Vol. 65 No. 327 | MONDAY | MAY 23, 2022 | 15 Pages | EDITIONS: MUMBAI*, Pune, Indore, Bhopal, Konkan, E-paper FUEL EXCISE CUT: INDIA INC URGES STATES TO FOLLOW SUIT EDIT NEW ORDER DISRUPTS GST COUNCIL SMOOTH FUNCTIONING AR RAHMAN UNVEILS POSTER OF SAFED AT THE CANNES FILM FESTIVAL 320c. 290c. FILL UP, VAT CUT IS BONUS CPI (Maoist) document admits to ‘retreat’ ` 2.08/litre & ` 1.44/litre reduction in petrol & diesel In Mumbai, petrol price down by ` 11.24/litre & diesel by ` 8.93/litre ` 2,500 crore revenue loss projected by State annually A day after the Centre’s decision to reduce excise duty on fuel, the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government cut VAT by Rs 2.08 and Rs 1.44 per litre on petrol and diesel respectively, on Sunday Starting from . today, petrol and diesel prices will be reduced by Rs 11.24 and diesel by Rs 8.93 per litre, respective- . ly The state government is expected to lose Rs 80 crore on petrol and Rs 125 crore on diesel every month, following the reduction in VAT and incur a revenue loss of Rs 2,500 crore annually. In its annual budget, the state government had estimated a mobilisation of almost Rs 44,000 crore through VAT on automobile fuel in 2022-23. CONTD. ON NATION PAGE GOVT WILL HAVE TO Cheaper fuel: BORROW TO TACKLE Petrol pump ` 1 LAKH CRORE HIT dealers sore SHASHANK RAO MUMBAI FPJ NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI The Indian government revenue is expected to take Rs 1 lakh crore hit from tax cuts on petrol and diesel and the additional gas subsidy announced on Satur. day According to a Bloomberg report, India will probably borrow the entire Rs 1 lakh crore ($12.9 billion) that the government will forgo in its political gambit to tame inflation. But additional market borrowings of such magnitude to offset the loss to the exchequer are invariably fraught with risk. For instance, the mounting debt load will probably spook India’s bond market, where yields on benchmark 10-year notes have surged over the past month. Also, the revenue loss comes at a time when investors are already staring at a record borrowing program from the government, surging price pressures, as reflected in the wholesale and consumer price index, and the prospect of sharp interest rate increases by the central bank. According to a Reuters report, the government could also deliver another round of tax cuts on petrol and diesel if crude oil continues to rise. This could mean an added hit of Rs 1 lakh crore-1.5 lakh crore in the 2022/23 fiscal year. CONTD. ON NATION PAGE Hours after the Centre and the state government announced cuts in excise duty and Value Added Tax, the motorists were beaming, but petrol and diesel dealers were distressed over the sudden drop in fuel prices. The buzz is that either the fueling stations will remain shut starting this week or the petrol pump owners will not refill once they run out of stock. Moreover, a nation-wide meeting was convened to take a call on the future course of action, which went on till late night. This means that petrol pumps could remain off limits during the week. “We are holding discussions. But one thing is sure, we will protest either by shutting petrol pumps across the country CONTD. ON NATION PAGE After setbacks in Gadchiroli, elsewhere SANJAY JOG MUMBAI Unfazed by the ridicule and criticism brought on by his decision to defer his visit to Ayodhya, MNS chief Raj on Sunday Thackeray strongly defended his decision, explaining that it was done on realising that it was a ‘trap’ set by his opponents, in which his own party workers may have been booked and jailed. However, he did not specify who exact- China on Sunday launched a broadside against the Indo-Pacific strategy of the United States ahead of the summit of Quad leaders in Japan, saying that it is "bound to fail" as it is vigorously promoted by Washington to "contain" Beijing. The "Indo-Pacific strategy" is leading to more and more vigilance and concern in the international community especially in the Asia-Pacific region, , Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said when asked to comment on it at his joint press conference with Pakistan Prime Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in Guangzhou. The US "Indo-Pacific Strategy" is , bound to be a failed strategy Wang said in the comments posted by the Chinese Foreign Ministry on its website. His comments came ahead of the Quad summit to be held in Tokyo on May 24 in which US President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with his counterparts from Japan and Australia will take part. China refers to the area as AsiaPacific region and is averse to the IndoPacific strategic concept which has gained prominence during previous US President Donald Trump's tenure and is being vigorously pursued by his successor Joe Biden. CONTD. ON NATION PAGE Triple suicide: Flat sealed, was turned into gas chamber OUR BUREAU NEW DELHI In a morbid incident, the Delhi Police on Saturday found three bodies in a flat in posh Vasant Vihar and suspect that it is a case of suicide. What gave the incident a macabre touch was that a woman in her 50s and her two daughters had turned their south Delhi flat into a toxic chamber; they asphyxiated to death, possibly due to carbon monoxide poisoning. The flat was locked from inside; when the police entered the house, they found all the doors and windows sealed. A foil like substance covered all windows, apparently to ensure no one could see within and to prevent smoke from escaping. On checking the inner room three dead bodies were found lying on the bed with three small 'angithis' at their side. The cooking gas cylinder's knob was on and it is presumed that the ‘angithi’ fire must have helped in the build-up of poisonous carbon monoxide in the room, killing the three. ‘‘It is presumed that they died due to suffocation," the police said. Suicide notes were recovered from the flat and revealed their sinister plan. In one of the suicide notes, there were clear instructions to anyone who enters the flat that they should not light a match, as that could ignite a fire. "There is too much deadly gas...carbon monoxide…inside. CONTD. ON NATION PAGE Monkeypox quarantine in Belgium FPJ DESK BRUSSELS Belgium has become the first country to introduce compulsory monkeypox quarantine: Anyone testing positive must isolate for 21 days. The country has reported three such cases. But that was enough to put the administration in a tizzy since , 14 countries have already confirmed outbreaks. Incidentally there is a 'sig, nificant rise' in UK cases. The chief medical adviser to the UK Health Security Agency has warned that monkeypox is spreading through community transmission in the UK with more cases being detected daily In fact, another . 