BHUBANESWAR l Thursday l February 12, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l LATE CITY EDITION SC asks Centre to file report on Air India plane crash probe The Supreme Court asked the Centre on Wednesday to file a brief report on the procedural protocol followed so far in the investigation probe by AAIB nearing its end, Govt tells SC Court gives three-week deadline Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Supreme Court that a fact-finding inquiry by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB) is currently underway in accordance with international commitments and is likely to be completed in three weeks. The bench was hearing three petitions seeking an independent, court-monitored investigation into the crash ■ ■ Mehta urged a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi that the three pleas be listed after three weeks “Let us see the result of the AAIB probe and then we will see whether a court of inquiry will be needed or not,” the CJI said and fixed the pleas for hearing after three weeks | P7 June 12, 2025 when Air India flight to London crashed in Ahmedabad CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Union Budget debate States to get Bharat Mata over `25L cr sold to the US: in FY27: FM Rahul Gandhi P u s h p i ta D e y @ New Delhi P r ee t h a N a i r @ New Delhi FINANCE Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday rejected allegations levelled by several Opposition-ruled states that the Centre was not transferring states’ share from the divisible pool of taxes. The Union finance minister, in HARD TALK her reply to the Budget discussion in the Lok Sabha, said that the Centre has transferred the full 41% share of divisible taxes to the states as mandated by the Finance Lighting into LoP Rahul Gandhi, the Commission. “The states should check if the FM said it was the UPA govt that entire net proceeds, which form the divisible pool, i.e., removing “sold” the interests of farmers to the cess and surcharge from gross tax WTO revenue, are received by them. There is no need to discuss the gross tax revenue,” the minister said. The finance minister said the Centre has allocated `25.44 lakh crore to states in FY27. “This much The FM also raised money will go to the states. This the 2009 Sharm entails an increase of `2.70 lakh el-Sheikh crore from FY26,” Sitharaman jt statement that said. diluted India’s Commenting on the transfer of position on cess and surcharges, she clarified sovereignty and that these are collected for a pursecurity while pose and if states can come up with dealing with proposals on health, education and Pakistan roadways, they will get the funds. “Cess and surcharge collected by the Centre are given to the states for development work in various sectors. This is separate from the Dismissing 41% of funds allocated to the concerns over AI states.” Debunking allegations that the and data expressed by Rahul, the government was not approving FM said the credits to the states, the finance govt is minister stated the total credit has incentivising grown 13.8% in the current finansetting up of cloud cial year. She pointed out that headline and data centres in India capital expenditure stands at `12.2 lakh crore while the effective capital expenditure, including grants to states, totals `17.1 lakh crore, amounting to 4.4% of the GDP. The FM said the government has On concerns envisaged a total expenditure of expressed by Oppn `53.47 lakh crore for the next finan- over food security, cial year, up 7.7% from the current the FM said `2.27 fiscal ending March 31. According lakh cr has been to the revised estimate, the budget allocated for food size for FY26 is `49.64 lakh crore. subsidy After being repeatedly blocked from quoting ex-Army Chief General M M Naravane’s unpublished memoir in the Lok Sabha last week, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday mounted a sharp attack on the government over the India-US trade deal framework, accusing the Modi administration of having “sold off the nation” and terming it as a “wholesale surrender”. Participating in the debate on the Union Budget, Rahul said he does not believe that any Indian PM, including Narendra Modi, would agree to such a deal unless there is a “chokehold” on him. “Why has he sold India? Because the US are choking him. They have a grip on his neck.” Rahul asserted that the trade The govt has agreement had undermined given up control farmers’ interests, destroyed over digital trade rules, removed the textile sector, and handed India’s energy security to the data localisation, allowed free flow US. Calling it a surrender of of data to the US, the future of 1.5 billion Indilimited digital ans, he said it was driven by the tax, waived need to protect the BJP’s finansource code disclosure, and cial architecture, which he said is facing scrutiny in the US. offered 20-yr tax holidays to big “The US will decide who we tech firms buy oil from. They will monitor.” Rahul Gandhi He accused the government of opening the door to mechanised American farms, thereby crushing India’s small farmers, and called the move disgraceful, saying that no PM before had done such a thing, nor would any after him. “How can you come to this House and defend this? Are you not ashamed of what you are giving away? Are you not ashamed of selling India? You have sold our mother — Bharat Mata?” he said. The House saw heated exchanges after Rahul referred to Union minister Hardeep Puri and industrialist Anil Ambani in connection with mentions in the Epstein files. 