OPINION, P10 WELL BEING Sleep apnea, a common condition that prevents your body from getting enough oxygen, can be serious Page 9 Election lessons I have learnt MIND & GAMES Scientists are studying if astronauts could transform compounds in asteroids into eatables Page 11 WHEN A SLEEP DISORDER BECOMES A NIGHTMARE ACROSS THE AISLE, P CHIDAMBARAM VOL.NO.XIII SL.NO.95 Food of space travel LEISURE Follow us on Twitter & Facebook. App available on App Store & Play Store WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM THE HAUTE SOUTH FINANCIAL EXPRESS ON SUNDAY CHENNAI SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2024, 14 Pages, `12 P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , READ TO LEAD H Y D E R A B A D , CUSTOMER DATA LEAK Star Health says it got $68,000 ransom demand WHAT'S INSIDE Avartana’s avant-garde south Indian culinary experience now in Delhi Page 7 K O C H I , K O L K A T A , L U C K N O W , M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E ● AIMING FOR RAVAN ● Denies its security official involved in leak REUTERS New Delhi, October 12 INDIA'S BIGGEST HEALTH insurer The trend of hosting short, experience-driven events is going beyond food to include art, fashion and lifestyle, as the format is finding favour for its exclusivity, excitement and marketing buzz ■ WORDS WORTH, P4 The grey valley Excerpts from The Corporation in the 21st Century by John Kay India emerges top performer in YTD’24 its ranking slipped from 4th to 5th, now trailing behind Hong Kong. Over the past 10 trading sessions, India's market cap fell by 3.56%, while Hong Kong's gained 3.5%. Hong Kong is also the second-best performer in 2024 year-to-date, with its market cap rising 21.3%, followed by the U.S. up 20%, and Canada up 10.8%. Compiled by Kishor Kadam % chg Oct 10, ‘24 11.4 5.0 Saudi Arabia Germany 2.9 3.2 3.3 3.2 2.8 France Source: Bloomberg Canada 4.6 10.8 UK 3.1 3.2 21.3 25.8 Hong Kong 4.4 5.5 6.1 India 5.3 Japan 4.7 5.7 19.6 China 6.2 6.6 Dec 31, ‘23 3.0 2.7 2.4 2.5 Market cap (in $ trn) US 50.5 60.3 9.5 10.0 DESPITEA5% correction in the benchmark indices, India's stock market, with a 25.8% return, topped the global equity markets by market value in YTD2024. India's total market capitalisation rose from $4.4 trillion at the end of December to $5.5 trillion currently. However, due to the recent market decline, ■ Ransom email was sent in August to company MD, CEO ■ Says found no wrongdoing by staffer Amarjeet Khanuja ■ Star says has sought help from cyber security authorities ■ Ahacker had used Telegram chatbots and a website to leak customers' data, including tax details and medical claim papers ■ Telegram has been uncooperative in sharing hacker's account details or ban his accounts President Droupadi Murmu and PM Narendra Modi attending the Dussehra celebrations in New Delhi on Saturday EXPRESS PHOTO BY PRAVEEN KHANNA Triumph races ahead of Harley-Davidson in India ● In partnership ride, Bajaj triumphs over Hero MotoCorp VIKRAM CHAUDHARY New Delhi, October 12 Telegram has declined to share the account details or permanently ban accounts linked to the hacker—an individual dubbed xenZen—“despite multiple notices issued in this regard,” Star said on Saturday. Starsaid it has“sought the assistance”of cyber security authorities to“help us identify”the hacker. Telegram did not respond to a request for comment. TheDubai-basedmessengerapp has previously said it removed the chatbots when Reuters flagged them to the platform. WIDENING GAP Overall sales (units) Triumph 35,348 Harley-Davidson Hero 3,306 22,102 18,796 BRITISH MOTORCYCLE COMPANY Triumph has comprehensively beaten American Harley-Davidson in India, since the time both hitched on to Indian automakers to revive their fortunes in the subcontinent. In July last year, Triumph partnered with Bajaj Auto and started selling the Speed 400 motorcycle in India—manufactured at Bajaj’s Chakan plant in Pune—followed by the Scrambler 400 X in October. Inalittleoverayear (till August 31), Triumph has sold 35,348 units of both these bikes. Around the same time, in July last year, Harley-Davidson partnered with Hero MotoCorp and started selling the X 440 in India. VIVEAT SUSAN PINTO Mumbai, October 12 AVENUE SUPERMARTS,WHICH runs theD'Martchainofstores,reporteda 5.8%year-on-yeargrowthinconsolidatednetprofitonSaturdayat`660 crorefortheSeptemberquarter(Q2) of FY25.The number missed street estimates, which had forecast bottomline at `790 crore. Revenue increased by 14.4% year-on-year for the three months ended September, reaching `14,445 crore. Analysts had projected revenue of `14,415 crore for the period.Same-store sales growth (SSG) forQ2 came in at 5.5%,which islowerthanthe8.6%SSGreported last year and 9.1% SSG reported in the June quarter. REPORT CARD Q2 FY24 Q2 FY25 y-o-y % chng Revenue Ebitda 1,005 1,094 8.8 Net profit 14.4 5.8 624 Source: Bloomberg 660 BLOOMBERG October 12 TRANSSHIPMENT HUB INDIA HAS SURGED to become the (in ` crore) Continued on Page 2 microchips, circuits, machine tools surpassed ■ Exports of items such as second-biggest supplier of restricted critical technologies to Russia,officialsfromtheUS and Europe said. Indian exports of restricted items such as microchips, circuits and machine tools surpassed $60 million in both April and May,about double from earlier months this year, and leaped to $95 million in July, as per the officials, who asked not to be identified discussing private assessments.India is exceeded only by China. The officials said envoys who raise the issue have received little response from their Indian counterparts. India’s ministry of exter- $60 mn in April, May ■ Amount leaped to $95 mn in July, as per US and European officials nal affairs declined to comment when asked about the trend. The most recent data means almost a fifth of the sensitive technology that goes into Russia’s militaryindustrial complex got there via India,the officials said. Continued on Page 2 Wayanad fights to revive tourism after landslides ● From govt push to STATUS REPORT homestay discounts, ■ No. of resorts/ ■ Room revenue hotels/ per day efforts in progress homestays FAIZAL KHAN Wayanad, October 12 STANDING IN FRONT of his hilltop mudhouse,VishnuRavindran’sface lights up as he reads a new message onhismobilephone.