Bring petrol, diesel under GST
A bandh called to protest the rising fuel prices was a total success. The whole credit of this success should go to Narendra Modi and no one else. This bandh was not a result of some pressure brought on another political party. The country responded voluntarily. The value of rupee is continuing to fall against the dollar. The devaluation of rupee and rising oil prices are two faces of the same coin. The government is stumped at their pace.
Today there are no economic experts within the government to explain why this has happened. Politicians are speaking the way it pleases them. Sanyasis and babas are confusing people. They are confusing people on social media by releasing fake and concocted stories. The moment someone raises a question about rising prices, the Modi followers are defending the government and speak about rising fuel prices during UPA period. There are fake sites like Post Card etc are floating stories that peddle such nuisance.
Instead of controlling rising fuel prices, the government is busy defending its decision, and preparing itself to face challenges that lie ahead. It means, the government will never reduce the prices. Also, this means “you must tolerate this for Modi’s sake”. Is it not possible to reduce the prices? Or does the government not want to do it? We need to find an answer to this question. Whose interest is the government trying to protect by acting like an innocent victim when it comes to rising fuel prices? It is not favouring people for sure. This increase in fuel prices can affect all other essential commodities too. To query on why the fuel prices were increasing, the government points finger at crude oil and decreased rupee value against global cues. The government says they cannot control the price of petrol. At the same time, the government is cleverly concealing the fact that other countries in Asia continent have priced their fuel lesser than India.
So why is India paying more for petrol and diesel? The whole reason for this is the taxes that are levied on the fuel. State and central governments add VAT to this. The central government is receiving Rs 19.48 tax for petrol and Rs 15.33 for diesel. Above this, the state governments add their VAT as well. The indirect taxes on petrol and diesel are 100% on petrol and 70% in diesel. If not for these taxes, despite the increase in crude oil, petrol and diesel could be sold at Rs 40 per litre. NDA is heavily dependent on oil products for its excise duty collection. The share of tax revenue collected during 2009-14 was about 8.9%. In 2014 – 15 and 2017-18, this average has increased to 12.5%. At the same time, the corporate taxes that was at 36.5% during UPA II, has come down to 30.7% with NDA> Income tax that stood at 19% during UPA II has increased to 21% during NDA. These numbers reveal the priorities of both governments.
On one hand, corporate tax has come down, and the share of tax of fuel consumers and income tax payers has increased. The poor and the middle class are being sucked dry to make things comfortable for the corporates. Hence if the unnecessary tax levied on fuel is brought down, the general public can breathe easy. There is a need to bring petrol and diesel like kerosene and LPG under GST tag. Even if they are levied with 28% GST, oil prices won’t cross Rs 55. The loss incurred here can be made good for, by way of removing tax holiday for corporate companies.
Data says government loses Rs 85,000 crore annually owing to tax holidays given to the corporate companies. For that, the government is baying for the blood of the poor, to ensure the rich ones live. This corporate-friendly approach in taxing people has forced people to the brink. The government needs to make clear whether the government is pro-poor or pro-rich in its approach.
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Maharashtra Dy CM Ajit Pawar, four others killed in plane crash
Baramati (PTI): Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four other persons on board an aircraft were killed after it crashed near the Baramati airport in Maharashtra’s Pune district on Wednesday.
The 66-year-old leader’s death has not only left a vacuum in the BJP-led state coalition government, but also cast a shadow on the future of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which he headed.
His uncle and NCP founder Sharad Pawar said the plane crash was an accident which shouldn't be politicised.
The "black box" (comprising the Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder) from the aircraft, will be analysed after recovery to determine the cause of the accident, an official said.
Ajit Pawar had taken off from Mumbai in the morning to address four rallies in the day in Pune district for the February 5 zilla parishad elections.
The others killed in the tragedy were Captain Sumit Kapoor, who had a flying experience of 15,000 hours, co-pilot Capt. Shambhavi Pathak with 1,500 hours of flying, Personal Security Officer (PSO) Vidip Jadhav and flight attendant Pinky Mali.
The government released a statement detailing the sequence of events that led to the crash and Pawar's death.
The aircraft, a Learjet, was cleared for landing in Baramati on Wednesday morning after a go-around due to poor visibility, but having finally received a clearance it did not give any read-back' to the ATC, and moments later burst into flames on the edge of the runway.
