Saturday, March 31, 2012

HEADLINES

• Environmental clearance for POSCO project is suspended by National Green Tribunal
• Lok Sabha passes Judicial Accountability Bill

NATIONAL NEWS

• UN asks India to repeal Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act
  • The United Nations has asked India to repeal the AFSPA, saying it had no role to play in a democracy. The AFSPA — in force since 1957 in the North-East and since 1990 in Jammu and Kashmir — has become a symbol of excessive State power;
  • This statement of the UN was delivered by Christof Heyns, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions. Mr.Heyns also commented on the 2002 Gujarat incidents, fake encounters, custodial deaths and also called for special protection for women and minority communities.
• World Bank chief backs India's tax proposals
  • Even as Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee faces flak from corporates at home and abroad on his budget proposal to tax Vodafone-type deals through retrospective amendment, World Bank president Robert Zoellick sought to side with the government saying India wanted the company to pay tax at some place;
  • Among other tax proposals aimed at plugging tax evasion, the budget for 2012-13 had proposed amending the relevant provisions in the Income Tax Act with retrospective effect so as to bring capital gains through Vodafone-type merger and acquisition deals under the tax net. Mr.Zoellick said that India's intention was to bring into the net those companies that take advantage of treaties and tax havens to avoid payment of taxes.
• POSCO in trouble as the National Green Tribunal suspends environmental clearance
  • The Rs.51,000-crore Posco steel project in Odisha, the country's single largest FDI venture, is back in limbo with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) suspending the Environment Ministry's nod for the project. The Govt has been told to have a fresh review conducted by experts to recommend new conditions and ensure compliance with a clear deadline;
  • While the original environment clearances for the integrated steel plant and its captive port were granted in the summer of 2007, protests from green activists and local residents led to a four-member review committee being set up by the government in 2010. The panel delivered a split report; three members found the clearances illegal while chairperson Meena Gupta — who was Environment Secretary when the original Posco clearance was granted — merely recommended additional studies;
  • The government ignored most of the majority report, partially accepted Ms. Gupta's minority report and issued a January 2011 order upholding the clearances, with some added conditions. The NGT has criticised Ms.Gupta's presence on the review committee. The NGT also said that the Environment Impact Assessment was only done for 1/3rd of the project and needed to be redone.
• Lok Sabha passes Judicial Accountability Bill
  • The Lok Sabha has approved the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, 2010, which provides for a mechanism for investigation against judges. The Bill, introduced in December 2010, was brought to the Lok Sabha with fresh amendments in December, 2011. Bill seeks to set up a mechanism to enquire into complaints against judges of the Supreme Court or High Courts. It was aimed at striking a “balance” between maximising judicial independence and laying down accountability at the same time for members of the higher judiciary;
  • New provisions include restraining judges from making “unwarranted comments” against the conduct of any constitutional authority. According to the revised Bill, any judge who makes oral comments against other constitutional authorities and individuals would render himself/herself liable for “judicial misconduct;”
  • The Bill seeks to repeal the Judges Inquiry Act, 1968, but retains some of its key features like power to Parliament to impeach a judge of the Supreme Court or a High Court.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• China hails India's commitment
  • China said t welcomed commitments made by PM Manmohan Singh that India would neither participate in any “containment strategy” against it nor allow any anti-China activity by exiled Tibetans. Dr.Singh made this comment at the BRICS conference.
• Suu Kyi sees irregularities, but vows to go ahead with by-elections

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS & COLUMNS

• Read this article on the democratic spring awaiting to happen in Saudi Arabia
• If you have time, read this article on how english literature over the years have imbibed wrong notions about tribal communities

ECONOMY & BUSINESS NEWS

• No tax on investments made via P-notes
  • With confusion over the applicability of taxation provisions proposed in the Budget for the new fiscal beginning April 1, which has led to sell-off on the bourses during the week, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday sought to assure overseas investors that entities investing in stock markets through P-Notes (participatory notes) would not be required to pay taxes in India;
  • Under the P-Note mechanism, even those foreign institutional investors who are not registered with the market regulator — Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) — are permitted to invest in the Indian equity market. Mr. Mukherjee pointed out that as P-Note holders make their investment in stock market through FIIs, “the Income-tax Department would examine the tax liability of the FIIs”;
  • In fact, what has spooked the market over the past week are the proposals with regard to taxation of indirect transfers of assets and General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR). Mr. Mukherjee clarified that while the Budget introduced GAAR provisions to “counter aggressive tax avoidance schemes,” it would be ensured that “it is used only in appropriate cases, by enabling a review by a GAAR panel”.
• World Bank backs move for BRICS Bank
  • World Bank, on Friday, expressed its willingness to support the proposal of BRICS nations to set up a development bank to insulate their economies from the ongoing economic problems, rising oil prices and currency volatility;
  • The summit of BRICS decided to examine the possibility of setting up a bank on the lines of World Bank and Asian Development Bank to mobilise resources for infrastructure and sustainable developments in emerging economies. The finance ministers of the countries are looking into it.
• India inks pact with ADB
  • India, on Friday, inked three loan agreements worth $826 million with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to shore up the country's power transmission systems for efficient transfer of electricity from surplus regions to deficit regions;
  • According to an official statement here, a $500-million sovereign-guaranteed loan along with a $250-million non-sovereign corporate loan will help establish a more than 1,300-kilometre inter-regional transmission link to allow bulk transfer of electricity from independent power producers in Chhattisgarh to high power demand areas in the north, including the National Capital Territory (NCR) region of Delhi;
  • The third agreement for a sovereign loan of $76 million is aimed at connecting the western power grid to the Union Territories of Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli.