villupuram l tuesday l september 17, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION winning act: india storm into final beating South Korea India’s unbeaten run continued at the Asian Champions Trophy as they eased past Korea to enter the finals against hosts China on Monday Skipper sizzles with the stick again india yet to concede more than a goal Captain Harmanpreet Singh continued with his sizzling form, finding the net twice to help India beat South Korea comprehensively 4-1. Uttam Singh and Jarmanpreet Singh were the other goal scorers. In the final, the defending champions will take on China who defeated Pakistan in the other semifinal via penalty shootout ■ ■ In their first major tournament since the retirement of veteran goalkeeper P R Sreejesh, India have not conceded more than a goal. Goalkeepers Krishan Pathak and Suraj Karkera have done well Pakistan and Korea will face off in the third place classification match, which will also be played on Tuesday | P11 Seven Number of goals Harmanpreet Singh has scored at the act 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 AAP may name new Delhi CM today; Kejri huddles with PAC Supreme Court hearing today The Supreme Court is expected to further hear on Tuesday a case it has initiated on its own following the rape and murder of a resident doctor at RG Kar in Kolkata 36th day of protest by junior doctors An u p Ve r m a @ New Delhi The protesting junior doctors continued their sit-in outside Swasthya Bhawan for the eight successive day and the cease work for the 36th day Junior doctors protesting against the rape-murder in Kolkata on Monday | PTI WB govt holds talks with docs The meeting went on for about two hours after both sides agreed on signing the minutes E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Kolkata After four unsuccessful attempts, protesting junior doctors on Monday night held their first meeting with the West Bengal government at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Kalighat residence to resolve the RG Kar stalemate. The medicos demanding justice for the rape-murder of a trainee physician at the RG Kar Medical College on August 9, agreed to the government’s proposal of signed minutes of the meeting instead of its live streaming. Chief Secretary Manoj 2 held in TN for usury after man ends life Pant said both parties will sign the minutes of the meeting and share copies for clarity. The state government also allowed the two stenographers, accompanying the agitating doctors, inside the venue to record the minutes of the meeting. The meeting that was scheduled at 5 pm, began at 6.50 pm and ended around 9 pm. At the time of filing the report, the meeting had ended but both sides were in the process of finalising the minutes. Escorted by a pilot police vehicle, 30 medics arrived at Mamata’s residence at 6.20 pm. The protesters submitted a memorandum to the CM listing their demands. Ahead of the meeting, Mamata appealed to the junior doctors to end the cease work agitation. “I would appeal to the junior doctors to come and sit for the talks. Every issue can be resolved through discussions. And we must strive to find a solution. There is a hearing on this case at the Supreme Court I would appeal to the junior doctors to come and sit for the talks. Every issue can be resolved through discussions. And we must strive to find a solution —Mamata Banerjee Holiday rush: STC to ply pvt buses in north TN E XPR E SS N E WS S E RVIC E B A N BUS E LVA N @ Chennai TWO men were arrested in Madurai on Saturday after a couple that had borrowed `30,000 from them attempted to die by suicide on September 11. While 47-year-old K Raja succumbed that day, his wife, 38-year-old Malaiselvi is undergoing treatment at the Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai. The accused were identified as A Siva from Alanganallur and S Vinoth from Ulaganeri. They were arrested by Melur police on a complaint from Malaiselvi for usury and use of obscene language. Police said Raja and Malaliselvi resided at Kattapatti area in Melur with their two daughters. Raja used to run a bakery called Mahalakshmi Bakery and borrowed `30,000 from Vinoth and Siva at an usurious interest rate. Struggling to pay the interest, Raja closed the bakery. On September 11, the two men allegedly used obscene language against Raja and Malaiselvi in public. Feeling humiliated, the couple decided to end their lives on that day How. ever, their neighbours found and rushed them to the Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai, where Raja died.  