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'జీఎస్టీ స్లాబులను రెండింటికి కుదించడమే మేలు' - Niti Aayog member ramesh about GST
ప్రస్తుతమున్న నాలుగు జీఎస్టీ స్లాబులను రెండింటికి కుదించాలని నీతి ఆయోగ్ సభ్యుడు రమేశ్ చంద్ సూచించారు. జీఎస్టీ రేట్లు కూడా తరచుగా సవరించకూడదని అభిప్రాయపడ్డారు. అవసరమైతే ఏడాదికోసారి రేట్లు సవరిస్తే సరిపోతుందని పేర్కొన్నారు.
'జీఎస్టీ శ్లాబులను రెండింటికి కుదించడమే మేలు'
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Published : Dec 25, 2019, 4:15 PM IST
నీతి ఆయోగ్ సభ్యుడు రమేశ్ చంద్ వస్తు, సేవల పన్ను (జీఎస్టీ) స్లాబుల విషయంలో కీలక వ్యాఖ్యలు చేశారు. ప్రస్తుతం అమలులో ఉన్న బహుళ స్లాబుల విధానాన్ని తొలగించి, కేవలం రెండింటికే పరిమితం చేయాలని సూచించారు. తరచుగా జీఎస్టీ రేట్లను సవరించకూడదని అభిప్రాయపడ్డారు.
జీఎస్టీ రేట్లు తగ్గించాలని, స్లాబులను కుదించాలని డిమాండ్లు వెల్లువెత్తుతున్న నేపథ్యంలో రమేశ్ చంద్ వ్యాఖ్యలు ప్రాధాన్యం సంతరించుకున్నాయి.
నాలుగు స్లాబులు..
దాదాపు అన్ని పరోక్ష పన్నులను తొలగించి, వాటి స్థానంలో 2017 జులై 1 నుంచి వస్తు, సేవల పన్ను విధానాన్ని అమల్లోకి తీసుకొచ్చారు. అప్పటి నుంచి చాలా సార్లు జీఎస్టీ రేట్లు సవరించారు. ఈ పన్ను రేట్లను కేంద్ర ఆర్థికమంత్రి అధ్యక్షతన, రాష్ట్ర ఆర్థికమంత్రులుతో కూడిన జీఎస్టీ మండలి నిర్ణయిస్తుంది.
ప్రస్తుతం నాలుగు జీఎస్టీ రేటు స్లాబులు (5, 12, 18, 28 శాతం) ఉన్నాయి. ఇవి కాక చాలా వస్తు, సేవలు మినహాయింపు వర్గంలో లేదా నిల్ డ్యూటీలోకి వస్తాయి. ఓ ఐదు వస్తువులపై సెస్ కూడా విధిస్తున్నారు.
సమస్యలుంటాయ్..
జీఎస్టీ లాంటి భారీ పన్ను సంస్కరణలు చేపట్టినప్పుడు చిన్న చిన్న ఇబ్బందులు ఎదురవుతాయని, కానీ త్వరలోనే పరిష్కారమవుతాయని రమేశ్ చెంద్ అన్నారు. జీఎస్టీ స్థిరీకరణకు చాలా దేశాలు చాలా సమయమే తీసుకున్నాయని ఆయన గుర్తు చేశారు.
"ప్రతి రంగం జీఎస్టీ రేట్లు తగ్గించాలని అడగడం రివాజుగా మారింది. రేట్ల తగ్గింపు కంటే జీఎస్టీ సమస్యలు చాలా పెద్దవి అని భావిస్తున్నాను. కొత్త పరోక్ష పన్నుల ద్వారా ఆదాయ సేకరణలో స్థిరమైన పెరుగుదల కోసం కృషి చేయాలి. అలాగే జీఎస్టీ రేట్లను తరచూ మార్చకూడదు. అవసరమైతే ఏడాదికోసారి రేట్లు సవరిస్తే సరిపోతుంది."- రమేశ్ చంద్, నీతిఆయోగ్ సభ్యుడు
వ్యవసాయ రంగం
వ్యవసాయరంగం విషయంలో మాత్రం జీఎస్టీ రేట్లు తరచూ మార్పడం సమంజసం కాదని రమేశ్ చంద్ అభిప్రాయపడ్డారు. తరచూ రేట్లు మార్చితే తీవ్ర సమస్యలు ఉత్పన్నమవుతాయని హెచ్చరించారు.
