BRIDGING THE PROTEIN DIVIDE 11 MAY 2025 INDIA’S RED-BALL TRANSITION BEGINS: ASHWIN, ROHIT GONE, KOHLI NEXT ACTORS SALUTE THEIR MOTHERS www.thestatesman.com X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 PAGE 20 SINCE 1818 PAGES 20|` 5.00 |LC KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR WEATHER Mainly Clear sky. Hot and Humid weather very likely to prevail. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 39 °C and 29 °C respectively. RAINFALL: Nil RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 90 % Min. 42 % Ceasefire went into effect at 5 p.m, but there were a series of violations on Saturday night; Indian forces are responding appropriately Min: 29.1˚C (+2.1) SUN SETS 18:07 hrs MOON SETS 04:21 hrs PARWINDER SANDHU TEMPERATURE Max: 39.1˚C (+3.4) SUN RISES 04:57 hrs MOON RISES 17:05 hrs Pak violates ceasefire within hours of its going into effect Full Moon on 12 May THUMBNAILS Residents celebrate after the announcement of the India-Pakistan ceasefire agreement, at Salani village in Poonch, Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday. n ANI Army sentry injured in exchange of fire at Nagrota military station: An Army sentry was injured in an exchange of fire with some “intruders” at the strategic Nagrota Military Station. Nagrota is the headquarters of the 16 Corps of the Indian Army. The White Knight Corps said that the sentry sustained minor injury after a brief exchange of fire with the suspect. The Corps wrote on X; "On noticing suspicious movement near the perimeter, alert sentry at Nagrota Military Station issued a challenge, leading to a brief exchange of fire with the suspect. Sentry sustained a minor injury. Search operations are underway to track the intruder(s)". NEW DELHI, 10 MAY W ithin a few hours after a ceasefire was announced between India and Pakistan, areas near the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border (IB) witnessed a series of ceasefire violations late Saturday night. In a late-night briefing, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri stated that there had been repeated violations of the understanding reached earlier that evening between the Directors General of Military Operations of India and Pakistan. “This is a breach of the understanding arrived at earlier today. The armed forces are responding adequately and appropriately to these violations, and we take them very, very seriously,” he said. “We call upon Pakistan to take appropriate steps to address these violations and to handle the situation with seriousness and responsibility. The armed forces are maintaining a strong vigil and have been instructed to respond firmly to any further violations along the IB and the LoC,” Misri added. Earlier, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah expressed alarm on social media platform Indus Waters Treaty likely to continue to be in abeyance AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 10 MAY There is no pre- or post-condition to the understanding concerning military action between India and Pakistan reached on Saturday and the Indus Waters Treaty will remain in abeyance, MEA sources said. The DGMOs of India and Pakistan on Saturday agreed that both sides would stop all firing and military action on land and in the air and sea with effect from 1700 hours Indian Standard Time. The call was initiated by Pakistan. India had taken a series of steps against Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people, mostly tourists were killed. Widow of Pahalgam victim granted Indian citizenship KOLKATA, 10 MAY ADC, Rajouri, 3 service personnel killed by Pak fire The steps taken over Pakistan's support to crossborder terrorism included putting the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance. The Indus Waters Treaty was signed in 1960 after nine years of negotiations between India and Pakistan with the help of the World Bank, which is also a signatory. The Treaty allocates the Western Rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) to Pakistan and the Eastern Rivers (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej) to India. At the same time, the Treaty allows each country to allocate certain waters of the rivers to the other. The treaty gives India 20 per cent of the water from the Indus River System and the remaining 80 per cent to Pakistan. Rajouri’s additional deputy commissioner Raj Kumar Thappa, a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) of the Army, an IAF sergeant and a BSF sub-inspector were among several people killed on Saturday after Pakistan escalated its artillery and drone attacks in the border areas of Jammu and Kashmir. An infant and a woman were among those killed. Army Subedar Major Pawan Kumar, belonging to Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, was killed in Pakistani shelling in Poonch district. The Chief Minister, who visited the family of Thappa (photo), has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh for each family of those who have lost their lives in the cross-border shelling. Thappa and his two staff members were critically injured when an artillery shell hit his official residence in the Rajouri town. They were rushed to the Gov- ernment Medical College, where Thappa succumbed to his injuries. A 36-year-old IAF Sergeant, Surendra Kumar, who was posted at the Udhampur airbase in the