‘One nation one tax’ will eliminate corruption: FM Jaitley on GST

New Delhi: As the government gears up for a fresh push to get the long-pending GST law passed, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said the 'one nation, one tax' regime will reduce the taxation levels and also eliminate corruption.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today delivering the 1st Dr A P J Abdul Kalam Memorial Lecture, in New Delhi.

Stressing that India cannot afford the kind of spectrum or coal mines controversies of the past, he said: "This whole idea of one nation one tax is extremely important for India, in not only reducing the level of tax but also for providing an ease (of doing business) and eliminating any forms of corruption".

He said India cannot afford to have an indirect tax system where one is taxed at every point.

Jaitley was delivering the 1st Dr A P J Abdul Kalam Memorial Lecture at India Islamic Cultural Centre here.

The proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) will subsume most of the indirect taxes. Government has listed the Constitutional Amendment Bill for introduction of GST in Rajya Sabha for consideration and passage next week.

The Finance Minister further said India will need all forms of investments.

"Now investment from private sector ... will come only if India becomes best possible investment destination. For that India has to get rid of corruption, India has to have a quicker decision making process, India has to have business environment which is extremely easy," he said.

He also said that despite easing foreign investment process, there are delays at states level.

"... every time we delay a project, every time we put hurdles, you create an adverse environment where you lose jobs, ancillary units, and revenue which sends a bad picture of India to other future investments," Jaitley said.

PTI

Change has come, says PM; vows to root out corruption

New Delhi: Celebrating second anniversary of his government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said a "change" has come in the last two years through good governance and vowed to root out corruption and make life easier for the people who have been "looted" for years.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said checking the menace of corruption is the focus of his government.

Without naming Congress, he accused the Opposition party of pursuing the agenda of obstructionism and expressed confidence that people can see through it and find truth.

Recalling the scams and scandals during the UPA governments including in coal block allocation, the Prime Minister said checking the menace of corruption is the focus of his government and people can see it when compared with that of previous dispensations.

"As long as we do not remember the work done during the days of the previous government, we will not be able to realize that what a big task has been accomplished," he said.

"I am standing before people of the country with satisfaction. We have been able to to get the trust and enthusiasm of people despite a very minute examination of our work. The trust of people is growing day by day. This also increases our confidence.

"I cannot say this about those for whom opposing us is necessary for political reasons. That is also natural. But I want to say one thing. On one hand there is the agenda of development (vikaswaad) and on the other hand is the agenda of obstructionsism (virodhvaad)," he said.

Speaking at the the event "Ek Nayi Subah", which was held in talkathon format spread over nearly six hours with most of the ministers in attendance, the Prime Minister said that his government has not taken any decision with "malafide intention".

PTI

Govt making efforts to unearth black money: Jaitley

New Delhi: Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre is making all-out efforts to unearth black money stashed in offshore accounts.

Centre is making all-out efforts to unearth black money stashed in offshore accounts, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley says at a mega event 'Ek Nayi Subah'.

Speaking at a mega event 'Ek Nayi Subah' in the national capital to celebrate NDA government's completion of two years in office, Jaitley said the government has launched a massive crackdown on parallel economies.

"The Indian economy can grow at the rate of 8-9 percent in the years to come. For first time in history, India is growing at a pace no other country can match. Never in the history has any government taken so many steps which NDA has taken in two years," he added.

Emphasising the need for uniform taxation system, Jaitley said the government has made direct tax system simpler and put in place redressal mechanism.

"The rural economy will grow if there is a good monsoon and resources should be pumped in rural areas due to which overall economy will grow. The government has provided the road connectivity in seven lakh villages in the country," he added.

The Finance Minister also said the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana has been launched to benefit millions of farmers of the country.

Earlier, Minister of state for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said every youth in India has immense potential and what they need are opportunities.

Mega film star Amitabh Bachchan strongly advocated his opinion on 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao', the much ambitious scheme of the government to save girl child.

