BHUBANESWAR l friday l june 05, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late CITY EDITION Maruti Suzuki unveils India’s first flexible fuel vehicle can operate on any mix of petrol-ethanol The country’s largest carmaker said the vehicle, Wagon R Flex Fuel, features an advanced engine control unit that automatically adapts to varying ethanol blends, allowing customers to operate the car on any mix of petrol and ethanol. This comes a day after Hero MotoCorp launched India’s first flex-fuel motorcycles, the Splendor+ (pic) and HF Deluxe | P10 Maruti Suzuki on Thursday launched India’s first flex-fuel passenger vehicle capable of running on ethanol-petrol blends ranging from E20 to E100 all major automakers coming on board ■ ■ Flex-fuel cars will help meet India’s goal of cutting crude imports and reducing carbon emissions as dependence on imported crude can’t be an option, said Hishashi Takeuchi, MD& CEO, Maruti Suzuki India Major automakers, including Toyota Motor, Tata Motors and Hyundai Motor are also developing flex-fuel vehicles for the Indian market `1.84 L cr is forex savings by moving to ethanol since 2014, govt claims 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 Oppn churn as DMK will skip Monday meet P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi BRICS meet CM showcases Odisha model of disaster management E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Puri Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi showcased Odisha as a global example in disaster management while inaugurating the BRICS Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group meeting here on Thursday . Odisha’s journey demonstrates that preparedness, institutional support and community participation can significantly minimise the impact of calamities, he said. Disaster management is no longer a standalone subject; it is the foundation of sustainable development, economic growth and stability the chief minister , added. “The Puri session would go a long way in the formulation of a global disaster management framework,” he said. Majhi emphasised the importance of sustainable development in the face of rapid urbanisation and climate change, which, he said, can be addressed through preparedness and coordinated action among participating countries.  Continued on P5 SW monsoon hits Kerala 5 days late J i t e nd r a C h o u b e y @ New Delhi THE Southwest Monsoon reached the Kerala coast on June 4 — three days behind its usual June 1 arrival date. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) confirmed the monsoon has set in over Kerala, Mahe, parts of Karnataka, and the Bay of Bengal. The IMD had forecast a May 26 onset. “There is a five-day delay from the forecast date,” said Dr Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, IMD’s Director General of Meteorology . The monsoon is expected to reach Delhi by June 27 and cover the entire country by July 8. The outlook for the season is not encouraging. The IMD has predicted this monsoon season (June to September) is likely to be below normal, with expected rainfall at 90% of the Long Period Average (LPA) of 870 mm. Rainfall will be normal (94-106%) over East and Northeast. Even the monsoon core zone, essential for rainfed agriculture, is projected to receive less than 94% of the LPA. Conversely the South , Peninsula and Central India are expected to receive less than 94% of the LPA, while the Northwest may see rainfall below 92% of the LPA. A weak monsoon could hurt food production, as it did in 2023. The Opposition INDIA bloc appears headed for a major churn, with two of its key constituents — the DMK and the Trinamool Congress — grappling with challenges that could test the alliance’s unity and future. On Thursday, the DMK announced it would skip the INDIA bloc meeting on June 8, citing discontent over Congress “betrayal”. Long-time allies Congress and DMK are at loggerheads after the grand old party joined the Vijay-led TVK government in Tamil Nadu following the DMK alliance’s defeat in the assembly polls. “While the DMK will not attend this meeting, it will continue, as always, to raise its voice on issues affecting the welfare of the nation that may be brought forward by the other parties participating in the meeting,” said a party statement. Incidentally the DMK received , approval from the Lok Sabha secretariat on Thursday to sit separate from the Congress. Though TMC chief Mamata Banerjee and party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee are expected to attend the June 8 meeting, their party appears to be on the brink of a upheaval, with To honour the sentiments of party workers who are pained by the betrayal of Congress, the DMK will not participate in the INDIA bloc meeting DMK statement speculation on a exodus of its parliamentarians. The unrest follows a rebel faction backed by 58 MLAs claiming