HYDERABAD  SATURDAY  SEPTEMBER 23, 2023  `9.00  PAGES 16  LATE CITY EDITION U.S. AND CHINA LAUNCH WORKING GROUPS TO MEND FRAUGHT TIES Two working groups to be established to improve communications between the two countries, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Friday Janet Yellen and He Lifeng REGULATORY, MACROECONOMIC ISSUES IN FOCUS Led by Yellen and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, the working groups will be divided into economic and financial segments. The former, led by the US Treasury and China’s finance ministry, will discuss macroeconomic issues, while the latter group, which includes the Treasury and the People’s Bank of China, will focus on regulatory and financial stability issues ■ TWO DECISION MADE DURING YELLEN’S CHINA VISIT ■ Washington and Beijing saw their relations hit a new low in February when the US forces shot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon Since then, the two sides have restarted high-level contacts, and Yellen visited Beijing in July to hold talks with He. It was during this visit that the two countries agreed to set up working groups GROUPS ARE EXPECTED TO HOLD REGULAR MEETINGS, CHINA’S CCTV REPORTED 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 JP Morgan adds Cong panel finalises 63 names Indian bonds to its global index I R E D DY S R I N I VAS R E D DY @ Hyderabad Analysts estimate passive fund inflows to the tune of $25 billion; rupee to gain value D I PA K M O N D A L @ New Delhi decision on its own. It attests to the confidence that financial IN a significant move that will market participants and finanset the stage for billions of dol- cial markets, in general, have lars of foreign fund flows to In- on India’s potential and growth dia, global financial firm JP prospects and its macroecoMorgan has decided to include nomic and fiscal policies,” said Indian government bonds into India’s chief economic advisor its widely tracked emerging V Anantha Nageswaran. market debt index. Analysts see this as a positive “India’s weight is expected to move for the Indian economy reach the maximum weight as it ensures stable fund inthreshold of 10% in the flows, stronger rupee, and GBI-EM Global Diversilower bond yields. fied, and 8.7% in the According to SBI MuGBI-EM Global index,” tual Fund’s chief econJP Morgan said in a omist Namrata Mittal, statement. Indian the move creates an adbonds’ inclusion will ditional source to fund be staggered over a the current account GBI-EM 10-month period from and fiscal deficit. She, Global June 24, 2024 to March however, cautions that 31, 2025, indicating 1% China, Indonesia, once the initial adjustincrement on its index ment is done, there Malaysia, weight. This will lead Thailand, Czech, may be a relatively to passive inflows of Hungary, Poland, higher volatility in the around $25 billion. Romania, Serbia, Indian bond market. Government Bond Debopam ChaudhuTurkey, Brazil, Index-Emerging Mar- Chile, Colombia, ri, chief economist of kets (GBI-EM) Global Dominican Rep., Piramal Group sees the Diversified accounts move in terms of freeMexico, Peru, for $213 billion of the Uruguay, Egypt & ing up of funds for priestimated $236-billion South Africa are vate borrowers. “With benchmarked to the part of the index a d d i t i o n a l fo re i g n GBI-EM f amily of funds available through indices. funds tracking the Bond IndexAccording to the index inclu- es, government borrowing may sion criteria, eligible instru- not crowd out private corporate ments are required to have no- borrowers as much as in the tional outstanding above $1 past,” he said. billion and at least 2.5 years reAccording to Nomura, over maining maturity Currently 23 the longer term, this could trig. , Indian government bonds with ger other index inclusions, a combined notional value of such as in the Bloomberg Glo$330 billion are eligible to be bal Aggregate Index, which part of the index. could attract another $7-10 bil“JP Morgan has made this lion of inflows. CRACKING DOWN TSRERA fines 3 real estate firms `17.49cr S BACHAN JEET SINGH @ Hyderabad THE Telangana Real Estate Regulatory Authority (TSRERA) has imposed penalties totalling a whopping `17.49 crore on three real estate firms in Hyderabad — Sahiti Infratech Ventures Pvt Ltd, Mantri Developers Pvt Ltd and Sai Surya Developers Pvt Ltd — for violations of RERA rules and regulations. TSRERA, under the chairmanship of N Satyanarayana and members K Srinivasa Rao and Laxmi Narayana Jannu, conducted three hearings before imposing the penalties. TSRERA said that the penalties were levied following a thorough review. CONTINUED ON P3 AMIDST heated discussions, the Congress screening committee is believed to have finalised the names of 63 candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections. These names have been sent to the Congress central election committee for approval, with an announcement expected next week. According to sources, the discussions took a heated turn on the third day of the screening committee meeting held in the party war room in Delhi. The main point of contention re- volved around the selection of candidates for several Assembly segments, including Karimnagar, Yellareddy Adilabad, Maheshwar, am, Palakurthi, Peddapalli, Sircilla, Korutla, Wyra, Sattupalli, Jubilee Hills, Secunderabad, Uppal, Quthbullapur, Medchal, Tungaturti, LB Nagar, Mahbubnagar, Narayankhed, Husnabad, Adilabad and others. A key TPCC leader asserted that recently joined leaders had received a favourable assessment in the report submitted by election strategist Sunil Kanugolu. This triggered a strong reaction from other committee members, who raised concerns about the survey’s methodology and demanded access to the survey data, citing potential bias. Doubts over Kanugolu’s survey Some committee members expressed doubts about Kanugolu’s survey, questioning how people with no significant political background could receive such favourable results. This led to heated discussions, with a majority of the committee members speaking against the key leader who supported the “parachute” candidates. Consequently , the