As Indian garment makers switch on machines for the next US fall-winter cycle, the industry is bracing for another potential shock, with the threat of a 500% tariff clouding export prospects and factory utilisation.Exporters say buyer sentiment has shifted sharply in recent weeks. “Buyers who were earlier considering shifting some orders to India no longer want to come. They have started writing to us, asking what happens if this 500% tariff is imposed, who will take the guarantee,” Vijay Agarwal, chairman of the Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council told ET. The concerns are enteering the spotlight even before the industry has recovered from the 50% tariffs imposed by the US last August.

Those duties pushed exporters into survival mode, marked by heavy discounting, diversion of unused capacity to domestic brands and the rerouting of overseas orders through neighbouring countries. The uncertainty deepened on Wednesday after US senator Lindsey Graham said President Donald Trump had cleared a Bill proposing 500% tariffs on countries that continue trading with Russia.The US remains India’s largest market for apparel and textiles, accounting for 28–30% of exports. In 2024-25, India shipped apparel and textiles worth $37 billion. Since the introduction of the 50% tariffs, the sector has struggled to stabilise. Figures from the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry show that between April and November 2025, apparel exports inched up by just 2.28%, while textile exports fell 2.27%.Despite the risks, manufacturers say halting production is not an option. “The situation remains highly uncertain as far as US tariffs are concerned. But we still have to manufacture the goods. We will have to take the risk,” Agarwal said.Some companies have already absorbed losses to keep export lines running. “We offered deep discounts to keep exports going, hoping the issue would be resolved soon,” said Rajat Jaipuria, managing director of Kolkata-based Rajalaxmi Cotton Mills, which employs around 8,000 workers. The firm has now moved ahead with fall season production, but Jaipuria warned of severe fallout if the proposed duties are enforced. “We have now started production for fall season orders. However, a 500% tariff would effectively amount to an embargo,” he said. “We are unsure how factories can continue operating if exports to the US stop.”For the upcoming season, US buyers have already begun scouting alternatives beyond India. Executives say stress signals are emerging in Tiruppur, the hub that contributes nearly 90% of India’s knitwear exports — underscoring the strain building across the supply chain.

Source: National Geographic

Few natural wonders are as breathtakingly surreal as the electric blue flames dancing across Indonesia’s Kawah Ijen volcano. Unlike the familiar red-orange glow of molten lava, this volcano gives off an electric blue illumination at night that attracts photographers, travellers, and scientists worldwide. This phenomenon is not a result of lava itself but a product of burning sulfuric gases at very high temperatures, resulting in a neon-blue blaze visible against the dark landscape of the crater. More than just the visual, this rare display underlines a complex geological process and the hazardous conditions that the local miners have to put up with to extract sulfur, making Kawah Ijen a human story besides being a natural wonder.

Why Kawah Ijen’s lava appears bright blue

Typically, when people think of volcanic lava, they picture liquid lava with a reddish hue because of its higher temperatures. However, in Kawah Ijen crater, nothing could be farther from the truth because the blue illumination has nothing to do with volcanic lava. Sulfur vapours emit from fissures in the crater with a temperature of more than 600 °C (1,112 °F). Upon encountering oxygen, the Sulfur vapors immediately ignite and burn with a blue flame. The higher temperature of Sulfur vapors is responsible for the “blue lava” phenomenon because it appears as if there is blue lava when, in fact, lava is of its regular colour.As per ZME Science, the blue flames are accompanied by a phenomenon known as the Cerulean eruption, a process in which molten sulfur flows down the slopes of the volcanoes. Upon burning, the sulfur turns to liquid and flows down the volcanoes like a river, giving it a neon-like effect. In turn, the process has been referred to by its name due to its rare nature, as it occurs in a handful of locations around the globe, one of which is Ethiopia’s Danakil Depression. Taking a photo of the phenomenon, as explained by photographers, feels more like a piece from a sci-fi movie than nature.

Hidden dangers behind Kawah Ijen’s blue flames

Although the blue flames are a sight to admire, they also illustrate the level of danger that the Kawah Ijen miners encounter regularly.

Why scientists study the blue flames

There is much more to Kawah Ijen than meets the eye of a photographer or tourist. The blue flames of Kawah Ijen also serve as important scientific study material. It is rare to see such a set of conditions coming together. The presence of magma, water, and escaping sulfuric gases gives scientists important material to study. Such a study helps scientists understand gas emanations, chemical reactions, and the danger to humans and the environment. Kawah Ijen is one such instance where natural beauty, science, and human survival meet on the edge of risk.

