SAMBALPUR  TUESDAY  JUNE 17, 2025  `9.00  PAGES 12  CITY EDITION INDIA WOMEN TO KICK-START ODI WORLD CUP AGAINST SRI LANKA The Harmanpreet Kaur-led Women in Blue will be playing the opening match of the tournament in Bengaluru on September 30 KAUR & CO TO PLAY PAK IN COLOMBO ON OCT 5 HOME ADVANTAGE FOR INDIA AND SRI LANKA With the ongoing agreement between India and Pakistan cricket boards, the latter will not travel to India and will be camped in Colombo for their league-stage games. India and Pakistan are scheduled to play each other in Colombo on October 5. It will be the first match between the neighbouring countries after the recent cross-border tensions. ■ ■ Apart from hosts India, Sri Lanka will play five of their league games in Colombo. Their two games in India are in Bengaluru and Guwahati. If Pakistan advance past the round-robin stages, they will play the semifinal and final in Colombo. If they don’t, Guwahati will host that semifinal. Bengaluru will host the other semifinal and final | P11 2013 THE LAST TIME INDIA HOSTED THE WOMEN’S ODI WORLD CUP 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 Census-2027 notification finally out AI-171 CRASH 119 IDed, 64 bodies handed over M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi D I L I P S I N G H K S H AT R I YA @ Ahmedabad THE process to identify victims of the June 12 AI-171 air crash picked up pace on Monday as officials said DNA samples of 119 of them have been successfully matched. At least 270 people perished in the aircrash. Ahmedabad Civil Hospital Superintendent Dr Rakesh Joshi said 64 bodies have already been handed over to the respective families. Another 24 families are expected to collect the mortal remains of their loved ones in the coming days, while 11 families await confirmation of DNA matches with additional relatives. Twelve families are still awaiting final DNA results. Among the bodies identified on Sunday was that of former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani. He was cremated in Rajkot with full state honours on Monday . Probe teams scouring the aircraft debris recovered the cockpit voice recorder (CVR), the second black box. The CVR, along with a wire trailing from the aircraft’s rear section, was handed over to the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB). The first black box, called the flight data recorder, was recovered a day after the accident. Besides, human remains were found amid the debris and shifted to the Civil Hospital for postmortem. Parallelly, a highlevel multi-disciplinary committee led by Union home secretary Govind Mohan discussed the possible causes of the crash so as to evolve a policy roadmap for P8 future safeguards. EXPRESS READ India’s exports contract 2.17% to $38 bn in May NEW DELHI: After marking positive growth for two months, exports slipped into negative territory, contracting 2.17% year-on-year to $38.73 billion in May over fall in petroleum goods shipments | P10 Rescue team work at the site where a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, on Monday | AP/PTI India begins to move out its citizens in Iran STUDENTS TO BE EVACUATED VIA ARMENIA, UAE ISRAEL, IRAN RAMP UP ATTACKS CASUALTIES RISE J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi AS hostilities between Iran and Israel intensify, India has begun relocating its nationals from high-risk zones in Iran and is mulling on evacuation plans via both land and sea routes through Armenia and the United Arab Emirates, sources said. The first batch of 110 students has reached the Armenian border, from there they will be evacuated by air. The external affairs ministry on Monday said Indian nationals, including 1,500 students— from Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, and other states—are being moved to safer areas within Iran. Embassy officials are in constant touch with local leaders and the Indian community. An estimated 10,000 Indian nationals are in Iran. Tehran, where a majority of Indian students are enrolled in institutions such as Tehran University of Medical Sciences and Iran University of Medical Sciences, has seen heightened risk amid Israeli strikes. Some students are being relocated to Qom, 148 km from Tehra. Sources said land evacuation via Armenia and a sea route through the UAE are being explored as viable options. “It’s an evolving situation and we are exploring every ways and means to ensure the safety of our nationals as we have done in the past,” said a source. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has spoken to his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan and UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan to discuss the situation. Tehran said despite the closure of Iranian airspace, “all land borders are open for crossing” and has requested India to share details of those intending to leave. The Indian Embassy in Tehran urged all nationals to stay indoors, avoid non-essential movement, and follow advisories. As the war entered the fourth day on Monday, Iran confirmed 224 deaths while the toll in Israel rose to 24. India, which maintains diplomatic ties with both nations, reiterated its call for deescalation. “Existing channels of dialogue and diplomacy should be utilised,” said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal. However, with neither side showing intention to dialing down tensions, the region is bracing for more strikes. On Monday Israel ordered residents , of Tehran to evacuate the district immediately, warning that lethal strikes were coming. P9 ISRAELI MISSILES HIT IRAN’S STATE TV HQ Israel on Monday struck Iran’s state TV while a live broadcast was underway, forcing the anchor to rush out as debris started falling in the studio IAEA WARNS OF CONTAMINATION The International Atomic Energy Agency warned of both radiological and chemical contamination at Iran’s nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz Gopalpur shocker: College girl gang-raped by three on the beach, in front of classmate S I S I R PA N I G R A H Y/A S I S H M E H TA @ Berhampur/Bhubaneswar IN a shocking incident, a 20-year-old college student was brutally gangraped by three youths at Gopalpur beach in front of her male friend who was allegedly held captive by seven other associates of the prime accused on Sunday evening. The youths took advantage of the isolated area behind the Panthanivas located under Gopalpur police limits to commit the crime. The sexual assault continued for over two hours as the three took turns to rape the girl, a Plus Three student in a Ganjam college. Showing immense courage, the rape survivor went to Gopalpur police station at about 11 pm to lodge a complaint. Police acted swiftly and detained eight accused within hours of the incident which has sent shock- waves in the state. All the suspects are in the age group of 19 to 23 and belong to Hinjili. Sources said, the accused, in a group of 10, were already present when the victim along with her classmate, reached the beach about 6.30 pm and was having a chat. Initial investigation revealed that the victim and her friend noticed the youths, sitting at a distance but had no inkling of what was to unfold. After darkness set in, the youths attacked the girl’s friend and held him captive. While three of them then took turns to allegedly rape the girl, the other helped them in the heinous act by pinning her down. The victim continued to plead but her ordeal lasted for over two hours. The accused even tried to strangulate her friend when he attempted to raise an alarm, police said. After committing the crime, the accused fled the spot. The victim then went to police and reported the matter following which seven of the suspects were rounded up. Subsequently, another accused was held. Police said most of the accused are school and college dropouts. Berhampur SP Saravana Vivek M said efforts are underway to round up rest of the suspects. “We have formed three teams to nab the remaining two accused. A case has been registered under Section 70(1) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Detailed investigation is underway,” he added. The victim and the eight detained persons have been sent to MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur for medical examination. The incident has come as shocker as Gopalpur is among the top beach resort towns of the state. THE Centre on Monday formally notified the much-delayed National Population Census - 2027, which was due way back in 2021, but had to be put off after the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak. The Gazette notification said, “the Central Government hereby declares that a census of the population of India shall be taken during the year 2027.” The notification added that the reference date for the Census shall be 00.00 hours of the 1st day of March, 2027, except for Ladakh and snow-bound nonsynchronous areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.” As for the rest, the reference date shall be 00:00 hours of October 1, 2026. The notification was issued by Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, Registrar General and Census Caste enumeration definitely on, says govt The Union home ministry rubbished Congress apprehensions on caste enumeration as the notification did not mention it. “The census will include caste enumeration... It has already been mentioned in press releases dated 30 April, 4 June and 15 June, that the census will also have caste enumeration,” the govt said Commissioner. The census exercise will be held in two phases — House Listing Operation (HLO) and Population Enumeration (PE). While HLO will involve collecting data on assets and amenities in each household, the PE exercise will capture the demographic, socio-economic, cultural and other details of every person in each household. Also, caste enumeration will be done for the first time after Independence as part of the Census, which is in its eighth edition. Over- all, this is the 16th edition of the Census since its beginning in 1881. As many as 34 lakh enumerators and supervisors and around 1.3 lakh census functionaries will conduct the operation with cuttingedge mobile digital gadgets, Union home minister Amit Shah said on Sunday after chairing a high-level meeting to review the preparations for the Census exercise. Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, Mritunjay Kumar Narayan and other senior officials participated.