SATURDAY 22 MARCH 2025 www.thestatesman.com Pages 12 |` 5.00 X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 SINCE 1818 KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR OPP DEMANDS NITISH KUMAR’S RESIGNATION OVER ANTHEM ‘INSULT’ BJP CORNERS CONGRESS OVER QUOTA FOR MUSLIM CONTRACTORS IN K’TAKA P5 P8 SENSEX 76,905.51p557.45 NIFTY 23,350.40p159.75 ‘JUDICIAL BACKLOG MUST BE CLEARED’ IPL: DC MAY MISS KL RAHUL'S SERVICES P7 ` vs $ 86.00 GOLD 90,865.00 P12 SILVER 1,12,000 BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 71.60q0.40 MAINLY CLEAR SKY. THE MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WOULD BE AROUND 34 AND 16 DEGREES CELSIUS RESPECTIVELY. Will erase Naxalism by 31 Cash at judge’s residence: CJI to examine ‘in-house’ enquiry report March next year: HM Shah RAINFALL: Nil RELATIVE HUMIDITY RITA SACHDEVA WEATHER Max. 84 % TEMPERATURE Min. 24 % Max: 32.8 °C (+1.5) SUN RISES 06:22 hrs MOON RISES 01:59 hrs Shah also hits out at previous Cong govts for being soft on terror “ The Modi government has a zerotolerance policy towards terrorism...Terror attacks took place even in Uri and Pulwama, but within 10 days, we conducted surgical strikes and air strikes against Pakistan. NEW DELHI, 21 MARCH Min: 16.5 °C (0) SUN SETS 18:33 hrs MOON SETS 11:07 hrs THUMBNAILS Devotees gather to offer prayers (namaz) on the third Friday during the ongoing Ramadan month at Jama Masjid in New Delhi. n ANI 18 BJP MLAs suspended: Karnataka assembly witnessed uproarious scenes on Friday with BJP MLAs being suspended and marshalled out after they entered the well of the house, shouting slogans demanding a CBI probe into the honey trap attempts on Cooperation Minister KN Ranjana and claimed that 48 MLAs cutting across party lines were victims and sought a police investigation into the affair. (Page 8) A sserting that the Narendra Modi government has a zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism, Union Home Minister Amit Shah told the Rajya Sabha on Friday that Maoist extremism in the country would be eradicated by 31 March next year. Replying during the discussion on the working of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Mr Shah said the government used 'Sanwad, Suraksha, Samanvaya' conversation, security, coordination -to control the menace. ''When the BJP came to power in Chhattisgarh in December 2023, after that, 380 Maoists were killed in just a year while 30 Maoists killed yesterday have not been added to this. As many as 1,194 were arrested and 1045 surrendered. The number (of active extremists) went down by 2,619. In these operations, 26 security personnel died. This is the same Chhattisgarh, same Police, same CRPF, and same Government of ‘Don't use language to hide your corruption’ STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 21 MARCH Lambasting the DMK on its stance on the implementation of the threelanguage policy, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Friday that the regional party was using the matter to hide its corruption, and also promised that after December, he would exchange letters with people from different states in their mother tongues only. “...I would like to say something so that those who divide the country in the name of language do not get their agenda. Under the Department of Official Language, the Narendra Modi Government has set up an Indian Languages Section which will work to enhance the usage of all Indian languages - Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Assamese, Bengali, all languages.” “After December, I will have written correspondence with citizens, CMs, Ministers and MPs in their own language. This is a strong reply to those who India hopes ties with Canada will improve LS passes STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE to know of her departure from the United States through media reports and we understand that she has gone to Canada." NEW DELHI, 21 MARCH With Mr Mark Carney taking over as the new Prime Minister of Canada, India on Friday hoped the two countries can rebuild ties based on mutual trust and sensitivity. ''The downturn in IndiaCanada relations was caused by the license that was given to the extremist and secessionist elements in the country,'' Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a media briefing. His statement came amid reports that the two nations have resumed contact between their security agencies and are looking at the possibility of appointing new high commissioners, after the strain in ties over the 2023 killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had alleged the hand of Indian agents in Nijjar's killing without providing any evidence. Justin Trudeau’s statement India. It was just the Congress government in power there...This is a question of approach." ''We will erase Naxalism before March 31, 2026,'' he promised. Hitting out at the erstwhile Congress governments for being soft on terror, Home Minister Shah said: "The Modi government has a zerotolerance policy towards terrorism. Earlier, no action was taken after terror attacks, and people used to forget about them. Terror attacks took place even in Uri and Pulwama, but within 10 days, we conducted surgical strikes and air strikes against