KALABURAGI  SATURDAY  APRIL 12, 2025  `9.00  PAGES 12  CITY EDITION GLOBAL SHIPPING GIANTS SET SAIL FOR A GREENER, CLEANER FUTURE The largest shipping nations decided on Friday to impose a minimum tax of $100 for every tonne of carbon dioxide emitted by shipping vessels AGREEMENT COMES INTO FORCE FROM 2028 The fee of $100 will be charged if nations have not contributed enough to the International Maritime Organization’s net-zero fund and their ships are not meeting their compliance target. Members of the International Maritime Organization — with the United States noticeably absent — reached the agreement which will come into force by 2028 I 3% ‘HISTORIC, BUT MORE COULD’VE BEEN DONE’ I Some environmentalists present at the meeting called the emission taxes a “historic decision” but said more could have been achieved The tax doesn’t capture all emissions or drive enough emission reductions and it won’t raise enough revenue to help developing countries transition to greener shipping, said a shipping expert | P10 IS THE EMISSIONS FROM SHIPPING INDUSTRY IN GLOBAL TRADE CHENNAI I MADURAI I VIJAYAWADA I BENGALURU I KOCHI I HYDERABAD I VISAKHAPATNAM I COIMBATORE I KOZHIKODE I THIRUVANANTHAPURAM I BELAGAVI I BHUBANESWAR I SHIVAMOGGA I MANGALURU I TIRUPATI I TIRUCHY I TIRUNELVELI I SAMBALPUR I HUBBALLI I DHARMAPURI I KOTTAYAM I KANNUR I VILLUPURAM I KOLLAM I TADEPALLIGUDEM I NAGAPATTINAM I THRISSUR I KALABURAGI Grilling of Rana BJP seals poll deal; AIADMK to lead bloc focuses on ISI, Lashkar’s role T M U R U G A N A N D A M @ Chennai NIA gets 18-day custody, aims to unravel the conspiracy behind the 26/11 attacks in 2008 MUKESH RANJAN & J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi A day after Tahawwur Rana was extradited to India, the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused was taken from his cell at the NIA headquarters to the interrogation room in the same building in the national capital on Friday. He was confronted with initial questions relating to his handlers in Pakistan, his funding and business partners, and sleeper cells in India with whom he was connected to, sources said. Rana was asked to provide details about the visit of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operative Sajid Mir to India under the pretext of watching a cricket match and whether anyone accompanied Rana to the locations where he allegedly provided video footage to Mir. Rana’s interrogation will take place on three counts — establishing identity and his intent, the 26/11 attack and ISI nexus and his links with LeT. NIA also want details about who all helped Rana’s friend David Coleman Headley in India and who received money for it. Headley is one of the prime accused in the case. As part of the first round of questioning relating to establishing identity and intent, NIA sleuths tried to get his personal details, including his upbringing, education, family and career and his transition from a US Secretary of State welcomes extradition US Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed the extradition of Rana to India, calling it a long-overdue moment of justice for the victims of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks trained doctor to a conspirator in international terrorism, sources said. NIA interrogators also questioned him whethere his family knew about his alleged links to Headley and about how they planned and executed the terror plot, apart from his physical location on November 26, 2008, when the attacks began. During subsequent rounds of questioning, Rana is going to be asked when he met LeT chief Hafiz Saeed and what was the nature of their relationship. He will also be asked if he could identify other members of the LeT by name, face, or their role, the sources added. The final round of questioning will revolve around involvement of ISI, sources said. EXCLUSIVE ED says Siddu’s secretary got Parvathy sites, Lokayukta denies YAT H I R A J U @ Bengaluru WHILE the ED claimed that there was undue influence by CM Siddaramaiah’s then personal assistant SG Dinesh Kumar aka CT Kumar in the allotment of 14 compensatory sites to his (CM’s) wife BM Parvathy the closure report submitted by the Lokayukta , police in the MUDA case stated that no such influence was established during its probe. Though the focal point of the probe was illegal allotment of sites to Parvathy and the same was established, the final report stated it was an instance of 134 cases, where 1,095 sites worth Rs 700 crore were illegally allotted to several people, including realtors, before and after allotment of sites to Parvathy. According to ED, which shared details with the Lokayukta police, Kumar forged Parvathy’s signature in the application seeking allotment of compensatory sites. Siddaramaiah was LoP in the Assembly and his son Yathindra Siddaramaiah, the then MLA of Varuna constituency, was an ex-officio member of MUDA when the transaction took place, indicating undue influence by Kumar to allot sites to Parvathy. P4 NEARLY two years after parted ways, the AIADMK and the BJP on Friday joined hands to resurrect their alliance to “unseat the corrupt DMK government” in the 2026 Assembly election. Union Minister Amit Shah, who declared the sealing of the alliance at a press meet in Chennai, declared that the NDA will fight the election under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the national level, and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami in Tamil Nadu. Signalling a tectonic shift in Tamil Nadu’s politics, when asked whether it will be a coalition government if the alliance Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Edappadi K Palaniswami with AIADMK and BJP leaders in Chennai on Friday | P JAWAHAR wins, Shah answered in the affirmative. It is pertinent to note that the DMK and the AIADMK, which alternatively ruled the state for several decades, never yielded to a coalition government despite facing almost all elections in alliance with