BHUBANESWAR � FRIDAY � AUGUST 26, 2022 � `9.

00 � PAGES 12 � LATE CITY EDITION UN Security Council members listen as Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelenskyy speaks via a video conference call on Thursday | AFP

IN A FIRST, INDIA VOTES AGAINST RUSSIA OPPOSES LEADER’S VIRTUAL ATTENDANCE 13 OF 15 MEMBERS VOTE AGAINST RUSSIA
RUSSIA ON UKRAINE AT UNSC Russian demanded a procedural vote on Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelenskyy’s virtual participation in a UNSC meeting called to take stock of
the Ukraine war. Russia insisted it does not oppose his participation, but
The UN Security Council held a procedural vote on Thursday said he must attend the meeting in person. Backing Zelenskyy, Albania
on Ukrainian president’s virtual participation in its meeting said he can’t leave Ukraine as the war situation requires him to be there
December
In the 15-member UNSC, India and 12 other countries voted to
■
let Zelenskyy participate in the meeting through video tele-
conference. While Russia voted against it, China abstained
■ Later, Zelenskyy in his remarks to the UNSC called for Russia to WHEN INDIA’S TWO-YEAR TERM
be held accountable for its crime of aggression against Ukraine AT THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL ENDS

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

NDTV say SEBI

nod needed to Poll panel recommends
buy Roys’ stake
E X P R E SS N E WS S E R V I C E @ New Delhi
Soren disqualification
EMBATTLED news channel Speculation within the JMM on CM’s wife Kalpana as his successor
NDTV on Thursday cited a
market regulator bar in a dif- M U K E S H R A N J A N @ Ranchi disqualification in the office-
ferent matter to at least tempo- for-profit case. The JMM hit Chief Secretary Suresh Mahapatra, 5T Secy VK Pandian on VSSUT campus | EXPRESS

Govt commits `1,000 cr,

rarily ward off predatory at- JHARKHAND Chief Minister back, demanding Dubey’s
tempts by the Adani group to Hemant Soren appeared to be disqualification.
acquire management control on his way out on Thursday as Amid the swirling uncertain- EXPRESS READ
over the company. Analysts feel the Election Commission of In- ty, the JMM called its legisla-

land to develop VSSUT Jumbos electrocuted

this may escalate into a legal
war over NDTV’s ownership.
NDTV claimed the Securities
and Exchange Board of India
(SEBI) had barred its founder-
promoters for two years from
dealing in their shares directly
or indirectly. The two-year fiat
expires on November 26.
In other words, the Adanis
dia (ECI) is understood to have
recommended his disqualifica-
tion as a legislator to Governor
Ramesh Bais. Raj Bhavan, how-
ever, did not officially confirm
the receipt of the ECI’s report.
Section 9A of the Representa-
tion of the People Act (RPA),
1951 bars lawmakers from en-
tering into any contract with
ture party meeting on Friday to
deal with the emerging situa-
tion. If Soren is disqualified, it
in Keonjhar
Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren gestures to will not only push him out of Keonjhar/Bhubaneswar: In a
media after a cabinet meeting | PTI power but also increase insta- EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE the university to develop it into shocking incident, two
bility in the government at a @ Sambalpur a Centre of Excellence. elephants were electrocuted
AS THINGS STAND time when the BJP is allegedly At present, there is infra- on OUAT campus in Keonjhar
ce 5
0 waiting to poach lawmakers THE Odisha government on structure to accommodate 5000 under Keonjhar Sadar range
n Op
lia from the ruling coalition. Thursday committed `1,000 students on the campus and fa- on Thursday morning. Both
al p
While the JMM went ballistic crore to transform Veer Suren- cilities will be developed to ac- were females and had given
os
g
lin

would need prior SEBI approval the government for supply of against the BJP, a senior leader dra Sai University of Technolo- commodate around 10,000
iti

birth to calves less than a

Ru

on

to secure 99.5% interest in the goods or execution of works admitted, “There is an inherent gy (VSSUT), Burla into an insti- students. month back. The two came in
30

promoter group RRPR, control-
led by Prannoy and Radhika
Roy. For, “this would lead to ac-
quisition of voting rights in re-
spect of 29.18% of the issued
share capital of Target Compa-
ny (RRPR),” NDTV said.
The claim comes two days af-
ter the Adani Group announced
its indirect acquiring of 29%
stake in NDTV after which it
had asked the holding firm —
RRPR — to transfer by Thurs-
day all its equity shares to Vish-
vapradhan Commercial Pvt Ltd
(VCPL), controlled by Adani.
“It has now come down to the
minutes of the previous order
undertaken by it. Yet, Soren
brazenly granted himself a
stone mining lease, which put
him in big trouble.
Under Article 192 of the Con-
stitution, the governor can take
his call on an MLA’s disqualifi-
cation only after seeking the
poll panel’s view.
There was speculation right
through the day as Governor
Ramesh Bais arrived in the city
but was evasive. “I was in
AIIMS, Delhi for two days. I will
be in a position to make a deci-
sion only when I reach Raj Bha-
van,” he said at the airport.
TOTAL
81
� JMM 30 � Cong 18 � CPI (ML) 1
� NCP 1 � BJP 26 � AJSU 2
� Independents 2 � Nominated 1
HALFWAY MARK 41
Till the time of filing this re-
port, the JMM hadn’t received
any communication from the
governor indicating his deci-
sion on the matter, keeping the
party on tenterhooks.
The day began with BJP MP
Nishikant Dubey claiming the
ECI had recommended Soren’s
danger that the ECI would also
debar Soren from contesting
any election for a certain time
period.” In such a situation, ei-
ther Soren’s wife Kalpana or
JMM patriarch Shibu Soren
could be the successor, he add-
ed. Parallelly, the JMM leader-
ship was preparing for a legal
challenge.
On February 10, a BJP dele-
gation gave the governor a
memorandum demanding the
disqualification of Soren. Tak-
ing cognizance of it, the gover-
nor forwarded the matter to the
poll panel for its opinion.
tution on par with IIT and NIT.
Chief Secretary Suresh Chan-
dra Mahapatra, during his visit
to Sambalpur, informed the gov-
ernment will provide land addi-
tionally for development of the
VSSUT. He was accompanied by
Principal Secretary, Skill Devel-
opment and Technical Educa-
tion, Hemant Sharma and Sec-
retary 5T, VK Pandian.
The Chief Secretary said a
master plan for VSSUT will be
prepared as per the instruction
of Chief Minister Naveen Pat-
naik. There is a proposal to in-
vest more than `1000 crore on
“VSSUT currently has sur-
plus land of 40 acre to 45 acre.
An additional 80 acre has al-
ready been identified which Wa-
ter Resources department will
hand over to the varsity very
soon,” informed Mahapatra.
The team visited VSSUT to
review the laboratories, hostels
and other infrastructure be-
sides interacting with authori-
ties, staff, teachers and stu-
dents. The team also reviewed
progress of SAMALEI scheme
during a visit to the shrine.
Sambalpur Collector Ananya
Das was also present.
contact with 11 kV wire leading
to their death | P4
Water supply stays hit
in flood-affected dists
Bhubaneswar: Restoration of
drinking water supply is still
not possible to many flood-
affected areas due to slow
drainage of water and drinking
water is being supplied
through tankers. Distribution
of water bottles and pouches
apart, water treatment plants
have been engaged | P3

5 PHONES INFECTED; NO
by SEBI in 2019 and by the Secu-
rities Appellate Tribunal this
year. SEBI’s order appears to be
against the Roys for insider
trading and isn’t applicable to
RRPR holdings. However, they
PEGASUS CLARITY
are using everything to avoid S H R U T I K A K K A R @ New Delhi seeing judge Justice Raveendran.
the takeover and the matter Justice Raveendran’s report rec-
seems to be heading to court,” a PERUSING a report submitted by a ommended enhancing the coun-
top lawyer told this daily. committee it constituted to look into try’s cyber security and establish-
the allegations of unauthorised sur- ing mechanisms for citizens to
veillance using Pegasus software, raise grievances.

SONALI
the Supreme Court on Thursday ob- The court said it would make
served that the Centre was not coop- Justice Raveendran’s report pub-
erative with the panel. lic. On the technical committee’s

PHOGAT
MURDERED DURING
“(In) one sentence committee
has observed that the Govern-
ment of India was not coop-
erative and whatever stand
report, which also contains confi-
dential material extracted
from examined mobiles, the
bench will decide which
GOA TRIP? you had taken here you parts could be made pub-
had also taken there,” lic. The matter will now be
Though the Chief Justice of India N V considered after four
cause of her Ramana said. The bench weeks. In October last year,
death was noted that the technical com- the court had appointed the
given as mittee said that out of 29 phones it technical committee comprising
heart attack, examined, five contained some three members under the supervi-
an autopsy malware but there was no conclu- sion of Justice Raveendran to look
sive evidence on finding Pegasus, into the allegations of illegal sur-
report on a phone-hacking tool hawked by veillance using Pegasus.
Thursday revealed “multiple Israeli company NSO Group. In a late night development, the
blunt force injuries” on her The final report comprised three report got uploaded on the SC web-
body. Police filed murder parts: digital images of phones ex- site but was taken down, resealed
charges on two associates amined, report of the technical and kept in custody of the SC Sec-
committee and report by the over- retary General.

FIRST OF ITS KIND

Youth-led startup to send 40 satellites to

compile space debris data
C H A N D A N N A N D Y @ New Delhi
THE race to space has the down-
side of polluting it. A Bengaluru-
based startup plans to send out a
constellation of 40 satellites that
will gather data on space junk in
the low-earth orbit (LEO).
The satellites that will be launched
from early next year will gather in-
formation on millions of pieces of
debris that litter LEO, which NASA
describes as an “orbital space junk
yard”. Digantara, the startup
launched by three young engineers,
has taken upon itself the mission to
help clean up LEO.
Space junk can reach speeds of
up to 18,000 miles per hour, accord-
ing to NASA. Many of them range
from 1 cm to 10 cm in diameter. Most
of these orbital debris comprise
“human-generated” objects such as
parts of spacecraft that have long
disintegrated, rocket and satellite
components, very small flecks of
paint from spacecraft and whole
satellites. “The ones which are 1 cm
in diameter are estimated to be a
(From left) Rahul Rawat, Tanveer Ahmed
and Anirudh Sharma
million. Besides, international
space agencies have determined
that they are aware of only 4% of
objects in space. The data for 96% is
still missing,” said Digantara chief
operating officer Rahul Rawat, who
is only 23-year-old.
Digantara, which is incubated
at Bengaluru’s Indian Institute of
Science, sent out a small satellite,
a payload about the “size of a shoe
box”, according to the startup’s
CEO Anirudh Sharma, on June 30
this year to gather information on
space weather, including radia-
tion, violent storms and other phe-
nomena that can be potentially
harsh for spacecraft and burn or
fry them.
While this lone satellite has been
sending out data to ground sen-
sors, Rawat pointed to the Elon
Musk’s SpaceX Starlink constella-
tion of 40 of 49 satellites that were
“lost in a single blow” when they
encountered a gigantic “solar par-
oxysm” that burned the spacecraft
and cost the company $100 million
in February 2022.
It is precisely to avoid satellites
getting caught up in such “solar
outbursts” or other violent geo-
magnetic incidents that Digantara
expects its own satellites – and the
information it will send back to its
ground sensors – to come to the res-
cue of space companies with ambi-
tions of sending out satellites.
“We are the only startup of its
kind in India though there are com-
petitors in the US and Canada,” Ra-
wat said, adding the gathered data
can help firms that are into remote
sensing and insurance where risk
analysis reports will be
important.

02 BHUBANESWAR
Make proposed Caught between two dump yards, BMC struggles
JTF broad-based,
HC tells govt
DGP’s affidavit says JTF will look into cases
of poaching apart from death of elephants
E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Cuttack
THE Orissa High Court on
Thursday directed the State
government to make the pro-
posed Joint Task Force (JTF)
broad-based to tackle the in-
creasing unnatural death of el-
ephants in the State.
In pursuance to the court’s
order on August 8, the Director
General of Police and Principal
Chief Conservator of Forests
(Wildlife) had filed affidavits.
The DGP in his affidavit en-
closed proceedings of a meet-
ing under the chairmanship of
Chief Secretary which had de-
cided to constitute a JTF
comprising of ficers
from forest and police
departments to inves-
tigate cases of unnatu-
ral death of elephants.
The division bench of
Chief Justice S Muralid-
har and Justice Chittaranjan
Dash observed that proposed
JTF is not broad-based to ac-
commodate views of wildlife
experts and civil society groups
working with farmers who may
have lost their crops and other
persons engaged with the issue
of man-animal conflict.
According to the DGP’s affi-
davit JTF will look into cases
of poaching of tigers, leopards
and illegal trade of pangolin
apart from the death of ele-
phants. A public prosecutor
Gender equal, sensitive reportage
need of hour, say experts
BHUBANESWAR: With an aim to promote equal and sensitive
representation of gender in the media, UNICEF Odisha organized
a workshop on Gender Sensitive Reporting and Writing for jour-
nalists in Odisha here on Thursday.
The participants, over 120 journalists from across the state dis-
cussed the various challenges and barriers they face within their
work space and in the external environment related to gender
sensitive reporting. Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Odisha Dr
Monika Nielsen, Communication and Advocacy Specialist
UNICEF Radhika Srivastava, and Gender Specialist UNICEF, Del-
hi addressed the media and spoke of UNICEF’s commitment to
gender equality. In the end, a checklist for media was presented
which could help journalists to make their stories more gender
sensitive, challenge social norms and ensures that voices of wom-
en are equally heard.
P E T E R V I DA L
26th August: There are two planetary
alignments coming up which are about
as passionate, mystical and romantic
as they come. It follows that it’s a truly
wonderful day for dreamers, lovers,
poets and prophets, but anyone with
serious and practical tasks to complete,
needs to take extra care.
THE PHANTOM
BEETLE BAILEY
LOCKHORNS
will be entrusted for handling
the cases. The other tasks set
out for the JTF include creation
of awareness about the protec-
tion of wildlife among all stake
holders.
However, the bench said the
proceedings cited in the affida-
vit did not commit the JTF to
any definite time-line. While
the proposed steps are remedial
in action, there is nothing
much in terms of preventive
action.
The affidavit filed by the
PCCF (Wildlife) show that in
l a r g e n u m b e r o f c a s e s,
chargesheets are yet to be filed,
the Bench observed.
A dvo c at e G e n e r a l
Ashok Kumar Parija
undertook that neces-
sary corrective steps
w i l l b e t a ke n a n d
chargesheet will be filed
in all those cases within
three months.
The JTF will either co-opt
wildlife experts and civil soci-
ety groups or consult them in
all deliberations, which will
take place once every fortnight
so that a comprehensive action
plan can be drawn up.
The bench directed the PCCF
(Wildlife), who will be convener
of the JTF to place before the
court an affidavit with a com-
prehensive action plan before
September 26, the date fixed for
next hearing on the matter.
ENS
ARIES
(Mar 21 - Apr. 20)
There may be
little you can do
to avoid a break
at home today. Even at
work, it seems as if the
habits of the past are no
longer serving you as well
as they once did. If you
jump before you are
pushed then you will keep
control and stay one
step ahead.
DENNIS THE MENACE
FRIDAY 26 08 2022�
Garbage piled up at BMC dumping yard near Sainik School in Bhubaneswar on
Thursday | DEBADATTA MALLICK
PC&PNDT
Act violation:
Doc gets jail
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
@ Bhubaneswar
IN a first of such convictions, a
doctor was sentenced to 30
month imprisonment for vio-
lating Pre-Conception and Pre-
Natal Diagnostic Techniques
(PC&PNDT) Act.
Court of Judicial Magistrate
First Class, Bhubaneswar
Bhanupratap Mishra convicted
Dr Nabaneeta Padhy, medical
director of Femelife Fertility
Foundation Private Limited of
Gajapati Nagar under Sections
23 and 25 of PC and PNDT Act.
The court also imposed a fine
of `9,000 on Dr Padhy and fail-
ure to pay will lead to five
months additional imprison-
ment. Another fine of `1,000
was also imposed on her.
The case dates back to Au-
gust 30, 2019 when Khurda Col-
lector had asked officials con-
cerned to inquire into clinics
of the Capital to ascertain if
the rules and provisions of PC
and PNDT Act are being abided
by. During verification at
Femelife Fertility in Jayadev
Vihar, a team found that the PC
and PNDT license of the clinic
had expired on September 15,
2018. This apart, irregularities
were detected in Form-F (man-
datory record having informa-
tion like the name, address, and
others of a pregnant woman
undergoing ultrasound
scan) and Form-G (form of
consent).
TAURUS GEMINI
(Apr. 21 - May 21) (May 22 - June 21)
You can forget Your social life
the details should already
which normally have taken a
occupy your Taurean welcome turn, with a
consciou-sness. It’s issues better than average
of principle which demand chance of happy
your attention today, and invitations and long
you should make every sought-after contacts
effort to focus on the finally coming your way.
larger picture. In particular, You should appreciate all
you need to establish who good fortune, otherwise
is responsible for a an opportunity may be
recent mess. snatched from you again.
HI AND LOIS
BLONDIE
ALMANAC TODAY MIN MAX Sunrise 05:41 am
Friday: 26/08/2022 Year: Soumya Samvatsar
Month:Kanya Ashwina: Krishna Paksha
25 C 33 C
0 0 Sunset 05:24 pm
Moonrise 03:52 pm
Tithi: Dwadashi till 11:51 AM Nakshatra: Purva Phalguni till 08:41 PM WEATHER FORECAST
Moon in Singha Rashi Rahukala: 11:32 AM to 01:00 PM WATCH Cloudy sky with possibility of rain Moonset 03:50 am
� newindianexpress com
SUDARSAN MAHARANA
@ Bhubaneswar
be stopped at one go. It will be
stopped once all the ward-level
micro composting centres
es said it remained inconclusive.
Civic officials said the issue will
turn acute if the villagers do not
INDISCRIMINATE dumping (MCCs) are made functional. We cooperate. “Efforts are on to
aside, waste collection in the need at least 10 to 12 months seek support from local commu-
State Capital has been hit as time for that,” said a senior of- nity of Daruthenga in this re-
transport of trash from tempo- ficial from BMC. gard,” said BMC Commissioner
rary transit station near Sainik With BMC failing to clear Vijay Amruta Kulange.
School to Bhuasuni dump yard waste from TTS, the entire sta- Meanwhile, the protest also
- the designated place for trans- tion is now a massive pile of delayed bio-mining project
ferring of City’s solid waste - waste, creating unhygienic and which the civic body planned to
has remained paralysed for over unhealthy atmosphere in Sainik start at an investment of `103
a fortnight, thanks to protest of School and VSS Nagar locality. crore to clear over a million
villagers in Daruthenga. Vehicles carrying garbage to tonne waste lying dumped at the
Villagers are not allowing the the TTS are also facing problem site for over a decade.
corporation to shift garbage to in unloading trash at the station “The bio-mining plant has al-
the dump yard and seek imme- due to lack of space. This has af- ready been set up and ready for
diate bio-mining of the waste at fected waste collection across operation. We are hopeful that
the site located in their area. the city. the villagers will allow it with-
The civic body, however, wants a Though BMC convened a out blocking the civic body from
year’s time. meeting with villagers to re- transferring waste to the site,”
“The garbage transfer cannot solve the issue last week, sourc- Kulange said.
National Teacher Award for textile CMC to
launch
engineer-turned educator Iswar mobile app
D I A N A S A H U @ Bhubaneswar academic and non-academic the Odisha gover nment in
publications. 2016. E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Cuttack
ODISHA’S Iswar Chandra Nay- Hailing from Bangurush Pa- He completed Bachelors of
ak is among 46 teachers from tana village in Puri district, he Education degree and joined as AVAILING a birth certificate,
across the country to receive has authored 18 books includ- assistant teacher in Kanapur paying civic taxes or getting the
the prestigious National Award ing many on textile heritage of Government School in 2001. neighbourhood cleared of a
for Teachers-2022 from Presi- Odisha and school education The teacher has also set up a garbage pile can all be done on
dent Droupadi Murmu on Sep- system. His last book, ‘Aliaru A students’ knowledge centre in a mobile phone. The Cuttack
tember 5. Aa’, published in 2021, deals his village since 2017 where Municipal Corporation (CMC)
This was announced by the with ways to bring free computer educa- will soon launch a mobile appli-
Department of School Educa- marginalised chil- tion and career coun- cation, which can be easily
tion and Literacy under the dren back to school. selling is being pro- downloaded, to help residents
Ministry of Education on Having worked as vided to all students in accessing civic services fast
Thursday. A textile engineer a textile engineer for in the village. and without hassles.
turned teacher and author, six years at private Despite his school “People have to spend time
Nayak has been teaching stu- establishments stint, he continued to and money every time they vis-
dents at the Government Upper across the country, write books on tex- it CMC office for some work. We
Primary School in Kanapur, Nayak decided to re- tiles. In fact, his book hope the mobile governance
Puri district, for the last 22 turn to Puri in 2001 ‘Weaves in Textiles’ will make these services avail-
years as an assistant teacher. to teach children. “I has been included as able to them fast without has-
He is also a State resource per- worked for many a reference book in 10 sles,” said a senior official of
son for the School and Mass companies in the 90s but that IIHTs across the country. “For CMC.
Education department. did not bring me peace and job me, education and textiles go The main civic services
An alumnus of Institution of satisfaction. So I decided to re- hand in hand. Both are equally which the CMC intends to offer
Engineers, Kolkata, and Indian
Institute of Handloom Technol-
turn to my native to teach chil-
dren and also academically
important,” said Nayak who
runs YouTube channels ‘Teach-
are complaint redressal, pro-
curing of certificates and li-
ogy (IIHT), Varanasi, 50-year-
old Nayak was chosen for the
coveted annual award con-
contribute towards promotion
of textile heritage of our State,”
said Nayak, who had received
ers Odia’ imparting lessons on
teachers training and ‘Chemis-
try Ganga’ to clear chemistry
cences, tax payment, booking
of Kalyan Mandap and others
like clearing garbage and clean-
ferred by the Ministry for his the State Teachers Award of fundamentals of students. ing up of drains. Besides, the
civic body’s mobile application
will provide information relat-
EXPRESS READ ed to the Millennium City such
as tourist spots, communica-
Germany keen to work with Odisha Community kitchen for the flood-hit tion, emergency services and
precautionary measures and
Bhubaneswar: Germany Consulate General Manfred Bhubaneswar: The Veterans Club of Odisha, a also application for people to
Auster on Wednesday met Bhubaneswar Smart City philanthropic volunteer organisation, facilitated avail information under RTI
Limited (BSCL) Chairman and Managing Director the Indian Navy from INS Chilka and the State Act.
Sanjay Kumar Singh and their potential collaboration government to carry out relief operations in flood- “Once a resident uses the app,
and partnership with agency as well as the Odisha affected Talada panchayat in Puri district’s his/her mobile number will be-
Government. Auster also discussed ways to Astaranga block. A community kitchen was set up come a unique identification
collaborate and cooperate in future projects of for the villagers with a contingent of 44 sailors led number that will be registered
Bhubaneswar Smart City. by Lt Cdr Tomar to ensure its smooth operation. with the CMC” said the officer.
CANCER LEO VIRGO LIBRA SCORPIO SAGITTARIUS CAPRICORN AQUARIUS PISCES
(June 22 - July 23) (July 24 - Aug. 23) (Aug. 24 - Sept. 23) (Sept. 24 - Oct. 23) (Oct. 24 - Nov. 22) (Nov. 23 - Dec. 22) (Dec. 23 - Jan. 20) (Jan. 21 - Feb. 19) (Feb. 20 - Mar 20)
You must now There’s been a You’re not quite The last few The Moon You might well It’s one thing to Venus is now You have
make a positive lot of tension sure what to do days may have moves into a have had enough juggle all your sufficiently far become used to
choice. I am around lately, next, but the brought strange region of your of certain people, different into a sympa- a social life that
afraid there is little time and some harsh words. first step in the right feelings and new desires, horoscope which, while and perhaps you’d like to responsibilities, but another to thetic region of your chart is considerably more to
left and if you fail to act Relationships at work may direction is probably to but the coming ones are not entirely sympathetic, spend some time by keep every ball in the air at the for us to make certain your liking than it ever was
not be as easy as you nevertheless reinforces yourself. Yet, a potentially same time. Please be realistic - a few years ago. You are
decisively you may miss
would like, but they never
level with loved ones. You crucial as far as short-term
important and special sociable period begins and don’t take on more than
statements about your
now about to experience a
your chance for at least are when you are forced to can afford to feel more romantic, social and work Scorpionic traits. You can today and many of you may you can possibly handle. If you leisure activities. In very pleasant pay-off for
another six months, by change, even when that than confident that they plans are involved. Don’t move forward with hope, consider taking the day off! do make commit-ments, you particular, the emphasis is all your efforts. But, first,
which time your position change is for the better. A will have to accept allow yourself to be especially as you seem to At the very least, you don’t intend to fulfil, then you shifting towards self- you have to steel yourself
will have changed - and good rest is the best way whatever you decide. After pressurised or forced into take in your stride the sort should put mindless details may be unpleasantly indulgence, so why don’t to deal with a few more
you might find yourself to ward off nervous all, you are boss. At least, making arrangements of upsets which throw to one side and take steps surprised when other people you pamper yourself - just awkward people and
back at square one. exhaustion. you will be if you stay cool. against your will. other people off balance. to vary your activities. hold you to your word. for a change? emotional demands.
CROSS WORD JUMBLE By David L. Hoyt and Jeff Knurek
Unscramble these Jumbles, one letter to
each square, to form four ordinary words.
© 2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
SU DO KU
Easy: Test your
number crunching skill ACROSS DOWN YESTERDAY’S
with our unique puzzle SOLUTIONS
1 Mention how to rear children (5,2) 1 Ill-advised build-up of foreign talk (5)
■ Fill in the grid with digits 5 A fateful day for 2 Fifty is under forty-nine? Well, no (3) Across: 1 Evacuate,
in such a manner that every military assistants (5) 3 Painter who gets involved in yoga (4) 5 Echo, 9 Shied, 10 Profuse,
row, every column and every 8 William has an attempt 4 Quick frolic in the middle of 11 Shortcomings, 13 Masque,
3X3 box accommodates at making butter (5,4) physical exercise (6) 14 Specie, 17 Nevertheless,
9 Runner in a vigorous kind 5 Surprise a holy man on his 20 Talents, 21 Taint,
the digits 1 to 9, without of winter sport (3) involvement (8) 22 Duty, 23 Teenager. Now arrange the circled letters to form the surprise
repeating any. 10 See to an advance of money (4) 6 He keeps still being a man of spirit (9) answer, as suggested by the above cartoon
12 Bridge champion gets a hiding (8) 7 Ginger’s stupid laugh (7) Down: 1 Erse, 2 Alights,
3 Undercurrent, 4 Topics,
Solutions to Yesterday’s puzzle
14 This drink can go a 11 This is something between
hundred years back (6) Greece and Turkey (6,3) 6 Churn, 7 Oversees,
15 He could be both best 13 I’ll stick around to get a soothing 8 Cosmopolitan,
man and groom (6) lozenge (8) 12 Emanated, 15 Casting,
17 It capers about for exercise (8) 14 Sailor in strange place is e�cient (7) 16 Chaste, 18 Valet, 19 Star.
18 Might be in or even out (4) 16 Produced a publication ANSWERS TOMORROW
21 Transport of internal and is taken to court (6)
combustion (3) 19 Approaches a listener with YESTERDAY’S Jumbles:
22 Crude oil in a USA state (9) two outstanding points (5) TRACK ELDER JERSEY RADISH
24 Delete an article in Gaelic (5) 20 Spent American notes (4) ANSWER: The road was closed, and they were
25 Fair play for car drivers (7) 23 The only one in a suit (3) detoured, but they were not — DETERRED

