HYDERABAD  SATURDAY  NOVEMBER 02, 2024  `9.00  PAGES 16  LATE CITY EDITION FAMILIAR INDIAN BATTING COLLAPSE AGAINST NEW ZEALAND IN 3RD TEST After bowling out New Zealand for 235, India lost three wickets in eight balls to throw away the advantage. They ended Day One at 86/4 on Friday 14th FIVE-WICKET HAUL FOR JADEJA IN TESTS Earlier, Ravindra Jadeja bowled 22 unchanged overs in energy-sapping heat and humidity of Mumbai to pick up his 14th five-wicket haul in Tests. The left-arm spinner from Saurashtra and Washington Sundar (4/81) shared nine wickets between them to bowl out visitors in the first innings of 3rd Test. Will Young (71) and Daryl Mitchell (82) hit 50s for the Kiwis ■ 314 ROHIT, KOHLI’S BELOW PAR RETURNS CONTINUE ■ Skipper Rohit Sharma scored 18 off 18 balls before being caught at second slip. His scores in last five innings are 2, 52, 0, 8 and 18. Virat Kohli once again got out cheaply when he fell short of the crease attempting a quick single. His wicket meant the hosts were reduced to 84/4 from 78/1 in the last two overs | MORE ON P11 WICKETS JADEJA HAS, 5TH MOST BY ANY INDIAN BOWLERS IN TESTS 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 Oct registers 2nd best GST revenue at L1.87 lakh crore HYDERABAD NEW DELHI CHENNAI Festive season-driven domestic demand, enhanced compliance push up collection M O N I K A YA D A V @ New Delhi A surge in festival demand pushed the Goods and Services Tax (GST) collected by the Union and state governments in October to `1.87 lakh crore, marking it the second-highest collection since the new indirect regime was rolled out on July 1, 2017. ROBUST The highest GST collection was recorded in REFUNDS April 2024, at `2.10 lakh crore. In October The October figure comes with annual growth 2024, refunds of 8.9%, finance ministry data released on Friday of `19,306 showed. In October 2023, the total GST revenue crore were was `1.72 lakh crore. issued, The latest growth is on account of a rise in doreflecting a mestic sales as well as enhanced compliance. The gross GST collection includes Central GST of `33,821 crore, State GST of `41,864 crore, Interise compared grated GST of `99,111 crore, and Cess collection of to the `12,550 crore for the month of October 2024. same period In the month under review, GST revenue from last year domestic transactions increased by 10.6%, reaching `1.42 lakh crore. Meanwhile, revenue from taxes on imports saw a rise of approximately 4%, totalling `45,096 crore. According to Saurabh Agarwal, tax partner at As we look EY, the recent GST collections indicate a potential ahead to the slowdown in consumer spending in India, which November surged in the previous fiscal year. The single-digit GST Council growth signals a cooling-off period. meeting, key “The collections made this month on account of discussions on festive season, particularly the performance of the streamlining automobile sector, will be crucial in determining the tax rate structure and the short-term trend. While the festive season is expected to boost collections, the overall outlook continued focus on trade for the near future remains cautious. Despite shortfacilitation term uncertainties, the long-term prospects for areas are GST collections remain promising due to India’s expected expanding consumer base and the government’s pro-growth policies,” Agarwal added. Mahesh Jaising, The net GST collections (after the refunds) durpartner and ing the month show a growth of 8% to `1.68 lakh leader, indirect tax, Deloitte India crore. Refunds recorded a growth of 18.2%. 18.2% TOP STATES BY GST REVENUE (D CRORE) STATE Maharashtra Karnataka Gujarat Tamil Nadu Haryana Uttar Pradesh OCT 2024 OCT 2023 `31,030 `27,309 `13,081 `11,971 `11,407 `9,730 `11,188 `10,761 `8,716 `10,045 `8,964 `9,602 THE MORNING AFTER A thick sheet of smog hangs over three cities at dawn on Friday after Diwali revelry the previous day. In Delhi, water spray trucks were deployed to reduce the smog | SHEKHAR YADAV / VINAY MADAPU / SHIBA PRASAD SAHU PEAK AIR POLLUTION New Delhi 446 | Chennai 379 | Ahmedabad 377 | Kolkata 274 | Mumbai 257 | Bangalore 191 | Hyderabad 171 Soren in new controversy, this time over his age KTR TO UNDERTAKE PADAYATRA IN FUTURE M U K E S H R A N J A N @ Ranchi BRS working president KT Rama Rao has announced that he would undertake a padayatra across the state, as per the wishes of the party workers. He announced this during ‘Ask KTR’ session on X on Thursday During the session, . when asked about any plans or ideas to embark on a padayatra in future, Rama Rao said: “Who knows what future has in store.” However, on Friday the release from his office said that as per the wishes of the party workers, Rama Rao would undertake pad ayat r a i n f u t u re across the state. However, the date of the padayatra was not announced. The netizens, while recalling that several leaders in the country undertook pada yatras to expose the failures of the government, asked Rama Rao whether he would do the same in the state. When asked whether people actually want to see the Congress government continue for another four years, Rama Rao WHAT is Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s actual age? 47? 