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 ‘AMRAVATI TO SERVE AS CAPITAL OF ANDHRA PRADESH’ ‘PEOPLE VOTED AGAINST VIOLENCE & LIES IN 2024 POLLS’ P4 SENSEX 76,456.5933.48 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 Lt-Gen. Upendra Dwivedi to be next COAS: G Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi has been appointed as the new Chief of Army Staff and will be taking over his appointment on 30 June. He would be succeeding Gen Manoj Pande who is set to retire on that date. As the 30th Army Chief, Lt Gen Dwivedi will be taking over after serving the country as Vice Chief of Army Staff, Northern Army Commander, director general, Infantry, and many other command appointments in the force. Hunter Biden convicted in firearms case: A US jury on Tuesday found Hunter Biden, the son of US President Joe Biden, guilty of all three crimes he was charged related to the use of narcotics while in possession of a firearm and providing false informatrion about it. Mr Biden faces a maximum punishment of 25 years but is more likely to get away with much less being a first-time NIFTY 23,264.855.65 SHAH TAKES CHARGE, THANKS PM FOR REPOSING FAITH IN HIM P10 P5 GOLD 71,840170 ` vs $ 83.57 Mohan Majhi to be new chief minister of Odisha Veteran KV Singh Deo and first-time MLA Prabhati Parida named Deputy CMs STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE BHUBANESWAR, 11 JUNE 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 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 Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan, Ashwini Vaishnaw, and Juel Oram, were present. Mr Majhi, a four-time MLA from Keonjhar, was a teacher in Saraswati Sishu 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 Covid-related 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 CMYK 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. ROHIT & CO EYE BETTER PERFORMANCE AGAINST USA P12 SILVER 90,5001,200 BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 79.950.14 NEET-UG: Sanctity affected, says SC; issues notice to NTA PARMOD KUMAR DA hike to take effect from April, not May: Govt NEW DELHI, 11 JUNE STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, 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 (NEET-UG) 2024 over alleged paper leak and irregularities in award of compensatory marks to students for loss of time. The bench remarked: “It is not that simply that because you (NTA) have done it is sacrosanct. Sanctity has been affected, so 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 chief minister Mamata Banerjee at Nabanna. Thedecisiontobringforward the implementation of the DA hike by a month has been taken, claimed a source, in line with the hints that Miss Banerjee had dropped during her election campaign. It 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. we need answers.” 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. 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”,thebenchsaid:“We are not staying the counselling.” In addition to the SC, a number of High Courts too have been moved alleging irregularities in the NEET-UG 2024 that was held on 5 May 2024.
The Statesman is one of India's oldest English newspapers. It was founded in Kolkata in 1875 and is directly descended from The Friend of India (founded 1818). The Englishman (founded 1821) was merged with The Statesman in 1934. The Delhi edition of The Statesman began publication in 1931. The Statesman Weekly is a compendium of news and views from the Kolkata and Delhi editions. Printed on airmail paper, it is popular with readers outside India. The Statesman (average weekday circulation approximately 180,000) is a leading English newspaper in West Bengal. The Sunday Statesman has a circulation of 230,000.
