DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2024, LUCKNOW, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES BY UNNY U.S. TARIFF HIKE KICKS IN Electronics to solar equipment to steel, India grapples with China Shock 2.0 Imports from China crossed $100 bn in 2023-24 despite curbs imposed by India RAVI DUTTA MISHRA EXPRESS NETWORK BIBEK DEBROY QUITS AS CHANCELLOR OF GOKHALE INSTITUTE PAGE 9 NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 27 A STEEP HIKE in tariffs including a 100 per cent duty on electric vehicles by the US on imports from China kicked in Friday, as the world’s top economy along with India and a dozen other countries grapple with a rapid influx of goods — dubbed China Shock 2.0 — into global markets. The US tariff hikes also include a 50 per cent duty on solar cells and 25 per cent on steel, aluminum, EV batteries and some minerals. The renewed wave of goods exports by China is not just driven by its ambition to move up the export value chain to high-tech sectors such as solar equipment,electricvehicles,and semiconductors; it now comes amid a demand slump at home, andisintensifyingtradetensions internationally. Indiaandseveralothercountries have moved to impose a freshwaveof anti-subsidymeasures,fearingarepeatof themanufacturing job losses that occurred in the years since China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in the early 2000s. In 2024 alone, India imposed over 30 anti-dumping investigations against China, the most against any country. The products under scrutiny include industrial items such as plastic processing machines, vacuuminsulatedflasks,weldedstainless steel pipes and tubes, soft ferrite cores, and industrial laser machines, among others. Indian businesses seeking multiple extensions of anti-dumping duties have argued that China is not a market economy and is causing harmtoIndianbusinessesbyusing predatory methods to eliminate competition. The question in the 2000s was whether China would become the “next great capitalist tiger” or remain the “world’s last great communist dragon.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E EXPLAINED BUSINESS AS USUAL `6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 Weaning away ● not easy FACING slowdown, Beijing’s exports of excess capacity to the world has led over a dozen countries to impose duties and non-tariff barriers. But given the extent of imports, it will not be easy for India to wean away from China. In the battlegrounds of Haryana, voters say Cong ahead but BJP not out of contest Union Home Minister Amit Shah addresses a public meeting in Rewari on Friday. PTI will not sweep the polls either. “It is not a one-sided election. Of LIZ MATHEW course,theCongresshasanedge, KURUKSHETRA (HARYANA), because there is a general feelSEPTEMBER 27 ing that it is time for a change, AS THE election battle unfolds in there is a desire for change after Haryana, the Congress appears 10 years of BJP rule,” he says. For Jai Kishan Sharma, a to be ahead in the perception battle across the state but peo- young marketing officer for a multinational company ple in the Kurukshetrain the village of Takhana Karnal region insist that in neighbouring Karnal the BJP, facing anti-indistrict, the work done cumbency after being in by the local BJP MLA — power for 10 years, is not yet out of the picture. DECISION making drinking water available and a cleanliIn Kurukshetra town, 2024 ness drive — is what will Sandeep Singla, who HARYANA matter come October 5, runs a hardware shop, admitsitwillnotbeaneasyelec- when all 90 Assembly seats in tion for the BJP even though the state go to polls. Comparing Chief Minister Naveen Jindal, who joined the party before the Lok Sabha polls, Nayab Singh Saini with his predwon the Kurukshetra Lok Sabha ecessor and current Union seat just a few months ago. Cabinet Minister Manohar Lal CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 However, Singla says Congress THE LEBANON BORDER HEATS UP Israeli armour in formation, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, in northern Israel. Reuters NEW DELHI, SHIMLA, SEPTEMBER 27 THE CONGRESS central leadership sought a “written explanation” Friday from Himachal Pradesh minister Vikramaditya Singh over the controversy he triggeredwithhisstatementthat it had been decided every eatery andfoodstallinthestatewillhave to display the owner’s ID card. Himachal Pradesh minister Vikramaditya Singh A furious Congress leadership summoned Singh and told him that his remarks were “unwarranted” and “unacceptable”. Singh, along with his mother and Himachal Pradesh Congress president Pratibha Singh, met Maldives President says acted against his