SAMBALPUR l tuesday l august 25, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l CITY EDITION ex-diplomat Akbaruddin, two others join RBI central board Ex-diplomat Syed Akbaruddin, ex-bureaucrat Annie Mathew and Boston Consulting Group’s Janmejaya Sinha were appointed on Monday Syed Akbaruddin Annie George Mathew Janmejaya Sinha part-time, non-official directors board now has 14 members including guv They were appointed as part-time, Non-official Directors for four years. Syed Akbaruddin is a 1985-batch Indian Foreign Service officer and served as India’s permanent representative to the UN from 2016 to 2020. Annie George Mathew retired as Special Secretary of the Union Finance Ministry. Janmejaya Sinha is the Chairman of Boston Consulting Group (India) ■ ■ With the latest appointments, the board has 14 members, including governor Sanjay Malhotra and four deputy governors Industrialist Anand Mahindra and former ISRO Chairman Somanath Panicker joined last week. Other members include former Audit & Accounts Service officer Revathy Iyer and economist Sachin Chaturvedi 21 is the maximum sanctioned strength of the rbi central board 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 Putin offers to Govt to amend Hindu Religious step up fertiliser Endowments Act: Harichandan supply to India E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar PM Modi looks forward to meeting Russian prez at SCO, BRICS summits, says Jaishankar 4-fold jump in trade JAYA N TH JACOB @ New Delhi RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin has offered to increase fertiliser supplies to India, signalling Moscow’s intent to deepen one of the most important pillars of the bilateral economic relationship. The offer came during when External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar called on Putin in Moscow on Monday . Putin—who is expected to visit India next month for the BRICS summit—said Russia is ready to help meet India’s agricultural requirements. He highlighted fertilisers alongside fuel as an important component of Russia’s economic support to India. “One of these issues— not just fuel—is the supply of mineralisers (fertilisers). We are doing everything we can to resolve the issue for Indian farmers, for agriculture; we are increasing these exports and are prepared to continue doing so,” he said. The offer comes as fertilisers have become an important element of India-Russia economic ties. Russia has emerged as India’s largest supplier of fertilisers, particularly urea, with Indian fertiliser imports from Russia rising by almost 40% in 2025. Putin also pointed to the broader expansion in bilateral trade. Jaishankar conveyed Prime Minister Modi’s plans for future meetings with Putin, saying Modi looked forward to meeting the Russian president at the forthcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kyrgyzstan and welcoming him to India for the BRICS Summit. The two leaders are also expected to hold their annual bilateral summit at a mutually convenient time. Jaishankar said the trade between India and Russia has increased 4-fold in 5 years, from around $13 billion in 202122 to nearly $60 billion in 2025-26 S Jaishankar with Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday | PTI We are doing everything we can to meet the needs of Indian farmers and agriculture sector Vladmir Putin, Russian president SUCHITRA KALYA N MOHA N T Y @ New Delhi CJP calls for Sept 5 Delhi march The Cockroach Janta Party on Monday called for a protest march in Delhi on September 5, accusing the Centre of failing to honour the promises it made. The march will begin at India Gate and proceed to Delhi Police HQ E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has told the Orissa High Court that the Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) should hold its elections immediately and any prolonged continuation of office-bearers could run contrary to the Supreme Court’s directions and the association’s own by-laws. The BCCI made the submission in an affidavit filed by its senior manager (legal) Melinda Colaco in compliance with the high court’s August 13 order. The affidavit was placed before Justice Savitri Ratho. Justice Ratho directed the matter to be listed on August 27 for further hearing. Explaining its position, BCCI said its memorandum of association (MoA) provides for a three-year term for office-bear- OCA should hold its elections ers, with a maximum of three immediately terms or nine years in all. An and any office-bearer can hold a post for prolonged only two consecutive terms and continuation of office-bearers must thereafter undergo a threecould run year cooling-off period, it said. contrary to the “These rules have been adoptSC’s directions ed by BCCI in furtherance of and the the judgment of the Supreme association’s Court dated August 9, 2018 and own by-laws September 14, 2022,” the affidaBCCI vit stated. The BCCI said the Supreme Court’s directions were binding on the OCA as well and compliance was necessary for the state association to retain its membership and recognition from the national cricket body The board . stressed that timely elections were essential to prevent any person from continuing as an office-bearer or elected member beyond the permissible consecutive terms.  