KANNUR l thursday l may 29, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Industrial output slips to 2.7% in April; mining, power laggards IIP slowed to 2.7 % in April 2025 due to poor performance of manufacturing, mining, power sectors, data released on Wednesday showed industrial production growth revised capital goods segment a saving grace The factory output, measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), rose by 5.2% in April 2024, govt data showed. The National Statistics Office (NSO) also revised upwards industrial production growth for March to 3.9% from the earlier estimate of 3% released last month. The IIP growth was 2.7% in February also ■ ■ The capital goods segment growth accelerated to 20.3% in April 2025, an increase from 2.8% in the year-ago period Mining production contracted by 0.2% as against a growth of 6.8% a year ago, while power output growth also slowed to 1% in April 2025 against 10.2% in the year-ago period, official data analysis indicated 4% growth recorded by Infrastructure sector 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 Court papers Trump tariffs forced India, Pak to declare ceasefire: US JAYANTH JACO B @ New Delhi Trump administration officials have told a US court that President Donald Trump’s emergency tariff powers were instrumental in securing a ceasefire between India and Pakistan earlier this month. “This ceasefire was only achieved after President Trump interceded and offered both nations trading access with the United States to avert a fullscale war,” read the legal documents submitted to the US Court of International Trade on May 23. The revelation is in stark contrast to India’s official position that there was no thirdparty role in the ceasefire worked out between the Directors General of Military Operations of India and Pakistan. The US assertion was part of the Trump administration’s response to a Donald Trump, lawsuit filed by US President small American businesses challenging Trump’s broad use of the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The plaintiffs claim the law does not authorise the president to impose tariffs and argue Trump’s trade policies have inflicted economic harm. Senior US officials, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, defended the use of IEEPA. Lutnick said Trump’s offer of enhanced trade access helped de-escalate a military standoff between ‘nucleararmed’ India and Pakistan. The US submission also claimed that Trump’s tariff pressure helped bring Beijing to the negotiating table. Not Dilli, not Pindi. B’desh First, says BNP B angladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Tarique Rehaman, son of former prime minister Khaleda Zia and the late President General Zia Ur Rehman, on Wednesday gave his sea of supporters in Dhaka a slogan to remember and use in elections he insisted the interim government must hold in December. “Not Dilli, not Pindi, nor any other country Bangladesh first,” . Rehman thundered, to a roar of approval from lakhs of people who turned the street outside the BNP’s head office at Naya Paltan in Dhaka into a carpet of yellow BNP pennants and green and red Monideepa Banerjie Senior journalist Part 1 Bangladesh flags. The Delhi dig was directed at the Awami League, which BNP has consistently claimed is in India’s pocket. The reference to Pindi is a first and directed at the growing warmth between the Muhammed Yunus government in Dhaka and the Pakistan military headquartered in Rawalpindi. Within weeks of being installed, the Yunus government had opened its ports to ships from Pakistan and extended several other facilities to a country that was shunned during the Awami League’s regime. Rehman’s address, delivered from London over large screens dotting the rally venue, had tough words for the government, which he accused of exceeding its mandate and delaying the polls. Last week, Army chief WakerUz-Zaman had reportedly made the same demand — polls by December — and though the comments were officially denied later, they triggered a near crisis. Yunus threatened to resign if pushed on the issue. Political Manipur MLAs meet guv, ‘stake’ claim to form govt parties rushed to placate him and he relented. But he did not budge from the six-month window — between December 2025 and June 2026 — he has given himself for holding polls. There is a rider. A commission has been set up to review and fix flaws in the electoral process. Yunus insists that the reforms must be completed and implemented before polls. The BNP, which is pressing for December polls, wants elections first and for the remaining reforms to be implemented by an elected government. This debate pushed Bangladesh on edge last week. It is still teetering there. P r a s a n ta M a z u md a r , RAJ E SH KU M AR THAKUR & M UK E SH RANJAN @ Guwahati/New Delhi FORTY-FOUR MLAs are ready to form a new government in Manipur, BJP legislator Thokchom Radheshyam Singh claimed on Wednesday after meeting Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla. But there was no clarity on who would head the new government. Singh, along with nine other MLAs — seven from the BJP, two from the National People’s Party and an independent — met Bhalla. The