THIRUVANANTHAPURAM l saturday l august 02, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION Vice Presidential election to be held on September 9 election commission issues schedule As per the schedule announced by the ECI, a notification calling the election to the post of the Vice President of India would be announced on August 7 and the last date of making nomination would be August 21, with the scrutiny of the nominations scheduled to take place on August 22. The ECI said the last date for withdrawal of nominations is August 25 Election to the office of the Vice President was necessitated following a surprise resignation by Jagdeep Dhankhar on July 21 citing ill health ■ 293 how does the electoral college look like ■ The Electoral College consists of 788 MPs, including 233 elected and 12 nominated members of Rajya Sabha and 543 Lok Sabha lawmakers; 5 vacancies in RS and 1 in LS means 782 MPs can vote The election is conducted through proportional representation through single transferable vote; each vote carries equal value | P7 with 293 lok sabha mps and 133 in rajya sabha, bjp has clear edge 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 Start date of the levies pushed to August 7 41% Syria New Tariff 40% Reciprocal Laos, Myanmar (Burma) Switzerland 39% Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Libya and South Africa Brunei, India, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Tunisia Bangladesh, Taiwan, Sri Lanka , Vietnam Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand Afghanistan, Angola, Bolivia, Botswana, Cameroon, Chad, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Fiji, Ghana, Guyana, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia. Nauru, New Zealand, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Norway, Papua New Guinea, South Korea, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Uganda, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Zambia, Zimbabwe Brazil, Falkland Islands, United Kingdom 35% Iraq, Serbia 30% 25% 20% India bunched with small nations in high US duty rates D i pa k M o n d a l @ New Delhi With the US embarking on a massive ‘protectionism’ era, India stands to be the biggest collateral damage of this exercise. The newly modified tariffs announced by the US government on Friday placed India among the major economies facing the highest duty rates — 25% or more. Other countries in this bracket are mostly smaller or geopolitically isolated nations such as Syria, Laos and Iraq. However, he pushed its start date toAuguts 7, injecting a little more uncertainty . What is particularly concerning is that most ASEAN and South Asian countries — key competitors in labour-intensive exports such as textiles and leather — have been spared the steep hikes. Vietnam, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Cambodia now fall in the 19–20% tariff range. While China has been excluded from the latest tariff list, an earlier executive order on May 12 mandated a 34% tariff on its goods. The current executive order says the May 12 order remains in force. This means India still technically enjoys a lower tariff than China. However, the margin has narrowed, and given China’s well-known strength in low-cost manufacturing, that slight rate difference could easily be offset by sheer scale and pricing efficiency . What has baffled many trade experts is that Vietnam, with which the US had a trade deficit of $113 billion in 2024—the largest in Asia after China—has managed to stay within the 20% bracket. That said, the order clarifies that any trans-shipments through third countries like Vietnam will attract a 40% duty . Bangladesh, another direct competitor to India in textiles, has also been placed in the 20% tariff slab. The textile sector has already sought financial help to prevent massive job losses. Pakistan, which doesn’t pose significant competition in most export sectors, has received a 19% tariff rate — a development that is seen as more of a diplomatic win for India’s western neighbour than a commercial threat. Negotiations are on, but India is unlikely to yield on issues such as GM foods and dairy products. For now, India is staring at a 25% tariff wall, unless it chooses to bend over backwards to accommodate Trump’s whims and fancies. Economists hope that developed markets like the EU and UK would help India absorb some of the shock from US tariffs. 19% 18% 15% 10% Nicaragua Randhir Jaiswal, MEA spokesperson Arunish Chawla, DIPAM Secretary Rakesh Mehra, CITI Chairman Debopam Chaudhari, Piramal Group India and Russia have a time-tested partnership. Ties with various countries should not be seen from the prism of a third country We are doing capital review of all PSUs each week and working on strategies to insulate our economy from geopolitical risks US substantially reduce tariffs for competing nations like B’desh will compound the difficulties for India’s textile and apparel exporters FTAs with large economies such as UK and EU will hopefully help offset some of the losses arising from a slowdown in trade with the US Ex-MP Prajwal convicted for rape R a k s h i t h G o w d a @ Bengaluru Prajwal Revanna Videos did him in The case came to light after pen drives containing