BHUBANESWAR  MONDAY  MARCH 17, 2025  `9.00  PAGES 12  JEYPORE EDITION TRUMP LAUNCHES RETALIATORY STRIKES ON YEMEN’S HOUTHIS US President Donald Trump launched a largescale military strike against Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis on Saturday, killing at least 31 people BIGGEST U.S. MILITARY OPERATION SINCE JAN The strike was in response to the group’s attacks against Red Sea shipping. The unfolding strikes—which one US official told Reuters might continue for weeks—represent the biggest US military operation in West Asia since Trump took office in January. The Houthis’ political bureau described the attacks as a “war crime” | P9 ■ 101 FAVOURED HOUTHI SPOTS TARGETED ■ Residents in Sanaa said the strikes hit a building in a Houthi stronghold and “shook the neighbourhood like an earthquake”. Strikes also targeted Houthi military sites in Yemen’s southwest city of Taiz, and a power station in the town of Dahya, where Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the Houthi leader, often meets his visitors PEOPLE INJURED IN THE STRIKES, MOSTLY WOMEN AND CHILDREN 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 Odia literature loses one of its finest voices What kind of ideology thrives on bloodshed and the export of terror? We are not the sole victims. Wherever terror strikes in the world, the trail somehow leads to Pakistan EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bhubaneswar RAMAKANTA Rath, one of the most celebrated Odia poets of post-Independent era Indian literature and former bureaucrat, passed away after suffering from age-related ailments at his residence here on Sunday. He was 91. Rath will forever be remembered to have heralded a new age in Odia poetry and literary landscape: his works bathed in mod- Prime Minister Narendra Modi Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a podcast with Lex Fridman, in New Delhi | PTI Pak’s terrorist mindset hurting peace, says Modi Islamabad must mend ways; disputes with China being worked out; Trump 2.0 stronger EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi EVERY noble attempt by India for peace with Pakistan was met with hostility and betrayal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in an interview with American computer scientist and podcaster Lex Fridman, broadcast on Sunday. “We sincerely hope that wisdom prevails upon them and they choose the path of peace,” Modi said in his three-hour podcast. “Wherever ter ror strikes in the world, the trail somehow leads to Pakistan,” he said, citing the example of the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center in 2001. Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the attack, took refuge in Pakistan, he pointed out. Calling out Pakistan’s ‘terrorist mindset’, he said: “Today it stands as an epi, centre of turmoil not just for India but for the world.” Modi recalled how he had specially invited the then Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif for his swearing-in ceremony in 2014 with the hope that the two countries could turn a new leaf. “Yet, every no- ble attempt at fostering peace was met with hostility and betrayal,” he said. On India’s relations with China, he said differences are natural between two neighbouring countries. “But our focus is to ensure that these differences don’ t tur n into disputes,” he said, adding that India prefers dialogue to sort out differences. Acknowledging the border dispute with China, he said efforts are on to address them through dialogue and consultation. “Slowly but surely trust should , return,” he added. Cooperation between India and China is beneficial not just for the two countries but also for global stability and prosperity, Modi noted. “Since the 21st century is Asia’s century we want India , and China to compete in a healthy way Competition is not . a bad thing, but it shouldn’t turn into conflict,” he said. When asked about his views on US President Donald Trump, Modi said in the second term, Trump seems “far more prepared than before”, adding that he has a clear roadmap in his mind with well-defined steps. ernism, philosophy and human sensibilities. He reshaped the form and structure of Odia poetry . Born in Puri district on December 30, 1934, Rath studied English literature at Ravenshaw College in Cuttack. After completing his MA in 1956, he joined the Indian Administrative Service. His flair for writing, particularly poetry, was reflected from a young age. His education in literature energized and vitalized his pursuits and his ‘THE ATMOSPHERE FELT VOLATILE AND DANGEROUS’ E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ New Delhi ON the morning of March 14, US federal immigration agents arrived at the Columbia University apartment of Indian student Ranjani Srinivasan to detain her. She had recently found out from the US Consulate in Chennai that her student visa had been abruptly revoked by the US State Department. The 37-year-old Srinivasan, a Fulbright scholar pursuing a doctoral degree in urban planning, wasn’t home. The agents didn’t stop coming. The following night, they returned. By then Srinivasan knew what could be in store for her. “The atmosphere felt so volatile and dangerous,” Srinivasan told The New York Times in her first interview since fleeing. “I just made a quick decision.” She packed a few belongings, left her cat with a friend, and caught a flight to Canada from LaGuardia Airport. Her roommate was left to bear the brunt of the pressure, as immigration PIC: X agents persisted in their search for Srinivasan. Hours later, Mahmoud Khalil, another Columbia student, was arrested from his apartment by authorities, sending shockwaves throughout the university . The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Srinivasan had voluntarily selfdeported herself through the Customs and Border Protection Home App. Srinivasan’s ordeal is part of a larger, aggressive crackdown