chennai l Thursday l march 13, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 20 l late city EDITION Trump’s 25% tariff on all steel and aluminium import kicks in The US increased tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports to 25% on Wednesday, saying this will create more factory jobs in the US Canada lines up $20bn retaliatory tariffs EU to target U.S. goods worth $28 billion President Trump says new tariffs will help steel and aluminium makers in the US. However, economists warn they will raise the cost for US manufacturers that use these metals as raw materials. Canada, the largest supplier of steel and aluminium to the US, called the measures “completely unjustified” and has lined up $20.7 bn in retaliatory tariffs ■ ■ The European Union, which will also be hit hard by Trump’s policy, announced its countermeasures targeting US goods worth $28 bn including textiles, home appliances and agriculture products Both Australia and Mexico expressed their displeasure, but said they would not announce any retaliatory measures for now 26.4 million tonnes of steel imported by the United states in 2023 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 Retail inflation below 4% for 1st time in 6 months At 3.61% in February, low CPI inflation raises hopes for another rate cut by RBI next month DIPAK MO N DA L @ New Delhi Food prices cool Pulses & products Vegetables EGG -5.85% -3.01% -1.07% -0.35% Spices Brightening the prospects of another interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India next month, retail inflation eased to a seven-month low of 3.61% in February driven by a sharp de, cline in food prices, government data released on Wednesday showed. Notably consumer , inflation has fallen below RBI’s 4% target after a gap of six months, and is the lowest since July 2024. In January 2025, retail inflation was at 4.26%. Meanwhile, another set of data showed the factory output, measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production, grew 5% in January against 3.2% in December 2024, driven by the robust performance of the manufacturing sector. The Consumer Food Price Index, which measures changes in retail prices of food items, fell to 3.75% in February from 5.97% in January on the back of a significant drop in prices of vegetables, eggs, meat, etc. Rural inflation fell to 3.79% in February from 4.59% in January Food inflation in rural re. gions also softened to 4.06% from 6.31%. Urban areas reported a similar trend, with headline inflation falling to 3.32% from 3.87%. Food inflation in cities declined to 3.20% from 5.53% in January . “In coming months, we ex- pect food inflation to remain soft,” said Dipti Deshpande, principal economist, Crisil. Core inflation (non-food, nonfuel inflation), on the other hand, crossed the 4% mark for the first time since November 2023, reaching 4.1% in February 2025. This was driven by surging gold and silver prices. The low inflation print has also raised hopes for a rate cut. “CPI inflation print falling well below 4% has cemented the expectation of a back-to-back 25 bps rate cut in April 2025. This may be followed by another 25 bps repo rate cut in June 2025 or August 2025,” said Aditi Nayar, chief economist, ICRA. On state-wise inflation, Kerala topped the list of major states with the highest year-on-year inflation rate at 7.31% in February 2025, followed by Chhattisg arh (4.89%), Kar nataka (4.49%), Bihar (4.47%), and Jammu & Kashmir (4.28%). Starlink appears set for India entry Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday posted a message on X welcoming Elon Musk's Starlink to India “Starlink, welcome to India! Will be useful for remote area railway projects,” he posted on X The minister later deleted the tweet It came as SpaceX made separate deals with Mukesh Ambani's Jio Platforms and Sunil MIttal's Bharti Airtel to bring Starlink's high-speed Internet service to India Starlink is the world's largest lowearth-orbit (LEO) constellation operated by SpaceX Starlink can help Bharti and Jio provide connectivity to previously underserved areas, especially areas currently with limited to no coverage The deals come weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Musk, seen as very close to Donald Trump, in Washington | P14 Train hijack drama over, 21 passengers killed, says Pak army A g en c i e s Pakistan military operation to rescue hostages from a train hijacked by terrorists ended on Wednesday with all hostages recovered, Dawn newspaper reported. All terrorists involved have been killed, the report said. Head of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said all hostage passengers were recovered. A total of 21 passengers were killed, he said, adding no passenger was injured in the final clearance operation. “This operation was conducted with great skill and care since terrorists were using them as human shields,” Paramedics treat an injured passenger at the Mach railway station in Balochistan | afp Chaudhry said. He said 33 terrorists were