THURSDAY 27 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 CASTE CENSUS: DMK PUTS BALL IN CENTRE’S COURT WHY AMERICA’S TOP COURT IS TAKING ITS TIME OVER TRUMP P7 SENSEX 78,674.25620.73 WEATHER Generally cloudy sky. Possibility of light rain/thundershower likely to occur in some areas. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 34 °C and 29 °C respectively. RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY P10 GOLD 72,000230 ` vs $ 83.56 Min. 54 % Max: 35.4 °C (+2.5) SUN RISES 04:54 hrs MOON RISES 22:13 hrs Min: 29.4°C (+2.6) SUN SETS 18:25 hrs MOON SETS 08:58 hrs New Moon on 06 July THUMBNAILS Visitors carrying umbrellas throng the Taj Mahal on a rainy day on Wednesday.  ANI 3 Pakistani terrorists killed in JK's Doda: Three Pakistani terrorists were killed and a jawan of the Special Operations Group (SOG) was injured during the ongoing encounter between security forces and terrorists in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Wednesday. Security forces were still engaged in a gunfight with one more terrorist in the forest area of Gandoh in Doda. The injured jawan, Hussain, was rushed to the hospital at Doda where his condition is stated as stable. Sam Pitroda reappointed as chairman of Indian Overseas Cong: The Congress on Wednesday reappointed Sam Pitroda as the chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress. On 8 May, Pitroda resigned from the post of the chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress after he courted controversy with his 'racist' remarks in an interview to The Statesman. P12 SILVER 91,0001000 BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 82.870.21 Om Birla elected Speaker of Kejriwal formally arrested by CBI in 18th Lok Sabha by voice vote liquor policy case This will be Mr Birla’s second term as Lok Sabha Speaker; he has been elected from Kota STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 26 JUNE Max. 87 % TEMPERATURE P4 NIFTY 23,868.80147.50 INDIA EYE REVENGE AGAINST DEFENDING CHAMPS ENGLAND UNIQUENESS OF INDIA’S NUCLEAR TRAJECTORY he ruling NDA’s candidate, BJP MP Om Birla, was elected Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha without much of a hitch on Wednesday. The Opposition had proposed the name of Mr K Suresh of the Congress Party, but Mr Birla was declared elected by a voice vote. Pro-tem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab took up the Speaker’s election, within minutes of the Lok Sabha assembling on Wednesday. There were 10 proposals for the election of Mr Birla as the Speaker, with the first one made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There were six proposals for Mr Suresh from the Opposition members. The prime minister’s proposal, seconded by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, was the first to be put to vote and after shouts of “Ayes” by the Treasury Benches and “Noes” from the Opposition, Mr Mahtab declared Mr Birla elected. The House was packed as both sides had issued whips to their members to be present for the possible “fight.” However, Mr Mahtab’s declaration “the motion is adopted,” ended all suspense. The Pro-tem Speaker said since Mr Modi’s motion was adopted, all motions made after him were infructuous. Mr PM confident 18th LS will fulfil people’s aspirations T ‘Confident you will allow us to represent the voice of people’ STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 26 JUNE PM Narendra Modi with newly elected Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla as he accompanies him to the chair, at Parliament House in New Delhi on Wednesday.  ANI Mahtab, thereafter, invited Mr Birla to take the chair. The Prime Minister walked up to Mr Birla’s seat, joined by Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, who accompanied him to the Speaker’s podium, amid clapping and thumping of desks from Treasury and Opposition benches. This will be Mr Birla’s second term as Speaker of the Lok Sabha, after being Speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha. He has been elected to the House for the third consecutive time from Kota, Rajasthan on a BJP ticket. Mr Suresh, his rival, is an eight-time member of the Lok Sabha and currently represents the Mavelikkara seat of Kerala. Welcoming Mr Birla as the Speaker, the Prime Minister said he had set high standards in his previous term and would be able to guide the House with his experience. His soft-spoken behaviour and smile had kept the House in good spirits, the PM said. Mr Modi said after Mr Balram Jakhar, Mr Birla would be the second Speaker to occupy the chair for a second time. Mr Modi said the 17th Lok Sabha was the golden period of Indian parliamentary history; there were historic decisions under Mr Birla’s chairmanship and reforms made through Parliament, and Mr Birla’s role will be recorded in history for that. Underlining that the functioning of Parliament and its conduct and accountability deepen the foundation of democracy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday expressed confidence that the 18th Lok Sabha will successfully serve the people and realise their dreams and aspirations. The Parliament House is not just walls but is the centre of aspiration of 140 crore people of the country, he observed while speaking in the Lok Sabha after the election of Mr Om Birla as the Speaker of House. Mr Modi welcomed Mr Birla taking over as Speaker for a second term and conveyed to him the best wishes of the House. He said the long journey of democracy witnesses various stopovers that provide the opportunity to create new records. He expressed confidence that the people of India will continue to cherish the 17th Lok Sabha in the future for its achievements as he lauded the work accomplished during its term towards making India a modern nation. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal being taken from Rouse Avenue Court after CBI gets 3-day custody on Wednesday.  