BHUBANESWAR  TUESDAY  NOVEMBER 12, 2024  `9.00  PAGES 12  LATE CITY EDITION VISTARA MAKES ITS LAST FLIGHT AHEAD OF MERGER WITH AIR INDIA The airline operated its last international and domestic flights as an independent airline on Monday night ahead of its merger with Air India DELHI-SINGAPORE FLIGHT WAS AIRLINE’S LAST VISTARA’S ‘UK’ CODE GIVES WAY TO ‘AI2’ Vistara’s last domestic flight departed Mumbai for Delhi around 11.40 pm on Monday. Minutes later, its last international flight, bound for Singapore, took to the skies from the Delhi airport. Vistara commenced its flight operations in January 2015. The airline, a joint venture between Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, will merge with Air India on Tuesday ■ ■ Post the merger, the airline’s ‘UK’ code will be replaced with a special four-digit Air India code — ‘AI2XXX’. Vistara has a fleet of 70 airplanes The merger marks the second major consolidation wave in the country’s fast-growing civil aviation space after Indian Airlines merged with Air India and Air Sahara merged with Jet Airways in 2006-2007 208 THE SIZE OF AIR INDIA’S AIRCRAFT FLEET POST THE MERGER WITH VISTARA 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 ODISHA GOVT SEEKS TIME TO OFFER VIEWS ON WAQF AMENDMENT BILL E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Bhubaneswar EVEN as Muslim organisations representing their community in Odisha strongly opposed the proposed amendment to the Waqf Act of 1995, the state government did not offer its views to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024. The five-member JPC under chairman Jagdambika Pal on Monday held meeting with the stakeholders to garner their views and opinion on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024. However, state Law secretary and other officials reportedly had nothing to say on the matter. When they were asked to submit their position either orally or in written form, they reportedly told the committee that they had no specific instructions from the government on the matter and may be allowed to inform the JPC at a later date. “The JPC members were surprised with the lackadaisical approach of the state government to such an important Bill, particularly when the committee has come to the state to take opinion of cross sections of the society before submitting its report to the Speaker of Lok Sabha. The submission made by government officers before the JPC had no clarity nor point of view,” members of a civ- il society organisation who attended the meeting told TNIE. Talking to mediapersons, the JPC chief said, 16 organisations had expressed their desire to appear before the committee here and all were given opportunity. Apart from Muslim organisations from different districts, representatives of Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee, Jai Rajguru Samridhi Sansad and Sangrami Narayan Smriti Parishad of Khurda, Geeta Granth Parishad and Orissa High Court lawyers submitted their views. Earlier, BJP MP and JPC member Aparajita Sarangi told reporters the committee has so far held 25 sittings for over 100 hours. CONTINUED ON P5 Govt warns strict action against employees over lobbying for posts E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Bhubaneswar EXPRESSING serious concern over lobbying and using extraneous pressure for transfer and posting by employees, the state government on Monday warned that such practice will no longer be tolerated and stern action will be taken against those indulging in it. Official sources said the government had to issue such a warning as it was found that some employees were exerting extraneous pressure for transfer and posting. In a letter to secretary of all departments and district collectors, chief secretary Manoj Ahuja said it has come to the notice of the government that some employees are attempting to influence their transfer and posting to different posts by exerting extraneous influence. This is a clear cut violation of Rule 23 of the Odisha Government Servants’ Conduct Rules, 1959. Any attempt to violate the rules will be viewed seriously and attract disciplinary action, he said. The Rule 23 states, “No government servant shall bring or attempt to bring any influence whether official or nonofficial to bear upon any authority to further his interests in respect of matters pertaining to his appointment under government, promotion, pay and other service conditions.” “All government employees are, therefore, prohibited from exercising any form of influence, direct or indirect, to secure favourable transfers and postings,” Ahuja said. The chief secretary said transfer and posting of employees are usually taken up as per the administrative exigencies, considering merit and following established procedures. Attempt to circumvent the process will be viewed as a serious misconduct and attract disciplinary action, he warned. He directed the government employees to maintain highest standards of integrity and conduct, and uphold the principles of fairness and transparency in all service matters. NEW CJI SWORN IN President Droupadi Murmu administers the oath of office to Justice Sanjiv Khanna as the 51st Chief Justice of India, at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Monday | PTI Clean air a fundamental right, says SC bench S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court said on Monday that it is a fundamental right of every citizen to live in a pollution-free atmosphere, adding no religion encourages any activity that creates pollution. Pulling up the Delhi authorities over their failure to enforce firecracker ban during Diwali, a bench of justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih said if firecrackers are burnt in this fashion, it will also affect the fundamental right to health of the citizens. “The right to live in a pollution-free atmosphere is a fundamental right of every citizen which is protected by Article 21 of the Constitution of India. Prima facie we are of the view that no religion encourages any activity that creates pollution or compromises with the health of the people,” EXPLOSION TRIGGERS FIRE AT INDIAN OIL REFINERY IN GUJARAT the bench observed. The Delhi government issued an order banning the use of firecrackers on October 