BHUBANESWAR l wednesday l june 03, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late CITY EDITION internet loves army pilot’s proposal to partner post p.o.p NASHIK to new beginnings after tough training The video spread quickly online, with people responding to how genuine and unscripted the whole thing felt. Captain Bharat Bhardwaj called it a “love ka salute” — and joked that while officers give and receive salutes at work, back home, the wife is in charge. For the Captain, the day marked the end of a tough professional journey, and the start of a new one A newly qualified Army pilot proposed to his girlfriend right after his graduation ceremony in Nashik — with a helicopter as the backdrop is where the Army trains its combat helicopter pilots 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 Annamalai suspense on as Shah summons Nagenthran RA J E S H K U M AR THA K UR a n d S u b a s h i n i V i j aya k u m a r @ New Delhi/Chennai After aggrieved for mer Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai met Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday, the BJP leadership summoned state BJP president Nainar Nagenthran to Delhi, fuelling speculation of a possible mutual reconciliation. With the party leadership requesting him to reconsider his decision, sources said Annamalai hasn’t formally submitted his resignation yet. As for Nagenthran, he arrived in the Capital and was scheduled to meet Shah to find an amicable solution. Union home minister Amit Shah with TN BJP leader Annamalai in Delhi | PTI During his meeting with Shah, Annamalai spoke about his prolonged differences with the state unit leadership after being removed as president of the TN unit in 2025 to patch up with the AIADMK. Sources said Annamalai had made up his mind to quit Prez, PM to attend 2nd anniv event of state govt E x p r ess Ne w s S e r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar The BJP government is all set to celebrate its second anniversary on June 20 at a state-level function in Rairangpur of Mayurbhanj district following confirmation of participation from President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Tuesday reviewed the preparations for the highprofile event at a meeting in Lok Seva Bhawan here. The chief minister directed officials to ensure foolDroupadi Murmu proof security arrangements, adequate public amenities and sufficient parking facilities at the venue. Given the presence of Narendra Modi the President and the prime minister, Majhi stressed meticulous planning and seamless coordination among departments to ensure the successful conduct of the programme. According to the meeting, several important projects of national and state significance are scheduled to be inaugurated and launched during the programme. The President and the prime minister are expected to jointly dedicate a number of development initiatives to the people of the state and lay foundation stones for new projects. The state government is likely to announce further details regarding the projects to be unveiled and the schedule of events in the coming days, sources said. and return to Chennai immediately after his resignation is accepted. He intended to part ways without burning his bridges with the top leadership. But since he was asked to reconsider his decision, he may return to Chennai on June 4, sources said. Though he was offered a Rajya Sabha ticket and a ministerial berth, he declined, preferring to work in TN, sources said. Annamalai first met BJP national general secretary B L Santhosh before proceeding to meet party president Nitin Nabin. In Tamil Nadu, several district-level functionaries loyal to Annamalai are said to have resigned following reports of his impending exit. New quota for med, tech courses comes into force E x p r ess Ne w s S e r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar Ahead of the 2026-27 academic session, the state government on Tuesday notified the reservation for SEBC or OBC and enhanced quota for Scheduled Tribe and Scheduled Caste students in medical, technical and professional courses. The decision to provide reservation to SEBC students and increase the quota for STs and SCs was taken by the state cabinet on April 4. With Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi directing the ST & SC Development, Minorities and Backward Classes Welfare department for early implementation, a memorandum was issued allowing admissions in engineering, medical and other professional programmes from the ensuing academic session as per the new reser- vation criteria. Under the revised policy, reservation for ST students in professional courses has been increased from 12 per cent to 22.5 per cent, while for SC students it has has been raised from 8 per cent to 16.25 per cent. For the first time, SEBC students will receive 11.25 per cent reservation in technical and professional education institutes, where no such provision existed earlier. The state currently provides 22.5 per cent reservation for STs, 16.25 per cent for SCs and 11.5 per cent for SEBCs in public employment and general higher education courses such as BA, BSc and BCom programmes. According to official data, STs constitute about 22.85 per cent of state’s population, while SCs account for 17.13 per cent. There is no quantifiable data for the OBCs or SEBCs so far.  Continued on P5 Finally, CBSE heads roll Board Chairman Rahul Singh and Secretary Himanshu Gupta shifted, replaced with Lokhande Prashant Sitaram & Varun Bhardwaj respectively; OSM system probe ordered Out Rahul Singh IN Himanshu Gupta Lokhande Prashant Sitaram S LALITHA @ New Delhi In a major administrative shake-up following controversy over the CBSE’s new digital evaluation system for Class XII board examinations, the Centre on Tuesday removed CBSE Chairman Rahul Singh and Secretary Himanshu Gupta with immediate effect and ordered a high-level inquiry into the procurement of the OnScreen Marking (OSM) system used for evaluating answer sheets. The government also announced the constitution of a one-member committee headed by S Radha Chauhan, Chairperson of the Capacity Building Commission, to investigate the award and procurement of services related to the OSM platform. It directed the committee to submit its report to the Department of Personnel and Training within a month. According to the official order, Chauhan has been authorised to seek assistance from officials of other departments during the inquiry while the Capacity Build, ing Commission will provide secretarial support. The action came hours after the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education held a meeting with senior officials of the CBSE and the Ministry of Education to review complaints surrounding the implementation of the digital marking system. Later, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet appointed Lokhande Prashant