BHUBANESWAR l sunday l february 05, 2023 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l JEYPORE EDITION China’s spy balloon likely guided by A.I., says Expert The balloon spotted over US seems to have advanced steering technologies, an expert on spy balloons said may remain over U.S. for few more days Second one spotted over latin america The Pentagon too said the balloon is carrying advanced sensors and surveillance equipment and is manoeuvrable, disputing the Chinese claim that it has limited steering ability. Indicating there’s no plan to take it down immediately, the Pentagon said the balloon may stay over the US for few more days, adding it posses no threat the people below ■ The row has further strained US-China ties. The White House slammed China for violating US sovereignty and Beijing hit back, accusing the US of using it as a pretext to attack China ■ Amid escalating tensions, Pentagon said it spotted a second high-altitude Chinese spy balloon flying over Latin America | P9 46K feet The height at which the balloon is floating over the U.S. 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 Tax benefits off for funds to trusts named after the Gandhi family D i pak M o nda l @ New Delhi In another attack on the legacy of the Nehru-Gandhi family, the Finance Bill of the Budget 2023 introduced a provision that excludes donations to three trusts/foundations — the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund, Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust and Rajiv Gandhi Foundation — from the list of eligible funds for deductions under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act. The government says that these trusts/foundations, which were automatically eligible for Section 80G benefit, will now have to come under the regular route for tax cut. “It has been observed that there are only three funds based on names of the persons in the said section (Sub-section 2 of Section 80G). In order to remove such funds, it is proposed Delhi court cites Gandhi, frees 11 in Jamia violence WITH THIS ISSUE to omit sub-clauses (ii), (iiic) and (iiid) of clause (a) of subsection (2) of section 80G of the Act,” the Finance Bill reads. Sub-clause (ii) mentions the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund; (iiic) the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust; and (iiid) the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. This amendment will come into effect from April 1, 2024. Currently 50% of the amount , donated to four funds — Prime Those three trusts are registered under section 12A, so they will have to come under the regular regime of 80G in the normal course - Nitin Gupta, CBDT chief Minister’s Drought Relief Fund apart from the three mentioned earlier — is eligible for income tax deductions under sub-section 2 of Section 80G. Talking to this newspaper, 1 st trans pregnancy? @ Bhubaneswar J a i s o n W i l s o n @ New Delhi Pastoral Postcards PLUS 12 PAGES express read Five new SC judges to take oath tomorrow New Delhi: Five judges were appointed to the Supreme Court on Saturday. They are justices Pankaj Mithal, Sanjay Karol, P V Sanjay Kumar, Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Manoj Misra. They are expected to take their oaths of office and secrecy on Monday Passive euthanasia: SC removes major caluse New Delhi: The Supreme Court has removed the clause that mandated a magistrate’s approval for withdrawal of life support of a terminally-ill person by way of a living will. The nominees can directly approach the high court if passive euthanasia is denied at the secondary board stage | P7 Pradhan gets BJP charge to manage polls in Karnataka R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R @ New Delhi The Central leadership of the BJP on Saturday appointed Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan as its in-charge for the forthcoming Karnataka Assembly elections. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and Tamil Nadu BJP unit president K Annamalai will be the party’s co in-charges for Karnataka. Pradhan is considered one of the finest strategists in the party after Union home minister Amit Shah and national president J P Nadda. Karnataka will witness a high-stakes poll battle in April or May this year where a rejuveDharmendra Pradhan nated Congress sees its best chance to wrest power. Party sources said Pradhan had deep experiences in managing poll equations and motivating the cadre as well OBC voters. “He is a keen observer and a micro-poll strategist. He knows how to polarise votes of OBCs and other significant groups in the K Annamalai state. In UP and elsewhere, he had proved his ability during the polls,” remarked a senior BJP leader, adding that support of Annamalai will help him stratagise the fight to retain power. Karnataka is the only state in the South where the BJP has managed to capture power. His immediate challenge will be to manage the conflicting ambitions of sulking former chief minister B S Yediyurappa and his successor Basavaraj Bommai, both Lingayats. Zahhad (L) with partner Ziya Paval | Express A transgender couple in Kerala announced pregnancy, in possibly the first such case in India Zahhad, who