BHUBANESWAR l friday l june 28, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late CITY EDITION 12 rajya sabha MPs held guilty of misconduct for causing disruptions Rajya Sabha Privileges Committee on Thursday held 12 opposition MPs guilty of misconduct for disrupting the House’s proceedings last year rules broken amid protest on manipur issue Mps told to adhere to code of conduct The MPs, including Aam Admi Party’s Sanjay Singh, were accused of unruly behaviour in Rajya Sabha on August 11, during protests by the Opposition demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi speak on the Manipur violence. Singh is accused of rushing into the well of the House and pointing at the Chair seeking discussion on the issue | P7 ■ ■ All of the lawmakers have since appologised. The panel, in its report, told them to “scrupulously adhere to exemplary conduct” Among the 12 MPs held guilty are Shaktisinh Gohil, Sushil Gupta, Sandeep Pathak, Naranbhai J Rathwa, L Hanumanthaiah, Syed Nasir Hussain, Kumar Ketkar, Phulo Devi Netam, and Jebi Mather Hisham 140+ lawmakers suspended in both houses during last year’s winter session CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Emergency a punching bag Team Majhi gets Modi Mantra for President Murmu as well in first meeting with the PM No word on the ambitious One Nation, One Poll, Uniform Civil Code in her address Sengol row after SP member’s suggestion R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R @ New Delhi A day after Speaker Om Birla deplored Emergency, President Droupadi Murmu followed suit on Thursday describing it as the biggest and , darkest chapter of a direct attack on the Constitution, in her first address to a joint session of Parliament after the constitution of the 18th Lok Sabha. Murmu also expressed grave concern over frequent disruptions in Parliament because of differences between the treasury and the Opposition benches. She hailed the record turnout of voters in J&K in the general elections, saying the Kashmir valley has given a befitting reply to the enemies of India who spread false propaganda at global forums. The President also touched upon various policy initiatives like the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) but was silent on the BJP’s promise of a Uniform Civil Code and the One Nation, One Poll proposal. Murmu said, “The Constitution of India has stood up to every challenge and every test in the past decades. Even when the Constitution was in the making, there were forces in the world who wished India to fail”. After the Constitution came into force, it was attacked many times. “The im- President Droupadi Murmu addresses the joint sitting of Parliament | PTI Samajwadi Party MP R K Chaudhary’s demand to replace the Sengol installed next to the Speaker’s chair with a copy of the Constitution triggered a war of words on Thursday. While Opposition leaders supported him, the ruling BJP lit into Chaudhary for disrespecting Indian and Tamil culture. Chaudhary had written to Speaker Om Birla demanded that the Sengol, a symbol of transfer of power when India got Independence, be removed as it represents monarchy position of Emergency on June 25 in 1975 was the biggest and darkest chapter of direct attack on the Constitution,” she said. It drew wide criticism on the Opposition benches. As for the ruling NDA, Murmu said the government is taking all efforts to make the Constitution embedded in public’s consciousness. She pointed out that even in J&K, the Constitution is now fully in force. Giving the Opposition a bit of advice, President Murmu said, “Opposition of policies and obstruction of parliamentary functioning are two different things. All of us are respon- sible for ensuring that no obstacle comes in the way of achieving the resolution of Viksit Bharat.” Amid the row over alleged malpractices in the holding of NEET-UG and the cancellation and deferment of a few other competitive exams, Murmu said, “My government is committed to a fair investigation and ensuring strict punishment to the culprits. Even earlier, we have witnessed many instances of paper leaks in different states.” Speaking about the government, she said the people have given the NDA a clear and stable mandate for a third time. Opposition to press INDIA march into final for debate on NEET in Parliament today Skipper makes 57 as India beat England, to face South Africa in summit clash Spinning it India’s way On this low, slow surface, it was expected that the spinners would do some damage. Axar Patel, with some help from Jasprit Bumrah, ran through the top-order. With figures of 3/14 in his first three overs, he broke the spine of the chase. At the end of 10 overs, England were 62/5, and from thereon, it all went downhill. Jos Buttler-led side were eventually all out for 103, falling short by 68 runs. P reetha Na i r @ New Delhi amid the nationwide outrage over allegations of paper leaks and irregularities involving the National Testing Agency (NTA), the opposition parties said they will demand a discussion on the matter and bring adjournment motions in both Houses of Parliament on Friday The decision was tak. en at the meeting of the floor leaders of the INDIA bloc at the residence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. An Opposition leader who attended the meeting told this newspaper that all the parties unanimously decided to move adjournment motions on the NEET row in both Houses of Parliament. The parties will demand a debate on NEET in both Houses before the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address takes place, said a senior leader. This is to ensure that NEET gets adequate time for discussion, he added. While Leader of Opposition Proteas make history Two men arrested by CBI being taken for medical checkup in Patna | pti On a surface that had variable bounce, South Africa pacers Marco Jansen (3/16), Kagiso Rabada (2/14) and Anrich Nortje (2/7) attacked the stumps consistently to dismiss Afghanistan for