The New Indian Express The New Indian Express wishes its readers on wishes its readers on the occasion of the occasion of DURGA PUJA durga puja The office and press of TNIE will The office and press of TNIE will remain closed on Monday and remain closed on Sunday and Tuesday. There will be no issue Monday. There will be no Issue on October 8 & 9 on October 26 & 27 SAMBALPUR lBHUBANESWAR MONDAY OCTOBER l PAGES 24 l CITY EDITION CITY EDITION sunday l OCTOBER 25, 2020 l `8.00 07, 2019 `6.00 PAGES 30 LATE SIRISENA OUT OF SL PREZ pandemic to file Gotabhaya, the controversial former defence who has last date to file FY2019-20 second extension amid thethe new deadline to fileSunday’smore timeaccusations ofGST returns chiefthefiling also Sirisena did not pay a deposit to Lanka’s poll commission by noon Separately, the government extended the due dateis faced war crimes against Tamils, For those deadline. Gotabhaya, the younger RACE, TO BACK GOTABHAYA whose accounts need to be audited, brother of former prez and current oppn annual returns for FY2018-19 by two months tillfor frontrunner Dec from PM ITR extended till Dec 31 income tax returns is Mahinda, is among the 41 in fray for furnish report inThere are GST His main opponent is ex-prez R Premadasa’s son Sajith,31 leader Jan 31, 2021. Those who need to the Nov 16 polls. TWO OF MAHINDA’S BROTHERS IN FRAY INDIA’S SOUTHERN DISCOMFORT ■ ■ ■ Lankan Prez Maithripala Sirisena abandons re-election bid international/specified domesticalong with questions also beencitizenship. ■ Further, Ranil Wickremesinghe’scheer, the government late on news for adding to the festive party. Gota’s victory will be bad Friday many graft cases against Gota transactions have about his respect of and will support the deadline Mahinda’s Rajapaksa brother So 31. family has also fielded Chamal, Mahinda’s elder brother, night India, as a waiver of been inimical towards us and is pro-China The Centre on Saturday extended ex-strongman for individual given time till Jan the In May, the Centre had extended the various due as back-up announcedMahinda has interest on interest for loans up to `2 crore, irrespective of whether moratorium was availed or not taxpayers to file tax returns by a month till December 31 dates to file ITRs for FY-20 from July 31 to Nov 30 in view of Covid-19 15.31, mn Jan 99 2021 PEOPLE ELIGIBLE TO VOTE IN LANKA’S NOV 16 PRESIDENTIAL POLLS new due date for payment of self-assessment tax 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 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 Time to go for that dream home as loan rate to hit decade-low of 8% ‘Poor hygiene behind India’s low Covid death rate’ interest rate for 1-2 years, after fall to 8% next month or latest which the loan switched to by January 2020. WITH the RBI reducing its repo floating rates of above 10%. “We follow a monthly reset STATE BANK OF INDIA Reworks interest rate by Delhi points last FriStarting October, several and Friday’s repo reduction S u m i S u k anya D u t ta @ New25 basis had registered 1,17,306 infec- at 0.9 have CFR less than one. follow a rates every month We sanitation scores, the lower the c will beo u s s tnext month,” u r i passed on a t s Revises its rates day, home loan tion deaths even though the to- But Maharashtra, Gujarat and deaths per public sector lenders introrates will soon million. monthly reset every quarter Next rate change fall to 8% or duced , better sanitaCountries with poor hy- below, for the firstcaseload in the Punjab, which are more devel- Friday’s tal Covid-19 and “Paradoxicallyrepo-linked home loan Mrytunjay Mahapatra, CEO & Despite recording over 77 lakh Covid-19 in November time in over MD, Syndicate Bank told repo tion leads products, with an effective rate Fresh This giene, sanitation and quality of a decade. country was 77,61,312.rates due oped states, have CFR values of reduction to poorer ‘immune cases, India’s fatality rate stands at ExThe last time banks of between 8.2 and 8.4%. Repo press. The bank’s repo-linked Current water appear to have a lower means suchcountry in January the as has a case 2 or higher. repo- *After RBI will be passed training’ and thus could be 1.5%— among the world’s lowestUnion on next month SBI offered loans at 8% was in rate is the rate at which the RBI rate stands at 8.35% now. rate cut Covid-19 case fatality rate as fatality To en-of 1.5%, among *After RBI ratio The linked rate paper has been pub- leading tolends to deaths While some Bank of