BHUBANESWAR  SATURDAY  MAY 17, 2025  `9.00  PAGES 16  LATE CITY EDITION IPL RESUMES AFTER BREAK DUE TO BORDER TENSIONS Royal Challengers Bengaluru host Kolkata Knight Riders in Bengaluru today. The league was temporarily suspended on May 8 RCB’s Virat Kohli during a practice session on Friday | VINOD KUMAR T MATCHES IN SIX VENUES, FINAL ON JUNE 3 ■ Delhi, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Lucknow and Mumbai will host the remaining 12 matches, with venues for the play-offs yet to be decided ■ 17 DEPLETED SQUADS FOR SEVERAL TEAMS ■ Due to forecast of rains in Southern India, IPL decided against hosting matches in Chennai and Hyderabad, with Bengaluru hosting two matches | P15 ■ Several IPL teams will have depleted squads in the home stretch because of important assignments like the WTC final. South African players, for example, will not feature in the playoffs However, sides have been allowed to name ‘temporary’ replacements to supplement their roster. Mumbai will be one of the hardest hit side NO OF REMAINING TIES (12 LEAGUE, FOUR PLAY-OFF FIXTURES & FINAL) 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 NGT asks govt to get approval or demolish Deomali structures EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bhubaneswar IN a big jolt to Odisha government’s tourism push, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed it to get clearance for Deomali eco-tourism structures from the Centre under Forest (Conservation) Act within three months or demolish them and restore the land to its original form. Disposing of a petition challenging the legality of infrastructure developed on the ecosensitive plateau and Odisha’s highest peak in Koraput district, the NGT’s Eastern Zone bench of Justice B Amit Sthalekar (Judicial member) and Arun Kumar Verma (Expert member) held that the constructions made under the guise of eco-tourism development violated forest conservation norms and lacked requisite permissions. “If the required approval is not obtained within the stipulated time, the entire structures erected shall be removed, and the area shall be restored to its original form. In any case, no diversion of the land in question shall be made for non-forestry purposes and the respondents (state and the Centre) shall ensure strict compliance of the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam 1980 read with the Forest Rights Act 2006,” the bench ruled. The green panel also directed the government to maintain Mega diplomatic push via multi-party teams Cottages built on the ecologically sensitive plateau atop Deomali | EXPRESS If the stand of the state is to be accepted, the question arises as to why were village level meetings held for formation of Van Surakhya Samiti (VSS) - NGT the pine plantation undertaken over an area of 1.5-2 hectares and make efforts to cover the entire 5.93 ha of the land in plantation. Deomali, a hill top table land, located in the Eastern Ghats near Barabandha village, about 70 km from Koraput, is the highest peak in the state, standing at 1,672 metre (5,486 feet) above sea level. The petitioner Wildlife Society of Orissa had alleged that the construction works at Deomali were against the principle of sustainable development. While 10 cottages for night stay of tourists have been constructed with provisions of a dining hall and two dormitories, the department has also planted about 1,000 tropical pine saplings brought from Assam for beautification of the landscape of the spot. The Deomali project is included under the Centre’s Swadesh Darshan Scheme for development of infrastructure to boost tourism. The project is in addition to `16 crore sanctioned by the Tourism department for integrated development of the hill. Similarly Semiliguda Forest , Range has prepared a proposal for development of eco-tourism complex at an estimated cost of about `4.5 crore, the petition CONTINUED ON P5 stated. Voda’s SOS to govt: Need 10 killed in timely help on AGR dues, lightning strikes in state else will have to shut shop EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE R A K E S H K U M A R @ New Delhi AT least 10 persons, including four minors, were killed while many others sustained injuries as intense lightning and thunderstor ms wreaked havoc across the state on Friday . The deaths were reported from five districts - Koraput, Jajpur, Dhenkanal, Ganjam and Gajapati - where the impact was severe. Sources said frequent lightning due to nor’westers on Friday evening claimed three lives in Koraput district. A 62 year-old woman Brundi Mandinga and 16-year-old girl Kosa Mandinga from Laxmipur block of the district were killed as lightning struck them while they were working in their agriculture field. Similarly, a man from Semiliguda block of the district succumbed after being hit by a bolt outside his home. An elderly person from the district also sustained injuries. CONTINUED ON P5 VODAFONE Idea (Vi) has said it will be forced to shut shop if the government doesn’t help. India’s third-largest telecom operator urged the Centre to waive its adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues, warning that it may not be able to continue operations beyond FY26. According to sources, the telecom company has sought the government’s intervention to meet AGR obligations and mitigate insolvency risk. Vi also warned that the value of the gover nment’s equity stake could fall to zero, resulting in no