ministers who had criticised Modi SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 27 AS NEW Delhi and Male discuss dates for a possible bilateral visit by Mohamed Muizzu, the Maldives President has condemned the mocking of Prime Minister Narendra Modi by two Maldivianministersandalsodenied pursuing any anti-India agenda. Muizzu’s official visit, which could not take place in September due to a scheduling conflict, is now being planned next month, and, sources said, could take place as early as October second week. However, the two sides are still trying to work out the best mutually convenient available dates. The Maldives President’s softening of public criticism against India is setting the stage for a visit. His comments were made in the US which he is visitingfortheUNGeneralAssembly. In an interaction at the ‘Dean’s Leadership Series’ of Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs, Muizzu came for Modi’s third term inaugural in June Muizzusaiditwaswrongforthe DeputyMinisterstoinsultPrime Minister Narendra Modi. “No one should say such a thing. I took action against it. I will not accept insulting anyone like that, whether he is a leader or an ordinary person. Every human being has a reputation,” he said,asreportedbyMaldivianlocal media outlet Adhadhu. Earlier this year, Deputy Youth Ministers Malsha Shareef andMariyamShiunacalledModi names in social media posts. They were both on suspension with pay following the incident that caused a diplomatic CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Kerala ATM heist, vanishing Creta & a 12-km chase: TN cops crack robbery in 7 hrs Questioned over his faith, Jagan cancels visit to Tirupati, slams Naidu: ‘Don’t people know it?’ SREENIVAS JANYALA & NIKHILA HENRY HYDERABAD, NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 27 YSR CONGRESS Party president and former chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy Friday cancelled his proposed visit to Tirumala after leaders of the ruling Telugu Desam Party and BJP asked him to fill a form declaring his faith before entering the Lord Venkateswara temple. Jagan was supposed to leave Display of eatery owner’s ID: Cong asks Himachal minister to explain MANOJ C G & SAURABH PARASHAR PAGE14 Muizzu set to visit Delhi next month: ‘We never followed India Out policy’ AICC general secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal to explain his side of the story. Sources said Venugopal told Singh, the state PWD and Urban Development Minister, that he has “no right or authority” to go against the party’s “policies, ideology and principles”. He was told that his remarks were “unwarranted and unacceptable”. Sources said Venugopal had summoned Singh to convey the party’s strong displeasure over CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 for Tirumala Friday evening and visit the temple on Saturday. His proposed visit was met with protests by the TDP, Jana Sena Party and BJP, who called for rallies to disrupt his plan. Jaganandhispartyhavebeen in the eye of a storm ever since the TDP led by Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu blamed the YSRCP for adulterated ghee containinganimalfatallegedlymaking it to Tirupati laddus. Addressing reporters, Jagan tried to clear the air on the allegations, reading out several re- THE WORLD YSRCP vs TDP ever since Naidu blamed Jagan party for adulterated laddu ghee ports to clarify that Tirumala TirupatiDevasthanams(TTD)officials had sent back all tankers CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Spike in stubble burning cases in Punjab, Haryana this month: Air monitor SOPHIYA MATHEW NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 27 JAPAN’S RULING PARTY PICKS ISHIBA AS NEW PM ZELENSKYY BY HIS SIDE, TRUMP VOWS TO END UKRAINE WAR PAGE 14 of ghee which failed tests. He also slammed Naidu and the TDP-led NDA government for using religion to settle political scores. “I may read the Bible insidethefourwallsof myhome, but outside, I respect Hinduism, Islam and Sikh religions. Don't people know my religion? As CM, I have presented the sacred clothes to Lord Venkateswara. No one questioned my religion andfaithever.HowdaretheTDP and alliance leaders ask me not to visit the temple?” Jagan said. HEIGHTENINGCONCERNSahead oftheonsetofwinterinDelhi,the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) has informed the Supreme Court that paddy stubble burning cases in Punjab from September 15 to September25was11timesmore thanwhatitwasduringthesame 10-day period last year, and five timesmoreinHaryanaasagainst the corresponding period of the previous year. According to data provided ThursdaybytheCommission–it