T UR K E Y Kahramanmaras 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 ■ ■ Epicentre bhubaneswar l tuesday l february 07, 2023 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l jeypore EDITION Gaziantep Aleppo  Severe  Very strong  Strong  Moderate syria The Minute-long quake could be Turkey’s largest First quake centred north of Gaziantep in Turkey. It struck at 4.17 am local time and lasted about a minute. It could be Turkey’s largest so far A strong 6.7 aftershock came 10 minutes later. Tremors from the quake were felt as far away as Greenland. It was also felt in Egypt, Lebanon and Cyprus. Tsunami warning was briefly issued in Italy Collapsed buildings in a rebel-held village in Syria on Monday (L) and rescue operations in full swing in the earthquake-hit regions in Syria and Turkey | AFP 2,300 killed and counting Y e s h i Se l i @ New Delhi A monster 7.8 magnitude earthquake in the wee hours of Monday — followed by another 7.5 about 10 hours later — rocked Turkey and Syria toppling hundreds of buildings and killing over 2,300 people and leaving many others injured. The toll is expected to shoot as hundreds are still trapped under rubble. It was a cold, rainy and snowy night when the pre-dawn quake struck, reducing buildings to piles of pancaked floors on both sides of the border. Thousands of buildings collapsed in a wide area extending from Syria’s cities of Aleppo and Hama to Turkey’s Diyarbakir, more than 330 km to the northeast. A hospital collapsed in the coastal city of Iskenderun in Turkey. Casualities were reported from at least 10 provinces in Turkey . The epicentre was in Turkey’s province of Kahramanmaras. It sent residents of Da- mascus rushing into the streets, jolted awake people in their beds in Beirut, and was felt in faraway Cairo. “Because the debris removal efforts are continuing in many buildings in the earthquake zone, we do not know how high the number of dead and injured will rise,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. Hundreds of families remained trapped in rubble in Syria, an emergency organisation, called the White Helmets, run by the country’s opposition said in a statement. The Turkey-Syria region sits on top of major fault lines and frequently experiences quakes. As many as 18,000 were killed in a similarly powerful earthquakes that hit Turkey in 1999. Researchers said Monday’s earthquake was a strike-slip quake, where two tectonic Second quake was not an aftershock The 7.5-magnitude second quake struck at 1.24 pm local time, around 95 km north of the first quake. Officials said it was not an aftershock 2,800 rescue teams have been deployed in Turkey. The nation’s armed forces have set up an air corridor to enable search and rescue teams to reach the affected zones. At least 22 countries are rushing aid  U.S. Geological Survey warns fatalities could even cross 10,000  earthquake was 18 km deep  race against time to rescue victims  India to send two NDRF teams comprising 100 personnel plates slide past each other horizontally instead of moving up , and down. They said it was one of the biggest strike-slip quakes in the world. At the United Nationa, diplomats from the 193 member countries stood in silent tribute to victims of the earthquake. Offers of help poured in from across the globe, including India, Britain, the European Union and NATO. India will send two teams of National Disaster Response Force comprising 100 personnel with specially trained dog squads and necessary equipment to help expedite the search and rescue operations. Medical teams are also being readied with trained doctors and paramedics with essential medicines. Relief material will be dispatched in coordination with the Government of Republic of Türkiye and Indian Embassy in Ankara and Consulate General office in Istanbul. “Anguished by the loss of lives and damage of property due to the earthquake in Turkey. Condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon. India stands in solidarity with the people of Turkey and is ready to offer all possible assistance to cope with this tragedy,’’ said Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Principal Secretary to the PM held a high-level meeting in South Block to discuss immediate relief measures. Thousands homeless: P9 Custodial death slur on PM lays out 4-pronged strategy to boost energy sector Athagarh forest officials, beat house set on fire E x p r e ss N e ws Se r v i c e @ Bengaluru E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar/Athagarh An irate mob vandalised and set fire to a forest beat house at Banpur in Baramba area under Athagarh forest division on Monday after a villager detained by forest officials over an elephant poaching incident allegedly died in their custody . While the police and district administration have managed to restore normalcy in the area, at least 15 forest staff of the division including two assistant conservators of forest (ACFs) and a ranger were detained in connection with the custodial death. The divisional forest officer (DFO) JD Pati has also been named in the FIR lodged by the victim’s wife, sub divisional police officer (SDPO), Athagarh, Bijay Kumar Bisi said. According to reports, the 59-year-old Dhaneswar Behera of Satagochhia village under Baramba tehsil was taken into custody by the forest officials on Sunday in connection with poaching of a sub-adult elephant, carcass of which was recovered with a severed trunk and missing tusks from Haladi- asuni reserve forest on January 30. Behera, however, died under mysterious circumstances while in forest department custody following which irate villagers staged