BHUBANESWAR  FRIDAY  OCTOBER 25, 2024  `9.00  PAGES 12  LATE CITY 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 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 A broad consensus has been achieved by India and China on restoring the ‘ground situation’ along LAC, Union defence minister Rajnath Singh said 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 cussed the state’s preparedness with the chief minister. He assured all help from the Centre. Earlier, Majhi reviewed preparedness with collectors of Ganjam, Puri, Jagatsingh- pur, 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 Man- agers (GMs) and Divisional Railway Managers (DRMs) to implement this system and ensure daily oversight of TOTAL TRAIN night inspections. “A number of these ACCIDENTS, accidents are avoidable as they are on DERAILMENTS 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 55 Accident safety rules and procedures,” the ministry stated in its 48 Derailments order. “It has been desired that all 40 40 SAG officers at the headquarters *2024-25 36 35 of the departments eligible to be (Up to posted as DRMs/GMs (civil engineerAugust) ing, S&T, Electrical, Safety, Operating, 27 Mechanical, accounts, Stores and also 25 22 those working in Construction organisation) may be utilised to conduct in18 17 spections and look into allotted areas so Data as to effect improvement in safety in based on a RTI reply 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. *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 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 and Demchok GROUND SITUATION 2023-24 Deployment period of venture capital fund ODISHA braced for impact as severe cyclonic storm Dana, packing strong wind, crossed the coast pelting heavy showers just around T hursday midnight. While the storm’s progress and landfall had kept weather experts guessing all day, the state government swung into action and evacuated 5.84 lakh people to cyclone shelters as the tropical storm made landfall in the Paradip-Dhamra band, closer to Bhitarkanika national park, impacting three districts with wind speed hitting past 100 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 ground-level monitoring and supervision of relief, rescue and post-cyclone 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 minister Amit Shah too dis- 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 each 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. @ 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 CYCLONE DANA’S LANDFALL KEEPS ODISHA Pullback begins GOVT ON ITS TOES, 5.84 LAKH EVACUATED from Depsang 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. The agreement includes patrolling and grazing in the traditional areas Rajnath Singh, defence minister M AYA N K S I N G H @ New Delhi DAYS after India and China disclosed that an agreement has been reached to de-escalate the border tension, sources said on Thursday that troops from both sides have begun disengaging from the standoff points in Depsang and Demchok in Eastern Ladakh. The troops have moved away from the points near the Y-Junction in Depsang and Charding Nullah Junction in Demchok, it is learnt. “But the troops remain in the vicinity,” sources said, indicating that both sides are treading cautiously . In other words, although troops have moved away from the standoff points, there is no real change in the overall troop deployment in the area. Broadly, the infrastructure also remains the same as only the temporary structures such as tents and shades have been dismantled. “The withdrawals are mutual. Patrolling may take some time to resume because it will depend on the removal of the structures which came up since the April 2020 clashes,” said an official. Speaking at an event in Delhi on Thursday, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said a broad consensus has been achieved, which includes patrolling and grazing in traditional areas. This is the power of engaging in dialogue, he said. While grazing grounds are only towards Demchok with the nullah in the vicinity, the landform is rugged and rocky towards Depsang, where there are significant patrolling points. Monday’s agreement was about the two friction points, Depsang and Demchok. The strategic importance of Depsang is underscored by its proximity to the Y Junction, which is just 20 km from Daulat Beg Oldi airfield. Control over Y Junction enables China to obstruct India’s movements, which also serves as a link towards Siachen and the DBO airfield. The standoff at Depsang was significant, as the Chinese troops had blocked access to Patrol Points 10, 11, 11A, 12, and 13, covering an area of approximately 952 sq km.