Maharshtra: State to compensate revenue by enhancing VAT collections
Maharashtra Finance Minister Sudhir Mungatwar announced the abolition of the Local Body Tax during the presentation of one the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government’s first budget on Wednesday. The government plans to fill in the revenue deficit from the scrapping of LBT by enhancing the collections under Value Added Tax. “We were handed an economy in crisis,” said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. "This budget has taken a quantum jump in capital expenditure. We will try to take the expenditure to Rs 40,000 crore." The budget estimates for the 2015-'16 financial year are Rs 1,98,230.5 crore and the revenue deficit is likely to be around Rs 3,757.4 crore. The government has set aside Rs 100 crore for building memorials to Shivaji and BR Ambedkar.
Tamil Nadu: Police allegedly refuse to register case under SC/ST Act
A Dalit youth was allegedly attacked and urinated on by upper-caste men in Tamil Nadu on March 2. The attack took place in the Krishnagiri district of the state during a temple festival. M Aravindhan, who works as a welder in Bengaluru, was assaulted after he and his relative objected to being abused by the upper-caste men. The two were rescued by members of Aravindhan’s family. Police, however, allegedly refused to register a case under the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes Act. “They just registered an assault case against unknown people,” said Aravindhan, who was admitted to a government hospital. Refuting the allegation, a police official said that a case had been registered and would be developed once they confirmed whether Arvindhan was actually harassed.
Gujarat: Solar Impulse flies into red tape
The world’s first solar-powered plane flew into red tape in Gujarat on Wednesday, with pilot Bertrand Piccard failing to secure immigration clearance. His co-pilot, Andre Borschberg, meanwhile, flew the Solar Impulse from Ahmedabad to Varanasi on Wednesday morning. Piccard took to Twitter to complain about the delay in the immigration process. "Whenever I went for the clearance, they postponed it to following day," he said. "The delay is detrimental to project and we are now in a big mess. I need to go to Varanasi to bring Si2 to Myanmar.” His passport was finally stamped and cleared on Wednesday afternoon. He reached Varanasi at 4.30pm. The aircraft set out on a five-month journey from Abu Dhabi on March 9 to circumnavigate the earth using only solar power.
Jammu & Kashmir: BJP legislator Kavinder Gupta elected speaker of assembly
Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Kavinder Gupta was elected unopposed as speaker of the assembly on Wednesday. Gupta later said that members should stick to the basics of the Constitution, and restrain from cheap politicking. Mohammad Shafi Uri was selected as Protem Speaker by voice vote. The BJP and People's Democratic Party are heading a coalition government with a comfortable majority of 53 seats in the 87-member assembly.
West Bengal: CBI to probe gangrape of nun
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday announced that the Central Bureau of Investigation would take over the Ranaghat gang-rape case of an elderly nun. Banerjee’s decision came hours after the National Human Rights Commission served a notice to the government seeking a report within two weeks. Though the police have detained several people as part of the investigation, they are yet to make any arrests. Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, President of Catholic Bishop's Conference of India, visited the victim and urged the chief minister to find the culprits soon.
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Maharashtra Finance Minister Sudhir Mungatwar announced the abolition of the Local Body Tax during the presentation of one the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government’s first budget on Wednesday. The government plans to fill in the revenue deficit from the scrapping of LBT by enhancing the collections under Value Added Tax. “We were handed an economy in crisis,” said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. "This budget has taken a quantum jump in capital expenditure. We will try to take the expenditure to Rs 40,000 crore." The budget estimates for the 2015-'16 financial year are Rs 1,98,230.5 crore and the revenue deficit is likely to be around Rs 3,757.4 crore. The government has set aside Rs 100 crore for building memorials to Shivaji and BR Ambedkar.
Tamil Nadu: Police allegedly refuse to register case under SC/ST Act
A Dalit youth was allegedly attacked and urinated on by upper-caste men in Tamil Nadu on March 2. The attack took place in the Krishnagiri district of the state during a temple festival. M Aravindhan, who works as a welder in Bengaluru, was assaulted after he and his relative objected to being abused by the upper-caste men. The two were rescued by members of Aravindhan’s family. Police, however, allegedly refused to register a case under the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes Act. “They just registered an assault case against unknown people,” said Aravindhan, who was admitted to a government hospital. Refuting the allegation, a police official said that a case had been registered and would be developed once they confirmed whether Arvindhan was actually harassed.
Gujarat: Solar Impulse flies into red tape
The world’s first solar-powered plane flew into red tape in Gujarat on Wednesday, with pilot Bertrand Piccard failing to secure immigration clearance. His co-pilot, Andre Borschberg, meanwhile, flew the Solar Impulse from Ahmedabad to Varanasi on Wednesday morning. Piccard took to Twitter to complain about the delay in the immigration process. "Whenever I went for the clearance, they postponed it to following day," he said. "The delay is detrimental to project and we are now in a big mess. I need to go to Varanasi to bring Si2 to Myanmar.” His passport was finally stamped and cleared on Wednesday afternoon. He reached Varanasi at 4.30pm. The aircraft set out on a five-month journey from Abu Dhabi on March 9 to circumnavigate the earth using only solar power.
Jammu & Kashmir: BJP legislator Kavinder Gupta elected speaker of assembly
Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Kavinder Gupta was elected unopposed as speaker of the assembly on Wednesday. Gupta later said that members should stick to the basics of the Constitution, and restrain from cheap politicking. Mohammad Shafi Uri was selected as Protem Speaker by voice vote. The BJP and People's Democratic Party are heading a coalition government with a comfortable majority of 53 seats in the 87-member assembly.
West Bengal: CBI to probe gangrape of nun
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday announced that the Central Bureau of Investigation would take over the Ranaghat gang-rape case of an elderly nun. Banerjee’s decision came hours after the National Human Rights Commission served a notice to the government seeking a report within two weeks. Though the police have detained several people as part of the investigation, they are yet to make any arrests. Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, President of Catholic Bishop's Conference of India, visited the victim and urged the chief minister to find the culprits soon.
