Eligible Sikkimese to get RC in a month

Posted on February 8, 2011 by iSikkim | Category: Other Slider Post | 400 views | 2 Comments

Gangtok, Feb 8 (PTI):

People eligible for the recently notified Residential Certificates in Sikkim will have to wait a month or little longer to obtain it. These certificates, as per a state government notification issued a couple of months back, is to be issued to all those who have been residing in Sikkim since or before 26 April 1975 or are permanent employees of the state government, but do not have a Certificate of Identification [issued to Sikkim Subject Certificate holders and their descendants].

The matter is a hotly debated one between the ruling party and the opposition, with the latter seeing it as something which will dilute the status of the Sikkim subjects. Explaining the reason why the RCs had not yet been issued, a senior official at the District Administrative Centre [East] said that this was because the state government first wants the district authorities to complete the verification of Certificates of Identification. “As things stand, this task is to be completed by 20 February, but it is a major undertaking and could take longer”, the official said. After completing this verification of Sikkim Subject Certificates and CoIs, we will proceed with issuing RCs, the official said. Within a month or little longer we will be able to issue the first lot of RCs to the eligible applicants, he said. He said the authorities were currently working on the guidelines, shape, size, format, colour and other technical details of the RCs.

400 Sikkimese families refuse to pay tax

Posted on November 27, 2012 by iSikkim | Category: Featured Post Local News Slider Post | 90 views | 0 Comments

Gangtok, November 27, 2012

Around 400 business families in the state have turned down a request by the income tax department to file their returns and have demanded the same tax exemption which applies to people holding Sikkim subject certificates.

The Chogyal dynasty had issued the Sikkim subject certificates to the people living in Sikkim in 1961 under the Sikkim Subject Regulation Act of 1961.

The 400 business families, also known as “old settlers” had come to the state before 1975, the year Sikkim merged with India, but don’t possess Sikkim subject certificates.

They allege discrimination and demand a tax exemption similar to the one enjoyed by the certificate holders.

“The new income tax commissioner in Siliguri, Subrato Sarkar, had convened a meeting with the old settlers in Gangtok last week. Alleging discrimination, they have refused to file their income tax returns,” said the general secretary of the Sikkim Chamber of Commerce, Kailash Agarwal.

Sikkim was a part of the Chogyal Dynasty and became a part of India on April 26, 1975.

The central government had exempted Sikkim subject holders from paying income tax in 2008 after the amendment bill was passed in the Finance Act by the Parliament based on the state government’s request .

“We have been raising the matter with the central government on the income tax evasion to the old settlers. But so far, there have been no response. We will not file the IT returns,” said Agarwal.

“There are 400 families which have come to Sikkim before 1975. The list was prepared on the basis of government documents such as electricity bill, driving licence and trade licences” he added.

“I have filed a petition with the Rajya Sabha Committee in 2008 and the hearing on the matter is still pending” said Prem Goyal, the chief co-ordinator of Nagrik Sangarsh Samity.

“We are only the implementing agency and would comply with the income tax rules. We will again serve notices on those who are yet to file their returns” said an official source.

The Sikkim Chamber of Commerce has also requested the income tax department to conduct sensitisation workshops for those people who need to file their returns.

Courtesy: The Telegraph

For elders, Sikkim matters

SIKKIM SENIOR CITIZENS’ SOCIETY CONVENES SECOND GENERAL BODY MEETING

source Sikkim Now
GANGTOK, 23 Nov: The second General Body Meeting of Sikkim Senior Citizens’ Society was held at MLA Hostel Hall on 21 November. Justice (Retd.) AP Subba was present as the chief guest for the meeting presided over by former Chief Secretary and president of the organization, KC Pradhan.
As per a press release, forty members from all districts attended the four-hour long meeting. The deliberations covered all significant issues currently being faced by people in the state with special reference to senior citizens.
The release mentions that the most heated discussion revolved around LPG cylinders, its transfer, KYC, non-availability, distribution and the plight of the common people. A committee has been formed to discuss this issue with the concerned authority with a view to bring home the difficulties currently faced by the people and find remedial measures for systematic regularization, distribution and delivery. In view of winter months already setting in and Sikkim being a hilly state with cold climate the need for immediate redressal was highlighted.
Other matters ranged from social issues like drugs and suicides, slum-dwellers within Gangtok Municipal Corporation and their rehabilitation, traffic congestion and need for alternate highways and road-ways, maintenance of roads, organic farming and its proper understanding for better dissemination to the people at large and its inclusion in School curriculum, issue of Identity Cards to senior citizens duly indicating the benefits already being provided by the government, the influx of migrant population and its impact on the society and ways to tackle them also came into focus, the release informs.
Committees have been formed headed by senior competent members to study each of the issues threadbare and put up proposals for further deliberation and concretization before submission to the government for their consideration, the release mentions.
The body also felt the need to form sub-committees headed by senior members with leeway to select their own team from all strata of the society and directed the Executive Committee to put these sub-committees into operation at the earliest. The role of one of the committees is Intergenerational Interactions with a view to obtain the views of the younger citizens and incorporate them in the overall scheme.
Earlier, Justice Subba gave an insight on the Maintenance & Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act. 2007 promulgated by the Government of India and all the members felt the need for its enforcement in Sikkim as well and resolved to approach the Government for its expeditious enforcement.
Also, one of the senior members expressed his concern over the disintegration and divisionism in the communities/ society and expressed that the organization should find ways and means with a view to bind all sections of the society together for the long term interest of the state. He specifically called for consensus to make all Sikkim Subject Holders and their immediate descendents as Tribals with a view to bring a sense of oneness and belongingness in the interest of the future generations.
It was informed that the state government has recently taken up with the Central Government the matter of bringing all the left-out ethnic groups under the Scheduled Tribe Status. The views were well appreciated and the issue being a complex one, the body was of the opinion that a core committee consisting of representatives of various sections of the community that matter should be constituted to examine the matter in greater depth and put up their views for further deliberation, the release adds.
The next General Body Meeting is resolved to be held in the first week of May 2013.

