BHUBANESWAR l tuesday l june 21, 2022 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l JEYPORE EDITION gotabaya one step away from losing unfettered powers Sri Lankan cabinet on Monday passed the 21st Amendment to the Constitution to empower Parliament over the executive president Prez to be answerable to Parliament IMF begins talks to bail out colombo The latest amendment, which will soon be tabled in Parliament, seeks to annul the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, which gave unfettered powers to the President. Under the 21A, the President will be held accountable to Parliament. When passed by Parliament, the 21A will also bar dual citizens from contesting elections to hold public office ■ ■ The development comes on a day when the IMF began bailout talks with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe The 21st amendment was supposed to be taken up in cabinet on June 6 but was delayed after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa reportedly asked the minister of justice not to take it up then $51 billion Sri Lanka’s total foreign debt. Of this, Colombo plans to repay $5 bn this year 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 PM hard-sells reform India faces $100 billion amid Agnipath stir capital outflow, says RBI Army on Monday issued its first notification on Agnipath scheme, online registration made mandatory for all candidates E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bengaluru/New Delhi Apparently alluding to the ongoing protests against the short-term Agnipath military recruitment scheme, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said any reform may seem unpleasant temporarily, but in the long term it would benefit the country . In his address at Kommaghatta where he laid the foundation stone for Bengaluru’s Suburban Rail and other infrastructure projects, Modi said, “The path of startup and innovation is not the one with ease, and taking the country on this path for the last eight years . was also not easy Several decisions and reforms may be unpleasant temporarily, but with time their benefits can be experienced by the country He did .” not mention Agnipath explicitly . With the government firm on executing the scheme, the Army on Monday issued its first notification on Agnipath. It made online registration Sinha’s name in Prez play after Gandhi, too, opts out E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi/Kolkata A day before the second meeting of the Opposition over the upcoming Presidential elections, attention turned towards ex-finance minister Yashwant Sinha possibly entering the ring after retired diplomat and former We s t B e n g a l g o v e r n o r Gopalkrishna Gandhi declined to be their candidate for the polls. Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee had tossed up the names of National Conference’s Farooq Abdullah and Gandhi for the high post after NCP leader Sharad Pawar opted out last week. But Abdullah threw in the towel a couple of days ago. With Gandhi, too, conveying his disinclination, the Trinamool quietly injected the name of Sinha, a BJP import into its party, who has been ascerbic about the Modi government’s functioning. For the record though, Mamata’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee said, “Nothing has been decided yet. Decision on who will be the candidate of Opposition parties will be taken unanimously in Tuesday’s meeting.’’ But the buzz around Sinha started building up after a senior Trinamool leader claimed that three to four parties have already seconded his candidature. As for Gandhi, he said, “having considered the matter deeply I see that the Opposition candidate should be one who will generate a national consensus and national atmosphere besides Opposition unity I . feel there will be others who will do this far better than I.” Trains stand parked at Patna railway station after their cancellation due to ‘Bharat Bandh’, called to protest against Centre’s ‘Agnipath’ scheme, in Patna, Monday | PTI Rlys cancels more than 600 trains Anticipating trouble amid a call for Bharat Bandh, more than 600 trains were cancelled — 223 mail and express trains and 379 passengers trains — on Monday following nationwide protests against Agnipath scheme mandatory for all candidates, using the Army’s website www. joinindianarmy .nic.in to do so. The registration window will open in July . The streams for which candidates can apply include Gener- al Duty, Agniveer Technical, Agniveer Technical (aviation/ ammunition examiner), Agniveer Clerk/ Store Keeper Technical, Agniveer Tradesman 10th Pass and Agniveer Tradesman 8th Pass.  