SATURDAY 24 AUGUST 2024 www.thestatesman.com X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 Pages 12 |` 5.00|LC KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR KAMALA HARRIS ACCEPTS NOMINATION ‘NDA BOUND TO CRUMBLE’ P7 SENSEX 81,086.21p33.02 WEATHER Generally cloudy sky. Light to moderate rain / thundershower very likely to occur. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 30 °C and 26°C respectively. RAINFALL: 14.2mm RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 98 % NIFTY ‘MGNREGA'S PRESENT STATE LIVING MONUMENT OF MODI'S BETRAYAL’ P9 24,823.15p11.65 P5 GOLD 72,650q220 ` vs $ 83.93 Ukraine-Russia need to engage to end war: PM TEMPERATURE Max: 28.4˚C (-3.6) SUN RISES 05:17 hrs MOON RISES 20:38 hrs Min: 26.8˚C (+0.4) SUN SETS 18:2 hrs MOON SETS 08:43 hrs New Moon on 03 September THUMBNAILS Farmer Union members hold a protest against the Centre at the Punjab-Haryana border in Patiala on Friday. n ANI Indian UAV on training mission drifts into Pak due to technical snag: An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of the Indian Army drifted into Pakistan's Nikial Sector due to some technical snag during a training mission on Friday morning, where the Pakistani troops recovered it. "The mini-UAV on a training mission drifted into the Pakistan-controlled Nikial Sector, opposite our Bhimber Gali Sector in the Poonch district," a defence spokesman said. P rime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held detailed discussions with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the Russia-Ukraine conflict and reiterated the need for sincere and practical engagement among all stakeholders to work out “innovative solutions,” with broad acceptability for early restoration of peace. During his day-long visit to Ukraine, the Prime Minister had long discussions with President Zelenskyy on various issues, including bilateral relations and trade, but the two leaders spent most of their time together discussing the conflict situation. Mr Modi hugged Mr Zelenskyy when the two met. The two leaders expressed readiness for further cooperation in upholding principles of international law, including the UN Charter, such as respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty of states, and agreed on the desirability of closer bilateral Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy honour the memory of children at the Exposition 'Martyrologist', in Kyiv on Friday.n ANI dialogue in this regard. External affairs minister S Jaishankar, briefing media on the PM’s engagements in Kyiv, said this was the first visit of an Indian PM to Ukraine since diplomatic relations were established between the two countries in 1992. He said the two leaders had convivial and constructive discussions. Much of their talks were on the war, he said. Mr Modi has already spelt out India’s position that this was not an era of war, Mr Jaishankar said. India’s essential message was India was willing to do “whatever we can” to achieve the objective of ending the war, he said. Any exercise for peace to be productive will have to involve both sides, is the Indian view, he said. During his talks with President Zelenskyy, Mr Modi shared the widespread sentiments in the global South about the repercussions of the conflict for them. The PM shared with India & US are natural allies, says Rajnath STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 23 AUGUST India and the United States constitute a formidable force that can ensure peace, prosperity, and stability in the world, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said while interacting with the Indian diaspora in Washington after arriving in the USA on Thursday on a four-day visit. He described India and the USA as natural allies, destined to be strong partners. Mr Singh asserted that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India’s stature has grown on the global stage. “Earlier, India’s words at international fora were not heeded; but today, the whole world listens to us carefully,” he said. He noted that before 2014, India was among the ‘Fragile SC adjourns Kejriwal’s pleas for bail, against arrest to 5 Sept PARMOD KUMAR Defence minister Rajnath Singh interacts with the Indian community in Washington, DC, on Friday. n ANI Five’ nations, as coined by investment firm Morgan Stanley, and today it finds itself among the ‘Fabulous Five’ economies of the world. He cited the firm’s recent report, which says that India will become the third-largest economy by 2027. He stressed that the government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic ensured that the Indian economy was not adversely impacted as com- pared to other countries. The defence minister highlighted that the government has successfully brought 25 crore people above the poverty line. He added that as per latest data, retail inflation fell to a five-year low of 3.54% and foreign exchange reserves have reached an all-time high of $675 billion. He enumerated the steps taken by the government to achieve ‘Aatmanirbharta’ in defence, including the notification of Positive Indigenisation Lists comprising over 5,000 items. He emphasised that consistent efforts are being made to ensure that state-of-the-art defence items are manufactured on Indian soil by domestic companies. Mr Singh said defence exports, which were to the tune of Rs 600 crore before the current government came to power, have now risen significantly to over Rs 21,000 crore. He added that due to the measures taken to promote innovation, the number of start-ups in the country rapidly increased to 1.20 lakh from around 400 in 2014. He credited these achievements to the willpower along with the policies & planning of the government. “We want to develop India into a strong, secure and prosperous nation,” he said. him his talks with Russia’s President Putin in Moscow in July. Mr Modi also sought the Ukraine President’s assessment of the ground situation and the diplomatic scenario. Mr Zelenskyy spoke on both issues and about taking forward the global peace summit regarding Ukraine. The two leaders had detailed discussions on various issues including military, food and energy, as also