Monday 02 `2.1 L cr December, 2024 epaper.morningstandard.in GSt collection recorded in april 2024 is the highest ever facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard Tax from domestic transactions up 9.4% insurgency GST from domestic transactions grew 9.4% to `1.40 lakh crore in November, while revenues from tax on imports rose 6% to `42,591 cr syria launches counter attacks Syrian military launched air strikes on Sunday in an attempt to push back insurgents who seized the country’s largest city of Aleppo in a surpise offensive Page 9 A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS l New Delhi l J8.00 l PAGES 12 The month’s GST mop-up is 8.5% higher than the `1.68 lakh crore collected during the same month last year. On a sequential basis, it is 2.6% lower than the `1.87 lakh crore collected in October GST mop-up increases by 8.5% to `1.82 lakh crore in November Gross GST collections increased to `1.82 lakh crore in November on higher revenues from domestic transactions, official data showed over 11% increase in Net collection The Central GST collection stood at `34,141 crore, State GST at `43,047 crore, Integrated GST at `91,828 crore, and Cess at `13,253 crore. Refunds worth `19,259 crore were issued during the month, registering a 8.9% decline over the same period last year. After adjusting for refunds, net GST collection shot up by more than 11% to `1.63 lakh crore Donald Trump threatens BRICS with 100% tariffs US President-elect warns against trying to undercut the dollar Trump picks Kash Patel as new FBI chief YE S HI S ELI @ New Delhi rain mayhem The National Disaster Response Force engaged in rescue operations using an earthmover in Puducherry on Sunday | sriram r | P5 Kejriwal says no truck with Cong in Delhi a n u p v e r m a @ New Delhi AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal announced on Sunday that his party will not form an alliance with the Congress for the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections scheduled for February . “There will be no alliance in Delhi,” Kejriwal stated during a press conference. On Friday Congress chief De, vender Yadav announced that the party would contest all 70 seats without alliance. After attending the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, Yadav spoke about the party’s CM face and possibilities of an alliance. 7 Maoists killed in encounter with police in Telangana U M a h e s h @ Mulugu Seven Maoists were killed in an alleged encounter with the Telangana Police in the Chalpaka forest area of the state’s Mulugu district near the Chhattisgarh border on Sunday morning. Acting on a tip-off about Maoist movement, a search party comprising Greyhounds, a special force unit of the Telangana Police, launched a combing operation in the area. Speaking to the media persons on Sunday Superintendent , of Police P Shabarish said the police encountered a group of 12 to 13 Maoists in olive green uniforms armed with weapons. Despite being warned to surrender, the Maoists opened fire, triggering a retaliatory response in which seven Maoists were killed, the police claimed. The dead were identified as members of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), including JMWP DVC and State Committee member Kursam Mangu alias Bhadru, and Egolapu Mallaiah alias Madhu, a Divisional Committee member and Area Commander. Other slain Maoists included Area Committee members Mussaki Deval and Mussaki Jamuna, as well as cadres Jaisingh, Kishore and Kamesh. The police claimed to have recovered two AK-47 rifles, one .303 rifle apart from one shotgun, one country-made revolver, a G3, kit bags, and literature from the encounter spot. The encounter comes amid heightened security and intensified combing efforts in the Maoist-affected areas of Mulugu district after the recent killing of two tribal men in Penugolu village by Maoists, branding them as police informers. Shabarish stated that the combing operations will continue in the forest areas of Eturunagaram, Wazeedu, Peruru, and Venkatapuram. AAP chief slams Centre over capital’s law and order On the law and order situation in Delhi, Kejriwal sought accountability from Union Home Minister Amit Shah. He accused Shah of shielding criminals while targeting victims. On the arrest of AAP MLA Naresh Balyan, the former chief minister said that the move was a warning to Delhiites. “Challenge gangsters and you’ll be jailed”. “We never announce beforehand. We will contest all 70 seats. Our leader is elected after we win the election. Same procedure will be adopted in Delhi. There is no alliance,” he said. While talking about the law and order situation in Delhi, Kejriwal demanded accountability from Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who is responsible for Delhi’s law and order. He accused Shah of shielding criminals while targeting victims. On the arrest of AAP MLA Naresh Balyan, the former chief minister said that the move was a warning to Delhiites. “Challenge gangsters and you’ll be jailed”. He pointed out Shah’s inaction on rising crime, daring him to “arrest the real culprits instead of silencing voices against lawlessness,” Kejriwal said. The AAP leader alleged that the Delhi residents