Saturday, March 10, 2012

HEADLINES

• Madhya Pradesh Govt orders judicial probe into killing of IPS officer by mining mafia
• Karunanidhi urges central Govt to vote for the US-backed resolution against Sri Lanka in relation to the atrocities against tamils during the final days of the war
• The Tejas Limited Series Production (LSP)-7 successfully completed its maiden flight from HAL airport. The LSP-7 aircraft, along with LSP-8, will be offered to the Indian Air Force for user evaluation trials
• New ISI chief is former Karachi Corps Commander Zaheer-ul Islam. He will replace Ahmad Shuja Pasha who is due to retire on March 18 this year

NATIONAL NEWS

• More tax relief proposed by Parliamentary panel
  • Leading upto the budget session, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance has pitched for far higher relief than what was proposed by the Government in the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) Bill, aimed at ushering in a new direct taxation regime;
  • As a measure for neutralising the impact of high inflation, the standing panel has suggested that the annual income tax exemption limit be raised to Rs.3 lakh from Rs.1.8 lakh at present and recommended marked changes in tax slabs to leave more money in the hands of taxpayers;
  • Alongside, it has proposed a higher investment limit for tax savings schemes at Rs. 3.20 lakh to induce savings while recommending abolition of the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) to increase trading on the stock exchanges;
  • In its report, after scrutinising the DTC Bill, which was submitted to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on Friday, the committee also suggested that while the rate of corporate taxation be retained at 30 per cent, the limit for wealth tax should be pegged at Rs. 5 crore;
  • The standing panel has suggested that personal income of over Rs.3 lakh up to Rs.10 lakhs be taxed at 10%, over Rs.10 lakh up to Rs.20 lakh at 20% and over Rs. 20 lakh at 30%. If accepted, the modifications would be a bonanza of sorts for taxpayers as the current taxation rates are 10% on income over Rs.1.8 lakh to Rs.5 lakh, 20% on income over Rs.5 lakh to Rs.8 lakh and 30% on income above Rs.8 lakh;
  • These recommendations come at a time when the DTC will not be implimented by the original proposed date of April 1, 2012. The amendments to the income tax act will make the law more harmonious before the implementation of the DTC.
• Events should point to guilt rules Supreme Court
  • In a case based purely on circumstantial evidence, the prosecution must establish the chain of events leading to an incident and the facts forming part of that link should be proved beyond reasonable doubt for the conviction of the accused, the Supreme Court has held. Giving the benefit of the doubt to Brajendra Singh, who was awarded the death sentence for murdering his wife and three children, a Bench of Justices A.K. Paknaik and Swatanter Kumar has commuted it to life imprisonment for 21 years on the ground that the prosecution could not establish circumstantial evidence beyond reasonable doubt;
  • The court said that the circumstances should be conclusive and proved by the prosecution. It said - “There must be a chain of events so complete as not to leave any substantial doubt in the mind of the court. Irresistibly, the evidence should lead to the conclusion inconsistent with the innocence of the accused and the only possibility that the accused has committed the crime.”

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• UN Forum tables draft on Sri Lanka
  • The draft resolution on Sri Lanka tabled by the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva has been prepared after “careful reflection and after extensive dialogue and bilateral engagement at the highest levels of the U.S. government,” the U.S. has said;
  • The resolution has been roundly condemned by both the Sri Lankan government and the vocal Tamil Diaspora for different reasons. The government said it was an interference and did not help the cause of reconciliation. The Diaspora held that the resolution bailed out the government and fell short of giving any significant political powers to the Tamils of the Northern and Eastern Provinces;
  • The resolution was put together after broad consultations with delegations from all regions, incorporated many helpful suggestions and was “moderate, reasonable, and balanced” according to the UN.
• Kofi Annan wants Damascus-rebel talks
  • In his first intervention after becoming the special envoy on Syria for the United Nations and the Arab League, Kofi Annan has made it clear that instead of further militarisation, he is looking for a political solution to defuse the crisis in Syria, based on dialogue;
  • Annan is scheduled to visit Damascus on Saturday after attending the meeting of Arab Foreign Ministers in Cairo.
• Indian NGO selected for US award
  • Chintan, an Indian NGO (founded by Bharati Chaturvedi) has been selected for the U.S first Innovation Award for the Empowerment of Women and Girls for training and organising waste-pickers and eliminating child labour from recycling;
  • The U.S State Department said the Secretary's Innovation Award has been given to Chintan in support of its work to reduce ecological footprints and increase environmental justice among the informal sector through green jobs, advocacy and organising.
• Greece secures debt cut
  • Greece has cleared a major hurdle in its race to avoid bankruptcy by persuading the vast majority of its private creditors to sign up to the biggest national debt write down in history, paving the way for a second bailout.

ECONOMY & BUSINESS NEWS

• RBI cuts CRR by 75 basis points
  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday reduced the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) by 75 basis points from 5.5 per cent to 4.75 per cent with effect from March 10;
  • CRR is the percentage of deposits that commercial banks must keep with the central bank.
• GoM meet on cotton export inconclusive
  • The critical meeting of the Group of Ministers to review the ban on cotton export remained ‘inconclusive' on Friday and would consider the issue thoroughly in the coming days before coming to a decision. The ban on cotton export would continue till then;
  • The Textile Ministry had stated that the ban was imposed after taking into account the trend of domestic consumption and depletion of domestic availability. Explaining the reasons behind the ban, the Ministry had stated that the country had already shipped ten lakh bales more than the exportable surplus, reducing the domestic availability.

EMINENT PERSONS IN THE NEWS

• Read this article about composer Ravi Shankar Sharma, who passed away a few days ago