📰 Human rights and Indian values
Neither civilisational ethos nor the mere enshrining of constitutional morality is enough to deliver on basic rights
•Dadri, Alwar and Rajsamand are names that must ring a bell for every aware Indian. In a little more than a year these have been sites where a fellow citizen has been brutally murdered by another Indian. They should be a source of deep shame to us as these were not random events. In every case the victim was a Muslim from the poorest sections of our country. Mohammad Akhlaq, Pehlu Khan and Afrazul Khan were murdered for the identity assigned to them and the alleged guilt that is thereby claimed to cling to them.
Acts of hate
•Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi was quick to respond to the murder of Afrazul Khan stating that it should not be seen as religiously motivated but as a criminal act. Not only is this difficult to sustain given the explanation by Afrazul Khan’s assailant that he was only seeking revenge for “cross-community” marital relationships but it also ignores a pattern in the three killings in question. In all cases the murders have been justified in the name of injuring the sensibilities of Hindus. They are, for all to see, unmistakably acts of hate committed against a member of a religious minority.
•Four days after the killing of Afrazul Khan on December 6, India celebrated Human Rights Day. December 10 is the anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the UN General Assembly. As an early supporter of the UN movement and a constant participant in its deliberations, India has, in international fora, constantly endorsed the charter of rights that the declaration unfurled.
•On December 10, at an official ceremony at Delhi’s Vigyan Bhavan Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu said two noteworthy things. He first affirmed India’s commitment to human rights emphasising the duty of governments to ensure them to individuals. Second, he observed that human rights existed in India not due to some constitutional morality but because of the DNA of Indian civilisation. To clarify what he meant he chanted from the Upanishad “Sarve Janaha Sukhino Bhavantu”, loosely translated as “May all be happy”.
•The Vice-President was obviously referring to the many assurances of the freedom of thought and expression and the right to life and liberty in the Constitution, suggesting that their provenance lies in the immemorial history of the country’s civilisation. While there may be a grain of truth in this observation it doesn’t count for much when it comes to repeated violation of human rights in India, of which the murders of Mohammad Akhlaq, Pehlu Khan and Afrazul Khan are instances.
Role of government
•In the light of these violations, it may have been more helpful if the Vice-President had said that the constitutional provisions are inadequate by themselves and the role of government is fundamental in advancing them. In fact, it is precisely because we cannot rely on civilisational values that may or may not be enshrined in the constitution to deliver us rights that we adopt democracy as the form of government.
•Historically, votaries of civilisational values have struggled to break free of cultural prejudices and accord similar status to other civilisations. Not very long ago, colonialism had been justified on civilisational terms, with the very term “civilised” being used to differentiate the West from the indigenous populations of the lands colonised by Europe. It is perhaps this that led Gandhi to respond to the query of what he thought of Western civilisation by saying, “I think it would be a good idea.” Gandhi is unlikely to have been any softer on champions of the superiority of eastern civilisations.
•Civilisational hubris abounds in claims of “the inclusivity of Hinduism” or “the egalitarianism of Islam”. Whatever be the exhortations in the texts that underlie these religions, the history of caste and gender inequality in India and Islamic societies, respectively, show them to have been neither inclusive nor egalitarian. It is clear that civilisational values, in our case Indian, are far from sufficient to deliver us the rights that we seek to make our own.
•Though the UN’s declaration of human rights is expansive, in his speech the Vice-President took it further to include social and economic rights. It is clear that Indian civilisation has not had much success in ensuring their delivery. If any progress has at all been made in the desired direction, it has been after the adoption of a democratic form of governance; an arrangement that is distinctly non-Indian in its origins. In terms of human development, 21st century India is radically different from what it was in the 20th century. That economic inequality has steadily risen and ecological stress is written all over the country cannot take away from the fact that there has been progress of a form that has collapsed social distance. The rise to the prime ministership of India of Mr. Narendra Modi is the best testament to this. There is social churning in India, with some of it having come through affirmative action and some of it through economic transformation in which the more recent liberalisation of the economy has had some role.
•However, as India has managed to shed some of the centuries old practices that maintained social distance due to caste and economic differentiation, newer axes of power have emerged. We have begun to see an unimaginable rise of violence against women and Muslims. Hardening patriarchy and Hindu chauvinism are India’s unanticipated demons. These have taken us by surprise, and as a society we appear to be incapable of handling them.
