BHUBANESWAR l sunday l june 07, 2026 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l late CITY EDITION Mirra-cle in paris:Andreeva wins French Open maiden final the Russian’s tale of teen spirit From playing with elder sister Erika in Siberia, situated 4000 kilometres east of Moscow, teenager Andreeva has scaled the French summit. She broke into the scene aged 16, winning multiple WTA titles but stumbling in Major events halted her natural progress. A year after losing in the quarterfinals in 2025 edition of this event, Andreeva revels in title glory Mirra Andreeva took 1 hour 22 minutes to defeat Maja Chwalinska in straight sets. 19-year-old is 2nd youngest winner since Monica Seles (1992) 11 Maja’s dream run ends in heartbreak ■ ■ Qualifier Chwalinska, ranked 114 and without sponsors had a dream run at the Rolland Garros. The wait for a qualifier to win French Open singles title continues but she was pleased with heself for the run In journey towards the final, Chwalinska defeated Diana Shnaider, who bettered top seed and favourite Aryna Sabalenka Number of years taken for a russian woman to win title 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 Nor’wester leaves capital without power for hrs A s i s h M e h ta @ Bhubaneswar PM Narendra Modi at the Economic Advisory Council meet in New Delhi | PTI Modi reviews road ahead for the economy Discusses strategy with the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister D i pa k M o n d a l @ New Delhi WITH THIS ISSUE Princess Diaries PLUS 12 P AGES ITDA engineer found with `2 cr cash, 5 houses, 14 plots: Vig `2 cr cash seized from Behera’s bank locker Express News Service @ Bhubaneswar/Phulbani State Vigilance on Saturday found over `2 crore cash parked in the bank locker of an assistant executive engineer who was posted in Kandhamal district’s Baliguda. During the raid at Baikuntha Nath Behera’s premises, the anti-corruption officials stumbled upon at least five multi-storey buildings possessed by the engineer in Bhubaneswar. The palatial buildings were built over a combined 17,000 sq ft area. The raids were carried out across Bhubaneswar, Jajpur, Mayurbhanj and Kandhamal to ascertain Behera’s disproportionate assets. Currently posted at the Baliguda ITDA office, Behera had joined government service in August, 1999 as a junior engineer with an initial salary of ‘6,000. During the searches, Behera and his family members were found in possession of a four-storey building spread over 10,500 sq ft in Niladri Vihar, a three-storey house (1,100 sq ft) in Sailashree Vihar, another two-storey house (3,750 sq ft) in Patia and a twostorey house (2,500 sq/ft) in Chandrasekharpur area of Bhubaneswar. Continued on P5 WITH dark clouds looming over the economy amid the West Asia crisis, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday convened a meeting of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) to assess the evolving situation and discuss the country’s long-term development strategy . The meeting came a day after the finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced a slew of measures aimed at boosting foreign investment inflows and supporting the rupee, which has depreciated by around 6% since January 2026. While most members remained tight-lipped about the deliberations, Modi said on X that the council discussed a wide range of issues related to India’s economic transformation and l o n g - t e r m d eve l o p m e n t priorities. “Also shared perspectives on adding more momentum to the reform journey and ensuring Ease of Living as well as Ease of Doing Business,” the PM said on X. According to sources, members of the council shared their assessment of the impact of the West Asia conflict on India and the global economy Three members . present at the meeting declined to comment on the discussions when contacted. PM’s Principal Secretaries PK Mishra and Shaktikanta Das were present. The meet assumes significance amid concerns over the economic fallout from the conflict in West Asia. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has warned that an “economic tsunami” could hit the country. Although the economy expanded by a robust 7.8% in the fourth quarter of FY26, many economists expect growth to moderate in the coming quarters. The RBI has revised its FY27 GDP growth forecast downward to 6.6% from 6.9% earlier. Reflecting these risks, the RBI on Friday raised its FY27 inflation forecast to 5.1% from 4.6%. The EAC is an independent body that advises the Prime Minister on economic issues. At present, it comprises of a chairman, three full-time members and 11 part-time members. S Mahendra Dev is the chairman, while full-time members are Sanjay Kumar Mishra, Sanjeev Sanyal and Shamika Ravi. CPM, JMM DMK join chorus against Cong after Ahead of the INDIA bloc meeting, the CPI (M) shot off a letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, criticising the conduct of the party, the largest in the bloc | P7 The heat index in Bhubaneswar soared to 50 degree C on Saturday but the sweltering conditions gave way to a dramatic weather change as a severe Kalabaisakhi (nor’wester) accompanied by rain and hail lashed the capital city in the afternoon, causing widespread damage and disruptions. The thunderstorm damaged electricity infrastructure and disrupted power supply in several parts of Bhubaneswar, including Dhauli, Balianta, Mancheswar, Laxmisagar, VSS Nagar, Jayadev Vihar, Brit Colony, IRC Village, Paika Nagar and Raghunathpur. Residents expressed frustration over the prolonged power outage, with many reporting that electricity had not been re- Fire service and police personnel cutting trees and cleaning the road near Kalinga Stadium after the thunderstorm on Saturday | Shamim Qureshy stored even five hours after the rain had stopped. In a post on X, TPCODL said the electricity infrastructure in VSS Nagar and Mancheswar had suffered Rules delayed senior debut, Vaibhav@15 ready for India Just a trailer, says CJP head after protest debut in Delhi F i r o z M i r z a @ Chennai A d i t i R ay C h o w d h u r y & N i t i n R a w at @ New Delhi A day before the 2026 IPL started, teenage batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi turned 15. And what transpired next in little over than two months left everybody bamboozled. The world had already witnessed what Sooryavanshi can do with the willow in 2025 but the teenager from Bihar took it several notches higher this season when he finished as the leading scorer of the tournament, amassing 776 runs at an awe-inspiring strike rate