27-29 FEB 2016
Madhya Pradesh State Budget 2016-17 presented
27-FEB-2016
Madhya Pradesh Finance Minister Finance Minister Jayant Malaiya on 26 February 2016 presented the Annual State Budget 2016-17 in the legislative assembly. The finance minister announced a total expenditure of 158713.04 crore rupees for the year 2016-17 and appropriation of 170753.99 crore rupees.
The state government announced VAT reduction on number of items like CSD cars, soya milk and dialysis machine, while making battery-operated vehicles tax-free. Tax on battery-operated cars and rickshaws was done away with an aim to check growing population.
A revenue surplus of 3509.81 crore rupees was estimated for the year 2016-17.
Main highlights
• Fiscal Deficit for the year 2016-17 is estimated to be 24913.64 crore rupees rupees.
• Targets set under the Madhya Pradesh Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2005 are expected to be met.
• Total Revenue Receipts for the year 2016-17 are estimated to be 126095.14 crore rupees rupees. Components of the Revenue Receipts are 46500.00 crore rupees as State’s Own Tax Revenue; 43676.36 crore rupees as share in Central Taxes; 11481.63 crore rupees as State’s Own Non-Tax Revenue and 24437.15 crore rupees of Central Grants.
• State’s Own Tax Revenue estimates are 93.92 percent higher as compared to 2015-16.
• Revenue Expenditure of 122585.33 crore rupees is estimated for the year 2016-17 which is ` 13750.40 crore rupees more than 18834.92 crore rupees for the year 2015-16.
• Opening balance of (-)34.83 crore rupees is estimated for the year 2016-17. Net transactions during the year are estimated to be (-)118.56 crore rupees. Hence, closing balance at the end of the year is estimated to be (-)153.39 crore rupees.
• Plan expenditure for the year 2016-17 is estimated to be 74401.69 crore rupees as against 60348.88 crore rupees for the year 2015-16. Thus, an increase of 14052.8 crore rupees is estimated in Plan expenditure.
• Budget estimates of Tribal sub-plan have increased from 12894.49 crore rupees for the year 2015-16 to 16200.02.
• Budget estimates of Scheduled caste sub-plan have increased from 9084.96 crore rupees for the year 2015-16 to 11781.53 crore rupees for the year 2016-17.
Fiscal Indicators
• Fiscal Deficit estimated at 3.49 percent of GSDP.
• Revenue Surplus estimated at 0.49 percent of GSDP.
• Interest payments estimated at 8.11 percent of Revenue Receipts.
Agriculture and Allied Sectors
• State has received "Krishi Karman Award" for fourth consecutive year. "Rashtriya Jaivik Krishi
Mela" and seminars organised to encourage marketing of bio-agriculture, bio-products.
Provisions in different development heads under Plan for the Budget Estimates for 2016-17
|
Development Head |
2016-17 (Amount in crore) |
|
Agriculture & Allied Activities |
5521.01 |
|
Rural Development |
11596.90 |
|
Irrigation and Flood Control |
7494.92 |
|
Industry and Mining |
2780.52 |
|
Transport |
4658.18 |
|
Science, Technology and Environment |
233.61 |
|
General Economic Services |
926.76 |
|
Social Services |
30346.91 |
|
General Services |
331.63 |
Few steps initiated in the budget are
• Inter-caste marriage promotion scheme - To promote inter-caste marriages monetary incentive was increase by four times. Earlier, couples used to get 50000 rupees, which will now go up to 2 lakh rupees. This scheme aims at eliminating untouchability. The state has a substantial population of Scheduled Castes.
• ‘e-shakti’ campaign – It aims at training 3 lakh rural women to use Internet
• The budget also proposes a hefty increase in VAT on plastic products.
• Usha Kiran Kendra – It will be set to in every district of the state with an aim of empowering women. It will be established on the lines of One Stop Crisis Centers. These centers will provide legal and economic help to victims of domestic violence.
• Ladli Laxmi Yojana – 903 rupees was earmarked for the scheme, under which more than 21 lakh girls has been benefitted till date.
Bihar State Budget 2016-17 presented
27-FEB-2016
Bihar Finance Minister Abdul Bari Siddiqui on 24 February 2016 presented the Annual State Budget 2016-17 in the legislative assembly. The size of the budget is 144696 crore rupees, which is 24010.95 crore more than the annual budget for 2015-16.
No new tax proposals were introduced. The focus of the budget encompassed almost all sectors and sections like education, energy, health, and road construction.
While presenting the state budget, the finance minister said that the budget lays special emphasis on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s election promises of fulfilling seven resolutions (Saat Nischay).
Main Highlights
• 21897.02 crore rupees was allocated for education (10950 crore rupees and 10947 crore rupees, as planned and non-planned budget, respectively).
• 14367.84 crore rupees was allocated for the energy sector (9658 crore rupees and 4709 crore rupees, as planned and non-planned budget, respectively). This was done with an aim to assure electricity connection to every household in the state.
• 5954 crore rupees was allocated for road construction and development
• 8234.70 crore crore rupees was allocated for health
• Beside, setting three new medical colleges which would be set up at Chapra, Samastipur and Purnea as per the approval of Union Government, five medical colleges would be set up in the state, each having a nursing college.
• Unemployment allowance of 1000 rupees per month for two years will be provided to youths aged between 20 and 25. The allowance will be provided to help them in their search of jobs.
• Student credit card will be provided to students who have passed 10+2 exams. The credit card will enable them to get education loan of up to 4 lakh rupees for pursuing higher education.
Gujarat State Budget 2016-17 presented
27-FEB-2016
ujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel on 24 February 2016 presented the Annual State Budget 2016-17 in the legislative assembly. The focus of the budget encompassed almost all sectors and sections like youth, women, farmers and infrastructure.
Annual Development Plan for the year 2016-17 was 85557.78 crore rupees. Dr. Ambedkar Chair will be constituted in five universities of Gujarat with aim to promote and spread awareness on Babasaheb's values and contribution.
Salient Features of Gujarat Budget 2016-17
Budget for Youth: The fiscal year 2016-17 will be observed as Yuva Vikas Varsh with an aim to empower youths of the state.
Youths of the state will be provided job opportunities into public services and for the purpose government of Gujarat has planned to induct 66000 youth at various government posts across the state
Young and innovative ideas of youths will be harnessed to enhance public services.
Budget for Students: For inclusion of more number of students underMukhyamantri Yuva Swavalamban Yojana (MYSY) the upper income limit has been increased to 6 lakh rupees and percentile limit has been brought down to 80.
Special assistance in tuition fees will be provided to girl students from below poverty line families who secure admission in medical colleges
Budget for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME): Special mini and rural Gujarat Industrial Development Corporations (GIDCs) will be set up in remote areas of the state. This will be done to boost small industries and increase employment opportunities.
Budget for Women: This is Gujarat Government’s third Gender Budget. A special provision with a budget of 50585 crore rupees was allocated for nearly 611 women welfare schemes. For empowerment of women and justice, Nari Adalat will be created in each taluka of the state and for this purpose special initiative will be made.
