MONDAY 05 AUGUST 2024 www.thestatesman.com Pages 12 |`5.00|LC INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR P4 WEATHER GENERALLY CLOUDY SKY. VERY LIGHT TO LIGHT RAIN/THUNDERSTORM. STRONG SURFACE WINDS (SPEED 25-35 KMPH). THE MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WOULD BE AROUND 35 AND 27 DEGREE CELSIUS RESPECTIVELY. RAINFALL: Nil RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 85 % TEMPERATURE P5 P9 Renewed anti-govt protests swept across nation with protesters calling for PM to resign DHAKA, 4 AUGUST Min: 27.4 °C (+1) SUN SETS 19:09 hrs MOON SETS 19:58 hrs THUMBNAILS A pleasant view of white clouds hovering over the sky in the Capital on Sunday.  SUBRATA DUTTA IAF gives clearance to DRDO, BDL for Astra missile production: In a boost to indigenous missile manufacturing capabilities, the Indian Air Force has given clearance to public sector firm Bharat Dynamics Limited for the production of 200 Astra Mark 1 air-to-air missiles. The Astra Mark1 missiles have been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation with BDL as its production agency. The production clearance to the BDL was given during a visit by the Indian Air Force Deputy Chief Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit to Hyderabad recently, Indian Air Force officials said. "The IAF Deputy Chief had visited the DRDO's Defence Research and Development Laboratory which is the development agency for the Astra missiles," they said. A t least 68 people, including 14 policemen, were killed and dozens injured as fierce clashes took place in different areas in Dhaka and other parts of Bangladesh on the first day of the noncooperation movement announced by the Anti-Discrimination Students Movement. Renewed anti-government protests swept across Bangladesh on Sunday with protesters calling for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign and the prime minister accusing them of “sabotage” and cutting off mobile internet in a bid to quell the unrest. The military announced that a new curfew, including in the capital, Dhaka, and other divisional and district headquarters, was in effect Sunday evening for an indefinite period. The government had earlier imposed a curfew with some exceptions in Dhaka and elsewhere. Demonstrators are demanding Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s resignation following protests last month that began with students calling for an end to a quota system for government jobs. Those Men run past a burning vehicle inside the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital, set on fire by protesters during a rally against the government in Dhaka.  AP demonstrations escalated into violence that left more than 200 dead. As the renewed violence raged, Sheikh Hasina said the protesters who engaged in “sabotage” and destruction were no longer students but criminals, and she said the people should deal with them with iron hands. The ruling Awami League party said the demand for Sheikh Hasina’s resignation showed that the protests have been taken over by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the now-banned Jamaat-eIslami party. Also Sunday, the gov- ernment announced a holiday from Monday to Wednesday. Courts were to be closed indefinitely. Mobile internet service was cut off, and Facebook and messaging apps, including WhatsApp, were inaccessible. At least 11,000 people have been arrested in recent weeks. The unrest has also resulted in the closure of schools and universities across the country, and authorities at one point imposed a shoot-onsight curfew. Protesters called for a “non-cooperation” effort, urging people not to pay taxes or utility bills and not to show up for work on Sun- day, a working day in Bangladesh. Offices, banks and factories opened, but commuters in Dhaka and other cities faced challenges getting to work. Demonstrators attacked Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, a major public hospital in Dhaka’s Shahbagh area, torching several vehicles. Video footage showed protesters vandalizing a prison van in the chief metropolitan magistrate’s court in Dhaka. Other videos showed police opening fire on the crowds with bullets, rubber bullets and tear gas. The protesters set fire to vehicles and the ruling party’s offices. Some carried sharp weapons and sticks, according to TV footage. In Dhaka’s Uttara neighborhood, police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of people who blocked a major highway. Protesters attacked homes and vandalized a community welfare office in the area, where hundreds of ruling party activists took up positions. Some crude bombs were detonated, and gunshots were heard, witnesses said. At least 20 people were hit by bullets in the area. At least 18 people were killed in the northwestern district of Sirajganj. That figure included 13 police officers who died after a police station was attacked by protesters, according to police headquarters in Dhaka. Another officer was killed in the eastern district of Cumilla, police said. Five people died in the Feni district in southeast Bangladesh as Hasina’s supporters clashed with protesters. Asif Iqbal, a resident medical officer at a staterun hospital in Feni, told reporters that they had five bodies at the hospital, all of them hit by bullets. It was not clear if they were protesters or ruling party activists. (With input from The Daily Star/ANN) Central govt to overhaul Waqf Act, check powers, increase women representation Search ops focus on Mundakkai and Panchirimattam areas; toll touches 369 AGENCIES ACHUTHANANDAN KUNIYIL NEW DELHI, 4 AUGUST The Centre is likely to introduce a Bill soon in Parliament seeking several amendments to the Wakf Act, which may cut its 'unfettered' powers to call any property its asset, and also ensure representation for women. According to sources, the Bill is likely to propose around 40 amendments to the Wakf