NEW DELHI 15 SEPTEMBER 2024 SUNDAY `12 PAGES 24  facebook/TheMorningStandard  X.com/TheMornStandard https://epaper.morningstandard.in It’s Time for Potion Control THE GREAT MASALA MESS No head in edu dept since last Nov; teachers, students suffer I F R A H M U F T I @ New Delhi FOR a year, Delhi’s education department has not had a regular boss at the Directorate of Education (DoE) who technically controls the functioning of schools in the national capital. Result: teachers’ transfers/ promotions are long due, grievances of principals and teachers have not been heard and the payment of the tablets bought by teachers has not been cleared. Besides, many children are going to school without their uniforms. The last regular director was Himashu Gupta who was appointed as secretary of CBSE in November 2023. Ad-hocism is rampant. Some months ago, Bhupesh Chaudhary, director higher and technical educ at i o n , w a s given the charge and RN Sharma, who is also the commissioner labour, is holding the charge of officiating director. A source said the affairs are messy in the department. “Not having a regular director is not helping matters,” he said. “Even money for stationery has not been released,” according to a teacher. “Some children complain that they have not received payment for their uniforms in their bank accounts. However, what worries us the most is that the schools have not received the exam budget this year. The exams are beginning in four days,” said another teacher. No official from the education directorate was available for comment. Some principals also spoke about the employee welfare plans that are being ignored as promotions and transfers are pending. One of the government school principals shared that there have been endless g r i ev a n c e s o f t e a c h e r s about their work environment about which the department has not taken any cognizance or action. AUSSIE PM SPARS WITH MUSK OVER ‘FASCIST’ QUIP Anthony Albanese hit back at Elon Musk after the tech mogul called govt “fascists” for proposing laws that would fine ‘X’ for spreading misinformation | P9 PLUS: 12 PAGES MAGAZINE EXCLUSIVE VOICES Anand Neelakantan Ravi Shankar Utkarsh Amitabh Neha Sinha A Permanent Presence of the Past INTROSPECTION IN ISOLATION Anuja Chandramouli Balbir Punj Shankkar Aiyar Geetha Ravichandran A Timeless Sparkle for the Senses Vacay Spirit On Point AMMA SPEAKS ‘I’m Not Working, I’m Enjoying’ Spirituality is Our Wealth as a Nation Stalemate continues amid high drama Didi visits protest site, calls docs for talks Delegation firm on live streaming; later says OK to signing of minutes S U L A G N A S E N G U P TA @ Kolkata AMID high drama, the stalemate in talks between the agitating doctors and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee continued for the fourth successive day on Saturday. Junior doctors had launched their cease-work agitation ever since the horrific rape-murder of a trainee physician at the RG Kar Hospital in the city on August 9. If Mamata seized the initiative in the afternoon by making a surprise visit to the protest site outside Swasthya Bhawan in Salt Lake, the agitating doctors sought to wrest it back at night by sending a delegation to the CM’s house but staying firm on their demand of live telecast of their talks. Later the delegation claimed they “agreed for talks with just signed minutes of the meeting but were asked to leave”. Earlier, the protesters and government officials tried to sort out the sticking point on live streaming. While the government parroted the line that live streaming was not possible as the matter is in court, the doctors said that the demand was non-negotiable. Mamata, too, tried to persuade the delegation of doctors to enter her house for talks. “I would request you all to come inside and attend the meeting. CBI arrests Ghosh, cop for RG Kar rape-murder The CBI on Saturday added rape and murder charges against former RG Kar Medical College and Hospital principal Sandip Ghosh, an agency official said. An on-duty doctor was raped and murdered in state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9. Ghosh is currently in judicial custody in a corruption case. A policeman was also arrested in the rape and murder case, the official said. It rained all night on Friday. The way you are sitting here, I am suffering. I have also not slept for the last 34 days. Because if you are on the road, I also have to stay awake as a guard Mamata Banerjee Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee addressing a delegation of junior doctors, at her residence in Kolkata on Saturday | PTI As the matter is before the court, we cannot allow live streaming. I will video-record