tirupati l tuesday l october 15, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION Trio wins economics Nobel for work on wealth inequality Economists Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson win Nobel for research into differences in prosperity between nations (From left) Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A Robinson Research on why nations fail or succeed By examining the various political and economic systems introduced by European colonisers, the three researchers explained why some countries are rich and others poor, the Nobel committee said. Their research also helped explain why countries with poor rule of law and exploitative institutions often become trapped in a situation of “low economic growth” ■ 1968 Highlighting role of societal institutions ■ “The three economists have demonstrated the importance of societal institutions for achieving prosperity,” Jakob Svensson, Chair of the Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences, said | P10 Acemoglu and Robinson wrote the best-selling book Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty published in 2012 when the swedish central bank established nobel economics prize 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 India expels six top Canadian diplomats, withdraws envoy Food pricey Retail inflation at nine-month high of 5.49% Indian high commissioner ‘person of interest’ in Nijjar case: Canada Ye s h i Se l i @ New Delhi Kerala house Resolution flays Centre for delaying Wayanad aid E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ T’Puram THE Kerala Assembly on Monday unanimously adopted a resolution against the Centre’s unreasonable delay in extending aid to the landslide-hit Wayanad. The resolution, passed after a three-hour adjournment discussion, urged the Centre to immediately release financial assistance as demanded by the state and to write off all bank loans of the affected people. The members pointed out that the delay in getting the Central aid would adversely impact the rehabilitation of survivors. Alleging bias, the strongly worded resolution said although the landslide at Meppadi in Wayanad on July 30 falls in the ‘disaster of severe nature’ category that wiped out an entire region of the district, the Union government has not released any funds so far. It termed the Centre’s attitude disheartening, noting that other states that faced natural calamities have got financial aid even without asking for it. Speaker A N Shamseer allowed a debate on the subject after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan agreed to the Opposition’s demand to discuss the matter in detail through an adjournment motion. Though the Speaker and Parliamentary Affairs Minister M B Rajesh pointed out that the government had already given a detailed statement, members of the Opposition insisted on a thorough discussion. Replying to the motion, Vijayan said two townships with 1,000 houses will be built to rehabilitate survivors. Opposition leader V D Satheesan urged the state government to exert more pressure on the Centre to release the funds. Congress MLA T Siddique, who represents Kalpetta in Wayanad, said people had high hopes after Modi’s visit but they are now asking if he came there just for a photo shoot. Hardeep Singh Nijjar and Justin Trudeau The aspersions cast on him (High Commissioner Verma) are ludicrous and deserve to be treated with contempt tremism and violence, the Trudeau Government’s actions has endangered the safety of India diplomats. We have no faith in the current Canadian Government’s commitment to ensure their security the MEA said. ,’’ The MEA’s Secretary East summoned Wheeler and said India reserves the right to take further steps in response to the Trudeau government’s support for extremism, violence and separatism against the country . He was informed that the baseless targeting of the Indian high commissioner and other First meet today of Kuki, Meitei and Naga MLAs since Manipur erupted P r a s a n ta M a z u m d a r & Mukesh Ranjan @ Guwahati/New Delhi Legislators from Manipur’s Meitei, Kuki and Naga communities will sit down on Tuesday in Delhi for their first joint meeting since the eruption of ethnic violence in the state last year. The meeting, organised by the Centre, will be held on Tuesday . A Meitei legislator said he welcomed the initiative and was looking forward to attending the meeting. “We were asked to sit together as part of a peace initiative,” he told this newspaper. “There will be legislators from Meitei, Kuki and Naga communities, and the state’s different regions will be well represented,” he said. Some Meitei and Naga ministers and MLAs flew to Delhi from Imphal on Monday . Letpao Haokip, a Kuki-Zo minister, said all 10 Kuki-Zo legislators of Manipur have been invited for the meeting. “Some will definitely attend, but we are not sure how many,” he added. Meanwhile, an MLA camping in Delhi said 18 will attend the meeting – eight Meitei MLAs and five each from Kuki and Naga communities. A government official said the talks are part of the Cen- tre’s efforts to facilitate a dialogue between the warring communities. At least 250 people have been killed and over 60,000 displaced since ethnic violence erupted in Manipur in May last year. “I don’t know the exact agenda of the meeting as of now,” Awangbow Newmai, a Naga minister who is attending the meeting, said. L Dikho, a Naga legislator said, “I will attend it and see how best we can take up the initiative.” Union home ministry