COIMBATORE l tuesday l august 27, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION Amid demand for statehood, Ladakh gets 5 new districts Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday announced the creation of five new districts in Ladakh, raising the total number to seven Move expected to improve governance Local organisations welcome decision 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 ■ Congress’ Ladakh chief Nawang Rigzin Jora said: “Creating five more districts further strengthens our demand for statehood because the UT of Pondicherry with only four districts has a legislative assembly.” ■ Ladakh Buddhist Association president Chering Dorje Lakrook said: “This will benefit people in far-flung areas by getting all facilities at their doorstep.” 86,904 sq km total area of Ladakh, which has a population of 2.74 lakh (2011 census) 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 Rally to Secretariat illegal: Kolkata Police Swarm of people in RG Kar’s seminar hall seen in purported new vid S u la g n a S e n 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, adding that 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 `2cr paid for `2L loan, HC directs CB-CID to probe TN usury case Express News Service @ Madurai Observing that usury is a huge menace to society, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has ordered the transfer of a loan harassment case — in which the petitioner has claimed to have paid `2.26 crore for `2 lakh loan in twoand-a-half years — from the Madurai city police to the CBCID. “The police, who were expected to take action by registering a case against the accused, were hand in glove with the rich, powerful and influential financiers,” Justice B Pugalendhi said when ruling on a petition filed by C Elango of Madurai. The petitioner had availed the loan when his software firm incurred losses owing to the pandemic. After facing continuous harassment and being allegedly charged exorbitant interest, Elango lodged a complaint with the Tallakulam police in November 2023 seeking to register an FIR against some persons, including financier Karthick Selvam. “The financier allegedly took away Elango’s bike and car. There was also pressure on Elango to transfer his company to the financiers’ names,” the petition said. Since the police took no action, Elango approached the Deputy Commissioner of Police (North), who forwarded the complaint to Tallakulam police. As there was still no progress on his complaint, he approached Judicial Magistrate II of Madurai and the judge directed that an FIR be registered. The additional public prosecutor submitted that the value of the complaint was over `50 lakh, and hence, Tallakulam police transferred the case to the Central Crime Branch (CCB). P5 BJP distances itself from Kangana gyan Ha r p r e e t Ba j 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.” strong winds? J&k contest Maha embarrassment poll NC to 51 seats, Cong 32 After hectic negotiation, the NC and the Congress on Monday agreed to contest 51 and 32 seats, respectively, for the assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir. PDP is not part of the alliance as of now. The Mehbooba Muftiled party said it will join in if its agenda gets support | P8 Lending interface ease of credit B e n K o c h u v e e d a n @ 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 Monday He empha. sised that 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. as Modi-inaugurated Shivaji statue collapses SUDHIR SUR YA W A NSHI @ Mumbai A giant statue of Maratha King 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 PM Modi, 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 good quality delivery he said. NCP(SP) ,” leader Jayant Patil said: “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 Namitha: Asked to prove Hindu identity at temple Duraimurugan calls truce with actor Rajinikanth Modi, Biden discuss Ukraine, Bangladesh Madurai: Actor Namitha, a BJP state executive member, on Monday alleged that she was asked to furnish proof of being a Hindu during her visit to the renowned Madurai Sri Meenakshi Sundareshwar temple | P2 Chennai: Minister Duraimurugan, who had reacted strongly to Rajinikanth’s “old students in DMK” remark saying that “old actors” were denying opportunity to youngsters, has called truce with the actor | P4 New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday spoke to US President Joe Biden and briefed him about his visit to Ukraine. The two leaders also discussed the ongoing situation in Bangladesh, Modi said on X 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. Stalin to leave for US today, will target high-end jobs, investments C S h i v a k u m a r @ Chennai In a bid to woo investments and generate high-end jobs, Chief Minister M K Stalin will be leaving to the United States on Tuesday He is expected to . take part in multiple events in San Francisco and Chicago. While the DMK government has already said it had attracted investments worth `9 lakh crore to the state after it came to power, sources said the twoweek visit will have special focus on creating high-profile jobs. According to sources, Stalin will be visiting San Francisco from August 27 to September 2 and Chicago from September 3 to September 7. During his visit to San Francisco, he will take part in an investment conclave on August 29. The focus areas will be Global Capability Centres, research and development, data centres, artificial intelligence, and electronics. Government sources, though refusing to divulge specific details, indicated that there could be major announcements from the CM in San Francisco. On September 7, the CM will take part in a Tamil Diaspora meet, which will be one of the largest events in Chicago where Tamils from New York, Dallas, New Jersey and Texas are expected to take part. During the Chicago visit, the focus would be on the state tying up with Adler Planetarium to set up a science park in Tamil Nadu. While Industries Minister TRB Rajaa is already in the US, CM’s wife Durga Stalin and a few officials may also accompany Stalin on his travel. He is expected to return to TN on September 14. (With inputs from T Muruganandham) Ninja Turtle gang TN smugglers’ Malaysian connect under scanner Siddharth Prabhakar @ Chennai Krishna in Kashmir Devotees celebrating Janmashtami, at Lal Chowk in Srinagar on Monday | PTI Indian investigators have linked Tamil Nadu’s star tortoise smugglers to Southeast Asia’s largest turtle smuggling syndicate ‘Ninja Turtle Gang’ which faced a crackdown from Malaysian wildlife authorities last month. The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) has alerted multiple enforcement agencies like Customs, Railway Protec- tion Force (RPF), Government Railway Police (GRP), and forest department about the link after nearly 2,000 star tortoises and other species of turtles meant to be smuggled to Malaysia were seized in five separate cases over the last one month in TN. Three of these smuggling attempts were thwarted by the Customs at Chennai international airport. In the other two cases, reptiles were rescued from a house in Kolathur in Chennai and at a bus stop in Pudukkottai. Malaysian authorities had arrested six members — four Malaysians and two Cambodians — of the ‘Ninja Turtle’ gang and rescued 200 turtles and tortoises from a house in Kuala Lumpur in July . The gang is an international crime ring involved in smuggling of reptiles from various countries including India, Pa- kistan, and Sri Lanka to meet the demands of the financially lucrative pet traders in Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia and Thailand. Sources said the increase in instances of Indian tortoises being smuggled to Malaysia is possibly to meet the demand in these countries. Another reason for the current jump in tortoise smuggling is that the southwest monsoon (June-September) season is the breeding period for these animals. P5
Express Network Private Limited publishes thirty three E-paper editions of The New Indian Express newspaper , thirty two E-paper editions of Dinamani, one E-paper edition of The Morning Standard, one E-paper edition of Malayalam Vaarika magazine and one E-paper edition of the Indulge - The Morning Standard, Kolkatta.