tirupati l saturday l april 12, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late 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 ‘historic, but more could’ve been done’ 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 ■ ■ 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 3% is the Emissions from shipping industry in global trade 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 Rana’s grilling C’peta bus burning: HC for mercy plea to accused focuses on ISI, Lashkar’s role E x p r e s s N e w s Se r vi c e @ Vijayawada NIA gets 18-day custody, aims to unravel the conspiracy behind the 26/11 attacks in 2008 M U K E S H RA N J A N & J aya nth 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. The High Court on Friday instructed the state government to consider the mercy petition and parole petitions of the prime accused in the sensational Chilakaluripeta bus burning case that happened 26 years ago. While hearing the habeas corpus petition filed by daughter of prime accused Saluri Chalapathi Rao seeking grant of parole in November 2018, the High Court bench headed by Justice Raavu Raghunandan Rao and Justice Kunchem Maheshwara Rao gave orders to State government and the Prisons department to consider the petitions from Saluri Chalapathi Rao seeking parole or mercy petition and also instructed them to follow the guidelines that were in place at the time when the then President KR Narayanan commuted Chalapathi Rao’s death sentence to life imprisonment. The Director General of Pris- 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, 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.” 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. ons was also instructed to consider whether Chalapathi Rao has demonstrated good behaviour in prison. The case dates back to March 8, 1993, where the accused Chalapathi Rao and G Vijaya Vardhan Rao set fire to an APSRTC bus traveling from Hyderabad to Chilakaluripet with the intent of robbing the passengers. In the tragic incident, 23 passengers lost their lives. The incident caused nationwide outrage at the time. After the investigation, the Guntur What happened...  23 passengers were charred to death while many more suffered injuries when the Chilakaluripetabound APSRTC bus was set on fire Kondrupadu village on March 8, 1993.  The two accused S Chalapathi Rao and G Vijayavardhana Rao had initially planned to rob the passengers by sprinkling petrol on the bus, but the plan went horribly wrong. 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 EX 5.5 4.9 3.8 3.4 3.1 po  r t po  r t 2.7 2.5 4 3.9 4.5 4.4 6 5.1 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 Apparel, clothing accessories not knitted or crocheted Vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling stock and parts and accessories $500 bn Chinese exports to the U.S. in 2024 Electrical machinery and equipment BJP seals election deal in TN, AIADMK to lead bloc T M URU G A N A N DA M @ Chennai Nearly two years after they 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 wins, Shah answered in the affirmative. It is pertinent to note that the DMK and the AIADMK, which alternatively ruled Survey may end inter-dept feud over land to Reliance’s CBG plant I V N P P r a s a d B a b u @ Ongole celestial wedding Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his wife Bhuvaneshwari offer silk garments ahead of the Srirama Kalyanam at the Vontimitta temple | Express A dispute has erupted in Ganga Donakonda village, Kurichedu Mandal, Prakasam district, over the allocation of 799.40 acres of land (survey numbers 88 and 90) for a Compressed Biogas (CBG) plant, pitting the Revenue Department against the Forest Department. The conflict, ongoing fo r s eve r a l d ay s, re m a i n s unresolved. The state government’s initiative to promote CBG plants led Reliance to launch a project in Kanigiri Assembly Segment, Prakasam district, with a grand foundation-laying ceremony attended by IT & HRD Minister N a r a L o ke s h a n d Re l i a n c e representatives. The Revenue Department allocated the land in Ganga Donakonda to Reliance, and on April 4, 2025, the company began leveling and clearing the site. However, the Forest Department intervened the next day, halting work, claiming the land falls within their 12,725-acre reserved forest area in Kurichedu and Donakonda mandals, with clearly demarcated P4 boundaries.  Balancing act Debut of Pasmanda Muslim likely in next reshuffle RA J E S H K U M AR T H A K UR @ 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 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, citing the “confrontational approach” of Tamil Nadu BJP leadership. court sentenced both the accused to death on September 7, 1995. The High Court upheld the verdict, and the Supreme Court confirmed the death sentence on August 28, 1996. However, the execution was halted and the death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment due to the intervention of Jnanpith award-winning writer Mahasweta Devi, who personally submitted a clemency petition to the President Shankar Dayal Sharma on behalf of the two convicts.  P4 warning sign Industrial output slows to 6-month low of 2.9% d ipa k m o n d a l @ New Delhi INDUSTRIAL output growth slowed to a six-month 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 Electric. ity generation, however, maintained the momentum with 3.6% growth compared to 2.4% in January . In use-based categories, consumer non-durables output shrank by 2.1% against a contraction of 0.3% witnessed in the previous month. This is the third month in a row when consumer non-durables output was in the negative territory Inter. mediaries goods production growth showed sharpest dip to 1.5% in February versus 5.3% in January .