BHUBANESWAR  THURSDAY  JANUARY 16, 2025  `9.00  PAGES 12  LATE CITY EDITION META INDIA APOLOGISES FOR ZUCK’S REMARK THAT NDA LOST LS POLLS Meta India on Wednesday apologised for CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s incorrect claim that the NDA government lost the 2024 Lok Sabha elections INADVERTENT ERROR, SAYS TECH FIRM’S V-P COMPANY AVOIDS PARLIAMENTARY SUMMONS Meta India’s Vice President Shivnath Thukral took to X on Wednesday to tender an apology on behalf of the company for the “inadvertent error”. “Mark’s observation that many incumbent parties were not re-elected in 2024 holds true for several countries, BUT not India,” Thukral said responding to Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw’s criticism of the remark ■ ■ BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, who heads Parliament’s panel on Communications and Information Technology, said the matter is now closed. He had earlier said the panel will summon Meta India | P7 Zuckerberg triggered a row by claiming in a podcast that the NDA government lost the 2024 election due to its weak Covid response 1 billion USERS FOR META APPS—WHATSAPP, FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM—IN INDIA 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 to roll out NEP at school-level in phases D I A N A S A H U @ Bhubaneswar AFTER higher education, the National Education Policy (NEP)-2020 will be implemented at school-level in Odisha. In a notification, the School and Mass Education department on Wednesday informed that for strengthening of the educational system, NEP-2020 will be implemented in the state and the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) with local contextualisation will be adopted as the State Curriculum Framework for Odisha. One of the most important changes NEP aims to bring to the school education system is the transition from the examcentric 10+2 schooling design to the new 5+3+3+4 pedagogical structure which comprises 12 years of school and 3 years of pre-schooling. The new structure focuses on age-specific learning and evaluation. According to the Ministry of Education, schooling will be divided into four stages based on age-specific learning foundational stage for ages 3 to 8, preparatory stage for ages 8 to 11, middle stage for ages 11 to 14, and secondary stage for ages 14 to 18. Students will spend five years in the foundational, three years in the preparatory, three years in the middle, and the final four years in the secondary stages. The five years of foundational learning will start from anganwadi (pre-school) and continue till Class 2 which will mostly be activity-based learning. The three years of preparatory stage will be from Class 3 to 5 which will focus on language and numeracy skills. Similarly, the middle stage from Class 6 to 8 will incorporate learning in science, math- It will be done in a phased manner and in the first phase, the shift will be implemented in the foundational stage in the upcoming new academic session of 2025-26 – Shalini Pandit ematics, humanities, social science, among other subjects. The final secondary stage will be covered in two phases - Class 9 and 10 and Class 11 and 12. Commissioner-cum-secretary to the School and Mass Education department Shalini Pandit said the transition from 10+2 to the new education structure will not happen overnight. “It will be done in a phased manner and in the first phase, the shift will be implemented in the foundational stage in the upcoming new academic session of 2025-26,” she said. As far as the NCF is concerned, the department will soon form a committee to frame the state curriculum frameCONTINUED ON P5 work. Exports down for 2nd month in a row in Dec ’24 EX P R ESS N E WS S E RV I CE @ New Delhi Sonia Gandhi inaugurates the new All India Congress Committee HQ at 9A, Kotla Road, in New Delhi on Wednesday | PTI Rahul’s claim of fighting Indian state draws BJP ire PA R V E Z S U LTA N A N D R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R @ New Delhi A rather sharp attack by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday against RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s recent remarks, drew heavy retaliatory fire from BJP’s biggies. At the inaugural event of the party’s headquarters here, Rahul criticised Bhagwat’s claim that India achieved “true independence” only after the Ram temple consecration, saying it amounts to treason. “Bhagwat has the audacity to say to the country what he thinks about the independence movement and the Constitution. What he said yesterday is treason… Because he is stating that the Constitution is invalid and the fight against the British was invalid... In any other country, he would have been arrested and tried,” Rahul claimed. Rahul went on to say that the BJP and RSS have captured almost every institution in our country, adding the Congress is now fighting not just both of them but the Indian state itself. In its pushback, the