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Terror in J&K now being fought effectively: Modi

Terror in J&K now being fought effectively: Modi

Narendra ModiVijaypur (Samba) : Terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir is now being fought effectively, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday.

“Our security forces including the Jammu and Kashmir Police have been battling terrorism,” Modi told a public rally in Vijaypur town in Samba district on his arrival here after visiting the Ladakh region.

“I salute martyrs like Naik Nazir Ahmed Wani, Aurangzeb Khan and others,” he added. “Terrorism is now being effectively dealt with in the state.”

Modi said the government was building 14,000 bunkers for the safety of people living along the border with Pakistan to escape frequent firing and shelling by Pakistani forces.

The border residents, he said, led “a tough life”.

Modi also spoke about the displaced Kashmiri Pandit community.

“The Central government is committed to protect the honour and dignity of our Kashmiri Pandit brothers. They have suffered due to terrorism.

“This pain has always been in my heart. The promised 3,000 jobs for the Kashmiri Pandits have been rolled out.

“We are committed to democracy. The 70 per cent voter turnout in the recently held Panchayat elections is a victory for the people and the state administration.”

—IANS

Students from abroad must come to India to study: Modi

Students from abroad must come to India to study: Modi

Narendra ModiSrinagar : Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday that his dream was to see students from foreign countries coming to India for higher studies.

Answering a question on educational standards in India, Modi said: “My dream is that instead of our students going to other countries for higher studies, students from all over the world must come here to study.”

During his visit to Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, Modi answered queries from students across the country after connecting with them digitally.

Over one lakh students from various states were digitally connected with Modi while over 2.5 crore others were able to connect with this interaction through social media.

On the digital revolution, Modi said: “Humankind has advanced over centuries but due to innovation and technological intervention during the last 40 years, we have taken a quantum jump.

“Digital revolution has changed our lives drastically. Time will come when perhaps coaching and classrooms could also become obsolete.”

Can India become a poverty free country?

“If India decides to rid itself of poverty, there is no power that can keep us poor,” he said.

“We are the fastest growing economy. Empowerment of the middle class is taking place at a fast pace and this is helping many amongst us to get rid of poverty.

“In 2014, rural sanitation was 35 per cent and today it is 98 per cent. We must take a firm resolve to get rid of poverty and it can only happen by empowerment of the poor.”

On linking education and tourism in Odisha, he said: “The first requirement of tourism is to take pride in our tourist places.

“Unless we pride ourselves on our tourist potential, we cannot fully explore its potential. During my visit to the US, I was shown a 400-year-old landmark in Pennsylvania. In our country, we can boast of thousands of years old landmarks.

“Homestay is popular throughout the world. We need to promote this in a big way to help our tourism.”

—IANS

Interim Budget beneficial for every section of society: Amit Shah

Interim Budget beneficial for every section of society: Amit Shah

Amit ShahNew Delhi : Hailing the Interim Budget 2019-20 presented by Finance Minister Piyush Goyal in the Lok Sabha, BJP president Amit Shah on Friday said the Budget has met the expectations of every section of society, including farmers, labourers and the middle class.

“The Budget has fulfilled what was being expected by the people from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It has met with the expectations of every section of the society,” Shah said.

By bearing a cost of Rs 75,000 crore, he said, the government will implement the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme providing Rs 6,000 to each farmer owning land up to two hectares. This scheme will also benefit those farmers who do not take loans.

Speaking on ‘Kamdhenu Yojana’, Shah said it is a great step taken by the Prime Minister for the welfare and protection of cows.

“A Kamdhenu Samvardhan Aayog will look after the welfare and protection of different breeds of cows. The Aayog will also manage construction of cowsheds and other schemes for cows.”

Shah congratulated the Government for announcing an over Rs 3 lakh crore outlay for the defence sector.

“Modiji has tried to ensure the security of the country by providing One Rank One Pension and a record amount for defence sector in this Budget,” Shah said.

The government in the Budget, Shah said, has also given space to fishermen as they play a big role in the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“By making a separate department for fisheries, the Modi-led government will have more focus on the sector.”

The BJP chief said that the Rs 3,000 pension for labourers after attaining the age of 60 years will benefit them at a time when they will not be able to do hard work. The Budget, he said, also mentions about the bonus for labourers working in the organised sector.

He said the government is also committed to the development of the northeastern states. “After putting the North-East on the railway as well as the airport map, the government now has increased the budget by 21 per cent over the previous year. This is the highest budgetary increase so far.”

Shah also said the government will create an Aayog for the nomadic community for their welfare.

“To benefit the middle class, the Government has doubled their income tax limit from Rs 2.50 lakh to Rs 5 lakh in this Budget. The Prime Minister has given more than what was expected.”

