Current affairs- June 15, 2016
Fibre Grid
project
Andhra Pradesh is the first State to have obtained a telecom
licence and it can issue phone numbers starting with the ‘797’ series from
August this year.
Aim:
Details:
It got the opportunity to start an internet based telephone
service ‘without requiring any further registration’ after it obtained
permission from the Telecom Ministry for starting its own IPTV — Internet
Protocol based Television network — as part of its Fibre Grid project.
- The government will provide free telephone services within the region through internet which means you can also skype and have video calls.
- For a basic cost of Rs.149 per month, govt. intend to provide interactive connections with digitised channels, internet, wi-fi and net telephony.
- Close to 2,500 sub-stations will have Points of Presence from where cable operators can take the optic fibre to households.
Janani Sewa
The South Central Railway
comes out with a new initiative, named, Janani
Sewa.
- South Central Railway in a new initiative ‘Janani Sewa’ will supply baby food items at important stations and children’s menu on trains.
- Minister of Railways in the Budget Speech 2016-17 announced to ensure availability of children’s menu items on trains.
- IRCTC has included Children’s menu items (meal combos for children in 5-12 yrs age group) on through e-catering and also through purchase across the counter.
- These items can be ordered by the passengers through e-catering website of IRCTC, a specified phone number, SMS, Mobile Apps and a four digit (1323) all India Toll Free Number.
CIC rejects plea seeking info
on SEBI chief’s assets
A full bench of the central information commission (CIC) has
refused to disclose information on the assets and liabilities of SEBI chief U K
Sinha, saying there was no public interest involved overturning its own
four-year old order.
- CIC said that the appellant in the instant case has not made a bona fide public interest in seeking information and the disclosure of such information is likely to cause unwarranted invasion of privacy of the individual under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act.
Background:
An RTI query was filed with Sebi in 2012 seeking details of the
assets and liabilities of its chairman for the last three years along with his
emoluments and perquisites.
CIC:
The Central Information Commission (CIC) is set up under the Right
to Information Act and is the authorised body, established in 2005, under the
Government of India.
- The Chief Information Commissioner heads the Central Information Commission. CIC hears appeals from information-seekers who have not been satisfied by the public authority, and also addresses major issues concerning the RTI Act.
The Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners
are appointed by the President on the recommendation of a committee consisting
of—
- The Prime Minister, who shall be the Chairperson of the committee.
- The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
- A Union Cabinet Minister to be nominated by the Prime Minister.
GST inches closer to reality
as states unite
The stage is all set for the implementation of the Goods and
Services Tax (GST) with states unanimously backing it and agreeing that the
ceiling rate should not be prescribed in the Constitution Amendment Bill that
is awaiting a Rajya Sabha nod. However, Tamil Nadu has expressed some
reservations.
Details:
- States have rejected the provision for a constitutional cap on the GST rate. There has been complete consensus on no constitutional cap, as exigencies may arise in future to revise the rates.
- Some States, including, Tamil Nadu have expressed reservations about the proposed GST Council. They believe the council, as a constitutional body, would impinge on the legislative sovereignty of both Parliament and the State Legislatures and jeopardise the fiscal autonomy of States.
- The states have, however, expressed the view that there were several “nuts and bolts” issues which need to be tackled before implementing the ambitious tax reform.
Way ahead:
The government has made it clear that there was no deadline for the
implementation of the GST. Earlier, after the passage of the Constitutional 122nd Amendment
Bill in May 2015 in the Lok Sabha, the Government had said that it was
trying to roll out the single-tax regime from April 1, 2016.
- The first thing which will have to be done is to pass the constitutional amendment. It will have to be then ratified by the States. Then Parliament will have to pass the Central GST (CGST) Bill and States, the State GST (SGST) Bills.
- The government aims to introduce the GST Constitution Amendment Bill in the Rajya Sabha in the monsoon session of Parliament.
What is GST?
GST bill, considered to be the biggest indirect tax reform in
independent India, aims to transform the country into a uniform market by replacing
a slew of federal and state levies. Amalgamating several Central and state
taxes into a single tax would mitigate cascading or double taxation. For
consumers the biggest advantage of GST will come in the form of a reduction in
the overall tax burden on goods.
GST will subsume: excise, service tax, state VAT, entry tax,
octroi and other state levies.
Structure of GST:
GST will have two components—Central GST and state GST. Both
Parliament and state legislatures will have concurrent powers to make laws on
GST. Only the Centre may levy an integrated GST (IGST) on the interstate supply
of goods and services, and imports.
