Indian court to rule whether doughnut shop is bakery or restaurant

A court in India is hearing a case that decides whether doughnuts should attract 5 or 18 per cent tax, in a case that could have significant implications for India’s restaurant and bakery industries.

At the core of the dispute is whether doughnuts should be taxed as part of restaurant services, which carry a five per cent charge under India’s Goods and Services Tax (GST), or as standalone bakery products, which fall under the 18 per cent GST bracket.

This comes after the Indian arm of doughnut chain Mad Over Donuts challenged a notice from India’s Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DGCI) that held them guilty of tax evasion for incorrectly classifying their business as a restaurant service and ordered them to pay more than Rs1bn in dues.

A similar notice was also served to chains Dunkin’ Donuts, Theobroma, and Krispy Kreme.

The notice stated that the DGCI, during its investigation, questioned the head chef of Mad Over Donuts, who allegedly said that the doughnuts are prepared in a central kitchen and then sent to individual outlets, according to The Economic Times. At these outlets, “garnishing, chocolate pouring, and packing” are done before an item is sold, thus the products are sold “over the counter”.

On Monday, the Bombay High Court’s division bench of Justices BP Colabawalla and Firdosh P Pooniwalla heard the petition from Himesh Foods Pvt Ltd, the parent company of Mad Over Donuts.

Mad Over Donuts maintained that it meets the criteria for it to be classified as a restaurant, since all its outlets have a kitchen to heat the items sold and the doughnuts go through a final preparation before sale.

The Indian law enforcement agency argued that the kitchens at these outlets are “stretching the definition of service beyond” the guidelines under the GST act, and any garnishing of the doughnuts before they are served is “nothing but to make the said products attractive for the customers before selling them over the counter, similar to the types of sweets prepared by confectioners with various coatings and spreading different dry fruits over it”.

Advocate Abhishek Rastogi, representing Mad Over Donuts, pointed to that GST notifications that categorise food sold at restaurants, eateries, messes, and canteens under the 5 per cent tax bracket, irrespective of whether they are eaten on-site or taken away.

“If for some reason, this order is not dealt pragmatically then there are high chances of disruption for the food and beverages sector,” he added.

The court ruled that no coercive action can be taken against Mad Over Donuts while the case is pending, and listed it for hearing on 24 March.

Over the last few years, India has seen a few other tax classification disputes. The most notable took place in September 2022, when the authorities insisted that frozen Malabar parottas (a layered flatbread cooked primarily in southern Indian states Kerala and Tamil Nadu) should be taxed at a higher rate than frozen rotis (a round flatbread) since they took longer to cook and therefore could not be classified as ready for consumption.

A similar controversy erupted over popcorn last year, after Indian finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that caramel popcorn would be taxed at a higher rate than regular salted popcorn, since “anything with added sugar attracts a different tax rate”.

The United Kingdom too saw a dispute of a similar nature over three decades ago – the famous legal battle over Jaffa Cakes, where the courts deliberated over whether they were biscuits, which are taxed at 20 per cent or cakes, zero-rated for Value Added Tax (VAT). McVitie’s, the company that makes the Jaffa Cakes, argued that Jaffa Cakes harden when they go stale, like cakes, unlike biscuits which went soft and soggy.

South Korea raises toll of people injured in fighter jet misfire to 29

The number of people injured in the accidental bombing of a South Korean village by military jets has risen to 29.

At least 15 civilians and 14 soldiers sustained injuries after two KF-16 fighter jets “abnormally” released eight MK-82 bombs on a village in Pocheon, 43km north of the capital Seoul, during joint military exercises with the US on Thursday.

Nine of the wounded were currently hospitalised, two of them with severe injuries, local media reported.

The MK-82 bombs, each weighing some 225kg, fell outside the designated range for the joint exercises, the military said. The ensuing blast destroyed homes and a church, and tremors from the explosion were felt nearly 1km away.

The villagers were evacuated to a town hall on Thursday as the military combed the area and then launched an investigation. The destruction of their homes had rendered many people homeless.

An initial investigation found the pilot of one of the KF-16 planes had entered the wrong coordinates for a bombing site.

South Korea suspended live-fire exercises and training flights of its air force aircraft across the country on Friday until it was established what had gone wrong, the military said.

The planned Freedom Shield exercises with the US would continue, though, and fire drills and flight training restart once the exact cause of the incident was found and preventive steps formulated, it added.

A day after the unprecedented incident, the village remained covered in debris.

