2026 Asian Para Games: India finish on a high BENGALURU  SATURDAY  OCTOBER 24, 2026  `9.00  PAGES 20  LATE CITY EDITION Double medallist shooter Mona Agarwal (C) will be one of India’s flag-bearers | PCI Chennai: India registered their best-ever show at the 2026 Asian Para Games with a rich haul of 114 medals, including 30 gold medals on Friday. On the last day of their competition, they collected as many as nine gold, India’s highest single-day haul in the ongoing edition. They were placed fourth on the medal tally. The country had finished fifth in the last edition (2023) | P15 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 STATE OF THE ECONOMY Festive cheer eludes Net FDI inflows went Street amid oil shock up 44% in Apr-Aug D I PA K M O N D A L @ New Delhi INDIAN equities continue to bleed through the festive season when buying sentiment is typically strong. The benchmark indices—BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50—settled in the red in all four trading sessions of this week, with the broader indices facing a much steeper decline. On Friday the 30-share BSE Sensex opened higher but later , plunged 797.02 points, or 1.08%, to hit an intraday low of 72,452.37. It later recouped some losses to settle at 73,123.83, down 125.56 points, or 0.17%. The 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 87.65 points, or 0.39%, to close at 22,600 after tumbling 315.65 points, or 1.39%, to a low of 22,372 on Friday The Nifty Mid. cap 100 declined 2.21% and the Nifty Smallcap 100 fell 2.94%. Investors lost over `20 lakh Friday’s crore this week as the market 74,000 73,249.39 close Previous 73,123.83 capitalisation of all BSE-listed close firms came down from `473.46 lakh crore to `452.40 lakh crore. 73,000 The decline is primarily attributed to elevated crude oil prices amid growing tensions in 72,000 West Asia. At about $116 per bar9 am 11 am 1 pm 3 pm 4 pm rel, Brent crude oil is trading CHANGE near a six-month high. For In-125.56 (-0.17%) dia, persistently high crude prices pose risks to imported inflation, corporate margins, and currency stability If oil prices . remain high, it could also lead to foreign fund outflows, further hurting domestic equities. “Indian markets are currently seeing selling pressure primarily due to global factors with elevated geopolitical tensions, rising bond yields and the sharp rise in crude oil prices, which increased concerns around inflation, margins and the current account. At the same time, tighter global liquidity and higher interest rates have reduced risk off sentiment,” said Shweta Rajani, associate director, Anand Rathi Wealth Ltd. Rajani explained that historically, the festive season that starts from the Navratri days till the end of Diwali has been favourable for equities. AMID the exodus of foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) from Indian equity markets, net foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows have provided a silver lining, rising 44% year-on-year to $13.8 billion during April-August 2026, up from $9.6 billion in the first five months of last fiscal. According to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) October bulletin released on Friday net FDI stood at $3.3 billion in August, , supported by sustained gross FDI inflows and a moderation in the pace of outward FDI. The RBI data showed that gross FDI inflows rose 20% y-o-y to $11.1 billion during the April-August period, while net outward FDI increased 26.5% to $17.7 bilNET FOREIGN DIRECT AND lion, compared with a 41.9% PORTFOLIO INVESTMENT rise a year ago. In August, outward FDI flows moderated, 2024-25 with more than half directed Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 towards Singapore, the NetherNet FDI 6.2 -2.8 -2.8 0.4 lands and the US. India recorded negative net Net FPI 0.9 19.9 -11.4 -5.9 FDI flows from August to De2025-26 (Provisional) cember 2025 before recovering Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 in the final quarter of the previNet FDI 5.2 2.1 -5.1 4.5 ous financial year. In the current financial year, net FDI Net FPI 1.6 -5.7 -0.2 -13.5 again slipped into negative ter2026-27 (Provisional) ritory in May and June as outQ1 Q2 ward investments exceeded inward inflows. Net FDI 3.1 10.7* Financial services, commuNet FPI -9.6 -0.3 nication services, computer (Figures in $ bn) *Data for July-August services and manufacturing accounted for 73% of total FDI equity inflows during April-August 2026. Singapore, Japan, Mauritius, the United Arab Emirates and the US were the major sources of inward FDI, together accounting for around 81% of total inflows. The rebound in FDI comes amid a sustained sell-off by FPIs to the tune of $9.8 billion during April-August, data showed. RBI also reported a sharp rise in its net dollar purchases in August, buying $43.26 billion on a net basis, more than double the $18.65 billion purchased in July The increase came amid . significant inflows of NRI deposits into banks. BSE SENSEX Source: RBI bulletin A R S H A D K H A N @ New Delhi PLA patrol deviation tied to LAC disturbances: Govt J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi INDIA and China continue to use established diplomatic and military mechanisms to resolve outstanding issues and prevent misunderstandings along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Friday, amid a row over remarks by Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) chief Shatrujeet Kapur about an ongoing face-off in Arunachal Pradesh. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, responding to questions about Kapur’s reported comments, said disturbances along the India-China border occur when Chinese troops deviate from “established patrolling patterns.” He, however, did not provide specific details about the reported face-off in Arunachal Pradesh and referred questions on operational matters to the Ministry of Defence. “We have noted in the past, the situation in the India-China border areas gets disturbed from time to time when Chinese forces diverge from established patrolling patterns,” Jaiswal said. “Both sides continue to use existing diplomatic and military mechanisms to resolve outstanding issues and avoid misunderstanding and miscalculation along the Line of Actual Control,” he added. Jaiswal also said the two countries had agreed to discuss ways to improve their understanding of the LAC in appropriate areas to strengthen border management. EXPRESS READ Review finds no lapses in Gyanesh clean chit T’Puram: Keralam’s Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) has found no lapses in its 2007 preliminary inquiry against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, following the suicide of a Malaysian engineer in the state. Kumar, then secretary of public works department, was given a clean chit in the probe at the time | P7 STING OP: CONG WOMAN LEADER SURRENDERS BEFORE CCB POLICE EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru IN a major development in the sting operation case involving former chief minister Siddaramaiah, a Congress woman leader from coastal Karnataka is said to have surrendered before the Central Crime Branch (CCB) police in Bengaluru. The police, however, are yet to formalise her arrest procedures. According to highly-placed sources, the police are likely to take the Congress leader into custody for questioning in connection with the case. The woman leader’s surrender came after the police issued a notice to her to appear before the investigation officer for questioning. Speaking to reporters in Mysuru on Friday Siddaramai, ah alleged that Congress leader Kripa Alva and Rakesh Shetty , who is associated with a Kannada news channel, were behind the sting operation. Earlier, Union Minister for Steel HD Kumaraswamy had also held the duo responsible for the sting operation. It may be recalled that Siddaramaiah had filed a complaint with the cybercrime police on October 6 in connection with the sting opMORE: P4 eration row.