Vol. 67 No. 251 | MONDAY, JULY 22, 2024 | 27 Pages | `5 & for Pune `6 only Reg.No MCS/048/2021-23; RNI No. 1541/1957 M.p.c.s office Mumbai. PIN 400001 THE FREE PRESS JOURNAL www.freepressjournal.in EDITIONS: MUMBAI INDORE PUNE BHOPAL NASHIK KONKAN GAMES NATION Will offer shelter to anyone in distress who comes knocking on our door: Mamata E-paper Member: Audit Bureau of Circulation (Jan to Dec 2023) Cinema Kartik on loneliness, audition struggles and more! Harmanpreet, Richa guide team to 78-run win over UAE, top table in Asia Cup Edit Sitharaman’s challenge to grow economy with equity BYE-DEN, KAMALA IS HEIR FPJ News Service NEW YORK J oe Biden late on Sunday withdrew from the race for the US presidency, after weeks of sustained pressure from Democratic colleagues, allies and donors. Nagged by concerns about ailing health and age, Biden posted on X: ‘‘While it has been my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and On focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term.’’ Biden thanked the vice-president, Kamala Harris, in his letter, but did not endorse her as his successor on the ticket. He said he planned to speak to the nation in more detail later this week. In a subsequent post, Biden endorsed her: “Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — Ajit Ranade is a noted Pune-based economist Modi 3.0 Budget: Navigating in Choppy Waters he world is in turmoil. The Russia-Ukraine conflict is well into its third year with no end in sight. Israel’s pounding of Gaza is eight months old, with nearly 40,000 dead due the bombing. The U.S. Presidential favourite just survived an assassination attempt. The United Kingdom just had a massive electoral reversal, with the Conservative Party swept out of power after fifteen years, and the Labour Party gaining nearly two-third majority with just one third of the votes cast. And while these geopolitical upheavals are going on, we also had the world’s biggest IT failure, of the ever-reliable Microsoft system. This was presumably a bug in the cyber security module and not a cyber attack. The global outage caused hundreds of flights to be cancelled and disrupted government functioning. The country not affected by the Microsoft outage was China, and to a large extent India. There is perhaps some subtle geopolitical message in this quirky fact! The global macroeconomic context is that big economies are still fighting inflation which refuses to come down to the target level of 2 percent. That is why monetary tightening continues even though industry keeps asking for an increase in money supply, and lower interest rates. Because of the still high interest rates industrial and housing investment is not rising as fast as it should to support employment. Unemployment worries are bringing out strong antiimmigrant sentiment, which has been tapped by the campaign of Donald Trump, and the farright parties in France and elsewhere in Europe. It has also led to a protectionist sentiment. Trump has already promised further penal import The FM is duties on Chinese goods. aware that China too has its own below the rosy economic woes. There is a glut of production of macro electric vehicles which scenario is a are being dumped on the worrying world. micro picture. The stock markets index however continues to zoom higher. We have to be careful about bubbles, because the index rise is fueled by only a few tech stocks like Nvidia, Apple, Tesla, Microsoft and, of course, everything connected with Artificial Intelligence. Out of the five hundred stock prices in the benchmark S & P 500 index, if you take out the seven biggest gainers, the rest of the index performance is very modest. This stark intra-index variation in stock price rally is true of stock markets elsewhere too, including in India. In this global scenario of turmoil, India’s macro economy is showing remarkable strength, resilience and stability. For the past four post-Covid years the average growth rate has been about 7.5 percent, inflation has hovered around 4 to 5 percent, exports are doing well, especially of services, including software, foreign exchange stock of dollars is at healthy levels, and the fiscal deficit ratio has been steadily coming down. The latter is a pointer to fiscal responsibility. Thus, these are indications of macro stability. Furthermore, the banking sector is doing exceptionally well with very low non-performing loan ratios and record profitability. The upcoming Union Budget is important because it is the first one of Prime Minister Modi’s third outing as PM. Hence this is being called the Modi 3.0 government. It will be Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s seventh budget presentation. 