tirupati l saturday l february 15, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION `45 lakh crore wiped out from equity markets so far this year The decline, driven by weak quarterly earnings, high valuations, and FII outflows, saw `24 lakh crore loss in the past week alone indices in the red eight times in a row market cap dips below $4 trillion mark On Friday, the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty closed in the red for the eighth consecutive session, with the Sensex dropping 199.76 points to 75,939.21 and the Nifty falling 102.15 points to 22,929.25. The decline has been much steeper in the midcap and smallcap segments, mostly owing to FII sell-off, as they shifted focus to other emerging markets ■ Market capitalisation of BSE firms, which was `479 lakh crore on September 27, 2024, fell to `401 lakh crore by February 14 ■ Bloomberg data (which excludes ETFs and ADRs) shows India’s market cap dipped below the $4 trillion for the first time in over 14 months. President Trump’s tariff policies, too, is a factor in the dip 1.5% by which Rupee depreciated against the U.S. dollar year-to-date 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 India strikes defence & trade deals to ease US tariff sting 10-yr defence framework, $500-bn trade deal in works; India to get F-35 fighter jets JAYANT H JACO B @ New Delhi INDIA and the US on Friday decided to bolster their ties through a mega trade deal that will see bilateral trade hit an unprecedented $500 billion in five years and a new defence framework that will rekindle cooperation across space, air defence, missile, maritime, and undersea technologies. Notably India will get the coveted F-35 , fighter jets from the US, which is keen to expand defence sales and co-production with India. New Delhi will also consider importing oil and gas from the US to narrow the trade deficit to a large extent. Speaking to the media at a joint press meet after talks with US President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India and the US can have a MEGA partnership for prosperity by aligning Trump’s MAGA (Make America Great Again) with his own MIGA (Make India Great Again). Reflecting the tone and substance of their nearly four-hour meeting, which included formal talks, dinner, and a press conference, the joint statement issued after the meeting mentioned “cooperation” 18 times, “collaboration” 11 times, and “trade” 16 times. “Starting this year, we’ll be increasing military sales to India by many billions of dollars,” Trump told a joint news conference with Modi. “We’re also paving the way to ultimately provide India with the F-35 stealth fighters,” he said. “The leaders pledged to accelerate defence technology cooperation across space, air defense, missile, maritime and undersea technologies, with the US announcing a review of its policy on releasing fifth generation fighters and undersea systems to India,” the joint statement said. In the wake of Trump announcing reciprocal tariffs, a major part of the discussion was around trade issues and taking measures to have a road H a r p r e e t B a j w a @ Chandigarh A meeting between a Central team led by Union Minister Pralhad Joshi and farmers’ representatives to discuss their demands, including a legal guarantee for MSP on crops, was held here cordially on Friday followed by a consensus on the next round of talks slated for February 22. Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is likely to take part in the next meeting The over two-and-a-half-hour meeting with the 28-member delegation from the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha was held after a yearlong protest by farmers. The two outfits have been spearheading the ongoing farmers’ protest at Shambhu and Khanauri on the Punjab-Haryana border for the past one year. Following the meeting at the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration here, Joshi said the talks were held in a cordial atmosphere. “Details about the steps taken by the Narendra Modi government for farmers’ welfare were shared with their leaders in today’s meeting,” he added. Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who is on an indefinite fast, said that the meeting was held in a positive atmosphere. He was brought to the meeting venue from Khanauri protest site in an ambulance. Dallewal, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha convenor, has been on an indefinite hunger strike since November 26. H a r p r e e t B a j w a @ Chandigarh A US aircraft carrying 119 illegal immigrants is likely to land at the Amritsar airport on Saturday the second , such batch of Indians deported by the Donald Trump dispensation as part of its crackdown against illegal immigration. Sources said the aircraft is expected to land at the Guru Ram Dass International airport in Amritsar around 10 pm on Saturday .   