THIRUVANANTHAPURAM l Sunday l december 22, 2024 l `12.00 l PAGES 26 l late city edition lanka out of sovereign default rating after FITCH’s upgrade The island nation’s finance ministry said it officially ended its debt default after Fitch upgraded its credit rating, paving way for easier borrowing Finance ministry hails it as a milestone Medium term interest for govt to be high Mahinda Siriwardana, a finance ministry bureaucrat, said December 20 marked a major milestone in the country’s economic recovery process as Sri Lanka officially exited sovereign default. Fitch upgraded Sri Lanka’s long-term foreign-currency default rating to CCC+ from restricted default after creditors approved the nation’s $12.55 billion debt ■ ■ Despite the debt restructuring the “general government debt/GDP and the interest/revenue ratio are likely to stay high in the medium term,” Fitch Ratings said In 2022, Sri Lanka plunged into an economic crisis, defaulted on its foreign debt due to its high debt burden amid the Covid pandemic Nov 26 Date when Lanka announced ratification of debt restructuring 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 Rule tweak cuts access to certain poll documents Pegasus liable in WhatsApp suit: US court Ex press N ews Service @ New Delhi With a US court finding Israel’s NSO Group — which sells spyware Pegasus — liable in a lawsuit filed by WhatsApp in 2019 flagging breaches in devices, snooping is back on the front burner, including in India. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton in Oakland, California, on Friday granted a motion by Mark Zuckerberg-owned WhatsApp and found NSO liable for hacking and breach of contract, Reuters reported. In 2019, WhatsApp sued the NSO Group accusing it of accessing WhatsApp servers without permission to install the Pegasus software on mobile devices. The suit alleged the intrusion allowed the surveillance of 1,400 people. The US Supreme Court last year turned away NSO’s appeal against the lower court’s decision, allowing the lawsuit to proceed. The ruling assumes significance as over 300 mobile numbers in India, including those of ministers in the Modi government, Opposition leaders, journalists and business magnates were allegedly infected with Pegasus in 2021. Soon, several petitions were filed in the Supreme Court seeking a probe. The court set up a committee of technical experts, which found no conclusive evidence on the use of the spyware in phones examined by it. Congress says it will challenge it in court P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi Centenarian’s spirit Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Kuwait-based retired Indian Foreign Service officer Mangal Sain Handa, 101, upon his arrival in Kuwait, on Saturday. On Friday, Handa’s granddaughter Shreya Juneja had requested the PM to meet her Nanaji | PTI Plan to formalise special cess for disaster relief d i pa k m o n d a l @ Jaisalmer THE GST Council on Saturday decided to formalise a procedure for states to levy special cess to raise money for disaster relief. This was decided after Andhra Pradesh sought the Council’s permission to levy a 1% cess on goods and services in the highest rate bracket of 28%. Andhra Pradesh’s request for cess will be referred to a Group of Ministers (GoM) as was done previously for a similar request by Kerala in 2018. Addressing a press briefing after the GST Council meeting, Finance Minister Nir mala Sitharaman said that since similar WITH THIS ISSUE Delivery of Instant Gratification PLUS 12 PAGES requests have been made earlier as well, “we are of the view that there should be a laid-out procedure to deal w i t h s u ch re q u e s t s i n future.” Besides floods, several states wanted drought to be brought under the definition of disaster, she added. Andhra Pradesh finance minister Payyavula Keshav told the media that the state in August and September faced unprecedented rains and flood, which caused severe financial loss to the state. “…we will need a sum of `15,000 crore to come back to normalcy. There- fore, we requested the Council to allow us to levy a cess of 1%,” said Keshav, adding that most states were supportive of Andhra’s demand. Meanwhile, the 55th GST Council meeting ended without any major decisions being taken. The much-awaited decision on lowering GST rates on health and life insurance premium has been deferred as the Council was of the view that the issue needs more discussions. Among the changes in tax rates, the Council decided to increase the GST rate from 12% to 18% on sale of all old and used vehicles, including electric vehicles. Caramelised popcorn would attract 18% GST as it comes under P12 sugar confectionery  . In a move that drew sharp criticism from the Opposition parties and RTI activists, the Centre on Friday amended the ‘Conduct of Election Rules’ to prevent public scrutiny of certain electronic documents such as CCTV footage and video recordings of polling. Based on the Election Commission’s (EC) recommendation, the Union Law Ministry amended Rule 93 of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, to restrict certain documents that were to