SAMBALPUR  WEDNESDAY  OCTOBER 23, 2024  `9.00  PAGES 12  CITY EDITION FOREIGN INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS WITHDRAW `82,000 CR FROM INDIA This is the highest outflow of funds in a single month. The FIIs offloaded equities worth `2,261 crore on Monday alone, provisional data showed LARGE INVESTORS SHIFTING FOCUS TO CHINA INDIAN MARKETS TANK AMID SELL-OFF According to market watchers, Indian stocks may be falling out of favour with FIIs, which are reportedly re-routing their funds to Chinese stocks. The foreign investors’ focus seems to have turned to Beijing after President Xi Jinping announced his plan to create a ‘high-quality market’ that gives the best bang for investors’ buck, followed up by a stimulus package unveiled this month | P10 ■ ■ Amid the massive sell-off, the Indian stockmarkets tanked on Tuesday, with the Sensex falling 930.55 points, or 1.15%, to settle at 80,220.72 Data showed the market cap of BSE-listed firms shrank `9,19,374 crore to `4,44,45,649 crore ($5.29 trillion) on Tuesday. This is interpreted as erosion of `9.19 lakh crore in investors’ notional wealth in a single day `61,973 cr THE PREVIOUS HIGHEST MONTHLY FII OUTFLOW, RECORDED IN MARCH 2020 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, XI TALKS TODAY Bilateral dialogue before BRICS Summit opens at Russia’s Kazan, says government Need to restore mutual trust to go back to status quo ante: Army Chief Gen Dwivedi We are trying to restore the trust. That will happen once we are able to see each other and reassure each other that we are not creeping into buffer zones that have been created Gen Upendra Dwivedi BILLION+ COUNTRIES India and China have a population of over a billion. “Anybody who is predicting developments of this century cannot leave India and China out of that equation,’’ External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said ECONOMIC TIES UP Economic ties are improving. China is India’s largest trade partner with $118.4 billion twoway trade in 2023-24. This was slightly higher than the bilateral trade between India and the US at $118.28 billion in the same year EXPRESS READ Blast at Jabalpur ordnance factory kills 2 Bhopal: a powerful blast inside the Ordnance Factory Khamaria (OFK) premises in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh killed at least two workers and wounded 15 others on Tuesday. While one of the workers Alexander Toppo (45) was blown into pieces on the spot, the other worker identified as Randhir Kumar (40), who was put on ventilator support at the Mahakoshal Hospital, died around two hours later | P8 TWO MEN PLEAD GUILTY TO MURDER OF AIR INDIA BOMBING ACCUSED Two men accused of killing Ripudaman Singh Malik, a Sikh man acquitted in the tragic 1985 Air India Kanishka terrorist bombing case, have pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in a Canadian court, according to media reports | P9 Govt draws plans to shift 10L people from 3K villages Cyclone Dana to emerge today, landfall still unclear EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE of the 14 districts, Balasore, Bhadrak, Puri, Mayurbhanj, Jagatsinghpur and KendraThe state government has para are likely to face the seprepared to evacuate more verity of the cyclone. Senior than 10 lakh people from over IAS officers have also been de3,000 vulnerable villages and ployed to oversee the rescue low-lying areas of 14 districts and relief operations. which are likely to be affected K Sudarshan Chakravarthy , by the cyclone. Trilochan Majhi, Balwant Chief Minister Mohan Cha- Singh, Vineet Bhardwaj, ran Majhi has deployed all Yamini Sarangi and Samarth senior ministers to supervise Verma have been given the cyclone mana g ement in charge of overall supervision districts. of rescue and relief operaThe two deputy chief min- tions in Balasore, Bhadrak, isters KV Singhdeo and Pra- Puri, Mayurbhanj, Jagatsvati Parida will be in charge inghpur and Kendrapara disof Kendrapara and Puri dis- tricts respectively . Collectors of Angul, Puri, tricts respectively while InNayagarh,Khurda, Cutdustries minister Samtack, Jagatsinghpur, pad Chandra Swain Kendrapara, Jajpur, will oversee JagatsBhadrak, Balasore, inghpur district. PanKeonjhar, Dhenkanal, chayatiraj and HighGanjam and Mayurber Education hanj districts have ministers Rabi Naybeen asked to identify ak and Suraj Surjyavulnerable villages banshi have been put from where evacuain charge of Balasore and Bhadrak The government tion will star t on has finalised Wednesday The evac. respectively . strategy to uation of from the vilUrban Development minister KC tackle the storm lages will be completMahapatra will be in with a mission to ed by the evening. ensure zero The minister said as Mayurbhanj, Transcasualty and many as 6,000 cyclone port minister BB minimum shelters including Jena Ganjam, Law damage to temporary centres minister Prithiviraj property and infrastructure have been readied in Harichandan