thrissur l Sunday l june 22, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 26 l city edition advance tax, high refunds hit net direct tax collections Net direct tax collection in Q1 dipped 1.39% to L4.59 lakh crore, on slowdown in advance tax mop-up and higher refunds refund issuances rose by 58% in 1st quarter corporate tax collections see a dip Advance tax, an indicator of corporate profitability and income of individuals, grew a meagre 3.87% to I1.56 lakh crore between April 1-June 19, 2025. In the same period in 2024, advance tax collection had recorded an annual growth of 27%; on the other side, refund issuances rose by 58% to `86,385 crore till June 19 this fiscal, govt data shows ■ ■ Advance tax paid by corporates saw a growth of 5.86% to I1.22 lakh crore, while those by non-corporates, including individuals, HUFs and firms, dropped by 2.68% to I33,928 crore, as per govt data During April 1-June 19, 2025, net corporate tax collection saw a slowdown of I1.73 lakh crore, a decline of over 5% year on year 12% is the rate by which securities transaction tax grew this fy 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 Govt presses B’desh on review of Ganga treaty In post-Pahalgam squeeze, India says it needs more water for growth mid-east crisis Ayatollah names his Operation Sindhu: successors, army 310 Indians brought brass replacements back from Iran a g en c i e s @ Tehran J i ten d r a C h o u b e y @ New Delhi Ganga Water Treaty, 1996 Availability at Farakka Share of India Share of Bangladesh After the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty in the 70,000 cusecs or less 50% 50% wake of the Pahalgam terror 70,000 cusecs-75,000 cusecs Balance of flow 35,000 cusecs attack, the government has now decided to renegotiate the 75,000 cusecs or more 40,000 cusecs Balance of flow Ganga River Water Treaty with * Subject to the condition that India and Bangladesh Bangladesh, which is set to exeach shall receive guaranteed 35,000 cusecs of water in pire next year. alternate three 10-day periods from March 11 to May 11 India has communicated to its counterpart that it requires more water to meet its develop“It was a routine meeting, erosion, and heavy siltation in mental needs. The new treaty held twice a year, but it also the KPT, which has reduced its will likely to be shorter, lasting provided an opportunity to ex- navigational efficiency. Addi10 to 15 years. The shorter dura- press our concerns regarding tionally, the NTPC plant there tion will foster flexibility and the increasing need for water to is facing water crisis,” the ofadaptability for both nations support domestic development, ficer added.The current armoving forward. which will influ- rangement provides 35,000 The Ganga Waence the terms of cusecs of water alternately for press ter Treaty was clusive the new treaty,” 10 days each to both countries signed on Decemthe o f f i c e r during the lean season, which ber 12, 1996 on explained. lasts from March 11 to May 11. sharing of water, particularly According to internal docu- India is seeking 30,000 to 35,000 around the Farakka Barrage ments for discussions, seen by cusecs more during the same during the lean season. this newspaper, the Farakka period to meet its emerging “Before Pahalgam, we were Barrage was built to continu- requirements. The Centre has the support of inclined to extend the treaty for ously divert 40,000 cusecs of another 30 years, but the situa- water into a feeder canal for the the West Bengal government, tion changed drastically after- Kolkata Port Trust (now known which is the primary beneficiward,” stated a senior officer at as Syama Prasad Mookerjee ary of the additional water. During internal discussions, Bihar the Ministry of External Af- Port, Kolkata). fairs who participated in a “The 1996 treaty has disrupt- too emphasised the need for exmeeting with the Bangladeshi ed this arrangement, leading to tra Ganga water to meet its counterpart earlier in May . issues such as slope failure, bed drinking and irrigation needs. WARY of assassination, Iran’s supreme leader mostly speaks with his commanders through a trusted aide now, suspending electronic communications to make it harder to find him, three Iranian officials familiar with his emergency war plans say, The New York Times reported on Saturday . Ensconced in a bunker, the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, picked an array of replacements down his chain of military command in case more of his valued lieutenants are killed. And in a remarkable move, the officials add, the leader has named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, as well. The extraordinary series of steps are being seen as an attempt to preserve the Islamic Republic ever since Israel launched a series of surprise attacks last Friday . In normal times, Ayatollah lives and works in a highly secure compound in central Tehran called the “beit rahbari” — or leader’s house — and he seldom leaves the premises. His retreat to a bunker shows how furiously Tehran has been struck in a war with Israel. Iran’s top officials are also quietly making preparations for a wide range of outcomes as the war intensifies and as President Trump considers whether to enter the fight, according to the Iranian officials, who insisted on anonymity . DGCA asks AI to shift three officials due to serious lapses E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi forward bend Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu take part in a mass yoga session to mark the 11th International Day of Yoga, in Visakhapatnam on Saturday | PTI Political spat over ‘Bharat Mata’ image spills over into streets E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ T’Puram With tensions escalating between the LDF government and the governor over the image of ‘Bharat Mata with a saffron flag’, the political spat spilled over into the streets with CPM and BJP workers crossing swords. Close on the heels of General Education Minister Sivankutty walking out of a function at the Raj Bhavan on Thursday in protest against Governor Rajendra Arlekar paying floral tributes to the image, the Left and BJP leaderships engaged in a war of words over the past two days. A day after a march taken out by SFI activists to the Raj Bhavan turned violent in the state capital, BJP-Yuva Morcha activists staged protests a g ainst Sivankutty in Kozhikode on Saturday Tensions flared . during the minster’s visit as the protesters who waved black flags at him were stopped by SFI activists, triggering a clash between them. In Thiruvananthapuram, BJP activists from Pappanamcode took out a protest march to Sivankutty’s office in the evening. Following this, the CPM took out another march against the governor, leading to minor clashes between ● More on P7 CPM and BJP workers.  Aviation regulator DGCA has ordered the removal of three top personnel of Air India in its flight operations department from all roles related to crew scheduling and rostering due to their serious and repeated lapses. After the DGCA chastened the airline for not taking strict action against them, Air India said it had complied with the directive. The DGCA named Choorah Singh, Divisional Vice President, Pinky Mittal, Chief Manager, Daily Operations, Crew Scheduling and Payal Arora, Crew Scheduling, Planning for continued non-compliance with scheduling rules. These officials did unauthorised and non-compliance crew pairings, violated mandatory licensing and recency norms and were responsible for systemic failure in scheduling protocol and oversight. Recency refers to the number of take offs and landings a pilot must have within a timeframe to operate an aircraft safely . coming full circle 6 yrs on, stolen bike ‘surfaces’ at police station T o b y A nt o n y @ Kochi In a case that’s as baffling as it is revealing, a motorcycle stolen from Kochi nearly six years ago has surfaced — not on the road, but on the Idukki police station premises, where it has been lying since 2019. Even more surprising: The youth who rode it — arrested that year for possessing 8g of ganja — has now been charged with theft — for the same two wheeler — six years after the incident. It all began in August 2019, when Idukki police nabbed Subijith from Maniyarankudy near Vanchikavala , for allegedly attempting to sell ganja to schoolchildren. Along with the narcotic, officers seized his motorcycle — which remained impounded at the police station — never verified, never claimed. In September 2023, a local court sentenced Subijith to 10 days of imprisonment and fined him `10,000. Oddly, he showed no interest in reclaiming the motorcycle — a detail that would gain significance much later. It wasn’t until this We contacted the actual owner of the vehicle, who confirmed it had been stolen. The owner has expressed interest in reclaiming the vehicle and can do so upon submitting a formal request — An officer year, when Idukki police began a routine verification of unclaimed vehicles ahead of a disposal drive that the mystery began to unravel. A basic check revealed that the motorbike’s number plate — bearing an Ernakulam registration — was fake. “Further verification using the engine and chassis numbers revealed that the vehicle was actually registered in Ponnani, Malappuram,” an officer said. That discovery prompted an exhaustive investigation — which confirmed that the bike had been stolen from near the KSRTC bus station in ● More on P7 Kochi in 2019.  An Indian student reunites with parents after returning from Iran as part of Operation Sindhu on Saturday | PTI J ayant h J a c o b @ New Delhi AS tensions between Israel and Iran entered their ninth day India intensified its evacuation , efforts under Operation Sindhu, bringing home over 800 Indian nationals stranded in the conflict zone. A special evacuation flight from Mashhad, Iran, landed in New Delhi at 4.30 pm Saturday carrying 310 Indian citizens. Earlier , in the day another flight from Ashgabat, Turk, menistan, repatriated evacuees who had transited from Iran. “This brings the total number of Indians evacuated to 827,” confirmed Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, adding that the mission is on. “Operation Sindhu continues,” he said. In a gesture of regional solidarity India also , facilitated evacuation of Sri Lankan and other South Asian nationals. Among the evacuees were 256 Indian students, mostly from J&K, who arrived in Delhi early Saturday . WITH THIS ISSUE Let’s get Personal PLUS 12 P AGES