DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE `6.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES, `17 IN ANDAMAN) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 CITIES SEE HIGH FOOD INFLATION, MODERATE CREDIT GROWTH Rural uptick but urban areas new points of concern in GDP growth FMCG sales slow down to 2.8% in Q1, FY25 compared to 10.1% in Q1, FY24 Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez during a roadshow in Vadodara. Bhupendra Rana New chapter: PM at launch of pvt facility for military aircraft SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 28 PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi and his Spanish counterpart, Pedro Sanchez, on Monday jointly inaugurated the Tata Advanced System Limited (TASL)-Airbus facility in Vadodara to manufacture C295 medium-lift tactical transport aircraft for the Indian Air Force (IAF) — India's first private facility to build military planes. EXPRESS NETWORK TASL PLAN: ABOUT 3,000 DIRECT JOBS, MOSTLY INDIAN WORKFORCE PAGE 11 Underlining that India-Spain partnership is finding a new direction, Modi said the project would strengthen the relations between the two countries and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 AANCHAL MAGAZINE & ANIL SASI NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 28 INCIPIENT SIGNS of softening consumptiondemand,especially in urban areas, reflected in multiple high-frequency indicators andcorroboratedbytheearnings INSIDE THREAT FROM LAWRENCE BISHNOI GANG: PAPPU YADAV PROBE FUNDING OF DOCTORS’ PROTEST: RIVAL GROUP PAGES 11, 3 guidance of consumer goods companies,haveraisedconcerns ofaweakeningofthegrowthmomentum in the Indian economy. Whileruraldemandisseeing CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MARKETS SNAP LOSING STREAK P 16 FMCG GROWTH (%) ■ FY24Q1 AUTO SALES GROWTH (FY25 H1) ■ FY25Q1 10.10 -2.30% 5.20 4 2.80 Urban Urban NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 28 WELCOMING THE India-China border pact and the bilateral meeting between Prime MinisterNarendraModiandChinese President Xi Jinping on the side- Rural Rural LIZ MATHEW NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 28 THEGOVERNMENTissettoconduct the much-delayed Census next year, and to complete the process by 2026, with suggestions being taken on whether casteenumerationcanbepartof the exercise, as per sources. Following the completion of the Census, the government will go ahead with delimitation, for redrafting of parliamentary BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY US may target India next: Alipov on sanctions. NEW DELHI, SRINAGAR, OCT 28 A 25-YEAR-OLD local militant working for the Lashkar-e-Taiba, from Kashmir’s Kulgam district, linesof BRICSinKazanlastweek, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ● Dilemma over seats EXPLAINED,PAGE14 Ganderbal attack: Local militant who joined LeT last year prime suspect MAHENDER SINGH MANRAL & BASHAARAT MASOOD ANI E TO TAKE care of the South’s delimitation concerns, the government is considering tweaking the population-areas formula. For caste count, progress is still to be made on a workable solution. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Russian envoy hails Modi-Xi meet, pushes for rupee-rouble trade DIVYA A 1.90% Census next year, then delimitation: Plan for 2029 polls in new seats EXPLAINED TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2024, KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES is believed to be one of the attackers involved in the October 20 terror strike that killed seven employeesof aconstructionfirm in Ganderbal, sources in central intelligence agencies said. According to sources, the man went missing from his CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PUT YOUR FACE ON GRAB YOUR CHANCE TO WIN US$1 MILLION AND BE AMONG THE LUCKY 5,000. BUY YOUR TICKET AT DUBAIDUTYFREE.COM Kolkata