4/6/2023 0 Comments Biting the bullet podcast![]() I didn't understand what we, at age twenty-two, could possibly be consulted about. By the summer of 1998, my classmates were signing six-figure contracts as consultants and investment bankers. Failing a chemistry class had inspired my love of history, and I ended up majoring in the classics. I went to Dartmouth intending to go to med school. Staring through the wire mesh at the bright day, I thought this must be what it's like on the ride to Sing Sing. ![]() I thought of my friends, spending their summer vacations in New York and San Francisco, working in air-conditioned office towers and partying at night. A girl in an open Jeep stood and started to raise her shirt before being pulled back down by a laughing friend. Kids wearing headphones gawked, surely wondering what losers were riding a school bus in the summertime. Families drove next to us, on their way to the lake or the beach. ![]() I turned toward the window to avoid his gaze. He had an edge, something in his jaw or his brow that made me self-conscious. Shorter hair, of course, and broader shoulders. The lieutenant was my age, but he looked different. He stood there in the aisle, glaring at us, and I sat up a little straighter. No one answered the lieutenant's question. I glanced around the bus's gunmetal interior, surprised to see people reading or pretending to sleep. "If you can't be honest at OCS, how can the Corps trust you to lead men in combat?"Ĭombat. "Honor, courage, and commitment are the Marines' core values," the lieutenant shouted over the engine. I expected a welcome, a joke, some commiseration. Shortly after we pulled away from the recruiting office, he stood in the aisle and turned to face us. He had just graduated from Officer Candidates School, and would escort us on the hour's drive to the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia. I found a seat near the back as the bus started with a roar and a cloud of smoke blew through the open windows.Ī second lieutenant, looking crisp in his gabardine and khaki uniform, sat in the front row. Some sipped coffee from paper cups, and a few unfolded newspapers they had brought. Wire mesh covered its windows and four black words ran along its sides: UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS.ĭressed casually in shorts and sandals, we spread out and sat alone with our bags. However, after crude oil prices starting soaring since mid-August ahead of the festive season, in October the Centre decided to cut the excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 2.50 per litre.Ĭentre bore the burden of Rs 1.50 per litre while oil marketing companies (OMCs) absorbed another Re 1 in cost, bringing the total benefit to consumers to Rs 2.50.Simultaneously, many state governments reduced their state VAT on petrol and diesel by Rs 2.50 a litre, bringing a relief by as much as Rs 5 per litre to consumers.List Price: $14.95 Note: This excerpt contains language and content that some readers may find offensive.įifteen of us climbed aboard the ancient white school bus. The central government had raised excise duty on petrol by Rs 11.77 a litre and that on diesel by Rs 13.47 a litre in nine instalments between November 2014 and January 2016 to shore up finances as global oil prices fell. This is particularly true for the richer or the so-called industrialised states such as Karnataka and Maharashtra. Likewise, states earn significant revenues from taxing petroleum products. Of course, a part of this was shared with states as part of an agreed devolution formula. In 2017-18, the Centre earned Rs 2.29 lakh crore from central excise duty on petroleum products, which is about 11 percent of the Centre's total gross tax revenues of Rs 19.46 lakh crore earned during the year. Successive governments, both at the Centre and states, have used petroleum products as milch cows. PhonePe Beat of Progress Powered by Moneycontrol.Pharma Industry Conclave Unlocking opportunities in Metal and Mining.The Challengers Life Insurance Made Simple.Interview Series Business In The Week Ahead.
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