TUESDAY 30 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 REVANTH REPLIES ON BJP’S NTPC CHARGE P4 SENSEX 81,355.84 Generally cloudy sky. Rain / thundershower very likely to occur. Maximum and Minimum Temperature most likely to be around 32°C and 27°C respectively. RAINFALL: 003.3 mm RELATIVE HUMIDITY DJOKOVIC THUMPS KING OF CLAY TO ENTER THIRD ROUND P10 ` vs $ 83.73 GOLD 71,295.00 P12 SILVER 85,000 BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 80.12 Will resist division of Bengal at any cost, says CM Mamata CM also ruled out the possibility of supporting any move to share water from the Teesta Max. 95% Min. 69% Max:32.7 °C(+0.1) SUN RISES 05:07 hrs MOON RISES 19:25 hrs Min: 28.2°C (+1.5) SUN SETS 18:19 hrs MOON SETS 12:59 hrs TEMPERATURE P5 NIFTY 24,836.10 WEATHER ‘GOVT TO RESOLVE ALL ISSUES RAISED BY LEGISLATORS IN HOUSE’ TIES WITH CHINA NOT DOING WELL: JAISHANKAR STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Moon on 04 August THUMBNAILS Kanwariyas (devotees of Lord Shiva) gather to collect water from the Ganga river for their 'Kanwar Yatra' on a Monday of Shravan Month, in Haridwar.  ANI HC sentences former APSC chairman to 14 years in prison: In a landmark judgment, the Gauhati High Court has sentenced former Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) chairman Rakesh Paul to 14 years of imprisonment and fined him Rs 2 lakh for his involvement in a cash-for-job scam related to the appointment of agricultural development officers in Assam. KOLKATA, 29 JULY hief minister Mamata Banerjee today hit out at the Centre for its alleged bid to divide Bengal and said it would not succeed in its bid as the state would do everything possible to defeat their alleged plot in the bud. Addressing the Assembly today, Miss Banerjee on Saturday had alleged that she was not allowed to speak at the meeting and her microphone was switched off, today took on the BJP on a series of discriminations and deprivations by the centre including its alleged bid to divide the state. On BJP leaders, including its MLAs, demanding division of north Bengal, Miss Banerjee said , “A conspiracy had been hatched by the BJP to divide Bengal. Different leaders of that party are speaking in different voices from time to time. Some are saying separate Cooch Behar, while another is rooting for creating another state comprising Malda and Murshidabad. Voting in the House should be introduced to decide on the issue.” Upping her ante further, the chief minister said, “BJP talks of division of state every time when the election comes. If they are brave, they should take part in the C voting in the Assembly to know what the people of the state want.” Taking a swipe at the Centre, Miss Banerjee further said that the state was continued to be dis- criminated against by the Centre. It did not give anything to the state despite the BJP winning a number of seats from north Bengal. “Bihar, Assam have received funds from the Centre for floods but Bengal did not receive anything,” she said. She held DVC responsible for the floods in the state and termed it being a “Man-made” flood. “If dredging is pursued properly, capacity of storage of water could be increased and also would help in reducing the incidents of flood.” She also proposed that a joint Indo-Bhutan river commission should be set up. “I have already said in the meeting of NITI Ayog on Saturday. A parliamentary team from here would meet the Union irrigation minister and our party leaders in Delhi too would join to lend support,” the chief minister said. The chief minister also ruled out the possibility of the state supporting any move to share water from the Teesta. “The former chief minister, Jyoti Basu was invited during the signing of the accord earlier, but I was not invited. No way would we allow sharing of water from Teesta for which the people of north Bengal will suffer,” Miss Banerjee said. Earlier today, state minister for water resources investigation Manas Bhunia today introduced a “censure” motion at the start of the day's session against the way the chief minister had to leave the NITI Ayog meeting allegedly due to misconduct. PM to address inaugural session of CII post-Budget conference STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 29 JULY Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the inaugural session of 'Journey Towards Viksit Bharat: A Post Union Budget 2024-25 Conference' at Vigyan Bhawan here on Tuesday. Modi will address the inaugural session of the conference at noon. According to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the conference is being organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and is aimed at presenting the outline for Caste Census, legal MSP or paper leak not in Budget, says Rahul SC refuses to stay Patna HC decision striking down hike in quota in Bihar STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 29 JULY NEW DELHI, 29 JULY Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Monday created quite a flutter in the House stating the Union Budget 2024-25 perpetuated a system that denied justice to 73 per cent of Indian society comprising Dalits, adivasis and backwards, and made no mention of a Caste Census which could bring out their status. Participating in the resumed discussion on the Budget, he said the whole country wants the Caste Census; “95 per cent of the country wants a Caste Census, Dalit, Adivasis, backwards want it, poor in the general category and the minorities want it; all of them want to know what is their share in the population and what are they getting.” Mr Gandhi said his expectation was this Budget would favour farmers, youth, labour and small