Government Committees, Schemes & Bills - Current Affairs for November, 2016

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on 28 November 2016 introduced the Taxation Laws (Second Amendment) Bill, 2016 in the Lok Sabha.

The Bill that amends tax laws seeks to impose a higher rate of tax and penalty in respect of undisclosed incomes.

This amendment bill has proposed to tax at 50 percent the unaccounted demonetised cash that is disclosed voluntary till 30 December 2016.

It says, up to 85 percent tax and penalty will be levied on undisclosed wealth that is discovered by authorities after 30 December 2016.

The Bill proposes a Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) 2016 wherein the unaccounted, now banned INR 500 and 1000 rupee notes, deposited in banks between 10 November and 30 December 2016, will be taxed at 30 percent plus a 10 percent penalty.

A 33 percent surcharge on the tax will take the total levy to 50 percent.

The Bill proposes to amend Section 115BBE of the Income Tax Act to provide for a steep 60 percent tax and a 25 percent surcharge on it (total 75 percent) for black money holders who choose to disclose after PMGKY ends.
The bill also inserts a new section that calls for an additional 10 percent penalty on being established that the undeclared wealth is unaccounted or black money, taking the total incidence of levies to 85 percent.

To weed out black money and corruption from public life, GoI has constituted a committee of officers to ensure 100 percent conversion of Gov-Citizen transactions to the digital platform.

Committee is headed by NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant and will identify and operationalise the time frame for user friendly digital options for payment across India.

Aim of the committee is to identify numerous digital payment systems appropriate to different sectors of the economy. It will also coordinate these to make them accessible and user friendly.

The committee will also identify digital payment system economies across all states and sectors.

It will be engaging regularly with Central ministries, regulators, state governments, district administration, local bodies and trade and industry associations

Members of the Committee of Officers for driving a digital payments economy in India include: -

• Secretary, Department of Financial Services,
• Ministry of Finance;
• Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology;
• Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion;
• Secretary, Department of Investment and public Asset Management;
• MD & CEO, National Payments Corporation of India,
• Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development,
• Chairman, National Highways Authority of India,
• Adviser, NITI Aayog.

Minister of Civil Aviation Shri Ashok Gajpathi Raju has indicated his ministry is committed to hassle-free and comfortable air travel.

To ensure this web portal and mobile app AirSewa was launched to offer people convenient and hassle free travel experience.

It will be available for Android and iOS platforms.

Portal will include a mechanism for grievance redressal and back-office operations as well as flight status/schedule information, airport information and FAQs.

Flight delays, problems in refund, long queues and lack of facilities are some of the most common problems that people face.

With the launch of AirSewa people can upload voice or video with description of their issues.

They will be provided a unique number for grievance which will be communicated through email and SMS.

Once the grievance is closed, the user has the option to provide feedback.

Nodal officers have been selected for stakeholder agencies to address grievances in time bound manner.

Union Cabinet on 23rd Nov 2016 approved the introduction of the Merchant Shipping Bill 2016 in the Parliament.

Cabinet also approved repealing of Merchant Shipping Act 1958 and Coasting Vessels Act 1838.

The bill permits substantially owned vessels and vessels on Bare Boat Cum Demise to be registered as Indian flag vessels and recognises Indian controlled tonnage as a separate category.

It provides for issuing the licences to Indian flag vessels for coastal operation and for port clearance by the Customs authorities and separate rules for coastal shipping.

It introduces welfare measures for seafarers and insurance for crew of vessels with net tonnage less than 15 tons.

It also calls for registration of few residuary category of vessels not covered under any statute and makes provisions for security-related aspects.

It also provides for survey, inspection and certification of vessels to enable simplified regime for convenience of Indian shipping industry.

About Merchant Shipping Legislation

Merchant Shipping Bill 2016 affects provisions pertaining to 7 different conventions namely:

• Intervention Convention 1969,
• Search and Rescue Convention 1979,
• Protocol for Prevention of Pollution from Ships Annex VI to Marine Pollution Convention, Convention for Control and Management of Ships Ballast Water and Sediments 2004,
• Nairobi Wreck Removal Convention 2007, Salvage Convention 1989 and
• International Convention for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage, 2001.
• Merchant Shipping Act 1958 has been amended between 1966 and 2014 nearly 17 times
• Sections now total 560 while provisions have been shortened to 280 sections in the bill

UP CM Akhilesh Yadav has launched state wide integrated emergency services UP-100 in Lucknow.

The UP-100 is the official name of Uttar Pradesh Police Emergency Management System previously called dial 100 project.

The new high-tech centralised emergency system will ensure that police reach a caller in a maximum of twenty minutes in rural areas and within 15 minutes in urban areas.

UP-100 has been established to provide emergency public services.

UP-100 will be available in 11 districts of the state and later will cover all remaining districts.

Uttar Pradesh: Most Populous State

• Created in April 1937 as the United Provinces during British rule
• Was renamed UP in 1950
• Capital : Lucknow
• State has 32 large and small rivers
• Longest river in India, Ganga flows through this state

DoT has moved a proposal to permit Wi-FI in flights. Fliers may soon be able to use voice and video services through Wi-Fi abroad with the Department of Telecom moving a proposal in this regard.