state has 60 Assembly seats, one of which became vacant after the death of an MLA. Asked if they would stake a claim to form the government, he said, “We conveyed to the governor that 44 MLAs are ready This is akin to . staking a claim,” Singh said. He claimed that all MLAs, except the 10 from the Kuki-Zo community and five from Congress, favoured the installation of the government. Singh said the Centre could reimpose President’s rule if a popular government failed. Manipur has been under Central rule Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla meets the MLAs on Wednesday | PTI No change in Biren Singh’s security The Manipur administration on Wednesday refuted claims of a security downgrade for former chief minister N Biren Singh, clarifying that only surplus personnel deployed with him have been recalled since February after BJP leader N Biren Singh resigned as the chief minister, amid criticisms about his government’s handling of the ethnic clashes between Meiteis and Kuki-Zos, which broke out in May 2023. Amid uncertainty murmurs , around government formation have grown louder among the state’s legislators. While a section of the BJP’s central leadership dismissed the possibility of lifting President’s Rule in the short run, others senior leaders hoped a new Manipur gover nment would be installed soon. They kept their fingers crossed, citing a meeting home minister Amit Shah had with President Droupadi Murmu in the day. However, the fact remains that normalcy is yet to be restored, suggesting Central rule was necessary for now. Sources in the Union home ministry said any decision on President’s Rule in Manipur would be made at the political level, and as of yet, they had not received any formal indication in the matter. Not always khaki, Kerala Police want uniforms best suited for the task at hand and often resulted in unwarranted criticism of cops,” the Citing feasibility over con- resolution said. vention, the Kerala Police OfKPOA president R Prasanth ficers Association (KPOA) has said the need for a better alterurged the state government to native was felt during last introduce varied uniforms for year’s Wayanad landslides. “It’s cops in line with the requiretough working in the field ments of their jobs, inwearing police boots and stead of sticking with khaki uniform. Some khaki alone. senior officers manThe KPOA passed the aged to get high-visibilresolution at the end ity clothing, which of its state conference they found helpful in in Thiruvanancarrying out their rethapuram on Wednessponsibilities in Wayaday. The association, nad. Cops have to wear It’s not ideal whose members range the traditional police seeing a police from ASIs to inspeccap, which poses inofficer in soiled tors, cited the hardconvenience, even uniform. Even if ships the cops face it’s in a disaster- while toiling in the working in disaster-hit hit place, people field. If they are alareas. If the govern- notice it. In their lowed to wear berets, it ment approves, it eyes, police have will be helpful,” he an image and it would mark a turning cannot be sullied said. The khaki unipoint in the history of form is also not suitaOffice-bearer of the Kerala Police, ble in hostile environwhich has been using Kerala Police Officers ments such as flood-hit Association khaki uniforms since areas and cannot be inception. worn for more than a “The current uniform is not day as it gets dirty very easily , suitable for performing respon- said a KPOA office-bearer. sibilities such as rescue and reA police officer who was part lief activities in disaster-hit of the landslide rescue operaareas. In such areas, cops had tions said he was embarrassed to eschew uniform and wear working alongside Disaster Recivil dress. This made them in- sponse Forces, which had unidistinguishable from the public form suited for the job. State seeks nod for culling wild animals that pose a threat M a n o j V i s w a n at h a n @ Kochi 44 lawmakers ready to form new govt, says BJP leader T R Singh Ballast system failure sunk ship, lethal cargo safe: Shipping regulator E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @T’Puram Dismissing sabotage behind the capsize of container vessel MSC Elsa 3, the Director General (DG) of Shipping Shyam Jagannathan on Wednesday said the ship sank due to the failure of its ballast management system, which ensures the vessel’s stability . The containers that fell off the ship when it sank off Kochi coast on Sunday and were floating in the Arabian Sea would be retrieved in 48 hours, Jagannathan said, adding that environmental damage was minimal. “The oil spill is limited and the Coast Guard is cleaning it. The oil in the ship bunker will be removed by July 3,” he said. “Our primary inference is that the vessel sank due to mechanical failure of the ballast management system. Safety and environmental requirements of the ships are governed by norms set by International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and this vessel complied with international norms. We MSC Elsa 3 Cargo: 640 containers Hazardous cargo: Oil storage 13 containers Very low Dangerous cargo: sulphur fuel Calcium carbide, oil: 367.1 Rubber chemical tonnes anti oxidant, Marine diesel: ethylene 84.44 polymers tonnes have no evidence of other reasons. Failure of the ballast system may be due to lack of operational understanding. When the vessel listed to 26 degrees, there was a complete blackout due to failure of internal power generation. This virtually incapacitated all operations of the ship,” said chief surveyor of Union gover nment Ajith Sukumaran. About the cargo, Jagannathan said there were 13 containers carrying hazardous cargo of which 12 had calcium carbide, while one had rubber chemical anti● More on P4 oxidants.  