tirunelveli l Thursday l may 14, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Trump begins closely-watched three-day state visit to China US President Donald Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are expected to discuss US-China trade tensions and the war with Iran Will hold talks with xi jinping today The trade war between the two countries will be on top of the agenda. Trump will have a bilateral meeting with Xi on Thursday. The two will meet again on Friday for a bilateral tea and working lunch. They are set to discuss extending the one-year tariff truce that they agreed in October. China’s controls on rare earth exports are also likely to be on the menu ■ 2017 Musk, Cook among U.S. CEOs on the trip ■ Trump is accompanied by several top US CEOs including Tesla chief Elon Musk, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Nvidia boss Jensen Huang Chinese Vice President Han Zheng welcomed Trump at the airport. The road from the airport was decorated with US and Chinese flags and Beijing skyscrapers lit up with messages welcoming Trump was when President trump last visited china 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 PM’s high-stakes stopover in Abu Dhabi for talks with UAE prez to focus on energy security UAE pacts on strategic oil reserve, LNG likely J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi Energy security will emerge as the centrepiece of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s high-stakes stopover in Abu Dhabi on May 15 for talks with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, amid escalating tensions in West Asia and shifting global oil equations. During the three-hour visit to the UAE, en route to his fournation Europe tour covering the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Italy, India and the UAE are expected to sign two key memoranda of understanding on Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) supplies and strategic petroleum reserves, further deepening a partnership critical to India’s energy needs, sources familiar with the development said. The visit comes at a time of heightened volatility in global energy markets and renewed focus on supply diversification. Sources said the proposed agreements are aimed at strengthening long-term energy stability for India while expanding the UAE’s role as one of New Delhi’s most trusted energy partners. The UAE currently meets nearly 40% of India’s LPG requirements, making it the country’s largest supplier. It was also India’s fourth-largest source of crude oil last year, accounting for nearly 11% of total imports, while ranking as the third-largest supplier of LNG. Indian companies and ADNOC Gas have signed longterm agreements for cumulative LNG supplies of 4.5 MMTPA, making India the largest buyer of UAE-origin LNG. The two sides are also expected to review cooperation on India’s strategic petroleum reserves. In 2018, the Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd (ISPRL) and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) signed an agreement allowing the UAE to store more than five million barrels of crude oil at the Mangaluru reserve facility , the first such arrangement with any country . Energy ties have evolved into a broader strategic partnership involving upstream investments and clean energy collaboration. In 2018, a consortium of Indian firms, OVL, BPRL and IOCL acquired 10% stake in Abu Dhabi’s Lower Zakum offshore block. A year later, Urja Bharat Pvt Ltd, a joint venture between BPRL and IOCL, secured a stake in Abu Dhabi Onshore Block-1. In January this year, BPRL confirmed an oil discovery in the block, marking one of India’s first successful upstream investments in the West Asia region. Both sides are also enhancing renewable energy ties. UAE’s Masdar signed an agreement with the Rajasthan government in 2024 to develop 60 GW of renewable energy capacity . 12.88% 15% 10% Nod to `38K cr scheme on coal gasification To enhance energy security and reduce dependence on imports, the Union Cabinet approved a `37,500-crore incentive scheme to promote new surface coal/lignite gasification projects. The target is gasification of 75 million tonnes of coal/lignite. The incentive would be disbursed in four equal instalments, linked to project milestones | P10 10.75% 8% 6% 4% Spend wisely, Modi urges colleagues Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday urged his Cabinet colleagues to consciously cut down unnecessary expenditure, including on petrol, in the wake of the West Asia crisis. He also urged them to cut their convoy size and foreign visits. Sources said the PM’s appeal was not about spending less but spending more wisely 15% 2% Gold import duty over the years 6% JAN MAR JAN JUNE AUG JULY FEB JULY JULY MAY 2012 2012 2013 2013 2013 2019 2021 2022 2024 2026 P u s h p i ta D e y @ New Delhi Two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal to reduce the purchase of gold, the government on Wednesday increased the import duty on gold and silver from 6% to 15% to curb demand and ease foreign exchange pressures. Likewise, the import duty on platinum has been increased from 6.4% to 15.4%. This newspaper had previously reported that the government was considering various measures, including import restrictions on precious metals. As a large importer of crude oil, India remains vulnerable to elevated energy prices and supply-side disruptions. This could increase the import bill and exert pressure on inflation and the current account deficit. According to officials, the government aims to prioritise essential imports such as crude oil, fertilisers, industrial raw materials, defence requirements, critical technologies and capital goods. “The increase in customs duty on precious metals is intended to moderate avoidable import demand and