BHUBANESWAR l thursday l august 20, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l JEYPORE EDITION India beat pakistan in world cup, advance to next phase of competition Goals flowed as a brace from Harmanpreet Singh and Abhishek helped the men’s hockey team to a big 5-3 win over neighbours, confirm qualification to next pool phase Skipper Harmanpreet Singh scored a brace | HI High on intensity and drama teams exchange pre-match high fives India, needing a win to go through, started quickly and caused all sorts of problems with their pressing and intensity. They made it 3-0 in under 30 minutes before allowing the rivals a route back thanks to some errors. The Netherlands will be one of their next opponents in the next phase of the competition. They will also face either New Zealand or Argentina ■ ■ Unlike in cricket, the hockey teams have generally traded customary pre-match pleasantries. Before pushback, both teams exchanged high fives, as is the norm in the sport The women’s team will also seal qualification to the next phase as long as they avoid defeat against England on Thursday 20 india have won 18 and drawn two of the last 20 matches vs. pakistan 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 CWC for 25-yr freeze in Lok Sabha strength J&K important part of India: US envoy Ambassador Sergio Gor says security situation improved, US travel advisories to be reviewed P r eetha N a i r @ New Delhi F AYA Z W A N I @ Srinagar The Congress on Wednesday called for a constitutional freeze on the current strength of the Lok Sabha for another 25 years while implementing the 33 per cent reservation for women from the 2029 elections, and decided to launch a nationwide campaign on issues facing students and the alleged corruption at the Ram Temple and the E20 issue. The party’s stand came at a four-hour-long Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting chaired by party president Mallikarjun Kharge. The party also decided to adhere to its historic 1937 position of singing only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram at party events. Briefing reporters after the meeting, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Ramesh said that regarding delimitation, the Congress is in favour of keeping the current number of Lok Sabha seats—543—the same for the next 25 years. “At the same time, we demand the implementation of women’s reservation on this very number,” Ramesh said. The party will also hold nationwide protests on the alleged corruption involving the donation to Ram Temple. As for the education reforms, Kharge called for a comprehensive and time-bound “Education-to-Employment Roadmap”. The CWC asked Congress chief ministers to prepare state-specific reports within one month on the reforms required in the education sector. Concerns were also raised about the rollout of E20 petrol, including questions over fuel contamination and the environmental impact of diverting sugarcane and maize for ethanol production. IN a major diplomatic boost for India, US ambassador Sergio Gor on Wednesday described Jammu and Kashmir “an important part of India” and said the US would revise its travel advisory in view of the improved security situation. Gor arrived in Srinagar on a one-day visit in the afternoon and met J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. The meeting lasted an hour, during which the duo discussed the economic, developmental and other issues concerning the region. Talking to reporters after the meeting, Gor said Jammu and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah with US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor in Srinagar | pti Kashmir is an important part of India and that he is visiting the region for the first time. “It is an incredibly beautiful place... I’m thrilled to be here, thrilled to see this place.” Gor’s statement is significant as it amplifies India’s stand that “J&K is an integral part of India”, dealing a blow to Pakistan’s narrative. On the possibility of Washington revisiting its travel advisory for J&K, Gor said: “I can’t make any big announcements here today, but it is something we’re going to look at.” Noting the steps taken by the Central and state governments to address security concerns, he said: “New Delhi, the chief minister here, the government here… have made some incredible steps to keeping this area safer. So we will be looking at if the travel warning that is imposed and recommended by the United States is something that should be downgraded.” Terming the meeting with Gor “very good”, Omar said: “We had an opportunity to discuss the relations between our two countries but with specific focus on what the US can do with J&K. There are certain legacy issues that over time we will be working to resolve, but we look forward to taking this conversation further.” Ahead of his meeting with the US envoy, Omar had said the problems of J&K are to be solved by the Central government and not by Washington. Indian stocks now least Four floods preferred in Asia: BofA and a season of loss for villagers in Baitarani basin A RS H A D K H A N @ New Delhi INDIA has earned the dubious distinction of becoming Asia’s least-preferred stock market among global fund managers, according to Bank of America’s (BofA) August 2026 survey . In BofA’s July poll, fund managers indicated Indonesia as the least favoured market. The absence of clear AI exposure and weak growth are the chief reasons why fund managers are ‘underweight’ (having lower expectations) on India, the survey notes. The pessimism about the Indian equity market comes as foreign institutional investors continue to dump locally listed shares amid a huge underperformance of BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty, compared to major global indices. Taiwan most fav market The Bofa survey said Taiwan is the most preferred market in Asia Pacific for investors in August, with 55% of the respondents being positive, followed by Japan at 50% and South Korea at 23% Rideshare drivers’ protest turns violent; over 100 held A s i s h M ehta @ Bhubaneswar The ongoing protest by rideshare app drivers in the state capital turned violent on Wednesday as agitators allegedly pelted stones at security personnel and vandalised at least 10 city buses, prompting police to arrest over 100 persons. The online cab drivers also vandalised two police vehicles. Police resorted to baton charge and used water cannons to bring the situation under control. Several taxi drivers were hurt, while Capital police station inspector-in-charge Radhakanta Sahu and 13 other police personnel sustained