26TH DECEMBER NEWS

26^TH DECEMBER

LET THE DIALOGUE BEGIN

1.      MEETING OF THE DGMOs: TIME FOR CDMs AND PEACE

2.      STEPS TO MAINTAIN PEACE ON BORDER

3.      BORDER ISSUE NOW HIGH JACKING OTHER ISSUES LIKE ECONOMIC TRADE, PEACE PROCESS

4.      HOTLINE COMMUNICATION INTRODUCED

MMR COMES DOWN TO 178

MMR IS ONE OF THE GOAL OF UN MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOAL (109): CALCULATED BY REGISTRAR GENERAL OF INDIAà WE HAVE REDUCED FROM 212 TO 178 PER 1 LAC LIVE BIRTHS

KERELA HAS 66, ASSAM HAS THE HIGHEST: 328; ALL STATES HAVE REDUCED

KERELA<MAHARASHTRA<TAMIL NADU

ANURADHA GUPTA: MISSION HEAD OF NRHM

8 EMPOWERED ACTION GROUP OF STATES HAVE SHOWN STEEP DECLINE: RAJASTHAN, UP, WB, MP, CHHATTISGARH, BIHAR, JHARKHAND, AP

REASONS

1.      POOR AWARENESS

2.      POOR INSTITUTIONAL DELIVERY

3.      GENDER DISCRIMINATION

4.      BOY PREFERENCE

5.      ANEMIC CONDITIONS

6.      POOR HEALTH SYSTEM: HUMAN RESOURCE

GOVT PROG

1.      JANANI SURAKSHYA YOJANA: ANM HELPàINSTITUTIONAL DELIVERY

2.      NRHM AND ASHA: AWARENESS AND NUTRITION

3.      JANANI SHISHU SURAKSHAYA KARYAKARAMàMEDICAL NEEDS

4.      NAVJAT SHIHU SURAKSHAYA KARYAKARAMà TRAINING OF HEALTH WORKERS

5.      RASHTRIYA BAL SWASTHYA KARYAKRAM (RBSK) :ENTITLES CHILDREN IN THE AGE GROUP OF ZERO TO EIGHTEEN YEARS ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO RECEIVE FREE HEALTH SCREENING SERVICES

6.      RASHTRIYA KISHOR SWASTHYA KARYAKRAM (RKSK):  BRING IN SEVERAL NEW DIMENSIONS LIKE- MENTAL HEALTH, NUTRITION, SUBSTANCE MISUSE, GENDER BASED VIOLENCE AND NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES.

7.      SABLA: AWARENESS: NUTRITION SUPPLEMENTàARSH

8.      ICDS: COUNSELING PLUS NUTRITION

9.      MOTHER AND CHILD TRACKING SYSTEM: TIMELY INTERVENTION

SYRIA ISSUE: INDIA MAKES FRESH EFFORT

EXPERTS FROM INDIA WILL HELP DESTROY THE STOCKPILE

INDIA HAS BEEN INVITED TO GENEVA 2: INDIA WAS ALSO A MEM OF FRIENDS OF SYRIA

INDIA HAS CONTRIBUTED $ 1 MILLION TO OPCW

INDIA HAS BEEN A FOUNDING MEMBER OF CWC AND HAS DESTROYED ITS WEAPONS

EGYPT DECLARES MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD AS TERRORIST ORGANISATION

FRENCH TANKS DEPLOYED AFTER INTENSE GUNFIRE IN CAR

MAURITIUS TIGHTENS NORMS TO CHECK PROXY TAG

1.      TAX HAVENS

COUNTRIES WHERE THE TAXTATION REGIME IS NOT THERE OR IS VERY LOW: COMPANIES USUALLY REGISTER THEMSELVES IN THESE COUNTRIES, TO AVOID TAXATION AND THEN DO BUSINESS IN OTHER COUNTRIES AND TAKE HELP OF DOUBLE TAXATION AGREEMENT IN OPERATING COUNTRY TO AVOID TAXATION THERE.

2.      ROUND TRIPPING

Round tripping is a common system of tax evasion where an investor using the tax holiday advantage in Mauritius or some other country—with which India has a double taxation avoidance agreement—to take money out of India only to bring it back disguised as foreign investment.

The money is routed through firms set up in these tax havens. Tax havens such as Mauritius account for almost half of the total FDI equity flows into the country. The country’s revenue department has been monitoring the capital flow from these two countries and have routinely objected to FDI proposals from there on fears of tax evasion. a list of countries that act as tax havens including Mauritius, Cyprus, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Austria, Belgium, Chile, Brunei, Guatemala, Singapore, Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Netherlands, Liberia, Bahrain and Bahamas.

3.      The Mauritius Story

Pursuant to the Double Taxation Avoidance Treaty (DTAT) signed between India and Mauritius in 1983, any capital gain made on the sale of shares of Indian companies by investors resident in Mauritius would be taxed only in Mauritius and not in India.

There are two aspects which render Mauritius into a tax haven:

Firstly, a body corporate registered under the laws of Mauritius is a resident of Mauritius and thus will be subject to taxation as a resident.

Secondly, the Income Tax Act of Mauritius provides that offshore companies are liable to pay zero percent tax.

Therefore by bringing an offshore company within the definition of "resident", both the benefits of being an offshore company as well as that of residency allowed under DTAA are bestowed upon it. In effect, the whole exercise of avoidance of double taxation turned out to be avoidance of taxation altogether.

