BHUBANESWAR l tuesday l january 06, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late CITY EDITION COAI flags concerns over Prasar Bharati’s direct-to-mobile Test The public broadcaster did not involve telecom operators and mobile device companies for the test, the telecom industry body said on Monday iit Kanpur Test rules out harmful effects Industry body demands fresh evaluation Prasar Bharati had roped in IIT Kanpur in 2019 to verify concerns over interference of direct-to-mobile (D2M) broadcast service with telecom services and heating of mobile devices. IIT Kanpur conducted the test in collaboration with technology partners Aracion Technology and Tejas Networks. Its report refuted the concern raised by some stakeholders terrestrial broadcast towers without an active internet connection or a SIM card. It has significant implications for spectrum usage ■ COAI has sought a fresh D2M test by taking on board all stakeholders including telcos, whose spectrum resources are directly impacted | P10 ■ D2M broadcasting allows smartphones to receive live TV directly from COAI Claims d2m could IMPACT the spectrum bands for existing and future 5G use 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 Can raise tariffs on India very quickly: Don U.S. president claims PM Modi knew he wasn’t happy over India’s Russian oil purchase J AYANTH J A C O B @ New Delhi Maduro in court Deposed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro taken to the Manhattan Courthouse in New York City for his first appearance in a narco-terrorism case | X | P9 Renewing his pressure tactics on India over its trade with Russia, US President Donald Trump warned that Washington could raise tariffs on New Delhi “very quickly”. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One while flying from Florida to Washington DC on Sunday (local time), Trump said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is aware of his displeasure over India’s continued purchase of Russian oil. “They (India) wanted to make me happy, basically. Modi is a very good man; he is a good guy . He knew I was not happy and it , was important to make me happy. They do trade and we can raise tariffs on them very quickly It would be very bad for . them,” Trump said. Trump’s remarks came during a press briefing on the US’s future plans for Venezuela after capturing its president Nicolas Maduro in a military operation on Saturday India on . Sunday reacted cautiously to the development, urging dialogue but without explicitly naming the US or condemning its action. South Carolina Republican senator Lindsey Graham, who was also present at Air Force One press gaggle, said the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration were the “chief reason” India is now buying less Russian oil. Graham has been the driving force behind a proposed tariff bill that seeks to impose up to 500% tariffs on imports from countries that continue to buy Russian oil. Linking energy trade direct- Narendra Modi Donald Trump ly to the Ukraine war, Graham claimed the conflict can only be ended by targeting Russia’s customers. “Pressure must be put on President Vladimir Putin’s customers,” he said and added that India and China play a decisive role in sustaining Moscow’s war effort. Trump echoed this positioning and said that US sanctions were “hurting Russia very badly before specifically mention,” ing India. Referring to his recent en- gagement with Indian officials, Graham said: “I was at the Indian Ambassador’s house about a month ago, and all he wanted to talk about was how they are buying less Russian oil.” According to Graham, the Indian envoy had urged him: “Would you tell the President to relieve the tariff ?” There were no immediate comments from Indian officials on Trump’s statement. Last month, Indian Ambassador to the US Vinay Mohan Kwatra hosted several US senators at India House in Washington DC, including Graham, as New Delhi sought to press its case against punitive tariffs. According to data analytics firm Kpler, India’s crude imports from Russia fell to 1.2 mn barrels per day (bpd) in December 1.84 mn bpd in November. Hindu BIZMAN & Editor shot dead in Bangladesh A Hindu businessman, who was also the acting editor of a newspaper, was fatally shot in the head by unidentified assailants on Monday in Jessore district of Bangladesh Khalid, Imam fail to get SC bail, barred from appeal for a yr Now, households in capital city to 70 students affected by evidence, including recoveries, digital communication trails, and statements indicaThe Supreme Court on Mon- tive of managerial responsiday refused to grant bail to ac- bility”, the court observed. It tivists Umar Khalid and Shar- brought Section 43D(5) of jeel Imam in the 2020 Delhi UAPA into play. 43D(5) manriots case, noting that the ma- dates that an accused cannot terial against them atbe released if there tracted a prima facie are reasonable case under the Unlawgrounds to believe ful Activities (Preventhat the charges are tion) Act. They were prima facie true. also barred from fil“The expression ing a fresh petition “prima facie true”, for bail for a year. which lies at the heart Khalid and Imam of Section 43D(5), does Umar Khalid stand on different not invite a detailed footing as compared examination of evito the other five who dence, nor does it rehad sought bail, quire the Court to aswhich can’t be igsess the probability of nored in ter ms of conviction. Equally it , “parity and culpabildoes not reduce the juity”, the bench comdicial role to a meprising justices Archanical acceptance avind Kumar and N V of the prosecution’s Sharjeel Imam Anjaria ruled. The assertions. The statuother five — Gulfisha tory standard contemFatima, Meera Haider, Shifa plates a threshold inquiry of Ur Rehman, Mohd. Saleem limited but real content,” the Khan and Shadab Ahmed — verdict said. were granted conditional It went on to observe that bail. “Article 21 occupies a central The prosecution material space in the constitutional against Khalid and Imam scheme. Pre trial incarceration “comprises direct, corrobora- cannot be assumed to have the tive, and contemporaneous character of punishment.” S U C HITRA K ALYAN M O HANTY @ New Delhi pay user fee for waste collection E x p r ess Ne w s S e r v i ce @ Bhubaneswar In a bid to improve the