tadepalligudem l wednesday l february 05, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION counterpunch: China announces retaliatory tariff on U.S. imports China countered President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Chinese products with levies of its own on multiple US imports as well as a probe on Google 15% tariff on coal, lng; 10% on crude oil impact on u.s. exports may be limited China said it would implement a 15% tariff on coal and liquefied natural gas products as well as a 10% tariff on crude oil, agricultural machinery and large-engine cars imported from the US. The tariffs would take effect next Monday. “The US’s unilateral tariff increase violates rules of the WTO,” China’s State Council Tariff Commission said in a statement | P9 ■ ■ The impact on US exports may be limited. Though the US is the biggest exporter of LNG globally, it does not export much to China. In 2023, the US exported only 2.3% of its natural gas to China China also placed two US companies on an unreliable entities list: PVH Group, which owns Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, and Illumina 2018 was when Trump first began the tariff war with ChinA 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 State logs over 60k registrations in a week Ahead of Delhi polling, Modi B a n d h a v i A n n a m @ Guntur In a record achievement, the Stamps and Registration Department of Andhra Pradesh recorded 68,000 property registrations and generated `475.44 crore in revenue from January 27 to February 3. The surge was driven by property buyers rushing to finalise transactions before the revised registration rates came into effect on February 1. According to official data, the State logged an impressive 56,649 registrations, generating `356.25 crore in revenue, from January 27 to 31. Even after the new land registration prices were implemented, 11,667 properties were registered on Feb- ILLEGAL STAY Assam gets it for failing to deport foreigners s u c h i t r a k a lya n m o h a n t y @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Tuesday lambasted the Assam government for its failure to deport individuals declared as foreigners, while ordering the state to initiate deportation proceedings against 63 whose nationalities were known. A two-judge bench led by justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan, held that once individuals are declared foreigners, they should be deported immediately. “Are you waiting for some muhurat to deport those detained persons who are held to be foreigners?” the court asked the Assam government’s counsel. The bench said it’s for the Centre to decide where the foreigners should go, adding Assam cannot continue to detain them indefinitely . The top court was hearing a case of petitioner Rajubala against the Central government over the issue of deportation of declared foreigners. “Once you declare a person foreigner, then you have to take the next logical step. You cannot detain them till eternity. Article 21 of the Constitution is there. There are many foreigner detention centres in Assam. How many have you deported?” the bench questioned. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said he would sit with the Union Ministry of External Affairs officials and find a solution. The court also directed the Assam government to ensure better conditions in detention centres and form a committee to inspect facilities fortnightly. Additionally, the Central government has been given a month’s time to clarify how to handle ‘stateless’ individuals. G Satyanarayana Date Jan 27 Jan 28 Jan 29 Jan 30 Jan 31 Feb 1 Feb 3 Total REGISTRATION RUSH Gross Revenue (in `cr) 93.65 56.57 27.32 76.69 103.61 71.39 46.21 475.44 Registrations 10,373 8,107 7,530 14,639 16,000 4,022 7,645 68,316 Don sends first deportation flight to India US military flight with 205 undocumented Indians aboard to land in Amritsar today J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi THE US on Tuesday deported 205 people, mostly from Punjab, on a military plane as it stepped up its efforts to remove illegal migrants. The C-17 military aircraft, which took off from Texas in the wee hours on Tuesday, will make a refuel stop at the Ramstein airbase in Germany before landing in Amritsar on Wednesday . While there was no official word either from Washington or New Delhi about the deportation flight, sources said the deportees were verified before they were put on the plane. A recheck of the passengers’ nationalities will be done once the flight lands in Amritsar. Punjab Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said state government officials will receive the deportees and set up counters for them. This is the first time the US is using a military plane to deport people: last October, a chartered flight was used to fly back Indians who were staying in the US illegally . A spokesperson of the US embassy in New Delhi said the crackdown would send a clear message, that illegal migration is not worth the risk. Tough action against illegal immigration was one of the major poll promises of Donald Trump. “All illegal entry will be immediately halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of illegal aliens back to the