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Islands differ in their geological and geomorphologic settings; and in their physical, biological, climatic, social, political, cultural, and ethnic characteristics. Yet they share a distinct underlying concern that marks their overall vulnerability in the context of sustainable development.
Continental Islands
Bodies of land connected by the continental shelf to a continent. Greenland is part of North American continental shelf, while Tasmania is an extension of the Australian continent. Also, Trinidad is a section of the South American continental shelf while Sumatra is a portion of the South East Asian shelf.
Oceanic Islands
Bodies formed by volcanic eruptions on the ocean floor. As volcanoes erupt, they build up layers of lava that may eventually break the water surface. When the tops of the volcanoes appear above the water, they form islands such as Hawaii made primarily of basaltic lava. Oceanic islands are also known as ‘high islands’ and are usually formed near subduction zones, hot spots, tectonic plates etc.
Tidal Islands
Bodies that are connected to the mainland at low tide at which time they can be reached on foot. At high tide however they are completely cut off from the mainland making it a true island. Tidal islands are sometimes connected to the mainland by a man-made causeway. Some such islands are Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy, France, Enoshima in Japan, Lindisfarne in the northeast coast of England, etc.
Coral Islands
Bodies of low flat land formed in warm waters by tiny sea animals called corals. As corals build up, their hard skeletons make reefs of limestone. Some coral reefs may grow up from a plateau on the seafloor until they break the water’s surface, forming islands. The islands of the Bahamas are the highest parts of underwater banks. Another kind of coral island is the atoll, which is a coral reef that begins by growing in a ring around the sides of an oceanic island. As the island slowly sinks into the sea, the reef continues to grow. Lakshadweep Islands comprise of 12 such atolls.
Artificial Islands
Bodies of land that is essentially man-made, with material brought-in from elsewhere or as an expanded part of an already-existing island by draining the water around it. Some of the example of artificial islands are Harbor Island in San Diego Bay, California; Treasure Island in Eastern Caribbean, etc. Singapore is actively involved in creating artificial islands apart from other nations such as Qatar and Japan.
Barrier Islands
Bodies of narrow land that lie parallel to coastlines largely made up of sediments, separated from the shore by a lagoon or a sound. They usually have sand dunes that act as barriers between the ocean and the mainland, which protects the coast from being directly battered by storm waves and winds. The islands off the Atlantic coast of southern Florida were formed in this way. Some barrier islands were formed by glacial deposits from the ice age. Long Island, in New York, and Nantucket, off the coast of Massachusetts, are both formed of glacial moraines. Some of the barrier islands are Galveston and Padre Island, Texas; East Frisian Islands, West Germany.
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Petrol in India is cheaper than in countries like Hong Kong, Germany and the UK but costlier than in China, Brazil, Japan, the US, Russia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, a Bank of Baroda Economics Research report showed.
Rising fuel prices in India have led to considerable debate on which government, state or central, should be lowering their taxes to keep prices under control.
The rise in fuel prices is mainly due to the global price of crude oil (raw material for making petrol and diesel) going up. Further, a stronger dollar has added to the cost of crude oil.
Amongst comparable countries (per capita wise), prices in India are higher than those in Vietnam, Kenya, Ukraine, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Venezuela. Countries that are major oil producers have much lower prices.
In the report, the Philippines has a comparable petrol price but has a per capita income higher than India by over 50 per cent.
Countries which have a lower per capita income like Kenya, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Venezuela have much lower prices of petrol and hence are impacted less than India.
“Therefore there is still a strong case for the government to consider lowering the taxes on fuel to protect the interest of the people,” the report argued.
India is the world’s third-biggest oil consuming and importing nation. It imports 85 per cent of its oil needs and so prices retail fuel at import parity rates.
With the global surge in energy prices, the cost of producing petrol, diesel and other petroleum products also went up for oil companies in India.
They raised petrol and diesel prices by Rs 10 a litre in just over a fortnight beginning March 22 but hit a pause button soon after as the move faced criticism and the opposition parties asked the government to cut taxes instead.
India imports most of its oil from a group of countries called the ‘OPEC +’ (i.e, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Russia, etc), which produces 40% of the world’s crude oil.
As they have the power to dictate fuel supply and prices, their decision of limiting the global supply reduces supply in India, thus raising prices
The government charges about 167% tax (excise) on petrol and 129% on diesel as compared to US (20%), UK (62%), Italy and Germany (65%).
The abominable excise duty is 2/3rd of the cost, and the base price, dealer commission and freight form the rest.
Here is an approximate break-up (in Rs):
a)Base Price | 39 |
b)Freight | 0.34 |
c) Price Charged to Dealers = (a+b) | 39.34 |
d) Excise Duty | 40.17 |
e) Dealer Commission | 4.68 |
f) VAT | 25.35 |
g) Retail Selling Price | 109.54 |
Looked closely, much of the cost of petrol and diesel is due to higher tax rate by govt, specifically excise duty.
So the question is why government is not reducing the prices ?
India, being a developing country, it does require gigantic amount of funding for its infrastructure projects as well as welfare schemes.
However, we as a society is yet to be tax-compliant. Many people evade the direct tax and that’s the reason why govt’s hands are tied. Govt. needs the money to fund various programs and at the same time it is not generating enough revenue from direct taxes.
That’s the reason why, govt is bumping up its revenue through higher indirect taxes such as GST or excise duty as in the case of petrol and diesel.
Direct taxes are progressive as it taxes according to an individuals’ income however indirect tax such as excise duty or GST are regressive in the sense that the poorest of the poor and richest of the rich have to pay the same amount.
Does not matter, if you are an auto-driver or owner of a Mercedes, end of the day both pay the same price for petrol/diesel-that’s why it is regressive in nature.
But unlike direct tax where tax evasion is rampant, indirect tax can not be evaded due to their very nature and as long as huge no of Indians keep evading direct taxes, indirect tax such as excise duty will be difficult for the govt to reduce, because it may reduce the revenue and hamper may programs of the govt.