OPINION, P10 SPOTLIGHT Guided walking tours that allow one to explore urban landscapes are crafting a successful business for domain experts, researchers & travel enthusiasts alike Pages 6-7 Can we elect freedom and development? LEISURE A German director brings to screen the story of a teen hanged for killing a man who tried to rape her Page 5 IN STEP WITH THE CITY ACROSS THE AISLE, P CHIDAMBARAM VOL XXIII NO. 21 Clandestine in Iran WORDS WORTH Follow us on Twitter & Facebook. App available on App Store & Play Store WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM A DELIGHTFUL TIME MACHINE FINANCIAL EXPRESS ON SUNDAY NEW DELHI SUNDAY, MARCH 17, 2024, 20 Pages, `12 (Patna `12, Raipur `12) P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , IN THE NEWS B E N G A L U R U , ROUND 14 OF INDIA-UK FTA TALKS CLOSES The 14TH ROUND of the free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations between India and the UK has now closed, with formal negotiations being put on hold as India heads into election mode with the announcement of the Lok Sabha poll schedule on Saturday. ■ PAGE 3 C H E N N A I , READ TO LEAD H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K A T A , L U C K N O W , SEVEN-PHASE LOK SABHA ELECTIONS FOR 543 SEATS Voting from April 19; results June 4 NAVNEET KUMAR ● Model code of IS NEW PRASAR conduct on with BHARATI CHIEF RETIRED immediate effect BUREAUCRAT Navneet Kumar Sehgal has been appointed as the new Prasar Bharati chairman, a post that had been vacant for four years. Sehgal succeeds A Surya Prakash, whose term ended in February 2020 after he turned 70 years, the upper age limit for a person holding the post. Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday chaired a meeting to select the chairman of the country's public broadcaster. C H A N D I G A R H , A peep into AI’s past, present and possible future, all with a note of caution Page 4 DAMINI NATH New Delhi, March 16 KICKING OFF THE world’s largest election exercise, the Election Commission of India on Saturday announced that the 18th Lok Sabha elections would be held in seven phases from April 19 to June 1, with counting of votes on June 4. Close to a billion electors will be eligible to case theirvotes in the exercise that stretches for 81 days well into the peak of summer, with over 10 million polling and securitypersonnel being deployed for the job. In 2019, elections were concluded in 75 days. Addressing a press conference in the national capital, chief election commissioner RajivKumar,flankedbynewlyappointed election commissionersGyaneshKumarandSS Sandhu,appealedtoelectorsto come out and vote, saying “elections belong to you”. With the announcement, the model code of conduct came into force, bringing announcements of new schemes by the government and use of government WHO VOTES WHEN PHASE: 1 NO. OF PCs: 102 Poll date: April 19; in 21 states PHASE: 2 NO. OF PCs: 89 HIMACHAL PRADESH CHANDIGARH PUNJAB ASSAM NAGALAND BIHAR TRIPURA MIZORAM JHARKHAND WEST BENGAL MADHYA PRADESH DADRA AND NAGAR HAVELI AND DAMAN AND DIU Poll date: May 25; in 7 states ODISHA Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand TELANGANA GOA KARNATAKA ANDHRA PRADESH PHASE 1 PHASE 1 PHASE: 7 NO. OF PCs: 57 PHASE 2 PHASE 2 Poll date: May 7; in 12 states Poll date: June 1; in 8 states PHASE PHASE 3 3 Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Assam, Dadra & Nagar Haveli & Daman & Diu, Goa PUDUCHERRY KERALA PHASE 4 4 PHASE PHASE 5 5 PHASE TAMIL NADU LAKSHADWEEP announcedbye-electionsto26 Assembly seats across states. A total of 96.8 crore voters, of which 49.7 crore are male and 47.1 crore are female, including 88.4 lakh persons withdisabilities,48,000transgender voters and 19.1 lakh service electors,will be eligible PHASE: 6 NO. OF PCs: 57 CHHATTISGARH MAHARASHTRA Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Maharashtra MEGHALAYA MANIPUR NO. OF PCs: 94 machinery for electioneering by ministers to a halt. The EC also announced the schedule for the Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim Assembly elections,where pollingwould be held on the same day as the Lok Sabha polling.The EC also SIKKIM UTTAR PRADESH GUJARAT Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir, UP, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Assam, Tripura, Manipur, West Bengal Poll date: May 20, in 8 states ARUNACHAL PRADESH DELHI Poll date: April 26; in 13 states PHASE: 3 UTTARAKHAND NO. OF PCs: 49 Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand, J&K HARYANA RAJASTHAN PHASE: 5 Poll date: May 13; in 10 states J&K J&K, Uttarakhand, UP, Bihar, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, Tamil Nadu, Lakshadweep, Puducherry, Andaman & Nicobar Islands NO. OF PCs: 96 PHASE: 4 LADAKH PHASE 6 PHASE 6 ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS PHASE 7 PHASE 7 PC: Parliamentary constituency to cast theirvotes. There are 1.8 crore firsttime voters who are 18 to 19 yearsold,and19.74croreinthe agegroup20-29years.Inother words,thoseunder30makeup a fifth of the totalvoters. Continued on Page 2 Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha INSIDE Assembly polls in four states PAGE 2 26 bypolls alongside Lok Sabha elections PAGE 2 M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , Advance tax receipts up 6% on quarter in Q4 ● Direct tax receipts at 97% of FY24 revised estimate PRASANTA SAHU New Delhi, March 16 THE CENTRE’S ADVANCE direct tax receipts for the fourth quarter of the current fiscal from companies, LLPs and individuals rose by a decent 6% on quarter to `2.85 trillion as per the data till March 15 of the current financial year. The sequential advance tax increase in Q4 comes over a 19% annual increase in advance tax receipts for the third quarter of FY24, indicating continued traction in the economic activity. Advance tax collections are a good indicator of corporate profitability and rise in the earnings of individuals. March 15 was the due date for fourth quarter advance tax payments by companies and individuals. Despite higher refunds during the period till March 15, direct tax receipts (postrefund) stood at `18.91 tril- ADVANCE TAX COLLECTION (` trillion, FY24) Q1 Q2 1.17 2.39 Q3 2.69 Q4 2.85 As of March 15 Achievement (FY24, ` trillion) against target (%) Direct tax collections^ 18.91 Income tax* 9.75 T&Cs apply. Business class product may vary from aircraft to aircraft. New Delhi 95.4 ^After refund; * includes STT lion or 97% of the full-year revised estimate (RE) of `19.45 trillion for FY24,indicating that receipts for the full year will exceed the revised estimate. Continued on Page 2 S T R E TC H O U T A N D R E L A X W H E N YO U F LY B U S I N E S S TO T H E U K , U S A N D C A N A D A B O O K N O W AT B A . C O M 99.2 9.16 IT’S A SERIOUS BUSINESS, RELAXING ORIGINAL 97.2 Corporate tax A BUSINESS CLASS P U N E
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