Kolkata, June 4: Trinamool Congress General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee, one of the members of an all-party delegation that visited various countries, will not attend a meeting of the Ministry of External Affairs convened on Thursday.

He said this in Kolkata after returning from abroad. Banerjee was a member of the all-party delegation led by JD(U) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha, which is a part of India’s global outreach efforts following Operation Sindoor, a strong military response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.

The team included MPs from the Janata Dal (United), the BJP, Congress, CPI(M), and Trinamool Congress and visited Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, and Malaysia.

Banerjee said he has already informed the office of the External Affairs Minister about his inability to attend the meeting. Instead, he added, he would write to EAM Jaishankar about his take on the delegation tour’s outcome.

He also said that after giving the written communication to the External Affairs Minister, he would speak on that to the media persons.

“We had toured five countries during the last 15 days. We attended several meetings. On Thursday, the External Affairs Minister will convene a meeting. But I will not be able to attend that. I have some pre-scheduled engagements. I was out of the country for some time. In the meantime, the by-election for Kaliganj has been announced. I have some work in my Parliamentary area. I will be busy with that for the next few days. I will inform the External Affairs Ministry about my opinion in writing. Once I inform the ministry, I will speak on that matter,” Banerjee told media persons.

Initially, cricketer-turned-politician and Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member from Baharampur constituency in Murshidabad district of West Bengal, Yusuf Pathan, was chosen by the Centre as the party representative in the multi-party delegation.

Both West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee expressed grievance over the manner of selection of Pathan, and both alleged that the Centre nominated the former cricketer without giving prior information to the Trinamool Congress leadership, including the CM.

Thereafter, Pathan’s name was withdrawn from the delegation, and Abhishek Banerjee replaced him.

Mumbai, June 4: Indian frontline indices opened in the green on Wednesday following positive cues from the global markets.

At 9:26 am, Sensex was up 155.81 points or 0.19 per cent at 80,893.32 and Nifty was up 60 points or 0.25 per cent at 24,602.80.

Buying was seen in the midcaps and smallcaps. Nifty midcap 100 index was up 309.30 points or 0.54 per cent at 57,826.40 and Nifty smallcap 100 index was up 88.40 points or 0.49 per cent 18,210.75.

In the Sensex pack, Bharti Airtel, Eternal (Zomato), Tata Motors, M&M, IndusInd Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, ITC, HUL and Infosys were top gainers. TCS, Ultratech Cement, ICICI Bank, Titan and Sun Pharma were top losers.

“After the initial flat opening, Nifty may find support at 24,500, followed by 24,400 and 24,300. On the upside, 24,800 is expected to act as immediate resistance, followed by 24,900 and 25,000,” said, Mandar Bhojane, Equity Research Analyst, Choice Broking

Most Asian stocks were trading in the green. Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Jakarta were top contributors. US markets closed in the green on Tuesday.

Vikram Kasat from PL Capital said, “Positive Vibes For the first time since February, Nasdaq is back in positive territory for the year, as a broader market rally continued to gain steam.”

On the institutional front, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued their selling spree for the third consecutive session on June 3, offloading equities worth Rs 2,853.83 crore. Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) remained net buyers for the 11th consecutive session, investing Rs 5,907.97 crore in equities.

Analysts said that since CPI inflation in India is benign, the RBI rate cutting cycle has more room to go with minimum two more rate cuts in 2025. Even though this will put the margins of the banks under some pressure the leading names in the sector, particularly the large private banks, are well placed to deliver 12 to 15 per cent returns in one year.

“The strong fundamental factors that will support the market are India’s robust and improving macros and sustained flows into mutual funds, particularly the SIP inflows which are steady and growing. This reflects the coming of age of the Indian retail investor,” said Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited.

New Delhi, June 4: The Delhi government’s Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) has issued summonses to former AAP Ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain over alleged corruption in the construction of classrooms in government schools.

Satyendar Jain was summoned to the ACB office on June 6, and Manish Sisodia was asked to appear on June 9.

The ACB issued the summonses on Tuesday over alleged corruption of Rs 2,000 crore in the construction of 12,748 classrooms or semi-permanent structures in government schools during the previous AAP government’s tenure.

On April 30, the ACB registered an FIR against the two AAP leaders.

Jain was the minister of the Public Works Department (PWD), which carried out the constructions, in the Arvind Kejriwal-led government, and Manish Sisodia was the Education Minister.

The anti-corruption body has alleged that the scam involved awarding contracts at highly inflated rates, with classrooms in government-run schools reportedly built at Rs 24.86 lakh each, nearly five times the usual cost.

It has also been alleged that the project was awarded to 34 contractors, and a majority of them were linked to the AAP.

The ACB has alleged that the construction involved Semi-Permanent Structures (SPS) with an expected lifespan of 30 years, yet costs matched those of Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC) structures, which typically last up to 75 years.

The project’s cost was increased by Rs 326 crore without bringing new tenders, the ACB has said in its report.

The anti-corruption body said that “significant deviations and cost escalations” were noticed, but not a “single work was completed within the prescribed period”.

The Delhi government’s vigilance directorate recommended a probe into the alleged scam in 2022 and submitted a report to the chief secretary. In March this year, President Droupadi Murmu gave her approval for the registration of an FIR against Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain.

The AAP has criticised the move, saying the case against its leaders was registered to “pressure and scare” them.