Ways to tackle intolerance
•Our task of ensuring human rights in India is, however, made no more easy after rejecting the potential of civilisational values and of the instrumentality of economic growth combined with constitutional morality in achieving such a state. While “constitutional morality”, a term used by Ambedkar to appropriately reject any role for “societal morality” in the Republic, is of course a useful guide to the courts when it comes to adjudicating between individuals, it is by itself helpless in preventing acts of violence. The efficacy of constitutional provisions is entirely dependent on the government machinery entrusted to our elected representatives. An effective protection of individuals, in this case women and minorities, from acts of violence requires the power of the state to weigh in on their side. In too many cases of violence against women, Muslims and Dalits, the Indian state is distinguished by its absence.
•In a recent paper Canada-based economist Mukesh Eswaran demonstrated that it is possible to understand “9/11” and home-grown terrorism in western Europe as a response to the historical wrongs inflicted on Muslim societies by Western powers, notably the invasion of Iraq. This is a useful corrective to the collective gasp of incredulity let out by Western elites when addressing the violence unleashed against them by Islamic groups. Transferring Eswaran’s reasoning to the Indian context, one might argue that India should contain violence against its Muslims to ensure the safety of Hindus. But such crass instrumentalism would be unworthy of a great civilisation. We want to ensure the flourishing of all the peoples of India not out of self-preservation but because we want to be civilised. Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, anyone?
📰 Centre to give ₹500 to TB patients every month
Experts also recommend take-home rations apart from cash benefit
•About 35 lakh identified tuberculosis patients across the country will soon get ₹500 every month from the Centre as social support.
•Sunil D Khaparde, Deputy Director General (TB) and Head of the Central TB Division, told The Hindu that although the earlier proposal was to provide this cash benefit only to tribal and BPL patients, all the 35 lakh identified patients would be covered now.
•“We will start providing the cash benefit for social support that will cover loss of wages, travel and mainly nutrition, soon. All hurdles have been cleared and we are waiting for the finance department’s approval,” he said.
•“Some states are already providing financial support. Similar support will be extended to all TB patients and their families which can be covered under the ambit of direct benefit transfer using Aadhaar,” he said.
Guidance document
•The guidance document, based on which this decision was taken, was prepared by a team including Anurag Bhargava, Professor, Department of Medicine, Yenepoya (Deemed to be Univeristy) Manguluru, Anura V Kurpad, Head of the Department of Physiology and Nutrition in St John’s Medical College and Research Institute and other experts in TB and nutrition. It pointed out that under-nutrition is an established risk factor for progression of latent TB infection to active TB.
•According to the guidance document, under-nutrition is a serious co-morbidity in patients with active TB in India, and increases the risk of severe disease, death, drug toxicity, drug malabsorption and relapse after cure. “In the absence of nutritional support, undernourished patients with TB do get enmeshed in a vicious cycle of worsening disease and under-nutrition, which can be detrimental and even fatal. Food insecurity in household contacts of TB patients in India increases their risk of developing active TB. This has serious implications, especially for contacts of patients with multidrug-resistant TB,” the document said.
•“Nutritional assessment, counselling and support are now considered integral aspects of care of TB patient. Therefore these elements need to be integrated into the overall management of patients with active TB in India,” Dr Bhargava told The Hindu. “TB is inextricably linked to determinants of health such as malnutrition and low immunity due to social deprivation and marginalisation. Poor nutrition is increasing the risk by three-fold. Nutritional support will help reduced TB deaths, which is currently at an estimated 4.8 lakh per year,” he said.
Take-home ration
•Welcoming the Centre’s move to provide social support, Dr Bhargava said apart from this patients should also get nutritional assistance. “The state governments should take it upon themselves and provide this. Rather than processed food, take home rations will be better. Some states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu are already doing this,” he said, adding that this will also help in early case detection and treatment compliance.
•“Under-nutrition at the population level contributes to an estimated over one million new cases of annual TB incidence in India. Under-nutrition and tuberculosis (TB) have a bidirectional relationship and studies on nutritional status of TB patients in India have shown high levels of moderate to severe under-nutrition in both women and men,” Dr Bhargava said.
