FRIDAY 01 MARCH 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 K’TAKA CM ACCEPTS CONTROVERSIAL CASTE CENSUS REPORT TRUMP'S TROUBLES P6 SENSEX 72,500.30195.41 WEATHER Sunshine along with some cloudy intervals. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 31 °C and 19°C respectively. RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 62% Max: 31.3°C SUN RISES 05:57 hrs MOON RISES 22:36 hrs P4 NIFTY 21,982.8031.65 Min: 19.5°C SUN SETS 17:40 hrs MOON SETS 09:04 hrs ` vs $ 82.91 STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, 29 FEBRUARY T New Moon on 10 March THUMBNAILS Women from Jaipur took out a Kalash procession at Assi Ghat in Varanasi on Thursday.  ANI Centre fixes wheat procurement at 300320 lakh LMT: The government has fixed wheat procurement in the range of 300 to 320 lakh metric tonne (LMT) during the 2024-25 Rabi marketing season, according to a Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution Ministry statement on Thursday. The Centre organised a meeting of state food secretaries to discuss the procurement arrangements for Rabi and Kharif Crops for season 2024-25 and 2023-24 respectively yesterday. various religious communities. In our state people from different religions and culture live happily and peacefully. This is our culture and our tradition,” she said. Coming down heavily on the BJP leadership, she said: “ They come from Delhi before election and confuse people.They make big promises which are all false. They had given Ujjala gas five years ago and then took it back. They have increased the price of cooking gas and rest assured if them come to power in 2024 one cylin- der of cooking gas will cost anything between Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,000. They have failed to check the price of essential commodities but continue to talk big. It has become their habit to talk lies.” Miss Banerjee said the state government has taken several steps to ensure proper education for the students from the tribal community. “We have set up hostels and increased the hostel expenditure of the students. Fifty free coaching centres have been set up where they are provided coaching for competitive examinations likeWBCS,WBPS, IAS and other exams. We want them to get proper coaching and fulfil their dreams,” she said. “The SC/ST students can take soft loans and can avail student credit card for their education both in the country and abroad. They can take soft loan of Rs 10 lakh to study in the country and Rs 20 lakh to study abroad,” she said. Miss Banerjee said the state government has so far issued more than one crore caste certificates but regretted that some Block Development Officers have issued caste certificates to people who do not belong to SC and ST caste. “If these certificates are found out they will be scrapped,” she said. Miss Banerjee assured that the beneficiaries of Lakshmir Bhandar scheme will get the benefit throughout their lives. She said more than 2.5 lakh people got various benefits today. The chief minister also gave away the Bangabibhusan award to Kalipada Soren at the event. Sheikh Shahjahan arrested, CID takes over probe STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, 29 FEBRUARY Sandeskhali strongman Sheikh Shahjahan was arrested by the West Bengal police on Thursday, 55 days after going on the run in the wake of an attack by his supporters on an Enforcement Directorate (ED) team that had raided his home. The arrest by the state police came a day after Calcutta High Court said that the CBI, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) or the West Bengal Police can arrest Shahjahan. The Trinamul Congress strongman was arrested from Bamanpukur area within Minakha police station limits on Wednesday night. The arrest sparked off celebrations in Sandeshkhali, which has seen a violent agitation for the past several weeks by sections of people who accused Shahjahan and his associates of sexual assault and landgrabbing. The Trinamul Congress, meanwhile, suspended Mr Shahjahan from the party’s membership for six years. The state CID has taken over the investigation after Shahjahan was remanded in police custody by the Basirhar court for ten days. Additional Director General (ADG) of police, South Bengal, Supratim Sarkar, while addressing the media said that state police had some legal obligations, which came in the way of arresting the elusive leader till Wednesday. He also raised the question why the ED could not arrest him. Meanwhile, addressing the media, Derek O’ Brien, Trinamul Congress Rajya Sabha MP said Shahjahan has been suspended from party membership for six years. While making the announcement, Mr O’ Brien asked whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who would be coming to Bengal soon had the guts to arrest Narayan Rane, Himana Bishwasarma or Suvendu Adhikari against whom the CBI had filed FIR or Brij Bhusan who had been accused of molestation. Mr Bratya Basu said the matter that Sheikh Sahajahan could not be arrested was raised by Mr Abhishek Banerjee on Sunday. On Monday the High Court took up the case suo motu and lifted the stay order and within 48 years he has been arrested. Mr Sarkar told the news persons that last night, the police arrested Sheikh Shahjahan from Bamanpukur area of Minakha, barely 30 km from Sandeshkhali. “He was arrested mainly on an FIR filed by the Enforcement directorate (ED) at Najat police station after an alleged attack on its officers on 5 January. The police had started inquiries under specific sections on the alleged attack. The ED moved Calcutta High court seeking a stay on the police investigation. The court subsequently granted its prayer and put a stay on the West Bengal police’s part of investigation,” Mr Sarkar said. India remains fastest growing economy with GDP growth at 8.4 pc in Q3 STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 29 FEBRUARY India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate in the quarter ending 31 December 2023 was 8.4 per cent, with the country remaining the fastest-growing major economy in the world, the data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) said on Thursday. Notably, the GDP growth in the quarter is higher than the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) estimate of 6.5 per cent. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a post on microblogging site X, said the robust 8.4 per cent GDP growth in the third quarter of 2023-24 shows the strength of the Indian economy and also its potential and the government will continue its efforts for fast economic growth to create 'Viksit Bharat'. Mr Modi also said that fast economic growth will also help the citizens lead a better life. The Indian economy remained resilient with a robust 7.6 per cent growth rate of GDP in FY 2023-24 over and above 7 per cent growth rate in FY2022-23. The rise in GDP growth was supported by robust growth in manufacturing, construction sectors and public administration. “GDP at constant (201112) prices in Q3 of 2023-24 is estimated at Rs 43.72 lakh crore, against Rs 40.35 lakh crore in Q3 of 2022-23, showing a growth rate of 8.4 percent. GDP at current prices in Q3 of 2023-24 is estimated at Rs 75.49 lakh crore, as against Rs 68.58 lakh crore in Q3 of 2022-23, showing a growth rate of 10.1 per cent,'' said the National Statistical Office (NSO). Double-digit growth rate of the construction sector at 10.7 per cent, followed by a good growth rate of Manufacturing sector at 8.5 per cent have boosted the GDP growth in FY 2023-24. CMYK P12 SILVER 74,200 GOLD 64,170.00 CM vows to protect religious practices he state government will not tolerate any interference in the religious practices of people, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said today. She was taking part in a programme where various government benefits were distributed to the people of Jhargram. “I have said over and again religion is individual but festivals are for all. We are not going to tolerate any interference in religious practices of people,” she said. She said:“Unlike the BJP who have only hatred for the tribal people, we respect them and celebrate their festivals. We have announced holidays on the birthdays of Pandit Raghunath Murmu, Karam Puja and other religious festivals.We take part in the festivals of tribal people just as they take part in our festivals. In Bengal people from different religious communities and faith take part in festivals of BUMRAH RETURNS P7 Won’t tolerate interference in people’s religious practices: Mamata Min. 48% TEMPERATURE STARMER WILL HAVE A LOT TO REBUILD BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 81.490.020 Cong panel to iron out differences to save Himachal government Karnataka Deputy CM D K Shivkumar, former CMs Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Bhupesh Baghel , announced the constitution of a sixmember coordination committee. STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE SHIMLA, 29 FEBRUARY After parleys with chief minister Sukhvinder Singh, Himachal Pradesh Congress president Pratibha Singh, and party MLAs, the Congress observers on Thursday claimed to have taken measures to ‘iron out differences’. Addressing mediapersons, the party observers, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivkumar, former Chief ministers Bhupinder Singh Hooda (Haryana) and Bhupesh Baghel (Chhatisgarh), announced the constitution of a six-member coordination committee to sort out differences. “We are forming a coordination committee between the government and party that will have six members,” said D K Shiv Kumar, adding that the committee will be entrusted with the task of ensuring that both the government and the party work together. Besides maintaining a balance in the party, the committee will play a proactive role in charting out a strategy to ensure victory of the party in forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, he said. Sukhu has taken responsibility for the failure and the party now stands united and said all the ministers and MLAs vowed to work together to save the party and government. Modi, Mauritian PM jointly inaugurate new airstrip, jetty STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 29 FEBRUARY Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Mauritian counterpart Pravind Jugnauth on Thursday jointly inaugurated a new airstrip and the St. James Jetty along with six community development projects at Agalega Island in Mauritius via video conferencing. Mauritius is a key partner of India’s ‘Neighbourhood First Policy’ and a special partner under Vision SAGAR, Mr Modi said on the occasion. “As members of Global South, we have common priorities and the last ten years have seen an unprecedented momentum in the relations between the two countries and new heights of mutual cooperation have been achieved,” he noted. The inauguration of these projects is a testimony to the robust and decades-old development partnership between India and Mauritius and will fulfil the demand for better connectivity between mainland Mauritius and Agalega, strengthen maritime security and foster socio-economic development. The inauguration of these projects follows the recent launch of UPI and RuPay Card services in Mauritius by the two leaders on 12 February. The Indian leader underlined that development partnerships have been the foundation pillars of the political partnerships between the two nations and that the developmental contributions made by India are based on Mauritius’s priorities, be it security to the EEZ or health security.