1)Maareech –Advanced Torpedo Defence System of Indian Navy :-
- SMB (Seakeeping and Manoeuvring Basin) facility is one of its kind in the country, set up as a joint effort of DRDO and Indian Navy. The facility puts India among the few nations in the world having the capability to undertake comprehensive hydrodynamic model testing of naval platforms and weapon systems. SMB would help to design and build state-of-the-art naval combatants such as submarines, ships, torpedoes, etc.
- Maareech, a joint project of Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL), Kochi and NSTL, Visakhapatnam is a state-of-the-art indigenous system for torpedo detection and countermeasures. This system offers a complete solution to detect and locate the incoming torpedo and to apply countermeasures to protect naval platform against torpedo attack. Two production grade Maareech systems have been developed and user evaluation trials completed onboard two Indian Navy ships.
2)Children’s day and Legacy of Nehru:-
Nehru was the foremost architect of India, his contribution is unparalleled from bringing India out of the clutch of Colonial masters to an Independent India as we see today. His policy of non-alignment has created the necessary space for our foreign policy makers. His intellect of not giving into any particular power bloc in his heydays , gave India its Independent foreign policy. As he wisely said , the modern temples of India are not the one people go to pray ,but the one where people go to work – He saw the Industry as the temple of modern India. His achievements are well-known and so his philosophy. He is best described by the foremost architect of Singapore – Lee Kuan Yew , who observed that ” Nehru is the demigod who chose not to be a dictator” . As the nation celebrates his birthday, we have complied the saying of the first Prime minister of this great country :-
- On life:- “Life is like a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is determinism; the way you play it is free will.”
- On Peace :- “Peace is not a relationship of nations. It is a condition of mind brought about by a serenity of soul. Peace is not merely the absence of war. It is also a state of mind. Lasting peace can come only to peaceful people”
- On Capitalism :- “The forces in a capitalist society, if left unchecked, tend to make the rich richer and the poor poorer.”
- On Culture :- “Culture is the widening of the mind and of the spirit“
- On Democracy :- “Democracy is good. I say this because other systems are worse”
- Empowering People :- “The man who has gotten everything he wants is all in favor of peace and order.”
- On Democracy and Adult franchise:-
In 1951 Dec 20th, Nehru, while campaigning for the first democratic elections in India, took a short break to address a UNESCO symposium in Delhi. Although he believed democracy was the best form of governance, while speaking at the symposium he wondered loud…
“The quality of men who are selected by these modern democratic methods of adult franchise gradually deteriorates because of lack of thinking and the noise of propaganda….He[the voter] reacts to sound and to the din, he reacts to repetition and he produces either a dictator or a dumb politician who is insensitive. Such a politician can stand all the din in the world and still remain standing on his two feet and, therefore, he gets selected in the end because the others have collapsed because of the din ”
3)Rajiv Khel Abhiyan:-
It is a centrally sponsored scheme. It was launched in 2014 in place of erstwhile Panchayat Yuva Krida aur Khel Abhiyan (PYKKA).
Objective :-
- To provide universal access to sports in rural areas and promote sports culture among both boys and girls.
- To harness available and potential sporting talent among rural youth, through a well-designed competition structure from the block level.
- To put in place an effective mechanism to identify and nurture sporting talent in rural areas.
News:- Karwar district in Karnataka is gearing up to host various games under the State-level Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan. State-level competitions in Kho Kho, Kabaddi, Judo and Table Tennis will be conducted under the scheme.
4)Terrorist Strike at Paris:-
A set of shootings and explosions hit Paris late on Friday, killing at least 129 people and injuring more than 350 in one of the city’s densest districts on a Friday night. The identity of the terrorists and their motives are still unknown; ISIS claimed responsibility, but the veracity of the group’s claim is unclear
ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks, citing France’s “crusader campaign” in an apparent reference to the country’s role in air strikes against the group in Syria and Iraq. But the veracity of the claim remains unclear, although President Hollande blamed ISIS, as well.
5) Transparency International :-
Note:- This institution and its ranking has been mentioned by Prime Minister of India in his Wembley Stadium address while in UK visit.
