L45L cr wiped out from equity markets this year The decline, driven by weak quarterly earnings, high valuations, and FII outflows, saw I24 lakh crore loss in the past week alone Indices in the red eight times in a row 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. KOzhikode l saturday l February 15, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l 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 Def, trade deals to ease tariff sting 10-year defence partnership framework, $500-billion mega trade deal in the works; India to get F-35 fighter jets from US J AYA N T H J A C O 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. India rejects offer to mediate on China row J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi with US President Donald Trump at the White House, in Washington, DC, on Friday | PTI KEY HIGHLIGHTS 10-yr defence framework US to sell more military hardware, including F-35 stealth combat jets, to India Joint weapons production, defence technology transfer on the cards to facilitate easier trade of defence goods and services between the US and India India to buy P-8I long-range maritime surveillance and antisubmarine plane India to buy more oil and gas from U.S. 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. “We have always adopted a bilateral approach to dealing with these issues. It’s no different between India and China. We have been discussing any issues that we have with them on a bilateral plane, and we will continue to do so,” Misri said. Forest dept, devaswom board differ on jumbo provocation E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i ce @Kozhikode A relative of Ammukutty Amma breaks down on seeing her body at her house at Kuruvangad on Friday | E Gokul A day after three people died when two elephants ran amok during the festival at Manakulangara Bhagavathi Temple in Koyilandy, the Malabar Devaswom Board and the forest department are presenting contradictory views on what could have pro- voked the jumbos. While the forest department asserted that bursting of firecrackers near the elephant led to the tragedy the devaswom board , claimed the temple only used the ordinary ‘kathina’, the sound of which does not usually provoke jumbos. The report submitted by the forest conservator, social for- estry Kozhikode, said bursting of , the firecracker provoked the elephant Peethambaran to attack the other jumbo, Gokul. This was confirmed from visuals captured by the media and statements of the mahouts and witnesses, said the report submitted to the district collector and principal chief conservator of forests. It said the assistant forest conservator found the elephants were not chained at the time and firecrackers were burst carelessly It . also said the temple authorities violated provisions in the Kerala Captive Elephants (Management and Maintenance Rules). It said steps were on to take legal action against the violations.  ● More on P4 `529-cr Central loan for Wayanad with riders E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i ce @T’Puram Six months after the devastating landslides in Wayanad killed nearly 300 people, the Union government has sanctioned an interest-free, long-term loan of `529.50 crore to Kerala to implement 16 projects for the rehabilitation of the victims, albeit on a strict and “impractical” spending deadline. The loan, to be repaid in 50 years, has been granted under the Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment (SASCI). A note dated February 11, received by the additional chief secretary (finance), said the fund was allocated for the 2024-25 fiscal and should be utilised before March 31, 2025. Finance Minister K N Balagopal said spending the money by the stipulated date would be challenging. The Centre is yet to take a call on the state’s request for a `2000-crore special package. The money was sought for scientific rehabilitation and reconstruction works. The strict conditions on spending, mainly the March 31 deadline, is a concern for the Kerala government. Only payment of funds to actual beneficiaries will be treated as expenditure, fund release to intermediaries will not, ● More on P4 said the note.