BHUBANESWAR l sunday l OCTOBER 05, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l JEYPORE EDITION Non-fastag vehicles to be charged twice the toll fee if paid via cash fILE pHOTO Those paying with UPI to be charged 1.25X Under the new rule, non-FASTag users who choose to pay the fee via the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) will be charged only 1.25 times the applicable user fee for that category of vehicle, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) said. For instance, if the fee is `100 with a valid FASTag, it will be `125 if paid via UPI and `200 if paid in cash | P7 Vehicles entering a toll plaza without a valid, functional FASTag will be charged twice the regular amount if users pay via cash Part of govt’s digital payments push ■ ■ “To incentivise digital payments and eliminate cash transactions at the user fee plazas, the Government of India has amended National Highways Fee Rules, 2008,” the ministry said in a press release The goal is to enhance transparency in toll operations and improve the overall experience of those travelling on national highways, it said Nov 15 when the new rules will come into effect 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 Centre makes U-turn on cough syrup; MP, Rajasthan, TN ban it plot thickens Bandmate claims Zubeen was poisoned ka v i ta b aj e l i d at t @ New Delhi P r a s an ta ma z u m d a r @ Guwahati In a startling claim, late singer Zubeen Garg’s bandmate Shekhar Jyoti Goswami has alleged that the singer was poisoned by his manager Siddharth Sharma and the organiser of the 4th edition of the North East India Festival Shyamkanu Mahanta. Garg died under mysterious circumstances in Singapore on September 19 while swimming in the sea. According to the ‘Detailed Grounds of Arrest’ or remand note for the singer’s manager, Zubeen Garg Goswami stated that during the critical moment when Garg was gasping for air and nearly drowning, Sharma was heard shouting, “jabo de, jabo de” (let him go, let him go). When Garg began frothing at the mouth and nose, Sharma reportedly dismissed it as “acid reflux” and assured others there was no cause for concern. Rather than seeking urgent medical assistance, Sharma allegedly facilitated Garg’s death, Goswami claimed. In another development, Zubeen Garg’s wife Garima on Saturday returned the postmortem report of her husband to the police, saying that it is not her “personal document”. On Goswami’s startling revelations, Garima said, “If Shekhar had known it, why did he hide it for so long?” Out of Office PLUS 12 PAGES Prime Minister Narendra Modi honouring a youth in New Delhi | PTI Modi assails ‘theft’ of Jan Nayak honour Karpoori Thakur lauded that way; Cong ‘bestows’ it on Rahul Bihar is one of the states with the highest proportion of youth... compared to the Oppn govt in the past, Bihar’s education budget has been increased manifold Narendra Modi R A J ESH K U M A R TH A K UR @ New Delhi Launching skilling projects for the youth worth `62,000 crore, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday lit into poll-bound Bihar’s Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), blaming it for ruining the state’s education and economy during its rule, alleging it opened the floodgates of mass migration out of the state. He also mocked Rahul Gandhi, whom the Congress has been trying to project as a ‘Jan Nayak’ (leader of the masses), accusing the party of ‘stealing’ the honorific associated with respected OBC leader and former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur. It was the love and respect of the people that gave Thakur the moniker, he quipped, not social media. “The new generation might not know how the RJD rule had wreaked havoc in Bihar, as the state has since been brought back on the track of development,” Modi said. He complimented the Nitish Kumar government for a major turnaround in the state. Modi launched PM-SETU (Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability Transformation through Upgraded ITIs), a centrally sponsored scheme with an investment of `60,000 crore. India’s ITIs are not only an important centre for industrial education but also serve as workshops for ‘aatmanirbhar Bharat’, he said. The youth-centric projects, he emphasised, would play a vital role in development and empowerment. The PM commended Nitish for providing nearly 10 lakh permanent government jobs to Bihar’s youth, saying the idea is to ensure youngsters of the state get employment in Bihar itself so as to stop migration. HOURS after denying that controversial cough syrup Coldrif, which led to deaths of children in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, did not contain industrial chemical diethylene glycol (DEG), the Union Health Ministry on Saturday made a U-turn and confirmed its presence based on a report of Tamil Nadu’s Food and Drug Administration department. The Ministry’s earlier denial followed a clearance from the Madhya Pradesh Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA), which had then stated that no DEG was found in the syrup. After the confirmation on Saturday, Tamil Nadu was the One of the schemes launched was to give 5 lakh grads in Bihar a monthly allowance of `1,000 each for two years Plan to upgrade 1K ITIs first to ban the syrup, followed by MP and Kerala. Coldrif cough syrup were being manufactured at Sresan Pharma’s Kanchipuram unit. The controversy snowballed after nine children died in MP’s Chindwara district, seven from the cough syrup, while two kids died in Rajasthan. The cough Violence hits Cuttack during immersion, DCP hurt E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Cuttack `1K dole to Bihar grads An official inspects Coldrif syrup in Jabalpur on Saturday | PTI Violence raised its ugly head during the immersion ceremony of Durga Puja after two groups fought a pitched battle near Dargha Bazar in Cuttack city late Friday night. Cuttack DCP Khilari Rishikesh Dnyandeo was among six persons who were injured in the incident. The clash erupted at around 2 am when the idol from Jhanjir mangala Bhagabat Sahi Puja committee was en route to Devi Gada for immersion. The procession party was passing through Haati Pokhari area when a group of locals allegedly