TUESDAY 11 JUNE 2024 www.thestatesman.com Pages 12 |` 5.00|LC X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR ALL SET FOR ELECTION OF NAIDU AS TDP LP LEADER P4 SENSEX 76,490.08 WEATHER MAINLY CLEAR SKY.HEAT WAVE CONDITIONS AT MANY PLACES. STRONG SURFACE WINDS (SPEED 25-35 KMPH) OCCASIONALLY IN GUSTY DURING THE DAY. THE MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WOULD BE AROUND 44 AND 30 DEGREES CELSIUS RESPECTIVELY. RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY Min. 16 % Max: 43.4 °C (+3) SUN RISES 05:23 hrs MOON RISES 10:37 hrs Min: 28.6 °C (+1) SUN SETS 19:19 hrs MOON SETS 23:28 hrs Students being welcomed on the first day of school after the Summer Vacation at Sane Guruji Vidyalaya, in Mumbai on Monday.  ANI Massive search operations launched to track terrorists involved in pilgrim bus ambush: A team of the NIA on Monday lifted forensic samples from the bus that was targeted with US made M-4 carbine and AK assault rifles by terrorists killing nine pilgrims & locals in the Reasi district of Jammu . At least five people have been detained for interrogation. Five teams of security forces personnel were deployed for the search operations. P12 SILVER 91,700 BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 78.05 Third innings: PM Modi’s masterful balancing act Modi’s historic third tenure gets off to rousing start, big four retained P rime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday allocated portfolios among members of his new Council of Ministers, retaining Mr Rajnath Singh as Defence Minister, Mr Amit Shah as Home Minister, Mrs Nirmala Sitharaman as Finance Minister and Dr S Jaishankar as External Affairs Minister. Former Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan will be the new Minister for Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Rural Development while Mr Kiren Rijiju has been given the charge of the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry in the new BJP-led NDA government. BJP President J P Nadda, who has been re-inducted into the government, will be the new Health and Family Welfare and Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister while former Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar will be Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs and Power. Nitin Gadkari will continue as the Minister for Road Transport & Highways, ostensibly because of his fine performance in the ministry. Mr Dharmendra Pradhan has also been retained as Education Minister while Mr Hardeep Singh Puri will continue as Petroleum & Natural Gas Minister. Mr Ashwini Vaishnav has also been retained as Railways Minister and given the charge of the Information & Broadcasting Ministry too since Mr Anurag Thakur has not found a berth in the new ministry. He has also been given the charge of the Electronics and Information technology Ministry. Mr Rijiju has also been the charge of the Ministry of Minority Affairs. Mr Pralhad Joshi will be the new Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and New & Renewable Energy. Mr Jyotiraditya Scindia will be the Minister of Communications and Development of North-Eastern Region. Mr Piyush Goyal will continue as Commerce and Industry Minister. While preferring continuity in key portfolios, the PM has ensured that the NDA allies too were given some important ministries. Mr K Rammohan Naidu, the youngest minister in the Modi government who belongs to the Telugu Desam party (TDP) gets the Civil Aviation portfolio. Former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi will be the Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. Mr Chirag Paswan of the Lok Janshakti Party (RV) will be the Minister of Food Processing Industries while Mr Rajiv Ranjan Singh (Lalan Singh) of the Janata Dal (United) gets the Panchayati Raj and Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying ministries. Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader H D Kumaraswamy will be the new Heavy Industries Minister. He has also been given the charge of the Steel Ministry. BJP's veteran from Assam Sarbananda Sonowal will continue as Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways. Mr Jual Oram, BJP leader from Odisha, will be the Minister of Tribal Affairs while party veteran from Bihar Giriraj Singh will be the Minister of Textiles. Dr Virendra Kumar will be the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment and BJP leader from Rajasthan Gajendra Singh Shekhawat will be the Minister of Culture and Tourism. Mr Mansukh Mandaviya, who was the Health Minister in the previous Modi government, will be the new Minister of Labour. He has also been given the charge of the Sports and Youth Affairs Ministry. G Kishan Reddy, who was Culture Minister in the previous government, will be the Minister for Coal and Mines. Jayant Chaudhary, the RLD leader, has been given the charge of the Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Ministry as Minister of State with Independent charge. He has also been made MoS in the Education Ministry. Ravneet Singh, who contested unsuccessfully from Ludhiana in Punjab, has been made Minister of State in the Food Processing Industries and Railways ministries. Union Cabinet clears 30 million more houses for poor under PM Awas Yojana STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 10 JUNE The Election Commission on Monday announced the schedule for assembly byelection in 13 seats in Bihar, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. The assembly by-election