killed in the operation. The Jaffar Express carrying around 450 passengers were hijacked on Tuesday. Balochistan Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack. Chaudhry said the terror- BHEL GM found dead with gunshot wounds to his head in office Pe a r s o n L ene k a r S R @ Tiruchy In a case of suspected death by suicide, a Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) general manager was found dead inside his office on Wednesday around 1 am with a gunshot wound to his head. M Shanmugam (50), who was transferred from Noida and posted as general manager of the Seamless Steel Tubes Plant (SSTP) of BHELTiruchy in August, was found slumped on a sofa inside his office with a pistol in his hand. The BHEL security team which had to break into his office found his body first after their repeated calls to him went unanswered in the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday . Tiruchy Superintendent of Police S Selvanagarathinam told TNIE that a case under Section 194 of BNS (suspected suicide) was registered and as per preliminary inquiry, no one in the vicinity had heard the gunshot. Police are probing the cause of death. No suicide letter was found at the spot. Sources said Shanmugam reported for duty as usual on Tuesday at 8.30 am. As GMs are permitted to work late and stay in their offices, his family did not suspect anything unusual when he did not return from office on time.  P7 express read New toll plaza vandalised in Dindigul Dindigul: Just hours before the opening of a toll plaza at Lakshmipuram near Batlagundu in Dindigul, over 80 villagers and traders vandalised the booth, saying the road project is incomplete. The tollbooth, located just metres from Batlagundu vegetable market, stipulated hefty toll charge, traders said | P5 SAGAR grows into a MAHASAGAR vision J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched MAHASAGAR, a vision for security and growth for the Global South, as India and Mauritius strengthened their strategic partnership amid China’s growing influence in the region in Mauritius on Wednesday . The two sides also signed eight aggrements. “Ten years ago, the foundation of Vision SAGAR, which stands for “Security and Growth for All in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi being conferred with Mauritius’ highest honour by its president on Wednesday Region” was laid here in Mauritius. We’re moving ahead with the SAGAR Vision for the stability and prosperity of this region,” said Modi. “Today building upon this, I , want to say that our vision for Global South will be going beyond SAGAR — it will be MAHASAGAR, i.e. “Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions,” he said. MAHASAGAR shall encompass the ideas of trade for development, capacity building for sustainable growth, and mutual security for a shared future, the PM explained. The objective was also to bring the voice of the Global South to the high table... In advancing Vision MAHASAGAR, we are signaling once again our commitment to the Global South Vikram Misri , foreign secretary ists were in contact with their supporters and masterminds in Afghanistan during the operation via satellite phone. Earlier in the day officials , said some of the terrorists wearing vests loaded with explosives had formed groups of women and children and forced them to sit near them. Due to the presence of women and children with the suicide bombers, the operation was being conducted with utmost caution, they added. A security source earlier said that around 30 people who sustained injuries had been sent to hospitals. He said two drivers in the main engine and eight security personnel were killed during the operation. CM: Delimitation is BJP’s conspiracy to retain power E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Chennai Continuing his tirade against the National Education Policy (NEP) and delimitation of parliamentary seats, Chief Minister MK Stalin called delimitation a BJP conspiracy to “retain power” by winning the seats in northern states alone and NEP a “saffron policy” formulated to develop Hindi and not India. “Even if we have to sacrifice our lives, we will never surrender to this fascism of the BJP he said. ,” Speaking at a public meeting organised in Tiruvallur on Wednesday, the DMK chief alleged that the Modi-led BJP government is trying to increase the number of MPs in Smart states under their influence. “Unable to mark a significant victory in southern states, the BJP wants to capture power with the support of northern states alone,” Stalin said, adding that he would muster support from across the country against the “fascist” BJP. Stalin said he has been speaking to various CMs over phone and DMK delegations have been inviting leaders from the seven states that ‘face’ the threat due to delimitation to join the Joint Action Committee meeting scheduled to be held in Chennai on March 22. Attacking the PM, Stalin said Modi is destroying states and chipping away at their rights with an authoritarian attitude.  P7