BHUBANESWAR  FRIDAY  JANUARY 24, 2025  `9.00  PAGES 12  LATE CITY EDITION INDIAN REPRESENTATION CONFIRMED AT OSCARS 2025 AS ANUJA GETS NOD A LIEN, I’M NOT A ROBOT AMONG COMPETITORS Anuja, a short film set in New Delhi, bagged a nomination in the Live Action Short category at the 97th Academy Awards on Thursday MONGA, PRIYANKA EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS Anuja tells the story of a gifted nine-year-old, who must make a choice between education and factory work. Directed by Adam J Graves and Suchitra Mattai, the film stars Sajda Pathan and Ananya Shanbhag. Other nominees for the Live Action Short category are: A Lien, I’m Not a Robot, The Last Ranger, and The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent ■ ■ Anuja has two-time Oscar winning producer Guneet Monga on board as executive producer. Recently, actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas also boarded the project as an executive producer The film is produced by NGO Salaam Baalak Trust, which supports street children, along with Shine Global, and Krushan Naik Films March 2 WHEN THE 2025 ACADEMY AWARDS CEREMONY WILL BE HELD IN LOS ANGELES 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 5,300 YRS AGO IRON AGE BEGAN ON TAMIL SOIL, SAYS CM, CITES SCIENTIFIC PROOF T M U R U G A N A N D H A M @ Chennai 3 CHIEF Minister M K Stalin on Thursday, based on the results of scientific dating of archaeological samples, declared that iron was used in the present Tamil-speaking region even in the mid third to fourth millennia, thereby pushing the Iron Age period back by around two millennia. The results establish that iron was used in the region over 5,300 years ago, he said. Releasing the report titled, ‘Antiquity of Iron: Recent Radiometric Dates from Tamil Nadu’ in Chennai, Stalin said he was making the remarkable anthropolo gical announcement, not only to India but to the whole world, that the “Iron Age began on Tamil soil”. The results were based on samples sent from various archaeological sites including Sivagalai in Thoothukudi district, Adichanallur in Tirunelveli district, Mayiladumparai in Krishnagiri district to three renowned laboratories — Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow; Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad; and Beta Analytic Lab, Florida, USA. While the samples were sent to Indian labs for Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) analysis, the samples from the same sites were sent for radiometric analysis to the Beta Analytic Lab in Florida. Similar results have been received from all the three labs. Stalin said the state’s Archaeology Department has established through chronometric dating that smelting technology to extract iron from ore was first introduced in the Tamil landscape. “This is a pride for the Tamil race, Tamil Nadu and the Tamil landscape,” the CM said. MARUTI CARS TO COST MORE FROM FEBRUARY 1 Maruti Suzuki India will hike prices by up to `32,500 across various models from February 1 to partially offset the rise in input cost. “We are constrained to pass on some of the increased expenses to the market,” it said in a statement | P10 4 2 5 CURRENT GLOBAL CONSENSUS REGARDING SITES AND SAMPLES SENT 1 IRON AGE 1 Swords Sivagalai (Thoothukudi): Charcoal samples collected from urn burials with iron objects in the habitation mound called Valappalanpillai-thiradu. Three samples have been dated to 2953 BCE, 3259 BCE and 3345 BCE 2 Anchor hook Adichanallur (Tirunelveli): Samples associated with an iron object were dated to 2517-2513 BCE 3 Mayiladumparai (Krishnagiri): Samples of iron objects dated to 2172 BCE Iron objects 4 Mangadu (Thelunganur) in Salem: Iron sword dating back to 1263 BCE found 5 Kilnamandi (Tiruvannamalai): Age of iron objects found in the site falls between 1769 BCE and 1615 BCE Iron metal production from ore is believed to have begun in the mid-2nd millennium BCE. Iron Age is so far believed to have started in Anatolia and the Caucasus around late 2nd millennium BCE (~1300 BCE), with the transition occurring in the Ancient Near East during the 12th century BCE (1200–1100 BCE) IRON AGE PERIOD IN VARIOUS REGIONS 900 800 BCE in BCE in China 500 BCE in Central Northern Northern and Europe Scandinavian Western Europe Europe WHAT DO THE NEW FINDINGS IN TN SAY? Samples discovered from various archaeological sites in Tamil Nadu, which were sent for dating, have revealed that iron objects found here dated to 3345 BCE and 2172 BCE. This pushes the current Iron Age period back by at least around two millennia WHERE WERE THE SAMPLES TESTED? Birbal Sahani Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow; Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad & Beta Analytic, Florida, USA Iron sword Graves 600 BCE in Arial view of Iron Age graves at Mayiladumparai Speaker warns Oppn of strict action for disrupting House EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bhubaneswar WITH the budget session of the Assembly scheduled to begin from February 13, Speaker Surama Padhy on Thursday called upon Opposition members to maintain discipline and warned of action if they create ruckus or disruptions. Speaking to mediapersons, she said while constructive suggestions from the Opposition would be welcomed, disruptions or obstructions in the smooth functioning of the House will not be tolerated. “Members should utilise the time to raise matters relating to their constituencies and other T’gana seals mega deals at WEF; AWS to invest `60,000 cr M A N DA RAV I N D E R R E D DY @ Hyderabad THE Telangana government’s delegation to the World Economic Forum in Davos secured investment commitments to the tune of `1,78,950 crore, which could create nearly 50,000 jobs in the state. Telangana’s delegation, led by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, signed MoUs with several firms, the biggest of which came from Amazon Web Services (AWS). It would invest `60,000 crore in Telangana to expand data centres. The other investments include `45,500 crore from Sun Petrochemicals and `15,000 crore each from Tillman Global Holdings and