NAGAPATTINAM l friday l august 01, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION IMD predicts above-normal rainfall in 2nd half of monsoon The southwest monsoon season (August to September) will bring rainfall in excess of 106% of the long period average, which is 422 mm File photo a wetter september in the offing Most parts of the country, except the Northeast and adjoining areas of eastern India, are expected to record normal rainfall in August, said IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra during an online press conference. Rainfall in September is likely to be above normal, he said. India received above-normal rainfall during June and July, with flash floods in some parts ■ 42% sub-normal rain in northeast a concern ■ The country received 474.3 mm of rainfall against a normal of 445.8 mm from June 1 to July 31, a surplus of six per cent, IMD said In Northeast India, this is the fifth consecutive year of below-normal rainfall. Over the last 30 years, a declining trend in rainfall activity has been observed in the northeastern states, which is a cause of concern of india’s population is dependent on the monsoon for their water 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 Don terms India’s economy ‘dead’ will take all steps to promote national interest, says Goyal India grins and bears the dead economy barb poke-man ‘India fastest growing economy’ I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care Donald Trump Trump is right, says Rahul Commerce minister Piyush Goyal said India has come a long way from being one of the ‘fragile five’ to the fastest growing major economy. It is now on course to becoming the third largest economy the world, he added | P7 Endorsing Trump’s criticism of the Indian economy, Cong leader Rahul Gandhi said everybody except PM Modi knows India’s economy is ‘dead’. “Yes, he is right... I am glad that President Trump has stated a fact,” he said | P7 PR E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi EVEN as US President Donald Trump doubled down its attack on India with ‘dead economy’ remarks and its ‘oil reserve’ pact with Pakistan, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal told Parliament on Thursday that India would take all necessary steps to safeguard and promote national interest. Goyal’s assertion came a day after Trump announced 25% tariffs on Indian goods plus an unspecified penalty for doing business with Russia, with effect from August 1. In a suo motu statement in both the Houses of Parliament, Goyal said the government is examining the implications of the US move and is engaged with all stakeholders, including exporters and industry for , taking feedback of their assessment of the situation. “The government attaches the utmost importance to protecting and promoting the welfare of our farmers, workers, entrepreneurs, exporters, MSMEs and all sections of Industry We will take all necessary . steps to secure and advance our national interest,” he said. The minister also said that in just over a decade, India has emerged the fastest growing major economy in the world and it is expected to become the third largest in a few years. Though Opposition members gdp growth could take 20-30 bps hit, say analysts demanded the government’s response on Trump’s remarks, Goyal’s statement did not find any mention of it. The Opposition MPs were referring to Trump’s attack on India and Russia for their bonhomie. “I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care. We have done very little business with India, their tariffs are too high, among the highest in the world,” Trump said. He also announced a fresh pact with Pakistan to support the development of “massive oil reserves”. He hoped Pakistan could sell oil to India. In response to Trump’s remarks, Goyal said international institutions see India as a bright spot. “India is contributing to 16% of global growth. Our exports have steadily increased. In an increasingly protectionist world, India has done mutually beneficial trade pacts with UAE, UK, Australia and EFTA countries. We are committed to similar agreements with others,” he said. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said there was no discussion on the real issues such as the failure to reach a trade deal with the US. “The minister only wasted time in self-praise.. It is quite clear that India now faces new and bigger challenges with the US,” he said.  