OPINION, P10 WELL BEING FE LINES ACROSS THE AISLE, P CHIDAMBARAM Understanding dyslexia & normalising conversations around a condition that affects 10-15% of Indian children Page 9 Know what’s changing from Aug 1, and what it means for you Page 2 LIVING WITH A LEARNING DISABILITY? READ ON War against a fused front VOL XXII, NO. 6 UPI overhaul to prevent outages LEISURE Follow us on Twitter & Facebook. App available on App Store & Play Store WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM KIRAN NADAR INTERVIEW HYDERABAD 12 Pages, `12 FINANCIAL EXPRESS ON SUNDAY SUNDAY, JUNE 8, 2025 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 , ‘Art must be appreciated daily, not locked away as investment’ Page 8 READ TO LEAD H Y D E R A B A D , 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 CBC 46101/13/0009/2526 Nari Shakti’s Spirit of Entrepreneurship gets Wings With over 35 crore loans, nearly 70% beneficiaries of Mudra Yojana are women Shukla’sflightcountdowntoIndia’smannedmissions WHAT'S INSIDE KUNAL DOLEY New Delhi, June 7 WHEN US-BASED AXIOM Space’s mission to the International Space Station (ISS),carrying Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla takes off onJune10,itwillnotonlyscripthistory but also provide India with valuable experience to observe, adopt and improve upon its own human spaceflight programme What’s hot,what’s knot From venues, menu choices, décor to attire and more, how businesses are warming up to the big fat Indian summer wedding Hand in hand with AI Excerpts from The Co-Intelligence Revolution that advocate acceptance of AI in our lives as an entity to collaborate with and create, harnessing human & machine intelligence ● Watchdog issues directive to get rid of dark patterns PRESS TRUST OF INDIA New Delhi, June 7 China nod to some India central to key exports of rare earths supply chains, says ahead of US talks Canadian PM Carney CHINA has granted approval to some applications for the export of rare earths, a move that could ease tensions before trade talks between the US and China next week. Beijing confirmed the approval without specifying which countries or industries were covered. ■ PAGE 12 INDIA IS the fifth largest economy in the world and it is central to a number of critical global supply chains, Canadian PM Mark Carney has said, arguing that the leadership of the country must be part of discussions at the upcoming G7 summit. ■ PAGE 12 Bonanza for borrowers Friday’s 50 basis points cut in the repo ratewill immediately benefit customerswith home or car loans or small business units as their loans are linked to an external benchmark rate. The share ofsuch loans in the total outstanding floating rate rupee loans ofscheduled commercial bankswas 60.6% in December 2024, up from 56.9% in December 2023.The interest rates on MCLR—marginal cost of funds based lending rate---loanswill trend down with a lag. Public sector banks 80 60 40 CENTRAL CONSUMER PROTECTIONAuthority(CCPA) has directed e-commerce platforms to conduct self-audits within three months to identify and eliminate ‘dark patterns’—deceptive design practices that mislead consumers into unintended actions. The consumer affairs ministry on Saturday said all e-commerce platforms must examine their interfaces for practices that undermineconsumerchoiceorconstitute unfair trade practices. “All e-commerce platforms have been advised to conduct self-audits to identify dark patterns, within three months of the issue of the advisory, and take necessary steps to ensure that their platforms are free from such dark patterns,” the ministry said in a statement. Based on their audit findings, platforms are encouraged to provide self-declarations confirming their sites are free from deceptive practices.The CCPA said these declarations would help build consumertrust and create a fairerdigital marketplace. The authorityhas alreadyissued notices to some e-commerce platforms found violating guidelines VIKRAM CHAUDHARY New Delhi, June 7 20 Dec ’24 Private sector banks Scheduled commercial banks 100 100 80 80 60 60 40 40 20 20 Jun ‘20 Base rate that is