BENGALURU  TUESDAY  NOVEMBER 22, 2022  `9.00  PAGES 22  LATE CITY EDITION NEW NORMS TO CURB FAKE, PAID REVIEWS ON AMAZON, FLIPKART E-commerce platforms will now have to disclose all paid consumer reviews of products and services on their sites COMPLIANCE WILL BE VOLUNTARY INITIALLY NEW STANDARDS TO PROTECT CONSUMERS The Department of Consumer Affairs on Monday launched a framework titled ‘Indian Standard (IS) 19000:2022 ‘Online Consumer Reviews — Principles and Requirements for their Collection, Moderation and Publication’. Initially, the standards will be voluntary for compliance by e-commerce firms but may be made mandatory if the menace continues ■ Online reviews play a vital role in making purchase decisions on e-commerce platforms and, therefore, reviews should be legitimate, accurate and not misleading, said Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh. “We are probably the first country in the world to formulate standards for online reviews,” he added IS 19000:2022 WILL BE APPLICABLE TO EVERY PLATFORM THAT PUBLISHES CONSUMER REVIEWS 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 First Rahul-Modi sparring match on Guj turf Cong leader takes break from Bharat Jodo Yatra, reaches out to tribals in his first rally D I L I P S I N G H K S H AT R I YA @ Ahmedabad EXPRESS READ Voter data theft: BBMP suspends three officers Bengaluru: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike suspended three Additional Revenue Officers (AROs) and ordered a departmental inquiry against them in connection with the voter data theft case. The three officials were accused of helping P4 Chilume with fake ID cards. Meta rolls out privacy settings for teens Bengaluru: Meta has rolled out new updates on Facebook and Instagram to protect minors from online harm. From now, those under the age of 16, or under 18 in some countries, will be defaulted into more private settings when they join. This is part of the company’s efforts to stop spread of self-generated P13 intimate images online. PSI scam: Rs 85 lakh highest bribe paid Bengaluru: The Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which is investigating the police sub inspector (PSI) recruitment scam, has revealed that H U Raghuveer, a candidate, had paid the highest amount of Rs 85 lakh to PSI Naveen Prasad to P3 secure a post. MUSIC TO THE EARS City-based musician Sanjeeta Bhattacharya’s debut album, Shuruaat, has been nominated for the 65th Grammys MORE ON CITY EXPRESS Saka, Rashford shine for England Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford put last year’s European Championships loss behind them, combining to score three goals in England’s 6-2 rout of Iran on Monday. Both players missed penalties in the shootout loss to Italy in the Euro 2020 final and were then subjected to racist abuse. A year later, Saka scored twice at Khalifa International Stadium and Rashford came off the bench to add another with his first move CAMPAIGNING for the December 1 first phase of Gujarat Assembly elections became spicy on Monday with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addressing his first poll rally in the state, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi mocking him over his Bharat Jodo Yatra. At a rally Rahul addressed in Mahuva in Surat district after taking a break from the yatra, he sought to strengthen his party’s traditional bond with tribals in Gujarat, saying they have the first right to land and forest resources across the country . Criticising the term Vanavasi used by the Bharatiya Janata Party to describe the tribals, Rahul alleged that the real intention behind using this term is to keep the tribal population in the forests, far away from modern education and health facilities. Pointing out that the Adivasis are real owners of the land and forests in India, he went on to allege that the current dispensation at the Centre wants to strip the tribals off their land and give them away to a few industrialists. As for Modi, he took pot shots at Rahul without naming him at a public meeting in Surendranagar, saying those who have been thrown out of power by the people are now taking out a padyatra to return to power. “Some people are doing a padyatra to get back to power. They are also taking along those who had stalled the Narmada dam project for 40 years through litigation and kept Gujarat thirsty In this elec. tion, people of Gujarat will punish those who were against the Narmada project,” he said, alluding to anti-dam activist Medha Patkar joining Rahul’s yatra in Maharashtra a few days ago. He went on to attack the Congress There was a time when there was acute water shortage. I had said Surendranagar district will be the biggest beneficiary of the Narmada project. Today, I stand validated They want you to live in the jungles. After that, they start taking away the jungles from you. If it continues, in another 5-10 yrs, all the jungles will be in the hands of 2 to 3 industrialists MANGALURU BLAST ACCUSED HAD DEEP LINKS WITH ISIS D I V YA C U T I N H O @ Mangaluru MOHAMMAD Shariq, the main accused behind the low intensity blast in an autorickshaw in Mangaluru on Saturday evening, is said to be having connections with the global terror organisation Islamic