bengaluru l tuesday l september 23, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 22 l late city EDITION Core sector output rises to a 13-month high of 6.3% in August India’s eight key infrastructure sectors’ growth jumped to a 13-month high on account of expansion in coal, steel, and cement production august numbers flip muted july figures steel, cement production led growth The core sectors’ output growth was 3.7 per cent in the previous month of July. It was (-) 1.5 per cent in August last year. Earlier, the similar pace of growth at 6.3 per cent was recorded in July 2024. During April-August of this fiscal year, the eight infrastructure sectors expanded by 2.8 per cent, compared to a rise of 4.6 per cent in the same period last year ■ ■ Coal, steel, and cement production rose to 11.4 per cent, 14.2 per cent and 6.1 per cent, respectively, during August, the data showed Refinery products, fertiliser, and electricity output rose by 3 per cent, 4.6 per cent, and 3.1 per cent respectively within the same time span. However, crude oil and natural gas recorded negative growth | P15 -1.5% was the core sector output growth in august last year 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 Car showrooms, retail outlets, online platforms witness record sales on Day 1 GST 2.0 kicks PM in, sees festive buying rush GST Savings Fest begins, time to LETTER FROM THE Motor India, said the festive mood, boosted by GST reforms, CAR showrooms, retail outlets, has infused strong positivity and e-commerce platforms saw into the market. On Monday, brisk sales on the first day of Hyundai recorded 11,000 dealer GST 2.0 on Monday which coin- billings—its highest single-day , cided with the start of the fes- performance in five years. tive season. Fuelled by the pentAmit Kamat, chief commerup demand and sharp reduction cial officer at Tata Motors Pasin prices on the back senger Vehicles, said of lower tax rates unthe rate cut has led to no diwali der the new GST re- gifts: Govt a surge in bookings, gime, shoppers with a spike in showWhile govt has flocked to marketroom walk-ins, higher places as businesses extended festive conversions, and a cheer to the lined up additional growing order book. discounts to cash in public, it asked its “Our dealerships offices not to on the rush. have opened early and spend on gifts. Partho Banerjee, extended their work“No expenditure senior executive ofing hours to welcome ficer, marketing & shall be incurred the festive rush. With on gifts... for sales at Maruti Suzua strong pipeline of ki, said customers’ Diwali and other bookings and schedfestivals by response has been uled deliveries, we are Ministries/Depts,” fully geared to meet phenomenal. “We recorded 80,000 read a circular by the festive demand and P K Singh, joint enquiries, and have are optimistic about already delivered secretary, Dept of setting new records Expenditure over 25,000 cars, with this festive season,” deliveries expected to said Kumar. touch 30,000 shortly Since Sep. The automotive industry is tember 18 when we announced estimated to have seen a 20-30% additional price reduction surge in bookings. (over and above GST), we have The white goods segment received 75,000 bookings, with also witnessed an uptick in nearly 15,000 bookings coming bookings and sales on Monday in every day—50% higher than as GST on air conditioners, reusual,” said Banerjee. frigerators, washing machines, Tarun Garg, whole-time di- dishwashers, and large-screen rector and COO at Hyundai TVs dropped from 28% to 18%. A R S HA D K HAN @ New Delhi Passenger tries to open cockpit door on AI flight E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e go Swadeshi My Fellow Indians, Namaskar! The Next Generation GST reforms have begun to make their presence felt, marking the start of a ‘GST Bachat Utsav’ or ‘GST Savings Festival’ across the country These reforms will boost savings and directly benefit every section of society, be it farmers, women, youth, poor, middle class, traders or MSMEs Heartening to see various shopkeepers and traders putting up ‘then and now’ boards which indicate taxes pre-reforms and postreforms Income tax cuts and Next Gen GST reforms taken together add up to savings of nearly J2.5 lakh crore for the people This festive season, let us also resolve to support products that are Made in India. This means buying Swadeshi products that have the sweat and toil of an Indian involved in their making, irrespective of the brand or the company that makes them I appeal to our shopkeepers and traders to sell products that are Made in India. Let us proudly say – what we buy is Swadeshi NARENDRA MODI Dasara a heartbeat, gives message of harmony: Banu @ Bengaluru K a r t h i k K K @ Mysuru A passenger on an Air India Express flight (IX-1086) from Bengaluru to Varanasi on Monday attempted to enter the aircraft’s cockpit, claiming that he tried to open it by mistake as he is a first-time flyer and was looking for the toilet, sources said. He also tried to enter a code into the passcode-controlled locking mechanism, but was unsuccessful, the sources said. The passenger and eight of his companions on the flight were handed over to security of ficials at the Varanasi airport. There was some speculation that he had entered the correct passcode, but sources with direct knowledge of the matter said that was not the case. The cockpit access code is known only to the pilots and the cabin crew. The flight took off from the Kempegowda International Airport at 8 am and landed in Varanasi at 10.27 am, 10 minutes earlier than the scheduled time.  