 The Government constituted a seven-member ministerial panel headed by Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi to examine modalities for revenue mobilisation in case of natural calamities and disasters. The panel would look into five issues flagged by the Council, including whether the new tax should be levied only in the state concerned or should it be an all-India levy, and that should it be on specified luxury or sin goods only. |
| Source- The Times of India |
 In pursuance of its objective of ensuring that Legislation is in sync with the needs of strong economic fundamentals, the Government has constituted a Competition Law Review Committee to review the Competition Act. The Committee will be headed by Injeti Srinivas, Secretary of the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The Competition Act was passed in the year 2002 and the Competition Commission of India was set up in pursuance of the same. The Commission started functioning in right earnest from 2009. |
| Source- Press Information Bureau (PIB) |
 Assam Government has become the first Indian state to offer a Wage Compensation Scheme for pregnant women working in the tea gardens of the state. The scheme will be launched by Assam Chief Minister Sarbanand Sonowal in Guwahati. The announcement was made by the state’s Health and Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Under the scheme, an amount of Rs 12,000 will be given to the pregnant women so that they can take care of themselves and the unborn baby. The compensation of wages to pregnant women will be given in 4 instalments – Rs 2,000 in the first trimester, Rs 4,000 in the second trimester, Rs 3,000 for institutional delivery and Rs 3,000 for registration of the child’s birth. |
| Source- All India Radio |
 The government has set up an eight-member Lokpal Search Committee under the Chairmanship of former Supreme Court Judge, Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai. Prasar Bharati Chairman A Surya Prakash, former SBI Chief Arundhati Bhattacharya and Justice Sukha Ram Singh Yadav among others will be members of the panel. An official order issued by Ministry of Personnel stated that the panel will recommend the names for the Chairperson and Members of the Lokpal to the Lokpal Selection Committee. According to the Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh the search panel is a major step towards setting up of the Lokpal and the committee will start functioning soon. |
| Source- News on AIR |
 The Supreme Court constituted a three-member committee headed by its former judge Justice Amitava Roy to look into the aspect of jail reforms across the country and suggest measures to deal with them. A bench headed by Justice M B Lokur said the panel will look into the issues including over-crowding in prisons. The Supreme court on August 27 had reserved its order on the issue of constituting a committee to deal with issues pertaining to jails and suggest reforms for prisons across the country. The committee will also look into the various issues concerning women prisoners. |
| Source- The Hindu |
 The government has raised interest rates on Small Savings Schemes (SSS), including National Savings Certificate (NSC) and Public Provident Fund (PPF) by up to 0.4% for the October-December quarter, in line with rising deposit rates in the banks. Interest rates for small savings schemes are notified on a quarterly basis. |
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The interest rate for the different deposits and schemes are as follows:
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| Source- The Hindu Business Lines |
 The Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) has approved a new scheme- Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojna for Insured Persons covered under the Employees’ State Insurance Act. This scheme is a relief payable in cash directly to their Bank Account in case of unemployment and while they search for new engagement. The decision was taken at the ESIC board meeting chaired by the Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar in New Delhi. The eligibility for availing Super Specialty treatment for dependents of Insured Person has now been relaxed to insurable employment of one year with 156 days of contributions. The ESIC also approved the proposal for increasing the funeral expenses from existing 10 thousand rupees to 15 thousand rupees being paid on the death of Insured Person. |
| Source- AIR World Service |
 In an attempt to combat human trafficking, the West Bengal government has rolled out a scheme, Swayangsiddha, in different districts of the State. Swayangsiddha, which means self-reliance, will be executed by the West Bengal Police. The scheme aims to empower young boys and girls to make informed choices so that they are less vulnerable to trafficking and child marriage. As the per the NCRB data, West Bengal has highest recorded case of trafficking among the States. |
| Source- DD News |
 The Union Cabinet approved new Umbrella Scheme 'Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan, PM-AASHA. The Scheme is aimed at ensuring remunerative prices to the farmers for their produce as announced in the Union Budget for 2018 the announcement was made by the Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh in New Delhi. The Cabinet has decided to give additional government guarantee of Rs.16,550 crore making it Rs. 45,550 crore in total. |
The new Umbrella Scheme includes the mechanism of ensuring remunerative prices to the farmers and is comprised of:
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| Source- DD News |
 With concerns being raised on some proposals of the draft e-commerce policy, the government has set up a group of secretaries to look into the issues. The group will be chaired by the secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). The other members of the group include secretaries of the ministry of electronics and information technology and department of commerce. Representatives of Niti Aayog and department of economic affairs are also members of the group. |
| Source- The Economic Times |
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