Income Tax Department As part of efforts to reduce disputes and improve services to taxpayers, 2.22 lakh appeals were disposed of in the last financial year, an increase of 29% over the previous financial year, PTI reported.CBDT Chairman Ravi Aggarwal, in a letter to officials, said actions in the current financial year (2026-27) should be “guided” by data, “proportional” and aligned with the goal of a “fair and efficient” tax system.He said the department has “significantly” strengthened its use of data analytics and intelligence-driven approaches to identify risks and guide enforcement.Aggarwal said a “theme-based” investigation was conducted to address issues such as false claims of deductions and suppression of business receipts.According to official data, 2,22,540 appeals were disposed of in 2025-26, while 1,72,361 appeals were disposed of in 2024-25, showing an increase of 29.11%.Of the 1,51,239 inheritance appeals pending at the beginning of the year, 50,654 cases were disposed of through a “special drive”, reinforcing the department’s “commitment” to bringing “certainty” to the tax system.As a result, the carry-forward pendency of legacy appeals declined by 33.49% compared to the previous year.The department disposed of 72,933 complaints during the financial year with an average resolution time of 47 days.Additionally, 1,32,125 correction applications were processed and 5,68,621 orders of effect (OGE) were issued.Overall, more than 10.26 lakh cases in OGE, corrections and grievance redressal were settled, reducing the outstanding demand by Rs 12,33,469 crore, officials said.Agarwal said around 1.56 lakh trusts were allowed registration and re-registration, many of which were brought from paper records to the digital system.The department also signed 219 advance pricing agreements (APAs), up 25.86% from 174 in the previous financial year, aimed at providing certainty in transfer pricing.He said 2026 holds “special significance” with the implementation of the new Income Tax Act, 2025 and Income Tax Rules, 2026, which aim to increase ease of compliance while strengthening non-intrusive, data-driven tax administration.

BENGALURU: Chief of Defense Staff General Anil Chauhan on Friday said India’s push towards a unified theater command has cleared its most significant hurdle – agreement in principle between the three services – but key questions on structure, sequencing and organization are still being worked out.Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of Ran Samvad 2026 in Bengaluru, Chouhan described the reform as “a big step”, noting that the Army, Navy and Air Force are united on the basic idea of ​​separating force generation from force application. “There is complete agreement on the concept,” he said, adding that details such as command location, structure and sequencing “can be resolved during implementation” and are not cast in stone.Chouhan acknowledged that the reforms involved voluntarily reducing the traditional authority of the service chiefs, a concession he described as significant. Calling it a more meaningful development than structural details, he said, “The service chiefs are willing to do this for the larger good of India.”The new joint headquarters will integrate operations, intelligence and logistics under a single structure. The existing regional commands will continue to be under the theater command for operations while being attached to the service headquarters for administrative purposes. Chauhan clarified that the Army’s proposed Integrated Battle Groups (IBGs) are completely separate, aimed at making ground combat units more agile and are unrelated to the theater command structure.On the theme of RAN dialogue, on multi-domain operations, Chauhan offered a more detailed view than currently reflected in doctrine. He argued that warfare has moved beyond physical spheres into synthetic and cognitive spheres, where shaping public perception can achieve political objectives without firing a single shot – pointing to ongoing conflicts where battlefield dominance has not translated into clear political outcomes.He also presented an original reformulation of U.S. Air Force strategist Colonel John Boyd’s OODA (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act) loop, suggesting that advances in predictive AI and data analytics could reverse the traditional sequence, allowing forces to orient and decide before observing, thereby compressing the decision cycle more than Boyd had imagined.Chauhan characterized time as the emerging fourth dimension of warfare, noting that modern battlefields now host systems running at vastly different speeds simultaneously, from slow-moving underwater platforms to almost instantaneous cyber intrusions, demanding new frameworks for understanding and command.On capability options, he was deliberately non-committal on debates such as the future of aircraft carriers versus submarines or tanks, arguing that the war was evolving too rapidly for firm long-term answers. He denied any shift towards expeditionary ambitions, reaffirming that securing India’s borders remains the primary focus, with foreign roles limited to humanitarian aid and UN missions.Terming the Ran Samvad as a deliberate reversal of the tradition of centering serving officers rather than veterans or think tanks, Chauhan said the seminar also acted as a diagnostic tool, giving him a ground-level insight into how deeply the culture of jointness has actually penetrated the three services.

