BHUBANESWAR  MONDAY  NOVEMBER 18, 2024  `9.00  PAGES 12  LATE CITY EDITION BLACKOUTS IN UKRAINE AS RUSSIA LAUNCHES FIERCEST ATTACK IN MONTHS Russia on Sunday launched a massive drone and missile attack targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, killing two civilians and injuring six ‘200 MISSILES AND DRONES FIRED AT UKRAINE’ NATO MEMBER POLAND MOBILISES FORCES Russia launched 120 missiles and 90 drones, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. Explosions were heard across the country, including in capital Kyiv, the key southern port of Odesa, as well as the country’s west and central regions, according to local reports. It was the biggest missile and drone attack on Ukraine since August ■ ■ The scale of the attack prompted neighbouring Poland, a NATO member, to scramble fighter jets and mobilise all available forces The strikes caused massive power cuts across the country. The attack came as fears are mounting about Moscow’s intentions to devastate Ukraine’s power generation capacity ahead of the cold winter 1,000 days WILL HAVE PASSED ON TUESDAY SINCE RUSSIA INVADED UKRAINE ON FEB 22, 2022 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 India in elite club after successful long-range hypersonic missile test Shah holds key meet as Manipur simmers H E M A N T K U M A R R O U T & M AYA N K S I N G H @ Bhubaneswar/New Delhi Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday cancelled his campaign in poll-bound Maharashtra and rushed to Delhi to hold a high-level review meeting on the fresh violence in Manipur. Sources said Shah sat down with senior officials to take stock of the situation, and directed them to take all possible measures to bring back normalcy in the strife-torn state. It is learnt that Shah has called another meeting on Monday for a detailed discussion on the state’s law and order situation in the northeastern state. Meanwhile, the director-general of the Central Reserve Police Force, Anish Dayal, was sent to Imphal to assess the security situation in the state, which has been witnessing intermittent violent incidents since May 2023 following the ethnic clashes between Meitei and Kuki communities. Tensions escalated in Manipur on Saturday following the recovery of the bodies of six individuals, who were reportedly abducted and killed by militants in Jiribam. On Saturday, irate mobs attacked the residences of state IN a significant demonstration of India’s growing military prowess, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Saturday successfully flight-tested the country’s first long-range hypersonic missile from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island, off Odisha coast. The test missile was launched from a ground-based mobile launcher positioned at the launching complex-IV of the Integrated Test Range at Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island around 6.55 pm on Saturday . The missile, developed by the laboratories of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Missile Complex, Hyderabad along with other DRDO laboratories and industry partners, can carry various payloads for ranges greater than 1,500 km, an official readout said. At present, only a few countries like the US, Russia and China, have hypersonic missiles. These missiles can travel at speeds exceeding Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound or roughly around 6,200 kmph). With such extreme speed, manoeuvrability, and the ability to fly at lower altitudes than traditional ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles are harder to detect and intercept. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh described the missile test on Saturday under the country’s first longrange hypersonic mission as a “stupendous” achievement and a “historic moment”. “The flight data obtained from down range ship stations confir med the successful ter minal maneuvers and impact with high degree of accuracy” the Ministry of Defence said in a statement. Sources told this newspaper that the test was “a stupendous success as the test missile covered around 1,400 km in its first attempt validating all its subsystems and exhibiting excellent terminal manoeuvres”. Also, it was the first time the DRDO conducted the experimental trial of an indigenously-designed and developed missile after sunset. Test missile being fired from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island, off the Odisha coast | PTI Arms race  Russia and China have made significant progress in developing their own hypersonic missiles The US is in the process of developing a range of hypersonic weapons Other countries, including France, Germany, Japan, Iran, and Israel, are also pursuing projects to build hypersonic missiles EXPRESS READ Student electrocuted to death at Balijatra Cuttack: A Plus II student allegedly died of electrocution while visiting Balijatra on Sunday night. Biswa Prakash Manthan, a student of Saraswati Sishu Vidya Mandir at Tulasipur in Cuttack and resident of Jagtasinghpur, was visiting the fair when he came in contact with a live wire of a light decoration on the road divider connecting the Balijatra grounds. Cancels Maharashtra poll rallies, rushes to Delhi to hold high-level meeting in view of rising tension in the state M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi Amit Shah ministers and MLAs. The protesters also attempted to storm Chief Minister N Biren Singh’s house, prompting security forces to respond with tear gas to disperse the crowds. The fresh incidents of violence took place on Saturday night even as an indefinite curfew was