PRE-PACKAGED FOOD UNDER GST, 12% TAX ON HOTELS WITH TARIFF UP TO RS 1,000

Bringing pre-packaged and labelled food items such as wheat flour, puffed rice, curd/ lassi/ buttermilk and paneer under the GST net, withdrawing exemption for hotels with rent below Rs 1,000 a day and correction of inverted duty structure for host of items such as edible oils, coal, LED lamps, printing ink, knives and solar water heaters are learnt to have been approved by the GST Council on the first day of its 47th meeting on Tuesday.

The discussion on the contentious issue of extension of compensation for states beyond June 2022 and 28 per cent GST rate on casinos, online gaming, and horse racing, are to be taken up for deliberations on Wednesday.

The council has recommended 12 per cent tax on hotel rooms costing less than Rs 1,000 a day which are presently exempt, increasing the rate on manufacturing services of leather goods, clay bricks from 5 per cent to 12 per cent, and hiking GST on LED lamps, ink, knives, blades, power driven pumps, spoons, forks, dairy machinery from 12 per cent to 18 per cent.

It has also sought to bring pre-packaged food items including puffed rice, wheat flour, curd, lassi, at par with branded food items with a tax rate of 5 per cent. Currently, 5 per cent GST is levied on branded and packaged food items, while unpacked and unlabelled are tax exempt. Further, the panel has suggested withdrawal of input tax credit refund for inverted duty structure for edible oil and coal.

In 2021-22, only five out of 31 states/UTs — Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim — registered a revenue growth higher than the protected revenue rate for states under GST. Puducherry, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh have recorded the highest revenue gap between the protected revenue and post-settlement gross state GST revenue in 2021-22. States were guaranteed compensation at the compounded rate of 14 per cent from the base year 2015-16 for losses arising due to implementation of GST, as per the Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Act, 2017.

UDDHAV APPEALS TO REBELS; FADNAVIS MEETS GOVERNOR, DEMANDS FLOOR TEST

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday made an emotional appeal to rebel MLAs of Shiv Sena, who are camping in Guwahati, to return to the party and have a dialogue with him to sort out issues. He also said that he was “worried” about them. This came on a day when Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde said that the rebel MLAs will soon return to Mumbai.

In his appeal to the rebels, Thackeray said, “You have been stuck in Guwahati for the last few days. Every day, new information is coming forth about you and many of you are in touch with us. You are still in Shiv Sena in your heart. The family members of some of you have also contacted me and conveyed their feelings to me. I respect your feelings as the head of Shiv Sena family. As the head of the family, I tell you from the bottom of my heart, there is still time....Don’t fall prey to anyone’s missteps and false assurances.”

Thackeray’s appeal did not seem to have any impact on the rebel MLAs. Shinde took to Twitter and said, “On one hand, your son and spokesperson are calling Balasaheb’s Shiv Sainiks as pigs, dirt, buffalo, dogs, illiterate and corpses, abusing our fathers, and on the other hand you are calling the same MLAs to save the anti-Hindu MVA govt. What is the meaning of this?”

After waiting in the wings in the over week-long political drama, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday night met Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, and requested him to ask the Uddhav Thackeray govt to prove its majority in the Assembly.

Fadnavis claimed that the Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress coalition govt seemed to be in minority as 39 Sena MLAs who belong to the Shinde faction have said they do not support the govt.

"Therefore, we handed over a letter to the Governor, requesting him to ask the govt to prove its majority through a floor test in the House," he told reporters.

PM MODI MAKES A BRIEF STOPOVER IN ABU DHABHI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a brief stopover at Abu Dhabi on his way back from Germany and called on UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan for what was the first in-person meeting between the two leaders since August 2019 when Modi last visited the UAE capital.

MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said as a very special gesture, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and members of the Royal family came all the way to the airport to meet and interact with Modi so that the PM did not have to go all the way to the city.

While the main purpose of the visit was to convey his personal condolences on the passing away of former president Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the visit is significant as it came close on the heels of some serious resentment in the Arab world over the derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammad passed by BJP functionaries.

ONGC CHOPPER WITH 9 ON BOARD MAKES EMERGENCY LANDING IN SEA, FOUR DEAD

Four people were killed after a helicopter operating for the ONGC made an emergency landing off the Mumbai coast on Tuesday.

