BENGALURU  MONDAY  SEPTEMBER 16, 2024  `9.00  PAGES 18  LATE CITY EDITION BAREST OF MARGINS: NEERAJ FALLS AGONISINGLY SHORT IN DL FINAL Two-time Olympics medallist Neeraj Chopra came second in Brussels Diamond League with 87.86 m throw, 0.01 m behind Anderson Peters (87.87) CHOPRA ENDS SEASON WITH 2ND PLACE FINISH AFTER GROIN, HAND INJURY ADD TO WOES In his last event of the season, the 26-year-old Indian came close to winning the Diamond League crown before missing it by just one centimetre to finish as runner-up for the second consecutive year in the season finale. Peters took the top prize while Germany’s Julian Weber finished third with a 85.97 m throw ■ ■ On Sunday, Chopra revealed that he took part in the Diamond League final with a fracture in his left hand which happened during an injury at practice earlier in the week Having already been struggling with a groin injury, the Paris Olympics silver medallist will use the off season to recuperate | P13 89.49 m WAS CHOPRA’S SEASON BEST. HE ACHIEVED IT IN LAUSANNE DL 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 1 0 Slew of projects in Modi 3.0 In infra sector, projects worth 3 lakh crore approved, most of them on roads, railways, ports and airways Approved Wadhavan Mega Port in Maharashtra at a cost of 76,200 crore Approval of construction/ upgradation of 62,500 km of roads and bridges to connect 25,000 villages 8 new railway line projects approved generating 4.42 crore man-days of employment Minimum support price for kharif crops increased Approved Polavaram project in Andhra Pradesh with an allocation of 12,100 crore Tax relief to the salaried class PROJECTS WORTH 15 LAKH CRORE LAUNCHED WITHIN THE FIRST 100 DAYS OF MODI’S 3RD INNINGS AS PM DAYS 3 crore houses approved under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana MUDRA loan limit increased from 10 lakh to 20 lakh 2 lakh crore PM package announced to promote employment and skill development among the youth 1 crore youth will receive internships at top companies, along with allowances and one-time assistance Employees earning up to 1 lakh will benefit from the government’s contribution to EPFO Employers to get reimbursement of 3,000 per month for 2 years for every new employee with an income up to 1 lakh Free insurance of up to 5 lakh to all senior citizens aged 70 years and above Waqf (Amendment) Bill aimed at reducing conflicts | MORE ON P9 B’desh, Rohingya infiltrations major threat to J’khand: Modi M U K E S H R A N J A N @ Ranchi AHEAD of the Assembly elections in Jharkhand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday accused the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) of playing vote bank politics by supporting Bangladeshi and Rohingya infiltrators. Addressing the ‘Parivartan Maharally’ of the BJP in Jamshedpur, Modi charged that ‘the infiltrators’ have managed to gain influence over the JMM and are “usurping tribal land and forests”. “Bangladeshi and Rohingya infiltrators have become a major threat to Santhal Parganas Kejri plays resignation card Junior doctors take part in a protest march to Swasthya Bhavan in Kolkata on Sunday | PTI CBI GETS CUSTODY OF RG KAR’S FORMER PRINCIPAL GHOSH S U L A G N A S E N G U P TA @ Kolkata A court on Sunday remanded former principal of Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital Sandip Ghosh and Station House Master (SHO) of Tala Police Station Abhijit Mondal in CBI custody till Tuesday in connection with the rape-murder case of a trainee doctor at the hospital. The two were arrested by the CBI on Saturday night. They have been charged with tampering evidence. Mondal is also accused of delaying the registration of FIR in the case. “We have got their custody for three days till September 17. Now, both will be questioned together. The duo played vital roles in the RG Kar case,” the CBI said. Both Ghosh and Mondal tried to “downplay the incident” as well as “shield” the heinous crime, the CBI told the Sealdah court. The arrests are the first by the CBI in connection with the rape-murder case. Ghosh had already been arrested by the CBI in connection with financial irregularities at the RG Kar Hospital and is currently in judicial custody . Meanwhile, junior doctors on Sunday took out a mega protest march in the Salt Lake area P10 demanding justice for the victim. Will step down in a couple of days, name successor; wants snap polls in Nov EARLY POLL JUMLA? 1 Advancing polls to November may not be possible as the EC will have only two months for preparations 2 In any case, the EC will come into play only after the Delhi CM dissolves the assembly and formally requests it to advance polls 3 Only a new CM can call a meeting of the Cabinet to take a decision on dissolving the assembly A N U P V E R M A @ New Delhi AAM Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday sought to take the high moral ground by saying he will not occupy the chief minister’s chair until he gets a fresh mandate of honesty from the voters in the national capital. Seeking to wash the taint of corruption as two Central law enforcement agencies alleged he was the prime beneficiary of the Delhi excise scam, Kejriwal said he will resign as CM in a couple of days and name a successor. He also demanded snap polls along with the Maharashtra assembly elections in