OPINION, P10 WELL BEING ACROSS THE AISLE, P CHIDAMBARAM Overuse of antibiotics and over-the-counter drugs is causing a global menace in the guise of antimicrobial resistance, increasing the risk of disease spread, disability and even death Page 9 Mr Bhagwat speaks, listen all ye faithful FE LINES WHEN MEDICINES STOP WORKING VOL.NO.XIII SL.NO.96 Telegram in trouble A recent insurance data breach made much news. The platform seems to be doing it a lot Page 8 LEISURE Follow us on Twitter & Facebook. App available on App Store & Play Store WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM FOLK GOES FEMININE FINANCIAL EXPRESS ON SUNDAY CHENNAI/KOCHI SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2024, 18 Pages, `12 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 , K O C H I , ● Threats from same X account; airline CEOs meet regulator ■ SPOTLIGHT, P6-7 AN ANONYMOUS AND unverified account on social media platform X issued bomb threats to 46 flights of Indian airlines since Friday night, sendingairlines,airportsandtheaviation securityapparatus into a tizzy. The account—@adamlanza111 —posted bomb threats to 12 flights on Friday night. On Saturday, it posted bomb threats to 34 flights of Raising the gender bar Meet the women behind six new-age, homegrown alcoholic-beverage startups— creating anything from rum to mead, ready-to-drink cocktail to gin—who are stepping into and transforming an otherwise male-dominated space ■ Air India, Akasa Air, SpiceJet, Star Air, Alliance Air flights also received security threats ■ WORDS WORTH, P4 Time, tide and AI ● Exemption for term PROPOSED CHANGES Cut to life, health insurance 5% cover up to `5 lakh In his latest book, Yuval Noah Harari insists artificial intelligence is a societal force and we are in it together PRIYANSH VERMA New Delhi, October 19 Auto, realty, FMCG lead market decline BSE Sensex Nifty 50 BSE MidCap -2.8 RESOLUTION FOR J&K STATEHOOD GETS L-G APPROVAL THE RESOLUTION passed by the Jammu & Kashmir Cabinet, urging the Union government to restore statehood to J&K, has been cleared by lieutenantgovernor (L-G) Manoj Sinha. After Raj Bhawan’s clearance of the resolution, CM Omar Abdullah will visit the national capital “in the coming days” to meet the PM and Union ministers in this regard. The Cabinet chaired by Omar Abdullah that met on Thursday had passed a resolution unanimously for restoration of statehood of Jammu and Kashmir “in its original form”. This was agenda number one of the subjects listed for consideration in the first meeting. ■ PAGE 18 (% fall*) -1.0 BSE SmallCap *Sept 26-Oct 18 Top sectoral losers Auto Realty FMCG Consumer# Utilities Energy Telecom Power Oil & gas Fin services (% fall*) till Saturday afternoon, has now been suspended byX.Itwas created only recently, which is usually the case with social media accounts AGROUPOF Ministers(GoM),tasked withreviewingthemannerofGoods and Services Tax levy on life and health insurance premiums, has taken the view that term life insurancecouldbeexemptfromtax,along with health insurance coverup to `5 lakh and premiums paid by‘senior citizens’above 60years. The panel, however, decided against a complete tax waiver for health insurance,where the GST is levied at 18% at present. TheGoM,whichmetonSaturday, willsubmitareporttotheGSTCouncil by October-end,which will finally take a call on the issue. A complete exemption of termlife insurance from GSTwill cost the exchequer about `200 crore annually,whileexemptingseniorcitizens’ healthinsurancepremiumswillcost another `3,000 crore, sources said. 20-litre packaged drinking water bottles, bicycles, notebooks Raise to 28% Wrist watches above `25,000, shoes above `15,000, among others Waiver of health insurance premium for senior citizens above 60 years Between FY22 and FY24 the total GSTcollected from health insurance premiumswasabout`21,000crore. AnotherGoMonraterationalisation,whichalsometheresimultane- ously,decidedtorecommendtweaks (hikes and cuts) in the GST rates on around 100 products, a move that would fetch the government additional annual revenue of `22,000 crore,which is to be equally shared between the Centre and states. Thepaneldecidedtorecommend lowering of GST rates 20-litre packaged drinking water bottles,bicycles and exercise notebooks to 5%, and raising taxes on high-end wrist watches and shoes, among other products.Italsofavouredtaxingwrist watches above `25,000 and shoes above `15,000 at 28% from 18% at present.A member