Fire and Emergency Services personnel moving residents of Bhadrappa Layout to safety after heavy rains flooded the area on October 22, 2024.
| Photo Credit: K. MURALI KUMAR

For Bengalureans, 2024 was a year of extreme weather. It began with an intense summer marked by a sweltering heatwave and an unprecedented lack of pre-monsoon showers.

Scorching start

The India Meteorological Department had predicted a dry summer, but the complete absence of rainfall during the pre-monsoon season caught many by surprise. Bengaluru, which typically receives 205.1 mm of rainfall during March, April, and May, recorded no rain. “This phenomenon was last observed in 1983. Since then, there has been rainfall in April every year,” said an IMD official.

The normal temperatures for Bengaluru during March, April, and May are 33.4°C, 34.1°C, and 33.1°C, respectively. On March 29, the city recorded 36.4°C, the highest March temperature in five years. April 28 saw the year’s peak temperature of 38.5°C, nearing the city’s all-time April high of 39.2°C recorded in 2016.

The prolonged dry spell led to demands for rescheduling work hours by pourakarmika unions and allowances for street vendors struggling to cope with the extreme heat. Meteorologists attributed the soaring temperatures and lack of rain to El Niño conditions.

Flooded Kogilu Cross after heavy overnight rains in Bengaluru on October 22.
| Photo Credit:
K. MURALI KUMAR

Relief in the rain

The rains finally arrived on May 2, ending a five-month drought. As per the Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) data in May, Bengaluru received 148.6 mm of rainfall in May, exceeding the normal 97.5 mm by 52%. Although the pre-monsoon rainfall from January to May was slightly below normal (-3%), the monsoon season compensated for the deficit.

During the south-west monsoon (June to September), Bengaluru Urban received 418 mm of rain, slightly below the normal 471 mm. The rainfall pattern varied, with excess rains in June and August, normal rainfall in July, and a significant deficit in September.

The north-east monsoon brought a deluge, with Bengaluru Urban recording 363 mm of rainfall from October to mid-December, 68% above normal. Several parts of the city experienced heavy downpours during this period.

Despite the dry start, Bengaluru ended the year on a wetter note. From January 1 to December 18, the city received 932 mm of rainfall, surpassing the annual average of 842 mm by 11%.

From left, Vice President of Marketing and Sales of the Honda Cars India Ltd. Kunal Behl, the company’s President and CEO Takuya Tsumura, the company’s Marketing and Sales Director Ryuto Shimizu, and Product Development Team representative for the All-New Amaze from Honda R&D Asia Pacific Peerachet T at the global debut of the All-New 3rd Generation Honda Amaze, in New Delhi, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Honda Cars India on Friday (December 20, 2024) said it will hike prices across its model range by up to 2 per cent from January next year, in order to partially offset the impact of rising input costs.

The company sells models like Amaze, City and Elevate in the domestic market.

The automaker will increase the prices of its models by up to 2% from the beginning of January 2025, Honda Cars India Vice President – Marketing and Sales Kunal Behl said.

The company has been making strong efforts to absorb price increases during this year, ensuring minimal impact on customers, he added.

“However, due to the continued rise in input costs and logistics, a small portion of this impact will be passed on to customers through a price revision from the new year,” Mr. Behl said.

Additionally, the all-new third generation Amaze which was launched at a very competitive introductory price, will also see a price revision by mid of next month, he added.

Already various carmakers including Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Tata Motors have announced price hikes from January.

नई द‍िल्‍ली. डच डेटा प्रोटेक्शन अथॉरिटी (DPA) ने नेटफ्लिक्स पर ये आरोप लगाया है क‍ि कंपनी ने साल 2018 से 2020 के बीच अपने ग्राहकों के पर्सनल डेटा का इस्तेमाल कैसे किया गया, इस बारे में पर्याप्त सूचना नहीं दी है. ल‍िहाजा अथॉर‍िटी ने नेटफ्ल‍िक्‍स पर €4.75 मिलियन यानी करीब 42.35 करोड़ रुपये का जुर्माना लगाया है.

यह जुर्माना साल 2019 में शुरू हुई एक जांच के बाद लगाया गया है. जांच में पता चला है कि स्ट्रीमिंग दिग्गज ने यूरोपीय यूनियन के जनरल डेटा प्रोटेक्शन रेगुलेशन (GDPR) की आवश्यकताओं को पूरा नहीं किया है.