A special mother and child hospital will be established in Ahmedabad with an aim to provide complete medical assistance to mother and child under one roof.
Budget for Education: With a focus on improving infrastructure and quality of education in the state, a budget of 23815.74 crore rupees was allocated.
Budget for Farmers: In total 14494 crore rupees was allocated to strengthen irrigation channels across the state. To ensure that farmers of the state are relieved from the financial burden, the state government had allocated 375 crore rupees in form of crop loan.
The loan will be provided at an interest rate of just one percent. To make sure that farmers do not face difficulties while acquiring fertilizers during peak season, the government decided to set up fertilizer storage facility.
On purchase of animals, those involved in animal husbandry will be provided with interest relief loan.
Budget for tribal regions: 1650 crore rupees were allocated to strengthen water distribution network in tribal regions. This will help in supplying irrigation-drinking water in tribal regions. Besides, 350 crore rupees Water Supply Yojana was announced to provide sufficient water to 696 villages of six tribal dominated districts.
Budget to boost robust infrastructure: To enhance the quality of infrastructure, 10000 crore rupees was allocated for ‘Mukhyamantri Gram Sadak Yojana'. The allocation aims at strengthening rural road network.
Besides, Smart Village Yojna was announced to transform rural Gujarat. Under the scheme, 300 villages of the state will be chosen in the first year.
Budget for Artisans: Raw Material Bank will be started to boost artisans and languishing arts of Gujarat. This bank will be in addition to the reliefs announced under the recent Cottage and Rural Industries Policy.
Budget to boost Tourism: Special tour of pilgrims for senior citizens will be introduced. This will enable hassel-free travel and promotes the Yatradhams of the state.
To boost tourism provision has been made in current budget by the Gujarat Government to introduce special tours of pilgrims for senior citizens.
Besides all these allocations, the existing projects like Dholera Special Investment Region (SIR), Metro-Link Express for Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad (MEGA), Statue of Unity (SOU) and others will be promoted with allocations.
Gianni Infantino elected FIFA President
27-FEB-2016
Gianni Infantino was elected as the President of FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) after winning a second-round vote at Extraordinary FIFA Congress held in Zurich on 26 February 2016.
He was elected as the ninth FIFA President after the second ballot in which he secured 115 of 207 total votes. He will serve FIFA for the remainder of current term of office (until 2019).
Infantino, the 45-year-old general secretary of European governing body UEFA, succeeded the 79-year-old Sepp Blatter, who held the position since 1998.
Sheikh Salman of Bahrain got 88 votes after being the front-runner during the four-month campaign. Prince Ali of Jordan had four, and Jerome Champagne of France got zero votes.
Ranveer Singh selected for Dinanath Mangeshkar award
27-FEB-2016
Actor Ranveer Singh was on 26 February 2016 selected for Pandit Dinanath Mangeshkar award. The award will be bestowed upon Ranveer by Lata Mangeshkar at a function to be held in Pune.
The award is annually conferred on artists on 24 April to commemorate Pandit Dinanath Mangeshkar’s death anniversary.
About Pandit Dinanath Mangeshkar Award
Pandit Dinanath Mangeshkar award was instituted in 1999 in the memory of Dinanath Mangeshkar, father of Lata Mangeshkar. Since then it is awarded annually to persons for their outstanding contributions to music and movies.
The award carries monetary award of 101001 rupees, a memento and a citation.
Neerja' declared tax free in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh
27-FEB-2016
Delhi and Uttar Pradesh Government on 26 February 2016 announced that actress Sonam Kapoor-starrer Neerja will be tax free in the state.
The movie is based on the life of young flight attendant Neerja Bhanot, who died trying to save the lives of 350-odd passengers on a hijacked Pan Am aircraft in 1986.
Libya backed Abu Nidal Organization's tried to highjack Pan Am Flight 73 in Karachi, Pakistan on 5 September 1986 but Bhanot thwarted the hijack attempt by preventing the plane from taking off.
The film, released on 19 February, has already been declared tax-free in Gujarat and Maharashtra.
Written by Saiwyn Quadras and directed by Ram Madhvani, the biographical film also stars Shabana Azmi, Shekhar Ravijani, Jim Sarbh and Yogendra Tiku in prominent roles.
Mumbai won Ranji Trophy for the 41st time
27-FEB-2016
Mumbai on 26 February 2016 won the Ranji Trophy with an innings and 21 run victory over Saurashtra. It won the trophy for the first time in three seasons.
With this, they have 41 titles in 45 finals with 10 of them being an innings victory. Karnataka stands second in the overall Ranji standings with eight titles.
It was a repeat of the 2012-13 final where Mumbai had made short work of Saurashtra with an innings and 125-run victory.
Mumbai made 371 runs in 82.2 overs in their first innings and in reply Saurashtra managed 235 and 115 runs in first and second innings respectively.
Mumbai pacer Shardul Thakur shackled opposition batting in the second innings and claimed five wickets for 26 runs in 13.2 overs to took his match tally to eight.
Shreyas Iyer was named man of the match for his 117 runs in Mumbai's only innings of the match. He ended the season as the leading run-getter with 1321 runs at 73.38 including four centuries and seven fifties.
In 2015, the trophy was Karnataka which was their eighth title. In the final, Karnataka defeated Tamil Nadu.
Issues and Challenges facing Indian Banking Sector
28-FEB-2016
Banks in India are considered to be the lifeline of the economy. They play a catalytic role in activating and sustaining economic growth. As per KPGM-CII report, India’s banking sector is expanding rapidly and has the potential to become the fifth largest banking industry in the world by 2020 and third largest by 2025.
Status of Banking Sector at a glance
• The Indian banking system consists of 26 public sector banks, 20 private sector banks, 43 foreign banks, 56 regional rural banks, 1589 urban cooperative banks and 93550 rural cooperative banks.
• The Indian banking sector’s assets reached 1.8 trillion US dollars in 2014-15 from 1.3 trillion US dollars in 2010-11, with 70 per cent of it being accounted by the public sector.
• Total lending and deposits increased at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.7 per cent and 19.7 per cent, respectively, between 2007 and 2014 and are further poised for growth, backed by demand for housing and personal finance.
• Indian Banks have successfully adopted the Basel II norms of international banking supervision and as per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) majority of the banks have already met Basel III capital normsprior to its deadline of 31 March 2019.
Factors promoting growth of Banking Sector
• Emergence of Universal Banking System: Services provided by banks have expanded rapidly in the last decade. In addition to the traditional “savings and loans”, banks started providing a wide gamut of financial services like insurance, investment, asset management, etc which increased their in the economy.
• Through partnerships and acquisitions, banks are trying to integrate financial services, wallets, payments, shopping services etc., there by adding depth to their financial services.
• Economic growth: Over 9 percent GDP growth in the pre global financial crisis period (2009-10) and over 7 percent in the last two years largely facilitated the growth of this sector.
