SAMBALPUR l saturday l november 29, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l CITY EDITION don vows to freeze migration from third world countries US President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to suspend migration a day after an Afghan shot two National Guard soldiers new escalation in anti-migration stance 19 nations already face restrictions Trump’s social media post, which also threatened to reverse “millions” of admissions granted under his predecessor Joe Biden, marks a new escalation in the anti-migration stance. Trump said earlier that Sarah Beckstrom, a 20-year-old West Virginia National Guard member deployed in Washington as part of his crackdown on crimes, had died from wounds ■ ■ The shooting on Wednesday has brought together three politically explosive issues: Trump’s controversial use of the military at home, immigration, and the legacy of the US war in Afghanistan As per USCIS, 19 countries — including Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Iran and Myanmar — already face US travel curbs under an order | P9 1,16,000 green card holders from afghanistan in the u.s. 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 Gathering momentum 9.7 10 8 6 6 9.3 9.5 6.9 4.8 Y-o-Y growth rates (%) 8.4 8.2 7.4 7.8 6.5 6.4 5.6 4 2 Q2 Q3 2022-23 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 2023-24 Q1 Q2 Q3 2024-25 Q4 Q1 Q2 2025-26 At 8.2%, GDP grows at fastest pace in six qtrs year and 7% in Q1. Gross fixed capital formation — an indicaINDIA’s economy grew at 8.2% tor of infrastructure and asset in the second quarter of FY26, creation — maintained its rise beating all estimates and mark- at 7.3% versus 6.7% a year ago, ing the fastest pace in six quar- although slightly lower than the ters. This is a big jump from the 7.8% in Q1. 5.6% growth in the same “The confluence of period last fiscal. Most stable inflation, susanalysts had expected tained public capex, and the Q2 growth to be in reform momentum pothe range of 7–7.5%. sitions the economy to The strong performnavigate risks, as reance is attributed to a flected in upward reviboost in manufactursions to FY26 GDP ing, rising rural degrowth projections by mand, and sustained various agencies,” said growth of the services Chief Economic AdviThe 8.2% GDP sector. Manufacturing sor V Anantha Naggrowth is very grew at a robust 9.1% eswaran. He added that encouraging. It reflects the — more than four times India becoming a $4 impact of our the 2.2% recorded a trillion economy “as pro-growth year ago. Economists early as next year” is policies and attribute this partly to not unrealistic. reforms. It also frontloading of exports reflects the hard The government has to the US ahead of the highlighted the role rework and 50% tariff increase. enterprise of ductions in GST rates our people Construction also played in lowering the saw healthy expansion, Narendra Modi, PM cost of goods and servgrowing at 7.2%. The ices, supporting conservices sector continsumption and expandued its positive momentum, ing the tax base. clocking 9.2% growth in Q2 H o w e v e r, e c o n o m i s t s compared to 7.2% a year cautioned that slower nominal earlier. g rowth could pose risks. Private consumption re- Nominal GDP grew 8.7% in Q2, mained strong with 7.9% reaching an estimated `85.25 growth, compared to 6.4% last lakh crore. Putin visit to boost defence ties M AYA N K SI N G H @ New Delhi DEFENCE negotiations will be the key agenda of Russian President Vladmir Putin’s visit to India from December 4 to 5, which is expected to take the strategic bilateral ties to the next level. Announcing the two-day visit, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Friday that Putin is coming to hold the annual India-Russia summit talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The visit will give an opportunity for the two leaders to review the progress in bilateral relations, set the vision to strengthen the ‘special and privileged strategic partnership’ and exchange views on regional and global issues of mutual interest, the MEA said. Terming it a “visit of great importance”, the Kremlin said the current geopolitical issues will also come up in talks. The focus of the summit will be “broader elements of cooperation on defence”, said Defence Secretary R K Singh said while speaking at an event in Delhi on Friday. He said the strategic S-400 air defence systems may be on the table though no CM Majhi presents supplementary budget of `17,440 cr with focus on farmers, women & edu PUSHPITA D E Y @ New Delhi express read TMC says 40 SIR-related deaths in West Bengal E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar brace! Rosan Kujur (R) scored twice as India defeated Chile 7-0 in the Junior Hockey World Cup on Friday | ashwin prasath | P11 INSIDE paddy purchase hit in sambalpur | P4 Raipur: Union Home minister Amit Shah on Friday said the Centre has strengthened the security grid by constructing 586 fortified police stations in the last seven years. As a result, the Maoist-affected districts have come down from 126 in the year 2014 to just 11 now | P8 Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Friday presented a supplementary budget of `17,440 crore in the Assembly to meet additional requirement of funds for completion of important ongoing projects in the current 2025-26 financial year. The supplementary budget is Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act compliant and projected to maintain revenue surplus, contain fiscal deficit at around three per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) and the debt-GSDP ratio at the year-end within the mandated level of 25 per cent. Till October 2025, the revenue surplus was 1.3 per cent while debt to GSDP ratio was 11.9 per cent. The interest payment to revenue