CONTINUED ON P7 Mysuru Dasara is not just a festival, but the very heartbeat of the land. It is a celebration of culture that unites people beyond boundaries, said International Booker Prize winner Banu Mushtaq, inaugurating Mysuru Dasara here on Monday After floral offerings to Goddess . Chamundeshwari, she said Dasara transcends religion, caste and language, and urged people to embrace harmony in a world torn apart by violence and hatred. In the run-up to the Dasara, Mushtaq had faced opposition over the inauguration of the festivities as she is from the minority community She said, “What . cannot be won with weapons can be won with words. Life blossoms not through hatred, but through love. Dasara is not just a festival but the pulse of our people, a cultural confluence that binds us all.” She said her personal journey taught her that the true path of life lies in moving from individuality to collectivity. She described her philosophy of life as “Jeevapara”, comparing it to the shade of a tree or the coolness of a flowing river in a burning world. Recalling the legacy of Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar, with whom her uncle was a sepoy she said the king had , Muslim bodyguards in his service, which Writer Banu Mushtaq, CM Siddaramaiah and others offer flowers to Goddess Chamundeshwari in Mysuru on Monday | Udayashankar S is an example of harmony and trust. “Democracy is not just a system, but a value. It is about respecting every voice, living meaningfully in each others’ lives, and recognising that the earth does not reject us, the sky does not divide us. Only humans draw boundaries,” she said.  P4 EAM, Rubio hold wide-ranging discussion J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi EXTERNAL Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday held their first in-person meeting ever since Washington imposed steep tariffs on key Indian exports over Delhi’s continued purchases of Russian oil. Following the meeting in New York, Jaishankar posted on X that both sides “agreed on the importance of sustained engagement” on priority areas, signaling a mutual intent to keep the dialogue open amid rising trade and geopolitical tensions. “Our conversation covered a range of bilateral and international issues of current concern. Agreed on the importance of sustained engagement to progress on priority areas,” Jaishankar said. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the United Nat i o n s G e n e r a l A s s e m bly (UNGA) and comes as India-US trade talks resume in Washington, led by Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal. These negotiations follow a shift in tone from President Donald Trump, who recently indicated his administration was working to resolve key trade irritants with India, which still remains a work in progress. Sources said the Jaishankar– Rubio talks covered a wide range of bilateral and global issues, including economic cooperation, energy security, and regional stability in the IndoPacific. Monday’s talks are seen as a crucial step in stabilising the broader India-US strategic partnership, which remains strong on defence, tech and Indo-Pacific coordination. S Jaishankar Marco Rubio hiccups galore Survey faces tech snags, gets off to slow start D e v a r a j B H i r e h a l l i @ Bengaluru The Socio, Economic and Educational Survey-2025 by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes encountered many hiccups, including a PIL before the high court seeking postponement, and got off to a slow start on its first day on Monday Enumerators across the state . complained that they faced technical glitches including problems in logging on to the mobile application, server issues and lack of proper training. In Kalaburagi, Ballari, Hubballi, Shivamogga and Haveri districts, the enumerators, who are teachers, faced technical glitches and the survey was delayed. It did not take off in Bengaluru, except in its rural parts, as enumerators had not been trained because of issues arising out of the capital city being divided into five corporations and an overarching body, the Greater Bengaluru Authority being formed. , Commission Chairman Madhusudan R Naik, dismissing rumours of the survey getting postponed, expressed confidence that the high court will not interfere in it. “There is no question of postponing the survey We are . (the commission) a legitimate constitutional body No one . can pressure us. Some people have filed a writ petition in the court seeking postponement. The commission has been made a respondent in this petition. The complainant has requested an interim order. We have not added any new caste, nor have we given importance to castes. That is why we think the court will not interfere,” he said. “We are conducting a social and educational survey We . are not conducting a caste census. Since there is a central government census, some people are creating this misconception that we are conducting a caste census. This may be due to political opposition or misconception. This is betrayal of seven crore people of the state. We will go to court to take action against those spreading such false news,” he said. P4 HC to hear pleas for stay of survey The Karnataka High Court posted a batch of petitions questioning the legality of the Karnataka SocialEducational Survey for a hearing on an interim plea to stay the survey for Tuesday | P4 The CM, who should be thinking about the development of the state, is involving himself in attempts to divide Hindu society. This is unfortunate B Y Vijayendra, K’taka BJP president express read DA case against DKS: SC bench to hear CBI plea New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday said a bench led by Justice Surya Kant would take up hearing on the Karnataka government’s decision to withdraw consent to the Central Bureau of Investigation to investigate a disproportionate assets case against Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar | P7 8-yr-old boy swept away at Murudeshwar beach Murudeshwar: An eight-year-old boy from Bengaluru was swept away by strong waves at Murudeshwar beach in Uttara Kannada district on Monday morning. The child, identified as Kritik Reddy, had come to Murudeshwar with his parents and extended family on a holiday on Sunday | P3