• Globalisation: As India is moving towards closer integration with the world economy, India’s merchandise trade, service exports and remittances are growing at a faster pace. In order to serve these ‘new needs’ banks have evolved and redeemed themselves in India and abroad.
• Policy initiatives: The Banking Laws (Amendment) Act, 2012 at the monetary front, and large scale infusion of funds into the public sector banks by the government in recent years fuelled the growth of this sector.
• For the government, the banking sector is at the core of governance. Initiatives like Jan Dhan Yojana and Direct Benefit Transfer are case in point.
• Usage of technology: Information and communication technologies including the mobile phones and internet connectivity are the prime reason for expanding the reach of banking sector to the youth and rural habitations.
Issues and Challenges
Amidst the signs of progress, the Indian banking sector has been facing multiple challenges in recent times. Few of them are -
Non Performing Assets
• NPAs have become a grave concern for the banking sector in couple of years and impacted credit delivery of banks to a great extent.
• As per a survey, net NPAs amount to only 2.36 percent of the total loans in the banking system. However, if restructured assets are taken into account, stressed assets account will be 10.9 percent of the total loans in the system. As per the International Monetary Fund (IMF), around 37 percent of the total debt in India is at risk.
• India’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) reported a massive 67 per cent fall in consolidated net profit at 1259.49 crore rupees in the third quarter of the 2015-16 financial year and classified loans worth 20692 crore rupees as having turned bad.
• As per an estimate, the cumulative gross NPAs of 24 listed public sector banks, including market leader SBI and its associates, stood at393035 crore rupees as on 31 December 2015.
• The Economic Survey 2015-16 also alarmed the policy makers about growing bad debts with the banks and their potential to disrupt the growth prospects in the future.
• Reduced profits: The banking sector recorded slowdown in balance sheet growth for the fourth year in a row in 2015-16. Profitability remained depressed with the return on assets (RoA) continuing to linger below 1 percent. Further, though PSBs account for 72 percent of the total banking sector assets, in terms of profits it has only 42 percent share in overall profits.
Issue of Monetary Transmission
Like reduced profits, this is also an off-shoot of burgeoning NPAs in the system. With the easing of inflation and moderation in inflationary expectations, the RBI reduced the repo rate by 100 basis points between January and September 2015.
However, change in the key policy rate was not reflected in lending rates as banks are not willing to transmit the benefits of low interest policy regime due to low-availability of liquidity against the backdrop of high NPAs.
Corruption
Scams in the erstwhile Global Trust Bank (GBT) and the Bank of Baroda show how few officials misuse the freedom they granted under the guise of liberalisation for their personal benefit. These scams have badly damaged the image of these banks and consequently there profitability.
Crisis in Management
Public-sector banks are seeing more employees retire these days. So, younger employees are replacing the elder, more-experienced employees. This, however, happens at junior levels.
As a result, there would be a virtual vacuum at the middle and senior level. The absence of middle management could lead to adverse impact on banks' decision making process.
Steps taken by Government and Banking Sector
To effectively address the above issues the Government including the RBI and the Supreme Court and the Banks themselves have taken many initiatives. Some of them are –
• The Ministry of Finance in its Economic Survey 2015-16 suggested four R's - Recognition, Recapitalization, Resolution, and Reform to address the problem of NPAs.
• The Union Government unveiled plans to infuse 70000 crore rupeesin the next few years, but PSU banks would need at least 1.8 lakh crore rupees by 2019-20.
• In October 2015, the Government announced Mission Indradhanushunder which 7 key strategies were proposed to reform public sector banks (PSBs).
• In May 2015, the RBI advised all PSBs to appoint internal Ombudsman to further boost the quality of customer service and to ensure that there is undivided attention to resolution of customer complaints in banks.
• The Government announced its intention to introduce a comprehensive Insolvency and Bankruptcy Bill in the Parliament based on the recommendations of the Dr T K Viswanathan-headed Bankruptcy Law Reforms Committee (BLRC).
• In order to rein in corruption, the Supreme Court on 23 February 2016 ruled that the top officials and employees of private banks will be considered as public servants for the purposes of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
• The RBI is also facilitating rectification of procedural flaws in the system through a number of well-thought-out initiatives like restricting incremental non-performing assets through early detection, monitoring, corrective action plans, shared information, disclosures, etc. In this regard, the RBI’s resolve to clean banks books by 2017 is commendable.
Conclusion
Banks are at the core of any economic system whether developed or developing. Essentially, a technologically advanced, transparent and efficient banking system is the need of the hour for the growing economy like India.
In our country, need for qualitative banking surpasses the conservative economic or financial logic as the financial inclusion is still a distant dream. In addition to the provision of traditional services, many social functions are attached to the banking system financial inclusion and inclusive growth.
In order to achieve the goal of faster and inclusive growth, it is high time the government and banking industry undertake a comprehensive relook into the existing policies and structures.
Kerala Tourism’s Muziris Heritage Project inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherjee
28-FEB-2016
President Pranab Mukherjee on 27 February 2016 inaugurated Kerala Tourism’s Muziris Heritage Project (MHP) at Trissur in Kerala.
The project is India’s largest heritage conservation project and Kerala Government’s first green Project.
Muziris is the hub of the spice route and the bustling port of the first century BC that drew legions of Arab, Roman, Greek, Chinese and Jewish traders from across the seas. Its launch will unveil the history and heritage of Muziris described by Roman Naturalist Pliny the Elder as India’s first emporium
Featuring a host of initiatives including museums and a number of heritage sites, MHP, supported by the Union Government will conserve and showcase the culture of 3000 years or more for posterity.
The project gains added significance due to its close link with the Spice Route initiative launched by Kerala Tourism with the support of UNESCO to revive Kerala’s age-old trade ties with 41 countries of the world.
Oil, Global Politics and Indian Economy
28-FEB-2016
Oil is one of the most important commodities in recent times. Much of the economy depends on oil and this is why prices of oil matter to almost every economy including India.
India is one of the largest importers of oil in the world. It imports nearly 70 percent of its total oil needs which accounts for one third of its total imports. For this reason, the price of oil affects India a lot.
Global crude oil prices fell 17 percent to 46.59 US dollars per barrel in 2015 after sliding 47 percent in 2014. Experts are predicting a fall towards 30 US dollars per barrel in 2016.
Reasons for fall in oil prices
• The escalating tensions between the Sunni dominated Saudi Arabiaand Shia dominated Iran – the two top oil producing nations in the World - is said to be the primary reason behind falling crude prices.
• Slowing demand, especially in Asia where the biggest economy and energy consumer, China, is seeing the slowest economic growth in a generation.
• Large overhang that has left storage tanks around the world struggling to cope with the excess oil. Domestic crude production in the USA reached 9.6 million barrels in July 2015. Canada experienced a similar sharp surge in production, as heavy investment in tar sands began to pay off.
