27 Mar 2018: UPSC Exam PIB Summary & Analysis

Government schemes to promote female literacy including SC/ST women

• As per Census 2011, literacy rates among Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) female, in the age group of 7 and above, are 56.46 per cent and 49.35 per cent respectively.
• In order to improve literacy rate, Saakshar Bharat, a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for Adult Education and Skill Development is being implemented in rural areas of 410 districts in 26 States and one UT.
• Government is implementing this scheme wherever the adult female literacy rate of 50 per cent and below as per Census 2001, and including left wing extremism affected districts, irrespective of their literacy rates, with special focus on women and other disadvantaged groups.
• In addition, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), a Centrally Sponsored Scheme is also being implemented in conjunction with the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 for universalisation of elementary education for all children in the 6-14 age group.

Cabinet approves revision of the Agreements between India and Qatar

• The Union Cabinet has given its approval for revision of the Agreement between India and Qatar for the avoidance of double taxation and for the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income.
• The existing Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) with Qatar was signed on 7th April, 1999 and came into force on 15th January, 2000.
• The revised DTAA updates the provisions for exchange of information to latest standard, includes Limitation of Benefits provision to prevent treaty shopping and aligns other provisions with India’s recent treaties.
• The revised DTAA meets the minimum standards on treaty abuse under Action 6 and Mutual Agreement Procedure under Action 14 of G-20 OECD Base Erosion & Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project, in which India participated on an equal footing.

What is Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA)?

• A DTAA is a tax treaty signed between two or more countries. Its key objective is that tax-payers in these countries can avoid being taxed twice for the same income.
• A DTAA applies in cases where a tax-payer resides in one country and earns income in another.
• DTAAs can either be comprehensive to cover all sources of income or be limited to certain areas such as taxing of income from shipping, air transport, inheritance, etc.
• India has DTAAs with more than eighty countries, of which comprehensive agreements include those with Australia, Canada, Germany, Mauritius, Singapore, UAE, the UK and US.

Why is it important?

• DTAAs are intended to make a country an attractive investment destination by providing relief on dual taxation. Such relief is provided by exempting income earned abroad from tax in the resident country or providing credit to the extent taxes have already been paid abroad. DTAAs also provide for concessional rates of tax in some cases.

Cabinet approves formation of 100% owned C Corporation of TCIL in US

• The Union Cabinet has given its approval forformation of 100% owned C Corporation of Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd.(TCIL) in USA.
• TCIL is a leading ISO – 9001: 2008 and ISO 14001:2004 certified, Schedule-A, Mini Ratna Category-l, 100% owned Govt. of India Undertaking.
• It has executed projects in more than 70 countries in the domain of Telecommunications and Information Technology.
• A C corporation, under United States federal income tax law, refers to any corporation that is taxed separately from its owners. A C corporation is distinguished from an S corporation, which generally is not taxed separately.

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