BHUBANESWAR  SUNDAY  DECEMBER 22, 2024  `12.00  PAGES 26  LATE CITY EDITION LANKA OUT OF SOVEREIGN DEFAULT RATING AFTER FITCH’S UPGRADE FINANCE MINISTRY HAILS IT AS A MILESTONE 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 The island nation’s finance ministry said it officially ended its debt default after Fitch upgraded its credit rating, paving way for easier borrowing MEDIUM TERM INTEREST FOR GOVT TO BE HIGH ■ ■ 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 EXPRESS NEWS SERVI CE @ New Delhi Congress says party will challenge it in court P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi 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.” 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 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 AGITATOR TO VICTIM & A BRUSH WITH GANDHI Amid the melee and uproar at Makar Dwar of Parliament, the image of Pratap Chandra Sarangi, frail and bloodied, with a handkerchief pressed against his forehead, evoked a strange sense of irony. It felt as though the wheels of time had come to a full circle for the BJP MP from Balasore | P9 CENTENARIAN’S SPIRIT 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 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 . Odisha’s forest size grows but tribal districts lose green sheen S U D A R S A N M A H A R A N A @ Bhubaneswar ODISHA is among the handful of states to have achieved an overall growth in forest size but the positive news fails to betray the fact that a number of tribal districts have lost green cover. The India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2023, which was released on Saturday, reveals that Odisha’s forest size, excluding the tree cover, increased to 52,433.56 sq km in 2023 from 52,281.67 sq km in 2021, registering a growth of 151.89 sq km during the period. CANOPY WATCH Forest cover increases by 151.89 sq km Tribal dists record a decline in forest cover Kalahandi reports the highest 61.94 sq km drop Green cover also drop by 30.92 sq km in Keonjhar, 29.46 sq km in Nabarangpur As per the report, the state’s forest and tree cover that stood at 58,038.44 sq km in 2021 increased to 58,597.01 sq km in 2023, posting a growth of 558.57 sq km over the previous assessment. With this increase, Odisha’s cur- rent forest and tree cover stands at 37.63 per cent of its total geographical area of 1,55,707 sq km. A total 33,040.47 sq km forest cover falls under recorded forest area, while the remaining 19,393.09 sq km is outside the recorded forest area of the state, the report stated. However, a comparison drawn between two biennial reports, ISFR 2021 and 2023 shows that at least 12 districts, mostly the tribal-dominated, have recorded a decline in their forest cover. Kalahandi reported the highest 61.94 sq km drop in its forest cover over the previous CONTINUED ON P7 assessment. WEDDING BELLS 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 tobe-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-and-post wedding dates have been finalised kee ping 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 of 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 in-house 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. 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. WITH THIS ISSUE DELIVERY OF INSTANT GRATIFICATION PLUS 12 PAGES EXPRESS READ Incessant rains hit paddy crops in state Bhubaneswar: Even as paddy procurement is underway in many districts, the lowpressure induced incessant rains have caused widespread damage to standing paddy and vegetable crops in large parts of the state. Maximum rain-related loss is apprehended from coastal pockets | P3 MoD seeks MoRTH nod on tunnnel to Ladakh Chandigarh: The Union Ministry of Defence has recommended that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) approve the construction of the Bhubhu Jot tunnel. This tunnel will connect Jogindernagar in the Mandi district with the Kullu district via the Lag Valley in Himachal Pradesh | P10