BENGALURU  SATURDAY  OCTOBER 05, 2024  `9.00  PAGES 22  LATE CITY EDITION APPLE SAYS IT WILL MANUFACTURE ENTIRE iPHONE 16 LINEUP IN INDIA Weeks after launching its iPhone 16 series, Apple said that it will manufacture its entire iPhone 16 lineup, including premium devices, in India PREMIUM DEVICES TO ROLL OUT THIS MONTH FOUR MORE APPLE STORES COMING UP This marks the first instance of Apple producing its premium devices outside China. The company said Indian-made iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max models will be rolled out this month. These will be available for local customers and will also be exported. “Apple is now manufacturing the entire iPhone 16 lineup, including iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, in India,” it said ■ ■ The iconic phone maker also said that it will open four more stores in India, to be located in Pune, Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR and Mumbai Apple’s manufacturing partners in India include Taiwanese giants Foxconn and Pegatron, as well as the Tata-owned Wistron. The Tata Group is Apple’s only Indian manufacturing partner | P15 2017 WHEN THE U.S.-BASED TECH GIANT BEGAN MANUFACTURING THE IPHONE IN INDIA 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 convenes urgent Cabinet meet to discuss West Asia crisis RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR @ New Delhi AMID rising global tensions over the prospects of an IsraelIran war, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has convened a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) to discuss the evolving situation and its potential impact on India. According to sources, a significant portion of the discussion focused on fuel and crude oil supplies, with Finance Minister Nir mala Sitharaman putting the status on trade with other countries. The committee deliberated on whether the rising international fuel prices, influenced by the situation involving Iran, could affect India’s oil sector. A source said the Ministry of Finance ruled out any immediate adverse implications for India. The CCS meeting, held late on Thursday evening, lasted over 20 minutes, during which various aspects of the unfolding situation were discussed. Apart from ministers, officials from Home Affairs, External Affairs, Finance, and Defence were also present. The ministers deliberated on the potential for trade relations with countries affected by the conflict, noting that India’s trade interests could be hit. Prime Minister Modi urged ministers and officials to maintain heightened vigilance and to closely monitor developments. He stressed the need to ensure the safety of Indian nationals working in West Asia. According to estimates, over 30,000 Indians are currently in Israel, while there are about 10,000 Indians are in Iran. Jaishankar-led team to attend SCO meet in Pak 28 MAOISTS KILLED IN SOUTH BASTAR E J A Z K A I S E R @ Raipur First Indian foreign minister in nine years to visit the neighbour amid frosty bilateral ties Y E S H I S E L I @ New Delhi received a high-level welcome in Pakistan. It is disappointing EXTERNAL Affairs Minister S and condemnable, but it is not Jaishankar will lead the Indian surprising,” said Jaiswal. delegation for the upcoming Bilateral ties became frosty SCO Summit in Islamabad, after Indian Air Force jets making him the first Indian bombed a Jaish-e-Mohammed foreign minister to visit Paki- training camp in Balakot deep stan in nine years. “Jaishankar inside Pakistan in February will lead the Indian delegation 2019 in response to a terror atfor the SCO Summit for Islama- tack on a CRPF bus in J&K’s bad on October 15-16,” said Pulwama. Months later, J&K’s Ministry of External Affairs special powers under Article spokesperson Randhir 370 were read down. Jaiswal on Friday . Pakistan retaliated by Foolproof The last time an Indowngrading diplosecurity dian external affairs matic ties with India. Pakistan minister went to PakiDuring his recent s t a n w a s S u s h m a minister Mohsin UN General Assembly Naqvi said Swaraj in 2015. address, Jaishankar personnel from said that while many There was no clarity the Army, on whether India will countries get left behave any bilateral Rangers, FC and hind due to circumPunjab police talks with other Shangstances beyond their hai Cooperation Or- will be deployed control, some make to ensure ganisation (SCO) conscious choices with foolproof members as Jaiswal disastrous consesaid Jaishankar is security for the quences, pointing to SCO guests, travelling to Pakistan Pakistan as a prime reports Dawn only to attend the sumexample. “A dysfuncmit. During the SCO tional nation coveting foreign ministers’ meeting in the lands of others must be exGoa in 2023, Pakistan’s foreign posed and countered,” he said. minister Bilawal Bhutto had He was rebuffing the false travelled to India along with 11 equivalence Pakistan Prime journalists from his country . Minister Shehbaz Sharif Significantly Indian fugitive sought to draw between Kash, and radical Islamist Zakir Naik mir and Palestine in his UNGA is in Pakistan over the past few address the previous day Later, . days. He also met Pakistani Defence Minister Rajnath Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Singh said India could have exon Thursday . tended much more aid to the “We are not surprised that a neighbour than the IMF’s $7 fugitive from Indian justice has billion had it mended its ways. EXPRESS READ SC forms SIT to probe Tirupati laddu row New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday set up a fivemember independent SIT to probe the allegations of use of animal fat in preparing Tirupati laddus. The development assumes significance as this panel substitutes the Andhra government’s SIT constituted to probe the allegations | P7 Haryana polls today, 1,027 candidates in fray Chandigarh: The fate of Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Vinesh Phogat of the Congress besides JJP’s Dushyant Chautala and 1,027 other candidates will be decided on Saturday as elections to the 90-member