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 Supreme Court: How can Assent be withheld forever? 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” kOCHI l friday l august 29, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 20 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 ■ ■ 6 killed as speeding K’taka bus rams auto Brake failure ruled out E x p ress N e w s S er v i c e @ Kasaragod While police said preliminary probe pointed to brake failure, the Karnataka SRTC has ruled out the same. The corporation has suspended the bus driver for negligence. It has also ordered a departmental The mangled remains of the autorickshaw that was hit by a probe. Karnataka SRTC bus at Thalappady in Kasaragod on Thursday Six people died and three others suffered injuries after a speeding Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation bus proceeding to Mangaluru from Kasaragod rammed two autorickshaws and people standing on the roadside at Thalappady on the Kerala-Karnataka border on Thursday . The deceased — all natives of Karnataka — include the driver and five passengers of one of the autorickshaws. All relatives, they were heading to Kunjathur near Manjeshwar to attend a family function. According to eyewitnesses and police, the incident occurred around 1.15pm when the bus driver applied sudden brakes upon nearing the spot where the sixlane NH 66 on the Kerala side ends and the four-lane highway on the Karnataka side begins. It was raining heavily at the time and the bus skidded and hit an autorickshaw parked on the roadside. The vehicle then made a violent 180-degree spin and hit another autorickshaw parked on the side as well as the people who were waiting for a bus, the police said. Manjeshwar police rushed to the spot and the victims were taken to Yenepoya Medical College If Indians don’t budge, I don’t think President Donald Trump will, says Hassett Trump’s top Talks still on aides double at multiple down on India levels: Govt J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi P U S H PI TA D E Y @ New Delhi Hardening their 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 Washington’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, calling trade negotiations with India complicated and criticising India’s ‘intransigence’ in opening up markets. White House Trade Advisor Navarro bluntly accused India of enabling Russia’s war. In an interview to Bloomberg, Navarro dubbed the Ukraine conflict ‘Modi’s war’, blaming India for prolonging the fighting by continuing to buy Russian oil. The duo’s sharp remarks signal a renewed hardline posture from the Trump administration as it links Peter Navarro trade policy with geopolitical alignment. “This isn’t just about trade,” Hassett said. “Part of it has been tied to the pressure we’ve been trying to put on Russia in order to secure a peace deal and save millions of lives. Then there’s the Indian intransigence about opening their markets to our prodKevin Hassett ucts.” 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.” Navarro also lashed out at India’s insistence on sovereign decision-making in energy policy calling it “arro, gant,” and accused the country of siding with authoritarians. “India, you’re the biggest democracy in the world. Act like one. Side with the democracies,” he said, lumping India’s Russia and China ties into a broader critique of its foreign policy alignment. WITH the 50% tariffs officially 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 as 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. Speaking to TNIE, an official said the government is trying to find a way out of the tariff mess and seriously pursuing engagements at multiple levels­ diplomatic, — political and commercial. The official said the strategies include putting pressure on the Trump administraUnwavering and tion using the Democrats and busiunequivocal nesses there. “Businesses are the ones support for the who are suffering even in the US,” government’s said the official. stance on not Meanwhile, separate meetings beyielding to the tween ministries and industry repreunreasonable and unethical pressure sentatives are being held. The Reof the reciprocal serve Bank of India (RBI) has tariffs imposed on initiated dialogues with key trade India by the United bodies to address liquidity and finanStates cial concerns triggered by the new tariffs. RBI Governor Sanjay Mal—Sudhir Sekhri, chairman, AEPC hotra had earlier promised exporters that all measures would be taken to deal with the emerging situation. On Thursday a delegation from the Federation of In, dian Export Organisations met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. According to the federation, Sitharaman assured them that the government would safeguard workers’ livelihoods and urged industry leaders to reassure employees about job continuity despite global turbulence. Exporters, despite being concerned about the impact on their businesses, have largely backed the government’s stance of dealing with tariff pressure from Washington. EXPRESS READ Landslips force ghat road closure Kalpetta: Heavy rain on Thursday triggered multiple landslips near the ninth bend on the Thamarassery Ghat Road, forcing a complete shutdown of the busy mountain pass. Police have sealed the entry points at Adivaram in Kozhikode and Lakkidi in Wayanad. P5 13 complaints against Rahul T’Puram: The crime branch will examine 13 complaints that have been filed by various political outfits and individuals against MLA Rahul Mamkootathil in connection with alleged sexual misconduct. P4 West Bengal readies for SIR rollout Kolkata: In an indication of the SIR of poll rolls kicking in soon in Bengal, the state administration instructed the appointment of all electoral registration officers and assistant electoral registration officers within 24 hours. P8 20 pages, including 4 pages of KOCHI Express + 4-PAGE PULLOUT Hospital and Fr Muller MCH in Mangaluru. The deceased are Hyderali, 47, the autorickshaw driver, Khadeeja, 60, Hasna, 10, Nafeesa, 52, and Ayisha Fida, 19, all from Ajjinadka in Kotekar panchayat in Dakshina Kannada district, and Havamma, 72, from Farangipete at BC Road near Mangaluru. Lakshmi, 61, and her son Surendra, 39, of Perumbala in Kasaragod, who were waiting for a bus to Kasaragod, suffered grievous injuries after they were caught between the bus and the second autorickshaw. They were admitted to Fr Muller Medical College Hospital, the police said.  ● More on P4 RSS chief Bhagwat clears the air on retiring at 75 Bhagwat also suggested that every Indian family should have three chilClearing the air over his recent re- dren to keep the population sufficient mark on retirement at 75, RSS chief and under control. “To keep a civilisaMohan Bhagwat on Thursday said it tion alive, India’s population policy wasn’t aimed at himself or anyone else, suggests 2.1 (average number of chilalluding to the speculation on dren), which basically means Prime Minister Narendra three. But resources have to Centenary Modi.“I never said that I will event be managed too, so we must retire or someone else should restrict it to three,” he said. On the issue of Hindu Rashretire... We are ready to retire tra, Bhagwat said there is no anytime in life and ready to need to declare Bharat a Hinwork for as long as the Sangh du Rashtra. “It already is. wants us to do so,” he said on Rishis and munis have althe final day of the Sangh’s ready declared it. It does not three-day lecture series to need any official proclamamark the centenary celebration,” he said. tions of the RSS. Addressing concerns over foreign Reacting to ongoing attempts to reclaim Hindu sites of worship in Kashi funding, he said there should be no isand Mathura, he denied the Sangh’s sue if they are used for service work. participation in it, but added that its “The problem arises when such funds volunteers (swayamsevaks) were free are used for religious conversions. That is why restrictions became necessary .” to make their own decisions. R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R @ New Delhi India, Canada name envoys J ayanth J a c ob @ 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 MEA 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.”