India’s repo home loan higher banks. per Current repo2009, but with a rider. Mrytunjay compared to rich courage borrowers, lowest in a world. rate countries the it offered the linked lished by the Council for million,” the paper said. rate cut banks like Syndicate Bank re- rates are currently at 8.25% 1.5 Mahapatra, India with better hygienic condiWithin the country Bi, Scientific Industrial Refixed-cum-floating loan prodset rates every studand factoring in Friday’s 25 bps Syndicate Several immunological month, others Bank 2.6 USA tions, a study has found. har, which lags behind search, National Centre & ies in the pastSBI revise once every quar- cut, it’ll soon be down to 8%. have suggested *expected uct, famously known as teaser like CEO MD The latest analysis by re- itmost 8% fixed sociofor Cell Science in Pune that exposureIt means, ratesor likely loans, where gave states on ter. to bacterial will SBI’s is currently at 8.2%, 2.9 Brazil S U N I T H A N AT T I @ Hyderabad AT A GLANCE SYNDICATE BANK 8.35% 8.15% 8.2% 7.95% searchers in India has added to the growing body of evidence in support of the “hygiene hypothesis,” which argues that areas or countries with high levels of background infections are likely to experience fewer Covid-19 deaths. Till Friday morning, India economic development parameters, managed to keep the death rate at 0.5%, or one third the national average. Bihar is not alone with a low CFR. Kerala and Assam with a rate of 0.4, Telangana 0.5, and Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh and the Chennai Mathematical Institute. The researchers have analysed various developmental parameters, including measures of water and sanitation, and Covid-19 deaths per million in over 100 countries and have found that the poorer the water- BJP expects slowdown impact on state polls NC president Goes thechairman of People’s chosen extra mile to accommodate allies as internal assessment indicates voter anger over economic slump Alliance, Mehbooba Mufti vice-chairperson We are against BJP, not India, says Farooq parasitic infections can strengthen the immune system against future infections. “We found deaths are low in areas with poorer sanitation and it could be due to a process called immune training,” Parveen Kumar, epidemiologist, told TNIE.  continued on: P7 Mexico 5.5 Italy France repo rate, plus a spread, which varies from bank to bank. When SBI rolled out the product last Tuesday repo rate was , at 5.4% and with a spread of 2.65%, the effective interest rate stood at 8.2%. With repo now at 5.15%, and if SBI takes an early call, it’ll be down to 7.95%. And if the RBI cuts the repo rate in December, home loan rates will drop below 8%, which was last seen before the 2008 financial crisis period. 5.9 UK Spain and given the 25 bps repo rate cut, it should fall to 7.95%. But unlike Syndicate Bank, SBI resets rates once in three months, i.e., by January. However, sources indicated that given the festive season, it could be passed on before January “The . next reset is in January, but it (early revision) may happen or may not happen,” said a senior official of the SBI. Typically repo rate includes , two components — prevailing 8.1 3.4 3.6 NC leaders meet Abdullahs, hint at boycotting BDC polls “Even if we intend to contest, the mandate has to be signed IN the first major move signal- by party head Farooq, who is ling easing of curbs on de- under detention.” Rana said tained Kashmiri leaders after both ex-CMs are in good spirArticle 370 was read down, a its. Omar sported a beard and NC team on Sunday was al- was seen clicking selfies. lowed to meet party leaders A PDP delegation will meet Farooq and Omar Abdullah. detained party head MehbooThe NC hinted at not con- ba Mufti on Monday. Meantesting the October 24 Block while, state BJP general secreDevelopment Council polls. Its tary Ashok Koul told TNIE all NC leaders Mohammad Akbar Lone and Hasnain Masoodi (R) on Sunday meet party head Farooq Abdullah Jammu chief Devinder Singh detained mainstream leaders Nitish and his wife Molly Abdullah (L) | PTI (2nd from L), who is under house arrest at his Srinagar residence,faces big challenge with rising unemployment would be released before polls. Rana, after the meeting, said, taking centre stage F AYA Z W A N I @ Srinagar Jobs, not caste, to swing Bihar polls Calculation When the BJP began seatbehind sharing talks with the Shiv Mahayuti THE BJP appears to have Sena, it was stubborn on conturned cautious in poll-bound