FRIDAY 12 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 WEATHER MAINLY CLEAR SKY BECOMING PARTLY CLOUDY SKY TOWARDS AFTERNOON/EVENING. SHALLOW TO MODERATE FOG IN THE MORNING. THE MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WOULD BE AROUND 19 AND 05 DEGREES CELSIUS RESPECTIVELY. PM to inaugurate Atal Setu in Mumbai today British PM hopes FTA talks will conclude soon With a length of 21.8 km, it is the longest bridge and sea bridge in India BEIJING, 11 JANUARY RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 97 % Min. 51 % Max: 18.1 °C (-2) SUN RISES 7:15 hrs MOON RISES 08:57 hrs Min: 05.8 °C (-2) SUN SETS 17:44 hrs MOON SETS 18:39 hrs TEMPERATURE China ‘firmly opposes external interference’ in Maldives Defence Minister Rajnath Singh meets UK Prime Minister ANI Rishi Sunak in London on Thursday. THUMBNAILS STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 11 JANUARY P Students paint a road as part of winter festival celebrations in Kolkata on Thursday.  BISWAJIT GHOSHAL Parliament's budget session to begin on 31 January: The Budget session of Parliament, the last session before the general elections expected in April-May, will begin on 31 January and is likely to continue till 9 February, sources said. Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the interim budget on 1 February, they said.The session will begin with President Droupadi Murmu's address to the joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament. The interim budget typically takes care of the fiscal needs of the intervening period till a government is formed after the Lok Sabha polls. rime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Maharashtra on Friday and inaugurate several development projects at Navi Mumbai after inaugurating the 27th National Youth Festival at Nashik. In Mumbai, the Prime Minister will also inaugurate and travel on the Atal Bihari Vajpayee SewriNhava Sheva Atal Setu. It is the longest bridge in India and also the longest sea bridge in India. The Mumbai Transharbour link (MTHL), now named Atal Bihari Vajpayee Sewri-Nhava Sheva Atal Setu, has been built in line with the Prime Minister’s vision to improve ‘ease of mobility’ of citizens by strengthening urban transport infrastructure and connectivity. The bridge will provide faster connectivity to the Mumbai International Airport and Navi Mumbai International Airport and also reduce travel time from Mumbai to Pune, Goa and South India. It will improve connectivity between Mumbai Port & Jawaharlal Nehru Port. The foundation stone of the bridge was laid by the Prime Minister in December, 2016. The Atal Setu has been constructed at a total cost of more than Rs 17,840 crore. It is about 21.8 km long 6-lane bridge having about 16.5 km length over sea and about 5.5 km on the land. The Prime Minister will inaugurate, dedicate to the nation and lay the foundation stone of multiple development projects worth more than Rs 12,700 crore at a public programme in Navi Mum- A view of the newly constructed Atal Setu ~ the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link ~ which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 12 January, in Mumbai on Thursday.  ANI bai. Mr Modi will lay the foundation stone of the underground road tunnel connecting Eastern Freeway's Orange Gate to Marine Drive. The 9.2 Km tunnel will be built at a cost of more than Rs 8700 crore and will be a significant infrastructure development in Mumbai which will reduce travel time between Orange Gate and Marine Drive. He will dedicate phase 1 of the Surya regional bulk drinking water project to the nation. The project, developed at a cost of more than Rs 1975 crore will provide drinking water supply to the Palghar and Thane district of Maharashtra, benefiting about 14 lakh population. During the programme, Prime Minister will dedicate about Rs 2000 crore railway projects to the Nation. These include the dedication of ‘Phase 2 of UranKharkopar railway line’ which will enhance connectivity to Navi Mumbai as suburban services running between Nerul/Belapur to Kharkopar will now be extended to Uran. Prime Minister will also flag off the inaugural run of the EMU train from Uran railway station to Kharkopar. Other rail projects that will be dedicated to Nation include a new suburban station ‘Digha Gaon’ on the Thane-Vashi/Panvel Trans-harbour line and the new 6th Line between Khar Road & Goregaon railway station. The projects will benefit thousands of daily commuters in Mumbai. PM gives Chadar for Urs of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 11 JANUARY A view of the 'golden door' being installed at the Ram temple in Ayodhya.  