CAN ONE BE GOOD AT EVERYTHING? 15 SEPTEMBER 2024 AI IS ERODING GURU SHISHYA TRADITION NEW BOWLING COACH MORKEL ‘BLOWN AWAY’ BY INDIAN PLAYERS’ PROFESSIONALISM www.thestatesman.com X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 PAGE 19 PAGE 16 PAGE 17 INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 PAGES 20 |` 5.00|LC KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR Didi reaches out to jr docs, visits them at protest site Doctors send delegation to Mamata Banerjee’s home at Kalighat, but talks again stuck on the issue of videographing or live-streaming the proceedings STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, 14 SEPTEMBER I n a bid to end the impasse between the state government and the agitating junior doctors, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday paid an unannounced visit to the site where the doctors are staging their protest in front of the Swasthya Bhawan at Salt Lake and spoke to them. Later in the evening, a delegation of junior doctors came to Miss Banerjee’s residence PM calls J&K polls a fight between three dynasties and new leadership SP SHARMA JAMMU, 14 SEPTEMBER Hitting out at what he called the Congress, Abdullah and Mufti dynasties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir are a fight between the three families and the new leadership. Mr Modi, while addressing an election rally in Jammu’s Doda town, said one family belongs to Congress, another to the National Conference and yet another to the PDP who exploited the youth and suppressed their aspirations. This is Mr Modi’s first election rally in J&K held ahead of the first phase of Assembly polls scheduled on 18 September. “What these three families together have done to you people in Jammu and Kashmir is no less than a sin,” he said adding that the three dynasties will be standing against the aspirational youth of Jammu and Kashmir in these elections. “They are responsible for ruining Jammu and Kashmir for decades,” he said. “This time, the election is going to decide the fate of J&K. Since independence, J&K has been targeted by foreign powers. After this, the three dynasties started hollowing out this beautiful region. The political parties you trusted here did not care about your children. Those political parties only promoted their own children,” he contended. He said: “The youth of J&K have been suffering from terrorism, the parties promoting ‘pariwarwad’ were having fun by misleading you. These people have never allowed new leaders to emerge anywhere in J&K. These three families are responsible for the terrible state that J&K was in for decades. They indulged in corruption and made you struggle for your basic needs, he said. The PM contended that these families laid the foundation for terrorism and extremism in Kashmir by providing a safe haven for the propagation of terrorism for personal gains. “BJP’s resolution and your support can bring peace, prosperity and security to Jammu and Kashmir. BJP wants to make Jammu and Kashmir developed and terror-free,” he added. He urged the people to ensure that the BJP candidates win with a huge mandate and ensure a brighter future for everyone. Jaishankar shares India’s perspective on human rights with top global officials STATSMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 14 SEPTEMBER External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar shared with the top leadership of international organisations in Geneva India’s approach to multilateralism, the country's perspectives on the evolution of human rights, current global human rights situation, and ways to address various challenges to the human rights ecosystem. During his just-concluded visit to Switzerland, Mr Jaishankar met United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, Director General of the World Health Organisation Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and other top officials. He also discussed ways to deepen cooperation in public health and promote Traditional Medicine systems globally, the Ministry of External Affairs said Saturday. Mr Jaishankar dedicated the newly-built state-of-theart Permanent Mission of India in Geneva, which houses Indian Missions dealing with the UN and other International Organisations, the Conference on Disarmament, the World Trade Organisation, and the Consulate General of India. He also dedicated a statue of Bhimrao Ambekar at the Permanent Mission and named a hall in memory of Mrs Hansa Mehta, who played a key role in promoting gender equality during the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. He also planted a tree under the ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ initiative. Subsequently, Mr Jaishankar interacted with a large gathering of the Indian Community and Friends of India at the Permanent Mission. He highlighted rapid strides made by India and India’s vision of engaging with the world. at Kalighat for talks, but disagreement over the issue of live-streaming or videographing the meeting led to the talks again being shelved, at least for the day. As the junior doctors stuck to their stand on either live telecast of the meeting or recording the proceedings by both sides, Miss Banerjee told them that since the matter was pending in the Supreme Court, she could not allow video recording by them. “I promise you that the recording that will be done from our end will be given to you after we get permission from the apex court. I cannot accept all your demands. Still, if you do not want to have the meeting, at least have a cup of tea. But do not be drenched,” said Miss Banerjee, who came out to talk to the doctors. The latter, however, declined the invitation. Earlier today, taking everyone by surprise, Miss Banerjee along with director general of police Rajeev Kumar, and other senior police officials, turned up at the doctors’ protest site at around 1.05 p.m. She said she had come as an elder sister, as a ‘Didi’, not the chief minister. She urged them again to resume work, ending their 35day long cease-work demanding justice for the horrific rape and murder incident of the 31 year-old woman doctor at the R G Kar Medical College Hospital on 9 August. Miss Banerjee also assured the agitating doctors that no disciplinary action will be taken against them for continuing cease-work for so many days. “I have complete solidarity with your movement. Hats off to your protest braving nightlong rain and I also could not sleep last night thinking of your plight,” Miss Banerjee said, adding: “I will look into your demands with sympathy. This is my last attempt here.” “I believe many have died due to lack of treatment. Your parents are also worried. Please resume work,” Miss Banerjee told the protesting junior doctors who have been camping outside Swasthya Bhawan since Wednesday afternoon. Police officer arrested: The CBI on Saturday arrested former principal of R G Kar Hospital, Sandip Ghosh, and the officer-in-charge of Tala police station, Abhijit Mondal, in connection with rape and murder of the PGT doctor, apparently on the charge of destruction of evidence. (See also Page 3)