said on Monday a decision was yet to be taken on home minister Amit Shah’s participation. IT Minister Nara Lokesh with Apple India MD Virat Bhatia during the India Leadership Summit held in New Delhi on Monday I Express Andhra most ideal for investments, asserts Lokesh s g u r u s r i k a n t h @ Vijayawada IT Minister Nara Lokesh described Andhra Pradesh as the most ideal destination in the country for establishing industries. Participating in the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum Leadership Summit in New Delhi on Monday Lokesh , said Startup Andhra is not just a slogan, but a principle to change the administration. Lokesh exuded confidence that the target of creating 20 lakh jobs will certainly be achieved with cooperation of private sector. During the e-summit chaired by the Forum Chairman and founder of JC-2 Ventures John Chambers, Lokesh focused on the accelerated development of Andhra Pradesh in social and economic sectors. He informed the gathering that ratan tata the Economic Development innovation hub Board has been revived for speedy issuance of permisl The State govt is set to sions to industries, and that establish Ratan Tata an advisory council has been Innovation Hub in constituted with experts Amaravati, CM from the private sector. “We Chandrababu Naidu are now implementing a Sinannounced on Monday gle Point of Contact System l The hub will foster for granting permissions to entrepreneurship industries. Information reecosystems, innovation garding permissions and the and mentor startups projects to be taken up is regularly updated through a l It will be linked to five website,” Lokesh explained. other zonal centres Highlighting that a skill census has been taken up in the State, the first in the country he said as part of the exer, cise, household and education data is being collected at the micro-level initially “The skill census will help achieve the . goal of providing 20 lakh jobs to the youth in the next five years. Taking forward Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Viksit Bharat, we have set a goal of Viksit Andhra Pradesh by P4 2047,” he highlighted. express read TTD cancels VIP break darshan on Oct 16 Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan during Palle Panduga at Kankipadu on Monday I Express `4,500-cr works launched in 13,000 Gram Panchayats k k a lya n k r i s h n a k u m a r @ Vijayawada Deputy Chief Minister (Panchayati Raj & Rural Development) Pawan Kalyan on Monday launched the Palle Panduga Panchayat Varotsavalu programme. As part of the initiative, the State government has taken up 30,000 development works in 13,326 Gram Panchayats with an allocation of `4,500 crore. Launching the programme at the Community Health Centre (CHC) in Panadipadu village panchayat, Penamalur constituency Kankipadu man, dal, Pawan said, “Our goal is the well-being of people, jobs for youth and development of rural landscape. The strong leadership of N Chandrababu Naidu has brought better days, and we have achieved success with deter mination. Only through collective strength can we ensure prosperity .” Pointing out that meetings were held in 13,326 Gram Panchayats for a week from August 23, marking the first such effort in the country he noted that ad, ministrative and technical approvals were given for the works resolved through these Panchayat meetings. “Following the Grama Sabhas, we are laying the foundation stones for works from October 14 to 20. We aim to complete all projects before the Sankranti Festival,” P4 he explained. Tirumala: Following the IMD’s alert for heavy rainfall in parts of the State for the next 36 hours, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has cancelled VIP break darshan on October 16. TTD EO Syamala Rao held a review meeting & directed officials to take steps to brace the downpour | P2 APEXCO set up with corpus of `10 crore Vijayawada: The State govt has granted permission for the setting up of Andhra Pradesh Ex-Servicemen Corporation Limited (APEXCO) with an initial corpus of `10 crore. An order to this effect was issued on Monday. The modalities of its constitution and functioning will be issued separately | P4 21 killed in Israeli airstrike in Lebanon Beirut: An Israeli airstrike hit an apartment in northern Lebanon on Monday, killing at least 21 people, as per the Lebanese Red Cross. The strike hit a small apartment in the village of Aito, which is part of the country’s Christian heartland in the north and far from the Hezbollah’s areas of influence | P9 new excise policy 3,396 liquor shops allotted; State expects to rake in `20k cr this fiscal p h a n i n d r a pa pa s a n i @ Vijayawada The process of awarding licences to applicants for 3,396 notified liquor stores through lottery system was conducted on Monday . The Excise and Prohibition Department received a total of 89,882 applications for 3,396 shops across the State, generating a revenue of `1,797.64 crore through the non-refundable application fees, explained Principal Secretary for Revenue (Excise) Mukesh Kumar Meena. Subsequently the State govern, ment will rake in `2,084 crore as license fee annually from liquor outlets in six installments. A sum of `335 crore is expected to be received from all liquor licence holders by Tuesday as the collective first instalment, he added. Approximately 48% of the total applications were submitted online. While the last date for submission of applications was October 11, verification was held on October 12 and 13. 