1.        Budget 2018: Important Points

• There is no change in the income tax slab for the salaried class while there is a increased cess of 4% as health and education cess.

• Standard deduction of Rs 40,000 for salaried employee in lieu of transport and medical expenses.

• Long term capital gains tax to be 10% above Rs1lakh gains and short term capital gains tax to remain unchanged at 15%.

• Companies with turnover of up to Rs 250 crore to be taxed at 25%.

• Salary of President, Vice-President and Governors will be increased to Rs 5 lakh, Rs 4 lakh and Rs 3.5 lakh respectively.

• The target of fiscal deficit for the financial year 2018-19 will be 3.3%.

• There is a proposal for 10% tax on distributed income by equity-oriented mutual funds as well as 100% tax deduction for cooperative societies.

• Custom duty has been increased to 20%, so import of mobile and other such accessories will be costlier.

• A new health scheme to cover 10 crore poor families is world’s largest government-funded health protection scheme.

• There will be installation of 5 lakh Wi-Fi hotspots in rural areas to provide easy internet access.

• Ujjawala Scheme increased its target of 5 crore to 8 crore LPG connections to rural women.

2.       Modicare: A mega health insurance scheme

• Modicare will target 10 crore families i.e up to 50 crore individuals under the National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS) and will provide insurance fund of Rs. 5 lakh per family.

• A national health agency will be instituted to oversee its implementation at state level and identification of beneficiaries is to be done by consulting the 2011 round the socio-economic census.

• Till now, the insurance for vulnerable groups was covered under Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY) under which insurance cover of Rs. 30000 for a family comprising of at most five members.

3.       Jallikattu case goes to Constitution Bench

• A Constitution Bench will decide whether Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra can conserve Jallikattu and bullock cart races as their cultural right and demand their protection under Article 29(1) of the Constitution.

• Article 29 (1) of Part III of the Constitution mandates that “any section of the citizen residing in the territory of India or any part thereof having  a distinct language, script or culture of its own shall have the right to conserve the same”.

• The Bench would also look into whether Jallikattu and bullock cart races laws of Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra actually sub-serve the objective of “prevention” of cruelty to animals under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act of 1960.

 • Jallikattu (eru thazhuvuthal) is a traditional spectacle in which a bull, such as Pulikulam or Kangayam breeds, is released into a crowd of people, and multiple human participants attempt to grab the hump on the bull’s back with both arms and hang.

Source: The Hindu, The Indian Express, Times of India