tirupati l wednesday l august 28, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION File Photo Modi speaks to Putin, shares insights from his Ukraine visit Seeks end to Russia-Ukraine conflict 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 The telephone conversation comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to US President Joe Biden about his visit to Ukraine Moots practical engagement for peace ■ ■ Modi also underlined “the importance of dialogue and diplomacy as well as sincere and practical engagement between all stakeholders to achieve an abiding and peaceful resolution of the conflict" | P9 Modi’s August 23 trip to Kyiv was the first by an Indian PM since Ukraine’s independence in 1991. He offered India’s help to facilitate return of peace 1,200 sq km Russian area taken over by Ukraine after its incursion into Kursk region 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 review meet Salaries of 1,683 Archakas hiked to `15k E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Vijayawada RAF personnel lathi-charge a protest march by students, during the Nabanna Abhijan rally in Howrah on Tuesday | PTI Large-scale Violence at Secretariat rally Su l a g n a S e n g up ta @ Kolkata Parts of the city on Tuesday resembled a warzone as a Nabanna (State Secretariat) Abhiyan rally 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 Kolkata 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 police to respond with caning. The situation came under control around 5 pm. Over 200 people were arrested in connection with the rally Fifteen per. sonnel of the Kolkata Police and 14 from the state police force were injured, police said. Supratim Sarkar, Inspector General (South Bengal) said, “The situation could have been worse had we not made preventive arrests.” In protest against what it called was police torture, the BJP called a 12-hour general strike across West Bengal on Wednesday. However, Alapan Bandyopadhyay, chief advisor to the chief minister, said: “All state government offices will A policeman injured in the violence during the rally, in Kolkata | PTI 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 Tuesday 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 MLA protests against CI’s inaction on sand mining plaint Jay Shah elected as ICC chairperson Express News Service g o m e s h s @ Chennai For a cricket body that holds 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 cl e a r wh e n the cur rent chair Gre g 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 nomination 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...” remain open tomorrow. Salaries of absentees will be deducted. The state government will provide transportation.” BJP leaders and workers, including West Bengal BJP president and Union minister Sukanta Majumdar sat in protest outside the Kolkata Police (Headquarters) in Lal Bazar demanding the release of the detained students. Suvendu Adhikari, Leader of the Opposition, said:“Both protesters and policemen have been injured. State government is responsible for this.” However, the TMC on X 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!” The State government on Tuesday decided to hike the salaries of 1,683 Archakas working in different temples across the State to `15,000 per month from `10,000. The move will put an additional burden of `10 crore per annum on the State exchequer. The decision was taken during Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s review meeting with Endowments Minister Anam Ramnarayan Reddy and senior officials. The gover nment has also decided to increase financial assistance provided to small temples under the Dhoopa Deepa Naivedyam Scheme to `10,000 per month from `5,000. This will put an additional burden of `32 crore. An approval was given to provide `3,000 monthly allowance to those youth who pursued Veda Vidya, but are unemployed. Naidu also announced `25,000 minimum monthly salary for Nayee Brahmins (barbers working in temples). It was decided that two more board members will be added to temple trusts. Temples with revenue of `20 crore and more have 15 members on the trust board. Now, the number will be increased to 17. It was made clear that the trust board will have a Brahmin and a Nayee Brahmin as board members, as promised by the NDA in the run up to elections. At the request of Arya Vysya community organisations, the Chief Minister directed the Endowments Department to recognise the day on which Vasavi Kanyaka Parmaeswari did Atmarapana and perform the asP4 sociated rituals every year.  @ Anantapur A large number of TDP activists staged a protest at Tadipatri rural police station on Tuesday | express TDP cadre told to desist from illegal sand mining Tadipatri MLA Asmith Reddy’s father and former MLA JC Prabhakar Reddy, on receiving information about some TDP party workers being involved in illegal sand mining, requested them to desist from such acts A number of TDP activists, led by local MLA JC Asmith Reddy , gathered outside the Tadipatri Rural Police Station on Tuesday evening and staged a protest, demanding the suspension of circle inspector Lakshmikanth Reddy . They accused the police officer of negligence in taking action against illegal sand mining and threatened to stage a Vanta Varpu, if the CI was not suspended. The protest was held in response to the CI’s alleged inaction when the MLA approached the police officer to lodge a complaint about sand being illegally transported. Asmith reportedly received information about the issue on Monday night and alerted the CI. However, the police officer allegedly allowed the sand-laden tractors and tippers to go. He neither registered a case nor imposed fines on those engaged in illegal sand transportation. It has been learnt that a TDP activist, identified as Gurumurthy was abducted when he , along with others tried to obstruct those engaging in illegal P4 sand transportation.  Higher officials step in Asmith Reddy reportedly had an argument with the police officer over the phone. The protest was withdrawn after higher officials intervened world Athletics Championship 101-yr-old puts India on global pedestal U s h a P e r i @ Visakhapatnam Age is just a number for Vallabhajosyula Sriramulu, a 101year-old war veteran from Visakhapatnam who has won three gold medals at the World Masters Athletics Championship held in Gothenburg, Sweden. Competing in the 100-year category, Sriramulu secured first place in the javelin throw, discus throw, and shot put. This remarkable achievement took place during the championship, which hosted around 8,000 athletes from 110 countries from August 13 to August 25. Sriramulu, a former sailor on aircraft carrier INS Vikrant and a specialist in navigation and radar wings, won three of V Sriramulu with Vizag District Cricket Association V-P DS Varma | express India’s four gold medals at this year’s championship. India won the fourth gold medal in the 4x100m relay in the men’s 85 years category. The Indian team, with 140 athletes, took part in the championship. Born in Machilipatnam on July 18, 1923, Sriramulu began his career by joining the Royal Indian Navy in March 1944 during the World War II. He later served as a navigation officer and continued his service for an additional four years postretirement in 1976. His career also included a stint with the Dredging Corporation of India, after which he settled in Visakhapatnam. This is not Sriramulu’s first success on the global stage. In the previous editions of the World Masters Athletics Championship, Sriramulu has consistently proven his mettle.  P4 Age is just a number In 2016, he won three gold medals in race walk events. Sriramulu has also climbed Mt Kilimanjaro and made two trips to the Everest Base Camp and the Pindari Glacier Apex court grants bail to Kavitha Su c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi 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.