Community Radio – Rural Way of Information Sharing

Introduction

Rural folks have been listening to community radio in Sanga Reddy district of Telangana everyday evening. They either just sit on an easy chair or cook in the kitchen listening to different programs from the community radio. This has become a daily routine for the people who come home tired from the field after a day’s hard work. This radio station is manned by the ladies who work in the fields by the day. These part-time employees painstakingly collect information from the ground and compile it into programs in interesting ways to woo the rural folks. In this blog post, we will be looking into this unique way of information dissemination practiced in our rural villages when the urban dwellers go Hi-Fi.

India’s First Community Radio

Our country’s first community radio was commissioned in 2008. It was realized after a decade-long wait. The rural institution of information Sangam Radio sharing was established with the purpose of disbursing the information in their own colloquial language and slang. It is located in a place called Pastapur in Zaheerabad district, and it caters to people from Jarasangam, Raikod, and Zaheerabad. It also partly covers Kohir and Nyalkal. It broadcasts a variety of programs from 7:00 PM and 9:00 PM every day. Each village that this radio station covers has a population of between 600 and 1200 people. In short, the radio station has a coverage diameter of 30 kilometers, whereas the All India Radio nearby covers a distance of 100 kilometers. If anyone visits the Sangam Radio, he or she would get surprised looking at the simple setup that has become the household name in the villages surrounding Zaheerabad. The broadcasting tower is placed on top of a tree near the building housing the studio complex.

Employees of Radio Station

The facilitator for this community radio is Deccan Development Society (DDS). This is a Nongovernmental Organization (NGO) working on the issues relating to farmers. All the employees of this community radio station are on the payrolls of this NGO. After getting the required license, DDS established FM radio station, a transmission tower and program recording facilities. These facilities are partly funded by UNESCO. The villagers work part-time as the station employees. They work in the field by the day and in the radio station by the night. It runs with eight persons – three men and five women. Meet Hyderabad Narasamma and Nalugandila Narasamma who have been regularly doing the regular transmission of programs that have been compiled by other staff members.

Variety of Programs

Villagers eagerly wait for the programs aired by this radio station every day. They relax listening to the variety of programs in the evening. They listen to songs or discussions or anything that is informative in their own dialect and colloquial language. The medium of communication is Telugu.  Sangam Radio offers the opportunity for the villagers to share their views through discussions and interview.

1. Songs: The song the community radio airs depends upon the seasons. Over the period of years, the station has collected over 2500 songs sung by the members of the community. Often those songs are recorded with the instrumental accompaniment.







2. Discussions: This program talks about the issues and tips about plowing, plant seeds, plant care, water irrigation and harvest.






3. Interactive Sessions: Every day, the last 30 minutes of the program is dedicated for listeners who would like to call the station to clear their doubts. In these call-in sessions, the people report about the missing cattle, new findings while working in the fields are shared or asked questions to the experts in the field of agriculture. The listeners even trace the missing cattle and pass the information to the radio station for information dissemination.






4. Other Programs: They often feature farming practices, health tips, festivals, birthday wishes, etc.

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Cool Microclimate Systems in Nevada Desert

Introduction

We Indians are under the impression that the amount of heat we are exposed to is unparalleled in this world. Hence, we think that we can survive in any hot climate. This is the viewpoint of people living near the Indian desert. This belief falls flat just like a castle of cards when one goes through a road in Nevada in the United States of America. This state is home to a desert where the temperature soars to over 45 degree Celsius. This temperature is unbearable when there is little moisture to support it. This is what one would finally conclude when he visits that state in the US from the subcontinent. Only a few people knew that there are oases in this desert. In this blog post, we will learn about two such places where cool microclimate prevails when compared to the other places in that US state.

