GST Council hikes tax on caffeinated beverages, cuts rates on hotel tariffs

Agencies
September 21, 2019

New Delhi, Sept 21: The all-powerful GST Council on Friday more than doubled the tax on caffeinated beverages to 40 per cent and slashed the rate on hotel room tariffs.

Briefing reporters after a meeting of the panel, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the GST on caffeinated beverages has been hiked to 28 per cent plus additional cess of 12 per cent as against the current rate of 18 per cent.

For hotels, she announced nil tax for those with tariffs of up to ₹1,000 per night. Hotels charging ₹1,001 to ₹7,500 per night room tariff would be levied with 12 per cent tax as against the existing 18 per cent.

Similarly, the tax on room tariff of above ₹7,500 has been slashed to 18 per cent from the existing 28 per cent.

Also, tax on outdoor catering has been reduced to 5 per cent from existing 18 per cent with input tax credit, she said.

The GST was also cut on marine fuel to 5 per cent while the same on railway wagons, coaches, roling stock has been increased from 5 per cent to 12 per cent.

Exemption from the GST has been given to imports of specified defence goods that are not manufactured in India.

A uniform GST rate of 12 per cent will be levied on woven/non-woven polyethylene bags. The cess levied on top of the maximum 28 per cent tax rate on petrol vehicles with capacity to carry 10-13 persons has been reduced to 1 per cent and the same for diesel vehicles has been cut to 3 per cent.

The tax on almond milk has been set at 18 per cent, she said adding all rate changes would be effective from October 1.

The GST on slide fasteners (zips) has been reduced to 12 per cent from 18 per cent earlier. Also, the tax on diamond job work has been reduced to 1.5 per cent from 5 per cent earlier. The same on supply of machine job cut to 12 per cent from 18 per cent

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May 18,2020

New Delhi, May 18: Very severe cyclonic storm ‘Amphan’, over central parts of South Bay of Bengal, has intensified into extremely severe cyclonic storm, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Monday. The weather department has warned that ‘Amphan’ may turn into a “super cyclonic storm’.

According to experts, North Odisha coast will face the maximum impact of cyclone Amphan when it makes landfall.

“Wind speed expected to be 110-120 kmph, gusting up to 130 kmph. Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Mayurbhanj dist can be affected on 20 May (when it makes landfall), IMD Bhubaneswar scientist Umashankar Das told news agency ANI.

The IMD has said that ‘Amphan’ will cross West Bengal - Bangladesh coasts between Digha (WB) and Hatiya island - in the afternoon/evening of May 20 as very severe cyclonic storm.

Earlier, the IMD had warned that ‘Amphan’, over central parts of South Bay of Bengal, will intensify into an extremely severe cyclonic storm on Monday.

“Very Severe Cyclonic Storm (VSCS) ‘AMPHAN’ over central parts of South Bay of Bengal near latitude 12.5°N and longitude 86.4°E, about 870 km nearly south of Paradip (Odisha). To intensify further into an Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm (ESCS) in the next six hours,” the IMD said in a tweet on Monday.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has sent its 10 teams to Odisha and seven teams to West Bengal in view of the approaching Cyclone Amphan, news agency reported.

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News Network
March 27,2020

New Delhi, Mar 27: The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 17 in the country on Friday and the number of coronavirus cases climbed to 724, according to the Health Ministry. In its updated figures at 9.15 am, the ministry stated that four deaths were reported from Maharashtra while Gujarat had registered three deaths.

Karnataka has reported two deaths so far, while Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Punjab, Delhi, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh have reported one death each.

According to the data, the number of active COVID-19 cases in the country stood at 640, while 66 people were either cured or discharged and one had migrated. The total number of 724 cases included 47 foreign nationals, the ministry said.

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News Network
May 29,2020

May 29: Over 45,000 stranded Indians were brought back home from abroad under the Vande Bharat mission and another 1,00,000 will be evacuated till June 13, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday.

The mega evacuation mission was launched on May 7.

MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said the government is also assisting return of stranded Indians from remote locations in Latin America and Caribbean, Africa, and parts of Europe.

"This is being done by taking advantage of foreign carriers flying to India primarily for evacuation of their nationals," he said during an online media briefing.

He said a total of 45,216 Indians were brought back till Thursday afternoon and they include 8,069 migrant workers, 7,656 students and 5,107 professionals.

About 5,000 Indians have returned through land border from Nepal and Bangladesh.

In the first phase of the mission from May 7 to 15, the government evacuated around 15,000 people from 12 countries. The second phase of the evacuation mission was scheduled from May 17 to 22. However, the government has extended it till June 13.

Srivastava said a total of 3,08,200 people have registered their request with Indian missions abroad for repatriation to India on compelling grounds.

"During the phase two, a total of 429 Air India flights (311 international flights + 118 feeder flights) from 60 countries are scheduled to land in India. The Indian Navy will be making four more sorties to bring back returnees from Iran, Sri Lanka and the Maldives," Srivastava said.

The MEA spokesperson said the government is targeting to bring back 1,00,000 people from 60 countries by the end of phase two of the Vande Bharat mission.

"Preparations for third phase of Vande Bharat Mission are well underway," he said.

As per the government's policy for evacuation, Indians having "compelling reasons" to return like pregnant women, elderly people, students and those facing the prospect of deportation are being brought back home.

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