just 56 runs. South African batters ensured a nine-wicket win to enter their first men’s WC final Rohit, SKY set tone Rahul Gandhi will raise the issue in the Lok Sabha, Kharge will lead take it up in the Upper House. Sources said the Opposition parties will not relent until discussion happens. Meanwhile, the CBI on Thursday made its first arrests in the NEET-UG paper leak case, taking two persons—Manish Kumar and Ashutosh Kumar—into custody in Patna for allegedly providing safe accommodation to aspirants and giving them leaked question papers and answer keys. Through this WC, Rohit Sharma has walked the talk. Intent up front. And when it comes off, it has a significant impact as it did on Thursday. The skipper, who hit 57 off 39, added 73 runs with Suryakumar as India posted an above par total Policy switch to make full fighter jets in India S H A H ID F A R IDI @ New Delhi Not content with piecemeal Make in India initiatives in its defence procurement, the Union government has made a policy switch to buy as many as 114 Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) only from a vendor who is ready to set up a manufactuting unit in India for the entire aircraft. It also wants transfer of technology and full production in India in a joint venture with a local partner. A new global tender incorporating these conditions is likely to be floated soon. The radical shift in policy is expected to delay the MRFA acquisition further. India has 31 squadrons of fighter jets as against the sanctioned strength of 42. A large number of parts of fighter aircraft purchased earlier are already being manufactured in India under and is likely to go ahead with its decithe offset obligations. This is the first sion to purchase 26 Rafale Marine to time that the government will be in- replace the ageing MiG-29s being used sisting on manufacturing complete o n I N S V i k r a n t a n d I N S aircraft in India with technology Vikramaditya. transfer. The Union government has Approximately valued at $20 been encouraged by its sucbillion, the MRCA is said to cess in getting US company 114 be one of the world’s biggest GE Aerospace Defence and defence deals in recent times. Systems to produce fighter deal Among the aircraft in the jet engines in India in collabrace to bag the contract are oration with the state-owned Dassault’s Rafale, Boeing’s SuHindustan Aeronautics Ltd. per Hornet F/A-18, SAAB’s Gripen, As per the deal signed during Prime Lockheed Martin’s F-21, Russian MiG- Minister Narendra Modi’s last visit to 35 and the Eurofighter Typhoon. the US, GE will transfer 80% technolSources said French company Das- ogy of its F414 jet engines that will sault, makers of Rafale, which has power the Mk2 version of India’s inbeen the frontrunner to bag the con- digenously-developed Light Combat tract, is not keen to transfer technol- Aircraft. The government has inogy for production in India. The In- creased the FDI sectoral limit in dedian government has already bought fence to 74% to make the country a 36 Rafale jets for the Indian Air Force defence manufacturing hub. MRFA B i j o y P ra d ha n @ Bhubaneswar Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and his two deputies, Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo and Pravati Parida called on President Droupadi Murmu, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and two Union Ministers on Thursday . It was their meeting with the Prime Minister which was worthy of attention as Modi had wished to meet them. However, with no official statement and social media posts coming from CMO on Team Majhi’s first meeting with the PM, the discussions have been kept a guarded secret. Informed sources said that the prime minister being aware that the new BJP government in the state lacks administrative experience and many of the ministers are first-time MLAs, he gave them a sense of direction on governance and priority areas on which people have high expectations. “The PM mostly advised them on how to run the government by sharing his experience when he took over the reins of Gujarat as chief minister with no experience in administrative matters. He reportedly told them to settle down to business without wasting time as they have a gigantic task Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi greets Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar in Delhi ahead of them,” the sources said. The PM sought to know from Majhi about his the first 100-day plan and how far he has proceeded on it. He further wanted to know the plan of action to fulfill the promises made in the election manifesto that required huge financial resources. Assuring all assistance from the Centre, Modi asked the chief minister and his team to prepare a road map with timeline for complying with all the pledges made to the people during the election. The PM made it clear that he is keeping a close watch on performance of the government. Majhi requested Modi to attend the Rath Yatra and an official invitation has been given to the prime minister. Majhi and his deputies first met the President at Rashtrapati Bhavan after which they called on the V-P and Finance Minister at their offices. The chief minister is stated to have reiterated the state’s demands made during the prebudget meeting on June 22. The three also met Union Minister Gadkari and requested him to expedite all road infrastructure projects including the coastal highways. They had a dinner meeting with Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan at his residence. T he CM has also invited Dhankhar, Sitharaman and Gadkari to the Rath Yatra festival. Since the President is coming for Rath Yatra, the Vice-President said he will visit some other time. Majhi is also scheduled to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Ministers Bhupender Yad av, Ju a l O r a m , A s h w i n i Vaishnaw and general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh on Friday .
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