PIC: NASA BHUBANESWAR l wednesday l august 12, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late CITY EDITION NASA invites India to be part of its Moon Base mission The ambitious Moon base mission is a programme to build humanity’s first lunar outpost near the Moon’s South Pole invite follows u.s.-india space group meet According to the US space agency, the project aims to unlock scientific discoveries, and prepare for future deep space exploration. India and US explored expanding space cooperation at a meeting of their Civil Space Joint Working Group held in Bengaluru last week. The two sides agreed to advance discussions for cooperation on open scientific data sharing ■ 9th step-by-step approach to Build base ■ The Moon base will be built in phases, says NASA. It will begin with robotic missions to test new tech, then build systems & infrastructure needed to establish humanity’s first long-term presence on the Moon The first phase will focus on gaining reliable access to the lunar surface and building a deeper understanding of the environment meet of india-u.s. space joint working group was held last week 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 breaching of norms SC agrees to hear petition on Odisha DGP selection today U D AYAN K IS H O R E /ASIS H M E H TA @ New Delhi/Bhubaneswar tion to that rank by the UPSC on the basis of their length of service, very good The state DGP selection record and range of experiprocess landed in the Su- ence for heading the police preme Court, which on force.” Tuesday agreed to ‘urgent“Once a person has been ly’ hear a PIL alleging that selected for the job, they the Odisha government was should have a minimum attempting to circumvent tenure of at least two years its order on the appoint- irrespective of the date of ment of the head of the po- superannuation, the orders lice force by including ineli- had said,” the petition gible officers in the selection claimed. It then alleged that panel. the Odisha government was The petition claimed that “attempting to include an the state was attempting ineligible officer in the to promote an addipanel to be sent to the tional director genUPSC.” eral of police (ADG) T he petitioner to the rank of DGP claimed that the and then include UPSC was schedthe officer in the uled to meet on Aufresh panel sent to gust 7 to consider a the Union Public panel of three eliService Commisgible DGP-level ofsion (UPSC). ficers for the apOn August 7, the The submissions pointment, “but UPSC was were made by senthe state withdrew scheduled to meet i o r a dvo c at e P the list of to select from Chidambaram beofficers.” among the three “The state of Odfore the bench comDGPs. Odisha prising Chief Jus- withdrew the list. isha is breaching tice Surya Kant They are trying to the Prakash Singh and Justices Joym- promote an ADG... (passed by Supreme alya Bagchi and V and then smuggle Court) judgment. him into the list On August 7, the Mohana, which and get him UPSC was schedsaid the matter considered uled to meet to sewould come up for lect from among hearing on WednesP Chidambaram, the three DGPs. Odday “We will list it . petitioner counsel isha withdrew the tomorrow (Wedneslist. They are now making day),” the bench said. The bench was hearing another list to send. They the petition, which claimed are trying to promote an that the incumbent DGP YB ADG, either today or last Khurania would demit of- night, and then smuggle him fice on August 16. It added into the list and get him conthat a 2006 verdict by the sidered,” the counsel said. Chidambaram said the apex court, and its subsequent directions, had said matter was being raised the DGP of a state shall be through a PIL because serv“selected by the state gov- ing police officers awaiting ernment from amongst the appointment as DGP would three senior-most officers ordinarily be reluctant to of the department who have c h a l l e n g e t h e s t a t e been empanelled for promo- government. Continued on P5 Phuket flight captain fails second dope test: Sources Tests positive for marijuana in the confirmatory screening test S L a l i th a @ New Delhi IN a new twist to last week’s midair incident involving Air India’s Phuket-Delhi flight that experienced a sudden altitude loss, the captain of the flight has reportedly tested positive for marijuana in the confirmatory screening test. “The Pilot-in-Command has tested positive in the second dope test too with marijuana found in the samples taken from him,” a source told this newspaper on Tuesday . Another source, a pilot, too confirmed the development, adding that the captain, in his late 30s, could be terminated. The civil aviation ministry, which had earlier insisted that the result of the confirmatory test must be awaited before drawing any conclusions, on Tuesday issued a detailed statement on the probe into the incident. However, there