25 FEBRUARY 2024 www.thestatesman.com Pages 12 |` 5.00|LC Twitter.com/thestatesman Facebook.com/thestatesman INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR ‘GOVT FOCUSING ON LONG-TERM GAINS’ TDP JANA SENA RELEASE , JOINT CANDIDATES LIST FOR ANDHRA POLLS P4 WEATHER Partly cloudy. Generally clear. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 km/h. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 26°C and 19°C respectively. RAINFALL: 0.15 mm RELATIVE HUMIDITY Min. 57% Max: 26.8°C (+1) SUN RISES 06:01 hrs MOON RISES 18:22 hrs Min: 19.5°C (+1) SUN SETS 17:37 hrs MOON SETS 06:31 hrs TEMPERATURE P5 New Moon on 10 March THUMBNAILS Actors enact the roles of Ravana, Lord Hanuman and other characters of the 'Ramayana' during the 'Dastaan-e-Ramayana: Ramleela in Urdu' by the Shri Shraddha Ramlila Committee theatre group in the four-day 'Jashn-e-Urdu' event in New Delhi on Saturday. ANI 22 people die in mishap in UP: In a horrifying accident , 22 people, including 7 children and 8 women, were killed in a road accident in this district of Uttar Pradesh on Saturday. According to reports, a tractor trolley fell into a pond on Patiali Dariyavganj road in Kasganj at around 10 am. All the victims were going to the Ganga ghat for bathing on Maghi Purnima. TMC ministers speak to villagers in Sandeskhali STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, 24 FEBRUARY enior Trinamul Congress leaders and state cabinet ministers Sujit Bose and Parth Bhaumik visited Sandeshkhali in North 24-Parganas on Saturday to address ongoing issues and interact with agitating villagers. Sujit Bose, the fire services minister, stated: “There are some problems here; we've come to witness everything. We will talk to the people." Responding to questions about the villagers’ complaints against local Trinamul Congress leader Shahjahan Sheikh and his associates, Mr Bose emphasised: “Our party does not impose anything on anyone. We don't condone injustice. We've already addressed 150 complaints. Investigations have been conducted near the incident sites." Mr Bose and irrigation minister Partha Bhowmick, accompanied by Sandeshkhali MLA Sukumar Mahato, toured the area and spoke to the villagers, who poured out their grievances. “Didi (chief minister Mamata Banerjee) has sent us here to listen to the problems of the people here. We had not received any complaints earlier,” said Mr S Bhowmik. “We will go to each and every person in all the villages and listen to them.” Mr Bhowmik said any villager whose land was forcibly taken will get it back. Around 258 applications for repossession of farmland have been submitted. about 100 have already been processed, he said. He assured Sandeshkhali villagers that the delegation would convey their concerns and grievances to the chief minister, Mamata Banerjee. Meanwhile, DYFI state sec- retary Minakshi Mukherjee, who managed to reach Sandeshkhali by taking a detour to avoid detection, was stopped by police and escorted to Sandeshkhali ferry ghat on the banks of River Kalagachi. She later demanded that land grabbed from villagers in Sandeshkhali region should be returned immediately. She claimed that people want the arrest and prosecution of TMC leaders Shajahan Sheikh, Shiba Prasad Hazra and Uttam Sardar and also some police per- Cong announces alliance with AAP for LS polls STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 24 FEBRUARY Ending all speculations, the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday officially announced their alliance for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. In Delhi, out of the seven Lok Sabha seats, the Con- P7 Sujit Bose stated: ‘There are some problems here; we've come to witness everything’ Max. 68% gress will contest in three seats and AAP in four constituencies. Addressing a joint Press conference along with senior AAP leaders here, senior Congress leader and convenor of the party's National Alliance Committee (NAC) Mukul Wasnik while announcing the alliance between the parties said it was decided that AAP will contest in New Delhi, West Delhi, South Delhi and East Delhi parliamentary seats, while Congress will field candidates in Chandni Chowk, North East and North West seats. In Gujarat, Mr Wasnik said Congress will contest in 24 seats and the AAP will field BASHIR HELPS ENGLAND TAKE THE UPPER HAND WORLD'S EYES WILL BE ON AMERICAN POLLS its candidates in Bharuch and Bhavnagar. In Haryana, the Congress will fight in nine seats and AAP in Kurukshetra. Congress will field its candidate in Chandigarh seat and both Lok Sabha seats in Goa, Mr Wasnik said. Notably, in Punjab the two parties have mutually decided to contest separately. India’s digital ‘Nagriks’ not to be ‘experimented on’ by unreliable platforms: MoS IT NEW DELHI, 24 FEBRUARY Explanations about unreliability of AI models do not absolve or exempt platforms from laws, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Saturday. The minister's comments came after Google, which is under fire over AI tool Gemini's objectionable response and bias to questions on PM Narendra Modi, said it has worked quickly to address the issue and conceded that the chatbot "may not always be reliable" in responding to certain prompts related to current events and political topics. Mr Chandrasekhar further warned that India's digital 'Nagriks' "are not to be experimented on" with unreliable platforms and algorithms. In a post on social media platform X, the minister said that ensuring safety and trust are legal obligation of platforms. “Government has said this before - I repeat for attention of @GoogleIndia...Our DigitalNagriks are NOT to be experimented on with "unreliable" platforms/algos /model...'Sorry Unreliable' does not exempt from law," the minister said. Earlier, the minister had warned that Google AI tool Gemini's response to a question around the prime minister was in direct violation of IT rules as well as several provisions of the SNS criminal code. sonnel who allegedly did not pay heed to complaints against these leaders by the affected villagers. Sandeshkhali's legislator Sukumar Mahato said: "There is no resentment towards our party. Some outsiders are creating unrest. TMC workers in our area are raising funds to return it to the poor people, who used to get money from Uttam and Shibu. Other parties are causing unrest in Sandeshkhali.” He added: “No allegations against Sheikh Shahjahan have been made, and no wrongdoing has occurred.” Regarding the police detaining Ms Mukherjee, Mr Bhowmick claimed: “Firstly, I'm here as the irrigation minister, not as a political leader. Secondly, Minakshi was not detained; she is freely moving with 50 women.” The region has been rocked by protests over alleged land-grabbing and sexual harassment of women by local TMC leaders, including Sheikh Shajahan and his associates. Trouble started brewing in the area when a team of ED officials who conducted a raid on Shajahan's house on 5 January was attacked by a mob allegedly affiliated with the local TMC leadership. (Photo:ANI video screengrab) P12 Three new criminal laws to come into force from 1 July STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 24 FEBRUARY The provisions of the three new laws passed by Parliament to replace the Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and the Evidence Act will come into effect from 1 July, the ministry of home affairs has notified. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Act had been passed by Parliament on 21 December last year, and signed into law by President Droupadi Murmu on 25 December. These will replace the Indian Penal Code of 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1898 and the Indian Evidence Act of 1872. As per an MHA notification, "the Central Government hereby appoints the 1st day of July, 2024 as the date on which the provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, and Bharatiya Sakshya Sanhita, except the provisions of the entry relating to Section 106 (2) in the First Schedule, shall come into force." The provision related to hit-and-run under the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita has been put on hold, and will not be implemented for now. The three legislations are aimed at overhauling the criminal justice system in the country, and have special focus on crimes against women and children, murder and crimes against the nation. The Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been replaced with the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the CrPC with Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Indian Evidence Act has been replaced with the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita has 358 sections (instead of 511 sections of IPC). A total of 20 new crimes have been added to the Sanhita, and jail sentences have been increased for 33 crimes. The amount of fine has been increased in 83 crimes and mandatory minimum punishment has been introduced in 23 crimes. The penalty of community service has been introduced in six crimes and 19 sections have been repealed or removed in the Act. The Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita has 531 sections (in place of 484 sections of the CrPC). A total of 177 provisions have been changed in the Sanhita and nine new sections as well as 39 new sub-sections have been added to it. The act has added 44 new provisions and clarifications.