Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 02 February 2017

:: National ::

Income tax reduced for earning between Rs. 2.5 lakh and Rs. 5 lakh

Those earning between Rs. 2.5 lakh and Rs. 5 lakh a year will now have to pay income tax at the rate of 5% instead of the earlier 10%.
Mr. Jaitley also announced that all the other categories of tax payers in the subsequent slabs will also get a uniform benefit of Rs. 12,500 per person.
He said the existing rebate for those earning Rs. 5 lakh or less will now be reduced to Rs. 2,500 and available only to those earning an income of up to Rs. 3.5 lakh.
The Finance Minister has also proposed to levy a surcharge of 10% of tax payable on those whose annual taxable income is between Rs. 50 lakh and Rs. 1 crore.
The existing surcharge of 15% of tax on people earning more than Rs. 1 crore will continue.
Therefore, post-demonetisation, there is a legitimate expectation of this class of people to reduce their burden of taxation.
Also, an argument is made that if a nominal rate of taxation is kept for lower slab, many more people will prefer to come within the tax net.

Political funding from unknown sources capped at 2000 rupees

In a move to cleanse the system of political funding, FM proposed a Rs. 2,000 ceiling on cash donation by any individual to a party.
Presenting the Budget, he, however, said political parties, could receive donations by cheque or digital mode from donors.
He also indicated that the Reserve Bank of India Act would be amended to facilitate issuance of electoral bonds in line with the scheme that the government would come out.
All the opposition parties welcomed the move to clean up the political funding for elections in India.

Budget for reviving investment and generating jobs

This is a budget with three principle goals. It wants to revive the flagging domestic investment, which has threatened to turn turtle.
It does this by ramping up public capital capital expenditure by a whopping 24.5% in the hope that it will ‘crowd in’ private investment; cutting corporate income tax rate from 30% to 25% for SMEe with an annual turnover of less than Rs. 50 crore.
Secondly, it responds to the dire requirement for urgently generating a large number of employment opportunities for the increasingly restive youth.
The massive push to affordable housing with its vast backward linkages in the economy and high employment intensity will contribute to achieving this goal.
The special package for textiles and some other labour-intensive sectors will also help as will the enhanced allocation to infrastructure sectors. The tax relief for SMEs will also help.
Third, it aims at cleansing the economy of black money flows and illegal incomes, thereby sharply squeezing the scope and space for the parallel economy.
Following the enactment of the Benami Properties and Illegal Income Acts and demonetization, the budget has announced a direct attack on the fountainhead of political corruption by reducing the amount of individual donations to political parties to a paltry Rs. 2,000.
These are commendable objectives and the Modi-Jaitley duo should be complimented for refraining from populist temptations, which would have been rather strong in the face of impending elections in five states.
The budget also has three firsts to its credit. By presenting it on February 1, the Finance Minister has ensured that inefficient practice of ‘vote on account’ will be avoided and the finance bill will now be approved by the end of the present fiscal year.
Second, the somewhat spurious and dysfunctional distinction between plan and non-plan expenditure has been done away with, which will permit a clearer distinction between the share of capital and revenue expenditure.
By allowing fiscal deficit to rise to 3.2% of the GDP in 2017-18 while bringing down revenue deficit to 1.8%, the FM has displayed sagacity and responsibility towards the priority of promoting investment and employment.
As its third new initiative, this budget has done away with the colonial legacy of a separate Railway budget.

PM Modi termed Budget as step for overall development

PM termed his govt's fourth Budget as an important step towards the overall development of the nation, with focus on fulfilling the “dreams” of every section, including the poor, the farmers and the underprivileged.
The Budget, he said, was “associated with our aspirations, our dreams and in a way depicts our future. This is the future of our new generation, the future of our farmers.”
“In FUTURE, the letter ‘F’ stands for the farmer, ‘U’ stands for underprivileged, ‘T’ stands for transparency, technology, ‘U’ stands for urban development, ‘R’ stands for rural development and ‘E’ stands for employment for youth, entrepreneurship, enhancement to give a push to new employment and boost to young entrepreneurs,” the PM said.
“The focus of the Budget is on agriculture, rural development and infrastructure, which is also a reflection of the government’s commitment to raise investment and create employment opportunities,” he added.