several other parties. The AIADMK exited the NDA in September 2023, seven WHY U.S. TARIFF WAR HURTS CHINA V I S M AY B A S U @ New Delhi THE US is one of the biggest trading partners of China. It makes China particularly exposed to tariff pressures. According to data from Beijing’s customs authorities, in 2024, Chinese exports to the US exceeded $500 billion, accounting for 16.4% of the country’s total exports. It imports from the US were worth $143.5 billion, with much of that trade centred around agricultural products — particularly oilseeds and grains — according to the US Trade Representative’s office. Pamela Coke-Hamilton, head of a joint UN-WTO agency warned that the “economic , fallout from escalating US-China tariffs could be more damaging than cuts to foreign aid.” She added that this “escalation could result in an 80% drop in trade between the US and China, with catastrophic ripple effects globally”. According to experts, tariff restructuring would have serious ramifications on developing countries. An estimate published by the International Trade Centre suggests the tariff restructuring is going to cause a 3-7% decline in global trade and a 0.7% drop in global GDP, with developing economies being hit the hardest. The report, using Bangladesh as a case study, showed that US tariffs of 37% on textiles could cost $3.3 billion in economic losses for that country . As for Sri Lanka, its economic recovery would be impeded, as exports to the US have been tariffed at 44%. The US is the largest buyer of Sri Lanka’s exports (25% of its $12 billion merchandise exports goes to the US). Nations like Mauritius, Madagascar, Lesotho, and South Africa are also vulnerable. The potential revocation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), up for review in September, could further deepen the impact. CHIEF Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said that a special cabinet meeting will be held on April 17 to discuss the socioeconomic and educational survey report, popularly known as caste census, conducted by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes. “The report was presented before the cabinet on Friday, but some ministers wanted to go through its recommendations. Hence, a decision on the report will be taken at the cabinet meeting on Thursday after a thorough discussion,” Siddaramaiah told reporters. A clear picture on the population of different communi- ties will be known once the report is made public. The survey was conducted by the commission headed by H Kantharaju. According to sources, tabling of the caste census report before the cabinet was deferred twice. This was because ministers hailing from VeerashaivaLingayat and Vokkaliga communities claimed that the survey was conducted in an un- months before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, citing the “confrontational approach” of Tamil Nadu BJP’s state leadership without naming its president K Annamalai. The change in BJP’s state leadership also happened on Friday with the party’s Assembly floor leader Nainar Nagenthran being the lone contender for the BJP top post. Mineral SHARE OF CHINESE IMPORTS fuels, FROM AND EXPORTS TO THE U.S. mineral oils and products Machinery, Electrical machinery, equipment and parts mechanical Optical, photographic or surgical instruments and appliances; apparatus, precision instruments and apparatus parts 14.1 Oil seeds and oleaginous fruits 12.1 11.1 Vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling stock and parts and accessories ALL Plastic VALUES IN and Aircraft, PER CENT articles spacecraft and parts Pharma Chemical 7.8 7.7 IM PO EX PO 5.5 4.9 3.8 3.4 3.1 RT RT 2.7 2.5 4 3.9 5.1 4.5 4.4 6 Plastic and articles Furniture & beddings 17.6 24 Machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof Iron and steel Toys, games and sports requirements; parts and accessories thereof Special classification provisions, goods not elsewhere classified Articles of apparel and clothing accessories, knitted or crocheted Electrical machinery and equipment CPM amassed D100 cr undisclosed wealth: ED Lucknow: Expressing anguish and concern over the alleged gangrape of a 19-year-old girl in Varanasi early this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his 50th visit to his parliamentary constituency on Friday, took a detailed briefing from the police and sought the strictest action against the accused. Modi arrived in Varanasi on a day’s visit to launch and lay the foundation for 44 development projects worth `3,900 crore | P10 Bengaluru: Karnataka Cabinet on Friday decided to form a special investigation team (SIT) to conduct a further probe into the 40% commission allegation levelled against the previous Bharatiya Janata Party government by the Karnataka State Contractors’ Association, in light of the Justice HN Nagamohan Das Commission inquiry report. The SIT has been directed to complete the probe in two months, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil said P4 The Enforcement Directorate, while probing the Karuvannur Cooperative Bank financial scam, revealed that the CPM has amassed substantial wealth and income which were never disclosed. The funds collected in connection with the financial fraud were partly utilised for local expenses, party meetings, acquisition of land and buildings for the party, and electionrelated expenses. Further, it was revealed that multiple bank accounts were opened.