BHUBANESWAR l Monday l January 19, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l LATE CITY EDITION Advocates can’t use RTI Act to seek details for clients’ cases: CIC Using the transparency law in this manner fails to advance its core objectives, the Central Information Commission (CIC) has observed Case relates to dispute over a supply deed ‘RTI act can’t be used for personal ends’ The case relates to the termination of a fruit and vegetable supply contract at Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in Haryana. The supplier’s advocate sought to use the RTI Act to obtain information on behalf of his client. “It appears that the appellant has sought information on behalf of his client per se, which is not permissible,” the CIC said ■ ■ Quoting a Madras High Court order, the CIC underlined that “laudable objectives of RTI Act cannot be used for personal ends” The Madras High Court had cautioned against allowing advocates to use the RTI Act to obtain information on behalf of clients, stating that this “does not advance the objects of the scheme” 17.5 lakh the overall number of RTI applications filed during 2023-24 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 Modi targets Congress, Trinamool in poll-pitch against ‘infiltrators’ EU pushback against tariff threat over Greenland Accuses the two parties of endangering national security for the sake of vote-bank politics P R A S A NTA M A Z U M D A R & S U BH E N D U M A ITI @ Guwahati / Kolkata PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday mounted a sharp political attack on the Congress and Trinamool Congress (TMC), accusing the two parties of endangering national security by protecting infiltrators for vote-bank politics. After laying the foundation stone for the `6,957 crore Kaziranga Elevated Corridor, and virtually flagging off two Amrit Bharat trains from Kaliabor in electionbound Assam’s Nagaon district, Modi accused the Congress of allowing infiltrators in exchange for votes during its years in power in the north-eastern state. Taking potshots at the Congress for its poor show in the recent Bihar Assembly election and Maharashtra local body polls, Modi said the grand old party has lost the trust of the nation and the BJP has become the first choice of people. “In the recent Bihar elections, even after 20 years, people gave a record number of votes to the BJP , helping it win a record number of Projects worth `7,787 cr launched Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a gathering during the foundation stone laying ceremony for the Kaziranga Elevated Corridor, in Nagaon, Assam on Sunday | pti seats. Mumbai, for the first time, gave a record mandate to the BJP . In most cities of Maharashtra, people gave the BJP an opportunity to serve them,” he said. Modi also pointed to the BJP’s electoral breakthrough in Kerala, where the party secured the mayor’s post in Thiruvananthapuram for the first time. According to Modi, the results across states reflected a consistent national trend. “The voters today want good gov- Intel agencies warn of LeT recruitment drive in Pakistan M U K E SH R A N J A N @ New Delhi Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) has launched a renewed and intensified recruitment campaign with an aim to establish new training camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), Indian intelligence agencies have learned. The recruitment campaign is being spearheaded by senior LeT commander Nasr Javed. Sources said Javed has visited several strategic locations in PoK over the past few months to mobilise local youth. Over the past two weeks, he was in Mirpur, Kotli and Poonch districts of PoK. During these visits, he addressed more than four open rallies organised by the PoK unit of Lashkar-e-Taiba and held over 10 closed-door meetings with local operatives and sympathisers. The primary objective of these engagements, intelligence sources said, is to recruit young men for the new LeT training camps expected to come up soon in PoK. Javed is considered a key operational figure within LeT and is known for his expertise in terrorist training. As per the sources, Javed has been tasked with raising a new unit in PoK, with a specific mandate to prepare recruits for counter-insurgency and cross-border operations. Noting that the recruitment push is not confined to PoK, the in- Three soldiers injured in J&K encounter Three soldiers were injured in a gunfight with terrorists in a remote forested area in the upper reaches of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district on Sunday, officials said telligence sources said in November last year, Javed, along with LeT operative Abdul Rauf, held more than 50 rallies and secret meetings across Pakistan’s Sindh province. “Security agencies assess that these coordinated visits across provinces