HYDERABAD  SATURDAY  FEBRUARY 15, 2025  `9.00  PAGES 16  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 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 ■ 1.5% MARKET CAP DIPS BELOW $4-TRILLION MARK ■ 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. US President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, too, is a factor 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 Def, trade deals to ease tariff sting 10-year defence framework, $500-bn mega deal in the works; India to get F-35 jets 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 cov, eted 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 fourhour meeting, which included for mal 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 an- ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS Second US planeload of deportees lands in Amritsar HARPREET BAJWA @ 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. According to official sources, 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. Of them, 33 each were from Haryana and Gujarat and 30 from Punjab. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann launched a tirade against the Centre’s decision to land the aircrafts at Amritsar, calling it a conspiracy to defame Punjab. “Illegal immigration is not only Punjab’s problem, but is a national issue,” Mann said. We believe that collaboration and coo-peration between India and US can shape a better world - Narendra Modi Modi is a much tougher negotiator than me, and he is a much better negotiator than me PM Narendra Modi with US President Donald Trump during a meeting at the White House, in Washington, DC, on Friday | PTI nouncing 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 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 en. ergy 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. He also suggested that the trade deficit with India could be addressed through the sale of oil and gas. - Donald Trump India rejects Don’s offer on China row J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi 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. The foreign secretary’s comment was in response to a question during a media briefing about Trump’s proposal that he could mediate between India and China over territorial disputes and skirmishes. Earlier, at the joint presser with Modi, Trump had said: “I look at India, I do see the skirmishes on the border, which are quite vicious, and I guess they continue to go on. If I could be of help, I’d love to help, because that should be stopped.” Ostracise KCR, KTR for skipping caste survey: CM E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Hyderabad CHIEF Minister A Revanth Reddy on Friday urged people to socially boycott former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, his son K T Rama Rao, and nephew T Harish Rao for not participating in the recent socio-economic, education, employment, political, and caste survey conducted by the government. Speaking during a presentation on the caste census and SC categorisation by Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka at Gandhi Bhavan here, Revanth proposed a resolution for the social boycott of the three BRS leaders. Amid applause, he said, “I want you to pressure them to participate in the survey If they refuse to do so, os. tracise them.” He described the survey as the most significant event in independent India’s history , emphasising its meticulous execution. Revanth asserted that the survey was carefully conducted and would withstand judicial scrutiny. He advised BC communities not to criticise the survey, as it could CONTINUED ON P4 harm their interests. MEENAKSHI NATARAJAN NEW AICC TELANGANA IN-CHARGE Hyderabad: All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday appointed Meenakshi Natarajan as AICC in-charge of Telangana, relieving Deepa Dasmunshi, who had the responsibility of overseeing party affairs in Telangana in addition to Kerala. This change is part of AICC’s efforts to revamp the party structure. Notably, the Telangana Congress has got a new AICC in-charge in around 14 months and the fourth one in a span of less than two years | P4 Farmers meet Central team, agree to talk on Feb 22 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 (NonPolitical) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha was held after a year-long protest by farmers. The two outfits have been spearheading the ongoing farmers’ protest at Shambhu and Khanauri on the PunjabHaryana border for the past one year.