visakhapatnam l sunday l november 17, 2024 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l late city EDITION india’s hockey hub, Odisha, finally wins National title dominating five-goal fest for winners In the final on Saturday, Odisha defeated Haryana 5-1 to win the title at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium in Chennai. For Odisha, Rajat Akash Tirkey scored the first goal in the first quarter before Pratap Lakra doubled the lead in the 39th minute. In the fourth quarter, Shilanand Lakra scored three goals to seal the title After investing in infrastructure, promotion, including sponsoring both men & women’s national teams, the state has emerged on top most players from sundargarh nursery ■ ■ ■ At least 12 players were from the cradle of Indian hockey in the team. Coach Bijay Lakra said some of them grew up playing together. This was Haryana’s 3rd consecutive final appearance (2022 winners) Earlier in the day, Lalit Upadhyay and Rajkumar Pal helped Uttar Pradesh beat Manipur to finish third in the competition I P11 1st This is the first-ever senior national title for Odisha 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 Imphal valley on boil, mob storms houses of ministers Speculation rife on some BJP MLAs submitting resignation today LIft AFSPA from six areas, says govt P r a s a n ta M a zum d a r @ Guwahati Vizag: 10,269 avail free visa to Thailand U s h a P e r i @ Visakhapatnam Thailand has recently extended its free visa policy for Indian travellers until further notice, aiming to increase tourism and attract more visitors from one of its largest source markets. This extension allows Indian tourists to enter Thailand without paying the usual visa fees, making travel more accessible and affordable for a growing number of Indians interested in exploring Thailand’s beaches, cultural heritage, and vibrant cities.   The free visa initiative is part of Thailand’s strategy to revitalise its tourism sector, which has faced challenges in recent years.   With AirAsia operating three weekly flights on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, the VisakhapatnamBangkok route has seen consistent passenger traffic since April. As many as 10,269 passengers from Vizag availed the free visa service between April and October. The month of April saw 1,415 passengers make use of the facility, while June recorded the highest figure with 1,999 people P4 availing the benefit.  Massive protests broke out in Manipur’s Imphal valley on Saturday after the bodies of six persons, believed to be of those reported missing from Jiribam district on Monday were recov, ered from a river close to the border of Assam’s Cachar and Manipur’s Jiribam districts. Miscreants also vandalised and burned down five churches and six houses in Jiribam on Saturday evening, the Indigenous Tribal Advocacy Committee claimed. In the wake of widespread protests, the state government temporarily suspended internet and mobile data services in the affected districts. The protesters attacked the houses of several MLAs and damaged properties at some places. They also stormed the houses of two BJP ministers. Vehicles were also set on fire. One of the MLAs, whose house was targeted, was R K Imo, who is the son-in-law of Chief Minister N Biren Singh. As the protesters are going for the jugular of the elected members for failing to control PLUS 12 PAGES the escalating violence, speculations are rife that some of the BJP’s legislators could resign on Sunday . The influential Meitei organisation ‘Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity’ announced a civil disobedience movement from Saturday . The bodies of all six persons were taken to the nearby Silchar Medical College and Hospital (SMCH) in Assam’s Cachar district for post-mortem. Three of the bodies were recovered on Friday and the others on Saturday The state govern. ment in a statement issued earlier in the day confirmed that three of the bodies were of the missing persons. Three women and three children went missing from Jiribam following Monday’s gunfight in which CRPF and police personnel had gunned down 10 “militants”. Kuki-Zo organisations claimed they were “village volunteers”. Tension had been building across the Imphal valley since Friday night following reports about the recovery of three bodies. The protests intensified later in the day on Saturday when reports emerged about the recovery of three more bodies. CM’s brother Ramamurthy Naidu passes away at 72 S V i s w a n at h @ Vijayawada Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday cancelled his two-day tour to Maharashtra, where he was scheduled to campaign for NDA candidates, and rushed to Hyderabad on receiving news of the demise of his younger brother, Nara Ramamurthy Naidu. Chandrababu Naidu was in New Delhi when he received the news. On landing in Hyderabad, he rushed to the hospital and paid final tributes to his brother. He consoled Nara Rohith and Gireesh, sons of Ramamurthy Naidu, and other f amily members. Ramamurthy was 72 years old and had been unwell for a long time. He had served as Chandragiri MLA from 1994 to 1999. Following a cardiac arrest, the former legislator was admitted to a private hospital in Hyderabad on November 14. After learning about the serious health condition of his uncle, Minister for HRD, IT, Electronics and Communications Nara Lokesh cancelled all his programmes, skipped the Assembly session and rushed to Hyderabad in the morning. P4 Naidu consoling his nephews Rohith, Gireesh Ramamurthy Naidu was a leader in public life who served the people. May his soul rest in peace Chief Minister express read WITH THIS ISSUE Feeling at Home Massive protests were held on Saturday in Imphal after six bodies were found The Manipur government has