point to an effort to build a broader pool of recruits and revive LeT’s operational strength nationwide,” a source said. Meanwhile, intelligence inputs suggest that efforts to reactivate Markaz-e-Taiba, the LeT’s headquarters, are gaining pace. Buildings damaged during Operation Sindoor are being repaired with photographs and videos of construction activity circulating on social media, sources said. ernance and development. That is why, they like the BJP,” he said, adding that the results show the Congress is being repeatedly rejected by voters. Later in the day, addressing a rally at West Bengal’s Singur, Modi accused the TMC government of sitting idle on the Centre’s request to acquire land for fencing the Bangladesh border. “The Centre has been writing to the TMC government in Bengal PM launched development projects worth `7,787 crore in poll-bound Assam and West Bengal. In Assam, he laid the foundation stone for the `6,957 cr Kaziranga Elevated Corridor and virtually flagged off two Amrit Bharat trains. In West Bengal, Modi launched projects worth over `830 crore and flagged off three Amrit Bharat trains connecting Kolkata with other parts of the country @ Bhubaneswar At a time when stress is being laid on skilling of youth and encouraging them to opt for technical education, government engineering colleges, industrial training institutes (ITIs) and polytechnics in the state are struggling with acute shortage of faculty and infrastructure including availability of modern tools in labs. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its audit has raised serious concerns on the quality of education in the skill development and technical education (SDTE) sector in the state. In its draft report, the CAG has pointed out that no faculty posting was made in government engineering colleges and institutions including BPUT Rourkela, Government College of Engineering (GCE) Kalahandi, GCE Keonjhar, IGIT Sarang and PMEC Berhampur from 2019 till January 2025, resulting in an overall vacancy of 47 per cent of the sanctioned strength. The shortage was most acute in the cadre of professors with 73 per cent vacancies followed by 62 per cent and 38 per cent vacancies for associate professors and assistant professors, respectively. The for the past 11 years requesting land for border fencing to prevent infiltration in the state. But it sits idle on the issue,” Modi alleged. Sharpening his attack on the TMC, he said the party is “playing with the country’s security” by giving support to infiltrators from Bangladesh. “The state government is giving safety and security to infiltrators and that’s why they vote for TMC,” the PM said. Worker killed in explosion at illegal firecracker-making unit E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ Cuttack A 44-year-old differently-abled worker was killed in an explosion at an illegal firecracker manufacturing unit at Khalarada village within Cuttack Sadar police limits on Sunday . The deceased has been identified as Suresh Bhoi alias Kuntha of Badasahi village. The unlicensed firecracker manufacturing unit belongs to one Baikuntha Samal, who is currently on the run. Sources said the incident occurred at around 1 pm while Kuntha was alone at the factory and engaged in preparing the firecrackers. The intensity of the explosion was such that Kuntha’s body parts got scattered at a distance of over 500 metre. The asbestos-roofed house from where the cracker unit was being run was also razed to the ground. Some houses in the vicinity also sustained partial damage in its A fire personnel engaged in extinguishing the fire at the unit following the impact. On being informed, fire servic- explosion on Sunday | Express es personnel rushed to the spot and extinguished the blaze. The body of the deceased was handed over to police. Preliminary investigation suggested the explosion was accidental as huge stock of crackers had been stored in the unit. Cuttack Sadar IIC Tusar Kant Sethi said the trader had no requisite permission to set up the firecracker-making unit and was operating it illegally without complying with any safety protocols. “He is currently at large and efforts are on to nab him,” the IIC added. express read Kohli ton in vain as India suffer historic defeat INDORE: Virat Kohli smashes his 85th international ton, but New Zealand had the last laugh as they beat India by 41 runs to win their first ODI series in the country. Less than 18 months ago, Black Caps Daryl Mitchell celebrates his century against India in Indore handed India a 3-0 hammering in red-ball cricket and now have followed it up with a sensational ODI on Sunday. This is his second ton in the series | pti series win weeks before the T20 World Cup | P11 staff crunch pushed the teacherstudent ratio of these institutes to a range of 1:28 to 1:81 against the AICTE