mondAY 06 january, 2025 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard Polar vortex Pravasi Bharatiya Divas to be held in Bhubaneswar from Jan 8 brings winter storm to US A major, disruptive winter storm was sweeping across the central US on Sunday, bringing with it a combination of snow, ice and plunging temperatures. Page 9 A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS l New Delhi l J8.00 l PAGES 12 2003 when pravasi Prime Minister Narendra Bharatiya divas Modi and President Droupadi was observed Murmu will arrive in the city on for the January 8 to attend the 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas first time Event being held in Odisha for 1st time The three-day convention will begin on January 8. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will formally inaugurate the event on January 9. A large number of overseas Indians, including top businessmen, entrepreneurs and economists, from over 50 countries are expected to participate. This is the first time that the convention is being held in the state of Odisha | p7 FRESH WOUND FOR INDIA, PM raises Delhi Dangal pitch with projects, AAP sees red repercussions on cards? India fall in Bumrah's absence; focus on Gambhir & seniors after yet another series loss G o me s h S @ Sydney It all seemed doomed the moment Jasprit Bumrah walked out of the field here during the fifth and final Test on Saturday . Signs were ominous. There were scans followed by silence. So much was riding on Bumrah the entire series that his absence for a few hours seemed like an eternity . The lead-up to the final Test match of the five-Test series here was not ideal after the Melbourne drubbing. There were reports of a distressed dressing room followed by India skipper Rohit Sharma’s decision to ‘rest’ due to failure of form. Sunday was another melancholic day for Indian cricket. The last four wickets fell for 16 runs, setting up a target of 162 runs. Without Bumrah, Aussies had a psychological edge. Being Bumrah seemed very difficult on Sunday when the Indian team marched out without him. India were staring at inevitability Without Bumrah . the attack lost its teeth as India pacers huffed and puffed to find the rhythm. Australia, despite a few hic- Jasprit Bumrah and Rohit Sharma (foreground) during the presentation ceremony after the fifth and final Test of the BGT in Sydney, on Sunday | afp A little disappointing that I probably missed out on the spiciest wicket of the series but that’s the way it is. I felt a bit of discomfort during my second spell in the first innings Jasprit Bumrah, India stand-in skipper 2014-15 This is the first BGT for Australia since 2014-15 series. India had won the last four series before this (twice each in Australia and India) cups, had a stranglehold on the contest. Bumrah stood helpless as the TV cameras occasionally panned on him. The stand-in skipper, who bossed the show with the ball in the Border Gavaskar Trophy with 32 wickets in 9 innings, eventually had a resigned look on his face as Aussies won the match by six wickets and the series 3-1. The focus is now on some of the senior players like Virat Kohli and Rohit and support staff. With India’s second consecutive Test series loss, there could potentially be some shake-ups. Head coach Gautam Gambhir too would be facing some hard questions. The whitewash three Test series loss against New Zealand would be the added burden for him. Even Sharma’s future would be discussed. Gambhir felt it was too early to speak about any changes. “It’s too early to talk about it. The series just got over. I think we still have five more months to plan where we want to head towards. But it’s not the right moment right now for me to talk about where we are going to be after five months. A lot of things change in sport. So let’s see before the England series what’s going to happen. But whatever will happen, will happen for the best interest of Indian cricket,” Gambhir said. On the evidence of the series, India had multiple issues. Lack of big totals in the first innings, preference of batting depth over fielding five frontline bowlers, struggling seniors, lack of proper planning...the list goes on. Come England series, India will be hoping to regain order and get back to winning ways. 4 Maoists, one jawan killed in C’garh gunfight E j a z k a i s e r @ Raipur Four Maoists and a jawan were killed during an encounter in south Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur district on Sunday . “Based on inputs about the presence of Maoists in the Abujhmad region, a joint team of District Reserve Guard (DRG) personnel from four Maoist-affected districts of Bastar division along with the Special Task Force (STF) left on the search operation on Saturday. In the ongoing encounter, bodies of four Maoists have so far been recovered from the spot,” a police officer in Bastar. “The gun battle is still on and further details awaited,” he added. The slain security personnel has been identified as head constable Sannu Karam of Dantewada District Reserve Guard. Of the four Maoists killed, two are women. The security forces have recovered an AK-47 and a self-loading rifle from the spot. The search operation has continued for nearly 24 hours with intermittent exchanges of fire, sources said. Sunday’s encounter in Abujhmad is the second between Maoists and the security forces so far this year in Chhattisgarh. Last Friday, a Maoist was killed in an encounter in Gariyaband district, 170 km east of Raipur. Visibility was zero for an unprecedented 9-hour stretch, the longest spell of the season, on Saturday | PTI Thick fog continues to engulf capital, air quality improves p r a b h at s h u k l a & a s h i s h s r i v a s ta v a @ New Delhi dense fog continued to envelop the national capital, reducing visibility to zero, according to the Met department. Meanwhile, the Commission for Air Quality Management rolled back the Stage III curbs under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) on Sunday “Zero . visibility prevailed over Palam from 4 am to 7.30 am accompanied by easterly winds at 8-13 kmph,” a Met official said. Flight schedules at the IGIA continued to be hit, leading to delays for over 100 planes. However, officials confirmed that there were no additional cancellations or diversions due to the challenging weather conditions. “Low visibility procedures are currently in place at Delhi Airport. Passengers are ad- vised to stay in touch with their respective airlines for the latest updates,” Delhi International Airport Limited announced on ‘X’ early Sunday morning. This marks the third consecutive day of disruption at IGIA. IndiGo Airlines, among the carriers impacted, reported that weather conditions have disrupted operations in other cities, including Amritsar, Chandigarh, Kolkata, and Lucknow. According to the IMD, the city recorded a maximum temperature of 18.6° Celsius on Sunday slightly below the nor, mal of 19.3°Celsius. Meanwhile, the minimum temperature was recorded at 9.4° Celsius, above the normal of 6.9° Celsius. For Monday the weatherman , has predicted a generally cloudy sky with a possibility of very light to light rain accompanied by thunderstorms in the morning. Snowfall in Kashmir The mercury neared freezing point in several parts of Kashmir Valley, which received fresh snowfall on Sunday, while cold wave continued in Haryana and Punjab. Night temperature in the Valley dipped sharply, with Kokernag freezing at minus 8.1°C. Coast Guard chopper crashes in Gujarat, 3 dead D ILIP SIN G H KSHATRI YA @ Ahmedabad At least three personnel were killed when an Indian Coast Guard Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) crashed at Porbandar in Gujarat on Sunday . The helicopter, which was on a routine training sortie, went down in an open field and was engulfed in flames. While the cause of the crash remains unclear, authorities have launched an inquiry to ascertain factors that led to the fatal accident. “Indian Coast Guard ALH MK-III Helicopter CG 859 met with a mishap at Porbandar The chopper crashed near the runway at Porbandar and caught fire | PTI Airport Runway at about 1215 hrs on 05 January 2025. The helicopter, with two pilots and an air crew diver, was on a routine training sortie. Post-inci- dent, the crew were rushed to Gover nment Hospital Porbandar where they were declared brought dead. The reasons leading to the incident are being investigated,” a Coast Guard official statement said. The crew members killed in the accident are Commandant Saurabh, Deputy Commandant SK Yadav and Manoj Pradhan Navik, the statement said. The incident comes four months after the Coast Guard’s ALH MK-III helicopter crashed into the Arabian Sea off Porbandar on September 2 last year, killing three crew members. 340 Dhruv from HAL The indigenously designed and developed Advanced Light Helicopter (ALHDhruv) is a twin engine, multirole, multimission new generation helicopter in the 5.5 ton weight class. Over 340 Dhruv copters have been produced by HAL RA J E SH KU M AR THAKUR & A n u p Ve r m a @ New Delhi POSITIONING himself as a pivotal figure for the party’s electoral fortunes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday made a strategic effort to undermine AAP’s main strength— its social welfare initiatives, which the party is heavily relying on to win the upcoming assembly elections. The PM urged the people of Delhi to remove the ‘ APda’ (a A term he uses to label AAP a disaster) to usher in a new era of development through a “double-engine” government. He assured the public, particularly the economically disadvantaged and middle classes, that “no public welfare scheme” would be scrapped if the BJP came to power. “But, the BJP government would weed out corruption in implementing welfare schemes. The welfare schemes under the present government in Delhi exist only on paper,” he alleged. Speaking at a rally in Rohini, Modi highlighted the Centre’s efforts in Delhi, including the development of highways, expansion of the Metro network, initiation of the Namo Bharat Regional Rapid Transit System, and the establishment of major hospitals. Modi stressed that the next 25 years would be crucial for Delhi, with India approaching its goal of becoming a developed nation. He also lashed out at the Arvind Kejriwal government over a host of issues, including infrastructure, Covid, ‘sheeshmahal’ and pollution. Meanwhile, Kejriwal tore into the PM, saying the RRTS would have remained only on papers had his party not cooperated with the Centre. Kejriwal questioned PM Modi on “unfulfilled promises” made to Delhi’s rural populace during 2020 elections, repeal of Sections 81 and 33 of the Delhi Land Reform Act, granting land ownership rights and implementing the long-pending Delhi Land Pooling Policy P3 . `12,200 cr projects 13-km stretch of Delhi-GhaziabadMeerut corridor between Sahibabad and New Ashok Nagar at a cost of `4,600 cr 2.8-km stretch between Janakpuri and Krishna Park of Delhi Metro Phase-IV at a cost of `1,200 cr Foundation stone of 26.5-km RithalaKundli section of Delhi Metro Phase-IV at a cost of `6,230 cr State-of-the-art building for Central Ayurveda Research Institute in Rohini to be constructed at a cost of `185 cr 2 infra projects Yamuna Vatika, a green space spanning 494 acres near Rajghat Power Plant, to be developed by DDA Aarambh, a state-of-the-art library in Old Rajinder Nagar