SAMBALPUR l monday l june 03, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l CITY EDITION China’s Chang’e-6 spacecraft lands on Moon’s less explored far side Chang’e-6 lunar probe launched on May 3 successfully landed on the far side of the Moon on Sunday, the Chinese state media reported Equipped to collect and return samples Previous mission found traces of water The Chang’e-6 mission is tasked with collecting and returning samples from the Moon’s far side, the first endeavour of its kind. Its landing site is at an impact crater known as the Apollo Basin, which is relatively flatter than other areas on the far side and is, therefore, conducive to landing. The probe is scheduled to complete sampling within two days ■ ■ China’s earlier mission, the Chang’e 5, brought samples from the Moon’s near side. After analysing the samples, China said they contained water in tiny beads embedded in the lunar dirt Last year, India became the first country to land near the lunar south pole with the successful touchdown of the Chandrayaan-3 lander 2030 When China is planning a manned lunar landing 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 Exit poll projections Govt formation talks in Itanagar to begin on Tuesday, says Chief Minister Pema Khandu BJP keeps power SKM landslide in in Arunachal with Sikkim leaves thumping victory Oppn with just 1 Odisha India TodayAxis My India YSRC Cong India TodayAxis My India 98-120 55-77 0-2 People’s Pulse 111-135 45-60 0 Chanakya.com 55-65 110-120 0 Aaraa 71-81 94-104 0 Exit polls predict big gains for BJP in Odisha Assly, BJD says all false E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e Edge to TDP-BJP-JSP alliance in AP @ Bhubaneswar The BJP’s success may not be restricted to only Lok Sabha seats in Odisha, the party is likely to make huge gains in the Assembly too, if the exit polls hold true. The exit poll released by India Today-Axis My India on Sunday predicted a hung Assembly in Odisha by giving seats in the range of 62-80 for BJD and BJP each. The poll has also predicted 42 per cent vote share for both the parties. The Congress may bag just 5-8 seats and its vote share could drop to 12 per cent, as per the forecast. Another pollster Jan Ki Baat has predicted 58 seats (+-14) for BJP while the ruling BJD is projected to get 81 (+-12). The Congress tally will be 8 (+-2 ). The vote share of BJD will be around 44 per cent with one per cent error of margin compared to 44.71 Vijayawada: If one has to go by the exit polls, the TDP-BJP-JSP alliance is likely to come back to power in Andhra Pradesh. India Today-Axis My India exit poll projected that the TDP-BJP-JSP alliance will win 98-120 seats, while the ruling YSRC party is likely to secure anywhere between 55-77 seats. People’s Pulse predicted that YSRC will get 45-60 seats while TDP and its allies are going to bag 111-135 seats. Hyderabad-based AARA have given an edge to YSRC with 94-104 seats and TDP+ 71- 81. Partha Das-Chanikya’s exit polls predicted that the YSRC party would win 110-120 seats, while TDP and its allies will get 55-65. per cent in 2019. The BJP’s performance will improve substantially with the party getting 42 per cent of the votes with one per cent margin of error. It will be a huge jump of 9.5 per cent for the saffron party The . Congress vote share is predicted to drop to 10 per cent while others will garner only two per cent of the votes, the exit poll stated. The BJD had won 112 seats in 2019 with a vote share of 44.71 per cent. The BJP had got 32.49 per cent of votes with 23 seats. The Congress share was 16.12 per cent with nine seats. The number of seats of BJD had increased to 113 while that of BJP dropped to 22 seats following the bypoll in Balasore. However, the BJD claimed that these projections will be proven after counting of votes on June 4. National spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sasmit Patra said, “Such projections had proved wrong in 2014 and 2019 elections. This time also they will be wrong,” Continued on P5 he said.  Demo Before You Decide! Try the Unique Learning Methodology Developed by Expert Teachers FREE LESSONS On Crucial Topics Physics, Chemistry, Maths & Biology Class 7 to 12 Each lesson has Concept Video Lecture fr Learn om s I n d i a’ BEST ers Teach Solved Video Example Practice Question Skill Development Exercise REGISTER NOW! Available on at tihar jail The interim bail granted by the Supreme Court in the excise policy case ended on June 1. After surrendering, a Delhi court on Sunday sent him to judicial custody till June 5 TDP+ IIT JEE + CBSE + NEET Kejriwal Surrenders PIC: Parveen Negi Cong 8 (+/-2) Scan the QR code for the Registration 9600100090 9600100020 Scan the QR code for further details *Basis lab test in controlled environment on protein damaged hair after five washes Odisha recorded 45 more suspected heatstroke deaths in the last 24 hours taking the death toll to 141 on Sunday . The western districts continued to remain the epicentre even as the state continued to bear the brunt of the blistering conditions. According to the Special Relief Commissioner’s (SRC) office, a total of 99 deaths were reported in the last 72 years. Of the fatalities in the last three days, 20 have been confirmed by