BHUBANESWAR  SATURDAY  FEBRUARY 08, 2025  `9.00  PAGES 14  LATE CITY EDITION MODI TO MEET TRUMP NEXT WEEK DURING TWO-DAY U.S. VISIT: MEA Prime Minister Narendra Modi will reach the US on February 12 for a two-day working visit, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday TRIP COMES AS INDIA FACES DON’S TARIFF THREAT PRIME MINISTER TO VISIT FRANCE ON MONDAY Foreign secretary Vikram Misri said the visit will give further direction and momentum to the India-US relationship. “There is a clear convergence of interests between the two in several areas,” he said. It also comes as India faces Donald Trump’s tariff heat. The Republican has launched a global trade war by raising tariffs on goods from China, Canada, and Mexico | P9 ■ ■ “The fact that the Prime Minister has been invited to visit the US within barely three weeks of the new administration taking office shows the importance of the India-US partnership,” Misri said Prior to his US visit, Modi will be in France from February 10-12 to co-chair the AI Action Summit with President Emmanuel Macron Sept 21 WHEN PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI LAST VISITED THE U.S. 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 CYBER SECURITY FIGURED OUT GROWTH RBI forecasts FY26 growth at 6.7% on better Rabi harvest, tax relief INFLATION Inflation rate pegged at 4.2% in FY26 CHEAPER LOANS Home, auto, small business loans to see a drop in interest rates Banks to have ‘bank.in’ and non-bank financial entities ‘fin.in’ domain names to check cyber security threats RBI tango with FM gives 1st rate relief in five yrs Interest rate cut by 25 bps; guv says RBI will support growth while keeping inflation down B E N N K O C H U V E E D A N @ Mumbai SEEKING to build on the feelgood factor generated by the Budget, which announced significant tax cuts, the Reserve Bank of India on Friday cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 6.25%. This is the first repo rate cut in five years and, together with the income tax relief, could give a big boost to consumptiondriven growth. The immediate impact of the rate cut is that it will make home, auto, and small business loans cheaper; loans on floating interest rates will automatically come down by 25 bps. The latest cut brings curtains on the second longest high interest rate regime since the rate revision on October 22, 2008 ended a 5.1-year wait for the repo to fall from 8% after the global financial crisis that began in September 2007. Friday’s rate correction comes after five years, as the last cut was in May 2020 when RBI cut rates by an unconventional 50 bps to 4% during the peak of the pandemic. While industry as well as the markets were not im- pressed by the nominal 0.25% repo rate cut as they expected more, what is striking in the policy announcement this time is the tone of new governor Sanjay Malhotra’s statement; it says the monetary policy should be more accommodative to growth concerns than inflation. This signals a shift in approach by the central bank as taming inflation is the legal mandate of the monetary authority . RBI expects economic activity to improve with agricultural output remaining upbeat, while manufacturing is set to recover in the second half of 2025. Accordingly, Malhotra said the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is confident of the economy growing at 6.7% next fiscal compared to 6.4% in FY25. On inflation, the MPC sees prices moderating and finally aligning to the lower end of the target through the year. It sees inflation closing this fiscal at 4.8% and 4.2% in FY26. On the tax cuts in the Budget, Malhotra said household consumption would improve on the back of better employment P12 conditions. EXPRESS READ Cabinet nod to new South Coast Rly zone New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Friday approved the establishment of a new zone of the Indian Railways — South Coast Railway. This will include a portion of the Waltair division, which will be renamed the Visakhapatnam division. The new railway zone has been created in accordance with the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act and is expected to improve efficiency in railway operations | P9 India summons Bangla envoy over remarks New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday summoned Bangladesh’s Acting High Commissioner to India following protests lodged by Dhaka over the “highly aggressive” remarks made by former PM Sheikh Hasina. The MEA clarified that Hasina’s comments were made in her “individual capacity” and stressed that India had “no role to play” in it. “Comments attributed to former PM Sheikh Hasina have been made in her individual capacity in which India has no role to play | P9 FOUR-MEMBER SPECIAL INVESTIGATION TEAM FORMED IN PUNJAB TO PROBE THE RACKET; FIR REGISTERED Cuffing avoidable, shared concerns with US: GOI ALMOST all of the 104 Indians deported by the US entered it in January via Mexico, and while most of them were helped by travel agents based in Dubai, some went through agents in Delhi and the UK. As per officials who questioned the deportees at the Amritsar airport, many of them got in touch with the agents in Dubai through their local partners in