wednesday India’s Core sector production improves to 4.3% in November 01 january, 2025 Output of cement, coal, steel, electricity, refinery products, and fertilisers showed positive growth in November, commerce ministry data showed The Morning Standard wishes its readers a 40.27% Core sector’s contribution to the index of Industrial production Cement sector emerges top performer A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS l New Delhi l J8.00 l Coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement, and electricity are the eight infrastructure industries collectively known as the core sector. The cement sector grew 13% in November, followed by coal at 7.5%, steel 4.8%, electricity 3.8%, petroleum refinery products 2.9%, and fertilisers 2%. Crude oil and natural gas output contracted 2.1% and 1.9% PAGES 12 Punjab twist Farmer on fast seeks talks with Centre, SC grants time S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi for a bright, better 2025 The city breaks into celebrations at Connaught Place, with people thronging roads amid tight security and strict traffic restrictions. | pti L-G, Atishi spar over ‘demolition order’ on temples, Buddhist places E x p r e ss Ne ws Se r v i c e @ New Delhi In another round of confrontation between the AAP government and the L-G, Chief Minister Atishi on Tuesday wrote to the latter alleging demolition of Hindu temples and Buddhist places of worship revered by the Dalit community. She has alleged that the Religious Committee has bypassed the elected government and decided to demolish several temples under the L-G’s supervision. The L-G Secretariat, however, has refuted the allegation, saying temples, mosques, churches or any other places of worship were not being demolished. Atishi, in her letter, said, “It has been brought to my attention that the Religious Committee has ordered the demolition of numerous religious structures all across Delhi, in a meeting on November 22. Until last year, all decisions of the Religious Committee were sent to you via the CM and the Minister (Home), Delhi.” However, in an order issued last year, “your office stated that demolition of religious structures is a matter related to ‘public order’ and does not fall under the purview of the elected government and will be directly under the purview of the L-G” and “since then, you have directly monitored the work of the Religious Committee”. The L-G Secretariat, however, said, “The CM is playing cheap politics to divert attention from her and her predecessor’s failures. If at all, L-G has issued strict instructions to the police to maintain extra vigil against forces who may indulge in deliberate vandalism for political benefits. His instructions are being strictly followed, as was witnessed during the Christmas celebrations, when no untoward incident was observed.” Sorry I feel regret and I want to say sorry to the people of the state for what happened since May 3 last year CM apologises for loss of lives due to ethnic strife Urges people to forgive and forget past mistakes P r a s a n ta M a z u m d a r @ Guwahati On the New Year’s eve, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh apologised to the people of the state for the loss of lives during the ethnic violence. “I feel regret and I want to say sorry to the people of the state for what happened since May 3 last year. Many people lost their loved ones. Many people left their homes. So, I really feel regret and would like to apologise to all natives,” Singh said at a press conference. Pointing out that there has been some progress towards peace in the last three-four months, he said he was hopeful about the return of normalcy and peace on the New Year. “Whatever happened has happened. We have to forgive and forget the past mistakes and make a new beginning for a peaceful and prosperous Manipur,” the CM said, adding, “We all recognise 34-35 tribes. We should live together in the future.” While over 200 people died in the ethnic violence, 12,247 FIRs were registered and 625 accused arrested. Also, 5,600 arms and 35,000 ammunitions were recovered. “So, there is a good progress in tackling the issue. Centre provided enough security personnel and funds to help the displaced families. Altogether 2,058 families with a population of 7,549 persons have been resettled,” Singh said. Meanwhile, several Kuki women were injured on Tuesday when central armed police forces (CAPF) allegedly used force to disperse protesters at Saibol village in the Kangpokpi district. The trouble began when the local women allegedly resisted the “forceful occupation of community bunkers” by the central forces. Condemning the assault, the women wing of the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum claimed that more than 30 women were injured during their “peaceful protest against the violence in Saibol-Twichin area of Kangpokpi district”. The organisation demanded that CAPF immediately cease its “intrusive operations” and