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Monday, February 29, 2016

Krishi Kalyan Cess of 0.5% on all taxable services


Oscars Awards 2016 Winners List


Oscars Awards 2016 Winners List
Best Picture: "Spotlight"

Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio

Best Actress: Brie Larson

Best Director: Alejandro G. Inarritu

Supporting Actor: Mark Rylance, "Bridge of Spies."

Supporting Actress: Alicia Vikander, "The Danish Girl."

Adapted Screenplay: "The Big Short."

Original Screenplay: "Spotlight."

Animated Feature Film: "Inside Out."

Production Design: "Mad Max: Fury Road."

Cinematography: "The Revenant."

Sound Mixing: "Mad Max: Fury Road."

Sound Editing: "Mad Max: Fury Road."

Original Score: "The Hateful Eight"

Original Song: "Writings on the Wall."

Costume Design: "Mad Max: Fury Road."

Documentary Feature: "Amy."

Documentary (short subject): "A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness."

Film Editing: "Mad Max: Fury Road."

Makeup and Hairstyling: "Mad Max: Fury Road."

Animated Short Film: "Bear Story."

Visual Effects: "Ex Machina."

Foreign Language Film: "Son of Saul."

Live Action Short: "Stutterer."

UNION BUDGET-2016-17-IMPORTANT NOTES FOR VARIOUS EXAMS


Finance Minister Sri. Arun Jaitley, presented the Union Budget for the year 2016-17 on 29/02/2016.This is his 3rd Union Budget. With an eye on supporting the small tax-payer and the small investor, the Minister announced a slew of schemes, and income tax exemptions. Here are the Highlights of Union Budget 2016.

INTRODUCTION

o    Growth of Economy accelerated to 7.6% in 2015-16.
o     Robust growth achieved despite very unfavourable global conditions and two consecutive years shortfall in monsoon by 13%§India hailed as a ‘bright spot’ amidst a slowing global economy by IMF.
o     Despite increased devolution to States by 55% as a result of the 14th Finance Commission award, plan expenditure increased at RE stage in 2015-16 – in contrast to earlier years.§Foreign exchange reserves touched highest ever level of about 350 billion US dollars.
Nine pillars of the Budget
1.      Governance, 
2.      Ease of doing business, 