Asar Education Foundation” was opened today at Bhutia Busty, in Namchi

Namchi November 26: Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) named “ to endow with education and enlighten the under privileged children and those deprived of getting edification through formal classes.

The foundation, conceptualized and created by Ms. Komal Chamling and group of like-minded people, will be providing part time education to these children. 

This foundation has come up like a blessing to those childrens whose parents cannot afford to send their wards to educational institutions, who are the target of this NGO.

The said children will definitely be benefiting and learning the importance of knowledge and education which will be inculcated into their minds by the Foundation as they will be working towards empowering them by providing an education, thereby making them self reliant.

Classes will formally start from 27^th November 2012 on-wards, from 9 am to noon and will run throughout the year with some mandatory intervals.(IPR)  

Sikkim thanks the Sun

CHHATH PUJA CELEBRATION AT THAKUR BARI

ANUSHA GURUNG
source:Sikkim Now

GANGTOK, 19 Nov: Chhath Puja, also called Dala Chhath, is an ancient Hindu festival dedicated to the Hindu Sun God also known as Surya Shashti is being celebrated at Thakur Bari Mandir from 17-20 November by the Chhath Puja Committee of Gangtok.

Gangtok MLA, Dorjee Namgyal, accompanied by HRDD Minister, NK Pradhan, RM&DD Minister, CB Karki, and other dignitaries joined the prayers in which thousands participated this evening.

The Chhath Puja is performed in order to thank Surya for sustaining life on earth and to request the granting of certain wishes where the Sun, considered the god of energy and of the life-force, is worshiped during the Chhath festival to promote well-being, prosperity and progress in Hinduism, Sun worship is believed to help cure a variety of diseases, including leprosy, and helps ensure the longevity and prosperity of family members, friends, and elders informed the president of the committee Kaushal Kashyap. The rituals of the festival are rigorous and are observed over a period of four days. They include holy bathing, fasting and abstaining from drinking water [Vratta], standing in water for long periods of time, and offering Prashad [prayer offerings] and aragh to the setting and rising sun.
Although it is observed most elaborately in Bihar, Jharkhand, Eastern UP and the Terai regions of Nepal in modern times, and is more prevalent in areas where migrants from those areas have a presence, it is celebrated in all regions and major urban centers in India. The festival is celebrated in the regions including but not exclusive to the northeast region of India, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Chandigarh, Gujarat, Delhi, Mumbai and Mauritius. These days the community comes together to celebrate this festival which is a good sign of unity and can help promote peace in the whole world, said Mr Kashyap.

CBDT bats for penalty waiver in retro tax cases; boost for Vodafone?

CBDT bats for penalty waiver in retro tax cases; boost for Vodafone?

by Ashwin Mohan, ET Now Nov 16, 2012, 11.15PM IST



(CBDT has recommended waiver…)
In the first indication of a softening of stance from revenue authorities on the controversial retrospective tax laws introduced in budget 2012, the country's apex tax body, the Central Board of Direct Taxes or CBDT has recommended waiver of penalties in cases where tax laws are applied retrospectively, two government officials familiar with the development told ET NOW.

"An internal committee has finalized its report on the Shome Panel's recommendations on retrospective tax laws. It has favoured waiver of penalties in "appropriate cases" but has opposed waiver of the interest component. The report will be soon submitted to the Finance Ministry," said one of the two individuals cited above.

On October 8th 2012, the government appointed Parthasarathi Shome panel had recommended that in cases where retrospective tax laws are applied, adequate safeguards are needed in the form of interest and penalty waiver on the tax demands raised.

"In all cases where demand of tax is raised on account of retrospective amendment relating to indirect transfer...no interest...should be charged in respect of that demand so that there is no undue hardship caused to the tax payer," the panel said.

"Initially, the committee was in favour of rejecting both interest and penalty waivers, but a later a middle ground was reached. The interest component cannot be separated from the tax demand and thus cannot be waived off ," said a senior government official.

Tax experts feel if the CBDT's report is accepted and implemented by the Finance Ministry, then British telecom giant Vodafone's total tax bill in India will be reduced by nearly Rs 8000 crore rupees ie the penalty sought by the income tax department for failure to withhold tax on the 2007 acquisition of Hutchinson's mobile assets in India.

In October 2010, the tax department had slapped a Rs 11,218 crore tax notice ( including principal plus interest) on Vodafone. This lead to a protracted legal battle which ultimately ended with the Supreme Court ruling that the income tax department had no jurisdiction to tax the deal.

Budget 2012 sought to overturn the apex court order by retrospectively amending the tax laws on indirect transfer of assets

Who is who in Income tax in Sikkim

Mr Subroto Sarkar

Commissioner of Income tax- Siliguri

Mr P D Kanunga

Jt Commissoner of Income tax

Mr Lendup Lepcha

Asst Commissioner of Income tax

Gangtok

Mr N L L Sherpa

Income tax Officer- Gangtok.