allow the people to celebrate the New Year in peace. “The government must stop being Biren Singh, Manipur CM biased and take concrete steps to prevent such incidents and ensure that those responsible for the violence are held accountable,” the organisation further stated. After the chief minister’s outreach, the Congress wondered why Prime Minister Narendra Modi hasn’t gone there yet. In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “Why can’t the Prime Minister go to Manipur and say the same thing there? He has deliberately avoided visiting the state since May 4, 2023, even as he jets around the country and the world.” the Supreme Court on Tuesday granted three more days to the Punjab government to comply with its December 20 order to provide medical aid to 70-year-old farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who has been on a fast-untodeath strike since November 26, and shift him to hospital. The court was hearing a contempt petition against the Punjab chief secretary and DGP for not complying with its order to shift Dallewal to hospital. A vacation bench of justices Surya Kant and Sudhanshu Dhulia accepted the Punjab government’s plea for three more days after Punjab Advocate General Gurminder Singh told the court that Dallewal has agreed to accept medical aid if the Centre is ready to hold talks with the protesting farmers. The protest is over non-fulfilment of farmers’ demands, including a legal guarantee for minimum support price for crops. “We will not comment on what is going on, about negotiations... As of now we are only concerned with the compliance of our orders,” Justice Kant said. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted that he has no instructions on the submissions made by the Punjab AG. “Taking into the consideration the totality of circumstances and keeping the interest of justice in view, we are inclined to accept the request to afford some more time for compliance with the directions issued by the court,” the bench ruled while posting the matter to January 2, 2025 for further hearing. Manipur accounted for 77% of violence in northeast last year M U K E S H RAN J AN @ New Delhi Central outreach During his stay in Manipur, Shah held more than 15 meetings with govt officers, officers of security forces, netas and over 100 members of civil society Strife-torn Manipur accounted for about 77% of all violent incidents in the Northeast in 2023-24, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in its annual report. It attributed the spike in violence in Manipur as compared to 2022, to ethnic clashes between the majority Meiteis and the KukiZo community Of the 243 violent incidents in the . Northeast that year, 187 were in Manipur alone. “The counter-insurgency operations in Manipur resulted in killing of 33 insurgents and arrest of 184 insurgents besides recovery of 49 weapons. Further, 80 cadres of insurgent outfits surrendered with 31 arms,” the report read. While the state government is primarily responsible for dealing with violence, the MHA took a series of “immediate and sustained” measures to manage the situation. During his visit to the state between May 29 and June 1, 2023, Union home minister Amit Shah held more than 15 meetings with various stakeholders, it said. Senior Punjab police officer meets farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal at Khanauri border in Sangrur district on Friday | pti 9/11 plea deal back on table as US def secy loses bid to reject it Defence chiefs to get aides from other services M AYAN K SIN G H @ New Delhi TAKING a crucial step in the process to integrate Armed Forces personnel, the personal staff officers of the service chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force will be appointed from other services with effect from January 1, 2025. Till now, the chiefs were getting Aides-de-Camp (ADCs) from their own units. “This change has been adopted by all the three service chiefs, signalling some major changes in 2025. It may appear a small step but it is a big message for transforming the defence forces,” sources said. To begin with, the Army chief will get ADC also from the Air Force, the Air Chief from the Indian Navy and the , Navy chief from the Army . This is part of the several Aides-de-Camp such changes that will roll out Aides-de-Camp over the next year. Sources said (ADCs) are the the initiative is led by the Chief personal staff of of Defence Staff, General Anil defence chiefs, Chauhan, who is working on a usually in the ranks of long-term plan to move the forcCaptain/Major or es towards the Integrated Theaequivalent ranks from tre Commands. other services. The Under the human resources ADCs serve the three reforms being undertaken, the service chiefs, force first set of cross-posting of juncommanders, and ior officers was executed in midcorps commanders. 