Microclimates

When one travels through Route 50 from Ocean City, Maryland on the Atlantic coast, different flavors of climate can be experienced. The travelers will experience the moderate shore climate to extremely hot conditions while traveling by this road. This 3000-mile road has a 300-mile stretch that passes through this desert state. This part of the road is called The Loneliest Road in North America. Passing through this desert state, this road ultimately touches Sacramento in neighboring California, which is just a stone throw away from the Pacific coast. From the main arterial road arise certain serpentine roads that grace past the mountains to some hidden gems in that desert state. Only very few visitors know about these hidden gems or microclimates that offer majestic views of nature in otherwise barren terrains of the desert in Nevada state. These hidden gems are Great Basin National Park and Lamoille Lake Park. These are microclimate systems that remain embedded in the Great Basin Mountain Range in the Nevada state of the US. Hence, they are nicely insulated from the sweltering hot climate that surrounds them.

1.  Great Basin National Park: This microclimate has alpine forests and lakes ringed with glaciers that feed them. To the visitors, it would seem like enchanted forests that are just coming out from the pages of fairytale books. They can park their cars inside the National Park. This microclimate system is located at a height of 4569 feet from the sea level. They have to trek for another 1 hour to reach beautiful lakes that make the place famous. While standing near the lake, the visitors would experience an epoch of a totally different time zone. There are two big lakes that warrant our attention. They are Stella, situated at a height of 10,400 feet, and Teresa, situated at a height of 10,275 feet. The wild animals such as deer are present in this habitat. Though the visitors reached that place in the mid-summer, the atmosphere and air are cold. Hence, they would start shivering if they have not gone with proper precautions. The majestic mountain range in the backdrop makes the lake shores more beautiful. The travelers can take in cool and fresh air to rejuvenate both body and soul.

2.  Lamoille Lake Park: This place is seen in the Ruby Mountain Range. It is part of a canyon named after this mountain range. This beautiful place is very near to a small town by the name Elko. It also has a microclimate that is different from the whole of Nevada. While traveling to the destination, the people will have to pass through Ruby Canyon that portrays a totally different scenery that can best be compared to that coming from a magical portal. The visitors have to park their vehicles at the Lamoille Lake Car Park, before embarking on a trekking trail, negotiating a steep gradient to reach the lake. After the four-hour trekking, the visitors are treated to a visual treat with the lakes at the foothills of the Ruby Mountains in the canyon. Most often, the visitors may have to walk across the snowdrifts and logs thrown across the streams that have layers of ice on them. In this microclimate system, the visitors can find Dollar Lake and Lamoille Lake. The photography enthusiasts will have plenty of opportunities to take snaps of nature in different colors.

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10 Acts of Body Language to Avoid

Introduction

For a trained eye, the body language speaks volumes about the mental transactions happening in a person. All the physical gestures we make during our interactions with others are subconsciously interpreted by the people. This can become boon or bane depending upon the kind of gestures we make during our interactions with others. For instance, defensive postures during an interview may show our under-confidence to the interviewing panel. Some other gestures exude the confidence we feel at the time of interaction. In this article, we would be listing out 10 body languages that we should avoid to impress upon the people we meet or come across in our lives.

Body Languages

In reality, most people do not know anything about their own body language. They just take things for granted and come to their own conclusions about things that happen around them. Hence, the task of disciplining their body to make right gestures is a quite daunting task for them.  Most of the body languages that we make are reflexive. The truth of the matter is that they automatically say what our minds are thinking in any given movement. However, with some effort, we can condition our reflexes in such a way that we can sound confident before others even if we are little under confident. Of course, we should know the right kind of practices so that we can avoid making negative body languages before others. Making such avoidable negative body languages will make the people look down upon us.

1.   Holding objects in front of our body: This would make the people believe that we are trying to hide behind something.





2. Checking the time of introspection of our fingernails: While looking at the fingernails, we are making others believe that we are not interested in the talks.





3. Picking lint off of our clothes: This shows that we are nervous about the topic being discussed.





4. Stroking our chin while looking at someone: This creates a bad impression about us.







5. Narrowing our eyes: This also shows that we are either not interested in the topics or have the disagreement in many of them.







6. Looking down before others: This shows that we are either under-confident or hiding something.









7. Touching your face during a conversation: This shows that we are nervous about something or somebody.







8. Faking a smile: We should sound straight in our behavior. Fake smiles give the impression that we cannot be trusted.







9. Leaning away from someone we like: This act shows the disrespect to the people whom we like or adore.





10. Resting hands behind the head or on hips: This shows the authoritarian attitude of the people. In reality, we might be meek and straightforward. Hence, never give such a posture to the people.

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Lokpal and Lokayukta Act 2013 - Review

Introduction

Lokpal and Lokayukta Act 2013 proposes to set up an anti-corruption ombudsman in the Indian states. Its main duty is to help people come out with the instances of corruption among the Politicians and Government Officials. It essentially implements the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988. As a result of the interference of this ombudsman, many of those have been charged with corruption have begun facing the legal proceedings against them. This ombudsman organization works along with the Income Tax Department and the Anti-Corruption Bureau to publicize the corrupt people in the Government set-up. The act of 2013 establishes by the law Lokpal for the Union and Lokayukta for the member states. This act covers entire India, including Jammu and Kashmir which enjoys special powers under article 370.  As per the statutes of the act, the “public servants” working within and outside India come under its scrutiny. According to this anti-corruption act, “public functionary” definition applies to both Politicians and Government Officials who depend on the taxpayers’ money for their sustenance.

Brief History

In 1966, the Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) headed by Shri. Morarji Desai submitted an interim report on “Problems of Redressal of Citizen’s Grievances”. In this interim report, the ARC had recommended the setting up of two special authorities to deal with the grievances aired by the citizens. At that time, a Parliament member Laxmi Mall Singhvi coined the term Lokayukta. While participating in the debate on grievance mechanisms, he borrowed the Sanskrit words Lok (people) and Pala (protector) and stood for the setting up of an anti-corruption mechanism under this name. Thus the word Lokpal literally means “Caretaker of the People”. Accepting the word Lokpal, the ARC recommended for the creation of Lokpal for the Union and Lokayukta for the States of the Indian Union.

Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill

Implementing the interim report, the Union Government introduced the Lokpal Bill in 1968 for the first time.  Due to several reasons, the tabled bill could not get the approval from both the houses of Parliament. Taking the cue from first Lokpal bill at the Centre, the western state of Maharashtra introduced the Maharashtra Lokayukta and Upa-Lokayukta Act in 1971 to create Lokayukta in the State.  After that, many other states had established the anti-corruption ombudsmen in their states. At present, the States such as Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Nagaland, Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal and Tripura don’t have the institutions of Lokayukta in their respective States.   The current form of Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill came as a draft for the scrutiny of the Parliament in 2010. The government tabled this bill in the Parliament after the noted Freedom Fighter Anna Hazare sat on the “hunger strike” demanding a law to tackle the growing menace of corruption in the country. His strike had found support from across the country, forcing the then United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government at the Centre to suddenly draft an anti-corruption ombudsman bill. After a lot of deliberation, the bill was finally passed by both the houses of Parliament in 2013 in time to curb the unrest among the citizens.

Composition of Lokpal

As per the law, Lokpal is a statutory, multi-member body which has no constitutional backing. It consists of one Chairperson and a maximum of 8 members. The Members of Parliament, Members of State Legislative Assembly, Members of Panchayat and Municipality, persons convicted of any offence, politicians, people who are removed from the public services due to their inappropriate actions, persons holding any office of trust or business organization are not eligible to hold the coveted post of Chairperson in Lokpal.

1. Chairperson: A person becomes eligible for the appointment as Chairperson of Lokpal if he is a former Chief Justice of India, a former member of Supreme Court or an eminent person with impeccable integrity and outstanding ability. Additionally, he should have adequate knowledge and 25 years of experience in the matters of the anti-corruption policy, finance, vigilance, law and management, and public administration.

