India strengthening ties with Iran
The
18th Session of the India-Iran Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) was held
on 28 December 2015 in New Delhi. The session was co-chaired by External
Affairs Minister of India (EAM) Sushma Swaraj and Ali Tayebnia,
Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance of Iran. Both the leaders
reviewed the progress in trade and economic cooperation and a number of
related matters. India emphasized the need for early completion of all
necessary procedures for India’s participation in Farzad-B field and
pointed out India’s desire to participate in other oil and gas
explorations in Iran as well. They also discussed the possibilities in
cooperation in railways, including by supply of rails, rolling stock and
signaling.
LPG subsidy linked to income
Union
Government has announced to link LPG subsidy to income of consumers.
LPG subsidy will not be available to LPG consumers if the consumer or
his/her spouse has taxable income of more than ten lakh rupees. This
income would be as per the previous financial year computed under Income
Tax Act, 1961. This move will affect at least 60 lakh LPG consumers of
the total 16.5 crore LPG consumers in the country and Government will
save upto Rs. 113 crore from this decision.
Report of Vijay Kelkar Committee on PPP Model released
The
Union Ministry of Finance on 28 December 2015 released the report of
the Committee on Revisiting and Revitalising Public Private Partnership
(PPP) Model. The 9-member committee was headed by former Finance
Secretary Vijay Kelkar and submitted its report on 19 November 2015. The
committee was constituted on 26 May 2015 to review the experience of
PPP Policy and suggest measures to improve capacity building in
Government for their effective implementation. Key recommendations of
the committee : 1. The committee has recommended amending the Prevention
of Corruption Act, 1988 which does not distinguish between genuine
errors in decision making and acts of corruption. 2. The committee
advised against adopting PPP structures for very small projects, since
the benefits of delivering small PPP projects may not be commensurate
with the resulting costs and the complexity of managing such
partnerships over a long period. 3. Banks and financial institution
should be encouraged to issue Deep Discount Bonds or Zero Coupon Bonds
(ZCB) to mobilise long term capital at low cost.
Burj Khalifa as Best Attraction in the world
Burj
Khalifa’s observation deck named world’s Best Attraction 2015. Burj
Khalifa at the top has been voted as the ‘Best Attraction’ in the world
for 2015 in an international poll. The viewing deck also came second to
The Empire State Building in the ‘Best Observation Deck’ category. The
structure with over 200 storeys and highest number of floors also holds
the Guiness World Record. The height of the Burj Khalifa is 829.8
meters. It offers visitors the rare opportunity to soak up views of the
city.