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 ■ ■ BHUBANESWAR l tuesday l january 07, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l JEYPORE EDITION Trudeau, Just-out of office J ayanth J acob @ New Delhi Justin Trudeau on Monday announced his resignation as both the Prime Minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party, putting an end to days of speculation amid rising discontent with his leadership. “Over the holidays I had time to reflect,” he said before announcing that: “I intend to resign as party leader, as Prime Minister after the party selects its next leader.” He will remain in office until the Liberal Party selects a new leader. Pressure has been mounting on him from within the party and outside to step down. The resignation of close ally Chrystia Freeland as deputy prime HMPV cases in India: Much ado about nothing 5 cases reported so far; needless scare, assure healthcare experts Ka v i ta B aje l i - D att @ New Delhi India reported five cases of the globally circulating human metapneumovirus (HMPV), which is seeing an outbreak in China, causing worldwide panic as it comes five years after the Covid-19 pandemic. While two children each tested positive for the virus in Bengaluru and Chennai, one such case was reported in Ahmedabad. In its pushback, the government emphasised that HMPV is self-limiting and manageable. Union health minister J P Nadda said it is not a new virus as it was first identified in 2001 2001 bug and has been circulating in the entire world Nadda says no ever since. “There is reason to worry; it no reason to worry he ,” was first added. identified in 2001 State governments Virus is selfin Karnataka, Tamil limiting and Nadu, Maharashtra manageable, says and Delhi issued guidehealth ministry lines for its prevention (See box). While two Karnataka, TN, infants were detected Delhi, with HMPV in BenMaharashtra issue galuru, with no interadvisories on national travel history , prevention one case was reported Cover the mouth in Gujarat. Later in and nose while the day, two children sneezing/ tested positive for coughing, wash HMPV in Chennai. hands, wear “The Indian Council masks in crowded of Medical Research places (ICMR) has detected two cases of Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) in Karnataka. Both cases were identified through routine surveillance for multiple respiratory viral pathogens, as part of ICMR’s ongoing efforts to monitor respiratory illnesses across the country the gov,” ernment said in a statement. World Health Organization’s former chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said on X, “ According to @ICMRDELHI, #HMPV accounts for about 3% of respiratory pathogens detected in the laboratory network, testing ILI and SARI cases. Influenza A & B, SARSCoV2 & RSV are other circulating viruses.” SC seeks Odisha & CBI’s reply on Dara’s remission plea S u ch i t r a Ka lyan M ohanty @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Monday asked the CBI to file its reply on the remission plea of Ravindra Pal alias Dara Singh, who is serving life sentence for the ghastly killing of Australian missionary Graham Staines  and his two minor sons in Keonjhar district in 1999. Before asking the CBI to file its reply in four weeks, a twojudge bench of the apex court, led by Justice Hrishikesh Roy and Justice SVN Bhatti impleaded the agency as the second respondent in the case. Singh, though his lawyer, had requested the apex court to implead the CBI as one of the parties/respondents saying that it was the investigating agency in the case. Singh, in his application, sought more liberal remission policy to ensure his premature release from a prison in the state where he is lodged for more than 24 years and 11 Continued on P5 months.  minister and finance minister in December dealt a significant blow. Freeland’s departure was reportedly due to policy disagreements with Trudeau, particularly over the his approach to possible US tariffs under Donald Trump and his overall economic strategy In Septem. ber, his government was weakened after the New Democratic Party led by Jagmeet Singh withdrew support. Under Trudeau, Canada’s relations with India soured over his government’s alleged support to Khalistani separatists and his claims of New Delhi’s involvement in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Khalistani leader in Canada. He has held the prime minister’s office since 2014. Modi lays foundation for new rly div at Rayagada, says will benefit tribal region E x p r e s s N e w s Se v i ce @ Bhubaneswar Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday laid the foundation stone of the newly-created Rayagada Railway Division building of East Coast Railway (ECoR) along with two more projects in Jammu and Kashmir and Telangana in virtual mode from New Delhi. The prime minister said the new railway division at Rayagada will strengthen the state’s railway infrastructure, particularly benefiting southern Odisha, which has a higher concentration of tribal population. The infrastructure development under the Janman Yojana will be a blessing for the underdeveloped tribal areas, he said. “With the blessings of Lord Jagannath, Odisha is endowed with a treasure