fast taking shape. Shuklawill be the second Indian to travel to space,fourdecades after Rakesh Sharma’s iconic spaceflight onboard Russia's Soyuz spacecraft As I go into space, I carry not just instruments & equipment, I carry hopes and dreams of a billion hearts —SHUBHANSHU SHUKLA in 1984. “It has been an amazing journey so far, but the best is yet to come.As I go into space, I carry not just instruments and equipment, I carry hopes and dreams of a billion hearts,”Shukla said on Saturday. In order to understand why it took so long forIndia’s second tryst with space, we will have to go back briefly in time. Space exploration had its golden era in the 60s,70s and the early80s, whennothingintheuniversefeltout of reach for humanity, say industry experts.Unfortunately,thefollowing years saw a gradual slowdown in spaceinvestmentsandprogrammes. “Even as Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma’s historic flight inspired a generationofIndianstolookupand dare to dream, fewer crewed missions were being planned as leading nationssuchastheUSandthe(then) USSR began reconsidering their investments,” said Pawan Kumar Chandana, co-founder and CEO of SkyrootAerospace. Continued on Page 5 THE GOODS AND Services Tax Network (GSTN) on Saturday said beginning the July tax period, GST taxpayers will not be able to file monthly and annual GST returns after three years of the original filing due date. The July 2025 tax period means taxpayers will file monthly returns in August this year. In an advisory, the GSTN said taxpayers will not be able to file GSTR-1, GSTR 3B, GSTR-4, GSTR-5, GSTR5A, GSTR-6, GSTR 7, GSTR 8 and GSTR 9 on expiry of three years from the filing due date. The amendments to Goods and Services Tax (GST) law with regard to time barring were effected through the Finance Act, 2023. Thus, GST outward supply BUILDING TRUST ■ Dark patterns include false urgency alerts, hidden costs at checkout, subscription traps, etc ■ Self- declarations to help build consumer trust, create fairer digital marketplace ■ CCPA has already issued notices to some e-commerce platforms found to be violating guidelines THE DIRECTOR GENERAL of GSTIntelligencehasclosedpreshow cause notice proceedings against Infosys for financial years 2018-19 to 2021-22, involving a GST amount of `32,403 crore, the company said in a statutory filing. Continued on Page 5 returns, besides returns related to payment of the liability, annual returns and tax collected at source will become time-barred. “The returns will be barred for filing after expiry of three years. The said restriction will be imple- mented on the GST portal from the July 2025 tax period," the GSTN advisory said. It advised taxpayers to reconcile their records and file their GST returns as soon as possible if not filed till now. Earlier in October, the GST Network (GSTN) alerted taxpayers that the said provision of tax barring would be implemented in early 2025. AMRG & Associates senior partner Rajat Mohan said while this step enhances system discipline and curtails prolonged noncompliance, it may severely impact taxpayers who, due to litigation, system issues, or genuine oversight, have pending filings. “The absence of a redressal mechanism for exceptional cases could lead to permanent denial of input tax credit and financial setbacks,” Mohan said. India,UK hail deeper ties for preventing dark patterns, though it did not name specific companies. Dark patterns include practices like false urgency alerts, hidden costs added at checkout, subscription traps, and disguised advertisements that manipulate consumer decision-making. The government established a joint working group, comprising representatives from ministries, regulators,consumerorganisations and national law universities, to monitor violations and suggest awareness programmes. Continued on Page 5 SHUBHAJIT ROY New Delhi, June 7 AFTER MEETING VISITING UK foreign secretary David Lammy Saturday, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said India follows a policy of “zero tolerance against terrorism” and expects its partners to understand that