The chopper, with nine people on board, ditched in the sea 60 nautical miles away from Mumbai near Sagar Kiran rig on Tuesday morning.

“A Pawan Hans helicopter with seven ONGC passengers and two crew members crashed near Sagar Kiran oil rig. In the rescue operations, three ONGC employees and both crew members were saved. Three employees and one temporary ONGC worker succumbed. Their bodies have been taken to Cooper Hospital,” said Juhu airport director A K Verma.

The helicopter was a brand new Sikorsky S 76 D and was operated by Pawan Hans.

COVID DASHBOARD – INDIA

As of 0800 IST / June 29

from mohfw.gov.in ,

New Cases on Tuesday 11,793

Active Cases 99,602 (+2,902)

Total Deaths (Deaths Yesterday) 5,25,077 (18)

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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G7 AGREES TO SEEK PRICE CAPS ON RUSSIAN OIL, FOCUS ON NATO NOW

The West’s effort to confront Russian President Putin over his war in Ukraine shifted on Tuesday from a G7 summit in Germany, which concluded with a fledgling and untested plan to seek price caps on Russian oil, to a Nato meeting in Madrid. There, the Atlantic alliance is expected to announce a beefing up of both military funding for Ukraine and its own forces in eastern Europe.

In their official communique at the conclusion of three days of meetings in the Bavarian Alps, the leaders endorsed in principle the ambitious and untried concept, which President Biden has pushed through the summit. It seeks to leverage the West’s financial and shipping influence over Russian oil exports in hopes of driving down its price and limiting a critical cash flow for Moscow.

“As for oil,” the leaders said in a version of their final statement, “we will consider a range of approaches, including options for a possible comprehensive prohibition of all services, which enable transportation of Russian seaborne crude oil and petroleum products globally, unless the oil is purchased at or below a price to be agreed in consultation with international partners. ” But huge hurdles remain for the idea to become reality.

The leaders instructed their finance ministers to work out the key details.

Despite the sanctions imposed so far, Russian oil revenue has grown this year along with soaring fuel prices, while consumers around the world have faced mounting pain at the gasoline pump.

50 MIGRANTS DIE IN TRAILER ABANDONED IN TEXAS HEAT

Fifty people died after being abandoned in a tractor-trailer in the sweltering Texas heat, one of the worst tragedies to claim the lives of migrants smuggled across the border from Mexico to the US.

A city worker heard a cry for help from the truck on a San Antonio back road shortly before 6pm on Monday and discovered the gruesome scene, police chief William McManus said.

Temperatures in San Antonio on Monday approached 38°C. “They had just parked it on the side of the road,” said Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, the county’s top elected official. “Apparently had mechanical problems and left it there. ”

President Joe Biden called the latest deaths “horrifying and heartbreaking. ” He said initial reports were that smugglers or human traffickers were to blame. Three people were taken into custody, but it was unclear if they were definitively connected with human trafficking.

The home countries of all of the migrants and how long they were abandoned on the side of the road were not immediately known.

THE REST

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UDAIPUR MAN KILLED OVER 'INSULT TO ISLAM'; 2 ARRESTED

Two men with a cleaver murdered a tailor in Udaipur and posted videos online that said they are avenging an insult to Islam, triggering stray cases of violence in the Rajasthan city, a part of which was placed under curfew.

The Union Home Ministry dispatched a team from the National Investigation Agency to Udaipur, officials said.

The Rajasthan Police have arrested of the two men, identified as Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad.

In a video clip, Akhtari declared that they had “beheaded” the man and went on to threaten Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying their knife will get him as well.

Kanhaiya Lal, the tailor, was recently arrested by the local police over some remarks made on social media by him. A BJP leader said the victim feared for his life and had sought police protection, but the authorities did not act on his appeal.

The assailants entered his shop in Dhan Mandi posing as customers. As the tailor took the measurements Akhtari attacked him with a cleaver, nearly severing his neck. The other man shot the brutal murder with his mobile phone.

On Twitter, CM Ashok Gehlot appealed for calm and asked people not to share the murder videos.

Gehlot said there is communal tension in the country and the prime minister should address the people. He said both Hindus and Muslims are worried. "It is more impactful if the prime minister speaks. I believe that the prime minister should address the country on this occasion and should make an appeal that we will not tolerate violence at any cost. What is the problem in saying so?" he said.