norms of 1:20 for undergraduate (UG) courses. The draft report also underlined that 185 out of 291 sanctioned non-teaching posts were vacant in these engineering institutions. Meanwhile, gover nment ITIs and polytechnics faced even more severe faculty crunch and shortage of instructors as only 864 i.e 49 per cent instructors were available ag ainst the sanctioned strength of 1,753 across all government ITIs. CONTINUED ON P5 Red Cross personnel walk amid the ruins in Jabalia, Gaza Strip | AP Trump invites Modi to join ‘Board of Peace’ J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi CAG raps state govt as tech institutes in Odisha struggle E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e A G E NCI E S IN DIRE STRAITS No faculty posting was made in govt engineering colleges including BPUT Rkl, GCE Kalahandi from 2019 till January 2025 Professor posts saw most number of vacancies at 73% For non-teaching staff posts, the report found 185/291 positions vacant Mining and civil engg depts of GCE Keonjhar had 5 and 4 labs against requirement of 9 and 10 respectively ETC branch of UGIE Rourkela faced 100% shortage of tools and equipment Low student enrollment was reported across 8 depts of the engineering colleges during the period US President Donald Trump has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to join a proposed “Board of Peace” for Gaza, in a significant outreach as Washington seeks to shape the post-war governance and reconstruction of the besieged enclave. The invitation letter was sent on January 16. “It is my Great Honor to invite you, as Prime Minister of the Republic of India, to join me in a critically Historic and Magnificent effort to solidify Peace in the Middle East and, at the same time, to embark on a bold new approach to resolving Global Conflict!” the letter from the US president said. Pakistan’s Foreign Office had earlier said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had also been invited to be part of the initiative. Several global leaders have been invited to be part of the board, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Our effort will Egyptian President Abdel Fattah bring together a el-Sisi, European Commission distinguished President Ursula von der Leyen, group of nations and the leaders of France, Gerready to building many Australia and Canada. , ...lasting peace More details about the proDonald Trump, posed body surfaced after letters in letter to PM Modi sent by Trump to Argentine President Javier Milei and Paraguayan President Santiago Peña were posted by the two leaders on social media. In his letter to Milei, Trump said the board would work to “solidify peace in the Middle East” and pursue a “bold new approach to resolving global conflict.” A draft charter circulated by the Trump administration to around 60 countries reportedly requires member states to contribute $1 billion in cash for memberships extending beyond three years. Trump has named former British PM Tony Blair as a founding executive member of the board, alongside Jared Kushner, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and World Bank Group President Ajay Banga. Trump unveiled the initiative as part of the second phase of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. EUROPEAN leaders on Sunday slammed US President Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs over their opposition to his designs on Greenland, warning transatlantic ties were at risk. Several European countries — including Denmark, of which Greenland is an autonomous territory — emphasised they “stand united” against Trump’s vow on Saturday to hit them with tariffs of up to 25 percent unless Greenland is ceded to the United States. “Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral,” Britain, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, N o r w ay a n d S w e d e n warned in a joint statement Sunday . The European Union, which clinched a deal with Washington in July for most EU exports to face a 15-percent US levy, has called an extraordinary meeting of its ambassadors in Brussels on Sunday . France’s President Emmanuel Macron will ask the EU to activate a neverbefore-used “anti-coercion instrument” against the United States if Trump makes good on his tariff threat, Macron’s aides said. T h e b l o c ’s w e a p o n , dubbed its trade “bazooka”, allows curbing imports of goods and services into the EU, a market of 27 countries with a combined population of 450 million. Italy’s far-right Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, called the threatened tariffs a “mistake”. Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel meanwhile called Trump’s threat an “ i n e x p l i c a b l e ” “blackmail”. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was planning to discuss the situation with Trump “at the earliest.”