14. “We wonder why the Delhi government delayed the promulgation of order till October 14. It is quite possible users by that time must have acquired the stock of firecrackers.” Noting that the ban order has not been taken seriously by the police, the bench directed the commissioner of Delhi Police to form a special cell to ensure the effective implementation of the ban. “There is nothing filed in the affidavit that the order imposing ban was communicated to those who have been permitted to manufacture, store and sell crackers,” the bench noted. The court ordered the commissioner to file a personal affidavit by November 25 on the steps taken to enforce the ban. A 32-year-old worker was killed in the fire at the refinery in Vadodara. A benzene storage tank at the facility caught fire after the blast | P8 COP29 OPENS India must adopt more robust Met system SV KRISHNA CHAITANYA E X P R E SS I N B A K U I NDIA has to enhance its meteorological infrastructure and adopt a more robust multi-hazard early warning system to avoid loss of lives and minimise the impact of climate change, World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Secretary-General Celeste Saulo told this newspaper on Monday . The WMO State of the Climate 2024 was released during the United National Climate Conference (COP29), which began in Baku, Azerbaijan, earlier in the day The report issued a . red alert as 2024 is on the track to be the warmest year on record. From January to September this year, the average global temperature was 1.54°C above pre-industrial level. However, seen from a long-term perspective, the average warming is below 1.5°C. Saulo said WMO works very closely with the India Meteorological Department (IMD), whose Director General of Meteorology Mrutyunjay Mohapatra is one of the three vicepresidents of WMO. “India is very active and making good investments to enhance meteorological services. But, India being such a large country , there is a lot of scope for improvement. Especially in bringing the Met , services into the value chain. Active engagement between the Met department and other ministries like agriculture, health and disaster manage- ment is vital,” she told this newspaper on the sidelines of the WMO presser. When asked about events like the Wayanad landslide disaster, which killed over 400 people, the WMO chief said this is where multi-hazard early warning system will come in handy . “There are many things happening at the same time. We need to analyse and react in a holistic way We need . the Met services as well as other agencies to work closely so as to understand the risks.” India is also facing a serious threat of sea level rise, given its its long coastline and dense population near the coasts. Saulo said, in March, the WMO will release a more detailed report, which would look at the regionwise impact due to sea level rise. CONTINUED ON: P9 Ten militants killed in Manipur gunfight Kuki-Zo Council says its ‘volunteers’ shot dead by CRPF P R A S A N TA M A Z U M D A R @ Guwahati TEN militants were killed and a CRPF jawan was injured in a gunfight in restive Manipur’s Jiribam district on Monday. Manipur police said in a statement that the incident occurred at around 3 pm when armed militants attacked the CRPF post located at the Jakuradhor and Borobekra Police Station, located nearby . “The security forces retaliated strongly. Due to the attack, one CRPF constable namely Sanjeev Kumar sustained bullet injury and has been evacuated to Silchar Medical College, Assam and is under treatment,” the statement said. It added that the CRPF and civil police personnel fiercely retaliated and the situation was brought under control after 40-45 minutes of heavy exchange of fire. Police said they searched the whole area after the firing ceased and found the bodies of 10 militants along with arms and ammunition. The weap- ons recovered included three AK series rifles, four SLRs, two INSAS rifles, one RPG, one Pump Action Gun besides bullet-proof helmets and magazines. “Accordingly, a criminal case has been registered and is being investigated into. Operations in and around Jakuradhor, under Borobekra Police Station, Jiribam District continued to flush out armed militants. Reinforcement teams consisting of Assam Rifles, CRPF and Civil Police have been rushed there,” the Manipur Police statement added. Reacting to the gunfight, the Kuki-Zo Council said its ‘volunteers’ were killed and announced a total shutdown on Tuesday – from 5 am to 6 pm. It said the protest is “in honor of the victims and to express our collective grief and solidarity who were brutally shot dead”. In its statement, the Council demanded an immediate and thorough investigation “to bring the perpetrators to justice”. CURFEW IMPOSED IN JIRIBAM Following the incident, prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the BNSS were imposed. An order issued by the district magistrate said curfew was clamped due to “apprehension of widespread disturbance to peace and public tranquillity or a riot or any affray in the area” We condemn in the strongest terms the violence and call for thorough investigations to bring perpetrators to justice Kuki-Zo Council Uddhav fumes as ECI officials inspect his bag S U D H I R S U R YA W A N S H I @ Mumbai SHIV Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Monday trained his guns on the Election Commission of India (ECI) claiming its officials are selectively targeting opposition leaders. He said his bags and personal belongings were searched when he arrived in Maharashtra’s Yavatmal to campaign for the November 20 assembly elections. Thackeray asked if the ECI would inspect the bags of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde, and deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis in a similar fashion. Disclosing this incident at a rally at Wani on Monday, he asked his party workers to check the identity cards of the searching ECI officials and inspect their pockets as well. According to a video footage of the incident shared by his party when ECI of, ficers approached him for search, Thackeray first asked them to introduce themselves and fired a volley of questions. “The way you inspected my bag, did you inspect the bags of Modi and Shah?” he asked.