places from which they came,” he said during his inauguration speech. Following a call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month, Trump said the Indian PM “will do what’s right” regarding illegal Indian immigrants in the US. India’s stated position is that it does not support illegal migration and will take back its citizens, upon verification, if they are found to be staying in other countries illegally . Indications are that there could be more such repatriation flights. At least 20,407 undocumented ‘Indians’ could be impacted by the crackdown, with 17,940 being paperless individuals with final removal orders, according to the US Department of Homeland Security Another 2,467 individuals . are currently in detention under the Enforcement and Removal Operations division of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. These figures, last updated in 2022, may have increased significantly . Punjab govt to be ‘friendly’ with deportees Chandigarh: Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav said on Tuesday that the state government would be friendly with the illegal immigrants who land at the Amritsar airport on Wednesday after being deported from the US. “However, criminal antecedents, if any, would be checked and due action taken. We do not know yet about their identity and their cases but we are in touch with central agencies,” he said ruary 1 and 3, bringing in `117.6 crore in revenue. The State government had issued an order stating that land registration rates would be revised based on various factors, including location and developmental activities. As a result, land prices increased in 16,997 villages and 9,054 municipal and urban wards, while remaining unchanged in 68 villages. However, 158 villages and 145 urban wards recorded a decline in land prices. Reports suggest that land registration values dropped in Guntur and Kakinada, while a 3% to 9% increase was recorded in Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Eluru, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema, P4 and Prakasam districts. tdp secures tirupati deputy mayor post TDP continued to strengthen its hold in the State’s urban governance, securing key posts in several civic body by-polls. TDP candidates won Tirupati Deputy Mayor and Nandigama Municipal Chairperson posts | P4 tears into Rahul, Kejri in LS P r ee t h a N a i r @ New Delhi A day after Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s fiery speech in the Lok Sabha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on the grand old party and said his government has helped as many as 25 crore Indians “defeat poverty and come out of it” in the last 10 years. Replying to the debate in the Lok Sabha on the motion of thanks on the President’s address, Modi said such achievements happen when “we sacrifice our lives for the poor in a planned way”. He reiterated his commitment to the goal of ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047. Rebutting Rahul’s charges on ‘rising unemployment’ and the ‘Make in India’ programme’s failure to revive production, Modi listed his gover nment achievements in different sectors like education, foreign policy, MSMEs and job creation. While Rahul spoke about data localisation and artificial intelligence, Modi said, “Our focus is on double AI. One AI is artificial intelligence and the other aspirational India.” Rubbishing Rahul’s allegations on Chinese encroach- Constitution rap Hitting out at Rahul’s Constitution pitch, the PM said, “those who walk with Constitution in their pockets forget Muslim women. We ended triple talaq, gave women their rights. We live by the Constitution.” Urban Naxal lingo Have three members of a SC or ST family served as members of Parliament together at any point in time ever? PM’s broadside against Sonia’s family ment, Modi observed that “some don’t feel mature enough if they do not talk about foreign policy though it might hurt the country .” “If they have an interest in foreign policy, want to understand it, and aim to do something in this field in the future, they should definitely read a book, JFK’s Forgotten Crisis, on the subject,” he said without mentioning its author. Slamming Rahul for his demand for a caste census, the PM said some people had made it fashion to talk about caste. “For the last 30-35 years, MPs E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada HIGH-STAKES dELHI POLLS TODAY Polling officials collect election material at a distribution centre on the eve of the Delhi Assembly elections | PTI CM Naidu sets Ugadi launch for P4 E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada The Public-Private-PeoplePartnership (P4) system, proposed by the State government, will be implemented from Ugadi, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu announced on Tuesd ay. T h e i n i t i a t ive w a s introduced with the aim of eradicating poverty in the State. The Chief Minister believes that the best results can be achieved if 10% of those in the highest financial positions assist and empower the bottom 20%. During a review meeting with officials from the Planning Department at the State Secretariat, Naidu directed them to create a portal for receiving suggestions, opinions, and advice from the public to formulate compre- hensive guidelines for P4. The initiative will only be implemented after receiving public feedback and suggestions from various sections of society the , Chief Minister emphasised. He noted that some industrialists, NRIs, and individuals holding prominent positions in society have expressed interest in extending assistP4 ance to the poor.  Love, luxe and loot: Luck runs out for interstate thief in Bengaluru up with him when he was arrested by Bengaluru police on January 20 for stealing gold MEET Panchakshari Sangayya and silver ornaments worth Swami, a 37-year-old thief with `12.25 lakh from a house in a taste for the high life. Madiwala. A state-level kickboxSwami’s ar rest reer and black belt in kavealed a staggering crimrate, Swami had a peninal past — over 150 cases chant for gifting lavish of robbery and theft presents to his loved across Telangana, Maones, including a `3 harashtra, Gujarat and crore palatial house to Karnataka. He had been P S Swami his bar dancer girlarrested twice before, in friend and a `22 lakh 2012 and 2016, and had aquarium to a well-known Bol- spent six years in prison. But lywood actress. But law caught despite his notoriety he contin, @ Bengaluru Illustration: Mandar Pardikar from across parties were demanding constitutional status for the OBC Commission. It’s we who gave it constitutional status,” he emphasised. With Delhi going to elections the next day, the PM’s speech mostly revolved around criticism of the Aam Aadmi Party government and the alleged corruption charges against it. Targeting former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, he said, “some people are focused on building jacuzzi and showers”, while the BJP government is working to provide tap water to every home in the country . PIL filed against High Court Bench in Kurnool art of deception E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e In a veiled attack on Rahul, he said, “Some openly speak the language of urban Naxals and attack the Indian state. They don’t understand Constitution or democracy.” ued to evade the law, shifting his base to Bengaluru to avoid detection. His life of crime began in 2003 when he stole a laptop at the age of 15. By 2009, he had turned into a professional, using his ill-gotten gains to fund his lavish lifestyle. When he turned 24, he came in contact with the Bollywood actress. Police believed he would spend up to `15 lakh for every visit to the actress. He gifted her the pricey aquarium on one of her birthday . Besides this, he had also con- structed a palatial building for his girlfriend, a bar dancer in Kolkata. “He had met her at a bar and had fallen in love. He constructed the bungalow costing `3 crore for her using his ill-gotten money police said, adding that ,” Swami was married but his wife deserted him. His latest arrest was made possible by CCTV footage and technical evidence, which led police to recover 181 gm of gold biscuits and 333 gm of silver ornaments, worth `12.25 lakh. He was picked up near the popular Madiwala market. Police said he had melted all stolen gold ornaments and converted them into gold biscuits. Police recovered a fire gun that he used to melt gold. Bengaluru police commissioner B Dayananda said, “He had stolen gold and silver ornaments weighing 410 gm from a locked house in Madiwala. He gained entry by breaking open the door locks. After his release from a jail in Maharashtra in October last year, he committed this theft in Madiwala on January 9.” A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in the Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday, challenging the State government’s decision to establish a High Court Bench in Kurnool City . Advocates Thandava Yogesh and Turaga Sai Surya filed the PIL, requesting the court to quash the government’s decision. The Chief Secretary Prin, cipal Secretary (Law), and the High Court Registrar were named as respondents in the case. The petitioners contended that the decision to set up a High Court Bench was based on emotions, sentiments, and political considerations, rather than necessity. Citing the use of e-filing and video conferencing during trials, they argued that there was no requirement for a separate High Court Bench. Arguing that political parties should not be allowed to make such decisions, the petitioners stressed that the move contradicted a Supreme Court ruling. They also pointed out that the State government had made the decision without considering the 1985 Jaswant Singh Commission’s report. The petitioners claimed that the government had taken a unilateral decision to establish the High Court Bench in Kurnool. Further, the petitioners disputed the government’s claim that Kurnool was chosen due to its central location within Rayalaseema. They noted that Kurnool is not in the centre but at a corner, bordering Telangana and situated just 200 km from Hyderabad. They maintained that any decision on the High Court Bench should adhere to the guidelines set by the Jaswant Singh Commission, adding that the High Court Chief Justice must consider those guidelines and seek approval from the Governor, as per Section 31(3) of the AP State P4 Reorganisation Act.