PIC: P ravi kumar BHUBANESWAR l monday l april 08, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l LATE CITY EDITION IPL 2024: Mumbai get off the mark with emphatic victory MI out-hit Capitals; LSG too good for GT After three losses, Mumbai Indians pocketed their first points with a 29-run victory vs Delhi Capitals while Lucknow secured their third win... Can chennai get back to winning ways? Rohit Sharma (49 off 27), Ishan Kishan (42 off 23), Tim David (unbeaten 21-ball 45) and Romario Shepherd (39 n.o from 10 balls) exhibited a sixhitting show as Mumbai posted a massive 234/5 against Delhi. Despite Tristan Stubbs’ heroic efforts (71 n.o), DC could only manage 205/8. In the second game, Lucknow Super Giants beat Gujarat Titans by 33 runs ■ ■ Chennai Super Kings are back at Chepauk after two away losses as they take on Kolkata Knight Riders on Monday While Mustafizur Rahman is expected to be back, the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led side will be hoping that their batting fires to perfection against KKR who have some serious hitters in the ranks | P13 284 STubbs’ 71 n.o IS third Best sR amongst 25-plus ball knocks in IPL 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 Jaundice returns to haunt Cuttack city Day after Bengal E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Cuttack Jaundice outbreak is back to haunt the Cuttack civic administration with at least 15 persons testing positive in last couple of days spreading panic among residents. Sources said, fresh jaundice cases came to light after four persons in Rajendra Nagar area under ward no 52 initially tested positive for the disease on Saturday The cases shot up . to 15 after 11 others tested positive on Sunday Local residents . claimed the number of cases would be more than 70 if those found positive in the last two months are taken into consideration. They alleged contaminated drinking water led to spread of jaundice cases in their locality . Chief district medical and public health officer Dr Makaranda Beuria confirmed the outbreak of the disease and said a joint inspection team comprising officials of Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) and ADMO (disease control) visited the affected locality to take stock of the situation. “After getting information that some people have tested positive for jaundice on Saturday, we had sent a team for collection of fresh samples. Of the 47 samples collected from different locations of the ward, high levels of bilirubin were found in 11. However, three persons are now under treatment,” he said. The CDMO informed a health camp has been set up in Rajendra Nagar to collect more samples and treat people if found positive. He also attributed the possible reasons behind the spread of the disease to water contamination as no other reasons could be ascertained during preliminary investigations. “The drinking water sources have been disinfected,” he added. Meanwhile, the officials of Water Corporation of Odisha (Watco) visited the affected area following the allegation of Four persons in Rajendra Nagar area under ward no 52 initially tested positive for the disease on Saturday. The cases shot up to 15 after 11 others tested positive on Sunday – Sources water contamination. They collected water samples and sent the same for tests to confirm the source and type of contamination. “As per initial tests conducted through the S2S method, no contamination of water was found. No leakage in drinking water pipes has been detected yet. Several places have been dug and we are still searching if there is any leakage of pipes,” said Watco general manager Debabrata Mohanty . H o w e v e r, c o r p o r a t o r Soubhagini Jena alleged that the cases shot up as Watco officials and the civic body authorities did not bother with their initial information about the jaundice outbreak a month ago. Lekhashree Ganeswar, are latest BJD entrants E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar After holding key posts in BJP for 10 years, the party’s state unit vice-president Lekhashree Samantsinghar on Sunday joined BJD here hours after resigning from the saffron outfit. As has been the trend in BJD, she is expected to be announced as the party’s candidate for Balasore Lok Sabha seat soon. If it materialises, she will be the seventh candidate to be fielded by the regional party after their defection from rivals like BJP and Congress. Besides, Lekhashree’s candidature will also serve another purpose for BJD. The regional outfit had started the practice of fielding women candidates in one-third of Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 elections. If fielded, she will be the seventh woman Lok Sabha candidate to be nominated by the regional outfit for the ensuing elections, making up the numbers. Lekhashree’s joining BJD is a homecoming for her. She had quit BJD and joined BJP in 2013 and held senior positions in the state unit. In her resignation letter to state president Manmohan Samal, Lekhashree said, “I have given my sweat and blood to the BJP for the last 10 years. However, despite all the sincerity and hard work, I could not earn the trust of the leadership. I feel there is nothing left for me to do here and my desire to serve the people of Odisha is being hampered.” She thanked Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and the BJD leadership for accepting her with an open heart. She said she was inspired by the peopleoriented work of the chief minister and the state government. Later, Lekhashree met the chief minister and 5T chairman VK Pandian at Naveen Niwas. Senior Congress leader and former Ganeswar Behera who quit the grand old party recently also joined BJD at Sankha Bhawan here. He is expected to be fielded