HYDERABAD  WEDNESDAY  FEBRUARY 05, 2025  `9.00  PAGES 32  LATE 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 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 ■ 2018 IMPACT ON U.S. EXPORTS MAY BE LIMITED ■ 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 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 TG lobs survey ball in Centre court Ahead of Delhi polling, Modi Assembly adopts resolution calling upon Centre to emulate Telangana model on caste survey B K A R T H E E K @ Hyderabad THE state Legislative Assembly on Tuesday unanimously adopted a resolution calling upon the Union government to follow the Telangana model and conduct a “socio-economic, educational, employment, political and caste survey” to understand the dynamics of various castes. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy also announced that February 4 would be observed as “Telangana Social Justice Day” as it was on this day last year that the Cabinet gave its approval to the proposal to conduct a social, economic, educational, employment, political and caste survey (comprehensive household survey) and introduce the survey report in the Assembly . Earlier in the day, the Assembly was adjourned following a statement by Legislative Affairs Minister D Sridhar Babu that the Cabinet was discussing the matters listed in the agenda. Later, when the House resumed at 2 pm, the chief minister made a statement on the ‘Socio-Economic, Educational, Employment, Political and Caste Survey .’ “The Telangana government Life bestows the honour of scripting history that will write a new bright chapter of society but rarely. I am grateful for the privilege. Caste survey today in Telangana, tomorrow across India A Revanth Reddy, chief minister Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy addresses the special oneday session of the Telangana Legislative Assembly after a Cabinet meeting that discussed the comprehensive caste survey report, in Hyderabad on Tuesday conducted a comprehensive door-to-door household survey . Through this survey, the government has brought to light the socio-economic, education, employment and political aspects of various castes. The Telangana government is committed to the development of B a c k w a r d C l a s s e s, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other marginalised communities. The Telangana government is committed to lowering the inequalities among various communities by bringing proactive and affirmative policies. It is ideal that the Telangana government implemented a decision that had been awaited since the QUOTA CONTEXT Why did govt reconsider its decision on bill? M A N DA RAV I N D E R R E D DY @ Hyderabad WHAT made the government reconsider its decision to table the bill enhancing reservations for BCs, SCs, and STs in education, employment, and local body elections in the state Legislature on Tuesday? If sources are to be believed, serious legal implications may have been the decisive factor. The state Cabinet, which met before the one-day session convened, extensively discussed the bill prepared by the Law department. After deliberations and considering the views of officials regarding the legal issues likely to arise, the Cabinet was reluctant to proceed with tabling the bill, sources revealed. They said that the government even informed the Legislative Council that it would table the bill. However, the government ultimately limited itself to passing a resolution, which was to be sent to the Centre. Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka told the Council that the government would discuss and decide in the next session whether to enact a law or look for an alternative. According to officials, the major legal hurdle in the way of introducing the bill is the 50% threshold set by the Supreme Court. To overcome this hurdle, any law passed by the state Legislature needs to be included in Schedule 9 of the Constitution through a constitutional amendment. Another legal problem is Muslim reservations under BC (E) category. Currently, Muslims enjoy 4% reservation in the state and there are legal challenges to this pending before the Supreme Court. WITH THIS ISSUE T E L A N G A N A A SPACE MARKETING INITIATIVE JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED A 16-PAGE HEALTH SUPPLEMENT SC categorisation The CM said that his govt will bring an Act to sub-classify SCs into A, B & C categories, based on the recommendations of the Shameem Akther panel | P4 country’s independence. To understand the dynamics of various castes, this House passes a resolution requesting the Central government to conduct a comprehensive door-to-door household socio-economic, education, employment, political and caste survey,” the resolution, which was read out by the chief minister, said. However, the government did not table the caste survey report, citing privacy concerns under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. The BRS and BJP opposed the survey report, pointing out its shortcomings. Their members underlined that the number of BCs has dwindled in the latest report when com- IN THE HOUSE KAVITHA SKIPS BRS WALKOUT, GIVES CONG AN OPENING I R E D DY S R I N I VAS R E D DY @ Hyderabad EYEBROWS were raised in political circles across Telangana on Tuesday after BRS MLC K Kavitha, daughter of former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, failed to join her party colleagues when they staged a walkout from the Council during the discussion on the caste census. Kavitha, who also participated in the discussion, demanded that the government not remain confined to statements but rather implement reservations in proportion to the population in the coming local body polls. Meanwhile, TPCC president B Mahesh Kumar Goud took potshots at the pink party, saying that Kavitha’s failure to join the walkout was proof that the BRS was a divided house. He alleged that the entire affair exposed the deep divisions between BRS working president KT Rama Rao, former minister T Harish Rao and Kavitha. “The BRS is going through an internal war between three factions even as another war is taking place on social media, between followers of KTR and Kavitha. KTR devised a plan to stop Kavitha from speaking in the Council,” Mahesh alle ged. He also wondered why Harish has not been speaking about the caste survey . I n c i d e n t a l l y, treasury members had pointed out in the Council that barring Kavitha and her family BRS leaders like KCR , and KT Rama Rao did not participate in the caste survey . Elsewhere, Kavitha’s supporters and the Telangana Jagruthi tried to defend the MLC’s decision not to stage the walkout by pointing out that she has been fighting for BC reservations. pared to the comprehensive household survey conducted in 2014 by the BRS regime. Expressing his objections, BRS MLA KT Rama Rao said, “The difference between the KCR-led government and the Congress government is that the number of families that participated in the comprehensive household survey was 1.03 crore while the total number of people is 3.68 crore. The number of BCs was stated to be 51% and Muslims 10%. A Congress MLC has even called for the burning of this report.” The CM countered Rama Rao, stating that the people who didn’t participate in the survey do not have the moral right to CONTINUED ON P4 speak. tears into Rahul, Kejri in LS P R E E 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 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.” 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 . Trump sends first deportation flight to India, 205 on board 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. India’s stated position is that Assembly notices to 10 turncoat MLAs EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Hyderabad President Donald Trump signs an executive order as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, left, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick watch in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Monday | AP/PTI 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 . According to reports, there could be more such repatriation flights to India. 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, m ay h ave i n c re a s e d significantly . In a related development, the Standing Committee on External Affairs on Tuesday discussed the issue of deportation of Indians from the US. Members of the panel sought to know how the government would handle the issue as it “involves the lives and livelihood” of thousands of Indians who might have to come back. Sources said the panel was told it is an evolving situation and that the government is in talks with the US authorities to find a solution that is acceptable to both sides. THE Assembly Secretary on Tuesday issued notices to the 10 MLAs who had defected to the Congress from the BRS. MLAs Danam Nagender, Tellam Venkat Rao, Kadiyam Srihari, Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, Bandla Krishnamohan Reddy Kale Yadaiah, T Prakash , Goud, Arikepudi Gandhi, Gudem Mahipal Reddy and M Sanj ay Ku m a r we r e i s s u e d notices. Initially, the BRS had petitioned the Assembly Speaker to disqualify the defectors. However, with the Speaker in no hurry to make a decision, the BRS knocked on the doors of the high court which directed the Assembly Secretary to place the pink party’s petition before the Speaker. Meanwhile, the BRS moved the Supreme Court, which took serious note of the delay and issued notices to the defectors. ART OF DECEPTION 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, EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru ILLUSTRATION: MANDAR PARDIKAR 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 birthdays. 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.”