30-03-23 Daily-Kerala-KPSC Current Affairs

In a relief to the ailingrevenue collectionof the state, the excise department is set to meet its revised revenue collection target set for the financial year 2022-23, which would come to a close in two more days.

As per the data till February 28, the revenue collection fromliquorsales (excluding sales tax) to the state exchequer is Rs 2,480.15 crore, the highest till February end for any financial year.
The previous highest collection was in 2018-19, when it was Rs 1,948.69 crore. In 2018-19, the total revenue collection till March 31 closed at Rs 2,480.63 crore, which means that Rs 531.94 crore was collected in the last month of the financial year.

The main components of this revenue figure are excise duty, license fee and other regulatory fees. The excise duty is calculated in slabs ranging from 21.5% to 23.5% of the purchase cost per proof litre, and the highest rate of excise duty is Rs 237 per proof litre. With the sales taxes also being revised recently, the revenue from liquor is all set to scale further heights.

Amid prediction of more number of heatwaves this summer, theCentre for Policy Research(CPR) has critically assessed India’s 37 ‘heat action plans’ (HAPs), comprising of dos and don’ts for authorities and the general public, in 18 states and found major gaps at different levels noting how it lack location-specificity,vulnerability assessments, financing and transparency.

The New Delhi-based think tank CPR has also found out that none of the reviewed HAPs indicate the legal sources of their authority and nearly all plans fail to identify and target vulnerable groups.

The HAPs are guidance documents prepared by state, district and city governments to help prepare for, respond to, and recover and learn from heatwaves. One of their most important functions is to direct scarce healthcare, financial, information, and infrastructural Resources to those most vulnerable to extreme heat in that jurisdiction. Though the exact number of HAPs in India is unknown, some estimates claim the existence of well over 100 nation-wide HAPs.

The government has received 26 proposals from 21 states to developnew citiesto meet the demand forurban expansionin the country, the housing and urban affairs ministry informedRajya Sabha. These proposals are at scrutiny and evaluation stage.

The Centre will select nine cities, maximum one in a state, and will provide Rs 1,000 crore to each of the selected city. The15th Finance Commissionhas allocated Rs 8,000 crore for performance-based challenge fund for incubation of the new cities, which will be chosen through a challenge.

Proposals received for incubation of new cities include Ayodhya (UP), Jagiroad (Assam), New MOPA Ayush City, Pernem (Goa), GIFT city expansion (Gujarat), Pakyong (), Thirumazhisai (Tamil Nadu), Bantala Greenfield City, Karmadiganta (West Bengal), Jabalpur Extension (MP), Virul (Maharashtra), Aerocity (Kerala), among others.

Japan committed Rs 7,084.5 crore to India for three projects, including Patna Metro Rail Construction Project and Rajasthan Water Sector Livelihood Improvement Project.

Notes in this regard were exchanged between Rajat Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs and Japan Ambassador to IndiaSuzuki Hiroshi, an official statement said.

Japan would fund Patna Metro Rail Construction Project (I) of JPY 98.612 billion (about Rs 5,509 crore), Project for Forest and Biodiversity Conservation for <a href="https://exam.pscnotes.com/Climate-change”>Climate Change Response in West Bengal of JPY 9.308 billion (about Rs 520 crore) and Rajasthan Water Sector Livelihood Improvement Project (II) of JPY 18.894 billion (about Rs 1,055.53 crore).

Rajasthan Water Sector Livelihood Improvement Project aims to improve livelihoods of farmers as well as promote gender mainstreaming in <a href="https://exam.pscnotes.com/Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture and Irrigation sector in the State, by improving water use efficiency and agriculture productivity, through improvement of existing irrigation facilities, it said.
India and Japan have had a long and fruitful HISTORY of bilateral development cooperation since 1958.

The President and Vice President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were present during the Genome Council where National Genome Strategy was presented.

The objective of this program is to lay out inclusive legislative as well as Governance structures.

The plan is for about 10 years and will help in the overall improvement of the country. It is intended to arrange public Health Services.