P5,7 Tele-serial actor dies by suicide in Capital City Police have also recovered a note from the victim’s room but she has reportedly held no A 22-year-old tele-serial actor o n e r e s p o n s i b l e f o r h e r allegedly died by suicide at death. her rented accommodation in The youth is working with a Gada Sahi under Nayapalli finance firm. The parents of police limits. the victim suspect foul play The woman was a native of and have requested the police Sanket Patana in Jagatsingh- to thoroughly investigate the pur district. matter. “My daughter was The victim’s body was re- staying in Bhubaneswar since covered from her resthe last four years. idence on the ground She shifted to the floor on Saturday present house at Gada night. Initial investiSahi about two gation suggests she months back. Apart My daughter shifted to the took the extreme step from acting in seripresent house at by hanging from a als, she was working Gada Sahi about ceiling fan by using a with a finance firm two months back. saree, police said. where the youth is Police sources said, Apart from acting also employed,” the in serials, she was the matter came to victim’s father told working with a light after one of her the mediapersons. finance firm “The youth had telmale friends inActor’s father ephoned me on June for med her father 11 and informed that about the incident. The landlord claimed that the he had a fight with my daughyouth and the woman were ter. I went to Bhubaneswar a s t ay i n g t o g e t h e r i n h i s day later and asked her to come with me. She visited us during house. Police, however, said the Raja festival before returning victim’s parents are not aware to the Capital City. I suspect the if both were married. “The youth’s involvement behind youth had requested the girl’s her death. Police should look father to meet them about 10 into the matter,” he said. days back. He had also re“More details will emerge afceived her father at the rail- ter receiving the victim’s postway station when the latter mor tem re por t. Her male had come to the city,” said an friend will also be questioned officer of Nayapalli police in connection with her death,” said a police officer. station. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar Jab-o-meter Take your shot NATIONWIDE June 19 June 20 Total: 1,96,30,25,832 INDIA may witness $100 billion worth of foreign portfolio investment (FPI) outflows in the event of extreme adverse shocks, a recent research paper by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) shows. According to the paper, there is a 5% chance of capital outflows from India of the order of 3.2% of GDP or $100.6 billion in a year, owing to extreme adverse shocks such as a Covid-type contraction in real GDP growth or in a global financial crisis situation such as in 2008. The RBI research paper, co-authored by RBI Deputy Governor Michael Debabrata Patra, also warns that in a very extreme risk scenario or in a black swan event (in which there is a combination of all these shocks), the capital outflow could be as high as $240 billion, or 7.7% of the GDP. The research paper says that these estimates are significant given the fact that India’s total stock of portfolio investment and short-term trade credit stand at $288 billion and $110.5 billion, respectively, at the end of December 2021. When the interest rate differential between India and the US decreases, Indian papers become less attractive for foreign investors, who shift out their portfolio investments to developed economies. Foreign portfolio investors are also sensitive to risks and higher volatility shown in the emerging markets drives outflow of capital from these markets to safer developed economies. India has been witnessing major outflow of foreign capital since the beginning of 2022. In the current calendar year alone, FPIs have taken out $28 billion from the country as the US increased policy interest rates due to 41-year high inflation. World’s biggest freshwater fish caught in Mekong The world’s largest recorded freshwater fish, a giant stingray, has been caught in the Mekong River in Cambodia, according to scientists from the Southeast Asian nation and the US | P12 State Vigilance cannot deny info on graft under RTI Act: HC E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Cuttack THE Orissa High Court on Monday directed the State government to bring Odisha Vigilance under the purview of the Right To Information Act (RTI), and issue a clarification in this regard within four weeks. The clarification should make it clear that notification issued under Section 24 (4) of the RTI Act by the State Information and Public Relation department in 2016, will not permit the State government to deny information pertaining to the Vigilance department involving allegations of corruption, human rights violations and other information that does not touch upon any of the sensitive and confidential activities, the court specified. The Vigilance wing under the General Administration de- Information that does not touch upon any of the sensitive and confidential activities undertaken by the Vigilance Department, cannot be withheld Orissa High Court partment, is the nodal agency for investigating cases of corruption by public servants. The notification issued on