Delhi Assembly passes amendment to VAT Act

July 1, 2015

New Delhi, Jul 1: The Delhi Assembly on Tuesday passed the Delhi Value Added Tax (Second Amendment) Bill which will allow the state government to regulate the VAT on petroleum products, liquor and aerated drinks.

Indian currencyObjecting strongly to the bill, BJP's MLA Vijendra Gupta tore off its copy and staged a walkout along with party MLAs Om Prakash Sharma and Jagdish Pradhan.

Amending the existing VAT doesn't mean that the state government will increase the tax. This move will only make tax system flexible, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who is also the Finance Minister, said.

The government said the bill will make enabling provisions for levy of VAT in respect of goods enlisted in the Fourth Schedule such as liquor, tobacco, aerated drinks and others - at flexible rates instead of a flat slab of 20 per cent.
"At least we have put an upper limit (30 per cent), but there are some other states where it is unlimited. Through this flexibility, we aim to end black-marketing. In Haryana, it is unlimited and in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, the government can raise it upto 50 per cent.

"But we have fix the upper limit up to 30 per cent so that the next government cannot raise it to 50 per cent or above," Sisodia in the assembly.

The government wants to make it clear that flexibility is different and tax increase is different, he said.

He hoped that other state governments will follow suit and reduce the VAT and keep it below 30 per cent.
Sisodia rejected media reports suggesting government will icrease VAT, saying "those who are opposing it should have read it before opposing".

"Government has only cleared the proposal of increasing the VAT limit. VAT has not been increased on any such thing which will not affect the 'aam aadmi'. Instead, the government has come up with proposals to ease the entire process of VAT," an AAP leader said.

A government official said the bill is aimed at moving towards uniformity in tax rates and develop a common market to boost trade among the neighbouring states.

Last month, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh had agreed to move towards ensuring uniformity in tax system. The finance ministers of all four states had also agreed to set up a Zonal Economic Intelligence unit to check evasion of taxes.

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May 10,2020

Kochi, May 10: A total of 698 people who were evacuated from Maldives on INS Jalashwa, arrived here on Sunday around 9.30am (India time), said the Cochin Port officials. This operation is part of Indian Navy's 'Operation Samudra Setu'.

Another 121 from Lakshadweep also arrived at Mattanchery, near here. on MV Arabian Sea - a passenger/cargo ship sailing under the Indian Flag.

Samudrika Cruise Terminal has been opened up for handling the expatriates and Port has taken up necessary refurbishments consistent with the medical protocols.

The Cochin Port Trust officials said the first group of 698 persons evacuated from Maldives comprises 595 males and 103 females. Of this, 14 are children below 10 years and 19 pregnant women.

Among the 698 passengers, 440 are from Kerala, 156 from Tamil Nadu and the rest are from various states in the country.

Ernakulam district collector S. Suhas said all those from Tamil Nadu will be sent to their state in the bus.

The ship is berthed at BTP Jetty and the disembarkation procedures are being carried out at Samudrika Cruise Terminal. It will take around three hours for all the passengers to be cleared.

According to the protocols, all the Keralaites will be sent for 14 days institutional quarantine at their respective home districts.

Those who are having exemption from institutional quarantine have to be at home isolation.

Among the 121 who arrived on MV Arabian Sea from Lakshadweep include students and those Keralaites who work in the island.

The protocol for these 121 passengers is that since they have been checked there, all these people can go to their homes and be in isolation for 14 days.

The general guideline is if any one shows any symptoms of Covid-19, all such people will be directly sent to Covid hospitals, here.

The distance between Male and Kochi is 493 nautical miles and it began its voyage to Kochi on Friday evening.

INS Jalashwa is an Indian naval ship attached to the Eastern Naval Command. It was acquired from the United States and was commissioned in 2007.

INS Jalashwa has the capacity to accommodate 1000 troops, and comes equipped with extensive medical facilities, including four operation theatres, and a 12-bed ward facility.

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News Network
May 30,2020

New Delhi, May 30: An Air India flight from Delhi to Moscow on Saturday had to return midway after the airline's ground team found out that one of the pilots had tested positive for novel coronavirus, officials said.

"When the A320 plane, which did not have any passengers as it was heading to Moscow to bring back stranded Indians under Vande Bharat Mission, had reached Uzbekistan's airspace, our team on ground realised that one of the pilots had tested COVID-positive," senior Air India officials said.

"The flight was immediately asked to return. It came back to Delhi at around 12.30 pm on Saturday," the officials said. The crew has been quarantined. Another plane would be sent to Moscow to bring back the stranded Indians, according to the officials.

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March 21,2020

New Delhi, Mar 21: A couple was deboarded from a Delhi-bound Rajdhani train on Saturday after co-passengers observed a home quarantine seal on the husband's hand, the Railways said Saturday.

Officials said the Delhi-based couple boarded the Bangalore City-New Delhi Rajdhani at Secunderabad on Saturday morning.

When the train reached Kazipet in Telangana at 9:45 am, a co-passenger noticed the quarantine mark authorities are putting on suspected coronavirus cases —on the husband's hand when he was washing his hands. Other co-passengers then informed the TTE onboard.

The train was briefly detained and the couple was taken to a hospital. The coach was completely sanitised in Kazipet and was locked, officials said.

The air conditioning was also switched off.

The train left for its destination at 11.30 am.

People fleeing quarantine has been a common problem reported from different parts of the country.

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