in Bihar’s Rupauli, West Bengals’s Raiganj, Ranaghat Dakshin, Bagda and Maniktala, Tamil Nadu’s Vikravandi, Madhya Pradesh’s Amarwara, Uttrakhand’s Badrinath and Manglaur, Punjab’s Jalandhar West and Himachal Pradesh’s Hamirpur and Nalagarh were necessitated following resignation and death of the members. According to a communiqué issued by the EC, polling in these 13 Assembly constituencies in seven states will be held on 10th July. The notification for the poll would be issued on 14th June. The last date of filing of nomination is 21st June and the date of scrutiny is 24th June, it said. The last date for withdrawal of candidature is 26th June. The counting of votes will take place on 13th July. The date before which the election shall be completed is 15th July. The EC said the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) shall come into force with immediate effect in the district(s) in which the whole or any part of the Assembly constituency going for election is included. The poll panel said it has decided to use Electronic Voting Machines and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail in the bye-election in all the polling stations. Adequate numbers have been made available and all steps have been taken to ensure that the poll is conducted smoothly with the help of these machines, it said. GOLD 74,560.00 NEW DELHI, 10 JUNE THUMBNAILS EC announces assembly by-election in thirteen seats in seven states ` vs $ 83.50 P10 ASHOK TUTEJA Max. 49% TEMPERATURE P5 NIFTY 23,259.20 ‘BUMRAH IS A GENIUS WITH THE BALL’ ‘BJP WILL WIN 100 SEATS IN 2026 ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS’ NAWAZ SHARIF, PAK PM CONGRATULATE MODI ON ASSUMING OFFICE STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 10 JUNE Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new Cabinet held its first meeting under his chairmanship on Monday and cleared the proposal to give assistance for construction of three crore additional rural and urban houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). The Government of India is implementing the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana since 2015-16 to provide assistance to eligible rural and urban households for construction of houses with basic amenities. Under PMAY, a total of 4.21 crore houses have been completed for the eligible poor families under the housing schemes in the last 10 years. All houses constructed under PMAY are provided the basic amenities such as Household Toilets, LPG connection, Electricity connection, Functional Household Tap Connection etc. through convergence with other schemes of Central Government and State Governments. It has been decided in the Cabinet meeting to provide assistance to three crore additional rural and urban households for the construction of houses, to meet the housing requirements arising out of the increase in the number of eligible families. The construction of the houses will benefit those left out of the scheme so far and qualify for housing assistance. The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) was launched in June 2015, intending to provide housing for all in urban areas by the year 2022. In August 2022, the Union Cabinet approved the continuation of PMAY-U up to 31 December, 2024, with all verticals except the Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS), for the completion of already sanctioned houses until 31 March, 2022. It is one of the major flagship programmes being implemented by the Government of India under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. (MoHUA). PM takes charge: Release of Kisan Nidhi fund is first decision in 3rd term STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 10 JUNE PM Modi on Monday assumed office for a third successive term in his South Block office and signed his first file authorising release of 17th instalment of PM Kisan Nidhi. ''This will benefit 9.3 crore farmers and distribute around Rs 20,000 crores,'' the government said. After signing the file, PM Modi said “Ours is a government fully committed to Kisan Kalyan. It is therefore fitting that the first file signed on taking charge is related to farmer welfare. We want to keep working even more for the farmers and the agriculture sector in the times to come.” Modi was sworn in yesterday at the head of a 72-member Union council of Ministers by President Droupadi Murmu. BJP appoints Rajnath & Bhupendra Yadav to oversee selection of next Odisha CM STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 10 JUNE The BJP has appointed two Union Ministers Rajnath Singh and Bhupender Yadav as central observers for the selection of the new Chief Minister of Odisha. The saffron party is going to form the government on its own for the first time in Odisha. The BJP secured 78 seats in the 147-seat assembly. The BJD secured 51 seats, way behind the majority mark of 74 and the Indian National Congress, 14 seats. "The Parliamentary Board of the Bharatiya Janata Party has appointed Mr Rajnath Singh, Union Minister, Government of India, and Mr Bhupender Yadav, Union Minister, Government of India, as central observers for the election of the leader of the party's legislative assembly in Odisha," an official release by Arun Singh, the National General Secretary of BJP, said. Rajnath Singh and Bhupender Yadav took oath as Cabinet Ministers at the Rash- trapati Bhavan on Sunday evening. Earlier, BJP spokesperson and oath-taking ceremony incharge, Dillip Mohanty on Sunday said the swearing-in ceremony of the