CURRENT AFFAIRS 2017(JAN TO JULY)

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NATIONAL HIGHWAYS

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SAHITYA AKADEMI AWARD 1955 to 2017

Full details about sahitya academy award for Tamil literature from 1955 to 2017
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

         All aspects related to implementation and working of GST (A question was asked in Mains 2017 on it)

Problems associated with GST

The introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) raised much hope that it would herald the emergence of a ‘good and simple tax’ with ‘one nation, one market, one tax’There has been considerable concern with the new tax, both in its structure and operational details, including the ease of paying the tax and filing returns. Trade and industry have been grappling with the problem of payment, filing the returns and claiming input tax credit, and exporters have been facing liquidity crises

History of GST

GST is a standard policy recommendation for every country going in for the structural adjustment programme of the International Monetary Fund The GST has taken centre-stage in many countries and is considered important in view of the competitive reduction in corporation tax rates due to high mobility of capital of over 165 countries which have adopted GST in one form or another, only five have repealed it (Belize, Ghana, Grenada, Malta and Vietnam), but have reintroduced the tax later

Desirable features of GST

It is important not to have too low thresholds Reasonably high thresholds will reduce the compliance burden to a large number of small businesses without much impact on revenue In developing countries, a threshold closer to $100,000 would eliminate 75% of the taxpayers with a revenue loss of less than 4%

2. GST should have fewer rates

Multiple rates create classification problems, are harder to administer and would require the general rate of tax to be higher. It would also invite a lot of lobbying by special interest groups

3. It is important to prepare well before the plunge

Most countries take at least two years to prepare for the introduction of reform to ensure a smooth transition. This is particularly necessary for developing and testing the technology platform, educating the tax collectors and taxpayers and to avoid any anomalies in the structure of the tax

Indian version of GST

Given that the reform had to be evolved by taking into account the views of 29 States, two Union Territories with legislatures and the Union government, compromises are inevitableIt is impossible to expect the structure of the tax to be idealSome bad initial features may be an essential compromise to get the tax accepted in the first place. Having four tax rates and three rates of cesses should have been avoidedIt enormously complicates the technology platform to ensure input tax credit mechanism

Way Forward

Problems of transition to a major tax reform are unavoidable and most countries go through this all traders, in one way or the other, are being brought into the formal sector which would hurt some of them. It appears desirable to move immediately towards three slabs with the final goal of reducing the slabs to two
and to fix the threshold at ₹50 lakh.

PROFIT OF BITCOINS

Undeclared Bitcoins Profits?

Ready To Pay 200% Penalty!
Reports are emerging from reputed publications, regarding Govt. latest move to milk bitcoin profits from Indians, and no one will be spared it seems.

If we believe Business Standard, then a 30% capital gains tax can be mandated on all bitcoin profits, if they are held for less than 3 years, and 20% capital gains tax, if they are held for more than 36 months. A concept borrowed from stock trading.

A senior Govt. official close to the developments said,

“Bitcoin taxation is a grey area at the moment. We are yet to look into it in detail. A panel may examine each issue. There are no guidelines at the moment. A clarification may come,”
Besides, some heavy penalty has been devised for those, who fail to declare profits from bitcoins. A penalty of 50-200% is being devised for such instances, when a tax payee fails to declare bitcoin earnings in a financial year, besides levying an interest of 12% per year, for the same.

Govt. Committee Will Decide Fate Of Bitcoin Profits in India

The value of bitcoins has surged past $19,000 (currently $16,000), and this astronomical surge of over 1200% value within a year has clearly unsettled the Govt. and RBI.

Reports say that a special panel be would be established, which will decide how to tax bitcoin earnings, and more importantly, whether GST rules can be applied on bitcoin investments or not.

This is in directly contradiction to what RBI had recently said about bitcoins in India, while ‘warning’ Indians against its usage:

“it (RBI) has not given any licence or authorisation to any entity or company to operate such schemes or deal with Bitcoin or any VC.”
This was RBI’s 4th warning against bitcoin usage in the last few years, and it clearly shows that although RBI is not willing to allow bitcoins in India, they are not banning it as well. And now, they want to tax it as well.

But, to be fair to RBI, they have already admitted that blockchain is a technology which will immensely help banking system in coming years, and bitcoins are based on blockchain tech.

Pretty confusing situation for a person who is a bitcoin investor, and wants to be clean in the tax rules and regulations.

Supreme Court has already asked the Centre to respond to a plea regarding bitcoin regulation in India, and the matter is subjudice.

In April this year, there were rumors of taxation policies for bitcoin users in India, and now, with recent reports, it seems that Govt. wants to indirectly control bitcoins, but cannot come out in the open, and accept that bitcoins has the power to change everything.

TNPSC TARGET 180+

GENERAL APTITUDE FOR YOU

It's very very useful for all competitive Exams.

