bhubaneswar l thursday l november 06, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l jeypore EDITION Pant checks in, shami ignored for tests against South Africa Rishabh Pant made comeback into India’s Test squad for two-match series against SA. However, Mohammed Shami has been ignored once again Rishabh Pant Delhi keeper-batter passes fitness test India’s wicketkeeper batter Pant was an automatic choice after recovering from a foot fracture sustained during the fourth Test against England in Manchester in July. He missed the West Indies series but led India A team against South Africa A. Shami, who has had a creditable Ranji campaign as of now, has been overlooked again ■ Two akash deep in, prasidh krishna out ■ Pacer Akash Deep Singh recovered from shoulder injury and has been picked but Prasidh Krishna’s name has been dropped India’s pace attack features Jasprit Bumrah and Mohd Siraj while the spin will be led by veteran Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and all-rounder Washington Sundar. Shubman Gill is captain | P11 India will play two tests against SA in Kolkata, GUwahatI 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 Americans of Indian origin make major political gains BJP ‘stole’ Haryana poll with 25 lakh fake votes, Bihar next target: Rahul Mamdani first Indian-American and Muslim to be elected New York mayor All set Ghazala Hashmi Security personnel carrying election materials ahead of the first phase of Bihar polls, in Muzaffarpur on Wednesday | PTI Stillness of the discerning in Bihar B ihar has never been short of noise. Certainly not when it mattered. Its politics has marched through history with a daring swagger — JP’s call that shook New Delhi, Mandal’s churn that redrafted power, the long years of Lalu raj that jolted the old order. Even the subtler Nitish era made bold strokes on the canvas, turning India’s polity yet again with the caste census narrative and grand alliance politics. Yet this election arrives on soft feet. On November 5, the campaign for the first stretch of 121 constituencies is winding down, and the battle for the remaining 122 — those border districts where sentiment often travels across rivers and frontiers — will begin soon. And through it all, there hangs a curious quiet. Whether in Nitish Kumar’s native Bakhtiyarpur, or hamlets like Gauspur and Chitapur fringing Patna, whether in Dalit ‘tolas’ where caste is still geo-tagged or along the mobile 100-km sweep to Gaya on NH-22, out in villages like Barachati and Tekari near where a legend named Dashrath Manjhi once moved mountains, the stillness is audible. Even in places like Mokama where bullets flew the other day or Barh, , which saw fisticuffs after this writer left, the action is all on one slim band where politics does its business. The people santwana seem unmoved. Almost cold. bhattacharya This is not indifference. It is Editor an extended pause — a thinking state, perhaps it’s the hush of crores of people thinking harder. The old Bihar election grammar is still here: the woven caste alliances, the search for the right symbol atop the right community the deft stitch, ing of booth workers and social equations. But listen closely, and the dialogues are shifting pitch. It is no longer enough to promise representation; people want opportunity Bihar’s young . — impatient, painfully aware of the ticket-to-life stamped “migration” that’s been their lot for years, and now uniformly literate about the ways of the world beyond their panchayat WhatsApp group — are asking sharper questions. Identity of the other sort has not dissolved; only its fabric has thinned in the face of this new common identity, an identity of experience. Numbers are never incidental here. OBCs and EBCs together form roughly two-thirds of Bihar — a demographic truth that still underwrites strategy Yadavs remain the single biggest OBC . bloc, Kurmis and Kushwahas count in pockets where one village’s mood can bend a seat, Dalits and Mahadalits together hold a weight politicians can never ignore, and the elite castes — though numerically modest — continue to influence candidate choice and the political discourse, Continued on: P8 particularly in the plains.  