FRIDAY 24 MAY 2024 www.thestatesman.com Pages 16 |` 5.00|LC Twitter.com/thestatesman Facebook.com/thestatesman INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR INDIA NEEDS A STRONG GOVT, DEFINITIVE VISION: PM MODI POLL BUGLE P8 P10 P4 SENSEX 75,418.041,196.98 NIFTY 22,967.65369.85 WEATHER 6th phase of LS polls : Shrill campaign ends MAINLY CLEAR SKY. STRONG SURFACE WINDS (SPEED 20-30 KMPH) OCCASIONALLY IN GUSTY DURING THE DAY. WARM NIGHT AT ONE OR TWO PLACES. THE MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WOULD BE AROUND 42 AND 31 DEGREES CELSIUS RESPECTIVELY. SUNRISERS’ ULTRA-AGGRESSIVE BATTING A WORRY DEVE GOWDA WARNS HIS ABSCONDING GRANDSON PRAJWAL GOLD 73,4201,090 ` vs $ 83.37 RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY A total of 889 candidates are in the fray in the 6th phase for 58 seats Max. 62 % Min. 39 % Max: 41.0 °C (+1) SUN RISES 05:26 hrs MOON RISES 20:14 hrs Min: 30.6 °C (+4) SUN SETS 19:11 hrs MOON SETS 06:24 hrs P16 SILVER 92,5003,300 BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 82.820.91 India needs vision, not confusion: PM STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 23 MAY TEMPERATURE THUMBNAILS Lord Buddha's statue is seen during a procession on the occasion of Buddha Purnima, in Leh on Thursday.  ANI 6 killed, 48 hurt after triple explosions and fire rock Thane chemical factory: At least six persons were killed and 48 others were injured after three powerful explosions followed by a massive fire engulfed a chemical factory located in the MIDC complex at Dombivali in Thane district on Thursday afternoon. The triple explosions at quick intervals were so huge that they shook nearby homes, and shattered windowpanes as terrified locals rushed onto the street. T he high-pitched campaigning for the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha polls ended on Thursday, with party heavyweights of all political parties reaching out to voters across 58 parliamentary constituencies in eight states and Union territories. On the last day of campaigning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a rally in Haryana’s Bhiwani, Defence minister Rajnath Singh in Delhi’s Dwarka, and Union minister Piyush Goyal held a road show in Najafgarh area of the national capital in support of BJP candidates. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addressed a rally in support of the party candidate under North East Delhi parliamentary seat and later held ‘Mahila Vichar Vimarsh’ in Mangolpuri here, while party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra held a road show in Haryana’s Sirsa. The leaders of the BJP BJP National president JP Nadda during a public meeting, at Dhamanagar in Bhadrak on Thursday. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi campaigning in the Capital on Thursday.  SNS and opposition-backed INDIA bloc did not leave any stone unturned to woo the voters during their campaigning. Polling for the sixth phase will be held on 25 May. These 58 Lok Sabha seats include 14 in Uttar Pradesh, 10 in Haryana, eight each in Bihar and West Bengal, seven in Delhi, six in Odisha, four in Jharkhand, and one in Jammu and Kashmir. A total of 889 candidates are in the fray in the sixth phase of the crucial general elections. Key candidates from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan (Sambalpur, Odisha), former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar (Karnal), Manoj Tiwari (North East Delhi) and Bansuri Swaraj (New Delhi); those from the Congress include Kumari Selja (Hisar, Haryana), Deepender Singh Hooda (Rohtak, Haryana), J P Agarwal (Chandni Chowk), and Kanhaiya Kumar (North East Delhi). Another prominent candidate is senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Somnath Bharti (New Delhi). The Lok Sabha elections are being held in seven phases between 19 April and 1 June. The first phase of polling was held on 19 April, second phase on 26 April, third phase on 7 May, fourth phase on 13 May and fifth phase on 20 May. The first phase recorded 66.14 percent voter turnout, second 66.71 per cent, third 65.68 per cent, fourth 69.16 per cent and fifth phase 62.2 per cent. The sixth phase of voting is scheduled to take place on 25 May and the seventh and final phase on 1 June. The results will be declared on 4 June. Sensex, Nifty touch all-time high as PM predicts historic win AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 23 MAY The consistent bull run in Indian stock indices - Sensex and Nifty ~ continued through Thursday, and touched fresh highs yet again, reacting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's assertion that BJP-led alliance is on track to form the government for a record third term. The prime minister also predicted that the margin of victory would be even broader. In an interview with a business newspaper, PM Modi said his party's election outcome will result in a record running streak on the country's stock exchange market. “I can say with confidence that on 4 June, as the BJP hits record numbers, the stock market will also hit new record highs," Mr Modi said in the interview. Mr Modi told the daily that the Sensex has rallied from 25,000 points to 75,000 in the past decade, noting that it highlighted that the investors have shown confidence in his government. “Recently, we reached a whopping USD 5 trillion mar- ket cap for the first time ever," the PM said, referring to BSE's m-cap feat that happened earlier this week. In early April, the BSE market map had touched USD 4 trillion, and it took a month and a fortnight to add another trillion. Market capitalisation or market cap is the total value of a company's stock, derived at by multiplying the stock price by the number of its outstanding shares. Barring a little volatility, Indian