“Afamilyoffour is arriving tomorrow,”beams Ravindran, the owner of a homestay in Wayanad, Kerala.“They are the first visitorsafterthelandslidetragedyon July30,”saysRavindran,theownerof Angels Stay at Thrissilery village in 3,000 ■ No. of rooms `2.6 crore 15,000 Thirunelli panchayat of Wayanad, summing up the slump in tourist arrivals felt across the vast district. “Onlya remote cornerof the district wasaffectedbythetragedy,butpeople linked the landslide with the whole of Wayanad,” laments the Under this agreement, Hero also developed a bike on the platform, and called it the Mavrick 440 (launched in Februarythisyear).Till August 31, Harley-Davidson has managed to sell just 18,796 units (half of what Triumph did), and Hero has sold just 3,306 units of the Mavrick 440. Analysts cited three main reasons as to why Bajaj-Triumph has triumphed over HeroHarley, and why this lead will only increase despite Hero launching its own motorcycle brand. “The X 440 was launched as a single model with three variants, priced from `2.29 lakh to `2.69 lakh. It catered to a singular set of buyers—those who wanted a premium Harley experience at a lower priceandweremostlyurbanriders,” an industry analyst told FE. Continued on Page 2 DMart Q2 net profit India is Russia’s No. 2 Haryana: Nayab Saini to take oath up 5.8% to `660 cr restricted tech supplier as CM on Oct 17 14,445 More power to pop-ups Star Health on Saturday said it had received a ransom demand of $68,000fromacyberhackerinconnectionwithaleakofcustomerdata andmedicalrecords.Star,whichhas a roughly $4-billion market cap, is battlingareputationalandbusiness crisis since it was reported on September 20 that a hacker had used Telegram chatbots and a website to leak customers’ sensitive data, including tax details and medical claim papers. The company, whose shares have declined 11%, has launched internal investigations and has taken legal action against Telegram and the hacker, whose website continues to share samples of Star customers’ data. Star,which has previouslysaid it is a “victim of a targeted malicious cyberattack”, on Saturday revealed forthe first time that inAugust“the threat actordemanded a ransom of $68,000 in an email” addressed to the company’s managing director and its chief executive. The statement came after stocks exchanges sought clarifications from Star on Friday over a Reuters report that the company was investigating allegations that its chief security officer was involved in the data leak. Star reiterated on Saturday it has found no wrongdoing by the official, Amarjeet Khanuja, though the internal investigation is ongoing. 12,624 ■ SPOTLIGHT, P5 MURKY DETAILS PA MOHAMMED RIYAS, Kerala tourism minister THE TRAGEDY HAS AFFECTED THE TOURISM SECTOR BADLY AND WE ARE TRYING TO MAKE A QUICK RECOVERY young tourism entrepreneur. Inthefirstfortnightfollowing the landslide,triggered by 590 mm rainfall in 48 hours, Wayanad’s fledgling hospitalityindustry—fromhomestays to resorts—suffered ■ Total loss ■ Indirect revenue loss `992.25 `771.75 crore crore Direct revenue ■ loss for 60 days `220.5 crore losses of `60 crore, says KR Vanjeeswaran, president of Wayanad Tourism Organisation.“The losses from rooms,restaurants and resorts climbed to `120 crore by the end of themonth.Itwasthricemoreinsectors like suppliers, transport and retail shops,”saysVanjeeswaran. TheWayanadTourismOrganisationestimatesthetotallossesforthe district hospitality industry at `992.25 crore for the first two months after the disaster.The revenue loss per day was `1.05 crore, whiletotalrevenuelosswas`220.50 crore.The indirect losses related to thehospitalityindustrywasawhopping `771.75 crore. Continued on Page 2 NAYAB SINGH Saini is set to be sworn in as the chief minister of Haryana on October 17. The ceremony is slated to be held at 10 am at Dussehra Ground in Sector 5, Panchkula. PM Narendra Modi will be present, along with senior leaders from the BJP and CMs and deputy CMs from NDA-ruled states. ■ PAGE 2 Pvt sector access to GatiShakti portal this year THE NETWORK planning group (NPG) that appraises mega infrastructure projects to ensure they are aligned to the principles of PM GatiShakti national masterplan portal (NMP) has approved 208 projects worth over `15.39 lakh crore in the past three years, a senior official said on Saturday. He added that the government is targeting to provide access to the NMP portal to the private sector this year. ■ PAGE 3 Harris releases medical report, ‘fit for high office’ US VICE-PRESIDENT Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, released a letter from her physician, Joshua Simmons, that pronounced her in good health and fit for high office, in an effort to draw a contrast with her counterpart, Donald Trump. ■ PAGE 14 CHENNAI