Prashant Mavani, is an expert in current affairs analysis and holds a MSc in Management from University of Surrey (U.K.).

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1 Prashant Mavani, is an expert in current affairs analysis and holds a MSc in Management from University of Surrey (U.K.). Above all he is a passionate teacher.

2 A Buddha is a Buddha, a Krishna is a Krishna, and you are you. And you are not in any way less than anybody else. Respect yourself, respect your own inner voice and follow it. Ref: Courage, a book by Osho

Age old rivalry between Iran and USA Nuclear deal in danger President Donald Trump s opposition to the Iran nuclear deal. According to U.S. law, the administration must certify the Iran deal every 90 days.

5 Age old rivalry between Iran and USA Nuclear deal in danger President Donald Trump s opposition to the Iran nuclear deal. According to U.S. law, the administration must certify the Iran deal every 90 days. -next deadline is October 15 Dangerous precedent It s a multilateral agreement Deal has shown results: without a shot being fired International agencies: Iran is fully compliant Undermines international agencies Message does it send to other countries about international diplomacy? Undermines global non-proliferation regime

A big broom The decision by the Ministry of

companies Shell companies: firms with less than

operations Disqualify select directors in these

a specified period of time Funding terrorism

7 A big broom The decision by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to crack down on so-called shell companies Shell companies: firms with less than bona fide intent and having virtually no business operations Disqualify select directors in these entities Debar them from taking board positions for a specified period of time Funding terrorism Weakening democracy Shell Company Not paying tax Rotten business environment

This would begin the clean-up of the Augean

inadvertently tainting genuine firms and

8 This would begin the clean-up of the Augean stables of firms Intent after naming and shaming is good but risky too 1.06 lakh directors The real danger of inadvertently tainting genuine firms and individuals. Securities Appellate Tribunal cancelled SEBI s decisions

9 Treat disease not just symptoms 1. The need to address the underlying systemic shortcomings that have allowed so many companies, both listed and unlisted, to become vehicles of malfeasance. 2. In the case of public limited companies, a major portion of the extralegal activities including price rigging of shares, insider trading and other questionable practices have been found to occur in the large mass of smaller companies. 3. It is far easier to register a firm than it is to dissolve or wind it up. 4. The problems of acute illiquidity, weak governance and regulatory oversight have combined with the difficulty in delisting to make these firms prime targets for financial fraudsters and money launderers. Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code

11 A time of strategic partnerships The India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership a designation and status New Delhi accords to no other partner. China and USA factors Defining: Strategic partnerships We live in a world today driven by strategic partnerships. Strategic partnerships carry certain characteristic features falling short of alliances. 1. Unlike alliances, they do not demand commitments to a partner s disputes with other countries. 2. They avoid entrapment, or being dragged into a partner s disputes and potentially into conflict, which happened in the First World War. 3. Third, regular high-level political and military interactions facilitate a collaborative approach to strategic policies over a range of economic and military activities. Given that resort to war is undesirable owing to economic interdependence as well as the presence of nuclear weapons. The aim of major strategic partnerships is to strengthen defences against marginal conflict, convey a determination to stand up to a strategic adversary and, overall, generate a persuasive environment that discourages potential intimidation.

13 Beyond social media On September 4, the Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM) under the aegis of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, launched a social media campaign to promote Geographical Indications (GIs) with the hashtag #LetsTalkIP. Govt. said that their promotion is in line with the Government s Make in India campaign. It adds that it is an area of strength and optimism for India as the GI tag has accorded protection to several handmade and manufactured products, especially in the informal sector. For example, when you see the name Scotch for whisky, a registered GI under the GI Act, on a bottle of whisky, you expect it to originate from Scotland and possess certain qualities that you would not associate with other whiskies. European regulation states that the added value of GIs is based on consumer trust and that it is only credible if accompanied by effective verification and controls. While the campaign is a wonderful idea to promote awareness, we need to first fill the legislative gap in ensuring quality control through monitoring mechanisms.

15 Taxpayer rights and obligations concept of taxpayer rights Tax administration has seen some paradigm shifts, the taxpayer still seems to be wanting for greater certainty and fairness in the levy, assessment and collection of taxes. In the light of such economic aspirations, a fair balance between taxpayer rights and obligations will only ensure a higher degree of trust between the tax collector and taxpayer, thus leading to a higher tax yield. In order to attract investments, the government signed Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAAs) with states like Singapore and Cyprus on similar treaty terms as the India-Mauritius DTAA signed in Transfer Pricing mechanism (the rules and methods for pricing transactions between enterprises under common ownership or control), India ended up being party to more than half of the global transfer pricing disputes by Vodafone case on capital gain

16 A step further was the implementation of General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) in India. The GAAR provisions have been made effective in India from April 1, A major example is the revocation of presumption of innocence of the taxpayers. It is now a burden ab initio on these business entities to prove that their tax mitigation techniques do not qualify as impermissible avoidance arrangements. This goes against the fundamental principle of innocent unless proven guilty. GST Network glitches Issue of refund leading to working capital shortages Malaysia is facing huge problems because of such glitches Service-based strategies The recommendations of the Tax Administration Reform Committee, submitted to the Finance Ministry in 2014, tried to reintroduce a fair balance between the rights and obligations of taxpayers. Several of these recommendations, such as improvement in taxpayers service, enhanced use of information and communication technology, exchange of information with other agencies, expansion of tax base, compliance management, etc. have either been accepted or implemented to ensure a better relation between the taxpayer and the tax collector. From enforcement based to service based tax collection Moving away from administration and towards management.

