Vol. 35 No. 31 | SUNDAY | APRIL 28, 2024 | 28 Pages | `5 & for Pune `6 only Dhirendra Singh is first TISS Chancellor F ormer UGC chairman Dhirendra Pal Singh has been appointed as the first Chancellor of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). This comes after the Centre took control of the premier humanities institute from Tata Trusts. There was no post of Chancellor at the institute under the previous structure. In a career spanning four decades, Singh headed the UGC between 2018 and 2021 and was Vice-Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University , Varanasi, Dr. H. S. Gour University Sagar, and Devi Ahilya , University Indore. He was also , the Director of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council. Singh has also served as education advisor to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Singh's appointment as the nominal head of TISS has also cleared the way for hiring a full-time Vice Chancellor for the institute. THE FP BULLETIN SC SEEKS REPLY FOR PIL ON MSP The Supreme Court on Friday sought responses from the Centre, and the Punjab and Haryana governments on a plea seeking to fix the minimum support price (MSP), the timely increase of the price for alternative crops and their procurement by the government. The petition by advocate Charanpal Singh Bagri sought to fix the MSP for alternative crops higher than the MSP of paddy. 3 INDIANS DIE IN US ROAD MISHAP Three women from Gujarat died on Saturday when the SUV they were travelling in careened off the road, hurtled over a bridge and crashed into trees in Greenville County, South Carolina. The women have been identified as Rekhaben Patel, Sangitaben Patel, and Manishaben Patel. HEMANT SOREN REFUSED BAIL Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, who has been arrested in a land scam case, was refused bail by a special PMLA court on Saturday. Soren had sought interim bail of 13 days to attend a funeral. Soren had also moved the SC on Wednesday challenging his arrest in January for allegedly forging official records to acquire huge parcels of land. CRPF MEN KILLED IN MANIPUR Two CRPF personnel were killed and two injured as Kuki militants attacked an India Reserve Battalion camp in Manipur's Bishnupur district on Saturday, according to police officials. The deceased have been identified as subinspector N Sarkar of Assam and head constable Arup Saini of West Bengal. The two injured personnel have been admitted to the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences in Imphal and are out of danger. Unveiling the hopes of India’s rapidly growing electorate as they step into the polling booths for the first time US regulators have closed Republic First Bank, a regional lender operating in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York, and agreed to sell it to Fulton Bank, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). FDIC seized the Philadelphia-based bank, which did business as Republic Bank and had roughly $6 billion in assets and $4 billion in deposits as of January 31, in a development that highlights the challenges the regional banks face a year after the collapse of three peers. A look at the health benefits of coconut water Singer Remo Fernandes talks about his upcoming concert in Mumbai and more Dance with me! Injury-prone Mamata takes a fall inside copter ARITRA SINGHA & PREMANGSHU RAY KOLKATA/MUMBAI Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday fell down while she was about to take her seat in a chopper that was to fly her to Asansol for election campaigning, increasing the perception that she is injury-prone. Visuals from a news agency showed Banerjee trying to grab a seat but losing her balance. “The Chief Minister fell inside the helicopter after losing her balance while she was trying to sit. She is fine,” said a senior officer who was accompanying Banerjee. The Chief Minister, who reportedly suffered a minor in- EVERY PICTURE TELLS THE SAME STORY jury in the incident that took place in Durgapur in West Burdwan, was helped by her security personnel. Banerjee, however, did not go to hospital, choosing instead to fly to Asansol district. One Prime Minister every year if Cong wins, warns Modi AGENCIES / KOLHAPUR Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday targeted the Congress-led INDI alliance, saying it is thinking of having five prime ministers in five years if voted to power. Addressing a rally at Kolhapur in western Maharashtra, Modi said the opposition bloc cannot even