chennai l tuesday l november 19, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l vellore EDITION Competition Commission slaps `213 crore penalty on Meta The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Monday imposed `213.14 crore penalty on the company for abusing its dominant position Action over 2021 whatsapp privacy update Asks meta to bar whatsapp data sharing The penalty is over Meta-owned WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy update on a ‘take-it-or-leave-it’ basis. The commission said the update forces users to comply, undermining their autonomy, and constitutes an abuse of Meta’s dominant position. The CCI said it constituted “an imposition of unfair condition” under the Competition Act, 2002 ■ ■ The regulator asked the US social media giant to bar WhatsApp from sharing data it collected with other Meta companies The CCI said sharing of user data collected on WhatsApp with other Meta companies for purposes other than for providing WhatsApp services shall not be made a condition for users to access in India Sec 4(2) Of Competition Act, 2002 breached by the 2021 privacy policy update 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 One protester dead; more ‘Increase central tax share to states to 50%’ troops sent to Manipur Express News Service @ Chennai Helpless local BJP office bearers resign; Shah holds 2nd review meet MU K ESH RAN J AN a n d P r a s a n ta M a z u m d a r @ New Delhi/ Guwahati Union home minister Amit Shah on Monday chaired a high-level meeting to review the security situation in Manipur with senior officials, his second in as many days. One person was killed and another injured in alleged police firing during mob violence in Jiribam town on Sunday night even as several local office bearers of the ruling BJP submitted their resignations expressing deep concern over the prevailing “unwelcome/ helpless situation”. A mob had gone on the rampage in Jiribam and attacked the offices of the BJP and the Congress, prompting the police to allegedly open fire. The state government has ordered a probe. Given the volatile situation, the Union home ministry decided to send 50 more companies (5,000 troops) of the Central Armed Police Forces — 35 CRPF, 15 BSF — to the troubletorn state. This is over and above 20 companies (15 CRPF and 5 BSF) sent last week. At the meeting, Shah directed the CAPFs and the state police to intensify their opera- Minister Govindas Konthoujam’s residence, that was set on fire in Bishnupur | PTI There is no question of withdrawing support. The govt is doing its best but unfortunately, it could not save lives. We appeal to people to exercise restraint — BJP ally Naga People’s Front minister Awangbou Newmai tions to quickly restore normalcy. In Imphal, Chief Minister N Biren Singh chaired a meeting with the NDA legislators. The state’s security advisor Kuldiep Singh chaired another security review meeting. Top police and paramilitary officials were present. The meetings come after arson attacks and vandalism by mobs targeting the houses and the properties of over a dozen legislators, including ministers. Leishangthem Susindro, a minister, has built a bunker at his house, which was targeted by a mob two days ago. The Manipur government extended the ban on internet and mobile data services in seven affected districts till November 20, and ordered the closure of all educational institutes in Imphal East, Imphal West and Bishnupur districts. Influential Meitei organisation, ‘Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity’, locked the GST Bhavan and election department office on Monday It . had on Saturday issued a 24hour ultimatum to the Centre and the state government, demanding a military crackdown on “armed Chin-Kuki groups”. Chief Minister MK Stalin, during his meeting with 16th Finance Commission chairman Arvind Panagariya and members of the panel in Chennai on Monday expressed con, cern over the decrease in devolution of central funds to the state and increasing financial burden due to additional expenses incurred for projects jointly implemented by the state and the centre. Stalin urged the commission to address the disparities in sharing of revenue among states and increase the share of central taxes to states to 50%. Though the 15th Finance Commission’s recommended for providing 41% tax revenue share, in the last four years, edCR seized from search `12.4 martin’s premises The ED said that searches at 22 locations linked to lottery baron Santiago Martin last week led to the seizure of unexplained cash of `12.41 crore and freezing of bank deposits of `6.42 crore | P4 It only happens in India No custodian for locked room in Nirman Bhawan Pa r v e z S u lta n @ New Delhi The custody of a nondescript locked room No 4 on the ground floor in ‘ ’ wing of Nirman BhaA wan has become a mystery of sorts as no one seems to know which ministry or department it has been allotted it. Nirman Bhawan houses offices of a couple of ministries and departments, including the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) and its affiliated divisions such as the Central Public Work Department (CPWD), Land and Department Office and the minis- try of tribal affairs. However, no ministry or department operating from the complex has come forward to claim its custody despite sending multiple reminders. In a fresh circular recently, the CPWD stated that it would break open the lock under supervision by the panel as no office had responded. Following the no- tices, only the Directorate of Estates, under the MoHUA, sent its response. “It is still known which department or ministry holds the possession of the room in question. November 25 is fixed to open the room,” said an official. As part of the Special Campaign 4.0 launched by Department of Administrative Monday date set for breaking open the Lock “All ministries or departments located in Nirmal Bhawan premises are hereby informed that lock of the Room No 4, GF, A Wing will be broken on November 25 at 11 am,” the latest circular said Current interest rates stressful, cut them: FM E x p r e s s n e w s s e r v i c e @ Mumbai Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said the current cost of borrowing is very stressful and asked banks to cut the interest