kalaburagi l friday l april 11, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION White House clarifies tariffs on China are now at 145% The US-China trade war intensified on Thursday, sending the global economy into a tailspin after US said Chinese imports will face 145% taxes e.u. suspends its tariffs on u.s. for 90 days china reaches out to asean, e.u. nations Amid questions over how far Trump is ready to push, the European Union welcomed the US president’s partial row-back on his original threat to impose 20 per cent tariffs against the bloc. The 27-nation grouping suspended for 90 days its proposed tariffs on US goods. “We want to give negotiations a chance,” EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement ■ ■ Meanwhile, China is reaching out to other nations apart from ASEAN and the EU as the US layers on more tariffs in what appears to be an attempt to form a united front to compel Washington to retreat Chinese Foreign Ministry said they will not sit idly and let legitimate rights and interests of the Chinese people be taken for a ride | P9 1,700 points dip for dow jones after u.s. clarified 145% tariff on 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 NIA takes formal custody of 26/11 co-conspirator at Delhi airport Produced before patiala house courts amid watertight security Tahawwur Rana arrives Mukesh Ranjan & Shekhar S i n g h @ New Delhi Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a key accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, landed in Delhi on Thursday, ending years of diplomatic and legal effort for his extradition from the US. The 64-year-old Canadian citizen of Pakistani descent arrived aboard a special chartered flight under tight security escorted by a joint team , of Indian investigators. Rana’s extradition marks a significant milestone in India’s pursuit of justice for the 166 lives lost in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, often dubbed as India’s 9/11. As part of the extradition arrangement, India gave broad assurances to US authorities concerning Rana’s treatment while in custody According to . sources, these assurances include guarantees that he would not be subjected to torture, receive adequate protection in prison, and prosecuted solely for the charges on which the extradition is based. Rana provided crucial support to Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operative David Coleman Headley by facilitating travel documents and shelter through his immigration business in Chicago, which was allegedly used as a front for terror planning. The NIA took custody of Rana as soon as he emerged from the aircraft at the Palam technical airport. His medical examination was done at the airport due to security reasons before he was produced before Special NIA judge Chander Jit Singh at the Patiala House courts 20 km away later. A 12-member NIA team led by its director general Sadanand Date was formed to interrogate Rana. The team included two IGs, one DIG, one SP. The Union Home Ministry has appointed advocate Narender Mann as the Special Public Prosecutor in 26/11 terror conspiracy case. Date, a 1990 batch IPS officer from the Maharashtra cadre was injured during the 2008 Mumbai attacks. He was among the first responders to confront terrorists Kasab and Ismail. Years later, his leadership at the NIA was a key factor in securing US approval for Rana’s extradition. A veteran of the Mumbai Police and the CBI, Date received the President’s Police Medal for Gallantry . P7 @ Lucknow THE Allahabad High Court has granted bail to a man accused of raping a postgraduate student of a top private university campus in Noida, stating that the victim had “invited trouble” upon herself. The accused was arrested in December 2024 for allegedly raping the woman twice at a relative’s apartment in Gurgaon after getting her intoxicated. The court said the woman, a post graduate student, was competent enough to understand the “morality and significance of her act” as disclosed by her in the FIR. As per the victim’s version, she, of her own volition, went to a bar in Delhi along with three female friends, where they consumed alcohol. No criminal record The judge said the accused, with no criminal record, had been in the jail since December 2024 and if granted bail, he would cooperate in the early disposal of the case She remained at the bar till 3 am and during her time there, the accused kept on insisting that she should accompany him to his house. As she was in need of rest due to her condition, she agreed to go with him to his house, the FIR said. She alleged that the accused, Nischal Chandak, touched her inappropriately on the way and instead of taking her to his home in Noida, he took her to a relative’s flat in Rana in NIA custody after landing in Delhi upon his extradition from the US | pti COMMUNICATION WITH HEADLEY Headley visited India 8 times, and remained in touch with Rana, making over 200 calls CALLS DURING VISITS 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 6th 8th 32 23 40 37 33 66 Terror footprint TERROR PLANNING Rana helped David Headley obtain an Indian visa by providing fake documents Initial plans included targeting Chabad Houses across India, as ISI suspected they were Mossad bases Established ‘Immigrant Law Centre’ in Mumbai, which served as a front for Headley’s ops and snooping Rent extension of ‘Immigrant Law Centre’ in July 2008 was arranged to support Rana’s India visit, showing coordination with LeT handlers INTEL LINK: Rana was in communication with ISI Gurgaon and raped her. “Even if the allegation of the victim is accepted as true, it can be concluded that she herself invited trouble and was also responsible for the same. Similar stand has been taken by the victim in her statement. In her medical examination, her hymen was found torn but doctors did not give any opinion about sexual assault,” Justice Sanjay Kumar Singh observed, while granting bail to Chandak. While the incident took place on September 21, 2024, the victim filed an FIR on September 23 in Gautam Budh Nagar. Justice Singh said even if her allegations were true, the “victim’s actions, including going to a bar and consuming alcohol with friends, contributed to the situation.” Menstruating girl made to take exam outside class in TN E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Coimbatore A private school principal in Coimbatore was suspended on Thursday after a Dalit girl was forced to sit outside her classroom on the steps and made to write an annual exam due to her menstruation cycle. The girl’s father said that his daughter, who recently attained puberty had missed school the , previous week due to discomfort associated with menstruation. Despite