SAMBALPUR l tuesday l november 04, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l CITY EDITION Centre launches ` 1 lakh crore Research & Development fund Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday launched a `1 lakh crore fund to spur private sector investment in research and development Want to foster culture of R&D: Modi Govt’s focus on ease of doing research Modi launched the Research, Development and Innovation Fund at the first-ever Emerging Science, Technology and Innovation Conclave in Delhi. He said the government would support high-risk, high-impact projects to help India emerge as a science and technology powerhouse. “Our goal is to foster a culture of research and development,” Modi said ■ ■ He said the government was focusing on the ‘Ease of Doing Research’ to foster a modern ecosystem of innovation in India | p7 “Government has introduced significant reforms. We have streamlined incentives and supply chain frameworks to accelerate the transition of prototypes from the lab to the market,” PM said 0.6% of GDP is how much India spends annually on R&D 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 Russia, China testing “Russia’s testing, China’s testing, but they don’t talk about it...We have to talk about it, otherwise you people are going to report. They don’t have reporters that are going to be writing about it,” Trump said Don: Pak on list of nations doing N-weapons test If validated, it could raise serious concerns about Pak’s compliance with global norms claim if substantiated, could raise serious concerns about IsIn a provocative new claim lamabad’s compliance with inthat has stirred debate, US ternational norms. Pakistan President Donald Trump listed last conducted public nuclear Pakistan among several na- detonations in May 1998, followtions that are currently con- ing India’s Pokhran-II tests. ducting nuclear weapons tests, Islamabad has not yet issued a statement that could have far- any official response, though reaching global implications. its long-standing position In an interview aired on CBS maintains that its nuclear proNews’ 60 Minutes, Trump de- gramme is purely defensive fended his administraand governed by strict tion’s controversial decommand-and-control cision to resume nuclear mechanisms. The comtesting after more than ments have drawn We’re going to three decades. He said scrutiny from both test because countries like Russia, strategic analysts and they test and China, North Korea, others test. And inter national diploand Pakistan were al- certainly North mats, who warn that ready conducting such Korea’s been such allegations could testing. tests, while the US had strain Washington’s alPakistan’s “held back”. ready complex relabeen testing He claimed the US tions with Islamabad does not “necessarily and heighten tensions Donald Trump, know” where these across South Asia. US President “powerful” nations are Amid growing questesting nuclear weapons, but tions about the scope of the asserted the testing is being planned US testing, Energy done. “They they test way un- Secretary Chris Wright clari, der, underground where peo- fied in a Fox News interview ple don’t know exactly what’s that the administration’s prohappening with the test. You posal does not involve live nufeel a little bit of a vibration. clear detonations. “These are They test and we don’t test. We system tests — non-critical exhave to test,” he said. plosions,” Wright explained. The remarks mark the first “They involve all other parts time a sitting US president has of the nuclear weapon to make publicly talked about Pakistan sure they deliver the right gecontinuing nuclear testing, a ometry and safety functions.” J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi Biren tapes tampered, top forensic lab tells SC SUCHITRA KALYA N MOHA N TY @ New Delhi Audio recordings allegedly implicating former Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh in the 2023 ethnic violence in the state were tampered with and are not scientifically fit for voice comparison, the National Forensic Science Laboratory (NFSL), Gandhinagar, has informed the Supreme Court. “As the said audio is tampered with, no opinion on the similarity or dissimilarity of the speakers could be offered,” the NFSL told the court. The submission of the NFSL were made during the hearing of a plea filed by the Kuki Organisation Biren Singh for Human Rights Trust (Kohur), seeking a courtmonitored probe into certain leaked audio clips that allegedly implicate Singh in instigating the ethnic violence. A two-judge bench comprising Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice Alok Aradhe directed that a copy of the NFSL’s report be shared with all parties and listed the case