BHUBANESWAR  SUNDAY  DECEMBER 29, 2024  `12.00  PAGES 24  JEYPORE EDITION AFGHANISTAN HITS SEVERAL SITES IN PAKISTAN IN RETALIATION 19 PAKISTANI SOLDIERS KILLED, CLAIMS MEDIA Taliban defence ministry said its forces targeted Pakistani points that served as centres and hideouts for malicious elements and their supporters who organised and coordinated attacks in Afghanistan. Media outlet Hurriyet Daily News citing ministry officials said that 19 Pakistani troops and three Afghan civilians were killed in the assaults | P9 Afghanistan’s defence ministry said on Saturday that its forces hit several sites inside Pakistan in retaliation for airstrikes earlier this week AFGHANS IN KHOST CITY STAGE PROTEST ■ ■ Earlier this week, Pakistan’s attack on Afghanistan had killed 46 people in airstrikes near the border in Paktika. Pakistan accused the Taliban of not doing enough to combat cross-border militant activity In Khost city, hundreds of Afghan citizens on Saturday protested the Pakistani attack, calling for accountability for civilian deaths 383 PAKISTANI SOLDIERS KILLED IN VARIOUS CLASHES IN 2024 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 RAIN HAVOC Crop loss claims two more farmers’ lives, toll rises to 5 in three days A S I S H S E N A PAT I /A M U LYA PAT I @ Kendrapara/Jajpur President Droupadi Murmu pays her last respects to former prime minister Manmohan Singh during the state funeral, at Nigambodh Ghat in New Delhi on Saturday | PTI Cremation over, political row over memorial isn’t Congress, BJP slugfest over last rites at Nigambodh Ghat in Delhi P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi HOURS after the cremation of Manmohan Singh on Saturday , political tussle over a memorial for him escalated after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused the government of “total insult” of the former prime minister since his last rites were performed at Delhi’s Nigambodh Ghat instead of a designated burial site. In a post on X, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha said, “The great son of Mother India and the first Prime Minister of the Sikh community, Dr Manmohan Singh ji, has been insulted by the present government by performing his last rites today at the Nigam Bodh Ghat.” Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, too, attacked the government saying the Centre should have thought ‘beyond politics and narrow-minded- ness’ in this matter. “By not providing an adequate place for the cremation of former PM Dr Manmohan Singh, the government has not done justice to the dignity of the post of former PM, the personality of Manmohan Singh, his legacy and the self-respecting Sikh community she wrote on X. ,” In his pushback, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra lit into Rahul for politicising the issue, saying the Centre has already written to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Dr Singh’s family conveying the Union Cabinet’s decision to allocate space for the memorial. A government statement said the funeral could be held as the process of setting up a trust and allotting land for the me- morial could take a while. Kharge had on Friday written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting to hold the funeral at a place where his memorial could be built. BJP president J P Nadda, too condemned Rahul and Kharge for politics in the name of memorial. “When the entire nation mourns the demise, the Congress is busy turning this moment of grief into an opportunity to fulfill their political agenda,” Nadda alleged. Congress leader K C Venugopal hit back at Nadda and the BJP, alleging they crossed all boundaries of decency. The “shoddy arrangements and the conduct of the cremation were deeply insultP7 ing”, he charged. Dr Manmohan Singh deserves our highest respect and a memorial. The government should have shown respect to this great son of the country and his proud community — Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader FINAL JOURNEY TO NIGAMBODH GHAT Singh’s body, placed in a flower-bedecked casket and carriage, was taken from his 3, Motilal Nehru residence in Delhi to the Congress HQ. Final journey then started from the AICC office to the Nigambodh Ghat, where the procession reached around 11.30 am ELDEST DAUGHTER LIT FUNERAL PYRE The funeral pyre was lit by Manmohan Singh’s eldest daughter, Upinder Singh, at Nigambodh Ghat. Priests and family members recited religious hymns from the holy Gurbani. Chants of Satnam Waheguru filled the air, as Singh was cremated BHUTAN KING PAYS TRIBUTE TO EX-PM Security forces gave a salute of three volleys of small arms. Buglers sounded the Last Post. King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and the foreign minister of Mauritius, Dhananjay Ramful, were among the foreign dignitaries who paid tributes to Singh Kashmiriyat on display amid first big snowfall F AYA Z W A N I @ Srinagar PEOPLE in the Valley showed what Kashmiriyat is all about by opening their homes and mosques to tourists stranded at different places following the season’s first major snowfall. The Valley witnessed the season’s first major snowfall on Friday. While the plains had moderate to heavy snowfall, the upper reaches, including tourist resorts of Gulmarg in north Kashmir, Sonamarg in central Kashmir and Pahalgam in south Kashmir experienced heavy snowfall. As a result, tourists were stranded at many places, including at Gund in central Kashmir, Tangmarg in north Kashmir and Pahalgam and other areas in south Kashmir. Locals rose to the occasion in the Gund area of Ganderbal district by offering shelter to the stranded tourists at their homes and mosques. They were also provided food and heating facilities. At the Jamia Masjid in Gund, the locals burnt the traditional hamam at night to ensure warmth for the tourists accommodated in the mosque. Videos of the tourists spending the night in the mosque and at the houses of locals have gone viral on social CONTINUED ON P5 media. FOURTH TEST Reddy, steady, go: Emotional hundred saves India’s day at MCG G O M E S H S @ Melbourne IT was tense. It was emotional. The scenes had all the ingredients of a blockbuster Tollywood movie. The