no more 10-minute delivery by quick commerce companies THIRUVANANTHAPURAM l wednesday l January 14, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l LATE city EDITION Eternalowned quickcommerce firm Blinkit dropped its ‘10-minute’ delivery claim after a Union labour ministry fiat on Tuesday Keeps in mind risks of quick delivery model Other aggregators, like Zepto and Swiggy-owned Instamart, are also expected to follow suit. The decision to do away with the ‘10-minute’ delivery model came after Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya persuaded aggregators, keeping in mind concerns over safety of workers galloping to close orders | P12 In a statement, Gig and Platform Service Workers Union welcomed the govt’s decision to discontinue the instant delivery system 2.3cr is the projected strength of india’s gig workforce by 2030 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 18 pages, including 4 pages of THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Express With toll topping 2,000, Trump announces fresh levy to press Tehran to go easy on protesters P u s h p i ta De y @ New Delhi Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials.... HELP IS ON ITS WAY. MIGA!!! $17.3 bn Iran’s trade Major partners in total trade in 2024 India $3.6 bn $12.3 bn The Supreme Court on Tuesday delivered a split verdict on the validity of a 2018 provision that was inserted into the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, which mandates prior government approval before investigating public officials in corruption cases. While Justice B V Nagarathna ruled that Section 17A be struck down, Justice K V Viswanathan partially read it down. The matter would now go to the Chief Justice of India to assign it to a larger bench. Justice Nagarathna observed that Section 17A was an attempt to “protect the corrupt”. “The requirement of prior sanction is contrary to the object of the Act, and it forecloses inquiry and protects the corrupt rather than seeking to protect the honest and those with integrity who really do not require any protection,” she said. On the other hand, Justice Viswanathan held that an independent agency must decide the question of prosecution sanction. He directed that the sanction be decided by the Lokpal/Lokayukta, reading down Section 17A to that extent. “Section 17A is constitutionally valid subject to the condition that the sanction must be decided by the Lokpal or the Lokayukta of the State,” Justice Viswanathan said. Iraq @ New Delhi Addl 25% Iran-linked tariff to have minimal impact on India: Govt Turkiye SUCHITRA KALYA N MOHA N TY ■ $32.4 bn Split verdict on prior nod clause in anti-graft law ■ $28.2 bn ■ UAE ■ China ■ Source: Trade Data Monitor via WTO, compiled by Bloomberg While US President Donald Trump delivered yet another blow by announcing 25% additional tariff on countries that do active trade with Iran, government sources said India is likely to have minimal impact. Their confidence stemmed from the fact that India’s total merchandise trade with Iran stood at only $1.6 billion (in 2024-25), which is 0.15% of the country’s total trade. “For India, Iran does not even figure in the top 50 global trading partners. India’s trade value with Iran is expected to further go down in the current fiscal year given external economic factors. (Therefore) 25% tariff announced by the US on trade partners of Iran is likely to have minimal impact on India,” said government sources. Iran’s total import in 2024 was worth about $68 billion, sourcing it goods mainly from the UAE ($21 billion - 30%), China ($17 billion - 26%), Turkiye ($11 billion - 16%) and the EU ($6 billion - 9%). India’s share was only $1.2 billion (2.3%). Top exports from India to Iran include cereals (rice), coffee, tea, spices, edible oil, etc. “There is still no clarity on whether humanitarian products like food and medicines will be exempted. India significantly exports such products. In any event, given the low overall trade volume, the macro impact will be low. If these products are exempted, the impact will be even lower,” said Anup Wadhawan, former commerce secretary . Trump announced the additional tariff to pressure Iran to step back from its violent crackdown on a wave of protests in the country that have left over 2,000 people dead. As per the data collated by Bloomberg citing WTO, India despite being one of the top 10 trading countries of Iran accounts for only 2.9% of the total share of trade. EAM and Rubio talk trade, possible meet next month J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi A day after Washington’s new ambassador to New Delhi Sergio Gor said India and the US would take up outstanding trade issues, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday and discussed the next steps in the trade negotiations, critical minerals and a possible meeting next month. Highlighting the breadth of engagement between the two sides, Jaishankar said the conversation also covered nuclear cooperation, defence and energy Gor, too, said that Rubio . and Jaishankar discussed “next steps regarding our bilateral trade negotiations, critical minerals and a possible meeting next month.” The diplomatic outreach signals an early effort to stabilise India–US relations. On Monday Gor described the current frictions , as part of a mature partnership capable of managing disagreements. Court nod to arrest thantri in second case Pak-born US cricketer ‘denied’ World Cup visa E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e ALI Khan, a Pakistan-born and raised US international cricketer, has claimed on Instagram that his Indian visa has been ‘denied’. Khan, who put out a story on his personal handle without elaborating, has featured in 13 T20Is for the US. It’s understood that there are other Pakistan-origin players in the US team who are in a similar situation but the International Cricket Council is expected to find a quick resolution to the issue. With the T20 World Cup scheduled to be held in India and Sri Lanka in under a month, the tensions be- @T’Puram In yet another blow to Sabarimala thantri Kandararu Rajeevaru, the Vigilance Court in Kollam on Tuesday granted the Special Investigation Team (SIT) permission to arraign him in the dwarapalaka idol gold misappropriation case as well. The SIT, which produced documents allegedly revealing Rajeevaru’s role in the second case, was granted permission by the court to record his arrest in the Poojappura sub-jail. Currently, Rajeevaru is an accused in the case pertaining to the misappropriation of door● More on P6 frame gold. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Chennai tween India and Pakistan have once again brought this issue to the foreground. With many teams having Pakistan-origin players, it remains to be seen whether they are also facing similar situations. UAE, another team with a few Pakistan-origin players, are yet to hear about the fate of the visas of several players. “We have submitted the names but haven’t heard anything,” a team source told this daily Apart . from UAE and US (these two teams are yet to announce the final 15), other teams that have players with Pakistani roots may include Netherlands, Italy, Oman and England.  P13 EXPRESS READ Former CPM MLA Aisha Potty joins Congress T’Puram: In a major blow to CPM ahead of assembly polls, senior leader and former MLA P Aisha Potty has joined Congress. Aisha is likely to contest from her home constituency, Kottarakkara, on a Congress ticket. P6