to be the “real TMC”. At least nine TMC Lok Sabha MPs and three Rajya Sabha members are said to be negotiating with the BJP. Besides, sources said at least two Lok Sabha MPs are in touch with the Congress. With 28 MPs in the Lok Sabha and 13 in the Rajya Sabha, 1936-2026 JP Das, the quiet giant of Odia literature, passes away S A M PA D PAT N AI K Jagannath Prasad Das, 90, passed away late Wednesday night at his Surya Nagar residence in Bhubaneswar. He was a former IAS officer and writer, who was recognised with high literary honours such as the Saraswati Samman and Sarala Puraskar. However, the values JP Das lived by surpassed his credentials. As per Das’ wishes, his body was donated to AIIMS-Bhu baneswar for purposes of research and study Das is . survived by his wife, daughter and her children. Jagannath Prasad was the son of Sridhar Das, fondly remembered by old-timers as a great educationist, lexicographer, translator and textbook writer of 20th Century Odisha. JP Das was rare even among the tiny pool of scholarly bureaucrats. He eschewed the temptations of using the trappings of high office to muscle his way into the literary and cultural world. Years before he was set to retire, Das quietly gave up a high-powered career to devote himself fully to the labours of creative and academic writing. Das found substantial joy in the versatility of the written word, producing short stories, novel, poems, translations and plays. His historical novel ‘Desha, Kala, Patra’ reconstructed Odisha’s history during the latter half of the 19th Century from the point of view of the colonized. At a time, when the translator in Indian literary circles was nowhere regarded as an equal with the author, Das offered translator Jatindra Kumar Nayak absolute liberty to transcreate the book as well as its title. The book, translated as ‘A Time Elsewhere’ and published by Penguin, is regarded as a classic in Indian English literature. Das’s short stories were often laced with acid wit. He had authored one such short story about a book club of pornographic literature run by three adult men, who were petrified that they could be booked under obscenity laws during the Emergency At the . same time, a master of what can be called the long short story that runs into around 15,000 words, Das produced pieces that were thoughtful, stirring and sparklingly original. Das also made significant contributions to the formal study of Odisha’s art history He . has produced deeply researched books on the painters of Puri’s Raghurajpur and the craft of palm leaf miniatures once practised in Mundamarai of Ganjam. It is noteworthy that Das tackled these topics in the 1980s, much before they drew interest from academics and the public. As a writer, Das did not harbour wearisome fixations like lobbying for and securing unending recognitions, awards, honours, felicitations and public attention. Though an established figure in the elite cultural spaces of Delhi and Odisha, Das ignored opportunities to cultivate a loyal set of followers by distributing faContinued on P5 vours.  the TMC remains the third-largest party after the BJP and the Congress. The developments come amid speculation that the Centre is likely to reintroduce the delimitation bill during the upcoming Monsoon Session and has been engaging with the DMK and TMC to strengthen its position. In the previous Budget session, the constitutional amendment linking delimitation to the women’s reservation bill was defeated by the Opposition, though the NDA held 298 seats in the LS. With the DMK and TMC holding 22 and 28 MPs respectively, all eyes are now on the two parties. India, Venezuela agree to deepen ties J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Venezuela’s Acting President Delcy Rodriguez at Hyderabad House, in New Delhi on Thursday | PTI India and Venezuela on Thursday agreed to deepen cooperation in energy and explore a broader economic partnership spanning critical minerals, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, automobiles and mining, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held extensive talks with Venezuelan acting President Delcy Rodriguez. The meeting came at a time when India is seeking to diversify crude oil supplies following disruptions in global energy markets caused by the West Asia crisis, while Venezuela is looking to expand export markets and attract investment after years of the US sanctions-related isolation. The focal point of the talks was on long-term energy partnership, with both sides highlighting their natural complementarity “They see India as . a stable demander for many years to come. Therefore, there exists a perfect complementarity for India and Venezuela to work in the energy sector, in both upstream and downstream,” Secretary (East) in the External Affairs Ministry Rudrendra Tandon told reporters after the meeting.