BHUBANESWAR  SUNDAY  MARCH 23, 2025  `12.00  PAGES 24  LATE CITY EDITION RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE SILENT FOREVER: FOREMAN NO MORE Former heavyweight champion George Foreman, who lost to Muhammad Ali in boxing’s iconic 1974 “Rumble in the Jungle”, died on Friday. He was 76 SCHOOL DROPOUT TO A WORLD CHAMPION Born in Texas on January 10, 1949, George Foreman grew up in Houston. The man who raised him was frequently absent and often drunk. Fondly known as Big George, he dropped out of school and despite facing adversities went on to become an Olympic gold medallist, two-time world champion and a legend of boxing Muhammad Ali (left) squares up against George Foreman in 1974 | AP 81 BIG FIGURES INCLUDING TRUMP PAY RESPECTS ■ US President Donald Trump said “GREAT FIGHTER” whom he “knew well”. Legendary promoter Bob Arum saluted Foreman as “one of the biggest punchers and personalities the sport has ever seen.” ■ “His contribution to boxing and beyond will never be forgotten,” former champion Mike Tyson wrote on X HE FOUGHT 81 TIMES AS A PROFESSIONAL, WINNING 76, 68 OF THOSE BY KNOCKOUT 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 ALLEGED DIRTY MONEY CJI forms 3-member panel to probe charges against Delhi HC judge S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi CHIEF Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna on Saturday constituted a three-member committee to probe into the allegations of illegal cash stash in the house of Justice Yashwant Varma, a Delhi High Court judge. The CJI constituted the committee after receiving a report from Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, in the matter. The CJI had on Friday directed Justice Upadhyaya to initiate an in-house enquiry into the allegations. Besides, the CJI is exploring the possibility of Justice Varma’s transfer. Later in the day the Supreme , Court released 25 pages of documents, including the response of Justice Varma, the Delhi HC Chief Justice Upadhyaya’s recommendation for a probe to the CJI, photos and the fire depart- Delimitation meet proposes freezing LS seats for 25 yrs First JAC meet resolves to submit representation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi; State Assemblies to pass resolution Population can’t be sole criteria, asserts BJD president Centre planning delimitation without consultation as it is driven by “narrow political interests” and not by Constitutional principles or democratic imperatives ment’s video purportedly showing what appeared to be partially burnt currency notes. Justice Upadhyaya’s letter says since the room that caught fire on March 15 was cleaned up the next day, “I am of the prima facie opinion that the entire matter warrants a deeper probe” because no outsider had access to it. For his part, Justice Varma claimed he had no access to the room that was unlocked and outside his dwelling. The panel constituted by the CJI comprises Justice Sheel Nagu, Chief Justice of the High Court of Punjab & Haryana, Justice G S Sandhawalia, Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh, and Justice Anu Sivaraman, judge of the Karnataka High Court. The Delhi CJ has been asked not to assign any judicial work to Justice Varma, as per a Supreme Court release. EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan We won’t accept populationbased delimitation as states like UP, Rajasthan, Bihar, and MP will then dominate rest of the country. We cannot accept it any cost Telangana CM A Revanth Reddy Though the number of seats in Punjab may go up, the state’s percentage of seats in LS may drop from 2.39% to 2.11%, if the total LS seats is increased to 850 Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann Karnataka, TN, and every progressive state in this room face a stark choice: submit to domination or rise in resistance. We have chosen resistance EXPRESS READ K’taka Deputy CM D K Shivakumar Widespread showers bring relief from heat Delimitation based only on population will be unfair to the states that have worked hard to reduce their population growth rates in line with national priorities Bhubaneswar: The blistering spell of heatwave in Odisha was brought to a halt by widespread rains across half the state in the last 24 hours. Berhampur city received the heaviest rainfall on Saturday. Due to heavy rains and strong winds, waterlogging and uprooting of trees were reported from Berhampur. The Odisha Fire and Emergency Service personnel launched water evacuation at various places and removed felled trees near the national highway, on MKCG Medical College and Hospital premises of the city | P3 BJD president Naveen Patnaik States should insist that their current proportionate representation in the LS is maintained, regardless of whether the number of seats go up or not Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin @ Bhubaneswar (From right) Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, Telangana CM A Revanth Reddy, Karnataka Deputy CM D K Shivakumar, CM M K Stalin, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, and BRS working president K T Rama Rao, along with other JAC members in Chennai on Saturday | PTI K E Z H I L A R A S A N @ Chennai THE first Joint Action Committee (JAC) meeting on delimitation convened by DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday unanimously adopted a resolution demanding that the freeze on the parliamentary constituencies based on the 1971 Census population be extended by another 25 years as it was done in 2001. The meeting in which Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, his Telangana and Punjab counterparts, Revanth Reddy and Bhagwant Mann, Karnataka Deputy CM D K Shivakumar, and around 20 other leaders of different parties from six states took part, also laid a road map for taking forward the fight legally and politically . The resolution pointed out that the 42nd, 84th, and 87th constitutional amendments, which delayed populationbased delimitation at various points in the past, were to protect/incentivise states that had implemented population control measures effectively . It said there is a need to extend the freeze by another 25 years since the goal of national population stabilisation has not been achieved yet. Saying that the states whose population share came down due to the population control Protest is only for ‘fair delimitation’: Stalin DMK raises emotional issues eyeing polls: FM Chennai: This protest is not against delimitation. I think everyone will agree that this protest is for ‘fair delimitation’, said Chief Minister M K Stalin. He also said a legal option could be explored and favoured setting up of an expert panel to draw up the political and legal action plan on the issue. Chennai: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday charged the DMK with raising “emotional” issues like alleged Hindi imposition and delimitation as the Dravidian party has nothing to showcase as its achievements before the voters during the next year’s Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu. programme should not be penalised, the resolution also urged the union government to enact necessary constitutional amendments for this purpose. The JAC expressed concern on the alleged lack of transparency and clarity in the impending delimitation exercise from the union government and the absence of consultation with various stakeholders. It appreciated CM Stalin for taking up this initiative to “safeguard the political and economic future of the performing states in India,” a release from the state government later said. “Any delimitation exercise carried out by the union government to improve the content and character of democracy should be carried out transparently, enabling political parties of all the states, state governments and other SC team visits strife-torn regions of Manipur, asks locals to hold on to the hope of peace Rioters could face bulldozer action: Fadnavis S U D H I R S U R YA W A N S H I @ Mumbai MAHARASHTRA Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday warned of bulldozer action against the Nagpur rioters if they fail to pay the damages incurred during the recent communal riots. It flew in the face of a Supreme Court ruling in November last year that demolishing properties solely because occupants are accused or convicted of crimes, without due process, is unconstitutional. Fadnavis, after taking stock of the situation, said that his government would recover the cost of damages to properties during the clashes from the rioters. “If the rioters fail to pay up, bulldozer action will be initiated. We would seize their properties and sell them to recover the damage,” he said, and added that the compensation for the riot victims would be distributed soon. The CM held a meeting with senior officers at the police commissioner’s office and reviewed the police response to the riots. He said that no one would be spared for attacking the police. “My government will not rest until those responsible for attacking the police are found and dealt with sternly,” he said. P R A S A N TA M A Z U M D A R @ Guwahati A delegation of Supreme Court judges led by Justice B R Gavai visited Manipur on Saturday and expressed hope that peace will return to the state roiled by ethnic violence sooner rather than later. “We know that all of you are going through a difficult phase. But with the assistance of everyone — the executive, the legislature and the judiciary — this phase will be over within a short period,” Justice Gavai told a gathering in Churachandpur. “It is our Constitution that has kept us united and strong. Have faith in our Constitution. The Constitution will ensure that peace returns to Manipur one day,” he said. Justice Gavai, who is