‘BRS TRYING TO COME TO POWER THOUGH SOCIAL MEDIA’ 06 OCTOBER 2024 INDIA LOOK FOR QUICK TURNAROUND IN CRUNCH TIE AGAINST PAKISTAN PAGE 4 ISRAEL EXPANDS ITS BOMBARDMENT IN LEBANON AS TENS OF THOUSANDS FLEE PAGE 12 www.thestatesman.com X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 PAGE 9 INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 PAGES 12 |` 5.00|LC KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR WEATHER PARTLY CLOUDY SKY. THE MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WOULD BE AROUND 36 AND 26 DEGREE CELSIUS RESPECTIVELY. RAINFALL: Nil RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 90 % TEMPERATURE Be wary of Congress which is under control of ‘urban Naxals’, says Modi Min. 53 % Max: 36.5 °C (+2) SUN RISES 06:17 hrs MOON RISES 09:16 hrs Weak, poor India suits Congress politics: PM Min: 24.8 °C (+3) SUN SETS 18:02 hrs MOON SETS 19:18 hrs THUMBNAILS Border Security Force personnel during their passing-out parade at Subsidiary Training Centre BSF at Roun in Udhampur on Saturday n ANI DRDO successfully flight-tests 4th gen very short range air defence system: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully conducted three flight-tests of the fourth Generation, technically-advanced miniaturised Very Short Range Air Defence System (VSHORADS) at the Pokhran Field Firing Ranges in Rajasthan on October 3-4. The tests were carried out against high speed targets, demonstrating very critical parameters of maximum range and maximum altitude interception. STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 5 OCTOBER P rime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the BJP’s policies make it obvious the party wants disadvantaged sections to progress, while the Congress knows only how to loot people and let the poor continue in poverty, as a weak and deprived India ‘suits’ its politics. He was addressing a massive gathering at Washim in Maharashtra, after releasing to 9.50 crore farmers across the country the 18th instalment under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, amounting to Rs 20,000 crore, and launching other projects. Mr Modi said people must beware the Congress which is under the control of “urban Naxals.” The Congress thinks if people unite, its agenda to divide the country would not succeed, the Prime Minister said. That’s why it wants people to fight each other, he said. “The whole nation is watching how the Congress is getting support for its dangerous objectives,” he said. “Those who do not want India to progress are today close friends of the Congress. The situation calls for people’s unity, as only unity will save the nation,” he said. Referring to the Banjara Virasat Museum inaugurated by him, and recalling to the Banjara community’s contribution in the freedom struggle, he said the British colonial government had declared the whole community a criminal tribe. After Independence, the Prime Minister said, the nation should have taken care of the Banjaras, and given them rightful respect. But what did Congress governments of the day do for them, he asked. The Congress adopted policies to keep the community out of the mainstream. The family which held control of the Congress party after Independence, had a colonial mindset, Haryana: Exit polls predict clear majority for Congress STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE CHANDIGARH/NEW DELHI, 5 OCTOBER The Opposition Congress is set to make a strong comeback in Haryana after a decade of being out power as most exit polls predicted a clear majority for the grand old party in the 90-member Haryana state legislative assembly. While exit polls often get it wrong, they have predicted the BJP will suffer a significant reduction in its seats tally in Haryana. Exit polls for the J&K Assembly polls, which are witnessing elections after 10 years, meanwhile, put the National Conference & Congress alliance ahead in a tight race. According to the Matrize exit poll, Congress is projected to win between 55 and 62 seats out of the 90-member Assembly in Haryana. The BJP, currently in power, is predicted to secure only 18 to 24 seats. For Jammu and Kashmir, according to TV-Today Cvoter projections, the NCCongress alliance is likely to win 40-48 seats while the BJP can win 27-32. The People's Democratic Party, led by former CM Mufti is likely to win 6-12 seats while others can win 611 seats. The final results for both states will be announced on 8 October. Jammu and Kashmir voted in three phases, while Haryana voted in a single phase on Saturday, 5 October. 61 pc voter turnout recorded in Haryana NEW DELHI, 5 OCTOBER Sixty-one per cent voter turnout was recorded in Haryana Assembly elections on Saturday. The polling held in 90 Assembly constituencies in 20,632 polling stations in the statewasbyandlargepeaceful. The voting which began at 7 a.m, concluded at 6 p.m. Prominent among the candidates from the BJP whose fate was sealed in the EVMs are Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and former state minister Anil Vij. Mr Saini is the saffron party's nominee from Ladwa constituency and Mr Vij from Ambala Cantt seat. Key candidates from the Congress included former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda. SNS the Prime Minister said. Like the British rulers, the family never treated the Dalits, backwards or the Adivasis on equal footing. The family wanted that it should alone rule over India as the British had given it this right. Therefore, it never gave any respect to the Banjara community, Mr Modi said. The Prime Minister said people in Maharashtra must have seen the news about the seizure of drugs worth thousands of crores of rupees in Delhi. Who was the mastermind of this drug racket? A Congress