tuesdAY 27 august, 2024 Amid demand for statehood, Ladakh gets 5 new districts epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard pa k i s ta n Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday announced the creation of five new districts in Ladakh, raising the total number to seven 10 jawans among 49 killed in attacks Militants killed at least 39 people and 10 soldiers in attacks in southwestern Pakistan on Monday that largely targeted ethnic Punjabis, officials said. Page 9 Move expected to improve governance A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS l New Delhi Rally to Secretariat illegal: Kolkata Police Swarm of people in RG Kar’s seminar hall seen in purported new video Sula g na Sen g u p ta @ Kolkata A purported video showing several outsiders, including the police, private security guards, lawyer Shantanu Dey, forensic expert Debasish Shome and hospital staff, at the seminar hall of the RG Kar Medical College on August 9 — the day a trainee doctor’s body was found there — but not the victim’s family members, has emerged, raising serious questions over crowding the crime scene and tampering of evidence. Meanwhile, a ‘Nabanna (Secretariat) Abhijan’ rally planned , by students under the ‘Sangrami Mancha and Chhatra Samaj’, seeking Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s resignation, was illegal, the West Bengal police said, adding no permission was sought for holding such a protest on Tuesday and that there were inputs over possible unrest during the march. The 43-second video raised questions on who called the lawyer and why the hospital authorities failed to file a case of unnatural death. This newspaper could not independently verify the authenticity of the clip. The Kolkata Police, however, claimed that the seminar hall was cordoned off. “The seminar room measures 51’ X 32’. The place where the victim’s driver flees Speeding truck kills 3, hurts 2 in Shastri Park U J W A L J A L A L I @ New Delhi Three people were killed, while two others sustained injuries when a speeding truck ran over them in northeast Delhi’s Shastri Park area early on Monday an officer said. , While the deceased are yet to be identified, the injured were Mushtaq (35) and Kamlesh (36), the police said. The victims were labourers and rickshaw pullers. The accident took place behind Shastri P a rk M e t r o s t a t i o n a t Tarbuz Market. DCP (north-east) Joy Tirkey said that a PCR call was received at 4.56 am regarding an accident in Shastri Park. “An MGV canter truck coming , from Seelampur and going towards Iron Bridge, climbed on the central verge and ran over five people sleeping on the footpath,” the DCP told this newspaper. The offending vehicle’s driver fled the spot, leaving his truck behind. The injured are currently undergoing treatment at Jag Pravesh Chandra Hospital, where their condition is stated to be stable. Based on the statement of the injured, the police registered an FIR under sections 281 (rash driving), 125A (act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 106 (causing death by negligence) of the The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and began probing the incident. According to an eyewitness, the truck driver sped away after the accident. Some of the people tried to chase him, but he escaped, he said. The DCP said that the CCTV footage of the area is being scanned to trace the escape route of the driver. “Multiple teams are working to crack the case, the accused driver will be apprehended at the earliest,” Tirkey assured. l J8.00 l The new districts are: Zanskar, Drass, Sham, Nubra, and Changthang. At present, Ladakh has two districts—Leh and Kargil. Due to its size—it is the largest UT in terms of area—and difficult terrain, the UT faces administrative challenges. The move to have more districts could address this. Locals have welcomed the decision with the hope that it will improve governance | P7 PAGES 12 BJP distances itself from Kangana gyan Ha r p r ee t Baj w a @ Chandigarh A day after versatile actor and newbie BJP Lok Sabha member Kangana Ranaut’s foot-inthe-mouth statement on the 2020 farmers agitation, the national party leadership disowned her statement, adding she is neither permitted nor authorised to comment on the party’s policy matters. Kangana had posted a clip of an interview in which she suggested that a “Bangladesh-like situation” could have erupted in India following the agitation against the three controversial farm laws, had the country’s leadership not been strong. She went on to allege that “bodies were hanging and rapes were taking place” during the farmers’ protest and pointed fingers File photo of BJP MP Kangana Ranaut during the Parliament session | PTI at a larger conspiracy at the behest of America and China behind the agitation. Sensing the damage it could cause to the party, its central leadership put out a rather harsh statement, saying: “On behalf of the party Ms Ranaut , is neither permitted nor authorised to comment on policy matters. The Bharatiya Janata Party has directed Kangana Ranaut to not make any statement of this kind in future.” The party apparently is worried over