Hyderabad, Sep 29: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of Telangana on Tuesday recovered Rs 7 lakh cash from the residence of a barber of Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) during searches as part of the investigation into the disproportionate assets case against Additional Medical Superintendent Dr Nori Lakshmi Bhaskar.

ACB officials were conducting searches at the premises linked to five employees of the premier state-run hospital, including barber Dhanraj.

The anti-graft agency, which arrested Lakshmi Bhaskar last week following searches at his premises, found during investigations that some employees of the NIMS were acting as ‘benamis’ of the senior hospital official.

The investigators were shocked to find Rs 7 lakh cash from the house of Dhanraj, whose job at the hospital is cutting hair.

The ACB officials were also examining land documents during searches. They were also looking into the financial transactions of the suspected ‘benamis’ of Lakshmi Bhaskar.

The agency had carried out searches at Bhaskar’s residence and other premises linked to relatives and associates on September 22. It had identified assets worth about Rs 6.13 crore, but the market value of the same was estimated to be around Rs 100 crore.

ACB said that a case was registered against Bhasker, 56, as he had acquired assets disproportionate to his known sources of income by indulging in corrupt practices and dubious means during his service.

Multiple flats, plots, luxury cars and 517.8 grams of gold are among the assets found during simultaneous searches by ACB officials at his residence and seven other places belonging to his relatives, friends, benamis, and other associates.

The officials found documents relating to one four-bedroom flat in a gated community, two triple-bedroom flats in the high-rise gated community at Kukatpally, five double room flats at Manikonda, Petbasheerabad, and Kukatpally, four open plots at Yadradi, Nandigama, Shamirpet and one 800 square yards open plot in Visakhapatnam City, Andhra Pradesh.

They also found bank balances of Rs 41 lakh, deposits of Rs 12 lakh in a Post Office, Rs 35 lakh investment in private financial institutions, Rs 29.55 lakh investment in mutual funds, gold ornaments weighing about 517.8 grams, multiple vehicles and electronic gadgets worth 5 lakh.

Guwahati, Sep 29: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday highlighted the growing investment and employment opportunities in the state, citing a Rs 778 crore investment and the expansion of local value chains from agricultural produce to consumer products.

Taking to social media platform X, CM Sarma said the growth of investment in Assam was creating more opportunities for local employment and enabling products originating in the state to reach markets beyond its borders.

“It grows with opportunity ₹778 Cr investment, more local employment opportunities,” CM Sarma said in his post. Highlighting the connection between agriculture and industry, the Chief Minister said the journey of a potato grown in Assam’s fields to a packet of Lay’s available on consumers’ shelves represented the kind of economic opportunity the state was seeking to create.

“From a potato growing in our fields to a packet of Lay’s on your shelf. That’s what opportunity looks like – Made in Assam, reaching beyond Assam,” he said.

The post underlined the state government’s emphasis on strengthening local production and creating an ecosystem in which agricultural output can feed into large-scale processing and manufacturing.

The Rs 778 crore investment highlighted by CM Sarma is also significant in the context of Assam’s efforts to attract private investment and expand employment opportunities outside traditional sectors.

The government has been promoting the state as an emerging investment destination, with a focus on manufacturing, food processing, infrastructure and other industries.

The Chief Minister’s remarks also pointed to the potential of linking Assam’s farmers with organised food-processing and consumer-product supply chains. Such linkages can create additional avenues for value addition within the state while enabling locally produced agricultural commodities to access wider markets.

The reference to Lay’s reflects the broader idea of converting locally grown agricultural produce into branded consumer products, thereby creating economic activity at multiple stages, from farming and procurement to processing, packaging, logistics and retail.

CM Sarma’s post comes amid the state government’s continued efforts to project Assam as a destination for investment and industrial development. The government has repeatedly stressed the need to generate more local employment while ensuring that the benefits of industrial growth reach communities and producers within the state.

The Chief Minister said the larger objective was to ensure that opportunities created in Assam were not confined to the state but enabled locally produced goods to reach consumers across the country and beyond.

New Delhi, Sep 28: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has extended the due date for furnishing Return of Income for assessment year (AY) 2026-27 from October 31 to November 21 for persons subject to audit under the Income-tax Act, 1961, according to an official statement issued on Monday.

Accordingly, the ‘specified date’ for furnishing the audit report also stands extended from September 30 to October 21, the statement said.

A formal notification to this effect is being issued separately, the statement added.

The demand for an extension had gathered momentum in recent weeks, with several chartered accountant associations and tax professionals seeking that the deadline be pushed to October 31. Tax professionals had also raised concerns over the time required to complete audit procedures, verify disclosures, and reconcile information available across various tax and financial records.

The extension will give taxpayers and their auditors more time to complete the audit process and furnish the required report on the income-tax e-filing portal and is expected to facilitate the ease of doing business.

Meanwhile, the government’s net direct tax collection has recorded a robust 13 per cent growth to surpass the Rs 12.12 lakh crore mark between April 1 and September 17 of the current financial year compared to the same period of the previous financial year, according to official data.

Gross direct tax collections ⁠rose over 15 per cent year-on-year basis to Rs 14.3 lakh crore during the same period, the figures showed.

Corporate tax mop-up grew 19.48 per cent to about Rs 5.56 lakh crore, while personal income tax and collection from Hindu undivided families increased 6 per cent to over Rs 6.16 lakh crore. Securities Transactions Tax (STT) collection jumped 53 per cent to Rs 40,214 crore between April 1 and September 17 compared to the same period of the previous year.

Refund issuance surged by over 29 per cent to cross Rs 2.2 lakh crore during this period, the data further showed.