THURSDAY 25 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 CONG IS COMPLETELY EXPOSED: SHAH AFTER PITRODA’S REMARKS BATTLE IN KERALA P6 SENSEX 73,852.94114.48 WEATHER Mainly clear sky. Heat wave conditions likely to occur. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 40 °C and 29 °C respectively. RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 77 % TEMPERATURE P5 NIFTY 22,402.4034.40 Max: 39.1°C (+3) Min: 29.2°C (+3) SUN RISES SUN SETS 05:9 hrs 18:0 hrs MOON RISES MOON SETS 18:26 hrs 05:7 hrs New Moon on 08 May THUMBNAILS Students observe the Zero Shadow Day, at Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium in Bengaluru on Wednesday.  ANI Govt, WBSSC approach SC against HC order: The Bengal government and the est Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) on Wednesday filed special leave petitions in the Supreme Court against the Calcutta High Court order cancelling all appointments of teachers and non-teaching staff made after a recruitment test in 2016. On Monday, a Division Bench of Calcutta High Court had ordered cancellation of the appointments of teachers, Group C and D employees made through the State Level Selection Test-2016 in government-sponsored and aided schools in the state. (Pg 3) GOLD 72,650490 ` vs $ 83.37 STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE BUDBUD, 24 APRIL rinamul Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday that the BJP’s chances of returning to power are becoming bleak while predicting a rich harvest for her party in Bengal. “The ground reality is this - the chances of BJP returning to power is bleak and they will face significant losses in Uttar Pradesh where Akhilesh (Yadav)'s party is giving them a tough contest. In Rajasthan their fate has already been sealed, in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Telengana, their tally will be slashed to half. In Tamil Nadu the BJP will get a zero and in Kerala, the CPI-M and the Congress will split the seats,” Miss Banerjee said. The state chief minister, who has been camping in Durgapur since yesterday addressed two election rallies in Ausgram and in Budbud of East Burdwan for her party candidates - Asit Mal (Bolpur), Kirti Azad (Bardhaman Durgapur) and Dr Sharmila Sarkar (Bardhaman Purba). Expressing concern over the prevailing heat wave conditions, Miss Banerjee ridiculed the Election Com- T mission of India for stretching the electoral process over seven phases and said: "The schedule was made on purpose to facilitate the BJP Still, we won't allow a . foothold to them. I’ve been out campaigning since March and there is another month to go. I hope I'd be able to continue till the end." Miss Banerjee said: "The more seats we can achieve, the more we will be able to strengthen the INDI Alliance at the Centre." Attacking Union defence minister Rajnath Singh, she said in Budbud: “I had respect for him. But I was shocked to learn that he's used abusive language while STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 24 APRIL Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra shares a light moment with a child during a public meeting in Wayanad on Wednesday.  ANI ra, Jammu and Kashmir and Manipur. Polling in 15 Assembly segments in the Outer Manipur parliamentary seat was held in the first phase on 19 April, and 13 Assembly seats will witness voting in the second phase. Altogether 1,210 candidates are in the fray in the second phase of voting, according to the Election Commission. Prominent among the candidates are Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Shashi Tharoor. Mr Chandrasekhar is the BJP’s nominee from Thiruvananthapuram seat, while Mr Tharoor is Congress’ candidate from the same seat. Mr Gandhi is contesting from Wayanad, which he currently represents in the House. The campaign in the second phase was marked by a war of words between the BJP and the Congress over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks against the Congress at a rally in Rajasthan’s Banswara on Sunday. The Congress called it objectionable and filed a complaint with the poll panel. The third phase of voting is scheduled to take place on 7 May. campaigning here the other day, which I never expected from him. He's quoted as saying - Koi Mai ka Laal hai jo CAA rok dega (is there anyone who can stop CAA)? I'm telling him, We'll resist CAA." She went on to say: “We know you are protecting your chair offering pranama to Modi every day and night but you could have become the Prime Minister, we would have had no objection." Miss Banerjee rebuked the BJP for choosing Narendra Modi as Prime Minister and said: "Why did they choose persons having blood on their hands?" She went on to say: “Sabko arrest karlo, ED, CBI, NIA vej do aur 1 month Raaj korlo(send CBI, ED and arrest everyone. Enjoy your power for one more month)." She added: "He wants to paint everything saffron right from the trains to Doordarshan. If he'd the ability, he would have painted the sky saffron too!" The TMC chief in both her poll rallies today complained that the Central forces deployed in Bengal like the BSF, the CRPF were intimidating the voters. She said: "They are asking the voters either to press the lotus button, or face bullets. I've got a copy of an FIR registered in Gsngarampur, Balurghat lodged by a victim's family. Even the Railway employees are ordered to vote for BJP ." She also reiterated her anguish today over the Calcutta High Court's judgment cancelling the appointment of over 25,000 teaching and non-teaching jobs. She said: "I've 10 lakh government jobs ready for our unemployed youths, but I'm afraid Calcutta High Court will create a hurdle to that, like how they've scrapped the teachers under the directions of the BJP ." Cong tried to introduce religion-based census in armed forces: Rajnath AGENCIES VISAKHAPATNAM, 24 APRIL Amid the furore around wealth redistribution, an idea Congress leader Rahul Gandhi allegedly said would be followed up on and implemented if his party was