03 BHUBANESWAR
Water supply interrupted
in many flood-hit districts
With many villages still inundated, drinking water is being supplied through tankers
E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Bhubaneswar
RESTORATION of drinking water
supply is still not possible to many
flood-affected areas due to slow
drainage of water. As many areas of
the worst affected Puri district is
still under floodwater, drinking wa-
ter is being supplied through
tankers.
According to a status report of Ru-
ral Water Supply and Sanitation
(RWSS), 191 villages of 53 GPs under
9 blocks in Puri district are flood-af-
fected. Of the 1463 submerged hand
pump tubewells and 56 rural pipe
water supply (RPWS) schemes, 280
affected tubewells are disinfected
and 19 PWS schemes have been re-
stored through power supply.
The remaining 37 PWS Schemes
will be restored soon after floodwa-
ter recedes and completion of wash-
ing of distribution system with re-
peat disinfection, said the report.
Apart from distribution of water
bottles and water pouches, two truck
EXPRESS READ
Popli new PCCF wildlife
Bhubaneswar: Senior most IFS officer
Sushil Kumar Popli will be the new
PCCF (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife
Warden of Odisha. He will succeed
incumbent PCCF (Wildlife) Sashi
Paul, who superannuates on August
31. Popli is now serving as PCCF
(Kendu Leaf). Popli, who had started
his career as Probationary Officer in
KBK Region in 1989, has extensively
worked in various fields in Forest,
Steel and Mines, SC-ST development
and power sectors during his more
than three decades of service.
Two suicides in a day
Bhubaneswar: A 33-year-old woman
allegedly died by suicide at her
residence in Bhagabat Sandhan area
under Mancheswar police limits on
Thursday. The victim, a native of
Bhandaripokhari in Bhadrak district, is
survived by her husband and a four-
year-old son. The couple along with
their son had visited one of their
neighbour’s house to attend a feast
on Wednesday night. In another
incident, a 23-year-old woman
allegedly died by suicide at her house
in Tarini Basti under Kharvel Nagar
police limits on Thursday.
FRIDAY
mounted water treatment plants
have been engaged for supply of
drinking water in the affected
areas.
In Jagatsinghpur district, 493
tubewells are submerged and 9
RPWS projects disrupted. While 429
tubewells have been disinfected and
four PWS schemes have been re-
stored till Thursday morning.
The remaining 64 tubewells
and five PWS schemes un-
der Kujang and Tirtol
blocks are still under flood
water and restoration of
which will be possible after
the water has receded. Till
that time drinking water will
be supplied at the distribution points
of relief materials and free kitchen
centres, said an RWSS officer.
As flood situation is improving in
Cuttack and Kendrapara districts,
disinfection of tubewells and resto-
ration of PWS projects are going
fast. Of the 1379 submerged tube-
wells and 62 RPWS affected schemes,
‘Steps taken to make State’s
education eco-system vibrant’
E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Bhubaneswar
CHIEF Minister Naveen Patnaik on
Thursday said the government has
initiated several steps to develop a
vibrant higher education eco-sys-
tem in the State.
Addressing an induction pro-
gramme for non-teaching staff for
different government colleges in
the State virtually, the CM said gov-
ernment has always encour-
aged sports to its fullest ex-
tent. In fact, Odisha is now
a bright spot in the sports
map of the world, he
added.
The Chief Minister said
the State is developing more
playgrounds at school level and sta-
diums at the block level to groom
sports persons from childhood. He
said recruitment of the physical
education teachers will play a posi-
tive role in enhancing the interest
of the students in sports and help
create more national and interna-
tional players from the State.
Welcoming the new employees,
Naveen said laboratory assistants
26 08 2022
� �
1360 tube wells are disinfected and 50
PWS schemes restored with power
supply.
Nine PWS of Damapada block and
three PWS under Tigiria block are
still submerged and it will take time
due to delay in receding of flood
water.
Four blocks of Balasore district -
Baliapal, Jaleswar, Bhograi and Bas-
ta - are mostly affected due to
flood in Subarnerekha and
Budhabalanga. Meanwhile,
1,125 out of 1,747 tubewells
have been disinfected and 13
out of 14 PWS schemes have
been restored. In the seven
flood-affected blocks of Khurda
district, 411 tubewells and 16 RPWS
schemes were left dysfunctional.
However, 210 affected tubewells and
six PWS schemes have been
restored.
Restoration of four PWS located in
Sardhapur, Brajamohanpur, Balapur
and Dhabalpur will be possible after
floodwater recedes, sources said.
and junior librarians have been ap-
pointed to give thrust to quality
education. He said the role of labo-
ratories and libraries is essential to
create a dynamic environment for
education in institutions. He hoped
that their sincerity and commit-
ment will encourage scientific apti-
tude among the students.
Stating that 5T is a life skill that
can help every one to succeed in life,
he hoped the new entrants in
the colleges will create exam-
ples for others by following
the 5T mantra of the
government.
Chief Minister said the
recent recruitment of over
one thousand professors, asso-
ciates professors, assistant profes-
sors and junior lecturers in differ-
ent government and non-government
colleges, has helped in increasing
the student-teacher ratio in the col-
leges, he added. Minister of State
for Higher Education Rohit Pujari
said because of the government’s
focus on higher education and
sports, Odisha has now become an
education and sports hub.
CPR is an easy hand technique to maintain the heart Dr Ashutosh
Biswas, AIIMS
function and providing life saving simple CPR training in the Bhubaneswar
community can be helpful during emergencies executive director
newindianexpress com
PMAY corruption in wall HSRP affixing date
collapse deaths: BJP extended in State
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
@ Bhubaneswar
for the State last year. While
not a single house has been al-
lotted even after more than
E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Bhubaneswar
IN view of the ongoing flood situation, the State
government has extended the last date for affix-
THE BJP on Thursday targeted one-and-a-half years, the rul- ing High Security Registration Plates (HSRP)
the State government over the ing BJD has been demanding on old vehicles registered prior to April 1, 2019
loss of seven lives including the Centre to open Aawas+ and carrying Odisha registration mark and
five children of Mayurbhanj in window once more to upload number.
wall collapse due to recent names of left out eligible per- As per the revised timeline, vehicle owners
rains and floods. The party al- sons, the state BJP chief said. can fix the HSRP on their vehicles with regis-
leged irregularities in selec- Around 1.47 lakh houses al- tration numbers ending with 1 and 2 till Sep-
tion of beneficiaries lotted for Mayurbhanj tember 30. Similarly, the last date is September
for Pradhan Mantri district have not been 30 for vehicles carrying the registration num-
Awas Yojana and won- distributed among the bers ending with 3 and 4, October 31 for num-
dered why the victims beneficiaries, he al- bers ending with 5 and 6, November 30 for num-
of wall collapse have Instead of leged. Alleging ram- bers ending with 7 and 8 and December 31 for
not been considered providing relief, pant corruption in se- numbers ending with 9 and 0. Joint Commis-
for the scheme. the district l e c t i o n o f sioner, Transport (Technical) Dipti Ranjan Pat-
After a visit to the administration is beneficiaries and con- ra said no fine will be collected from owners of
flood affected areas of trying to suppress struction of houses, vehicles registered prior to April 1, 2019 for ply-
the district and meet- the matter, Mohanty showed pho- ing without HSRP till September 30.
ing the victims’ fami- Samir Mohanty, State tog raphs of many
lies, State BJP presi- half constructed
CPR training for
BJP president
dent Samir Mohanty houses adorning the
said the poor families Biju Pucca Ghar logo
are victims of corruption and despite strict instruction by
one lakh volunteers
State government apathy. In- the Centre not to do so. Records
stead of providing relief and showed that the beneficiaries
other assistance, the district have been paid in full even as
administration is trying to their houses have no toilets, E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Bhubaneswar
s u p p re s s t h e m at t e r, h e doors and windows.
alleged. The government must ex- AMERICAN Heart Association (AHA) and
Considering demand of the plain why these families were AIIMS-Bhubaneswar have joined hands to train
State government, Prime Min- not considered for housing as- more than one lakh community members about
ister Narendra Modi allotted sistance under PMAY. “Are life saving skills and cardiopulmonary resusci-
8.17 lakh houses under PMAY they not eligible,” he asked. tation (CPR).
As part of the collaborative effort, a group of
500 master trainer volunteers were trained at
CM MEET WITH MLAs DEFERRED AIIMS on Thursday. The trained master train-
ers will impart training to willing community
Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s meeting with MLAs of ruling members on the life saving skills and CPR.
BJD, scheduled to be held at Kalinga Stadium here on August 28, has been AIIMS-Bhubaneswar’s Executive Director
deferred due to the flood situation. Sources in the party said the meeting is and Co-Convener of AHA-AIIMS Collaborative
likely to be reconvened in the second week of September. However, the Dr Ashutosh Biswas said CPR is an easy hand
Chief Minister will leave for New Delhi on August 31 as scheduled. He is technique to maintain the heart function and
slated to discuss implementation of government schemes with the providing life saving simple CPR training in
legislators who are expected to give feedback on the ground situation the community can be helpful during
basing on their interaction with beneficiaries. ENS emergencies.
PARADIP PORT AUTHORITY
PARADIP-754142, ODISHA (INDIA)
(An autonomous body under Ministry of Ports,
Shipping & Waterways, Govt. of India)
No. AD/RSC-22/106/2015/Pt.-I)/2155 Dated, the 17st August, 2022
Advertisement
Applications are invited from lndian Nationals for engage-
ment of 01 (one) Chief Manager (Business Development &
Trade Promotion) on contractual basis in Paradip Port Au-
thority.
For further details, visit our website www.paradipport.gov.in.
PPA/PR/187/22-23 Sd/- Dy. Secretary,
Dt. 25/8/22 Paradip Port Authority

