SATURDAY 19 OCTOBER 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 ‘VISION EXTENDS BEYOND 2028’ BJP MLAS IN MANIPUR DEMAND CM’S REMOVAL P8 SENSEX 81,224.75p218.14 WEATHER Morning thunderstorms. Storms could contain frequent lightning. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 32°C and 26°C respectively. RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 87% NIFTY 24,863.40p113.55 ` vs $ 84.07 New Moon on 1 November THUMBNAILS A woman explores earthy wall decor at a market ahead of the 'Karva Chauth' festival, in Bikaner on Friday. n ANI Delhi court allows Satyendar JainÊs bail plea in money laundering case: A Delhi court on Friday allowed the bail plea filed of former Delhi minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Satyendar Jain in connection with a money laundering case. The Rouse Avenue Court granted bail to the AAP leader taking into account his prolonged incarceration and the delay in commencement of trial. STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Many areas in PCMA that defeat the very purpose of the law, says SC tating that there were areas in the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006 (PCMA) that defeat the very purpose of the law and need to be addressed, including child betrothals ~ engagement in childhood and marriage at a different point of time - and the confusion over the precedence between PCMA and different personal laws, the Supreme Court on Friday suggested that Parliament consider outlawing child betrothals which may be used to evade penalty under the PCMA. Issuing a slew of directions to curb the practice of child marriage which is still prevalent in many parts of the country, a bench comprising Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra in a judgment said: “Parliament may consider outlawing child betrothals which may be used to evade penalty under the PCMA”. Urging Parliament to outlaw child betrothal, Chief Justice Chandrachud, speaking for the Bench, said: “We note that while the PCMA seeks to prohibit child marriages, it does not stipulate on betrothals. Marriages fixed in the minority of a child also have the effect of violating their rights to free choice, autonomy, agency and childhood. It takes away from them their choice of partner and life paths before they mature and form the ability to assert their agency. International law such as CEDAW (the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women 1975) stipulates against betrothals of minors.” The Chief Justice, authoring the judgment, said: “In the course of this judgment, we have traced the full breadth of the law against child marriage. The PCMA is the central legislation governing the issue on the subject. In light of the Constitutional guarantees accruing to children, we observe certain gaps in the PCMA. Absent a Constitutional challenge or a case being argued, we resist from making declarations and restrict ourselves to making suggestions for the scrutiny of the Union.” On the issue of the PCMA having precedence over the different personal laws, the court noted that Parliament is already seized of the matter as the proposed 2021 amendment to the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006 is now before the Department Related Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports that expressly state the overriding effect of the statute over various personal laws. The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amending) Bill 2021 was introduced in Parliament on 21 December 2021. The slew of directions issued today included mandatory appointment by the States/UTs of the officers solely responsible for discharging the functions of CMPO at the district level, establishment of a Specialized Police Unit (SPUs), establishment of a Special Child Marriage Prohibition Unit (SCMPU), empowering magistrates to take suo motu action and issue preventive injunctions, exploration of special fast-track courts for child marriage cases and so on. Former RAW officer charged by US DOJ in Pannun assassination plot PARWINDER SANDHU PARMOD KUMAR The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a public interest plea seeking setting up of a regulatory board to monitor and manage over-the-top (OTT) and other streaming platforms in India. A Bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra said: “This is the problem of PILs. They are all on policy now and we miss our genuine PILs.” The PIL petitioner advocate Shashank Shekhar Jha had stated that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had issued in 2021 the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, to self-regulate OTT platforms, however, the same has been inefficient. The case involving former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) field officer Vikash Yadav has deepened after the US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed charges accusing him of masterminding a plot to assassinate Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a US citizen. Mr Yadav, originally from Haryana, has also appeared on the FBI's wanted list, with a poster issued seeking information on his whereabouts. The FBI's wanted poster lists Yadav, born in 1984, as using the alias “Amanat” while coordinating with his alleged co-conspirator, fellow Indian national Nikhil Gupta. The US DOJ's indictment, unsealed in the Southern District of New York, accuses Mr Yadav of conspiring to kill Mr Pannun, a prominent figure in the Sikh separatist movement. Mr Gupta (53), was earlier arrested in the Czech Republic and extradited to the USA in connection with the same plot. Mr Yadav, however, remains at large. The US Department of Justice stated that Mr Yadav was employed by the Indian government’s Cabinet Secretariat, which oversees RAW, India’s foreign intelligence service. Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had earlier stated that Mr Yadav was no longer employed by the Indian government. “The US State Department informed us that the individual in the Justice Department indictment is no longer employed by India. I confirm that he is no longer an employee of the Government of India,” Mr Jaiswal stated during a press conference. US Attorney General Merrick Garland emphasised that the DOJ will hold accountable any individual, regardless of position, who seeks to harm US citizens. “We foiled an attempt by Vikash Yadav and his co-conspirator to assassinate an American citizen on US soil. Today's charges send a clear message that such actions will not be tolerated,” Mr Garland said. The indictment against Mr Yadav and Mr Gupta references the June 2023 killing of Canadian Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was murdered outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia. Nijjar, an associate of Mr Pannun, was also a leader of the Sikh separatist movement and a critic of the Indian government. The indictment