BHUBANESWAR l sunday l november 23, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l JEYPORE EDITION U.S. bankruptcy court orders Byju’s to pay $1 Bn to debtors A US court has ordered Byju Raveendran to pay back default amount of $1.16 billion to BYJU’s Alpha and US-based lender GLAS Trust LLC Byju Raveendran ‘owner failed to comply with orders’ The Delaware Bankruptcy Court found that Raveendran failed to comply with its discovery order and continued to be evasive on several occasions. BYJU’s Alpha was incorporated when Raveendran was running the management of edtech firm Think and Learn Private Limited. The judgment follows a dispute between Byju’s and US based lenders ■ $10K ‘not allowed to present valid defence’ ■ The court said it found Raveendran’s behaviour had a strategic pattern of willful failure to comply with its orders Raveendran’s counsel said it is a default judgment, meaning the court issued it without Byju being permitted to present its defence, and instead deprived Byju of a valid defence a day is penalty that raveendran pays to the u.s. court 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 PM Modi @G20: Let’s weaken the drug-terror link drone drops Global arms trafficking module tied to ISI busted Proposes knowledge repository, Africa skills multiplier; global healthcare response team public-health emergencies. “We are stronger when we PRIME Minister Narendra work together in the face of Modi on Saturday called for a health emergencies and natural coordinated global push to dis- disasters,” he said. With Africa mantle the drug–terror nexus, hosting the G20 Summit for the strengthen health-emergency first time, Modi said “Now is the responses, creation of a Global right moment for us to revisit Traditional Knowledge Reposi- our development parameters tory and accelerate skills and focus on growth that development across Afis inclusive and sustainrica, in his address to able.” India also proposed world leaders at the 20th a G20-Africa Skills MultiG20 Summit in Johan- We’re stronger plier Initiative, aimed at when we work creating 1 million certinesburg on Saturday . In a warning on the together in the fied trainers in Africa rise of lethal synthetic face of health within the next decade. drugs, Modi said: “To emergencies The G20 leaders also overcome the challenge and disasters adopted a joint declaraof drug trafficking, espe- Narendra Modi, tion addressing terrorcially the spread of sub- On setting up of ism and climate change stances like fentanyl, Ina global and broader global chalhealthcare dia proposes a G20 lenges on the opening Initiative on Countering response team day of the summit. The the drug–terror nexus. document was finalised Let us weaken the wretched without the US. drug-terror economy .” Earlier, South African PresiThe proposed platform, he dent Cyril Ramaphosa welsaid would integrate finance, comed Modi at the Summit vengovernance and security tools ue with a ‘namaste’. Modi was to choke networks that channel seen interacting informally narcotics revenue into global with global leaders such as terrorism. Further, the PM UK Prime Minister Keir Starmcalled for creation of a G20 Glo- er, Italian Prime Minister Giorbal Healthcare Response Team, gia Meloni, and UN Secretary designed for rapid deployment General Antonio Guterres during natural disasters and among others. express news service @ New Delhi j aya n t h j a c o b @ New Delhi Coal ministry says no to OCPL merger with OPGC Express News Service @ Bhubaneswar A day after the Ministry of Coal made it clear that the proposal for merger of Odisha Coal and Power Limited (OCPL) with Odisha Power Generation Corporation (OPGC) is not permissible, the Odisha government on Saturday said it would take up the matter with the ministry . OCPL is a joint venture company of OPGC and the Odisha government with a shareholding pattern of 51 per cent and 49 per cent respectively. In August, the OPGC board had reportedly finalised the merger plan. Earlier this month, OCPL moved the coal ministry for in-principle approval due to the allotment agreement of Manoharpur and Dipside Manoharpur coal mines and the bid document and coal block development and production agreement (CBDPA) of Tangardihi North coal block. The ministry observed that the proposed merger would result in the dissolution of the existing joint venture structure and transfer of all rights and obligations of OCPL, including the mining rights under the allotment agreement and CBDPA, to OPGC. “As per a clause of the allotment agreement for Manoharpur and Dipside Manoharpur coal mine, the joint venture partners are prohibited from transferring or alienating their shareholding or any interest in OCPL to any entity including inter-se , transfers, and this restriction covers interests of whatsoever nature, including ownership in favour of any third party,” the ministry said in a letter to the CEO of Continued on P5 OCPL.  