HYDERABAD  FRIDAY  MAY 20, 2022  `9.00  PAGES 28  LATE CITY EDITION RELIEF AS INDONESIA LIFTS BAN ON PALM OIL EXPORT In a major relief for India’s FMGC sector, exports will resume on Monday, almost a month after the ban went into effect PRICE FALL IN LOCAL MARKET BEHIND DECISION DOMESTIC SUPPLY TRIPLES: WIDODO Indonesian President Joko Widodo said palm oil’s price has fallen from $1.35 per litre to about $1.17 since the ban, which was meant to increase its local supply and reduce the domestic price. The war in Ukraine, which accounts for nearly half of the world’s sunflower oil, had put pressure on the global supply of cooking oil, making palm oil prices jump ■ ■ Once Indonesia announced its export ban, the price of palm oil shot up 200%, putting pressure on India, which imports about 8.5 million tonnes of the commodity annually Indonesian leader said the ban has helped triple the supply of palm oil from 64,500 tons to 2,11,000 tons per month 60% OF WORLD’S PALM OIL COMES FROM INDONESIA 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 GST Council’s decisions not written in stone: SC Nikhat Zareen celebrates with her coaches and fellow boxers after winning the 52kg gold medal bout at the World Boxing Championships in Istanbul on Thursday Says Parliament, Assemblies free to legislate on it; experts fear it would trigger fresh face-off with Centre M O N I K A YA D A V @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court opened a can of worms on Thursday when in the course of delivering a verdict in a case, it held that the GST Council’s recommendations have only persuasive value and are not binding. “The Parliament and the state legislatures possess simultaneous powers to legislate on GST. Article 246A of the Constitution does not envisage a repugnancy provision to resolve the inconsistencies between the Central and state laws on GST. The recommendations of the GST Council are the product of a collaborative dialogue involving the Union and states. They are recommendatory in nature,” the court observed. The bench made the observation while upholding a Gujarat High Court order to revoke Integrated GST (IGST) on ocean freight from Indian importers. It held that the IGST paid on ocean freight is unconstitutional and those who have already paid it will be eligible for refund. Some state finance ministers from non-BJP states had in the past ques- DIALOGUE IN FEDERALISM “Indian federalism is a dialogue between cooperative and uncooperative federalism where the federal units are at liberty to use different means of persuasion,” the ruling said tioned the authority of the GST Council and even termed the GST (in its current form and shape) as against the federalism. In May 2021, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan had berated the GST system and council saying they function with an omnipotent and all-encompassing mandate not envisioned in the Constitution. Tax experts believe the SC’s observation might increase the state vs Centre tussle on many GST issues. Mahesh Jaising, Partner, Deloitte India said, “This would have far reaching implications on various other matters where states are not in agreement with the decisions of the GST Council, especially in light of the compensation period coming to an Now, court nod for case against Mathura mosque STRUCTURE FOUND IN GYANVAPI RESEMBLES SHIVALINGA: SURVEY E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Lucknow inch and has five equal parts. A narrow 63 cm deep hole was noticed at the A report of a court-ordered survey centre of the cylindrical structure, conducted in the Gyanvapi mosque on but the survey team found no arrangeMay 14-16, which was submitted to a ment for a water supply pipe for the Varanasi civil court on Thursday, fountain to function. Sources claimed the cylindrical claims a black stone cylindrical structure found in the middle of the wuzu structure was 2.5 ft high with a radi(ablution) pond on the premises re- us of 4 ft at the base. The report says when layers of moss desembled a Shivalinga, highposited over that structure ly placed sources said. REPORT As soon as the cylindriwere removed, its black SUBMITTED cal structure became visicolour became visible. ble to the court-appointed The survey report also commission, the plaintiffs mentions the ground plan, and their lawyers started zig-zag cuts inside domes report of courtcalling it a Shivalinga of the mosque and the ordered survey of while the mosque authorimain mandaps, which Gyanvapi mosque ties termed it a fountain matched the map of ground submitted to that was defunct for years, plan of the Aadi Varanasi judge the report adds. Visheshwar temple as Sources citing the report said the printed in multiple books, said mosque staff failed to give a definite sources. timeline on when the fountain became During the survey, a swastik was defunct. Initially they claimed it was found on the inner wall near the , not working for the last 20 years but south pole of the main dome, sources then they scaled down the figure to 12 added. Symbols of three damroos years. The mosque staff also failed to were reportedly spotted at the main make it operational when requested gate of the mosque. In the north-west to do so, they added. On top of the cy- direction, a 15 ft x15 ft basement was lindrical structure is an half-inch spotted and it was reportedly covered P7 thick white layer whose radius is 9 with debris. AMID the ongoing litigation on the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, a Mathura district court on Thursday allowed petitions seeking removal of the Shahi Idgah masjid abutting the Shree Krishna Janmabhoomi temple. “The suit to remove the Shahi Idgah mosque on the ground that it was built over the Krishna Janmabhoomi land is maintainable,” district judge Rajeev Bharti said, overturning a civil court’s order dismissing a bunch of petitions demanding it. “Right to sue of the plaintiff will stand restored. Case will be restored at its original number,” the district court said in its order. The order came on a revision petition filed by deities Bhagwan Shrikrishna Virajman of Katra Keshav Dev temple and Asthan Shri Krishna Janmbhoomi, through next of friends Ranjana Agnihotri and six others challenging the dismissal order. In all, three lawsuits were filed. They sought the removal of the Shahi Idgah masjid. N A