BHUBANESWAR  THURSDAY  AUGUST 28, 2025  `9.00  PAGES 12  LATE CITY EDITION 2030 MEGA EVENT GETS CABINET APPROVAL, PAVES WAY FOR BID Days after the Indian Olympic Association general body approved 2030 CWG bid, Union cabinet gave its endorsement on Wednesday Narendra Modi Stadium AHMEDABAD WILL BE CWG’S HOST CITY IOA TO SUBMIT THE BID PAPERS BEFORE AUG 31 The cabinet, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, okayed sports ministry’s proposal for submission of the bid. According to a PIB statement, “the cabinet gave its approval to sign the Host Collaboration Agreement (HCA) along with required Guarantees from concerned Ministries, Departments and Authorities and sanction of required grant-in-aid to Gujarat” ■ ■ This paves the way for IOA to submit the bid papers before the August 31 deadline. It is expected to do so in the next 48 hours Ahmedabad is an ideal host city offering world class stadiums, cutting-edge training facilities. India to host disciplines like hockey, shooting, wrestling, archery not included by Glasgow in 2026 | P11 72 NUMBER OF COUNTRIES EXPECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN 2030 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 34 dead in landslide on Vaishno Devi route 1 1) Aerial view of an area affected by heavy rainfall in Jammu; 2) Students trapped at a school in Punjab being rescued | PTI F AYA Z W A N I @ Srinagar THE toll in the landslide on a route to the Vaishno Devi shrine in Katra in Jammu’s Reasi district, rose to at least 34 people, with 23 others being reported missing. Most of the dead were pilgrims. Days of heavy rainfall have battered Jammu, causing landslides and flash floods that damaged roads, bridges, houses and vital infrastructure. The latest landslide struck near Inderprastha Bhojnalaya at the Ardhkuwari cave temple en route to the shrine on Tuesday evening. The Army, National and State Disaster Response Forces, along with the local police and civil agencies, launched rescue operations soon after. Officials confirmed 34 people had died and 23 were injured. The injured were shifted to different hospitals for treatment. “My thoughts are with the bereaved families. May the injured recover at the earliest. The administration is assisting all those affected. My prayers for everyone’s safety and well-being,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X. Chief minister Omar Abdullah said, “We are sad that about 29-30 people have lost their lives in Katra.” He, however, questioned why officials had not 41 killed in J&K amid record 380 mm rains The total toll due to heavy rains in Jammu and Kashmir climbed to 41 on Wednesday. Jammu received a record 380 mm rainfall in 24 hours between Tuesday and Wednesday morning, breaking the previous record of 270 mm rainfall recorded in 1988, an official said stopped pilgrims despite warnings. “We had been warned about inclement weather days in advance. Why were pilgrims allowed on the track? Why weren’t they stopped and kept safe?” Abdullah asked. While Jammu has taken much of the beating from incessant rains, Kashmir is also facing flood threats as water has begun flowing over the danger mark in Jhelum in south Kashmir and Srinagar. In Anantnag, water entered houses in many areas, while a locality in the Rajbagh area of uptown Srinagar was submerged. All educational institutions in Jammu and Kashmir will remain closed on Thursday and all exams have been postponed. The mobile and internet services in the Valley remained erratic. Bid to cushion it from US tariff blow as it employs 45 million people 2 380 pupils trapped by flood at Punjab school rescued H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ Chandigarh THE flood situation remained grim in eight districts of Punjab—Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, and Fazilka—on Wednesday with the key rivers Ravi, Beas, , and Sutlej in a furious spate, and water levels at key reservoirs breaching the danger mark. Rescue works progressed at a rapid pace. In Gurdaspur, more than 380 students and 70 staff trapped by rising floodwaters at Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya were rescued by the district administration teams, with the support of BSF and the NDRF. The school premises were submerged under 4 to 5 feet of water from the Ravi river. The rescue operation was delayed as vehicles could not reach the school due to flood-inundated roads. In Pathankot, the Army rescued 22 CRPF personnel and 53 civilians, including 50 staffers of Madhopur Headworks. Three floodgates at the barrage were washed away by the gushing waters. Meanwhile, the water level at two major dams Pong and Ranjit Sagar—has breached the danger mark, while at Bhakra it was just nine feet short of the maximum level. Pelting rains drown Koraput, 100 villages cut off A K H AYA M I S H R A / A S I S H M E H TA @ Jeypore/Bhubaneswar KORAPUT bore the brunt of the well-marked low pressure over northwest Bay of Bengal after it rained buckets in the southern district. The pelting showers shattered the singleday record and left large parts of the district waterlogged. Jeypore received 190 mm rain in the last 24 hours, followed by Kotpad and Borigumma which recorded 160 mm each. The average rainfall in Koraput district read 