Let’s survive to be the best;
Bring it on, this life is your test.
Success is an option not guaranteed;
Don’t be afraid, sow that seed.

Stakes are high, chances are low;
Make your mark, don’t get slow.
Play your game with all the passion,
Let the world witness all your aggression.

This is the world not for ordinary;
Nobody cares, what’s your worry.
Be the change and write your story;
victory will bring you all the glory.

                                 Micky

THE 500 METRES BAN

Last few days have witnessed variety of bans in India. Uttar Pradesh government has banned illegal slaughterhouses and the honourable Supreme court of India banned all business entities selling alcohol located within the distance of 500 metres from notified state ways and highways. The banning authorities need to understand that they can't change consumption habits of people. They have just created a parallel system where consumption will happen like before but now in illegal mode.

The motive for liquor ban was to prevent  people from drunk driving leading fatal road accidents. But will this ban result in the reduction of fatalities? Can't the deprived drivers get their quota from vends located at 501metres from highways? Accidents due to drunken driving happen in city limits as well, so why not put blanket ban on alcohol in India?
Instead of banning liquor vends why not our judiciary and our lawmakers become stricter towards drunken drivers. Ban will only change geographical distribution of liquor vends. It will in no way demotivate alcoholics to find their choice of drinks. It will only force them to stock their quota in their cars before they start for the journey. Increase in smuggling and trade of spurious alcohol will be seen alongside highways.

Only affected people will be the residents of small villages and towns located on highways as their only local wine shop is now closed and they will now need to travel to bigger cities for their requirements.

States are going to lose revenue and massive job losses are expected  due to the ruling. In order to reduce the impact,Chandigarh has demoted highways to district roads through a notification bypassing supreme courts order making all liquor vends legal. Other states may bring their own notifications. Isn't it interesting that status of a road decide wether your business is legal or not. Now since they are notified district roads, fatalities won't happen! If this could be the case, cancel highway status of all highways and rename them as district roads.

Drivers caught tipsy are generally released after payment of petty fines. Banning them by cancelling their driving licenses will have greater impact . Otherwise 501 metres is just a minute away.

GST IMPACT

Finally Modi government is able to get Rajya Sabha nod for GST Bill, the most awaited economic reform. India is a large market of 1.25 billion people with rising middle class but this market is divided by borders of 29 states and 7 union territories with each of them having its own set of laws regulating trade in its territory. Any legal entity with operations in India has to deal with these local laws in order to survive its business operations in India. Multiplicity of taxes under multiple authorities made operations of business a cumbersome affair. Same goods or services attract different rates of tax under different jurisdictions leading to interstate smuggling. A business entity with presence in multiple jurisdictions has to register itself with each authority in every jurisdiction to run its operations. Businesses are required to maintain multiple warehouses and unnecessary transshipment in each of the jurisdiction to satisfy local laws. 

GST will subsume state taxes like VAT, Entry tax, entertainment tax and central taxes like CST, Excise duty and service tax. It will open up state borders for every business whether small or large and integrate country into one national open market. GST is good for large firms operating at national level but small firms with local focus will face added competition from rivals in other states leading to competitive efficiency. Its like trade agreement for free movement of goods and services among the states with federal supervision. 

Corruption at border checkpoints will reduce substantially as open borders will disincentivize smuggling of goods to avoid taxes. 

Supply Chains will change dramatically. Middle men will be weeded out and direct supply of goods from manufacturers to consumers will eventually happen. This will lead to reduction in prices of many commodities and country may experience reduced inflation rate in short run. However, favoured industries like textiles might have some impact due to change in tax regime.

 It is implied that GST will lead to ease of doing business and result in more FDI. It will be a booster for economy as GDP growth rate is also expected to jump by 1-2 percent. 

GST rates are not finalised yet and tussle between political parties whether to cap rates or not will continue. Whatever will be the outcome, milestone has been achieved to complement growth of India.