WEDNESDAY 12 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 ‘PEOPLE VOTED AGAINST VIOLENCE & LIES IN 2024 POLLS’ LESSON OF 2024 P6 SENSEX 76,456.5933.48 WEATHER Partly cloudy sky. Rain or Thundershower likely to occur in some areas. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 37 °C and 29 °C respectively. RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 85 % Min. 63 % Max: 36.6°C (+2.1) SUN RISES 04:52 hrs MOON RISES 09:6 hrs Min: 30.2°C (+3.0) SUN SETS 18:21 hrs MOON SETS 22:33 hrs TEMPERATURE Full Moon on 22 June THUMBNAILS Firefighters attempt to douse a massive fire that broke out at a cafe, at Park Centre in Kolkata on Tuesday.. SNS Malawi Vice President Saulos Chilima, , nine others killed in plane crash: Malawi Vice President Saulos Chilima and nine other people, including his wife, were killed as the plane they were onboard crashed in the Chikangawa mountain range, CBS News reported, citing the government. Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera declared Tuesday a national day of mourning. The announcement was made in a statement released by the Office of the President and Cabinet. SHAH TAKES CHARGE, THANKS PM FOR REPOSING FAITH IN HIM P10 NIFTY 23,264.855.65 P5 GOLD 71,840170 ` vs $ 83.57 Veteran KV Singh Deo and first-time MLA Prabhati Parida named Deputy CMs ifty-two-year-old tribal legislator Mohan Charan Majhi was unanimously elected as the new Chief Minister of Odisha by the BJP legislature party on Tuesday. Senior MLA KV Singh Deo and first-time MLA Prabhati Parida have been chosen as Deputy Chief Ministers. The BJP is forming the government for the first time in Odisha. The oath-taking ceremony is scheduled for Wednesday at 5 p.m, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi expected to hold a road show en route to the Janata Maidan, venue of the swearing-in ceremony. Union Minister Rajnath Singh made the announcement after a meeting with the 78 BJP MLAs. Mr Singh and Bhupender Yadav, the two central observers, met with the legislators and stated that the decision was unanimous. Besides the MLAs, all 20 party MPs, including Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan, Ashwini Vaishnaw, and Juel Oram, were present. Mr Majhi, a four-time MLA from Keonjhar, was a teacher in Saraswati Sishu F BJP MLA Mohan Charan Majhi (L) meets with Odisha Governor Raghubar Das after he was announced as the new Chief Minister of Odisha in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday.  SNS Mandir before entering politics as a ward member and sarpanch. He served as the chief whip of the BJPLP in the outgoing Assembly and acted as the leader of the opposition for over two years when the then leader Pradip Nayak was down with Covidrelated complications. The BJP appears to be striking a balance between western and coastal Odisha. Six-term MLA and former minister KV Singh Deo, who belongs to the royal family of Bolangir in western Odisha, was appointed as a Deputy Chief Minister. Although he is one of the most experienced legislators, Mr Singh Deo had to settle for the post due to the presence of two Union Ministers, Mr Pradhan and Mr Oram, from the western Odisha belt. The appointment of Pravati Parida, a first-time MLA from Nimapara in coastal Odisha, as the second deputy chief minister, is meant to signify women's representation. Senior BJP MLA Surama Padhi was overlooked. Reliable sources indicated that there was minimal discussion at the BJP legislature party meeting. A few senior members were called by the central observers and told to propose the names. They returned to the meeting and proposed Mr Majhi as Chief Minister, along with the two Deputy Chief Ministers. The legislators raised their hands in approval. Several MLAs were taken by surprise by the decision, as the names of state president Manmohan Samal and Suresh Pujari were considered frontrunners. Leader of Opposition in the outgoing assembly and veteran BJP MLA Jaynarayan Mishra was also overlooked to place a tribal as the chief minister. Sources in the BJP said Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had played a crucial role in nominating Mr Majhi to the post. Mr Samal today said that the 78 BJP MLAs and three Independent MLAs take the total for the Treasury bench to 81 in the 147 member Assembly. Mohan Charan Majhi, accompanied by Rajnath Singh, Mr Samal and others later went to Raj Bhawan and formally staked claim to form the government. Personal tragedy A personal tragedy soured the moment for Odisha CM-designate Mohan Charan Majhi, after Chandan Mohapatra, who worked as his personal assistant during his stint as ChiefWhip of BJP Legislature Party from 2019, died in a road accident on Tuesday. Amravati to serve as capital of Andhra: TDP chief Naidu ‘Promotion of violence not accepted’: Canada on float depicting Indira’s assassination ANINDITA CHOWDHURY STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE HYDERABAD, 11 JUNE NEW DELHI, 11 JUNE Andhra Pradesh chief minister-designate N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday announced that Amaravati will serve as the capital of the southern state, thus putting an end to all the debate over the issue. He was also elected unanimously as the leader of the House by the NDA legislators. He will be sworn in as the chief minister on Wednesday. Jana Sena party chief Pawan Kalyan proposed the name of Mr Naidu at the meeting of NDA (National Democratic Alliance) legislators in Vijayawada, and BJP state president and MP D Purandeswari seconded the proposal. In an emotional moment, Mr Kalyan hugged Mr Naidu and recalled the days when the TDP chief was incarcerated by the previous YSRCP government. “Chandrababu Naidu has suffered. I have seen him in jail. I told him and Bhuvaneshwari garu (his wife) that Amid controversy over a float depicting the assassination of former prime minister Indira Gandhi in Brampton, Canadian High Commissio-ner to India, Cameron MacKay, on Tuesday said that promotion of violence is never acceptable in the country. “The Government of Canada is aware