its possible fallout in the Haryana assembly elections slated for October 1, as farmers and Jats are already unhappy with the BJP in the state, though the party is pulling out all the stops to woo them. This is not the first time Kan- The BJP does not agree with Kangana’s statement on the farmers’ agitation... The BJP is committed to following the principles of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Prayas’ and social harmony - Statement by BJP’s central media Junior doctors protest against the rape-murder of a trainee doctor, in Kolkata | PTI New Principal of RG Kar called to cbi office The CBI has named Sandip Ghosh, former principal, in the FIR in connection with its probe into the alleged financial irregularities at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. On Monday, new principal Manas Kumar Bandhyopadhyay and new deputy superintendent Saptarshi Chakraborty were called by the CBI at their office in Salt Lake body was found inside the seminar room was cordoned off using curtains. There is no question of anyone entering that area. People, who can be seen gathering in the video, were all outside the cordoned off area,” said a senior officer. However, the state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said, “The video shows that the crime scene had almost become a fair ground.” Kolkata Mayor and TMC minister Firhad Hakim, in his rebuttal said, “Some over-enthusiastic people may have gathered there. Later, police sealed the crime scene.” As for the proposed rally on Tuesday, ADG (Law & Order) Manoj Kumar Verma said, “Nabanna is a restricted area. So far no one has sought our permission to hold protest near Nabanna.” P8 bangla PM, biden talk on safety of hindus PM Modi spoke with US President Joe Biden on Monday and discussed the situation in Bangladesh and Ukraine. The two leaders tried to find way to end violence against the Hindus in Bangladesh after the ouster of Sheikh Hasina as PM of the neighbouring country| P7 Lending interface to ease credit Ben K o c h u v ee d an @ Mumbai IN a bid to help smaller borrowers, especially those in rural areas, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) plans to launch a Unified Lending Interface (ULI). The RBI is currently piloting an application for ‘frictionless credit’ and it will be launched nationwide soon; it will become the UPI on the credit side, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das said. The new technology is aimed at reducing the time taken for appraisal, especially for smaller borrowers and those in rural areas, he added. “The Reserve Bank had last year started a tech platform for enabling frictionless credit. The central bank proposes to call it a Unified Lending Interface. The initiative is still in pilot stage and will be launched This platform facilitates seamless and consent-based flow of digital information, including even land records of various states, from multiple data service providers to lenders RBI governor Shaktikanta Das in due course,” Das said while delivering the keynote address at the Global Conference on Digital Public Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies, a part of RBI@90 initiative, in Bengaluru on Monday . He added the ‘new trinity’ of JAM-UPI-ULI will be a revolutionary step forward in India’s digital infrastructure journey . The ULI platform facilitates seamless and consent-based flow of digital information, including land records of various states, from multiple data service providers to lenders. This is expected to cut down the time taken for credit appraisal, especially for smaller and rural borrowers. The RBI governor said the banking regulator is constantly working on devising new policies, systems and platforms to make financial sector stronger, nimble, customer-centric. Das also noted that UPI has the potential to evolve into a cheaper and quicker alternative to the available channels of cross-border remittances. 8-month-old Maha embarrassment as Modi-inaugurated Shivaji statue collapses S U DHIR S U R YA W A N SHI @ Mumbai A giant statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2023 in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district, came crashing down on Monday The 35-foot statue broke into several pieces around . 1 pm at Rajkot Fort in Malvan, officials said. Following the incident, the opposition parties slammed the BJP-Shiv Sena-led state government, accusing it of using low quality material for the statue. Taking potshots at the PM, NCP(SP) chief Sharad Pawar said no work done under him is of good quality “The BJP . government and its leaders are high on publicity stunts and low on quality delivery,” he said. NCP(SP) leader Jayant Patil alleged: “The Maharashtra government accepts commissions and gives contracts accordingly .” Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde blamed it on the gusty winds and vowed to rebuild the statue. “The wind was blowing at a speed of 45km per hour, which caused the statue to fall... It was designed and built by the Navy We will rebuild it even stronger... Navy officials . will also take part in the rebuilding,” he said. Express read Deal sealed: 51 seats for CBI to probe Mahadev Abdullahs, 32 for Cong online betting app case Charges against actor Jayasurya, filmaker The National Conference and the Congress on Monday sealed the pre-poll alliance for the first Assembly polls in J&K since Article 370’s revocation. NC will contest 51 seats and Congress 32 with friendly contests on five seats. P7 The Hema panel report continued to wreak havoc with more women coming out with allegations of sexual harassment against big names, including actor Jayasurya and filmmaker VK Prakash, in the Malayalam film industry. P5 The Chhattisgarh government has issued a notification to transfer the probe into cases related to alleged Mahadev online betting app scam to the CBI. Former CM Bhupesh Baghel among others are the accused in the case. P8 Remnants of the Shivaji statue at Rajkot Fort. Inset: before the collapse gana made adverse remarks against the farmers’ protests. She dissed the agitation in the past as well, which provoked a CISF lady constable to slap her at the Chandigarh airport a few months ago. All India Kisan Sabha president Ashok Dhawale described Kangana’s remarks as highly condemnable. Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, who is a Lok Sabha member, lashed out at her, saying she is “mentally ill”. The Punjab unit of AAP described the BJP reprimanding Kangana as a strategic move ahead of the elections. Senior spokesperson Neel Garg said the BJP has historically rewarded loose cannons like Kangana and and Ajay Mishra Teni. 9 jail officials suspended, 3 FIRs filed over Darshan video E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bengaluru Nine police officers, including the chief superintendent of Bengaluru Central Prison at Parappana Agrahara, have been suspended after a video and photograph of actor Darshan Thoogudeepa having tea and cigarette with other inmates prisoners in the jail went viral on Sunday . While three FIRs have been registered in connection with this incident, Darshan is likely to be shifted from Bengaluru to another prison as CM Siddaramaiah has instructed top police officers to do so. V Seshumurthy, chief superintendent, Bengaluru Central Prison, Mallikarjum Swamy, superintendent of prisons, Sharan Basappa Amingad and Prabhu S Khandelwal, jailers, LS Kuppeswamy and Srikanth Talwar, assistant jailers, Venkappa and Sampath Kumar, head warders, and K Basappa, warder, have been suspended. Following criticism over giving special treatment to the actor inside the prison, Home Minister G Parameshwara visited the jail along with top officials on Monday He admit. ting lapses on the part of prison officials. The police have mentioned the actor’s name in the three FIRs, besides naming two rowdy-sheeters and Darshan’s manager Nagaraj. The FIRs pertain to use of cellphones and smoking cigarettes on the prison premises and smuggling these items into the jail. Some prison officers have also been named as accused in the FIRs. The photograph is said to have been taken on August 22. Helpline is of no help—‘MCD 311’ on the blink P r a b h at S h u k la @ New Delhi Krishna in Kashmir Devotees celebrating Janmashtami, at Lal Chowk in Srinagar on Monday | PTI Try it if you must: this helpline ‘MCD 311.’ If it pretends to work responding with ‘resolved’ after making rounds of many civic officials, take it for its worthlessness. Here’s a sampler: This reporter raised a complaint about an illegal garbage dump. The complaint was reassigned multiple times and is still pending. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi launched the mobile application two years ago. It was meant to empower residents to actively participate in the upkeep of the city by lodging complaints related to various civic issues. Amit Kumar, MCD spokesperson, said in case a complaint has been wrongly marked as resolved, it can be raised again. “These instances are rare and the overall feedback on the app has been positive,” he said. That’s a misnomer for inaction, ask Swapnil Agnihotri, a resident of Uttam Nagar East. He said a major road in the area was littered with garbage that covered nearly half the road and choked a drain alongside the road. “This problem has persisted for a year. Even MCD vehicles dump the garbage they collect at the same spot.” After he lodged a complaint on the MCD 311 app last year, it was moved from one officer to another before it was marked ‘resolved’ and closed. “The same happened when I re-lodged the complaint this year. Nothing has changed,” Swapnil said. Residents are supposed to register their grievances like illegal dumping of debris, haphazard disposal of municipal solid waste, potholes, malfunctioning streetlights, and stray cattle. Last year, Mayor Shelly Oberoi’s office claimed that 95% of complaints raised on the app were resolved. However, many residents have pointed out the app’s inadequacy Users . have flagged technical problems. Many point out the difficulty in registering. “To register, the app requires an OTP on your mobile. But the OTP never comes,” said an user. Shall we say this is how civic grievances are “resolved” in MCD parlance?
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