SAMBALPUR l Saturday l december 27, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l CITY EDITION President confers PM Rashtriya Bal Puraskar on 20 children Cricketing sensation Vaibhav Suiryawanshi (pic), singer Esther Lalduhawmi Hanamate, and judoka Yogita Mandavi among 20 awarded on Friday President Droupadi Murmu confers the award on ten-year-old Shravan Singh, who delivered water and milk to soldiers during Op Sindoor champions across six fields awarded The award is in recognition of exceptional achievements in the fields of bravery, social service, environment, sports, art & culture and science & technology. President Murmu said it is owing to talented children such as Vaka Lakshmi Pragnika that India is considered a chess powerhouse. Ajay Raj and Mohammed Sidan P, who saved lives of others, were feted too ■ 9 of x factor, and the supreme sacrifice ■ Cricketer Vaibhav Suryawanshi was feted for making “a name for himself in a highly competitive sport”, the President said Nine-year-old Coimbatore resdident Vyoma Priya, awarded posthumously, had lost her life while trying to save a six-year-old during an electrical accident in their gated community park | P9 awardees among the 20 are sportspersons 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 CEC’s 3-day Odisha visit fuels SIR buzz Visa hassle India presses US to resolve H-1B delay E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi INDIA on Friday said it has taken up with the US the issue of delays, cancellations and difficulties in scheduling H-1B visa appointments amid mounting concerns that recent regulatory changes have affected thousands of Indian nationals. “The Government of India has received several representations from Indian nationals who are facing delays or problems with the rescheduling of their visa appointments,” said Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). “While we do understand that visa-related issues pertain to the sovereign domain of any country, we have flagged these issues and concerns of our nationals to the US Randhir Jaiswal, side, both in MEA spokesman Delhi and in Washington.” The latest disruptions follow a series of policy changes announced by Washington, including a steep fee of $100,000 for first-time H-1B visa applicants and a move away from the random lottery system towards prioritising applicants with higher skills. From December 15, the US also expanded social media vetting to all H-1B and H-4 visa applicants, a step that has led to widespread appointment cancellations and rescheduling months later. Jaiswal said India is actively engaging with US to address the issues faced by Indians. The changes apply to H-1B visas, which allow US firms to employ foreign professionals in specialised fields such as technology, engineering and medicine, as well as H-4 visas issued to dependents. Reports say thousands of Indians have been affected with several people who travelled to India specifically to renew their visas being stranded. A hotel owner in West Bengal’s Siliguri pastes a notice banning Bangladeshis | PTI MEA: Relentless attack on B’desh Hindus worrying Shares deep concern over unremitting hostilities against minorities in the country J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi Unremitting hostilities against the minorities in Bangladesh is a matter of grave concern — MEA 2,900 cases of violence The MEA said that over 2,900 incidents of violence against minorities, including cases of killings, arsons, land grab have been reported during the tenure of the interim government INDIA on Friday expressed deep concern about the “unremitting hostilities” against Hindus in Bangladesh and condemned attempts to dismiss the continuing violence against religious minorities as media exaggeration or political violence. New Delhi also reacted cautiously to the return of Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Tarique Rahman to Dhaka after 17 years of exile, stressing that the development should be viewed in the context of ensuring inclusive polls. He reiterated India’s stand that the upcoming parliamentary elections there must be free, fair, and inclusive. “The unremitting hostilities against the minorities in Bangladesh including Hindus, Christians and Buddhists are a matter of grave concern. We condemn the recent killing of a Hindu youth in Bangladesh and expect that the perpetrators of the crime will be brought to justice,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. The comments came in the wake of a string of incidents targeting religious minorities in Bangladesh amid a rapidly evolving political landscape following the ouster of former PM Sheikh Hasina. Two Hindu men were lynched in two separate incidents in a span of a week. Jaiswal said India is closely monitoring the developments across the border and underlined that protection of minorities is integral to democratic credibility . Referring to the lynching of Dipu Chandra Das on December 18, Jaiswal said New Delhi has unequivocally condemned the incident and sought swift accountability. On the killing of another Hindu man, Amrit Mondal, on December 24, Jaiswal appeared to link it to hostilities towards minorities. When asked about BNP’s acting chairman Rahman’s return, Jaiswal struck a measured note, saying it should be seen in the context of ensuring inclusive elections. He refrained from commenting on Bangladesh’s internal political rivalries. Amid the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in nines states and three Union Territories, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar is set to arrive on a three-day visit to