businesses, but this was nowhere evident. He said the Budget “Halwa” ceremony picture had no Dalits or backwards and this also proved the Budget’s sweetness was meant for just a few. Mr Gandhi said the MSMEs which gave most of the jobs, the government’s policies attacked them first through demonetization, then with GST and tax calls. Small businesses get calls during the nights from income tax and GST and they are subjected to tax pressures, and nothing has been done to check this. MHA forms panel to probe Delhi coaching centre deaths STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 29 JULY Following the tragic incident at a coaching centre in Delhi's Old Rajinder Nagar, the Ministry of Home Affairs has constituted a committee to inquire into the mishap. According to the MHA, the committee will inquire into the reasons, fix responsibility, suggest measures and recommend policy changes regarding the matter. The said committee will have an Additional Secretary of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Principal Secretary (Home), Delhi Government, a Special Commissioner of Delhi Police, Fire Advisor and a Joint Secretary, MHA as its convener. The committee will submit its report in 30 days, the MHA added. The spokesperson of the ministry took to social media platform X on Monday and wrote," MHA has constituted a committee to inquire into the unfortunate incident at a coaching centre in old Rajinder Nagar in New Delhi. The committee will inquire into the reasons, fix responsibility, suggest measures and recommend policy changes." "The committee will have Additional Secretary, MoUHA, Principal Secretary (Home), Delhi Govt, Special CP Delhi , Police, Fire Advisor and JS, MHA as Convener. It will submit its report in 30 days," the official added. This comes in wake of the tragic incident where water flooding into the basement of a coaching centre resulted in death of three civil services aspirants. So far, the Delhi Police have arrested seven persons in connection with the case. He said the policies initiated during the Covid period discriminated between the big business and small businesses and because of which none can get jobs in the country today. The Budget talks of an internship programme which appears to be a joke. This would apply to only 500 big companies which is not going to benefit 99 per cent of India’s youth. This is just like a band-aid for a serious injury. Mr Gandhi said the main issue today is the exam leak, “wherever we go, we hear this.” PARMOD KUMAR There have been paper leaks 70 times in 10 years. There is no mention of this problem and the Budget has given the lowest allocation of 2.5 per cent for education. “You have entrapped soldiers in the Agniveer chakravyuh; not a Rupee has been given for the Agniveers’ pension,” he said. The farmers tried to come out of the systemic“chakravyuh” which was laid for them through the three “Black” laws, weakening of the land acquisition law. They tried to save themselves and wanted a legally guaranteed MSP The Budget does . not give this, he said. “We are going to break this chakrvayuh of yours which is hurting crores of people and we will break it and this will be done by Caste Census. Just as I said the INDIA formation will get passed in this House a legally guaranteed MSP we , will get the Caste Census passed in this House,” Mr Gandhi said. The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the Patna High Court order, which set aside the State government's amendments to Bihar Reservation of Vacancies in Posts and Services (Amendment) Act, 2023, and The Bihar (In admission in Educational Institutions) Reservation (Amendment) Act, 2023, increasing reservation for Backward Classes, Extremely Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in jobs and educational institutions from the existing 50 per cent to 65 per cent. Refusing to stay the High Court order, a bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra posted the matter for detailed hearing in September. Appearing for the Bihar Government, Senior Advocate Shyam Divan urged the court to stay the High Court decision and mentioned a similar case of Chhattisgarh whereby the top court had stayed the order of the concerned High Court in the matter. However, the bench was not persuaded to put on hold the High Court order setting aside the increase in the reservation. Senior Advocate Aparajita Singh appeared for the respondent Youth for Equality. Senior advocate V Eswaraiah represented the All-India Backward Classes Federation in the hearing. Patna High Court in June had set aside the Bihar Reservation of Vacancies in Posts and Services (Amendment) Act, 2023, and The Bihar (In admission in Educational Institutions) Reservation (Amendment) Act, 2023 as ultra vires and violative of the equality clauses under Articles 14, 15 and 16. The Bihar legislature had in 2023 amended both Acts and increased the reservation from 50 per cent to 65 per cent in jobs and higher educational institutions. Based on the findings of the caste survey in the state, the state gover nment increased the quota for SC to 20 per cent, Scheduled Tribes to two per cent, Extremely Backward Classes to 25 per cent, and Backward Class to 18 per cent. Notably, at that time Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United was a part of the Mahagathbandhan, comprising Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress party. Idea behind Special Lok Adalat is to settle small cases: CJI AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 29 JULY The Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud, said on Monday that the idea behind the six-day Special Lok Adalat, which