Megha Engineering. Among software companies, HCLTech proposed to create 5,000 jobs, while Infosys said it would accommodate 10,000 employees in its upcoming new campus at Pocharam in Hyderabad and would ramp up the workforce by 7,000 more later. Another IT giant, Wipro, unveiled its plans to add 5,000 jobs in the state. Data centres were a Notices to Ola, Uber over price disparity E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ New Delhi THE Centre has issued notices to Ola and Uber over complaints that they were charging different prices from customers depending on whether the booking was from an iPhone or an Android smartphone. The notices were issued by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), a regulatory body under the Union consumer affairs ministry . “As a follow-up to the earlier observation of apparent differential pricing based on the different models of mobiles (iPhones/ Android) being used, Department of Consum- er Affairs through the CCPA, has issued notices to major cab aggregators Ola and Uber, seeking their responses,” said Prakhar Joshi, Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution & New and Renewable Energy, on social media platform X. When contacted, an Uber spokesperson said the platform does not set prices based on the operating system of the consumer’s phone. “We look forward to working with the Central Consumer Protection Authority to clear up any misunderstanding.” Ola is yet to comment. The development comes after a large number of consumers pointed out that the ride-hailing apps were showing higher prices on iPhones compared to Android smartphones. The Centre has also sent a notice to Apple to respond to the technical issues reported by iPhone users after a recent software update. A survey revealed that 60% of iPhone users experienced service problems, with call failures being the most significant issue. Nearly 90% of surveyed iPhone users attributed their difficulties directly to an iOS update. RGV gets 3 months in jail in cheque bounce case S U D H I R S U R YA W A N S H I @ Mumbai A Mumbai court convicted filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma and sentenced him to three months of simple imprisonment in a sevenyear-old cheque bounce case. A company Shree, represented , by Maheshchandra Mishra, had filed a case against Ram Gopal Varma’s firm under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act in 2018. The Andheri Magistrate Court on Tuesday found Varma guilty . Varma was directed to pay a compensation of `3.72 lakh to the complainant within three months, failing which he will face another three months of imprisonment. The filmmaker has faced financial troubles in recent years, which was exacerbated during the Covid-19 pandemic when he had to sell his office. As Varma was absent during the proceedings, the court issued a non-bailable warrant for his arrest, instructing the concerned police station to execute the sentence. The court said since Varma had not spent any time in custody during the trial, there was no provision for a set-off for him under Section 428 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. For his part, Varma took to emergent issues without creating noisy scenes. The Opposition parties should play a cons t r u c t ive r o l e a n d g ive suggestions to the government by participating in debates,” she said. The Speaker said, this will be discussed at the all-party meeting to be convened by before the session begins. However, both the Opposition parties BJD and Congress reacted strongly to the warning. Former Speaker and Opposition chief whip Pramila Mallik said, “The Speaker should be above party politics and maintain dignity of the constitutional post. Such a warning from the Speaker will have no impact on the functioning of the Opposition in the House.” Alleging that the Speaker’s statement looked like a direction from the BJP top leaders, Mallik said the party must also remember the behaviour of its members towards her when she was the Speaker for nine months before the 2024 CONTINUED ON P5 elections. social media, stating that the case relates to a cheque of `2,38,000 from a former employee. He emphasised that his legal team is addressing the matter, adding he didn’t want to make any further comment. Known for his blockbusters such as Rangeela, Satya, Company, Bhoot, Sarkar and Kaun, Ram Gopal Varma is a significant figure in the Indian film industry In . June 2022, he was granted bail after furnishing a personal bond and cash security of `5,000. ‘China Plus One’ In his presentation at WEF, Reddy said the state will build on its core strengths and expand into new areas. He said with supply chain disruptions necessitating alternatives to China, the state would establish itself as a proactive ‘China Plus One’ destination major focus area, yielding rich dividends for Telangana. Amazon, Tillman, Usra, CtrlS and Sify announced plans for new facilities and expansions. The state also achieved breakthroughs in cutting-edge sectors such as solar cell manufacturing, rocket manufacturing, aircraft interior design and UAV production. JWS Defence proposed to set up a drone-manufacturing factory in the state. The state delegation also managed to secure investments in private industrial parks, with the Ramky Group offering to invest in integrated industrial parks, a dry port, and townships. The MTS Group also committed significant investments in the state. Unilever proposed to set up two manufacturing units. EXPRESS READ MoEFCC flags concern over OMC’s drilling plan for Khandadhar Bhubaneswar: The Ministry of Forest, Environment and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has flagged serious environmental concerns on the Odisha government’s proposal for exploratory drilling in Khandadhar sub Block-B iron ore mining area in Sundargarh district by OMC. Deferring its decision to grant approval for diversion of forest land for exploration by core drilling, the Forest Advisory Committee has asked the state government for a scientific study to ascertain the impact of mining on the eco-sensitive area | P3