CURRENT AFFAIRS: DAYS
Antyodaya Diwas
- In 2014, Venkaiah Naidu former Union Urban Development Minister announced that the government has decided to observe September 25 as ‘Antyodaya Diwas’ every year to mark the birth anniversary of erstwhile Bharatiya Jana Sangh and BJP icon Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya.
- The birthday of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya, one of the great thinker and philosopher of the nationalist movement of the country.
- Antyodaya means uplifting the poorest of the poor. Reaching the person in the last mile, that is the message of this Antyodaya.
World Environmental Health Day
- World Environmental Health Day is annually observed in many countries around the world on September 26. The observance was inaugurated in 2011 in Indonesia.
- World Environmental Health Day was launched by the IFEH Council (International Federation of Environmental Health).
- This year the theme of World Environmental Health Day 2020 is – Environmental Health A Key Public Health Intervention in Disease Pandemic.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL
‘Saubhagya’ scheme completes three years since its inception
- Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana -“Saubhagya” has completed three years since its inception.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched this scheme on the 25th of September, 2017 to ensure electrification of all willing households in the country in rural as well as urban areas.
- The scheme was launched with an aim to achieve universal household electrification by providing last mile connectivity and electricity connections to all households in rural areas and all poor households in urban areas across the country.
- The scheme was started with an outlay of 16,320 crore rupees. Out of the total amount, the outlay for the rural households is over 14 thousand crore rupees while for the urban households the outlay is 2,295 crore rupees. As many as over 2 crore 62 lakh households have been provided electricity connection so far under the Saubhagya scheme.
Income Tax Department launches Faceless Income tax appeals
- The Income Tax Department launched Faceless Income tax Appeals. In a statement, CBDT stated, under it, all income tax appeals will be finalised in a faceless manner with the exception of appeals relating to serious frauds, major tax evasion, sensitive and search matters, International tax and Black Money Act. while launching the Faceless Assessment and Taxpayers’ Charter, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced to launch the faceless appeals on the birth anniversary of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhayay.
- CBDT stated, now there will be no physical interface between the taxpayers or their counsel and the Income Tax Department. The taxpayers can make submissions from the comfort of their home and save their time and resources. The Faceless Appeal system will include allocation of cases through Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence under the dynamic jurisdiction with central issuance of notices which would be having Document Identification Number.
- As part of dynamic jurisdiction, the draft appellate order will be prepared in one city and will be reviewed in some other city resulting in an objective, fair and just order. The faceless appeal will provide great convenience to the taxpayers. The new system will also be instrumental in imparting greater efficiency, transparency and accountability in the functioning of the Income Tax Department.
About Income Tax Department:
- Headquarters:New Delhi
- Chairman: Pramod Chandra Modi,
First-ever annual ‘India Happiness Report’ released; Mizoram, Punjab, Andaman and Nicobar Islands top index
- The first-ever annual ‘India Happiness Report’, which is India specific and studies happiness in the thirty-six states and union territories of India, has been released.
- In the happiness rankings of states and union territories, Mizoram, Punjab, Andaman and Nicobar Islands are the top three. Among the big states, Punjab, Gujarat, and Telangana are among the top three states whereas, among smaller states, Mizoram, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh are the top three states in happiness rankings. Among union territories, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Puducherry, and Lakshadweep are the top three union territories in happiness rankings.
- “The spirit of India is quite resilient and the impact of COVID-19 varies across states and union territories. It varies from the worst possible to the best possible among individuals in the study. Maharashtra, Delhi, and Haryana have shown the worst possible impact of COVID-19 on happiness, whereas Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir are neutral and Manipur, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep have shown the best possible impact of COVID-19 on happiness,” says the report.
