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The Government of India (GoI) has recently notified the Sabka Vishwas – Legacy Dispute Resolution Scheme 2019 to reduce legacy service tax and central excise cases in the pre-GST era. The scheme will be operationalized from 1st September 2019 & would continue till 31st December 2019. The two main components of the Scheme are dispute resolution and amnesty. The most attractive aspect of the scheme is that it provides substantial relief in tax dues for all categories of cases as well as full waiver of interest, fine and penalty. For all the cases pending in adjudication or appeal – in any forum – this Scheme offers a relief of 70% from the duty demand if it is Rs.50 lakhs or less and 50% if it is more than Rs. 50 lakhs. The same relief is available for cases under investigation and audit where the duty involved is quantified and communicated to the party or admitted by him in a statement on or before June 30, 2019. The scheme is especially tailored to free the large number of small taxpayers of their pending disputes with the tax administration.

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In France, the 45th edition of G7 summit was held in Biarritz on 24-26 August 2019 with theme “Fighting Inequality”. The annual meet was attended by the leaders of 7 member states — France, Italy, Canada, United States, Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom. US President Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are in Biarritz to discuss various issues during the G7 meeting. PM on way to France to attend G7 meeting in Biarritz; Theme of the summit is ‘Fighting Inequality’. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also attended the G7 meeting in which India has been invited as a partner country.

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Eric Cantona, the former Manchester United forward and France legend , has been awarded the UEFA President’s Award in Monaco in recognition of his playing career and commitment to charitable causes after it. Cantona won four Premier League titles in five years with United in the 1990s and scored 64 goals for the Old Trafford club in 143 appearances.

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The India Child Well-Being Index is a tool designed to measure and track children’s well-being through 3 dimensions of healthy individual development, positive relationships and protective contexts. The index has been prepared by NGOs World Vision India and IFMR LEAD. The researchers used a total of 24 indicators to create the score instead of just considering income poverty. The 24 indicators are divided into three categories: Healthy individual development, positive relationships and protective contexts. As per index, Kerala (0.76) has acquired the topped spot due to its exceptional performance in health, nutrition and education facilities. Tamil Nadu (0.67) bagged the 2nd spot, followed by Himachal Pradesh (0.67) . Though, Meghalaya (0.53), Jharkhand (0.50) and Madhya Pradesh (0.44) featured at the bottom of the index. Among the Union territories, Puducherry led the way with a score of 0.77 and Dadra and Nagar Haveli featured at the other end with a score of 0.52.

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In a bid to protect forests, the Government of India (GoI) has given approval to establish an International Standard Zoo and Biopark on the forest land at Gorewada, Nagpur. The Zoo will have attractions like Bio Park, Indian Safari, African Safari, Night Safari, Research, Education and Training, facilities for tourists, etc. The Government of Maharashtra has accorded permission for establishing the International Zoo, through Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra Limited (FDCM. Ltd.), Nagpur. The tasks of protection of forests and wildlife at the Gorewada forests and wildlife habitat development have been assigned to FDCM Ltd., for which State Forest Department is providing grants and manpower at the disposal of FDCM Ltd.

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On 30th August, the 2019 edition of Malayala Manorama New Conclave was held in Kochi. It is the Kerala’s first and only news conclave deals with the most contemporary and compelling theme―New India; New government; New aspirations; New challenges; New frontiers; New avenues. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the conclave via video-conference from New Delhi. During the conclave, discussions were held on varied topics like new Indian nationalist, politics, new boundaries of belief, youth, and opportunities for Kerala. On this occasion, Shashi Tharoor launched a language challenge on twitter – #LanguageChallenge – to help people learn one word each from languages other than their mother tongue. The initiative began after Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the media to unite India with the help of language.

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In its annual report for 2018-19, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has stated that the lack of domestic demand is holding back the animal spirits in the economy and emphasized the need to revive consumption demand and private investment during 2019-20. The report claimed that the economy is undergoing a cyclical slowdown rather than a deep structural one. It also stressed that issues related to “land, labour and marketing” will need to be addressed as a broad-based downturn is underway in sectors such as manufacturing, trade, hotels, transport, communication and broadcasting, construction and agriculture. The term ‘Animal spirits’ in Economics was coined by British economist John Maynard Keynes in his 1936 book ‘The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money’ to explain the persistence of economic fluctuations under capitalism. The term refers to the emotions and instincts that guide the behaviour of investors and consumers in a market economy. It is economic optimism and confidence that drives investors to make more investment even when there is uncertainly. In simple words, Animal spirits shows how human psychology drives the economy.

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The Safe Cities Index (SCI) 2019 has been released by Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Tokyo has been ranked first in the SCI index, followed by Singapore and Osaka. The index ranks 60 countries worldwide across five continents and measures the multi-faceted nature of urban safety, with indicators categorized as digital, infrastructure, health and personal security. From India, Mumbai has been ranked as the 45th safest city on the SCI, while Delhi stood at the 52nd position.

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The Delhi Cabinet has given “in principle” approval to the free-ride scheme of providing free rides for women in city buses and metro trains. For this cause, the Delhi Assembly also passed Supplementary Demands for Grants of Rs 290 crore. Of the Rs 290 crore, Rs 140 crore is for free rides for women in buses and Rs 150 crore for rides in metro trains. The free-ride scheme is slated to begin from October 29. Though, women employees of the Delhi government, local bodies and undertakings will not be entitled for transport allowance if they opt for free ride in Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and cluster buses. Both DTC and Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) will strengthen their ticket checking mechanisms prevent “misuse” and “pilferage” of single journey passes.

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Aparna Kumar, a 2002 batch Uttar Pradesh Cadre IPS officer, has been honoured with the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award 2018. With this, she became the first IPS officer to be bestowed with this prestigious award. Currently, she is posted as DIG in Indo Tibetan Police Force at Dehradun. This is the highest National award at par with Arjuna award for Adventure sports in India. The award is given in 4 categories – Land, Water, Air Adventure and Lifetime achievement. The awards are given by the Government of India (GoI) with an aim to encourage young people to develop the spirit of endurance, risk-taking, cooperative teamwork and quick, ready and effective reflexes in tough situations. Besides Aparna, five more personalities also received the award. The other personalities are late Dipankar Ghosh, Manikandan K, Prabhat Raju Koli, RameshwerJangra and Wangchuk Sherpa. The awardees received a statuette, certificates and cash award of Rs. 5 lakh each.