‘Wangchuk wanted Nepal-like protest’ Sonam Wangchuk tried to incite youth to create agitations like the ones seen in Nepal and Bangladesh, the Centre told SC kochi l tuesday l February 03, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION India-US trade deal done Tariff cut to 18% Trump says Modi agreed to stop buying Russian oil after telephonic conversation 18% or 43%? J aya nt h J a c o b @ New Delhi US President Donald Trump on Monday announced a trade deal between India and the United States under which Washington will lower tariffs on Indian goods from 25% to 18%. Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed the announcement, saying it would benefit Indian exports. Whether or not the effective tariff goes down from 59% to 18% was left unsaid by both the leaders. However, a US embassy spokesperson in New Delhi said, “I can confirm the final tariff will be 18%.” A White House official quoted by Reuters made the same point, saying the US was rescinding the punitive 25% levy on all imports from India over its purchases of Russian oil. Modi in his post on X said, “Wonderful to speak with my dear friend President Trump today. Delighted that Made in India products will now have a reduced tariff of 18%.” The inference was the final tariff was down to 18%. “Big thanks to President It was a bit of a guessing game as both Trump and Modi left it unsaid Trump announced drop in reciprocal tariff from 25% to 18% Trump on behalf of the 1.4 billion people of India for this wonderful announcement.” Trump claimed that India had agreed to stop buying Russian oil and would instead buy more energy from the US and potentially Venezuela, while also reducing tariff and nontariff barriers against Washington to zero. There was no immediate comment from the Indian side on Trump’s claim on Russian oil. “Out of friendship and respect for Prime Minister Modi and, as per his request, effec- Chaos in LS after Rahul rakes up unpublished book minutes, Speaker Om Birla invoked Rule 349, which bars THE Lok Sabha on Monday members from quoting from erupted in chaos and witnessed books or newspaper reports multiple adjournments after not directly connected to the Leader of the Opposition Ra- proceedings before the House. hul Gandhi attempted to cite an Gandhi insisted the docuunpublished memoir ment he was referring of former Army chief to was authenticated, Manoj Mukund Naraadding: “Which rule vane on the 2020 Indiasays I can’t speak China border standoff about India-China reand the Centre’s hanlations during a disdling of the crisis. The cussion on the Presiconfrontation erupted dent’s Address?” soon after Gandhi beHe said he was comgan his speech on the I understand this is pelled to raise the isMotion of Thanks to uncomfortable for sue in the House after the defence the President’s AdBJP MP Tejasvi Surya minister and the dress and sought to questioned Congress’s PM. If it were not quote from General patriotism. uncomfortable, Naravane’s memoir. Singh pointed out they would have The move drew objecthat the book had not allowed me to tions from Defence been published. Ganspeak Minister Rajnath dhi then said he was Rahul Gandhi Singh, Home Minister quoting from a magaAmit Shah, and Parzine article, but the liamentary Affairs Minister Speaker disallowed it. Kiren Rijiju, who accused the Birla adjourned proceedings Congress leader of referring to till 3 pm. When it reconvened, an unpublished book and vio- Gandhi raised the issue again, lating House rules. triggering fresh protests. The As chaos prevailed for 50 House was adjourned again. PR E E T HA N AIR @ New Delhi Dreamliner with faulty fuel switch reminds of AI 171 Air India pilot reported fuel control Air India pilot reported fuel control switch defect on Dreamliner Boeing switch defect on Dreamliner Boeing 787-8 during a London-Bengaluru 787-8 during a London-Bengaluru journey with 200 passengers journey with 200 passengers Fleet Size Air India operates 33 Boeing 787s total (26 legacy 787-8s and 7 787-9s including former Vistara aircraft) tive immediately, we agreed to a Trade Deal between the United States and India, whereby the United States will charge a reduced Reciprocal Tariff, lowering it from 25% to 18%,” Trump said. “They will likewise move forward to reduce their Tariffs and Non Tariff Barriers against the United States, to ZERO.” Modi said closer bilateral cooperation would unlock new opportunities. The US president said he had spoken with Modi earlier in the day calling , the conversation “an honour”. But Modi said Made in