BHUBANESWAR  SUNDAY  AUGUST 03, 2025  `12.00  PAGES 26  LATE CITY EDITION 18K ORGAN TRANSPLANTS LAST YEAR, BUT SHORTAGE PERSISTS As many as 18,911 organ transplants were performed last year in India, but acute shortage of organs remains, a report said on Saturday LOW ORGAN DONATION RATE A CONCERN DELHI, TN LEAD IN ORGAN TRANSPLANTS The report, released by Union Health Minister J P Nadda, said although the number of transplants in India has significantly increased from 4,990 in 2013 to 18,378 in 2023 and 18,911 transplants in 2024 from January to December, the organ donation rate remains at less than 1 per million. This contrasts with the highest at 48 per million population in Spain ■ ■ India is the third highest in the world, after US and China, in total organ transplantation and first in total living donor organ transplant In 2024, there were 13,476 kidney transplants in the country, the most in Delhi, followed by TN, Maharashtra, Kerala, and West Bengal; similarly, there were 4,901 liver transplants, with Delhi and TN on top 63,000 INDIVIDUALS IN INDIA NEED KIDNEY TRANSPLANT AT PRESENT 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 How SIT’s forensic tools helped send Prajwal to jail for life Soon after the court sentence, in an exclusive interview with THE Special Investigation this paper, the SIT chief said Team (SIT) probing the rape evidence in the rape case rested case against former Janata Dal on the “victim’s statement, fo(S) MP Prajwal Revanna was rensic science and tools includable to establish ing DNA profiling his culpability and matching of PRESS from the leaked voice samples.” CLUSIVE The video had video of his sexual aggression Prajwal and the against his emvictim’s voice. ployee and her statement, said The former’s voice was forensiBK Singh, CID ADGP and the cally matched for identificaSIT chief. tion. The victim had already Prajwal was sentenced to life given her statement. Forensic imprisonment on Saturday . tools helped identify the perpeB A L A C H A U H A N @ Bengaluru trator from his body parts in the leaked video, said Singh. Narrating the trail of investigation, Singh said the video, with graphic details of the rape shot by Prajwal to blackmail and silence the victim, did not show his face. The SIT started looking for similar cases of sexual offences in which the face of the accused was not visible and what forensic tools were used to identify the perpetrator. “The team chanced upon two international case studies — ‘Forensic Science, Medicine & Pathology’ in Springer and Plot twist: Suicide, say father & police after Balanga girl dies at AIIMS-Delhi A S I S H M E H TA @ Bhubaneswar THE Balanga incident took a startling twist on Saturday after the 15-year-old girl, who was alleged to have been set afire by unknown miscreants last month, succumbed at AIIMSDelhi in the evening. Soon after her death, the father of the victim came out with a video statement saying she had taken her own life due to mental stress and depression. “The state government provided us with all possible help and assistance. Today my daughter is not with us. She was under severe mental stress for which she took her life. I request the political parties to not politicise the issue and pray for my daughter’s departed soul,” he said. The Odisha Police, which is investigating the case, also claimed that it found involvement of no other person in the incident. Initially, the incident was being probed as an attack by a group of unidentified youths. The girl’s mother too The state government provided us with all possible help and assistance. She was under severe mental stress for which she took her life. I request everyone to not politicise the issue Victim’s father had lodged a complaint with police in this line. “According to the investigation conducted so far, it is clear that no other person is involved. Therefore, we request everyone not to make any sensitive comments regarding this matter during this tragic moment,” Odisha Police said in its statement on X. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi expressed shock over the girl’s death. “I am deeply shocked by the death of the Balanga incident victim. Despite all efforts by the government and round-the-clock endeavours of the specialist medical team at AIIMS-Delhi, her life could not be saved,” he posted on his X handle. The girl had sustained 75 per cent burns and was admitted to AIIMS-Bhubaneswar on July 19. She underwent surgery for management of deep burns on July 23. However, her condition remained critical. Meanwhile, with investigators finding no clue of any foul play police probed the case from , suicide angle too. “The police have conducted the investigation with utmost sincerity The investiga. tion has reached its final stage,” read the police statement. Puri police had recorded the victim’s statement at AIIMS-Bhubaneswar on July 19. The victim, a school dropout, claimed that she was on the way to give some books to her friend in the village when three bike-borne youths abducted her and used a chloroform-like substance to make her unconscious and then set CONTINUED ON P7 her on fire. Mahanadi Tribunal