The economic importance of Mauritius to India can be clearly understood by the Hon'ble Supreme Court's decision in Union of India v. Azadi Bachao Andolan1, where the entire Mauritius treaty was questioned. The Supreme Court's decision clearly reflected the underlying policy of the Government to attract FDI into the country at any cost despite the known fact that the treaty is depriving the Indian Exchequer of millions of dollars due to Round Tripping and tax evasion.

The policy in itself has become a catch-22 situation for the Government as any stringent norms with regard to Mauritius might result in future FII investment being targeted away from India and working out for the benefit of South East Asian countries or FIIs looking at alternate options like Cyprus and Singapore to invest into India.One has to understand that in a growing economy much in need of FDI any scenario decreasing FDI inflow is unfeasible and therefore Round Tripping, a side effect has to be accommodated with.

Lately Participatory Notes (PNs) have come under the scanner for their alleged role in Round Tripping. The RBI as well as SEBI has shown their concern about the inflow of money coming into the country through PNs.

PNs are instruments issued by registered FII brokerages in India to foreign funds or investors who are not registered with SEBI, but are interested in trading in Indian securities. FII brokers buy and sell securities on behalf of their clients on their proprietary account and issue such notes in favour of such foreign investors. PNs are mostly used by entities that are not welcome by SEBI as well as by non-resident Indians who do not want to directly invest in Indian securities. SEBI's worry is that the ultimate owner or beneficiary of PNs is not known as these PNs are transferable. On a similar track, RBI feels that the non-transparent nature of these instruments make them ideal money-laundering vehicles. The unstated fear of the regulators is that money belonging to Indian residents is being "round-tripped" through the PN route. However as of 2007, SEBI has banned PNs in the off-shore Derivative Segment (to be applicable within a period of 18 months). It has cited the reason as a security measure and as a means of curtailing Round Tripping.

NEWS:

1.      MAURITIUS HAS NOW PUT ADDITIONAL SAFEGUARDS: AVOID THE STIGMA OF TAX HAVEN AND NOT ALLOW CO. RUNNING WITH PROXY ADDRESSES TO GAIN TAX BENEFIT

2.      TIEA: TAX INFO AND EXG AGREEMENT IS BEING FINALISED

SCIENCE JOURNAL’S TOP 10 BREAKTHROUGHS, 2013

1.      CANCER THERAPY: CTLA-4:

2.      CRISPR: GENE EDITING TECHNIQUE:Cas9àUSED FOR SURGERY

3.      CLONING HUMAN EMBROYO

4.      CLARITY: IMAGING TECHNIQUE

5.      MINI ORGANS

6.      PEROVSKITE SOLAR CELLS: NEW GEN SOLAR CELLS, CHEAPER

ONE SOLUTION FOR TWO PROBLEMS IN FUEL CELLS

1.      ALTERNATIVE FUEL: HIGH ALPHA TECHNOLOGY: H FUEL REACT WITH O2 OVER PLATINUM NANO PARTICLES AS CATALYST TO PRODUCE WATER AND ELECTRICITY : WATER AS RESIDUE; FUEL CELLS; ELECTRIC BATTERY;

2.      CONVENTIONAL: OIL, COAL

3.      NON CONVENTIONAL: SOLAR, HYDRO, GEO THERMAL, WIND, OTEC

HYDROGEN FUEL CELLS: ISSUE OF NON AVAILABILITY OF HYDROGEN

SNAKE VENOM

VENOM BINDS TO THE RECEPTOR OF MUSCLE CELLS AND HENCE BLOCKS COMMUNICATION BTW MUSCLE CELL AND NERVE CELL

THE RECEPTORS ON THE MUSCLES OF SNAKES AND OTHER ORGANISMS ARE DIFFERENT

HYDROPONICS FODDER AS LIVESTOCK FEED: FOOD SEC, NATIONAL LIVESTOCK MISSION, S&T, CC

FODDER OVER WATER: ISSUE OF SCARCITY OF WATER AND LAND, LABOUR REQ, MANURE AND FERTILISERSà RESTRICTION ON PRODUCTION OF GREEN FODDER

TECH OF GROWING PLANTS W/O SOIL IN NUTRIENT RICH SOLUTION OR WATER FOR SHORT TIME

MONKEY AND APES

1.      MONKEY HAS TAIL, APE DOESN’T HAVE ONE

2.      APES HAVE LONG HANDS AND LEGS

3.      APES HAVE WELL WORKING THUMB

4.      4 APES: GORILLA , CHIMPANZE, AURANG GUTAN (S E ASIA), GUTAN (INDIA, S ASIA)

NCW FOR A SEPARATE LAW TO PROTECT TRAFFICKED WOMEN

1.      ABUSE OF POSITION OF VULNERABILITY

2.      RECRUITMENT, TRANSFER, HARBORING, TRANSPORTATION OR RECIEPT OF PERSON BY MEANS OF TREAT OR FORCE OR GIVING PAYMENTS TO ACHIEVE CONSENT RESULTING IN EXPLOITATION

3.      OTHER FORMS INCL: SEXUAL EXPLOITATION, FORCED LAB, SLAVERY

4.      NCW HAS ASKED GOVT TO DRAFT A SPL LAW TO PREVENT, SUPPRESS AND PUNISH TRAFFICKING