tadepalligudem l wednesday l february 12, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Lottery distributors need not pay service tax to centre The Supreme Court dismissed pleas of the Centre and held service tax cannot be levied on promotion, marketing, or sale of lottery tickets File photo ‘no service being rendered by respondent’ ‘only states can impose tax on lottery’ A bench comprising Justices B V Nagarathna and N K Singh held, “At each stage, the amendments made to the Finance Act, 1994, in order to impose service tax on the sole distributor/purchaser of the lottery tickets have been unsuccessful... There being no service rendered by the respondents (lottery sellers in Sikkim) to Sikkim govt, hence service tax is not leviable” ■ ■ The Supreme Court upheld a recent Sikkim High Court order which had held that lottery comes within “betting and gambling” in Entry 62 of state list and only the state can impose any tax | P7 The Centre said it was entitled to impose service tax since the activity was an auxiliary service under Section 65(19) of Finance Act, ’94 2013 When the Centre moved SC on a plea filed by Future Gaming 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 7 banks cut lending rates to give you quick relief manipur Central rule buzz as no consensus yet on new CM B E NN K OC H U V E E D A N @ Mumbai Prasa n ta M a z umdar & Pree t ha n a i r @ Guwahati/New Delhi THE leadership vacuum in Manipur deepened as the BJP failed to find a consensus candidate to succeed caretaker Chief Minister N Biren Singh, sparking speculations that the state may be placed under President’s rule. The party’s Northeast incharge, Sambit Patra, met with Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla Tuesday evening after separate closed-door huddles with BJP MLAs over the past two days. Earlier in the day, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had flagged the possibility of Central rule. He said, Article 174 (1) stipulates that there cannot be more than a 6-month gap between the last sitting of an Assembly session and the first sitting of the next Assembly session. And Fe b r u a r y 1 1 was the last day for a constitutionally-mandated sitting of the Assembly’s session, he said. But Constitutional expert PDT Achary had a different take. “What Jairam Ramesh says is not correct. It is not a violation of Article 174 (1) as there is no constituted government in office now. When the government is not there, there is no question of convening the assembly. Hence, the deadline of six months doesn’t operate here. Governor can recommend President’s rule under Article 356 if parties fail to come up with a new CM option,” he opined. Constitutional nuances apart, BJP appears to be divided into two factions: one loyal to Biren Singh and the other comprising MLAs opposed to him. A senior BJP MLA said the Centre might impose President’s rule in the state. “I feel the order will be out anytime soon. They will keep the Assembly in a suspended animation under Article 356 and not dissolve it.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi with France President Emmanuel Macron and US Vice President J D Vance (R) in Paris | PTI new tech changes job types Stating that loss of jobs is AI’s “most feared disruption”, Modi said: “But, history has shown that work does not disappear due to technology. Its nature changes and new types of jobs are created. We need to invest in skilling and re-skilling for an AI-driven future.” Divergence among US, EU & china Trump’s actions show the growing differences in the strategies to regulate AI between the US, China and the EU. So far, the US and UK haven’t come around to sign a joint statement on the outcomes of the meeting We must democratise tech, create peoplecentric applications and address concerns on cyber security, disinformation etc Narendra Modi, PM Let’s build global AI framework to enhance trust: PM Says the new tech is writing code for humanity J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said artificial intelligence (AI) is writing the code for humanity in this century by transforming politics and society, and sought global cooperation to establish governance that addresses risks and fosters trust. His call came at a time when the European Union is moving towards a more relaxed AI regulatory approach to remain competitive, following President Donald Trump’s removal of previous safeguards to pave the way for a new technological race. Modi, who co-chaired the summit with President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, also announced that India would be happy to host the next edition of the Summit. “AI is writing the code for humanity in this century… AI is developing at an unprecedented scale and speed. And being adopted and deployed even faster. There is also a deep inter-dependence across borders. Therefore, there