visakhapatnam l friday l august 01, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION IMD predicts above-normal rainfall in 2nd half of monsoon The southwest monsoon season (August to September) will bring rainfall in excess of 106% of the long period average, which is 422 mm File photo a wetter september in the offing Most parts of the country, except the Northeast and adjoining areas of eastern India, are expected to record normal rainfall in August, said IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra during an online press conference. Rainfall in September is likely to be above normal, he said. India received above-normal rainfall during June and July, with flash floods in some parts ■ 42% sub-normal rain in northeast a concern ■ The country received 474.3 mm of rainfall against a normal of 445.8 mm from June 1 to July 31, a surplus of six per cent, IMD said In Northeast India, this is the fifth consecutive year of below-normal rainfall. Over the last 30 years, a declining trend in rainfall activity has been observed in the northeastern states, which is a cause of concern of india’s population is dependent on the monsoon for their water 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 Don terms India’s economy ‘dead’ will take all steps to promote national interest, says Goyal India grins and bears the dead economy barb poke-man ‘Russian Oil trade a point of irritation’ I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care Donald Trump Trump is right, says Rahul India’s purchase of Russian oil is “a point of irritation” in New Delhi’s relationship with Washington, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday, adding that it is helping Moscow’s war efforts in Ukraine Endorsing Trump’s criticism of the Indian economy, Cong leader Rahul Gandhi said everybody except PM Modi knows India’s economy is ‘dead’. “Yes, he is right... I am glad that President Trump has stated a fact,” he said | P7 P REETHA NAIR @ New Delhi EVEN as US President Donald Trump doubled down his attack on India calling it a ‘dead economy’, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal told Parliament on Thursday that India would take all necessary steps to safeguard and promote national interest. Goyal’s assertion came a day after Trump announced 25% tariffs on Indian goods plus an additional penalty for doing business with Russia, with effect from August 1. In a suo motu statement in both the Houses of Parliament, Goyal said the government is examining the implications of the US move and is engaged with all stakeholders, including exporters and industry , for taking feedback of their assessment of the situation. “The government attaches utmost importance to protecting and promoting the welfare of farmers, workers, entrepreneurs, exporters, MSMEs and all sections of industry We will . take all necessary steps to secure and advance our national interest,” he said. The minister also said that in just over a decade, India has emerged the fastest growing major economy in the world and it is expected to become the third largest in a few years. Though Opposition members demanded the government’s re- sponse on Trump’s remarks, Goyal’s statement did not find any mention of it. The Opposition MPs were referring to Trump’s attack on India and Russia for their bonhomie. “I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care. We have done very little business with India, their tariffs are too high, among the highest in the world,” Trump said. In response to Trump’s take, Goyal said international institutions see India as a bright spot. “India is contributing to 16% of global growth. Our exports have steadily increased. In an increasingly protectionist world, India has done mutually beneficial trade pacts with UAE, UK, Australia and EFTA countries. We are committed to similar agreements with others,” he said. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said there was no discussion on the real issues such as failure to reach a trade deal with the US, the imposition of a 25% tariff on Indian exports, and additional punitive actions for trading with Russia and Iran. “The minister wasted time in self-praise. It is quite clear that India now faces new and bigger challenges with the US. The much-touted personal friendship that PM Modi relied on has proved to be completely hollow” Ramesh said. Experts dismiss Don deal on Pak’s oil reserves B a l a C h a u h a n @ Bengaluru After imposing 25% tariff on India, US President Donald Trump sought to rub it in, saying he had struck a deal with Pakistan to develop its ‘massive’ oil reserves. “Who knows, maybe they’ll be selling Oil to India some day!” he quipped. But strategic experts tracking Pakistan were not impressed. “It doesn’t impress anyone for there are no proven offshore or onshore oil reserves in Pakistan,” said Sharat Sabharwal, former Indian Foreign Service officer and former diplomat to Pakistan. Trump’s reference to the oil deal with Pakistan seems to be CM to launch ‘Annadata’ tomorrow Express News Service @ Vijayawada The TDP-led NDA government is set to roll out the Annadata Sukhibhava scheme on August 2, fulfilling one of its key Super Six promises to suppor t farmers. The initiative, aimed at benefiting 46,85,838 farmers across the State, will be launched by Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu at Veerayapalem in Darsi mandal of Prakasam district. Under the first phase of the scheme, each eligible farmer will get `5,000 directly credited into their bank accounts, with the State government allocating `2,342.92 crore for the implementation of the scheme. Combined with the Centre’s `2,000 aid under the PM Kisan scheme, farmers will receive a total of `7,000 on August 2. The coalition government is committed to providing `14,000 per annum per farmer in three installments (`5,000, `5,000, and `4,000), in addition to the Centre’s `6,000 under the PM Kishan, extending a total aid of `20,000 to each beneficiary under the Annadata Sukhibhava P4 scheme  part of his effort to ratchet up pressure on India to get his trade deal, he said. The purported oil deal remains “unclear”, said Swathi Kalyani, geospatial researcher at Bengaluru-based think tank, The Takshashila Institution. “While there are claims about surveys done regarding offshore oil reserves in India, there is no publicly available data currently to validate the same for Pakistan... If we compare the proven oil reserves, India’s global position is 23rd, much ahead of Pakistan’s 52,” Kalyani said. Kalyani added that most of Pakistan’s operational oil fields are in its north but a signifi- cant number of gas fields are along the Indus, in the Balochistan region. Kalyani said oil mining will have wider consequences for the region and the dependent population. “With American investments coming in, Pakistan may end up facing collateral damage,” she added. “The well known oil reserve of Pakistan in the Indus basin is the Sari field (World Oil Map) discovered in 1966. It is spread across Sindh majorly, and remains in Balochistan. A 2017 report by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) regarding undiscovered oil reserves in the Lower Indus Basin, too, did not say anything about offshore reserves,” she added. India’s oil reserves much ahead of Pak India’s recoverable oil reserves in 2023 were 4.9 billion barrels (US EIA). In 2024, the estimated crude oil reserves in India stood at 671.40 million tonnes. On the other hand, the known energy potential of Pakistan according to a 2023 report of the Ministry of Energy, Government of Pakistan, is just 1,228.955 million (1.2 billion) US barrels gdp growth could take 20-30 bps hit, say analysts B ENN K O CH U V EE D AN @ Mumbai IF the 25% tariff on Indian goods announced by US President Donald Trump is implemented from August 1, it could pull down India’s economic growth by 20-30 basis points (bps) in the current fiscal, say experts, adding that the effective rate could come down as the trade talks are still on. “We do not see the tariff threat impacting GDP growth meaningfully… at worst, the impact is 30 bps. We expect final tariffs to settle in lower than 25%, as trade talks are on,” said British brokerage Barclays. Elara Securities also expects a 30 bps drag on India’s GDP growth if there is no deal with the US. It added that the weakening rupee will be the first line of defence and thus the probability of a 50 bps rate cut in August has risen, which could cushion the economy against exter nal shocks. But as of now, the tariff is negative on the rupee, which is speculated to reach the 88.5-89 level against the dollar. According to Japanese brokerage Nomura Securities, the net impact of US tariff on India would be lower. “Taking into account sectoral exemptions, we estimate the effective tariff rate at 20% and this will be a 20 bps downside risk to the growth forecast for this fiscal,” Nomura economists Sonal Varma and Aurodeep Nandi said. Nomura has forecast India’s FY26 GDP growth at 6.2% with a downside risk of 20 bps. “Exports to the US account for just 2.2% of the GDP and in, clude pharma, smartphones, gems & jewellery, industrial machinery, auto components, textiles and iron & steel; most of which will likely face margin pressure,” it said. Aditi Raman, associate economist at Moody’s Analytics, said the US is India’s largest trade partner accounting for 18% of total exports. However, India’s economy is more domestically oriented than most of the region and relies far less on trade, she noted. In 2024, Indian exports to the US amounted to $81 billion. Pharma, gems and textiles are the most vulnerable sectors to the US tariff heat. 17 years later Court acquits all 7 accused in Malegaon blast Sud h i r Su r ya w a n s h i @ Mumbai Lokesh faults TG leaders’ objection to Banakacherla S V i s w a n at h @ Vijayawada Asserting that the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) was floated to safeguard the interests of all the Telugu people, Minister for HRD, IT and Electronics Nara Lokesh has faulted leaders of Telangana for raising objections over the Polavaram - Banakacherla project fo r t h e i r s e l f i s h p o l i t i c a l motives. Responding to the objections of Telangana leaders to the Banakacherla project, at a press conference at his residence in Undavalli on Thursday, Lokesh felt that some of the leaders were provoking regional differences among the Telugu people for political mileage. “Why should there be an objection to the upper riparian State when the lower riparian State is taking up a project on Godavari?” he asked. Reminding that the Andhra Pradesh government never objected to the Kaleshwaram project constructed by Telangana, Lokesh sought to know what is wrong with the AP government to take the surplus Godavari water from Polavaram to Banakacherla, and use it for the needs of the people of Rayalaseema. “In fact, we are only lifting the Godavari water that is flowing waste into the sea. The Banakacherla project has been proposed in the territory of AP. In such a scenario, it is illogical by Telangana leaders to object to the ir rigation project,” Lokesh observed. Mentioning that hundreds of TMC of Godavari water is flowing waste into the sea every year, he said, “Water will be lifted to Banakacherla only when the surplus water is available in the river. If there is no surplus water in the Godavari river, lifting will be stopped altogether.” Stating that Telangana constructed the Kaleshwaram project without any approvals, Lokesh asked, “Have we ever objected to the project as well as investments into Telangana?” “NTR floated the TDP for the wellbeing of Telugu people. Our intention is that Telugus should be number one in the world. We will not take any water from Telangana through the Banakacherla project. It is unfair to provoke regional differences for political mileage. Should there be different sets of ethics for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana? Are we drawing Telangana water? There is no mistake in taking up the Banakacherla project,” he asserted. Lokesh felt that interlinking of rivers is very much required to end water disputes between the States. Accused (from top) Pragya Singh Thakur, Lt Col Prasad Purohit, Major (retd) Ramesh Upadhyay, Sameer Kulkarni and Ajay Rahirkar Bike data Lahoti said chassis tampering of the bike used in the blast could not be established. Since forensic experts failed to fully recover its serial number, it could not be traced back to Pragya Thakur Seventeen years after the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast that killed six persons, a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Thursday acquitted all seven accused, including BJP leader and former Lok Sabha MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Colonel Prasad Purohit. Pronouncing the verdict, judge A K Lahoti stated, “Terror has no religion because no religion can advocate violence…. So, the judgment cannot be based on moral and public perceptions.” Significantly, NIA special public prosecutor Rohini Salian had in 2015 resigned claiming that the agency was going out of its way to water down the case and had been given standing instructions to go easy on the ‘Hindu terror’ accused. Judge Lahoti faulted the prosecution for failing to prove that the bike used in the blast belonged to Pragya Singh Thakur. “She became a sadhvi at least two years before the blast... no cogent material against her or any other accused,” the judge said. The court also noted that since no fingerprints or DNA samples were collected on time from the spot, the subsequent forensic report could not be relied upon as the evidence was contaminated. “There can be strong suspicion but mere suspicion is not enough to punish them. The high degree of suspicion is established but not enough to convict them,” the court said, adding it has given the accused the benefit of doubt. Lahoti also found no evidence to establish that Abhinav Bharat, an outfit founded by Pragya Thakur and Col Purohit, used its funds for terror activities. The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) initially investigated the case and arrested 12 people, including Pragya and Purohit under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). The case went to the NIA in 2011. While MCOCA was lifted against the accused after the NIA took over, Lahoti said two sanction orders for invoking the UAPA, passed by ACS-Home, were defective. “Sanction 197 was not required. Hence, UAPA cannot be inP8 voked,” he said. AP records 11 animal discoveries in ZSI report, six species found for 1st time U s h a P e r i @ Visakhapatnam Andhra Pradesh has recorded 11 notable animal discoveries in the recently released publication ‘Animal Discoveries: New Species and New Records 2024’ by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI). The list includes five newly described species, and six spe- cies reported from the State for the first time. The discoveries span across various animal groups, including Diptera (1), Coleoptera (1), Hymenoptera (1), Arachnida (1), Amphibia (2), Pisces (1), Mollusca (1), and Hemiptera (2). Among the described species is Asphondylia mangiferi, a gall midge under the family Ce- Newly found species The discoveries span across various animal groups, including Diptera (1), Coleoptera (1), Hymenoptera (1), Arachnida (1), Amphibia (2), Pisces (1), Mollusca (1), and Hemiptera (2) cidomyiidae. It was collected from Maruvada village in the State. The species is named after the genus of its host plant, mango. This is the first Asphondylia species known to infest mango fruit, making it a noteworthy addition to the known mango pests. Another species, Myllocerus depressus (family Curculioni- dae), was described based on specimens collected from Dowleswaram near Rajahmundry and other locations in AP, and neighbouring States. The name refers to the dorsally depressed body structure. Hymenoptera, Tiphia (Tiphia) andhraensis was recorded from the Mudasarlova P4 reservoir area in Vizag.