26 JANUARY 2016

Ø  India and France on Monday signed 14 agreements, including an intergovernmental agreement for the purchase of Rafale fighter jets, nuclear reactors, French railway locomotives and a major commitment to counterterror cooperation. However, while the much-speculated-about Rafale agreement was inked, the financial component of the deal is yet to be finalised, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande disclosed at the end of their three-hour talks here. This is the fifth time a French President is going to be our chief guest.

Ø  Mohamed Nasheed, the former President of the Maldives, on Monday warned his country’s leadership against abandoning traditional allies in the Indian Ocean and building a foreign policy “that would alienate or disturb Indian security and safety.” Mr. Nasheed stressed that an “India-first” foreign policy approach “is probably the only sensible foreign policy view that we should have in the Indian Ocean”. India is the principal trading partner with the Maldives, he said, and all governments have had close and friendly relations with India. He made a specific reference, in this context, to the close economic ties established by the Yameen regime with China. Seventy per cent of the Maldives’ debt is now exposed to China.

Ø  The government is considering the recommendations of the Parthasarathi Shome committee aimed at simplifying tax administration, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Monday. Among the key proposals of the Tax Administration Reform Commission (TARC), headed by Dr. Shome, was a suggestion that Income Tax Return forms should also include wealth tax details. The panel had mooted that retrospective amendments to tax laws should be avoided as a principle and that the post of Revenue Secretary be abolished. Other recommendations were for the CBDT and the CBEC to be merged and for the use of Permanent Account Number (PAN) to be widened. The TARC, which was appointed by the UPA Government, submitted its report to Mr. Jaitley in June 2014. “The Shome Committee report has given several recommendations which we are at a very advanced stage of looking into,” Mr. Jaitley said, addressing the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal. “It has suggested certain reforms in tax administration.”

Ø  Lance Naik Mohan Nath Goswami from the Army’s elite Para Special Forces has been awarded the Ashok Chakra, the country’s highest peacetime gallantry award, posthumously for his role in saving two colleagues during an encounter with militants in Kashmir last year. Another of his colleague, Subedar Mahendra Singh was awarded Kirti Chakra for his valiant actions in the same operation. These are among the 365 gallantry awards and other defence decorations approved by President Pranab Mukherjee on the eve of the 67th Republic Day Celebrations. These include four Kirti Chakras, 11 Shaurya Chakras, one Bar to Sena Medal, 48 Sena Medals, four Nao Sena Medals, two Vayu Sena Medals in addition to 298 Distinguished Service medals.