Counting day today in Maha, Jharkhand The counting of votes for the crucial assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand will begin at 8 am on Saturday. The Jharkhand election was conducted in two phases on November 13 and 20. Votes polled in the by-elections to 46 assembly seats in 13 states and in the Lok Sabha segments of Nanded in Maharashtra and Wayanad in Kerala, will also be counted simultaneously | PTI | P8 HYDERABAD l saturday l november 23, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l LATE 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 MLAs disqualification Decide within a reasonable time: HC to Speaker T G N a i d u @ Hyderabad Setting aside an order passed by a single judge while dealing with a batch of writ petitions, a division bench of the Telangana High Court on Friday felt the need for the Speaker of the Telangana Legislative Assembly to decide on disqualification of MLAs within a “reasonable time”. The bench emphasised that the Speaker, as a high constitutional functionary, must act in line with the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, which aims to prevent political defections. The appeal was filed by the Assembly secretary challenging a single-judge order on September 9, directing the Speaker to decide disqualification petitions filed against the BRS MLAs who joined the Congress, within four weeks. The judge also warned that failure to act would prompt judicial intervention. Highlighting the importance of resolving such petitions promptly, considering the purpose of the Tenth Schedule, the bench noted that the disqualification petitions remained pending for over four months. CONTINUED ON P4 6 firms to set up green pharma units in TG | p2 FOREX RESERVES tank $18 BillioN, rupee slips No proof of Modi link to Nijjar plot, clarifies Canada rUPEE AT 84.41/$ The rupee opened at 84.48 and touched an intra-day low of 84.50 against the greenback. The unit ended the session at 84.41, an increase of 9 paise over its previous close Trudeau’s security advisor trashes report that claimed Indian PM was in the loop security and intelligence advisor to the Canadian PM. THE Justin Trudeau-led govCanada’s denial of the newsernment on Friday sought to paper report came after Exterset the record straight as it nal Affairs Ministry called it trashed a Canadian media re- out as a smear campaign. port, which claimed Prime “Such ludicrous statements Minister Narendra made to a newspaper Modi was in the loop purportedly by a Caabout the killing of nadian government Sikh separatist Hardsource should be diseep Singh Nijjar in missed with the conCanada. tempt they deserve,” On Wednesday The , India’s foreign minisGlobe and Mail had try had said. What the put out a report quotMeanwhile, the dippaper said ing an anonymous Calomatic stalemate beQuoting an nadian security offitween India and Cancial linking Modi, official, the paper ada continues. The Home Minister Amit said “it would be Indian Consulate in Shah, External Af- unthinkable that Toronto has issued a three senior fairs Minister S Jaisstatement saying it hankar, and National political figures had to cancel several Security Advisor Ajit in India wouldn’t consular camps as the have discussed Doval to criminal acCanadian authorities the targeted tivities in Canada. refused to provide ad“The Government killings with Modi equate security . before of Canada has not “Due to continued proceeding” stated, nor is it aware inability conveyed by of evidence, linking security agencies to Prime Minister Modi, Minis- provide minimum security ter Jaishankar, or NSA Doval against heightened threats, the to the serious criminal activity Consulate has had to cancel within Canada. Any sugges- some consular camps. Most of tion to the contrary is both them were not at any places of speculative and inaccurate,” worship, including one at a poread the statement issued by lice facility the Indian consu,” Nathalie G Drouin, national late in Toronto said. Y E S H I S E L I @ New Delhi Bumrah magic After India got all out for 150 in the first innings, Jasprit Bumrah rose to the occasion, taking 4/17 on day one of the first Test in Perth. Australia were 67/7 at stumps on Friday | afp | P11 RBI has aggressively supplied dollar to meet demand and outflows to control volatility Dilip Parmar B e n n K o c h u v ee d a n @ Mumbai INDIA’s foreign exchange (forex) reserves have seen the sharpest weekly dip on record, losing $17.76 billion for the week ended November 15 as the dollar continued to rally leading to immense pressure on the rupee, which forced the Reserve Bank of India to sell the greenback to stem the slide. Forex reserves have slipped nearly $30 billion in the past seven weeks. The reserves are down $47 billion from the record high of $704.89 billion reported on September 27. Traders said RBI intervention in the forex market repeatedly to save the rupee. According to analysts, there was a revaluation loss estimated at $10.4 billion for the reporting week, and RBI may have sold dollars worth $7.2 billion ‘Nation First’ key to progress: Prez E N S @ Hyderabad Stating that due to centuries of subjugation, Indians became victims of mental slavery Pres, ident Droupadi Murmu emphasised the need to instil a sense of ‘Nation First’ among citizens to make India a developed country . Speaking at the inaugural session of LokManthan at Shilpakala Vedika on Friday, the President said that for centuries colonial powers not only exploited India economically but also attempted to destroy its social fabric. “The rulers, who looked down upon our rich intellectual tradition, instilled a sense of cultural inferiority among us. Their traditions were imposed upon us, which were harmful to our unity .” Murmu emphasised that India’s diversity added a unique beauty to its fundamental uni- ty. “Whether we are forest dwellers, villagers, or city residents, we are all Indians,” she stated, adding, “this spirit of national unity has kept the nation together despite numerous challenges.” She noted that efforts had been made for centuries to divide and weaken the Indian society, with artificial distinctions created to break its natuCONTINUED ON P4 ral unity . in the week ended November 15. Dilip Parmar, a senior currency research analyst at HDFC Securities, said that dollar demand from importers and continuing foreign funds outflows weigh on the rupee. “The central bank has aggressively supplied the dollar to meet the demand and outflows to control volatility . There has been huge dollar demand from precious metal importers post-Diwali. The value of non-dollar assets also declined in the same period,” he said. “Despite the seven weeks of decline, we believe the forex reserves remain robust in terms of all external adequacy requirements with the import cover comfortably placed at over 11-months,” said Aditi Gupta, an economist at Bank of Baroda, in a note. $250 bn per year offer of rich nations The latest draft text on New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) published during COP29, for the first time included the quantum of climate finance rich nations are willing to commit, which is $250 billion per year by 2035 | P9