Syllabus subtopic: Government Policies and Interventions for Development in various sectors and Issues arising out of their Design and Implementation.
Prelims and Mains focus: about the new scheme; its significance and benefits
News: The finance ministry unveiled details of a new scheme that could fetch the exchequer part of the Rs.9.32 trillion direct taxes under dispute and free up courts and tribunals crippled by prolonged litigation.
Background
A similar scheme announced last year to settle indirect tax disputes related to central excise duty, service tax and various cesses had collected more than Rs.39,000 crore.
Need for the scheme
Tax disputes consume copious amount of time, energy and resources both on the part of the government and taxpayers. Moreover, they also deprive the government of the timely collection of revenue.
About the proposed scheme
What does it signify for the govt.?
If the scheme is successful in collecting revenue, it will offer relief to the Modi administration, which has estimated that its fiscal deficit for FY20 would slip from the earlier projected 3.3% of GDP to 3.8% of GDP.
What are the likely benefits?
Source: Livemint
Syllabus subtopic: Government Policies and Interventions for Development in various sectors and Issues arising out of their Design and Implementation.
Prelims and Mains focus: about the amendments proposed and their significance; about cooperative banks; about the act
News: The Union cabinet has approved changes to the Banking Regulation Act to strengthen oversight of cooperative banks.
Background:
Aim of the amendment
The proposed amendment is aimed at protecting the interests of 86 million depositors who have put money totalling around Rs.5 trillion in 1,540 cooperative banks in the country.
Present Scenario
What are the amendments proposed?
About the Act:
Overview:
Source: Livemint
Syllabus subtopic: Government Policies and Interventions for Development in various sectors and Issues arising out of their Design and Implementation.
Prelims and Mains focus: about the trust and its mandate
News: PM Modi told the Lok Sabha that the Cabinet had approved a scheme for the construction of a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya by setting up an autonomous trust, Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra, to take forward the process as per the Supreme Court’s orders.
Background
The Supreme Court mandated three-month deadline to set up a trust was to end on February 9, a day after Delhi votes.
About the trust
Source: The Hindu
Syllabus subtopic: Government Policies and Interventions for Development in various sectors and Issues arising out of their Design and Implementation.
Prelims and Mains focus: about the changes recommended by the RS committee; about the bill and its significance
News: The 23-member Rajya Sabha Select Committee on Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019 has recommended 15 major changes in the bill.
Background
The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019 is yet to be passed by the Rajya Sabha and the committee has held ten meetings since the Bill was referred to it by the Lok Sabha on November 21, 2019.
What changes did it recommend?
Source: The Hindu
Syllabus subtopic: Important International Institutions, agencies and fora - their Structure, Mandate.
Prelims and Mains focus: about the index and India’s score: its significance; need for reforms in India’s IP regime
News: The International IP Index was released by Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC) of the US Chambers of Commerce.
India’s performance on the Index
What does the score signify?
India's score on the International IP Index demonstrates the country's growing investment in IP-driven innovation and creativity. The Index specifically highlights a number of reforms over the last year that strengthen India's overall IP ecosystem.
Efforts made by India in IP sector
Significance of the index
Indian policymakers seem to recognize this Index as a valuable resource in their efforts to strengthen the country’s promising innovation ecosystem and enhance its competitiveness in an increasingly knowledge-based global economy.
Challenges ahead
GIPC has identified several challenges for India. Prominent among them being:
Need for reforms in India’s IP regime
Source: Indian Express
Syllabus subtopic: Government Policies and Interventions for Development in various sectors and Issues arising out of their Design and Implementation.
Prelims and Mains focus: about the move and its objective; about TRAI and its mandate
News: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is planning to set up the post of a Telecom Ombudsman to deal with consumer complaints and grievances on poor quality telephony services.
Background
The concept of a telecom ombudsman was first floated by TRAI in late 2017, after which the Telecom Commission had cleared the proposal in 2018. However, there have been no developments on that front after that, despite repeated reminders sent to the DoT from TRAI.
Objective of the move
About Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)
Source: Indian Express
Syllabus subtopic: Conservation, Environmental Pollution and Degradation, Environmental Impact Assessment.
Prelims and Mains focus: about the move to curb air pollution from thermal power plants; about NGT; CPCB
News: The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has pulled up 14 thermal power plants for not complying with a December 31, 2019 deadline to limit sulphur dioxide emissions.
Where are these plants located?
Background
Can CPCB punish them for violating the guidelines?
The CPCB has the power to impose steep fines or shut a unit under the provisions of the Environment Protection Act, 1986.
Steps taken to limit air pollution
Cost of installing technology to control toxic emissions
Source: The Hindu
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