WON'T BE TAKEN BACK: UDDHAV ON EX-COLLEAGUES 16 JUNE 2024 www.thestatesman.com Twitter.com/TheStatesmanLtd Facebook.com/thestatesman NAIDU’S MANY BARBADOS TO HOST CHALLENGES IN INDIA’S MATCH ANDHRA PRADESH AGAINST AFGHANISTAN PAGE 5 PAGE 7 PAGE 12 India’s National Newspaper since 1818 PAGES 12 | `5.00 | LC KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR WEATHER MAINLY CLEAR SKY. HEAT WAVE CONDITIONS AT MOST PLACES AND SEVERE HEAT WAVE CONDITIONS AT ISOLATED PLACES. STRONG SURFACE WINDS (SPEED 30-40 KMPH) OCCASIONALLY IN GUSTY DURING THE DAY. THE MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WOULD BE AROUND 45 AND 32 DEGREES CELSIUS RESPECTIVELY. PM to release `20,000 crore under PM-KISAN Modi will release PM-KISAN scheme’s 17th instalment in Varanasi on 18 June RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 43 % Min. 22 % Max: 44.6 °C (+6) SUN RISES 05:24 hrs MOON RISES 14:08 hrs Min: 32.4 °C (+5) SUN SETS 19:21 hrs MOON SETS 01:45 hrs TEMPERATURE THUMBNAILS STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 15 JUNE P Firefighters douse a fire that broke out at a chemical factory in the Tronica city industrial area, on Saturday. ANI Eight Maoists killed in encounter at Chhattisgarh-Maharashtra border: Eight Maoists M were killed in a fierce encounter with security forces in the Kuthul area of Abujhmad in the Narayanpur district, located at the Chhattisgarh-Maharashtra border. An STF (Special Task Force) soldier was martyred, and two others were injured in the encounter. The injured soldiers are being airlifted to Raipur for medical treatment. The numb- er of casualties among the Maoists may incrP ease as the operation is in progress. (Pg5) rime Minister Narendra Modi will release the PMKISAN scheme’s 17th instalment amounting to nearly Rs 20,000 crore in Varanasi on 18th June. The event will be organised by the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare in coordination with the government of Uttar Pradesh. Disclosing this at a press conference on Saturday, Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Shivraj Chouhan said the prime minister would be granting certificates to more than 30,000 self-help groups as Krishi Sakhis. He said Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath would be present on the occasion. Mr Chouhan called agriculture the foundation of the Indian economy. Even today, most of the employment opportunities are created through agriculture. He said farmers are today filling granaries of the country. Agriculture and farmers have been the top priority of the Prime Minister, he said, and as a result, the Government took several steps for the welfare of farmers. Just after assuming office, in his first order, the prime minister signed papers for the 17th instalment of the Kisan Samman Nidhi for release to the farmers. In his first public engagement, after becoming the prime minister for the third time, the highly anticipated 17th instalment of PM KISAN, amounting to more than Rs 20,000 crore, will be disbursed to over 9.26 crore beneficiary farmers by the prime minister with a single click of a button from Varanasi. The agriculture and rural development minister said that the Kisan Samman Nidhi is a central sector scheme launched on 24th February, 2019 to supplement the financial needs of all land-holding farmers subject to certain exclusion criteria of higher income status. He said that maintaining absolute transparency in registering and verifying the beneficiaries, the Government of India has disbursed over Rs 3.04 lakh crore till now to more than 11 crore farmers across the nation and with the latest release, the total amount transferred to the beneficiaries since the inception of the scheme will cross well over Rs 3.24 lakh crore. Veteran sports journalist Harpal Singh Bedi dies at 73 Wherever he campaigned, Rudraprayag mishap: 12 we won: Sharad Pawar’s tourists dead ‘thank you’ dig at PM Modi STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 15 JUNE MUMBAI, 15 JUNE Veteran sports journalist and Editorial Consultant of The Statesman, Harpal Singh Bedi, who covered some of the most prestigious international sporting events in a career spanning over four decades, died here this morning following prolonged illness. He was 73 and is survived by his wife Revathi and daughter Pallavi. He was cremated at Green Park Crematorium in the presence of family members, relatives, colleagues and a large number of friends including External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. Bedi, who began his career with the UNI as a sub-editor in 1980, was the youngest Sports Editor of the news agency. He covered as many as eight Olympics, several Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, World Cups of cricket and hockey, and world and national championships of athletics and other major Olympic sports during his long career. (See page 12) National Congress PartySharad Chandra Pawar (NCPSCP) chief, Sharad Pawar, on Saturday took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that wherever Mr Modi held roadshow and rally, Opposition candidates won. “Wherever the Prime Minister's roadshow and rally took place, we won. That is why I consider it my duty to thank the Prime Minister,” Mr Pawar said at a Press conference with leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance. The MVA also announced that they have decided to contest the upcoming Assembly elections unitedly to dislodge the MahaYuti regime in Maharashtra from power. In the recently held Lok Sabha elections, the BJP suffered significant losses in several states, including Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP had 62 seats in 2019 but its tally came STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE DEHRADUN, 15 JUNE down to 33 in the 2024 elections. The party also lost the prized Faizabad (Ayodhya) seat, where its victory had been considered almost certain. The saffron party and its allies also suffered losses in Maharashtra, where they are in power. In the state, Mr Modi held around 18 rallies and roadshows. The BJP lost Solapur, Madha, Latur, Dharashiv seats where Mr Modi campaigned for his party's candidates. Overall, the BJP and its NDA allies lost in 77 seats where Mr Modi campaigned. However, the BJP emerged as the single largest party in Parliament and formed a government for the third straight term with the help of its NDA allies. Twelve tourists died and 14 were seriousely injured on Saturday when a Tempo Traveller they were travelling in skidded off the road and fell 500 metres on to the bank of the river Alakananda on the Badrinath National Highway in Rudraprayag. All the injured were shifted to Rudraprayag district hospital. Seven of them were later airlifted to AIIMS Rishikesh. The incident occured at around 11.28 a.m. The driver of the ill-fated vehicle lost control of it and it skidded off the road. The vehicle tumbled 500 metres on to the banks of the Alakananda, informed State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) authorities. Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, expressing grief over the accident said: “While SDRF, local police and administration worked hard to rescue the accident victims District Magistrate Rudraprayag has been ordered to the probe the P cause of the accident." (Pg3) Indian Army prepares for future drone wars with deadly ‘Nagastra-1’~loitering munition AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 15 JUNE When tech billionaire Elon Musk says that future wars will be won by nations with the most effective drones, he is not bluffing at all. The Indian Army has received the first batch of ‘suicide drones’ called ‘Nagastra-1’ which can strike enemy training camps and launch pads in border areas with precision and save soldiers’ lives. According to reports, these high-tech drones are made in India by Economic Explosives Limited (EEL), a subsidiary of Solar Industries in Nagpur. The Army placed an order of 480 such drones and at least 120 of them have reportedly been delivered.What are these ‘suicide Amit Shah to chair high-level meeting today to review J&K security ahead of Amarnath Yatra drones’? ‘Nagastra-1’ is a type of “loitering munition”, where the aerial weapon is armed with an in-built warhead, designed to loiter around an area until a target is located and then crash into it. These indigenously developed drones offer more selective targeting as the attack can be changed mid-flight or even aborted.In a ‘kamikaze mode’, the drone can neutralise any threat with a GPS- enabled precision strike with an accuracy of 2 metres. Weighing around 9 kg, the fixed-wing electric unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has an endurance of 30 minutes, a man-in-loop range of 15 km and an autonomous mode range of 30 km. It is said to be capable of carrying a 1 kg warhead up to a range of 15 km and an upgraded version can carry a 2.2 kg warhead up to 30 km distance. In case a target is not detected or if the mission is aborted, the suicide drones can be called back and make a soft landing with a parachute recovery mechanism, enabling them to be reused multiple times.The use of drones in armed conflict has now become widespread. Earlier this month, Ukraine attacked Russian targets with a total of 25 combat drones.Yemen's Houthi group also claimed to have made attacks on the US aircraft carrier Eisenhower, another US warship and several commercial cargo vessels in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea via drones earlier this month. Since November last year, the Houthi group has launched anti-ship ballistic missiles and drones targeting what they said were Israelilinked ships transiting the Red Sea to show solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden last year announced a slew of defence and technology deals, including armed SeaGuardian drones. Aim is to neutralise enemy with minimum amount of damage: J&K DGP Swain PM returns from G7 meet NEW DELHI, 15 JUNE After attending the G7 meeting and holding multiple bilaterals during his day-long visit to Italy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday returned to Delhi. The PM said that he had a productive day after interacting with world leaders. He posted on X: “Had a very productive day at the G7 Summit in Apulia. Interacted with world leaders and discussed various subjects. Together, we aim to create impactful solutions that benefit the global community and create a better world for future generations.” PM Modi also thanked the people and government of Italy “for their warm hospitality”. (See page 5) The Union minister said that on 18 June, the government’s resolution of developed India, along with prosperity of farmers, will start getting implemented. AGENCIES CRPF personnel deployed on the Jammu National Highway ahead of the Amarnath Yatra, on Saturday.  ANI AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 15 JUNE Union Home Minister Amit Shah will chair a high-level meeting on Sunday to review the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir and preparedness for the Amarnath Yatra. Earlier on Friday, the Union Home Minister reviewed the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir in a high-level meeting with senior officers of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) here in the national capital, and directed to call another detailed meeting on 16 June over the issue. Mr Shah conducted the meeting in the wake of recent terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, which have raised concerns about Jammu and Kashmir DGP Rashmi Ranjan Swain reiterated on Saturday that they aim to neutralise the enemy with the minimum amount of damage in the wake of recent terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, which have raised concerns about the security arrangements in the region. He also met Jawans who were deployed during an encounter in Sohal village, Hiranagar and asserted that the teams would be strengthened, modernised and each terrorist would be hunted down. Mr Swain said: “I appeal to people that the flow of information should continue. Here, we respond to every piece of information, including smaller ones, as we have such orders from GoI in Delhi. We will strengthen our teams, modernise ourselves and kill each of them (terrorists). Drone is a threat. Our aim is to neutralise the enemy with the minimum amount of damage. Those who provide shelter, are least in numbers and we will ruin them to set an example that whoever thinks so will tremble.” the security arrangements in the region. In the meeting, the Home Minister Amit Shah also gave directions to call a follow-up meeting on 16 June in North Block to further assess the security situation in Jammu and Kash- mir and the preparations for the upcoming Amarnath Yatra. Officials concerned learned to have briefed the Home Minister about the current security situations and preparedness to handle such terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir. KATHUA, 15 JUNE