BackNews in numbers | 13.2 lakh individual household toilets built in urban areas in 2015-16
This is just around 53% of the 25 lakh target for the year and indicates that India would be hard pressed to achieve open defecation-free status by 2019
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What is it? Reservation quota in education and jobs for those with less than ₹ 6 lakh of annual family income in the general category, as announced by Gujarat government on Friday.
Why is it important? This is a move to appease the protesting Patel community, which has been demanding ‘Other Backward Class’ status to avail reservations in education and jobs. This comes ahead of the state elections next year, and after Congress won 23 of 31 district panchayats in the civic polls last year. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been in power for the last 18 years in the state.
Tell me more: The Patels are unhappy with the state government’s offer and have demanded that its community get a separate quota, similar to what the Haryana government has offered the Jats. The reservation move will exceed the 50% reservation limit set by the Supreme Court but the BJP says it is ready to go legal to defend its move.
7.5 tonnes
What is it? The quantity of gold Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), which manages the famous temple on the hill in southern Andhra Pradesh, is considering moving under the Indian government’s gold monetisation schemes.
Why is it important? This would be the biggest mobilisation under the schemes launched last November. Over 1.5 tonnes have been deposited so far, and the board may move its entire reserves of 7.5 tonnes. The schemes are aimed at lowering India’s gold imports, which form the second highest component in the imports bill after crude oil. India imported 926 tonnes of gold in 2015-16, 16% less than the previous fiscal.
Tell me more: TTD wants the government to pay the interest component on medium and long-term schemes to be paid in gold instead of cash and also calculate the interest on gold at the time of return instead of at the time of deposit. This is on top of some changes the government had announced on Friday.
6,000
What is it? The number of people from state agencies involved in putting out the forest fire in Uttarakhand.
Why is it important? This is one of the biggest disaster the state has faced with 1,233 cases of fire covering 1,900 hectares of forest. While the effective area under fire has come down by 70%, the government hopes to put out the fire in the next 3-4 days by putting 10,000 more people on the job.
Tell me more: The area under fire is many times more compared to previous two years—930.3 hectares in 2015 and 384.5 hectares in 2014. On Sunday, the government announced a pre-fire alert system that will issue warnings to the concerned departments via text messages. As on 21 April, 20,667 forest fire incidents have already been reported, compared to 15,937 in 2015 and 19,054 in 2014.
1.25 crore
What is it? The number of people who paid taxes in 2012-13.
Why is it important? This was just 1% of India’s population at that time, indicating the extent of domestic tax evasion. Direct taxes accounted for 51% of the total tax revenue in 2015-16, the lowest since 2007-08. Indirect taxes (levied on goods and services) puts a greater burden on the poor.
Tell me more: Only 2.9 crore individuals filed their income-tax returns in 2012-13 and nearly 89% of them paid taxes less than ₹ 1.5 lakh with the average tax outgo being less than ₹ 21,000.
13.2 lakh
What is it? The number of individual household toilets built in urban areas in 2015-16.
Why is it important? This is just around 53% of the 25 lakh target for the year and indicates that India would be hard pressed to achieve open defecation-free status by 2019.
Tell me more: 11 states reported that they have not constructed even a single household toilet. Gujarat accounted for around a third of the total individual household toilets last fiscal. States were also unable to meet their targets in the community and public toilet category where they have reported construction of only 68,500 toilets as against the target of 1 lakh.
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