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  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
oppn parties
Making GST Good and Simple

By Ashwini Agarwal
First publised on 2018-01-19 18:37:44

The GST Council, in its meeting on January 18 at New Delhi, has decided to make e-waybill mandatory even for inter-state movement of goods of value over Rs 50000. It has decided to review the composition scheme as it feels the scheme is being misused. The Council revised the rates on 29 items and 53 services. It also decided to simplify compliance by moving towards a one-stage return filing very soon.

The first measure outlined above is driven by the Council’s perception that there is widespread evasion and underreporting by traders. Once the inter-state e-waybill system is in place, the government would come to know whether the goods for which the e-waybill number was generated are reflected in sales and purchase invoices and shown in returns. That way, evasion will become almost impossible.

The second measure of reviewing the composition scheme is necessitated by paltry collections from traders who have opted under this scheme. This scheme allows traders who have sales under Rs 20 lakhs to just pay 1% as GST, without of course input benefits on their purchases. But only Rs 307cr have been collected from more than 17 lakh traders registered under the scheme. This amounts to an absurd figure of just Rs 1806 per trader. Hence, the government’s suspicions, that the scheme is being misused, are well founded.

The Council also received a detailed presentation from a group, comprising of Bihar deputy CM Sushil Modi and Nandan Nilekani, among others, on simplifying processes to make return filing user friendly on the one hand and anti-evasion on the other. Carrying this forward, the Council has agreed in principle to do away with GSTR1, GSTR2 and GSTR3 forms and replace them with a single form, the GSTR3B, along with the uploading of supply invoices. That will ease compliance in a major way.

The GST regime is a vital cog in taking the economy forward by doing away with multiple and confusing taxes. It is also necessary to plug the loopholes that were available to unscrupulous traders to beat the system and avoid paying taxes. Hence, it is imperative that the GST itself is made super simple. Just naming it “good and simple” tax will not do and the government and the Council have realized that. That is why all efforts are being made to simplify the regime and make it less taxing for traders and industry. It is now upon the taxpayers to come forward and report each and every transaction and pay the tax due on them.

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