New Delhi, Jul 8 : Jammu and Kashmir, the only state that missed the July 1 rollout date of Goods and Services Tax (GST), today joined the new indirect tax fold making GST a true ‘one nation, one tax’ regime.
President Pranab Mukherjee promulgated today two ordinances — the Central Goods and Services Tax (Extension to Jammu and Kashmir) Ordinance, 2017 and the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (Extension to Jammu and Kashmir) Ordinance, 2017 — extending the domain of Central GST Act and the Integrated GST Act to the state from July 8.
The Jammu and Kashmir Goods and Services Tax Bill 2017 was adopted by the state assembly yesterday.
With this, the Union Ministry of Finance said, Jammu and Kashmir has become part of the GST regime, making GST “truly a ‘one nation, one tax’ regime”.
“Congratulations to the Mehbooba Mufti led PDP-BJP Government of J&K for making the GST constitutionally possible in the state,” tweeted Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
GST was rolled out in the country on July 1 with much fanfare marked by a midnight programme in Parliament that was attended by Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, among other dignitaries.
However, because of the special provisions applicable to Jammu and Kashmir, extra steps had to be taken before the state could come under the GST fold.
On July 6, the state had taken the first step towards adopting the GST regime with the President of India giving assent to the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Amendment Order, 2017.
Resultantly, the One Hundred and First Amendment Act, 2016 to the Constitution of India that paved the way for introduction of GST in the country, became applicable to the state of Jammu and Kashmir also.
Following this, the Jammu and Kashmir Goods and Services Tax Bill, 2017 was passed by the State Legislature yesterday, empowering the state to levy State GST on intra-state supplies with effect from July 8.
In an attempt to digitise its education system, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) on Thursday launched Digital Libraries comprising 68 lakh books which would cater to students from the primary level to PhD level thereby providing a digital platform to bookworms.
The libraries, which was launched by Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu, would be accessible on the NDMC website and mobile application for free.
“With an aim to improve education to move ahead in the digital era, the NDMC has endeavoured to provide digital libraries in its schools using the e-Granthalaya Integrated Library Management Software from National Informatics Centre (NIC), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India.
“Students can have access to over 68 lakh books on subjects like literature, mythology, science, research papers and academics free of cost,” an NDMC spokesperson said, adding, the council now aims to digitise all its public libraries.
While launching the service, Naidu said that the school Library is not only to promote building a knowledge driven community for the future but also to develop a road map for students. He said that books are our best friends because books can provide us company in our bliss and rainy days and added that the step can help in transforming the manner in which information can be accessed.
The initiative is part of the Smart Classroom initiative of the NDMC under which the civic agency aims to digitise the education system in the schools of their jurisdictions.
NDMC has set up 444 Smart Classes in its 30 schools, with e-learning facilities in Class VI-XII, to raise the standard of education.
Bangkok, Jul 7: World youth champion Sachin Siwach (49kg) was the lone Indian to enter the final, while five others settled for bronze medals after losing their last-four stage bouts in the Asian Youth Boxing Championship here on Thursday.
Sachin defeated Thailand’s Panmod Thitisan to enter the final, where he will face Uzbekistan’s Samandar Kholmurodov in tomorrow.
However, none of the other Indians in fray could advance and settled for bronze medals.
Ankit Kumar (60kg) lost to Thailand’s Sakda Ruamthamin a close bout. The Indian went down in a split verdict despite a fairly dominant show, especially in the second and third round.
Naveen Boora (69kg) was the next man in for India and he too ended up on the losing side, beaten by Thailand’s Peerap Yaesungnoen.
In the super heavyweight (+91kg) category, Harshpreet Sahrawat lost to Uzbekistan’s Lazizbek Mullajanov.
Harshpreet was fighting his first bout of the tournament after getting a direct entry to the semi-finals owing to the small size of the draw.
Mohammed Etash Khan (56kg) also found the going tough against Thailand’s Pluem Wangkhlaklang and ended up with a bronze medal.
The last man to compete for India on Thursday was Sachin (75kg) and although he gave a good fight to China’s Zhu Chao, the effort could not get the judges’ nod, who ruled in his opponent’s favour in a split decision.
The tournament features 120 boxers from 23 countries.
Work is underway on China’s second railway line to Tibet that will wind through some of the world’s most mountainous and inhospitable territory and likely take the better part of a decade to complete, state media said today.
Work at the line’s two ends in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, and Tibet’s capital of Lhasa has already begun, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
Other feasibility studies have been completed, but the most difficult section, through the mountains from Kangding in Sichuan to Nyingchi in Tibet, is still being designed and may take seven years to finish once construction begins, Xinhua said.
