bhubaneswar l Saturday l july 02, 2022 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late CITY EDITION Ban on Single-use plastic items comes into effect The nationwide ban kicked in on July 1. Single-use plastic means items that are used only once before they are thrown away Plastic cutlery items proscribed Violators face up to 5-year jail term The banned plastic products include cutlery items such as plates, cups, glasses, forks, spoons, knives, trays, straws etc. The other products that come under the ban are earbuds, balloon sticks, cigarette packs, sweet boxes, candy and ice cream sticks, invitation cards, polystyrene used for decoration, and PVC banners measuring under 100 microns ■ ■ The Union environment ministry has asked states to close down units that produce, distribute, stock and sell such items People found flouting the ban can be fined under the Environment Protection Act 1986, which permits jail of up to five years, or a penalty of up to `1 lakh, or both 2.4 lakh tonnes Volume of single-use plastic items generated in India in a year currently 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 The Lord reunites with faithfuls were palpable among the devotees,” Naveen tweeted. Pradhan, who was seen standing next to the Chief Minister while pulling the chariot, said that the Rath Yatra was all about universal love and humanity. “Fortunate and overwhelmed to seek blessings from Mahaprabhu on this special and auspicious day in Puri. May he bless us all. Jai Jagannath,” he tweeted. The entire Rath Yatra ceremony for the day concluded smoothly without any major untoward incident. By 5.30 pm all the three chariots had reached their destination Gundicha temple. As per temple schedule, the ceremonial pahandi (procession) was to begin by 9.30 am, but was advanced by three hours to begin at 6 am and completed by 9 am. The first chariot Taladhwaj of Lord Balabhadra rolled by 12.35 pm followed by Darpadalan of Devi Subhadra at 1.30 pm. The last to roll was Nandighosha of Lord Jagannath MORE: P3,4 at 2.25 pm. Devotees dressed as Lord Hanuman pose before the chariots of the Trinity during the Rath Yatra festival in Puri, on Friday | biswanath swain R a j k u m a r M o h a n t y @ Puri It was as if the Holy Trinity could not wait to be reunited with the devotees after two long years that Lord Jagannath along with Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra came out of Srimandir three hours earlier than schedule for the annual Rath Yatra at Puri on Friday . The Bada Danda (Grand Road), which had turned into a sea of humanity, was engulfed in a multitude of emotions as the deities came galloping with giant floral tiaras swinging on their heads through the Simhadwar led by a music concert comprising cymbals, mrudang, bugle, blowing of conch shell and display of Odissi dance. The devotees visibly went into a trance at the sight of Lord Jag- The Grand Road adjoining the Jagannath temple has come alive with celebrations. Emotion and enthusiasm were palpable among the multitude of devotees Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister annath and his siblings, jostling among themselves to have a glimpse of the deities and raising their hands in submission of Bhakti. Hariom, Huluhuli, chants and reciting of hymns rented the atmosphere while various groups of devotees displayed dance and music, welcoming the Gods. The overcast weather notwithstanding, high humidity made things difficult for the gathering. SC tears into BJP’s Nupur for her hate speech & fallout Yet, they were undeterred. Scores of fire units were deployed with water sprinkling machines to cool down the atmosphere. Despite their best efforts, about a 100 persons fell unconscious and were rushed to the district headquarters hospital. They have all recovered, doctors said. Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Chief Justice S Muralidhar of Orissa High Court and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan were among those who pulled the chariot of Lord Jagannath. The Chief Minister who returned from a 11 day foreign visit to Rome and Dubai late last night was at Puri to take part in the festival. “The Grand Road adjoining the temple came alive with celebrations as emotion and enthusiasm express read @New Delhi centurion Rishabh Pant scored his fifth Test century off just 89 balls to rescue India on Day 1 of the fifth Test against England at Edgbaston on Friday | AP | P11 Manipur toll touches 20, 43 people still missing Imphal: Rescue teams on Friday recovered 12 more bodies from the debris at a railway construction site in Manipur’s Noney district, which was hit by a massive landslide, pushing the death toll in the tragedy to 20, officials said. Of