11 Britons CONTD. ON NATION PAGE Piyali scales Everest sans oxygen aide LAST WORD ARITRA SINGHA KOLKATA May 22 will go down in the annals as a proud day for every Bengali. They can’t help smiling ear to ear, with Piyali Basak from Chandhannagar in Hooghly district creating history by climbing Mt. Everest without any supplemental oxygen. Piyali was also the first woman to climb Mt. Dhaulagiri last October without supplemental oxygen; and, within seven months, she has added another feather to her cap by climbing the herculean Everest. According to a close aide, Piyali had faced much hardship, especially financial, in her endeavour. Even after mortgaging her house and rummaging through meagre savings, she could only shell out Rs 18 lakh. To climb the Everest, one needs at least Rs 35 lakh. ly these opponents were. He told the audience at an indoor rally in Pune, “I wanted to visit Ram Janmabhoomi and the place where karsevaks were killed. Some people don’t understand emotions in politics. Had I decided to go there, thousands of MNS workers and Hindus from Maharashtra would have followed me. If something would have happened, you would have retaliated, cases would have been filed against you and you would have been to make a ‘temporary retreat’ after severe setbacks sustained in the course of  counter-Naxal operations by police, paramilitary and commando forces, over the last several years. The Maoists  claim to have sent a ‘guerrilla company’ to salvage the strength of the PLGA.  The  rare admission has come in a Maoist titled ‘The document Growth of People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army in the Long-term Democratic Peo- War (2000-2020),’ ple’s issued by them recently, to mark  the  PLGA’s formation in  December 2000. gives an acThe document  count of the  Maoists’ alleged  major accomplishments, failures and challenges towards the goal of attaining  new democratic ‘a people’s revolution’ through a ‘people’s war’. This document, which has been reviewed by the FPJ,  while referring to CONTD. ON NATION PAGE STAFF REPORTER MUMBAI thrown into jail.” Further, Thackeray informed that he had to undergo a surgery on June 1 and after recovery he would , again address a public meeting. CONTD. ON NATION PAGE In the latest episode of the ongoing battle between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kirit Somaiya and Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, Somaiya on Sunday announced that he would be approaching the Bombay high court against Raut. The two leaders have been engaged in a heated war of words ever since allegations of corruption were raised against Somaiya and his wife Medha. On Sunday, Somaiya, through his official Twitter account, announced that Medha would be filing a Rs 100 crore defamation suit against Raut before the Bombay HC. “Prof Dr Medha Kirit Somaiya will file Rs 100 crore defamation suit civil against Sanjay Raut on 23 May at 12.30 p.m. at Mumbai High Court, Myself & Neil Somaiya will accompany (sic),” the senior BJP leader tweeted on Sunday evening. CONTD. ON NATION PAGE excavation in the Qutub Minar complex. The Qutab controversy erupted after a former ASI regional director Dharamveer Sharma claimed the minaret was built by Hindu king Raja Vikramaditya and not by Qutb al-Din Aibak. Sharma had further disputed the claim that Qutab was intended to be a sun observatory . On Saturday the Secretary , at the Ministry of Culture, Govind Mohan, visited the heritage monument with three historians, four ASI officers and researchers. ASI officials reportedly informed him that the excavation work at Qutub Minar complex had not been done since 1991. CONTD. ON NATION PAGE Gadchiroli district in Maharashtra, one of India’s 25 worst left-wing extremism (LWE)-affected districts according to  the ministry of  home  affairs,  has been identified as one of the four  key  regions  where the banned  Communist (Maoist) and Party of India  its armed wing, the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), were forced When the Nepal government made it clear that they won’t allow anyone near the base camp, unless the full amount is on the table, Piyali took to Facebook and appealed for crowdfunding of her venture: it raised Rs five lakh. But even then she was short by Rs 12 lakh, which thankfully an agency said it would pay . Not just in West Bengal, but elsewhere in the entire country there are hardly , any examples of climbing Mt. Everest without supplemental oxygen. But Piyali has been a brave girl since childhood. In 2019, due to bad weather conditions, she had to return without climbing the Everest. Somaiya mulls ` 100 crore suit against Sanjay Raut No plan to dig in Qutab complex: Minister FPJ DESK NEW DELHI China says QUAD is bound to fail K J M VARMA BEIJING ABHISHEK SHARAN MUMBAI Sensed trap, so skipped Ayodhya: Raj Thackeray FILE PIC SANJAY JOG MUMBAI Sunrise: 06:02 am Sunset : 07:09 pm Union Culture Minister GK Reddy has denied media reports which said that the Archaeological Survey of India has been asked to conduct