BHUBANESWAR l wednesday l february 25, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l JEYPORE EDITION Nationwide HPV drive for u-14 girls to prevent cervical cancer In a major step towards eliminating preventable cancers among women, the govt will soon launch a human papillomavirus vaccination programme It’s in line with WHO’s recommendations 3 doses of Gardasil for girls above 15 The programme directed at girls under 14 years of age, will use a singleshot Gardasil, a quadrivalent HPV vaccine that provides protection against HPV types 16 and 18, which cause cervical cancer, as well as types 6 and 11. It is in line with WHO recommendations, which identify HPV vaccination as a central pillar of the Global Strategy to Eliminate Cervical Cancer | P9 ■ ■ It would be a special vaccination campaign but not under the Union government’s Universal Immunisation Programme, sources said HPV vaccine offers maximum benefit for girls under 14, which is well before potential exposure to the virus. For those above 15, three doses of the shot are required. Gardasil-4 is manufactured by MSD India `3,927 Cost of two-dose Gardasil-4 vaccine in the open market 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 IAF looks at parallel Russian upgrade as Super Sukhoi awaits nod J avar i a R ana @ New Delhi EVEN as the Indian Air Force’s plan to upgrade 84 Su-30MKI fighters under the Super Sukhoi programme awaits clearance from the Cabinet Committee on Security, the service is eyeing a parallel upgrade of a similar or larger number of aircraft with Russia to sustain operational readiness, sources in the defence and security establishment said. This step comes as India moves towards formalising the procurement of a fifth-generation stealth fighter, with Russia’s Su-57 emerging as a leading contender. A Russian team has recently visited Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s Nashik facility, signalling deeper engagement between the two sides. The parallel engagement with Moscow is intended to offset long execution timelines associated with the HAL-led upgrade, which is expected to take at least seven years once it receives approval. There are concerns within the establishment about whether the projected timeline for Final Operational Clearance can be met. “Relying solely on the indigenous upgrade could push timelines well into the next decade. A parallel track is therefore being considered to ensure operational readiness is not affected,” a source said. The source added, “Moreover, with the Super Sukhoi upgrade limited to 84 aircraft, a parallel route is needed for the remaining Su-30MKI fleet of around 175 aircraft.” The Keralam story gets Cabinet’s nod Decision to change name comes ahead of Assembly poll M U K ESH R A N J A N @ New Delhi west Bengal SIR Deployment of judges from J’khand, Odisha allowed by SC S U C HIT R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Tuesday expanded the pool of judicial manpower to conduct the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, allowing Calcutta High Court Chief Justice Sujoy Paul to deploy additional civil judges, over and above the 250 district judges who are already on the job. It also opened a window to requisition judicial officers from Jharkhand and Odisha to participate in the exercise. Calcutta HC Chief Justice Sujoy Paul had on February 22 written to Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant that even if one judicial officer decides 250 matters a day, it will take at least 80 days to complete the SIR in West Bengal. He said that there were a ro u n d 5 0 lakh cases of logical discrepancy/ unmapped categories to be decided in the state. The bench led by CJI Kant said, “If the CJ of Calcutta HC is of the opinion that further human resources would be required, he is at liberty to approach the CJs of Orissa and Jharkhand High Courts for serving and former judicial officers from those states, who shall then undertake the pending exercise.” The last date of publication of the final electoral roll is February 28. “If the verification exercise undertaken in respect of logical discrepancies/unmapped remains incomplete, the ECI may publish the final list on February 28, followed by supplement lists,” the court said. Invoking its extraordinary powers under Article 142, the court declared that voters enlisted in such subsequent supplementary lists shall be deemed to have been par t of the final list to be published on February 28. THE Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday cleared the Kerala government’s proposal to rename the state as Keralam. The move comes ahead of the Assembly elections in Kerala, expected in April or May . The decision was taken following a resolution passed by the Kerala Assembly in 2024 and forwarded to the Centre. It noted that the state is called ‘Keralam’ in Malayalam, while it has been officially listed as ‘Kerala’ in the First Schedule of the Constitution. Explaining the process, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said it would now be forwarded to the