pic: icc bengaluru 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 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 express read Upper castes should take care of tribal affairs: MoS Thrissur: Union Minister of State Suresh Gopi courted controversy on Sunday with his remark that persons from “upper castes” should be put in charge of tribal affairs. He, however, withdrew his remarks following criticism. P5 4-day Indo-Bangla DG-level talks soon New Delhi: India and Bangladesh will hold a four-day Director General-level talk from February 16. The delegation-level meeting between the two countries is taking place for the first time after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government on August 5, 2024. 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 XPR E SS N E WS S E RVIC E @ 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 US starts tariff war with Mexico, Canada, China; India spared 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- 8-yr-old gang-raped? Girl’s statement not clear, says SP E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Mandya An eight-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped on the premises of a gover nment school on the outskirts of Mandya city The incident happened . on January 31 and came to light only now. Three persons allegedly lured the girl with a cake and raped her after threatening her with a knife. The incident came to light when the girl’s aunt found her bleeding profusely. The parents have admitted the girl to a hospital. The Mandya police visited the hospital and tried to get de- election to BBMP likely in May-June M o h a mme d Ya c o o b @ B e n g a l u r u The state government may hold elections to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) in May-June after exams to schools and colleges, and is likely to issue a notification by April-end, sources in the state government said. R Ramalinga Reddy a senior minister and BTM constitu, ency MLA, told The New Indian Express that the government is working on the Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill. Once Greater Bengaluru Governance Committee Chairman and Shivajinagar MLA Rizwan Arshad tables the bill in the Assembly BBMP elections will be announced, Reddy added. , Rizwan Arshad said a public consultation will be held this month and the bill will be submitted after that. Legislation will address issues like splitting of Bengaluru municipality for smooth administration, development of lakes, forest cover, taxation, solid waste management and others. The state government could come under pressure to hold the civic body elections with the Maharashtra government announcing municipal elections, including to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, after the Supreme Court order. “The government cannot drag any further as it is a matter of implementation of Supreme Court guidelines. The government may approach the court stating that holding elections in March or April will clash with exams and cause hardship to students, and will hold the polls in May-June. The notification to hold the polls is expected by April-end and once the announcement is made, the election has to be held within 45 days,” a source close to the Chief Minister’s Office said. Finances are being planned to hold the elections, said the source. The ruling Congress feels it will have the upper hand in elections with its numbers in the Assembly It is also upbeat . because of its recent victory in Channapatna, Shiggaon and Sandur by-polls. tails about the accused. They also visited the school and questioned the teachers and staff. Mandya SP Mallikarjun Baladandi told TNIE that as the girl’s statements are not clear, the child development project officer is counselling her. “The child said three boys attacked her. She also mentioned the name of a Class 2 student. But we found that the student did not attend school that day . From her statement, it is not clear whether she was abused by students or adults. We are investigating, but no FIR has been registered yet,” he said. 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. press Intake D’gere varsity prof among those held in bribery case | P5 India, Indonesia bound by shared heritage: PM | P9 Govt gears up to counter Oppn paties on ‘ONOE’ | P9 J’khand cops launch ‘chocolate wars’ on opium cultivation | P10 Cong sets up ‘EAGLE’ panel to monitor EC’s conduct of polls P r ee t h a n a i r @ New Delhi 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 Days before the Delhi Assembly polls, 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 said. “The group will ensure that the EC is held responsible for the conduct of free and fair elections,” he added. Congress leaders Ajay Maken, Digvijaya Singh, Abhishek Singhvi, Chakravarty, and Pawan Khera are panel members. According to a statement, the panel will first look into the alleged manipulation of Maharashtra voters’ list. Rahul Gandhi alleged that there has been an increase of nearly one crore voters in Maharashtra between the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, adding that “something wrong” has taken place.