the deceased, 10 are from the Territorial Army. Forty-three people were still missing following the mudslide, officials said | P8 E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ B a l a s o r e Tragedy struck Rath Yatra celebrations in Balasore district’s Gudikhal village when one person was killed and seven others were injured after the chariot came in contact with an 11 KV high tension electricity wire. The deceased was identified as Anil Kumar Sahoo (30), a native of Agarada under Basta police limits. Sources said, the devotees were pulling the chariot when its crown came in contact with the live wire. As the rath was made with iron bars and iron wheels, the devotees and servitors who were holding it were hit by the strong current. The injured were immediately rushed to the Basta community health centre. However, Sahoo succumbed during treatment. The seven others were shifted to FM Medical College in Balasore as their condition deteriorated. Tension prevailed in the area following the mishap with the devotees alleging neglect by the power supply department which did not take any precautionary measure to prevent such mishap. On being informed, DSP Amaresh Kumar Panda along with police teams from Balasore headquarters and Basta police station rushed to the spot. The situation was brought under control after discussions with the locals. Basta police station IIC Subrat Behera said no complaint was yet lodged in the connection. A case has been registered and investigation is underway he said. , Govt hikes export levy on transport fuel Now, I-T lens on Pawar’s election affidavits E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Mumbai E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e One of the fallouts was the butchering of a tailor in Udaipur, the bench said. The Supreme Court on Friday “She actually has a loose lit into suspended BJP spokes- tongue and has made all kinds person Nupur Sharma, saying of irresponsible statements on her “loose tongue” had “set TV and set the entire country the entire country on fire”, al- on fire. Yet, she claims to be a luding to the riots that fol- lawyer of 10 years standing. lowed her hate speech against She should have immediately Islam during a TV debate. apologised for her comments While refusing to to the whole counentertain Sharma’s try,” the bench said. plea for clubbing of S e n i o r a dvo c a t e FIRs against her, the Maninder Singh, apcourt allowed her to pearing for Sharma, withdraw the plea. said she had apoloThe court observed gised for her that her remark was remarks. made either for cheap On this, the bench publicity, political said, “Her apology Nupur Sharma agenda or some necame too late and farious activities. It that too conditionwas hearing her petially saying if reliPolitical gious sentiments are tion for clubbing and clout transfer of all FIRs hurt and so on.” registered against her “When an FIR is The court said her in various states folpetition smacks of arregistered and lowing her offensive rogance and that she you are not remark, to Delhi. thinks that the magisarrested, this “These remarks are shows your clout. trate of the country is very disturbing and too small for her. “If She thinks she smack of arrogance. you are a spokesperhas back up What is her business son of a party it is not , power and to make such remarks? a licence to say things makes These remarks have like this,” the judges irresponsible led to unfortunate in- statements,” the said, adding, “If there cidents in the country. was a misuse of the bench said These people are not debate, the first thing religious. They do not she should have done have respect for other reli- was to file an FIR against the gions. These remarks were anchor.” made for cheap publicity or Criticising the TV channel, for political agenda or some it said, “What is the business other nefarious activities,” of the TV channel to discuss said a vacation bench of jus- the matter which is sub-judice, tices Surya Kant and J B e x c e p t t o p r o m o t e a n Pardiwala. agenda?” CM Naveen Patnaik waves to the crowd while pulling the Nandighosha chariot. Governor Ganeshi Lal, Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan also present One dead, 7 injured as Rath touches live wire in Balasore district Days after the Maha Vikas Aghadi government collapsed in Maharashtra, the man who was instrumental in keeping it afloat, NCP patriarch Sharad Pawar, got what he called was a love letter from a Central enforcement agency . The income tax department, he said, had issued him a notice in connection with his 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections affidavits. “I am surprised that Central agencies are sifting through old