As turbulence continues unabated in the Valley, the army has quietly moved an entire brigade into South Kashmir as part of operation ‘Calm Down’ to clear it of militants and protesters.
•    Amid intelligence reports of a virtual ‘Jungle Raj’ prevailing in the area, with militants and their sympathisers calling the shots, holding protests and blocking arterial roads, nearly 4,000 additional troops have been pressed into service to restore normalcy, but with clear instructions to use minimum force, official sources said.
•    The troops, mobilised from reserves have fanned out in all the four districts of South Kashmir — Pulwama, Shopian, Anantnag and Kulgam.
•    These districts have borne the brunt of the current spiral of violence in the Valley triggered by the encounter killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.
•    After “clearing” Karimabad area of Pulwama, the troops have moved into Shopian and Kulgam. 
•    The process, which was halted briefly for Bakrid, will resume after the festival, sources said, adding more troops were likely to be pressed into service.

The Union Government on 12 September 2016 issued model guidelines for states to regulate direct selling and multi-level marketing businesses while prohibiting pyramid structures as well as money circulation schemes. The guidelines were issued to protect consumers from Ponzi frauds.
The Direct Selling Guidelines 2016 framework was released by the Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan.
•    Direct selling means marketing, distribution and sale of goods or providing of services as a part of network of direct selling other than under a pyramid scheme.
•    To conduct direct selling business, the guidelines have prescribed many conditions that need to be complied within 90 days.
•    The guidelines also mandate direct sellers to constitute a grievance redressal committee to protect consumers’ right.
•    They also prohibit direct selling entities from using misleading and deceptive or unfair recruitment practices.
•    The contract should provide direct sellers a reasonable cooling-off period in which they can cancel it and receive a refund for goods and services purchased.
•    The new guidelines mandate a seller to provide information about the name of the purchaser and seller, delivery date of goods, procedure of its return and its warranty.

The Union Cabinet on 12 September 2016 approved the creation of the Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA).
•    The HEFA will be established to give a major push for creation of high quality infrastructure in premier educational institutions.
•    It will also mobilise CSR funds from PSUs/Corporates, which will in turn be released for promoting research and innovation in these institutions on grant basis.
•    The HEFA will finance the civil and lab infrastructure projects through a 10-year loan.
•    All the Centrally Funded Higher Educational Institutions will be eligible for joining as members of the HEFA.
•    For joining as members, the Institution should agree to escrow a specific amount from their internal accruals to HEFA for a period of 10 years. 
•    This secured future flows will be securitised by the HEFA for mobilising the funds from the market.
•    Each member institution will be eligible for a credit limit as decided by HEFA based on the amount agreed to be escrowed from the internal accruals.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved the proposal of Department of Consumer Affairs on enhancing the buffer stock for pulses up to 20 lakh tonnes. 
•    The buffer stock will be built through domestic procurement and imports of 10 lakh tonnes each.
•    Releases from the stock and procurement in subsequent year would be based on the prevailing pulse scenario as well as buffer stock position. 
•    Requisite funds for this operation would be provided to the 'Price Stabilization Fund' Scheme of the Department.

•    The allocation/release of the pulses from the buffer stock would be made to States/ UTs and Central Agencies. 
•    Pulses would also be released through strategic open market sale. For managing the buffer, professional pulses buffer management entity may also be engaged. 
•    The exercise will ensure a stable price regime for pulses and will also encourage domestic farmers to increase production of pulses.

The Union Cabinet on 12 September 2016 approved the process, formation and functioning of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council.
The GST Council and its Secretariat will be set up as per the following details:
•    Creation of the GST Council as per Article 279A of the amended Constitution
•    Creation of the GST Council Secretariat, with its office at New Delhi
•    Appointment of the Secretary (Revenue) as the Ex-officio Secretary to the GST Council
•    On 8 September 2016, President Pranab Mukherjee had given his assent to the 122nd Constitutional Amendment Bill. The Bill will pave the way for rollout of GST.
•    The new tax regime will do away with the indirect taxes. It will usher in one tax for the entire country.
•    Over 18 States have ratified the bill.
•    The GST is a single indirect tax, which will subsume most of the central and state taxes such as VAT, excise duty, service tax and central sales tax.

