tadepalligudem l monday l june 02, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Ukraine hits Russian bombers ahead of truce talks in Istanbul A Ukrainian drone attack destroyed over 40 Russian planes on Sunday—a day before the two sides were to meet for talks in Istanbul Top ukrainian commander puts in papers Two Russian air bases bear the brunt The spectacular claim that Ukraine damaged $2 billion worth of Russian aircraft parked at airbases thousands of kilometres away came as Kyiv announced that a Russian counter-military strike killed at least 12 of its soldiers at an army training site, leading to the resignation of its ground forces commander Mykhailo Drapaty, who owed ‘responsibility’ for the hit ■ ■ Russia’s defence ministry in a statement confirmed the attacks from Ukraine. The FPV drones damaged aircraft and sparked fires on air bases in Irkutsk as well as Russia’s northern Murmansk Ukraine’s top army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said Russia attacked Pokrovsk, Toretsk and Lyman in Donetsk as well as Sumy | P9 472 drones launched by russia on sunday in its counter offensive 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 GST collections stay above K2 lakh cr in May Gross GST revenue up 16.4%; robust mop-up for 2nd month in a row; double-digit growth in several large states DIPAK MO N DAL @ New Delhi Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah addresses an organisational meeting of the BJP at Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata on Sunday | PTI Shah raises CAA, Operation Sindoor in Bengal poll pitch RA J E SH K U MAR THAK U R @ New Delhi Sounding the poll bugle in West Bengal ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls, Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday accused the Mamata Banerjeeled government of opposing Operation Sindoor and the Waqf Amendment Bill to appease the Muslim vote bank. Addressing party leaders and workers in Kolkata, Shah alleged Hindus were being oppressed in the state and forced to flee. The recent riots in Murshidabad were not spontaneous but orchestrated by the state, he claimed, adding that the Mamata-led Trinamool Congress shielded the perpetrators of violence. Shah also alleged that Hindu refugees were getting notices that their names may be removed from the voter list. “There is no need to worry. Simply fill out the CAA applications, and we will ensure that they are granted Indian citizenship,” he said. Raising the Pahalgam terror attack issue, Shah said, “When tourists from Bengal were killed in the attack, Mamata Didi remained silent. But now she is having problems with Operation Sindoor.” Mamata Banerjee had recently accused the Centre of politicising Operation Sindoor for electoral gains. “Operation Sindoor was to punish terrorists. But Didi was pained at the deaths of terrorists and gave a cheap political statement. She made West Bengal a centre for infiltrators, corruption and crimes,” Shah said, adding that the TMC’s days were numbered. Shah said the upcoming elections are not just about Bengal, but about national security, adding: “Didi has left Bengal’s borders open for Bangladeshis. Infiltration is taking place in Bengal with her blessing.” In a counter to Shah’s charges, the TMC said stopping infiltration is the responsibility of the BSF, not state government. express read Eight from AP stranded in Sikkim floods Vizianagaram: At least eight tourists, including Vizianagaram tahsildar Kurmanatharao and his family, have been stranded for over 48 hours in Lachung, Sikkim, following heavy rains, flash floods, and landslides that struck the region on Sunday. The group, who had travelled from AP on a summer trip, are currently in a hotel cut off from all road | P3 Two killed as France celebrates CL win Paris: Two people died, while hundreds of football fans were arrested and cars set ablaze in France overnight as football fans celebrated the PSG’s victory over Iter Milan 5-0 in the Champions trophy final. The epicentre of the euphoria was in Paris, which was a theatre of car horns, cheers, singing in the street and fireworks throughout Saturday night | P11 IF May GST collection—tax collected for April transactions— are anything to go by, India’s economy started the financial year with a bang despite the disruptions caused by US president Donald Trump’s threat of reciprocal tariffs. Gross monthly GST collections in May rose by 16.5% to touch `2.01 lakh crore—only the third time since the indirect tax regime came into