SATURDAY 02 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 FRAGILE TIES ‘YSRCP TARGETING TDP LEADERS THROUGH REVENUE INTELLIGENCE’ P4 SENSEX 73,745.351,245.05 WEATHER MAINLY CLEAR SKY BECOMING PARTLY CLOUDY SKY TOWARDS AFTERNOON/EVENING. THE MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WOULD BE AROUND 27 AND 11 DEGREE CELSIUS RESPECTIVELY RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 93 % Max: 25.5 °C-1) SUN RISES 6:46 hrs MOON RISES 22:37 hrs Min: 10.7 °C (-2) SUN SETS 18:20 hrs MOON SETS 09:40 hrs THUMBNAILS A potter prepares large earthen lamps for sale ahead of the Maha Shivaratri festival, in Bhubaneshwar on Friday.  ANI India expresses shock over killings in Gaza during humanitarian assistance delivery: India on Friday expressed deep shock at the loss of lives in Northern Gaza yesterday during delivery of humanitarian assistance. ''Such loss of civilian lives and the larger humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to be a cause for extreme concern,'' the Ministry of External Affairs said. ''We reiterate our call for safe and timely delivery of humanitarian aid and assistance,'' the MEA added. ` vs $ 82.901 PAISE STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE HOOGHLY, 1 MARCH T aking on West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on her own turf ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the Trinamul Congress government is a big hurdle in the empowerment of poor, farmers, youth and women. Mr Modi also attacked the Trinamul Congress on the Sandeshkhali issue while addressing a public rally in Arambagh in West Bengal’s Hooghly district, urging people to reply in the form of vote to each pain they have suffered. “Har chot ka jawab vote se dena hai. Today, the people of West Bengal are asking their CM 'Didi'- is the vote of some people more important than atrocities against women in Sandeshkhali?... All the tall leaders of INDI alliance were silent on the Sandeshkhali incident. INDI alliance leaders were like the three monkeys of Gandhiji...Congress chief said- 'Arey chhoddo,Bengal mein toh yeh sab chalta rheta hai," PM Modi said. Mr Modi remarked that even Muslim minorities are dissatisfied with the functioning of the TMC government. He expressed confidence that Muslim and other minority communities will cast their votes in favour of the BJP. The Prime Minister said that the TMC appears to have lost control over its party leaders and workers, who devoid of fear, resorted to wrong means to cheat the common people, severely impeding the progress and development in West Ben- gal. The poor and the middle-class people are the most affected in such a situation, he added. The Prime Minister highlighted instances of obstructions hindering progress and development works initiated by the central government. He pointed out that the Jharia and Raniganj coalfield projects, set up by the central government six years ago, remain stalled due to the lack of requisite cooperation from the TMC government. Citing examples, he said, the Rs 1,800 crore Jagdhispur-Haldia and Bokaro-Bavana pipeline project has been pending STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 1 MARCH and reduce dependency on foreign-origin equipment manufactures in future, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said. The contract for RD-33 aero engines for MiG-29 aircraft has been signed with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) at a cost of Rs 5,249.72 crore. These aero engines will be produced by the Koraput Division of HAL. They are expected to fulfill the need of the Indian Air Force (IAF) to sustain the operational capability of the MiG-29 fleet for the residual service life. The aero engines will be manufactured under a Transfer of Technology (TOT) license from the Russian OEM. The contract for the procurement of CIWS has been signed with Larsen & Toubro Limited at a cost of Rs 7,668.82 crore. CIWS will provide terminal air defence to select locations in the country. The project will boost and encourage active participation of Indian aerospace, defence and associated industries including MSMEs. The contract for the procurement of HPR has also been signed with Larsen & Toubro Limited at a cost of Rs 5,700.13 crore. It will replace existing long-range radars of lAF with modern Active Aperture Phased Array-based HPR with advanced surveillance fea- tures. It will significantly enhance the terrestrial air defence capabilities of IAF with the integration of sophisticated sensors capable of detection of small Radar Cross Section targets. The contract for the procurement of BrahMos missiles has been signed with BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited (BAPL) at a cost of Rs 19,518.65 crore. These missiles would be utilised to meet the combat outfit and training requirements of the Indian Navy. This project is likely to generate employment of nine lakh man-days in joint venture entities and around 135 lakh man-days in ancillary