38% surge in applications received Raking in the moolah Sharp rise in revenue from applications `225 2015-17 2024-26 Prasant Madugula “It is no coincidence that it takes place as Prime Minister Trudeau is to depose before a commission on foreign interference,” the foreign office said in its statement Relations between India and Canada reached a nadir on Monday as the foreign office announced the expulsion of six Canadian diplomats and the withdrawal its high commissioner and other diplomats after Ottawa claimed they were ‘persons of interest’ in the murder of Khalistani radical Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia last year. Though Nijjar, a Canadian national, was not named, the insinuation was crystal clear. The six expelled diplomats are the acting High Commissioner Stewart Ross Wheeler, Deputy High Commissioner Patrick Herbert and first secretaries Marie Catherine Joly Ian , Ross David Trites, Adam James Chuipka and Paula Orjuela. All six were given a Saturday deadline to fly out of India. The announcement came after the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) summoned Wheeler and gave him a piece of its mind. “It was underlined that in an atmosphere of ex- 89,882 Curious Timing of the communique RETAIL inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), reached a nine-month high of 5.49% in September on account of rising food prices, data released by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation on Monday showed. In August, CPI inflation was 3.65%, slightly up from 3.6% in the previous month. The highest inflation rate prior to this was recorded in December 2023, at 5.69%. According to the government, high base effect and weather conditions might have led to increase in inflation in September. The Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI), which measures food inflation, was reported at 9.24% for September. The inflation rates for rural and urban areas were 9.08% and 9.56%, respectively . Meanwhile, the year-on-year housing inflation rate for September was 2.78%, up from 2.66% in August. The All India Electricity index for September was recorded at 162.5, with an inflation rate of 5.45%. Additionally significant declines in , inflation were noted for pulses and products, spices, meat and fish, as well as the sugar and confectionery subgroups during September. Manoranjan Sharma, chief economist, Infomerics Ratings, said: “The inflationary surge is attributable to the base effect, 9.24% food inflation in September up from 5.66% in August, and the spike in inflation rate for vegetables from 10.71% in July to 35.99% in August. In hindsight, it is clear RBI was right in holding the rates steady in its October 9, 2024 Policy. Constant caution, vigil, and monitoring are needed.” In addition, India’s wholesale price index-based inflation rose slightly to 1.84% in September, up from 1.31% in August, due to a sharp uptick in food prices. Food inflation surged to 11.53% for the month compared to just 3.11% in August, according to the commerce ministry’s data. Other major sub-indices, such as manufactured products, showed a drop in prices. diplomats and officials in Canada was unacceptable. Earlier in the day, India trashed a communiqué that suggested that High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma and other diplomats were ‘persons of interest’ in the matter. Ever since Trudeau first alleged an Indian role in Nijjar’s murder, his government has not shared a shred of evidence despite repeated requests, the foreign office asserted. “This leaves little doubt that on the pretext of an investigation, there is a deliberate strategy of smearing India for political gains,’’ the MEA charged. But Wheeler later claimed his country had provided ‘credible, irrefutable evidence’. “Prime Minister Trudeau’s naked interference in Indian internal politics in December 2020 showed how far he was willing to go in this regard. That his Government was dependent on a political party, whose leader openly espouses a separatist ideology vis-a-vis India, only aggravated matters,’’ the statement added. @ New Delhi 65,208 Canada’s Deputy High Commissioner Stewart Wheeler leaves from the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi on Monday. He is among the six expelled Canadian diplomats | PTI E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e `422 2015-17 2017-19 crore crore `1,798 cr 2024-26 Applicants were manually chosen through lottery on Monday District Collectors and Ex. cise Department officials drew the lotteries in the presence of applicants and issued licences immediately . The selected candidates can start operating the liquor shops from October 15, kickstarting the new liquor policy in the State. The cash-strapped State is expected to generate `20,000 crore revenue through licensing fee and sale of liquor in the current financial year. Stating that an average of Combined revenue (Application & Licence fee) `2,772 crore 2015-17 `1,422 crore 2017-19 `6,384 crore 2024-26 (estimated) 26.47 applications were received for each of the 3,396 liquor shops, Meena pointed out that in the previous notification (2017-19), the average number of applications received each of the 4,377 shops was 18. “Despite a drop in number of shops from 4,380 in 2015-17 to 3,396 in 2024-26, the total revenue has surged,” the bureaucrat noted. He added that these figures highlight the success of policy measures that have enhanced the State’s revenues by attractP4 ing more applications.
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