DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2024, KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 14 PAGES BY UNNY KOLKATA RAPE-MURDER CASE Scene of offence altered, our probe itself a challenge: CBI to CJI bench Bench questions FIR delay, decision to transfer principal BRIJ BHUSHAN CASE Women wrestlers say police cover withdrawn, court steps in NIRBHAY THAKUR NEW DELHI, AUGUST 22 WOMEN WRESTLERS who have alleged sexual assault by Brij BhushanSharanSingh,thenaBJP MP and chief of the Wrestling Federationof India,approacheda Delhi court Thursday, saying their police security cover had been withdrawn a day before oneof themwastotestifyagainst Singh in the trial court. The Rouse Avenue court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Priyanka Rajpoot directedDCP,NewDelhitotakeinterim measures to ensure the wrestler’s safety. It directed the DCP to file a detailed report regardingthereasonsforthewithdrawal of security of the wrestlers on the next date of hearing (Friday). “In the meantime, as an interim measure to ensure the safetyof complainant/victimno. 4 (as per list of witnesses), the DCP concerned is directed to make immediate and appropriate arrangements for her security until her deposition is complete and until further orders from this Court,” it said. In a post on X, the DCP, New Delhi, said, “The security provided to the wrestlers hasn’t CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 RAVIK BHATTACHARYA & ATRI MITRA CISF personnel deployed at R G Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata Thursday. Partha Paul ANANTHAKRISHNAN G NEW DELHI, AUGUST 22 THE CBI, which is probing the allegedrapeandmurderof ajunior doctor at the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, toldtheSupremeCourtThursday that “our investigation itself is a challenge…becausethesceneof offence” has been “altered”. The probe into the August 9 THE WORLD FOILED UKRAINE’S CROSS-BORDER RAID, SAYS RUSSIA HARRIS TO WRAP UP DEMOCRATIC MEET TODAY WITH SPEECH PAGE 10 In its last lap, UPA II had proposed lateral entry at level of Joint Secy through UPSC NDA floated selection panels outside UPSC, did rethink after DoPT note JAY MAZOOMDAAR NEW DELHI, AUGUST 22 PAGE 1 ANCHOR PM in Kyiv today: Deep concern, offer all cooperation for peace through talks Polish PM: India can play constructive role in resolving Russia-Ukraine war FULL COVERAGE KOLKATA, AUGUST 22 PMO PROPOSAL IN 2013 FOR ALL the protestations by the Congress over the lateral entry ad issued by the NDA government, and now withdrawn, one fact went unnoticed. Acting on a recommendation of the sixth Central Pay Commission (CPC), the Manmohan Singh PMO, in January 2011, had proposed to open up to 10% of posts at the Joint Secretary level for “lateral inductionfromprivatesector/academics etc,” show records reviewed by The Indian Express. To that effect, a note by the Department of Personnel and Training(DoPT)saidthatthe lateral entrants “would be selected Gripped by fear, women medicos left campus: ‘We are just 17 in our hostel, 160 lived before August 9’ INDIA, POLAND STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP In 2013, the UPSC agreed ‘to make selection according to its mandate’. File by UPSC based on their CVs and an interview/limited competitive test,” records show. The sixth Pay Commission had recommended the identification of some posts requiring technical or specialised knowledge not “encadred” in any of CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 incident,whichsparkedprotests by doctors in several parts of the country, was transferred from Kolkata Police to the CBI on August 13 by the Calcutta High Court which voiced its displeasure over the handling of the case and said there appeared to be “no significant progress” in the police investigation. A day later, amobtargeteddoctorsholdinga protest at night and vandalised sections of the hospital. On Thursday, the Supreme Court, while resuming its proceedings in the matter after taking suo motu cognizance of the incident, again questioned the delay by Kolkata Police in lodginganFIRontheallegedrapeand murder of the junior doctor, and the wisdom of the state government in appointing the then principal, Sandip Kumar Ghosh, toanotherhospitalimmediately CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 “WE ARE just 17 women in our hostel now. It used to house 160 juniorwomendoctorsbelonging todifferentcoursesbeforeAugust 9,” said a 24-year-old fourth year MBBSstudentatKolkata’sRGKar Medical College and Hospital where the rape and murder of a juniordoctorshockedthenation. According to junior doctors, otherthanthenursinghostel,almost all the hostels at RG Kar Medical College are deserted. The exodus began on August 9itself whenthebodyof thejunior doctor was found in the seminar room of the institution. “After August 9, students started to leave the