BHUBANESWAR  FRIDAY  FEBRUARY 14, 2025  `9.00  PAGES 14  LATE CITY EDITION ERDOGAN MEETS SHARIF IN ISLAMABAD Turkish President Recep Erdogan on Thursday said the Kashmir issue should be resolved through dialogue between India and Pakistan BOTH COUNTRIES AGREE TO STRENGTHEN TIES The Turkish president, who is on a two-day visit to Pakistan, made the comments after holding one-on-one and delegation-level talks with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad. “The Kashmir issue should be addressed according to the UN resolution through dialogue and keeping in mind the aspirations of the people of Kashmir,” he said TURKEY ASKS INDIA, PAKISTAN TO SOLVE KASHMIR ISSUE THROUGH TALKS ■ ■ Erdogan’s comments come months after he avoided mentioning the Kashmir issue at the UN General Assembly for the first time in 10 years, seen as an attempt to improve relations with India Erdogan said Turkey and Pakistan have agreed to further boost their ties and 24 agreements and MoU have been signed during his visit 5th VISIT BY ERDOGAN TO PAKISTAN SINCE 2014. HIS LAST VISIT THERE WAS IN 2020 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 President’s rule imposed in Manipur Decision after failure to evolve consensus on the new CM M U K E S H R A N J A N & P R A S A N TA M A Z U M D A R @ New Delhi/Guwahati PRESIDENT’S rule was imposed in strife-torn Manipur on Thursday and the state assembly put under suspended animation days after Chief Minister N Biren Singh resigned, leading to a political vacuum in the state. Singh had resigned on February 9 after meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The decision to impose President’s rule was taken after Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla sent a report to President Droupadi Murmu. A notification by the Ministry of Home Affairs on behalf of Rashtrapati Bhavan said, “In exercise of powers conferred by Article 356 of the Constitution, I assume as President all functions of the government of Manipur.” State assembly placed under suspended animation STATE’S TRYST WITH CENTRAL RULE This is the 11th instance of President’s Rule in Manipur, the highest in the country It was first imposed in the state for 66 days from January 12 to March 19, 1967 Longest was for 2 years and 157 days from October 17, 1969 to March 22, 1972 The last time Manipur was under President’s Rule was from June 2, 2001 to March 6, 2002. It continued for 277 days Rishang Keishing was the first chief minister to complete a full term Security agencies have been put on high alert in Manipur | PTI Ibobi Singh is second CM to complete a term, not one but three (2002-17) The decision comes as the BJP failed to find a consensus chief ministerial candidate despite hectic parleys between the party’s northeast in-charge Sambit Patra and MLAs. Patra had met Governor Bhalla be- fore Thursday’s decision. Patra had met Governor Bhalla before Thursday’s decision by the central government. The governor has already declared the seventh session of the 12th Manipur Legislative assembly, which was to commence on February 10, as null and void. The last session of the assembly concluded on August 12, 2024. Singh’s tenure was marked by ethnic violence that erupted in May 2023 between the majority Meitei community in the Imphal Valley and the Kuki-Zo tribal groups in the surrounding hills, resulting in over 250 deaths. Singh’s response to the violence included a public apology in December 2023. In February, a new controversy erupted when audio tapes allegedly featuring Singh were leaked, in which he was purportedly heard discussing how the ethnic violence was instigated with his approval. His resignation preceded the Supreme Court asking for a sealed cover report on the authenticity of the audio tapes. CONGRESS SLAMS GOVT FOR DELAY New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday said it has been demanding imposition of President’s rule in strife-torn Manipur for the past 20 months but the Centre did so only after the fabric of the state’s society was allowed to be “severely damaged”. TRIBAL LEADERS WELCOME PREZ RULE Imphal: Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) leader Ginza Vualzong said the President’s rule in Manipur will give a ray of hope to the Kuki-Zo community. He said that the groundwork to end violence will begin, which will pave the way for a conducive environment for dialogue. I-T BILL INTRODUCED IN THE LOK SABHA Fin min Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday tabled the Income Tax Bill, 2025 in the Lok Sabha. Following the introduction, the Bill was referred to the select committee | P12 FELINE GATECRASHER AT U.P. MARRIAGE Videograbs of a bride and others running to save their lives after a leopard entered a banquet hall during her wedding ceremony, late on Wednesday in Lucknow | PTI | P10 Don sets reciprocal tariff ball rolling as Modi begins US visit J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi HOURS before his crucial meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariffs on all trading partners—without exception. However, they won’t take immediate effect, so as to give nations time to negotiate new trade terms with the US, a White House official said. Modi, who arrived in Washington on Thursday for a two-day state visit, began the day with a series of high-profile meetings that could shape the future of Indo-US relations. His meeting with Trump is in the wee hours on Friday (Indian time). After arriving at Blair House in Washington, the President’s Guest House, Modi met the Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. Thereafter, he had a