WEDNESDAY 22 MAY 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 ‘POK BELONGS TO INDIA, WE WILL TAKE IT BACK’ DAYS OF FUNERALS BEGIN FOR RAISI, OTHERS KILLED P9 SENSEX 73,953.3152.62 WEATHER MAINLY CLEAR SKY. HEAT WAVE CONDITIONS AT A FEW PLACES. STRONG SURFACE WINDS (SPEED 20-30 KMPH) DURING THE DAY. THE MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WOULD BE AROUND 44 AND 31 DEGREES CELSIUS RESPECTIVELY. RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY Min. 24 % Max: 42.4 °C (+2) SUN RISES 05:27 hrs MOON RISES 18:11 hrs Min: 30.7 °C (+4) SUN SETS 19:09 hrs MOON SETS 04:52 hrs THUMBNAILS A man walks past a mirage that appeared at Kartavya Path on a hot summer day in New Delhi on Tuesday.  ANI One killed, two hurt in post-poll clash in p Bihar: One person died and two others were injured in post-poll violence between RJD and BJP supporters in Bihar’s Chapra city. Two BJP supporters, Ramakant Singh and Ravikant Singh have been arrested in connection with the violence and the district police have also recovered the weapon which was used in the commission of the crime. Internet services have also been suspended for two days. They vandalised some private and government properties, and vandalised (Pg 5) Sadar Hospital after the killing. ` vs $ 83.31 STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 21 MAY P rime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday attacked the Congress and the RJD on the reservation issue saying had Babasaheb Ambedkar not been there, Jawaharlal Nehru would not have allowed reservation for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) and had written a letter to chief ministers to oppose it. Addressing a BJP election rally in Purvi Champaran, Bihar, he said the “jungle-raj parties” are planning to subvert the reservation scheme and are speaking lies on the Constitution. From Nehru to Rajiv Gandhi, all Prime Ministers of the Congress family opposed OBC reservation, he said. The Congress has been dishonest with the poor, SCs, STs, OBCs and women, and is now left with only one vote bank, the Prime Minister said. To appease it, the Congress wants to snatch the SC, ST, and OBC reser- vation on the basis of religion and wants to give it to the “vote-jihad” people. Since the Constitution does not allow it, the party wants to change the Constitution, he said. “You have seen Modi’s track record. Modi has in the last 10 years used the support of about 400 MPs to its government to strengthen the poor, Dalits, the backward and deprived sections of people. The NDA first made a Dalit son and then a tribal daughter President of the country, and gave constitutional status to the Backward Classes Commission,” he said. Interests of the SCs, STs, and OBCs were never more protected than under the BJP and NDA, he said. The scope of reservation was extended to medical admissions and in schools. To ensure this level of social security continues, he told the crowd, “You must ensure a strong government at the Centre under Modi.” The prime minister told the people their affection and enthusiasm showed what would happen during the sixth and seventh rounds of polling. In the first round, the INDI alliance was defeated; it was destroyed in the following rounds, and in the fifth round on Monday, it was completely decimated, he said. Those who considered themselves rulers of people, are going to get such a defeat that the whole world will wonder, he said. The 4 June results will give a blow to corruption, politics of appeasement, tukde-tukde gang, the ideology that causes unrest in the society, the perverse mentality which abuses Sanatan, the criminalmafia jungle-raj and the anti-woman mindset, Mr Modi said. He said the Congress and its allies wasted 60 years of Independence, and destroyed the lives of three to four generations. After 6070 years of Independence, “when you gave the son of a poor mother a chance to serve the people, toilets came to every home.” Modi is working day and night to provide water at every home, he said. The Congress and its allies like the RJD made people cry for amenities; the poor MUMBAI, 21 MAY Man dead, many injured after flight hits severe turbulence Food regulator finds no trace of ethylene oxide in Indian spices AGENCIES AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 21 MAY AGENCIES BANGKOK, 21 MAY Iranian officials in an unfortunate helicopter crash on 19 May 2024," the MEA said in an official press release. President of India, Droupadi Murmu, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have conveyed their condolences to the government and people of Iran. "External Affairs Minister visited the Embassy of Iran in New Delhi on May 21 to convey India's condolences on the tragic loss," the release stated. The Iranian government has declared Wednesday as a public holiday when a funeral is expected to be held in Teheran with the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah leading prayers. A Singapore Airlines flight fell 6,000 feet in a span of a few minutes in severe turbulence over the Indian Ocean, the carrier said Tuesday, leaving a British man dead and more than two dozen other passengers injured. The flight was then diverted and landed in stormy weather in Bangkok. Authorities said the 73year-old British man may have suffered a heart attack, though that has not been confirmed. His name was not immediately released. The Boeing 777 flight from London’s Heathrow airport to Singapore, with 