kottayam l monday l december 02, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION GST mop-up increases by 8.5% to K1.82 lakh crore in November Gross GST collections increased to L1.82 lakh crore in November on higher revenues from domestic transactions, official data showed over 11% increase in Net collection Tax from domestic transactions up 9.4% The Central GST collection stood at C34,141 crore, State GST at C43,047 crore, Integrated GST at C91,828 crore, and Cess at C13,253 crore. Refunds worth C19,259 crore were issued during the month, registering a 8.9% decline over the same period last year. After adjusting for refunds, net GST collection shot up by more than 11% to C1.63 lakh crore ■ ■ GST from domestic transactions grew 9.4% to C1.40 lakh crore in November, while revenues from tax on imports rose 6% to C42,591 cr The month’s GST mop-up is 8.5% higher than the C1.68 lakh crore collected during the same month last year. On a sequential basis, it is 2.6% lower than the C1.87 lakh crore collected in October A2.1 L crore GSt collection recorded in april 2024 is the highest ever 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 Donald Trump threatens BRICS with 100% tariffs 7 Maoists killed in encounter with police in Telangana US President-elect warns against trying to undercut the US dollar U M a h e s h @ Mulugu Seven Maoists were killed in an alleged encounter with the Telangana Police in the Chalpaka forest area of the state’s Mulugu district near the Chhattisgarh border on Sunday morning. Acting on a tip-off about Maoist movement, a search party comprising Greyhounds, a special force unit of the Telangana Police, launched a combing operation in the area. Speaking to the media, Superintendent of Police (SP) Dr P Shabarish said the police encountered a group of 12 to 13 Maoists in olive green uniforms armed with weapons. Despite being warned to surrender, the Maoists opened fire, triggering a retaliatory response in which seven Maoists were killed, the police claimed. The dead were identified as members of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), including JMWP DVC and State Committee member Kursam Mangu alias Bhadru, and Egolapu Mallaiah alias Madhu, a Divisional Committee member and Area Commander. Other slain Maoists included Area Committee members Mussaki Deval and Mussaki Jamuna, as well as cadres Jaisingh, Kishore and Kamesh. The police claimed to have recovered two AK-47 rifles, one .303 rifle apart from one shotgun, one country-made revolver, a G3, kit bags, and literature from the encounter spot. route to safety NDRF personnel shifting residents to safety in an excavator amid flooding following heavy rain triggered by cyclone Fengal at Krishna Nagar in Puducherry on Sunday. Torrential rain lashed Puducherry and surrounding areas from Saturday night, resulting in the union territory recording 49 cm of rainfall, the highest in its history | Sriram R ‘Fengal’ effect: Heavy rain forecast in state; red alert in 4 districts today E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e Holiday declared @T’Puram In view of the heavy rain forecast, the district administrations have decalred a holiday for educational institutions, including professional colleges, in Wayanad, Kottayam, Idukki and Pathanamthitta districts. After causing record rainfall in Puducherry on Sunday, cyclonic storm Fengal, which has reduced to a deep depression, is expected to trigger heavy rain in Kerala in its last lap on Monday . The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast widespread heavy rain across the state on Monday, with a red alert issued for Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, and Kannur. These districts are expected to experience heavy to very heavy rainfall, with some areas potentially receiving extremely heavy downpour. An orange alert has been issued for Ernakulam, Idukki, Thrissur, Palakkad, and Kasaragod, while Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, and Kottayam are under a yellow alert. However, Thiruvananthapuram and Kol- Appointment of NEW BrahMos chief CHALLENGED IN tRIBUNAL MAYA N K SI N G H @ New Delhi IN a rare instance, the appointment of BrahMos Aerospace chief has been challenged in the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Hyderabad. The leadership dispute comes at a time the organisation is working on the country’s biggest Jaiteerth R Joshi defence supply order to the Philippines. Distinguished Scientist, is The crisis stems from the seven years senior to Joshi appointment of Jaiteerth R and has served as an OutJoshi as Chief Executive Of- standing Scientist since 2017, ficer, a decision contested by a position Joshi currently Sivasubramanyam Nambi holds. With only three years Naidu, alleging he was super- left in service compared to seded during the selection. Joshi’s six, Naidu’s plea is to The case was consider his senfiled on Novemiority and press ber 29 and the clusive experience. f i r s t hea r ing The organisatook place on tion is currently November 30. According to engaged in advanced negotiasources, the CAT has sought tions with three to four couna detailed response from tries, with the next stages of DRDO within four weeks and deliveries to the Philippines has scheduled the next hear- also looming under a $375 ing on December 30. The peti- million contract. These