TUESDAY 02 APRIL 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 P5 SENSEX 74,014.55 Hot and discomfort weather very likely. Maximum and Minimum Temperature most likely be around 37°C and 27°C respectively. RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY P10 ` vs $ 83.40 GOLD 70,735.00 P12 SILVER 78,000 CM visits Alipurduar to take stock of relief work BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 86.67 No coercive steps to recover `3,500 cr from Congress till elections: Tax dept to SC PARMOD KUMAR Max: 35.0°C (0) SUN RISES 05:29 hrs MOON RISES 01:33 hrs Min: 27.1°C (+2) SUN SETS 17:52 hrs MOON SETS 10:04 hrs New Moon on 08 April THUMBNAILS US Marines during Bilateral Tri-Service Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Amphibious Exercise 'Tiger Triumph 2024' between India and US conducted from 26 to 30 March 2024.  ANI GST collection marks 11.5 pc growth in March: The Gross Good and Services Tax (GST) revenue for March 2024 marked a 11.5 per cent year-on-year growth witnessing the second highest collection ever, data from the Ministry of Finance said on Monday. This surge was driven by a significant rise in GST collection from domestic transactions at 17.6 per cent. GST revenue net of refunds for March 2024 is Rs 1.65 lakh crore which is growth of 18.4% over same period last year, the data said. (PG 8) NEW DELHI, 1 APRIL STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Min. 57% The Income Tax Department onMondayassuredtheSupreme Court that it will not take any coercive steps to recover approximately Rs 3500 crore income tax dues from the Indian National Congress (INC) till the ongoing general elections are over. “Till the matter is heard, we will not take recovery/coercive steps as elections are going on,” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta assured a bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Augustine George Masih. The bench took on record the undertaking given by Solicitor General Mehta who appeared for the Income Tax Department. “The issues which arise in these appeals are yet to be adjudicated upon, but having regard to the situation now, the (IncomeTax) department does not wish to precipitate the matter in as much as no coercive steps will be taken with regard to (the tax demand of) Rs 3,500 crore approximately till the next date of hearing. List the matter in the second week of July” , the bench said in its order recording the undertaking. Stating that the IT department does not want to create problems for any party during elections, Mehta said the issue in the present appeal was not SILIGURI, 1 APRIL hief minister Mamata Banerjee asked the administration to conduct a thorough survey to estimate damages of houses, especially to take necessary steps providing government's assistance to them. Miss Banerjee also asked the administration that no one should be deprived of their legitimate claims. It is a standing order for the administration of the affected areas in North Bengal, she added. After visiting the storm hit villages in Alipurduar district Ms Banerjee visited a relief camp at Topsikhata School and interacted with the victims today. “Though there is no loss of life in Alipurduar villages, several families were rendered homeless after their houses collapsed due to uprooted trees falling on them. Many of them have lost their belongings. Some of them don’t even have utensils and garments. The sudden heavy storm blew up all necessary belongings,” Ms Banerjee said. “I thank the administration of both Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts for necessary steps taken immediately after the disaster by setting up relief camps and C extending necessary assistance to the victims,” she said, adding, “I would request all to extend help for the helpless people. People’s representatives should come forward and stay with victims.” She also asked the Cooch Behar administration to take necessary actions in storm-hit areas. Notably, CM met injured persons in hospital and visited affected villages last midnight and returned to Chalsa in the wee hours and left for Alipurduar by a chopper. CM has decided to stay in Jalpaiguri tonight. She also visited the cyclone- hit victims and visited badly affected villages at Maynaguri in Jalpaiguri last midnight. CM Miss Banerjee arrived in Bagdogra Airport by a special chartered flight last night and left for Jalpaiguri by road and met and talked to dozens of injured villagers, who were undergoing treatment in Jalpaiguri super speciality hospital. She left for storm hit-villages, including a badly hit village named Burnish, visited relief camps and interacted with the victims there last night. “Administration will do with its responsibility whatsoever STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE PARMOD KUMAR According to reports, the Delhi chief minister will now be lodged in Tihar Jail, while the jail authorities have been directed by the court to permit the AAP leader to carry his medicines prescribed by doctors along with some books. NEW DELHI, 1 APRIL directed by the court to permit the AAP leader to carry his medicines prescribed by doctors along with some books. The jail authorities have also been asked to provide doctorsprescribed diet to Kejriwal. Kejriwal, through his lawyers, had moved an application seeking permission to carry books that include Bhagavad Gita and Ramayana, sources said. His wife Sunita Kejriwal also reached the Rouse Avenue court and sought to know why her husband was sent to jail when the court did not find him guilty. She said Kejriwal was interrogated for 11 days, and the court has not said that he was guilty. Sunita further alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wants to keep the AAP supremo in jail till the elections are over, adding that the people of the country will required immediately for the victims,” the chief minister said. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee returned to Jalpaiguri headquarters in the wee hours and stayed there to keep monitoring treatment of victims, rescue operation, distribution of relief and other necessary requirements. According to the CM, the storm has claimed five lives, injuring hundreds of people, including women and children. The Nor’wester lashed into Burnish village in Maynaguri and flowed away over Alipurduar, Cooch Behar area and entered Assam region. Udhayanidhi made remarks voluntarily; can't claim same immunity as media: SC Excise policy case: Delhi court sends CM to judicial custody till 15 April A Delhi Court on Monday sent Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to judicial custody till April 15 in the money laundering case linked to the nowscrapped excise policy case. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo was presented before the court by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) as his custodial remand with the federal probe agency was till Monday. "The arrestee (CM Kejriwal) has even given false and contrary evidence vis-à-vis other members of the AAP When he . was confronted with the statements given by his own party leaders, he called them confused," the ED told the court. The Rouse Avenue Court passed the order after the ED did not ask for further custodial remand of the accused. According to reports, the Delhi chief minister will now be lodged in Tihar Jail, while the jail authorities have been SINNER BEATS DIMITROV TO WIN MIAMI OPEN CM also asked the administration that no one should be deprived of their legitimate claims Max. 86% TEMPERATURE P8 NIFTY 22,462.00 WEATHER ‘UTTAR PRADESH WILL GIVE 80 LOK SABHA SEATS TO PM MODI’ ‘RBI TRANSFORMED INTO CRUCIAL ENABLER FOR MARKET ECONOMY’ ‘SECURITY INTERESTS INVOLVED IN PROBING PLOT TO KILL PANNUN’ give a befitting reply to this. On Saturday, another AAP minister Kailash Gahlot was also quizzed by the ED for about five hours in connection with the Delhi excise policy case. Earlier in the day, Kejriwal was produced in the court of Special Judge Kaveri Baweja after his Enforcement Directorate custody came to an end. The ED had sought 15-day judicial custody of Kejriwal, saying he was “totally uncooperative”. NEW DELHI, 1 APRIL The Supreme Court on Monday told DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin that having voluntarily made the statement to "eradicate Sanatan Dharma", he cannot claim to be in the same position as media and news channels while seeking clubbing of multiple FIRs registered against him over his remark. A bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta told Stalin , "You have made the statements voluntarily. And the cases you cited - those were news media people who were working as per diktats of their bosses to get TRPs.You cannot compare yourself to the media.” The observation from the bench came as Stalin, seeking the clubbing of the multiple FIRs registered against him across the country, relied on the top court judgments in the matters relating to media persons in support of his plea. Appearing for Stalin, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi highlighted the case of BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma, against whom multiple FIRs were lodged in different States and later transferred to one State. "Nupur Sharma is pure politician," Singhvi told the bench. Questioning Stalin as to why he has approached the Supreme court under Article 32 of the constitution for the protection of his fundamental rights and not instead invoking Section 406 (power of Supreme Court to transfer cases and appeals) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). Permitting Stalin to amend his petition for invoking Section 406 CrPC for seeking the clubbing of the FIRs, the bench posted the matter in the week commencing from May 6. In the earlier hearing of the matter on March 4, the top court had questioned Stalin over his remarks calling for the eradication of ‘Sanatana Dharma’ and had told him that he is “not a layman but a minister” and should know the consequences of his remarks. “You abuse your rights under freedom of speech and expression and right to freedom of religion and then come to the Supreme Court for protection under Article 32? Don’t you know the consequences of what you said?”, the bench had told Stalin. DMK leader Stalin had made remarks comparing 'Sanatana Dharma' to diseases like 'malaria' and 'dengue' while advocating for its elimination on grounds that it was rooted in the caste system and historical discrimination. India’s defence exports cross PM lauds RBI, says India must become `21,000 cr mark, says Rajnath financially ‘Atmanirbhar’ in 10 years STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 4 APRIL Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday announced that the country's defence exports have scaled to unprecedented heights and crossed Rs 21,000 crore mark for the first time in the history of Independent India. ''India’s defence exports have reached to the level of Rs 21,083 crore in the financial year 2023-24 which is a spectacular growth of 32.5 per cent over the previous fiscal,'' he wrote on 'X'. Earlier, the Ministry of Defence (MoD), in a press release, said the exports in the last fiscal were to the tune of Rs 15,920 crore. The recent figures indicate that the defence exports have grown by 31 times in the last 10 years as compared to FY 2013-14. The defence Industry, including the private sector and Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs), have made tremendous efforts in achieving the highest-ever defence exports. The private sector and the DPSUs have contributed about 60 per cent and 40 per cent respectively. In addition, there has been a rise in the number