Commonman gets a Padma Vibhushan
This is a statue of the common man unveiled by President Narayan in the Symbiosis Institute in Pune. Yesterday President Kalam walked down to present the Padma Vibhushan to the ailing cartoonist who created the common man who had silently watched India for more than half a century.
R K Laxman had a brush with the Bombay Customs when they detained a book imported by him. About a year after the incident, he got a letter from the Assistant Collector that he had taken a lenient view and decided to let off Laxman.
Laxman wrote in Idle Hours that he was surprised that he did not even know that he was under Customs investigation. He wondered whether Customs sleuths were peeping into his bed room to investigate his reading habits. His point was that even without your knowing it you could be an accused or an offender until let off by a benign Assistant Collector.
One reason why there is opposition to VAT in India is that VAT accounting leaves behind an audit trail. A retailer who has paid VAT to the wholesaler will not be able to sell the product to a customer without charging VAT because the VAT-trail is following him.