bengaluru l Thursday l February 12, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 22 l late city EDITION SC asks Centre to file report on Air India plane crash probe The Supreme Court asked the Centre on Wednesday to file a brief report on the procedural protocol followed so far in the investigation probe by AAIB nearing its end, Govt tells SC Court gives three-week deadline Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Supreme Court that a fact-finding inquiry by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB) is currently underway in accordance with international commitments and is likely to be completed in three weeks. The bench was hearing three petitions seeking an independent, court-monitored investigation into the crash ■ ■ Mehta urged a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi that the three pleas be listed after three weeks “Let us see the result of the AAIB probe and then we will see whether a court of inquiry will be needed or not,” the CJI said and fixed the pleas for hearing after three weeks | P11 June 12, 2025 when Air India flight to London crashed in Ahmedabad 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 U n i o n B ud g e t d e b a t e States to get over Bharat Mata has D25L cr in FY27: FM been sold: Rahul P u s h p i ta D e y @ New Delhi P r ee t h a N a i r @ New Delhi FINANCE Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday rejected allegations levelled by several Opposition-ruled states that the Centre was not transferring states’ share from the divisible pool of taxes. The Union finance minister, in her reply to the Budget discussion in the Lok Sabha, said that the Centre has transferred the full 41% share of divisible taxes to the states as mandated by the Finance Commission. “The states should check if the entire net proceeds, which form the divisible pool, i.e., removing cess and surcharge from gross tax revenue, are received by them. There is no need to discuss the gross tax revenue,” the minister said. The finance minister said the Centre has allocated `25.44 lakh crore to states in FY27. “This much money will go to the states. This entails an increase of `2.70 lakh crore from FY26,” Sitharaman said. Commenting on the transfer of cess and surcharges, she clarified that these are collected for a purpose and if states can come up with proposals on health, education and roadways, they will get the funds. “Cess and surcharge collected by the Centre are given to the states for development work in various sectors. This is separate from the 41% of funds allocated to the states.” Debunking allegations that the government was not approving credits to the states, the finance minister stated the total credit has grown 13.8% in the current financial year. She pointed out that headline capital expenditure stands at `12.2 lakh crore while the effective capital expenditure, including grants to states, totals `17.1 lakh crore, amounting to 4.4% of the GDP . After being repeatedly blocked from quoting ex-Army Chief General M M Naravane’s unpublished memoir in the Lok Sabha last week, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday mounted a sharp attack on the government over the India-US trade deal framework, accusing the Modi administration of having “sold off the nation” and terming it as a “wholesale surrender”. Participating in the debate on the Union Budget, Rahul said he does not believe that any Indian PM, including Narendra Modi, would agree to such a deal unless there is a “chokehold” on him. “Why has he sold India? Because the US are choking him. They have a grip on his neck.” Rahul asserted that the trade agreement had undermined farmers’ interests, destroyed the textile sector, and handed India’s energy security to the US. Calling it a surrender of the future of 1.5 billion Indians, he said it was driven by the need to protect the BJP’s financial architecture, which he said is facing scrutiny in the US. “The US will decide who we buy oil from. They will monitor.” He accused the government of opening the door to mechanised American farms, thereby crushing India’s small farmers, and called the move disgraceful, saying that no PM before had done such a thing, nor would any after him. “How can you come to this House and defend this? Are you not ashamed of what you are giving away? Are you not ashamed of selling India? You have sold our mother — Bharat Mata?” he said. The House saw heated exchanges after Rahul referred to Union minister Hardeep Puri and industrialist Anil Ambani in connection with mentions in the Epstein files. All set for the big day Election officials check ballot boxes and voting materials after collecting them ahead of polls, in Dhaka, on Wednesday | AP Hopes, apprehensions as B’desh goes to polls B angladesh heads to the formidable challenger. In previpolls on Thursday under ous elections, Jamaat’s support an unprecedented political hovered below 10%, while BNP landscape, following the secured over 30%. With the sudden exit of former PM Awami League out, many beSheikh Hasina after a mass up- lieved BNP would secure a comsurge in 2024. The election is set fortable majority But Jamaat’s . to be a unique experience for renewed presence has complivoters, many of whom will cast cated the electoral arithmetic, their ballots for the raising the prospect first time. Citizens will of a close fight. also vote in a referenNCP has struggled dum on constitutional to maintain its moreforms. mentum. It is contestThe main contest is ing just 30 out of 300 between the Banglaparliamentary seats. desh Nationalist Party Around 50 parties are (BNP) and Bangladesh Bayezid Milky in the contest. Jamaat-e-Islami. The Senior journalist based Voters will cast two new National Citizen ballots while the abin Dhaka Party (NCP), which sence of the Awami emerged from the League has left many mass movement against Hasi- uncertain. The Election Comna, joined the race as part of an mission has warned counting 11-party alliance with Jamaat. may take longer due to dual balThe BNP was expected to domi- lots and higher turnout. Aunate in the absence of the Awa- thorities say the February 12 mi League. However, Jamaat vote will shape Bangladesh’s claims it has built a strong base future, and citizens hope for a and is positioning itself as a fair and peaceful election. driver chased, arrested Girls, aged 4 & 2, mowed down by school bus in city E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bengaluru Two girls, aged four and two, died after they were mowed down by a school bus near the police quarters in Hegde Nagar in Hennur traffic police limits around 8.10 am on Wednesday The . girls were cousins. The accident occurred when the school bus driver was trying to escape after crashing into an autorickshaw nearby. He rammed into the scooter on which the two kids were travelling. The children fell on the road, came under the front Bhanu wheels of the bus, and died during treatment. The father of the two-year-old is a police constable attached to the City Armed Reserve (CAR). When the driver tried to escape again, poVarsha licemen at the police quarters chased and stopped him. The deceased were four-year-old D Bhanu Mali Patil, who was from Lingasugur in Raichur district, and two-yearold N Varsha Mali Patil, a resident of Hegde Nagar Police Quarters. CONTINUED ON: P3 express read Techie kills retd Navy capt dad, mom Bengaluru: A software engineer has been arrested for stabbing to death his parents — 60-year-old retired Navy captain Naveen Chandra Bhat and his 55-year-old wife, Dr Shyamala Bhat, a dentist — at their residence in Vignan Nagar on Wednesday. Though the exact motive behind the crime is yet to be ascertained, police suspect it was over a family dispute. The victims were attacked at Villa No. 112 in Adarsh Vista around 7.30 am | P3