BHUBANESWAR SATURDAY JUNE 29, 2024 `9.00 PAGES 12 LATE CITY EDITION DEEPLY BIASED: INDIA SLAMS U.S. REPORT ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the report cherry-picked incidents to push a preconceived narrative against India DRIVEN BY VOTEBANK CONSIDERATIONS: MEA ‘QUESTIONS INTEGRITY OF JUDICIAL VERDICTS’ “As in the past, the report is deeply biased, lacks an understanding of India’s social fabric and is visibly driven by votebank considerations and a prescriptive outlook,” Jaiswal said. “We therefore reject it. The exercise itself is a mix of imputations, misrepresentations, selective usage of facts, reliance on biased sources and a one-sided projection of issues,” he added ■ While releasing the report in Washington on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had flagged a ‘concerning increase’ in anti-conversion laws, hate speech, and demolition of homes and places of worship in India ■ The MEA spokesperson said the US State Department’s annual report appears to challenge the integrity of certain judgments by Indian courts 253 CHURCHES WERE BURNED DOWN IN MANIPUR IN 2023, SAYS THE U.S. REPORT 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 Record rain in 88 yrs brings Delhi to its knees Opposition stalls Parliament to make NEET point Repeated disruptions force both Houses to be adjourned without conducting business P R E E T H A N A I R & R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R @ New Delhi People (left) wade through a waterlogged road near Sarai Kale Khan; and parked vehicles damaged following the collapse of a canopy at Terminal 1 of the airport amid heavy rain, in New Delhi on Friday | PTI J I T E N D R A C H O U B E Y @ New Delhi AFTER record heat, it poured like there was no tomorrow on the first day of monsoon in the national capital, drenching Delhi with the highest one-day rainfall in 88 years. It rained cats and dogs from about 4 am to 8.30 am and left major parts of Delhi and the adjoining national capital region flooded. Water entered homes, submerging vehicles and leading to massive traffic snarls that took hours to detangle. Thousands of commuters found themselves stranded. The Safdarjung Automatic Weather Station recorded a whopping 228.1 mm rainfall in 24 hours, the second highest since 1936 when the precipitation was 235 mm. The total rainfall recorded in June so far is 234.5 mm as against the normal of 74.1 mm. Friday’s downpour was more than one-third of the total normal monsoon rainfall from June to September at Safdarjung, which is around 640 mm. “Following a hot weather streak, the region got 148.5 mm, almost the double of June’s normal rain, in just 3 hours, and nearly the entire August rain in about 6 hours!” said Akshay Deoras, UK-based scientist at the National Centre for Atmospheric Science and Department of Meteorology Uni, versity of Reading. Explaining how global warming-induced climate change causes heavy downpours in a short span, he said, “The soil becomes dry and hard follow- 235.5 24.06.1936 CABBIE KILLED IN CANOPY COLLAPSE AT THE AIRPORT U J W A L J A L A L I @ New Delhi HIGHEST DAILY RAINFALL AT SAFDARJUNG OBSERVATORY RANK RAINFALL (IN MM) 1 2 3 4 DATE 228.1 28.06.2024 191.6 30.06.1981 139.7 24.06.1933 MONTHLY AVERAGE RAINFALL FOR SAFDARJUNG (JUNE-SEPT) IN MM June 74.1 July 209.7 August 233.1 September 123.4 ing a streak of hot weather. If rain falls in large amounts in a short span, the soil can repel water, increasing the risk of a flash flood. Unfortunately such , events are expected to become more frequent due to global warming.” ONE cabbie died while six others sustained injuries after a portion of the canopy at the Delhi Airport’s Terminal-1 collapsed amid heavy pre-dawn rains on Friday Deputy Commissioner of . Police (IGI-A) Usha Rangnani said the shed outside Terminal 1 of the domestic airport, from Departure Gate 1 to Gate 2, collapsed around 5 am with its beams crashing on parked cabs. The deceased was identified as Ramesh Kumar (45). Iron beams from the roof crashed on his parked cab with him inside. The injured were rushed to Medanta Hospital from where they were shifted to Safdarjung Hospital. “Around four vehicles were damaged and six persons were injured. All the injured persons are stable,” Rangnani said. The Delhi Police later registered a case of death due to negligence under the Indian Penal Code. New Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu took stock of the situation. His ministry ordered a probe into the incident, and directed the airport operator to do a thorough inspection. The rains disrupted flight services for a few hours. It’s official, Manoj Ahuja is new Odisha chief secy EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bhubaneswar Hemant Soren addresses media after his release from Birsa Munda Jail | PTI Soren out of prison on bail after 5 months M U K E S H R A N J A N @ Ranchi AFTER spending nearly five months behind