Big win for American journalists: Judge criticizes Pentagon’s ‘unlawful policy’, asks to restore press access

U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman ruled Thursday that the Pentagon was in violation of his earlier order to restore press access for journalists.Reuters reports him as saying that the new restrictions were imposed by the Defense Department because its prior rules were deemed unconstitutional.In his ruling, Friedman said the Pentagon “cannot reinstate an unlawful policy under the guise of taking ‘new’ actions and expect a court to look the other way.”As part of an ongoing lawsuit brought by The New York Times, the court ruled in March that changes made by the Pentagon last year to press access, including stripping the credentials of several major outlets, violate the First Amendment as reported by the AP.However, the Pentagon responded to the March decision with even tougher sanctions.“The very next business day, the department announced it was immediately closing the ‘Correspondents’ Corridor,’ the area of ​​the Pentagon from which journalists had worked for years,” Friedman said.The Pentagon completely banned journalists from entering military headquarters without official escort, instead providing a new workspace “in an annex facility”.

‘An attempt to deny the order of the transparent court’

For decades, verified journalists from major outlets have been given badges, allowing them to roam freely around parts of the Pentagon to engage with officials and public affairs staff. The Defense Department has cited security risks for the tighter restrictions.Friedman wrote that the stringent sanctions “are not safeguards or attempts to fulfill prior commitments, but rather transparent attempts to negate the effect of this Court order.”He ordered the Defense Department to allow Times journalists and “all regulated parties” access to the Pentagon.

Pentagon disagrees, plans to appeal

Defense Department spokesman Sean Parnell said on social media that the department disagrees with the decision and intends to appeal.“The Department has complied with the court’s order at all times – it has reinstated the PFAC of each journalist identified in the order and has issued a significantly revised policy that has addressed every concern identified by the court in its March 20 opinion.”He added: “The Department is committed to press access to the Pentagon while meeting its statutory obligation to ensure the secure operation of the Pentagon Reservation.”

Times lawyer: Verdict ‘affirms First Amendment’

Times lawyer Theodore Boutrous said Thursday’s decision “powerfully vindicates both the court’s authority and the First Amendment’s protection of independent journalism.” AP report.The lead plaintiff in the suit, The New York Times, had told Friedman that the Pentagon had not complied with his order, but instead issued a new “interim” policy in defiance of the court’s decision.

Widespread tension between the press and the Trump administration

Pentagon press access has become a point of broader tension between the media and the Trump administration, with officials often attacking coverage it deems distasteful.Among other measures, the Defense Department last year forced eight major outlets to vacate their verticals to make room for new, mostly conservative outlets.AFP, along with the Times, Fox News, the AP and others, have refused to sign on to the new policy, resulting in their Pentagon credentials being stripped. The current Pentagon press corps consists mostly of conservative outlets that agree with the policy.

‘Viewpoint discrimination, full stop’

Friedman, who was nominated to the bench by Democratic President Bill Clinton, said recent U.S. military operations in Venezuela and Iran underscore the need for public access to information about government activities.“The drafters of the First Amendment believed that the security of the country required a free press and an informed people and that such security was endangered by government suppression of political speech. That principle has protected the country’s security for nearly 250 years. It should not be abandoned now,” the judge wrote last month.Friedman said the challenge policy was apparently designed to weed out “disgraced journalists” and replace them with people who are “involved and willing to serve” the administration.“That,” he wrote, “attitude is discrimination, full stop.”