ZUBAIR ARREST: DELHI POLICE GET 4 DAY CUSTODY; ACTIVISTS CRY FOULD

A day after fact-checking website Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair was arrested, the Delhi Police said on Tuesday that his "objectionable tweet of 2018 led to a Twitter storm with hate speeches, detrimental to communal harmony".

"In such cases, finding the gadget used to post such tweets and the intention behind posting such a tweet is important. During questioning, he has been evasive on both the fronts.

According to an emergency police officer on duty, "during social media monitoring, it came to notice that a Twitter handle namely Hanuman Bhakt @balajikijaiiin shared a tweet against another Twitter handle in the name of Mohammed Zubair@zoo_bear in which it has been tweeted by Zubair that 'Before 2014: Honeymoon Hotel. After 2014: Hanuman Hotel' and has shown a picture of a sign board of one hotel name "Honeymoon Hotel" changed to "Hanuman Hotel," the FIR read.

According to the first information report, Bhakt @balajikijaiiin tweeted that, "Linking our God Hanuman ji with Honey Moon is direct insult of Hindus because he is brahmchari. Kindly take action against this guy".

Condemning Zubair’s arrest, a group of activists on Tuesday said it was "absolute hypocrisy" of the govt that his arrest came on a day India committed at the G7 Summit to defend democratic principles and protect the freedom of expression.

Aakar Patel, chair of board for Amnesty International India, said the Indian authorities are targeting Zubair for his crucial work to combat the rise in fake news and disinformation and call out discrimination against minorities.

BJP: SETALVAD, ZUBAIR ARRESTS’ CRITICS PART OF POISONOUS ECOSYSTEM

With opposition leaders criticising the BJP over the arrests in separate cases of activist Teesta Setalvad and AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair, the ruling party hit back on Tuesday and accused the leaders of working as part of a “poisonous ecosystem” in which one offender protects another who has been caught.

Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia accused the Congress of supporting and opposing judicial actions as per its convenience, and asked if the Opposition party has faith in the judiciary.

Bhatia said if the protests over Zubair’s arrest are linked with similar criticism of action against Setalvad, “then it is clear that there is a poisonous ecosystem”. “The world’s strongest judicial system exists in the country, and it will do its work,” he said.

Bhatia said the Gujarat Police’s move to arrest Setalvad followed strong remarks from the Supreme Court for “keeping the pot boiling” over the 2002 riots and levelling false charges against leaders and bureaucrats. Bhatia alleged that Setalvad had been acting at the behest of the Congress to end the political career of Narendra Modi, who was then the state’s chief minister.

PM MODI’S ARTISTIC GIFTS FOR EACH OF THE G7 LEADERS

During the G7 meet in Germany, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifted a gulabi meenakari brooch and cufflink set to US President Joe Biden. The cufflinks were specially prepared for the President with a matching brooch for the First Lady.

The Prime Minister had taken along a plethora of such artistic gifts for each of the G7 leaders.

Gulabi Meenakari is a GI-tagged art form of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.

While pieces of black pottery from Nizamabad were gifted to Japanese PM Kishida Fumio, a Nandi-themed dokra art piece sourced from Chhattisgarh was presented to Argentina President Alberto Fernandez, and a hand-painted tea set from Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr was meant for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

“The gifts celebrated India’s diversity; what made the choice significant was that these were not particularly expensive items but a celebration of the craft traditions of India,” said a source privy to the selection.

French President Emmanuel Macron got a selection of ittar bottles from UP’s Kannauj that were packed in a custom-made zardozi box, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi was gifted a marble inlay table top that had its origins in Agra, while Senegal President Macky Sall was presented a range of moonj baskets and cotton durries that were sourced from Prayagraj, Amethi and Sultanpur in UP. A handmade knotted silk carpet from Kashmir was gifted to Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was presented a metal marodi carving matka from Moradabad.

CAN’T HANDCUFF ANYONE IF REASON NOT RECORDED: HC

No person, be it an accused, undertrial prisoner or convict, should be handcuffed unless the reason for it is recorded in the case dairy, the Dharwad bench of the Karnataka high court ruled in a recent judgment and granted the petitioner Rs 2 lakh compensation.

