Capital Punishment-1

Food for Thought on 15-Oct-2017: 

Capital Punishment: Every time a convict is awarded capital punishment, there happens a hue and cry, as to why this punishment shouldn’t be banned. There are both supporters and criticisers for this capital punishment arguing their points in vain. As I wrote in an earlier article on “Administrative Reforms in Indian Context” (details given below:)  two points are relevant today: 

(1) To end capital punishment in India we need the requisite legislation passed by the Parliament. Shouting in the street or criticizing the Govt won’t do. After a careful contemplation I have come to the conclusion that it must stay, and rather there should be more number of this, because under the present circumstances, there are more crimes which deserve this. 

(2) Having said that, I also suggest that the execution should be as painless as possible, like administrating higher dose of anesthesia to the convict under medical and legal supervision. We must get rid of the age old crude method of hanging by the neck till death. It’s heartening to know that the GoI is thinking in this direction.

Published in Linked-In: Links given below:

V-1= https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140825182838-270568946-administrative-reforms-in-indian-context/; 

V-2= https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/administrative-reforms-indian-context-v-2-himansu-s-mahapatra/

Service Tax

Points to Ponder, on 9-10-2017:

Service Tax: Ever wondered that there are service taxes for only the sake of it and without the service in reality in some cases. Let’s take the examples of Bank Penalty, or Life/General Insurance where there is no Claim. The Bank imposes a penalty for certain conditions not fulfilled by the customer. But is it a service rendered by the Bank? Think over! The Insurance contract is an agreement for the Insurance Company to provide service in case of an emergency or eventuality. So no claim means no services rendered. The GoI should find out where there is a service actually rendered and then tax it. What do you say?

Income Tax - FY & AY

Food for thought on 05-Oct-2017: 

Income Tax Financial Year: Sometimes during 2004-05, I was thinking of some improvements in the IT rules. The first thing that came to me mind was the Financial Year (FY)- which is different than the Calendar Year. Now why don’t we make the FY coincide with the Calendar year, i.e., from 1-Jan to 31-Dec. After 12 years or so the GoI has woken up to this idea and may implement it in 2019. This will simplify many clumsy notations, statements, computer memory space etc. The latest news says that the Govt has put off this to the next year- 2019.

Road Accidents

Stimulation for Faculty of Thinking on 30-Sep-2017: 

Road accidents are one of the biggest losses to human lives. The Govt tackles this by making wearing of Helmets (for two-wheelers)and using Seat Belts (for four-wheelers). Have you ever thought or noticed that these actions CANNOT prevent accidents to happen. Well, they can ONLY help in reducing the injury, damage or loss to life in case there is a mishap. Then why they are enforced? It’s because it’s easy to administer, and the helmet/seat-belt industries are the big beneficiaries. For prevention of accidents, we have several other options, which are never implemented seriously.

The most important action is the strict enforcement of road rules, like overloading, wrong direction, speed limits, etc. The design of roads and turns, etc. is also faulty; they deliberately / inadvertently encourage breaking of road rules. Most of us invariably compare our system with that of USA. If things work nicely there why can’t it here? We have to understand the difference there: very strict implementation by the authority, people are law abiding and willing to comply, moreover the drivers are trained and tested rigorously and then certified (The licensing process). Here, we have none of these in practice and in addition, one can get away with ease when caught.