• Shale gas revolution in the USA, in recent years led to lesser dependence on crude oil imports. This revolution is of importance for the global oil market as the USA consumes around 20 percent of the oil production in the world.
Impact on Global politics
• Political realignment: Given the centrality of oil in the global power equation, this is bound to translate into a profound shakeup in the political order, with petroleum-producing states from Saudi Arabia to Russia losing both prominence and geopolitical clout.
• Relevance of OPEC: Oil is not a scarce resource any more. The geopolitical battle is not over access to resources but about global market share. Saudi Arabia seems to flood global markets to push out higher-cost producers, especially in the US. Further Iran has little interest in cooperating with the Saudis on oil. That means that OPEC looks unlikely to be revived.
• Role of Saudi Arabia: It is no longer the swing producer in the global oil market. It is producing at full tilt even though the oil price has collapsed. In the past, Saudi Arabia’s balancing role meant that both low-cost and high-cost producers would supply the market at an elevated price that guaranteed an income stream for all producers.
• Role of the USA: If the country’s domestic shale industry manages to maintain production at lower prices, America will be heading towards self-sufficiency in oil and gas. Its interest in guaranteeing stability in the Middle East might wane accordingly thus increasing geopolitical tensions.
Benefits to India
As a major oil importing nation in the world, India will have the following benefits due to reduced oil prices in the global market.
• Current account balance: India, one of the largest importers of crude oil, is saving billions of dollars due to falling prices of crude oil. Fall in prices would drive down the value of its imports. This helps in narrowing India's current account deficit.
• Inflation: Oil price affects the entire economy, especially because of its use in transportation of goods and services. A fall in oil price also leads to fall in prices of all petroleum by products like tyre, paints, etc. It also benefits many industries because of decreased input costs.
• Oil subsidy and fiscal deficit: The government fixes the price of fuel at a subsidised rate which is relative to the market price. Hence, fall in oil prices leads to reduced government fund transfers to oil marketing companies on account of subsidies and thereby, low fiscal deficit.
• As per the 2015-16 Economic Survey, decline in global crude oil prices majorly helped in restricting the petroleum subsidy bill to 30000 crore rupees in 2015-16against 57769 crore rupees spent in 2014-15.
• Rupee exchange rate: Low oil price means favourable exchange rate for Indian rupee in the Indian rupee because of reduced dependence on reserved currencies like the dollar for oil payments.
• However, the downside is that the dollar strengthens every time the value of oil falls. This negates any benefits accruing to India due to lower oil prices as it is a major service exporter in the world.
• As per the Economic Survey 2015-16, India exported 155.6 billion US dollars worth services in 2014 making the country the eighth largest services exporter in the world.
Downsides for India
The fall in global oil prices may be beneficial to India, but it still has its downsides which are as follows -
• Petroleum producers: It affects the exporters of petroleum producers in the country. India is the sixth largest exporter of petroleum products in the world. Any fall in oil prices negatively impacts exports.
• Moreover, a lot of India's trade partners and buyers of its exports are net oil exporters. A fall in oil price may impact their economy, and hamper demand for Indian products.
• Remittances: As per the World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief 2015, India is the World’s largest remittance recipient with 72 billion US dollars. Majority of this money comes from Indians staying in Gulf countries.
• Hence, any fall in oil prices adversely impacts the economic prospects of GCC and thereby, remittances to India which plays an important role to fund the Current Account Deficit (CAD).
Fallout for rest of the world
• Drop in revenue: Major decline in oil export revenues forced countries like Russia, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela to cut public spending which will have long term impact on human development.
• Fall in investments: When crude oil price was over 100 dollars a barrel it made sense to spend on exploration in out-of-the-way provinces, such as the Arctic, West Africa and deep below the saline rock off the coast of Brazil.
• This trend has been reversed in recent times as prices have tumbled, so has the investment. Projects worth 380 billion US dollars of investment in oil exploration activities have been put on hold.
• Political order: The fall in global crude prices has shifted the global political order that once rested on oil’s soaring price. With concern over climate change growing globally couple with the predominance of renewable energy sources the demand for oil is sure to decline in future.
Conclusion
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), prices might not again reach the 50 to 60 dollars per barrel range until the 2020s.While this trend may mean hardship for some, especially the citizens of export-dependent States like Russia and Venezuela, it could help others like China and India because of reduced import bill.
India should seize the opportunities provided by the low oil price regime and use its good offices to negotiate long term strategic deals with major oil exporting nations before the market enters into the phase of correction.
BK Garudachar, India's oldest first-class cricketer, died
28-FEB-2016
India's oldest first-class cricketer BK Garudachar, who represented Mysore (as Karnataka was called till 1974), United Province and Bombay, died on 26 February 2016 in Bangalore. He was 99.
A right-hand batsman and a leg-break bowler, Garudachar made 1126 runs at an average of 29.63 from 27 matches in first-class cricket between 1935 and 1946.
Born on 13 January 1917 at Chikamagalur in Karnataka, Garudachar started playing for Mysore before representing United Province and Bombay in the 1940s. He graduated in engineering from the Benares University.
Alok Kumar Verma took charge as Delhi Police Commissioner
29-FEB-2016
Senior IPS officer Alok Kumar Verma on 29 February 2016 took charge as the Delhi Police Commissioner. He will hold the post till July 2017.
He succeeded B.S. Bassi, who retired on the same day.
At the time of his appointment, he was holding a position of Director General (Prisons) of Tihar jail.
About Alok Kumar Verma
• He is a 1979-batch IPS officer of the AGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory) cadre.
• He served Delhi Police in number of positions, including Deputy Commissioner of Police, South District, Joint Commissioner of the Crime Branch, Joint Commissioner of Police, New Delhi Range, Special CP (Intelligence) and Special CP, Vigilance.
• Earlier, he served as the Inspector General of Police in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Director General of Police (DGP) of Puducherry.
Rozle Prezelj elected Chairman of IAAF Athletes’ Commission
29-FEB-2016
Slovenian high-jumper Rozle Prezelj on 27 February 2016 was elected the Chairman of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Athletes' Commission in Monaco.
Prezelj took over as Chairman of the commission from Frank Fredericks with immediate effect.
On the other hand, Britain’s marathon world record-holder Paula Radcliffe was nominated Vice Chairwoman of the commission.
About Rozle Prezelj
• Born on 26 September 1979, Prezelj represented Slovenia at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics.
• His best result was at the 2008 Olympics where he finished 12th in high jump.
• A European under-23 champion in 2001, he set a national record of 2.32m in 2012 before retiring in 2014.
About International Association of Athletics Federations
• The International Association of Athletics Federations is the international governing body for the sport of athletics.
• It was founded on 17 July 1912 as the International Amateur Athletics Federation by representatives from 17 national athletics federations at the organization's first congress in Stockholm, Sweden.
• Since October 1993, it has been headquartered in Monaco.
• The organization retained the word amateur in its name until its 2001 congress, at which it changed its name to International Association of Athletics Federations.