informing the school administration in advance about her condition and requesting a separate desk and bench for her to write the exams, the father said the facilities were not provided. TN School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi posted a message on ‘X’ saying oppression against children is unacceptable. He said the child is not alone and the government would stand with her. muda scam: cops accept version of all accused Yat h i r a j u @ Bengaluru Rape victim ‘invited trouble’, claims Allahabad HC order n a m i ta b a j pa i exclusive rahul-tastic Delhi Capitals’ KL Rahul (93 n.o.) gestures to the crowd after hitting the winning runs against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday. DC won the match by 6 wickets. Brief scores: RCB: 163/7 in 20 ovs; DC 169/4 in 17.5 overs | vinod kumar t Lokayukta police, who recently filed a closure report in the alleged MUDA site allotment scam, seem to have “accepted” all explanations given by the accused, including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. The ‘B’ (closure) rep o r t , wh i ch h a s b e e n challenged by the Enforcement Directorate before the court, states that Siddaramaiah, his wife Parvathy BM, his brother-in-law Mallikarjunaswamy and Devaraju J were asked 76 questions. The Lokayukta police accepted their explanations by remarking in the report that they are ‘acceptable’, ‘accepted’ or ‘can be accepted’. There is no mention of cross-questioning as is done in other cases. This has raised eyebrows as they accepted the explanations or contentions of the accused ‘as they are’. Around 24 questions were posed to the CM, 14 to Parvathy, 16 to Mallikarjunaswamy and 20 to Devaraju and their statements were Chief Minister Siddaramaiah recorded. Snehamayi Krishna, the complainant, and ED protested against the final report that gave clean chit to the accused. The Lokayukta police concluded that the charges were not proved against the accused, but recorded that financial losses were caused to MUDA through allotment of compensatory sites to accused No 2 Parvathy by Natesh, the then MUDA commissioner. The total loss caused to MUDA can be assessed by undertaking a comprehensive probe into allotment of sites to various persons illegally by predecessors and successors of Natesh between 2016 and 2024, before and after allotment of sites in the ratio of 50:50 to Parvathy the report stated. P4 , express read Congress chalks out own campaign to counter BJP’s Janakrosh Bengaluru: The Ruling Congress in Karnataka will counter the Opposition BJP’s Janakrosh Yatre by holding a massive rally in Bengaluru’s Freedom Park on April 17. Briefing the media, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who is also KPCC chief, said that CM Siddaramaiah, AICC General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, among other senior leaders, will take part in the rally | P4 India, Pak hold flag meet to ease border tensions F aya z W a n i @ Srinagar THE armies of India and Pakistan held a brigade commander-level flag meeting on Thursday along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district to ease border tensions even as two antimilitancy operations launched by security forces in Udhampur and Kishtwar district of J&K continued for the second day . The flag meet was held at the ChakanDa-Bagh cross-point in the Poonch sector. “Our side raised the issue of infiltration attempts, planting of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) near the border, using drones to drop weapons and drugs and sniper firing from across the border. We told them clearly that any violaOur side raised the tion of the border cease- issue of infiltrfire will be met with ation attempts, heavy retaliatory action planting of IEDs from our side,” a Jam- near the border, m u - b a s e d d e f e n c e using drones to spokesman said. He drop weapons and added that flag meetings drugs and sniper are routine on the LoC firing from across for border management the border process in accordance Defence spokesman with an understanding between both the sides. “Today’s meeting was conducted to discuss routine issues along the LoC,” he said. This is the second flag meeting between Indian and Pakistan army officials at Chakan-Da-Bagh crossing point in Poonch this month. Earlier, on April 2, the flag meeting was held during which both sides stressed the need to adhere to the November 2003 border ceasefire pact. Meanwhile, security forces continued anti-militancy operations on Thursday in Jopher forest of Udhampur district and Chatroo area of Kishtwar district province after receiving inputs about the presence of three militants. BJP leaders to meet Khader next week over suspension of MLAs Bengaluru: BJP MLAs, who were suspended during the recent budget session in Karnataka, and their party leaders, are likely to meet Speaker UT Khader to urge him to revoke the suspension. On the last day of the budget session, 18 MLAs from BJP were suspended for six months on charges of unruly behaviour. Khader told TNIE that it is not a punishment, and nor did he hurt them | P4 Now, brace for 10-15% school bus fee hike E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bengaluru After the recent increase in prices of essential commodities, parents now have to brace for a hike in fees of school buses and vans. Those running school buses and vans say that there will be a hike of 10-15% in the fees. Shanmugam PS, president, Karnataka United School and Light Motor Vehicle Drivers’ Union, affiliated to All India United Trade Union Centre (AIUTUC), told TNIE that the price of diesel has been increased by Rs 2. Fees pertaining to registration, permit, insurance and fitness certificate of vehicles, and renewal of licences and taxes on other items have gone up. “These hikes have significantly increased our operational costs,” he said. “Price hikes have already burdened people. We know that the hike in fees of school buses and vans will be an additional burden on parents, we do not have any other option, but to pass on the diesel price increase to them,” he said. Shanmugam said that the union has been urging the Centre and State to bring down the taxes and not to hike fuel prices, but nothing has been done. “There are over 15,000 school buses and vans in the city. While fees are fixed based on distance, we charge around Rs 24,000 per year, which will now be revised to Rs 30,000, a hike of around Rs 500 per month,” Shanmugam said. Nataraj Sharma, president of the Federation of Karnataka State Private Transport Associations, said, “They have increased taxes and fuel prices, burdening the transport sector. School van and bus operators will be forced to revise their fees by 10-15%.”