Act. The sources also said that the Bill was approved by the Union Cabinet on Friday. As per the sources, the Bill proposes to repeal a few clauses of the Act primarily aimed at reducing the arbitrary powers currently held by Waqf Boards. The claims laid by the Waqf Board often lead to disputes. For instance, in September 2022, the Tamil Nadu Waqf Board claimed ownership of the entire Thiruchendurai village, which had a P12 68 killed as fierce clashes erupt across Bangladesh AGENCIES Min. 24 % Max: 36.0 °C (+2) SUN RISES 05:46 hrs MOON RISES 07:13 hrs AFTER SMOOTH CAMPAIGN INDIA’S CAMPAIGN IN BOXING ENDS WITH START, HARRIS FACES A LOVLINA’S LOSS CRUCIAL WEEK AHEAD ‘INDIA BLOC SHOULD PREPARE ITSELF TO SIT IN OPPOSITION IN 2029 TOO’ ‘WILL SEE IF WAYANAD CAN BE DECLARED NATIONAL DISASTER’ According to sources, the Bill is likely to propose around 40 amendments to the Wakf Act. The sources also said that the Bill was approved by the Union Cabinet on Friday. majority Hindu population living there for centuries. With this legislation, the Centre seeks to end the autocracy of the board. Some of the key highlights of the bill include mandatory verification to ensure a more transparent process; Amendments to Section 9 and Section 14 to alter the composition and functioning of the Waqf Boards to ensure representation for women; Properties claimed by Waqf Boards will undergo fresh verification to resolve disputes; Magistrates may be involved in the monitoring of waqf properties. As per sources, the demand to change the existing laws has come from Muslim intellectuals, women and various sects like Shia and Bohra. There are around 8.7 lakh properties under Waqf Boards across the country and the total land under these properties is around 9.4 lakh acres. The Waqf Act was enacted in 1995 and regulates assets donated and notified as waqf by a wakif -- the person who dedicates a property for purposes recognised by Muslim law as pious, religious, or charitable. During the UPA-2, the Congress-led Centre gave additional powers under the Waqf Act making it virtually impossible to get the land back from the hands of the board. It is these amendments which have since been a point of contention. In order to address the Board's arbitrariness, the Centre is planning to introduce the Bill in Parliament in the coming week. KALPETTA, 4 AUGUST Search operations continued with additional men and equipment in the landslidehit areas of Wayanad for a sixth day on Sunday. Search operations on Sunday focussed on the areas of Mundakkai and Panchirimattam. Rescue teams are using advanced radars, drones, and heavy machinery in their endeavour. Search teams also continued operations on Sunday along the 40-kilometre stretch of the Chaliyar River, which flows through Wayanad, Malappuram, and Kozhikode districts. Many bodies and remains were recovered from the river near Nilambur in Malappuram. The latest efforts by various agencies, including the Army, the Navy, police, Fire and Rescue teams, and the NDRF, along with local residents, led to the recovery of three more bodies and 13 body parts NDRF personnel conduct a search and rescue operation in Wayanad on Sunday.  ANI from the river on Saturday. These recoveries bring the total number of bodies found in the Chaliyar River to 73 and body parts to 132, making a grim total of 205. The river carried these bodies, or more often parts of human bodies, for around 25 km to Pothukallu near Nilambur in Malappuram district. Meanwhile, the death toll in the calamity has risen to 369 with the recovery of four more bodies on Sunday. However, the official count stands at around 240. Of the deceased, 148 bodies have been identified and handed over to their rela- tives. A total of 206 people are still missing. Condolence message: Chinese Premier Li Qiang has sent a condolence message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the landslides in Wayanad. In a post on X, Chinese Ambassador to India Xu Feihong disclosed, "On August 3, Premier Li Qiang sent a message of condolence to PM Modi on the landslides in Kerala... On behalf of the Chinese government, he expressed heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved families and the injured." 14 children among 18 killed in rain-related incidents in MP STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE BHOPAL, 4 AUGUST In a tragic incident, nine children were killed while two others were seriously injured after a dilapidated wall fell on them due to heavy rain in the Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh on Sunday morning. According to police, the tragedy occurred during a Bhaagwat Katha and clay Shivling preparation event inside the Hardaul Temple in Shahpur in the Sagar district. While the children were preparing the Shivalings, the wall of an adjoining house, said to be more than 50 years old, came crashing down on them. The nine children who died in the incident included Divyansh Sahu (12), Vansh Lodhi (10), Nitesh Patel (13), Dhruv Yadav (12), Parv Vishwakarma (10), Divyaraj Sahu 12), Ashutosh Prajapati (15) and Khushi Patwa (12) and Hemant (10). Two children were seriously injured in the incident. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav expressed grief over the incident. The CM announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh to each of the families of the deceased children. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed condolences to the kin of the nine children and announced Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister's Relief Fund as ex-gratia and Rs 50,000 for the injured. In another incident on Sunday, five youths from Nagpur in Maharashtra were swept away when the car they were travelling in fell into the swollen Katta River in the Chhindwara district of the state. Police and rescue workers were able to save the lives of four youths while one was swept away with the vehicle. In another case of wall collapse in Rewa district, four children, including a broth- RAIN WOES  According to police, the tragedy occurred during a Bhaagwat Katha and clay Shivling preparation event inside the Hardaul Temple in Shahpur in the Sagar district.  Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav expressed grief over the incident. The CM announced an ex gratia of Rs four lakh to each of the families of the deceased children. er and sister, were killed along with a woman who was the mother of one of the kids. According to the police, the mishap occurred in village Garh when the kids on their way home after school on Saturday evening came near a dilapidated wall. The wall caved in trapping the five children and the mother of one of them under its debris. In Narsinghpur district, a child and a youth were killed when a kuccha house collapsed in village Rampura. According to the police, the house of one, Pawan Namdev, collapsed and seven members of his family were trapped under the debris. Neighbours and other villagers rescued the family members and rushed them to a hospital. However, a three-yearold girl and a youth died during treatment. A man was crushed to death under a wall that fell on him while he was taking shelter near the wall due to heavy rain in Tikamgarh district. The incident occurred in village Bhagwantpura on Saturday evening when the victim, Tulsidas Palera, who was riding his motorcycle, took shelter behind the wall as it suddenly started raining. Olympics: Ten-man India stop Britain to enter hockey semi-finals S S RAMASWAMY PARIS, 4 AUGUST Reduced to playing with only ten men for two thirds of the match, India brought off a Houdini-like escape act to get past Britain via the penalty shootout and enter the hockey semifinals in the Olympic Games here on Sunday. India and Britain were locked 1-1 at the end of regulation time before the eighttime champions marched into the semifinals by outwitting the latter 4-2 in a rip-roaring penalty shoot out to trigger wild celebrations in the Indian camp, backed by vociferous support from sections of the crowd at the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium. India, down by one man for 43 minutes of the quarter final tie after Amit Rohidas was controversially red-carded, defended with gusto with man-of-the-match Parattu Ravindran Sreejesh guarding the goal rock-like to force the match into a penalty shootout. Sreejesh, who came up with save after save from the start of the match, also brought off a crucial save by stopping a goal-bound strike with aplomb in the tie breaker to truly emerge as the man of the moment. The veteran goalkeeper was fully backed by the rest of the team who worked tirelessly to help Sreejesh defend the Indian citadel when the need arose. India succeeded in the shootout on all four tries through captain Harmanpreet Singh, who also scored the first goal off the first off four penalty corners earned in the 22nd minute, Sukhjeet Singh, Lalit Upadhyay and Rajkumar Pal. Britain, who equalised through Lee Morton in the 27th minute, scored through James Albery and Zach Wallace while Conor Willamson struck over the crosspiece and Philip Roper’s try was blocked by Sreejesh. India, in fact, took the lead after Rohidas was given the marching orders in the 17th minute of the game by South Africa’s S Rapaport when his stick was declared to have struck a British player through a video replay when the action was near the centre line. This unexpected setback brought out the best from the entire Indian team who all fell back repeatedly to help Sreejesh keep the Brits at bay. In all he made ten saves in regulation time. Britain also did not have the sort of skills inside the ring and repeatedly were foiled by a crowded Indian defense whenever they made deep inroads. They forced as many as ten penalty corners but couldn’t find the mark from any of those. India, at the other end, earned four and got their lone goal in regulation time through the first set-piece. India made eight attempts at the rival goal in contrast to 21 by Britain. Both Sreejesh and Manpreet, who played as the extra defender after the sending off of Rohidas, and Sreejesh hailed the victory as “a total team effort”, when speaking to reporters after the memorable win. “It was a total team effort. Our defense was good though we were ten down. We do practice with one man short due to temporary suspensions but did not expect someone to be shown a red card. I adopted the role of the extra defender after we fell short by one player. We were determined to win despite being one-man down. We displayed that dedication. “Players adapted admirably to the situation and raised their game to match it. I don’t know how many kilometres they must have run today, but everyone was running hard and taking care to clear the rebounds whenever they happened. It was a total team effort,” said Sreejesh. “Defend to win, that’s our mantra. I don’t know how many saves that I made. All I wanted to do was not to concede any more goals after it became 1-1.” “The coach told us we need to maintain our composure as we will get some chances to score. We did get some chances but couldn’t avail of them,” revealed Manpreet about the inputs from coach Charles Fulton at halftime. Both played it safe when asked about the umpiring decision to send off Rohidas. “Probably the third umpire saw something about the stick hitting.” “It’s better not to dwell on that incident as we have won,” said Manpreet. “You can’t blame anybody for that as umpires follow the rules and do the best they can. They are doing a wonderful job throughout the tournament. Our coaches might take it up with the panel and revert to us,” Sreejesh quipped. India's Harmanpreet Singh and teammates celebrate during the men’s quarterfinal hockey match against Great Britain, in the Olympic 2024, at Yves Du Manoir Stadium in Paris on Sunday. ANI