protagonist on the field was plying his trade. Enacting one of India’s greatest fightbacks. The celebrations too had sprinkling of movies. Nitish Kumar Reddy first imitated the famous gesture from Pushpa after completing his fifty and later when he reached his maiden Test hundred it was Bahubali scene. India were still on the ropes, but thanks to Reddy and Washington Sundar, India can at least breathe with ease at 358 for 9 in reply to Australia’s first innings’ 474. In the stands were his family members sobbing. Father Mutyala Reddy and his wife were in attendance. Sometime later, Mutyala, his wife and daughter were waiting eagerly for the hotel door to open. Just as the door opened and the 21-year-old centurion emerged, Nitish’s mum embraced her son. Even though she tried to c o n t ro l , h i s s i s t e r hugged him saying, “so proud, so happy .” The most emotional moment was that of Mutyala who buried his face in Nitish’s shoulders and cried. He has sacrificed a lot. Even gave up his job so that he could ferry his son from practice to home. He even faced criticism for not having a job. But he had faith in Nitish. As the father kissed his son and hugged him tight in the video shared by BCCI.tv, they lived a dream. The Andhra allrounder (from Vizag), with his unbeaten 105, saved the day for India. It was MSK Prasad, former India selector, who spotted him in the early 2010s. He used to be a top-order batter bowling seam-up for Andhra age-group cricket. If Prasad played his part, Hanuma Vihari, (2021 Border Gavaskar Trophy team-member), too had a hand in helping Nitish make his state debut as a teenager. “Vihari always came forward and groomed him. I feel that Vihari has got the knack of supporting the right talent,” Prasad tells this daily . Vihari credits the youngster and his family for what he has done. “I always thought he would be playing at this level. But coming so soon and being able to perform in Australia is unbelievable. I felt really emotional today ,” P11 Vihari said. WITH the spectre of financial distress looming large after rains destroyed harvestready crops, two more farmers died in the state on Saturday One allegedly committed . suicide while the other suffered cardiac arrest, taking the toll to five in last three days. In Kendrapara’s Derabishi block, 64-year-old Daitari Jena reportedly consumed pesticide in Kosida village. Jena had raised paddy over three acre land after obtaining a loan of ‘75,000 from a self-help group and some locals. The recent rains, however, damaged his ripe paddy crop. The victim’s son Raghunath Jena claimed his father committed suicide due to crop loss. Neighbours and family members rushed Jena to the community health centre (CHC) at Derabishi where doctors declared him dead. While his body was sent for postmortem, police said they have started an investigation into his death. The farmer’s wife alleged Jena was under tremendous pressure to repay his loan. However, Kendrapara SDPO Debendra Mallick said, “No suicide note was recovered from the spot. After getting the autopsy report, the exact reason behind his death can be ascertained,” he added Additional district magistrate of Kendrapada Nilu Mohapatra said, Derabishi tehsildar has been directed to submit a detailed report to the district administration. Authorities will take necessary steps to provide help after the report is received, he added. In the second incident of the day, a 55-year-old farmer reportedly suffered a cardiac arrest in Jajpur district after he witnessed extensive damage to his crops. The deceased was identified as Manibhadra Mohanty a native of Chikana , village under Binjharpur CONTINUED ON P5 block. All farmers will be given compensation, CM assures E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Bhubaneswar IN a move to allay the fears of farmers who have suffered massive crop loss due to the recent unseasonal rains but are not covered under crop insurance scheme, the state government on Saturday assured that all affected farmers will get compensation irrespective of their status. “The government has decided to provide assistance to all affected farmers, both insured and uninsured, as per the norms of the state and centre. This support will be extended through direct benefit transfer (DBT) as soon as possible,” Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi announced after review of crop damage at a high-level meeting here. The chief minister and six of his cabinet colleagues will also visit 10 worst-affected districts on Sunday to assess the crop loss. Majhi and Revenue minister Suresh Pujari will visit five blocks in three districts - Ganjam, Gajapati and Nayagarh. The decision of the government to provide compensation to all affected farmers comes in the wake of loss of life of at least five farmers in the aftermath of the extensive damage to paddy crops. “I have directed officials concerned to ensure that no affected farmer is left out during assessment of damage irrespective of their coverage under crop insurance scheme. The government will decide the kind of compensation to be extended to farmers who have not registered under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMBFY), after getting the reports,” CONTINUED ON P5 Majhi said. WITH THIS ISSUE AD YOU LIKE IT PLUS 12 PAGES Putin says sorry for Azerbaijani plane crash AGENCIES VLADIMIR Putin obliquely admitted on Saturday that Russian air defence had by mistake shot down an Azerbaijani Airlines plane that tried to land in Grozny before crashing, breaking the Kremlin’s silence as speculation m o u n t e d ove r Ru s s i a n culpability . The Russian leader called his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev, apologising for the shocking error of judgement in Russian airspace, while stopping short of saying Russian air defence had shot it down. The phone call between the allies came three days after the plane flying from Baku to Grozny crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people of 67 onboard. “During this time, Grozny, (the town of) Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian combat drones and Russian air defence was repelling these atP9 tacks,” Putin said.