BHUBANESWAR SUNDAY OCTOBER 20, 2024 `12.00 PAGES 26 JEYPORE EDITION HEZBOLLAH DRONE EXPLODES NEAR NETANYAHU’S HOUSE IN CAESAREA Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the drone targeted the PM’s private residence; Netanyahu was not home at that time 1 DEAD, 4 HURT AS 180 ROCKETS FIRED AT ISRAEL In addition to the drone launched at Netanyahu’s private residence in the coastal town, Israel’s military said around 180 projectiles were fired in two separate barrages at northern Israel from Lebanon on Saturday. A 50-yearold man was killed after being hit by shrapnel while sitting in his car in northern Israel and four others were injured, Israel’s medical services said ■ 1,418 IDF POUNDS GAZA, AT LEAST 50 PEOPLE KILLED ■ ■ Hezbollah has not claimed responsibility for the drone attack but said it has launched several rockets at northern and central Israel | P11 Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Saturday continued to press ahead with its armed offensive against Hamas militants still operating from Gaza 50 people, including kids, were reportedly killed in Gaza in past 24 hours NUMBER OF PEOPLE KILLED IN LEBANON SINCE LATE SEPTEMBER, ACCORDING TO AFP 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 Bomb threats to 30 more flights, regulator shifted YESHI SELI AND SHEKHAR SINGH @ New Delhi AMID waves after waves of hoax bomb threats shaking up the aviation industry, the government on Saturday shifted the regulator out of the civil aviation ministry . Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Vikram Dev Dutt was appointed coal secretary as part of a top-level bureaucratic reshuffle. A joint secretary level official is likely to take his place at the earliest, according to sources. The transfers happened on a day when fresh bomb threats forced over 30 flights, including those on international routes, to make emergency landings. The affected carriers included Air India, Vistara, IndiGo, SpiceJet, Alliance ADDING 1 Centre considers TEETH framing a punitive TO law to deal with LAW hoax bomb callers 2 Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) suggests five-year imprisonment for the culprits so as to act as a deterrent Air, and Akasa Air. “The Internet Protocol (IP) addresses from the threats today and the ones earlier this week have been traced to London, Germany, Canada and the US. However, it is possible the Virtual Private Networks (VPN) were used by some to hide their real locations,’’ a source said. In less than a week, hoax bomb 3 Home ministry consults the law and civil aviation ministries to suitably amend the Aircraft Act threats have impacted close to 70 flights. On Saturday, officials from the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) had a meeting with the CEOs of different airline operators in the civil aviation ministry . They were briefed about the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for tackling threats, which cause fear and inconvenience to passengers and losses for the airlines. The DGCA and the BCAS are expected to issue fresh guidelines to manage the situation. Sources said a note was found in the rest room of one of the airlines warning of a bomb in a flight. However, all the threats were fake. Sources said IndiGo, Akasa, Vistara, Air India, SpiceJet and Alliance Air received five threats each. The civil aviation ministry is reviewing regulations to introduce harsher penalties. The authorities are contemplating a five-year prison sentence and placing offenders on a no-fly list. At present, hoax bomb threats are dealt with under existing criminal laws. The government is exploring legal options to introduce a deterrent. J&K statehood step closer with L-G nod FAYA Z W A N I @ Srinagar CM Mohan Charan Majhi with chairman of Avaada Group Vineet Mittal at Mumbai MUMBAI ROADSHOW `20K cr committed by Avaada for green energy sector in state EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bhubaneswar AVAADA Group, a leading green energy solution provider, on Saturday made a commitment to make a fresh investment of `20,000 crore in Odisha. Chairman of the Mumbaiheadquar tered company Vineet Mittal made the announcement during his meeting with Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on the second day of the state government’s roadshow for Utkarsh Odisha: Make-inOdisha Conclave 2025 to be held in Bhubaneswar in January next year. The investment would be made in the sustainable energy sector. “Avada Group is proud to commit `20,000 crore to invest in Odisha...this meeting reaffirmed the state’s immense potential. What truly touched me was CM Saab’s humility and visionary approach. He and his leadership team is not just focused on industrial growth, their heart lies in creating real opportunities for the people of Odisha,” Mittal