Pakistan.'' Appropriation Bill, Demands for Grants run their shops in the name of language to hide their corruption...What are they saying? That we oppose languages of the south? How can this be possible?...I come from Gujarat, Nirmala Sitharaman from Tamil Nadu. How can we oppose this? What are you saying? We have worked for languages...'' NEW DELHI, 21 MARCH The Supreme Court on Friday said that the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, on receiving information on the alleged discovery of unaccounted cash at the official residence of High Court judge Justice Yashwant Verma, commenced an in-house enquiry regarding the allegations and a report will be submitted to the Chief Justice of India, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, today (21 March). “The report will be examined and processed for further and necessary action,” a court statement said. The top court termed as “misinformation and rumours” report that the Supreme Court has ordered an “inhouse’ inquiry on the discovery of unaccounted cash from the official residence of Justice Verma and has recommended his transfer to Allahabad High Court – the parent High Court of Justice Verma. Denying that the top court collegium has recommended the transfer of Justice Yashwant Verma, the statement said: “The proposal for transfer of Mr. Justice Yashwant Varma, who is the second senior most Judge in the Delhi High Court and a member of the Collegium, to his parent High Court i.e. the High Court of Judicature Opposition raises ‘cash recovery’ in Rajya Sabha STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 21 MARCH The alleged recovery of cash from the residence of a sitting judge of the Delhi High Court was raised in the Rajya Sabha on Friday. Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar assured the House that he would find a mechanism for holding a structured discussion on the issue. Raising the matter, Congress member Jairam Ramesh sought the Chair's response on judicial accountability and reminded him about a pending notice regarding the impeachment of a judge of Allahabad High Court. “You yourself has repeatedly spoken about the urgency for judicial accountability," Mr Ramesh said, and requested that the Chair give directions to the government to come up with a proposal for increasing judicial accountability. Mr Dhankhar, in his response, referred to the National Judicial Appoint- ments Commission (NJAC) that was struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2015, pointing out that had the mechanism that was passed with near unanimity in Parliament been allowed, the issue of judicial accountability would have been addressed. Mr Dhankhar said: “If it happens to a politician, he is immediately targeted, whereas in the case of a bureaucrat or an industrialist, there is an immediate response. Therefore, a systemic response is necessary that is transparent, accountable and effective. I am sure steps will be taken in this direction.” at Allahabad, where he will be ninth in seniority, is independent and separate from the in-house inquiry procedure.” Media reports had said that a fire at Justice Verma’s official residence on 14 March had led to the inadvertent recovery of stash of cash by firefighters. READY FOR THE BIG SHOW NEW DELHI, 21 MARCH dented the relationship further with India withdrawing its high commissioner and five other diplomats who were declared “persons of interest” in the investigation into Nijjar’s killing and expelled an equal number of Canadian diplomats. Regarding Indian PhD candidate Ranjani Srinivasan at Columbia University who self-deported herself to Canada from the USA after facing pressure from US authorities for her alleged pro-Hamas sympathies, the spokesperson said: ''We are not aware of her getting in touch with our consulate or our embassy for any help. We only came Dialogue with China movinig in positive direction: The MEA spokesperson also said the dialogue with China has been moving forward in the right direction since the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping at Kazan in October last year on the margins of the BRICS Summit. ''Conversations and dialogues have been going on (with China) and they have been moving forward in the right direction," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a media briefing. He was asked to comment on Beijing terming as positive PM Modi's remarks on SinoIndian ties in a podcast recently. The spokesperson said the two countries have held ''constructive engagement'' at various levels since the Modi-Xi meeting in Kazan. The Lok Sabha on Friday passed the Demands for Grants of various ministries in respect of the Union Budget for 2025-26. The Lower House of Parliament passed the Demands for Grants under the control of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare for 2025-26. The House also passed the Demands for Grants for the Chemicals and Fertilisers, Power, Commerce and Industry, Housing and Urban Affairs, Information and Broadcasting and MSME by applying the guillotine. All the cut motions moved by members of the Opposition pertaining to outstanding Demands for Grants of various ministries were rejected during the voting. The House also passed the Appropriation Bill (3), 2025, moved