conceivable pathways to peace and conflict resolution. On Friday, the PM presented four BHISHM (Bharat Health Initiative for Sahyog Hita & Maitri) Cubes to the Ukraine Government. The Cubes with a total weight of 22 tonnes will help in providing expeditious treatment of the injured and contribute to saving precious lives. He visited the multimedia Martyrologist exposition on children at the National Museum of History in Kyiv, accompanied by Mr Zelenskyy. Mr Modi was deeply touched by the poignant exposition set up in memory of children who have lost their lives in the conflict. SILVER 86,700q300 BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 77.29p1.27 Kolkata court remands accused Roy to 14 days’ judicial custody AGENCIES KOLKATA, 23 AUGUST A lower court in Kolkata on Friday remanded Sanjay Roy, the sole arrested accused in the rape and murder of a woman junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College & Hospital to 14 days’ judicial custody. Sanjay Roy, a civic police volunteer, was presented at the court of the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) at Sealdah in central Kolkata on Friday afternoon under tight security cover, as protesters had already assembled within the court premises raising slogans demanding capital punishment for the accused. Instead of the regular courtroom, the hearing was conducted in the chamber of the ACJM, where no one was allowed to enter. A huge police contingent under the command of an officer in the rank of Deputy Commissioner of Police was there outside the room to ensure blanket security. Although the information about the accused being remanded to 14 days’ judicial custody could be confirmed, at the time of filing of the report there was no confirmation regarding the court approving a narco-analysis or polygraph test of Roy by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). As per procedure, the investigating agency concerned has to approach a court for permission to conduct the narco-analysis or polygraph test on any individual. However, the tests cannot be done without the consent of the individual on whom it will be conducted. Before giving permission the court asks the individual’s consent for conducting the tests on them and only after the person agrees is it allowed to be done. Roy was initially arrested by officers of the Special Investigation Team of Kolkata Police, however, later the city police had to hand him over to the CBI, as a Division Bench of Calcutta High Court directed the central agency to take charge of the investigation from the city police. STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE GORAKHPUR, 23 AUGUST At least 14 people were killed when a Kathmandu-bound Indian tourist bus travelling from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh via Pokhara in central Nepal fell into the Marsyangadi river on Friday morning. Officials in Nepal confirmed that there were 42 passengers from Maharashtra aboard the Kesarwani Travel bus from Gorakhpur. The deceased included tourists from Maharashtra and the bus driver, Murtaja alias Mustafa, from Pipriach in Gorakhpur. According to Gorakhpur police, a woman, named Charu, had booked two buses from Kesarwani Travel's office located near Tarang Chowk in Gorakhpur. These vehicles were sent to Prayagraj Railway Station, where a group of 110 tourists from Maharashtra embarked on a journey to Chitrakoot before travelling to Pokhara in Nepal via Ayodhya and Lumbini. The tourists were en route to Kathmandu when the accident occurred. Reports from Nepal said that after reaching Abu Khaireni on the PokharaMungling road, the bus driver lost control of the vehicle and it fell into the Marsyangdi river. Gorakhpur SSP Dr Gaurav Grover said that the authorities have received information about a bus falling into a river in Nepal and that further details are being gathered. According to DSP Deep Kumar Rai of the District Police Office in Tanahun, Nepal, the bus bearing registration number UP FT 7623 had departed from Pokhara for Kathmandu. Upon receiving information about the accident, Nepalese police personnel rushed to the spot. The bus involved in the crash is reported to belong to a travel agency based in Gorakhpur. DGCA slaps ` 90 L fine SEBI bans Anil Ambani, 24 others for five on Air India for flying years from participating in securities market with unqualified crew STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 23 AUGUST STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 23 AUGUST Air India faced the heat of from regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) which levied a penalty of Rs 90 lakh on the airlines on Friday for operating a flight with non-qualified crew members. In addition to this, penalties of Rs 6 lakh and Rs 3 lakh were imposed on the director of operations and the director of training at Air India, respectively. The incident involved a non-trainer line captain being paired with a non-linereleased first officer. It was flagged by the airline in a voluntary report submitted to the DGCA on 10 July 2024. Following the report, DGCA conducted a comprehensive investigation into Air India’s operations, which included examining documentation and conducting a spot check of the airline’s scheduling facility. The inves- tigation revealed multiple regulatory violations and deficiencies, potentially compromising safety. In response to show-cause notices issued on 22 July 2024, the involved flight commander and DGCAapproved post holders at Air India provided explanations that were deemed unsatisfactory by the regulator. Consequently, the DGCA imposed the penalties and warned the concerned pilot to exercise greater caution in the future. Air India has been on the regulator’s radar earlier as well. In March, it was fined Rs 80 lakh for violations related to flight duty time limitations. In February, Air India incurred a Rs 30 lakh fine for poor handling of a passenger who later died of a heart attack. Further, earlier in January, it was fined Rs 30 lakh for not having an adequate number of pilots on duty for lowvisibility landings. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has imposed a five-year ban on industrialist Anil Ambani and 24 other parties from participating in the securities market. This includes former senior executives of Reliance Home Finance as well. The move comes on account of their involvement in the misdirection of company funds. Sebi has imposed a penalty of Rs 25 crore on Mr Ambani and restrained him from being associated with the securities market, including as a director or Key Managerial Personnel (KMP) in any listed company, or any intermediary registered with the market regulator, for a period of five years. The regulator has barred Reliance Home Finance from the securities market for six months and slapped a fine of Rs 6 lakh on it. Sebi, which released a 222-page final order, found Sebi has imposed a penalty of Rs 25 crore on Mr Anil Ambani and restrained him from being associated with the securities market that Anil Ambani, with the help of RHFL's key managerial personnel, had orchestrated a fraudulent scheme to siphon-off funds from Reliance Home Finance Ltd (RHFL) by disguising them as loans to entities linked to him. Although the Board of Directors of RHFL had issued strong directives to stop such lending practices and reviewed corporate loans regularly, the company's management ignored these orders. Notably, between FY18 and FY19, RHFL approved and disbursed large Guaranteed Payment Credit (GPC) loans amounting to thousands of crores. These loans were given to entities with extremely weak financial profiles, including negative net worth and negligible assets. Alarmingly, these loans were granted without any recorded collateral or security. RHFL’s management repeatedly deviated from standard credit due diligence. Despite the borrowers' glaring financial weaknesses, internal credit ratings were ignored, and the requirement to assess the probability of default was waived. This lack of scrutiny allowed risky loans to proceed unchecked. Further, on 11 February 2019, RHFL's Board explicitly instructed the cessation of GPC loan disbursements. HC directs CBI probe in financial irregularities at RG Kar hospital KOLKATA, 23 AUGUST A single judge bench of the Calcutta High Court, on Friday, directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take charge of the investigation into the alleged financial irregularities at state-run R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata during the tenure of former principal Dr Sandip Ghosh. Acting on a petition by the whistleblower, Akhtar Ali, who is a former deputy medical superintendent of R.G. Kar, Justice Rajarshi Bhardwaj said the CBI enquiry on the financial irregularity will be a courtmonitored one. (Page 2) (PHOTO: MOUL MONDAL) 14 killed as Kathmandu-bound bus from Gorakhpur plunges into river in Nepal NEW DELHI, 23 AUGUST The Supreme Court on Friday posted for 5 September its next hearing on the plea by the incarcerated Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, seeking bail and questioning his arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the case relating to alleged irregularities in the 20212022 Delhi excise policy. Mr Kejriwal had approached the top court challenging the Delhi High Court order refusing him bail and upholding his arrest by the CBI. A bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan granted a week’s more time to the investigating agency to file its reply in one of the pleas. Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, appearing for the CBI, had sought time to file an affidavit in one of the petitions and submitted that the agency has filed its reply in the other related petition. P12 PM presented 4 Bharat Health Initiative for Sahyog Hita & Maitri Cubes to Ukraine STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 23 AUGUST Min. 89 % NEERAJ FINISHES 2ND IN LAUSANNE DL WITH 89.49M THROW However, the company continued to issue these loans, including those sanctioned by Anil Ambani in his capacity as group head. This disregard for board directives highlights the severity of the internal control failures, Sebi noted. Shares of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) on Friday fell up to 14 per cent after Sebi restricted Mr Ambani from the securities market for five years on charges of fund siphoning from Reliance Home Finance. Shares of penny stock Reliance Home Finance hit the 5 per cent lower circuit to a low of Rs 4.46 on BSE. Similarly, shares of retail favourite Reliance Power, which has almost doubled in the last one year, also fell 5 per cent to Rs 34.45. Reliance Infrastructure shares fell up to 14 per cent to the day's low of Rs 202 on BSE. Trading in Reliance Communications, Reliance Capital, and Reliance Naval and Engineering remains suspended. India in touch with Qatar over seizure of Guru Granth Sahib: MEA STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 23 AUGUST India on Friday said it continues to follow up with Qatar with high priority reports regarding the seizure of Guru Granth Sahib by the local authorities and the Sikh community's demand for their release and hopes for an early resolution of the issue. “We have seen reports regarding the Guru Granth Sahib seized by the Qatari authorities and the demand of their release by the Sikh community. The Government has already taken up the matter with the Qatar side and our Embassy has kept the Sikh community in Doha abreast of developments in this regard,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in response to questions. He said it is important to note that two Swaroops of Guru Granth Sahib were taken by the Qatar authorities from two individuals/groups who were charged with running a religious establishment without the approval of the Government of Qatar. The Indian Embassy rendered all possible assistance within the ambit of local laws and regulations. One Swaroop of the Holy Book was returned by Qatari authorities and it was assured that the other Swaroop is also kept with respect. Akali Dal leader and former Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal earlier said she has written to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, urging him to take up the issue of the release of two 'Swaroops’ of Sri Guru Granth Sahib from police custody in Qatar.