T R Ramachandran
NEW DELHI: Despite the Chinese hardening its position in the wake of the standoff in the Sikkim sector and Beijing ruling out a meeting between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Hamburg, the two leaders met on Friday and talked about a range of issues. 
The Indian side remained circumspect without ruling out a face-to-face between the two leaders lasting less than seven minutes. It was not known if the standoff at Doklam was discussed.  
With China pursuing its expansionist designs retired career diplomats and defence services officers believe New Delhi should strive for a political solution as upping the ante is not going to serve the interests of either country.
At the same time Beijing continued its game of speaking in different voices demanding India must quit Doka La. Amid all this the Chinese government also said it wants a peaceful resolution. 
The threat of war rings the air after a gap of three decades. Such a tense situation arose at Somdrong Chu from October 1986 to May 1987 in the North-Western part of Arunachal Pradesh. 

The Doklam sector on the China-Bhutan (India) border finds itself in the eye of a storm since the middle of last month. Of the 3448 Km long border from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, a 220 Km sector falls in Sikkim. 
The boundary stand off is unprecedented and calls for calmness on all sides. The Chinese have already whipped up passions by blocking the Kailash Mansarover yatra through the Nathu La route. The contested tri-junction stretch of the boundary in Sikkim has witnessed fewer tensions than the western sector of the India-China boundary with New Delhi and Bhutan having had separate negotiations with China. 
The problem has arisen on account of Beijing sending the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) construction teams with earth moving equipment to forcibly build a road affecting the carefuly preserved peace so far. 
The strategic challenge for the political leadership is not to walk into any trap. Last Friday the Indian side expressed its deep concern about China’s road building activities in the Doklam sector drawing attention to the significant and perhaps unacceptable change in the status quo. 
The persistent problems are due to the divergent geostrategic pursuits of India and China. 
There is no doubt Beijing is seeking to impress with its assertiveness as a major power. India is within its right to actively protect and enlarge New Delhi’s strategic footprint. 
The External Affairs ministry explained: “In coordination with Bhutan, Indian personnel, who were present, approached the Chinese construction party and asked them to desist from changing the status quo. These efforts continue,” the ministry clarified. 
Beijing now accuses India of being the “third party” to the China-Bhutan dispute. On June 20, Bhutan had lodged a protest with China through its embassy in New Delhi that any road inside its territory was a violation of the 1988 and 1998 agreements with Beijing. 
On June 29 Bhutan had issued a demarche to China to restore status quo by stopping the work immediately. 
Thimphu has also accused China of violating bilateral agreements by constructing a road in disputed territory. New Delhi recalled that both countries had in 2012 reached an agreement that the tri-junction boundary points between India, China and any third country would be finalised in consultation with the parties concerned. 

The boundary in the Sikkim sector was mutually agreed upon in 2012 and further discussions had been going on between the special representatives. The Doklam plateau, north of the tri-junction between Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet is not just a disputed area but has huge strategic significance for both India and China. 
Wedged between Bhutan, India and China are a few areas of dispute accounting for more than 750 Sq Km. Doklam is about 90 square kilometres.  
For the Chinese to reach the China-Bhutan border posts, Doklam provides an easy way to construct their road and they have been trying to do so with India consistently objecting to it. 
Not far away from Doklam is the strategically important Chumbi Valley in the Tibet region, to which the Chinese are now planning to extend their rail connectivity. 
New Delhi has said it is deeply concerned at the recent Chinese action and conveyed to them such construction would represent a significant change of status quo with serious security implications. Importantly, Bhutan’s sovereignty must be maintained as that is the basis for the “exemplary” ties between New Delhi and Thimphu. 
Notwithstanding China’s aggressive barrage, India is not going to stop from communicating its position in a clear and unambiguous manner. New Delhi and Beijing have agreed on maintaining peace and tranquility and neither will seek to unilaterally alter the status quo at the Line of Actual Control (LAC). 
Of late China has been resorting to increasingly unilateral action seeking to alter the status quo. In the wake of what has happened in Doklam, India has had to respond to prevent an enhanced threat to the narrow land corridor which links the Indian Northeast  to the rest of the country.
(T R Ramachandran is a senior journalist and commentator. The views are personal.) 

