UPSC 2017-18: PIB Summary and Analysis Nov 10

Dehdaniyon Ka Utsav 

• The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, graced the Dehdaniyon Ka Utsav organised by the Dadhichi Deh Dan Samiti
• The President appealed to doctors, educational institutions, teachers and religious leaders to spread awareness about body and organ donation.
• He said that due to poverty some people may be compelled to sell their body organs, and this was unacceptable.

Some facts

• The President said that an estimated 500,000 people die every year in our country due to unavailability of organs that can be transplanted.
• Of them, 200,000 suffer from liver diseases and 50,000 from cardiovascular diseases.
• In addition, approximately 150,000 people await kidney transplantation.

Second Meeting of EAC-PM focuses on Job Creation, Social Sector and Infrastructure 

• The Second Meeting of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister chaired by Dr. Bibek Debroy, Member NITI Aayog, today spelt out a clear road map for stepping up skill development
• The unique feature of the new Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister is turning out to be its ability to link economic growth with social aspects, with greater last mile connectivity.

Agenda

• The Council is evolving the design of a new Economy Tracking Monitor, linking economic growth indicators with social indicators for last mile connectivity.

Economic Advisory Council

• Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (PMEAC) is a non-constitutional, non-permanent and independent body constituted to give economic advice to the Government of India, specifically the Prime Minister
• The council serves to highlight key economic issues facing the country to the government of India from a neutral viewpoint
• It advises the Prime Minister on a whole host of economic issues like inflation, microfinance, industrial output, etc.
• There is no fixed definition of the exact number of members and staff of the PMEAC.

National Entrepreneurship Awards

• The National Entrepreneurship Awards have been instituted by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MoSDE) to encourage a culture of entrepreneurship across the country.
• These premier awards seek to recognise and honour entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship ecosystem builders for their outstanding efforts.
• The National Entrepreneurship Awards seek to recognise the efforts and achievements of exceptional entrepreneurs and those individuals and organisations who are working in the field of entrepreneurship development.
• The Awards also seek to highlight models of excellence for others to emulate and improve upon.

Context

National Entrepreneurship Award 2017 under Mentor (Government) Category awarded to Dr. Renu Swarup, Senior Adviser, DBT 

Cabinet approves MoU between India and Philippines on agriculture and related fields 

Significance

• The MoU will improve bilateral cooperation in the field of agriculture and will be mutually beneficial to both countries. 
• It will promote understanding of best agricultural practices in the two countries and will help in better productivity as well as improved global market access. 
• This MoU provides for cooperation in the fields of rice production and processing, multi cropping system, dryland farming systems, bio-organic farming, solid and water conservation and management, soil fertility, sericulture, agro forestry, livestock improvement 

Structure

• The MoU provides for constitution of Joint Working Group composed of equal number of representatives. The Joint Working Group shall meet once every two years alternatively in the Philippines and India. 

Cabinet approves Joint Interpretative Declaration between India and Colombia

• Cabinet has given its approval for signing the Joint Interpretative Declaration (JID) between India and Colombia regarding the existing Agreement for the Promotion and Protection of Investments between India and Colombia 

What is it?

• The JID would impart clarity to the interpretation of the existing Agreement as it includes interpretative notes to be jointly adopted for many clauses, including, the definition of investor, definition of investment, Fair and Equitable Treatment (FET), National Treatment (NT) and Most Favored Nation (MFN) treatment, expropriation, Investor – State Dispute Settlement provision and Denial of Benefits.
• Joint Interpretative Declarations/Statements in general play an important supplementary role in strengthening the investment treaty regime.

Cabinet approves Agreement between India and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to taxes on income 

Background

Background:

• the Central Government is authorized under Section 90 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 to enter into an Agreement with a foreign country or specified territory for avoidance of double taxation of income, for exchange of information for the prevention of evasion or avoidance of income-tax chargeable under the Income-tax Act, 1961.

What is Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA)?

• A DTAA is a tax treaty signed between two or more countries. Its key objective is that tax-payers in these countries can avoid being taxed twice for the same income.
• A DTAA applies in cases where a tax-payer resides in one country and earns income in another.
• DTAAs can either be comprehensive to cover all sources of income or be limited to certain areas such as taxing of income from shipping, air transport, inheritance, etc.
• India has DTAAs with more than eighty countries, of which comprehensive agreements include those with Australia, Canada, Germany, Mauritius, Singapore, UAE, the UK and US.

Why is it important?

• DTAAs are intended to make a country an attractive investment destination by providing relief on dual taxation. Such relief is provided by exempting income earned abroad from tax in the resident country or providing credit to the extent taxes have already been paid abroad. DTAAs also provide for concessional rates of tax in some cases.

Cabinet approves the protocol amending the Agreement between India and Kyrgyz for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income