April core sector growth at 1.7% BELAGAVI l Thursday l may 21, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l LATE CITY EDITION India, Italy form strategic partnership Trade target set at 20bn euors by ’29 J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi The India-Italy Joint Strategic Action Plan 202529 provides a practical and futuristic framework for our partnership. Bilateral trade is rapidly moving towards the target of 20 billion euros Prime Minister Narendra Modi This visit of yours is an honour for us... It is not going to be the last one in this long book that you are writing together with resolution, doing our work in the best possible way Italian PM Giorgia Meloni Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a meeting with his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni, in Rome, Italy on Wednesday | PTI india and Italy elevated their bilateral relationship to a ‘special strategic partnership’, deepening cooperation across trade, defence, technology connectivity and mar, itime security as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held extensive talks with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome. The announcement came during Modi’s visit to Italy on the final leg of his five-nation tour and reflects growing convergence between New Delhi and Rome amid shifting geopolitical alignments, supply-chain disruptions and intensifying competition over technology and critical resources. The two countries also unveiled an ambitious target of raising bilateral trade from 14.25 billion euros in 2025 to 20 billion euros by 2029. “We deliberated extensively on enhancing India-Italy ties,” Modi said in a joint press statement after the talks, and added that the India-Italy Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025-2029 would provide a “practical and futuristic roadmap” for cooperation across sectors. Modi was accorded a ceremonial military welcome on arrival, while Meloni hosted him for dinner and accompanied him on a visit to the Colosseum ahead of the formal talks. The two leaders have steadily built close political engagement in recent years, with Meloni saying she had met Modi seven times over the last few years and developed “a genuine friendship”. Several MoUs were signed covering agriculture, critical minerals, Ayurveda, science and technology, maritime transport and ports. A key agreement on facilitating the mobility of Indian nurses to Italy is expected to create new opportunities for skilled healthcare workers. Both sides welcomed the India-Italy Defence Industrial Roadmap aimed at promoting co-development and coproduction in areas including helicopters, naval platforms, marine armaments and electronic warfare. Block fake NEET info, social media firms told S L alitha @ New Delhi Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday directed social media platforms to detect and block misinformation networks ahead of the NEET-UG re-exam. Investigations into the cancelled medical entrance exam on May 3 revealed that the question paper was sold by unscrupulous individuals using such platforms to lure candidates. For the second consecutive day, Pradhan chaired a high-level review B’luru civic polls: SC grants time till Aug 31 S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Wednesday extended the deadline for conducting the long-pending elections to the five city corporations under Greater Bengaluru Authority to August 31. A three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, passed the order on Wednesday and granted time till August 31, clarifying that no further extension would be allowed. The top court passed the order after senior advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the Karnataka government, cited a shortage of manpower due to census operations and the forthcoming special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state to conduct the elections. express read Notification in 3 days for Bidadi project Bengaluru: The Karnataka government is set to issue a notification on land acquisition for the Bidadi township project in three days. Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said most farmers have given their nod and sought compensation at the earliest. meet in connection with the re-exam on June 21. On Wednesday he inter, acted with Central security and intelligence agencies as well as representatives of major social media platforms — Meta, Google & Telegram, a release said. “Serious concerns were raised by officials during the meet over the growing spread of misinformation related to competitive examinations, particularly through Telegram channels and anonymous online groups,” it said. Officials also noted that many such channels become highly active in the run-up to major examinations, circulating fake paper leak claims, clickbait content and unverified information that trigger panic, anxiety and confusion among students and parents. “Many such links redirect users to automated bots and fake groups designed to amplify misinformation,” they added. The ministry said intelligence inputs revealed that multiple suspicious channels were being operated through a limited set of phone numbers. Production growth in eight core infrastructure sectors rose to a two-month high of 1.7% in April, driven by higher output of steel, cement. Coal, crude oil, natural gas and fertiliser recorded negative growth during the month 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 ■ ■