WEDNESDAY 10 JULY 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 ‘NEP PRIORITISES EDU IN MOTHER TONGUE & ALL INDIAN LANGUAGES’ RAHUL GANDHI REACHES RAE BARELI P10 SENSEX 80,351.64391.26 WEATHER Generally cloudy sky. Light rain/ thundershower likely to occur. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 34 °C and 27 °C respectively. RAINFALL: 2.8 mm RELATIVE HUMIDITY P4 GOLD 73,200380 ` vs $ 83.49 War not a solution to Ukraine crisis: Modi Min. 70 % Max: 32.2 °C (-0.3) SUN RISES 04:59 hrs MOON RISES 07:49 hrs Min: 27.9°C (+1.1) SUN SETS 18:25 hrs MOON SETS 21:4 hrs Full Moon on 21 July THUMBNAILS Polling officials check EVMs and other election-related materials before leaving for their respective polling booths for the Maniktala Assembly by-election, in Kolkata on Tuesday. SNS ‘Services not stopped for LPG consumers with incomplete biometric authentication‘: The Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoPNG) on Tuesday clarified that no service or benefit has been stopped for consumers whose biometric authentication has not been completed. Reiterating the process for the domestic LPG consumers to complete the Biometric Aadhaar Authentication, the ministry said they can use various channels. SILVER 94,500500 Zelenskyy condemns Modi-Putin meeting ASHOK TUTEJA NEW DELHI, 9 JULY rime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday firmly told Russian President Vladimir Putin that war is not a solution to the Ukraine crisis and said India is prepared to do what it takes to bring the ongoing conflict to an end. “There is no solution on the battlefield. We have to resolve the issue through diplomacy and dialogue for the sake of a bright future for the next generation. Bombs, missiles and guns can't resolve the crisis,” he told the Russian leader at the start of the delegation-level talks at the Kremlin as part of the 22nd India-Russia Annual Summit in Moscow. “Whether it be war, conflicts, or terror attacks, everyone who believes in humanity is pained when there is loss of lives. But when we see innocent children dying, it is heart-wrenching and that pain is immense,'' the PM said as President Putin heard him P STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 9 JULY STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Prime Minister Narendra Modi exchanges greetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday. ANI with rapt attention in the presence of senior ministers and officials of the two countries. To this, Mr Putin said, “I appreciate the attention you pay to the most pressing issues, including your efforts to find ways to resolve the Ukraine crisis, primarily through peaceful means.” The PM said he wants to assure both President Putin and the global community that India is in favour of peace and is ready to contribute to it. He said he had an open conversation with President Putin on KOLKATA, 9 JULY Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has condemned the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The meeting, held in Moscow, coincided with a tragic missile strike in Ukraine that resulted in the deaths of 37 people, including three children, and injuries to 170 others, 13 of whom were children. In a social media post on ‘X’, Zelenskyy highlighted the devastating impact of the Russian missile strike, which targeted Ukraine's largest children's hospital, home to young cancer patients. “It is a huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts to see the leader of the world's largest democracy hug the world's most bloody criminal in Moscow on such a day," he wrote on 'X'. the issue and the latter's views have given him a sense of optimism. "I am happy that we could discuss the war in Ukraine with an open mind, and we listened to each other's thoughts on the war with great respect," he said. Mr Modi also lauded the India-Russia fuel agreement, saying it had helped bring stability to the global market. Mr Putin, speaking before Mr Modi, said their two countries enjoy a special strategic partnership and thanked him for his efforts to find a peaceful solution to the war. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has set a deadline of 10 days to bring down prices of vegetables. At a meeting in state secretariat Nabanna, she directed the state administration and the task force constituted by her to check prices of essential commodities in retail markets and bring them down. On Tuesday afternoon, Miss Banerjee chaired a meeting and directed the task force to meet every week to review the situation and give her a report after seven days. Sources said, at the meeting the CM lambasted a section of bigger potato traders for the skyrocketing prices of this staple vegetable in the retail market. Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami pays last respect to the mortal remains of the five soldiers from state who lost their lives in the Kathua attack in Dehradun. ANI NEW DELHI, 9 JULY The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) initiated a suo moto action against the online ticket booking platform ‘Yatra’ for nonrefund of airline tickets cancelled due to the Covid lockdown. A show-cause notice vide dated 09.03.2021 was sent to Yatra Online Limited regarding the pendency of refunds of bookings which got affected by Covid. According to the information shared by CCPA, from 8 July, 2021, to 25 June, 2024, the authority conducted several hearings to address issues regarding nonrefund of airline tickets cancelled due to the Covid-19 lockdown. As a result of these efforts, Yatra Online Limited made significant progress in reducing the total number of pending refund bookings. In 2021, there were 36,276 pending bookings amounting to `26,25,82,484. As of 21 June, 2024, this number has been significantly reduced to 4,837 bookings, amounting to ` 2,52,87,098. Yatra has refunded approximately 87per cent amount to consumers and further endeavour to refund approximately 13% amount to consumers to ensure that all pending refunds are processed promptly and efficiently by airlines. In 2021, there were a total of 5,771 bookings pertaining to airlines pending refunds amounting to ` 9,60,14,463. By 2024, Yatra has reduced the pendency of airlines to 98 bookings with an outstanding amount of ` 31,79,069. She said that the big traders were responsible for the price of potatoes reaching Rs 35 (jyoti variety) a kg in the retail markets, when the farmers were selling them at Rs 15 a kg. According to her, some big traders were deliberately hoarding their stock of potatoes in cold storages to artificially jack up the prices. She directed the state administration and the task force members to immediately take action against these hoarders. She also spoke about a conspiracy theory on the recent rise in the price of mutton in retail markets. According to her, recently rumours were spread about the outbreak of Bird Flu in the state, which prompted a number of meat eaters to shift to mutton from chicken. TRIDIB BAPARNASH Two-time World Cup winner Gautam Gambhir was on Tuesday officially confirmed the new head coach of the Indian team after Rahul Dravid’s tenure ended with the 2024 T20 World Cup triumph in Barbados last month. BCCI secretary Jay Shah announced the Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday conferred Russia's highest civilian honour, Order of St Andrew the Apostle, on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a two-day official visit to Moscow at the invitation of the Russian President for the 22nd Annual Summit. In a special ceremony in St. Andrew Hall in the Kremlin, the Russian President conferred the highest national award of Russia “for his contribution to fostering India-Russia ties. The award was announced in 2019,” the Ministry of External Affairs said. The award was instituted over 300 years ago. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the first Indian leader to be conferred with this award. While accepting the award, the Prime Minister dedicated it to the people of India and to the traditional bonds of friendship between India and Russia. He said that the recognition illuminates the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership between the two countries. Hathras: SC to hear plea for probe by expert committee PARMOD KUMAR NEW DELHI, 9 JULY The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear a plea seeking appointment of a fivemember expert committee to enquire under the supervision of a retired top court judge into the Hathras stampede incident where more than 100 people were killed on 2 July. On a mentioning for an early listing by the PIL petitioner lawyer Vishal Tiwari, Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud heading a bench also comprising Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra said, “I have given my listing orders already. It will be listed.” The PIL petitioner advocate Tiwari has sought framing of guidelines and safety measures to avoid such incidents at large public gatherings. The PIL petitioner has also sought direction to the Uttar Pradesh government to file before the top court a report on Hathras stampede and initiate action against the persons, and authorities for their negligent conduct. Enlarging the scope of the petition to cover such incidents that had happened in the past across the country, the PIL petitioner advocate has sought direction to all the State gov- ernments to issue directions and guidelines to prevent stampede or other such incidents at mass religious gatherings. The incidents cited in the PIL included Kumbh Mela stampede in 1954 where around 800 persons lost their lives, the Mecca Masjid stampede of 2007 where 16 were reported dead, the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine deaths in 2022, the deaths during Dussehra celebrations at the Gandhi Maidan in Patna in 2014 and the death of around 104 Sabarimala devotees at Pulmedu in Idukki. “Such incident prima facie