Category Centres

India’s G20 Presidency comes at a Difficult Time

For India all this has been a grave challenge while navigating the minefields of geo politics and securing her national interests and strategic autonomy. It is stuck as her strategic partners are at war. Her sane voice falls on deaf ears of geo political contestations.

Addressing the crucial meeting of the G20 Foreign Ministers today, Prime Minister Modi reminded them that as leading economies of the world, they also have a responsibility towards those who are not in the room.

Good and Services Tax (GST) Collection: India’s progress towards ‘One Nation, One Sales Tax’

The progress of India’s Goods and Services Tax (GST), based on taxing value-addition, introduced as a dual tax levied by both the centre and the states, in a short period since 2017 when it was introduced, has been commendable. The GST has helped India progress towards the vision of ‘one nation, one sales tax’; and has helped reduce transaction costs of businesses at all levels, while facilitating lower logistics costs toward greater global competitiveness.  To implement GST, a Constitutional amendment was needed as in the then-existing Constitution, there was no provision for levying sales tax on goods by the Union government, and the states could not levy sales tax on services.

Development Course in the Himalayas

The Himalayas are the youngest range of mountains in the world and are still in the formative stage. The plate movements between the Indian and Eurasian plates continue to keep the entire region from Kashmir to North East in seismic zone IV and V. This means that the entire Himalayas are extremely vulnerable to natural disasters like earthquakes and landslides.

China’s Disappearing Billionaires

The sudden vanishing of Bao Fan, the head of China Renaissance Holdings, whose clients include ride-hailing Didi Chuxing and food-delivery app Meituan, has once again stirred the hornet’s nest in China. While such disappearances are not strange in authoritarian China, the frequency of such incidents at a time when President Xi Jinping is tightening political control, amidst China’s economic troubles, is revealing.

China’s Growing Discomfort with the Prolonged War

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine enters its second year and the path to ending the war remains uncertain, China is increasingly feeling constrained by and conflicted with its national interests and strategic goals, the exaggerated limitless partnership with Russia, and its overdependence on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) and G-7 countries for its economic and technological rise.

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