Russian skier dies in Gulmarg avalanche A Russian skier died while seven others, including a local guide, were rescued as an avalanche struck the ski slopes of Gulmarg in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday. The avalanche struck the Khilan Marg on Apharwat Peak near the Army Ridge around 2 pm, trapping several skiers under its debris. According to the police, the group ventured into a non-ski zone in the Army Ridge area, which is avalanche prone. BENGALURU l friday l february 23, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 42 l LATE CITY EDITION 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 Stir gets bigger as SKM steps in Tractor marches to be held on Monday, Mahapanchayat on March 14 K’taka passes resolution for MSP legislation E x pre s s New s Ser v i c e Southern derby: CSK vs RCB in opener The 17th season of Indian Premier League will commence with holders Chennai Super Kings hosting Royal Challengers Bangalore at MA Chidambaram Stadium on March 22 1 As general election dates have not been announced yet, the BCCI only unveiled the schedule for the first two weeks on Thursday 2 During this period, 21 matches will be played across 10 cities, with each team playing a minimum of three matches and a maximum of five 3 Delhi will not host any matches at their home ground in 1st phase. They play their first two home matches in Vizag @ Bengaluru A ‘Nihang’ Sikh stands near police barricades at the Shambhu border on Thursday | PTI H A R P R E E T B A J WA @ Chandigarh THE Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), the umbrella body of farmer unions that spearheaded the 2020-2021 agitation against the three contentious Central farm laws that have since been repealed, on Thursday decided to put its weight behind the ongoing protests by Punjab farmers. After its meeting in Chandigarh to discuss the situation at the Shambhu and Khanauri points on the Punjab-Haryana border, where a protester was killed during clashes with police on Thursday the SKM lead, ers announced a series of protests across the country starting Friday Leaders from Haryana, . Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal also participated in the meeting, which formed a sixmember panel to chalk out a bigger, united protest strategy to put pressure on the Centre. The panel includes Balbir Singh Rajewal, Joginder Singh Ugrahan and Darshan Pal. “To ensure that far mers come together to get their rights, a six-member coordination committee has been formed,” said Rajewal. He and SKM leader Rakesh Tikait said Haryana’s CM Manohar Lal Khattar, home minister Anil Vij, and police officials be booked for the killing of the 21-year-old farmer. They also demanded judicial inquiry into the incident and `1 crore compensation for the deceased farmer’s family . On Friday, which will be observed as a ‘black day’, the protesters will burn the effigies of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Haryana CM Khattar and home minister Vij. The nationwide protest plans include tractor marches on highways on February 26. Also on the cards is a Mahapanchayat on March 14 at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan. SKM leaders claimed the tractors will ply on one side of the highways so as not to disturb traffic. Amid din, the Legislative Assembly on Thursday passed a resolution against Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Union government, accusing it of denying Karnataka’s tax share. It also passed another resolution backing the farmers’ agitation in New Delhi, seeking a law for minimum support price (MSP) for all crops. “This House unanimously demands that the Centre take the stand of equitable distribution and non-discriminatory allocation of financial resources in the interest of the development of Karnataka and ensure that no injustice is done to the people of the state,” stated the first resolution presented by Law Minister HK Patil. The Centre, through its antifarmer policy, has created a situation where farmers are not getting remunerative MSP for their produce, he alleged. “The House unanimously resolves to urge the Centre to formulate a law to fix remunerative MSP for all crops and fulfil the just demands of the agitating farmers,” Patil said. BJP legislators, who had no clue about the ruling Congress passing the resolution, were taken aback. CONTINUED ON: P4 Once the dates for the 18th Lok Sabha elections are announced, the Board will review and address any issues pertaining to the schedule of the first two weeks. Subsequently, the BCCI will work in tandem with local authorities to finalise the schedule for the remainder of the season, taking into account the polling dates — BCCI CBI Raids Satya Pal Malik Satya Pal Malik’s house and 29 other locations were searched in connection with the alleged corruption in the C2,200 cr Kiru hydropower project. CBI recovered cash, FDs, property documents, digital evidence | P11 Congress, AAP to tie up for Delhi preetha n a i r @ New Delhi After stitching an alliance with the Samajwadi Party in UP, the Congress reached a seat-sharing deal with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the Lok Sabha elections in Delhi. Of the seven seats in Delhi, AAP would contest four and the Congress three. Both parties agreed to share seats in Gujarat, Goa, Chandigarh and Haryana as well. Their joint statement is expected on Friday . Though seat-sharing talks have been through ups and downs, a Congress leade r s a i d t h e s i t u at i o n changed after the intervention of the party’s top lead- ership on Wednesday . According to the latest formula, the Congress may contest from East Delhi, Chandni Chowk and North East Delhi while AAP may enter the fray from New Delhi, West Delhi, South Delhi, and North West Delhi. While the state units of both parties have been resistant to the idea of an alliance, it was learnt that the Congress top brass asked its local leaders to have a ‘realistic view’ of the situation. All seven seats in Delhi are currently with the BJP . In terms of vote share, the Congress came second in five seats and AAP second in two during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Now, OTS offer for property tax defaulters M o hamme d Ya c o o b @ Bengaluru In a relief to lakhs of property tax defaulters in the city, the state government on Thursday announced a ‘one time settlement’ (OTS) provision for payment of tax arrears with intere st an d p e n al t y fo r t a x evasion. The government announced it in view of numerous complaints over indiscriminate imposition of huge penalties on tax defaulters and evaders. According to OTS, the penalty will be equivalent to the amount of tax evaded. The government issued a notification giving immediate effect to OTS, which will be in force till July 31 or further orders. A penalty of 25% (on tax evaded) will be imposed on residential properties with tiled or sheet roofs (non-RCC) not exceeding 1,000 sqft for own use and having only the ground floor. The government has given exemption to those living in sheds and houses in areas declared as slums by the Karnataka Slum Development Board or BBMP, those living in government houses for the poor, and in houses measuring less than 300 sqft for own use. The notification stated that residential and mixed-use property owners will have to pay penalties (in cases of evasion) and interest (on arrears) for a maximum period of five years, irrespective of the default duration. However, no ad- justments will be made for taxes that are already paid with penalties and interests. The cabinet took a decision in this regard on February 15 in view of opposition from various quarters to the demand notices to pay the alleged evasion of tax with penalty and arrears of tax with interest, without taking into consideration whether the tax evasion was deliberate or due to lack of awareness of the self-assessment scheme.
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