CONGRESS OPPOSES CREAMY LAYER FOR SCs, STs: KHARGE 11 AUGUST 2024 BANKS MUST RAISE MORE DEPOSITS, STEP UP LENDING: FM WITH SEHRAWAT’S BRONZE, FABLED CHHATRASAL REGAINS ITS OLD CHARM www.thestatesman.com X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 PAGE 12 PAGE 8 PAGE 5 INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 PAGES 12 |` 5.00|LC KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR WEATHER GENERALLY CLOUDY SKY.LIGHT TO MODERATE RAIN/THUNDERSHOWERS. THE MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WOULD BE AROUND 32 AND 26 DEGREES CELSIUS RESPECTIVELY. RAINFALL: 017.4 mm RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 100 % TEMPERATURE PM Modi visits landslide-hit Wayanad, assures all assistance for relief and rehabilitation STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE KALPETTA/NEW DELHI, 10 AUGUST Min. 81 % Max: 32.8 °C (-1) SUN RISES 05:49 hrs MOON RISES 12:33 hrs Modi: Centre stands by Kerala, Wayanad no ordinary tragedy Min: 25.8 °C (-2) SUN SETS 19:04 hrs MOON SETS 22:43 hrs THUMBNAILS Murmu receives Timor-Leste's highest civilian award: President Droupadi Murmu was Saturday conferred the Grand-Collar of the Order of Timor-Leste, the country's highest civilian award.''President José Ramos-Horta of Timor-Leste conferred the Grand-Collar of the Order of Timor-Leste, the country's highest civilian award, upon President Droupadi Murmu. The award is in recognition of her achievements in public service and dedication to education, social welfare and empowerment of women,'' the Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a social media post on X. President Murmu said the honour is a reflection of the ties of friendship betw- een India and Timor-Leste. President Murmu, who is on a three-nation foreign tour, arrived in Timor Leste earlier today after concluding her visits to Fiji and New Zealand. In a special gesture, she was warmly received by President Jose Ramos-Horta at the airport. P rime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday visited the landslide-hit areas in Kerala's Wayanad district to assess the impact of the devastating calamity that has claimed around 300 lives and leaving many others missing. He promised all assistance for relief and rehabilitation work in the disaster-hit area, asserting that funds will not be a problem in this respect. Mr Modi, accompanied by Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Union Minister Suresh Gopi, and officials, visited the disaster-affected areas in Chooralmala after undertaking an aerial survey of the disaster-stricken areas. In his remarks after he held a review meeting at the Collectorate conference hall in Kalpetta, the PM said the country and the Central government will not leave any stone unturned in helping Kerala face the catastrophe. “This is not an ordinary (L) PM Narendra Modi visits the hospital to meet and interact with the victims and survivors of the landslide, in Wayanad; (R) PM Modi interacts with army personnel. tragedy. Dreams of hundreds of families are finished. Nature had shown its dreadful face. I have visited the affected places and met families and people in the relief camps and heard full account of what they had seen and gone through,” Mr Modi said. “The Chief Minister has told us he will send a detailed memorandum. I assure the people and affected persons that in this time of crisis, whether it is the State or Central government, they are with them in this difficult time,” he said. Some part of the calamity fund has already been released to the State and more funds have been released, Mr Modi said. As soon as the memorandum is received from the State government, he said: “We will decide with a liberal view. The Central government will stand by the State government. I do not think money will be a constraint in dealing with the situation.” “The day the State memorandum is received by the Centre, as soon as the details are provided, Civic volunteer nabbed for Kolkata doc’s rape-murder; Mamata for death penalty Govt committed to protecting Big Cats, says Modi STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, 10 AUGUST STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 10 AUGUST A civic volunteer of the Kolkata Police was arrested on Saturday in connection with the rape and murder of a 31-year-old post-graduate trainee (PGT) doctor of R G Kar Medical College Hospital.Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, meanwhile, has said that the government will ensure the case is fasttracked and seek the death penalty for the guilty. Vineet Kumar Goyal, the Kolkata commissioner of police, told reporters during a press conference this afternoon at Lalbazar, police headquarters: “One person has been arrested on the basis of evidence we have collected following overnight investigations. He is involved in a heinous crime. A rape and murder case has been regis- Police produce the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital rape-and-murder case accused at Sealdah Court in Kolkata on Saturday. n sns tered against him.” The accused, identified as Sanjoy Roy, has been remanded to police custody by a court today for two weeks. On Friday, the body of the female PGT doctor was found on a stretcher in the chest medicine department’s seminar hall, housed on the third floor of the nine-storey emergency building of the state-run teaching hospital. The incident prompted the medical fraternity across West Bengal and other states to hit the roads in protest against the rape and murder of their colleague. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told the media that the accused has been arrested and said he deserved capital punishment because of the heinous and unpardonable nature of his crime. Miss Banerjee said that she had asked officials to fast track the case so that justice is done for the victim. Miss Banerjee also said that she had no problems with an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the crime and was on the same page with the junior doctors, who have gone on a cease-work strike and staged rallies demanding the arrest of the culprits and proper security arrangement for their safety in all government hospitals. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday complimented all those working for conservation and protection of lions on the occasion of World Lion Day. In a message on microblogging platform X, he highlighted the Union Cabinet’s approval for setting up of the International Big Cat Alliance in February 2024 which reiterates the government’s commitment to protect the majestic big cats. He expressed happiness over the encouraging response the government’s decision had received from across the globe. The PM extended an invitation to all wildlife lovers to visit Gir national park in Gujarat. Chopra provides silver lining to India’s below-par show in 33rd Olympic Games S S RAMASWAMY PARIS, 10 AUGUST With just one day left for the curtains to be rung down on the 33rd Olympic Games, it is time to take a dispassionate view of the show put up by India in Paris2024. The country’s contingent comprised 110 participants made up of 65 males and 46 females (plus seven alternates), 118 support staff and 22 officials. The medal haul thus far from the Games has been one lone silver medal won by 2020 Olympic javelin champion Neeraj Chopra plus five bronze medals, three of them coming from the shooting range. Pistol shooter Manu Bhaker provided the early spark on day two of the Games that commenced officially on 26 July by clinching the women’s 10 metre air pistol bronze medal. She added to that tally two days later by teaming up with Sarabjot Singh and capturing the mixed pair team bronze in the same event. Manu thus became the first from the country to win two bronze medals from the same edition of the Games. Swapnil Kusale then shot his way to the men’s 50m rifle three-position bronze medal.But other shooters came up empty. A total of 21 shooters had made it to the Games comprising 10 males and 11 females and hauled in three bronze medals. Four medallists out of 21 provided a 19 percent success rate in shooting. Exactly one week after the shooting bronze by Kusale, India had its best day of the Games on the hockey turf and in the men's javelin throw in athletics. The hockey squad had put up a brave show to get past Britain with ten men on the field for 43 minutes of regulation time following the red card shown to Amit Rohidas to enter the semi-finals. However, Harmanpreet Singh’s men came a cropper against Germany in the semifinals on 6 August before edging out Spain 2-1 in a thriller in the bronze medal match to finish third for the second successive Games. Later that evening Neeraj Chopra tried to defend his Tokyo Games javelin crown but one monstrous throw of 92.97m by arch rival Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan, who created a new Olympic record, blew away the Indian ace’s hopes of creating history. However, he responded with a supreme effort and sealed up the silver medal with his second throw of 89.45m, his best for the season. But the rest of the athletics squad numbering 27 (17 men and 10 women) were hopelessly outclassed by the competition. Only men’s 3000m steeplechase runner Avinash Sable showed that he could at least compete at this level by advancing to the final where he finished 11th out of 16 in 8 minutes, 14.18 seconds. Male wrestler Aman Sehrawat added to the meagre medals tally by clinching the men’s 57kg freestyle wrestling bronze. The biggest disappointments came from the badminton court where P V Sindhu, a two-time medallist in previous editions, failed to make a mark and men’s singles hope Lakshya Sen squandered leads in the semifinal and then the bronze medal match to finish fourth. India drew a blank in archery, table tennis, boxing, weightlifting and tennis – disciplines where they were touted to have some reasonable chance. for either housing, schools, roads, for the future of the children, as soon as we receive the details, we will cooperate fully. My heart was heavy; I did not want to disturb the rescue work here,” he said. “Now that I have seen the situation in detail; and this first-hand information does help in decisionmaking, I assure you the Centre will try to meet all expectations of the Chief Minister,” the Prime Minister said. Mr Modi, who reached Chooralmala at around 1 p.m. on Saturday visited the Vellaarmala higher secondary school which was heavily impacted by the landslides that hit Wayanad. Mr Modi was deeply moved upon seeing the damage at the school and sought information regarding the students studying in the school and the prospects of their future education from Kerala chief secretary V Venu. He also asked Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Union Minister Suresh Gopi, who were accompanying him: "How many children lost their loved ones?” He walked about half a kilometre down the school road and saw the depth of the calamity he saw the flattened houses, collapsed buildings, mangled vehicles, huge uprooted trees and massive boulders strewn around the area. Earlier, Mr Modi undertook an aerial survey of the disaster-stricken areas in Wayanad district. During the aerial survey, Mr Modi observed the extensive devastation in Chooralmala, Mundakkai, and Punchirimatta ~ villages that were among the worst-hit by the landslides. 1987-batch IAS officer T V Somanathan appointed Cabinet Secy for 2-yr tenure STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 10 AUGUST The Appointments Committee of the Union Cabinet has appointed Mr T V Somanathan as the Cabinet Secretary of the government for a tenure of two years, starting 30 August, an order said on Saturday. "The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of TV Somanathan, IAS (TN:87) as Cabinet Secretary with a tenure of two years from August 30, 2024," an official order said. "The Appointments Com- mittee of the Cabinet has also approved the appointment of TV Somanathan as Officer on Special Duty in the Cabinet Secretariat from the date he joins the assignment till he takes over as the Cabinet Secretary," it added. He is currently serving as Finance Secretary and Secretary, Expenditure. He will succeed Mr Rajiv Gauba when he retires on 30 August. Mr Gauba was serving as Cabinet Secretary since 2019. Mr Gauba was given a one-year extension last year and is the country's longestserving Cabinet Secretary.