of further imagery displayed in Brampton on Sunday. Canada’s position is clear: The promotion of violence is never acceptable in Canada," Mr MacKay said in a post on microblogging platform 'X'. Taking note of the incident, Canadian Minister Dominic LeBlanc echoed the country's high commissioner to India views, saying that promotion of violence is never acceptable in Canada. “This week, there were reports of imagery depicting the assassination of (former) Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in Vancouver. The promotion of violence is good days would come and here they are,” said Mr Kalyan. Mr Naidu also recalled how he had taken oath that he would enter the Assembly only after being elected as the chief minister after abuses were heaped on his wife, and the people had upheld his oath. He promised to make the Assembly a “gaurava sabha” from the current “Kaurava sabha”. “We will function democratically and secularly and no one’s self respect will be hurt,” he said while assuring that there will not be any revenge but culprits will be punished. The Telugu Desam Party Modi asks people to remove ‘Modi Ka Parivar’tag from social media handles STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 11 JUNE Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday asked people to remove ‘Modi Ka Parivar’ from their social media which they had added during elections as a mark of affection towards him, giving him a lot of strength. In a post on X, the Prime Minister said: “Through the election campaign, people across India added ‘Modi Ka Parivar’ to their social media as a mark of affection towards me. I derived a lot of strength from it.” “The people of India have given the NDA a majority for the third consecutive time, a record of sorts, and have given us the mandate to keep working for the betterment of our nation,” he posted. “With the message of all of us being one family having been effectively conveyed, I would once again thank the people of India and request that you may now remove ‘Modi Ka Parivar’ from your social media properties,” the Prime Minister said. He said: “The display name may change, but our bond as one Parivar striving for India's progress remains strong and unbroken.” (TDP) chief chose the occasion to announce that Amaravati will be the capital of the state, saying that they should not play with the future of the state. “Our capital is Amaravati and only Amaravati while Visakhapatnam will be our financial capital and a modern city,” he asserted. He also promised to develop Kurnool and Vizag without any prejudice. He added: “I have requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to extend support to us and they have assured all possible help.” never acceptable in Canada,” he said. Indian origin MP from Oakville, Anita Anand, termed the violent imagery "disturbing and unacceptable". "The use of violent imagery in relation to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is disturbing and unacceptable as it promotes and perpetuates hate and violence," Ms Anand said. The float was part of a parade to mark the 40th anniversary of Operation Blue Star, an anti-terrorist operation sanctioned by Indira Gandhi to neutralise Khalistani terrorists hiding in the Golden Temple in Amritsar. A few months after the operation, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards. The latest incident has come against the backdrop of diplomatic tension between India and Canada over Ottawa's inaction against Khalistani extremists promoting violence against Indian nationals. India has accused Canada of being a safe haven for Khalistani extremists, who openly call for violence against India. P12 SILVER 90,5001,200 BJP’s tribal leader Majhi will be new CM of Odisha STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE BHUBANESWAR, 11 JUNE ROHIT & CO EYE BETTER PERFORMANCE AGAINST USA BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 79.950.14 DA hike to take effect from April, not May, for govt employees STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, 11 JUNE The state government today announced that the 4 per cent DA hike for government employees would be implemented from 1 April instead of 1 May as announced earlier. The decision was taken at an administrative meeting convened by the chief minister at Nabanna, which was attended by the chief secretary, joint secretary, secretaries of various departments, other senor ranking officials and cabinet ministers. The decision to bring forward the implementation of the DA hike by a month has been taken, claimed a source, in line with the hints that the chief minister Mamata Banerjee had dropped during her election campaign. The decision would benefit about 14 lakh government employees who would be entitled to get an additional instalment of the DA following today’s decision. Government workers will see the hike in DA from the month of April, not May, and it will be included in their July salary, as per a notification from the State Finance Department. Earlier, last year in The decision would benefit about 14 lakh government employees who would be entitled to get an additional instalment of DA. They will see the hike in DA from the month of April, not May, and it will be included in their July salary. December, the state government had announced a 4 per cent DA hike for government employees but that did not satisfy the employees, a section of whom went on a stir to press for enhanced rate of DA at par with Central government employees. The state government then announced another 4 per cent DA hike in February this year, just before the announcement of the schedule for the Lok Sabha elections, bringing the rate of DA to 14 per cent. Meanwhile, Miss Banerjee, at today’s administrative meeting, is reported to have asked the officials concerned to conduct a survey in connection with the government’s planned Awas Plus housing scheme before imple- menting its decision to build about 11.36 lakh houses for which the first instalment of funds disbursal is set to start in December as promised by the chief