tadepalligudem 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 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 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 anti-militancy 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 Chakan-Da-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 violation of the border ceasefire will be met with heavy retaliatory action from our side,” a Jammu-based defence spokesman said. He added that flag meetings are routine on the LoC for border management process in accordance 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-DaBagh 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 after receiving inputs about the presence of three militants. NIA takes formal custody of 26/11 co-conspirator at Delhi airport 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 P7 for Gallantry . 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 signifi- express read BJP-led Waqf Board at odds with Omar govt Sringar: In Jammu and Kashmir, the J&K Waqf Board led by a BJP leader, is at odds with the elected Omar Abdullah government over the Waqf Amendment Act. While the Board chairperson Darakshan Andrabi hailed it as a significant improvement, the ruling NC denounced the Act. US clarifies tariffs hike on China is 145% Washington: The US-China trade war intensified Thursday, sending the global economy into unknown territory. The White House clarified that Trump’s big hike in tariffs on China had actually taken his total levies on imports to a staggering total of 145% — not 125% as reported earlier. SIPB clears `30k cr worth proposals, to create 32,133 jobs E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada 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 The fifth State Investment Promotion Board (SIPB) meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu at the State Secretariat on Thursday cleared investment proposals to the tune of Rs 30,667 crore. The SIPB meeting approved investments by 17 organisations in sectors like I and C, food processing, IT and energy to create 32,133 jobs. During all the five meetings held so far after the formation of the coalition government, investment proposals to the tune of Rs 4,70,879 crore related to 57 firms were cleared. A total of 4,16,688 jobs will be provided. While only five SIPB meetings were conducted in the five years tenure of the previous YSRC regime, the coalition government conducted five SIPB meetings in less than a year. Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister made it clear that investments taking shape at ground-level is as im- portant as investments coming to the State. The Chief Minister told the officials that the respective industries launching production on time is very important and made it clear to the officials that when a project is approved it is necessary to take the details from them on the date of starting production and the phase-wise progress of such projects should be closely monitored. The CM directed the officials to provide the details in the next SIPB meeting on how many c o m p a n i e s h ave launched production till and how many jobs have been created. Naidu also directed the officials to create a portal with the details on which organisation has provided how many jobs and to whom. Minister for Education, IT and Electronics Nara Lokesh, who took part in the meeting made an appeal to the Chief Minister to allot lands to IT companies at nominal price which, he said will provide an opportunity to attract more IT P4 companies to the State.  Police arrested TDP leader for offensive remarks against ex-CM’s wife E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Guntur In a politically charged development, TDP functionary Chebrolu Kiran Kumar (40) was arrested by the Mangalagiri Rural Police on Thursday for making vulgar and deeply offensive remarks against YS- RCP president and for mer Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s wife, YS Bharathi Reddy, during an interview with a YouTube channel named Point Blank TV . The interview, recorded at a residence in Koritapadu, Guntur, went viral, sparking out- HC says victim invited trouble in rape case, grants bail to accused n a m i ta b a j pa i @ Lucknow Produced before patiala house courts amid watertight security cance 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. 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, she said in the FIR. 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 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 allowing the bail plea of Chandak. While the incident took place on September 21, 2024, the victim filed an FIR on September 23 in Gautam Budh Nagar. State to conduct nursing CET from next year E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada In a significant move to streamline nursing education and enhance its quality, the coalition government of Andhra Pradesh has announced a series of groundbreaking decisions. For the first time in the country, admissions to nursing courses will now be conducted through a Common Entrance Test (CET), starting from the 2025-26 academic year. Further, the admission process, traditionally held in November, will shift to July ensur, ing a more efficient academic calendar. The decisions were finalized during a marathon meeting lasting over three hours on Thursday at Dr NTR University of Health Sciences. Health Minister Satya Kumar Yadav chaired the discussions with representatives from nursing college associations across the state’s 13 districts. Addressing long-standing issues, the minister emphasized that the government will not tolerate any lapses in the quality of nursing education. Among the key reforms, the government has mandated that the CET for nursing admissions be conducted annually in the second week of June. The process will commence in April and conclude by July, replacing the earlier November P4 schedule.  rage across political lines and among civil society . Facing immense pressure, Kiran Kumar released a second video stating, “If my words have hurt anyone, I sincerely apologize. There was no ill intent. My statements were made in a moment of anger.” How- ever, TDP leadership did not relent. Citing party discipline and past war nings by CM Chandrababu Naidu, the party suspended Kiran and backed his immediate arrest. “Whether it’s an opposition leader’s wife or a party colleague’s family, such remarks MUDA: Police accept version of all accused Yat h i r a j u @ Bengaluru The Lokayukta police, who recently filed a closure report in the MUDA site allotment scam, seem to have “accepted” all explanations given by the accused, including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. The ‘B’ (closure) report, which has been challenged by the Enforcement Directorate before the court, states that Siddaramaiah, his wife Parvathy BM, his brotherin-law Mallikarjunaswamy and Devaraju J were asked 76 questions. The Lokayukta police report said they found the explanations ‘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 Siddaramaiah, 14 to Parvathy, 16 to Mallikarjunaswamy and 20 to Devaraju and t h e i r s t at e m e n t s were recorded. Snehamayi Krishna, the complainant, and the ED protested against the final report. In the report, 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 Parvathy by Natesh, the then MUDA commissioner. This apart, 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. , The report flagged many instances of MUDA developing residential layouts without following procedures. will not be tolerated,” Naidu had warned in the past, reinforcing his commitment to decency in public discourse. Following complaints by locals from Atmakur village, Mangalagiri mandal, a case was registered at Mangalagiri Rural PS under Sections 196(1), 79, 353(1), 61(2), and 111(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) - relating to criminal defamation, promoting enmity, and obstructing public servants - along with Section 67(A) of the IT Act and Sec. 37 of the BNS for obscene and inflammaP4 tory online content.