Russian general killed in car bomb A Russian general was killed by a car bomb on Friday in the second such attack in four months. Russia pointed fingers at Ukraine for the hit. Friday’s bombing came just as US President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow to discuss a US-brokered peace plan | P9 BHUBANESWAR l saturday l april 26, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ WARANGAL ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Shah holds high-level meet to discuss ways to stop water flow into Pak, asks CMs to trace and send back Pakistanis in their states ‘Will not let a drop of water flow into Pak’ M U K E S H RA N J A N @ New Delhi Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday held a high-level meeting with Union Jal Shakti Minister C R Paatil to chalk out the strategy to stop the flow of water from Indian rivers into Pakistani territory . Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Paatil said that the Centre has formulated a comprehensive plan to prevent the flow of water from Indian rivers into Pakistan. “A roadmap was prepared in the meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Three options were discussed in the meeting. The government is working on shortterm, medium-term, and long-term measures so that not even a drop of water goes to Pakistan. Soon, desilting of rivers will be done to stop the water and divert it,” Paatil said. It was also decided to inform the World Bank, the mediator of the Indus Water Treaty, of the suspension of the pact. Officials said the government also decided to raise the storage and operational capacity of dams on the rivers covered under the treaty, which governs water sharing of six rivers in the Indus basin between the two countries. On Thursday, India had formally communicated to Pakistan about its intent to suspend the Indus Water Treaty . Earlier in the day, Shah called up the chief ministers of all states and asked them to identify all Pakistani nationals in their respective jurisdictions and take immediate steps to ensure their prompt return to their country, sources said. Later, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan held a video conference with the chief secretaries of all states and directed them to ensure that all Pakistani nationals whose visas were revoked must leave India by the fixed deadline. The Cabinet Committee on Security, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had on Wednesday decided to cancel all visas granted to Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were shot dead. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar T’gana CM seeks revenge Pledging complete support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi following the Pahalgam terror attack, Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy urged him to “launch an attack on Pakistan” and integrate Pakistanoccupied Kashmir (PoK) into the Indian Union. “it is the time for a strong reply,” he said Flights cancelled IndiGo has cancelled flights to Almaty and Tashkent due to the closure of Pakistan’s airspace. About 50 international routes operated by IndiGo may be subject to schedule adjustments, the airline said The house of Adil Thokar, linked to the attack, being demolished in Bijbhera, in Anantnag | PTI Houses of 2 Lashkar militants linked to terror plot razed f aya z w a n i @ Srinagar SENDING a loud and clear message that acts of terror will not be tolerated, the houses of two Lashkar-e-Toiba militants, whose names figured during investigation into the Pahalgam terror attack, were demolished by security forces in Tral and Bijbehara area of south Kashmir. This is the first such instance in J&K in over three decades long militancy. The two militants were identified as Asif Sheikh from Monaghama area of Tral in Pulwama and Adil Hussain Thokar from Bijbehara area of Anantnag. Sources said the houses were blown up by security forces after planting IEDs. Their family members were evicted from the houses before they were demolished. Sources said both Asif and Adil’s name had cropped up during investigation in Tuesday’s terror attack at Baisaran, Pahalgam in which 25 tourists and a local resident were killed. While Adil was one of the three attackers involved in the attack, Sheikh is suspected to be involved in the conspiracy. Police released sketches of three attackers, including Adil, and announced a bounty of `20 lakh each. “It is a loud and clear message to militants and their sympathisers that such attacks will not be tolerated. This will act as a deterrent to prevent such attacks in future,” a security official said. He said there are clear cut orders to crush all those involved in the terror attack. 2 4 O c to b e r 1 9 4 0 - 2 5 Ap r i l 2 0 2 5 express read Visionary behind India’s space achievements SC raps Rahul for remarks on Savarkar M y l s w a m y Ann a d u r a i K rishnaswamy Kasturirang an, for mer chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), is no more. Starting as an Xray astronomer while growing up in positions, his scholastic services and accomplishments in the fields of science, technology and education have left an , indelible mark. It was during his tenure (1994-2003) that the Indian space programme smoothly graduated from the experimental Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan phase to the operational phase in the areas of earth observation satellites, communication satellites, and launch services. His visionary approach made ISRO boldly venture into commercial space, also leasing 10 transponders of INSAT-2E satellite to INTELSAT for $10 mil- lion as early as in 1999. It is through this service that Indians were able to watch cable TV in regional languages and Indian TV prog rammes reached 47 countries. It was Kasturirangan’s historic lecture on National Technology Day in 1998 ideating a technical possibility of India placing a satellite around the Moon (Chandrayaan-1) using the PSLV launcher that germinated into a full-fledged project report in 2003. (The author former director ISRO , , Satellite Centre, worked with Dr Kasturirangan from 1982 to 2003) Odisha govt asks 12 Pakistani nationals to leave by April 27 National space agency It was during his tenure that ISRO’s launch vehicles PSLV and GSLV were made operational, making ISRO a complete national space agency on the lines of advanced spacefaring countries New Delhi: In a relief to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the Supreme Court on Friday stayed an order of the Allahabad High Court refusing to quash summons against him in a defamation case for his remarks against V D Savarkar. The court, however, censured Gandhi for his “irresponsible” remarks against Savarkar | P5 Odisha government on Friday directed 12 Pakistani nationals residing in the state to leave India by April 27. The instructions came after Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke with all the chief ministers asking them to identify Pakistan nationals in their respective states. A top police official said the 12 Pakistani nationals holding long-term visas had registered themselves with police stations of different districts. “The 12 Pakistan nationals staying in Odisha on long-term visas have been directed to leave the country by April 27. Currently, there are no Pakistani citizens in the state staying on shortterm or medical visas,” said a senior officer at the State Police Headquarters in Cuttack. Due to security concerns, police did not divulge further details like gender classification and place of stay of the 12 Pakistani nationals. Out of the total, a few Pakistani citizens stay in Khurda and Cuttack districts, said the sources. Those in possession of long-term visas (over six months) are required to register with the Foreigners Registration Officer (FRO) or Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) within 14 days of their arrival. In areas without dedicated FRRO/FRO offices, the SP serves as the registration officer. All existing visas issued by India to Pakistani nationals stand revoked with effect from April 27. However, the medical visas will be valid for an additional two days. Meanwhile, Odisha Police has tightened security in all the sensitive areas of the state to ensure no untoward incident takes place in the aftermath of the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam that killed 26 people. Sources said police are on alert in districts like Sambalpur, Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. Patrolling as well as intelligence collection has been intensified to prevent any law and order situation in the state.