After tribals, Rahul to meet Haryana students

New Delhi: After meeting the tribals of Niyamgiri in Orissa, Rahul Gandhi is headed for Haryana to meet students.

The Congress general secretary is scheduled to visit Hisar, Kurukshetra and Karnal on Friday to interact with students.

Rahul has been focusing on farmers too after protests in UP over land acquisition flared up.

In fact, the Opposition in the state led by Rashtriya Lok Dal's (RLD) Ajit Singh came together on the issue yet again as thousands of farmers marched to the Capital to protest on Thursday.

Farmers from UP were protesting against land acquisition for the Yamuna Expressway by the UP government.

The protest started in Aligarh earlier this month. Many people in the political fraternity are now willing to take ownership of the agitation.

Ajit Sngh's RLD is at the forefront and is supported by nearly all parties in the Opposition. "Last year, the farmers took the sugarcane protest to Delhi. If the government is unfair to farmers, they will not let it live in peace. The government has to listen to us," he said.

It's a tactic farmer leadership from Western UP has often used in the past.

Last year, farmers demanding remunerative sugarcane price marched to Parliament at the onset of the harvest season.

In 1978, Ajit Singh's father and deputy Prime Minister Charan Singh brought Delhi to a standstill on his birthday as a show of strength and to challenge PM Morarji Desai.

Bhartiya Kisan Union leader Mahendra Singh Tikait led two sit-ins at Boat Club in 1988 and 1991 and again the city was thrown out of gear.

But the message from the farmers' gathering in Delhi is clear. Like the nuke bill, the government will have to take the Opposition on board on the issue of amendments on the land acquisition law as well or these parties can gang up in the Rajya Sabha to stall the legislation.

"We will have to be taken on board. The PM should call a meeting of all political parties to solve this issue," said Arun Jaitley, leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha.

The land acquisition law is pending with the government for three years now. With the stakes high for the Congress in the next assembly elections in UP, the bill may finally see the light of the day in the next session of Parliament.

SC upholds quashing of criminal cases against Arun Gawli

Gangster-turned politician Arun Gawli on Friday got a reprieve with the Supreme Court upholding the quashing of MCOCA and other criminal cases registered against him by the Maharashtra government.

A bench of Justices P. Sathasivam and B. S. Chauhan dismissed the State government’s appeal challenging the Bombay High Court’s decision to quash the FIR registered against the former MLA in connection with an extortion case.

The apex court said it found no basis to interfere with the decision of the Bombay High Court.

Jnaneswari sabotage: Top Maoist leader killed in encounter

JHARGRAM ( WB): In a major success for security forces, Maoist-backed PCPA leader Umakanta Mahato, a prime suspect in the Jnaneswari train sabotage case, was killed by the joint forces during an encounter in West Midnapore district in the wee hours on Friday.

Acting on a specific tip-off from locals that Mahato, who was carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh on his head, was hiding with a squad at Mohanpur near Lodhasuli jungle, the joint forces comprising CRPF, CoBRA and police personnel closed in on the area at around 1:00 am, police sources said,

A cornered Mahto and his squad opened fire to which the joint forces led by Additional Joint Superintendent of Police Mukesh Kumar retaliated, with the encounter carrying on till around 5:00 am, the sources said.

When the firing ceased, the joint forces entered the forested area and found the body of Mahato. A motorcycle, a mobile phone and a 9 mm pistol were found near the body, the sources said.

Superintendent of Police, Jhargram, Pravin Tripathy said that the operation was a major success as Mahato had been absconding since the announcement of the Rs 1 lakh reward on his head by the CBI which is investigating the May 28 Jnaneswari Express disaster, which left 148 passengers dead.

PCPA spokesman Asit Mahto, who took over the leadership of the Maoist-backed outfit, People's Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCPA), after the arrest of its Convenor Chhatradhar Mahto and also carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh on his head, was the only other wanted person in the case, still at large.

PCPA leader, Bapi Mahto, who also had the same reward against his head was arrested earlier from near Jamshedpur in Jharkhand.

Has government compromised too much on DTC Bill?

The Union Cabinet on Thursday okayed direct tax code bill, which is aimed at simplifying the country's archaic direct tax laws. CNBC-TV18 News Editor, Harsha Subramaniam quizzed M Lakshminarayanan (Tax Leader at Deloitte Haskins & Sells) about the compromises made by the government in the original direct tax code (DTC) proposed in 2009. He also spoke about possible implications on investors and corporates alike.

Here is the verbatim transcript of the interview. Also watch the accompanying video.

M Lakshminarayanan, Tax Leader , Deloitte Haskins & Sells

Excerpts from India Business Hour on CNBC-TV18 Watch the full show »

Q: Do you also believe that the minimum alternate tax (MAT) at 20% is a dampener and broadly will you look at the kind of changes that have been suggested today? Do you believe that these are just minor tweaking here and there and it has not been a dramatic overhaul?

A: To give credit to the finance minister, he has reduced the tax rates compared to the current rates, but if you look at the rates which were originally proposed in the DTC, we are far away from that. Considering the fact that they are going to levy 20% MAT, it is almost near the rate of 30% applicable to the corporate sector.

You should also consider that today although the tax rate is around 33%, some of the studies have revealed that the effective tax rates paid by various corporates is only in the region of 20-22% considering various exemptions and tax holidays available. To compare with that rate 30% is steep and 20% MAT would definitely be a dampener.

Q: Was there anything that you were expecting that has not happened in the announcements and do you think the government has taken the softer route?

A: It is actually a compromise between the original direct tax code which was released in August 2009 and the current one. They have gone on a softer note and we are probably seeing all those problems which are applicable in the income tax act today coming back in the DTC in one manner or other, including the rate of tax of 30% which is already there in the income tax act today for corporate.

It is actually a softer route which probably the finance minister has taken, because to the lot of objections he has received on the original direct tax code which was published.

China denies visa to J&K Gen, India hits back

India has suspended defence exchanges with China after Beijing refused a visa to an Indian army general from the Kashmir region, media reports said on Friday. Indian army's General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Area Command was denied visa because he was responsible for "disputed" region

A government source said the Indian government would issue a statement later on Friday over the issue.

The Chinese have been provokng India on Kashmir in recent times by refusing to paste visas on the passports of residents of J&K, instead stapling them instead.

India has strongly protestd this practice since the government refuses to recognize stapled visas as valid travel documents.