04 BHUBANESWAR
2 elephants electrocuted, Boy, biker swept away in floodwater
depts exchange blame
Incident exposes lack of coordination among forest, energy officials
Carcasses of the two elephants on OUAT campus in Keonjhar Sadar range | EXPRESS
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
@ Keonjhar/Bhubaneswar
IN a shocking incident, two el-
ephants were electrocuted on
OUAT campus in Keonjhar un-
der Keonjhar Sadar range on
Thursday morning.
Both were females and had
given birth to calves less than
a month back.
The two, about 25-year-old,
were part of a group of nine
elephants roaming Judia un-
der Sanaghagara forests. For
the past few days, the herd has
been moving in this forest
patch. On Thursday morning,
it entered OUAT premises and
two came in contact with 11
kV wire which led to their
death. DFO HD Dhanral and
GOOD RIDDANCE
Farmers removing weeds and grass from a cauliflower field near Jenapada in Athagarh | DINESH DAS
Miscreants flee with ATM in Jajpur
E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Jajpur
UNIDENTIFIED miscreants
uprooted an Automated Teller
Machine (ATM) from a kiosk of
State Bank of India (SBI) at
Neulpur Chowk within Dhar-
masala police limits of Jajpur
district late on Wednesday
night and fled with it.
The incident came to light on
Thursday morning after Anand
Sahu, a local trader, found the
ATM missing from the kiosk
and informed the owner of the
house where counter was locat-
ed. Sahu had come to open his
SCB’s experts
to treat Padma
Shri Kamala
E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Cuttack
SOCIAL activist and Padma
Shri awardee Kamala Pujari
who was initially admitted to
the casualty of SCB Medical
College and Hospital here on
Wednesday, has been shifted to
the intensive care unit (ICU) of
Medicine department after her
condition deteriorated.
“A four-member medical
team comprising head of the
Medicine department Prof Jay-
ant Panda, Prof BK Behera,
Prof Jyoti Patnaik of Pulmo-
nary Medicine and Prof Arun
Acharya of Nephrology depart-
ment are treating Pujari. Her
condition is stable and further
investigations are on,” said
SCB MCH Emergency Medical
Officer Dr Bhubanananda
Moharana.
Pujari was earlier admitted
to the district headquarters
h o s p i t a l i n Ko r a p u t o n
August 21.
FRIDAY 26 08 2022
� �
Energy dept had disbursed funds to
distribution companies to increase
ground clearance of electrical
transmission networks, and cover
wires in elephant movement paths
Forest officials
Sadar Ranger Bijay Kumar
Mahant rushed to the spot.
The incident has exposed a
glaring lack of coordination
among forest and energy de-
partments in securing ele-
phants’ movement and lives.
The herd has been living in
the region but no remedial
m e a s u re s we re t a ke n i n
advance.
Odisha has of late grabbed
shop and found the lock of the
ATM lying on the ground.
“Like everyday, I came to
open my grocery shop at around
6.30 am and found the lock ly-
ing outside the kiosk.
Upon getting closer, I
noticed that the cash
ATM
vending machine was
missing from the kiosk.
I informed the owner of
the building where the
kiosk is located,” he said.
After the house owner in-
formed the police, a team of
Dharmasala police station led
by IIC Rakesh Kumar Tripathy
38 baby crocodiles
released in Bhitarkanika
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
@ Kendrapara
AS many as 38 baby saltwater
crocodiles, aged around four
years, were released into the
water bodies of Bhitarkanika
National Park on Thursday
from the hatchery and rearing
complex at Dangamal.
Range officer of the park,
Manas Das said in 2018, the
eggs were kept in a hatchery
for proper ventilation and to
ensure suitable conditions for
hatching. Around four years
back, 12 male and 26 female
crocodiles emerged from the
eggs and were released in the
Kandarapatia creek in the
park.
“The newly-born crocodiles
are vulnerable to predator at-
tacks. But the four-year-old
crocodiles measuring one me-
tre in length will easily survive
in the wild to grow as adults,”
he said. The crocodiles are a vi-
tal part of the ecosystem and
headlines over a spate of ele-
phant deaths and suppression
of the incidents in Sambalpur
and Athagarh. Poaching too
has been a cause of huge
concern.
Electrocution deaths though
are not new. The State reports
one of the highest numbers of
elephant electrocution in the
country. Out of 741 elephant
electrocution deaths reported
in the country in 10 years till
December 2020, Odisha re-
corded the maximum 133.
Of the 86 jumbo deaths re-
corded in the State in 2021-22,
nearly 20 per cent were caused
by electrocution, sources in
the Wildlife Wing of the Forest
department said.
Chief Wildlife Warden Sashi
Paul couldn’t be reached for
comments. Forest officials,
however, said Energy depart-
ment had disbursed funds to
the distribution companies in
October last year to increase
ground clearance of electrical
transmission networks, re-
place bare conductors with
aerial bunched cables (ABC)
and cover wires in elephant
movement paths and corridors
to check electrocution death of
the pachyderms.
Tata officials during a coor-
dination meeting among For-
est and Environment, Energy
and TPCODL in May assured
to complete rectification work
by September, said an official.
reached the spot and started in-
vestigation. Preliminary in-
quiry suggests the miscreants
might have cut open the ma-
chine with a gas cutter and
taken it away in a vehicle.
There were no security
guards at the counter
and the incident might
have taken place late at
night, said police.
Bank officials could
not verify the amount load-
ed into the machine as cash is
loaded by a private company. A
case has been registered in this
connection.
help keep the riverine ecology
clean. They also protect the
mangrove forest within the
park from poachers, he added.
Though the Forest depart-
ment had stopped the crocodile
rearing programme in 1995 as
the crocodile population
reached a saturation point from
a mere 96 in 1974 to more than
1,000. But each year, depart-
ment collects eggs from a nest
to breed them in the crocodile
hatchery and rearing complex
at Dangamala for tourists, re-
searchers and herpetologists.
As per the 2022 January croco-
dile census report the crocodile
population stands at 1,784 in
the park.
SPORTS WEEK
IN SONEPUR
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
@ Berhampur
A five-year-old boy of Andhra
Pradesh (AP) and a motorcy-
clist were swept away in the
swollen rivers of Rayagada and
Kandhamal districts in the last
24 hours.
The minor, identified as Am-
aresh of Eluru district in AP,
went missing in the flooded Na-
gavali river in Rayagada on
Thursday. Sources said one P
Gopalkrishna along with his
wife and four kids including
Amaresh had come to visit Maa
Majhighariani temple in Raya-
gada town.
After offering prayers at the
shrine, the family went to the
nearby hanging bridge for
sightseeing. Later, three sib-
lings including Amaresh
stepped into the river to take
bath but were caught in the
strong river currents.
NH-16 turns death trap, 3 Back home, residents
killed, 2 injured in 24 hrs seek help to survive
E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Berhampur
APATHY of the National Highways Authority
of India (NHAI) has turned the 36-km stretch
of NH-16 from Girisola to Ganjam town into a
death trap. In the last 24 hours, three people
including a woman lost their lives while an-
other two including a child sustained injuries
in two mishaps on the NH at Golanthara and
Chhatrapur.
In the first incident, two people were killed
when their motorcycle hit the divider near
DRDA Chowk in Chhatrapur. The deceased are
Suman Das and Danda Pal. They were rushed
to Chhatrapur hospital where doctors declared
them brought dead.
In another mishap at Randha chowk on
Wednesday, a woman died on the spot and her
husband and two-and-a-half-year-old son were
injured in a mishap.
The victims, Jharana Behera of Dasapur vil-
lage, her husband Basant Behera and son,
were enroute Berhampur when their motorcy-
cle was hit by a speeding truck from the rear.
While Basant and the child were thrown to the
roadside, Jharana’s head was crushed under
the wheels of the truck. The three were sent to
MKCG Medical College and Hospital for treat-
ment where doctors declared Jharana brought
dead while the father-son duo was discharged
after treatment.
Several such accidents are commonplace at
Randha Chowk . Though the area has been de-
clared a black spot, no signboard intimating
motorists of the same has been erected at the
spot. While the stretch of the road is in bad
shape, tardy progress of repair work has been
attributed as the primary reason behind fre-
quent mishaps.
EXPRESS READ
Junior assistant
in Vigilance net
Bhawanipatna: The junior assistant
of Kalahandi’s Thuamul Rampur
community health centre was
caught red-handed while accepting
bribe from a BPL beneficiary on
Thursday. The accused M Dibyajyoti
had demanded `3,000 bribe each
from six BPL beneficiaries for
issuing death certificates of their
family members. On being
informed, Vigilance officers laid a
trap and nabbed the accused while
he was accepting `9,000 as bribe
from three beneficaries.
Meat seller held for ‘insulting’ National Flag
Jharsuguda: Alleged insult to the National Flag by a meat seller at
Bandhbahal within Banharpali police limits led to widespread protests
here on Thursday. After a video of the meat seller using the Tricolour as
a butcher towel went viral, the citizens’ forum staged protests
demanding arrest of the accused. In the video, a customer is seen
coming across the severed head of a goat wrapped in the National Flag.
The meat seller is seen arguing with the man justifying his use of the
Tricolour at his shop. Jharsuguda SP Rahul Jain said the meat seller has
been arrested and police force deployed in the area.
Denied school bus travel, students block roads
E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Paradip
DENIED to travel by buses run
by Paradip Port Authority
(PPA) due to delay in paying
bus fees, students from across
many schools of the town
staged a protest at Do Chakki
on Paradip-Chandikhole NH
and Paradip-Cuttack State
Highway on Thursday.
As per reports, students from
Nehru Bangla, Udyabat, Ba-
lighar and other areas, travel to
Paradip Port, around 12 km
away to attend classes in differ-
ent schools. The PPA has en-
gaged two private buses on con-
tract basis to carry the students
to their schools. Students of
Saraswati Sishu Mandir, NAC
Bhubaneswar: A powerlifting competition was organised by Sonepur administration to
mark the beginning of sports week in the district on Thursday. Sporting events like
swimming, boxing, track and field events, taekwondo, badminton, chess and hockey will be
organised at various venues and this will also mark the National Sports Day on August 29.
Fire service personnel rescuing Gopalkrishna (circled) from Nagavali river | EXPRESS
Gopalkrishna jumped into
the water and managed to res-
cue two of his sons. He went
further inside the river to lo-
cate Amaresh but was swept
away. He somehow managed to
cling on to a boulder. On being
informed by locals, fire service
personnel reached the spot and
Deadly road
Dangerous 36 km
stretch from
Girisola to Ganjam
town
In last 24 hours, 3
killed, 2 injured on
the road
Accidents
commonplace at
Randha Chowk, a
black spot
No insignia on the
black spot to
warn commuters
Road replete with
potholes, bumps
Tardy progress of
repair and
maintenance
96 persons lost
life in the last
three years on the
stretch
121 sustained
critical injuries
Headless body of
woman found
Balangir: The headless body of
a young woman was found
near Lanth river of Karamlaga
village within Saintala police
limits on Thursday. A team led
by Titlagarh sub-divisional
police officer Surendra
Satapathy along with fire
service personnel recovered
the body from near the river.
Sources said, the woman
might be in the age bracket of
20 to 25 years. Further
investigation is underway.
Students blocking Paradip-Chandikhole
national highway on Thursday | EXPRESS
High School and Aurobindo
School pay `2,275 each every
year as travel expenses. The
management of schools deposit
the money with PPA which is-
sues passes to the students for
newindianexpress com
rescued Gopalkrishna after an
hour-long operation. While he
was admitted to Rayagada hos-
pital, his five-year-old son could
not be traced till Thursday
evening.
Similarly, Tapas Ghatal of
Dakapala village in Kandhamal
was swept away while crossing
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
@ Balasore
WITH the water level of Sub-
arnarekha, Jalaka and Budha-
balanga rivers receding, resi-
dents of flood-affected areas in
the district have started re-
turning to their villages much
to the shock of witnessing eve-
rything in ruins.
In despair, the affected peo-
ple have sought rice, fuel, dry
ration, drinking water and
cooked food along with study
materials for children for the
next 5-7 days. Children from
such areas, who missed classes
for several days due to the flood
are unsure whether they will
be able to do so in the near fu-
ture. Rahul Jean, a primary
school student did not attend
classes for the last five days.
With his study materials dam-
A health worker examining a child in a flood-affected village of Balasore | EXPRESS
Union Minister reviews
progress of TFL project
E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Angul
UNION Minister of State for
Chemical and Fertilisers Bhag-
wanth Khuba on Thursday re-
viewed the progress of Talcher
Fertiliser Limited (TFL) project
which is scheduled to be com-
missioned by September 2024.
Khuba, who is on a two-day
visit to Talcher, went round the
project construction site and
examined the progress of ongo-
ing works. Interacting with the
contractors, he instructed them
to synchronise all the works
and speed up delivery of com-
mitments. The Union Minister
was accompanied by officials
of TFL and Rashtriya Chemi-
cals and Fertilisers Limited
(RCFL).
Khuba emphasised on the
importance of the project for
meeting the urea production
travelling by the buses. The
schools were supposed to pay
the fees by July 15 this year.
However, while NAC High
School has not yet deposited
fees for a single student, Saras-
wati Sishu Mandir has depos-
ited the fees for only 49 stu-
dents. Aurobindo School has
deposited the fees for all its stu-
dents. The school authorities
had returned the amount to the
students whose bus fees were
not submitted with PPA due to
the late deposit.
Traffic was paralysed on the
NH and the State Highway for
four hours due to the protest.
A student Kajal Ray said it is
tough for her parents to ar-
range the bus fees on time due
a submerged bridge over Salun-
ki river near Phulbani on his
motorcycle on Wednesday
evening.
Sources said Tapas had gone
to attend a feast at Chakapada
on his motorcycle. While re-
turning in the evening, he
found the bridge submerged in
floodwater. Due to darkness, he
could not assess the flow of wa-
ter and tried to cross the bridge
but was swept away in the
strong current.
Some locals, who witnessed
the incident, informed the fire
personnel who reached the spot
and launched a search opera-
tion but in vain. On Thursday,
the body of Tapas was traced
near Kamburu village. Follow-
ing heavy rains since the last
several days, most of the rivers
in south Odisha are in spate.
Sources said floodwater has in-
undated a number of bridges
and roads in the region.
aged, he is unsure of attending
school soon. Rahul’s father
Bhaskar, a daily wager said he
does not have a single penny to
buy study materials for his
son.
“Though my family survived
on the cooked food and dry ra-
tion provided by the district
administration, I have nothing
at home,” he said.
Unavailability of safe drink-
ing water has added to the vil-
lagers’ woes. The residents of
Routra, Rashalpur and Bishnu-
pur villages are made to boil
water before consuming.
Meanwhile, Balasore Collec-
tor Dattatraya Bhausaheb
Shinde said free health camps
have been set up for flood-af-
fected people. The camps are
equipped with medicines for
treating water-borne diseases
and others.
target. He asked the officials to
meet the project deadline for
planned commissioning. The
Union Minister is scheduled to
visit the project construction
site again and take another re-
view meeting on Friday.
TFL is a joint venture of Coal
India, RCFL, Gas Authority of
India and Fertiliser Corpora-
tion of India. The foundation
stone of TFL project was laid
by Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on September 2018.
Khuba interacting with officials and
contractors at the project site | EXPRESS
to financial constraints. “I de-
posited the fee late but the
school authorities returned the
fees depriving me from avail-
ing bus facility to go to school,”
she rued.
Meanwhile, a senior official
of PPA said the fees for school
bus were not deposited by sev-
eral schools on time. Headmis-
tress of NAC High School Bi-
mala Sethy said PPA did not
accept the fees of 82 students
because those were not depos-
ited on time. “We returned the
fees to the students,” she said.
The agitating students were
assured of steps to resolve the
issue by the police following
which the road blockade was
called off in the afternoon.
 Youth found Nimapara: A 25-year-old youth of Gabadiha village within Gop
police limits was found hanging from a jackfruit tree near his house

hanging on Wednesday. The deceased was identified as Pramod Kumar Bhoi,

son of one Kartik Bhoi. The body was sent for postmortem.

05 BHUBANESWAR FRIDAY 26 08 2022

� � newindianexpress com

WITH RAINS, RETURNS DIARRHOEA Academic authority nod must HC to monitor

4 more deaths reported from Kashipur’s Parlajor; disease continues to spread in Koraput
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
@ Berhampur/Jeypore
THE recent rains have poured
cold water on Rayagada ad-
ministration’s efforts to con-
tain diarrhoea as the disease
has reportedly claimed four
more lives in Kashipur block
in the last 10 days.
The deaths were reported in
the remote Parlajor village.
Sources said one Mani Majhi
died on August 14. Mani’s
daughter-in-law Namita was
the next victim on August 17
followed by Chandra Gouda’s
infant who died on 20th of the
month. The latest victim was
Suna Majhi who died on Tues-
day. With the four deaths, the
diarrhoea toll in Kashipur
block has gone up to 19.
However, chief district med-
ical officer (CDMO) Dr LM
Routray denied that deaths
in Parlajor were due to
diarrhoea. One death
was due to old age and
the rest for other rea-
sons. The CDMO said
a team of doctors vis-
ited Parlajor on Wednes-
day and examined the pa-
tients suf fering from the
disease besides distributing
medicines.
While the administration
claims the outbreak of diar-
rhoea has been contained in
the area and sources of drink-
ing water disinfected, the
ground reality is different.
Usually, villagers in the re-
mote area defecate in the open
and use water from streams
and ponds. Heavy rains
since the last fortnight
have contaminated the
water bodies again.
Besides, the adminis-
tration is not able to
provide safe drinking
water in the affected vil-
lages as the rain has made the
roads unusable.
Similarly in Koraput, diar-
rhoea continues to spread in
Borigumma and Koraput
blocks despite efforts of the
district administration.
Seven days back, 20 cases
were reported from Dambat-
urnji village in Borigumma.
It is also being alleged that
two persons died of the dis-
ease. In Mastiput of Koraput
block, the number of diar-
rhoea patients has increased
to 27 despite presence of a
health team in the village.
Koraput CDMO Arun Padhi,
however, claimed that the ad-
ministration has contained
the spread. “Health teams are
examining villagers at their
doorsteps. The spread has
been controlled due to proper
surveillance and treatment,”
he added.
for school syllabus, says govt renovation
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
@ Bhubaneswar
THE State gover nment on
Thursday reiterated that the syl-
labus being taught at elementa-
ry level in public schools will
have to be approved by the Di-
rectorate of Teacher Education
and State Council Of Education-
al Research & Training (SCERT)
under the School and Mass Edu-
cation department which has
been notified as the State Aca-
demic Authority.
Set up on the lines of Nation-
al Council of Educational Re-
search and Training (NCERT),
the directorate will lay down
the curriculum and evaluation
procedure for elementary edu-
cation as per Section 29 of Right
of Children to Free and Com-
pulsory Education Act, 2009 and
Rule 21 of Orissa RCFCE Rule,
2010. Director of TE and SCERT
Roopa Roshan Sahoo said the
curriculum, syllabus, textbooks
and supplementary materials to
be used in Classes I to VIII de-
veloped by different depart-
ments, directorates or agencies
will have to be approved by the
State Academic Authority for
implementation.
Though the Directorate of TE
and SCERT was declared as the
academic authority back in 2010,
it was not being effectively im-
plemented as far as syllabus and
course curriculum are
concerned.
work in temples
E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Cuttack
THE Orissa High Court has
fixed October 18 to start afresh
periodic monitoring of renova-
tion and conservation work by
the Archaeological Survey of In-
dia (ASI) at the Puri Jagannath
temple and Konark Sun temple.
The two PILs filed separately
on Sun temple and on Jagan-
nath temple in 2016 were taken
up together for hearing after a
gap of over two-and-half years
on Tuesday.
The division bench decided to
issue fresh orders on the basis
of Amicus Curiae NK Mohanty’s
report on the present status re-
garding the renovation and con-
servation work at the two

School job irregularities: CBI issues Sexual harassment: Headmaster suspended monuments.
The Bench said, “Amicus Cu-
riae states that he will himself

lookout notice against TMC MLA

KOLKATA: The CBI on Thurs-
day issued a lookout notice for
TMC MLA and former chair-
man of West Bengal Board of
Primary Education Manik
Bhattacharya in connection
with its probe into alleged ir-
regularities in appointment of
primary teachers after he was
not found at his residences in
Kolkata and Nadia.
Bhattacharya, who is a law-
maker from Palashipara in Na-
dia district, had earlier been
interrogated by Enforcement
Directorate, which is tracking
the money trail in the case.
“The MLA could not be found
at his residences in Jadavpur
and Nadia over the past several
days, following which he was
served a lookout notice by the
central agency,” an official of
the agency said.
Meanwhile, a suspected mid-
dleman, arrested on charges of
facilitating jobs to ineligible
The MLA could not be found at
his residences in Jadavpur and
Nadia over the past several days,
following which he was served a
lookout notice by the central
agency
CBI official
candidates in State
government-sponsored
and aided schools in
exchange of money,
was remanded in CBI
custody till September 1 by
a special CBI court.
Several documents were also
seized from Pradip Singh’s Salt
Lake residence, raided by agen-
cy sleuths on Wednesday night.
“We are checking his anteced-
ents and his exact role in the
racket,” the CBI official added.
Earlier this month, the agen-
cy had put behind bars former
School Service Commission
(SSC) adviser Dr Shanti Prasad
Sinha and its ex-secretary
Ashok Kumar Saha in connec-
tion with the irregularities.
In July, the Enforcement Di-
rectorate arrested former edu-
cation minister Partha Chat-
terjee and his associate
Arpita Mukherjee during
its probe into the money
trail connected with
the scam.
The CBI on Wednes-
day had also raided the
office of North Bengal
University (NBU) Vice-
Chancellor Subires Bhattach-
aryya in Siliguri in connection
with its probe into the scam,
and sealed his apartment in
Kolkata.
Bhattacharyya was SSC
chairman between 2014 and
2018. PTI
BALANGIR: The headmaster of gust 22 and asked to remove nath in a room and informed visit both the Puri temple and
a primary school in Mursing their clothes. He also allegedly the police. The Deogaon police the Konark monument and file
village of Deogaon block was on harassed them sexually. How- rushed to the village and took an affidavit indicating what spe-
Thursday placed under suspen- ever, the students did not nar- the accused to the police sta- cific directions are required
sion for allegedly sexually har- rate the ordeal to anyone out of tion. SDPO Tofan Bag said the from the Court. The affidavit be
assing five girl students of Class fear and shame. headmaster has been detained filed at least one week prior to
VI. He was also detained by De- One of the girls finally shared and investigation into the case the next date (October 18).”
ogaon police later in the day. the trauma with her mother is on. Earlier, the Court had called
As per the complaints of the about the incident following Meanwhile Deogaon block for periodic reports from ASI
students, the accused, Biswa- which the parents of the vic- education of ficer said the and passed required orders in
nath Buddia reportedly called tims went to the school on headmaster was suspended on the two PILs in se parate
the students to his room on Au- Thursday and locked Biswa-
the day. ENS hearings.
EXPRESS READ
GOVERNMENT OF ODISHA
Workshop on ‘lightning safe’ society OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER,
KALAHANDI RWS&S DIVISON, BHAWANIPATNA.
Bhubaneswar: Minister for Tourism, Odia Language and e-mail: eerwsskld@gmail.com, eerwss_kld@nic.in, Phone No: 06670-230784
Literature Ashwini Patra on Thursday urged Fakir Mohan
INVITATION OF BID THROUGH e - TENDERING
University to lead the knowledge oriented lightning resilience
Bid Identification No- 44/SE/R WSS/ 2022-23 /Bpt Dated.23.08.2022
initiative for Odisha and set up a Centre of Excellence for
O-883 01. Name of the work :- As per ANNEXURE - A
research and development to ensure a ‘lightning safe’ society.
Inaugurating a two-day national workshop, Patra called for Availability of tender online for Date of opening
Procurement Officer Bid identification No bidding on office hour only. (Technical Bid)
collaborative effort to ensure the vision of ‘zero death due to
From To
lightning’. A recent study revealed that Odisha has witnessed
1 2 3 4 5
21.73 lakh lightning strikes that claimed 5,706 lives in the last
Superintending Engineer, 44/SE/RWSS/2022-
two decades. Stating that lightning deaths are completely 02.09.2022 29.09.2022 30.09.2022
Kalahandi RWS&S Division, 23 /Bpt Dated-
avoidable, chairman of Climate Resilient Observing-Systems 10.00 AM 05.30 PM 10.00 AM onwards
Bhawanipatna 23.08.2022
Promotion Council Col Sanjay Srivastava offered research and
Cost of tender paper to be made online payment system. Further details can be seen from the e-procurement portal
knowledge management support to the university.
http://tenderodisha.gov.in. The original documents should be scanned and uploaded.
Sd/- Superintending Engineer, Kalahandi RWS&S Division Bhawanipatna OIPR-25005/11/0007/2223

GOVERNMENT OF ODISHA
OFFICE OF THE CHIEF CONSTRUCTION ENGINEER
RURAL WORKS CIRCLE: SUNDARGARH
GOVERNMENT OF ODISHA, “e”-PROCUREMENT NOTICE AT/PO-SANKARA, SUNDARGARH-770020, E-mail address-serw_sundargarh@yahoo.com
OFFICE OF THE CHIEF CONSTRUCTION ENGINEER, KHORDHA (R&B) CIRCLE, KHORDHA O-889
WORKS DEPARTMENT No. Tender Online - RWCCESNG - 19 of 2022-23, Letter No 2329 / Dtd 23/08/2022
Tender call Notice e-Procurement NOTICE
E-mail: rbcirclekhurda@gmail.com 1. Type of the Work: Bridge (BSY)
Bid Identification No. CCE-Khordha (R&B) Circle-12/2022-23 Memo No- 1645 Dt. 20.08.2022 2. Class of Contractor: As specified in the column-6 of the Annexure
B-503: The Chief Construction Engineer, Khordha (R&B) Circle, Khordha on behalf of Governor of Odisha 3. Time of Completion: As specified in the column-5 of the Annexure
inviting percentage rate bid in double cover system in ONLINE MODE from eligible contractors for Building 4. Detail Projects: As per Annexure attached
work as detailed in the table below: 5. Estimated Cost: As specified in the column-4 of the Annexure
1. Nature of Work : Building Work 6. Other details:
2. No of Work : 1 No Availability of Tender Last Date & Date & Time of opening
3. Tender Cost : Rs.10000.00 (On-Line) Bid Identifi- on-line for bidding Time of Seek- of tender
4. Class of Contractor : Special Class & Super Class Procurement Officer
cation No. ing Tender Technical Financial
5. Available of Bid document in : From 10.00 AM of Dt.26.08.2022up to 05.00 PM of From To
Clarification Bid Bid
the Website Dt.08.09.2022 up to 5.00 PM 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
6. Date of opening of Bid : Dt 09.09.2022 at11.30 AM Chief Construction RWCCESNG- 02.09.2022 23.09.2022 22.09.2022 26.09.2022 Will be
7. The Bidders have to participate in ONLINE bidding only. Further details can be seen from the Website: Engineer, Rural Works 19 of 11:00 AM 5:00 PM 5:00 PM 11.00 AM intimated
https://tenderodisha.gov.in . Any Addendum / Corrigendum / Cancellation of tender can also be seen in Circle, Sundargarh 2022-23 separately
the said website. Further details can be seen from the website www.tendersodisha.gov.in
Chief Construction Engineer, Sd/- Chief Construction Engineer
Khordha (R&B) Circle, Khordha OIPR- 34127/11/0020/2223 Rural Works Circle, Sundargarh OIPR- 25133/11/0025/2223
 Don’t try to be young. Just open your mind.
Stay interested in stuff. There are so many
things I won’t live long enough to find out Betty
about, but I’m still curious about them White

