'Will get rid of Angel tax after Cong comes to power': Rahul Gandhi
Bengaluru, Mar 18: Congress President Rahul Gandhi Monday said that angel tax goes counter to the philosophy of startups and his party would get rid of it on coming to power.
"I have been informed about the angel tax and angel tax goes counter to the philosophy of startups...we are going to get rid of this tax.
When we come to power, we will scrap it...you can call me on that one," Gandhi said.
The Congress chief was speaking to a gathering of entrepreneurs at a technology park here.
To a question on GST by a participant, Gandhi, calling it a "disaster", said the Congress, on coming to power, will work to give "one GST", which is simple and lowest tax possible.
Stating that the Congress had come up with the idea of the Goods and Services Tax with an aim to simplify things, he said the current government launched it in a hurry.
"Frankly it is a disaster. The definition of GST is one tax, so even though this government calls it a GST, it is not.
It is five different layers of taxes and it is counter productive," he said.
"We are pretty clear we are going to get rid of this GST, we are going to reform it and we are going to work to give one GST, which is simple and lowest tax possible," he said.
Also noting that the existing GST leaves out huge chunks of the Indian economy, he said some of those things are going to be brought into it.
"It is perfectly doable..." he said, adding that GST was a "self inflicted" wound by the current government and it has had a devastating effect, very much like demonetisation.
To a question on the e Commerce policy, Gandhi conceded that he had not gone into the details of the policy, but promised to look into it on coming to power.
"I haven't gone into the details of it. I have to go into the details before I comment.
I have been given a little bit of a briefing on it.
I think there are issues with warehousing in the policy, that I have been told about.
There is a balance that has to be created between the large and small players...
I don't know how the policy creates the balance, but I think we would think about in terms of being fair to all the stakeholders," he added.
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South African police arrest suspect in mass shooting that killed 12, including 3 children
Johannesburg (AP): A 32-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting which claimed the lives of 12 people including three children at an unlicensed pub earlier this month, South African police said on Monday.
The man is suspected of being one of the three people who opened fire on patrons in a pub at Saulsville township, west of South Africa's capital Pretoria, killing 12 people including three children aged 3, 12 and 16.
At least 13 people were also injured during the attack, whose motive remains unknown.
According to the police, the suspect was arrested on Sunday while traveling to Botlokwa in Limpopo province, more than 340 km from where the mass shooting took place on Dec 6.
An unlicensed firearm believed to have been used during the attack was recovered from the suspect's vehicle.
“The 32-year-old suspect was intercepted by Limpopo Tracking Team on the R101 Road in Westenburg precinct. During the arrest, the team recovered an unlicensed firearm, a hand gun, believed to have been used in the commission of the multiple murders. The firearm will be taken to the Forensic Science Laboratory for ballistic analysis,” police said in statement.
The suspect was arrested on the same day that another mass shooting at a pub took place in the Bekkersdal township, west of Johannesburg, in which nine people were killed and 10 wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on patrons.
Police have since launched a search for the suspects.
South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world and recorded more than 26,000 homicides in 2024 — an average of more than 70 a day. Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides.
The country of 62 million people has relatively strict gun ownership laws, but many killings are committed with illegal guns, according to authorities.
According to police, mass shootings at unlicensed bars are becoming a serious problem. Police shut down more than 11,000 illegal taverns between April and September this year and arrested more than 18,000 people for involvement in illegal liquor sales.