2. Members: Out of 8 permissible members, half will be coming from the judiciary. Rest 50% of members will be from OBC/SC/ST/women and minorities. Judicial members should either be a former Judge of Supreme Court or a former Chief Justice of a High Court. In the case of non-judicial members, they should be eminent persons with impeccable integrity and outstanding ability in their chosen professional areas. They should have at least of 25 years of experience in matters relating to anti-corruption policy, vigilance, public administration, vigilance, law, management, and finance.

Lokpal Officials

There are three officials who work under the anti-corruption ombudsman. The Chairperson appoints them after consulting with other members. They are Secretary to Lokpal and Directors of Inquiry and Prosecution. The Chairperson appoints Secretary from a panel of names suggested by the Central Government. The Chairperson also appoints the Directors of Inquiry and Prosecution. These high-ranking officers cannot be below the rank of Additional Secretary to the Government of India.

Lokpal Wings

According to the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act 2013, the anti-corruption ombudsman would constitute an inquiry wing under the Director of Enquiry. This wing would conduct the preliminary inquiry into an alleged offense committed by a public servant. If convicted, the person is punishable under the Prevention of Corruption Act of 1988. Similarly, the prosecution wing would be constituted under the leadership of the Director of Prosecution. This wing prosecutes the public servants who have been found to commit crime prima facie.

Lokpal’s Jurisdiction

As per the law, all public servants come under the purview of the anti-corruption ombudsman. It does not matter whether the public servant was inside or outside the country at the time of the alleged crime. Even the Prime Minister of the country comes under the ambit of the law under certain conditions. Other people who come under the purview of the Lokpal include the Union Ministers, Members of Parliament, Officers coming under Groups A, B, C and D, and persons who are in charge of any society or organization set up by the Central Act or any other body financed or controlled by the Central Government. The persons who get involved in the act of abetting, giving or taking bribe also come under the ambit of the law automatically.

Lokpal Benches

The anti-corruption law proposes to set up the Lokpal benches. The Chairperson constitutes these benches as per his discretion. Ideally, each Lokpal bench will have two or more members. About 50% of the members in each Lokpal Bench should be judicial members. If the bench has the Chairperson, he will oversee it. In cases of benches that don’t have the Chairperson, the judicial member will preside over them. The sitting of these benches may take place in New Delhi or any other place as decided by the Lokpal.  Sometimes, the existing benches get re-constituted to get the required output. This would be done by the Chairperson himself if the situation warrants so.

Working of Lokpal

When citizens air their complaints, Lokpal receives them. Then, the anti-corruption ombudsman analyzes them to check their veracity. Once it decides to go ahead, Lokpal would order a preliminary inquiry. This would be done either by the inquiry wing or any other Central Government agency, such as Delhi Special Police Establishment, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), etc. The preliminary inquiry has to get completed within 90 days of receiving the complaint. However, the time of inquiry can be extended for further 90 days if the enquiring official requests in writing with sufficient reasons for it. This inquiry would find out whether there is any prima facie case to go ahead.  Further recommendations on the case would be done on a case-to-case basis.

1.  If the complaints are against officers of Group A to Group D services, the ombudsman would refer it to Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) for the follow-up action. CVC would enquire and report the development back to Lokpal directly in case of Group A and Group B officers.

2. CVC would probe and start action against the erring Group C and Group D officers as per the CVC Act of 2005.

Powers of Lokpal

Its inquiry wing has the power to search and seize objects – both movable and immovable objects – and make reports based on them.  These reports would be taken up by the 3-member Lokpal benches for further scrutiny. The benches would give the opportunities for the allegedly corrupt officers to say in their defense. After this, the benches would undertake any of the following alternatives.

1. If the officers are found guilty, the benches would grant their sanction to the prosecution wing or CBI to file charge sheets against them. The benches can also direct the concerned government departments to start proceedings against them.

2. If the officers are found innocent, the benches would direct the filing of the closure of case reports before the Special Court. Now, the benches would proceed against the complainants for filing false complaints.