06 BHUBANESWAR FRIDAY 26 08 2022

� �

The challenges faced by the ASEAN over the Myanmar

INDIAN EXPRESS IS NOT AN crisis, the South China Sea dispute and other issues
INDUSTRY. IT IS A MISSION. have soured any mood for optimism in its 55th year

MORE CONCERNS
— Ramnath Goenka

GENDER JUSTICE THAN CONSENSUS

IDEA RUNS INTO IN ASEAN AT 55
POLITICAL REALITY

W
hen some schools in Kerala recently
introduced gender-neutral student uni- SHANKARI Professor at School of International
forms, the revolutionary idea created SUNDARARAMAN Studies, JNU, New Delhi
a positive buzz and was hailed as an af- SOURAV ROY
firmative step toward ensuring gender
justice. With ministers and prominent person- ASIAN AXIS Point Consensus to assist in resolv- to be done. While the ASEAN Emer- tion, the actual ground realities are
alities joining in the celebration, and a wider ing the political crisis. ASEAN’s gency Response and Assessment far more complex. In the week be-
debarring of Myanmar’s SAC rep- Team (ERAT) has conducted an ini- fore the AMM, the summit meeting

T
debate ensuing, there were signs that this would
he 55th Meeting of the ASEAN For-
become a norm in schools. The CPM-led govern-
eign Ministers (AMM) in Cambo-
ment was expected to play an active role. dia in early August was a landmark
However, CM Pinarayi Vijayan told the as- event for the regional grouping that
sembly that his government won’t impose any has been the core of regional mech-
dress code on students. Incidentally, on the same anisms in the Asia-Pacific. Howev-
day, the State Council of Education Research er, even as the ASEAN turned 55,
the summit threw up far more are-
and Training withdrew the portion that dis-
as of concern than consensus
cussed promoting “mixed seating” in class- among the members.
rooms from the note prepared for public discus- As the AMM concluded in Phnom
sion in the run-up to the proposed revision in Penh on August 3, it was followed
the school curriculum. Both decisions seem to by two key ministerial meetings of
be the fallout of the hue and cry raised by cer- both the ASEAN Regional Forum
tain religious organisations and political par- (ARF) and the East Asia Summit
(EAS) which are critical to the
ties like the Muslim League. They claim that ASEAN mechanisms for the wider
popularising gender-neutral uniforms will lead region as these include the external
to sexual anarchy and cite Indian culture to ar- partners and key regional and glo-
gue against allowing girls and boys to sit togeth- bal players. However, the challeng-
er. As expected, these organisations celebrated es faced by the ASEAN over the
the strategic retreat by the government. Myanmar crisis, the South China
Sea dispute and other issues have
Studies and testimonies underline that allow-
soured any mood for optimism in
ing girls to wear trousers boosts confidence, its 55th year.
increases participation in sports events, and The ASEAN Ministerial Meeting
saves them from the disturbing male gaze. These (AMM) highlighted some of the
reasons would be enough for any sensible adult core challenges even as the region
is still grappling with the fallout of
to embrace gender-neutral uniforms whole-
the pandemic and post-Covid recov-
heartedly. Unfortunately, Kerala’s political and
ery. The Joint Communiqué this
religious orthodoxy is unwilling to see the real- year did emerge, belying concerns
ity. That is why the state’s progressive majority over whether Cambodia, as chair
hoped for the demonstration of a strong will by of ASEAN, would once again hold
the government. The government, disappoint- the grouping ransom over issues
ingly, decided to tread a safe path. Once bitten relating to developments in the
South China Sea as it had done in
by the orthodoxy in the Sabarimala issue, there
July 2012, when it last chaired the
are reasons for the government to be twice shy ASEAN. That year, for the first
with any such progressive steps. The fact is the time, the ASEAN Foreign Minis-
parties in the opposition, too, played their part—
from either being silent or stridently opposing
the measures—in ensuring that Kerala’s schools
ters Meeting did not bring out
a Joint Communiqué, indicating
that consensus building within
the grouping was challenged by
new members with different
agendas and priorities. This year’s
Joint Communiqué clearly high-
lights three critical areas of
concern, impacting the focus on
ASEAN consensus.
First, Myanmar’s situation erod-
ed even further by the end of July.
For a country that has been in a
state of political conflict since Feb-
ruary 2021, in recent weeks, the ex-
cesses of the State Administration
Council (SAC) led by General Min
Aung Hlaing have brutalised sensi-
tivities across the regional and
global landscape. The summary
executions of four political prison-
ers by the end of July cast a pallor
of gloom over the ASEAN summit.
They brought the focus fully back
on the intransigence of the mili-
tary regime and its brutality in
addressing the political crisis
within the country. The four prison-
ers were part of the pro-democracy
groups. They had been accused
of inciting violence and carrying
out terror attacks against the mili-
tary by using their positions to in-
stigate the civilian militias against
the SAC.
Before the ASEAN summit, Cam-
bodian Prime Minister Hun Sen
made a personal appeal to the mili-
tary leaders to postpone the execu-
tions in light of ASEAN’s Five
resentative from the ASEAN proc-
esses has had little impact on My-
anmar’s leadership. Ignoring the
appeal of the ASEAN Chair and the
special envoy has been seen as a de-
fiant posture against the Five Point
Consensus, leading to a divided re-
sponse from the ASEAN. The State-
ment by the ASEAN chair follow-
ing the execution was probably one
of the strongest ASEAN statements
yet against Myanmar.
One of the core challenges for
ASEAN has been the deliverance
of humanitarian assistance. While
the ASEAN Coordinating Centre
for Humanitarian Assistance on
disaster management (AHA Cen-
tre) coordinates the issue of hu-
manitarian aid, the process still
remains critically undermined as
the actual ground deliverance is yet
In the week before the AMM, the summit
meeting between President Joe Biden and
President Xi Jinping saw the reference to the
threat of a major incident in the South China
Sea as a potentially destabilising factor.
Even as the ASEAN focuses on trying to build
consensus, increasing belligerence from
the major players will continue to
undermine the regional efforts at
resolving the maritime conflict
tial appraisal, it is yet to be imple-
mented, leaving a huge gap between
plan and action. Moreover, increas-
ing views within ASEAN have be-
gun to look at Myanmar as a liabil-
ity, given the intransigence of the
military and its unwillingness to
comply with any of the ASEAN ini-
tiatives, leaving little scope for in-
cluding Myanmar in the ASEAN
processes till some resolution to the
crisis is possible.
Secondly, on issues of maritime
challenges, particularly relating to
the crisis over the disputed areas of
the South China Sea, this meeting
was a step in the right direction,
with Cambodia as Chair, shaping
the agenda of the meeting. The oft-
recurring reference to the impor-
tance of adhering to the ‘recognised
principles of international law’
and the significance of the UNC-
LOS remains critical, particularly
in the face of repeated violations
by China.
The issue of artificial islands
and their extensions were raised by
the member states and has been in-
dicated in the Joint Communiqué,
bringing more concerted focus.
Critical to the process of evolving a
Code of Conduct (CoC) is the re-
sumption of the Joint Working
Group that is entrusted with nego-
tiating a single draft CoC to address
a resolution of the South China Sea
dispute. While the Joint Communi-
qué reiterated the importance of
both restraint and non-militarisa-
between President Joe Biden and
President Xi Jinping saw the refer-
ence to the threat of a major inci-
dent in the South China Sea as a
potentially destabilising factor.
Even as the ASEAN focuses on try-
ing to build consensus, increasing
belligerence from the major players
will continue to undermine the re-
gional efforts at resolving the South
China Sea conflict.
Third, the regional focus on the
post-Covid economic recovery has
been very clearly articulated in the
AMM by accepting what has be-
come known as the Consolidated
Strategy for a recovery from the
pandemic. This is particularly im-
portant as the pandemic has severe-
ly hampered the socio-economic
factors. One of the core areas where
ASEAN has been challenged is the
disruption of supply chains, im-
pacting the emphasis on open re-
gionalism. This is a critical area for
the ASEAN as it continues to
strengthen economic cooperation
and supply chain resilience in re-
sponse to the challenges unleashed
by the pandemic.
Consensus building within the
ASEAN has never been easy. But
even as regional and global chal-
lenges are impacting ASEAN’s ca-
pacity for concerted action, the
overarching theme for this year’s
agenda, ‘ASEAN ACT: Addressing
Challenges Together’, will remain
more rhetorical than real.
(shankari@mail.jnu.ac.in)

INTERGENERATIONAL BONDING TO COMBAT AGEISM

did not become trendsetters in the cause of gen-
der equality. By pandering to religious ortho-
doxy and placing political compulsions above
the rights of girl children, the political class has
nipped reformist ideas in the bud. health and well-being. Among older younger adults, ignoring their with a local senior, or visit a senior
people, ageism is associated with points of view in decision-making community to hear their stories

MUNUGODE, A COSTLY
poorer physical and mental health, or avoiding contact and interac- and learn from them. There are
increased social isolation and lone- tions. Self-directed ageism refers to even examples of older adults and
DR DEBANJAN Consultant Psychiatrist, Apollo
liness, greater financial insecurity,
POLITICAL EXERCISE Multispeciality Hospitals, Kolkata
ageism towards oneself, like older the young sharing settings: day
BANERJEE
decreased quality of life and pre- individuals hesitant to learn new care centers that house both adult
mature death. An estimated 6.3 mil- skills later in life or people in their care and childcare programs are a

G
lion cases of depression the world twenties who think that they are growing trend. Age and ageing are

W
eneral elections to the Telangana State as- e recently observed International
sembly are hardly a year away. Yet, a rural Youth Day on August 12. The objec-
Assembly segment—Munugode—in the tive of this occasion is to amplify
Nalgonda district is going for a by-election. the message that action is needed
Though notification is yet to be issued, the across all generations to achieve
Election Commission will have to hold it within the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) and leave no one behind. It
six months by February next year. The non-de- will also raise awareness about cer-
script constituency is already becoming a thea- tain barriers to intergenerational
tre for a gladiatorial contest with KCR and Amit solidarity, notably ageism, which
Shah addressing mega rallies, and Priyanka impacts young and old persons,
Vadra is also expected to join the joust soon. while having detrimental effects on
The by-election could have been avoided as it society as a whole.
Ageism refers to the stereotypes
serves no purpose except to suit the BJP’s politi-
(how we think), prejudice (how we
cal gambit. The sitting Congress legislator feel) and discrimination (how we
Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy wanted to join act) towards others or oneself
the BJP ahead of the general election. The BJP, based on age. An evergrowing
which smelled an opportunity to strengthen social evil, ageism is not just re-
further the perception that it was galloping to- stricted to older people. Casual
comments like, “Oh he is a crick-
wards capturing power in the next Assembly
eter in his 30s?” or “How did she
election, made Raj Gopal Reddy resign, neces- think of bearing a child at 45?” or
sitating the by-election. It hopes that the bypoll “A kid like him has no chance
is a cinch because it is Raj Gopal’s turf, and on among the veterans!”—all point to
top of it, he will now be its candidate. The BJP our ageist attitudes.
has already upset the TRS in two earlier by- Ageism continues as an insidi-
elections—Huzurabad and Dubbaka, one of ous and an often unaddressed issue
in health, human rights and devel-
which was caused by the resignation of sitting opment, and has bearings on both
TRS MLA Eatala Rajender after he was sacked older and younger populations
from the cabinet for “plotting against” KCR. around the world. In addition, it
The other occurred as the incumbent, a TRS regularly intersects with other
legislator, died. The saffron party wants to tuck forms of bias (such as racism, sex-
Munugode under its belt to create an impres-
sion that it is now unstoppable.
The only purpose that the by-election may
serve is to help the parties know which way the
wind is blowing. The TRS is of the opinion that Urban malady
it is still a monolith, while the BJP thinks a si- Apropos of the column, Bringing village
lent revolution is building up in its favour. The panchayats to cities (August 25). The
writer has truly hit the nail on the
Congress, which is still struggling with inter-
head when he opines that city dwellers
necine quarrels, is yet to get its act together. The need to have more say in their city’s
by-election surely will not tilt the scales in fa- development. Employing the village
vour of anyone now, as KCR has a brute major- panchayat method in cities may bring
ity in the Assembly. The BJP and the Congress public voices to the forefront and
improve the city.
have MLAs in single digits. If we leave aside the
politics, this inevitable bypoll is nothing but an Rao C V R, Hyderabad
unconscionable waste of crores of rupees of Eye-opening editorial
public money, contrary to claims of the parties Apropos of Teen marriage and consent
that it will usher in development. with a cost (August 25). Once their
ism, ableism, mentalism) and im-
pacts people in ways that prevent
them from reaching their full po-
tential and comprehensively con-
tributing to their community.
The recent Global Report on
Ageism launched by the United Na-
tions and World Health Organiza-
tion (WHO) in March 2021 high-
lights the alarming scenario. Every
second person in the world is be-
lieved to hold ageist attitudes—
leading to poorer physical and men-
tal health and reduced quality of
life for older persons, costing socie-
ties billions of dollars each year. In
sheer numbers, this data amounts
to billions of “stereotyped thoughts
towards ageing” that creates a glo-
bal environment unsafe for older
people. The ongoing pandemic has
also been an eye-opener. The re-
sponse to control Covid-19 has un-
veiled just how widespread ageism
is—older and younger people have
been stereotyped in public dis-
course and on social media. In some
situations, age has been used as
the sole criterion for access to
medical care, vaccination, triage,
life-saving therapies and for
physical isolation.
Ageism has serious and wide-
ranging consequences for people’s
education comes to a halt, girls start to
depend on the male breadwinner in their
families. Although the judgment may
acknowledge ‘consent’, this could be a
route towards more child marriages in
a ‘patriarchal setup’, as rightly pointed
out in the editorial.
K Ganesh, Coimbatore
Those 11 better pay
There is no justification for the release
of the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case.
They have committed such unimaginably
heinous crimes and now they walk free!
What kind of message does this send to
over are attributed to ageism.
India, with its rapid demograph-
ic transition towards an ageing
population, shares a similar pic-
ture. Even though our nation tradi-
tionally boasts of solidarity, joint
families, generational bonds and
respect towards elders—data shows
otherwise. Based on the Global Re-
port on Ageism 2021, India is among
several low- and middle-income
countries including Nigeria and
Yemen that account for the highest
prevalence of ageism.
Examples of institutional ageism
include discriminatory hiring prac-
tices or mandatory retirement ages;
interpersonal ageism includes dis-
respecting or patronising older and
Age and ageing are unfortunately
equated with ‘weakness’, ‘frailty’, ‘loss
of beauty’, ‘disease’, ‘death’, etc. Older
people are deprived of their rights, privacy,
confidentiality ... This is further compounded
in those who stay in assisted living facilities
and those with mental health conditions
society—that one can commit dastardly
crimes and get away?
Elizabeth Koshy, Pathanamthitta
Karnataka corruption
Amid the ‘40% commission’ controversy
facing the Bommai government,
the contractors’ association met
Siddaramaiah and alleged corruption
by ministers and MLAs. This raises
suspicion. During Siddaramaiah’s term,
the Lokayukta was completely defanged.
ACB was brought in, but this was also a
toothless body. One can’t say there was
no corruption during his tenure as CM.
too young for a job, making them
reluctant to reply. HelpAge India in
their report released in 2021, men-
tioned about the increase in ageism
and elder abuse during the pan-
demic, unanswered cries for help,
limited digital literacy among older
people and reduced media aware-
ness towards this social issue.
In this context, International
Youth Day carries a special signifi-
cance themed on “intergeneration-
al solidarity”. Essentially, we must
celebrate the bond between the old
and the young. What can be better
than this to combat ageism?
Bringing children or young
adults and seniors together through
planned, mutually beneficial activi-
ties and programs is one way to
help seniors feel connected to oth-
ers and provide much-needed stim-
ulation. Examples include older
adults serving the young through
mentorship programs—seniors
volunteering in schools as reading
assistants, tutors and resources for
career and parenting guidance.
There are also examples of pro-
grams where younger generations
visit senior centers and communi-
ties for service learning projects;
elementary schools may encourage
young students to become pen pals
Take the BBMP for instance—they are
corrupt regardless of whose term it is!
R Kasthurirangan, Bengaluru
Gehlot brings lot to table
Although Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot
denied talks of being offered the post
of Congress President by Sonia Gandhi
ahead of her medical visit abroad,
there may be hope. Gehlot is a good
statesman. If the members of the
Gandhi family are hesitant to take
the baton, it may actually be a good
decision to allow Gehlot to take the
lead. The reality is that the Congress is
unfortunately equated with ‘weak-
ness’, ‘frailty’, ‘loss of beauty’, ‘dis-
ease’, ‘death’, etc. Older people are
deprived of their rights, privacy,
confidentiality, and autonomy. This
is further compounded in those
who stay in assisted living facilities
and those with mental health con-
ditions and dementia.
These narratives need to change
early and the youth can be the flag-
bearers for the same. Intergenera-
tional bonding can go a long way in
creating ties within families and
respect for values and opinions,
thereby fostering age-friendly soci-
eties. This will be in line with the
ongoing United Nations Decade of
Healthy Ageing 2021–2030. The Dec-
ade calls for a global battle against
ageism and integrated care for old-
er people. International Youth Day
every year is thus an occasion and
an important reminder to protect
the human rights and dignity of
older people in our country.
Solidarity across generations is
key for sustainable development.
As we navigate the third year of the
Covid-19 pandemic, it is especially
important to nurture societies that
we would all like to live in when we
inevitably age.
(dr.djan88@gmail.com)
now in a do or die situation and need to
get back up and compete.
D Nagarjuna, Hyderabad
Kerala judge transfer
It is good that the Kerala HC judge has
been transferred after making a remark
about a woman’s ‘provocative dress’ in
a sexual harassment case. It is appalling
that the judge cited the accused’s age
and disability as reasons to deny the
woman’s accusations. Judges have no
right to comment on one’s behaviour
or dress.
Parthasarathy Mandadi, Tirupati

THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS

Chairman of the Board: Manoj Kumar Sonthalia Editor: Santwana Bhattacharya
Resident Editor (Odisha) Siba Kumar Mohanty* Printed and Published by R K Jhunjhunwala on behalf of Express Publications (Madurai) Private Limited, at Express Press, Express House, Plot No.328/1110, Rasulgarh Square, Bhubaneswar - 751 010. Bhubaneswar. Vol. 26, No. 200. RNI Reg. No.70244/97.
Phone : 0674-2587410 & 2587411, Fax: 0674-2587412. * Responsible for selection of News under the PRB Act Copyright : Express Publications (Madurai) Private Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any manner, electronic or otherwise, in whole or in part, without prior written permission is prohibited.
 Rahul Gandhi @RahulGandhi Asaduddin Owaisi@asadowaisi Akhilesh Yadav @yadavakhilesh
TWEETS
OF THE Today the question is about the respect and entitle- If this is how desperate BJP is for one bypoll? It Now the BJP MLAs are openly accepting that the
ment of the women of the country. Give justice to wants to set the state on fire. It wants burnt homes, business of recovery is openly going on in the police
DAY Bilkis Bano. empty shops, & curfews. I won’t let them succeed. stations under their rule.

