SAMBALPUR l sunday l june 21, 2026 l `12.00 l PAGES 26 l CITY EDITION IAS officer elected v-P of global anti-money laundering body Aggarwal’s election a big win: MEA Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal described Aggarwal’s election as a “major win” for India. “The appointment places an Indian official at the apex of the global standard-setting body for antimoney laundering and counter-terrorist financing,” the ministry said. The FATF vice president is elected by delegates from the member countries Union Culture Secretary Vivek Aggarwal was elected as the vice president of the Financial Action Task Force during its plenary in Paris First Indian ever to hold the post ■ ■ It will be the first time an Indian is holding the post. Aggarwal will succeed Giles Thomson from the UK, who was elected FATF president Aggarwal’s appointment puts the focus on Pakistan. India has repeatedly sought to bring Pakistan back onto the FATF “grey list”. Pakistan was removed from the watchlist in October 2022 | P9 200 Jurisdictions sent delegates to paris for the june 17-19 FATF plenary 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 USA’s dream run & ‘historic’ red card USA emulate fellow World Cup co-hosts Mexico to march into the Round of 32 stage of ongoing FIFA World Cup on Friday while Brazil get first win of the tournament. Talking points... Two strong for Oz After an unconvincing build-up, USA have made a dream start to the tournament. Having posted a 4-1 win over Paraguay in the opener, Mauricio Pochettino’s side beat Australia 2-0 to enter the next phase with one game to spare Red card draws attention Paraguay's Miguel Almiron became the first player in WC history to be sent off for covering his mouth during an on-field confrontation under new FIFA rules. Covering his mouth, Almiron appeared to direct a comment at Turkiye's Mert Muldur during the two teams' Group D tie in Santa Clara, California. Paraguay won 1-0. Turkiye, meanwhile, became just the second team to get eliminated Today's matches Three cheers for Selecao Spain vs Saudi Arabia l 9: 30 PM Belgium vs Iran l 12:30 AM* Uruguay vs Cabo Verde l 3:30 AM* New Zealand vs Egypt l 6:30 AM* Five-time champions Brazil also bolstered their chances of entering the knockouts by beating Haiti 3-0. Matheus Cunha was the standout with two goals while Vinicius Junior scored the other goal. Haiti, in the process, were eliminated Monday) Last pen-and-paper exam 22.8 lakh to take NEET retest today Live on United8 Sports & ZEE5 (*IST Odisha remains central to India’s developed nation push, says Modi Country assumed global leadership under Modi: Prez High security measures in place across 95K centres S l a l i t h a @ New Delhi WITH THIS ISSUE The Young Sound Wave PLUS 12 P AGES Op Tiger hits murder case acquittal roadblock MORE than 22.8 lakh medical aspirants will appear for the NEET UG re-examination on Sunday, nearly seven weeks after the original test was cancelled following a question paper leak that triggered nationwide outrage. The re-examination will be held from 2 to 5.15 pm across 551 cities in India and 14 cities abroad. Candidates with disabilities (PwD/PwBD) eligible for compensatory time will be allowed to write the examination till 6.20 pm. Nine states will see more than one lakh candidates each, led by Uttar Pradesh, foll o w e d by M a h a r a s h t r a (2,22,905) and Rajasthan (2,03,470). Lakshadweep has the lowest number with just 141 candidates. As many as 5,401 foreign candidates will also take the test. The Centre has installed 1,38,560 CCTV cameras with live feeds being monitored at national, state and ministry levels. As many as 51,311 jammers have been deployed Our mock drill was a success. We checked working of jammers, CCTVs, seating positions, and biometrics infra NTA Abu Dhabi aspirant’s choice: NTA The NTA on Saturday claimed that the allotment of Abu Dhabi as exam centre for a Nagpur NEET aspirant was done as the request came from the candidate. NTA later alloted Nagpur as his new centre | P9 across the 95,000-plus examination centres to prevent electronic malpractice. A nationwide mega mock drill conducted on Saturday was declared successful. “We checked the working of the jammers, CCTVs, seating arrangements, biometrics and police deployment,” a senior NTA official said. “NTA has put in place a multi-layered security framework, including end-to-end secure handling of confidential materials under sealed protocols, GPS-enabled vehicles with police escorts for movement of examination materials, CCTV surveillance at all examination centres linked to centralised control rooms, and Aadhaar-based biometric authentication,” NTA said. The National Medical Commission has directed all medical colleges under its purview not to grant leave to students on June 20 and 21. The move comes in the backdrop of instances when medical students were found to be involved in illegal activities that affect the exam process. S u d h i r S u r ya w a n s h i @ New Delhi A special CBI court’s verdict acquitting all nine accused in the 2006 Pavanraje Nimbalkar murder case appears to have stalled Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s plan of engineering a second split in the Uddhav faction of the Shiv Sena. Dr Padmasinh Patil, BJP MLA Ranajagjit Sinh Patil’s father, and eight others were accused in the case. The court acquitted them all citing lack of evidence. The verdict left Omprakash Nimbalkar, a Lok Sabha member from the Uddhav Sena camp who was weighing the possibility of defecting to the Shinde group as part of what was called Operation Tiger, furious. “If all accused are acquitted, then who killed my father?” he questioned, adding there has been no closure for his family . Omprakash was among the six of nine Lok Sabha members who skipped a recent parliamentary party meeting called by the Uddhav Sena in Delhi. If he backs off, rebels would be short of the twothirds majority mark in the parliamentary party, botching their proposed merging with the Shinde Sena. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke with supporters at a protest meet in New Delhi on Saturday | Sayantan Ghosh E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar President Droupadi Murmu, PM Narendra Modi and CM Mohan Majhi greet the crowd in Mayurbhanj on Saturday Murmu and Modi used the occasion to launch and inaugurate developmental Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sat- projects worth over `47,000 crore across urday said Odisha’s and India’s aspira- the state. Modi also announced that Prestions were intrinsically connected and ident’s native village Pahadpur will be the state was fully ready to play a pivotal developed as a Solar Village, ensuring sorole in the country’s journey towards be- lar power generation in every household. coming a developed nation. Drawing a parallel with Odisha’s iconic Addressing a massive public gathering Sun Temple at Konark, he expressed conat Dandbose in Mayurbhanj district, fidence that Pahadpur would emerge as Modi, in the presence of President Drou- a model solar-powered village for the padi Murmu, said Odisha is emerging as nation. a gateway to growth and prosperity in “Konark Sun Temple has a unique eastern India. identity In the same way Pahad. , Reiterating the Centre’s vipur will earn the identity of a sion of ‘Development of Eastsolar village. This will provide ern India for the Development free electricity to the villagers of India’, the prime minister and any surplus power generKonark Sun emphasised that the Purvodaya ated will become a source of inTemple has a policy is unlocking the immense unique identity. In come for them,” the PM said. the same way, potential of eastern states. Congratulating the people of “Centre and state governments Pahadpur will earn Odisha and Chief Minister Mothe identity of a are working together to fully han Charan Majhi on the comsolar village harness these strengths through pletion of two years of the BJPrecord investments in railway led government in the state, Narendra Modi, PM infrastructure, highways, ecoModi said the double-engine nomic corridors, ports, energy, government has accelerated the semiconductors, green energy and mod- state’s development journey and is trans, ern industries,” he said. forming the lives of ordinary citizens Modi’s visit to Murmu’s home district through welfare schemes, investments, on her 68th birthday and places where industrial growth and employment she has spent considerable time of her opportunities. life is seen as an assertion of the imporThe state’s flagship investment outtance he lays on the country’s first tribal reach programme, Utkarsh Odisha, had President. Extending birthday greetings attracted investment proposals worth to the President, Modi said, “Odisha’s nearly `20 lakh crore, while mega projects daughter today occupies the highest of- exceeding `3.5 lakh crore were already fice in the nation and continues to guide under implementation, he said emphaus. Her life and work have strengthened sising the government’s focus on indusnot only Mayurbhanj’s identity but also trialisation, infrastructure expansion Continued on P7 Odisha’s pride on the national stage.” and job creation.  