voted to power; Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said previous Congress governments at the Centre tried to create a division in the country's armed forces by recommending a 'religious census'. Addressing an election campaign atVishakhapatnam on Wednesday, the Union Defence Minister said, "The Sachar Committee, which was formed by the Congress government, recommended a religion-based census in the armed forces in 2006. The Congress, in its manifesto (for the ongoing Lok Sabha elec- tions), has also hinted at a reservation for religious minorities if they are elected. If they introduce reservations for religious minorities and extend the idea to the armed forces, it wouldn't bode well for the country's unity and integrity of the country." "What worries me more is that whatever the Congress has put in its manifesto in the name of minority welfare has echoes of the ideas and recommendations in the Sachar Committee report," the Union Defence Minister said. In a scathing attack on the Congress over its 'appeasement' politics, he said the grand old party was trying to introduce a 'religion-based reservation' through the back door, adding that appeasement shows the 'real face' of the Congress. P12 SILVER 82,900100 ‘3rd term chances for BJP getting bleaker’ High-decibel campaign ends for second phase of LS polls Campaigning for the second phase of voting in the 18th Lok Sabha election ended on Wednesday, with the BJP and the opposition INDIA bloc leaving no stone unturned to woo voters in 89 constituencies spread over 13 states and Union territories. Prime Minister Narendra Modi held rallies in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, while Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge was his party's star campaigner in his home state of Karnataka. Of the 89 Lok Sabha seats involved in the second phase of voting to be held on 26 April, 20 are in Kerala, 14 in Karnataka, 13 in Rajasthan, eight each in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, seven in Madhya Pradesh, five each in Bihar and Assam, three each in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, and one each in Tripu- P4 Significant losses for BJP in UP, Rajasthan, MP, Karnataka, T’gana: Mamata Min. 35 % RCB LOOK TO PLAY PARTY-SPOILERS AGAINST RED HOT SRH BRS GIVING WALKOVER TO BJP FOR KAVITHA’S BAIL: REVANTH REDDY BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 88.140.30 Congress gives OBC quota to Muslims, plans inheritance tax: PM in Madhya Pradesh STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 24 APRIL Campaigning in Madhya Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday intensified his attack on the Congress for its purported “agenda” to give reservation benefits to Muslims and to impose an inheritance tax that will take away half of people’s savings after their death. “The Congress has its evil eyes on your savings and property; the Congress mantra is Congress ki loot, zindagi ke saath bhi loot,zindagi ke baad bhi loot (Congress wants to loot you, during your life and after),” he said. Addressing a large BJP election rally in Sagar, he said the Congress has made up its mind to cut 15 per cent quota of SCs, STs and OBCs and give it to the Muslims all over the country. The party had done this earlier when it came to power in Karnataka, but the BJP government which succeeded it, ended this “attack on Ambedkar’s Constitution.” Once again, the PM said, the Congress government in the state has “criminally” deprived the OBCs of their rightful share in reservation benefits. The party has brought all castes of Muslims in the OBC quota so that they can be extended the reservation benefit, he said. The Constitution clearly prohibits reservation on the basis of religion. Constitution architect Babasaheb Ambedkar himself was against this, but the Congress, year after year, tried to do this by different tricks, Mr Modi said. The PM said the Congress does not stop here, the party wants to “snatch your property, do X-rays to find out your hidden money in lockers or homes; searching money in food boxes, jewellery, mangal-sutras, and then snatch all this to redistribute these among others.” A hidden agenda of the party, inheritance tax, has come to light today, Mr Modi claimed. He said in Indian society, grandpar- ents save money for their grandchildren, for their marriages. They save property, and do not squander it on self-enjoyment. But the Congress says “you cannot give this property to your children, nearly half the property will be looted by the Congress government by imposing a tax. Can you imagine, how far removed is the Congress from social values of the country and family traditions,” Mr Modi said. The Prime Minister was referring to a statement made by Indian Overseas Congress chairperson Sam Pitroda in Chicago in the USA about inheritance tax. The Congress party has distanced itself from the statement, saying that it is not always the case that Mr Pitroda's views reflect the position of the Congress. SC to consider passing directions to strengthen EVM system PARMOD KUMAR NEW DELHI, 24 APRIL The Election Commission of India onWednesday gave clarifications to the queries by the Supreme Court on the constituency wise programming of EVMs and VVPATs for the casting of votes and the printing of VVPAT slips in the order of the candidates in each Lok Sabha constituency. A bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta queried Elevation Commission officials relating to the functioning of the EVMs, and theVVPATs, including whether the micro controllers used in them are reprogrammable. The bench, among other issues sought clarity from the poll panel officials whether the micro controller is installed in the controlling unit or the VVPAT and the flash memory of the microcontrollers in EVMs cannot be reprogrammed. The poll panel offi- cial answered that all three units, ballot units, VVPATs and the chip all have their own micro controllers and these micro controllers are housed in secured