August 11, 2016 said, “In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section 4 of Section 24 of the Right to Information Act, 2005, the State government does hereby specify that nothing contained in the said Act shall apply to the General Administration (Vigilance) department and its organisation.” Three separate PILs filed by Subash Mohapatra, Sudhansu Kumar Nanda and Pradeep Pradhan had challenged the notification in the same year. While disposing the petitions in a common judgment, the division bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice RK Pattanaik said, “The notification insofar as it prevents disclosure of information concerning the General Administration (Vigilance) Department even when it pertains to allegations of corruption and human rights violations would be contrary to the first proviso to Section 24 (4) of the RTI Act and, by that yardstick, would be unsustainable in 51 18 0 46 28 0 law.” “If under the RTI Act disclosure is the norm, and non-disclosure the exception, then the impugned notification seeks to take away what is provided by the RTI Act and is therefore ultra vires the RTI Act,” the bench observed. The bench ruled that the General Administration (Vigilance) department cannot, notwithstanding the said notificat i o n , r e f u s e t o d iv u l g e information pertaining to corruption and human rights violations, which information is not protected from disclosure by virtue of the first proviso to Section 24 (4) of the RTI Act. “Also, information that does not touch upon any of the sensitive and confidential activities undertaken by the Vigilance Department, cannot be withheld”, the bench ruled. CM reaches Rome, may meet Pope tomorrow E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar odisha june 19 june 20 Fresh cases 12,899 12,781 Fresh cases 8,518 8,537 Recoveries Deaths 15 18 Deaths June 19 2,80,136 doses June 20 11,31,327 doses Recoveries E x p r e ss N e ws Se r v i c e @ New Delhi BEACH Yoga Sand sculptor Sudarsan Pattnaik creates a sculpture of PM Narendra Modi in a Yoga pose on Puri beach on the eve of Yoga Day | express express read ED to grill Rahul for 5th day today Russian attack continues in Ukraine Sena, NCP win 2 MLC each, BJP 4 J&K admin sacks 100-plus doctors New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate has asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to join investigation for the fifth day on Tuesday and record his statement in the National Herald money laundering case. Rahul has spent around 38 hours at the ED headquarters over four sittings since his first appearance on June 13. Party president Sonia Gandhi has also been summoned for questioning on Thursday | P7 Russia’s military machine persevered in its ferocious effort to grind down Ukraine’s defences on Monday, as the war’s consequences for food and fuel supplies increasingly weighed on minds around the globe after warnings that the fighting could go on for years. In Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region, battles raged for the control of multiple villages, the local governor said | P9 The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Monday sacked 112 doctors for taking unauthorised leaves. The J&K Health and Medical Education Department terminated the services of doctors, including Medical Officers, Consultant Surgeons and B-Grade Specialists, for being absent from duty without authorisation. The sacked medicos have been absent from duty over different periods between 2005 and 2020 | P8 Two candidates each of the ruling allies NCP and the Shiv Sena and four nominees of the opposition BJP on Monday won elections to the Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC). All the eight candidates secured the minimum quota of 26 votes each to make it to the Upper House of the state legislature. The final vote tally will be announced when all the rounds of counting is over, officials said | P8 Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday reached Rome, beginning his six-day tour of Italy . He was received by India’s ambassador to Italy Neena Malhotra in Rome. The Chief Minister is likely to meet the Pope on Wednesday and also visit the headquarters of the World Food Programme (WFP) to share Odisha’s transformational journey in food security and disaster management. The BJP and Congress, however, targeted Naveen for not including any minister in the high-level delegation led by him to take part in the investors meet at Dubai on June 27. Alleging that the Chief Minister does not have confidence in his ministers, senior BJP leader Pradip Purohit said that the Industries Minister should have accompanied him to the investors’ meeting instead of the Industries Secretary. Congress MLA Suresh Kumar Routray also maintained that Naveen should have included ministers in the delegation. However, Revenue Minister Pramila Mallik dismissed the criticism and said that the CM is capable of handling the situation himself.