bhubaneswar l tuesday l march 14, 2023 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l jeypore EDITION Retail inflation declines marginally to 6.44% in Feb Retail inflation fell marginally last month compared to that of January, on account of a slight easing in prices of food and fuel items Still above RBI’s upper tolerance band Urban inflation inches up, show data The inflation rate based on the Consumer Price Index had peaked to a threemonth high of 6.52% in January 2023, while it stood at 6.07% in February 2022. The rate for the food basket was 5.95% in February 2023, lower than 6% in January. Except for November and December 2022, retail inflation has remained above RBI’s upper tolerance band of 6% since January 2022 ■ Rural inflation stood at 6.72% and urban inflation at 6.1% in February 2023 compared to 6.85% and 6%, respectively, in January 2023 ■ According to experts, the worst phase of inflation may be behind us. On Sunday, RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee member Ashima Goyal said inflation in India is likely to come down over the year | P10 250 points rbi’S Cumulative RATE hike SINCE mAY LAST YEAR TO CONTAIN RISING PRICES 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 made-by-India cinema gets first Oscars Av i n as h Ra m ac h a n d ra n Indian cinema first knocked at the door of the Academy Awards in 1958 with director Mehboob Khan’s seminal work, Mother India. Since then, this quest has been an obsession almost, with films like Salaam Bombay and Lagaan going agonisingly close. Of course, our artists like Bhanu Athaiya (Gandhi), A R Rahman, Gulzar, and Resul Pookutty (Slumdog Millionaire), have all won the Oscars, but those were all films made in India, but not by India. And now, finally, a documentary called The Elephant Whisperers and the song Naatu Naatu from RRR have made the world turn in our direction. Naatu Naatu started as a Telugu song, became an Indian phenomenon and then a worldwide rage, gaining momentum in the lead up to the Oscars, where it has won the ‘Best Original Song’ award, defeating the likes of Rihanna, and Lady Gaga. Accepting the award, composer MM Keeravaani said, “There was only one vision in my mind, Rajamouli’s M M Keeravaani (right) and Chandrabose accept the award for Best Original Song for Naatu Naatu from RRR at the Oscars ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday | AP mind, and my family’s mind too. RRR has to be the pride of every Indian and must put me on top of the world.” It was also a lovely touch to see Deepika Padukone introducing the Naatu Naatu performance at the Oscars and to see singers Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava perform it. While the win of Naatu Naatu was a first for Indian cinema, producer Guneet Monga has cemented India’s place iconic rrr still as an impor- tant force in the Documentary category by winning her second Academy Award for The Elephant Whisperers. She previously won the same award for Period. End of Sentence (2019). Guneeth shared the award with Kartiki Gonzalves, the director of The Elephant Whisperers, and said, “I stand here to speak about the sacred bond between us and the natural world. For respect of the indigenous community and empathy towards other living beings and finally for co-existence.” What a beautiful coincidence that the triumph should come on National Elephants’ Continued on: P9 Day!  Exceptional! The popularity of ‘Naatu Naatu’ is global. It will be a song that will be remembered for years to come. Congratulations to @mmkeeravaani, @ boselyricist and the entire team for this prestigious honour. India is elated and proud. #Oscars - Narendra Modi, Prime Minister Ladies, don’t let anybody tell you you are ever past your prime. Never give up - Michelle Yeoh, who won the Best Actress Oscar for Everything Everywhere All At Once Elephant whisperers continue mission in TN J e v i n Se lw y n Hen ry & SV K r i s h n a C h a i ta n ya @ Dharmapuri/Chennai While the ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ was winning an Oscar, thousands of kilometres away one of the film’s main characters, 52-year-old elephant mahout K Bomman, was on a mission to protect three abandoned elephant calves in Dharmapuri. ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ is about tribal couple Bomman and Belli fostering an orphaned baby elephant Raghu in the Theppakadu elephant camp. The film, released on Netflix in December, captures the bond between the couple and the calf. While fans of the film celebrated, Bomman, as part of a team, was busy monitoring the movement of the two elephant calves orphaned after their parents were electrocuted recently. The same team is also trying to integrate an abandoned six-month-old baby elephant with a herd. Speaking to TNIE, Bomman said he hadn’t known what an Oscar award was till now. “Only with all these back-toback calls and messages have I understood that our documentary is being spoken about worldwide,” he said. “I never expected such an honor but the news makes us extremely happy All this hap. pened due to the efforts of the forest department. I dedicate this victory to the staff workP5 ing with elephants.”  