—IANS

Goyal showers tax sops, reaches out to farmers, unorganized labour

Goyal showers tax sops, reaches out to farmers, unorganized labour

Goyal showers tax sops, reaches out to farmers, unorganized labourNew Delhi : Setting aside all conventions with an eye on the coming elections, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday showered tax sops for the middle class and salaried tax payers including zero tax liability for those with income is up to Rs 5 lakh and announced an annual income support of Rs 6,000 for small farmers and contributory pension for labourers in the demonetization-hit unorganized sector.

Taking the place of an ailing Arun Jaitley, in his 100-minute speech, Goyal also announced raising the Standard Deduction for the salaried class and pensioners from Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000 and proposed exemption from tax on notional rent on second self-occupied home. This would help families maintaining homes at two locations due to their jobs.

In a big relief for the middle income group, he increased the rebate under Section 87A of the Income Tax Act from Rs 2,500 to Rs 12,500 – the equivalent of 5 per cent tax on Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh slab – and also raised the eligibility criterion for claiming the rebate to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 3.5 lakh earlier. This effectively reduces the tax liability of those with net taxable income upto Rs 5 lakh to nil.

However, tax liability for those with net income above Rs 5 lakh would still start from Rs 2.5 lakh as earlier. The Interim Budget neither changed the existing tax rates or the slabs.

The tax giveaways involve a revenue sacrifice of Rs 23,100 crore a year to benefit more than three crore salary earners and pensioners – Rs 18,400 crore on account of Rs 12,500 tax rebate and other changes and Rs 4,700 crore on account of raising the standard deduction.

In the wake of the BJP’s defeat in the Hindi heartland states in December on perceived stress in agriculture and informal sectors, the Budget came out with a direct income support of Rs 6,000 per annum for small farmers with land-holding size up to two hectares which would be transferred directly into their bank accounts.

The scheme would be funded completely by the Central government and would directly benefit 12 crore farmer families, he said to the cheers of the ruling benches.

Acknowledging reduced returns for farmers due to falling food prices in the international market and declining inflation, Goyal said the scheme would be implemented from December 1 last year for which Rs 20,000 crore has been allocated in the revised estimates for the current fiscal and Rs 75,000 crore in the Interim Budget for the whole of next fiscal.

For the demo-hit unorganised sector, Goyal announced a contributory pension scheme providing for Rs 3,000 per month on attaining 60 year that will benefit 10 crore workers in the unorganized sector.

Those who enter the scheme at 18 years will have to pay a monthly premium of Rs 55 while those who enter at 29 years will have to pay Rs 100 per month till they reach 60. The government will contribute a matching share in the pension account of workers.

This scheme, he said, will be implemented from the current year and a sum of Rs 500 crore has been allocated and more will be given if needed.

In a big relief to pensioners and senior citizens, he also raised the threshold for Tax Deduction at Source (TDS) on interest received on bank deposits from Rs 10,000 to Rs 40,000, and TDS on rent from Rs 180,000 to Rs 240,000.

“Once you account deductions under Section 80(C), middle class tax payers with gross income upto Rs 6.5 lakh will have no need to pay income tax,” he said amidst prolonged thumping of desks by the ruling NDA members who kept shouting “Modi, Modi, Modi”. The Prime Minister was himself seen thumping the desks every time Goyal made fresh announcements.

Taken along with Standard Deduction and other sops like interest paid on home loans, education loans, contribution to National Pension Scheme, medical insurance premium and medical expenses on senior citizens, the effective exemption would go up further.

He said while the changes in the tax structure would be made in the regular Budget, people needed a certainty in their minds in the beginning of the year about what taxes they would have to pay and went on to announce the tax sops in the Part B of his speech.

The budget also stepped up defence allocation which he said will be crossing Rs 3 lakh crore for the first time in 2019-20. “If necessary, additional funds would be provided for securing our borders and to maintain preparedness of the highest order.”

Part of the funding for the agriculture and unorganized sector schemes may come from the Rs 20,000 hike in the RBI and PSU dividends from Rs 54,000 crore in 2018-19.

Turning to macro finance in the budget, Goyal revised the fiscal deficit target for 2019-20 at 3.4 per cent of the GDP, up by 0.1 per cent targeted this year.

“We would have maintained fiscal deficit at 3.3 per cent for 2018-19 and taken further steps to consolidate fiscal deficit in 2019-20. However, considering the need for income support to farmers, we have provided Rs 20,000 crore in the revised estimate of the current fiscal and Rs 75,000 crore in the budget estimates of 2019-20.

“If we exclude this, the fiscal deficit would have been less than 3.3 per cent for 2018-19 and less than 3.1 per cent for 2019-20.”

The Interim Budget pegged the total expenditure for 2019-20 at Rs 27,84,200 crore, up from Rs 24,57,235 crore in the revised estimates of the current fiscal, which is a rise of approximately 13.3 per cent.

