visakhapatnam l monday l december 02, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION GST mop-up increases 8.5% to `1.82 lakh crore in November Gross GST collections increased to `1.82 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 `34,141 crore, State GST at `43,047 crore, Integrated GST at `91,828 crore, and Cess at `13,253 crore. Refunds worth `19,259 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 `1.63 lakh crore ■ ■ GST from domestic transactions grew 9.4% to `1.40 lakh crore in November, while revenues from tax on imports rose 6% to `42,591 cr The month’s GST mop-up is 8.5% higher than the `1.68 lakh crore collected during the same month last year. On a sequential basis, it is 2.6% lower than the `1.87 lakh crore collected in October `2.1 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 PDS rice mafia posed a threat to nat’l security, says Manohar K K a lya n K r i s h n a K um a r Donald Trump threatens BRICS with 100% tariffs US President-elect warns against trying to undercut the dollar @ Vijayawada Tirupati witnessed unrelenting downpour on Sunday, affecting normal life | Madhav K Rains batter Nellore & Tirupati, farmers worried over crop loss D Su r e n d r a K um a r @ Tirupati Tirumala dams close to brim Coastal mandals in Nellore and Tirupati districts have been experiencing incessant rainfall since Cyclone Fengal’s landfall, and normal life has been disrupted.   In Nellore, Manubolu recorded the highest rainfall of 15 cm, followed by Indukurupeta 11 cm, Rapur 9 cm, Nellore Rural, Podalakuru and Kodavaluru 8 cm, Muthukur, Buchireddypalem, Sydapuram, Thotapalligudur and Allur 7 cm. Dam Papavinasanam Gogarbham Akashaganga Kumaradhara Pasupudhara 7 Maoists killed in encounter with police in Telangana 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 persons on Sunday Superintendent , of Police 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. The encounter comes amid heightened security and intensified combing efforts in the Maoist-affected areas of Mulugu district after the recent killing of two tribal men in Penugolu village by Maoists, branding them as police informers. Shabarish stated that the combing operations will continue in the forest areas of Eturunagaram, Wazeedu, Peruru, and Venkatapuram. Storage Capacity 4,345 5,240 2,833 2,833 306.5 685 2,372.76 4,258.98 950.39 1,287.51 (Water in lakh gallons) In Tirupati, Narayanavanam reported the highest rainfall of 18 cm, followed by Puttur 17 cm, KVB Puram and Vadamalapeta 15 cm, Tada and Pichatur 14 cm and Varadaiahpalem 11 cm. The average rainfall reported in Nellore over the past 24 hours was 43.5 mm, while it was 11 cm in Tirupati. The unrelenting downpour has left tobacco growers in upland mandals of Nellore deeply concerned about the survival of their crops, besides affecting other farmers. The heavy rains have also disrupted normal life in urban areas like Tirupati, Nellore City Sullurupeta, Naid, P4 upeta and Kavali.  Minister for Civil Supplies, Food and Consumer Affairs Nadendla Manohar has levelled serious allegations against the previous YSRCP government, accusing it of turning Kakinada Port into a hub of illegal activities.   Speaking to the media on Sunday he alleged that the pre, vious regime facilitated operations of smuggling mafia through Kakinada Port over the past five years, jeopardising national security . “Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan are making every effort to curb the illegal export of Public Distribution System (PDS) rice from Kakinada Port. PDS rice is meant to satisfy the hunger of 1.48 crore ration card holders and `12,800 crore is being spent on implementation of the scheme by the Central and State governments,” the Civil Supplies Minister explained. Manohar alleged that the transfer of Kakinada Sea Port management from KV Rao to Aurobindo Realty was effected through coercion and 41% stake was handed over to the P4 company  . 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 while dealing 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. Appointment of NEW BrahMos chief CHALLENGED IN tribunal M AYAN K SIN 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. firs t hearin g 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 coming up 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 expor ter and the Trump picks Kash Patel as new FBI chief YESHI SELI @ New Delhi deliberations 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 contribution to the Long-Range and MediumRange Surface-to-Air Missiles (LRSAM and MRSAM). Ag e n c i e s Donald Trump ‘Unrealistic threat’ Trump’s threat is unrealistic, think tank The Global Trade Research Initiative said on Sunday. It said tariffs of this scale would harm the US consumers only as it would push prices on imports, disrupt global trade, and risk retaliation from key partners The topic had come up during the recent summit of the BRICS, 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 United Arab Emirates.  (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 Three cheers P V 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 rehabilitation woes Sri Lankan Tamil repatriates in AP face uncertain future U s h a P e r i @ Visakhapatnam The Sri Lankan repatriates of Indian origin, rehabilitated in the coffee plantations of Alluri Sitarama Raju district in the 1970s, continue to face challenges in securing a stable future. Despite inclusion in the State welfare schemes like pensions and ration, the lack of land ownership right and difficulties in obtaining caste certificates hinder their progress. Resettled under the Sirimavo-Shastri Pact of 1964, later amended as the Sirimavo-Indira Gandhi Pact, these families were among the 5.25 lakh stateless Tamil-origin individu- als granted Indian citizenship, and distributed across States for rehabilitation. Around 200 families were placed in the Agency areas of Andhra Pradesh, where they were initially resettled in the Forest Department quarters, and later handed over to the Andhra Pradesh Forest Development Corporation (APFDC) to work in coffee plantations. Today, nearly 20 individuals from four families reside in Vangasara, while approximately 40 families live in Minumurulu and RV Nagar villages. Over the years, many repatriates have moved to Tamil Nadu or other States, citing dissatis- Sri Lankan repatriates Kanaka Valli and Saraswati of Vangasara village in Alluri Sitarama Raju district seem to be worried over their future | G Satyanarayana faction with low wages. “We started with a daily wage of `35 when we arrived here. Now, we earn `320, but there is no security If a family member . cannot work in the plantations, we are asked to vacate our quarters,” said Kanaka Valli, a resident of Vangasara. A major hurdle for the younger generation is the inability to get caste certificates due to issues with their sur names, which do not align with AP’s administrative system. Without these certificates, children face difficulties in changing schools, accessing reservation benefits in education, and applying for government jobs. P4 US President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday tapped 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 in 2017. FBI directors are appointed to 10-year terms to insulate the bureau from politics. A fierce Trump loyalist and a vocal critic of ‘deep state’, Patel is expected to cut down the FBI’s footprint. In a recent interview, he said he would close down the FBI’s headquar ters in Wa s h i n g t o n and “reopen it the next day as a museum of the deep state”. He said he send the 7,000-odd employees working in that building across America to chase criminals. Patel served in several posts during Trump’s first term, including as Chief of Staff to Secretary of Defense. A son of Indian immigrants, Patel has commented on the developments in India. Earlier this year, he had voiced support for the Ayodhya Ram Temple. He has also alleged there is a disinformation campaign in Washington targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. express read BJP will take CM call, will have my support: Shinde Mumbai: With suspense continuing over who would be the next Maharashtra Chief Minister, Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde on Sunday reiterated that whatever decision taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union minister Amit Shah on next the chief minister will be acceptable to him. Talking to the media in his native village, Shinde said Mahayuti allies will sit together and resolve all difference with regard to portfolio allocation | P8 B’desh stops ISKCON members going to 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” | P9 Bhagwat urges couples to have 3 children RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday said every couple should produce at least three children. “Demographic studies suggest when a society’s total fertility rate falls below 2.1, it risks facing extinction,” he said at an event | P7