BHUBANESWAR  SUNDAY  MAY 25, 2025  `12.00  PAGES 24  LATE CITY EDITION LIKE A BAD DREAM, COVID CASES CREEP UP; EXPERTS SAY NO WORRY One case of the newly emerging COVID-19 variant NB.1.8.1 and four instances of LF.7 type were detected in India, according to INSACOG data WHO SAYS IT’S NOT A VARIANT OF CONCERN MAN, 84, WITH COMORBIDITIES DIES IN B’LURU As of May 2025, the World Health Organization (WHO) classifies LF.7 and NB.1.8 subvariants as ‘Variants being Monitored’, not as ‘Variants of Concern’ or ‘Variants of Interest’. But these are the variants that are reportedly driving the rise in Covid cases in China and parts of Asia. In India, the most common variant remains JN.1, comprising 53% of samples ■ ■ Delhi recorded 23 new cases, Thane 10, Andhra Pradesh recorded four in the last 24 hours, Telangana confirmed one. In Bengaluru, a 84-year-old man with comorbidities, who also had Covid, died Doctors in Delhi advised people not to panic and said the new strains are not severe; and that most patients only reported mild symptoms 273 NEW CASES THAT WERE REPORTED IN KERALA THIS MONTH ALONE 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 Group photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Union ministers, chief ministers and administrators of various states and Union Territories at the NITI Aayog Governing Council meet in New Delhi on Saturday | PTI MODI CHANTS CENTRE-STATE UNITY MANTRA TO ACHIEVE VIKSIT GOAL M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi WITH THIS ISSUE STADIUM TO SCREEN PLUS 12 PAGES Monsoon arrives in Kerala 8 days before schedule EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ T’puram TWO people died in Kannur while widespread damage was reported from across the state, especially in the northern districts, as the Southwest monsoon made an early onset over Kerala on Saturday Bayas Oroy. ana, a Jharkhand native, died in a landslide while working on the NH 66. Earlier in the day, another landslide claimed the life of Ratheesh, 52, at Azhiyur in Kannur. The IMD has sounded red alert for Malapppuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod on Sunday. On Monday, all districts, barring Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Alappuzha, will be placed under red alert. In view of the landslide threat, the Idukki and Wayanad administrations have imposed restrictions on entry into tourist spots. In Wayanad, where a minor landslip was reported, the collector has ordered a halt to operation of quarries. This marks the earliest onset of the southwest monsoon in Kerala since 2009, when it set in on May 23. The IMD said this year’s onset was eight days ahead of the normal schedule of P3 June 1. PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday urged all states to develop at least one tourist destination at par with global standards by providing the full range of facilities, including infrastructure, while addressing the Governing Council of NITI Aayog. Giving special emphasis to tourism, he said, ‘One State, One Global Destination’, would lead to the development of neighbouring towns as well as tourist places. Chairing the 10th edition of the NITI Aayog’s Governing Council meeting, Modi said if the Union government and states work together like Team India, no goal is impossible to achieve. He urged all chief ministers to make the spirit of solidarity trickle down to the district OP SINDOOR NOT ONE-OFF INITIATIVE Modi said Operation Sindoor against Pakistan should not be treated as a one-off initiative, adding “we must adopt a longterm approach.” He urged all states to modernise their approach to civil preparedness and village levels. Noting that India collectively should work in a manner so as to bring change in the lives of common people, Modi said, “Only when people feel the change, it will transform into a national movement.” Modi also sought to expedite the pace of development. “We have to increase the speed of development,” he added. “This is the century of technology and it should be integrated in every field from governance to agriculture,” he said, adding: “Atmanirbhar Bharat and Vocal for Local are the strategies through which the vision of Viksit Bharat can be achieved. We should encourage it wholeheartedly .” The theme of this edition of the meeting was ‘Viksit Rajya for Viksit Bharat@2047’. “Viksit Bharat is the goal of every Indian. When every state is Viksit, then Bharat will be Viksit. This is the aspiration of its 140 crore citizens,” Modi said, adding that India is getting rapidly urbanised. The prime minister issued a call to work towards future ready cities. Growth, innovation and sustainabil- Forest guard shot dead by poachers near Satkosia TR team came face to face with a group of poachers, equipped with country-made firearms in IN a shocking incident, a forest a cashew orchard. When the paguard was gunned down by trol team confronted the poachpoachers during a late night pa- ers, the latter resorted to firing trol in Dhenkanal forest divi- in which Pradhan sustained sion, close to Satkosia Tiger Re- grievous injuries. serve, highlighting the Leading from the front, Pradvulnerability of frontline forest han showed exceptional courage staff and audacity of even after getting a bularmed criminals. let in his stomach. The Prahlad Pradhan (37) brave forest guard conwas the forest guard of tinued to chase the Sinkol beat and also the poachers and managed in-charge of Hindol secto overpower them