THURSDAY 18 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 Partly cloudy sky with rain or thundershowers likely in some areas towards evening/night. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 20 °C and 15 °C respectively. RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY CM announces sectional holiday for Prakash Purabof Guru Gobind Singh STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, 17 JANUARY Max. 91 % Min. 71 % Max: 20.3°C (-6) SUN RISES 06:19 hrs MOON RISES 10:38 hrs Min: 13.4°C (-1) SUN SETS 17:14 hrs MOON SETS 23:24 hrs TEMPERATURE Indiscipline will not be tolerated, says CM Full Moon on 25 January THUMBNAILS A truck carrying an idol of Lord Ram Lalla is brought near Hanumangarhi Temple with heavy security in Ayodhya.  ANI Manipur cop killed: Fresh clashes erupted at Moreh in violence-hit Manipur on Wednesday as armed militants attacked security personnel in the border town, resulting in the death of one Manipur Rifles personnel and injury to at least three others. Sources said the miscreants ambushed Manipur Rifles/ India Reserve Battalion (IRB) personnel using rocket-propelled grenades (RPG) and live rounds from the hilltop of Chikim village near the Ema Kondong Lairembi (PG10) Mandir, at around 4 a.m. hief Minister Mamata Banerjee today at a meeting with the District Magistrates held at Nabanna is believed to have issued a stern warning that government employees would have to follow discipline and any dereliction of duty would be dealt with very severely. Highly placed sources added that during emergencies officers might need to show up for work even on off days. Government employees enjoy a handful of facilities, including salary on the first day of a month and a number of holidays. Despite that, a certain section was still trying to arm-twist the state government into getting more facilities. Resorting to measures like going on strikes and going on dharnas would not be taken too kindly, sources added. Miss Banerjee had recently announced another four per cent of DA for government employees at the C STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE PURI , 17 JANUARY Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee speaks during a programme celebrating Guru Govind Singh Jayanti at the Shaheed Minar Maidan on Wednesday.  BISWAJIT GHOSHAL inauguration of the Christmas carnival at Allen Park. The chief minister is known for her strict work ethic and works round the clock to ensure that the administration functions smoothly. Ordinary citizens should not have to suffer on account of officers who don’t take their duties seriously, the CM has repeatedly stressed. Miss Banerjee, meanwhile, announced a sectional holiday on the occasion of 'Prakash Purab' of the last Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh. Sharing the news on X, Miss Banerjee said that the decision is the Bengal government's tribute to Guru Gobind Singh ji. "Glad to announce that henceforth the 'Prakash Purab' of Shri Guru Gobind Singhji will be a sectional holiday for all state government employees, teachers, panchayat and municipal employees, state boards, corporations and undertakings employees etc. of West Bengal belonging to the Sikh community. This is our tribute to the brave Guruji who keeps on inspiring us," she said. We see India as extraordinary success story: US secy of state PM: UDF, LDF tenures in Kerala known for scams AGENCIES STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE DAVOS, 17 JANUARY US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that the United States sees India as an 'extraordinary success story' and added that India's leadership under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has benefited the relations of many ally countries. Speaking at the World Economic Forum, Secretary Blinken noted that the IndiaUS conversation always underscores the significance of democracy and human rights and the relations between the two countries have been established to a new level. “We see an extraordinary success story and we see the remarkable achievements that Prime Minister Modi has achieved moving forward under his watch that have materially benefited and positively affected so many of the allies. We also see our relationship between our countries that is in a new place at a new level. That's been a very deliberate effort by both the Prime Minister and President Biden.” “At the same time, a constant and regular part of our conversation is the conversation about democracy and about human rights," Mr Blinken said. He added: “When President (Biden) took office, he wanted to make sure that we put back into our foreign policy. These fundamental concerns about democracy, about human rights and we done that. We do it in different ways in different places. Because of the nature of relationship, we have with the country, with the government, it's part of very sustain, very real conversation and the conversation that we have off course produces positive change.” Mr Blinken also commented on the recent Taiwan presidential elections which made China furious and reaffirmed US support for the status quo of the island country. He said: “We see a very powerful affirmation of democracy. We congratulated the people of Taiwan. Our fundamental interest is the peace and stability is maintained. The Taiwan strait that any differences between Beijing and Taiwan resolved peacefully. One of the hailmark of success of the relationship between the United states and china since the establishment of diplomatic relations has actually with the management of the Taiwan issue. The premium we have had in maintaining the status quo.” NEW DELHI/KOCHI, 17 JANUARY Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday attacked the Congress-led UDF and the ruling CPI(M)-led LDF in Kerala for "corruption and scams" and expressed confidence that the southern state will play a role in BJP's victory in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. He was addressing a BJP 'Shaktikendra Incharges Sammelan' in Kochi, Kerala, after inaugurating three major infrastructure projects worth more than Rs 4,000 crore in Kochi. The Prime Minister said that positive outcomes of BJP's transparent policies are clearly visible as the party took steps for the welfare of the poor, women, youth and farmers. In the last nine years, 25 crore people have come out of poverty, he said, while for five decades, the Congress only gave slogans of poverty alleviation. This proves that the direction chosen by the BJP for Developed India was right, he said. Mr Modi said despite adverse conditions, party workers have kept the BJP’s flag flying in every corner of the State. “I bow before generations of party workers who have remained committed to the party, its ideology and patriotism in spite of political violence and adverse conditions,” he said. The BJP is a party which represents every section of the society, he said, and has a track record for speedy progress, and a clear vision for the future. In a few months, people will elect a new Government at the Centre. The party workers must educate voters that till 10 years ago there was a weak and unstable Government in the country, and there were frequent terrorist attacks. This directly affected the flow of foreign investment in the country and the morale of Indian workers abroad, he said. Arm-chair critic: Scindia on Tharoor’s critique on flight delays STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 17 JANUARY A war of words broke out between Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor over the recent fog-induced flight delays at the Delhi airport. Hitting back at Mr Tharoor for his criticism of the chaos at the Delhi airport, Mr Scindia said onWednesday that the Congress MP is lost in his 'esoteric world of thesaurus'. The civil aviation minister also referred to Mr Tharoor as an "arm-chair critic" in response to the Congress MP's critique of the management of Delhi airport's operations in the wake of winter fog. It started with Mr Tharoor criticising the Aviation Ministry in a series of posts on microblogging site X, Patnaik inaugurates Parikrama Prakalpa at Jagannath temple incorporating various media reports to underscore the disarray at the airport. The Congress MP was referring to the chaos at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in Delhi on Monday with hundreds of passengers stranded at the airport for hours as dense fog disrupted flight operations. Responding to Mr Tharoor’s criticism, Mr Scindia issued a detailed counterar- gument through a series of posts on X. He began with a dig at Mr Tharoor saying: “It is for someone who is lost in his esoteric world of thesaurus that data mining of selective press articles from the internet qualifies as ‘research’.” The minister, while elaborating on the steps taken to control the situation, wrote: “Here are some actual facts for arm-chair critic @ShashiTharoor and the Cong IT Cell that might help tackle their lack of depth in understanding of technical sectors like civil aviation.” “Runway maintenance work is a critical safety element for aviation operations, and any compromise with runway conditions directly jeopardizes passenger safety. "As a result, the maintenance was taken on top priority to be completed by 15th December before the onset of the fog season. However, due to pollution incidents and enforcement of GRAP-IV in Delhi, the recarpeting got delayed, resulting in a delay of one month in its commissioning. The revamped RWY is getting operational this week,” said Mr Scindia in the post. The minister also addressed concerns about a crane impacting runway operations, stating that crane operations would now be limited to non-fog days. Refuting Mr Tharoor's claim of shortage of trained pilots, Mr Scindia said the number of CAT II/CAT III trained pilots has increased from 2,416 in 2014 to 6,191, a 2.5-fold jump in the last nine years. He emphasised that the DGCA's strict enforcement of deploying CAT IIIB compliant aircraft with qualified crew during winter. In the context of CAT III landings, he explained about the three dependent factors – Runway Capability, Aircraft Capability, and Pilot Accreditation. He clarified that CAT III operations depend on the highest common factor among these variables and provided a comparison with JFK Airport in the USA to put India's capabilities into perspective. “The two CAT III runways CMYK Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the grand Parikrama Prakalpa around the Jagannath Temple, scripting history here on Wednesday. It is a red letter day for Odisha, noted Puri Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingh Deb while observing that nothing of this sort had been done in several centuries. The atmosphere in the pilgrim town of Puri turned devotional with the chanting ofVedic hymns, the yagya, and scores of sants, representing important temples and monasteries from across the country, and quite a few Jagannath devotees from abroad participating in the event. Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingh Deb performed the ‘Purna Ahuti’ at the ‘Maha Yagya’ ritual, marking the end of the three-day-long recital of scriptures and mantras in the presence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, 5T chairman, V K Pandian, the brain behind the project, chief secretary P K Jena and other dignitaries. Visitors today were awestruck by the beautiful surroundings ~ greenery, flowers all around, and a free pathway around the outer wall of the temple. The most eye-catching feature of the Parikrama was that the temple was now visible from all four sides. After the ceremonial yagya and unveiling of the plaque, Chief Minister Patnaik, V K Pandian, Gajapati Maharaja undertook a parikrama of the temple with hundreds of devotees following them dancing to devotional music played on traditional instruments. The CM recalled the ancient texts that referred to how eminent sadhus used to undertake a ‘parikrama’ of the temple. Over the years the entire area was encroached making it difficult for devotees to undertake the parikrama, the view of the temple was also obstructed. The Parikrama Project restores the parikrama and the glory of the temple and provides facilities for the devotees. The state government has invested Rs 800 crore for the project encircling the Meghanada Pacheri (grand boundary wall of Jagannath Temple). Pakistan expels Iranian envoy after air strike ISLAMABAD, 17 JANUARY Following an Iranian attack on its territory, Pakistan on Wednesday announced it was expelling the Iranian Ambassador while recalling its envoy from Teheran. “Pakistan has decided to recall its Ambassador from Iran and that the Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan who is currently visiting Iran may not return for the time being,” Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said while addressing a Press briefing, Geo News reported. The development comes after Teheran targeted the bases of what it claimed was a terrorist organisation inside Pakistani territory, “Green Mountain” with drones and missiles. Iranian media had quoted the country’s authorities as saying the headquarters of the group, Jaish al-Adl, were destroyed in the strikes. Calling it an "unprovoked and blatant" breach of Pakistan's sovereignty by Iran, Islamabad termed the move as a violation of international law and the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. “This illegal act is completely unacceptable and has no justification whatsoever. Pakistan reserves the right to respond to this illegal act. The responsibility for the consequences will lie squarely with Iran," Ms Baloch said. The spokesperson also said that Islamabad has decided to suspend all high-level visits that were ongoing or were planned between Pakistan and Iran in the coming days. Pakistani media reports said two children were killed in the Iranian strikes.AGENCIES (PG9)