ANI Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met a Muslim community delegation and presented a sacred Chadar, which will be placed during the Urs of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti at the esteemed Ajmer Sharif Dargah. The Prime Minister posted on X: “Met a Muslim community delegation.” “During our interaction, I presented the sacred Chadar, which will be placed during the Urs of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti at the esteemed Ajmer Sharif Dargah.” STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 11 JANUARY UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has expressed the hope that the ongoing negotiations with India for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) would be concluded soon while also underlining his government's keenness to strengthen the defence and security partnership between the two countries. At a meeting at 10 Downing Street in London last night with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, he agreed with the Indian leader on the need for India and the UK to work in the domains of trade, defence and technology. Mr Sunak said his administration desires to strengthen the defence and security pillar of the bilateral relationship, including through government backing for stronger business and technology partnerships with Indian counterpart entities. The Ministry of Defence on Thursday said the meeting was warm and cordial. Mr Singh highlighted that both nations have made sig- nificant strides in moulding and recrafting the historic ties into a modern, multifaceted and mutually beneficial partnership, under the direction of the leaders of both countries. He recalled the recent enhancement in bilateral defence engagement, spanning joint exercises, training, capability building, increased interoperability, military-to-military ties especially in the maritime domain. He emphasised the ongoing efforts to enhance defence industrial cooperation, including in the technology domain. Mr Singh also briefed Mr Sunak about his positive interactions with the UK defence industry and the new positive energy in the bilateral defence relationship. The Indian minister was of the view that the UK and other like-minded countries should work with India for strengthening a peaceful and stable global rules-based order, including through partnering India in its inexorable rise, which can be strengthened, reinforced and speeded up with friendly collaboration. China on Thursday said that it "firmly opposes external interference" in the internal affairs of the Maldives and supports the island nation in upholding its sovereignty and independence as Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu concluded his maiden visit here amid a diplomatic row with India. "The two sides agree to continue firmly supporting each other in safeguarding their respective core interests," said a joint statement issued at the end of Muizzu's talks with the top Chinese leaders. "China firmly supports the Maldives in upholding its national sovereignty, independence and national dignity, respects and supports the Maldives' exploration of a development path that suits its national conditions, and firmly opposes external interference in the internal affairs of the Maldives," the statement said, without referring to any country. The statement comes at a time when the Maldives was involved in a diplomatic row with India over derogatory statements made by three Maldivian ministers against Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading to a spate of cancellation of reservations of Indian tourists to Maldives. Maldives deputy ministers Mariyam Shiuna, Mahzoom Majid and Malsha Shareef were suspended indefinitely after their statements targeting Mr Modi provoked a storm of outrage. AGENCIES PORTRAITS OF A PM Central government comes out with guidelines on misleading environmental claims in ads SC go-ahead to Shimla Development Plan 2041; NGT orders quashed STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 11 JANUARY NEW DELHI, 11 JANUARY The Central Consumer Protection Authority on Thursday held the third meeting of its committee preparing guidelines for protection of consumers against greenwashing and misleading environmental claims in advertisements. Consumer Affairs Secretary and Chief Commissioner of the Authority Rohit Kumar Singh chaired the meeting. The guidelines define the “Greenwashing” and “Environmental claims”. They will be applicable to all advertisements or service providers, product sellers, advertisers, or an advertising agency or endorser whose service is availed for the advertisement of such goods or services. The guidelines provide that no person to whom these guidelines apply shall engage in greenwashing and vague terms such as 'green', 'ecofriendly', 'eco-consciousness', 'good for the planet', 'cruelty-free', and similar assertions, without various disclosures. The guidelines prescribe various disclosures that would be required to be made by the company making green claims. The draft guidelines provide that aspirational or futuristic environmental claims need to be made with various disclosures. They provide a Guidance Note for environmental claims with appropriate examples to provide help and