ANI STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 26 JUNE STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 26 JUNE The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday congratulated newly-elected Speaker Om Birla and said that he was confident that the latter will allow the Opposition to represent the voice of the people of India in the House. Speaking in the Lok Sabha after Om Birla's election to the Speaker's post for the second time, Mr Gandhi said: "I am confident that you will allow us to represent our voice, allow us to speak, allow us to represent the voice of the people of India.” Addressing the chair, he said: “The question is not how efficiently the House is run; the question is how much of India’s voice is allowed to be heard. The idea that you can run the House efficiently by silencing the voice of the Opposition is a non-democratic idea. This election has shown that the people expect the Opposition to defend the Constitution of the country,” Delhi chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, already in jail after his arrest by the Directorate of Enforcement in a moneylaundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam, was on Wednesday morning formally arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in a related corruption case. Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court subsequently sent Mr Kejriwal to CBI custody for three days in the case. Hearing the CBI's remand plea, the vacation judge, Amitabh Rawat, said the Delhi CM will be produced before the court on 29 June before 7 p.m. The development comes hours after the central probe agency arrested Mr Kejriwal in a corruption case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy of 2021-22. The Delhi CM has been lodged in Tihar Jail since 21 March when he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case, also linked to the alleged excise policy scam. The CBI has filed a separate case over the alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the Delhi excise policy 202122. The central probe agency has claimed that the socalled 'South Lobby' dictated the formulation of the excise policy and that the chief minister was involved in this. Public Prosecutor D P Singh, representing the CBI, claimed that the agency has traced the precise trail of Rs 45 crore allegedly used in the Goa assembly elections by the Aam Aadmi Party. Meanwhile, the AAP has claimed it is yet another "conspiracy hatched by the BJP at a time when there were high chances of the Supreme Court granting bail to Kejriwal." In a video statement released on Tuesday night, AAP MP Sanjay Singh alleged that the BJP has hatched a conspiracy with CBI officers to frame Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in a “fake case”. Following Mr Kejriwal's arrest by the CBI, his wife Sunita Kejriwal said on Wednesday that the whole system is trying to ensure the Delhi CM stays behind bars. New TMC MLAs snub Governor invite, stage dharna Speaker invokes Emergency’s ‘dark days’, Oppn protests STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, 26 JUNE The two newly elected Trinamul Congress MLAs ~ Sayantika Bandyopadhyay and Rayat Hossain, from Baranagar and Bhagbangola constituencies respectively ~ on Wednesday snubbed the invitation from West Bengal Governor, CV Ananda Bose to come to the Raj Bhavan and be sworn-in as members of the state Assembly. Instead, the two staged a demonstration at the Assembly premises calling upon the Governor to come to the Assembly to administer them the oath. Mr Bose, on the other hand, is sticking to his earlier decision to administer them the oath at Raj Bhavan. Sources at the Raj Bhavan said that Mr Bose might leave for Delhi this evening, which would lead to even more uncertainty over the issue. It is already 22 days after the results of the by-polls in the two Assemblies were announced on 4 June, On Wednesday, Ms Bandyopadhyay and Mr Hossain staged a sit-in-demonstration carrying placards requesting Mr Bose to come to the Assembly to administer their oaths: "Waiting for the arrival of Hon. Governor for oath.” Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, state parliamentary affairs minister, also took part in the protest. Biman Bandyopadhyay, Speaker in the Assembly, told reporters: "I will seek opinions of legal experts to resolve the crisis. I may also meet the President of India. Speaker can administer oath of a MLA elected through bypoll for an interim period at the Assembly." Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is said to have spoken to Mr Bandyopadhyay later in the day today asking him to take legal opinion on how to solve the crisis. It's also learnt that law minister Moloy Ghatak has been asked to look into the issue. Both Ms Bandyopadhyay and Mr Hossain had been insisting that they wanted the oath to be administered by the Speaker at the Assembly, not by the Governor. The Governor instead had asked them to take the oath at Raj Bhavan today. Mr Bose wrote a threepage letter to Ms Bandyopadhyay on Tuesday citing the verdict of the Supreme Court and High Court in connection with the swear-in ceremony of MLAs. Ms Bandyopadhyay on Monday met Mr Bandyopadhyay at the state legislative Assembly and discussed with him about her oath-taking programme. After meeting the Speaker Ms Bandyopadhyay had told reporters: “I have written to the Governor requesting him to take initiative so that the Speaker can administer my oath in the Assembly where I as a MLA will work.” NEW DELHI, 26 JUNE Speaking in the Lower House of Parliament on Wednesday after being elected to his post, the Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha, Om Birla, invoked the ‘dark days’ of Emergency and also called for a 2-minute silence over the ‘black chapter’ of Indian democracy, triggering protests from the Opposition benches. Before adjourning the House till Thursday, Om Birla read out a ‘resolution’ in the Lok Sabha condemning the imposition of Emergency by the then Indira Gandhi-led Congress government in 1975. “This House strongly condemns the decision to impose Emergency in 1975. Along with this, we appreciate the determination of all those people who opposed the Emergency, fought and fulfilled the responsibility of protecting the democracy of India. PM Narendra Modi along with other MPs stands for the National Song during the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha, at Parliament House in New Delhi on Wednesday.  