4Contd on | nation renewed scrutiny, with some Democrats arguing that she is the only person who can effectively challenge Trump this late in the election. And they say the party will fracture if Democratic leaders are seen as passing over the first Black vice president. Among the House Democrats expressing support for Kamala Harris were Representative Jamaal Bowman of New York, who said on social media that she was “the most qualified and best choice to lead us forward,” and Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, who wrote that she had “total faith in Kamala Harris and the American people who will help us beat Donald Trump.” Last week, Biden was pulled from the campaign trail after he was diagnosed with Covid in the middle of a west coast swing. This led to even more speculation that he would soon drop out of the race. It came after the showdown against Trump last month where Biden was often seen on split screen with his mouth agape and a million-mile blank stare. During his time to speak at the podium, the President would stumble, freeze, lose his train of thought and mumble his way through answers to moderator’s questions.  While Kamala has the backing of the current president, it is unclear at the moment if she will be selected unopposed as the new candidate. The focus will now be on the Democratic Convention. Shah’s no-holds barred attack invitation T it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this.” Trump, who was itching for a rematch with Biden for years, will now face a different Democratic opponent in Harris, with only 110 days left until Election Day. He told CNN minutes after the endorsement came that he thinks Kamala will be easier to beat this November than Biden - or any other Democrat. According to New York Times, Biden’s decision puts Harris under ‘Uddhav heads the Aurangzeb fan club’ Pawar ‘sargana’ of corruption FPJ Political Bureau PUNE Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday launched a scathing political attack against Maharashtra’s seniormost politician, former Union Minister Sharad Pawar, on Sunday describing him as the ‘‘ringleader (Sargana) of corruption’ in India”, who has iinstitutionalized corruption in the country The no-holds barred attack came at the BJP’s state convention in Pune, which was attended by over 5,500 activists C learly in a ferocious mood, Amit Shah also targeted Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray and derisively referred to the Sena (UBT) leader as the leading star of the ‘Aurangzeb fan club.’ Warming up to his theme, Shah said Uddhav was in the company of people who had sought clemency for the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Memon. These people had indulged the 26/11 convict Mohammed Kasab by serving him biryani; they also gave the controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik a mess- from all over the state. “In the past, Sharad Pawar has levelled allegations of corruption against us. But we must remember that he has ruined so many institutions in India with his corruption,’’ Shah said in a stinging attack at the Balewadi Sports Complex. The NCP immediately hit back at Shah, saying it is the BJP which has "legitimised" corruption by inducting tainted leaders in the saffron fold. The BJP held its state convention 4Contd on | nation enger of peace award and had supported the banned Islamist outfit PFI. ‘‘Uddhav Thackeray should be ashamed of sitting with these people," Shah asserted. Shah’s speech at the convention was the highlight of the event for the activists, as they appeared to be fired up by his rhetoric. “We have won the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and Modiji is back in power. Some people are pretending as if they have won; it’s like a student, who always got 80% 4Contd on | nation Bid to weaken Pawar hold on sugar co-ops Mohol to be BJP’s point person for taking on Sharad Pawar in western Maharashtra Rohit Chandavarkar PUNE Pune MP and Union MoS Murlidhar Mohol The overall mood at the BJP’s state convention in Pune on Sunday reflected an attempt by the top leaders of the party to boost the morale of the activists in the backdrop of the recent Lok Sabha debacle. Muslims hand over dhabas to Hindus Plea on Kanwar route diktat in SC today Speeches by various leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah were belligerent in tone. However, the prelude to this event was equally noteworthy – a series of meetings were held by Amit Shah with the leaders of the NCP and BJP and these were the talking points in Pune and western Ma- Only option is to swim to work, now harashtra.  Shah also held meetings with the bosses of sugar factory cooperatives and others, to work out how to diminish the clout of the NCP Sharad Pawar in this sector. At the end of the meetings, it was decided that Pune MP and Union MoS Murlidhar Mohol would be entrusted with the task.  