MONDAY 19 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 PPP PML-N UNABLE TO , FINALISE ‘GIVE & TAKE’ IN COALITION TALKS ‘PM ESTABLISHED THE POLITICS OF PERFORMANCE’ P5 WEATHER Fog/mist in the morning and partly cloudy sky later. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 29 °C and 20 °C respectively. RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY INDIAN WOMEN PIP THAILAND 3-2 TO WIN MAIDEN TITLE ‘MY CREDIBILITY VS NAIDU'S DECEPTION’ P9 P4 CM: Aadhaar deactivation a conspiracy by the Centre P12 India hammer England by 434 runs for its biggest win in Tests Directs state Chief Secy to set up a portal so that the people can register complaints Max. 95 % Min. 45 % Max: 28.1°C (+2) SUN RISES 06:7 hrs MOON RISES 12:7 hrs Min: 19.6°C (+1) SUN SETS 17:34 hrs MOON SETS 01:20 hrs TEMPERATURE ‘Sandeshkhali part of effort to destabilise Bengal’ STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE BIRBHUM, 18 FEBRUARY Full Moon on 24 February THUMBNAILS STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE SURI/BIRBHUM, 18 FEBRUARY People at the Galiff Street market on Sunday. SNS Jaishankar meets Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki : M External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met the foreign minister of Palestine, Riyad al-Maliki, in Munich on Sunday and discussed the situation in Gaza. In a post on social media platform X, Jaishankar wrote, "Nice to see Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki." "Exchanged views on the current situation in Gaza," he added. hief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday directed state Chief Secretary Bhagwati Prasad Gopalika to set up a portal so that the persons whose Aadhaar cards has been deactivated can register their complaints. “The state government stands beside all those people whose Aadhaar cards have been deactivated and will provide all support.” “This is a conspiracy of the Centre to enforce NRC and CAA. So many people are in distress, living in fear and uncertainty about how C they will get the government benefits. Bank accounts are also linked with Aadhaar, which means once the card is disabled the bank account also becomes inoperative. This is done deliberately to cause problems before the Lok Sabha polls,” the CM said at an official programme in Suri. She urged all the people to enroll their names in the voter’s list and directed the officers who are entrusted with the duty to ensure that everybody’s names are enrolled. “I have specific informations that not only the Aadhaars of 50 people in Jamalpur in east Burdwan has been deactivated, but also several people stay- Iterating that it is the BJP which is behind the trouble in Sandeshkhali, chief minister Mamata Banerjee alleged on Sunday that there is an effort on to destabilise this peaceful state. “First the Enforcement Directorate (ED) started creating trouble, then its friend BJP and the media , is also trying to blow the Sandeshkhali issue out of proportion,” alleged Miss Banerjee while address- ing a public gathering in Suri.“I have planned to send officers in the village. The women should meet them and lodge their complaints. If anybody has taken money from them I will definitely ensure that their money will be returned,” she added. No woman has lodged any complaint till date, but despite that she has directed the district police to lodge a suo motu case, Miss Banerjee said. While targeting the BJP , Miss Banerjee said that Kesto (Anubrata Mondal) is still so popular, even young children like him.“He was a good worker and very popular. I really miss him. In fear the BJP has put him behind the bars, but he is still in the heart of the people of Birbhum for whom he has done so much work,”the CM said. TMC leader Anubrata Mondal has been behind bars since 2022 after his arrest first by the CBI and then by the ED. The CM has come to Birbhum is a two days official visit and in Suri she has laid the foundation stones of several projects. ing in Birbhum, North and South 24-Parganas, North Bengal are also facing similar problems,” Miss Banerjee said. The Chief Minister has reassured the people whose Aadhaar cards have been deactivated that despite the freezing of bank accounts they will continue to get the government benefits like Lakshmi Bhandar. It may be recalled that since the past few days, about 50 people living in Jamalpur of east Burdwan have received letters through post offices stating that their Aadhaar cards have been deactivated under Regulation 28A of The Aadhaar (Enrolment and Update) Regulations, 2016. This is applicable to those people who are either suspected to be foreigners or who have failed to produce reliable documents. This has sparked a stir throughout the state since the past few days. Miss Banerjee had raised this issue on Thursday in the floor of the Assembly, “Don’t worry the state government will continue to provide you the benefits of the social schemes. Every time the elections come the Centre rakes up the issue of CAA and NRC,” she said. The Bengal CM said that neither the state government nor the local district administration has not been intimated about the deactivations of the Aadhaar card links. Centre holds 4th round of talks with farmer leaders STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 18 FEBRUARY The fourth round of talks between Union Ministers Piyush Goyal, Arjun Munda, Nityanand Rai and a delegation of farmer leaders representing the of protesting farmer unions was held in Chandigarh on Sunday evening to further discuss their demands related to the Minimum Support Price, loan waivers and others. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann also attended the meeting. Earlier in the day, farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher, while speaking to media with regard to the meeting, said that they will go with a positive mindset and put their demands forward to the ministers. Addressing a Press conference at Shambhu border earlier on Sunday ahead of the meeting between Union Ministers and farmer leaders in Chandigarh, farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dalewal said that solutions can be found by ordinance on MSP guarantee law and a notification on the recommendations of the Dr Swaminathan Commission. Kejriwal: AAP, Cong mutually decided to go solo in Punjab NEW DELHI, 18 FEBRUARY Rebuffing rumours about all not being well in Opposition bloc INDIA, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said that it is “mutual decision” of the AAP and Congress to go solo in Punjab for the Lok Sabha elections, and there are no differences between them. Talking to reporters about AAP's decision to go it alone in Punjab, Mr Kejriwal, who met Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi for lunch, said that the decision was mutual and there is no hostility over this. The chief minister said that the AAP is holding seatsharing talks with the Congress in Delhi as not going for it will make things easy for the BJP. Since a decade, the BJP has been winning all seven parliamentary seats in the national capital. Earlier, when Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann announced AAP's decision contest all 13 seats in the state, Punjab Congress leader Pratap Singh Bajwa had said that is exactly what the grand old party wants. Recently in an interview to a private TV channel, Mr Bajwa had said: "We cannot go with AAP in Punjab, as AAP is the ruling party and Congress is in opposition." Reacting to the development, the BJP termed the opposition alliance as "opportunist". AGENCIES CMYK India's Yashasvi Jaiswal celebrates his double century against England. ANI AGENCIES RAJKOT, 18 FEBRUARY Yashasvi Jaiswal (photo) scored a phenomenal unbeaten double-century while local lad Ravindra Jadeja followed up his firstinnings century with a fivewicket haul in the fourth innings as India hammered England by 434 runs in the thirdTest at the Niranjan Shah Stadium here on Sunday. Jaiswal, who retired hurt on 104 due to back cramps on Day Three, remained unbeaten on a career-best score of 214 off 236 balls. India declared on 430/4, giving England a mammoth 557 to chase. The English batters crumbled under the pressure of runs and were skittled out for 122 in 39.4 overs, with Jadeja taking 5-41. The result gave India their biggest win by runs in Tests to go 2-1 up in the five-match series. (Details on Page 12)
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