BHUBANESWAR  SUNDAY  JULY 27, 2025  `12.00  PAGES 24  LATE CITY EDITION MANDATORY SAFETY AUDITS OF SCHOOLS, MENTAL HEALTH HELP The Ministry of Education on Saturday issued a fiat to all states and UTs to take urgent steps to ensure the safety and well-being of students ‘REPORT ANY THREAT TO KIDS WITHIN A DAY’ Mandatory safety audits of schools and child-related facilities as per national safety codes, providing psychosocial support through counselling and reporting any dangerous incident involving children within 24 hours to designated authorities are among measures proposed. Structural integrity, along with fire safety and emergency exits must be assessed | P7 ■ 7 COORDINATION FROM PARENTS SOUGHT ■ The order also mandated training for staff and students to tackle emergencies, including evacuation drills, first aid and safety protocol The order called upon education departments, school boards and affiliated authorities to act without any delay in implementing the measures, through the help of parents, guardians and local bodies STUDENTS WERE KILLED AT A SCHOOL IN RAJASTHAN , LEADING TO THE FIAT 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 Trade talks with Major pushback Now, Odisha gets ready to US making fast against Trump’s undertake SIR progress: Goyal GM playbook ADR rejoinder rebuts EC’s claim that it has right to verify citizenship E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ New Delhi @ New Delhi No timeline for completion of negotiations on bilateral trade deal HEMANT KUMAR ROUT tion officer (AERO) is vacant during the revision period. He has also made it AMID the row over the spe- clear that no transfers of cial intensive revision officers holding these posts (SIR) of voter rolls in Bi- would be made without the har, the Odisha govern- prior approval of the Elecment is gearing up to un- tion Commission. dertake the exercise soon. The ECI has directed The statewide SIR will this special revision in all be conducted after a gap of states, including Odisha, more than two decades. It following the exercise in will involve a thorough, Bihar. The SIR process inhouse-to-house verifica- cludes house-to-house vistion of voters and ration- its, verification of voter alisation of polling sta- eligibility, rationalisation tions to ensure accurate of polling stations and and inclusive electoral strengthening of the voter database. list to eliminate The last SIR in the inaccuracies. state was carried Given the scale out in 2002. Since of the exercise, the then, the electoral state government rolls have underhas been directed gone annual sumby the ECI to exmary revisions, tend full support which do not inin terms of manvolve door-to-door power and logisverification. The tics. The state ofupcoming SIR ficials have been The SIR will be could be a crucial conducted after a asked to mobilise effort to ensure gap of more than n e c e s s a r y r e two decades. It that no eligible sources and enwill involve a voter is left out, sure all pending and no ineligible thorough, house- postings are comto-house person remains pleted without verification of on the rolls, offidelay . voters and The chief secrecials said. rationalisation of tary has directed As per the manpolling stations that all required date of ECI, peoOfficials posts must be duly ple whose names filled and the were not recorded in the 2002 electoral roll training of officials comwill have to submit docu- pleted before the field opments prescribed by the erations begin. “Deputy Commission to establish collectors handling electheir eligibility for voter tion work will also not be transferred without prior enrolment. In preparation for the consent from the chief elecexercise, chief secretary toral officer (CEO), Odisha. Manoj Ahuja has instruct- Collectors are directed to ed all departments and dis- mobilise whatever human trict collectors to ensure resources or logistics are that no post designated as required to help the EROs district election officer complete the work smooth(DEO), electoral registra- ly,” read the chief secretion officer (ERO), or as- tary’s letter accessed by CONTINUED ON P5 sistant electoral registra- TNIE. @ Bhubaneswar D I PA K M O N D A L @ New Delhi TALKS on the India-US trade deal is progressing INDIA is firm on its stance against importing fast, Minister of Commerce and Industries Piy- genetically modified (GM) crops from the US, ush Goyal said on Saturday Negotiations are at sources in the government said. It has been our . an advanced stage with Oman as well, while with stated position for long and it remains so, said a the European Union and US, they are making top government source. Import of GM crops has fast progress, he said. been a bone of contention between the two counGoyal, however, refused to tries during the trade negotiagive any timeline for the comtions. With the government pletion of the US deal even as now making its stance clear, the extended deadline (August the Trump playbook will find 1) for imposition of the reciprofull resistance on GM crops. cal tariff is less than a