industries (including MSMEs) of the country. The contract for the procurement of the shipborne BrahMos system has also been signed with BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited (BAPL) at a cost of Rs 988.07 crore. This system is the Indian Navy's primary weapon for maritime strike operations fitted on board various frontline warships. for four years, and the Tarkeswar to Bishnupur railway track work is also held up. The central government has sanctioned funds to the tune of crores of rupees for the development work but much of it remains unutilised, he added. Moreover, while the Central government has provided pucca houses to four crore poor families nationwide, West Bengal lags in this initiative, Mr Modi claimed. Although the central government has approved 45 lakh houses and released Rs 42,000 crore for the same purpose, many eligible Thailand replaces WTO envoy after India protests AGENCIES ABU DHABI, 1 MARCH Thailand has replaced its Ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Pimchanok Vonkorpon Pitfield, after strong objections were raised by India to her remarks on New Delhi's rice procurement programme. As per sources, India lodged a protest over remarks by the Thai envoy to the WTO where she accused India of using subsidised rice procured for the public distribution system to capture the export market. “The Thai Ambassador has been replaced. She has ridiculed India's public stockholding programme," according to the source. It has been also been learnt that Ms Pitfield will be replaced by Thailand's Foreign Secretary. (SEE PAGE 5) EC issues advisory to political parties ahead of LS polls STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 1 MARCH Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the Election Commission on Friday issued an advisory to all political parties to maintain decorum and utmost restraint in public campaigning and raise the level of election campaigning to “issue” based debate. The poll panel issued the advisory while taking note of the various trends and cases of plummeting levels of political campaign discourse in recently held elections. The Commission said it has also put the star campaigners and candidates ‘on notice’ in case of violations that followed the previously known methodologies during elections to circumvent the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). The poll panel said it will assess any indirect MCC violations as per advisory as a fair basis to re-work the notices to be given in terms of time and content in issue in the forthcoming elections. For the Lok Sabha elections and polls to four State Legislative Assemblies, all phases and geographical area of elections shall be the basis to determine “repeat” offences, it said. While acknowledging the need to keep a balance between the freedom of expression and level playing field, the advisory noted that the Commission has been following a self-restrained approach since the previous few rounds of elections, presuming that its notice would serve as a moral censure to the candidate or star campaigner. “No appeal shall be made on the basis of caste/communal feelings of the electors. No activity, which may aggravate existing differences or create mutual hatred or cause tension between different castes/communities/religious/linguistic groups, shall be attempted,” read the advisory. The political parties and leaders shall not make false statements, utterances without factual basis aimed at misleading the voters. Criticism of other parties or their workers on the basis of unverified allegations or on distortions shall be avoided, it said. “No temples/ mosques/ churches/gurdwaras or any places of worship are to be used for election propaganda or electioneering. References which ridicule the relations between devotee and deity or suggestions of divine censure shall not be made,” the advisory said. Among others, no aspect of the private life, not connected with the public activities, of the leaders or workers of other parties is to be criticized. Low level personal attacks to insult the rivals shall not be made. P12 SILVER 74,500 GOLD 64,675.00 TMC govt a big obstacle in empowerment of poor: PM MoD inks `39,000-crore defence acquisition contracts As part of ‘Aatmanirbharta in Defence’, the government on Friday signed five major capital acquisition contracts worth Rs 39,125.39 crore. The contracts, aimed at boosting the Make-in-India initiative, were exchanged in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane. Out of the five contracts, one was with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for the procurement of aero-engines for MiG-29 aircraft, two with Larsen & Toubro Limited for the procurement of Close-in Weapon System (CIWS) and procurement of High-Power Radar (HPR) and two with BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited (BAPL) for the procurement of BrahMos missiles and procurement of shipborne BrahMos system for the Indian defence forces. These