leader, Mr Modi said. The Congress wants to fight and win elections by pushing youth into drug addiction, using drug money. “We have to be cautious PAC summons Sebi chief AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 5 OCTOBER The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has summoned Sebi chief Madhabi Puri Buch to appear before it on 24 October amid a controversy over allegations raised against her by USbased short-seller Hindenburg Research of links to the Adani group. The summons is part of a performance review of various regulatory bodies, according to media reports, and does not specifically have to do with the Hindenburg allegations. In addition to Ms Buch, the PAC has also summoned officials from the department of economic affairs and the department of revenue to appear before it on the same day. TRAI chairperson Anil Kumar Lahoti is also said to have been asked to appear before the panel. The PAC is currently headed by Congress leader KC Venugopal and has members from both the ruling NDA and the Opposition INDIA blocs. Samsung workers’ strike: Stalin deploys three ministers to resolve impasse MC RAJAN CHENNAI, 5 OCTOBER With the indefinite strike by workers at the Samsung plant on the outskirts of Chennai to press for trade union rights nearing the fifth week, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday tasked three ministers to resolve the issue and bring an end to the ongoing protest. The ministerial team, comprising TRB Rajaa (Industries), CV Ganesan (Labour) and TM Anbarasan (Rural Industries), are slated to hold talks with the workers and the Samsung management on Monday. The plant is located at Sunguvarchatram in Kancheepuram district and Anbarasan is the district secretary of the ruling DMK. Over 1,500 workers employed by the South Korean technology giant are continuing their strike demanding that the CITU-affiliated union ~ Samsung India Labour Welfare Union ~ be recognised for collective bargaining on wage revision, and rationalisation of working hours. The 17-year-old factory, one of two of Samsung in the country with 2,000 workers on its roll, manufactures home appliances. The strike is one of the largest the multinational company has seen in recent years. It has erupted at a time when the Chief Minister is making efforts to woo foreign investment with an aim to make the state a one trillion dollar economy by 2030. Mr Stalin deputing the trio to hold talks comes in the wake of pressure from the DMK’s allies, the CPI(M), CPI, Marumalarchi DMK of Vaiko and others. Earlier in the day, CPI(M) state secretary K Balakrishnan, his CPI & CPI(M-L) counterparts, R Mutharasan and Pazha Asaithambi, were detained along with party workers and supporters for holding a demonstration in the city in solidarity with the Samsung workers, whose fam- ily members too have joined the protest at Sunguvarchatram. “The DMK government and the police are acting in support of Samsung. The CM should not give rise to the view among the people that the government is refusing to ensure the legitimate rights of the workers. If the people have to remain slaves of MNCs, how will you protect the rights of Tamil Nadu?” said Mr Balakrishnan. He and other leaders criticised the police for denying permission for the protest. Previous talks to end the deadlock have failed with Samsung maintaining that while the company is prepared for a union by the workers, it is opposed to an union backed by a third party. of this danger and also warn others. We have to fight this battle together,” he said. Mr Modi said his government takes decisions and adopts policies dedicated towards making India developed. Farmers constitute the main base of developed India and therefore steps have been taken to empower the farmers. Today itself, 9,200 Farmers Producer Organisations (FPOs) have been dedicated to the country, the Prime Minister said. Several infrastructure projects for agriculture have also been inaugurated. In Maharashtra, he said, the farmers are getting double benefit under the NDA government. The Eknath Shinde government has reduced electricity bill amounts of the farmers to zero. The farmers of Maharashtra and Vidarbha faced great hardships for many decades, he said. Governments of the Congress and its allies left no stone unturned in making the farmers’ lives miserable. Maharashtra, where Assembly elections are due later this year, also saw launching of several transformative projects by the Prime Minister in Thane. He said his government was every day initiating policies to make India a developed nation. Not going to Islamabad to discuss Indo-Pak ties: EAM STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 5 OCTOBER Ahead of his visit to Pakistan for the SCO Heads of Government meeting on 15-16 October, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday said he is not going to Islamabad to discuss "India-Pakistan relations" but to attend a multilateral event. He said he is travelling to Pakistan only to be a "good member of the SCO". "Yes, I am scheduled to go to Pakistan in the middle of this month and that is for the meeting of the SCO --the heads of government meeting," Mr Jaishankar said after delivering the Sardar Patel Lecture on Governance. "I expect that there would be a lot of media interest because the very nature of the relationship is such and I think we will deal with it. But I do want to say I will be there for a multilateral event, I mean I am not going there to discuss India-Pakistan relations. I am going there to be a good member of the SCO. Since I am a courteous and civil person, I will behave myself accordingly," he emphasised. Jaishankar emphasised that his participation would be focused on the multilateral nature of the event.