Tax on greenhouse gas targets shipping vessels The largest shipping nations decided on Friday to impose a minimum tax of $100, which can go up to $380, for every tonne of carbon dioxide emitted by shipping vessels. Members of the International Maritime Organization — minus the US— reached the agreement which will come into force by 2028 | P14 chennai l saturday l april 12, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l late city EDITION 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 Grilling of Rana BJP seals poll deal; AIADMK to lead bloc focuses on ISI, Lashkar’s role Shah bats for coalition govt & common minimum programme in 2026, says BJP won’t interfere in AIADMK’s affairs T MURU G ANAN D AM @ Chennai NIA gets 18-day custody, aims to unravel the conspiracy behind the 26/11 attacks in 2008 in India and who received money for it. Headley is one of the prime accused in the case. A day after Tahawwur Rana As part of the first round of was extradited to India, the questioning relating to estab26/11 Mumbai terror attack ac- lishing identity and intent, NIA cused was taken out from his sleuths tried to get his personal cell at the NIA headquarters to details, including his upbringthe interrogation room in the ing, education, family and casame building in the national reer and his transition from a capital on Friday He was con- trained doctor to a conspirator . fronted with initial questions in international terrorism, relating to his handlers in Pa- sources said. kistan, his funding NIA interrogators and business partalso questioned him ners, and sleeper cells if his family knew in India with whom about his alle ged he was connected to, links to Headley and sources said. about how they Rana was asked to planned and executed provide details about the terror plot, apart Rubio the visit of Lashkarfrom his physical lowelcomes e-Taiba (LeT) opera- extradition cation on November tive Sajid Mir to India 26, 2008, when the atUS Secretary of under the pretext of tacks began. watching a cricket State Marco Rubio During subsequent welcomed the match and whether rounds of questionanyone accompanied extradition, calling ing, Rana is going to it a long-overdue Rana to the locations be asked when he met where he allegedly moment of justice LeT chief Hafiz Saeed provided video foot- for the victims of and what was the nathe 26/11 Mumbai ture of their relationage to Mir. terror attacks Rana’s interrogaship. He will also be tion will take place on asked if he could three counts, including estab- identify other members of the lishing identity and his intent, LeT by name, face, or their role, attack and ISI nexus, and his the sources added. links with LeT. The final round of questionNIA investigators also want- ing will revolve around involveed to find details of who all ment of ISI in carrying out the helped David Coleman Headley attacks, the sources said. MU K ESH RAN J AN & J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi ponmudy loses post DMK president M K Stalin removed minister Ponmudy from the party deputy general secretary post, following backlash over his remarks on Hindu sects with sexual overtones | P3 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 Home Minister Amit Shah, who declared the sealing of the alliance at a press meet in Chennai, said 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, Shah answered in the affirmative when asked whether it will be a coalition government if NDA wins the election. 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 Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Edappadi K Palaniswami with AIADMK and BJP leaders in Chennai on Friday | p jawahar Nainar Nagenthran to be next TN BJP president Chennai: BJP MLA from Tirunelveli constituency Nainar Nagenthran is all set to become the next TN BJP president, succeeding K Annamalai. Nagenthran, who was formerly with the AIADMK, is the lone contestant for the post. He is set to be officially announced as the new chief on Saturday | P4 almost all elections in alliance with several other parties. Welcoming the alliance, PM Modi may induct a Muslim in ministry RA J ESH K UMAR THA 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 govern, ance 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 — Ghulam 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. Why tariff war makes China vulnerable Mineral Share of Chinese Imports fuels, mineral from and exports to the U.S. 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 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 17.6 Machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof Iron and steel Plastic and articles Furniture & beddings 24 ALL Plastic values in and Aircraft, Per cent articles spacecraft and parts Pharma Chemical Toys, games and sports requirements; parts and accessories thereof Special classification provisions, goods not elsewhere classified $500 bn Chinese exports to the U.S. in 2024 Electrical machinery and equipment 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 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 UNWTO 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 devel, oping 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. shah’s power points at press meet Sharing of ministerial posts after election will be decided in consultation with alliance partners DMK raising issues like Sanatana Dharma, three-language policy, NEET, and delimitation to divert people’s attention from its failures The DMK government is plagued by rampant corruption and atrocities against Dalits and women. Under CM M K Stalin, TN saw `39,000 crore liquor scam, sand mining scam, power scam, L-quotas scam, transport scam, money laundering, jobs scam, illegal raids, smuggling, and MGNREGA-related irregularities, Shah said Modi in a post on ‘X’ said, “Glad that AIADMK joins the NDA family Together, with our other . NDA partners, we will take Tamil Nadu to new heights of progress and serve the state dil- igently For the sake of Tamil . Nadu’s progress and to preserve the uniqueness of Tamil culture, it is important the corrupt and divisive DMK is uprooted at the earliest, which our alliance will do.” The AIADMK exited the NDA in September 2023, seven 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 post. He is expected to take charge on Saturday Shah, however, denied AI. ADMK had made any demands to remove Annamalai from the post for the alliance to be sealed. Though Palaniswami, Annamalai, Nagenthran and AIADMK leaders KP Munusamy and SP Velumani were on the dais, only Shah addressed the media. P7