villupuram l Monday l September 22, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION The Trump administration has clarified that the new $100,000 fee for H-1B visas is a one-time payment applicable only to new petitions and does not apply to current visa holders, providing a huge relief for thousands of concerned professionals working in the US, including from India after chaos, a u-turn White House clarifies visa fee only for newbies H-1B petitions submitted before the effective proclamation date of September 21 are not affected. Those visa holders currently outside the US also do not need to pay the fee for re-entering the country White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said those who already hold H-1B visas and are outside US won’t be charged $100,000 to re-enter; they can leave and re-enter the country as earlier | P7 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 ■ ■ On a wheel and a prayer: Afghan teen stowaway survives flight S L al i tha @ New Delhi The Airbus A340 that landed in New Delhi Sunday with a stowaway | KAM AIR IN a daring and reckless act, a 13-year-old boy from Afghanistan clandestinely stowed away on a flight to India on Sunday by hiding in the rear wheel well of an aircraft. The teenager survived the 94-minute journey and ‘landed’ safely at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport in stable physical condition, four sourc- Aavin may retain prices despite GST reduction olates and other products by `25 to `40, owing to the GST Even as leading public sec- cut. However, senior officials tor dairy cooperatives Amul from the TN Cooperative and Karnataka Milk Federa- Milk Producers Federation tion’s Nandini have an- (TNCMPF), which owns the nounced price cuts following Aavin brand, said that since the GST reduction on Aavin calculates its fidairy products from nal prices inclusive of 12% to 5%, milk prodGST, a formal direcMILK ucts from Tamil tive from the state is Nadu’s Aavin — the necessary before recountry’s third-largvising rates. As of 11 est public sector dairy pm on Sunday no such , federation — will contindirective was issued. ue to be sold at existing prices As a result, during the upon Monday when the revised coming festive season, con, GST will come into force. sumers in Tamil Nadu may Amul, Nandini and a few not enjoy the price relief private brands have reduced that buyers in Karnataka the prices of ghee, paneer, and other parts of the counbutter, ice cream, milk choc- try will receive.  P5 B A N B U S E LV A N @ Chennai sept 30 poll body sets stage for nationwide SIR Election Commission of India has asked state chief electoral officers to be ready for special intensified revision of voter lists by September 30 | P7 es familiar with the incident told this newspaper. The incident occurred on flight RQ4401, operated by Afghanistan’s KAM Air. According to flightradar24. com, the Airbus A340 departed Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul at 8:46 am IST and landed at Terminal 3 at 10:20 am. A security source said the boy clad in a kurta and py, jama, intended to sneak into press clusive Iran but boarded the wrong flight. The teenager admitted to tailgating passengers at Kabul airport to access the flight, before hiding in the wheel well during boarding. The incident came to light when a ground handler at T3 taxiway spotted the boy walking in the restricted apron area, after the flight landed and passengers had disembarked. He alerted authorities. The Central Industrial Security Force took the boy into custody and later handed him over , to airport police. As a minor, the boy is immune from legal charges, a security source confirmed. An aviation expert described the act as perilous, noting that survival outside the aircraft during flight is nearly impossible, while a doctor stressed on the improbability of surviving such extreme conditions. Aviation expert Captain Mohan Ranganathan said there was only one way the boy could have survived. “After take-off, the wheel bay door opens, the wheel retracts and closes. He must have got into this space.” Shun foreign goods, turn to Indian for country’s prosperity: PM Modi Says across-the-board support for made-in-India products, GST reforms will push growth RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR GST 2.0 from today @ New Delhi AMID persisting concerns over souring trade ties with the US, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged people to shun foreign products and instead use swadeshi (made-in-India) goods to boost India’s growth. A massive swadeshi push, along with the GST reforms that kick in from Monday will accelerate , India’s growth story he said. , “Today, knowingly or unknowingly many foreign things , have become a part of our daily lives, and we are not even aware of it. We do not even know whether the comb in our pocket is foreign or Indian. We will have to get rid of these also. We should buy goods that are made in India, in which the hard work of our youth, the sweat of Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the nation on Sunday | PTI our sons and daughters are involved,” Modi said in his address to the nation on the eve of the auspicious Navaratri. The PM’s speech comes amid inconclusive trade talks with the US and a day after Washington introduced an unprecedented $100,000 fee for H-1B visas. Modi said homes and shops should become ‘symbols of Starting Monday, prices of about 375 items ranging from kitchen staples to electronics, medicines and equipment to automobiles will get cheaper as reduced GST rates come into effect. Auto majors and FMCG firms have already announced reduction in prices in view of GST rationalisation swadeshi’, adding that it is a big step for aatmanirbhar Bharat. “Every shop has to be decorated with swadeshi products. Say with pride that this is Swadeshi, say with pride, I buy Swadeshi, I also sell Swadeshi goods… this should become the attitude of every Indian,” he said. Urging states to create a con- ductive atmosphere for investment, he said India can be selfreliant only if the states and the Centre work together. With the new, reduced GST rates coming into effect on Monday Modi said the reforms , will enhance people’s savings and give further momentum to the Swadeshi pitch. Noting that everyday essentials are more affordable under the revised tax structure, he termed the GST reforms bachat utsav (savings festival), adding that that each and everyone stands to benefit. Recalling that India took its first steps towards GST reforms in 2017, Modi highlighted that for decades, citizens and traders were entangled in a complex web of taxes. “But now One Nation One Tax has been made through GST,” he added. Mithun Manhas set to become next BCCI chief F i r o z M i r z a @ Chennai This could be the first time a Jammu-born cricketer is set hold the Indian cricket board’s (BCCI) top post. Former Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir player Mithun Manhas is set to take over as BCCI president during the annual general meeting scheduled at its headquarters in Mumbai this upcoming Sunday. Manhas, who is currently a member of a BCCI-for med sub-committee running cricket Mithun Manhas in J&K, filed his nomination in Mumbai on Sunday taking the , cricket fraternity by surprise. “A new body is being made for the next term. Mithun Manhas is a former player and it was decided to make him the president. Arun Dhumal is the chairman of IPL governing council and he will continue in the post,” BCCI vice president Rajeev Shukla told journalists in Mumbai.  P11