Dozens of troops and civilians killed in fresh Af-Pak clashes Dozens of troops and civilians were killed in a fresh round of border clash between Pakistan and Afghanistan forces on Wednesday. The Pakistan Army claimed it repulsed multiple attacks by the Afghan Taliban, killing more than 40 attackers in separate clashes. SAMBALPUR l thursday l October 16, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l CITY EDITION 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 SC allows limited use of green crackers for Diwali S UCHITRA K ALYAN M OHANTY @ New Delhi Execution by lethal shot: SC says govt isn’t ‘evolving’ S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Wednesday observed that “the government is not ready to evolve” after it was informed of the Centre’s opposition to using lethal injections as a mode of execution for death row convicts instead of the current method of hanging. “The problem is that the government is not ready to evolve... it’s a very old procedure, and things have changed over time,” remarked a twojudge bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta. The court was hearing a PIL filed by advocate Rishi Malhotra seeking removal of the use of hanging as the mode of execution from the statute, citing “prolonged pain and suffering.” “At least give the condemned prisoner an option. Lethal injection is quick, humane and decent, as opposed to hanging, which is cruel, barbaric and lingering... for 40 minutes, the body hangs on the rope,” Malhotra argued. Appearing for the Centre, senior advocate Sonia Mathur said the issue ultimately involved a policy decision. “It may not be very feasible to give death row convicts the option to choose lethal injection as a mode of execution,” she submitted. The Centre, in a counter affidavit filed last year, argued hanging is safer and quicker than lethal injection in connection with a petition filed by a lawyer seeking alter native way of execution. e x p r e ss r e a d Mukti Mandap says Diwali on October 20 Bhubaneswar: With confusion abounding over the date of Diwali, the Mukti Mandap Pandit Mahasabha at the Shree Jagannath Temple on Wednesday put the matter to rest and declared October 20 as the date for the festival and ‘Paya Shradha’.The highest body of pandits also appealed the state government to declare October 20 as public holiday for Diwali instead of the notified date of October 21 | P2 amdavad cleared as host for CWG 2030 Commonwealth Sport executive board passes Amdavad (Ahmedabad) as the host for the 2030 Commonwealth Games to the general body that meets in Glasgow next month to give nod I P15 IN a major relaxation ahead of Diwali, the Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed the limited use of ‘green firecrackers’ in Delhi National Capital Region from October 18 to 20. The relaxation—a balanced decision to allow traditions while taking into account the environmental and health concerns—is subject to strict conditions. A bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran said use of green crackers—which produce less air and noise pollution than traditional firecrackers—will confined to specific hours. “The district administration and the police shall ensure that use of firecrackers shall be confined between 6:00 AM to 7:00 AM and 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM on the two days i.e., the one before and on the Diwali day,” it said. The court also made it clear that the relaxation is only on a ‘test case basis’. “We have to take a balanced approach, taking into account the conflicting interests and permit in moderation, while not compromising the environmental concerns arising,” said the bench. The order said the green crackers can be sold only through licensed traders at the designated locations in DelhiNCR, which will be identified by the authorities in consultation with police. The green crackers being sold must be manufactured by those registered with the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, while the traders must have obtained licence from the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization. It said there can be no sale or purchase of firecrack- ers through e-commerce networks. Any supply of such products shall be detained and the product confiscated. The court said police authorities, in consultation with district administration, shall constitute patrolling teams to keep a vigil on the designated locations of sale, including officers as nominated by state pollution control boards. The bench also ordered the Central Pollution Control Board, in consultation with state pollution control boards and their respective regional offices coming under the NCR, to monitor the air quality index from October 14 till October 25. The report specifying the air quality of each day indicated must be filed before the court. “The Regional Offices of the State Pollution Control Boards shall also take samples of sand and water from sites having more density of use for analysis,” said the bench and listed the matter after three weeks. pipe dreams Boys play inside huge metal pipes kept under Kuakhai bridge in Bhubaneswar | DEBADATTA