BENGALURU  THURSDAY  NOVEMBER 14, 2024  `9.00  PAGES 22  LATE CITY EDITION MUSK, RAMASWAMY TO LEAD U.S. DEPARTMENT OF GOVT EFFICIENCY President-elect Donald Trump said on Tuesday Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) TRUMP CALLS IT THE NEW MANHATTAN PROJECT DUO GETS JULY 2026 DEADLINE TO FINISH WORK Trump said Musk and Ramaswamy will advise his incoming administration on ways to slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies to improve efficiency. Trump called it possibly the ‘The Manhattan Project’ of our times, referring to the World War 2-era US project to build the atomic bomb | P12 ■ ■ Despite the name, DOGE is not a government agency and will work from outside the government. Also, it is a temporary organisation. Trump has given the two time till July 4, 2026 to finish their work In other appointments, Trump has picked ex-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe to head the Central Intelligence Agency 1st RAMASWAMY IS THE FIRST INDIAN-AMERICAN TO JOIN TRUMP 2.0 CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOGGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI No demolition without prior 15-day notice Man stabs doc over ‘poor care’ for mom The notice shall be served by registered post and fixed on the building’s outer portion SINDUJA JANE & GAUTHAM S E LVA R A J A N @ Chennai Demolition action should be videographed and report sent to the district collector WHAT THE COURT SAID DR J Balaji (53), a medical oncologist at the Kalaignar Centenary Super Specialty Hospital (KCSSH) at Guindy in Chennai, was stabbed seven times on Wednesday, allegedly by the son of a patient over cancer treatment offered to his mother. The doctor is being treated at the ICU, but his condition is stable, sources said. While the Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association has announced an indefinite suspension of all outpatient departments and elective surgeries in government hospitals in protest against the attack, Health Minister Ma Subramanian claimed that the protest has been called off. Doctor associations, however, said they would continue their stir till security is improved. The suspect, M Vignesh (26), entered the doctor’s room at the medical oncology OPD with a concealed knife and allegedly stabbed the doctor multiple times with the weapon, leaving him bleeding profusely . Police sources said Vignesh had waited in line to meet the doctor and allegedly demanded `20,000 from him since he was forced to treat his cancerstricken mother at a private hospital as the treatment offered at the government facility was “unsatisfactory”. Executive can’t decide an accused is guilty and punish him by demolishing his property SC puts brakes on bulldozer justice Lays down strict norms for demolishing property S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi AUTHORITIES can’t demolish people’s homes in an arbitrary manner simply because the property owners are accused of crimes, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday Invoking its ex. traordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, the court passed a slew of panIndia directions to stop the practice of ‘bulldozer justice’. A bench of justices Bhushan R Gavai and K V Viswanathan made it clear demolitions cannot be done without due notice and without giving time for the affected persons to appeal against the proposed action in an appropriate forum. The order of the bench came with a caveat that it will not be applicable on unauthorised structures in public places. Pronouncing the verdict after hearing a batch of petitions against what is known as bulldozer justice, the bench said that the executive cannot overstep its constitutional remit. “The executive cannot become a judge, decide that an accused is guilty and punish him by demolishing his properties as such an act would be transgressing its limits,” it said. Quoting the famous lines of Apartment links sewage pipe to water line, BWSSB fumes M O H A M M E D YA C O O B @ Bengaluru A sudden surge of water due to the bursting of the Cauvery Stage V pipeline in Hegde Nagar has revealed a shocker. The BWSSB, while probing the incident, discovered that an apartment complex had illegally connected the building’s sanitary line to the Cauvery Stage V pipeline, causing it to burst as gases had accumulated inside. BWSSB Chairman Ram Prasat Manohar has now directed his officials to take tough action against the owner of Royal Bliss Apartment in Hegde Nagar, Thanisandra, who was responsible for the act that could have triggered a massive disease outbreak in the area. “BWSSB will recover the damage caused to neighbouring properties and financial loss to the Water Board,” P2 he said. popular Hindi poet Pradeep, the court said, it is the dream of every person to have his/her own home. “A house is an embodiment of the collective hopes of a family or individuals’ stability and security,” it said, suggesting that the authorities must be cognizant of the consequences of their arbitrary actions. In its verdict, the court laid down strict guidelines to be followed for demolition. It warned that in case of violations, the officers concerned will be responsible for restitution of property at personal cost, in addition to damages. During the hearing, the court made it amply clear that citizens’ voices cannot be throttled by a threat of destroying their properties, adding the state resorting to bulldozer justice is simply unacceptable under the rule of law. It said the law must be just and fair and should protect the human rights and dignity of all members of the society . An earlier bench headed by then Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud had also noted that the state must follow due process of law before taking action to remove illegal encroachments or unlawfully constructed structures. M U K E S H R A N J A N @ Ranchi M Vignesh (26) from New Perungalathur | ASHWIN PRASATH ATTACKER SOUGHT `20K FROM DOC Police said, on Wednesday, Vignesh went to Dr Balaji’s room, told him that because of him, he had to spend more on his mother’s health and demanded B20,000. A spat broke out and Vignesh attacked him with the knife A N U R A A G S I N G H & K A V I TA B A J E L I D AT T @ Bhopal/New Delhi A resident junior doctor and a female security guard