week The US is pressing India to away. According to commerce allow imports of GM crops ministry sources, a delegation such as soybean meal and disof US negotiators is likely to tillers dried grains with solucome to India in the second bles (DDGS) for animal feed. In future, when half of August for talks on the Initially, the India did not Kolhapuri sandals are exported, India will get Bilateral Trade Agreement strongly oppose the idea of credit. It will be exported (BTA). India faces a 26% recipsome tariff cuts on farm goods as India’s GI product rocal tariff if there is no trade or even selective GM imports. deal by August 1. However, after facing strong do—Piyush Goyal, minister Goyal said that the India-UK mestic resistance, India seems trade agreement serves as a to have hardened its position as doorway for India to engage with the developed far as GM imports are concerned. world. He said that unlike past FTAs under the A Niti Aayog report had suggested a “strategic UPA government, which were often signed with opening for US imports” for broader export gains. direct competitors like ASEAN nations, the Modi It proposed importing GM soybean seeds, crushgovernment has focused on FTAs with comple- ing them at coastal facilities, selling oil domestimentary economies like Mauritius, Australia, cally and exporting soymeal (with GM traits) to UAE, and the EFTA bloc (Switzerland, Norway avoid domestic contamination. But experts , Liechtenstein, Iceland). panned it citing weak regulatory oversight. “The business opportunities, the quality and Another major area of difference between the cost competitiveness of Indian goods and serv- two countries is imports of animals fed on aniices, the demographic dividend of our young and mal-derived feed — for example, butter from aspirational population, the rule of law, and the cows fed meat — due to deep religious sensitivistrength of our democracy all make India a pre- ties. India prohibits such animals and it considferred global partner,” he said. ers this policy non-negotiable. Bihar horror: Chirag raps THAILAND, CM on ambulance rape CAMBODIA TRADE BARBS AS BORDER CLASHES ENTER THIRD DAY R A M A S H A N K A R @ Patna A 26-year-old woman with a dream to don the khaki appeared at a physical test for recruitment of Home Guards in Bihar’s Gaya but was allegedly gangraped in an ambulance after she fainted during the test on Thursday . The horrific incident drew widespread outrage as cracks appeared in the ruling NDA in Bihar when Union minister Chirag Paswan expressed “regret” over having to support the Nitish government, which he said had “surrendered” before criminals. The young woman, a resident of Imamganj in Gaya, narrated her ordeal to hospital authorities after regaining consciousness. Hospital authorities, in turn, informed police, following which an FIR was regis- tered. Gaya SSP Anand Kumar said two accused, Vinay Kumar (driver) and Ajit Kumar (technician), have already been arrested and produced in court, which remanded them in 14day judicial custody . The victim, in her statement, said she was gangraped by three-four individuals travelling in the ambulance arranged to transport her from the BMP-3 ground to the Magadh Medical College and Hospital. “Though I was in semiconscious state, I felt the pain in my ... abdomen,” she said. Chirag’s remarks came two days after he heaped praise on Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor for playing an ‘honest’ role in Bihar politics. Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav asked voters to vote the NDA out. “Bihar is under the rule of demons,” Yadav said. Thailand and Cambodia traded accusations Saturday of fresh attacks as deadly border clashes entered a third day, leaving at least 33 people dead and more than 168,000 displaced, as international pressure mounted on both sides to reach a ceasefire | P9 S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y RESPONDING to the Election Commission’s counter affidavit filed on July 21, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) on Saturday told the Supreme Court that the EC’s electoral roll verification goes against the SC’s past judgments, and was a “grave fraud” on voters. The ADR’s rejoinder came after the ECI had on July 21 submitted its reply defending the Bihar SIR (Special Intensive Revision) exercise and said it was done to restore public confidence and integrity of electoral rolls. The court will hear pleas challenging SIR on Monday . The ADR also questioned the refusal by the Election Commission to acce pt Aadhaar, Voter ID and ration card as valid “standalone” proof for inclusion in the electoral roll during the SIR, ad described it as “patently absurd”. It submitted that the ECI has given no valid reason for its decision. On July 10, a bench of justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi, while refusing to stay SIR, asked the EC to consider Aadhaar, Voter ID, and ration card for the exercise. But the EC argued that Aadhaar, voter cards and ration cards could easily be faked. The ADR said