guidance to industry. The guidelines prescribe various disclosures that would be required to be made by the company making green claims. These include that all environmental claims shall be accurate and disclose all material information either in the relevant advertisement or communication or by inserting a QR Code, or any such technology including web link, which will be linked to relevant information. While making disclosures in relation to environmental claims, data from research shall not be “cherry-picked” to highlight only favourable observations while obscuring others that are unfavourable. Any person making an environment related claim should specify whether it refers to the good, manufacturing process, packaging, manner of use of the good or its disposal; or service or the process of rendering the service. All environmental claims shall be backed by verifiable evidence. Comparative environmental claims that compare one product or service to another must be based on verifiable and relevant data that is disclosed to the consumers. Specific environmental claims must be supported by credible certification, reliable scientific evidence, and independent third-party verification to maintain their authenticity. PARMOD KUMAR The Supreme Court on Thursday approved the Shimla Development Plan 2041 that is aimed to contribute towards the ease of living in Himachal Paresh’s capital city, saying there are sufficient safeguards in the plan to balance the need for development while taking care of and addressing the environmental and ecological concerns. Quashing the green tribunal order which had put on hold the development plan, a bench of Justice B R Gavai and Justice Aravind Kumar in a judgment on Thursday said the Himachal Pradesh government and its instrumentalities are permitted to go ahead with the implementation of the development plan as published on June 20, 2023. Quashing the green tribunal’s November 16, 2017, July 16, 2018 and October 14, 2022, Justice Gavi speaking for the bench said, “We have gone through the development plan. The development plan has been finalized after taking into consideration the reports of various expert committees and the studies undertaken with regard to various aspects including environmental and ecological aspects.” Having said this, the bench in its judgment said, “The Appellant-State of Himachal Pradesh and its instrumentalities are permitted to proceed with the implementation of the development plan as published on 20th June 2023 subject to what has been observed by us hereinabove.” “Upon its prima facie consideration, we have come to a view that there are sufficient safeguards to balance the need for development while taking care of and addressing the environmental and ecological concerns. We may however not be construed as giving our imprimatur to the said development plan”, said the judgment. Women look at the portraits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi put up at The Master of Divine India Exhibition of 75 conceptual paintings by Dr. Avinash Dnyandevrao Kate at the Constitution Club of India in New Delhi on Thursday. ANI Mamata opposes One Nation, One Election STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, 11 JANUARY West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has written to the High-Level Committee on One Nation, One Election, opposing the concept of holding simultaneous Parliamentary and state Assembly elections as against the federal structure laid down in the Indian Constitution. In her letter, written in her capacity as the chairperson of the Trinamul Congress, she argued that the Constitution conceives of the Indian nation in a federal manner, resulting in a system of parallel existence of one Union government and several state governments. "If the framers of the Indian Constitution did not mention the concept of ‘One Nation, One Election’, how have you arrived at the concept of ‘One Nation, One Election’? Unless this basic enigma is sorted, it is difficult to arrive at any firm view on the catchy phrase," she wrote. “Instability of a government at the Centre and consequent impact on the Parliament should not destabilise the State legislatures, to be sure! How does your esteemed committee propose to navigate these questions?" she asked. Miss Banerjee charged that the Union government is attempting to impose a structure that is against the spirit of a truly democratic and federal structure as laid down in the Indian Constitution. “We object to the most unrepresentative composition of the Committee and point out that no Chief Ministers are taken on board for fear of receiving practical objections," she wrote. Miss Banerjee also said that she doubts if the high-level committee is seriously interested in analysing the demerits of the case. "I further suspect that it fails to consider that Parliamentary elections and state Legislative elections are substantially different in nature," the Chief Minister said.