eye THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE The Summer Lookbook KOLKATA,LATECITY APRIL6,2025 Designers are reinforcing ideas of versatility and fluidity this season 14+4PAGES,`7.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES, ` 20 IN ANDAMAN) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA 10% BASELINE TARIFFS KICK IN Govt view on tariffs: No instant reaction, patience key as we negotiate trade deal Advantage India over rival nations in manufacturing, says top govt official RAVI DUTTA MISHRA NEW DELHI, APRIL 5 AS THE 10 per cent ‘baseline’ US reciprocal tariffs took effect Saturday, a top government official said India holds a comparativeedgeoverothermanufacturing competitors, and also benefits from a first-mover advantage having initiated trade negotiationswiththeUSearlyon. Theofficialsaidthatoveralldemand in the US may be affected bythenewtariffs,butsaidIndia’s low manufacturing costs and lowercommoditypricescurrently work in the country’s favour. While the 10 per cent baselinetariff tookeffectSaturday,individual tariffs on other countries,includingIndia,aresettobe effective from April 9. US President Donald Trump announceda26percentreciprocal tariff on India, but higher tariffs onChina,Vietnam,Thailand,and Indonesia — key hubs of manufacturingactivityinAsia,triggering fears of dumping in India. Addressing concerns about dumpingduetoaglutinChinese exports and the potential diversionof ChineseproductstoIndia, the official said India is closely monitoringthesituationandwill act“withinthelegalframework” to protect its domestic industry. The Indian Express had reportedSaturdaythatahigh-level meeting had taken place at the Commerce and Industry Ministry to assess the situation with fears of a potential surge in imports in the backdrop of the reciprocal tariffs. “Necessary Calls for sweeping reforms: ‘Life lessons’ to more empathetic leaders; easing first-year academic pressure NEW DELHI, APRIL 5 FROMPOST-COACHINGburnout to a grading system that reinforces “toxic competitiveness”, relentless academic demands and a culture marked by caste and gender-based discrimination: these are among key triggers flagged by a committee set up by IIT Delhi last year to “study the institutional processes and environment” in the context of student suicides, The Sunday Express has learnt. To alleviate student distress, the 12-member committee has recommended sweeping structural campus reforms that include: a clear anti-discrimination policy; rethinking CGPA (or Cumulative Grade Point Average)asthesolesuccessmetric; choosing more empathetic E EXPLAINED VIDHEESHA KUNTAMALLA ISLAND NATION’S HIGHEST CIVILIAN AWARD FOR PM Won’t allow use of Lanka soil to target India: Dissanayake to PM Pactssignedondefence,power,health; specialaidpackageforeasternLanka SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, APRIL 5 AS COLOMBO and Delhi signed pacts on defence cooperation, power,health,digitaltechnology and a special assistance package for the island nation’s eastern provinces, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who held bilateral talks Saturday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said the Sri Lankan government will not permit its territory to be used in any manner inimical to thesecurityof Indiaandregional stability. DissanayakehonouredModi, who headed to Colombo from Bangkok after the BIMSTEC Summit, with the Mitra Vibhushana, Sri Lanka’s highest civilian award to a foreign head of state. “I reaffirmed Sri Lanka'’s stand that it will not permit its territory to be used in any manner inimical to the security of India as well as towards regional stability.” Modi said, “We believe that we have shared security interests. The security of both countriesisinterconnectedandcodependent. I am grateful to President Dissanayaka for his sensitivity towards India’s interests.Wewelcometheimportant agreements made in the area of defence cooperation. We have also agreed to work together on the Colombo Security Conclave and security cooperation in the Indian Ocean.” Regarding the ethnic Tamil minorities, Modi said, “We also discussed ‘reconstruction and reconciliation’ in Sri Lanka. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Most hate speeches we come across are against minorities, oppressed classes: SC judge Oka ● Echo in SC task force THE FINDINGS of the IIT Delhi panel gain significance in light of the SC directive on March 24 to set up a National Task Force to examine rising student suicides in higher education. The order came in response to an appeal by the parents of two deceased IIT Delhi students against a January 2024 Delhi HC ruling that declined to direct the police to register an FIR. campus leaders; strengthening faculty-student ties; mandatory civiclearningtoreducebias;and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 INSIDE Prime Minister Narendra Modi is conferred with the 'Mithra Vibhushana' award by Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in Colombo on Saturday. PTI Manipur groups sit across table with Centre, ‘draft’ pact circulated SUKRITA BARUAH GUWAHATI, APRIL 5 RAM NAVAMI TODAY; 29 IPS OFFICERS DEPLOYED IN SENSITIVE AREAS: BENGAL POLICE MIGRATION, DRUGS LEADING TO FEWER SIKH REGIMENT RECRUITS: MANN GIPE PAGES 4, 7 WEEKS AFTER President’s rule was imposed in Manipur, the Centre Saturday held a meeting in New Delhi with representatives of Meitei and Kuki-Zo organisations to find a way forwardinthestateroiledbyethnic violence that began almost two years ago. Delegates who met officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs said the meeting concluded without a resolution. Representatives from two valley-based civil society organ- The state has been roiled by violence since May 2023. isations (CSOs), All Manipur United Clubs’ Organisation (AMUCO) and the Federation of Civil Society Organisations (FOCS),anddelegatesfromKukiZo organisations, the Kuki-Zo Council and the Zomi Council, attendedthemeetingwhichwas led by A K Mishra, MHA’s advisor on North East affairs. This is the first time that organisations from both sides of the current ethnic divide have formally held a dialogue since the start of the ongoing conflict in May 2023. Last October, the MHA had convened a meeting of a set of Meitei, Kuki-Zo and Naga MLAs from the state but the Kuki-Zo MLAssaidthattheydidnotmeet the MLAs of the other communities and only met the MHA officials separately. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 AI in the sky: Police set to deploy facial recognition tech across Delhi from June UPASIKA SINGHAL NEW DELHI, APRIL 5 THE DELHI Police is set to significantly expand its use of facial recognition — from localised experiments to full-scale, centralised operations — as part of a major shift towards AI-powered surveillance. Police have major ambitions from this citywide surveillance ‘Matter of concern if political elements use hate speeches’ EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Campus suicides: IIT Delhi panel flags toxic competition, caste bias, burnout FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT Express A Delhi Police van equipped with facial recognition tech. overhaul that will kick in from June: not just facial recognition, but number plate identification and predictive analytics too. But the move has also raised concerns about a legal framework for the deployment of the technology and potential misidentification of suspects. Currently, the North and North-WestDelhipolicedistricts run vans equipped with an CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NEW DELHI, APRIL 5 SUPREME COURT judge Justice A S Oka has said that in cases of hate speech that come to the top court most are against “religious minorities or castes which are in minority, oppressed classes like Scheduled Castes”. Speaking via virtual mode at aneventorganisedFridaybystudents of the Columbia Law School, Justice Oka said, “It’s 75 years of the existence of the Constitution, we celebrated that eventonJanuary26thisyear.But after 75 years also, there are manyinstancesof hatespeeches. Most of the hate speeches in India.. I may be wrong there becauseIhaveonlytheperspective of cases which come before the court… At the grassroots level, what really happens, activists likeColinGonsalves(referringto SeniorAdvocateColinGonsalves who also addressed the gathering) will be able to tell you more effectively. But in the court, we come across cases where mostly these hate speeches are against the religious minorities or castes whichareinminority,oppressed classes like Scheduled Castes.” “There are instances in India where there are hate speeches against the religious minorities and attempts are made to provokemembersof themajorityto CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Organiser pulls down article on Church, Rahul & Vijayan say Christians targeted after Waqf push DEEPTIMAN TIWARY & SHAJU PHILIP NEW DELHI, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, APRIL 5 SEIZING ON a row over a nowdeleted article published by the RSS-linked magazine Organiser on its website, which claimed that the “Catholic Church is the largest non-governmental land owner” in the country, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday hit out at the Sangh Parivar, alleging that it has now shifted its focus to Christians after pushing the “anti-Muslim” Waqf Amendment Bill through Parliament. In response, BJP national spokesperson Tom Vadakkan claimed that “somebody downloaded an old article and pushed it” and that “it was immediately cross-examined and deleted”. The article titled “Who has more land in India? The Catholic Church vs Waqf Board debate”, publishedontheOrganiserwebsite Thursday, claimed that the Catholicinstitutions held7crore hectares of land, making them “the largest non-governmental CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Neeraj’s latest launch: Dials competitors to bring home big-ticket athletic action PAGE 1 ANCHOR MIHIR VASAVDA MUMBAI, APRIL 5 FROM BEING the country’s firstevertrackandfieldOlympicgold medalist to inviting the world’s top javelin throwers for an internationally-recognised event near his home, Neeraj Chopra continues to put Indian athletics on the global map. While training at his base in South Africa, Chopra, 27, has spent the last couple of years pulling strings and making calls to fulfill his long-time dream of bringing big-time athletics action to India and give his fans a chance to see him compete against the best. The result is the eponymously-named NC Classic, scheduled to take place on May 24 at the Tau Devi Lal StadiumatPanchkula,aHaryana town that is not too far from Chopra’s village. “Neeraj is very, very handson,” said Manisha Malhotra, the president of Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS) and a key member of Chopra’s entourage who is in- volvedintheorganisationtheNC Classic. “He's involved in approachingathletes,invitingthem, overseeing how the tournament is run technically… With his experience now, he’s seen various formats of the tournament.” Convincing the big stars to makethetriptoIndiagotashade easierlastThursdaywhenWorld Athletics gave NC Classic a ContinentalTour‘A’categorystatus, which is second only to the Diamond League, the top-tier competition. The ranking points accumulatedherewouldbecrucial in the World Championship qualification race, lending the Neeraj Chopra/Instagram Neeraj Chopra at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Panchkula in February. Next month, the venue will host the NC Classic. tournament more significance. While it is currently believed to be a pure javelin throw event, Chopra is learnt to be exploring the idea of expanding it to other events,if notimmediatelyforthe inaugural edition then for the subsequent ones. High jump national record holder Tejaswin Shankar, now a decathlete, said “events of this kind will open the door for the sport in India to grow”. ishowyoupopularisesomething! Way to go,” Shankar, the Hangzhou Asian Games silver medallist, wrote on X. The tournament has been years in the making and has involved multiple parties — the World Athletics, the Athletics Federation of India, Chopra’s backers JSW Sports and the Haryana government. And Chopra, as a leading member of the organising committee, has been involved in every stage of planning. This is the case of India’s greatest track-and-field athlete setting up his legacy project, a “way to give something back to the sport”, Malhotra said. “It was Neeraj's idea in terms of different things that he’s been wanting to do with athletics in India. Neeraj wants to be more and more involved in the developmentof thesport,”Malhotra,a former India tennis player, told TheIndianExpress.“He'salready an ambassador and has spent a lot of time now out (of India), kindof understandingwhathappens (abroad), what other internationalathletesdo,howtheygo about their careers and kind of preparinghimself tobealigned.” Since2020,Choprahasspent most of his time outside India training and competing. As he crisscrossed the world, the twotime Olympics and World CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Kolkata