November. But the election process can begin only after the chief minister dissolves the assembly and writes to the Election Commission of India. Expecting it to be held in November might be way too optimistic. In the normal course, Delhi will be due for polls in February . Just a couple of days ago, he had walked out of Tihar Jail after getting bail from a Supreme Court bench in connection with the excise policy scam. But stringent bail condi- @ New Delhi Arvind Kejriwal waves during a party meeting in New Delhi on Sunday | PARVEEN NEGI I want to appeal to the public, if you think Kejriwal is honest, vote for me. If you think Kejriwal is guilty, do not vote for me. Every vote of yours will be a certificate of my honesty Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi chief minister tions set by a coordinate bench disallow him from visiting the Chief Minister’s Office and the Delhi Secretariat. His signing of files in his capacity as CM was also restricted. Kejriwal made the surprise announcement while addressing party workers. “I will go to every street, I will go to every house. Until the public gives its verdict that Kejriwal is honest, I will not sit on the CM’s chair,” he claimed. As for his successor, the AAP said a meeting of the legislative party in the next two-three days will take the call. However, Kejriwal ruled out his former deputy as his suc- GOVERNMENT hospitals across the state are grappling with a severe crisis as they face a shortage of nearly 2,000 doctors as vacancies are yet to be filled, especially in rural areas. Data till June suggest that there is a shortage of 744 specialists, 613 general duty medical officers and 558 medical professionals, including special medical officers and others. Even in the dental sector, 25 posts are vacant of the total 425 sanctioned posts. Even as Health Commissioner Sivakumar KB is working to fill the 1,940 vacant positions across several roles, government hospital doctors lamented that lack of clear olicies defining the roles, responsibilities, and work ethics is not helping either. A health department source said that though efforts are being made to fill posts in medical colleges, attracting candidates to the public sector is a challenge. The official explained that doctors in rural health centres often have to juggle dual roles of healthcare providers and administrators. They also face the added strain of managing various health programmes, which diverts their attention from patient care to non-clinical administrative tasks. This not only affects patient care, but also discourages doctors from accepting rural posts, which many feel declines their clinical skills. Lack of interest from medical professionals has forced hospitals to opt for short-term hiring to fill the gaps temporarily , further straining the system, the official added. A source from Vani Vilas Hospital said doctors frequently work extended night shifts after attending to outpatients, which delays patient care. This leads to patients complaining about doctors not visiting them and not making enough rounds, the source added. Doctors across various government hospitals in Bengaluru said challenges faced by them, specifically in rural areas, extend beyond P5 administrative burden. cessor. “The same things were said about him as were said for me. Sisodia also says that he will take over the post of Deputy CM and education minister only when the people say he is honest. It’s up to the people to take the call about me and him,” the AAP chief said. The buzz is on Kejriwal’s wife Sunita getting the baton, as she has been active on ground since the Lok Sabha elections. She is also one of the star campaigners for the Haryana elections. Other names that are being tossed around as successors are ministers Gopal Rai, Atishi and Saurabh Bhardwaj. becomes the only agenda of that party Modi said. ,” Continuing his attacks on the Congress, he said the JMM leaders were taking lessons on corruption from the ‘Congress school of corruption’. He called the Congress family as the most dishonest in the country . “All the streams of corruption originate from there,” he said. The prime minister accused the JMM of not fulfilling the promises it made to the people ahead of the 2019 Assembly elections. “JMM had promised to pay unemployment allowance, but none of them got any allowance,” Modi said. Simultaneous polls on Union govt agenda RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR WITH the Modi 3.0 completing its first 100 days, highly-placed sources said the government will implement the ‘one nation, one election’ initiative during its current tenure. The buzz in political circles of the national capital is that the BJP has struck an agreement with its coalition partners on this matter. “Definitely, it will be implemented in this tenure itself. It will be a reality a source said. ,” Modi mentioned the initiative during this year’s Independence Day address. “What more is there to say when the prime minister has already shown his commitment? Wait for it as it is b e c o m i n g a r e a l i t y, ” remarked a source within the government. Modi, in his August 15 address from Red Fort, called for national unity in support of the one nation, one election concept. He urged all parties to collaborate in this initiative. “The nation has to