ANI 25th June 1975 will always be known as a black chapter in the history of India," Mr Birla said, amid vociferous protests by Opposition MPs. Opposition MPs, mainly from the Congress, were on their feet, raising slogans against the reference to the Emergency. “On this day, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed an Emergency in the country and attacked the Constitution made by Baba Saheb Ambedkar. India is known all over the world as the mother of democracy. Democratic values and debate have always been supported in India. "Democratic values have always been protected, they have always been encouraged. Dictatorship was imposed on such an India by Indira Gandhi. The democratic values of India were crushed and freedom of expression was strangled," he added. The Speaker urged members to observe silence for a while and later adjourned the proceedings for the day. The NDA leaders later held a protest in the Parliament premises to mark the 49th anniversary of the emergency, demanding an apology from the Congress. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, posting on social media platform X, lauded Mr Birla for his gesture. He wrote: “I am glad that the Honourable Speaker strongly condemned the Emergency, highlighted the excesses committed during that time and also mentioned the manner in which democracy was strangled. It was also a wonderful gesture to stand in silence in honour of all those who suffered during those days." “The Emergency was imposed 50 years ago but it is important for today's youth to know about it because it remains a fitting example of what happens when the Constitution is trampled over, public opinion is stifled and institutions are destroyed. The happenings during the Emergency exemplified what a dictatorship looks like," he said. WikiLeaks founder Assange returns to Australia a free man Married women ‘barred’ from working at AGENCIES CANBERRA, 26 JUNE WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange returned to his homeland Australia aboard a charter jet and raised a celebratory clenched fist as his supporters cheered on Wednesday, hours after pleading guilty to obtaining and publishing US military secrets in a deal with Justice Department prosecutors that concludes a drawn-out legal saga. Mr Assange embraced his wife Stella Assange and father John Shipton who were waiting on the tarmac, but avoided media at a news conference less than than two hours after he landed. Mr Assange was accused of receiving and publishing hun- dreds of thousands of war logs and diplomatic cables that included details of US military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan. His activities drew an outpouring of support from press freedom advocates, who heralded his role in bringing to light military conduct that might otherwise have been concealed from view and warned of a chilling effect on journalists. Mr Assange (52), entered his plea in a US district court in Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands. The American commonwealth in the Pacific is relatively close to Australia and accommodated his desire to avoid entering the continental USA. The plea deal required Mr Assange to admit guilt to a sin- Julian Assange embraces his wife after he landed in Canberra on Wednesday.  AP gle felony count but also permitted him to return to Australia without any time in an American prison. The judge sentenced him to the five years he’d already spent behind bars in the UK fighting extradition to the US on an Espionage Act indictment that could have carried a lengthy prison sentence in the event of a conviction. He was holed up for seven years before that in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. US prosecutors had alleged that Mr Assange teamed with former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to obtain the records, including by conspiring to crack a Defense Department computer password, and published them without regard to American national security. Names of human sources who provided information to US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan were among the details exposed, prosecutors have said. However, Mr Assange’s legal woes long predated the criminal case. Weeks after the release of the largest document cache in 2010, a Swedish prosecutor issued an arrest warrant for Mr Assange based on one woman’s allegation of rape and another’s allegation of molestation. Mr Assange has long maintained his innocence, and the investigation was later dropped. In 2012 he presented himself to the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he claimed asylum on the grounds of political persecution, and spent the following seven years in selfexile there. In 2019, his hosts revoked his asylum, allowing British police to arrest him. CMYK iPhone plant, Centre seeks report from TN STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 26 JUNE The Ministry of Labour and Employment on Wednesday has taken note of various media reports claiming that married women are not being allowed to work at Foxconn India’s Apple iPhone plant, in Sriperumbudur, near Chennai. In light of these reports, the Ministry has requested a detailed report from the Labour Department of the Tamil Nadu Government. According to a Reuters report, Foxconn,India’s Apple iPhone plant, has systematically excluded married women from jobs at its main India iPhone assembly plant, on the grounds they have more family responsibilities than their unmarried counterparts. S. Paul, a former humanresources executive at Foxconn India, told the news agency that the company’s executives verbally convey the recruitment rules to its Indian hiring agencies which Foxconn tasks with scouting for candidates, bringing them in for interviews and employing them. Apple and Foxconn had acknowledged lapses in hiring practices in 2022 and said they had worked to address the issues. But all the discriminato- ry practices documented by Reuters at the Sriperumbudur plant near Chennai took place in 2023 and 2024, and the companies didn't address those instances. The Ministry of Labour and Employment said: “Section 5 of the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 clearly stipulates that no discrimination to be made while recruiting men and women workers.” “As the State Government is the appropriate authority for the enforcement and administration of the provisions of this Act, hence the report has been sought from the State Government.”