chennai l Sunday l June 22, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 26 l late city EDITION advance tax, high refunds hit net direct tax collections refund issuances rose by 58% in 1st quarter Advance tax, an indicator of corporate profitability and income of individuals, grew a meagre 3.87% to `1.56 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 Net direct tax collection in Q1 dipped 1.39% to `4.59 lakh crore, on slowdown in advance tax mop-up and higher refunds corporate tax collections see a dip ■ ■ Advance tax paid by corporates saw a growth of 5.86% to `1.22 lakh crore, while those by non-corporates, including individuals, HUFs and firms, dropped by 2.68% to `33,928 crore, as per govt data During April 1-June 19, 2025, net corporate tax collection saw a slowdown of `1.73 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 38 kids of hooch victims get pending state allowance after TNIE prod K r i t h i ka S r i n i vasa n @ Kallakurichi Scars of Kallakurichi hooch horror linger full report on p2 The 38 children who had lost one or both their parents in the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy last year, and had not received the monthly allowance a n n o u n c e d by t h e Ta m i l Nadu gover nment for the past few months, were credited with the pending amount within three hours after TNIE brought the issue to the notice of the government. When TNIE visited Karunapuram, which accounted for 38 of the 69 people who died in the hooch tragedy this week last year, it learnt that many of the affected children had not received the monthly allowance from the state. According to the gover n- press clusive ment, four children had lost both their parents while 34 lost one of their parents. The state gover nment had announced a monthly allowance of `5,000 each for the four children, and `4,000 each Ganga treaty review with B’desh J i t e n d r a C h o u b e y @ New Delhi After the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, the government has now decided to renegotiate the Ganga River Water Treaty with Bangladesh, which is set to expire next year. India has communicated to its counterpart that it requires more water to meet its developmental needs. The new treaty will likely to be shorter, lasting 10 to 15 years. The shorter duration will foster flexibility and adaptability for both nations moving forward. The Ganga Water Treaty was signed on December 12, 1996 on sharing of water, particularly around the Farakka Barrage during the lean season. Ganga Water Treaty, 1996 Availability at Farakka Share of India Share of Bangladesh 50% 50% 70,000 cusecs-75,000 cusecs Balance of flow 35,000 cusecs 75,000 cusecs or more 40,000 cusecs Balance of flow 70,000 cusecs or less * Subject to the condition that India and Bangladesh each shall receive guaranteed 35,000 cusecs of water in alternate three 10-day periods from March 11 to May 11 press clusive “Before Pahalgam, we were inclined to extend the treaty for another 30 years, but the situation changed drastically afterward,” stated a senior officer at the Ministry of External Affairs who participated in a meeting with the Bangladeshi counterpart earlier in May . “It was a routine meeting, held twice a year, but it also provided an opportunity to express our concerns regarding the increasing need for water for development, which will influence the terms of the new treaty the officer explained. ,” According to internal documents for discussions, seen by this newspaper, the Farakka Barrage was built to continuously divert 40,000 cusecs of water into a feeder canal for the Kolkata Port Trust. “The 1996 treaty has disrupted this arrangement, leading to issues such as slope failure, bed erosion, and heavy siltation in the KPT, which has reduced its navigational efficiency Additionally . , the NTPC plant there is facing water crisis,” the officer added. India is seeking 30,000 to 35,000 cusecs more to meet its requirements. The emerging sense of distrust following the coup in Bangladesh last year, has put Indian diplomacy in a challenging position. In early May following the Pahalgam at, tack, Indian delegates visited Bangladesh and communicated to their counterparts that the treaty needs to be re-discussed. DGCA asks AI to shift three officials due to serious lapses Express News Service @ New Delhi 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 . The violations were voluntarily disclosed by Air India. “The voluntary disclosure, while noted, points to systemic failures in crew scheduling, compliance monitoring and internal accountability. Of particular concern is the absence of strict disciplinary measures against key officials directly responsible for these operational lapses,” the regulator said. It ordered immediate internal proceedings against them, adding they need to be re-assigned to non-operational roles until corrective reforms are initiated in scheduling practices. WITH THIS ISSUE Let’s get Personal PLUS 12 P AGES 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 m i d - e a st c r isis Ayatollah names his Operation Sindhu: successors, army 310 Indians brought brass replacements back from Iran a g e n c i e s @ Tehran J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi 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 lieutenants are killed. He also named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him, should he be killed as well. The names of his successors were not revealed, but Khamenei’s son Mojtaba was not among the contenders. The extraordinary steps are an attempt to preserve the Islamic Republic ever since Israel launched surprise attacks on June 14. In normal times, Ayatollah lives and works in a highly secure compound in central Tehran and seldom leaves the premises. His retreat to a bunker shows how furiously Tehran has been struck. Iran’s top officials are quietly making preparations for a wide range of outcomes. 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 an, other flight from Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, 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. Sri Lanka’s Deputy Foreign Minister Arun Hemachandra expressed gratitude for India’s assistance in evacuating its citizens. Among the evacuees were 256 Indian students, mostly from J&K, who arrived in Delhi early Saturday Many of . them described days of anxiety and disruption in Iran before being flown to safety This is the second evacuation . flight from Iran in 24 hours after the first on Friday with 290 Indian students. for the 34 others. The allowances will be credited until the children turn 18, the government had said. TNIE learnt that while the four orphaned children had not received their monthly allowance for the past four months since March 2025, the remaining 34 had not received the money for the past nine months since October 2024. The four or phaned children included a girl and two boys, aged between 14 and 17, from the same family, who lost their parents R Suresh (41) and S Vadivukkarasi (39) in the tragedy. Vadivukkarasi had accidentally consumed a small quantity of the methanol-laced liquor that Suresh had left in a cup.  P7 Vande Bharat sleeper trains yet to receive nod B ANBUSELVAN @ Chennai It has been over six months since the prototype of the Vande Bharat sleeper version was dispatched from the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) for trials and testing, but it is yet to receive clearance for operation. The 16-coach prototype, designed by ICF and manufactured by the Bengaluru-based public sector company BEML (formerly Bharat Earth Movers Limited), was built at a cost of `120 crore. Following its production, commissioning of the rake was delayed for a few months after ICF flagged several man- ufacturing defects, which BEML later addressed. Although the Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO) successfully completed speed trials at 160 kmph in January, the train is still awaiting approval from the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS), officials said. S o u rc e s i n d i c at e that the CRS has raised certain objections regarding the design and expressed reservations about some of the safety features incorporated in the train. However, the Railways has asserted that there are no issues with the electrical or mechanical components.  P7 e x p r ess r e a d ‘TN will nominate 3.6K PwDs to local bodies’ CHENNAI: Stalin on Saturday announced that a total of 3,634 persons with disabilities (PwDs) will be nominated to local bodies immediately, with the process commencing on July 1. He was addressing an event conducted by PwD organisations at the renovated Valluvar Kottam | P4