Related video's and TARGET 180+ in TNPSC EXAMS

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RS AGARWAL GENERAL APTITUDE

INDIA'S BIGGEST OIL REFINERY

Thousands of farmers from Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra have been on the roads for the last five days opposing joint land measurement exercise by government officials marking the beginning of yet another long-drawn protest in Konkan, this time against India’s biggest oil refinery proposed on the western coastline.

The Issue

Over 15,000 acres in and around Nanar in Rajapur tehsil of the district has been notified as an industrial area under Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) Act, instead of Land Acquisition Act, 2013.

After going through the process of seeking objections from the villagers, the government has now begun the next step of joint measurement of land.


People ignored

The Act under which land is to be acquired is draconian and gives no voice to the people, who were not consulted on the project.

The villagers are concerned at the pollution caused by the refinery once it is operational.

The government, while announcing the project, had said this is green project.

Green word is being used to fool the people. No refinery in the world is green.

Over location

The refinery’s location is another cause for concern among locals.

It will stand next to world’s biggest nuclear power project, the proposed 9900 MW Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project (JNPP).

A desiltation project and a 1,500 MW thermal power project are also proposed in the vicinity.

And this is disastrous and will completely kill the natural habitat of the region.

IMPORTANT HISTORY

TNPSC IMPORTANT HISTORY

The Aadhar Act, 2016

The Governments Announcement

Bringing relief to millions of Non Resident Indians (NRIs), Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs), the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has said that Aadhaar as an identity document should be sought only from those who are eligible for the unique ID as per the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016.

This means that government agencies can now exempt those belonging to these categories from furnishing Aadhaar identity for availing services as they are not eligible for enrolling for the unique ID.

The circular stated that the Prevention of Money Laundering (Maintenance of Records) Rules, 2017 and the Income Tax Act, 1961 clearly stipulate that the linking of Bank Accounts and PAN respectively is for those persons who are eligible to enrol for Aadhaar as per the Aadhaar Act, 2016.

And individuals who were not assigned Aadhaar numbers shall be offered alternate and viable means of delivery of subsidy, benefit or service.

What was the need for this announcement?

What made the situation tricky for NRIs, PIOs and OCIs is that the Act as it stands today, allows only “residents” of India to enroll for the unique identity.

The circular said the UIDAI had received several representations from these sections, informing about difficulties faced by them as various authorities demanded Aadhaar from them in respect of various services/benefits etc like maintaining existing NRE and NRO bank accounts and appearance by students in different exams in India.

The Provisions of the Aadhar Act, 2016

The Act says every resident shall be entitled to obtain an Aadhaar number by submitting his demographic information and biometric information by undergoing the process of enrolment.

Who is a resident is further defined as an individual who has resided in India for a period or periods amounting in all to one hundred and eighty-two days or more in the twelve months immediately preceding the date of application for enrolment.

Source : The Hindu

TNPSC AYAKUDI MATERIAL

TNPSC AYAKKUDI 🌲 MATERIAL WITH SOME EXTRA POINTS FOR UPCOMING EXAMS

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THE ISRAEL-PALESTINE CONFLICT — 100 YEARS OF HISTORY

A timeline of the conflict which has its roots in the late 19th century.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has its roots in the late 19th century when Jews fleeing anti-Semitism in Russia and central Europe began emigrating to Palestine.

Here is the timeline:

A Jewish homeland promised
In 1917,during World War I,the British capture Palestine from the Ottomans and,in the Balfour Declaration of November 2,promise the Jews a "national home" there.

Oppositionfrom the Palestinians first emerges at a congress in Jerusalem in 1919.

In1922,the League of Nations sets out the obligations of a British mandate in Palestine,including securing "establishment of the Jewish national home",the future Israel.

Britaincrushes the great Arab revolt in Palestine of 1936-1939.

Palestinesplit
Palestine is partitioned into Jewish and Arab states under United Nations Resolution 181,approved in November 1947.Jerusalem is put under international control.

Inthe split,the West Bank including east Jerusalem goes to Jordan and the Gaza Strip to Egypt.

Thestate of Israel is finally created on May 14,1948,provoking an eight-month war with Arab states.

Morethan 400 Palestinian villages are razed by Israeli forces and around 760,000Palestinian refugees flee to the West Bank,Gaza and neighbouring Arab countries.

ThePalestine Liberation Organisation (PLO)is created in 1964.
Occupationand war
In the Six-Day War in June 1967,Israel defeats Egypt,Jordan and Syria and occupies east Jerusalem,the West Bank,the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights.

Jewishsettlement of the occupied territories starts shortly afterwards and continues in the West Bank,east Jerusalem and the Golan Heights today.

Arabstates attack Israel on October 6,1973,the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur.Israel repels the attack.