come forward for one nation, one election,” Modi had said. A high-level panel, chaired by former President Ram Nath Kovind, had recommended conducting simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, followed by synchronised local body elections within 100 days. EXPRESS READ Tension after Palestinian flag waved in Ch’magaluru Chikkamagaluru: Tension prevailed in Chikkagamaluru town on Sunday afternoon after two bike-borne youth went around waving a Palestine flag on the Kadur-Mangaluru road. Enraged Hindu activists, led by Santhosh Kotyana, assembled in front of the town police station and protested, demanding the arrest of the two youth. The protesters urged the police to trace the youth and take stringent action against them. They alleged that it was an attempt to disturb communal harmony in the town. ASP Krishnaurthy said a team has been formed to trace the miscreants. The protesters then withdrew their agitation. ENS CM post elusive 20L form human chains in state on Democracy Day: CM to Dalit leaders, Healthcare crisis stares state in face, 2k vacancies of doctors yet to be filled R I S H I TA K H A N N A @Bengaluru and Kolhan regions. The demography of these regions is changing fast. The tribal population is on the decline. The infiltrators are establishing control of the panchayat system, grabbing land, and committing atrocities against the daughters of the state. Every Jharkhand resident feels unsafe,” Modi said. Training his guns on the Congress, Modi called it one of the state’s three enemies, the JMM and the Rashtriya Janata Dal being the other two. He said the JMM is possessed by the ghost of the Congress. “When the ghost of Congress enters any party appeasement , EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru To mark the International Day of Democracy, students form a human chain on Mysuru Road in Bengaluru on Sunday | SHASHIDHAR BYRAPPA MARKING the International Day of Democracy people from , a cross-section of society, including children, formed human chains across the state on Sunday . After flagging off the human chain in Bengaluru, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that over 20 lakh people took part in the event in the state. The aim of the event was to strengthen unity and send out a clear message to destructive forces, he added. He urged people to rise up against divisive and destructive forces, which are aiming to break society under the guise of unity He assured the people that . the Constitution stands against such divisive forces. People, in their everyday life, should celebrate pluralism upheld by the Constitution, he added. Siddaramaiah pointed out that India had a form of democracy and parliamentary systems during the times of Buddha and Basavanna. The “Anubhava Mantapa”, started by Basavanna, was a symbol of early democratic institutions, CONTINUED ON: P2 he added. After 10 months, 800 Hampi artistes still to be paid K I R A N B A L A N N A N A V A R @ Hosapete OVER 800 artistes, who performed at the ‘Karnataka Sambhrama’ event to mark 50 years of state’s formation, are yet to get their remuneration. The event was inaugurated by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at Hampi in November last. With no help coming forth, they are planning to go on an indefinite protest. The artistes were promised a remuneration of Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 for a six-member group. Although groups from other districts received remuneration within a few days after the event, those from Vijayanagara are yet to get it. Deputy Commissioner MS Divakar said that due to some technical issues in the Kannada and Culture Department, some artistes have not re c e ive d t h e p ro m i s e d remuneration. “I will resolve the issues in a few days and steps will be taken to pay the artistes at the earliest,” he added. One of the artistes told The New Indian Express that he has been waiting for the last eight months for the money. “Whenever we approach the officials, they say funds will be released as soon as possible,” he said. “We borrowed money to buy material to be used during our performance. We have to repay it, but the district administration is not keen on paying us,” he said. Artistes who performed in ‘Karnataka Sambhrama’ at Hampi | EXPRESS even me: Dr G D EVA RA J B H I R E H A L L I @ Tumakuru HOME Minister Dr G Parameshwara here on Sunday raised the question as to why the chief minister’s post in Karnataka has remained elusive to Dalit leaders, including himself, despite them having the potential. “Leaders, including B Basavalingappa, Mallikarjun Swamy, KH Ranganath and Mallikarjun Kharge, missed the bus and I too,” he said at the annual general body meeting of Sri Harthi Patttina Sahakara Sangha Niyamita, where he is also the chairman. The audience was quick to point out that Parameshwara has not missed the bus yet. During the International Day of Democracy event here, an emotionally charged Parameshwara quoted the Father of the Constitution and Dalit icon Dr BR Ambedkar that political power is the master key by which one can open the doors of progress. He suggested that more people from the community get into politics by improving their efficiency to govern. “I have handled all the portfolios given to me and no one can question my integrity he said. P4 ,”