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 ■ ■ kalaburagi l tuesday l January 13, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION Trade talks back, India on Pax Silica: Gor What is Pax Silica and why is India joining now? J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi Signalling an early effort to stabilise India-US ties that have come under strain amid tariff disputes and market jitters, Washington’s new ambassador to New Delhi, Sergio Gor, on Monday said the two sides will take up the outstanding trade issues during a call on Tuesday . In a parallel strategic move, Gor said India will be invited next month to join US-led Pax Silica initiative to secure silicon and critical tech supply chain. Speaking on his first day in office, Gor sought to portray E x p r e s s Re a d BMIC project should be discarded: K’taka HC Bengaluru: The Karnataka HC directed the state to consider discarding the Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project as it has remained on paper over the last 30 years | P6 TN stampede: CBI grills Vijay for 6 hours New Delhi: TVK chief and actor Vijay was questioned for nearly six hours by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) here on Monday in connection with the Karur stampede case | P7 B’luru-bound IndiGo flight suffers bird hit Varanasi: A Bengaluru-bound IndiGo flight with 216 passengers on board made an emergency landing at the Varanasi Airport following a bird strike on Monday. Sergio Gor during a press meet at the US Embassy in New Delhi on Monday | pti Pax Silica is a US-led economic security partnership to protect critical technology supply chains, including AI, semiconductors, minerals, etc. Members include UK, Israel, Japan, and Australia. After a month on the sidelines, India is now set to join, a move widely seen as a diplomatic warm-up current frictions as manageable within a mature partnership. “Real friends can disagree, but always resolve their differences in the end,” he said. Stressing that talks remain active, Gor said: “The next call on trade will occur tomorrow.” He did not elaborate on the level at which the discussions would PSLV’s third-stage fails for second time in a row B o s k y K h a n n a @Bengaluru The most-awaited first commercial satellite launch of 2026 by the Indian Space Research organisation (ISRO) -- the PSLVC62 carrying EOS-N1 and 15 other satellites -- failed to reach its designated orbit on Monday . The rocket deviated from its designated path towards the end of the third stage separation. The satellite earlier took off from the first launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota on Monday Though . it was cloudy and there was a light drizzle, it did not impact the launch at 10.18 am. Until the third stage separation of the rocket, there was loud cheering, as if to negate the bad memories of the failure take place but noted: “India is the world’s largest nation, so it’s not an easy task to get this across the finish line, but we are determined to get there.” Gor also linked trade to a broader recalibration of US diplomacy. Citing Secretary of State Marco Rubio, he said 2026 would be “a year of reciprocity defined by “fair trade, mu,” tual respect, and shared security.” He stressed that while commerce is a key pillar of the relationship, cooperation would continue across security coun, ter-terrorism, energy technolo, gy education and health. , New labour codes eat into IT profits Even as AI-driven deals lifted revenues for India’s top IT firms in the December quarter, new labour codes weighed heavily on profits The country’s largest IT services company, TCS, reported a 13.91% decline in December quarter net profit to `10,657 cr, down from `12,380 cr in the year-ago period HCLTech’s net profit fell 11.2% to `4,076 cr from `4,591 cr PSLV-C62 lifts off on Monday | PTI of the PSLV-C61 mission on May 18, 2025. Then, the mission had failed during the third stage separation when there was a drop in the chamber pressure during firing of the engine.  CONTINUED ON: P7 `2,128 crore is the amount TCS set aside to meet requirements under the new labour codes, which increase in payroll costs by mandating a 50% basic wage, higher employer contributions to PF and gratuity and overtime pay for extended working hours | P12 Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Germany’s Friedrich Merz on Monday | PTI In talks with PM, Merz hints at EU FTA deal by month-end nouncements across defence, energy, education, mobility, and sustainable development. IN a big push amid rising glo- Both sides noted with satisbal protectionism, German faction that bilateral trade in Chancellor Friedrich Merz goods and services crossed on Monday was optimistic of $50 billion in 2024, amounting sealing a landmark to over 25% of InEU-India free trade dia’s trade with EU. agreement by JanuThey signed joint ary-end, with top declarations of inEU leaders likely tent on boosting biOur growing trade visiting New Delhi lateral defence inand investment to sign it, following dustrial ties. ties have infused wide-ranging talks Modi and Merz new energy into with Prime Minisetched a bilateral India and Germany’s ter Narendra Modi dialogue mecharelationship in Ahmedabad. nism for the IndoWelcoming Merz Pacific, besides the Narendra Modi in Ahmedabad, PM establishment of Modi framed the Track 1.5 Foreign visit as historic, coming at a Policy and Security Dialogue. time when India and Germa- Germany also announced ny have completed 25 years visa free transit for Indians. of strategic partnership and Further, they signed an are commemorating 75 years offtake agreement for green of diplomatic relations. ammonia between AM Green The talks, accompanied (India) and Uniper Global by a delegation of 23 German (Germany). Germany comCEOs, resulted in the signing mitted 1.24 billion euros for of key MoUs and several an- renewable energy projects. D i l i p S i n g h K s h at r i ya @ Ahmedabad focus onrule notification players in sports minstry’s Outstanding sportspersons with Olympic credentials to get Indian Olympic Association spot as new rules kick in | P13 SC directs govt to hold GBA polls by June 30 Agencies The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Karnataka government and the State Election Commission (SEC) to hold the long-pending polls to the five city corporations under the Greater Bengalur u Au t h o r i t y (GBA) by June 30. Fixing the schedule for the poll process, a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice JK Maheshwari said the final wardwise reservation list shall be published by the state government by February 20 and made it clear that no further extension shall be granted. The order was passed on a plea by the Karnataka government, which was challenging the Karnataka High Court’s order of December 2020, directing SEC to hold the local body elections expeditiously after finalising the electoral rolls. The SC is monitoring the compliance of its earlier orders. P7