bars, former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren on Friday walked out jail after the Jharkhand High Court granted him regular bail in a money laundering case linked to a land scam. The court said there is no reason to believe he is guilty of the charges. After hearing both sides on June 13, a bench of Justice Rongon Mukhopadhyay had kept its order reserved, which was pronounced on Friday . “The overall conspectus of the case based on broad probabilities does not specifically or indirectly assign the petitioner to be involved in the acquisition and possession as well as concealment of 8.86 acres of land at Shanti Nagar, Baragain, Ranchi connected to the ‘proceeds of crime’. None of the re gisters/revenue records bare imprint of the direct involvement of the petitioner in the acquisition and possession of the said land,” the order said. Soren was arrested by ED on January 31 in connection with the case. After his interim bail plea was rejected and subsequent withdrawal of his petition from the Supreme Court, Soren had moved to Jharkhand High Court seeking a regular bail for him. After stepping out of the prison around 4 pm on Friday , the JMM leader alleged that he was a victim of a conspiracy . Ahuja has been appointed as chief secretary, Odisha, and secretary in the GA&PG dept consequent upon the retirement of Pradeep Kumar Jena THREE days after he was repatriated to his state cadre by the Centre, 1990-batch IAS officer Manoj Ahuja has been apGovt notification pointed as chief secretary of Odisha. He will succeed Pra- by the BJP government to credeep Kumar Jena whose term ate a team to give a direction to expires on June 30 (Sunday). the state’s governance in tune A notification issued by the with its goals. The new chief state General Administration secretary will have to play a and Public Grievance big role in guiding the department (GA&PG) administration as all said on repatriation the ministers including from gover nment of chief minister barring lndia, Ahuja has been one deputy chief minisappointed as chief secter do not have any exretary, Odisha, and secperience of running a retary to government in government. Eight of the GA&PG department Manoj Ahuja the ministers are also consequent upon the refirst-time MLAs. tirement of Pradeep Kumar Ahuja has long experience Jena, with effect from June 30, in administration as he served 2024. in different capacities in the Ahuja was serving as the state and the Centre. He was secretary in the Union minis- the commissioner-cum-secretry of Agriculture and Farm- tary in the Steel and Mines and ers Welfare when he was shift- Sports and Youth Services dee d b a c k t o O d i s h a . H i s partments besides being comappointment as the chief sec- missioner of Commercial CONTINUED ON P5 retary is being seen as a move taxes. A World Cup final in the last week of June? If Indian fans are looking for some signs from up above, this one is right there, staring you in the face, front and centre. June 25, 1983, was when India won it for the first time (in one dayers), slaying the two-time and defending champions, West Indies. Fortyone years and a few days later, they have the opportunity to end a decade-old drought for global gold. They came close to ending it in the longer formats last year but lost on both occasions to familiar foes, Australia. Standing between them and a second T20 World Cup title (fifth if you want to include the OG version) is South Africa, whose men’s team are in unchartered territory Man for man, the Indian . team come out on top, especially in Caribbean conditions where the strips have been low, slow with some grip. But the final in Bridgetown, Barbados, promises to be close for a variety of reasons. There are multiple similarities (a toporder with an out of form opener, one batter who will look to break open the powerplay one , left-arm wrist-spinner, one future Hall of Famer seamer, one decent left-arm pacer...) but the biggest factor is that the South Joint CSIRUGC-NET from July 25 to 27 Joint CSIRUGC-NET exam, which was scheduled for June 25-27 but was postponed, will be held from July 25 to 27, while the UGC NET June 2024 cycle will be held from August 21 to September 4, the NTA said Dy National Security Adviser Vikram Misri, a renowned expert on China, will succeed incumbent Vinay Kwatra on July 15 | P7 Central team in Rayagada to probe diphtheria spread with the state officials before leaving for Rayagada. Though there is no clear indication, AMID efforts to contain the malnutrition and incomplete spread of diphtheria in south- immunisation are being susern districts, a central team has pected as reasons for the outarrived in Bhubaneswar on Fri- break. “The central team will day to investigate the cause of visit the affected villages in the outbreak in the state that Rayagada and Koraput disled to the death of six tricts where the dischildren. ease had surfaced and The five-member