reach a three-digit figure or "at the doorstep of forming a government, but has plans to have one prime minister every year if they get a chance". "In Karnataka, Congress has planned to rotate the post of the chief minister by handing it to the deputy chief minister after 2.5 years. They had this arrangement in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan as well," he said. Modi said the Congress wants to extend the "Karnataka model wherein Muslims were inducted in the 27 per cent quota for OBCs", in the entire country . "The Congress-led alliance has vowed to murder social justice," he said and accused the Congress of stooping low for appeasement and vote bank politics. "Congress wants to change the Constitution and rob Dalits, OBCs of quota benefits for religion-based reservation," he said. Modi said the Congress had not only opposed the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya but also declined the invitation for its consecration. Targeting Rahul Gandhi over wealth distribution, Modi said, "The Congress shehzade wants to search your wealth and distribute it to those who the party had said to have the first right on the country's resources". "The Congress wanted to impose inheritance tax and rob people of their inheritance. Such people shouldn't get even a slight chance of coming to power," he added. CONTD. ON NATION On reaching Asansol, Banerjee, the leader of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), addressed two election rallies in support of Shatrughan Sinha, the sitting MP of the constituency and her party’s can- BJP names Ujwal Nikam as contestant S BALAKRISHNAN / MUMBAI In a surprise move, the BJP on Saturday nominated noted public prosecutor Ujwal Nikam (71), who prosecuted Ajmal Kasab and others in the 26/11 terror attack case, as its candidate from Mumbai north central parliamentary constituency It dropped Poonam . Mahajan, who had successfully contested the 2014 and 2019 elections. Poonam is the daughter of late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan who was killed under mysterious circumstances by his own brother Pravin in 2006. Incidentally Nikam was the public prosecutor in this case. Poonam is an excellent speaker with organisational skills, but was perceived as an under performer as a parliamentarian. The BJP was waiting for the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) to declare its candidate before making its move. On Friday the MVA asked , city Congress president Varsha Gaikwad, who is the MLA from Dharavi, to contest from this seat. While Varsha belongs to the scheduled caste, Nikam is a Maratha. CONTD. ON NATION Kharge stretches suspense over Rahul’s Amethi foray JAL KHAMBATTA & BISWAJEET BANERJEE DELHI/LUCKNOW As the buzz over Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi contesting from Amethi and Raebarelli increased on Saturday, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday kept the suspense alive, by saying "You have to wait for a few more days.” He told a press conference in Guwahati that, “When the names of candidates come from people to me and I sign the notification, it will be an- REPUBLIC FIRST BANK COLLAPSES FPJ NEWS SERVICE WASHINGTON Coolness in a nutshell www.freepressjournal.in MEMBER: AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATION JANUARY TO DECEMBER 2023 EDITIONS: MUMBAI*, Pune, Nashik, Konkan, Indore, Bhopal, E-paper Your vote, your power Quality at Value Reg. No. MCS/048/2021-23; RNI No. 46955/1988 M.p.c.s. office Mumbai-400001 Fulton Bank, which is based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, agreed to assume substantially all of the failed bank's deposits and buy essentially all of its assets, the agency said. As such, Republic Bank’s 32 branches will reopen as branches of Fulton Bank, FDIC said. The bank's failure is expected to cost the deposit insurance fund $667 million. The lender is the first FDIC-insured institution to fail in the US this year. The last bank failure, that of Citizens Bank, based in Sac City, Iowa, was in November 2023. CONTD. ON NATION Congress sources say Rahul is considering contesting from Amethi amidst indications that his sister, Priyanka, may be fielded from Raebareli. nounced." Congress sources in UP told the FPJ that Rahul Gandhi was considering contesting from Amethi and there are indications that his sister, Priyanka Gandhi, may be fielded from Raebareli, the seat vacated by their mother, Sonia Gandhi, earlier this year upon her entry into the Rajya Sabha. A