shifts hearing as Odisha, C’garh CMs move to hold talks EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bhubaneswar THE Mahanadi River Water Disputes Tribunal on Saturday fixed the next date of hearing on Mahanadi river dispute to September 6 following interest shown by Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and his Chhattisgarh counterpart Vishnu Deo Sai for an amicable settlement through dialogue. “Following the correspondence between the chief ministers of the two states and statements of the senior advocates of the two states, we deem it appropriate to give some more time to resolve the dispute amicably, as may be possible,” the Tribunal said in its order. The Tribunal asked the secretaries concerned of the two states to remain present before it on the next date to apprise it about the progress of the settlement talks. Earlier, the Tribunal in its July 17 order had asked the counsels of both the states to apprise it about progress of such discussion or decision, if any, on August 2. As per the order, advocate general of Odisha Pitambar Acharya placed a copy of the letter written by Majhi on July 25 to Sai along with the minutes of the high-level meeting held in this regard at the Lok Seva Bhawan on July 23. A copy of the response of the Chhattisgarh chief minister was also placed. Senior advocate of Chhattisgarh AK Gan- guly informed the Tribunal that the issue of settlement of the dispute is under active consideration of the chief minister of the state. Majhi in his letter to Sai had proposed that under guidance of the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti, a joint committee headed by an official of the Central Water Commission (CWC) be set up to go through the issue of amicably solving the dispute. He said the committee would comprise senior technical officials from Odisha and Chhattisgarh and aim to facilitate sustained dialogue and technical negotiations to reach a mutually-beneficial settlement. The chief minister said he firmly believed that with collective effort and active cooperation of both the states and CWC, a just, equitable and timely resolution to the pressing issue can be achieved. “Such a resolution will not only bring peace and stability, but also foster greater cooperation, trust and goodwill between Odisha and Chhattisgarh, paving the way for future collaborations,” he stated. Sai, in his reply to Majhi on Friday said, “I am in receipt of your letter of July 25, 2025 regarding the proposal for an amicable settlement of the Mahanadi water dispute between our states and the same is under consideration.” Majhi and Sai had also held discussion on the issue at a meeting in Bhubaneswar on March 22. BAIL GRANTED TO TWO NUNS FROM KERALA They had been arrested in Chhattisgarh on charges of human trafficking and religious conversion | P7 Prajwal Revanna being taken to a hospital in Bengaluru | PTI Turkiye Journal of Forensic Medicine & Forensic Sciences on forensic image comparison of penis in the identification of the sexual offender,” said ADGP Singh. The investigation hit the first roadblock when doctors at the government hospital refused to take photographs of Prajwal’s penis, citing violation of medical ethics. “Doctors medically examine a suspect or crime accused brought by the police.They are not authorised to take their photographs. The SIT sought court permission citing strong reasons for their request. With the court’s permission the photographs were taken and forensically examined to verify whether the male organ in the rape video was that of Prajwal,” he said. The morphological features of the accused and the one found in the video were compared to match his identity . “The photographs obtained from the video identified the perpetrator with the help of a dermatologist and urologist,” said Singh. CONTINUED ON: P7 PM says India on track to become the third-largest economy Modi gives it Don claim on back to Trump Russian crude on economy rubbished N A M I TA B A J PA I @ Lucknow US President Donald Trump on Saturday said he had heard about India stopping purchasing Russian crude, adding it would be a good step, a claim the government denied. Trump made the remark after announcing 25% reciprocal tariff on Indian imports, along with additional penalties linked to Russian crude imports. “I understand that India is no longer going to be buying oil from Russia. That’s what I heard, I don’t know if that’s right or not. That is a good step. We will see what happens,” Trump said. The petroleum ministry, however, clarified that India has not stopped importing Russian crude. A ministry official said Indian oil marketing companies (OMCs) continue to buy Russian oil, with supply decisions based on factors such as price, crude I understand grade, inventories, logistics, and other economic consid- that India is no erations. “These are long- longer going to buy oil from term oil contracts. It is not so Russia. That’s simple to just stop buying what I heard, I overnight,” the official said. don’t know if The official also emphathat’s right or not. That is a sised that Indian OMCs do good step not import crude from Iran or