chennai l sunday l February 22, 2026 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l vellore EDITION canada seeks to withhold key information in nijjar trial Canada is seeking to withhold sensitive evidence in the murder trial of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, citing international security trial not expected before august 2026 case strained india-canada relations The trial of four accused Indian nationals—Karan Brar, Kamalpreet Singh, Karanpreet Singh, and Amandeep Singh (charged with murder and conspiracy)—remains in the pre-trial phase in British Columbia Supreme Court. Trial is not expected before August 2026, per the BC Prosecution Service. The case is under a publication ban during the pre-trial ■ ■ The killing occurred on June 18, 2023, when Nijjar was shot outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, BC, where he was president The case strained India-Canada relations after then PM Trudeau alleged India’s involvement in the murder. India denied the claims as “absurd” and “motivated”, stating no specific evidence was shared Section 38 of canada evidence act protects sharing of sensitive info 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 Day after, Trump India-Brazil pact on critical minerals jacks up global tariff to 15 pc lula bats for unsc membership j aya n t h j a c o b @ New Delhi Indian exporters uncertain about the actual quantum of levy; govt studying the situation House said Executive Order 14257 of April 2, 2025 — which Uncertainty prevails over regulates imports through rethe actual tariff Indian goods ciprocal tariffs to address large would attract after the US Su- and persistent US goods trade preme Court struck down the deficits — has been amended reciprocal levy imposed by the (not suspended or withdrawn). Trump administration on FriIndian exporters are awaitday. Shortly after the verdict, ing clarity on whether 15% or Trump announced a uniform 18% would apply For now, they . 10% global tariff on all nations. are in a wait-and-watch mode. On Saturday he scaled up that , Ashwin Chandran, Chairfigure to 15%, which is 3% man of the Confederation of short of the 18% levy he had Indian Textile Industry, said: announced for India early this “Greater clarity from authorimonth. ties, including on what During the next few happens to the intermonths, “the Trump im India–US trade administration will deal, would be most determine and issue helpful.” new and legally perThe Trump adminmissible tariffs”, he istration has also indisaid on social media. cated it may rely on With Trump claimSection 301 or Section ing on Friday that 232 provisions to imEffective “nothing has changed” pose higher tariffs. immediately, for India, confusion (I am) raising the Section 301 of the persisted on the actual Trade Act of 1974 em10% Worldwide Tariff on Countries powers the US Trade quantum of levy . ... to the fully The judgment came Representative to inallowed, and at a time when India is vestigate and respond legally tested, on the verge of signto unjustifiable, un15% level ing of a Bilateral reasonable or discrimT r a d e A g re e m e n t inatory trade practicDonald J Trump with the US. The Modi es. Proposed probes government has not yet clari- are expected to cover issues fied the status of the interim such as industrial overcapacity , negotiations. On Saturday, it forced labour, digital services said it is analysing the develop- taxes, pharmaceutical pricing ments before taking a final and discrimination against US view. “We are studying all de- technology companies. velopments for their implicaTariffs under Section 232 of tions,” the Ministry of Com- the Trade Expansion Act of merce said. 1962, imposed on national secuMeanwhile, sections of the rity grounds, will also remain in US media reported that all tar- force. These sectoral duties — iffs imposed by the Trump ad- covering steel, aluminium and ministration on trading part- other strategic products — range ners have been suspended and between 10% and 50%. Some Inthat the new 15% tariff is now dian exports, including steel, applicable. However, a fact aluminium and auto parts, consheet issued by the White tinue to face 25–50% levy . P u s h p i ta D e y @ New Delhi Today’s Matches 3pm: England vs, Sri Lanka (Pallekele); 7pm: India vs South Africa (Ahmedabad) Worker falls to death from 50ft high metro pillar E X PRE S S NEW S S ERVICE @ Chennai A 23-year-old construction worker from Jharkhand died of critical head injuries after falling from a height of 50 feet of an elevated corridor of the Chennai Metro Rail near Arcot Road on Friday night. The deceased has been identified as L Soray Ganjhu, who was employed with Kumar Construction and stayed at the workers’ quarters in Velappanchavadi. According to metro rail sources, the incident occurred when Ganjhu was laying duct sheets for the viaduct deck slab on the Red Line stretch between Koyambedu and Chennai Trade Centre, scheduled to open in June. He was engaged in Valasaravakkam stretch work of the Phase II project. Initial probe revealed that no safety net was installed at the location where the work was under way Officials are exam. ining whether mandatory protective equipment, including harnesses and other safety gear, was provided and used properly  . P5 E x p r ess Re a d DMK forms committee for seat-sharing talks Chennai: The DMK on Saturday constituted a seven-member committee under party treasurer TR Baalu to hold seat-sharing talks with allies for the Assembly polls. The panel has invited the IUML for discussions on Sunday. It is likely to hold talks with other partners in the coming days | P4 INDIA and Brazil on Saturday agreed to deepen cooperation in critical minerals and rare earths while setting an ambitious bilateral trade target of over $20 billion annually within the next five years, following wide-ranging talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Lula is in India on a five-day visit, during which he is also attending the India AI Impact Summit. Addressing the media after delegation-level discussions, Modi described Brazil as India’s largest trading partner in Latin America and said the two were committed to expanding economic engagement. “We are committed to taking bilateral trade beyond $20 billion in the next five years. Our trade is not As many as 88 countries, including the US, UK, China and the EU, along with several international organisations, endorsed the New Delhi Declaration at the end of the India AI Impact Summit, which committed itself to ensuring an equitable AI. The declaration set out a shared approach to AI governance and development. “The advent of AI marks an inflection point in the trajectory of technological evolution. The choices that we make today will shape the AI-enabled world that future generations will in- herit,” the declaration said. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said the declaration is built around seven key pillars — democratising AI resources, promoting economic growth and social good, building secure and trusted AI, expanding access for social empowerment, advancing AI for science, developing human capital, and creating resilient and efficient AI systems. The document calls for affordable access to foundational AI resources and support for local innovation ecosystems. It also proposes platforms to scale successful AI use cases globally . R a g h o t ta m K o p pa r @ Gadag AN MLA from opposition BJP and his two aides were caught by the Lokayukta police in Karnataka on Saturday while accepting a bribe of Rs 5 lakh from a contractor. Dr Chandru Lamani, representing Shirahatti in Gadag press Intake CM asks people to question PM over metro, NEET, denial of edu funds | P4 4-year-old boy killed in wild jumbo attack in Tiruppur | P5 Will eliminate Maoists by March 31: Shah | P8 Voluntary initiatives The summit also launched several voluntary and non-binding global initiatives. They include a charter for democratic diffusion of AI, a Global AI Impact Commons to share successful use cases, a Trusted AI Commons with tools and best practices, and a global AI-forscience network t o l in k chenn a i & P a r a n d u r a i r p o r t Two new road corridors on the anvil Road, a major district road, over a total length of 23.8 km. The corridor is The Tamil Nadu government has be- proposed to be developed with a gun preparatory works to firm up 60-metre right of way including a , road connectivity to the pro9.2-km rerouted stretch skirting posed Parandur Greenfield the boundary of the proposed TNIE Airport by identifying two priairport. Special ority corridors to link the new Officials have suggested a aviation hub with Chennai four-lane carriageway with and key industrial belts, accordservice roads on either side, ing to sources familiar with the with some flexibility on the reroutdeliberations. ed portion to reduce land requireThe first project involves the wid- ments. Additionally a section of State , ening of the existing Pallur-Sogandi Highway 58 (Sadras to Tiruttani) beC S h i v a k u m a r @ Chennai President Droupadi Murmu and PM Narendra Modi greet Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as he arrives in New Delhi on Saturday | Shekhar Yadav just a figure, it is a reflection of trust,” he said. Bilateral trade stood at $12 billion in 2024–25, with Indian exports at $6.77 billion and imports from Brazil at $5.43 billion. A key outcome of the talks was an agreement on cooperation in critical minerals and rare earths. The two countries also signed a joint declaration on digital partnership and MoUs K’taka BJP MLA caught accepting bribe 88 countries adopt New Delhi declaration on equitable AI R a k e s h K u m a r @ New Delhi New Delhi: Lula said the global environment required deeper strategic ties between the two democracies. “This is a meeting of a digital superpower with a renewable-energy superpower,” he said, asserting that India Brazil were “natural candidates” for permanent UNSC membership tween the expressway interchange and the Pallur-Sogandi Road is also proposed to be widened to handle the anticipated spike in traffic volume. The second corridor is a new greenfield link from the Oragadam-Cheyyar Industrial Corridor (OCIC) to the airport, aimed at providing direct access from south Chennai and the GST Road. The 30.7-km route would run from Singaperumal Koil to Parandur via SH 58, the Chennai Peripheral Ring Road, and the MannivakkamOCIC stretch.  P5 district, and his two personal assistants, Manjunath Valmiki and Guru Lamani, had allegedly demanded the money to get a project awarded to the contractor. They had called the contractor, Vijay Sannahanumappa Pujar of Chinchali village, to Balaji Hospital, owned by the MLA, in Lakshmeshwar town that. The accused had allegedly demanded Rs 11 lakh and the first tranche of Rs 5 lakh was being handed over when they fell into the trap laid by the Lokayukta police. After the bribe demand was made, Pujar had approached the Lokayukta police who filed a case and laid the trap. covering mining, MSMEs, healthcare and traditional knowledge systems. Cooperation in defence, renewable energy, digital public infrastructure and advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors and blockchain also figured prominently . “Our cooperation in defence is growing… We will continue to strengthen this win-win partnership,” Modi said. WITH THIS ISSUE The Many Lives of LOVE Then and Now PLUS 12 P AGES