Latest News
24th June 2021
Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB) Programme
Recently, the Ministry of Finance has announced that Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB) programme was launched in Bhutan.
Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB)
Recently, the Antarctic Treaty has celebrated its 60th anniversary on 23rd June 2021.
Antarctic Treaty
- It is a joint initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
- It was launched at the Third Financing for Development conference in Addis Ababa in 2015.
- It was widely hailed as capable of assisting developing countries mobilize much-needed domestic revenues in support of the post-2015 sustainable development agenda.
- It facilitates targeted, tax audit assistance programmes in developing countries across the globe.
- It is a strong response to the attention given to effective and efficient mobilisation of domestic resources in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals to strengthen international tax co-operation.
- The joint OECD/UNDP TIWB Secretariat is based in Paris and supported by UNDP's network of Country Offices in developing countries.
- It is expected to be of about 24 months’ duration.
- Under the programme, India in collaboration with the UNDP and the TIWB Secretariat aims to aid Bhutan in strengthening its tax administration.
- India will transfer the technical know-how and skills to its tax auditors, and through sharing of best audit practices.
- The focus of the programme will be in the area of International Taxation and Transfer Pricing.
- It is an international organization that promotes policy coordination and economic freedom among developed nations.
- It was derived from the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) that was established in 1948 to monitor American and Canadian contributions under the Marshall Plan.
- It was formed in 1961 with its headquarters in Paris (France).
- It included members from democratic states such as the United States, countries in Western Europe, Japan, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
- The OECD’s main focus is to help governments around the world achieve the following:
- Improve confidence in markets and the institutions that help them function.
- Obtain healthy public finances to achieve future sustainable economic growth.
- Achieve growth through innovation, environmentally friendly strategies, and the sustainability of developing economies.
- Provide resources for people to develop the skills they need to be productive.
- The US-India hydrogen taskforce was launched under the aegis of US-India Strategic Clean Energy Partnership.
- India is planning to extend the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for manufacturing electrolyzers, which are used for producing green hydrogen.
- India has launched an ambitious National Hydrogen Mission to introduce hydrogen purchase obligations for fertilizers, refineries involving private sector in transparent & competitive manner to produce green hydrogen.
- India has pitched for common international standards for green hydrogen to ensure safe transportation and storage of the new age emission-free fuel.
- The summit highlights that the government and industry must work together to ensure existing regulations are not an unnecessary barrier to investment.
- The trade will benefit from common international standards for the safety of transporting and storing large volumes of hydrogen and having appropriate certificate of origin.
- India stressed that leveraging its landmass and green energy sources for exporting green hydrogen is one of the steps for achieving energy sufficiency.
- It is produced by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using an electrolyzer that may be powered by electricity generated from renewable energy sources.
- It is distinct from grey hydrogen, which is produced from methane and releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
- Green Chemicals like ammonia and methanol can directly be utilised in existing applications like fertilisers, mobility, power, chemicals, shipping among others.
- Green Hydrogen blending up to 10 per cent may be adopted in City Gas Distribution (CGD) networks to gain widespread acceptance.
- The transition to a hydrogen economy will reduce its import dependency on hydrocarbon fuels.
- It will provide clean air to its citizens, reduce GHG (greenhouse gases) emissions in absolute terms and fulfil the country's 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' vision.
- 100 % sustainable: The green hydrogen does not emit polluting gases either during combustion or during production.
- Storable: It is easy to store, which allows it to be used subsequently for other purposes and at times other than immediately after its production.
- Versatile: It can be transformed into electricity or synthetic gas and used for domestic, commercial, industrial or mobility purposes.
- Transportable: it can be mixed with natural gas at ratios of up to 20 % and travel through the same gas pipes and infrastructure and increasing this percentage would require changing different elements in the existing gas networks to make them compatible.
- High cost: The energy from renewable sources, which are key to generating green hydrogen through electrolysis, is more expensive to generate, which in turn makes hydrogen more expensive to obtain.
- High energy consumption: The production of hydrogen in general and green hydrogen in particular requires more energy than other fuels.
- Safety issues: The hydrogen is a highly volatile and flammable element and extensive safety measures are therefore required to prevent leakage and explosions.
- Under this system, the voters get to rank several in order of preference rather than pick just one candidate.
- In New York City’s version, voters get to rank up to five candidates, from first to last, on their ballot.
- It provides that if one candidate is the first choice of a majority of voters i.e. more than 50%, that person wins the race outright.
