BHUBANESWAR  THURSDAY  MAY 29, 2025  `9.00  PAGES 14  LATE CITY EDITION INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT SLIPS TO 2.7% IN APRIL; MINING, POWER LAGGARDS IIP slowed to 2.7 % in April 2025 due to poor performance of manufacturing, mining, power sectors, data released on Wednesday showed INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION GROWTH REVISED CAPITAL GOODS SEGMENT A SAVING GRACE The factory output, measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), rose by 5.2% in April 2024, govt data showed. The National Statistics Office (NSO) also revised upwards industrial production growth for March to 3.9% from the earlier estimate of 3% released last month. The IIP growth was 2.7% in February also ■ ■ The capital goods segment growth accelerated to 20.3% in April 2025, an increase from 2.8% in the year-ago period Mining production contracted by 0.2% as against a growth of 6.8% a year ago, while power output growth also slowed to 1% in April 2025 against 10.2% in the year-ago period, official data analysis indicated 4% GROWTH RECORDED BY INFRASTRUCTURE SECTOR 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 Patnagarh parcel bomb case: Punjilal guilty, gets lifer A S I S H M E H TA & S A N J AY M I S H R A @ Bhubaneswar/Balangir SEVEN years after he was charged with delivering a deadly parcel bomb that killed a newlywed software engineer Soumya Sekhar Sahu and his grandmother in Patnagarh, Punjilal Meher was on Wednesday held guilty of the heinous crime by a Balangir court and sentenced to life imprisonment. Besides convicting him on five counts of offence that include murder and attempt to murder, the Court of Additional District and Sessions Judge, Patnagarh, Sonali Patnaik also imposed a fine of `50,000 on Punjilal, a former English lecturer of a local college. The court also awarded life imprisonment to him under section 3 of Explosive Substances Act with a fine of In the order, judge Patnaik ob`50,000. All the sentences will served that the crime was unrun concurrently . Conviction in the challenging doubtedly ghastly, deliberate and cruel and even case probed by Crime ‘rare’ but having considBranch (CB) is a highered all circumstantial point for Odisha Poevidence and dicta of lice. The investigation the Orissa High Court, was led by senior IPS it was of the view that it officer Arun Bothra. did not fully satisfy the In the judgment, the stringent threshold of court observed that the being “rarest of case painted “a porrare” case. trait of dark ingenuity Punjilal Meher The case dates back to - a meticulously orchesFebruary 2018, when the trated act of terror where the weapon was not a gun, parcel gift was delivered at the nor a knife but a symbol of love residence of Soumya. The and blessings turned into an in- 26-year-old software engineer had married Reema Rani Sahu, strument of annihilation.” Soumya’s father Rabindra a native of Boudh district on Sahu, a retired professor, said February 18. The couple had the family was satisfied with the held their marriage reception on court’s judgment though noth- February 20. Three days later, on ing can compensate their February 23, two persons landed up on a motorcycle at Soumya’s son’s loss. Odisha cabinet approves AI policy to bolster good governance, development cal and responsible deployment of AI. Besides, the policy proposes robust data governance THE state cabinet on Wednes- frameworks and institutional day approved the Odisha Artifi- mechanisms to prevent misuse, cial Intelligence (AI) Policy-2025 bias and harm. It also commits to improve governance, stimu- to align Odisha’s AI developlate innovation, enhance data- ment with national and interdriven decision-making and en- national best practices, he able inclusive socioeconomic said. The cabinet approved amenddevelopment. The highlight of the policy ment to the Odisha Civil Service approved at the cabinet meeting (Fixation of Upper Age Limit) presided over by Chief Minister Rules, 1989 to enhance the upper Mohan Charan Majhi is crea- age limit for entry into governtion of a dedicated AI Mission ment service to 42 years from 32 which will serve as the highest years. This amendment will not, however, be applicable to institutional mechanism to upper-age limit specifiimplement AI initiatives cally prescribed for uniacross departments, coform services like police, ordinate pilot projects fire services, forest and and provide support to excise. The upper age public agencies, startlimit, though, will be ups and academic relaxable further in institutions. case of SC,ST, SEBC, The Mission will women, ex-servicemen have a two-tier governA dedicated AI and persons with disance structure comMission will serve abilities as decided by prising a taskforce and as the highest the government from a cell to drive crossinstitutional time to time. sectoral AI adoption mechanism to Besides, the cabinet and facilitate pilot implement AI approved the framing projects, chief secreinitiatives across departments of Odisha Opthalmic tary Manoj Ahuja told Service (Methods of mediapersons. Manoj Ahuja, Recruitment and ConThe chief secretary Chief secretary ditions of Service) said the Mission will Rules, 2025. At present, also identify high impact AI use cases across critical 197 Ophthalmic assistants are sectors such as healthcare, agri- working in different healthcare culture, education, climate facilities of the state. Additional change, disaster management 141 posts in the base-level and and governance. The Mission 200 promotional posts will be has been mandated to work for created. With it, the base-level AI-assisted disease prediction posts will increase to 338 taking and screening, smart irrigation the total to 538. The cabinet also approved and crop diagnostics, multilingual AI tools