President. The President will then refer it back to the Kerala Legislative Assembly for its views and formal passage. Thereafter, with President’s approval, the proposal will return to the Centre, and Parliament will take up the constitutional amendment to effect the name change. Officials noted that while Article 3 grants Parliament the authority to change a state’s Historical roots In Malayalam, the state is called ‘Keralam’, a form rooted in Dravidian linguistic tradition, ancient political history, and early historical records including the inscriptions of Emperor Ashoka The name ‘Keralam’ will manifest the state’s heritage with all its authenticity and uphold its pride Home Minister Amit Shah Canada may revoke citizenship of Rana ahead of PM’s visit name through legislation, the process includes specific safeguards. A Bill for such a change can’t be introduced in either House of Parliament without President’s recommendation. If the proposal affects a state’s name or boundaries, the President must first seek the views of the state legislature within a stipulated time frame. The proposal to rename Kerala was examined by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. Following approval from Home Minister Amit Shah, a draft Cabinet note was circulated to the Department of Legal Affairs and the Legislative Department for their expert opinion. Both de par tments, functioning under the Ministry of Law and Justice, concurred with the proposal, paving the way for the next constitutional steps in the renaming process The resolution adopted by the Kerala Assembly underscored the cultural and linguistic basis for the demand for name change. It also highlighted that since the days of the freedom struggle, there has been a sustained demand for a united Kerala for Malayalamspeaking people. Ahead of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s February 26 visit to India, Canada has reportedly begun proceedings to revoke the citizenship of 26/11 Mumbai attacks accused Tahawwur Hussain Rana| P10 The proposed Russian track is expected to focus on strengthening the aircraft’s electronic warfare suite and radar. Moscow has also offered the more powerful AL-41 engines to replace the current AL-31s, and the IAF is evaluating the proposal. Once negotiations between the two countries are completed, a separate proposal will be taken up for Acceptance of Necessity by the Defence Minis- Tata Sons board bid to hand Chandra a third term runs into Noel trouble B E N N K O C H U V EE D A N @ New Delhi IN a new twist to the Tata Group’s power struggle, the board of Tata Sons on Tuesday deferred a decision on granting a third term to chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran. According to informed sources, the move follows objections by Noel Tata, chairman of Tata Trusts which owns 66.4% of the holding company of the $120-billion Tata conglomerate spanning software, semiconductors and airlines. Noel Tata was the only board member who did not support Chandrasekaran’s reappointment, while the remaining directors backed a third term. Typically, Tata Sons’ shareholders and board approve the appointment or reappointment of a chairman one year in advance to ensure stability and continuity, or to provide sufficient time for a new leader to settle in and chart strategy . Chandrasekaran, 62, who has led the group since February 2017 and completes his second term in February 2027, is learnt to have requested that the board defer the decision to allow for wider consultation and consensus following the differences. The development is seen as unusual, given that the trusts he works with closely had green-lighted another term for him as far back as October 2025. If the third term is approved, the board would need to amend a clause that sets the retirement age for top executives at 65. Another term would have seen Chandrasekaran complete his tenure in 2032 at the age of 69. Noel Tata is learnt to have set four conditions for supporting the reappointment. First, Tata Sons should not pursue listing. Second, the company should remain debt-free. Third, its coffers should not be strained by excessive capital expenditure in high-risk ventures. And fourth, deep losses from acquisitions such as Air India and BigBasket must be contained. Two workers die after Illegal hoarding wall near BMC drain crash kills 2 taking shelter under it collapses in city, 3 hurt A s i s h M e h ta @ Bhubaneswar A s i s h M e h ta @ Bhubaneswar Two workers died and three others sustained serious injuries after perimeter wall of a house abutting an under-construction drain of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) collapsed in Badagada village here on Tuesday afternoon. Initial investigation revealed a group of workers was engaged in construction of the drain carried out by the BMC when loose soil and the wall of the neighbouring house gave away The labour. ers were trapped under the debris and locals rushed to their rescue. On receiving information, police rushed to the spot and pulled out the injured