Political News Highlights: Fadnavis junks Congress claim of Ajit Pawar being appointed Maharashtra CM next month

At the second meeting of the Maldives-India Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism, Countering Violent Extremism and De-radicalisation, both nations strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations including cross-border terrorism, the Ministry of External Affairs informed.

“Emphasising the need for strengthening international cooperation to combat terrorism in a comprehensive and sustained manner both countries reaffirmed counter-terrorism cooperation as an important aspect of maintaining security in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR),” the MEA said in a statement.

“Both sides reviewed threats posed by terrorist entities that are under UN sanctions and emphasised the need for concerted action against all terrorist networks. They underlined the urgent need for all countries to take immediate, sustained, verifiable, and irreversible action to ensure that no territory under their control is used for terrorist attacks on others and to expeditiously bring to justice the perpetrators of such attacks,” it added.

More than four crore income tax returns (ITRs) for the 2022-23 financial year have been filed so far and about 7 percent of these are new or first-time filers, CBDT chairperson Nitin Gupta said on Monday. He said that more than half of these ITRs have been processed leading to 80 lakh refunds till now.

Senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan on Monday claimed that NCP stalwart Ajit Pawar will be appointed as the chief minister of Maharashtra around August 10 replacing the incumbent Eknath Shinde of Shiv Sena.

He claimed a decision on the disqualification of CM Shinde and 15 other MLAs of Shiv Sena will be taken around August 10.

However, senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis junked Chavan’s claim and said Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde will continue to be the chief minister of Maharashtra and there will be no change of guard in the state.

India-UK hold 11th round of FTA negotiations to enhance trade, investment opportunities

The taxation department is trying to process all the income tax returns (ITRs) by early next month, CBDT chief Nitin Gupta said, adding that refunds will be subsequently issued.

Seven percent of theassesseeswho filed incometax returns this year are "new taxpayers", Central Board of Director Taxes chairman said, adding that the number of new taxpayers is expected to increase by July 31.

AI404 operating between Rajkot and Delhi late evening on 23rd July 2023 was delayed due to an operational reason. Subsequently, the cockpit crew came under Flight Duty Time Limit (FDTL) regulations for which they could not operate the flight as per regulatory norms, an Air India spokesperson said.

The FDTL regulation is non-negotiable aspect and cannot be compromised under any circumstances. Certain passengers who had to reach Delhi on an urgent basis were transported by road to Ahmedabad to take an Air India or codeshare flight to Delhi. The remaining passengers were offered hotel accommodation with all meals and their bookings rescheduled as per their desire including full refund against cancellation, the spokesperson of the airline informed.

Arjun Ram Meghwal, Union Minister of State for Law & Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, announced the appointment on new chief justices for Bombay and Andhra Pradesh High Courts on July 24.

Justice Devendra Kumar has been appointed the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, while Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur has been appointed the Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court.

Speaking at the Income Tax Day event 2023, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that about one lakh notices were sent in cases where income was found to be over Rs 50 lakh; these will be cleared by March 2024.

"We are talking about widening the tax base via awareness and nudging. The Income Tax Department is working towards a taxpayer-friendly regime," Finance MinisterNirmalaSitharamansays.

Speaking at the Income Tax Day event 2023, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said:

-- There is effectively no tax on Rs 7.27 lakh in the new tax regime.

-- Rs 50,000 tax deduction brought in the new tax regime.

-- About one lakh notices were sent in cases where income was found to be over Rs 50 lakh; these will be cleared by March 2024.

-- As many as 55,000 one-time cases were opened following Supreme court order.

Speaking at the Income Tax Day event 2023, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that tax rates have not gone up over the years, yet revenue has been constantly rising over the past three-four years.

“If income tax revenues are increasing it is not because of the hike in rates but due to efficiency, plugging of leakages and formalisation of the economy,” the FM said.

She added that the income tax department has shown that it is capable of exceeding the Budget targets.

Tamil Nadu has a higher proportion of women in the workforce because the industry that employs women is based here. The state also has the highest number of women entrepreneurs, says Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, Tamil Nadu IT Minister.