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 ■ ■ BHUBANESWAR  SUNDAY  SEPTEMBER 08, 2024  `12.00  PAGES 24  LATE CITY EDITION WB ban on poultry from Odisha hits traders here EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bhubaneswar THE West Bengal government has imposed an immediate ban on import of poultry products from Odisha following the outbreak of bird flu in Puri district. Sources said the ban, which came into effect a couple of days back, has led to restriction on transportation of live poultry birds, eggs and other products. “Joint teams of police and Animal Husbandry department of WB government are preventing entry of poultry birds and eggs from Odisha at the border posts. Though they allowed consignments carrying birds from Andhra Pradesh, vehicles with Odisha registration number were sent back,” sources said. The decision has sparked concern among traders and farmers who stare at substantial financial losses. Odisha supplies around 100 tonne poultry birds to WB daily . TK Sahu, manager of a leading poultry products’ integrator, said they have contracts and commitments for supplying around 20 tonne of poultry birds to WB daily “This ban is . not just a setback but huge loss for our business,” he added. The state government, however, assured it was taking necessary measures to control the situation and mitigate the impact on local far mers and CONTINUED ON P5 traders. The Centre has discharged Puja Khedkar from the IAS with immediate effect, weeks after the UPSC cancelled her recruitment Six killed in Manipur Lost leg to insurgency, not Sema spirit violence, CM meets guv E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Chennai P R A S A N TA M A Z U M D A R @ Guwahati ON a day six persons were killed in Manipur’s Jiribam district on Saturday morning as there is no letup in the ethnic violence between Meiteis and Kuki-Zo tribals, there were rumours that Chief Minister N Biren Singh had suggested all NDA legislators should quit. At a snap meeting called by Singh, 24 MLAs, including six ministers, turned up. What transpired could not be independently verified. Shortly thereafter, Singh went to Raj Bhawan and held discussions with Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya for 40 minutes. As for the continuing violence, official sources said a 63-year-old Meitei civilian was shot dead in his sleep at Nungchappi village around 5.30 am. In the retaliatory gunfight, five insurgents — four Kukis and one Meitei — were killed. Later, the violence escalated to a nearby village where intermittent firing continued till 9.50 am, the sources said. In the wake of the violence, district magistrate Krishna Kumar imposed prohibitory orders under Section 163 of BNSS. Located in Manipur’s westernmost periphery bordering Assam’s Cachar district, Jiribam has a mixed population of Meiteis, Kuki-Zo tribals, Nagas and various other communities. It was unaffected by the ethnic conflict in the past year until trouble broke out in the first week of June when the mutilated body of a Meitei farmer was found. Saturday’s attack came a HOTSPOT Jiribam district was unaffected last year. It is now a hotspot for violence Jiribam MANIPUR PARTY POSITIONS Manipur assembly strength: 60 Ruling NDA (53) BJP (37) JD(U) (1) NPP (7) NPF (5) Independent (3) Opposition (7) Congress (5) KPA (2) day after a 70-year-old priest was killed when suspected militants fired a rocket that landed at the residential compound of former chief minister Mairembam Koireng Singh in Moirang area of Bishnupur district. Another rocket fired by the suspected militants on Friday morning at Terakhongshangbi in the same district damaged two buildings. The range of such rockets is over 3 km. Meanwhile, all schools in the state remained closed on Saturday to keep the students and teachers safe. Minister L Susindro blamed the recent spurt in violence on role of foreigners. “‘Old Kukis’ are being controlled by ‘new Kukis’ who came from Myanmar,” he said. HOKATO Hotozhe Sema had fought many battles. But the battle he fought within himself was the toughest. Any impairment of the body can create havoc in the mind. The battle between creating doubts and remaining positive is more intense. For almost 20 years, until the Paris Paralympics, he was just another person trying to pick up the pieces of whatever was left of his life. It was sports that acted as a balm. On Friday late night, Sema won bronze in the shot put at the Paralympics in F57 category and propelled him from obscurity to stardom. For a man who did not know about Paralympics a few years ago, the medal itself is a surreal journey His 14.65m was his best . effort in the sport. He finished behind Yasin Khosravi winning the gold with 15.96m throw and Thiago Paulino dos Santos from Brazil silver with 15.06m. Because of the disabilty, athletes are harnessed to a seat for throwing. Sema was two months shy of 19, about two years into the profession, when he lost his left leg during a counter-infiltration operation (mine blast) in Jammu and Kashmir in 2002. For a teenager who was dreaming of entering Special Forces, this was the last thing he would have dreamt about. Yet, he was there shattered physically and emotionally For. get about leading a normal life, he did not know how life would take a turn. Yet he remained stoic. He wanted to make a mark in his life and sports gave him the opportunity and also a platform to serve the country . It was not easy for the paraathlete after losing his leg. The mental scars remained. Yet, in this hour of extreme joy he remembered the hardship his family He (Sema) has been training with me for more than two years now. Since then he won Asian Para Games bronze... He will win bigger medal next time — Coach Rakesh Rawat NC-CONGRESS WILL NOT FORM NEW J&K GOVT, CLAIMS SHAH F AYA Z W A N I @ Srinagar KICK-STARTING the BJP’s election campaign for the assembly polls from Jammu, home minister Amit Shah on Saturday said J&K is heading for historic elections under the Indian national flag and Constitution after the abrogation of Article 370, adding the National Conference-Congress alliance will not be able to form the new government. “The assembly polls in J&K is historic as it is the first time since Independence that J&K residents will be casting vote under one Constitution and one flag after the reading down of Article 370,” said Shah while addressing a rally in Ploura, Jammu. He said J&K was deprived of rights and development due to Article 370. “Now there is development, peace and prosperity in the region. For example, over 5.12 lakh devotees from different parts of the country performed Amarnath yatra without any fear.” BJP is fighting the election to win and form the government, he asserted. “There should be no doubt in it,” Shah said and urged party workers to reach out to the public and apprise had to go through. Sometimes, according to reports, his wife would go without food to provide him with a proper diet. He dedicated the medal to her. Sema, who is in 9th Assam Regiment, first tried his hand in discus (standing) but since the event got scrapped from the Paralympics, he started training in shot put. “He has been at the Army Para Node in Pune and is working with me for more than two years,” said coach Rakesh Rawat, who trained able bodied throwers in Army Sports InstiP11 tute in Pune. them about changes that have taken place in J&K since Article 370 was hollowed out. “Every BJP worker alongwith his family and three more families should reach polling booths and cast their votes by 11.30 am. If every BJP worker does that, then nothing will defeat us in polls,” he said. Shah said, “NC and Congress want to bring back Article 370 and are again going to bring a separate flag for J&K. They are going to take away reservations of Gujjars, Bakerwals, Paharis and Dalits and want to release those involved in terrorism and stone pelting. However, people of J&K and BJP will not let it happen,” he said. EXPRESS READ Tuhin Kanta Pandey new finance secretary New Delhi: Tuhin Kanta Pandey was on Saturday designated the new finance secretary. He is currently the secretary of the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management. The vacancy arose following T V Somanathan’s appointment as the Cabinet secretary last month WITH THIS ISSUE Game of Thrones PLUS 12 PAGES