The interior and safety ministry allocated 300m won (£160,790) in disaster safety grants to Pocheon to facilitate swift emergency recovery. The fund would be used for temporary housing and psychological support for residents affected by the bombing, reports said.

“We will spare no necessary support to minimize the inconvenience for affected residents and to help stabilize the impacted area as soon as possible,” acting minister of interior and safety Lee Sang Min said.

Meanwhile, dozens of activists and residents from the affected area held a rally near the defence ministry in Seoul to demand a halt to military drills that threatened the lives and peace of the people living in the area.

The residents reportedly said they had been protesting against the disturbance and danger from the nearby training grounds for years. “We, Pocheon citizens, are fundamentally questioning these ongoing military exercises,” Lee Myoung Won, a Pocheon resident at the rally, was quoted by Reuters as saying.

The resident said it was unclear to them who the military drills were meant to be providing security for.

Lee Illwoo, an expert with the Korea Defence Network, argued that the suspension of flight training would cause “really a big problem” in examining the operational plans of the US and South Korea. He told the Associated Press that flying warplanes would be essential to determining their real capabilities, discussing the size of reinforcements of US aircraft from abroad and modifying the operational plans of the allies.

The joint drills were planned to involve responses to evolving challenges like North Korea’s growing military partnership with Russia.

South Korean court cancels impeached president Yoon’s arrest

A court in South Korea has cancelled impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol‘s arrest warrant, paving the way for his release, after weeks spent in detention for insurrection charges over his brief imposition of martial law.

The president won’t be released from prison immediately because prosecutors have the right to file an appeal, Mr Yoon’s lawyer said. If he is released from prison, the court ruling will allow Mr Yoon to face his criminal trial while not being physically detained between hearings.

The president was arrested and indicted in January for rebellion, in connection with his 3 December martial law decree. The move sparked chaos in Seoul before it was voted down by lawmakers and rescinded in a matter of hours.

Mr Yoon has claimed he was acting to root out “anti-state” elements and that he never intended to fully impose emergency military rule.

Mr Yoon’s lawyers had argued the warrant issued on 19 January was invalid because the request filed by prosecutors was procedurally flawed.

“South Korea’s rule of law is still alive,” Mr Yoon’s legal counsel said, shortly after Seoul Central District Court made the ruling on Friday.

The president’s office welcomed the court’s decision, saying it hopes Mr Yoon “will return to work soon”.

The court said it accepted the president’s request to be released from jail because the legal period of his formal arrest expired before he was indicted. The bench noted that there were “questions about the legality” of the investigation process that involved two separate agencies.

“To ensure procedural clarity and eliminate any doubts regarding the legality of the investigative process, it would be appropriate to issue a decision to cancel the detention,” the court said.

The 64-year-old president evaded arrests for weeks by remaining in his residential compound, which was protected by loyal members of the Presidential Security Service.

The country’s first martial law decree in nearly 40 years ended just after six hours when the National Assembly voted to withdraw it. Members of the assembly jumped over fences and broke through lines of armed soldiers who were preventing lawmakers from entering the building.

Mr Yoon is also facing an impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court to determine whether to remove him from office permanently or reinstate his presidential powers. If the court upholds Mr Yoon’s impeachment, he will be thrown out of office and a national election will be held to choose his successor within two months.

During his impeachment trial, the president apologised to the people of the country for not being able to serve them and causing “confusion and inconvenience” with his martial law bid.

Mr Yoon said if he was allowed to serve, he would make constitutional amendments to change the current presidential system and push for political reforms.

“If a constitutional amendment and political reform are pursued correctly, I believe the separated and divided people will unite in the process,” he added. He also suggested stepping down before his single five-year term ends in 2027 to promote “political reform”.

South Korea is currently led by finance minister Choi Sang Mok, who became the country’s second acting president in two weeks after Mr Yoon’s impeachment.

The first acting president, Han Duck-soo, was impeached amid disagreements with the opposition on appointing justices to the Constitutional Court.

White Lotus actor bitten for real during snake scene: ‘Am I dying?’

Walton Goggins says he not only confronted his greatest fear while filming The White Lotus, he took a bite for it.

The actor plays the grumpy Rick Hatchett in the third season of Mike White’s satirical dark comedy and does not seem to be having a good time on holiday despite the efforts of girlfriend Chelsea, played by Sex Education’s Aimee Lou Wood.

In the season’s third episode, Rick, under the influence of cannabis, ends up releasing caged, venomous snakes from a snake farm in Thailand. While he gets off scot-free, Chelsea gets bitten and is taken to hospital.

In real life, though, Goggins says he was the one to get bitten.

Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Goggins shared that he had a great fear of snakes. “I don’t just have a phobia – it is like a missing link when it comes to snakes,” Goggins said. “I am terrified of snakes — really, really terrified — and there’s something, like, genetically wrong with me when it comes to snakes.”

The Fallout star recalled all the safety instructions he was given before shooting the snake scene and how panic resulted in him forgetting everything.

“I had the snake handler right off camera because when I picked up the snake for the very first time, I started crying. Like uncontrollably,” Goggins said.

“And then, right when we are getting ready to do that very first scene, they kind of walked you through the entire experience, they’re walking around the cages, and they’re like, ‘Don’t touch this cage because this snake will kill you. This cage here, there’s some snakes in here, but don’t touch the brown ones.’

“All I’m thinking about is the very first cage where the snake will kill you, and the rest of it just goes out of my mind. Then, they yell ‘Action’. And it’s like, ‘Don’t open the first one because they’ll kill you. Was it green or was it brown? Which one has a big, big bite?’”

Goggins went on to describe how a state of panic made him grab a snake that did not seem to enjoy what was happening to it. “I started to pull the green one and as I was pulling the snake out he didn’t want to come, right? So, the snake turns around and he bit me.”

Goggins described his reaction, wishing he “could’ve been cool”. “I fancy myself a pretty cool guy. Like, ‘Hey, yeah, I got a snakebite.’ This was my reaction: I swear to God, it was like, ‘Oh my God, I’ve been bit by a snake! Oh my God!’”

Filming went on for the day after the bite was treated with “a little Neosporin”, but Goggins then received a call from the producers who thought that it might be safer to have the actor go to hospital.

“I finally got it out of my system — it’s like, ‘You’re okay.’ I get a phone call from the producer saying, ‘Hey, you know what? We’ve been thinking about it and we’re thinking maybe you should go to the hospital,’” Goggins recalled.

“I said, ‘For what? You said the snake was nonvenomous, right? Am I dying a slow death? Is there something you know I don’t know?’”

The producer then advised him to get a tetanus shot, just to be safe.

“So, I did go to the hospital, and I got a shot,” he said.

Kimmel responded: “So, in other words, they got a call from the lawyers at HBO.”

Goggins replied that it was “exactly what happened” and he had to sign a release.

“And they made me sign that day! Somebody just kinda came up — ‘I’m sorry you’re not feeling too good. Listen, can you just sign this little bitty piece of paper?’ I thought, ‘You want my autograph, or I’ve just lost all of my rights?’”

The third season of The White Lotus also stars Jason Isaacs and Parker Posey as the wealthy Tim and Victoria Ratliff, with Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sarah Catherine Hook and Sam Nivola playing their children.

Michelle Monaghan, Carrie Coon and Leslie Bibb play old friends reuniting for a vacation, while Tayme Thapthimthong and Blackpink’s Lisa round out the cast playing hotel staffers.

The new season has earned rave reviews, with The Independent’s TV critic Nick Hilton writing in a four-star appraisal: “Some will prefer Hawaii, some will prefer Sicily, but Thailand will have its own fans. What it shows is that The White Lotus is a franchise now so totally in command of its own appeal it can be transferred anywhere.”

The White Lotus airs on Sundays in the US on HBO and Mondays in the UK on Sky Atlantic and NOW.

Passengers overpower teenager ‘brandishing gun’ on Australia flight

A teenager armed with a gun was arrested for breaching a security fence and attempting to board a commercial flight before being tackled by passengers.

Police were called to the Avalon airport in Victoria, Australia, on Thursday after the 17-year-old, allegedly armed with a loaded shotgun, tried to force his way onto a Jetstar flight bound for Sydney.

The teen climbed through a hole in the airport’s fence and tried to go up the front stairs into the aircraft’s cabin in a massive breach of security, police said.

Three passengers reportedly noticed the teenager, who was dressed as a maintenance worker, carrying a gun and overpowered him before police arrived. The flight was carrying about 150 passengers. Police did not identify the teen, as is common in cases involving minors.

Passenger Barry Clark tackled the teenager when he became agitated while speaking to a flight attendant. “Before we knew it, a shotgun appeared,” Mr Clark told ABC Radio Melbourne. “I was worried about it being shot, so all I could do was push her out of the way, get the gun out of the way, break that gun and throw it down the stairs, and then put him in a hold, throw him to the ground until the police came.”

He said the teenager had “other apparatus on him so I didn’t know what his full intention was”, ABC Radio Melbourne reported.

