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Trader's protest against VAT continues

     New Delhi: Hundreds of traders protested on the streets of the city against the proposed implementation VAT from April 1. VAT is being termed as India's most ambitious tax reforms. The semi-naked traders shouted slogans against Finance Minister P. Chidamabaram while marching to parliament. The implementation of VAT, which will replace a web of state-level sales taxes, is also expected to stabilise the huge public debt of the South Asian economy and help alleviate poverty. The prospect of a VAT launch delay appeared on the horizon till last week because Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state dragged its feet on launching the tax for fear of losing revenue. But the Central government showed its determination and ruled out any firther delay in the imposition of the proposed tax. To calm nervous traders, at the forefront of efforts to defer the launch, a panel overseeing the tax structure has agreed tax inspectors will only visit businesses if they have a written order from a commissioner. But the traders' lobby is not convinced.

      "The biggest tax givers, the biggest employment source of the country, India's traders have today been forced to lose even their clothes and hold this semi-naked protest. The government under pressure from multinational companies and the World Bank is implementing this draconian VAT but we will not accept it till even our last breath and it is to assert this that we have marched to the Parliament House," Sandeep Bansal, a senior traders union leader, said. Analysts say Asia's fourth-largest economy remains under taxed despite a rise in taxpayers to 35 million from 8 million in 1990. The move to implement VAT has been postponed five times because state governments worried about losing revenue. A standard 12.5 percent VAT should have taken effect in April 2003, but it was delayed, as most of the 29 states were not ready. Fears of a backlash from the traders lobby added to the delay.

Sena forced me to resign: Sanjay Nirupam  (Go To Top)
by Pankaj Yadav

     New Delhi: Shiv Sena's Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Nirupam today resigned from the primary membership of his party saying that he was forced to take the extreme step by the party's senior leadership. He is expected to resign from RS tomorrow. Though Nirupam denied himself to comment, rumours are rife in political circles that he would be joining the Samajwadi Party in a day or two. He is said to be in touch with SP leader and RS member Amar Singh. Nirupam arrived in the Capital after handing over his resignations to Bal Thackeray. In New Delhi he said that his party bosses - Bal Thackeray and Udhav Thackeray - were persistently asking him to soften his stance over the issue that BJP leader Pramod Manajan had received huge sums of money from Reliance company a few years back. "I was forced to tone down my voice inside Parliament against Pramod Mahajan......my party felt that my strong stance was damaging the alliance with the BJP. My party bosses acted under Pramod's pressure and asked to me take back my question in Parliament. When I refused to do the same, I was asked to resign. So I put in my papers today in front of Balasaheb Thackery."

     He further said that ideological differences too had emerged between him and his party. "I always opposed the Marathi issues raised by SS. It cost the party dearly....we lost both Parliamentary and Assembly polls only because we stuck to the Marathi issue," he said. In the resignation letter written to Bal Thackeray, Nirupam said, "on the one hand we talk of Hinduism, and on the other we raise voice against non-Marathi Hindus coming to settle in Mumbai. Ours is a free country ... everybody is free to travel and reside in any part of the country." Nirupam said, "I had faced enough humiliation in Shiv Sena ... I had lost the patience to face it any more. Once the SS mouthpiece Saamna went to the extent of calling me a dog. All my party MPs and MLAs were campaigning against me. At one of the meetings at Matoshree I even wept when majority of the leaders began leveling false and concocted allegations against me."

Serial blasts rock Assam (Go To Top)

     Guwahati: A series of ten bomb blasts rocked Assam today. The blasts are suspected to be carried out by the proscribed outfit ULFA. However, there was no report of injury or major damage, police said. One bomb went off near the Dispur Neurological Centre, one near the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport, one in the busy fancy bazaar, the main commercial hub of the North East and another at Sonapur near Guwahati. Earlier, one bomb blast took place in Dhubri town which also witnessed to two blasts last night. One crude bomb exploded at 11 am. Near an electric transformer close to a temple in Dhubri partially damaging it. At around 5.45 am, one more blast occurred near yet another transformer at Nuniapatty area of the town but caused no damage. A bomb exploded near the bus stand area of Dhubri town at around 8.30 pm last night, slightly damaging the Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB) transformer there, informed police sources.

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