express read Aftab Pureval Indian roots Ghazala Hashmi, L-G-elect Virginia was born in Hyderabad. Aftab Pureval is the son of a Punjabi father and a Tibetan mother Bhubaneswar: Wait for the historic Balijatra was finally over as the festival kick-started in Cuttack on Wednesday, offering a plethora of cultural activities with addition of several new interesting events to attract revellers | P3 Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani (2nd from right), with wife Rama Duwaji (2nd from left), father Mahmood Mamdani and mother Mira Nair in New York on Tuesday | AP votes counted, Mamdani secured 948,202 votes (50.6%), while Cuomo managed 776,547 (41.3%). The city saw a record turnout of nearly two million votes, the highest since 1969. Born in Kampala, Uganda, Mamdani moved to New York at the age of seven. His mother, acclaimed filmmaker Mira Nair, and father, Columbia University scholar Mahmood Mamdani, have long been symbols of cultural and intellectual achievement. In his victory speech, Mamdani called his win a “mandate for change,” thanking his parents and wife, Syrian-American artist Rama Duwaji. His campaign, which resonated with young and workingclass voters, centered on reducing living costs, expanding housing, and improving public transport—a continuation of his progressive record as a Queens assemblyman, where he introduced a pilot programme for free city buses. Paddy support price to remain capped at `3,100 after Centre’s MSP hike Grade-A variety of paddy in the state is very insignificant. An enhancement of the minimum “The government has capped the support price (MSP) by the central support price of paddy at `3,100 per government for 14 notified crops, in- quintal. The annual revision of paddy cluding paddy, for kharif marketing MSP by the central government will season (KMS) 2025-26 notwithhave no additional impact on the standing, the support price of state government which is givpaddy for farmers in Odisha ing the best price farmers will likely remain unchanged among all the states,” said at `3,100 per quintal. sources in FS&CW said. With the KMS 2025-26 startThe sources further said ing from November 1, 2025, that reports coming in a secthe Food Supplies and Contion of the media that paddy sumer Welfare (FS&CW) deprocurement price has been partment in a notification set at `3,169 for common said the price of common vagrade and `3,189 for Grade-A riety of paddy has been inpaddy are misleading. The government creased from `2,300 to `2,369 The government has set a has capped the support price of per quintal while the Gradetarget to procure 63 lakh paddy at `3,100 A variety has been raised tonne of rice (equivalent to per quintal. The from `2,320 to `2,389 per quin93 lakh tonne of paddy) for tal. This is on line with the annual revision of KMS 2025-26 which also inpaddy MSP by the enhancement of MSP by the cludes rabi paddy The paddy . central Centre in June. procurement target for khargovernment will Sources in the FS&CW de- have no additional if season has been fixed at 73 partment said that farmers lakh tonne (50 lakh tonne in impact on the of the state will continue to state government terms of rice) and 20 lakh get `3,100 per quintal in the which is giving the tonne for rabi season. current kharif marketing best price farmers However, there is no bar on among all the season notwithstanding the procurement of any higher states upward revision of the MSP quantum if more paddy by the central government. comes to mandis from regisFS&CW sources The state government has tered farmers, the sources been providing an input asadded. The state marked an sistance of `800 per quintal to farmers all-time high record with over 18.5 from KMS 2024-25, taking the total pro- lakh farmers registering for the sale curement price to `3,100 per quintal of surplus paddy under MSP for 2025common variety and `3,120 per quin- 26 kharif season as against 17 lakh tal for Grade-A variety Production of . farmer registration last year. B i j o y P r a d h a n @ Bhubaneswar National pride Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets the victorious ICC Women’s World Cup team in New Delhi on Wednesday | PTI Devotees’ rush for Panchuka leaves Trinity sleep-deprived for 3 days D i a n a S a h u @ Bhubaneswar At the Shree Jagannath temple, the holy Trinity has not had any rest as the deities’ ‘Pahuda Niti’ could not be conducted for the last three nights, thanks to a huge rush of pilgrims and rituals associated with the specific days. Servitors of the 12th century shrine attributed it to the large number of devotees congregating outside the Lions’ Gate to offer prayers amidst Panchuka nitis (rituals) of the deities. With the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) focusing on smooth darshan of the Trinity for all devotees, the temple gates have been kept open througho u t t h e n i g h t t o a l l ow darshan. During the last five days of Kartika month, the ritual of offering ‘Bala Bhoga’ to the Trinity after the ‘Sakhala Dhupa’ begins along with different Beshas (attires). This year with Panchuka being reduced to four days, the Trinity was adorned in four Beshas on each day at the Srimandir. They are Lakshmi Narayan Besha, Tribikram Besha, Lakshmi Nrusingha Besha and Rajarajeswara or Rajadhiraj Besha. On Sunday, the first day of Panchuka (Bada Ekadashi), the occasion coincided with Hari Uthapana rituals, Bala Bhoga and Lakshmi Narayan Besha. “Both the Besha and Bala Bhoga ritual requires three to four hours. During this period, temple gates are closed for devotees. Besides, there were many