collectors of various districts basing on postmortem and joint inquiry reports. It has been ascertained two cases were not due to sunstroke. “During this summer, reports of 141 alleged sunstroke deaths have been reported by various district collectors. So far, 26 deaths have been confirmed due to sunstroke while eight were caused by other reasons,” said the SRC’s office. Around 107 alleged cases are pending inquiry at the district-level. Meanwhile, the met office said heatwave is likely to persist in Odisha for two more days. Heatwave condition is expected to occur in parts of Bargarh, Balangir, Kalahandi, Nuapada and Sonepur districts on Monday . Similarly, heatwave is likely to prevail in Bargarh, Balangir, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Sonepur and Sambalpur districts on Tuesday Slight relief is expected from Wednes. day onwards as the met office has not forecast heatwave condition in the state for the subsequent four days. However, hot and humid weather is expected to prevail in a few districts on Wednesday and Thursday  Continued on P5 . Independent: 3 The Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) on Sunday swept the polls, winning 31 of Sikkim’s 32 seats in the state. The Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), which is the state’s principal opposition party, won the only other seat. The winner here, Tenzing Norbu, was with the SKM earlier. He had joined the SDF after being denied a ticket by the ruling party . The BJP, Congress and the newly-floated Citizen Action Party drew a blank. In 2019, the SKM had won 17 seats as against the SDF’s 15. The SKM is a BJP ally and a constituent of the NDA but they had separately contested Party positions the polls. Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Sikkim Sikkim Singh Tamang (Golay) Krantikari Democratic contested from Rhenock Morcha: Front: total 31 1 and Soreng-Chakung seats and won both. Pawan Kumar Chamling, who had served as chief minister for 25 years, contested from two seats Strength of parties in outgoing assembly — Namcheybung and Poklok-Kamrang. He SKM: 19 | BJP: 12 | SDF: 1 lost both. “The victory is a testament to your belief in the SKM. We will give our best in the next five years,” Tamang told a crowd. Ahead of the polls, former ace footballer Bhaichung Bhutia had merged his Hamro Sikkim Party with the SDF. Some SKM leaders had also deserted the party and joined the SDF. These developments gave rise to a perception that the SKM will face a stiff challenge in the polls. The results belied that perception. The trend in Sikkim is people give a party at least two terms in power. It started with Nar Bahadur Bhandari’s Sikkim Sangram Parishad in 1985. It continued with the SDF and now with the SKM. The SDF always tried to corner the SKM with charges of corruption but they boomeranged in the wake of last year’s glacial lake outburst. The SKM managed to convince the voters that substandard work in the hydropower project carried out by the previous SDF govern ment had caused the disaster. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar BJD 81 (+/-12) Andhra Pradesh The BJP on Sunday retained power in Arunachal Pradesh by winning 46 of the state’s 60 seats. Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma’s National People’s Party (NPP), which is a BJP ally, bagged five seats to emerge as the second largest party. The Nationalist Congress Party won three seats, People’s Party of Arunachal two, Congress one while one seat went to an independent candidate. Earlier, 10 BJP candidates, including Chief Minister Pema Khandu and his deputy Chowna Mein, had won unopposed. The other prominent winners include minisParty positions ters Mama Natung, Arunachal Pradesh Kamlung Mossang, National Indian former Union minister People's National BJP: 46 Congress: 1 Ninong Ering (all from Party: 5 BJP), Kumar Waii (Contotal gress) and Thangwang Wangham (NPP). Ering, who had won the last election on a Congress Nationalist ticket, joined the BJP a Congress People’s Party of few months ago. Arunachal: 2 Party: 3 Former chief minisStrength of parties in ter Gegong Apang (Aruoutgoing assembly nachal Democratic Arunachal (60 seats) Front), former minister Ta b a Te d i r, M L A s BJP + allies: 59 | Congress: 1 Nyamar Karbak, Lombo Tayeng, Kaling Moyong, Kumsi Sidisow (all from BJP) were among the prominent losers. In a post on X, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the BJP workers for their hard work. Chief Minister Pema Khandu expressed gratitude to the people. “It is a historic day for the people of the state and the BJP. We had won 41 seats in 2019 and 46 this time. In politics, there will be anti-incumbency but when the BJP is in power, there will be pro-incumbency,” he said. He added that the win was a reflection of Modi’s development initiatives. Talking about government formation, he said, “All winning candidates will reach Itanagar on June 4 and the party leaders will also come from Delhi. Once the formalities are over, we will stake our claim.” Odisha records 45 more ‘heatstroke’ deaths in last 24 hrs BJD 62-80 Cong 5-8 Pollster P r a s a n ta M a z u m d a r @ Guwahati 60 BJP 58 (+/-14) Jan Ki Baat P r a s a n ta M a z u m d a r @ Guwahati 32 BJP 62-80