TADEPALLIGUDEM  SUNDAY  APRIL 05, 2026  `12.00  PAGES 24  CITY EDITION PHARMA EXPORTS AT $28 BN TILL FEB, MAY SEE GROWTH IN RUPEE TERMS India’s pharma exports stood at over $28 billion up to February in the last financial year, recording a growth of nearly 6%, a top official said FORMULATIONS, BIOLOGICALS DRIVE GROWTH Despite global challenges, pharmaceutical exports have been among the few sectors to maintain growth momentum, K Raja Bhanu, Director General of the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil), said. The 5.9% year-on-year export growth was led by formulations, biologicals, vaccines and AYUSH products, he added ■ 34% TARIFFS LED TO HIGHER PROCUREMENT IN U.S. ■ Rajesh Agrawal, Secretary in the Department of Commerce, noted that exports would show growth in rupee terms as the Indian currency continues to weaken against the US dollar Tariff-related issues in 2025 led to higher medicine procurement worth $1.6 bn in the US, Pharmexcil Chairman Namit Joshi said OF INDIA’S PHARMACEUTICAL EXPORTS ARE DIRECTED TOWARDS THE U.S. 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 Delay in Amaravati works annoys Naidu An apartment building struck by an Iranian missile in Petah Tikva, Israel on Saturday | AP Tussle: Venu Srinivasan quits Hirabai Tata Trust B E N N K O C H U V E E D A N @ Mumbai POWER struggle within the Tata Trusts appears to have intensified with its seniormost vice-chairman Venu Srinivasan resigning from the Hirabai Tata Trust. His resignation came hours after former trustee Mehli Mistry moved the Charity Commissioner, seeking the ouster of Srinivasan and another vicechairman, Vijay Singh, from the Bai Hirabai Tata Navsari Charitable Institution on the grounds that they are nonParsis. While Mistry’s petition pertains to this relatively lesser-known trust, its implications could extend to over a dozen entities within the Tata Trusts ecosystem. In his petition, Mistry also challenged his own ouster from the trusts last October, arguing that the votes cast by Srinivasan and Singh — who he claims were ineligible — should be deemed invalid. Mistry had earlier challenged his removal before the Charity Commissioner in November but withdrew the plea within a week and resigned. Srinivasan, chairman emeritus of TVS Motor, reportedly quit the trust on Saturday citing “preoccupa, tion with other business commitments.” WITH THIS ISSUE All in Good Time PLUS 12 P AGES EXPRESS READ NAVAL PROJECT Stone laid for Large Cavitation Tunnel at NSTL Visakhapatnam: Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh laid the foundation stone for a Large Cavitation Tunnel (LCT) at the Naval Science & Technological Laboratory (NSTL) in Visakhapatnam on Friday. The proposed facility is aimed at strengthening India’s indigenous capabilities in naval research, particularly in the design, development and testing of ships, submarines and underwater systems | P3 Both Iran and US hunt for the missing F-15E crew; 1 more jet, 2 choppers hit Amid search for US airman, Don issues Iran 48-hr ultimatum A G E N C I E S @ Washington/Dubai US President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened that hell would “reign down” on Iran if it didn’t open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours. “Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “Time is running out—48 hours before all Hell will reign (sic) down on them,” the president said, referring to an ultimatum issued on March 26. Trump’s latest threat came as the US continued its search for a missing crew member of a US F15E fighter jet downed by Iran. It was the first a US aircraft is shot down by enemy fire in over 20 years. Reports said armed Iranians have joined the hunt after the state media announced a “precious prize” for those finding the US airman. If Iran manages to capture the crew member, it would give Tehran more leverage in potential peace talks with the US. Confirming that Iran shot down the US warplane, Trump said it won’t affect peace talks. “No, not at all. No, it’s war. We’re in war,” he said. Another US aircraft and two helicopters were hit by Iran while conducting a search for the downed F-15E’s airman. A-10 Warthog—a type of air- US-Israeli strikes hit 30 universities US-Israeli strikes have hit more than 30 universities across Iran since the war broke out in late February, Iran’s science minister said on Saturday. “To date, more than 30 universities have been directly targeted,” Hossein Simai Sarraf told