BENGALURU  WEDNESDAY  AUGUST 28, 2024  `9.00  PAGES 18  LATE CITY EDITION MODI SPEAKS TO PUTIN, SHARES INSIGHTS FROM HIS UKRAINE VISIT The telephone conversation comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to US President Joe Biden about his visit to Ukraine FILE PHOTO SEEKS END TO RUSSIA-UKRAINE CONFLICT MOOTS PRACTICAL ENGAGEMENT FOR PEACE 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 ■ ■ 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" | P11 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 SC raps HC judge, grants bail to Kavitha S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi RAF personnel lathi-charge students during the Nabanna Abhijan rally in Howrah, West Bengal, on Tuesday | PTI LARGE-SCALE VIOLENCE AT SECRETARIAT RALLY S U L A G N A S E N G U P TA @ Kolkata PARTS of the city on Tuesday resembled a warzone as a Nabanna (State Secretariat) Abhijan 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 large-scale violence were reported in different parts of Kolkata and Howrah as well. The police used teargas and water cannons to push back the protesters. They also sought to block the roads leading to Nabanna by parking many trucks SC relief for George, 2 IPS officers in DySP suicide case S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi IN a major relief to Karnataka Energy Minister KJ George and senior IPS of ficers AM Prasad and Pronab M o h a n t y, t h e S u p r e m e Court on Tuesday quashed the criminal proceedings against them in the deputy superintendent of police MK Ganapathy’s suicide case. They were charged with abetting the suicide of DySP Ganapathy eight years ago. A two-judge bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Shar ma passed the order. While upholding the order of the High Court of Karnataka, the SC bench said, “We do not find any wrongdoing by the accused — George and two others. Accordingly we quash , the case against them.” The high court quashed the criminal proceedings ag ainst George, Prasad and Mohanty on November 4, 2020. Ju s t i c e Jo h n M i ch a e l D’Cunha of the high court passed the order in 2020 while allowing the petitions filed by George, Prasad and Mohanty . Initially, a special court in Karnataka rejected the closure report submitted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and took cognisance of the offence of abetting suicide against George, Prasad P4 and Mohanty . 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 EXPRESS READ Two die in suspected water contamination Mysuru: Two women died and 12 took ill after allegedly consuming contaminated water in KR Pet taluk on Tuesday. Javaramma (90) and Chikamma (75), both residents of Marenahalli, died while three others have been admitted to the ICU in the Hassan district hospital, said sources | P5 Actor Mohanlal quits as AMMA president Kochi: Amid the row raging in the Malayalam film industry following the release of Hema Committee report, Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) executive committee was dissolved after its president Mohanlal and executive committee members resigned | P5 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. The 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!” 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 I N a m a j o r re l i e f t o B h a r at 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 coaccused of moneylaundering 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 bench also questioned the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate over the fairness of their probe asking if they were free to pick and choose an accused. The court said Kavitha’s custody was no longer required as both the CBI and the ED had completed their probe against her. Since 493 witnesses were to be examined and 50,000 pages of documents to be considered in the two cases, there was no likelihood of the trial being concluded in the near future, the bench observed. BBMP throws its hands up on growing garbage woes B O S K Y K H A N N A @ Bengaluru DESPITE directives from the National Green Tribunal (NGT), waste continues to pile up everywhere in Bengaluru. The government agencies seem to have no solution to address the garbage problem. Worried about the garbage menace, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is now asking citizens to manage their waste. “Citizens must now segregate and process their waste, not just in large apartments or residential complexes, but even in individual homes as there is nothing more we can do,” said Basavaraj Kabade, BBMP Solid Waste Management, chief engineer.According to data, the city generates 6,000 metric tonnes (MT) of waste daily . Of this, 2500-3000 MT of waste is sent to the landfill at Mitiganahalli. “This is the only landfill in Bengaluru. There are seven waste processing units. But most of them are not working due to technical failures and citizens’ protests,” a senior BBMP official said. The palike hoped that the energy department’s waste-toenergy plant coming up in Bidadi (11.5 MW plant) would P2 address the problem. There are seven waste processing units. But most of them are not working due to technical failures and citizens’ protests — A senior Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike official SET FOR BIG INNINGS Jay Shah elected as ICC chairperson G O M E S H S @ Chennai FOR a cricket body that 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 clear when the current chair Greg 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...” Son of Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah, Jay became joint secretary of Gujarat Cricket Association in 2013. After six years, he assumed the role of BCCI secretary in 2019 and was re-elected in 2022. His term will end next year, but will have to resign from the BCCI job before assuming office at the ICC headquarters in Dubai. Jay who is currently heading , the ICC Finance and Commercial Affairs Committee, and Asian Cricket Council, will hold the top post from December and can only act as ex-officio in all the ICC committees from December. He is eligible to continue at the post for six years, three P13 two-year terms. The inclusion of our sport in the Olympics at LA 2028 represents a significant inflection point for the growth of cricket, and I am confident that it will drive the sport forward. —Jay Shah Ballari prison to house Darshan E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Bengaluru AFTER two photos and a video of actor Darshan Thoogudeepa smoking and having tea with some prisoners inside the Bengaluru Central Prison went viral, a city court on Tuesday granted permission to shift him to Ballari jail. Along with Darshan, nine other accused in the Renukaswamy murder case will be shifted to different jails in the state. Meanwhile, warder KS Sudarshan, jailer Paramesh Nayak and assistant jailer Rayamane KB of Bengaluru prison have been suspended. Earlier in the day, CM Siddaramaiah hinted that Darshan would be shifted to the Ballari jail. The police moved the court seeking its permission to shift some of the accused in the murder case to other jails. Bengaluru prison officers will shift the accused to other jails after receiving the court order. The photographs of Darshan with his manager Nagaraj, rowdy sheeters Wilson Garden Naga and Kulla Seena on the lawns of the jail sparked a controversy after they went viral on Sunday Of the accused, Jagadish alias Jagga . and M Lakshman will be shifted to the Shivamogga jail, Stonny Brook pub owner V Vinay to Vijayapura, K Pawan alias Puttaswamy, N Raghavendra and S Nandish to Mysuru, Dhanaraj alias Raju to Dharwad, Darshan’s manager Nagaraju to Kalaburagi, and MORE ON P3 S Pradush to the Belagavi jail.