of natural resources and a vast coastline. Odisha has immense potential for international trade. With the objective of furthering economic development, several railway projects worth over `70,000 crore are underway in the state. Seven Gati Shakti cargo terminals have been inaugurated which will boost trade and industries,” he said. Attending the foundation stone laying ceremony at Rayagada, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said with improved connectivity, Rayagada is poised to become a major industrial centre in the near future, he said. “Today is a significant day for us as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid the foundation stone for the Rayagada Railway Division. This project will improve rail infrastructure in southern Odisha and facilitate the growth of industries in the region,” Majhi said. Sullivan powers nuclear deal on his farewell visit J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi THE US is in the final stage of removing all hurdles that kept the civil nuclear deal between the two countries a non-starter, outgoing US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said here on Monday . As part of the move, the US will remove Indian entities including the Indira Gandhi Atomic Research Centre and the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre from its restricted list. India and the US had decided to cooperate in civil nuclear energy in July 2005, following a meeting between then Trudeau picture prime minister Manmohan Singh and US president George W Bush. The IndiaUS civil nuclear agreement was signed in 2008. However, there was no tangible progress in the civil nuclear energy sector as India pushed a ‘liability law’ while the US kept Indian nuclear entities in its restrictive list. The US opposed India’s nuclear liability law, which held the supplier of N-plants also accountable for any potential nuclear accident, saying it deviated from the global norm of holding only the operator liable for mishaps. The chief minister said the central government under the leadership of Modi and cooperation of Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has allocated `73,723 crore for railway development in Odisha. This apart, 59 railway stations in the state are redeveloped under the Amrit Station Yojana. “Our government is committed to fulfilling its promises. Modi’s guarantee is not just a promise, but a guarantee of fulfilment. We have been doing that since the BJP government came to power in the state,” Majhi added. The new railway division being built at a cost of `107 crore will have modern office infrastructure, including a DRM office building, divisional control office, and residential facilities for staff. Vaishnaw joined the programme from Jammu while minister of state for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu was present at Rayagada. Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati joined the from Bhubaneswar. Over the holidays I had time to reflect. I intend to resign as party leader, as prime minister after the party selects its next leader... Last night I asked the president of the Liberal Party to start that process Justin Trudeau Resignation may fuel calls for early polls Justin Trudeau’s resignation is expected to fuel renewed calls for an early election to put a government in place swiftly to deal with the incoming Donald Trump administration in the US. Trump has proposed a 25% tax on all Canadian goods entering the US. Going by opinion polls, the Liberal Party is likely to suffer a major defeat in the upcoming polls Big Maoist strike in 20 months, 8 jawans killed E ja z k a i s e r @ Raipur Eight District Reserve Guard (DRG) personnel and a civilian driver were killed in a powerful blast triggered by the outlawed CPI (Maoist) in strifetorn Bijapur district, about 400 km south of Raipur. The blast was carried out on Monday when a joint team was returning from anti-Maoist operations. This incident marks the first major attack by Maoists since April 26, 2023, when 10 jawans were killed in an IED blast in Dantewada. According to Sundarraj P, Bastar range inspector general of police, the IED blast targeted a vehicle carrying the security personnel, leaving a 15 ft wide and 6 ft deep crater. The explosion was so intense that it tossed the vehicle high into the air, ripping it into pieces. It is believed that the rebels had planted around 40 kg of explosives beneath the road. The DRG personnel were on their way to the base camp from Abujhmad to Dantewada via Bijapur in the illfated vehicle. It is believed that the Maoists were aware about the return Security forces cordon off a crater at the blast site on the Bedre-Kutru road in Bijapur district, Chhattisgarh | Express of the forces along the route. Brigadier (Retd) B K Ponwar said, “It was not a cowardly attack but a guerrilla attack carried out at the weakest point of the security forces. It’s an unfortunate incident that was avoidable.” He emphasized that the basic rules of warfare should not be flouted, especially in a virtual war zone. Chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai has ordered a probe. The state government aims to eliminate the influence of Maoists by March 2026.