BHUBANESWAR  FRIDAY  OCTOBER 25, 2024  `9.00  PAGES 12  JEYPORE EDITION PAC MEET POSTPONED AS SEBI CHIEF MADHABI BUCH DOESN’T TURN UP The Sebi chairperson skipped a Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee meeting on Thursday, prompting panel head K C Venugopal to put it off BUCH CITES ‘EXIGENCIES’ TO SKIP MEETING FURORE OVER JPC HEAD VENUGOPAL’S FIAT Venugopal said the panel received a message from Buch at 9.30 am that she and her team wouldn’t be able to appear before it due to “exigencies”. The panel’s proceedings remained deadlocked even during its second sitting amid the NDA members’ demand that Venugopal allow a vote on agenda items like summoning heads of regulatory bodies, an idea opposed by Cong MPs ■ ■ BJP member Nishikant Dubey moved a motion to drop five of the 161 subjects picked by the panel for its annual agenda, and called for a vote With NDA members in majority, Venugopal didn’t allow the motion. BJP members accused him of not letting them air their views. They later met Speaker Om Birla to protest against Venugopal’s unilateral decisions Trai chairman BRIEFLY APPEARED BEFORE JPC BUT THE MEET WAS CALLED OFF DUE TO PROTESTS 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 CYCLONE DANA’S LANDFALL KEEPS ODISHA EAM bats for fair, GOVT ON ITS TOES, 3.5 LAKH EVACUATED durable solution NEW CJI SANJIV KHANNA TO TAKE OATH ON NOV 11 The Centre on Thursday notified the appointment of Justice Sanjiv Khanna as the next Chief Justice of India | P7 People brave gusting wind as they walk by the Dhamra fishing harbour ahead of cyclone Dana’s landfall in Bhadrak; and (inset) cyclone’s cloud band | DEBADATTA MALLICK During the landfall, the wind speed is likely to hit 100 km to 110 km, gusting up to 120 km. Dana is expected to maintain intensity of a severe category storm till Friday morning India Meteorological Dept minister Amit Shah too discussed the state’s preparedness with the chief minister. He assured all help from the Centre. Earlier, Majhi reviewed preparedness with collectors of Ganjam, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Cuttack, Khurda and Jajpur districts. “Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Balasore districts are likely to bear the maximum impact as predicted by the IMD,” he said. Revenue and Disaster Management minister Suresh Pujari told mediapersons that 2,131 villages of 60 blocks and 55 wards of 12 urban local bodies (ULBs) will be affected by the storm. “The government has plans to shift around 4 lakh people to shelters from areas to be affected by the cyclone. More than 90 per cent evacuation is complete,” he added. Meanwhile, Dana moved in north-northwest direction with a speed of 15 km per hour and lay over north-west Bay of Bengal, about 60 km east of Paradip and 90 km south-southeast of Dhamra by 9.30 pm. The national weather forecaster said the storm sustained winds in the range of 105-115 km per hour, gusting up to CONTINUED ON P5 125 km. NOW, SENIOR RAIL OFFICERS TASKED WITH SAFETY INSPECTION DUTY R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R @ New Delhi AMID a spate of derailments, the Ministry of Railways has decided to involve its senior administrative grade (SAG) officers to conduct inspections to enhance safety . From now on, SAG officers will carry out two night inspections per month at roadside stations, level-crossing gates, or on footplates. This is in addition to regular daytime inspections of maintenance practices across all departments, which may include monitoring crew operations and visits to running rooms. They also have been tasked with conducting “ambush checks” at unmanned level crossings in collaboration with the police to check if safety measures are in place. The decision follows a safety review meeting on October 8, where a system was suggested for assigning officers for night inspections and to monitor the inspections carried out by other nominated officers. The ministry directed General Managers (GMs) and Divisional Railway Managers (DRMs) to implement this system and ensure daily oversight of night inspections. “A number of these accidents are avoidable as they are on account of failure of railway staff. It is essential that constant monitoring is done at all levels of the implementation of follow-up on laid down safety rules and procedures,” the ministry stated in its order. “It has been desired that all SAG officers at the headquarters of the departments eligible to be posted as DRMs/GMs (civil engineering, S&T, Electrical, Safety, Operating, Mechanical, accounts, Stores and also those working in Construction organisation) may be utilised to conduct inspections and look into allotted areas so as to effect improvement in safety in train operations.” Besides, the ministry mandated senior officers to inspect the functioning of vigilance control devices on locos as well as crew lobbies and surprise checks of crews using mobile breathalysers. TOTAL TRAIN ACCIDENTS, DERAILMENTS 55 Accident 48 40 35 40 36 27 *2024-25 (Up to August) 25 22 17 Derailments 18 Data based on a RTI reply *2024-25 The deployment period of the `1,000 crore VC fund in the space sector is planned to be up to five years from the actual date of start of the fund operations. The average deployment could be `150-250 crore per year, depending on investment opportunities and fund need International law should be adhered to and there should be zero tolerance for terrorism 2023-24 Deployment period of venture capital fund Jaishankar interacted informally with the foreign ministers of Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Thailand. He also interacted with Egyptian prez Abdel Fattah El-Sisi 2022-23 IN a big push for infrastructure development in the NDA-ruled Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, the Union Cabinet on Thursday approved one mega Railway project with a total estimated cost of `6,798 crore. In another decision, the Cabinet approved the establishment of a Venture Capital Fund worth `1,000 crore for the space sector under the aegis of INSPACe to promote and oversee private sector participation in the sector. Briefing the media after the Union Cabinet and the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs met, Information & Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, the two mega railway projects scheduled to be completed in five years will provide connectivity, facilitate ease of travel, minimise