పాల ఉత్పత్తుల మాదిరిగా ప్రాసెస్డ్ ఫుడ్పై తక్కువ జీఎస్టీ విధించాలని వస్తున్న డిమాండ్పై రమేశ్ చంద్ భిన్నంగా స్పందించారు. వీటిపై ప్రస్తుతం విధిస్తున్న 5 శాతం జీఎస్టీ సహేతుకమైనదేనని అభిప్రాయపడ్డారు.
ప్రభుత్వానికి ఆదాయం వద్దా?
ప్రతి రంగం పన్ను రేట్లు తగ్గించాలని కోరడం సమంజసం కాదని, ఈ ధోరణి కూడా మంచిది కాదని 15వ ఆర్థిక సంఘం సభ్యుడు కూడా అయిన రమేశ్ అన్నారు. అభివృద్ధి పనుల కోసం ప్రభుత్వానికి ఆదాయం అవసరమన్న విషయాన్ని వారు గుర్తించాలని స్పష్టం చేశారు.
కేంద్రప్రభుత్వం వ్యవసాయ రంగానికి మాత్రమే ఏటా 1.2 లక్షల కోట్ల రూపాయలు రాయితీ ఇస్తోందని, రాష్ట్రాలన్నీ కలిసి మరో లక్ష కోట్లు సబ్సీడీ ఇస్తున్న విషయాన్ని గుర్తించాలని రమేశ్ గుర్తుచేశారు.
ఇదీ చూడండి: రియల్మీ ఎక్స్2 ప్రో స్మార్ట్ఫోన్ ఇక మరింత చౌక!
నీతి ఆయోగ్ సభ్యుడు రమేశ్ చంద్ వస్తు, సేవల పన్ను (జీఎస్టీ) స్లాబుల విషయంలో కీలక వ్యాఖ్యలు చేశారు. ప్రస్తుతం అమలులో ఉన్న బహుళ స్లాబుల విధానాన్ని తొలగించి, కేవలం రెండింటికే పరిమితం చేయాలని సూచించారు. తరచుగా జీఎస్టీ రేట్లను సవరించకూడదని అభిప్రాయపడ్డారు.
జీఎస్టీ రేట్లు తగ్గించాలని, స్లాబులను కుదించాలని డిమాండ్లు వెల్లువెత్తుతున్న నేపథ్యంలో రమేశ్ చంద్ వ్యాఖ్యలు ప్రాధాన్యం సంతరించుకున్నాయి.
నాలుగు స్లాబులు..
దాదాపు అన్ని పరోక్ష పన్నులను తొలగించి, వాటి స్థానంలో 2017 జులై 1 నుంచి వస్తు, సేవల పన్ను విధానాన్ని అమల్లోకి తీసుకొచ్చారు. అప్పటి నుంచి చాలా సార్లు జీఎస్టీ రేట్లు సవరించారు. ఈ పన్ను రేట్లను కేంద్ర ఆర్థికమంత్రి అధ్యక్షతన, రాష్ట్ర ఆర్థికమంత్రులుతో కూడిన జీఎస్టీ మండలి నిర్ణయిస్తుంది.
ప్రస్తుతం నాలుగు జీఎస్టీ రేటు స్లాబులు (5, 12, 18, 28 శాతం) ఉన్నాయి. ఇవి కాక చాలా వస్తు, సేవలు మినహాయింపు వర్గంలో లేదా నిల్ డ్యూటీలోకి వస్తాయి. ఓ ఐదు వస్తువులపై సెస్ కూడా విధిస్తున్నారు.
సమస్యలుంటాయ్..
జీఎస్టీ లాంటి భారీ పన్ను సంస్కరణలు చేపట్టినప్పుడు చిన్న చిన్న ఇబ్బందులు ఎదురవుతాయని, కానీ త్వరలోనే పరిష్కారమవుతాయని రమేశ్ చెంద్ అన్నారు. జీఎస్టీ స్థిరీకరణకు చాలా దేశాలు చాలా సమయమే తీసుకున్నాయని ఆయన గుర్తు చేశారు.