India. Most of them paid several lakhs of rupees to these agents and travelled for months through multiple countries before reaching the US. Mandeep Singh, 29, from Punjab contacted a Dubai-based agent who had earlier helped him reach Spain. After paying `1 crore, he landed in Dubai. From there, he travelled to Ar- menia, and then to Serbia. From there, he reached Tijuana in Mexico. He then walked for over 100 km through jungle, and finally entered the US, only to be detained by the border police. Robin Handa, 26, from Haryana paid an agent `43 lakh that his parents got by selling one acre of land. He started his journey on July 24 and, after travelling through multiple countries, reached the US on January 22. He was detained at the border and send to a camp. In Punjab, the police have begun a crackdown on “fake travel agents”. A four-member Special Investigation Team has been constituted to look into the issue. The police registered a case on Friday against a person on a complaint filed by one of the deportees, who alleged that he paid `60 lakh to migrate to the US through the legal route, but was cheated. HC junks plea for CBI probe in MUDA case Odisha govt to launch its own clean air programme in 12 urban areas State cabinet approves budget for 2025-26 YAT H I R A J U @ Bengaluru SUDARSAN MAHARANA @ Bhubaneswar EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi AMID widespread outrage over mistreatment of 104 deportees from the US, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Friday said India has registered concerns with the US authorities, adding handcuffing was avoidable. “It is a valid issue to raise and we continue to emphasise to the US authorities that there should be no mistreatment. We will continue to take up any instances of mistreatment that come to our attention. Action needs to be taken across the system against the underlying ecosystem that thrives on promoting illegal immigration,” the foreign secretary said. Asked whether India, like Brazil and Colombia, had protested the use of handcuffs and chains on deportees, Misri said, “We have been in touch with the US and have regis- THE High Court of Karnataka on Friday dismissed a petition filed by Mysuru-based social activist Snehamayi Krishna seeking its direction for a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in allotment of 14 compensatory MUDA sites to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife B M Parvathy . The material on record nowhere indicates that the investigation conducted by the Lokayukta police is partisan, lopsided or shoddy for the case to be referred to CBI for further investigation or re-investigation, Justice M Nagaprasanna said while delivering the verdict dismissing Krishna’s petition. Granting liberty to the Lokayukta police to place its probe report before the special court to try criminal cases against sitting and former MPs/MLAs, which passed an order to register an FIR, the high court said it is for the petitioner to avail all such remedies under the law. The court said the investigation reports by the Inspector General of Police of Lokayukta and the Additional Director General of Police should be placed before the special court. In the considered view, the case needs no re-investigation, further investigation or denovo investigation by CBI, the court added. 487 MORE INDIANS FACE DEPORTATION In a related development, the US has notified about 487 other individuals, believed to be Indian nationals, against whom removal orders have been issued. Of these, the nationality verification process is underway for 295. Identifying details have been supplied to India on 298 individuals, Misri said tered our concern.” Responding to yet another question of whether there is any record of the government of the day (Congress-led UPA) protesting the use of restrains since 2012, the foreign secretary said there was none. Misri stressed that while the deportation process itself was not new, the latest one was “somewhat different” from previous repatriations, as it was classified by the US as a “national security operation”, while answering a question why a military aircraft was used. “This deportation is differ- THE Odisha government will soon launch its own clean air programme in line with the ongoing National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) and roll it out in 12 towns and cities to improve air quality and tackle air pollution. A decision to this effect was taken during the Quality Monitoring Committee (AQMC) meeting chaired by Additional chief secretary to Forest department Satyabrata Sahu here on Friday . Called the State Clean Air Programme (SCAP), it will be implemented in Sambalpur, Berhampur, Puri, Paradip, Keonjhar, Joda, Barbil, Bonai, Rajg a n g p u r, J h a r s u g u d a , Brajarajnagar, and Belpahar. Majority of the urban areas to be covered by the programme are impacted by intense mining and industrial activities. “Currently several air quality , ent. In the US system, it was described as a national security operation. We will consider any alternatives,” he said. A US military aircraft carrying 104 illegal immigrants landed in Amritsar on Wednesday, marking the first group of Indians deported under