reporters during a visit to the Shahid Beheshti University in northern Tehran, which was struck on Friday DAY 36 1 Several loud explosions were heard over Jerusalem on Saturday after Israeli military warned of missiles inbound 2 Iran’s atomic agency says an airstrike has hit near its Bushehr nuclear facility, killing a guard and damaging a building craft designed for providing close air support—was downed near the Strait of Hormuz on Friday. Reuters reported that the aircraft crashed in Kuwait. As per reports, the pilot ejected and is safe. Two Black Hawk helicopters were also hit. The choppers managed to exit Iranian airspace after being hit. These incidents come days after Trump declared that Iran has no functional air defences left after intense US-Israel attacks. Mohammad Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, mocked the Trump administration, saying the “war they started has now been downg raded from re gime change to Hey! Can anyone find our pilots?” As of Friday, 247 of the wounded were US Army soldiers, 63 were Navy sailors, 19 were Marines and 36 were Air Force airmen, data released by the Pentagon shows. Meanwhile, Pakistan rejected reports that its initiative to facilitate talks to end the conflict. `57.8K cr works in progress Officials informed the Chief Minister that capital development works worth `57,821 crore are currently underway and works worth `50,943 crore were already grounded. Naidu said development works worth `941 crore should be completed within a week The capital construction should be completed within set timeframe and there should be no compromise in this regard Chandrababu Naidu, CM ENTRY OF WOMEN 9-judge bench to hear Sabari review on Tues S V I S W A N AT H @ Vijayawada S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y CHIEF Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has made it clear that delay in execution of Capital Amaravati works will not be tolerated, and contracting agencies should strictly abide by project deadlines. Holding a high-level meeting with various contracting agencies involved in the capital construction project and officials at his Camp Office in Undavalli on Saturday the Chief Minister , expressed his displeasure over slow pace of work progress. He directed officials to constantly monitor the progress of works and ensure their timely completion. The officials informed the Chief Minister that capital development works worth `57,821 crore are currently underway and works worth `50,943 crore were already grounded. The review covered work progress in housing, roads, trunk infrastructure, LPS amenities and iconic structures such as the Assembly, High Court and Secretariat buildings. At present, around 20,000 workers and experts are engaged in capital construction works. The Chief Minister re- A nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court will start hearing a batch of petitions seeking review of its Sabarimala case verdict on discrimination against women, from April 7 (Tuesday), two days before Kerala goes to polls. The review pleas challenge the 2018 verdict, which held that the traditional ban on women aged 10–50 years to enter the Sabarimala was unconstitutional. The new bench comprises Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices B V Nagarathna, M M Sundresh, Ahsanuddin Amanullah, Aravind Kumar, Augustine George Masih, Prasanna B Varale, R Mahadevan and Joymalya Bagchi. The court in its last hearing on February 16 had indicated the timeline for the hearing. “The nine judge bench shall begin hearing the review case on April 7, 2026 at 10.30 am. The review petitioners shall be heard from April 7 to 9, 2026. The parties opposing the review will be heard from April 16-17, 2026. Rejoinder submissions will be heard on April 21,” a threejudge bench headed by the CJI had said on February 16. @ New Delhi viewed the performance of each contractor, assessing progress against the set target. He expressed his dissatisfaction over delay in execution of works by some agencies. Contractors highlighted manpower shortage due to ongoing Assembly elections in five States. The Chief Minister advised them to utilise locally available skilled manpower to the maximum extent to overcome the shortage. Making it clear that the capital construction should be completed within the set timeframe and there should be no compromise in this regard, Naidu underscored the need for deployment of additional manpower P4 to speed up works.