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जांच में ये पाया गया:
डीपीए, इसे लेकर जो जांच कर रही थी, उसमें पाया गया क‍ि नेटफ्लिक्स की प्राइवेसी पॉलिसी में स्पष्टता की कमी है. खासकर कंपनी ने इस बारे में कोई स्‍पष्‍टता नहीं दी क‍ि वह अपने कस्‍टमर डेटा को कैसे संभालती है. कंपनी के पास इस बात का कोई स्‍पष्‍ट जवाब नहीं था क‍ि वह ग्राहकों के व्यक्तिगत डेटा की गोपनीयता को कैसे सुन‍िश्‍चत करती है. इसके अलावा, जब ग्राहकों ने नेटफ्लिक्स से डेटा की बारीकियों के बारे में पूछताछ की, तो उन्हें भी पर्याप्त विवरण नहीं दिया गया. पारदर्शिता की यह कमी GDPR का उल्लंघन करती है. GDPR, दरअसल एक न‍ियम है, ज‍िसके तहत व्यवसायों को ये बताना पड़ता है क‍ि वह पर्सनल जानकारी को कैसे संभालते हैं और जब ग्राहक डेटा जानकारी का अनुरोध करें तो उन्हें उचित जवाब म‍िले.

यह भी पढ़ें- WhatsApp पर कनेक्ट कर लेंगे ChatGPT तो खत्म हो जाएगी आपकी आधी टेंशन, ये है तरीका

डच रेगुलेटर ने कहा क‍ि जांच में साल 2018 और 2020 के दौरान नेटफ्लिक्स के डेटा सुरक्षा न‍ियमों में कमियां पाई गईं और उस पर लगाया गया जुर्माना इसी अवधि के दौरान यूरोपीय यूनियन के गोपनीयता कानूनों के पालन न कर पाने की वजह से लगाया गया है.

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Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman with Minister of State Pankaj Chaudhary at the 55th meeting of the GST Council, in Jaisalmer.
| Photo Credit: PTI

A GST Council meeting on Saturday (December 21, 2024) postponed a decision on reducing taxes on health and life insurance, while the much talked-about GoM recommendation of rate rejig in 148 items was not tabled before the Council.

Some members of the Council, chaired by Union Finance Minster Nirmala Sitharaman and comprising her state counterparts, felt that more deliberations were required before a final decision could be arrived at with regard to insurance taxation.

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary, who heads the panel on GoM on insurance, said one more meeting is required to take a call on taxation of group, individual, senior citizen’s policies.

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“Some [Council] members said more discussions required. We [GoM] will meet in January again,” Mr. Chaudhary told reporters here.

Besides, the report of the GoM on rate rationalisation, which had recommended tweaks in 148 items, was not tabled before the Council.

“We will submit the GoM report on rate rationalisation in next meeting of Council,” said Mr. Chaudhary who is the convenor of the panel.

The ongoing Council meeting will also deliberate on bringing Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) in Goods and Services Tax fold.

Several proposals of Fitment Committee, comprising officials from the Centre and states’ GST departments would come up for review before the Council.

One of the proposals include cutting taxes on food delivery platforms like Swiggy and Zomato, to 5% (without input tax credit), from the current 18% (with ITC).

It is likely to have proposed a rate hike on sale of used EVs as well as small petrol and diesel vehicles to 18% from the current 12%. This hike would bring used and old smaller cars and EVs at par with old larger vehicles, according to sources.

Also, the Group of Ministers (GoM) on GST compensation cess is likely to get a six-month extension till June 2025, to submit their report. The compensation cess regime comes to an end in March 2026, and the GST Council has set up a panel of ministers, under Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, to decide the future course of the cess.

The GoM on insurance had recommended exempting insurance premiums paid for term life insurance policies from GST. Also premium paid by senior citizens towards health insurance cover has been proposed to be exempted from the tax.

Besides, GST on premiums paid by individuals, other than senior citizens, for health insurance with coverage of up to ₹5 lakh is proposed to be exempted.

However, 18% GST will continue on premiums paid for policies with health insurance cover of over ₹5 lakh.

The GST rate rationalisation GoM report, which has suggested rate tweaks in 148 items, was not tabled before the Council and would be taken up in next Council meeting.

The GoM earlier this month had arrived at a consensus to hike tax on sin goods, like aerated beverages, cigarettes, tobacco and related products, to 35% from the present 28%.

Currently, GST is a four-tier tax structure with slabs at 5, 12, 18 and 28%. Luxury and demerit goods are taxed at highest bracket of 28%, while packed food and essential items are at the lowest 5% slab.

The GoM had also decided to propose rationalising tax rates on apparel. As per the decision, ready-made garments costing up to ₹1,500 would attract 5% GST, those between ₹1,500-10,000 would attract 18%. Garments costing above ₹10,000 would attract 28% tax.

Currently, garments costing up to ₹1,000 attract 5% GST, while those above that attract 12%. The GoM also proposed hiking GST on shoes above ₹15,000/pair from 18% to 28%. It also proposed hiking the GST rate on wrist watches above ₹25,000 from 18% to 28%.

The GoM had proposed reducing GST on packaged drinking water of 20 litre and above to 5% from 18%, and reducing tax rate on bicycles costing less than ₹10,000 to 5%, from 12%. Also, GST on exercise notebooks would be reduced to 5% from 12%.

Tremors were felt in some villages of Bapatla and Prakasam districts in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday (December 21). Though the residents panicked for some time, the district authorities informed no loss of life or property.

As per CSIR-NGRI Hyderabad records, an earthquake of 3.1 magnitude on the Richter scale struck Addanki in Bapatla district. Tremors were felt in other parts of the district and parts of Prakasam district.

The tremors were felt in Polavaram, Sankarapuramu, Pasupughallu, Ulaghallu, Maarella and Kamampadu villages in Mundlamooru mandal, as well as Lakkavaram, Sivaramapuramu, Rambhadrapuram, Gangavaram, Ramanalavaripalem, Korrapadu, Thurakapalem and Dhosakayalapadu villages in Thalluru mandal for a few seconds at 10.22 a.m. on Saturday.  

Sensing the tremors, school students and residents came out of their houses.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) 10th Battalion Commandant, V.V.N. Prasanna Kumar told The Hindu that the control room staff received an alert about the tremors in Prakasam district. “We are closely monitoring the situation and will take appropriate measures,” he added.

Huge stocks of knitwear garments went up in flames after fire broke out in a courier unit at Maniakarampalayam in Tiruppur on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: SPL

A huge inventory of garments went up in flames in a fire that broke out at a godown of an online company trading in knitwear at Maniyakaampalayam in Tiruppur on Saturday.

The workers ran out to safety after witnessing smoke billowing out from a portion of the building caused by the raging fire that kept spreading fast.

Fire and Rescue Services Department utilised five fire tenders and deployed about 50 personnel to put out the fire over a six-hour duration.

While the fire could be extinguished in three hours, roughly by noon, the rest of the time was required for cooling the burnt debris out of which smoke kept emanating, an official involved in the fire-fighting operation said.

The stock was huge, but the exact extent of loss could not be immediately assessed.

The side walls of the building developed cracks due to the impact of the fire. However, the fire did not impact the roof and columns as much.

Electrical short circuit seems to be the cause of the fire, the official said.

Waltair Division Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Manoj Kumar Sahoo called upon students to keep themselves abreast of the latest technological advances in the world and strive to reach greater heights in their academic goals while also upholding values and culture.

The DRM was speaking as chief guest at the 44th annual day celebrations of Kendriya Vidyalaya-Waltair (KV-Waltair) at Thatichetlapalem on Friday. He spoke on the contribution of Kendriya Vidyalaya schools in promoting a certain standard of education in the country. He greeted the students and teachers on the occasion of the school anniversary. School principal Kamaljeet presented a report on the achievements of the students and teachers during the year.

Mr. Manoj Sahoo presented the awards to students who showed excellence in various disciplines. He also presented the awards, instituted in memory of former student Raja Harshit, by his parents Gouri and Kurma Raju. The awards were given away to the top-two rankers in primary classes. Raja Harshit had passed away during school prayer, while he was in fourth standard in 2017.

Later, the students entertained the audience with their cultural programmes.

C. Karthikeya Prabhu of Krishya Logistics, third from right, and S. Rethinavelu, second from left, president, Agri and All Trade Chamber, releasing the ‘You Export’ logo in Madurai on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: R. ASHOK

The Agro Food Chamber of Commerce and Industry will henceforth be known as Agri & All Trade Chamber of Commerce, founder and president S. Rethinavelu said here on Saturday.

The forum, which was primarily established to cater to the needs of the farmers in southern districts of Tamil Nadu in 2010, had grown manifold that non-farm sector also joined and suggested a change in the nomenclature.

