BHUBANESWAR l sunday l july 21, 2024 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l late CITY EDITION Oly Prep: ministry spends `470 crore in 16 sports disciplines India have qualified to participate at the Paris Olympics Archery Athletics Badminton Boxing funding TopS core group: 5 Development group: 10 funding TopS core group: 23 Development group: 13 funding TopS core group: 10 Development group: 15 funding TopS core group: 9 Development group: 20 J39.18 cr J96.08 cr J72.03 cr J60.93 cr Equestrian J95L funding TopS c ore group: 2 Golf J1.74 cr funding TopS c ore group: 4 Development group: 2 Hockey J41.30 cr Judo J6.33 cr Rowing J3.89 cr funding funding funding TopS core group: 33 TopS core group: 9 TopS core group: 3 Note: Elite athletes in TOPS core group; rest in development Sailing Swimming Table Tennis funding TopS core group: 2 funding TopS core group: 1 Development group: 1 funding TopS core group: 5 Development group: 10 J3.78 cr J3.90 cr J12.92 cr Tennis Weightlifting funding TopS core group: 3 funding TopS core group: 2 Development group: 6 J1.67 cr J27 cr Shooting Wrestling funding TopS core group: 25 Development group: 20 funding TopS core group: 10 Development group: 15 J60.42 cr J37.80 cr 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 City-wise result of NEET-UG declared by NTA E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Saturday released the the centre and city-wise results for NEET-UG, following a Supreme Court order to do so. Interestingly, data from a retest centre at Hardayal Public School in Haryana showed significant score drops, indicating stricter controls in the re-exam process. The highest score in the retest was 682, compared to multiple perfect scores previously. Only 13 candidates of the centre in Haryana’s Jhajjar managed to score more than 600 marks. As many as 67 students across the country had scored a perfect 720, unprecedented in the testing agency’s history, with six from the centre in Haryana figuring in the list. It raised suspicions about irregularities at the centre. The servers of the result website crashed on Saturday in the afternoon due to heavy traffic but recovered later. A few complaints were received from students and parents about missing exam results at centres where they had appeared for the exam. Meanwhile, the CBI on Saturday made three more arrests in the paper leak case, including two MBBS students from a medical colle ge in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur and one B Tech (Electrical) graduate from the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Jamshedpur in Jharkhand, officials said. The CBI has so far arrested 21 accused in six cases related to the alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG exam. Shoot-at-sight fiat out in Bangladesh Entire country under curfew with army patrolling cities A g en c i e s @ Dhaka Police imposed a strict curfew with shoot-at-sight orders across Bangladesh as military forces patrolled parts of the capital on Saturday after scores were killed and hundreds injured in clashes over reservation of government jobs. The curfew began at midnight and was relaxed from noon to 2 pm for people to run essential errands, and is expected to last until 10 am on Sunday. The demonstrations started weeks ago to protest a quota system that reserves up to 30% of government jobs for relatives of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s war of independence in 1971. Violence erupted on Tuesday , with the Daily Prothom Alo newspaper reporting the death of at least 103 people. Friday was the deadliest day so far with Somoy TV reported 43 killed, while an Associated Press reporter saw 23 bodies at the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital. Local media also reported that some 800 inmates fled from a prison in Narsingdi, a district north of Dhaka, after protesters stormed the facility and set it on fire on Friday . Hundreds of thousands of people had battled police across the capital on Friday, police spokesman Faruk Hossain said. “At least 150 police officers were admitted to hospital. Another 150 were given first aid treatment,” he said, adding two officers were beaten to death. “The protesters torched many police booths... Many gover nment of fices were torched and vandalised.” Kamala Pujari passes away after illness Kamala Pujari, who was known worldwide for her contribution to preserving rare and indigenous paddy seeds, passed away in Cuttack on Saturday | P4 Course correction Look who wants to ease stance on faith K S S r ee j i t h @ T’Puram Learning from its recent election debacle, the CPM in Kerala is set to take a more liberal stance on matters of faith and beliefs. Marking a major shift from its position, the party plans to offer support and legitimacy to lakhs of its members who are believers. The leadership is learnt to be preparing to take an inclusive approach by welcoming the faithful, especially Hindus, into its fold. The two-day party state committee, which begins on Sunday will discuss these issues , in detail as part of an organisational and political course correction. “The CPM has decided to introspect on its declared position on faith and believers,” a critical insider in the party said. Palakkad “The party faced a similar setback in plenum 2019, over the issue of permitting women Many party to enter the Sabarimala temple. Rahul insiders felt it Gandhi’s decision to contest from Wayawas the nad also delivered a body blow. The leadposition taken ership, from then state secretary Kodiyat the eri Balakrishnan to district leaders, Palakkad visited households, particularly Hindu plenum — homes, and admitted their failings. Howwhich directed ever, after the 2021 