written to the Centre requesting it to review its Nov 14 notification imposing the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in six jurisdictions in the Imphal valley. The state cabinet discussed it at a meeting late Friday night and decided to request the Centre to review and withdraw the said declaration No reason was cited `1.92 cr sanctioned for airport feasibility study Vote for NDA to safeguard Sanatana Dharma: Pawan Kalyan Vijayawada: The State government gave administrative sanction for `1.92 crore + GST of 18% to conduct pre-feasibility study by AAI for development of six new airports | P3 Vijayawada: Deputy Chief Minister K Pawan Kalyan on Saturday campaigned in Maharashtra’s Degloor and underscored the need for electing an NDA government in the State to protect Sanatana Dharma from divisive forces. Maharashtra is scheduled to vote on Nov 20 | P4 1 0 - c r s uit f o r 3 - s e c o n d c l i p Nayan spars with Dhanush over Netflix docu E x p r e s s n e w s s e r v i c e @ Chennai Actor Nayanthara took to Instagram on Saturday to address a legal dispute involving actordirector Dhanush, accusing him of obstructing the making of her Netflix documentary Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale. She alleged that Dhanush demanded `10 crore as compensation for using three seconds of behind-the-scenes (BTS) footage from their 2015 film Naanum Rowdy Dhaan in the documentary . The documentary explores Nayanthara’s relationship with her husband Vignesh Shivan, a filmmaker, tracing it all the way back to the filming of Naanum Rowdy Dhaan, which was produced by Dhanush, under his Wunderbar Films banner. In an open letter, Nayanthara expressed frustration over the legal notice sent by Dhanush demanding `10-crore compensation for the use of three seconds of BTS footage. She stated that the clips in question were captured using personal devices and had been publicly shared on social media in the past. Furthermore, she revealed that her team has spent two years attempting to obtain an No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the actor-director, who allegedly refused to approve the use of even photographs and lyrics from the film. “Cinema is a fight for survival for people like me, who are self-made,” she said, accusing Dhanush of harbouring a grudge against the documentary and her personal life. She further stressed that his actions affected not just her and her husband but the numerous people who have worked on the documentary. She concluded by urging Dhanush to move past any resentment and allow her documentary to release without further conflict. Open letter gets mixed response In response, a number of actors, notably Dhanush’s previous collaborators, sided with Nayanthara, while others dismissed the matter, calling it a ‘marketing strategy’ ahead of the Netflix documentary’s release on November 18 SAD presidentship Constrained by Takht, Badal calls it quits H a r p r e e t B a j w a @ Chandigarh Embattled Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday submitted his resignation, drawing the curtain over two decades of dynastic rule in the second oldest political party in the country . His position in the party had become untenable after the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhs, declared him a tankhayia (guilty of religious misconduct) two-and-a-half months ago but did not announce his sentence and barred him from any political activity . Ever since his father Parkash Singh Badal became party president in 1995, it became a Badal family pocket borough, with the baton of presidentship being passed to Sukhbir in 2008. On August 29, Sukhbir had appointed senior party leader Balwinder Singh Bhundar as the SAD working president. SAD leader Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said Bhunder has convened an emergency meeting of the SAD Working Committee on Monday at the party’s headquarters here to consider Sukhbir’s resignation and chart out the next course of action, including initiating the process to elect his successor. The last organisational elections within the party was held on December 14, 2019. Sukhbir had recently suffered a fracture on his right foot and underwent a corrective surgery at the PGI in Chandigarh. His resignation comes three days after he approached the Akal Takht with a fresh appeal to Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh (High Priest) to convene a meeting of the clergy soon to pronounce his religious punishment. On August 30, Sukbir was declared tankhaiya for the mistakes committed by his party’s government from 2007 to 2017 when he was deputy chief minister and SAD president. Friday speech to be vetted: Waqf Board E J A Z K AISER @ Raipur In what is decidedly the first such directive anywhere in the country the Chhattisgarh State , Waqf Board in the BJP-ruled state issued a circular to the Mutawallis (caretakers) of all mosques asking them to get the sermons they deliver every Friday afternoon before the prayer vetted by it. “There should not be any political colour in the speeches given ahead of the Jumma namaz every Friday At times, . fatwas are issued from the mosques or support is extended to some political party Mosques . should confine themselves to religious preaching or practices and not become a siyasi adda (political nest). So, I have instructed all Mutawallis to apprise the Waqf Board regarding the contents of their sermons and get our consent,” Chhattisgarh Waqf Board chairman Salim Raj told this newspaper on Saturday . He contended that he has not overste pped his brief, as mosques and dargahs fall within the ambit of the Waqf Board. Raj said imams have also been asked to create awareness regarding the government’s welfare schemes, especially those meant for the minorities.