Current affairs- April 30, 2016
Gujarat clears 10% quota for poor in a bid to
pacify Patels
Gujarat government has announced a separate 10% quota for economically
backward classes (EBC) in higher education and
government jobs.
- The new category would
cover all upper castes, including Patidars, whose family income does not exceed
Rs 6 lakh per annum.
- In this regard, the state government will come out with an ordinance on May 1, celebrated as the foundation day of Gujarat.
Criticisms:
- According to few experts, the quota is impermissible in the Constitution under its Article 16(1), which prohibits reservation on the basis of economic backwardness.
- It also goes
against Article 16 (4), which provides for reservation on
caste basis.
- The Supreme
Court has also made it clear that there cannot be a quota on the basis of
economic backwardness in the Indra Sawhney case in 1992.
Way ahead:
The government is firm about this. It has decided to take the
fight to the highest level for implementation of the 10% EBC quota. If there is
any legal issue, the government has indicated that it will fight it till the
Supreme Court.
NPPA caps prices of another 50 drugs
The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has capped
the prices of 50 drugs and revised the prices of four others.
- This is part of
the new drug pricing control order, notified on March 14,
which effectively brings 200 more drug formulations under regulation.
- NPPA is also planning to cap the prices of 40 other drugs, for which it has asked all the companies to provide requisite information by May 10.
Background:
In December 2015, while issuing a new National List of Essential
Medicines (NLEM), the government had added 106 and removed 70 medicines from
the earlier one of 2011, expanding the list to 376 from 348 earlier. Whenever there is
a new NLEM, the government has to issue a new Drug Price Control Order and NPPA
needs to set their ceiling prices subsequently.
Based on the new NLEM, the government on March 14 notified the
Drugs (Price Control) Amendment Order, 2016. It has 820 formulations. There
were 628 formulations under the DPCO of 2013, notified in the wake of the NLEM
of 2011.
National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority
(NPPA)
NPPA is an organization of the Government of India which was
established, inter alia, to fix/ revise the prices of controlled bulk drugs and
formulations and to enforce prices and availability of the medicines in the
country, under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 1995.
- The organization is also
entrusted with the task of recovering amounts overcharged by manufacturers
for the controlled drugs from the consumers.
- It also monitors the
prices of decontrolled drugs in order to keep them at reasonable levels.
Functions of National Pharmaceutical Pricing
Authority:
- To implement and enforce
the provisions of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order in accordance with the
powers delegated to it.
- To deal with all legal
matters arising out of the decisions of the Authority;
- To monitor the
availability of drugs, identify shortages, if any, and to take remedial
steps;
- To collect/ maintain data
on production, exports and imports, market share of individual companies,
profitability of companies etc, for bulk drugs and formulations;
- To undertake and/ or
sponsor relevant studies in respect of pricing of drugs/ pharmaceuticals;
- To recruit/ appoint the
officers and other staff members of the Authority, as per rules and
procedures laid down by the Government;
- To render advice to the
Central Government on changes/ revisions in the drug policy;
- To render assistance to
the Central Government in the parliamentary matters relating to the drug
pricing.
Food Act implemented without proper preparation:
CAG
The Comptroller and Auditor General, in its audit report, has
rapped the Centre for delay in implementation of the National Food Security Act
(NFSA) and extending its rollout thrice without Parliament approval.
Details:
- The NFSA, which came into
force from July 5, 2013, has been rolled out in 33 regions so far. The CAG
has evaluated preparedness of 18 regions for implementation of the law in
its audit report. In these states, only 51% of the eligible beneficiaries
have been identified and 49% beneficiaries were yet to be identified in
all states/UTs.
- CAG notes that states have
not identified beneficiaries in a systematic manner and has blamed the
Centre for failing to resolve the issues raised by states during the
formulation phase and also after enactment of the law, which led to delay
in implementation in several states and union territories.
- The delay in
implementation of NFSA by non-implementing states/UTs is attributed to
non-finalisation of a number of beneficiaries under the socio-economic
caste census, lack of infrastructure facilities, insufficient funds and
manpower.
- Also, most implementing
states did not identify the poorest of the poor called Antyodaya Anna
Yojana (AAY) and priority households’ beneficiaries as per the provisions
of the NFSA, but used the old database for extending the benefits.
- To check anomalies in
identification of beneficiaries, the CAG recommended that the Centre may
issue, in consultation with state governments, guidelines on
identification of beneficiaries to maintain transparency.
- It also said the Centre
“must assure itself of the actual beneficiaries by the states/UTs by
following transparent processes before allowing them revised/enhanced
entitlements.”
NFSA aims to provide foodgrains to 81.34 crore beneficiaries at
highly subsidised rate of Rs 1-3 per kg. The law seeks to bring about changes
in PDS that suffered from several deficiencies.
India, Papua New Guinea sign four crucial
agreements
India and Papua New Guinea have signed four agreements, including
in areas of healthcare and information technology, during President Pranab
Mukherjee’s recent visit to this Pacific island-nation. Papua New Guinea
is the largest of all the Pacific island-nations and Mukherjee’s visit is the first ever
presidential visit from India to this country.
The four MoUs are:
- A memorandum of
understanding (MoU) was signed between India’s ministry of health and
family welfare and Paua New Guinea’s ministry of health and HIV/AIDS for a
broad range of cooperation in the field of healthcare and medical science.
- Another MoU was signed
between the Papua New Guinea government and the Export Import Bank of
India for a $100-million credit line for development of infrastructure in
the island-nation.
- The third MoU was between
the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, and PNG University
of Technology, Lae, for cooperation in agricultural research.
- The fourth MoU was signed
between the governments of India and Papua New Guinea for establishing of
India-Papua New Guinea Centre for Excellence in IT.
Govt. throws open I-T data; tax base stays narrow
The government has for the first time put the data on income tax
in public domain.
Highlights:
- Just 1% of individuals,
who declared their income in assessment year 2012-13, accounted for almost
20% of the taxable income. Among corporates, however, this imbalance is
starker, with a little more than 5% of the companies accounting for a
whopping 94% of the taxable income.
- Direct tax collections
have fallen drastically in the last five years, growing at an average
annual rate of 8.5% between assessment years 2011-12 and 2015-16, compared
to the 14.1% over the previous five years.
- The drop in the growth
rate of direct tax collections was accompanied by an equally dire slowdown
in the growth of corporate tax. Corporate tax grew at an average annual
rate of 7.1% between assessment years 2011-12 and 2015-16, down from the
heady 15.6% seen in the previous five years.
- The personal income tax
data — which also includes securities transaction taxes — on the other
hand, barely witnessed a change in growth rates in this period, growing at
an annual average of 9.1% between 2011 and 2015, just 0.2 percentage
points slower than the growth seen in the previous five years.
- The data also shows that
there were 13.3 lakh individuals declaring an income of more than Rs 10
lakh a year — the section of people the government has excluded from the
LPG subsidy.
- Among the states, Gujarat
saw the fastest growth in its direct tax collections, growing 185% in
FY2014-15 to Rs 12,577 crore compared to its level in FY2008-09. Tamil
Nadu saw the next-fastest growth in the period, with its direct tax
collections growing 116% to Rs 20,651 crore in FY2014-15. Maharashtra and
West Bengal were the other states seeing rapid growth in their direct tax
collections.
- The State-wise data also
revealed some anomalies. For example, Mizoram recorded Rs 39.8 crore of
direct tax collections in FY2014-15, which is more than double what it
collected in the previous year. Chattisgarh, on the other hand, saw its
direct tax collections grow 0.01% in FY2014-15 to Rs 1,287 crore compared
to its level in 2008-09.
Facts
- Colombia’s top court has
legalised same-sex marriage, making the country the fourth
in Latin America to do so. Argentina,
Brazil and Uruguay have previously legalised same-sex marriage.
- Reliance Defence has
signed an agreement with three Ukrainian state-owned firms — Ukroboronprom, Spetstechno Exports and Antonov — to
collaborate on a range of military products including transport aircraft,
armoured vehicles, maritime gas turbines and unmanned aerial vehicles.
- India has resumed publishing
its income tax data, which was suspended in
2000 owing to staffing and technical issues. India had first started
publishing its income tax statistics in 1961.
- Sri Lanka, in the midst of
a crisis over deterioration of the balance of payments (BOP) position, has
got the much-needed reprieve with the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
agreeing to provide $ 1.5 billion through a three-year-long Extended
Fund Facility (EFF). The EFF was established
to provide assistance to countries: (i) experiencing serious payments
imbalances because of structural impediments; or (ii) characterized by
slow growth and an inherently weak balance of payments position. The EFF
provides assistance in support of comprehensive programs that include
policies of the scope and character required to correct structural
imbalances over an extended period.
- Rajya Sabha was recently adjourned abruptly because of lack of quorum. As per the rules, at least 10% members of the total strength of a House are required to be present for quorum. That is, 25 members. The sanctioned strength of the Rajya Sabha is 245.