is a need for collective global efforts to estab- lish governance and standards, that uphold our shared values, address risks, and build trust,” Modi told the gathering of world leaders that included US vice president J D Vance and Chinese vice-premier Zhang in his opening remarks. “While the positive potential of AI is absolutely amazing, there are many biases that we need to think carefully about,” Modi said. Laying a roadmap of what should entail the governance of AI, Modi called for promoting innovation and deploying it for the global good. “So, we must think deeply and discuss openly about innovation and governance,” Modi said. “Governance is also about ensuring access to all, especially in the Global South. It is where the capacities are most lacking — be it compute power, talent, data, or the financial resource,” he said. Modi emphasised the need to create open-source systems that foster trust, build unbiased data sets, democratise tech, and develop people-centric applications, while also addressing cyber security . Seven banks have cut their repo-linked lending rates (EBLR) in response to the Reserve Bank of India’s 25 basispoint rate cut announced on Friday Over Monday and Tues. day, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, Bank of India, Indian Bank, UCO Bank, Karur Vysya Bank, and RBL Bank cut rates in the range of 15-25 bps for their existing customers. However, the two largest banks in the country—State Bank of India and HDFC Bank —are yet to pass on the rate-cut benefit to customers. Meanwhile, some lenders raised their marginal costbased lending rates (MCLR), on which most corporate loans are priced, by 5-10 bps. MCLR is the minimum interest rate below ` chiru rules out his political reentry MCLR-linked loan rates take time to be cheaper People who have taken loans linked to External Benchmark Lending Rate (EBLR) such as repo are set to see immediate benefit in the form of reduced EMI. However, it may take six months for the benefit to reflect in loans that are linked to the marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR) which banks are not allowed to lend money to borrowers. After a gap of five years, RBI last week cut the repo rate—the interest rate at which it lends money to commercial banks— to 6.25% from 6.50%. When RBI lowers the repo rate, the EBLRlinked loans get re-priced immediately but MCLR-linked loans take up to two quarters to reflect the change in rates. About 40% of the banking system’s loans are linked to the EBLR, and a similar percentage of loans are linked to the At a movie event in Hyderabad, Mega Star Chiranjeevi has ruled out his political reentry, stating that all his political goals will be fulfilled by his brother and JSP chief Pawan Kalyan. “I will maintain distance from politics and remain close to cinema. I will serve society in other ways,’’ he said Captain and jawan killed in J&K IED blast f aya z w a n i @ Srinagar F-35 Lightning II Fifth-generation  Single-seat, single-engine All-weather, multi-role  Stealth aircraft  SHOWSTOPPER The Lockheed Martin-made fighter jet vowed spectators at Aero India as it took to skies on Monday 1 F-35s are designed to perform ground attack, aerial reconnaissance, and air defence 2 F-35 pilots wear helmetmounted display which helps strike a target by simply looking at it 3 Live up to people’s Manhunt launched for ex-CEO of Vaishnavi Dairy expectations despite all hurdles: CM to officials E x p ress Ne w s S erv i c e @ Tirupati S V i s w a n at h @ Vijayawada Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday set the stage for transformative governance at the Ministers and Secretaries Conference, emphasising the need for efficient leadership, strategic planning, and innovative governance to drive Andhra Pradesh towards its ambitious growth targets for 2047. In his opening remarks, the Chief Minister said he is facing several challenges because of the total devastation caused by the previous YSRCP regime. Naidu acknowledged the historic mandate that brought him back to power eight months ago. He noted that the people decisively rejected the previous YSRCP government, and placed high hopes in the current administration. During the previous regime, industrial growth in Andhra Pradesh had completely stagnated. Since the TDP-led coalition government took charge, efforts have been made to achieve better results through the Speed of Doing Business reforms. The State has set a GSDP growth target of over 16% for the fiscal 2025-26 with major sectors playing a crucial role in achieving it. Agriculture and allied sectors are projected to develop from `5,19,485 crore to `6,02,728 crore, reflecting 16.02% growth rate. The industrial sector is expected to expand from `3,41,331 crore to `3,99,358 crore, achieving 17% growth rate. Meanwhile, the services sector is set to increase from `6,11,390 crore to `7,10,714 crore, re gistering 16.25% P4 growth.  In the Tirumala laddu ghee adulteration case, the Supreme Court-formed CBI-led Special Investigation Team (SIT) has launched a manhunt to nab Sabbi Kalimulla Khan, former CEO of Vaishnavi Dairy Srika, lahasti, who reportedly played a key role in sending the rejected ghee tankers back to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) in June 2024. Khan reportedly fled his hometown Srikalahasti when the SIT was formed to investigate the ghee adulteration case. In a significant development, the SIT has started questioning one Srinivas, a commission agent from Chennai, who acted as a mediator between the TTD marketing department and AR Dairy management, in connection with the ghee adulteration case. The four accused in the case were sent to judicial remand two days ago. Meanwhile, Supreme Court MCLR. While most retail loans are linked to an external benchmark, corporate loans are linked to the MCLR. PNB reduced its repo-linked lending rate by 25 bps to 9%, Bank of Baroda cut it to 8.9% from 9.15%. Bank of India, Indian Bank, and UCO Bank cut the lending rate by 15-25 bps. Private lenders RBL Bank and Karur Vysya Bank reduced their repo-linked lending rate by 25% to 11.35%. HDFC Bank, which is yet to announce EBLR rate cut, has increased its MCLR loan prices by 5 bps to 9.20%. advocate Harshana Sukhdev reached Tirupati on Tuesday to argue on behalf of Accused 3, 4 and 5 against the SIT custody petition in the Second Additional District Magistrate Court. Notices were already served on the accused as per the court’s direction regarding the custody petition filed by SIT on Monday evening. Moreover, a bail petition was filed by A2, AR Dairy MD Raju Rajashekaran in the court on Tuesday Cases have been regis. tered against the accused under Sections 274, 275, 316(5), 318(3), 299, 336, 61(2), and 340(2) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Remand Report The SIT has already submitted a 14-page remand report. As per the report, Bhole Baba Organic Dairy of Uttarakhand played a key role in the supply of adulterated ghee to the TTD. Its directors Pomil Jain and Vipin Jain colluded with AR Dairy to supply the adulterated P4 ghee to the TTD.  TWO Army personnel, including a Captain, were killed and another injured when suspected terrorists set off an improvised explosive device (IED) near the Line of Control in the Akhnoor sector on Tuesday . This was the third incident of cross-border action by terrorists in the Jammu region in four days, and came a day after the general officer commanding of the Jammu-based White Knight Corps, Lieutenant General Navin Sachdeva, reviewed “hostile activities” along the LoC in Rajouri district. The Ar my confirmed the fatalities in the blast and said “its own troops are dominating the area and search operations are underway”. The deceased were identified as Captain Karamjit Singh Bakshi and Naik Mukesh. The troops were on patrolling duty when they were hit by the powerful explosion near a forward post in the Bhattal area of Akhnoor in Jammu district at around 3.50 pm. The injured personnel were rushed to a hospital where two of them, including the captain, succumbed, they said, adding that the other injured soldier is out of danger. Bird flu Chicks-laden vehicles stopped at AP-TS border K M A D H U S U D H A K A R @ Kurnool EXPRESS ILLUSTRATION With the spread of bird flu, unregulated transportation of chicks through Kur nool from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka has become a significant health concern, prompting authorities to maintain strict vigilance at the State borders. On Tuesday two vehicles car, rying 30,000 chicks from Tamil Nadu’s Tirupur to Telangana’s Kamareddy district were stopped, and turned back at Pullur Toll Plaza near Kurnool. Dr K Sankaraiah, Telangana Animal Husbandry Officer for Alampur mandal, stationed at the AP-TS border, confirmed that seven vehicles were intercepted, and sent back in the past 24 hours. The prolonged transportation of birds beyond 60 hours has raised fears of potential virus spread. It was feared that some of these chicks might have been sold off in Kurnool. Locals expressed concern over the entry of these vehicles into Andhra Pradesh, questioning the enforcement of State regulations. AP Animal Husbandry Director Dr Damodar Naidu told TNIE that efforts are being made to prevent the spread bird flu. The district officials have been instructed to strictly enforce transportation guidelines for poultry he said. , However, criticism has mounted over the delay in action by local officials, and confusion surrounding the movement of poultry vehicles. The lack of stringent enforcement has sparked demands from local people for better oversight and stricter preventive measures to safeguard both public health and poultry industry .