state election, the CPM members to failed to read the writing on the wall. The keep a distance leadership has now understood that to from rituals defend against the right-wing onslaught, and temple- it will need to drastically shift its posirelated tion,” he said. activities — The rethink is based on the fact that that alienated the society is still feudal and since a peothe believers ple’s revolution has not happened, there is no scope for dialectical materialism. “Faith is the most important factor affecting society a ,” state secretariat member said. “ vast majority of people A are believers. The CPM often failed to address these sections,” he said. The army has been deployed nationwide to control the law and order situation — Shahdat Hossain, armed forces spokesman Exodus continues, over 950 students cross over to India E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Guwahati The exodus of Indian, Nepalese and Bhutanese students from strife-torn Bangladesh continues with over 950 students entering India through the Meghalaya and Tripura borders so far. “In the past three days, a total of 856 people from India, Nepal and Bhutan, mostly students, have crossed over to the country from Bangladesh through Dawki, an India-Bangladesh border town in the West Jaintia Hills district,” a senior home department official said. Besides, around 100 students returned to India through two integrated checkposts in Tripura. Thomas Gamaliyen, a security officer at the Dawki Land Port, told this newspaper the Meghalaya government provided a bus to drop the students at the Inter State Bus Terminus at Mawpat on the outskirts of Shillong but not many availed the service which is available once a day “They . are coming to Dawki in groups on Bangladeshi taxis and buses. Immediately thereafter, they hire cars to go to Shillong or Guwahati. We help them in hiring the vehicles,” Gamaliyen said. Heavy rains lash southern Odisha, govt sounds alert E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar The depression over Odisha coast brought the season’s first deluge-like situation as extreme heavy rainfall lashed southern districts of the state with Malkangiri bearing the brunt in the last 24 hours. The southern-most district which received 183 mm rain grappled with problems of inundation and communication disruption. The district headquarters town of Malkangiri remained cut off from the state as well as neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari said Malkangiri district administration, special relief commissioner’s (SRC) office and Revenue and Disaster Management department have been asked to remain alert and shift people from the areas likely to witness a rise in water level. The districts have been directed to shift the people, if required, to safer places and make adequate food and other arrangements for them. The authorities concerned have also been instructed to help such people to return to their villages after the situation improves, Pujari said. On Saturday morning, some bridges in low-lying areas of Korukonda, MV-19 and MV-96 villages were submerged under water which further paralysed road communication. Malkangiri town too, witnessed waterlogging due to which people had to be shifted to safer places. “However, everything is under control and the rainwater is expected to recede from the villages experiencing flooding, within the next 24 hours,” the minister said further adding that the authorities have been asked to give him hourly updates regarding the situation. Neigbouring Koraput, Nabarangpur, Ganjam and Gajapati were also lashed by heavy rains but Malkangiri was badly hit. Kudumulguma and Korukonda received 220 mm rainfall each between Friday and Saturday morning, Malkangiri recorded 180 mm rain and Maithli and Kotpad 160 mm each, the India Meteorological Department informed. Assuring that people are safe, Pujari said the rainfall activity was required to boost agriculture in districts like Malkangiri, Koraput and Continued on P5 Nabarangpur. WITH THIS ISSUE Beauty and the Best PLUS 12 PAGES `50K cr was looted every year in BJD rule: BJP E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar/Puri Promising a major crackdown on corruption in the state, the BJP on Saturday launched a strident attack on the previous BJD government alleging a whopping `50,000 crore was being looted every year under its regime. Moving a political resolution in its first extended state executive meeting at Puri after being elected to power, the party asserted that it will provide a transparent, efficient and corruption-free government to the people, who have been subjected to anarchy and exploitation for 24 long years by the BJD. Addressing the meeting, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said that his government will probe all corruption cases of the BJD government and stringent action will be taken against those found guilty . Majhi said the previous government had done a massive loot of public money The Narendra Modi gov. ernment has provided more than `18 lakh crore of central assistance to Odisha in the last 10 years but there was no visible development in the state. Odisha is at the bottom of all indexes be it health, education, industry agriculture or providing jus, tice to the people. “This showed that the regional party was busy in selfpropaganda than working for the development and welfare of the people,” he said. Addressing mediapersons after the two-day meeting, Revenue Minister Suresh Pujari said, “We remembered the dark days of the state under the BJD misrule. The BJD government was looting more than `50,000 crore every year under 5T Continued on P5 programme.”
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