of 237.30 from 16 matches. The spectacular show meant his inclusion in India’s T20 set up was a mere formality and selectors completed it when they named him in the national squads for England, Ireland tours, and the 2026 Asian Games on Saturday . Manish Ojha, Sooryavanshi’s childhood coach, however, feels his ward’s entry into the national team only got delayed due to an ICC rule. “I am over the moon but he should have been in the national team for the 2026 T20 World Cup,” Ojha told this daily . The ICC had introduced minimum age rules a few years ago to safeguard the players. It clearly said that no player below the age of 15 should play an international match even at U19 level. Sooryavanshi though did that when he helped India win the 2026 U19 World Cup. But the age barrier apparently prevented the Indian cricket board from giving him a break in senior team. “You look at any player, be it Yuvraj Singh or Virat Kohli or others, most of them made it to the senior side by excelling at the U19 World Cup. Vaibhav did that a day before the home World Cup started in India. Had that ICC rule not been there, he could have been a World Cup-winning player,” says the coach. But it’s better late than never. At 15 years and 71 days old, Sooryavanshi became the youngest player to feature in an Indian cricket men’s team, surpassing Sachin Tendulkar. “We have seen what he (Sooryavanshi) can do. Even in the (IPL) playoffs we saw he almost single handedly carried his team. For a young kid, he can be a game changer,” said Ajit Agarkar, chairman of selectors. P11 Judicial graft purged NCERT book with revised chapter this month S l a l i t h a @ New Delhi Months after the NCERT Social Science textbook for Class VIII courted controversy over references to judicial corruption leading to a blanket ban, a revised text with a reworked chapter on the judiciary is set to release by the third week of this month, officials at the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) said. The chapter on the judiciary has been fully reworked with all references to judicial corruption removed, a senior official said. The book, released on February 24, was withdrawn by the NCERT a day later. The judiciary took serious objection to the details on corruption complaints against judges pub- extensive damage due to the storm. “Our teams are reaching out to the affected locations and continuing repair works. Efforts are on to restore elec- tricity supply at the earliest,” the utility said. Consumers also complained of being unable to register grievances over the phone. TPCODL said its call centre operations had been affected by the storm and advised consumers to use the My Tata Power app, website, Roshni chatbot or missed-call services for assistance. Not just power supply, the thunderstorm uprooted trees in Satya Nagar, Mancheswar, Saheed Nagar, Acharya Vihar, Jayadev Vihar, Nayapalli, Salia Sahi, near Kalinga Stadium, Janata Maidan and other areas. The ongoing International Raja Utsav at Janata Maidan was also affected. Several stalls were dama g ed by strong Continued on P5 winds.  lished in the book. The Supreme Court subsequently banned its sale. Work on the textbook Exploring Society: India and Beyond, Vol II was completed recently by the three-member committee set up by the Education Ministry to rewrite the chapter, said an official. “They have submitted it to the NCERT head office. The chapter on the judiciary has been thoroughly scrutinised, and any references to corruption have been removed,” said another official. Former Attorney General K K Venugopal, former Supreme Court judge Indu Malhotra and Justice Aniruddha Bose were tasked with redoing the offending chapter. “Though all other books have been released for Class IX students, we have held back both the Social Science Part I and II textbooks. The ministry has cautioned us that there was no room for a n y c o n t r o ve r s y i n them,” an official said. One of the books will be out by June end, while the other could take till August. Meanwhile, the Hindi versions of all the Class IX books will be released before the end of June, the official said. Class X and XI books will be released before the next academic year. HUNDREDS of students, parents and young professionals descended on Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on Saturday as the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) staged its first major street protest, demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and issuing a sevenday ultimatum to the government. The demonstration, led by CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke — a Boston University graduate who flew into Delhi early Saturday morning — drew participants from across the country, many wearing cockroach masks and carrying flowers and the national flag. Six individuals were taken into preventive custody by the police after they were found allegedly attempting to create disturbance near the protest site. “Today’s protest was just a trailer. Thank you for showing up in such huge numbers,” Dipke wrote on X. Climate and social activist Sonam Wangchuk joined the rally at around 1.30 pm, lending heft to the youth movement. At a post-protest press conference, CJP spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka sought Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation within seven days. He warned that the movement would spread across the country if Pradhan does not resign. Another spokesperson Saurav Das said participants had travelled from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Northeast to participate in the protest. CJP founder Abhijit Dipke with supporters in Delhi on Saturday | sayantan ghosh On back-stabbers The CJP founder claimed that many people have compromised themselves and ‘sold out’ due to the fear of imprisonment. “The youth and students of this country have not sold themselves,” he said amid loud cheers The Opposition stood vertically split on support to the CJP — a sceptical Congress on the one side, while the rest of the parties cheered on from the sidelines.A section of the Congress trashed the CJP protest, calling it “performative” and a “brainchild of the AAP”. The Samajwadi Party, Left parties, Shiv Sena (Uddhav), Trinamool and AAP threw their weight behind the CJP. Born as a satirical Instagram account in May following a controversial remark by Chief Justice Surya Kant comparing unemployed youth to cockroaches, the CJP has since amassed over 2.2 crore followers. The party’s other demands include banning political rewards for retiring SC judges.