chennai l Monday l April 28, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late CITY EDITION Global Economic Uncertainty Hits New Highs Amid U.S. Tariff ‘an environment of fear and volatility’ The report attributes this uncertainty to the unpredictable nature of the US tariff policy under President Trump. Recent tariff hikes, including a significant increase to 145% on Chinese products, have created an environment of fear and volatility in financial markets, said the report released on Sunday in Barcelona International Monetary Fund’s latest World Economic Outlook warns economic uncertainty has surpassed levels seen during Covid-19 world trade uncertainty index up ■ ■ IMF’s world trade uncertainty index is seven times higher than in October 2024, with global GDP growth forecasts revised downward to 2.8% for 2025 and 3% for 2026 Financial markets are experiencing instability similar to Covid19, with US bond prices falling as investors begin to sell them 1.2% is the The euro area’s growth forecast figure for 2026 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 heads-up: chief of defence staff meets rajnath singh NIA takes over probe, forces ready to strike m aya n k s i n g h & m u k e s h r a n j a n @ New Delhi IN the wake of the deadly Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives and the possibility of an Indian retaliation against Pakistan-backed terror groups, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan met Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday to brief him on key military decisions taken after the attack. The Indian Navy on Sunday conducted successful multiple anti-ship firings, showcasing its readiness for long-range precision strikes. “Indian Navy stands combat ready, credible, and futureready in safeguarding the nation’s maritime interests anytime, anywhere, anyhow,” the Navy said in a statement. Diplomatic relations between the two countries have taken a hit, after the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) met on April 23 followed by India withdrawing its Defence, Navy and Air Ad, visors from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, reducing the overall strength of the high commission to 30 from 55. The Indus Waters Treaty, functional since 1960, has been suspended, and the only operational land border crossing at Attari has been shut down. Diplomatic ties with Pakistan have been down- graded, prompting Pakistan to shut its airspace to Indian airliners and suspend all trade with India. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken over the probe into the Pahalgam terror attack, intensifying efforts to collect evidence and identify perpetrators. NIA teams, overseen by an Inspector General of Police, a Deputy Inspector General of Police and a Superintendent of Police, are examining eyewitnesses, analyzing videos, and scrutinizing entry and exit points to piece together the sequence of events. Intelligence agencies have traced the attack’s digital footprints to safe houses in Muzaffarabad and Karachi, suggesting a clear Pakistan hand, sources said. A local videographer, who was there to film reels for tourists in Baisaran, has now become one of the key witnesses for the NIA, as a senior official said, “The photographer in a bid to save his life climbed a tree, but he continued videographing the incidents that unfolded there.” Meanwhile, Sunday was the last day for Pakistanis having short-term visas in 12 categories to leave India. A long queue of vehicles was seen at the Attari-Wagah border crossing. As many as 537 Pakistani nationals left India since April 24 after the government revoked their visa, officials said. Navy conducts war drills in arabian sea China calls for restraint, backs impartial probe J AYA NTH J A COB @ New Delhi Navy ships undertake multiple anti-ship firings in Arabian Sea to demonstrate readiness for long range strikes | PTI PM vows ‘harshest punishment’ for conspirators r a j e s h k u m a r t h a k u r @ New Delhi prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured that the families of the victims of the recent Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir will receive justice, and the perpetrators and conspirators will face the harshest response ever imagined. Addressing the nation through his monthly radio programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’, Modi expressed deep anguish over the attack that claimed the lives of at least 26 civilians, mostly tourists. “The whole world stands with 140 crore Indians in our fight against terrorism,” Modi said, adding that the unity of the country and solidarity of its people is the biggest strength in the war against terrorism. He ac- A BSF personnel guides Pakistani nationals arriving at Wagah border to cross over to their country on Sunday | PTI cused the terrorists and their masterminds of trying to push Kashmir back into turmoil, by executing a major conspiracy . “This attack in Pahalgam shows the desperation of the patrons of terrorism; displays their cowardice.” He noted that the attack was a setback to the progress and peace that was returning to Kashmir, where construction work had gained unprecedented pace, democracy was getting stronger, and new opportunities were being created for the youth. The Prime Minister urged the nation to demonstrate strong willpower in the face of the ghastly terrorist attack on Tuesday and said, “We need , strong willpower ... Today the world is watching, after this terrorist attack, the whole country is speaking in one voice. The anger that the people of India feel is also being felt across the whole world.” Expect more Cabinet rejig: Balaji, Ponmudy ‘torpedoes’ in out; Mano Thangaraj to be in Donald Trump’s next 100 days T M u r u g a n a n d h a m @ Chennai Agencies US President