detailed discussion with US National Security Adviser Michael Waltz. The high-level meeting was also attended by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and NSA Ajit Doval. Terming Waltz a great friend of India, Modi said there is a strong potential for cooperation in sectors like AI, semiconductors, space and more. “Defence, technology and security are important aspects of India-USA ties and we had a wonderful discussion around these issues. There is strong potential for cooperation in sectors like AI, semiconductors, space and more,” Modi wrote on X. Later, Modi met Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who heads the newly established Department of Government Efficiency This was followed by an interaction with . entre preneur and political figure Vivek Ramaswamy . Modi said he had a great meeting with Musk, adding that they discussed various topics including India’s efforts towards furthering ‘minimum government, maximum governance’. During the meeting with Trump, Modi is likely to discuss tariff and visa issues besides broader topics such as nuclear cooperation. Both sides are keen to address complex issues such as levy and illegal immigration while exploring a defence industrial framework, nuclear cooperation—especially Small Modular Reactors—and stepping up P9 critical technology collaboration. Govt yields with corrigendum on JPC Waqf report P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi Amit Shah stance in Lok Sabha The new version of the JPC report with annexures was tabled in the Lok Sabha at 2 pm with home minister Amit Shah asserting the BJP has no objection to the dissent notes being included without redaction. He asked the speaker to decide as per procedure The panel report in which several members had given their dissent note has been taken out. Bulldozing it by only keeping the views of the majority MPs is not right. It is condemnable, anti-democratic Mallikarjun Kharge AMID a massive showdown in both Houses of Parliament over the alleged redaction of certain portions of the dissent notes in the joint parliamentary committee report on the Waqf Amendment Bill, the government on Thursday tabled a corrigendum in the Rajya Sabha. For a short while, there were two versions of the bill in Parliament, one with redaction in the Rajya Sabha and the other in the Lok Sabha till the corrigendum made them identical. The Opposition erupted in protest as soon as the panel report on the (Amendment) Bill was tabled in the Upper House with Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge leading the attack on the alleged deletion of dissent notes. However, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju vehemently refuted the charges, charging that the Opposition was indulging in the politics of appeasement. While the first half saw heated debates between the treasury bench and the Opposition, in the post-lunch sitting, BJP MP Medha Vishram Kulkarni tabled a corrigendum in Appendix 5 of the report, prompting Opposition MPs to say they had forced the government’s hand, adding that it proved the House was misled by a minister earlier. Chapter 5 of the Appendices of the report pertains to “Notes/minutes of dissent received from the Members of the Joint Committee”. It contains the notes that were redacted in the earlier tabled report. Speaking to this newspaper, Congress MP Syed Naseer Hussain said only 40-50% of the redacted portions of the dissent notes by the members were restored in the new version. “The basic requirement of conducting a clause-by-clause discussion has not been fulfilled. The panel redacted that demand by us. I have written to the Chairman and Speaker about these concerns and hope it will be taken up in the next leg of the ongoing session,” he said. Vote for change in 2024 was a declaration of faith by people, says Governor EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bhubaneswar GOVERNOR Hari Babu Kambhampati on Thursday said the vote of people of Odisha which led to the change of government in the state in 2024 election was not just a political decision, it was a declaration of faith for them. Addressing the budget session of the Assembly on the first day the Governor said the , people of Odisha opted for change over continuity in the 2024 general elections as the state government’s promise often remained unrealised. “The people embraced the promise of this government that would listen, understand and act as they were tired of waiting for a transformation that never seemed to come,” he said. The Governor said the people entrusted the new government with the hopes of the poor, aspirations of the youth, dreams of the farmers and the aims of the women believing that change would usher in a new era of unmatched prosperity “Despite its glorious past as . a thriving centre of overseas trade, rich mineral reserves Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati addresses the Assembly and abundant human resources, Odisha struggled to fulfil its immense potential for many years after independence,” he said. Kambhampati said with the mandate of the people and a determined vision for the future, the new government has shouldered the onerous responsibility of taking the state forward in the path of prosperity Dur. ing such a short period of eight months after assuming responsibility, it has taken various landmark decisions, launched numerous schemes and hosted several programmes in the interest of the state and nation. The government has fulfilled promises by implementing its fla gship scheme Subhadra which will benefit over a crore women of the CONTINUED ON P7 state.