18 States of the Opposition 2019 Lok Sabha elections: BJP aims for Mission 350-plus If it proves successful, we could soon have a Parliament that is practically Opposition-mukt. At present India has a weak opposition and a single party dominance Shadow Cabinet of U.K. Some have argued that the Indian polity has reverted to a state it has witnessed before that of single-party dominance, with the BJP taking the place of the Congress. the Congress incorporated oppositional drives into itself by way of multiple factions at the regional and national level that mirrored the extraordinary pluralism and diversity of a complex nationhood. Coalition Era: 1989 to 2014 Now we have BJP dominance in the nation Indian democracy has never fared well under powerful parliamentary majorities led by a charismatic Prime Minister unchecked by coalition dynamics. We have two examples, in Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. While one briefly downed the shutters on democracy, the other gave a fillip to Hindu fundamentalism and tried to muzzle the press.

19 No floor test, no bypoll for 18 constituencies in T.N.: HC The Madras High Court has ordered a stay on holding any trust vote in the Tamil Nadu Assembly until further orders. It has also barred the Election Commission of India from initiating the process of holding by-elections to the 18 seats that were notified by the Speaker as vacant. The notification was made following the disqualification of the MLAs loyal to the AIADMK s sidelined leader TTV Dhinakaran on Monday. The disqualified MLAs filed petitions before the High Court yesterday, seeking to declare the Speaker s order null and void. The petitions were clubbed with DMK leader MK Stalin s writ petition seeking to convene the state Assembly at the earliest to test the majority of the AIADMK Government. They were heard by Justice M Duraiswamy today.

20 Union Cabinet The Finance Minister has said, the government will take additional measures, if needed, in view of the present economic situation to improve the growth. He had held a series of meetings with concerned Ministers and Secretaries in the last two days and discussed the factors relating to the economy. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has termed the hike in the prices of petrol and diesel as temporary phenomena, saying it will soon be normalized. The recent spike is due to shrinking of refining capacity which has been affected due to Hurricane The government needs revenue to support public spending. The Cabinet has also approved the revamped "Khelo India" programme at a cost of 1,756 crore rupees for the period to The programme aims at mainstreaming sports. Speaking on the revamped programme, Sports Minister Col Rajyavardhan Rathore said, it will impact the entire sports eco-system, including infrastructure, community sports, talent identification, coaching for excellence, competition structure and sports economy. The Cabinet today also approved extension of time period of the scheme Special Industry Initiative for Jammu and Kashmir, UDAAN till 31st of December next year. Initially, the time period of Udaan was upto Udaan is a national integration scheme with the goal to mainstream youth of Jammu and Kashmir with a rest of the country.

21 Bound by Paris deal, says India India on Tuesday reaffirmed its commitment to the landmark Paris climate change agreement, saying it was willing to work above and beyond the pact to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. India, which is the world s third largest carbon polluter, reached a pact, along with more than 190 nations, in December 2015 with an aim to prevent an increase in the global average temperature and keep it well below 2 degrees Celsius. The deal, which replaced the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, was ratified last October. India and France are working together on the international Solar Alliance.

22 A Boat Lab to study Brahmaputra The Department of Biotechnology will commission a two-tiered barge that will roughly be the size of two large conference rooms and host scientists and a full-fledged lab that will allow those on board to collect samples from various stretches of the river perform tests on water quality biodiversity of the wider ecosystem The proposed vessel, now only known as the Brahmaputra Biodiversity Biology Boat (B4). For a river of the size and diversity of the Brahmaputra, there is very little research done to understand its hydrology, water quality and biodiversity.

25 Questions 1) Name 4 engines of growth in Indian economy. Very briefly explain how it works. 2) Which country holds the world record in terms of hitting range when it comes to Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System? 3) Naf river is located between which two countries? 4) Strait of Gibraltar divides which two countries from each other?

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It is better to be roughly right than precisely wrong. British economist John Maynard Keynes Study-IQ education

It is better to be roughly right than precisely wrong. British economist John Maynard Keynes Lecture 1- Quote 2- Editorials 3- Current Affair Q 4- Subjective Q 5- Vocabulary 6- Maps Practice 7- Capital