for further hearing on 8 December. Kohur alleged that the tapes, shared by an anonymous whistleblower, contained phone conversations held by Singh, “establishing the complicity of the highest functionary and others” in the ethnic violence. As Naveen hits campaign trail in Nuapada, BJD loses Amar to BJP E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar On the day when BJD president and for mer chief minister Naveen Patnaik was, for the first time after 2024 general elections, out in the field campaigning for party candidate Snehangini Chhuria in Nuapada bypoll, the regional outfit suffered a major setback with its former Rajya Sabha MP Amar Patnaik joining the BJP here. The day and time of his joining was strategically planned by the BJP to demoralise the BJD and send a message to the people of the state, especially Nuapada voters, that the regional party was fast disintegrating, sources said. Welcoming Amar Patnaik into BJP in presence of state president Manmohan Samal, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said, “It is both auspicious and significant as it is the last Monday of the holy month of Kartika and Naveen Babu is campaigning in Nuapada. Amar Babu will join the BJP campaign in Nuapada immediately .” CM Mohan Majhi, state BJP president Manmohan Samal and Amar Patnaik raise hands after the latter’s joining in state BJP office, in Bhubaneswar on Monday Patnaik said he joined the BJP by taking inspiration from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose only commitment, he said, is nation first. “I joined the BJP to serve the nation. I quit my government job in 2018 and became an MP in 2019. For so long, I have worked for the development of the state and now the time has come to dedicate myself to nation-building,” Patnaik said. Majhi said Patnaik had freed himself from an atmosphere of political suffocation within the BJD. Inspired by the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he joined the BJP to serve the nation. The BJP is the only party where there is plenty of scope to contribute to nationbuilding, he said. The chief minister said the double-engine government is committed to a Viksit Odisha by 2036 and Viksit Bharat by 2047 under the leadership and vision of PM Modi, who has lavished great attention on the state and also visited it seven times in the last 16 months. “Whenever the PM visited Odisha, he never came with empty hands. The last time he visited Jharsuguda, he announced `70,000 crore worth projects for the nation out of which, `50,000 crore was solely for Odisha, which included a mega shipbuilding facility at Mahanadi river mouth. “Amar babu’s joining the BJP will further strengthen the movement. He will get plenty of scope to work for the state and the nation, and we will work hand in hand to achieve the goal of a prosperous Odisha and India,” Majhi added. zubeen garg murdered, says assam cm Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday claimed that cultural icon Zubeen Garg was murdered in Singapore, even as the probe into the case was underway | P8 3 kids die after falling into septic tank while playing E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Cuttack Remnant of the TGSRTC bus after a truck hit it in Ranga Reddy district | PTI One of the vehicles damaged in the accident near Jaipur on Monday | PTI Reckless driving two days, 29 deaths 19 killed as truck rams into bus in Telangana S i dd h a r d h a G at t i m i @ Hyderabad IN one of the worst road tragedies in Telangana in recent memory at least 19 people, in, cluding 14 women and a 10month-old baby, were killed and 25 injured when a gravelladen tipper lorry rammed a TGSRTC bus near Mirzaguda village in Chevella mandal of Rangareddy on Monday . The collision occurred around 6.15 am on the Hyderabad–Bijapur highway. Police said the tipper, carrying gravel from Patancheru to Man- neguda, was overloaded and speeding when its driver tried to overtake another vehicle. To avoid a pothole, the driver swerved abruptly veered into , the wrong side and crashed into the oncoming bus carrying 72 passengers. The impact was catastrophic. The front of the bus was crushed beyond recognition, killing both drivers — truck driver Akash Kamle (24) of Maharashtra, and RTC driver Dastagiri Baba. A magisterial inquiry has been ordered. 