vijayawada l wednesday l january 22, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l late 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 ■ 238 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 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 significant Impact on India due to Trump’s trade policies Short-term pain, long-term gain... ...India sees window of opportunity amidst tests D IPA K M O N D A L @ New Delhi J aya n t h J a 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. Soon after assuming office, Trump announced his America First Trade Policy withdrawal , from global tax deals as well as pulling out of 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 vehicles, 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 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. Ajay Sahai, director-general and CEO, Federation of India 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 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 meeting Jaishankar 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. Soon after interacting with state department staffers, the Quad ministers will meet for an hour. Trump is expected to visit India to attend the first Quad summit later this year. India also intends to host the first meeting of the Regional Ports and Transportation Conference, a new initiative of the grouping, in Mumbai in the coming months. Sources said that India-US ties will continue to grow under Trump despite negotiating some of the challenges, including 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 international order will have less impact on countries like India. “Those most anxious are the nations and organisations who are deeply invested in the current order.... For the countries who are less invested, it could very well be a time of opportunity India falls in the latter cat. egory,” Jaishankar said during the Nani Palkhivala Memorial Lecture on January 18. Elevation row: My hands are full, says Lokesh S V i s w a n at h @ Vijayawada With the leadership of both the TDP and JSP instructing their respective cadres not to air their opinions either through media or social media platforms on the issue of elevating for Human Resource Development and IT Minister Nara Lokesh as Deputy Chief Minister, both the parties have maintained restraint. After some TDP leaders issued open statements seeking elevation of Lokesh as the Deputy CM, a section of JSP also raised the demand for elevation of party chief and Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan. To avoid unnecessary trouble between the alliance partners, the TDP directed the party cadre on Monday not to express their views openly. In response to a question on the elevation issue, Lokesh said, “My hands are quite full in terms of the transformation I need to do in the education sector. Last five years have been very bad in the education sector in Andhra Pradesh. We are going to launch the Andhra model of education. The blueprint will be ready soon.”  P4 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 End to Federal cases Trump ordered an end to federal cases against ‘political opponents’ of the Biden administration, effectively helping his own supporters Ends remote work policies for all federal workers Combating consumer inflation Trump calls for an “all of government” response to bring down costs for Americans National Emergency at US-Mexico Border Trump declared a national emergency, planning to send US troops to support immigration agents Ending Birthright Citizenship Easing regulatory burdens Trump ordered easing of regulatory burdens on oil and natural gas production Tariffs on Canada and Mexico Trump plans to impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting Feb 1 It denies citizenship to children born in the US whose parents lack legal immigration status even if they are not illegals Minimum tax pact axe Withdraws US from global minimum tax agreement sanctions on Russia and Iran, which could disrupt energy imports for India. There is a possibility of more US energy coming to India, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri said. “India must diversify its energy supply sources, intensify domestic oil exploration, and expand investments in renewable energy to reduce external shocks,” said Ajay Srivastava, founder, Global Trade Research P11 Initiative. 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 in his first address after inauguration Mastermind of Alipiri blast and 13 Maoists killed E J A Z k a i s e r @ Raipur Gariaband SP told this paper. There were intelligence IN a big jolt to the outlawed inputs specifying the presCPI (Maoist), its Central ence of the senior Maoist asCommittee member Jayram sembling in the region. A Pratap Reddy alias Chalap- joint operation launched by athi and 13 senior cadres a special team faced heavy were killed in an exchange gunfire from the Naxals, the of fire with security forces officer said. along the ChhattisUnion Home Mingarh-Odisha border, ister Amit Shah said 160 km east of o n X : “A n o t h e r Raipur. mighty blow to NaxThe gun battle late alism. With a resolve on Sunday continfor a Naxal-free Inued intermittently dia and joint efforts for 48 hours in the of security forces, Who is Kularighat forest of Naxalism is breathMainpur region in Chalapathi ing its last today .” Gariaband district, Two security perChalapathi, a said a senior police master military sonnel, who were inofficer supervising strategist in his jured in the gunthe operation. 