The current draft of the Goods and Services Tax could kill any hope of economic revival - and you should blame the Congress if it rolls over and lets it pass, says Mihir S Sharma.
The deposit has been made on account of the rate reductions approved by the GST Council in its November. The rate was reduced on items including shampoo, detergents, chocolates, beauty products, sanitary ware, leather clothing, cookers, stoves, after-shave, deodorant, detergent and washing power. Companies found it difficult to pass on the benefits to consumers immediately at the time of GST rate reduction owing to logistical issues.
From Braille writers and Braille paper to wheelchairs, talking books, assistive listening devices and implants for the severely physically-challenged will attract a Goods and Services Tax of 5 per cent. But inputs and raw material for manufacturing of these assistive devices or equipment attract 18 per cent GST. Since the final consumer tax is lower than the tax on inputs, a domestic manufacturer can claim refund, an official statement said.
Reaching out to the opposition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday sought its cooperation in the passage of GST bill even as it asserted that government will be targeted over developments in Arunachal Pradesh and Kashmir during Parliament's Monsoon Session starting on Monday.
'The prime minister's announcement of a nation-wide shutdown was eloquent, but should have been more clearly phrased to avoid police overreach.' 'Migrant labour should have been allowed adequate notice and transport options to get home,' notes Rahul Jacob.
Pre-Budget excercise next month should scrupulously avoid adventurism of all types and refrain from making excessively ambitious projections on revenue and expenditure numbers for 2023-24, suggests A K Bhattacharya.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Friday attacked the Uttar Pradesh government over the death of a Kanpur businessman in a police raid, claiming that the case is linked to an extortion racket and "someone" is trying to save himself.
Most of the pharma units are failing in documentation, and validation processes, and many don't have full-fledged quality control laboratories.
The noted economist said some of the bad loans are due to a slowdown in the economy and asset restructuring companies are part of the solution.
Raghuram Rajan optimistic about passage of GST
Export growth picked up mainly owing to rising global crude prices, which pushed up processed petroleum exports by nearly 40 per cent, apart from a broad-based improvement in exports of major foreign exchange earners such as engineering goods and gems and jewellery.
'If petro products are brought into GST, then there will be minor impact on the incidence of tax... and minor impact on prices. The price of petrol, diesel will continue to be driven by global factors'
Group of ministers to review progress every fortnight.
'You may see some movement indicating a simpler tax regime with less exemptions but with fewer tax rates making life simpler for taxpayers.'
'The 2024 election results will lead to much intense targeting of Modi, more intense debates, many more breakdowns in Parliament and many more movements on the streets.' 'The results have hit Modi's standing, and the politics of the Opposition parties will be sharply focused to ensure that Modi doesn't get back his charisma of being 'invincible' with help of State power.' Sheela Bhatt looks at the political situation through the prism of 2024 Lok Sabha election results.
Raja clarified that he had only watched clips of the movie on his mobile phone and said he did not have the patience to sit through a two-and-a-half hour film.
The lack of clarity on who is next in line, when the time comes, as indeed it will one day some day, reflects poorly on the management of the world's largest political party. It scarcely need be said that a squabble between the contenders, Shah and Yogi, is exactly what the doctor ordered for the Opposition, notes Krishna Prasad.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit and Justice Bela M Trivedi said it was sitting in a combination of two and according to a reference order on the matter, it should go before a bench of three judges for disposal.
After the Covid-19 pandemic that derailed the economy since 2019, the Durga Puja festival in West Bengal is back with an estimated 20-30 per cent jump in festive spending. Retail sector is the key contributor to the state's Durga Puja economy which was Rs 32,377 crore in 2019, according to a British Council study conducted for the state government. Retail accounts for 85 per cent of the total puja economy and the rest is shared among pandal making, decoration, illumination, entertainment, advertisement, food & beverage and others.
Congress is opposing the GST bill in the current form.
He also took potshots at opposition parties' decision to observing November 8 as a 'Black Day', saying the move displays their faith in cash economy.
Experts have flagged issues regarding the levying of new cess/tax, especially those related to complications in administering the cess.
Optimistic buying in blue-chip stocks ahead of release of industrial production data for July and retail inflation for August drove stocks higher.
Drabu said the GST regime will roll out in the state at midnight on Friday, making Jammu and Kashmir the last state to join the new tax regime.
Finance secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey on Sunday hinted that the government was working on another stimulus package but he refrained from giving a timeframe.
The rates of price rise in many services used by the common man, including hospital and nursing, cook, domestic help and bus (fare), among others, have also touched double digits during the last four years, putting a burden on disposable income.
Financials were the top losers after sharp gains in the previous session along with ITC
The system has gone through three rounds of testing for its load-bearing capacity.
Unlike the first two stimulus packages, this time the focus would be on boosting demand.
Extending losses for 7th session, Nifty fell below the 8,000 mark for the first time since Nov 25
The 30-share barometer remained up throughout and hit a high of 29,070.20, powered by a rally in RIL and other blue-chips. The index ended 215.74 points up, or 0.75 per cent, at 29,048.19 -- its highest closing since March 5, 2015, when it had closed at 29,448.95.
The surge in export, domestic demand and public spending in infrastructure projects might revive private investment during 2017-18.
'If because of El Nino, the monsoon is affected adversely in the current year, naturally it will affect income projections and consequently Budget numbers.'
Aditi Phadnis predicts frequent stand-offs between the Centre and states in the future.
Market benchmarks Sensex and Nifty soared to new peaks on Tuesday, driven by gains mainly in metal, financial and IT stocks amid firm global cues and sustained foreign fund inflows. Tata Steel was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging 4.38 per cent, followed by Bharti Airtel 4.37 per cent, Vedanta 3.50 per cent, Tata Motors 3.03 per cent, HDFC 2.46 per cent and Bajaj Finance 2.39 per cent.After surging to its record intra-day peak of 41,401.65, the 30-share BSE barometer settled 413.45 points, or 1.01 per cent, higher at its all-time high of 41,352.17. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty rallied 111.05 points, or 0.92 per cent, to its record closing high of 12,165.
BJP president Amit Shah is chairing the meeting attended by top party leaders from across the country.
For his first Budget in July 2014, Jaitley inherited a fiscal deficit target of 4.1 per cent of GDP. From 4.1 per cent, the fiscal deficit came down to 3.4 per cent by 2018-19, with two slippages from the budgeted targets, in 2017-18 and 2018-19, the former due to introduction of the GST, says Arup Roychoudhury.
Accounting for the first Advance Estimates for 2017-18, an additional planned borrowing of Rs 200 billion, the fiscal deficit could come in at 3.35 per cent of GDP.
The proposed bullion bank can help settle gold loan accounts in gold terms, and promote existing gold schemes, along with launching schemes including gold-recurring deposits.
The NSE Nifty settled the day 96.80 points, or 0.94 per cent lower, at 10,224.95
