RECORDS GALORE AS PANT BREAKS BANK BHUBANESWAR  MONDAY  NOVEMBER 25, 2024  `9.00  PAGES 12  JEYPORE EDITION We dream to see a developed Odisha by 2036: Modi EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE Rishabh Pant became the most expensive player on day one of the auction in Jeddah. A look... BIG PAY DAY FOR SKIPPERS While Shreyas Iyer was the first to go in the history books when he was signed for `26 crore by Punjab Kings, Pant went past him as Lucknow Super Giants went as high as `27 crore for the keeper-batter. KL Rahul, meanwhile, was signed by Delhi Capitals for `14 crore NOTABLE SIGNINGS The other key signings were Venkatesh Iyer (`20 cr) for KKR, Arshdeep Singh (`18 cr) for PBKS, Y Chahal (`18 cr) for PBKS, Mohammed Siraj (`12.5 cr) to GT, R Ashwin (`9.75 cr) and Noor Ahmad (`10 cr) to CSK, and Ishan Kishan (`11.25 cr) for SRH 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 ■ ■ Decision on Maharashtra CM choice today, swearing-in likely tomorrow Sources say Fadnavis tipped to lead next Mahayuti govt; Home portfolio may go to Shinde camp @ Bhubaneswar PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the Centre was making a committed endeavour to turn Odisha into one of the most preferred destinations for investors in the country . Attending the concluding function of ‘Odisha Parba 2024’ in New Delhi, the prime minister said his gover nment has been continuously working for the past decade to take Odisha to new heights. The unprecedented support of the people of Odisha in 2024 elections has only provided a new momentum to this effort, he said. “Our gover nment has big dreams and ambitious goals. In 2036, Odisha will celebrate its centenary year of becoming a separate state. Our endeavour is to transform Odisha into one of the most powerful, prosperous and rapidly developing states in the country by the time,” he said. The prime minister said investments worth `45,000 crore have been approved by the Centre within the first 100 days of the BJP government in the state. He congratulated Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and his government for the efforts to develop Odisha. CONTINUED ON P5 AMID intense speculation over who will be the next Maharashtra chief minister, the BJP’s top leadership is expected to finalise the name on Monday, it is learnt. Informed sources told this newspaper that the swearing-in ceremony of the Mahayuti government is most likely to take place on Tuesday evening as November 26 is the last day of the current assembly term. If the ceremony gets delayed by even one day then , President’s Rule will kick in, said a senior leader. Senior Shiv Sena leader Deepak Kesarkar said the oath-taking ceremony would be held on Monday, though BJP sources denied it. “The BJP and allies are set to meet on Monday to finalise their decision on the CM pick,” said a senior BJP source. While intense lobbying for the CM post is underway, a source privy to the decision making clamed Devendra Fadnavis is most likely to be named the chief minister of the new government with two deputy CMs. In this scenario, sources said, the Home department may be given to Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance has ShivSena (Shinde) and NCP (Ajit Pawar) as partners. In the recently held election, the BJP emerged as the single largest party. In the previous term of the Mahayuti government, the BJP supported Shinde as chief minister even though it Soren stakes claim to form govt, oath-taking on 28th R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R @ New Delhi M U K E S H R A N J A N @ Ranchi Devendra Fadnavis was the single largest party. Former CM Fadnavis agreed to become deputy CM on the advice of the top leadership. According to BJP sources, Fadnavis has emerged as a master strategist this time and his prowess to run alliance smoothly will also work in his favour. On November 26, there is joint session of Parliament on the Samvidhan Diwas. Thereafter, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior elders are expected to fly to Mumbai to attend the swearing-in ceremony . Sources said the chief minister and the deputy CMs may take oath on Tuesday The swearing-in . of other ministers will take place later after finalising the final list of the ministers for each party. The venue of the swearing-in has not been decided but it could be either the Wankhede Stadium or Shivaji Park, sources told this newspaper. (With inputs from our Mumbai bureau) THE new Jharkhand government will be sworn in on Thursday Chief Minister Hemant Soren , said on Sunday after meeting Governor and staking claim to form the next government. “The process of formation of the new government has started. I met the Governor and submitted my resignation and staked claim to form the new government. The Governor has invited us to form the government,” Soren said. Soren will be sworn in as the 14th chief minister of Jharkhand. Earlier in the day, a meeting of the INDIA block’s legislative party was held at the official residence of the chief minister in Ranchi to elect Hemant Soren as the legislative party leader. Soren, who has resigned as Chief Minister, was appointed by the governor as acting CM till Thursday, when the new government will be sworn in. Notably this is the first time a government is , retaining power in Jharkhand, which was formed on November 15, 2000. So far, every election ushered in a new government. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and former Bihar deputy chief minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav are likely to attend the swearing-in ceremony . In the results declared on November 23, Hemant Soren’s JMM-led INDIA alliance stormed to power for a second consecutive term winning 56 of the 81 Assembly seats. The majority mark in the state assembly is 41 seats. JMM alone has 34 seats. The BJP-led alliance, on the other hand, won only 24 seats. Hemant Soren hands over his resignation to Governor Santosh Gangwar (left) | PTI One minister for five MLAs One ministerial post for every five MLAs is a formula that is being considered by INDIA bloc in Jharkhand. If a consensus is reached on it, JMM will have six ministers, Congress three and RJD one. There may be new faces in the cabinet as four ministers — Mithilesh Thakur, Baidyanath Ram, Baby Devi and Banna Gupta lost their seats Climate talks end with mere $300 bn pledge T HE United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku concluded on Sunday amid high drama with the adoption of a controversial agreement to triple climate finance for developing countries to $300 billion annually by 2035 as against the $1.3 trillion sought by developing countries per year until 2030. The process and the S V KRISHNA amount agreed upon CHAITANYA faced strong opposition from India and EXPRESS IN BAKU other developing nations.India, a prominent voice among developing countries, rejected the proposal outright, calling the agreed-upon financial goal inadequate and unfairly distributed. Chandni Raina, adviser to the Department of Economic Affairs and part of India’s negotiating team, described the sum as “abysmally poor” and “a paltry amount”. CONTINUED ON: P9