with tion in Dhenkanal forest the support of his team. division. He was leading Prahlad Pradhan Moments later, he fell the patrol team. Chief unconscious and was Minister Mohan Charan Majhi rushed to Angul district headexpressed condolences and an- quarters hospital where he sucnounced `30 lakh ex gratia to cumbed, said Dhenkanal DFO the next of kin of the slain for- Sumit Kumar Kar. Chief wildlife warden (CWW) est guard. Official sources said the inci- Prem Kumar Jha, who rushed dent occurred at around 3 am on to Hindol, said there were four Saturday when a 13-member poachers in the group and all team led by Pradhan was on an have been arrested. The accused anti-poaching patrol in Kai re- Sibram Pradhan from Hindol, serve forest of Hindol section, Laxmidhar Aruk and Sunil Jena from Narasinghpur, and close to Tantichira village. The patrolling started on Fri- Purna Dehury from Tantichira day night and continued till ear- have been handed over to HinCONTINUED ON P5 ly hours of Saturday The forest dol police. . EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bhubaneswar/Dhenkanal POACHER ATTACK  Fatalities May 23, 2023 Forest guard Bimal Jena shot dead at Pithabata forest in Similipal Tiger Reserve June 17, 2023 Forester Mathy Hansdah gunned down in Upper Barhakamuda range of Similipal Tiger Reserve  Injuries April 21, 2022 Protection assistant Sunaram Singh sustained bullet injury in Dukura range of Similipal March 18, 2024 Two forest staff brave bullets during a patrol in Panchalingeswar beat of Kuldiha wildlife sanctuary ENGLAND SERIES Touch of hinterland as Gill set to lead Test team F I R O Z M I R Z A @ Chennai SHUBMAN Gill, the first India Test captain from Punjab since Bishan Singh Bedi (1976-78), will usher Indian cricket into a new era. Unlike Bedi, who though was born in Amritsar but played domestic cricket for Delhi, Gill, in fact, will be the first to have represented Punjab in age group cricket before being made the Test captain. With the England tour, Gill, who doesn’t hail from a cricketing power centre, is set to lead a squad of 18 mostly comprising players like him. Among the players for the five-Test series starting June 20, only five were born in metro cities like Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, considered hubs of Indian cricket. It can be argued that Rishabh Pant and Yashasvi Jaiswal represent Delhi and Mumbai, the two cities known for their cricketing culture, in the domestic circuit but even they shifted their base to pursue the game. Pant was born in Haridwar, Uttarakhand while Jaiswal’s birth place is Bhadohi in Uttar Pradesh. Similarly Shardul Thakur, , who is making a comeback, plies his trade for Mumbai but he was born in Palghar, a town in the Konkan division of Maharashtra. In the last 25 years, it w a s M S D h o n i f ro m R a n ch i , Jharkhand, who set the trend when he took over the Test captaincy from Bengaluruborn Anil Kumble. Before Kumble, Rahul Drav- id and Sourav Ganguly led the side. In fact, Dravid was born in Indore, Madhya Pradesh but shifted his base to Bengaluru. The 25-year-old Gill will succeed Mumbai’s Rohit Sharma, who in turn took the mantle from Delhi’s Virat Kohli. As many as three players selected were born in Uttar Pradesh — Yashasvi, Dhruv Jurel and Kuldeep Yadav. A couple of them were born in Gujarat — Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja. Besides, six were born in states like Punjab (Gill), Rajasthan (Karun Nair). Maharashtra (Thakur), Bihar (Akash Deep), MP (Arshdeep Singh) and Andhra Pradesh (Nitish Kumar Reddy). Though most of the cricketers headed to big centres but there seems to be a pradigm shift, a trend where players from non-metros have P7 AND 11 started shining. ity should be the engine for the development of our cities, he added. Modi recommended reforms in public and private sectors for working women with focus on their ease of working. “We must work towards inclusion of women in our work force. We must make laws, policies so that they can be respectfully integrated in the workforce.” The Governing Council includes all state chief ministers, lieutenant governors of Union Territories, and several Union ministers. The PM is the chairman of Niti Aayog. This was the first national meeting of chief ministers after Operation Sindoor. According to officials, there was complete unanimity in praising the armed forces for their precision strikes against terror targets in Pakistan. CM Mohan Charan Majhi with PM Narendra Modi ‘Viksit Odisha’ to be the shining star of ‘Viksit Bharat’: CM E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Bhubaneswar ASSERTING that Odisha will be the growth engine in the country’s trajectory towards becoming a global economic powerhouse by 2047, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Saturday said people of the state aspire to see its economy soar to USD 1.5 trillion over the next 25 years. Addressing the 10th governing council meeting of NITI Aayog in New Delhi, Majhi said his government, which will complete one year on June 12, 2025, has laid the foundation for Samruddha Odisha, 2036 with a vision for a prosperous and empowered state. “Our ambitious resolve is to build a prosperous, developed and proud Odisha - a ‘Viksit Odisha’ that shines brightly within a ‘Viksit Bharat’. The people of Odisha aspire to see the state’s economy touch USD 500 billion by 2036 and soar to USD 1.5 trillion by CONTINUED ON P5 2047,” the CM said.