3.      Fiscal discipline, 
4.      Tax reforms, 
5.      Agriculture and farmers welfare , 
6.      Rural sector with focus on employment , 
7.      Social sector with healthcare , 
8.      Educational skills and job creation , 
9.      Infrastructure and Investment and financial sector reforms are the nine pillars on which the budget has been prepared.
CHALLENGES IN 2016-17
o    Risks of further global slowdown and turbulence.
o    Additional fiscal burden due to 7th Central Pay Commission recommendations and OROP.
o     
ROADMAP & PRIORITIES
o    'Transform India' to have a significant impact on economy and lives of people.
o    Government to focus on –
o    ensuring macro-economic stability and prudent fiscal management.
o    boosting on domestic demand
o    continuing with the pace of economic reforms and policy initiatives to change the lives of our people for the better.
o    Focus on enhancing expenditure in priority areas of - farm and rural sector, social sector, infrastructure sector employment generation and recapitalisation of the banks.
o    Focus on Vulnerable sections through:
o    Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana
o    New health insurance scheme to protect against hospitalisation expenditure
o    facility of cooking gas connection for BPL families
o    Continue with the ongoing reform programme and ensure passage of the Goods and Service Tax bill and Insolvency and Bankruptcy law
o    Undertake important reforms by:
o    giving a statutory backing to AADHAR platform to ensure benefits reach the deserving.
o    freeing the transport sector from constraints and restrictions
o    incentivising gas discovery and exploration by providing calibrated marketing freedom
o    enactment of a comprehensive law to deal with resolution of financial firms
o    provide legal framework for dispute resolution and re-negotiations in PPP projects and public utility contracts
o    undertake important banking sector reforms and public listing of general insurance companies undertake significant changes in FDI policy.
Sector-wise Highlights of Union Budget 2016
o    Tax
o    Infrastructure and agriculture cess to be levied.
o    Excise duty raised from 10 to 15 per cent on tobacco products other than beedis
o    1 per cent service charge on purchase of luxury cars over Rs. 10 lakh and in-cash purchase of goods and services over Rs. 2 lakh.
o    SUVs, Luxury cars to be more expensive. 4% high capacity tax for SUVs.
o    Companies with revenue less than Rs 5 crore to be taxed at 29% plus surcharge
o    Limited tax compliance window from Jun 1 - Sep 30 for declaring undisclosed income at 45% incl. surcharge and penalties
o    Excise 1 per cent imposed on articles of jewellery, excluding silver.
o    0.5 per cent Krishi Kalyan Cess to be levied on all services.
o    Pollution cess of 1 per cent on small petrol, LPG and CNG cars; 2.5 per cent on diesel cars of certain specifications; 4 per cent on higher-end models.
o    Dividend in excess of Rs. 10 lakh per annum to be taxed at additional 10 per cent.
o    Personal Finance
o    No changes have been made to existing income tax slabs
o    Rs 1,000 crore allocated for new EPF (Employees' Provident Fund) scheme
o    Govt. will pay EPF contribution of 8.33% for all new employees for first three years
o    Deduction for rent paid will be raised from Rs 20,000 to Rs 60,000 to benefit those living in rented houses.
o    Additional exemption of Rs. 50,000 for housing loans up to Rs. 35 lakh, provided cost of house is not above Rs. 50 lakh.
o    Service tax exempted for housing construction of houses less than 60 sq. m
o    15 per cent surcharge on income above Rs. 1 crore
o    Social
o    Rs. 38,500 crore for Mahtma Gandhi MGNREGA for 2016-17
o    Swacch Bharat Abhiyan allocated Rs.9,500 crores.
o    Hub to support SC/ST entrpreneurs
o    Government is launching a new initiative to provide cooking gas to BPL families with state support.
o    LPG connections to be provided under the name of women members of family: Rs 2000 crore allocated for 5 years for BPL families.
o    2.87 lakh crore grants to gram panchayats and municipalities - a quantum jump of 228%.
o    300 urban clusters to be set up under Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission
o    Four schemes for animal welfare.
o    Health
o    2.2 lakh renal patients added every year in India. Basic dialysis equipment gets some relief.
o    A new health protection scheme for health cover upto 1 lakh per family.
o    National Dialysis Service Prog with funds thru PPP mode to provide dialysis at all district hospitals.
o    Senior citizens will get additional healthcare cover of Rs 30,000 under the new scheme
o    PM Jan Aushadhi Yojana to be strengthened, 300 generic drug store to be opened
o    Education
o    Scheme to get Rs.500 cr for promoting entrepreneurship among SC/ST
o    10 public and 10 private educational institutions to be made world-class.
o    Digital repository for all school leaving certificates and diplomas. Rs. 1,000 crore for higher education financing.
o    Rs. 1,700 crore for 1500 multi-skill development centres.
o    62 new navodaya vidyalayas to provide quality education
o    Digital literacy scheme to be launched to cover 6 crore additional rural households
o    Entrepreneurship training to be provided across schools, colleges and massive online courses.
o    Objective to skill 1 crore youth in the next 3 years under the PM Kaushal Vikas Yojna-FM Jaitley
o    National Skill Development Mission has imparted training to 76 lakh youth. 1500 Multi-skill training institutes to be set up.
o    Energy
o    Rs. 3000 crore earmarked for nuclear power generation
o    Govt drawing comprehensive plan to be implemented in next 15-20 years for exploiting nuclear energy
o    Govt to provide incentive for deepwater gas exploration
o    Deepwater gas new disc to get calibrated market freedom, pre-determined ceiling price based on landed price of alternate fuels.
o    Investments and infrastructure
o    Rs. 27,000 crore to be spent on roadways
o    65 eligible habitats to be connected via 2.23 lakh kms of road. Current construction pace is 100 kms/day
o    Shops to be given option to remain open all seven days in a week across markets.
o    Rs. 55,000 crore for roads and highways. Total allocation for road construction, including PMGSY, - Rs 97,000 crore
o    India's highest-ever production of motor vehicles was recorded in 2015
o    Total outlay for infrastructure in Budget 2016 now stands at Rs. 2,21,246 crore
o    New greenfield ports to be developed on east and west coasts
o    Revival of underserved airports. Centre to Partner with States to revive small airports for regional connectivity
o    100 per cent FDI in marketing of food products produced and marketed in India
o    Dept. of Disinvestment to be renamed as Dept. of Investment and Public Asset Management
o    Govt will amend Motor Vehicle Act in passenger vehicle segment to allow innovation.
o    MAT will be applicable for startups that qualify for 100 per cent tax exemption
o    Direct tax proposals result in revenue loss of Rs.1060 crore, indirect tax proposals result in gain of Rs.20,670 crore
o    Agriculture
o    Total allocation for agriculture and farmer welfare at Rs 35984 crores
o    28.5 lakh heactares of land wil be brought under irrigation.
o    5 lakh acres to be brought under organic farming over a three year period
o    Rs 60,000 crore for recharging of ground water recharging as there is urgent need to focus on drought hit areas cluster development for water conservation.
o    Dedicated irrigation fund in NABARD of Rs.20.000 cr
o    Nominal premium and highest ever compensation in case of crop loss under the PM Fasal Bima Yojna.
o    Banking
o    Banks get a big boost: Rs 25,000 crore towards recapitalisation of public sector banks. Jaitley says: Banking Board Bureau will be operationalised, we stand solidly behind public sector banks.
o    Target of disbursement under MUDRA increased to 1,80,000 crore
o    Process of transfer of government stake in IDBI Bank below 50% started
o    General Insurance companies will be listed in the stock exchange
o    Govt to increase ATMs, micro-ATMs in post offices in next three years

