WEDNESDAY 10 JANUARY 2024 www.thestatesman.com Pages 12 |` 5.00|LC INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 Twitter.com/thestatesman Facebook.com/thestatesman KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR HASINA’S TRIUMPH GABRIEL ATTAL BECOMES FRANCE'S YOUNGEST PM P9 SENSEX 71,386.2130.99 WEATHER Mainly clear sky with Fog/ Mist in the morning. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 24 °C and 16 °C respectively. TEMPERATURE Max: 23.8°C (-1) SUN RISES 06:18 hrs MOON RISES 04:3 hrs GOLD 47,210100 Min: 16.6°C (+3) SUN SETS 17:8 hrs MOON SETS 14:50 hrs New Moon on 11 January THUMBNAILS Delhi court allows NewsClick HR to turn approver in UAPA case: A Delhi court on Tuesday granted permission to NewsClick's human resources department head Amit Chakravarty to become an approver in the case lodged under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act over allegations that the media outlet received money to spread pro-China propaganda. JAYNAGAR, 9 JANUARY hief Minister Mamata Banerjee said today that the inauguration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya is an election gimmick, and attacked the BJP for using it as an excuse to divide communities. “A gimmick is being created before the election in the name of the Ram Temple. We cannot divide Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians in Bengal. No religious division will be allowed here,” Miss Banerjee said while addressing a meeting of the South C 24-Parganas district administration at Jaynagar. Miss Banerjee visited Jaynagar to announce development projects estimated to cost around Rs 700 crore for various parts of South 24-Parganas. Addressing the meeting at Jaynagar Bahedu High School ground, she said that her government could use the state and Central government logos, but no political party's logo, such as the BJP's, would be used for any government projects. She criticised the BJP government at the Centre, stating that they emphasised religion before the election but did not contribute financially to West Bengal’s development. “Our hard-earned money from the state is being taken away by them (Centre), but no money is paid back to us. This party (BJP) came to Bengal before the election with their reli- Maldives tourism association condemns derogatory statements against PM Modi STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 9 JANUARY STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, 9 JANUARY Ustad Rashid Khan, doyen of Indian classical music, breathed his last in a private hospital on Tuesday afternoon. He was only 55 and is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter. The chief minister Mamata Banerjee along with her cabinet colleagues Firhad Hakim, Arup Biswas, Indranil Sen and others rushed to the hospital soon after his condition deteriorated drastically since Monday morning. “Mr Khan developed severe infection following prolonged treatment since November in our hospital where he was brought with brain haemorrhage. He was in the critical care unit with life-support system like ventilator and oxygen backup. We could not revive him despite our efforts. He died at 3.45 p.m,”a doctor who treated him at Peerless Hospital said. (PG4) Amidst the ongoing diplomatic row between India and the Maldives, the tourism industry in the island has strongly condemned derogatory remarks made by its now suspended ministers against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Terming India as one of the closest neighbours and allies of the Maldives, the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI) noted that India has always been a first responder to various crises throughout the history of the island country. “India is one of our closest neighbours and allies. India has always been a first responder to various crises throughout our history and we are immensely grateful to the close relationship that the government as well as the people of India have maintained with us,” it said in a statement. It stressed that India has been a "consistent and significant contributor to the tourism industry of the Maldives." It stated that India has "greatly assisted" Maldives recovery efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic after the borders were reopened. “India has continued to remain as one of the top A Gurukul School of Art teacher works on a poster condeming the Maldives over derogatory remarks against PM in Mumbai. ANI  markets for the Maldives. It is our sincere wish that the close relationship between our two nations endures for generations to come and as such, we refrain from actions or speech that may have any negative impact on our good relationship," the statement added. A massive row erupted between India and the Maldives after three Maldivian ministers made derogatory comments about PM Modi's social media posts on 'X' after his visit to Lakshadweep. Maldives president asks China to send more tourists: Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu on Tuesday appealed to China to "intensify" efforts to send more tourists to his country, amid a spate of cancellation of reservations by Indian tourists after a diplomatic row erupted over the derogatory remarks by his ministers against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On the second day of his five-day state visit to China, Mr Muizzu in his address to the Maldives Business Forum in Fujian Province on Tuesday termed China as the island nation's "closest" ally. "China remains one of our closest allies and development partners," he said. He praised the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2014, saying that they "delivered the most significant infrastructure projects witnessed in Maldivian history", according to his speech. CCPA discusses draft guidelines for coaching institutes ads STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 9 JANUARY The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) conducted the first meeting of its Committee for “Prevention and Regulation of Misleading Advertisements in the Coaching Sector” on 8 January and discussed a set of draft guidelines. The chairman of the committee is the secretary of the Department of Consumer Affairs and chief commissioner of CCPA, Rohit Kumar Singh. Mr Singh said that protection of consumers’ interest is a paramount concern of the CCPA. He highlighted the need for clarity, P12 SILVER 76,600200 BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 76.691.09 Ram temple inauguration a pre-election gimmick: CM STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Min. 58 % Ustad Rashid Khan passes away at 55 ` vs $ 83.086 PAISE P5 Mamata accuses BJP of using temple inauguration as an excuse to divide communities RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 94 % P6 NIFTY 21,544.8531.85 ICC RATES CAPE TOWN PITCH AS ‘UNSATISFACTORY’ RAJNATH SINGH HOLDS TALKS WITH U.K. COUNTERPART specifically in addressing certain aspects related to advertisements in the coaching sector. He said the CCPA firmly believes in safeguarding the rights of consumers and ensuring no false or misleading advertisement is made of any goods or services which contravenes provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. The guidelines shall be applicable to all coaching institutes whether online or physical and cover all forms of advertisement regardless of form, format or medium. The guidelines prescribe conditions when an advertisement by a coaching institute shall be construed to be a misleading advertisement as defined under the Consumer Protection Act 2019 which inter-alia includes concealing important information related to the course opted by the successful candidates (whether free or paid), duration of course etc. The guidelines provide that coaching institutes shall not make false claims regard- ing success rates or number of selections and any other practices that may lead to consumer misunderstanding or subvert consumer autonomy and choice. The guidelines prescribe Do’s and Don’ts that need to be observed before coming up with advertisements. These are: Coaching Institute shall mention requisite information with successful candidate photo; Rank secured by successful candidate; Course opted by successful candidate; Duration of course; Whether it is paid or free; Coaching institutes shall not make claim 100 per cent selection or 100 per cent job guaranteed or guaranteed Preliminary or Mains. CMYK gious agenda and conducted divisive politics in the name of religion to gain votes. Despite sending 76 Central teams to evaluate projects, the Centre did not release money for the poor," she said. Referring to the Bilkis Bano case, Miss Banerjee said that Trinamul Congress MP Mahua Moitra was expelled from Parliament for protesting against the rapists. "Our government does not forgive any rapist. The BJP government tried to release the rapists. This party sponsors such heinous crimes," she said. Ms Moitra was among those who had filed peti- tions in the Supreme Court against the Gujarat government's August 2022 decision granting remission to 11 convicts in the case of the gang-rape of Bilkis Bano. The Supreme Court on Monday quashed the remission of sentence granted to the convicts. Miss Banerjee also said people's money and valuables were unsafe due to the ED seizing hard-earned money. “This is a government of Central agencies, but there is not a single recovery of chit fund money, and consequently, the money is not returned to the deprived investors,” she said. B’luru CEO sent to 6 days’ police custody after allegedly killing son: The CEO of a Bengaluru-based AI company who was arrested for allegedly murdering her four-year-old son at a service ap- artment in Goa ~ has been remanded to six days’ police custody, police said. The accused woman was identified as Suchana Seth (39) from Bengaluru. She was arrested on Monday from Chitradurga district of Karnataka, while she was heading to Bengaluru in a cab.