Union Government on 9 September 2016 issued fresh flexi-fund guidelines for Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS). 
•    The guidelines would give more freedom to states in spending money under the CSS to meet local developmental requirements.
•    Under the new norms, flexi-funds in each CSS have been increased from the current 10 percent to 25 percent for states and 30 percent for Union Territories.
•    Now, the states can use the fund to undertake mitigation or restoration activities in case of natural calamities, or to satisfy local requirements in areas affected by internal security disturbances.
•    The guidelines said that state governments will have to constitute a state-level sanctioning committee to avail of the flexi-fund facility. 
•    The flexi-fund facility is not for CSS which emanate from legislation, like MNREGA. 
•    Based on the recommendations of the sub-group of chief ministers and consultations with stakeholders, Niti Aayog had issued instructions for rationalisation of Centrally Sponsored Schemes.

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on 8 September 2016 launched e-nivaran (electronic resolution) facility for online redressal of taxpayers’ grievances. 
The grievances can be related to refunds, Income Tax Returns (ITRs), Tax Deducted at Source (TDS), and Permanent Account Number (PAN) among others.
•    It will help taxpayers in registering their complaints through their computer and receive a special PIN number on their registered mobile number and email, which will help to keep track on the issues.
•    It will also allow the complainant to track the progress of the complaint.
•    People can lodge their complains and upload the documents related to the same in form od a PDF file and clubbed as a ZIP file.
•    People who don’t have a PAN can also access the e-nivaran facility and lodge their complaints in connection with their I-T case.
•    The ‘e-nivaran’ form will be available in a physical form at the Aaykar Sampark Kendras (ASK) (tax facilitation centre), located in over 300 cities. 
•    Later, the form will be fed into the system by tax officials.

Arunachal Pradesh Governor Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa has been sacked weeks after the Supreme Court restored the Congress government in the state, accusing him of violating the constitution.
•    The sacking was imminent after Home Minister Rajnath Singh conveyed during a meeting with President Pranab Mukherjee last Wednesday that Mr Rajkhowa's position had become untenable and he had lost the centre's confidence.
•    The government waited to act against the governor until after a two-day special session of the Arunachal Pradesh assembly called on Thursday to ratify a constitutional amendment bill enabling the Goods and Services Tax or GST.
•    The centre had earlier asked Mr Rajkhowa to resign "on health grounds" but he had defiantly refused to step down.
•    The 72-year-old had told a local TV channel: "I want the President to dismiss me. I will not resign. Let the President express his displeasure."
•    The former bureaucrat was appointed as governor last year.
•    On July 13, the Supreme Court reinstated the Congress government in Arunachal Pradesh by cancelling all decisions of Mr Rajkhowa that had precipitated its fall in January
 

The Union Government has launched Urja Mitra Helpline through which customers can get information on power outages from distribution companies by dialing 14401. 
•    The helpline was launched by the Department of Telecom (DoT) of the Union Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.
•    Urja Mitra Helpline is for pan-India usage to send information through voice calls and SMS. 
•    The information will apprise customers about power situation in their area so that they can plan accordingly. 
•    It is a mandatory service, which will be provided by all the telecom operators.
•    Besides, Power Finance Corporation (PFC) on behalf of the Union Power Ministry has developed Urja mobile app. 
•    It will enhance consumer connect with power distribution companies. 
•    Using it consumers can get information on outages, complaint redressal, timely release of connections, and power reliability, among others.

The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) has commissioned well-equipped offshore patrolling (OPV) vessel named ‘Sarathi’. 
•    It was commissioned by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar at Goa Shipyard Ltd (GSL) shipyard at Vasco in south Goa. 
•    ICGS Sarathi is the third in the series of six OPVs built by GSL for Indian Coast Guard (ICG). 
•    It is designed and built indigenously by GSL. It is the largest i.e. 105-meter long and is most advanced new generation off-shore patrol vessel. 
•    It has a state-of-the-art propulsion system that can propel the vessel to a speed of over 25 knots. 
•    It is designed to carry one twin engine light helicopter and five high speed boats. 
•    The vessel will be joining coast guard fleet based at Kochi, Kerala and will form part of the Naval Training Squadron. 
•    It will be deployed for other surveillance and to safeguard the maritime interests of the country. 
•    It will also help the coast guard meet the increasing requirement of policing and patrolling of the India’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).