senior Congress leader told this reporter that Rahul Gandhi had called senior Congress leaders from Amethi to Delhi to have a discussion on the ground reality “There is . every possibility that Rahul may contest from Amethi,” he said adding that, “If everything goes as per plans, Rahul will file nomination from Amethi on May 1.” CONTD. ON NATION didate for the Lok Sabha elections. This is not the first time that Banerjee has been injured before an election. Saturday’s incident comes just a month after the TMC chief fell down at her resi- dence in Kalighat, south Kolkata, and suffered a head injury “She was walking in . her drawing room when she suddenly slipped and fell. She hit her head on a glass showcase, leading to a deep cut on her forehead,” a senior party leader had said at that time. Banerjee had been taken to SSKM hospital, where several stitches were put on her forehead before she was discharged. The TMC chief ’s brother, Kartik Banerjee, had said that the Chief Minister had a cerebral concussion and a sharp cut on her forehead and nose, which was bleeding profusely . CONTD. ON NATION ‘Don’t trust ‘Gyani Uncle’ Modi’s bakwas’ MELVYN THOMAS / VALSAD In her debut public address in Valsad, Gujarat, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi had the crowd engrossed, referring to the Prime Minister as 'Gyani Uncle' who spread disinformation and disregarded the wellbeing of ordinary citizens. Priyanka Gandhi's address was direct and unapologetic as she referred to Modi as 'Gyani Uncle', drawing a comparison to an authoritative figure imparting wisdom at a wedding ceremony She questioned the va. lidity of Modi's statements, specifically his contentious comments regarding Con- Can any government actually enforce a scheme where an x-ray machine scans the amount of jewellery in your house and forcibly takes it away from you? Is it possible?...Do you trust this Gyani Uncle and his 'bakwas'? Can we trust anything that comes out of this Uncle's mouth when he's speaking in public? – Priyanka Gandhi, Congress General Secretary gress' alleged plans to confiscate gold from households using x-ray machines. "The Gyaani Uncle is in a position of authority and yet he is spouting 'bakwas' (nonsense)," Gandhi remarked, raising doubts about the practicality and ethics of such assertions. The Gyaani Uncle is in a position of authority yet his , words are far from meaningful. His (Modi's) statements are filled with absurdity as if , he expects people to blindly accept them as undeniable truth. We have been in power for 55 years. Can any government actually enforce a scheme where an x-ray machine scans the amount of jewellery in your house and forcibly takes it away from you? Is it possible?" she asked rhetorically . "Do you trust this Gyani Uncle and his 'Bakwas'?" Can we trust anything that comes out of this Uncle's mouth when he's speaking in public? Is he the Prime Minister of this country? Yes, this is referred to as 'Umaar Ka Takaza'." She drew attention to the disparities in pension schemes between Congress and BJP-ruled states and emphasised the challenges faced by marginalised communities such as farmers, tribals, dalits, and women. CONTD. ON NATION MDH, Everest products on US FDA’s radar FPJ NEWS SERVICE / MUMBAI Forest fires threaten Nainital BISWAJEET BANERJEE/ DEHRADUN A seemingly innocuous act of setting a portion of the forest ablaze by a sheep herder in Tadiyaal village of Jakholi, Uttarakhand, has spiraled into a widespread inferno, engulfing vast swathes of the state's lush greenery . The blaze has now reached the outskirts of Nainital, casting a pall of smoke over the picturesque hill town and prompting urgent measures from authorities to contain the flames. Reports indicate that the fire has encroached upon Nainital's High Court Colony posing a grave threat , to nearby structures. In response, the administration has asked Army for help and now their personnel are The fires have been raging for over 36 hours. From November 1 last year, Uttarakhand has witnessed 575 incidents of forest fires, ravaging 689.89 hectares of forest land. working alongside firefighters to quell the inferno. The situation remains dire as the inferno persists, unabated, for over 36 hours, necessitating the intervention of the Indian Air Force, which has mobilized the Mi-17 helicopter for Bambi Bucket Operations to douse the flames. A ban on boating in Nainital Lake has been enforced as a precautionary measure. Confirming the extent of the blaze, the assistant