49? Does it matter anyway ? If you were to go by the sworn affidavit he submitted to the Election Commission on December 12, 2019 while filing his nomination papers for the Jharkhand assembly polls, he shoud be 47 now because it he had claimed he was 42 at that point in time. But in the affidavit he filed on October 24 this year for contesting from the Barhait constituency, he mentioned his age as 49. Election affidavits are filed with utmost care because false declarations could end up in the candidate’s disqualification. While the BJP predictably went for his jugular and sought legal action, the Congress, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s (JMM) ally, played it safe saying it needs verification. However, the JMM was confident that the affidavit was kosher. As for Chief Electoral Of- PDF files downloaded from the Election Commission’s site show the age discrepancy All documents filed for the nomination were fully verified — Jharkhand Mukti Morcha spokesperson Manoj Pandey ficer K Ravi Kumar, whose personnel scrutinised Soren’s latest affidavit, he said no complaint on the matter has reached his office yet. The electoral officer of Barhait has the right to take a decision on the matter, he said, adding that the nomination process and its scrutiny are already over. As such, if there is any complaint, it can be resolved through legal process, he added. The BJP’s former state Drugs worth Kothwalguda walk-through aviary to house `7 crore seized 10,000 exotic birds from across world at RGIA, 2 held birds of 19 different species. HMDA hopes that the aviary E N S @ Hyderabad S BACHAN JEET SINGH @ Hyderabad THE Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials seized 7.096 kg of hydroponic weed, valued at approximately `7 crore, at the Rajiv Gandhi International airport from two passengers who came from Bangkok on Thursday . During a search of their check-in luggage, the officials found the contraband hidden in Kellogg’s corn flake packets. “A greenish substance in lumpy form was recovered from all the 13 packets, and when tested, it indicated positive for marijuana. The packets containing 7.096 kg of hydroponic weed have been seized,” DRI officials stated. The passengers were arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and taken into judicial custody . ONE of the world’s largest aviaries, coming up in the Eco Park in Kothwalguda near here, will house 10,000 exotic bird species from countries like Australia, Peru, Argentina, New Zealand, United States, China, Japan, Nicaragua, Indonesia. The Hyderabad Metropolitan D e v e l o p m e n t Au t h o r i t y (HMDA) will procure exotic EXPRESS READ ‘DON’T dwell on the words’. It was his mantra for writing. Basically move on. How does one not dwell on the words while reminiscing about a loss and life…and Bibek Debroy lived many lives in one life — just the bibliography of his writings and the books he authored would take up this page and more! Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the PM, BJP MLA Aleti predicts Revanth’s removal soon Hyderabad: BJP Legislature Party leader Aleti Maheswar Reddy on Friday predicted that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy would be removed from his position between June and December next year | P4 Pollution monitored between 12 pm on Oct 31 and 12 pm on Nov 1 They include Blue and Gold Macaw (20), Green Wing Macaw (20), Scarlet Macaw (10), Cockatoos (30), Amazon Parrots (40), Eclectus Parrots (20), Conures (1,000), Pheasants (40), Cockatiels (1,000), Budgies (2,000), Doves (1,000), Finches (4,000), Rainbow Lorikeets (500), Turaco (40), Quaker Parakeets (200), Mandrin Ducks (20), Toucans (20), African Grey Parrots (20) and Grass Parakeets (100). being developed in six acres in the Eco Park will provide an excellent opportunity for visitors to watch exotic birds from across the world. These birds will be procured by a contractor to be selected through a tender process. The authorities are required to obtain certificates from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and veterinary offiCONTINUED ON P4 cials. chief Deepak Prakash said, “appropriate legal action should be taken against Hemant Soren as law is equal to everyone in this country .” Ghulam Ahmad Mir, Congress in-charge for the state, however, said, “It is subject to verification….It would be inappropriate to comment on anything without checking the facts.” JMM spokesperson Manoj Pandey dismissed the allegations as baseless. EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Hyderabad said: “Let us wait for