stock indices have been firm over the past several sessions, supported by strong support from a majority of sectoral indices. With the five phases of elections now behind us, it is widely expected by investors that the Narendra Modi-led government will come back to office with a comfortable margin for his third term. This also likely triggered fresh stock buying. Softer-than-expected US consumer inflation in April a consistent moderation in inflation in India and the soonerthan-normal arrival of the southwest monsoon in India, as predicted by IMD, mainly buoyed Indian stocks lately. The southwest monsoon is likely to hit Kerala on 31 May, a day before the usual normal date of 1 June. “Early onset of southwest monsoon has provided a boost to the domestic market, which was underperforming in the last 2 months to other emerging markets," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said. Last week, Sensex jumped about 2,000 points, on a cumulative basis. On Tuesday, i.e., today, Sensex closed a shy lower than its Friday closing at 73,953 points (0.07 per cent lower). During Tuesday-Thursday this week, Sensex jumped over 1,500 points. On Monday, i.e., yesterday, the stock exchanges were shut for General Elections in Mumbai. Not giving clean chit to anyone, says Maliwal For RCB fans, the wait gets longer… STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 23 MAY Rajya Sabha member Swati Maliwal on Thursday expressed reservations over AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal's statement of a fair probe into the alleged assault on her by his personal aide Bibhav Kumar on 13 May. She also said that she is not giving a clean chit to anyone in the incident. Speaking to ANI, Maliwal claimed a media trial trying to prove her guilty was already on. She further alleged that the AAP is trying to convict her, and wondered how could it ensure a free and fair probe. The former DCW chief said that after making a call and a complaint in the incident she remained silent for a while as she wanted a free and fair investigation, however, every other day some doctored CCTV surfaced, she was called an agent of BJP, and other things kept coming up she added, further raising doubts as to how will there be a free and fair probe. She has also expressed that she is very sad and has been isolated, and claimed that the whole machinery and troll mechanism has been unleased against her. TRIDIB BAPARNASH NEW DELHI, 23 MAY Maliwal has also said that she was cooperating with the police and is not going to give a clean chit to anyone as she was in the drawing room of the CM residence and he was at home when the incident took place. She claimed that she had screamed for help while she was being beaten up, but no one came to her rescue, and added that she had never thought that something like this would happen to her. On the complaint and allegations of Maliwal against Bibhav Kumar where she has accused Kejriwal's close aide of alleged misconduct, Kumar was arrested on May 18, and is was produced before a court which had sent him to police custodial remand. Meanwhile, Kumar was also taken to Mumbai by the police in connection with retrieving his phone's data which was formatted in Mumbai. (More reports on page 2) Dead and buried with a solitary win from their first eight games, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) made a superb late resurgence by winning the next six on the trot and raised hopes of doing an encore of their women’s counterparts who lifted this year’s Women’s Premier League (WPL) crown only before running out of gas against an all-round Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League Eliminator in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. It has once again been a case of so near yet so far for RCB, one of the only three franchises along with Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings, yet to lift the title despite being in the tournament ever since its inception in 2008. “Idhu RCB ya hosa adhyaya” (This is RCB’s new chapter), that was the message when the team’s last name was rechristened to a more vernacular term with Bengaluru replacing Bangalore. But the change of name had little impact on the team’s performance, at least in the first half of the tournament in April, that lead to a brainstorming meeting among the leadership group, comprising Director of Cricket Mo Bobat, Head Coach Andy Flower and captain Faf du Plessis and what followed was an impressive turnaround in May. The only consistent performer despite all the shortcomings was Virat Kohli, although there were question marks raised at his strike-rate and his vulnerability against quality spin. However, after the honest introspection, all such things seemed to be of the past, as Kohli batted faster and began slog sweeping the spinners, Cameroon Green lit up the field with his all-round masterclass, Rajat Patidar reinvented his form, and Will Jacks announced his arrival as Glenn Maxwell’s replacement with a jaw-dropping century in Ahmedabad. In contrast, earlier, the RCB had to solely bank on the starts from Kohli and the late order heroics from Dinesh Karthik and Mahipal Lomror. Things changed, and changed for the better post the 1-run heartbreak to the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens. The only handicap that remained throughout their campaign was Maxwell’s form with the bat, on either side of the mental break he took in between the tournament, to pave Jacks’ way into the Playing XI. Alzarri Joseph turned out another poor investment for the side, as the tall West Indian fast bowler bought for a whopping Rs 11.50 crore leaked runs at over 11.90 with a solitary wicket in the first three games, and thereafter never managed to win back the trust of the team management.