07 BHUBANESWAR FRIDAY 26 08 2022

� �

SCO RATS

‘BJP action report wrong’: Hectic parleys on in Cong for
Gadkari warns legal action top post, CWC meet on Sunday
Says ‘propaganda’ over wrong interpretation of his words
RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR
@ New Delhi
AMID rumours about BJP
mulling action against Nitin
Gadkari, the Union minister
hit out at the “propaganda over
wrongly interpreting his state-
ments for a nefarious political
purpose.” The Minister of
Road Transport and Highways
has been in the news for some
of his recent statements after
the BJP dropped him from the
party’s parliamentary board.
Gadkari has warned of legal
action if “such propaganda
about him continues by some
media houses or political bod-
ies.” Taking to twitter on
Thursday, Gadkari wrote: “To-
day, once again, efforts are be-
ing made for a fabricated cam-
paign against me by a section
of the mainstream and social
media, including some per-
sons. They have concocted my
statements at public pro-
grammes without context or
correct reference.” Tagging a
link on YouTube of his speech,
Gadkari defended himself. “Al-
though, I have never been dis-
turbed by such a malicious
agenda, all concer ned are
‘Nefarious political purpose’
The Union minister hit out at the Gadkari at a
“propaganda over wrongly interpreting his book launch
statements for a nefarious political purpose.” had recently
said: “I am not
Gadkari has warned of bothered
legal action if “such about
propaganda about him consequences;
continues by some media I will do my
houses or political bodies.” job.”
Gadkari has been in the news for
some of his recent statements
after the BJP dropped him from
the party’s parliamentary board
Taking a swipe at the BJP,
AAP MP Sanjay Singh tweeted
as to why NITIN Gadkari had
said like that.
warned that if such mischief fusion about the Modi govern-
continues, I will not hesitate to ment.” Though Gadkari’s
take them to court.” He tagged remark did not refer directly to
it with BJP chief JP Nadda and the government, some media
the PMO. Party sources have houses and opposition parties
reportedly told a section of the have commented on the func-
media that Sangh leaders had tioning of the Modi govern-
strongly appealed to Gadkari ment. Gadkari at a book launch
to “refrain from such type of had recently said: “I am not
statements at any event or pro- bothered about consequences;
gramme aimed at creating con- I will do my job.”
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @
New Delhi
AS it becomes clear that a
non-Gandhi will lead the Con-
gress, intense lobbying has
begun for the top job with sev-
eral names doing rounds
amid reports that the elec-
tions may be pushed back
from scheduled dates.
Former Congress president
Rahul Gandhi has made it
clear that he is not ready to
lead the party and that has
brought in names of several
senior party leaders as proba-
bles for the top post. Sonia
Gandhi has said that she can’t
continue due to her health
and there is possibility that
someone from outside the
Gandhi family will be given
the responsibility.
While name of Rajasthan
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot
is doing rounds after he met
Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday
and that he was asked to take
up the responsibility. He has
denied it and sources said
that he would not easily agree
to it keeping in mind that the
elections are due in Rajas-
than next year.
Senior party leaders such
as Ambika Soni, Mukul Was-
nik, Meira Kumar, Sushil Ku-
Rahul not ready to
lead the party
Former Congress president
Rahul Gandhi has made it
clear that he is not ready
to lead the party and that
has brought in names of
several senior party leaders
as probables for the top
post. Sonia Gandhi has
said that she can’t
continue due to her health
mar Shinde and Kamal Nath
are among other prominent
names in the fray for the top
post. However, there is yet to
be a consensus on who can
lead the party keeping in
mind upcoming assmebly
elections and 2024 Lok Sabha
polls.
The Congress Working
Committee (CWC), the party’s
highest decision making
body, is scheduled to meet on
Sunday to announce the
schedule of presidential
elections.
Sources said that there is a
possibility that the elections
may be delayed by some time
against the scheduled dead-
line of Sep 21.
The meeting will be held
virtually as Sonia along with
Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi
is traveling abroad for health
checkup. The party said that
Rahul would be back for the
September 4 rally in the na-
tional capital against price
rise.
Rahul resigned as Congress
chief in May 2019 after the
party’s debacle in the Lok
Sabha elections and since
then there has been no full-
time president and Sonia
Gandhi was officiating as in-
terim chief.
The party is also launching
‘Bharat jodo Yatra’ to raise is-
sues related to inflation, un-
employment and growing
communal divide in the
country.
The elections are also be-
ing closely watched by lead-
ers from G23 group.
Pak to join as
observer on
last day: India
E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ New Delhi
Notwitstanding Pakistan For-
eign Office spokesperson Asim
Iftikar saying a few days back
that their country will take part
in SCO RATS drills in India, In-
dia has said Pakistan will come
as an observer on the closing
day of the event.
India is hosting the Shanghai
Cooperation Organisation
(SCO) Regional Anti Terrorism
Structure (RATS) drills in
Manesar, Haryana, sometime in
October. India is chairing the
SCO RATS this year.
Pakistan is only coming as an
observer for the meet on the
closing ceremony. We too did the
same when the SCO RATS meet
was held in Pakistan,’’ said Min-
istry of External Affairs spokes-
person, Arindam Bagchi.
Diplomatic relations between
India and Pakistan have been
downgraded for sometime.
Just last week Pakistan’s
Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif,
during a meeting with Austral-
ia’s High Commissioner in Is-
lamabad, had said he was hop-
ing to have peace with India.
India is very clear on its stand,
that there will be peace only if
Pakistan stops its cross-border
insurgent activities.

PEGASUS
Govt hiding
deeper facts,
says Oppn
E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ New Delhi
CENTRE’S non-cooperation
with the Supreme Court com-
mittee on Pegasus is an accept-
ance they had something deep-
er to hide as they even ran
away from discussion in the
Parliament, according to the
Opposition parties as they
slammed the Modi
government.
The BJP demanded an apol-
ogy from the opposition saying
there was no conclusive evi-
dence of the spyware in the 29
phones that were
investigated.
Congress leader Rahul Gan-
dhi said that comments of the
apex court shows the centre
wants to crush democracy. “PM
and his government’s non-co-
operation with the SC appoint-
ed committee is an acceptance
that they had something deep-
er to hide and want to crush
democracy,” he tweeted.
The party alleged that the
government by its action has
made it clear that it used the
Israeli spyware to weaken
democracy.
SC agrees to review PMLA
verdict, issues notice to Centre
S H R U T I K A K K A R @ New Delhi
THE Supreme Court on Thurs-
day agreed to relook at its ver-
dict upholding the Prevention
of Money Laundering Act
(PMLA) after a plea was filed
by C o n g r e s s M P K a r t i
Chidambaram seeking review
of the judgment that upheld
the provisions of the PMLA,
2002.
The top court said this as it
agreed to hear a plea seeking
a review of the judgment that
had upheld the Enforcement
Directorate’s (ED) powers re-
lating to arrest, attachment of
property involved in money
laundering, search, and sei-
zure under the PMLA. It also
issued notice to the Centre
A bench led by Chief Justice
of India NV Ramana said that
“prima facie” the two aspects
of not providing an Enforce-
ment Case Information Report
(ECIR) and reversal of the pre-
sumption of innocence re-
quire reconsideration.
The SC also said whatever
interim protection was there
in the matter, it would be ex-
tended by another four weeks
and the matter would be listed
before an appropriate bench.
The apex court also extended
the interim protection to more
than 200 petitioners for a fur-
ther period of four weeks.
At the same time, a bench
headed by Chief Justice N V
Ramana said the object of the
PMLA is noble and the offence
of money laundering is seri-
ous, adding the court is com-
pletely in support of preven-
tion of black money and
money laundering and that
the country cannot afford such
types of offences.
Solicitor general Tushar
Mehta, appearing for the Cen-
tre, said, “We are part of a
larger global structure and
our law will have to be in tune
CUET
Security meet on J&K
NTA plans
exam result calls for timely probes
with that larger global struc-
ture and that we have ex-
in 10 days EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @
New Delhi
plained and the bench had
very kindly examined that our EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE Even as cases registered un-
law is in tune with not only @ New Delhi der the Unlawful Activities
that structure but our Consti- (Prevention) Act (UAPA) did
tution as well,” he added. THE National Testing Agen- not go up sharply in Jammu
In its July 27 verdict, the SC cy (NTA) is ‘targeting” to de- and Kashmir, a high-level
had observed that it is a com- clare the CUET-UG exam re- meeting held here on Thurs-
mon experience world over sult within 10 days of the last day to review the security
that money laundering can be exam date, said Prof M. situation in the Union Terri-
a “threat” to the good func- Jagadish Kumar. tory stressed on timely and
tioning of a financial system, The sixth and final phase effective investigation.
underlining it is not an “ordi- of the Common University The security review took Shah and attended by Nation-
nary offence”. The SC had also Entrance Test (CUET)-UG place in the backdrop of at- al Security Advisor Ajit
said that supplying of ECIR in 202, which began July 15, will tacks on security personnel, Doval, Union Secretary Ajay
every case to the person con- finally end on August 30. The infiltration bids and killings Bhalla, J&K Lieutenant Gov-
cerned was not mandatory. final phase, which was sched- in the Union Territory. Three ernor Manoj Sinha, senior in-
It observed that an ECIR uled because exams were infiltrators were killed by se- telligence, army and police
cannot be equated with FIR cancelled due to technical curity personnel along the officials, decided that all the
under CrPC in view of the spe- glitches, began on August 24. Line of Control (LoC) in the agencies involved in counter-
cial mechanism envisaged by “We are targeting to an- Kamalkote sector of Uri on terrorism operations “should
the PMLA, 2002 and that au- nounce the CUET-UG results Thursday. There were three work on improving capacities
thorities are “not police offic- within 10 days of the last infiltration attempts from for ensuring quality
ers as such” exam,” Kumar told this news- across the border in the last investigations”.
Chidambaram in the peti- paper when asked when the four days, including one at While this was the first
tion had argued that the judg- results of the debut CUET- Pallanwala sector on August meeting on security in J&K
ment deserved to be reviewed UG will be announced. 23. On August 21, soldiers de- after the conclusion of the
on grounds of grave error and He also said that the exams ployed in the Jhangar sector Amarnath Yatra that ended
was contrary to article 20 (Pro- held on August 24 and 25 of Rajouri’s Naushera spotted earlier this month, Shah im-
tection in respect for convic- “went off well” on both the the movement of two to three pressed upon the officials that
tion of offenses) and 21 (Pro- days. According to officials, terrorists on the Indian side the “terror eco-system com-
tection of life and personal the NTA is expected to de- of the LoC and challenged prising elements that aid, abet
liberty) of the Constitution clare the CUET-UG 2022 re- them, the officials said. and sustain the terrorist-sep-
and settled principles of crim- sults online in the form of a Today’s meeting, chaired by aratist campaign…requires
inal jurisprudence. scorecard. Union Home Minister Amit to be dismantled”.

‘One Nation One Fertiliser’ plan ACHIEVEMENT

India in rare Indigenous aircraft carrier to

under ‘Bharat’ brand from Oct
PA R V E Z S U LTA N @ New Delhi
The concept of ‘One Nation-
One Fertilizer’ (ONOF) will be
implemented from October 2.
As part of the initiative, crop
nutrients –urea, di-ammoni-
um phosphate (DAP) or muri-
ate muriate of potash (MOP)
will be sold under a single
brand name –‘Bharat’ irre-
spective of the manufacturing
companies under the Centre’s
fertilizer subsidy scheme—
‘Pradhanmantri Bharatiya Ja-
nurvarak Pariyojana’ (PM-
BJP). Conveying the decision
of the Government, the minis-
try of chemicals and fertilizer
has issued directions to all
companies to use the new
brand name --Bharat--and logo
of the subsidy scheme on the
bags. The office memorandum
issued on Wednesday stated
that the ministry had decided
to implement ONOF the single
brand name for urea, DAP,
MPO and Nitrogen, Phospho-
rus and Potassium (NPKs)
would Bharat Urea, Bharat
DAP, Bharat MON and Bharat
NPK for all fertilizers compa-
nies. Placement of brand
name, logo and details of the
manufacturing companies has
symbol with other informa-
tion as per the rules.
According to the Govern-
ment, a single brand name
will help in the reduction of
freight charges due to stop-
ping of crisscross movement
of fertilizers, reducing the
transit time, ensuring the
availability of fertilizers
throughout the year irrespec-
tive of brand preferences. It
will also stop the diversion of
urea for industrial purposes,
said officials. “Farmers pre-
fer to purchase urea of his
choice. If a certain brand is
not available, he doesn’t buy
also been explained in the note it even though urea is the
according to which the logo in- same. And there is hue and cry
dicating fertilizer subsidy that urea of a specific brand is
scheme will be used on ferti- not in the market so one of the
lizer bags on one side. reasons behind the idea of
New brand name and logo ONOF is to prevent these
with subsidy title— Pradhan- things. The Government gives
mantri Bharatiya Janurvarak a huge subsidy on these prod-
Pariyojana—will occupy two- ucts which is more than maxi-
third of the printable area on mum retail price therefore
the bag and one-third will be subsidy scheme will also be
used for putting details of the mentioned on the bag,” said
fertilizer companies and its an official.
In a single brand name will help in the reduction of freight charges
due to stopping of crisscross movement of fertilizers, reducing the
transit time, ensuring the availability of fertilizers throughout the
year irrespective of brand preferences -Government
club of war bring stability in Indo Pacific
ship makers M AYA N K S I N G H @ New Delhi
The Vice Chief of Indian Navy
E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ New Delhi on Thursday termed the com-
missioning of the Vikrant as
WITH the construction of the the Indian Navy Ship (INS) as
Virat by the Cochin Shipyard having a stabilising effect in
Limited India has joined the se- the Indo Pacific Region.
lect group of countries which Vice Admiral SN Ghormade
can manufacture such complex said, “The commissioning of
warship above 40,000 tonnes. the made-in-India aircraft car-
PM Narendra Modi is to com- rier INS Vikrant will contrib-
mission this ship as INS ute in enhancing peace, secu-
Vikrant on September 2. “India rity and stability in the Indian
has joined the select club of na- Ocean and Indo-Pacific re-
tions including the US, UK, gion.” Mentioning INS Vikra-
Russia, China and France to de- maditya, the sole Indian Air-
sign and manufacture aircraft craft Carrier in service and
carriers above 40,000 tonnes,” undergoing refit, he said, “We
Indian Navy Vice Chief Vice all know that in the Indian
Admiral SN Ghormade said Ocean Region, we should have
here on Thurday. a force level which can act as a
On the commissioning of the deterrent. All efforts were
Aircraft Carrier he called the made to make INS Vikramadi-
whole as a ‘whole of nation’ ap- tya available fast and INS
proach. For the Vikrant, the Vikrant was readied quickly,”
equipment has been made in 18 Vice Admiral Ghormade add-
States and union territories in- ed. Talking about the maritime
cluding places like Ambala, force levels, the Vice Chief
Daman, Kolkata, Jalandhar, said, “Our force levels have
Kota, Pune and New Delhi, he grown significantly over the
said. IAC Vikrant has 2200 com- years and I believe that we
partments including separate must be fully prepared to coun-
accommodation for women of- ter any challenge not only to
ficers and female Agniveer our sovereignty and territorial
sailors. integrity but even more signifi-
cantly to our economic
interests.”
The warship has been De-
signed by the Warship Design
Bureau (WDB), Indian Navy’s
in-house organisation and
built by M/s Cochin Shipyard
Limited (CSL), a Public Sector
Shipyard under Ministry of
Ports, Shipping & Waterways.
With the construction of the
Virat by the Cochin Shipyard
Limited India has joined the
select group of countries which
can manufacture such complex
warships above 40,000 tonnes.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
The commissioning of the made-in-India aircraft carrier INS Vikrant
will contribute in enhancing peace, security and stability in the
Indian Ocean and Indo-Pacific region
Vice Admiral S N Ghormade
is to commission this ship as
Indian Naval Ship (INS)
Vikrant on September 2.
The 262 m long and 62 m wide
Vikrant displaces approx 43000
T when fully loaded, having a
maximum designed speed of 28
Knots with endurance of 7500
NM. The ship has around 2200
compartments, designed for a
crew of around 1600 that in-
clude specialised cabins to ac-
commodate women officers
and sailors. The ship would be
capable of operating an air
wing consisting of 30 aircraft
consisting of MiG-29K fighter
jets, Kamov-31, MH-60R multi-
role helicopters, in addition to
indigenously manufactured
Advanced Light Helicopters
and Light Combat Aircraft
(Navy). Using a novel aircraft-
operation mode known as
Short Take Off But Arrested
Recovery, the IAC is equipped
with a ski-jump for launching
aircraft, and a set of three ‘ar-
rester wires’ for their recovery
on board.

