Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 27 April 2017

:: National ::

SC slams the tendency of country to evade taxes

Slamming a tendency in the country to evade taxes, SC referred to the mandatory linking of Aadhaar to PAN and Income Tax returns as an instance of the government’s efforts to bring “new and new laws to stop leakages.”
“When tax evasions are there, the government will try to bring new and new laws to stop leakages. We as citizens are like that... we don’t want to pay taxes, shame on us."
"This conduct and character is seen for example at the time of matrimonial alliance. Then the groom has the best income. The moment the estranged wife files a maintenance application, the same boy is a pauper,” Justice A.K. Sikri.
The provision makes Aadhaar mandatory for getting a PAN. Possession of an Aadhaar card is necessary for the continuing validity of an existing PAN and for filing returns under the income tax law.
Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi said there were “five to 10 lakh fake PAN cards generated every year.” “What are you propagating here in the name of public interest, fake PANs,” he asked the petitioners.
To prove that Aadhaar was not foolproof, Mr. Datar responded that 132% of the population of Delhi is shown to have taken Aadhaar cards and 104% all over the country.
At least 34,000 agencies which dealt with collecting data for Aadhaar were blacklisted.
But the court said these statistics did not necessarily mean that bogus Aadhaars were in circulation. Mr. Rohatgi said the biometric technology used in Aadhaar left no chance for duplication.
The Bench responded that Section 139AA was a product of the legislative mandate of Parliament.
The Bench observed that Parliament cannot be held accountable for any “solemn undertakings” given by the government to the Supreme Court.

SC wants government ought to frame a statutory law to regulate NGOs

SC suggested that the government ought to frame a statutory law to regulate the flow of public money to the NGOs even as the CAPART recommended the registration of 159 FIRs against various NGOs for swindling government funds.
A three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar suggested introducing a law after perusing guidelines handed over by the government to the court, appointing NITI Aayog as the nodal agency for NGO registration.
But the court said the guidelines might not prove sufficient for “systematising the entire process of accreditation, fund utilisation and audit of NGOs”.
The Centre on April 4 handed over to the Supreme Court the new guidelines framed for accreditation of nearly 30 lakh NGOs and voluntary organisation in the country.
The court, however, gave the government the liberty to start civil and criminal proceedings against 703 NGOs, which according to CAPART, have defaulted.
The agency, which works under the Rural Development Ministry, said 718 NGOs had been initially blacklisted, but 15 had responded satisfactorily to notices issued on them.
CBI records filed in 2016 in the Supreme Court had shown show that only 2,90,787 NGOs file annual financial statements of a total of 29,99,623 registered ones under the Societies Registration Act.
In some States, the CBI said the laws do not even provide for the NGOs to be transparent about their financial dealings. In the Union Territories, of a total of 82,250 NGOs registered and functioning, only 50 file their returns.
Uttar Pradesh, which has the highest number of NGOs at 5.48 lakh among the States, has only 1.19 lakh filing returns.
Tamil Nadu has 1.55 lakh NGOs registered; however, only 20,277 file returns. Andhra Pradesh has 2.92 lakh NGOs, but only 186 file financial statements annually.

Trincomalee port would not be sealed during PM Modi’s Sri Lanka visit

Sri Lanka declared that a crucial agreement with India on the Trincomalee port would not be sealed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit to Colombo.
The declaration came from senior Sri Lankan leaders in Colombo even as Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in economic projects in Delhi.
The Prime Minister is only signing a broad MoU on economic cooperation while in Delhi. Later, the respective Ministries from both countries will hold discussions and then sign agreements that are legally binding.
Oil union workers in Colombo went on a strike against the planned MoU with India for 84 tanks in the Trincomalee upper oil tank farm.
The strike, which hit oil supplies in Sri Lanka, was called off on an assurance from the leadership that the workers’ concerns would be taken into account before sealing the deal.
In Delhi, Mr. Wickremesinghe held extensive talks with Mr Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Shipping and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari.

