pic: icc chennai l Monday l February 03, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l late city EDITION India u19 women’s team on top of the world The Niki Prasad-led side beats South Africa in the final to successfully defend their title... All-round Trisha stands out for champions She was already a World Cup winner in 2023, but this time, G Trisha was the key architect behind India’s success story. With 309 runs and seven wickets, she was instrumental in India’s unbeaten run to the final. Even in summit clash, she took three wickets and scored an unbeaten 44 to help India get the better of South Africa by nine wickets on Sunday. Fittingly, she was the Player of the Match in the final and the Player of the Tournament | P13 Second title for coach Nooshin ■ ■ Revered coach Nooshin Al Khadeer added another trophy to her cabinet having won the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2023 She, along with captain Niki Prasad, had been with this batch of players for several months in the lead up to the WC with several camps and domestic tournaments being the key to putting together a strong squad 17 with 17 scalps, Vaishnavi Sharma was the leading wicket-taker 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 Will collect more taxes in FY26: FinMin official is levied on income. The income threshold was increased from The government is confident `7 lakh to `12 lakh, making any of achieving the income tax col- income up to `12.75 lakh tax free lection target for FY26 despite (after including the standard demassive tax cuts offered in the duction of `75,000). Budget 2025-26—a move that The new tax slab also signifiwill result in a revenue loss of cantly reduces the tax burden `1 lakh crore . As per the Budget on all with the highest tax rate estimate, personal inof 30% applicable on income tax collections come over `24 lakh from could be `14.38 lakh the earlier `18 lakh. The crore in FY26, a 14.4% new tax slab also inincrease over the recreases the basic exvised estimate of `12.57 emption limit from `3 lakh crore for FY25. The lakh to `4 lakh, which FY25 budget estimate means the first `4 lakh ‘Tax cut to would attract no taxes. for tax collection was stimulate All these changes have `11.87 lakh crore. growth’ The FY26 tax collecbeen made under the tion target is achieva- The income tax new tax regime. ble, says a top finance relief will The finance minister ministry official, addstimulate has said that her ining: “Our estimate for demand and come tax proposals income tax collection in propel growth would lead to a revenue FY26 is conservative.” in the next loss of `1 lakh crore. According to the offi- financial year, The move to increase cial, with the tax slabs Economic the income tax threshbeing revised and tax Affairs old to `12 lakh would rates having been low- Secretary Ajay also result in one crore ered for most in the ex- Seth said in an taxpayers going out of isting slabs, individuals interview to the tax net. earning over `12 lakh PTI on Sunday Meanwhile, the fibut avoid paying taxes, nance ministry official would like to come under the mentioned earlier says that tax net. with the announcements, more On Saturday, Finance Minis- taxpayers might shift to the new ter Nirmala Sitharaman an- tax regime. According to the ofnounced a slew of sops to ease ficial, 78% taxpayers have althe burden on the taxpayers. ready opted for the new tax reHer personal income tax pro- gime, and with the latest posals include an increase in changes, more taxpayers would the threshold up to which no tax join the new system. D i pa k M o n d a l @ New Delhi pic: pti Needed to convince officials about efficiency in collection and honest taxpayers’ voice Nirmala Sitharaman PM backed tax cut, but it took time to convince officials: FM E X PRE S S NE W S S ER V ICE @ New Delhi PRIME Minister Narendra Modi was fully behind the idea to cut taxes for the middle class but it took time to convince the bureaucrats, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Sunday . Presenting her eighth straight budget on Saturday, Sitharaman raised the personal income tax exemption to `12 lakh from `7 lakh earlier, and also rejigged the tax brackets in such a way that those earning higher could save up to `1.1 lakh. In an interview to PTI on Sunday, she said while Modi was quick to agree to the tax relief, it took a bit of convincing to get on board the officials in the finance ministry and the Central Board of Direct Taxes who are tasked to ensure revenue collection to meet welfare and other schemes. “We have heard the voice of the middle class” who had been complaining about their aspirations not being met despite being honest taxpayers, she said. Explaining the thought that went behind the big announcement, Sitharaman said the tax cuts were in the works for some time. She said the new rates would “substantially reduce the taxes of the middle class and leave more money in their hands, boosting household consumption, savings and investment”. P9 Cong sets up ‘EAGLE’ panel to monitor EC’s conduct of polls All set for Basant Panchami Devotees line up at the Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj on Sunday, ahead of the Basant Panchami amrit snan on February 3, which is expected to register a record crowd less than a week after a stampede | PTI 963-km of new 4-lane NH roads to make long drives a breeze in TN B ANBU S ELVAN @ Chennai ROAD transportation in Tamil Nadu is set to improve significantly with 963-km of four-lane roads being added to the highway network over the next two years. Consequently the number , of toll plazas on national highways is expected to rise from 72 to 90 in the near future. These projects are being