Continued on P5 Floods return as heavy rains lash state, seven districts hit this time Floods have returned to Odisha once again and expanded to southwestern districts as rains have effected increase in water levels of Baitarani, Jalaka and Indravati rivers | P3 15 flights diverted as rain pounds Delhi-NCR Allow WFH, Gurugram offices told e x p r e s s ne w s s e r v i c e @ New Delhi HEAVY rain forced the diversion of 15 incoming flights to Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) to Jaipur, Lucknow and Chandigarh early Monday afternoon. All flights landed safely in Delhi by evening, official sources said. Hundreds of de par ting flights faced delays throughout the day, with several of them held up by two to three hours. A source at Delhi airport said three of the 15 diverted flights were international. Twelve were sent to Jaipur International Airport, two to Chandi- Commuters walk on a waterlogged road in New Delhi’s Sangam Vihar | Parveen Negi garh and one to Lucknow, the source said. The Singapore flight was diverted to Lucknow, while those from Dubai and Sharjah went to Jaipur. were rationalisation of the powers and functions of the commissioner, additional commissioner and authorised officers, restructuring of the endowments department cadre and creation of new posts to strengthen its administrative capacity . “The proposed amendments will provide a more effective statutory framework for supervision and management of religious institutions and their properties, besides improving administrative and financial management,” he said.  Continued on P5 OCA should hold Need AI-led intel analysis of security threats: HM organisational polls immediately: BCCI tells Orissa HC E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Cuttack CJP protest: SC panel to prioritise sex assault probe The Supreme Court on Monday said that it has asked the High-Powered Enquiry Committee (HPEC), which had been set up to examine allegations of police violence during the NEET paper leak stir, to prioritise complaints of sexual assault faced by women protesters. A bench comprising CJI Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana issued the direction after senior advocate Shobha Gupta urged the court to take suo motu cognisance of the alleged sexual assault and molestation of women protesters during the ‘Chalo Sansad’ march on July 20. Gupta asked the court to create mechanism for alleged victims to directly send complaints. CJI Surya Kant — although he did not take suo motu cognisance— however, said, “the committee has been requested to examine it on a priority basis, and immediately submit an interim report.” Justice Bagchi pointed out that an independent writ petition was filed on the same cause, and the HPEC has been asked to examine the issue. The state government has decided to amend the Odisha Hindu Religious Endowments Act, 1951, for strengthening administration and management of maths and temples. A high-level meeting was chaired by Law minister Prithiviraj Harichandan at Lok Seva Bhawan on Monday to deliberate on the proposed amendments and the modalities of reforms. Briefing mediapersons after the meeting, Harichandan said a final decision had been taken to amend the legislation and a proposal will be place in the Assembly in the upcoming monsoon session. “A draft framework for the proposed amendment has been prepared under the guidance of the Law Commission. The meeting discussed updating several unnecessary or outdated provisions and sub-sections of the existing law in line with present-day requirements,” he said. Among the key issues discussed The Airports Authority of India and airlines had issued advisories urging passengers to reach the airport well in advance due to the weather. The Gurugram administration on Monday advised corporate offices to allow employees to work from home on Tuesday and ordered all schools and educational institutions to conduct classes online in view of the heavy rainfall. UNION Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday called for greater use of artificial intelligence to analyse intelligence inputs and strengthen India’s response to emerging national security threats, while directing security agencies to take strict measures against infiltration. Speaking at the inaugural session of the ninth two-day National Security Strategies (NSS) Conference-2026 here, Shah directed agencies to develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) for tackling national security challenges based on AI-driven analyses of information available on the Multi Agency Centre (MAC) platform. Shah stressed on an integrated approach to counter terrorism and radicalisation, including cases under the UAPA. He emphasised strengthening implementation of MHA’s PRAHAAR scheme, expediting trials and making greater use of provisions allowing trials in absentia. The first day’s deliberations focused on major security challenges, including counter-terrorism, intelli- gence fusion, narcotics control, deportation of illegal migrants, cybercrime and Pakistan-backed proxy warfare. Held in hybrid mode, the conferences has more than 850 participants, including DGPs and domain experts from specialised fields. Before inaugurating the conference, Shah paid tribute at the Martyrs’ Column, and placed a wreath in memory of Intelligence Bureau personnel who made the supreme sacrifice. The NSS Conference has been held annually in hybrid mode since 2021.