GST Bill Passed

India moved yet another step closer for rolling out the country’s biggest tax reform after the Lok Sabha on Wednesday approved four crucial bills required to implement Goods and Services Tax (GST).

The four bills--Central GST, Integrated GST, Union Territories GST and GST Compensation bills--were passed one by one through voice vote after almost 9 hours of intense debate.

Union finance minister Arun Jaitley explained to the lawmakers the implication of the GST bills.

The CGST and IGST bills will enable the Centre to levy and collect taxes across the country.

The Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) provides for compensation to the states for the loss of revenue arising on account of implementation of the GST.

The Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Bill, 2017, will enable levy and collection of tax on intra-state supply of goods and services or both by the union territories.

O me O Life-A Poem

O ME! O life!... of the questions of these recurring;
Of the endless trains of the faithless--of cities fill'd with the
foolish;
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I,
and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light--of the objects mean--of the
struggle ever renew'd;
Of the poor results of all--of the plodding and sordid crowds I see
around me;
Of the empty and useless years of the rest--with the rest me
intertwined;
The question, O me! so sad, recurring--What good amid these, O me, O
life?

Answer.

That you are here--that life exists, and identity;
That the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse. 

A place to visit in Delhi,India

Qutub minar is a soaring, 73 m-high tower of victory, built in 1193 by Qutab-ud-din Aibak immediately after the defeat of Delhi's last Hindu kingdom. The tower has five distinct storeys, each marked by a projecting balcony and tapers from a 15 m diameter at the base to just 2.5 m at the top. The first three storeys are made of red sandstone; the fourth and fifth storeys are of marble and sandstone. At the foot of the tower is the Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, the first mosque to be built in India. An inscription over its eastern gate provocatively informs that it was built with material obtained from demolishing '27 Hindu temples'. A 7 m-high iron pillar stands in the courtyard of the mosque. It is said that if you can encircle it with your hands while standing with your back to it your wish will be fulfilled.

                                      A Visit to the Historical Monument

The monument complex located in Mehrauli, Delhi, India, remains open to visitors all day from sunrise to sunset. Entry fees per person for Indian citizens is Rs. 30/- and for foreigners is Rs. 500/-. Entry is free for children up to 15 years of age. Although visitors were allowed to climb the staircase inside the minaret to reach its top, a severe accident on December 4, 1981, that killed 45 people and injured several others led authorities to restrict such access to general public. A masterpiece of the medieval age India, the Qutub Minar has over time remained one of the most popular tourist spots in Delhi, India.

                                                How to Reach:

 By Metro - board from any DMRC station and reach Qutb Minar station and then follow rail map to reach the minar; by DTC buses; by Hop On Hop Off Sightseeing Bus Service offered by Delhi Tourism.

A Place to visit in Delhi,India

Spread over an area of 80 acres, Lodhi Gardens is a popular historical park which is visited by tourists and locals alike. It is located between Lodhi Road, Max Muller Marg and Amrita Shergill Marg. Developed during British Period, the park was inaugurated by Lady Willingdon on 9th April in the year 1936. Initially named as Lady Willingdon Park, it was later renamed as Lodhi Gardens due to its historical and architectural importance.

*The Lodhi Gardens houses the following four monuments:

*Tomb of Mohammad Shah

*Big Dome

*Sheesh Gumbad (Tomb)

*Tomb of Sikandar Shah

and various gardens like:

*Rose Garden

*Bamboo Garden

*Herbal Garden

                Sheesh Gumbad and Bara Gumbad are some of the other historical attractions inside the gardens. Bara Gumbad or the ‘Big Dome’ is the gateway to an attached three domed masjid. Sheesh Gumbad which is situated opposite to the Bara Gumbad, preserves the remains of an unknown family.

Lodhi Gardens boasts of having an excellent collection of trees including Neem, Amaltas, Moulshree, Peepal, Bargad, Kusum, Gulmohar, Ashok, Shahtoot, Silver oak, Magnolia etc. Because of its peaceful ambience and green trees, it has become a hotspot destination for both morning and evening joggers and a perfect place for Flower/nature lovers and picnics and recreations.

