��������

MUMBAI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s push to slash consumption taxes on everyday goods could deliver billions of dollars in annual relief and boost demand in an economy bracing for painful US tariffs, experts say.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to double import duties on India from 25 to 50 percent to punish New Delhi for buying oil from Russia, saying the purchases help Moscow fund its invasion of Ukraine.
The prospective measure has clouded the outlook for the world’s fifth-largest economy, with Indian exporters warning of plunging orders and severe job losses.
New Delhi has called Washington’s move “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable” but is already seeking to cushion the blow, with Modi last week promising to “bring down the tax burden on the common man” during an annual speech to mark India’s independence.
His proposed cuts to the goods and services tax (GST) would make everything from small cars to air conditioners cheaper for consumers, economists say.
Currently, the tax operates under a complex four-tier structure, with rates ranging from five to 28 percent.
Under Modi’s reforms, most goods would fall into just two tiers, taxed at either five or 18 percent.
The Indian leader has called the change a “Diwali gift,” a reference to the annual Hindu festival of lights when consumers splurge on everything from gold and clothes to consumer electronics.
Trump’s tariffs – and their impact on ordinary Indians – will hinge on how much progress is made toward a Russia-Ukraine peace deal, and whether New Delhi can secure alternative oil suppliers before the US president’s August 27 deadline.
But experts say Modi’s tax reform could help shore up demand by reducing tax collections by between $13 billion and $17 billion.
Analysts at Emkay Global Financial Services called the policy a “welcome reform toward boosting domestic consumption.”
They estimated that about the vast majority of items currently subject to the top 28 percent rate would be taxed at 18 percent, while “nearly all” in the 12 percent tier would move into the five-percent bracket.
Analysts at Motilal Oswal, an Indian financial services firm, said the changes would bring benefits to a wide range of sectors and “sizeable savings” to households.
The fate of the proposal ultimately rests with the GST Council, which includes representatives from state governments and has struggled to achieve broad consensus in the past.
If approved, the cuts would strain public finances, according to experts.
However, they said, they could also help to offset tariff risks and burnish Modi’s credentials among the middle class.
The proposal comes ahead of expected elections later this year in Bihar, a large, Hindu-majority state of 130 million people that is a key political battleground for Modi.
“The popular economic narrative right now is that of Trump’s 50 percent tariffs and how the US-India relationship is seeing setbacks,” Deepanshu Mohan, economist at O.P. Jindal Global University, said.
“The GST readjustment is a strong response from Modi in that context. It’s Modi telling the middle class: ‘We are trying to make sure you have enough at your end,’” Mohan said.
But, he added, it was also an acknowledgement that India’s economy had not worked for its “low middle-income class for some time.”
Although economists have called for an overhaul of the GST system for years, Modi’s surprise announcement comes as US-India ties hit a multi-decade low.
Economists estimate that if the two countries fail to sign a trade deal, Trump’s tariffs could drag India’s GDP growth below six percent this fiscal year, lower than the central bank’s projections of 6.5 percent.
New Delhi’s stance on Russian oil imports will become clearer by late September as most cargoes this month were contracted before Trump’s threats, according to trade intelligence firm Kpler.
Kpler analyst Sumit Ritolia said that while Indian refiners are showing “growing interest” in US, West African and Latin American crude, it was more indicative of “greater flexibility, not a deliberate pivot.”
“Until there’s a clear policy shift or sustained change in trade economics, Russian flows remain a core part of India’s crude basket,” Ritolia said.
As the clock ticks down on the tariff hike, the state of US-India trade negotiations remains uncertain.
New Delhi says it is committed to striking a deal, but Indian media reports suggest US negotiators have postponed a planned late-August visit to the Indian capital.

MALANG, Indonesia: People in an Indonesian village watched as a tower of loudspeakers mounted on a truck rumbled through their usually serene home, blasting a thumping bass loud enough to crack windows.
Loudspeaker towers are commonplace on Indonesia’s main island of Java, blaring a repetitive mix of electronic tunes and traditional folk music at street parties, but they have drawn the ire of local authorities and calm-seeking neighbors.
The loudspeaker stacks have proven so disruptive that officials this month have restricted their use while religious bodies have declared excessive and damaging sound from them to be “haram,” or forbidden under Islamic law.
“The sound is booming from 1 p.m. to 3 am. They play loud music and drink alcohol,” Ahmad Suliyat, a resident of Ngantru village in East Java province, told AFP.
“It’s really disturbing.”
Indonesians in East Java have shared videos on social media of cracked walls, falling roof tiles and damaged stores caused by the noise impact known as “sound horeg,” which loosely means to move or vibrate in Javanese.
The online backlash forced authorities in East Java to issue an order this month limiting noise levels and specifying the times and locations loudspeakers can be used.
“It was made for health and security reasons. The noise level must be regulated so it will not disturb the public peace and order,” East Java governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa told AFP.

Ear-splitting noise has been shown to have adverse health consequences, including a higher risk of heart conditions for those exposed.
And Indonesia’s loudspeaker towers, popular for little more than a decade in the world’s most populous Muslim nation, have had dire consequences for some who attend the deafening street gatherings.
A woman died this month after allegedly suffering cardiac arrest caused by loudspeaker towers at a carnival she attended, local media reported, while there has been an increase in hearing problems among those attending the events.
The East Java government has capped sound system levels at 120 decibels, while mobile units used in parades or protests are limited to 85 decibels.
Mobile units are also banned from being used near schools, hospitals, ambulances and places of worship that are in session.
In July, a local Islamic council issued a religious edict that said excessive sound at parties that is capable of causing damage is forbidden by religion.
“The use of a sound system excessively, especially during a wedding convoy, or any other events that cause noise, disturb road users, or make people neglect worshipping, is haram,” read the fatwa.
Locals typically rent the speaker towers for weddings, circumcisions and Independence Day events — all celebrations that can last until dawn.
Some like Daini, who goes by one name like many Indonesians, believe the loudspeakers are a local tradition that should be kept.
She glanced at her cracked window, held together by duct tape, as music blared from the truck in Ngantru.
“The glass cracked during a sound horeg event last year. But that’s OK, people here like loud events,” said the 61-year-old.

 

But loudspeakers have continued blasting above the new limits, due to lax enforcement by local authorities.
After the rules were issued, an AFP journalist heard loudspeaker towers blaring music at an East Javan event as authorities watched on.
The World Health Organization says sound at 85 decibels and above can cause hearing damage over time, and anything above 120 decibels can cause immediate harm.
Some Indonesians posted screenshots online of apps registering loudspeaker sound levels as high as 130 decibels.
Operators of loudspeaker towers argue they are responding to demand that generates revenue for local businesses.
“I believe most people who dislike sound horeg are not from here,” David Stevan Laksamana, a 40-year-old loudspeaker rental owner in Malang, told AFP.
“In Malang alone, it employed tens of thousands of people. This business is helping the economy.”
Others who cannot stand the disruptive street parties fear reporting them, with some loudspeaker tower owners reportedly parking outside complainants’ houses to blare music for hours.
“I never complain to the village head,” said Ahmad.
“I just keep quiet. I’m afraid of intimidation if I say anything.”