BHUBANESWAR l wednesday l august 05, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late CITY EDITION India distances itself from Hasina’s planned press event Hasina will hold her first interaction with press on Wednesday evening, two years after she fled Dhaka following the collapse of her government Response to bangladesh seeking clarity no involvement from indian side: mea Dhaka on Monday sought a clarification from the Indian side on Sheikh Hasina’s planned press meet, with Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s (L) foreign affairs adviser M Humayun Kabir saying that the public interaction from Indian soil could definitely undermine the positive momentum witnessed in the bilateral ties between the two nations in recent months ■ ■ “The interaction is being organised by a private media entity. India has no involvement in it, neither does it endorse views that may be expressed at the forum,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said Hasina’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy and other Awami League leaders including Shakib Al Hasan are likely to speak at the conference Aug 5, 2024 is when sheikh Hasina, 78, came to India after fleeing Dhaka 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 Pak ramps up artillery muscle with Chinese SH-15s J a v a r i a R a n a @ New Delhi Udhayanidhi Stalin being arrested from his Chennai residence on Tuesday | P Jawahar Udhaya arrested, released after tense standoff HC orders bail on same day in ‘vulgar remark’ case, 20K DMK members detained across TN E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Chennai Timeline of Tamil Nadu was caught in a tense standoff for 12 hours as Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin was arrested from his residence in Chennai and taken to Thanjavur for questioning, before being released by the police on Tuesday . The arrest came a day after he allegedly made a “double-meaning” remark alluding to a popular actor at a protest meeting for Cauvery water in Thanjavur on Monday Following 90 minutes of . questioning at the Sengipatti police station, Udhayanidhi was granted station bail around 8.15 pm as ordered by the Madras High Court. The police action came on a complaint filed at the Thanjavur East Police Station by Bairavi Shankar Raman, TVK’s Central District Women’s Wing organiser for Thanjavur. Udhayanidhi was booked under nine sections of BNS, Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act, and Information Technology Act, 2000. Tension began with the arrival of a joint team of the Thanjavur Town East and the Neelankarai police (Chennai) around 8 am at Udhayanidhi’s residence in Neelankarai. Senior DMK leaders including former ministers and his brother-in-law Sabareesan were present when the police arrived. Meanwhile, the DMK moved the Madras High Court seeking anticipatory bail. Even as Justice GK Ilanthiraiyan had initially directed that no action should be taken till the case is to be heard at noon, Udhayanidhi was arrested around 11 am and taken to Thanjavur in a police van. The arrest triggered protests by hundreds of cadre and functionaries, which the police brought to an end using force. “I will not be threatened by such arrests,” Udhayanidhi told reporters, while being taken in the police van, terming the arrest a diversion tactic of the ruling TVK to evade responsibility over the Cauvery crisis and Mekedatu project. “They have accused me of saying what I did not speak,” he said. Asked if the arrest amounted to political vendetta, he said, “I don’t think they have so much brain. They are a bunch of idiots.” In a statement, DMK president MK Stalin termed the arrest politically motivated and stated that “arrogance paves the way for destruction”. Amidst protests at nearly 400 places across the state — including processions, road blockades and burning of CM C Joseph Vijay’s effigy — which resulted in the police detaining nearly 20,000 cadre, the LoP reached Thanjavur around 6.30 pm. In view of a huge gathering of party workers at Thanjavur, police brought Udhayanidhi to Sengipatti police station, which is about 27 km away from the town, for questioning. Condemning the arrest, DMK MPs staged a protest in New Delhi. Arrest 7.00 am Thanjavur and Neelankarai police arrive at Udhayanidhi’s ECR residence 10.30 am HC asks cops not to take action against Udhayanidhi until anticipatory bail petition is heard at 12 pm 11.00 am Amid protest by cadre, police arrest Udhayanidhi, escort him to Thanjavur 12.00 pm Hearing delayed as case papers had not reached HC 2.15 pm HC directs police to release Udhayanidhi on Tuesday itself on station bail 6.45 pm Udhayanidhi taken to Sengipatti police station for questioning due to huge gathering of cadre in Thanjavur 8.15 pm Udhayanidhi leaves police station after 90 minutes of questioning I will not be threatened by such arrests. They have accused me of saying what I did not speak Udhayanidhi Stalin Pakistan is expanding its Chinese artillery inventory on a previously unreported scale, having more than doubled its SH-15 procurement to over 500 155 mm self-propelled howitzers, with more than 200 already inducted into service, as it rebuilds and strengthens the artillery arm it relied on during Operation Sindoor, sources in the defence and security establishment told this newspaper. More than 200 of the truckmounted 155 mm/52-calibre guns supplied by Chinese defence major NORINCO have already entered service, allowing the Pakistan Army to raise around 12 artillery regiments, each