NEW DELHI, Jan 11:

In the biggest hike in nearlythree decades, Saudi Arabia todayincreased India's annual Hajquota by 34,500, a move wel-comed by the NDA Governmentas a "matter of pleasure".

Union Minister MukhtarAbbas Naqvi and Saudi Arabia'sHaj and Umrah Minister DrMohammad Saleh bin TaherBenten inked an agreement inthis regard in Jeddah today,increasing the size of India's Hajquota from 1,36,020 to 1,70,520.

According to a statementissued by Minister of State forMinority Affairs (IndependentCharge) Naqvi, it is the "biggestincrease" in quota for Haj pil-grims after 1988.

The latest increase in quotawill be effective from the currentyear.

The Saudi authorities had fiveyears ago slashed quotas for for-eign pilgrims coming from eachcountry by 20 per cent in view ofsafety of the devotees as theyundertook expansion of GrandMosque there.

Accordingly, India's quotawas brought down to 1,36,020from 1,70,000 in 2012. Last year,a total of 1,35,903 devotees fromIndia performed Haj. Of these,99,903 devotees went to Jeddahthrough Haj Committee of India.The remaining 36,000 pilgrimshad proceeded through privateoperators.

Expressing pleasure at sign-ing of the agreement, Naqvitweeted, "Its a matter of pleasurethat Saudi Arabia has increasedIndia's Haj quota by about34,000."

Naqvi said his meeting withBenten was "very fruitful" as"constructive" discussion was

held on whole gamut of issuesrelated to the pilgrimage, trans-port and accommodation facili-ties for devotees and their safety.

"On behalf of the people andGovernment of India, we alsoextend gratitude to the Custodianof the Two Holy Mosques, HisExcellency Saudi Arabia KingSalman bin Abdul Aziz al Saud,for his keen personal interest andinitiative in organising a success-ful Haj 2016," Naqvi said in thestatement.

The Minister exuded confi-dence that under the visionaryleadership of Saudi Arabia's KingSalman bin Abdul Aziz al Saud,the "excellent" relationshipbetween the two countries will befurther strengthened.

Stating India and SaudiArabia share ideals of globalpeace, progress and prosperity,Naqvi said the two countries aretied together with strong civilisa-tional, cultural, economic andpolitical links.

"The regular visits by theleaders and senior-level officialsof the two nations have furtherstrengthened the relationship

between the two nations. Thevisit of Prime Minister NarendraModi to Saudi Arabia duringApril last year added new dimen-sions to our vibrant relationship,"he said.

The Minister also expressedsatisfaction over the improve-ments in services offered to pil-grims which indicates SaudiArabia's firm commitmenttowards welfare and bettermentof pilgrims.

The NDA Government hasstarted issuing Haj applicationsfrom January 2. The last date forsubmission of applications isJanuary 24.

As part of its efforts tostreamline the process, theGovernment has urged pilgrimsto submit their applicationsonline. In December last year, anew Haj website was launchedwhich provides all necessaryinformation to Haj pilgrims, thestatement said.

On January 2, the Ministerhad launched the HajCommittee of India mobileapplication to help pilgrimsapply online. (PTI)

GANDHINAGAR, Jan 11:

With states and the Centrestill locked in stalemate overcontrol of tax payers, FinanceMinister Arun Jaitley today saidthe issue will be resolved in nextfew weeks for rollout of theGST regime from April 1.

The all-powerful GSTCouncil, which has been dead-locked in the past few meetings,will meet on January 16 to dis-cuss the issue of jurisdictionover assessees as well as taxa-tion of trade in territorial waters.

“Most of the issues havebeen sorted out, some criticalissues remain and these criticalissues over the next few weekswe will try and solve out,” hesaid addressing the VibrantGujarat Global Summit here.

Goods and Services Tax(GST), which is to subsumemost of the central and statetaxes like excise, service tax andVAT, needs to be rolled out lat-est by September 16, 2017, hesaid.

Under the ConstitutionalAmendment passed byParliament for the GST imple-mentation, some of the existinglevies would expire afterSeptember 16.

Jaitley said the governmentwas aiming to implement thenew sales tax from April thisyear. “We would want it to beimplemented from April if allissues are resolved.”

Once implemented, he said,GST combined with more digi-tised economy resulting fromcurrency demonetisation and amore efficient tax system will“make India look much better,make our economy look muchcleaner, much bigger”.

He hoped that the industry,assessee and states will eventu-ally cooperate and make GST as

well as the two moves success-ful.

GST and demonetisationtogether will lead to “higherrevenues in future, greater com-pliance and give us a cleanerand better economy,” Jaitleysaid.

“There is a provision forGST implementation becauseConstitutional Amendment hasbeen passed. So it’sConstitutional necessity thatbefore September 16 it shouldbe rolled out,” he added.

GST, or a national sales tax,will replace a jumble of levies tocreate one of the world’s biggestsingle market. A single tax willmake it easier to do business inthe world’s seventh-largesteconomy as also help combatevasion, boost revenue for thegovernment.

But the roll out is struckbecause of differences betweenthe Centre and states over con-trol and administration of thetax as also on how the states thatface revenue shortfall becauseof the GST roll out would needto be compensated. (PTI)

Sidhu would soon joinCongress unconditionally:

AmarinderNEW DELHI, Jan 11:

Putting at rest talks ofNavjot Singh Sidhu beingoffered the post of deputy chiefminister if Congress partycomes to power in Punjab, thestate Congress chief AmarinderSingh today said the cricketer-turned- politician would soonjoin the party “unconditionally”.

The decision on deputy chiefminister would be taken by theparty National president andvice president at an “appropriatetime”, he said.

“Sidhu’s decision to join theCongress was unconditional. Nostrings attached,” the formerPunjab chief minister said.

He said Sidhu would be theparty’s candidate from AmritsarEast, as announced by his wifeNavjot Kaur Sidhu.

“The delay in his joiningwas due to his professionalcommitments, which he wantedto conclude before getting intothe election gear,” Amarindersaid in a statement here.

On the delay in theannouncing remaining candi-dates for the Punjab polls, hesaid it would be announcedtoday.

Further explaining the delay,he said the party’s central lead-ership has five states to lookafter “which naturally leads tosome delays in the decision-making process”. (PTI)

DAILY EXCELSIOR, JAMMU THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2017 (PAGE 11)

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Hope to resolve issues for GSTrollout from Apr 1: Jaitley

Saudi Arabia hikes India’s annual Haj quota by 34,500