BHUBANESWAR  SATURDAY  JUNE 07, 2025  `9.00  PAGES 14  LATE CITY EDITION Elon Musk’s Starlink has bagged a licence for satellite internet services, a milestone towards launching commercial operations in India | P12 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 Big relief: RBI cuts repo by 50 bps, CRR 1% India’s Operation Sindoor will haunt PM dedicates projects worth `46,000 crore to nation Omar raises statehood issue Pakistan forever, says Modi in J&K RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR & F AYA Z W A N I @ Katra / Srinagar PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Friday lit into Pakistan, accusing the ‘unfortunate neighbour’ of conspiring to derail the economy and empowerment of Jammu and Kashmir through the brutal terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22. “Pakistan attacked both insaniyat (humanity) and Kashmiriyat (Kashmir’s social harmony) in Pahalgam. It wanted to spark communal riots in India and rob Kashmiris of their livelihood,” Modi said in his first visit to J&K after the April 22 terror attack. His comments came while addressing a rally after inaugurating the world’s highest single-arch rail bridge over the Chenab river, India’s first cable-stayed Anji bridge, and flagging off Vande Bharat trains to mark the completion of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla railway link that providies direct train connectivity to the Kashmir Valley . In all, Modi inaugurated development projects worth `46,000 crore for the region. “On the night of May 6, doom was let loose on Pakistan’s terrorists,” Modi said, adding that Pakistan will be reminded of its shameful defeat whenever it hears the name Operation Sindoor. “The edifice of terror that Pakistan built over the years was reduced to rubble in minutes. Development and peace of J&K is the Modi guarantee which nothing can hamper,” he said. He also lauded the people of Jammu and Kashmir for standing firm against terrorism. Reaffirming the Centre’s commitment to J&K’s all-round development, he said improved railway connectivity would transform the region with allweather connectivity . Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who was present on the occasion, praised the successful completion of the rail link—a feat he said even the British attempted but failed.He also used the occasion to reiterate his demand for restoration of statehood to J&K. He joked he was demoted from the CM of a full-fledged state to CM of a Union Territory, while L-G Manoj Sinha, who was MoS earlier, got a promotion. He expressed confidence that J&K would regain statehood under Modi’s watch. India launches pre-feasibility study to divert Chenab water JITENDRA CHOUBEY @ New Delhi INDIA has launched a prefeasibility study for the construction of the Chenab-Ravi-Beas-Sutlej link canal project aimed at diverting water from the Chenab flowing into Pakistan under the currently inactive Indus Water Treaty (IWT). The project proposes to channel 15-20 million acrefeet (MAF) of water from the Chenab to Indian states of Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan, as part of a broader effort to strengthen domestic water infrastructure and assert greater control over Indus basin resources. The move follows the effective suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty under which India was permitted to use 20 pc of the basin’s water. Additionally, a team has begun assessing the existing canal structures across Jammu, Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan. CONTINUED ON P5 ‘LIVELIHOOD HIT’ Modi said the Pahalgam attack directly impacted local workers in J&K—horse riders, porters, guides, shopkeepers and guest house owners PRAISE FOR ADIL PM praised the courage of Syed Adil Shah, who was killed by terrorists when he tried to save tourists from bullets Top: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, MoS Jitendra Singh, J&K L-G Manoj Sinha, and CM Omar Abdullah during inauguration of Chenab rail bridge; Above: Vande Bharat flagged off by PM, crosses the rail bridge on Friday | PTI CARNEY INVITES MODI TO ATTEND G7 SUMMIT J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi IN a major signal of improving ties between India and Canada following erosion of diplomatic relations under former Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday confirmed his participation in the upcoming G7 Summit, to be held in Kananaskis, Alber ta, from June 15–17. Confirming his attendance, Modi said he looks forward to meeting the newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney . Taking to X on Friday, Prime Minister Modi said. “Glad to re- ceive a call from Prime Minister @MarkJCarney of Canada. Congratulated him on his recent election victory and thanked him for the invitation to the G7 Summit in Kananaskis later this month. As vibrant democracies bound by deep people-to-people ties, India and Canada will work together with renewed vigour, guided by mutual respect and shared interests. Look forward to our meeting at the Summit.” India’s ties with Canada turned frosty under Carney’s predecessor Justin Trudeau over a host of issues, including the activities of Khalistani separatists in the country . Signals pause in rate cut cycle for the time being; releases `2.5L cr into banking system D I PA K M O N D A L @ New Delhi THE Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has ‘frontloaded’ the dose of relief for borrowers. On Friday the central bank’s , rate-setting panel surprised the Street with a 50 basis point cut in the repo rate—the benchmark lending rate—to 5.5% against the expectation of a 25 basis point reduction. The panel also shifted its policy stance from ‘accommodative’ to ‘neutral’, signalling an end of rate cut cycle for now. With Friday’s cut, RBI has lowered the repo rate by a cumulative 100 basis points (bps) in 2025. To ease liquidity conditions, RBI also announced a 100 bps cut in the cash reserve ratio (CRR) from 4% to 3%, to be implemented in four tranches starting September 6. This is expected to release `2.5 lakh crore into the banking system. Speaking to the media, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said the move was aimed at ensuring policy certainty He said RBI could have done the . rate cut in tranches, but it wanted to give a sense of certainty to the market with a 50 bps cut. Malhotra said the Monetary Policy Committee’s decision was taken in view of durable disinflation and the need to boost private consumption and investment. “Inflation has softened, with headline CPI falling to 3.2% in April—below the 4% target,” he said. “We now MPC will project inflation for FY26 at 3.7%, down from our earlier carefully assess data to chart forecast of 4%.” out future On reverting to the ‘neutral’ course of stance from ‘accommodative’, monetary policy he clarified this change indicates a “very limited space” for Sanjay Malhotra, RBI guv further monetary policy action. 7 HIGHS AND LOWS 6 5 4 3 40 50 50 50 35 A neutral stance will mean rates in future can go either way . “It will depend on how the data comes in. If growth is weaker, it can mean it will go down. If growth is good, inflation is going up, the repo rate can go up,” he said. Meanwhile, real GDP growth for FY26 has been retained at 6.5%, with Q1 projected at 6.5% and Q2 at 6.7%. The governor said the domestic economy remains resilient, supported by several P12 positive factors. REPO RATE (%) 25 0 CHANGE (BPS) -25 4.4 4.9 5.4 5.9 6.25 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.25 MAY ’22 JUNE AUG SEP -25 6 DEC FEB ’23 JUNE SEP ’24 DEC FEB ’25 APR -50 5.5 JUNE