PHOTO: AP BHUBANESWAR  MONDAY  OCTOBER 07, 2024  `9.00  PAGES 14  JEYPORE EDITION T20 WORLD CUP: INDIA WOMEN GET THE JOB DONE AGAINST PAK After an upset loss against New Zealand, Harmanpreet & Co. enjoy relatively smooth sailing against neighbours on the back of a clinical bowling performance.... Arundhati, Shreyanka excel on bowling day Pakistan opted to bat first in Dubai but Renuka Singh and Deepti Sharma were on the money in the powerplay. The pacespin combo of Arundhati Reddy and Shreyanka Patil kept up the pressure, restricting Pakistan to 105/8. India got across the line but lie in fourth place thanks to a vastly inferior NRR. Up against Sri Lanka and Australia next It’s likely that India need to win both their remaining games to guarantee their progression to semis. They face Sri Lanka, who beat India in Asia Cup final, on Wednesday and Australia on Sunday. The No. 3 spot remains a musical chair for India. Harmanpreet was one drop in the first match. On Sunday, it was Jemimah Rodrigues’ turn | P13 -1.217 INDIA’S NET RUN-RATE AFTER THE PAKISTAN MATCH 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 Beirut sees its ‘worst day’ Lobbying starts in Cong even before results as Israeli attacks intensify NEXT HARYANA CM P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi Iran grounds flights amid threat of Israeli strike; 25 killed in Gaza AGENCIES IRAN on Sunday cancelled all flights till Monday amid concerns of Israel’s immediately retaliatory strike on Tehran’s October 1 missile attack on Tel Aviv. While Iranian media quoting officials said the flights have been cancelled due to operational restrictions, Tehran had earlier implemented restrictions on flights when it fired nearly 200 missiles at Israel. Meanwhile, Israel on Sunday intensified its bombardment of southern Beirut and northern Gaza, killing at least 50 people. The day also saw IDF unleash its heaviest bombardment on the Lebanon capital since it escalated its campaign against Iran-backed group Hezbollah last month. With October 7 marking the first anniversary of Iranbacked Hamas’s gruesome attack, West Asia watchers believe Israel is likely to step up its attacks to target the outfit’s sponsor Iran. Israeli officials have given ample indications in recent days that they are planning a DELHI RANKED TOP AMONG 100 MOST EARNING RAIL STATIONS IN INDIA Flames and smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut on Sunday | AP “significant strike” on Iran, possibly targeting its oil installations or nuclear sites, apart from military infrastructure. Israel has been pounding Lebanon and Gaza since Saturday night. Powerful explosions rocked Beirut’s southern suburbs after midnight on Saturday, killing at least 23 people, Reuters reported. A BBC correspondent in the city described the night as “Beirut’s worst” since Israel started bombing the country two weeks ago. In Gaza, an Israeli strike on a mosque early on Sunday killed at least 21 people, Palestinian officials said. Displaced people were sheltering at the mosque that was struck near the main hospital in the central town of Deir al-Balah. Another group of four persons were killed in a strike on a school sheltering displaced people near the town, AP reported. “We are in a new phase of the war,” the Israeli military said in leaflets it dropped over areas in northern Gaza. “These areas are considered dangerous combat zones,” it said. P11 WITH less than 24 hours left for the Haryana assembly election results to be announced, the Congress party hopes to celebrate an early Diwali, going by the exit polls. However, it has an uphill task at hand —to nail down a chief minister’s name from among multiple contenders and to contain the party’s problem of infighting. The exit polls on Saturday forecast a smooth win for the Congress with most pollsters predicting 55 of Haryana’s 90 seats - comfortably ahead of the halfway mark of 46. Even as the exit polls were out, hectic parleys began in the Congress camp to decide the next Chief Minister. Among the CM hopefuls are Rajya Sabha MP and ex-Union minister Kumari Selja, for mer CM Bhupinder Singh ‘MLAs, HIGH COMMAND WILL DECIDE’ On whether Selja would become the next CM, Bhupinder Singh Hooda said, “This is democracy. Everybody should aspire. You can also aspire. But the MLAs will decide, the high command will decide” ANURAAG SINGH & DILIP SINGH K S H AT R I YA @ Bhopal/Ahmedabad IN a joint operation, the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Delhi have busted a drug