KERALA
Kerala declares bird flu as state-specific disaster, issues high alert
Kerala government has declared bird flu as a state-specific disaster and issued a high alert after the outbreak of bird flu was confirmed in certain parts of Kottayam and Alappuzha districts.
The presence of the H5N8 subtype of the Influenza A virus was reported in ducks in Karthikappally and Kuttanad taluks in Alappuzha and Neendoor in Kottayam.
Kerala minister for forest, Animal husbandry and Dairy development K Raju had said that about 12000 ducks had died and around 40,000 birds will be culled in the region where bird flu has been reported.
INTERNATIONAL
Indias Minister Met The Top Leaders of Qatar
India’s External Affairs Minister met with Qatar’s top leaders and discussed strengthening economic and security cooperation between the two countries. This visit is part of India’s ongoing outreach to West Asia, which the government considers to be part of its neighbourhood expansion. Qatar is a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
India and Qatar agree to maintain regular consultation and coordination on all issues of mutual concern (including energy, power, petrochemical, investment, infrastructure, development, project export and education) in multilateral forums.
UK To Abolish the Tampon Tax
Beginning in 2021, the UK abolished the 5% Value Added Tax (VAT) on women’s sanitary products, commonly referred to as the tampon tax, & many activists call it sexist. Now it joins countries/regions that have eliminated this tax, including India, Australia and Canada.
Until December 31, the United Kingdom was still part of the European Union. During this period, regular products such as sanitary napkins and tampons were classified as non-essential goods, requiring member states to impose a 5% tax on them.
Today, Britain has withdrawn from the ranks of 27 member states, and it is not subject to its directives. According to the directive, since 1973, hygiene products have been subject to five different VAT rates-the lowest rate applicable since 2001 is 5%.
As a result, tax cancellation has been well received by women’s rights activists and Brexit supporters.
The EU itself has been abolishing regular product taxes. In 2018, the European Union issued proposals to change tax rules, but these proposals have not yet been accepted by all members
NATIONAL
New Rule in GST Will be Effective from New Year
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has made it mandatory for businesses with a monthly turnover of more than Rs. 50 lakh to pay at least 1% of their Goods and Services Tax (GST) liability in cash. It will be effective from 1st January 2021.
The new rule restricts the use of Input Tax Credit (ITC) for discharging GST liability to 99%.
So far, CBIC has booked about 12,000 ITC fraud cases and arrested 365 people so that this move will stop tax evasion through false invoices.
Provide ITC to offset taxes on the purchase of raw materials, consumables, goods or services used to manufacture goods or services. This helps avoid the cascading effect of taxes and double taxation.
FSSAI Slashes Limit for Trans-Fat Levels In Foods
The Food Safety & Standards Agency of India – FSSAI has passed amendments to foods to limit the amount of trans fatty acids – TFA in fats and oils from the current 5% to 3% in 2021 and 2% in 2022. Standard (Prohibition and Restriction of Sales) Regulations.
The revised regulations apply to edible refined oils, vanaspati (partially hydrogenated oils), margarine, bakery shortenings and other cooking media, such as vegetable fat spreads and mixed fat spreads.
Transfat is associated with an increased risk of heart attack and death from coronary heart disease.
According to data from the WHO (World Health Organization), due to the intake of industrially-produced trans-fatty acids, there are approximately 540,000 deaths worldwide each year.
The WHO has also called for the global elimination of Transfats by 2023.
Kochi Mangaluru Natural Gas Pipeline Dedicated to the Nation
The Prime Minister dedicated the Kochi-Mangaluru Gas Pipeline to the nation. This is a 450-kilometer-long pipeline built by Gail (India) Ltd.
It has a daily transportation capacity of 12 million metric standard cubic meters, and transports natural gas from the LNG (liquefied natural gas) regasification station in Kochi (Kerala) to Mangaluru (Dakshina Kannada District, Karnataka) while passing through The Ernakulam, Palakkad, Malapuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod regions of Thrissur.
Laying the pipeline is an engineering challenge because the route of the pipeline makes it necessary to traverse more than 100 water bodies.This is done through a special technique called “Horizontal Directional Drilling method”.
The total cost of the project is approximately Rs. 3000 crores.
The pipeline will provide Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) to households in the form of Pipeline Natural Gas (PNG) and environmentally friendly and affordable fuel to the transportation sector.