•Quoting former Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General Sowmya Swaminathan’s paper, Dr Bhargava said: “Ultimately reduction of TB burden in India and its elimination will require improving the nutritional status of the community as a whole.”
What the guidance document has
•Guidelines on nutritional assessment, counselling and support
•A simplified field chart for doctors and health workers to make patient-specific assessment of required nutrition
•Recommendation that patients should also be screened for anaemia
•Recommends extra care for management of severely undernourished patients
•Severely undernourished patients should be hospitalised
Why is nutrition important ?
•Weights in TB patients are among the lowest in the world
•50% of adult men weigh below 43 kg
•50% of adult women weigh below 38 kg
📰 Special courts to try politicians, Centre informs SC
Centre has allotted ₹7.8 crore and framed a scheme to set up them, SC told
•The Centre on Tuesday informed the Supreme Court that it will set up at least 12 special courts to try exclusively criminal cases involving MPs and MLAs.
•The government, in an affidavit, said it had allotted ₹7.8 crore and framed a scheme to set up the special courts.
•The document, filed through Reeta Vasishta, Additional Secretary, Law and Justice Ministry, said the scheme had been given in-principle approval by the Finance Ministry on December 8.
1,581 cases
•The court on November 1 directed the Centre to place before it details of 1,581 cases involving MPs and MLAs, as declared by the politicians at the time of filing their nominations during the 2014 general elections.
•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 to try criminal cases involving “political persons”. The court is hearing a PIL petition filed by Supreme Court advocate Ashwini Upadhyay who has sought a lifetime ban on all convicted politicians.
•In a determined effort to cleanse politics of criminality and corruption, the court said it took years, probably decades, to complete the trial against a politician.
•By this time, he or she would have served as a Minister or legislator several times over.
Call for Central scheme
•Countering the Centre’s argument that setting up such courts would depend on the availability of funds with the States, the apex court said “the problem can be resolved by having a Central scheme for setting up of courts exclusively to deal with criminal cases involving political persons on the lines of the fast track courts...”
•A Bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and Navin Sinha had ordered the government to place the scheme before it on December 13, the next date of hearing.
•The scheme should give the details of the funds that are required to set up such courts.
•The Bench said the Supreme Court would directly interact with the State governments on issues like the appointment of judicial officers, public prosecutors, court staff and other requirements of manpower and infrastructure for the special courts.
📰 SC dismisses plea on ‘Vande Mataram’
Bench says a court of law cannot direct legislature to make amends in legislation
•The Supreme Court has dismissed a plea to provide equal statutory protection to ‘Vande Mataram’ as the national anthem ‘Jana Gana Mana’.
•A Bench of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud dismissed the plea represented by senior advocate Pravin H. Parekh, saying that a court of law cannot direct the legislature to make amends in the legislation.
•The special leave petition had challenged a Delhi High Court order dismissing a petition filed by Gautam Morarka that the song ‘Vande Mataram’ should get the same statutory recognition, respect and dignity as the national anthem.
📰 With EVMs, no room for malpractice, says EC
‘Elaborate framework in place to prevent misuse, procedural lapses’.
•Ahead of the second phase of polls in Gujarat, 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).
•The Commission, in a statement, reassured the voters that “it would leave no stone unturned in preserving the purity, integrity and credibility of the elections and reinforcing the faith and trust of the people in the electoral democracy of our country.”
•The EC said it had put in place an elaborate framework of administrative system, security protocols and procedural checks and balances in Gujarat, which prevented any possible misuse of the machines or any procedural lapses in their use.
•The safeguards were being implemented transparently “with the active and documented involvement of political parties, candidates and their representatives at every stage.”
📰 Information at the court’s discretion
The judiciary’s brazen disregard for the RTI has now got a stamp of approval from a high court
•A six-year-long farce concluded at the Delhi High Court on November 21, 2017, and the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 is the worse for it. At issue was the right of citizens to get information from the Supreme Court , and by implication, India’s higher judiciary, which has strongly resisted the RTI. The apex court summarily rejects RTI requests, and insists that applicants exclusively request information under its administrative rules (Supreme Court Rules) framed in 1966, and re-issued with minor changes in 2014. To see why the High Court’s judgment strengthens a culture of opacity in the higher judiciary, we need to delve into the Supreme Court’s engagement, or rather persistent non-engagement with the RTI.