Suprit Ishwar Divate, a resident of Yadur in Chikkodi taluk (Belagavi district), had sought Rs 25 lakh compensation for loss of reputation, illegal detention and illegal handcuffing by police against him on November 5, 2019. However, ruling that the arrest was proper as it was based on a non-bailable warrant, the HC directed the state govt to pay Divate Rs 2 lakh as compensation within six weeks with liberty to recover it from delinquent officers.

P2P CRYPTO DEALS: TAX DEDUCTION ONUS ON BUYER

After issuing guidelines about tax deducted at source (TDS) on virtual digital assets (VDAs) applicable to crypto exchanges, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued norms for peer-to-peer cryptocurrency transactions that do not involve an exchange.

“…any person who is responsible for paying to any resident any sum by way of consideration for transfer of VDA is required to deduct tax. Thus, in a peer to peer (i.e. buyer to seller without going through an Exchange) transaction, the buyer (i.e person paying the consideration) is required to deduct tax under section 194S of the (Income Tax) Act,” the direct tax department noted in a circular.

2ND T20i: INDIA EDGE IRELAND IN RUN FEST; CLAIM SERIES 2-0

Deepak Hooda hit a master-class maiden century as India survived a mighty scare before defeating Ireland by four runs in a nail-bitting high-scoring second T20 International to sweep the two-match series in Malahide, Ireland, on Tuesday.

Hooda scored 104 off 57 balls to become only the fourth Indian to hit a T20 International ton, while Sanju Samson contributed 77 off 42 balls to power India to a mammoth 225 for seven after opting to bat.

Ireland took the chase to the last over with skipper Andy Balbirnie (60 off 37), Paul Stirling (40 off 18), Harry Tector (39 off 28) and George Dockrell (34 not out off 16) shining bright but they eventually fell short as rookie India pacer Umran Malik defended 17 runs in the final over.

WIMBLEDON, DAY 2: NADAL, SWIATEK, HALEP MOVE INTO ROUND 2

Rafael Nadal made a stuttering but rousing return to the grass on Tuesday, beating 41st-ranked Francisco Cerundolo 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in Wimbledon's first round to begin his campaign for a third Grand Slam title of the year.

The 36-year-old second seed has not played at Wimbledon since 2019 and stayed away from warm-up tournaments with a chronic foot problem.

Nadal had won the Australian Open in January and the French Open earlier this month.

World No 1 Iga Swiatek recovered from a dip in her level in the second set to see off Croatian qualifier Jana Fett 6-0, 6-3 in the Wimbledon first round on Tuesday and extend her winning run to 36 matches. The 2018 junior champion, who exited Wimbledon in the fourth round last year, had the honour of opening the second day's play on Centre Court in the absence of the retired Ash Barty who won the 2021 title.

Former World No 1 Simona Halep returned to Wimbledon for the first time since winning the 2019 title and picked up exactly where she left off with an impressive 6-3, 6-2 win over dangerous Czech Karolina Muchova on Tuesday.

INDICATORS

Sensex 53,177 (+16), Nifty 15,850 (+18), Trading Value NSE (Rs.crores) 40,876

Nasdaq 11,182 (-343) Dow 30,947 (-491), S&P 3,822 (-79)

US$-Rs. 78.62 GBP-Rs. 96.17, Euro-Rs. 82.98, UAE Dhm-Rs.21.40, Can$-Rs. 61.14, Aus$- Rs. 54.46

GBP 0.81 /US$, Euro 0.94 /US$, Jap.Yen 135.87 /US$, Aus$ 1.44 /US$, Sing 1.38 /US$, Bang Taka 91.40 /US$, Can$ 1.28 /US$, Mal Ring 4.39 /US$,

Pak Re 205.87 /US$, Phil Peso 54.75 /US$, Russian Rouble 53.40 /US$, NZ$ 1.59 /US$, Thai Baht 35.16 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 29.30 /US$

Bitcoin - USD 20,324

Dollar Index 104.16 Brent Crude 117.20 BDI 2,204

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,822 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 5,198 / 4,765, Silver (Rs. Per KG) 66,000

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Everything is worth what its purchaser will pay for it. - Publius Syrus

OFF TRACK

Officer to driver going the wrong way up a one way street. "And where do you think you are going?"

Driver: "I'm not sure, but I must be late as everyone else is already coming back."