KANNUR l Tuesday l January 02, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION GST Collections in december rise 10 per cent to R1.64 lakh crore Continuing the upward trend, GST collections rose about 10% to R1.64 lakh crore in December 2023 compared to R1.49 lakh crore a year ago Mop-up UP 12% IN the FIRST NINE MONTHS GST growth flat in three states During the April-December 2023 period, gross Goods and Services Tax collection witnessed a robust 12% growth, reaching I14.97 lakh crore against I13.40 lakh crore in the same period of the previous year, the Union finance ministry said on Monday. The average monthly gross GST collection for the first nine months of FY24 saw a 12% growth from a year ago, it added ■ ■ The government has settled R40,057 crore to CGST and R33,652 crore to SGST from IGST, the finance ministry said. The total revenue of the Centre and states in December 2023 after the regular settlement is R70,501 crore for CGST and R71,587 crore for the SGST, it added Rajasthan, C’garh & J’khand showed no growth in GST collections A160L cr This is the 7th month this year that mop-up exceeded this level 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 MLA quits amid Mysuru sculptor’s Ram Lalla makes the Ayodhya cut buzz on Soren’s wife joining fray E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Mysuru CM prepares for possible arrest by ED, starts grooming Kalpana to step into his shoes M UK E SH RA N JA N @ Ranchi In what could be the precursor for Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren anticipating his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate and preparing his wife Kalpana to step into his shoes, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MLA Sarafaraz Ahmed quietly vaHemant Soren cated his Gandey seat on Sunday . Speculation is rife that Kalpana may contest from Gandey, a general seat. Though she belongs to a scheduled tribe community she cannot contest from , a reserved tribal seat because she hails from Odisha. Her sister-in-law Sita Soren is already facing litigation as she won a reserved tribal seat in the assembly elections, though she too hails from Odisha. Kalpana Soren “Since she hails from from Odisha, Kalpana is said to be not entitled to fight from a reserved ST seat in Jharkhand. Gandey, a general seat, might be a safe constituency for her,” said political experts. Sarfaraz represented Gandey in 1980 and 2009 as Congress MLA and in 2019 as JMM MLA. His resignation letter did not cite any reason. it was accepted the same day but the notification was issued on Monday He was not available for comment. . Sarafaraz Just the other day, the ED had its seventh and last Ahmed summons to Soren to appear for questioning in the land scam case. It gave him the liberty to decide the Speaker date, time and venue for the questioning and directaccepts it ed him to respond in writing within two days. He Assembly chose not to respond. Jharkhand Congress president Speaker Rajesh Thakur called it part of the state governRabindra ment’s strategy to deal with any untoward political Nath Mahto situation in the state. did not find it Kalpana, 48, hails from a business family in Maynecessary to urbhanj district in Odisha. Ever since Soren’s name ask threeappeared in the office-of-profit scam last year, Katime MLA lpana has been accompanying him to different proSarfaraj grammes inside and outside Jharkhand, seen as Ahmed why part of her grooming exercise. Kalpana is a business he put in his woman and runs a private school and several other papers before businesses. She takes keen interest in women emaccepting it powerment and events organised for children. Mysuru-based sculptor Arun Yogiraj’s Ram Lalla idol has been chosen for installation at Ayodhya’s Ram Temple during the auspicious Prana Prathistapana Muhurtham on January 22. Of the three idols shortlisted, the Ramajanma Bhoomi Trust selected Yogiraj’s work through voting, according to his family members here. Yogiraj used a unique Krishna shila (stone) from Bujjegoudanapura village in HD Kote taluk of Mysuru district to sculpt the idol. He hails from a family of statue of Swami Ramakrishna sculptors in Mysuru and be- Paramahamsa in Mysuru. longs to the fifth generation. Yogiraj’s wife Vijetha, who One of the most sought after expressed her happiness for the sculptors in the country, selection of her husYogiraj sculpted the 30band’s Ram Lalla, told foot statue of Subhash this newspaper that he Chandra Bose installed has been working tireat Amar Jawan Jyoti belessly for the past six hind India Gate in New months. “He did not even Delhi. He is also known meet me or other memfor his works such as the bers of our family durArun Yogiraj 12-foot statue of Adi ing this period. We feel Shankaracharya in Kevery happy that his work darnath, 21-foot statue of Lord has been selected,” she said. Hanuman at Chunchanakatte Many prominent leaders from in Mysuru district, 15-foot stat- Mysuru and politicians conue of Dr B R Ambedkar and the g ratulated Yogiraj on his Church slams saji cherian’s statements M a n o j V i s w a n at h a n @ Kochi People on a street damaged by a massive earthquake in Wajima, Ishikawa prefecture in Japan on Monday. It triggered tsunami warnings | AP Quake triggers tsunami in Japan y e s h i s e l i @ New Delhi Japan on Monday was hit by a series of strong earthquakes on its western coast with one in the magnitude of 7.6 on the Richter scale, triggering tsunamis of three-metres high at its coastal areas. The quake struck near Ishikawa Prefecture’s Noto Peninsula. Many houses were damaged in the areas impacted by the quake. Rescue operations are underway . Japan urged its citizens living near coastal areas to move to higher ground. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida advised people to follow evacuation or- Goldy Brar Satinderjit Singh alias Goldy Brar, 29, is a Canada-based gangster and an alleged mastermind of the killing of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala. He is also a member of proscribed Babbar Khalsa International | P7 ders closely Bullet train serv. ices have been halted. Local media reported that two people may have died and at least six others are trapped inside a collapsed building in Ishikawa Prefecture. Japan’s meteriological department said earthquakes with similar intensity was a possibility for a week. Tsunami warnings have been issued for the prefectures of Ishikawa, Niigata, Toyama, Yamagata, Fukui and Hyogo — all on the Sea of Japan. There are many nuclear power plants in the affected areas, but no one has reported any damage. Highways are 20 SFI workers booked for burning guv in effigy The Police have registered a case against 20 SFI workers, including state president K Anusree, for burning Governor Arif Mohammed Khan in effigy at Payyambalam beach on Sunday night. The 30-ft effigy was burnt in connection with SFI’s ongoing protests against the governor, alleging “saffronisation of universities in the state”. Thousands of people were present on the beach at the time of burning the effigy as ‘She Night’, a programme organised by the district panchayat in connection with New Year cel- They are only displaying their culture. In my case, they are burning only effigy. But they have burnt and killed so many people in Kannur disctrict and other places Arif Mohammed Khan, Governor ebrations, was under way there. The Kannur Town police registered a case suo motu and charged the SFI activists under IPC sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (punishment for rioting) and 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible). Apart from Anusree, the police have booked district secretary P S Sanjeev and state his work has been selected. “I am happy that I was among the three sculptors from the country selected to carve the idol of Ram Lalla,” Yogiraj said. The challenge was not easy. “The idol should be of a child, who is divine too, because it is the statue of the incarnation of God. People who look at the statue should feel the divinity,” Yogiraj said. “Keeping the divinity and the child-like face in mind, I started work about seven months ago. More than selection, people should appreciate it. Only then, I will be happy,” he said.  (With agency inputs) BJP looks to cash in declared terrorist under UAPA E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Kannur achievement. Sharing his happiness on ‘X’, BJP leader Yediyurappa said, “The idol of Lord Rama sculpted by Arun Yogiraj of Mysuru has been selected for installation in the magnificent Sri Rama Mandir of Ayodhya, which has doubled the pride and happiness of entire Rama devotees of the state (Sic). Heartfelt congratulations to ‘Shilpi @yogiraj_arun’.” As for Yogiraj, he said he has not received any official communication about the selection of his idol for consecration. Social media posts by senior BJP leaders made him believe that joint secretary Vaishnav Mahendran. Meanwhile, speaking to reporters upon his arrival in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday, the governor said: “They (the SFI activists) are only displaying their culture. In my case, they are burning only effigy. But they have burnt and killed so many people in Kan- nur disctrict and other places”. “A famous novelist of Kerala has written in his novel that the fascism which these people are practising, you have to seek permission of the party to pluck coconut from your own garden. So if they are burning, what can I do. I am not responsible for law and order. SFI belongs to them, they are controlling the police. Who should be held responsible for this? Not the protesters but those organising the protest. The chief minister himself supported the protests, which means they are sponsoring it,” he said. shut near the epicentre of the quake and more than 36,000 houses are without power. In 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake in Japan triggered a tsunami and killing 18,000 people and displacing many . The Indian Embassy in Tokyo set up an emergency control room. It’s helpline numbers are +81-80-3930-1715 (Yakub Topno), +81-70-14920049 (Ajay Sethi), +81-80-32144734 (D N Barnwal), +81-806229-5382 (S Bhattacharya) and + 8 1 - 8 0 - 3 2 1 4 - 4 7 2 2 ( Vive k Rathore). The embassy also provided two email ids — sscons.tokyo@mea.gov.in and offfseco.tokyo@mea.gov.in. Warning for NK & Russia Tsunami warnings were also issued for parts of North Korea and Russia. In nearby South Korea, the weather agency urged residents to watch for changes in sea levels E X P RESS READ K-SMART, state govt’s e-governance tool, goes live Kochi: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated K-SMART, the facility designed to let public avail various services offered by local bodies online, in Kochi on Monday. The platform will let an individual avail services like getting birth, death, and