2023, with mid-level and senior Defence personnel officers being placed in imporposted with t a n t b i l l e t s ove r s eve r a l governors are months. also ADCs A special Joint Division has been created at the Defence Services Staff College to foster a collaborative and interservice approach to ensure jointness and integration in warfare and focus on inter-service understanding and cooperation. This, sources said, will empower them to function effectively in the era of Theatre Commands. “Due impetus has been given towards developing greater tri-services synergy and enhancing jointness and integration under eight key domains—operations & intelligence, operational logistics, capability development, communications & infotech, training, maintenance & support services, human resources, and administration & legal aspects,” sources elaborated. India will be the first democratic country to adopt theaterisation through consensus building among the three services, they added. A military appeals court ruled against US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin’s effort to throw out the plea deals reached for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other defendants in the 9/11 attacks. The ruling was announced on Monday night | P9 Express read dip in temp semi-automatic pistol ‘Money from BJP’ After NTCA drubbing in a first after 22 days TN drug haul Power demand in Dec crosses 5,000-MW mark for first time Tech-savvy turns arms trafficker, interstate weapon gang busted Sandeep Dikshit says will file defamation suit against Atishi, Singh Zeenat to be shifted to Similipal National Park from Alipore Zoo Book Maha Kumbh tickets from scanner jackets of rly staff Beed sarpanch murder accused surrenders, cries political vendetta 16 kg meth seized, 10 held; probe reveals links to Myanmar, Haryana The city’s power demand has surged to unprecedented levels this December, driven by dip in temperatures, discom officials said. Delhi recorded a peak demand of 5,213 MW at 10.50 am on Tuesday, crossing the 5,000MW-mark for the first time in December’s history. On Monday, the demand reached 5,046 MW. In comparison, the December peak demand stood at 4,884 MW in 2023 and 4,964 MW in 2022, highlighting the significant rise this year. | P3 With the arrest of three men, including a BTech grad, Delhi Police on Tuesday claimed to have busted an interstate arms syndicate and recovered 275 bullets and five semi-automatic pistols meant to be supplied to criminals in the city and UP. The accused were identified as Rajesh Choube (46), from Madhya Pradesh; Aviral Sharma (35), from Agra; and Jitender Singh (42) of Rajasthan. Sharma used to work in a multinational company in Noida. | P4 Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit on Tuesday lashed out at AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, calling him a “pathological liar”. Dikshit, who is the Congress candidate from New Delhi constituency for the upcoming assembly polls, also said he is going to file a criminal and civil defamation case against CM Atishi and AAP MP Sanjay Singh for alleging that he had received money from the BJP. “I will ask for `10 crore and donate it to clean Yamuna and Delhi’s air,” he said. A day after the National Tiger Conservation Authority chided the West Bengal forest department for moving tigress Zeenat to Kolkata’s Alipore Zoo after its capture in Bankura, the process to transport the threeyear-old big cat to Odisha began on Tuesday. Zeenat, in all likelihood, will be housed at Similipal National Park. According to Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) Prem Kumar Jha, the tigress is in good health. | P5 In a first, people attending Maha Kumbh can book train tickets through scanners fitted on the jackets of railway staff on duty at Prayagraj station, said Dileep Kumar, executive director (information & publicity), Railway Board. Railways staff will be deployed on special duty at Prayagraj junction and they will wear green jackets. There will be a QR code on the back of the jackets, which devotees can scan from their cellphones and book tickets through an app. | P8 After 22 days, Walmik Karad — a close aide of Maharashtra NCP minister Dhananjay Munde and an accused in the extortion case linked to the murder of Massajog sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh in Beed district — surrendered before Pune Police on Tuesday. Karad arrived with associates at the CID office in Pune’s Pashan area. Before turning himself in, he posted a video on social media, claiming that he was being linked to the murder over political vendetta. | P8 In its biggest drug haul in 2024, Greater Chennai Police seized 16kg of methamphetamine from a house in Vadakarai in Red Hills on Monday and busted an international syndicate. Ten people have been arrested and properties worth `5 crore seized in the case. In all, the police have seized 17.8 kg of the drug from this syndicate alone worth `17 crore, although the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) pegs the per kg value of meth to be `10 crore. | P5