contends that just days after Nijjar’s killing, Mr Yadav and Mr Gupta expedited plans to target Mr Pannun. “On or about June 19, 2023, the day after the Nijjar murder, Gupta told the UC (undercover) that Nijjar ‘was also the target’ and ‘we have so many targets’. Gupta added that in light of Nijjar’s murder, there was ‘now no need to wait’ on killing the Victim. On or about June 20, 2023, Yadav sent Gupta a news article about the victim and messaged Gupta, ‘[i]t’s [a] priority now’,” it said. Economic activity in India continues on positive path: NCAER survey STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 18 OCTOBER Economic activity in India continues to be on its dynamic and positive path, albeit at a moderated pace, a NCAER survey said. According to the NCAER-NSE Business Expectations Survey for Q2 of 2024-25, after improving for two consecutive quarters, business sentiments moderated in the second quarter of 2024-25 (134.3) compared to the first quarter (149.8) as well as the corresponding quarter of 2023-24 (140.7). “While all four components of the BCI experienced slight moderation in sentiments between the first and second quarters of 2024– 25, the percentage share of positive responses remained well above 50 per cent signalling continued economic dynamism,” said NCAER’s Prof Bornali Bhandari who led the survey. BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 73.57q0.88 ‘Parliament may consider PM Modi to visit Russia next banning child betrothal’ week for BRICS Summit in Kazan NEW DELHI, 18 OCTOBER NEW DELHI, 18 OCTOBER P14 SILVER 1,05,000 GOLD 79,800.00 S Min: 26.2˚C SUN SETS 17:08 hrs MOON SETS 07:21 hrs KOHLI ENTERS 9,000 TEST RUNS CLUB P4 NEW DELHI, 18 OCTOBER Min. 75% SC dismisses plea seeking board to regulate OTT platforms P7 PARMOD KUMAR TEMPERATURE Max: 31.5˚C SUN RISES 05:34 hrs MOON RISES 18:31 hrs TAMIL ANTHEM ROW: STALIN DEMANDS GOVERNOR’S RECALL The BCI is based on four components- ‘overall economic conditions to improve in next six months’; ‘financial position of the firms will improve in next six months’; ‘present investment climate’; and whether ‘present capacity utilisation was close to or above optimal level’. The share of firms expecting ‘overall economic conditions to improve in next six months’ stood at 62.1 per cent in second quarter while that of firms expecting their own financial position to improve in the next six months was 58.0 per cent. The capacity utilisation was ‘close to or above optimal level’ for 96.3 per cent of the surveyed firms in Q2. According to the survey, majority of respondents (67.1 per cent of firms) expected production to increase in the next six months and 71.5 per cent expected domestic sales to go up during the same period. Similar trends were witnessed regarding ‘expected new orders’ over the next six months. Sentiments about exports of final products continued to remain upbeat, even though a relatively smaller number of firms expected them to increase over the next six months. The NCAER-NSE survey said that in case of sentiments about pre-tax profits, 61 per cent of the surveyed firms expected them to rise, signalling continued buoyancy, though the number was slightly lower than the first quarter. Likewise, a significant number of the firms also expected no changes in the unit costs of raw materials, electricity and labour, it said. The survey was carried out in September 2024, covering 493 firms in six cities spread across all four regions of the country. NEW DELHI, 18 OCTOBER Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Russia from 22 to 23 October at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend the 16th BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China & South Africa) Summit, being held in Kazan. The summit, themed “Strengthening Multilateralism for Just Global Development and Security”, will provide an important platform for leaders to discuss key global issues, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said while announcing the visit here on Friday. The summit will offer a valuable opportunity to assess the progress of initiatives launched by BRICS and to identify potential areas for future collaboration. During his visit, the PM is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from BRICS member countries and invited leaders in Kazan, the MEA added. It is, however, not clear if Mr Modi will also hold bilateral talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping who will lead the Chinese delegation at the summit. This will be Mr Modi's second visit to Russia this year. He had visited Moscow in July for the 22nd IndiaRussia Summit with President Putin. The BRICS summit is the first since the expansion of the group to nine members, with Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, and the UAE joining this year after being offered membership in the 2023 summit in South Africa. Argentina and Saudi Arabia were also invited but the former declined after a change of government, while the latter is yet to respond. According to Russian officials, the BRICS summit in Kazan will host leaders from 24 countries and delegations from a total of 32 nations, making it the largest foreign policy event ever held in Russia. Apart from the main BRICS meeting, there will be meetings in the BRICS+ format on the theme "BRICS and the Global South: Building the Future of the World Together" involving representatives from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. NDA reaches seat-sharing pact in J’khand with BJP contesting 68 seats STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 18 OCTOBER The BJP Friday reached a seat-sharing agreement with its National Democratic Alliance partners for the Jharkhand Assembly elections. The saffron party will contest 68 of the 81 Assembly seats. Addressing a press conference in Ranchi, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is also the party's Jharkhand election committee co-in-charge, said the BJP will contest 68 of the 81 Assembly seats. “Discussions are going on regarding seat sharing. As of now, All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) will contest 10 seats. Janata Dal (United) two seats and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) on one seat... BJP will contest on the remaining seats,” he said. Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) will contest from two seats while Chirag Paswan’s LJP will fight from one seat, Mr Sarma said. LJP will contest the lone seat of Chatra while JD-U will field candidates in Tamad and Jamshedpur West assembly constituencies. Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM), which was also seeking seats from the NDA kitty, was left out. The Jharkhand assembly polls will be held in two phases on 13 and 20 November, while the counting of votes will take place on 23 November.
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