SAMBALPUR l wednesday l july 29, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l CITY EDITION FDA suspends food licences of Cricket Club of India, MIG CC Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has suspended the food business licences of the CCI & MIG CC for violations. A look... File pic violation of food safety, hygiene an issue cockroaches, cobwebs at mig cricket club “The CCI’s kitchen lacked segregation between vegetarian and nonvegetarian food preparation areas, and FDA inspectors also found a large number of cockroaches and flies near food handling and waste disposal areas,” the FDA statement said. It also cited the absence of colour-coded chopping boards which increases the risk of cross-contamination ■ ■ The food licence of MIG Cricket Club was suspended as an unauthorised catering agency without a valid FSSAI licence was operating from the premises, the FDA said The inspection at MIG Cricket Club also found live cockroaches and cobwebs in the kitchen, it said Three other clubs, apart from cci and mig cc, were also suspended 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 High-voltage debate in Lok Sabha on anti-paper leak bill Panel coming to probe charges of police excesses, indicates SC P r ee t h a N a i r @ New Delhi s u c h i t r a k a lya n m o h a n t y @ New Delhi THE Lok Sabha on Tuesday witnessed acrimonious debate on the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026 with the gover nment defending the tougher law as a necessary deterrent and the Opposition dismissing it as a belated attempt to salvage the Centre’s credibility after the NEET-UG paper leak controversy . The 10-hour marathon debate mostly shifted beyond the provisions of the bill, with Opposition members attacking the government over the alleged police action against protesting students and demanding that Union home minister Amit Shah order an SIT probe into the violence. However, Treasury bench members maintained that the government had acted swiftly to protect students’ interests by bringing in a tougher law after the recent controversy . Opening the discussion, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said incidents of question paper leaks and examination-related malpractices have occurred across different states over the years, highlighting the need for a comprehensive national legal framework. The government introduced the Bill in the Lok Sabha on Monday, days after student protests over the NEET fiasco led to Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation as education minister, to provide for stricter punishment of up to 10 years in jail and a heftier fine of `50 lakh for paper THE Supreme Court on Tuesday while hearing a batch , of petitions against police excesses, said prima facie a case is made out for an independent and transparent inquiry by a commission to probe police excesses on student protesters in several states and UTs. “Why should there not be an independent probe into these allegations? Whoever has committed excesses, committed atrocities on innocent people, law will take care of them. For that, there needs to be a completely independent and fair investigation. Probe is meaningless if no responsibility is fixed,” said a bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant. Delhi and The court called for framing a protocol to meet situations like the Delother states hi protests in the future. That apart, may proceed the bench restrained states from with taking any coercive action against investigation protesters and directed them to reof FIRs; lease those under 18 on the condition that none of them should have however, no criminal antecedents. coercive Observing that “agitations in a measures ... democracy are bound to happen,” against the the bench indicated it will order the protesting constitution of a high-powered committee to probe incidents of violence students in Delhi and elsewhere. It directed Supreme Court the preservation of all CCTV footage, drone footage, body-worn camera recordings, wireless communication and PCR logs. It also told the states to ensure that personal information and digital data of protesters are not placed in the public domain for now. Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Union Minister Pralhad Joshi speaking in the Lok Sabha | pti If the prime minister wants to win over the Gen Z, then he needs to change his ‘dil ka angle’, not the angle of cameras Priyanka Gandhi CJP warning The CJP on Tuesday warned of a fresh agitation, alleging the Centre was avoiding giving a promised written assurance on withdrawing FIRs against all protesters leaks. The House witnessed noisy scenes after Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra made some strong remarks about the new education minister Pralhad Joshi, prompting Treasury bench members to seek an apology The remarks were later ex. punged from records. In a strongly worded speech, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accused the government of betraying the trust of young Indians. She said Modi and Home Minister Shah must answer as to who authorised the use of pellet guns and AK-47s on protesting students. “Are the students terrorists? Every ‘lathi’ blow on any boy or girl hits the government’s prestige more than the backs of students.” Congress deputy leader Gaurav Gogoi, who opened the debate from the Opposition side, said the proposed amendments exposed the government’s failure to prevent repeated paper leaks despite the existence of a law. He alleged successive examination leaks had exposed serious administrative lapses and said the Centre must accept responsibility for repeated failures instead of portraying the amendments as a solution. Responding to the criticism, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya said the recurrence of paper leaks across the country underscored the need for a stronger legal framework. Taking a swipe at the Congress, he said the previous UPA government had failed to enact similar legislation despite having the opportunity He also crit. icised the Congress’ education record, saying India continued with an outdated system for decades because no new education policy had been introduced during its tenure. Defending the government’s handling of the crisis, Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Eknath Shinde said the Centre had acted responsibly by ensuring accountability He said the government . conducted the NEET re-examination within 37 days and declared the results within 25 days. The Lok Sabha will continue the discussion on the Bill on Wednesday . 4 dists in flood grip, over 1 lakh affected E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar Over one lakh people in four districts of Jajpur, Bhadrak, Balasore and Mayurbhanj have been affected by floods in Baitarani, Brahmani and Jalaka rivers following heavy rainfall in upper catchment areas induced by the deep depression over north interior Odisha and adjoining Gang etic West Bengal. Official sources said over Permanent commission for women in Coast Guard J a v a r i a r a n a @ New Delhi ENDING years of resistance that had drawn sharp censure from the Supreme Court, the Defence Ministry on Tuesday cleared permanent commission for women officers in the Indian Coast Guard (ICG). The move brings the maritime force in line with the Army, Navy and Air Force (IAF), where women have long been eligible for full-tenure careers. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh unveiled the policy, alongside a second reform easing ex-gratia to families of personnel missing at sea. The women’s commission policy ensures equal opportunities for career progression right from the ab-initio training phase. It also throws open a window to those already in service. Existing women officers on Short Service Appointment (SSA) will be given the option to convert to Permanent Appointment (PA), while serving PA women officers will be considered for promotion to higher ranks. 23,600 people in the four districts have been evacuated from low-lying areas to safer places. Around 500 villages have been affected in the flood and several h o u s e s h av e a l s o b e e n damaged. Revenue and Disaster Management minister Suresh Pujari reviewed the situation at a high-level meeting at Lok Seva Bhawan here on the day. The minister said the next 12 hours would be crucial and directed the SRC office to remain func- tional throughout the night for continuous monitoring of the situation. He said Brahmani, Baitarani and Jalaka rivers were rising at Anandpur, Akhuapada and Mathani. Around 12 ODRAF and five NDRF teams have been deployed in Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Mayurbhanj and Sambalpur districts for relief and rescue measures. Collectors and BDOs of all these districts have been asked to remain on Continued on P5 high alert.  The next 12 hours are crucial. Collectors and BDOs of all the four affected districts have been asked to remain on high alert Suresh Pujari, Revenue & Disaster Management minister MeitY summons Meta over PM post takedown The Centre on Tuesday summoned Meta’s public policy head after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Facebook post of July 23—addressing India’s youth and promising stringent measures against paper leaks—was restricted by the social media giant. IT Secretary S Krishnan said while Meta has apologised for the mistake, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has sought more details. According to Meta, a glitch in its automated content filters restricted the prime minister’s post | P10