US President Donald Trump held talks with senior oil executives on Friday (local time), pushing them to consider investments in Venezuela’s oil sector following the capture of President Nicolas Maduro. While Trump presented the country as newly secure and open for business, industry leaders responded cautiously, with one major executive saying Venezuela remains “uninvestable” without deep reforms.Speaking at the White House, Trump said his administration would take charge of deciding which companies are allowed to operate in Venezuela, sidelining Caracas from the process. He argued that foreign firms had previously operated without adequate protections under Maduro and claimed the situation had now fundamentally changed.

“We’re going to be making the decision as to which oil companies are going to go in… (we’re) going to cut a deal with the companies,” Trump said. “But now you have total security. It’s a whole different Venezuela.”Trump added that oil companies would “deal with us directly,” signalling that Washington would manage access to Venezuela’s oil resources and exclude the country itself from negotiations.However, ExxonMobil chief executive Darren Woods raised serious doubts about returning to the country, citing the company’s history of asset seizures.“We’ve had our assets seized there twice and so, you can imagine, to re-enter a third time would require some pretty significant changes,” Woods said. “If we look at the legal and commercial constructs and frameworks in place today in Venezuela — today, it’s uninvestable.”The meeting came days after US forces seized Maduro, an action Trump has openly linked to Venezuela’s oil wealth. He said discussions with executives would centre on rapidly restoring the country’s deteriorated oil infrastructure and increasing output by millions of barrels per day.Those attending included Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Energy Secretary Chris Wright, along with executives from Chevron, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, Halliburton, Valero, Marathon, Shell, Trafigura, Vitol Americas and Repsol.A ConocoPhillips spokesman said chief executive Ryan Lance valued the talks around “preparing Venezuela to be investment ready.”After the meeting, Trump said participants had “sort of formed a deal,” though he did not provide details. He claimed companies were ready to invest “at least 100 Billion Dollars” in the country.Analysts told AFP that the plan to revive Venezuela’s oil industry faces major obstacles. They said the size of the country’s reserves does not guarantee quick or profitable production, pointing to ageing infrastructure, political risks, costly heavy crude extraction and growing investor caution as the world moves away from fossil fuels.“There’s lots of talk about the size of the reserves — 300 billion barrels of proved reserves — but what’s often missing from the conversation is how realistic it is for those to be economically extracted,” said Rich Collett-White, an energy analyst at Carbon Tracker.Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who has previously said the US would control Venezuela’s oil industry “indefinitely,” acknowledged after the talks that rebuilding the sector would “take time.”Meanwhile, Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez said her government remained in control of the country, while the state oil company said it was holding negotiations with Washington.Chevron is currently the only US firm licensed to operate in Venezuela. ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips exited the country in 2007 after rejecting demands from then-president Hugo Chavez to give the state majority control.Trump also said in a social media post that he had cancelled a second round of strikes on Venezuela, citing what he described as “cooperation” from the country.Venezuela has been under US sanctions since 2019 and holds around one-fifth of the world’s oil reserves. Despite this, it accounted for only about one percent of global crude production in 2024, according to OPEC, after years of underinvestment, sanctions and embargoes.Trump sees Venezuela’s oil wealth as a potential boost to his efforts to further bring down fuel prices in the United States.

A 50-year-old Dalit woman was killed after she tried to protect her daughter from alleged abductors in Meerut’s Kapsad village on Thursday.

MEERUT: A 50-year-old Dalit woman was killed after she tried to protect her daughter from alleged abductors in Meerut’s Kapsad village on Thursday, triggering political outrage and heightened security in the area.The woman was struck on the head with a sharp weapon when she stepped between her 20-year-old daughter and two men who allegedly attempted to abduct the younger woman. The accused fled with the daughter after attacking the mother, who later succumbed to her injuries in hospital.Police have identified the accused as Paras Som (23) and Sunil Kumar (25), both residents of the same village. An FIR has been registered under relevant Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections for murder and abduction, along with provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.Meerut SSP Vipin Tada said police have intensified the search operation. “An FIR has been filed against two persons under BNS sections for murder and abduction, along with relevant provisions of the SC/ST Act. Based on the clues, teams have also been sent to Haryana and Delhi,” he said.Meerut Zone ADG Bhanu Bhaskar told TOI, “We have assured the family that every possible measure is being taken to recover their daughter and bring the perpetrators to justice.”How events unfolded

