HUBBALLI l sunday l november 16, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 26 l CITY EDITION Trump scraps tariffs on some items including coffee, fruits The abrupt retreat from his signature tariff policy comes amid mounting pressure on his administration to combat high consumer prices Admits levies causing prices to shoot u-turn after party’s election losses The president signed an executive order on Friday that removes tariffs on coffee, tea, beef, fruit juice, cocoa, spices, bananas, oranges, tomatoes, and certain fertilisers imported into the US. “We’ve just made a slight rollback on some foods,” Trump said. He acknowledged that his tariff policy has contributed to a rise in consumer prices in “some cases” | P11 ■ ■ The reversal comes after voters in off-year elections this month cited economic concerns as their top issue, resulting in big wins for Democrats in Virginia, New Jersey and other key races around the US “The president is finally admitting what we always knew: his tariffs are raising prices for the people,” senior Democrat Don Beyer said $2,000 The amount trump proposed to give each American as tariff dividend 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 CM expected to dissolve House, stake fresh claim on Monday daughter quits lalu family, politics D e v a r a j B H i r e h a l l i @ Bengaluru R a m a s h a n k a r @ Patna A day after the Rashtriya Janata Dal-Congress-led Mahagathbandhan’s crushing defeat in the Bihar Assembly elections, a feud erupted within RJD leader Lalu Prasad’s family, with his daughter Rohini Acharya announcing that she was quitting politics and severing all ties with the family . “I am quitting politics and also disowning my family. This is what Sanjay Yadav and Rameez had asked me to do. I am taking all the blame,” Acharya wrote on X. Sanjay Yadav is an RJD MP and a close confidant of Lalu’s younger son, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, while Rameez is Tejashwi’s friend from neighbouring Uttar Pradesh. Neither Sanjay nor Rameez reacted, deepRohini Acharya ening the mystery and fuelling speculation of pressure within the party and the family . Rohini Acharya had previously made headlines when she donated one of her kidneys to her ailing father, Lalu Prasad. Responding to Rohini’s announcement, her brother Tej Pratap, who himself was expelled from the party a few months back, said: “Those who are trying to harass my sister will not be spared. ‘Jai Chand’ (traitor) will be taught a lesson at an appropriate time.” JD(U) MLC Neeraj Kumar said, “The daughter who saved the life of Lalu is now saying in pain that she is stepping down from politics and snapping ties with the family It is a big question on . Lalu and Rabri Devi.” LJP(RV) chief Chirag Paswan greets Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna | PTI The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged Aland voter theft case has started the interrogation of the 27-year-old man Bapi Adya, who was arrested from a village in Nadia district of West Bengal on November 12. Adya was brought to Bengaluru on transit remand and produced before the First Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) court in Bengaluru on Thursday The . court remanded him in 12- KARNATAKA Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is said to have got the clearance from Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to reshuffle his cabinet on Saturday . The clearance came when Siddaramaiah, who was paying a courtesy call to Rahul in Delhi after Congress and INDIA bloc’s loss in Bihar polls, discussed state politics for about twenty minutes. Energy Minister KJ George too was present at the meeting. Rahul suggested to Siddaramaiah to discuss the cabinet reshuffle with AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, a source said. With the approval from the high command in his pocket, Siddaramaiah could drop 1012 of his ministers and make his position strong to continue as chief minister even after completing two-and-a-half years in office on November 20. But this will be a serious setback for Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who wants to be chief minister at the half-way mark of five-year tenure of the present Congress government. For, there is reportedly an agreement that was brokered by the high command in 2023 when the party came to power that lays down Siddaramaiah to be chief minister for the first half of the Congress government and Shivakumar to be in the helm for the second half. It is to be seen if Shivakumar will insist on power change at a time when the party is going through one of its lowest points. The party could also be averse to a risky change of leadership in Karnataka, the only big state that it is in power in the country He may have to put his aspi. rations on hold for some time and continue as KPCC president, analysts said.  