THIRUVANANTHAPURAM l wednesday l fEBRUARY 11, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l LATE city EDITION External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during an interaction with BRICS 2026 Sherpas and Country Representatives in New Delhi | pic: X 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 access to US pulses in the Indian market White House’s new document reveals farm products not mentioned in joint statement P U S H P I TA 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 Trump administration 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. India imports pulses worth $5.5 billion. Of this, import from the US accounts for just $90 million. 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 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 categories that would contribute to the proposed $500 billion worth of exports to India over five years. No-trust in, Speaker steps away from House work P r eetha N ai r @ New Delhi 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 he will not preside over the House till the matter is settled. Article 96 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 LS Gaurav Gogoi, chief whip K Suresh and whip Mohamed Jawed submitted the notice signed by around 120 MPs, under Article 94(c) to the Lok Sabha Secretary The no. tice 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 on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address, as well as for suspending eight MPs. 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. 3-hr deadline to respond to a.i. abuse Ra k esh 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 ille- gal. Under the framework, AIgenerated 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 must include permanent metadata or technical markers. One of the most significant changes is the sharp reduction in response timelines. Earlier, social media platforms had up to 36 hours to respond to government or police orders. This has now been reduced to three hours. Grievances must be addressed within seven days instead of 15, urgent cases within 36 hours instead of 72, and certain takedown actions must be completed within two hours. india vs Pak Flying to SL? Pay `1.18 lakh e x p r ess ne ws se r v i c e @Chennai In less than 24 hours after Pakistan government cleared its team to play India on February 15, the excitement is visible. But nothing surpasses the aviation sector. Carriers have hiked fare between most Indian cities to Colombo. Some tickets are being sold over `1 lakh return. The cheapest direct flight from Delhi to Colombo for the game is `1,18,961 (as on Tuesday evening). Normally, it’s below `30,000. Indigo, an LCC, usually charges around `16,000 for a direct retur n flight from Chennai. It’s at `54,475 for coming weekend (leaving on February 14 and returning on P13 Monday post game).  Today’s Matches 11am: South Africa vs Afghanistan (Ahmedabad), 3pm: Australia vs Ireland (Colombo), 7pm: England vs West Indies (Mumbai) 18 pages, including 4 pages of THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Express