New Delhi : Indian astronomers have made a sensational discovery of a bunch of large cosmic objects known as ‘giant radio galaxies’.

Astronomers led by Pratik Dabhade at Pune-based Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) have surprised astronomical community with their discovery of twenty five new  ‘giant radio galaxies’ (GRGs). These galaxies are among the largest stellar objects. They are so huge and rare that astronomers are puzzled how they got to grow to that colossal size.

A typical galaxy like ours has about billions of stars and is about one lakh light years across.  A typical radio galaxy could be as big as 30,000 to 30 lakh light-years in size. When some of these radio galaxies grow to enormous sizes, bigger than 33 lakh light-years across, they are called as giant radio galaxy (GRGs). A radio galaxy is as a strong source of electromagnetic radiation or radio waves.

Although GRGs are mammoth in size – imagine placing 33 milky ways one after another in a straight line – they are extremely weak in radio luminosity making it difficult for even a sensitive radio telescope to detect them. They are often composed of numerous bright knots spread over a large area that it is not easy for us to tell which of these lobes are part of GRG and which are from unrelated sources. Although millions of regular galaxies and thousands of radio galaxies are known, Pratik Dabhade says “during the last six decades, astronomers the world over have discovered just 300 GRGs.” 

Using data from 20-year-old Very Large Array Sky Survey of US-based National Radio Astronomy Observatory, the Indian team identified GRGs which had escaped the curious eyes of astronomers so far. The current study by adding 25 new candidates has added additional 10% to the list, which the astronomers say “would be useful in understanding how these galaxies grow to be so large”. The results are published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Since the first discovery of GRG 3C236 in 1974, surveys by Ishwara-Chandra and Saikia, Schoenmakers and others have revealed the fascinating world of GRGs. Of the 300-odd GRGs identified so far, J1420-0545 spanning more than 160 lakh light years across is the largest. Of the twenty five GRGs identified by researchers, the physical size ranged from a 30 lakh light years to about 120 light years.  Â“Eight of them were even larger than 65 lakh light years”, says the researchers.

Super massive black hole – typically with mass ranging from one crore to hundred crore mass of the sun- is at the center of the GRGs.  Acting as the `central engine’, this black hole drives the dynamics of the GRGs.  All the materials in the vicinity are sucked by the incredible gravity of the super massive black hole. As the materials fall inward, they become ionised and this motion of the charged materials create powerful electromagnetic force, which in turn blast away the materials at the edges. The jets of hot plasma blasting away from the black hole in opposite directions produce huge lobes of radio emissions that can span much greater distances than the galaxy’s visible light. 

GRGs have been an enigma since their discovery. Since they are known to expand to such large sizes, astronomers believe them to be the last stage of radio galaxy evolution. Powerful GRGs are known to fade away as they go through death throbs in just ten thousand years, a blink of an eye in cosmological terms. Surprisingly some of them are also believed to be resurrecting after fading away, shining bright once again. The study is expected to aid astronomers understand the dynamics of the GRGs. 

Just as we can make an inference about air turbulence by observing billowing smoke from a chimney, we can learn a lot about interstellar medium from GRGs. One of the GRGs identified by this study, GRG15, “clearly challenges the common belief that GRGs grow in sparse, non-cluster environment” say the researchers and claim that “environment alone does not play a major role in exceptionally large sizes of GRGs”. The researchers said they would be presenting more samples of GRGs along with results of statistical analysis and multi-wavelength studies of their properties in forthcoming papers.

Besides Pratik Dabhade, the research team included Joydeep Bagchi (IUCAA), Mamta Pommier (CNRS Observatoire de Lyon), Madhuri Gaikwad (NCRA-TIFR Pune and Max-Planck Institute Bonn), Shishir Sankhyayan (IISER Pune) and Somak Raychaudhury (IUCAA). (India Science Wire)

India had always recognised the Jewish state of Israel but took a long time in establishing full diplomatic relations which happened in 1992, thanks to then Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao. Even after that it has taken a quarter of a century for this country’s Head of Government to pay an official visit to Jerusalem. 

Due credit must be given to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in ensuring India’s commitment to the Arab World particularly the inalienable right of the Palestinians to a homeland remained even if they did not visit Ramallah while on a trip to Israel. 