Former Maharashtra Minister Nihal Ahmed Maulavi Mohammed Usman died
29-FEB-2016
Socialist leader Nihal Ahmed Maulavi Mohammed Usman died on 29 February 2016 in Nashik. He was 90.
He was popularly known as Nihalbhai and was the first mayor of the Malegaon Municipal Corporation.
He was the state president of Janata Dal (Secular). He was a former Minister of technical and higher education of Maharastra.
He was elected as legislator in the state Assembly for nearly three decades.
he contested to the State assembly elections for 10 times from 1960 to 1995 and was elected all the times But in 1999, he contested for Loksabha and was defeated.
He was associated with veteran socialist leaders like SM Joshi, NG Gore, former prime ministers VP Singh, Deve Gowda, veterans like Madhu Dandavate, Bapusaheb Kaldate and George Fernandes.
Resul Pookutty became first Asian to win Golden Reel Award
29-FEB-2016
Famous sound designer Resul Pookutty on 27 February 2016 became the first Asian to win the award for Best Sound for documentary India’s Daughter at the Motion Picture Sound Editors’ (MPSE) 63rd annual Golden Reel Awards.
The competing films/ television documentaries in the list includedBeware Baltimore, Chef’s Table,Deadliest Catch, and The Undrafted,Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian, Star Wars: The Force Awakensand The Revenant among others.
About Resul Pookutty
• Born on 20 May 1971, Pookutty made his debut in sound design with the 1997 film Private Detective: Two Plus Two Plus One, directed by Rajat Kapoor.
• He got his big break with the critically acclaimed 2005 film Black.
• In 2009, he, along with Richard Pryke and Ian Tapp, won the Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing for Slumdog Millionaire.
About Motion Picture Sound Editors
• Motion Picture Sound Editors was founded in 1953.
• It is an honorary society of motion picture sound editors.
• The society's goals are to educate others about and increase the recognition of the sound editors, show the artistic merit of the soundtracks, and improve the professional relationship of its members.
• Each year the MPSE presents The Golden Reel Awards, in which it acknowledges the year's best work in the various areas of sound editing.
Ajay Shankar Committee recommendations on Prior Permission and Regulatory Mechanisms
29-FEB-2016
The Government-constituted expert committee to examine the Possibility of Replacing Multiple Prior Permissions with Pre-Existing Regulatory Mechanism submitted its recommendations in the fourth week of February 2016.
The Expert Committee was constituted by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) in April 2015 to examine the possibility of replacing multiple prior permissions with a pre-existing regulatory mechanism with adequate safeguards.
The 11 member committee was headed by Ajay Shankar, Former Secretary of DIPP.
Key recommendations of the committee are:
Regulatory Impact Assessment: Continuing Process
• There is need for a standing institutional mechanism within government for an Independent Regulatory Impact Assessment on an on-going basis of the existing regulatory requirements and proposed new ones across the entire range of economic activities.
Inventory of clearances
• It was recommended that the listing of clearances at the level of the Union Government and State Governments should be evolved in an open source Wikipedia type of process in which all concerned stakeholders can participate.
Standards
• There should be a greater willingness to adopt the standards that are in force in developed mature markets as this will enhance global competitiveness for Make in India.
• CODEX Food Standards should be made automatically applicable in India from the date of notification by CODEX and firms should not need any permission to introduce food products in the Indian market conforming to the relevant CODEX Standard.
• An efficient system of regulatory approval of conformity to standards is essential for new products to be acceptable to doctors and patients.
Third Party Certifications
• Credible Third Party Certification may be introduced in most areas of regulation jointly with sectoral regulators in a planned and phased manner from prospective dates.
• For better compliance and credibility of the process, some percentage of Third Party Certification would need to be subject to random concurrent audit with stiff penalties cumulatively leading up to even withdrawal of accreditation for laxity.
Environment Clearances
• India should seek to adopt global Best Practices in setting up standards and norms for emissions, effluents and solid waste for different categories of Industries.
• Promoters of Industrial Parks, Zones and Areas may be allowed to obtain Environment Approval for their whole area for setting up of identified environmentally homogenous or similar industries with a specified level of final gross annual production and environmental load.
• For globally mature industries such as steel, cement, power etc. for which international environment standards exist, environmental appraisal need not go into the internal processes by which prescribed norms would be complied with.
Geographical Planning
• The Ministries of environmentally sensitive sectors such as power, petrochemicals & chemicals, pharmaceuticals and steel should, jointly with the MoEFCC, work out a 20-year perspective geographical plan indicating preferred locations in prioritised categories for their anticipated projects, so that the negative impact on the environment is minimized.
Forest Clearance
• A GIS-Digital map based inventory of the forest cover in the country has now been created. It is recommended that this database be used for taking decisions regarding approval of proposals for diversion of forest land for a project, as well as for determining the Net Present Value (NPV) of the forest cover on the land proposed for diversion as well as the cost of compensatory afforestation.
• MoEFCC in partnership with State Governments may create Land Banks for compensatory afforestation.
• Ministries of environmentally sensitive sectors should join with the Ministry of Environment and Forests to prepare a 20 year perspective geographical plan.
Start-ups
• Areas for start-ups through mixed land use re-development or greenfield development may be earmarked.
• For specifically identified activities from amongst the environmentally Green categories of industries, no municipal licenses and Pollution Control Board permissions should be required for Start-ups.
• Start-ups may be exempted from the requirement of seeking building plan approvals.
Union Budget 2016-17: Highlights
29-FEB-2016
Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley on 29 February 2016 presented Union Budget 2016-17 in the Lok Sabha. This was the second full year Budget of the NDA government and the third budget of Jaitley.
The finance minster announced nine pillars of the budget and they are Agriculture and farmers' welfare, rural sector, social sector including healthcare, education, skills and job creation, infrastructure, financial sector reforms, ease of doing business, fiscal discipline, tax reforms to reduce compliance burden.
Highlights of the Union Budget 2015-16
• Agricultural policy will be reorganised to double farmer income in five years
• For gas connections, new scheme to be launched for BPL families
• Law will be enacted to confer benefits on deserving sections on Aadhar Platform
• Government to work for passage of insolvency and bankruptcy laws
• Incentive for deepwater gas exploration will be provided
• Government to enhance expenditure for social, rural and agricultural sector
• 28.5 lakh hectares will be brought under irrigation under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sichai Yojana
• A dedicated long term irrigation fund will be created in NABARD with a corpus of 20000 crore rupees
• 35984 crore rupees allocation done for the farm sector
• Agricultural credit target of 9 lakh crore rupees
• Unified e-platform for farmers to be inaugurated on Ambedkar's birthday
• Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana to bring 5 lakh acres under organic farming
• 300 rurban clusters to be set up under Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission
• 38500 crore rupees allocated to MNREGA
• Quantum jump of 228% in grants to gram panchayats and urban local bodies in accordance with FFC recommendations
• Allocation to PM Fasal Bima Yojana for 2016/17 is 5500 crores rupees
• 87765 crores rupees for rural development as a whole have been allocated in the budget
• 100 % village electrification to be achieved by 1 May 2018
• Allocation of Pradhanmatri Gram Sadak Yojna to be increased to 19000 Crore rupees
• 65 eligible habitats to be connected via 2.23 lakh kms of road
• 300 'rurban' clusters will be developed
• As per recommendation of 14th finance commission, 2.87 lakh crore rupees will be given as grants-in-aid to village panchyats and municipalities to boost rural economy.
• Government to spend 850 crore rupees in a few years on animal husbandry, cattle and livestock breeding
• Four schemes for animal welfare announced
• States will be encouraged to take up decentralised procurement of food grains
• 5500 crore rupees allocated for crop insurance scheme
• Hub to support SC/ST entrepreneurs
• National dialysis service programme under PPP model to come up
• LPG connection for women members of rural homes to be provided
• Health insurance of up to 1 lakh rupees per family, top up of Rs 35,000 for people above 60 years
• 3000 generic drugs stores to be opened
• Two schemes for digital literacy for rural India to cover 6 crore households in the next three years
• 9000 crore rupees allocated for Swachch Bharat Abhiyan
• 1700 crore rupees allocated for 1500 multi-skill development centres
• 10 public and 10 private educational institutions to be made world-class
• Digital repository for all school leaving certificates and diplomas
• 1000 crore rupees provided for LPG connection to rural households in name of women; scheme to go on for 2 yrs to cover 5crore BPL households
• 500 crore rupees allocated for Stand Up India scheme
• Certain parts of dialysis machines to be exempt from all forms of customs duty; national dialysis service programme to be launched in all districts
• At least one crore youth to be skilled over next three years
• 62 new Navodaya Vidyalayas to be opened in next two years
• 160 airports and airstrips to be revived at a cost of 50-100 crore rupees each
• To enable entrepreneurship in the road transport sector, Motor Vehicles Act to be amended
• Total outlay for infrastructure is at 2.31 lakh crore lakh rupees
• 97000 crore rupees sanctioned for all roads
• Total outlay on roads and rails will be 2.80 lakh crore rupees, under which 10000 km of national highways in 2016-17 and 50000 km state highways to be converted to NH roads.
• Small shops should be given the choice to remain open on all 7 days a week
• In the power sector, the government is drawing up a plan for 15-20 years to augment investment in nuclear power. 3000 crore rupees per annum for this.
• 1700 crore rupees to be spent for setting 1500 multi-skill training institutes
• 1500 multi-skill training institutes to be opened to train youths under Skill Development programme; for this 1.7 thousand crore earmarked
• 8.33% will be paid towards employee pension fund
• Shopping malls to be allowed to open on all seven days of week; a model shops and establishment bill to be circulated to states
• Abolition of permit law will be medium-term goal in public transport
• RBI Act to be amended to set up monetary policy committee
• 100% FDI through FAPB route in marketing of food products produced and manufactured in India
• 8000 crore rupees provided for Sagarmala project
• Department of Disinvestment renamed as Department of Investment and Public Asset Management
• Direct Benefit Transfer for fertilisers
• 25000 crore rupees sanctioned for recapitalisation of public sector banks
• General insurance companies owned by the government to be listed in stock exchanges
• Amendments to boost Asset Reconstruction Companies to manage NPAs of public sector banks
• A bill on targeted delivery of financial services using Aadhar to be introduced
• Amendment to the Companies Act to ensure speedy registration and boost start-ups
• 900 crore rupees for buffer stock of pulses
• To boost stagnant domestic output, government considering providing calibrated market freedom to new gas production from deep sea, ultra deep sea
• A Public Utility Resolution of Disputes Bill to be passed to solve problems in infrastructure contracts, PPP and public utilities
• Duty drawback scheme widened and deepened to include more products and countries
• A new credit rating system for infrastructure will be developed
• More FDI reforms proposed in insurance, pension, asset restructuring companies and stock markets
• Relief will amount to 3000 rupees per annum; 1 crore tax payers to benefit
• Ceiling of tax rebate for tax payers with up to Rs 5 lakh annual come to be raised to 5000 rupees from 2000 currently
• SEBI Act to be amended to provide for more benches for Securities Appellate Tribunal
• SEBI to develop new derivatives products as well as products for corporate bond market
• RBI Act to be amended to provide statutory backing for monetary policy framework and monetary policy committee (MPC)
• A comprehensive bankruptcy code to be enacted as part of financial sector reforms
• 100 percent FDI will be allowed through FIPB in marketing of food products produced and manufactured in India
• Policy for strategic sale of CPSE assets to be brought
• To benefit those living in rented houses, deduction for rent paid will be raised from Rs 20000 rupees to 60000 rupees
• The Banking Boards Bureau will be operationalised fiscal year 2016-17
• Presumptive income tax scheme to be extended to all professionals with income of 50 lakh rupees with a presumption of 50 percent profit
• Consolidation roadmap for public sector banks to be spelt next year
• Government is open to reducing its stake in PSBs below 50%
• Accelerated depreciation to be limited to 40% wef from 1 April 2017 as part of phasing out of exemptions to industry
• ATMs, micro-ATMs to be increased in post offices in next three years
• In 2016-17, credit target of 180000 crore rupees set up through Mudra bank
• Tax holiday for startups for three of five years of setting up the company. Tax holiday for startups for three of five years of setting up the company. Start-ups to get 100% tax exemption for 3 years except MAT which will apply from April 2016-2019 for creation of jobs
• Lowering of Corporate IT rate for companies not exceeding 5 crore rupees turnover to 25% plus surcharge
• 100 crore rupees sanctioned for Deendayal Upadhyay's birthday celebrations and Guru Gobind Singh 300th birth anniversary
• Classification of expenditure as plan and non-plan to be done away with
• Fiscal deficit at 3.5% of GDP in 2016-17
• Service Tax to be exempted on general insurance schemes under NIRMAYA Scheme
• Target delivery of financial, other intermediary services to be introduced using Aadhar
• 1% service charge on purchase of luxury cars over 10 lakh rupees and in-cash purchase of goods and services over 2 lakh rupees
• Additional exemption of 50000 rupees for housing loans up to 35 lakh rupees, provided cost of house is not above 50 lakh rupees
• 40% of withdrawal at the time of retirement under
• Long term capital gains period for unlisted companies to be reduced from 3 to 2 years
• DBT to be used to transfer subsidy on fertilizer in select districts on pilot basis
• Service tax on single premium annuity to be reduced to 1.5 percent from 3.5 percent
• For ease of doing business and enabling registration of companies in a day, Bill to amend Companies Act to be introduced
• Fiscal deficit target for 2015-16 and 2016-17 retained at 3.9%and 3.5% respectively.