minister, should the Centre continue to balk on the release of central funds for the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) scheme to the state. Separately, the state government has decided to expand its Yogyashree scheme that provides free coaching to students sitting for engineering and medical entrance tests to students belonging to the general category, minority and OBC categories. The scheme until now was applicable to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe categories. NEET 2024 exam: Sanctity affected, says SC, seeks NTA’s response PARMOD KUMAR NEW DELHI, 11 JUNE The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to put on hold the counselling process of the NEET-UG 2024 for admission of students to medical colleges, but observed that the sanctity of the pan-India examination has been affected amid the allegations of paper leak and other irregularities in conducting the test. A vacation bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah sought a response from the National Testing Agency (NTA) while hearing a batch of petitions seeking the cancellation of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test - Under Graduate (NEETUG) 2024 over alleged paper leak and irregularities in award of compensatory marks to students for loss of time. Seeking a reply from the NTA, the bench remarked: “It is not that simply that because you (NTA) have done it is sacrosanct. Sanctity has been affected, so we need answers.” Questions are being raised after a large number of candidates got a perfect score as per the results published on 4 June ~ the same day that the general election results too were declared. The allegations relating to the conduct of NEET-UG 2024, include alleged paper leak in Patna and wrong question papers given to candidates in Rajasthan. The questions are being raised after a large number of candidates got a perfect score as per the results published on 4 June – the same day that the general election results too were declared. Posting the matter for 8 July for consideration, the vacation bench said: “In the meanwhile the response (by the NTA) will be filed.” As advocate Mathews J Nedumpara, appearing for the petitioner, said, “Let the counselling be stayed”, the bench said: “We are not staying the counselling.” As Mr Nedumpara persisted with the plea for stay of counselling, the bench remarked: “We will not stop the counselling. If you argue further, we will dismiss this (petition).” In addition to the Supreme Court, a number of High Courts too have been moved, including Delhi High Court and Patna High Court, on the conduct of NEET-UG 2024, raising the issue of alleged paper leak and irregularities in the examination that was conducted on 5 May 2024. It may be recalled that on 17 May 2024, a bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, while considering another petition seeking similar relief, had refused to stay the publication of NEET-UG 20-24 results. However, the Court had issued notice on the plea, posting the matter to 8 July. Modi 3.0: Shah, Jaishankar, Nadda & others assume charge of their ministries STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 11 JUNE Union Home Minister Amit Shah, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Health Minister JP Nadda and other ministers in the BJP-led NDA government under Modi 3.0 on Tuesday assumed charge at their respective ministries here. Mr Shah took charge of the Home Ministry for a second consecutive term, asserting the new government will take its efforts for the country's “security to the next level and build Bharat as a bulwark against terrorism, insurgency, and naxalism." "Under the stewardship of PM Shri @narendramodi Ji, I reassumed charge of the Ministry of Home Affairs today. The MHA will remain committed to the security of the nation and its people, as it always has been. Modi 3.0 will take its efforts for India's security to the next level and build Bharat as a bulwark against terrorism, insurgency, and naxalism," Mr Shah posted on microblogging platform X. Mr Shah took charge after paying floral tributes at the National Police Memorial in memory of India's police force personnel who laid down their lives guarding the honour of the nation. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar who steered India's diplomatic course during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's second term took charge as External Affairs Minister once again in the new BJP-led NDA Shivraj Singh Chauhan offers prayers before taking charge as Minister of Rural Development at Krishi Bhawan in New Delhi on Tuesday.  ANI government and resumed his duties at the Ministry of External Affairs in South Block on Tuesday. “It is an immense honour to be once again given the responsibility of leading the CMYK BJP National President Jagat Prakash Nadda assumes charge as the Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers.  ANI Ministry of External Affairs," the 69-year-old career diplomat-turned-politician said outside his office at South Block. Ashwini Vaishnaw, who assumed charge as Minister of Railways for the second time in the BJP-led NDA government under Modi 3.0, on Tuesday underlined his unwavering commitment to realise the long-term vision set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Mr Vaishnaw has been assigned portfolios as Minister of Information and Broadcasting, and Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, apart from the Railways Ministry. Meanwhile, newly-appointed Union Health Minister JP Nadda said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare plays a crucial role in the nation’s progress and the wellbeing of the people of the country. He made the statement after taking charge of his ministry. Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan took charge of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. Manohar Lal took charge as Union Minister of Power in addition to his existing portfolio of Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs at Shram Shakti Bhawan here.