for personalised `171.11 crore for development education, predictive disaster work to be undertaken by Iron response system and intelligent Triangle Limited at the Mahima Gadi at Joranda for construccitizen engagement platforms. The chief secretary said in tion of a new Shunya Mandap. line with global standards, the The work will be completed in policy places emphasis on ethi- three years. EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bhubaneswar FACT FILE  Feb 23, 2018: Soumya and grandmother Jemamani killed in parcel bomb explosion  March 22, 2018: Crime Branch probe ordered  April 24, 2018: Crime Branch arrests Punjilal Meher from Balangir  Jan 30, 2019: Crime Branch submits final chargesheet in court  April 3, 2025: Court concludes hearing  May 28, 2025: Court convicts Punjilal, awards life imprisonment Patnagarh house and delivered a packet saying it was a wedding gift. On opening, the box exploded killing Soumya and his maternal grandmother Jemamani. Reema was critically injured. When the CB took over the Foreigners who ‘censor’ Americans face visa ban J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi THE United States will begin imposing visa bans on foreign nationals accused of censoring Americans, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Wednesday signalling a sharp es, calation in the country’s pushback against perceived overreach by foreign governments. Rubio did not cite specific incidents or countries, but suggested the policy could target officials regulating US-based tech companies. The move follows increasing friction between the US and some of its allies over content moderation on American social media platforms. In a statement, Rubio said the new visa restriction policy will apply to foreign nationals “responsible for censorship of protected expression in the US.” He condemned foreign governments for pressuring American platforms to adopt global content rules that could infringe on US rights. “Today I am announcing a new , visa restriction policy that will apply to foreign officials and persons US Secretary of State Marco Rubio FREE SPEECH IS A BIRTHRIGHT: RUBIO “Today, I am announcing a new visa restriction policy that will apply to foreign officials and persons who are complicit in censoring Americans. Free speech is essential to the American way of life—a birthright over which foreign governments have no authority,” said US Secretary of State Rubio who are complicit in censoring Americans. Free speech is essential to the American way of life—a birthright over which foreign governments have no authority,” he AFTER obliging the vast array of autograph hunters outside the playing hall at the venue, Arjun Erigaisi got into a car and made his way to an eatery that has become the rage among Indian chess players here. It’s a trip all four Indian players — R Vaishali, D Gukesh and Koneru Humpy the others — have already made at the ongoing edition of Norway Chess. Erigaisi, featuring in Stavanger for the first time, was told about the place by R Praggnanandhaa, who tasted their food last year. The players’ favourites include lamb masala, chicken biryani and, in Vaishali’s case, podi dosa. “A few of the players ordered south Indian style lamb masala,” says Nitish Kamath, one of the five owners of Spisoh. “Humpy doesn’t have a set template and we have noticed that Vaishali has picked up podi dosa on a few occasions.” Spisoh — an unlikely portmanteau between the Norwegian word spis (to eat) and the Hindi word khaao—was a product of the pandemic thanks to said. “It is unacceptable for foreign officials to issue or threaten arrest warrants for social media posts made on US soil,” Rubio said. “It is similarly unacceptable for foreign officials to demand that American tech platforms adopt global content moderation policies or engage in censorship activity that reaches beyond their authority and into the United States.” In a social media post, Rubio added: “Whether in Latin America, Europe, or elsewhere, the days of passive treatment for those who work to undermine the rights of Americans are over.” Though Rubio did not identify any specific individuals or nations, the announcement comes amid ongoing disputes. Brazil, for example, has clashed with platform X—owned by Trump ally Elon Musk—over court orders to remove accounts accused of spreading misinformation. The Trump administration has also sharply criticised various European countries for what it describes as censorship of online speech. P R A S A N TA M A Z U M D A R , R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R & M U K E S H R A N J A N @ Guwahati/New Delhi FORTY-FOUR MLAs are ready to form a new government in Manipur, BJP legislator Thokchom Radheshyam Singh claimed on Wednesday after meeting Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla. But there was no word on who would head the new government. Singh, along with nine other MLAs — seven from the BJP, two from the National People’s Party and an independent — met Bhalla. The state has 60 Assembly seats, one of which became vacant after the death of an MLA. Asked if they would stake a claim to form government, he said, “We conveyed to the governor that 44 MLAs are ready This is akin to staking a claim,” Singh said. . He claimed that all MLAs, except the 10 from the KukiZo community and five from Congress, favoured forming a government. Singh said the Centre could reimpose President’s rule if a popular government failed. Manipur has been under Central rule since February after BJP leader N Biren Singh resigned as CM, amid criticisms about his government’s handling of the clashes between Meiteis and Kuki-Zos. Meanwhile, a section of the BJP’s central leadership dismissed the possibility of lifting President’s Rule in the short run. Some others, however, favoured