coimbatore l monday l november 02, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late CITY EDITION GST mop-up surges to `2.31 l- cr in October on festive demand October is the second consecutive month when monthly gross GST crossed `2 lakh crore, and 2nd only to the record `2.43 lakh cr mop-up in April Collections from DOMESTIC SALES up 16% GST collections jumped 23 per cent year-on-year. Gross GST collections from domestic sales rose 16 per cent to over `1.59 lakh crore, and revenues from imports climbed 42 per cent to `72,246 crore. The `2.31 lakh crore collection includes Central GST mop-up of `42,935 crore, State GST of `51,340 crore and Integrated GST of over `1.37 lakh crore, data showed ■ 6.5% YoY Performance across key economic hubs ■ Manoj Mishra from Grant Thornton Bharat said October collections capture the festive demand cycle, which brings higher consumer spending, retail activity and movement of goods across sectors Performance across key states, including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, UP and MP points to continued strength in GST collections is the increase in gst refunds, which is `27,934 crore in October 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 Severe cyclone may bring heavy rain to north TN e x p r e s s n e w s s e r v i c e @ Chennai INDIA leaders led by Rahul Gandhi, TMC’s Mamata Banerjee, Sonia Gandhi, SP’s Akhilesh Yadav, RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav in Delhi Sunday | sayantan ghosh CEC Gyanesh has to go: Oppn INDIA bloc’s mega rally at Ramlila Maidan brings together all parties against poll panel from the rolls, while the voteshare gap between NDA and IN a show of strength at Delhi’s INDIA bloc in the last general historic Ramlila Maidan, a election was three percentage united Opposition on Sunday points. vowed to remove Chief Elec“Narendra Modi ji and Amit tion Commissioner Gyanesh Shah ji, understand this -- after Kumar and hold the Modi gov- Gyanesh Kumar, we will stand ernment accountable for al- against you...,” he said. leged “vote theft”, as a massive Invoking the Constitution, crowd rallied behind the INDIA Gandhi said the gathering repbloc’s call to defend democracy resented the voice of young and the Constitution. people, farmers and workers The congregation saw a strik- d e t e r m i n e d t o d e f e n d ing show of unity as Leader of democracy . Opposition Rahul GanAddressing the gathdhi, Samajwadi Party ering, SP’s Akhilesh chief Akhilesh Yadav, Yadav raised the issue TMC chair person of alleged deletions Mamata Banerjee, RJD Narendra Modi ji from electoral rolls in and Amit Shah ji, Uttar Pradesh and acleader Tejashwi Yadav understand this -and other alliance leadcused authorities of after Gyanesh ers rode together in an manipulating votes Kumar, we will open canter from the stand against you through SIR ahead of Minto Road - Conthe West Bengal AsRahul Gandhi, naught Place junction sembly elections. “We, Congress leader to Ramlila Maidan, in the INDIA alliance, and LoP where they addressed will not stop,” he said. the gathering. Calling upon people Launching a diatribe against across communities and politithe government, Rahul said re- cal affiliations to unite against moving Gyanesh Kumar would the BJP, TMC chief Banerjee be the first step towards putting said, “ We will fight this demothe country back on track, cratically... We will fight with while asserting that “the CEC our lives.” would face imprisonment for Congress president Malalleged ‘treason’ and that Prime likarjun Kharge, former party Minister Narendra Modi and chief Sonia Gandhi, CPI(M) Home Minister Amit Shah general secretary M A Baby, would face legal action.” CPI general secretary D Raja Calling the 2024 Lok Sabha and CPI(ML) general secretary elections “illegal”, he alleged Dipankar Bhattacharya were that the Election Commission among the senior leaders removed 15 percent of voters present. p r e e t h a n a i r @ New Delhi E x p r e s s Re a d Pocso case: Survivor identifies Veeramani Chennai: In one of the Pocso cases registered against Gem Veeramani, a survivor identified him during a recent identification parade held at Puzhal prison. A security guard has also been arrested in connection with two cases in the sexual assault issue | P2 After gang attack, Home Guard dies Ariyalur: A Home Guard, who was attacked by a gang during night patrol in Ariyalur on Friday for questioning them for drinking in a public place, died of injuries at Thanjavur MCH on Saturday night. CM Vijay announced a solatium of `5 lakh to his family on Sunday BJP says Congress hurting sentiments on anniversary of 1984 anti-Sikh riots RA J ESH K U M AR THA K U R & H a r p r e e t B a j w a In a significant development, pottery fragments taken from two major archaeological sites, Keeladi in TN and Gottiprolu in Andhra Pradesh, have yielded chemical evidence suggesting the consumption of cow’s milk and plant foods such as peanuts in South India between 600 BCE and 100 BCE. According to researchers, the specific “biomarkers” that indicate the presence of cow’s milk have not been previously reported. “All previously reported biomolecular data are geographi- E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Kochi The BJP on Sunday sought to dismiss the INDIA bloc rally as a “foolish drama”, accusing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of hurting sentiments on the anniversary of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, addressing a gathering in Chandigarh months ahead of the Punjab Assembly polls, trained his ire on Rahul, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and alleged the rally could only “rub salt in