Dear friends,
We have received few questions regarding Daily current events, hence we thought , instead of responding to each via mail , we have compiled all the questions and answer to them here :-
Q-Do we cover PIB ?
A- Yes, it is indispensable.Apart from PIB we cover many other sites and newspaper too. It takes nearly 4 hrs to filter out and publish everyday(Some days more) . Filtering and Analysis takes more time .
Q- Why static section in some posts ?
A- When the news is too little for the day or if we come across any particular issue that might be important, we publish it as under Static section of the news post .
Q- Why news that are making headlines such as – Intolerance, Cow debate , etc are not published , while other sites are publishing the same.
A- We consider them political fights, nothing to do with our syllabus. Moreover political fights should be left to the politicians. It is not useful in any case for our preparation.If any substantial debate which may be necessary from syllabus point of view , even though it is political, will be published.
Q- Why no Editorials ?
A- Our Editorial is named as Reflections , As yet we have published 2 editorials , namely on AFSPA and Surrogacy. You may send mail to us if you come across any issue of importance that needs publishing, feel free to write to us.
Q-Will you provide the compilation of Monthly news ?
A- Yes, We are planning for that . Those who have subscribed to our mailing list will get it .
Q- Should I need to read the news on my own ?
A- Depends on you. But we cover everything , rest assured of that(We provide analysis too, which the newspaper usually lacks) .On a lighter note, If you want to get entertained , you may tune into prime-time news show though- those are great stress-busters 🙂
After all the hard work we put in , we only need 2 things from you . First – Promote the site (only if you believe in it) , Second – Be engaging with us, it helps us outdo ourselves each time.
Good Night
UPSCTREE Team
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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.