DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA ● REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2024, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 22 PAGES `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 INDIA, CHINA TAKE FIRST STEP TO RESOLVE BORDER STANDOFF Disengagement starts at two points along LAC in Ladakh, likely to be completed month-end NEW DELHI, UDHAMPUR, CHANDIGARH, OCTOBER 25 LOCKED IN a military standoff along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh following Chinese incursions over fourand-a-half years ago, India and China have taken the first step to repair bilateral ties by start- ing the process of disengaging troops at two of the seven friction points in the region to restore patrolling rights of each there. Sources in the Indian Army confirmed Friday that the disengagement process began Tuesday in the Depsang Plains andDemchok—adayafterIndia announced that an agreement on patrolling had been reached between the two sides — and is likely to be completed by October 28-29. The sources, however, pointed out that there could be nostricttimelinetheregiventhe altitude and the weather conditions in these areas. Currently, the two sides are removing temporary structures built over the past four-anda-half years, sources said. Among the temporary structures being dismantled are prefabricated sheds and tents being used to house equipment, vehicles and troops. The current agreement, Depsang Plains Ladakh Daulat Hot Beg Oldie Springs Galwan J&K Leh Srinagar Pangong Tso Demchok CHINA SHUBHAJIT ROY, ARUN SHARMA, DEEPTIMAN TIWARY & MAN AMAN SINGH CHHINA PAKISTAN Agreement on patrolling rights in Depsang Plains, Demchok: Troops of both sides will revert to pre-April 2020 positions sources underlined, is only on restoring patrolling rights in the Depsang Plains and Demchok areas and disengage- ment is taking place at only these two friction points — the problems there are called legacy issues and predate the 2020 Chinese incursions. The Chinese PLA had cut off Indianaccesstopatrollingpoints (PPs) 10 to 13 in the Depsang Plains. In the Demchok area, Chinese troops had been squatting at the Charding Nullah. This agreement is important because the Chinese side, until a year ago, showed reluctance to evendiscussDepsangPlainsand Demchok while it agreed on disengagement at other friction points — PP 14 (Galwan valley), PP 15 (Hot Springs), PP 17A (Gogra), north and south banks of Pangong Tso. “The current agreement is only for Depsang and Demchok… Troops from both sides will retreat to positions held before April 2020,” an Army source said. “Troops from both sides will fall back to pre-April 2020 Scholz visit: PM hails Germany call Sensex plunges 7.5% Lives derailed, most Balasore train to increase visas in a month to below disaster victims contest Railway relief for skilled Indians 80,000; record FII — and get higher award in Tribunal AFTER SOARING 36% IN A YEAR AN EXPRESS INVESTIGATION - PART 1 outflows in October FIIs pull out Rs 85,790 crore amid West Asia conflict, fund flow to China HOW GLOBAL MARKETS FARED Sept 26 Oct 25 Change Sensex 85,836 79,402 DJI* 42,142 42,374 Sensex performance -7.5% 0.55% FTSE** 8,282 8,261 19,220 19,453 38,825 37,889 In 16 months from May 30, 2023 to Sept 26, 2024 1.21% Nikkei -2.41% Shanghai 3,000 3,299 19,826 20,590 3.85% 1,30,067 -7.5% (decline) 9.97% Hang Seng -2.21% 1,33,010 * data of Oct 24 closing ** data as of 7 pm on Oct 24 HITESH VYAS MUMBAI, OCTOBER 25 THE DOMESTIC stock market continued its slide for the fifth consecutiveday,withtheSensex andNiftyfallingnearly1percent each on Friday. With Friday’s fall, thedeclineinbenchmarkSensex over the last one month now standsat7.5percent—thehighest among all major indices around the world. The BSE’s 30-share Sensex tumbled 662.87 points, or 0.83 per cent, to close below the 80,000 mark at 79,402.29 on Friday for the first time in twoand-a-half months. The broader Last one month from Sept 26 to Oct 25, 2024 E EXPLAINED Bovespa* 76%of affectedmoveRailwayClaimsTribunalsforRs40.6crcompensation;Rlys asksforproof of presenceinover200cases;22of 28pleasstillpendinginPatna YOUR RIGHT TO KNOW SEEKING CLOSURE AN XPRESS RTI APPLICATION 1,102 Why the plunge ● in a month HIGH VALUATIONS, geopolitical concerns, fund flow into primary markets and increased FPI allocation to China are key factors behind the sharp fall. India’s medium to long term growth prospects, however, remain intact, experts said. Nifty50declined218.6points,or 0.9 per cent, to end at 24,180.8. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 130 Zeeshan Siddique fielded against Aaditya’s cousin Varun from Bandra East 161 297 Injured 805 `32.8 crore Dead `27 crore Injured `5.8 crore 841 victims Their families approach 6 RCTs (Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, Chennai, Patna, Ranchi and Bhopal) Dead 193 pleas for more compensation by families of the dead, 648 by those injured. ANI Archive Knocking at the doors of an RCT, which is a quasi-judicial body, means regular hearings TOMORROW ALLEYESONONELAW, MANYVERSIONS where families are represented by lawyers and the Railways contests each claim. The award of enhanced compensation is over and above the ex gratia awarded by the Railways. So, for many families, this is as much a 193 Injured 648 TOTAL COMPENSATION FROM RCTs `18.69 crore Dead Injured `14.64 crore `4.05 crore PENDING CASES IN RCTs 48 Source: RTI records of applications for enhanced compensation from six RCTs CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ALOK DESHPANDE 26/10/2024 102 75 THE WORLD ISRAELI STRIKES KILL 72 IN GAZA STRIP PAGE 18 BUSINESS AS USUAL CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Deputy CM Ajit Pawar with Zeeshan Siddique in Mumbai on Friday. PTI NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 25 PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi, who met visiting German ChancellorOlaf ScholzonFriday, saidthatBerlinhasdecidedtoincrease the number of visas for skilled Indians from 20,000 to 90,000 per year. Scholz, who arrived late on Thursdaynight,isonathree-day visit to India. Speaking at the 18th AsiaPacific Conference of German Businesses, also attended by Scholz, Modi said: “Two of the world’s leading economies, togetherwecanbecomeaforcefor global good, and the Focus on Indiadocumentprovidesablueprint for this. In this, Germany’s holistic approach and commitment to pursuing the strategic partnership are clearly evident. Especially noteworthy is the trust that Germany has expressed in the skilled workforce of India.Germanyhasdecidedto increase the number of visas for skilled Indians from 20,000 to 90,000 per year. I am confident CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BUDHNI ASSEMBLY BYPOLL If Cong wins seat, not a single brick will be laid, warns Shivraj son BHOPAL, OCTOBER 25 BY UNNY SECURITY FORCES STEP UP SEARCH OPS DAY AFTER J&K ATTACK PAGE 10 SHUBHAJIT ROY ANAND MOHAN J MUMBAI, OCTOBER 25 FORMER CONGRESS MLA Zeeshan Siddique, who was expelled from the party, joined the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Ajit Pawar on Friday and was fielded by the party from Bandra East seat in Mumbai, as it announceditssecondlistofseven candidates for the upcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, Friday. Anil Sharma EX-GRATIA FROM RLYS NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 25 TWO EXPECTANT mothers who lost their unborn children; one passenger who suffered severe hearing loss after an iron rod pierced his head near the ear; many with symptoms of post traumaticstressdisorder;others struggling to cope with the loss of a family member — and case aftercaseinvolvingfracturesand amputations, burns and permanent disabilities. Quietly, and largely behind the scenes, these poignant stories of grief and loss form the basis of as many as 841 pleas for higher compensation filed before Railway Claims Tribunals (RCTs) hearing cases related to one of the country’s deadliest train accidents, an investigation by The Indian Express of case recordsobtainedundertheRight To Information (RTI) Act show. (official figure) Dead DHEERAJ MISHRA, SOUMYARENDRA BARIK, AGGAM WALIA & AANCHAL MAGAZINE NCP DECLARES SECOND LIST PAGE 1 ANCHOR TOTAL AFFECTED E 36% (gain) -0.25% DAX CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Talsari beach in Odisha’s Balasore on Friday, hours after Cyclone Dana made landfall in the state. Partha Paul ODISHA SAYS ZERO CASUALTY; 3 DEAD IN WEST BENGAL PAGE 13 AHEAD OF the Budhni bypoll in Madhya Pradesh, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's son Kartikey SinghChouhanhasstirredacontroversy with a video surfacing Friday in which he is heard sayingthat“notasinglebrickwould get laid in the constituency” if a Congress MLA wins the Assembly seat. Kartikey has taken over the reins of the BJP campaign in Budhni, a constituency long represented by Chouhan. The bypoll is his first foray into the political arena. ThevideoshowsKartikeyaddressing a public rally in Budhni, Kartikey Singh Chouhan andsayingthatif theelectionresult is close, “how will we face our leaders to ask for work?”