force in July 2017. Gross domestic revenue rose by 14% to `1.5 lakh crore, while revenue from imports increased by 25% to `51,000 crore. Net GST revenues (after de- ducting refunds from gross collections) showed even better buoyancy as the same increased by 20.4% to `1.74 lakh crore. Total refunds contracted by 4% year-on-year. This is the second month in a row when gross collections witnessed double-digit growth. In April, gross GST collections hit an all-time high of `2.36 lakh crore in April 2025, 12.6% higher than the collection of `2.10 lakh crore in April 2024. This augurs well for the country as FY25 showed GST revenue collections growth slowing down to single digit numbers. “A 16% growth in GST collections in the month shows a renewed upward momentum af- Gross GST revenue Import gains May ’24 May ’25 GST revenue CGST 32,409 35,434 from inward shipments SGST 40,265 43,902 grew 25%, IGST 87,781 1,08,836 showing CESS 12,284 12,879 imports shot up despite Total 1,72,739 2,01,050 tariff (Figures in ` crore) headwinds Bangla ex-PM Hasina charged with crimes against humanity a g en c i e s @ Dhaka FUGITIVE former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina orchestrated a “systematic attack” that amounted to crimes against humanity in her attempt to crush the uprising that toppled her government, Bangladeshi prosecutors said at the opening of her trial on Sunday . Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024 after Hasina’s government launched its crackdown, a c c o rd i n g t o t h e U n i t e d Nations. Hasina, 77, fled by helicopter to India as the student-led uprising ended her 15-year rule, and she has defied an extradition order to return to Dhaka. Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) is prosecuting former senior figures connected to Hasina’s ousted gover nment and her nowbanned party, the Awami League. “Upon scrutinising the evidence, we reached the conclusion that it was a coordinated, widespread and systematic attack,” ICT chief prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam told the court in his opening speech. “The accused unleashed all law enforcement agencies and her armed party members to crush the uprising.” Islam lodged five charges against Hasina and two other officials that included “abetment, incitement, complicity, facilitation, conspiracy, and failure to prevent mass murder during the July uprising”. Prosecutors say such acts are tantamount to “crimes against humanity”. Hasina, who remains in selfimposed exile in India since August 5, 2023, has rejected the charges as politically motivated. Apart from Hasina, the case includes ex-police chief Chowdhury Abdullah and former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, who is on the run. Three days after Hasina’s ouster, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus took over as the nation’s interim leader. Ration shops set to become ‘Mini Malls’, may start selling variety of millets soon E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Kakinada Civil Supplies Minister Nadendla Manohar announced that ration shops across the state will soon be converted into ‘Mini Malls’ in collaboration with the Central Government. These upgraded outlets will offer not just rice, but also a variety of nutritious millets such as finger millets (ragulu), pearl millets (sajjalu), Sorghum ( jonna), and foxtail millet (korralu), aimed at improving public health. Minister Nadendla Manohar formally launched the statewide resumption of Fair Price (FP) shops at Gandhi Bomma Centre in Pithapuram on Sunday marking a , major shift in the state’s public distribution system (PDS). The revamped system is expected to save the state `385 crore an- Minister Nadendla Manohar distributes ration to beneficiaries in Kakinada | EXPRESS With over 14L beneficiaries, FPS set a new mark on Day 1 In a remarkable feat, AP’s Civil Supplies Department distributed rice to 14,45,418 beneficiaries through 29,760 fair price shops across the state in a single day, surpassing the previous first-day figures. nually while enhancing transparency flexibility and accessibility , , . Speaking on the occasion, Manohar announced that 29,761 FP shops will now distribute goods worth `1.46 crore every month. Beneficiaries can collect their rations from any shop, regardless of their rice card linkage. Shops will operate daily from 8 am to 12 pm and 4 pm to 8 pm, including Sundays, from 1st to 15th of every month. The minister criticized the previous YSRCP government for