interaction in 2024. Modi said in the last 10 years, the number of airports in the country has doubled from 74 to nearly 150! The cargo handling capacity of major ports in India has doubled since 2014. The speed of road and highway construction in the country too has almost doubled during the same period. He said the number of registered start-ups in the country has grown to almost one lakh, a big leap from less than 100 in 2014.SNS Female employees can nominate kids for pension Shah chairs high- level security meet on J&K, STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 2 JANUARY Female government servants or pensioners can nominate their children for family pension in cases of marital discord. The Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions on Tuesday said that in case divorce proceedings are pending in a court of law, or the female government servant/female pensioner has filed a case against her husband under Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act or Dowry Prohibition Act or under Indian Penal Code, such female government servant/female pensioner may make a request for grant of family pension after her death to her eligible child/children, in precedence to her husband. As per the government notification, the female employee can submit her request in writing to the concerned head of office to the effect that, in the event of her death during the pendency of any of the proceedings in question, family pension may be granted to her eligible child/children in precedence to her spouse. Under the current establishment, the family pension is first granted to the spouse after the death of a government servant. The children and other family members become eligible for family pension only after the spouse of the deceased government servant becomes ineligible for family pension or dies. Also, in the event of the death of the female employee, who had made a request, if the pensioner is survived by a widower and no child/children is eligible for family pension on the date of death, family pension shall be payable to the widower. In case the deceased female employee is survived by a widower with a minor child or a child suffering from disorder or disability of mind including the mentally retarded, the family pension in respect of the deceased shall be payable to the widower. However, in such a case, the guardian of such child/children is someone other than the widower, or if the widower ceases to be the guardian of such child/children, such family pension shall be payable to the child through the person who is the actual guardian of such child/children. The minor child, after attaining the age of majority, remains eligible for family pension. The family pension shall become payable to such child from the date on which he or she attains the age of majority. In another case, if the pensioner is survived by a widower with a child who has attained the age of majority but is eligible for family pension, the family pension shall be payable to such child. underlines importance of local intel network STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 2 JANUARY A high level security review meeting on Jammu and Kashmir was chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Tuesday to discuss better coordination among security forces in the region. The crucial meeting was attended by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Home Secretary AK Bhalla, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, J&K Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, Army Chief General Manoj Pande, and several other senior officials of police forces. During the meeting, Shah reviewed the area domination plan of security agencies in J&K to eliminate the threat of CMYK terrorism. While reviewing the functioning of the security grid and overall security scenario of Jammu and Kashmir, the home minister instructed to strengthen the counter-terrorism operations and need for complete elimination of terror ecosystem. He also advised the secu- rity agencies for appropriate deployment in vulnerable areas. He reiterated that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government will continue to adopt a zero- tolerance approach against terrorism. Shah stressed that all due procedures should be adopted while dealing with counter- terror operations. He also underlined the importance of further strengthening the local intelligence network. Shah appreciated the efforts of the security agencies and administration of the Union Territory for significant decline in terror related incidents, infiltration and improvement in law & order situation. This meeting symbolises government’s proactive stance towards addressing security concerns in Jammu and Kashmir, in tune with the commitment provide robust security apparatus, in line with the centre's zero tolerance against acts of terror.