WEDNESDAY 14 AUGUST 2024 www.thestatesman.com X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 Pages 12 |` 5.00|LC* KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR TRUMP & MUSK TALK ABOUT ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT KTR SLAMS CONG OVER DOUBLE STANDARDS P4 SENSEX 78,956.03 q-692.89 WEATHER Generally cloudy sky. Light to moderate rain / thundershower very likely to occur. Maximum and Minimum Temperature most likely to be around 31˚C and 27˚C respectively. RAINFALL: 23.4 mm RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 94 % ` vs $ 83.94 P7 GOLD 72,580 HC transfers RG Kar investigation to CBI Jr docs continue ceasework strike against rape and murder of colleague Full Moon on 19 August THUMBNAILS Members of the Olympic bronze medal winning Indianhockey team pose for a picture on their arrival at IGI airport, in New Delhi on Tuesday. nANI Jagdambika Pal to head JPC on Waqf Bill: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has appointed BJP MP Jagdambika Pal as the Chairperson of the Joint Committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024. A 31-member JPC on the Waqf Amendment Bill was announced in the last session of Parliament following demands by Opposition parties. (Page 5) C alcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered a CBI investigation into the rape and murder of a woman post-graduate trainee (PGT) doctor at the RG Kar Medical college and Hospital last Friday and police to hand over the case diary and other material retrieved so far related to the case to the Central agency forthwith. The division bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmoy Bhattacharya, hearing five PILs filed in connection with the rape and murder of the doctor, raised several pointed questions on the actions of police and the hospital authorities in the wake of the horrific incident. “Even after five days there have been no significant conclusions which should have happened by now. Therefore, we are justified that there is every possibility that evidence will be destroyed. We deem it appropriate that the case must be transferred to CBI with immediate effect," the court said. Chief Justice Sivagnanam during the hearing asked why an unnatural death was lodged at first instead of filing a murder case and why the hospital superintendent or principal did not lodge any complaint with police regarding the incident despite the fact that the junior woman doctor was on duty when the incident happened. The court today came down heavily on Dr Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of the state-run college, saying it was "disheartening" that he was not "proactive". The court also criticised the fact that the former principal was appointed in the same role in another college soon after he resigned and said he must be immediately relieved of his duties and sent on leave. The bench ordered Kolkata Police to hand over the probe to the CBI with all relevant documents, including the case diary and CCTV footage it might have seized with immediate effect. The court also asked the state government to furnish the VP cautions against ‘pernicious designs to destabilise country’ NEW DELHI, 13 AUGUST Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar Tuesday appealed to people to be alert about "sinister forces with pernicious designs whose only motto is to destabilise Bharat and impede our progress". SILVER 83,500 BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 80.38 q1.33 Hindenburg report: Congress announces nationwide stir on 22 Aug, to gherao ED offices “ Addressing citizens before flagging off the Har Ghar Tiranga bike rally from Bharat Mandapam here, he said: “Some people are unable to digest the rapid pace of our development. They want to create obstacles, to bring instability.” Stressing on the symbolic The shocking revelations of nexus between SEBI and Adani needs a thorough investigation. The money of small investors in the stock market can't be jeopardised. Modi government must immediately seek the resignation of SEBI chaiazrperson and constitute a JPC in this regard. NEW DELHI, 13 AUGUST KOLKATA, 13 AUGUST Min: 29.4˚C (+2.6) SUN SETS 18:10 hrs MOON SETS 23:25 hrs STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE P14 STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Min. 74% TEMPERATURE Max: 32.2˚C (-0.2) SUN RISES 05:13 hrs MOON RISES 12:31 hrs P9 NIFTY 24,139.00 q-208 PONTING TIPS AUSTRALIA TO WIN KAMALA: A TRUTH STRANGER THAN FICTION significance of the tricolour, he urged citizens to draw inspiration from it to unite against adversarial forces and appealed to all fellow citizens to keep the interest of the nation paramount in all situations. Underscoring the significance of the ‘Har Ghar Tiran- ga’ campaign, launched in 2021, Mr Dhankhar said the initiative is aimed at awakening a deep sense of patriotism and national pride among all Indians, fostering a spirit of unity. He also made note of the evolution of the campaign into a ‘jan andolan’ today. ED summons: SC reserves order on Abhishek’s plea PARMOD KUMAR NEW DELHI, 13 AUGUST The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved its order on Trinamul Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee and his wife Rujira Banerjee’s plea challenging the Directorate of Enforcement’s summons in alleged money laundering case relating to irregularities andwrongdoingsintherecruitment of the teaching and non-teaching staff in government schools in Bengal. A bench comprising Justice Bela M Trivedi and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma reserved the order on the conclusion of arguments by senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Zoheb Hossain who appeared for Abhishek Banerjee, his wife Rujira Banerjee and Directorate of Enforcement respectively. Senior Advocate Sibal raised questions on the ED sending every summon to Mr Banerjee at his Kolkata residence whereas he lives in Delhi and showed to the court a chart whereby details of each summons sent to Mr Banerjee were exhibited. The Trinamul Congress leader and MP has been summoned by the ED for questioning in cases including for the alleged irregularities in the recruitment in West Bengal schools. The issue relates to the question whether the ED can summon an accused to appear before it in New Delhi while the predicate offence is within the jurisdiction of Kolkata. progress report of investigation when the case is taken up for hearing after three weeks. The development came as junior doctors across the state continued their cea sework on Tuesday protesting the rape and murder of their colleague and demanding justice for her. With the stir hitting healthcare services across the state, the state government on Tuesday made an appeal to the striking junior doctors and interns to resume work and restore normal healthcare services in medical colleges and hospitals. (See Pgs 2,3) Congress on Tuesday announced a countrywide protest on 22 August in support of its demand for the resignation of Securities and Exchange Birad of India (SEBI) Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch in the wake of the Hindenburg Research report against her and for the formation of a a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to look into the matter. The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge in the presence of Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi with the party's general secretaries, in-charges and Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) presidents at the party headquarters here. Last week, the US-based short seller, Hindenburg Research, alleged that “Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch had stakes in obscure offshore entities used in the Adani money siphoning scandal”. The couple dismissed the Hindenburg report. The Congress meeting also discussed other several issues, including caste cen- MALLIKARJUN KHARGE sus and alleged targeted attack on religious minorities in Bangladesh. In a post on X after the meeting, the Congress chief wrote: “The shocking revelations of nexus between SEBI and Adani needs a thorough investigation. The money of small investors in the stock market can’t be jeopardised. Modi government must immediately seek the resignation of SEBI chairperson and constitute a JPC in this regard.” Addressing a Press conference, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal while apprising about the meeting said: “Today we discussed about one of the biggest scam is happening in the country nowadays i.e Hindenburg revelations, the scam related to Adani and SEBI. We unanimously decided to have a nationwide agitation demanding two things. One is a JPC inquiry on Adani mega scam on which the Prime Minister is fully involved and in which the financial market regulation has now been found to have been severely compromised.” “There will be a massive national-level agitation on 22nd of August through out the country. In each state capital, we will gherao the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office. Thousands of Congress workers will gherao the ED office demanding SEBI chairperson has to be removed,” he said.