P7 B E N N K O C H U V E E D A N @ Mumbai IF the 25% tariff on Indian goods announced by US President Donald Trump is implemented from August 1, it could pull down India’s economic growth by 20-30 basis points (bps) in the current fiscal, say experts, adding that the effective rate could come down as the trade talks are still on. “We do not see the tariff threat impacting GDP growth meaningfully… at worst, the impact is 30 bps. We expect final tariffs to settle in lower than 25%, as trade talks are on,” said British brokerage Barclays. Elara Securities also expects a 30 bps drag on India’s GDP growth if there is no deal with the US. It added that the weakening rupee will be the first line of defence and thus the probability of a 50 bps rate cut in August has risen, which could cushion the economy against exter nal shocks. But as of now, the tariff is negative on the rupee, which is speculated to reach the 88.5-89 level against the dollar. According to Japanese brokerage Nomura Securities, the net impact of US tariff on India would be lower. “Taking into account sectoral exemptions, we estimate the effective tariff rate at 20% and this will be a 20 bps downside risk to the growth forecast for this fiscal,” Nomura economists Sonal Varma and Aurodeep Nandi said. Nomura has forecast India’s FY26 GDP growth at 6.2% with a downside risk of 20 bps. “Exports to the US account for just 2.2% of the GDP and in, clude pharma, smartphones, gems & jewellery, industrial machinery, auto components, textiles and iron & steel; most of which will likely face margin pressure,” it said. Aditi Raman, associate economist at Moody’s Analytics, said the US is India’s largest trade partner accounting for 18% of total exports. However, India’s economy is more domestically oriented than most of the region and relies far less on trade, she noted. In 2024, Indian exports to the US amounted to $81 billion. Pharma, gems and textiles are the most vulnerable sectors to the US tariff heat. Experts dismiss Don deal on Pak’s oil reserves B a l a C hauhan @ Bengaluru After imposing 25% tariff on India, US President Donald Trump sought to rub it in, saying he had struck a deal with Pakistan to develop its ‘massive’ oil reserves. “Who knows, maybe they’ll be selling Oil to India some day!” he quipped. But strategic experts tracking Pakistan were not impressed. “It doesn’t impress anyone for there are no proven offshore or onshore oil reserves in Pakistan,” said Sharat Sabharwal, former Indian Foreign Service officer and former diplomat to Pakistan. Trump’s reference to the oil deal with Pakistan seems to be part of his effort to ratchet up pressure on India to get his trade deal, he said. The purported oil deal remains “unclear”, said Swathi Kalyani, geospatial researcher, Bengaluru based think tank, The Takshashila Institution. “While there are claims about surveys done regarding offshore oil reserves in India, there is no publicly available data currently to validate the same for Pakistan ... If we compare the proven oil reserves, India’s global position is 23rd, much ahead of Pakistan’s 52,” Kalyani said. Kalyani added that most of Pakistan’s operational oil fields are in its north but a signifi- cant number of gas fields are along the Indus, in the Balochistan region. Kalyani said oil mining will have wider consequences for the region and the dependent population. “With American investments coming in, Pakistan may end up facing collateral damage,” she added. “The well known oil reserve of Pakistan in the Indus basin is the Sari field (World Oil Map) discovered in 1966. It is spread across Sindh majorly, and remains in Balochistan. A 2017 report by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) regarding undiscovered oil reserves in the Lower Indus Basin, too, did not say anything about offshore reserves,” she added. Stalin releases policy for TN trans persons Chennai: CM Stalin released a policy for trans persons, outlining a five-year roadmap to ensure non-discriminatory access to identity, education, employment, healthcare, housing and public services. TN will also implement protocols for infants born with ambiguous genitalia | P2 T M u r u g anandham @ Chennai Was in a relationship with Kavin: Subashini Anna varsity former V-C Velraj suspended Chennai: R Velraj, former V-C of Anna University, who was working as professor at the institute after his tenure ended last year, has been suspended on the last day of his service. During his V-C tenure there were irregularities in providing affiliation to private colleges, sources said India’s recoverable oil reserves in 2023 were 4.9 billion barrels (US EIA). In 2024, the estimated crude oil reserves in India was 671.40 million tonnes. On the other hand, the known energy potential of Pakistan according to a 2023 report of the Ministry of Energy, Government of Pakistan, is just 1228.955 million US barrels. OPS walks out of NDA bloc, meets CM as a ‘courtesy call’ express read Tirunelveli: Four days after the suspected ‘honour killing’ of Kavin Selvaganesh, his partner S Subashini released a video stating that they were in a relationship and said that her SI parents had no role in the crime. Kavin’s kin have refused to accept his body till the arrest of Subashini’s mom | P4 India’s oil reserves much ahead of pak say cheese! DyCM Udhayanidhi Stalin clicks a selfie after CM Stalin distributed laptops to Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare school students who got into colleges | P Ravikumar Former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and leader of the AIADMK Cadres’ Rights