Sitaram, a 2001 batch IAS officer as the new CBSE Chairperson. Varun Bhardwaj, Indian Information Service officer of 2008 batch was appointed the Board’s secretary . While Rahul Singh was transferred as Additional Secretary in the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Gupta was sent back to parent cadre with the ‘extended period of cooling off ’. Controversy erupted after the declaration of Class XII results on May 13, with students and parents alleging widespread discrepancies in evaluation, technical glitches, delays in verification and re-evaluation processes, and lack of transparency in the OSM system. While student Sidhant Sartak alleged that three tenders were rigged to favour Hyderabad-based Coempt EduTeck Pvt Ltd in the award of the OSM contract, the CBSE in its pushback submitted a report to the committee, defending the implementation of the system. It also said that portal-related glitches had been rectified. The controversy deepened after another student, Vedant Shrivastava, claimed that CBSE had uploaded and evaluated another candidate’s answer sheet under his name. No role for third-party mediation in border dispute with Nepal, says India J aya n t h J a c o b @New Delhi INDIA on Tuesday firmly rejected any role for third parties in resolving its boundary dispute with Nepal, responding to remarks by Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah in Parliament on Sunday in which he called for involvement of the UK and China in efforts to resolve the border issue. The Indian response came amid a deepening political controversy in Nepal, where Shah’s comments have triggered protests and repeated disruptions in Parliament. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India had taken note of both Shah’s state- External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar with Nepal’s Rastriya Swatantra Party president Rabi Lamichhane in New Delhi Tuesday | PTI ment and a subsequent clarification issued by Nepal’s Foreign Ministry . Reiterating New Delhi’s longstanding position that boundary issues must be addressed bilaterally he pointed out that most of the , India-Nepal border has already been settled. “While close to 98% of the India-Nepal boundary has been demarcated, there are some unresolved segments. The shifting of the course of Gandak river has resulted in this situation. There are cases of cross-border occupation and encroachment of the boundary which are currently being mapped jointly he said. ,” The fallout from Shah’s comments paralysed Nepal’s Parliament for a second consecutive day on Tuesday . genetic boost Tadoba-origin Zeenat delivers four cubs in Similipal S u d a r s a n M a h a r a n a @ Bhubaneswar Zeenat, a four-year-old tigress translocated from Maharashtra’s Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) two years back, has delivered four cubs, giving Odisha a rare conservation milestone and Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) a fresh genetic impetus. The ambitious tiger supplementation programme which was initiated in 2024 amid trepidation saw the tigress inhabiting the core area of Similipal where it mated with a native male. The cubs are believed to be about three weeks old. A dedicated team is monitoring Zeenat’s movements through a satellite collar and VHF signals and keeping a watch on the cubs with the help of camera traps installed in the core area of the reserve. Forest patrol has also been intensified in the adjacent areas. The success of the supplementation project is significant for Similipal whose isolated tiger population often sparked apprehensions Varun Bhardwaj of a collapse and called for a genetic rescue, prompting the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to seek a scientific intervention. Sharing the news on X, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi termed it a landmark for Odisha’s wildlife conservation efforts. “Zeenat, one of the tigresses translocated from Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve to Similipal, has given birth to four healthy cubs in the core area of Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR). This milestone strengthens Similipal’s tiger population and genetic diversity, reflecting the success of science-led conservation and the dedicated efforts of our forest staff,” an elated Continued on P5 Majhi stated.  A denial of service attack attempt caused 1.5 mn hits on the CBSE re-evaluation portal within 2 mins and over 1 lakh bids of unauthorised file access CBSE statement ‘OSM tenders rigged to favour firm’ Sidhant Sartak, 17, made a detailed presentation before a Parliamentary Standing Committee, alleging that at least 15 changes were made across three tenders to favour Hyderabad-based Coempt EduTeck Pvt Ltd over Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in the award of the OSM contract. His presentation was made in the presence of senior CBSE officials | P7 Major cyber attack as revaluation portal for Class XII opens S L a l i t h a @ New Delhi Malicious actors attempted to disrupt services on the Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE) Class XII re-evaluation portal through a barrage of cyber attacks on Tuesday the day it became operational. , The Board shared the information after complaints from thousands of students since early morning that they were unable to login to the portal. An official statement from the Board said that the portal currently supports usage by 8,000 concurrent users and a total of 16,000 had successfully completed their submissions for reevaluation of marks by 3 pm. “While thousands of students accessed the CBSE re-evaluation portal today, malicious actors attempted to disrupt services through a barrage of cyberattacks. Most recent being a denial of service attack attempt causing 1.5 million hits on the portal within a matter of 2 minutes and more than 1 lakh attempts of unauthorised file access.” The platform has been further refined by the CBSE based on student Screengrab of students failing feedback, it said. Session to login to the portal time limits have been extended to make the process more convenient and seamless, it added. There was enormous criticism from students over the need for Aadhaar verification. In another statement, the CBSE said, “Aadhaar Verification has been included for security reasons.” It also clarified that in the case of children who do not have this document, the parent’s, relative’s or guardian’s Aadhaar details may be used. “In this case, the Aadhaar Name, Date of birth and Gender must be of the person whose Aadhaar number is used,” it added. The portal was finally opened to begin the revaluation process early in the day with the Board announcing it at 4.42 am on its social media handles. TMC supremo mamata protests attacks Former CM addresses a sit-in protest against the attacks on party leaders and workers in Kolkata on Tuesday | P8