Aug 15, 2025 6:06 PM - Connect Newsroom
Government's big GST plan, Centre proposes to remove 12% and 28% slabs
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The Prime Minister said that the new reforms are part of the Centre's Diwali gift.(Photo: Facebook/Narendra Modi)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Independence Day to reduce GST slabs from 4 to 2 by Diwali and launch a new scheme for 3.5 crore jobs. Currently, there are 4 slabs of GST in India of 5 percent, 12 percent, 18 percent and 28 percent. The Centre has now proposed to reduce it to only 5 and 18 percent slabs.
This change is expected to bring big relief to the people. The Prime Minister said that the new reforms are part of the Centre's Diwali gift. According to the report, about 90 percent of taxable items in India, which are currently in the highest GST bracket of 28 percent, are proposed to be converted to the 18 percent tax slab.
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WorldAug 15, 2025
Trump arrives in Alaska, talks with Putin on Ukraine war
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are holding talks on the Ukraine war in Anchorage, Alaska's largest city. The meeting is taking place behind closed doors. Trump waited on the plane for about half an hour for Putin to arrive in Alaska. Putin is in the US after 10 years.
He was welcomed by a red carpet at the airport. The two leaders were initially expected to meet privately, but now senior American and Russian officials have also joined them.
Volodymyr Zelensky, who was not invited to the meeting, says Ukraine trusts the US but there is no indication that Russia
BCAug 15, 2025
White Rock RCMP appeals to be safe around tracks and trains
White Rock RCMP is reminding the public that trains can move without warning, stay off the tracks, follow signals and use designated crossings.
On the evening of August 13, around 7:15 p.m., White Rock RCMP responded to a train stopped blocking the crossing near the pier head.
While the train was stationary, some pedestrians, including parents with children crawled under it or walked along the tracks instead of using the Balsam Street crossing.
This is extremely dangerous. A stopped train can move without warning, and anyone underneath or on the tracks is at serious risk of injury or death. Po
BCAug 15, 2025
Officials hope rain clear heavy smoke from wildfire near Port Alberni, B.C.
Officials on Vancouver Island are hoping rain in the forecast can help clear up the air quality muddied by an out-of-control wildfire.
The Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District says wildland firefighters have said the rain may improve air quality locally, but that it's hard to be certain.
The west central region is under an air quality statement, along with parts of Vancouver Island's east coast and the Sunshine coast region on the B.C. mainland.
The intense Mount Underwood wildfire has grown to more than 34 square kilometres, with fire behaviour that the BC Wildfire Service says is "unusual" fo
BCAug 15, 2025
First Nation in B.C. says 41 more graves found by penetrating radar at school site
The shishalh First Nation says 41 ``additional unmarked graves'' have been found as a result of a search with ground-penetrating radar on the site of a former residential school.
The nation on British Columbia's Sunshine Coast says a team has been scanning the area around the St. Augustine's Residential School site for the last 18 months, at locations identified through interviews with survivors.
It says the discovery brings the number of suspected graves at the site to 81, after initial findings that were announced in 2023. First Nations communities have tended to use careful language when an
CanadaAug 15, 2025
Air Canada, flight attendants in final day before strike deadline
The union representing Air Canada's flight attendants has formally rejected the airline's request to enter binding arbitration. Air Canada had requested federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu step in and direct the parties to enter binding arbitration.
Now the Air Canada component of CUPE says Hajdu should also deny Air Canada's request for intervention saying --quote-- "Air Canada appears to have anticipated government intervention and has opted to suspend meaningful discussions, contrary to its legal obligation to bargain in good faith.''
Air Canada's executive vice-president has sa
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