SAMBALPUR l monday l march 30, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l CITY EDITION world no. 1 sabalenka completes ‘Sunshine Double’ at Miami Open Aryna Sabalenka made history as she beat Coco Gauff in the Miami Open women’s singles final 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 on Saturday. A look... First since swiatek to seal the double Means a lot: Aryna after historic feat The World No. 1 overpowered Gauff in the first and third sets with sizzling groundstroke winners and became the fifth woman and the first since Iga Swiatek in 2022 to accomplish the “Sunshine Double” — winning Indian Wells followed by Miami in the same season. It was Sabalenka’s second straight title at the Miami Open, Gauff’s hometown tournament ■ ■ ”It means a lot,” Sabalenka said after joining Poland’s Swiatek, German great Steffi Graf, Belgian Kim Clijsters and fellow Belarusian Victoria Azarenka on the list of women to win both titles in same year ”My goal always been to put my name in the history, and I just did it,” the World No. 1 added after winning the title 5 Sabalenka is fifth woman to complete ‘sunshine double’ 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 Oppn cross as U’khand begins audit on minorities N A R E N D R A S E T H I @ Dehradun In a move that has sparked political tensions, Uttarakhand’s BJP-led government has constituted a high-level committee to audit the status of minorities in the state, ahead of next year’s Assembly elections and the upcoming Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The seven-member highlevel committee will do a comprehensive study of the socioeconomic, educational, and cultural shifts within the minority communities in the state over the last 25 years–essentially since the inception of Uttarakhand. The committee will be chaired by retired judge Akhilesh Chand Sharma. Other members include retired IAS officer Shatrughan Singh, Doon University ViceChancellor Surekha Dangwal, subject expert Manu Gaur, State Minority Commission Vice-Chairperson Farzana Begum, social worker Rajpal Singh, and the Director of the Minority Welfare Department as the member secretary. Speaking to this newspaper, senior committee member and retired IAS officer Shatrughan Singh said, “The committee’s work is in progress, and it has already held four meetings.” While the government has called it a purely administrative exercise, the Opposition has raised a red flag. “The way the BJP is trying to delete names of people from the Muslim community from the electoral rolls, it appears the gover nment is gathering this data to create a hostile environment and facilitate exploitation,” Mohan Kala, spokesperson for the Uttarakhand Congress, alleged, noting the timing is suspect. The BJP has dismissed the allegations as fear-mongering. Minority welfare minister Khajan Das said the data will allow the government to take informed decisions. West Asia situation is sensitive and warrants restraint in public discourse, says Modi; Don keeps option for ground ops open in Iran, sends more troops Cong remarks could endanger Indian lives: pm E x p ress N e w s S er v i c e @ Bhubaneswar Iranian strikes at Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan Air Base damaged a US E-3 AWACS aircraft along with a few refuelling aircraft | AP Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves nelkathir (rice sheaf) during an election rally in Palakkad, Kerala on Sunday | PTI Iran taunts Trump, says waiting for US boots on ground S h yam P V @ Palakkad A G E N C I E S @ Tehran, Tel Aviv, Dubai PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said his government is doing everything in its power to ensure the safety of Indians working and living in Gulf countries but the Congress is trying to politicise the ongoing Iran war by making “dangerous and irresponsible” remarks. Speaking at an election rally in Palakkad in Kerala, from where lakhs of people work in Gulf countries, Modi said the situation remains sensitive and warrants restraint in public discourse. However, he alleged, Congress leaders are issuing reckless statements amid an evolving international day situation that could endanger the lives of Indians. “It appears as though the Congress is willing to risk the lives of nearly one Indians’ crore Indians living in the Gulf, meresafety top ly to gain political advantage,” Modi priority said. The PM’s comments come days after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Modi said countries in attacked the Centre’s handling of the the Gulf are West Asia crisis, terming India’s forprioritising the eign policy ‘compromised’ and ‘a safety of Indian joke’. nationals during “The PM will do what US and Israel the conflict. “Our say He will not work in the interest of . embassies are India,” Gandhi had said last week, critworking round the icising India’s foreign policy stance. clock to ensure Speaking in Palakkad, Modi stressed that our brothers the Centre is closely monitoring the and sisters there situation and taking measures to mitiface no hardship,” gate the impact on India and Indian he added nationals living in the region. “The welfare of Indian citizens abroad is central to my government’s policy response,” the prime minister said, adding that India has been actively engaging with global leaders as tensions have escalated. “Since the outbreak of the conflict, I have been in constant touch with global leaders,” Modi added. A top Iranian official warned the US against a ground invasion, saying its troops would be set “on fire,” as regional diplomats met on Sunday in Pakistan in hopes of opening direct US-Iran talks and ending the month-long war. Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said Iranian forces were “waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional partners forever,” according to Iranian state media. Iran warned of escalation after Israeli airstrikes hit several universities, including ones that Israel claimed were used for nuclear research and development. The paramilitary Revolutionary Guard warned that Iran would consider Israeli uniFrance versities and branches of US universidenounces ties in the region “legitimate targets” Houthis unless offered safety assurances for Iranian universities, state media France condemned on Sunday two reported. attacks by Yemen’s The Israeli military said an impact Houthi rebels on at an industrial zone may have been Israeli targets, caused by missile shrapnel, shortly accusing them after it detected a new barrage fired of escalating from Iran. tension in the Foreign ministers from Pakistan, Gulf by entering Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey startthe war. “Houthis ed talks on the war, with Islamabad should abstain acting as a go-between between the from all attacks,” United States and Iran. The four-way spokesman Pascal meeting between the Muslim nations Confavreux said. was convened “to review the evolving regional situation and discuss issues of mutual interest”, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said in a brief statement. US-Israeli strikes hit the Iranian port city of Bandar Khamir near the Strait of Hormuz, killing five persons, Iranian state media reported. IRNA news agency said four persons were wounded. 30 Lanka thanks India for fuel supply COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Sunday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for sending an oil shipment to ease fuel supply disruptions in the Island nation caused by the West Asia conflict. A shipment of 38,000 MT of fuel, comprising 20,000 MT of diesel and 18,000 MT of petrol, arrived in Colombo on Saturday With caste details missing, 20% of SC/ST atrocity cases pending in Odisha A sish M ehta @ Bhubaneswar At least 20 per cent of cases registered under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in Odisha are awaiting disposal due to the non-availability of caste details and medical opinion since 2020. According to the e-District portal, of a total 13,618 applications relating to SC/ST atrocity cases received between January 2020 and March 10, 2026, at least 2,911 cases are pending across 301 tehsils. About 10,707 cases have been disposed of so far. Earlier in February, the Human Rights Protection Cell (HRPC) of Odisha Police had drawn the attention of Revenue, Health, and Home departments to the matter. It informed that about 343 requisitions for caste particulars were pending at tehsil offices between January 2020 and December 2025. Similarly, a staggering 24,138 medico-legal opinion requisitions submitted to hospitals were pending during the period. In a majority of the cases registered under the SC/ST (PoA) Act, pendency at the stage of joint inquiry reports is due to the non-availability of caste particulars of victims, the accused and complainants. Joint inquiries in such cases are conducted by a DSPrank officer along with an additional tehsildar or tehsildar (or an executive magistrate). Similarly caste certifi, cates are issued at the district-level by officers ranging from the collector to revenue officers not below the rank of tehsildar or additional tehsildar. However, with groundlevel revenue administration unresponsive, caste particulars are delayed, which eventually slows down joint inquiries in these cases, sources said. CONTINUED ON P5 Dubey’s Biju Babu remark triggers a political storm, Sasmit quits Parl panel Two more Indian ships cross Hormuz NEW DELHI: Two more Indian-flagged LPG tankers, carrying roughly a day’s supply of the country’s cooking gas, have safely navigated through the war-hit Strait of Hormuz and are expected to reach Indian shores in the next couple of days. While BW TYR is proceeding towards Mumbai, BW ELM is en route to New Mangalore with an estimated arrival date of April 1 The recent remarks of BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on former chief minister Biju Patnaik alleging the latter’s association with CIA has fuelled a full-scale political outrage in Odisha. While the BJD is up in arms on the issue, party’s Rajya Sabha MP Sasmit Patra on Saturday resigned from the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and IT under the chairmanship of Dubey protesting his remarks. In a letter to the Rajya Sabha Chairman, Patra said he could not, “in good conscience,” continue to serve on the committee chaired by Dubey following the latter’s public statements, which he termed as disrespectful tow a rd s t h e l e g a cy o f B i j u Patnaik. He requested that his resignation be accepted and forwarded to the Lok Sabha Speaker, noting that the committee functions under the Lower House but includes members from both Houses of Parliament. The development comes after Dubey made a series of controversial claims during a media interaction in Delhi and later at Deoghar in Jharkhand, alleging links between former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, the United States and the Cen- tral Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the 1962 India-China war. He also alleged that Biju Patnaik acted as a “link” between the US government, the CIA and Nehru, and played a role in facilitating intelligence and defence-related cooperation. He further claimed that a US U-2 spy plane base operated from Charbatia near Cuttack between 1963 and 1979 with the involvement of Biju Patnaik. The BJP MP said he had released two letters purportedly written by Nehru, which he claimed indicated communication with US officials and referenced Biju Patnaik’s involvement in sensitive defence matters. He accused the Congress of compromising national interests during that period and demanded an apology . The BJD came down heavily on Dubey terming the remarks as outrageous and irresponsible. The party MPs in Rajya Sabha said the statement was not only an insult to the great freedom fighter and illustrious son of Odisha but also an attack on Biju legacy and the sentiments of Odia people. Accusing Dubey of playing petty politics, the party leaders said such ploy cannot lower his image or erase his towering contribution to the nation. There has been no immediate official response from the BJP or Dubey regarding Patra’s resignation. DMK promises coupons worth `8,000 for women Announcing the party’s election manifesto for the ensuing assembly election, DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Sunday announced that a coupon worth `8,000 would be given to women-heads of the family | P5