MyVoice: Views of our readers 7th July 2025
It is unfortunate that kirana stores are selling ganja chocolates quite openly (THI July 6) 0liberally. This adds to the woes as similar drugs are also available in the market. There is no denying that because of such open availability, there has been an alarming rise in users of banned substances, most of whom turn addicts. The solution is to catch the suppliers, distributors and the sellers, which can be done by the police force. All such criminals should be duly punished immediately on being caught. This will deter many criminals from indulging in the racket.
G Murali Mohan Rao,Secunderabad-11
Reunion of Thackerays spells disaster
Two extremely sectarian political outfits coming together does not portend well for Mumbai or Maharashtra, for that matter India as a whole. They have consistently demonstrated their extreme views and violated all constitutional norms, just for the sake of gaining political power, irrespective of the means. One should remember that Mumbai has developed into a global city due to the combined efforts of people from all over the country, and not just by the Marathi-speaking locals. It is an undeniable fact. Uddhav and Raj Thackeray will now impose parochial policies using coercion and violence. If every non-Hindi speaking State's political leadership adopts this kind of narrow-minded attitude purely on a one language issue, the time would not be far off when the country might get divided on language issues. Already the nation is caught in a divisive spree with Hindutva taking centre stage. If regionalism takes over, then the immediate fallout will be economic chaos, political instability, violence and disintegration of the nation. It would be anarchy in India, if these politicians continue with their policies of political expediency with adoption of absolute regionalism as a weapon to grab power.
Govardhana Myneedu,Vijayawada
Cut in Onam ration is highly condemnable
The news about the Central Government's decision to stop providing Kerala with additional rice and wheat during Onam has expectedly sparked strong protests. This move, particularly discontinuation of the 'tide over' allocation of wheat for non-priority ration cardholders, has put the state and its people in a difficult position. This action evidences Centre's discrimination against states ruled by non-BJP parties. Central assistance is crucial to control price increases during the Onam festival. In a federal system, the Union Government also has the responsibility to ensure a prosperous Onam celebration in Kerala. Evading this responsibility by citing norms and financial reasons should be viewed as neglect towards the people of Kerala. Political leaders, cutting across party lines, must come forward to meet the Prime Minister and explain the gravity of the issue. There needs to be a strong public protest to ensure Kerala receives its rightful share of ration. The discrimination shown by the food department in allocating food grains must end.
Padmanabha Suryanarayana,Kochi
Telling tale of two words
Proponents of Hindutva have turned strident in their demand for the removal of 'socialism' and 'secularism' from the Preamble of the Constitution, in an espousal of the primacy and pre-eminence of one religion and rejection of the notion of equality of religions and repudiation of the socialist ideal of equitable sharing of the country's wealth by all citizens. But then, India is a land of disparate religions, races, languages and cultures and the equation of Hindu nationalism with Indian nationalism does not mirror the country's famed diversity. Ideological heirs of M.S. Golwalkar should clarify if they still share his assessment that the Constitution is 'flawed because it contains nothing of Manusmriti in it' and if they are in favour of restoring or reintroducing hereditary hierarchy. It is a matter of national pride that we have the words 'socialist' and 'secular' in the Preamble.
G David Milton,Maruthancode (TN)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
35 minutes ago
- The Hindu
OECD Tax Framework Collapses as G7 Bows to Trump's reciprocal tax threat
Published : Jul 07, 2025 16:03 IST - 6 MINS READ Developments that have occurred in quick succession have crushed the successful efforts made in recent years to increase global cooperation aimed at raising tax revenues to take on a host of global challenges. Late in June, the non-US six (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the UK) in the G7 announced that they had agreed to a 'side-by-side solution' that amounts to a retreat from the existing global agreement to cooperate on corporate taxation. They have decided to exempt US multinationals from being subject to a minimum tax on their profits of 15 per cent, as required under an agreement sealed in 2021. To recall, after years of negotiation, an agreement titled the 'OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS)' was arrived at in 2021 under the auspices of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), with non-OECD countries too joining the discussion. That agreement was a commitment on the part of over 140 governments to work towards implementing a common framework to tax the global profits of transnational companies that find ways to transfer to and record their profits in low tax locations where they often have little economic activity. The BEPS framework was a means to combat such tax avoidance practices that reduce national and aggregate