At the outset, Goyal said the paralysis of the past had been broken and India solidly put back on track and marching towards growth and prosperity.

The government had succeeded in breaking the back of the “back breaking” inflation which stood at 2.19 per cent in December. “If we had not controlled inflation, our families would have been spending around 35 to 40 per cent more today on basic necessities.”

Critics of the budget said the exercise was one of optics and rhetoric. They raised questions like where the money would come for funding the schemes to benefit farmers and labour in the unorganised sector.

The government may bank on the gross borrowing that has been estimated at over Rs 7 lakh crore but on the direct taxes front contrary to claims of buyoancy and compliance ramping up, there is a defict.

Government sources indicated that all eyes would now be on RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, who was appointed recently, to come to the aid of the government to come out with an interest rate cut on the back of a benign inflation.

—IANS

Prospects for Budget 2019

Prospects for Budget 2019

BudgetBy Sunjay Kapur,

Lets start with the facts. While developing economies lose momentum, Indias momentum seems to tell another story:

* The Reserve Bank of India pegs the growth for FY19 at 7.4 per cent.

* According to the Global Economic Prospects report released by the World Bank, India’s GDP is expected to grow at 7.3 per cent in 2018-19, and 7.5 per cent in the next year.

* India’s growth is projected at 7.5 per cent in 2019 as compared to China’s projected 6.8 per cent as per the International Monetary Fund.

These are facts in the present day global, political, and economic scenario.

Being an interim budget, expectations are riding high from all aspects.
2017-18 witnessed phenomenal growth of brand India in the wake of reforms. Despite increase in oil prices, a weak rupee, and global trade war-like situation, India’s sovereign credit rating touched Baa2; and India ranked 100 among 190 countries assessed by the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ parameter.

This space needs to pick up pace, especially in the automotive sector. Considering that it contributes more than 7 per cent to the GDP, it can be the game changer.

Considering the demonitisation and GST introduction, the recent growth numbers are respectable. To maintain our position, we must maintain growth momentum, push infrastructure investments, and continue to expedite reforms in a big way.

I will keenly watch how the following plans unfurl:

Rationalisation of GST

India, a price-sensitive economy, is at odds with double digit growth. We hope for automobiles to be regulated under a uniform base GST rate, and an additional cess only applicable to luxury vehicles. Currently, automobiles attract peak GST rates of 28 per cent with an additional cess that ranges across the extremely broad spectrum of 1 per cent to 15 per cent depending upon specifications and make of engine. A small engine car to a large one attracts an excise duty that varies from 12.5 per cent to 27 per cent. Those with ground clearance of more than 170 mm attract 30 per cent more excise duty. The existing framework also levies tax rate of 28 per cent and 43 per cent on dealer margins. Naturally, this coupled with high insurance has led to subdued demand over the last three months.

Incentivise EV

In the context of initiatives taken to scale up e-mobility in the country, the sales of e-vehicles are bound to witness a radical turnaround. Envisaging the future as we are, smart or automatic vehicles should also benefit from the tax relief.

Electric vehicles should come under the ambit of a lower rate of taxation, preferably 5 per cent. In addition, to increase viability, road tax can be totally exempted.

Rev up Research and Development

Needless to say, this is an area of exploration that is too important to undermine if we are to move into the future. The initial 200 per cent weighted deduction on R&D spends was reduced to 150 per cent in April 2017.

Vehicle scrapping

It is suggested that the replacement of vehicles registered before the year 2000 should be considered under a one-time incentive scheme. Most of pollution in India, almost 80 per cent and road accidents are caused or attributed to vehicles that are more than 15 years old.

We should look at replacing or easing out pre-2000 registered vehicles. This initiative holds immense potential to spur automotive sales in addition to having a significant impact on reducing perils of pollution, which has been called out multiple times on international platforms.

We as part of the industry propose that the Centre institute one-time incentive; these can be in the form of reduced GST, lower interest rate on car loans, or rebate in road tax for replacement vehicles.

Simultaneously, end of life vehicles (ELVs) recycling is a necessity for our country. The Centre must implement a robust legislative framework for pollution control goals.

As per expert V. Ravichandar, the automobile industry must perform a proactive role by voluntarily discharging their extended producer responsibility (EPR).

The correct implementation will create jobs, conserve resources, save energy, reduce pollution, and mitigate climate change. Recycled aluminum consumes 5 per cent energy, whilst recycled steel consumes 20 per cent of energy. Further, there will be saving with regard to foreign exchange, as effective recovery can reduce import of these metals.

One thing is certain, streamlined GST implementation, and continued positive reform policies are sure to sustain a robust GDP growth. The general sentiment plugs it as a pacifying, populist budget to appease the larger salaried classes and farmers.

(Sunjay Kapur is the CEO of SONA Group & Managing Director of SONA BLW Precision Forgings Limited)

—IANS