SAMBALPUR l saturday l march 30, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l CITY EDITION India-Ukraine agree to restore pre-conflict cooperation level peace formula for ukraine discussed Kuleba, who is in India on a two-day official visit, wrote on X, “We paid specific attention to the Peace Formula and next steps on the path of its implementation.” The peace formula was first mooted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in 2022 is a set of principles aimed at ensuring a just and lasting peace for his country Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said he had comprehensive talks with India about the situation in ‘our regions’, global security Both nations to meet again this year ■ ■ Both the countries agreed to work towards holding the 7th InterGovernmental Commission meeting on trade, economic, scientific, technical, industrial and cultural cooperation later this year India’s foreign minister S Jaishankar wrote on X, “Our immediate goal is to get trade back to earlier levels” | P9 99 drones, missiles were launched in Ukraine on Friday by Russia 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 Buzz on wife Sunita’s elevation as Delhi CM in place of Kejriwal A n u p V e r m a @ New Delhi Having held three press conferences in a week following the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), his proactive wife Sunita is being seen as a possible candidate for elevation as the CM. Though the AAP insists that Kejriwal will run the government from jail, its dismissal based on Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena’s recommendation cannot be ruled out. Saxena has already said he would not allow the state government to be run from jail. It was read as an advice to Kejriwal to install a new person at the helm; else the Centre could invoke Article 239AB of the Constitution to impose President’s Rule. This Article was incorporated specifically for the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. It is similar to Article 356. Article 239AB allows the L-G to recommend Central rule by suspending the House. Sunita on Friday initiated a ‘Kejriwal ko Aashirwad’ campaign, sharing two WhatsApp numbers for his supporters to send their messages irrespective of gender, age, financial status and party affiliation. Analysts saw in her press meets an indication of her File picture of Sunita Kejriwal United Nations weighs in A spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the global body hoped people’s “political and civil rights” are protected and everyone is able to vote in a free and fair atmosphere, in the wake Kejriwal’s arrest possible bigger role. That she sat on the chair Kejriwal used to occupy at home during his public interactions did not go unnoticed. Sunita is a former IRS officer with 22 years of experience in service. T h e B J P, h o w e v e r, mocked it, with Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri comparing Sunita with former Bihar CM Rabri Devi, saying she is perhaps preparing to hold the post of her husband. Tax terror, says Congress as it gets notice for over L1,800 cr Govt weaponised income tax dept to harass the principal opposition party, claims Kharge PA R V E Z S U LTA N @ New Delhi Reactions The Congress on Friday said it got a fresh income tax notice asking it to pay `1,823 crore, triggering angry reactions from party leaders who described it as ‘tax terrorism’ aimed at financially crippling the main opposition party ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. They said the party will hold massive protests across states on Saturday against the “egregious attack on democracy and imposition of tax terrorism”. Former party chief Rahul Gandhi said such assault on democracy is unpardonable and ‘exemplary action’ will be taken against those responsible when the government changes. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the BJP-led government is misusing all federal agencies to subvert democracy and belittle the Constitution. The government has weaponised the I-T department to harass the principal opposition party he charged. , Accusing the Narendra Modi government of selectively targeting opposition parties, Congress treasurer Ajay Maken said if the I-T department applies the same principle to all parties, then it should demand `4,600 crore from the BJP because it is a bigger violator. “We have analysed all the submissions of the BJP to the Election Commission. The party has faltered every year,” Maken claimed. “I-T department has so far forcibly taken `135 crore from our bank accounts against an alleged violation of `14 lakh. This amount was recovered by freezing over `270 crore in our bank accounts… If the same principles are applied on violations by the BJP, the I-T department should raise a demand of `4,600 for the party and act swiftly like it had done in the case of Congress,” he added. AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the BJP’s attempts to weaken the Opposition won’t work as the party’s morale is high. “We will continue contesting elections passionately he said at a press conference. Rebutting the ,” charges, the BJP said the Congress is not above the laws of the land. “A certain family of the Congress believes that they should be exempted from rules and that special laws should apply to them. It is not feasible in modern India,” BJP national spokesperson Zafar Islam said. FINMIN defends it, says based on 2019 seizures M o n i k a Ya d av @ New Delhi When the govt changes, action will be taken against those who have disrobed democracy. Such exemplary action will be taken that no one will dare to do all this again Rahul Gandhi `4,600 Cr penalty overlooked for BJP’s `42 Cr unaccounted deposit, while `135 Cr penalty is demanded for `14 lakh cash deposit by Cong MLAs & MPs! Mallikarjun Kharge Justifying the income tax notices issued to the Congress, finance ministry sources said the tax department had reopened assessments of the party for seven years (from AY 201415 to AY 2020-21) on the basis of incriminating material seized during search operations conducted in April 2019. Two Delhi High Court orders, dated 22 March and 28 March 2024, allowed the reassessment. “Notices under Section 153C of Income Tax Act were issued in March 2023. The assessment proceedings for these seven years were getting timebarred on 31 March 2024 as per law,” said a senior official. T h e C o n g re s s h a d ap proached the HC for quashing of reassessment under Section 153C for all the seven years but it dismissed the writs. The HC in its order observed that there was an evasion of `520 crore income. “In its order, the