Haryana assembly will be held with over 2 crore people eligible to vote | P12 Metro fares to be revised soon? Committee set up E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Bengaluru NAMMA Metro is all set to hike its fares within a few months. A three-member fare fixation committee has been formed for the purpose. The committee has been given 90 days to submit its recommendations, which will be binding on Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), according to Metro sources. The committee is headed by retired Madras High Court judge Justice R Tharani and has Satyendra Pal Singh, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, and EV Ramana Reddy former Additional Chief , Secretary Karnataka, as its members. , The last fare revision was done eight years ago. The minimum fare is Rs 10 and the maximum is Rs 60. Smart card users get a 5% fare discount. An official said BMRCL has been requesting the Centre for a fare revision for the past three years. “The committee will take into account the operational cost, the interest paid annually to international lending agencies, the loan amount, and other costs,” he added. Stating that public views will be sought on the proposed fare hike, he said, “On Thursday we posted a no, tice on our website, appealing to Metro passengers to offer suggestions by October 21. Such notices will be displayed at all Metro stations soon.” Many Metro users have already opposed the proposed fare hike. Suggestions may be sent to ffc@bmrc.co,in or by post to The Chairperson, First Fare Fixation Committee, BMRCL, 3rd Floor, C-Block, BMTC Complex, KH Road, Shanti Nagar, Bengaluru 560027. GREEN LINE EXTENSION GETS NOD: P2 Bastar Inspector General of Police Sundarraj P inspects weapons recovered from Maoists after an encounter on September 25 in Narayanpur | EXPRESS Major encounters in Bastar this year MARCH 27: 6 Maoists killed in Bijapur APRIL 2: 13 Maoists killed in Bijapur APRIL 6: 3 Maoists killed along C’garhTelangana border APRIL 16: 29 Maoists killed in Kanker APRIL 30: 9 AUG 29: 3 woman MAY 23: 7 SEPT 3: 9 Maoists killed at inter-district border Narayanpur-Kanker Maoists killed on borders of KankerNarayanpur Maoists killed on inter-district border Narayanpur-Bijapur Maoists killed on inter-district border Dantewada-Bijapur JUNE 6: 7 SEPT 25: 3 Maoists Maoists killed on Narayanpur, Dantewada and Kondagaon June 15: 8 Maoists killed in Narayanpur killed In Narayanpur OCT 4: 28 Maoists killed on inter-district border DantewadaNarayanpur Maoists killed in last five years 2019 65 2020 40 2021 51 2022 30 2023 20 2024* 185 (*till Oct 4) AT least 28 Maoists were killed in a fierce gun battle with the security forces close to the forested NendurThulthuli area along the inter-district border of Dantewada and Narayanpur in south Bastar on Friday . Bastar range Inspector General of Police Sunderraj P said the troopers have recovered 28 bodies so far. The count could go up further. “Based on specific intelligence inputs about the presence of Maoists in the region, a joint team comprising District Reserve Guards and Special Task Force launched parallel search operations. While the encounter began around 1 pm, intermittent exchange of firing continued till late in the evening. Search operations in the region are under way,” Prabhat Kumar, Narayanpur district police chief, told this newspaper. A large cache of assault weapons, including AK-47, self-loading rifles and explo- sives were recovered from the site, the police said. There was no report of any injury sustained by the forces. The recovered bodies will be identified after the safe return of the security forces engaged in the operation. Dantewada and Narayanpur are among the seven Maoist-affected districts in Bastar zone. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai hailed the operation and said the ‘double engine’ government (BJP government in the state and at the Centre) is determined to end the menace. As many as 185 Maoist fighters have been neutralised by security forces this year alone (see table). Besides, 663 others have been arrested and 556 surrendered since January in the conflictridden Bastar zone. Since 2019, as many as 277 new camps of central armed police forces were set up to fill the security vacuum in the Maoist-affected areas of the state. Whodunnit? B’luru girl killed at home EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru MYSTERY shrouds the death of a 13-year-old schoolgirl in Bengaluru’s Jayanagar after an autopsy revealed that she had been murdered. The police are yet to crack the murder case registered more than three months ago. Gargi Murulidhar, a resident of Ushas Apartment, 16th Main Road, Jayanagar 4 ‘T’ Block, was found dead in her room on May 23. Her mother Shruthi Deshpande, who tried to wake her up in the morning, found Gargi’s bed wet, indicating that she had urinated at the time of her death. Hearing Shruthi’s screams, Gargi’s father Murulidhar sought the help of two doctors residing in the same apartment. The doctors, who examined Gargi, asked Murulidhar to rush her to hospital. The couple then took Gargi to a private hospital in Jayanagar, wh e re s h e w a s d e cl a re d brought dead. Suspecting foul play in his daughter’s death, Murulidhar filed a complaint with Tilak Nagar police. After registering an unnatural death report, the police shifted the body to Victoria Hospital for postmortem. Death due to asphyxia, says forensic report On July 18, the head of the hospital’s Forensic Medicine Department gave a report to the police stating that the “death was due to asphyxia as a result of smothering.” Based on the report, the police registered a murder case on July 18. Even after four months of the girl’s suspicious death, the police are yet to crack the case. They, however, suspect that the accused must be known to the victim. “Gargi’s father works as a delivery manager with a private company while her mother is a , teacher. Gargi was having summer holidays. On May 22, she visited her grandfather’s house P3 in Ashok Nagar.