BHUBANESWAR l friday l february 13, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l JEYPORE EDITION seattle to pay $29 million to kin of indian student who died in ‘23 had gone to u.s. on student exchange Jaahnavi, 23, was struck by a police car driven by officer Kevin Dave as she was crossing a street in Seattle on January 23, 2023.  Dave was driving at more than 119 kmh when he fatally hit Jaahnavi. The student hailed from Adoni in Andhra Pradesh, and was studying in a Bengaluru college from where she was sent to the US on a student exchange programme The family of Jaahnavi Kandula, killed in January 2023 when she was struck by a police car in Seattle, will receive $29 million in settlement callous remarks drove lawsuit ■ ■ The lawsuit by Jaahnavi’s parents was in “reference to callous remarks” made by Seattle police officer Daniel Auderer, who said Kandula’s life had “limited value” and they should just write a cheque Dave was fired subsequently, while Seattle’s civilian watchdog found Auderer’s comments damaged the department’s reputation | P 9 100 feet jaahnavi was thrown 100 feet away after being hit by the car 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 Inflation cools to 2.75% Govt green light to procure 114 Rafales as govt overhauls index Ja v a r i a Rana @ New Delhi Veg prices tumble under new CPI series with 2023-2024 as base year P U S H PI TA D E Y @ New Delhi RETAIL inflation eased to 2.75% year-on-year in January , helped largely by a sharp fall in prices of key vegetables and pulses, even as jewellery and select food items registered price rise, government data released on Wednesday showed. The latest inflation print also marks the first release of the Consumer Price Index with a revised base year of 2023-2024, replacing the 2011-12 series. The revision, based on the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey 2023–24, expands the basket to reflect current consumption patterns, especially the growing role of services and digital spending. The data, released by the Ministry of Statistics and Prog ramme Implementation, showed that inflation in rural areas stood at 2.7% while urban inflation was marginally higher at 2.77%. Food inflation, measured by the Consumer Food Price Index, was 2.13%. A steep fall in prices of essential kitchen staples played a major role in keeping headline inflation contained. Garlic Textiles to get benefits on par with Dhaka in final deal: Govt Food sheds weight; housing gains Categories Food and beverages Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels Transport Clothing and footwear Health Personal care, social protection & miscellaneous goods and services Furnishings, household equipment & routine household maintenance Information and communication Education services Restaurants and accommodation services Paan, tobacco and intoxicants Recreation, sport and culture prices fell 53.05%, onion 29.27%, potato 28.98%, arhar (tur) dal 24.90% and peas slipped 15.56% on an annual basis. At the same time, some items witnessed extraordinary inflation. Silver jewellery soared 159.67%, tomato prices 64.80%, copra 47%, gold, diamond and platinum jewellery 46.77%, and coconut oil shot up 40.44%. The revised series expands the basket from 299 items to 358. Rural house rent has been CPI 2012 Weight (%) 42.617 16.888 6.394 6.527 5.9 CPI 2024 Weight (%) 36.753 17.665 8.796 6.383 6.1 4.006 5.038 3.656 4.469 3.323 3.513 3.246 2.38 1.547 3.609 3.333 3.348 2.989 1.516 included, as have modern consumption elements such as OTT subscriptions, online services, and CNG/PNG. Outdated items like VCRs and cassette players have been removed. The updated series also incorporates e-commerce prices in 12 major cities. “New items have been added to capture changes in the economy and consumer behaviour,” MoSPI secretary Saurabh Garg recently told this newspaper. Odisha secures `67K crore investment for clean energy Pu s h p i ta D ey @ New Delhi INDIA, like Bangladesh, will receive the benefit of zero-duty access to the US market for garments made using US-origin cotton and man-made fibres under the proposed India–US trade agreement, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday . “In the final agreement, India will also get what Bangladesh received under the yarnforward and cotton-forward provisions. If specific cotton or yarn is imported from the US, processed in India, and exported back to the US, it will receive the same benefit as Bangladesh,” Goyal said. The clarification comes amid concerns that Indian exporters could lose their competitive edge to Bangladesh in the US market following the US–Bangladesh trade deal announced on February 9. Under that deal, the US agreed to zero-duty entry for garments made with USorigin cotton and man-made fibres, triggering uncertainty within India’s textile export community . Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi had on Wednesday cautioned that if Bangladesh imports US cotton at zero duty, it would further weaken India’s competitiveness, potentially devastating the domestic textile sector. Following these developments, garment exporters from across the country met Goyal. The minister, however, assured that “textile exporters would derive maximum benefit from the proposed deal.” Today’s Matches 11am: Australia vs Zimbabwe (Colombo), 3pm: Canada vs UAE (New Delhi), 7pm: USA vs Netherlands (Chennai) Dy CM KV Singh Deo presides over the MoU signing ceremony at the conclave E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar In a major push to Odisha’s clean energy sector, the state government on Thursday received investment commitments worth `67,000 crore for generation of 6.8 gigawatt ene r g y t h ro u g h re n ew abl e sources. The proposals were received in the 3rd edition of Odisha Renewable Energy Investor Conclave-2026 inaugurated by deputy chief minister and Energy minister KV Singh Deo here. The Gridco signed MoUs with the ABC Cleantech Private Limited (Evren) and Axis Energy Ventures India Private Limited for development of RE projects of 5,000 megawatt (MW) capacity at an investment of `47,750 crore. The investment will span across wind, agro-voltaic, solar power, wind, hybrid solar with BESS, and g reen hydro gen and derivatives. It also signed MoUs with National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) Limited for development of Masintha pumped storage project (PSP) of 1,000 MW capacity at an investment of `6,036 crore and North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited (NEEPCO) for development of Dandadhar PSP project of 800 MW capacity at an investment of `4,000 crore. The Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) also inked a pact with Gridco to develop RE projects of 500 MW capacity at an investment of `3,000 crore. Officials said the state on the first day of the conclave also received additional investment intents of over `6,000 crore in the RE sector from the private Continued on P5 sector.  AHEAD of French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to India next week, the defence ministry on Thursday accorded acceptance of necessity (AoN) for capital acquisition proposals worth around `3.6 lakh crore, including the much awaited gover nment-to-gover nment deal for 114 Rafale multi-role fighter aircraft estimated at about `3.25 lakh crore. The final contract for the jets is unlikely to be signed before early 2027, sources said. The AoN marks the first formal step in the procurement process, after which commercial negotiations and contract finalisation follow. The time- line for conclusion varies depending on the negotiations. Under the proposal, the Indian Air Force is expected to receive 88 single-seat and 26 twin-seat Rafale fighters. Around 18 aircraft are likely to be delivered in fly-away condition, while the remaining 96 will be manufactured in India with up to 60 per cent indigenous content. Sources said the overall Rafale package includes an estimated `2.5 lakh crore for the aircraft and associated systems, with weapons and support elements taking the total value to around `3.25 lakh crore. This includes procurement of 100-120 SCALP airlaunched cruise missiles, for The Orissa High Court has directed the state government to place the Justice Raghubir Dash Commission report on the missing keys of the inner chamber of the Ratna Bhandar of Lord Jagannath Temple at Puri before the Odisha Legislative Assembly in its ensuing Budget session. The court also ordered completion of the exercise to tally the latest inventory of the temple’s ornaments and valuables with the 1978 inven- New Delhi: The DAC also approved the acquisition of six more P-8I long-range reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft for the Indian Navy, for `28,000 crore, to strengthen surveillance `2,700 crore. The missile was used during Operation Sindoor to strike targets in Bahawalpur and Muridke in the early hours of May 7. The contract will incorporate provisions for upgrading Counting begins after peaceful B’desh polls C ounting of votes began in Bangladesh on Thursday evening after peaceful polling earlier in the day for the crucial general elections to elect Parliament members and decide on a referendum on constitutional reforms. While the interim government and the election commission hailed the process, deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina called the polls “a wellplanned farce” and demand- Polling officials begin the counting of votes cast in Bangladesh’s national ed a “free, fair and inclusive parliamentary election, in Dhaka, on Thursday | AP elections under a neutral tween the Bangladesh Na- Yunus