The background
•In April 2010, a former schoolteacher, R.S. Misra, filed an RTI request with the Supreme Court Registry. He had earlier sent two letters to different Justices, essentially demanding redress in a case before the apex court that he had already lost. In an evident attempt at using RTI to fight a judicial battle already lost, he sought “action taken” reports on his letters.
•The Registry could have lawfully disposed of this RTI request by simply stating that no such information was available. Instead, the Registry rejected the application, and asked Mr. Misra to apply under the Supreme Court Rules. Mr. Misra challenged this response before the then Central Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi.
•In May 2011, appearing before the Commission, the Additional Registrar of the Court, Smita Sharma objected only to the use of the RTI, and not to Mr. Misra’s request per se. She maintained that the Supreme Court Rules alone governed access to the information he had sought. Claiming that the Rules were consistent with the RTI, she asked Mr. Gandhi to reinstate the primacy of Supreme Court Rules over the RTI, in line with previous Central Information Commission (CIC) rulings.
•However, as Mr. Gandhi noted in his decision, the Supreme Court Rules undermined the RTI in four key ways. Unlike the RTI Act, the Rules do not provide for: a time frame for furnishing information; an appeal mechanism, and penalties for delays or wrongful refusal of information. Finally, the Rules also make disclosures to citizens contingent upon “good cause shown”. In sum, the Rules allowed the Registry to provide information at its unquestionable discretion, violating the text and spirit of the RTI. Consequently, Mr. Gandhi held that the Supreme Court Rules are inconsistent with the RTI Act, and that the Registry must respond to applications within the RTI framework alone.
A ruse
•This was a landmark ruling. As many applicants, which includes this writer, have found, the apex court’s insistence on its own Rules for providing information is a ruse. Between 2014 and 2016, I attempted to access documents related to a disposed public interest litigation, filing requests under the Supreme Court Rules and the RTI Act. The Registry rejected both requests. The Additional Registrar’s office told me quite transparently over the phone that it would simply not release the information.
•Returning to Mr. Misra’s case, faced with an adverse order from Mr. Gandhi, the Registry filed a writ petition before the Delhi High Court in 2011, prolonging the matter. In essence, the Registry turned Mr. Misra’s request into an RTI v. Rules contest, as it has done for others too.
•Justice S. Muralidhar of the High Court stayed Mr. Gandhi’s decision immediately without addressing Section 23 of the RTI Act, which forbids courts from entertaining “any suit, application or other proceeding in respect of any order made under this Act”. The High Court did not justify how its writ jurisdiction applies to an appeal against a CIC order.
Another ruling
•Six years on, this November, Justice Manmohan overturned Mr. Gandhi’s order. His judgment relies on four planks: Mr. Misra’s application went beyond the RTI; Supreme Court Rules are consistent with the RTI Act; the RTI Act cannot apply to the Supreme Court’s judicial functioning; and Mr. Gandhi should not have deviated from previous CIC rulings.
•The first point is irrelevant, as the Registry could have disposed of the application under the RTI Act in 2010 itself. The issue before the High Court was the Registry’s refusal to abide by the RTI Act. The second and third points are in contradiction. If the RTI Act and Supreme Court Rules are mutually consistent, then why should the Registry privilege the latter? Moreover, Justice Manmohan did not examine the obvious contradictions between the two. And if the RTI does not apply to judicial functioning, then it is inconsistent with the Supreme Court Rules, and must be declared ultra vires or an overreach. The final point is even more untenable. The CIC is not a court of record and Commissioners are not beholden to prior decisions.
•The nub of the matter is that the Supreme Court Registry wants to provide information at its absolute discretion. Its brazen disregard for the RTI has now got a stamp of approval from a court of record. The RTI has suffered another blow, not from the berated political class or the much maligned babus, but from the “gems of institutions” enjoined to protect the law.
📰 India, Australia call for ‘open’ Asia-Pacific zone
Both sides call for the need to maintain the region as a ‘free’ and ‘open’ zone.
•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. The discussion was the first meeting of this level since the two sides participated in the quadrilateral discussion for a new strategic partnership targeting the Asia-Pacific region.
