SAMBALPUR l sunday l august 23, 2026 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l CITY EDITION Hockey World Cup: Men’s team on the brink after loss to dutch Harmanpreet & Co. lose crucial Pool E encounter 1-3 against the Netherlands. They will be out of World Cup unless Argentina beat England below-par outing on Saturday India haven’t won WC medal since 1975 The men’s team endured another frustrating afternoon at the Wagener Stadium in Amstelveen. In an almost must-win encounter, they began okay but just couldn’t find the forward thrust from open play. The Dutch scored twice after half-time before Harmanpreet reduced the deficit but the ask was too much and the side couldn’t muster a response. ■ ■ India are still searching for their first medal at the World Cup since the 1975 edition. It’s likely that that run will continue. They round off their campaign with a game against Argentina on Monday On Sunday, the women’s team needs a win against Australia to have a chance of advancing to the semifinals SIX no of goals harmanpreet Singh has scored at the world cup 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 Panama-flagged cargo ship goes missing 290 nm off Paradip coast A m a r n at h Pa r i d a @ Paradip PM Modi being greeted by BJP president Nitin Nabin | PTI Day after, Raj govt says 611 schools lack own building Raje s h A s n a n i @ Jaipur As many as 611 state-run schools in Rajasthan do not have own buildings, 2,047 schools lack toilets for students, and 1,049 do not have drinking water facilities, government data showed, amid a row over the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) inspection of schools in the state. The data was released a day after CJP workers were assaulted during a visit to a school in Jaipur. It came in response to an unstarred question by Leader of the Opposition Tikaram Julie. Of the 611 schools without buildings, 10 are girls’ schools. Jaipur has 38 such schools. Block-wise, Aklera in Jhalawar has the highest number of such schools at 23, followed Dipke by Khanpur booked with 16, and Jhalrapatan Police have and Phalodi registered a w i t h case against 11 each. Cockroach The data Janta Party is based on convenor Abhijeet Dipke 2025-26 UDISE figand others for ures under allegedly the Samaentering a gra Shiksha state-run framework. school in The governMaharashtra’s ment said Latur district arrangewithout ments were permission. being made for drinking water and alternative toilet facilities at schools lacking them. It has earmarked `550 crore for the repair and renovation of schools and another `450 crore for constructing buildings for schools without premises and those operating from dilapidated structures. The government also cited a Finance Department meeting held on March 13 and 14, where a roadmap was prepared to mobilise `2,500 crore annually for the construction, repair and maintenance of school buildings with a total outlay of over `12,500 crore over five years. WITH THIS ISSUE The Fearless Generation PLUS 12 P AGES Rahul Gandhi at his rally in Pune on Saturday | Express Modi’s pep Break the talk to new cage, Rahul core team tells women R A J E SH K UM A R TH A K UR @ New Delhi S u d h i r S u r ya w a n s h i @ Mumbai Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday urged the newly appointed office-bearers of the BJP’s central team to remain committed to the party’s ideology and the spirit of Nation First, with Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, which is at the core of good governance. In his first interaction with the new team, he shared insights and perspectives on strengthening organisational work and emphasised the importance of maintaining a deep connect with the people, particularly the youth, over the government’s policies and achievements. Modi reportedly advised the team not to be bothered or worried by the ‘surround sound’ outside, but to remain focused on the party’s ideological commitment. Prime Minister Later, in a post on ‘X’, Modi Narendra Modi said: “Organisational meet- shared insights and ings are all about new ideas perspectives to and perspectives aimed at further strengthen the party’s strengthening the party and organisation and deepening connect with the people. Great interaction deepen its connect with people with fellow party colleagues BJP statement and the new team!” Earlier in the day, a meeting of the party’s new core team adopted a resolution condemning the Congress decision to sing just two stanzas of Vande Mataram. Asserting that there would be no compromise on the honour and legacy of the National Song, the party resolved to oppose any attempt by the Congress to subject it to “communal pressure, political appeasement or vote-bank politics”. The BJP is also learnt to have constituted a dedicated team to spearhead its upcoming Gen Z outreach. It is expected to be rolled out shortly . Besides, the party will launch a month-long Seva Sankalp Abhiyan from September 17 to mark the completion of Modi’s 25 years in public life as the head of government and his dedication to P7 service at every moment.  