Arunachal groups push for 6th Schedule status
Paper:
Mains: General Studies- II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations.
Why in News:
Political parties and community-based groups are demanding for Arunachal Pradesh to be brought under the ambit of the Sixth Schedule or Article 371 (A) of the Constitution.
Key Details:
- There is a revival of the demand for two autonomous councils in Arunachal Pradesh.
- The renewed demand is for Mon Autonomous Council (MAC) comprising Tawang, West Kameng and parts of East Kameng districts, and Patkai Autonomous Council (PAC) comprising Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts.
Why is inclusion in the 6th Schedule being demanded?
- Arunachal Pradesh is under the Fifth Schedule that does not provide special rights for the indigenous communities, unlike the Sixth Schedule.
- While executive powers of the union extend in scheduled areas with respect to their administration in the 5th Schedule; the 6th Schedule areas remain within the executive authority of the state.
- While the 5th schedule envisages the creation of Tribal Advisory Council, the 6th Schedule provides for District Councils and Regional Councils with certain legislative and judicial powers.
6th Schedule:
- The Sixth Schedule consists of provisions for the administration of tribal areas according to Article 244 of the Indian Constitution.
- The Schedule currently includes 10 autonomous district councils (ADCs) in four northeastern States — Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura.
- Along with ADCs, the Sixth Schedule also provides for separate Regional Councils for each area constituted as an autonomous region.
- Nagaland is governed by Article 371 (A), which says that no act of Parliament shall apply in the State in several areas unless the Nagaland Assembly so decides by a resolution.
‘Consider more languages in govt.’
Paper:
Mains: General Studies- II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations.
Why is News:
Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde suggested that the government should consider amending the Official Languages Act of 1963 to:
- Include more vernacular languages in governance.
- Not just confine it to Hindi and English.
Background:
- The court was hearing an appeal filed by the Union of India challenging the legality of a Delhi High Court judgment to translate the draft Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification of 2020 into all 22 vernacular languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
- The high court had allowed the plea holding that EIA notification should be translated and published in all the scheduled languages.
Key Details:
- Scheduled languages are those languages that are listed in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution and are given official recognition and encouragement by the Central Government.
- However, all official communication and publication of rules and notifications by the Central Government are in Hindi and English.
- As per Article 343 of the Constitution, the official language of the Union is Hindi along with English.
8th Schedule of the Constitution:
- The Eighth Schedule of the Constitution consists of 22 languages.
- Of these languages, 14 were initially included in the Constitution.
- The Sindhi language was added in 1967.
- Thereafter, three more languages viz., Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali were included in 1992.
- Subsequently, Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santhali were added in 2004.
PM announces taxpayers’ charter
Paper:
Mains: General Studies-III: Technology, Economic Development, Bio diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management
Why in News:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched a “Transparent Taxation — Honouring the Honest” platform that provides faceless assessment, faceless appeal and a taxpayers’ charter.
Key Details:
- Reduction in corporate tax from 30% to 22% for existing companies and from 25% to 15% for new manufacturing companies.
- Abolition of the dividend distribution tax.
- Steps have been taken to bring in efficiency and transparency in the functioning of the Income Tax Department, including Document Identification Number (DIN) and pre-filling of income tax returns to make compliance more convenient.
How does it work?
- With the help of technology, the cases of scrutiny will now be allocated randomly to any official in any part of the country.
- The document identification numbers will be issued from the central database.
- A review of orders will also be done by another team at some other place, chosen randomly using data analytics and artificial intelligence.
- The officials in the Directorate General of Income Tax (Investigation) and the Principal Commissioner of I-T/Chief Commissioner of I-T (TDS) will be the only competent authorities for approving survey actions to gather information for scrutiny and assessment.
Benefits:
- In the new system, the department would escape unnecessary litigation and the officials would get reprieve from the energy otherwise spent on transfers and postings.
- It seeks to eliminate corrupt practices by doing away with the territorial jurisdiction of income-tax offices.
- The platform would instil a sense of fairness and fearlessness in the taxpayers.
- The efforts are directed at making the tax system seamless, painless and faceless.
- The new facilities are in consonance with the government’s motto of ‘minimum government, maximum governance’.
UAE, Israel reach agreement to establish diplomatic ties
Paper:
Mains: General Studies- II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations.
Why in News:
The United Arab Emirates has become the first Gulf Arab country to reach a deal on normalizing relations with Israel.
Key Details:
- The United Arab Emirates and Israel have agreed to establish full diplomatic ties as part of a deal to halt the annexation of occupied land sought by the Palestinians for their future state.
- The development caps years of discreet contacts between the two countries in commerce and technology.
- The so-called “Abraham Agreement”, announced by United States President Donald Trump, secures an Israeli commitment to halt further annexation of Palestinian lands in the occupied West Bank.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sought to build settlements on lands sought by the Palestinians and embraced a Trump proposal that would allow him to annex large parts of the occupied West Bank while granting Palestinians limited autonomy in other areas.
- For the UAE, it further polishes its international campaign to be seen as a beacon of tolerance in West Asia despite being governed by autocratic rulers.
- Delegations would meet to sign deals on direct flights, security, telecommunications, energy, tourism and health care. The two countries also will partner on fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
- It is believed that opening direct ties between two of the Middle East’s most dynamic societies and advanced economics will transform the region by spurring economic growth, enhancing technological innovation and forging closer people-to-people relations.
India announces $500 mn package for the Maldives
Paper:
Mains: General Studies- II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations.
Why in News:
Responding to a request from the Government of Maldives, India has announced its support in the implementation of the Greater Male Connectivity project (GMCP in the Maldives).
Key Details:
- The financial package comprises of a new Line of Credit (LoC) of USD 400 million and a grant of USD 100 million.
- New connectivity measures for the Maldives, including air, sea, intra-island and telecommunications, have been announced by India.
- It is an effort to help Maldives deal with the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Among the initiatives announced are an air connectivity bubble for travel, a direct ferry service, a submarine cable for telecom connectivity and assistance for GMCP.
- GMCP would be the largest civilian infrastructure project in the Maldives.
- GMCP will consist of a number of bridges and causeways to connect Male to Villingili, Thilafushi and Gulhifahu islands.
Importance:
- The President of Maldives, thanking India, termed the assistance, a landmark moment in Maldives-India cooperation.
- When completed, the project would render the Chinese-built Sinemale Friendship bridge connecting Male to two other islands insignificant in comparison.