Wi-Fi service sand phone calls are not permitted on flights flying over Indian air space.

Proposal for providing onboard Wi-Fi services involved amendment of the Indian Telegraph Act 1885 and the the Indian Telegraph Rules.

Currently Wi-Fi inflight Entertainment System (Transmitting - Portable Electronic Device) is an independent system and is not connected to aircraft control systems making it safe for aircraft operations.

Numerous countries including the US allow inflight Wi-FI services.

Internationally, many airlines are offering Wi-Fi passengers but they currently have to switch off their facility when they enter the Indian airspace.

Generally, Wi-Fi facility for fliers can be provided either through air to ground technology or satellite connectivity the latter being more expensive.

Union Textiles Minister Smt. Smriti Irani distributed PAHCHAN identity cards to artisans in 5 clusters of Gujarat namely Jamnagar, Naroda, Surendranagar, Amreli and Kalol.

• She also announced that 20 artisans of each of these five clusters will be imparted training under Guru Shishya Parampara, where nationally acclaimed designers will train the artisans.
• Artisans belonging to minority communities, SC, ST and BPL families will also be provided free tool kits as per the art
• PAHCHAN ID cards will give national identity to artisans which will be covered under the national database
• Artisans will be able to benefit from government schemes as per the card
• It is a unique identity for handicraft artisans of the nation

It provides the following benefits:


• Easy loan, Insurance and Credit guarantee
• Easy to avail benefits of the schemes run by Government
• Easy to participate in any domestic/ international fair/event
• The artisan can get the benefit of life insurance and Rs. 1200 per year for the his/her children studying between class IX and class XII

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar launched a new scheme called Har Ghar Bijli Yojana which was launched by him as part of Seven Nischya Scheme in Bihar

• The scheme was launched during a program in Bihar
• The scheme will be implemented in the current financial year and electricity connections will be provided to 20 million homes
• Survey was conducted in 1.95 million homes before the scheme was launched
• Under this scheme, the government will pay money for connection to people not having money
• Consumer will then have to pay money in later instalments under the Yojana
• The goal of electrification is aimed for by 2018

Mehbooba Mufti, the CM of J&K has on 14th Nov 2016 formally launched the World Bank funded Jhelum Tawi flood recovery project in Srinagar.

• The project seeks reconstruction and rehabilitation of infrastructure post 2014 floods in the state.
• The project was pursued by former CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed following devastating floods in 2014
• In January 2016, the Government of India and the World Bank signed a USD 250 million credit agreement as per the Jhelum and Tawi Flood Recovery Project
• Project is funded by credit from the International Development Association, the concessionary lending arm of the World Bank with a mature of 25 years including a 5 year grace period
• Project aims at reconstruction and recovery of support in flood affected areas where public infrastructure and livelihoods are badly impacted
• The project restores critical infrastructure damaged by floods using global best practices.
• Infrastructure will be designed to improve resilience to future instances of flooding, landslide and seismic risk
• It will focus on 20 flood affected areas in the state including Pulwama , Kupwara, Baramulla and Jammu.
• Apart from reconstruction, the project will also focus on disaster risk mitigation.

Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship on 9th Nov 2016 launched the Pradhan Mantri Yuva Yojana to boost up the ecosystem of entrepreneurship for young persons.

• The scheme was launched for a time period of 5 years with project cost of INR 499.94 crore.
• It offers entrepreneurship education and training to 7 lakh students in 5 years through 3050 institutes.
• It will also offer easy access to information and mentor credit, advocacy and network to create a way out for youngsters.
• The institutes under the Yojana include 2200 higher learning institutes, 300 schools, 500 ITIs and 50 Entrepreneurship Development Centres.
• Institutes will carry out training through Massive Open Online Courses.
• Ministry also unveiled guidelines for State Engagement under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 2.0.
• It allocates over INR 3000 for States to achieve this target of training 10 million people in over 4 years.
• It also launched the Lab Guidelines towards standardisation of lab equipment across skill development training centres in the nation.

Following the Scooty scheme for girls, the J&K Government has announced the launch of the All Terrain Bike programme for meritorious boys of lower economic strata.

• The state government on the initiative of CM Mufti made the announcements.
• The bikes will be provided to male students of 10th standard in a government school.
• The motorcycles will be provided on a 90:10 basis where 90 percent of the cost will be borne by the government and 10 percent by the student.
• Boys in 10th standard belonging to lower economic background who has to cover a distance of more than 2 km from the home to the school and shall secure more than 65 percent in 10th standard exams will be eligible for the scheme if he continues to pursue his education.

The government of India has constituted a national tourism advisory council with top officials of leading ministries and key names from the private sector as members take steps to help people to make the nation an international hub.

• The Union tourism ministry on 28th Oct 2016 issued an order which said that this council, with a tenure of 3 years will act as a think tank and advise the government on numerous policy matters relating to tourism.
• Secretaries of Union Home, Finance, Foreign, Culture, Civil Aviation, Urban Development, Road Transport and Highways, Shipping and Drinking Water, Sanitation are members of this council along with chiefs such as the Railway Board and ITDC.