Defence Minister says global community should not differentiate between terrorists

Stating that the scourge of terrorism remains the “primary security challenge” for all peaceful countries, Defence Minister warned the global community that distinctions are still sought to be made between “good and bad terrorists,”.
Terrorism is being reinvented in newer and even more dangerous manifestations. The manipulation of young minds by fundamentalist groups using new technologies and social media has already caused long-term damage to our societies.
One manifestation of this is the recent string of lone-wolf attacks in many countries,” Mr. Jaitley said addressing the 6th Moscow Conference on International Security in Moscow.
His comments come in the backdrop of India’s objections to including Taliban in the peace talks in Afghanistan as part of the reconciliatory process as well as concerns at Pakistan’s selective action against terrorist networks.
Observing that India had addressed the threat for over three decades, he said, “Terrorism will recoil on those who nurture it.”
On the issue of North Korea, Mr. Jailtley expressed concern at the recent “escalation of tensions” in the Korean peninsula and took a dig at Pakistan without naming it.

Govt does not have any plans to bring agricultural income into Income tax

Govt dismissed any prospect of the government bringing agricultural income into the income tax net in a statement to quell confusion about a review of the current tax treatment of agricultural income mooted by NITI Aayog.
“As per the Constitutional Allocation of Powers, the Central government has no jurisdiction to impose tax on agricultural income,” he added.
The Finance Minister’s swift clarification is being seen as an attempt to nip in the bud any potential controversy on a sensitive issue pertaining to farmers and rural India.

:: Business and Economy ::

SEBI decided to grant a unified licence to brokers and clearing members

Market regulator SEBI decided to grant a unified licence to brokers and clearing members to operate in commodity derivative as well as equity markets.
SEBI’s board approved a proposal for integration of stock brokers in equity and commodity derivative space.
Following this, a broker or clearing member dealing in the securities markets will be allowed to buy, sell or deal in commodity derivatives without setting up a separate entity and vice-versa.
To enable the integration, SEBI will amend norms pertaining to stock broker and securities contract regulations, the regulator said in a statement after the first board meeting under Ajay Tyagi as chairman.
Besides, it will increase economic efficiency in terms of meeting operational and compliance obligations at the member level, potentially resulting in ease of doing business.
Also, the integration will help in widening market penetration and facilitate effective regulatory oversight by stock exchanges and SEBI.
Finance Minister in his budget speech for 2017-18, had announced that the “commodities and securities derivative markets will be further integrated by integrating the participants, brokers, and operational frameworks”.
Bolstering steps to curb any flow of illicit funds in markets, SEBI also decided to bar resident as well as non-resident Indians from making investments through participatory notes.
The decision is part of efforts to strengthen the regulatory framework for offshore derivative instruments (ODIs), commonly known as P-Notes, which have been long seen as being possibly misused for routing of black money from abroad.
The notional value of these instruments has declined over the years from 55.7% of overall FPI investments in June 2007 to just 6.7% in December 2016.
There was a surprise uptick in March — presumably due to this being the last month for availing of certain tax benefits.
There are also fears that the P-Note investments may start coming from other jurisdictions like the U.S., France and the Netherlands after tightening of rules for inflows from Mauritius, Singapore and Cyprus.

PM called for exploring new technologies for road and coal sector

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for exploring new technologies for boosting road construction and coal production, in a review meeting on infrastructure held.
The Prime Minister chaired the review meeting of infrastructure sectors including roads, railways, airports, ports, digital, and coal with PMO, NITI Aayog and all infrastructure ministry officials.
Noting the decline in coal imports last year, the Prime Minister asked for “even more vigorous efforts towards coal import substitution, and application of new coal technologies including gasification technology.”
Coal import declined 27.5% in April-December 2016 compared to the previous year.
The PM emphasised on use of space technology for “efficient and stringent” monitoring of rural roads construction and their quality.
In 2016-17, the highest ever average daily construction rate of 130 km rural roads was achieved under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.

India’s social sector subsidies should be reoriented says NITI Aayog

India’s social sector subsidies should be reoriented so that beneficiaries don’t become dependent on them, the NITI Aayog said.
In its three-year action plan for the economy the government think-tank mooted a reduction in food subsidies as a proportion of GDP by 2019-20 through better targeting and rationalisation measures.
“Within revenue expenditures, subsidies have tended to crowd out the socially more productive expenditures such as those on education and health,” the Aayog pointed out.
“The social subsidies should be reoriented so that beneficiaries become economically independent instead of remaining perpetually dependent on them,” it said.
While in absolute terms, the allocation towards food subsidy, as per the Aayog, will increase marginally to Rs. 1.57 lakh crore from Rs. 1.24 lakh crore, as a proportion to GDP, the expenditure will come down to 0.73% from 0.90% in 2015-16.
As the government has been able to contain the expenditure on fertiliser subsidies to Rs. 70,000 crore in the past few years, the Aayog expects it to remain at this level for the next three years.