started on Monday, is to settle small cases, while senior advocate Kapil Sibal ter med it a histor ic day. "The Lok Adalat is being held throughout this week by the seven benches of the Supreme Court. Our experience today was a resounding success. Lok Adalat, which has the cooperation of the bar, judges of the Supreme Court and extensive groundwork that has been done by the high courts, state governments and insurance companies. The idea is to settle small cases. People do not realise how small cases come before the Supreme Court," the CJI told a news agency. Giving an illustration of a few cases coming to the Lok Adalat, CJI said, "So we chose cases involving service disputes, labour disputes, land acquisition cases, motor accident claim cases, cheque dishonour cases..." "Parties were contacted in advance by the district legal service authorities. They had pre-Lok Adalat sittings, which have helped facilitate the settlements," CJI said. Speaking about the significance of the Lok Adalat, CJI said, "The presence of the members of the Bar as part of the Lok Adalat panel along with the judges has sent the right message across society that though the Bar and the Judges are on two different sides normally in Court proceedings, we are stakeholders who are united in our efforts to do justice, particularly to citizens involved in these small cases." Referring to a case, the CJI said, " "I remember a case in which the husband had filed divorce proceedings in Patiala House Court and his wife had filed maintenance proceedings and filed for the custody of the children. Both of them came together in the pre-Lok Adalat sitting and both decided CMYK that they would live together. So when both of them came before the Lok Adalat court, I asked them, they said that they have decided to live together happily. The wife said that I do not want maintenance because we are living together very happily." Terming it as a historic day, senior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal congratulated CJI for taking this initiative. "I think it's a historic day. Never before in the history of this Court has the Court reached out to those people for small matters that linger on for years.". He added, "It shows the mindset of the Court as to how they want to reach out to the poorest of the poor who can't afford to deal with this litigation for years, reach out to the district-level legal services authority, try and have them resolved, and then send it here for the final resolution of those matters. I must congratulate the Chief Justice and the entire Supreme Court for taking this effort forward..." With the aim of bringing down the backlog of cases pending before the Supreme Court, the apex court has begun its five-day special Lok Adalat from Monday. Organising the Lok Adalat to commemorate the 75th year of its establishment, the apex court is organising Lok Adalat from July 29 to August 3. The top court had encouraged citizens to take part in the Lok Adalat to resolve disputes voluntarily and amicably. The Special Lok Adalat is to be held every day after 2 pm and will have two Supreme Court judges, along with a senior advocate, and one Advocate-on-Record to hear the case. Litigants will also be there in the court for their cases. the Government's larger vision for growth and industry’s role in this endeavour. More than 1000 participants from Industry, Government, Diplomatic community, Think tanks among others will attend the conference in person while many would connect from the various CII centres across the country and overseas. Earlier in his post budget message, Modi had said, "The budget for Viksit Bharat ensures inclusive growth, benefiting every segment of society and paving the way for a developed India." No country should dominate others: Quad’s strong stand against China STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 29 JULY While expressing concern over the situation in the East and South China Seas where Beijing continues to threaten its neighbours, the foreign ministers of four Quad nations on Monday emphasized the importance of maintaining and upholding freedom of navigation and overflight, other lawful uses of the sea, and unimpeded commerce consistent with international law. The foreign ministers of India, Australia, Japan and the United States, who met in Tokyo, reiterated the need for a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in Ukraine in line with international law and called for peace and stability in West Asia while reaffirming the imperative of securing the release of all hostages held by Hamas in the ongoing conflict in the region. In his remarks at the Quad foreign ministers' press conference, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the Quad grouping is not a talk shop but a platform that generates practical outcomes. “The overall messaging is that our four countries – all democratic polities, pluralistic societies and market economies – are working together for a free and open Indo-Pacific, for a rules-based order and for global good. That by itself is a powerful stabilising factor in an uncertain and volatile world,” he said. With regards to the IndoPacific, the joint statement said all countries have a role in contributing to regional peace, stability, & prosperity, while seeking a region in which no country dominates and no country is dominated, competition is managed responsibly, and each country is free from coercion in all its forms and can exercise its agency to determine its own future. “We emphasize the importance of all countries working to take practical measures to reduce the risks of misunderstanding and miscalculation,” it added.