any of the 11 documents for SIR were equally prone to fraud. “SIR is being conducted in a manner that constitutes a grave fraud on the voters of Bihar,” the ADR said. It also alleged glaring discrepancies in SIR. “Media reports suggest how enumeration forms are being filled in the absence of voters,” the ADR said. EXPRESS READ More social security for sanitation workers: CM Asia Cup: India to play Pakistan on Sept 14 BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Saturday announced ex gratia of `30 lakh for loss of life at work and houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Urban for them. They will be provided with a life insurance cover of `10 lakh while senior sanitation workers will get mobile phones. More than 10,000 sanitation workers in 115 towns of the state have been identified under the scheme | P3 CHENNAI: The muchanticipated men’s Asia Cup schedule was announced on Saturday with India and Pakistan slotted in same group. They will play each other on September 14 in the tournament that is being held in the United Arab Emirates from September 9-28. The BCCI are the hosts but the tournament will be held in a neutral venue | P11 THE WITH THIS ISSUE ANTEATERS PLUS 12 P AGES I N ST E P Defence minister Rajnath Singh with Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, Army Vice Chief Lt General N S Raja Subramani, Navy Chief Adm Dinesh K Tripathi and Air Chief A P Singh as they march to pay tribute to the Kargil War martyrs at the National War Memorial (R) on the Kargil Vijay Diwas anniversary, in New Delhi on Saturday | PTI Two VIMSAR students drown at waterfall in Sambalpur M AYA N K B H U S A N PA N I @ Sambalpur IN a tragic incident, two finalyear MBBS students of Burlabased Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR) drowned while bathing at Deojharan waterfall in Jujumura area of Sambalpur district on Saturday afternoon. Monica Meena and Sandeep Puri were part of a group of six students who had gone to the popular waterfall site for an outing. Monica was a native of Rajasthan, and Sandeep belonged to Delhi. The tragedy sent shockwaves and a pall of gloom descended on the medical college campus as well as in Burla. Inspector-in-charge of Jujumura police station Sanjay Rout said, the students were enjoying a bath when a sudden downpour led to a sharp rise in the stream’s water-level, sweeping away the two students. Local tourists and other students present at the site immediately alerted the fire service and police. Rescue teams arrived at the spot and pulled out the two from the water but both were declared dead upon arrival at VIMSAR, Burla. Police sources added that Monica sustained a head injury after hitting a rock, and was found bleeding. Superintendent of VIMSAR, Lal Mohan Nayak described it as ‘an extremely unfortunate incident’ and said students were advised to avoid vulnerable spots during the monsoon. “However, as their examinations had concluded yesterday, they went to a far-off waterfall which sadly turned into a tragedy Par. ents of one student are expected to arrive tonight and the others, by tomorrow, after which the post-mortem will be conducted,” CONTINUED ON P5 he added. Flood alert for 3 dists as Baitarani, Subarnarekha & Jalaka swell SUDARSAN MAHARANA @ Bhubaneswar THE state government on Saturday issued flood alert for Jajpur, Bhadrak and Balasore districts as the water-levels in Baitarani, Subarnarekha and Jalaka rivers rose to alarming levels due to the depressioninduced heavy rains over north Chhattisgarh and adjoining Jharkhand. Districts in the downstream of Mahanadi river have also been asked to keep an eye on the situation following opening of 20 gates of Hirakud reservoir. However, there is no risk of flooding in the Mahanadi river system as of now, informed officials of the Water Resources department. Chief engineer of Water Resources Chandra Sekhar Padhi told TNIE that the water-level of Baitarani and Jalaka has already crossed danger mark, while Subarnarekha is expected to breach the danger level on Sunday. Collectors of Jajpur, Bhadrak and Balasore have been asked to be on high alert and expedite evacuation and relief operation as and where required to handle the local flood situation. Officials said the major rivers have swelled following heavy rainfall in upper catch- ments including Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar. Baitarani was flowing at 39.16 metre against the danger level 38.36 metre at Anandapur and rising. Similarly, the waterlevel of the river at Akhuapada was at 18.88 metre as against the danger mark of 18.33 metre and may rise up to 19.10 metre, they added. Jalaka at Mathani had also breached the danger mark of 6.50 metre and flowing at 7.13 metre. However, it was gradually declining, the officials said. Subarnarekha was flowing at 50.64 metre against the danger level of 49.16 metre at Jamshola Ghat, and 7.86 metre against the danger mark of 10.36 metre at Rajghat. “The water-level of the river is rising and the peak flood is expected by 11 pm,” CONTINUED ON P5 they said.