Indian Current Affairs: 15.02.2008

Government is working on a plan to halve tobacco cultivation in 10 years, in view of the health risks linked with tobacco consumption. Before this, the government wants to enable farmers to diversity into other crops.
The compensation plan for the farmers will require more than Rs. 2,400 crores over a period of 10 years.
At present about 1.5 mn kg of tobacco is auctioned to tobacco companies every year.
AP and Karnataka are among the major tobacco-producing states in the country.
It is estimated that tobacco is grown on 2 lakh hectares. Exports of tobacco in 2006-07 stood at Rs. 1261 crores. The government collects about Rs. 8,400 crores per annum from cigarette sales.
Cigarettes account for just 14% of all tobacco consumption in India.

Both the countries started discussion about the 25 year old tax treaty that spares Mauritius based FIIs (Foreign Institutional Investors) from paying capital gains tax on sale of shares of Indian companies.
India is proposing a ‘source based’ taxation regime on capital gains made from sale of shares. What this means that if the Mauritius based FIIs and residents make profits by selling Indian shares in India, then they would have to pay capital gains tax.
This assumes significance in view of the fact that currently, close to 50% of the out-bound investments from Maurtius come into India.

Remember this person? For many of you hailing from UP and Bihar, this may be a household name.
He is sentenced by the CBI court for murdering a CPM MLA (Ajit Sarkar) from Purnea in 1998.
10 years for a life conviction from the time the murder is committed. What do you say?
Use this info in your general essay on reforming law and legal procedures in India.

The President is likely to issue a notification setting in motion the process of holding the next round of assembly polls and the 2009 general election under the redrawn electoral map.
The Presidential notification will cover 24 states and Union Territories.
Under the redrawn map, the number of seats reserved for SCs and STs will go up from the existing 119 to 132. The increase will be 6 for SCs and 7 for STs.

India and the US are reported to have started discussions on an agreement to promote bilateral investment.
The treaty is likely to be on the lines of the BIPA (Bilateral Investment Promotion Agreements) that India entered into with some countries like Australia, France, Germany, Russia etc.
But the crucial difference is in the US seeking some guarantees, which are very hard to accept from the Indian point of view. The US seeks either a national treatment or most favoured national treatment for US investors (whichever is better) when they seek to initiate investment in India.
But while India gives such treatment only in the post-investment phase, the US is seeking it in pre-investment phase also.

What this means is that if a US investor suffers a loss when he is still in the process of establishing his business in India, he would have to be compensated through a court of law.
One more contentious clause is that investors would have the right to submit an investment dispute to international arbitration. That is they would like to stay away from using India’s courts.

Do we need such clauses? Why don’t you express your opinions in the shout-box? Argue, debate and come to a good conclusion.

This phrase is there in today’s ET.
It is very educative to look at the word hagiography. Look at it in our Discover It today. It is here.
Then a biopic is a biographical movie.
Heard about “A Kiss – Not For the Press”?
This is a hagiographic biopic about Mr. Putin, the Russian President.

This one is for my non-Civil Services aspirant readers. Especially my stock market friends.

Want to unleash the innovator within you? Can’t get a better advice than this one in today’s ET.
Look at it here. Worth a read. Very interesting.

Indian Current Affairs