logistics costs, reduce oil imports and lower carbon emissions. The projects involve doubling the Narkatiaganj-Raxaul-Sitamarhi-Darbhanga and Sitamarhi-Muzaffarpur sections, covering 256 km in Bihar with an estimated cost of `4,553 crore, and the construction of a new line between Errupalem and Namburu via Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh, covering 57 km with an estimated cost of `2,245 crore, the minister said. The doubling of the rail line is expected to strengthen connectivity to Nepal, the Northeast and the border areas. The new Errupalem-Amaravati-Namburu rail line will traverse through NTR Vijayawada and Guntur districts of Andhra and Khammam district of Telangana. ODISHA braced for impact as severe cyclonic storm Dana, packing strong wind, headed towards the coast where it is likely to pelt heavy showers post landfall well past Thursday midnight. While the storm’s progress and landfall kept weather experts guessing, the state government swung into action and evacuated 3.5 lakh people to cyclone shelters as the tropical storm was expected to cross the coast in the Paradip-Dhamra band, impacting three districts with wind speed hitting 120 km per hour. Though no major damage occurred till last reports came in, rain and strong wind uprooted trees in Kendrapara and Bhadrak districts. The NDRF, Odisha Fire and Emergency Service and other agencies quickly moved in to clear the affected roads. Prime Minister Narendra Modi dialled Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and took stock of the preparedness of the government. During the discussion, Majhi explained the evacuation details as well as deployment of ministers and senior officers of the state for groundlevel monitoring and supervision of relief, rescue and postcyclone restoration. Majhi briefed the PM about deployment of NDRF, ODRAF and fire services teams in vulnerable districts. The PM expressed his satisfaction over the state’s readiness to tackle the cyclonic storm. Union home Akasa Air, Indigo flights to state get hoax bomb threats EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bhubaneswar IN a latest string of hoax bomb threats through social media, an Akasa Air flight enroute to Bhubaneswar from Bengaluru and an IndiGo aircraft flying to Jharsuguda were targeted on Thursday, prompting the Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) and VSS Airport to trigger emergency protocols. According to BPIA offcials, Akasa Air flight (QP1572) which departed from Bengaluru was scheduled to land at Bhubaneswar by to West Asia mess INFORMAL INTERACTION @ Bhubaneswar 2021-22 M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi B I J AY C H A K I /A S I S H M E H TA 2020-21 `7K cr Railway projects for NDA’s Bihar, AP Prime Minister Modi dials CM Majhi to take stock of preparedness, expresses satisfaction 2019-20 Union minister for Information and Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw briefs the media on the Cabinet’s decisions, in New Delhi on Thursday | PTI 3.10 pm. As per the protocol, the airport’s bomb threat committee was activated at 2.30 pm and after due inspections the threat was declared as non-specific before the said flight reached here. After the flight landed, a thorough check was conducted and it resumed the return journey to Bengaluru at 4.30 pm. An IndiGo flight enroute from Bengaluru to VSS Airport in Jharsuguda also received a similar threat. The aircraft was thoroughly checked after it reached Jharsuguda at 12.30 pm and departed for Bengaluru at about 4 pm. More than 95 flights across the country received simultaneous hoax bomb threats earlier in the day . Security has been tightened at BPIA amid the wave of bomb threats targeting key Indian airlines since over last one week. “We are thoroughly frisking the passengers and checking their baggage to avoid any untoward incident,” said a senior CISF official here. In another incident, a passenger travelling in a Vistara Airlines flight from Bhubaneswar to New Delhi was deboarded at BPIA for alleged unruly behaviour. The passenger was reportedly travelling with a female friend and clicking her photographs when the flight was supposed to take off at 1.15 pm. “He started misbehaving with the crew members after being asked not to click photographs during the flight’s take-off. He was deboarded for his unruly behaviour. The flight was resultantly delayed and took off at 2 pm,” said the officer. S Jaishankar, EAM M AYA N K S I N G H @ New Delhi EXPRESSING concern over the grave situation in West Asia, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said that any approach that seeks to end the conflict has to be ‘fair and durable’, leading to a two-state solution. Speaking at the BRICS Outreach session representing India, Jaishankar said efforts must be made to resolve disputes and differences through dialogue and diplomacy so that they don’t lead to armed conflicts or fullfledged wars. Referring to the multi-front war Israel is locked in in West Asia—with Hamas in Palestine, with Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the looming threat of a opening another front with Iran—he said the situation is quite serious. “Maritime trade has also been deeply affected. The human and material consequences of further escalation are truly serious,” he added. Jaishankar made these remarks while representing Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the outreach session hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Kazan in Russia on the final day of the BRICS Summit. During his speech, Jaishankar reiterated Modi’s message of peace, that this is not an era of war. Suggesting ways to create a more equitable global order, Jaishankar said the distortions in global infrastructure, which he termed “a legacy of the colonial era”, must be set right, adding that corrections must be done with respect for territorial integrity . Lamenting that the benefits of globalisation has been ‘very uneven’, Jaishankar noted that the Global South has long suffered neglect at the cost of the Western nations. However, a new global order is taking shape and global institutions such as the UN must undergo reforms to deal with the new reality. “We face the paradox that even as forces of change have advanced, some long standing issues have only become more complex... BRICS itself is a statement of how profoundly the old order is changing,” he said.