BHUBANESWAR l Saturday l October 24, 2020 l `7.00 l PAGES 12 l JEYPORE EDITION Trump raises a stink about India’s ‘filthy’ air quality “Look at China, how filthy it is. Look at Russia. Look at India. The air is filthy,” US Prez Donald Trump said referring to air pollution ‘US was treated unfairly in climate deal’ Civility returns to presidential debate Trump said the US pulled out of the 2015 Paris climate deal because it was treated unfairly despite its commitment to spend trillions of dollars, while countries like India got way with poor performance in tackling global warming. According to the Global Carbon Projection, India is the fourth highest emitter of carbon dioxide, while the US is the second largest | P7, 9 ■ The top four carbon dioxide emitters in the world are China (27%), the US (15)), the European Union (10%) and India (7%) ■ Unlike the first one, the second and final debate between Trump and Joe Biden on Thursday night was more civilised as the two leaders spoke about substantive issues without interruption 729 Air Quality index in Delhi’s anand vihar slipped to ‘hazardous’ category Friday CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ WARANGAL ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Bihar battleground heats up with back-to-back rallies by Modi and Rahul; PM criticises RJD, seeks repeat mandate for Nitish Reject those who nurtured goons, says Modi, raps Oppn R a j e s h K u m a r T h a k u r @ Patna Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday tore into the Opposition Grand Alliance spearheaded by the RJD in a series of election rallies, urging voters to reject those “who fed the goons and developed their own family”. He also took a swipe at the Congress for its belligerence on the new farm reform laws. “For them, the interest of middlemen is above the farmers’ welfare. They side with those who conspire against the country,” the PM said, adding the NDA government will never go back on its decision to withdraw special powers to J&K under Article 370. “Bihar deserves development but who will ensure it — he who developed his own family or he who forgot his own family in the service of the people? Bihar deserves better law and order, but who will ensure it — he who fed the goons or he who made the law to chase down the goons and criminals?” Modi asked in his trademark style, targeting the 15-year RJD rule while defending ally Nitish Kumar of the JD(U). He also paid rich tributes to LJP leader Ram Vilas Paswan who passed away recently but avoided criticising , his party which recently broke away , from the NDA in the state. Turning to the Opposition, the PM said it was “opposed to development and national interest”. Alluding to the Congress for its strident stand against the new farm laws, Modi said whenever middlemen are targeted for providing direct benefits to farmers, some people in the opposition start fanning propaganda on the MSP (Minimum Support Price) and other national issues. “When Rafale fighter jets were purchased, they spoke the language of middlemen and brokers. Whenever intermediaries and brokers get hit, these people get furious.” Accusing the former UPA government of being vindictive against Nitish Kumar, he said that despite persistent demands for assistance by the CM, the then government had ignored the state. “When the NDA government was formed, Bihar under Nitish Kumar started getting its due,” he said, praising Nitish for various development works. He also saluted the Galwan martyrs of the Bihar Regiment. Odisha gets to work on Covid-19 vaccination E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar Prime Minister Narendra Modi with CM Nitish Kumar at Sasaram, Bihar; (Right) Rahul Gandhi with Tejashwi Yadav at Nawada on Friday | pti Rahul bid to pin PM down on migrants, China ingress E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Patna Kicking off his party’s poll campaign in Bihar on Friday, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi tried to pin down Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the emotive issues of migrants and the Chinese ingress into Ladakh, since many soldiers hailing from the state had laid down their lives in the Galwan valley violence in June. “You (migrants) covered hun- dreds of kilometres on foot, hungry and thirsty, but Modi did not arrange transport. He left you to your fate,” Rahul said in back-to-back rallies with RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav in Nawada and Bhagalpur districts. “A government for such migrants and labourers must be installed.” Rahul also accused Modi of insulting the Army by denying that the PLA had infiltrated into eastern Ladakh. “Our 20 soldiers were martyred and they took our 1,200 sq km area. When China intruded, why did our PM insult Indian Army’s heroes by lying that no one had come inside India?” Rahul questioned. “Merely bowing one’s head before martyred jawans of the Bihar Regiment would not do. When you will get the land occupied by the PLA vacated,” he asked. In his address, an optimestic Tejashwi said: “On November 9, Lalu ji will be released from jail. On November 10, Nitish Kumar’s farewell is fixed.” AS politics over Covid-19 vaccine heats up in the country, Odisha government on Friday started the process for preparation of a comprehensive database of frontline workforce for seamless initiation of the vaccination programme as and when it is available. The Health and Family Welfare department has asked the State branch of Indian Medical Association, AYUSH Association, Nursing Association, Paramedic Workers Association and Private Hospital Owners Association to submit details of their members to their respective district Collector, municipal commissioner or chief district medical officer for enrollment in the database. The Women and Child Development (WCD) department and Mission Shakti have been asked to communicate individual details of anganwadi workers, helpers, supervisors and child development project officers. While the medical associations will have to submit the data by October 29, the WCD department has been directed to ensure the enrollment of all frontline workers in consultation with district and block officials by October 25. The move came in the wake of a direction from the Centre to prepare the database of healthcare workers in both government and private settings. P5