“I didn’t want to see that poor girl get shot, do you just gotta do what you gotta do,” he added, referring to a flight attendant.

Victoria police superintendent Michael Reid said that detectives were still investigating the teenager’s motive and coordinating with counterterrorism officers but added that it was too early to deem the act terrorism-related.

A bomb squad was also called to the airport after two bags were found inside the teenager’s car, which was later deemed safe.

Mr Reid said the teenager mounted or climbed the front stairs of the airplane. “At that point, passengers have identified the male was carrying a firearm. The male was overpowered by three of the passengers at least. And shortly afterwards, police have arrived and taken that male into custody,” he said in a statement. “No doubt this would have been a very terrifying incident for the passengers of that plane and Victorian police really commend the bravery of those passengers who were able to overpower that male.”

The teenager carried ammunition with the shotgun, Mr Reid said. “It is very concerning that a person can firstly breach security, approach an aircraft and make his way potentially close to being inside an aircraft with a firearm. I can’t communicate more clearly how concerning that is,” he said.

Another passenger who tackled the teenager said after everyone had boarded, he heard a “kerfuffle and saw the pilot and this other guy tackling this young boy” wearing a high-vis vest.

“In a split second, the gentleman Barry Clark in 1C saw him and jumped him, tackled him, and got him in a choke lock, disarmed him,” the second man, identified only as Woodrow, told ABC.

He said the pilot jumped in along with him and another man came up to “support and hold him down”.

Jetstar said it was working with the police and the airport to understand what happened. “The safety of our passengers and crew is our number one priority and we can confirm there are no reported injuries,” an airline spokesperson said.

The Avalon airport was shut to visitors until further notice and all flights scheduled for Thursday evening were cancelled or rerouted.

Alarm as census finds just three Indus river dolphins left in India

There are only three Indus river dolphins left in India now, according to the country’s first comprehensive survey of the aquatic animal that has sparked concern about the survivability of endangered wildlife.

The three dolphins are found in the Beas river in the northern state of Punjab.

Once widespread in the Beas and Sutlej rivers, the number of Indus river dolphins has plummeted due to habitat loss, pollution, and water diversion for irrigation, the survey says.

The Indus river dolphin, like its relative the Gangetic river dolphin, is a freshwater species found in South Asia.

India’s first dolphin population survey, conducted between 2021 and 2023 and released recently by prime minister Narendra Modi, covered 8,406km of the Ganga, the Brahmaputra and their tributaries as well as a 101km-stretch of the Beas.

“The only surviving population of Indus river dolphins in India is found in the Beas river in Punjab while the majority reside in the main course of the Indus river in Pakistan,” the survey, conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India in collaboration with state forest departments, concludes.

The Indus river dolphin was thought to be extinct in India but a remnant population was found by Punjab’s forest department and the conservation group WWF India in 2007. Interviews with people living around the Beas revealed that the dolphin, locally called Bhulan, had been present in the river for many decades.

The latest survey estimates 6,324 Gangetic dolphins in India. Most of these animals, 2,397, are found in Uttar Pradesh followed by 2,220 in Bihar, 815 in West Bengal, 635 in Assam, 162 in Jharkhand, and 95 each in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

Both Gangetic and Indus dolphins are classified as endangered species and receive the highest protection under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. But their survival is threatened by habitat loss, water pollution, fishing net entanglement, and fluctuating river flows, the survey notes.

Conservationists say urgent action is needed to save these dolphins and call for reducing human-induced mortality, maintaining water flow, and possibly reintroducing dolphins from healthier populations.

“Today, the greatest threats to the Indus river dolphin in the Beas river are water availability and pollution,” conservationist Sandeep Behera was quoted as saying by Mongabay India last year.

“Upstream hydropower projects cause frequent water fluctuations, creating an unstable habitat for these dolphins. The confluence of the Sutlej with the Beas river at Harike marks the area where I first sighted Indus dolphins.”

The Harike barrage in Punjab, constructed in 1953, regulates water from the Beas and the Sutlej for irrigation and drinking supply.

“This suggests their preference for this location due to stable water depth provided by the barrage,” Mr Behera noted. “However, high levels of pollution are now causing them to avoid this stretch.”

The federal environment, forest and climate change ministry released a field guide in 2022 – Monitoring Ganges and Indus River Dolphins, Associated Aquatic Fauna, and Habitat – which noted a continuous decline in dolphin populations across the Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers and their tributaries.

In the past century, the report noted, the populations of Gangetic and Indus river dolphins have dropped by 50-60 per cent. There were only six to eight Indus river dolphins in India, restricted to a small stretch of the Beas in Punjab, as against an estimated 1,816 in Pakistan.

