THRISSUR l Wednesday l January 22, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION At least 66 dead, 51 injured in fire at a ski resort in turkey hotel’s location hampering rescue efforts 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 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 six-member panel to lead investigation ■ ■ 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... D I PA K M O N D A L @ 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 as well as the Paris Climate Accord. He declared a national energy emergency, reinstating the country’s oil and gas industry at the centre stage. He also ended the federal mandate for electric vehciels, which has set a target of electrifying all new light-duty vehicles by 2027. While he did not sign any orders announcing import tariff hike, he proposed 25% duty on goods coming from Canada and Mexico. Earlier, Trump had Ends remote work policies for federal workers Easing regulatory burdens DON’s 1 day st 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 End to Federal cases Trump ordered an end to federal cases against ‘political opponents’ of the Biden administration, effectively helping his own supporters proposed a 60% tax on Chinese imports and 20% tariff on imports from other countries. He 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, director-general and CEO, Federation of India Trump ordered easing of regulatory burdens on oil and natural gas production Ending Birthright Citizenship Denies citizenship to children born in the US whose parents lack legal immigration status even if they are not illegals Exports Organisation, believes India stands to gain. “These measures aim to protect US industries but they also create opportunities for Indian exporters to fill supply chain gaps in textiles, pharmaceuticals, and engineering goods,” he said. Trump’s US-centric energy policies also signal potential sanctions on Russia and Iran, which could disrupt energy imports for India. ...India sees window of opportunity J ayan t h J a c o b @ New Delhi 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. According to sources, the importance of the Quad format is quite pronounced, going by the way the first day’s appointments of Rubio are planned. Top gun among 14 Maoists killed in Chhattisgarh The casualty count is expected to rise as the search operation IN a big jolt to the outlawed has been intensified. This is CPI (Maoist), its Central Com- the first operation where senmittee member ior leaders of the Jayram Pratap Reddy banned outfit have alias Chalapathi and been killed in Chhat13 senior cadres were tisgarh,” Nikhil Rakilled in an exchange khecha, Gariaband SP of fire with security told this paper. forces along the ChhatThere were intellitisgarh-Odisha border, gence inputs specifyWho is 160 km east of Raipur. Chalapathi ing the presence of the The gun battle late senior Maoist assemChalapathi, a on Sunday continued bling in the region. A intermittently for 48 master military j o i n t o p e r a t i o n h o u r s i n t h e Ku - strategist in his launched by a special 60s, had a `1 larighat forest of team faced heavy gunMainpur region in crore bounty on fire from the Naxals, Gariaband district, his head. Born the officer said. said a senior police of- in Chittoor, he Union Home Minisjoined the ficer supervising the ter Amit Shah said on Maoist operation. X: “Another mighty Chalapathi, who movement 27 blow to Naxalism. With hailed from Andhra years ago, and a resolve for a NaxalPradesh, was an active lend strategic free India and joint efmember of the Central guidance and forts of security forces, intellectual Committee, which Naxalism is breathing support holds significant auits last today Two se.” thority in the banned curity personnel, who CPI (Maoist), just below the were injured in the gunfight, Politburo. He had a bounty of are out of danger. The forces `1 crore on his head. “The en- recovered self-loading guns, counter is still on. So far, 14 INSAS rifles and IEDs from the bodies have been recovered. scene, the SP said. E J A Z kai s e r @ Raipur 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 | P10