Delhi will never“countenance”the equivalence of perpetrators andvictims. PM Narendra Modi, who met Lammyaswell,said:“Pleased to meet UK Foreign Secretary Mr. David Lammy. Appreciate his substantive contribution to the remarkable progressinourComprehensiveStrategicPartnership,furtherstrengthened PM Narendra Modi (right) with UK foreign secretary David Lammy by the recently concluded FTA.Value UK’s support for India’s fight against cross-borderterrorism.” This is the first visit by a foreign ministerfromaP-5countrytoIndia, after the India-Pakistan hostilities last month. Lammy had visited Islamabad on May 16,when he had welcomed the ceasefirebetweenIndiaandPakistan. Jaishankar said: “Let me thank the Government of the United Kingdom for the strong condemnation of the barbaric terrorist attack in Pahalgam in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir and foryour solidarity and support to India in the fight against terrorism.We practice a policyof zero toleranceagainstterrorismandexpect ourpartners to understand it,andwe will never countenance perpetrators ofevilbeingputatparwithitsvictims.” Continued on Page 5 In a first, CNG car sales race ahead of diesel 100 0 ■ Conducted 43 bio-med, remote sensing experiments for Gaganyaan, India's first human space flight mission. To spend up to 3 days in low Earth orbit PRESS TRUST OF INDIA New Delhi, June 7 ■ WORDS WORTH, P4 Jun ‘20 ■ To spend about 14 days on ISS ■ To conduct 60 studies, 7 by Isro on space nutrition, selfsustaining life support systems space on Soyuz T-11 as part of Soviet programme ■ Spent 7 days on Salyut 7 orbital station 2027 ■ Shukla among 4 shortlisted E-tailers told to GST returns time-barred checkdeceptive from July tax period GST breather designpractices for Infosys ■ SPOTLIGHT, P6-7 0 2025 ■ Shubhanshu Shukla to be pilot on Axiom Mission 4 ● Space prowess takes HIGHER ORBITS giant leap since Rakesh 1984 ■ Rakesh Sharma first Sharma’s 1984 trip Indian to travel to 0 Dec ’24 MCLR Jun ‘20 EBLR Source: RBI, Note: Data post HDFC Merger in July Others Dec ’24 THE AUTO INDUSTRY is shifting gears as CNG car sales in FY25 surpassed those of diesel for the first time. According to Vahan data, 787,724CNGcarsweresoldinFY25, compared to 736,508 of diesel.This is prompting nearly all major carmakers to enterthe CNG space. CNG car sales rose by 35% yearon-year in FY25, outpacing diesel (5%), EVs and hybrids (15%), and petrol,which saw a 7% decline.This surge has led four carmakers to launch CNG models in just the past fourmonths.HondaintroducedCNG variants of the Amaze and Elevate, Renault added CNG options for the SHIFTING GEARS Unit sales (FY25) CNG Diesel 787,724 736,508 ■ Conversion of Recent launches of CNG options ■ Honda's Amaze & Elevate ■ Renault's Kwid, Kiger & Triber ■ Citroen C3 ■ Nissan Magnite Upcoming launches of CNG versions ■ Tata Motors' Curvv ■ Kia Carens Kwid, Kiger, and Triber, Citroen launched the C3 CNG, and Nissan rolled out the Magnite CNG. IndustryexecutivessaidthatTata petrol engines to CNG is cost-effective for automakers, as minimal re-engineering is needed `3-4/km Running costs of CNG; relatively lower than petrol, diesel Motors will soon launch a CNG versionofitsupcomingCurvvSUV,while Kia is set to introduce a CNG variant of Carens bythe end of theyear.Kia’s 18,000 No. of CNG filling stations by 2032, up from 7,500 in 2024 senior VP of sales and marketing Hardeep Singh Brar confirmed that whileKiaisevaluatingCNGtechnology for Carens for performance and HYDERABAD efficiency,it does not plan to expand CNG options to othermodels. With these additions,most manufacturers,includingMarutiSuzuki, Hyundai, Tata, Toyota, Honda, Kia, Nissan, Renault, and Stellantis,will have CNG models. However, three companiesareexpectedtostayoutof the CNG race—Volkswagen Group, JSWMG,and Mahindra. Analysts said that brand identity and product strategyare keyreasons whythese three are opting out.Gaurav Vangaal of S&P Global Mobility saidthesebrandsareprioritisingEVs andhybrids,aligningwiththeirfocus on performance, technology, and long-term positioning. Continued on Page 5