executed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) at a cost of approximately `20,000 crore. Upon completion, the length of four-lane national highways in the state will expand from 2,735 km to 3,698 km. The total NH network in TN spans 6,805 km, including 1,282 km of twolane roads, 2,383 km of two-lane roads with paved shoulders, 384 km of six-lane roads and 21 km of eight-lane roads. Documents submitted in Parliament showed NHAI collected `26,000 crore in toll revenue from TN’s national highways between 2014 and 2024. Of the eight road projects underway, six four-laning projects spanning 767 km have reached 50-70% completion. The remaining work is expected to be finished within a year. P7 Toll plazas to rise to 90 The number of toll plazas on national highways in Tamil Nadu is expected to rise from 72 to 90 in the near future. With the completion of the projects, TN will have 3,698 km of 4-lane national highways 16 Olive Ridleys freed from trawl net near Ennore S V KRI S HNA CHAITANYA @ Chennai FOR the first time since the crisis of mass Olive Ridley turtle deaths broke out, a joint night patrol team on Saturday rescued and released 16 of the endangered turtles entangled in a trawl net off the Chennai coast. Experts said this is the first evidence that the turtle deaths are caused by bottom trawlers. Chennai Wildlife Warden Manish Meena told TNIE the patrol team intercepted a trawl j aya n t h j a c o b @ New Delhi US President Donald Trump late on Saturday imposed broad tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada, and China, sparking swift retaliation from North American neighbours. India was notably exempt despite Trump frequently labelling the country as a “tariff king.” India contributes only 3.2% of America’s overall trade deficit, but has a $35 billion trade surplus with the US. China, Mexico, and Canada are the top contributors to the US trade deficit, with Asian giant contributing the highest at 30.2%, Mexico 19%, and Canada 14%, according to the Research and Information System (RIS). Trump said a levy of 25% on Canadian and Mexican imports as well as an additional 10% tax on Chinese goods would come into effect on Tuesday . “We have big deficits with all three of them,” Trump said. In response, both Canada and Mexico said they were prepar- ing similar tariffs on US goods, while China said it would take “necessary countermeasures” to defend its interests. Amid ongoing tariff threats, India has emphasised that its economic ties with the US are special and highlighted the established mechanisms between the two countries to discuss trade matters and related issues. “India-US relationship is very strong, multifaceted and the economic ties are something which is very special...We have established mechanisms between the US and India to discuss any matter or trade matters or matters related to trade,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said last week. India has been making the right noise to improve its trade relations with the US, with the Union Budget announcing a reduction in customs duties on imported motorcycles. India has also taken steps to open the nuclear sector to private investment as part of a strategic move. Smart P r e e t h a n a i r @ New Delhi Days before the Delhi Assembly elections, the Congress on Sunday set up an eight-member panel—‘Empowered Action Group of Leaders and Experts (EAGLE)’— to monitor the conduct of free and fair elections by the Election Commission. “It is a very serious message from Congress that the Election Commission is a constitutional body, and so far, its conduct has not been in line with its constitutional responsibilities of conducting free and fair elections,” senior Congress leader Praveen Chakravarty told this newspaper. “The group will coordinate and ensure that the EC is held responsible for the conduct of free and fair elections,” Chakravarty said. Congress treasurer Ajay Maken and senior leaders Digvijaya Singh, Abhishek Singhvi, Chakravarty and Pawan Khera , are members of the panel. According to a statement, the panel will first look into the alleged manipulation of Maharashtra voters’ list. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi alleged that there has been an increase of nearly one crore voters in Maharashtra between the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, adding that “something wrong” has taken place. US starts tariff war with Mexico, Canada, China; India spared File picture of a dead Olive Ridley turtle boat operating within the prohibited zone of 5 nautical miles near Ennore and asked the crew to lift the net out of water. “To our shock, 16 Olive Ridleys were entangled in it. Fortunately all of them were alive. The turtles were immediately checked for injuries and released back into the water,” he said. “This is the first hard evidence available to the authorities on how bottom trawling is entangling and drowning the turtles. All this while it was perceived as an allegation, but now it is proved beyond doubt. Sixteen turtles trapped in a single trawl net is quite significant,” a conservationist said. P7 This is the first hard evidence available to the authorities on how bottom trawling is entangling and drowning the turtles. Till now it was seen as an allegation A conservationist express read 5 killed as bus falls into gorge in Gujarat Dang: Five persons were killed and 35 others injured when a private bus carrying pilgrims hailing from Madhya Pradesh fell into a deep gorge in Gujarat’s Dang district early on Sunday, police said. The pilgrims were heading for Dwarka when the accident occured. Injuries of 17 people are serious, the police said
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