Speaker Om Birla ends Parliament canteen subsidy

  • Food served in Parliament canteen will no longer be subsidised, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said. 
  • It is not yet clear how the decision will be implemented.
  • The low rate of food in the Parliament canteen has often attracted controversy, with critics objecting to lawmakers enjoying a dirt-cheap meal at the taxpayers’ expense. 
  • Others have pointed out that the subsidy doesn’t benefit just MPs, as a host of other Parliament staff and security personnel also take their meals at the canteen.

PARLIAMENT CANTEEN

  • The Parliament canteen had for the past 52 years been run by Northern Railway. 
  • The officials said the annual revenue from Parliament catering was to the tune of Rs 15 to Rs 18 crore. 
  • The Northern Railway would be paid whatever cost it incurred on running the canteen from the Ministry of Finance through Parliament. 
  • From this year, the catering will be done by Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC).
  • A major furore over the subsidy had erupted in 2015, when a reply to an RTI query by activist Subhash Agrawal revealed that the canteen got a subsidy of Rs 14 crore every year.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

G7 global corporate Tax Deal

Image
The Group of Seven (G7) countries have backed the proposal to impose a common global corporate tax. It would be aimed at preventing multinational businesses from evading taxes and also squeeze the havens which attract tax evaders due to the low-rate jurisdictions.  The consensus to adopt a common tax rate was reached at the G7 finance ministers' meeting held in Buckingham (London) on June 5.  THE PROPOSAL The tax proposal endorsed by the US, the UK, France and other G7 countries has two parts.  The main part of the proposal states that countries around the world should tax their home companies' overseas profits at a rate of at least 15%.  The companies have multiple branches spread across various jurisdictions, they transfer the bulk of their profit in accounts set up in countries that offer the lowest tax rate.  Often, these tax havens are the Caribbean Islands such as Bahamas or British Virgin Islands, or at times, countries like Ireland where the corp...
Read more

Ebrahim Raisi to be the president of Iran

Image
Ebrahim Raisi has been declared the winner of Iran's 13th presidential elections. Iran’s president oversees the civilian arm of the country’s government.  The president sets domestic policy. THE CONTROVERSIAL ELECTIONS The reformists, a powerful constituency, have pushed for gradual reforms by rallying behind leaders like Mohammad Khatami and Hassan Rouhani, the conservatives always pushed back. There were allegations that the June 18 election was rigged in favour of Mr. Raisi even before the first ballot was cast. The Guardian Council, which vets potential candidates, had rejected almost all major reformists, leaving him the only prominent figure on the ballot.  This led to opposition activists calling for an election boycott, which seems to have had an impact on the voting — the turnout was 48.8%, an all­-time low. A significant number of people did not cast their votes this time because they believe that the elections are rigged and do not trust the election watchdog calle...
Read more

India abstain on UNGA resolution on Myanmar

Image
The UN General Assembly adopted the draft resolution 'The situation in Myanmar' with 119 Member States voting in favour, including Myanmar. The diplomat Kyaw Moe Tun is still recognized by the United Nations as Myanmar’s ambassador, although he was pushed out and charged with treason by his country’s military leaders. 36 nations abstained, including Myanmar's neighbours - India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Laos, Nepal and Thailand, Russia also abstained.  Belarus was the sole country voting against it. THE RESOLUTION The resolution was introduced by Liechtenstein, whose representative warned that there is a “real and present danger of a full-fledged civil war” in Myanmar.  It is non-binding resolution condemning the military regime in Myanmar. The resolution expressed "grave concern" at the February 1 coup and called upon Myanmar's military junta to immediately and unconditionally release President Win Myint, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and other governme...
Read more