BJP launched a bazooka against Rahul for claiming the Congress was fighting the Indian state. Party president J P Nadda, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, IT cell head Amit Malviya and others castigated Rahul for his ‘objectionable’ remark, adding it exposed his mindset against India. The BJP and RSS have captured every single institution in this country and we are now fighting the BJP, the RSS and the Indian state itself Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader Congress has a history of encouraging all those forces who want a weak India. Their greed for power meant compromising the nation’s integrity J P Nadda, BJP president “I compliment Mr Rahul Gandhi for saying clearly what nation knows that he is fighting the Indian state. It is not a secret that Mr Gandhi and his ecosystem have close links with Urban Naxal and the deep state who want to defame, demean and discredit India,” Nadda alleged. Sitharaman wondered why Rahul carried a copy of the Constitution when he was using such language. Malviya said, “Rahul Gandhi has now declared an open war against the Indian State itself. This is straight out of George Soros’s playbook”. The Congress got its new headquarters 47 years after the party made bungalow No. 24, Akbar Road its temporary head office. Parliamentary Party chief Sonia Gandhi inaugurated the swanky office. Party president Mallikarjun Kharge said Indira Bhawan, the new HQ, had been built on the foundation of democracy, nationalism, secularism, inclusive development and social justice. INDIA’s merchandise exports contracted 1% year-on-year even as imports rose 4.9% in December 2024, government data released on Wednesday showed. The trade deficit narrowed to $21.94 in December month-onmonth compared to $32 billion in November as gold imports halved to $4.7 billion. In November 2024, gold imports had surged 186% year-on-year to $9.9 billion. In December 2023, the merchandise trade deficit was $18.76 billion. Services exports during the month rose by 3.25% year-onyear, while imports grew 12%. Total trade deficit (merchandise plus services) widened to $6.78 billion in December 2024 compared to $2.76 billion in the yearago period. Merchandise exports during April-December 2024 were $321.71 billion compared to $316.65 billion during April-December 2023. Merchandise imports during the period were $532.48 billion compared to $506.39 billion a year ago. Merchandise trade deficit during the nine-month period of the current financial year widened to $210.77 billion from $189.74 billion a year ago. Total exports during AprilDecember 2024 is estimated at $602.64 billion, registering 6.03% growth. Deal reached to pause Gaza war, free hostages Will kick in on Sunday, says Qatar premier; Trump takes credit for the ceasefire pact AGENCIES The deal is expected to deliver an initial six-week halt to AFTER more than 15 months of fighting that is to be accompagrueling war, Israel and Hamas nied by the opening of negotiaagreed to a ceasefire deal and tions on ending the war altothe release of dozens of hostag- gether. Egypt is exploring the es, multiple officials confirmed possibility of opening the Raon Wednesday . fah crossing to sent aid. Trump, who had warned HaThe deal promises the release mas of hell to pay if it did not of dozens of hostages held by free the remaining capHamas in phases in extives before he took ofchange for the release fice, said, “We have a of hundreds of Palesdeal for the hostages in tinian prisoners in Isthe Middle East. They rael. It would also alwill be released shortly. low hundreds of Thank you!” thousands of people The deal comes after displaced in Gaza to mediators Qatar, Egypt retur n to what reand the United States inmains of their homes. tensified their efforts in Soon after the news recent days to cement an We have a deal broke, thousands of for the hostages agreement. Qatari Prime Gazans gathered in in the Middle Minister Mohammed groups, hugging and East. They will bin Abdulrahman Al taking photos with be released Thani said the deal their mobile phones to shortly. would come into effect Thank you mark the announceon Sunday . ment in central Gaza’s Donald Trump Three officials from Deir el-Balah and oththe US and one from Haer area. Earlier, over mas confirmed that a deal had 100 hostages were freed from been reached, while Netanya- Gaza in 2023. hu’s office said that final details Trump said his Mideast enwere still unresolved, but that it voy, Steve Witkoff, would conhoped “details will be finalised tinue “to work closely with Istonight”. The pact is expected rael and our Allies to make sure to discussed by the Israeli cabi- Gaza NEVER again becomes a net on Thursday . terrorist safe haven”. US President Joe Biden Hamas triggered the war hailed the breakthrough agree- with its October 7, 2023, attack, ment, asserting it is the result which killed some 1,200 Israeof the pressure and isolation lis. Israel responded with a placed on Hamas along with de- fierce offensive that has killed termined US diplomacy . 