rates to make borrowing more affordable. “What is important is that when you look at our growth requirements, and you have so many different voices coming out and saying the cost of borrowing is really very stressful, and a time when we want industries to ramp up and move (to) building capacities, interest rates will have to be far more affordable,” Sitharaman said at a SBI event here. Her remarks come amid the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) decision not to lower the interest rates since February 2023. The rates were left unchanged for the tenth time in the October policy Re. tail inflation, too, remains above the tolerance level. With the retail inflation rising to a 14-month high of 6.21% in October, analysts are expecting the central bank to keep the rates unchanged in the next policy review in December as well. express read No alliance talks held with AIADMK: TVK Chennai: Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam general secretary N Anand on Monday dismissed a report about the party holding alliance talks with AIADMK, and said the party’s goal is to win 2026 poll with people’s support | P4 HC judge may be made Manipur HC CJ New Delhi: The Supreme Court Collegium on Monday recommended Madras High Court Judge D Krishnakumar as the next Chief Justice for Manipur High Court as Justice Siddharth Mridul retires on November 21 | P5 Reforms Public Grievances for institutionalising cleanliness and minimising pendency in government offices, the ministries and departments were earlier requested to claim custodianship by November 8. The room’s lock will be broken nect Monday at 11 am in the presence of a panel constituted to oversee it. “Representative of the ministries or departments (if any) may be deputed to present at the scheduled time and venue. Further, this room will be taken into this directorate’s (CPWD) custody read the latest circular. ,” Arvind: TN REPORT well-researched The 16th Finance Commission chairperson Arvind Panagariya on Monday said TN has presented a well-researched, analytical report and has explained its demands and grievances in a well-balanced and convincing manner | P4 contrary to the recommendation, the union government’s total tax devolution was just 33.16%, the CM said. Additional funds should be allocated to performing states like Tamil Nadu, considering the overall development of the country. “A new approach should be adopted so that developing states like Tamil Nadu are not affected by the decrease in central allocation,” he said. Speaking about the difficul- CM Stalin submits memorandum to 16th Finance Commission chairman | Express ties in implementing schemes, he said that states are largely responsible for implementing key projects in sectors like healthcare, education, social welfare, and agriculture. Despite this, the power to gener- Non-Hindus TTD staff to be sent to the state govt pool Express News Service @ Tirumala The new Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Trust Board, which met for the first time here on Monday, took several important decisions, including the surrender of non-Hindu employees working in Tirumala to the State government. It also decided to revoke the land lease to the Visakha Sarada Peetham and provide darshan to local people on the first Tuesday of every month. Shortly after taking over as trust board chairman on October 31, B R Naidu had said, “Everyone who works at Tirumala should be Hindu. That would be my first effort. There are many issues in this. We have to look into it.” At Monday’s meeting, it was decided to hold consultations with non-Hindu employees of the TTD, B R Naidu said. They will be given the option of taking voluntary retirement or joining any other government department, he added. As for the Visakha Sarada Peetham, he said the lease will be cancelled and the building there will be demolished because of several violations. Sarada Peetham chief Swamy Swaroopanandendra Saraswati was considered the spiritual guru of former chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy . The board also discussed at length the possibility of reducing the waiting time for Sarva Darshan. Since is takes up to 30 hours for Sarva Darshan on some days, the board decided to deploy Artificial Intelligence and hire a consultancy to cut down the wait time to two hours. The trust board also decided to withdraw all TTD fixed deposits from private banks and deposit them in nationalised banks. The system of issuing around 4,000 darshan tickets to the Tourism Department will be wound up due to misuse. ate funds for such projects by the states are limited, he said. Stalin said therefore it is only fair and appropriate to raise the share of revenue allocated to states to 50%. “If the share is increased to 50% only then will states like Tamil Nadu be able to implement development projects that meet their specific needs while also ensuring fiscal autonomy in managing their own finances.” Urging to revamp the tax devolution mechanism, he said that while it is necessary to allocate additional resources to underdeveloped regions, it is also important to support wellperforming states with their deserved share of resources. “This approach will not only sustain their growth but also foster the overall national development,” he said. P5 Tiruchendur Temple jumbo kills two while taking picture Express News Service @ Thoothukudi A 45-year-old mahout and his relative were trampled to death by the Tiruchendur Murugan temple elephant while taking pictures with the animal using a mobile phone on Monday The . mahout, Udhayakumar of Tiruchendur, was the elephant’s caretaker for over two decades and the animal had not shown any aggressive behaviour in the past, temple authorities said. Police said the mahout and his relative, Sisubalan (55) of Palukal in Kanniyakumari, were taking pictures standing next to the 26-year-old female elephant Deivanai at its shelter when the attack happened. Sources said Sisubalan patted the elephant’s trunk, which made the animal aggressive and it lifted him with its trunk and threw him to the ground. Udhayakumar, who came to the rescue, was crushed to death on the spot, police said. Sisubalan died a few minutes later. P5 Farmer killed in elephant attack in Kadambur Hills | P5