from Kendrapara Assembly seat. Behera thanked the chief minister and 5T chairman after joining the BJD and announced that he will work for the party and development of Kendrapara. BJP state vice-president Lekhashree Samantsinghar joins BJD at Sankha Bhawan on Sunday | EXPRESS riding in the rain Commuters make way through heavy rains that lashed the capital city of Bhubaneswar, on Sunday evening | DEBADATTA MALLICK Nor’wester pauses heatwave in state, respite likely to extend for a week E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar STOPPING the staggering heat wave on its track, a nor’wester hit across 10 districts of the state, bringing relief to many parts of Odisha as mercury plunged after heavy thundershowers on Sunday . Districts across the coastal, north and southern parts were lashed by heavy rains accompanied by gusty winds and lightning in the late afternoon hours. The met office said a trough running from interior Odisha to north Tamil Nadu across Chhattisgarh, Vidarbha, Marathwada and interior Karnataka led to the thundershower activities. The good news is thundershower activities may continue for another 24 hours which will abate the hot and sweltering condition. The regional met office has forecast thunderstorm and lightning accompanied with gusty surface wind at one or two places in 12 districts on Monday . “Rainfall activity will occur in the state due to the trough and moisture incursion from the Bay of Bengal,” said director of IMD, Odisha Dr Mano- Vistara cutting 30 flights daily to normalise ops ENS Economic bureau @ New Delhi Having to cancel over 150 flights in the first week of April due to non-availability of pilots, Vistara on Sunday said it is cancelling 10% of its daily flights in April as it looks to normalise operation. “We are carefully scaling back our operations by around 25-30 flights per day This . will take us back to the same level of flight operations as at the end of February 2024, and provide the much-needed resilience and buffer in the rosters,” said a Vistara Spokesperson. The cancellations are done mostly in the domestic network of Vistara, a joint venture between the Tata Group and Singapore International Airlines. Vistara operates about 300 flights daily and 1,000 pilots on its rolls. Earlier this week, the DGCA sought a daily report from the rama Mohanty As a result, light . to moderate rainfall and thundershower activity is expected at many places till Thursday . The nor’wester ensured the sizzling Bhubaneswar calmed down too. Though maximum day temperature was 37.2 degree C in Bhubaneswar, the night temperature fell sharply . The heavy rains affected normal life, impacted power supply and brought traffic to a complete halt for about an hour. Neighbouring Cuttack recorded 35.6 degree C on the Continued on P5 day . Police register case against central agency’s officials for ‘molestation’ and ‘trespassing’ eXPR E SS n E WS s E RVIC E @ Kolkata A day after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) team probing the 2022 Bhupatinagar bomb blast case came under attack by an unruly mob in West Bengal’s East Midnapore district, the local police on Sunday said that they have booked the agency’s officials for ‘molestation’ and ‘trespassing’. The NIA team had gone to the Bhupatinagar village in the wee hours on Saturday to conduct raids and take into custody two key conspirators of the 2022 attack. During the raids, the antiterror agency arrested Balai Charan Maity and Manobrata Jana, a Trinamool Congress leader. Police sources said an FIR was filed against officials of the NIA as well as the accompanying security personnel after Jana’s wife lodged a complaint accusing the officials of forcibly entering her house and trying to outrage her modesty . The NIA strongly refuted the allegations, pointing out that the searches were conducted at five locations in the presence of independent witnesses and under the security cover provided by the CRPF, which included women constables. The probe agency said Maity and Jana were taken into custody following extensive searches. As the team commenced its search operation, the officials were reportedly confronted by a hostile mob, which included women. The situation quickly escalated as the unruly mob launched an assault on the NIA officers, resulting in injury to an official and damage to a vehicle’s windscreen. The NIA said it has filed a written complaint about the attack on its officials at the Bhupatinagar police station. Bid to intimidate TMC, says Abhishek Trinamool leader Abhishek Banerjee accused the BJP of using central agencies to intimidate TMC and asserted that people are with the Bengal party. “BJP can have ED, CBI on their side. They are threatening those who are raising their voices against their undemocratic acts. A section of media friends are also siding with the BJP. But people of Bengal are with the TMC,” he said ‘Attack on officials was unprovoked’ The NIA refuted allegations of ‘mala fide’ in its raids and said the attack on its officials was ‘unprovoked’. “NIA made it clear that its actions were bona fide, lawful, and legally mandated, as part of its ongoing investigation into the heinous crime related to fabrication of crude bombs, leading to an explosion that killed three persons in Naruabila village, PS Bhoopatinagar,” it said However, no one has been arrested in connection with the attack yet. The attack on the NIA team evoked memories of January 5 when a team of the Enforcement Directorate officials was attacked by a large crowd in North 24 Parganas district’s Sandeshkhali. The ED team came under brutal attack during a search at the house of Shahjahan Sheikh, a Trinamool Congress strongman, in connection with alleged irregularities in the public distribution system in the state. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Kolkata THE political slugfest over the attack on NIA officials escalated on Sunday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday alleging that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) was “orchestrating attacks on central investigative agencies” in the state to shield its extortionist and corrupt leaders. Speaking at a rally in Jalpaiguri in West Bengal, Modi said the TMC desires a free licence for corruption and violence in Bengal, which is why central agencies investigating such cases face attacks in the state. “When central investigative agencies come here, the TMC attacks them...it’s a party that crushes the law and the Constitution of the country... you saw what happened in Sandeshkhali. Everyone in the country knows it,” he said. Modi added that the TMC’s ‘syndicate Raj’ prevails in Bengal the ruling party in the state is only interested in protecting its corrupt leaders. “The TMC government seeks to have a free pass for loot and terror in Bengal. To shield its extortionist and corrupt leaders, the TMC orchestrates attacks on central investigative agencies when they come here,” he added. Meanwhile, Beng al CM Mamata Banerjee sought to put the blame on the NIA for the attack. “They are carrying out raids without prior information and barging into houses. What would women do if someone entered their house in the dead of night,” she said on Sunday at an election rally . Jibe at Kharge On Mallikarjun Kharge’s comment on Article 370, Modi said: “The post of Congress president is not a small thing. And the leader thinks Article 370 has nothing to do with Rajasthan. Is Jammu and Kashmir not part of India?” e x p r e s s r ead Trouble for Nainar as 3 caught with `4 cr Huge cache of explosives recovered Chennai: Flying Squad Teams (FST) at Tambaram seized `3.98 crore — among the largest cash seizures so far — from three men, allegedly linked to BJP’s Tirunelveli candidate Nainar Nagendran, travelling on the Nellai Superfast Express from Egmore to Tirunelveli on Saturday night | P5 Sukma: Security forces on Sunday recovered a huge cache of explosives from two places in the district, an official said. The seized materials include 350 gelatin sticks, 105 electric detonators, a Barrel Grenade Launcher (BGL), 22 BGL projectors, 19 BGL bombs and Maoist literature, the official added. Under pressure, Israel pulls forces out of southern Gaza E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e airline as the issue snowballed into a major embarrassment. Vistara pilots were not happy with the revised salary structure, which is being “forced upon them” ahead of its merger with Air India, they said. Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan, a day ago said that 98% of its pilots have signed the new contracts with the revised salary structure. “We are aware that some pilots have some concerns and queries regarding the contract. We are engaging with them to clarify and resolve the same. However, this has not caused any visible spike in attrition among the pilots,” Kannan said. mob attack, NIA officers face FIR TMC targets probe agencies to shield the corrupt: Modi Under pressure from the US and allies over the ‘unintentional’ killing of aid workers, Israel on Sunday adopted a conciliatory approach and pulled out troops from southern Gaza. The Israeli military in a statement said the 98th commando division has “concluded its mission” in Khan Yunis and left “in order to recuperate and prepare for future operations”. However, the Israeli military said it will continue to have presence in the rest of the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is ready for a deal but is not ready to surrender. The partial withdrawal from Gaza should aid the truce talks expected to resume in Cairo. “There will be no ceasefire without the return of hostages. It just won’t happen,” he said. Netanyahu has been under pressure from the international community after Israel on April 1 dropped bombs on humanitarian workers of US-based food charity World Central Kitchen by mistake. Last week, US President Joe Biden said his support for the war would depend on Israel curtailing the death of civilians and improving humanitarian conditions in Gaza. Britain also demanded that the conflict must end. Israel’s public broadcaster Channel 11 reported that the remaining forces would be located along the Netzarim Corridor, a route that splits the Gaza Strip in two. Following the Palestinians return to Khan Yunis after Israel pulled its ground forces out of southern Gaza Strip on Sunday | afp global outcry over the death of aid workers, Israeli military sacked two senior officers on Friday. Israeli military’s inquiry into the incident revealed that the drone operators did not follow rules and thought the World Central Kitchen’s cars were carrying Hamas gunmen. The Israel Defence Forces apologised for its mistake and sacked a colonel and major for the failure and added that those who carried out the attack could face criminal prosecution. While welcoming the action, World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres called for an independent probe into the Israeli strike that killed his staff, and warned that the conflict had become a “war against humanity itself.” Reacting to Israel’s partial withdrawal, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said: “As we understand it, and through their public announcements, it is really just about rest and refit for these troops that have been on the ground for four months and not necessarily, that we can tell, indicative of some coming new operation for P11 these troops.”
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