SAMBALPUR  SUNDAY  MAY 04, 2025  `12.00  PAGES 24  CITY EDITION AUSTRALIA PM ANTHONY ALBANESE WINS A SECOND THREE-YEAR TERM HOUSING CRISIS, HEALTHCARE SWAY VOTERS Albanese’s steady leadership resonated at a time of global tumult, with voters deserting hard-nosed opposition leader Peter Dutton DUTTON’S PRAISE FOR TRUMP A COSTLY ERROR US President Trump cast a long shadow over the six-week election campaign, sparking keen global interest in whether his tariff-induced economic chaos would influence the result. Albanese has promised to embrace renewable energy, tackle a worsening housing crisis and a creaking healthcare system, while Dutton wanted to slash immigration ■ ■ Some pre-vote polls showed Dutton leaking support because of Trump, who he praised as a “big thinker” on the global stage Albanese’s government has embraced the global push towards decarbonisation, warning of a future in which iron ore and polluting coal exports no longer prop up the economy | P9 36 DAY CAMPAIGN WAS A LARGELY STAID AFFAIR, WITH A FEW EXCEPTIONS 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 Committed to take firm, decisive action against terrorists and their ecosystem, says Modi FURTHER SQUEEZE Addl structure on Indus will INDIA STOPS DIRECT & INDIRECT PAK IMPORTS, draw attack: SUSPENDS MAIL SERVICES, DENIES PORT ACCESS Pak minister J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi NORTH GOA Six dead, 80 injured in temple fest stampede S U D H I R S U R YA W A N S H I @ Mumbai AT least six people died while 80 sustained injuries in a stampede that broke out at a temple festival at Shirgaon in North Goa early Saturday morning. The state government ordered a magisterial inquiry , headed by Revenue Secretary Sandeep Jacques, into the tragedy at Shirgao village, and transferred five officials including the district collector and superintendent of police. The stampede occurred at around 3 am when thousands of devotees thronged the narrow lanes leading to the temple of Goddess Sree Lairai Devi for an annual festival, police said. The village is located 40 km away from Panaji. “At least 30,000 to 40,000 people had gathered, and some were standing on a slope. A few persons fell, causing others to tumble and fall on each other,” DGP Alok Kumar said. About 50 people fell on the slope, and the stampede was confined to that spot, he added.Thousands of devotees from Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka had cong re gated to attend the annual festival. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed anguish over the tragedy. “Saddened by the loss of lives due to a stampede in Shirgao, Goa. May the injured recover soon,” the PM wrote on X. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant announced `10 lakh solatium for the family members of every deceased and `1 lakh to the injured. EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday vowed unwavering and decisive action against terrorists and their backers, condemning terrorism as the gravest threat to humanity, after his meeting with visiting Angola’s President Joao Lourenco here. Meanwhile, as part of continuing economic and diplomatic measures following the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives, including a Nepalese citizen, India halted all imports from Pakistan, suspended mail services, and denied port access to Pakistani vessels with immediate effect. “Government of India has decided to suspend the exchange of all categories of inbound mail and parcels from Pakistan through air and surface routes,” Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Minister for Communication said. India also imposed a ban on both direct and indirect imports from Pakistan and barred Pakistani ships from accessing Indian ports. A newly introduced provision in the Foreign Trade Policy said that “the direct or indirect import or transit of all goods originating in or exported from Pakistan is prohibited with immediate effect until further orders.” The notification said the provision was imposed in the interest of national security An. other order from the Directorate General of Shipping said that any ship flying the Pakistani flag will be prohibited from vis- AMID escalating tensions over the Pahalgam terror attack, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif warned on Friday that Islamabad would “strike” if India built any structure on the Indus River, violating the Indus Waters Treaty . Speaking to Geo News, Asif said that building any infrastructure on the river would be considered an act of “Indian aggression”. The warning came after India held in abeyance the Indus Waters Treaty as part of its broader response to the terror attack in Pahalgam. Asif emphasised that any attempt by India to build o n t h e r ive r would be met with strong opposition. “Cer- Khawaja Asif, tainly, if they Pak def minister attempt to build any structure, we will strike it. Aggression is not just about firing cannons or bullets; it has many faces. One of those faces is (blocking or diverting water), which could lead to deaths due to hunger and thirst.” Asif added: “If they make any architectural attempt, then Pakistan will destroy that structure.” However, Asif said for now, Pakistan would take the issue to the appropriate for u m s, a n d t h e r e l ev a n t stakeholders. The Indus Waters Treaty was , signed on September 19, 1960, between India and Pakistan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi with J&K CM Omar Abdullah in New Delhi | PTI Pak test-fires Abdali missile Lanka searches Chennai flight Pak wife draws CRPF wrath Pakistan conducted a successful training launch of the Abdali surface-tosurface missile with a range of 450 km. India saw it as a blatant act of provocation Sri Lankan police searched a flight arriving in Colombo from Chennai after being tipped off that a suspect linked to the Pahalgam attack could be on board. The filght was later cleared. No one was arrested The Central Reserve Police Force sacked its jawan Munir Ahmed for concealing his marriage with a Pakistani woman, as his action was found to be detrimental to national security, official sources said iting Indian ports. Although trade volumes are low, it has become a casualty following the terror strike, as India began imposing economic costs on Pakistan due to the cross-border links involved in the attack. Direct trade had already sharply declined after India revoked