08 BHUBANESWAR
Docs facing action in hosp
fire check other facilities
Court calls it shocking, asks MP govt law official to present facts
A N U R A A G S I N G H @ Bhopal
THREE government doctors
facing action for lapses in in-
spection of a private hospital
where a fire killed eight people
on Aug 1 in Jabalpur were lat-
er tasked to inspect nine other
hospitals of the same city in
Madhya Pradesh.
The matter was brought to
the notice of the Jabalpur
bench of the High Court dur-
ing a hearing on a petition on
the fire. The HC observed on
Aug 18, “It is quite shocking
the manner in which the pro-
ceedings have been conducted.
When orders of suspension
are proposed, the same day the
very persons are made mem-
bers of a committee to enquire
into the issue for which they
are being suspended.”
The court has asked the dep-
uty advocate general to put on
affidavit the facts of the case.
The doctors are anaesthesi-
ologists Nishedh Chaudhary,
LN Patel and paediatrician
Kamlesh Verma – posted at
Jabalpur District Hospital.
They were suspended/given
show-cause notice for lapses
in inspection of New Life Mul-
ti Specialty Hospital. The vic-
tims of the fire included pa-
tients and staff members.
Owing to these lapses, the
then Jabalpur CMHO on Aug
SIT summons Sukhbir
in ’15 Faridkot firing case
H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ Chandigarh
A Special Investigation Team
has summoned Shiromani
Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir
Singh Badal on Aug 30 for ques-
tioning in the 2015 police firing
on a crowd in a desecration
case.
Badal was the deputy CM-
cum-home minister in SAD-
BJP government when inci-
d e n t s o f d e s e c r at i o n o f
religious texts and subsequent
police firing on protestors
took place at Kotkapura
in Faridkot district.
The SIT had ques-
tioned Badal in June
last year for the same
incident. Many senior
SAD leaders, including
Bikram Singh Majithia, Bal-
winder Singh Bhundar, Daljit
Singh Cheema and NK Sharma
had gone to the institute to
show support for the leader.
The SIT, led by Additional
DGP LK Yadav, had earlier
questioned former Punjab DGP
Sumedh Singh Saini in the
case.
Badal, however, said he was
yet to receive the notice and
promised he would cooperate
in the probe. “The Congress
Asked to fill up visitors’ slip, Assam
MLA slaps govt official, faces boycott
P R A S A N TA M A Z U M D A R
@ Guwahati
ASSAM MLA Jayanta Basuma-
tary has courted controversy
by assaulting an employee of
the state government at the
Secretariat. Riled by the inci-
dent, the All Assam Govt NPS
Employees’ Association has
decided to boycott Basumatary,
who belongs to the United Peo-
ple’s Party Liberal (UPPL)
party, and has made an appeal
to the voters of Sidli constitu-
ency not to re-elect the “impo-
lite” politician.
The UPPL is an ally of the
BJP and component of the
state’s three-party ruling
coalition.
The incident occurred on
Wednesday when the MLA vis-
ited the Secretariat to meet
Transport Secretary Adil Khan.
He lost his cool and slapped
junior assistant, Bibhuti Bhat-
tacharya, after the latter asked
him to fill up the visitors’ slip
before letting him in.
“I couldn’t recognise him and
requested him to fill up the visi-
tors’ slip. He identified himself
FRIDAY 26 08 2022
� �
The fire-ravaged New Life Multi Specialty Hospital, Jabalpur, on Aug. 1 | PTI FILE PIC
2 had proposed suspending the displeasure in the matter and
three doctors. questioned why an FIR was
As per the case file, a few not lodged against the three
hours after suspending the doctors who had committed
doctors, the CMHO
included them in a
team of 45 doctors
that was tasked with
inspecting 136 other The doctors were
hospitals and nurs- included in a panel
of 45 doctors for
ing homes in inspecting 136
Jabalpur. The three hospitals due to
doctors conducted staff shortage.
the inspection of They weren’t told
nine hospitals (three to inspect New
hospitals by each doc- Life Hospital
tor), including a mul- Dr Sanjay Mishra, was given show cause
ti-specialty facility. Jt Director (Health) notice. They were in-
They then submitted
t h e i r r e p o r t t o t h e 45 doctors for inspecting 136
department. hospitals due to staff short-
The petition was filed by age. They weren’t told to in-
Law Students Association spect New Life Multi Specialty
state president Vishal Baghel Hospital, but were asked to in-
in the Aug 1 fire related mat- spect other hospitals. They
ters. The HC’s division bench submitted their report in three
expressed on Wednesday its days,” Mishra said.
and the current AAP govern-
ment have played politics over
the issue,” he said.
The notice came days after
the Faridkot district and ses-
sions court said the proceed-
ings in the Behbal Kalan firing
case will not move further in
the trial court until the charge
sheet in the Kotkapura firing
case is filed by the SIT.
This will be the first time
during the AAP regime when
Badal will be quizzed in the Ko-
tkapura firing case. Two
SITs have earlier ques-
tioned him thrice in
this case. The SIT led
by Additional DGP LK
Ya d av, w h i c h w a s
formed last year in May,
had questioned Badal the
following month. Another SIT
formed earlier under former
IGP Kunwar Vijay Pratap
Singh, who is now an AAP
MLA, had questioned him in
November 2018.
Saini was removed as the
Punjab DGP by then CM Par-
kash Singh Badal in 2015 fol-
lowing incidents of sacrilege
of Guru Granth Sahib and sub-
sequent violence in which the
police was accused of excesses
that left two people dead.
I couldn’t recognise him and
requested him to fill up the visitors’
slip. He identified himself and said an
MLA is not required to do this
formality. I said this is the
government protocol but he got
angry and slapped me,” the
victim said.
Bibhuti Bhattacharya, Govt employee
and said an MLA is not re-
quired to do this formality. I
said this is the government pro-
tocol but he got angry and
slapped me,” the victim said.
After he lodged a complaint
with the employees’ union, the
lapses in the hospi-
tal’s inspection.
Joint Director
(Health) in Jabalpur
district, Dr Sanjay
Mishra, appeared to
justify the permis-
sion given to the three
doctors to inspect
other hospitals.
“Two doctors were
suspended and one
cluded in the panel of
7 districts flooded as rain batters Raj
R A J E S H A S N A N I @ Jaipur
THE final phase of the mon-
soon is wreaking havoc in
large parts of Rajasthan, with
seven districts facing a flood-
like situation. Kota, Jhalawar,
Baran, Bundi Karuli and
Dholpur districts are the worst
affected, where around 10,000
people are being evacuated by
NDRF, SDRF, and the Civil De-
fence Army.
Intensive and widespread
rain has been lashing the
desert state, and normal life
has been crippled in the last
few days.
In the Kota division, over
6,000 people have had to leave
their homes in the last three
days. Many villages have be-
come islands, and the rise in
water level in the Chambal,
Kalisindh, Parvati and Parvan
rivers has led to numerous
houses getting washed away.
The opening of the gates of
Kota barrage also caused flood-
ing in more than 20 colonies.
About 5 lakh cusecs of water
was released from the
barrage.
In Baran, the excessive wa-
ter that came from Madhya
Pradesh has caused wide-
spread damage. The water lev-
el in Chambal river in Dholpur
workers staged a protest out-
side the Secretariat demanding
action against the MLA.
“We don’t want an MLA who
does not have basic manners to
come to the Secretariat. We ap-
peal to the voters of Sidli not to
make such a person an MLA
again,” the union said.
“If an employee is not safe at
the Secretariat, he cannot be
safe anywhere. He was assault-
ed for performing his duties
sincerely. We appeal to Chief
Minister Himanta Biswa Sar-
ma and the chief secretary
(Jishnu Baruah) to give us jus-
tice. We will not relent,” the
employees’ union said, adding
that the victim is hearing im-
paired in one ear and he was hit
on the other.
UPPL party president
Pramod Bodo apologised for
the incident.
“I have known him (Basuma-
tary) for 25 years. He is a cool-
headed person. I don’t know
why it has happened. I apolo-
gise for the incident,” Bodo,
who is also the chief of the
Bodoland Territorial Council,
told this newspaper.
3 MILITANTS KILLED
Three Pakistani militants were killed by the
Army in Uri on Thursday. It was the third
infiltration bid foiled by troops along the LoC in
Jammu and Kashmir in four days.
UTTAR PRADESH
BJP targets
west UP, picks
Jat party chief
N A M I TA B A J PA I @ Lucknow
IN an apparent bid to win over
the drifting Jat votes in 2024
Lok Sabha poll, the BJP on
Thursday appointed Bhupen-
dra Singh Chaudhary as the
party’s president in Uttar
Pradesh. Chaudhary, a leader
from western UP, is an MLC
and Panchayati Raj Minister in
the Yogi Aditynath cabinet.
Chaudhary,54, will replace
Swatantra Dev Singh, who had
resigned on July 27 after com-
pleting his three-year term.
Chaudhary’s appointment is
being seen as the BJP’s attempt
to reach out to the influential
Jat community, which had been
at the forefront of the farmers’
protest in 2021. It is also being
considered as an attempt by the
party to strike a regional bal-
ance in state leadership, as Yogi
comes from Gorakhpur in east,
while Chaudhary hails from
western UP.
Chaudhury’s appointment
would also help the party mini-
mise the impact of SP-RLD alli-
ance in 2024. Hailing from Ma-
hendri Sikandarpur village of
Moradabad district, Chaud-
hury joined Vishwa Hindu
Parishad before starting his po-
litical journey with the BJP in
1991. He became BJP regional
chief in 2012 and held the post
until 2017 when he became the
minister in Yogi’s cabinet.
An aerial view of the flood-affected areas in Kota district on Thursday | PTI
is flowing 15 metres above the
danger mark. About 120 vil-
lages situated on the banks of
Chambal river have been hit.
District Collector Anil Kumar
Agarwal said after the rains in
Madhya Pradesh, more water
is coming in the catchment
area of Gandhi Sagar dam.
The district administration
has started relief and rescue
operations with the help of the
Army and SDRF. Food and
medicines are being supplied
to those stranded, and live-
stock is also being evacuated
to safer places.
Chief Minister Ashok
Gehlot conducted an aerial
survey of the flood-affected ar-
RJD’s Awadh Bihari files nomination for Speaker
R A M A S H A N K A R @ Patna
SENIOR RJD leader Awadh Bi-
hari Chaudhary on Thursday
filed nomination for the post
of Speaker in the Bihar assem-
bly, while Devesh Chandra
Thakur was elected unopposed
as the chairman of the Bihar
Legislative Council.
The post fell vacant after the
resignation of Speaker Vijay
Kumar Sinha on Wednesday.
Chaudhary had emerged as
the front-runner for the post of
Speaker since it was decided
that the post will go to the RJD.
He is considered close to both
Lalu Prasad and his younger
son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav.
The RJD is the largest party
with 79 MLAs in the assembly.
Chaudhary is tipped to be
elected unopposed to the post
in view of the numerical
strength of the RJD-led grand-
alliance in the assembly. JD(U)
minister Shravan Kumar said
that Choudhary would be
elected as Speaker
unopposed.
However, a notification is-
sued by the assembly secretar-
iat on Thursday said that the
voting is scheduled to take
place for the Speaker’s post on
INDIA Max Min Max Min
4
Ahmedabad 32 26 Mumbai 29 25
Bhopal 26 23 Panaji 28 25
Jaipur 28 25 Patna 32 27
Amritsar 32 27 Lucknow 32 26
Chennai 32 27 Port Blair 29 26
HURT IN STONE PELTING DURING Kolkata 31 27 Imphal 28 23
COPS OBC RALLY IN MP’S BHIND Srinagar 22 18 Chandigarh 30 26
Abdullah downplays
talk of rift in Gupkar
Alliance, urges tolerance
CHANDIGARH
F AYA Z W A N I @ Srinagar contest the Assembly polls.
On NC’s allegation that the
DIARY
A day after his party accused party was treated unfairly by
the Gupkar alliance of treat- Gupkar Alliance, Abdullah HARPREET BAJWA
ing it unfairly and hinted at said, “Our endeavour should Our correspondent
contesting the Assembly polls be to show tolerance.” in Chandigarh
in J&K alone, National Con- Meanwhile, PDP spokesper- hsbajwa73@gmail.com
ference president Farooq Ab- son Suhail Bukhari said the
dullah on Thursday Alliance was con-
played the firefight- ceived for a cause Surname, therein lies
er, advising his par- larger than just an a coincidence
ty to show tolerance. electoral alliance.
He asserted that the “If some constitu- Punjab Congress leader Partap
five-party Gupkar ent of the Alliance Singh Bajwa took a dig at the AAP
Alliance would nev- has reservations for government in Punjab in a recent
er be shut and that any kind of electoral media interaction, saying Aam
the final decision on alliance, that will Aadmi Party leaders, who have
polls will be taken Giving advice not impact our unity “majra’’ in their surname, are caught
when election dates Talking about the for the larger goal,” in one controversy or the other.
are announced. feeling in National he said. State health minister Chetan Singh
Talking to report- Conference that The Gupkar Alli- Jouramajra misbehaved with the
ers, the three-time the party was ance was formed in then vice chancellor, Dr Raj Bahadur,
former J&K chief treated unfairly by October 2020 by sev- who later resigned, while Amargarh
MLA Jaswant Singh Gajjan Majra
minister said Gup- the Gupkar en parties to fight
kar Alliance is in- Alliance, Farooq for restoration of faced CBI raids and is also under ED
tact. Asked about Abdullah said, Articles 370 and 35A, and I-T dept scanner. Now, AAP MLA
passing of resolu- “Our endeavour and statehood to Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra’s wife
tion by NC to contest should be to show J&K. However, after has accused him of hiding his first
a l l 9 0 A s s e m bly tolerance.” the Peoples Confer- marriage, a charge he has denied.
seats, Abdullah said, ence and J&K Peo-
“A democratic party can pass ples Movement quit, it now
any resolution but the final comprises five parties — NC,
decision will be taken only af- PDP, CPI-M, CPI and ANC.
ter polls are announced.” The NC on Wednesday hint-
Abdullah, who is the Gup- ed at going on its own in the
kar Alliance chairman, and polls after its provincial com-
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, mittee in presence of party
the vice chairperson of the vice chief Omar Abdullah de-
group, have in the past stated cided to prepare for and fight
that the alliance would jointly all assembly seats in J&K.
How jail time helped
SAD leader Majithia
2 MP districts
Former Punjab cabinet minister and
Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram
Singh Majithia, who was housed in
Patiala jail until some time back for
under water
five-and-a-half months after being
arrested under NDPS Act, said he
learnt many lessons behind bars.
During a gathering at Baba Budha
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE Sahib Gurdwara Kathunangal in
@ Bhopal
Majitha constituency, he said he got
rid of many ailments, like high blood
TWO days after water levels pressure and sugar, and cholesterol
rose in Chambal, Parvati and since he learnt about healthy life-
associated rivers, triggering style from fellow prisoner, Balwant
floods in three districts of Singh Rajoana. He said he also used
Gwalior-Chambal region, the to meditate in prison.
situation has started improv-
ing in Sheopur district. It still
remains concerning in More-
na and Bhind. Party chief’s post
eas in Kota and Bundi on Release of water from Gan- remains hot topic
Thursday. “There has been ex- dhi Sagar Dam in Mandsaur
tensive damage to crops and a and Kota Barrage in Rajasthan When the Shiromani Akali Dal
lot of houses have collapsed. I (both built on Chambal) has (SAD) was in power in Punjab from
will hold a special survey to as- slowed, but the rising backwa- 2007 to 2017, the party leaders,
sess the damage,” he said. ter in Yamuna isn’t allowing including its president Sukhbir Singh
“The local administration, draining of the Chambal in Ya- Badal, used to say that they will
SDRF, NDRF, and Civil Defence muna. In Morena district, the remain in power for 25 years. But
Army have done a good job. Chambal river is flowing at they lost the 2017 assembly polls
Despite the floods in nearly 10 147m — 9m above the danger and were decimated again in the
districts, it is a matter of relief mark, while it is flowing at assembly elections in March this
that there have been no casual- 128m in Bhind district, which year, winning just three seats. Now
ties,” he added. is 9m above the danger mark. the party’s disciplinary committee
Heavy rain has broken many Around 100 villages in the head and former minister, Sikandar
records in the state this year. three districts are affected by Singh Maluka, says Badal will be the
Rajasthan has received 582.74 floods, and 6,000 people were party president for the next 10 years.
mm rain till Aug. 24 this year, moved to safer places in She- This comes amid an ongoing row as
in contrast to the average rain- opur on Wednesday. Two NDRF a few party leaders want him to
fall of 428.65 mm it gets in this and 16 SDERF teams are en- step down from the post for the
time period. gaged in Bhind and Morena. sake of the SAD’s revival.
CBI raids a ‘tactic to harass
elected unopposed as Bihar
legislative council chairman.
The BJP has nominated
the poor’, says Tejashwi former Bihar assembly Speak-
er Vijay Kumar Sinha as lead-
er of the opposition in the as-
Patna: As CBI raids in the land-for-jobs scam coincided sembly, while former minister
with the grand alliance winning the Assembly trust vote, Samrat Choudhary as leader
CM Nitish Kumar told the media to “wait,” while his dep- of opposition in the state legis-
uty Tejashwi Yadav accused the Centre of harassing the lative council, respectively.
poor. “Just keep watching as things unfold,” Nitish said. The BJP by appointing Sin-
Tejashwi denied any wrongdoing, saying, “ I am not going ha and Choudhary has tried to
to be scared.” He said his name was dragged into the Gu- woo Bhumihars (a dominant
rugram-based mall controversy though he had nothing to upper caste) and Kushwaha
do with it. “I have furnished proof. Why is action not being (an OBC). Both are considered
taken against those who are selling national wealth and as critics of Nitish. Sinha de-
where drugs worth crores are found?,” he asked. Tejashwi manded two reports of the as-
said those appointed in Group D jobs in the railways were sembly’s committees includ-
from poor families. “We have been watching these raids for ing ethics committee in the
two-and-a-half decades. They (BJP) can put all opposition House on Friday. He said that
leaders in jail. People will fight against them,” the RJD special debates should be held
leader added. on them. He said that the as-
sembly’s schedule fixed for
Wednesday was suddenly
Friday. On Wednesday, the Bi- nee filed his nomination pa- tweaked and these reports
har cabinet had passed a pro- pers before the assembly secre- were not tabled in the House.
posal to extend the special ses- tary. Chaudhary is a six-time Sinha said that he had also
sion up to August 26. MLA from Siwan. He was also written to the assembly secre-
Chief Minister Nitish Ku- a minister in the Rabri Devi tary and parliamentary affairs
mar, deputy chief minister Te- government. He had contested minister Vijay Kumar Choud-
jashwi Yadav, parliamentary for the Speaker’s post in 2020 hary of JD(U) in this regard.
affairs minister Vijay Kumar but lost to his predecessor Vi- Leader of opposition in the
Choudhary and JD-U national jay Kumar Sinha in a tight state legislative council Sam-
president Rajiv Ranjan alias contest. rat Choudhary also demanded
Lalan Singh and other leaders Meanwhile, JD (U) MLC De- tabling of reports in the as-
were present as the RJD nomi- vesh Chandra Thakur was sembly on Friday.
 $1
Beijing 29 14 TDS Los Angeles 28 18 LC
Colombo 27 25 LC Melbourne 14 8 HR
Dhaka 34 28 TDS Moscow 32 18 HR
GLOBAL Dubai 42 29 SNY New York 31 23 LC
$ billion will be invested by Saudi Arabia in
WEATHER
LR: Light Rain HR: Heavy Rain SW: Snow
Houston
Istanbul
32
28
25
22
SNY
LC
Singapore
Toronto
29
26
26
14
TDS
LC
Pakistan to support its ailing economy TDS: Thundershower LC: Light Cloud SNY: Sunny London 24 14 LC Washington 33 22 LC

09 BHUBANESWAR FRIDAY 26 08 2022

� �

25 dead as Russia attacks Sunak criticises ‘fear narrative’ of Covid

Ukraine railway station LONDON

RISHI Sunak, a finalist in the

race to succeed Boris Johnson
Two kids among victims; Moscow claims target was military train as Conservative Party leader
and UK PM on Thursday spoke
ing in of the trade-offs involved
in completely locking down so-
ciety and suppression of dis-
senting views within the
government.
“In every brief, we tried to
Sunak reiterated that his in-
tention to speak out now was
not to point a finger of blame
and name anyone specific but
to highlight the importance of
learning lessons from the deci-
Emergencies (Sage), a group of
independent experts advising
the government on Covid re-
lated measures.
A public inquiry into the UK
government’s handling of the

Putin orders out candidly against the ‘fear

narrative’ and partial analyses
say: let’s stop the fear narra-
tive. It was always wrong from
sions that were made over the
course of 2020 and 2021.
pandemic has been set up, with
public hearings set to begin

military to beef
behind the country’s Covid the beginning. I constantly said As the finance minister be- next year. But Sunak believes
lockdowns. it was wrong,” he told the tween February 2020 and lessons can and should be
The former minister who news magazine’s editor. July 2022, Sunak was learnt right away and it would

up forces was in charge at No. 11 Down-

ing Street at the time revealed
Sunak was also criti-
cal of the public health
the man in charge of
the economic response
be up to the new leader at Down-
ing Street to take those calls.

by 137,000
behind-the-scenes goings on in posters plastered around and claims that minis- Downing Street said through-
the corridors of power for the the country at the time ters were not given out the pandemic, public
first time in an interview with showing Covid pa- enough information health, education, and the econ-
The Spectator. tients on ventila- to scrutinise omy were ‘central’ to the diffi-
MOSCOW While he does not argue that tors because ‘it analysis pro- cult decisions made on the lock-
lockdown was a mistake, Su- was wrong to duced by the down to protect the British
RUSSIAN President Vladimir nak does reveal his many mis- scare people Scientific Advi- public from an ‘unprecedented
Putin on Thursday ordered the givings, a lack of proper factor- like that’. sory Group for novel virus’. PTI
Russian military to increase

5
the number of troops by 137,000
A railway worker stands next to heavily damaged train after a Russian attack on a to a total of 1.15 million amid
train station during Ukraine’s Independence Day in the village of Chaplyne | AP Moscow’s military action in
Ukraine. years: Rohingya émigrés mark Thousands of Rohingya refugees held Genocide
Remembrance Day rallies on Thursday across a

GENOCIDE REMEMBRANCE DAY

CHAPLYNE
THE death toll from a Russian
rocket attack on a train station
and the surrounding area as
Ukraine celebrated its Inde-
pendence Day climbed to 25, in-
cluding at least two children,
Ukrainian authorities said on
Thursday. Russia said it target-
ed a military train and claimed
to have killed more than 200
Ukrainian reservists.
The lethal train-station strike
in Chaplyne, a town of about
3,500 residents in the central
Dnipropetrovsk region, served
as a painful reminder of Rus-
sia’s continued ability to inflict
suffering six months into the
thing they have done. And we
will certainly drive the invad-
ers out of our land. Not a single
stain of this evil will remain in
our free Ukraine.”
Russia’s Defence Ministry
said its forces used an Iskander
missile to strike a military
train car rying Ukrainian
troops and equipment to the
front line in eastern Ukraine.
The ministry claimed more
than 200 reservists ‘were de-
stroyed on their way to the
combat zone.’
Tetyana Kvitnytska, deputy
head of the Dnipropetrovsk re-
gional health department, said
those wounded in the train sta-
tion attack suffered head inju-
Putin’s decree, which takes huge network of camps in Bangladesh, marking five
Generations
effect on January 1, didn’t spec- years since fleeing a military offensive in Myanmar
could be
ify whether the military will affected if we
beef up its ranks by drafting a DEMAND OF SAFE HOMECOMING THE ESCAPE fail in our
bigger number of conscripts, Thousands staged rallies in In August 2017, around 750,000 of obligation to
increasing the number of vol- the mostly Muslim minority streamed protect the
many of the camps, holding
unteer soldiers or using a com- Rohingya and
banners, shouting slogans and over the border with mainly Buddhist
bination of both. all the people
demanding a safe and respectful Myanmar to escape the onslaught, of Myanmar,
The presidential decree will which is now the subject of a landmark
return to their home state of their
boost the overall number of genocide case at the UN’s top court fundamental
Rakhine located in western
Russian military personnel to rights and
Myanmar Today, there are nearly a million
2,039,758, including 1,150,628 dignity
troops. A previous order put “All we want is a safe and Rohingya—half of them under 18—in
the military’s numbers at rickety huts in camps where the mud Noeleen Heyzer,
dignified return to our
1,902,758 and 1,013,628 respec- lanes regularly become rivers of Rohingya refugees listen to a speaker during a rally UN special envoy
homeland,” said Sayed Ullah, on Myanmar
tively at the start of 2018. another community leader sewage during monsoon at a refugee camp in Ukhia on Thursday | AFP
Meanwhile, the United States
on Thursday condemned any Other protesters recalled the A survey of the refugees Acute watery diarrhoea cases Rohingyas say that the security
Russian bid to divert energy horror of the Myanmar offensive, published by Doctors have increased by 50% situation in the Bangladeshi
from Ukraine where authori- which the government says was
IN DIRE STRAITS

Without Borders on compared to 2019 and camps—surrounded by barbed wire

war.
The dead included an 11-year-
old boy found under the rubble
of a house and a 6-year-old
killed in a car fire near the
train station, authorities said.
The deputy head of the
Ukrainian presidential office,
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, did not
say whether all of the 25 people
killed were civilians.
But if they were, it would
amount to one of the deadliest
attacks on civilians in weeks.
31 people were re por ted
injured.
In his nightly video address
Wednesday, Zelenskyy detailed
the attack and vowed: “We will
definitely make the occupiers
bear responsibility for every-
ries, broken limbs, burns and
shrapnel wounds.
In Moscow on Thursday,
Dmitry Medvedev, the secre-
tary of Russia’s Security Coun-
cil, said, Western hopes for a
Ukrainian victory are futile
and emphasised that the Krem-
lin will press home what it calls
the “special military opera-
tion,” leaving just two possible
outcomes.
“One is reaching all goals of
the special military operation
and Kyiv’s recognition of this
outcome,” Medvedev said on
his messaging app channel.
“The second is a military coup
in Ukraine followed by the rec-
ognition of results of the spe-
cial operation.” AP
ties said the giant Zaporizhzhia
nuclear plant was cut off from
its national grid.
“The electricity that it pro-
duces rightly belongs to
Ukraine and any attempt to dis-
connect the plant from the
Ukrainian power grid and redi-
rect to occupied areas is unac-
ceptable,” State Department
spokesman Vedant Patel said.
“No country should turn a nu-
clear power plant into an active
war zone and we oppose any
Russian efforts to...divert en-
ergy from the plant,” he said.
Ukraine earlier said that Za-
porizhzhia for the first time
was severed form its national
grid fter fighting around the
complex. AFP
a legitimate response to
militant attacks
Several attempts at repatriation
have failed, with Rohingya
refusing to return without
guarantees for their security and
rights in Myanmar
Former British envoy to Myanmar arrested on immigration charges
BANGKOK
A former British ambassador
to Myanmar who now heads a
business ethics advisory group
in the country has been arrest-
ed on charges of violating im-
migration laws by failing to
register her change of address,
the military government said
Thursday showed that
the camps were becoming
increasingly unhygienic
It said that 76% of
respondents said toilets
were overflowing, up
from 38% in 2018
British envoy in 2002-2006, was
detained for failing to inform
the authorities last year when
she and her husband moved
from their registered address
in Yangon, the country’s big-
gest city, to Kalaw township in
Shan state in east-central
Myanmar.
It said she was charged un-
cases of skin
infections like scabies
have also soared
Last year, a massive
fire left around 15 people dead,
560 injured and more than
45,000 displaced
breaching visa rules because
she did not comply with regula-
tions governing foreigners.
Failure to change the address
on her official residence permit
registration card makes her li-
able to six months to five years’
imprisonment, it said. It did
not clearly explain what the
punishment was for the other
is also deteriorating, with at least
100 people killed since 2017
To ease overcrowding, Bangladesh
authorities have relocated about
30,000 Rohingya to an island but
there are concerns it is prone to
flooding
Immigration Act.
The act has catch-all provi-
sions saying that foreigners are
guilty of violating the terms of
their visas if they are found to
have broken other laws.
The government’s statement
said Vicky Bowman’s husband,
Myanmar artist and veteran
political activist Htein Lin, was

Journalists on trial for leaking def info Thursday.