a road blockade at Badabaharsingh road on Monday The matter soon flared . up and a mob attacked the beat office and set it on fire. As tension prevailed, SDPO Bisi, Baramba tehsildar and other senior officials rushed to the spot. Three platoons of police force were deployed to restore law and order. Normalcy returned after the forest officials reportedly agreed to pay `5 lakh compensation to the family of the deceased and a job to his son, police sources said. Additional SP Cuttack (Rural) Krushna Prasad Patnaik said a complaint was lodged by Behera’s wife Tulasi alleging that forest officials took him and beat him to death. “Basing on the complaint, a case has been registered under 302, 341, 294, 354 323, 365, 342 and other sections of IPC as well as the Atrocities Act. Athagarh SDPO is investigating the matter,” he Continued on P5 said.  Villagers stage road blockade at Badabaharsingh under Baramba range of Athagarh forest division over death of a local in custody of forest offcials on Monday | EXPRESS IN a big push for India’s energy sector, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday laid out a four-pronged strategy while appealing to global and domestic investors from the exploration and production (E&P) sector to invest in the country . Inaugurating India Energy Week 2023, Modi explained four major verticals for the strategic energy sector: increasing domestic exploration and production; diversifying the supply; expanding fuels like biofuel, ethanol, compressed biogas and solar; and de-carbonisation via electric vehi- Adani prepays $1.14 bn for release of pledged shares a RSHA D kHA N @ New Delhi IN a bid to salvage investor confidence amid huge market value erosion, billionaire Gautam Adani and family have prepaid $1.1 billion worth of loans that were taken by pledging shares of Adani group firms. The group had time till September 2024 to repay the loans. “In light of recent market volatility and in continuation of the promoters’ commitment to reduce the overall promoter leverage backed by Adani shares, we are pleased to inform that promoters have posted the amounts to prepay $1,114 million ahead of maturity of September 2024,” a company statement read. With this, over 200 million shares in three Adani group firms — 168.27 mn shares of Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) representing 12% of the promoters’ holding, 27.56 mn shares (3% of promoters’ holding) in Adani Green Energy and 11.77 mn (1.4%) in Adani Transmission — will be released. The promoter family owns 65.13% in APSEZ, of which 17.31% is pledged, according to BSE data updated till December 31. The promoter’s stake in Adani Green Energy is 60.75% (pledge: 4.36%) and 74.19% in Adani Transmission (pledge: 6.62%). The ports-to-power conglomerate has been under fire and lost nearly `10 lakh crore in market capitalisation in just eight sessions after US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research published a scathing report alleging fraud and stock price manipulation. The relentless stock rout had also triggered concerns of the group’s ability to meet debt obligations. The latest move by the promoters is aimed to address such concerns. The Adani Group’s gross debt is estimated at about `2 lakh crore. SC to hear plea against Victoria Gowri today S h r u t i K a kk a r @ New Delhi IN a rare move, the Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear an urgent plea seeking to restrain advocate Lekshmana Chandra Victoria Gowri from taking oath as a judge of the Madras High Court, soon after the Centre notified her appointment. Earlier in the day minutes after Un, ion law minister Kiren Rijiju tweeted confirming Gowri’s elevation, a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud had agreed to list the plea for Friday. The hearing was, however, advanced after senior advocate Raju Ramachandran again mentioned the information was not before the sixplea, seeking the court’s urgent member collegium when it recomintervention. mended her name on January The petitioners, a group of 17, 2023. lawyers from Chennai, in their He also referred to the top plea referred to the alleged hate court’s 1992 ruling of quashing speeches made by Gowri. “Her the appointment of an HC proposed appointment as a judge after finding the person judge poses a grave threat to the recommended “ineligible.” fair administration of justice Considering the senior and citizens right to the same counsel’s contention, CJI Victoria Gowri under Article 21 of the ConstiChandrachud said the colletution,” the plea stated. gium has taken cognisance of the deUrging the bench to stay the war- velopments that took place after its recrant of her appointment and swearing ommendation. “We can list it tomorrow in, Ramachandran said certain vital morning,” Chandrachud said. cles and hydrogen. The PM said India is working to enhance petrochemical production capacity and asked the industry leadership to utilise technology and the startup ecosystem to expand their energy landscape. He said ‘no-go’ curbs on oil exploration and production on up to 10 lakh sq km More investments Justifying the need for more investments, Modi pointed out the rising demand for energy in the country in the near future, with a rapid pace of development expected to result in new cities being developed area were lifted, and appealed to investors “to make use of these opportunities, and increase your presence in the exploration of fossil fuels.” Quoting International Energy Association, the Prime Minister said India’s energy demands will be highest in the present decade, presenting an opportunity for stakeholders.