Few important pointers for visitors:

The gardens are open daily from sunrise to sunset.

Entry and photography is free.

Nearest metro station is Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and Race Course which falls on the Violet Line and Yellow line respectively of the Delhi Metro.

Lesser known facts about The Taj Mahal

We know that the Taj Mahal is one of the seven wonders of the world. We know who built it and for whom. We know it is the pride of our nation, India. We know a lot about it. But we don't know a lot of things about it.

Let's look at some of them:

1. There is a small hole on the ceiling of the main hall perpendicularly above the tombstone of Mumtaz Mahal .

According to stories it is the work of an artisan who decided to sabotage Shah Jehan 's dream of creating a masterpiece after he came to know about his decision to amputate all the artisan's arms. So the Taj is not as flawless as we would like to think it is.

2. The ASI had to conceal the Taj during WW-II  with a huge scaffold to misguide bombers.

One of the most majestic man-made creations, the Taj was covered with a huge scaffold in the 20th Century so that it looked like a stockpile of bamboo to bombers. Then d uring the India- Pakistan war in 1971, and after 9/11, it was protected by camouflaging it with a green cloth.

3. Ever wondered what was Shah Jehan's first reaction on beholding the great Taj?

"Should guilty seek asylum here,Like one pardoned, he becomes free from sin.Should a sinner make his way to this mansion,All his past sins are to be washed away.The sight of this mansion creates sorrowing sighs;And the sun and the moon shed tears from their eyes.In this world this edifice has been made;To display thereby the creator's glory."

4. The story of the arms of all artisans being amputated by is probably a myth because the architect worked on other projects.

The architect who lead the team of architects to build the Taj mahal laid the foundation of the Red fort too. Ustad Ahmed Lahauri, was probably the leader of the architect's team. Seeing that Shah Jehan commissioned him to work on a project after Taj means he was clearly using both his arms!

5. The minarets were built tilting outwards to protect the Taj from calamities like earthquakes.

If you observe carefully, you'll find that the four minarets are tilting outwards. Thi s was done so that in the event of a natural disaster, like earthquake, theminars won't fall on the main ' gumbad ' or Dome, thereby ensuring the safety of the Tomb.

6. A temple was built for the conman Natwarlal, who sold the Taj Mahalrepeatedly.

Natwarlal who repeatedly sold the Taj Mahal , has a temple on his name. The people of his native village Bangra in Bihar decided to put up a statue of him as his monument, at the place, where his house once stood.

7. The foundation of Taj Mahal would have eroded years ago if Yamunawasn't there.

Taj's foundation is made of timber which is not supposed to be long lasting. T he wood should weaken overtime and crumble owing to rot and ruin, but that did not happen because the wood is kept strong and moist by the Yamuna river.

8. The interior of Taj is capable of blinding any goblin with its grand inlay work.

28 kinds of rare, semi precious and precious stones were used for inlay work in the Taj Mahal . They were sourced from Sri Lanka, Tibet, China and of course several places in India. During the British rule, the monument was violated several times because of these stones and it was only in the late nineteenth century that restoration work was taken over.

9. The Taj Mahal is taller than Qutub minar.

The Taj Mahal is about five feet taller than Qutub Minar. A comparison with other monuments around the world can be found below.

10. How expensive was it for Shah Jehan to build the Taj exactly?

Shah Jehan spent about 32 million rupees during the years 1632-1653 on this great architectural venture. Today that amount would be close to 1,062,834,098 USD.

11. The fountains have a special feature to ensure uniform water pressure in the fountains.

To ensure uniform and undiminished water pressure in the fountains, the fountain pipes were not connected directly with the copper pipes feeding them. Instead a copper pot was provided under each fountain pipe so that the water first fills the pot and then only rises at the same time in the fountains. The pressure in the pots is maintained and so in the fountains.