60s, was born fight, are out of Chalapathi, who danger. The forces in Chittoor. hailed from Andhra recovered self-loadHe was the Pradesh, was an acing guns, INSAS rimastermind tive member of the fles and Improvised behind Alipiri Central Committee, explosive devices blast in which holds signifi- October 2003, ( I E D s ) f ro m t h e cant authority in the scene, the SP said. which was banned CPI (Mao- triggered to kill Several slain Maoist), just below the ists were said to be the then CM Politburo. He had a Chandrababu members of Mainbounty of `1 crore pur-Nuapada diviNaidu on his head. sion. So far, 46 Mao“The encounter is ists have been killed still on. So far, 14 bodies have in Chhattisgarh in January . been recovered. The casual- This is the second major enty count is expected to rise counter against the Maoists as the search operation has this year in Gariaband disbeen intensified. This is the trict adjoining the Odisha first operation where senior border. The operation is part leaders of the banned outfit of a renewed strategy to free have been killed in Chhattis- Chhattisgarh from the grip garh,” Nikhil Rakhecha, of Maoists. pANEL To MONITOR PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES SET UP The government has constituted an expert committee to monitor private universities in the State for a period of one year. Kotha Madhu Murthy, Chairman of APSCHE, will serve as academic administrator I P4 CM outlines vision for Global Leadership Centre in Amaravati, LOI signed with IMD E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada On the second day of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a visionary leader, who envisions India as a global superpower by 2047. He exuded confidence that India will rank among the top two economies by 2047 with Indians becoming leaders in wealth creation. Delivering an inspiring address at a special session of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) on ‘Green Industrialisation’ on Tuesday, he emphasised the need for leveraging technologies like AI and real time data to solve complex problems and improve everyday life, outlining his vision for the Global Leadership Centre (GLC) in Amaravati to prepare future leaders. A Letter of Intent (LOI) was exchanged between IMD Business School, Switzerland, and GLC to enhance global competitiveness and leadership development. Highlighting his longstanding partnership with CII since 1995, Naidu reflected on his journey of driving transformative change, citing Hyderabad’s emergence as one of India’s most livable cities, and a Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu with Executive Chairman of ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India Lakshmi N Mittal and its CEO Aditya Mittal in Davos | Express global hub of IT, healthcare and innovation as a proof. “We have a demographic advantage, and Indian entrepreneurs, especially those from Andhra Pradesh, are excelling globally, contributing to the world economy. India is poised to lead, with Bloomberg predicting it will provide incremental GDP growth by 2027. From 2028 onwards, it will be the Indian era,” he remarked. Touching on sustainability, he underscored India’s commitment to natural and organic farming, which he termed a ‘boon for the global community’, and highlighted the importance of including people as partners in governance through his proposed P4 Model.) The Chief Minister urged corporate leaders to take the responsibility for eradicating poverty and inequality, describing people as India’s greatest asset. He acknowledged Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran’s guidance in steering the Swarnandhra 2047 economic development initiative. He highlighted his administration’s ambitious plans to transform the State into a global hub of green energy and green hydrogen setting a precedent for sustainable development and energy reforms. He reaffirmed his commitment to transforming Andhra Pradesh into a clean energy hub, with a mission-mode approach to achieving P4 sustainability goals.  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 JSP gets ECI recognition, Glass symbol E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada The Election Commission of India (ECI) has added the Jana Sena Party (JSP) to its list of recognised parties in the country, and allotted ‘Tea Glass’ as its official symbol. The ECI sent the recognition letter to Jana Sena Party chief and Deputy Chief Minister K Pawan Kalyan on Tuesday . In a press release, the JSP leadership expressed delight over the recognition of the Election Commission. T h e J S P, which contested the elections in 2024 in alliance with the TDP and the BJP, created a history by achieving 100% strike rate, winning all the 21 Assembly and two Parliamentary constituencies it contested. In the run-up to the general elections, the JSP faced a hurdle when ‘Tea Glass’ was declared a free symbol by the Election Commission initially . The JSP waged a legal battle to secure ‘Tea Glass’ as its symbol.