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 today in teqball | P11 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM l sunday l september 20, 2026 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l late 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 i pa 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% J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi on imports from the five largest foreign buyers of Russian crude oil and natural gas, putting US President Donald Trump has extended the India and China at direct risk of penalties. measure requiring a $100,000 fee on employers The Act provides for property-blocking sancfor new H-1B visa applications by another year, tions on foreign vessels that knowingly transthe White House said. port certain Russian-origin products, including Trump, who has intensified his imcrude oil, uranium and coal. migration crackdown, has repeatedly The US Senate passed the Bill on Auattacked the H-1B programme and gust 7, while the House of Representapushed to make the $100,000 fee pertives approved it on September 16. The manent, up from the existing $2,000– law will take effect within 30 days. $5,000 range. The move, however, has During this period, the US Trade Repalso been caught in legal tangles. resentative will identify countries to “The restrictions enacted by the be targeted and recommend tariff 2025 Proclamation have proven to be rates. The law provides a chance to highly effective. It is in the interests countries to reduce Russian energy of US to extend the 2025 Proclamation purchases within 180 days and negotifor an additional 12 months, until 12:00 ate with US for a lower tariff. Apart am eastern daylight time on Septemfrom China and India, Turkiye, EU An extension of the ber 21, 2027, ” the proclamation said. and Myanmar are other three top im2025 Proclamation The policy is particularly conseporters of Russian crude. will continue to quential for Indian professionals. The India, which sourced around 30% of protect the economic its crude oil imports from Russia in and national security US Citizenship and Immigration Servinterests of the ices data shows 71% of approved H-1B FY2026 — $40.8 billion out of total United States petitions in fiscal 2024 involved beneficrude imports of $134.7 billion — now ciaries born in India, compared with faces the risk of tariffs of up to 100% Donald Trump 11.7% born in China.The H-1B proon its exports to the US. gramme, created by Congress in 1990, enables India has maintained it will take necessary US employers to temporarily employ foreign measures to protect its economic interests. The professionals in specialised occupations. It is Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had earlier heavily used by technology companies and has said the law could affect bilateral ties and interbecome an important mode for recruiting worknational energy market. ers from India and China. “The Indian side has made clear its determiThe extension comes amid legal challenges. nation to take all necessary measures to protect A federal judge blocked the $100,000 requireits trade and economic interests,” MEA said ment in June 2026 and ruled that the adminisTrade and geopolitical analysts said tration lacked authority to impose the payment, India should negotiate with US to limit the according to Reuters. law’s impact. AI traffic cam project stalls over arrears U n n i k r i s h n a n S @ T’Puram The much-vaunted ‘Safe Kerala’ initiative has hit a wall, with implementing agency Kerala State Electronics Development Corporation (Keltron) suspending its operation of the AI-enabled automated traffic enforcement system over massive dues. Processing of challans for violations detected on AI traffic cameras has been suspended for the last two weeks, pending a decision on the clearing of arrears amounting to `60 crore. The project, ‘Cameras launched on June 5, operational’ 2023, to curb road accidents and minimise According to an MVD official, the physical traffic encameras are still forcement through the use of technology , recording has ground to a halt, violations, and with the state governonce the ment’s service payfinancial and ments to Keltron havadministrative ing ceased over a issues are year and a half ago. resolved, bulk Despite facing simchallans will be ilar bottlenecks eargenerated and lier, officials in the issued know said the company has been stretched to the limit this time, with no recourse to continue operations without clearing dues. The system was controversial right from its inception, with the-then opposition UDF raising serious allegations of corruption and procedural lapses in awarding the contract. Despite the political storm, implemen● More on P4 tation ensued.  ‘System’ is suppressing youth: Rahul Gandhi 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 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.