12. PC Sorkar Jr. made the Taj Mahal vanish in the year 2000.

PC Sorkar Jr. managed to create an optical illusion that made the Taj vanish from the eyes of the public at Kachhpura in Agra on 8th November 2000.

13. Around 12,000 visitors come to see The Taj every day.

One of the seven wonders of the world, the Taj sees many visitors everyday.

14. Shah Jehan wanted to build another Taj Mahal , a black Taj Mahal .

Emperor Shah Jehan is widely believed to have desired a mausoleum for himself similar to that of the one he had built in memory of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal . The writings of the European traveller, Tavernier mention that Shah Jehan began to build his own tomb on the other side of the river but could not complete it as he was deposed by his own son Aurangzeb .

15. George Harrison clicked a selfie at the Taj .

One of the first selfies taken at Taj were by George Harrison. He used the fish-eye lens.

16. T he plinth of the Taj varies all around.

The plinth of the tomb is 2'10" on an average but varies all around. T his convexity has deliberately been given to the plinth in the center of each arch. The architect fully anticipated the apparent size which a finial would present from such a great height. If this wasn't the way then the building would have appeared as if it were falling down.

17. The Taj changes colors depending on the light.

The Taj is pinkish in the morning, milky white in the evening and golden when the moon shines.

18. Shah Jehan's daughter Jahanara Begum refused a grand burial like theTaj .

She said:

Allah is the Living, the Sustaining. Let no one cover my grave except with greenery, For this very grass suffices as a tomb cover for the poor. The mortal simplistic Princess Jahanara, Disciple of the Khwaja Moin-ud-Din Chishti,Daughter of Shah Jahan the Conqueror May Allah illuminate his proof.

19. An American Grammy Award-winning artist named himself Taj mahal.

Henry Saint Clair Fredericks, who uses the stage name Taj Mahal, is an American Grammy Award-winning Blues musician.

20. The makers employed an optical trick so that as you move closer to the gate, the Taj keeps getting smaller.

It seems to grow bigger as you walk away. The guides here say when you leave,you take the Taj with you in your heart.

Leeser known facts of Thomas Alva Edison

1. Teacher Thought Edison was "Addled"

Edison was an inquisitive child but a poor student as his mind often wandered. The youngest of 7 siblings, "Al" as he was called in his youth, was deemed "addled" by his school teacher.

When she found out, Edison's mother was angry and pulled him out of school after only three months of formal education. She home schooled him instead. Edison later recounted "My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me, and I felt I had some one to live for, some one I must not disappoint."

2. Edison Built His First Lab at the Age of 10

When Edison turned 9, his mother gave him an elementary science book on how to do chemistry experiments at home. Edison was hooked: he did every experiments in the book and soon spent all his spare money buying chemicals.

At the tender age of 10, Edison built his first science laboratory in the basement of his family's home. His father tried to bribe him with a penny if only Edison would get out of the basement and go read a book. This he did, but he also used the penny to buy more chemicals for experiments. And to make sure no one took his prized chemicals, he labeled all his bottles "poison."

3. Edison Was Deaf and He Liked It That Way!

At around the age of 12, Edison started to lose his hearing. One legend has it that a train conductor smacked him in the ears after he started a fire in a boxcar by doing experiments. Edison himself said that he was injured when the conductor picked him up by the ears onto a moving train. Others had said that it caused by a bout of scarlet fever during childhood. In all likelihood it was a genetic condition as both Edison's father and one of his brothers also suffered from hearing loss.

But one thing's for sure: Edison actually liked being deaf (technically, he was hard of hearing, not completely deaf). He said that it made it easier for him to concentrate on his experiments.

Oh, one more thing: Edison actually did have a laboratory in a boxcar that caught on fire! Then 12-year-old Edison took a job selling newspaper and candies on the Grand Trunk Railroad from Port Huron to Detroit. He set up a lab for chemistry experiments and a printing press in the baggage car, where he published the Grand Trunk Herald, the first newspaper published on a train.

