Current Affairs October 2019 - Committees

1 - Government constituted committee to suggest measures to augment GST revenue

The government has constituted a committee of officers to suggest measures to augment Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections after it dropped sharply to a 19-month low in September. The panel comprises of state-level GST commissioners and centre government officials.

The panel has been asked to look into "systemic changes in GST including checks and balances to prevent misuse." Its key mandate is to suggest "measures for expansion of tax base and anti-evasion measures using better data analytics".

2 - Tamil Nadu constituted two panels over water disputes with Kerala

In line with its agreement with Kerala towards resolving various inter-State water disputes, Tamil Nadu government constituted two committees to end water disputes with Kerala over two projects Parambikulam-Aliyar Project (PAP) and the Pandiyar-Punnampuzha project. Secretary of Tamil Nadu’s Public Works Department (PWD) K. Manivasan would lead both the committees.

Other members include Cauvery Technical Committee chairperson R. Subramanian, Retired PWD engineer R. Ilangovan Superintending Engineer P. Muthusamy, TANGEDCO Superintending Engineer Munawar Sulthana, Retired PWD engineer E. Thamizharasan, Superintending Engineer S. Sivalingam and Ms. Sulthana.