. “Agar 19-20 hota hai toh aap samajhiye kiska nuksaan hoga. Apne pairon (pe) hum kyun kulhadi marein bhai? Apni polling mein gadbadi karke hum kyun apni izzat kharab karein? Kya humko nahin jaana apne mukhyamantri ke paas apna kaam karaane ke liye? Kya humko nahin jaana apne adarniya Krishi Mantri ke saath kaam karaane ke CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 From Suda to Tony, a seed of life for Great Indian Bustards NIKHIL GHANEKAR NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 25 POKHRAN IN Rajasthan’s Thar desert landscape is imprinted in India’s history for the nuclear weapon tests. Now, another milestone, linked to the seeds of new life for the critically endangeredGreatIndianBustard(GIB), has lodged itself in Pokhran’s history with the birth of the first bustard chick through artificial insemination last week. Behind the success is a backstoryfraught with challenges.To start with, the bustard handlers had to achieve “human imprinting”, which required them to forge close bonds with the large birds, enabling them to train the GIBs for simulated mating with dummy birds. Suda, a three-year-old male bustard at the Ramdevra captive breedingcentreinPokhran,inthe eastern part of Jaisalmer district, was chosen for the experiment. He was trained to “mate” with a dummy bird, and his sperm was transported to the Sam captive breeding centre in western Jaisalmer, about three hours away, to impregnate Tony, a fiveyear-old female bustard there. Since2019,thesetwocentres have been the ground zero for India’s long-term GIB recovery project,wherescientistsfromWII andRajasthanforestdepartment have hand-reared 45 GIBs so far. “To collect Suda’s sperm, we used a dummy bird to simulate mating. Once it was felt that it wasacclimatisedproperly,itwas made to mate with the dummy and its sperm was collected, stored and safely transported to the Sam facility,” Sutirtha Dutta, Wildlife Institute of India (WII) scientist and project investigator, explained. WII scientists transported A scientist tries to train a male bustard for simulated mating with a dummy bird at the centre in Jaisalmer district. WII the sperm in the third week of September. Bustards have a quick gestation period, ranging from a few days to a maximum of six weeks. Tony responded welltotheinsemination,andshe laid eggs within three days. One of the eggs hatched on October 16, leading to the birth of the first GIB chick through assisted reproduction. Artificialinsemination,Dutta explained, is useful for two key reasons.One,naturalmatinghas its limitations, he said, as the male and female bustard can be in their breeding phase, or in heat, during different periods of time. On an average, a female bustard lays eggs only once or twice and the survival rate is poor, at around 60 per cent. Second, artificial insemination helps to increase genetic diversity. “We have avoided transferring the captive bred birds between the two centres to prevent them from stress. With the help of artificial insemination, we have an additional tool and it will help increase genetic diversity. This will help them eventually when they are released in the wild,” said Dutta. Ashish Vyas, deputy conservator of forest (wildlife), Jaisalmer, said that with this technique, they can also use cryopreservation to help augment fertility rates. The GIB species is on the brink of extinction, with an estimated population of only 150 ranging in the wild, mostly in Rajasthan. The numbers have plummeted over the years, owing to factors like hunting, loss of habitat and, more recently, collision with power lines. There is a “founder population”of45GIBsatthetwocaptive breeding centres. Of these, 32 werehatchedfromeggscollected CONTINUED ON PAGE 2