SATURDAY 27 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 EUROPE'S DEFENCE ‘NO ALLIANCE WITH AAP IN DELHI’ P7 SENSEX 81,332.721,292.92 WEATHER Generally cloudy sky. Light to moderate rain / thundershower very likely. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 32 °C and 27 °C respectively. RAINFALL: 0.7mm RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 92 % TEMPERATURE Max: 32.2 °C (-0.4) SUN RISES 05:6 hrs MOON RISES 22:3 hrs P6 NIFTY 24,834.85428.75 P5 GOLD 68,7301,090 ` vs $ 83.72 PM Modi issues stern warning to Pakistan On Kargil Vijay Diwas, PM slams Oppn for politicising Agnipath scheme S P SHARMA Min. 73 % Min: 28.1°C (+1.4) SUN SETS 18:21 hrs MOON SETS 09:53 hrs New Moon on 04 August THUMBNAILS National Cadet Corps (NCC) cadets pay floral tribute to fallen soldiers on the occasion of Kargil Vijay Diwas, in Bikaner on Friday.  ANI NTA issues revised NEET UG results;75 pc drop in toppers from previous result: The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Friday released the revised NEET UG 2024 results, with 17 students achieving a perfect score, marking a 75 per cent drop in the number of toppers from the earlier declared results.In the results announced on June 4, a record 67 candidates had scored a perfect 720 marks, tying for the (Page 5) top spot. JAMMU, 26 JULY rime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday accused the Opposition parties of politicising the Agnipath scheme of recruitment to the armed forces and said they are deliberately misleading the youth on the issue. Amid the surge in terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, Mr Modi also issued a stern warning to Pakistan and said India would defeat every terror challenge. As the nation marked the 25th KargilVijay Diwas, the PM on Friday paid homage to the bravehearts who made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty during the Kargil war at the Drass War Memorial in Ladakh. The PM also set off the first blast of the Shinkun La Tunnel Project in Ladakh virtually today. The Shinkun La Tunnel Project consists of a 4.1 km long twin-tube tunnel to be constructed at around 15,800 feet on the Nimu–Padum–Darcha P PM Narendra Modi pays tribute to the heroes of the Kargil War on the occasion of the 25th Kargil Vijay Diwas at the Kargil War Memorial in Kargil, Ladakh, on Friday.  ANI Road to provide all-weather connectivity to Leh. Reacting to the criticism of the Opposition on the Agnipath scheme, Mr Modi said some people are also spreading the misconception that the government has launched this scheme to save pension money. “The question of pension for today's recruits will arise after 30 years. Why would the government take a decision on it today? It should have left it for the governments of that time. We have respected this decision taken by the armed forces because for us, national security is paramount, not politics," he said. “The Agnipath scheme is also an example of the necessary reforms carried out by the Army,” he said. “Some people used to think that the Army means saluting politicians, doing parades but for us, the Army means the faith of 140 crore countrymen. The goal of Agnipath is to make the Army young, to keep the Army continuously fit for war. Unfortunately, some people have made such a sensitive issue related to national security a subject of politics. These are the same people who weakened our Army by committing scams worth thousands of crores in the purchase of military equipment,” he said. The Prime Minister added that those misleading the youth of the nation today had no regard for the armed forces in the past. Speaking about the Kargil war, the PM said: “In Kargil, we not only won the war, we presented an incredible example of ‘truth, restraint and strength’.” The Prime Minister threw light on Pakistan’s deceit at the time when India was making all efforts to maintain peace. “Falsehood and terror were brought down to their knees by truth,” Mr Modi added. Condemning terrorism, the PM said that Pakistan has always faced defeat in the past.“Pakistan has not learnt anything from its past and has continued to wage war in the garb of terrorism and proxy wars to stay relevant,” he continued. The Prime Minister asserted that the nefarious intentions of terrorists will never be fulfilled. “Our Bravehearts will trample all the terror attempts,” he added. SC notice to Bengal, ASEAN cornerstone of India’s Act East Policy, says EAM Jaishankar Kerala Governors on long-pending Bills STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 26 JULY PARMOD KUMAR NEW DELHI, 26 JULY The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the West Bengal and Kerala Governors’ offices on two separate pleas by the two states contending that the Governors were sitting on the Bills passed by the respective state legislatures and sent to them for assent a long-time ago. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra issued notice to the Additional Chief Secretary, to the West Bengal Governor and the Central government. A similar notice was issued to the Additional Chief Secretary to the Kerala Governor and the Central government on the Kerala government’s petition. The top court allowed three weeks’ time to reply to the notice. Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the West Bengal government, told the bench that whenever it hears a similar matter, some Bills are cleared. He also mentioned that similar things happened in the Tamil Nadu matter as well. Senior Advocate KK Venugopal, representing the Kerala government, said that the Bills are pending for eight months and that the state is challenging reference of the pending Bills to the President. The petition filed by advocate Astha Sharma for the West Bengal government states that the Governor was withholding assent to eight Bills and this was affecting the people of the state for whose welfare the Bills were passed. The Bengal government has urged the top court to declare that the inaction, omission, delay and failure to comply with the constitutional mandate by the Governor C V Ananda Bose, is unconstitutional, illegal, arbitrary, unreasonable, and malafide exercise of power. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is the cornerstone of India's Act East Policy and its IndoPacific vision, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar said on Friday. In his remarks at the opening session of the ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in the Laos capital of Vientiane, the minister said the priority that India attaches to ASEAN and East Asia Summit (EAS) platforms is evident from Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting Jakarta last year on the eve of the G20 Summit hosted by India. Mr Jaishankar said Prime Minister Modi had announced a 12-point plan that has been largely acted upon. “For India, ASEAN is the cornerstone of its Act East Policy and the Indo-Pacific vision that was thereafter built on it. For us, political, economic and security cooperation with ASEAN is of the utmost priority. “So too are peopleto-people linkages, that we are constantly seeking to expand. It is encouraging to note that our partnership acquires ever more dimensions with each passing year. While our achievements are substantial, our ambitions must always remain high,” he said.As the Philippines will take over as the next country coordinator, Mr Jaishankar said he looked forward to working closely with the Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines, Enrique Manalo. He congratulated Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR) for the chairmanship of ASEAN. "I extend our fullest support for the successful chairmanship to Lao PDR. I also thank our colleague and Lao PDR for the warm welcome and hospitality.”“I welcome Minister Bendito Freitas of Timor-Leste as an Observer in this meeting, as well. Last year, Prime Minister Modi announced that we will open an Embassy in Dili. We are proceeding to do so very shortly and in fact will be undertaking high-level visits there as well," the minister said. The ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference with India was convened in Vientiane on Friday and attended by the ASEAN Foreign Ministers, Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar and the Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN Political-Security Community Dato' Astanah Abdul Aziz. Timor-Leste attended as an Observer. The meeting reaffirmed both sides' commitment to further enhance the ASEANIndia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) in the coming years by continuing the robust implementation of the ASEAN-India Plan of Action and its Annex and develop its successor document which will guide both sides in realising the full potential of the CSP in the next five years. Paris on partial lockdown ahead of Olympic Games opening S S RAMASWAMY PARIS, 26 JULY The world’s fashion capital went into a partial lockdown mode from Friday morning ahead of the evening’s Olympic Games grand opening on the River Seine. This is the first time in the 128-year history of the modern games, conceptualized by French Baron Pierre de Coubertein, that the ceremonial opening of the Olympics is being held outside the main stadium. Ahead of what promises to be a unique experience for Parisians and for the rest of the world watching the television broadcast, this City of Light has imposed a lot of restrictions for the common public to move around in the city. This city is served by an exhaustive public transport system consisting main- Indian Olympic Association President P. T. Usha poses for a picture with athletes during her visit to the athletes' village, in Paris on Thursday.  ANI ly of metro train services (more than a dozen routes), trams, buses and RER (double decker fast trains). Today, public announcements were made for commuters to alight at certain midway metro points and take a circular route to their respective designations that also included, on occasions, long walks of more than a kilometre. Security has also been ramped up with around 45,000 police personnel deployed, as per news reports. For the four-hour long opening ceremony the Indian Olympic Association has chosen veteran paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal, in his fifth appearance in the sports spec- SKY-GAMBHIR COMBO LOOK TO BEGIN STINT WITH WIN IN FIRST T20I BLATANT LIE: KHARGE ON PM DEFENDING AGNIPATH SCHEME tacle, and star shuttler P V Sindhu, two-time medal winner and participating in her third Olympics, as the country’s flag bearers. Sindhu will not only be bidding for another medal but is aspiring to join the short list of the country’s individual Olympic gold medallists – shooter Abhinav Bindra (who won the gold in 2008 in Beijing) and javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra who won the historic gold in athletics three years ago in Tokyo and is bidding to repeat the feat here. Sindhu and Chopra are among the 117 