MALLICK BJP names Jay, CM to attend nomination in Nuapada today E x p r ess Ne w s S e r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar The central election committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday announced the candidature of Jay Dholakia, son of late BJD leader Rajendra Dholakia, for the Nuapada byelection set to be held on November 11. Jay will file nomination on October 16 in presence of top party leaders including Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, deputy chief minister KV Singh Deo, majority of the members of the council of ministers, MPs, MLAs and state functionaries. The party has made elaborate ar rang ements to make the event a grand affair. The chief minister will fly to Nuapada on Thursday forenoon. A public meeting will be held near Gotama airstrip where a large number of party workers and elected representatives of panchayati raj institutions belonging to Biju Janata Dal and Congress will join the BJP in the CM’s presence, said state BJP spokesperson Sudipta Ray . After the public meeting, Dholakia accompanied by the chief minister and other senior leaders will proceed to the office of district returning officer in a procession to file nomination papers. He said invitations have been sent to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai and mebers of his council of ministers BJD springs a surprise, fields Chhuria as party candidate Bhubaneswar: In a surprise move, the BJD on Wednesday announced former minister and president of the Biju Mahila Janata Dal (BMJD) Snehangini Chhuria as the party’s candidate for by-election to Nuapada Assembly constituency. BJD president Naveen Patnaik said Chhuria is a strong leader from Western Odisha. “She has always fought for the poor, the downtrodden and women in particular. She has been a tremendous asset for the party. Therefore, the party decided that she will be our candidate for the ensuing by-election in Nuapada,” he added. The leader of opposition also announced that he will campaign for Chhuria in the Continued on P5 by-election.  including deputy CMs Arun Sao and Vijay Sharma, MLAs and MPs of districts bordering Nuapada to join the events leading to filing of nomination by Jay . “We are expecting the presence of Sao, a few ministers and MLAs and MPs from Mahasamund district at the nomination filing events,” he said. State BJP president Manmohan Samal, some of the ministers from western Odisha district and state functionaries reached Nuapada on Wednesday, Ray said.  Continued on P5 Tejashwi files papers; no Muslim in JD(U) first list of 57 names R a m a s h a n k a r @ Patna Leader of Opposition in the Bihar assembly Tejashwi Prasad Yadav on Wednesday filed his nomination papers from Raghopur in Vaishali district, seeking re-election for the third consecutive term. His path was eased by Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor, who went back on his earlier decision to enter the poll fray from Raghopur. “A decision has been taken that I should not contest the polls in the larger interest of the party he ,” told the media. In the NDA camp, the ruling Janata Dal (United) put out its first list of candidates for 57 assembly constituencies, dropping four sitting MLAs and fielding 27 new faces. Significantly there was , not even one representative from the Muslim community in the first list, though Mus- lims were part of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s vote bank earlier. The list included four women and three Bahubalis (those having muscle power). Interestingly, candidates for five seats Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) wanted as part of the NDA — Alauli, Sonbarsa, Rajgir, Ekma and Morwa — figured in the JD(U)’s first list. Alauli is important for Chirag as it is native place. Meanwhile, the BJP released its second list of 12 candidates while parallelly doing some fire-fighting within the NDA as Rashtriya Lok Morcha chief Upendra Kushwaha was grumpy He was assured MLC . and Rajya Sabha seats as was sore over Chirag’s party getting the Mahua seat, which he reportedly wanted for his son or a relative. The crisis blew over after he met Union home minister Amit Shah in New Delhi. China drags India to WTO over EV subsidy PU S HPITA D E Y @ New Delhi CHINA has filed a formal complaint against India at the WTO, alleging New Delhi’s EV subsidies give “an unfair competitive edge” to its domestic industries a n d u n d e r m i n e B e i j i n g ’s interests. The move comes in the wake of reports of India’s plan to launch a National Critical Mineral Stockpile (NCMS) to ensure steady access to rare earth elements crucial for EV batteries. NCMS aims to secure long-term mineral supplies at a time when China—the world’s largest supplier—has imposed export curbs on key elements. Department of Commerce sources said they are looking into China’s submissions. India has 30 days to hold consultations to address China’s concerns. If talks fail, then a dispute settlement panel may be set up. Currently, China faces overcapacity, forcing players like BYD to look at overseas markets, including India, to push their products.