INDIA bloc parties protest against GST on health, life insurance premiums
New Delhi (PTI): INDIA bloc parties staged a protest in Parliament premises on Tuesday to press for the rollback of 18 per cent Goods and Services Tax (GST) on life and health insurance premiums.
MPs from various parties such as TMC, Congress, AAP and NCP (SC), among others, participated in the protest on the steps leading to the Makar Dwar of Parliament.
Carrying placards reading "Tax terrorism", the protesting MPs raised slogans demanding that the GST on life and health insurance premiums be rolled back.
Trinamool Congress MPs have raised the issue in Parliament and party president and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has written to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on the matter.
Union minister Nitin Gadkari also wrote to Sitharaman and urged her to consider withdrawing the GST which, he said, amounted to taxing uncertainties of life and restricting the industry's growth.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Anbumani asks PM Modi to ban sale of cigarettes for those born after 2009
Chennai (PTI): PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss on Saturday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take legislative measures to prohibit smoking and the sale of cigarettes to individuals born on or after January 1, 2009, thereby creating a smoke-free generation.
Anbumani, former Union minister for health and family welfare, said, "Once implemented, it (ban on cigarettes) will ensure that future generations are legally prevented from ever accessing tobacco products", he said in a letter to Modi.
"I write to you with a deep sense of urgency and responsibility, drawing your kind attention to a critical public health issue that continues to endanger the lives of millions of Indians, particularly among the younger generation who are affected by cigarette smoking", he claimed.
Stating that India unfortunately bears a disproportionately high burden of tobacco-related morbidity and mortality, he said, adding that, according to global health estimates, nearly 267 million Indians, approximately one in five citizens, use tobacco.
"Each year, tobacco consumption directly accounts for over 1.35 million deaths, while exposure to second-hand smoke contributes to a total of approximately 2.3 million deaths annually", he said, adding, "these figures are alarming and reflect a public health crisis of immense magnitude".
He pointed out that Scientific evidence unequivocally establishes tobacco use as a leading cause of cancer and numerous non-communicable diseases, including cardiovascular ailments, chronic respiratory diseases such as COPD, and multiple forms of malignancies. "In India alone, tobacco is responsible for nearly 40–50 per cent of all cancer cases, with over 4.7 lakh deaths annually attributed to tobacco-induced cancers", he added.
"In this context, I strongly urge the Union government to consider enacting a transformative law similar to that of the United Kingdom, that permanently prohibits the sale and consumption of tobacco products for individuals born on or after a specified year (such as 2009). Such a generational ban would mark a decisive step towards eliminating tobacco use in India over time", he said.