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Right to Information Act 2005 - Review

Introduction

The Parliament approved the Right to Information Act in the year 2005. It proposes to set up a regime under which people can get information about the public services.  It effectively replaces the erstwhile Freedom of Information Act, 2002.  Under the ambit of this law, the citizens of the country can ask information from a public authority. As per the law, public authority definition covers a Government Body or instrumentality of the State.  The law instructs the public authority to quickly reply or file a reply within 30 days.  It further asks the public authority to computerize their records for the wider dissemination of the requested information. Under the act, they need to proactively catalog the information so that citizens need the least recourse to requests for the intended information. After its passage in both the houses of Parliament on June 15, 2005, the law came into force on October 12, 2005.  The procedure to get information as per this new act began soon after when a person filed an RTI application Pune police station.

Scope of the Act

Previously, information access from the public bodies in our country was restricted due to colonial-era laws such as the Official Secrets Act, 1923 and various other special laws.  The new RTI act seeks to relax these age-old laws to help the Indian citizens to seek the information they want. It also modifies a fundamental right of citizens. The new RTI act covers entire India, except the state of Jammu and Kashmir where a separate act is in practice.  The new RTI act covers all constitutional authorities. The authorities who come under the ambit of the law include the executive, legislature, and judiciary. Any institution or body established by the act of Parliament and State Legislature also comes under this act. It also brings under its purview the bodies or authorities constituted by the order of government bodies. The entities that are covered in this landmark act include organization or bodies owned, controlled or substantially financed by the government. Non-government organizations (NGOs) that get sizeable financial help either directly or indirectly from the government also come under RTI. In a recent judgment, the honorable Supreme Court sought to clarify this for the benefit of the ordinary citizens of the country.

Question of Private Bodies Under the Act

When the people started filing litigation to know the status of private bodies and political parties under the RTI act, the honorable Supreme Court sought to clarify the confusion prevailing in the act. Initially, the private bodies were not thought to come under the purview of the act. In a decision of Sarbjit Roy vs. Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission, the Central Information Commission (CIC) reaffirmed the stand taken by the honorable Supreme Court. The organization confirmed that the privatized public utility companies also come under the ambit of this law.  In the above-said case, the honorable Apex Court cleared the air by its ruling that private institutions and NGOs that receive over 95% of their infrastructure funds from the government bodies come under this act.

Political Parties Under the Act

The Central Information Commission has the view that political parties are public authorities that directly deal with the people.  Hence, they are directly answerable to the citizens of our country under the RTI act. The panel of Central Information Commission that made this landmark statement included Satyanand Mishra, Annapurna Dixit, and M.L. Sharma. The quasi-judicial body CIC  further added that the political parties such as Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)), Communist Party of India (CPI), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) are getting funds indirectly from the Central Government. Hence, CIC opined that they have all the characteristics of the public authority as defined in the RTI act. In order to counter this move, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the center brought a Right to Information (Amendment) Bill to remove the political parties from the scope of the act. However, the Parliament could not pass the bill. Instead, it referred the bill to a standing committee to look into the specifics.  However, the standing committee on the Law and Personnel gave its suggestion along with the altered draft of the amendment bill.  The committee states “It considers the proposed amendment is a right step in the direction to discuss the issue once and for all”. In effect, the committee recommended the passing of the bill. Hence, the political parties of our country now stand out of the purview of the Right to Information Act, 2005.

Brief History

The right to Information Act was approved by the Parliament in the year 2005. It proposes to set up a regime under which people can obtain information about the public services.  It effectively replaces the erstwhile Freedom of Information Act, 2002.  Under the ambit of this law, the citizens of the country can request information from a public authority. As per the law, the definition of public authority covers a Government Body or instrumentality of the State.  The law instructs the public authority to expeditiously reply or file a reply within 30 days.  It further asks the public authority to computerize their records for the wider dissemination of the requested information. Under the act, they need to proactively catalog the information so that citizens need minimum recourse to request the intended information. After its passage in both the houses of Parliament on June 15, 2005, the law came into force on October 12, 2005.  The procedure to get information as per this new act began soon after when an RTI application was filed at a Pune police station.