Transparency International (TI) is a non-governmental organization that monitors and publicizes corporate and political corruption in international development. Originally founded in Germany in May 1993 as a not-for-profit organization, Transparency International is now an international non-governmental organization.
It publishes an annual Global Corruption Barometer and Corruption Perceptions Index, a comparative listing of corruption worldwide
India’s Ranking :-
Corruption Perceptions Index (2014) Rank: 85 /175
Significance:- India is ranked less corrupt than China in 18 Years.India jumped 10 places to rank 85 out of 175 countries and China dropped 20 places to rank 100, according to Wall Street Journal.
Criticism :- This being a NGO , it’s ranking was challenged from time to time and criticized for having vested interest.
Analysis:- Though the index is a good news for India, yet , the ranking by NGO instead of a governmental platform such World Bank should be treated with due care and due diligence.And this principle of caution applies for any other NGO as they are not inter-governmental engagements.
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Petrol in India is cheaper than in countries like Hong Kong, Germany and the UK but costlier than in China, Brazil, Japan, the US, Russia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, a Bank of Baroda Economics Research report showed.
Rising fuel prices in India have led to considerable debate on which government, state or central, should be lowering their taxes to keep prices under control.
The rise in fuel prices is mainly due to the global price of crude oil (raw material for making petrol and diesel) going up. Further, a stronger dollar has added to the cost of crude oil.
Amongst comparable countries (per capita wise), prices in India are higher than those in Vietnam, Kenya, Ukraine, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Venezuela. Countries that are major oil producers have much lower prices.
In the report, the Philippines has a comparable petrol price but has a per capita income higher than India by over 50 per cent.
Countries which have a lower per capita income like Kenya, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Venezuela have much lower prices of petrol and hence are impacted less than India.
“Therefore there is still a strong case for the government to consider lowering the taxes on fuel to protect the interest of the people,” the report argued.
India is the world’s third-biggest oil consuming and importing nation. It imports 85 per cent of its oil needs and so prices retail fuel at import parity rates.
With the global surge in energy prices, the cost of producing petrol, diesel and other petroleum products also went up for oil companies in India.
They raised petrol and diesel prices by Rs 10 a litre in just over a fortnight beginning March 22 but hit a pause button soon after as the move faced criticism and the opposition parties asked the government to cut taxes instead.
India imports most of its oil from a group of countries called the ‘OPEC +’ (i.e, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Russia, etc), which produces 40% of the world’s crude oil.
As they have the power to dictate fuel supply and prices, their decision of limiting the global supply reduces supply in India, thus raising prices
The government charges about 167% tax (excise) on petrol and 129% on diesel as compared to US (20%), UK (62%), Italy and Germany (65%).
The abominable excise duty is 2/3rd of the cost, and the base price, dealer commission and freight form the rest.
Here is an approximate break-up (in Rs):
a)Base Price | 39 |
b)Freight | 0.34 |
c) Price Charged to Dealers = (a+b) | 39.34 |
d) Excise Duty | 40.17 |
e) Dealer Commission | 4.68 |
f) VAT | 25.35 |
g) Retail Selling Price | 109.54 |
Looked closely, much of the cost of petrol and diesel is due to higher tax rate by govt, specifically excise duty.
So the question is why government is not reducing the prices ?
India, being a developing country, it does require gigantic amount of funding for its infrastructure projects as well as welfare schemes.
However, we as a society is yet to be tax-compliant. Many people evade the direct tax and that’s the reason why govt’s hands are tied. Govt. needs the money to fund various programs and at the same time it is not generating enough revenue from direct taxes.
That’s the reason why, govt is bumping up its revenue through higher indirect taxes such as GST or excise duty as in the case of petrol and diesel.
Direct taxes are progressive as it taxes according to an individuals’ income however indirect tax such as excise duty or GST are regressive in the sense that the poorest of the poor and richest of the rich have to pay the same amount.
Does not matter, if you are an auto-driver or owner of a Mercedes, end of the day both pay the same price for petrol/diesel-that’s why it is regressive in nature.
But unlike direct tax where tax evasion is rampant, indirect tax can not be evaded due to their very nature and as long as huge no of Indians keep evading direct taxes, indirect tax such as excise duty will be difficult for the govt to reduce, because it may reduce the revenue and hamper may programs of the govt.