efficiency of solid waste management and create an additional revenue stream for sanitation services, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to impose a user fee on households in the city . Until now, the user fee was being collected only from the commercial waste generators towards. Such charge has been made effective for residential properties from this month onwards. Under the proposed system, households within the city limits will be required to pay a monthly user fee based on the size and category of their dwelling units. Households in the economically weaker section (EWS) and low income group (LIG) having built-up area of up to 800 sq ft will be charged `50 per month while middle income group (MIG) households with a built-up area between 800-1,200 sq ft will Door-to-door waste collection, segregation of waste at source and proper transportation will help make the city’s sanitation system sustainable and robust. Accordingly, the user fee will be collected from all types of waste generators – Sulochana Das, mayor pay `75 per month. Similarly, high income group (HIG) households, having built-up area exceeding 1,200 sq ft or larger residential units will be charged `125 per month. Announcing the decision on Monday mayor Sulochana Das , called upon residents to voluntarily come forward and contribute towards making the state capital the no 1 city in terms of cleanliness this year. Das said door-to-door waste collection, segregation of waste at source and proper transportation will help make the city’s sanitation system sustainable and robust. She said, the user fee will be collected from all types of waste generators. Apart from households, the fee will also be collected from hotels, shopping malls, cafes, markets, educational institutions, eateries, dhabas, cloud kitchens, ware- houses, roadside vendors, liquor shops, guesthouses, hotels and other such units. Citizens can obtain information in this regard through Safa App or by contacting BMC’s dedicated WhatsApp number 7653011832. BMC officials said the corporation has authorised Swachh Sathis to collect the user fee and also provided necessary training to them for the same. Teams will also be engaged to create awareness among citizens across wards about sanitationr e l a t e d r u l e s a n d c iv i c responsibilities. Meanwhile, the civic body has appealed the households to segregate dry and wet waste and hand over the same to its authorised vehicles. It has also urged citizens to take part in the Swachh Survekshan drive this year and give their valuable feedback, supporting the city to improve its rank in the cleanliness survey . HOW IT HAPPENED @ Ahmedabad 1 Ashraf Alarkhan Lioness kills boy, 4, on the outskirts of a village in Junagadh district on Sunday morning. By afternoon, a team from Sasan Gir arrives, armed with cages and tranquilliser guns. “She became aggressive and was hiding in nearby agri lands. A quick capture was critical,” a senior forest official said 2 By 4 pm, lioness spotted in a field near the village. Over 30 forest officials reach the spot to set up a cage, sedate the animal. While positioning the cage, the lioness suddenly climbs onto it. In the melee, a tranquilliser gun goes off with the dart piercing tracker Ashraf Alarkhan’s left hand 3 MANDAR PARDIKAR Tragedy struck twice within 24 hours in Gujarat’s Junagadh district after a tranquilliser dart meant for a man-eater lioness accidentally hit a forest tracker who was part of a team to trap the animal, killing him on Monday Earlier on Sunday the ani. , mal mauled a four-year-old boy to death on the ourskirts of Nani Monpari village of Visavadar taluka. It all happened in a flash. When a cage was being set up in a field in the village on Sunday , the lioness suddenly jumped onto it taking all by surprise. In the resultant melee, a tranquilliser gun was fired with the dart hitting the left hand of tracker Ashraf Alarkhan instead of the beast. Since the dart had thrice the amount of sedative than is safe for humans, Ashraf passed out. He was hospitalised but could not be saved. The lioness continues to be on the loose. “This is probably the first incident in history where a forest staffer died due to a misfired tranquilliser gun,” an official admitted, calling it a “dark and s h o ck i n g d ay ” fo r t h e department. E x p r ess Ne w s S e r v i ce @ Bhubaneswar Tranquilizer dart for man-eater lioness hits Gujarat forest spotter, kills him D i l i p S i n g h K s h at r i ya jaundice outbreak in JNV school at Khurda Ashraf collapses almost immediately as the sedative quantity was safe for the beast but not humans. Colleagues abandon operation, rush Ashraf to the Visavadar Civil Hospital and later to the Junagadh Civil Hospital, where he succumbs to the sedative overdose around 7 am on Monday In the midst of a nationwide concer n over the deaths caused by contaminated drinking water in Indore, nearly 70 students of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV), Gurujanga in Khurda district have been affected by jaundice outbreak on the campus in the last one week. The residential school, located 30 km from Bhubaneswar, has a student strength of around 560. Sources said, at least 200 have left the campus with their parents as jaundice began to spread among the students. The outbreak has been linked to supply of contaminated drinking water to the students. One parent alleged that it has been caused by noncleaning and purification of the water tanks on the school campus. However, the school authorities claimed that the tanks have been cleaned twice, during summer and winter, in the last one year. With panic spreading in the area, the state Health department rushed a team to the school to take stock of the situation. Health minister Mukesh Mahaling said the department is on alert and closely monitoring the situation. “A districtlevel health team has already collected water samples from the area. A state-level health team comprising doctors has been sent to the school to undertake prevention and control measures while providing treatment to the affected students,” Mahaling said. Director public health Dr Nilakantha Mishra, who led the team, said the issue came to light after one student was diagnosed with jaundice on returning to school after Christmas vacation. Continued on P5