said in a social media post after the meeting. As per an earlier agreement, the Avaada Group has laid the foundation stone at Gopalpur in Ganjam district in February this year to set a green hydrogen project. The chief minister had oneto-one discussion with some leading industrialists including Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of Aditya Birla Group. He also held discussions with RBI gover nor Shaktikanta Das. Addressing the roadshow, Majhi said, “We are focused on creating new opportunities, new jobs and a new Odisha. We aim at being Utkarsh by achieving excellence in every field. Our transformation journey is not limited to resource-based industries anymore. Our state is now transitioning swiftly to sectors that are skill-driven.” “The inspiring leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sparked new energy and direction for growth, especially in eastern India, through the historic Purvodaya Yojana. Odisha is right at the heart of this resurgence, playing a crucial role in powering India’s growth engine,” he CONTINUED ON P7 added. PAVING the way for the restoration of statehood for Jammu & Kashmir, the Union territory’s Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has cleared the resolution passed by the Omar Abdullah-led Cabinet in this regard. “The restoration of statehood will be the beginning of a healing process, reclaiming the constitutional rights and protecting the identity of people of Jammu and Kashmir,” a statement issued on Saturday read. It noted that the J&K Cabinet has passed a resolution urging the Union government to restore the statehood. The Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in Srinagar on Thursday had passed a unanimous , resolution for restoration of statehood in its original form. The Centre had on August 5, 2019 scrapped J&K’s special status and bifurcated the erstwhile state into RESOLUTION SILENT ON RESTORATION OF A370 The Omar Abdullah-led Cabinet’s resolution only mentions full statehood for J&K and does not talk about restoring Article 370, triggering protests from other J&K parties which accused the NC of reneging on its poll promise two Union territories—Jammu and Kashmir (with legislature) and Ladakh (without legislature). “The Cabinet has authorised the Chief Minister to take up the matter with the Prime Minister and Government of India for restoration of statehood,” an official spokesman said. He said protection of Jammu and Kashmir’s unique identity and the constitutional rights of people remains the cornerstone of the newly elected gover nment’s policy . According to the spokesperson, the CM would be proceeding to New Delhi in the coming days to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other Union ministers in this regard. Before assuming power, Omar had suggested that the first cabinet meeting should pass a resolution on restoration of statehood and hand over the draft of the resolution to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and other ministers. Omar’s National Conference had contested the Assembly polls on the plank of restoration of Article 370 and statehood. VISITOR FROM THE GALAXY Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-Atlas captured near Lingaraj Temple in Bhubaneswar on Friday night. It’s considered the brightest in over a decade | RAKESH KUMAR ROUL WITH THIS ISSUE DGCA appointed coal secretary in fresh reshuffle, joint secy likely to take charge at the earliest The Sound of Music PLUS 12 PAGES WOMEN SECURE TOP 2 RANKS IN OCS EXAMINATION E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Bhubaneswar WOMEN have once again topped the Odisha Civil Services (OCS) Examination-2022, results of which were declared by Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC) on Saturday . While Swetashree Mohapatra has topped the prestigious examination, Prinkil Parbin Parida bagged the second position. It was Swetashree’s first attempt at the exams. A resident of Bhadrak, she passed her engineering degree in electronics and telecommunication from NIT-Durgapur in 2018. Although she had fared well in the examination, first rank was something she had not dreamt of. She worked for three years before deciding to give up the corporate job and devote her time entirely to prepare for OCS and UPSC examinations. Swetashree prepared for the examinations all by herself Swetashree Prinkil till she cleared the Mohapatra Parbin Parida p r e l i m s . “ Fo r t h e mains examination and the personal interview, I took the help of professional coaching,” she said. Prinkil, the second rank holder, also cleared the OCS in her first attempt. The Nimapara native had completed her MSc in Botany with a gold medal in 2022. An alumnus of Ravenshaw University Prinkil began prep, aration for OCS immediately after her MSc. A