campus. Some returned a couple of days later. But after the attack on the hospital by miscreants on the night of August 14, more stu- WHY IS THE CBI PSYCHOLOGICALLY ASSESSING ACCUSED PAGE 3 dents, especially the girls left,” the MBBS student added, referringtothevandalismof asection of the hospital by a mob when protests were taking place outside the hospital gate. There are five hostels for women doctors and students on the RG Kar hospital campus. Appearing for the protesting doctors in the Supreme Court on CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 J&K polls: NC and Congress seal alliance, but a few seats in Kashmir still a hurdle NAVEED IQBAL SRINAGAR, AUGUST 22 THE CONGRESS and National Conference (NC) Thursday announced an alliance for all 90 seats in Jammu and Kashmir for the coming Assembly elections. The announcement by NC president Farooq Abdullah came after Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge called on the NC leadership at Farooq’s residence in Srinagar, where they held a meeting lasting over an hour. “Our alliance is on track. We have discussed seats as well, it is final. By evening, we will sign this, and it is for all 90 seats,” Farooq said, adding that the common programme of the two parties was “to fight elections to defeatthedivisiveforcesthatexist in the country”. The NC chief also expressed the hope that statehood would DIVYA A NEW DELHI, AUGUST 22 AHEADOFhisvisittoKyiv,Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday expressed “deep concern” over the ongoing conflict betweenRussiaandUkraine,and said India was ready to extend “all possible cooperation” to restorepeaceandstabilitythrough “dialogue and diplomacy”. Modi made the remarks after his meeting with Polish Prime MinisterDonaldTuskinWarsaw, whereIndiaandPolandupgraded their ties to a “strategic partnership”andagreedonasocialsecurity agreement to promote the mobility of skilled workers. After concluding his visit to Warsaw, Modi travelled to Kyiv on Thursday night; he is sched- EXPLAINED DIPLOMACY WHY MODI VISIT TO KYIV IS SIGNIFICANT PAGE 12 uledtomeetUkraine’sPresident Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday. “The ongoing conflicts in UkraineandWestAsiaareamatter of deep concern for all of us. India firmly believes that no problem can be solved on the battlefield. The loss of innocent livesinanycrisishasbecomethe biggest challenge for the entire humanity. We support dialogue and diplomacy for the early restorationof peaceandstability. For this, India is ready to provide CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 GUIDELINES IN TWO WEEKS Internship portal in the works, will match opportunity with youth skill sets Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi with National Conference leaders Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah in Srinagar, Thursday. PTI be restored soon to J&K, headed by a government that holds all the required powers. Earlierintheday,Gandhisaid the alliance would be formed “while maintaining the respect of Congress party workers”. Addressing a workers’ meeting in Srinagar alongside Kharge, Gandhi said Congress workers had “dedicated their whole lives to protecting the Congress ideology and carrying forward the party’s line of thinking. I am CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Associate director, biologist, housekeeping staff among victims of Andhra reactor blast SREENIVAS JANYALA HYDERABAD, AUGUST 22 THE 17 people killed in the blast at a pharma unit at Andhra Pradesh’s Anakapalle included an associate director, a general manager, an assistant manager, senior executives, trainee engineers, biologists, equipment operators, a painter, and a member of the housekeeping staff. Seven of them were working on the second floor when a reactor,whichwasonthesamefloor, Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk in Warsaw, Thursday. Reuters Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu with family members of the victims in Anakapalle on Thursday. PTI exploded and killed them on the spot. The others were on the lower floor and died after walls collapsed on them, officials said. The incident took place on Wednesday afternoon, during the lunch break at pharmaceutical company Escientia in AtchutapuramSpecialEconomic Zone, a pharmaceutical company hub. On Thursday morning, relativesgatheredattheKingGeorge Hospital in Visakhapatnam. For many, the loss was not only that CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ministry in discussions with top 500 companies to finalise the scheme AANCHAL MAGAZINE NEW DELHI, AUGUST 22 A NEW PORTAL is in the works to enable youths to apply for internshipsdirectlywiththecountry’s top 500 companies under a special package announced in the Budget. The portal would facilitateacertainmatchingof skill sets of the applicants with the type of internship opportunities provided by the companies. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) will announce the guidelines for the internship scheme over the next two weeks, following which the portal will be made active for the prospective applicants, officials involved in the exercise said. “Theideaisnottouploadany existing database of the country'syouthontheportal,because some may not want to opt for this internship scheme. Instead, the companies will list out their internship opportunities and these will get matched with the EXPLAINED BUSINESS AS USUAL `6.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES & ANDAMAN) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 E A new apprentice ● scheme THE UPCOMING guidelines and the new portal will help operationalise the ambitious scheme that seeks to provide internships to 1 crore youth over the next five years. The government is keen to ensure that those at the margins, especially those less skilled and less employable, are able to make the most of this internship scheme. information provided by the applicants, enabling a free flow of information on the portal,” a senior government official told The Indian Express. The portal is expected to be functional after the guidelines CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 For women in Kerala film industry, the ‘heavy cost’ of speaking up NIKHILA HENRY NEW DELHI, AUGUST 22 WORKING AN “ordinary job” — iswhata32-year-oldwomanactor has been doing for the past two years, after her deposition beforethethree-memberJustice K Hema Committee which looked into the working condition of women in the Kerala film industry.Withsixyearsof acting experience, she says the industryhasshutitsdoorsonhersince she spoke up. The Hema Committee, formed in 2017, had submitted its report to the Kerala state government in 2019. While successive governments held back the report arguing that its release might“compromisetheprivacy” of those who testified before the committee,thecontentswerefinally revealed, five years later, followingtheinterventionof the Kerala High Court. The court ordered for the release of the report with certain redactions. “I felt happy,” says the 32year-old. “At least my struggle has not gone wasted.” The actor says she was ostracised for reporting a colleague’s sexual advances. “Ever since I reported the incident, I was systematically deprived of work in the industry. The depositionbeforethecommitteeonly worsened the boycott, to the point that I had to leave the film industry,” she told The Indian Express. When asked if anyone tried to bring her back, she says, “I was told there’s no market for me as an actor”. Similar has been the experience of several women artistes and technicians who have been associated with the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), a groupingofwomeninthefilmindustry who came together in the BINA PAUL: Veteran film editor and a founding member of WCC ANJALI MENON: Screenwriter, director,WCC founding member aftermathof therapeof aleading woman actor in Kochi in 2017. Many of them say they were PADMAPRIYA JANAKIRAMAN: Lead actor who is a part of both AMMA and WCC SAJITHA MADATHIL: Actor and a founding member of WCC treated as “troublemakers” and denied work as they openly spoke about the need to make the Malayalam film industry a betterworkingspaceforwomen and other deprived groups. “It has been a tough journey. Inthecollectivewehaveallfaced the accusation that we talk too much, that we are stirring up trouble and that we are creating problems when there are none,” says Bina Paul, senior editor in theMalayalamfilmindustryand a founding member of the WCC. Paul says the struggle of the loose collective of women has been for an equitable working space. “I do not want to be known as a woman editor alone. I am a film editor. There should be a space for all of us (women) to be looked at as any other professional,” she says, adding the Malayalam film industry, which is known for some path-breaking films in the recent past, has a long way to go when it comes to gender justice. TheHemaCommitteereport atteststothis—itlistsoutatleast 17 broad issues that plague the Malayalamfilmindustry.Thereport reads, “We find that generally women in cinema face a lot of issues, including sexual demands made to women for the very entry into cinema and for getting chance to work in cin- ema…sexualharassment,abuse, assault against women at workplace, transportation, places of accommodation etc…Torture of women if they express their resentment or unwillingness to sexual demands.” The report adds that there is a prevalence of “unauthorised banning of individuals working in cinema in different categories…Silencingof womenunder threat of ban from work in cinema…” According to the report, 32 of 40 WCC members had filled out the questionnaire which was CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Kolkata