the executive chairman of the National Legal Services Authority added, “Our Constitu, tion aims at justice — social, economic and political. The Constitution aims for all citizens in the country to have access to justice in a speedy manner and at an affordable rate.” Justice Gavai virtually inaugurated free legal services camps and medical camps on the occasion. The delegation also comprised Justices Vikram Nath, M M Sundresh, K V Viswanathan and N Kotiswar Singh. However, Jus- tice Singh, who belongs to the Meitei community, chose not to visit the Kuki-majority Churachandpur district over an objection raised by a lawyers’ body there. Later, the judges paid a visit to relief camps in the Bishnupur district of the Imphal Valley and met with those staying there. While talking to the media, Justice Singh exuded confidence that their visit to the strife-torn state would offer the residents a ray of hope for their future. “We must look forward to a brighter future where we can live together. It may take time, but we must have that hope. We must all be positive,” he said. We know that all of you are going through a difficult phase. But with the assistance of everyone — the executive, the legislature and the judiciary — this phase will be over within a short period Justice B R Gavai SENSITISATION Mind your language on elephants, media urged E J A Z K A I S E R @ Raipur IN their race for sensational news to grab viewed eyeballs, certain media organisations tend to go overboard, using inappropriate adjectives for human-animal conflicts. Take elephants. Some media persons in the Hindi heartland dramatise reportage on their conflict with humans by describing the gentle giants as aatanki (terrorist), utpaati (oppressor), hatyaara (murderer), hinsak (violent), pagal (mad), bigdail (spoilt), gussail (irascible) and ziddi (stubborn). It disturbed the Chhattisgarh Forest Department enough to issue an advisory expressing their dismay over the frequent use of such inappropriate words. Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest Prem Kumar said such metaphors strike fear among the people and create a negative perce ption about the pachyderms. Chhattisgarh is the first state to voice concerns about the use of such negative language for elephants in news reports about animals wreaking havoc on agricultural fields and rampaging through areas populated by humans. The forest department’s plea for toning down the rhetoric against elephants comes at a time when concerns about human-animal conflict remain high. “Elephants hold great significance in India. They are an integral part of our culture, religious beliefs and traditions. Therefore, a conflict between us and elephants must not be presented as a confrontation,” the officer said, stressing the need to promote coexistence. Elephants are described as a “keystone species” and “ecosystem engineers”, thanks to the key role they play in maintaining the ecological balance in forests. stakeholders to deliberate, discuss and contribute to it,” the resolution said. It said a core committee consisting of MPs from the represented states will coordinate parliamentary strategies to counter any attempts by the union government to undertake a delimitation exercise contrary to the principles articulated by the JAC. The committee will submit a joint representation to the PM during the ongoing parliamentary session. It was also decided that the parties taking part in the meeting would initiate efforts to bring appropriate resolutions in their respective Legislative Assemblies in this regard. Telangana CM Revanth Reddy proposed that the next meeting of the JAC be conducted in Hyderabad. BJD president Naveen Patnaik on Saturday voiced concerns over population being made the sole criteria for delimitation of Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies, and called upon the Union government to clear all doubts on the exercise through thorough discussions with all parties. Even as he had deputed two senior party leaders Sanjay Das Burma and Amar Patnaik to attend the joint action committee (JAC) meeting convened by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin in Chennai, Naveen chose to take part in it virtually from Bhubaneswar. Addressing the JAC, Naveen said the meeting was important to uphold democracy, particularly in context of representation and rights of people living in states that have done very well in controlling and stabilising population. He asserted that his party will take all possible measures to protect the interests of the people of Odisha. Emphasising that population control is an important national agenda that directly contributes to the country’s development, the former chief minister said states also took their own initiatives and successfully implemented the national CONTINUED ON P5 agenda. WITH THIS ISSUE THE UGLY INDIAN TOURIST PLUS 12 PAGES