DECEMBER GST KITTY CROSSES ~1L CR, SECOND MONTH IN A ROW

NEWDELHI: GrossGoodsandServicesTax(GST)collectionscrossed the ~1 lakh crore benchmark for thesecondconsecutivemonthin December 2019. At ~1.03 lakh crore, the number marked a 9% year-on-yeargrowthontheback of increased consumption and better compliance. More importantly, the number is in keeping with what government officials have been saying in private — thattheworstmaybebehindthe economy.

The collection would have been even better but for a 10% decline in the revenue earned through integrated GST (IGST) on imports. The revenue collection from domestic transactions has grown 16% compared to the sameperiodlastyear,twopeople withdirectknowledgeofthematter said on condition of anonymity.

GST collections have recovered after falling below the ~1 lakhcroremark forthreemonths in a row — August, September andOctober2019.TheSeptember collection was ~91,916 crore, the lowest since February 2018.

BHIMA-KOREGAON: Twoyearsafter an event that symbolises Dalit pride was rocked by violence, at least one million people joined theanniversarycelebrationsofa British-erawarinMaharashtra’s Bhima-Koregaon village on Wednesday—thistimewithseniorgovernmentfunctionariesas part of the gathering following a change of guard in the state.

Police switched off mobile internetanddeployed10,000personneltoavoidanyrecurrenceof theclashesthatbrokeoutonJanuary 1, 2018, and left one person dead. But the heavy security, or the possibility of a repeat of the violence, failed to dampen the enthusiasm of tens of thousands ofpeople,whopouredintoasmall field where the Jay Stambh, or victory pillar, is erected on the banks of the Bhima river.

“We come here to relive the valour of our ancestors who resistedtheoppressivepractices of the rulers. We had forgotten our history but now we have cometoknowaboutitonceagain after the violence in the area,” said Asha Deshabrathar, a resident of Nagpur. Many of them said the violence, the first disturbanceinthedecades-oldtradition,hadsteeledtheirdetermination to defy any miscreants and celebrate their history.