18 FEBRUARY 2024 www.thestatesman.com INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 Pages 12 |` 5.00|LC Twitter.com/thestatesman Facebook.com/thestatesman KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR DECODING SONIA'S SHIFT TO THE RAJYA SABHA JAISHANKAR, CANADIAN FM HOLD TALKS P5 WEATHER Mainly clear sky with fog/mist in the morning. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 28 °C and 19 °C respectively. RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 95 % Min. 60 % Max: 28.1°C (-2) SUN RISES 06:8 hrs MOON RISES 11:17 hrs Min: 18.3°C (0) SUN SETS 17:34 hrs MOON SETS 00:18 hrs TEMPERATURE Eight wagons of a goods train derailed on Patel Nagar-Dayabasti section in Delhi area on Saturday, leaving one person dead.  ANI 8 killed in TN’s Virudhnagar firecracker factory explosion: At least 8 people were killed and 10 others injured after a massive explosion that took place at a firecr acker manufacturing unit in the Virudhnagar district on Saturday evening. According to fire department officials, "8 people have been killed in the explosion at a firecracker factory in the Virudhnagar district. 10 people have been injured in the incident. The reason for the explosion is yet to be ascertained." Govt announces SOP for payment of MGNREGS dues AGENCIES Political circles were abuzz with speculation today that former Congress Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Kamal Nath, and/or his Congress Lok Sabha member son, Nakul Nath, could join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). However, no official confirmation - or denial for that matter - was available from the father-son duo in the matter till Saturday evening. Nonetheless, Kamal Nath reached New Delhi in the afternoon. Nakul Nath was also expected to arrive in New Delhi, said sources. Modi: ‘Kamal Ka Phool’ will be BJP’s candidate in polls A Kamal Nath asked some mediapersons on Saturday: “Why are you all getting so excited?” He added, “You all are saying this and getting excited. I am not excited, whether this side or that.” “It is not a question of denying, but if there is any such thing, you will be the first ones to know,” Kamal Nath, who is the Congress MLA from Chhindwara, told some mediapersons. The rumours were spurred further after media reports that ‘Congress’ could not be seen on the X (former Twitter) profile of Nakul Nath, who is the lone Congress Lok Sabha member from the 29 Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh, with the remaining 28 being with BJP. Sources added that Kamal Nath and Nakul Nath had suddenly cancelled all their prescheduled programmes for Saturday evening in Chhindwara and on Sunday in nearby Tamia. Under the new SOP, publication and display of the lists of the beneficiaries at prominent places in the state govt's offices are mandatory. ments under the 100-day job scheme to the beneficiaries will start from 1 March. At the same time, the state government has also decided to start a massive campaign throughout the state about the nitty-gritty of the 100-day job scheme. From 1 March, payments under the scheme will be made to as many as 29.50 lakh beneficiaries. As per the estimates of the state finance department, the total payout under this head will be to STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 17 FEBRUARY and the arrival of publicly accessible Generative AI – which has lowered the technical skills required to conduct fraud. “As technology advances, the landscape of fraud undergoes shifts, creating new complexities. The rise of advanced technology transforms fraud dynamics, challenging established securities, and breaking down barriers," the study said. The volume of fraud attacks has gone up in almost every category. Synthetic identity attacks, where real and fake information are combined to form new identities, are on the rise, particularly in the financial services sector. the tune of Rs 8,000 crore. The Trinamul Congress has accused the Union government of deliberately “holding back" payments of funds under this scheme just because of "political vendetta", while on the other hand the Union government and the BJP have accused the state government of massive irregularities in implementation of the schemes, including in the form of creation of fake job cards and non-submission of utilisation certificates. India successfully puts INSAT-3DS into orbit INSAT-3DS is India’s third generation meteorological satellite and is fully funded by the Ministry of Earth Sciences. AGENCIES SRIHARIKOTA, 17 FEBRUARY India successfully put into orbit its third generation meteorological/weather satellite INSAT-3DS on Saturday evening. The 2,274 kg INSAT-3DS was carried by Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) rocket code-named GSLV-F14. INSAT-3DS is India’s third generation meteorological satellite and is fully funded This is closely followed by identity theft attacks and account takeover attacks. In the eCommerce sector, friendly fraud attacks, where customers dispute legitimate charges, have grown the most for merchants, followed by synthetic identity attacks. The biggest challenge limiting businesses' ability to prevent fraud is a lack of device fingerprinting for fraud identification (62 per cent). The second is an increasing number of referrals, causing increased delays and costs (56 per cent). The top fraud-related priority is improving the explainability of ML models (65 per cent), which shows how important ML has become to fraud prevention. Transparent ML models allow for human oversight so that unintentional bias can be identified. This capability is essential to ensure ethical AI use and to comply with a future AI regulatory framework. by the Ministry of Earth Sciences. It is designed for enhanced meteorological observations and monitoring of land and ocean surfaces for weather forecasting and disaster warning. The satellite has a life span of 10 years. INSAT-3DS augments the meteorological services along with the still-operational INSAT-3D and INSAT3DR satellites, said Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). At around 5.35 p.m., the three-stage GSLV rocket standing 51.7 metre tall and weighing 420 tonnes rose up into the skies from the second launch pad here. Just over 19 minutes into the flight, the rocket slung INSAT-3DS into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). From there the satellite will be taken up by firing its on-board motors to its final position-the Geo-Stationary Orbit (GSO). Gulzar, Sanskrit scholar conferred Jnanpith Award MUMBAI , 17 FEBRUARY Renowned lyricist and poet Gulzar and Sanskrit scholar and spiritual leader Jagadguru Swami Rambhadracharya will be honoured with the Jnanpith Award. According to the selection committee, the 58th Jnanpith Award for the year 2023 has been awarded to Swami Rambhadracharya for Sanskrit and Shri Gulzar for Urdu. Sampooran Singh Kalra, popularly known as Gulzar, has penned several memorable songs in Hindi cinema. Rambhadracharya, the founder and head of Tulsi Peeth in Chitrakoot, is a renowned Hindu spiritual leader, educator and writer of hundreds of books. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had lauded Swami Rambhadracharya's contributions while addressing the Tulsi Peeth Programme in Chitrakoot last month. SNS (Pg5) JAISWAL TON KEEPS ’S INDIA’S DOMINANCE INTACT P12 ‘EC will follow SC’s instructions on electoral bonds’ Kejriwal wins vote of confidence STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE BHUBANESWAR, 17 FEBRUARY NEW DELHI, 17 FEBRUARY midst the brewing controversies over “massive irregularities" in implementation of the 100-day job scheme under MGNREGS, the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal has announced a standard operating procedure (SOP) for payments of dues to the beneficiaries under the scheme. Under the new SOP, publication and display of the lists of the beneficiaries at prominent places in state government's offices are mandatory. To begin with, the lists will be displayed at the respective offices of the different village panchayats in different districts of the state. At the same time, as per the SOP separate lists will , also be published and displayed about how much each beneficiary has received payment under this scheme. The state government has announced that pay- Study: India witnesses surge in fraudulent activities led by AI According to a recent study, India has experienced a significant upswing in fraudulent activities aided by the arrival of generative AI. Nearly 64 per cent of respondents acknowledged experiencing an increase in fraud losses over the past year, according to the study conducted by Forrester Consulting, commissioned by Experian. It said that 67 per cent of these respondents are currently grappling with the challenges of keeping pace with the rapidly evolving landscape of fraud threats. Also, the financial services organisations reporting the biggest increase in losses. There are several factors driving this surge in fraud attacks, such as persisting financial pressure on consumers, numerous data breaches leaking sensitive information onto the dark web, P9 NIKHIL VYAS KOLKATA, 17 FEBRUARY Rumours rife on Kamal Nath, Nakul joining BJP BHOPAL, 17 FEBRUARY P7 From 1 Mar, payments will be made to 29.50L beneficiaries THUMBNAILS STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE TRUMP ORDERED TO PAY $355 MILLION IN FRAUD VERDICT Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the BJP winning 370 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls will be a tribute from the party to its founding ideologue Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee, adding that 'Kamal Ka Phool' will be the party's candidate in the general elections. Addressing a meeting of the BJP’s national officebearers at the beginning of the party's two-day National Convention at Bharat Mandapam here, Modi said the party's poll campaign for the general elections will be centred around themes of development and the welfare of the poor. BJP national president J P Nadda, Union home minister Amit Shah, union defence Minister Rajnath Singh and other senior leaders attended the first day of the BJP National Convention. The saffron party's national convention is being held to formulate a strategy to secure over 370 seats for the party in the Lok Sabha elections. The Chief Election Commissioner of India, Mr Rajiv Kumar, on Saturday said the Commission will follow the instructions issued by the Supreme Court in the case relating to the electoral bonds and take action accordingly. He, however, did not spell out when the details of the bonds will be made public. Steps will be taken as per the order of the court, he said adding that the consistent stand of the Commission has been in favour of transparency. “If you go through our affidavits, we have stood for transparency and information,” he pointed out, adding that there were several cases in high courts which have also been decided. The Election Commission believes in transparency, information and involvement as far as conduct of elections is concerned, he said. Mr Kumar and his team, including EC Mr Arun Goel and others, concluded their threeday visit to Odisha today. STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 17 FEBRUARY They took stock of the poll preparedness in the state and held a series of meetings with officials and political party representatives. We are fully prepared for the conduct of elections, said Mr Kumar while providing details of his meeting with representatives of political parties and officers in the state, and enforcement agencies. Odisha will have simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and state Assembly. Neutrality of government machinery, level playing field, cash and material being carried in ambulances, Paid News, EVM, Form 17C with figures of votes polled, and use of party symbols in government advertisements were some of the issues raised by political parties, informed Mr Kumar. Odisha has 3.32 crore voters of whom 4.7 lakh are first-time voters. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said that even if the Bharatiya Janata Party wins the 2024 General Elections the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will free the country from the saffron party in 2029. He also won the trust vote in the Delhi Assembly with the support from 54 legislators. Kejriwal was speaking on the Motion of Confidence being discussed in the Delhi Assembly on Saturday, which was moved by him on Friday during the Budget Session. The Delhi CM said that the AAP is the BJP's biggest challenger and the same was the reason as to why the party was under attack. He said that the BJP is afraid of the AAP and this is the reason they want to break the party. The Motion of Confidence was passed through a voice vote of 54 AAP MLAs, who were present during the session.