115.9 mm, a 683 per cent jump over the normal which brought normal life to a grinding halt. As many as 100 villages in Kotpad, Kundra, Boipariguda and Jeypore blocks were cut off after rivers like Kolab, Sukunala, Kurlu and Sapatadhara overflowed their banks, inundating large areas. Road links between Boipariguda, Kundra and Kotpad were completely snapped, virtually isolating the three blocks from the rest of the dis- A waterlogged locality in Jeypore town Outreach in 40 nations to shift textile exports trict. Heavy rainfall in the catchment areas of Indravati, Kolab, Suruli, Saberi, Sapatadhara and their tributaries submerged over 2,000 hectare of standing paddy and sugarcane crops in Jeypore, Kotpad, Bor i g u m m a , Ku n d r a a n d Boipariguda blocks. Jeypore town was not spared as storm entered residential areas in Bell Road, Paninala Sahi, Sambartota, Christianpeta, Kumbhar Sahi and Parabeda, causing acute waterCONTINUED ON P5 logging. D I PA K M O N D A L @ New Delhi WITH textiles emerging as the worst-hit sector under the US’s reciprocal tariff regime, the government is moving in “war mode” to cushion the blow to the industry that employs over 45 million people. Government sources told this newspaper that 40 key importing countries have been identified as part of efforts to diversify India’s textile exports. These markets, spread across North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Oceania, together account for nearly three-fourths of global demand for textiles and apparel. “Dedicated outreach programmes are being designed to expand India’s modest 5-6% market share in these economies, with particular emphasis on apparel, home textiles, technical textiles, and handicrafts,” a government source said. The diversification exercise began a few months ago, and exports to these countries h ave a l re a dy s h ow n a n uptick. According to the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence & Statistics (DGCIS), textile expor ts touched $3.10 billion in July 2025, a 5.37% rise year-on-year. Between April and July 2025, cumulative exports stood at $12.18 billion, up 3.87% over the same period last year. Special focus is being placed on Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with partner nations, including the recently signed India–UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). Export Promotion Councils, in coordination with Indian missions abroad, will spearhead targeted promotion Russian oil not the lone deal-breaker: US Russian oil purchase was not the only India-US dealbreaker, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said as he hinted that India’s delaying tactics in the trade deal may have resulted in the 50% tariff. He, however, said: “I think at the end of the day, we’ll come together.” drives to position India as a reliable source of quality, sustainable, and innovative textiles while reducing overdependence on a handful of traditional markets, officials said. The US, India’s largest textile export market, accounted for $10.8 billion or 35% of shipments last year. But with apparel exports now facing a 63.9% duty , Indian exporters are at a 30-35% price disadvantage compared to competitors such as Bangladesh, Vietnam, Mexico, and Central American nations. Industry insiders have warned that if the tariffs persist, the apparel sector alone could witness to 15-20 lakh job cuts. To counter this, four industry-led committees have been formed to recommend timebound measures covering fiscal, banking and credit support, structural reforms in the value chain, and cost competitiveness through innovation. Will address theaterisation dissonance in best national interest: CDS M AYA N K S I N G H @ Mhow AMID apparent dissonance in the armed forces regarding creation of integrated theatre commands, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan, the seniormost Indian military officer, on Wednesday said it will be addressed keeping the best national interest in mind. While Air Chief Marshal A P Singh opined at the Ran Samwad here that the armed forces shouldn’t come under any pressure to roll out theatre commands, Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh Tripathi said the opposite: “We are committed to synergising our command control communications and combat capability with the Indian Army and Indian Air Force. Full stop, period.” In his closing address, Gen Anil Chauhan said, “As a CDS (Chief of Defence Staff), I actually set out to promote jointness among the three services. Navy Chief Adm And today, I can Dinesh Tripathi say with some and Air Chief kind of pleasure Marshal A P Singh and confidence that we can speak about our differences in a very conducive environment, and with openness to different views without temperatures being risen,” he said. “There could be a difference among the three services, but yet we are able to listen to that point. I think that thing is very important,” he added. Chief of Air Staff A P Singh had on Tuesday said, “There is no need for another layer of command. We can begin with joint planning mechanisms and see how they function. If additional structures are truly required, they can be considered later. But disrupting everything to create something entirely new at once isn’t advisable.”