MONDAY 24 JUNE 2024 www.thestatesman.com Pages 12 |` 5.00|LC INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR THE BUCK STOPS AT TOP ECHELONS OF MODI GOVT: KHARGE WHY THE PUTIN-KIM PACT WORRIES CHINA P7 WEATHER Partly cloudy sky. Rain / thundershower likely to occur.Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 33 °C and 27 °C respectively. RAINFALL: 17.8 mm RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 92 % TEMPERATURE Max: 33.0°C (0.0) SUN RISES 04:53 hrs MOON RISES 19:57 hrs P5 Min: 28.3°C (+1.5) SUN SETS 18:24 hrs MOON SETS 05:44 hrs Full Moon on 06 July THUMBNAILS Indian Space Research Organisation conducted a third and final test of the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) landing experiment (LEX) at the Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) in Chitradurga on Sunday.  ANI Two security personnel killed in IED blast in Sukma: Two security personnel were martyred in an IED blast carried out by Naxalites in Silger area of Sukma district. The attack occurred on Sunday afternoon, targeting a truck carrying members of the 201 CoBRA Battalion during a routine Road Opening Party (ROP) duty. According to official sources, suspected Maoists planted the IED along the route from Jagargunda (Page 4) area to Tekalgudam. NEW DELHI, 23 JUNE he first session of the 18th Lok Sabha, which is set to commence on Monday amid a fresh row over the appointment of BJP MP Bhartruhari Mahtab as the pro-tem Speaker of the Lower House of Parliament, will witness oath and affirmation of the newly-elected members including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. During the session, the Opposition is expected to corner the government on various issues, including alleged irregularities in the NEET exam and price rise. President Droupadi Murmu will administer the oath to Mr Mahtab as the pro-tem speaker of the Lok Sabha on Monday at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. After that, he will reach the Lok Sabha and commence the proceedings of the House at 11 a.m. He will administer the oath to newly-elected members and oversee the proceedings of the House until the new Speaker of the Lok Sabha is elected. The election of the new Speaker will be held on 26 T The first session of the 18th Lok Sabha commences even as the Opposition raised objections to the appointment of BJP MP Bhartruhari Mahtab as the pro tem Speaker June. The President will address a joint sitting of both the Houses of Parliament on 27 June. The session will conclude on 3 July. The 264th session of the Rajya Sabha will commence on 27 June and conclude on 3 July. Congress had reacted sharply to the government's decision to appoint the seven-time BJP MP as Protem Speaker over the party’s senior-most MP Kodikkunnil Suresh, saying the appointment deviates from the traditional practice of appointing the senior-most member of the House. However, the BJP defended the appointment of Mr Mahtab, AGENCIES HASSAN, 23 JUNE with BJP MP Sambit Patra asserting the decision was made in accordance with established convention rather than law. The BJP leader said: “The President of India recommends the pro-tem Speaker through Article 95 of the Constitution of India. It is a long convention that has been going on in this beautiful democracy of India since independence. Now, Congress is trying to disturb this process." "Bhartruhari Mahtab is serving as an MP consecutively for the seventh time. The convention says that the MP with the longest peri- Kejriwal knocks on SC’s door against interim stay on bail AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 23 JUNE Suraj Revanna, Janata Dal (Secular) MLC leaves a hospital in Hassan after a medical test following his arrest on Sunday.  ANI Holenarasipura Rural police station. Police recorded the victim’s statement and also sent him for a medical test. Reacting to the development, Suraj Revanna had said that it was a political conspiracy against him. “Baseless allegations are made against me and I outrightly reject these allegations. Things will be dealt with legally and an FIR has also been lodged,” he said. The victim claimed that he had met Mr Revanna at a function organised by him. Mr Revanna allegedly shared his mobile number and later started sending cosy messages with love symbols. The man claimed he was called to Mr Revanna’s farmhouse where he was allegedly sexually abused. Mr Revanna's elder brother and former JD(S) MP Pra, jwal has been arrested in connection with the sex video scandal. His father JD(S) MLA, HD Revanna was jailed and is out on conditional bail in a kidnapping case linked to the sex video scandal. His mother Bhavani is facing an investigation in a kidnapping case and was recently granted conditional bail by a court. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has moved the Supreme Court against the interim stay granted by the Delhi High Court on his release on bail in a money laundering case linked to the alleged liquor policy scam. Further, it is learnt that Mr Kejriwal’s legal team has sought an urgent hearing of the matter by the apex court on Monday. In an interim direction, Delhi High Court on 21 June stayed the release of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor on the Enforcement Directorate’s plea challenging the trial court's bail order. Halting CM Kejriwal's release, a vacation bench of the high court directed that the bail order should not be enforced until the matter is heard in full. Later that day, the bench reserved its order in the matter. Shah chairs meet, asks flood monitoring centres to comply with global standards STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 23 JUNE floods in the country. He also took stock of the action taken on the decisions made in the meeting held last year. Along The meeting also discussed the new technologies being used by the agencies and the expansion of their network for flood management. Reviewing the preparations to deal with Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF), he emphasised the need for optimum utilisation of satellite imagery provided by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) by various agencies for flood and water management. Amit Shah said under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India’s Disaster management is