It has long for the Indian leadership to realise that building friendship with Israel did not mean that India’s support for a Palestinian homeland had been given up or relegated to the background. An Indian dignitary can henceforth dispense with going to Ramallah before or after a visit to Israel. Ramallah is a Palestinian city which is the administrative capital of the Palestinian National Authority. It is located on the West Bank about 10 Km from Jerusalem. 

Modi’s three-day visit to Israel from July fourth was indeed historic as his beaming host and counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu explained they had been waiting for it for seven decades. 

On its part the Modi government spent more than two years in preparing the ground for this sojourn which has set the tone for the multi-faceted cooperation along with elevating it to a strategic level between the two countries. 

Such a status has been accorded by India to other partners like the US, the Russian Federation, Germany and Japan. This has opened the floodgates for mutually beneficial cooperation in several spheres encompassing water conservation, arid area farming, space, cyber security, scientific and technological research, defence, IT and a host of other spheres. 

Both India and Israel attained independence in 1947-48 but the challenges and problems of the wars fought at their inception remained even now. If it was Jammu and Kashmir based separatism and terrorism in India, Hamas and Hizbollah-led activities with political backing from other nations remained Israel’s challenge. 

While the regional dynamics are no doubt different, they are in areas of wide ranging conflict. Now that Indo-Israel relationship are out of the closet, the prospects of transfer of technology and manufacturing defence items in India has brightened. 

Apart from the defence deals expected to equip India with new military capabilities, the armed drones can provide this country new military capabilities for battling the menace of militants along the Line of Control (LOC). 

Then Israel being water scarce its desalinisation technology is cutting edge with a mobile desalinisation unit mounted on a four wheel drive buggy which takes water from anywhere and transforms it into drinking water. Their drip irrigation based on new technology will help farmers get real time alert on actual water needs of plants in their fields. 

At the same time Israel’s support for India’s war on terror has been total. The joint statement provided an idea of the future contours of the bilateral relationship. “The two leaders visualised that India and Israel will become close partners in development, technology, innovation, entrepreneurship, defence and security,” the joint statement added. 

Modi’s visit to Israel sends out an important signal to business to step up partnership, trade and investment. The joint statement has steered clear of specifying any particular source of threat to peace and stability. Instead the emphasis is on cooperation to combat growing radicalisation and terrorism. 

Significantly, a better relationship with Jerusalem did not mean ignoring Ramallah. By recognising Israel and Palestine as separate entities, New Delhi is preserving its delicate balancing act in West Asia. 

( T R Ramachandran is senior journalist and commentator. The views are personal.) 

A latest survey has shown 3 out of 4 elephants in Asia are living in poor and unacceptable conditions.  All of these are kept at venues offering elephant rides – one of the most popular tourist activities in the countries where the research `Taken for a Ride’ was done by the World Animal Protection.  

This report documents the conditions endured by nearly 3,000 elephants used in tourist venues across Asia. A total of 220 venues in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Nepal and Sri Lanka, and India were surveyed between late 2014 and mid-2016. These included all venues that could be identified in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Nepal and Sri Lanka, and a representative selection of venues in India.

Of the countries visited, Thailand is home to about three-quarters of all entertainment elephants assessed in this study. There has been a 30% rise in the number of elephants at tourism venues in Thailand since 2010. In the most recent study, 357 more elephants in Thailand were found living in poor welfare conditions than five years ago. This corresponds with a rise in the number of tourists to Thailand, and the rapidly developing elephant tourism entertainment industry which bears little resemblance to how elephants were traditionally kept. It sparks great concern about the rise in the exploitation of elephants, as well as people. Several venues receive more than 1,000 visitors a day with elephants continually required to give rides, perform and interact with tourists. These large venues are responsible for some of the poorest welfare conditions cited in this research. Additionally, they commonly also provide poor living standards for the elephant handlers (mahouts), the report says.