negotioner has made DRDO and tiations are critical for estabJoshi as respondents. lishing India as a reliable deSources said that Naidu, a fence exporter, but they life savers Pledge to donate organs and tissues top Registrations No of pledges Rajasthan 40,382 U nn i k r i s h n a n S @ T’Puram Maharashtra 31,125 Karnataka 25,351 Despite its high public awareness about organ donation, Kerala fairs poorly in the national organ donation pledge campaign. Kerala stands at 13th position, with only around 3,113 individuals from the state having signed up through the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation’s (NOTTO) online platform. In contrast, Rajasthan leads Madhya Pradesh 21487 13,599 Kerala 3,113 in Kerala Alappuzha 254 Kottayam 252 Kozhikode 220 Thrissur 212 Kannur 190 (Source: NOTTO) demand steady leadership to avoid delays. On the domestic front, the Army and Air Force are in the midst of more BrahMos procurements. However, leadership ambiguity raises concerns about meeting these strategic priorities. Alexander Maksichev, codirector of Brahmos Aerospace, recently said active discussions are on with countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam and United Arab Emirates for potential contracts of this missile system. The dispute pits two accomplished scientists against each other. Naidu, a key figure in India’s Prithvi missile programme, is recognised for his managerial expertise at Bharat Dynamics Limited, where he oversaw large-scale missile production. His experience aligns with BrahMos’ operational and expor t ambitions. In contrast, Joshi is known for his contributions to the Long-Range and MediumRange Surface-to-Air Missiles (LRSAM and MRSAM). lam districts are likely to see less intense rain. IMD has warned that the heavy rain may result in waterlogging, flash floods, and landslides in vulnerable areas. Weather experts are keenly watching the pace and trajectory of Fengal in causing intense rain on the way to the Arabian Sea crossing the Western Ghats. “Various models suggested that the deep depression is moving towards northern Kerala. More rain is expected if the movement is slow,” said Rajeevan Erikkulam, a meteorologist with the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority . EXPRESS READ Health hubs to attract out-of-state patients Kochi: With the intention of attracting patients from other parts of the country and abroad to its healthcare facilities, the Kerala government will launch health hubs next month at four medical college hospitals (MCHs) and the Ernakulam general hospital. Health Minister Veena George said the aim is to raise the quality of infrastructure and services to global standards and attract patients to the state for various treatments. P5 B’desh stops ISKCON members visiting India Dhaka: Dozens of ISKCON members who possessed travel documents were turned back on Sunday by Bangladesh’s immigration police from Benapole border crossing when they tried to cross into India. Imtiaz Ahsanul Quader Bhuiyan, officer-in-charge of the Benapole Immigration Police said, “We consulted the special branch of police and received instructions from the higher authorities not to permit them to cross the border” US President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday threatened to impose a 100% tariff on the BRICS bloc nations, which include India, if they try to undermine the US dollar. “The idea that the BRICS countries are trying to move away from the Dollar while we stand by and watch is over. We require a commitment... that they will neither create a new BRICS Currency, nor back any other Currency to replace the mighty US Dollar or, they will face 100 percent Tariffs and should expect to say goodbye to selling into the wonderful U.S. Economy,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social website. Trump said there is “no chance” BRICS will replace the US dollar in global trade and any country that tries to make that happen “should wave goodbye to America.” The statement comes in the backdrop of the BRICS summit held in October in the Russian city of Kazan discussing ways to boost non-dollar transactions and local currencies. India is not in favour of a common BRICS currency. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has more than once clarified that there is no plan to go for a common BRICS currency . In October, while answering a question on de-dollarisation at an event hosted by Washingtonbased think tank Carnegie Endowment, Jaishankar said India has no policy to target the dollar, adding that it only looks at alternative currencies to deal with trade partners who do not have access to dollar. In that context, Trump’s message is seen as mainly targeted at Russia and China. Agen c i e s Donald Trump ‘Unrealistic threat’ The warning of US Presidentelect Donald Trump to BRICS countries to impose 100% customs duties if the BRICS group would replace the US dollar is unrealistic, think tank The Global Trade Research Initiative said on Sunday The topic had come up during the October summit, where Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the US of “weaponising” the dollar to target rivals. “It’s not us who refuse to use the dollar,” Putin had said at the time. “But if they don’t let us work, what can we do? We are forced to search for alternatives.” Russia is pushing for the creation of a new payment system that would offer an alternative to the global bank messaging network, SWIFT, and allow Moscow to dodge Western sanctions and trade with partners. BRICS is an intergovernmental organisation comprising nine countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the UAE.  (With inputs from agencies) net gains for shuttlers lakshya & SINDHU Sen-sational run Lakshya Sen won the Syed Modi International men’s singles title in Lucknow The 23-year-old, who was the No 1 seed, lived up to his billing. He won all his matches in straight games After narrowly missing out on an Olympic medal in Paris, this is a welcome result for him with 40,382 pledges, followed by Maharashtra (31,125) and Karn a t a k a ( 2 5 , 3 5 1 ) . N O TT O launched the online pledging system to make it easier for people to commit to organ donation. However, the pledging process received a lukewarm response in Kerala. Within the state, most pledges came from Alappuzha, Kottayam, Kozhikode and Thrissur districts, with the most number of participants aged between 30 and 45 years. The Kerala State Organ and Tissue Transplantation Organi- sation (K-SOTTO) has launched an aggressive campaign to address public and medical community’s hesitancy towards cadaver organ donation. KSOTTO began the campaign addressing the public, college students and doctors, dispelling concerns about organ donation. Besides creating awareness, demonstration of the registration procedures are also done at the meetings. “There are 10-15 fields to fill in, and the registration is done Three cheers PV Sindhu bagged the women’s singles crown with an equally impressive run She beat China’s Wu Luo Yu to lift the trophy for the third time, having also won in 2017 & 2022 Form has evaded her in recent times and this win could spur her to rediscover her old touch via Aadhaar-based OTP. We have started demonstrating the registration process to help volunteers understand the steps more clearly,” said Dr Noble Gracious, Executive Director of K-SOTTO. In both online and offline campaigns, QR code facility is arranged to encourage people to register on the website, which can be accessed at htt p s : / / n o t t o . a b d m . g o v. i n / register. In countries where the deceased organ donation is popu- US President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday named Indian American Kahyap ‘Kash’ Patel, 44, to head the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). If confirmed, Patel would replace Christopher Wray, who was chosen by Trump in his first term as president. A fierce Trump loyalist and a vocal critic of ‘deep state’, Patel has called for dramatically reducing the FBI’s footprint. In a recent interview, he said he would close down the FBI’s headquarters in Washington and “reopen it the next day as a museum of the deep state”. Patel served in several senior posts during Trump’s first term, as the Chief of Staff to the US Secretary of Defense. A son of Indian immigrants, Patel has commented on some of the developments in India. Earlier this year, he had voiced support for the Ayodhya Ram Temple, saying: Whether or not you are Hindu or Muslim, there was a Hindu temple there for one of the quintessential gods in the Hindu pantheon in 1500 that was toppled. He has also alleged there is a disinformation campaign in Washington targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Over 6,000 on police list of child-porn viewers S h a n A S @ T’Puram Kerala lags in national organ donation pledge campaign State Telangana Trump names Kash Patel as new FBI head Y E SHI S E LI @ New Delhi lar, pledge forms are simpler with participants just need to click the ‘yes’ or ‘no’ button to express their willingness. However, experts say the NOTTO’s registry is useful in the long run. The national campaign aims to build a repository of potential organ donors. The registration is done by including the contact number of those making the organ donation pledge. This facility helps a relative verify if the person concerned has pledged to donate organ if he or she is declared brain dead. The Counter Child Sexual Exploitation (CCSE) unit of the state police has prepared a list of 6,146 offenders suspected of being involved in viewing child sexual abuse materials (CSAM). The unit began preparing the list following its formation in 2017. Cases have been registered against 1,758 people on obtaining evidence from examining their digital gadgets. The unit has also seized more than 3,000 electronic devices from suspects and about 400 people have been arrested till date, sources said. The CCSE unit adds around 400 people to its suspect list every three months, sources said. Further details of these suspects are collected following which raids are conducted with the help of district police chiefs. The unit, which operates under the cyber division, collects information using its own software and other open-source tools. It also receives information from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), which has access to the tipline reports available with the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), USA. Sources said offenders often resort to erasing the data from their phones using special software and also change devices, which hampers evidence collection and weakens the case ● More on P4 against them.