District Magistrate VK Singh said financial assistance has been sanctioned. “A total of Rs 10 lakh has been given to the family from the CM relief fund, and they will receive an additional Rs 12 lakh by the time the chargesheet is filed in court.”Before succumbing to her injuries, the woman gave a statement recounting the assault. “Paras misbehaved with my daughter. When I protested, he started beating and abusing me. He hit my head with a sharp instrument,” she said.The accused remain absconding.Grief simmered in Kapsad village in the Sardhana area on Friday, even as a heavy police force was deployed to maintain law and order. The woman was cremated late in the evening after several hours of negotiations between the family and the administration.Earlier, the family had refused to perform the last rites, demanding the arrest of the accused, strict action against alleged illegal constructions by them, and the safe recovery of the missing daughter.Senior officials, including SSP Vipin Tada, remained present in the village during prolonged talks with the family. “More than ten police teams are working across districts to apprehend the accused and ensure the girl’s safe recovery. Both hail from the same village. We are acting swiftly on all leads,” he said.DM Dr VK Singh said the administration was also considering providing an arms licence to the family due to security concerns and assured them of immediate protection. He added that the law and order situation in the area was peaceful.The case has drawn sharp political reactions. BSP supremo Mayawati posted on X, “Govt must take these incidents of violation of women’s dignity and subsequent murder with utmost seriousness and take immediate and strict action against the culprits to prevent criminal elements from committing such heinous acts in the future.”Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav wrote on X, “…BJP govt reached a point of no return in its patronage of criminals… There can be nothing worse than a situation where people lose all hope in their govt.”Former Union minister and ex-MP Sanjeev Balyan, who visited the family, said, “I asked them to have a little patience.”Key points

Samajwadi Party workers also staged a protest at Commissary Park, demanding the girl’s safe recovery and the arrest of the accused, leading to minor scuffles with police.

FILE – The 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV sits on display at the Chicago Auto Show, Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

FILE – The 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV sits on display at the Chicago Auto Show, Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

General Motors will be hit with charges of about $6 billion as sales of electric vehicles sputter after the US cut tax incentives to buy them and also eased auto emissions standards. Shares slid almost 3% Friday. The charges that will be recorded in the fourth quarter follow an announcement in October that the Detroit automaker would take a $1.6 billion charge for the same reason in the previous quarter, with automakers forced to reconsider ambitious plans to convert their fleets to electric power. The EV tax credit ended in September. The clean vehicle tax credit was worth $7,500 for new EVs and up to $4,000 for used ones. GM, which had been the most ambitious among all U.S. automakers with plans to replace internal combustion engines, said in its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Thursday that the $6 billion in charges includes non-cash impairments and other non-cash charges of about $1.8 billion as well as supplier commercial settlements, contract cancellation fees, and other charges of approximately $4.2 billion. EVs have been considered to be the future of the US automotive industry. GM announced in 2020 that it was going to invest $27 billion in electric and autonomous vehicles over the next five years, a 35% increase over plans made before the pandemic. GM expected more than half of its factories in North America and China would be capable of making electric vehicles by 2030. It also pledged at the time to increase its investment in EV charging networks by nearly $750 million through 2025. Its goal was to make the vast majority of the vehicles electric by 2035, and the entire company carbon neutral five years after that. Those plans have been shaken due to the drastic differences in economic and environmental policies between the Biden and Trump administrations. China has become a global leader in electric vehicle technology in recent years, with factories there churning out millions of cars and laying the groundwork for a massive charging network for vehicles. Earlier this month, Tesla was dethroned as the world’s largest EV automaker, replaced by China’s BYD, which produced 2.26 million electric vehicles last year. Also Friday, Netherlands-based Stellantis, said that due to shifting customer demand it would “phase out plug in hybrid (PHEV) programs in North America beginning with the 2026 model year, and focus on more competitive electrified solutions.” Stellantis owns Jeep, Dodge, Chrysler and other carmakers.