testing no less than 170 seats “The BJP-led states in the face of the deep- to build on the gains it made alliance has to ening economic slowdown. in the 2014 state polls in build social With internal assessments Maharashtra. equations to suggesting the ongoing econeutralise the “But when its internal feedwhere caste and community factors used to make or break governments farm distress nomic slump could eat into its back conveyed the growing Unemployment rate 105 102 Number of and win the popularity the BJP decided to negative perception among , industrial 90 (per 1,000support of population) go the extra mile to forge the the voters, the BJP dropped its employment. A majority of also revealed that, barring the Lalu out, Tejashwi in workers 73 Dalits in Mahayuti alliance with a maximalist position and be70 the 22 lakh migrants who re- Northeast, Bihar is the only RJD’s poll manifesto 64 Maharashtra. bunch of parties in Maharash- came more accommodative. 2014-15 1,25,557 56 turned to the state have not state where the unemployRashtriya The Mahayuti tra, including the Shiv Sena. It’s is now contesting from 150 get jobs, adding to ment trict, but failed to 2015-16R E S 1,03,267 S E R V I C E managed toSaturday night. When they rate has crossed 100.give his ‘Madhu’ on Janata Dal of the gives the EXP S NEWS on Barring Haryana where it is seats, which is an open admisthe floor on 32 the already growing unem- found identity. of industrial The number @ Jagatsinghpur alliance an Saturday rushed to the spot, they counting on the utter chaos in sion that the BJP needs allies room raising suspicion over 20 15opportunity to 2016-17 98,971 ployment in the state.feet of the youth workersOn being decreasedBaliku- his death and reason behind has also informed, in the hands and the Opposition space to retain to retain power,” said another released its Though no BJP threatens sedition F AYA Z W A N I @ Srinagarpower, BJP leaders sense the Not surprisingly, therope and the past four years, indicating hos- the incident. poll manifesto cash in on the AN were tied a Rashda police rushed to the BJP functionary . 2017-18 unidentified youth wasJanata Dal, withBharati- he 1,04,057 complaint has case against Mufti Apart from the 150 solid vote base 2017-18 2018-19 so far, burnt to death in Debgram UP was on fire. They res- that factories have seized the body 2004-05 2009-10 2011-12 triya the party would have to pull pital and fallen on Balikuda IIC Sarbeswer Bepromising 10 been filed people’S Allianceout all the stopsJ&K BJP leader Kavinder Gupta 14 candidates of each of the for Gupkar seats, police cued and admitted him to overfor post-mortem. bad times. While there were hera said though no complaint a forensic team School under Balikuda ya Janata Party and the Janalakh jobs and constituents to representing smaller Satur- to the district headcome platHowever, the locals Declaration is an anti-BJPthe deepening 1.25 lakh workers in 2014-15, loan has been filed in this regard so and a dog squad limits in the district on ta Dal (United), the top three waiver for the farmers. The said Mehbooba Mufti’s statement RPI (Atha- take advantage allies like day night. Neither the contendersa r t the ongoing a l q u in e r s h o s p i t Bi- the number fell to 1.04 lakh it wascover pageforensic team and a dog sense of disenchantsuspected that in a far, a of the manifesto have been scheme,” Sahni said. identity K u m a r Vi k r a m & Ra j e s h form but it is not anti-national, that she will not raise tri-colour ernment wale), ment among pre-planned murder squad have been pressed into K u Sana u r @ New National Conference president the elec- flag and constitution RSP, Shiv m a r T h ofkthe weak Delhi /Patna pressed into ends meet, he was har polls, have all made unem- 2017-18. (See graphic 2) To make of the youth has been con- (DHH) in a critical displays photographs of till J&K’s service to get firmed nor the reason for the Opposition,” gram and Rayatkranti, condition. talking torate due to and the accused set Farooq Abdullah said on Satur- unemployforced to sell fish sometimes. ployment a majorHe sucAs Nitish Kumar took the service to get some clues. PoMahatama Gandhi, Dalits icon B some clues ghastly act established. according to a was restored, is ‘anti-national’ filed their papers on the cumbed to burn injument and farm distress in youth on fire after tying lice, however, registered an unAjay Sahni of Kurdhani vilday after being named chair- and that a sedition