The Nagaland Legislative Assembly today ratified the Goods and Service Tax (GST) Constitution Amendment Bill.
The bill was endorsed by the House by a voice vote following a brief discussion.
Introducing the bill, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Kiyanilie Peseyie said the revenue of the state would go up as tax evasion would be checked due to transparency and broadening of tax base.
“A purely consuming state like Nagaland will benefit even more since GST is based on the destination principle,” he said, adding, tax administration would improve since most of the activity would be online.
“Bhago yahan se” (go away from here)–a voice suddenly booms from a dark corner of a street in curfew-bound Srinagar as dusk falls.
This is the voice of a para-military personnel behind a concertina wire who tries to prevent movement of people on the main road here and is unwilling to listen to anyone even if one is carrying a curfew pass or has some emergency.
Srinagar like any other part of Kashmir is witnessing the longest spell of curfew since July 8 when unrest broke out in the Valley.
“This has become a daily routine. To walk just across the chowk, which is only 500 metres away, I have to take a detour of nearly two kilometres through narrow lanes and by-lanes to reach my aunt’s place,” says Mushtaq Mir, a resident of Rainawari locality in downtown city.
Mir is carrying some medicines for his aunt who has been suffering from age-related ailments.
Changing his path, Mir, accompanied by his wife, finally chose another route to reach his destination but not before a group of young boys try to block his way as he was sneaking from by-lanes.
Armed with ‘lathis’, stones and bottles filled with petrol and kerosene, youngsters will soon inquire every single detail from you and verify everything before letting you go, he said.
“The security forces at least give you a chance to retreat while with youngsters that option is also not available and you are allowed to cross only after every detail has been verified,” says his wife.
This broadly is the experience of an average Kashmiri in the Valley today who is caught between security forces and agitating youths with no end to this misery in sight.
Many such harrowing experiences of anguished residents were shared with a PTI correspondent on a quick round of the city.
“We are not inhuman but we have to act tough as a preventive measure. In case of a medical emergency, we take care and ensure that the patient reaches the hospital,” says a middle-rung paramilitary officer deployed at Rainawari chowk, who spoke on the condition of anonymity..PTI
India today donated 18 fire fighting engines to Nepal to be utilised mostly by newly established municipalities in and around the Kathmandu valley.
Indian Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae handed over the keys of the fire engines to Minister for Federal Affairs Hitraj Pandey at a function here.
These firefighters will be utilised mostly by newly- established municipalities in and around Kathmandu Valley for controlling fire.
One of the fire fighting engine will be used by the Kathmandu Metropolitan City.
The fire engines gifted by India will play an important role in saving life and property during the time of emergency, Pandey said while addressing the gathering at the function as he thanked the Indian government for its help.
Ambassador Rae said Nepal and India enjoy close ties and during the time of disasters they extend help to each other.PTI
The Travancore royal family today came out against an audit report by former Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai over alleged theft of gold valuables from the Sree Padmanabha Swamy shrine here, saying it was never consulted in its preparation.
Adithya Varma, a member of the the erstwhile royal family which had earlier managed the centuries-old shrine, said, “Such huge difference in the figures (regarding the gold valuables) in the report is unbelievable.”
“It has pained us,” he said, adding they had not been consulted before the compilation of the report submitted in the Supreme Court.
“We have not been consulted before the report was prepared. If we were consulted, it would not have happened,” Varma told a regional channel here.
The royal family member also said old Malayalam numerals were used in the temple records and the “mistakes” in the figures might have happened while translating it.
His reaction came in the wake of reports that the Supreme Court-appointed committee, headed by Rai, had found ‘abnormal’ increase in the expenditure at the temple and gold pots valued at Rs 186 crore had gone missing and that it had recommended constitution of a panel to probe the “irregularities”.
The royals had said in a statement last week that Rai committee had submitted the report without seeking any type of explanation from temple Executive Officer, Treasurer or those in responsible positions during the period from April 2002 to April 2014 or from anyone from the royal family.
CPI(M) veteran and former chief minister V S Achuthanandan recently sought a CBI probe into the alleged theft.
One of the richest temples in south India, the shrine is now under the administration of a committee appointed by the apex court as a case is pending over issues related to its management. The Administrative Committee is headed by a district and sessions judge.
The temple, dedicated to Lord Padmanabha, shot to fame after treasures worth crores of rupees were found in the secret vaults of the temple basement four years ago.
India should shed its concerns over pollution and allow Chinese industries to shift their excess capacity to it which would be benificial to both countries, state media here said today.
“India may need to carefully think about whether it wants to resist or embrace the migration of China’s production capacity, which allegedly involves some investment in heavy polluting industries,” an article in the state-run Global Times said.
Referring to reports of China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC) starting operations at its joint venture plant in Haryana to manufacture and repair locomotives, it said, “the partnership is hardly surprising seeing as India has one of the world’s largest railway network, creating a huge demand for engines and other railway equipment”.
“China’s train makers have an advanced production capacity and have been actively looking for cooperation ties in the world. What is odd is that the cooperation between the two countries has only just now come about,” it said.
State-run Xinhua news agency reported that the plant was set up with an investment USD 63.4 million and the Chinese side holds 51 percent of the share. The India plant will repair and manufacture railway locomotive engines.
The Global Times article said, “there have been some obstacles restricting Chinese enterprises’ access into India, where some people worry that boosting India-China production capacity ties may also bring heavy polluting production into the country”.
“But these concerns are unfounded. The venture plant in India will transform CRRC from a company that exports equipment to one that exports advanced production technology that includes more clean and green methods. Further, this move will boost India’s rail system and drive tax revenue for the local economy,” it said.