Cutsuitable places like tack and Civil SupSuresh Pujari, schools and colleges. plies minister KC minister All preparations have Patra will be in been completed in the charge of Keonjhar. Addressing a media confer- shelters. Cooked food and ence here on Tuesday, Reve- necessary medical services nue and Disaster Manage- will be provided at the cyment minister Suresh Pujari clone relief centres. Collectors have been asked said the government has finalised the evacuation and to ensure that women, childeployment plans to tackle dren and affected persons the storm with a mission to from these villages are shiftensure zero casualty and min- ed to the cyclone shelters imum damage to property where women police and other officers will be deand infrastructure. CONTINUED ON P5 The minister said that out ployed. @ Bhubaneswar Y E S H I S E L I A N D M AYA N K S I N G H @ New Delhi SETTING all speculation to rest on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping holding a bilateral meeting in Russia’s Kazan, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said it will be held on Wednesday ahead of the BRICS Summit. “I can confirm that there will be a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Jinping tomorrow,” Misri said. This will be their first meeting after bilateral relations went south following a bloody clash of soldiers at Galwan in eastern Ladakh in 2020. Their meeting will not only signal to the world that the BRICS grouping is more powerful than perceived but also show India in a much stronger collaborative position with the China, Russia and Iran. Back home, Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi pointed to trust issues with China, saying, “We want to go back to the status quo of April 2020. Thereafter we will be looking at disengagement, de-escalation and normal management of LAC... This has been our stand since April 2020.” Gen Dwivedi was delivering the Colonel Pyara Lal Memorial Lecture on Indian Army’s Decade of Transformation in Delhi. He felt that both sides need to reassure and convince each other to move forward with the subsequent phases of disengagement. This newspaper had on Monday brought out the trust concerns with China as several sources said there was nothing on the ground to suggest China was willing to blink. The new agreement addresses two key friction points, Depsang and Demchok. The military has remained consistent in its interpretation of the disengagement processes from areas such as Galwan, Gogra, Hot Springs, and the north and south banks of Pangong Tso, while also asserting that this does not affect India’s claim over the LAC alignment. According to sources, previous disengagements were carried out on the principle of mutual and equal security with no prejudice , to either side’s claims over the LAC. However, the standoff at Depsang remains significant, as Chinese troops have blocked access to Patrol Points (PPs) 10, 11, 11A, 12, and 13, which cover an area of approximately 952 sq km. These PPs, located east of the strategic SubSector North road, are not directly on the LAC but lie within Indian territory Sub-Sec. tor North is crucial due to its terrain, which allows large-scale armoured operations. IMPENDING DISASTER Russian President Vladimir Putin embraces Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during their meeting on the sidelines of BRICS Summit at Kazan on Tuesday | AP/PTI Iran Prez seeks support to end conflict in bilateral talks tional North South Corridor. Discussions were also held on Afghanistan and humanitarian PRIME Minister Narendra assistance provided to the peoModi on Tuesday held bilateral ple there. “Had a very good meetings with Iran’s new Presi- meeting with the President of dent Masoud Pezeshekian and Iran, Mr Masoud Pezeshkian. Russian President We reviewed the full Vladimir Putin upon range of relations behis arrival in Kazan, tween our countries. ahead of the 16th We also discussed All our efforts give ways to deepen ties in BRICS Summit. priority to “Prime Minister futuristic sectors,” Modi had his first-ever humanity; India is Modi later said. ready to provide meeting with PresiAs for the first bilatall possible dent Pezeshekian after eral, Putin joked that cooperation to he won the elections in Russia-India ties are end Ukraine war Iran. The two leaders so strong that he felt Narendra Modi, spoke about the need Modi would underPrime Minister to de-escalate tensions stand his comments in West Asia. Iran without a translator. sought India’s help in the resoOn the war in Ukraine, Modi lution of the conflict as it was said, “I have been in touch with acquainted with leaders across Putin. I would want a peaceful the world,” Foreign Secretary resolution keeping in mind the Vikram Misri said. humanitarian crisis. India will Modi also spoke about the extend all possible support for Chabahar port and the Interna- the peace process.” EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bhubaneswar