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From the President
THE MONTH OF REALISM
The last month can well be regarded as the Month of Realism; coming back to the
ground after flying high in air, coping and grappling with ground realities
after being in euphoric state for a long time.
The biggest fall, of course, is in the area of sports. And when one talks about
sports in India, the only game that comes into mind of the mass is: Cricket.
Cricket is the only game that India – having second highest population in the
world – can ‘boost’ for having made her presence felt, internationally. Truly
pathetic state of affairs of sports in India, especially when, even in this
field of cricket, the country had to suffer humiliating defeats in the world
event. As it is rightly pointed out: In India, there are cricketers’ fans not
cricket fans. May be the top heavy Team India needed a jolt to come out of its
deep slumber of complacent mood. And to leave the job of fire fighting to
politicians and others – and not to accomplished cricketers or professionals –
the situation has really become chaotic.
In the area of environment, after blowing trumpet about the benefits of rapid
industrialization and developments, we are at the stage where we are worried
about very survival of the mankind itself on this planet after few decades. In
fact, we are not sure whether some of the coastal cities of the world – mainly
of Asia (Mumbai included) – will be there on the map after next 30 – 50 years.
Sometimes one wonders whether the mankind really deserves to be on this planet,
seeing the mess it has created on this once beautiful planet.
In the area of economy, here again, after going agog about few victorious
foreign conquests by Indian companies, some of the vital parameters of really
strong economy still elude us. The country is grappling with high inflation rate
and growing disparity between rich and poor, leading to growing frustration
among the poor. The protests against land acquisitions for SEZs and for other
industrial purposes are one such indicator. The problem is not only
socio–political, but is also economic. A doubt has arisen whether the so called
barometer of the economy, the stock exchange indices, can any longer be regarded
as a steady or reliable indicator.
Coming closure to the local level, it is ironic that Mumbai – which is projected
to be next Shanghai and for which a High Powered Expert Committee has been
specifically constituted to make it ‘a world class financial centre’ – is facing
acute power crisis, and power cuts. The city ranks very low with respect to
various parameters attributable for a good city, from the point of view of
quality of life, infrastructure or business. Certainly, the time has come to
rigorously take up the issues about the state of affairs of Mumbai, the city
that is financial nerve centre of the country and contributes about 40% of
direct taxes to the national treasury but gets peanuts in return. It is very
shameful to witness such downward trends.
As for the taxation aspect, faced with the above referred “downward trends”, one
could hardly pay attention to the taxation front which, in any case, witnessed
no significant development last month. After the initial reaction to the Finance
Bill, 2007, people have stopped reacting further; whether out of frustration and
loss of hope or due to other “hot” news and developments taking place. May be,
people have taken this year’s budgetary exercise as a stopgap exercise, before
the new draft Income-tax Act is prepared – so far as direct taxes are concerned
- and before the national level Goods and Services-tax Act is introduced. The
Chamber has already sent its Post Budget Memorandum on Income tax as well as on
Service tax proposals as contained in the Finance Bill, 2007.
As far as the Chamber is concerned, after successful programmes in February (RRC)
and in March (TDS Seminar), we also have reserved this April month as a month
for thinking in retrospect and consolidation. Quite few interesting developments
are in store. But, wait for the appropriate time for their announcements.
Lastly, I again request all of you to please forward duly filled in Data Form,
sent along with the Renewal Notice, at the earliest. This will enable us not
only to streamline and strengthen communication, but also to publish new and
updated Members’ Directory.
Till then, “enjoy” scorching sun, but be prepared to do so with hand fans!
| Kindness is the golden chain by which society is bound
together.
— Goethe
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Vipul Joshi
President
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