- Under Ranked Choice Voting system, the vote tabulation is done in rounds in which the candidate in last place is eliminated in each round.
- Voters rank the candidates for a given office by preference on their ballots.
- If a candidate wins an outright majority of first-preference votes (i.e., 50 percent plus one), he or she will be declared the winner.
- If no candidates win an outright majority of first-preference votes, the candidate with the fewest first-preference votes is eliminated.
- All first-preference votes for the failed candidate are eliminated, lifting the second-preference choices indicated on those ballots.
- A new tally is conducted to determine whether any candidate has won an outright majority of the adjusted voters.
- The process is repeated until a candidate wins a majority of votes cast.
- It is based on a simple premise that democracy works better if people aren’t forced to make an all-or-nothing choice with their vote.
- The primary benefit of the system is that nobody “wastes” their vote by picking an unpopular candidate as their first choice.
- It implies that the winner gets a majority of the vote and it can drastically reduce the possibility of spoilers.
- More moderate candidates. It's less likely that extreme candidates who have a strong base of support but aren't liked more broadly could get through in a crowded primary.
- The system is more complex than a traditional election which makes it tough to forecast a winner.
- The system could take longer than usual to get results.
- The system is tough to grasp because it requires voters to do a lot more research which also makes races less predictable.
- The process of redistributing votes is done by computer and the outside groups will have a harder time evaluating whether the software sorted the ranked votes accurately.
- It was formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever.
- It is a rare but severe, often fatal illness in humans.
- The virus family Filoviridae is responsible for EVD which includes three genera: Cuevavirus, Marburgvirus, and Ebolavirus.
- It is thought that fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family are natural Ebola virus hosts.
- It is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission.
- It is introduced into the human population through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals.
- It spreads through human-to-human transmission via direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with:
- Blood or body fluids of a person who is sick with or has died from Ebola
- Objects that have been contaminated with body fluids (like blood, feces, vomit) from a person sick with Ebola or the body of a person who died from Ebola
- The two monoclonal antibodies (Inmazeb and Ebanga) were approved for the treatment of Zaire ebolavirus (Ebolavirus) infection in adults and children by the US Food and Drug Administration.
- The Ervebo vaccine has been shown to be effective in protecting people from the species Zaire ebolavirus, and is recommended by the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization.
- Reducing the risk of wildlife-to-human transmission from contact with infected fruit bats, monkeys, apes, forest antelope or porcupines and the consumption of their raw meat;
- Reducing the risk of human-to-human transmission from direct or close contact with people with Ebola symptoms;
- Outbreak containment measures: It includes safe and dignified burial of the dead, identifying people who may have been in contact with someone infected with Ebola and monitoring their health for 21 days;
- Reducing the risk of possible sexual transmission: The WHO recommends that male survivors of EVD practice safer sex and hygiene for 12 months from onset of symptoms or until their semen tests negative twice for Ebola virus; and
- Reducing the risk of transmission from pregnancy related fluids and tissue
- The Central government had linked permission for additional borrowing of 1 per cent of their GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product) to implementation of four critical reforms.
- One Nation One Ration Card System;
- Ease of doing business reform;
- Urban Local body/ utility reforms; and
- Power Sector reforms
- The additional borrowing limit of Rs 37,600 crore has been given to states for implementing the ‘One Nation One Ration Card’ system.
- It is aimed at providing ease of delivery of subsidised ration and free food
- The Rs 39,521 of borrowing has been allowed to 20 states that implemented Ease of Doing Business reforms.
- Its aim is to facilitate better environment and seamless process for entrepreneurs and companies to operate.
- Eleven states that have implemented urban local body and utility reforms have been given additional borrowing limits of Rs 15,957 crore.
- 17 states received borrowing limit of Rs 13,201 crore in lieu of power sector reforms.
- The states that have implemented all four reforms are Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab Rajasthan, Telangana and Tripura.
- It provides them extra cushion to borrow from the market in order to tide over any shortfalls in revenues and to push capital expenditure (capex).
- The states implementing at least three of these reforms get additional grants from the Centre for Capex purpose.
- Under the reforms-linked borrowing window, the states were to get access to funds of up to Rs 2.14 lakh crore on completion of all the four reforms.
- The states that have implemented three of these four reforms include Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
- The net borrowing ceiling for states has been fixed at 4 per cent of the projected GSDP (about Rs 8.46 lakh crore), based on recommendations of the Fifteenth Finance Commission.
- It is located within the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) site of Lothal that is located 80 kms away from Ahmedabad in Gujarat.
- It will be dedicated to the maritime heritage of India and showcase India’s rich as well as diverse maritime glory.
- It will be made an international tourist destination in India where people from across the countries can take a look at the maritime heritage of India from ancient to modern times.
- It will have many offerings including National Maritime Heritage Museum, Heritage Theme Park, and Light House Museum.
- It shall be funded by Ministry of Shipping and Ministry of Culture through National Culture Fund by way of grant.
- It is one of the prominent cities of the ancient Indus valley civilization dating to 2400 BC, located in Gujarat
- It was first discovered in 1954 and excavated from 1955-1960 by SR Rao of ASI.
- The name ‘Lothal’ came from the local name of the place which was translated to ‘Mound of the Dead’ in Gujarati.
- It is situated along the Bhogava River which is a tributary of the Sabarmati River.
- It is believed to be 3700 years old and is the only major port-town of the Indus Valley Civilization.
Recently, the Antarctic Treaty has celebrated its 60th anniversary on 23rd June 2021.
Antarctic Treaty
- It was signed in Washington on 1 December 1959 by the twelve countries.
- It entered into force in 1961 and has since been acceded to by many other nations.
- The important provisions of the Antarctica Treaty are:
- Antarctica shall be used for peaceful purposes only;
- Freedom of scientific investigation in Antarctica and cooperation toward that end shall continue; and
- Scientific observations and results from Antarctica shall be exchanged and made freely available
- The three international agreements under Antarctic Treaty System are:
- Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (1972)
- Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (1980)
- Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (1991)
- There were only 13 original state parties: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Africa, the United States, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Russia), and the United Kingdom.
- The membership has now grown to 54 including powerful “new” Antarctic Treaty parties such as China, Germany and India.
- India became the signatory of Antarctic Treaty in 1983.
- Among the signatories of the Treaty were seven countries i.e. Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom, with territorial claims.
- The US and Russia maintain a “basis of claim”.
- The treaty put a freeze on any disputes between claimants over their territories on the continent.
- The claimants agreed to abide by the rules and obligations of the treaty, which meant countries that don’t recognise claims (such as China and Russia), are free to go about scientific research and peaceful activities.
- In the ONGC matter, there is little the families can do in terms of personal injury suits, or class action suits.
- It is a legal action or claim that allows one or many plaintiffs to file and appear for a group of people with similar interests.
- It derives from representative litigation, to ensure justice to the ordinary individual against a powerful adversary.
- The Class Action Suits were formally incorporated into law in the United States in 1938 under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
- The most actionable suit was the Bhopal gas leak from the Union Carbide factory in 1984.
- In India, the central government filed a case on behalf of the persons who had been injured as a result of the gas leak.
- In India, the legal provisions for filing class action suits are under four laws:
- Order 1 Rule 8 of the Civil Procedure Code refers to representative suits, which is the closest to a classic class action suit in a civil context in India.
- It does not cover criminal proceedings.
- The Section 245 of the Companies Act allows members or depositors of a company to initiate proceedings against the directors of the company in specific instances.
- There are threshold limits, requiring a minimum number of people or holders of issued share capital before such a suit can proceed.
- It can be filed in the National Company Law Tribunal.
- The Competition Act under Section 53(N) allows a group of aggrieved persons to appear at the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal in issues of anti-competitive practices.
- The Supreme Court has held that in certain complaints under the Consumer Protection Act, they can be considered as class action suits.
- Order 1 Rule 8 of the Civil Procedure Code refers to representative suits, which is the closest to a classic class action suit in a civil context in India.
- The plaintiff need not have a personal interest or claim in the matter for filing a public interest litigation (Article 32 or Article 226 of the Constitution).
- The PIL must serve a matter of public interest.
- Unlike a class action suit, a PIL cannot be filed against a private party.
- Underdeveloped system of torts: Tort law has not developed sufficiently in India for a number of reasons, primarily due to the high cost and time-consuming nature of litigation.
- The litigants find it too expensive and complicated, and therefore do not pursue such cases.
- Lack of contingency fees: The rules of the Bar Council of India do not allow lawyers to charge contingency fees, i.e., a percentage of the damages claimants receive if they win a case.
- It disincentivises lawyers from appearing in time-consuming cases that class action suits inevitably are.
- Third-party financing mechanisms for litigants: Since litigation costs are high, class action suits can be made easier by allowing external parties to fund or sponsor the cost of litigation.
POSTED ON 24-06-2021 BY ADMIN
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