Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 04 March 2016

:: National::

Rajiv Gandhi assassination case

The Centre was examining the Tamil Nadu government’s request for freeing the convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, but made it clear that the government was constitutionally bound to act by the ruling of the Supreme Court
This happened a day after the State government wrote to the Centre to seek its opinion necessary under Section 435 of the Code of Criminal Procedure — on its decision to remit the life sentences of all the seven convicts
On December 2, 2015, the Supreme Court held that the Centre and not the State government would have the “primacy” and that the States could not exercise suo motu the power to decide whether or not those convicted in the cases investigated by the CBI or another Central agency could be released.

Non-essential plastic to be banned in Karnataka

The State Cabinet approved the final draft notification on banning the utilisation of non-essential plastics. Officials of the Department of Forest, Environment and Ecology, who drafted the notification, believe that this will spur the use of ecofriendly materials, and reduce the amount of plastics in garbage dumps
Took the decision to ban the manufacture, storage, sale, distribution, and use of plastic carry bags, irrespective of their thickness
The decision goes beyond the 2011 notification that banned plastic below 40 microns and aims at banning products for which eco-friendly alternatives are available
Additions include thermocol, micro-beads and even plastic cutlery — which were suggestions given by activists and citizens.
The ban is expected to reduce non-degradable plastic content in municipal waste by over a third.

Lodha panel recommendations to be followed without delay (Register and Login to read Full News..)

ASEAN-Plus military drill begins in Pune (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: BUSINESS AND ECONOMY ::

Outrage on taxing EPF

Following widespread outrage over the Union Budget proposal to tax Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) withdrawals, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) held a review with top officials
The Union Labour and Employment Ministry made a strong case for a rollback of the proposal to tax 60 per cent of EPF savings at the time of withdrawal,
This is the second intervention by the PMO on the issue, the first one being an hour-long discussion with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Mr. Adhia
Initially it was said that only the interest earned on EPF savings would be taxed. Later, the Ministry said taxing interest income was just one among the representations the government had received. It said those who bought an annuity product with 60 per cent of their EPF corpus would not be taxed

EPF tax would cost dearly to low income workers

Union Budget 2016-17 holds another tax whammy for employees’ provident fund savings which will particularly hurt millions of low-income workers earning as little as Rs.5,000 a month.
Such employees would be taxed at the highest marginal income tax rate of 34.6 per cent if they withdraw EPF savings of Rs 50,000 or more, before completing five years of continuous service.
The tax, is to be levied at the highest personal tax rate for those members who don’t have a PAN card, according to the Finance Ministry. For those with a PAN card, the tax is levied at 10.3 per cent
Those with a balance of just Rs.50,000 in their EPF account, after, say 59 months of service, are essentially low income workers who are not liable to pay tax to begin with. Yet they will be taxed at the rate applicable for those earning over a crore of rupees a year
To put that in perspective, banks deduct income tax at 10.3 per cent on interest income of over Rs.10,000 earned from fixed deposits. In cases where a depositor hasn’t shared his PAN card details with the bank, such interest income is taxed at 20.6 per cent.
Separately, a PAN number is mandatory for jewellery purchases over Rs. one lakh. Personal income is tax free in the country for those earning about Rs.21,000 a month or Rs.2.5 lakh a year
An EPF account is mandatory for all employees earning up to Rs.15,000 per month (raised recently from Rs.6,500 per month) in firms employing over 20 workers. As per the law, 24 per cent of an employee’s salary is contributed to EPFO as a social security net for old age – a part of that (8.33 per cent) is diverted to an employees’ pension scheme (EPS).
“This is a very regressive move and would not only lead to taxing those who are not part of the tax net or pushing them to get a PAN card though their income is well below the taxable limit, but also create a huge compliance and paperwork headache for employers as well as the EPFO, who would have to issue tax deduction certificates
The government has defended its proposal to tax 60 per cent of EPF savings as a tool to push people into the pension habit and said that only high-income workers would be affected, while those earning upto Rs.15,000 a month won’t be taxed.

Aadhaar Bill introduced in Lok Sabha (Register and Login to read Full News..)

MAT will not be possible until all corporate tax exemptions are rolled back (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: INDIA AND WORLD ::

India and China to build connectivity

India and China jockeyed over their plans to build connectivity during the Ministry of External Afairs’ first ‘Raisina Dialogue’ international conference with India projecting its own plans in the Indian Ocean and across Central Asia as a counter to China’s estimated 1-trillion dollar One Belt One Road (OBOR) project.
Comparing India’s approach to China’s (without referring directly to either China or the OBOR), India’s plans for connectivity were “cooperative rather than a unilateral approach”, adding that an “environment of trust and confidence is the pre-requisite for a more interconnected world.”
China views South Asian countries as very important partners and stands ready to focus on roads, manufacturing, free trade zones. OBOR is not an exclusive initiative, so welcomes participation of various countries and regional organisations

Anti-tank Guided missiles (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ::

Powerful radio waves from an enigmatic source to Earth

Astronomers have, for the first time, detected repeating short bursts of mysterious and powerful radio waves from an enigmatic source that is likely located well beyond the edge of the Milky Way galaxy
The findings indicate that these “fast radio bursts” come from an extremely powerful object, which occasionally produces multiple bursts in under a minute
All previously detected fast radio bursts (FRBs) have appeared to be one-of events as a result, most theories about the origin of these mysterious pulses have involved cataclysmic incidents that destroy their source — a star exploding in a supernova, for example, or a neutron star collapsing into a black hole
The new finding, however, shows that at least some FRBs may have other origins. The FRBs, which last just a few thousandths of a second, have puzzled scientists since they were first reported nearly a decade ago. Despite extensive follow-up eforts, astronomers until now have searched in vain for repeat bursts
The finding suggests that these bursts must have come from an object, such as a rotating neutron star having unprecedented power that enables the emission of extremely bright pulses
Scientists believe that these and other radio bursts, originate from distant galaxies, based on the measurement of an efect known as plasma dispersion.

:: SPORTS ::

Martin Crowe passes away

New Zealand’s greatest batsman Martin Crowe died at the age of 53 after a long battle with cancer
Crowe enjoyed a 13-year international career from 1982-95, including four years as captain.
In his retirement, Crowe devised a new ultra-short form of the game called Cricket Max for his new employer Sky Television, which was pitched to British officials and helped lay the foundation for the modern Twenty20 revolution.