chennai l sunday l february 5, 2023 l `12.00 l PAGES 28 l late city 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 | P13 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 pa k M o n d a 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? 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 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. J a i s o n W i l s o n @ New Delhi Pastoral Postcards PLUS 12 PAGES express read Thennarasu likely to be AIADMK candidate Chennai: K S Thennarasu, the candidate proposed by AIADMK interim general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, is likely to emerge the party nominee for the Erode East Assembly bypoll, going by statements made by O Panneerselvam & BJP TN chief K Annamalai on Saturday | P4 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 Zahhad and partner Ziya Paval initially tried to adopt a child, but found the process very difficult Zahhad (L) with partner Ziya Paval | Express Su b a s h i n i V i j aya kum a r @ Chennai Days after she was conferred with the country’s third highest civilian honour, the Padma Bhushan, playback singer Vani Jairam was found dead at her house in Chennai’s Nungambakkam on Saturday . The preliminary autopsy report suggested the 78-year-old had died of severe blood loss caused by falling and hitting her head on a table, police said. Her husband had died in 2018 and the couple did not have children. The final rites are ex- pected to be conducted on Sunday afternoon. The singer’s domestic staff Malarkodi told reporters she’d last seen Jairam on Friday night. Malarkodi arrived at the house for work around 10.30 am on Saturday and rang the doorbell. Hearing no response, she alerted her husband, the neighbours and Jairam’s sister who had a key to the house. When they opened the door with her sister’s key, Jairam was found dead in a pool of blood, a wound on her head. The police were informed and her body was sent to the Government Multi E x p r e s s n e w s s e r v i c e @ Chennai Stampede at line to get tokens for free clothes at Vaniyambadi kills 4, hurts 12 RA J ALA K SH M I SA M PAT H @ Tirupattur FOUR elderly women were killed and 12 others injured in a stampede at Tirupattur’s Vaniyambadi on Saturday evening when about 1,500 people gathered to receive tokens for free saris and veshtis to be distributed by a businessman for Thaipoosam. Police said the individual, identified as Ayyappan who runs a gravel company called Blue Metal, was booked under Section 304 (2) of the IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and ar rested. T i r u p at t u r S P K S B a l l a Krisshnan said Ayyappan had not taken police permission to distribute the tokens. “We are probing the matter,” he said. Ayyappan’s company has been distributing free sarees for Thaipoosam for a few years now. This year the distribution was to be done on Sunday but tokens were to be distributed CM announces `2L to kin of deceased Chief Minister MK Stalin expressed his condolences to the kin of the deceased and announced relief of `2 lakh to each of the four families. on Saturday. The tragedy occurred as over 1,500 people gathered at the entrance to company near the weekly market ground in Vaniyambadi. As the crowd rushed forward towards the entrance, at least 16 women fell unconscious. Police and revenue officials rushed to the spot and sent the unconscious women to the Vaniyambadi Gover nment Hospital for treatment. However, S Valliammal (60) from Kurumbatti, C Nagamal (60) from Echampatu, J Rajathi (62) from Arapanda Kuppam, and M Malliga (70) from Old Vaniyambadi succumbed.  Continued on P5 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. Pradhan gets BJP charge to manage polls in K’taka RA J ESH K U M AR T HA K U R @ New Delhi The Central leadership of the BJP on Saturday appointed Union minister Dhar mendra 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 highstakes poll battle in April or May this year where a rejuvenated 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 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. Vani Jairam found dead at Chennai home Academy in Kerala harassed: P T Usha Four women died in a stampede at Vaniyambadi as a crowd gathered to collect tokens for free clothes on Saturday | Express 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 TRACK legend and Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president P T Usha on Saturday broke down during a small media briefing in New Delhi while describing the ordeal her Usha School of Athletics in Kinaloor near Kozhikode is going through. Intruders, she said, started some kind of construction in the middle of her academy on Friday. When the academy’s management confronted them, they misbehaved, she alleged. Usha claimed the workers said construction was being done after taking the Panangad panchayat’s permission. The work stopped after she complained to the police. She appealed to Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan to address and resolve the issue. Usha reportedly said that this is not the first time her school and its staff were subjected to harassment. She said drug-addicts barge into the academy premises at night too. “We are being targeted continuously she said. ,” The Panangad panchayat denied the charges. “There is a human settlement near the academy and local residents need a road. The proposed road passes through the academy plot. We tried to find a solution, but it went in vain. Right now the panchayat is carrying out pipeline work for providing water to residents under the Jal Jeevan Mission. The academy is opposing it,” panchayat chief V M Kuttikrishnan said. Forensic team outside the home of the singer (inset) | Ashwin prasath Super Speciality Hospital in Omandurar government estate for post-mortem examination. Later a team of forensic experts visited the residence. “We have filed a case under Section 174 of the CrPC (suspicious death) after a preliminary investigation. We are awaiting the full post-mortem report,” said Shekhar Deshmukh, deputy commissioner of police, Triplicane. Meanwhile, well-wishers visited the house throughout the day to pay their respects. Actor , Y Gee Mahendran, who said he was a family friend of the singer since 1972 when she came to Chennai, said the country has lost a great talent.  P4, P5