State of Iraq & Syria (ISIS). Hours after Shariq’s relatives identified him on Monday, Additional Director General of Police ( A D G P ) , L aw and Order, Alok K u m a r, a d dressed media persons and said Shariq, whose immediate handler is Arafat Ali, an accused in the terror graffiti case, has connections with the ISIS and is part of the Islamic State’s Al Hind module. Arafat, too, is alleged to have links with ISIS. Alok Kumar said Shariq, a BCom graduate, visited Mangaluru on November 10, may be to finalise a location for bomb blast, although it is still not known where he wanted to plant it. “Shariq was handled by Abdul No decision yet on NIA probe, says CM Bengaluru: The Karnataka government has not taken any decision on handing over the Mangaluru autorickshaw blast case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said, “We have given all the details to the Central agency.” Man picked up by Bengaluru cops Bengaluru: A man hailing from Mysuru was picked up by the Bengaluru East Division police in connection with the Mangaluru blast and was handed over to Mysuru police, according to Dr Bheema Shankar Guled, Deputy Commissiner of Poilce (DCP), East Division. Matheen, a wanted suspect in terror activity facing Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) case in Bengaluru and his immediate handler, Arafat, is said to be operating from Dubai now. Meanwhile, Shariq had posed in a signature style of ISIS holding the cooker bomb with Improvised Explosive Device (IED) installed to it.” A police officer involved in the investigations, on condition of anonymity, said Shariq was influenced by Zakir Naik, a controversial Islamic evangelist and Indian fugitive. “Shariq has handlers in Dubai with Al Ummah group. Thirthahalli is their base, and from this group, Ab- ENGLAND HIT IRAN FOR SIX The 2020 Euro finalists have started their World Cup campaign with a massive 6-2 win over Iran. A look.. FIFA says no to OneLove armbands Just hours before the first match on Monday, players wearing armbands in support of the “OneLove” campaign were set to take the field, FIFA warned they would be shown yellow cards — two of which lead to a player’s expulsion from that game and also the next. That changed the calculation for the seven European teams, which may have expected to be fined for the gesture | P17 TODAY’S MATCHES Group C: Argentina vs Saudi Arabia, 3.30 PM, Mexico vs Poland, 9.30 PM Group D: Denmark vs Tunisia, 6.30 PM, France vs Australia 12.30 AM on Wednesday England’s Bukayo Saka (L) celebrates scoring his team’s second against Iran on Monday | AFP claiming it does not talk about development during elections any longer. “Instead, Congress leaders are saying they will show Modi his aukat (status). Just look at their arrogance. They do belong to a royal family while I am , merely a servant having no aukat,” Modi quipped. At Rahul’s rally, Bharatsinh, son of former Congress heavyweight Madhavsinh Solanki, attempted a live translation of his speech in Hindi into Gujarati but made a hash of it. The crowd cheered as Bharatsinh was taken off midway by candidate Anant Patel. Rahul went on speaking in Hindi much to the relief of the gathering. NIA visits Shariq’s room in Mysuru Mysuru: A five-member National Investigation Agency team arrived in Mysuru on Sunday night after it came to light that the prime suspect stayed in a rented house. The team visited Shariq’s room in Lokanayaknagar which he had taken on rent using fake documents. dul Matheen is on the National Investigation Agency (NIA) watch list since four years. These accused get trained to make bombs online, are exposed to ISIS propaganda videos, dark web browsing on bomb making etc. They were influenced by Zakir Naik’s speeches and wanted the Shariah to be implemented across the world,” said another credible source. The sources said Shariq chose Mangaluru because his act would get enough publicity and traction as the city is communally sensitive. CO N C E R N OV E R BL A S T O CC UR R IN G O N DAY O F C M’S V I SI T P4 Record-breaker Jagadeesan lights up Chinnaswamy BENGALURU: Less than a week after being released by Chennai Super Kings, TN batter N Jagadeesan has stacked up record after record in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy. Monday was the highlight of all as Jagadeesan smashed a record-breaking 277 against Arunchal Pradesh at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, registering the highest-ever individual score List-A cricket FULL COVERAGE PAGE 18 Congress to move SC against release of Rajiv case convicts P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi DAYS after the Centre moved the Supreme Court against the premature release of six convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, the Congress on Monday said that it will file an intervention application in the review petition filed by the government. “We will file an intervention application in the review petition filed by the Centre,” AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh told this n e w s p a p e r. I n t e r v e n t i o n application means that a third party (intervener) may file a plea to ‘interrupt’ the proceedings of a case and claim a right to hearing in the interest of