I write to you in reference to the article Under pressure Indian government slashes corporate tax (September 20): India has had among the highest corporate tax rates in the world and the recent move by Nirmala Sitharaman, the finance minister, to reduce it from 30 per cent to 22 per cent is a wise one. It will certainly help lift the mood in the corporate sector. Hopefully, this will spur investment in the country and encourage corporations to cease laying off personnel and closing factories.
This is also a good time for government to reduce income taxes, which can be as high as 30 per cent. The Indian economy is confronted with low GDP while it is not growing as fast as it should. So encouraging consumers to buy products will be key to giving it a kickstart.
Government would be smart to put purchasing power back in the hands of consumers by rationalising the rates of income taxes and, perhaps, also lowering the goods and services tax – introduced in 2017 – from the highest point of 28 per cent to a maximum of 20 per cent.
These steps will spur consumption and provide a much needed boost to the economy.
Rajendra Aneja, Dubai
NRC fiasco could lead to discrimination based on religion
I write to you in reference to Samanth Subramanian's article India's Assam state excludes almost two million from citizenship list (August 31).
All those apologists for the National Register of Citizens, known as the NRC, insist that this exercise is essential for the Assamese people to save their homeland, by determining who is and who is not a citizen of India. But the feasibility of it is far from clear.
There are no conclusive answers as to what will happen to those who do not find their names in the NRC. What is worse, not all proponents of this policy action are satisfied with the list that has been released, given that it leaves out genuine citizens while failing to exclude foreigners.
What seems likely to emerge from this fiasco is the passing of legislation to enforce religion-based discrimination that can only be harmful to a particular community.
Tariq Anwer, Dubai
Let us appreciate the unsung heroes who take care of our city
I write to you in reference to Saeed Saeed's article The three people you must know when living in Abu Dhabi (September 20): I would urge my friends to make it a point to meet and greet construction workers, cleaners and gardeners because they are the people who work hard to make the city look the way it does. They are the people you should be looking in the eye and saying "hello" to when they cross your path.
Carina Coelho, Abu Dhabi
ALRAWABI%20SCHOOL%20FOR%20GIRLS
%3Cp%3ECreator%3A%20Tima%20Shomali%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%C2%A0Tara%20Abboud%2C%C2%A0Kira%20Yaghnam%2C%20Tara%20Atalla%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Famous left-handers
- Marie Curie
- Jimi Hendrix
- Leonardo Di Vinci
- David Bowie
- Paul McCartney
- Albert Einstein
- Jack the Ripper
- Barack Obama
- Helen Keller
- Joan of Arc
History's medical milestones
1799 - First small pox vaccine administered
1846 - First public demonstration of anaesthesia in surgery
1861 - Louis Pasteur published his germ theory which proved that bacteria caused diseases
1895 - Discovery of x-rays
1923 - Heart valve surgery performed successfully for first time
1928 - Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
1953 - Structure of DNA discovered
1952 - First organ transplant - a kidney - takes place
1954 - Clinical trials of birth control pill
1979 - MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, scanned used to diagnose illness and injury.
1998 - The first adult live-donor liver transplant is carried out
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Saturday
Borussia Dortmund v Eintracht Frankfurt (5.30pm kick-off UAE)
Bayer Leverkusen v Schalke (5.30pm)
Wolfsburg v Cologne (5.30pm)
Mainz v Arminia Bielefeld (5.30pm)
Augsburg v Hoffenheim (5.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Bayern Munich (8.30pm)
Borussia Monchengladbach v Freiburg (10.30pm)
Sunday
VfB Stuttgart v Werder Bremen (5.30pm)
Union Berlin v Hertha Berlin (8pm)
MATCH INFO
Wales 1 (Bale 45 3')
Croatia 1 (Vlasic 09')
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