under the Trump administration aimed at pro-Palestinian demonstrators. She is one of several non-citizens at Columbia University who have found themselves targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in recent days. In a statement, the DHS called Srinivasan a “terrorist sympathiser,” accusing her of supporting violence in support of Hamas. However, these accusations have been firmly denied by Srinivasan’s legal team. M’luru police bust Karnataka’s biggest drug cartel, arrest two SHAH WAGES WAR ON DRUG CARTELS, SAYS NO MERCY Home Minister Amit Shah reiterated commitment to uprooting illegal drug trade as he lauded the NCB for seizing a consignment of methamphetamine tablets worth `88 crore | P8 V I N C E N T D ’ S O U Z A @ Mangaluru IN the biggest drug haul ever by Karnataka police, 37.87 kg of banned MDMA worth `75 crore was seized by Mangaluru City Police in Bengaluru. Two South African nationals—Bamba Fanta, 31, and Abigali Adonis, 30 — were arrested. The two were intercepted at Neeladrinagar near Electronics City in the state capital when they were allegedly on their way to supply the drugs to peddlers. Both the accused were staying illegally in the country police said. , Explaining their modus operandi, Mangaluru Police Commissioner An- upam Agrawal said the two women used to travel from Delhi to Bengaluru on late-night flights with the drugs packed in trolley bags, and deliver it to peddlers in Nelamangala, KR Puram, Whitefield, Hoskote, Electronics City, and other places through cabs during early morning, and return. It is suspected that they were either procuring the drugs from outside India or somewhere near Delhi. Agarwal said that the operation stemmed from an earlier arrest, six months ago, of a Nigerian named Peter, who was arrested in Bengaluru with MDMA worth `6 crore. Hafiz Saeed’s close aide shot dead in Pakistan H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ Chandigarh A top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander, wanted by Indian security agencies for several deadly terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, was eliminated by gunmen in Pakistan, officials said on Sunday . Zia-ur-Rehman alias Abu Qatal was gunned down in the Jhelum area of Punjab on Saturday evening. His security guard was also killed. Considered the lead handler of LeT founder and 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, 43-year-old Rehman led the LeT strategy in planning a string of attacks in Poonch-Rajouri of J&K. Rehman was the architect behind the Dhangri attack of 2023, in which seven people were killed; the Reasi bus attack on June 9, 2024, in which nine pilgrims were killed and over 50 were injured, and the Mangled remains of the vehicle that was attacked in Balochistan | X Bhatta-Durian attack on April 20, 2023, in which five Army personnel were killed. 5 killed in Balochistan Five persons, including three Frontier Corps (FC) personnel, were killed and 30 injured after a paramilitary convoy was attacked by Baloch militants in Noshki district of Balochistan Ramakanta Rath December 30, 1934-March 16, 2025 administrative duties as an IAS officer could not deter his passion throughout his life. His first collection of poetry ‘Kete Dinara’(Of Many Bygone Days) appeared in 1962. The poems were replete with soft romantic emotions and rhetorical statements in a reflective meditative mood. According to the Kendriya Sahitya Akademi, this significant poetic collection heralded the emergence of a new poetry movement in Odia literature, which began acquir- ing a changed diction and syntactic structure. Rath, though, distanced himself from the romantic and began a poetic exploration into man’s experience with destiny Subsequently . , he published ‘Aneka Kothari’ (Several Rooms), Sandigha Mrigaya (Deer Hunt in a Mood of Indecision), ‘Saptama Ritu (The Seventh Season), Sachitra Andhara (Illustrated Darkness), in most of which there was a peculiar fusion of prose and CONTINUED ON P5 lyricism. Bloody Holi: Six, including two in capital city, murdered in booze-fuelled revelry across state E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Bhubaneswar HOLI celebrations turned bloody in the state with at least six murders, including two in the capital city tak, ing place due to drunkenness and over flimsy grounds. In capital city Bhubaneswar, both the killings were reported to be carried out under the influence of alcohol. The first occurred at Mancheswar Industrial Estate where one Tanmay Behera stabbed another Ayushman Pati in the chest in the heat of an argument over a petty issue. The victim was rushed to the Capital Hospital where he was declared brought dead. Police said, Tanmay of Begunia was staying on rent in Mancheswar and known to Ayushman, a local. But, both were not on good terms. During Holi celebrations, both had allegedly consumed liquor and crossed path in a drunken state. After committing the crime, Tanmay informed his brothers Prashant and Padmanav about the matter and they rushed to facilitate his escape. The brothers along with an accomplice Samir Kumar Swain first took Tanmay to Nayagarh in a car but the police tracked their location and chased them. They then took him towards Pipili in an auto-rickshaw. Meanwhile, fearing arrest, Tanmay reportedly consumed a toxic fig (dimiri) to in- flict self-harm, but police nabbed the four in time. Tanmay was treated at the Madanpur CHC for poisoning. All the four have been arrested and forwarded to court. In the second incident, two groups had an argument in Shantipalli Basti within Saheed Nagar police limits during the celebrations. Police said the victim Gopi Guni had a heated exchange with Pinku Guni, his 17-yearold minor son and their relative Bana Guni. Pinku and the minor boy allegedly held Gopi, and Bana stabbed him with a knife. Police said Gopi and Pinku were working as labourers and Bana was CONTINUED ON P5 unemployed.