4. Edison Saved a Boy From a Runaway Train

At the Grand Trunk Railroad, 14-year-old Edison saved 3-year-old Jimmie MacKenzie from a runaway boxcar. Jimmie's father, station agent J.U. MacKenzie was so grateful that he taught Edison how to operate the telegraph machine.

Later, Edison became a telegraph operator for Western Union. He requested the night shift so he could have more time for his experiments. One day he accidentally spilled sulphuric acid while experimenting on a battery. The acid ran between the floorboards and onto his boss' desk below. Needless to say, Edison was fired the next morning.

5. Edison's First Patented Invention was a Flop

In 1869, when Edison was just 22 years old, he got his first patent for a telegraphic vote-recording machine for the legislature. Each legislator would move a switch on Edison's machine that would record his vote on a particular bill.

When a business partner brought the invention to Washington D.C., this is what Congress had to say about it:

The chairman of the committee, unimpressed with the speed with which the instrument could record votes, told him that "if there is any invention on earth that we don't want down here, that is it." The slow pace of roll call voting in Congress and other legislatures enabled members to filibuster legislation or convince others to change their votes. Edison's vote recorder was never used.

From then on, Edison decided that he would only invent something if there was a market for it.

6. Edison Proposed Marriage ... by Morse Code!

On Christmas Day in 1871, at the age of 24, Edison married his 16-year old employee Mary Stilwell, after meeting her just two months earlier. By February, Edison was exasperated at his wife's inability to invent that he wrote in his diary "Mrs Mary Edison My wife Dearly Beloved Cannot invent worth a Damn!!" and "My Wife Popsy Wopsy Can't Invent." Mary gave birth to three children, the first two Edison nicknamed "Dot" and "Dash."

Two years after Mary died, Edison met and married 20-year-old Mina Miller. The story of how the two met is quite interesting: After Mary's death, Edison regularly went to Boston and stayed with his friends Mr. and Mrs. Gilliard. The Gilliards made sure that some eligible young lady was "visiting" at the same time. Edison, who was half-deaf, bug-eyed, plagued with halitosis and bad dandruff, would stick his face very close to the girl's in order to hear her words. This naturally creeped them all out!

One day, the Gilliards introduced Edison to Mina Miller, to whom Edison was immediately smitten:

Edison found his own version of paradise in Fort Myers, then a small village, and apparently decided that he must do three things: build a winter home in Florida, marry Mina, and bring her to his tropical Eden. Once back in New York, Edison--normally a workaholic--was obsessed with his new love. He wrote in his diary at this time: "Saw a lady who looked like Mina. Got thinking about Mina and came near being run over by a streetcar. If Mina interferes much more will have to take out an accident policy.

Edison taught Mina Morse code so they could communicate in secret by tapping into each other's hands when her family was around.

7. Edison Has a Mysterious Tattoo on His Arm

According to a 1911 policy with the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, Edison had five dots tattooed on his left forearm. No one knew what the dots meant.

Interestingly, Edison was credited for inventing the basic tattoo machine. In 1876, he patented the Stencil-Pens, an engraving device that many years later was modified by Samuel O'Reilly to make the world's first tattoo machine.

Though it would've been a neat thing, there was simply no evidence that Edison used his invention to give himself a tattoo.

8. The Edison Invention That Killed

After Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovered X-rays in 1895, Edison directed his employee, a glassblower named Clarence Dally to develop a fluoroscope (then called the Edison X-ray focus tube). The device was a commercial success and ultimately became the basis of modern fluoroscopy used in hospitals today.

At the time, X-rays were not believed to be dangerous and Clarence had a habit of testing X-ray tubes on his hands. In 1900, he had developed lesion on his wrist that wouldn't heal after several skin grafts and was so tenacious that his hand had to be amputated. Edison kept Dally on his payroll, even when he was so sick that he couldn't work any more. Clarence's condition worsened and even after the amputations of both of his arms, he died of cancer.