five years. People have made a choice and we should respect it.” He, however, said that the Congress government was a curse on the state and it failed to implement the assurances given to the people. The bonus for paddy announced by the Congress turned out to be a false promise, just like everything the party promised, the BRS working president said. “Not much can be expected from a Congress government that got elected on false guarantees and propa g anda. Now that they cannot deliver on any of their promises, all they can do is distract and blame,” he said and added that ‘bunch of jokers’ hoodwinked Telangana people. To another question, he said: “Well, I don’t think they have any intentions to deliver on their promises.” They deceived people and now they were trying to get away by indulging in false narratives and propaganda, he said and exuded confidence that the BRS would come back to power in the next elecCONTINUED ON P4 tions. Army begins patrolling at Demchok M AYA N K S I N G H @ New Delhi WITH the completion of disengagement of troops from the two friction points in eastern Ladakh, the Indian Army on Friday resumed regular patrolling at Demchok. Ar my sources told this newspaper that patrolling at the second stand-off point, Depsang Plains, would begin soon. The Army had on Wednesday announced completion of the agreed disengagement of troops from Demchok and Dep- sang, confirming a fresh thaw in the frosty India-China ties. And on Thursday the troops ex, changed sweets at several border points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to mark Diwali. Depsang has been one of the most complex and significant stand-off locations along the 832-km LAC in eastern Ladakh. As per the agreement between the Corps Commanders inked on October 21, the disengagement along with dismantling of temporary structures began on October 23 while the ground verification followed by modalities pertaining to patrolling was awaited. These are aimed at forces returning to their April 2020 positions. The troops have moved back from their points near Y-Junction in Depsang and Charding Nullah Junction (CNJ) in Demchok. However, they remain in the vicinity which means there , has been no change in overall troop strength or infrastructure in the area. LAC passes through CNJ where the Chinese had built a few tents. 25 JAN 1955-1 NOV 2024 BIBEK DEBROY LIVED MANY LIVES IN ONE SHORT LIFE SHANKKAR AIYAR Author of The Gated Republic, Aadhaar: A Biometric History of India’s 12 Digit Revolution, and Accidental India Bibek passed away at AIIMS, Delhi on Friday He was 69. . I first met Bibek in the 1990s while researching water — over cups of tea we discussed the chemistry, geography and therefore the politics of water. It set the stage for a treasured f r i e n d s h i p, e x c h a n g e o f thoughts, information and oddities — for instance the role of Lord Linlithgow in cattle farming or Shakespeare’s thoughts on money . Bibek embodied the term genius — he could infuse Kasparov’s opening gambit to explain implications in global trade, induct the concept of dharma while debating on taxation and present economic policy as a game with many outcomes. The skill and talent to make things simple was accompanied by felicity of language from Russian to Sanskrit – on one occasion, at a function hosted by the RSS, unsure of his Hindi, Bibek spoke on the global economy in Sanskrit. His ability to traverse across a tapestry of subjects effortlessly reflected extraordinary curiosity and therefore grasp of knowledge. He could quote chapter and verse from dense texts and decode them — whether it was nuances from the Constitution, provisions of WTO, or delineation of Kuznets Curve. Fiercely independent Bibek reserved the right to differ and disagree with- out being disagreeable and often termed his disagreements as disappointments. Bibek will be remembered as the quintessential interpreter of maladies and a repository of hopeful resolution. He brought forth deep analysis of the cause and consequences. For decades, he was the go-to person for governments at the Centre and across states on complex issues. This is manifest in the spectrum of his work - the challenge of deprivation in districts, economic freedom and competitiveness, restructuring of the railways, impact of judicial delays and corruption in governance. He was a rare raconteur of history with an uncommon sense of humour and a huge collection of anecdotes — he once recalled how while in the ministry of finance he was admonished for answering a Parliamentary question! Always willing to share, you could dial him with doubts or for a hearty chin wag on anything from the potential for an Indian version of Yes Minister to quirks of politicians to parallels of King Lear in Indian politics. India will miss his scholarship. I will miss the friendship. I wish I had met him earlier, P6 known him longer.