China seeks Xi Jinping head; Cut taxes; PT Usha to head sports body
Opinion Watch
China seeks Xi Jinping head
Claims that the widespread protest in China is all about popular anger against ‘Zero Covid Policy’ would be too myopic. Three decades separate the Tiananmen Square protest in 1989, and a new generation armed with internet has arrived in China. There is a convergence of unrests — of the politicians, students, farmers and labourers – against China’s President Xi Jinping.
The Hindu explains the protests as the fallout to the Xi’s Covid policy, deep diving into inadequate vaccination of the elders (over 30 per cent of them are unvaccinated), which “constrained Beijing to persist with Zero Covid Policy”. The daily consistently surprises with its compromised intellectual depth, as it fails to read the simmering agrarian, labour and campus unrest, which coupled with deepening of political aversion to Xi set the stage for across the country protests in China. The Indian Express rightly called the killing of 10 people in the Urumqi fire an immediate trigger. The Times of India came close to pin down Xi for leading China to an economic disaster, calling “Zero Covid Policy” a political project, which was described a “stupid policy” by The Pioneer in its Editorial.
The Communist Vietnam and New Zealand had long abandoned ‘Zero Covid Policy’ and even in China the Covid deaths are only about a dozen in the last six months. Thus, Xi’s political project was essentially meant to maim the people, as he prepared to purge his rivals in the September Communist Congress, while stoking war hysteria by featuring Galwan skirmish with India at the conclave to find a way out of the economic implosion, as growth has slumped to a mere 2.9 per cent last year, which may also be suspect given that Beijing lords over an opaque administration.
Cut taxes
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has wrapped up her pre-Budget consultations. The Budget has already lost much of the public interest after the unveiling of the GST regime, which has taken away the indirect taxes out of Sitharaman’s mandate.
The Economic Times calls for lowering the direct taxes, besides doing away with the short term and the long term capital gains regime. The daily also called for doing away with the norms of taxing the saving instruments if they are re-invested, arguing that they be taxed only on maturity. Also, the business daily called for doing away with the anomaly of the peak individual tax at 42.74 per cent and the corporate tax at 25.17 per cent. This is a usual commentary ahead of the Union Budget, which is seen each year, without them finding reflection in the lengthy document read outs in the Lok Sabha.
PT Usha to head sports body
Legendary sprinter PT Usha will be helming the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), and The New Indian Express stated that six another sportspersons will be members of the 15-member body. The daily argues that the people will be watching out for the administrative skills of the sportspersons. This newspaper brought out from Madurai is without editorial depth, and is widely known to toe the ruling dispensations at the Centre and the state capitals. The daily fails to reveal the depth of the administrative skills of the politicians helming the sports bodies for decades but is far eager to know of the sportspersons.
About The Author