US President Donald Trump (AP photo)

US President Donald Trump late Friday once again spoke about taking action on Greenland, saying the US would have to do “something” or risk Russia and China stepping in. He said Washington does not want Moscow or Beijing as its “neighbours”.Speaking to reporters during a meeting with top oil and gas executives, Trump questioned Denmark’s claim over Greenland, saying that landing a boat there 500 years ago does not give ownership of the land.When asked about Greenland, Trump said, “We are going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not, because if we don’t do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland — and we’re not going to have Russia or China as a neighbour. I would like to make a deal the easy way but if we don’t do it the easy way, we’re going to do it the hard way”.He added, “And by the way, I’m a fan of Denmark as well. They’ve been very nice to me. I’m a big fan but the fact that they had a boat land there 500 years ago doesn’t mean that they own the land. We had lots of boats go there also. But we need that because if you take a look at outside of Greenland right now, they are Russian destroyers, Chinese destroyers and bigger there are Russian submarines all over the place. We’re not going to have Russia or China occupy Greenland and that’s what they’re going to do if we don’t. We will do something with Greenland either the nice way or the difficult way.”When questioned about why the US needed to “own” Greenland when it already has a military presence there, Trump said ownership was essential for defence.He said, “When we own it we defend it. You don’t defend leases the same way. You have to own it. Countries have to have ownership and you defend ownership. You don’t defend leases. If we don’t do it, China or Russia well. That’s not going to happen… Nato has to understand that. I’m all for Nato. I saved it. If it weren’t for me, Nato would not be there.”Trump’s repeated comments on Greenland have drawn strong pushback from Denmark and Greenland. Copenhagen has warned that its troops are under orders to “shoot first and ask question later” if Greenland comes under attack, as concerns grow in Europe over the US openly discussing possible military action against the Arctic territory.Earlier, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen rejected Trump’s claims that the US “needs” Greenland for security reasons, calling them an “unacceptable pleasure”.When asked what it would mean if the US used force against another Nato member, Frederiksen said, “If the US attacks another Nato country, everything stops.” She added that while she could not predict Washington’s actions, “there is full support from Europe that borders must be respected.”Trump has renewed his push to take over Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory rich in natural resources such as rare earth minerals, uranium and iron. His latest remarks come days after the US used military force in Venezuela to seize President Nicolas Maduro.For decades, the US has viewed Greenland as strategically important. Under Trump, the island has again been placed at the centre of Washington’s Arctic strategy. Trump had earlier offered to buy Greenland in 2019 during his first term, but Denmark said it was not for sale.Trump has repeatedly warned that Russia and China could take control of foreign territories if the US does not act. Referring to the Venezuela operation, he said, “If we didn’t do what we did, China or Russia would have been in Venezuela.”In response to a question about Europe, Trump sharply criticised wind energy. He said, “I’m not much of a windmill person. I can proudly say that we have not approved one wind mill since I’ve been in office and we’re going to keep it that way. My role is to not let any windmill get build. They’re losers. They lose money, they destroy your landscape, they kill your birds, they are all made in China”.He also suggested that Europe should question China about its own use of wind power.Trump said, “They (China) use coal, oil and gas and some nuclear but they don’t have windmills. They make them and sell them to suckers like Europe and suckers like the United States before. They are the worst form of energy, most expensive form of energy”.These remarks came shortly after Trump signed a memorandum directing the US to withdraw from international organisations, conventions and treaties that he said were “contrary to the interests” of the US.According to a White House statement, the move includes withdrawal from 35 non-UN organisations and 31 UN entities. Among the non-UN organisations listed are the India- and France-led International Solar Alliance, environmental bodies such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.Other organisations affected include the International Energy Forum, the International Renewable Energy Agency, the Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation and the Global Counterterrorism Forum.

BENGALURU: Corporate forensic teams and background verification firms are flagging cases of location spoofing, particularly among hybrid employees and gig workers. In several instances, employees have been pulled up after allegedly misrepresenting their actual work location, with such discrepancies surfacing during random audits, compliance checks, or client reviews.Investigations found that some used travel routers or similar devices to make it appear they were working from their designated base locations while actually operating from elsewhere.An employee at an MNC firm was terminated after being flagged for location spoofing while working remotely, a Reddit post said. The individual said he was with the company for a couple of years and travelled to his home country in South Asia last month due to a family emergency.

To avoid drawing attention, the employee said he used atravel router configured with acloud-based server to make it appear as though he was working from the US. According to the post, the employee was subsequently interviewed by an internal investigator and was terminated for violating the company’s business conduct guidelines by masking his actual work location.Amit Rahane, partner at EY’s forensic and integrity services, said location spoofing is no longer theoretical. “Companies are detecting such cases through compliance audits, security reviews, and client checks rather than active surveillance. Many employees underestimate how much data is captured. Several controls were introduced during Covid to monitor moonlighting — such as IP tracking and login analytics — and these systems remain in place. As a result, location inconsistencies are often detected even without targeted monitoring,” he said.Ashok Hariharan, co-founder and CEO of identity verification platform Idfy, said companies want to verify whether a gig worker went to a specific location — for instance, whether a delivery was genuinely attempted at a customer’s residence. Hariharan said location spoofing can be identified by combining IP and VPN intelligence with GPS based checks. Rahane said most companies avoid active surveillance due to privacy concerns, with detection typically occurring through security audits, compliance checks, or client reviews.

