chennai l thursday l april 10, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l vellore EDITION Modi-led cabinet approves `64,000 cr marine Rafale deal The Cabinet Committee on Security cleared buying of 26 Rafale Marine jets from France to boost air combat capabilities short-term replacement for its MiG-29K jets to operate from ins vikrant The deal includes 26 Rafale M aircraft, comprising 22 single-seaters and four twin-seater trainer versions. The Navy is acquiring Rafale M as a short-term replacement for its ageing MiG-29Kd until India develops its own twin-engine deck-based fighter. Their delivery will begin around five years after signing the contract under an inter-governmental framework ■ ■ Rafale M jets are designed for aircraft carriers, equipped with a reinforced undercarriage for carrier landings and a “Short Take-Off but Arrested Recovery” (STOBAR) system The jets will operate from INS Vikrant, with 80% commonality with IAF’s Rafales, reducing training and maintenance costs 3 Scorpene-class submarines are also proposed to be bought 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 changes policy stance to accommodative cuts growth forecast to 6.5% 90-day pause on tariff war; China faces 125% J ayanth J a c o b @ New Delhi Hours after US reciprocal tariffs kicked in, roiling markets, causing trade disruptions and raising concerns about a global economic downturn, President Trump announced a 90day pause for all nations except China. On China, he slapped a whopping 125% tariff after it announced 84% retaliatory levy . Back home, the impact of Trump’s tariffs is still unclear, but New Delhi’s strategy is to secure a bilateral trade agreement with Washington by this fall, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said o n We d n e s d ay. Jaishankar who spoke with his US counterpart Marco Rubio on Monday on the early conclusion of the BiDonald Trump and Xi Jinping l a t e r a l T r a d e Agreement (BTA) stressed that India is likely the only country to have reached an understanding with Washington to negotiate a trade pact after Trump assumed presidency for a second term. India has taken a cautious approach, engaging with the Trump administration on the BTA. “I don’t think it’s possible to speak about what would be the impact, because we don’t know. What is our strategy? I think that’s pretty clear,” Jaishankar said. “We decided that we will engage the Trump administration early on this set of issues and we were very open with them, very constructive with them as they were with us.” Home, auto loan rates set to dip Home, auto loans to cost less as RBI cuts repurchase or repo rate by 25 bps to 6% Hours later, Bank of India, UCO Bank trimmed their lending rates Borrowing cost at lowest level since November 2022 RBI changes its policy stance to accommodative from neutral, indicating possibility of more rate cuts in future Growth estimate cut to 6.5% for FY26 from 6.7% earlier amid global tariff war Inflation projection lowered to 4% from 4.2% Central bank cuts rate for 2nd time to fuel growth Ben K o c hu v ee d an @ Mumbai The Reserve Bank’s rate-setting body on Wednesday shifted gears to support growth, having nearly achieved its objective of ensuring price stability. Acknowledging that the fast-changing global environment following the raging tariff wars would drag FY26 growth down from 6.7% to 6.5%, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the RBI voted for growth. Accordingly the six-member , panel unanimously reduced the repurchase or repo rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 6% with immediate effect and changed the policy stance to accommodative from neutral, indicating that the days of easy money are back again. “An accommodative policy stance means there are two options before us — to cut rate again or retain status quo,” RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra told reporters. With the second successive cut, the RBI has lowered the repo rate by 50 bps since February In the previous easing cy. cle, it had delivered a cumulative 250 bps cut, taking the rate down to a historic low of 4%. In the February policy review, the MPC, for the first time in nearly five years, reduced the repo rate by 25 bps. The second successive rate action will leave banks with no choice but to lower rates for existing customers who are on the floating rate regime based on the external benchmark linked loans such as home, personal, and vehicle loans in the coming days. This will also result in lower fixed deposit rates. Hours after the RBI decision, Bank of India and UCO Bank became the first banks to cut their lending rates. Apart from slashing the GDP growth forecast to 6.5%, down 20 bps from the previous forecast, the rate-setting panel also pared the retail inflation target by 20 bps to 4% this fiscal. I am more worried about the impact of tariff wars on growth than inflation now. FY26 has started on an anxious note and some global trade frictions are coming true - Sanjay Malhotra Tahawwur Rana All-party meet TN to intensify extradited, will legal battle reach India today against NEET M U K E S H R A N J A N , S hekhar S i n g h @ New Delhi T M uru g anan d ham @ Chennai Tahawwur Rana, a key conspirator in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, is being extradited to India on a special IAF plane that is expected to arrive by Thursday His extradition follows . the exhaustion of all legal options in the US. A multi-agency team is overseeing the process. The aircraft will refuel in Europe before reaching Delhi. High-security arrangements have been made at jails in Delhi and Mumbai, where he may be lodged before interrogation by the NIA and Mumbai Police. The ministry of external affairs confirmed Rana’s extradition after the US court rejected his plea, dismissing torture concerns. The extradition of another 26/11 accused David Coleman Headley remains under discussion. Rana, a Canadian of Pakistani origin and LeT operative, aided Headley in scouting Mumbai targets. India sought Rana’s extradition in 2020. In February, Trump confirmed it, saying he would “go to India and face justice.” The meeting of the legislature parties in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Wednesday unanimously decided that the state would continue its legal battle to get an exemption from the National Eligibility-cum Entrance Test (NEET). This would include intensifying the pursuit of the plea already filed before the Supreme Court in 2023 against NEET and, if needed, the filing of a fresh petition before the SC to challenge the recent withholding of assent by the President to the NEET-exemption Bill adopted by the TN Assembly . The resolution, moved by Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, said further efforts would be taken after consultation with legal experts. The principal opposition — the AIADMK, its ally Puratchi Bharatham and the BJP — boycotted the meeting, criticising the DMK government on the issue. Chief Minister MK Stalin, in his inaugural address, detailed how the DMK has been striving for the past four years to get an exemption from NEET through legal means.  P5 Bangladesh loses transshipment facility India has withdrawn transshipment facility to extended to Bangladesh for exporting items to various countries | P7