9 PM Current Affairs Brief – 13th December, 2017

A job crisis, in figures: Context Multiple data sets confirm sluggish pace of employment creation. Paucity of data can no longer be an excuse for the lack of debate. Paucity (Insufficient) of Data Much of the debate on employment performance over the last few years has been mired in ambiguity due to the absence of… Continue reading A job crisis, in figures:

Centre to give 500 to TB patients every month: Context About 35 lakh identified tuberculosis patients across the country will soon get 500 every month from the Centre as social support. Earlier Proposal Earlier proposal was to provide this cash benefit only to tribal and BPL patients, all the 35 lakh identified patients would be covered now Why The cash benefit for social… Continue reading Centre to give 500 to TB patients every month:

Human rights and Indian values:  Context Neither civilizational ethos nor the mere enshrining of constitutional morality is enough to deliver on basic rights Hate crimes Author begins by stating that the widely reported hate crimes committed in our country very recently, have been justified in the name of injuring the sensibilities of Hindus. They are,… Continue reading Human rights and Indian values: 

Investment facilitation, norms for small firms gain push at WTO talks Context Ongoing WTO’s Nairobi ministerial News Midway through the negotiations involving 164 World Trade Organisation (WTO) member nations being held here, India is holding its ground on issues such as food security as well as the centrality of development in the talks However, a notable group of countries, including Pakistan and China,… Continue reading Investment facilitation, norms for small firms gain push at WTO talks

Ministry clarifies tax norms for IT exports: Context The Finance Ministry has clarified that apprehensions related to the negative effects of certain tax demands on the software industry were without basis Clarification Government issued the following statement “It was reported in certain sections of the press that tax officials had raised tax demand in respect of export of IT/IT enabled… Continue reading Ministry clarifies tax norms for IT exports:

Centre issues bid guidelines  for procuring wind power: Context The government on Tuesday issued guidelines for the procurement of wind power through a bidding process What has been done? The government has issued guidelines for the procurement of wind power through a bidding process, which included the standardisation of the process and a definition of the roles and responsibilities of various… Continue reading Centre issues bid guidelines  for procuring wind power:

‘Fix GST credit claims or face scrutiny’: Context The Centre urged taxpayers to correct their TRAN-1 forms to avail transitional credit under GST by December 27, failing which the government would be forced to initiate audit proceedings in cases of high credit claims What has finance ministry said? Fin Ministry said that while t had received some claims for high transitional… Continue reading ‘Fix GST credit claims or face scrutiny’:

India, Australia call for ‘open’ Asia­ Pacific zone: Context Continuing with the strategic bilateral discussion, Australia and India on Tuesday discussed the need to maintain the Asia-Pacific region as a “free” and “open” zone under the “2+2” dialogue model which includes the foreign and defence secretaries of both sides. Both sides call for the need to maintain the region as… Continue reading India, Australia call for ‘open’ Asia­ Pacific zone:

Information at the court’s discretion: Context The judiciary’s brazen disregard for the RTI has now got a stamp of approval from a high court Backdrop Resistance of the Indian Judiciary to RTI The apex court summarily rejects RTI requests, and insists that applicants exclusively request information under its administrative rules (Supreme Court Rules) framed in… Continue reading Information at the court’s discretion: 

With EVMs, no room for malpractice, says EC Context The Election Commission on Tuesday said there was no room for any electoral malpractice during the first phase of the Assembly elections due to its robust security and administrative protocols for the handling of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPATs) Elaborate framework in place to prevent misuse,… Continue reading With EVMs, no room for malpractice, says EC

Plea on ‘Vande Mataram’ dismissed Context The Supreme Court has dismissed a plea to provide equal statutory protection to ‘Vande Mataram’ as the national anthem ‘Jana Gana Mana’ Bench says a court of law cannot direct legislature to make amends in legislation A Bench of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y.… Continue reading Plea on ‘Vande Mataram’ dismissed

Special courts to try politicians: Context The Centre informed the Supreme Court that it will set up at least 12 special courts to try exclusively criminal cases involving MPs and MLAs. Backdrop The affidavit was in response to a Supreme Court direction in November to the government to frame a Central scheme for setting up special courts across the country exclusively… Continue reading Special courts to try politicians: