TUESDAY 06 FEBRUARY 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 Sun and a few passing clouds. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 27 °C and 18 °C respectively. RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 88% Min: 18°C SUN SETS 17:27 hrs MOON SETS 13:19 hrs TEMPERATURE PARMOD KUMAR NEW DELHI, 5 FEBRUARY ghast over the way the Retur ning Officer conducted the election of the mayor of Chandigarh by defacing the ballot paper to ensure the defeat of the Aam Aadmi PartyCongress combine candidate Kuldeep Kumar, the Supreme Court on Monday said that it was “appalled” by the conduct of the Returning Officer, who made a “mockery” of democracy and “murdered” it, and needs to be "prosecuted.”. Expressing their dismay after viewing the video recording of the mayoral election's proceedings, Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, leading a bench alongside Justices J.B. Pardiwala a n d Ma n o j Mi s ra , demanded the complete election record, including ballot papers and the video footage, to be submitted to the Registrar General of the Punjab and Haryana High Court for preservation by 5:00 pm the same day. The video recording A New Moon on 24 February THUMBNAILS An aerial view of the Lal Chowk during a fresh snowfall, in Srinagar on Monday.  ANI EC asks parties not to use children in election campaigns: The Election Commission on Monday asked political parties and their candidates to refrain from using children in any election-related activities. The poll panel in its directives advised not to use children in election campaigns in any form whatsoever including distribution of posters or pamphlets or to participate in slogan shouting, campaign rallies and election meetings. Shankar Mahadevan, Zakir Hussain win Grammy Award 2024: In a big win for India, musicians Shankar Mahadevan and Zakir Hussain’s fusion band 'Shakti' has bagged the Grammy Award for their latest release ‘This Moment’. PM Modi congratulated the winners for their exceptional talent. had been instructed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Additionally, the bench instructed the Retur ning Officer to a p p e a r b e f o re t h e Supreme Court on 19 February for clarification on his conduct as depicted in the video. Criticising the High Court's failure to issue an interim order to safeg u a rd t h e e l e c t i o n process’ integrity, the bench deferred the civic body's inaugural meeting BJP will cross 370 seats, NDA 400: PM Modi in Lok Sabha DEEPAK RAZDAN NEW DELHI, 5 FEBRUARY Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said “I can see the mood of the country; in the coming general elections, the NDA will get 400 seats and the BJP 370,” considering the Government’s achievements and break-ups in the Opposition. He was replying to the Lok Sabha debate on the Motion of Thanks to President Droupadi Murmu’s address before a joint sitting of Parliament. The Motion was approved by the House. The Prime Minister said the nation paid a heavy price for Nehru’s mistakes on Kashmir and his Government abrogated Article 370 and brought unseen pace to development in Jammu and Kashmir. The NDA government’s achievements in helping the poor, the youth, women and the farmer community, including fishermen, in the last decade were several times the work done by Congress Governments in their decades of rule, Mr Modi said. “The speed with which India is moving forward, we are sure that in our third term, India will be the world’s third largest economy and this is Modi’s Guarantee,” he said. The Congress is under the control of a family, it never appreciated the nation’s strength and had limited vision of its progress, he said. Despite disturbances from Opposition benches, Mr Modi patiently narrated the nation’s achievements and asked all to join in securing a leadership role for the country in the world for which an unprecedented opportunity has emerged. Considering the state of the Opposition, the Prime Minister said it is definite that it will continue to occupy its present place in the House after the next elections, and later sit in the Visitors’ Gallery of the House. The Opposition has come to this level because of the Congress, he said. “Even leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Khargeji had said the BJP will get past the 400 score in its seats after next Lok Sabha polls,” he said. slated for 7 February. The court, considering Kuldeep Kumar's petition, expressed its readiness to order fresh elections if unsatisfied, as per reports. Chief Justice Chandrachud rebuked the Returning Officer's conduct, describing it as a "mockery" and "murder" of democracy, emphasising the importance of democracy's purity as a stabilising force in the country. The Returning Officer nullified eight votes from the AAP-Congress alliance out of a total of 20, leading to the victory of the BJP candidate, supported by 16 elected civic body members. The Solicitor General, Tushar Metha, urged the bench not to form a premature opinion based solely on one aspect of the s i t u a t i o n p re s e n t e d through the video recording of the polling process. Senior advocate Abhishek Champai Soren-led coalition govt in J’khand wins trust vote AGENCIES Manu Singhvi, representing AAP's mayoral c a n d i d a t e Ku l d e e p Kumar, highlighted that the Returning Officer changed the majority count from 20 to a minority of 12. Seeking fresh mayoral polls in Chandigarh, Kumar approached the Supreme Court after the Punjab and Haryana High Court declined to stay the result, which declared BJP candidate Manoj Sonkar as mayor. The High Court issued notices to the Chandigarh a d m i n i s t ra t i o n , t h e municipal corporation, presiding officer Anil Masih, and newly-elected Mayor Manoj Sonkar, among others, and set the matter for hearing on 26 February. Kumar sought direction for new polls under a retired Judge’s supervision to ensure “no malpractice” and demanded an independent agency investigation into alleged fraud during the election process. The appeal to the top court criticised the High Court for not granting interim relief or preserving electoral records. NEW DELHI, 5 FEBRUARY The Centre on Monday introduced a Bill in the Lok Sabha to curb paper leaks, malpractices as well as organised malpractices in recruitment examinations like UPSC, SSC, etc. and entrance tests such as NEET, JEE, and CUET. The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024, was introduced in the House by Union Minister of State for Personnel Dr Jitendra Singh. The legislation will cover entrance examinations held by the Union Public Service Commission, the Staff Selection Commission, and the Railways besides banking recruitment examinations and all computer-based examinations conducted by the National Testing Agency. The Bill proposes a punishment of a minimum of three to five years of imprisonment to curb cheating and those involved in organised crimes of cheating will face five to 10 years of imprisonment and a minimum fine of Rs 1 crore. The Bill is aimed at preventing organised gangs and institutions that are involved in unfair means for monetary gains, but it protects candidates from its provisions. In the last few years, leaks of question papers and organised cheating have affected the interests of lakhs of students due to the cancellation of tests and examinations, said Dr. Singh, elaborating on the need and significance of the Bill. "In the recent past, many states have had to cancel or were unable to declare results of their public examinations due to adverse impact of unfair practices and means adopted by antisocial, criminal elements. These unfair practices if not effectively prevented and deterred will continue to jeopardise the future and careers of millions of aspiring youths in this country. In many instances, it has been observed that organized groups and mafia elements are involved. They deploy solver gangs, and impersonation methods and indulge in paper leaks. The Bill primarily aims to deter such kind of nefarious elements," he said. At present, said the DoPT Minister, there is no specific substantive law at the national level to deal with STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, 5 FEBRUARY Chief minister Mamata Banerjee will not be going to New Delhi to attend the meeting of the proposed ‘one nation, one election’, scheduled to be held on 6 February. Miss Banerjee changed her mind in view of the state Budget for 2024-25, which will be tabled on the floor of the Assembly on 8 February. Sudip Bandyopadhyay party’s MP and leader of the party in Lok Sabha and Mr Kalyan Bandyopadhyay will attend the meeting on her behalf tomorrow. Earlier, Miss Banerjee had decided to go to Delhi this evening and come back on 6 evening. It may be recalled that she had said that the BJP should spell out that it would go ahead with the Presidential STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE RANCHI, 5 FEBRUARY NEW DELHI, 5 FEBRUARY The newly formed government of Jharkhand, led by Chief Minister Champai Soren, passed the confidence motion in the state Assembly on Monday. The coalition government won the floor test with a 47:29 majority. The Assembly Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahato asked the members of the House who were in favour and against the motion to stand at their places one by one. "(A total of) 47 votes have been received in favour of the motion. There were 29 votes against the motion. Thus, this House passes the trust vote," the Speaker said before adjourning the House till 11 am on Tuesday. In the 81-member assembly, the half way mark for a majority is 41. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha with 29 seats, and its ally Congress with 17 were con- fident of easily sailing through the trust vote. Former Jharkhand Chief Minister, who was arrested by the Directorate of Enforcement in the alleged land scam, Hemant Soren was also present in the Assembly to attend the floor test. A special court in Ranchi allowed Soren to participate in the trust-vote. Participating in the debate, Hemant Soren, said that his arrest is just an example of the oppression faced by tribals and Dalits in society in multiple ways. "If you look back at the oppression faced by adivasis, backward, Dalits and minorities, it has been brought forward in multiple ways in different forms. January 31 is an example of this oppression," he said. unfair means adopted or offences committed by persons, organized groups, or any other agency/organization that adversely impacts the conduct of Public Examinations by the Central Government and its agencies. "Therefore, it is imperative that the elements both within and outside the examination systems, that exploit these vulnerabilities are identified and effectively dealt with by way of a comprehensive Central legislation. There is a need to prevent such criminal elements from playing with the lives and hopes of genuine and sincere youths who appear in these examinations," he said. Dr Singh said the objective is to bring greater transparency, fairness, and credibility to the Public Examination systems and to reassure the youths that their sincere and genuine efforts will be fairly rewarded and their futures are safe. "The Bill is aimed at effectively and legally deterring persons, organised groups or institutions that indulge in various unfair means and adversely impact the public examination systems for monetary or wrongful gains," he said. The Bill, however, clarified Dr Singh, protects the candidates appearing in the examination from the punitive provisions and they will be governed under the provisions of the existing unfair means policy of the examination con- CMYK form of government. So, it is evident that Trinamul Congress will wholeheartedly oppose the proposal. Mrs Chandrima Bhattacharya, state finance minister, will table the budget on the floor of the house. Senior state government officials said Miss Banerjee goes through every word of the budget before it goes on print. Political analysts said it needs to be seen whether she proposes any new scheme in the budget. Swasthya Sathi and Sabuj Sathi, two flagship schemes of the state government were tabled during the budget. Sabuj Sathi has bagged global recognition. The scheme gives free cycles to the students of state-run and aided schools and Madrasas from Classes IX to XII. It has successfully reduced the number of school drop outs and child marriages. Sitharaman dismisses charges of non-BJP states being deprived of dues Dismissing Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's allegations that the nonBJP states are being deprived of their legitimate tax and GST dues, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Lok Sabha on Sunday dubbed the charges to be a "politically vitiated narrative" that is being propagated by some vested interest groups. In the Lok sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said there is a general perception across the nation that the non-BJP states are being deprived of their legitimate dues. The latest example, he alleged, is Congress-ruled Karnataka. Responding to the Congress leader's allegations in the Lok Sabha, Sitharaman said, "Adhir ji, please understand I don't have the right to change as per my Govt introduces Bill to curb paper leak, other malpractices in Lok Sabha STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE CM Mamata cancels Delhi trip, to skip meeting on 'One Nation, One Election' Chief Justice Chandrachud rebuked the Returning Officer's conduct Min. 75% Max: 27°C SUN RISES 6:13 hrs MOON RISES 2:47 hrs This is murder of democracy: CJI on Chandigarh Mayor Polls ducting authority. "Candidates shall not be liable for action within the purview of the Bill and shall continue to be covered under the extant administrative provisions of the concerned public examination authority," he said. In view of many examinations being conducted online and the increasing role of technology in conduct of public examinations, Dr Singh said, it has also been decided to set up a High level National Technical Committee on Public Examinations which will look into developing protocol for insulating digital platforms, devising ways and means for developing foolproof IT security system, ensuring comprehensive electronic surveillance of the examinations centres and formulating national standards and service levels for both, IT and physical infrastructure, to be deployed for the conduct of such examinations. whims and fancies, that I like a state or another state, it is against my party politics. No way, I have no role I would have to it follow rules 100 per cent, and that's what I have done," Sitharaman responded. She explained the procedure of how devolution of taxes to the states is decided upon by the Finance Commission. "Finance commission gives recommendations which I have to implement, it is done without any fear or favour or anything like that. So this apprehension that some states have been discriminated against is a politically vitiated narrative, which I am sorry to say, vested interests are happy to go about saying it. There is not just a possibility that any finance minister can intervene and say 'I don't like this state, stop p a y m e n t ' , " t h e Un i o n Finance Minister added. Devolution to the states happens in direct tax matters, as per the recommendations given by the finance commission. Meanwhile Karnataka CM Siddaramiah will lead a protest against the Union Government in Delhi on February 7. The protest is against what the state terms is stepmotherly treatment to it by the centre. Sanjay Jaju new I&B Secy; Apurva Chandra appointed Health Secy STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 5 FEBRUARY Sanjay Jaju assumed charge as Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Monday. Jaju is a 1992-batch IAS officer from Telangana cadre. Upon his assumption of charge, he was welcomed by outgoing Secretary, Apurva Chandra and other officials of the Ministry and various media units, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting said. Chandra has been assigned the charge of Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Jaju has earlier served as Additional Secretary to Government of India from 2018 to 2023 and Director, National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited from October 2014 to March 2018. He has served as Secretary to Govt of Andhra Pradesh (Electronics, IT and Communications Department) from May 2011 to October 2014.