Later, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and many of his ministerial colleagues are scheduled to attend the event at India Gate.

The government completed two years in office on Thursday and it has launched a series of events to highlight the achievements of the government.

A number of film-stars including Priyanka Chopra, Vidya Balan, Anil Kapur and Prasun Joshi are expected to attend the event.

ANI

Corruption before Modi came to power was unimaginable: Rijiju

Panaji: Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju today said the level of corruption before the NDA government came to power in 2014 was "unimaginable".

"When BJP-led NDA came to power, we noticed that Congress has committed so much corruption that one cannot imagine," Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said.

Speaking to reporters here, he said the NDA government was corruption-free and had laid a solid foundation for economic growth.

"When BJP-led NDA came to power, we noticed that Congress has committed so much corruption that one cannot imagine," Rijiju said, adding that the current regime was yet to overcome consequences of this.

Under Modi's leadership, a solid foundation for economic prosperity had been laid, he said.

Talking about criticism of the Modi Government, he said, "Parties like Congress are not giving bad name to BJP (through their criticism) but trying to create a negative image of the country. In the last two years, there hasn't been a single case of corruption."

The Union Minister said it was the Congress and AAP which had started the debate on intolerance and beef, which were election issues for them.

"Congress and AAP created rumours about growing attacks on churches in Delhi. When we got a detailed report, we noticed that these were not preplanned or organised attacks. We are duty-bound to protect and safeguard each community in our secular country," he said.

PTI

Nearly two-thirds of people give a thumbs up to Modi govt: Survey

New Delhi: Two years into its term, the Narendra Modi government has been rated by 62 per cent of metropolitan Indians as having done a good or very good job in a survey done exclusively for The Times of India. That's a touch lower than the 67 per cent who voiced the same opinion a year ago. PM Narendra Modi himself was perceived by nearly half the respondents to the survey as a strong leader. Meanwhile, the proportion of those saying it has done a poor or very poor job has risen from 9 per cent to 16 per cent. Modi himself was perceived by nearly half the respondents to the survey (47 per cent) as a strong leader with intent who was being handicapped in delivering on that intent by those around him, a perception that could explain the slightly lower ratings. This also fits in with the finding that just over half (51%) felt that the strength of Brand Modi had eroded since 2014, though about one in five felt it had actually become stronger. As was the case a year ago, the Swachh Bharat programme remains the most popular of the various initiatives launched by this gover nment, with 42 per cent picking it as the best. Make In India came in a distant second at 13 per cent. The failure to create enough jobs was seen as the government's biggest failing with 43 per cent choosing this. Interestingly , the next biggest failing was seen as an overly confrontationist attitude towards the opposition.
Responses to the government's performance on two related areas - black money and corruption - were interestingly different. The government was perceived by just over a quarter of the respondents as having reduced corruption. About 40 per cent said it had made no difference and 23% felt corruption had in fact worsened. On black money, however, there is a less sceptical view that came across. While 40 per cent said the government had not kept its promise on black money, a little over a third felt a good beginning had been made and 15 per cent suggested that the promise had been fully kept. More than two-thirds of those polled approved of the government's foreign policy initiatives and over three-fourths felt the Pakistan policy was either courageous or realistic. Barely one in five expressed the opinion that it was blinkered by ideology. The China policy had similar approval ratings. Less than half of the respondents were willing to give the government any or all of the credit for inflation coming down. About 24 per cent said government efforts had kept prices in check and another 22% said both international factors and government efforts had played a part. About 35 per cent said it was entirely due to international factors and one in five insisted that inflation hadn't come down at all. The expectations from the government in its third year not surprisingly mirror these perceptions with job creation emerging as the top priority , followed by tackling farmers' woes, curbing inflation and boosting the economy . The survey was conducted by IPSOS, a global market research company in India's eight biggest cities - Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune and Ahmedabad. The 1,348 people polled were aged 18 to 45 and from socio-economic categories (SEC) A and B. There were as many men as women in the sample.

TNN