46,000 Palestinians. Protesting relatives and friends of people killed and abducted by Hamas and taken into Gaza, relieved after news broke on the truce deal, in Tel Aviv, on Wednesday | AP ON TOP India women posted the highest total for the country (across genders) in ODIs — 435/5 — beating Ireland by 304 runs in Rajkot | P11 Sue mastermind of Pannun plot, says top panel M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi A high-powered committee set up by the government in the wake of a botched operation to bump off Khalistani radical Gurupatwant Singh Pannun on US soil, recommended legal action against ‘an individual’ who masterminded the plot. While the report did not name the individual, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) identified him as Vikash Yadav. In its lookout notice, the FBI said Yadav was wanted in a “murderfor-hire case; conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire; and money laundering”. The US District Court, Southern District of New York, issued an arrest warrant against him on October 10, 2024. The home ministry said in a statement that the panel was formed in 2023 to probe the individual’s links with the drug mafia and criminal gangs after allegations that a plot was hatched to disturb American security interest in 2023. “After a long enquiry, the Committee has recommended legal action against an individual, whose earlier criminal links and antecedents also came to notice during the enquiry,” the ministry said. Yadav was with the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) when the alleged plot to bump off Pannun went sideways. He was later sacked. The ministry said the panel rec- ommended expeditious legal action against him. While announcing the constitution of the high-powered committee in November 2023, the External Affairs Ministry had said it will look into all relevant aspects of the matter. “The Enquiry Committee conducted its own investigations and also pursued leads provided by the US side. It received full cooperation from US authorities and the two sides also exchanged visits. The Committee further examined a number of officials from different agencies and also scrutinised relevant docu- Yadav and his co-conspirator arranged for an associate to deliver $15,000 in cash in New York as an advance payment for the murder —FBI’s wanted person notice ments in this connection.” It added that the panel recommended “functional improvements in systems and procedures as also initiation of steps that could strengthen India’s response capability ensure system, atic controls and coordinated action in dealing with matters like this”. Yadav is accused of recruiting Nikhil Gupta in May 2023 to hire the killer, who turned out to be an undercover US agent. Gupta was arrested in Prague and was subsequently extradited to the US. In December 2023, Yadav was arrested by Delhi Police in a case of kidnapping and extortion lodged against him. He is currently on bail in this case. The home ministry’s statement comes days before president-elect Donald Trump takes the oath of office in the US. HC commutes death penalty to life term for 9 in triple murder E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Cuttack DEATH sentence awarded to nine persons convicted in the 2016 Rayagada triple murder over sorcery suspicion was commuted to life imprisonment by the Orissa High Court here on Wednesday . The convicts had faced trial for murder under Indian Penal Code and Odisha Prevention of Witch-Hunting Act, 2013. The Rayagada villagers Dengun Sabar, Dasunta Sabar, Aajanta Sabar, Padhantu Sabar, Dalasa Sabar, Malku Sabar, Bubuna Sabar, Lakiya Sabar and Iru Sabar - had branded the victims Asina Sabar, his wife Amabaya Sabar and elder daughter Ashamani Sabar as witches, holding them responsible for the deaths of children in their village. Accusing the trio of practising sorcery, the accused had assaulted the three before injecting pesticides in their sensitive body parts and buried them alive. Later, the accused exhumed the bodies and set them ablaze. Terming it a rarest of rare case, the court of additional sessions judge, Gunupur had awarded death sentence to nine of them on October 21, 2021. While the state government filed a Death Sentence Reference Case for confirmation of death penalty the nine convicts , filed a criminal appeal basing on which the HC commuted the death penalty to life imprisonment without remission and commutation. The division bench of Justices Sangam Kumar Sahoo and RK Pattanaik said the state has not placed on record any evidence to show that there is no possibility with respect to reformation or rehabilitation of the appellants. The reports furnished by senior superintendent of Koraput Jail in which the appellants have been lodged for more than eight years show that their conduct during incarceration has been satisfactory, the bench stated. CONTINUED ON P5