Today’s Matches 11am: Afghanistan vs New Zealand (Chennai), 3pm: England vs Nepal (Mumbai) BHUBANESWAR l sunday l february 08, 2026 l `12.00 l PAGES 28 l late CITY EDITION India captain Suryakumar Yadav rescues team with 49-ball 84 against USA in the first game of the T20 World Cup on Saturday. India won by 29 runs | AFP | P11 7pm: Sri Lanka vs Ireland (Colombo) 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 $500 billion handshake Delhi inks favourable terms with US, both agree to phase out duties, boost mutual investments P u s h p i ta d e y @ New Delhi WITH THIS ISSUE The Other Cricket PLUS 12 P AGES annually,” Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said. INDIA and the United States set The overall tariff restructuring an ambitious target of $500 billion will be implemented in a phased in annual bilateral trade, as the manner. Zero-duty access will be two countries released a joint available only after the agreement statement on Saturday outlining is formally signed in March. On the framework of the interim market access for American proddeal. ucts, Goyal said India had adopted As part of the understanding, a c a l i b r at e d a n d s e l e c t ive India will eliminate or reduce tar- approach. iffs on US industrial goods and a “We have opened our markets broad basket of agricultural and for the US on some products like food products, including distillers’ DDGS and wines and spirits, but dried grains (DDGs), red sorghum in these cases we have also kept a for feed, tree nuts, fruits, soybean minimum import price to safeoil, wine and spirits. In guard domestic producreturn, the US will cut reers,” he said, adding that ciprocal tariff to 18% on no discriminatory measselect Indian goods such ures have been taken The interim trade as textiles, leather, plasagainst any Indian pact will tics, rubber, organic sector. strengthen the chemicals, home décor ‘Make in India’ by The minister clarified and certain machinery . that India has retained opening up new However, the US indi- opportunities for protection for sensitive farmers and cated that once the interagriculture and dairy im agreement becomes entrepreneurs, and segments. Only products create jobs for operational, tariffs will already being imported women and be lifted for sectors idenhave been given limited youngsters tified as aligned partners, concessions, subject to notably generics, gems quotas and minimum imNarendra Modi, PM and diamonds, and airport prices. craft parts. According to the joint With the immediate revocation statement, India has also indicat- of the 25% additional tariff, seced its intent to purchase $500 bil- tors such as textiles and apparel, lion worth of US energy, aircraft leather and footwear, plastics and and parts, precious metals, tech- rubber products, gems and jewelnology products and coking coal lery, and marine products are exover five years. pected to regain export momen“Considering the two countries’ tum in the US market. relations, diplomatic ties, and the Goyal said the marine sector is friendship between their leaders, likely to be one of the biggest discussions on a bilateral trade beneficiaries. agreement began in February “With markets now diversified 2025. The objective was to achieve and US tariffs coming down, seabilateral trade of $500 billion be- food exporters will have a double P10 tween India and the United States benefit,” he said.  Small print of proposed big deal Lower or zero duty on US wine and spirits, dried distillers’ grains, red sorghum for animal feed, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, soybean oil Strings attached as Don nixes 25% punitive levy J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi US President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order rescinding a punitive 25% duty on Indian imports that had been imposed over India’s purchases of Russian energy. The White House said the move followed assurances from India that it would stop directly or indirectly importing Russian oil — assertions that New Delhi has not publicly confirmed. “Specifically, India has committed to stop directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil, has represented that it will purchase United States energy products from the US, and has recently committed to a framework with the United States to expand defense cooperation CM launches BCPPER plan, targets $500 billion economy from the region by 2047 E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Saturday launched a comprehensive economic plan for the Bhubaneswar-Cuttack-Puri-Paradip Economic Region (BCPPER), aimed at transforming the corridor into a major growth engine for the state and the country . Prepared by NITI Aayog, the plan envisages implementation of over 80 projects across sectors such as metal downstream industries, biotechnology textiles, chemicals, tourism, educa, tion and IT along with more than 30 policy initiatives to spur investment, infrastructure development and job creation. “This region will be developed as a Tea vendor stabbed to death in Rourkela E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Rourkela A 26-year-old tea vendor was stabbed to death by three persons on Friday night in a street near the Rourkela railway station. The deceased was identified as Avinash Yadav, a resident of Gopabandhupali slum in the city Yadav ran a tea stall at the . parking lot near Amar Bhawan and was returning to his stall from a public toilet at around 9.20 pm, when he was attacked near Amar Bhawan under Plant Site police limits. The three assailants allegedly accosted him in the narrow lane outside the toilet and stabbed him multiple times, killing him on the spot. Sources close to the victim said the murder may have been a fallout of a clash between Yadav and the killers, who are still on the run, during the Ganesh Puja immersion procession in Gopabandhupali around six months Continued on P5 ago.  hub of economic transformation for Odisha. In the growth sky of India, BCPPER will emerge as a new star,” Majhi said while inaugurating the plan at a function in Lok Seva Bhawan here. Majhi said the BCPPER region currently contributes about 19 per cent of the state’s economy with an estimated , economic size of $22.4 billion as of 2025. The state has set an ambitious target of expanding this to $500 billion Reciprocal tariff down to 18% on Indian textile and apparel, leather and footwear, plastic and rubber, organic chemicals, home décor, artisanal products, and certain machinery Minimum import prices fixed on products like US apples No entry for US dried/ frozen/ canned/ provisionally preserved veggies, beans, pulses, roots & tubers, citrus fruits, berries Zero US duty on import of spices, tea, coffee, copra, coconut oil, areca nut by 2047, aligning with India’s longterm development goals. The chief minister said the four cities in the region have distinct strengths - Bhubaneswar in technology, Cuttack in business and trade, Puri in culture and tourism, and Paradip in port-led development - which will be integrated through modern infrastructure and targeted sectoral projects. “Our objective is to make this entire region a laboratory of development and prosperity,” he said. He also noted that the Union Budget 2026-27 has provided for the development of City Economic Regions (CERs), with BCPPER included among them. Each CER will receive central support of `5,000 crore to accelerate Continued on P5 growth, he said.  Commerce minister Piyush Goyal speaks on the India-US trade deal in Delhi | PTI over the next 10 years,” the executive order said. The document added that India has taken “significant steps” to address American concerns over Russian oil purchases and to “align sufficiently with the US on national security foreign policy , and economic matters.” Despite lifting the tariffs, the executive order makes clear that relief is conditional. It establishes a formal US gover nment monitoring mechanism to verify whether India has indeed stopped importing Russian oil. US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick has been tasked with overseeing this process, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The order lays out a clear enforcement trigger. “If the Secretary of Commerce finds that India has resumed directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil,” it states, the Secretary of State — after consultations with senior Cabinet officials and White House advisers — “shall recommend whether and to what extent I should take additional action as to India, including whether I should reimpose the additional ad valorem rate of duty of 25 percent on imports of articles of India”.