were attacked by attendants of a minor patient at a hospital in Indore late on Tuesday night. T he incident happened around 11 pm at MY Hospital’s new chest ward that also houses the paediatric intensive care unit (ICU), where the child was undergoing treatment. A doctor working at the hospital said two children were being treated on the same ICU bed due to high patient load. En- EXPRESS READ GREEN CESS: WATER TARIFF MAY BE INCREASED BY D2-3 BENGALURU: The water tariff is likely to increase by Rs 2-3, if the state government accepts the proposal of the Forest and Environment department to levy a green cess on water bills to protect the catchment areas of the Western Ghats. Forest Minister Eshwar B Khandre on Wednesday asked the department to submit a proposal within seven days, which would be forwarded to the CM for consideration. P5 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru Women queue up at a polling station in Chakkere village of Channapatna constituency, to cast their vote on Wednesday Congress, voters from Dandipeth locality in Savanur town boycotted polling in protest against the failure of revenue officials to grant them records of rights for the land where they have been residing for decades. In Sandur constituency, which is reserved for the STs, a woman candidate from Congress is in the fray Annapurna . Thukaram, wife of former MLA Thukaram, is hoping to get more votes from women. MORE ON P4 We will win all the three seats. I have campaigned in the three segments. Looking at the response from the people, I’m confident that we will win all three seats Siddaramaiah, CM G77, China agree on new NCQG draft text S V KRISHNA CHAITANYA EXPRESS IN BAKU T HE first iteration of the draft New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG) released on Wednesday, found most of the G77 countries and China agreeing to use it as the basis for negotiations to achieve an ambitious climate finance goal. It’s a 34-page draft as against the nine-page pre-COP draft that was rejected by developing countries saying it does not represent their stance. While some observers called the new draft also “non-workable” as it simply put all the options in black and white, others saw some positives in it. The draft acknowledges that in line with the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities, the NCQG is the sole obligation of developed countries to provide and mobilise climate finance to developing countries and must accurately reflect the establishment of operational features in line with the needs and priorities of developing countries. However, it throws up six options on the quantum of NCQG with a lot of brackets. “It decides to set a new collective quantified goal on climate finance [of USD X][from a floor of USD 100 billion][of at least USD 1 trillion][of USD 1.1 trillion][of at least USD 1.3 trillion][of USD 2 trillion] per year [in grant-equivalent terms] [from 2025 to 2029][from 2025 to 2030][from 2025 to 2035][from 2026 to 2035][by 2030] provided and mobilised by developed P12 country Parties.” Dr J Balaji being rushed for treatment after attack on Wednesday | ASHWIN PRASATH Jr doctor, guard attacked at MP hosp BYPOLL BATTLE OVER, NOW ALL EYES ON NOV 23 POLLING in the byelections to the Legislative Assembly from three constituencies in the state on Wednesday was peaceful with Channapatna recording the highest polling percentage of 88.80, followed by Shiggaon 80.48 and Sandur 76.24. However, some minor technical glitches were reported in a few polling booths. The high voter turnout in Channapatna is being attributed to several factors, including a high voltage contest between NDA candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy and Congress’ CP Yogeshwara, allurements and the five guarantees implemented by the Cong ress government. In Shiggaon constituency, where former CM Basavaraj Bommai’s son Bharath Bommai is contesting as a BJP candidate against Yasir Pathan of Jharkhand votes, defying Maoist threat Arab Group: Wants minimum $441bn delivered from 2025 US: “Entirely fair” new donors (China, Saudi) start delivering cash raged over this, the attendants of a patient verbally abused Dr Shwetank Soni and attacked him and a security guard. “The on-duty doctors attended to him (patient) timely But ow. ing to high patient load at the ICU, two children were being treated on the same bed. Angered by this, the attendants of a patient confronted the doctor and attacked him,” said the doctor. The police filed an FIR and arrested two persons. Following the incident, a group of doctors met the dean of MGM Medical College and the hospital managment and raised their concerns over security They threatened . to boycott work if their concerns are not addressed within a week. MY Hospital is a teaching hospital of MGM Medical College. Reacting to the attacks on doctors, the Indian Medical Association called for a “comprehensive overhaul of the security atmosphere” at the hospitals. “Strong deterrent legislations, exemplary punishments, and proactive safety measures are required now and here,” it said. The IMA’s statement was in reaction to the brutal stabbing of an oncologist in Chennai by the son of a patient. DESPITE Maoist threats, the first phase of voting for 43 Assembly seats in Jharkhand concluded peacefully with 64.86% voting turnout till 5 pm. Registering its presence after a gap, the People’s Liberation Front of India, an offshoot of the CPI (Maoist), had put up posters near Ranchi and Khunti districts calling for a boycott of Assembly polls in Jharkhand. However, it did not have any effect on voters, police said. “Voting, which commenced at 7 am, was held peacefully without any incidents of violence,” stated an official communiqué from the ECI. IG operations and Jharkhand Police spokesperson A V Homkar said that all the 15 districts in which the elections were held were Maoist-infested and it was a big challenge for the police to conduct peaceful polling. “But, the elections were held peacefully without even a single Maoist incident in all 43 Assembly seats. Out of the total 15, 334 polling booths during the first phase of polling, 2249 were identified as sensitive from a Naxal point of view for which huge deployment of forces were done to avoid any untoward situation,” said Homkar.