DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE MONDAY, MARCH 24, 2025, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES `7.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `15 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 ON AGENDA: UPGRADING INDIA-CHINA BILATERAL ECONOMIC RELATIONSHIP 2023-24 STATE DEPARTMENT DATA US tariffs looming, India looks at easing non-trade barriers, relaxing Chinese FDI BY UNNY Ex-minister Chandrasekhar set to be next chief of BJP’s Kerala unit Immediate challenge will be the local body polls in October Dialling down of border tensions has yielded space to promote trade, say officials INDIA-CHINA BILATERAL TRADE Year India’s export Change to China in % NEW DELHI, MARCH 23 THE BJP has decided to appoint former Union IT Minister and technocrat-turned-politician Rajeev Chandrasekhar as the next president of its Kerala unit. The BJP’s core committee took the decision at a meeting in ThiruvananthapuramonSunday that was attended by the party’s Kerala in-charge Prakash Javadekar and co-in-charge AparjitaSarangi,aLokSabhaMP. “The decision was unanimous,” said a source. Chandrasekhar’s name is expected to be announced officiallyatapartyconclavethatwill be held at the Uday Palace Convention Centre in Kowdiar, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Trade deficit Total trade Change in % 18.95 10.69% 58.71 -14.1% 39.76 77.66 -9.14% 2021 23.05 21.64% 87.65 49.29% 64.6 110.7 42.54% 2022 15.15 -34.27% 102.63 17.09% 87.48 117.78 6.4% 2023 MUMBAI, NEW DELHI, MARCH 23 16.23 7.13% 99.59 -2.96% 83.36 115.82 -1.66% 2024* SANDEEP SINGH & ANIL SASI 8.46 -9.23% 50.35 -9.02% 41.89 58.81 *Jan-Jul WITH SOME dialling down of tensionsbetweenIndiaandChina along the border, policy makers aremoreopentoupgradingbilat- -9.05% Source: Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry; Embassy of India in Beijing eraleconomicrelationshipsnow. Itisbeingviewedasanopportune time, particularly when US PresidentDonaldTrumpispush- ing India to the corner on reducing tariffs and forcing it to agree to terms set by Washington, especially on tariffs. According to sources aware of developments,discussionsare on between departments to CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 FAULTY IMPLANTS IN INDIA POLICE IN western UP’s Sambhal onSundayarrestedZafarAli,chairman of the Shahi Jama Masjid managing committee, accusing himofplayingan“incendiaryrole” in the violence that erupted on November 24 over a court-orderedsurveyof themosque. Sambhal SP Krishna Kumar said, “We have gathered evidencethatheplayedan incendiary role during the violence last Zafar Ali being taken into police custody, Sunday. ANI year. He was picked up by the policefromhishouseinSambhal on Sunday morning and was CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NEW DELHI, MARCH 23 THERE IS a growing view in India that entering into a visibly closer dialogue with China on normalising business ties could send out a signal to the US and likely act as a potential hedge. Talks are on to consider diluting some of the restrictions on trade and investments put in place after the Galwan clashes in 2020. STUDENT VISA denials by the United States (US) soared to a decade-high last fiscal year (October 2023 to September 2024) with 41% of F-1 visa applications from across all countries turned down — almost double the rejection rate of the 2014 fiscal year — shows an analysis of State Department data by The Indian Express. In 2023-24, (the US government's fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30), the US received a total of 6.79 lakh applications for F-1 visas, of which 2.79 lakh (41%) were denied. This is an increase from 2022-23, when 2.53 lakh applications (36%) of a total of 6.99 lakh were turned down. While the US State Departmentdidnotsharedataon the country-wise refusal rate for PAGE 5 F-1 visas, The Indian Express had reportedonDecember9lastyear that the number of student visas issued to Indians in the first nine monthsof2024haddecreasedby 38% as compared to the corresponding period in 2023. According to the data, the percentage of student visa denials increased even as the absolute number of applications from across all countries dipped over the last decade. During this period, the total number of applications peaked at 8.56 lakh in 2014-15, but saw a steady dip in the next few years, till it hit a low of 1.62 lakh in the Covid year of 2019-2020. Post-Covid, while the number of applications steadily increased, there was a 3%decrease in 2023-24 — from 6.99 lakh in 2022-23 to 6.79 lakh in 202324.Asaresult,theabsolutenumber of visa denials in the last fiscal year (2.79 lakh) CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Paralympics medallist sets target for teen rival who lost limbs at 5 NEW DELHI, MARCH 23 EVEN AS nearly 4,000 patients awaitjusticefromtheDelhiHigh Court in the form of compensation from Johnson & Johnson (J&J) over faulty hip implants that severely impaired their health, the pharma giant had proposed a payout formula to the Government during a closed-door meeting over five years ago. That plan was shot down — it did not take into account the severity of a patient’s ABHINAYA HARIGOVIND INVADERMINDSETA THREAT:HOSABALE ANONNA DUTT MEERUT,LUCKNOW,MARCH23 Signal ● toUS EXPRESS NETWORK Mosque panel head held; J&J payout plan for was to appear before patients wasn’t fair, so judicial panel: brother Govt rejected it: Book AMIT SHARMA & MANISH SAHU F-1 visa denials surge to 10-year high, US rejects 41% of foreign student applicants E (Figures in USD billion) 2020 2024 SAMBHAL VIOLENCE LIZ MATHEW India’s import Change from China in % E X P L A I NE D BUSINESS AS USUAL PRITISH RAJ NEW DELHI, MARCH 23 The book by The Indian Express National Health Editor, Kaunain Sheriff M disability caused by the implant. This undisclosed episode in CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SHEETALDEVIisonlyoneof two armless athletes to win a medal at the Paralympics. The story of this 18-year-old archer from Jammu, however, is not just aboutbeatingtheoddsandwinningmedals.Sheisalsoinspiring others in similar or more chal- Payal (left) and Sheetal after their event, Sunday. SAI Media lengingcircumstancestotakeup the bow — and be as good as her. On Sunday, Sheetal edged past 17-year-oldPayalNagin the final to win gold in the 2025 Khelo India Para Games. But then,haditnotbeenforSheetal's exploits at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, where she won bronze, Payal would not have taken up the sport at all. 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