FRIDAY 13 SEPTEMBER 2024 www.thestatesman.com X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 Pages 14 |` 5.00|LC KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR VP SLAMS RAHUL GANDHI FOR HIS REMARKS IN USA TRUMP V HARRIS P6 SENSEX 82,962.71p1,439.55 WEATHER Scattered thunderstorms. Storms could contain frequent lightning. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 30 °C and 26 °C respectively. NIFTY P5 25,388.90p470.45 ` vs $ 83.95 P4 GOLD 74,025.00 ‘Ready to step down if it’s for people’s sake’ RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY CM Mamata reacts as proposed meet with striking docs falls through Max. 92 % STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Min. 87 % TEMPERATURE Max: 30.6˚C SUN RISES 05:22 hrs MOON RISES 14:20 hrs ÂAs seniors, it is our duty to forgive the juniors. No punitive action will be taken against them, but I request them to resume duties,Ê Miss Banerjee said. KOLKATA, 12 SEPTEMBER Min: 26.5˚C SUN SETS 17:41 hrs MOON SETS 23:52 hrs A Full Moon on 18 September THUMBNAILS Ajmer Sharif Dargah is decorated to mark Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 74th birthday on 17 September, in Ajmer on Thursday. n ANI Seven killed as wall of fort collapses on house in MP amid heavy downpour: A wall of a 400-year-old fort collapsed amid incessant heavy downpour and fell on an adjacent kutcha house, killing seven persons and injuring two in the Datia district of Madhya Pradesh. According to police, the incident occurred in the Khalkapura area at around 4 a.m. on Thursday. The wall of the Rajgarh Fort came crashing down on a house in which nine persons were sleeping. mid the continuing deadlock over talks with the protesting junior doctors who are pressing for various demands relating to the RG Kar rape and murder case, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said she is ready to step down if it is for the sake of the people. Miss Banerjee made the remark while addressing the media after the proposed talks between the government and a delegation of the agitating junior doctors fell through as the latter stuck to their demand to live-stream the meeting. A team of the agitating doctors turned up at the Nabanna Sabhaghar at around 5.30 p.m. on Thursday in response to another invitation sent to them for talks with the government, but they refused to enter the meeting venue, where the chief minister and minister of state for health Chandrima Bhattacharya were waiting, as their demand for live-streaming the meeting was turned down. Speaking to the media, Miss Banerjee said: “As seniors it is our duty to forgive the juniors. No punitive action will be taken against them but I request them to resume duties.” “I do not have any craving for the chief minister’s chair and can resign if it is for the good of the people,” Miss Banerjee said. Miss Banerjee explained why the state government could not allow live streaming. “The RG Kar rape and murder case is lying before the Supreme Court and the Ajit Doval meets Putin amid efforts to end Ukraine conflict STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 12 SEPTEMBER National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Thursday met Russian President Vladmir Putin amid efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict. “Russia's President Vladimir Putin had a meeting with Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of India, at the Konstantinovsky Palace in St Petersburg.” the Russian Embassy in New Delhi wrote on 'X'. The meeting took place on the margins of a conclave of the NSAs of BRICS (BrazilRussia-India-China-South Africa) nations. During the talks, Mr Putin hoped Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Russia next month to attend the annual BRICS summit at Kazan. The Russian President also proposed a bilateral meeting with Modi on 22 October on the sidelines of the BRICS summit to analyse bilateral engagement and to discuss "future-oriented" actions. "We are waiting for our good friend Modi and best regards to him," the Russian media quoted Mr Putin as telling Mr Doval. Earlier, Mr Doval met his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu. “Mr Ajit Doval had a bilateral meeting with Mr. Sergei Shoigu, Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, on the sidelines of the BRICS NSAs meeting in Saint Petersburg. Both sides reviewed progress in bilateral cooperation and discussed important issues of mutual interest,” the Indian Embassy in Russia said on 'X'. Bilateral issues as well as global developments, including the Ukraine conflict, are understood to have figured in the talks. Mr Doval's visit to Russia comes close on the heels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's trip to Ukraine. The PM had in July visited Russia and called for an early resolution of the conflict through peaceful talks. Several Western nations believe India could play a role in ending the conflict, given its friendship with both Russia and Ukraine. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, following her talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week, said India and China can play a role in finding a solution to the conflict. Shortly after his trip to Ukraine and his meeting with President Zelenskyy, PM Modi spoke to President Putin over the phone on 27 August. CBI is investigating into it. Now, if live streaming is allowed and someone makes any comment on the proceedings of the case that is pending before the Supreme Court, that is not allowed.” She said: “This is for the third consecutive day I have been waiting for the agitating junior doctors. Yesterday the Chief Secretary had called them and I was present in Nabanna and told my senior officials that I do not mind attending the meeting. “We told them that the discussion that will take place in the meeting will be recorded but live- Excise policy case: SC to deliver verdict on Kejriwal’s bail plea on 13 Sept PARMOD KUMAR NEW DELHI, 12 SEPTEMBER The Supreme Court will pronounce it's judgment on incarcerated Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s bail plea and his appeal against his arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in an alleged corruption case linked to the now-scrapped 2021-2022 Delhi liquor policy. A bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan had reserved orders on Kejriwal's plea on 5 Sept, following the conclusion of arguments by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the incarcerated CM, and Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the CBI. During the hearing, the CBI's main contention was that Mr Kejriwal had bypassed the judicial hierarchy by directly approaching the top court instead of first seeking relief from the trial court. CPI-M veteran Sitaram Yechury passes away STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 12 SEPTEMBER Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury passed away after a prolonged illness here on Thursday. The 72-year-old veteran politician breathed his last at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, where he had been admitted since 19 August. He is survived by wife Seema Chisti, a journalist, and a daughter from his previous marriage. In a statement, the AIIMS said: “Sitaram Yechury, aged 72, was admitted to AIIMS on 19th August with pneumonia and passed away on 12th September at 3:05 pm.” The family has donated his body to the premier institute for teaching and research purposes, it said. Yechury was on respiratory support at AIIMS for the last few days. The CPI (M) in a post on microblogging platform ‘X’ wrote: “It is with profound grief that we announce the passing away of CPIM General Secretary, our beloved Comrade Sitaram Yechury, at 3.03 pm today, 12th September, at the AIIMS, New Delhi. He was suffering from a respiratory tract infection which developed complications.” A member of the CPM's for over three decades, Yechury was a Rajya Sabha MP from 2005 to 2017, representing West Bengal. An alumnus of Delhi's St ISHAN’S TON HEADLINES OPENING DAY OF DULEEP TROPHY ROUND 2 ‘FEDERAL POLITY FACING SEVERAL CHALLENGES’ Stephen's College and Jawaharlal Nehru University, Yechury started his political career with the Students' Federation of India and joined the CPI-M in 1975. First elected to the CPI-M politburo in 1992, Yechury played key roles in the formation of the United Front government in 1996 as well as the UPA government that came to power in 2004. He also played a prominent role in the formation of the INDIA bloc before the Lok Sabha elections this year to take on the ruling BJP. President Droupadi Murmu expressed grief over the passing of Yechury and said that the CPI-M General Secretary had a distinct and influential voice. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expressing his condolences, called the veteran leader a “leading light of the Left”. “Saddened by the passing away of Sitaram Yechury Ji. He was a leading light of the Left and was known for his ability to connect across the political spectrum. He also made a mark as an effective parliamentarian. My thoughts are with his family and admirers in this sad hour. Om Shanti," the Prime Minister wrote on microblogging platform ‘X’. Condoling his death, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote on ‘X’: “Sad to know that Sri Sitaram Yechury has pased away. I knew the veteran parliamentarian that he was and his demise will be a loss for the national politics." streaming will not be allowed as we have to maintain certain protocol regarding the case lying before the Supreme Court." She said: “We had agreed to meet them with an open mind. Except our minister Chandrima Bhattacharya and Chief Secretary, Home Secretary and director general of police I did not invite any senior officials of the state health department as I wanted the junior doctors to talk to us with an open mind. All the problems can be resolved through dialogue. But they were not ready for it. I thought that if the meeting turned out to be a fruitful one, we could have held a joint press conference.” (See also Page 3) P14 SILVER 91,500 BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 70.78p0.61 Peace on border necessary for normal ties, Jaishankar tells China Mr Jaishankar admitted that the relationship between the two countries is very complex. Â...We did not have an easy relationship in the past. We later had a series of agreements which stabilised the border.Ê STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 12 SEPTEMBER External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday made it clear that India's relations with China cannot become normal until peace and tranquility is restored on the border between the two countries. “You can't have violence on the border and then say the rest of the relationship is insulated,” he said at a discussion at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. Mr Jaishankar admitted that the relationship between the two countries is very complex. “When any country rises it has a ripple impact on the neighbourhood. We did not have an easy relationship in the past. We later had a series of agreements which stabilised the border,” he noted. The minister said what happened in 2020 when the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar poses for a group picture with India's Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations Arindam Bagchi and other dignitaries after paying tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, in Geneva on Thursday. n ANI Chinese moved a large number of its troops to the Line of Actual Control was in violation of multiple agreements between the two countries. “We in response moved our troops up. It was a dangerous development,” he said. He said the two countries have been discussing the disengagement of troops for the last four years so that the Chinese troops can go back to their normal operating positions and the Indian troops can also withdraw. “Some progress has been made...75 per cent of the disengagement problems have been sorted out,” he said, adding if there is a solution to disengagement and there is a return to peace and tranquillity, India can look at other possibilities. Asked why the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) grouping was formed and the proposal for its expansion, Mr Jaishankar shot back: “There was another club called G7 and you won't let anyone else enter the club. So we went on to form our club. As it started, it gained a life of its own over the period of time. Others saw value in it as well.”