scrapping shop-based delivery under the guise of door-to-door service, alleging that it led to corruption and misuse of `1,650 crore. He said 9,260 Mobile Dispensing Units (MDUs) were misused for rice smuggling, and that even idle vehicles were falsely shown as deP4 livering rations. wunderkind At 11, Charvi making heads turn at Norway Open s w a r o o p s w a m i n at h a n @ Stavanger INDIA’s chess conveyor belt shows no signs of slowing down. One of the latest to emerge from the seemingly limitless pool is Charvi A, who has already made the likes of Viswanathan Anand sit up and take notice. The 11-year-old, currently in action at the Norway Open event in the city, is a WFM (Woman Fide Master). Already an age-group world champion, what makes the Bengaluru-based Charvi special is the way she’s laser-focused in her chess. Even in a game where obsessives are dime-a-dozen, it’s un- Charvi A with her parents heard of for somebody as young as her to set boundaries. For example, she has already told her parents to not reveal the identity of her coach (she has worked with Swayams Mishra and RB Ramesh in the past). Her dedication also lies in her wanting to learn from her mistakes. After every game, she makes it a point to have a debrief with all of her opponents. “It can go on for 30 minutes also,” her mother, Akhila, who left behind her IT job, says. She and her husband Anil Kumar had to rely on YouTube to understand the game and keep pace with their daughter. Her parents were undecided on her daughter pursuing chess but after she won the Under-8 girls World Championship, they were sold on her obvious talents (post that, she also got the highest civilian award given to children for her chess exploits). They were okay pulling her out of school (she only visits to give term exams) apart from customising her training schedule. Apart from chess training, she also goes for swimming and badminton classes in the evening to ensure she gets some physical activity on a daily basis. Charvi has had a mixed Open event but that’s to be expected at this level as the players she faces are either higher rated or have more experience. But it will stand her in good stead going forward. ter a few months of growth in the range of 11 to 12%. If the growth continues in this range for next couple of months, it might provide the cushion for the Government to look at rate rationalisation on which a lot of work has already been done,” says Pratik Jain, partner, Price Waterhouse & Co LLP . Meanwhile, M S Mani, partner, Deloitte India, says a 25% higher GST revenue from imports indicates that imports have accelerated despite recent tariff headwinds. Several large states, including those in the South, have seen high double-digit growth. Collections from Maharashtra rose by 17%, Karnataka by 20%, Tamil Nadu by 25% and Kerala by 24%. Bihar (23%) and Delhi (58%) and West Bengal (18%) are few other notable good performers during the month. Gujarat (4%), Telangana (6%) and Andhra Pradesh (-2%) were few of the laggards. According to Deloitte’s Mani, the wide variations in GST collections growth across states require a thorough analysis across the sectors that are important in each state. “The average growth across the country does not appear to be uniformly reflected across states, possibly due to sectoral or seasonal factors which require a deeper data-based analysis,” he argues. GST revenues show a 2 per cent decline in AP E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada Andhra Pradesh registered a two percent decline in the GST revenues for May 2025, while GST revenues of the country as a whole registered a 13.66% jump, compared to May 2024. The state has netted a GST revenue of `3,803 crore i n M ay 2 0 2 4 against `3,890 c ro re i n M ay 2025. The neighbouring state of Telangana registered a 6% increase, Tamil Nadu a 25% increase, Karnataka 20%, and Odisha a2 % increase. As per the data released by the Ministry of Finance on June 1, pre-settlement SGST of Andhra Pradesh for the year 2025-26 stood at `2,801 crore as against `2,861 crore in 2024-25, which is a two percent decrease. In case of post-settlement SGST, the State netted `5,388 crore in the current fiscal, compared to `6,149 crore in FY 2024-25, which is a 12 % drop. The data further shows that c o l l e c t i o n by central for mations in the state stood at `4,707 crore, while the state for mations show `3,783.2 crore. The CGST was `2,195 crore, SGST was `2,801 crore, IGST was `3,044 crore, and Cess was `450 crore.