Its “Tatmadaw True News
Information Team” confirmed
in a text message that Vicky
COPENHAGEN Bowman, who served as the
der the Immigration Act and
the Foreigners Registration
Rules. It said Bowman, who has
applied for a visa to do business
in Myanmar, was charged with
alleged offense.
The short statement seemed
to imply that failure to properly
register her address automati-
also detained and charged with
abetting the failure to register
the proper address, and a
second charge similar to his
cally put her in violation of the wife’s. AP

THREE journalists went on

trial Thursday in Finland on
charges of revealing national
defence secrets for allegedly
publishing classified docu-
ments in a newspaper article.
The December 16, 2017, arti-
cle in daily newspaper Hels-
ingin Sanomat focused on the
activities of the Finnish Intel-
ligence Research Center, a mili-
tary intelligence agency. The
investigative report revealed
the rough location and tasks of
an intelligence unit of the de- Kaius Niemi, centre, speaks with his lawyer, prior to a hearing of the Helsingin
fense forces. Sanomat Finnish Intelligence Research Center court case in Helsinki on Thursday
Reporters Tuomo Pietilaina
and Laura Halmi, and the pa- first story drew criticism. On fice of Prime Minister Man-
per’s acting manager at the Thursday, a prosecutor demand- asseh Sogavare accused West-
time, Kalle Silfverberg, have ed the removal of the online ver- ern journalists of trying to
denied wrongdoing. sion of the original story from ‘engineer regime change’. It also
If convicted, they face prison the newspaper’s website, MTV accused the media of ‘contain-
sentences of up four years, ac- said. ing China and spreading anti-
cording to Finnish broadcaster Meanwhile, the Solomon Is- China sentiments’, while rais-
MTV. The trio was not present lands has threatened to ban or ing the threat of deportation.
at the District Court of Helsinki deport foreign journalists for Targeting an ABC report
but are scheduled to testify at ‘disrespectful and demeaning’ about rising Chinese influence
the end of November, MTV coverage, fuelling concerns in the Solomon Islands, the
reported. about democratic backsliding in statement accused the Austral-
A planned follow-up article the Pacific nation as its alliance ian public broadcaster of “ra-
was not published on the order with China deepens. cial profiling, racism and racial
of the editor-in-chief after the In a lengthy statement, the of- stereotyping”. Agencies

Police officer axed for delay in taking on

school gunman
UVALDE: The Uvalde school district has fired police chief Pete
Arredondo under mounting pressure in the grieving Texas town
to punish officers for hesitating for over an hour to storm a
classroom and take down the gunman who killed 19 children
and two teachers. In a unanimous vote, the Uvalde
Consolidated Independent School District’s board of trustees
fired Arredondo during a meeting also attended by parents and
survivors of the May 24 massacre. Arredondo, who was not
present, is the first officer to lose his job following one of the
deadliest classroom shootings in US history. His ouster came
three months to the day after the tragedy and less than two
weeks before students return to school in Uvalde. The crowd
cheered following the vote, and some parents walked away in
tears. Outside, several Uvalde residents called for other officers
to be held accountable. Arredondo, who has been on leave
from the district since June 22, has come under the most
intense scrutiny of the nearly 400 officers who rushed to school
but waited more than 70 minutes to confront the 18-year-old
gunman in the fourth-grade classroom at Robb Elementary
School. Most notably, Arredondo was criticised for not ordering
officers to act sooner. Col. Steve McCraw, director of the Texas
Department of Public Safety, has said Arredondo was in charge
of the law enforcement response to the attack.
Government of Odisha
“e” Procurement Notice
OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER,
RAYAGADA(R&B) DIVISION NO -I
E-mail lD:sepwdrgdal@gmail.com
Bid Identification No: RC (RANDB) RGD 06/ 2022-23 (Online tender)
B-504 File No .E-II-C8- 28/2022 No. 1551 Dated 16.08.2022
1. No. of the works:- 02(Two) only Building Works
2. Estimated Cost: - Rs.55,93,037/-; Rs.87,84,973/-
3. Cost of document:- Rs.10,000/-
4. Bid Security (EMD- declaration .): Bid Security Declaration.
5. Class of Contractor :- ‘B’ & ‘A’
6. The Bid documents will be available in the website www.tendersodisha.gov.in
from11.00 Hrs. of dated 26.08.2022 to 17.00 Hrs. of dated 5.09.2022 for online
bidding.
7. Last date/Time for receipt of bids in the portal: - Upto 17.00 Hrs. of
Dated 05.09.2022
8. Bids received “on-line” shall be opened at 11.00 Hours on dated 06.09.2022 in
the office of the Superintending Engineer, Rayagada (R&B) Division No-I.
9. Further details can be seen from the e-Procurement portal: “www.tendersod-
isha.gov.in”. Any Addendum/Corrigendum/Cancellation of tender can also be
seen in the said website only.
Sd/- Superintending Engineer
AP OIPR- 34040/11/0012/2223 Rayagada (R&B) Division No-I

10 BHUBANESWAR
Govt eases norms to deploy 5G infra
Telecom licencees will be able to use street infra to deploy equipment at a nominal cost
R A K E S H K U M A R @ New Delhi
IN a bid to expedite the roll out
of 5G networks in the country,
the Department of Telecommu-
nications announced amend-
ments to the Right of Way (RoW)
including simplifying applica-
tion procedures for small cell.
As per the amendment, the
telecom licencees will be able to
use street infrastructure to de-
ploy telecom equipment at a
nominal cost of `150 annually
in rural areas and `300 annually
in urban areas. To facilitate
faster fiberisation, street infra-
structure may be utilised at a
nominal cost of `100 annually
to install overground optical
fibre.
While announcing the change,
telecom minister Ashwani
Vaishnaw said that 5G requires
more towers, poles, fibre, and
LOAN APPS
Google
removes 2K
lending apps
from PlayStore
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
@ New Delhi
GOOGLE has removed more
than 2,000 loan apps from its
Android Play Store since Janu-
ary 2022, as these apps did not
meet with the company’s
policy.
“These two thousand apps
were from India’s playstore. If
the app doesn’t meet our goal or
it doesn’t meet our policy, we
are going to act on it,” said
Saikat Mitra, senior director,
and head of trust and safety at
Google Asia-Pacific.
Mitra further said the com-
pany collects the data itself,
evaluates and then collates it
from offline, third-party sourc-
es. This information could in-
clude details such as acts of
customer harassment over
phone calls made by these in-
stant loan service providers.
Google was forced to take ac-
tion after several started sur-
facing regarding instant loan
apps on mobile app stores.
These instant loan apps usually
target people from low-income
groups by offering loans of an-
ywhere between `2,000 and
`10,000. They charge a high in-
terest rate, as high as 50% per
annum.
As per an Reserve Bank In-
dia (RBI) estimate, there were
over 1,100 such apps available
for Indian Android users across
80 application stores (till last
year). According to RBI, out of
these as many as 600 were ille-
gal apps. ED is believed to be
investigating over 300 of them.
Bank credit in Apr-Jun grows 14.2%,
highest since Dec 2016 quarter
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
@ New Delhi
BANK credit offtake in the
April-June 2022 period grew at
14.2%, registering the highest
quarterly growth since the De-
cember 2016 quarter.
RBI data shows credit offtake
in urban and metropolitan ar-
eas grew at a healthy 18%, and
13.2%, respectively. Rural and
Semi-urban areas also saw dou-
ble-digit credit growth of 11.6%
and 15.3%, respectively. Public
sector banks, which account
for most of the large corporate
and infrastructure sector lend-
ing, saw their loan portfolio
grow by 11.5%, the first quar-
terly double-digit growth in
over 5 years. Private sector
banks reported a healthy 18%
growth during the quarter.
Double-digit credit growth in
a quarter is piece of good news
for the economy as it hints at
revival in capex as well as retail
FRIDAY
bandwidth. Therefore, the cost
of application for seeking per-
mission to deploy telecom infra-
structure has been capped in all
states.
The minister also said 5G
services will be launched by Oc-
tober and after that the govern-
ment will rapidly scale up (the
5g infra) to sub-urban and rural
areas. “We expect investment of
about `2.5-3 lakh crore to come
into the sector. This will lead to
good employment generation,”
Delhi HC rejects WhatsApp,
Facebook appeals against CCI
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
@ Bengaluru
THE Delhi High Court on
Thursday dismissed appeals
filed by Facebook (now known
as Meta) and WhatsApp against
the Competition Commission
of India (CCI)’s decision for a
probe into WhatsApp’s updated
privacy policy of 2021.
A bench of Chief Justice
Satish Chandra Sharma and
Justice Subramonium Prasad
said the appeals were devoid of
merits. This refusal now paves
the way for the CCI to proceed
with its investigation.
WhatsApp and its parent
company Facebook had ap-
pealed challenging a single-
judge bench order which al-
lowed CCI to proceed with a
probe against the platform’s
updated privacy policy 2021.
The judge had said that al-
though it would have been pru-
dent for the CCI to await the
outcome of the petitions in the
Supreme Court and the Delhi
HC against WhatsApp’s new
privacy policy, not doing so
would not make the regulator’s
Ethereum set for upgrade, experts advise users to be alert for scam
U M A K A N N A N @ Bengaluru
THE most-hyped Ethereum
Merge, one of the most antici-
pated ones in the crypto indus-
try, is all set to be completed by
September 20. This is said to be
a milestone in blockchain tech-
nology and that it will bring in
significant changes and up-
grades to the Ether protocol.
Ethereum, the largest smart
contract capable blockchain, is
transitioning from Proof-of-
Work (PoW) consensus method
of setting transactions to Proof-
of-Stake (PoS). This technical
upgrade to the blockchain is
known as The Merge. This up-
grade has been in talks for
many years now as Ethereum
Bank credit/deposit growth
14.2%
10.8%
10.2%
9.5%
Apr-Jun Jan-Mar
2022 2022
consumption. It gets even bet-
ter for the second quarter in a
row, the credit offtake showed
double-digit growth. In the
March quarter, credit offtake
had grown by 10.8%. The last
time credit growth had regis-
tered a double-digit growth in 2
or more consecutive months
was 3 years ago in the April-
June 2022 quarter. Analysts feel
26 08 2022
� �
Cost to deploy telecom
infra capped in all states
NewDelhi: Ashwani Vaishnaw said
that 5G requires more towers,
poles, fibre, and bandwidth.
Therefore, the cost of application
for seeking permission to deploy
telecom infrastructure has been
capped in all states
said Vaishnaw. Citing industry
feedback, the minister said that
investments to the tune of
`50,000-60,000 crore have already
been made, and most of the `3
lakh crore investment would be
made in the next 18-24 months.
Claiming that the telecom in-
dustry is giving equal impor-
tance to rural areas and urban
areas, he predicted that the 5G
services will reach almost all
parts of the country in the next
2-3 years. The Cellular Operator
order perverse or wanting of
jurisdiction.
In January 2021, the CCI had
decided to look into WhatsApp’s
updated privacy policy based
on news reports, as the messag-
ing platform’s policy would al-
low it to share data concerning
user interaction with its parent
company Facebook. This was
violative of the Competition
Act 2020.
Instant messaging platform
WhatsApp said it voluntarily
agreed to put on hold the policy
till a data protection law is en-
acted. The CCI had contended
that WhatsApp has not stopped
the implementation of its con-
tentious privacy policy. It said
that sharing of data would give
undue advantage to WhatsApp
What is The Merge and
what upgrade it is doing
BENGALURU: Ethereum is
transitioning from Proof-of-Work
(PoW) consensus method of
setting transactions to Proof-of-
Stake (PoS). This technical
upgrade to the blockchain is
known as The Merge
is the second largest cryptocur-
rency after Bitcoin.
“The upgrade is crucial as it
cuts down over 99% of energy
consumption which can take it
away from the radar of govern-
ments trying to impose duties
on energy-intensive mining,”
explained Edul Patel, CEO and
Credit growth (%) Deposit growth (%)
10.1%
10%
9.6%
8.4%
7%
6%
Oct-Dec Jul-Sept Apr-Jun
2021 2021 2021
while the corporate sector is
still cautious of capex and
hence slow in absorbing credit,
it is the SME and retail sector
that will drive the credit
growth. In a recent report Ko-
tak Securities said many PSU
banks have turned more con-
structive on growing their bal-
ance sheet because outlook on
asset quality has improved.
Association of India (COAI), a
body representing all the three
private telecom operators wel-
comed the government’s move.
Lt. Gen. SP Kochhar, Director
General, COAI, said the amend-
ment in the Indian Telegraph
Right of Way (Amendment)
Rules, 2022 will ensure speedy
roll-out of the technology and
make the dream of 5G enabled
India come true.
“Access to the existing infra-
structure, deployment of new
infrastructure, and the high
cost involved in it were major
challenges the telecom sector
always came across which will
now be eased down,” he added.
Jaideep Ghosh, COO in law firm
Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas
said bringing RoW on a single
platform, along with other ele-
ments of telecom networks, is a
leapfrog step for India.
They challenged CCI prove
against privacy policy
BENGALURU: WhatsApp and its
parent company Facebook had
appealed challenging a single-
judge bench order, which allowed
CCI to proceed with a probe
against the platform’s updated
privacy policy 2021
and its parent company.
It said that dealing with
WhatsApp’s new privacy policy
could lead to excessive data col-
lection of consumers.
Neelambera Sandeepan,
Partner, Lakshmikumaran and
Sridharan Attorneys said, “The
High Courts and the Supreme
Court have been quite clear
that they will not interfere with
the CCI’s order to investigate
anti-competitive practices. This
order is in-line with the Courts’
precedents.”
He said, “Given that the CCI’s
process of investigation does
not determine the rights of the
parties involved, this position
prevents the parties from stall-
ing the investigation by use of
judicial process.”
co-founder of Mudrex, a crypto
investing platform.
The crypto has cleared its re-
sistance at $1,650 and started
travelling towards $1,800.
Ethereum might also surge
above the $2,000 level in the
coming days before the Merge,
he added.
EMPLOYMENT
Flexible hours,
WFH will be
future need: PM
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
@ New Delhi
FLEXIBLE work hours, partic-
ularly for women, will be the
future need along with flexible
workplaces and work-from-
home, Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi said on Thursday ad-
dressing the two-day long
Labour Ministers conference
being held in Tirupati.
“We can use systems like
flexible workplaces as opportu-
nities for women labour force
participation,” he said. “By
making the right use of women
power, India can achieve its
goals faster,” said the Prime
Minister.
He also noted that the Emer-
g e n cy C r e d i t G u a r a n t e e
Scheme, according to a study,
saved 1.5 crore jobs during the
pandemic.
Now, S&P
Ratings points
at high debts
of Adanis
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
@ New Delhi
YET another rating agency has
raised flags against the high
debts of Adani Group. S&P Glo-
bal Ratings on Thursday said
that Asia’s richest billionaire
Gautam Adani’s group, which
has grown on acquisitions, has
fairly solid fundamentals but
debt-funded future acquisitions
can start putting pressure on
ratings.
“If you look at the rated enti-
ties (of Adani group), like Ada-
ni Ports, their business funda-
mental is fairly solid. Port
business is generating healthy
cash flows. Where, probably,
the risk could lie for the group
is, some of the acquisitions it is
doing. Some of the recent ac-
quisitions that we are seeing
are largely debt-funded and
that is taking away the head-
room,” S&P Global Ratings
Senior Director (Infrastructure
Ratings) Abhishek Dangra said
at a webinar.
He added any future acquisi-
tion that the group does at the
current pace can start putting
pressure on its ratings.
Adani Group recently for-
ayed into the cement sector
with a $10.5 billion acquisition
of Holcim’s India units (ACC
and Ambuja Cemennt), plans to
set up a 4.1 mtpa integrated alu-
mina refinery and a 30 mtpa
iron ore beneficiation plant in
Odisha that could cost over
`58,000 crore among other
things. Most of this expansion
has been funded by debt. The
Group’s combined gross debt
reached a new high of `2.22
lakh crore at the end of FY21-
22, up 42% from `1.57 lakh crore
a year ago. “Currently we see
that the risks can be managed
if the group manages the
growth ambitions or the fund-
ings,” said Dangra.
This will set the stage for fur-
ther scalability upgrades bring-
ing Ethereum one step closer to
achieving the full scale, secu-
rity and sustainability outlined
in its Ethereum vision, said Ra-
jagopal Menon, Vice President,
WazirX. He added that as we ap-
proach The Merge of Ethereum
mainnet, we advice the users to
be on high alert for scams try-
ing to take advantage of users
during this transition.
Talking about it, Arjun Red-
dy, CTO, Guardian Link said
once the merge has occurred,
mining will be truly democra-
tised and that no industrial
equipment or megawatt level
power will be required.
According to the Ethereum
Govt amends law to
enable wheat export ban
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
@ New Delhi
THE government on Thursday
approved a proposal for amend-
ment of the policy of exemp-
tion for wheat from export re-
strictions, which will enable
the authorities to put restric-
tions on the export of the
grain.
The government be-
lieves the decision will
ensure food security
for 1.4 billion people of
the country. “The Cabi-
net Committee on Eco-
nomic Affairs, chaired by
the Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, has approved the propos-
al for amendment of policy of
exemption for wheat or meslin
flour (HS Code 1101) from ex-
port restrictions/ ban,” said
the government in a statement.
Earlier, there was a policy not
to prohibit or put any restric-
tions on the export of wheat
Market 310.71
MARKET
Sensex 58,774.72
Watch 82.50 Nifty
newindianexpress com
SINGTEL TO SELL
3.3% AIRTEL STAKE
TO SUNIL MITTAL
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
@ New Delhi
SINGTEL (Singapore Tele-
communications Ltd.) has
decided to sell its 3.3% stake
in Bharti Airtel to Bharti
Enterprises Chairman Su-
nil Mittal for an amount of
`12,900 crore.
With this deal, Singtel’s
holding in Bharti Airtel
will come down to 29.7%
from 31.4%. The Mittal fam-
ily’s current effective hold-
ing in Bharti Airtel is
24.13%. The stake sale by
Singtel comes as part of a
broader restructuring by
Singtel. It had last month
offloaded its stake partly in
Airtel Africa
“Singtel and its affiliates
have entered into an agree-
ment to transfer 3.33%
shares to BTL (Bharti Tel-
ecom Limited) for an aggre-
gate amount of about SGD
2.25 billion, leaving direct
shareholding of Singtel and
Bharti in Airtel at 10% and
6%, respectively. The acqui-
sition is to be completed
over a period of 90 day,”
said Bharti Airtel in a
statement.
Singtel and Bharti Group
have been partners for over
two decades and the Singa-
pore-based communication
technology group is divest-
ing a portion of its stake to
fund its 5G capex and other
growth plans over the next
EXPRESS READ
Ex-CEA K Subramanian
appointed ED IMF
NEWDELHI: The government on
Thursday appointed former chief
economic advisor Dr.
Krishnamurthy Subramanian as
executive director (India) of the
international monetary
fund (IMF) with effect from
November 1, 2022.
He will be taking over current
ED Surjit Bhalla, whose tenure
was cut short by 9 days.
Bhalla’s had joined IMF executive
board on 9 November 2019
for three-year
period. ENS
Foundation, The Merge repre-
sents the joining of the existing
execution layer of Ethereum
(the mainnet we use today)
with its new PoS consensus lay-
er, the Beacon Chain.
Merger of one of the original
blockchain systems might be
saddening for investors global-
ly as Ethereum is considered a
brand in itself, said Sathvik
Vishwanath, Co-Founder &
CEO, Unocoin.
However, he added that this
is a progressive step towards
making crypto and decentrali-
sation globally acceptable, and
creating and managing makes
it easier for backward coun-
tries with limited power
supply.
flour. However, the conflict be-
tween Russia and Ukraine led
to the global wheat supply
chain disruptions, increasing
demand for Indian wheat.
As a result, the price of wheat
in the domestic market in-
creased. “The approval will
now allow a restriction on the
export of wheat flour, which
will ensure a curb on ris-
ing prices of the staple
and ensure food secu-
rity of the most vulner-
able sections of the so-
c i e t y, ” s a i d t h e
government.
Due to the prohibition
on export of wheat (which was
done to put a check on increas-
ing prices in domestic market
and ensure food security), the
demand for wheat has in-
creased in foreign markets and
its exports have registered a
growth of 200% during April-
July 2022 as against the corre-
sponding period in 2021.
FOREX
Dollar 79.97
17,522.45 Euro 79.67
Singtel’s holding
With this deal, Singtel’s
holding in Bharti Airtel will
come down to 29.7% from
31.4%. The Mittal family’s
current effective holding in
Bharti Airtel is 24.13%
few years.
The Mittal family and
Singtel are co-investors in
Bharti Telecom, the pro-
moter holding companies
in Bharti Airtel with 50.56%
and 49.44%, respectively.
Additionally, the Mittal
family and Singtel directly
own 6.04% and 13.8% stakes,
respectively, in Airtel.
Bharti Airtel’s current mar-
ket capitalisation is over
`4.15 trillion.
Airtel share closed near-
ly 0.28% lower at 736.6 on
Thursday on the BSE. In
the last one month, the com-
pany’s share has appreci-
ated 7.68%. After the an-
nouncement of the deal,
Airtel’s share rose substen-
tially, but it fell soon after
on close.
Rupee falls by 6 paise to
79.92 against dollar
NEWDELHI: The rupee declined by
6 paise to close at 79.92 after
moving in a narrow range against
the US dollar on Thursday due to
firm crude oil prices and losses in
the domestic equity markets. A
weak dollar in the overseas arkets
ahead of a speech by the US
Federal Reserve chief on Friday
and forex inflows into equities
helped the local unit restrict
losses. At the interbank foreign
exchange market, the domestic
currency opened at 79.80 per
dollar. PTI
Govt says I-T
refunds up
78%; denies
reports of delay
D I PA K M O N D A L @ New Delhi
AMID delays in income tax re-
funds, the government has said
that refunds issued so far this
year are far more than the cor-
responding period of the pre-
ceding year.
The income tax department
told TNIE that for FY 22-23, re-
funds of `93,618 have been is-
sued up to August 24, 2022,
compared to refunds of `52,408
issued in the corresponding pe-
riod of the preceding year,
marking an increase of over
78%. Many income tax profes-
sionals and lawyers TNIE
talked to said that there has
been delays in refunds in many
cases, but they could not pin-
point the reason for the delay.
“Returns processing takes
place at CPC Bengaluru. Issue
is there in their process. Not
sure what protocols they follow,
but it (refund) is being delayed
this year,” said a chartered
accountant.
Another tax professional told
TNIE that despite the I-T de-
partment’s claim that they are
issuing refunds in 7-10 days
from the day of return fillings,
they have not been able to do so
in many cases. In many cases,
the processing of the return is
taking a lot longer– almost a
month -- even if there are no
anomalies in the return.
 Lewandowski to face
Bayern Munich were placed in the same section as Robert Lewandowski’s Barcelona in
Thursday’s draw for the UEFA Champions League group stage in Istanbul. They will also
come up against Inter Milan in Group C, which is completed by Viktoria Plzen. Reigning
old club Bayern in CL champions Real Madrid will face Celtic as well as RB Leipzig and Shakhtar Donetsk in Group
F. This season’s group stage will begin with the first round of games on September 6 and 7.