"ప్రతి రంగం జీఎస్టీ రేట్లు తగ్గించాలని అడగడం రివాజుగా మారింది. రేట్ల తగ్గింపు కంటే జీఎస్టీ సమస్యలు చాలా పెద్దవి అని భావిస్తున్నాను. కొత్త పరోక్ష పన్నుల ద్వారా ఆదాయ సేకరణలో స్థిరమైన పెరుగుదల కోసం కృషి చేయాలి. అలాగే జీఎస్టీ రేట్లను తరచూ మార్చకూడదు. అవసరమైతే ఏడాదికోసారి రేట్లు సవరిస్తే సరిపోతుంది."- రమేశ్ చంద్, నీతిఆయోగ్ సభ్యుడు
వ్యవసాయ రంగం
వ్యవసాయరంగం విషయంలో మాత్రం జీఎస్టీ రేట్లు తరచూ మార్పడం సమంజసం కాదని రమేశ్ చంద్ అభిప్రాయపడ్డారు. తరచూ రేట్లు మార్చితే తీవ్ర సమస్యలు ఉత్పన్నమవుతాయని హెచ్చరించారు.
పాల ఉత్పత్తుల మాదిరిగా ప్రాసెస్డ్ ఫుడ్పై తక్కువ జీఎస్టీ విధించాలని వస్తున్న డిమాండ్పై రమేశ్ చంద్ భిన్నంగా స్పందించారు. వీటిపై ప్రస్తుతం విధిస్తున్న 5 శాతం జీఎస్టీ సహేతుకమైనదేనని అభిప్రాయపడ్డారు.
ప్రభుత్వానికి ఆదాయం వద్దా?
ప్రతి రంగం పన్ను రేట్లు తగ్గించాలని కోరడం సమంజసం కాదని, ఈ ధోరణి కూడా మంచిది కాదని 15వ ఆర్థిక సంఘం సభ్యుడు కూడా అయిన రమేశ్ అన్నారు. అభివృద్ధి పనుల కోసం ప్రభుత్వానికి ఆదాయం అవసరమన్న విషయాన్ని వారు గుర్తించాలని స్పష్టం చేశారు.
కేంద్రప్రభుత్వం వ్యవసాయ రంగానికి మాత్రమే ఏటా 1.2 లక్షల కోట్ల రూపాయలు రాయితీ ఇస్తోందని, రాష్ట్రాలన్నీ కలిసి మరో లక్ష కోట్లు సబ్సీడీ ఇస్తున్న విషయాన్ని గుర్తించాలని రమేశ్ గుర్తుచేశారు.
ఇదీ చూడండి: రియల్మీ ఎక్స్2 ప్రో స్మార్ట్ఫోన్ ఇక మరింత చౌక!
WORLD 1945 END OF WORLD WAR TWO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS/ ASSOCIATED PRESS (RUSSIAN ARCHIVE) /AP PHOTOS /POOL/UNIVERSAL NEWSREEL/ BRITISH MOVIETONE
RESTRICTIONS: AP Clients Only
Disclaimer: British Movietone and Universal Newsreel are historical collections. Any views and expressions within either the video or metadata of the collection are reproduced for historical accuracy and do not represent the opinions or editorial policies of The Associated Press.
