Morning Brief: No Sops In Budget, EC Tells Government; Trump Pulls Out Of Key Trade Deal; Service Tax For Lawyers?

Good Morning, Swarajya Readers! Here's What You Need To Know Today.

No Sops In Budget, EC Tells Government: The Election Commission of India has told the government not to announce any schemes specific to the poll-bound states "which may have the effect of influencing the electors... in favour of the ruling party". This comes hours after the Supreme Court turned down a plea seeking to restrain the government from presenting Union Budget on 1 February, clearing the way for the government to stick to its plan.

Tamil Nadu Legalises Jallikattu: Tamil Nadu Assembly on Monday unanimously passed an amendment bill for conducting the bull taming sport, Jallikattu, without any hindrance. This comes on a day when violence broke out in Chennai and other parts of the state as police cracked down on protesters. Meanwhile, with Jallikattu becoming ‘legal’, other states are ramping up pressure for their outlawed sports to be reintroduced.

Service Tax For Lawyers: Top Court Agrees To Hear Pleas: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear numerous petitions challenging the Centre’s notification on imposing service tax on senior lawyers. The imposition of service tax on senior lawyers was proposed under the Union Budget of 2016. Under the impugned notification, service tax on senior lawyers would be levied on a forward charge basis and/or on reverse charge basis.

No Impact Of Demonetisation On Agriculture, Says Survey: In a boost for the government, data from a survey showed that demonetisation may not have had an immediate impact on agriculture. The perception survey of village panchayat heads across nine states appears to corroborate nationwide sowing data, suggesting that at the end of the second week of January, areas sown with rabi crops was 616.2 lakh hectares, 6 per cent higher than in the same period last year.

SBI Calls For Raising Income Tax Limits: State Bank of India (SBI) on Monday called for raising various income tax exemption limits to boost economic growth. The bank said while the revenue forgone through exemptions would be over Rs 35,000 crore, tax collections under Income Disclosure Scheme-2 could be around Rs 50,000 crore and cancelled liabilities from the Reserve Bank of India is expected to be around Rs 75,000 crore.

Data Shows 60 Per Cent Of Vehicles On Indian Roads Uninsured: Data compiled by General Insurance Council (GIC), which represents the country's general insurers, said that nearly 60 per cent of the vehicles plying on Indian roads are uninsured, most of them motorcycles and scooters. In 2015-16, India had around 19 crore registered vehicles; of these, only 8.26 crore were insured, said GIC on Monday.

Supreme Court Tells CBI To Probe Former Director: The Supreme Court ordered a probe on Monday into allegations that former CBI director Ranjit Sinha tried to scuttle investigations into the coal scam and protect some of the accused, saying it was prima facie satisfied that he had abused his position and authority. A bench directed CBI chief Alok Verma to set up a three-member special investigation team to probe Sinha.

Noose Tightens Around Vijay Mallya: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested eight people on Monday, including former IDBI Bank chairman Yogesh Aggarwal and the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines’ ex-chief financial officer A Raghunathan, in a seven-year-old case related to Rs 900-crore loan default. In its sternest action so far against Vijay Mallya-promoted airline, the agency is planning to declare the businessman a "proclaimed offender", paving the way for attachment of his properties.

India May Ratify Doha Amendments To Kyoto Protocal: India is expected to announce ratification of Doha amendments to the Kyoto Protocol today (Tuesday), hoping to trigger stronger climate change action from the developed countries. Only 75 countries have so far ratified the Doha amendments. It requires ratification from a total of 144 of the 192 parties of the Kyoto Protocol to become operational.

Trump Pulls US Out Of TPP Trade Deal: In a move to distance America from its Asian allies, US President Donald Trump formally withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal on Monday, as China's influence in the region increases.

MUST READ OP-EDS

Government’s Ability To Not Compromise On Capital Expenditure Will Be Put To Test In Budget 2017: The real litmus test will be how well the government can deliver itself from the temptation of not compromising on capital expenditure.

Budget 2017: Ten Things To Look Out For: In Arun Jaitley’s budget speech the impact of demonetisation on economic growth, fiscal deficit, and jobs and taxes are set to feature prominently.

Technology Opportunities In IFRS Self-Regulation: The new International Financial Reporting Standards is a single set of accounting standards, developed and maintained by the International Accounting Standards Board with the intent to apply them on a globally consistent basis.

The Mystery Of The Missing Women In Science: There has never been a woman head at the ISRO – even though the iconic image of women scientists celebrating the launch of India’s Mars mission is often used to symbolise the great surge forward by women in science.

The Beginning Of The China Reset: China President Xi Jinping has recently emerged as a champion of global integration at the World Economic Forum meet at Davos. Apart from eradication of radical Islamic terrorism and deregulation of US economy, China reset may be an important policy agenda of the Donald Trump administration.

SWARAJYA SPECIAL

Hindutva And Cultural Nationalism: The Missing Chapter In Netaji’s Life: For Subhas Chandra Bose, Hinduism was an essential part of Indianness. He considered Vedanta and Bhagavad Gita as his sources of inspiration in the fight against the British.

We hope you enjoyed reading our morning brief. Have a great day ahead!

SUBSCRIBE NOW: The January issue of our magazine is out now. As we welcome 2017, Swarajya asked a range of experts to draw up their wishlists – 2017 Wishlists. Get a copy home and enjoy reading Swarajya in print. Subscribe here to start receiving your copies for just Rs 349.

Swarajya Apps: Enjoy reading this morning brief and all articles from Swarajya on your mobile. Download our Android and iOS Apps.