•“Both sides agreed that a free, open, prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacific region serves the long-term interests of all countries in the region and of the world at large. There is a growing convergence of strategic perspectives between the two countries,” said a press statement from the Ministry of External Affairs.
Freedom of navigation
•The “2+2” dialogue of Tuesday was held between Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar and Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra and their Australian counterparts Frances Adamson and Greg Moriarty. The dialogue indicated that the focus remains on freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, where China has been reclaiming land for infrastructure, boosting its maritime influence.
•“All aspects of bilateral relations with a focus on strategic and defence relations between the two countries were reviewed,” the MEA said. Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull and PM Modi had met on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in Manila in November.
📰 Inflation up, industrial growth slows
A separate government release showed that industrial activity growth slowed sharply in October to 2.24%
•Retail inflation accelerated to 4.88% in November on the back of quickening food and oil price rises, according to official data released by the government.
•A separate government release showed that industrial activity growth slowed sharply in October to 2.24%.
•Inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index was at 3.58% in October.
•It quickened to 4.41% in the food and beverages category in November from 2.26% in October.
•In the fuel and light segment it accelerated to 7.92% from 6.36% over the same period.
Volatility is due to food, says expert
•As retail inflation zoomed, experts attributed it to the rise in food and oil prices.
•“The volatility is primarily because of food and oil prices,” Ranen Banerjee, Partner - Public Finance and Economics at PwC India said.
•“But that seeps into others things as well. If oil prices go up, it affects all the other elements in the CPI. The expectation was that inflation would go up. If you look at the variance between RBI’s projections and actual inflation, it is primarily on account of food. If you take out food, then their projections would come quite close.”
•The Monetary Policy Committee in its latest policy review on December 6 kept rates unchanged and raised its inflation forecast for the second half of the financial year to 4.3-4.7%.
•Inflation in the housing segment quickened to 7.36% in November from 6.68% in October, while the clothing and footwear segment saw a more modest acceleration, to 4.96% from 4.68% over the same period.
•Growth in the Index of Industrial Production slowed sharply to 2.24% in October, down from 4.15% in September and 4.46% in August.
•“Prior to this, the Purchasing Managers’ Index for October signalled a reduction in manufacturing growth and that has been confirmed by IIP,” D.K. Srivastava, Chief Policy Advisor at EY India said. “This is partly due to the base effect, as last year October saw strong growth.”
•“The onset of GST initially led to people destocking, so demand for newly manufactured products went down to almost zero,” Mr. Srivastava added. “Thereafter it picked up, but not too much. This should pick up pace from November onwards, and the rate should be higher then.”
•The manufacturing sector saw growth slowing to 2.47% in October from 3.8% in September. While the infrastructure and construction goods sector saw growth accelerating to 5.21% from 0.4% over the same period, the consumer goods segment saw a sharp slowdown during this period—from 3.8% to 0.79%.
•The consumer durables segment contracted for the second consecutive month, by 6.89% in October, compared to a contraction of 3.4% in September.
📰 ‘Fix GST credit claims or face scrutiny’
Centre flags ‘extraordinarily high transitional credit’, warns taxpayers at risk of losing authorities’ trust
•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.
•The Finance Ministry said while it had received some claims for high transitional credit for which there were legitimate explanations, it had also noted that several claims were not bonafide. This behaviour, the ministry said, could erode the trust between tax authorities and the taxpayers.
•“It has been noted that some taxpayers have availed extraordinarily high transitional credit of CGST which is neither commensurate with the trend of input tax credit of the industry nor as maintained by the taxpayer himself in the past,” the Finance Ministry said in a statement. “Some of these high transitional credits may have a bonafide explanation or may be a case of bonafide mistake. However, it has been noted that high transitional credit has been claimed in many cases for which perhaps no bonafide explanation exists. Analysis to identify such units is underway.”
‘Erodes trust’
•“Such behaviour leads to breach of trust between the taxpayer and the tax-administration, which is the bedrock of self-assessment regime in GST,” the ministry said. The ministry urged taxpayers who had claimed transitional credit erroneously to revise their TRAN-1 forms by December 27, 2017, and ensure that only correct and bonafide credit was availed , “failing which the tax administration would be constrained to initiate audit and enforcement action against the identified units”.
