THURSDAY 08 AUGUST 2024 www.thestatesman.com X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 Pages 14 |` 5.00|LC KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR GOYAL EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER BANGLADESH AUTOCRAT GOES, BUT HAVE ANARCHISTS STEPPED IN? P10 P7 SENSEX 79,468.01p874.94 WEATHER Generally cloudy sky. Light to moderate rain / thundershower very likely to occur.Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 31 °C and 27 °C respectively. RAINFALL: 1.3 mm RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 94 % NIFTY 24,297.50p304.95 P5 GOLD 69,2370q440 ` vs $ 83.44 The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has lodged a 'strong protest' with the United World Wrestling (UWW) over the disqualification of Indian ace wrestler Vinesh Phogat from the Paris Olympics, Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya informed the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. The Union Sports Minister further informed the House that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked Indian Olympic Association President PT Usha to take "necessary action" in this issue. Making a statement in the Lok Sabha, Mandaviya said, "Today her (Vinesh Phogat) weight was found 50 kg 100 grams and she was disqualified. The Indian Olympic Association has lodged a strong protest with the United World Wrestling (UWW). IOA President PT Usha is in Paris, the Prime Minister spoke to her and asked her to take necessary action." He informed the House that the Centre has provided every facility to Vinesh Phogat including personal staff. The Opposition, however, was dissatisfied with Mandaviya's statement and walked out from the Lok Sabha. Vinesh missed the weight cut by a little over 100 grams during the weighin, leading to her disqualification. “It is with regret that the Indian contingent shares news of the disqualification of Vinesh Phogat from the women’s wrestling 50kg class. Despite the best efforts by the team through the night, she weighed a few grams over 50kg this morning. No further comments will be made by the contingent at this time,” a statement from the Indian contingent read. “The Indian team requests you to respect Vinesh’s privacy. It would like to focus on the competitions on hand,” it further read. This is not the first instance when Vinesh has encountered problems in meeting the weight requirements for the 50 kg category, a division lower than her usual 53kg class. Earlier, during the Olympic qualifiers, the grappler faced a similar challenge where she barely managed to qualify. According to reliable sources in the Indian contingent, the grappler in a desperate attempt to shed the extra weight, spent the entire night engaging in various activities, such as jogging, skipping and cycling. Despite spending a sleepless night, and the relentless efforts, Vinesh failed to get rid of the extra weight, and was found to be a few grams over the required limit. The Indian contingent made an earnest appeal for an extension, hoping to provide her with a final opportunity to lose weight. However, their requests were denied by the organisers. As per the competition rules, the disqualification means Phogat will finish last in the 50 kg standings, and return empty-handed from a third straight Olympics. While Phogat successfully made the weight (49.90 kg) for the bouts on Tuesday, the rules state that wrestlers must maintain their body weight within the required limits throughout the entire competition. (See also Page 14) STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 7 AUGUST Full Moon on 19 August THUMBNAILS Wrestler Vinesh Phogat carries a dejected look after being disqualified from the Women’s Wrestling 50kg for being 100 grams overweight during the Olympic Games Paris 2024, in Paris on Wednesday. n ANI TRIDIB BAPARNASH NEW DELHI, 7 AUGUST I n a shocking turn of events, wrestler Vinesh Phogat was on Wednesday disqualified from the Paris Olympics after being found overweight ahead of the women’s 50kg final. Cuba’s Yusneylis Guzman Lopez, who lost to Vinesh in the semi-final, has been named as the Indian’s replacement for the gold medal bout against USA’s Sarah Hildebrandt. “Vinesh failed the second day's weigh-in. According to Article 11 of the International Wrestling Rules, Vinesh will be replaced by the wrestler who lost against her in the Semifinal. Therefore Yusneylis Guzman Lopez (Cuba) will compete in the final,” said the organisers in an official statement. The statement said that the repechage bout between top-seeded Japanese wrestler Yui Susaki, who lost her first-ever international bout to Vinesh in the opening round, and Ukraine’s Oksana Livach, who suffered a 5-7 defeat against the Indian in the quarterfinals, will now be a bronze medal match. Vinesh had on Tuesday scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman wrestler to reach the gold medal bout at the Olympics. However, on the day of her gold medal bout, Bangladesh interim government will be sworn in today THE DAILY STAR/ANN DHAKA, 7 AUGUST Bangladesh Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman said today that the interim government, headed by Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus, will be sworn in tomorrow.During a press conference this afternoon, General Waker said the interim government is likely to be sworn in at 8:00 p.m. tomorrow. He also said the advisory council may have 15 members. The army chief hoped normalcy would return within three-four days as the situation across the country is improving significantly. Those who were involved in the crimes committed over the past few days will not spared and legal action would be taken against them, he said. He said the air force and navy chief are with him and they are working together. He also said he spoke to Prof Muhammad Yunus. "I felt very good talking to him. It seemed to me that he is very eager to do this job. I am certain he will be successful in taking us to a democratic process, and that we will benefit from it,” said General Waker-Uz-Zaman. The country is facing uncertainty after the resignation and flight of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on 5 August in the face of a mass uprising against her and her Awami League government. In the mob violence and rioting that followed, at least 142 people died across the country. Her resignation followed around three weeks of violence that had its origins in the students' demand for reform to the quota system in public service jobs. Between 16 July and today, over 400 people, as far as can be confirmed, have been killed in violent clashes. (See also Page 9) Indian mission in Bangladesh remains functional, non-essential staff returns STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 7 AUGUST The Indian High Commission in Dhaka remained functional while non-essential staffers at the mission are voluntarily returning to India on commercial flights along with their families, sources said on Wednesday. “The High Commission is functional and all Indian diplomats continue to remain in Dhaka,” sources said, adding the return of nonessential staff has taken