receipt ratio was maintained at 2.2 per cent. The capital outlay for 2025-26 will exceed six per cent including the supplementary provision. This will boost economic growth and at the same time enable the government to implement Ditwah may batter TN, red alert for 4 dists I P5 61 dead in sri lanka NEW DELHI: A Trinamool Congress delegation on Friday met the full bench of the Election Commission of India here and alleged that at least 40 SIR-related deaths had taken place in West Bengal, accusing the poll panel chief of having “blood on its hands” | P7 Shah credits security grid for Maoist rout announcements are likely. “This meeting will focus on the larger defence partnership and resolving delivery delays,” he said. The S-400 played a crucial role during Operation Sindoor as it successfully targeted multiple Pakistani fighters and aircraft deep inside Pakistan. India has already signed contracts for the S-400 systems with Russia, but deliveries have faced delays. Singh confirmed that Russia has promised to deliver the remaining equipment in the financial year 2026-27. A man wades through floodwater outside his house following heavy rainfall in Kaduwela on the outskirts of Colombo on Friday | afp J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi AT least 61 people have died and more than 25 remain missing till Friday evening in Sri Lanka, which is bearing the brunt of massive destruction caused by Cyclone Ditwah. With torrential rains, landslides and floods displacing thousands in the island nation, India has launched a swift humanitarian response for the island nation. New Delhi has rushed emergency relief under Operation Sagar Bandhu, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveying condolences and stressing India’s commitment to stand by its closest maritime neighbour. By Friday evening, Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said the cyclone had affected 43,991 people. Many re- gions of the country remain submerged and inaccessible, with officials warning that rising water levels in the Kelani and Attanagalu rivers pose a grave threat to Colombo and the populous Gampaha district. Outages have hit nearly a third of the region, and two major hydropower plants have been shut down. Responding to the escalating crisis, India has so far dispatched 4.5 tonnes of dry rations and 2 tonnes of fresh rations, including staple foods, ready-to-eat meals, dairy products, bakery items and other essential provisions. Additional survival supplies have also been handed over. The relief consignments were delivered by INS Vikrant and INS Udayagiri, both docked in Sri Lanka, an official release said. Ditwah is likely to reach southwest Bay of Bengal near north Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and south Andhra Pradesh by November 30, IMD said. SC frees woman jailed for changing six lawyers u d aya n k i s h o r e @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court has ordered the release of a woman jailed by a lower court for changing her lawyers six times during an appeal in a cheque bounce case, describing the order as “appalling and shocking.” The case involves two dishonoured cheques issued by the woman’s m o t h e r, worth `7 lakh and `5.02 lakh respectively. The trial court convicted and sentenced both the mother and daughter. The woman subsequently filed an appeal before the sessions court in Faridabad, which has been pending for eight years, the bench noted. Meanwhile, the sessions court cancelled their bail and ordered their custody. The mother and daughter challenged this decision in the high court and later the Supreme Court. A bench comprising Justices Arvind Kumar and N V Anjaria, in an order dated November 27, noted that the mother had passed away, but the appellate court had not accepted her death certificate. The sessions court directed the concerned Station House Officer to verify the legitimacy of the cer- tificate. The bench observed that if the lawyer was not assisting the court, the proper action would have been to appoint an amicus curiae or allow the accused time to arrange alternate counsel — not to jail her. The court ordered the woman’s release on a personal bond of `1 lakh.“It is appalling and shocking that the appellate court insisted on the appellant’s presence on every hearing date, particularly after suspending the sentence already passed,” the bench said. Budget highlights Total outlay `17,440 cr `13,716 cr `2,127 cr Programme expenditure Education, skill development `1,622 cr `6,019 cr Farmers’ welfare Women and child devpt `326 cr Industries different developmental and welfare programmes. The chief minister had placed annual budget of `2,90,000 crore for 2025-26 financial year in February . The supplementary budget has made a provision of `13,716 crore under programme expenditure, `3, 389 crore under administrative expenditure, `171 crore disaster response funds and `164 crore transfers from the government for urban local bodies and panchayati raj institutions as per the state finance commission awards. Under programme implementation, farmers’ welfare and food security has received top priority with an allocation of `6,019 crore including `3,000 crore under revolving fund for paddy procurement, `1,325 crore to meet subsidy demand under paddy procurement and `850 towards input assistance to farmers under Samrudha Krushak Yojana. The administrative expenditure includes `1,406 crore for debt servicing and `133 crore for recoupment of advance from the Odisha Contingency Fund (OCF). While `250 crore has been provided for maintenance of roads and bridges, `205 crore has been earmarked for maintenance of government residential buildings. Similarly, `306 crore has been provided for maintenance of government non-residential buildings. CONTINUED ON P5