ease pressure on the external account. The measure is neither prohibitory nor anti-consumer in nature,” said a source in the ministry of finance. Following the hike in levy, gold prices surged by `8,550 to slightly over `1.65 lakh per 10 grams in the local market. P r e e t h a n a i r @ New Delhi Students celebrate at St Thomas’ Girls Senior Secondary School, New Delhi after the CBSE Class 12 results were declared on Wednesday | Parveen Negi express read Notice to delete X posts critical of TVK stayed CM: Cancellation reveals structural flaws in NEET Chennai: The Madras HC on Wednesday temporarily stayed the notice of Tamil Nadu police to take down 18 posts on X and block certain accounts which are critical of the TVK. The interim injunction was granted on a plea filed by P Chokkalingam, a leader of Vishwa Hindu Parishad | P2 Chennai: One day after the NEETUG examination was cancelled over concerns of a question paper leak, CM Vijay on Wednesday said the cancellation has once again exposed the “structural flaws” in the exam and called for abolition of NEET-based admissions for medical courses | P2 EPS asks speaker to disqualify 25 AIADMK MLAs who backed Vijay, defying whip T M u r u g a n a n d h a m @ Chennai Gold, silver import duty hiked to 15% Kerala CM call at meeting of legislature party today Time to celebrate TVK govt clears floor test with 144 MLAs in tow ENDING days of suspense and an intense inter nal power struggle, the Congress is set to announce its Kerala Chief Ministerial pick on Thursday at a legislature party meeting at the KPCC headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram. The meeting, scheduled at 1 pm, will be attended by AICC state in-charge Deepa Das Munshi, along with observers Ajay Maken, Mukul Wasnik and others. The day witnessed dramatic twists and turns as the announcement of the CM candidate was widely anticipated following a crucial meeting between Rahul Gandhi and Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge at the latter’s residence. However, after the meeting, which lasted over 40 minutes, party general secretary Jairam Ramesh told the media that the decision will be announced on Thursday . “As authorised by the members of the CLP in Kerala, the high command of the Congress has completed all discussions, and the decision on who the next chief minister of Kerala will be will be announced tomorrow,” Ramesh said. The decision came after a nine-day deadlock involving a fierce three-way contest among senior leaders Ramesh Chennithala, V D Satheesan, and AICC General Secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal. While Venugopal, considered a close confidant of Rahul, enjoyed the support of a majority of the MLAs and MPs, Satheesan had the backing of influential UDF allies, including the IUML. Although Venugopal was the front-runner, sources said the Satheesan camp gained an edge in the final round of consultations. Senior leaders such as A K Antony, V M Sudheeran, and K Muraleedharan urged the leadership to take public sentiment into account, which favoured Satheesan. It was learnt that Priyanka Gandhi also urged Rahul to take the prevailing political atmosphere into account. EPS divests posts of MLAs supporting TVK Shortly after the vote, Palaniswami divested all 25 AIADMK MLAs who voted in favour of TVK, of their party posts and appointed new office-bearers. He accused the TVK of horse-trading to secure majority | P4 If the AIADMK gen secy requests the speaker to disqualify the 25 MLAs who voted for TVK, it is a valid request as per the law. However, he can take time to consider the request M Appavu, ex-speaker TVK does not have genuine mandate: LoP Winding up the discussion on trust vote, opposition leader Udhayanidhi Stalin said the TVK government lacks a genuine mandate, claiming only 1.72 crore of the 4.93 crore voters in TN supported it | P4 The government, headed by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay, secured the support of 144 MLAs and sailed through the confidence vote on Wednesday While 25 AI. ADMK MLAs of the group led by former ministers C Ve Shanmugam and S P Velumani voted in favour of the TVK government, 22 MLAs backing AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palanisami voted against the motion. The 59 MLAs of the DMK and DMDK MLA Premallatha Vijayakant abstained from voting by staging a walkout. Four MLAs of the PMK and one MLA of the BJP remained neutral. Within hours of the vote, Palaniswami, through party advocates wing secretary I S Inbadurai and senior leader Thalavai N Sundaram, wrote to Speaker J C D Prabhakar to disqualify the 25 MLAs for acting against the directive given by the AIADMK Whip Agri S S Krishnamurthy by supporting the TVK government. Inbadurai told TNIE that the speaker has to take action on this representation within 90 days. Also, Palaniswami divested all 25 MLAs of their party posts and appointed new officebearers in their place. While MLAs of the Congress, VCK, Left parties and IUML, voted in favour of the Vijay-led government, other allies of the DMK — including the DMDK and KMDK — criticised the government and opposed the confidence vote. Leader of Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin strongly criticised the four-day-old Vijay government, stating that the party’s alleged decision to join hands with the AIADMK breakaway faction contradicted his claims of offering ‘clean governance’. Premallatha, Palaniswami and Udhayanidhi all referred to allegations of the TVK indulging in horse-trading to secure a majority for the government. Velumani was also allowed to speak by the speaker despite opposition from the Palaniswami faction.  