depicts the serious condition of responsibility lapse, negligence and unfaithful duty of care towards the public by the government authorities. From the past decade various incidents have taken place in our country wherein due to the mismanagement, lapse in duty, negligent maintenance activities, there have been cases of huge public casualties which could have been avoided yet due to such arbitrary and undone actions have led to such work,” plea has stated. The Hathras event, the reports say, drew a gathering of over two lakh devotees, whereas the permission was only for the assembly of around 80,000 people. Mumbai Police arrest main accused Mihir Shah in Worli hit-and-run case AGENCIES MUMBAI , 9 JULY Mumbai Police on Tuesday arrested Mihir Shah, the main accused in the Worli hit-andrun case in which a woman was killed. Mihir Shah had been absconding since the accident took place and the Mumbai Police had formed 14 teams to arrest Mihir Shah who has been missing since the car he was allegedly driving hit a scooter on Dr Annie Besant Road in Worli. Earlier, Police arrested Rajendra Singh Bidawat and the father of the main accused, Rajesh Shah for their alleged involvement in the Worli hitand-run case that took place on Sunday (7 July). This comes after a BMW car hit a bike in Mumbai's Worli area on Sunday (7 July), resulting in the death of a woman travelling with her husband. Following the tragic incident in the Worli area of Mumbai on Sunday, the husband of a deceased woman, Pradeep Nakhwa questioned the delay in the arrest of the accused Mihir Shah, and said that he dragged his wife from Ceejay House to Sea Link Road. Regarding the delay in the arrest, Nakhwa said it was due to “politics” and asserted that the accused would not be arrested till the Vidhan Sabha session ends. Nakhwa alleged that the accused is not getting arrested because he is the son of a political leader. In an exclusive interview with a news agency, the husband of the deceased woman in the Worli hit-and-run case, Pradeep Nakhwa said, "We were on our daily routine, as we are fishermen and as part of our daily routine, on Sunday at 4 am, we were return- ing through the Peddar Road from the fish hatchery after buying fish. We were driving slowly with a speed of 35-40 km/hr on the side of the road. Suddenly, a car with extreme speed came and hit us, we didn't even realize how fast it was. We flew into the air and dropped on his car's bonnet." "When he put the brake, I fell on the left side of the road while my wife came under the wheels of his vehicle. He didn't stop after that, I tried to stop him but he didn't and dragged her from Ceejay House to Sea Link Road. There was smoke from the wheels when he was dragging my wife. After the incident, he fled from the spot," said Nakhwa. Earlier today, the Excise Department sealed the Vice Global Tapas Bar in Juhu and questioned some of the staff along with the bar owner in the Worli hit-and-run case. CMYK She also directed the task force members to keep a strict vigil on the export of vegetables, especially potatoes and onion to other states and keep a close vigil on West Bengal’s borders. According to CM Banerjee, such products can only be exported to other states after meeting the requirements of West Bengal. On hoarding, the chief minister asked the agriculture department to mobilise the STF, CID, IB and police to rein in hoarding. Tallying the prices of potatoes and onions at this time, previous year, the CM said that onion prices are hovering at Rs 50 per kg. She asked the officers of the state agriculture marketing department to explore the option of procuring onions from the farmers in the state? “Try to explore the option of procuring onion from the onion growers in the state instead of banking heavily on procuring it from Nashik, Maharashtra. As a result it would help in procuring onion at less prices and the farmers of the state would be benefitted,” Miss Banerjee said at the meeting. BCCI confirms Gambhir as India’s new head coach STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 9 JULY STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 83.460.24 Control vegetable prices in retail markets in 10 days, says Mamata PM conferred Russia’s highest civilian award CCPA directs ‘Yatra’ to refund ` 2.5 crore for tickets booked during Covid P12 There is no solution on the battlefield, says PM to Russian President Putin Max. 91 % TEMPERATURE P5 NIFTY 24,433.20112.65 TRYING NOT TO CRY: ANDERSON ‘ARMSTRONG'S MURDERERS WILL BE BROUGHT TO BOOK’ NEW DELHI, 9 JULY appointment of Gambhir in a social media post. “It is with immense pleasure that I welcome Gautam Gambhir as the new head coach of the Indian Cricket Team. Modern-day cricket has evolved rapidly, and Gautam has witnessed this changing landscape up close. Having endured the grind and excelled in various roles throughout his career, I am confident that Gautam is the ideal person to steer Indian cricket forward,” Shah said.