WOMEN are India’s “biggest strength,” but a stereotypical society rooted in the Manusmriti, , has systematically ensured they are never allowed to be independent, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said here on Saturday . Addressing his party’s youth outreach programme ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ here, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said he would not deliver a political speech but would instead listen to young women’s concerns and ideas. “There is a deliberate plan to ensure women are never independent. No man has any right over women. Even after remarkable success in every field, they are still boxed into a category Rahul ,” said, urging women to “break the cage.” There is a Calling the Manusmriti deliberate plan to ensure that women “the RSS’s draconian book,” he said it worked against should never be women’s independence and independent. You are not bound to progress. “A woman belongs anyone except to herself first, and that is yourself her first identity; then other Rahul Gandhi, roles like sister, daughter, Congress leader wife, and mother come intoplay he said. ,” Citing data, Rahul said 4.5 lakh female foeticides occur every year, 80 per cent of women face harassment in some form, 29 per cent face physical violence, and at least six per cent are rape victims. He added that half of India’s women reject work opportunities over safety concerns, 60 per cent cannot step out alone, and girls’ education drops 45 per cent due to early marriage and domestic work. Only eight per cent of women own property, he said. The data presented by the Congress leader could not be independently verified by this paper. Rahul later interacted with students and working women, who spoke about education, career choices and workplace conduct. A Panama-flagged cargo vessel carrying around 71,000 metric tonne of iron ore has reportedly disappeared from tracking systems nearly two days after leaving Paradip Port. The ‘Ocean Winner’ left Paradip Port around 10.30 pm on Wednesday The 225-metre. long and 32-metre-wide vessel had 24 crew members on board, including 20 Chinese, three Myanmar and a Bangladeshi national. It was headed to Singapore. Sources said the vessel was in the Bay of Bengal on Thursday, but has gone incommunicado for nearly 24 hours. The loss of the signal has triggered concerns over a possible technical snag, an emergency or an incident involving the vessel. Sources said Indian Coast Guard (ICG) vessel Varada has been pressed into rescue and search operation. The vessel sailed from the anchorage area of Paradip Port on Wednesday but its present location was not known. It had 24 crew members on board Paradip Port sources A senior officer of the Paradip Port Authority said the vessel sailed from the anchorage area of Paradip Port on Wednesday but its present location was not known. The port’s vessel-tracking jurisdiction is confined to the port and anchorage area. “The vessel is believed to have travelled around 290 nautical miles from Paradip and is now beyond the port’s tracking range. Surveillance by the Indian Coast Guard Five injured in blast at NTPC Kaniha plant E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ Angul house of cards Rescue operations underway after a multi-storey under-construction building collapsed in Hyderabad on Saturday, killing at least two persons | PTI Amid floods, more worry for Odisha SC overturns NGT order as fresh LoPAR to take shape today against Art of Living directs refund of `5 cr fine s u c h i t r a ka lya n m o h a n t y @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Saturday set aside a 2017 order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) holding Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living Foundation responsible for the damage caused to the Yamuna floodplain following its World Culture Festival held here in 2016. The court then directed the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to refund the `5 crore environmental compensation deposited by the foundation. A bench of justices Satish Chandra Shar ma and N K Singh passed the order on an appeal filed by Vyakti Vikas Kendra India (VVKI), the Indian organisation associated with AoL Foundation, founded by spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. It is to be noted that the foundation is the broader international organisation, while VVKI is a separate Indian entity linked to it. The NGT had ruled on Dec 7, 2017 that the `5 crore interim compensation paid by the foundation would be used by E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar Event on floodplain The event in question, World Cultural Festival, was held from March 11 to 13, 2016. The event was organised on the active floodplain of the Yamuna river in Delhi, over an area comprising 25 hectares upstream of the DND flyway DDA for restoration and excess cost, if any would be recovered , from it. It had also held DDA guilty of contributory negligence. The top court said NGT’s finding was based on an expert committee report prepared in “violation of natural justice” without giving AoL a chance to submit evidence. The Shashi Shekhar committee’s estimate — `42.02 crore first, then `13.29 crore — was arbitrary with no conclusive proof that floodplain was “completely destroyed”, the bench said. The court further said that the event was held after necessary and due permission from all authorities. As the flood situation in the state shows signs of easing, the respite could be short-lived with heavy to very heavy rain forecast over many areas in the coming days. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast formation of a fresh low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal on Sunday which , will bring more rains to the state over the next six days. As per the national weather agency, the upper-air cyclonic circulation continues to persist over north Bay of Bengal off West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts. Under its influence, a low pressure is likely to form over the same region within 24 hours, it said. The weather body said that many parts of the state may receive light to moderate rainfall or thundershower activity, while isolated places in northern and western districts are likely to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall (64.5 to 204.4 mm) for the next six days. Director of Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre Manorama Mohanty said, “One or two plac- now assumes importance,” the officer said. An ICG source said standard procedures are followed when a vessel disappears from tracking systems. Authorities ascertain whether the loss of signal is due to a technical failure, disabling of the Automatic Identification System (AIS) or an emergency . The disappearance has also fuelled speculation about a possible sinking. However, there is no official confirmation of either. Coast Guard authorities have not issued any statement on the vessel’s whereabouts. Sources said search and surveillance operations may be underway, while local Coast Guard officials declined to comment. The disappearance is a cause of worry as the vessel was carrying a large consignment of iron ore and a multinational crew. es in Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Kalahandi, Rayagada and Koraput are likely to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall on Sunday and a few places in Sundargarh and Sambalpur districts will witness similar weather condition on Monday .” Officials said they are keeping a close watch as apart from Odisha, the anticipated low pressure area will also trigger heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places in Chhattisgarh during the next two to three days. The regional met office said squally weather with wind speed reaching 35 kmph to 45 kmph and gusting up to 55 kmph may prevail along and off Odi- sha coast for the next two days. It has advised fishermen not to venture into the sea during this period. Meanwhile, close to one million people have been affected in the floods across six districts. The office of the special relief commissioner (SRC) Rajesh Prabhakar Patil said the situation is under control at present. However, the district administrations have been a to remain fully alert and prepared to deal with any eventuality, in view of IMD’s forecast rain or thundershower activity in 19 districts over the next few days. As of Saturday noon, water levels of all major rivers including Mahanadi, Brahmani, Baitarani, Budhabalanga, Subarnarekha and Jalaka were flowing below the danger level. Four senior officials including three IAS officers have also been deployed in affected districts including Kendrapara for effective flood management. Besides, 86 rescue teams, comprising 32 ODRAF, 8 NDRF and 46 Fire and Emergency Services teams have also remained deployed in the flood-affected districts to oversee rescue and relief work, officials said. Five contractual workers were injured in an explosion at bunker-B in Unit-I of the NTPC Kaniha power plant here in the early hours of Saturday . According to NTPC officials, the incident occurred at around 12.30 am when a mild explosion took place at the bunker, where coal is stored and heated as part of the power generation process. Around 50 workers were deployed in the bunker at the time of the mishap. The injured are Khageswar Sahu, Sukdeb Bhutia, Susanta Sahu, Kishore Pradhan and Balram Pradhan, all residents of nearby villages. All five were shifted to the NTPC hospital. Khageswar Sahu and Sukdeb Bhutia were later referred to a private hospital in Bhubaneswar for specialised treatment. Public relations officer (PRO) of NTPC Kaushal Upadhyay said the condition of the three workers admitted to the NTPC hospital was stable. Of the two workers refer red to Bhubaneswar, one was reported to be stable while the other was in critical condition. The exact cause of the explosion is yet to be ascertained. A high-level technical team reached the spot and launched an investigation into the circumstances leading to the mishap. Power generation at the 3,000 MW super thermal power plant remained normal and was not affected by the incident, the PRO added. NTA in Ayush exam orders retest after power failure The NTA has ordered a reexamination for 49 candidates who were unable to complete the Ayurveda paper of the All India Ayush Postgraduate Entrance Test in Jaipur on Saturday after a power failure disrupted the computer-based examination for nearly 45 minutes | P8