At the general body meeting held recently, it was resolved to have the name as Agri & All Trader Chamber of Commerce, which was unanimously welcomed by all the new members as well.

Under the new name, Mr. Rethinavelu said that more activities would be included to cater to the traders and other sectors as well. Explaining the new logo – ‘enhancing our GDP,’ he said that it would facilitate to promote agriculture, manufacture, service sectors and export.

Persons engaged in any trade or manufacturing, service providers, exporters, MSMEs, Start-ups, farmers and students with an ambition to become entrepreneurs were welcome to join the forum, he said, adding that already many trade associations, farmer producer organisations, self-help-groups were benefited richly by joining the Chamber.

Acknowledging the interest evinced by a large number of next-gen participants at the re-naming ceremony, Mr. Rethinavelu said that the Chamber would float a new platform – You Export (YE), with K. Thiruppathi Rajan as its chairman.

The YE would offer guidance, suggestions and solutions to its members. Programmes such as factory visits and the know-how on exports would be disseminated to the aspirants through experts and resource persons. The founder-chairman of YE – Mr. Thiruppathi Rajan, a successful exporter himself, has earned distinction of a good tutor.

In his acceptance speech, Mr. Rajan said that the YE would be a complete guide for a neo-entrepreneur and that he or she need not know anything about exports.

“Just the fire to work hard and learn the nuances of the needs of the people around the globe were mandatory for exports,” he added.

Sharing some of his experiences as a merchandise exporter to more than 100 countries, he said that starting from the scratch, he explained the challenges and how he overcame them successfully.

The YE, he hoped, would help boost the potential of every player stepping into the forum.

C. Karthikeya Prabhu of Krishya Logistics (Chennai and Thoothukudi), who was the chief guest, lauded the initiative of YE and assured all support to the neo-entrepreneurs from the logistics point of view.

To achieve the goal of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to drive the country to the top three economy in the world in the next two decades, exports was essential and domestic trade alone would not be sufficient. With Tamil Nadu having huge potential for exports, he appealed to the youth to take up exports.

He also said that the Union government has been revamping very many ports by adding infrastructural facilities that in the next five to 10 years, the country would see tremendous growth in exports.

To become a member in the Chamber and in YE platform, aspirants can contact 9894399054 and 8524922323.

Prices are revised given the rising coffee prices in both international and domestic markets, says GCC chairman.
| Photo Credit: Representational Photo

In a significant development, the Girijan Cooperative Corporation (GCC) on Saturday decided to increase the coffee procurement prices for the benefit of the tribal coffee farmers.

In an official release in November this year, GCC chairman Kidari Sravan Kumar had announced the price of coffee procurement from tribal coffee farmers for the year 2024-25 at ₹285 per kg for Arabica Parchment, ₹150 per kg for Arabica cherry and ₹80 per kg for Robusta cherry coffee.

However, given the rising coffee prices in both international and domestic markets and to safeguard the interests of tribal coffee growers of the Paderu Agency, it has been decided to increase the coffee procurement prices to ₹320 per kg for Arabica Parchment, ₹170 per kg for Arabica Cherry and ₹100 per kg for Robusta cherry.

“The coalition govemment is committed to the welfare of tribals, thus the revision of coffee purchase prices by the GCC,” Mr. Sravan Kumar said, while instructing the GCC staff to ensure that all tribal coffee farmers in the Paderu Agency are made aware of the new prices. He further urged the farmers not to sell their coffee for less than the announced rates.

Mr. Sravan Kumar said that the GCC has taken all measures to visit remote rural areas to collect coffee directly from farmers using electronic weighing machines to ensure accurate measurements. Cash payments for the procured coffee will be deposited directly into the farmers’ bank accounts within 24 hours, enhancing transparency and efficiency in the procurement process, he added.

He informed that a dedicated desk has been formed with contact number 7013070990 at Head Office, GCC, Visakhapatnam to receive complaints regarding coffee procurement related issues.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Saturday (December 21, 2024) that he will nominate billionaire Houston Rockets pro basketball team owner Tilman Fertitta to be his administration’s ambassador to Italy.

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Mr. Fertitta is the chairman and owner of Landry’s, which operates a large collection of restaurants, hotels and casinos throughout the United States.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Mr. Trump lauded the 67-year-old Texas native as an “accomplished businessman” and philanthropist.