new Chief Minister of Odisha will now be held on June 12 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be present at the event. "The oath-taking ceremony of the new Chief Minister of the newly-elected BJP Government in Odisha will now be held on June 12. PM Modi will be present for the oath ceremony," said Mohanty. The swearing-in-ceremony of the new BJP government in Odisha has been rescheduled to June 12 instead of June 10 announced earlier. The grand event will be held at Janata Maidan in Bhubaneswar and Prime Minister Modi along with several dignitaries from other states is scheduled to attend the ceremony. The Prime Minister will hold a huge roadshow from Jayadev Vihar to Janata Maidan on June 12. We have to take nation to heights not seen: PM tells PMO STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 10 JUNE Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday assumed charge of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) for his third consecutive term as Prime Minister and told his officials’ team “we have to take the nation to those heights which have not been scaled by any other nation.” Addressing the PMO staff and officers, he said they should take inspiration from the government’s record in the past 10 years and improve upon it to break international bench- Plea in SC seeks cancellation of NEET-UG 2024 exam Prime Minister Narendra Modi Prime Minister and also in-charge of Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Department of Atomic Energy; Department of Space; All important policy issues. Other portfolios not allocated to any minister. NEW DELHI, 10 JUNE A PIL has been filed before the Supreme Court seeking cancellation of the NEETUG 2024 examination. The plea seeks directions for the constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the “malpractices and fraud involved” in the NEET examination held on May 5 and a stay on counselling till the investigations on the paper leak are completed. The PIL filed by two members of an organisation working for the assistance and benefit of the students said that the news of the NEET exam paper leak has shaken to the core as many of the meritorious students lost the opportunity to become future medical practitioners. “The petitioners are filing the present petition with the sole purpose of providing justice to the aggrieved students who with the support of their respective family members had put in their entire time, hard-earned money and energy along with the hard work and dedication in preparing for NEET Exam 2024 and have been denied a level playing field,” it said. The plea added that some students have secured 718 and 719 marks which are statically not possible and the entire exercise conduct of the exam is without any rationale and the same is arbitrary and done with mala fide intention to grant entry to the students through backdoor. Further, it said that 67 students scored 720 out of 720 marks out of which eight students were from the same examination centre, raising serious doubts regarding the examination conducted by the NTA. Recently, the apex court denied a stay on the declaration of the result of the NEET-UG examination but issued a notice to NTA and others in a similar matter. AGENCIES marks for the nation’s progress. Mr Modi said the government employees had dedicated themselves to a vision and deserved a major credit for the government’s achievements. “The elections have put a stamp of approval on the efforts of the government employees,” the Prime Minister said. He asked his team to develop new ideas and expand the scale of the work being done. The Prime Minister said it was his endeavour to make the PMO an institution of service and a People's PMO from the very beginning. KEY CABINET MINISTERS 1. Rajnath Singh BJP Minister of Defence. 2. Amit Shah BJP Minister of Home Affairs; and Minister of Cooperation. 3. Nitin Jairam Gadkari BJP Minister of Road Transport and Highways. 4. Jagat Prakash Nadda BJP Minister of Health and Family Welfare; and Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers. 5. Shivraj Singh Chouhan BJP Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare; and Minister of Rural Development. 6. Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman BJP Minister of Finance; and Minister of Corporate Affairs. 7. Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar BJP Minister of External Affairs. 8. Manohar Lal BJP Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs; and Minister of Power. 9. H. D. Kumaraswamy JDS Minister of Heavy Industries; and Minister of Steel. 10. Piyush Goyal BJP Minister of Commerce and Industry. 11. Dharmendra Pradhan BJP Minister of Education. 12. Jitan Ram Manjhi HAM Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. 13. Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh JDU Minister of Panchayati Raj; and Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying. 14. Sarbananda Sonowal BJP Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways. 15. Dr. Virendra Kumar BJP Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment. 16. Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu TDP Minister of Civil Aviation. 17. Pralhad Joshi BJP Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution; and Minister of New and Renewable Energy. 18. Jual Oram BJP Minister of Tribal Affairs. 19. Giriraj Singh BJP Minister of Textiles. 20. Ashwini Vaishnaw BJP Minister of Railways; Minister of Information and Broadcasting; and Minister of Electronics and Information Technology.