The final call would be taken by Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha, he added.

The Government had in June 2014 appointed former Chief Justice of India R C Lahoti as arbitrator in the tax dispute case. However, in May 2015 Lahoti recused himself from the arbitration process.

Vodafone has already named Yves Fortier of Canada as its nominee on the panel.

The government and Vodafone had earlier this year decided on the third arbitrator, who will act as chairman of the tribunal, for the case. However, Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf of the International Court of Justice declined to be part of the three-member panel.

After India finalises on its nominee on the panel, both the arbitrators would scout for a neutral judge and only then the arbitration proceedings would start.

Following an international arbitration notice by Vodafone, the previous UPA government in May 2014 withdrew its conciliation offer to settle the tax dispute. Earlier, the government had approved the conciliation with Vodafone in June 2013 in a bid to resolve the capital gains tax dispute.

While the basic tax demand was Rs 7,990 crore, the total outstanding, including interest and penalty, is estimated to have risen to Rs 20,000 crore.

The Supreme Court had ruled in Vodafone’s favour in 2012, saying the company was not liable to pay any tax over the acquisition of assets in India from Hong Kong-based Hutchison.

The government, however, amended the tax laws with retrospective effect to undo the Supreme Court judgment and claim tax.

                                                                         (COURTESY: ECONOMIC TIMES)

PAME(All Workers Militant Front) that represents the class trade union movement of Greece expresses its support to the London Metro Workers and RMT Union, who go on Strike on Wednesday , July 8, demanding better wages, protection of jobs and health and safety issues.

Whether in London, Athens, or Berlin, the workers face the same opponent. The employers want us to live with low wages, when living costs rise. They want us to work without health and safety regulations. They want us to give up our rights. In these conditions the struggle of the workers in London Underground is just and represents the interests of workers of all countries.

WFTU Solidarity Message to the Turkish farm workers

The World Federation of Trade Unions representing more than 90 million organized workers in 126 countries expresses its deep sorrow to the Turkish people and the families of the road traffic victims; we believe that it is not an accident, but a crime.

The fifteen new victims, (13 women and a child) were trying to reach the fields, where they work gathering vine leaves for 0,5 € (1,5 Turkish Lira) per kilo, most of the workers on the vine fields are women and children.

We consider unacceptable the fact that in the 21st century women and children are obligated to work, especially in such conditions, and without protection measures. Only in 2015, 28 people, most of them women, have lost their lives.

Once again WFTU expresses its solidarity to the Turkish working class; they are not the only victims of the lack of protection measures, of the capitalist exploitation. Workers lose their lives every day in Turkey and around the world. There is only one way to solve this: we add our voice to those continuing the class oriented struggle against the exploitation of man by man, for development based on the needs of those that produce the wealth.