comprising 18 guns organised into three batteries of six guns, the sources said. Before this, only a 2019 contract for 236 SH-15 guns had been publicly documented. The inductions, however, have not translated into a matching forward deployment. “A sizeable number have been kept in reserve. The figure of 250 guns along the border being cited is a projected inventory, not the actual forward posture,” a source clarified. During Operation Sindoor, Pakistan employed Chinese-origin artillery systems including in Many howitzers in reserve While several reports suggested that around 250 SH-15 guns are deployed opposite India, a sizeable number remain in reserve, with the 250 figure reflecting Pakistan’s projected inventory rather than its actual deployment along the Line of Control, sources said cross-border firing targeting civilian areas in Rajouri and Poonch, according to Indian officials. Islamabad has since accelerated its artillery modernisation, with the SH-15 emerging as the backbone of its future self-propelled gun fleet. The SH-15 is claimed as an export variant of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s PCL-181 mounted howitzer. Mounted on a 6x6 Shaanxi high-mobility truck chassis, the “shoot-and-scoot” artillery system has claimed speed of up to 90 kmph and can fire NATO-standard 155 mm ammunition to ranges of about 40 km. Additionally rocket-assisted , projectiles reportedly extend its ODRAF to be transformed into full-fledged SDRF for better disaster mgmt: Min State Disaster Management @ Bhubaneswar Authority (OSDMA) has reco m m e n d e d t o d e s i g n at e In a major overhaul of the ODRAF as Odisha’s SDRF. The state’s disaster response mech- ODRAF will be transformed anism, the governinto a fully-dedicated ment has decided to SDRF, entrusted excluupgrade the Odisha sively with disaster Disaster Rapid Action response and manageForce (ODRAF) into a ment responsibilities. State Disaster ReIt will be operationalsponse Force (SDRF), ised at the earliest,” with enhanced manPujari said. As part of the exerpower, infrastructure cise, the disaster reand operational sponse force will be capabilities. ODRAF will be The decision was transformed into a infused with 10 new units, increasing the taken at a high-level fully-dedicated SDRF, entrusted total strength from meeting presided by exclusively with 20 to 30 units. The Revenue and Disast e r M a n a g e m e n t disaster response units will be strategiand management. cally stationed across minister Suresh PuIt will be jari on Tuesday. The operationalised at the districts to ensure faster emergenSDRF would be estabthe earliest cy response. The lished as per the Suresh Pujari, SDRF headquarters mandate of the DisMinister will be housed in the aster Management upcoming Disaster (Amendment) Act, Management Building (Bipar2025. “In accordance with the op- jyaya Parichalana Bhawan) at erational framework issued by Bhubaneswar. The minister the National Disaster Manage- said the upgradation will be ment Authority (NDMA), the car ried out in a phased Continued on P5 governing body of the Odisha manner.  E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e DPDP A C T Users face outage as WhatsApp begins age-confirmation tests RAK E SH KUMAR @ New Delhi Messaging app WhatsApp has started testing a new feature in India to confirm users’ age as it prepares to comply with the upcoming Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act. The Metaowned platform said this feature will not change the user experience or the way WhatsApp works. The DPDP Act, which will kick in on May 13, 2027, outlines stringent provisions for platforms such as WhatsApp and X in processing the personal data of children under 18. Under the Act, these platforms will be required to obtain verifiable consent from the child’s parent or lawful guardian before any personal data of Meta’s global team to hold talks with govt today Meta’s global team, including public policy chief Joel Kaplan, will reach India on August 5 to meet government representatives. The Centre had summoned Meta’s global executives after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s post addressing the youth was briefly restricted on Facebook the child can be processed. The rules prohibit platforms from engaging in activities that could harm children. Also, there is a ban on tracking or behavioural monitoring of children, and platforms can’t direct targeted ads at children. IT Secretary S Krishnan said WhatsApp’s move “might be from the context of DPDP Act... But we will have to check with them... because we are approaching the deadline...” On Monday, several WhatsApp users, including many in India, found their accounts placed under “review” for up to 24 hours, leaving them unable to use the platform. The issue surfaced around 8 pm IST, with affected accounts displaying a message stating that they were under review without any prior warning from the platform. The temporary account reviews come at a time when WhatsApp is facing increased scrutiny from the government over its proposed username feature, which would allow users to communicate without sharing their mobile numbers. reach beyond 50 km. Deliveries under the original contract began in January 2022. Sources added that Pakistan has also secured transfer of technology (ToT) from China, paving the way for eventual manufacture of the SH-15 at Heavy Industries Taxila. India’s artillery modernisation, meanwhile, continues to lag on timelines. The defence ministry signed a `6,900-crore contract in March last