Passing the buck to the states, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Friday that the onus for checking prices lies with them too. He said there was a strong case for waiving octroi, mandi and local taxes which impeded the smooth movement of commodities.
Dr Singh, addressing the state chief secretaries’ conference, said: “Much of what needs to be done ... lies in the domain of state governments. There (is) a strong case for waiving mandi taxes, octroi and local taxes.” The Centre would provide support for checking inflation, but “each state (must) work out a suitable plan suited to its requirements and capabilities”, he said. The PM also spoke out against corruption, which he said “demeans us before our own people”.
He added: “This is a challenge to be faced frontally, boldly and quickly.”
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Banned outfit membership is no crime: SC
New Delhi: Mere membership of a banned organisation does not make a person criminal unless he or she resorts or incites people to violence, the Supreme Court has ruled. The ruling assumes significance in the wake of life imprisonment imposed on noted civil liberties activist leader and paediatrician Binayak Sen by a sessions court in Chhattisgarh for acting as a courier to a jailed Maoist leader. “Mere membership of a banned organisation wi-ll not make a person a criminal unless he resorts to violence,” a bench said. —PTI