Vol. 67 No. 132 | SATURDAY | MARCH 2, 2024 | 31 Pages | `5 & for Pune `6 only Quality at Value www.freepressjournal.in MEMBER: AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATION EDITIONS: MUMBAI*, Pune, Nashik, Konkan, Indore, Bhopal, E-paper Modi M Guarantee G Sarkar Government of India cbc 22201/13/0320/2324 Ki Modi attacks Mamata over Sandeshkhali ARITRA SINGHA / KOLKATA I n his first political statement in the State, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared Sheikh Shahjahan, the key accused in the alleged case of sexual assault in Sandeshkhali, was arrested because of pressure from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the common people. Launching an all-out attack on the state government led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, he said someone from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) was protecting Shahjahan for the last two months. He was speaking at a public meeting at Hooghly’s Arambagh, Later in the evening, the TMC chief met him at Raj Bhavan. “Raja Rammohan Roy worked towards women empowerment. Even his soul is pained by the incident that took place in Sandeshkhali. The sisters and mothers were not spared by TMC. Due to the pressure of the public and the BJP the key accused were ar, rested on Thursday Mothers . of Sandeshkhali wanted help Himachal Cong rebels in outreach bid? AGENCIES / SHIMLA I n an interesting turn of events, Himachal Pradesh minister Vikramaditya Singh met the state's six disqualified Congress MLAs in Haryana's Panchkula on his way to Delhi on Friday when he was also scheduled to hold talks with party chief Mallikarjun Kharge. Talking to the media persons here, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said Vikramaditya Singh informed him on Thursday that some of the Congress rebels had approached him and wished to come back. "I told Vikramaditya Singh to talk to these rebels MLAs and the Congress central leadership," the chief minister said, adding that the family members of these rebel MLAs were talking to them and they want to be in the Congress. CONTD. ON NATION from the Chief Minister. And what did she do? Instead, someone from TMC was protecting the accused for the last two months,” said Modi, who is on a two-day visit to West Bengal. Modi, who on Friday launched the BJP’s campaign in the state for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, is scheduled to attend another public meeting at Nadia’s Krishnanagar on Saturday . The Prime Minister said the leaders of the INDIA bloc did not question the TMC over the Sandeshkhali incident. “The big leaders of the alliance behaved like three monkeys of Gandhiji. They remained silent and did not ask the TMC anything. People of Bengal are asking the Chief Minister if votes of some people are more important than atrocities against women in Sandeshkahli? Chot ka jawab, vote se dena hoga (the reply of the pain should be given through votes),” Modi said, adding that the TMC is antipoor, Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes, farmers and youths. CONTD. ON NATION India to become world's thi largest economy ird India improves from 11tth to 5th place in 10 years BJP ICING ON THE CAKE Initial list firmed as party finalises more than 100 names. A decision on candidates from Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu is on hold as alliance discussions are on OUR BUREAU / NEW DELHI The BJP finalised late on Thursday night the initial names of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections during the five-hourlong Central Election Committee meeting that was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.  The meeting, which was also attended by Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and BJP president J.P Nadda besides . other poll panel members and special invitees, took place following two meetings of the Core Committee where the names of the candidates were shortlisted. Buzz that Nitin Gadkari, Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, and actor Sunny Deol may not get tickets The first list is expected to be released on Friday or Saturday and, as per sources, contains the names of some high-profile party leaders. While Modi is again expected to contest from his two-term Varanasi constituency Shah , is expected to again contest from Gandhinagar; Rajnath Singh from Lucknow and union minister Smriti Irani from Amethi. During the marathon meeting, discussions are believed to have taken place on candidates from around 18 states and union territories. The BJP is learnt to have finalised a list of over 100 candidates. The BJP which won , 303 seats in 2019, is expected to change around 30 per cent of its sitting MPs. As such there was strong speculation after the meeting about the prominent leaders who may not get to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. There was a strong buzz that several senior party leaders like Union minister PRELUDE TO MOTHER OF ALL WEDDINGS The Bombay High Court on Friday stayed the order passed by the Election Commission of India (ECI) requisitioning officers and staff of the Charity Commission for election duty . Considering the “duty performed by the office of the Charity Commission, which are judicial in nature, we pro- Wrestlers move HC against WFI’s trials FPJ NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI Reliance Foundation Chairperson and Founder Nita Ambani during the pre-wedding function of her son Anant Ambani with Radhika Merchant, in Jamnagar on Friday. REPORT ON NATION HC stays ECI order on Charity Commission URVI MAHAJANI / MUMBAI and sitting MP from Nagpur Nitin Gadkari; former UP Cabinet minister and sitting MP from Prayagraj, Rita Bahuguna Joshi; wrestler and sitting MP from Gonda, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh; and actor and sitting MP from Gurdaspur Sunny Deol may not get tickets this time.  