Mr Modi had launched “Project Dolphin” in 2020 in an attempt to regularly monitor dolphin populations as conservationists emphasised that it was vital for their survival.

Since a female river dolphin has only a single calf every 2-3 years, constant monitoring is necessary to protect them from both natural and human threats.

The Independent has reached out to Wildlife Institute of India for comment.

Man finds whole snake frozen inside ice cream bar

A Thai man found a whole snake frozen inside an ice cream bar that he had bought from a street cart, much to his shock and the internet’s.

The man, known online as Rayban Naklengboon, from Pak Tho in the Mueang Ratchaburi region of central Thailand, shared pictures of the bizarre discovery on his Facebook where the post quickly went viral.

“Such big eyes! Is it dead yet? Black bean, street vendor, real picture because I bought it myself,” he wrote in Thai.

Black bean is a kind of ice cream in Thailand.

The post garnered thousands of reactions, comments, and shares on the platform.

The black-and-yellow snake’s head was clearly visible in the picture he posted. Commenters speculated the snake might be a mildly venomous golden tree snake, Chrysopelea ornata, that is commonly found in the region.

The golden tree snake usually grows 70-130 cm long, but the one in the ice cream was likely a juvenile, 20-40 cm long.

There was a barrage of comments and jokes about this. One commented that it could be a “protein boost” while others expressed horror at the incident.

“The first bite gets you hooked, the next puts you in a hospital bed,” one user commented.

“Leave your last words before placing an order,” another said.

A third one joked: “It should be a new flavour, ice cream with a snack flavour.”

Some users urged authorities to investigate the matter. They pointed out that if an entire snake could end up in the ice cream mixture, other contaminants could also be present.

Concerns were raised about the hygiene and safety standards of the ice cream production facility.

It was unclear which company manufactured the ice cream.

Similar bizarre incidents of people finding dead animals in their food have been reported from other countries. In 2017 in Kolkata, India, a pregnant woman reportedly discovered a fried lizard in her McDonald’s french fries order, leading her to file a police complaint.

The same year, a California woman found a live frog in her packaged salad after nearly eating it. And in 2009, a father in Oxfordshire in the UK was horrified to discover a dead mouse in his loaf of bread while making sandwiches for his children.

After woman on death row, two more Indian nationals executed in UAE

Two Indian nationals who were on death row have been executed in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the foreign ministry said, just days after a 33-year-old woman was subjected to capital punishment.

The Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi said Muhammed Rinash Arangilottu and Muraleedharan Perumthatta Valappil from the southern state of Kerala had their death sentences carried out after they were upheld in the court.

The two nationals were convicted for separate murders in the UAE and executed on 28 February.

It comes as the family of Shahzadi Khan, 33, expressed shock after she was executed on 15 February in Abu Dhabi for the murder of a four-month-old child where she worked as a caregiver. The family of Khan has alleged that they had no prior information about her execution and the foreign ministry said the UAE only informed them on 28 February.

On the eve of her execution on 14 February, Khan made a last call to her family as her dying wish and informed them about her execution. On 20 February her father filed an application to foreign ministry to seek an update on the legal status of her case.

Arangilottu, who was from the Kannur district, was convicted of the murder of an Emirati national. He worked in a travel agency in Al Ain city before his arrest.

Arangilottu’s mother reportedly submitted a plea to Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan to intervene in the case, claiming that her son accidentally committed murder as he tried to escape a mentally challenged man who was torturing him.

Valappil was sentenced for killing an Indian national in UAE.

The foreign ministry said the Indian embassy in UAE provided all possible consular and legal support to the Indian nationals, including sending mercy petitions and pardon requests to the UAE government.

“The families of the concerned have been informed. The embassy is in touch with them and facilitating their participation in the last rites,” the foreign ministry said.

The UAE has the highest number of Indians facing the death penalty abroad.

Before Khan’s death, 29 Indians were facing death sentences in the UAE, Kirti Vardhan Singh, minister of state for external affairs, had informed parliament on 13 February.

As many as 12 were on death row in Saudi Arabia, three in Kuwait and one in Qatar, she said.

In a similar case, an Indian-origin nurse, Nimisha Priya, 34, was sentenced to death in war-torn Yemen for the murder of her former business partner and could be executed soon. She has denied the allegations of killing Talal Abdo Mahdi in 2017.

Her family is now trying to race “blood money” – a sum to be paid to the family of the victim – to secure a pardon.