211 passengers and 18 crew members aboard, landed at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. Amid the global furore over the alleged presence of a "cancer-causing substance" in certain spices from India, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has cleared more than a dozen samples of spices from the MDH and Everest brands. According to the analysis report, the extensive testing found no traces of ethylene oxide (ETO) in the samples collected from several states. The rigorous process of testing for ethylene oxide was performed at NABL-accredited laboratories notified by the FSSAI. The food regulator also picked up 300 spice samples of other brands for testing and found "no presence of ETO". The testing process began after several countries started monitoring spice prod- World sees India on cusp of economic take-off: RBI report AGENCIES MUMBAI, 21 MAY Internationally there is a growing optimism that India is on the cusp of a long-awaited economic take-off, according to the RBI’s monthly bulletin released on Tuesday. It states that recent indicators are pointing to a quickening of the momentum of aggregate demand and nonfood spending is being pushed up by the green shoots of rural spending recovery. The RBI bulletin points out that while revising India’s GDP growth upwards by close to 2 percentage points for 2023-24, the IMF’s April 2024 World Economic Outlook (WEO) alludes to the robustness of growth expected in 2024 and 2025 as “reflecting continuing strength in domestic demand and a rising workingage population.” It highlights that India is expected to continue to experience broadly stable and rapid growth according to the OECD, while inflation should moderate GOLD 76,370.00 further provided food prices remain insulated from extreme weather events. The OECD’s May 2024 Economic Outlook points to strong momentum in India in recent monthly indicators and expects “strong investment and improving business confidence in India …to sustain real GDP growth”. The RBI bulletin also states that there is considerable appreciation for the dramatic reduction in poverty in India. The World Bank estimates that at the height of the pandemic in 2021, only 12.9 per cent of the population lived on US$ 2.15 a day – the global benchmark for extreme poverty. More recent estimates show that extreme deprivation, once considered synonymous with India, is set to become extinct. There is also a worldwide focus on the transformation of the physical infrastructure, including highways, ports and airports. India’s power sector has attained 100 per cent electrification and has been integrated into a single grid across the country. Daily power availability has increased to 20 hours in rural areas and 23.5 hours in urban areas while aggregate technical and commercial losses have narrowed considerably. There has been a leap in renewable energy capacity creation, with India becoming the world’s third-largest renewable energy producer. It has attained world leadership in leveraging the digital public infrastructure for payment efficiency, financial inclusion and direct benefit transfers. The RBI bulletin also states that currently, India boasts the highest number of digital transactions, fuelled by a massive internet user base. Broadband connectivity has also seen a significant leap, reaching over 93 per cent of our villages. The Bharat Net project will connect all villages through high-speed internet. Digital platforms like the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) are empowering small businesses by providing a larger marketplace. The food regulator also picked up 300 spice samples of other brands for testing and found "no presence of ETO" ucts manufactured by Indian spice giants MDH and Everest over the alleged presence of a ‘cancer-causing’ agent. Food regulators in Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand warned against using certain products from MDH and Everest over the presence of ethylene oxide at “levels exceeding the permissible limit”. The Spices Board, under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, had said that all spice consignments would be accompanied by a cleared analytical report for ETO issued by the Spices Board. Both MDH and Everest have said their products are safe for consumption. ECI bars Abhijit Gangopadhyay from campaigning for 24 hours STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 21 MAY The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday banned BJP leader Abhijit Gangopadhyay from campaigning for 24 hours in the Lok Sabha elections over his derogatory remarks against West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chairperson Mamata Banerjee. The poll panel’s action against Mr Gangopadhyay, who is also the BJP’s nominee from Tamluk parliamentary seat in West Bengal, comes a day after it received a reply from him in response to the show cause notice to him following a complaint from the TMC alleging that he had passed objectionable remarks against Miss Banerjee during a public meeting held on 15 May in Haldia. P12 SILVER 94,600 Modi attacks Cong, RJD over reservation issue VP Dhankhar to travel to Teheran for Raisi’s funeral Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar will travel to Teheran to attend the funeral of late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, his foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and other officials who were killed in a helicopter crash, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Tuesday. Thousands of people took to the streets in Iran as the funeral ceremony of Raisi began today in the city of Tabriz in the north-western region where the chopper in which he was travelling in crashed on Sunday. "Vice-President of India Jagdeep Dhankar will pay a visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran on 22 May 2024 to attend official ceremony to pay condolences on the tragic demise of H.E. President Dr. Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi, H.E. Foreign Minister Dr. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other P6 Interests of SCs, STs, and OBCs never more protected than under the BJP and NDA, says PM Max. 62 % TEMPERATURE P5 NIFTY 22,529.0527.05 IPL ELIMINATOR: RR FACE STERN TEST AGAINST RCB TRAUMATIC TALES became poorer. In 60 years, the Congress built its palaces, opened accounts in Swiss banks and “you did not have even enough food to fill your stomachs. Their almirahs were stuffed with money; mountains of currency notes,” he said. “I need a strong government at the Centre, not to make Modi or his family strong, but to make the bright future of your children and to realize your dreams. I have come from Gujarat, the birth place of Gandhi to this karmabhoomi of Gandhi, to seek your blessings,” he said. Those born with a silver spoon do not know what is hard work, he said. Amid shouts of ‘ModiModi’, the prime minister said somebody had said Modi would get bed rest after 4 June. “I pray to God there should be no occasion for bed rest for any citizen in the country. Every citizen should be full of energy, and celebrate life. But what else can be expected from the inheritor of jungle-raj,” he said. BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 81.230.32 Sambit Patra apologises for Jagannath comments, to fast for three days STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE BHUBANESWAR, 21 MAY BJP spokesperson and the party’s Puri Lok Sabha candidate, Sambit Patra, apologised for his ‘slip of tongue’ calling Lord Jagannath a devotee of PM Narendra Modi and on Tuesday said he will undertake a three-day fast in atonement. “I bow down at the feet of Mahaprabhu Jagannath, beg His forgiveness,” stated Mr Patra. He clarified that after the PM’s road show at Puri he had given several bytes to media channels and said the PM is a devotee of Lord Jagannath, but while doing so, in one of his interactions with a news channel he had said the opposite. “It was a slip of the tongue,” he said. The BJP leader faced a fierce backlash from political rivals on Monday. Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik condemned the statement and termed it as an insult to the Lord which hurt the sentiments of millions of devotees. “I strongly denounce the statement made by the BJP Puri Lok Sabha candidate and appeal to BJP to keep the Lord above any political discourse” said the Chief Minister. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge posting on micro-blogging site X said it reinforces “our charge that a BJP, drunk with power, will not even spare our Gods, let alone India’s people”. “The comments made by BJP’s Puri candidate is an insult to Mahaprabhu Shree Jagannatha revered by crores of people,” Mr Kharge said. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal condemned the statement and went on to state the BJP have started thinking that they are above God. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said: “When the Prime Minister starts considering himself as an emperor and the courtiers start considering him as God, then it is clear that the downfall of the Lanka of sin is near. Who gave a handful of BJP people the right to hurt the sentiments of crores of people? This ego is becoming the cause of their destruction”. The Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee also lodged a formal complaint with the Election Commission of India. Former WFI chief Brij Bhushan denies sexual harassment allegations, opts for trial AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 21 MAY The Rouse Avenue Court on Tuesday formally framed charges against BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in the sexual harassment allegations levelled by women wrestlers. However, Mr Singh denied the charges and now faces trial. Vinod Tomar, former WFI assistant secretary was also charged; he too denied the charges and opted to face trial. Mr Singh, an MP, was dropped from the BJP's candidate list for the upcoming elections and his son, Karan Singh, was fielded for the Kaisarganj Lok Sabha seat. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Priyanka Rajpoot framed charges against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh which he denied and claimed a trial. The Rouse Avenue court on 10 May directed the framing of charges against Mr Singh and ex-WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar on the sexual harassment allegations levelled by several women wrestlers. Meanwhile, the court has sought the response of Delhi Police on the plea of Mr Singh and has sought the supply of CDR and travel documents for Mr Singh during his tenure as WFI chief. His contention is that he never stayed in the same hotels where women wrestlers stayed abroad. The Court has directed Delhi Police to file a reply with an advance copy with defence within two days. The matter has been listed on 1 June at 2 p.m. for replies and arguments.