“In fact, a considerable part of China’s excess production capacity could be conductive in boosting the local economy if they can be transported to India. A large number of Chinese manufacturers have acquired far more advanced technology than some local Indian firms despite those Chinese enterprises suffered problems of overcapacity domestically,” the article said.
“India may want to consider offering more opportunities for Chinese manufacturers to invest in the country as both countries could enjoy great potential in production capacity cooperation,” it said.PTI
Three people were killed when two vehicles fell into a river after a bridge collapsed in east China’s Jiangxi Province.
The bridge in Xiushui County collapsed last night when an electric motorcycle and a minibus were passing over it.
Two people on the motorcycle were rushed to the county’s hospital by rescuers, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The three passengers trapped in the minibus died.PTI
Terming RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s comments on declining Hindu population as “outdated”, Shiv Sena today said the progressive Hindu community would not accept his thoughts and asked the Centre to implement uniform civil code to maintain “social and cultural balance”.
Instead of focusing on increasing the population of Hindus to counter the rising Muslim population, the Narendra Modi government needs to implement the uniform civil code at the earliest, Sena, a long-time ally of BJP, said.
“Mohan Bhagwat has tried to present outdated thoughts in a modern way. His remarks will not be accepted by progressive Hindu community. Also, PM Modi would not agree that increasing Hindu population is the right way to counter growing Muslim population,” an editorial in Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ said.
“The government is spending a lot of money on family planning. A rise in Muslim population will undoubtedly affect the social and cultural balance of the country, but asking Hindus to have more children is no solution to the problem.
“The only solution is to implement the uniform civil code to cap the population of all communities. If Hindus give birth to more children, problems like hunger, unemployment and inflation will only increase,” the Sena said.
Sena also sought to know if Bhagwat was discreetly trying to back the idea of Hindus having more than one spouse to boost the population of the community.
“In reality, Bhagwat’s thoughts are like a web stuck on the ideals of Hindutva. Instead of this, why does he not back the uniform civil code and strict norms of family planning?”, it asked.
Responding to a question at an event in Agra recently, Bhagwat had said, “Which law says that the population of Hindus should not rise? There is nothing like that. What is stopping them when population of others is rising? The issue is not related to the system. It is because the social environment is like this.PTI
Railways will collaborate with Google for digitizing and showcasing its heritage on digital platforms.
Google has agreed to partner with Railways to digitise its heritage assets and help create a digital repository for universal online access free of cost, said a senior Railway Ministry official.
Indian Railway has a huge list of heritage assets including bridges, steam locos, buildings, artefacts and museums which can be showcased for global audience.
An agreement in this regard will be signed soon between National Rail Museum and Google Cultural Institute (GCI).
GCI is a non-profit organisation that partners with cultural organisations to bring world’s cultural heritage online. GCI builds online tools and offers them to institutions for showcasing and sharing cultural assets.
The official said collaboration will not only make NRM accessible online and offer virtual tours but also help digitise the national transporter’s entire heritage inventory which includes more than 20 museums, hundreds of steam locos, coaches, station buildings, bridges among others.
“Once these are placed online, it will act as a great tourist attraction,” he said.
GCI generally works with government organisations and not for profit groups to provide digital collection management systems and storeytelling tools free of cost.
Various ministries and institutes of the government have already collaborated with GCI for displaying and preserving India’s cultural heritage digitally.
Currently Google is working with the railways in providing free Wi-Fi service at 100 stations.
Indian Railway is preparing a comprehensive conservation management plan to preserve and promote its heritage assets.
Besides, a dedicated rail heritage website under Railway Board’s website is operational for dissemination of information.
Kareena Kapoor Khan is not starring in the fourth instalment of hit comedy franchise “Golmaal” but the actress, who was seen in its previous two parts, might do a special song in “Golmaal 4”, director Rohit Shetty has confirmed.
The filmmaker says he didn’t feel it was right to approach Kareena for the lead role in the upcoming film as she is expecting her first child but he would like to rope her for a small appearance.
“It would have been easy to call her and tell her to do the film. She would have said, ‘Let’s do it’. But I can’t do that (referring to her pregnancy). I will miss her for sure,” Rohit told PTI.
“I can’t talk to her (as she is pregnant) to do it (‘Golmaal 4’). It’s odd. But let’s see we will do a song or something with her (for the movie).”
The fourth movie will go on floors next January and hit theatres during Diwali.
Kareena featured in the second film “Golmaal Returns” and the third part “Golmaal 3” of the Ajay Devgn-starrer franchise.
It was in July this year, when Kareena’s actor husband Saif Alif Khan confirmed that his 35-year-old wife is pregnant.
The baby is due in December.
The AAP government is planning to set up mohalla clinics in the city’s commercial hubs including Nehru Place, Bhikaji Cama Place, and Subhash Place in order to provide medical facility to working class there.
The Kejriwal government has an aim of setting up 1,000 mohalla clinics by the end of this year and out of them, 105 such health facilities have come up in different areas of the national capital so far.
Government has identified 300 schools where such clinics will be set up for giving medical service to students near their study places.
A senior official said that government wants to provide health services to professionals working in commercial areas as many of them are not able to spare time for their health check up.
“We are contemplating setting up mohalla clinics in commercial hubs including Subhash Place, Bhikaji Cama Place and Nehru Place to provide medical services to working class.
Government is looking for land in these areas to open such clinics,” the official also said.
In his Independence Day speech, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had lauded his government’s works in health sector, saying that in the last one-and-a-half years, his government has “prepared” the people of Delhi by educating them besides making them healthy and giving skills.
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