India products will draw a reduced tariff of 18%, the inference being it was the final figure on levy A US embassy spokesperson in New Delhi said likewise. “I can confirm the final tariff will be 18%” 18% is 1% less than Pakistan’s 19% Electoral Roll revision Mamata storms out of meet with CEC P r eet h a N a i r & M u k e s h R a n j a n @ New Delhi The standoff between West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Election Commission over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls intensified on Monday with Mamata and her delegation storming out of a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, accusing him of being arrogant and humiliating them. Mamata, accompanied by party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, MP Kalyan Banerjee and 12 members of “SIR affected families” from West Bengal, went to meet the Mamata Banerjee CEC here to discuss conaddresses media in Delhi cerns over the SIR. on Monday | Parveen Negi Speaking to the media after walking out of the meeting, she said her delegation felt humiliated by the CEC’s conduct. “I have never seen such an Election Commissioner. He is arrogant and deliberately misbehaved with us. I told him I was sorry that I had come to you for justice. Forget justice, he is a great liar,” Mamata said. Sources in the Election Commission said the CEC and the two Election Commissioners maintained a courteous tone throughout. They said it was Mamata who levelled false accusations, thumped the table in anger and walked out. They said the CEC responded to her queries and stated that the rule of law would prevail. 16 pages, including 4 pages of kochi Express Immediate action: Aircraft immediately grounded for inspection; Original Equipment original equipment Manufacturer (Boeing) February 2, 2026 involved for priority Technical issue: Fuel checks control switch failed to stay in ‘RUN’ position and moved Response: Incident reported to DGCA; Air toward ‘CUT OFF’ position during engine start. Failed India had previously checked all Boeing 787 on two attempts fuel switches after DGCA directive but found no issues Past connection: Issue mirrors June 12, 2025 AI 171 crash that killed 260 people when fuel supply to both engines cut off after takeoff from Ahmedabad Centre offers no clarity on high-speed rail E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Malappuram/Kochi/T’Puram Uncertainty continues to surround Kerala’s proposed high-speed rail corridor with the Union government evading a definitive stand on the project even as E Sreedharan pressed ahead with its preliminary work by opening an office in Ponnani in Malappuram on Monday . Addressing the media in New Delhi a day after the Union Budget, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stopped short of offering clarity on the high-speed rail proposal led by Sreedharan. He, however, stressed that Kerala has been allocated `3,795 crore for railway development in the current financial year, which he claimed was nearly 10 times the amount sanctioned d u r i n g t h e U PA regime. The minister said the investment would “double” Kerala’s railway capacity and allow “twice the number of trains to operate in the state”. Referring to a recent meet- ing with the ‘Metroman’, Vaishnaw said they discussed the future of Indian Railways. The minister praised Sreedharan’s “grand vision” and technical expertise demonstrated in projects such as the Konkan Railway and the Delhi Metro. W h e n p re s s e d o n whether Kerala would actually get a high-speed rail corridor, the railway minister said Kerala would “eventually” receive such connectivity, without outlining a timeline or financial commit● More on P4 ment.  Sreedharan opens office E Sreedharan on Monday opened the project office for the proposed highspeed rail corridor, in Ponnani. He said field survey for the project would be completed by June. Sreedharan said preliminary work would proceed despite the absence of an allocation in the Union budget. Us vs them Solicitor General Tushar Mehta alleged that Wangchuk portrayed the Union government as “them” and the people of Ladakh as “us”, and raised calls for a plebiscite and referendum | P7 Sept 26, 2025 Wangchuck was arrested after violence erupted in Leh during statehood agitation. He was charged under the National Security Act He carefully crafted his speech to instigate Gen Z and asked for agitations like in Nepal and Bangladesh — Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General 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 ■ ■