tiruchy l friday l February 13, 2026l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late CITY EDITION seattle to pay $29 million to kin of indian student who died in ‘23 The family of Jaahnavi Kandula, killed in January 2023 when she was struck by a police car in Seattle, will receive $29 million in settlement had gone to u.s. on student exchange callous remarks drove lawsuit Jaahnavi, 23, was struck by a police car driven by officer Kevin Dave as she was crossing a street in Seattle on January 23, 2023.  Dave was driving at more than 119 kmh when he fatally hit Jaahnavi. The student hailed from Adoni in Andhra Pradesh, and was studying in a Bengaluru college from where she was sent to the US on a student exchange programme ■ ■ The lawsuit by Jaahnavi’s parents was in “reference to callous remarks” made by Seattle police officer Daniel Auderer, who said Kandula’s life had “limited value” and they should just write a cheque Dave was fired subsequently, while Seattle’s civilian watchdog found Auderer’s comments damaged the department’s reputation 100 feet jaahnavi was thrown 100 feet away after being hit by the car 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 Inflation cools to 2.75% Counting on after peaceful B’desh polls as govt overhauls index C Veg prices tumble under new CPI series with 2023-2024 as base year P U S H P I TA D E Y @ New Delhi RETAIL inflation eased to 2.75% year-on-year in January , helped largely by a sharp fall in prices of key vegetables and pulses, even as jewellery and select food items registered price rise, government data released on Wednesday showed. The latest inflation print also marks the first release of the Consumer Price Index with a revised base year of 2023-2024, replacing the 2011-12 series. The revision, based on the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey 2023–24, expands the basket to reflect current consumption patterns, especially the growing role of services and digital spending. The data, released by the Ministry of Statistics and Prog ramme Implementation, showed that inflation in rural areas stood at 2.7% while urban inflation was marginally higher at 2.77%. Food inflation, measured by the Consumer Food Price Index, was 2.13%. A steep fall in prices of essential kitchen staples played a major role in keeping headline inflation contained. Garlic Food sheds weight; housing gains Categories Food and beverages Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels Transport Clothing and footwear Health Personal care, social protection & miscellaneous goods and services Furnishings, household equipment & routine household maintenance Information and communication Education services Restaurants and accommodation services Paan, tobacco and intoxicants Recreation, sport and culture prices fell 53.05%, onion 29.27%, potato 28.98%, arhar (tur) dal 24.90% and peas slipped 15.56% on an annual basis. At the same time, some items witnessed extraordinary inflation. Silver jewellery soared 159.67%, tomato prices 64.80%, copra 47%, gold, diamond and platinum jewellery 46.77%, and coconut oil shot up 40.44%. The revised series expands the basket from 299 items to 358. Rural house rent has been CPI 2012 Weight (%) 42.617 16.888 6.394 6.527 5.9 CPI 2024 Weight (%) 36.753 17.665 8.796 6.383 6.1 4.006 5.038 3.656 4.469 3.323 3.513 3.246 2.38 1.547 3.609 3.333 3.348 2.989 1.516 included, as have modern consumption elements such as OTT subscriptions, online services, and CNG/PNG. Outdated items like VCRs and cassette players have been removed. The updated series also incorporates e-commerce prices in 12 major cities. “New items have been added to capture changes in the economy and consumer behaviour,” MoSPI secretary Saurabh Garg recently told this newspaper. ounting of votes began in Bangladesh on Thursday evening after peaceful polling earlier in the day for the crucial general elections to elect Parliament members and decide on a referendum on constitutional reforms. While the interim gover nment and the election commission hailed the process, deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina called the polls “a wellplanned farce” and demanded a “free, fair and inclucame in ones and sive elections”. twos to cast their balAt the time of going lots. Without going to the press, there was into the numbers, the no official word on the election commission polling percentage, claimed the turnout though the poll rolls was satisfactory . had nearly 13 crore votThis is a straight Bayezid Milky ers. What was visible Senior journalist based fight between the though was a good Bangladesh Nationin Dhaka turnout in the mornalist Party (BNP) led ing, but no subsequent by Tarique Rahman, voter rush at polling booths for 60, and an 11-party alliance led the rest of the day People just by the Bangladesh Jamaat e Is. lami and the nascent National Citizen Party (NCP). As per initial trends, BNP candidates appeared to be leading the race with Jamaat struggling to put up a decent show. In the early rounds of counting for the referendum, negative votes were more than the ‘yes’ votes. Top BNP and Jamaat and NCP leaders said they would accept the verdict if the process is not rigged.  Continued on: P9 Govt green light 73.5% of investment MoUs to buy 114 Rafales moved into execution: CM j a v a r ia Ra n a @ New Delhi C S hi v a k u m a r @ Chennai AHEAD of French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to India next week, the defence ministry on Thursday accorded acceptance of necessity (AoN) for capital acquisition proposals worth around `3.6 lakh crore, including the much awaited government-to-government deal for 114 Rafale multi-role fighter aircraft estimated at about `3.25 lakh crore. Sources in the defence ministry said the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is likely to meet on Friday to clear the Rafale deal, which is expected to be a key outcome ahead of the Macron’s visit. However, the contract is unlikely to be signed before early 2027, sources said. The AoN marks the first step in the procurement process. The timeline for conclusion varies depending on the negotiations. Under the proposal, the Indian Air Force is expected to receive 88 single-seat and 26 twin-seat Rafale fighters. Around 18 aircraft are likely to be delivered in fly-away condition, while the remaining 96 will be manufactured in India with up to 60 per cent indigenous content. In a bid to put an end to persistent criticism from the opposition parties that the Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) signed by the DMK government have failed to transform into actual investments, Chief Minister MK Stalin, amid glowing tributes from global industry leaders, on Thursday showcased that 73.5% of the MoUs signed since 2021 have moved into execution. Addressing the first-of-itskind Conversion Conclave 2026 in Chennai, Stalin cited the achievements of the state under the ‘Dravidian Model’ and said, “This data is for all those TRB Rajaa presents a memento to CM Stalin at Conversion Conclave 2026 | Martin Louis who have been asking questions about the conversion of MoUs”, adding that the commitments have turned into factories, jobs and production. Industries Minister TRB Rajaa presented a scorecard of the TN’s investment performance since DMK returned to power in 2021 in the middle of the second Covid-19 wave.  P5