More than 2,000 of the elephants surveyed were being used for saddled rides or shows. The scale of suffering at most of these venues is severe. When not giving rides or performing, the elephants were typically chained day and night, most of the time to chains less than 3m long. They were also fed poor diets, given limited appropriate veterinary care and were frequently kept on concrete floors in stressful locations near loud music, roads or visitor groups. These conditions take no account of the elephants intelligence, behaviours and needs and follows the severe trauma endured by elephants in their early years. The trauma is caused by separation from their mothers and the harsh training process to break their spirits and make them submissive enough to give rides and perform, the report says.

On the other hand, the research also found a further 487 elephants across Asian tourist venues kept at venues with better conditions. Although still inadequate, these venues usually had more knowledgeable and caring staff, mostly no saddled riding, shorter working hours, and more possibilities for social interaction between elephants. In many cases they also provided better working conditions for the mahouts. Only 194 elephants at 13 venues were found to be living in high welfare captive conditions. At these venues there were no rides or performances. The elephants walked free during most of the day, were able to socialise with other elephants and were fed on natural vegetation at most of these venues. Tourists visiting these venues could observe elephants behaving naturally. Direct interaction between visitors and elephants was usually prohibited or limited. Mahouts at these venues were commonly well respected for their responsibility and fully involved with the daily management of elephants and interaction with tourists. Despite better conditions at some venues there are still clear safety risks involved with close contact between visitors and elephants. Between 2010 and 2016 in Thailand alone, 17 fatalities and 21 serious injuries to people by captive elephants were reported in the media. The growing number of elephants in a highly profit-driven industry and the increasing demand for elephant experiences also sparks conservation concerns.

According to Gajendra K.Sharma, India Country Director at World Animal Protection: “The cruel trend of elephants used for rides and shows is growing—we want tourists to know that many of these elephants are taken from their mothers as babies, forced to endure harsh training and suffer poor living conditions throughout their lives.’’

“There is an urgent need for tourist and regulation of wildlife tourist attractions worldwide. Venues that offer tourists a chance to watch elephants in genuine sanctuaries are beacons for hope that can encourage the urgently-needed shift in the captive elephant tourism,’’ Mr Sharma added.

To enable such wider and sustainable change to end the suffering of elephants this report suggest enabling and encouraging replication of high-welfare, elephant-friendly venues, and channeling tourist demand away from the worst activities, such as elephant shows and rides, to more humane alternatives.

The report also recommends devising a set of elephant-friendly tourism standards and improving the living conditions for captive elephants while protecting elephants from being poached. Respecting local cultures and addressing the needs of the mahouts and other elephant-dependent people by developing alternative livelihoods with them has also been recommended in the report.

Asian elephants are considered endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). They are on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which heavily restricts international trade of elephants and elephant parts. Constant human encroachment into the elephant’s habitat and poaching for ivory or wild animals has been causing the Asian elephant population’s rapid decline over recent decades. 

Estimates of the total population range between 38,000 and 52,000 elephants. There are three commonly recognised sub-species: the Indian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus) on the Asian mainland; the Ceylon elephant (E. m. maximus) on Sri Lanka; and the Sumatran elephant (E. m. sumatranus) on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Populations of wild elephants vary across 13 countries (or range states). There are estimates of fewer than 200 in each of Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Nepal and Vietnam and fewer than 1,000 for Cambodia and Laos. The population of elephants in the wild in Thailand is estimated to be between 2,500 –3,200. India has the largest population of elephants in the wild with an estimated 23,900–32,000 elephants and elephant rides are extremely popular among tourists in Rajasthan. 

Since 2012, nearly 7.7 million more women are using modern contraception, helping more than 38% women who want to delay or prevent pregnancy, latest data released by Family Planning 2020 has said.

India projects to spend 3 billion US Dollars on family planning by 2020 – exceeding its initial goal of 2 billion US Dollars. Between 2014 and 2015, more than 50 million couples received free family planning services across India and 183 million unintended pregnancies and 56 million unsafe abortions were averted, data released ahead of the FP 2020 Summit on July 11 has revealed.

In 2012, India committed to including family planning as a central element of its efforts to achieve universal health coverage and provide free family planning services and contraceptives to 200 million couples and 234 million adolescents. It has also committed to increase spending on family planning to  2 billion US Dollars for 2012-2020 and improve domestic manufacturing capacity for family planning commodities while expanding the contraceptive choices at the community level – especially IUDs – by training 200,000 health workers and improving family planning education and counseling for women after child births.