Hierarchy of Information Officers Under RTI

Each authority covered under RTI act must appoint their Public Information Officer (PIO).  The general public has to submit the application seeking information to PIO of that organization. The PIO of the concerned department is expected to give the required information to the applicant. If the request relates to the working of another public authority, the PIO should transfer it to a PIO of the concerned authority within five working days. This is the case even with the information requests that seek information from several departments. The relevant portions of the requests need to go to the concerned department PIOs for the speedy action.  In addition to the PIOs, the public authorities have to appoint Assistant Public Information Officers (APIOs) to aid the PIOs in processing the requests and disseminating the information to the public in time.           

Working of RTI

The process of RTI involves reactive disclosure of information by the government and non-government authorities. This is against proactive disclosure by the people and authorities. Mostly, the submission of a request for certain information by an individual sets the ball rolling.  While placing the application for the information, the applicant needs to give his name and contact particulars. He need not give any other reasons or particulars to corroborate his request for seeking the information. The designated PIOs and APIOs of the individual departments or agencies need to give the information within a stipulated time period.

If the designated officers fail to act on the requests in the given time period, the public can go to the Central Information Commission (CIC) seeking justice.  CIC also steps in those cases where the PIOs and APIOs have not been appointed by the concerned departments. In these cases, the public doesn't have any means to file their requests for information. The people can even approach CIC with complaints when the Central Assistant Public Information Officer or State Assistant Public Information Officer declines to receive the application for the information.  With respect to the dissemination of information, the act specifies the time limit for the Information Officers to adhere to. They are as follows.

1. If the request has been given to PIO, the applicant should get a reply within 30 days of receipt of the application.
2. If APOIO gets the request, the processing and the giving of the required information should be completed within 35 days of its receipt.
3. If the PIO transfers the request to another public authority, the turn-around time is 30 days from the day it is received by the PIO of the transferee authority.
4. The information about the human rights violation by the security agencies has to be given within 45 days. The list of scheduled security agencies is given by the act. The processing of such requests can only be done after the CIC gives its prior consent. 
5. If the liberty or a life of an individual is involved, the turn-around time for the requests is 48 hours.

Fees Fixed for RTI Requests

A citizen who wishes to get information from a public authority has to give a bankers’ cheque or a court fees stamp for Rs. 10 along with the application. The amount has to be payable to the Accounts Officer of the Public Authority.  If the situation warrants, the seeker of the information may have to pay further fees towards the cost of getting it.  The PIOs will offer details about the extra fees.

Exclusions from RTI Act

Central Intelligence and Security agencies specified in the Second Schedule like IB, Directorate General of Income tax (Investigation), RAW, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Central Economic Intelligence Bureau, Directorate of Enforcement, Narcotics Control Bureau, Aviation Research Centre, Special Frontier Force, BSF, CRPF, ITBP, CISF, NSG, Assam Rifles, Special Service Bureau, Special Branch (CID), Andaman and Nicobar, The Crime Branch-CID-CB, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Special Branch, Lakshadweep Police etc. are excluded. However, the exclusion is not in absolute terms. There are provisions under the act that bring these agencies under its purview.

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Goods and Services Tax Bill – Review

Introduction

This is the most talked about topic in the society. Politicians talk about the benefits it incurs to the customers in the long run. The small-time shop owners raise their concerns, the multinational companies are for it and the end customers get confused because of all these developments. Basically, the bill proposes to bring a national value-added tax in the country, uniting all the existing state and national level laws under one platform for direct tax administration. The central government proposes to bring this GST Bill by April 1, 2017. However, both the houses of Parliament have to ratify this bill by 2/3^rd majority. Apart from this, about 50% of states in the Indian Union need to give their consent to make it a law. The central government is working hard to bring the GST Bill on the said date. Being a federal country, state and central governments have to bring in GST concurrently. However, both will have independent functions.