are living in constant fear. “They don’t know when or what might happen to them,” he said. Appointment of NEW BrahMos chief CHALLENGED IN tribunal MAYANK S IN G H @ New Delhi IN a rare instance, the appointment of BrahMos Aerospace chief has been challenged in the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Hyderabad. The leadership dispute comes at a time the organisation is working on the country’s biggest Jaiteerth R Joshi defence supply order to the Philippines. Distinguished Scientist, is The crisis stems from the seven years senior to Joshi appointment of Jaiteerth R and has served as an OutJoshi as Chief Executive Of- standing Scientist since 2017, ficer, a decision contested by a position Joshi currently Sivasubramanyam Nambi holds. With only three years Naidu, alleging he was super- left in service compared to seded during the selection. Joshi’s six, Naidu’s plea is to The case was consider his senfiled on Novemiority and press ber 29 and the clusive experience. firs t hearin g The organisatook place on tion is currently November 30. According to engaged in advanced negotiasources, the CAT has sought tions with three to four couna detailed response from tries, with the next stages of DRDO within four weeks and deliveries to the Philippines has scheduled the next hear- also coming up under a $375 ing on December 30. The peti- million contract. These negotioner has made DRDO and tiations are critical for estabJoshi as respondents. lishing India as a reliable deSources said that Naidu, a fence expor ter and the deliberations demand steady leadership to avoid delays. On the domestic front, the Army and Air Force are in the midst of more BrahMos procurements. However, leadership ambiguity raises concerns about meeting these strategic priorities. Alexander Maksichev, codirector of Brahmos Aerospace, recently said active discussions are on with countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam and United Arab Emirates for potential contracts of this missile system. The dispute pits two accomplished scientists against each other. Naidu, a key figure in India’s Prithvi missile programme, is recognised for his managerial expertise at Bharat Dynamics Limited, where he oversaw large-scale missile production. His experience aligns with BrahMos’ operational and expor t ambitions. In contrast, Joshi is known for his contribution to the Long-Range and MediumRange Surface-to-Air Missiles (LRSAM and MRSAM). US President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday threatened to impose a 100% tariff on the BRICS bloc nations, which include India, if they try to undermine the US dollar. “The idea that the BRICS countries are trying to move away from the Dollar while we stand by and watch is over. We require a commitment... that they will neither create a new BRICS Currency, nor back any other Currency to replace the mighty US Dollar or, they will face 100 percent Tariffs and should expect to say goodbye to selling into the wonderful U.S. Economy,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social website. Trump said there is “no chance” BRICS will replace the US dollar in global trade and any country that tries to make that happen “should wave goodbye to America.” The statement comes in the backdrop of the BRICS summit held in October in the Russian city of Kazan discussing ways to boost non-dollar transactions and local currencies. India is not in favour of a common BRICS currency. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has more than once clarified that there is no plan to go for a common BRICS currency . In October, while answering a question on de-dollarisation at an event hosted by Washingtonbased think tank Carnegie Endowment, Jaishankar said India has no policy to target the dollar, adding that it only looks at alternative currencies while dealing with trade partners who do not have access to dollar. In that context, Trump’s message is seen as mainly targeted at Russia and China. Ag e n c i e s Donald Trump ‘Unrealistic threat’ Trump’s threat is unrealistic, think tank The Global Trade Research Initiative said on Sunday. It said tariffs of this scale would harm the US consumers only as it would push prices on imports, disrupt global trade, and risk retaliation from key partners The topic had come up during the recent summit of the BRICS, where Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the US of “weaponising” the dollar to target rivals. “It’s not us who refuse to use the dollar,” Putin had said at the time. “But if they don’t let us work, what can we do? We are forced to search for alternatives.” Russia is pushing for the creation of a new payment system that would offer an alternative to the global bank messaging network, SWIFT, and allow Moscow to dodge Western sanctions and trade with partners. BRICS is an intergovernmental organisation comprising nine countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates.  (With inputs from agencies) net gains for shuttlers lakshya & SINDHU Sen-sational run Lakshya Sen won the Syed Modi International men’s singles title in Lucknow The 23-year-old, who was the No 1 seed, lived up to his billing. He won all his matches in straight games After narrowly missing out on an Olympic medal in Paris, this is a welcome result for him Three cheers P V Sindhu bagged the women’s singles crown with an equally impressive run She beat China’s Wu Luo Yu to lift the trophy for the third time, having also won in 2017 & 2022 Form has evaded her in recent times and this win could spur her to rediscover her old touch | P11 u p r o o te d Lankan Tamil repatriates in Andhra face uncertain future u s h a p e r i @ Visakhapatnam The Sri Lankan repatriates of Indian origin, rehabilitated in the coffee plantations of Alluri Sitarama Raju district in the 1970s, continue to face challenges in securing a stable future. Despite inclusion in the State welfare schemes like pensions and ration, their lack of land ownership right and difficulties in obtaining caste certificate hinder their progress. Resettled under the Sirimavo-Shastri Pact of 1964, later amended as the Sirimavo-Indira Gandhi Pact, these families were among the 5.25 lakh stateless Tamil-origin individ- uals granted Indian citizenship, and distributed across States for rehabilitation. Around 200 families were placed in the Agency areas of Andhra Pradesh, where they were initially resettled in the Forest Department quarters, and later handed over to the Andhra Pradesh Forest Development Corporation (APFDC) to work in coffee plantations. Today, nearly 20 individuals from four families reside in Vangasara, while approximately 40 families live in Minumurulu and RV Nagar villages. Over the years, many repatriates have moved to Tamil Nadu or other States, Sri Lankan repatriates Kanaka Valli and Saraswati | G Satyanarayana citing dissatisfaction with low wages and limited support. “We started with daily wag- es of `35 when we arrived here. Now, we earn `320, but there is no security If a family . member cannot work in the plantations, we are asked to vacate our quarters,” said Kanaka Valli, a resident of Vangasara. A major hurdle for the younger generation is the inability to obtain caste certificates due to issues with their surnames, which do not align with Andhra Pradesh’s administrative system. Without these certificates, children face difficulties in changing schools, accessing reservation benefits in education, and applying for government jobs. “Being Tamilians, we do not have surnames. We use our father’s name as a prefix to our names. When we were born 3033 years ago, our fathers’ names were recorded as our surnames. To secure better academic opportunities for us, our mothers struggled for two years, and eventually, the then collector issued caste certificates to us under a specific category,” said Jayram Raja Shekhar and Veerayya Sridhar from Vangasara. “Despite living here since the mid-1970s and integrating with the local tribal community, we are still considered non-locals,” they added. US President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday tapped Indian American Kahyap ‘Kash’ Patel, 44, to head the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). If confirmed, Patel would replace Christopher Wray, who was chosen by Trump in his first term as president in 2017. FBI directors are appointed to 10-year terms to insulate the bureau from politics. A fierce Trump loyalist and a vocal critic of ‘deep state’, Patel is expected to cut down the FBI’s footprint. In a recent interview, he said he would close down the FBI’s headquar ters in Wa s h i n g t o n and “reopen it the next day as a museum of the deep state”. He said he send the 7,000-odd employees working in that building across America to chase criminals. Patel served in several posts during Trump’s first term, including as Chief of Staff to Secretary of Defense. A son of Indian immigrants, Patel has commented on the developments in India. Earlier this year, he had voiced support for the Ayodhya Ram Temple. He has also alleged there is a disinformation campaign in Washington targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Express read Punjab farmers to walk to Delhi on Dec 6 Punjab farmers will move towards Delhi on foot in small groups from December 6 to demand legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price for crops, said Kisan Mazdoor Morcha convenor Punjab Sarwan Singh Pandher. Another farmer leader said that when the first group of farmers starts marching, farmer bodies in Kerala, Uttarakhand and Tamil Nadu will take out marches towards their respective state assemblies. Shinde reiterates support to BJP plan Maharashtra’s caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday said he will support the BJP’s decision on the new CM, ruling out differences among MahaYuti allies over the government formation. Addressing media at his village Daregaon in Satara district, Shinde said MahaYuti leaders will decide on CM’s name in Mumbai on Monday. Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis is the frontrunner for the top post. | P8 Bhagwat urges couples to have 3 children RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday said every couple should produce at least three children. “Demographic studies suggest when a society’s total fertility rate falls below 2.1, it risks facing extinction,” he said at an event | P7