marriage certificates and property tax and building permits via a mobile app and web portal. P4 Record liquor sale during Christmas-New Year season T’Puram: In record sales during ChristmasNew Year season, the Kerala State Beverages Corporation sold liquor worth Rs 543.13 crore between December 22 and 31. It was Rs 27 crore more than the previous year. P4 The Catholic Church on Monday launched a scathing attack against Minister for Culture Saji Cherian for his remarks criticising the bishops who attended the prime minister’s Christmas luncheon. Coming as it did ahead of Narendra Modi’s visit to Kerala, the BJP has sensed a political opportunity . Though BJP leaders rejected the rumours that the PM may meet Christian leaders during his visit to Thrissur on Wednesday, Modi is expected to address the community’s concerns in his speech. Reacting to Saji Cherian’s criticism, Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC) deputy secretary general and spokesperson Fr Jacob G Palakkappilly said the minister’s statement was irresponsible and inappropriate. “People holding important positions should be careful while issuing statements,” he said. “The prime minister had in- People holding vited Church leaders to a important lunch on the occasion of positions should be careful while Christmas and we are not poli- issuing ticians to turn down the invite. statements. We We don’t have any politics but don’t have any we can understand the politi- politics but we can cal intentions of all parties, understand the whether it is the Left, the Con- political intentions gress or the BJP. It was the of all parties, first time Modi had invited whether it is the Left, the Congress Christian leaders for a lunch or BJP. and we accepted it as it was the PM who invited us,” said Fr Fr Jacob G Palakkappilly, KCBC Palakkappilly . Inaugurating the local com- deputy secy general mittee office of the CPM at and spokesperson Punnapra in Alappuzha on Sunday, Saji Cherian had said that some bishops had goosebumps when the PM hosted a party for them. He said the bishops forgot the sufferings of the people of Manipur while having wine and cake offered by the BJP. Regarding the visit of BJP leaders to Christian homes and institutions as part of ‘Sneha Yatra’, a Christian outreach programme, Fr Palakkappilly said the Church understands the political intentions of all parties. “The BJP had organised a similar programme during Christmas and Easter last year also. We accept all visitors, but that doesn’t mean that we accept their politics. The KCBC had organised a Christmas party in December in which leaders of all political parties, including BJP and Muslim League, had participat● More on P4 ed,” he said.  model finds traction How Peruvayal panchayat helps young couples avoid divorce trap Alarmed by the rising number of divorce cases among young couples, a small panchayat in Kozhikode has rolled out a programme to offer free professional counselling to newly-weds. The pre- and post-marital counselling offered by Peruvayal panchayat in the district, probably the first such initiative in India, has turned out be a big success that it is now being replicated in other local bodies by the district panchayat. According to officials, there has been an explosion of divorce cases in Kozhikode district in the past five years and 70% of the applications for separation were moved by women. Sensing a worrying trend being set, the authorities came up with the idea of reaching out to those getting married to give them a better understanding of life after marriage and how to adjust to the new life. So far, 350 young couples have availed the service, which is led by trained counsellors. The counselling session covers everything couples encounter in Illustration: Sourav Roy P o o j a N a i r @ Kozhikode their marital journey – communication, love and sex, personal hygiene, finances, beliefs and values, parenting, family relationships, and decision-making. In post-marriage counselling sessions, the professionals help couples effectively address and overcome challenges that may arise after tying the knot. Inspired by the success story of Peruvayal panchayat, the nearby Perumanna panchayat has also kick-started the counselling service. Peruvayal panchayat member Vinod Kumar said the project will be adopted by more lo- cal bodies, given the rising instances of marital discord among newgen couples. While welcoming the initiative, social activist Neena Rajan said there is no point in blaming women for high divorce rates. “Women today are more empowered as they have access to better education and career opportunities. They are financially independent and demand equal rights as well as responsibilities. They refuse to compromise on unfair matters and don’t want to remain in unhappy marriages,” she said. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan greeting Saji Cherian and other cabinet ministers as he arrives for the Nava Kerala Sadas in Kochi on Monday | A Sanesh Pinarayi flays BJP’s Christmas outreach Kochi: A day after Cultural Affairs Minister Saji Cherian criticised bishops for attending the prime minister’s Christmas Eve banquet, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday sought to shift the focus to the BJP. At the Nava Kerala Sadas in Kakkanad, the CM slammed the BJP’s Christmas outreach programme, saying that “some prominent figures” are solely driven by electoral motives. P4