1 2 3 4 express read Forensic labs delinked from state police, come under Home dept Bhubaneswar: Starting April 1, the state forensic science services organisation will move to the administrative control of the Home department as the Odisha government has decided to delink it from the state police. The decision is aimed at strengthening the overall criminal justice delivery system in the state by enhancing functioning of forensic labs and keeping them independent of investigation agencies | P3 Villagers skip meeting to resolve anganwadi boycott over dalit cook Kendrapara: The Kendrapara administration’s efforts to convince villagers of Nuagaon under Rajnagar block to end the boycott of the local anganwadi over appointment of a dalit cook failed to yield any result on Wednesday. Acting on the directions of collector Raghuram R Iyer, sub-collector Arun Nayak, Rajnagar tehsildar Jisukrishna Das, district welfare officer Arabinda Ray and other officials visited Nuagaon under Ghadiamala panchayat to resolve the issue. However, villagers reportedly refused to attend the meeting | P4 charges baseless: Puri Dismissing Rahul’s allegations as baseless, Union minister Hardeep Puri said, “He has a habit of making baseless allegations and lying.” Puri said he had met Epstein only a few times as part of an official delegation and had exchanged just one email with him. He added that he had limited interactions with Epstein and had no connection whatsoever to the crimes later associated with him Hopes, apprehensions as B’desh goes to polls B angladesh heads to the polls on Thursday under an unprecedented political landscape, following the sudden exit of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina after a mass upsurge in 2024. The election is set to be a unique experience for voters, many of whom will cast their ballots for the first time. Alongside electing members of parliament, citizens will also vote in a referendum on constitutional reforms. The main contest is between the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. The new National Citizen Party (NCP), which emerged from the mass movement against Hasina, joined the race as part of an 11-party alliance with Jamaat. The BNP a seasoned , force with past stints in power, was expected to dominate in the absence of the Awami @ Chennai Rejecting the demand for a share in power from a section of Congress leaders in the DMK-led alliance in Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday asserted that there is no question of sharing power with allies, but the alliance with Cong ress would remain intact. “Power sharing with alliance partners won’t work in Tamil Nadu. We know that and they (Congress) also know that well,” he said. Stalin’s comments came a day after the party announced that it would begin seat-sharing talks with its “friendly parties” from February 22 for the Assembly polls. The Congress leadership had on Tuesday expressed disappointment over the DMK’s delay in be ginning seat-sharing talks with alliance partners. Speaking at an interaction during a roundtable hosted by a television We will win together: Stalin on alliance To a question on whether the DMK-Congress alliance would fight the upcoming election together, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Stalin said that the alliance would continue. “Definitely. It’s not like what others think. We are confident that we will win together,” he said channel here on Wednesday, Stalin said that his equation with Rahul Gandhi was cordial. “As far as Rahul Gandhi is concerned, he sees me as an elder brother. I, too, regard him as a brother. I am saying this beyond politics. He considers me like a member of his own family, and I feel the same way about him.” On Centre-State relations, Stalin reiterated his charge that Tamil Nadu has not been receiving adequate funds from the Un- Election officials check ballot boxes and voting materials after collecting them ahead of polls, in Dhaka, on Wednesday | AP League. However, Jamaat claims it has built a strong base and is positioning itself as a formidable challenger. I n p rev i o u s e l e c t i o n s, Jamaat’s support hovered below 10%, while BNP secured over 30%. With the Awami League out, many believed BNP would secure a comfortable majority. But Jamaat’s renewed presence has complicated the electoral