THURSDAY INDIA ENGAGING RUSSIA AND UKRAINE TO HELP END WAR, SAYS JAISHANKAR 26 SEPTEMBER, 2024 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard India has been holding talks with both countries to see if there is something it can do to initiate negotiations between them, the minister said X.com/TheMornStandard CHINA TESTS MISSILE THAT CAN REACH US CITIES TALKS EXPLORATORY, NO PEACE PLAN In a rare publicised launch, Beijing on Wednesday successfully test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile that could hit American cities. A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS PAGE 9 NEW DELHI J8.00 External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said India does not have a peace plan or any suggestions on how to end the conflict. Rather, it is having conversations about ending the conflict with each of the two sides and keeping each apprised of what the other side is saying. He said to end the war there must be serious negotiations between the two, and these talks aim to initiate that | P7 PAGES 12 Chennai corporation’s staff ‘diverted’ for work at IAS officers’ homes N I R U PA M A V I S W A N AT H A N & P R A V E E N A S A @ Chennai Image of the duty roster prepared for sanitary workers | EXPRESS THE Greater Chennai Corporation has recently instructed 29 sanitary workers and staff nurses from 13 of the city’s short-staffed Urban Primary Health Centres (UPHCs) to skip their regular duty and instead work in shifts at the homes of two senior IAS officers. While one officer is a Principal Secretary, who has served Lokayukta police to probe MUDA dirt against Siddu Special court directs the SP to register a case under land grab law YAT H I R A J U @ Bengaluru A day after the Karnataka High Court allowed investigation against CM Siddaramaiah in the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam case, a special court directed the Lokayukta police to probe the allotment of 14 compensatory sites to his wife Parvathy B M. The Lokayukta police has been asked to submit its report within three months. The special court in Bengaluru, which exclusively deals with criminal cases against sitting and former MPs and MLAs, also directed the Superintendent of Police, Mysuru Division of Karnataka Lokayukta, to register a case under the provisions of the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act and the Karnataka Land Grabbing Prohibition Act. This is in addition to provisions under Indian Penal Code sections 120B (conspiracy), 166 (disobeying law), 403 (misappropriation), 406 (breach of Siddaramaiah ‘Not scared of probe’ Siddaramaiah said he is ready to face any probe and will continue the legal fight. “We are not scared of investigation and are prepared for the legal fight. I said it yesterday and am reiterating it today,” he said trust), 420 (cheating), 426 (mischief), 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery of an electronic record), 340 (wrongful confinement), 351 (use of criminal force) and oth- Supreme Court tells lower courts to avoid misogynistic remarks on social media, Justice Sris@ New Delhi hananda was seen making some objectionable comments T H E S u p r e m e C o u r t o n against a woman lawyer when Wednesday war ned courts she intervened in an ongoing across India against making re- hearing. The bench said it remarks that could be construed frained from any further proas “misogynistic” or directed ceedings against Justice Sristowards a certain “gender or hananda considering that he community”. had apologised, and to “Courts, therefore, maintain the dignity have to be careful not of the judicial system. Regarding Justice to make comments in It is important Srishananda’s remarks the course of judicial proceedings which that every judge calling an area in Benmay be construed as should be aware galuru as ‘Pakistan’, of their own the bench said, “No being misogynistic or predispositions. one can call any part for that matter prejuThe heart and soul of India as Pakistan. It dicial to any segment of judging is the is fundamentally of our society,” a fiveneed to be judge bench of the impartial and fair against the territorial integrity of the court said while closSupreme Court nation.” ing the suo motu proThe bench also receedings over Karnataka High Court judge Justice jected demands by various secV Srishananda’s alleged objec- tions of the Bar to halt the live tionable comments during his streaming of the Karnataka High Court proceedings. The one of his court hearings. demands were raised citing The bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandarchud ad- misuse of court videos on the vised judges to conduct pro- social media. “The answer to sunlight is ceedings conscious of the wider impact of casual observations more sunlight, not to suppress what happens in the courts,” on the community at large. In video clips that went viral the Chief Justice said. S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y 50 DRUGS INCLUDING PARACETAMOL TABLETS AND PAN D FAIL REGULATOR’S QUALITY TEST The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation issued a ‘Not of Standard Quality’ alert for more than 50 medicines. Telma H, Glimepiride and Shelcal are among them | P7 er relevant sections of the IPC, under Section 9 (bribing public servant) and 13 (criminal misconduct) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. In his order, Special Court Judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat ordered registration of a private complaint against Siddaramaiah, his wife, brother-inlaw Mallikarjuna Swamy, and one Davaraju J, among others, in connection with the MUDA’s illegal allotment of the compensatory sites. The case pertains to 14 sites worth `56 crore being allotted illegally in an upscale Vijayanagar 3rd Stage for the land acquired at Kesare village, a down market area on the outskirts of Mysuru, due to alleged undue advantage taken by Siddaramaiah when in power. On Tuesday, the Karnataka High Court had upheld Governor Thawarchand Gehlot’s approval to conduct a probe into the MUDA case and the allegedly illegal allotment of 14 sites to the CM’s wife. EXPRESS READ Schools shut in Mumbai amid red alert for rain Schools and colleges in Mumbai and its suburbs will remain shut on Thursday amid a red alert for heavy rains, officials said. Heavy rains lashed Mumbai and suburbs on Wednesday, inundating lowlying areas, stopping local trains and stranding passengers. Winter Action Plan to combat air pollution Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Wednesday unveiled the Winter Action Plan, featuring measures like drone monitoring, intensified anti-dust campaign, formation of task forces and road-sweeping machines to combat air pollution. | P3 as Commissioner of the GCC in the past, the other has served in four departments since the present government came to power. This newspaper has independently verified that at least one worker reported for work at the former’s address located on the ground floor of a two-storey apartment in Anna Nagar F Block. GCC officials have prepared and shared unsigned rosters, which this newspaper has PRESS CLUSIVE seen, listing staff names, their phone numbers and the date and time during which they need to report for this work at the specific address until the end of October. A WhatsApp group was also created for coordinating this work. This newspaper spoke to more than 20 of the staff designated for this duty, who confirmed that they were instructed to prepare themselves to work at the IAS officers’ homes. This newspaper visited the Anna Nagar address and found the principal secretary’s name board at the entrance of the house. The service expected from the workers, primarily involved providing care to an elderly woman residing there. It is, however, unclear whether the IAS officer himself resides in the house. While one of the GCC staff went to the house for work on Monday, the work has since been put on hold after stiff resistance from the workers. The staff objected as it is not part of their official work, besides expressing concerns over safety, disapproval from their spouses and the extended work hours, which could go from 8 pm to 8 am. P5 Phase II done, heartening to see Kashmiris casting their votes, say foreign diplomats F AYA Z W A N I @ Srinagar THE second phase of polling for 26 assembly seats in J&K on Wednesday recorded a healthy 56.05% tur nout, which could go up further. While brisk polling took place in five districts, there were no long queues in Srinagar, where the poll percentage for eight seats stood at 29.24%. However, 4.41% more voters turned up to vote in Srinagar as compared to the Lok Sabha polls in April-May when the percentage was 24.83%. A team of foreign diplomats visited a few polling stations and found it “heartening” to see Kashmiris casting their votes after 10 years. US Deputy chief of Mission Jorgan K Andrews, who was among the visiting diplomats Foreign diplomats after visiting a polling booth in Srinagar, for a first-hand assessment of the assembly elections in J&K on Wednesday | ZAHOOR PUNJABI said, “It has been excellent and fascinating to see how India organises its elections and how thorough the preparations are. It has been very inspiring.” It looks very healthy and democratic, he added. The turnout was good in the three violence-hit districts in the Jammu region Reasi (74.14%), Poonch (73.78%) and Rajouri (69.84%) Even Ganderbal (62.63%) and Budgam (61.31%) in the Kashmir re- Amid Rahul poser, Kangana eats her words on farm laws HARPREET BAJWA & PREETHA N A I R @ Chandigarh/ New Delhi A day after BJP member of Parliament Kangana Ranaut’s statement that the three controversial farm sector reform laws repealed in 2021 should be reinstated, made her party squirm and the Opposition go ballistic, the actor and newbie neta was forced to eat her words. “I withdraw my remarks. I have to keep in mind that I am not just an artist, but a party worker of the BJP My opinion . should not be personal and my actions should align with the party’s stand. I regret and take my words back,” she said. Kangana emphasised the importance of respecting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to repeal the laws that were intended to benefit farmers but faced intense opposition. Kangana Ranaut Rahul Gandhi Earlier in the day, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi sought to put the government on the mat, demanding an explanation from Modi whether he was opposed to the comments or is he “up to some mischief ”. “BJP