+++CLIENTS PLEASE NOTE: THIS STORY CONTAINS IMAGES OF DEAD BODIES (GRAPHIC IMAGES)+++
LENGTH: 9:15
SHOTLIST:
ASSOCIATED PRESS (RUSSIAN ARCHIVE)
+++CLIENTS PLEASE NOTE: THIS STORY CONTAINS IMAGES OF DEAD BODIES (GRAPHIC IMAGES)+++
ARCHIVE - Auschwitz, Poland - 1945
++4:3++
++BLACK & WHITE/ RUSSIAN COMMENTARY AT SOURCE++
1. Various of children showing Auschwitz registration numbers stamped on arms
2. Prisoners leaving Auschwitz, walking towards liberation
3. Various of prisoners walking along barbed wire corridor, Russian soldiers can be seen escorting them
4. Prisoners standing behind barbed wire fence
5. Various of prisoners behind fence
6. Auschwitz, panning right to left aerial
7. Interior of prisoner hut
8. Elderly women prisoners cramped up in trestle-like bunk beds
VOICEOVER (Russian) no name given:
"The Red Army released 2, 819 prisoners from a (concentration) camp. Among the saved people, there were 180 children, 52 of them were under 8 years old. They survived because they were kept for medical experiments of (concentration) camp doctors. Among the survived prisoners of Auschwitz, there were people brought here from all over Europe – Poles, Russians, Czechs, Hungarians, Jews, French, Serbians, Romanians, Belgians. (The beginning is cut out) Auschwitz near Krakow, the footage made by cameramen Zhurkov, Bykov, Utup-Zade, Pavlov, Vorontsov. Here is a barrack as Soviet cameramen who came to Auschwitz together with the Red Army found it."
9. Various of corpses in trenches +++CLIENTS PLEASE NOTE: THIS STORY CONTAINS IMAGES OF DEAD BODIES (GRAPHIC IMAGES)+++
ASSOCIATED PRESS
+16:9+
ARCHIVE - Amsterdam, Netherlands - 12 June 2019
10. Tilt up to photograph of Anne Frank on desk in room in her house
11. Close of photograph of Anne Frank
ASSOCIATED PRESS
+16:9+
ARCHIVE - Amsterdam, Netherlands - 21 November 2018
12. Man walking into secret annex in Anne Frank House where Anne Frank and her family were hiding, which is now part of a museum
13. Tracking shot walking in
14. Stairs leading to upper part of the annex
15. Various shots of the kitchen and dining room
16. Various of the toilet and wash basin
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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ARCHIVE - Amsterdam, Netherlands - 12 June 2019
17. Various of Anne Frank's diary with writing and photos on wall of Anne Frank House
18. Close up of book cover, tilt to photo of Anne Frank
19. Various exteriors of Anne Frank's former home
20. Mid of Anne Frank's monument at the park near her former home
21. Close of Anne Frank's monument
AP PHOTOS
Bergen-Belsen, Germany - 28 October 2007
22. A red rose and a photo of Anne Frank lay at a memorial stone of Anne Frank and her sister Margot and the Bergen-Belsen Memorial, northern Germany, where they died
POOL
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ARCHIVE : Yalta, Crimea - 9 February 1945
23. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, US President Franklin D Roosevelt and Stalin
24. Close up Churchill
25. Close up Roosevelt
AP PHOTOS
26. In this Feb 23, 1945 file photo, U.S. Marines of the 28th Regiment, 5th Division, raise the American flag atop Mt. Suribachi, Iwo Jima, Japan.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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ARCHIVE - Dresden, Germany - February 1945
27.Various of night time bombing raid over Dresden
28. British Royal Airforce bombers in daytime
29. Various of bombing
30. Various of devastation
31. Various of restoration work
UNIVERSAL NEWSREEL
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ARCHIVE : Italy - 1945
Disclaimer: British Movietone and Universal Newsreel are historical collections. Any views and expressions within either the video or metadata of the collection are reproduced for historical accuracy and do not represent the opinions or editorial policies of The Associated Press.
32. Various of Newsreel about Mussolini's death
UPSOUND: (English) Voice Over
"Bombastic Mussolini the 'saw-dust Caesar' comes to his end in the gutter, fitting climax to a life of treachery and double cross. He led his country to ruin when he throw his lot in with Hitler. Oh yes they saw some balmy days when Il Duce confidently stabbed France in the back. He had dreams of Empire before the bayonets of the Allies deflated this false prophet. "
GRAPHIC IMAGES
AP PHOTOS
33. The bodies, left to right, of Achille Starace, former secretary of the Fascist Party, Benito Mussolini and his mistress, Clara Petacci, hang from a filling station front by their heels in Milan, Italy, April 29, 1945, after they were executed near the city by Italian partisans.
34. Armed partisans look over Benito Mussolini's dead body after it is placed in a wooden coffin following his assassination near Dongo in the Como province, Italy, April 28, 1945.
POOL (Russian Archive)
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ARCHIVE : Berlin, Germany - April 1945
35. Russian tanks drive through Berlin
36. Various celebrations
37. Various Russian Tanks drive through Berlin
Universal Archives
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ARCHIVE : 31 December 1945
Disclaimer: British Movietone and Universal Newsreel are historical collections. Any views and expressions within either the video or metadata of the collection are reproduced for historical accuracy and do not represent the opinions or editorial policies of The Associated Press.
38. SOUNDBITE (English) Harry S. Truman, declaring victory:
"that the forces of Germany have surrendered to the United Nations.The flags of freedom fly all over Europe."
39. Various people celebrating in the streets
VOICEOVER (English) no name given:
"Victory in Europe brought wild rejoicing throughout the allied world as the big three announced the downfall of the Nazi Germany. New York's celebration is typical of the nation's joy. At the end of nearly six years of war in Europe. It's a great day, as the thankful people let loose their pent up emotions. "
Universal Archives
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ARCHIVE : 31 December 1945
Disclaimer: British Movietone and Universal Newsreel are historical collections. Any views and expressions within either the video or metadata of the collection are reproduced for historical accuracy and do not represent the opinions or editorial policies of The Associated Press.
40. Wide of atom bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki
VOICEOVER (English) no name given:
"First in a test in the United States New Mexico desert, then five thousand miles away at Hiroshima, and then again at Nagasaki, came the world shaking explosions of the atomic bomb. "
Universal Archives
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ARCHIVE : Hiroshima, Japan - August 1945
Disclaimer: British Movietone and Universal Newsreel are historical collections. Any views and expressions within either the video or metadata of the collection are reproduced for historical accuracy and do not represent the opinions or editorial policies of The Associated Press.
41. Scenes of devastation at Hiroshima in aftermath of the atom bomb, inc. Destroyed dome on bank or river
42. Various Japanese civilians making their way across debris with umbrellas
VOICEOVER (English) no name given:
"Latest reports from the Japanese say that one hundred twenty six thousand died as the result of the damage done by the single bomb that blasted the city. These pictures of the utter devastation laying in the wake of the atomic fury were taken by newsreel and Air Force cameraman. With the help of gauze masks, a few citizens seemed able to exist among the wastelands. Although the end of Japan's aggression was in sight, before atomic bombings, it was this terrific force that finally signed her death warrant."
British Movietone
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ARCHIVE : Nagasaki, Japan - August 1945
Disclaimer: British Movietone and Universal Newsreel are historical collections. Any views and expressions within either the video or metadata of the collection are reproduced for historical accuracy and do not represent the opinions or editorial policies of The Associated Press.
43. Slate : News from Japan
44. Aerial views of ruins of Nagasaki. Aerial - atom bomb exploding on same, mushroom shape clouds.
45. Aerial of city.
VOICEOVER (English) no name given:
"That's the atomic bomb exploding at Nagasaki. The film was taken in a B 29, many miles away. All of you who see this picture can judge for yourselves the extent of the menace to civilization of this new weapon. Civilized people can only demand that such power be directed not towards their obliteration, but to the benefit of mankind. "
British Movietone
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ARCHIVE : New York, United States - 1945
Disclaimer: British Movietone and Universal Newsreel are historical collections. Any views and expressions within either the video or metadata of the collection are reproduced for historical accuracy and do not represent the opinions or editorial policies of The Associated Press.
46. Slate : America Rejoices - Newspapers report Japanese surrender
47. Various of people celebrating in New York
VOICEOVER (English) no name given:
"The end of the greatest of wars was the more dramatic because of suspense, great crowds waiting as here in New York in the early hours of the morning, shortly before 2:00 a.m., the Jap (sic) radio announced that the final surrender message was being sent. There was all day jubilation all around the world."
Universal Archives
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FILE: 1945 (no date or location available)
Disclaimer: British Movietone and Universal Newsreel are historical collections. Any views and expressions within either the video or metadata of the collection are reproduced for historical accuracy and do not represent the opinions or editorial policies of The Associated Press.