Shaken, Edison stopped all work on fluoroscopes as revealed in a New York World interview in 1903:

"Don't talk to me about X-rays," he said. "I am afraid of them. I stopped experimenting with them two years ago, when I came near to losing my eyesight and Dally, my assistant practically lost the use of both of his arms. I am afraid of radium and polonium too, and I don't want to monkey with them." (Source: New York World)

9. Edison's Quirky Invention: the Concrete House

In 1887, Edison embarked on a project that would later prove to be a huge fiasco. He proposed an idea of extracting iron from low-grade ore and was immediately ridiculed by an editorial who called the idea "Edison Folly." The stubborn Edison immediately invested his own money and built a huge plant and a town around it, only to find years later that it would be far cheaper to mine iron ores!

So, left with all of the heavy machineries from the failed ore project, Edison decided to get into the cement business. He noticed that one could mold concrete into a wide variety of shapes and thought that he could build a house by pouring concrete into a single, giant mold! And not only the house: "everything from bathtubs, windowsills, staircases, and picture frames to electrical conduits and reinforcing rods would be molded right in."

Edison, who grew up poor, thought that he could solve New York's housing problem and clear out the slums by mass producing affordable working man's houses. But first, he needed a model: Edison hired a high-profile architecture firm to create a two-story, two-family house "in the style of Francis I." At Edison's request (he didn't want to be known as "the father of ugly houses"), the model came with a large front porch and intricate exterior moldings.

This, of course, turned out to be impractical - so Edison downscaled his plan and casted his first concrete house on Hixon Street in South Orange, New Jersey, in 1911 (it was later demolished to make way for a supermarket and a parking lot).

10. Electrocuting an Elephant

In the late 1880s, Edison was embroiled in the "War of Currents" with George Westinghouse and Nikola Tesla. Edison had promoted the use of direct current (DC) for electric power distribution, whereas Westinghouse and Tesla wanted to use alternating current (AC).

At the time, Edison had over one hundred power stations in the United States that delivered DC electricity to consumers. But because of a power loss due to resistance of the wire during transmission, the power station had to be located within a mile of the consumers. Edison's then-employee, a brilliant Serbian engineer named Nikola Tesla proposed that AC could solve this problem but Edison didn't listen.

Indeed, Edison had previously asked Tesla to improve his electrical power stations with $50,000 ($1 million in 2006 US dollar, Tesla's wages were just $18 a week back then) as a reward. After Tesla delivered, Edison reneged on his offer and thus created bad blood between the two.

Back to the War of Currents: to demonstrate that his DC system was better and "safer," Edison noted that AC had a lethal potential and could be used to electrocute. Though he was against capital punishment, Edison (and a hired employee named Harold P. Brown) developed the electric chair.

In 1903, a circus elephant named Topsy at Coney Island's Luna Park went berserk and killed three people including an abusive trainer, who tried to feed her a lighted cigarette.

The elephant was considered a threat and the owners wanted it executed. When animal advocates protested the proposed method of hanging, Edison saw a publicity opportunity and suggested electrocution with AC.

Topsy was fed carrots laced with cyanide and then electrocuted with 6,000-volts AC. She died "without a trumpet or a groan" within seconds. 

Lesse known Facts about President Richard Nixon

On January 9, 1913, Richard Milhous Nixon was born inside a bedroom of his family’s modest Yorba Linda, California, house. Explore 10 surprising facts about the only U.S. president to resign from office.

1. Lee Harvey Oswald may have plotted to assassinate Nixon. 
In the early morning of November 22, 1963, Richard Nixon rode through Dallas to the airport to fly home after attending a Pepsi-Cola board meeting. Nixon saw the preparations for the motorcade that hours later would carry John F. Kennedy, the man who defeated him for the presidency three years prior, on the streets of the city’s downtown. After Nixon landed in New York, he learned that Kennedy had been gunned down in that motorcade. In a further coincidence, the wife of Lee Harvey Oswald testified to the Warren Commission that in April 1963 the alleged assassin read a local newspaper report, tucked a pistol in his belt, and told her, “Nixon is coming. I want to go and have a look.” After locking him in a bathroom, Oswald’s wife convinced him to turn over his gun. The account was puzzling, since Nixon was not in Dallas in April 1963 and no newspaper mentioned any visit.