recovery on the `1.18 lakh crore of spectrum dues. Currently, Vi’s total liabilities are pegged at `2 lakh crore, including `1.19 lakh crore in spectrum usage charges and `83,400 crore in AGR dues. The company is required to pay `18,000 crore annually in AGR dues over the next six years. According to Vi, this figure exceeds its operating cash flows, which have averaged between `8,400 crore and `9,200 crore over the past three years. The gover nment had in March converted `36,950 crore of the firm’s dues into equity, increasing its stake to 49%. Meanwhile, the beleaguered firm has filed a fresh petition in the Supreme Court seeking waiver of `30,000 crore in AGR dues, pertaining to interest, penalty and interest on penalty , components. Vi’s fresh petition comes in the wake of the SC’s ruling in February rejecting a batch of pleas by several telcos against the Department of Telecommunications (DoT)’s formula to calculate AGR. The SC upheld the DoT’s calculation, which included telcos’ revenue from non-telecom businesses as well and not just core telecom operations. According to Vi, timely support from the Government of India is needed on AGR relief, otherwise the ongoing discussions with banks regarding funding will stall. If the situation leads to operational disruption, approximately 200 million users could be affected. D I L I P S I N G H K S H AT R I YA WITH the Centre set to send nearly a dozen multi-party delegations to various important countries to exert diplomatic pressure on Pakistan, it was learnt that the lists of Opposition and ruling coalition’s MPs were prepared by the Prime Minister’s Office and conveyed to respective political parties. While MPs from various political parties were consulted by Union minister Kiran Rijiju, sources said the selection was done based on certain parameters, such as domain knowledge, articulation skills and representation of women and Muslims. The delegations will brief the hosts on Pakistan’s role in perpetrating cross-border terror in the April 22 Pahalgam attack, Operation Sindoor and the efforts by some countries to hyphenate India and Pakistan. “There will be a briefing by the MEA before we leave. We may also present dossiers on Pakistan’s links to the terror attacks,” said an MP . The delegation may travel to 40-50 countries and are likely to start from May 22 or 23 for a period of 10 days. The focus will be more on Islamic countries, said an MP. The government is considering 7-8 eight delegations with 5-6 members each, said a source. The likely representatives from Congress will be Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, Salman Khurshid and Amar Singh, while DMK’s Kanimozhi, CPI (M)’s John Brittas and AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi are likely to be part of the INDIA on Friday called upon the International Monetary Fund to reconsider its $1 billion assistance to Pakistan, stressing that Islamabad can use it for funding terror. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who arrived at the Bhuj Air Force station Friday morning to review the overall security situation, said India does not want funds it gives to the IMF to be used to create a terror infrastructure in Pakistan. “India would like the IMF to reconsider its assistance of $1 billion to Pakistan and refrain from g iv i n g a ny kind of assistance in future,” he said. He lauded Rajnath Singh the Air Force for spearheading the campaign against terrorism effectively . “The current ceasefire is not a peace agreement — it’s probation,” Singh declared. “If Pakistan’s behaviour improves, good. If not, the harshest punishment will follow ...” he said. Singh further said Pakistan has started rebuilding its destroyed terror infrastructure, and has collected taxes from its citizens to lend it to Masood Azhar, head of Jaish-e-Mohammed and a UN-designated terrorist. “Pakistan plans to divert public funds — roughly `14 crore — to Masood Azhar of JeM,” Singh said. Pakistan has announced financial aid to LeT and JeM in Muridke and Bahawalpur, he said. @ Ahmedabad Union home minister Amit Shah with others during the inauguration of an upgraded multi agency centre for intelligence sharing, in New Delhi on Friday | PTI delegations. While former Union minister Anurag Thakur, Aparajita Sarangi and Samik Bhattacharya and V Muralidharan are among the BJP MPs, TMC’s Sudip Bandyopadhyay , JD(U)’s Sanjay Jha, BJD’s Sasmit Patra and NCP-SP’s Supriya Sule and J&K’s Ghulam Nabi Azad are also likely to be part of the delegations. Several Opposition parties welcomed the move. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said Rijiju contacted party chief Mallikarjun Kharge on the matter, adding the latter will decide which MPs are to be sent. Such diplomatic initiatives have been taken in the past as well. In 1994, the then PM Narasimha Rao deputed a team comprising opposition leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Farooq Abdullah, Salman Khurshid, and India’s then ambassador to the UN, Hamid Ansari, to a UN session in Geneva to present India’s case on the Kashmir problem and to defeat a Pakistan resolution to censure New Delhi. After the Mumbai attack in 2008, PM Manmohan Singh sent a multi-party delegation to various countries with dossiers on Pakistan’s links to the terror attacks. ODISHA FC, state’s only professional Indian Super League (ISL) club, suffered a body blow after the AIFF refused to grant