Lokpal issues clean chit to ex-Sebi chief Madhabi Buch D i pa k M o n d a l @ New Delhi S h a n A S @T’Puram ’tis but a breeze Unmindful of the strong winds, children play football at Nainamvalappu in Kozhikode on Wednesday. The IMD has issued red alert for the districts of Pathanamthitta, Idukki, Kannur and Kasaragod on Thursday | E Gokul | P5 IN a major relief to former Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch, the Lokpal on Wednesday gave her clean chit against a number of corruption charges based on the Hindenburg Research report published in August 2024. The anti-corrup- Madhabi Puri Buch tion ombudsman said the allegations against Buch were ‘unjustified’ and ‘politically motivated’. The allegations against Buch and her husband Dhawal Buch, made by three complainants including Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, were related to undisclosed investments, conflict of interest, quid pro quo and influencing Sebi outcomes. The Lokpal noted that the complainants failed to establish basic allegations or produce any prima-facie evidence. It also stated there was no prima-facie evidence that Buch or her husband obtained any undue advantage in any of the cases. Amid widespread discontent over the rise in human-wildlife conflicts, including in Nilambur assembly constituency where the bypoll is scheduled next month, the state government has sought the Union government’s approval to cull wild animals that pose a threat to human life and property . The cabinet on Wednesday directed the forest and wildlife department to initiate the process of obtaining the Union government nod. Also, the forest secretary has been tasked with coming up with a proposal, in consultations with the law secretary to bring in a legislation , to facilitate restrictive culling. The cabinet has also extended by a year its order granting honorary wildlife wardens and other authorised officers the power to take a call on culling wild boars that cause damage to agriculture and threaten lives and property . The move comes amid a spike in incidents of human-wildlife conflict across the state, particularly in forest-adjacent districts like Wayanad, Palakkad, Idukki, Pathanamthitta and Malappuram. Twenty-six lives have been lost in such conflicts this year alone. Incidents of wild boars, monkeys, elephants, leopards and bisons straying into farmlands and residential areas have become increasingly common ● More on P4 across the state.  EXPRESS READ Kamal Haasan’s remark on Kannada kicks up row Bengaluru: Pro-Kannada groups in Karnataka went up in arms against actor Kamal Haasan for his “Tamil gave birth to Kannada” remark during the audio launch of his upcoming film Thug Life. The actor later said he had made the remarks out of love and that “love will never apologise | P5 l i f e i n n or w a y Biryani to podi dosa, Kerala eatery serves Indian chess stars S w a r o o p S w a m i n at h a n @ Stavanger (Norway) AFTER obliging the vast array of autograph hunters outside the playing hall at the venue, Arjun Erigaisi got into a car and made his way to an eatery that has become the rage among Indian chess players here. It’s a trip all four Indian players — R Vaishali, D Gukesh and Koneru Humpy the others — have already made at the ongoing edition of Norway Chess. Erigaisi, featuring in Stavanger for the first time, was told about the place by R Praggnanandhaa, who tasted their food last year. The players’ favourites include lamb masala, chicken biryani and, in Vaishali’s case, podi dosa. “A few of the players ordered south Indian style lamb masala,” says Nitish Kamath, one of the five owners of Spisoh. “Humpy doesn’t have a set template and we have noticed that Vaishali has picked up podi dosa on a few occasions.” Spisoh — an unlikely portmanteau between the Norwegian word spis (to eat) and the Arjun Erigaisi with co-owner Nitish Kamath (right) at the restaurant in Stavanger hindi word khaao — was a product of the pandemic thanks to the imagination of several first generation immigrants origi- nally from Kerala. “We came up with the concept of a ghost kitchen,” says Kamath, who has been working in the energy sec- tor for more than a decade. Spisoh is ‘official food partner’ this time. The one-time ghost kitchen still has only one permanent employee — a chef from Tamil Nadu who was about to go back home after losing his job in an Oslo hotel after Covid. Gukesh was one of the first Indian players to try out Spisoh’s food in 2023. Less than 10 minutes after Erigaisi bested Gukesh, the former was seen exchanging a few friendly words with Kamath outside the playing hall. “I’m going there to pick up my food,” he said.  P11