SAMBALPUR l sunday l november 30, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 26 l CITY EDITION Anthony Albanese first oz PM to get hitched while in office Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese married his partner Jodie Haydon in a secretive ceremony Saturday at his residence in Canberra pet dog ring-bearer; pair write own vows avoid lavish wedding on expert advice Albanese is the first prime minister to marry while in office in the 124-year history of the Australian federal government. The couple were married by a civil celebrant before 60 guests, including several cabinet ministers. The pair wrote their own vows and their dog Toto was the ring bearer. Haydon’s 5-year-old niece Ella was the flower girl, a statement read ■ ■ Albanese, 62, who is divorced with an adult son, had proposed to Haydon, 46, at Canberra’s The Lodge on Valentine’s Day last year They initially planned a larger-scale wedding. But the ruling centerleft Labor Party feared a lavish wedding during a cost of living crisis could hurt the government’s chances of being re-elected 2020 is when Haydon met Albanese at a business dinner in Melbourne 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 Software update of A320s delays flights across India Four AI Express flights cancelled; all updates expected by midnight Uncommanded pitch-down event Express N e ws Se rvi ce @ New Delhi WITH THIS ISSUE Speaking Their Mind PLUS 12 P AGES Global fears of massive travel chaos following a European Union Safety Agency advisory on Friday to fly about 6,400 Airbus A320s in service only after a flight control software update, were largely eased as airlines scrambled to implement it quickly While some flights were . delayed, only a few cancellations were reported. In India, where 338 A320 are operational, Air India, IndiGo and Air India Express fixed the problem in most of their fleet after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) gave them a Sunday morning (5.29 am) deadline to do so. It, however, led to flight delays, while Air India Express cancelled four of its flights on S at u rd ay t o f a c i l i t at e compliance. Air India Express flights from Varanasi to Bengaluru, Bengaluru to Varanasi, Guwahati to Jaipur and Jaipur to Guwahati were cancelled while its The problem was first noticed in an Jet Blue Airbus A320 last month after it experienced an “uncommanded and limited pitchdown event. The autopilot remained engaged throughout the event, with a brief and limited loss of altitude.” The rest of the flight was uneventful flights were delayed across some sectors. IndiGo A320 aircraft across the country suffered a delay of up to 30 minutes, said a source. Air India flights too suffered delays. The problem is expected to be fixed in all A320s before midnight. As of 5.30 pm, Indigo upgraded the software in 184 out of its 200 A320s; Air India did likewise for 69 on 113 aircraft; and Air India Express did so for 17 on 25 aircraft. The issue was detected after a preliminary technical probe by Airbus on an accident involving a JetBlue flight in the US on October 30. Captain C S Randhawa, for mer Deputy Chief flight Inspector Operations, DGCA, told this newspaper, “A flight from Cancun in Mexico to Newark International Airport in the US suddenly lost altitude when flying and caused injuries to the passengers on board. This happened when the auto-pilot mode was on, which is meant to smoothly take care of operations. It was l a t e r d e t e c t e d that the Elevated Aileron Computer in the cockpit had malfunctioned due to solar radiation,” he said. 4 SC circulars specify oral mention rule, urgent matters u d aya n k i s h o r e @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court has barred litigants from orally mentioning matters for urgent listing before the Chief Justice of India as items requiring special attention will come up for hearing automatically within two working days. T he cour t made these changes while restructuring the system of oral mentioning, urgent listing and adjournment of cases effective December 1. The changes also include barring senior advocates to mention matters before any bench, while encouraging junior counsel to make oral mentionings. A circular said bereavement in the family or medical emer- As govt-miller talks fail, paddy purchase stalled in several dists E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar An urgent meeting between Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Krushna Chandra Patra and All Odisha Rice Millers’ Association (AORMA) over lifting of custommilled rice remained inconclusive on Saturday evening, deepening the crisis of kharif paddy procurement in western districts. With 12 lakh tonne custom-milled rice (CMR) awaiting evacuation, the millers had requested the department to create space for kharif paddy However, after the . meeting, the rice millers association said the state government was non-committal in its assurance which has forced them to stick to their stand of not lifting paddy from the procurement centres. In fact, paddy procurement in Sam- AORMA has balpur and Bargarh has failed to take off been taking up as millers have not executed any agree- the issues with ment with the state agencies. Since the gov- the government ernment uses godowns of rice mills for for over a year. paddy procurement, the deadlock could hit Until the pending issues kharif purchase. Earlier, the millers had sought Chief are addressed, no miller from Minister Mohan Charan Majhi’s interven- Kalahandi