other rituals on the day which required the darshan to be stopped for brief periods. With a large number of devotees waiting to have darshan, Pahuda had to be skipped. Our focus was to ensure that no devotee returns home without darshan of the Trinity,” said collector Dibya Jyoti Parida. Continued on P5 Net cast to catch unsustainable fishing practices Rahul’s Boost for blue economy 200 Odisha to be eastern gateway of India, says Majhi at Balijatra In an extraordinary moment for diversity in American politics, three Indian-origin Americans carved history across key states signalling a possible new era in the United States. Zohran Mamdani became the first Indian-American and Muslim to be elected Mayor of New York City Ghazala Hash, mi was chosen as Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, and Aftab Pureval secured a second term as Mayor of Cincinnati. Together, their victories mark a milestone in the growing political influence of South Asian Americans. At just 34, Zohran Kwame Mamdani’s stunning win has made him New York City’s youngest mayor in over a 100 years and the first of Indian heritage to hold the post. Running as a Democratic Socialist, Mamdani triumphed over two formidable opponents, former governor Andrew Cuomo, contesting as an independent with the backing of President Donald Trump, and Republican Curtis Sliwa. With 83% of “We have crystal-clear proof that 25 lakh voters in Haryana Leader of Opposition Rahul are fake, that they either don’t Gandhi on Wednesday accused exist, are duplicates, or were the Election Commission of designed in a way that allows India of colluding with the anybody to vote. One in eight BJP to ‘steal’ the 2024 Haryana voters in Haryana is fake, elections in the saffron party’s that’s 12.5%,” he said. favour and claimed To substantiate the same sinister his claim, he cited plan will be used in the example of a Bihar to ensure the woman who apBJP’s victory . peared 223 times on Addressing a the voter list. He press conference at also showed the the AICC headphoto of another quarters here on woman, which he We d n e s d ay, t h e SIR: Integrity of claimed was a BraCongress leader alzilian, saying it appoll main issue leged that 25 lakh peared 22 times unOn INDIA bloc’s votes were ‘stolen’ der different names strategy to protest in Haryana through in 10 booths. 5.21 lakh duplicate against SIR, Rahul said “This is proof of the “integrity of the votes, 93,174 invalid a centralised operaelection” is the addresses, and 19.26 tion. What is a Brafundamental issue lakh bulk voters. zilian person doing Haryana has a total on the voters’ list of two crore voters. in Haryana?” he asked. “I am confident that after the Responding to the allegaBihar poll, we will make a pres- tions, Election Commission ofentation that the same thing ficials said the vote manipulahappened in Bihar,” he said, tion charge is unfounded as no adding political parties are un- appeals were filed against Harable to check the ‘vote theft’ as yana electoral rolls, nor was they are provided with the vot- any multiple voting flagged er list at the last moment. when it allegedly happened. P REETHA NAIR @ New Delhi H a p r e e t B a j w a @ Chandigarh Nautical miles from a country’s coast is the extent of EEZ. It grants countries the right to exploit resources J i t e n d r a C h o u b e y @ New Delhi The Centre has issued a notification to promote the sustainable exploitation of fisheries within India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The newly introduced rules, titled ‘Sustainable Harnessing of Fisheries in the Exclusive Economic Zone Rules, 2025’, focus on licensing, registration, and scientific monitoring of fishing activities in the EEZ. They seek to encourage sustainable mariculture, including seaweed cultivation, reduce fishing pressure, create new livelihood opportunities, and enhance overall marine production. The rules recognise Fisheries Cooperatives and Fish Farmer Producer Organisations (FFPOs) as key stakeholders in managing the EEZ. In addition, the government will provide training and capacity-building for traditional and small-scale fishers, including fisheries cooperatives and SelfHelp Groups. Trained and registered fisherfolk entities, such as SHGs and FFPOs, will be eligible to obtain licences through the government’s ReALCRaft portal, ensuring greater participation of organised fishing communities in offshore resource management. Finally, the rules lay down guidelines for issuing health certificates for catches in line with relevant national and international regulations. Haryana rigging charge baseless: EC Responding to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of large-scale voter fraud in the 2024 Haryana assembly elections, the Election Commission of India (ECI) countered by saying the party failed to file any objections or appeals during the electoral roll revision | P7