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 MONDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2024, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 AFTER MUSK REMARKS FARMERS CALL BANDH TODAY Trumpweighsin onH-1B:Beena believer...great programme SC watching, Punjab Govt reaches out to fasting farmer leader, makes no headway ‘Always been in favour of the visas... many H-1B visas on my properties’ NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 29 Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal has been on a hunger strike at Khanauri border for over a month now. PTI KANCHAN VASDEV CHANDIGARH, DECEMBER 29 A DAY after the Supreme Court pulled up the Punjab government for not complying with its order to shift fasting farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal to a hospital, and with the court set to hear the matter again on Tuesday,thestategovernmentis racing against time, without making much headway. Dallewal is on a fast-untodeath for over a month now, as part of a protest by the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) and Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) (Non-Political),whichhavebeen camping at Shambhu and Khanauri — on the PunjabHaryana border — since February 13 this year. The farmershaveraisedseveraldemands, including legal guarantee for MSP (minimum support price). The two organisations have called for a Punjab shutdown on Monday, and sought support from other states. Sources said that twice since Saturday evening, Punjab’s AAP governmentledbyChiefMinister Bhagwant Mann has sent a delegation of senior police officers to Khanauri to meet Dallewal, who is the coordinator of the SKM (Non-Political),andopenachannel of communication with the protesters, but failed to convince thefarmerleadertobreakhisfast. Till reports last came in, another team was at the spot talking to Dallewal and other protesters. OnFriday,theSupremeCourt had pulled up the Punjab government, saying there was an “impression” that it was not doingenoughtosaveDallewal’slife. When the state argued on Saturday that the protesters had calledyouthtogatheratthespot to thwart any move to shift Dallewal, the Court asked why the situation had been allowed toreachthisstage.“Itisabetment CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Rescue teams near the wreckage of the aircraft that crashed at Muan International Airport, South Korea, on Sunday. AP 179 killed as plane crash-lands in South Korea, 2 of crew rescued Video shows plane skidding without landing gear and crashing into a wall HYUNG-JIN KIM & KIM TONG-HYUNG SEOUL, DECEMBER 29 AJETLINERskiddedoff arunway, slammed into a concrete fence and burst into flames Sunday in SouthKoreaafteritslandinggear apparently failed to deploy. All but two of the 181 people on board were killed in one of the country’s worst aviation disasters, officials said. TheBoeing737-800operated by Jeju Air arrived from Bangkok andcrashedwhileattemptingto land in the town of Muan, about 290 kilometres south of Seoul. Footage of the crash aired by South Korean television channels showed the plane skidding across the airstrip at high speed, evidently with its landing gear still closed, and slamming into a concrete wall, triggering an explosion. Other TV stations aired footage showing thick, black smoke billowing from the plane, which was engulfed in flames. THE WORLD EXPERTS QUESTION BIRD STRIKE AS CAUSE OF SOUTH KOREA PLANE CRASH AZERBAIJAN PLANE WAS SHOT AT FROM RUSSIA, CLAIMS PRESIDENT PAGE 14 The crash killed 179 people, the South Korean fire agency said. Emergency workers pulled two crew members to safety. Theywereconsciousanddidnot appeartohaveanylife-threatening injuries, health officials said. Lee Jeong-hyeon, chief of the Muanfirestation,toldatelevised briefing that the plane was completely destroyed, with only the tailassemblystillrecognisablein the wreckage. Officials were investigating the cause of the E ● Changing stand DURING DONALD Trump’s first term as US President, his administration imposed restrictions on H-1B visas, citing concerns over “abuse” and “economic strain”. His hard line on immigration, focussed mostly on illegal entrants, formed an important part of his campaign this time too. His support for H-1B comes at a time when the programme faces intense scrutiny, including from a section of his supporters. them “very bad” and “unfair” for USworkers.Duringhisfirstterm as President, he unveiled a “Hire American” policy that directed changestotheprogrammetotry to ensure the