chennai l friday l august 29, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 40 l late city EDITION State govts can’t move SC against Prez AND guv on Bills, SAYS Centre State governments cannot file such writ petitions by claiming to be a repository of the rights of the people, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told SC sc: How can Assent be withheld forever? Prez, Guv not bound by timeframe: s-g The Supreme Court’s five-judge Constitution bench hearing a Presidential Reference seeking clarity on whether timelines could be imposed on the President and governors for deciding on bills passed by the State legislatures, said the term ‘as soon as possible’ used in Article 200 of the Constitution will serve no purpose if consent is withheld for “eternity” ■ ■ Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Tamil Nadu, said governors and the President are ‘titular heads’ who have no discretion on executive decision-making, except a very few ones S-G Mehta said the Constitution does not envisage judicial directions binding the President or Governors to act within a timeframe Art 200 Deals with guv’s Assent, withholding, returning, or referring bills to prez 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 Important step India, Canada thaw as both name envoys J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi India and Canada on Thursday named senior diplomats Dinesh K Patnaik and Christopher Cooter as their new high commissioners, filling posts that had remained vacant for over 10 months amid one of the most serious diplomatic crises between the two countries in recent decades. Patnaik, a 1990-batch Indian Foreign Service officer and currently India’s ambassador to Spain, will take up his assignment in Ottawa shortly, the Ministry of External Affairs said. Canada’s Foreign Minister Anita Anand confirmed the appointment of Cooter as high commissioner to India, calling it an “important step towards restoring necessary diplomatic services to citizens and businesses in both countries.” The appointments mark a cautious step toward normalising ties that had sharply deteriorated following allegations by then Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau in September 2023 that Indian government agents were involved in the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey British Columbia. India , had dismissed it as “absurd and politically motivated”. In the aftermath, both countries halted trade talks, expelled diplomats, and downgraded the functioning of their missions. Though Canada follows a 120day process to finalise the agrément—a formal diplomatic approval process—for incoming foreign envoys, in Patnaik’s case, the process was expedited. While the deeper political tensions remain unresolved, the restoration of high-level diplomatic representation suggests both sides are now seeking to stabilise the relationship and move toward normalcy . Didn’t say I, ‘other’ will retire @ 75: Bhagwat RA J E S H K UMAR THA K UR @ New Delhi Clearing the air over his recent remark on retirement at 75, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday said it wasn’t aimed at himself or anyone else, alluding to the speculation on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “I never said that I will retire or someone else should retire... We are ready to retire anytime in life and ready to work for as long as the Sangh wants us to do so,” he said on the final day of the Sangh’s three-day lecture series to mark the centenary celebrations of the RSS. sindhu stuns world no 2 in Round of 16 Storms into Worlds quarters after beating China’s Wang Zhi Yi Page 15 Reacting to ongoing attempts to reclaim Hindu sites of worship in Kashi and Mathura, he denied the Sangh’s participation in it, but added that its volunteers (swayamsevaks) were free to make their own decisions. Bhagwat also suggested that every Indian family should have three children to keep the population sufficient and under control. “To keep a civilisation alive, India’s population policy suggests 2.1 (average number of children), which basically means three. But resources have to be managed too, so we must restrict it to three,” he said. Centenary event On the issue of Hindu Rashtra, Bhagwat said there is no need to declare Bharat a Hindu Rashtra. “It already is. Rishis and munis have already declared it. It does not need any official proclamation,” he said, adding the Sangh cannot change its stance that If Indians don’t budge, I don’t think Trump will: Hassett J AYANTH J ACO B @ New Delhi HARDENING the stance against India over New Delhi’s energy trade with Russia and refusal to open up its markets for American corporations, US President Donald Trump’s two top economic advisers, Kevin Hassett and Peter Navarro, have issued sharp warnings against India. Hassett, director, National Economic Council, tied US’s steep tariffs on Indian goods to New Delhi’s stance on Russia. “If the Indians don’t budge, I don’t think President Trump will,” he said. White House Trade A dv i s o r N av a r r o bluntly accused India of enabling Russia’s war. In an interview to Bloomberg, Navarro dubbed the Ukraine conflict ‘Modi’s war’, Peter Navarro blaming India