Among the 119 Indian immigrants, 67 hail from Punjab, 33 from Haryana, eight from Gujarat, three from Uttar Pradesh, two each from Goa, Maharashtra and Rajasthan and one each from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. Another US plane carrying deportees is also expected to land on February 16. The development came days after a US aircraft carrying 104 deportees landed at the Amritsar airport last week. Stalker attacks 24-year-old with acid Naidu deplores attack PM Narendra Modi with US President Donald Trump at the White House, in Washington, DC | pti We believe that collaboration and cooperation between India and US can shape a better world - Narendra Modi map for a bilateral trade agreement. “Today we have set a target of more , than doubling bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030. Our teams will work on an early conclusion of a mutually beneficial Trade Agreement. We will strengthen the oil and gas trade to ensure India’s energy security. Investment in energy infrastructure will also increase,” Modi said. President Trump acknowledged India’s decision to reduce tariffs on certain imports and expressed his intention to begin discussions on trade disparities, aiming to reach an agreement. all for msp Farmers meet Central team, agree to talk on February 22 2nd batch of deportees to land in Amritsar Modi is a much tougher negotiator than me, and he is a much better negotiator than me - Donald Trump India rejects Trump’s offer to mediate on China row India on Friday rejected Donald Trump’s offer to mediate in the ongoing tensions between India and China, after the US president expressed his willingness to help stop what he called the “vicious skirmishes” along the India-China border. Speaking to reporters, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said India always addresses issues with neighbouring countries through bilateral discussions and this approach remains unchanged in the case of China express read 17 cases of Guillain-Barré identified in State Vijayawada: Seventeen patients diagnosed with Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) are currently receiving treatment at Government General Hospitals (GGHs) across the State, including five at the Guntur GGH, where two patients were recently discharged. Special Chief Secretary MT Krishna Babu reassured the public that GBS is a treatable condition and urged people not to panic | P3 Vallabhaneni Vamsi sent to 14-day judicial custody Vijayawada: The Fourth additional chief magistrate Court in Vijayawada remanded 14 days judicial custody for former Gannavaram MLA and senior YSRCP leader Vallabhaneni Vamsi Mohan and others in abduction and threatening case on Thursday night. He along with two others, Lakshmipati and Sivaramakrishna Prasad, were produced in the court where the judge gave judicial remand for two weeks | P4 Beware of criminals disguised as politicians, cautions Naidu S V i s w a n at h @ Vijayawada Criminals disguised as politicians are a serious threat to democracy, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu reportedly stated while addressing TDP leaders at the party headquarters in Mangalagiri on Friday. According to sources, Naidu’s remarks were made in the context of the arrest of YSRCP leader and former Gannavaram MLA Vallabhaneni Vamsi, which led to protests by party members. Referring to the previous YSRCP government, the Chief Minister said those who had undermined democracy over the past five years were now attempting to spread falsehoods about the current administration. “Attacks, destruction, and murders are only a part of jungle raj. Our government is democratic, and the administration is being run effectively , in accordance with the law,” Naidu told the TDP leaders. Additionally, he reviewed the party’s preparations for the upcoming MLC elections, which will be held for two Graduates’ constituencies and one Teachers’ constituency A three. member committee, comprising Visakhapatnam MP M Sribharat, MLC Chief Minister received grievances from people at the TDP headquarters and assured them that their issues would be addressed | Express Vepada Chiranjeevi Rao, and former MLC AS Ramakrishna, was tasked with deciding whether the TDP would support a candidate in the Teachers’ constituency covering the combined districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, and Visakhapatnam. Naidu also urged the leaders to take the elections for the Krishna-Guntur and East Godavari-West Godavari Graduates’ constituencies seriously and to ensure that the candidates supported by NDA win with a large majority . Water Resources Minister Nimmala Rama Naidu, TDP State President Palla Srinivasa Rao, Denduluru MLA Chintamaneni Prabhakar, and other leaders were present. CM Naidu strongly condemned the acid attack on the young woman and directed authorities to take strict action against the accused E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Nellore In a shocking incident, a 24year-old woman was attacked with acid and struck with a knife on her head by a man at Perampalle in Gurramkonda mandal of Annamayya district on Friday The woman . was attacked at her house, when her parents were away . According to reports, the woman, identified as Gauthami, recently completed her degree and was running a beauty salon in Madanapalle. She was engaged to Srikanth from Pileru, and was to get married on April 29. The accused, Ganesh from Ammacheruvumitta, had allegedly been harassing Gauthami and persuading her to marry him. On Friday, he forcefully entered into G a u t h a m i ’s h o u s e, struck her with a knife on the head, and then poured acid on her face before fleeing. On hearing the commotion, neighbours rushed to the spot and immediately shifted the woman to Madanapalle government hospital. The State government has arranged for her transfer to Bengaluru for advanced medical care. On receiving information about the incident, police swiftly traced Ganesh and arrested him within 15 minutes. It has been learnt that after attacking Gauthami, Ganesh consumed pesticide. He is also undergoing treatment at a hospital and is under police custody He will be . shifted to the police station afP4 ter recovering.