arithmetic, raising the prospect of a close fight. The NCP, despite leading Bayezid Milky Senior journalist based in Dhaka the anti-Hasina drive, has struggled to maintain its momentum. It is contesting just 30 out of 300 parliamentary seats under its alliance with Jamaat. In all, around 50 parties are in the contest. Voters will cast two ballots—one for parliament and one for the referendum— while the absence of the Awami League has left many uncertain. The Election Commission has warned counting may take longer due to dual ballots and higher turnout. Authorities say the February 12 vote will shape Bangladesh’s future, and citizens hope for a fair and peaceful election. Finance dept extends deadline as poor spending troubles govt Hemant Kumar Rout @ Bhubaneswar As Odisha gears up for Budget 2026-27, expected to cross `3 lakh crore mark, the state’s fiscal performance in the current financial year remains a concern due to sub-par spending. Aware of the difficulties faced by departments, the Finance department has extended the deadline for issue of allotments, sanctions for release of funds, re-appropriation of funds and surrender of provisions till February 27. Earlier, the deadline was January 31. Sources said the state government managed to spend around 57 per cent (pc) of the budget estimate (BE) in the first 10 months of the current fiscal. As per prevailing norms, expenditure should have crossed 70 per cent of the budget by the end of January to ensure full utilisation by March 31. With only two months left in the financial year, full utilisation is likely to be a challenge. DMK boss Stalin rules out power sharing in TN, says alliance with Congress intact Express news service All set for the big day ion government. Exuding confidence about the DMK’s poll prospects, Stalin maintained that the ruling party would better its 2021 perfor mance. To a question on whether he was seeking votes based on schemes implemented in the past five years, he said, “Definitely. We are asking for votes by highlighting our schemes. All our schemes have fully reached the people. Therefore, we will certainly win. There is no doubt about it.” On whether he was worried about his opponents and whom he considers as his main challenger, Stalin asserted, “No matter how many alliances they form, they cannot defeat the alliance led by the DMK. We are expecting 200 seats. In fact, I am confident we will win more than that.” When asked if he anticipated the upcoming election to be tougher than the 2021 polls, he replied, “No, we are definitely going to sweep. There is no doubt about it.” Definitely. We are asking for votes by highlighting our schemes. All our schemes have fully reached the people. Therefore, we will certainly win. There is no doubt M K Stalin Expecting 200 SEATS DMK chief M K Stalin said, “We are expecting 200 seats. In fact, I am confident we will win more” Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi is scheduled to present the budget in the state Assembly on February 20. Last year, he presented the general budget of `2.9 lakh crore for 2025-26 along with supplementary provisions of `17,440 crore. According to official data, total expenditure till January 2026 stood at `1,63,664 crore - about 57 pc of the BE and supplementary provisions. During the same period last fiscal, the state spent `1,49,312 crore, which was 58 pc of the budget. However, in absolute terms, total expenditure has increased by 9.6 pc till January 2026 compared to the previous year. Capital expenditure (capex) remains the weakest link in the current fiscal performance. Capex stood at `29,196 crore, only about 46 pc of the estimate till January This is significantly be. low the targeted 6.1 pc of gross state domestic product (GSDP). The capex outlay is estimated to reach `65,012 crore by the end of 2025-26. Programme expenditure reached `1,00,711 crore during the April-January period, accounting for 54 pc of the budget (BE and supplementary). In the corresponding period of 2024-25, programme expenditure stood at `86,731 crore, or 52 pc of the budget. Meanwhile, chief secretary Anu Garg has asked all administrative departments to expedite expenditure and ensure full utilisation of budgetary provisions, with a focus on capital spending. Emphasising the importance of infrastructure-led growth, Garg directed departments to take expeditious steps through continuous monitoring. She advised prompt utilisation of funds under Centrally Sponsored and Central Sector schemes. Departments have been instructed to ensure timely submission of utilisation certificates (UCs) to the Centre to secure maximum central grants. superB two super overs decide afghan-sa tie The first tied match of T20 WC needed two overs after stunning display of pulsating comebacks by both teams. In the end, SA win by 4 runs I P11 Today’s matches 11am: Sri Lanka vs Oman (Pallekele), 3pm: Italy vs Nepal (Mumbai), 7pm: India vs Namibia (New Delhi)