KANNUR l monday l January 06, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Pravasi Bharatiya Divas to be held in Bhubaneswar from Jan 8 Event being held in Odisha for the First time The three-day convention will begin on January 8. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will formally inaugurate the event on January 9. A large number of overseas Indians, including top businessmen, entrepreneurs and economists, from over 50 countries are expected to participate. This is the first time that the convention is being held in the state of Odisha Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Droupadi Murmu will arrive in the city on January 8 to attend the 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Diaspora’s Contributions to be highlighted ■ ■ The theme of the convention is ‘Diaspora’s Contribution to a Viksit Bharat’. President Murmu will confer the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards 2025 on select members of the Indian diaspora Christine Carla Kangaloo, President of Trinidad and Tobago, will be the chief guest. She will address the convention virtually | P7 2003 when pravasi Bharatiya divas was observed for the first time 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 Rescue workers at the crash site at Porbandar airport on Sunday | pti 3 killed as Coast Guard helicopter crashes D I L I P S I N G H K S H AT R I YA @ Ahmedabad THREE crew members of an advanced light helicopter (ALH-Dhruv) of the Indian Coast Guard were killed when the chopper crashed and caught fire at Gujarat’s Porbandar airport on Sunday The . chopper, which was on a routine training sortie, went down while trying to land on the runway. The authorities have launched an inquiry to determine what led to the accident. According to an Indian Coast Guard statement, the ALH MK-III helicopter 859 met with a mishap at Porbandar airport runway at 12.15 pm on Friday. It said the helicopter had two pilots and one air crew diver. The crew were rushed to the Porbandar government hospital, where they were declared brought dead. “The reasons leading to the incident are being investigated by a Board of Inquiry,” the statement read. The crew members killed in the accident are Commandant (JG) Saurabh, Deputy Commandant S K Yadav, and Pradhan Navik Manoj. The incident comes four months after another Coast Guard helicopter crashed into the Arabian Sea off Porbandar, killing three crew members. express read 4 Maoists, 1 jawan killed in C’garh encounter Raipur: Four Maoists and a jawan were killed during an encounter in south Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur district on Sunday. The slain security force personnel has been identified as head constable Sannu Karam of Dantewada District Reserve Guard. Of the four Maoists killed, two are women. The security forces have recovered an AK-47 and a self-loading rifle from the spot. FRESH WOUND FOR INDIA, repercussions likely India fall in Bumrah's absence; focus back on Gambhir after yet another series loss G o m e sh S @ Sydney IT all seemed doomed the moment Jasprit Bumrah walked out of the field here during the fifth and final Test on Saturday . Signs were ominous. There were scans followed by silence. So much was riding on Bumrah the entire series that his absence for a few hours seemed like an eternity.The lead up to the final Test match of the five-Test series here was not ideal after the Melbourne drubbing. There were reports of a distressed dressing room followed by India skipper Rohit Sharma’s decision to ‘rest’ due to failure of form. Sunday was another melancholic day for Indian cricket. The last four wickets fell for 16 runs setting up a target of 162 runs. Without Bumrah, Aussies had a psychological edge.Being Bumrah seemed very difficult on the day when the Indian team marched out without him. India were staring at inevitability Without Bumrah, the attack . lost its teeth as India pacers huffed and puffed to find the rhythm. Australia, despite a few hiccups, had a stranglehold Jasprit Bumrah and Rohit Sharma (foreground) during the presentation ceremony after the fifth and final Test of the BGT in Sydney, on Sunday | afp A little disappointing that I probably missed out on the spiciest wicket of the series but that’s the way it is. I felt a bit of discomfort during my second spell in the first innings Jasprit Bumrah, India stand-in skipper is first 2014-15 This forthewon BGT Australia since 2014-15 series. India had the last four series before this (twice each in Australia and India) on the contest. Bumrah stood helpless as the TV cameras occasionally panned on him. The stand-in skipper, who bossed the show with the ball in the Border Gavaskar Trophy with 32 wickets in 9 innings, eventually had a resigned look on his face as Aussies won the match by six wickets and the series 3-1. The focus is now on some of the senior players and the team management. With India’s second consecutive Test series loss, there could One-third of prisoners’ earnings to go towards Victim Relief Fund S han A S @T’Puram The state government has ordered remitting one-third of prisoners’ earnings from jail chores to the Victim Relief Fund. The prisons department has been asked to comply with the directive, which will come into effect this month. The government took the decision based on a Supreme Court directive and also considering the plight of victims of crimes, who have to wait for long to get compensation. However, the move will deal a huge blow to the prisoners who earn meagre amount as wages. The wages of prisoners range from `63 to `168 per day in central jails, while inmates of open jails can earn up to `230 a day Of the total earn. ings, half is earmarked as ‘family