Budget has imprint of Prime Minister Modi

Among the announcements made by Prime Minister in his December 31 address to the nation was an appeal to political parties to be “mindful of the voice of the people” when it came to corruption in political funding.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced that he would be accepting the Election Commission’s recommendation and reduce cash-only donations to political parties to ₹2,000 from ₹20,000 earlier.
He would be making amendments to the Reserve Bank of India Act to issue electoral bonds as a form of political funding.
The imprint of the Prime Minister on this Budget therefore goes beyond the usual political aims espoused in that document of a rural or urban focus and poverty alleviation programmes and tax breaks.
Mr. Jaitley said “We call ourselves the largest democracy in the world and the fastest-growing economy. This political system, therefore, cannot be funded via the shadow economy.”
Mr. Modi has been zealous about his government’s efforts to combat black money and corruption, as is also evidenced by another Budget announcement, that of amending existing laws on seizing properties of those on the run from Indian law.
The yet-to-be-realised law is already being referred to as the “Vijay Mallya Law” in Parliament’s corridors, with reference to the industrialist who fled to the U.K. to escape institutional creditors.
While the BJP in its poll manifesto in Uttar Pradesh has promised a loan waiver for farmers, if elected, Mr. Modi has not been known to be a great fan of doles and waivers.
In this Budget therefore, while the focus has been on rural areas, it has been in the form of raising the credit limit for farmers to ₹10 lakh crore, computerising cooperative banks, and setting up a micro irrigation fund under NABARD.
Mr. Modi described the Budget as “Uttam” or the best, reflecting his own, rather spartan sensibilities.

:: International ::

Pakistan puts travel ban on LeT terrorists

Pakistani authorities have placed on Exit Control List the name of Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, along with that of 37 members of Lashkar e Taiba.
The Interior Ministry has forwarded a letter to all provincial governments and the Federal Investigation Agency, which includes names of the 38 individuals placed on the list, preventing them from leaving the country.
The international travel ban on the JuD chief came days after Saeed was put on house arrest, along with four other members of JuD, at his Lahore residence.
This followed reports that Islamabad was under immense pressure from the new U.S. administration to take action against Saeed and his organisations.
Saeed, the alleged mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, had also been put under house arrest following 26/11 but was later freed by a court in 2009.

Despite opposition British PM firm on welcoming USA president

British PM has defended her government’s decision to invite U.S. President on a state visit, despite public pressure to rescind the invitation until the U.S. administration’s travel ban on nationals of seven Muslim-majority countries is withdrawn.
Describing Mr. Trump as the “democratically elected head of state of our most important ally”, she insisted that the partnership was necessary to ensure the protection of British citizens and “significant commitments” from the President.
About 1.8 million U.K. residents and citizens have so far signed a petition calling for Mr. Trump not to be invited on a state visit.
The issue will be debated in Parliament on February 20, alongside another petition calling for the state visit to take place, which has received over 200,000 signatures.
It was only when repeatedly pressed, following the travel ban and the temporary halting of the U.S. refugee programme, that Ms. May described the move as “divisive” and “wrong”.

:: Sports ::

The Sports Ministry budget got a substantial hike of Rs. 350 crore

The Sports Ministry budget got a substantial hike of Rs. 350 crore in the Union Budget for 2017-18, presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Parliament.
Jaitley allocated a total of Rs. 1,943 crore, compared to Rs. 1,592 crore earmarked last year.
The steep increase in the budgetary allocation comes at a time when Indian athletes are preparing for the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games in 2018.
The Sports Authority of India, entrusted with the task of organising National camps, has been granted a total of Rs. 481 crore, compared to Rs. 416 crore it received last year.
What is striking is that the allocation for sports promotion among disabled has been reduced to just Rs. one lakh, a heavy reduction from Rs. 4 crore allocated last year.
The assistance to national sports federations has been increased to Rs. 302 crore from Rs. 185 crore.
The allocation for the scheme for the Benefit of North Eastern Area has been revised to Rs 148.4 crore this year as compared to Rs 131.33 crore last year.
No change has been made in the allocation for sports in the Jammu and Kashmir and it stays at Rs 75 crore.