place on a voluntary basis. This comes two days after Sheikh Hasina resigned as Bangladesh's prime minister Removal of indexation for simplification, not revenue considerations , says FM Sitharaman STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 7 AUGUST The Finance Bill 2024 was passed in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, with an amendment relaxing the recently introduced capital gains tax on real estate, allowing tax payers the option to switch to a new lower tax rate without indexation benefits, or stick to the old regime that had higher rate with indexation benefit. Earlier, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the government's decision to remove indexation benefits from real estate and lower the long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax from 20 per cent to 12.5 per cent was not due to revenue consideration but as a simplification. The government on Tuesday moved an amendment BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 82.43q0.24 IOA lodged ‘strong protest’ with United World Wrestling, govt tells Parliament Min: 27.3˚C (+0.8) SUN SETS 18:14 hrs MOON SETS 20:6 hrs CBI takes over probe into UPSC aspirantsÊ death in Rajinder Nagar, files FIR: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has taken over the probe into the death of civil services aspirants, which occurred after flooding in a coaching centre’s basement in Old Rajinder Nagar last month, sources said.The central probe agency filed an FIR in the matter on Tuesday, taking over the investigation from the Delhi Police.On 2 August, the High Court ordered the transfer of the investigation to the central agency. According to sources, the central probe agency has registered its FIR with suspected offences, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder, causing death by negligence, voluntarily causing hurt, negligent conduct regarding building construction or repairs, and common intention. SILVER 82,000q5,500 National heartbreak: Wrestler disqualified after being found overweight before final Min. 76 % A girl lights a candle during a candlelight prayer for peace and harmony in Bangladesh amid the current turmoil outside Victoria Memorial Hall in Kolkata on Wednesday n BISWAJIT GHOSHAL P14 Vinesh Phogat disqualified ahead of gold medal bout TEMPERATURE Max: 31.4˚C (-0.6) SUN RISES 05:11 hrs MOON RISES 07:25 hrs SREEJESH DEFENDS HARMANPREET AFTER INDIA’S LOSS MAHA ASSEMBLY POLLS: UDDHAV MEETS TOP CONG LEADERS IN DELHI allowing long-term capital gains taxes on property purchases made before 23 July, 2024, to be calculated under the new 12.5 per cent rate without indexation or the old 20 per cent rate with indexation and allowing taxpayers to choose the more favourable option. “The amendment gives a choice to taxpayers to now they can calculate and see what works better for them.The current amendment ensures that there will be no additional tax burden on people,” Mrs Sitharaman said in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. “We heard the people,” she added. “The logic of the budgetary proposal on capital gains is that it has to be simplified and to treat all asset classes equally,” the minister added. Under the amendment, taxpayers can compute tax on assets acquired before 23 July under the old scheme with indexation or under the new scheme and pay the lower tax, she said, adding that amendments in the Budget are brought in even later so that it is representative of common people's aspirations. Under the new scheme, taxpayers can pay a lower tax rate of 12.5 per cent on the capital gains from the sale of property without adjusting the purchase price for inflation (indexation). With the 20 per cent LTCG rate with indexation, taxpayers can pay a higher tax rate of 20 per cent, but they can adjust the property's purchase price for inflation using the Cost Inflation Index provided by the Central Board of Direct Taxes. This adjustment can significantly reduce the taxable capital gains and, consequently, the tax liability. In the Union Budget, Mrs Sitharaman announced the withdrawal of indexation benefits from real estate and lowered the long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax from 20 per cent to 12.5 per cent. and fled to India amid nationwide protests against her government. The Indian High Commission in Dhaka has already issued an advisory asking the Indian community and students to avoid local travel and minimise their movement outside their living premises. Besides the high commission, India has assistant high commissions in Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna and Sylhet. On Tuesday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told that the situation in Bangladesh is still evolving and India is in touch with its citizens there to ensure their safety. PM Modi to visit landslide-hit Wayanad on Sat STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 7 AUGUST Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the landslide-hit Wayanad district on Saturday. He will arrive at the Kannur International Airport in a special flight and then head to Wayanad in a helicopter. According to reports, PM Modi will take stock of the situation in the landslide-hit Chooralmala and Mundakkai areas in Wayanad. After visiting the landslide-hit areas, the PM is expected to visit a few relief camps where over 10,000 people are currently sheltered. Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan and state Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan are expected to accompany PM Modi. EC announces bypolls to 12 RS seats in 9 states STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 7 AUGUST The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday announced the schedule for by-election to 12 Rajya Sabha seats in Assam, Bihar, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tripura, Telangana and Odisha. The by-election to 12 seats in Upper House in nine states were necessitated following election of 10 members to the 18th Lok Sabha and two others due to resignation. Among the members who tendered their resignation after their election as a member of the Lower House are Union Ministers Sarbananda Sonowal and Jyotiraditya Scindia, former Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb and senior Congress leader KC Venugopal. According to a communiqué issued by the ECI, polling for these 12 Rajya Sabha seats in nine states will be held on 3 September. The notification for the poll would be issued on 14 August. The last date of filing of nomination is 21 August and the date of scrutiny is 22 August, it said. The last date for withdrawal of candidature for Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tripura is 26 August , while for Bihar, Haryana, Rajasthan, Telangana and Odisha is 27August. The counting of votes will take place on 3 September after the polling. The date before which the election should be completed is 6 September. The ECI said it has directed that for the purpose of marking preference(s) on the ballot paper, only integrated violet colour sketch pen(s) of prefixed specification, provided by the Returning Officer, shall be used.