portion’, which is meant to address the needs of their families. The rest of the earning goes towards rehabilitation purpose and canteen purchases. Sources with the prisons department said the new decision will affect the prisoners adversely. “For a prisoner earning `63 per day what will be left af, ter one-third of that is deducted?” asked a prison official. Sources said the department had recommended the government to revise the basic wage of prisoners by 50%. Had that been accepted, the new directive would not have been such a burden on prisoners, a source said. “The work that prisoners do are also part of corrective measures. Since they earn money, they remain motivated. If their earnings are cut drastically they will , be reluctant to do the chores. It will be difficult to force them to take up labour again,” a source said. Usually, convicted prisoners are deployed for doing various menial jobs in jails. But remand prisoners as well as those sentenced for simple imprisonment are also allowed to take up such works if they desire. In effect, the government decision will hurt prospects of all types of prisoners. dance of life Paniya nritham event plays to themes of tribal identity and livelihood M anisha V C S @ T’Puram “It’s an art form that innately resonates in our hearts, something that’s deeply engraved in our lives. We’ve been performing since childhood. It’s a pleasure to perform in front of such a large crowd!” exclaimed Akhina, Toly, Devika, Rakhitha, Bhavya, Manisha and Vaishnavika. The girls from Team Wayanad had just finished their ‘Paniya nritham’ performance — one of the five tribal dance forms that marked their debut at the 63rd State School Arts Festival. Seven of the 12 team members of the Gover nment Model Residential School, Kaniyambetta, hail from the very community that gave rise to the art form — the Paniya tribes of Wayanad. “We are confident,” they chorused, their excitement at its peak, as they emerged after completing their performance in the HSS category. The group also had members from the Kattunaika and Adiyar communities. With their hair swept high, the Students of GMRS, Kaniyambetta, in Wayanad, perform ‘Paniya nritham’ at the 63rd State School Arts Festival in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday | Vincent Pulickal girls dolled up in black blouses, white dhothis, traditional rosaries, and large earrings bagged an ‘ ’ grade. A The final performance in the Paniya dance competition (HSS category) sprang a surprise, as an all-boys team from Pathanamthitta took the stage in an event dominated by girls. The team from Vadasserikkara Model Residential School featured four participants who grew up learning the dance form at home. Anand Gopal, Sharath Ramesh, Jishnu K and Hareesh Babu, from the Paniya community in Wayanad, put on a power-packed performance, lifting the mood at the Nishagandhi ● More on P4 auditorium. potentially be some shake-ups, even in the team management. Head coach Gautam Gambhir too would be facing some hard questions. The whitewash three Test series loss against New Zealand would be the added burden for him. Even Sharma’s future would be discussed. Gambhir felt it was too early to speak about any changes. “It’s too early to talk about it. The series just got over. I think we still have five more months to plan where we want to head towards. But it’s not the right moment right now for me to talk about where we are going to be after five months. A lot of things change in sport. So let’s see before the England series what’s going to happen. But whatever will happen, will happen for the best interest of Indian cricket,” Gambhir said. On the evidence of the series, India had multiple issues. Lack of big totals in the first innings, preference of batting depth over fielding five frontline bowlers, struggling seniors, lack of proper planning...the list goes on. Come England series, India will be hoping to regain order and get back to winning ways. MLA Anvar arrested over vandalism at forest office E x pr e ss N e w s S e rvic e @ Malappuram Nilambur MLA P V Anvar was arrested on Sunday night in connection with the vandalism at the North Divisional Forest Office (DFO) in Nilambur during a protest earlier in the day Besides An. var, who is the prime accused, 10 others have also been booked by the Nilambur police in the case. They face charges of destroying public property, assault or using criminal force ag ainst public servant, among others. On Sunday mor ning, around 40 people, led by Anvar, staged a protest at the divisional forest office over the death of Mani,37, of Cholanaikkan community in Nilambur, in a wild elephant attack the previous day . According to police, while the protest was going on in the compound of the DFO office, a group of 10 persons forcibly entered the DFO office, destroyed furniture and other items, and assaulted police officers by pushing them down. Anvar was taken into custody from his residence in Othayi, Edavanna, around 10 pm by a team of police offic- MLA PV Anvar being taken to Nilambur District Hospital for medical examination ers led by Nilambur DySP Balachandran G. Before his arrest, a battalion of police personnel arrived in Othayi around 9pm to control any prospective resistance from Anvar and his supporters. However, Anvar willingly agreed to comply with the leg al procedures for his arrest. Before accepting the arrest memo, Anvar termed his arrest as an “act of oppression by the state government”. “I was expelled from the CPM for exposing the criminal activities of police. Now they are arresting me for protesting against the government, which is responsible for the death of a tribal person. I will fight back when I return from jail,” Anvar said.