Venezuela — both sanctioned by the US. Russian oil, however, is not sanctioned by the US or the EU. Instead, it is subject to the G7-EU price-cap mechanism, which aims to restrict Russia’s revenue while ensuring global oil supplies continue. India has consistently complied with the US-recommended price cap of $60 per barrel on Russian oil. Recently, the EU proposed a lower price cap of $47.6 per barrel, to be enforced from September. The official said India’s purchases remain legitimate and fully within international frameworks. ALL QUIET ON THE NORTHERN FRONT R A K E S H K U M A R @ New Delhi IN his first public response to US president Donald Trump’s recent barb that the Indian economy was dead, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday asserted that the country was on its way to become the third-largest economy amid global instability . “There is an atmosphere of instability across the globe. Every country is focused on its individual interests. India is set to become the third biggest economy in the world, and that is why India will have to stay alert as far as its economic interests are concerned,” Modi said. The PM’s statement without naming Trump came at a public rally at Banauli village in Sevapuri area of Varanasi, his parliamentary constituency. Modi advocated economic self-reliance, urging the people to take the pledge towards adopting swadeshi (made in India) as Those who want much as they could so as to India to become support nation’s farmers, the 3rd-largest economy in the small industries and youth. world should Modi added that the citiawaken the zens and the business comspirit of munity could support indigswadeshi among the enous production through a masses renewed commitment to the ‘vocal for local’ movement. “We will buy only those things that are made by Indians. We need to become vocal for local,” he urged the crowd. “Those who want the best for the country and want to see India as the third biggest economy in the world, be it any political party, should leave their differences aside and resolve to awaken the swadeshi spirit among the masses,” he added. Modi also appealed to the business community to prioritise the sale of domestic products in the wake of global disruptions. WITH THIS ISSUE INSIDE OIL IMPORTS FROM RUSSIA: CRUDE FACTS & FIGURES I P12 TRUMP TARIFF A BLOW TO GEMS, HANDICRAFT I P10 PLUS 12 P AGES EXPRESS READ Married woman dies by self-immolation Baripada: A 30-year-old married woman died by suicide by immolating herself while her male friend, who was also married, tried to save her and suffered critical injuries in Khiching area in Mayurbhanj on Saturday. According to the police, the woman, Bharati Patra, and the man, Harihar Acharya, were in a relationship. Both seemed to have an argument, which escalated and in a fit of rage, Bharati brought a bottle of petrol, poured it on herself and set herself ablaze | P6 ODISHA’S ELEPHANTS UNDER SIEGE As coal activity sees an uptick, driven by the energy demands of the country, the stress on elephants would be undeniably pronounced in Angul forest circle, a prime elephant habitat, writes Siba Mohanty | P2 DOMINANT DAY Sun shines for India as Jaiswal-Akash deep cut for England TNIE in England FIROZ MIRZA @LONDON M AKE hay when sun shines. India literally lived those words in both letter and spirit, with a little help from England fielders on Saturday Till tea, England had . dropped 20 catches across India’s 10 innings in the fivematch Test series. Six of those chances were spilled in the last 24 hours helping India surge ahead in the fifth and final Test here at the Oval. Centurion Yashasvi Jaiswal got three reprieves while B Sai Sudharsan, Akash Deep, who went on to hammer his maiden Test half-century and Karun were also grassed once by the English fielders. Without Ben Stokes, the home team, led by Ollie Pope, gained upper hand when they dismissed India for 224 in their first innings. Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley then gave them a flying start further tightening their grip over the contest. The dropped chances three on Friday and as many on Saturday - however, meant they let the game slip away from their hold. Struggling for form of late, Jaiswal made the most of the chances as he struck 118 off 164 including 14 fours and two sixes to punish the English bowl- India’s Yashasvi Jaiswal celebrates his century while Akash Deep bats on the applause after his maiden Test fifty on Day 3 of the fifth Test | PTI/AFP | P13 ers. Having miserably failed with the bat in the last five innings barring that fifty in Manchester Test, Jaiswal needed both runs and luck to get back to his groove. The generosity from his opponents offered him that chance and he grabbed it with both hands. Once India set a target of 374, England started well but Mohammed Siraj gave a crucial breakthrough, removing Zak Crawley They still need . 324 runs to win but it might be a hard task on this surface. Earlier at Leeds, India dropped at least five catches and went on to lose the contest despite being in a position of strength for the first four days. England may endure the same fate on Sunday .