labourers. At least five injured workers were sent to a hospital and two of them were declared received dead, said the police. The incident occurred between 3 pm and 3.30 pm. The drain was too small to cause any damage. It was The collapsed boundary wall at Badagada village | Shamim Qureshy  about 2 ft wide and 1 ft-1.5 ft deep. BMC sources said no heavy machinery was used for the construction. However, the contractor entrusted the drain work did not put up scaffolding against the laterite stone wall. Aided by loose soil and water seepage, the wall’s base had weakened which did not catch anyone’s notice and proved fatal when it collapsed all of a sudden on the day . Locals said wall had weakened due to leakage in an underground water pipe while no preventive measure was in place to avoid any untoward inContinued on P5 cident.  Two persons were killed after an illegal hoarding fell on them during a thunderstorm that hit the state capital on Tuesday evening. The victims Tuna Gouda and Sachitananda Pradhan were rushed to a hospital where doctors declared them dead. A third person, a woman identified as Mausumi Nayak, was injured in the incident in the Aiginia area. The three had taken shelter under trees when nor’wester rains accompanied by gusty winds lashed the city Unaware of the . danger lurking from the massive hoarding standing behind them, they were caught in the collapse. Some trees were uprooted and authorities struggled to clear the road. Initial investigation revealed the hoarding had been illegally installed by a private agency. Sources said licences of most private hoardings in the state capital had lapsed in November last year. The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) had asked private agencies to remove all hoardings or face action. However, no change was seen on the ground. “It was a private hoarding and our officials will lodge a police complaint in this regard.We will take action,” said BMC commissioner Chanchal Rana. The thundershower continued for over 45 minutes, catching many people unawares. try This will mark the first for. mal step in the procurement process, followed by commercial negotiations and finalisation of the contract. “The approach is likely to mirror the MiG-21 Bison upgrade model, with parallel roles for Indian and Russian agencies. The idea is to address the squadron crunch and avoid a capability gap, especially as the IAF looks to maintain adequate 4.5-generation capability amid a potential two-front threat,” the source explained. Under the homegrown upgrade programme, HAL, in partnership with DRDO, will lead the modernisation. It will centre on Virupaksha AESA radar and an upgraded avionics suite. The aircraft will carry BrahMos-ER cruise missiles, Astra beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles and Rudram anti-radiation missiles. Oppn shedding fake tears, BJP increased farmers’ income: CM E x p r e s s N e w s S e rv i c e @ Bhubaneswar Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on the Opposition, accusing it of shedding “crocodile tears” for farmers, while defending his own record on agricultural reforms and farmers’ welfare in the 18months of the BJP government. Replying to the general discussion on Budget 2026-27 amid Opposition disruptions and walkout, the chief minister questioned why farmers of the state had the second-lowest income in the country with an average monthly income of just `5,115 during the 24-year rule of BJD. In contrast, Majhi claimed, his government has increased farmers’ annual income by over `33,000 in less than 24 months. Taking a dig at the BJD for showing “false concern” for the farmers, the chief minister asked why they failed to fulfil their promise of `100 bonus despite being in power for 24 years. “In order to shield their inefficiency, they have shifted the blame to the central government. They blame the Centre for not giving permission but how did the Congress government in Chhattisgarh manage to provide increased input subsidies?” Majhi asked. Hitting out at the ruckus and unruly scenes created by the Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi replying to the general discussion on Budget in the Assembly, on Tuesday Opposition in the Assembly, Majhi said, it was nothing but hypocrisy “I, as well as the peo. ple of Odisha, have heard the leader of Opposition and his spokespersons saying on television before 2024 that they are proud they never left their seats in the Parliament to go to the well of the House to protest in the last 26 years. But, perhaps that principle was there only till the regime was in power. Today, when the people of the state have removed him from power, the principle has also changed. So, they should stop lecturing us about ethics and the decorum of the House,” he said. Training his gun at the Congress, Majhi said, “It seems to have forgotten the 25-year misrule marked by famine, starvation and dependence on neighb o u r i n g s t at e s fo r fo o d . Their contribution to agriculture is best left unsaid,” he Continued on P5 stated.