THURSDAY 11 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 NETANYAHU’S APPROACH TO WAR A MISTAKE: BIDEN CHANDRASEKHAR SENDS LEGAL NOTICE TO SHASHI THAROOR P4 SENSEX 75,038.15354.45 WEATHER Partly cloudy sky.Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 35 °C and 26 °C respectively. RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 84 % TEMPERATURE P9 NIFTY 22,753.80111.05 GOLD 72,110380 ` vs $ 83.37 Challenging arrest by ED, Kejriwal moves SC PARMOD KUMAR Max: 34.6°C (-1) Min: 26.3°C (+1) SUN RISES SUN SETS 05:21 hrs 17:55 hrs MOON RISES MOON SETS 06:16 hrs 19:46 hrs Full Moon on 24 April THUMBNAILS A wall graffiti in support of Trinamul Congress (TMC) ahead of Lok Sabha polls in North Kolkata area, on Wednesday.  ANI Elon Musk to visit India, likely to unveil investment plans in meeting with PM: Tesla CEO Elon Musk, is set to visit India later this month for a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, news agency ANI reported, quoting Reuters. Mr Musk's visit will coincide with a potential announcement regarding Tesla's investment plans and the opening of a new factory in the country, the report said. Tesla CEO Elon Musk will meet Prime Minister Modi tentatively on 22 April in New Delhi. Additionally, he is expected to disclose details about Tesla's plans for India during his visit. NEW DELHI, 10 APRIL elhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday knocked on the doors of the Supreme Court challenging his arrest by the Directorate of Enforcement and subsequent remand in the alleged Delhi excise policy scam case and the rejection of his plea by Delhi High Court on Tuesday. Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, heading a bench also comprising Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra said, “We will see, we will look into it,” after an advocate appearing for Mr Kejriwal mentioned the plea for an urgent listing. Earlier, Mr Kejriwal had approached the D Supreme Court against his arrest by the ED, but later withdrew his petition to approach the trial court. Coincidentally, Mr Kejriwal withdrew his plea from the Supreme Court challenging his arrest on the same day the top court had declined relief against arrest to BRS leader K. Kavitha, also an accused in the Delhi excise policy scam. On Tuesday, 9 April, Delhi High Court, rejecting Mr Kejriwal’s plea against his arrest and consequent remand had said that the “the arrest was legal.” The High Court had said: “The court is of view that the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal was not in contravention of legal provisions. The remand cannot be held to be illegal.” On the Delhi Chief Minister’s contention regarding the timings of his arrest ahead of the general elections, the court had said that the law applied equally to all and courts were concerned with“constitutional morality” and not “political morality”. “The material collected by the ED reveals that Kejriwal conspired and was involved in formulation of excise policy and used proceeds of crime. He is also allegedly involved in personal capacity in formulation of policy and demanding kickbacks and secondly in AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 10 APRIL Delhi High Court on Wednesday came down heavily on former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Sandeep Kumar for seeking the removal of Arvind Kejriwal from the post of Chief Minister of Delhi, also noting the frivolity of his petition. Referring it to a recurring film sequel, the court expressed displeasure at being embroiled in what it termed a “political thicket”. The court stressed the need to deter such repetitive litigation by imposing significant costs on Mr Kumar, amounting to Rs 50,000. “This is not a James Bond movie sequel,” the court said.” “When the plea came up before Justice Subra- LS election will throw out corruption, nepotism: PM KOLKATA, 10 APRIL NEW DELHI, 10 APRIL Calcutta High Court on Wednesday ordered a courtmonitored Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into land grabbing and extortion cases in Sandeshkhali. A total of five public interest litigations were filed at the Calcutta High Court in connection with illegal land grabbing and extortion at Sandeshkhali, where the main accused was a section of the local TMC leaders led by the now-suspended ruling party leader Sheikh Shahjahan. A division bench of Chief Justice T. S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya directed the CBI to start the investigation into the matter after creating a special investigation team for that purpose. The bench also observed that the entire investigation process in the matter by CBI will be court-monitored. (See PG3) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday attacked the DMK for stating the Lok Sabha election would see Modi leave the country and said those who speak like this should know, the election would instead throw out corruption from India, along with nepotism, drugs and anti-national forces that he said were protected by the DMK. Addressing a BJP election rally in Mettupalayam in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu he said the DMK is full of arrogance of its power. One of its senior leaders, when asked about State BJP president Annamalai, remarked “who is that,” and used an insulting expression. This arrogance was against the great culture of Tamil Nadu, the Prime Minister said. This would not be acceptable to people in the SILVER 85,5001,000 BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 89.830.39 DECKED UP NEW DELHI, 10 APRIL Delhi Social Welfare minister Raaj Kumar Anand resigned from his position and also from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday alleging corruption in the party. Mr Anand said that he does not wish to be ‘involved in any corrupt practices’, adding that it has become difficult for him to continue in the position. the capacity of national convenor of AAP the HC ," had said, rejecting Mr Kejriwal’s plea against his arrest and remand. mend or deal in any stocks. The government has also recently warned citizens over the rise in fake advertisements. The message cautioned users about fake ads potentially using deepfakes to trick them into scams. “Beware of fraudulent advertisements of stock market/trading/free tips on social media apps!! They may use deepfake videos and images. Never fall prey to greed. Stay safe from scammers,” the message sent from the government read. “Report such suspected fraud communications at the Chakshu facility on www.sancharsaathi.gov.in and in case you have already lost money then report on 1930 or www.cybercrime.gov.in. Issued in Public Interest by Govt of India,” the message further said. monium Prasad on Monday, he had said that it was nothing but a "publicity interest petition". The court’s remark had come after a division bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan had refused to entertain a similar PIL last week. ECI directs clear identification of publishers on poll-related hoardings STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NSE cautions investors against deepfake videos of CEO Amidst the rising cases of deepfake videos threatening the security of individuals from various sectors, the National Stock Exchange on (NSE) Wednesday cautioned investors against such videos of its chief executive giving stock recommendations. The exchange has observed that the face and voice of CEO Ashishkumar Chauhan was being falsely used in some investment and stock advisory videos. "Such videos seem to have been created using sophisticated technologies to imitate the voice and facial expressions of Ashishkumar Chauhan," the NSE said. It further said its officials are not authorised to recom- P12 AAP minister Raaj Kumar Anand resigns Removal of Kejriwal from CM’s post: HC rejects 3rd plea Sandeshkhali: HC orders court-monitored CBI investigation NEW DELHI, 10 APRIL P10 MI LOOK FOR 2ND STRAIGHT WIN AGAINST VIRAT’S RCB On Tuesday, Delhi High Court had rejected Kejriwal’s plea against his arrest Min. 47 % STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE ‘ACCIDENTAL HINDUS QUESTIONING EXISTENCE OF LORD RAM & KRISHNA’ STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 10 APRIL PM Narendra Modi being felicitated during a public meeting at Mettupalayam, in Coimbatore on Wednesday.  ANI State. The words used for an ex-police officer, from a backward family, who had worked on the ground, showed the true character of the DMK. This is the reason these family politics people do not allow any young person to come up in life, he said. Mr Modi said “family” parties like the DMK and the Congress have only one agenda and it is to stay in power by uttering any falsehood. The Congress gave the slogan of garibi hatao for decades, but poverty con- tinued in the country; it is the NDA government which has taken 25 crores out of poverty, he said. Looking at the response the BJP has received in Tamil Nadu during the current election, the Prime Minister said the BJP appears to be favourite all over the State. Everybody is saying DMK will be shown the exit by the BJP and the NDA. The whole of Tamil Nadu is saying phir ek baar, Modi Sarkar (once again, Modi government), he said. Sending a strong message, the Election Commission has directed all states and Union territories to ensure the clear identification of printers and publishers on printed election-related material, including hoardings, to ensure accountability and transparency in campaign communications. The decision was taken by the poll panel consisting of Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and election commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu after representations were received by it stating that in hoarding spaces controlled by municipal authorities, hoardings without the identity of the printer or publisher have been noticed. UPI transactions jumped from 8.03 bn in Jan 2023 to 12.02 bn in Dec STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 10APRIL A recent report suggests that UPI (Unified Payments Interface) continues to be the ubiquitous payment choice for the users with the transactions volume increasing from 8.03 billion transactions in January 2023 to 12.02 billion in December 2023. The ‘India Digital Payments Report’ for H2 2023 by Worldline highlighted that the transaction value exhibited a parallel upward trajectory. It increased from Rs 12.98 trillion in January 2023 to an impressive Rs 18.22 trillion in December 2023. The volume of UPI transactions in H2 2023 to H2 2022 increased by 56 per cent from 42.09 billion to The ‘India Digital Payments Report’ for H2 2023 by Worldline highlighted that the value of transactions done using the UPI mechanism increased from Rs 12.98 trillion in January 2023 to an impressive Rs 18.22 trillion in December 2023. 65.77 billion, the report said. During the same timeframe, the value of transactions increased by 44 per cent from Rs 69.36 trillion to Rs 99.68 trillion, it added. Further, the report mentioned that the person-to-person (P2P) transactions grew by 34 per cent from 20.25 billion transactions in H2 2022 to 27.04 billion in H2 2023. Meanwhile, the value of P2P transactions grew from Rs 53.69 trillion to INR 74.24, a 38 per cent increase. P2M transactions volume grew from 21.84 billion to 38.73 billion, a fantastic 77 per cent increase while the value grew from Rs 15.66 trillion to Rs 25.43 trillion, a 62 per cent increase. For the H2 2022, the average ticket size of all UPI transactions was Rs 1,648 compared to Rs 1,515 in H2 2023, registering an 8 per cent decrease. During the same period, the average ticket size for P2P transactions grew 4 per cent from Rs 2649 to Rs 2745. The Worldline report further said that during the same period, the average ticket size of P2M transactions fell 9 per cent from Rs 720 to Rs 656. CMYK The Nakhoda Masjid ahead of the Eid al-Fitr festival, in Kolkata on Wednesday.  ANI Abhishek comes down heavily on EC STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, 10 APRIL Trinamul Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee today came down heavily on the Election Commission of India for not giving permission to the state government to reconstruct the houses that got razed to the ground in Jalpaiguri due to a recent nor’wester. Mr Banerjee was speaking to reporters after a Trinamul Congress delegation met the state Governor, C V Ananda Bose, to raise concerns over the BJP’s misuse of Central agencies. Mr Banerjee said: “In the afternoon the ECI informed the state government that it would not allow construction of new houses but the state government could spent Rs 5,000 and Rs 20,000 to repair the damaged portions of houses. As many as 1600 houses have been razed to the ground. The state government would spend the money, but here also the ECI comes in the way following instruction from the BJP,” he said. “The same ECI has given permission to the Assam government to give Rs 1.50 lakh to different organisations to celebrate Bihu. We are not against celebrating Bihu, but what happens to the poor people who lost their houses,” he asked. Mr Banerjee said he would go to Jalpaiguri on 12 April and hold a meeting in Dhupguri. He would meet the members of 1,600 families. Ten Trinamul leaders who had been arrested in Delhi after they wanted to meet the ECI with the same demand of allowing the state government to set up houses of the hapless people would be there in north Bengal with Mr Banerjee. “ If needed we will meet the President with the same demand,” he said, adding: “If BJP thinks that they can score goals without players, rest assured they will not be able to score goals.”