| P5 Siddaramaiah, CM Abhimanyu Kumar Panday, Neeraj Singh and Sagar Lakura 3 create fake govt email ID, transfer `1.32 cr from pvt bank EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru CYBER crime police have arrested three people for cheating a private bank by creating a fake state government email ID and sending 18 fake court orders to it to transfer Rs 1.32 crore from two frozen accounts. The accused have been identified as Abhimanyu Kumar Panday and Neeraj Singh of New Delhi and Sagar Lakura, a resident of Rajasthan. According to police sources, Sagar created the government email ID, cb-crime-sog@karnataka.gov.in, by providing false information to the Karnataka State Wide Area Network (KSWAN), developed by the Centre for e-governance of the state government to provide secure network connectivity and bandwidth upgradation on-demand to user departments across the state. Using this email ID, the accused sent fake court order copies to the nodal email ID of the private bank at Halasuru Gate in Bengaluru, where some accounts had been frozen on court orders. The accused had gathered details of frozen bank accounts online, the sources said. After this transaction, the bank manager suspected some foul play and filed a complaint with the city’s cyber crime police. A police team, which launched an investigation, traced the bank transaction details, identified the account holder, and issued a notice to the accused. During interrogation, he confessed to the crime and revealed the involvement of two others. P5 BALANCING ACT SIT to probe 40% commission charge The report was presented before the cabinet on Friday, but some ministers wanted to go through its recommendations. Hence, a decision on the report will be taken at the cabinet meeting on Thursday after a thorough discussion Vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling stock and parts and accessories CHINESE EXPORTS TO THE U.S. IN 2024 Varanasi gangrape disturbing: PM scientific manner and the population of their communities was undercounted. Even DCM DK Shivakumar backed the Vokkaliga community’s demand for a new survey. However, leaders of AHINDA (Kannada acronym for minorities, Backward Classes and Dalits) demanded that the report be tabled and its recommendations implemented. Tabling of the report at the Friday’s meeting was the result of Siddaramaiah’s recent meeting with LoP in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, who is a proponent of the caste census at the national level. It was because of this, no minister opposed tabling of the report at the cabinet meeting, the sources said. P4 Apparel, clothing accessories not knitted or crocheted $500 BN EXPRESS READ Siddu calls special cabinet meeting on April 17 to discuss caste census report D E V A R A J B H I R E H A L L I @ Bengaluru He is expected to take charge from Annamalai formally on Saturday Shah, however, denied . AIADMK had made any demands to remove Annamalai from the post for it to join the alliance. Though Palaniswami, Annamalai, Nagenthran and senior AIADMK leaders KP Munusamy and SP Velumani were on the dais, only Shah spoke. A note from BJP, summarising the remarks made by Shah, highlighted his answer to a question that the distribution of seats and allocation of ministries post election will be finalised in consultation with alliance partners at an appropriate time, indicating that BJP is clear about being part of the government if the alliance wins. Industrial output slows to 6-month low of 2.9% D I PA K M O N D A L @ New Delhi INDUSTRIAL output growth slowed to a sixmonth low of 2.9% in February, down from 5% in the previous year, amid growing concerns over the impact of the ongoing tariff war on economic growth. The decline was largely attributed to a high base effect, with the growth rate in February last year recorded at 5.6%. The slowdown was evident across two major categories, mining and manufacturing, with mining experiencing the most significant decline. Mining output growth declined to 1.6% in February compared to 4.4% in January and 8.1% in February last year. Manufacturing output growth also halved to 2.9% in February from 5.8% in January Electricity generation, however, main. tained the momentum with 3.6% growth compared to 2.4% in January. According to Aditi Nayar, chief economist, ICRA, while the growth performance of mining is expected to deteriorate in March 2025 relative to February 2025, it is likely to be offset by an uptick in electricity generation, amid steadymanufacturing growth. Debut of Pasmanda Muslim in Union ministry possible in next reshuffle RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR @ New Delhi AMID Opposition criticism over the lack of a Muslim face in the Union ministry the BJP, led NDA government is reportedly looking to address it in the upcoming reshuffle, expected between May and July . Party sources indicated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is giving serious thought to including a Muslim member, potentially from the Pasmanda community, in line with his governance mantra of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas. The induction is expected to be made at the level of MoS (minister of state) in the Ministry of Minority Affairs. The BJP has two prominent Muslim faces — Gulam Ali Khatana, a Rajya Sabha MP, and Jamal Siddiqui, national president of the party’s Minority Morcha. If Siddiqui is inducted, he could subsequently get a Rajya Sabha ticket. While Siddiqui hails from Maharashtra, Khatana is from J&K. “The chosen one is expected to be from the Pasmanda category, aligning with the PM’s emphasis on bringing the community into the national mainstream,” a senior BJP leader said. The reshuffle is expected to draw more attention after the party elects national president J P Nadda’s successor by the second week of May . The shake-up could affect at least a dozen ministries following evaluation of report cards on the performance of incumbents by the Prime Minister’s Office. According to insiders, the Ministry of Minority Affairs, presently held by Kiren Rijiju, could be assigned a new face. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is also expected to see a change in leadership. The reshuffle could also impact the ministries of urban development, petroleum and natural gas, law and justice, development of North Eastern Regions, coal and mines, and electronics and information technology . Furthermore, the rule of ‘one person, one person’ is likely to be strictly enforced.