Telangana in financial distress: Revanth Reddy The state’s financial situation is pretty bad as and the government is unable to raise funds as bankers don’t trust it, CM Revanth Reddy said on Monday. He said bankers are looking at representatives of the government as ‘thieves’. The comments came in response to demands from government employees for higher wages SAMBALPUR l tuesday l may 06, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l CITY EDITION 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 Russian President accepts Modi’s invitation to visit India for annual high-level meeting Putin calls PM, supports fight against terror Japan on same page Visiting Japanese defence minister Gen Nakatani met his Indian counterpart Rajnaand offered “full support” to India’s war against terror Par panel seeks info A parliamentary panel sought details from two ministries on the action they planned against social media platforms that “seem to be working against national interest” stop fund, adb urged Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made a strong pitch to ADB to stop giving funds to Pakistan as it backs terror activities J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday expressed full support to India in its fight against terror, emphasising during a phone call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi that those responsible for the heinous attack in Pahalgam —and their supporters— must be brought to justice. The conversation took place ahead of a closed-door United Nations Security Council meeting requested by Pakistan. “He (President Putin) conveyed deepest condolences on the loss of innocent lives and expressed full support to India in the fight against terrorism. He emphasised that the perpetrators of the heinous attack and their supporters must be brought to justice,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. “Both sides emphasised the need for an uncompromising fight against terrorism in all its forms,” said the readout from Russia. Highlighting the “strategic nature of Russian-Indian relations as a special and privileged partnership,” President Putin reiterated that the relationship is not “subject to external influence and continues to develop dynamically across all areas.” Modi invited Putin for the annual summit to be held in India later in the year which was accepted by the Russian leader. Pakistan, currently serving as a non-permanent member of the 15-nation Security Council, called for the meeting amid rising tensions with India. Greece, which holds the Council presidency for May has scheduled the session for the , afternoon of May 5. The meeting is scheduled to start at 12.30 am IST, Tuesday . Waqf Act pleas transferred to next CJI S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi All gates of Salal Dam on the Chenab river in Reasi district, J&K, closed | pti hold mock drills, govt tells states RA J E SH K U M AR THA K UR @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday chaired a series of high-level meetings with senior government officials after an earlier meeting with Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh amid indications that a military response to the Pahalgam massacre is around the corner. The gover nment has already weaponised the Indus Waters Treaty by shutting a couple of dams on the Chenab after flushing out their silt. The Union home Ministry issued an advisory to several states asking them to conduct mock drills on May 7 for effective preparedness of the civil defence system. The meeting Modi had with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Home Secretary Govind Mohan and senior military officials is learnt to have focused on the final stages of preparedness against the perpetrators of the Pahalgam terror attack. It went on for over an hour. Earlier in the day Modi had , a 40-minute meeting with the defence secretary. Defence chiefs have already briefed the PM individually and jointly on their preparedness for retaliation against rogue elements fostering terror. The home ministry’s advisory to hold mock drills as part of emergency preparedness, indicates India has firmed up some military action against Pakistan that could be executed after May 7, remarked a source. U.N. urges maximum restraint UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday expressed grave concern about the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, saying that the relationship between the two countries has reached a “boiling point” and that tensions are at their “highest in years”. He warned that “military confrontation can spin out of control”. The Supreme Court on Monday said that a batch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act will now be taken up by a bench headed by Chief Justice of India-designate Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai on May 15. During the hearing on Monday the court said that the Cen, tre has raised some points on registration of Waqf properties, which would require detailed hearing. “I do not want to reserve any judgment, or even interim order, at this stage. This matter will have to be heard on a reasonably early date and this will not be before me. If you all agree, we post it before a bench of Justice Gavai,” said, the CJI Sanjiv Khanna, who is set to retire on May 13. All the parties accepted the court’s suggestion to fix May 15 as the next date to hear the batch of petitions. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, senior law officer for the Centre, assured the court that it would neither denotify waqf properties, including ‘waqf by user’, nor make any appointments to the Central Waqf Council and boards till further hearing. The court was hearing five petitions—out of more than 100 filed before it—after noting that it was impossible to hear all the pleas in the matter, as more or less, the prayers were strikingly similar. Digha temple row No Srimandir Daru used in carving idols of deities: Law min A team of SJTA officials including temple chief administrator Arabinda Padhee and AMID the raging controversy Law secretary Manas Ranjan over the newly-inaugurated Barik had questioned DasmaJagannath temple at Digha, hapatra and several other serstate Law minister Prithviraj vitors of Srimandir including Harichandan has clarithe Maharana sevayats fied that no surplus on the matter over the Daru (sacred neem last three days. The wood from the SriSJTA has also sought mandir Nabakalebara an explanation from ritual) has been used Dasmohapatra on his for construction of misleading remarks, idols of Lord Jaganwithin seven days. If nath, Devi Subhadra his explanation is not and Lord Balabhadra satisfactory, the temin the West Bengal ple administration Dasmohapatra temple. had got the idols will take action against After the Shree Jag- carved of neem him as per the temple annath Temple AdminAct. wood by istration (SJTA) sub“Dasmohapatra, Bhubaneswarbased sculptor mitted its inquiry who had earlier indiSudarshan re por t on Monday, cated that surplus NaMaharana. No Harichandan told mebakalebara Daru was Daru was used diapersons that the Daused for making Digha for the purpose itapati Nijog secretary idols, has clarified that Ramakrushna Dasmothe statement was a Prithiviraj Harichandan, hapatra had got the slip of tongue and he Law minister idols carved of neem had no intention in wood by Bhubaneswarsaying so. Further, the based sculptor Sudarshan Ma- Maharana sevayats (temple harana and no Daru was used carpenters) said it is not techfor the purpose, as he had nically possible to carve out claimed before some news three 2.5-ft idols from the surchannels in West Bengal. plus Daru,” the minister said. “It is now clear that the stateHarichandan pointed out a ments given by Dasmohapatra mistake committed by the then were complete lies. These state government in 1995-96 as statements had hurt the reli- far as keeping the surplus gious sentiments of all Jagan- Daru in Srimandir’s Daru Continued on P5 nath devotees,” he said. Ghara.  E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar