PAC meet put off as buch doesn’t turn up The Sebi chairperson skipped a Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee meeting on Thursday, forcing panel head K C Venugopal to postpone it. He said the panel received a message from Buch at 9.30 am that she and her team wouldn’t be able to appear before it due to “exigencies”. BJP members questioned the move to summon regulatory chiefs | P9 chennai l friday l october 25, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 112 l late city EDITION 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 Refer Indulge - Pg 12 & 13 Pullback begins from Depsang and Demchok Forces have moved away from stand-off points but remain in the vicinity, say sources Restoring Ground situation Broad consensus reached on restoring the ‘ground situation’ along LAC, Union defence minister Rajnath Singh said. The agreement includes patrolling and grazing in the traditional areas, he said M AYA N K S I N G H @ New Delhi DAYS after India and China disclosed that an agreement has been reached to de-escalate the border tension, sources said on Thursday that troops from both sides have begun disengaging from the standoff points in Depsang and Demchok in Eastern Ladakh. The troops have moved away from the points near the Y-Junction in Depsang and Charding Nullah Junction in Demchok, it is learnt. “But the troops remain in the vicinity sources said, indicating that both sides are ,” treading cautiously . In other words, although troops have moved away from the standoff points, there is no real change in the overall troop deployment in the area. Broadly, the infrastructure also remains the same as only the temporary structures such as tents and shades have been dismantled. “The withdrawals are mutual. Patrolling may take some time to resume because it will depend on the removal of the structures which came up since the April 2020 clashes,” said an official. Speaking at an event in Delhi on Thursday Un, ion Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said a broad consensus has been achieved, which includes patrolling and grazing in traditional areas. This is the power of engaging in dialogue, he said. While grazing grounds are only towards Demchok with the nullah in the vicinity the landform , is rugged and rocky towards Depsang, where there are significant patrolling points. Monday’s agreement was about the two friction points, Depsang and Demchok. The strategic importance of Depsang is underscored by its proximity to the Y Junction, which is just 20 km from Daulat Beg Oldi airfield. Cyclone Dana landfall keeps Odisha govt on its toes B ijay C haki /A sish M ehta @ Bhubaneswar Odisha braced for impact as severe cyclonic storm Dana, packing strong winds, crossed the coast pelting heavy showers just around Thursday midnight. While the storm’s progress and landfall had kept weather experts guessing all day, the state government evacuated 5.84 lakh people to cyclone shelters as the tropical storm made landfall in the Paradip-Dhamra band, closer to Bhitarkanika national park in Kendrapara, impacting three districts with wind speed hitting past 100 km per hour. Though no major damage was registered, rain and strong wind uprooted trees in Kendrapara and Bhadrak districts. The NDRF, Odisha Fire and Emergency Service and other agencies quickly cleared the affected roads. Prime Minister Narendra Modi dialled Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and took stock of the preparedness of the government. Union home minister Amit Shah too discussed the preparedness with the CM. He assured all help from the Centre. Earlier, Majhi reviewed preparedness with collectors of various coastal districts. “Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Balasore districts are likely to bear the maximum impact as predicted by the IMD,” he said. Big Rly projects for Bihar, AP M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw briefs the media on Thursday | PTI Deployment period of venture capital fund Deployment period of the VC fund (`150-250 cr per year) in the space sector is 5 yrs from start of fund operations In a big push for infrastructure development in the NDAruled Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, the Union Cabinet on Thursday cleared one mega Railway project each with a total estimated cost of `6,798 crore. In another decision, the Cabinet approved the establishment of a Venture Capital Fund worth `1,000 crore for the space sector under the aegis of IN-SPACe to promote and oversee private sector participation in the sector. Talking to reporters after the Cabinet meeting, Information & Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the two mega railway projects scheduled to be completed in five years will provide connectivity, facilitate ease of travel, minimise logistics costs, reduce oil imports and lower carbon emissions. The projects involve doubling the Narkatiaganj-RaxaulSitamarhi-Darbhanga and Sitamarhi-Muzaffarpur sections, covering 256 km in Bihar with an estimated cost of `4,553 crore, and the construction of a new line between Errupalem and Namburu via Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh, covering 57 km with an estimated cost of `2,245 crore, the minister said. The doubling of the rail line is expected to strengthen connectivity to Nepal, the Northeast and the border areas. The new Errupalem-Amaravati-Namburu rail line will traverse through NTR Vijayawada and Guntur districts of Andhra and Khammam district of Telangana. Sr rail officers on safety inspection RA J ES H KUM A R TH A KUR @ New Delhi Amid a spate of derailments, the Ministry of Railways has decided to involve its senior administrative grade (SAG) officers to conduct inspections to enhance safety From now on, . SAG officers will carry out two night inspections per month at roadside stations, level-crossing gates, or on footplates. This is in addition to regular day- time inspections of maintenance practices across all departments, which may include monitoring crew operations and visits to running rooms. They also have been tasked with conducting “ambush checks” at unmanned level crossings in collaboration with the police to check if safety measures are in place. The decision follows bus fareITup PVT OPERATORS HIKE BY 20% Non-AC seater ticket prices have gone up across all routes and price of a ticket from Chennai to Coimbatore will be `1,800. Bus ticket cost from Chennai to Tirunelveli or Kanniyakumari will be `2,500 apiece | P4 a safety review meeting on October 8, where a system was suggested for assigning officers for night inspections and to monitor the inspections carried out by other nominated officers. The ministry directed General Managers (GMs) and Divisional Railway Managers (DRMs) to implement this system and ensure daily oversight of night inspections. “A number of these accidents are avoidable as they are on account of failure of railway staff. It is essential that constant monitoring is done at all levels of the implementation of follow-up on laid down safety rules and procedures.” All SAG officers at the headquarters eligible to be posted as DRMs/GMs may be utilised for inspections. With this issue 17th 96 PAGES express read ‘Dikshitars sold 18 acres of Natarajar temple land’ Chennai: The HR&CE department on Thursday informed the Madras HC that it has collected evidence for the sale of 18 acres of Chidambaram Natarajar Temple land by Podhu Dikshitars | P2 HC wants regulatory body for Christian institutions Chennai: Expressing the need for a statutory body to regulate the affairs of Christian institutions, the Madras HC sought the reply of centre and TN on the issue | P7