TUESDAY 27 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 MARYAM NAWAZ BECOMES PAKISTAN'S FIRST WOMAN CM STRATEGIC RETHINK P6 SENSEX 72,790.13 WEATHER PARTLY CLOUDY SKY. THE MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WOULD BE AROUND 25 AND 13 DEGREE CELSIUS RESPECTIVELY. RAINFALL: 0.0 mm RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max: 86% GOLD 64,180.00 ` vs $ 82.87 THUMBNAILS Divyangjans (Specially-abled) perform during a day-long 'Purple Fest' organised at Amrit Udyan, Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on Monday.  ANI Vijay Shekhar Sharma steps down as Paytm Payments Bank Chairman: Financial services company Paytm said on Monday that Vijay Shekhar Sharma has stepped down as NonExecutive Chairman and Board Member of Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL). NEW DELHI, 26 FEBRUARY P rime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday launched railway projects worth Rs 41,000 crores and said India’s youth will be the real beneficiaries of Viksit Bharat (Developed India) and they have the maximum right to decide how Viksit Bharat will unfold. Lakhs of people joined the Viksit Bharat Viksit Railways event from 500 railway stations and 1500 other venues. Mr Modi inaugurated 2,000 railway infrastructure projects virtually. The Prime Minister said that the development projects of today will create employment and self-employment opportunities for lakhs of youth, while also benefiting those studying in schools. He thanked the youth for bringing dreams of railways in Viksit Bharat to reality through various competitions and congratulated the winners. “Whatever India does today, it does it with an unprecedented speed and scale. We dream big and work tirelessly to realise it. This resolve is visible in this Viksit Bharat Viksit Railway programme,” he said. Mr Modi said he had launched 2000 projects, while the third term of his government is about to start in June. The speed and scale of work undertaken by the government already makes people wonder. Few days back, he had launched dozens of institutions like IITs and IIMs. The revamping work of 500 stations in 300 districts of 27 States had started on Monday, he said. The Prime Minister said the Gomti Nagar station has undergone a complete transformation. Work on 1,500 projects of road overbridges and under- passes has been taken up simultaneously. Projects worth Rs 40,000 crores are taking off in one go, he said. For decades, he said, the Indian Railways was the victim of self-centered politics. Now it stands for ease of travel for Indian people, he said. Now, there is no more crying over losses in railways; now it is passing through a major phase of transformation. This has happened because India has moved from the 11th to the fifth place in the rank of world economies, he said. Uri & Balakot strikes sent their own messages to the world on cross-border terror: EAM Jaishankar STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 26 FEBRUARY External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday asserted that Uri and Balakot strikes by India in Pakistan sent out a clear message to the global community about India's determination to combat cross-border terrorism. ''On the Western Front, the long-standing challenge of cross-border terrorism now elicits more befitting responses. Believe me, Uri and Balakot sent their own messages," he said delivering the Pandit Hriday Nath Kunzru Memorial Lectures 2024 at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Convention Centre, on the topic of 'Bharat and the World'. SILVER 74,500 Youth to decide how Bharat will unfold: PM STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Min: 09.9°C (-3) SUN SETS 18:19 hrs MOON SETS 08:41 hrs Calling national security a complicated calculus in today's times, the minister highlighted India's response to Chinese incursions on the Line of Actual Control (LAC). "The calculus of national security has become much more complicated. Traditional methods of competing and pressuring are buttressed by new tools of influence and disruption. Here too, Bharat has pushed back with determination and fortitude," he said. The minister said India has worked on developing border infrastructure, one of the aspects which, he said, was "long neglected." "When we were challenged on the LAC, with China, In the midst of COVID rapid and effective counter deployments were the appropriate answer. We have made the defence of the nation much more effective," Mr Jaishankar said. He added, "On the largest stage when it came to the Indo-Pacific. We held firmly to our decision to establish and take forward the Quad.'' He said, ''economically, Bharat's answer is in greater Atmanirbharta. Politically, a more authentic and rooted representation that will contest the propaganda which will favour the compliant and discredit it. Bharat will never shy away from questions, but equally, Bharat has the courage to question the questioners.'' MEA rejects reports about Indians seeking discharge from Russian Army STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 26 FEBRUARY India on Monday dismissed as inaccurate reports claiming that Indians with the Russian Army are seeking help for discharge, adding that "each and every case" has been strongly taken up with the Russian authorities. "We have seen some inaccurate reports in the media regarding Indians with the Russian army seeking help for discharge," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement. "Each and every such case brought to the attention of the Indian Embassy in Moscow has been strongly taken up with the Russian authorities, and those brought to the attention of the Ministry have been taken up with the Russian Embassy in New Delhi. Several Indians have already been discharged as a result. Several Indians have already been discharged as a result," the statement read. P12 P10 PM Modi dedicates to nation over 2000 rail infra projects worth around `41,000 crore Min: 30% TEMPERATURE Max: 25.0°C (-1) SUN RISES 06:48 hrs MOON RISES 20:49 hrs P9 NIFTY 22,122.05 ROHIT SHARMA PRAISES YOUNG GUNS KHARGE WRITES TO PRESIDENT MURMU Ten years back, the railways’ budget was Rs 45,000 crore. Today when the Indian economy occupies the fifth place in the world, the railways annual budget this year has reached Rs 2.50 lakh crore, he said. “Just imagine, when India occupies the third place among world economies, how large will be the scale of our capacity. This is why Modi is fully dedicated to make India the world’s third largest economy,” he said. A new India has been taking shape in the last 10 years, especially in railways where the change is visible to anyone, he said. Amenities which could not be imagined 10 years back, have now become a reality. The Modernized Semi High-Speed trains like Vande Bharat, Amrit Bharat, NaMo Bharat, the fast pace of electrification of rail lines, and cleanliness in trains and on the station platforms are examples of this, he said. Unmanned gates were commonplace in Indian Railways, whereas now overbridges and underbridges are ensuring uninterrupted and accident-free movement, he said. Modern facilities similar to those in airports are now being made available to the poor and middle classes at the railway stations, he said. BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 81.97 India’s young brigade aces England’s Bazball TRIDIB BAPARNASH NEW DELHI, 26 FEBRUARY A matured half century from Shubman Gill coupled with a gritty knock from Dhruv Jurel successfully countered England’s spin threat to win the fourth Test by five wickets inside four days and helped India to an unassailable 3-1 lead with one to play. The triumph also helped the hosts retain their proven record of having not lost a Test series at home in more than 11 years. After skipper Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jasiwal set the tone for India’s chase of 192 with a 84-run stand for the opening partnership, they suffered a substantial wobble, losing five wickets for 36 runs in 20.5 overs to be 120 for 5, needing 72 more runs for victory. Gill and Jurel then held the innings together with an unbroken partnership of 72 runs to see the team home. England’s young spinners, Shoaib Bashir and Tom Hartley made India toil in the second hour of the morning session after the hosts resumed on 40 without loss, needing 152 more. The first hour, however, belonged to India, with Rohit and Jaiswal adding 42 runs in the first eight overs of the day. The Indian captain slammed Anderson for six over mid-on to take his side past fifty, leaving them with 140 more to get. There was an urgency in the England camp, and it eventually needed an agedefying catch from the 41year-old James Anderson to get the first breakthrough with the wicket of in-form Jaiswal. India preferred a watchful approach, putting on just 34 runs in the 19.3 overs until lunch, before Hartley struck by sending back Sharma to peg the hosts back to 99 for 2. India headed to the lunch interval needing 74 with seven wickets in hand. In the second over after the break, Bashir tilted the game momentarily in England’s favour with wickets off consecutive balls. The Somerset off-spinner dismissed Jadeja & Sarfaraz. The mini-collapse gave England confidence but Jurel came up with a positive response. With Gill at the other end, Jurel initially took the lead role in their union, reaching 32 off 70 balls before the Mohali right-hander, who was batting on 39 from 119, came all guns blazing. With 20 needed, Gill launched Bashir over long-off, and then, two balls later, raised his fifty by clearing the fence at deep midwicket. Jurel, at the other end, pulled Hartley for a boundary before bringing up the winning runs with a double by working Harley off his legs.