Rucha Kanolkar Associated Press DHAKA Bangladesh’s top court on Sunday scaled back a controversial quota system for government job applicants, a partial victory for student protesters after days of nationwide unrest and deadly clashes between police and demonstrators that have killed scores of people. The petition comes against the backdrop of similar orders being issued in Ujjain and elsewhere. The Uttar Pradesh government, meanwhile, has announced special security arrangements to ensure uninhibited darshan for Lord Shiva’s devotees; Maharashtra continues to be deluged by heavy rains and the scenario is not likely to change over the next few days. After three consecutive days of 100mm rain, in the past 24 hours, Mumbai recorded 93mm of rainfall, resulting in significant waterlogging throughout the city. The Mithi river water level stood at 0.70metres. Rainfall averages for the city, eastern and western suburbs were 71mm, 72mm and 59mm respectively, from 8am on July 20 to 8am on July 21. Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, and Nagpur districts too experienced extremely heavy rainfall on Sunday. 4Contd on | nation 4Contd on | nation Biswajeet Banerjee A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court by the NGO, Association of Protection of Civil Rights (APCR), challenging the latest diktat of the Uttar Pradesh government directing shop owners to display their names outside shops during the Kanwar Yatra. A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti is slated to hear the case on Monday. The Uttar Pradesh Government on July 19 made it mandatory for food and beverage shops along Kanwar routes to display the name and identity of the operator/owner of their establishments. The decision has been criticized for being discriminatory towards the Muslims and being a divisive step. Students, frustrated by shortages of good jobs, have been demanding an end to a quota that reserved 30 per cent of government jobs for relatives of veterans who fought in Bangladesh's war of independence in 1971. The government previously halted it in 2018 following mass student protests, but in June, Bangladesh's High Court reinstated the quotas and set off a new round of protests. Ruling on an appeal, the Supreme Court ordered that the veterans' quota be cut to 5 per cent, with 93 per cent of jobs to be allocated on merit. The remaining 2 per cent will be set aside for members of ethnic minorities and transgender and disabled people. 4Contd on | nation ‘Groping’ case against CEO Teen succumbs to Kerala Nipah virus He is accused by a co-passenger who FPJ News Service NEW DELHI Dinesh Kumar Saraogi, the CEO of an Oman-based company, Vulcan Green Steel, has been charged under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita after a woman accused him of sexual harassment onboard a flight. The 65-year-old was accused of sexual harassment by a woman who alleged that he showed her adult movie clips on his phone. alleged that he showed her adult movie clips on phone In a post on X, the woman narrated how Saraogi struck conversation with her during a flight from Kolkata to Abu Dhabi. She claimed they en- gaged in a "normal conversation" about their backgrounds, hobbies and families before Saraogi took out his phone to show her "some movie clips". "He whips out his phone and earphones to show me porn! He started groping me. I was frozen in shock and scared. I eventually ran off to the washroom and complained to the air staff," the woman, whose X profile 4Contd on | nation held meetings with some party workers and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) office-bearers, to discuss the BJP’s future strategy in Maharashtra, with important meetings lined up for the following day. 4Contd on | nation Court scales down Bangladesh quota MUMBAI LUCKNOW The Union home minister had arrived in Pune on Saturday, for the BJP state convention to be held at the Balewadi Sports Complex on Sunday. He was lodged at a hotel on Senapati Bapat Road in the central part of the city, amid high security. On Saturday evening, he State Correspondent THIRUVANANTHAPURAM A 14-year-old boy, who tested positive for Nipah virus on Saturday, died at the Kozhikode Medical College on Sunday, making it the first casualty due to the virus this year. The boy, who is a resident of Pandikkad in Malappuram district, was in a critical condition. He suffered a massive cardiac arrest around 10.50 am and died at 11.30 am, Health Minister Veena George informed the media. The Health Department has published the route map of the boy and isolated people who came in his contact. 4Contd on | nation wo Mumbai women are on a mission to clean up and manage garbage in Raigad district's coastal villages. Turn to Mumbai page to read about Project Aamhi T fp Briefs Online curbs in restive Nuh The Haryana government on Sunday ordered the suspension of mobile internet and bulk SMS services in the communally- sensitive Nuh district till Monday evening ahead of Braj Mandal Jalabhishek Yatra that was marred by violence last year. Last year, a number of vehicles were set afire during the communal violence which also saw a massive damage to public and private properties after the Yatra was attacked by mobs in Nuh.