MORE ON PAGE 4 Mind games by Nitish before 10th term shot More arrests in terror module case RAJ E SH KUMAR T HAKUR @ New Delhi A day after the NDA registered a stunning landslide victory in the Bihar elections, there was no doubt in anybody’s mind that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will get a record 10th term at the government’s helm. But Nitish being Nitish, he could suggest to the BJP that it should lead the government since it emerged as the single-largest party For its . part, the BJP could graciously insist that the mandate was for Nitish in the hot seat and should stay that way . In 2024, when he returned to the NDA after walking out of the Mahagathbandhan, Nitish enacted the same drama of asking the BJP to stake its claim for chief ministership, but the BJP respectfully turned it down. Of course, the final call will be taken by the BJP’s national leadership. “But, there is no chance of the BJP leading the government; it will send a wrong message within the NDA. The current arrange- ment is working fine,” remarked a senior BJP leader. The swearing-in ceremony is tentatively expected between November 18 and 21, depending on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s availability . Given the solid performance of Chirag Paswan’s LJP(RV) at the hustings — 19 out of 25 seats it contested, it could be rewarded with a deputy chief minister’s position. As for the BJP, it could name a Yadav leader from the party like Ram Kripal Yadav for the second deputy CM’s slot. The idea is to consolidate the BJP’s position in the Yadav vote bank, especially after making inroads into this demographic this time around. A state cabinet meeting on dissolving the outgoing assembly is expected on Monday, after which Nitish will submit his resignation to the Governor. Later, a meeting of the NDA legislative party will elect Nitish as its leader. Nitish will then return to Raj Bhavan and stake his claim to form the new government. BJP suspends R K Singh | P10 Aland voter theft: Man held in WB gave OTPs to K’buragi call centre? B a l a C h a u h a n @Bengaluru Post Bihar poll results, Siddu gets Rahul’s nod for cabinet reshuffle? day police custody. Besides his custodial interrogation, the SIT will also examine his digital devices and send them for forensic examination, said sources on condition of anonymity . “Adya reportedly provided phone numbers and one-time passwords (OTPs) to the Kalaburagi-based makeshift call centre set up by the four alleged suspects -Akram, Ashfaque, Nadeem and Mushtaq -- for filing online fraudulent 6,018 Form 7 applications on the Election Commission (EC) website for deletion of names of some genuine voters of Aland constituency in 2023. The SIT zeroed in on Adya based on the banking transactions of Akram, Ashfaque, Nadeem and Mushtaq. Ashfaque, who had left for Dubai after being questioned in the same case in 2023 by the Kalaburagi police, has returned and co-operated with the SIT investigation. He is said to have told the SIT about two portals which provided them with the OTPs for a certain commission per OTP,” added the sources.  CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 MHA probe into nowgam blast The Home Ministry (MHA) said a probe has been ordered to determine the cause of the Nowgam police station ‘accidental’ blast that killed 9 people, including cops, on Friday accidental explosion: dgp The explosion at Nowgam police station on Friday in Srinagar has raised serious questions on handling of explosives by police. DGP Nalin Prabhat said it was an “accidental explosion” | P10 A police woman consoles relatives of Mohammad Shafi Parry, a tailor who was among nine killed in the explosion at Nowgam police station | Zahoor punjabi e x p r e s s ne w s s e r v i c e @ Kolkata/Chandigarh/Srinagar MORE arrests continue in the Delhi car blast case with the National Investigation Agency (NIA) detaining Zanishar Alam, a 2024 MBBS graduate of Al Falah University, from his village in Suryapur market of Dalkhola in West Bengal’s North Dinajpur district on Saturday . The man had returned home on November 12 to attend a wedding before his arrest. NIA officials traced him from Ludhiana, where his father lives. Acting on a tip-off, NIA officials contacted Touhid in Ludhiana and collected details of his son. They came to know about Zanishar’s location from his father and then rushed to Dalkhola, sources added. Al Falah University and its land records are also under scrutiny by revenue officials. Meanwhile, a surgeon from Pathankot linked to Al Falah University and two doctors and fertilizer store owners from Haryana was also detained. Sources said that 45-year-old Dr Rayees Ahmad Bhat, presently associated with White Medical ED chargesheets Sail in `44 cr ore export case BENGALURU: ED has filed a prosecution complaint before the Special Court (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) against Shree Mallikarjun Shipping Pvt Ltd and its MD Satish Krishna Sail, Karwar Congress MLA, under PMLA in connection