Heeding to demands made by several states, the GST Council on Friday put on hold a decision to hike the tax rate on textiles to 12 per cent and referred to a panel of state ministers to recommend rate by February, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said. The panel, the highest decision-making body for indirect taxes, met under emergency provisions after states made a request for deferring the tax rate hike on textiles, from the current 5 per cent, to be effective from January 1, 2022. Currently, the tax rate on manmade fibre (MMF) is 18 per cent, MMF yarn 12 per cent, while fabrics are taxed at 5 per cent.
The by-election was necessitated due to death of sitting CPI(M) member Bikash Chowdhury.
Coal requirement for the plant would be met through Coal India.
In many states, aggregators operate without a licence; in others, with the risk of the licence being revoked by any regional transport office on the slightest pretext.
Stating that at least 16 people of different political parties have lost their lives in the post-poll violence in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party, saying unable to digest defeat in the state elections they were sending central ministers to incite unrest in Kolkata.
'From chaiwala he has now become Rafalewala. He speaks a bunch of lies,' the West Bengal CM said.
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RIL had objected to the state government's decision to receive bids in sealed envelopes instead of an open auction.
'It is not his doing, but Rahul Gandhi is forced by circumstances.' 'In taking political decisions, everything has to get his clearance.'
The contentious issue of value added tax was resolved on Tuesday with the state finance ministers deciding to implement from June 1 the new tax system in place of the sales tax.
Talking to reporters at the accident site, he said the issue is of electric point machine, a vital device for railway signalling, and electronic interlocking.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi mounted a blistering attack on Trinamool Congress over corruption charges against it and also on CPI-M.
A young couple sharing a laugh - in the living room over a Polish joke book, on the beach, in the rain - with the tagline, "Made for each other", hung from billboards at prominent street corners from the 1960s to the 1990s. It was a campaign for one of the largest selling cigarette brands in India, Wills (Navy Cut) from the ITC stable, that resonated with a generation of smokers and non-smokers alike till the curtains came down on tobacco advertising in 2004. As we prepare to welcome 2024, ITC has metamorphosed from a tobacco giant into a conglomerate straddling multiple large-sized businesses. In the mind space of Gen Z or millennials, the company represents a gamut of branded products - from frozen food (ITC Master Chef), noodles (YiPPee!), and cookies (Sunfeast) to snacks (Bingo!) and notebooks (Classmate), and so on and so forth.
Mitra said that Tata group firm TCS was creating additional 20,000 jobs.
The CBI has registered a case related to the alleged diversion of fertilisers meant for farmers against Agrasen Gehlot, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's brother, and 14 others, and carried out searches at his Jodhpur home and 16 other locations in three states, officials said.
10 central trade unions have called a nationwide shutdown against 'anti-worker policies' of the central government. Apart from being successful in Bengal, Kerala and NE states, the bandh has also got support from Cong leader Rahul Gandhi and Shiv Sena in Maharashtra.
However, the chief minister made up for her absence by addressing the gathering via state Industry and Finance Minister Amit Mitra's mobile phone.
Designer Ritu Kumar draws attention to the urgent needs of the handloom industry.
The estimated size of the Durga Puja economy could be about Rs 2.75 trillion in 2021 had there been no pandemic, points out Atanu Biswas.
With an aim of maximising its electoral prospects, Trinamool Congress will be using the 'star power' of actor Mithun Chakraborty to add spark to its campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Telangana and Haryana are at the second and third positions. Others in the top ten are Jharkhand (4), Gujarat (5), Chhattisgarh (6), Madhya Pradesh (7), Karnataka (8), Rajasthan (9) and West Bengal (10).
The brewing discontentment in the party may adversely impact the TMC's prospects in the next assembly polls due in April-May next year.
'The untimely demise of Shri Cyrus Mistry is shocking. He was a promising business leader who believed in India's economic prowess,' Prime Minister Modi said in a tweet.
'With the appeal of both the Left and the Congress fading, Banerjee fears the saffron brigade's inroads into her citadel,' says Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
At the Bengal Leads-2012, the third investors' event hosted by Mamata Banerjee since she became Chief Minister, Banerjee asked the industry that it start investing in West Bengal.
An interview with Amit Mitra, the finance minister of West Bengal.
A prominent West Bengal Communist Party of India- Marxist leader Anisur Rahman embarrassed his party and kicked up a political storm for making obscene remarks against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee before apologising, with Trinamool Congress submitting a privilege notice and threatening to slap a legal notice on him.
West Bengal, the chief minister said, cannot be compared with other states and despite all hurdles it had an increased revenue generation over the last three years from Rs 21,000 crore (Rs 210 billion) to Rs 40,000 crore (Rs 400 billion).
The people of Singur feel they have lost their representative in the government who would plead the issue of fast-tracking the process of returning their land, which seems to be a distant reality, with the battle being fought in the courts.
'It did not start as a Hindutva slogan.' 'It started to tease the TMC and slowly it got internalised and the BJP started countering with Jai Shri Ram slogans because Mamata was getting provoked.'
Rediff poll: Can Mamata transform Kolkata into London?
With her trademark cotton sari and rubber slippers and her generous doles in rural Bengal, many describe Mamata Banerjee as "ultra left."
Banerjee, also the TMC supremo, said in a sarcastic way that personnel of security forces such as the CRPF, BSF, CISF and the Army are present at convoys of every BJP leader visiting West Bengal.
Where did the rasgulla originate from? Is the dish originally from Odisha or West Bengal?
Invoking its Constitutional powers, the Election Commission on Saturday put in place certain restrictions, including extending the 'silence period' from 48 hours to 72 hours, for the fifth phase of polling in West Bengal after violence in Cooch Behar district.
Talking to PTI Amarjeet Kaur, General Secretary of All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), said, "The two-day nationwide strike by the joint forum of central trade unions has begun this morning". About the impact of the agitation, she said that the entire coal belt (mining area) is affected in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. She also said that there is a good response in industrial areas of Assam, Haryana, Delhi, West Bengal, Telangana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Bihar, Punjab, Rajasthan, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. The AITUC official noted that the banks and insurance sectors are affected all over India, while steel and oil sectors are also seeing partial impact due to the strike. Kaur said that she has got preliminary reports that markets are closed in Odisha.
Trinamool Congress Member of Parliament Saugata Roy has resigned as adviser to the West Bengal government's Commerce, Industries and IT Ministry over alleged differences with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Bengal Inc wants politics to be kept out of business by the new government that will be decided in the ongoing assembly polls in West Bengal as they believe the prosperity of the state has taken a beating on account of political differences and issues.
Banerjee along with other regional leaders are likely to play an important role in any future government in New Delhi, so it is in India's interest that regional leaders like herself realise the importance of progressive economics and good governance, says Tridivesh Singh Maini.
During his address after flagging off the train via video-conferencing, Modi said his government's policies are clear and intentions transparent in reforming the agriculture sector.
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