15.04.2007

• Sales tax reform and transfer of taxing power on services to states
• As part of the efforts to move towards a single GST (Goods and Services Tax) by 2010, the Government of India is transferring the power of service tax levy on 77 services to states. It has further allowed them to impose VAT (Value Added Tax) on tobacco products.
• Form D, which enables the Government departments to procure goods by paying a concessional tax rate of 4% in interstate trade also is being done away with.
• SHCIL CMD sacked
• R. Jayaraman Iyer, the CMD of Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited has been asked to proceed on leave by the shareholders of the country’s largest depository service provider.
• This follows allegations that he divested equity stake of SHCIL Services, a subsidiary of SHCIL without seeking approval from the board.
• What is pole position in car racing?
• Today’s paper had Ferrari’s Formula One driver Felipe Massa’s photo on the front page with the caption “Pole Position Again!” What does this pole position mean?
• In circuit motorsport, a driver has pole position when he starts a race at the front of the grid. The term comes from the horse racing term where the number one starter starts on the inside next to the inside pole. The term made its way, along with several other customs, to auto racing. Grid position is usually determined by a separate qualifying session where drivers try to set the fastest lap, or based on their position in the previous race.
• Different motorsport series use different formats for determining which driver has the opportunity to start from pole position.
• Want to know more? Follow this.
• India-China border dispute
• The border talks are focused on the areas of disagreement along the 3600 km border particularly, on Tawang monastery which China wants to take control due to political implications. But India’s stated position is that it will not agree to any solution that requires disturbing the existing population on both sides of the Line of Actual Control.
• Rhesus monkey’s DNA matrix mapped

• Scientists have decoded the genome sequence of rhesus monkeys proving that they share 93% of man’s genetic make-up, which may help research into chronic illnesses.
• The decoding of the genetic make-up of the chimpanzee in 2005 revealed that man and chimpanzee share 99% of genes. Chimpanzees diverged from humans some 6 million years ago, while rhesus monkeys are relative ancient and separated from man’s lineage some 25 million years ago.
• Ecuador’s President
• Rafael Correa
• Ecuador has territorial jurisdiction over Galapagos Islands.
• British naturalist Charles Darwin brought these islands to fame with his studies into evolution.
• The Pool (movie)
• It won the special jury prize at the Sundance film festival this year.
• It starred Nana Patekar.
• It is a tale of an underage hotel worker obsessed with a swimming pool at a lavish home in Goa. His attempts to interact with the family who own the pool lead to unexpected twists and turns.
• Sundarbans
• The 10,000 sqkm forests, the largest of their kind in the world, lie within the delta of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers in the Bay of Bengal.
• P.C. Joshi
• The veteran CPI leader’s birth centenary was celebrated recently.
• Prince William splits with his girl friend
• His girl friend for five years, the 25 year old Kate Middleton has split from him, in an amicable way.
• The British were perhaps expecting a repeat of Charles and Diana’s fairytale wedding for the two.
• UPDATE: I was corrected rightly by Ritu about the nationality of Kate Middleton. She is a Briton. She is not from South Africa as was originally reported by me.