US trade court strikes down reciprocal tariffs In a big blow to US President Donald Trump, New York-based Court of International Trade blocked most of his tariffs after finding that he overstepped his authority to regulate imports under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The White House disagreed with the ruling and filed an appeal | P11 COIMBATORE l friday l may 30, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 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 Air Chief’s plainspeak on delays Tharoor calls his critics ‘zealots’ in defence acquisition timelines by a reference to the several attacks in recent years alone, A fresh war of words erupt- during which previous Indied between Congress MP an responses were both reShashi Tharoor and his par- strained and constrained by ty colleagues on Thursday, our responsible respect for underscoring the growing the LoC and the IB.” rift between them. After facAfter his clarification ing backlash for his remarks failed to broker peace with a on the surgical strike by In- section of party leaders, sendian forces in 2016 by breach- ior leader Randeep Surjewing the Line of Control ala stepped in to defuse the (LoC), ter med his situation, saying the censurers ‘zealots’. Kerala leader is part Tharoor took to soof the Congress famcial media to clarify ily though his remark his comments. was incorrect. “For those zealots Tharoor is heading fulminating about a multi-party delegamy supposed ignotion to five countries. rance of Indian val- Shashi Tharoor While speaking in our across the LoC: Panama, he reportin the past.. I was clearly and edly said India breached the explicitly speaking only LoC for the first time in 2016. about reprisals for terrorist Taking a swipe at this stateattacks and not about previ- ment, Congress spokesperous wars;… But as usual, son Udit Raj said Tharoor critics and trolls are wel- should be made a “super come to distort my views spokesperson of the BJP”. and words as they see fit. I Meanwhile, many BJP genuinely have better things leaders including Union to do,” he said. minister Kiren Rijiju came Tharoor further wrote: in support of Tharoor, ques“My remarks were preceded tioning Congress’ motives. PA RV E Z S U LTA N @ New Delhi Says at times deals are signed knowing full well that delivery schedule would not be met M AYA N K SI N G H @ New Delhi Air Chief Marshal A P Singh on Thursday did some plainspeak on the inordinate delays in defence acquisition, saying sometimes deals are signed knowing full well that the promised delivery timelines would not be met. “Why should we promise something which cannot be achieved?” he wondered while addressing the CII Annual Business Summit 2025. “While signing the contract itself sometimes we are sure that it is not going to come up, but we just sign the contract. Uske baad dekhenge kya karna hai (We will later see what is to Opening AMCA for pvt sector very big step Lauding the inclusion of private players in the development of Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) as a very big step, the Air Chief said, “I’m sure this will pave the way for bigger things in future.” be done). Obviously then the process gets vitiated.” He added that there was not a single project he could think of that had been completed on time. The IAF’s lethal firepower brought Pakistan to its knees in the recent four-day war as part of Operation Sindoor to avenge the Pahalgam terror at- tack. This was despite delays in new inductions, which are perennial in the IAF. Its combat strength is not just dwindling, many of its fighter aircraft are reaching obsolescence. While its sanctioned strength of combat squadrons is 42, the actual strength hovers around 30, with each of them having around 18 aircraft. For example, Hindustan Aeronautics had assured it would begin delivery of 24 Tejas MKIA jets in February 2024. However, not one of them has been delivered yet. “Deliveries of Tejas MK-IA are delayed. The prototype of Tejas MK-2 is yet to roll out. There is no prototype yet of the stealth Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) fighter,” Air Chief Singh said. He had in March flagged the issue of the “badly off ” numbers of fighter aircraft in the force. While it will take time to fill the existing gap, he said he would favour indigenously developed jets. Bank fraud cases down, but value rises 3-fold in FY25: RBI D i pa k M o ndal @ New Delhi Part two dystopian situation in bangladesh The Yunus govt has pushed people into agitation mode and the country into a near-dystopian situation, reports senior journalist Monideepa Banerji | P9 DESPITE a decline in the number of reported bank frauds in 2024-25, the total value involved in these frauds almost trebled compared with the previous year, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s annual report. The increase is attributed to the reclassification and fresh reporting of earlier cases following a Supreme Court ruling on due process. A total of 23,953 frauds were reported during the year, down from 36,060 in 2023-24. However, the amount involved jumped sharply to `36,014 crore, up from `12,230 crore. This surge is primarily due to the reinstatement of 122 previously withdrawn cases amounting to `18,674 crore, after reexamination in line with the Supreme Cour t’s March 2023 judgment mandating adherence to the principles of natural justice before designating frauds. While private sector banks accounted for the highest number of frauds—14,233 cases—their share in the total amount was only 28%. In contrast, public sector banks, with 6,935 cases of fraud, were responsible for 71% of the value involved, reflecting the larger size and complexity of their loan books. Foreign banks, small finance banks, and payment banks together made up less than 1% of the total fraud value, the annual report showed. PMK rift widens; Ramadoss slams son, blames him for alliance fiasco E x p r e ss N e ws Se r v i c e @ Villupuram In a scathing attack that widened the rift between the father and son in the PMK, party founder Dr S Ramadoss on Thursday said making his son Dr Anbumani Ramadoss a union minister in 2004 was a big mistake. Ramadoss accused his son of sabotaging party unity and discipline, lacking leadership qualities, and even acting violently once towards his mother. He also blamed AnbuDr S Ramadoss mani for PMK aligning with the BJP instead of AIADMK, in , the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Ramadoss said the only way for reconciliation is for Anbumani to accept the role of “executive president” while he remains the president. While Anbumani’s camp remained silent, sources said he will hold a consultative meet with cadres from May 30-June 1 at a private hall in Sholinganallur.  P7 express read SC vacancies filled as 3 new judges appointed TN constitutes seventh Finance Commission Culture ministry clarifies on Keezhadi report row New Delhi: Karnataka High Court Chief Justice N V Anjaria, Gauhati High Court Chief Justice Vijay Bishnoi, and Bombay High Court judge Justice A S Chandurkar were appointed to the Supreme Court on Thursday Chennai: TN government has constituted the Seventh State Finance Commission under retired IAS officer K Allaudin. The panel’s recommendations will be for a five-year period starting from April 1, 2027 | P4 Chennai: After ASI’s request to archaeologist K Amarnath Ramakrishna to resubmit his Keezhadi report sparked a row, union culture ministry refuted the charge of ASI being uninterested in publishing the report | P4