objected to the VHP calls 12-hr Cuttack bandh on Monday Cuttack: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has called a 12-hour Cuttack Bandh on Monday besides demanding immediate transfer of the DCP and the district collector following the violence during the Durga idol immersion ceremony at Dargha Bazaar on Friday night. The VHP attributed the incident to the failure of police and district administration in maintaining law and order | P3 music and chants by glass bottles at each the puja committee other, damaging sevmembers. This quickeral vehicles in the ly escalated into a locality. The stretch h e at e d a r g u m e n t near Dargha Bazar which turned Jail Road turned into violent. a war zone for nearly Members of both DCP Khilari Rishikesh three hours. Police the groups allegedly had to resort to a lathi engaged in a physical confron- charge to bring the situation tation, hurling stones and under control. A s i s h M e h ta @ Bhubaneswar express read Shah sets March ’26 deadline to wipe out Bastar Maoists New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday welcomed US President Donald Trump’s leadership amid reports of progress in securing a ceasefire and hostage release deal in the Gaza Strip. The move comes as Israel and Hamas appear to be inching closer to a potential agreement | P7 Raipur: Union Home minister Amit Shah ruled out any possibility of dialogue with Maoists and said they will have to lay down weapons and accept the “lucrative surrender and rehabilitation policy”. He asserted that March 31, 2026, has been set as the deadline to eliminate Naxalism | P8 Amidst the chaos, the Jhanjirimangala procession was stalled but the Rausapatna committee moved ahead. However, as it approached Dargha Bazar locality a group , of local youths reportedly attacked some of the participants of the procession, further aggravating the situation and compelling police to resort to lathi charge again to disperse the mob and restore the law and order. In the melee, more than six persons including DCP Dnyandeo and Dargha Bazar IIC Rakseh Kumar Behera were injured. A resident of Rausapatana is said to be in a critical condition. Continued on P5 Inter-state syndicate behind SI exam scam: Crime Branch PM-SETU to upgrade 1,000 govt ITIs in a hub-andspoke model comprising 200 hub ITIs and 800 spoke ITIs Modi backs Trump as hostage deal takes shape in Gaza strip syrup stocks were distributed to Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. In a statement, the Union Health Ministry said, “On the request of the MP Govt, Tamil Nadu FDA had taken samples of Coldrif Cough Syrup from the manufacturing premises of M/s Sresan Pharma in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu. The results of testing these samples were shared with us late on October 3. They contained DEG beyond the permissible limit.” The Tamil Nadu Drugs Control Department on Friday issued an immediate stop-production order to the manufacturer of Coldrif after the samples were found to be “adulterated with DEG.” Bulldozer justice back A banquet hall owned by one of those arrested in connection with the recent clashes linked to the ‘I love Muhammad’ campaign, being demolished by the Bareilly Development Authority in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly on Saturday | PTI The Crime Branch on Saturday said an inter-state crime syndicate was behind the alleged question leak in the nowpostponed Combined Police Service Examination (CPSE)-2024, a day after arresting another middleman in the multicrore scam. Biswaranjan Behera, 29, allegedly netted at least five candidates promising them sub-inspector (SI) of police jobs, recruitment for which was being conducted by the Odisha Police Recruitment Board through the CPSE. The accused was part of the racket and actively contacted aspiring candidates as per the instructions of the head of the syndicate, the CB said. The 29-year-old apparently collected original certificates and blank cheques from candidates in lieu of providing questions to them. He handed over the documents to senior members of the syndicate. A senior officer of CB confirmed that the question sets for the recruitment test were prepared by Bhubaneswar-based Silicon Continued on P5 Techlab.  c h a n g i n g ti m e s Gill new ODI captain; Rohit, Virat in but no long-term guarantees S w a r o o p S w am i nat h an @ Ahmedabad SHUBMAN Gill was named as the men’s ODI captain of the national team, a post previously held by Rohit Sharma. Sharma, whose last act as ODI skipper saw him leading the side to Champions Trophy glory in February-March, was also named in the side scheduled to tour Australia for a threematch 50-over series later this month. Virat Kohli, whose last India tie was that Champions Trophy final against New Zealand, has been included too. However, Ajit Agarkar, the chairperson of the men’s selection committee panel, was noncommittal when asked about Sharma and Kohli’s long-term futures in the format. “As far as Shubman Gill & Rohit Sharma (R) the 2027 World Cup is concerned, I don’t think we need to talk about it today,” he said in reference to their futures. But Gill’s elevation to the top in the 50-over game is a direct consequence of the upcoming tournament in South Africa. Agarkar conceded that removing Sharma was tough. “You have got to sometimes look at what’s coming ahead, where you stand as a team and eventually look at what’s in the best interest of the team, whether now or six months later. Like I said, it’s tough with one-day cricket at this point. Because if you are going to make that call, you big meet India-Pak aga in, this time at Women’s WC want to try and make it reasonably early and give the other guy enough chances.” When asked what the selectors are Amidst the off-field tension & drama, two nations face each other in Colombo today. However, there is a high chance of rain | P11 looking for from Sharma and Kohli from a long-term pers p e c t ive, A g a rk a r s a i d : “What they have been doing for years... runs. They are still leaders. But eventually it’s the , runs (...) You don’t have to think too far. At this point, the team is picked for Australia. We need them to score runs like they have been through their career.”