INDIA ECONOMIC SURVEY 2015-16 PRACTICE QUESTIONS FOR EXAMS

1. The Economic Survey, prepared by:
a) Arvind Subramanian
b) Arun jaitely
c) Jayant Sinha
d) All of these
Answer a) Arvind Subramanian. The Economic Survey, prepared by Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian
2. It said the benefits were given to the well-off on small savings schemes and tax or subsidy policies on six commodities. Which one is not under those:
a) Aviation Fuel
b) Kerosene
c) Petrol
d) Gold
Answer c) Petrol
3. Economic Survey 2015-16 projects that the real GDP growth for the current financial year and for 2016-17 will be in the range of ………..
a) 7 – 8 %
b) 7.5 – 8 %
c) No Change
d) 7 – 7.5 %
Answer d) 7 – 7.5 %
4. The Economic Survey enumerated three downside risks. Which one is not among them
a) oil prices rise would increase the drag from consumption
b) options a) and c)
c) turmoil in global could worsen the outlook of exports.
d) Subsidy in LPG will hampered the Growth
Answer d) Subsidy in LPG will hampered the Growth.
5. CPI inflation seen around 4.5 to ……. in 2016/17
a) 5%
b) 6%
c) 7%
d) 6.5%
Answer a) 5%.
6. 2016 – 17 current account deficit seen around …….. of/in GDP
a) 1-2%
b) 1-1.5%
c) 1.5-2%
d) No change
Answer b) 1-1.5%.
7. Estimated capital requirement for banks likely around Rs …… trillion by 2018/19
a) 1.9
b) 2.2
c) 2.0
d) 1.8
Answer d) 1.8
8. To infuse capital in state-run banks what Government is planning to do?
a) To sell off Non Financial Companies
b) To reduce its shares from Banks
c) To sell Government Securities
d) All of the above
Answer a) To sell off Non Financial Companies.
9. The Ministry of Finance is an important ministry within the Government of India. It concerns itself with
a) taxation
b) financial legislation
c) financial institutions
d) All of the above
Answer d) All of the above.
10. Who was the first Finance Minister of India?
a) John Mathai
b) C.D. Deshmukh
c) Moraji Desai
d) Liaquat Ali Khan
Answer d) Liaquat Ali Khan widely known as Shaheed-e-Millat. He was one of the leading Founding Fathers of modern Pakistan, statesman, lawyer, and political theorist who became and served as the first Prime Minister of Pakistan; in addition, he was also the first Defence Minister of Pakistan, the first Finance Minister of  India, and the minister of Commonwealth and Kashmir Affairs from 1947 until his assassination in 1951.