KALABURAGI TUESDAY AUGUST 13, 2024 `9.00 PAGES 12 CITY EDITION PAKISTAN’S INFLUENTIAL FORMER ISI CHIEF ARRESTED BY MILITARY The Pak Army on Monday said it arrested former Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed over a housing scheme scandal COURT MARTIAL PROCEEDINGS INITIATED HAMEED WAS PICKED BY IMRAN TO HEAD ISI The Pakistan Army said court martial proceedings have been initiated against Hameed. Hameed is accused of extorting Rs 4 crore from the management of the Top City housing scheme. The arrest comes months after the army, on orders of the Supreme Court, set up a panel headed by a major general to investigate the allegations made against Hameed ■ ■ Hameed was appointed as the head of Pakistan intelligence in 2019 by Imran Khan who had sacked Lt Gen Asim Munir from the post The army replaced Hameed in 2021 overlooking Imran’s objections. Imran’s relations with the military soured over this and after his government fell in April 2022, Munir was made the Pak Army chief Nov 2022 WHEN FAIZ HAMEED TOOK PREMATURE RETIREMENT FROM PAKISTAN ARMY 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 TB Dam crest gate to be ready by weekend? K I RA N BA L A N N A N AVA R CM TO VISIT DAM TODAY @ Koppal/Hosapete Junior doctors protest against the rape and murder of a PG trainee doctor, in Kolkata on Monday | PTI DIDI BUYS TIME ON DOC RAPE-MURDER PROBE Resident doctors across India on indefinite protest, seeking justice S U L A G N A S E N G U P TA @ Kolkata AMID national outrage over the rape and murder of a junior doctor at a government hospital in Kolkata three days ago, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday sought to buy time after calls for a CBI probe reached a crescendo. Resident doctors of government hospitals across the country went on an indefinite strike demanding justice for the victim, paralysing elective services, including OPDs and nonemerg ency surg eries. In Kolkata, civil society members, including theatre personalities and poets, hit the streets. The body of the postgraduate trainee was found at the seminar hall in her place of work, the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on Friday morming. A civic volunteer was arrested on Saturday in connec- CEIR portal helps B’luru cops block 16,219 SIMs R A K S H I T H G O W D A @ Bengaluru WITH the IT City recording the highest number of cybercrime cases, Bengaluru City Police are now using the Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) portal to block SIM cards and track mobile phones used in fraudulent activities. In all, 16,219 SIM cards and 15,000 mobile phones have been blocked in the past 10 months. The CEIR portal is a service module offered by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to trace lost or stolen phones. Using this portal, users can immediately block their lost mobile phones by providing their IMEI numbers. The portal also helps in tracing those using the blocked phones. The portal has become a critical tool in the cybercrime prevention strategy of the police. Through the portal, cyber cops can effectively render the devices inoperable. Additional Commissioner of Police (East) Raman Gupta said with fraudsters using mobile phone technology to cheat people, cyber police have taken a proactive approach to combat such crimes by using the portal. They take up complaints registered through the ‘1930’ helpline number and those filed at cyber crime police stations in the city . “We identify phone numbers that are repeatedly used to commit cyber crimes and block their SIM cards and devices,” he said. SUCCESS RATE OF CBI LOW: MAMATA “I want the police to arrest the culprits as soon as possible. If they can’t solve it by Sunday, we will hand it over to the CBI... I don’t have any issue with the central probe agency. But the CBI’s success rate is low,” Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said tion with the case. After visiting the victim’s home, Mamata assured she would send the case to the CBI if the local police failed to solve it by this Sunday. “The suspicion of the girl’s parents on the role of insiders needs to be probed. If it is not cracked by Sunday the case will be handed , over to the CBI,” she said. However, protesters criticised Mamata’s attempt to delay the CBI probe. They also demanded a judicial inquiry, better security on the campus, capital punishment for the culprits, and adequate compensation for the victim’s family . IIT-M TOPS NIRF RANKINGS 6th FOR STRAIGHT YEAR TOP 10 INSTITUTIONS IN INDIA AS PER THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE RANKING FRAMEWORK, 2024 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Dr Sandip Ghosh, principal of the RG Kar Medical College resigned on Monday taking moral responsibility for the horrific incident. But hours later the state government transferred him to the Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital, triggering another round of uproar from the protesters and the Opposition. An orthopedic by training, Dr Ghosh was promoted as RG Kar principal in mid-2021. He was transferred out of