registrar of the High Court revealed that an old, vacant house near The Pines has been engulfed by flames. “Fortunately no casualties , have been reported thus far, but the fire continues to edge perilously close to residential areas,” he said. Simultaneously another , forest fire has been reported in the Lariya Kanta area of Nainital district, resulting in partial damage to an ITI building. Villages in the vicinity of Nainital, including Baldiyakhan, Jeolikot, Mangoli, Khurpatal, Devidhura, Bhawali, Pinus, Bhimtal, and Mukteshwar, have borne the brunt of the conflagration. CONTD. ON NATION The makers of MDH and Everest spices, New Delhi-based Mahashian Di Hatti Private Limited and Mumbai headquartered Everest Food Products Pvt Ltd, are under the scanner of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after Hong Kong stopped sales of some of their products as they allegedly contained high levels of a cancer-causing pesticide. “The FDA is aware of the reports and is gathering additional information about the situation,” according to a spokesperson of the organisation. The controversy erupted earlier this month with Hong Kong suspending sales of three MDH spice blends and an Everest spice mix for fish curries. Singapore also ordered a recall of the Everest spice mix, alleging that it contains high levels of ethylene oxide, which is a potential cancer risk with long exposure. India’s Spices Board will start mandatory testing of such consignments destined to these two countries, it said. The board, under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry , also said it is working with exporters whose consignments have been recalled to find out the root cause of the quality issues and suggest corrective measures. CONTD. ON NATION GROUND ZERO Is Congress on the road to perdition in Bengal? JAYANTA ROY CHOWDHURY BEHRAMPORE (WEST BENGAL) A sea of tricolour and hammer and sickle flags replete with crowds of men and women dancing to the sound of drum beats, progressed from this trading city’s Textile More (crossing) to the Collectorate office, carrying with it the veteran Congress leader Adhir Chowdhury on his way to file his nomination papers for a sixth time. Berhampore, a sprawling old town which has gobbled up earlier settlements of Cossimbazar, Gora and Khagra bazaar, has been Chowdhury’s bastion and one of Congress’s last two citadels (the other being Maldah South) in a state which in 1951 The Congress and its leader in Bengal are a worried lot. At stake is not only Adhir Chowdhury’s Lok Sabha seat but also the grand old party’s very existence in Bengal. sent 24 Congress MPs out of a total of 34 MPs that West Bengal then had in the Lok Sabha. Chowdhury in a white Panama hat to beat the scorching central Bengal heat, looked relaxed as he strode into the District Magis- trate’s office to submit his papers. However, the surface calm could not hide the fact that the Congress and its leader in Bengal were a worried lot. At stake is not only Adhir Chowdhury’s Lok Sabha seat but also the grand old party’s very existence in Bengal. The Congress’s Leader of the Opposition in the lower house, won the last 2019 election to the seat which comprises the city of Berhampore and a few adjoining towns and rural pockets with 45.5 per cent of the popular vote. Yet, this marked a decline of over 11 per cent of the votes he got a 10 years earlier when the Manmohan Singh government was in power. At the same time the combined vote of the TMC and the BJP was more than his vote, a sure sign that the politician with a ‘Robin Hood’ image was losing his touch. What made it worse, was that in the 2023 state assembly elections, six of the seven assembly segments in the constituency went to TMC while the assembly seat for Berhampore town proper went to BJP . For the first time the saffron and green flags flew in the town where Chowdhury was supposed to be an undisputed ‘king’. The rest of the Murshidabad district of which Berhampore is the headquarters had already switched allegiance to TMC. This time its a tough fight for him. He is up against former cricketer Yusuf Khan Pathan an import from Gujarat by Trinamool Congress and BJP’s Dr Nirmal Saha, a popular figure in the trading town. His anger against TMC’s decision against any electoral understanding with Congress and CPI (M) is palpable. Before filing his nomination, Chowdhury told reporters, “Just as Nitish Kumar has become ‘Paltu’ (turncoat), didi (Mamata Banerjee) has become Palti kumari (lady turnCONTD. ON NATION coat).”