In aviation parlance, a go-around is a standard procedure where a pilot discontinues a landing attempt and initiates a climb to fly another approach. It is used when a landing cannot be completed safely due to factors like poor weather, an unstable approach, or traffic on the runway. It is a proactive safety measure rather than an emergency.
A readback is a crucial safety procedure where a pilot repeats back the essential parts of a message or instruction received from Air Traffic Control (ATC). It acts as a "closed-loop" communication system, ensuring that the controller's instructions were heard and understood correctly by the flight crew.
The 16-year-old chartered aircraft, operated by VSR Ventures Pvt Ltd, crashed while attempting a second landing approach at Baramati airport which is an uncontrolled airfield where traffic information is typically provided by instructors and pilots from local flying training organisations.
V K Singh, owner of VSR Ventures, said the pilot apparently could not see the runway and carried out a "missed approach", a standardised procedure in such cases.
Terrifying eyewitness accounts have emerged from the site of the aircraft crash as residents near the Baramati airport described a scene of chaos as the plane appeared to lose control before erupting into a series of big explosions.
An eyewitness described watching the aircraft circle the airport, noting it appeared 'a bit unstable' before its final approach. According to her, the plane 'hit the ground hard and exploded' upon impact, with the blast being heard in homes throughout the area.
Later, the Civil Aviation Ministry, quoting the person manning the Air Traffic Control at Baramati, issued a statement about the sequence of events indicating that the flight encountered visibility issues during its landing attempt despite reports of calm weather.
The statement said that at 8.18 am, the aircraft first established contact with Baramati air traffic control after being released by the Pune approach at 30 nautical miles (around 55 km) inbound to Baramati.
The crew was advised to descend at their discretion under Visual Meteorological conditions and were also informed that winds were calm and visibility was approximately 3,000 metres.
Upon reaching the final approach for the runway, the crew reported that the runway was not in sight and initiated a go-around to reposition for a second attempt on the runway.
After initially stating the runway was still not visible, the crew reported "runway in sight" just seconds later and the ATC cleared the aircraft to land at 8.43 am.
However, the crew did not provide the mandatory readback of this final clearance and at 8.44 am, exactly one minute after the last communication, ATC personnel observed flames erupting near the threshold of the runway.
Emergency services reached the scene immediately following the explosion and the wreckage was located on the left side of the runway.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is currently analysing why the crew struggled to maintain visual contact with the runway despite the reported 3,000-metre visibility.
According to eyewitnesses, the force of the explosion was so great that parts of the aircraft were hurled through the air, landing near residential structures. "The plane tilted before coming down. We saw the explosion and it was frightening," an eyewitness said.
Another eyewitness reported that the aircraft appeared to be losing control from an altitude of approximately 100 feet above the runway.
"The way the plane was coming down, we felt it was going to crash... As we rushed towards it, we saw flames, followed by four to five consecutive blasts, which prevented us from going anywhere near the aircraft".
Pramod Madurikar, a witness at the scene, said the victims were identified shortly after the crash and were shifted to ambulances. Fire brigade personnel reached the spot shortly.
The aircraft was trying to land amid poor visibility, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu told reporters in Pune.
VSR Ventures’ fleet includes seven Learjet 45 aircraft (including the one involved in the crash), five Embraer 135BJ aircraft, four King Air B200 aircraft and one Pilatus PC-12 aircraft, the statement said.
Superintendent of Police, Sandip Singh Gill, said that after the crash, there was a fire. "People onboard were immediately taken to the hospital," he said.
Ajit Pawar is survived by wife Sunetra, a member of the Rajya Sabha and two sons, Parth and Jay.
His Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had contested the recent municipal corporation elections in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad in alliance with his uncle Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP).
President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and several other leaders expressed grief over Pawar's demise.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who reached Baramati and met Ajit Pawar’s family members, described the NCP leader’s tragic death as unbelievable, and said he had lost a good friend.
Maharashtra government declared a three-day state mourning till January 30, during which the national flag will be flown at half-mast on all buildings.
Ajit Pawar’s last rites will be held with full state honours on Thursday in Baramati.
Modi and Shah are expected to attend the funeral, which will be held at Vidya Pratishthan ground at 11 am, the Nationalist Congress Party said.