Jammu division, was killed during a Pakistani airstrike early in the morning, said officials. A Sub-Inspector of the BSF Mohammad Imteyaz was killed during early morning cross border firing along the International Boundary in RS Pura area, district Jammu. SNS X, tweeting, “What the hell just happened to the ceasefire? Explosions heard across Srinagar!!!” In another post, Abdullah shared a video, commenting, “This is no ceasefire. The air defence units in the middle of Srinagar just opened up.” The ceasefire came after days of active hostilities following the Pahalgam terror attack and the subsequent launch of Operation Sin door. The ceasefire JAMMU, 10 MAY Masood Azhar’s brothers-in-law, including man behind IC-814 hijacking, among terrorists killed in Op Sindoor STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 10 MAY Five of the terrorists killed in India’s precision strikes on nine terror camps across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) on 7 May, as part of Operation Sindoor, have been identified. Among them are two individuals reportedly closely related to Maulana Masood Azhar. The identified terrorists include Mudassar Khadian Khas, also known as Mudassar and Abu Jundal, of the proscribed Lashkar-e-Taiyyaba (LeT); Hafiz Mohammed Jameel, Mohammad Yusuf Azhar, also known as Ustad Ji, Mohammad Salim, Ghosi Sahab, who was wanted in This photograph purportedly shows Pakistani military officials at the funeral of slain terrorist Mudassar Khadian Khas. connection with the IC-814 hijacking, Mohammad Hassan Khan, all affiliated with Jaishe-Mohammed (JeM), and Khalid, alias Abu Akasha, of the Lashkar-e-Taiyyaba. According to sources, Yusuf Azhar, a key member of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), was responsible for handling weapons training for JeM operatives and was involved in multiple terrorist attacks in Jammu & Kashmir. Azhar was also involved in the conspiracy to hijack Indian Kerala leads nation in maternal and child health: 2021 SRS report STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE The widow of an Indian IT professional killed in last month's terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir has been granted Indian citizenship, the Union government confirmed on Saturday. Sohini Roy, the wife of Bitan Adhikari, was one of the survivors of the 22 April terrorist ambush in Pahalgam, where 26 people were killed. Bitan, originally from the Patuli neighbourhood in Kolkata, was among those fatally shot. The couple, along with their child, had been residing in the United States, where Bitan worked in the technology sector. Union Minister of State for Education and BJP’s West Bengal President Sukanta Majumdar announced the citizenship grant at a Press briefing in Kolkata. SNS (Details on Page 3) NEW DELHI, 10 MAY With nearly 70 per cent fewer deaths among mothers, newborns, and children under five, Kerala has topped the Maternal and Child Health Indicators, according to a Sample Registration System (SRS) Report 2021 released by the Registrar General of India (RGI) on Wednesday. The southern state has already met the 2030 health targets set under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in all three key areas: deaths of mothers during childbirth, newborn deaths, and deaths of children under five. The state’s current numbers are 20 maternal deaths, 4 newborn deaths, and 8 underfive deaths per 100,000 or 1,000 births—well below the targets of 70, 12, and 25, respectively. between the two sides went into effect at 5 this evening. “An understanding has been reached to stop all military activities at sea, in the air, and on land. The Indian Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force have been instructed to adhere to this understanding,” IAF Commodore Raghu R Nair said while addressing a Ministry of Defence briefing on Saturday evening. He said that the Indian forces will adhere to the ceasefire agreement but would be ready for any eventuality. The ceasefire announcement was first made by US President Donald Trump in a post on Truth Social on Saturday evening. “After a long night of talks mediated by the United States, I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE. Congratulations to both countries for using Common Sense and Great Intelligence.” Trump wrote. India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, confirmed the same, stating that Pakistan's Director General of Military Operations contacted his Indian counterpart earlier. Stating that both countries agreed to halt all the ongoing military actions, the ceasefire was announced from 1700 hours IST. Besides Kerala, seven Indian states have kept maternal deaths during childbirth below the target of 70 per 100,000 live births ~ Maharashtra (38), Telangana (45), Andhra Pradesh (46), Tamil Nadu (49), Jharkhand (51), Gujarat (53), and Karnataka (63) ~with Maharashtra recording the lowest among them. In contrast, the national average for Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) is still 23 points above the SDG target, despite a nearly 30 per cent decline from 130 deaths per 100,000 live births (2014–16) to 93 deaths (2019–21), as reported in the SRS 2021 report. Similarly, based on insights from the health ministry report, the country has seen a 26.9 per cent drop in newborn deaths, falling from 26 per 1,000 live births in 2014 to 19 in 2021—but a further 36.8 per cent reduction is still needed to reach the SDG target of 12 or fewer deaths. Meanwhile, fewer states have managed to meet the SDG target for Neonatal Mor- tality Rate (NMR), as per the data cited in the press statement. Following Kerala, which leads the chart, Delhi ranked second with 8 deaths per 1,000 live births, twice Kerala’s number. Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra followed in third and fourth place with 9 and 11 deaths, respectively. Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh shared the fifth spot, each recording 12 deaths—the exact threshold set by the SDG target.While several states have seen significant improvements in Under-Five Mortality Rate (U5MR), the national average has declined from 45 in 2014 to 31 in 2021, still requiring a further 22.6 per cent reduction to reach the 2030 target of 25. Despite the need for further improvement, India's progress in reducing maternal and child mortality has so far outpaced global averages, as stated. Airlines aircraft IC-814 from Kathmandu (Nepal) to Delhi. A Red Corner notice number A-565/6-2000 was issued against him. Sources confirmed that several of these individuals were related to Masood Azhar, the founder of Jaish-eMohammed. In a surprising development, Pakistani authorities accorded state funerals to many of these terrorists while publicly claiming that India had targeted and killed civilians in the strikes. Globally designated terrorists such as Hafiz Abdul Rauf, along with senior Pakistani military and police officials, reportedly attended the funerals held in various parts of the country. Before ceasefire: India struck key Pak military sites STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 10 MAY Before the ceasefire between the Indian and Pakistani militaries went into effect on Saturday evening, Indian forces launched multiple precision attacks on Pakistan’s identified military targets in response to the targeted strikes carried out by the latter on civilian and military infrastructures since last night. Indian armed forces struck Pakistan’s technical infrastructure, command and control centres, radar sites and weapon storage areas. Addressing a joint media briefing organised by the Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Defence, Col Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh said that Pakistan military targets at Rafiqui, Murid, Chaklala, Rahim Yar Khan, Sukkur and Chunian were engaged using air-launched precision weapons from fighter jets. Radar sites at Pasrur and Sialkot aviation bases were also targeted using precision ammunition. “Pakistan attempted multiple air intrusions targeting civilian infrastructures and killing some civilians,” they said. It was also revealed that Pakistan used Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs) drones, long-range weapons, loitering munitions and fighter aircraft to target civilian areas and military infrastructure along the Western front. “From Srinagar to Naliya, in more than 26 locations, airspace infiltration was attempted. There were also high-speed missile attacks, which were noticed subsequently at 1:40 am at several air bases in Punjab,” said Col Qureshi. “Pakistan military also resorted to air intrusion using drones and firing of heavy-calibre weapons along the Line of Control (LoC) between India and Pakistan. Limited damage was sustained to equipment and personnel at Indian Air (Turn to Page 5) IMD forecasts onset of southwest monsoon over Kerala on 27 May STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 10 MAY The southwest monsoon is likely to set in over Kerala on 27 May, earlier than the usual date of 1 June, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Saturday. If the monsoon arrives in Kerala as per the predicted date, it will be the earliest onset over the Indian mainland since 2009, when it began on 23 May. As per the IMD data, last year, the monsoon arrived on 30 May, a day before the expected date while in 2023; it set in on 8 June. The weather department observed that the advance of the southwest monsoon over the Indian mainland is marked by its onset over Kerala and is an important indicator characterising the transition from the hot and dry season to the rainy season. Moreover, as the monsoon progresses northwards, relief from scorching summer temperatures is experienced over the areas. The southwest monsoon normally sets in over Kerala on 1 June with a standard deviation of about 7 days. It typically covers the entire country by 8 July. It starts withdrawing from northwest India around 17 September and completes the withdrawal by 15 October. The IMD has been issuing operational forecasts for the date of monsoon onset over Kerala from 2005 onwards with an indigenously developed state-of-the-art statistical model with a model error of ± 4 days. The IMD had, in April, forecast above-normal cumulative rainfall in the 2025 monsoon season, ruling out the possibility of El Niño conditions, which are associated with below-normal rainfall in the Indian subcontinent. The southwest monsoon accounts for three-fourths of India’s total annual rainfall and during this, average rainfall over the plains is about 87 per cent. Its significance lies in its critical role in replenishing water resources and supporting agriculture across the country.