unauthorised access detection module and it cannot be accessed. All the micro controllers are one time programmable. It is burned when inserted so can never be changed. For symbol loading we have two manufacturers, one is ECI and Bharat Electronics.” The top court said that it would consider passing directions to strengthen the EVMs system since going back to ballot paper was out of the ques- tion. “Let us see what can be done if any safeguards are needed, we will see what is needed to strengthen the current system (EVMs)," said the bench. Earlier in the morning, the bench had said it needs clarification on certain aspects as there was some confusion over the answers given by the ECI to 'frequently asked questions' (FAQs) about EVMs and official to be present in court at 2.00 pm to clear its queries. The petitions sought cross verification by the voters of votes cast by them as "counted as recorded" in the EVMs with VVPAT. RBI bans Kotak Mahindra Bank from onboarding new online customers Electoral Bonds: NGOs Common Cause, CPIL allege quid pro quo, seek court-monitored SIT probe JPMorgan’s CEO praises Modi for ‘unbelievable job’ in India STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE PARMOD KUMAR STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 24 APRIL The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday directed Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited to cease and desist from on boarding of new customers through its online and mobile banking channels and issuing fresh credit cards.However, the RBI said the bank shall continue to provide services to its existing customers, including its credit card customers. It said these actions are necessitated based on significant concerns arising out of Reserve Bank’s IT examination of the bank for the years 2022 and 2023 and the continued failure on part of the bank to address these concerns in a comprehensive and timely manner. The Reserve Bank, therefore, has decided to place certain business restrictions on the bank, in the interest of customers and to prevent any possible prolonged outage which may seriously impact not only the bank’s ability to render efficient customer service, but also the financial ecosystem of digital banking and payment systems. The apex bank said serious deficiencies and noncompliances were observed in the areas of IT inventory management, patch and change management, user access management, vendor risk management, data security and data leak prevention strategy, business continuity and disaster recovery rigour and drill. NEW DELHI, 24 APRIL The NGOs Common Cause and the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) on Wednesday moved Supreme Court seeking the constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) for an independent and court monitored probe into the alleged instances of quid pro quo involving the funding of a number of political parties through electoral bonds by different corporate entities and the alleged consequential gains accruing to them. The NGOs have said that the alleged scam of the magnitude of crores of rupees involving the electoral bonds can be unravelled only through an independent probe by the SIT, monitored by the Supreme Court. The petition says that the data which has come into public domain after it was disclosed to the Election Commission of India by the State Bank of India on the top court’s direction reveals that the bulk of the bonds appear to have been given by certain corporates to different political parties by way of alleged quid pro quo arrangements, either to secure government contracts or licenses; to secure protection from investigations by CBI, Income Tax Department, Enforcement Directorate; and as consideration of favourable policy changes. “The data as published by the ECI on its website exposed how quid pro quo arrangements have potentially been made between large corporates and political parties in the last 6 years through the use of electoral bonds. The data shows private companies have paid CMYK crores of funds to political parties either as “protection money' for protection against agencies under the central government or as a “bribe” in return for undue benefits. In some instances, it has been seen that the political parties in power at the centre or in states have apparently amended policies and/or laws to provide benefits to private corporates at the cost of public interest and the public exchequer,” states the petition. It further says that the data shows that various loss-making and shell companies were donating huge sums to political parties and these shell companies were used as conduits to launder illicit money through electoral bonds. “In the Electoral Bond scam, some of the country's main investigative agencies such as the CBI, Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax Department appear to have become accessories to corruption. Several firms which were under investigation by these agencies have donated large sums of money to the ruling party, potentially to influence outcomes of probes,” states the petition. The petition has cited news reports regarding electoral bonds purchased by certain companies such as Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd, APCO Infratech Private Limited (APCO), Future Gaming and Hotel Services, Grasim Industries, IFB Agro Limited, Infina Capital Private Ltd. (Infina), Aurobindo Pharma, Vedanta, and Bharti Airtel Limited. NEW DELHI, 24 APRIL Chief Executive Officer of US banking giant JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for doing an unbelievable job in India, and said “liberal press in the US beats the hell out of him when he has taken 400 million people out of poverty”. Mr Dimon, in a webinar hosted by The Economic Club of New York, praised Mr Modi's government for alleviating poverty and implementing reforms. He also complimented the PM for being tough and untangling the country's bureaucratic system, adding that "a little bit more of that” is needed in the US.