committee chairman was asked to put off discussions on selecting candidates for the remainCONTINUED ON P4 ing segments. BJP MP’s religion slur in Parliament sparks outrage BJP MP made an objectionable remark against Danish Ali. The Speaker expunged it and a minister apologised but BJP has not taken any action against him, which is unfortunate — Mayawati, BSP chief Video grab of the exchange between Ramesh Bidhuri (L) and Danish Ali in LS PA R V E Z S U LTA N @ New Delhi BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri’s gutter language in the Lok Sabha against BSP’s Danish Ali triggered a massive outrage on Friday with Speaker Om Birla apparently letting him off with a warning of strict action if such behaviour is repeated in future. An appalled Ali said he could consider quitting the membership of the House if no step is taken against Bidhuri. Bidhuri had made the remarks during a discussion on the success of Chandrayaan 3 in the House on Thursday. A two-minute clipping of Parliament’s proceedings that shows Bidhuri making derogatory remarks stirred up a storm on social media. The BJP lawmaker from south Delhi drew severe criticism from all quarters, with the Opposition INDIA bloc rallying behind Ali. Defence minister Rajnath Singh expressed regret. BJP leaders said that the party later served him a show cause notice. “During the course of his speech, he directed the most foul, abusive invectives against EXPRESS READ Freed after four years, Mirwaiz makes Kashmir dialogue pitch Srinagar: Released from house arrest after over four years, Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Friday said people like him were peace promoters, not separatists or disrupters. He pitched for dialogue to resolve the Kashmir issue at the prayers at Kashmir’s grand mosque, Jamia Masjid | P8 SPORTS MIN TO SKIP ASIAD OVER ACCREDITATION OF ARUNACHAL GIRLS | P8 Discover the world of New ideas, Enduring Icons and Diverse Identities AP High Court rejects Naidu’s quash petition APCID GETS 2-DAY CUSTODY EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Vijayawada IN a setback to TDP supremo and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, the Andhra Pradesh High Court on Friday dismissed his quash petition in the AP State Skill Development Cor poration (APSSDC) case. Observing that the plea was devoid of merit, the court said that it could not conduct a minitrial on a petition filed under Section 482 of the CrPC. In his 68-page order, Justice K Sreenivasa Reddy pointed out that the AP Crime Investigation Department (APCID), which registered a case in 2021, had examined more than 140 witnesses and collected over 4,000 documents pertaining to the case. Dismissing the petition, the judge said: “Profligacy is such an esoteric subject, where investigation has to be carried with utmost proficiency by the professionals. At this stage, where the investigation is on the fulcrum of attaining finality this court is not inclined to , interfere with the impugned proceedings.” The court heard the arguments of both sides three days ago and had reserved its orders. The ACB special court in Vijayawada on Friday granted two-day custody of former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu to the AP Crime Investigation Department for questioning in connection with the multicrore AP State Skill Development Corporation scam | P5 NAVEEN PATNAIK DHARMENDRA PRADHAN Odisha Chief Minister Union Minister ODISHA LITERARY FESTIVAL SEPTEMBER 23 & 24 2023 BHUBANESWAR MAYFAIR CONVENTION It’s official, JD(S) in NDA for 2024 LS polls RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR @ New Delhi PUTTING an end to speculations, the Janata Dal (Secular) on Friday said it will ally with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The decision was announced after JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy met BJP national president J P Nadda and Union home minister Amit Shah at Nadda’s residence. The JD(S) joining its camp will give the BJP a boost in me, which are part of the record of Lok Sabha. Among words he used against me were bhadwa (pimp), katwa (circumcised), mullah ugravadi (Muslim terrorist) and atankvadi (terrorist) etc,” Ali wrote to the Speaker and requested that the matter be referred to the privileges committee. Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and KC Venugopal visited Ali and expressed solidarity Later, . Rahul tweeted pictures with Ali and said, “Nafrat ke bazaar mein mohabbat ki dukaan (spreading love in market of hate).” Karnataka as it prepares for the general elections, months after losing the state Assembly elections to the Congress. “I am happy that JD(S) has decided to be the part of National Democratic Alliance. We wholeheartedly welcome them in the NDA. This will further strengthen NDA and vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji for ‘New India, Strong India’,” Nadda wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Welcoming the JD(S) to the NDA, Shah tweeted: “Their association will lead Karnataka on the path of development and pave the way for a stronger NDA and a stronger India.” BJP sources said talks with JD(S) leaders have been going on for the last six months. Party leaders believe an alliance with the JD(S) will ensure its domination in Karnataka in the Lok Sabha elections as the regional party enjoys a strong political grip in the state’s southern parts. The JD(S) is the third biggest political party in Karnataka after the Congress and the BJP in Karnataka. BATTLE READY BJP leaders believe an alliance with the JD(S) will ensure its domination in Karnataka in the Lok Sabha elections as the regional party enjoys a strong political grip in the southern parts of the State. BIBEK DEBROY Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) Presenting Partner MANI SHANKAR AIYAR Former Union Minister & Author PARAKALA PRABHAKAR Economist & Author Associate Partners ANAND RANGANATHAN Scientist and Writer HANSAL MEHTA Director Outdoor Partner MITA VASISHT Actor Radio Partner Hospitality Partner Leading Out-Of-Home Media Owners Gold Partners Book Partner TV Partner Print Partner