of export authorisations issued to the defence exporters during FY 2023-24. From 1,414 export authorisations in FY 202223, the number jumped to 1,507 in FY 2023-24. A comparative data of two decades i e the period from 2004-05 to 2013-14 and 201415 to 2023-24 reveals that there has been a growth of 21 times in the defence exports. Total defence exports during 2004-05 to 2013-14 were Rs 4,312 crore, which has gone up to Rs 88,319 crore in the period from 2014-15 to 2023-24. The remarkable growth has been achieved due to the policy reforms and ‘Ease of Doing Business’ initiatives brought in by the Government, in addition to the end-toend digital solution provided to the Indian industries for promoting defence exports. This growth is a reflection of global acceptability of Indian defence products and technologies. STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 1 APRIL In the last 10 years, the government has highlighted the connection between central banks, banking systems and beneficiaries at the last queue, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday. He was speaking at the opening ceremony of RBI@90, a programme marking 90 years of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in Mumbai. On the occasion, PM also released a commemorative coin to mark the 90 years of RBI. “RBI plays a pivotal role in advancing our nation's growth trajectory,” he further said. He pointed out that even though the discussions related to the RBI are often limited to financial definitions and complex terminologies, the work carried out at RBI directly makes an impact on the lives of common citizens. Highlighting the reforms he mentioned that 55% of the 52 crore Jan Dhan accounts in the country belong to women. He also mentioned the impact of financial inclusion in the agriculture and fisheries sector where more than 7 crore farmers, fishermen and CMYK cattle owners have access to PM Kisan Credit Cards providing a significant push to the rural economy. Referring to the boost for the cooperative sector in the past 10 years, PM threw light on the importance of regulations of the Reserve Bank of India regarding cooperative banks. He also mentioned more than 1200 crore month- ly transactions via UPI making it a globally recognized platform. Touching upon the work being done on Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), PM said that the transformations of the past 10 years have enabled the creation of a new banking system, economy and currency experience. The Prime Minister recalled the 80year celebration of RBI in 2014 and remembered the challenges and problems like NPA and stability faced by the banking system of the country at that time. Starting from there, today we have reached a point where the Indian banking system is being seen as a strong and sustainable banking system of the world as the near moribund banking system of that time is now in profit and showing record credit, he said. related to the recent tax notices issued to the Congress, yet, considering the upcoming elections, the IT department will not take any coercive steps. The bench also recorded in its order Solicitor General’s submissionthattheRs3500crore demand is not strictly relatable to the controversy in these appeals. Rs 3500 crore also includes the levy of notices worth about Rs 1,700 crore that were issued last week. The top court was hearing a 2018 appeal by the Congress against a 2016 judgment of the Delhi High Court. In the appeal, the party moved an interim application seeking stay of the recent demand notices issued by the IT department in March. The Delhi High Court on March 28 rejected the Congress’ plea challenging the initiation of tax reassessment proceedings against it for assessment years 2017 to 2021 by tax authorities. The High Court had said the pleas were dismissed in terms of its earlier decision refusing to interfere with the opening of reassessment for another period. On March 22, the High Court had rejected the Congress’ plea challenging initiation of reassessment proceedings pertaining to assessment years 2014-15 to 2016-17. Premier probe agencies ‘spread too thin’, cautions CJI DY Chandrachud NEW DELHI, 1 APRIL The premier investigative agencies of the country have been spread too thin and they must only focus on cases that involve national security and crimes against the nation, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said today. Delivering the 20th DP Kohli Memorial Lecture on CBI Raising Day, Chief Justice Chandrachud also flagged how technology has changed the crime terrain and the agency is now facing a complex challenge. "The CBI is being increasingly asked to delve into a diverse array of criminal cases beyond its role as anticorruption investigative agency. This places a huge responsibility on CBI to live upto its motto," Chief Justice Chandrachud said. "I think we have spread out the premier investigative agencies too thin. They must only focus on those that concern national security and crimes of economic offences against the nation," the Chief Justice added, pointing out that the force consists largely of officers on deputation. The solution, he suggested, was digitising the investigation process that can begin from the filing of a First Information Report. Given the huge number of cases, technology needs to be leveraged to reduce delays. "All arms of the criminal justice administration and all stakeholders including the FSLs must collaborate by holding workshops to help confront challenged we face," he said. The other changes should include upgrading the probe agency by making structural reforms. Also, artificial Intelligence must be harnessed for the best outcome. Calling it a "game changer" that can revolutionise criminal justice, he said it can be used to mine potential leads and data "with unprecedented accuracy". AGENCIES