moving forward with a ‘Zero Casualty Approach’. He directed the India Mete- orological Department (IMD) and the CWC to complete the process of recalibrating all the equipment used in flood forecast, at the earliest. He instructed the departments concerned to conduct a detailed study of the recent floods in Sikkim and Manipur and submit a report to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).The home minister directed to ensure that floodgates of all the major dams are in good condition. Pointing out that nonperennial rivers are prone to soil erosion resulting in floods, he called for efforts to upgrade the forecast system of water level of rivers for better flood management. He said a natural drainage system should be an integral part of the designs of road construction to deal with inundation of roads, in case of floods. CMYK od of unbroken service can be appointed as pro-tem Speaker. So, in this 18th Lok Sabha, Bhartruhari Mahtab qualifies to become the pro-tem Speaker," he said. He added:“As far as Congress MP K Suresh is concerned, he has served as an MP eight times non-consecutively. It is the 4th consecutive term of K Suresh.” Earlier on Friday, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the appointment of Mr Mahtab has been done as per the "rules" and urged the Congress to not politicise the issue. On Thursday, Mr Rijiju announced that the President had appointed the BJP MP as pro-tem Speaker. President Murmu also appointed the Congress’ K Suresh, DMK’s T R Baalu, BJP’s Radha Mohan Singh and Faggan Singh Kulaste, and Trinamul Congress MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay to assist the Speaker pro-tem in the oath-taking of the newly elected members. However, amid the Opposition’s objections to Mr Mahtab’s appointment as pro tem Speaker, there was speculation that the three Opposition leaders may choose not to take up their roles. ANDY MURRAY RULED OUT OF WIMBLEDON P12 NEET: CBI forms special teams to probe alleged irregularities Website, all portals fully secure, says NTA Session will witness oath & affirmation of the newly-elected members JD-S MLC and Prajwal’s brother Suraj Revanna arrested in sexual assault case Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Sunday that the flood monitoring centres of the Central Water Commission (CWC) should be in accordance with the country's requirements and international standards. Chairing a high-level meeting here to review the preparedness of flood management, the Union home minister appealed to all the states and Union Territories for the timely implementation the advisories issued by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) for flood management.(Photo) In the meeting, Mr Shah also reviewed long-term measures to formulate a comprehensive and far-reaching policy to mitigate the menace of P10 First session of 18th LS to commence today NIKHIL VYAS Min. 69 % In yet another jolt to former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda’s family, Karnataka Police arrested JD(S) MLC and Gowda's grandson Suraj Revanna in connection with a forceful unnatural sex case. Suraj Revanna is the brother of arrested former JD(S) MP , Prajwal Revanna, the prime accused in the sex videos case. Suraj Revanna was arrested in the wee hours of Sunday by the Holenarasipura Rural police in Hassan District. Mr Revanna had appeared before the police on Saturday night following the lodging of an FIR against him in connection with the alleged sexual assault case lodged by a JD(S) worker. The FIR was registered under IPC Sections 377 (unnatural sex), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 506 (criminal intimidation). After the victim in the case sent his complaint to the office of both the DGP and the Hassan Superintendent of Police, the case was transferred to BSP CHIEF REINSTATES NEPHEW AKASH ANAND AS SUCCESSOR AGENCIES Amid allegations of irregularities in the conduct of entrance examinations, the National Testing Agency (NTA) claimed on Sunday that its website and all its web portals are fully secure. The NTA further dismissed the claims of the portals having been compromised, calling them "wrong and misleading." “NTA website and all its web portals are fully secure. Any information that has been compromised and hacked is wrong and misleading," the NTA said in a post on X. The NTA is facing crit- icism over alleged irregularities in the conduct of National Eligibility-CumEntrance-Test (NEET) (UG) Examination 2024. This has led to an uproar across the country, with the opposition demanding to scrap the testing agency. Amid the NEET irregularities allegations, the Centre late yesterday also postponed the NEET-PG exam scheduled for. It also cancelled the UGC-NET exam conducted on 18 June. Following protests, the Centre also removed the Director General of the NTA, Subodh Kumar Singh, and set up a highlevel committee of experts to ensure transparency in the examinations. teams have been constituted to probe the matter on priority. The special teams are being sent to Patna and Godhra where cases have been registered with local police, it said. The Ministry of Education had requested the CBI to conduct a comprehensive probe into the entire gamut of alleged irregulari- ties, including conspiracy, cheating, impersonation, breach of trust, and destruction of evidence by candidates, institutes, and middlemen including attempted irregularities. The Ministry had also asked the CBI to investigate the entire gamut of events and the larger alleged conspiracy. NEW DELHI, 23 JUNE Bihar police’s Economic Offences Unit personnel with NEET paper leak accused leave the LNJP Hospital after their medical test, in Patna on Sunday.  ANI STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 23 JUNE The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a criminal case against the alleged irregularities in the NEET-2024 examination based on a written complaint from the Director of the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Government of India, the agency said. The FIR mentions certain isolated incidents that occurred in a few states during the conduct of the NEET-UG 2024 exam held by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on 5 May, 2024, at 4,750 centres across 571 cities, including 14 cities abroad. The CBI said special