Daily News Dose: Shehbaz Sharif elected Pakistan PM | Apr 11, 2022

Hello, this is your daily dose of news from Onmanorama. I'm your host, Princy Alexander, and these are the major news stories of the day

Shehbaz Sharif elected Pak PM unopposed

Link EPF account to PAN or you will attract a steep tax deduction at source  

Congress issues show-cause notice to K V Thomas for attending CPM seminar

Police Dept complains district Collectors hesitant to invoke KAAPA against goons

Kavya Madhavan to be interrogated on Wednesday

Let’s get into the details.

A Pakistan National Assembly's crucial session elected unopposed Opposition candidate and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz  president Shehbaz Sharif as the next PM, according to reports.  Imran Khan's Tehreek-e-Insaf  lawmakers had started resigning from the House ahead of the vote.   In a related development, a court on Monday deferred until April 27 the indictment of Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz in a high-profile money laundering case and also extended their pre-arrest bail till then, paving the way for Shehbaz Sharif  to take the oath of office.

The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation has issued a set of guidelines on the deduction of tax on interest earned on EPF accounts. As per the new norms, if the EPF account is not linked to PAN, TDS will be deducted at 20 per cent  of the interest earned on the excess contribution of above Rs 2.5 lakh per annum. The normal TDS rate of 10 per cent will be applicable for those who have linked their EPS account with a valid PAN. The final tax will be calculated after adding the interest from EPF to the account holder's income.

The All India Congress Committee on Monday issued a show-cause notice to senior leader K V Thomas who recently attended a seminar organised by the CPM defying a party diktat. The disciplinary committee of the party which met in New Delhi issued the notice asking Thomas to explain why it should not take action against him. The former Union minister has to reply to the notice within a week. The disciplinary panel, chaired by A K Antony, took up the matter after Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K Sudhakaran requested the All India Congress Committee to initiate disciplinary action against Thomas. Sudhakaran made a scathing attack on Thomas, calling him a traitor on Monday.  The KPCC cannot initiate disciplinary action against Thomas as he is an AICC member.

The State Police Department has brought to the notice of the Home Department's ‘lenient’ attitude of District Collectors towards habitual offenders. The police are unable to keep goons in preventive custody as many collectors are hesitant to invoke the Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act against criminals. With several habitual offenders roaming free, the state witnessed some shocking crimes recently, including the murder of a receptionist at a hotel in Thiruvananthapuram who was hacked to death in broad daylight by a goon. Though the police had earlier recommended preventive custody of the assailant under KAAPA, the Collector - who has powers to issue the order - had rejected the proposal. With Collectors regularly rejecting the list of goons submitted by the police, criminals have gained confidence, according to the complaint submitted to the Home Department. 

Actress Kavya Madhavan will be interrogated by the Crime Branch on Wednesday over the continuing probe into the sexual assault of her film industry colleague in 2017. The investigators had initially summoned her to appear for questioning at the Police Club at Aluva on Monday, but she was held up in Chennai. Kavya has requested them to postpone the questioning. Her interrogation has been now scheduled for Wednesday afternoon at the couple's residence in Aluva. Kavya's husband and actor Dileep is a key accused in the case.

That brings us to the end of this episode. Be sure to come back tomorrow. As always, thanks for listening to Daily News Dose.