GST council:
A council will be set up to recommend rates of tax, period of levy
of additional tax, principles of supply, special provisions to certain states
etc. The GST Council will consist of the Union finance minister, Union minister
of state for revenue, and state finance ministers.
Model GST law put out for
stakeholders’ view
The government has released model GST law after it was recently
approved by the state finance ministers.
Highlights:
According to the draft, the GST rate will be specified in the
schedules of this law.
- The model law provides for a levy of GST on all online sales. It says the ecommerce operator should collect the appropriate GST while making a payment to the supplier of goods or service sold through its portal. The amount is to be deposited with the appropriate state government within 10 days from the end of the month in which the payment was made to the supplier. This provides clarity for taxation of goods sold by a supplier in one state to a consumer in another through electronic commerce.
- The model GST law contains two parts – the Goods and Services Tax Act, 2016 and the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2016 – providing the framework for implementation of this tax that is estimated to add as much as 2% to the country’s GDP. Along with the constitutional amendment, the government needs to get these two laws passed to get GST rolling.
- The model law calls for registration of supplier in the state from where the supplier makes a taxable supply of goods and/or services with an annual turnover of above Rs 9 lakh, except for supply of goods or services from Northeastern states, where the threshold has been set at Rs 4 lakh.
- The draft model law also provides for constitution of a National Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal by Centre on the recommendation of the GST Council. The Tribunal shall be headed by a national president, with a branch in each state. The state GST tribunal will be headed by a state President and consist of Members (Judicial), Members (Technical – CGST) and Members (Technical – SGST). Every appeal has to be filed within three months from the date on which the order sought to be appealed against is communicated to the person.
- The model law also proposes to empower senior tax officials with the powers of search, seize, summons and arrest. A person can be imprisoned for up to five years for evasion of tax, the model law said.
- A National GST Settlement Commission to be set up by the Centre has also been proposed in the draft law for settlement of cases under the proposed GST Act. The National Commission chairman will be a High Court judge and the commission will have one bench for one or more states. The authority for advance ruling in GST will be established in each state for taxpayers seeking advance rulings, the draft law said.
- The draft law also seeks to establish a Consumer Welfare Fund, which shall be utilised by the Centre/state government for the welfare of the consumers in accordance with such rules as that government may make in this behalf. A GST compliance rating has also been proposed for every taxable person. The score will be based on his/her record of compliance with the provisions of the Act.
India warned against pitfalls
in ASEAN trade agreement
Many civil society organizations have warned India that it will no
more remain ‘the pharmacy of the developing world’ if the proposals in the
ASEAN trade pact are adopted.
- Civil society organisations are pushing for the removal of harmful intellectual property provisions that could potentially increase drug costs by creating new monopolies and delaying the entry of affordable generics in the market.
Concerns:
Concerns have been raised over the proposals made by Japan and
South Korea that go beyond the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on
Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.
- Two of the most worrying are the demands for ‘Data Exclusivity’ and ‘Patent Term Extensions’. Data exclusivity is a form of legal monopoly protection for a drug, over and above the patent protections. This is given expressly to compensate for the investment made during clinical trials. It implies that regulators cannot approve a similar drug with similar data for the next five years, delaying the entry of generic, affordable versions.
- Patent term extensions are given to compensate the company for delays in processing patent applications. A company gets a 20-year patent monopoly on a drug from the date that the application is filed. Sometimes processing these applications takes time and the companies get only 13 years instead of 20. A patent term extension will give another five-year monopoly to the innovator company, again delaying the entry of generic drugs in the market.
About Regional Comprehensive Economic
Partnership:
The RCEP is among the proposed three mega FTAs in the world so far
– the other two being the TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership, led by the US) and
the TTIP (Trans -atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the US and
the EU).
- The agreement is proposed between the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) (Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) and the six states with which ASEAN has existing FTAs (Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand).
- RCEP negotiations were formally launched in November 2012 at the ASEAN Summit in Cambodia.
Facts
- Indian Institute of Technology-Madras has broken into the top 50 of the 2016 Asia university rankings that were released recently by British company Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). Jumping 13 places from its position last year,IIT-Madras is ranked 43. IISc-Bangalore (33), IIT-Bombay (35), IIT-Delhi (36) and IIT-Kanpur (48) were the other Indian universities in the top 50. IIT-Kharagpur was placed 51st and two other IITs – Roorkee (78) and Guwahati (94) – made it to the top 100 as well.
- The Navy sail boat INSV Mhadei — steered by an all-woman, six-member crew that will attempt to circumnavigate the world next year — recently entered Port Louis, Mauritius. This historic open ocean voyage by the all-women crew, the first such in Indian maritime history, is designed to help them get used to the conditions they will face during their mission.