On the other hand, those there was a buzz about   the BJP fielding several new and prominent faces this time – such as cricketer Yuvraj Singh from Gurdaspur, Bhojpuri actor and singer Pawan Singh from Asansol in West Bengal, and actor Akshay Kumar from East Delhi. CONTD. ON NATION vide that till the next date of listing of the petitions, any order passed or notice issued requisitioning staff of the charity commissioner shall not be acted upon”’ a bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Arif Doctor said. The court was hearing two petitions, one by the Charity Commissioner (CC) and the other by Mumbai Charity Advocates Bar Association, challenging various circulars and orders that requisitioned the commission’s staff for forthcoming parliamentary election duty with a warning of criminal action for noncompliance. The staff includes five judicial clerks assigned with daily quasi-judicial proceedings before the CC and Joint CC. The bench has also asked the ECI to show if it under- took any exercise before passing orders requisitioning persons for election duty . The direction was issued after the advocate for the bar association pointed out that most of the time when it’s staff is called for duty they do , not have much work to do. “My staff goes there, has a cup of tea and comes back,” advocate RD Soni said. CONTD. ON NATION Wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, and Satywart Kadian have moved the Delhi High Court against the Wrestling Federation of India’s (WFI’s) decision to conduct selection trials for the Senior Asian Wrestling Championships 2024 and Asian Olympic Games Qualifier Wrestling Tournament. An ad-hoc committee was constituted by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to manage the affairs of the WFI and though the WFI is aware of its illegal status, it issued the notice for the selection trials, contended the plea by the wrestlers who were at the forefront of the protest against former WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. WFI has been suspended by the sports ministry and, therefore, has no power to invite wrestlers for the trials, Punia and the others have argued. The petition filed by the wrestlers is likely to be heard by the High Court next week. CONTD. ON NATION THAILAND REPLACES WTO CA assaulted in Vile Parle ENVOY POST INDIA’S PROTEST MEGHA KUCHIK / MUMBAI PTI / BANGKOK Thailand has replaced its Ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Pimchanok Vonkorpon Pitfield, following a strong protest lodged by India on her contentious comment on New Delhi's rice procurement programme, according to a senior government official. Pitfield has been asked to report back to Thailand after the 13th ministerial conference (MC), which has entered the fifth day of talks, the official said on Friday adding that she , is learnt to have been replaced by the Thai foreign secretary . The move follows India formally registering its protest with the Thai government over Pitfield's remarks during a consultation meeting on Tuesday that India’s rice procurement programme at the minimum support price (MSP) for the public distribution system is not for people but for capturing the export market. India has also expressed displeasure with the WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, agri committee chair Kenya and the UAE. Indian negotiators had also refused to participate in some deliberations in groups where the Thai representative was present. “The Thai Ambassador has been replaced. She has ridiculed India’s PSH (Public Stockholding) programme,” the official said, adding that the language and behaviour of the Thai Ambassador were not in good taste. CONTD. ON NATION A chartered accountant was assaulted by three unidentified persons while returning home from his office in Vile Parle East on Wednesday He . is now in the ICU at Cooper Hospital. As per the police report, Dharmesh Shah (36), a resident of Amboli, Andheri West, works with Nayak and Rane Chartered Accountancy firm in Planet Residency , Shubhash Road, Vile Parle East. He usually commuted to his office arriving at 10 am and leaving around 8 pm, us- ing either his car, a rickshaw, or sometimes by walk. On February 28, around 7.30 pm, Shah left the office and walked alone on Subhash Road towards Garware Chauk to take an autorickshaw. When he reached 'Have More Ice Cream Parlour' on Subhash Road, three individuals attacked him with a sharp weapons. Shah attempted to defend himself using his tiffin bag and shouted for help. Upon hearing his cries, onlookers gathered, prompting the attackers to flee. CONTD. ON NATION LAST WORD Government tweaks plan to boost Parsi numbers MANOJ RAMAKRISHNAN / MUMBAI To boost the country’s ParsiZoroastrian population, the central government has released revised guidelines in the Jio Parsi scheme, a decade-long demographic project aimed at arresting the decline in the community’s numbers. The revised scheme was announced on February 29 at a meeting in New Delhi between the minister for minority affairs, Smriti Irani, and members of the Parsi community The Jiyo Parsi . scheme, funded by the gov- ernment and supported by UNESCO’s PARZOR (ParsiZoroastrian) Foundation, the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP), and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) aims to stem the decline in the community’s population, or at least slow it. The scheme, through fertility treatments for couples, has been credited for around 400 extra births in the last decade. Dr Adil Malia, trustee of the BPP the community’s , apex trust, who was present at Thursday's meeting, said that he was overwhelmed by Between 2001 and 2011, when the last national census was conducted, Parsi-Zoroastrian numbers in India dropped to about 57,264 from 69,601. The numbers fell every decade since 1941, when it peaked at over 100,000. Between 1971 and 1981, it fell by 20% the new announcements. “It was a very positive meeting. What is important is that the government has gone out of its way to engage with the community said Malia.   ,” The revamped scheme differs from the earlier version which was handled by a private agency This plan will . be implemented by state governments with the assistance of Parsi anjumans, or associations, and fire temples. Fund transfer will now be made directly into accounts of beneficiaries. The rejig, based on recommendations by the International Institute of Population Sciences and TISS, will identify target groups and use a multi-pronged approach for medical assistance, community health and advocacy A . new administrative machinery including district-level , committees, state-level project management committee, a sanctioning committee,and an oversight committee, will be created to run the project. CONTD. ON NATION Scan for more information Hamara Sankalp Viksit Bharat Bharat