deaths reported. They team will visit Manuswill assess the situapadar village under tion and investigate if The central team will visit the Kashipur block in Raythere is resistance to affected villages agada on Saturday and immunisation or in Rayagada and take stock of the situasome other reasons Koraput districts tion. The outbreak was behind the outbreak,” and investigate if first reported from there is resistance said a health official Manuspadar and then who attended the to immunisation spread to Koraput and meeting. or some other Kalahandi districts. The state governreasons behind the outbreak As the state government has already ment is yet to figure formed a team to deHealth official out the cause of the vise ways to ensure outbreak, the team total immunisation comprising a public health spe- coverage in the affected discialist from the Ministry of tricts so that the vaccine-preHealth and Family Welfare (Mo- ventable diseases do not break HFW) and three officials from out. While immunisation of all the National Centre for Diseas- left out children in 18 villages, es Control (NCDC) is expected including Manuspadar under to ascertain how diphtheria Kashipur block has been comcases occurred. pleted, vaccination is on in KoThe team leader Dr Ashish r a p u t a n d K a l a h a n d i CONTINUED ON P5 Chakraborty held discussion districts. HEMANT KUMAR ROUT BIG HIT India’s Shafali Verma hit the fastest double century (off 194 balls) in the history of women’s Test cricket on Friday. She achieved the feat on day one of the ongoing Test against South Africa in Chennai | P RAVIKUMAR Bridge-tone: It’s all blue for now @ Chennai CBI on Friday arrested the principal and vice principal of Oasis School in Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh in the NEET-UG paper leak case. Officials said 5 more persons from the district are being questioned VIKRAMSECRETARY MISRI NEW FOREIGN T20 WC FINAL S W A R O O P S W A M I N AT H A N CBI makes 2 more arrests BOTH Houses of Parliament witnessed dramatic scenes and multiple adjournments on Friday with Opposition parties led by the Congress pressing for a debate on alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG exam. In the Lok Sabha, Opposition members sought suspension of all other matters to discuss the NEET fiasco but Speaker Om Birla ruled that a discussion on the President’s address be taken first. In the Lok Sabha, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi demanded a ‘respectful’ discussion on the NEET issue to show solidarity with the students. “We wanted to give a joint message to the students of India, on behalf of the Opposition and government, that we consider this an important issue. So, we thought that to respect students we will have a discussion on NEET today a dedicated discussion,” he said. , The Opposition benches erupted in uproar when Rahul Gandhi claimed his microphone was switched off. In response, Birla said he had no control over microphones. “The discussion should be on the President’s address. Other matters will not be recorded,” the Speaker said. Noisy scenes unfolded in the Rajya Sabha as well. At one point, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge too entered the Well of the House to join the protest. This triggered a sharp comment from Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, who said it is for the first time that a person occupying the post has engaged in such a conduct. In the Upper House, the disruptions were marked by intense sloganeering, leading to the suspension of proceedings three times. The third adjournment came after DMK member Tiruchi Siva informed the House that Congress member Phulo Devi Netam had fainted. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju slammed the Congress for disrupting parliamentary proceedings. “We have made it clear that we will give detailed information on whatever issue is raised. But halting House proceedings is not right,” he said. India will be looking to capture their 2nd T20 World Cup title on Saturday African batters match up well to the Indian spinners. Zooming out, they are both units so driven by the idea of success for different reasons. For India, with multiple generational talents in various points of their career, they want to add a title to further embellish their body of work and to repay the faith their employers have in them. Individual records are great but the primary currency in sport is finishing first in big tournaments. India have let themselves down in this regard. For the Proteas, it’s to show the cricketing world this is the beginning of a new dawn, free of the baggage most of their teams have had since readmission. Have your dinner nice and early and stock the fridge with a beverage of your choice. For Saturday night could be a very long and a special one. Live on Star Sports/Hotstar from 8 PM @ Bhubaneswar
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