visas were awarded to the highest-paid or most-skilled applicants. In his interview to the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 India-Australia: All eyes on Rohit, Equity market gets Virat today to plot a magical win `1,600 cr FPI inflows, down 99% from last yr 30/12/2024 88 116 142 82 EXPRESSINAUSTRALIA SRIRAM VEERA BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY MELBOURNE, DECEMBER 29 IF SUNDAY’S Test cricket at the MCG was exhilarating, a mouthwateringMondayawaitstheaudience. With Australia’s overall lead sitting on 333 — the highest score a team has chased to win here is 332, almost a century ago — and with a wicket in hand, all three results are possible. A historic Border-Gavaskar retaining triumph by the Indians; a vital winforAustralia,whowerereeling on Saturday morning but were revived by captain Pat Cummins and the fellow bowlers; or that cricket-romantic’s dream of a tie that both countries can’t stop talking about since the 1987 one in Chennai. But two Indians have more reasons than most to dare, hope and dream: Rohit Sharma, the under-firecaptainwhosebatting has suggested he is playing from a fading memory in this series, and Virat Kohli, who hasn’t been quite able to discipline his mind from betraying him. Both were let down by their inability to rev up what used to be their strengths: Rohit’s attacking batting, Kohli’s mental strength in taming his urges. Their days couldn’t have started more contrastingly, before ending almost similarly. Rohitstartedtheday,standingin hisjumperandwatchingtherest of the team warm up. He never quite joined in; just a look at CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 HITESH VYAS MUMBAI, DECEMBER 29 THE YEAR 2024 saw a sharp slowdown in foreign portfolio investor (FPI) activity, with foreign investors pumping in just over Rs 1,600 crore on a net basis intothedomesticequitymarket, a steep fall of 99 per cent from therobustinflowsof Rs1.71lakh crore in the previous year. Thesignificantshiftcanlargely beattributedtoconcernsoverthe valuationofIndianstocks,belowexpected domestic GDP growth in the second quarter of fiscal 2025, weak corporate earnings and higher US bond yields. According to the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) data, FPIs injected Rs 1,656croreonanetbasisintothe Indian equity market this year (until December 27). Foreign investors were majorly selling in thestockmarketwhilebuyingin the primary market. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Born on a rescue ship, tsunami miracle baby hopes to join Navy: ‘Want to repay the debt’ GOVT & POLITICS PARTICIPANTS LIST BENEFITS OF ‘DISPUTED’ KERALA EXERCISE COURSE PAGE 7 PAGE 1 ANCHOR AMIDTHEpublicrowamonghis supporters over the H-1B visa programme, US President-elect Donald Trump has backed key ally Elon Musk, calling himself a “believer in H-1B” and saying he has“alwaysbeeninfavourof the visas”. “I've always liked the visas, I havealwaysbeeninfavourof the visas.That'swhywehavethem,” Trump said in a telephone interview with the New York Post on Saturday. “I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It's a great programme,” he said. Trump's remarks followed a series of social media posts from Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX,whovowedlateFridayto goto“war”todefendthevisaprogrammeforforeigntechworkers. TheH-1Bprogrammeallows businesses in the US to employ skilled foreign nationals. Thetopichasbecomeaflashpoint within Trump’s conservative base. In the past, Trump has criticised the H-1B visas, calling EXPLAINED SHUBHAJIT ROY SUNANDA MEHTA PUNE, DECEMBER 29 HERBIRTHcertificateistestimony totheunusualbirthofBGlory.The place of birth is stated as: “On Board INS Gharial, on route Hut BaytoPortBlair”.Thedateofbirth is December 29, 2004. Glory turned 20 on Sunday. ItwasonDecember26,2004, that her parents, B Balram and B Laxmi, watched the tsunami wreck their home and village in Hut Bay Island (Little Andaman). Holding on to her husband, BGlorywasbornonboardINSGharialonDecember29,2004 Laxmi, then nine-months pregnant, clambered up a nearby hill thatwasstillsafefromthewaters. “We stayed there for three days, without food or water or anything warm. On the fourth day, INS Gharial came like an angel from above and rescued us both, my mother and sister, along with many others who had also sought shelter there,” recounted Balram, who worked as a fisherman at the time. “Somehow, we managed to get on the lifeboat that took us to the ship that was in anchorage a CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 First commercial aircraft lands on the runway of Navi Mumbai International Airport on Sunday. Narendra Vaskar First commercial flight lands, new airport at Navi Mumbai set to be inaugurated on April 17 SWEETY ADIMULAM & SIDDHANT KONDUSKAR MUMBAI, DECEMBER 29 ‘Real stardom lasted only till the time technology became big. But one thing that will always survive is the story’ MANOJ BAJPAYEE ACTOR PAGE 10 THE MUCH-AWAITED Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) is set to be inaugurated onApril17,markingasignificant step in addressing the air travel demand of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). The announcement came after the airport had its first commercial aircraft landing on Sunday, with an Indigo A320 passenger aircraft that took off fromtheMumbaiairportlanded successfully on its new 08/26 runway at 1.32 pm. “WehavesetthetargetofApril 17 for the inauguration of NMAI. This comes 70 days after getting the AOP (Air Operator Permit) which we are supposed to get on February 6,”Adani Airport HoldingsLtdCEOArunBansaltold media after the successful trial landingofthefirstcivilpassenger aircraft,pavingthewayforsecuring an aerodrome licence to start commercial operations. The aircraft was welcomed with the traditional water salute by two Crash Fire Tenders (CFT) of NMIA. “This is a momentous day for Navi Mumbai International Airport. The successful completion of the validation flight is a major milestone, and we are now one step closer to CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 In Telangana, birds of a feather ‘hunt’ rogue drones together RAHUL V PISHARODY HYDERABAD, DECEMBER 29 SECONDS AFTER the bird of prey soars under the blue Telangana skies, the “hunt” is over and it is on the ground with its “prey” — aroguedroneensconcedinanet that the eagle has been trained to deploy as part of its training for the Garuda Squad, the state police’s unique bird squad. Amongthelatestadditionsto theTelanganaPolicesecurityapparatus, the five-bird squad has been undergoing training to intercept nano (weighing up to 250 grams) and micro (between 250gand2kg)roguedrones,especially in no-fly zones during VIP movement. The squad’s primary role is to secure no-fly zones, say trainers. Deployed recently, the Garuda Squad has proved to be cost-effective and efficient in counter-attacking small drones (costingaroundRs1lakh),which have become a headache for securityforcesduetotheirsizeand maneuvering abilities. By teaching the birds to deploy nets, the Telangana Police has taken care of a critical concern — the safety of its squad from the spinning propellers of rogue drones as they are inter- An eagle deploys a net to snag a drone during a training exercise; (right) trainers with a kite and an eagle from the Telangana Police’s Garuda Squad. Rahul V Pisharody cepted. “The training process involved a lot of trial and error, but no birds were harmed in the process. Instead of the bird seizing the drone directly, they have been trained to deploy a net, ensnare the drone and drag it to a secure, predetermined location, away from public areas,” says Tafseer Iqubal, Deputy Inspector General, Intelligence Security Wing. StatingthatTelanganaisnow readytoassistorshareitsknowledge and capabilities with other policedepartmentsandsecurity forces across the country, Iqubal says, “The Garuda Squad, the first-of-its-kind, was conceptualised in 2021, following a state government order. Three years on, it has achieved operational readiness and is currently being utilised on a pilot basis.” Recently, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had spoken about the need to establish a “comprehensive” anti-drone unit to protect the country from threats posed by drones. Shah wasreferringtoalaser-equipped anti-drone gun mount system that has been developed, especially for border areas. However, training the squad, which comprises kites and eagles, was easier said than done. “Therewerechallenges,because thesearebirdsandnotmachines. But the Garuda Squad is operationally ready for deployment now.Wehavebeenutilisingtheir services for a while,” says Iqubal, director, Integrated Intelligence Training Academy (IITA), Telangana’s premier institution that provides expert training in caninehandling,bombdetection and disposal techniques, and specialised instruction for both personal security officers (PSOs) and private security agencies. At the sight of an aerial intruder, a bird is released from its location to snatch from the skies CONTINUED ON PAGE 2