call to uphold caretaker government”. At the time of going to the tionalist Party (BNP) led by democratic decency Tarique Rahman, press, there was no 60, and an 11-party “I call upon political parties official word on the alliance led by the and candidates to uphold polling percentage, Bangladesh Jamaat democratic decency, tolerance though the poll rolls e Islami and the nas- and mutual respect even after had nearly 13 crore cent National Citi- the final results are voters. What was zen Party (NCP). As announced. Differences of visible though was a per initial trends, opinion will exist, but in the good turnout in the BNP candidates ap- national interest, we must mor ning, but no Bayezid Milky peared to be leading remain united,” Chief Adviser subsequent voter r u s h a t p o l l i n g Senior journalist based the race with Jamaat Muhammad Yunus said in Dhaka struggling to put up booths for the rest a decent show. In the of the day. People The first significant early rounds of just came in ones results may be available and twos to cast their counting for the referendum, overnight... Voting was peaceful though there negative votes were more ballots. were a few minor Without going into the than the ‘yes’ votes. Top BNP disruptions in some numbers, the election com- and Jamaat and NCP leaders districts mission claimed the turnout said they would accept the was satisfactory . verdict if the process is not -Bangladesh Election This is a straight fight be- rigged.  Continued on: P9 Commission 10 tiger deaths in 27 days, MP HC seeks report Taking a serious note of rising tiger deaths in “Tiger State” Madhya Pradesh, especially in the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR), the Madhya Pradesh High Court has directed the Reserve’s field director to file a status report on the deaths of big cats. The BTR, located in Umaria and Katni districts, reportedly has the maximum tiger density in the state | P8 HC directs state to table Justice Dash Commission report in Assly session E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Cuttack More anti-submarine P-81s for Navy cleared tory within three months. The directions came while the court was hearing a PIL filed by Dillip Kumar Baral, raising concerns over the inventory of ornaments and valuables of Lord Jagannath and the repair and conservation of the Ratna Bhandars. Advocate Anup Kumar Mohapatra appeared on behalf of the petitioner. The order issued on January 27 was uploaded on February 12. During the hearing, advocate general Pitambar Acharya submitted that the Commission’s report would be placed before the cabinet and subsequently in the Assembly. He further informed the court that verifying the inventory is a detailed process. Recording it, the division bench of Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice MS Raman observed that the jewellery and valuables inventory of Lord Jagannath conducted in 1978 will serve as the benchmark to verify whether all the items listed at that time match the inventory prepared by the present committee formed by the state Continued on P5 government.  Indian Rafales to the future F5 standard once available, while the existing fleet would be brought up to the F4 configuration, which includes enhanced sensor fusion, improved connectivity and expanded weapons capability . The DAC also approved procurement of additional longrange surface-to-air missiles for Project Sudarshan Chakra. The proposal pertains to replenishment of missile stocks for the S-400 air defence system, with around 280 missiles estimated to be worth approximately `3,000 crore. Among other approvals, the DAC cleared buy of Air-Ship Based High Altitude Pseudo Satellites for Air Force. express read State to issue Smart RoRs to curb land fraud Bhubaneswar: In a major push towards digitisation of land records and prevention of property fraud, the state government will introduce an upgraded version of the record of rights (RoR) embedded with a QR code and an electronic security chip, Revenue and Disaster Management minister Suresh Pujari said on Thursday. The Smart RoR will allow instant verification of land ownership details | P3 Fire at Naval Dockyard in south Mumbai Mumbai: A fire broke out in the Naval Dockyard in south Mumbai on Thursday night. As per preliminary information, the blaze erupted at the Survey Yard building located inside the Naval Dockyard at 10.15 pm. An official said the spot where the fire erupted was diagonally opposite the Gateway of India Loads of biggies at AI impact summit New Delhi: India is set to host one of the most consequential technology gatherings of the decade as the AI Impact Summit kicks off at Bharat Mandapam from Feb 16 to 20. The five-day event is expected to bring together world leaders, policymakers, and the biggest names in AI under one roof