WITH THIS ISSUE PLUS 12 P AGES U n d e r - 1 7 p a l e s ti n i a n t e a m of seeking solace and finding joy in football c h a n d r a p r a b h u @ Chennai On Saturday evening, as the U17 Palestinian men’s football team held on to a 1-1 draw against India U17 at the EKA Arena in Ahmedabad, in the AFC U17 Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers tournament, they walked off the field with their heads held high. The result may not be what they wanted, but for them reaching Ahmedabad and taking the field itself was a struggle. Amidst the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine over the last two years or so, sport had taken a backseat. For this team, the prepa- private players SIR fallout Alleged Bangladeshi infiltrators wait to return home, following the special intensive revision (SIR) of poll rolls in North 24 Parganas, West Bengal on Saturday | PTI A bill seeking to open the civil nuclear sector for private players is among the 10 proposed legislations listed for introduction in the winter session of Parliament, beginning December 1 | P7 Semiconductor silicon chip hub will be Odisha’s new identity, says CM at Delhi Express News Service @ Bhubaneswar Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Saturday said his government’s commitment is towards holistic development of people from all sect i o n s o f s o c i e t y, wh i l e protecting the rich culture and tradition of the state. Inaugurating the Odisha State Day celebration on the ninth day of the 44th India International Trade Fair 2025 at Bharat Mandapam Complex in New Delhi, the chief minister said, “Our government’s ration had been far from ideal. They did not win any matches at the the West Asian Football Federation’s (WAFF) U17 Championship last month. Out of 23 total players selected, 18 were from West Bank, but only 11 from the region turned up. Several players had their lives uprooted and displaced because of the conflict, losing their documents in the process. Mohammed Joma Suleiman, the team manager, claimed that bringing in the players with Palestinian roots from other countries to their homeland proved to be a big hindrance. “Because of the current situation, we could not bring players to train together, and our preparation was not that good,” Suleiman told this daily. “There is a player from Gaza, we cannot bring anyone from Gaza also because of the war and the genocide is happening there (Israel have repeatedly denied any and all accusations of genocide),” he added. For the team, football is a way of resistance and bringing joy to the kids back home. “They know what it means to carry the Palestinian flag on their crests. Since the start, they know this is a mission and this way, they can share the happiness to Palestinian P11 kids,” said Suleiman. CM Mohan Charan Majhi at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi on Saturday goal is to achieve transformational growth. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the doubleengine government is working towards realising the d re a m o f a p ro s p e ro u s Odisha.” Over the past one and a half years, Majhi said, significant changes have been brought about in the fields of education, health and women’s empowerment. In infrastructure sector, major projects have been initiated, including the development of 15,000 km of world-class roads, new ports at Bahuda and Kendrapara and an international airport Continued on P5 in Puri.  row over performance of two new GE rice varieties duction, climate adaptability, and water conservation”. AgriThe Indian Council for Agri- culture minister Shivraj Singh cultural Research (ICAR) is Chouhan hailed the effort. evolving organisational guideBut a platform of scientists, lines for scientists after a re- farmer leaders, medical excent controversy over data re- perts, consumer rights activlated to genome-edited ists, and members of (GE) rice varieties. the Coalition for a GMThese guidelines reFree India rubbished strict scientists from the claim, citing data sharing their research mined from ICAR’s own findings with the media All India Coordinated and journals, this newsResearch Project on paper has learnt. They Rice for 2023 and 2024. Developing also direct scientists to The Coalition said ICtwo new GE avoid publishing any reAR’s own limited data search papers in inter- varieties is an didn’t support its pubexceptional national journals until achievement lished report. ICAR they are fully confident pushed back with a of ICAR about their findings. point-by-point rebuttal. It all began after the Shivraj Chauhan “Seeking research government on May 4 credits, scientists are alannounced the release of two ways in a rush to get their works GE rice lines developed by published, which sometimes are ICAR — Pusa DST-1 and DRR not backed by robust data,” said