48. Various corpses lying in street
49. Various emaciated survivors in Manila
VOICEOVER (English) no name given:
"But the world could not forget or excuse the savage crimes of those who had opened that war, who had deliberately and wilfully brought death and suffering to millions. To the innocent, tortured civilians of Manila, for example. For these atrocities, Japan's leaders would be held responsible and would stand trial. "
41. Hospital sign
42. Various Hideki Tojo in hospital bed
VOICEOVER (English) no name given:
"Hideki Tojo, Japanese war premier faced trial as the year ended, his suicide attempt would not prevent the carrying out of justice. Behind bars were others."
43. Various of Nazi concentration camp victims
+++CLIENTS PLEASE NOTE: THIS STORY CONTAINS IMAGES OF DEAD BODIES (GRAPHIC IMAGES)+++
VOICEOVER (English) no name given:
"Across the Earth. The pictorial record, which the world had seen of German death camps, would not be readily forgotten either. Nazi officials like Josef Kramer, the Beast of Belsen, have already paid with their lives for the crimes they committed against innocent men, women and children."
44. Various Hitler greeting people in hospital
VOICEOVER (English) no name given:
"Adolf Hitler, who had survived a bomb planted by one of his own officers in 1944, was presumably alive until the last days of Berlin. By the best evidence, he is now dead."
British Movietone
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ARCHIVE : Nuremberg, Germany - December 1945
Disclaimer: British Movietone and Universal Newsreel are historical collections. Any views and expressions within either the video or metadata of the collection are reproduced for historical accuracy and do not represent the opinions or editorial policies of The Associated Press.
45. Slate : Nuremberg Continued
46. Exterior view Nazi Headquarters, Nuremberg.
47. Wide interiors of court
48. Goering and Hess look over shoulders of their defence at chart of over shoulder of German naval captain (defence).
VOICEOVER (English) no name given:
"The Nuremberg trial is like a serial story with pages of particular interest in every chapter. (edit) As you see Goering and Hess began to get quite excited as they peered over the shoulder of a member of the defence."
49. Man speaking in English
50. Mid Goering, Hess and Ribbentrop, latter appears to be asleep.
VOICEOVER (English) no name given: "While he counsel speaks Ribbentrop looks pensive or possibly indifferent"
Universal Archives
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ARCHIVE : San Francisco, United States - June 1945
Disclaimer: British Movietone and Universal Newsreel are historical collections. Any views and expressions within either the video or metadata of the collection are reproduced for historical accuracy and do not represent the opinions or editorial policies of The Associated Press.
51. Close up of flags
52. Various of signing of The United Nations Charter
VOICEOVER (English) no name given:
"The lessons learned in 1945. If mankind would remember them, could make the world a better place for all men for ever."
53. Graphic of passage from UN Charter
VOICEOVER (English) no name given:
"That was the hope in 1945 with the Second World War ended. At last."
LEAD IN :
2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in 1945.
It was a long road from conflict to peace and the world would never be the same again.
STORYLINE :
Seventy five years ago the world wracked by conflict, but at the start of 1945 the Second World War was nearing its end.
On 27 January 1945 Soviet infantrymen walked through the gates of the Auschwitz concentration camp into a netherworld of ghostly, emaciated people.
The troops of the Soviet 322nd infantry division cut the surrounding barbed wire and swept through, becoming the first outsiders to glimpse the horror of the death camp in southern Poland.
By the time the Soviet unit arrived, most of the prisoners had been forced on death marches by the Nazis as German troops fled towards Germany.
There were about 7,000 prisoners left alive inside the camp.
Auschwitz was a death factory where the Nazis murdered 1.5 (m) million people, many of them Jews who perished in gas chambers or died of starvation and disease.
In all, some 6 (m) million Jews were killed in the Nazi Holocaust of World War Two. Poles, Sinti and Roma and Soviet prisoners of war were also imprisoned in death camps.
Amongst the dead was a young Jewish Dutch girl called Anne Frank.
Just three weeks after Anne turned 13 her family went into hiding in the annex in Amsterdam now known as Anne Frank House.
They hid in the annex for just over two years before being arrested and sent to Nazi-run concentration camps. Anne died in the Bergen-Belsen camp in February or March 1945 after contracting typhus.
Her father Otto, the only member of the family to survive the war, later published her diaries. The book went on to be published in dozens of countries around the world and is regarded as one of the most important works of the 20th century.