clamped after people, agitated by the killing of three women and children each by militants in Jiribam district, attacked the residences of three state ministers and six MLAs earlier in the day . The angry mobs torched the houses of PWD Minister Govindas Konthoujam at Ningthoukhong, Hiyanglam’s BJP MLA Y Radheshyam at Langmeidong Bazar, Wangjing Tentha’s BJP MLA Paonam Brojen in Thoubal district and Khundrakpam’s Congress MLA Thokchom Lokeshwar in Imphal East district, according to officials. On Sunday morning, there was a tense calm in all five districts of the Imphal Valley, where the curfew was imposed and internet services were suspended following violent protests after the discovery of the bodies of six people who were allegedly abducted and killed by militants in Jiribam. Last week, Manipur police said it shot dead 10 militants. Mob vandalises BJP MLA’s house in Imphal Imphal: A mob vandalised the ancestral house of BJP MLA Kongkham Robindro in Manipur’s Imphal West district on Sunday evening, police said. The incident occurred a day after a house built by the legislator himself in the same district was attacked. Miscreants also reportedly attacked the BJP, Congress offices in Manipur’s Jiribam district on Sunday NPP withdraws support to Biren Singh-led govt P R A S A N TA M A Z U M D A R @ Guwahati THE National People’s Party (NPP) on Sunday withdrew its support to the BJP-led government in Manipur saying it has “completely failed” to resolve the crisis and restore normalcy . In a letter addressed to BJP president J P Nadda, NPP chief and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma expressed deep concern over the prevailing law and order situation in Manipur, where innocent lives have been lost and people are going through immense suffering. “…we strongly feel that the Manipur government under the leadership of Shri Biren Singh has completely failed to resolve the crisis and restore normalcy Keeping the current . situation in mind, the NPP has decided to withdraw its support to the Biren Singh-led government with immediate effect,” the letter read. CM urges Singapore biz leaders to explore Odisha EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bhubaneswar CHIEF Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Sunday urged Singapore-based investors and industry leaders to strengthen strategic collaborations with Odisha which is emerging as one of the best investment destinations of India. A high-level delegation led by Majhi, which is on a four-day official visit as part of the overseas outreach for the upcoming Utkarsh Odisha: Make-in-Odisha Conclave 2025, invited several companies, including Orind Singapore Pte Ltd to set up their units in the state. The first day of the visit by the chief minister commenced with Indian High Commissioner to Singapore Shilpak Ambule briefing the industry leade r s a n d i nve s t o r s o n CM Mohan Charan Majhi hands over a memento to group president and CEO of Sembcorp Industries Ltd Wong Kim Yin in Singapore on Sunday | EXPRESS India-Singapore business relations and investment prospects in the eastern state. It followed a series of one-to-one meetings of the chief minister with the investors. Majhi met chair man of Orind Singapore Pte Ltd Ravin Jhunjhunwala, who is looking forward to invest in the bio-fertilisers sector. The chief minister assured all necessary support from the state government to set up the facility in Odisha. He also held discussion with director of Visa Group Ltd Vivek Agarwal and urged him to expand capacity, increase value-added products, and create more employment opportunities in the state in steel and ferrochrome sectors. The delegation met group president and CEO of Sembcorp Industries Ltd Wong Kim Yin and discussed Sembcorp’s upcoming green ammonia project in Odisha. Meetings were also held with chairman of UBCT BC Tan, founder of CT Metrix Edward Morton and founder and CEO of iHub Inc Sushant Patnaik on developments in semiconductors, medical equipment manufacturing and smart city solutions. They were handed over an invitation for the Utkarsh Odisha Conclave to be held in CONTINUED ON P5 January . Delhi cabinet minister Kailash Gahlot quits AAP A N U P V E R M A @ New Delhi IN a major setback for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections, its senior leader and minister Kailash Gahlot left the party on Sunday Sources said his resig. nation was accepted by Delhi Chief Minister Atishi. Gahlot, in his resignation letter, said “political ambitions have overtaken our commitment towards people, leaving many promises unfulfilled”. He cited the case of Yamuna River, which the party had promised to clean up. “Now the Yamuna is perhaps even more polluted than before,” he said. He also made a mention of the ‘sheesh mahal’ row over `45 crore renovation of the Chief Minister’s residence, saying such controversies are making the public doubt whether the AAP is still the common man’s party . He alleged that instead of fighting for the rights of the people, the party was busy fighting for its own agenda which has crippled delivery of basic services in Delhi. Meanwhile, AAP sources said Gahlot left the party as a result of multiple investigations launched against him by various Central agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Multiple raids have been conducted on his properties in recent months. “Pressure was created on Gahlot by conducting ED-CBI raids, and now he is speaking as per the script given by the BJP,” AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said. “The Modi washing machine has become active before the Delhi elections. Now many leaders will be inducted into the BJP through this machine,” Singh said. Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva welcomed Gahlot’s resignation. “Gahlot stepped down raising the same issues for which the BJP was protesting and fighting against Kejriwal and AAP. His resignation proves that even AAP leaders do not consider Kejriwal an honest politician,” Sachdeva said. GRAND COMMANDER Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds the certificate of Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger received from Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu (R), in Abuja | AFP NEW PROJECTION Avg max temperature to rise 1.50C as early as 2047 if fossil fuel use not cut A K N I S R E E K A R T H I K @ Bengaluru INDIA’S average annual maximum temperature could rise by 1.5 degrees Celsius as soon as 2047, a new report said. As per Climate Change Projections for India (2021-2040) report of Azim Premji University, released on Sunday, the average annual maximum temperature will increase by 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2057,under the ‘Middle of the Road’ emission scenario where society is assumed to take moderate steps to cut emissions. The more extreme ‘Fossil Fuel Development’ (society relying heavily on fossil fuels for energy) emission scenario predicts that the temperature will rise a decade earlier, by 2047. States like Karnataka, Gujarat, parts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, and parts of Ladakh will experience an increase in precipitation by 20% to 60%, according to the report. The new climate data offers critical insights into how climate change will impact the country over the next two decades, revealing key information about India’s climate, detailing how extreme weather events Summer wet bulb temp to hit 310C in 25 districts Twenty-five districts across the coastal states and eastern Himalayas will experience over 31 degrees Celsius summer wet bulb temperature, posing serious threats to human health, the report said could affect communities, agriculture and natural resources. The western part of India will experience a significant increase in precipitation, compared to most of the eastern and northeastern parts, said Prof. Santonu Goswami, Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability, Azim Premji University . Changes in precipitation patterns can have a significant im- pact on Indian agriculture, the report said. The projections examine two Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change scenarios—SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 (high emissions with heavy fossil fuel reliance). Under the high emissions scenario, 249 districts in India will experience an annual maximum temperature change of one degree Celsius or more. The NPP has seven MLAs. The BJP-led government’s survival will not be threatened by this development as the NDA still has 46 members in the 60-member House. The party’s withdrawal of support comes a day after irate mobs vandalised the houses and properties of over a dozen legislators. As there is an apprehension of further attacks, security has been beefed up outside the legislators’s houses. The protestors are demanding their resignation for failing to check violence. Meanwhile, the Congress said Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh should seek an appointment of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, so the MLAs of ruling and opposition parties can go and meet him to discuss the situation. “What is the point of being a member of the Assembly if we cannot save Manipur?” Congress leader and former chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh said. SCB gets CoC status to lead SCD programme EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bhubaneswar THE SCB Medical College and Hospital at Cuttack has been designated as a centre of competence (CoC) for sickle cell disease (SCD). This was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas on Friday . Odisha is one of the 17 states selected to open CoCs which will be funded by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. In the first phase, the centre will be set up in six states, including Odisha. The highest `4.6 crore has been sanctioned for the state in this financial year. The move assumes significance as Odisha has high prevalence of SCD particularly in the western and tribal belts of the state. Odisha ranks third in terms of SCD prevalence in the country with an affected population of around 16.69 per cent after Rajasthan (18.25 per cent) and Madhya Pradesh (17.5 per cent). Sources said there will be a dedicated unit under the centre for diagnosis and treatment apart from establishing a structured collaboration between academia and industry for long-term research on SCD. An advanced diagnosis facility with high-end molecular testing machines will be set up to offer prenatal testing for sickle cell anaemia, a critical tool in early detection of the genetic disorder. “This facility will enhance diagnostic capabilities significantly, supporting the hospital’s role in combating sickle cell anaemia. There will be dedicated beds, including six ICU beds, for treatment of patients. The screening and treatment will play a crucial role in the national mission to eliminate sickle cell anaemia by 2047,” said a senior health official. SCD is a chronic single-gene disorder causing a debilitating systemic syndrome, acute pain episodes and organ damage leading to high infant and maternal mortality rate and significant reduction in life expectancy .