Asian Games declared open, Indians march on The Indian contingent, led by double Olympic medallist shooter Manu Bhaker (centre right) and Asiad gold medallist Kabaddi player Pawan Sehrawat (centre left), march on during the Opening Ceremony of the 20th Asian Games at Mizoho Sports Park in Nagoya, Japan on Saturday. India’s medal hunt begins on Sunday in teqball | P13 DHARMAPURI l sunday l september 20, 2026 l `12.00 l PAGES 26 l CITY EDITION PIC: PTI 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 Trump signs Russia curbs Act, extends H-1B visa fee Legislation authorises US prez to slap up to 100% tariff on India D ipa k M o n d a l @ New Delhi WITH THIS ISSUE Essay The Republic of the Plate PLUS 12 P AGES US visa fee extension faces legal wrangles US President Donald Trump late Friday (US time) signed the controversial ‘Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026’, authorising US to impose tariffs of up to 100% on imports from the five largest foreign buyers J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi of Russian crude oil and natural gas, putting India and China at direct risk of penalties. US President Donald Trump has extended the The Act provides for property-blocking sancmeasure requiring a $100,000 fee on employers tions on foreign vessels that knowingly transfor new H-1B visa applications by another year, port certain Russian-origin products, including the White House said. crude oil, uranium and coal. Trump, who has intensified his imThe US Senate passed the Bill on Aumigration crackdown, has repeatedly gust 7, while the House of Representaattacked the H-1B programme and tives approved it on September 16. The pushed to make the $100,000 fee perlaw will take effect within 30 days. manent, up from the existing $2,000– During this period, the US Trade Rep$5,000 range. The move, however, has resentative will identify countries to also been caught in legal tangles. be targeted and recommend tariff “The restrictions enacted by the rates. The law provides a chance to 2025 Proclamation have proven to be countries to reduce Russian energy highly effective. It is in the interests purchases within 180 days and negotiof US to extend the 2025 Proclamation ate with US for a lower tariff. Apart for an additional 12 months, until 12:00 from China and India, Turkiye, EU am eastern daylight time on SeptemAn extension of the and Myanmar are other three top imber 21, 2027, ” the proclamation said. 2025 Proclamation porters of Russian crude. The policy is particularly consewill continue to India, which sourced around 30% of quential for Indian professionals. The protect the economic its crude oil imports from Russia in and national security US Citizenship and Immigration Servinterests of the FY2026 — $40.8 billion out of total ices data shows 71% of approved H-1B United States crude imports of $134.7 billion — now petitions in fiscal 2024 involved benefifaces the risk of tariffs of up to 100% ciaries born in India, compared with Donald Trump on its exports to the US. 11.7% born in China.The H-1B proIndia has maintained it will take necessary gramme, created by Congress in 1990, enables measures to protect its economic interests. The US employers to temporarily employ foreign Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had earlier professionals in specialised occupations. It is said the law could affect bilateral ties and interheavily used by technology companies and has national energy market. become an important mode for recruiting work“The Indian side has made clear its determiers from India and China. nation to take all necessary measures to protect The extension comes amid legal challenges. its trade and economic interests,” MEA said A federal judge blocked the $100,000 requireTrade and geopolitical analysts said ment in June 2026 and ruled that the adminisIndia should negotiate with US to limit the tration lacked authority to impose the payment, law’s impact. according to Reuters. ‘System’ is suppressing youth: Rahul P r e e t h a n a i r @ Indore Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said the ‘system’ is suppressing students and does not want them to raise questions about unemployment and examination irregularities. Addressing a huge gathering of students at the ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ event in Indore, Rahul said the very institutions created to support students and protect universities and colleges are now working against them. “The system has captured the entire country It does not want students . to raise questions,” he said. “Students are asking questions about the system, including about certain industrialists, but the Andhbhakts oppose them. Only students can wipe out violence and hatred from the country, not Andhbhakts.” He said nearly 10 lakh teaching posts were vacant across the country and this reflected the government’s failure to protect the future of the youth. “The students are the foundation of the country. Students make the country And as I said earlier, edu. cation is not a luxury. Education is not a favour. Education is the right of every student in India,” he said. He charged that the system does not want the judiciary, the bureaucracy, the Election Commission and other institutions to function independently. He claimed that the six people who run the system are Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, and industrialists Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani. `50-cr temple land fraud DMK functionary, five others booked in Tiruchy E x p r e s s n e w s s e r v ic e @ Tiruchy The Tiruchy City Crime Branch police have registered a case against a DMK functionary and five others over the alleged illegal sale of 7,515 sq ft of Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple land in Srirangam, valued at `50 crore, using fraudulent documents. The FIR was registered on September 13 under Sections 420, 465, 467, 468, 471 and 120(B) of the IPC, relating to cheating, forgery, use of forged documents and criminal conspiracy The suspects are Sr. irangam DMK area secretary M Ramkumar, Vijaya Krishnasamy of Bengaluru, Padma Rengarajan and R Soundararajan of Chennai, R Venkata Varadhan, and the then Srirangam subregistrar. Speaking to reporters in Tiruchy on Saturday HR&CE , Minister S Ramesh on Saturday accused the DMK of “scientific corruption” in the land deal.  P7 INSIDE fishers CM’s priority, not secretariat: min | p4