On February 11 1945, U.S. President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin signed the Yalta Agreement, in which Stalin agreed to declare war against Imperial Japan following Nazi Germany's capitulation.
Just two months later President Franklin Roosevelt died on April 12 of a cerebral haemorrhage in Warm Springs, Georgia, at age 63; he was succeeded by Vice President Harry S. Truman.
Meanwhile in the Pacific War one of World War Two's bloodiest battles was taking place around the island of Iwo Jima in the Pacific Ocean.
After more than a month of bitter fighting between Japanese and American forces, the U.S. flag was raised on the summit of Mount Suribachi, on February 23 1945.
An image captured that day by AP photographer Joe Rosenthal became one of the most enduring ever taken of the war and helped fuel patriotism in the United States.
Rosenthal won a Pulitzer Prize for his iconic image, which actually shows the second raising of the flag that day on Mount Suribachi on the Japanese island, after first flag had been deemed too small.
The 1945 battle of Iwo Jima was a turning point in the Pacific war. It claimed 6,821 American and 21,570 Japanese lives in 36 days of intense fighting.
The small island of Iwo Jima was a strategic piece of land 750 miles south of Tokyo, and the United States wanted it to support long-range B-29 bombers and a possible invasion of Japan.
On February 19, 1945, 30,000 U.S. Marines landed on the southeast coast of Mount Suribachi.
They landed on the highest point on the island - at 166 metres or 546 feet above sea level - it took four days for the troops to scale.
In all, more than 6,800 U.S. servicemen died in the five-week battle for the island, and the 21,000-man Japanese defence force was virtually wiped out.
Iwo Jima was declared secured on March 26, 1945.
In Germany three successive waves of British and U.S. bombers on Feb. 13-14, 1945, set off firestorms and destroyed Dresden's centuries-old baroque city center.
The total number of people killed in the Dresden bombing has long been uncertain. In 2008, a panel commissioned by state officials found that the firebombing killed no more than 25,000 people, far fewer than scholars' previous estimates that ran as high as 135,000.
In Italy, the dictator Benito Mussolini, who took the country into World War II on the side of Nazi Germany and Japan, was ousted from power in Rome in July 1943 after Allied forces landed in Sicily. In September 1943, Italy surrendered unconditionally to the Allies.
The Germans helped Mussolini escape from prison and established him in a puppet regime in the north. Italian partisans captured Mussolini and his mistress, Clara Petacci, on April 27, 1945, shot them and hung their bodies upside down at a gasoline station near Milan.
On April 24 1945 the Soviet Union announced the fall of Berlin and the Allies announced the surrender of Nazi troops in Italy.
On 8 May 1945, Truman addressed the American people, declaring that "the forces of Germany have surrendered to the United Nations. The flags of freedom fly all over Europe."
Victory had finally become a reality.
But the most devastating attacks were yet to come.
With Japan not willing to surrender, the United States decided to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in early August, leading to ultimate defeat for the Japanese.
The U.S. attack on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, killed 140,000 people. The bomb dropped three days later on Nagasaki killed another 70,000 before Japan's surrender ended World War II.
Nazi Germany's dictator Adolf Hitler committed suicide on the 29th April, during the last days of World War Two in Europe.
Hitler and Eva Braun, his long-time mistress, and wife of one day, took their own lives, as Soviet troops approached his bunker in Berlin.
Other war leaders faced trial for atrocities.
In 1948 Japan's former Premier Hideki Tojo and other Japanese World War II leaders were sentenced to death by a war crimes tribunal.
In Europe the Nuremberg trials of Nazi got underway quickly.
The trials, which took place from 1945 to 1949, marked a watershed moment in international law. They shed light on the extent of Nazi atrocities during the Holocaust and set new international precedents for defining and prosecuting war crimes.
During the first and most famous trial, held between November 1945 and October 1946, an international panel of judges found 18 high-ranking Nazi leaders guilty on at least one count and sentenced 12 of them to death.
The United Nations Charter was signed June 26, 1945, in San Francisco. It took effect on Oct. 24, 1945.
The United Nations was created after the carnage of World War II and its charter calls for saving ''succeeding generations from the scourge of war.''
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