explicit videos of Prajwal were circulated in Hassan, ahead of Lok Sabha polls in 2024 A special court on Friday found former Member of Parliament from Hassan Lok Sabha constituency Prajwal Revanna guilty in a rape case filed by a domestic worker. The quantum of punishment will b e p ro n o u n c e d o n Saturday . Prajwal, grandson of former prime minister HD Deve Gowda and nephew of Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy, was accused of raping the 47-yearold woman from KR Nagar in Mysuru, while she was working as a domestic help at his farmhouse in Holenarasipura in Hassan. The woman, who filed her complaint with the cyber crime police of CID on May 5, 2024, had alleged that Prajwal raped her multiple times at his Gannigada farmhouse in Holenarasipura and at Basavanagudi in Bengaluru. She had also alleged that he video-recorded the act. The state government had constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe this and three other cases registered against Prajwal and others, including his parents: former minister and Holenarasipura MLA HD Re v a n n a a n d B h av a n i Revanna. The SIT filed a 1,632-page chargesheet in September 2024, listing 113 witnesses. Judge Guv-govt ties hit new low Court reserves order on arrested nuns’ bail as Raj Bhavan reappoints Ciza and K Sivaprasad Decision likely today EJA Z KAISER @Raipur A special NIA court in Chhattisgarh reserved till Saturday its order on the bail petitions filed by three persons, including two Catholic nuns, arrested for alleged forced religious conversion and human trafficking, even as protests against their incarceration continued in Kerala. At the hearing on Friday the Chhattisgarh gov, ernment opposed the bail pleas filed by Sr Preethy Mary Sr Vandana Francis and Sukman Mandavi, , who were arrested from Durg railway station on July 25. “We opposed bail as there were serious allegations against the three persons. Interrogation is not yet complete as the probe remains at a preliminary stage. Since the issue is sensitive and related to religion and human trafficking, we have appealed the court not to give bail to the accused,” said Prankush Mishra, the public prosecutor. Former deputy solicitor general B Gopa Kumar, who appeared for the nuns, said: “We told the court that the allegations of human trafficking and forced religious conversion are false...All three girls cited as alleged victims are adults who were accompanying the nuns willingly ...they have already been following Christianity The affidavits . in this regard by the girls’ parents and relatives have been submitted before the NIA court.” On Thursday Union Home Minister Amit Shah , had reportedly assured MPs from Kerala that the Centre will initiate steps to ensure bail for the P4 nuns this week. for six months or until a regular VC is appointed, whichever is earlier. This followed the SuThe strained relations be- preme Court’s Wednesday rultween the state government ing that the Chancellor could and the Raj Bhavan worsened issue issue a fresh notification on Friday after Governor and appointing interim VCs in both Chancellor Rajendra Arlekar universities but the period in reappointed K Sivaprasad and any case cannot exceed six Ciza Thomas as the interim months. Vice-Chancellors of S iv a p r a s a d a n d APJ Abdul Kalam Ciza, appointed by Technological Univerformer Governor Arif sity (KTU) and Digital Mohammed Khan last University, Kerala The appointments year, had ste pped are not in (DUK), respectively, down on July 14 after a accordance with rejecting the panel of division bench of the names provided by the the provisions laid High Court upheld a down by the government. single judge’s order inSupreme Court The gover nment, and the Kerala HC. validating their apwhich viewed Arlepointments. Arlekar It also violates kar’s move as a rejec- the requirement had then moved the tion of the reconciliaSupreme Court that the state tion efforts initiated against the HC ruling government should be by Chief Minister Pithat the appointment consulted narayi Vijayan and of interim VCs should other ministers, has, only be from a panel P Rajeeve, in retaliation, reportof names submitted Law Minister edly decided to stay by the government. away from the talks initiated Though the state governby him on Saturday for arriv- ment submitted a panel of ing at a consensus on perma- three names each for appointnent VC appointments as di- ment of interim VCs in both rected by the Supreme Court. universities, Arlekar went According to separate notifi- ahead with the reappointment cations issued by the Raj Bha- of Sivaprasad and Ciza. Raj van, Sivaprasad and Ciza will Bhavan sources said the SC exercise the powers and per- judgment clearly empowered form the duties of the VC office the governor to make interim in the respective universities VC appointments.  ● More on P4 Express News Service @T’Puram Draft Bihar poll roll out; election commission pans Rahul’s vote theft slur mukesh ranjan & P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi THE Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday published the draft electoral rolls of Bihar after completing the first phase of collecting enumeration forms as part of its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in the state. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said in a message to voters, “The draft electoral rolls of Bihar are being published on Friday Au, gust 1, at https://voters. eci.gov.in/download.” “Physical as well as digital copies will also be given to all recognised political parties in Bihar in all 38 Districts by all the 38 District Election Officers (DEOs) of Bihar.” There were 7.93 crore registered voters in Bihar before the roll revision process began last month. It is yet to be known how many voters are there in the just-published draft rolls. Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a broadside said his party has foolproof evidence to prove “vote theft” by the ECI for the BJP, remarks that evoked a sharp response from the poll panel that termed his allegations as “baseless and wild allegations”. “I have said vote chori is happening and now we have proof that the Election Commission is involved in ‘vote chori’. I am saying this with 100 per cent proof. As soon as we release it, the whole country would know that EC is indulging in vote chori. It is doing it for the BJP Rahul alleged. ,” The ECI in a statement said it has chosen to ignore Rahul Gandhi’s “baseless allegations”. “It is very strange that he is making wild allegations, and threatening ECI staff,” the statement added. ‘Got our probe done, found atom bomb’ New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi said Congress has proof vote theft took place in Maharashtra and MP, and is expected in Bihar too. “We got our own investigation done. What we have found is an atom bomb,” he said. 16 pages, including 4 pages of THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Express Santhosh Gajanan Bhat of the special court for trial of criminal cases against MPs/MLAs, concluded the trial on July 18 and held Prajwal guilty of the charges. The minimum punishment for the offences committed by Prajwal is 10 years. Soon after the judge pronounced the verdict, Prajwal bowed his head and broke down. He was later escorted back to the prison under tight security His father HD Revan. na refused to react. Special Public Prosecutor Ashok Nayak said the prosecution examined 26 witnesses. “The most crucial evidence came from the victim herself that was compelling ... This is a victory against abuse of power and privilege.” express read Actor Kalabhavan Navas passes away Kochi: Actor and mimicry artist Kalabhavan Navas, 51, died of a suspected heart attack at a hotel in Kochi on Friday. He was known for his roles as Thankappan in Mattupetti Machan (1998), Sandeep Nambiar in Junior Mandrake (1997), among others | P5 Govt allegation lands MCH whistleblower in spot Solemn strides T’Puram: In an apparent witch hunt against Dr Haris Chirackal of Thiruvananthapuram MCH, who highlighted gaps in state’s healthcare, the government has levelled fresh allegations that could corner him. Minister Veena George on Friday said equipment worth J20 lakh was found missing from urology department, apparently blaming Haris | P4 Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan walks to the podium to deliver the V S Achuthanandan commemorative speech during the remembrance meeting organised by the CPM in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday. KPCC president Sunny Joseph, IUML MLA P K Kunhalikutty, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan and former Union minister V Muraleedharan are also seen | B P Deepu | P4 71st National Awards SRK, Vikrant & Rani best; Mollywood shines bright A k s h ay K u m a r @ Chennai Superstar Shah Rukh Khan won his maiden best actor award for Jawan, and shared the honour with Vikrant Massey for 12th Fail, at the 71st National Awards that were announced on Friday. Another first-time winner was Rani Mukerji, who bagged the best actress award for Mrs Chatterjee Vs. Norway. Hindi films were the big win- ners of this edition as Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 12th Fail bagged the best feature film, and Karan Johar’s Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani won the best popular film for wholesome entertainer award. Interestingly, the Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt-starrer also won choreographer Vaibhavi Merchant her second national award after her maiden win in 2000 for Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’s Dhol Baaje. The awards were for films released in 2023. The polarising Sudipto Sen film, The Kerala Story, won him his maiden award for best director and a best cinematographer nod for Prasantanu Mohapatra. Jawan also won Shilpa Rao her first award for best singer. The South representation was quite strong this year, too, as in addition to the best regional films, there were multiple winners in the major categories. Malayalam cinema had a very fruitful outing too. Vi- jayaraghavan and Urvashi were named best supporting actors in the male and female categories — a rare double for Mollywood. Urvashi was selected for her performance in ‘Ullozhukku’. This is her second national award in the category, having previously won in 2006 for Achuvinte Amma. Veteran actor Vijayaraghavan was picked for his role in P4 Pookkaalam.