people keep testing ideas. They ask someone to voice an idea among the people and wait for the reaction... Modi ji you must clarify, whether you are against this or you are again up to some mischief,” he asked. “Who is deciding the government’s policy? A BJP MP or Prime Minister Modi?” he poked. Rahul said the Opposition INDIA bloc will oppose any move to bring back the black farm laws. “Will the three farm laws be revived or not? If you do so, I guarantee you that the INDIA bloc will together stand against it,” he warned. The extent of damage Kangana’s loose talk could cause in poll-bound Haryana is unclear, but farmers form a sizeable section of the voters in the state. BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia distanced the party from Kangana’s statement, saying it was her personal comment. “She is not authorised to make such a statement on behalf of the BJP and it does not , depict the party’s view on the farm bills. We disapprove of this statement,” he said. P4 Who’s chancellor? ‘Don’t know,’ say prez aspirants KNOW YOUR CANDIDATES I F R A H M U F T I @ New Delhi IF you are running for a keenly-watched election such as the DUSU presidential poll, “ignorance simply cannot be bliss”. Turns out that the three presidential candidates of the main student outfits—ABVP, NSUI, SFI, and AISA—had no idea who the ‘Chancellor’ of the Delhi University is or, for that matter, their university’s motto. With the DUSU poll a day away on September 27, this correspodent approached the candidates with a set of 10 questions, which included the name of DU chancellor, scholarships offered, the motto of DU, the full form of NOTA, and the expenditure limit as per the Lyngdoh committee norms. Among the hopefuls, SFI-AISA joint panel candidate—Savvy Gupta, a final-year student of Law Faculty scored two on 10. The question on the expenditure limit was the only one that all the presidential aspirants answered correctly . ABVP’s Rishabh Choudhary failed to answer full forms of CUET and FYUP. The lowest scorer was NSUI candidate Ronak Khatri from Law College, who scored 1.5 out of 10. P4 2/10 2/10 1.5/10 RISHABH CHOUDHARY SCORE CARD SFI-AISA – SAVVY GUPTA NSUI- RONAK KHATRI 2 Who is the chancellor of Delhi University? Name a few scholarships that DU offers WRONG I DON’T KNOW I DON’T KNOW I DON’T KNOW WRONG I DON’T KNOW 3 DU motto? I DON’T KNOW I DON’T KNOW I DON’T KNOW 4 Full form of NOTA? How much is the expenditure limit? When was DU established? CORRECT CORRECT I DON’T KNOW CORRECT CORRECT I DON’T KNOW I DON’T KNOW CORRECT I DON’T KNOW 8 How many departments are there in DU? Budget for 2024-25 academic session? WRONG I DON’T KNOW I DON’T KNOW I DON’T KNOW WRONG I DON’T KNOW 9 Full form of CUET/FYUP? I DON’T KNOW WRONG HALF CORRECT 10 No of academic/executive council members I DON’T KNOW I DON’T KNOW I DON’T KNOW 1 5 6 7 gion did well. “The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi seat in Reasi district recorded the highest voter turnout of 79.95%,” informed J&K Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) P K Pole. In Srinagar, which has remained a hot bed of separatist politics, people came out to vote for first Assembly polls without any poll boycott or militant threat. “It is first time that I am casting a vote. There are no jobs, power bills are very high and youth are falling to drugs. We hope that the elected government will provide some relief to the population,” said Javed Ahmed, a resident of Nowhatta area of Srinagar. Nowhatta was once a stronghold of militants and separatists where stone pelting used to take place every Friday P8 . STANDOFF Bond policy for med students sparks outrage A S H I S H S R I V A S TA V A @ New Delhi At a time when states across the country are phasing out bond policies for doctors, Delhi has decided to introduce one, triggering an outrage. The health department, in a notification issued on Wednesday, informed that the L-G has approved a one-year bond scheme for both under-graduate and post-graduate students, requiring them to serve in government hospitals after completing their courses. As per the notification, under-graduate students must deposit `15 lakh and post-graduates `20 lakh at the time of admission. The amount will be forfeited if they opt out of the mandatory service period. Officials said that the policy , set to come into effect from the next academic session, is aimed at addressing shortage of resident doctors in hospitals. “The pass out UG/PG students would be adjusted against the already available vacant posts of Junior Residents/Senior Residents available in various hospitals of Delhi, including Society Hospitals and may be posted in the same hospitals or in diverted capacity in other hospitals as per the requirement of the H&FW Department,” the notification read. The decision has triggered resentment among the doctors setting the stage for a standoff between the medical fraternity and the state government. Medical associations have condemned the scheme. “Imposing forced service to fill vacancies is nothing short of coercion. It violates fundamental rights to liberty and freedom of choice,” said Indra Shekhar Prasad, president of AIIMS Resident Doctors’ Association.
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.