justice. Sources said the Cong ress will file the application in a few days, probably this week itself. On November 11, the Supreme Court had granted premature release of Nalini Sriharan, Robert Pais, Ravichandran, Suthenthira Raja alias Santhan, Shriharan alias Murug an and Jaikumar, who were serving life sentence in the case. SABARIMALA Pilgrims can carry coconuts in flight cabin The Bureau of Civil Aviation Safety on Monday permitted pilgrims heading to Sabarimala to carry coconuts in their flight cabin baggage. Earlier, pilgrims had to carry the Irumudi in check-in baggage. Joint Director of BCAS Jaideep Prasad said, “Bearing religious sentiments in mind, we have decided to permit coconuts to be carried in the cabin baggage during the Sabarimala season. Of course, all airports will be asked to deploy additional security staff for screening of pilgrims.” P2 4 COPS ON THE RUN AFTER ROBBING JEWELLER OF D5L EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Chikkamagaluru IN a case of fence eating the crop, four policemen robbed a jeweller of Rs 5 lakh in Chikkamagaluru district and are absconding. The jeweller and his father have said that they were being forced by the cops to pay them Rs 10 lakh. The incident occurred when Rohit, son of jeweller Bhagavan, was on his way to Belur in his car to hand over 2 kg of gold jewellery to a merchant. On the way , two policemen stopped the car at Bukkamabudhi Gate. They got into the car and took Rohit to a police sub-inspector who was some distance away . From there, the two policemen forced Rohit to drive to a remote place where they demanded Rs 10 lakh from him. They threatened Rohit that they would arrest him on charges of illegally transporting jewels. Though Rohit showed them documents related to the jewellery the policemen did not relent , and demanded the amount. Rohit managed to get Rs 5 lakh from a merchant at Ajjampura and gave it to the policemen. The accused have been identified as Lingaraju, station officer at Ajjampura police station, Dhanapal Naik of Sakrayaptna police station, Omkaramurthy of Kudrmukh police station and Sharathraj of Lingadahalli police station. The incident took place in the month of May Based on Bhaga. van’s complaint, an inquiry was ordered. The probe team found that the allegations against the four policemen were true. Police have launched a manhunt for the accused who are absconding. A case has been registered. MANY KIDS AMONG 162 KILLED IN JAVA QUAKE 5.6-magnitude earthquake in Indonesia kills at least 162, most of them children. Over 320 others injured; epicentre in Cianjur area Occurred at a shallow depth of 10 km, the US Geological Survey said MOST OF THE VICTIMS DIED IN COLLAPSED BUILDINGS Toll expected to rise as more people are still trapped in collapsed buildings. Access to them cut off due to landslides Many of the dead were public school students who had finished their classes and were taking extra lessons at Islamic schools Jakarta SHALLOW BUT DEADLY TREMORS Bogor INDONESIA Cianjur Bandung WEST JAVA Survivors receive medical treatment outside a local hospital following an earthquake in Cianjur, West Java on Monday | AP Thousands of houses, shops, hospitals and a school in the town severely damaged Indonesia is prone to high seismic activity due to its position on the Pacific Cianjur is densely populated and prone to landslides. Its poorly built houses were reduced to rubble in many areas Ring of Fire, where tectonic plates collide| P12 Goldman Sachs, Crisil say India’s growth will slump EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi WHILE India has so far managed to steer clear of the heat of the global slowdown, rating agencies feel the coming year will be different, as they continue to cut the country’s GDP growth projection for 2023. In the latest round of revisions, Goldman Sachs, Crisil and Icra have slashed India’s growth prospects. While Goldman Sachs has cut India’s growth projection to 5.9% in calendar year 2023 from 6.9% growth this year, Crisil revised down India’s FY23 growth forecast to 7% from 7.3% projected earlier. On its part, Icra halved the FY23 second quarter growth estimate to 6.5% citing higher input costs and low external demand. “We expect growth to be a tale of two halves in 2023, with a slowdown in the first half,” Santanu Sengupta, India economist at Goldman Sachs, said in a note on Sunday “In the sec. ond half, we expect growth to re-accelerate as global growth recovers, the net export drag declines, and the investment cycle picks up,” he added. Crisil, which sees GDP growth further slowing down to 6% in fiscal 2024, cited the slowdown in global growth that has started impacting India’s exports and industrial activity. “This will test the resilience of domestic demand,” said Dharmakirti Joshi, chief economist at Crisil. 2023 GROWTH FORECAST Reserve Bank of India 7% Crisil 7% Goldman Sachs 5.9% Moody’s 4.8% India’s merchandise exports dropped 17% in October 2022 to $29.73 billion from $35.78 billion in the same month a year ago, while merchandise trade deficit rose to $27 billion. According to Aditi Nayar, chief economist at Icra, Q2FY23 economic growth will moderate on account of mixed crop output and the ripple effect of global slowdown.