BHUBANESWAR l sunday l april 14, 2024 l `12.00 l PAGES 26 l JEYPORE EDITION 6 dead after knife-wielding man goes on stabbing spree in Sydney 5 women and a man died and 8 others, including a 9-month-old baby, were injured in the attack at a busy Sydney shopping centre on Saturday Cops tight-lipped about killer’s identity The 40-year-old man began stabbing people at the sprawling Westfield Bondi Junction mall complex, which was packed with thousands of Saturday afternoon shoppers, before a police inspector shot him fatally. The killer, whose identity has not been revealed, did not even spare a small baby. The baby is in emergency surgery while its mother died, police said 35 ‘motive unclear but No terror angle’ ■ New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb said the assailant acted alone and that the police is not treating it as a terrorism incident for now ■ “We are confident that there is no ongoing risk, and we are dealing with one person who is now deceased,” Webb said in a press briefing. She added that the police has started the work to determine the killer’s motive for the attack WERE shot dead on April 28, 1996 by a lone gunman in Port Arthur, Australia 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 CBI books BJP’s Cong manifesto axed CAA in last hour top donor MEIL in bribery case P r ee t h a N a i r @ New Delhi FIR says Hyderabad-based firm paid `78 lakh to officials to get bills worth `174 crore cleared MU K E S H RA N JA N @ New Delhi e x p r e s s r ead Vikramaditya Singh to take on Kangana New Delhi: The Congress announced 16 more names for the LS polls. Manish Tewari got the Chandigarh ticket. The party also pitted Himachal minister Vikramaditya Singh against BJP’s Kangana Ranaut in Mandi. Singh is the son of the party’s Himachal unit chief Pratibha Singh. US moves more troops amid fears of Iran strike Washington/Jerusalem: Troop reinforcements from Israel’s principal ally the US headed to the region on Saturday, with fears of wider war growing more than six months into Israel’s battle against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. After pulling forces from the southern Gaza, Israel’s military said Saturday it was continuing to operate against militants in central Gaza | P11 THE Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered an FIR against Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd (MEIL), which was the biggest donor of electoral bonds to the BJP at `586 crore, in an alleged bribery case. In the FIR, seen by TNIE, the CBI has also named eight officials of the NISP and NMDC and two officials of MECON. The FIR alleges the officials received bribes of `78 lakh for clearing MEIL’s bills worth `174 crore in connection with works related to Chhattisgarh’s Jagdalpur integrated steel plant. According to the electoral bonds data released by the Election Commission following a Supreme Court ruling, MEIl was the second biggest buyer of electoral bonds at `966 crore. Apart from contributing to the BJP, the firm also donated `195 crore to the BRS, `85 crore to DMK, and `37 crore to YSRCP. The TDP got about `25 crore from the company, while the Congress got `17 crore. The JD-S, Jana Sena Party and the JD-U got smaller sums ranging from `5 crore to `10 crore. In the FIR, the CBI has said it had registered a preliminary enquiry (PE) on August 10, 2023 regarding the alleged bribery in `315 crore project related to works of intake well and pump house and cross-country pipeline at the integrated steel plant of the NMDC in Jagdalpur, which was awarded to the company . “Based on the findings of the PE, a recommendation was made on March 18 to register a regular case into the alleged bribery which was filed on March 31,” the CBI FIR read. The CBI has named eight officials of NISP and NMDC Ltd — retired executive director Prashant Dash; director (production) D K Mohanty; deputy general manager P K Bhuyan; D M Naresh Babu; senior manager Subro Banerjee; retired CGM (finance) L Krishna Mohan; general manager (finance) K Rajshekhar; and manager (finance) Somnath Ghosh, who allegedly received `73.85 lakh in bribe. Preliminary enquiry filed in Aug 2023 According to the FIR made public on Saturday, CBI had registered a preliminary enquiry on August 10, 2023 about alleged bribery in `315 crore project related to works at the integrated steel plant Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh FIR names MECON officials CBI also named two MECON officials — AGM Sanjeev Sahay and DGM K Illavarsu, who allegedly got `5.01 lakh against the payment of `174.41 crore by NMDC to MEIL via 73 invoices After mounting fierce attacks against the Modi government on implementing the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the Congress appears to have developed cold feet on the law in its recent election manifesto. T hough ‘re pealing and amending of CAA’ figured in the original draft of the manifesto, the top leadership of the party decided to drop it just before releasing the document, said sources. Instead, the party made an omnibus promise in the manifesto that it would repeal all anti-people laws passed by the NDA if the INDIA bloc came to power. “The original