What is GST?

Goods and Services Tax is going to become a comprehensive indirect tax framework. This is going to cover manufacture, and sale and consumption of goods and services across India. When working, it will replace taxes levied by both state and central governments. The bill proposes to collect the value-added tax at each stage of sale or buying of goods and services. The government is going to collect the taxes on the input tax credit method. This novel method allows the GST-registered commercial establishments to claim tax credit to the value of GST they had paid on buying of goods and services.   Another positive point is that the bill does not distinguish between taxable goods and services. Hence, there will be at a single rate in a supply chain from the buyers to the end users. As against the multiple authorities for levying tax in the current set up, the new bill envisages the tax administration to come under a single authority.

Constitutional Amendment

In order to bring the GST Bill, the lawmakers need to bring in certain amendments. The lawmakers will have to pass the bill as per the provisions of Article 368 of the constitution. The constitutional amendment should get approval from Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and the States. Both the houses of Parliament should pass this bill with 2/3^rd majority. Moreover, 50% of states also need to give their consent for this bill. Hence, it came as 122^nd amendment to the constitution in 2014. On December 19, 2014, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley introduced the bill envisaging changes in the constitution for approval in the lower house of Parliament. Lok Sabha passed the bill on May 6, 2015.  Subsequently, it was sent to the Rajya Sabha for its consent. In the upper house, there was some opposition to the bill. Hence, the ruling dispensation agreed to send the draft of the bill to a Select Committee of lawmakers from both the houses of Parliament. The committee suggested certain changes to the bill draft. The upper house of the Parliament approved the new draft that incorporated the suggested changes on April 3, 2016. Since it was an amended draft, it was re-introduced in lower house of Parliament for its approval. Finally, Lok Sabha also passed the bill on August 8, 2016. Now, the draft is in the court of the States. At least, 50% of the States have to pass the bill to make it an act. The north-eastern state of Assam became the first state to give its consent for the bill on August 12, 2016.

Benefits of GST

Many hail GST as the major reform since the opening of trades and services to the private sector in 90s.  This would be a major step in the reform of indirect taxation in India. As said before, this bill amalgamates several state and central government taxes into a single tax structure for the easy administration. This would bring down the cascading or double taxation and help a common national market. Under the new tax regime, the exports will become zero-rated. Apart from this, tax rate on the imported goods will be same as that levied on domestic goods and services. The bill proposes to simplify the indirect tax administration by bring under a single and competent authority. Under the present set up, the state and central authorities figure out and administer taxes. Hence, the present framework has many lacunae for tax evasion. Though taxes remain nominal or zero rated initially, they may go high once the government decides to levy GST on petroleum and petroleum products. Hence, the GST bill proposes to insulate the revenues of the state governments from its impact. In order to keep the prices and inflation under control, the States have asked for suitable compensation for any revenue losses from the central government. The Centre has in principle has agreed to give suitable compensation for 5 years since the date of implementation of GST.

Benefits for Customers

The end users don’t have to pay tax at multiple levels while purchasing goods and services. There is no distinction between taxable goods and services down the supply chain in the GST framework. Hence, the customers don’t have to pay hefty taxes at the time of buying. Moreover, the tax burden on the consumers would come down drastically due to these legislations. At present, the customers are paying close to 30% taxes at multiple levels. The middle men carrying the goods and services to different states don’t have to cough up hefty amounts in the form of taxes and favours at the border checkpoints. Ultimately, this would pass down to the customers in the form of lower prices. This would also bring down the paperwork that goes into the documentation in the states for each good entering under their jurisdiction. 

Salient Features of GST Bill

1.         GST has two components. One comes from the Centre and the other from the States. The authorities are going to prescribe rates for centre- and state-administered GST, according to the revenue consideration and acceptability of the stakeholders.