heldanemergencyreviewmeeting Thursday to take stock of the “alarmingly high incidences” of paddystubbleburninginPunjab andHaryana—atotalof 93cases CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 The gang broke open three SBI ATMs using a gas cutter in Kerala’s Thrissur district early on Friday. PTI ARUN JANARDHANAN THE CHASE A DARING ATM heist, a car that seemed to vanish into thin air, and a 12-km chase that ended in an encounter kept police in two states busy early Friday. Between2.30amand4amon Friday, a gang looted Rs 65 lakh from three State Bank of India ATMsinMapranam,Kolazhy,and ShornurRoadinKerala’sThrissur district,usingagascuttertobreak them open and spray paint to block the cameras. Once alerted, police started tracking CCTV footage to figure outwherethegang’swhiteCreta was heading. The car was visible at several points along the Thrissur-Coimbatorehighway— until it wasn’t. However, something else caughttheattentionof theinves- Truck intercepted at barricade in Komarapalayam, Namakkal (Tamil Nadu) CHENNAI, SEPTEMBER 27 Coimbatore Kerala Thrissur Erode Car and truck spotted on ThrissurCoimbatore highway tigators.Inthefootagewherethe Creta was last seen, a large container truck had appeared out of nowhere. The timing appeared too perfect to be a coincidence. The police began piecing together the most likely theory — that the robbers hid the Creta CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 At Hathras school, a ‘black magic’ workshop & rumours of earlier attempts PAGE 1 ANCHOR NEETIKA JHA HATHRAS, SEPTEMBER 27 A TWO-STOREY building stands in the middle of seemingly endless paddy fields in Rasgawan village of Hathras district. A few metres away from D L Public School — the panchayat’s only English-medium private boarding school that was built in 2020 — stands an old two-room structure. Theoldstructurewasbuiltby Jasodhan Singh, the father of school director Dinesh Baghel, nearly20yearsagoashisalleged “black magic” workshop, police said. And it was his practice of “black magic”, they said, that allegedlycausedthedeathof nineyear-old Kritarth, a hostel student at the school, on the intervening night of September 22 and 23 on campus. Dinesh, Jasodhan and three schoolteacherswerearrestedon September 26 in connection with Kritarth’s murder. Hathras Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Ashok Kumar said, “The accused had planned to sacrifice Kritarth in Jasodhan’s room, but ended up strangling him at the school instead.” Police said Jasodhan used to perform “exorcisms” in that very room till a recent brain haemorrhage rendered his body partially paralysed. ASP Kumar said they “recovered a rope, pictures, a key, a red dupatta covering a brick slab withasmallplatformandmultiple plastic bottles” from Jasodhan’s room. SahpauStationHouseOfficer (SHO) Manish Chikara told The Indian Express that their investigationrevealedclaimsof “black magic rituals” being attempted on two other students in the D L Public School in Rasgawan village, Hathras. Neetika Jha past. “These claims are being verified,” he said. Police said the accused carried out acts of “black magic” to rid their family of problems, including financial woes. In the earlier cases, they said, the childrenescapedaftertheywokeup and started screaming for help. However, Kritarth’s uncle ChandraMohanrejectedthepolice claim on other victims saying that “we would have known about it if it was true”. In Kritarth’s case, police said, Dinesh and a school teacher allegedly strangled the boy to “shut him up”. Kritarth had allegedly started screaming after wakingupoutsidehisdormitory around midnight on September 22. The boy’s body was discovered by the Hathras police in Dinesh’s car in Agra, over 25 km from the school, on September 23. A resident of Rasgawan village, located around 500 metres from the school, said the building was constructed during the lockdown and opened after the pandemic. “It was the best school in Hathras,” he said. Both Jasodhan and his son Dinesh are residents of Rasgawan village, which has a population of 4,000 people. Of 450 houses in the village, nearly 200 houses belong to members of the Jatav community. Rasgawan village Pradhan Munish Devi said the school, which has classes from nursery to Class 8, had 24 hostellers and nearly 500 day scholars. Stating that Dinesh “has a BTech degree from a private college in Roorkee”, Devi said, “He started the school after returning from Malaysia,” she said. When Dinesh’s school openedin2020,Kritarthwasadmitted there as a day scholar at first. “He was a bright boy. Since there are no tuition teachers in our village, we decided to CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Lucknow