athletes, comprising 70 men and 47 women, who are taking part in these Games. They would be seen in action in 16 sports disciplines. Tennis doubles expert Rohan Bopanna is the oldest Indian participant at 44 while swimmer Dhinidi Desinghu is the youngest at the age of 14. A total of 29 track and field competitors corner the lion’s share of the 117-strong list of Indian athletes here. India’s medal hunt began yesterday in archery with India making it to the next round of men’s and women’s team events through individual ranking rounds. Tomorrow on Day 1 of the Games, Indians are scheduled to be seen in badminton, tennis, men’s hockey, shooting, rowing, table tennis and boxing. Shooting, which provided the country its third individual medal in Athens 2004 through Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, is being held well outside the city. A total of 21 men and women shooters have qualified for the Games competition and there are significant hopes of a decent medal haul from the range. CMYK SILVER 84,500 P12 BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 79.070.88 Mamata to attend NITI Aayog meet, raise issue of financial deprivation STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, 26 JULY Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday flew to New Delhi, where she will attend the meeting of the Governing Council of the NITI Aayog scheduled to be held on Saturday. Miss Banerjee, speaking to mediapersons before boarding her flight to New Delhi, confirmed that she will be attending the NITI Aayog meeting. “On one hand there is financial deprivation and on the other hand, there is a conspiracy to divide West Bengal. I will be attending the Niti Aayog Meeting to raise my voice of dissent on both these issues,” Miss Banerjee said. Trinamul Congress all India general secretary and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee is also accompanying her. Miss Banerjee said: “I cannot accept the way opposition states have been deprived in the Budget. There is economic and political blockade, and I strongly condemn the plan to divide the country. Ministers are talking about dividing Bengal in Parliament! Not only that, but various sources indicate that many of their party leaders are making different statements about dividing Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, and Bengal. I strongly condemn this. Dividing Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, and Bengal means dividing the entire country. We do not support this.” The chief minister said she would attend the NITI Aayog meeting to protest against the demand to divide Bengal. “I will stay at the meeting for a while. If given a chance, I will speak; otherwise, I will protest. I will speak for Bengal,” she said. Miss Banerjee was referring to recent statements by various BJP leaders, including Union minister Sukanta Majumdar, for making north Bengal a part of the North-East, or hiving off parts of the state as Union Territories. After reaching New Delhi, Miss Banerjee met Sunita Kejriwal, wife of jailed Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, at the Kejriwal residence. During the meeting, Miss Banerjee expressed her concern about the health of the Delhi CM. Several chief ministers from the Opposition INDIA bloc are boycotting tomorrow’s meeting of the NITI Aayog Governing Council, to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, including the CMs of of Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and Himachal Pradesh. Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren was also expected to boycott the meeting. However, Miss Banerjee said on Friday that Mr Soren might attend the meeting. She said: “As far as I know, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren will also be there. We will protest together.” Earlier, there was speculation about whether Miss Banerjee would attend the NITI Aayog meeting after most nonBJP chief ministers decided to boycott it. On Thursday, Congress leader KC Venugopal said: “I believe Mamata Banerjee will not attend the NITI Aayog meeting like the Congress and other Opposition party chief ministers.” However, a Trinamul source said there was some dissatisfaction within the INDIA bloc about Congress’s “unilateral” decision to boycott the NITI Aayog meeting. If the boycott decision had been taken collectively, the whole matter could have been smoother. Additionally, it is necessary to present the facts about how Bengal is being deprived. It is also essential to raise the issue of the ongoing talk about dividing Bengal, the source said. Kanwar Yatra: SC extends stay on U’khand, MP, UP directives PARMOD KUMAR NEW DELHI, 26 JULY The Supreme Court on Friday extended its 22 July order staying the directives issued by the Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh governments requiring the owners of eateries along the Kan- war Yatra routes to display their names outside such shops. A Bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti granted time to the Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh governments to file their responses on the matter. Meanwhile, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing the Uttar Pradesh government, told the court that regulations under the Food and Safety Standards Act, 2006, requires that every food seller must display their names outside such outlets. He said the court’s interim order staying the directive to display the names of the owners was contrary to the Central law.