was undergoing hormone therapy to become a man, is now eight months pregnant 116 Ukrainians freed in Moscow and Kyiv prisoner exchange Dozens of Russian and Ukrainian prisoners of war have returned home following a prisoner swap, officials on both sides said on Saturday. Top Ukrainian presidential aide Andriy Yermak said in a Telegram post that 116 Ukrainians were freed | P9 Zahhad and partner Ziya Paval initially tried to adopt a child, but found the process very difficult under the regular regime of 80G in the normal course with the approval of the commissioner,” Gupta explained. The move could become another flashpoint between the BJP government and the opposition Congress. Cong ress leader Jairam Ramesh told this newspaper they have not studied the matter yet, adding they will react on the issue in time. Odisha govt has no data on 71 tribal groups: Min E x p ress N e w s S er v i c e Dissent needs to be given space; Sharjeel, others made scapegoats, says judgment agencies should be able to differentiate dissent and insurrecA Delhi court on Saturday quot- tion. “The desideratum is for ed Mahatma Gandhi to point the investigating agencies to out that dissent needs to be giv- discern the difference between en space, while discharging dissent and insurrection. The Sharjeel Imam, Safoora Zargar, latter has to be quelled indisAsif Iqbal Tanha, and putably. However, the eight others in a case former has to be given linked to violence at Jaspace, a forum, for dismia Millia Islamia in sent is perhaps reflecDecember 2019. tive of something which Sharjeel Imam, 35, a pricks a citizen’s conscholar and an activist, science,” he said. was one of the key pro“The subtext is explictagonists of a campaign it i.e. dissent has to be against the anti-Citizen- Sharjeel Imam encouraged not stifled. ship Amendment Act in However, the caveat is the prelude to violence ‘Long trial that the dissent should in Delhi in early 2020. not good’ be absolutely peaceful, The police had regisand should not degenerThe court tered multiple FIRs ate into violence,” read pointed out against him and others the 32-page order. under Unlawful Activi- that the long “Marshalling the facts trial of ties (Prevention) Act. as brought forth from persons Despite being cleared the per usal of the of all charges related to accused in the chargesheet and three case is not the 2019 Jamia violence, supplementary Sharjeel will remain in good for the chargesheets, this court jail since he is a defend- justice system cannot but arrive at the ant in the bigger conconclusion that the pospiracy case of the 2020 north- lice were unable to apprehend east Delhi riots. the actual perpetrators..., but In his order on Saturday, Ad- surely managed to rope the perditional Sessions Judge Arul sons herein as scapegoats.” Varma referred to Mahatma The liberty of protesting citiGandhi’s quote: “Conscience is zens should not have been lightthe source of dissent.” ly interfered with, the court’s The judge said investigating order stated. chairman of the Central Board Direct Taxes Nitin Gupta said the three trusts would no longer be eligible for Section 80G benefits automatically . “How does a trust get 80G benefits? They get themselves registered under section 12A, seek the benefit of 80G registration and 80G (benefit) is granted. Those three trusts are already registered under section 12A, so they will have to come UNION Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda on Saturday accused the state government of unnecessarily blaming the Centre over inclusion of 169 communities in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) list without doing proper homework. Addressing a media conference here, Munda said the state government has recommended names of 71 communities for inclusion in the ST list without any ethnographic study and supporting documents. “Strangely two of the 13 par, ticularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs) of Odisha still do not figure in the list of Scheduled Tribes of the state,” Munda said. He said Chuktia Bhunjia and Paudi Bhuiyans have been recognised as PVTGs but they are not included in the ST list of the state. Stating that this should not be made a political issue, the Union minister said 13 proposals of the state has been cleared and another 36 including 10 The state government has recommended names of 71 communities for inclusion in the ST list without any ethnographic study and supporting documents. Arjun Munda, Union minister recommended recently are pending for scrutiny and approval of the Registrar General of India (RGI). He said 71 out of 110 proposals are without ethnographic study and have no official data to support the claim. The ministry has rejected 38 proposals while seeking additional information pertaining to five proposals. The process to include tribes in the ST list begins with the recommendation from the respective state governments, which are then sent to the Tribal Affairs Ministry for review and forwarding to the Registrar General of India for approval. This is followed by the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes’ approval before the list is sent to the Cabinet for a final Continued on P5 decision.