case can be Mahesh Sah of Ratnali vil- point, and for good reason. charge as chief minister in R Ambedkar, freedom fighter BJP functionary BJP symbol. As for the Shiv As per reports, some resi- ries on Sunday. During a shrinking economy in Mahis legs and hands. Before natural death case and started Sarbeswer Behera, lage in man of the grouping. RBI’s recently released November 2005, he is vulner- Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Sena, it got 124 seats. The BJP Bihar’s Muzaffarpur lage is also in the same boat. village treatment, the youth stated he was rescued by the villag- investigation into the matter, harashtra and Jharkhand. her. “Her remarks are filed against IIC Balikuda dents of Debgram has been sitting idle PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti animpression feels it is weak in the Konkan Maha factorfor the He returned from Mumbai school that he belonged to Khurdaable on this front. socialist veterans-Ram Manohar heard screams from the Handbook of Statistics on Indis- ers, the victim had written he added. “The common insult and humiliation to past six in agrarian is the vice-chairpersoninteractions with flag,” he added but hopes to increase months. He used to where he worked with a tex- dian States says Bihar’s unSensing this, the RJD’s Te- Lohia and Karpoori Thakurfrom while Indian a cross- region distress work Sajjad Gani Lone of People’speople in Maha- its footprint in Marathwada. in Delhi as an electri- tiles firm. “We managed to re- employment has risen steadi- jashwi Yadav has left no stone Loknayak Jayprakash Narayan section of cian and Maharashtra comfort- turn in April but have not got ly in the past 15 years. Conference has been named Jharkhand is unturned to take advantage. among others. Curiously, it does “As for Jharkhand, the BJP led a fairly is rashtra and inductheir sense until March end a single man day’s work with spokesman of the alliance. of despair, particu- will be Articles on theable life,the only state tution by abrogating banking While the urban unemploy- In the manifesto released on not have photo of the party’s larly among 370 and 35A last year. key aim when lockdown kicked in. For med by seven main- the youth. The tion of Ourtribal leaders from in India that the MGNREGA so I now work ment rate was 64 per 1,000 in Saturday, the party promised founder and its charismatic state of res- is to will defi- the Opposition “There is witnessed stream parties to fight for the economy ensure that rights of peo- to boost its has no scope of em- as a farm labourer,” he said. 2004-05, it went up to 105 in that if voted to power, giving leader Lalu Prasad but Tejashwi party nitely in the toration of Article 370, be a big issue in the Jammu, KashSahni and Sah are not iso- 2018-19. Similarly, the rural 10 lakh jobs would figure in Yadav’s photo finds a prominent ple of prospects,” a seniorploymentfrequent village nor agitations by functionary are polls. did I get any work under the lated cases of migrant work- unemployment rate jumped the first cabinet meeting. the outfit also adopted While no immediate re-and Ladakh said. mir space on the cover page of the farmers over E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ New Delhi The BJP placed its ear to the lief Cencontinued on: P7 party’s election manifesto MGNREGA or any other gov- ers unable to get meaningful from 15 to 102. The data has the flag of the erst- is visible from therestored.”  the last five tre’s stimulus packages and ground in places like Mumbai, while J&K state asthe RBI interventions, Spokesman Sajjad its years. The HAS former Congress president Rahul the Pune, Nagpur and Kolhapur symbol as a markpains of the economic slumpthe outfit would and in Jam- economic slump of said Gandhi gone AWOL again? Reports that in Maharashtra, defiance to the consti-becoming more apparent,” shedpur, Santhal Pargana and has made the release a white paper he left for a trip to South East Asia on Satare I voters more tutional changes made within month on govurday night just two weeks ahead of the a senior party functionary aBokaro in Jharkhand to get a n t e r v i e w express read grumpy by the Centre on Auernancesense of in J&K lapses public perception. Assembly polls to Maharashtra and Haryadmitted. ana led to the BJP mocking him. This is gust 5 last year. since the reading down Minister says bypoll a Rahul’s third visit abroad after the Lok The seven parties are of Article 370. godsend opportunity, E paper E S S notE