tirunelveli l saturday l september 20, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION Hindi film Homebound is India’s official entry for 2026 Oscars The film by Neeraj Ghaywan is India’s official entry for the 2026 Academy Awards in the Best International Feature category 24 films were in the race to represent India Homebound to hit theatres on Sep 26 A total of 24 films in different languages were in contention for representing the country at the Oscars, selection committee chairperson N Chandra said. Homebound tells the two childhood friends from a small north Indian village who chase a police job. The film, backed by Martin Scorsese, stars Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa, and Janhvi Kapoor ■ ■ ■ Stranger Eyes (Singapore), Things You Kill (Canada) and The Secret Agent (Brazil) are among others vying to enter the 15-strong shortlist Last year, India’s entry Laapataa Ladies failed to make the cut, leading to the Film Federation of India facing criticism over the choice Homebound will release in theatres in India on September 26 May 21 when homebound premiered at the 78th cannes film festival in France 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 Corp tax mop-up rises, individual collections drop Despite the dip in advance personal tax, overall direct tax Advance personal income collections remain buoyant. tax collections for FY26 fell Net direct tax collections (after 7.3% to `96,784 crore as of Sep- refunds) rose 9.18% year-ontember 17, compared to `1,04,411 year to `10,82,579 crore, against crore in the same period last `9,91,512 crore in FY24-25. Net fiscal. The decline is attributed corporate tax collections into the higher income tax ex- creased 4.93% to `4,72,297 crore, emption threshold—raised while net personal income tax from `7 lakh to `12 lakh collections surged in this year’s Budget— 13.67% to `5,83,685 crore. and the revised tax Securities transaction slabs. tax was largely flat at In contrast, corporate Non-corporate `26,306 crore. advance tax collections advance taxes A key driver of this grew 6.11% to `3,52,129 fell 7% due to growth was a steep fall tax reliefs crore. Consequently to, in refunds—down 24% tal advance tax collecto `1,60,527 crore from Vivek Jalan, tions registered a mod`2,10,858 crore last partner, Tax est 2.9% g rowth to year—reflecting tighter Connect `4,48,913 crore. Advisory Services scrutiny of claims and “The drop in advance quicker assessments. tax collection is prima“Non-corporate adrily because of slab changes, vance taxes have declined by and due to lower tax liabilities around 7% due to massive tax for salaried individuals,” said reliefs in FY26,” said Vivek JaRiyaz Thingna, tax partner, lan, partner, Tax Connect AdviGrant Thornton Bharat. He sory Services. “At the same noted that some of the shortfall time, stricter monitoring of decould be made up by October- ductions and enhanced discloend, when individuals with sures in ITRs led to refunds business income file returns falling to nearly a third of last and pay self-assessment tax. year’s level.” D i pa k M o nd a l @ New Delhi Sanitary staff stir: HC allows panel to probe police excess E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Chennai The Madras High Court on Friday refused to extend the interim stay on the order constituting a one-man commission headed by a retired judge to probe into the alleged police excess during the arrest of sanitary workers, who were protesting against the privatisation of solid waste management in two zones of Greater Chennai Corporation, on August 13. Rejecting a plea, the first bench of Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G Arul Murugan said the commission could proceed with the inquiry and any mate, rials that the state had could be placed before it.  P5 price war vrooms as Mahindra joins Maruti in price cuts after GST rationalisation, adds benefits totaling `2.56 lakh A r s h a d k h a n @ New Delhi Price wars among automakers have intensified following the government’s decision to slash GST rates. A day after Maruti Suzuki cut prices by up to 24%, leading SUV manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) an nounced revised ex-showroom prices reflecting the GST reduction, along with additional benefits of up to `1.29 lakh on its petrol and diesel vehicles. The combined impact of the GST cut and additional benefits will allow customers to save up to `2.56 lakh, M&M said. Bolero Neo leads the line-up with a maximum total benefit of `2.56 lakh, comprising a `1.27 lakh reduction in ex-showroom price and additional benefits worth `1.29 lakh. The popular subcompact SUV , the XUV3XO, follows closely with total savings of `2.46 lakh. Among larger SUV models, the XUV700, Scorpio-N, and Scorpio Classic offer total benefits between `1.96 lakh and `2.24 lakh. Meanwhile, the Thar and Thar ROXX receive total benefits of `1.55 lakh and `1.53 lakh, respectively . “Cess, which is around 20% for large SUVs, will no longer apply under GST 2.0. However, dealers have already paid this amount and are facing potential losses. To mitigate the impact, they are working with OEMs to offer discounts and clear inventory,” Puneet Gupta, Director for India and ASEAN Auto Markets at S&P Global Mobility said. , Zubeen Garg Nov 18, 1972 - Sept 19, 2025 Zubeen garg dies in singapore Polymath musician was in Singapore for Northeast Festival, suffered injuries during a private scuba diving excursion K-point figures in India, Canada NSA talks J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi In a key step towards mending diplomatic ties, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval held bilateral security consultations with his Canadian counterpart Nathalie Drouin in New Delhi on Thursday . The high-level dialogue comes nearly two years after diplomatic relations between the two nations were rocked by Canadian allegations over the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The meeting also marked the first major engagement between the two countries’ security establishments since both sides appointed new High Commissioners in August, following months of diplomatic chill. Doval and Drouin’s meeting is also seen as a follow-up to the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Kananaskis this June. “This is part of the regular bilateral security consultations that happen between the two countries,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. Responsibility to ensure security of Indian diplomatic premises lies with the host government Randhir Jaiswal The talks took place against the backdrop of renewed threats from the US-based Khalistani outfit Sikhs for Justice, which announced a “siege” outside the Indian Consulate in Vancouver on September 18. Indian officials used Thursday’s talks to raise concerns over the safety of their diplomats and premises in Canada, the activities of pro-Khalistan elements operating from Canadian soil, and long-pending extradition requests.