chennai l sunday l september 15, 2024 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l vellore EDITION India beat pakistan, reach semis of Asian champions trophy 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 recorded their fifth consecutive win in the six-team round robin league to storm into the semifinal. Pakistan too qualified for the semis india set to face korea challenge ■ ■ 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 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 Dynasty vs J&K Stalemate on amid high drama youth in assembly polls, says Modi Didi visits protest site, calls for talks Docs yield on streaming, accept signing of minutes S u l a g n a S e n g u p ta @ Kolkata Fayaz wan i & Harpre et baj wa @ Srinagar, Chandigarh Since independence J&K is targeted by foreign powers. Afterward, pariwarwaad started hollowing this beautiful state 30,000 youth joined politics: PM After ULB and panchayat polls about 30,000 youth joined politics and took the reins of Jammu & Kashmir, PM Modi said 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 decide 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 the reins of J&K, he added. Modi framed the poll contest as between three families and the youth of J&K. Addressing another rally, this time in pollbound Kurukshetra, Modi said the state has decided that BJP will score a hat-trick by winning the October 5 Haryana polls. “Congress has become a new form of Urban Naxal and they do not feel any shame in speaking lies,” he said. STICKY ISSUE drugs melt as govt depots face ‘heat’ SINDUJA JANE @ Chennai A Chennai resident, who is a regular visitor to the Institute of Child Health and Hospital for Children in Egmore to get sodium valproate 200 mg tablets, an antiepileptic medicine for her seven-year-old child, has often been facing the problem of receiving tablets that are gooey in state. At least two or three tablets in every strip will be damaged, she said. Concerned over the efficacy and quality of these tablets, she sent a mail a few months ago to Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation (TNMSC), the nodal agency that procures and supplies medicines to all government hospitals. TNMSC responded quickly to her email, stating that they have issued a “stop-issue-cum-retrieve” order to all the warehouses for the particular batch of the medicine. While she is getting the same medicine manufactured by a different company now, the issue of dam- aged tablets remains unresolved. Further enquiries by TNIE revealed that lack of air-conditioning or other temperature-monitoring systems in TNMSC warehouses and pharmacies in government hospitals may have caused the problem. TNMSC has sent the samples of the batch of medicine reported by the resident, who does not want to be identified, to laboratory and the results are awaited. Meanwhile, many pharmacists in government hospitals said this was not an isolated case and such issues are reported by patients for different medicines. But formal complaints are a rarity they said. , According to officials, warehouses have 120-200 sq.ft walk-in cold storage facilities for vaccines and products that are to be stored between 2 to 8 degree Celsius and Ice-lined Refrigerators (ILRs) for those drugs that are to be maintained at 10 to 25 degree Celsius. P5 Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee addressing a delegation of junior doctors, at her residence in Kolkata on Saturday | PTI CBI adds rape-murder charge against Ghosh 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. CM returns from US, to meet PM regarding metro rail, edu funds E X PRESS NEWS SERV I CE @ Chennai ARRIVING in Chennai on Saturday after his 17day visit to the United States, Chief Minister MK Stalin said he would seek an audience with Prime Minister Narendra Modi immediately in connection with the release of funds for the school education department and Phase-II of the Chennai Metro Rail project. “The school education department officials and its minister have already met with the union minister concerned regarding the implementation of the National Education Policy I also plan to meet the . PM,” Stalin said. On the possible cabinet reshuffle that he had hinted at before the US visit, Stalin said the party is set to celebrate its 75th anniversary this month and the ‘situation’ that is ‘expected’ might materialise. The CM said he met with representatives of 18 Fortune 500 companies. “Nineteen MoUs have been signed – eight in San Francisco and 11 in Chicago – securing `7,618 crore worth of investments. This is expected to generate 11,516 jobs, benefiting several TN districts,” he said.  P5 WITH THIS ISSUE The Great Masala Mess PLUS 12 PAGES new destiny Hanuman tale: Girls shine through sport 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 village and academy was hurling , the javelin towards a new mark. In second spot was Poonam, ‘another talented girl’, according to Hanuman Singh. 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 fea- Hanuman Singh ture in them all. Deepika, his more famed ward, threw the javelin to 54.98m in the junior SAAC here, creating national record. “Girls from my academy are record holders in U14, U18, U20 and even U23,” Hanuman says. 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 amalgamation 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 thrower. “It was difficult because girls needed to keep short hair and not wear jewellery during training.” With more throwers doing well, parents are now coming on their own to his ‘My Jump and Throw Academy’.  More on P11 Next target The coach has acquired some four acres of land and is hoping to set up a proper academy there. He would like to set up a synthetic runup track for the throwers. He hopes he will be able to get funding from sponsors and federations 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 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. 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. “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 visiting 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. vck clip sparks speculation on power sharing A clip of VCK chief advocating share in power went viral, triggering talks on whether VCK was demanding ministerial berths in the DMK government | P4