2. Basic features of GST will be uniform across the statutes – one Central GST (CGST) and the other for State GST (SGST) for every State. The features covered include chargeability, basis for classification, definitions of taxable event and taxable person, measure of levy including valuation provisions, etc.
   
   


3. The Centre and States will levy GST on all transactions involving goods and services. However, the tax consideration will exempt certain goods and services as defined by the competent authority and those goods that are outside the purview of GST. There is a threshold over which these goods and services attract the GST.


4. The separate accounts of the Centre and States will get the revenue returns.  These accounts would also hold the information about the account-heads for all the services and goods. That is the account-heads will tell whether the revenue is for the Centre or States.


5. The tax paid to the Central GST will go as the Input Tax Credit (ITC). As per the provisions, this amount can only be used against the CGST payment as well. So, under no condition the cross usage of ITC is possible. However inter-state supply of goods and services will get waiver under the IGST model.


6. The Centre and States have to avoid the credit accumulation on account of GST refund.  However, the authorities can waive this condition when they deal with exports, input taxes at higher rate than output tax, buying of capital goods, etc.      


7. The Centre and States need to follow the uniform procedure for collecting GST to the extent possible as per the legislations for Central and State GST.


8. The Centre and the States would have concurrent jurisdiction for the entire value chain and all tax payers. However, this will be on the basis of threshold for goods and services as prescribed for the States and the Centre.


9. As per the suggestions given by the honourable members of the Parliament, there is an upper ceiling on gross annual turnover and floor tax rate on it. It is now set at 18%.


10. The taxpayer need to send periodical forms in the prescribed format to both the


11. Central and State GST authorities. This will be verified by the said authorities periodically to ascertain the current status of the taxpayer.


12.   On submission of the forms, each taxpayer will get a PAN-linked taxpayer identification number. The number will have either 13 or 15 digits.  This will align the GST-PAN linked system with the PAN-based system for income tax.


13.   In order to help the taxpayers, the competent authorities will execute the functions such as enforcement, assessment, audit and scrutiny in transparent way. Hence, this will do away the hassles of waiting for the results.

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5 Ways to Survive When Internet Fails

Introduction

Think of a scenario wherein your Internet has gone out and it doesn't seem to come back anytime sooner. You don’t have to become upset and bewildered. After a little time of bewilderment, gather your senses and take a deep breath. Believe me, it really helps you stay focused. Just remember that the human civilization used to exist even before the advent of the internet. In those times, there used to be archaic physical media to entertain the audience. The contents in such media used to be updated less frequently. Yet, it was reliable. All you need to do is to familiarize yourself with the analog precursors to today's most popular mobile apps.

Old Things  that  We Used to Do

Do these informative and creative things to gain something useful when the Internet goes off the air. These things the people have been doing for many years. Only thing is that we need to recollect them. Here is the useful list for the readers' reference.

1. Ages-old Newspaper: If you have been reading the daily news blog to get the latest information happening in your countryside or around the world, don’t hesitate and sit at home if the internet fails. Just step out of your house and go to the nearest shop to buy a newspaper and shuffle through the pages to know about the happenings around the world.





2. User Generated Contents: If the internet blacks out, you can find solace in finding the user generated contents in the cable. So, you can forget about internet and YouTube for a while and some of the Bollywood-based programs the people have generated and posted in the cable.





3. Video Stores: When there is no internet service, all the live stream services would stop. You don’t have to worry. Just put your pants on and wear your shirt and march to the nearest video shop and just see some of the stored videos there. This is used to be the case some years back.





4. Social Media: With the internet going off the air, all social media sites become non-functional. You can still have social gathering offline. You just need to go to the nearest pub or restaurant to have drinks with your friends over the weekend. This is still a nice way of spending quality time with friends.





5. Offline Maps: Here's an easy one for anyone that's having difficulty readjusting to the offline world. Maps: they're just like the map on your phone except harder to read, don't tell you where you are, don't offer handy travel tips, directions to your destination, or real-time traffic updates. And don't even get me started on compasses.
   
   
   
   
   

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