draft of the manifesto said that the draconian CAA would be repealed and amended. However, at the last minute, they decided not to list any laws and dropped the mention of CAA,” said a leader privy to the developments. However, when asked about nixing the CAA, a member of the manifesto committee told this paper that under a section called ‘reversing the damage’, the party had promised to repeal various anti-people laws passed by the BJP/NDA without proper parliamentary scrutiny and debate. However, in this section, the party talked about reviewing a day after India issued an advisory asking its citizens not to travel to Iran and Israel in view of heightened tensions in West Asia, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Saturday seized a Portugal-flagged cargo ship near the Gulf of Oman near Strait of Hormuz with 17 Indians on board. A video of the capture showed two soldiers sliding down from a helicopter through ropes on the deck of the ship in the Gulf of Oman. “We are aware that a cargo ship ‘MSC Aries’ (Mediterranean Shipping Company) has been taken control by Iran. We are in touch with Iranian authorities through diplomatic channels, both in Tehran and Delhi, to ensure the safety wel, fare and early released of Indi- Iranian commandos raiding the ship near the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday | Ap an nationals,’’ an official said. Sources said Iran’s military seized the ship carrying a total of 25 crew members as it was suspected to have an Israeli connection. The vessel is associated with London-based Zodiac Maritime, owned by Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer. Iran generally doesn’t target cargo vessels though they have targeted oil tankers in the past. On Saturday the forces were on , the lookout for ships linked to Israel travelling through the Strait of Hormuz, which led to this seizure. The MSC is one of the world’s biggest cargo shipping lines. The seizure follows Iran’s threats to respond to a suspected Israeli air strike on April 1 on Iran’s consular building in Damascus, Syria, which killed seven personnel, including two senior commanders. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar Dog in the Fight roll of penance Devotees participating in Jhamu Yatra rituals at Mendhasala Shiva temple on the outskirts on Bhubaneswar, on Saturday | DEBADATTA MALLICK Tamil vs Thamizh in spirited south Chennai fight popularity and down-to-earth personality besides a significant presence of Brahmins and an upwardly-mobile population to shake up Chennai South, which has predominantly favoured the DMK. Her primary battle is against Illustration: Mandar Pardikar DMK’s incumbent MP and poet Thamizhachi Thangapandian. If Tamilisai translates to Tamil music, Thamizhachi means Tamil woman. Prior to kick-starting a fierce battle on the ground, Tamilisai and Thamizhachi shared a moment of camaraderie when they hugged each other after filing nomination papers around the same time on the same day The . campaign has since heated up. The DMK is making full use of its organisational strength to canvas votes. Tamilisai is compensating for the lack of an equivalent organisational capacity through an enthusiastic door-to-door campaign and personal interactions with the voters in a bid to endear herself as their Akka (sister). Her campaign’s tagline is Akka vanthachu (sister has come). ‘Hot’ potato singes the common man ahead of polls @ Bhubaneswar Srikant Jena in 2nd Cong LS list, Yasir new face thanks to its alliance with either the AIADMK or the DMK. Two days before she rejoined the party, Tamilisai resigned as the Governor of Telangana and Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry a move that surprised many , and signalled the BJP’s intentions to field its heavyweights in key constituencies to tur n the tide in t h is L o k Sabha election. Despite losing the AIADMK from its alliance, the BJP is hopeful of significantly increasing its vote share, owing to the growth the party believes it has achieved in the Dravidian land in recent years. The saffron party is banking on Tamilisai’s relative roor said that the opposition would challenge the law in the Supreme Court, and dubbed it as unconstitutional. Tharoor also asserted that in the Congress manifesto, they will promise the repeal of the CAA, if the INDIA alliance comes to power. The silence of the party on the CAA in its manifesto has become a bone of contention between the Congress and the ruling CPI(M) in Kerala. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has been consistently attacking the Congress that the silence on the issue reflects its fear of speaking about the contentious Act. Vijayan accused that Congress consciously skipped the CAA. Hemant Kumar Rout WITH THIS ISSUE On March 20, Tamilisai Soundararajan entered the state headquarters of the BJP, Kamalalayam, after a gap of nearly five years, to rejoin the party After col. lecting her membership card, she said in her booming voice, “Tamizhagathil Thamarai Malarum, Malarndhe Theerum” (Lotus will bloom in Tamil Nadu, it will inevitably bloom), revitalising a catchphrase she popularised when she was the party’s state president from 2014 to 2019. However, the bloom is yet to happen. Tamil Nadu has eluded the BJP so far with the party winning only eight MP seats out of the 105 Lok Sabha contests since 1984. Seven of these victories were and amending laws relating to workers, farmers, criminal justice, environment & forests, and digital data protection. The section has no mention of repealing CAA. After the Union government notified the CAA on January 10, Congress MP Shashi Tha- Ye s h i Se l i @ New Delhi Vijayawada: In a clear case of security breach, a stone was pelted at Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in Vijayawada during his ‘Memanta Siddham’ bus yatra on Saturday. The YSRC president sustained an injury above his eyebrow and was immediately administered first aid. There was also a mild swelling on his face | P5 S u b a s h i n i V i j aya k u m a r @ Chennai Under the CAA, citizenship will be given to persecuted non-Muslim minorities -Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian -- who migrated to India from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh till Dec 31, 2014 Iran seizes Israel-linked cargo vessel with 17 Indians on board Jagan injured in stone pelting in Vijayawada PLUS 12 PAGES Citizenship rights Continued on: P5 The Congress on Saturday fielded former union minister Sirkant Jena from Balasore Lok Sabha seat that had elected him back in 2009. Announcing candidates for eight more Lok Sabha seats, the Pradesh Congress sprang a surprise by reposing confidence in student leader Yasir Nawaz, president of state unit National Student Union of India. Nawaz will contest from Bhubaneswar. The party nominated Sucharita Mohanty for Puri Lok Sabha seat which she unsuccessfully contested in 2014. She had lost to Pinaki Mishra of BJD by a huge margin but came second. It also named former MLA Srikant Jena Ananta Prasad Sethi for Bhadrak Lok Sabha seat and Anchal Das for Jajpur Lok Sabha seat. Three-time MLA from Nimapara and former minister Rabindra Kumar Sethy was named as candidate from Jagatsinghpur Lok Sabha seat, while Sidharth Swarup Das Yasir Nawaz will contest from Kendrapara Parliamentary constituency (PC). The party repeated Mohan Hembram from Keonjhar. After his nomination from Balasore Jena said, “Poeple of the state are now aware that both BJP and BJD are one. They should stop hoodwinking people. I invite leaders of both parties to present what they have done for the development of Balasore.” “The excitement of people I see during my visit to different areas of this constituency indicates we will give a strong fight and defeat BJD and BJP Jena added. ,” Jena will take on former minister and sitting MP of BJP Pratap Sarangi and Lekhasri Samantsinghar of BJD in the parliamentary Continued on P5 seat. Days ahead of the simultaneous Assembly and general elections, the soaring price of essential commodities is all set to become a political hot potato in Odisha, literally . Keeping in pace with the day temperature in heatwave conditions, the price of common man’s most favoured vegetable potato has soared like anything in the state in last fortnight. The retail price of the commodity has gone up by almost 50 per cent during the period. Potato, which was being sold at `20 a kilo in the retail market in the first week of April, is now priced at `30. The price in the local market suddenly soared from `25 to `30 the day before yesterday In the wholesale mar. ket, potatoes are priced `2,100 a quintal against `1,000 to `1,200 a fortnight back. Onion, another essential item, has also gone pricey It is . now priced between `26 to `30 a kilo, up by 15 per cent in a week. Though the price of ginger and garlic has dropped slightly, those are still being sold at `150 and `200 a kg, respectively . Market insiders said the prices of potato and onion are expected to rise further as the season progresses. They attributed the sudden rise to the inflated price in the source market as the production was hit due to lesser winter days. General secretary of Odisha Byabasayee Mahasangha Sudhakar Panda said the price of potato in the state shot up after the commodity procured from Uttar Pradesh could not be viable post-winter. “Traders stopped procuring potatoes from UP as they rotted during transit due to hot and humid conditions. Now, we are fully dependent on West Bengal where the price has increased after the harvest season. Rise in maintenance cost of cold storages in the neighbouring state has also pushed the potato price up,” said Panda. Odisha requires 13.5 lakh tonne of potato annually and produces only around 80,000 tonne. West Bengal meets around 90 per cent of the state’s potato requirement. Apart from Odisha, it also supplies to Assam and Andhra Pradesh. With elections in motion, people fear WB traders may take advantage of it and create an artificial demand and supply gap. “The rising price has already upset the kitchen budget. Since elections and marriage season are ahead, no one can anticipate how much the price can go up. But WB traders will definitely try to cash in during the elections,” said Bubuna Nayak, a local retailer.
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