2. Milhous was his mother’s maiden name. 
Nixon’s unusual middle name came from the maternal side of his family. When the ancestors of Nixon’s mother moved from Germany to England in the 1600s, they changed their last names from Milhausen to Milhous.

3. Community theater brought Richard and Pat Nixon together.
Nixon first encountered his future first lady as a leading lady in 1938 when both auditioned for the Whittier Community Players production of “The Dark Tower.” The amateur theater production led to a romance between Nixon and Thelma Catherine Ryan, nicknamed “Pat” by her father because she was born on the eve of St. Patrick’s Day. Foreshadowing their later lives, the couple wed in the presidential suite of the Mission Inn in Riverside, California, on June 21, 1940.

4. Nixon was a Quaker. 
Nixon’s mother, Hannah, was a devout Quaker who instilled the faith in her husband and children. After the failure of his father’s lemon grove in Yorba Linda, California, Nixon moved with the family in 1922 to the nearby Quaker community of Whittier, which was named after one of America’s most eminent Quakers, the poet John Greenleaf Whittier. As a boy, Nixon went to Quaker meetings four times on Sundays and played the piano at church services. He enrolled at Whittier College, a Quaker institution, and attended mandatory chapel hours every day.

5. Nixon could play five musical instruments. 
Nixon’s mother insisted he practice on the family’s upright piano every afternoon, and in the seventh grade he was sent 200 miles away to take lessons with his aunt, who had studied at the Indianapolis Conservatory of Music. Although he never learned to read music, Nixon could also play the saxophone, clarinet, accordion and violin. His musical talents turned ot to be political assets: Nixon’s 1963 appearance on “The Jack Paar Program,” during which he played a tune he wrote, helped rehabilitate his image after losing the California gubernatorial election the prior year. As president, he occasionally tickled the ivories, playing “Happy Birthday” for Duke Ellington at the White House and “My Wild Irish Rose” in honor of his wife at the Grand Ole Opry.

6. Nixon was an avid bowler. 
One of Nixon’s favorite pastimes in the White House was bowling. He’d even bowl a few frames dressed in his suit. In addition to using the alley in the adjacent Old Executive Office Building, Nixon had another one-lane alley built in the basement beneath the North Portico entrance to the White House.

7. Nixon may have had royal blood. 
Through his maternal grandfather, Nixon reportedly descended from King Edward III of England. Whether or not Nixon had royal roots, he definitely had a royal moniker. The future president was named for Richard the Lionheart. Each of Nixon’s four brothers—except for Francis, who bore the name of his father—were given names of English kings.

8. Nixon lost his bid for high school student-body president. 
Although president of his eighth grade class, Nixon lost the election for student-body president when he was a high school senior in 1929. The victor, Robert Logue, is in rare company. The next man to defeat Nixon at the polls was Kennedy, 31 years later. In the interim Nixon was elected president of the Whittier College student body (on a platform of supporting on-campus dances) and the Duke University Law School bar association as well as U.S. representative, senator and vice president.

9. Nixon was a huge football fan. 
Nixon played on the Whittier College football team and, while president, struck up a friendship with George Allen, coach of the National Football League’s Washington Redskins. Allen invited the president to address the team in 1971, and legend has it that Allen used a play—a wide-receiver reverse—that Nixon had suggested for a playoff game that year. The play was a disaster, a 13-yard loss that stymied a critical scoring drive and contributed to Washington’s loss.

10. Nixon ran a failed orange juice business. 
In 1938, Nixon and several investors attempted to strike it rich making California orange juice, but Richard had no more luck than his father in the citrus business. The future president was not just the president of the Citra-Frost Company, which attempted to produce and sell frozen orange juice, but he even performed the menial work of cutting and squeezing oranges. Citra-Frost’s misguided attempt to freeze the juice itself, rather than the concentrate, doomed it to bankruptcy after just 18 months.