WEDNESDAY 19 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 CABINET COLLAPSE PANNUN MURDER PLOT: NIKHIL GUPTA PLEADS NOT GUILTY P6 P5 SENSEX 77,301.14308.37 WEATHER Generally cloudy sky. Rain / thundershower likely towards night. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 34 °C and 29 °C respectively. NIFTY 23,557.9092.30 GOLD 72,220110 SC on NEET: Even 0.001 pc negligence needs action The Bench told the NTA that ‘it should come forward & admit it’ NEW DELHI, 18 JUNE Max. 92 % Min. 71 % Max: 35.3°C (+1.5) SUN RISES 04:52 hrs MOON RISES 15:2 hrs Min: 30.4°C (+3.4) SUN SETS 18:23 hrs MOON SETS 01:38 hrs TEMPERATURE Full Moon on 22 June THUMBNAILS A portion of a bridge over the Bakra River that collapsed in Araria, Bihar on Tuesday.  ANI Airports in Patna, Vadodara receive bomb threats, security heightened: Security has been heightened at airports in Gujarat's Vadodara and Bihar's Patna after bomb threat emails were received by the airport authorities on Tuesday. "A bomb threat email was received by Patna airport. Security heightened at the airport. Further details awaited," Patna Airport's Director said. Security was also tightened at Vadodara airport after a bomb threat email was received by the airport authorities. Curfew imposed in Balasore after violent clash STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE BALASORE, 18 JUNE Curfew was imposed in Balasore town till Tuesday midnight following violent clashes between two groups which began from Patrapads and spread to other areas on Monday. There are reports that a place of worship and a few shops were damaged by a mob. A house was allegedly torched by the miscreants. Stray incidents of stone pelting also took place at night despite the presence of police. The curfew order directs closure of all shops , business establishments and other establishments. However emergency services, mainly medical, were exempted, the order said. The district administration has also suspended internet services for 48 hours. Balasore SP Ms Sagarika Nath said “no movement will be allowed”. She claimed that the situation is under control. P10 ` vs $ 83.42 PARMOD KUMAR RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY he Supreme Court on Tuesday said that even if there was 0.001 per cent negligence in the conduct of the NEET-UG 2024, the National Testing Agency (NTA) must come forward and admit it, as it issued notice in another set of petitions seeking re-conduct of the examination for admission to undergraduate medical courses in government and private institutions across the country. Stating that “Even if there is 0.001 per cent negligence (in the conduct of NEET-UG 2024) it should be looked into”, a vacation bench of Justices Vikram Nath and S V N Bhatti told the National Testing Agency that “it should come forward and admit it” and “We expect timely action from you”. “Even if there is 0.001 per cent negligence on the part of anyone it should be thoroughly dealt with. All these matters ought not to be treated as adversarial litigation,” Justice Bhatti said as the bench tagged the T Members of several students organisations stage a protest over the NEET issue in Hyderabad on Tuesday.  ANI present set of petitions with the earlier ones which are listed for hearing on 8 July 2024. The court gave the Central government and the NTA two weeks’ time to respond to the fresh petitions. Notwithstanding the denial of alleged leakage of NEET-UG 2024 paper at certain centres and the irregularities in the conduct of exam, Justice Bhatti further said: “Imagine a situation where a person who has played fraud on the system, becomes a doctor and starts treating patients, he is more deleterious towards society.” The bench told counsels appearing for the Centre and NTA that chil- The bench tagged the present set of petitions with the earlier ones which are listed for hearing on 8 July 2024. The court gave the Centre and the National Testing Agency two weeks’ time to respond to the fresh petitions. dren have prepared for the exams and “we cannot forget their labour” for preparing for the exams. As the advocate appearing for one of the petitioners referred to the conversation with the advocates appearing for the Central government and the NTA outside the courtroom before the matter was called, Justice Bhatti said: “Your (the NTA and the Central government) stance ought not to change the moment you enter the court, representing the Agency which is responsible for conducting the examination. You must come forward and admit mistake.” Having said this, PM:Kisan Samman Nidhi is world’s largest direct benefit transfer scheme Rahul informs Speaker’s office on vacating Wayanad seat STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE VARANASI, 18 JUNE STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 18 JUNE Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi has now become the world's largest direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme. “Till now, Rs 3.15 lakh crore has been deposited into the bank accounts of crores of farmer families across the country. Additionally, Rs 700 crore has been deposited into the accounts of farmers in the Varanasi district. I am happy that technology has been utilised more effectively in the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi to ensure all beneficiaries receive their entitled benefits. Just a few months ago, during the Bharat Sankalp Yatra, more than one crore farmers joined this scheme,” he claimed. Mr Modi arrived in Kashi on Tuesday on a two-day Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday formally informed the Lok Sabha Speaker's office about retaining the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat and vacating the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala. According to sources, the Congress leader submitted the letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker for this on Tuesday within the two week period required to relinquish one of the two seats. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge had on Monday announced Ms Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's candidature from Wayanad. If Ms Vadra wins from Wayanad, three members of the Nehru-Gandhi family will be in Parliament - Mrs Sonia Gandhi in RS and Mr Rahul Gandhi and Ms Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the LS. visit and addressed a farmers' rally at Mehdiganj. The PM released the 17th instalment of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi. Through this, Rs 20,000 crore will be disbursed to 9.26 crore beneficiary farmers across the country. The PM also provided Krishi Sakhi certificates to over 30,000 women from selfhelp groups. Later in the evening, he will worship at the Vishwanath temple and participate in the Ganga Aarti at the Dashashwamedh ghat. He said that farmers are becoming self-reliant and have become leaders in agricultural exports. Centre implements measures to meet high power demand amid heat wave STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 18 JUNE Amid the prevailing heat wave resulting in increased demand for power supply, the Ministry of Power has implemented a series of measures to meet the highest-ever peak demand of 250 GW during this ongoing summer season. The ministry on Tuesday said that the Northern Region of India has been experiencing high demand conditions due to a prevailing heat wave since 17 May. Despite these challenging conditions, the highest-ever peak demand of 89 GW in the Northern Region was successfully met. This achievement was made possible by importing 25 to 30 per cent of the region's power requirement from neighboring regions. All utilities have been advised to maintain a high state of alert and minimize forced outages People cover themselves to protect from the dust storm on a hot summer day, at Sangam, in Prayagraj on Tuesday.  ANI of equipment, it said. According to the IMD forecast, heat wave conditions in NorthWest India are expected to abate from 20 June. The ministry highlighted that it has taken measures like Imported Coal Based (ICB) Plants Operation to continue the generation support during the high demand period. Minimum planned maintenance of generating units has been scheduled during this period. Efforts are being made to minimize partial and forced outages to maximize the availability of generation capacity, the ministry said. Additionally, plants under long-term outage have been sensitized to revive their units to ensure maximum power generation. All generating companies (GENCOs) have been advised to keep their GAMBHIR INTERVIEWS FOR INDIA HEAD COACH’S ROLE BEFORE SUMMIT WITH KIM, PUTIN VOWS THEY’LL BEAT SANCTIONS TOGETHER plants in healthy condition to ensure full capacity availability for optimal operation of various generation sources and adequate coal stocks are being maintained at coalbased thermal stations. Further, the hydro stations have been advised to conserve water during solar hours and dispatch maximum generation during non-solar hours to ensure power adequacy at all times. The ministry has directed the gas-based power plants to provide grid support. Additionally, around 860 MW of additional gas-based capacity (non-NTPC) has been tied up through competitive bidding specifically for this summer. Furthermore, approximately 5000 MW of NTPC gas-based capacity has been instructed to be ready for immediate operation as per system requirements. CMYK Justice Bhatti said that normally in the course of the hearing “we react” but during vacation “We react very slowly”. The strong observations from the vacation bench came in the course of the hearing of another set of petitions by Amulya Vijaya Pinapati, NitinVijay and others, praying for the NEET-UG 2024 to be conducted again in the wake of widespread allegations of paper leak, irregularities and a large number of candidates getting perfect scores in the result published on 4 June, coinciding with the declaration of results of the general election to the Lok Sabha. P12 SILVER 91,500500 BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 82.150.60 Group of Ministers discusses candidates for post of LS Speaker Toll in rail mishap rises to 10, probe launched STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 18 JUNE A key meeting of the Group of Ministers was held at the residence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday evening to discuss candidates for the post of Speaker and deputy Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha and also strategy for the upcoming Parliament session which will commence on 24 June, sources said. The sources further said the meeting, which was also attended by Union Ministers S Jaishankar, Manohar Lal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Kiren Rijiju, and Chirag Paswan, discussed ways to ensure better floor coordination among NDA partners during the session.(Photo) Rajnath Singh has been given the responsibility to build a consensus for the election of the Speaker's post among alliance parties as well as opposition parties. During this Parliament session, the newly elected MPs will be sworn in, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha will be elected and President Droupadi Murmu will deliver her customary address STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE SILIGURI, 18 JUNE to Parliament. The election to the post of Speaker is scheduled to be held on 26 June during the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha. The President will address a joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on 27 June. Recently, Janata Dal (United) leader KC Tyagi made it clear that his party, along with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), would back the candidate nominated by the BJP for the key post in the Lower House of Parliament. The JD-U leader’s comments are an indication that the saffron party is likely to put up its nominee for the Speaker’s post and that the candidate may not be from its allies. The last session of the 17th Lok Sabha (the Budget session) was held between 31 January and 10 February. The number of fatalities following the collision between the Kanchanjunga Express and a goods train near Rangapani railway station in Darjeeling district has risen to 10. According to Dr. Sandeep Sengupta, Dean of the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, two individuals, including a six-year-old girl, passed away last night, succumbing to their injuries. Morethan30passengerswho wereinjuredarecurrentlyreceiving medical care. All of them are in stable condition, with three of them having undergone surgery in the trauma care unit, Dr Sengupta added. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee yesterday met the injured passengers at the hospital. Meanwhile, Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety, for the North-east Frontier Railway, Janak K. Garg, has initiated an official investigation into the incident. (See Pg 2)