A D X P R will R be Sabha election debacle in May, after the National Conference, PDP, “The white His men which he resigned as party chief. sparks controversy Peoples Conference, JKPM, rhetoric. It will be based on sidelined The Congress responded saying that ANC, CPI(M) and the CPI. Con- facts and figures to present the Bhubaneswar/Balasore: Minister It might not be a the “personal should not be mixed with gress was also part of the Au- reality to people of J&K and for Food Supplies and Consumer surprise if Rahul the public life of an individual”. “We need gust 4, 2019 Gupkar Declara- country,” Lone said, adding, Welfare Ranendra Pratap Swain is sulking as his to entitle everybody an eternal sense of tion but its leaders have of late “We will tell people of country supporters are liberty and privacy … #RahulGandhi has landed in a controversy for been skipping meetings. about the truth and lies of Mohammed Shami’s lethal spell Visakhapatnam: being sidelined #Bangkok,” Congress leader Abhishek his statement on BJP candidate of fast bowling and Talking to reporters, Abdul- J&K. People of J&K and India Ravindra Jadeja’s guile helped by Cong’s old Manu Singhvi tweeted. Other sources Manas Ranjan Dutta while guard after said he had left for Cambodia to attend a lah said, “The BJP is SC hearing todayto knowIndia reality resounding 203-run win over South making deserve on the record a of campaigning for November 3 Africa in the first of the three-Test series on Sonia took over. five-day meditation camp. false propaganda that People’s tree felling Mumbai J&K.” Balasore Sadar bypoll on Sunday. R Ashwin became the joint fastest to 350 Ex-Haryana The Congress claimed that Rahul is Alliance is anti-national. We The next meeting of People’s Friday | P3 wickets, matching Sri Lanka’s Muttiah party chief likely to be back around October 11, after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister New Delhi: The Supreme Court are not anti-national but we Alliance will be held within Muralitharan’s feat in hisJaganTest. P12 Reddy violated Ashok Tanwar, which he will start his campaign. After 66th Mohan are anti-BJP. They haveon Sunday took suo motuin Jammu, which made two weeks cognisance of the felling of the doctrine of separation of who quit Cong the Lok Sabha debacle, the party is facing attempts to divide the country will beto set followed by a convenNew look Swargadwar trees in Mumbai’s Aarey powers between the executive on Saturday, an uphill task in both states, with the cadand divide the federalup a Metro car shed that is struc- tion on November 17 in Srinaby March 2021 claimed there re demoralised due to infighting. In Ma30 PAGES, and the judiciary by writing a WITH P8 ture. They trampledbeing opposed by activists. The the Consti- gar.  INCLUDING was a plot to harashtra, ex-Mumbai party chief Sanjay YOUR THE ESSENTIAL THIS LIFE letter to chief justice of India Bhubaneswar/Puri: The COACH CAMPUS DIGEST 16 OF edex ISSUE remove those Nirupam has said he has been sidelined SC set up a special bench for an S A Bobde, senior advocate Rahul groomed re-development work of (TABLOID) urgent hearing on Monday. and might leave the party . M A N I S H A N A N D @ New Delhi Urban Rural Source: Reserve Bank of India Youth set on fire in school, dies in hospital Rahul on foreign jaunt again, this time 2 weeks before polls India crush South Africa, Ashwin’s record 350 ‘Jagan should’ve written to Guv’ and former additional solicitor general Indira Jaising told TNIE WITH THIS ISSUE Anchor Anarchy WORLD CONGRESS OF POETS Indira Jaising All set for dussehra Use pen power, build a better world: VP’s call PLUS 12 PAGES Former additional solicitor general Q&A: P7 A devotee lighting an earthen lamp at Patnasahi Puja Pandal at Old Town, Bhubaneswar on Saturday | Biswanath Swain cial transformation and I am confi- he said. dent that you will use this tremenClaiming that Indian tradition dous power at your disposal to build has relied on poetry for transmisPOETRY should promote peace and a better world,” Naidu said to the sion of wisdom and scientific motivate people to cultivate univer- global diaspora of poets present at knowledge, he urged the young gensal brotherhood, social harmony the event. eration to preserve it. “India’s tryst and tolerance, said Vice President M Stating that poetry is a powerful with poetry is as old as the civilisaVenkaiah vehicle of inter-generational Keonjhar have once hotspots MahabE x p r e s s N ew s Se r v i c e Naidu