India has made concerted effort to expand its indigenous manufacturing capacity as a result of which all current contraceptives used in the country are manufactured indigenously. To ensure that contraceptives are available when and where women need them, a number of States have rolled out digital logistics system to manage their family planning supply chains, and the Centre is facilitating the expansion of this system across the country.

Oral and injectable contraceptive options and new IUDs have been introduced in India and condom packaging has been updated to improve uptake, but more importantly as part of its reproductive, maternal, newborn and adolescent health (RMNCH+A) strategy, India has launched a new community-based programme focused on adolescent health that aims to reduce teenage pregnancies.

NEW DELHI : The Supreme Court today asked the Centre as to why no enabling law as mandated under the Constitution has been made for the appointment of the chief election commissioner and election commissioners in the poll panel. 

A bench comprising Chief Justice JS Khehar and Justice DY Chandrachud said that Article 324 of the Constitution provides that the appointments of the CEC and the ECs be made as per the enabling law, but the law has not been enacted so far. 

The court, however, acknowledged that till now good persons have been appointed in the poll panel. The bench was hearing a Public Interest Litigation seeking various reliefs including that there should be a fair and transparent procedure for appointment of CEC and ECs.

India and Israel today signed seven agreements across sectors including two MoUs are in the field of water management and three MoUs on space co-operation, one on Science and Technology and one on Agriculture. Later, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint press meet. 

PM Modi said India and Israel have agreed to do much more together to protect strategic interests of both the countries. He said, our goal is to build a relationship that reflects our shared priorities and draws on enduring bonds between our peoples. Mr. Modi said he and Mr. Natanyahu discussed the situation in West Asia and the wider region. The Prime Minister also expressed India’s hope that peace, dialogue and restraint will prevail. 

Speaking during the joint Press Meet Israeli Prime Minister said this is a deeply moving moment as the two countries are making history. He said we are being challenged by forces of terror and we have agreed to cooperate in this area. Mr. Netanyahu also said ours is a partnership to seek good, defend good and achieve good.

Day two of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s historic visit to Israel will kick off with a meeting with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin today. The leader of opposition of Israel, Issac Herzog will also call upon the Prime Minister. Mr Modi will also address the Indian community in Tel Aviv later in the day.

Last night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hosted a dinner in honour of Mr Modi at his residence. In a press statement along with Mr Netanyahu, Mr Modi said common objective of economic prosperity, strong technology and innovation provide the space for shared action between India and Israel. 

The Prime Minister said he wants to frame a relationship that transforms the landscape of economic engagements between the two countries. 

Mr Modi said the two countries must resolutely oppose the evils of terrorism, radicalism and violence that plague our times. He said, those who believe in humanity and civilised values must come together and defend it at all costs. 

Mr Netanyahu also asserted that the two countries must stand together to fight the menace of terrorism. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that technology and innovation were important development priority of India which provides the scope to expand academic, scientific and business links with Israel. 

He said that both the countries want to place a strong security partnership to safeguard peace, stability and prosperity. Mr Modi said that he will work with Netanyahu to build a clear action agenda to realise these objectives. 

Speaking about the people to people linkages between the two countries Mr Modi said his visit to Israel celebrates the ancient bond between the communities across both the nations. 

PM Modi added that Indian Jews are a living and vibrant connect to this shared history. He said, India is proud of Jewish sons and daughters of India.

