With the GST council expected to meet at least once every month, there is frenetic activity among lobbyists to see how GST rate changes could be influenced for the benefit of their clients. Remember, for every fiscal action of the GST council, there will be an equal and opposite reaction from the aggrieved, quipped an industry insider.

MPs have been demanding information on rate changes even in the Lok Sabha. Well, first it was tobacco, then cars ... the tweaking story on GST rates is expected to be an ongoing saga.

No selfies please

Minister of State (independent charge) of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy may come across as a chilled out guy next door. But this professional pilot does not accept requests for “selfies” from enthusiastic passengers or journalists when in a pilot’s uniform. The issue came up at a recent press conference on skill development and the minister’s own skills. Rudy responded that he has to fly to keep his pilot’s licence but when asked for a photograph he prefers to wear a regular coat over his uniform. Politician first, pilot next?

Less hoopla

The release of the second volume of the Economic Survey seemed to be a quieter affair than the hullabaloo around the first, which is traditionally tabled in Parliament a day before the Union Budget. There were not that many journalists at the press conference called by the Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian. The CEA also promised to keep the conference short and accordingly held a half-hour presentation followed by another half-an-hour of questions and answers. Short is sweet, right?

Junked by Jio

After substantial legislation, threat and sustained opposition from injured telecom competitors, Reliance Jio finally ended the grace period for free users of its service. In an email sent to Jio consumers with zero balance on August 6, the newbie telecom major said, “You will now experience reduced internet speed up to 128 Kbps in case you do not have any active data pack…To continue enjoying high speed data, buy data packs now…”

Jio’s message to consumers signals that they are being disconnected from the free high speed internet service. Interestingly, the message also comes months after the announced deadline for conversion to a paid service had lapsed.

Missing you

As M Venkaiah Naidu was preparing to take up his new role as Vice-President, the corridors of power echoed whispers from jounalists saying: “We will miss him… he at least used to talk and was accessible.” True indeed, he sure talked!

Guessing game

The week promises to keep everyone guessing. First off, what will Prime Minister Narendra Modi talk about on August 15? Secondly, what will happen in the much awaited Cabinet reshuffle?

If one goes by the buzz, this time the bureaucracy may be the topic of the Prime Minister’s speech. One thing of course is clear: Modi wants to keep his speech shorter this time.

In his recent ‘Mann Ki Baat’ the Prime Minister said, “For the previous three 15th August speeches, one consistent complaint has been that my speeches tend to be a little lengthy. I have planned to keep my speech short this time — not more than 40-45-50 minutes. I have tried to draw these rules for myself, but I don’t know whether I’ll be able to stick to them. But I do intend to try this time to shorten my speech. Let’s see whether I succeed or not.”

The Cabinet reshuffle is expected between August 18 and 20. Will there be a new defence minister? Only Modi knows. As one senior member of the BJP said: “A day prior to the reshuffle we will know.” This is called keeping the cards close to the chest.

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