Srinagar: Mohammad Shafi Pandit, the first Muslim IAS officer from Kashmir, passed away on Thursday. He was 80.

Pandit was undergoing treatment at a hospital in Delhi after he was detected with cancer about a month ago, his family said.

Pandit was the first Muslim from Kashmir to qualify the civil services examinations in 1969. His final assignment with the government was as the head of autonomous Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission.

In the bureaucratic circles, Pandit was widely viewed as a chief secretary that Jammu and Kashmir never had.

The soft-spoken Pandit was part of many civil society and philanthropic initiatives in Kashmir. He also played a key role in rolling out of the Mandal Commission report as he was the joint secretary in the Government of India in 1992.

Pandit’s body will be flown to Srinagar later in the day.

“If possible, he will be laid to rest today,” his family said.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh condoled the death of the IAS officer.

“My good friend of many years. Mohammed Shafi Pandit, has just passed away.He was a 1969-batch IAS officer who occupied important positions with distinction, both in J&K and at the Centre,” Ramesh wrote in a post on X.

“After retirement, he devoted himself to various public causes and emerged as a leading voice of civil society. Soft-spoken and extremely gentle by nature, he epitomised the glorious composite heritage of J&K and was a role model for youth from the Valley to join the civil services,” the Congress leader added.

Union Minister Suresh Gopi

Alappuzha (Kerala): Union Minister Suresh Gopi on Monday urged the media to question Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over the delay in central aid for the landslide-hit Wayanad.

When reporters sought his reaction on the matter, a visibly irritated Gopi smiled and said the CM was aware how the system works and so ask him (CM).

“You ask your Chief Minister… what is the system? I don’t like this at all…You ask your CM… let him tell how it (central aid) comes,” the union minister said.

Though the scribes repeatedly asked the question, the actor-turned-politician was reluctant to comment.

Major landslides hit the Mundakkai and Chooralmala regions of Wayanad on July 30, almost decimating both areas and leaving over 200 people dead.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Wayanad on August 10 and offered all possible help for the rehabilitation initiatives.

Buldhana: Police in Buldhana on Monday registered a case against Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad over his controversial remarks against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

Gaikwad has announced that he will give Rs 11 lakh to anyone chopping off Rahul Gandhi’s tongue for his remarks on scrapping the reservation system.

A case was registered against Gaikwad under Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita section 351 (2) and other relevant sections, an official said.

Earlier in the day, Congress workers staged a sit-in protest at Buldhana city police station.

Etawah (UP): BJP’s Etawah MLA Sarita Bhadauriya fell onto the railway tracks while vying to wave the green flag for the Agra-Varanasi Vande Bharat Express here on Monday.

Purported videos of the incident surfaced on social media.

The incident occurred amidst a crowded platform as the train arrived around 6 pm. The 61-year-old second-term BJP lawmaker was among a host of people holding the green flag as they stood at the platform, the video showed.

Following the virtual inauguration of the Vande Bharat train by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the train, numbered 20175, was flagged off by the Rail Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu from Agra.

When contacted by PTI, BJP’s Etawah unit treasurer Sanjeev Bhadauriya said, “The MLA was helped off the track and she then waited for some time at the platform for the flag-off event.”

“Later she consulted doctors and is resting at her home now. She did not suffer any visible physical injuries. If there is any internal injury, it is yet to be confirmed,” Bhadauriya said.

The train made stops at Tundla before arriving at Etawah station. Upon its arrival, a commotion ensued on the platform as various political figures, including Samajwadi Party MP Jitendra Douwhare, former BJP MP Ram Shankar, and current MLA Sarita Bhadauriya, gathered to participate in the flag-off, the videos showed.

As the train’s horn signalled its departure, the platform became chaotic with supporters jostling for position. In the ensuing melee, the MLA was pushed off the platform and she fell onto the railway tracks in front of the train, it showed.

The train was stopped in time by bystanders, preventing a major accident. Bhadauriya was quickly rescued from the tracks by the police and taken to the hospital, according to eyewitnesses.

Talking about the operation date for the Vande Bharat Express, PRO Prashasti Srivastava from the Agra division of the railways said that the date will be announced soon.

The train will cover the distance between Agra and Varanasi in approximately seven hours. The return train will operate as number 20176 from Varanasi to Agra, while the Agra-Varanasi service will be number 20175.

