Current Affairs : July 17, 2011

July 17, 2011

World Bank probable to approve $1 Billion credit for NRLP

The Rural Development Ministry to sign agreement with World Bank for Soft Loan worth of $ 1 billion
Objective of the Loan: To implement the National Rural Livelihoods Project (NRLP)
under National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM)
Distribution of project funds among the states to be based on the relative share of rural BPL population in the total states

Hugo Chavez delegates some of his powers to VP & FM

Venezuelan President: Hugo Chavez
Mr. Hugo arrived in Cuba to continue receiving medical treatment on cancer detected
Mr. Chavez delegated some of his responsibilities to Vice President Elias Jaua temporarily

2011 Military World Games open in Rio de Janeiro

2011 Military World Games opened in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Games are officially known as the 5th CISM Military World Games
About 4,900 athletes from 88 countries competing in 24 events during the 9-day Games
A group of 149 services personnel will represent the Indian armed forces at the Games
They include a number of National, Commonwealth and Asian Games medalists
India will participate in 12 disciplines and the team include ace shooter Sanjeev Rajpur and star boxers Suranjoy Singh, T. Nanao Singh and Chhote Lall Yadav
The Indian contingent is headed by Air Marshal J.N.Burma, President, Services Sports Control Board

Volcano Mount Lokon re-erupts in Indonesia

A volcano in North Sulawesi in central Indonesia has re-erupted
Mount Lokon re-erupted spewing ash up to 3,000 to 3,500 meters high and moving to the north
Mount Lokon of 1,750 meters high is one of Indonesia’s 129 active volcanoes

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250 Crore Tax payed by the India’s Richest Sporting body BCCI

Keeping its reputation of being India’s richest sporting body , the Board of Control for Cricket in India, BCCI paid taxes to the tune of ` 250 Crore for the last financial year

300 small Political Parties did not file IT Return

A nationwide investigation conducted by the Income Tax Department has established that 300 registered political parties have never filed their IT Returns
IT Department directed by the EC to issue notices to such Parties
Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) asked by the EC to ensure the financial status of these small parties for suspected violation of tax laws and money laundering
The CBDT carried an investigation on this issue and submitted its Report to the election panel
A number of political parties also do not possess Permanent Account Number (PAN)
As the donations to Political Parties are relieved from payment of income tax, it is suspected that people are floating such political parties in large numbers to escape taxes
Income Tax Department asked by the EC to step up the investigation and to serve show-cause notices to these small parties under the pertinent provisions of Income Tax Act and make certain the source and efficacy of the funds they received through donations
The report tracked the I-T returns of these small parties in 13 states including Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and North East
Regularly I-T returns have been filed by all the National and other major Political Parties
Chief Election Commissioner Mr. S.Y.Quraishi observed that almost 75 to 80% of the registered political parties have not participated in any elections for the last several years