of the GoM said: “The surplus `22,000-crore will compensate for revenue losses from exempting certain health and life insurance premiums.” Currently, 18% GST is imposed on life insurance premiums forterm policies and family floater policies, and on health insurance. “Some members suggested reducing the GST from 18% to 5% on health and life insurance premiums, but most werenotinfavourofsuchamoveand opted for giving concessions to the elderly,” said a memberof the GoM. Continued on Page 2 #Consumer discretionary *Sept 26-Oct 18 IndiGo: 4 flights got security-related alerts ■ In at least one flight, note found in lavatory saying bomb in flight ■ At least 70 flights received security threats so far this week PTI used to issue fake threats. The posts from the account to different airlines on Saturday were identical: “There are bombs placed N E W D E L H I , P U N E VIKRAM CHAUDHARY New Delhi, October 19 EVEN THOUGH SUVS are the vehi- cles of choice for most Indian customers,a segment thatwas holding up against them was sub-4 metre hatchbacks and sedans, which are classified as compact passenger cars.However,nowthis frontierhas also been breached. Exter, Kia Sonet, Compact passenger cars Maruti Suzuki Brezza, Tata Nexon 671,908 671,674 Compact passenger cars 558,173 Source: Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) sales data show that during April-September of the current fiscal, as many as 671,674 sub-4 metre SUVs (com- Compact SUVs pact SUVs) were sold,which was far higher than 558,173 compact passenger cars. Intheyear-agoperiod(H1FY24), these figures were the opposite: onboard 5 of your planes... No one willmake(it)outalive.Hurryupand evacuate the plane.” While some of these flights were airborne when the threats were posted, a few had already been operated.A few of the flights that were in operation when the threat was received declared a general emergency. Later, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) officials met the CEOs of Indian airlines in New Delhi. The CEOs were told that they need to keep all stakeholders in the loop about any threats that they receive, and about the action taken, along with their SOPs. Continued on Page 2 HDFC to sell up to `10,000 cr shares in HDB Financial IPO SACHIN KUMAR Mumbai, October 19 HDFC BANK’S BOARD,on Saturday, approved an OfferforSale of equity worth up to `10,000 crore in HDB FinancialServicesaspartofthesubsidiary'sinitialpublicoffering(IPO). The total IPO size will amount to `12,500 crore, which includes a fresh issue of `2,500 crore. “The price and other details of the proposed IPO will be determined in due course by the competent body,” INSIDE said the bank inaregulatory HDFC BANK filing to the Q2 NET UP 5% exchanges. TO `16,820 CR After the ■ PAGE 3 proposed IPO, HDBFinancial Services will continue to be a subsidiary of the bank, in compliance with the provisions of the applicable regulations,it added. HDB Financial Services is coming with an IPO to comply with the Reserve Bank of India's mandate in October 2022, requiring NBFCs in the upper layer to list on the stock exchanges. As of September 2023, the RBI classified 15 non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) as ‘upperlayer’andunderthenewreg- Compact SUVs overtake hatchbacks,sedans (*units sold) ● Drive past the two LEADING THE PACK Stars in compact SUV space H1FY24* categories together Compact SUVs Tata Punch, Maruti Suzuki Fronx, Mahindra XUV 3XO, for the first time 593,230 Hyundai Venue and -7.8 -7.4 -7.1 -6.1 -5.8 -5.3 -5.0 -4.9 -4.5 -4.5 Sensex and Nifty have fallen by over 5% each since their all-time high levels recorded on September 26.Auto, realty, and FMCG sectors led the market decline, each dropping by more than 7%. Consumer discretionary, utilities, energy, and telecom sectors fell by 5-6%. The healthcare sector was the only gainer during this period, with a 0.2% increase. The broader indices outperformed the benchmarks, with the midcap index down by 2.8% and the small-cap index declining by 1%. Investors' wealth eroded by `19 lakh crore between September 26 and October 18. — Compiled by Kishor Kadam Indiancarriers,andeventooverseas airlines like American Airlines, JetBlue and Air New Zealand. The account, which was active GST panels propose slew of tax tweaks -5.2 M U M B A I , Passengers of an IndiGo flight that received a bomb threat come out of the Chandigarh airport on Saturday RATE CHANGES LIKELY FOR 100+ PRODUCTS -5.4 L U C K N O W , Vistara: 5 international flights got bomb threats SUKALP SHARMA New Delhi, October 19 BENCHMARK INDICES K O L K A T A , Saturday scare: 34 flights get security threats WHAT'S INSIDE H1FY25* P U B L I S H E D Female folk musicians take centrestage at Jodhpur RIFF Page 5 671,908 compact passenger cars soldagainst593,230compactSUVs. Till lastyear,compact passenger cars were India’s biggest sub-segment,fouryearsagoitwas twice the size of compact SUVs,and fiveyears ago it was three times the size of compact SUVs. However, that’s not the case anymore. Tata Punch, Maruti Suzuki’s Fronx, Mahindra’s XUV 3XO, Hyundai Venue and Exter, Kia Sonet, Maruti Suzuki’s Brezza, and Tata Nexon keep breaching the 10,000 units a month sales mark occasionally. Continued on Page 2 Total IPO size will amount to This includes a fresh issue of `12,500 cr `2,500 cr Price and other details of proposed IPO to be determined in due course ulation, unlisted companies in this category must go public within three years. Other unlisted lenders in the list include Tata Capital FinancialServicesandPiramalCapital & Housing Finance. HDFC Bank holds a 94.64% stake in HDB Financial Services, a non-banking financial company (NBFC) arm of the bank. In FY23, the company’s loan book expanded by 17% year-on-year, reaching `66,000 crore, driven by robust demand for personal, vehicle, and small business loans. HDB Financial Services serves the retail and commercial segments, offering a range of products such as personal loans, vehicle loans, and loans against property. India seeks critical mineral pact with US PIYUSH GOYAL, COMMERCE & INDUSTRY MINISTER IT COULD BE A MOVE TOWARDS AN FTA MUKESH JAGOTA New Delhi, October 19 INDIAHAS PROPOSED totheUnited For Indian travellers, it’s go global, eat local TOP 5 FOODIE DESTINATIONS IN ASIA ● Culinary tourism South Korea major driving force for 50% globetrotters 64% GARIMA SADHWANI New Delhi, October 19 Taiwan 62% ASMANYAS 45%ofIndiantravellers consider food as an“integral part of theirtravel planning”,the India Holiday Survey Report by SOTC Travel recently revealed. From being a side dish to main course, culinary tourismhasclearlyseenaphenomenal rise in recent years, with food becomingoneofthetopparameters people considerwhen booking their holidays. As per an Agoda survey released in October this year,Indian Thailand 55% travellerswholistedtheirappetiteas a travel compass set course forThailand, followed by Turkey and Laos. India, on the other hand, is mostly visitedbyfoodiesfromVietnamand Japan 52% Japan,the surveynoted. Global data crosses the halfway mark.TheWorldFoodTravelAssociation has noted in a report by the Food Travel Monitor: “As many as Malaysia 49% Source: Agoda, October 2024 53% of people who travel choose to visit a destination specificallyforits food.”DatabyJerseyIslandHolidays, a US-based holiday portal, claims thatawhopping95%touristsglob- ally tend to classify themselves as ‘food travellers’. Santosh Kumar, country manager for India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Indonesia at Booking.com, said 86% tourists actively seek out indigenous cuisines and 78% are eager to understand the history and heritage behind iconic dishes. The company’s Travel Trends data also shows that 48% of Indian travellers prioritise food when planning trips and45%prioritisefoodwhilechoosing destinations fortravel. Some countries have even capitalisedontheircuisinestopromotea form of‘gastrodiplomacy’,especially placeslikeThailand,SouthKorea,and US, whose cuisines are becoming moreandmoremainstreamglobally. Continued on Page 2 States to convert their memorandum of understanding in critical minerals into a critical minerals agreement (CMA) that will give the benefits of a free trade agreement to the trade of electric vehicles. “I have suggested that our critical minerals MoU should be converted to critical minerals partnership agreement and become a beginning point to move towards a free trade agreement (FTA),” commerceandindustryministerPiyush Goyal told reporters on Saturday. Under the US’ Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022, certain percentage of critical minerals in EV batteries have to be sourced from the United States or US FTA partners. This is a must if EVs have to qualifyfortax incentives,which are given as tax breaks to buyers. The US Department of the Treasury has designated the CMA as an FTA for the purposes of the EV tax credit. Continued on Page 2 CHENNAI/KOCHI