THE SUNDAY Vol. 36 No. 47 | Sunday, August 17, 2025 28 Pages | `5 & for State `6 | Reg. No. MCS/048/2021-23; RNI No. 46955/1988 M.p.c.s. office Mumbai-400001 FREE PRESS JOURNAL INDIA EDITION | www.freepressjournal.in ● Leader in E-paper circulation Weekend A look at ISRO’s milestone achievements on a shoestring budget Stalin’s job losses fear over tariffs WEEKEND Sunday Read Nitish Bharadwaj on playing Lord Krishna and more Centre warns Summit yields pause on tariffs SC of overreach TEMPORARY RELIEF | After meeting Russian President Putin, American President Trump softens his stance on additional secondary tariffs FPJ News Service PTI ANI TAMIL NADU Tamil Nadu will be hit harder than most states as our exports are deeply tied to the US market said Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday expressing concern over the 50 per cent tariff hike announced by the United States on India. He said that it would severely impact the state as its exports are heavily dependent on the US market. In a post on X, Stalin said that with US tariffs rising from 25 per cent to a possible 50 per cent, lakhs of jobs in textiles, leather, auto, machinery and other sectors were at risk. He urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take immediate measures to protect Indian industries, including fixing GST on man-made fibres at 5 per cent, removing duty on cotton imports, and extending easy, low-interest loans with a moratorium. Stalin also called for enhancing export incentives and credit support to help exporters overcome the crisis. Extending his state’s full cooperation, he assured that Tamil Nadu would work closely with the Union Government to address the tariff challenge. Play & Pause How AI is transforming couture Dharmendra reflects on Sholay and his storied career In a first, the Tricolour was raised on top of Seattle's 605 feet tall Space Needle for Independence Day celebrations India-China boundary talks on August 18-19 PTI NEW DELHI Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will begin a two-day visit to India on Monday for the next round of border talks with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, both the Chinese Foreign Ministry and India’s Ministry of External Affairs announced on Saturday. Wang and Doval head the Special Representatives (SRs) dialogue mechanism, which is tasked with addressing the longstanding boundary dispute along the 3,488 km Line of Actual Control (LAC). This will be the 24th round of SR-level talks on the boundary issue. Doval had travelled to China in December last year and held the 23rd round of talks with Wang. 4Contd on | Nation FPJ News Service NEW YORK/WASHINGTON India may have won temporary relief from even more Trump's secondary tariffs threat. As soon as the summit ended with the Russian president Vladimir Putin in Alaska, Trump pronounced the meeting as being a “very productive meeting.” This probably led to softening his stand regarding tariffs. US had tied the Summit outcome to even more tariffs: if the summit failed there would be penalty involved Subsequently Trump told Sean Hannity of Fox News that “ "Well, because of what happened today, I think I don't have to think about that (tariffs)," “Now, I may have to think about it in two weeks or three weeks or something, but we don't have to think about that right now. I think, you know, the meeting went very well,” he added.” Trump's remarks came in response to a question on the oil trade between India and Russia, and possible tariffs on China. However, Trump did not specify if he was talking about retaliatory tariffs or additional tariffs on countries, specifically for buying Russian oil. 4Contd on | Nation 4See also | World Delhi applauds The world wants to see an early end to the conflict in Ukraine, India said on Saturday, welcoming the summit talks in Alaska between US President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin. "India welcomes the Summit meeting in Alaska”, the Ministry of External Affairs said, adding, "Their leadership in the pursuit of peace is highly commendable." It stressed that the "The way forward can only be through dialogue and diplomacy." Fadnavis goes handi-hopping Ravikiran Deshmukh MUMBAI Dahi Handi may be billed as a cultural event, but in Mumbai’s political calendar it has become a gladiatorial arena where leaders clamber to the top almost as frenetically as the govindas themselves. On Saturday, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis attended no fewer than 14 handis while his deputy, Eknath Shinde, bested him with a score touching 20. Mumbai’s Dahi Handi politics climbs higher than the pyramid Of the CM’s 14 engagements, seven were in Thane and adjoining areas—Shinde’s traditional bastion—underlining the BJP’s ambition to consolidate its own footprint there, regardless of its alliance arithmetic with the Shinde-led Shiv Sena. At Worli’s Parivartan Dahi Handi, organised by BJP leader Santosh Pande inside Aaditya Thackeray’s assembly turf, Fadnavis couldn’t resist lobbing a pot-shot at the Shiv Sena (UBT). “We have broken the handi of sins of those who looted the BMC,” he declared, promising that the BJP-led Mahayuti was ushering in a “handi of development.” 4Contd on | Nation MUMBAI The Union government has warned the Supreme Court that prescribing fixed timelines for governors and the President to act on bills passed by state assemblies would amount to one organ of the State arrogating powers not conferred on it by the Constitution, and thereby trigger a “constitutional disorder”. In written submissions filed in response to a presidential reference under Article 143, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that the apex court’s April 8 verdict—which, for the first time, mandated that governors and the presi- Government says placing timelines for Governors and the President to respond on state bills risk constitutional disorder dent must act within three months on bills placed before them—upset the delicate balance envisaged by the framers. “The alleged failure, inaction or error of one organ does not and cannot authorise another organ to assume powers not vested in it,” 4Contd on | Nation Heavy rains, orange alert: two dead in Mumbai Shefali Parab-Pandit MUMBAI Heavy rainfall lashed the Mumbai Metropolitan Region on Saturday night and Sunday morning, causing a landslide in Vikhroli. Civic officials said two persons were killed and two injured as soil and heavy stones slid down the hillock. In five hours on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday, parts of Mumbai suburbs recorded over 200mm rain, resulting in water-logging in low-lying areas. The Santacruz weather station recorded 245mm rainfall, highest single-day rainfall since 2020. This is the thirdhighest single day rain in August in the last 13 years. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert for today (Sunday). 4See also | Mumbai