here on Sunday districts not to be balpur andtrans- tion itself. Ramayan and of Khurda, Cuttack, directed the. Addressing the valedictory func- scale up testing againknowledge, haratensure Balasore, Jajpur and Nuapada @ Bhubaneswar complacent and mission of values and been directed to are considered to be among tion of 39th World so that the prevalence could be that theanything met every day Congress of Po- Naidu said more than target is the finest specimens of poetry ever ,” despite the fact that they conets at KIIT University, Naidu said Vice PresidentFaced with mounting criti- more accurately else, it has the capability to change written. These epics are considered substantially M Venkaiah Naidu ascertained said a senior official of the tinue to throw up among the literacy forms, poetry attitudes, mindset and social to be treasure houses of India’s traaddressing the valedictory high number of new cases evehas profound and containment steps taken Health department. function of 39thcism Congressdeclininga Covid-19 influence. “Poetry norms. “If we aim at a more com- ditions and ethics, religion, politics World over of tests during the festive season, powerful catalyst passionate world, poetry can be one and morals, and need to be pre. Though the official did ry day . can serve as a accordingly Poets at KIIT campus in Bhubaneswar theSunday |government could hasten the“Even as the number most powerful instruments,” served,” he said. The overall daily tests in the not disclose the targets on State IRFANA P6 that has pulled process of so- of the of EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE Govt pulls up high burden districts for lowering Covid-19 tests @ Bhubaneswar The districts have been asked to intensify awareness and convince people with symptoms not to avoid tests as it may have serious and even fatal consequences Health department official up the high virus burden districts for failing to rise up to the standards and meet the target given to them from time to time. Taking a strong note of dismal performance of Khurda, Cuttack, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Balasore, Sundargarh, Keonjhar, Nuapada, Sambalpur and Kalahandi, the Health and Family Welfare department has new cases has come down significantly in some districts, there are six to 10 districts which are still reporting more than 100 cases. These districts, however, are not conducting tests as the situation demands. While all districts have been asked to ramp up testing, collectors of Khurda, Cuttack, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Sam- set for Khurda and Cuttack, he said other districts have been asked to conduct at least 3,000 tests, of which 15 to 20 per cent should be through RT-PCR. Even as districts like Ganjam, where the infection rate has slowed down, still conduct more than 3,000 tests a day, the range is a meagre 800 to 1,500 in the State have also come down from an average 50,000 a day to 40,000 in the last one month. “The districts are taking a plea that people are not coming forward for tests. They have been asked to intensify awareness and convince people with symptoms not to avoid tests as it may have serious and even fatal consequences,” the official added. Meanwhile, the State has re- ported 1,695 new cases in last 24 hours taking the tally to 2,79,582. Five districts have registered nearly 40 pc cases with Khurda accounting for the highest 183, followed by Balasore (128), Sundargarh (110), Cuttack (103) and Nuapada (92). Around 40,033 tests were conducted during the period. Fifteen patients, including two each from Bhubaneswar, Mayurbhanj and Sundargarh succumbed to the disease. With this, the death toll rose to 1,282. The number of active cases now stands at 16,269 after recovery of 2,613 patients on Saturday So . far 2,62,031 patients have recovered in the State. Swargadwar crematorium in Puri will be completed by March, 2021. A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting chaired by 5T Secretary VK Pandian on Saturday. Visiting the pilgrim town, he reviewed the progress of different projects, including development of Swargadwar, setting up of goshalas for stray cattle and rehabilitation of beggars | P4 Political slugfest erupts over Punjab rape case A political slugfest has erupted over alleged rape and death of six-year-old girl in Punjab. While BJP accused the Opposition leaders of ‘selective outrage,’ the Congress hit back by terming the allegations as ‘political puffery’ PAGE-7