First meeting of NITI Aayog
1) The first
meeting of NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog was held on
6 Feb, 2015.
2) Attention
was drawn towards the need for a renewed focus on India’s high-cost,
low-productivity farm sector, in addition to the manufacturing sector that is
being given a push through the “Make in India” campaign .
3) The Modi
government has not launched any flagship programme for the agriculture sector.
4) The
economists invited to the meeting emphasised the need for the government to
work towards high growth, a predictable tax regime, fiscal prudence and rapid
infrastructure development.
5) Meanwhile,
the Finance Minister advocated an increase in public spending and tapping
domestic savings to finance infrastructural projects.
6) the Centre
has no plans to give the NITI Aayog, planned as a think tank, statutory status.
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'Breakthrough understanding' in
civil nuclear cooperation between India and US
1) the
“breakthrough understanding” in civilian nuclear cooperation, which President
Barack Obama reached with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is being
described as the bilateral understanding that the Indian nuclear liability law
was in “alignment” with the Vienna Convention on Supplementary Compensation (CSC).
2) it was the
confluence of liability implications of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage
Act, 2010 (CLND) and the CSC that comprises the “breakthrough understanding.
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Greenpeace violated Foreign
Contribution (Regulation) Act [FCRA] norms
1) Greenpeace
may face action for alleged violation of the law regulating the receipt of
foreign contributions i.e. FCRA.
2) As per
FCRA, only 50 per cent of the funds can be spent on administrative costs.
Income Tax alleged that Greenpeace India Society spent more than 60 per cent of
the funds on recruitment, consultancy and office maintenance.
3) The society
got Rs. 5.59 crore funding for the financial year 2010-11; of this Rs. 5.11
crore was from the Netherlands.
4) The trust
and society are completely different, but money has been used from the trust
for the society and vice-versa. The trustees are also members and office bearers
of the society.
5) Faced with
a hefty tax demand of Rs. 3.79 crore last year, Greenpeace has paid 50 per cent
of the amount and appealed against it.
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Punjab govt approaches SC for
reallocation of river waters' share
1) Citing a
drastic reduction in flow in the Ravi- Beas rivers systems and receding
groundwater table, Punjab government moved the Supreme Court under Art. 131 of
the Constitution, seeking directions for the Union Government to constitute an
appropriate tribunal for reallocation river water share which has been disputed
and counter claimed by Haryana.
Ø Art. 131 - Original
jurisdiction of Supreme Court
2) the State
Government has sought the setting up of the tribunal under Section 4 of the
Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956.
3) Punjab has
also sought a revision in river waters distribution
a) The present
allocation of river waters share is based on the 1981 inter-State agreement.
b) In 1986,
after the Rajiv-Longwal pact, when construction of Sutlej-Yamuna link canal was
agreed upon, the Union government had set up the Eradi Tribunal.
c) The
Tribunal allocated 8.60 MAF to Rajasthan, 3.83 MAF to Haryana, 0.20 MAF to
Delhi 0.20 MAF, while Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir got 5.00 MAF and 0.65 MAF, respectively.
4) Punjab
Government has contended that circumstances had changed over the years, which
was reflected in drastic reduction in the availability of Ravi-Beas waters from
17.17 MAF to 13.38 MAF based on 1981-2013 flow series.
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