Odisha from Saturday triggering spec, ulations over the exercise being carried out in the state soon. Kumar is scheduled to hold meeting with booth level officers (BLOs) at the OUAT auditorium here on December 29. Although the Election Commission of India (ECI) has not formally announced Odisha’s inclusion in the SIR next cycle, the CEC’s direct engagement with BLOs has fuelled buzz that the state may be gearing up for the intensified field- level voter verification. Sources said, 1,000 BLOs from Khurda and Cuttack districts have been invited for the meeting on Monday and the government expects the attendance of around 800 BLOs, the grassroots backbone of the state’s election machinery Pri. or to the BLOs meet, the CEC will hold a meeting of senior of ficials and review the preparedness. After the first phase of the SIR in Bihar earlier this year, the second phase of the exercise is going on in 12 states and UTs, covering around 51 crore voters. Odisha is expected to be covered in the third phase along with remaining states and UTs. Before the Odisha visit, the CEC had also visited Telangana and interacted with the BLOs in Hyderabad. Telangana is also among the states where SIR will be conducted in the next phase. Odisha has historically witnessed periodic summary revisions of electoral rolls, particularly ahead of major elections, but the activities did not involve door-to-door verification. The last full-fledged SIR in the state was undertaken in 2002. The state has consistently added a significant number of first-time voters during revision drives. It also faces challenges related to duplicate en- Pil in Delhi HC to cut GST for air purifiers Stay off legislative turf: Govt on GST nudge U d ayan k i s h o r e @ New Delhi THE Centre on Friday opposed a PIL seeking reduced air purifier rates, telling the Delhi High Court that judicial intervention would violate the principle of ‘separation of powers.’ “This will open up a Pandora’s box,” the Centre told a vacation bench of justices Vikas Mahajan and Vinod Kumar after the court questioned why the rates couldn’t be brought “within reach of the common man”. Additional Solicitor General N Venkataraman, for the Centre, said there was already a legislative process involving parliamentary standing committee reports and GST Council deliberations. “How can this process be scuttled through a court process?” he asked. On the court’s earlier sug- Key demands of the PIL The petitioner submitted that on medical devices, GST was five per cent whereas it was 18 per cent for air purifiers. He sought a direction to authorities to charge five per cent on air purifiers as well considering the capital’s pollution crisis gestion for a virtual GST Council meeting given Delhi’s air pollution crisis, the Centre said it was “not possible” as regulations require physical presence of all members. “This is not a PIL at all. GST is only a ruse...We are scared from the constitutional perspective. It is doctrine of separation of powers,” the ASG said, adding the Centre couldn’t commit to a Council meeting date. The bench had noted that air purifiers are pricey rang, ing from `10,000-12,000 `60,000. “It is beyond the reach of a common man. Why not bring it down to a reasonable level...What is the difficulty in the GST Council meeting?” it asked. The ASG said, “It is a loaded petition, we want to know who is behind this...Somebody wants a monopoly in air purifiers...Health ministry is not even a party The .” court permitted the Centre to file a counter-affidavit within 10 days. Another minor raped in Only Aadhaar-verified users can book rly Bhadrak, attempts suicide tickets on 1st day of advance reservation was rescued by the family and @ Bhadrak rushed to Dhamara community health centre for treatment. As Amid raging anger over the her health worsened, she was gruesome rape and murder of referred to Bhadrak district a Class III student, another dis- headquarters hospital and later turbing incident of sexual as- shifted to a private nursing sault of a minor girl surfaced home in Cuttack, where she rein Dhamara area of Bhadrak mains in serious condition. district. The victim’s widowed Traumatised by the mother subsequently apincident, the victim proached Dhamara poreportedly attempted lice with the handwritsuicide by consuming ten letter on Thursday poison. and lodged a for mal The incident occomplaint. curred on December Police arrested Pati 17 when the minor who belonged to Narswas alone at home in inghpur village under The incident the kitchen. The acDhamara panchayat occurred on cused identified as the same day Dhamara , December 17 when inspector-in-charge Gyanaranjan Pati, a the minor was neighbour, allegedly Sovan Kumar Sain alone at home in entered the kitchen, confirmed. the kitchen. The gagged the girl with accused allegedly The incident comes her scarf and raped close on heels of the gagged her and her. Following the asrape and murder of a raped her sault, the 26-year-old Class III student in BaSources accused alle g edly ligaon under Chandthreatened the victim bali police limits on that her sisters would face the Tuesday afternoon. The victim same fate if she disclosed the had gone to school but did not matter to anyone. Scared, the return. Later, her body with invictim initially remained juries on private parts was resilent. covered. Prime accused, a 30However, she later wrote year-old man was arrested but down an account of the inci- the incident triggered huge dent before consuming poison outrage and a bandh by the Opon December 20. However, she position political parties. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e B A N B U S E LV A N @ Chennai Nearly six months after making Aadhaar verification mandatory for booking tatkal e-tickets, the Indian Railways has also made that mandate a prerequisite for booking general reservation tickets on the first day of the advance reservation period through the IRCTC portal. The new rule, which comes into effect on January 12, has been introduced to ensure that advanced bookings are done only by genuine passengers. However, passengers booking paper tickets at reservation counters can continue to do so as usual by submitting the reservation form along with any tries and mig ration from neighbouring states. As per the final roll 2024, Odisha has 3.32 crore voters, including 1.68 crore men and 1.64 crore women. The state has around 45,000 polling stations. Earlier, state’s chief electoral officer RS Gopalan had reviewed the readiness of the districts for the exercise. The collectors were asked to prepare a comparative analysis of electoral rolls between 2002 and 2025. Apart from official engagements, the CEC’s itinerary includes a visit to Puri to offer prayers at the Shree Jagannath Temple before proceeding to Konark Sun Temple on Saturday He will also visit the herit. age village of Raghurajpur, Dhauli Shanti Stupa, Khandagiri and Udayagiri caves and Mukteswar Temple on Sunday . new rule from jan 12 The rule, which takes effect on January 12, is aimed at curbing bulk booking by agents. Bookings by verified users will be allowed from 8 am to 4 pm from Jan 5 Aadhaar OTP made mandatory for tatkal e-tickets from July 1 valid identity document. According to an order issued by the Railway Board, passengers who have not completed Aadhaar verification on the IRCTC portal will not be allowed to book tickets on the opening day of reservations, which begins 60 days before the scheduled departure of a train. The booking window opens at 8 am. The notification further stated that from December 29, only Aadhaar-validated users will be permitted to book tickets between 8 am and noon. This restriction will be extended from 8 am to 4 pm, starting January 5. From January 12, ticket bookings from 8 am to midnight will be available exclusively to Aadhaar-validated users. The Railway Board, in its December 18 order, said the expansion of Aadhaar verification for general class reservations aims to ensure that tickets are purchased only by genuine passengers. Official sources justified the move, noting that tickets on high-demand routes continue to sell out within minutes of the booking window opening at 8 am. “On popular routes such as Chennai-Howrah, Chennai-New Delhi, ChennaiJaipur/Jodhpur, ChennaiMangaluru, and others, tickets are quickly exhausted,” an official said. express read New Delhi Zero tolerance on terror: Shah Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday inaugurated a two-day Counter-Terrorism Conference of NIA. He said that terrorism is the biggest threat to humanity and everyone must work together to defeat it. He also unveiled the NIA’s updated crime manual – Organised Crime Network Database and Lost/Looted and Recovered Weapon Database | P9 Lucknow SIR done in UP, 19% deletions likely As the deadline for Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list in Uttar Pradesh ended on Friday, the details of 2.89 crore voters couldn’t be collected. Currently, there are 15.44 crore names in the voter list, and out of these, 2.89 crore, approximately 19 per cent, names are likely to be deleted | P10 Bhubaneswar New scheme for disabled students The state government has formulated an integrated scholarship scheme for students with special needs. Eligible students with disabilities will receive a monthly scholarship up to `700 under the revamped Banishree scholarship scheme. The SSEPD department has simplified the existing framework by including all 21 categories of disabilities | P2 CEO among three held for gang-rape in moving car in Udaipur Ra j e s h A s nan i @ Jaipur Three persons, including the CEO of a private IT company, have been arrested in connection with the alleged gang-rape of the firm’s female manager in a moving car after a birthday party in Udaipur. Police said a local court on Thursday sent the accused to four-day police custody. They identified the accused as GKM IT Pvt Ltd’s owner and CEO, Jitesh Sisodia, a senior female executive of the firm and her husband Gaurav Sirohi. The horrific incident allegedly took place on December 20, while the complaint was lodged on December 23. As per the FIR, the alleged assault followed a birthday and New Year’s party organised by the CEO at a hotel in Udaipur. The victim said she reached the hotel around 9 pm. The CEO, the senior female executive and her husband were also present. The party reportedly continued till 1.30 am. The victim said when she began feeling unwell late at night, the senior female executive offered to drop her home. Around 1.45 am, they left the hotel in the victim’s car. The executive’s husband and the CEO were present in the vehicle as well. Midway during the journey, the accused allegedly purchased a intoxicant and forced the victim to consume it, following which she passed out. When she partially regained consciousness, she saw the CEO sexually assaulting her in the moving car, the victim said in her statement. She alleged that despite her repeated pleas, the accused dropped her home only around 5 am. The victim told the police that her car’s dashcam recorded audio and video of the entire incident. The footage allegedly shows the presence and involvement of all three accused. Police officials are examining its footage.