B i j o y P r a d h a n @ Bhubaneswar Welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Mayurbhanj district, President Droupadi Murmu said he had not only ushered in an era of good governance and fast-paced development in the country but also put India firmly on the global map. She said that India’s stature on the global stage has risen due to the effective leadership of the prime minister. “The entire world witnessed India’s capabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, when the world is grappling with the unrest and instability of war, India has consistently advocated for conciliation and peace, conveying the message to the global community that solutions to problems are possible only through mutual dialogue, not war,” Murmu said. Murmu also congratulated Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi for completing two years in office. She noted that Odisha has gained significant momentum in the industrial sector over the past two years with the active support of the central government. She also lauded various welfare programmes initiated by the state government for women, farmers, tribals, students and youth. “A new era of welfare and upliftment for the tribal community of Odisha has begun through the joint efforts of the central and state governments,” she stated. Drama at Jantar Mantar as Provide Wi-Fi: DGCA to all airlines CJP refuses to end protest S L a l i t h a @ New Delhi A d i t i R ay C h o w d h u r y @ New Delhi OVER 200 people associated with Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) were still lingering with placards at the Jantar Mantar protest site even as the clock ticked 9 pm on Saturday night. Delhi Police had allowed the protest meet from 1 pm till 5 pm only . In what remained a visibly peaceful protest, determined faces stood firm amid the sweltering heat. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke announced in the evening that the protest will continue till the time the Sonam Wangchuk joins in Climate activist Wangchuk, who has earlier joined two of CJP’s protests, announced that he would go on a hunger-strike from June 27 if the education minister does not resign education minister resigns. The protest was also joined by climate and social activist Sonam Wanchuk. “I request Delhi Police, since youth are here from all over the country they want to , continue the sit-in. The protest has been peaceful, we request Delhi Police to extend our permission. We are innocent students,” Dipke said, appealing to more people to join them at Jantar Mantar. Police, however, refused to allow them to continue, and cited a court order that protests can’t continue after 5 pm, before asking them to leave. Only on 28 AI aircraft Air India website shows in-flight Wi-Fi is avaiable on 28 aircraft— six Boeing 787-9, six Airbus A350900, 10 Airbus A321 and six Boeing 777-300. The retrofit Boeing 787-8s are provisioned to offer Wi-Fi The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has requested that all domestic airlines provide Wi-Fi internet access to their passengers on board. As of date, only 28 Air India aircraft offer such connectivity . Multiple airline executives said it is highly unlikely that the airlines would comply with the request. A communication issued on Friday (June 19) by the Deputy Director General of DGCA, A X Joseph, to the Accountable Manager of all airlines states, “Rule 29B of the Aircraft Rules 1937 allows the use of internet services by passengers on board an aircraft in flight through Wi- Carriers warn of cost An airline executive said, “The expenses for retrofitting will run into crores and the aircraft needs to be pulled out of operations temporarily. It can be considered for new aircraft, but not on exisiting ones” Fi for use of smartphones in flight mode or airplane mode.” It has been issued as a Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) too, it added. IndiGo did not respond to this reporter while Air India Express sought more time to get back on the matter. A SpiceJet source said the air- line has been offering an inflight entertainment system ‘Spice screen’ for all its passengers since August 2020, using which they can view movies and other content available. Asked about the possibility of incorporating Wi-Fi services, an airline source said, “It is not an easy process. The aircraft needs to have antennae to receive a signal. For that, we need to create a hump in the fuselage. It is a costly and time-consuming affair.” Another airline executive said the cost would ultimately be borne by the consumer. “If we add `100 or `200 as Wi-Fi charges, the passenger might even not be interested,” the executive said.