the meeting and provide you with a copy only after permission from the Supreme Court,” she said, while appealing to students to come inside and not to get drenched in rain. Bank manager, cashier drown in waterlogged Faridabad underpass UJ WAL JAL AL I @ New Delhi A 48-year-old private bank manager and his colleague, a cashier, died by drowning in a wat e rl o g g e d u n d e r p a s s i n Haryana’s Faridabad, a police officer said on Saturday . The deceased were identified as Punya Shray Sharma (the bank manager) and Viraj Dwivedi (cashier). The police said the incident took place around 11pm when the two were returning from Gurugram. Their vehicle was submerged in the waterlogged underpass near the old Faridabad area, the police said. The victims were in their XUV 700 as Dwivedi was to drop Sharma to his house in the Greater Faridabad area. They drove into the waterlogged underpass, possibly ignoring the warning signs put by the Faridabad police. The officer claimed that the cops had placed barricades to caution drivers. Around 12-ft deep water accumulated in the underpass during Friday’s rains that lashed Delhi-NCR. “The victims probably misjudged the depth of water and waded into it,” the officer said. Locals said both Sharma and Dwivedi tried to come out of their car but the vehicle got locked from inside. After desperately trying for some time, the two managed to come out of their vehicle and tried to save themselves by swimming to the boundary but failed. Reports said Sharma’s wife tried calling her husband but was unable to reach him. Dwivedi’s body was recovered by the police along with the SUV However, it took sev. eral hours for the divers to trace Sharma whose body was retrieved around 4 am. Shar ma was rushed to a hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival. Meanwhile, locals have alleged that there were no barricades or police personnel posted near the underpass. “We heard some noise from the underpass and rushed. Me and my friend entered the water and dragged a body out. We gave him CPR and then rushed him to a nearby hospital where doctors said he had already died,” a witness said. No FIR has reportedly been registered as the families have not raised suspicion on the deaths and inquest proceedings were conducted under Section 194 under the BNS. “Today, you said that you want a meeting, so I have been waiting. Why are you people insulting me like this? Please don’t insult me like this. Earlier on the three occasions, I have been waiting but you people didn’t come,” she said. In the afternoon while visit- ing the dharna site, Mamata made an impassioned pitch, assuring she would address all their grievances and not take any action against them. “You all have suffered a lot in this inclement weather. I have come here not as a CM but as your didi. If you give me some time I will study your demands and see what best can be done. I will not take any action against any doctor. I am with you in your fight for justice,” she said. “This is my last attempt to resolve the crisis,” she added. After she left, the doctors sent a mail to CMO seeking a meeting. The chief secretary responded saying the CM has invited them to her house at 6 pm. The delegation reached there around 7 pm. P8 It’s dynasty vs J&K youth in assembly polls: Modi FAYA Z WA N I & H A R PREET BAJ WA @ Srinagar/Chandigarh IN his first assembly election rally in J&K, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday hit out the National Conference, the Congress and the PDP saying the polls will de, cide the future of the region where militancy was taking its last breath. “This assembly poll in J&K is historic. It will decide the future of J&K. Since Independence, J&K was targeted by foreign powers. Afterward, pariwarwaad (dynastic rule) started hollowing this beautiful state. The political parties you trusted did not care for your children. Those parties only promoted their own children. Youth of J&K were suffering in terrorism and the parties promoting pariwarwaad were having fun by misleading you. These people never allowed new leaders to emerge anywhere in J&K,” Modi said at the rally It was . the first rally by any PM in Doda district in 42 years. He said parties indulging in pariwarwaad did not allow the local youth to come forward. However, after the local body polls about 30,000 youth joined politics and took EXPRESS READ Shah hails role of Hindi during freedom struggle Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that the Centre is working to promote Hindi in various sectors, including education, technical fields, and the judiciary. He noted that Hindi made a huge contribution in the freedom movement. Shah also flagged