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GST Council fails to end deadlock on compensation to states

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Centre can certainly address the cess issue by borrowing under option 1-Rs.1.1 lakh crore through a special window facilitated by RBI and Ministry.

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The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meeting on Monday failed to arrive at a consensus between Opposition-ruled states and the Centre on a contentious issue of borrowings to meet shortfalls in cess collections.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Centre can certainly address the cess issue by borrowing under option 1- Rs.1.1 lakh crore through a special window facilitated by RBI and Ministry. The Centre is ready to help the States who have decided to borrow to bridge the cess shortfall, the Minister said, while briefing the media late on Monday. 

Sitharaman further stated that if borrowing would be done by the Centre it will result in a surge of G-sec yields, and borrowing costs for states and the private sector. The borrowing falls under Article 293 of the constitution and it is the state’s right to decide what they want to do, she added.

GST Council meeting

This was the third meeting in a row that discussed compensation shortfall without a decision. However, 21 states have agreed to take the resolution while the other opposition ruled states termed the process as illegal.

Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Issac objected to the announcement of 21 states that will be allowed to choose Option 1 and termed it “illegal”. He tweeted that the Option 1 involves deferment of compensation payment beyond five years  for which the council decision is crucial as per Attorney General’s opinion. He claimed no such decisions have been made in the council meeting. The announcement in the press conference is a total disregard for democratic norms, he wrote.

Further, Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal said there was no agreement at the meeting to the demands of 10 opposition states for dispute resolution mechanism and formation of a Group of Ministers on the issue.

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Stressing upon the differences, Sitharaman was reluctant to term the compensation issue as a dispute. She said the absence of unanimity doesn’t mean there will be dispute. The Centre is open to discussion and the states can talk, she added.

Meanwhile, as per the Centre’s proposal, the cess collections will be used to repay the interest and principal amount of the borrowing and the deferred compensation.

India News

Ramdev, Balkrishna publish bigger apology in newspapers after Supreme Court’s rap

In the apology published, Ramdev and Balkrishna said they unconditionally apologise in their individual capacity as well as on behalf of Patanjali Ayurved for the non-compliance or disobedience of directions/orders of the Supreme Court of India

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Yoga guru Ramdev and his aide Acharya Balkrishna on Wednesday published a fresh bigger apology in leading newspapers for misleading advertisements of Patanjali’s medicinal products. This time, the apology was bigger in size after the Supreme Court pulled up Patanjali’s Ramdev and Balkrishna for not prominently displaying it earlier.

In the apology published, Ramdev and Balkrishna said they unconditionally apologise in their individual capacity as well as on behalf of Patanjali Ayurved for the non-compliance or disobedience of directions/orders of the Supreme Court of India. The apology said that they earnestly apologise for the mistake made in publishing their advertisements and it is their whole-hearted commitment that such mistakes will not be made again in the future.

During a hearing of the contempt proceedings related to the misleading ads case on Tuesday, the Supreme Court had asked Ramdev and Balkrishna if the size of the apology published in newspapers by Patanjali was similar to full-page advertisements for its products.

Ramdev and Balkrishna had told the Supreme Court Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah that they issued unqualified public apology in as many as 67 newspapers over the issue of misleading ads and they were willing to publish additional apologies for expressing their mistake. The duo said that the cost of the advertisements is Rs 10 lakh.

The Supreme Court bench asked why the apology had been published after one week, just ahead of the case hearing. Justice Kohli also asked if the size of the apology published was the same size as their advertisements? The court also ordered Patanjali to collate the ads and submit them before the Supreme Court bench.

The bench further added that the size of the apologies should not be enlarged and should be supplied to them.  The Supreme Court bench wanted to see the actual size. The bench added that they want to see that when they issue an ad it does not mean they have to see it by a microscope.

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2024 Lok Sabha Elections

Rahul Gandhi clarifies on wealth survey remark, says aim is to identify injustice

Gandhi further added that everyone should look at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reaction and said that the moment he said let’s test how much injustice has been done the BJP started saying that this is an attempt to break down the country.

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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday took a U-turn on his wealth survey remark and said he only wanted to find out the amount of injustice the nation was facing. Rahul Gandhi was addressing Congress’s Social Justice Conference at Delhi’s Jawahar Bhawan where he clarified that he has not said Congress will take action yet. He said   that he was just saying that they will find out how much injustice has been done.

Gandhi further added that everyone should look at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reaction and said that the moment he said let’s test how much injustice has been done the BJP started saying that this is an attempt to break down the country. The former Congress chief said through the X-ray (wealth survey), the Congress will get to know the root cause of problem.

Gandhi said it is his life’s mission to ensure justice for the 90 % of the population against whom injustice has been done. He alleged Injustice is being done to 90 percent of Indians and the moment he called for checking this injustice, PM Modi and the BJP started attacking him. Gandhi further added that as soon as the INDIA Bloc will form its government the first thing that would be done is caste census.

On April 7, Rahul Gandhi said Congress, if voted to power, would conduct a financial and institutional survey to ascertain the distribution of wealth among the people in the country. Rahul Gandhi was addressing a public rally in Hyderabad after releasing the Congress’s manifesto where he said the survey will be conducted apart from a nationwide caste census that the party has promised if voted to power.

The former Congress chief also spoke about the Ram Mandir inauguration, and said, not a single Dalit, or a tribal was seen at the temple, or during the inauguration of the new Parliament building. He said 90% of the population understands this.

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2024 Lok Sabha Elections

PM Modi says Congress leaders consider themselves above Lord Ram

PM Modi slammed Congress during a rally in Chhattisgarh, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections 2024

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed the Congress party for declining to attend the pran pratishtha ritual at the Ayodhya Ram temple on January 22 this year.

The prime minister said Congress leaders consider themselves above Lord Ram and denied invitation for Pran Pratishtha at Ram Temple, while speaking at a rally in Janjgir-Champa, Chhattisgarh. The PM question the people present at the rally that is it not a disrespect of Mata Shabri? Congress leaders inclination toward appeasement politics runs in their family.

For political appeasement, they won’t think twice about stealing the rights of Adivasis, the poor, and Dalits. Poor, young, and women are BJP’s top priorities, Modi said.

PM Modi criticized the Congress again during the rally for claiming that the BJP would alter the constitution.

The leaders of Congress recite the same old phrases whenever an election is about to happen, the PM said. He also said they claim that if the BJP wins power, it will renounce the constitution and abolish reservations. For how long will you continue selling lies?” he asked.

The prime minister continued saying that nobody can change the Constitution, even if Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar were to come and insist on it, it wouldn’t happen.

Those in the Congress threaten to break Modi’s head. Nobody can harm Modi as long as the mothers and sisters of this county stands by him. These mothers and sisters are Raksha Kavach, Modi remarked.

The prime minister further attacked the Congress after Viriato Fernandes, the party’s candidate for South Goa, asserted that Goa was forced to adopt the Indian Constitution.

Referring to his conversation with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Fernandes said he had told him, when Goa was liberated in the year 1961, the Indian Constitution was forced upon us.

The prime minister said, Congress candidate from Goa says Constitution was forced upon Goans; is this not an insult of Ambedkar and Constitution.

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