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 Fog/Mist in the morning later mainly clear sky Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 25 °C and 16 °C respectively. ‘There’s scientific evidence that Bengali originated over 2.5 thousand years ago’ RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 95 % Min. 43 % Max: 25.5°C (+1) SUN RISES 06:19 hrs MOON RISES 06:10 hrs Min: 17.1°C (+3) SUN SETS 17:10 hrs MOON SETS 16:57 hrs TEMPERATURE CM: Include Bengali in classical language list Full Moon on 25 January THUMBNAILS Students paint a road as part of winter festival celebrations in Kolkata on Thursday. STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, 11 JANUARY hief minister Mamata Banerjee today wrote to the Prime Minister seeking the official recognition of Bengali as a classical language. “I have written a letter to the Prime Minister. We have done research and assembled scientific facts that show that the Bengali language originated over 2.5 thousand years ago. We feel that this deserves to be classified as a classical language by the government," Miss Banerjee said in a Press conference on Friday. She also took take a dig at the Centre for discriminating against the Bengali language. “Though they have given C the acknowledgement of a classical language to several languages, they have deprived Bengali of that respect. 2.5 thousand years is not a joke,” Miss Banerjee said. “Bengali is already acknowledged as an international language. If lan- guages from other states are notified as classical languages, why can't our language?” asked. The Union ministry of home affairs had earlier recognised six languages viz. Tamil, Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Odiya as clas- sical languages. Lashing out at the Communist Party of India (Marxist) government that had ruled the state before Mamata Banerjee came to power, she said, "Those who were in government earlier had not thought of it and did not discuss it. They had not shown any interest." The Chief Minister said that if Bengali is given the acknowledgement of a classical language, a Centre of Excellence will be set up in the state. Miss Banerjee also asked what was still preventing the Centre to give its nod to the proposal for changing the name of the state from West Bengal to Bangla, for which the state Assembly already passed the requisite Bills. (With agency inputs)  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 is expected to present the interim budget on 1 February. India beat Afghanistan: A half-century by Shivam Dube and a cameo by Jitesh Sharma helped India secure a six-wicket win over Afghanistan in the first T20I of the three-match series at Mohali on Thursday. A view of the 'golden door' being installed at the Ram temple in Ayodhya.  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 TMC not to hold meeting with Cong's alliance panel AGENCIES The Trinamul Congress will not participate in any meeting with the Congress' national alliance committee on seat-sharing for the Lok Sabha elections as it has already conveyed its position to the party, agency reports quoted TMC sources as saying on Thursday. The sources said the Trinamul Congress has offered two seats to the Congress ~ the ones it won in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The Congress has said the offer is too low and difficult to accept. Any change in the offer can only be made by Trinamul supremo Mamata Banerjee, the TMC sources said. The sources said the Congress contacted party leaders for such a meeting and has been informed that they are not keen on sending any representative for talks. 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 KOLKATA, 11 JANUARY 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. Central government comes out Modi to inaugurate with guidelines on misleading longest bridge Atal Setu in Mumbai today environmental claims in ads STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE 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 draft guidelines pro- British PM hopes FTA talks will conclude soon The guidelines prescribe various disclosures that would be required to be made by the company making green claims. vide 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. A view of the newly constructed longest sea bridge Atal Setu which will be inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi on 12 January. ANI STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 11 JANUARY Prime 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 Sewri-Nhava 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 PM 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 Mumbai. Mr Modi will lay the foundation stone of the underground road tunnel connecting Eastern Freeway's Orange Gate to Marine Drive. CMYK China ‘firmly opposes external interference’ in Maldives AGENCIES BEIJING, 11 JANUARY Defence Minister Rajnath Singh meets UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in London on Thursday.  ANI 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 Mr Muizzu's talks with 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. Maldives deputy ministers Mariyam Shiuna, Mahzoom Majid and Malsha Shareef were suspended indefinitely after their statements targeting Mr Modi provoked a storm of outrage.