SHILLONG: Sitting in the glass-and-concrete State Convention Centre in the capital of hilly state, Meghalaya, participants of a media workshop on climate change were feeling sweaty. The convention centre is not air-conditioned nor does it have ceiling fans. For the comfort of guests, some pedestal fans were plugged in. 
Why are we sweating in Shillong? Asked state information technology minister Dr M Ampareen Lyngdoh. The question may sound strange for those who have read in tourist brochures and text books about the wettest places on the planet being in Meghalaya and about its round-the-year cool weather. 
The answer to this question came in the form of a new study done by researchers from the Water and Climate Lab at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Gandhinagar. The study has shown that air temperature in the state is rising at the rate of 0.031 degree per year. The trend is consistent from 1981 to 2014, barring the years 1991 and 1992. This translates into 1 degree centigrade rise between 1981 and 2014, which is quite significant. Future projections indicate similar rise over next two decades. The state has also been witnessing highly fluctuating frequencies of hot days, hot nights, cold days and cold nights. “The number of hot days and nights show an increasing trend while that of cold days and cold nights show a declining trend. These are indications of a consistently warming region,” pointed out lead author Dr Vimal Mishra while presenting results of the study commissioned by the state government. “The higher number of hot night frequencies is a matter of concern for the state.” 
Based on historic and observed data as well as computer models, the study has projected changes over short-term (2013-2040), mid-term (2041-2070) and long-term (2071-2100) for the state. It is a high-resolution study in the sense that projections have been made for grids of 5 X5 km size, so as to help in vulnerability assessment for each grid and adaptation planning at local level.
Future projections show an increasing temperature rise under different scenarios. Under these projections, the rise in maximum temperature in Meghalaya in the long term ranges from 2.65 degree to 3.8 degree, while the rise in minimum temperature will be between 2 degree and 3.5 degree in the long term. The increase in temperature may result in higher number of extreme hot days and nights. Under the extreme scenario projection, the number of hot days could be as high as 100 a year. Similarly, there may be a decrease in extreme cold days and nights.
“The state has already seen a rise of temperature of 1 to 1.5 degree in the past three decades, and the projections point to a similar rise by 2040. If temperature in Meghalaya will rise by about 3 degree rise in a span of half a century, we don’t know what Meghalaya will be like in future  – West Bengal or Assam?,” wondered Dr Mishra.
There will be changes in the rainfall patterns too in future. The central plateau region is projected to experience an increase in rainfall at a higher rate than the rest of the state. The occurrence of extreme rainfall events will also show an upward trend under various projected scenarios. “The West Khasi hills which already receive very high precipitation are projected to face even higher rise in precipitation,” Dr Mishra added.
The changing climate in Meghalaya, he said, would have widespread implications for forests, water resources, biodiversity, agriculture, livestock and human health. For instance, due to significant rise in temperature, forest fires may go up while extreme rainfall events will increase risk of landslides in high altitude areas causing siltration of water bodies downstream. The rise in temperature will also threaten endemic plant species many of which are already on the verge of extinction. Rainfed agriculture in the state will be adversely hit with crop yields and production declining. Higher temperature will also induce premature breaking of insects and pests. 
“Meghalaya has some of the most vulnerable districts to current climate risks and long term climate change in the region,” pointed out Prof. N.H. Ravindranath of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. “Sectors like agriculture, forests, fisheries, horticulture are already subjected high climate risks currently and will be highly vulnerable to climate change risks in future. We need to prepare both incremental as well as transformational adaptation plans to make based on vulnerability assessments.”The workshop was jointly organized by the Department of Science and Technology, Indian Himalayas Climate Adaptation Programme (IHCAP) and Centre for Media Studies. (India Science Wire)

Goods and Services Network (GSTN) has unveiled a simple excel based template that will facilitate the taxpayers in preparing and filing their monthly returns with maximum ease and minimal cost. 

The excel template is a part of GST Council’s approach to make tax compliance highly easy and convenient for taxpayers and also reduce the time of compliance to improve ease of doing business. This excel workbook template can be freely downloaded from the GST Common portal (www.gst.gov.in), and can be used by taxpayers to collate all invoice related data on a regular basis. 

The Excel format can be used by businesses to start maintaining their data. The taxpayer can prepare the details of his outward supply on weekly or any other suitable regular interval which can then be uploaded on GST portal on or before the 10th of subsequent month. The GSTR1 excel template workbook can be used to prepare the data for GSTR 1 return without connecting to internet in offline mode. This also benefits taxpayers in remote areas where Internet connectivity might not be good. 

The template comprises of eight worksheets. Summary of key values in each worksheet has been provided at the top to help taxpayers easily reconcile the data entered in the worksheets with that recorded in his accounting system/books to accurately prepare the return. Based on data entered in the Excel sheet, offline tool will prepare a file which will have to be uploaded by the taxpayer on GST Portal to create GSTR-1. Only while uploading the file on the GST portal, Internet connectivity will be required.