factory in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh and seized mephedrone (MD) and raw materials worth `1,814 crore, authorities said on Sunday . According to sources, the joint team raided a factory in the Bagroda Industrial Area on the outskirts of Bhopal on Saturday and seized 907.09 kg of the banned drug following specific inputs from a person who was recently detained in Surat. A process was underway to manufacture a large amount of the contraband when the raid was carried out, sources added. Two persons identified as Amit Chaturvedi (57) from Bhopal and Sanyal E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Kochi Hindu group to hold Durga Puja amid security threats WITH anti-minority sentiments running high in Bangladesh, a prominent Hindu organisation has decided to hold Durga Puja celebrations inside an auditorium. “Considering the volatility of the present situation, Durga Puja in Ramakrishna Mission will be held inside the auditorium as hardliners have issued warnings against making sound,” a senior activist for minorities in Dhaka told this newspaper. The activist said the Hindus are living in a state of fear in Bangladesh after recent incidents of targeted attacks on them and other minority groups. Though the present government has assured protection for puja pandals, none Prakash Bane (40) of Nashik, Maharashtra were taken into custody . Bane was earlier arrested in 2017 in a MD drug seizure case in Maharashtra and served five years in jail. After his release, he conspired with Chaturvedi to manufacture and sell MD to make quick money The factory . was subsequently taken on rent and nefarious operations started a few months ago. MAD RUSH The Unit-2 market in Bhubaneswar teemed with huge crowd due to the festive shopping frenzy, on Sunday | DEBADATTA MALLICK EXPRESS READ DRI unearths `941 cr gold diversion scam Minor raped by father’s friend for 2 yrs Chennai: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence and Chennai Customs have unearthed a `941-crore scam, in which six jewellers from Chennai had allegedly diverted around 2,170 kg of gold under the pretext of exporting gold jewellery to Dubai and Malaysia between 2020 and 2022. Registering as exporters, the jewellers procured thousands of kilograms of imported duty-free gold bars from RBI nominated agencies | P7 Rourkela: The fake abduction of the 17-year-old girl from Rourkela has taken a bizarre twist with the revelation that the minor was allegedly sexually assaulted by her father’s friend for over a period of two years. Police said the minor girl named Rajan Srivastava, a 48-year-old businessman of the city, as the perpetrator after which a case was registered in connection with the offence | P6 AN Odisha native died while two others were injured after a mini boiler in an animal fat processing plant in Kochi’s Edayar Industrial Estate exploded late on Saturday night. Gas leak is suspected as the reason for the blast. Bikram Pradhan, 36, a native of Siriki village in the G Udayagiri block of Kandhamal district, died in the explosion at Formal Trade Links LLP facility around 11.40 pm. Krishna, 20, and Guru, 35, of the same village suffered burn injuries and are under treatment at Er nakulam Government Medical College Hospital (GMCH). Police said Pranab Pradhan, 20, also from Siriki, was treated for injuries at the emergency wing and discharged. “Four people were hospitalised following the explosion. Bikram Pradhan was declared dead on arrival, while Pranab Pradan was treated for injuries at the emergency wing and discharged,” said an official. Ernakulam GMCH superintendent Dr Ganesh Mohan said Guru and Krishna suffered 35 per cent and 25 per cent burns respectively. “They are under treatment,” he said. LOVE MATTERS Statue keeps Covid victim’s memories alive for businessman family S I S I R PA N I G R A H Y @ Berhampur Berhampur businessman Prashant Nayak with the statue of his wife, Kiran | EXPRESS The joint raid by the Gujarat ATS and NCB also led to the seizure of around 5,000 kg of raw materials, including chemicals used for manufacturing MD. A preliminary probe suggested that the illegal unit had the capacity to manufacture 25 kg of MD per day, officials said. The Madhya Pradesh police was not officially informed about the raid, said a senior police official. 