wednesdAY Modi speaks to Putin, shares insights from his Ukraine visit 28 The telephone conversation comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to US President Joe Biden about his visit to Ukraine august, 2024 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard Sheikh Hasina 5 more murder cases registered Five more murder cases have been filed against Sheikh Hasina, ousted Bangladesh PM, taking the total number of cases filed against her to 71. Page 9 File Photo Seeks end to Russia-Ukraine conflict A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS l New Delhi l J8.00 l In a post on X, Modi said: “Spoke with President Putin today... Exchanged perspectives on the Russia-Ukraine conflict and my insights from the recent visit to Ukraine. Reiterated India’s firm commitment to support an early, abiding and peaceful resolution of the conflict.” The Ministry of External Affairs said the two leaders reviewed progress on a number of bilateral issues | P9 PAGES 12 Supreme Court ticks off HC judge, grants bail to Kavitha S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi RAF personnel lathicharge a protest march by students during the ‘Nabanna Abhiyan’ in Howrah on Tuesday | PTI Large-scale Violence at Secretariat rally BJP calls 12-hour strike across West Bengal today Over 200 people arrested 29 police personnel injured in the clashes S u l a g n a S e n g u p ta @ Kolkata Parts of the city on Tuesday resembled a warzone as the ‘Nabanna (State Secretariat) Abhiyan’ called by students against the rape-murder of a trainee doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9, turned violent. Protesters fought pitched battles with the police as they unsuccessfully attempted to break the barricades and enter the Nabanna around 1.30 pm to demand Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s resignation. Similar clashes and largescale violence were reported in different parts of Kolkata and Howrah as well. The police used teargas and water cannons to push back the protesters. It also sought to block the roads leading to Nabanna by parking many trucks besides the usual barricades. The protesters retaliated with brickbats. Some of the agitators also dragged away barricades, prompting the po- All set for DU session, political activities begin I f r a h M u f t i @ New Delhi With the new academic session of Delhi University beginning Thursday, political activities on the campus have intensified. Varsity walls, roadside boundaries, and metro pillars are pasted with posters of student outfits. The student bodies have set up help desks and apprising students of their work and plans. Honey Bagga, National NSUI in-charge, said, “We met on Tuesday and urged our members to start the poll campaign. We’ll be setting up help desks in various colleges. We have around a dozen potential candidates for DUSU polls.” BJP’s student wing ABVP has already begun a membership drive. Ashutosh, ABVP’s national media convener, said, “We are ready for the polls. We are active on the ground.” In 2023, ABVP won three central panel posts, including that of the president, in the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) polls, while NSUI bagged the remaining one. The All India Students’ Association (AISA) members, the left-wing student organisation, are distributing pamphlets offering help to newcomers. It has also launched a membership drive. A policeman injured in the violence during the rally, in Kolkata | PTI lice to respond with caning. The situation came under control at around 5 pm. Over 200 people were arrested in connection with the rally. Fifteen personnel of the Kolkata Police and 14 from the state police force were injured, police said. S u p r at i m S a rk a r, A D G (South Bengal), said, “The situa t i o n c o u l d h av e b e e n worse had we not made preventive arrests.” In protest against what it called was police torture, the BJP called a 12-hour strike across West Bengal on Wednes- day However, Alapan Bandyo. padhyay, chief advisor to the chief minister, said: “All state government offices will remain open tomorrow. Salaries of absentees will be deducted. The state government will provide transportation.” BJP leaders and workers, including West Bengal unit president and Union minister Sukanta Majumdar sat in protest outside the Kolkata Police (Headquarters) in Lalbazar demanding the release of the detained students. Suvendu Adhikari, Leader of the Opposition, said: “Both protesters and policemen have been injured. The state government is responsible for this.” However, the All India Trinamool Congress in their ‘X’ handle said, “This isn’t a protest for justice, it’s chaos orchestrated by @BJP4India — hired goons running amok, smashing barricades and attacking on-duty Police officers. This is a deliberate plot to incite unrest and destabilise Bengal!” P7 CBI to consult AIIMS experts The CBI will consult experts from the AIIMS, Delhi on the DNA and other forensic reports related to the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata, officials said on Tuesday reactions Let not the power of the state be unleashed on peaceful protesters, the SC had said. Democracy cannot have a silenced majority CV Ananda Bose, governor The govt will not allow any bandh on Wednesday. We urge people not to participate in it. All steps shall be taken to ensure that normal life is unaffected Alapan Bandyopadhyay, CM’s advisor In a major relief to Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader K Kavitha in a money laundering case linked to the Delhi excise policy scam, the Supreme Court on Tuesday granted her bail. It described as perverse the observations made by the Delhi High Court that the first proviso to Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act won’t apply to her since she was well-educated and a politically accomplished woman. The proviso states, “Provided that a person, who, is under the age of sixteen years, or is a woman or is sick or infirm, [or is accused either on his own or along with other co-accused of money-laundering a sum of less than one crore rupees] may be released on bail, if the Special Court so directs.” A two-judge bench comprising justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan said, when the statute specifically provides special treatment for a category of accused, the court will have to come to a specific reasoning for denying the benefit. We find that the single judge (of the Delhi HC) has totally misdirected herself in applying the proviso,” the court said in its order. The bench also questioned the CBI and the ED over the fairness of their probe asking if they were free to pick and choose an accused. The SC said Kavitha’s custody was no longer required as both the CBI and ED had completed their probe against her. Since 493 witnesses were to be examined and 50,000 pages of documents to be considered in the two cases, there was no likelihood of the trial being concluded in the near future, the bench observed. Daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, Kavitha has been in custody for five months. The court directed her to submit a bail bond of `10 lakh each in both cases. It also told her not to tamper with the evidence and cooperate with the trial. Kejriwal bail plea I P4 NGT: Who’s incharge of groundwater extraction? s h e k h a r s i n g h @ New Delhi The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has criticised the Delhi government and other related authorities for their “inability” to identify the body responsible for regulating groundwater extraction. Its rebuke came during a hearing on illegal groundwater extraction, exposing a lack of accountability among the agencies concerned. The tribunal, led by Chairp e r s o n Ju s t i c e P r a k a s h Shrivastava, along with Judicial Member Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi and Expert Member Direction to chief secy The NGT directed the chief secretary to ascertain the responsibility and direct the concerned authority to file report on the action taken/proposed to be taken against the violators. Dr A Senthil Vel, expressed disappointment over the “unfortunate situation” where authorities appeared unaware of their duties and passed the buck instead of addressing the issue. During the proceedings, the bench revealed that when asked which authority was responsi- ble for overseeing groundwater regulation, none of the involved parties—Delhi Jal Board (DJB), Delhi government, or Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC)—could provide a definitive answer. While the confusion was evident as the DJB pointed fingers at the District Level Advisory Committee, the DPCC claimed that the responsibility lay with the deputy commissioner (revenue). The government’s legal representative also failed to identify the specific officer. The bench termed it as unfortunate situation. Mohanlal quits as AMMA prez, panel dissolved E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Kochi amid the controversies raging in the Malayalam film industry following the release of the Hema Committee report that led to a series of sexual harassment allegations, the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) executive committee was dissolved after its president Mohanlal and other executive committee members tendered their resignations during an online meeting on Tuesday. The meeting was convened to discuss the resignation of general secretary Siddique in the wake of sexual harassment allegations against him. Mohanlal, a celebrated actor, reportedly grew emotional in the meeting and proposed that the entire executive committee step down, prompting a mass resignation. “In light of the sexual accusations against some office-bearers, the current committee resigns assuming moral responsibility. A new executive committee will be elected within two months, following a gene r a l b o dy m e e t i n g . . . Thanks for criticising and correcting,” a statement from AMMA read. The 16-member executive committee, elected just two months ago, was Mohanlal facing intense criticism over its handling of sexual harassment allegations against some of its office-bearers and members. “Initially, it was only a suggestion. There were different opinions... Ultimately we came to a collec, tive decision to disband the committee and appoint an ad-hoc committee,” said actor Joy Mathew. Jayan Cherthala, former vice-president, said fresh elections will be held within two months as per the association’s bylaws. Meanwhile, an actor who accused several actors, including Jayasurya and actor-MLA Mukesh of sexual harassment, on Tuesday lodged a formal complaint with the SIT formed by the state government to probe the allegations. She said the probe team contacted her after she came out openly sharing the bitter experiences. Cong, BJP step up heat on CPM MLA The Congress and BJP in Kerala on Tuesday intensified their demand for actor-politician M Mukesh’s resignation as MLA following allegations of sexual harassment against him. However, the CPM rejected the charges and claimed that some persons were trying to blackmail him for money and that they are the ones making the allegations. He added that strong legal action would be taken against them set for big innings E x p r e ss r e a d Jai ho! BCCI secy Shah gets top ICC job unopposed Satish Kumar named Railway Board chief g o m e s h s @ Chennai For a cricket body that has a strong hold in international cricket with its financial clout, this only seems a natural progression. What was being whispered in the power corridors of cricket, has become a reality when Jay Shah was nominated as the next International Cricket Council’s Independent Chair. He will take charge on December 1, 2024. At 35, Jay becomes the youngest chairperson of the ICC. Though Jay’s ascendancy as global body head was doing the rounds in the cricketing circles, things became clear when the current chair Greg Barclay , who took charge as the Chair in November 2020, announced last week that he will not be seeking a third term. With the deadline for nomination closing on Tuesday, the BCCI secretary was the only person to be nominated by all ICC directors and hence would be elected unopposed. “I am humbled by the nomi- nation as the Chair of the International Cricket Council,” Shah said in a statement released by the global cricketing body. “While we will build on the valuable lessons learned, we must also embrace fresh thinking and innovation to elevate the love for cricket worldwide. The inclusion of our sport in the Olympics at LA 2028 repre- sents a significant inflection point for the growth of cricket, and I am confident that it will drive the sport forward in unprecedented ways.” Son of Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah, Jay became joint secretary of Gujarat Cricket Association in 2013. After six years, he assumed the role of BCCI secretary of the BCCI in 2019 and was re- I am humbled by the nomination (Chair of ICC). While we will build on the valuable lessons learned, we must also embrace fresh thinking and innovation to elevate the love for cricket worldwide — Jay Shah elected in 2022. His term will end next year, but will have to resign from the BCCI job before assuming office at the ICC headquarters in Dubai. Jay who is currently heading , the ICC Finance and Commercial Affairs Committee, and Asian Cricket Council, will hold the top post from December and can only act as ex-officio in all the ICC committees from December. He is eligible to continue at the post for six years, three two-year terms, during which he will also oversee inclusion of cricket in the 2028 Olympics. Satish Kumar, an Indian Railway Management Service (IRMS) officer, has been appointed Chairman and CEO of the Railway Board with effect from September 1. Kumar, who is currently serving as member (Traction and Rolling Stock) of the Railway Board, will replace Jaya Verma Sinha, who will retire on August 31. Kumar, 1986-batch officer, had previously worked as GM, North Central Railway Prayagraj, and in other capacities. He was trained in total quality management.
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