global tax revenues, and help governments tax profits in jurisdictions where economic activity actually occurs and value creation takes place. Also Read | A summit of subordinates The core of the agreement, which recommended 15 actions, was named Pillar Two of the framework. This was by no means far-reaching. It merely set a 15 per cent floor rate of tax on the profits of multinationals in all the cooperating jurisdictions, which was much lower than the 25-30 per cent considered reasonable by those looking to raise resources for meeting various financing challenges. Dissatisfaction over this and the tardy move to implement the OECD agreement set off demands for a global tax convention under the auspices of the UN, which would give less developed countries more of a say in determining the terms of the agreement and a greater role in its implementation. Some progress has been achieved on this, with a UN General Assembly decision to constitute an ad hoc committee to draft the terms of reference for a UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation. Negotiations on the convention were to occur over 2025 to 2027. Weaponised tariffs However, from the very start the US—though a party to the OECD agreement—has been expressing reservations about a number of the proposed measures, especially the Pillar Two global minimum tax. With US multinationals being the principal adopters of profit-shifting strategies, they would have been the main targets of any such minimum tax, however low. So, the US, while committed to the inclusive framework, campaigned during Donald Trump's first term as President of the US, for a much-diluted version of the minimum tax proposal. And, in Trump's more aggressive second term, in which he has chosen to weaponise tariffs and taxes, Pillar Two seems to be under attack. Going on the offensive, the original version of Trump's so-called 'big beautiful' budget Bill included a section—Section 899—that authorised the US government to impose 'revenge taxes' on foreign investments emanating from countries that 'discriminated' against US firms in their tax practices. Support for a minimum corporate tax on global profits in locations were they were actually earned was seen as an instance of such discrimination. In the face of that threat, the non-US members of the G7 caved in and agreed to a side-by-side solution that exempts US multinationals from the global minimum tax provision, which amounts to dumping Pillar Two and with it the OECD agreement. That would also undermine efforts to institute an effective UN convention on international taxation, since leading countries are now likely to opt out of the convention. The link between the decision on the minimum tax and the proposed revenge taxes was clearly revealed when the US Treasury Department asked the US Congress to drop Section 899 because, in Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's words, the US had secured concessions exempting US companies from the OECD's global minimum tax regime. In fact, the Trump administration seems set to destroy all efforts at combating tax avoidance by threatening action against any international taxation measures that target multinational profits. Days after the 'side-by-side solution' was announced by non-US G7 members, Canada declared that it was scrapping a proposed tax on digital services companies that was to come into effect on June 30. The tax involved was a paltry levy of 3 per cent, which was to apply on revenues earned by firms like Meta, Netflix, and Amazon from cross-border provision of services to Canadian clients. But even that small levy was expected to increase Canada's federal government revenues by $5.3 billion over five years. Trump declared the tax a 'direct and blatant' attack on US firms, and suspended negotiations on a deal on reciprocal and special tariffs. Fearing that the tax would upend discussions on that deal, Canadian Prime Minister Mike Carney said that his government had decided to scrap the levy in order to facilitate resumption of trade talks. Global repercussions This too is likely to be a precedent with global repercussions. Many countries, especially in the EU like France have digital services taxes in place. Germany has been considering imposing a 10 per cent tax on global digital platforms like Meta and Google. And the European Commission has been talking of imposing a tax on the advertising revenues of tech firms. All of these are now under threat, as revoking them may be made a precondition for any deal on tariffs, even though there are signs that a baseline 10 per cent reciprocal tariff on imports into the US will remain and only special tariffs above these are up for negotiation. Also Read | Trade is very central to Trump's world view: Navtej Sarna One of Trump's slogans is that he wants to 'Make America Great Again' by bringing back manufacturing that had moved abroad, not least by relying on import tariffs. That could affect the profits of US firms if they are forced to withdraw from low-cost production locations abroad. Simultaneously, he seems intent on fighting discrimination against US multinationals to protect the profits of US firms. The possibility that the two objectives might be in contradiction seems lost on the President. C.P. Chandrasekhar taught for more than three decades at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He is currently Senior Research Fellow at the Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts Amherst, US.
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Under India's presidency, we will work on redefining Brics, says Modi at summit
NEW DELHI: India's presidency of the Brics grouping next year will focus on building resilience and using innovation for sustainability while simultaneously giving priority to the issues of the Global South, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the Brics Summit in Rio de Janeiro on Monday. In this image via PMO on July 7, 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attends a session during the 17th annual BRICS Summit in Brazil. (PMO) Addressing a session of the summit devoted to the environment and global health, Modi said India will adopt a people-centric approach to redefine Brics and widen the agenda of the grouping, just as it had done while chairing the G20 in 2023. The session was attended by leaders of the 10 member states of Brics, including Brazil, China, Indonesia and South Africa, and representatives of partner countries. 'Under India's Brics chairmanship, we will work on redefining Brics. Brics will mean 'Building Resilience and Innovation for Cooperation and Sustainability',' he said, speaking in Hindi. 'Just as during our presidency, we gave breadth to the G20 and gave priority to issues of the Global South in the agenda, similarly, during our presidency of Brics, we will take this forum forward in the spirit of people-centricity and humanity first.' Modi's remarks came hours after US President Donald Trump threatened to slap additional tariffs on countries that align themselves with the policies of the Brics grouping. There was no official response from the Indian side to Trump's threat made in a social media post. 'Any Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy,' Trump said, without specifying which policies he was referring to. The leaders' declaration adopted at the Brics Summit on Sunday had — without directly referring to the US — said indiscriminate and unilateral tariffs are reducing global trade, disrupting supply chains and introducing uncertainty into international trade activities. The declaration had also condemned last month's military strikes against Iran. Modi emphasised the need for collective global action to tackle pressing issues such as sustainable development and climate transition and highlighted the steps taken by India during its G20 presidency to tackle such matters. 'During India's G20 presidency, we had emphasised sustainable development and reducing the North-South gap,' he said pointing to the Green Development Pact and the Green Credits Initiative. 'For India, climate justice is not an option but a moral duty. India believes that without technology transfer and affordable financing to countries in need, climate action will remain limited to climate talks.' Developed countries, Modi said, have a special responsibility in reducing the gap between climate ambition and financing. 'We have to take along all those countries which are facing food, fuel, fertiliser and financial crises due to various stresses…Sustainable and inclusive development of humanity is not possible without any kind of double standards,' he said. Modi said the health of the planet and humans are interconnected and India has increased cooperation with all countries with the motto of 'One Earth, One Health'. He offered to share India's expertise in areas such as the world's largest insurance scheme or Ayushman Bharat and digital health services. 'The Covid pandemic has taught us that viruses do not come with visas and solutions are not chosen based on passports. Common challenges can only be solved through joint efforts,' he said. The Brics leaders' statement on a partnership for elimination of socially determined diseases, issued on Monday, will provide new impetus to strengthen cooperation on health. Dammu Ravi, secretary (economic relations) in the external affairs ministry, told a media briefing that India's presidency of Brics will be an opportunity to press for the reform of global institutions such as the UN Security Council. 'This is what everybody is saying…that [the voice of the] Global South…should be amplified and adequately captured in the multilateral discourse and decision-making,' he said. India's presidency of Brics will also help put the issues of the Global South at the forefront of global discussions, Ravi said. 'We are already thinking about an agenda in terms of sustainability [and] resilience. These are again very important because in a disruptive world today, both in terms of trade…geopolitical tensions, the supply chain disruptions, you need to have resilience [and] sustainability,' he said. 'You will see a momentum and continuity in the way the Brics will evolve in terms of [taking] up the issues of the Global South,' Ravi said.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Bengal man facing Assam NRC heat shows parents' vote proof
1 2 Jalpaiguri: Cooch Behar resident Uttam Kumar Brajabashi, who received an NRC notice from the Assam govt asking him to prove his Indian citizenship by July 15 or face deportation, produced documents on Monday which showed that his parents, Narendranath Brajabashi and Sabitri, were voters in Dinhata. In Jan, 50-year-old Brajabashi received a notice from Assam govt accusing him of being an illegal immigrant who entered India through the Bangladesh border between 1966 and 1971. The notice claimed Brajabashi was unable to present required documents during police verification. North Bengal development minister Udayan Guha, who has stepped in to help Brajabashi, said on Monday: "Brajabashi was born in 1975. Surprisingly, the Assam govt asked for his documents from 1966 to 1971. We have asked him to not pay heed to the notice. We will stand by him and provide him support." You Can Also Check: Kolkata AQI | Weather in Kolkata | Bank Holidays in Kolkata | Public Holidays in Kolkata A Rajbanshi from Sadiyaler Kuthi in Dinhata's Chowdhury Haat, Brajabashi has claimed he had never left Cooch Behar in his life or travelled outside Bengal. "Brajabashi is an Indian Bengali from Bengal. How can a man born in 1975 have documents from before that? This is ridiculous and unacceptable," he said. Trinamool Congress, in a statement, said: "The BJP-governed Assam govt has now sent an NRC notice to Uttam Kumar Brajabashi, a man who has never even visited Assam. He possesses documents showing that his father's name was included in the 1966 electoral roll. How does Assam govt send such an undemocratic notice to one of our Rajbanshi brothers."
