THIRUVANANTHAPURAM l Sunday l june 22, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l late 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 I86,385 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 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 70,000 cusecs or less 50% 50% 70,000 cusecs-75,000 cusecs Balance of flow 35,000 cusecs After the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, the government has 75,000 cusecs or more 40,000 cusecs Balance of flow now decided to renegotiate the * Subject to the condition that India and Bangladesh Ganga River Water Treaty with each shall receive guaranteed 35,000 cusecs of water in Bangladesh, which is set to exalternate three 10-day periods from March 11 to May 11 pire next year. India has communicated to its counterpart that it requires “It was a routine meeting, which has reduced its navigamore water to meet its develop- held twice a year, but it also tional efficiency. Additionally, mental needs. The new treaty provided an opportunity to ex- the NTPC plant there is facing will likely to be shorter, lasting press our concerns regarding water crisis,” the officer said. 10 to 15 years. The shorter dura- the increasing need for water to The current arrangement tion will foster flexibility and support domestic development, provides 35,000 cusecs of water adaptability for which will influ- alternately for 10 days each to both nations movence the terms of both countries during the lean press ing forward. clusive the new treaty,” season, which lasts from March The Ganga Wathe o f f i c e r 11 to May 11. India is seeking ter Treaty was explained. 30,000 to 35,000 cusecs more signed on December 12, 1996 on According to internal docu- during the same period to meet sharing of water, particularly ments for discussions, seen by its emerging requirements. The Centre has the support around the Farakka Barrage this newspaper, the Farakka during the lean season. Barrage was built to continu- of the West Bengal government, which is the primary benefici“Before Pahalgam, we were ously divert 40,000 cusecs of inclined to extend the treaty for water into a feeder canal for the ary of the additional water. another 30 years, but the situa- Kolkata Port Trust (now known During internal discussions, tion changed drastically after- as Syama Prasad Mookerjee Bihar too emphasised the need ward,” stated a senior officer at Port, Kolkata). “The 1996 treaty for extra Ganga water to meet the Ministry of External Af- has disrupted this arrange- its needs. An internal meeting, fairs who participated in a ment, leading to issues such as which included a senior officer meeting with the Bangladeshi slope failure, bed erosion, and from West Bengal, has concounterpart earlier in May . heavy siltation in the KPT, firmed this requirement. west asia crisis Ayatollah names his Operation Sindhu: successors, army 310 Indians brought brass replacements back from Iran a g en c i e s @ Tehran 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 names of his successors were not revealed, but Khamenei’s son Mojtaba was not among the contenders. The extraordinary series of steps are being seen as an attempt to preserve the Islamic Republic ever since Israel’s attacks on June 14. 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 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 Iranian officials. DGCA asks AI to shift three officials over 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 streets with CPM and BJP workers crossing swords across the state. Close on the heels of Education Minister Sivankutty walking out of a function at 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 against 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 march to Sivankutty’s MLA office in the evening. Following this, CPM took out another march against the governor, leading to minor clashes between ● More on P5 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 Paya l A ro r a , 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 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 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 We contacted the actual owner of two wheeler — six years after the the vehicle, who confirmed it had incident. been stolen. The owner has It all began in August 2019, when expressed interest in reclaiming Idukki police nabbed Subijith from the vehicle and can do so upon submitting Maniyarankudy, near Vanchikavala a formal request — An officer that would gain significance much later. It wasn’t until this 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 P5 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