Kolkata/New Delhi: Accepting the bulk of the five-point charter of demand placed by the agitating junior doctors, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced her decision to transfer a section of Kolkata Police and the state health department top brass, including CP Vineet Goyal, from their respective positions.

Banerjee also announced the removal of the Director of Medical Education (DME) and the Director of Health Services (DHS) besides the Deputy Commissioner (North Division) who allegedly offered money to the parents of the RG Kar victim.

“We will announce the name of the new police commissioner after 4 pm on Tuesday after the scheduled hearing in Supreme Court gets over,” the chief minister said at the stroke of midnight after concluding her meeting with the agitating junior doctors at her Kalighat residence, barely hours ahead of the scheduled Supreme Court hearing on the RG Kar hospital matter.

The decisions were formalised in the minutes of the meeting which was signed by Chief Secretary Manoj Pant and countersigned by the delegation of 42 doctors who participated in the talks to end the RG Kar hospital deadlock.

The agitating doctors are on ‘cease work’ across the state for 38 days since the gruesome alleged rape and murder of the postgraduate intern at RG Kar hospital came to light on August 9, crippling state-run healthcare delivery.

“We have accepted almost all demands of the doctors. Keeping in mind the plight of the common people, we did the best we could. I now appeal to the doctors to return to work,” Banerjee said, confirming no disciplinary action would be taken against the agitating doctors.

Deeming the decisions as “the state bowing its head before the pressure of a movement and a “victory of the masses”, the doctors, however, said they would continue their protests till “the words get converted into concrete action”.

“We will decide on what our next step would be after the hearing at the Apex court and after we confirm the government issuing those transfer orders it has promised,” announced Dr Debasish Halder, one of the leaders, from the sit-in before Swasthya Bhawan which is continuing for a week amid inclement weather.

“While the CM has accepted our demand to remove the CP, DC (North), the DHS and DME, she is yet to agree on removing the principal secretary of the health department or the DC (Central). The discussions on the operating threat syndicate in hospitals and the thriving corruption racket remain incomplete. We only have verbal assurances on those matters so far. So our fight is far from over,” added Dr Aniket Mahato, another leader.

The signed minutes of the meeting documented a sanction of Rs 100 crore for infrastructure development in hospitals for doctors and rebuilding of patient welfare committees as more inclusive with stakeholders.

To tackle safety-security measures in hospitals, a special task force headed by the chief secretary and having as members the home secretary, DGP, CP Kolkata and representatives of junior doctors, the minutes stated.

It also documented the setting up of an “effective and responsive grievance redressal mechanism” in medical infrastructure across hospitals and colleges of the state.

“Such measures are ineffective until a democratic work atmosphere returns to hospitals with simultaneous uprooting of threats and corruption nexus,” an agitating doctor said.

Early morning celebrations with protestors playing drums and blowing conch shells were witnessed at the Swasthya Bhawan agitation site.

Earlier on Monday, talks between the state government and the agitating junior doctors began at around 6.50 pm after four unsuccessful previous bids to initiate a dialogue to resolve the deadlock. The meeting lasted for about two hours.

It took another three hours to complete the process of finalizing the minutes of the meeting in the presence of the state chief secretary.

Previous attempts to resolve the issue got stuck due to the state government’s rejection of the doctors’ demand for live-streaming and video recordings of the meeting.

The agitating medics later agreed to a compromise, now only asking to record the minutes of the meeting and receive a signed copy.

The state government also allowed the two stenographers, accompanying the agitating doctors, inside the venue to record the minutes of the meeting.

Meanwhile, the doctors continued their sit-in outside Swasthya Bhawan, the headquarters of the Health Department, for eight days and the ‘cease work’ for the 38th day seeking justice for the RG Kar victim and demanding removal of top police and health officials.

The talks fructified after the state government “for the fifth and the final time” invited the protesting doctors for talks to end the impasse, two days after the dialogue failed to take off over disagreement on live-streaming of the meeting.

On Saturday, Banerjee made a surprise visit to the protest site and assured the doctors that their demands would be addressed.

However, the proposed meeting fell through when the protesters claimed they were asked to leave “unceremoniously” after waiting for three hours at the gates of the CM’s residence.

In the Capital, senior doctors of RG Kar Medical College alleged tampering of evidence in the Kolkata doctor rape and murder case.

In a statement, the doctors demanded that they want authorities concerned, the CBI and the Supreme Court expedite the investigation process and punish the culprits without any delay.