Kerala Affairs
KFRI to set up unique seed museum
Indias first seed museum is set to come up at Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI) in PeechiThe museum will showcase seeds of all medicinal Plants and tropical plants growing in natural habitats in the country.
The work for setting up the museum has already been started and is expected to be opened for the public by next year. The ministry of Ayush has allotted Rs 2.1crore for setting up the museum, which is coming up on the top floor of the seed centre at KFRI.
The museum will exhibit seeds of around 1,000 species of plants, including rare ones.We have already collected 250 species.
National and International Affairs
Indias first underwater metro service,The Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC)said that the East-West Metro Corridor project, is expected to be completed byDecember 2023.With this, another feather is being added to the crown of Kolkata Metro, the first metro railway in the country. Kolkata Metro, which started its journey in 1984, is being expanded to cover the whole city and its outskirts. The underwater metro, which will be running through the Hoogly river will connect the twin cities of Howrah and Kolkata.
Kolkata Metro RAILWAY Corporation has taken up the difficult take of making the tunnel with the help of German machines and the best experts. Work inside the tunnel is still in progress.
As far as the cost of construction of the underground metro is concerned, it costs about Rs 120 crore per kilometre to build the tunnel but the manufacturing cost of the tunnel underwater, which is deep in the Hooghly river costs increased to around 157 crores by per kilometre.
GST collections in December up by 15 percent to Rs 1.49 lakh cr
According to a government announcement, Indias goods and Services tax receipts increased 15% year over year in December to Rs 1.49 lakh crore ($18.07 billion), suggesting robust economic activity throughout the holiday season. In November, revenue from goods and services taxes totaled Rs. 1.46 lakh crore.
The total amount of GST revenue collected in December 2022 was Rs 1,49,507 crore, of which the CGST portion was Rs 26,711 crore, the SGST portion was Rs 33,357 crore, the IGST portion was Rs 78,434 crore (including Rs 40,263 crore from the collection of GST on goods imported), and the Cess portion was Rs 11,005 crore (including Rs 850 crore collected on import of goods).
The government made a regular settlement of Rs 36,669 crore to CGST and Rs 31,094 crore to SGST from IGST.