Prime Minister Narendra Modi shares a car ride with his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim upon arrival in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Saturday | PTI kottayam l sunday l february 08, 2026 l `12.00 l PAGES 28 l 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 $500 billion handshake Delhi inks favourable terms with US, both agree to phase out duties, boost mutual investments annually,” Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said. INDIA and the United States set The overall tariff restructuring an ambitious target of $500 billion will be implemented in a phased in annual bilateral trade, as the manner. Zero-duty access will be two countries released a joint available only after the agreement statement on Saturday outlining is formally signed in March. On the framework of the interim market access for American proddeal. ucts, Goyal said India had adopted As part of the understanding, a c a l i b r at e d a n d s e l e c t ive India will eliminate or reduce tar- approach. iffs on US industrial goods and a “We have opened our markets broad basket of agricultural and for the US on some products like food products, including distillers’ DDGS and wines and spirits, but dried grains (DDGs), red sorghum in these cases we have also kept a for feed, tree nuts, fruits, soybean minimum import price to safeoil, wine and spirits. In guard domestic producreturn, the US will cut reers,” he said, adding that ciprocal tariff to 18% on no discriminatory measselect Indian goods such ures have been taken The interim trade as textiles, leather, plasagainst any Indian pact will tics, rubber, organic sector. strengthen chemicals, home décor ‘Make in India’ by The minister clarified and certain machinery . that India has retained opening up new However, the US indi- opportunities for protection for sensitive farmers and cated that once the interagriculture and dairy im agreement becomes entrepreneurs, and segments. Only products create jobs for operational, tariffs will already being imported women and be lifted for sectors idenhave been given limited youngsters tified as aligned partners, concessions, subject to notably generics, gems quotas and minimum imNarendra Modi, PM and diamonds, and airport prices. craft parts. According to the joint With the immediate revocation statement, India has also indicat- of the 25% additional tariff, seced its intent to purchase $500 bil- tors such as textiles and apparel, lion worth of US energy, aircraft leather and footwear, plastics and and parts, precious metals, tech- rubber products, gems and jewelnology products and coking coal lery, and marine products are exover five years. pected to regain export momen“Considering the two countries’ tum in the US market. relations, diplomatic ties, and the Goyal said the marine sector is friendship between their leaders, likely to be one of the biggest discussions on a bilateral trade beneficiaries. agreement began in February “With markets now diversified 2025. The objective was to achieve and US tariffs coming down, seabilateral trade of $500 billion be- food exporters will have a double tween India and the United States benefit,” he said. P u s h p i ta d e y @ New Delhi WITH THIS ISSUE The Other Cricket PLUS 12 P AGES HC questions ban on entry of non-Hindus into temples E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Kochi Observing that the very object and purpose of law is to secure social harmony the Kerala High Court said it is for , the government to consider whether the rule prohibiting non-Hindus from entering temples should be retained in its present form or suitably amended in tune with the changing times. The court made the observation while holding that the entry of two Christian priests into the Sree Parthasarathy Temple in Adoor, Pathanamthitta, in 2023, permitted by the thantri as invitees and guests, cannot be construed as a violation of the established rites, usages and customs of the temple. Significantly, the court said Rule 3(a) of the Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship Rules, which prohibits the entry of non-Hindus into a place of public worship, is inconsistent with the parent Act. It noted that the Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship (Authorisation of Entry) Act, 1965, does not contain any provision prohibiting the entry of non-Hindus into a place of religious worship. However, when the rules were framed, sub-clause (a) of Rule 3 introduced a prohibition on the entry of non-Hindus into places of religious worship, it said. “It is for the government to consider whether Rule 3(a) should be retained in its present form or suitably amended, after due consultation with the devaswom board, thantris, religious scholars and other relevant stakeholders,” the court said. It said the purpose of law is to secure social harmony and promote the welfare of citizens. “Law is not static; it is dynamic and evolves with the changing needs and realities of society. As society advances and becomes more inclusive, statutory provisions and subordinate legislation must be interpreted in a manner that advances constitutional values and social cohesion. Statutes, rules and regulations ought not to be permitted to become instruments for fomenting discord or disharmony between different religions, castes, sub-castes or communities. On the contrary, the legal framework must function as a unifying force that fosters mutual respect and coexistence,” it said The court dismissed the petition filed by Sanil Narayanan Nampoothiri of Kulanada, who challenged the entry of Zacharias Mar Aprem and another Christian priest into the Adoor Sree Parthasarathy Temple in 2023. The priests were invited to attend a function in connection with Sreekrishna Jayan● More on P4 thi celebrations.  Small print of proposed big deal Lower or zero duty on US wine and spirits, dried distillers’ grains, red sorghum for animal feed, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, soybean oil Strings attached as Don nixes 25% punitive levy J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi US President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order rescinding a punitive 25% duty on Indian imports that had been imposed over India’s purchases of Russian energy The White House said . the move followed assurances from India that it would stop directly or indirectly importing Russian oil — assertions that New Delhi has not publicly confirmed. “Specifically, India has committed to stop directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil, has represented that it will purchase United States energy products from the US, and has recently committed to a framework with the United States to expand defense cooperation Sudhakaran claims Rahul’s nod to contest K S SREE J ITH @ T’Puram Despite the Congress state leadership’s declared position that no sitting MPs should be allowed to contest the coming assembly elecitons, Kannur MP K Sudhakaran is likely to get an exemption. The former KPCC president, who has declared his intention to contest, told TNIE that the party high command has assured him of a ticket to contest from Kannur assembly constituency. Sources said, besides Sudhakaran, UDF convenor Adoor Prakash and two other MPs have reportedly approached the high command seeking permission to enter the assembly fray . Sudhakaran said though the party has not officially announced the candidate list, he has been informally given approval by Rahul Gandhi to contest. “I am confident that I will be given a ticket. The high command has given me approval to contest from Kannur,” he told TNIE. ● More on P4 T20 World Cup Cold reception: Free entry, empty stands F i r o z M i r z a @ Mumbai Cricket don’t always sell, so it seems. A couple of days before the T20 World Cup opener between Pakistan and the Netherlands at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) Stadium in Colombo on Saturday, Sri Lanka Cricket announced free entry for the public from 9:30am on the match day . Entry to two grass embankments was made free and the SLC said the move was made only for the first match and it will encourage the public to come to stands and watch their favourite stars in action. It is not restricted to Sri Lanka alone. Initial indications are not very encouraging for co-hosts India as well. For non-India matches, especially for associate nations like Nepal, Scot- Empty Eden Garden stands during West IndiesScotland match | afp 11am: Afghanistan vs New Zealand (Chennai), 3pm: England vs Nepal (Mumbai), 7pm: Sri Lanka vs Ireland (Colombo) Today’s Matches land, the turnout is expected to be minimal. Local associations are apparently distributing tickets to school and academy students. Take for in- Reciprocal tariff down to 18% on Indian textile and apparel, leather and footwear, plastic and rubber, organic chemicals, home décor, artisanal products, and certain machinery Minimum import prices fixed on products like US apples No entry for US dried/ frozen/ canned/ provisionally preserved veggies, beans, pulses, roots & tubers, citrus fruits, berries Zero US duty on import of spices, tea, coffee, copra, coconut oil, areca nut stance the Kolkata match on Saturday There were just a few thousands . that grew to some official figure of 18000 by evening in a 60000-capacity stadium. That too for match where ticket was priced at as low as `100. In Mumbai too there were quite a few vacant seats even when India were playing. The price range for the match, as shown on the ticketing website ranged between `750 and `30000. Besides, unlike the Nepal-England match, an individual can book a maximum of two seats for India’s opener. The ticket sellers showed the match as sold out. Given the fact that nine associate nations will play this time, a similar situation may arise at various venues when India are not involved. Commerce minister Piyush Goyal speaks on the India-US trade deal in Delhi | PTI over the next 10 years,” the executive order said. The document added that India has taken “significant steps” to address American concerns over Russian oil purchases and to “align sufficiently with the US on national security foreign policy , and economic matters.” Despite lifting the tariffs, the executive order makes clear that relief is conditional. It establishes a formal US gover nment monitoring mechanism to verify whether India has indeed stopped importing Russian oil. US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick has been tasked with overseeing this process, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The order lays out a clear enforcement trigger. “If the Secretary of Commerce finds that India has resumed directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil,” it states, the Secretary of State — after consultations with senior Cabinet officials and White House advisers — “shall recommend whether and to what extent I should take additional action as to India, including whether I should reimpose the additional ad valorem rate of duty of 25 percent on imports of articles of India”.