Notes:
On July 12, the government sharply increased the monetary threshold for filing appeals in tax disputes in various courts and decided to withdraw many pending appeals to cut down litigation and improve ease of doing business. The new monetary threshold for filing appeals in tribunals handling income tax as well as customs, excise and service tax disputes has been doubled from Rs.10 lakh to Rs.20 lakh. In the case of high courts, the monetary threshold is now Rs.50 lakh instead of Rs.20 lakh earlier. In the Supreme Court, the threshold has been increased from Rs25 lakh to Rs 1 crore. This will bring down tax litigation by 37%.

Notes:
India’s first greenfield skill training centre will come up at Baranga near Bhubaneswar in Odisha. For this, the Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan laid the foundation stone of NSTI Bhubaneswar on July 16. The aim of the state-of-the-art institute will be to impart training to the trainers & create a skill-based ecosystem to meet expectations of the industry. The National Skill Training Institute (NSTI) would provide a variety of hybrid skill training programmes, both long and short term, along with advanced diploma programme. The institute would impart training in Systems Applications Products (SAP), Internet of Things (IoT), healthcare and agriculture, mobile repairing, solar technician and technician mechatronics, advanced Diploma in IT Networking and Cloud Computing, Training of Trainers (ToT) in Pedagogy for Sector Skill Councils, ToT for conventional courses including fitter, electrician, plumbing and welding. The Institute will be set up at a cost of Rs. 160 crore, on a 5 Acre land.

Notes:
As part of Indo-US Bilateral Defence Cooperation, the 7th Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) meeting was held between India and the US delegation in New Delhi on July 18, 2018. The meeting was co-chaired by, Secretary (Defence Production), Dr Ajay Kumar and Under Secretary of Defence for Acquisition and Sustainment, DoD, US Government Ms Ellen M Lord. The purpose of the meeting is to bring sustained leadership focus to the bilateral defence trade relationship and create opportunities for co-production and co-development of defence equipment. The DTTI is an important forum leading to the 22 dialogue between the two countries. The meetings are held twice a year, alternately in India and the USA.

Notes:
The 8th BRICS Health Ministers’ Meeting was held at Durban, South Africa on July 20, 2018. In it, J P Nadda (the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare) highlighted the achievements of India in the health sector. He said that to reduce Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs), India has already initiated universal screening for prevention and management of five common NCDs including hypertension, diabetes and three common cancers of oral cavity, breast and cervix at pan India level. Beside this, India has started a unique initiative called AMRIT Deendayal pharmacy Centres that provide medicines for cancer & cardiovascular diseases and cardiac implants at significantly reduced prices. Apart from this, the unique programme ‘Ayushman Bharat’ has also launched that rests on the twin pillars of Health and Wellness Centres for provision of comprehensive primary healthcare services and National Health Protection Mission for secondary and tertiary care that aims to cover around 100 million families.

Notes:
The World Youth Skills Day (WYSD) is observed every year on July 15 to call for increased prospects for youth to gain access to quality training and skills development. The purpose of the day is to spread awareness on the importance of youth developing skill development. The 2018 theme is “Improving the image of TVET (Technical & Vocational Education and Training)”.

Notes:
In the Junior Asian Wrestling Championships 2018, Indian wrestler Mansi Ahlawat had to settle for a Silver after she lost to Japan’s Akie Hanai in the 57 kg category final in New Delhi on July 20. In the 53 kilogram category, the Bronze medal was won by Swati Shinde after she defeated Thailand’s Duangnapa Boonyasu in the play-off. Earlier, India had clinched a Silver medal through Divya Kakran in the 68 kg category, while the two Bronze medals came through Reena in 55 kgs and Karuna in 76 kgs.

Notes:
In a major initiative to connect all the North-East (N-E) states to the National Gas Grid, the 5 central oil PSUs – IOCL, ONGC, GAIL, OIL, and NRL – have signed a joint venture agreement for executing the North – East Natural Gas Pipeline Grid (N-ENGPG) in Guwahati on July 19, 2018. As per the agreement, a Joint Venture (JV) company will develop, build, operate and maintain the Natural Gas Pipeline Grid (NGPG) connecting Guwahati to the other major North -Eastern cities and major load centres such as Numaligarh Refinery and integrating it with gas producing fields in the region. The project will connect the state capitals of all the 8 NE states – Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh with an expenditure of Rs 6000 crore for 1500 Km length gas pipeline in a tentative four years time schedule. The project will be implemented in 3 phases.

Notes:
During the monsoon session of Parliament, the Lok Sabha passed the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill 2018, which will empower authorities to attach and confiscate properties and assets of economic offenders like loan defaulters & fraudsters who flee the country. The bill will replace an ordinance promulgated by President Ram Nath Kovind in April 2018. It is expected to re-establish the rule of law as the accused will be forced to return to India and face trial for his offences. The bill proposes the formation of a special court under the Prevention of Money-laundering Act 2002 (PMLA) to declare a person a Fugitive Economic Offender (FEO). A FEO is a person against whom an arrest warrant has been issued in respect of a scheduled offence and who has left India so as to avoid criminal prosecution, or being abroad, refuses to return to India to face criminal prosecution. The cases where the total value involved in such scheduled offences is Rs 100 crore or more, will come under its purview.

Notes:
Indian football team captain Sunil Chhetri was named the 2017 All India Football Federation (AIFF) Player of the Year in the men’s category. Recently, Chhetri became the 2nd Indian footballer to play 100 international games after Baichung Bhutia. He is a star striker for both India and Bengaluru FC. Beside him, Kamala Devi was adjudged the 2017 AIFF Woman Player of the Year and Young Anirudh Thapa was declared as the 2017 Emerging Player of the Year. E Panthoi was named as the 2017 woman Emerging Player of the Year.

Notes:
The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has launched the South East Asia’s first-ever Centre for Climate Change (CCC) in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. The purpose of the centre is to accelerate concerted climate action by various stakeholders in government, private, financial and non -government actors. The Lucknow Centre would help NABARD in increasing its capacity building efforts manifold. Besides, the new institution would also extend professional support to stakeholders for designing climate related projects and take up collaborative studies and action research projects in area of climate change. It would also support capacity building and project preparation effort in developing countries in the region as also in Africa.