14 dead near Jaipur as truck hits parked cars r a je s h a s n a n i @ Jaipur A day after 15 people were killed and two injured in Phalodi district of Rajasthan when a mini bus collided with a trailer along the Bharatmala Highway a tragic , road accident in Jaipur’s Harmada area on Monday afternoon left 14 people dead and over 18 injured. A speeding dumper truck lost control and rammed into 17 vehicles, creating devastation that eyewitnesses termed “unbearable to watch.” The accident occurred around 1 pm near the Loha Mandi area of Harmada. According to Jaipur District Collector Jitendra Soni, the dumper truck was heading towards the Loha Mandi petrol pump when its brakes gave up. The impact was so severe that the truck crushed vehicles for over 300 metres before coming to a halt. Eye-witnesses said the driver appeared to be drunk. An ex-gratia of `2 lakh has been announced for the next of kin of each deceased. express read BJP, a party of theft, betrayal: Naveen in Nuapada campaign One more convict found hanging in Choudwar jail Shree Jagannath temple braces for Kartika Purnima rush Bhubaneswar/Nuapada: BJD president Naveen Patnaik on Monday said the BJP had come to power by “vote theft” and now has even resorted to stealing candidate. The people are angry and will give a befitting reply on November 11 in the bypoll, he said while campaiing in Komna of Nuapada district | P3 Cuttack: A 43-year-old convict lodged in Choudwar Circle Jail allegedly died by suicide by hanging in the prison toilet here on Monday afternoon. The deceased was identified as Pabitra Sahu of Bolagarh in Khurda district. Sahu had been convicted in a fraud case | P3 Puri/Bhubaneswar: Anticipating a mammoth gathering of devotees on Kartika Purnima, which marks the conclusion of Panchuka with Rajrajeswara Besha of the Trinity, the Puri administration has decided to put the Grand Road under a thick security net and deploy more officials for crowd management | P4 ni g h t a f t e r Recognition, fame and riches, India women wake up to new reality g o m e s h S @ Navi Mumbai As the embers of the beautiful night melted in the dawn, Indiawomen woke up to a new reality – the World Champions. Harmanpreet Kaur and her team must have realized life will no longer be the same again. With last night’s extraordinary viewership numbers (running above 30 crore) and the win turning into the most-discussed topic over the last 24 hours, the fortunes have changed. The team bagged $4.48 million (`40 crore) as prize money . Add to that the `51 crore the Indian cricket board (BCCI) announced. Close to `100 crore for the team, an amount that eclipses any figure the team received since they started playing in World Cups 50 years ago. The Harmanpreet Kaur with the WC trophy at the Gateway of India on Monday | pti World Cup prize-money had seen a nine-fold increase from the runner-up $500,000 they got in 2020 at the MCG. The brand of women’s cricket has been steadily growing and from Sunday night, leading sports apparel companies to food delivery apps started using stars’ faces to promote their brands. Smriti Mandhana has been the most recognised face and the top earner. Harmanpreet is close behind. The likes of Pratika Rawal, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma could be the new faces soon. In terms of cricket, the BCCI is planning to usher in changes. “Whateverchanges we have seen after 1983 in men’s cricket, we hope and expect the samething to happen now,” BCCI secretary Devajit P11 Saikia told this daily  . A pal of gloom descended on Badamba’s Ragadipada village after three children, aged between three and seven years, fell into a septic tank and drowned while playing at Ragadipada village under Badamba block on Monday . The deceased have been identified as five-year-old Ankit Naik, his sister Shibani (7) and their cousin Shubham (3). While Shibani and Ankit are residents of Badabarana village, Shubham is from Ichhapur village. Sources said the kids had come to their maternal uncle’s house along with their mothers for observing Panchuka, the five holy days before Kartik Purnima on Wednesday. The trio was playing near a septic tank located in the village when they accidentally stepped on it. As a result, the concrete cover of the tank caved in taking the three kids inside. The incident went unnoticed as there was no one present there. When the children did not return, the worried families launched a frantic search in the nearby areas. While searching, an elderly relative noticed that the concrete cover of the tank had collapsed. He immediately jumped inside and found the kids there. With the help of other locals, the minors were pulled out of the tank in an unconscious state and rushed to Badamba community health centre (CHC) where doctors declared them brought dead. Badamba police inspector Anirudha Muduli said the concrete slab of the septic tank had weakened and was in a vulnerable state. “When the kids stepped on it, it caved in and the trio fell inside,” he said. After postmortem, the bodies were handed over to their respective families. Three unnatural death cases were registered in this connection, the IIC said.