farmer’s daughter, she appeared for the examination in October last year and only took the help of mock tests for the personal interview. While the third rank was secured by Dipti Ranjan Pati, the fourth position has been again bagged by a woman Parjna Parangama. Among the top-10 candidates, five are women (Deepam Rout at rank 6 and Amrita Sahoo at rank 10). One of the rank holders is Subha Kalyani Mohapatra, the assistant collector of Athagarh. This was Subha’s second attempt as she wanted to improve her rank. In her first attempt in 2022, she got 200 rank and got into Odisha Revenue Service. Around 40,586 students had appeared for the preliminary examination which was held in October last year. Of them, 8,220 qualified but 6,639 appeared for the OCS (Main) examination held this year. The OPSC in its notification informed that after the mains examination and personality test, names of 683 candidates have been recommended in order of merit for appointment to the various posts under the Odisha Civil Services. Of these, 258 are women. GoM moots GST relief for health insurance premium U.S. charges bogus, claims Yadav’s counsel D I PA K M O N D A L @ New Delhi THE Group of Ministers (GoM) constituted by the GST Council to look into the demand for lower rates on health and life insurance premium recommended a complete GST waiver on health insurance premium for senior citizens. Sources said the GoM, headed by the Bihar deputy chief minister Samrat Choudhary also recommended , that no GST be levied on health insurance premium where the sum insured is up to `5 lakh. For all other health insurance policies, the GoM has proposed 18% GST. As far as life insurance policies are concerned, most panel members favoured complete waiver of GST on term insurance premium. Term insurance policies offer a sum assured only at the death of the policyholder. These do not have any investment component attached to them. Separately, the GoM on GST rate rationalisation, too, met in Delhi on Saturday and recommended a three-slab structure instead of the existing four-tier tax structure—5%, 12%, 18%, and 28%. Sources said the slabs will be based on pricing with high-value items attracting GST at higher rates. The panel also decided to lower tax rates 28% GST FOR LUXURY WATCHES, SHOES The GoM also suggested hiking GST on shoes above `15,000 a pair and on wrist watches above `25,000 from 18% to 28%. Sources said some items currently in the 18% slab, such as hair dryers, hair curlers, and make-up preparations could be put in the 28% bracket on 20-litre packaged drinking water bottles, bicycles, and exercise notebooks to 5% from 18%. The proposals include cutting GST on bicycles costing under `10,000 to 5% from 12%. The panel has also suggested higher GST for some luxury items (see box). According to one of the members of the GoM, this would help the government mop up `22,000 crore more, thus making up for the revenue losses due to reduction in GST rates on health and life insurance premiums. The six-member GoM on rate rationalisation is also headed by the Bihar deputy CM. U J W A L J A L A L I @ New Delhi THE counsel of former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) officer Vikash Yadav on Saturday termed the charges brought against his client by the US law enforcement agencies as bogus and part of an international ploy to defame India. “He (Vikash Yadav) is being deliberately framed. It appears that all this is an international plot to defame India and the country’s top intelligence agencies,” advocate R K Handoo told this newspaper. Yadav, a former government officer, was indicted by the US authorities for his alleged role in a foiled murder-forL aw re n c e B i s h n o i , hire plot against Khaforced the victim to sign listani separatist Gura blank cheque, took patwant Singh Pannun `50,000 from his cafe and on US soil. deleted all CCTV recordIn a completely unings there. related case of extorAs for the US indictCLEAN RECORD tion, Yadav was arrest- The interim bail order ment, advocate Handoo ed by the Delhi Police denied all allegations by a Delhi court in December last year referred to Yadav as and said that if anyone and lodged in Tihar reads the charges from “an ex-government Jail for four months a proper perspective, employee having till he got regular bail. they would understand clean antecedents” The extortion-cumthat all of them are falkidnapping case was registered lacious. “As I understand being by the Special Cell of the Delhi his lawyer, Vikash is a decent, Police on the complaint of a well-read, and well-cultured businessman in Delhi’s Rohini. man. I cannot fathom that he The FIR said Yadav demanded can be involved in any such acmoney in the name of gangster tivity,” Handoo said.
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