KOLKATA: Aftershocks of the showdown between Enforcement Directorate (ED) and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee over raids on Trinamool-linked political consultancy I-PAC jolted Calcutta high court Friday, prompting Justice Suvra Ghosh to postpone hearing petitions filed by either side till Jan 14 on grounds of “enormous disturbance and commotion” in the courtroom.The judge, seemingly annoyed at her repeated pleas for “order” being ignored by lawyers and apprentices seeking to outshout each other, walked out of the courtroom after quickly announcing the forced adjournment.

Justice Ghosh specified in her order that she would have heard both petitions as scheduled had a large gathering of lawyers and others not entered the courtroom and caused a ruckus. “Several requests made by the court to maintain decorum and dignity fell on deaf ears. The environment in the courtroom is not conducive to commence/continue with the hearing,” she said.ED, the first mover in the legal battle over CM Mamata’s alleged interference in the probe against I-PAC, immediately approached acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul for an urgent hearing. The plea was turned down. Acting CJ Paul told the agency’s counsel Dhiraj Trivedi that there was no justification in pushing for an urgent hearing after the judge assigned to take up its petition had fixed a date.The face-off between ED and Mamata started Thursday afternoon after she drove to the Loudon Street home of IPAC director Pratik Jain when the agency was searching the premises for evidence linked to an investigation in a 2020 money laundering case.The CM next went to IPAC’s office in Salt Lake’s Sec-tor V, staying put for almost four hours and allegedly taking away sheaves of documents and storage devices that she claimed contained Trinamool Congress’s election strategy. Besides Mamata, ED’s petition accuses DGP Rajeev Kumar and Kolkata police commissioner Manoj Varma of “theft of digital devices and other evidence, and wrongful restraint and confinement of central govt officers”.Mamata’s petition against ED alleges the central agency was doing BJP’s bidding and targeting I-PAC addresses to “snatch” Trinamool-specific and other data pertaining to the upcoming assembly elections. Friday’s hearing was scheduled for 2.30pm, but the crowd in court No. 5 started to swell after the lunch break ended at 2pm.ED counsel Trivedi and Trinamool’s Kalyan Banerjee complained they were finding it impossible to reach the bench to argue their cases. “Anyone not associated with the case, please leave,” Justice Ghosh pleaded. After 15 minutes of chaos, HC officials and a Kolkata Police officer posted outside the courtroom managed to clear a section of the crowd, but the commotion refused to die down. “I cannot hear anything,” Justice Ghosh declared, leading to the adjournment.

DEHRADUN: The post-mortem report of 24-year-old Tripura youth Anjel Chakma, who was killed in Dehradun on Dec 9, 2025, points to a brutal battering inflicted on the MBA student, with injuries to the head, possibly by a kada, being the cause of death. TOI accessed a copy of the report on Friday, which mentions “13 stitches on the right side of neck of 12.5 cm length, three stitches on right side of lower back of 3 cm in length, and one stitch of 1 cm length on the right shoulder.” The report also stated that Anjel sustained injuries to the vertebrae and spinal cord, with fractures at C2, C3 and C5 of his vertebrae. It mentioned implants at C2 and C3 levels, involving a medical device to treat fractures or instability.

Chakma was attacked by six youths, including two juveniles, on Dec 9 evening when he was out with his younger brother Michael, 21, to buy groceries in Selaqui area of the city.Anjel died at a private hospital on Dec 26 morning. Michael is the complainant in the case. Inspector Bhaskar Sah, leading the SIT probing the case, told TOI, “The autopsy report mentioned ante-mortem head injuries as the cause of death. It corroborates a probe finding that Anjel was attacked with a metal bracelet (kada) by one of the accused before he was stabbed on the lower back with a knife by another accused currently on the run.” Senior neurosurgeon Dr Mahesh Kuriyal said, “With the details of other injuries mentioned in the report, head injuries seem to be the only cause of death as a patient hardly dies of spinal cord injuries. It seems the boy suffered complications due to the head injuries.” Speaking to TOI from Tripura, Anjel’s uncle Momen Chakma demanded “equal and strict punishment for all six accused”.