was no mention of dope test. Air India declined to comment on the drug screening. Earlier in the day, Union civil aviation minister K Rammohan Naidu said strong action would be File pic CEO summoned Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu on Tuesday summoned the outgoing CEO of Air India, Campbell Wilson. In the meeting, also attended by top officials, the minister demanded an explanation taken if the pilot was found to have indulged in any substance abuse. “If there needs to be any tweaking of the existing legislation, we will do that also,” he told reporters. According to the civil aviation ministry’s statement, flight AI 2379, an Airbus A320 aircraft with 145 people on board, suffered a midair altitude drop of 300 feet on August 4 resulting in injuries to 20 passengers and four cabin crew members. Under existing DGCA norms, if a pilot tests positive for drugs, the person is referred for a rehabilitation programme. He needs to go for treatment at a de-addiction centre and can return to duty only after producing a negative confirmatory test and a fitness certificate from the airline’s medical in-charge. This could take up to eight months. If the same person tests positive again, the licence is suspended for three years. If the violation happens for the third time, the licence is cancelled. Following the August 4 incident, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau asked airport authorities in Delhi to conduct two different tests. “After the arrival of the plane in Delhi, both pilots were subjected to a breathalyser test for alcohol content, which turned out to be negative. Then, blood and urine tests were done to trace psychotropic substances. This was positive for the Pilot-in-Command,” a source said. Earlier, sources said the flight might have experienced multiple technical glitches including hydraulic failures. strict discipline NCC girl cadets running to their commander for a brief after taking part in the parade rehearsal for Independence Day, at Mahatma Gandhi Marg in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday | DEBADATTA MALLICK Odisha’s revenue collection up 7.3% to `61.5K cr by July-end E x pr e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar Odisha’s total revenue collection rose 7.3 per cent yearon-year to `61,593 crore by the end of July even as the state government stepped up programme spending and capital expenditure. The figures were presented at a review meeting of the Finance department chaired by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Tuesday Majhi, who holds the Finance . portfolio, directed officials to strengthen revenue mobilisation and accelerate programme and capital expenditure to support economic growth and infrastructure development. According to a Finance department presentation, the state’s own revenue grew 11.9 per cent during the period compared with the corresponding period of the previous financial year. Own tax revenue increased 9.3 per cent, while own non-tax revenue recorded a higher growth of 14.8 CM Mohan Charan Majhi at per cent. the review of the Finance Over 10 per cent of the state’s department at Lok Seva revenue receipts came from cen- Bhawan, in Bhubaneswar tral grants, 31 per cent from its on Tuesday share of central taxes, 31 per cent from own tax revenue and 28 per cent from own non-tax revenue. On the expenditure side, programme spending in the first four months of the current financial year was 19.1 per cent higher than during the corresponding period last year. Capital expenditure also rose Continued on P5 significantly  . Battle lines drawn for possible Shah show in LS today IPL star Porel arrested for rape of woman P R EE T H A NAI R @ New Delhi THE stalemate in Parliament continued on Tuesday over the Opposition’s demand for accountability from Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the student protests, despite the government offering a discussion on “student and youth agitations” and a reply by Shah, including on the alleged police action. Amid speculation that Shah may make a statement in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday the , Opposition signalled that it was not ready to relent. At a meeting of INDIA bloc parties chaired by Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, leaders decided to continue their protests and maint a i n e d t h at S h a h could not be allowed to make a unilateral statement in the House. The government had placed the condition that it was willing to have Shah respond on the student protests, provided the Opposition did not disrupt his reply . Sources said the INDIA bloc Keralam bill passed The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the bill seeking to rename Kerala as Keralam without debate, as Opposition members continued their protests demanding Home Minister Amit Shah’s presence