MADURAI l wednesday l january 22, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l LATE CITY EDITION At least 66 dead, 51 injured in fire at a ski resort in turkey A fire raged through a 12-story hotel at a ski resort in northwestern Turkey on Tuesday during a school holiday, killing 66 people and injuring 51 hotel’s location hampering rescue efforts six-member panel to lead investigation The fire at the Grand Kartal hotel in Kartalkaya, 300 kilometres east of Istanbul, occurred near the start of a two-week winter break for schools, when hotels in the region are packed. A part of the 161-room hotel is on the side of a cliff, hampering rescue efforts. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said all steps will be taken to nab those responsible for the blaze ■ ■ The government appointed six prosecutors to lead an investigation into the blaze, which is believed to have started in the hotel’s restaurant section, later spreading to other portions Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said the hotel underwent inspections in 2021 and 2024 and was found up to the mark 238 registered guests were present in the hotel at the time of the blaze 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 Experts rule out immediate Impact on India due to Trump’s trade policies Short-term pain, long-term gain... ...India sees window of opportunity amidst tests DIPA K MOND A L @ New Delhi Jaya n t h Ja c o b @ New Delhi HOURS after taking charge as US president, Donald Trump took a slew of major executive actions to effect major policy shifts, many of them with global ramifications whose ripple effects would be felt across the world including India. The Indian equity markets felt the tremors on Tuesday with benchmark indices falling by 1.6%, while the rupee tanked 14 paise to close at 86.59 against dollar. However, most analysts and commentators expect limited economic impact on India as most decisions won’t impact India directly, though the uncertainties could shake a few indicators in the short term. In his America First Trade Policy Trump announced with, drawal from global tax deals. He declared a national energy emergency, reinstating the country’s oil and gas industry at the centre stage. Trump also hinted he would target countries with trade surplus with the US. India figures in this list but Soumya Kanti Ghosh, SBI’s group chief economic adviser, says the impact will be limited as India has broadened its export market. Ajay Sahai, CEO, Federation of India Exports Organisation, believes India stands to gain. “These measures create opportunities for Indian exporters to fill supply chain gaps in textiles, pharma and engineering goods,” he said. Trump also signalled potential sanctions on Russia and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will be the first foreign minister to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio for a bilateral discussion, as India aims to strengthen its ties with the US following the inauguration of President Donald Trump as its 47th President. Rubio will be meet Jaishakar in the state department soon after his meeting with foreign ministers of India, Japan and Ausralia under the Quad format in the same venue. Jaishankar, who represented India at the inauguration, was seated in the front row alongside Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa. He also had brief interactions with members of Trump’s administration, including Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, and FBI Director nominee Kash Patel. Trump is expected to visit India to attend the first Quad summit later this year. Sources said India-US ties will continue to grow under Trump despite negotiating some of the challenges, like the tariff plans and the efforts to draw outsourced manufacturing units back to the US. “Tariff on imported goods, we need to wait and see. It could also be the case that the new American administration takes some time before arriving at any definite plans,” said a source. New Delhi has maintained that Trump’s policies that change the global order will have less impact on countries like India as New Delhi is not heavily invested in the existing order. “For the countries who are less invested, it could very well be a time of opportunity Jaishankar said dur,” ing the Nani Palkhivala Memorial Lecture on January 18. DON’s 1st day key executive orders Donald Trump signed on HIS INAUGURATION DAY Withdraws US from the Paris Agreement and WHO Pardons for Jan 6 US Capitol Attack Trump pardoned around 1,500 people convicted or charged in the Jan 6 attack Easing regulatory burdens Ordered easing of regulatory burdens on oil and natural gas production Tariffs on Canada, Mexico 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting Feb 1 Iran, which could disrupt energy imports for India. But on the positive side, there is a possibility of more US energy coming to India, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri said. India must diversifying its energy sources to reduce external shocks,” said Ajay Srivastava, founder, Global Trade Research Initiative. Combating consumer inflation Calls for an “all of government” response to bring down costs for Americans Ending Birthright Citizenship It denies citizenship to children born in the US whose parents lack legal immigration status even if they are not illegals The only one smarter than Vance is his wife (Usha). I would have chosen her (for V-P) but somehow the line of succession didn’t work that way, right?  — Donald Trump Illegal mining: State slaps `3.5K cr notice on 6 firms S i d d h a r t h P r a b h a k a r @ Chennai The Tamil Nadu government through the Tirunelveli district collector has ordered beach sand mining firm VV Minerals to pay `2,195 crore towards ‘royalties’ and ‘cost of minerals’ for the natural resources allegedly unlawfully mined and transported between 2002-03 and 2013-14 in the district. Demand orders have been sent to a total of six firms in Tirunelveli and Kanniyakumari districts for a total value of `3,528.36 crore, sources said. The 45-page demand order dated December 16, 2024, sent to VV Minerals states that the firm had unlawfully mined 27.06 lakh metric tonnes of Garnet, Ilmenite, Rutile, Zir- con, Sillimanite and Leucoxene in the district during the period. For this, `2,146.36 crore was to be paid as ‘price of mineral’ and `48.82 crore as ‘royalties’ to the state government as per Section 21(5) of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act for causing loss to the exchequer. Mining of beach minerals has been banned in TN since November 2013, but these companies were engaged in illegal mining even after the ban. According to official sources, the Thoothukudi administration may issue similar demand orders this week. The current orders issued are for 2002-03 to 2013-14 (pre-ban period). Demand orders for 201416 (post-ban period) are being processed.  P7 Demand orders have been sent to six firms in Tirunelveli & Kanniyakumari | Express Top gun among 14 Maoists killed in Chhatisgarh EJ A Z k a i s e r @ Raipur IN a big jolt to the outlawed CPI (Maoist), its Central Committee member Jayram Pratap Reddy alias Chalapathi and 13 senior cadres were killed in an exchange of fire with security forces along the Chhattisgarh-Odisha border, 160 km east of Raipur. The gun battle late on Sunday continued intermittently for 48 hours in the Kularighat forest of Mainpur region in Gariaband district, said a senior police officer supervising the operation. Chalapathi, who hailed from Andhra Pradesh, was an active member of the Central Committee, which holds significant authority in the banned CPI (Maoist), just below the Politburo. He had a bounty of `1 crore on his head. “The encounter is still on. So far, fourteen bodies have been recovered. The casualty count is expected to rise as the search operation has been intensified in the area. This is the first operation where senior leaders of the banned outfit have been killed in Chhattisgarh,” Nikhil Rakhecha, Gariaband SP told this paper. There were intelligence inputs specifying the presence of the senior Maoist assembling in the region. A joint operation launched by a special team faced heavy gunfire from the Naxals, the officer said. Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on X: “Ano t h e r m i g h t y bl ow t o Naxalism.” Two security personnel, who were injured in the gunfight. are out of danger. The forces recovered self-loading guns, INSAS rifles and IEDs from the scene, the SP said. vallalar int’l centre works put on hold by SC Supreme Court has stayed the construction of the new Vallalar International Centre in Cuddalore, after the petitioner said the project went against Vallalar’s principles and wishes. The case was posted for further hearing on Feb 28 | P7 safe Saif Actor Saif Ali Khan back home from hospital following multiple surgeries five days ago after he was stabbed by an intruder, in Mumbai on Tuesday | ANI Seize Husain’s two paintings: Delhi court S h e k h a r S i n g h @ New Delhi A Delhi court ordered the seizure of two paintings by renowned artist M F Husain displayed at the Delhi Art Gallery following a complaint that they were offensive. Judicial Magistrate First Class Sahil Monga, presiding over the Patiala House Court, on Monday approved advocate Amita Sachdeva’s request for their seizure under Section 94 of the BNSS Act. The court instructed the Investigating Officer (IO) to secure the artworks and submit a report by January 22. “In light of the facts and circumstances mentioned in the said application, the said application is allowed and the IO is directed to seize the said painting and file a report on 22.01.2025.” Sachdeva’s complaint, lodged on December 9, 2024, at the Parliament Street Police Station, alleged that the paintings depicting Hindu deities Hanuman and Ganesh, were offensive. Chief secy holds meet on turtle deaths S V KRISHN A CH A ITA NYA @ Chennai Collateral damage During a drive by the Coimbatore corporation to clear encroachments across the Sanganoor stream in the city, two houses including a two-storey building collapsed. Nobody was hurt as the residents had moved out in time | S Senbagapandiyan With Olive Ridley deaths hitting record numbers this year, Chief Secretary N Muruganandam chaired a high-level meeting on Tuesday with top officials of various departments, including forest, fisheries, Indian Coast Guard, marine enforcement police and the coastal security group, to discuss steps to be taken to protect the critically-endangered species. According to sources, a decision was taken to prepare an action plan jointly by the departments of fisheries and environment, climate change and Around 600 Olive Ridleys have beached in Chennai alone so far | Express forests to address the problem. So far, close to 600 turtles have washed ashore dead in and around Chennai alone, with nearly 20 fresh carcasses being found between Marina and Kovalam on Tuesday morning. Sources told TNIE that the chief secretary pulled up officials, especially from the fisheries department, regarding their collective failure in implementing fishing regulations and mandatory use of Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) in trawl nets, which is suspected to be the primary cause for the deaths of the turtles. “The mass death of turtles has come at a time when the TN government led by Chief Minister M K Stalin has introduced several initiatives for conservation of marine life such as establishing India’s first dugong conservation reserve in Palk Bay an official said.  ,” P5 proud legacy 2,211 TN govt schools all set to celebrate 100-yr milestone S u ba s h i n i V i jaya k u m a r @ Chennai It is no small feat for a government school to stand the test of time, providing education to the community for over 100 years. To honour such schools that have served generations, the school education department, with support of alumni, will hold celebrations in 2,211 government schools from January 22 to February 2. School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi will inaugurate the first event at Panchayat Middle School in Thirukkuvalai, alma mater of former Chief Minister and DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi. According to the school education department, the schools that had achieved this milestone include 1,406 primary schools, 591 middle schools, 79 high schools, and 135 higher secondary schools. Among these, Madurai leads with 173 schools, followed by Cuddalore (158), Kanniyakumari (122), Dindigul (119), Tiruchy (109) and Thanjavur (102). The list does not include all the gover nment-aided schools that are functioning for more than 100 years. “If a school has been in a locality for over 100 years, it becomes a part of the community’s identity The alumni, with our . support, will organise these events. These celebrations aim to strengthen the connection between alumni, local communities and schools. It will also remind everyone of the school’s legacy motivating the staff to perform better,” a source in the school education department said. Presidency Girls Higher Secondary School in Chennai, over 240 years old, is said to be the oldest school in TN.  P7