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Tag: Confusion

  • South Africa’s president and ANC sow confusion over leaving ICC

    South Africa’s president and ANC sow confusion over leaving ICC

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    South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, sowed confusion about the country’s relationship with the international criminal court (ICC) on Tuesday by announcing its withdrawal, only for his office to retract the statement within a few hours.

    Debate within Ramaphosa’s African National Congress (ANC) over membership of the court has heated up since the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin in March for his role in the Russian abduction of Ukrainian children. But Putin has been invited to a summit in South Africa of the Brics group (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) in August and the Kremlin has said the Russian leader will take a decision nearer the time on whether he would attend.

    Ramaphosa told reporters on Tuesday: “The governing party, the ANC, has taken the decision that it is prudent that South Africa should pull out of the ICC largely because of the manner in which the ICC has been seen to be dealing with these types of problems.”

    Within hours however, his office issued a statement saying “The presidency wishes to clarify that South Africa remains a signatory (to the ICC).”

    The statement said the “clarification follows an error in a comment made during a media briefing held by the governing African National Congress.”

    South Africa is a signatory to the ICC’s founding document, the Rome statute, and would be obliged to obey the arrest warrant, but the government has long complained of what it deems to be the court’s double standards.

    South Africa began proceedings to leave the ICC in 2016 after a dispute over whether to arrest the former Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir, who visited for an African summit while under ICC indictment for genocide and crimes against humanity.

    However, the government recently suspended those proceedings in the face of legal obstacles, and on Tuesday the ANC’s national executive committee put out a statement noting the decision at the party conference this year that “the ANC and the South African government must rescind the withdrawal from the ICC court”. At the same time it urged ratification of a protocol to lay the ground for an African court of justice and human rights.

    “So the president appears to have messed up the message – ANC has decided to rescind notice of withdrawal from the ICC and NOT attempt to withdraw from ICC again,” Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh, a South African lawyer and director of the Africa programme of the International Commission of Jurists, said on Twitter.

    “Someone in the ANC has erroneously briefed the president when in fact the ANC has taken a decision to rescind the withdrawal from the ICC not to commence withdrawal anew. Is there any quality control happening?”

    Even if South Africa took the decision to leave the ICC, it would still be bound by its membership obligations, including executing arrest warrants, for 12 months following its notification of withdrawal.



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    ( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )

  • Telangana: Confusion over Muslim quota, Cong alleges conspiracy

    Telangana: Confusion over Muslim quota, Cong alleges conspiracy

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    Hyderabad: Senior Congress leader Mohammed Shabbir Ali has called for an investigation into the recent confusion regarding the 4% quota for Muslims under the BC-E category in jobs and education in Telangana.

    Shabbir Ali stated that a one percent decrease in the Muslim BC-E reservation would have hurt the interests of thousands of poor Muslims.

    “A copy of Roster Point No 69 of General Rules showing a reduction in the 4% Muslim quota to 3% was circulated on social media in November 2022,” said Shabbir Ali.

    Congress party sought clarification from the state government regarding the reduction in the quota. In response, an unsigned rejoinder was sent to the media claiming that there was no change in the percentage.

    In her note issued on January 23, Chief Secretary A Shanti Kumari clarified that no changes had been made to the rules regarding the Muslim (BC-E Category). Roster Point Nos 19, 44, 69, and 94 pertain to the BC-E category (Muslim), which is 4% and remains unchanged.

    A few days later Telangana Home Minister Mahmood Ali went on record to say that the roster was morphed by some miscreants.

    “These clarifications are essential for the continuation of the 4% Muslim quota introduced by the previous Congress regime in 2004-05,” said Shabbir Ali.

    Congress party alleged that there was a larger conspiracy behind the confusion over the 4% Muslim BC-E quota. It said that the miscreants involved in spreading false rumors must be punished severely to maintain peace and order in Telangana.

    Shabbir Ali demanded that the state government register a proper FIR with the Cyber Crime cell to trace and punish the miscreants.

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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • Big News! Govt Clears Confusion About Property Tax – Here’s Complete Calculation – Kashmir News

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    Srinagar, Feb 22 , Govt Clears Confusion About Property Tax: The Government of J&K on Wednesday said that lot of factually incorrect and misleading information is circulating in the media with regard to property tax notification, with a potential of misguiding the people, so it became important that the common public is aware of the correct and full facts of the matter.

    Why property tax in J&K?

    Property tax is being levied across the world by Municipalities to augment their resources. J&K was the only State/UT in the country which did not have. With poor finances, the ULBs across the UT were not able to deliver to their fullest! The revenue from other sources accounted for less than 15% of their operational expenses. Where are the funds for development available? Do we wish to remain entangled in the low revenue, low service level spirals? Was the any case for not collecting it in J&K? Certainly not!

    What is Property Tax?

    A robust and effective system of local self-government is foundational to the effective functioning of a democracy. A fundamental enabling condition for such a system to exist is to have adequate finances at the disposal of the institutions of self-government, and the more such finances are mobilized at the local level by these governments, the better for their effective functioning. One of the essential pillars of municipal financing the world over is property taxes.

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    Government of India and the Finance Commissions set up by it, have been strongly recommending tapping this resource from time to time. It is with this background, and with an intend to strengthen out ULBs and ramp up the urban development for the betterment of common masses, the Government has decided to impose property tax in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Is any development possible without adequate resources? Certainly not.

    Will Government take away the monies collected?

    Certainly Not! The monies will be collected by the ULBs, retained by them and then used for their development needs. If the tax is being collected from the people and spend only for their betterment, improving their quality of life, what is the problem?

    Is it very high?

    No, not at all! The Property Tax is proposed to be levied at 5% of Taxable Annual Value (TAV) of the Property in case of a Residential Property and at 6% of Taxable Annual Value (TAV), in case of Non-Residential Property. Infact, Tax rates, even in the Corporations are one of the lowest in the country, almost half that of Himachal, and one fourth to one sixth, overall, of other progressive States like Gujarat Maharashtra and Karnataka,and Delhi. Again, tax rates are 25% lower in the Municipal Councils, and 50 % in Municipalities. Moreover, it is progressive.

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    Residential houses upto a build-up area of 1000 sqft have been exempted. Smaller assets are being taxed at lower rates. The taxable annual value has been linked to circle rates – lower the circle rate, lower is the tax liability! Further, weightage to age of property, use type and construction type etc is used to arrive on Annual Taxable value in a more comprehensive manner.

    If an owner of a residential bungalow over a kanal of land in a posh colony of Gandhinagar in Jammu and Raj Bagh in Srinagar, with the value of their assets being more than five crores, is required to pay Rs 500/- pm, is it unreasonable? Or is it unreasonable to charge Rs 100/- pm or even less, from a 3BHK apartment owner?Unjustified?Certainly not!
    Similarly, all places of worship, including temples, masjids, gurudwaras, churches, ziarats, etc are exempt from payment of property tax.

    For residential establishments
    (Tax payable in Rs)
    Property
    Jammu/ Srinagar
    Chandigarh
    Delhi
    Ludhiana

    Residential House/Flat upto 1000 Sqft
    0
    600-1000
    300-7000
    150-3500

    Flat/Apartment 1500 Sqft
    100-1150
    900-1500
    500-10000
    300-10000

    Residential Independent House 2000 Sqft
    225-2500
    1200-2000
    650-14000
    400-13000

    Similarly, small commercial establishment especially shops upto size of 100 sqft and 200 sqft are also provide relief with very minimal Tax implications. It is pertinent to mention that most of the shops especially in neighbourhood areas and old markets fall in this category.

    For commercial establishments
    (Tax payable in Rs)
    Property
    Jammu/Srinagar
    Chandigarh
    Delhi
    Ludhiana

    Small Shop 100 SqFt
    50-600
    200-650
    275-3500
    275-3500

    Small Shop 200 SqFt
    150-1800
    400-1300
    550-7000
    550-7000

    As Property Tax is to be levied annually and can be paid in two equal instalment it will not be burdening common citizen. Further, as per Act 10% rebate can be availed by early submission of Property Tax.

    This new Property tax policy will help municipal bodies to generate revenue for better municipal services with minimum Tax implications to residents. Better municipal services are expected to attract more investment and encourage more people to set up businesses in the J&K. Revenue generated from property taxes will be used to improve infrastructure, and significantly enhancing the quality and levels of being services provided by Municipal bodies. Let us all be a part of this new Urban Renaissance J&K is witnessing. (KNS)


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    #Big #News #Govt #Clears #Confusion #Property #Tax #Heres #Complete #Calculation #Kashmir #News

    ( With inputs from : kashmirnews.in )