BHUBANESWAR  TUESDAY  DECEMBER 10, 2024  `9.00  PAGES 16  LATE CITY EDITION KREMLIN SAYS ASSAD GRANTED POLITICAL ASYLUM IN RUSSIA The Kremlin said on Monday that Russia has granted political asylum to the former Syrian president who fled the country on Sunday U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL TO HOLD EMERGENCY MEET ISRAEL STRIKES SUSPECTED WMD SITES Russian President Vladimir Putin personally made the decision to offer asylum to Assad, Kremlin said. The UN Security Council will hold an emergency consultation on the situation in Syria later Monday at Russia’s request. In Syria, small groups of armed men were stationed in the streets of Damascus. Most shops were shut and public transport was unavailable ■ ■ ■ Israel said it struck suspected chemical weapons sites and long-range rockets in Syria to prevent them from falling into the hands of rebels In Syria’s north, a town held by Kurdish-led forces fell to the rebels In his first reaction to the fall of the Assad regime, US President Joe Biden called it “a historic opportunity” for the people of Syria | P13 4,000 SYRIAN ARMY SOLDIERS HAVE CROSSED INTO IRAQ SINCE ASSAD’S DEPARTURE 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 Revenue Secy Misri flags safety of Hindus, Chilika lake highway asks Dhaka to stop attacks gets nod, sparks fears Sanjay Malhotra over biodiversity loss is new RBI chief NEGATIVE CAMPAIGN, CLAIMS BANGLADESH Y E S H I S E L I @ New Delhi To assume charge on Wednesday; faces dual challenge of high inflation & slowing growth B E N N K O C H U V E E D A N @ Mumbai Sanjay Malhotra IIT GRAD, MASTER’S FROM U.S. An engineering graduate from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, Sanjay Malhotra also holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Princeton University, US INFLATION DATA ON THURSDAY The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation will release the November retail inflation data on Thursday, a day after new guv takes charge THE government on Monday appointed Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra as the 26th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. Malhotra, 56, will assume charge on Wednesday a day af, ter the six-year tenure of incumbent Shaktikanta Das ends. A 1990 batch Rajasthan cadre IAS officer, Malhotra has been appointed for three years. He has extensive administrative experience of over 33 years working with various central and state government departments across finance, taxation, power, IT, and mining. Malhotra’s appointment comes at a challenging time as the central bank has to keep the country’s retail inflation within the mandated range of 2-6% while clearing the path for economic growth. His decisions will be watched keenly as the latest data shows retail inflation remains above RBI’s upper limit at 6.21% in October while GDP growth has slumped to 5.4% in the second quarter of FY25. The delayed announcement of the new RBI governor’s appointment, made just a day before Das’s tenure was to end, created a buzz that the incumbent might get another extension. That Das met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday also fuelled the speculation. Das was appointed as RBI governor after the abrupt exit of Urjit Patel on December 12, 2018. In 2021, he was given a three-year extension, which will end on December 10. According to experts, the appointment shows the Central government’s preference for IAS officers as RBI governors, rather than bringing economists from outside. Malhotra’s experience in the finance ministry is expected to ensure smooth coordination with the government in matters of monetary policy . FOREIGN Secretary Vikram Misri on Monday raised the issue of attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh during the first high-level diplomatic engagement between New Delhi and Dhaka since the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government took power in August. Voicing concerns over the safety of minorities in Bangladesh, Misri told his counterpart Mohammad Jashim Uddin that the attacks on cultural, religious and diplomatic properties were regrettable. Misri also called on the chief advisor of Bangladesh’s interim government, Muhammad Yunus and Foreign Affairs Advisor Md Touhid Hossain. Misri expressed New Delhi’s desire for a “positive, constructive and mutually beneficial” relationship with Dhaka. “Today’s discussions have given both of us the opportunity to take stock of our relations. I appreciate the opportunity today to have had a frank, candid and constructive exchange of views with all my interlocutors,” he told reporters after meeting Uddin. While expressing anguish over the recent incidents of Bangladesh on Monday claimed there is a ‘negative campaign’ about attacks on minorities. “We drew their attention and sought appropriate steps regarding dissemination of misleading and false information in Indian media about... alleged hostile attitude to the minority communities here in the post-revolution,” Jashim Uddin said Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri with his counterpart Md Jashim Uddin | PTI During the meetings, I conveyed our concerns, including those related to the safety and welfare of minorities Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri violence against minorities during the meetings, Misri said he also underlined India’s desire to work closely with the i n t e r i m g o ve r n m e n t o f Bangladesh. Misri emphasised that people are the main stakeholders in India-Bangladesh relations, SUJEET KUMAR FILES NOMINATION FOR RS FROM BJP Former BJD Rajya Sabha MP Sujeet Kumar, who resigned from the upper house of the Parliament on September 6, filed nomination for the byelection to the seat as a BJP candidate on Monday | P3 INDIA BLOC PUSH COMING, NO-TRUST MOTION AGAINST V-P Reservation can’t be P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi IN a breakdown of ties between the Opposition and the BJP-led NDA government, the INDIA bloc on Monday said it is contemplating an impeachment motion against Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar. Several