1 Odia worker killed, 2 hurt in Kochi factory boiler blast West Bengal’s Howrah and Chennai’s MGR central railway stations emerged as No 2 and No 3, respectively, in terms of footfalls and revenue in 2023-24 | P9 of those accused of attacking the homes and properties of the Hindus have been arrested, the activist said. “We feel the present regime doesn’t want any minorities to exist in Bangladesh. Hindus are being falsely implicated in criminal cases. But can we e x p e c t j u s t i c e t o prevail?” Professor Najmul Ahsan Kallimullah, a political commentator based in Dhaka, told this newspaper that, “The minority communities in Bangladesh are a troubled lot today The present . regime considers them as sympathisers of the Awami League.” In some areas, Puja committees have been reportedly asked to pay 5 lakh taka (INR 3.5 lakh) to set up puja pandals. ing with the party leadership. On Monday the veteran lead, er is likely to meet the senior leadership before he returns to his Rohtak residence. His arch-rival Selja, a prominent Dalit face of the party, has shied away from projecting herself as the CM candidate. Asked who would be the CM if the Congress comes to power, Hooda on Saturday reiterated that there is a laid down procedure in the party , according to which “the opinion of the MLAs will be sought and the high command will decide”. NCB, Gujarat ATS bust Bhopal drug factory BANGLADESH Y E S H I S E L I @ New Delhi Hooda, his son and Lok Sabha MP Deepender Hooda, Rajya Sabha MP and AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, and state Congress chief Udai Bhan, a Hooda loyalist. Bhupinder Singh Hooda left for Delhi on Sunday evening where he will hold a meet- IN the drawing room of 52-yearold Prashant Nayak’s home in Jagabandhu street of Berhampur, his wife Kiran is seated on the sofa. Clad in an yellow saree, she glows in the golden hues of her jewellery. Only that it’s her life size image; Kiran passed away three years back. To keep the memories of his wife alive who died of Covid-19 in 2021, Prashant, a businessman, got her statue sculpted and installed in his home. With its intricacies and eye on de- tails, the statue, made of silicone, can easily be mistaken for a live human being. It cost `8 lakh. Apart from her husband, Kiran is survived by her two daughters and a son and the statue is an attempt to fill the void created by her untimely death. “My mother always used to sit on the sofa, so we placed her statue on it,” said Kiran’s younger daughter Mehak, an MBA student. Mehak takes care of her mother’s statue by changing the saree and ornaments. “Covid-19 snatched my wife from me. But when I look at her statue, I feel she is at home, with us. She always inspired me when she was alive,” Prashant said. Prashant married Kiran in 1997 and a few days after her death on April 25, 2021, his children urged him to build her statue so that they did not feel her absence. Prashant did not hesitate and was keen to get Kiran’s statue before the marriage of their elder daughter solemnised around six months back. “Since my younger daughter Mehak is well versed with IT, she found a sculptor in Bengaluru. After scanning her photographs, he selected one to prepare the statue.” the businessman said. The sculptor took more than a year to create the statue using fibre, rubber and silicone. The cost came to around `8 lakh including expenses on transportation from Bengaluru to Berhampur. Though the family tried to keep the matter to itself and often avoided outsiders’ entry , it came to fore and since yesterday the house has had sev, eral visitors. Upon getting an alert, the police and fire and rescue services personnel quickly reached the scene and launched rescue efforts. Their swift intervention prevented the blaze from spreading, thereby minimising the damage. Authorities suspect a gas leak in the mini boiler led to the explosion, but said a probe is on. Preliminary inquiry suggests that the firm flouted safety standards. An inspection revealed that the boiler in the plant was being operated without adhering to required regulations. “A detailed investigat i o n by t h e B i n a nipuram police is on. They have lodged an FIR under Section 194 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS),” said a police officer. Meanwhile, residents staged protests in front of the firm’s office on Sunday, alleging that the plant was functioning while flouting all safety norms. They also alleged that the authorities concerned were not taking any action even after the mishap. The Edayar Industrial Estate near Aluva is home to several industrial units, including chemical factories, polymer, packaging and pipe production companies, among others.