• Plan to spend 19.78 lakh crore rupees in 2016-17 - 5.5 lakh crore rupees under plan head, 14.28 lakh crore rupees under non-plan head
• Revenue deficit target improved from 2.8 %to 2.5% in current fiscal
• Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act to be reviewed and for this purpose a committee to be constituted
• New manufacturing companies incorporated after March 2016 will be given option of being taxed at 25% plus cess plus surcharges
• Clean energy cess increased from 200 rupees/ton to 400 rupees/ton on coal, lignite and peat
• High level committee headed by Revenue Secretary to oversee creation of fresh liability using retrospective tax legislation
• One-time dispute resolution scheme introduced for retro tax cases, payment of tax arrears to lead to waiving of penalty and interest
• Plan and non-Plan classification of Budget will be done away with from Fiscal 2017-18
• Levying heavy penalty for non-payment of tax has led to high litigation, thus Proposes to modification in penalties scheme proposed
• 13 different cesses levied by various ministries with collections less than 50 crore rupees a year to be done away with.
• No Service Tax for houses built in less than 60 square metres
• Excise duty on tobacco increased by 10-15 percent.
• Committed to stable taxation regime and for that reason no more retrospective amendments to be introduced
• 4% high capacity tax for SUVs
• Limited period compliance window for domestic taxpayers to declare undisclosed income
• Declarations to have immunity from prosecutions
• No changes have been made to existing income tax slabs
• Infrastructure and agriculture cess to be levied
• GAAR (General anti-avoidance rule) to be implemented from 1 April 2017
• Tax exemption given to Braille paper
• Service tax exempted for General Insurance Schemes under Niramaya Swasthaya Bima Yojana
• Dividend in excess of 10 lakh rupees per annum to be taxed at additional 10%
• TDS provisions to be rationalised. Non resident Indians providing alternate documents will not be subject to higher tax rate.
• Rate of securities transaction tax to be raised from 0.017% to 0.05%
• 0.5% Krishi Kalyan Cess to be levied on all services
• Excise 1% imposed on articles of jewellery excluding silver
• Pollution cess of 1% on small petrol, LPG and CNG cars; 2.5% on diesel cars of certain specifications; 4% on higher
• 15% surcharge on income above 1 crore rupees
• New grading system of imposing penalties to be introduced for under-reporting or concealment of income
• Tax on black money declared will be 30% plus 7.5% penalty and 7.5% surcharge
• One year limit provided for disposing of income tax cases relating to waiver of interest and penalty
• 11 new benches of Customs & Excise Services Appelate Tribunal to be introduced
• Customs baggage rules for international travellers to be simplified
• Government to pay interest of 9% if there is delay in giving effect to an appellate order
Oscar Awards 2016 conferred; Film Mad Max: Fury Road won maximum awards
29-FEB-2016
88th Academy Awards, popularly called Oscar Awards, were conferred on 29 February 2016. The award ceremony was held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles.
Chris Rock hosted the ceremony and Indian Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra made her debut on the Oscars red carpet and presented the award.
The Oscar Awards for the year 2016 were presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in 24 categories.
The list of winners of 88th Academy Awards
Best Picture: Spotlight
Best Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu for The Revenant
Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant
Best Actress: Brie Larson for Room
Best Supporting Actor: Mark Rylance for Bridge of Spies
Best Supporting Actress: Alicia Vikander for The Danish Girl
Achievement in Costume Design: Mad Max: Fury Road
Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling: Mad Max: Fury Road
Best Foreign Language Film: Son of Saul
Best Live Action Short Film: Stutterer
Best Documentary Short Subject: A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness
Original Screenplay: Spotlight
Achievement in Sound Mixing: Mad Max: Fury Road
Achievement in Sound Editing: Mad Max: Fury Road
Achievement in Visual Effects: Ex Machina
Best Animated Short Film: Bear Story
Best Animated Feature Film: Inside Out
Hashim Thaci elected as President of Kosovo
29-FEB-2016
Foreign Minister Hashim Thaci was on 26 February 2016 elected as president of Kosovo by the Members of Parliament amid the protests.
He succeeded Atifete Jahjaga as head of state after winning the required simple majority in voting held in Pristina.
Hashim Thaci
• He was a guerrilla leader during a conflict that led to Kosovo, a mainly ethnic Albanian province declaring independence from Serbia.
• He had also served as prime minister fell out with many opposition groups after helping to negotiate with Serbia a deal that gave more autonomy to minority Serbs of Kosovo.
Kosovo
• Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008. It has been recognised by the US and many EU countries.
• This self-declared independence was not recognized by Serbia and many other countries around the world.
• Kosovo and Serbia reached a landmark agreement to normalise their relations in April 2013.
• Nato peacekeepers have been in Kosovo since 1999.
Famous Tamil comedy actor Kumarimuthu died
29-FEB-2016
Famous Tamil Comedy actor Kumarimuthu died on 28 February 2016 in Chennai. He was 77.
He was in politics as the celebrity faces of Karunanidhi headedDravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Party.
About Kumarimuthu
• He made his acting debut in Ival Oru Seethai in 1978.
• After the film Nandu written and directed by J Mahendran, he got many offers.
• He acted more than 500 films in Kollywood and did a variety of roles through his humorous acts..
• Vijay and Nayantara starred Villu in 2009 was his Last Movie..
• He acted in some of the popular films which are Oomai Vizhigal, Idhu Namma Aalu, Pudhu Vasantham, Idhayam, Sahadevan Mahadevan and Aanazhagan.
National Science Day observed with theme Scientific Issues for Development of the Nation
29-FEB-2016
February: National Science Day
National Science Day was observed across India on 28 February 2016. The theme for the National Science Day 2016 is Scientific Issues for Development of the Nation.
The day is observed annually to mark the discovery of the Raman Effect (phenomenon of scattering of photons) by Indian physicist Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman on 28 February 1928.
Raman was awarded with the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930 for his discovery and this was the first Nobel Prize for India in the field of Science.
The National Council for Science and Technology Communications (NCSTC) in 1986 asked the Union Government to designate 28 February as National Science Day. The proposal was accepted by the Government and it designated 28 February as National Science Day in 1986. The first National Science Day was celebrated on 28 February 1987.
What is Raman Effect?
Raman Effect or the Raman scattering is a phenomenon in which light changes its wavelength when a light beam is deflected by molecules. When a beam of light traverses a dust-free, transparent sample of a chemical compound, a small fraction of the light emerges in directions other than that of the incident (incoming) beam.
Most of this scattered light is of unchanged wavelength. A small part, however, has wavelengths different from that of the incident light and its presence is a result of the Raman Effect.
This was discovered by CV Raman while working in a laboratory of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of science, Kolkata.
World Science Day for Peace and Development is annually celebrated worldwide on 10 November. The day was established by UNESCO in 2001 to demonstrate to the wider public why science is relevant to their daily lives and to engage them in debate on related issues.
Union Government approved Constitution of Banks of Board Bureau
29-FEB-2016
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 28 February 2016 approved the proposal of the Department of Financial Services for the constitution of the Banks Board Bureau (BBB). The BBB will start functioning from 1 April 2016.
