All-civilian crew blast off into space for 1st private spacewalk SpaceX on Tuesday launched its Polaris Dawn mission, carrying a 4-member civilian crew, for the first spacewalk by nonprofessional astronauts. The mission is jointly funded by US billionaire Jared Isaacman and SpaceX. Isaacman is the CEO of US firm Shift4 Payments | P11 BHUBANESWAR  WEDNESDAY  SEPTEMBER 11, 2024  `9.00  PAGES 14  JEYPORE EDITION 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 Medics defy SC fiat, reject Didi’s invite My govt focused on delivery, not after publicity, says CM E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Kolkata E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Bhubaneswar CHIEF Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on the Opposition BJD for criticising his government which is yet to complete 100 days in power. In his reply to the discussion on Appropriation Bill in the Assembly Majhi, who also holds , the Finance portfolio, said, his government was focused on delivery and not publicity “My government has . not even completed three months, but the programmes and initiatives launched by us have touched the lives of the people of the state and their impact is for all to see.” The chief minister termed the previous BJD government as a publicity-driven regime and said reports of massive My government corruption have started pourhas not even ing in from education, health, completed women’s empowerment and three months, livelihood sectors - the four mabut the jor pillars on which developprogrammes ment of a state largely rests. and initiatives He said the real picture of launched by us the school transformation prohave touched gramme under 5T initiative is the lives of the beginning to come to the fore. people of the state “There is a sharp decline in the quality of education as stuMohan Charan dents studying in class-VIII Majhi, CM and class-IX are unable to solve class-II and class-III-level maths problems. This is because large number of teacher posts are lying vacant at the primary and secondary level,” he said. The CM assured the House that the BJP government will take strong action against all those responsible for financial irregularities and the substandard work in the school transCONTINUED ON P5 formation programme. Students clash with security personnel during their protest over the recent violence, in Imphal | PTI 50 protesters hurt, Net banned in Imphal valley Protests in Manipur over the fresh spurt of violence P R A S A N TA M A Z U M D A R @ Guwahati OVER 50 protesting students were injured in Manipur on Tuesday when the police used force to thwart their attempt to march to Raj Bhavan even as the state government imposed a five-day ban on internet services in five Imphal valley districts. The government also ordered the closure of all colleges till Thursday. Curfew was reimposed in Imphal East and Imphal West districts while prohibitory orders under Section 163 BNSS were clamped in Thoubal district. One of the injured students, a girl, sustained grievous injuries, a senior government official said, adding she was admitted in the ICU of Regional Institute of Medical Sciences in Imphal. For the second straight day , students attempted to march to Raj Bhavan but they were stopped by security personnel. This led to scuffles and the personnel dispersed the protesters by firing tear gas shells. The students of Manipur University also took out another protest march. The protests on Monday had turned violent when the students pelted stones outside Raj Bhavan. The students are on the streets demanding the removal of state’s security advisor and director general of police for failing to protect the lives and properties of citizens. Hundreds of them have been camping at Khwairamband Women Market. The home department said internet services had been suspended “to thwart the design and activities of anti-national and anti-social elements, maintain peace and communal harmony and prevent any loss of life or danger to public/private property .” 2 MORE CRPF BATTALIONS The Centre is deploying two fresh CRPF battalions comprising about 2,000 personnel in Manipur - one from Warangal and the other from Latehar in Jharkhand DRONE BOMB PROBE TEAM A joint team of officers from the CRPF, the BSF and some independent technical experts will study the drones and improvised rockets used to launch attacks in some places PROTESTING junior doctors in West Bengal on Tuesday defied the Supreme Court’s directive to resume work by 5 pm, saying they would continue with their ‘cease work’ protest till their demands are fulfilled and the rapemurder victim of the RG Kar Hospital gets justice. The agitating doctors also rejected an email invite from a state government official for talks with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to resolve the impasse. An email sent by Health Secretary N S Nigam on Tuesday evening read: “Your small delegation (maximum 10 persons) may visit Nabanna now to meet government representatives.” During the day the protesting , doctors had marched to Swasthya Bhavan, the headquarters of the health department, and staged a sit-in outside the office building. One of the protesters said the official could have come out and spoken to them in person, instead of sending an email. Junior doctors march towards Swasthya Bhawan during a protest in Kolkata | PTI Dr Debasish Halder, who organised a sit-in, said the communication was insensitive, adding: “We find no reason to reply to this mail.” Another medic said: “We got the mail from the health secretary whose resignation we seek. , This is an insult.” Meanwhile, RG Kar hospital authorities issued notices to 51 doctors, including to senior residents and professors, accusing them of intimidation and disrupting the institution’s democratic atmosphere. They have been asked to appear before an inquiry panel on Wednesday . SANDIP GHOSH, AIDE SENT TO JUDICIAL CUSTODY A special CBI court on Tuesday sent former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital Sandip Ghosh, his security personnel Afsar Ali, and two others to judicial custody till September 23 in a financial irregularities case Wing Commander booked for rape in J&K F AYA Z W A N I @ Srinagar THE J&K police have registered a first information report (FIR) against a Wing Commander at the Air Force station here after a woman flying officer accused him of rape and mental harassment. The FIR was lodged at the Budgam Police Station under Section 376(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which pertains to aggravated rape by persons in positions of authority . An Inspector-rank police officer is overseeing the probe. The complainant alleged that she was sexually assaulted on December 31, 2023 during a New Year’s party held at the Officers’ Mess at the Air Force station in Srinagar. Both officers are posted there. “On the guise of giving me a gift, the Wing Commander asked me to collect the gift from his room. Once I went inside the room, the Wing Commander forced himself on me and sexually assaulted me. I tried to resist it in all possible ways and managed to run away .”