•Tax consultants opined that large claims for credit risked drawing scrutiny and that the onus was on companies to exercise care while filing these claims.
•“Quantum of opening credit claimed has been a concern for the Government,” said Pratik Jain, Leader - Indirect Tax at PwC India. “Therefore, the press release nudges the businesses to carefully look at their claims and revise it if needed. Large claims would most likely be scrutinised by the authorities in the next few months.”
•Under GST, a tax payer could file the TRAN-1 form and avail input tax credit on the basis of the closing balance of the input tax credit declared in the last return under the pre-GST regime. This was to be done on a self-declaration basis.
•“Transition to GST provided for trust-based transition of input tax credit...,” the ministry asserted.
•“The government has asked businesses to be cautious with their claims and they should revise it if needed,” said Ansh Bhargava, Head - Growth and Strategy, Taxmann. “One has to be careful with the large claims since they can be scrutinised,” he added.
📰 Centre issues bid guidelines for procuring wind power
Aims to prod windy States to opt for bidding process
•The government on Tuesday 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 stakeholders.
•“The guidelines are applicable for procurement of wind power from grid-connected wind power projects (WPP) having- (a) individual size of 5 MW and above at one site with minimum bid capacity of 25 MW for intra-state projects; and (b) individual size of 50 MW and above at one site with minimum bid capacity of 50 MW for inter-state projects,” the Centre said in a release.
•The guidelines include provisions for compensation in case of grid unavailability, put out a payment security mechanism, standardise the bidding process, and spell out the risk-sharing framework among stakeholders.
‘Good for developers’
•“The payment security approved in the new bidding guidelines has not been seen in PPAs [power purchase agreements] signed by the state distribution utilities [discoms] with wind power developers in the past,” Sabyasachi Majumdar, senior VP & group head, ICRA Ratings said in a note, flagging the development as favourable for developers while improving the bankability of the PPA document. This, along with the measures on compensation for grid curtailment and termination payments, if implemented, is favourable for the wind power developers and improves the bankability of the PPA document.”
•According to the Centre, the guidelines are expected to encourage windy States to opt for the bidding process for the procurement of wind power.
•“After transition of tariff regime from feed in tariffs to bidding route, it was mainly central government bids through SECI which were helping the sector,” the release said. “State bids from Tamil Nadu and Gujarat had objections from the wind sector in absence of guidelines.”
•Most PPAs so far did not provide for a termination clause and termination payments to the developers in case the developer decided to terminate the PPA due to a default by the procurer.
•“In this context, the provisions for termination liability, which, along with substitution rights as approved in bidding guidelines, are expected to provide greater protection to the developers and the lenders,” ICRA said in the note.
•Mr. Majumdar cautioned that these new regulations are applicable only for new projects, and that the concerns about termination would still apply to older projects.
📰 Ministry clarifies tax norms for IT exports
Apprehensions misplaced, says Centre
•The Finance Ministry on Tuesday clarified that apprehensions related to the negative effects of certain tax demands on the software industry were without basis.
•“It was reported in certain sections of the press that tax officials had raised tax demand in respect of export of IT/IT enabled services provided to clients abroad and that this had been done on the basis of place of supply rules in respect of these services which were apparently provided in India and therefore were liable to be taxed,” the statement explained.
•It added that subsequently, the Commissioner (Appeals) had set aside the orders of the lower adjudicating authority where refund was disallowed and has also upheld the orders where refund had been granted.
•“Thus, the apprehensions expressed in those sections of the press about the negative effects on the software industry are without basis,” it added.
📰 Investment facilitation, norms for small firms gain push at WTO talks
China, Pak. among many others seeking discussion; India firm on food security
•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, have demanded taking forward discussions on investment facilitation and proposed norms relating to small firms.
‘New issues’
•According to India, these are “new issues” and, therefore, should be considered only after resolving outstanding issues relating to food security that are part of the ongoing round of negotiations which began in Doha in 2001.
•The Argentinian capital is hosting the Ministerial Conference, or WTO’s apex decision-making body.
•In a communication to the WTO sent on Monday mainly at the request of China, 66 countries (including European Union members), both from the developing and the developed world, said: “We call for a dedicated minister-level meeting on investment facilitation at the (Buenos Aires) Ministerial Conference, led by a facilitator, for members to discuss this important topic. We also encourage all WTO members to actively participate in this dedicated session and to endorse the Draft Ministerial Decision on Investment Facilitation for Development.”