Donald Trump, who completes 100 days in power on April 29, will spend his next 100 days of his presidency to seal trade and peace pacts, media reports quoting White House officials said. After a series of ‘loud’ changes during his first 100 days, including social policy areas such as transgender rights, Trump may deploy some ‘torpedoes in reserve’ over the next three months, reports said quoting officials. This could mean more ‘executive actions’ that have become the hallmarks of Trump’s first 100 days. Sources said the administration was still working on a travel ban for citizens from multiple countries. Since taking office on January 20, Trump has enacted sweeping changes on domestic and foreign policy priorities, upending the world economic order with tariffs, slashing the size of the government with job cuts, and scrapping diversity programmes. He is expected to travel to Michigan this week for a rally marking the 100-day milestone. Tamil Nadu Ministers V Senthil Balaji and K Ponmudy resigned from the Cabinet on Sunday and their portfolios have been re-allocated among Ministers S S Sivasankar, S Muthusamy and R S Rajakannappan. Balaji’s resignation follows a directive from the Supreme Court to decide between ministership or freedom in a money laundering case. Po n m u dy ’s d e p a r t u re from Cabinet is a fallout of his recent controversial remarks, which are believed to have caused the party embarrassment and had already cost him his par ty post of de puty g eneral secretary. Governor R N Ravi accepted the recommendations made by Chief Minister M K Stalin to accept the resignation of the two ministers as well as to re-allocate their portfolios to the three other ministers. According to a Raj Bhavan communique, Senthil Balaji’s portfolio of electricity has been given to Transport Minister Sivasankar and he will now be designated as Minister for Transport and Electricity. Similarly, Minister for Housing and Urban Development S Muthusamy has been given the Prohibition and Excise portfolios, which were under Senthil Balaji, and he has been designated as Minister for Housing, Prohibition and Excise. Meanwhile, Ponmudy’s portfolios of Forests and Khadi have been given to Dairy Development Minister R S Rajakannappan, who is now redesignated as Minister for Forests and Khadi. In addition, the CM has recommended the induction of T Mano Thangaraj, former minister and MLA from the Padmanabhapuram Assembly constituency, into the Cabinet.  P5 express read 6 dead in Nellai car collision Tirunelveli: At least six people, including two children, were killed after two cars collided head-on along the Tirunelveli-Kanniyakumari NH at Thalapathisamuthiram village near Nanguneri on Sunday evening. Police did not confirm the identities of the deceased till Sunday night | P5 11 dead in Vancouver fest Vancouver: A car driver killed 11 people as he ploughed through a crowd at a Filipino cultural celebration in Vancouver, Canada, police said on Sunday, ruling out terrorism as motive. Later, police said the suspect acted deliberately and had a history of mental health problems | P9 Amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan, China on Sunday urged restraint by both sides. Beijing also backed Islamabad’s demand for an ‘impartial investigation’ into the Pahalgam terror attack, adding that it is ‘closely monitoring’ the situation. “Conflict is not in the fundamental interests of India and Pakistan, or conducive to regional peace and stability… Both countries should exercise restraint, meet each other halfway and promote the cooling of the situation,” Chinese state media quoted Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi as saying during a phone call with Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Sunday . During the call, Dar briefed Wang on the latest developments and the latter offered support for Pakistan’s “legitimate security concerns and its efforts to uphold sovereignty and security interests”. Reaffirming Beijing’s support for Islamabad, Wang added, “China has always supported Pakistan in its resolute anti-terrorism actions.” Hackers stole data from labour dept’s sites twice in 2024 accessed documents related to the addresses and other personal details of several Personal information of thousands of their thousands of employers and employees. their staff from across Tamil The stolen data belongs to Nadu has been stolen from employers and their employthe state government’s la- ees as registered under varibour department portal twice ous labour laws, including in the last year. The stolen de- the Tamil Nadu Shops and tails belong to employers and Establishments Act, Tamil their employees in shops and Nadu Industrial Establishbusinesses, industries and ments (National Festival and private firms, and also com- Special Holidays) Act, Motor prises sensitive Transport Workdata including ers Act, Interpress bank account clusive State Migrant details of guest Workmen Act workers in TN. and Beedi and The data was stolen twice Cigar Workers (Conditions in May and November 2024 of Employment) Act, among by two separate hacker others. groups who, according to an Apart from the labour deFIR registered on November partment portal, data from 14, 2024, claimed to have the department’s Inter-State hacked the entire database Migrant Workers MIS— from the labour department which was launched in 2023— portal and the inter-state mi- has also been stolen. This sysgrant workers’ portal for sale tem is used for registration on the dark web. The data- of inter-state migrant workbase contained the Aadhaar ers employed in commercial and PAN details of employ- establishments, agriculture, ers, their phone numbers and schools, colleges and local addresses. The hackers also bodies.  P5 NIRU PA M A V ISW A N ATH A N @ Chennai