Back The wind is blowing, take cover!
After `Absence of Terrorism' comes `Benignity' in Thirukkural. "Except that they are on the face what for are eyes sans measured grace," asks couplet number 574 in this chapter. I'm sure TV viewers were eagerly looking for benign grace on the face of the Finance Minister.
But he skipped that verse, and also the next three, where the poet saint Thiruvalluvar chides those with eyes without kindness. For instance, verse 575 likens eyes without benignity to sores, and verse 576 equates those without kindness to `trees on inert earth'. The FM picked up 578, in paragraph 48 of his speech, "faced with a dilemma."
Translation of the Kural beginning with `Karumam' reads, "The world is his who does his job with compassion." Suddhananda Bharatiar translates gracefully, thus: "Who gracious are but dutiful have right for this earth beautiful." And G.U. Pope's translation is: "Who can benignant smile, yet leave no work undone; by them as very own all the earth be won."
As special effects, we saw a good measure of the FM's smile too, though it is doubtful if he won all hearts through his Budget. And the Minister knows it too. "We reap what we sow. We are the makers of our own fate," he said, quoting Swami Vivekananda. "The wind is blowing; those vessels whose sails are unfurled catch it, and go forward on their way, but those which have their sails furled do not catch the wind. Is that the fault of the wind?" A message in that for the Left?
Models not missed
The Minister spoke of at least three different models. The first was Public Private Partnership (PPP) model "to access RIDF funds", and "to set up model terminal markets in different parts of the country".
The second was Cluster Development model, which can be "usefully adopted not only to promote manufacturing but also to renew industrial towns and build new industrial townships", and which is "now being implemented, in one form or other, in nine sectors falling under different Ministries".
And the third was the Design, Build, Finance and Operate (DBFO) model, which will be used by the Government "to develop 1,000 km of access-controlled Expressways." Searching for more `model' in the news, I spot this in a February 28 story on www.columbusdispatch.com: "By combing CT scans with sophisticated computer software," scientists "can take a fossil dinosaur skull, or a skull from any other animal, and model its brain." Exciting!
Bills in the pipeline
William O. Douglas said, "Common sense often makes good law." That doesn't deter successive Budgets to speak of new laws. We have so many laws already that the announcement of a new law is no longer news.
Yet, may it be known that the FM intends to introduce "a comprehensive Bill on insurance in 2006-07". He reminded the House about `important Bills to amend the banking laws and for setting up the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority', and urged "Honourable Members to cooperate with the Government and pass these Bills". The FM also spoke about "a Bill to provide a formal statutory framework for the promotion, development and regulation of the micro finance sector" to be introduced in this session; the Small and Medium Enterprises (Development) Bill; and a Bill to amend the Indian Telegraph Act. "It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right," said Henry David Thoreau. Keeping away from that dangerous one, the FM picked up a different quote of Thoreau: "If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them."
One such castle in the air was the expectation that the FM would include in the service tax regime lawyers for all the help they offer us in getting along despite all laws.
The service wheeze
Successive Budgets have proved that when the FM talks about the share of services in GDP, it is only a warm-up to throw the tax lasso on newer services. This year, he breezily mentioned items such as travel in cruise ships and auctioneering. What should be of interest are the definitions that come quick and fast in the Finance Bill.
Srivatsan Ranganathan, Head of Financial Accounting, Panalpina World Transport (India) P Ltd, Chennai, alerts me about an expansive paragraph that defines `support services of business or commerce' as "services provided in relation to business or commerce and includes evaluation of prospective customers, telemarketing, processing of purchase orders and fulfilment services, information and tracking of delivery schedules, managing distribution and logistics, customer relationship management services, accounting and processing of transactions, operational assistance for marketing, formulation of customer service and pricing policies, infrastructural support services and other transaction processing."
An `explanation' clarifies that the phrase `infrastructural support services' includes "providing office along with office utilities, lounge, reception with competent personnel to handle messages, secretarial services, Internet and telecom facilities, pantry and security." V. Ranganathan of Ernst & Young points out that the services provided by lawyers may well come within this definition, in the absence of any specific exemption. Something explosive?
Tailpiece
Neta: "Have you drafted the `reaction'?"
Assistant: "Ji. I've put the `nuclear' in your left coat pocket, and the Budget reaction in the right."
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