Kartiki Gonsalves (L) and Guneet Monga pose with their awards for “The Elephant Whisperers” at the Oscars on Sunday | ap ‘I am their foster mom’ “I have reared many elephants, treated them like my own children, looking after them as a foster mother (valarppu thaai),” Belli told reporters at Nilgiris. Boy dies after hot dal spills Ruckus in Parliament on him in hostel kitchen over Rahul’s remarks E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Rourkela IN a tragic incident, a class VIII student died of burn injuries he sustained after he was accidentally doused in piping hot dal at the kitchen of a state-run school’s hostel in Koida block of the district. Gellet Niranjan Hanhag, 14, was admitted to Rourkela government hospital where he succumbed to the injuries on Sunday night, six days after the incident. The incident has brought to fore gross negligence on part of the school authorities and violation of safety guidelines of ST & SC Development (SSD) department. The SSD school where the mishap took place is located at Deungula village under Koida block, about 120 km from Rourkela. The boy died while preparation was underway to shift him to VIMSAR, Burla after his blood oxygen level dropped. On the March 6, Gellet along with fellow students had gone to the toilet block. The hostel’s kitchen was located nearby Of . the four cooks in the kitchen, only one was present who asked the 14-year-old to help him move the large saucepan from the stove. During the shifting process, they lost grip of the cooking vessel leaving the boiling liquid splashed all over. The student ended up being scalded from his thighs below. Gellet originally belonged to Manoharpur of adjacent West Singhbhum district in Jharkhand. He was staying at the colony of a private mining company in Deungula. His father is a mine worker. Sundargarh district welfare officer (DWO) Pabitra Mohan Pradhan said, of the four cooks, one was on leave and another was manning the hostel gate. The third was abContinued on P5 sent.  E x p r e ss N e ws Se r v i c e @ New Delhi THE second leg of the Budget session of Parliament began on a disruptive note on Monday after Opposition and Treasury benches locked horns over Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s speech in London. With the government demanding Gandhi’s apology for his ‘democracy under attack’ remark, both the Houses plunged into chaos, leading to adjournment of proceedings for the day . In the Lok Sabha, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh led the offensive against Rahul, alleging his remarks denigrated India’s image abroad and that he should apologise before the House. Speaker Om Birla adjourned the session after Congress MPs trooped to the Well. The Rajya Sabha, too, witnessed similar scenes after Union minister Piyush Goyal sought an apology from Rahul, who is not a member of the House Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge took exception to Goyal’s demand. Taking potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he tweeted that Modi had said in South Korea: “There was a time when people used to feel that what sin they committed in their past life which resulted in taking birth in India, is this what you call a country ...” Same-sex marriage case ‘seminal’, sent to Constitution bench S h r u t i K a k k a r @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Monday referred to a fivejudge bench a batch of petitions seeking legal recognition to same-sex marriage under various statutory regimes such as the Hindu Marriage Act, Special Marriage Act and Foreign Marriage Act. A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud said the pleas raised issues of seminal importance and posted them for final disposal from April 18. “We are of the view that it would be appropriate if the issues raised are resolved by the bench of five judges of this court with due regard to Article 145(3) of the Constitution. Thus, we direct it to be placed before a constitution bench,” the court said. It also acceded to a petitioner’s request for live streaming of the proceedings. The bench during the hearing also remarked that the adopted child of a gay or lesbian couple does not have to be gay or lesbian. The remarks came after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that the moment marriage as a recognised institution between same sex is sanctified, the question of adoption will come up. Parliament will then have examine it from perspective of the child’s psychology “This is a legislative function. . It will then be about adoption. Parliament will have to see psychology of a child who has not been reared by a father and a mother — these are the issues. Parliament will have to debate and take a call in view of our ethos,” Mehta remarked. Outside Parliament, Union law minister Kiren Rijiju said: “The government is not interfering in the personal life of anybody But when it comes to . to marriage, it is a matter of policy .” express read SC directs govt to withdraw OROP circular New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Union defence ministry to withdraw its notification about paying the One Rank-One Pension arrears to pensioners of the armed forces in four instalments, saying the ministry can’t take law into its hands by issuing such a communication ‘unilaterally’. The SC told Attorney General R Venkataramani to prepare a note giving details of the payment plan by March 20 | P7 India tops global arms importers list: Report New Delhi: A report released by Sweden-based Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) found that India was on top among the five largest arms importers during 2018–22 and was followed by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Australia and China. “The top five arms importers—India, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Australia and China— received 36 per cent of total global arms imports in the period,” the report said | P7