BJP leaders take out march to lay siege to K'taka CM's house, taken into preventive custody
Bengaluru (PTI): Former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and several other senior BJP leaders in the state were taken under preventive custody on Thursday when they took out a march to lay siege to the CM Siddaramaiah's Office residence.
BJP state president B Y Vijayendra and Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly R Ashoka were among the BJP MLAs taken into custody.
The party on Wednesday started the day and night protest at the Freedom Park against the price rise and other issues and they started march towards CM's residence on Thursday.
Speaking to reporters later, Vijayendra said the agitation is against the price rise, four per cent reservation for Muslims in government contracts and diversion of funds meant for Scheduled Caste Sub Plan and Scheduled Tribes Sub Plan.
"We are taking these three key issues to people," Vijayendra said.
The agitations took place in several parts of Karnataka.
According to the BJP office bearers, the party has also planned a 'Janakrosha Yatra' (Public Outrage March) from April 7, starting in Mysuru, which will be flagged off by Union Minister Pralhad Joshi.
As per the schedule, the march on April 7 will cover the Mysuru and Chamarajanagar districts. On April 8, it will reach Mandya and Hassan, and on April 9 it will proceed to Kodagu and Mangaluru.
The first phase will conclude in Udupi and Chikkamagaluru on April 10. The second phase, starting on April 13, will cover the Shivamogga and Uttara Kannada districts.
The movement will cover every district in the state. Each district will have a two-to-three-kilometre Padayatra'.
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Mexico's Congress approves higher tariffs on goods from India, China and non-FTA nations
Washington (PTI): Mexico's Congress has approved a bill that seeks to impose higher tariffs on imports from India, China, Brazil and several other countries with which the North American nation doesn't have free trade agreements.
The levies, which is set to take effect on January 1, 2026, was passed by Mexico's Senate on Wednesday after the lower house approved it.
The development comes months after US President Donald Trump imposed a steep 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods entering American markets, including 25 per cent for Delhi's purchases of Russian oil, in August.
The bill, submitted to Congress by President Claudia Sheinbaum in September, proposes modifications to 1,463 tariff categories (or products) covering more than a dozen sectors, including auto parts, light vehicles, plastic, toys, textiles, furniture, footwear, clothing, aluminium and glass, according to the Mexico News Daily.
The proposed tariffs range from 5 per cent to 50 per cent.
Among the other countries that will be affected by the proposed higher tariffs are India, China, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Brazil, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates, the daily said.
China will be the most affected country.
The paper said that the government believes that the proposed tariffs would generate additional revenue of USD 3.8 billion per year.
The Mexican government is aiming to reduce reliance on imports from Asian countries, especially China, it added.
The proposal to increase tariffs on China and other countries with which Mexico doesn't have free trade agreements represents “an alignment with US trade policy,” Horacio Saavedra, a Mexican diplomat, was quoted as saying by the news outlet La Silla Rota.
“The [tariff] measure responds to the shared concern of Mexico and the US about practices that have affected national industries, especially textiles, clothing and certain manufacturing sectors,” Saavedra said.
India was Mexico's 9th largest trading partner in 2023, with a trade of USD 10.58 billion. The bilateral trade in 2023 consisted of Indian imports of USD 2.54 billion and exports of USD 8.03 billion to Mexico.
In the trade basket from the Indian side, the most important items of export are automobiles and auto parts, pharmaceuticals, engineering goods and chemical products.
From the Mexican side, the most important item is crude oil. Other products of export to India are gold and related jewellery, chemical compounds and telephone machinery.