records and sending notices now. It shows how these agencies are working overtime to target political opponents. They want to suppress dissent. The same strategy was used against Shiv Sena MLAs, forcing them to revolt against their leadership,” Pawar alleged. He sarcastically said before the BJP came to power at the Centre, no one knew about the ED (Enforcement Directorate). “Now, ED has become a family name,” Pawar said. It was the ED that got two NCP MLAs Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh arrested earlier on money laundering charges. Meanwhile, Sanjay Raut, a Thackeray faction leader, was questioned by the ED on Friday for over 10 hours in another money laundering case. Curiously Sharad Pawar’s neph, ew Ajit Pawar hasn’t commented yet on the fall of the Uddhav-led Aghadi government, in which he was deputy chief minister. Ajit is down with Covid but he attended the Aghadi’s last cabinet meeting virtually . More curiously, Dhananjay Munde, a close aide of Ajit, met the sulking new Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday, setP8 ting off speculation.  R a k e s h K u m a r @ New Delhi Aarey row back New Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is already stepping on his predecessor Uddhav’s toes as he reversed the govt’s position on the controversial Metro car shed project in Mumbai. Shinde directed the advocate general to inform the court that the Metro car shed will be built at Aarey Colony as planned in 2019 by the then BJP govt led by Fadnavis Jab-o-meter June 30 14,81,583 doses NATIONWIDE June 30 July 1 Take July 1 8,07,052 doses Fresh cases 18,819 17,070 Recoveries 13,827 14,413 your shot Total: 1,97,83,76,337 Deaths 39 odisha june 30 july 1 Fresh cases Recoveries 23 Deaths 155 61 0 204 68 0 root hunt Lost in a 17-year-old riot, seeking to trace family G e o r ge P o i k ay i l @ Kasaragod AFTER working in Sharjah for two years, Hashim T E (23) is back home on leave. His ‘mother’ Razia wants him to build a house and get married. But Hashim is in no mood to settle down. Before going back to the Gulf, he is plotting another journey – to find his biological mother and sisters. Razia is not his real mother. When she found him on November 1, 2005, Hashim was a sixyear-old Hindi-speaking boy He . had got down from a private bus at Ambalathara near Kanhangad in Kasaragod. He was holding a note in Malayalam, which read: “He is an orphan. Please take him to the orphanage.” There was an orphanage near the bus stop. However, Hashim got down in front of Razia’s eldest son Shajeer Palat, Hashim when he was 6 years (L) and now who was 14 years old then. It was raining heavily and Shajeer brought him home. Hashim spoke only Hindi, a language nobody in the family understood. The next day, they took him to the nearest police station but the officers there suggested that they keep the boy . Hashim can’t place his native place. All he remembers is someone put him on a train on a day when there was a riot in his village. His mother’s name is Marjeena and sisters are Hameeda and Huda. His father had expired when he was a small kid. IN a bid to tax the windfall gains by domestic refiners who import cheap crude oil from Russia and export the refined product at much higher prices, the Centre on Friday imposed special additional excise duty on export of petrol, diesel and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) with effect from July 1. The cess for petrol and ATF is `6 per litre, while it is `13 for diesel. In addition, a cess of `23,250 per tonne has been imposed on crude produced domestically “Domestic crude produc. ers sell crude to domestic refineries at international parity prices. As a result, the domestic crude producers are making windfall gains,” a finance ministry release said explaining the rationale behind the move. However, there will be no cess for import of crude. “Further, small producers, whose annual production of crude in the preceding financial year is less than 2 million barrels will be exempt from this cess,” it said, adding that the new cess will have no adverse impact on domestic fuel prices. The decision will directly impact domestic refiners Jio-BP, Nayara Energy and ONGC which, in turn, could tighten their global supplies. Analysts believe the move to make export of fuel expensive is to ensure sufficient availability of petroleum products for domestic consumption but it may not achieve the desired result. “With product prices expected to remain elevated in the international market, we believe unless domestic retail prices are revised upwards, there still exists substantial incentive for the private players to export a larger share of their product, albeit at reduced margins,” Crisil said.