in the House would take a final call on its floor strategy at the meeting on Wednesday morning. There was broad agreement with Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s position that a general response from Shah would not be enough and that the Home Minister must specifically address the circumstances surrounding the alleged use of pellet guns against student protesters on July 20, said a senior leader. The Congress has also maintained that a discussion on the alleged theft of funds related to the Ram temple in Ayodhya is ‘non-negotiable’ and has demanded an apology from Prime Minister Modi. express read 19-year-old gang-raped at knifepoint in Koraput, 1 arrested Four women killed, 5 injured in separate lightning strikes Koraput: A 19-year-old college student and part-time model was allegedly gang-raped at knifepoint by three masked men in a pine forest between Jeypore and Koraput on August 5. Police on Monday arrested one of the accused and produced him in court. The survivor and her male friend had stopped at the forest in the afternoon to click pictures when the three accused arrived on a motorcycle. Two of them were allegedly carrying knives. The accused allegedly forced the duo to pay whatever cash they had on them | P4 Rourkela: Four women were killed and five others sustained injuries in separate lightning strikes under Bonai and Talsara police limits in Sundargarh district on Tuesday afternoon. The first incident took place between 1 pm and 1.30 pm at Indrapur village in Bonai block. The deceased were identified as Sunita Oram (32) of Jamjor village under Tikayatpali police limits and Draupadi Kisan (35) of Indrapur village. As per sources, the duo was working in a farm field when the lightning struck them | P4 s u b h e n du m a i t i @ Kolkata WEST Bengal and Delhi Capitals cricketer Abhishek Porel was arrested late Monday night by Hooghly police on allegations of rape and blackmail. He was produced before the Chinsurah court on Tuesday . A 24-year-old undergraduate medical student from Karnataka lodged a complaint at Mogra police station in Hooghly on June 24, alleging a three-year relationship during which the pair travelled abroad together. Porel, a Chandannagar resident and wicketkeeper-batsman who performed well for Delhi Capitals this IPL season, allegedly In this videograb, Abhishek Porel being taken away by police on Tuesday | X had sexual relations with her on the pretext of marriage. The complainant said Porel later refused to marry her despite repeated requests, and blackmailed her using her obscene photographs. Police registered nine nonbailable cases under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the IT Act covering rape, assault, cheating and other offences. Porel has denied all charges, stating that the complaint was an “attempt to tarnish his image amid strong IPL performances.” After the season ended he returned home. The complainant moved the Calcutta High Court alleging police inaction. The court ordered his immediate arrest and seizure of digital devices, including his mobile phone. Hooghly (Rural) Superintendent of Police Kunar Bhushan Singh said a court order led to Porel’s arrest. Trump slinked out When Air Force One became decoy amid Iran attack threat a g e n c i e s @ Washington PRESIDENT Donald Trump secretly flew out of last month’s NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey on an unheralded military , aircraft while the White House made it appear that he was flying on Air Force One, according to a report published by The Washington Post. The Post said Monday the operation was prompted by an Iranian assassination threat against Trump. The ruse was carried out as journalists and some White House staff mem- bers were led to believe they were on the same plane as the president as he began his journey back to Washington from the annual gathering of NATO country leaders. Trump had flown to the summit in a new Qatari-gifted and retrofitted red, white and navy blue jet. But ahead of departing Turkey he , said he would fly partway home on an oldermodel baby blue Air Force One plane instead. The president at A file photograph of the legacy Air Force One | AP the time said the new luxury jet was being flown out ahead of his departure from Ankara to give some US troops based in eastern England a chance to check out the new Air Force One. In Ankara, Trump boarded the old Air Force One in view of television cameras ahead of the plane flying to Royal Air Force Mildenhall in the United Kingdom. However, according to the Post report, after boarding the legacy Air Force One, he was secretly shuttled minutes later to a smaller plane — an Air Force C-32A — via an airport catering truck. Trump flew to Mildenhall on that smaller jet. Security experts alleged the press pool aboard the legacy Air Force One was turned into “sitting ducks”.