government formation, citing Union home minister Amit Shah’s meeting with President Droupadi Murmu. However, the fact remains that normalcy is yet to be restored, suggesting Central rule was necessary for now. Sources in the Union home ministry said any decision on President’s Rule in Manipur would be made at the political level. As of now, they have not received any formal indication in the matter, they added. Trump tariffs forced India, Pak to declare ceasefire: US J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi TRUMP administration officials have told a US court that President Donald Trump’s emergency tariff powers were instrumental in securing a ceasefire between India and Pakistan earlier this month. “This ceasefire was only achieved after President Trump interceded and offered both nations trading access with the United States to avert a fullscale war,” read the legal docu- ments submitted to the sponse to a lawsuit filed US Court of Internaby small American tional Trade on May businesses challenging 23. Trump’s broad use of The revelation is in the 1977 International stark contrast to India’s Emergency Economic official position that Powers Act (IEEPA). Donald Trump, there was no third-parThe plaintiffs claim the US President ty role in the ceasefire law does not authorise worked out between the the president to impose Directors General of Military tariffs and argue Trump’s trade Operations of India and policies have inflicted economPakistan. ic harm. The US assertion was part of Senior US officials, includthe Trump administration’s re- ing Commerce Secretary Biryani to podi dosa, Kerala eatery serves Indian chess stars @ Stavanger (Norway) Manipur MLAs ‘stake’ claim to form govt Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla meets the MLAs on Wednesday | PTI Latest policy could target officials regulating US-based tech firms LIFE IN NORWAY S W A R O O P S W A M I N AT H A N case from local police and Bothra, then IG, was asked to supervise the probe, there was very little evidence to link it to Punjilal. An anonymous letter to the SP office raised suspicion and the CB clawed its way back to the case, gathering evidence of Punjilal’s collecting firecrackers to prepare the bomb and heading to Raipur to courier to the Sahu household in Patnagarh. He was arrested two months later on charges of carrying out the crime entirely by himself because of his grudge against Soumya’s mother Sanjukta Sahu who was his colleague at Jyoti Vikash College in Bhainsa area of Balangir. Since Sanjukta replaced Punjilal as principal, the latter held her responsible and plotted the bloody scheme to extract revenge. CONTINUED ON P7 Arjun Erigaisi with co-owner Nitish Kamath (right) at the restaurant in Stavanger the imagination of several first generation immigrants originally from Kerala. “We came up with the concept of a ghost kitchen,” says Kamath, who has been working in the energy sector for more than a decade. Spisoh is ‘official food partner’ this time. The one-time ghost kitchen still has only one permanent employee — a chef from Tamil Nadu who was about to go back home after losing his job in an Oslo hotel after Covid. Gukesh was one of the first Indian players to try out Spisoh’s food in 2023. Less than 10 minutes after Erigaisi bested Gukesh, the former was seen exchanging a few friendly words with Kamath outside the playing hall. “I’m going there to pick up my food,” he said. P13 Howard Lutnick, Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, defended the use of IEEPA. Lutnick said Trump’s offer of enhanced trade access helped de-escalate a military standoff between ‘nucleararmed’ India and Pakistan. The US submission also claimed that Trump’s tariff pressure helped bring Beijing to the negotiating table. LOKPAL CLEAN CHIT TO EX-SEBI CHIEF IN CORRUPTION CASE The Lokpal has cleared Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch of corruption charges stemming from allegations cited in Hindenburg Research report published in August 2024. The Lokpal said the allegations were “unjustified” and “politically motivated” | P12 Not Dilli, not Pindi. B’desh First, says BNP B ANGLADESH Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Tarique Rahman, son of former prime minister Khaleda Zia, on Wednesday gave his sea of supporters in Dhaka a slogan to remember and use in elections he insisted the interim government must hold in December. “Not Dilli, not Pindi, nor any other country. Bangladesh first,” Rahman thundered to a roar of approval from lakhs of people who turned the street outside the BNP’s head office at Naya Paltan in Dhaka into a carpet of yellow BNP pennants and green and red Bangladesh flags. The Delhi dig was directed at the Awami League, which BNP MONIDEEPA BANERJIE Senior journalist PART 1 has consistently claimed is in India’s pocket. The reference to Pindi is a first and directed at the growing warmth between the Muhammed Yunus government in Dhaka and the Pakistan military HQ in Rawalpindi. Last week, Army chief Waker-Uz-Zaman had reportedly made the same demand — polls by December — and though the comments were officially denied later, they triggered a near cri- sis. Yunus threatened to resign if pushed on the issue. Political parties rushed to placate him and he relented. But he did not budge from the six-month window — between December 2025 and June 2026 — he gave himself for holding polls. There is a rider. A panel has been set up to review and fix flaws in the electoral process. Yunus insists that the reforms must be completed and implemented before polls. The BNP, which is pressing for December polls, wants elections first and for the remaining reforms to be implemented by an elected government. This debate pushed Bangladesh on edge last week. It is still teetering there.