Expressing shock at the magnitude of the alleged illegal export of 35 lakh metric tons of iron ore by private firms in Karnataka, the Supreme Court on Thursday said it wants to explore the possibility if the guilty could be punished within six months.
The two-member technical panel comprising CD Thatte and DK Mehta had recently surveyed the dam site after Kerala expressed concerns over safety in the wake of recent tremors in the area
Maintaining that a Supreme Court appointed panel on Mullaperiyar Dam had accepted Kerala's demand for a new reservoir, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Friday said the state, which is locked in a row with Tamil Nadu on the issue, would bring it to the court's notice.
Member of the Supreme Court-appointed empowered committee on Mullaperiyar Dam, Justice K T Thomas on Thursday said it was unfortunate that some quarters had sought to politicise and whip up emotions on the panel's report, instead of looking at it rationally.
Coming out against the report of the Supreme Court-appointed Empowered Committee on Mullaperiyar dam, over which Kerala and Tamil Nadu are at loggerheads, Communist Party of India-Marxist veteran V S Achuthanandan on Monday said it was "unilateral and in favour of Tamil Nadu".
Centre is to allocate Rs 1,000 crore for Tamil Nadu from the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana to lay roads in interiors of more than 1,000 kms connecting villages to main towns.
The GST Constitutional Amendment Bill is with the standing committee.
States have been advised to appoint financial advisors or set up an empowered committee with financial experts to oversee major spending decisions.
The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha in December.
The Supreme Court on Monday lifted its ban on iron ore mining operations in Karnataka by those companies which had not flouted lease conditions. A three-judge bench headed by Justice Aftab Alam accepted the report of its Central Empowered Committee, which had said that Category 'A' leases which consist of 21 operational and 24 non-operational leases should be allowed to carry on their business as they have not violated any rules.
A defiant Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) will challenge its suspension by the Sports Ministry in court next week and has also called for an Executive Committee meeting in New Delhi on January 16 to discuss the way forward.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seems to be sitting on the proposal, while requests continue to flow in from states to add more names to the delegation.
Wants all services included in tax, with a negative list.
With the probe of the Centre-appointed Shah commission into alleged irregularities entering its last lap, Goan miners have started bracing themselves for a possible Karnataka-like blanket ban on mining and exports.
Sushil Kumar Modi tells Business Standard the spirit of collective federalism needs to be heeded by all sides if the key reform is to become a reality.
The meeting has been called as the Finance Minister P Chidambaram did not extend a March 31 deadline for the trusts to get regular tax exemption through the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation.
The mining scam had first rocked Karnataka and now Goa. While the mess in Karnataka is well known, the scenario in Goa is no different. The Central Empowered Committee in its interim report on illegal mining in Goa has found various illegalities in its detailed report, a copy of which is with Rediff.com.
The CEC gave its latest report to the Supreme Court on Thursday.
The Karnataka government would abide by the Supreme Court decision on the recommendation of Central Empowered Committee to extend Central Bureau of Investigation probe into illegal mining in the state, Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda said on Friday.
The Supreme Court on Friday suspended mining activities in Tumkur and Chitradurga districts of Karnataka, saying it would not change its order until a proper rehabilitation programme is formed. A three-judge forest bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia gave the order on a recommendation by its expert panel for halting extraction of iron ores in Tumkur and Chitradurga districts of Karnataka.
Delhi and Maharashtra may lower value added tax on bullion to 0.25 per cent as consensus on introducing uniform floor rate for precious metals seemed difficult to emerge at the empowered committee's meeting on Wednesday
Bihar deputy chief minister and finance minister Sushil Modi was on Monday elected the new chairman of the empowered committee of state finance ministers.
Seeking to allay fears of the trading community, the Empowered Committee on Value Added Tax on Thursday said there would no 'inspection raj' when the new state-level tax regime comes into effect from April 2005.
Officials said Mukherjee had proposed the name of Modi for the post, as an experienced person like him could have helped convince BJP-ruled states to move ahead on the Goods & Services Tax (GST).
Despite Tamil Nadu's objections, a Supreme Court-appointed Empowered Committee on Mullaperiyar Dam issue on Monday asked the state and Kerala to file their response by Friday on the ownership mechanism of a new dam, if built in place of the existing structure.
The Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee on Friday said that large-scale illegal mining was going on in Karnataka, particularly in Bellary district, in connivance with officials and public representatives.A special forest bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia issued a notice to the state government and sought its response on various findings in the CEC's interim report, including the export of 304.91 lakh metric tonnes of iron ore without valid permit.
Will have to pay 12% tax besides 3% education cess.
The Union finance ministry has rejected a proposal sent by the labour ministry to double the monthly minimum pension amount to Rs 2,000 under the Employee Pension Scheme (EPS). The Central Board of Trustees (CBT), the apex decision-making body of the Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), was apprised of the proposal's rejection during a meeting on Saturday. "According to the recommendations made by a highly-empowered monitoring committee constituted by the government, a proposal to increase the minimum pension under EPS from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 per month, by providing additional budgetary support, was sent to the ministry of finance.
The empowered committee of state finance ministers has approved the position paper of the Centre on the information technology network for the proposed indirect tax regime.
As the Centre tried to build consensus on its proposal on constitution amendment bill, required for the rollout of GST, and even floated revised draft to please states, some states came out with alternative model that would not require the amendment of constitution.
State FMs okay list of tax-exempt services with certain riders.
The government has cleared the acquisition of 46 new aircraft worth over Rs 19,000 crore by three low-cost carriers: SpiceJet, IndiGo and Jet Lite. The new planes will arrive in a staggered delivery schedule beginning November. The acquisitions were cleared on August 30 at a meeting of a civil aviation ministry empowered committee.
Bench, however, did not pass any order against 68 other mines
Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj on Thursday again turned the heat on the Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state, accusing it of inaction on the Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee's report on illegal mining.
Addressing the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee called for the inclusion of petroleum products in proposed goods and services tax so that sharp domestic price movements can be checked.
The empowered committee of state finance ministers for implementation of value added tax would meet in first half of January 2004, to decide on the implementation of the new tax system.
'Jitendra Pratap Singh (his character in Vedaa) believes in the divisive politics of society and that is more dangerous than the regular goons.'