by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. SNS Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Virat Kohli during a practice session ahead of the opening Indian Premier League (IPL) match against Kolkata Knight Riders, at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. n ANI No reciprocal tariffs placed by US on India as of now: Govt tells Parl STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE ‘India negotiating mutually beneficial trade pact with US’ NEW DELHI, 21 MARCH The Union Government on Friday clarified that the United States has imposed additional duties on steel and aluminium imports from all countries without any exemptions, but no country-specific or reciprocal tariffs have been placed on India as of now. In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Jitin Prasada, said the government is closely evaluating the impact of these duties, which represent an increase over previous tariffs. “The United States has issued a Memorandum on Reciprocal Trade and Tariffs on February 13, 2025, wherein the Secretary of Commerce and United States Trade Representative are to take necessary actions to investigate harm to the US from any non-reciprocal trade arrangements adopted by trading PARMOD KUMAR STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 21 MARCH Partners and provide a report with detailed proposed remedies for each trading Partner, based on which, US action against relevant trading partner could, thereafter be undertaken under any of the relevant US legislations,” Jitin Prasada said. He said as of date, there has been no imposition of country-specific, including reciprocal tariffs by the USA on India. There has been the imposition of additional duties on steel and aluminium imports by the USA from all countries without any exemption.“The impact of these duties which are an enhancement over existing additional duties, is being closely evaluated due to the fact that there are no exemptions as compared to exemptions earlier to certain major exporting countries in these sectors,” he added. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Friday declined to give a straight response to US President Donald Trump's reiteration that Washington will impose reciprocal tariffs on this country from 2 April, saying the two countries are negotiating a mutually beneficial Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA). “India and the US are in the process of taking bilateral trade negotiations forward. The two governments are actively working to build a framework for the BTA, which would aim to expand trade, enhance market access, reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers,'' the MEA spokesperson said at a media briefing. He was responding to President Trump's remarks suggesting India will face reciprocal tariffs on 2 April, a move likely to hurt the country's exports of agricultural and pharmaceutical goods. The Indian spokesperson said the government of India remains engaged with the US administration at various levels to arrive at a mutually beneficial multisector bilateral trade agreement. India achieves historic milestone by surpassing 1 bn tonnes in coal production STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 21 MARCH Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday hailed India’s historic achievement of 1 billion tonnes coal production, highlighting significant commitment to energy security, economic growth and selfreliance. He called it a “proud moment for India” and recognised the relentless dedication and hard work of those associated with the sector. Union Minister for Coal and Mines, G Kishan Reddy, has said that India has achieved a historic milestone by surpassing 1 billion tonnes in coal production, marking a significant step towards meeting the country's growing energy demands. In a post on microblogging platform X, the minister said that leveraging advanced technologies and efficient mining practices, India has not only boosted production but also prioritised sustainable and responsible mining. He said this remarkable achievement is set to fuel economic growth, support the nation's power needs, and pave the way for a brighter, energy-secure future for all Indians. “India has crossed a monumental 1 BILLION TONNES of coal production! With cutting-edge technologies and efficient methods, we've not only increased production but also ensured sustainable and responsible mining. This achievement will fuel our increasing power demands, drive economic growth, and ensure a brighter future for every Indian,” the minister added. The minister also said that approximately 74 per cent of power generation in India relies on Thermal Power Plants (TPPs), reaffirming the need for a robust and sustainable coal sector. He extended his heartfelt congratulations to the dedicated workforce of the coal sector, serving as the backbone of the nation's energy security. He thanked them for their tireless efforts and commitment that made this milestone possible. As per the latest Coal Ministry data, coal continues to be an indispensable energy source, contributing to 5 per cent of the national energy mix with the fifth-largest geological coal reserves globally and as the second-largest consumer.