GST listing in RS likely this week; Jaitley to meet state FMs
CHENNAI/NEW DELHI: The Indian Navy, which has pressed a flotilla of vessels, including a submarine, to locate a missing an Indian Air Force transport aircraft, on Sunday said it has sought the satellite imagery of the area from ISRO.
Until Sunday, there was no trace of any debris or signal from the AN-32 transporter which went off the radar on Friday morning over the Bay of Bengal off the Chennai coast, barely half an hour after take-off with 29 people on board.
“A large number ships, helicopters and aircraft are all contributing to the search efforts and the efforts are increasing,” Flag Officer Commandingin-Chief of the Eastern Naval Command Vice Admiral H C S Bisht said on Sunday.
“We are also seeking ISRO’s help to get satellite imagery of that area so that NEW DELHI: Government is likely to list the much-delayed GST Bill for discussion in the Rajya Sabha this week after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley meets state finance ministers on Tuesday.
Jaitley, who has been engaged in backchannel negotiations with Congress leaders to get the main opposition party on board, will discuss proposed amendments to the GST legislation passed by the Lok Sabha at the meeting of the empowered committee of state finance ministers.
The meeting may take up changes as demanded by the Congress in the constitutional amendment Bill, including one for scrapping of one per cent additional tax in hands of the states, official sources said.
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill will be listed for discussion in the Rajya Sabha after taking on board views of the states.
we have at least some information... but parallelly we are also reaching out to families,” Bisht said.
ISRO or the Indian Space Research Organisation is the space agency of the central government.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, after reviewing the search and rescue operations on Saturday, had asked the commanding officers to keep in touch with families of those on board the missing aircraft.
Bisht said the search has been made difficult by the monsoon weather conditions over the sea.
“The only challenge we are facing is of monsoon condition, rough seas; another challenge is depth which is around 3,500 meters and at some points even more than that,” he said.
The cloud base is low and it is raining
On Friday, while listing out government business for the week beginning on July 25, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told the Rajya Sabha continuously in the area, he said.
The search continues despite odds and 12 ships are deployed at the time, Bisht said.
“We are continuously searching the area. As of now we have 12 ships, and we will be increasing the assets. We are also doing regular aerial surveillance. The aim is to harness as many resources as possible,” he said.
A submarine is also deployed in the area. It will dive on getting some lead, said Bisht. The aircraft, an upgraded AN-32 belonging to 33 Squadron, took off from Tambaram Air Force Station in Chennai at 8.30 am, and was expected to land at Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands at 11.30 am, officials said, describing it as a “routine sortie”.
The recorded transcript of Chennai air traffic radar showed last pickup of the aircraft was 151 nautical miles east of Chennai, when the aircraft was observed that the GST Bill will come up for discussion next week. “(This is for) further consideration and passing of the Constitution 122nd Amendment Bill, 2014, as passed by the Lok Sabha and to have carried out a left turn with rapid loss of height from 23,000 feet.
The AN-32 is a twin engine turboprop, medium tactical transport as reported by the Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha,” he said in the Upper House.
The Congress, which originally mooted GST in 2009 to replace all indirect taxes, has been demanding that the overall rate be capped at 18 per cent and scrapping of an additional 1 per cent tax designed to compensate manufacturing states that fear losing out on revenue. It also wants an independent mechanism to resolve disputes between states over revenue sharing.
While Jaitley has indicated his openness in scrapping the 1 per cent additional tax after a panel headed by Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian favoured it, the issue needs to be discussed with the manufacturing states. In order to mobilise support from regional parties for the long-pending indirect tax reform, Jaitley met Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar and courted senior leadership of aircraft of Russian origin. It can carry a maximum load of around 6.7 tonnes or 39 paratroopers. Its maximum cruise speed is 530 kmph.