Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 20 May 2017

:: National ::

Rates for all services except lottery has been finalised by GST council

GST Council finalised tax rates for all services, except lottery, under the new indirect tax regime to be rolled out from July 1. Those services already exempted from tax, such as healthcare and education, will continue to enjoy the concession.
The tax rate on non-AC restaurants will be 12%. It will be 18% on AC restaurants and those with a liquor licence. Restaurants in 5-star hotels will attract a 28% tax, the same as that applicable to these hotels itself.
A tax of 18% will be levied for financial services and mobile services. While hotels and lodges with tariff below Rs. 1,000 have been exempted, those with room tariff of Rs. 1,000-Rs. 2,500 will attract 12%.

Global Burden of Disease study shows poor health standards in India

Newborns in India have a lesser chance of survival than babies born in Afghanistan and Somalia, according to the latest Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study published in the medical journal The Lancet.
In the GBD rankings for healthcare access and quality (HAQ), India has fallen 11 places, and now ranks 154 out of 195 countries.
Further, India’s healthcare index of 44.8 is the lowest among the sub-continental countries, as Sri Lanka (72.8), Bangladesh (51.7), Bhutan (52.7), and Nepal (50.8) all fared better.
The top-ranked nation was Andorra with an overall score of 95 and the lowest-ranked nation was Central African Republic at 29.
India’s downward slide in the rankings indicates that it has failed to achieve health care targets, especially those concerning neonatal disorders, maternal health, tuberculosis, and rheumatic heart disease. Last year, India was ranked 143 among 188 countries.
In the case of neonatal mortality, on a scale of 1 to 100, India scored 14 in the HAQ index, while Afghanistan scored 19/100 and Somalia, 21/100.
Access to tuberculosis treatment in India was scored 26 out of 100, lower than Pakistan (29), Congo (30) and Djibouti (29). For diabetes, chronic kidney diseases, and congenital heart diseases, India scored 38, 20, and 45, respectively.

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:: International ::

Japan approved a one-off Bill allowing ageing Emperor Akihito to step down

The Japanese government approved a one-off Bill allowing ageing Emperor Akihito to step down from the Chrysanthemum Throne, in the first such abdication in two centuries.
The Bill will now be sent to Parliament for debate and likely receive swift final approval, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Cabinet signed off on the legislation.
Abdication must take place within three years of the Bill becoming law.
Earlier this year reports suggested that 83-year-old Akihito could step down at the end of December 2018 and be replaced by Crown Prince Naruhito on January 1, 2019.
Reports of his desire to retire surprised Japan when they emerged last July. In August he publicly cited age and declining health, which was interpreted as his wish to hand the crown to his eldest son.
But current Japanese law has no provision for abdication, thus requiring politicians to craft legislation to make it possible.
The status of the Emperor is highly sensitive in Japan given its 20th century history of war waged in the name of Akihito’s father Hirohito, who died in 1989.
Revered as a demigod before and during the conflict, Hirohito was reduced to a mere figurehead as part of postwar reforms.
Akihito has won plaudits for seizing upon the constitutionally-prescribed role of national symbol and there is wide sympathy for his wish to retire.

:: Science and Technology ::

Commercial development of combustible ice closer to reality

Commercial development of the globe’s huge reserves of a frozen fossil fuel known as “combustible ice” has moved closer to reality after Japan and China successfully extracted the material from the sea floor off their coastlines.
But experts said that large-scale production remains many years away and if not done properly could flood the atmosphere with climate-changing greenhouse gases.
Combustible ice is a frozen mixture of water and concentrated natural gas. Technically known as methane hydrate, it can be lit on fire in its frozen state and is believed to comprise one of the world’s most abundant fossil fuels.
For Japan, methane hydrate offers the chance to reduce its heavy reliance of imported fuels if it can tap into reserves off its coastline.
In China, it could serve as a cleaner substitute for coal-burning power plants and steel factories that have polluted much of the country with lung-damaging smog.
Methane hydrate has been found beneath seafloors and buried inside Arctic permafrost and beneath Antarctic ice.
Estimates of worldwide reserves range from 280 trillion cubic metres up to 2,800 trillion cubic metres,, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
That means methane hydrate reserves could meet global gas demands for 80 to 800 years at current consumption rates.
Yet efforts to successfully extract the fuel at a profit have eluded private and state-owned energy companies for decades.
There are also environmental concerns. If methane hydrate leaks during the extraction process, it can increase greenhouse gas emissions. The fuel also could displace renewables such as solar and wind power.

:: Business and Economy ::

Cellular Operators Association of India disaapointed over 18% GST rate

The Cellular Operators Association of India has expressed its disappointment over the 18% rate of tax under GST for telecom saying it would make services more expensive for the consumers as the industry is currently taxed at 15%.
The Indian Beverage Association (IBA) has also voiced its dissatisfaction with sweetened aerated water and flavoured water being placed in the highest tax slab rate of 28% combined with an additional cess of 12%.
The IBA, in a statement, said it was “extremely disappointed” at the effective tax rate of 40% on sweetened aerated water and flavoured water.
This will have a negative ripple effect and hurt the entire ecosystem of farmers, retailers, distributors and bottlers.

GST council did not help environmentally friendly goods

GST Council’s treatment of goods such as commercial LPG, hybrid cars, and renewable energy components has missed an opportunity to back environmentally friendly goods.
The GST Councilfinalised the rates and cess for most of the goods under the purview of the tax.
Among these, it set a rate of 18% for commercial LPG, and 5% for all renewable energy devices and spare parts, although the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy had requested exemption for these items.
LPG for domestic use would be taxed at 5% while LPG used commercially and in cars would be taxed at 18%.
This would also encourage theft, since people already transfer LPG from domestic cylinders to commercial containers to avoid the higher tax, Mr. Gupta said.
Under GST, the government will also levy cesses on certain sin and luxury goods, over and above the highest tax rate of 28%.
In this system, it has clubbed together sport-utility vehicles (SUVs), which usually have higher emission levels, and hybrid vehicles, and set the cess at 15%.
At the same time, the cess on ultra-luxury products, like private planes and yachts, has been set at a relatively low 3%.
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy had made a presentation to the GST Council seeking zero rate of tax on the ground that any upward impact on tariffs due to GST would have significant adverse effects on the industry.