Putin accepts Modi’s invite to visit India Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday that President Putin has accepted PM Narendra Modi’s invitation to visit India. Lavrov praised India’s balanced approach to the Ukraine crisis, including advocating for resolving the issue through dialogue. External affairs minister S Jaishankar said strong institutions and commitment to core interests are bulwarks of India-Russia diplomacy File photo tirupati l friday l march 28, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l anantapur EDITION 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 Auto sector safe Shastri ‘betting’ ad may attract censure from MIB but parts to feel US tariff heat S w a r o o p S w a m i n at h a n @ Chennai Trump signs executive order to impose 25% import duty on automobiles and auto parts What it means for India No big impact on Indian auto sector, but Tata Motors’ luxury car subsidiary JLR to be hit India’s auto parts exports to US stand at around $2 bn, attracting just 2.5% duty. This will increase 10 times on April 3 Imports of automobiles and certain automobile parts threaten to impair national security Donald Trump D i pa k M o n d a l @ New Delhi THE Trump administration on Wednesday announced a 25% import duty on completely builtup automobiles and auto parts, with effect from April 3. While the decision has sent shockwaves through the global auto industry, the reaction in India has been mixed. At first look, the broader Indian auto industry seems largely insulated, but the auto component sector, which currently attracts just 2.5% duty will feel the tariff heat , in the short term. India exported $2.6 billion worth of automobiles and auto components to the US in FY24, accounting for 13% of the country’s total auto and auto ancillary exports of $21 billion. Of this, passenger car exports to the US stood at just $8.9 million, compared to $6.98 billion in global car exports, meaning only 0.13% of India’s car exports are US-bound. Moreover, the 25% duty is still lower than the 70-100% tariffs that could result from reciprocal tariff measures. Trade analysts say India need not be concerned, given the relatively small volume of its car and bike exports to the US. Saurabh Agarwal, tax partner at EY India, says the limited implications for India’s auto industry mean the Indian government may not aggressively seek exemptions from the tariff. Ajay Srivastava, founder of the Global Trade Research Initiative, even discourages India from reducing its own import duties in response. Mrunmayee Jogalekar, an analyst at Asit C Mehta Investment Intermediates, said Tata Motors could face challenges as its subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover sells a significant number of cars in the US. A Ravi Shastri advertisement where the cricketer-turnedpundit seemingly endorses a betting company could come under the scanner of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB). Over the last 11 months or so, Shastri has used X (formerly Twitter) to promote Stake, a betting company. He did the same on March 21, one day be- fore the start of the IPL’s 18th edition. “Witness the Ultimate Cricket Extravaganza,” he posted to his 2m followers. “Early six? Early wicket? What’s your stake? @Stake” There was also a video message to his followers. He also added a disclaimer: “This content is not intended for the Indian region. Visitors must be 18+ of age to proceed.” This daily has learned that the disclaimer may not be applicable for the purposes of legality as the commentator may still be liable. “This specific advertiser appears to be a betting platform,” Manisha Kapoor, secretary-general of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), told this daily. “Betting is a violation of law, hence adding any disclaimer does not make it okay to advertise. ASCI is reporting such cases to the MIB.” Under Indian law, Polavaram water only after oustees’ rehabilitation: CM S V i s w a n at h @ Vijayawada Reasserting that Polavaram is the lifeline of Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has promised to ensure justice to all those who sacrificed everything for the irrigation project. “We will complete the rehabilitation of all the displaced families before making the irrigation project operational,” he vowed. Naidu conducted an aerial survey of the Polavaram project on Thursday, and later held a meeting with the displaced families. “After the TDP-led NDA came to power in the State in 2014, we have disbursed `4,311 crore as compensation to the displaced families. The previous regime neither thought about you nor cared for your problems in the last five years. They didn’t even acknowledge your hardship,” Naidu said, adding that `829 crore was directly deposited into the bank accounts of the project oustees. Mentioning that for mer Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy promised `10 lakh compensation to each displaced family Naidu sought to know if , he fulfilled his assurance. Not even a single rupee was given to the project oustees during the YSRCP regime, he said. “Even during Godavari floods, they ignored your plight. Had our government continued in 2019, the Polavaram project would have been completed by 2020,” Naidu said. The delay had resulted in significant escalation of the project cost. The diaphragm wall constructed at a cost of `400 crore was damaged due to the negligence of the YSRCP P4 government, he said.  games of chance — betting — are banned save a few exemptions as it’s a state subject under the Public Gambling Act. “Any operator,” sports lawyer Vidushpat Singhania told this masthead, “who claims an international license, cannot offer a betting product without a license from an authority in India. They would also need GST registration in India. A celebri- ty before endorsing a brand is required to do a diligence check, otherwise a celebrity can be held liable under consumer protection laws.” Shastri didn’t respond to queries raised by this daily . Indian cricket has been no stranger to betting advertisements in recent years. In 2022, to stop the encroachment of surrogate advertisements, the Union government had issued a strongly-worded advisory . SC collegium urged to revoke transfer of judge S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi Leaders of Bar associations from six high courts met Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna and four other Supreme Court collegium members on Thursday urging them , to withdraw the recommendation to transfer Delhi HC judge Yashwant Varma amid a ‘cash bur n’ controversy . After the meeting with the CJI and justices B R Gavai, Surya Kant, Abhay S Oka and Vikram Nath, Allahabad High Court Bar Association president Anil Tiwari said, “The CJI assured (us) to consider our demands...” Bar associations of Allahabad, Gujarat, Kerala, Jabalpur, Karnataka, and Lucknow had sought the meeting. Tiwari said the collegium assured that each and eve- ry point raised by them will be considered within the premises of law. “This is a big statement...,” he added. The collegium’s recommendation to transfer Justice Varma to Allahabad HC triggered an indefinite strike by the state bar association since March 25. A fire at Justice Varma’s official residence on March 14 led to the alleged detection of wads of burnt cash. Justice Varma has denied the charges. Subsequently, CJI Khanna formed a three-member panel to probe the allegations. The Supreme Court is slated to hear on Friday a plea seeking a direction to the Delhi Police to lodge an FIR. The PIL was filed jointly by three lawyers — senior advocate Mathews J Nedumpara, Hemali Suresh Kurne and Rajesh Vishnu Adrekar — and a CA Mansha Nimesh Mehta.