11 BHUBANESWAR FRIDAY 26 08 2022

� � newindianexpress com

I deserve to be the president of AIFF: Bhaichung Outsiders to medal

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

contenders, Dhruv &

I N D R A N E E L D A S @ Chennai ation (AIFF) election is getting heights. I have ample experi- the 36 players’ names have been ants and supporters time to re-
interesting. What appeared to ence in sports administration scrapped from the electoral col- draw their plans. The state
“I thoroughly deserve to be the be quite an one-sided affair and my expertise would help.” lege, there were speculations units that had called for a me-
president.” with Kalyan Chaubey, a former Bhutia owns a football over Bhutia’s candida- dia interaction to spell out their

Arjun move upwards

Bhaichung Bhutia
SOMETIMES words are enough
to describe a man’s belief. The
excitement in his voice was pal-
pable. There was a tenor of se-
riousness and a tinge of anxiety
when he spoke about his chanc-
es of winning an election that is
loaded against him. But his
fearsome spirit of not giving up
that was visible during his play-
ing days is still giving hope.
Former India skipper Bhaic-
hung Bhutia believes he is the
harbinger of change that Indi-
an football needs.
The All India Football Feder-
India international and a rul-
ing BJP leader from West Ben-
gal, being the front runner,
things changed after Bhutia
threw his hat in the ring. With
government supporting top
players to actively join sports
administration, Bhutia’s candi-
dature may make things a little
complicated.
“I feel this a great opportuni-
ty to usher in change in Indian
football and its management,”
Bhutia told his daily on Thurs-
day. “I would like to make foot-
ball in the country more vibrant
and help to take it to new
team and is also in- ture. With Bhutia’s name intent — apparently for a unan-
volved with Sikkim proposed and seconded imous election — hit a road-
Football Federation. by two states — Andhra block. The word number doesn’t
“I don’t need any mo- Football Association and rattle Bhutia much either. “I am
tivation to get into Rajasthan Football Asso- not perturbed. It is up to them A N M O L G U R U N G @ Chennai
something that will ciation — the plot has (state units) now. All I know is
help the sport grow,” thickened and become what I have done for the sport WITH PV Sindhu missing and three main contenders in the
he said. “The sport is Bhaichung Bhutia more intriguing. As and it is time they think about same half of the men’s singles draw, the build-up to the BWF
my life. It has given things stand, most of it. What I can bring in to the ta- World Championships, as far as Indian supporters were con-
me everything and I firmly be- the state units are still backing ble and how I can help the sport cerned, was a damper. But despite that, the contingent boasted
lieve that this is the best thing I Chaubey and until Wednesday, grow too. Hopefully, they will some promising players who could spring a surprise or two.
can do. I have given my life to election looked unanimous. realise it. The SC had earlier MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila’s, playing in the marquee event
football and I want to give back As soon as Bhutia entered the said that there should be 50 per for the second time together, run so far is a case in point. The
to the sport.” contest, because of his name cent reservation and I hope and second-ranked Indian men’s doubles pair, relatively a new face
Until Wednesday, the nomina- and stature, there is a small feel this should happen in fu- on the elite circuit, have notched up three wins with their latest
tion for AIFF elections seemed pause. Not a deathly pause, but ture.” said the 45-year-old. victory coming on Thursday. More notably, they now have a
pretty straightforward. Since one that would give the contest- Full story: newindianexpress.com chance to become pathbreakers by becoming the first men’s
pair from the country to medal at the event.

Gaurav busy shaping young golfers

SWA R O O P SWA M I N AT H A N @ Chennai
THERE has been a familiar
face competing at the TNGF
Cosmo golf course in Chennai.
Gaurav Ghei, one of the coun-
try’s original poster boys in
golf. In 1996, he had become the
first from the country to fea-
ture at a Major (The Open) at a
time when not many knew
there was a Major in the sport.
He’s also one of the first to
have won on the Asian Tour.
Thanks to the passage of time,
he is now content playing on
the PGTI, where he’s not a reg-
ular. He says ‘I’m not a full-
time player’ (one of the last
tournaments he played was a
s e n i o r p l aye r s ’ eve n t i n
Thailand).
When he’s not looking for the
best angles for his tee shot,
Ghei, 53, also wears other caps:
coach and an administrator. It’s
obvious that he’s excited about
his second career. “We are see-
ing a change in the attitude
(about golf) not just among the
corporates but in the govern-
ment also,” he says. “I’m in-
volved with the Delhi Golf So-
After upsetting the eight-seeded Danish pair of Kim Astrup
EXPRESS READ and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen in the second round, the In-
dian duo put up another fighting show to overcome Singapore’s
Durand Cup: Army Green Jehan hopes to get his F2 Hee Yong Kai Terry and Loh Kean Hean 18-21, 21-15, 21-16 in the
held by Sudeva Delhi campaign back on track third round, thereby ensuring a
ciety which is the state body for N Srinivasan started sponsor- spot in the quarterfinals.
New Delhi. We have just started ing me since 1993, I have been GUWAHATI: Army Green wasted SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS: Indian The Indian duo are reaping the PRANNOY BEATS
a junior excellence programme an employee since 1996. What chances in the second half to play racer Jehan Daruvala will be benefits of facing some of the elite LAKSHYA
and it has received some fund- makes it more special is I have out a goalless draw against heading to the iconic Spa- players in the circuit in recent Upbeat after beating
ing from the government. I met never had another sponsor. Sudeva Delhi FC in their Group D Francorchamps track this times. They had been playing with former World No 1 Kento
the sports secretary and she “Chennai is also special be- Durand Cup match here at the weekend hoping his Prema Racing an open mind and learning on the Momota, HS Prannoy had
has sanctioned `25 lakh for jun- cause I remember playing a Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium on team has turned the page on its job under the guidance of India’s another stiff test on
ior golf development. People tournament here as an ama- Thursday. Meanwhile, recent struggles as the Formula 2 doubles coach Mathias Boe. Thursday. He was up
are now more aware. teur in 1990. I finished second heavyweights East Bengal were championship returns from the “In the past six months or so, we against a familiar face in
“I’m very excited to be part and that’s really what gave me held to a goal-less draw by summer break. “I’ve had a good have played top-10 players on a reg- Lakshya Sen. Prannoy
of something like this where the belief that I could play as a Rajasthan United in a fast-paced break at home with my family ular basis. We have lost close match- won 17-21, 21-16, 21-17 to
you are seeing junior golfers professional.” Durand Cup match at the Kishore and I feel rested, rejuvenated and es. We think we are very close, but I advance to quarterfinals
coming up (he’s general secre- Ghei has seen better days Bharati Krirangan (KBK). ready to go,” Jehan said. think we need more experience. We and will take on Zhao Jun
tary at the Society). I know and tournaments. His score for have to learn to cope during crucial Peng of China next. Saina
what it’s like to play with a
care-free attitude, knowing you
the tournament is a three-over,
putting him on tied-48th. But Erigaisi wins Abu Dhabi International situations of the match and we are Nehwal, meanwhile, went
working on it right now,” Dhruv down fighting (21-17,
have a good support system in then Ghei, by his own admis- had told this daily after the Thomas 16-21, 21-13) against
place.” sion, isn’t a ‘full-time player’. EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE few — and a title in Abu Dhabi Cup success. Thailand’s Busanan
That support system he men- He will keep playing till the fire @ Chennai would have elevated the des- Thursday was a tight contest and Ongbamrungphan.
tions is one reason why he cher- is burning bright but he’s al- sert to a MasterChef-worthy they were on the backfoot after con-
ishes the special Chennai con- ready identified a new chal- FOR much of the ninth game product. Just one problem. ceding the first game. What followed
nect. He has been sponsored by lenge for himself. Shaping the at the Abu Dhabi International Spain’s David Guijarro was was evidence that the duo had learnt a great deal from recent
India Cements since 1993. “Mr fortunes of the next-gen. Chess Festival, Arjun Erigaisi proving to be an obdurate op- experiences. The duo, who joined hands in 2019, retained their
had made his peace. Another ponent. But he blundered with calm and bounced back immediately to level the tie. They were
Thangaraja sole leader with one round to go of the teens taking the world his king in the 63rd move. Eri- happy to engage in long rallies, forcing their opponents into
of chess by storm, Erigaisi gaisi, with white pieces, spot- making mistakes. With momentum on their side, Dhruv and
On an excellent day for golf, N Thangaraja struck one of the 11 eagles to jump into sole lead needed a win on the final day to
ted the error and smothered Arjun had found a template to follow. They continued to stay
with just one round to go at the PGTI Chennai Open. The Sri Lankan returned a solid five- win the event.
his opponent. Four moves later, calm and were ready to defend what was thrown at them with
under 67 to be on -16, one ahead of India's Manu Gandas. To go with the eagle on the par 5 He had already scaled a few
the 18-year-old made the Span- some sharp play in front of the net. They also unleashed some
fourth hole, the 41-year-old Thangaraja struck two bogeys in the out nine but four birdies in peaks over the last month — a
iard yield. His last month has big smashes, winning crucial points in the process. In the end,
the in nine kept him on top of the leaderboard. silver medal on Board 3 at the
propelled him to No 24 in the Dhruv killed the contest with a perfect smash. They’ll need that
LEADERBOARD (AFTER THREE RDS, TOP FIVE): 1. N Thangaraja -16, 2. Manu Olympiad and crossing an world with an live rating of killer instinct when they take on Mohammad Ahsan and Hen-
Gandas -15, Abhijit Chadha -14, Karandeep Kochhar - 12, 5. Khalin Joshi -11. ELO rating of 2700 to name a 2724.6. dra Setiawan of Indonesia. Full story: newindianexpress.com

OFFICE OF THE PANCHAYAT SAMITI, OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR

LAXMIPUR, DIST- KORAPUT ROURKELA GOVT. HOSPITAL
Letter No. 2102/2022 Dated.19.08.2022 E-Mail: directorrghrourkela@gmail.com, Phone/Fax: (0661) 2401946
TENDER CALL NOTICE Tender Ref No. – NIRMAL /TENDER/RGH/1 Dt. 24th Aug 2022
F-219: Seal tenders are invited from Registered Contractor from state OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR, ROURKELA GOVT.
PWD/M.I./ Irrigation/ Rural works for execution of Buildings etc. The HOSPITAL REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
detail information of which are made available in Koraput Dist. Web- E-418: Rourkela Govt. Hospital invites request for proposal
site i.e. http//www.koraput.nic.in & in DRDA Website http//www. towards “SELECTION OF AGENCY FOR PROVDING DIFFERENT
drdakoraput.org. MANPOWER SERVICES LIKE PATIENT ATTENDANT AND OTHER
The date and time of sale of Tender paper is from Dtd.26.08.2022 MANPOWER”. The RFP documents will be available from 25th
to 16.09.2022 up to 5.30 PM and receipt of Seal tender is from August 2022 to 14th September 2022 on www.sundergarh.nic.in .
Dtd.26.08.2022 to 16.09.2022 up to 5.30 PM on working days. Please refer the RFP documents for further details.
Tender will be opened on Dtd.17.08.2022 (Saturday) at 11.30 Sd/- Director
Rourkela Govt. Hospital OIPR- 10158/11/0003/2223
AM onwards in the Video Conference Hall of Block Office, Lax-
mipur.
Sd/- Block Development Officer, Laxmipur CUTTACK DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
OIPR-19158/11/0006/2223

"e" PROCUREMENT NOTICE

Tender ID : 2022_CDACU_80716
SPORTS HOSTEL, BRAHMAPUR Tender Call Notice No, 8705, CDA
Sports and Youth Services Department, Government of Odisha CAD-1605 Date.24.08.2022
E-mail-shbrahmapur@gmail.com/Telephone No-0680-2228522
No of Works : 2 Nos
Letter No.191/SHB Dated-25.08.2022 Bid Value : Rs. 64.90 Lakhs to Rs.122.59 Lakhs
Period of Completion: Two Calendar Months to Four
TENDER CALL NOTICE Calendar Months
TT-16: Sealed Quotations are invited from the Manufactures/ Date and Time schedule :
Dealers/Agency/ Suppliers for supply of Dress Materials,
Shoes Materials & Game Equipments for use of the in- Start End Opening
mates of Sports Hostel, Berhampur. The last date of receipt 10.00 AM on 4.00 PM on 12:30 P.M. on
of quotation is 06.09.2022 at 3.00 PM and will be opened on dt. 30.08.2022 dt.13.09.2022 dt.17.09.2022
06.09.2022 at 4.00 PM. At:-District Sports Office, Ganjam,
Chatrapur Stadium. The details Term & Condition in this re- Tender Details: can be seen from the procurement
gard can be downloaded from the website of Ganjam Collec- portal : www.tendersorissa.gov.in
torate i.e. www.ganjam.nic.in or obtain from the Dist. Sports Sd/-
office Ganjam, Chatrapur and also Office of the Coach-in- Engineer Member
Charge Sports Hostel, Berhampur. OIPR-13037/11/0103/2223 CDA,Cuttack
The authority reserve the right to reject any or all quota-
tions or cancel the entire process without assigning any reason
thereof.
By Order of Collector,Ganjam
Sd/-Coach in Charge
OIPR-29015/11/0004/2223 Sports Hostel, Berhampur.
 A crippling drought exacerbated by a record heatwave A group that represents cultural organisations
has spread across half of China and reached the in Germany criticised climate activists for
normally frigid Tibetan Plateau, according to official gluing themselves to the frames of famous
data released ahead of more searing temperatures paintings in museums

12 BHUBANESWAR FRIDAY 26 08 2022

� � newindianexpress com

Now, fertiliser EX-EXEC’S INFO GIVES MUSK LAWYER A SHOT

poses a risk as
TECH security gaps and problematic Zatko in a 90-minute hearing on over the mercurial billionaire. counts.Twitter lawyer Bradley
practices had bolstered their what data the firm should be Yet Zatko’s whistleblower com- Wilson countered that the com-
SAN FRANCISCO: Elon Musk’s case, which has struggled for mo- forced to handover ahead of their plaint to US authorities, which pany deceived nobody, and that

grain prices drop

lawyers jumped Wednesday on
the revelations of a Twitter
whistleblower to try to force the
platfor m to surrender vast
amounts of information for their
fight to cancel the billionaire’s
Price of wheat reached a peak in mid-May, buyout bid.
The Tesla boss’s team told a US
double the level last year judge the former Twitter securi-
ty chief ’s allegations of major
mentum in court.
Musk has tried to back out of
the $44 billion agreement by say-
ing Twitter misled him on the
number of false or spam ac-
counts, prompting strong denials
and a lawsuit from the social me-
dia firm.
Musk attorney Alex Spiro cited
Twitter whistleblower Peiter
October trial. “The way Mr. Zatko
puts it, management had no ap-
petite to properly measure the
prevalence of bot accounts,”
Spiro told Judge Kathaleen Mc-
Cormick. Twitter won some early
battles in the case, including a
fast-track trial date, and its stock
had risen as analysts have pre-
dicted the platform would prevail
surfaced on Tuesday, has been
seized upon by Musk’s attorneys
to try to gain momentum in the
case. Spiro tried to convince the
judge to order Twitter to hand
over billions of “data points,” in-
cluding user phone numbers and
locations, arguing the informa-
tion is needed to prove Twitter
was dishonest about spam ac-
Musk wants a “do-over” regard-
ing questions he should have
asked before he made his unsolic-
ited buyout offer early this year.
Twitter pointed out that Musk
opted not to perform due dili-
gence seen in merger deals, Spiro
said he trusted the firm’s filings
with Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC).

Russian servicemen stand guard as farmers harvest wheat near Melitopol

AGRICULTURE

PARIS: Grain prices have dropped sharply from the record

highs they reached following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,
but another menace to global food security remains: a short-
age of fertiliser.
The conflict sparked fears of famine in poorer countries
reliant on agricultural goods from Ukraine and Russia, two
nations that were responsible for nearly a third of global
wheat exports last year. Wheat prices reached a peak of near-
ly 440 euros a tonne on the European market in mid-May,
double the level of one year ago, as crucial Ukrainian ship-
ments were stuck at port due to a Russian naval blockade in
the Black Sea.
But prices have fallen to
FERTILISER COSTS A around 300 euros in August.
GROWING PROBLEM “The situation began to
calm down at the end of May,
One of the reasons prices beginning of June with the
have not come down further first reassuring harvest fore-
is the surge in energy prices, casts for Europe and the re-
due to the post-pandemic sumption of Ukrainian ex-
recovery and the war. Higher ports, first by road and rail,
oil prices impact then by sea,” said Gautier Le
transportation costs, while Molgat, analyst at consultancy
natural gas is a feedstock for Agritel.
manufacturing the chemical Kyiv and Moscow reached
fertilisers that most farmers an agreement in July, bro-
now use. With European gas kered by the United Nations
prices soaring above 300 and Turkey, that allowed
euros per megawatt hour, Ukraine to resume grain ship-
compared to an average of 20 ments in the Black Sea. The
euros over the past decades, agreement opened a shipping
“we’ve got a big problem as corridor for 20 million tonnes
it’s untenable for ammonia of maize, wheat and sunflower
manufacturers,” said Nicolas seed oil stocked in Ukraine.
Broutin, head of the French According to the Joint Coor-
subsidiary of Yara, the dination Centre which man-
Norwegian firm which is ages the sea corridor, more
Europe’s largest fertiliser than 720,000 tonnes have al-
producer. Yara announced ready left Ukraine.
Thursday it was reducing once “Thanks to intensive inter-
again its production in Europe national cooperation, Ukraine
of ammonia, which is made is on track to export as much
using hydrogen obtained from as four million metric tonnes
natural gas and which provides of agricultural products in
the nitrogen in synthetic August,” a senior US State De-
fertilisers. The firm will only be partment official said on
using 35 % of its production Tuesday.
capacity in Europe. In addition to more supplies
reaching markets and helping
lower prices, the deal has led to a drop in insurance premi-
ums, reducing transport costs. But the reduction in tensions
is, for the moment, benefitting Ukraine more than Russia,
which is expecting a bumper harvest of 88 million tonnes of
wheat. Russian wheat exports in July and August are run-
ning 27% lower than last year, according to estimates by the
Russian market research firm SovEcon.
That is due to fierce competition on the international grain
market, as well as the strong value of the ruble and a high
Russian export tax. “As a result, farmers remain reluctant
sellers,” said Andrei Sizov, SovEcon’s the managing director.
The low volume of Russian exports is one of the main rea-
sons why wheat prices have remained so high, said Sizov.

Illegal road threatens Amazon

Environment: An illegal dirt road ripping through protected areas
in the Brazilian Amazon is now just a few miles shy of connecting
two of the worst areas of deforestation in the region, according to
satellite images and accounts from people. If the road is
completed it will turn a large area of remaining forest into an
island, under pressure from human activity on all sides.
Environmentalists have been warning about just this kind of
development in the rainforest for decades.