•Meanwhile, in a similar submission to the WTO on Monday, 82 nations (including the EU members) called for a dedicated Minister-level meeting on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) at the Buenos Aires meeting for all members to discuss the “important” topic.
•“We call upon all WTO members to actively participate in this dedicated meeting.”
•The countries supporting the issue of investment facilitation said there were dynamic links between investment, trade and development in today’s global economy. They said there was a need for closer international cooperation at the global level to create a more transparent, efficient, and predictable environment for facilitating cross-border investment. These nations said they agreed that the right of members to regulate, in order to meet their policy objectives, shall be an integral part of the proposed multilateral framework on investment facilitation. “The framework shall also be designed to be flexible, adaptable, and responsive to the evolving investment facilitation priorities of members,” the countries added.
•They welcomed what they called a ‘Draft Ministerial Decision’ on Investment Facilitation for Development which wanted structured discussions with the aim of developing the proposed framework. “These discussions shall seek to identify and develop the elements of a framework for facilitating foreign direct investments that would: (i) improve the transparency and predictability of investment measures; (ii) streamline and speed up administrative procedures and requirements; (iii) and enhance international cooperation, information sharing, the exchange of best practices, and relations with relevant stakeholders, including dispute prevention,” their statement said.
•Importantly, they said, “These discussions shall not address market access, investment protection, and Investor-State Dispute Settlement.” They agreed that facilitating greater developing and least-developed members’ participation in global investment flows should constitute a core objective of the framework. “Working in cooperation with relevant intergovernmental organizations, developing and least developed Members' requirements in implementing the multilateral framework shall be assessed, so that technical assistance and capacity building support can be made available to address these identified needs,” the statement said.
Friends of MSMEs
•Meanwhile, in the other communication relating to MSMEs, the countries supporting the cause said they reaffirm their commitment to begin a multilateral discussion on the issue through the establishment of a Work Program in the WTO to address the obstacles faced by MSMEs in international trade.
•They noted that costs related to foreign trade operations represent a significant burden for the participation of MSMEs in international trade, and acknowledged that MSMEs from developing countries and especially the least developed countries among them face additional obstacles when participating in international trade.
•These WTO member nations said they acknowledged that the participation of MSMEs in international trade has emerged as an important issue in the multilateral trading system and in the WTO agenda. They also recognised that MSMEs perform a significant role in the national economies of WTO members, as sources of job creation, innovation, entrepreneurship and economic growth.
📰 Fishers spot more bodies, Ockhi death toll 54
Eight bodies recovered off Beypore coast and one off Tanur in Malappuram district
•The toll in the Ockhi cyclone in the State has crossed 50 with the recovery of nine bodies off the coasts off Beypore and Tanur on Tuesday.
•Eight bodies were recovered off the coast in Beypore and another off Tanur in Malappuram district during a search carried out by the Coast Guard, the Marine Enforcement Wing of the Fisheries Department, and the Coastal police during the day. The official figure of dead across the State now stood at 54.
•The bodies were in a highly decomposed state, Moideen Koya, general secretary of the Fishermen Merchants and Commission Agents Association, who was at Beypore, said.
•Eight bodies, retrieved and brought to the Beypore port between 2.30 p.m. and 6.30 p.m., had been shifted to the Kozhikode Government Medical College Hospital for post-mortem examination and other formalities, an official of the Indian Coast Guard said.
Spotted by fishermen
•It was the men fishing off Beypore who had alerted the police after they spotted the bodies floating in the sea. The Indian Coast Guard boat C-144 recovered the bodies between six and 10 nautical miles off the Beypore harbour and 15 nautical miles from the Tanur coast.
From Tanur
•The lone body retrieved from Tanur was shifted to the Ponnani taluk hospital. The bodies could not be identified.
•However, All Kerala Fishing Boat Operators Association State vice president Karikkadi Preman said the deceased fishermen could be from the southern parts of the State, particularly Thiruvanthapuram district. “None from the Malabar region could be among the dead,’’ said Mr. Preman, who is also the vice president of the Harbour Development Committee, Beypore.