year with Bharat Forge and Tata Advanced Systems for 307 Advanced Towed Artillery Gun Systems (ATAGS), developed by DRDO. Deliveries are yet to begin, with the first regiment of 18 guns expected to enter service only around February 2027 after completion of mandatory product-model trials. With a strike range of nearly 48 km, the ATAGS will progressively replace the ageing 105 mm Indian Field Guns and 130 mm M-46 guns across 15 regiments. Until then, the K9 Vajra-T remains the Army’s only self-propelled 155 mm artillery system fielded in significant numbers, alongside the Dhanush and Sharang towed guns and the Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launcher system. The Army also ordered another 100 K9 Vajra-T guns from Larsen & Toubro in December 2024, adding to the 100 already in service. E x p r e s s Re a d Fratricide in CRPF: Jawan shoots 2, kills self Guwahati: An officer of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) shot two of his colleagues dead before taking his life at the CRPF’s 34 Battalion camp at Katimari in Assam’s Nagaon district on Tuesday. It was learnt that only one company of the CRPF was stationed there after most other personnel were deployed to ethnic violence-hit Manipur | P8 Action at apt time: Soren on JPSC protests Ranchi: Amid the ongoing protest by students over the alleged Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) paper leak, Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Tuesday broke his silence, saying that the government was treating the issue with the utmost seriousness and would take an appropriate decision at the right time. He said investigations were underway at multiple levels to ascertain the facts | P8 17 injured as Air India flight suffers mid-air altitude drop s l a l i t h a @ New Delhi A total of 17 people, including four cabin crew members, on an Air India flight from Phuket to Delhi, sustained injuries on Tuesday when the plane suffered a sudden loss in altitude while cruising at 36,000 feet. The aircraft with 137 passengers, including three infants, and eight crew members, landed safely at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Inter national Air port around 11 am. The Airbus A320 aircraft was grounded by aviation regulator DGCA, which has launched a probe. One of the crew members sustained severe injuries in the sudden fall which sent the plane down by 300 feet, said a DGCA source. The aircraft is believed to have suffered substantial damages. The AI 2379 took off at 8.27 am (local time) from Phuket and landed at Delhi’s T3 at 11.07 am, 43 minutes before schedule. A DGCA official attributed the accident involving AI 2379 bearing the registration VT-EXO to “a suspected transient technical fault”. A source at Delhi airport said Injured flyers (L) being taken to hospital; and a ripped luggage section door | X Detailed check The Union aviation ministry said the aircraft has been moved to the hangar and the Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder have been secured for detailed examination. Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu visited the injured in a hospital the incident occurred outside the Indian airspace probably around 10.30 am (India time). “The airport received a call af- ter the incident about people requiring medical assistance on landing and we had the ambulance vans on standby to assist the passengers. The medical centre inside the airport (Medanta) treated the flyers initially and they were later sent to Fortis Hospital in Vasant Kunj.” In a statement, the airline said, “AI 2379 experienced a sudden loss of altitude during cruise. After the event, the aircraft continued normally .” A passenger told a news agency she saw her sister thrown up from her seat. “We thought we would die.” Supreme Court directs RBI to frame SOP on digital arrest scams s u c h i t r a k a lya n m o h a n t y @ New Delhi TO strengthen the fight against “digital arrest” scams, the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the RBI to prepare and circulate, within four weeks, a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for tackling mule accounts and cyberfraud-linked accounts, with copies to the Registrar Generals of all High Courts. A bench of CJI Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana passed 13 interim directions while hearing the suo motu case on digital arrest scams, noting that existing mechanisms need “wider adoption, faster implementation, and follow-up”. The bench said states, UTs and law enforcement agencies must ensure public awareness of the SOPs. The next status report must carry state-wise and bank-wise data on grievances registered/disposed and amounts restored, the bench said. States without Cyber Crime Coordination Centres must operationalise them in four weeks and adopt the e-Zero FIR mechanism with I4C’s assistance, which will also follow up on implementation. Authorities must ensure swift disposal of accountfreezing matters. The Inter-Departmental Committee (IDC) must issue awareness directions, consult banks on preventive technology, examine shared liability victim compensation, and low, ering CBI’s `10-crore threshold, it said. State Legal Services Authorities must run awareness drives, the bench said. Prez Murmu takes 170-km trip to Berhampur on special train President Droupadi Murmu undertook a historic 170-km train journey from Bhubaneswar to Berhampur on Tuesday, drawing enthusiastic crowds and unprecedented security arrangements during the second day of her three-day visit to Odisha | P4