P5 Single vote row: Top court stays HC order, calls it ‘atrocious’ SUCHITRA K ALYAN M OHANTY @ New Delhi In a major relief to Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) MLA R Sreenivasa Sethupathi, the Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the Madras High Court order restraining him from participating in the floor test in the Tamil Nadu Assembly The . HC had issued the order while hearing a petition filed by senior DMK leader K R Periakaruppan, who had lost to Sethupathi in the recently-concluded election by a margin of one vote. “This is atrocious to say the least. The HC says the remedy is an election petition but still entertains the Article 226 petition,” a bench of justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and Vijay Bishnoi observed after hearing Sethupathi’s plea. It is to be noted that Article 226 of the Constitution deals with power of HCs to issue certain writs. During the hearing on Wednesday, senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi appeared for the petitioner and argued that Periakaruppan’s writ petition was filed on Saturday and heard on Sunday by the high court.  P5 Three Kuki church leaders killed in suspected militant attack in Manipur P r a s a n ta M a z u m d a r @ Guwahati Three Kuki Baptist church leaders were killed and four others injured in an ambush by suspected militants in Manipur’s Kuki-dominated Kangpokpi district on Wednesday . Members of the Thadou Baptist Association India (TBAI) and the United Baptist Council were travelling from Churachandpur to Kangpokpi for an inter-association ecclesiastical meeting when they came under attack. TBAI president Rev Dr Vumthang Sitlhou, finance secretary Rev Kaigoulun Lhouvum, and Pastor Paogoulen (From left) Rev Dr Vumthang Sitlhouh, Rev Kaigoulun Lhouvum and Pastor Paogoulen Sitlhou Sitlhou were shot dead. Rev Sitlhou was leading the team. Thadou organisations announced a “total shutdown” of Sadar Hills in the district in response to the attack. Manipur Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh condemned the “dastardly terror act”. Along with Deputy Chief Minister Losii Dikho and Home Manipur Chief Minister Y Khemchand Singh called the violence deeply troubling. “Actions that undermine this collective effort of our people to restore normalcy are unacceptable,” he said Minister Govindas Konthoujam, he visited the injured, who are undergoing treatment at a hospital in Imphal. The Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust (KOHUR) pointed fingers at the IsakMuivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim and insurgent group Zeliangrong United Front. BJP leader among 5 arrested in NEET paper leak CBI chief Cop among 6 dead in car-truck rajesh asnani & sudhir s u r ya w a n s h i @ Jaipur/Mumbai THE CBI on Wednesday arrested five persons and conducted searches at multiple locations across the country in the NEET UG paper leak case as protests over the cancellation of the examination intensified amid demands for Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation. An active BJP leader in Rajasthan was arrested in connection with the NEET paper leak. Investigators said BJP leader Dinesh Binwal and his brother Vested interests must be reined in: NTA The Director General of the National Testing Agency (NTA) Abhishek Singh, said there are vested interests who are trying to sabotage the system in place for the NEET-Under Graduate examinations and they must be thwarted. Mangilal, residents of Jamwa Ramgarh in Jaipur, purchased the paper between April 26 and 27 for nearly `30 lakh. Investigators claimed that Dinesh provided the paper to his son, who was preparing for NEET in Sikar, before distributing it to several candidates on April 29. Both Binwal and his brother had travelled to Sikar for the operation, police believe. Dinesh allegedly sold the leaked paper to several individuals in Sikar, including hostel operators and consultancy firms. Police also arrested one Rakesh Mandavriya, who ran a consultancy office opposite a coaching centre in Sikar. He had received the guess paper several days before the examination through Dinesh Binwal, and had circulated it. The CBI arrested Dinesh Binwal, Mangilal Binwal and Vikas Binwal from Jaipur, Yash Yadav from Gurugram and Shubham Khair nar from Nashik on Wednesday . In Pune, police arrested a beauty parlour owner, Manish Waghmare, who is alleged to have helped students get the NEET-UGC exam papers ahead of the final exam. This is the second arrest in Maharashtra after the first arrest in Nashik.  P8 Praveen Sood gets one-year extension The Centre on Wednesday extended CBI chief Praveen Sood’s tenure by one more year. Sood took over as the CBI director on May 25, 2023. This is his second extension in office. The decision was taken following a meeting of the selection committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and comprising CJI Surya Kant and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday. Rahul had given a strong dissent note saying he does not want to be part of a “biased exercise” | P7 collision on Kovai-Tiruchy NH P SRINIVASAN @ Tiruppur Six people were killed on Wednesday after an SUV drove into a policeman and truck driver before crashing into a parked truck on the Coimbatore-Tiruchy National Highway near Vellakovil in Tiruppur district. The deceased were identified as: P Ravichandran (36), of Kamarajapuram in Dharapuram, a second-grade police constable attached to Vellakovil station; R Senthil (48), truck driver, of Panruti in Cuddalore; R Ram (22), taxi driver, of Alangulam in Virudhunagar; R Narasimhan (65), a cook, of Ottrai Theru in Mayiladuthurai, his wife Santhalakshmi (62) and their son Balaji (29). Balaji lived with his wife in Pappanaickenpalayam in Coimbatore where he was a priest at a Srinivasa Perumal Temple. On Tuesday night, Balaji and his parents left from Mayiladuthurai to Coimbatore in a hired SUV driven by Ram.  P5