Dhan 100 (Kamala), which it a scientist. “The new fiat will said “have the potential to lead to fewer publication of rebring about revolutionary search papers. But it will enchanges in terms of higher pro- hance credibility .” J i t e n d r a Ch o u b e y @ New Delhi express read ‘No miracle drug, lifestyle is the only secret to good health’ Bhubaneswar: From pioneering World Hepatitis Day to raising alarms on the surge of NAFLD and other liver diseases, former head of gastroenterology department of SCB Medical College and Hospital, and present president of South Asian Association for Study of the Liver, Prof SP Singh gives a blunt account of India’s health practice in the Express Dialogues Odisha | P2 Hunger kills 23 kids in a month as famine spreads in Sudan CAIRO: Almost two dozen children died of malnutrition-related causes within a month in central Sudan where fierce fighting between the country’s military and a paramilitary group has centered, a medical group said. The deaths of 23 children in the Kordofan region underscores the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the northeastern African country where famine is spreading after more than 30 months of devastating war | P9 Next-gen TB vaccine by ILS & IIT-BBS clears pre-clinical trials @ Bhubaneswar Tragedy Australian batter Travis Head’s 69-ball century helped them beat England within two days in the first Ashes Test in Perth | afp | P11 Nuclear ICAR gags scientists after sector to open for Hemant Kumar Rout Divine Head-lining act DELHI Police’s Crime Branch has busted an international arms trafficking module allegedly linked to ISI-backed arms network with the arrest of four people. They recovered high end Turkiye (PX-5.7) and China (PX-3) made weapons smuggled from Pakistan through drones. Ten foreign made semi-automatic pistols along with 92 live cartridges were also seized. The seized weapon PX-5.7 is only used by Special Forces. Police said they got a tip-off on November 19 on a cross-border arms trafficking module involved in supplying sophisticated illegal weapons in Delhi/ NCR. It was found that they would come to Rohini to deliver the arms consignment. A trap was laid in Rohini Sector-28 and four people were apprehended with foreign-made semi-automatic pistols and live cartridges, DCP (Crime) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav said. Those arrested are Mandeep Singh (38) Dalvinder Kumar (34), both residents of Punjab; Rohan Tomar (30) and Ajay (37). The module was involved in smuggling weapons using drones. Yadav said the consignment is dropped at locations near the border, where receivers on the Indian side retrieve them. The network relies on local collaborators who monitor police movement, facilitate pickups, and transport it to safe houses. Payments are routed through hawala channels. In a significant breakthrough, the Institute of Life Sciences (ILS), Bhubaneswar has developed a next-generation subunit vaccine for tuberculosis (TB). The vaccine named ‘Hsp16.3C4’ developed in collaboration with IIT-Bhubaneswar is ready for technology transfer after successful pre-clinical trials. TB remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases, claiming over 12 lakh lives last year alone. Currently Bacillus Calmette Guérin (BCG) vaccine remains the sole licensed immunisation strategy in use for TB prevention across all countries. The collaborative research led by senior scientist of ILS Dr Sunil Kumar Raghav and Prof Ashis Biswas of IIT-Bhubaneswar led to the development of the HSP subunit vaccine, considered to be the first vaccine a g a i n s t T B f ro m India. Although BCG provides modest protection to infants, it has failed to provide complete protection due to limited efficacy, variable protective outcomes and lack of durable memory responses. It fails to even prevent pulmonary TB, the most infectious form of the disease, in adolescents and adults. Research to bridge the gap and develop a vaccine for all agegroups has been the focus for decades. The pre-clinical trials conducted on mice models have been successful as no toxicity signals were observed with normal biochemical parameters such as blood glucose, renal functional markers (urea and creatinine) and lipid profile components (cholesterol and triglycerides) recorded post-vaccination. Researchers in the study conducted to ascertain the efficacy claimed that the vaccine was not produced by the BCG strain, making it a uniquely specific Mtb antigen (protein from the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis ) that does not interfere with BCG biology . One of the most promising findings of the study “Hsp16.3C4, a C-terminal truncated mutant, confers strong cellular and humoral immunity a g ainst pulmonary tuberculosis” published recently was the synergistic effect of co-administering the new vaccine with the BCG Continued on P5 vaccine.