M I TA B A J PA I @ Lucknow 15-PAGE ‘Desh ka neta’ KCR embarks on India tour today E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Hyderabad CHIEF Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who has been making a strong case for the “Telangana model” of development and an alternative agenda for the country , is embarking on a nationwide tour starting Friday . The CM will interact with agitating farmers in Punjab, meet Chief Ministers of Delhi and Punjab and also tour Karnataka and Maharashtra. According to an official release issued on Thursday night, Rao will leave for Delhi on Fri- day He has been on a collision with . the Narendra Modi government on several issues such as paddy procurement, states’ share in GST, national s t at u s fo r T S i r r i g a t i o n projects. During his visit to various States, Rao will meet economists, politicians and prominent persons of various fields. The TRS supremo will console family members of farmers, who lost their lives in their fight against the Farm Bills. During his interactions with Chief Ministers and others, Rao will discuss the political and economic issues. Rao, who stated during the TRS plenary that the country did not need more “tents and fronts’, has said Telangana will play a key role in redefining the country’s goals. He will stay in Delhi on Friday and Saturday . On May 22, Rao is slated to travel from Delhi to Chandigarh, where he would handover `3 lakh to family members of 600 farmers, who lost their lives during the agitation against the Farm Bills. The State Cabinet, in the past, decided to give solatium to the families of 600 CONTINUED ON P3 farmers. In IAS reshuffle, TS names DISHA CASE Karuna as full-time Edu Secy SUPREME COURT LIKELY TO HEAR SHADNAGAR ENCOUNTER CASE TODAY The Sirpurkar Commission, which probed into the alleged encounter, submitted its report to the Apex Court in January this year | P3 GIRL SUFFERS THIRD DEGREE BURNS AFTER BEING FORCED TO WALK ON BURNING COALS The 18-year-old was tortured by a sorcerer at Nashkal near Parigi in Vikarabad district as a “cure” for her abnormal behaviour | P3 E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Hyderabad AT a time when the education sector has been rocked by the fake certificates controversy the Telangana government , appointed a full-time secretary for Education Department after a gap of one year. In a minor reshuffle of IAS officers, the government posted Vakati Karuna as Education Secretary duly relieving Sand, eep Kumar Sultania from full additional charge of the post. It may be recalled that there was no regular Secretary for the Education Department since April, 2021 when Special Chief Secretary, Education Chitra Ramachandran retired on superannuation. Meanwhile, Additional Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Jyoti Buddha Pra- kash has been posted as Secretary Handloom Textiles and Handicrafts, Industries and Commerce Department. Buddha Prakash was also placed in full additional charge of the post of Commissioner Transport. Shailaja Ramaiyer, the present secretary of Handlooms and Textiles has been transferred and no posting was given to her. The present Transport Secretary KS Sreenivasa Raju has been transferred and no posting was given to him. Rahul Bojja, Secretary to CM, was given full additional charge of the posts of Commissioner and Inspector General, Registration and Stamps, Commissioner and Director, Survey Settlement and Land Records P5 and PD, Bhu Bharathi. end in June.” Article 279A of the Constitution specifies that the GST Council will only make recommendations to states and the Centre on taxes, cesses and surcharge levied by them, which may be subsumed in the GST Act. However, Sushil Modi, who has played a crucial role in shaping the GST as a member of the council while he was finance minister of Bihar, says the court’s observation will not make much of a difference. “The Supreme Court’s ruling is not new. It is already there in the Constitution. There won’t be any adverse implication of this amendment as no state would like to deviate from the majority for the fear of being at disadvantage or being singled out,” he said. E X P R E S S R E A D Ex-MLA Odelu, wife leave TRS, join Cong Adilabad: In what has come as a shot in the arm for the Congress in erstwhile Adilabad district, former TRS MLA from Chennur, Nallala Odelu and his wife Bhagyalakshmi, who is also the chairperson of Mancherial Zilla Parishad, joined the ranks of the grand old party in the presence of Priyanka Gandhi at New Delhi on Thursday. TPCC chief A Revanth Reddy was present on the occasion | P4 Nikhat gets her due, now on top of worlds I N D R A N E E L DA S @ Chennai NIKHAT Zareen. The name is quite familiar in Indian boxing. Known for her punches and quick foot movements inside the ring and for a few words outside, sometimes vitriolic and certain times sombre. Nikhat’s rivalry with six-time World Championships gold medallist, MC Mary Kom, is more popular than her boxing pedigree. When Nikhat beat Thailand’s Jitpong Jutamas in the 52kg final of the World Boxing Championships on Thursday, she punched the air and celebrated. Those days of bitterness and frustration blurred into oblivion. Growing up in the shadow of a legend is not easy. It can be heartbreaking at times and if she continues winning and securing the space, which under normal circumstances, would be Nikhat’s natural domain, it can be worse. There were words of despair. She cried and endured in si- lence. “I used to call my mother when I was down,” she recollected those moments. All she hoped for was good tidings. She never stopped dreaming though. Like she said, “... I have taken every competition as an opportunity and I have tasted success. I believe in myself.” Champions usually don’t dwell much on missed chances. In 2014, she was the youth world silver medallist and before that junior world champion in 2011. She also represented India at the World Championships once in 2016 in 54kg. The pressure of performing was immense on the Nizamabad girl. For mortals, it would have been enough to make the knees wobble, but not for Nikhat. With 2024 Paris Olympics looming, nothing could have been more soothing than this gold. However, the weight categories available are 50kg and 54kg. “After all those hardships, I am a world champion. P11 I’m really happy .”