injuries in the attack by the protesters. The injured police personnel were admitted to Capital Hospital. Traffic movement near Station Square was disrupted for several hours as Ola, Uber and Rapido taxi and bike drivers intensified their agitation. Earlier, the demonstrators parked their auto-rickshaws on the roads to block traffic as part of the protest. Police mobilised cranes to remove the vehicles and attempted to persuade the agitators to clear the roads, but to no avail. A scuffle subsequently broke out between the protesters and police, following which the situation turned violent. The protesters allegedly pelted stones at police personnel and broke the glass panels of 10 Ama buses parked by the roadside. In some cases, they also deflated the buses’ tyres. Though no passenger was injured, many fled the buses after the protesters began targeting the vehicles. Police used water cannons to disperse the demonstrators and eventually brought the situation under control. Bhubaneswar DCP Jagmohan Meena, who reached the spot to take stock of the situation, said around 1,000 protesters had gathered illegally near Station Square. “The cab drivers were permitted to agitate on Monday but they illegally con, tinued the protest into the third day. Among the survey respondents, 32% were ‘underweight’ on India. They also cited lack of reforms and elevated valuations for their bearish view on Asia’s fourth-largest market. In comparison, sentiment towards Indonesia improved, with 27% being underweight, down from 32% in July . Taiwan and Japan continued to be the most preferred markets among investors. In 2026 so far, Taiwan and Korean equity benchmarks are up more than 50% each while Japan has surged more than 26%. India’s Nifty meanwhile, is down nearly 8%. The last time BofA termed Indian stocks the least preferred was in May, when a sharp rise in crude oil prices due to the Iran war put pressure on the economic outlook. Union ministers get social media scorecard RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR @ New Delhi Agitating drivers assault a police personnal during the protest which turned violent, in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday | DEBADATTA MALLICK Moreover, the government had no role to play in any of their demands,” he said. A case was later registered at Kharavela Nagar police station against the agitators for unlawful protest. Around 100 protesters allegedly involved in stone-pelting and vandalism of Ama buses were apprehended from the spot. “More arrests will be made after recording the statements of eyewitnesses and examining CCTV footage,” Meena said. The strike severely affected commuters as hundreds of bikes, auto-rickshaws and taxis remained off the roads on Wednesday . Even as the agitation disrupted transport services, the protesting taxi and auto drivers and bike riders working with private aggregators reiterated their demand for government regulation of online taxi fares and fixed rates for passengers. Around 30,000 cab and auto drivers and bike riders are currently working with different app-based companies. Commerce and Transport Minister Bibhuti Bhushan Jena said nobody would be allowed to take the law into their own hands and that the government was willing to address the grievances of the protesting drivers. At the Union cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, the social media performance of Cabinet ministers was a key point of discussion, with each of them presented with a detailed assessment of their traction as well as efforts to amplify the government’s schemes through online platforms. All the ministers were presented with an Modi tops assessment ranking card outlining their perform- Unsurprisingly, ance from May Prime Minister 1 to August 15. Narendra Modi As part of topped the the Gen-Z outsocial media reach, it was performance also decided assessment that one Un- rankings for the ion minister period from will visit one May 1 to Aug 15 university each day to engage with the youth. During these day-long visits, the ministers must communicate to students about the government’s schemes, development policies and achievements across sectors as well as gather their perspectives on issues facing the country . Education Minister Pralhad Joshi and Youth Affairs Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will coordinate these visits. Tears roll down her face as Manjulata Sutar, 44, sits by her youngest daughter on the embankment of Kani river at Dobabhil-Patana village in Dasarathpur block of Jajpur district. A few feet away, the dashaha (10th day) ritual of her husband, Maheswar Sutar (49), is being performed | P2 Centre gives nod to three multi-tracking projects in Odisha worth `7,221 crore Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, in his post-Cabinet briefing, said the projects would Three major multi-tracking enhance mobility, improve opprojects in Odisha, involving an e r at i o n a l e f f i c i e n cy a n d investment of `7,221 crore, were strengthen service reliability in approved by the CabiOdisha. net Committee on Eco“The projects are nomic Affairs (CCEA) planned on PM-Gati chaired by Prime MinShakti National Master ister Narendra Modi Plan with focus on enon Wednesday . hancing multi-modal The three projects connectivity and logisare part of four multitic efficiency through tracking projects apintegrated planning proved by the CCEA at and stakeholder cona total estimated cost sultations,” he said. I am particularly heartened that Vaishnaw said the of `9,450 crore. They this capacity capacity augmentacover key railway routes connecting Cut- augmentation will tion would also imstrengthen the prove rail connectivitack-Paradip, movement of key ty to several prominent Bhadrak-Haridaspur commodities, a n d K h a r a g p u r - including coal, iron tourist destinations in the state, including Bhadrak (Ranital). ore, cement, steel Kuldiha Wildlife SancThe proposed conand foodgrains tuary, Bhitarkanika struction of third and fourth lines along the Mohan Charan Majhi, National Park, Maa 73-km Cuttack-Parad- Chief Minister, Odisha Bhadrakali Temple, Maa Dhamarai Temip stretch has been estimated to cost `2,286 crore. The ple, Panchalingeswar Temple, addition of a fourth line be- Talsari-Udaypur and Chantween Bhadrak and Haridaspur dipur beaches, Gada Kujanga will cost `1,583 crore, while the Jagannath Temple, Sarala fourth line between Kharagpur Temple, Dhabaleswar Temple and Bhadrak (Ranital) has been and Lalitgiri, a major Buddhist Continued on P7 site.  pegged at `3,352 crore. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar