flight, hotel rates surge In less than 24 hrs after India-Pak match was confirmed, Colombo flight & hotel rates rise exponentially... sky high coimbatore l wednesday l february 11, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION `46,629 `15000`18000 Landmark hotels per night DEL to CMB MAA to CMB Game rates `10,000 `12,000 Direct flights Normal rates `1,18,961 `27000`32000 `1,50,000 `86,000 Today’s Matches 11am: South Africa vs Afghanistan (Ahmedabad), 3pm: Australia vs Ireland (Colombo), 7pm: England vs West Indies (Mumbai) 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 Factsheet shows free No-trust notice in, Speaker access to US pulses in steps away from House work the Indian market P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi White House’s new document reveals farm products not mentioned in joint statement P U S H P ITA D E y @ New Delhi EVEN as questions linger over the fine print of the India-US trade arrangement, fresh details are emerging from official releases put out by both sides. On Tuesday, the White House issued a factsheet which had some elements not explicitly mentioned in the joint statement released last weekend. The US document says India will allow duty-free import of certain pulses. The joint statement had no mention of this. The factsheet said India will eliminate or cut tariffs on specific pulses and a range of industrial goods, alongside a broad basket of US farm and food products. These include dried distillers’ grains, red sorghum, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruits, soybean oil, wine and spirits, among others. Currently, India imports pulses worth $5.5 billion. Out of this, import from the US accounts for just $90 million. Earlier, India’s commerce ministry had indicated a more calibrated approach. Lentils were placed under ‘highly sensitive’ agricultural items, with liberalisation to be done through tariff rate quotas, allowing limited quantities at lower duties. Even this partial opening has drawn criticism from farm groups who fear such gradual market access could affect Indian farmers over time. The US factsheet also lists agricultural products among the categories that would contribute to the proposed $500 billion worth of exports to India over five years. The joint statement had used softer language, saying India ‘intends’ to purchase $500 billion worth of US energy products, aircraft and parts, precious metals, technology goods, and coking coal. Indian officials clarified that a significant portion of these imports would be linked to requirements for data centres, global capability centres, aircraft, engines and parts. express read Centre is indifferent to TN, says transport min Tiruchy: Rebutting Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw’s recent remarks, Transport Minister S S Sivasankar on Tuesday accused the union government of being indifferent to Tamil Nadu | P6 India, China discuss trade, border issues New Delhi: Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and his Chinese counterpart Ma Zhaoxu on Tuesday discussed ways to stabilise bilateral ties and address concerns over trade SC agrees to consider plea against Himanta S u c h i t r a k a lya n m o h a n t y @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Tuesday decided to list and hear a plea filed by CPI and CPI(M) leaders against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma over a viral video showing him taking aim and firing a gun at members of a particular community . Lawyer Nizam Pasha, for CPI and CPI(M), submitted that the court should hear the matter urgently as disturbing speeches were made by Sarma against a community Chief Justice . of India Surya Kant, while hearing the plea, said, “The problem is, as soon as elections come, part of the election is fought in the Supreme Court. That is the problem. We will find out and will give a date.” The petition objected to a public speech of Sarma on January 27 as well as a video shared on BJP Assam unit’s X handle. The video of Sarma was taken down following an outrage. Separate pleas have been filed seeking FIRs against the chief minister for hate speech and communal polarisation. Pushing the political confrontation between the government and the Opposition to a bitter new high, the Congress-led Opposition on Tuesday submitted a notice for moving a resolution to remove Om Birla from the office of Lok Sabha Speaker, alleging he had acted in a blatantly partisan manner and ‘abused’ the constitutional office he occupies. Sources said a discussion on the motion could take place on March 9, the first day of the second part of the Budget Session. While Birla directed Lok Sabha Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh to examine the notice, sources said that he will not preside over the House till the matter is settled. Article 96 of the Constitution bars a speaker or deputy speaker from presiding over the House sitting while a resolution for his removal from office is under consideration. Congress’ deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi, chief whip K Suresh and whip Mohamed Jawed submitted the notice signed by around 120 MPs, Gen in step with the publisher Army ex-Chief Gen Naravane on Tuesday shared Penguin’s statement on his book, Four Stars of Destiny, which emphasises that no copy “in print or digital form have been published,” saying: “This is the status” TN may cross $18bn mark in electronic goods export this FY P o n V a s a n t h B A & C S h i v a k u m a r @ Chennai Industries Minister T R B Rajaa on Tuesday said that the export of electronic goods from Tamil Nadu in the ongoing financial year (202526) could at least touch the $18 billion mark, if not cross it. This would be a 22.8% growth from the $14.65 billion recorded by Tamil Nadu in 2024-25. The state has seen a nine-fold growth in export of electronic goods since 2021-22 when the value was $1.65 billion. Addressing the two-day 15th edition of Source India – Eleconly 50% tronics Supply Chain organised needed in by the Electronic Industries As4 months sociation of India, the minister pointed out that the union gov- This FY, TN ernment has not released the lat- will have to only achieve est export figures yet. However data available till No- 50% of what vember 2025, on the portals of it exported Ministry of Commerce and In- between April dustry, and accessed by TNIE, and November showed that the minister’s pre- 2025 in the diction of the state touching $18 last four billion may not only be realised months of the 2025-26 to but even surpassed. According to the data, the value cross the $18 of electronic goods exported from billion mark across the country between April 2025 and November 2025 (eight months) stood at $31.1 billion, compared to $22.5 billion in the same period in 2024. This was a growth of 37.9%. In comparison, TN exported electronic goods worth $11.99 billion in the eight months between April and November 2025, which is a 53% growth compared to the $7.8 billion-worth goods it exported in the same period in 2024.  P7 No progress on seat sharing, TNCC anxious, says Chodankar; DMK calls meet on Feb 22 E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Chennai The DMK, which is heading the INDIA bloc in Tamil Nadu, announced on Tuesday night that it will commence seat-sharing talks for Assembly polls with its allies on February 22. The announcement came hours after Congress leaders reiterated their strong disappointment over what it termed as “delay” by the DMK in initiating the talks with the party’s state incharge Girish Chodankar, terming it “disheartening”. Addressing reporters in New Delhi on Tuesday evening after a nationallevel consultation of Congress district presidents, Chodankar said, “We met Chief Minister M K Stalin on December 3. It has been nearly 70 days, but there has been no progress. Our cadre and leaders in Tamil Nadu are deeply anxious,” he said. However, he clarified that Congress was not blaming anyone. “We are only stating facts. Elections are fast approaching, and without clarity on seats and constituencies, effective preparation is impossible,” he said. The DMK’s statement, while pointing that the party cadre have been working tirelessly listed a number of , activities that are happening, without explicitly stating that these were the reasons for the delay . This included the SIR-related work and various grassroots campaignrelated work being carried out by the DMK. It further pointed out that the interim budget of Tamil Nadu will be presented on February 17, followed by discussion on the same.  P7 under Article 94(c) to the Lok Sabha Secretary The notice was . signed by several Opposition parties, including the SP, Left, RJD, Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP-SP and the DMK. It holds Birla responsible for disallowing Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi and other Opposition leaders from speaking in the House on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address. However, TMC refrained from signing the notice. TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee said his party has “no problem” in signing the notice, but stressed that the Opposition should first approach the Speaker with their grievances, such as the suspension of eight MPs. The decision to submit the notice was taken at a meeting of floor leaders in the office of Mallikarjun Kharge. It was also decided that the Opposition will attend the discussion on the Union Budget. Rahul is scheduled to speak on Thursday during the discussion. takedown time by Social media cut to 3 hrs on a.i. abuse R a k e s h Ku m a r @ New Delhi THE Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on Tuesday notified a new framework under which any synthetically generated information (SGI) or AI-generated content that includes sexual abuse material, non-consensual intimate images, obscene or sexually explicit content, or fake documents or electronic records will be treated as illegal. Under the framework, AI-generated content used for fraud, harassment, child abuse, misinformation, or any other criminal activity will be dealt with under the same laws as other illegal online content. Failure to comply may invite criminal action under various Indian laws, including the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. The framework has been notified as amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. The new rules mandate that AI-generated content must be clearly and prominently labelled as “synthetically generated”. The label should be easy for viewers to notice and include permanent metadata or technical markers. One of the most significant changes in the 2026 amendment is the sharp reduction in response timelines. Earlier, social media platforms had up to 36 hours to respond to government or police orders. This is now down to three hours. Grievances must be addressed in 7 days instead of 15, urgent cases within 36 hours instead of 72, and certain takedown actions must be completed in 2 hours. Platforms must inform users that misuse of AI tools can lead to punishment.