P5 TO meet the growing demand for transportation during festivals, auspicious days and extended holidays, the Villupuram division of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) has decided to hire private buses on a gross cost contract (GCC) basis. Under this system, private bus owners will bear the expenses for the buses’ maintenance and provide drivers, while the corporation will deploy a conductor to collect ticket fares. The private operators will be paid on a monthly basis. Although the Villupuram division is one of the state’s profit-making transport undertakings, as of June 2024, 1,734 (52%) of the 3,275 buses in its fleet are overaged. The division caters to Chennai city and nine other districts in northern TN as well as Puducherry . Currently, during festivals and holidays, scheduled mofussil services are often diverted to operate as special buses, causing huge inconvenience to commuters who rely on regular services in villages and small towns. The repeated demand for additional buses during special occasions has prompted the corporation to deploy private buses on a contract basis, said sources. These private buses will display the Villupuram division’s logo and name and will operate on routes designated by the corporation. Commuters will be charged the fares set by the government; the per-kilometre cost for hiring the private buses is still under consideration, although tenders have been issued, according to officials. Sources from the Villupuram division told TNIE that the corporation’s fleet is sufficient to cater to the demand for weekday services between Monday and Thursday  . P5 @ Madurai Hiring to be done on GCC basis The TNSTC will hire the buses on a gross cost contract basis (GCC). Private bus owners will pay the maintenance and provide drivers. TNSTC will deploy conductors Weekend and holiday rush The buses will be deployed on weekends, full moon and new moon days, days prior to these lunar events, days before major festivals, and muhurtham days tomorrow (Tuesday), we are hopeful of finding a solution,” she told News 18 Bangla. The government then invited the medicos “for the fifth and the final time” for talks. For their part, the medicos, said, “We also want the issue to be resolved but not at the cost of any form of compromise on our five demands. We are going to the meeting to discuss all the issues with an open mind.” In a related development, Additional Commissioner of Kolkata Police, V Solomon Nesakumar, came out in support of Abhijit Mondal, the officer-incharge of Tala Police Station arrested by the CBI in the case. express read Two killed, four hurt in pile-up in T’malai Tiruvannamalai: Two persons died on the spot and four others sustained injuries in a threevehicle pile-up involving a TNSTC bus, a car and a bike near Kalasapakkam in the district on Monday. The deceased were identified as V Valarmathi (52) and the car driver S Gopalakrishnan (45) | P4 Choreographer booked for sexual assault Hyderabad: National awardwinning film choreographer Shaik Jani alias Jani Master has been booked for sexually assault, police said on Monday. Jani Master, who is also a worker of Jana Sena party, has been asked to stay away from the party’s programmes | P5 CM to meet guv at 4.30 pm A day after suddenly announcing his decision to resign, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kej r i w a l o n M o n d ay h e l d consultations with members of the AAP’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC) on naming his successor. Sources said a meeting of the legislative party will be held on Tuesday morning, where the final decision will be announced. “Today the CM had called a meeting of the PAC, in which all the cabinet ministers and senior party leaders were present. He discussed with everyone about the new CM. On Tuesday, there will be a meeting of the legislative party, in which the discussions will be taken to the second stage,” party leader and cabinet minister Saurabh Bhardwaj said. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will meet Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena at 4.30 pm on Tuesday. He is likely to tender his resignation during the meeting During the PAC meeting at Kejriwal’s residence, the CM held one-on-one talks with senior leaders, taking their individual feedback on the next chief minister, Bhardwaj said. Names of Kejriwal’s wife Sunita and ministers Atishi, Gopal Rai and Kailash Gahlot are doing the rounds. Kejriwal, who was released from the jail on Friday after the Supreme Court granted him bail in the Delhi excise man with rifle aimed at don as he played golf found dead tion to the incident, Trump said, “Fear not! I am safe Two months after a gun- and well, and no one was man’s bullet nicked his right hurt. Thank God!” ear, former US President US media named Ryan Donald Trump was the tar- Wesley Routh as the suspectget of yet another apparent ed gunman. He was charged assassination atwith possession of a tempt on Sunday the , firearm as a convictFederal Bureau of Ined felon and possesvestigation said. sion of a firear m Authorities said a with an obliterated man armed with AKserial number at his 47 was hiding in initial court appearshrubbery about 400 ance on Monday. yards to 500 yards Routh was convicted away from Trump as in 2002 for possession the former president of a machine gun. He played golf at Trump Fear not! I am had voiced support safe and well, International Golf for Ukraine and had and no one Club in West Palm been critical of was hurt. Beach. One of the SeTrump. Cellphone Thank God! cret Service agents records show he Donald Trump, noticed the barrel of spent about 12 hours former US a rifle pointing out of near the golf course president shrubbery and the before being force opened fire in confronted. the direction of the lurking The incident has once gunman. again put the spotlight on Upon hearing gunshots, Secret Service. Weighing in the suspect fled the scene in on the matter, President Joe a vehicle and was arrested Biden said the Secret Servshortly No shots were fired ice needed more help to per. at Trump. In his first reac- form its duties.  P9 E XPR E SS N E WS S E RVIC E A g en c i e s India hits back at Iran’s Supreme Leader Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday mentioned India as among countries where Muslims are suffering. The MEA responded, asking Iran to look at its own record policy scam, said on Sunday that he will resign as chief minister in two days. He had added that the party will name his replacement in the next two-three days. Meanwhile, the Delhi BJP president Virender Sachdeva said Kejriwal’s decision to resign was due to compulsion and not a matter of principle. “The decision to resign was a compulsion for Arvind Kejriwal, not driven by principle. The Supreme Court has clearly pointed out that he cannot go to his office, cannot sign any file, then what choice did Kejriwal have?” Sachdeva said. He said Kejriwal has been talking about meeting the people since Sunday, but the BJP challenges him to go before the women of Delhi after having pushed millions of families into alcohol addiction. The suspect, following his arrest in Martin County, Florida, on Sunday | AFP Pondy SC girl rape-murder: Accused dies @ Puducherry THE main accused in the rape and murder of a nine-year-old Dalit girl in Puducherry, G Vivekanandhan alias Harikrishnan, was found dead in his cell in the Central Prison at Kalapet in the early hours of Monday Police suspected that . he had died by suicide. Vivekanandhan was sharing his cell with 19-year-old M Karunas, also an accused in the case, who raised the alarm at 5am after he found his cellmate dead in the toilet, a prison official said. A case of unnatural death has been registered at the Kalapet police station and the body was sent to the mortuary at the Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences. Vivekanandhan and Karunas, both neighbours of the victim, were arrested for the abduction, rape and murder of the nine-year-old in March. The horrific incident came to light when the girl’s body was found in a sack in a drain near her home in Puducherry on March 5. The duo was lodged in the Central Prison at Kalapet. In May the police filed a 500-page , charge sheet in the case and the trial is underway in a Special POCSO court. The special judge was intimated of Vivekandhan’s death. The court will depute a magisterial team for inquiry. On completion of the inquiry, the judge will give directions based on which police will proceed for post-mortem and further investigations, inspector Jaishankar told TNIE. Jail superintendent V Bhaskaran said Vivekanandhan had had suicidal ideation since his arrest.  P5 Cong manifesto mum on Article 370, promises 1 lakh govt jobs, unemployment dole F aya z W a n i @ Srinagar Congress leader Pawan Khera with JKPCC chief Tariq Hameed Qara release the party’s manifesto for the upcoming assembly elections, in Srinagar on Monday | Zahoor Punjabi The Congress poll manifesto for J&K released on Monday was silent on Article 370 but promised the restoration of statehood and the Durbar Move, rehabilitation of migrant Kashmiri Pandits, unemployment allowance and one lakh government jobs. Senior Congress leader Pawan Khera and J&K Congress chief Tariq Hameed Karra released the manifesto on a day when the poll campaign came to an end for first of the threephase assembly polls. The party pledged to work towards granting statehood and restoring the Durbar Move — shifting of Secretariat between twin capital cities of Srinagar and Jammu for six months each. “We will pass the resolution in the first session of the assembly in favour of the Durbar Move,” it stated. But it made no mention of the controversial Article 370 that had given J&K special status. Article 370 was read down the Centre on August 5, 2019. The Congress also pledged to give first priority to those domiciled in J&K for jobs, govern- ment contracts, land allocation and concessions on utilising natural resources. It promised a white paper on corruption and establish a Lokayukta within the first 100 days to probe charges against officials allegedly involved in scams over the past 10 years. The Congress also promised to confer all rights on Displaced Persons from 1947, 1965 and 1971 and West Pakistan Refugees, including rights to sell and transfer allotted state land and Evacuee Properties. The party pledged to provide an unemployment allowance to qualified youth of up to `3,500 per month for one year. “We will fill 1 lakh vacant government posts and provide a job Return, rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits The party said it will take concrete steps to create a conducive atmosphere for the safe and dignified return and rehabilitation of the displaced Kashmiri Pandit community. “We will adopt further measures to create job opportunities for migrant youth,” it stated calendar within the first 30 days to fill them,” it stated. The Congress pledged to increase allocation of free ration from the current 5 kg to 11 kg per person, as it was earlier. “Under the Mahila Samman Scheme, we will provide `3,000 monthly transfers to women heads of households among economically weaker sections. Under Sakhi Shakti, we will provide interest-free loans up to `5 lakh for every woman Self Help Group.” The party also promised `72 per kg as the minimum support price for apples.