Sunday, March 4th,2011

HEADLINES

• Eastern army commander lieutenant general Bikram Singh is the new army chief
• Zakia Jafri's plea to make public SIT report rejected
• India, Arab League differ on Syria; India says it is the prerogative of the syrian people to decide for themselves and it is happy with whatever the people decide.

NATIONAL NEWS

• More than 3700 leave for Kachatheevu
  • As many as 3,768 pilgrims including 875 women on Saturday began their journey to attend St. Antony's Church festival in Kachchatheevu
  • The island, situated about a two-hour boat ride from Rameswaram, was ceded to Sri Lanka in 1974 by India through an agreement and about two years later the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) was drawn between India and Sri Lanka. Under the terms of the agreement, Indian fishermen were guaranteed access to the island's waters without visa or permission from Sri Lanka.
    
    
• Nepal Mps study Indian parliamentary system.
  • Parliamentarians from Nepal had an interaction with their Indian counterparts to decide on the kind of federal system to be adopted in their country ahead of finalising their new constitution.
  • Nepal is weighing the options of adopting either a Presidential form of government or a Parliamentary system as in India
  • One of the crucial issues bothering the Himalayan neighbour is sharing of resources, particularly water, given that it had been under a central authority for almost 250 years. The proposed new federal structure is likely to open up issues similar to those confronted by India. They mentioned Cauvery dispute as an example.
  • Nepal is equally interested in the electoral system, the judicial system, and the MPs will convey to their respective parties their opinion so that these could be incorporated in the Constitution
    
    
• States offer centre on CST compensation
  • The Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on Saturday sought either an adequate cash relief to States for the revenue loss incurred on account of the reduction in levy from four per cent to two per cent or else a rollback to the earlier rate.
  • The empowered panel, at its meeting here, also finalised a negative list of 35 services which should be kept out of the purview of the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST).
  • As a precursor to roll-out of the GST — a unified indirect tax regime in lieu of excise, service tax, sales tax and octroi — the CST payable on inter-State sales of goods was brought down to two per cent from four per cent.
  • Although a Central levy, the revenue mopped up through the CST is passed on to the State from where the goods originate. The ultimate objective is to phase out the CST completely when the new tax regime is introduced.
  • “The direct import of ATF by aviation companies will cause a revenue loss of Rs. 2,500 crore to the States and is also a concern for the states

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS AND COLUMNS

• An article on the 'Y' chromosome