public inspection till now. Rule 93(2)(a) earlier stated that “all other papers relating to the election shall be open to public inspection”. The amended version says “all other papers as specified in these rules relating to the election shall be open to public inspection.” Acting upon a complaint filed by advocate Mehmood Pracha, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has recently directed the EC to provide videog raphy, security camera footage, and copies of documents related to votes polled at a polling station during the recent Haryana assembly elections. Pracha had sought video and CCTV footage, and copies of Forms 17-C Parts I and II related to the polls. Coming down heavily on the amendment, the Congress said it would challenge it in court. In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that the tweak was a “vindication” of its assertions regarding the “rapidly eroding integrity” of the electoral process managed by the Election Commission in recent times. For their part, the Law Ministry and EC officials said documents such as nomination forms, appointment of poll agents, results and election account statements are mentioned in the Conduct of Election Rules, but electronic documents such as CCTV footage are not. “There have been instances where such electronic records have been sought, citing the rules. The amendment ensures that only papers mentioned in the rules are available for public inspection,” an EC official said. He added that the misuse of CCTV footage from inside polling booths could compromise voter secrecy and could be used to generate fake narratives using AI. “All such material is available to candidates, including footage. After the amendment, too, it will be available to them.” RTI activist: Huge setback for transparency Prominent RTI activist Anjali Bharadwaj said it is a huge setback for transparency. Rule 93(2) was amended to restrict access to poll-related records after court orders disclosure. “Applications we filed under Rule 93(2) in May 2024 for copies of Form 17C are still pending,” she said At 3.16% in five years, Errors in landslide rehab list trigger outrage state’s economic growth 4th lowest in country E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @Kalpetta M S V i d ya n a n d a n @ T’Puram Despite topping the national charts on various human-development indices, Kerala’s economy has been limping for some time now. A recent central bank report further cemented the condition that the state finds itself in. In the Reserve Bank of India’s ‘Handbook of Statistics on Indian States 2023-24’, Kerala took the 30th spot — among select 33 states and Union territories (UTs) — in terms of economic growth over a five-year period. Kerala’s avera g e annual growth rate (AAGR) in gross state domestic product (GSDP, at constant prices) between 2018-19 and 2022-23 stood at 3.16%, with only Delhi (3.13%), Uttarakhand (2.16%) and Goa (0.70%) performing worse. Mizoram topped the chart with 6.75% growth, followed by Chhattisgarh (6.64%) and Gujarat (6.26%). Major south Indian states also registered commendable growth during the period. While Karnataka’s economy grew by 5.62%, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh posted 5.61%, 5.27% and 5.19% expansions, respectively . The quick estimate for 202324 showed that Kerala’s GSDP improved to `6.35 lakh crore, posting a 6.52% year-on-year (YoY) growth, from the previous year’s `5.96 lakh crore (+4.24% YoY). The handbook did not have data for all states/ UTs for this year. Telangana’s growth rate was pegged at 9.24%, followed by Tamil Nadu (8.23%), Andhra Pradesh (7.35%), and Karnataka (6.60%). “There are various factors behind Kerala’s slow growth rate,” economist Mary George said. “The state is yet to be industryfriendly in the true sense and hence big investments are limited. Kerala continues to grapple with militant trade unionism,” she said. “The agriculture sector is facing a crisis due to price falls and human-wildlife conflicts. The drop in NRI remittances following the pandemic and outward remittances through migrant labourers have compounded the state’s woes,” Mary added. ● More on P7 GSDP growth rate of major south Indian states (%) State 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24* Kerala 7.37 0.90 -8.49 11.78 4.24 6.52 Tamil Nadu 7 3.25 0.07 7.89 8.13 8.23 Karnataka 6.41 6.11 -2.30 9.82 8.07 6.60 Andhra Pradesh 5.36 3.70 1.52 9.56 5.81 7.35 Telangana 9.15 5.35 -6.01 11.18 8.38 9.24 Source: RBI’s ‘Handbook of Statistics on Indian States 2023-24’ * Quick estimate Significant errors have been found in the beneficiary list for the Wayanad landslide rehabilitation project, including the exclusion of many affected families and duplication of names, triggering protests by survivors. According to the Disaster Victims’ Strike Committee, which is leading the protest, many genuine victims said they were left out of the list. The committee members alleged that the district administration data showed no survivors from 17 affected families, which is not the case. The errors and lapses have raised concerns about the integrity of the process, they said. Prepared by the sub-collector and published on Friday, the Only a preliminary document, says min Revenue Minister K Rajan said the draft beneficiary list is only a preliminary document. He said the draft was compiled by merging data from panchayat and revenue records, which may lead to some names being repeated. He clarified that this is a natural occurrence in draft lists and it will be addressed before finalisation. draft list of beneficiaries for the first phase of the rehabilitation project comprised 388 families. “We lost everything to the landslides — our home, land, and peace. And now we find our names missing from the list. It feels like we are invisible to the authorities,” said Ahamed Koya from Mundakkai, who lost his house and property in the July 30 landslide. “In one ward, the same names appear twice, while our family’s name doesn’t appear at all. Is this what we deserve after surviving such a tragedy? They say they will fix the er- rors within 15 days. But how can we trust them when such big mistakes were made in the first place? We need justice, not just promises,” he said. “We’ve been protesting for days now, but it feels like no one truly understands our pain. We need our voices heard, not ignored,” Koya said. Kalpetta MLA T Siddique said: “These discrepancies stem from shortcomings in the data collection process, for which various sources such as ration card details, information from local government departments, and rapid assessment surveys were used.” The landslides’ impact extends to families in Mundakkai, Attamala, and Chooralmala. Residents allege that the draft list falls short of reflecting the disaster’s full extent. ● More on P7 ‘MT critical, responding to medication’ Express News Service @Kozhikode Jnanpith laureate M T Vasudevan Nair’s health condition remains critical as he undergoes treatment at a private hospital in Kozhikode. The literary legend, who suffered a heart attack on Friday is currently ad, mitted to the ICU under the close supervision of a team of expert doctors. On Saturday morning, there was slight improvement in his health condition. According to the medical team, MT moved his limbs and started responding to medication. MT was initially hospitalised last Sunday after experiencing severe respiratory problems. His condition deteriorated following the cardiac episode. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan personally reached out to MT’s family to convey his concern. He also expressed hope for MT’s speedy recovery Rahul . Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, spoke to MT’s daughter over the phone to express his support. EXPRESS READ Christmas rush: Special train services for Kerala T’Puram: Railways has announced 10 special trains to the state to cater to the increased demand during Christmas this year. A total of 149 special train trips were allotted across various Railway Zones for this period. Additionally, 416 special services have been scheduled to ensure smooth travel for Sabarimala pilgrims.P4 we d d i n g b e l l s Love-all start: Sindhu-Sai set for match close to heart A j ay t o m a r @ Hyderabad There is always a sprinkling of condiments to add flavour to a celebrity marriage. The brouhaha it generates is sometimes bewildering. When P V Sindhu announced her engagement and marriage to a Hyderabad entrepreneur, interest grew as date of marriage neared, especially surrounding the identity of her to-be-husband Venkata Datta Sai. As Udiapur gets decked up for the marriage on Sunday, Sindhu would be ready for a different match. Something close to her heart and soul. As the two went about inviting guests, the man who stole Sindhu’s heart was in the limelight as well. Sai is a Hyderabad-based IT professional and Executive Director at Posidex Technologies. His father G T Venkateshwar Rao is the managing director at the same company . “The two families are friends and have known each other for a long time,” Sindhu’s father P V Ramana told this newspaper over the phone from Udaipur. He explained that the pre-andpost wedding dates have been finalised keeping in mind the next season. “He is an avid sports follower and an active supporter. Who doesn’t follow sports these days?” asked Ramana. Sai’s career has been equally dynamic and has a sporting touch too. He has a bachelor’s in business administration in Accounting and Finance and a master’s degree in Data Science and Machine Learning from the International Institute of Information Technology Bengaluru. , Sai began at JSW as an intern and later worked as an inhouse consultant (2018-19). He then became the managing director of Sour Apple Asset Management while also contributing to Posidex since December 2019. Sai also managed the Delhi IPL team. Reflecting on the experience, Sai writes: “My BBA in finance and economics pales in comparison to managing an IPL team...” Match, court, love the words Sindhu would have grown up hearing will now be part of her life when she ties the knot in a royal wedding apparently with Rajasthani flavour in Udaipur – the venue of many a high-profile destination weddings. A reception is slated in Hyderabad a couple of days later.