06 September 2015

Fulfilling one of the major election promises of the BJP, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar announced on Saturday the implementation of the much-delayed one rank, one pension (OROP) scheme for ex-servicemen.
However, the protesting veterans rejected the “unilateral” announcement, saying it “dilutes” the accepted definition of several core issues.

India’s Home Ministry and intelligence agencies are in touch with their counterparts in Syria to track down Indians who have joined terrorist groups such as the Islamic State in the West Asian country, Syrian Ambassador to India Riad Kamel Abbas has said.
Intelligence sources said that 18 Indians were identified to have joined the IS. Of these, four have gone from West Asian countries, said one official.

In a judgment that could affect police investigation of murder cases, based entirely on circumstantial evidence, the Supreme Court has held that conviction cannot be based solely on the fact that the victim was last seen alive in the company of the accused, especially if a long time had elapsed between the sighting and the time of the murder.
The decision will make it even harder for the police to tie up the loose ends in murder cases based on circumstantial evidence without any eyewitness, as is the case in many sensational crimes.

G20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs on Saturday pledged to act decisively to shore up stuttering global growth and to refrain from unsettling currency moves after China’s controversial devaluation last month.
The economic supremos from the world’s top 20 economies said in a communique after their two-day meeting in the Turkish capital Ankara that global growth was falling short of expectations, despite strengthening activity in some economies.
Their statement did not refer specifically to China but contained a clear pledge not to resort to competitive currency devaluations to give an unfair advantage to domestic exports.

The Syrian war has been going on for four years, but only in 2015 has Europe woken up to the flow of refugees.
So why now?
First, the war is not getting any better. That has the dual effect of prompting more Syrians to leave their country and causing Syrians in exile in Turkey to give up hope of returning home.
Second, Turkey is not a country for people to stay in the long-term. It has been more receptive than most, taking in about 2 million Syrian refugees. But Syrians don’t have the right to work there legally, so it is not a place to settle.

The International Monetary Fund warned Group of 20 Finance Ministers and central bankers this week that China’s slowdown and rising financial market volatility, some measures of which are close to levels seen during past crises, have boosted risks to global growth. Its staff cited a mix of potential dangers such as depreciating emerging market currencies and tumbling commodity prices.

India on Saturday pitched for global safety nets to address concerns over volatility in currency movements and markets, a demand that has come against the backdrop of economic shocks triggered by the devaluation of the yuan.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley sought well-designed and quickly triggered safety nets under the International Monetary Fund, such as the strengthening of liquidity arrangements through multilateral swap arrangements between member-countries to tackle negative spill-overs from domestic actions.

With the government accepting the recommendation of the Justice A.P. Shah Committee on applicability of Minimum Alternative Tax (MAT) to Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs), one controversy has ended. But much-needed clarifications were awaited on issues such as taxation of Participatory Notes (P-Notes), which would help weed out black-money entry into the country.
While accepting the recommendations, the government has decided to make appropriate amendments to the Income-Tax Act, which would clarify that MAT provisions would not be applicable to FPIs not having a place of business or permanent establishment in India, for the period prior to April 1, 2015.