the institution twice, but reinstated shortly thereafter, indicating his networking skills. Indian Institute of Technology Madras Indian Institute of Science Bengaluru Indian Institute of Technology Bombay Indian Institute of Technology Delhi Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur All India Institute of Medical Sciences Delhi Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi Hasina’s stay in India won’t hurt ties, says B’desh govt Y E S H I S E L I @ New Delhi SHEIKH Hasina’s stay in New Delhi will not negatively affect the relations between India and Bangladesh, Mohamad Touhid Hossain, foreign secretary in the Bangladesh interim government said on Monday . “There will be no impact on the bilateral relationship between the two countries because of one individual’s stay in a country,” he said in his first briefing. “Bilateral relations are very big thing and involve mutual interests. Both sides have their interests. India has its interests, and Bangladesh has its interests,” he added. Hasina resigned as Bangladesh’s prime minister on August 5 and fled to India amid protests against her government. A team of experts has come up with two plans to fix the broken Crest Gate No 19 of the Tungabhadra Dam. The plans have been placed before the state government and the repair work is expected to be completed by this weekend. N Kannaiah Naidu, an expert in hydro-mechanical engineering (dams), and other members of the team are gearing up to fix the broken crest gate. Telangana and Andhra Pradesh governments have deputed two experts to the dam site to keep them abreast of the situation there. According to Naidu’s Plan A, the team will wait till water storage in the dam comes down to 60 tmcft to take up repair work. Under Plan B, the A view of Crest Gate No 19 of TB Dam, which gave way on Sunday morning | EXPRESS team will install half of the gate after diverting water from the spot using heavy metal sheets, a senior member of the team said. “The 45-tonne crest gate washed away in the river after its chain link snapped. Now, a private company is building a new gate at Hosapete and it is Contentious draft broadcast bill out PA R V E Z S U LTA N @ New Delhi THE Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MI&B) on Monday said it is working on a fresh draft of the Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, saying the revised version would be published after detailed consultations. Stakeholders can provide additional feedback till October 15. “The Ministry of Infor mation & Broadcasting is working on a Draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill. The draft Bill was placed in public domain on November 10, 2023 along with the explanatory notes for comments of the stakeholders and the general public. In response, multiple recommendations/ comments/ suggestions were received including from vari- ous Associations. Ministry is holding a series of consultations with the stakeholders on the draft bill,” the ministry’s statement read. The clarification came after reports suggested the contentious draft had been withdrawn and a revised version would be introduced. The draft being withdrawn was panned for its controversial provisions to label influential digital media creators, such as independent journalists sharing their opinion on YouTube or Instagram, and even ‘thought leaders’ with mass following on LinkedIn, as either OTT broad- HEAVY rain lashed the city early Monday morning flooding many roads and low-lying areas. Six people were injured when a tree fell on them at Jaibharath Nagar. The city received 53 mm of rain. Rainwater entered several houses at Muniswamappa Layout in Amruthahalli, AC Colony in Pulikeshinagar, Daddy’s Layout at Kammasandra and other low-lying areas, causing inconvenience to people. Basements of several apartment complexes were also flooded. Office-goers and school and college students had a harrowing time because of traffic jams at Varthur, Bellandur, Kadubeesanahalli, Silk Board Junction. Vegetables unloaded at KR Market and Dasanapura APMC Market were washed away. Business was affected at Chickpet, Avenue Road and parts of the central business district because of water-logging. casters or as digital news broadcasters. These ‘digital broadcasters’ were required to set up a content evaluation committee comprising eminent individuals as members to certify the programmes before they are aired. They were also supposed to nominate ‘grievance redressal officers’ to deal with the complaints about the content. DigiPub News India Foundation, an organisation representing 90 digital news publishers, earlier month wrote to Union information and broadcasting minister Ashwini Vaishnaw requesting consultation on the bill. However, it reportedly did not get any response from the ministry . Ministry is holding consultations with the stakeholders on the draft bill. Further additional time is being provided to solicit comments till 15th October 2024 I&B ministry of the TB Dam Board, said efforts are on to complete the repair work at the earliest. Water is being released from all