Once completed, the line will run for 1,700 kilometers, 80 per cent of it consisting of tunnels and bridges. Total cost is estimated at 250 billion yuan (USD 37 billion), while the travel time from Chengdu to Lhasa will be cut from 48 to about 13 hours, Xinhua said.
Likening it to a roller coaster, designers said the line will traverse eight ascents and descents, topping out at 4,400 meters (14,400 feet), Xinhua said. Varying terrain, landslides and earthquakes are also major threats.
“It will be the most difficult super project in railway construction history,” Xia Lie, a senior engineer at China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group, was quoted as saying.
The line is the latest in a seemingly endless series of hugely ambitious construction projects that include the gargantuan Three Gorges Dam, the world’s longest bridge over water in Jiaozhou Bay and the world’s most extensive high-speed rail network.
China opened an initial line to Lhasa from Qinghai province to the northeast in 2006 that runs for 1,956 kilometers (1,215 miles) and tops out at about 4,000 meters.
New Delhi, Jul 6: A Parliamentary panel is understood to have sought details from the government on the Air India disinvestment decision.
Sources said the government’s decision to divest stake in Air India was discussed today at the meeting of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture.
After the discussion, it was decided to seek an explanation on the reasons behind the disinvestment decision from the civil aviation ministry. The aviation secretary is believed to have been asked to appear before the panel on July 12, sources said.
On June 28, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gave its in-principle approval for the disinvestment of Air India, which has been in the red for long.
During the panel’s meeting today, sources said the issue of Air India was raised by Congress member and former Minister of State for Civil Aviation K C Venugopal.
A group of ministers, headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, would be looking into various aspects of Air India.
It would look into the treatment of unsustainable debts of the national carrier, hiving off certain assets to a shell company and de-merger and strategic disinvestment of three profit- making subsidiaries.
Air India, which has a debt burden of more than Rs 52,000 crore, is staying afloat on taxpayers’ money. The previous UPA government had extended bailout package worth little over Rs 30,000 crore to the national carrier for a ten-year period starting from 2012.
New Delhi, Jul 5 : The Congress on Tuesday demanded that the five per cent Goods and Services Tax (GST) levied on domestic cooking gas (LPG) cylinder be removed as it was burdening the poor.
The domestic LPG price has shot up by up to Rs 32 per cylinder – the steepest increase in six years – following implementation of the GST.
“The price of domestic LPG cylinder has gone up by Rs 32 in parts of the country after the GST became effective. This is affecting common people, the poor especially. We demand that the GST on domestic LPG cylinder be removed immediately,” senior AICC spokesperson Ajay Maken told reporters here.
Subsidised LPG rates have been increased to Rs 477.46 per 14.2-kg cylinder from Rs 446.65 in Delhi after the GST was implemented from July 1.
Before the GST came into force, two to four per cent value added tax was imposed on the LPG in some states.
Maken accused the government of not passing on the benefits of drop in global crude oil prices to people of the country.
“The government is making profits to the tune of Rs 3 lakh crore every year by not slashing prices of fuel here. On the one hand, it is making profits and on the other, it is burdening the poor by imposing GST on the LPG cylinder,” Maken said.
He claimed that food and beverages, helmets, hair oil, toothpaste, tea, coffee, butter, curd, cement and mineral water were some of the items whose prices have shot up, notwithstanding the government’s assurance that their rates would drop once the GST was in force.
Maken also described the GST as ‘Gayi Savings Tumhari’ (your savings have vanished).
The former Union minister said the government’s recent decision to lower interest rates on small saving schemes like PPF, Kisan Vikas Patra and Sukanya Samriddhi by 0.1 per cent for the July-September quarter would also affect the poor including labourers.
“It is a big blow to the common people, particularly the poor, labourers. You are collecting more taxes through the GST, but are also hurting savings of the people by such a decision,” he said.
Moscow, Jul 5 : Russia and China today called for a simultaneous freeze on North Korean nuclear and missile tests and military exercises by the United States as tensions ratcheted up on the peninsula.
“The two sides propose that the DPRK (North Korea) as a voluntary political decision declares a moratorium on testing nuclear explosive devices and ballistic rocket launches, and the US and South Korea refrain from carrying out large-scale joint exercises,” their foreign ministries said in a joint statement.
“Parallel to this the opposing sides should start negotiations and affirm general principles of their relations including the non-use of force, rejection of aggression and peaceful coexistence,” the statement said.
The joint statement issued after a meeting between leaders Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping in Moscow followed an announcement by North Korea that it had test fired its first intercontinental ballistic missile.