Pakistan’s Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status following the Pulwama attack in 2019. India’s imports from Paki- stan have been minimal in recent years, with some goods routed through third-party ports like Dubai, Singapore, and Colombo to bypass trade restrictions. In 2023-24, India imported just USD 3 million worth of goods from Pakistan. However, with India halting all trade, Pakistan, heavily reliant on India for pharmaceuticals, is now urgently seeking alternative sources for its pharmaceutical requirements. E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Cuttack AT least three persons were killed and two others critically injured after a concrete slab fell on them during construction of a bridge near Khannagar on Saturday evening. The construction has been going on for the six-lane road conversion from Kathajodi riverside of NH-16 to Cuttack Netaji Bus Terminal (CNBT). The deceased have been identified as site engineer Soumya Ranjan Mallick (30), workers Shiba Sankar Patnaik (28) of Balasore and Subhas Chandra Bhakta of West Bengal. Two other workers Arun Barik and Bikal Jena who were injured in the collapse are undergoing treatment in the SCB medical college and hospital. The incident occurred at about 5.45 pm while the site engineer and workers were engaged in lifting of the readymade concrete slab for setting it on the pillars with the help of The collapsed concrete slab lies at the construction site | EXPRESS two parallel cranes. Sources said, the hoisting wire of one crane got suddenly detached as a result of which the slab collapsed on the crane which then trapped the site engineer and four labourers underneath. All the five persons were rescued and rushed to SCB MCH where doctors declared three of them dead. Lack of inspection and supervision is said to have caused the mishap. The hoisting wire of the crane should have been inspected and verified before being used for lifting, alleged a city based engineer while demanding a high-level probe into the incident that took three lives. Sources said, the bridge construction is being carried out by a Bhubaneswar-based company under the supervision of Roads & Building wing of the Works department. Works minister Prithiviraj Harichandan visited the injured workers at SCB MCH. He said a probe will be conducted into the incident and necessary action will be initiated if any lapse is found. “A three-member team headed by special secretary-cum-EIC Laxmikant Padhi will conduct probe and submit report within 15 days. Necessary measures will be taken to prevent reoccurrence of such type of incidents in future,” Harichandan told mediapersons adding that treatment cost of the two injured workers would be borne by the government. Mosque in Shimla to be brought down @ Chandigarh THE Shimla Municipal Corporation Commissioner’s Court on Saturday ruled that all five floors of the disputed Sanjauli mosque are unauthorised, and ordered the demolition of the entire structure. A section of residents of Sanjauli and Hindu outfits had launched an agitation to press for the demolition of the mosque, claiming that it was unauthorised but no action was taken by the Corporation during the EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bhubaneswar @ New Delhi Three dead, two injured as slab falls during bridge construction in Cuttack HARPREET BAJWA Need to promote indigenous sports on global stage: CM past 15 years. The court had on October 5, 2024, ordered the demolition of the top three “unauthorised” floors and asked the Waqf Board to produce documents of sanctioned plans of the remaining two floors. This decision follows the Waqf board f ailing to present the mosque’s revenue records during the court hearing. The lawyer of the Waqf board argued that the mosque originally existed before 1947 and was rebuilt after demolition. But the court of Commissioner Bhupender Kumar Attri questioned why necessary permissions, including architectural plans, were not obtained from the municipal corporation for the reconstruction. Commissioner Attri ruled that the mosque had been built without necessary permissions, including a building permit, a no-objection certificate and a sanctioned map. He ordered demolition of the lower two floors in addition to the three floors that were ordered to be demolished last year. Earlier, the Himachal Pradesh High Court had directed the municipal commissioner to decide the case by May 8. WITH THIS ISSUE FATAL MEDICINE PLUS 12 PAGES CHIEF Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Saturday reaffirmed the commitment of Odisha government to ensure that indigenous sports get their rightful place on the world stage. Addressing a session on “Indigenous Sports - From India to the Global Stage” at the World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit (WAVES 2025) in Mumbai, the chief minister said traditional games must be promoted and expanded to the global stage. “Preserving indigenous sports is preserving our soul. It is about giving our children a sense of belonging and pride in their heritage. It is about building a future, rooted in the strength of our past. Tradition is the new vibe. Indigenous games to global glory is , our vision,” Majhi said. He said the state government will continue to work with the Centre and global federations to ensure that indigenous sports get their rightful place on the world stage. Reflecting on his early playing experiences with traditional sports like kabaddi CM Mohan Charan Majhi speaks at the WAVES-2025 summit in Mumbai and kho kho in Keonjhar, a tribal dominated district, Majhi said, “These were more than games. They were expressions of teamwork, resilience and identity rooted in the soil of our communities. As we say in Odisha - khela re sanskruti achhi, sanskruti re asmita achhi (in our games lies our culture, and in our culture lies our identity).” He said, kho kho and kabbadi are still a part of school activities in Odisha. Mallakhamb is yet another sport which is extensively practised in the heritage land of Puri. “In Odisha, we are deeply proud of our rich traditions. Our tribal communities have preserved unique forms of games - simple, yet profound; local, yet universal in spirit,” CONTINUED ON P5 he said. SEBIMORE REGULATIONS CHIEF’S TAKE ON More regulations do not necessarily mean better and effective monitoring, says Sebi chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey | P10