Retrieval Committee (ACRRC) on Thursday snapped ties with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the BJP. The announcement came just days after OPS was denied audience by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his recent visit to Tamil Nadu, despite fervent appeal from him to meet the PM. Interestingly the expelled , AIADMK leader met DMK president and Chief Minister M K Stalin twice on Thursday After meet. ing the CM during a morning walk at the Theosophical Society OPS met the CM at his , residence in the evening and held discussions with him in the presence of Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin for about 30 minutes. Speaking to reporters, Panneerselvam described the meeting with the CM as a courtesy call to enquire about his health and to condole the death of CM’s elder brother MK Muthu. However, when asked whether he would join hands with the DMK in the coming days, Panneerselvam said, “There are no permanent foes or friends in politics. That has been the history. When the elections approach, anything can happen.”  P5 17 years later Court acquits all 7 accused in Malegaon blast Sudhi r Su r ya w an s hi @ Mumbai Accused (from top) Pragya Singh Thakur, Lt Col Prasad Purohit, Major (retd) Ramesh Upadhyay, Sameer Kulkarni and Ajay Rahirkar Bike data Lahoti said chassis tampering of the bike used in the blast could not be established. Since forensic experts failed to fully recover its serial number, it could not be traced back to Pragya Thakur Seventeen years after the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast that killed six persons, a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Thursday acquitted all seven accused, including BJP leader and former Lok Sabha MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Colonel Prasad Purohit. Pronouncing the verdict, judge A K Lahoti stated, “Terror has no religion because no religion can advocate violence…. So, the judgment cannot be based on moral and public perceptions.” Significantly, NIA special public prosecutor Rohini Salian had in 2015 resigned claiming that the agency was going out of its way to water down the case and had been given standing instructions to go easy on the ‘Hindu terror’ accused. Judge Lahoti faulted the prosecution for failing to prove that the bike used in the blast belonged to Pragya Singh Thakur. “She became a sadhvi at least two years before the blast... no cogent material against her or any other accused,” the judge said. The court also noted that since no fingerprints or DNA samples were collected on time from the spot, the subsequent forensic report could not be relied upon as the evidence was contaminated. “There can be strong suspicion but mere suspicion is not enough to punish them. The high degree of suspicion is established but not enough to convict them,” the court said, adding it has given the accused the benefit of doubt. Lahoti also found no evidence to establish that Abhinav Bharat, an outfit founded by Pragya Thakur and Col Purohit, used its funds for terror activities. The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) initially investigated the case and arrested 12 people, including Pragya and Purohit under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). The case went to the NIA in 2011. While MCOCA was lifted against the accused after the NIA took over, Lahoti said two sanction orders for invoking the UAPA, passed by ACS-Home, were defective. “Sanction 197 was not required. Hence, UAPA cannot be invoked,” he said. Anwhar Raajhaa Suspected custodial torture: ST man dies, probe on says eps is entangled in some problems and bjp is using them to control him AIADMK-TVK talks were progressing well and the hurry shown by the BJP in announcing an alliance with AIADMK was to preempt the tie-up with actor Vijay’s party, said former AIADMK veteran who recently joined DMK | P4 E x p r e s s N e w s Se r vice @ Coimbatore A 58-year-old tribal man detained by forest officials for an inquiry related to the possession of leopard teeth was allegedly found dead on Thursday morning inside the toilet of the Udumalpet forest range office, triggering complaints of illegal detention and custodial tion 196 (2)(a) (inquiry by magtorture. istrate into the cause of death While the state forest where any person dies department claimed or disappears) of BNSS. that he died by suicide, The judicial magistrate based on two complaints of Udumalpet court will filed by the family memhold an inquiry, and bers of the deceased, P based on his report, poMarimuthu, the Tiruplice will initiate further pur district police have action, sources said. booked a case under SecP Marimuthu Marimuthu belonged to Muthuvan tribal community , and was a resident of Mel Kurumalai hamlet in the Udumalpet forest range which falls under the Anamalai Tiger Reserve in Tiruppur. Marimuthu, his wife Pandiammal, and their family had moved to Suriyanelli near Munnar in Kerala a few years ago, and were running a grocery shop there. P5