The Bureau constituted with an aim to improve the Governance of Public Sector Banks (PSBs) will be chaired by former CAG Vinod Rai. In addition to the Chairperson, the autonomous body will have ex-officio members and three expert members. All the Members and Chairman will be part time.
The expert members are Anil K Khandelwal (former CMD of Bank of Baroda), Rupa Kudwa (former MD & CEO, CRISIL) and HN Sinor (former Joint MD, ICICI Bank). The three ex-officio members will be Secretary, Department Financial Services, Secretary, Department of Public Enterprises and Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India.
The Banks Board Bureau, BBB is a super authority for public sector unit lenders to recommend board level appointments and advise on strategies for raising funds as well as mergers and acquisitions.
Punjab imposed ban on sale of Army Uniforms in the state
29-FEB-2016
Punjab government on 28 February 2016 imposed a ban on the sale of army uniforms across the state.
Any person who wants to buy the uniform would have to submit a self-attested copy of his identity card and phone number with the shopkeeper. This record would be duly maintained along with date of sale in the record register of the shopkeeper.
These orders would remain in force till 21 April 2016 and next course of action will be decided afterwards.
Besides, the state also banned use of red and blue coloured stickers used by police on vehicles. The government has also prohibited the use of plates of political parties on vehicles with immediate effect.
The decision was taken in backdrop of terror attacks in Pathankot and Gurdaspur in the recent past. During the attacks, the militants had disguised themselves in the army fatigues.
Wawrinka won Dubai ATP Tennis title
29-FEB-2016
Stanislas Wawrinka on 28 February 2016 won his ninth straight final to clinch the Dubai ATP Tennis title. In the final played in Dubai, Wawrinka defeated Marcos Baghdatis in straight sets with a 6-4, 7-6(13).
This was the third time that Wawrinka has played in Dubai. In his previous two visits, the Swiss star never won a match.
The French Open champion claimed the 13th title of his career and second of the season after Chennai, improving to 13-2 in 2016. This was his second title of the year. He won a third consecutive Chennai titlein January 2016.
Union Budget 2016-17: Agriculture and Farmer Welfare
29-FEB-2016
The Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on 29 February 2016 presentedthe Annual Financial Statement or the Union Budget for 2016-17 in the Lok Sabha. In his budget speech the minister listed nine pillars on which the Government will focus to transform India into a developed nation.
The nine pillars are - Agriculture and farmers' welfare, rural sector, social sector including healthcare, education, skills and job creation, infrastructure, financial sector reforms, ease of doing business, fiscal discipline, tax reforms to reduce compliance burden.
Herein we present the new initiatives proposed and allocation made to rejuvenate agriculture sector and improve the livelihoods of farmers.
Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare
Vision & Objective: The vision is to move beyond the traditional idea of food security to income security. It will be achieved by making farmers profitable and agriculture profitable.
The objective is to reorient Government’s interventions in the farm and non-farm sectors so that the income of the farmers will be doubled by 2022.
Total allocation for Agriculture and Farmers’ welfare in 2016-17 will be 35984 crore rupees.
• New initiatives: A dedicated Long Term Irrigation Fund will be created in NABARD with an initial corpus of about 20000 crore rupees.
• In order to ensure the benefit of MSP reaches farmers in all parts of the country 3 specific initiatives will be taken up in 2016-17. They initiatives are
1) Encouraging remaining States to take up decentralized procurement
2) Undertaking an online Procurement System through the Food Corporation of India
3) Taking up effective arrangements for pulses procurement
• 850 crore rupees will be spent on 4 new dairying projects. They are –
1) Pashudhan Sanjivani, an animal wellness programme and provision of Animal Health Cards (Nakul Swasthya Patra)
2) Programme on Advanced Breeding Technology
3) Creation of E-Pashudhan Haat, an e market portal for connecting breeders and farmers
4) Nakul Swasthya Patra, E-Pashudhan Haat and National Genomic Centre for indigenous breeds
• A Unified Agricultural Marketing ePlatform will be set up to provide a common emarket platform for wholesale markets. It will be dedicated to the nation on the birthday of Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar on 14 April 2016.
• Irrigation: Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana will be implemented in mission mode. Under the scheme which was approved by the Union Government in July 2015 28.5 lakh hectares will be brought under irrigation.
• Implementation of 89 irrigation projects covering 80.6 lakh hectares under Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP), which are languishing for a long time, will be fast tracked.
• 5 lakh farm ponds and dug wells in rain fed areas and 10 lakh compost pits for production of organic manure will be taken up under MGNREGA.
• Credit facilities: Against the target of 8.5 lakh crore rupees in 2015-16, the target for agricultural credit in 2016-17 will be an all-time high of 9 lakh crore rupees.
• To reduce the burden of loan repayment on farmers, a provision of 15000 crore rupees has been made towards interest subvention in the BE 2016-17.
• Insurance: Allocation under Prime Minister Fasal Bima Yojana will be 5500 crore rupees. The scheme was approved by the Union Government in January 2016.
• Price Stabilization: 500 crores rupees have been allotted under National Food Security Mission to augment production of pulses. The number of districts covered increased to 622.
• Soil Fertility: Soil Health Card scheme will cover all 14 crore farm holdings by March 2017. 368 crore rupees has been provided for National Project on Soil Health and Fertility.
• 2000 model retail outlets of Fertilizer companies will be provided with soil and seed testing facilities during the next three years
• Promote organic farming will be promoted through Parmparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana and Organic Value Chain Development in North East Region.
• Mobilisation of resources: Krishi Kalyan Cess of 0.5 percentage will be imposed on all taxable service starting from 1 June 2016. The proceeds would be exclusively used for financing initiatives for improvement of agriculture and welfare of farmers.
• Surcharge levied at 7.5 pecentage of undisclosed income will be calledKrishi Kalyan Surcharge (KKS) to be used for agriculture and rural economy.
Dinesh Sharma elected as Chairperson of Governing Council of IFAD
29-FEB-2016
Dinesh Sharma, Additional Finance Secretary and India’s Governor to the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) was unanimously elected as the Chairperson of the Governing Council of IFAD for a period of two years in its 39th Session held on 17 February and 18 February 2016 in Rome, Italy.
The Governing Council Session of IFAD was marked by special focus on inclusive growth and on the investments required to meet the sustainable development goals in the realm of eradicating poverty and hunger.
About International Fund for Agriculture Development
• The International Fund for Agriculture Development was set-up in 1977 as the 13th Specialised Agency of the United Nations.
• It works towards removing poverty and hunger in rural areas all over the world.
• India is a founder member of IFAD and a key contributor among the member countries.
• It is managed by the two main governing bodies: the Governing Council and the Executive Board. The Governing Council is the highest decision making body and consists of 176 member countries.
• The President of the IFAD is Kanayo F. Nwanze from Nigeria, who was elected for a second four-year term in 2013.