Israelinvades civil war-wracked Lebanon on June 6,1982,to attack Palestinian militants after initially sending in its forces in 1978.Israeli-backed Lebanese militias kill hundreds in Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut.Israeli troops remain in southern Lebanon until May 2000.

Thefirst intifada,or Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule,rages from 1987 to 1993.

Abortivepeace process
In 1993,Israel and the PLO sign a declaration on principles for Palestinian autonomy after six months of secret negotiations in Oslo,launching an abortive peace process.

PLOleader Yasser Arafat returns to Gaza in July 1994 to create the Palestinian Authority.Self-rule is established for the first time in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank town of Jericho.

InSeptember 2000,right-wing Israeli opposition leader and future prime minister Ariel Sharon visits the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in east Jerusalem,a site holy to Muslims and Jews,who refer to it as the Temple Mount,sparking the first clashes of the second intifada.

Respondingto a wave of suicide bombings,Israel in 2002 invades the West Bank in its largest operation there since the 1967 war.

ModerateMahmud Abbas takes over the leadership of the Palestinian Authority in January 2005,after the death of Arafat.

Thelast Israeli forces leave Gaza after a 38-year occupation in September 2005.

Palestinianfactions
In June 2007,Islamist movement Hamas seizes control of the Gaza Strip after ferocious fighting with its rivals in the Fatah faction led by Abbas,who remains in power in the West Bank.

In2014,Israel launches a new operation against Gaza in an attempt to stop rocket fire and to destroy tunnels from the Palestinian territory.

Hamasand Fatah sign a reconciliation accord in October 2017 aimed at ending a decade of discord.

TNPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS

TNPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS PART-1 & 2

OCTOBER MONTH CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR UPCOMING COMPETITIVE EXAMS 

Part-1

Part-2

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ICAN- NOBEL PEACE PRIZE?

Ican? What do they do and why did they win the 2017 Nobel ☮️ Prize?

Anti-nuclear weapons campaign group says the 'spectre of nuclear conflict looms large' after winning Nobel prize

The group holds protests in 101 countries around the world Ican

"The Nobel Peace Prize 2017 has been awarded to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons"

The group - known by its acronym Ican - is a coalition working to mobilise people in countries around the world to pressure governments to ban nuclear weapons.

Inspired by the progress in banning the use of land mines, Ican was first formed in Australia but officially launched in Austria in 2007. It now operates in 101 countries.

NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WON BY CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS

With the support of high profile figures including the former UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, Ican has campaigned for the establishment of a special UN working group on advancing nuclear disarmament.

The biggest milestone in the history of Ican came this year with the adoption by 122 countries of the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

The treaty was hailed as the result of collective efforts by Ican alongside the Red Cross, UN agencies and individual countries.

It is hoped the treaty, which prohibits states from developing, testing, producing, manufacturing, acquiring, possessing, or stockpiling nuclear weapons, will lead to the elimination of all nuclear arms.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced Ican was awarded the peace prize for its work “to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons”.

ICAN campaign video: It's time to ban nuclear weapons

Commenting on their win, Ican said: “This is a time of great global tension, when fiery rhetoric could all too easily lead us, inexorably, to unspeakable horror. The spectre of nuclear conflict looms large once more.

“If ever there were a moment for nations to declare their unequivocal opposition to nuclear weapons, that moment is now.

“We applaud those nations that have already signed and ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and we urge all others to follow their lead.

“It offers a pathway forward at a time of alarming crisis. Disarmament is not a pipe dream, but an urgent humanitarian necessity.”

NEW REPORT ON MEASLES

According to a report by the the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United Nations Foundation, UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO), around 20.8 million children across the world are still missing their first measles vaccine dose

More than half these unvaccinated children live in six countries
(1) Nigeria (3.3 million), (2) India (2.9 million), (3) Pakistan (2.0 million), (4) Indonesia (1.2 million), (5) Ethiopia (0.9 million), and (6) Democratic Republic of the Congo (0.7 million)

India’s situation

India has the second highest population of children who haven’t been vaccinated against measles

It happened despite the government’s focused campaign to check the highly contagious infection

Measles

Measles is a highly contagious infection caused by the measles virus

• Initial signs and symptoms typically include fever, often greater than 40 °C (104.0 °F), cough, runny nose, and inflamed eyes

• Two or three days after the start of symptoms, small white spots may form inside the mouth, known as Koplik’s spots.

• A red, flat rash which usually starts on the face and then spreads to the rest of the body typically begins three to five days after the start of symptoms.

• Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days.[5][6] Complications occur in about 30% and may include diarrhea, blindness, inflammation of the brain, and pneumonia among others

Rubella (German measles) and roseola are different diseases.

For more information refer:
https://www.healthline.com/health/measles#overview1