HC held that the tax department CPI gets tax notice for `11 crore dues The CPI has received a notice from the income tax department demanding ` 11 cr ‘dues’ for using an old PAN card while filing tax returns during the last few years. The amount includes penalties and interest due to “discrepancies” in the use of an old PAN card. Earlier, the I-T department had withdrawn the tax exemption of the CPI(M) for 2016-17 and taxed it `15.59 crore for not declaring a bank account. Besides, TMC’s Saket Gokhale claimed he got 11 I-T notices in the last 72 hours express read Pm Modi 7 convicted, 6 get lifer in murder of ex-BSP MLA stress Need to develop green GDP Lucknow: A special CBI court in Lucknow on Friday convicted seven persons and awarded life imprisonment to six of them in connection with the murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal in Prayagraj (then Allahabad) on January 25, 2005 | P9 Prime Minister Narendra Modi told philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Bill Cates that parameters used to measure progress are detrimental to climate and suggested developing the concept of a green gross domestic product | P9 Indigenous towed artillery guns along LAC New Delhi: To add more artillery firepower along the northern borders, the Indian Army is proceeding to issue Request for Proposal (RFP) for the towed gun systems. Meanwhile, the guns for the second regiment of the indigenously manufactured Dhanush artillery guns are in the induction phase | P9 Life cycle With mercury soaring, a girl holding an umbrella walks past a chopped tree growing fresh leaves in Bhubaneswar | DEBADATTA MALLICK ‘Poor’ Cong seeks `50k from aspirants for campaign material B i j ay C h a k i @ Bhubaneswar EVEN as the Congress grapples with a `1,700 crore demand notice from the Income Tax (IT) department, the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president’s letter to all the aspirants shortlisted for the ensuing Assembly election seeking a cheque of `50,000 in favour of the party has created a buzz in politi, cal circles here. The letter from PCC chief Sarat Pattanayak also comes at a time when the party is desperate to improve its performance in the state amidst shortage of funds and scarcity of election materials. Sources said the state leadership of Congress which is carrying out candidate selection exercise at Puri met the shortlisted has substantial and concrete evidence warranting further scrutiny under the IT Act. The HC further observed that the satisfaction note details the unaccounted transactions with reference to various elections,” the source said. Another official told TNIE that sufficient time was given to the party to reply especially , on various observations of the HC. “After considering all the replies, the department has now completed the assessment of seven years.” In an issue pertaining to AY 2018-19, the Congress faced the withdrawal of exemption under Section 13A of the IT Act due to violations of mandatory conditions. Despite multiple communications and rejection of stay applications, the party failed to comply with the tax demand. As per sources, recovery proceedings were initiated, resulting in the recovery of around `135 crore. The I-T Appellate Tribunal and the Delhi HC upheld the decision. Nobody is going to run away with the money. The cheques are being accepted officially and there is nothing to hide. As the party does not have enough funds, candidates will have to make some sacrifice,” he added Tara Prasad Bahinipati, Senior Congress MLA aspirants from different constituencies and sought a cheque for `50,000 from each of them. The sum was apparently being asked as a security fund for election material to be supplied to candidates during campaigning. Several aspirants are reported to have already deposited cheques for the stated amount. While the decision was resent- ed by a majority of aspirants, the state leadership defended the move. OPCC spoesperson Manoranjan Das said it was being demanded so that there is smooth flow of election materials during campaigning. “Besides, it will also help keep away non-serious aspirants,” he said. During the visit of national leaders, he said, candidates complained that there was no campaign material made available to them. The deposit money will be used for that purpose, he said and added the party will supply campaign materials to the candidates from its own fund too. “The cheques will be returned to aspirants who do not get tickets after candidates are finalised,” he said. Senior Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati justified the decision stating that Congress candidates will have to make certain sacrifices for the party “No. body is going to run away with the money The cheques are being . accepted officially and there is nothing to hide. As the party does not have enough funds, candidates will have to make some sacrifice,” he added. The state unit’s decision comes as the grand old party is at the receiving end of alleged IT norms violations. The national party’s bank accounts were frozen by the IT department over alleged income tax default and it was slapped a notice to pay `130 crore. It later complained that `51 crore was recovered from its bank accounts after the Delhi High Court denied party’s appeal against the IT notice. Abdul Taahaa, Mussavir Hussain Shazib New pics out, NIA announces `10 lakh bounty MUKE S H R A NJ A N @ New Delhi The anti-terror National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday announced a reward of `10 lakh each for sharing information leading to the arrest of two key accused in the Rameshwaram Cafe blast case in Bengaluru. Releasing the photographs of the two accused on its official ‘X’ handle, the agency requested the general public for information on Mussavir Hussain Shazib alias Shazeb and Abdul Matheen Ahmed Taahaa alias Abdul Matheen Taha wanted in the case. Both of them are already wanted in a 2020 terrorism case. The NIA said Shazib had been using the name Mohammed Juned Sayed to conceal his identity Similarly Taahaa . , was using a forged Aadhaar card with the name Vignesh. The agency assured that the identity of the informer will be kept secret. In a major breakthrough, the NIA had on Wednesday arrested Muzammil Shareef, a key conspirator in the blast case. Officials said the NIA in its investigations has found that Muzammil Shareef had extended logistic support to the two wanted accused in the blast case. On March 1, an IED explosion at the cafe located at ITPL Road in Brookefield, Bengaluru, had left several people injured there.
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