The claim could be a watershed moment in Pyongyang’s push to develop a nuclear weapon capable of hitting the mainland United States — although Moscow and Washington cast doubt on the claim it was a long-range missile.
The test sparked a Twitter outburst from US President Donald Trump who urged North Korea’s closest ally China to act to “end this nonsense once and for all”.
In their joint statement Russia and China condemned the missile test announcement as “unacceptable” and urged against “any statements or actions that could lead to an increase in tensions”.
China has previously called for a “dual track” approach of “suspension for suspension” that would see North Korea and the US ease up on tensions, and now Russia has added its weight to the plan.
Brussels, Jul 5 : The European Union today warned it may consider additional sanctions against North Korea after it carried out what Pyongyang tested what it claimed to be an intercontinental ballistic missile.
Last month, the EU expanded its sanctions blacklist after North Korea launched a volley of surface-to-ship cruise missiles off its east coast.
The EU’s external affairs arm said in a statement that the bloc expected North Korea to abide by UN resolutions and halt all work on its nuclear and missile programmes.
The European Union “will consider an appropriate response, in close consultation with key partners and in line with UN Security Council deliberations, including possible additional restrictive measures,” it said.
The EU expected North Korea to refrain from any further action which could increase regional tensions and to take part in talks on resolving the crisis, it added.
In an unusual joint statement earlier, Russia and China condemned the missile test as “unacceptable” and urged against “any statements or actions that could lead to an increase in tensions.”
EU sanctions against North Korea date back to 2006 and are part of international efforts to halt a nuclear and ballistic missile programme which experts say is intended to give Pyongyang the capability to hit the US mainland.
The Indian Army today maintained that no bulldozers were used when its bunkers were destroyed by the Chinese army amid the current standoff with China in the Sikkim sector.
The army also denied that the border standoff with China is the longest ever since 1962.
“The incident is not the longest standoff between the two nations,” said a statement issued by the Army spokesman here.
The spokesman also said that no bulldozers were “ever employed” for destroying the Indian bunkers and that no physical scuffle had occurred between the personnel of Indian Army and the People’s Liberation Army(PLA). A senior government functionary had earlier said that bulldozers were used to destroy the Indian bunkers.
The spokesman also claimed that no such incident ever happened on June 6 and referred to a statement made by the Ministry of External Affairs in which the date of incident was mentioned as June 16.
The spokesman went on to clarify that “Indo-China relations as also the relationship between both the armies are extremely well managed by a host of mechanisms.
“The MoD (Ministry of Defence) or the Indian Army has neither issued any official statement nor has undertaken any unofficial briefings due to the fact that such sensitive issues are best dealt between two nations away from the media glare,” the spokesman said.
He said that in this situation “as some of the acts have happened involving Bhutan, therefore, Ministry of External Affairs has already given a substantial briefing on the issue.”
Beijing, Jul 3: China’s ambitious space programme suffered a rare setback today as its new heavy-lift carrier rocket, the Long March-5 Y2 failed to put the country’s largest satellite into orbit.
An anomaly occurred during the flight of the rocket, which blasted off at 7:23 PM (local time) from Wenchang Space Launch Centre in southern province of Hainan, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Further investigation will be carried out, it said.
The blast which was telecast live initially appeared successful as the rocket blasted off seemingly without problem. But Xinhua later reported that the rocket launch has failed.
The Long March-5 made its maiden flight in November 2016 from Wenchang, sending its payload into pre-set orbit.
The rocket, carried the Shijian-18 satellite.
The launch is the last test for the Long March-5 series before its mission to send the Chang’e-5 lunar probe into space in the latter half of this year, which will return with samples, the report said.
With a weight of 7.5 tonnes, Shijian-18 is China’s latest technology experiment satellite and the heaviest satellite China has ever launched into space, it said.
It was aimed at testing China’s new Dongfanghong-5 (DFH- 5) satellite platform and carry out in-orbit experiments including Q/V band satellite communication, satellite-ground laser communication technologies and an advanced Hull electric propulsion system, it said.
China is carrying out massive space programme in recent years with missions to moon and manned missions to build a space station which is currently under construction.
According to experts, the massive heavy rockets also have fined tuned China’s missile power.
The Long March-5 uses environmentally friendly fuel, including kerosene, liquid hydrogen, and liquid oxygen, rather than highly toxic propellants, it said.
In April this year China has launched its first cargo spacecraft, Tianzhou-1, into space using the country s heaviest Long March-7 Y2 carrier rocket to dock with the orbiting experimental space station which was expected to be operationalised by 2022. .
Tianzhou-1 was larger and heavier than Tiangong-2, which is 10.4 metres in length and has a maximum diametre of 3.35 meters, weighing 8.6 tonnes.