with `44 crore iron ore export scam  | P7 The trading window of the Indian Premier League has shown signs of maturity as the tournament has evolved over the years. With the window closing on Saturday, most teams seemed to have covered their bases, especially Mumbai Indians, Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru making most of it. Going by the money left in The central figures on the last day of trading were Sanju Samson and Ravindra Jadeja. The wicket-keeper batter was traded with the left-armspinning all-rounder. Samson landed with CSK for a figure of `18 cr while Jadeja left for Rajasthan Royals, surprisingly on a pay cut – `14 crore. For CSK, the Devil’s Doctor d e M in e th Insid of the Urban Terrorist PLUS 12 P AGES Thimmakka laid to rest with full state honours BENGALURU: Padma Shri awardee and environment ambassador Saalumarada Thimmakka was laid to rest with full state honours at Kalagrama on the Jnanabharathi Campus of Bangalore University on Saturday  | P6 Nandini ghee seized E x p r e s s ne w s s e r v i c e @ Belagavi In a shocking and tragic incident, 28 blackbucks, listed as an endangered species, have died over the past three days at the Rani Chennamma Mini Zoo in Bhutaramanahatti, Belagavi. Preliminary findings suggest a bacterial infection as the cause of mass deaths, raising serious concerns over the alleged negligence of zoo’s veterinarians and forest staff. Experts said the toll could have been lower had the infected animals been identified early and immediately isolated from the herd. This inaction is E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bengaluru being viewed as a major lapse by the authorities responsible for their care. The mini-zoo housed 38 blackbucks that were brought to Belagavi from the Gadag zoo four to five years ago. They were four to six years old. Of the dead, 13 were male and the remaining female.  CONTINUED ON P7 Samson to CSK, Jadeja RR dominate buzz; KKR brace for auction the purse, Kolkata Knight Riders, after a poor outing last season, are looking to rebuild the team. CSK too are following a similar script. The two are expected to engage in a fierce battle to secure the choicest of players, especially Australian all-rounder Cam Green. Interestingly, most of the players released by teams will go into the auction pool. KKR are looking for a captain as well. WITH THIS ISSUE Did bacterial infection kill 28 8,136 litre of blackbucks in Belagavi zoo? adulterated express read trading zone E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Chennai College in Pathankot, was detained by NIA and is being questioned after investigators found that he was allegedly in touch with Dr Umar Un Nabi, the Delhi blast kingpin. Sources said Bhat was taken into custody to ascertain whether he was part of the “white-collar” terror module managed by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind. The NMC has cancelled the registrations of the four doctors — Dr Muzaffar Ahmad, Dr Adeel Ahmad Rather, Dr Muzamil Shakeel and Dr Shaheen Saeed with immediate effect — for their alleged involvement in the terror module. move would help consolidate their fanbase and fortify their keeping with icon Mahendra Singh Dhoni, at 44, not growing any younger. CSK’s Sam Curran’s move to RR too was part of deal. CSK have managed to free up some `40 crore after releasing a host of players, including stars like New Zealand’s Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra, Deepak Hooda and Matheesha Pathirana. Similarly, KKR have 13 slots open, including six Purse `64.30cr `43.40cr Remaining KKR CSK overseas. Mohammed Shami was bought in an all-cash deal by Lucknow Super Giants from Sunrisers Hyderabad. Though MI, the five-time champs, have a smaller purse (`2,75cr), they have already got a balanced team after securing Shardul Thakur, Sherfane Rutherford and Mayank Markande. Same is the case with RCB and PBK. Auction will be held at Abu Dhabi on Dec 16. A large network producing adulterated ghee in Tamil Nadu, filling it into fake Nandini-branded sachets and plastic bottles and selling it across Bengaluru has been busted in a joint operation conducted by Central Crime Branch (CCB) sleuths and KMF Vigilance Wing. Four accused, including a KMF distributor, his son and two others, have been arrested. Whopping 8,136 litre of adulterated ghee worth Rs 1.26 crore, four vehicles used to supply the item, machinery to prepare the ghee and large quantities of coconut and palm oil that were used to adulterate the ghee were seized. The accused were producing three litres of adulterated ghee from one litre of original ghee. The ghee was supplied to a dealer in Bengaluru who held official KMF licences. He and his family then distributed the adulterated ghee to various wholesale and retail shops and Nandini parlours across the city, selling it at the actual market price. KMF Managing Director B Shivaswamy said one of the accused is a KMF dealer.  P6