the wounds of the victims’”. “If you want to become PM, stay in mock parliament your entire life. Your turn won’t come. Telling lies, spreading anarchy, not letting Parliament function, this is your true nature,” he said. Shah said when the Modi government came to power in 2014, riot cases were reopened and relief was given to victims’ kin. “India has never witnessed, nor will it ever witness, riots of this kind, incited by a political party he claimed. ,” In Haryana, BJP national president Nitin Nabin led a counter march to ‘Save democracy , eradicate anarchy’. Calling for Congress to apologise for the riots, he accused the party of blaming constitutional institutions after failing to secure a mandate. In Delhi, Union Minister JP Nadda told media the rally was a “foolish drama of the defeated”. He claimed traders had suffered losses of nearly `3,000 crore due to protests and alleged Sunday’s rally could result in additional losses exceeding `10,000 crore in the crucial festival period. CHIEF Justice of India Surya Kant on Sunday flagged the new trend of litigants approaching the Supreme Court for urgent listing or early hearing of matters already pending before high courts. “This is a new dimension of litigation which is now flooding the SC,” he cally restricted to Northern India and are primarily associated with the Indus Valley Civilisation. To our knowledge, the present study provides the first direct chemical evidence that we have successfully extracted in prehistoric South India,” the authors highlighted in their statement. The study was published in npj Heritage Science, a Nature Portfolio journal, on October 29. Authored by a dedicated team of seven researchers, this paper is the culmination and final outcome of at least four years of extensive academic work.  P5 Cow milk in 600 BCE A team spotted six distinct cow’s milk biomarkers in archaeological lipid extracts found in samples taken from Gottiprolu in AP & Keeladi in TN. Evidence suggests the consumption of plant foods and cow’s milk in South India between 600 BCE & 100 BCE India’s 1st indigenous bullet train on track RA J ESH K U M AR THA K U R @ New Delhi INDIA’s first indigenous bullet train, called B28, is taking shape at BEML’s ‘ ditya’ facilA ity in Bengaluru. Sharing the details on Sunday, the railway ministry said: “India is taking a major step towards indigenous high-speed rail technology with the Bharat-made bullet train. It is being manufactured for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train corridor.” Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw reviewing the bullet train’s manufacturing progress | X Sources said the bullet train will be cheaper than the Japanese Shinkansen trains. “India was supposed to buy E5 Litigants rush to SC for HC matters: CJI @New Delhi/Chandigarh Keeladi potsherds offer clues to Sangam-age dietary habits V i g n e s h V @ Madurai Isolated places in the Chennai and Tiruvallur districts may get heavy to very heavy rainfall on Monday — with thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds of 40-50 kmph — as cyclonic storm Murasu is expected to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm by morning and cross the south Andhra Pradesh coast late on Monday night. Heavy rain is likely at some places in Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, Ranipet, Vellore and the Nilgiris. The rest of north Tamil Nadu and Puducherry and Karaikal can expect light to moderate rain at a few places. In a bulletin issued on Sunday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the storm was centred Shinkansen sets. However, after high quotes and delays, the government decided to go Atmanirbhar,” said an official. Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw inspected the BEML plant on Sunday and witnessed the ‘squeeze test’ — a critical safety assessment of coaches. The B28 will have a maximum speed of 280 km/h. It is expected to roll out by the end of this year or early next year. The inaugural run is tentatively fixed for August 15, 2027. B28 will have max speed of 280 km/h and is expected to roll out by year end or early next year. Inaugural run is planned for Aug 15, 2027 on Surat–Vapi section — Officials about 480 km east-southeast of Chennai over the Bay of Bengal. It is likely to continue moving west-northwestwards and intensify into a severe cyclonic storm over the west-central Bay of Bengal by Monday morning before turning northwestwards and crossing the coast between Nellore and Narsapur, close to Ongole, between 11.30 pm on Monday and 4 am on Tuesday with wind speeds of 100 to 110 kmph, gusting to 120 kmph. For Chennai city and its neighbourhood, the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) said the sky would remain cloudy, with heavy to very heavy rain, thunderstorms and lightning in some areas. The maximum temperature is likely to be 30-31°C, while the minimum temperature is likely to settle around 24°C to 25°C.  P5 said at the inaugural function of the celebrations held to mark 70 years of the Kerala High Court. The CJI said the SC has consistently respected the high courts’ autonomy including their authority , to regulate roster. “However, the frequency of such requests invites us to consider whether there is room to improve the responsiveness of our proc- esses,” he noted. “We must ask: Can urgent matters be identified more effectively? Can listing procedures be made more transparent and predictable? Can technology help prioritise cases where delay may cause irreversible prejudice? And can we ensure a litigant’s access to timely justice does not depend upon their ability to travel to the national capital?” the CJI added.