On imposing reciprocal tariffs on “high tariffing” countries on April 2, US President Donald Trump seems to holding his cards close to his chest.

His team of top trade officials are not at liberty to discuss it even with the targeted countries.

The team from the US Trade Representative’s office, which was in New Delhi from March 25-29 to discuss trade and tariff cuts with their Indian counterparts, apparently did not breathe a word on what was to be expected on April 2.

The talks were of course, centred around the kind of tariff cuts the US expected from India and what the latter could do, but the officials did not disclose if the April 2 tariffs could be avoided. Sources close to the development said that even the basic information on whether the tariff would be across the board on all items or specific to certain products was not shared.

So, apart from Trump’s much-publicised teasers on what may be expected on April 2, there is little based on which one could anticipate. Whether Trump’s secretive ways yield results for the US economy remains to be seen.

Naidu, the celebrity

A gathering of research scholars at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras brought the house down last week. One wondered if it was an academic event or a concert as the researchers, largely from the Telugu community, cheered on their leader Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu.

Walking into celebratory chants from the students, the politician too was taken aback as he got the welcome of a movie superstar. As journalists enquired the PhD students about what prompted the otherwise sober lot to react this way, one scholar quipped that all reasoning went out when it came to their leader, and they were excited beyond words to see him in the flesh.

As they say, politics and films are two things that brings together the South of India breaking all barriers

Fertility & film woes

A proposed ₹3,500-crore IPO from fertility chain Indira IVF appears to have sparked a little controversy, with reports suggesting that its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) had been withdrawn due to an objection from the markets regulator on a Bollywood film reportedly modelled on the clinic’s founder, that was seen to be promoting the company.

Indira IVF has, however, countered, that it withdrew its DRHP due to an evaluation of factors and commercial considerations. No kidding.

PSBs to the rescue

A private sector bank has projected its recent flurry of certificate of deposit (CD) issuances as a confidence boosting exercise. But industry players say these issuances were necessitated to make good the deposit outflows that apparently happened after the bank disclosed discrepancies in the accounting of its derivatives transactions.

Public sector banks’ are understood to have come to the rescue of this mid-sized bank. They invested in this bank’s CDs in a big way even as many peer private sector banks are believed to have stayed on the sidelines.

The 30 – 30 formula

As the Congress government in Karnataka completes two years, Siddaramiah after presenting a record 16th budget, should be sitting pretty, right? The Lokayukta has given him a clean chit in the MUDA land ‘scam’, making him ‘Shudda’ramiah in his supporters’ eyes. The opposition BJP is bogged down by internecine warfare with the anti-Yeddiyurappa faction at daggers drawn with BSY and his sons.

However, if sources close to the KPCC President and Deputy CM D K Shivakumar’s faction is to be believed, his turn at being the CM, according to a 30-30 month formula, is due in six months. ‘He will be CM, from which party, it is up to the high command. If injustice is done, there will be repercussions,’ claim supporters. Shivakumar is playing coy for now, denying any move to force the issue.