Opposition MPs, including TMC and SP members, have signed a resolution for a no-trust motion against Dhankhar under Article 67(B) of the Constitution, which says the V-P may be removed from office with a resolution passed by a majority of members in the Rajya Sabha. The Lok Sabha, too, has to approve it. During the Monsoon session of Parlia- ment in August, the Opposition had made an attempt to push a no-confidence motion against Dhankhar after days of run-ins between both sides. As many as 80 members had signed that motion, said sources but the INDIA bloc did not move it as they decided to give Dhankhar ‘another chance’. But his pro-NDA ‘slant’ on Monday convinced them to go ahead with it. The Congress on Monday took the lead and the others joined in. However, the CPI(M) and CPI told this paper they were not consulted. BJP sources said the Opposition does not have the numbers as the NDA’s 119 seats puts it just past the majority mark as the RS strength is 238. P11 based on religion: SC S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi RELIGION cannot be the basis for granting reservation, the Supreme Court said on Monday, while hearing a batch of pleas, including one by the West Bengal government, challenging the Calcutta High Court’s decision to quash the Other Backward Class (OBC) classification of 77, mostly Muslim, communities. A two-judge bench of the court, led by Justice B R Gavai and Justice K V Viswanathan, observed, “Reservation cannot be on the basis of religion.” In its May 22 verdict, the high court had said, “Religion indeed appears to have been the sole criterion for declaring these communities as OBCs.” Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the state government, told the court that, “This reservation is not based on religion but backwardness which has been upheld by the court. Even for Hindus, its on the basis of backwardness.” The Supreme Court adjourned the matter to January 7 for a detailed hearing. HINDI BELT LAPS IT UP `800 cr in 4 days, Pushpa rules box office S H R E YA S PA N D E EVER since he rose on the screen in 2021, Allu Arjun’s Pushparaj has become an unstoppable force of nature. His staggering refusal to bow down to authority found universal resonance as the film became among the first blockbusters in the post-pandemic era. With Pushpa 2: The Rule, he goes to the next level, bringing more style to his persona as he swings around in a sari, breaking bones with a touch of vulnerability His over-the-top ac. tion and rousing dialogues are finding an immense release in audiences globally as is evident , from it box-office numbers. With a worldwide gross of `800.50 crore, the film has collected `529 crore in India (net) in four days in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada. It opened at the box office, earning a whopping `164.25 crore, surpassing the opening day numbers of Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal (`63.8 crore), Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan (`75 crore), Yash’s KGF: Chapter 2 (`116 crore) and Prabhas starrer Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (`121 crore). The Sukumar directorial, however, saw a steep decline on Day 2, making `93.8 crore. It picked up again over the weekend, raking `119.25 crore on Saturday and `141.5 crore on Sunday. The film has been receiving unprecedented acclaim expecially in the Hindi belt, minting `285.70 crore against `197.70 crore in the original Telugu version. On Sunday, it became the first Hindi film to have earned `85 crore (India net) in a day . Part 1 mop up in 3 days Interestingly, the second part surpassed the lifetime collection of Pushpa: The Rise – Part 1 (`267.55 crore) in just three days. The film is expected to cross `1,000 crore globally before it completes the first week run and noted that India’s development cooperation and multifaceted engagements with Bangladesh, including in the areas of connectivity, trade, power, energy and capacity building, are all geared towards the benefit of the people of Bangladesh. He said India expected an overall constructive approach on all these issues by the Bangladesh authorities and looked forward to moving the relationship forward in a positive and constructive direction. During these meetings, Misri highlighted India’s support for a democratic, stable, peaceful, progressive and inclusive Bangladesh, the MEA said in a P11, P12 statement. HEMANT KUMAR ROUT @ Bhubaneswar THE Ministry of Road Transport and Highways’ (MoRTH) has approved the proposed alignment of a two-lane national highway connectivity over Chilika lagoon, a move which may jeopardise biodiversity of the largest brackish water lake of Asia. Sources said, the MoRTH has planned the 7.8-km connectivity with a right of way (RoW) of 75-metre over the wetland which is the missing link of Gopalpur-Satpada highway (NH-516A) under Krushnaprasad block in Puri district. Two bridges spanning 3.55km are proposed to be built over the lake as part of the connectivity, subject to environmental clearance and approval of the state government. The alignment approval committee (AAC) of the ministry has already cleared it along with the land acquisition plan, the sources said. The approval, however, came nearly six months after Union Minister Nitin Gadkari announced the plan at a poll rally in Brahmagiri Assembly con- Irrawaddy dolphins in Chilika lake stituency during the last general elections in May Gadkari . had assured that the bridge would be built under Bharatmala project without hampering marine ecosystem. The two-lane planned over Chilika, a designated Ramsar site, has drawn sharp criticism from environmentalists and conservationists who fear the lake’s fragile ecosystem and its rich biodiversity might face negative consequences of the project. Expressing grave concerns, secretary of Odisha Environmental Society Jayakrushna Panigrahi said the idea to build highway and bridges over Chilika lagoon is highly insensitive as it will destroy the wetland biodiversity and cause irreparable harm to the lake’s unique flora and CONTINUED ON P9 fauna.