17 August, 2013

Not filed I-T returns? You face jail & fine

Those defaulting in filing income tax returns are liable to prosecution, the I-T department has said.

If the tax evaded exceeds Rs 25 lakh, the defaulter can be sentenced to a minimum imprisonment of six months and maximum of seven years, besides being asked to pay a fine. If the tax evasion amount is less than Rs 25 lakh, the imprisonment could range between three months to two years in addition to fine.

'Mommy makeovers' latest fad in Hyderabad

Celebrity obsession for a perfect body is well-known. However, mommies in the city are now increasingly going under the knife, which, experts say, is the latest fad to hit Hyderabad.

Cosmetic surgeons, quick to respond to their burgeoning clientele, are offering customized "Mommy Makeovers", a surgical solution to get rid of stretch marks, muffin top and sagging breasts.

Deadlock with Iran over seized oil tanker continues

Despite hectic parleys between the two countries, India and Iran failed to resolve the issue of MT Desh Shanti which, according to Indian authorities, was illegally detained by Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Tuesday. The vessel is still at Bandar Abbas port.

Iran said the tanker was detained only because of the warning issued by the Marine Emergency Mutual Aid Center (MEMAC) that is affiliated to the Regional Organization for Protection of Maritime Environment (ROPME) in the Persian Gulf and the Oman Sea.

India, however, continues to maintain that the tanker, which was carrying crude from Iraq when it was detained, did not leave any oily ballast in Iranian waters and was not even carrying any cargo on July 30 — the day it is said to have polluted Iranian waters. As TOI first reported on Thursday, IRGC detained the ship carrying 140,000 tonnes of Iraq crude on August 13 and coerced it into Iranian waters before finally taking it to Bandar Abbas port. The vessel has been subjected to two rounds of inspection.

'No record to show Bhagat Singh as a martyr’

He may rule a million hearts, his supreme sacrifice inspiring many a revolution, but in government records Bhagat Singh is not a martyr. In a reply to an RTI query, the home ministry has said it has no record to show whether Bhagat Singh has been declared a martyr.

Now, the legendary freedom fighter's grandnephew, Yadavendra Singh, is planning to launch a campaign to get Bhagat Singh declared a martyr. According to Yadavendra, in April the home ministry had been asked in an RTI query as to when Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were declared martyrs and, if not, what was the government doing to get them the tag.

In May, the home ministry's public information officer Shamlal Mohan replied that the ministry had no record to show whether the trio had been declared martyrs. The reply also said it had no information on what the government was doing about it.

With this reply in hand, Yadavendra has approached the MHA to press for declaring Bhagat Singh and others who laid down their lives for the country's freedom as martyrs. "I have been trying to meet the home secretary and have sought an appointment. But the home ministry has not responded positively as yet. I am now planning to meet President Pranab Mukherjee with families of Rajguru and Sukhdev.

"I am hopeful he will be receptive to such an idea. After all the country already calls Bhagat Singh 'Shaheed', it's only a matter of putting it on record," says Yadavendra, who adds that if the President does not agree, he would launch a nationwide campaign for the same. "Families of several freedom fighters are with us on this," he says.

MHA sources, however, say there is no system or policy in place to declare those who died in freedom struggle as martyrs. "No one has ever been declared a martyr by the home ministry. There is no such policy. Only defence ministry does so for armed forces men," said a home ministry official.

In fact, personnel from paramilitary forces, which function under the home ministry, are not declared martyrs even though they fight as bravely and suffer great casualties combating Naxalites and militants. The death of 20 uniformed men in the Kedarnath chopper crash in June is a cruel example of this irony. The chopper had five IAF men and 15 ITBP personnel on board. While the IAF men were honoured as martyrs, ITBP personnel were declared dead.

Senior IPS officer Dilip Trivedi is new CRPF chief

Dilip Trivedi was on Friday named the CRPF chief. An IPS officer of the 1978 batch from UP cadre, Trivedi is currently special DG of the BSF. He was conducting the inquiry into BSF's firing at Ramban in Jammu & Kashmir where four people were killed last month.

England's Bresnan ruled out of final Ashes Test and ODIs

England pace bowler Tim Bresnan has been ruled out for the remainder of the English season, including the final Ashes test, with a stress fracture in his lower back.

Spinner Fawad Ahmed in Australia's ODI squad

Pakistan-born leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed was Thursday included in an 18-man Australia squad for this month's one-day international and Twenty20 series against England.

Ahmed, 31, a former refugee who became an Australian citizen last month, replaces Xavier Doherty, who played in the ICC Champions Trophy in England last June.