01 July 2018: UPSC Exam PIB Summary & Analysis

GST day

• Government of India has decided to celebrate July 1st as GST day because GST was launched on the 1stJuly, 2017 in a majestic ceremony held in the Central Hall of Parliament on the midnight of 30th June, 2017. 
• Before implementation of GST, Indian taxation system consisted of central, state and local area levies.
• In the constitutional scheme, taxation power on goods was with Central Government but it was limited up to the stage of manufacture and production while States had power to tax sale and purchase of goods. Centre had the exclusive power to tax services.
• This sort of division of taxing powers created a grey zone which led to legal disputes since determination of what constitutes a goods or service became increasingly difficult.  
• The Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill (GST bill), 2014 was introduced in the Parliament on 19th December, 2014 and has been enacted as Constitution (101st Amendment) Act, 2016 w.e.f. 16th September, 2016.
• GST act consists of four acts namely CGST Act, UTGST Act, IGST Act and GST (Compensation to States) Act.
• All the other States (except Jammu & Kashmir) and Union territories with legislature have passed their respective SGST Acts. 
• The dual GST model has been adopted by India.
• Under this model, tax is levied concurrently by the Centre as well as the States on a common base, i.e. supply of goods or services or both.
• GST to be levied by the Centre would be called Central GST (Central tax / CGST) and that to be levied by the States would be called State GST (State Tax / SGST). State GST (State Tax / SGST) would be called UTGST (Union territory tax) in Union Territories without legislature. 
• Inter-State supply of goods or services shall be subjected to Integrated GST (Integrated tax / IGST). The IGST model is a unique contribution of India in the field of VAT. The IGST Model envisages that Centre would levy IGST (Integrated Goods and Service Tax) which would be CGST plus SGST on all inter-State supply of goods or services or both.
• The introduction of e-way (electronic way) bill is another milestone in the GST.
• It envisages one e-way bill for movement of the goods throughout the country, thereby ensuring a hassle free movement of goods throughout the country. 
• The introduction of GST is truly a game changer for Indian economy as it has replaced multi-layered, complex indirect tax structure with a simple, transparent and technology–driven tax regime. It will integrate India into a single, common market by breaking barriers to inter-State trade and commerce.
• By eliminating cascading of taxes and reducing transaction costs, it will enhance ease of doing business in the country and provide an impetus to ‘Make in India’ campaign. GST will result in ‘ONE NATION, ONE TAX, ONE MARKET’.

AI task force hands over Final Report

• The Task Force under the Chairmanship of Shri N Chandrasekharan, Chairman, Tata Sons has submitted its report to Defence Ministry.
• The committee was constituted to study the whole gamut of issues surrounding strategic implications of Artificial Intelligence in national security perspective, in global context.
• Task Force was represented by members from the Government, Services, Academia, Industry Professionals and Start-ups was constituted in February 2018
• The Task Force in its report has-
• Studied the level of AI/ML development in India in general and specific in the context of defence needs.
• Made recommendations of making India a significant power of AI in defence specifically in the area of aviation, naval, land systems, cyber, nuclear, and biological warfare;
• Made recommendations for policy and institutional interventions that are required to regulate and encourage a robust AI based technologies for defence sector in the country. 
• Considering that most AI work is happening in private sector, made recommendations to work with start-ups/commercial industry in the field of use of AI for defence purposes.

Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction 2018 

• The Indian high level Ministerial delegation headed by Shri Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State for Home Affairs will be participating in the AMCDRR 2018 to be held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
• The AMCDRR 2018 is expected to host over 3,000 delegates and participants from Asian and Pacific countries, governmental and inter-governmental organisations, United Nations and international organisations, and stakeholder groups.
• The theme of the AMCDRR 2018: ‘Preventing Disaster Risk: Protecting Sustainable Development’ reflects the essence of the Sendai Framework. Development that does not take risk into account cannot be sustainable. 
• The conference will represent a key milestone for reflection on three years into the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030.

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