licence to it on Thursday . The Club Licensing Committee of AIFF concluded the evaluation process for the Premier 1 Licence for the 2025–26 season. The national body rejected the licence of Odisha FC due to multiple failures across A and B criteria. Odisha FC had a terrible Ka- linga Super Cup 2025 season and faced relegation from the Indian Women’s League (IWL) too. It was the runners-up in 2023-2024 but finished seventh this season. Odisha FC owner Rohan Sharma took to X to express his anguish over what he called lack of Odisha government support. “I was aware that we were going to fail club licensing this season, unfortunately, we have no letter from the Government granting us access to the stadium and practice ground this season,” his post stated. Sharma further said, “Despite multiple requests both in person and letters to have a meeting to discuss the MoU, no one from the government has acknowledged or granted a meeting. I have personally went (sic) to Delhi to speak to very senior ministers to get this resolved... still nothing.” “It feels like the government doesn’t want us in Odisha which is quite sad. We have tried to be as polite and respectful to build 10-DAY MISSION BY MULTIPLE TEAMS Each multi-party group of 5-6 MPs from both the LS and RS is expected to leave by May 22-23 on its 10-day diplomatic mission. These teams will visit the US, UK, and several Islamic nations to share India’s stance on Pak-sponsored terror OFFICIAL DETAILS EXPECTED TODAY A senior government source said that the MPs will be thoroughly briefed and equipped with evidence of Pakistan’s involvement in the Pahalgam terror attack. Official details on the mission are expected to ne announced on Saturday OWAISI MAY LEAD TEAM TO S ARABIA Asaduddin Owaisi, who sharply condemned Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack, is likely to lead a delegation to Saudi Arabia and Qatar. In all, over 35 MPs are expected to participate in the diplomatic outreach Muttaqi-Jaishankar call fresh Taliban attempt to normalise ties with India J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi NEERAJ HITS 90M MARK Javelin ace Neeraj Chopra produced his best-ever throw in the Doha Diamond League on Friday. He threw 90.23m in his third effort to finish second | MORE ON P15 AIFF rejects Odisha FC licence, club & govt play blame game TA N M AY D A S @ Bhubaneswar RAJNATH: PAK USING IMF MONEY FOR TERROR PREETHA NAIR AND RAJESH K U M A R T H A K U R @ New Delhi BLACK FRIDAY @ Bhubaneswar Teams to visit 40-50 countries, many of them Islamic, to expose Pak terror footprint bridges...There is this perceived notion we are Pro-BJD when in reality we are so uninvolved in Indian politics. I’m an American citizen, our business is in Dubai we just have a football club in India that we are investing,” Sharma’s X post stated. State Sports department sources said Odisha FC performed miserably in Kalinga Super Cup and IWL season. To deflect criticism, the club was putting the blame on Odisha government, they said. “Several meetings were held between Sports department and Odisha FC management for development of football ecosystem in Odisha. For the signing of MoU, the date of October 22, 2024 was fixed, but the Odisha FC management did not turn up,” department sources claimed. More than `50 crore in support and all facilities were given to the club, a senior officer said adding, return on investment (ROI) was negligible. “Not even one Odia player featured in the team,” the officer said. THE Taliban-led government in Afghanistan is making a fresh push to normalise relations with India as part of its broader campaign for international legitimacy, sources familiar with the development said. Acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi’s phone call with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday was the highest-level contact between New Delhi and Taliban since the group seized power in August 2021. “The phone call ahead of Muttaqi’s scheduled visits to Iran and China signals Kabul’s growing interest in re-engaging India on critical bilateral issues,” said a source. These include trade facilitation, visa processes, the repatriation of Afghan prisoners, and strengthening collaboration on the strategic Chabahar port — a key project that India has backed to enhance regional connectivity and helping landlocked Afghanistan get sea access bypassing Pakistan. “There is a consistent con- Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Muttaqi versation between Indian and Taliban officials,” a source said. This includes a meeting between Muttaqi and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri in Dubai in January apart from a re, cent visit to Kabul by an Indian diplomat overseeing Afghanistan relations, shortly after the Pahalgam terror attack. Taliban officials strongly condemned the Pahalgam attack and dismissed Pakistani military reports alleging Indian missile strikes on Afghan soil as “baseless.” These efforts are part of a broader Taliban effort to distance itself from regional instability and present a more responsible image on the world stage. Beyond India, Muttaqi is expected to visit Tehran and Beijing in the coming weeks. SALMAN25 YEARS IN PRISON RUSHDIE ASSAILANT GETS An American-Lebanese man was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Friday for trying to kill novelist Salman Rushdie with a knife at a New York cultural center in 2022 | P9