for prolonging the fighting by continuing to buy Russian oil. “T his isn’ t just about trade,” Hassett said. “Part of it has been tied to the pressure we’ve been tryKevin Hassett ing to put on Russia... Then there’s the Indian intransigence about opening their markets to our products.” Taking a more provocative line, Navarro said: “Everybody in America loses because of what India is doing… Consumers lose, businesses lose, workers lose because of high Indian tariffs. And the taxpayer? They fund Modi’s war.” WITH the 50% tariffs coming into force, New Delhi has intensified efforts to mitigate the fallout. According to a senior commerce ministry official, discussions are on with exporters as well officials of the Trump administration. “Engagements with exporters are going on. Official-level engagements between the two countries are also on,” the official said. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), and the Ministry of Commerce are jointly coordinating efforts to cushion the impact on exporters. Unwavering and An official said the unequivocal government is trying support for the to find a way out of government’s the tariff mess and stance on not seriously pursuing yielding to the unreasonable engagements at muland unethical tiple levels – diplopressure of the matic, political and reciprocal commercial. The tariffs imposed strategies include on India by US putting pressure on the Trump adminis—Sudhir Sekhri, chairman, AEPC tration using the Democrats and businesses. On Thursday a delegation from the , Federation of Indian Export Organisations met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Exporters, despite being concerned about the impact on their businesses, have largely backed the government’s stance of dealing with tariff pressure from Washington. 40 PAGES, INCLUDING 24 OF INDULGE (TABLOID) Chief Minister M K Stalin and Industries Minister T R B Rajaa on Thursday pressed the union government to urgently intervene after the US raised tariffs on Indian exports, warning of severe consequences for Tamil Nadu’s economy . “I reiterate my demands to the union government for immediate relief and structural reforms to safeguard our industries and workers,” Stalin said in a post on X. Stalin had earlier written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 16, cautioning that the 50% tariff hike could derail TN’s textile sector and warned that as many as 30 lakh jobs could be at risk without swift intervention. The minister on Thursday accused the union government of remaining “mute” in the face of the tariff rise.  P7 22 convicted, 161 let off in 2015 Ambur riots case e x p r e ss n e w s s e r v i c e @ Tirupattur The Tirupattur District and Sessions Court on Thursday convicted 22 persons, and acquitted 161 others booked in the 2015 Ambur riots case, in which around 26 police personnel, including three who were grievously injured, came under attack. Judge S Meenakumari issued Four of TN family die in Chhattisgarh floods Tirupattur: Four of a family, including two children, from Parandapalli in Tirupattur died in Chhattisgarh on Monday due to flash floods on the Sukma– Jagalpur Road, district revenue officials confirmed | P2 17-year-old dies after illegal abortion in TN P U S H P ITA D E Y @ New Delhi e x p r e ss n e w s s e r v i c e @ Chennai WIT H T H IS ISSUE express read Don’s top Talks still on aides take at multiple aim at India levels: Govt Stalin, min warn of risk to tn economy, demand intervention CHENNAI’S BEST WEEKEND GUIDE Hindustan is a Hindu nation. Addressing concerns over foreign funding, he said that there should be no issue if they are used for service work. “But they should be used for that purpose alone. The problem arises when such funds are used for religious conversions. That is why restrictions became necessary .” Commenting on the language debate, Bhagwat said that all of Bharat’s languages are national languages. “All the languages of Bharat are national languages. But, there should be one common link language and it should never be a foreign language.” the verdict, sentencing the convicts to fines and varying terms of imprisonment, depending on the charges. The collective fine of `4.22 lakh from all 22 has been deposited, Public Prosecutor P T Saravanan told TNIE. Furthermore, for the damages amounting to around `23 lakh, the judge ordered that the amount be recovered from the prop- erties of the late Aslam Basha — the then Ambur MLA and an accused in the case — and from his party, the Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK). A compensation of `10 lakh each has to be given to police personnel Rajalakshmi and Vijayakumar, who were grievously injured in the riots. The violence erupted in late June 2015, following the death of 26-yearold Shameel Ahamed.  P7 Police lifeline Police personnel rescuing ST Residential School students trapped in floodwaters at Sarampalli village in Kamareddy district on Wednesday. Around 300 of those children were shifted to safer locations | Express Chennai: A 17-year-old nursing student from Tiruttani died on Wednesday following an illegal abortion performed allegedly by a nurse in an Andhra clinic on the insistence of her parents | P5