will tion saying they were forced to shut down participate in mills due to non-lifting of custom-milled procurement rice by Food Corporation of India (FCI) and Odisha State Civil Supplies Corpora- Mahesh Bansal, president AORMA tion (OSCSC). Meanwhile, reports from Kalahandi said, the mandi in Golamunda block opened on Saturday but no transaction could take place. According to sources, the district administration and civil supplies department are under pressure as none of the 90 rice millers in the district signed agreements to operate as custom millers or lift paddy from procurement centres. The AORMA has been taking up its demands with the government for over a year but claims the state has remained unresponsive. “Until the pending issues are addressed, no miller from Kalahandi will participate in procurement,” said Mahesh Bansal, state president of the association. Bansal alleged that the government is not taking steps to ensure higher rice allocation to the FCI from Odisha compared to other states, despite millers bearing the additional Continued on P7 burden of transportation and storage.  gencies of advocates or parties were the only grounds for adjournments, apart from other genuine reasons accepted by the court. Four circulars issued by the SC registry on Saturday said the changes were to reduce unnecessary mentioning before benches, and ensure faster listing of matters. For cases requiring advance listing due to urgent interim orders, parties must submit the mentioning proforma and a letter explaining the urgency to the Mentioning Officer by 3 pm on the previous working day or 11.30 am on a Saturday . Exceptions are limited to anticipatory bail, death penalty habeas corpus and urgent , eviction or demolition issues. National emergency in Sri Lanka as toll rises to 153; India steps up aid m aya n k s i n g h @ New Delhi SRI Lanka was on Saturday picking up pieces after widespread destruction caused by cyclone Ditwah, with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake declaring a state of emergency throughout the country as the death toll rose to 153. Disaster management authorities in Colombo told local newspapers about 191 people still remaining untraced as search and relief efforts continue across 25 districts. The cyclone brought landslides, flash floods, and heavy rains, affecting over 7,74,724 people from 2,17,263 families. More than 15,000 homes were destroyed, and nearly 78,000 people have been displaced to temporary shelters, marking one of Sri Lanka’s worst natural disasters in recent memory . Demonstrating its “neighbourhood first” spirit, India has rapidly escalated its humanitarian response under Operation Sagar Bandhu. The Indian Air Force deployed a C-130 and an IL-76 from Hindon Air Base on the night of November 28-29, delivering 21 tonnes of relief materials, including essential rations and disaster relief equipment, alongside over 80 National Disaster Response Force personnel to Colombo. “India stands firmly with Sri Lanka in this hour of need,” the IAF said in a message on X. The Indian Navy stepped in and dispatched dry and fresh ra- Houses submerged in floodwaters after heavy rainfall in Kaduwela on the outskirts of Colombo on Saturday | AFP U.S. donates $2 million for relief COLOMBO: The US announced an immediate allocation of $2 million to support emergency relief efforts while Maldives has decided to extend relief assistance to Sri Lanka through financial support of $50,000 and 25,000 cases of tuna cans . tions and crucial supplies, including 4.5 tons of dry rations, 2 tons of fresh rations, and essential items, with the help of INS Vikrant and INS Udaygiri. Foreign Minister Dr S Jaishankar said on X that two Chetak helicopters from aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, staffed with Sri Lankan Air Force personnel, undertook search and rescue operations. Further assistance arrived with two IAF MI-17V5 helicopters carrying 22 personnel and supplies, led by Wing Commanders Nagesh Kumar and Mukul Mahajan. Another naval vessel, INS Sukanya, has left Visakhapatnam en route to Sri Lanka with more relief materials. J&K-PoK barter is intra-state trade, rules HC F aya z W a n i @ Srinagar In a significant judgment, the J&K and Ladakh High Court ruled that trade between J&K and Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) qualifies as intrastate trade, as PoK is part of J&K and trade is bound by the GST Act. Cross-LoC trade between J&K and PoK was started in 2008 as a confidence building measure by India and Pakistan. However, after the February 14, 2019 Pulwama suicide attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed and many others injured, India suspended the cross-LoC trade and cross-LoC bus service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad, PoK’s capital. “The cross-LoC trade was essentially a barter trade where there was no exchange of currency from either side. This cross-LoC trade was between the people living across LoC i.e., trade between two parts of the State of Jammu and Kashmir - one, the then ‘State of Jammu and Kashmir’ and the other PoK, observed a division bench of J&K High Court comprising justices Sanjeev Kumar and Sanjay Parihar. The division bench was hearing at least 35 petitions challenging CGST show-cause notices issued to them. Over 8.16L ghost ration cards cancelled, `210 cr saved: Min The state government has cancelled over 8.16 lakh ration cards during the ongoing e-KYC drive in the state and saved `210 crore per annum for the exchequer | P5