#Daily #Current #Affairs

Rajasthan Government inks MoU with NHM, UNICEF and GAIN to counter malnourishment

Rajasthan Government has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with National Health Mission (NHM), UNICEF and Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) to tackle the severe problem malnourishment in the state. This MoU will help to implement the state government programme which was announced during the state budget. In this budget the state government had announced that special attention will be given to the children falling out of medical reach in state. This programme will be initially implemented in thirteen districts of state. In these districts more than 10, 000 children have been identified as malnourished. For this, a special management programme will be organised on the community basis so that malnourishment can be dealt. Currently, Rajasthan has 40 malnourishment treatment centres, which are equipped with ten thousand beds. It is also facilitated with 107 centres with six beds each.

Government makes PAN mandatory for central excise registration

Union Government has made Permanent Account Number (PAN) mandatory for private firms seeking central excise registration. As per the new rules, the PAN registration will now be given within two days of filing online applications to improve the ease in doing business in manufacturing. In this regard Union Finance Ministry has issued an order that clearly mentions that applicants seeking registration shall mandatorily quote PAN of the proprietor or the legal entity being registered in the application form. However in the new rules, government departments are exempted from the requirement of quoting PAN in their online application. The order also mentioned that applicant shall also quote his e-mail address and mobile number in the application form for communication with the department. Under the new procedure, once duly completed application form is received online, registration would be granted within two working days. It will be issued online without any examination of the documents and verification of documents or premises before the grant of registration.

Direct tax collection falls short by 14% in 2014-15

The direct tax collection by the government during 2014-15 fell short of the target by about 14 per cent with Rs. 6,96,200 crore revenue coming to its kitty. The Income Tax Department which collects a variety of taxes like Income Tax and Corporate Tax collected approximately Rs. 6,96,200 crore in the fiscal ending March 31, 2015. The achieved collections are about Rs. 9,000 crore less or 14 per cent short of the projected target of Rs. 7,05,000 crore. The collections are, however, 19 per cent more than the last fiscal. In 2013—14, the mop—up was Rs. 5,83,000 crore.

Gold imports jump 19.5% at $34.32 billion in FY15

Gold imports surged 19.5 per cent to reach USD 34.32 billion in 2014-15 due to declining prices and easing of restrictions by the Reserve Bank. Imports of the metal were USD 28.7 billion the previous fiscal, 2013-14. Increase in gold imports impacts the country’s trade deficit, which has reached USD 137 billion in 2014-15, and the current account deficit (CAD). The imports almost doubled in March to USD 4.98 billion which pushed the trade deficit to a four-month high of USD 11.79 billion for the month, according to the Commerce Ministry data. India is the largest importer of gold, which mainly caters to the demand of the jewellery industry.