deals will further strengthen indigenous capabilities, save foreign exchange P7 Modi attacks Bengal’s ruling party over Sandeshkhali, obstruction of schemes Min. 42 % TEMPERATURE P6 NIFTY 22,338.75355.95 ‘HARDIK PANDYA’S CASE IS DIFFERENT FROM KISHAN & IYER’ ‘PROBE HAS RATTLED KERALA GOVT’ individuals in the state still lack housing. The state government's progress in providing water supply to every household is also sluggish, and crucial schemes like the Ayushman health card remain unimplemented by the TMC, he added. The PM further said that farmers in West Bengal are deprived of central beneficiary funds intended for their upliftment. The central government is committed to the development of the poor, farmers, youths, and the empowerment of women. The Prime Minister emphasised that without the development of West Bengal, the overall development of the nation remains incomplete. He asserted that only the BJP can guarantee development in West Bengal and ensure the doorstep delivery of various development schemes and projects initiated by the central government. Mr Modi earlier in the day inaugurated and laid the foundation stones for various projects worth Rs 7,200 crore at Kalipur in Arambagh. BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 83.121.21 PM to visit Kashmir Valley on 7 March AGENCIES SRINAGAR, 1 MARCH Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit the Kashmir Valley on March 7, his first visit to the Valley since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019. The last time the Prime Minister visited Kashmir was in February 2019. During his visit to Kashmir on March 7, the Prime Minister is expected to announce the score of developmental projects and also interact with the beneficiaries of various national schemes and programmes in the Valley. Sources said that the main venue of the Prime Minister’s visit will be the Bakshi Stadium and not the convention centre by the banks of the Dal Lake. They said that Bakshi Stadium has been chosen as the venue because a large number of people are expected to attend PM Modi’s programme. A large number of people including those from the civil society and various local organisations have exhibited interest in attending the Prime Minister’s programme in Srinagar city. PM Modi will visit Kashmir at a time when separatists The main venue of the Prime Minister’s visit will be the Bakshi Stadium and not the convention centre by the banks of the Dal Lake. called Bandhs and strikes are a thing of the past. Stone pelting that had assumed menacing proportions before the abrogation of Article 370 has completely vanished. Educational institutions have functioned normally and a record number of over 2 crore tourists visited Kashmir last year. Businesses have been running normally and the common man has been living a peaceful and fearless life after the abrogation of Article 370. It is because of the historical decision to abrogate Article 370 and integrate J&K completely with the rest of the country that the Prime Minister has fixed a symbolic target of 370 seats for the BJP in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. Even the political adversaries of the BJP admit that J&K has witnessed peace and normalcy after Article 370 was abrogated. Nine people injured in blast at cafe in B’luru STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE BENGALURU, 1 MARCH At least nine people were injured after a blast at a cafe in the capital city of Karnataka on Friday, police said. The incident was reported at Rameshwaram Café in the Whitefield area of the city. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah ruled out a gas leak as the cause of the blaze. He said CCTV footage has revealed that a man was seen placing a bag in the cafe. “It is not a high-intensity blast but an improvised one. The injured, including the hotel staff, have been shifted to a nearby hospital for treatment," he said. Asked if it was a terrorist act, the chief minister said, "We do not know it yet, but we are looking at all possible angles." He said that the culprits will be found and strict action will be taken against them, and there should not be any politics in these matters. "We will initiate harsh action," he stated. Talking to media, T N Shivashankar, Director, Karnataka State Fire and Emergency Services department said the explosion at the bustling cafe, located in east Bengaluru, occurred around 1 p.m. during the busy lunch hour when crowds from nearby offices generally gather at the popular eatery. “At 1.08 pm, the fire department received a call about LPG leakage fire in the cafe. When our officers and teams reached the spot, there was no fire or flame. A bag which was lying behind a woman who was sitting with six other customers at the eatery exploded. It is suspected that the explosion could have been caused due to some object in that bag,” he told a news agency. State home minister G Parameshwara visited the site and took stock of the situation.