THE deep depression over Bay of Bengal continued to build on Tuesday as it tracked north-westwards towards Odisha coast, gradually making the transition to cyclonic storm Dana over the next 12 hours. Even as suspense over the impending cyclone’s landfall continued, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said coastal districts of the state will start experiencing rain from Wednesday under influence of the system which was located about 690 km southeast of Paradip. IMD DG Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said the system will track north-westwards and intensify into a severe storm over north-west Bay of Bengal by Thursday morning. The national agency continued to provide a large band for the storm’s landfall between Puri and Sagar Island (West Bengal) on Thursday night and Friday with wind speed reaching 100 km to 110 km per hour and gusting up to 120 km. However, the coordinates suggested that it may cross the coast between Kendrapara and Bhadrak districts. Some models even suggested the cyclone’s track may move further north up. CONTINUED ON P5 40 more flights get bomb threats SHEKHAR SINGH & UJWAL J A L A L I @ New Delhi HOAX bomb threats continued to keep the security agencies on their toes and inconvenience passengers on Tuesday as about 40 more flights received threat emails. Three CRPF schools, including the one in Rohini where an explosion happened two days ago, also received threats on Tuesday. On Tuesday, a CRPF school in Dwarka and another one Hyderabad also received hoax bomb threats. The emails, reportedly sent late in the night on Monday, indicated a potential bomb explo- sion in classrooms at 11 am on Tuesday. Officials said a detailed probe is underway, with senior officers of the CRPF, Intelligence Bureau, and Delhi Police reviewing the situation. Between Monday and Tuesday at least 70 flights belonging , to Air India, Vistara, IndiGo, and Akasa Air faced fresh 3 SCHOOLS TARGETED A CRPF school in Delhi’s Dwarka, another one in Rohini where an explosion happened two days ago, and a third CRPF school in Hyderabad also received hoax bomb threats through emails bomb threats through social media, bringing the total number of such threats in the past eight days to 160. Sources put the security threats for Air India at 13, Vistara 11, and Akasa Air 12 on Tuesday. Meanwhile, IndiGo said 23 of its flights—both domestic and international— were targeted on Monday and Tuesday. It said three Jeddahbound flights were diverted to Riyadh, Medina, and Doha. A Vistara spokesperson said that a few of their flights received security threats through social media. An Akasa spokesperson also confirmed receiving security alerts on Tuesday . BATTLE READY Fire services personnel ready equipment before moving out to cyclone zone, in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday | DEBADATTA MALLICK Meet on Wakf turns ugly as TMC member smashes bottle P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi THE meeting of the Joint Committee on Waqf (Amendment) Bill witnessed high-voltage drama on Tuesday as Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee smashed a glass bottle during a heated exchange of words with BJP member and for mer Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay, injuring himself in the process. Banerjee was suspended for one day from the committee after BJP MP Nishikant Dubey moved a motion to suspend him for his unruly behaviour. The motion was backed by nine members while eight voted against it, following which chairperson and BJP Lok Sabha MP Jagdambika Pal issued the suspension order. The meeting was adjourned briefly following the incident and Banerjee, who hurt his thumb and index finger was taken away for medical aid. The incident took place when the panel was listening to the views of two Odishabased organisations that included retired judges and lawyers. The opposition MPs including Banerjee questioned the organisation’s stake in the bill. According to a member, though Banerjee was given an opportunity to speak during the proceeding, he sought another turn to speak. However, Gangopadhyay objected to the repeated disturbances and a heated exchange erupted between the two. Sources claimed The incident took place when the panel was listening to the views of two Odisha-based organisations that included retired judges and lawyers. The opposition MPs including Banerjee questioned the organisation’s stake in the bill – Sources TMC’s Kalyan Banerjee injured his hand when he smashed a glass bottle | PTI both MPs used abusive language and Banerjee grabbed a glass water bottle and smashed it on the table. A source told this paper that Banerjee lost his cool when Gangopadhyay allegedly made some remarks about his mother. “Both of them were talking in Bengali... Later, Banerjee said Gangopadhyay used derogatory language against his mother. However, Gangopadhyay claimed Banerjee began it first,” said the source.