major policy decisions taken by the Modi government to enhance farmers’ income | P7 INDIA BEAT PAKISTAN, REACH SEMIS OF ASIAN CHAMPIONS TROPHY India recorded their fifth consecutive win in the six-team round robin league to storm into the semifinal. Pakistan too qualified for the semis CAPTAIN HARMANPREET THE STAR AGAIN In a scintillating group match, in-form India captain Harmanpreet Singh once again was the star of the show after Pakistan scored the first goal through Ahmad Nadeem. However, the Olympic bronze medal winners drew level through two penalty corners converted by the India captain. This was Pakistan’s first loss in the tournament INDIA SET TO FACE KOREA CHALLENGE Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a public meeting in Doda district of Jammu ahead of the upcoming assembly election | PTI the reins of J&K, he added. Modi framed the poll contest as between three families and the youth of J&K. “They were supporting militancy so that their shops worth crores of rupees run. Due to their sins, thousands of youth lost their lives. The Valley is witness to the bloodshed. You should remember the time when at sunset, there used to be an undeclared curfew. All shops and all activities used to come to halt. The situation was such that even the home minister in the Congress government were afraid of visiting Lal Chowk,” he said. Addressing another rally, this time in poll-bound Kurukshetra in Haryana, Modi said the state has decided that BJP will score a hat-trick by winning the October 5 assembly polls. Voters, he said, gave him a third term at the Centre, and going by their enthusiasm, the BJP is set to score a hattrick in Haryana too. Attacking the Congress, he said, “Today’s Congress has become a new form of Urban Naxal and they do not feel any shame in speaking lies.” Modi said his government initiated development work worth `15 lakh crore even before completing 100 days in office after the new mandate. In other matches, Malaysia and South Korea played out a 3-3 draw, while hosts China beat Japan 2-0 The defending champion, India, will take on Korea in one semifinal, while Pakistan will face hosts China in the other semifinal of the ACT hockey tournament 17 THE NUMBER OF MATCHES INDIA HAVE REMAINED UNBEATEN VS PAKISTAN | P11 GIRL POWER Hanuman’s tale: Sparking revolution in village to first brush with international meet I N D R A N E E L D A S @ Chennai HE was not in Bangaon. He was sitting in the stands at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai, watching his wards at the junior South Asian Athletics Championships here on Friday. Deepika, one of the most talented girls from his small village and academy in Haryana, was hurling the javelin towards a new mark. In second spot was Poonam, ‘another talented girl’, according to Hanuman Singh. It is not always that the reputation of a village is tied to the destiny of a bunch of young javelin throwers. One can sift through pages of records in various junior level events in the country and names of javelin athletes from Hanuman’s academy will feature in them all. It is perhaps no wonder that the Athletics Hanuman Singh Federation of India, taking cognisance of his astounding work at the grassroots level, have made him the javelin coach for this competition – his first international competition as a coach. “I have travelled to national competitions but this is my first international,” says Hanuman. Deepika, his more famed ward, threw the javelin to 54.98m in the junior SAAC, cre- ating another national record. “Girls from my academy are record holders in U14, U17, U20 and even U23,” Hanuman says with modest bearings. He seems shy to even say that he has been producing junior champions in javelin from a nondescript village. For someone who started an academy in a poultry farm way back in 2012, the rise of his wards has been more than just a miracle. It’s been an amalga- mation of hard-work, dedication and one ingredient that transcends reason – passion. It was difficult in the early days too. “It was not easy back then - some 12 years ago - to convince parents to allow their girls to take up javelin,” recollects Hanuman, who was a national-level javelin athlete. There were no results that would convince parents too. “It was difficult because girls needed to keep short hair and not wear jewellery during training.” But things have changed over the years. With more and more javelin throwers doing well, the parent are now coming on their own to his ‘My Jump and Throw Academy’ and requesting if their girls can join too. Next target? He has bought 4 acres land and is looking to lay a synthetic runup for his wards. He would be P11 looking for funds now.