the crest gates of the dam. The state government and the experts’ team are doing their best to avoid heavy outflow from the dam, he added. REPORTS: P4 EXPRESS READ Temples atop Chamundi Hills ours, says Pramoda Mysuru: Pramoda Devi Wadiyar of the erstwhile royal family of Mysore on Monday termed the Shree Chamundeshwari Kshetra Development Authority Act, 2024, as unconstitutional. She said Shree Chamundeshwari Temple and other temples atop the Chamundi Hills are the private properties of the family | P4 Seven dead, 16 injured in Bihar temple stampede Jehanabad (Bihar): At least seven people, including six women, were killed and 16 others injured in a stampede at Baba Siddheshwar Nath Temple in Jehanabad district, Bihar, on Monday. District Magistrate Alankrita Pandey indicated that a dispute among kanwariyas might have led to the stampede. An inquiry has been ordered, officials said. Retail inflation at five-year low M O N I K A YA D A V @ New Delhi BASE effect and subdued food & beverage prices brought down retail inflation to a fiveyear low of 3.54% in July According to gov. ernment data released on Monday, food & beverage prices fell to 5.4% from a six-month high of 9.4% in June. The dip in retail inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, was also influenced by base effects from July 2023, when the rate was at 7.4% and the food index had risen by 11.5%. Vegetable prices in July rose 6.83% yearon-year compared to 30% in June. On a month-on-month basis, however, the prices shot up 14.2%. Cereal prices increased by 8.14%, a slight decrease from the 8.75% rise recorded in June. The prices of oils and fats saw a decline of 1.17%, an improvement from the 2.68% drop in the previous month. Inflation for pulses rose to 14.77% year-overyear, down from a 16.07% increase in June. In the non-food category clothing and foot, wear prices rose 2.67%, while housing inflation stood at 2.68% compared to the year before. In July urban inflation fell below 3%, , down from 4.4% in June. Meanwhile, rural inflation came in at 4.1%, against 5.7% in the previous month.Food inflation was also more pronounced in rural areas, reaching 5.9% compared to 4.6% in urban regions. 52mm rain brings Bengaluru to its knees M O H A M M E D YA C O O B @ Bengaluru expected to be ready by Tuesday evening. But as per Plan A, we have to wait for four more days when water storage in the dam reaches 60 tmcft. More than 10 tmcft of water flowed from the dam after the gate gave way on Sunday morning,” he said. ORK Reddy executive officer , Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will visit the TB dam to get first-hand information and hold meetings with officials supervising the repair work on Tuesday. He said the government will constitute a team of experts that would visit all the dams to assess safety aspects and give a report within a month. He said they can save around 60 tmcft of water and are making all efforts. Motorists navigate a flooded underpass near Jayadeva Hospital in Bengaluru on Monday morning | EXPRESS THE NAME IS... The forest department marked World Elephant Day by organising a naming ceremony for a 31-year-old elephant at Sakrebailu elephant camp in Shivamogga taluk on Monday. As is the tradition, DCF Prasanna Patagar whispered the name ‘Ashwathama’ into the jumbo’s ear thrice | EXPRESS GRAND DASARA THIS YEAR, 21 DAYS OF ILLUMINATION 130km of roads to be illuminated A release from Energy Minister KJ George’s office said that to ensure the grandeur of Dasara 2024, 130km of streets and roads will be illuminated. “Electric lighting will also be installed at 64 key locations, as well as 84 roundabouts and parks. This scale of lighting will impress and amaze all those who witness it,” it said. EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru THE high-powered committee on Mysuru Dasara chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday decided on a grand Dasara celebration this time, with 21 days of illumination. Siddaramaiah said Dasara is a state festival but was not a grand affair last year due to drought, and previously due to the Covid pandemic. “This year, it should be a grand affair. There is no dearth of funds. Mysuru Dasara should be a grand affair and more meaningful,’’ he said, and directed officials to give an opportunity to local artistes and to make tableaus more meaningful. The CM also instructed officials to release the Gold Card much before Dasara festival, so that more people can avail of it. “It is the 50th year of formation of Karnataka, and Dasara celebrations should reflect this,” he said. He also said the government is writing to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, seeking permission to conduct an extensive air show. The committee has left it to the CM’s discretion to select a guest to inaugurate Mysuru Dasara this time. Energy Minister KJ Georgehas directed officials to implement all necessary measures to come up with a comprehensive lighting plan for Mysuru, to enhance the city’s magnificence during the festival.
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