the Trump administration’s crackdown. Misri dismissed the US classification that India was uncooperative. “Every country seeks assurance that those being deported are its citizens, as there are legal and security considerations at play .” The State Clean Air Programme will be implemented in Sambalpur, Berhampur, Puri, Paradip, Keonjhar, Joda, Barbil, Bonai, Rajgangpur, Jharsuguda, Brajarajnagar, and Belpahar Sources improvement activities are being implemented in seven urban areas - Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Rourkela, Angul, Talcher, Kalinga Nagar and Balasore under NAPC. However, many others with potential air pollution threats were not included in NCAP. Accordingly the AQMC decided to roll out the clean air programme in the 12 identified cities under SCAP,” said Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) member-secretary K Murugesan. Sources said basing on the recommendations of the AQMC, the Forest, Environment and Climate Change department will submit a proposal to state RAHUL FLAGS MAHA ROLL ‘BUNGLING’ Hitting out at the Election Commission (EC) over alleged irregularities in the Maharashtra assembly polls, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday asked the poll panel to come clean on how 9.7 crore people cast their votes when the state has an adult population of 9.4 crore | P10 DIGNITY TO DEAD Odisha to deploy mobile morgues for mass fatality disasters A S I S H M E H TA @ Bhubaneswar IN a novel initiative that seeks to accord dignity to victims of mass fatality incidents, the Odisha government has procured 12 refrigerated mobile morgues to preserve bodies until they are shifted to hospitals. The morgues can be deployed during road, rail, industrial and drowning accidents as well as natural calamities. The Odisha Fire and Emergency Service which procured the morgues issued a standard operating procedure (SOP) to ensure the victims’ bodies are handled with necessary care and sensitivity. The SOP comes into effect on April 1. The tragic triple train accident in Balasore district’s Bahanaga on June 2, 2023 had necessitated that a more humane approach is adopted MOST OF DEPORTEES ENTERED U.S. IN JAN VIA AGENTS IN DUBAI A mobile mortuary at the Odisha Fire Services Training Centre in Naraj | DEBADATTA MALLICK for preservation of the victims’ bodies. Two mobile morgues with capacity to preserve 36 bodies each and another 10 which can store 10 bodies each have been procured so that they can be immediately engaged during natural or accidental disasters. The mobile morgues mounted on Odisha Fire Service trucks can preserve bodies up to minus 5 degree Celsius and will be placed in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack (including Naraj), Balasore, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Bhawanipatna, Koraput, Berhampur and Angul. As part of the SOP, the mobile morgues have been deployed to treat dead bodies with respect and ensure they are handled in a way that upholds the deceased’s rights. The SOP mandates fire personnel to use stretcher bags and white linen clothes to keep the bodies and cover them. To handle the bodies in a respectful manner and to protect the dignity of the deceased as well as their family members, the rescuers have also been directed to wear personal protective equipment like gloves, masks and clothing, read the SOP issued by DG, Fire Services Sudhansu Sarangi. CONTINUED ON P5 H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ Chandigarh government for budgetary allocation to roll out the SCAP for next five years. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi will be requested to launch the programme for which an action plan would be prepared. Since Odisha is targeting to be among the fastest growing states and has planned rapid urbanisation and industrialisation, a senior Forest officer said, the SCAP is a critical initiative. Population rise in urban areas has also led to significant growth in housing and transport, which in turn increased air pollution through vehicular load, dust, domestic cooking, waste and biomass burning and fugitive emissions from various sources. “All these factors make it essential for roll out of SCAP in which more urban areas could be added in the future to manage their air quality,” he said. Director of Environment Prem Kumar Jha, transport commissioner Amitabh Thakur and were present. @ Bhubaneswar THE state cabinet presided over by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Friday approved the budget for 2025-26. Sources said that the size of the budget will be around `3 lakh crore. The cabinet meeting was followed by a meeting of council of ministers where the budget was also discussed. The budget size increases by around 15 per cent every year. Majhi will be present the budget in the Assembly on February 17. The chief minister, who is also the state’s Finance minister, had presented the budget for 2024-25 amounting to `2.65 lakh crore on July 25, 2024. Presiding over a pre-consulation meeting on January 24, the chief minister had said that his government will present a pro-poor and pro-people’s budget for 2025-26. Majhi has asked all departments to spend the allotted funds by March-end.