WEEKLY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR WEEK 13 & 14/52 WEEKLY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR WEEK 13 & 14 /52 (01 APRIL – 14 APRIL 2018) E-way bill for inter-state movement of goods rolled out (a) As per Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) council, nationwide electronic or e-way bill system for inter-state (Between states) movement of goods worth over Rs 50,000 was rolled out from April 1. (b) e-way bill system has been designed and developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC). (c) Karnataka is the only state to launch intra-state movement of good(moving goods within the State) (d) On april 15 the e-way Bill system for intra-state movement of goods implemented in five ststes. The five states are Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Telengana and Uttar Pradesh. What are the components of GST? There are 3 taxes applicable under this system: CGST, SGST & IGST. (1) CGST: Collected by the Central Government on an intra-state sale (Eg: Within Maharashtra) (2) SGST: Collected by the State Government on an intra-state sale (Eg: Within Maharashtra) (3) IGST: Collected by the Central Government for inter-state sale (Eg: Maharashtra to Tamil Nadu) In most cases, the tax structure under the new regime will be as follows: Transaction New Regime Old Regime Sale within the State CGST + SGST VAT + Central Revenue will be shared equally between the Centre Excise/Service tax and the State Sale to another State IGST Central Sales Tax + There will only be one type of tax (central) in case of Excise/Service Tax inter-state sales. The Center will then share the IGST revenue based on the destination of goods. Illustration: (1) Let us assume that a dealer in Gujarat had sold the goods to a dealer in Punjab worth Rs. 50,000. The tax rate is 18% comprising of only IGST. (2) In such case, the dealer has to charge Rs. 9,000 as IGST. This revenue will go to the Central Government. (3) The same dealer sells goods to a consumer in Gujarat worth Rs. 50,000. The GST rate on the good is 12%. This rate comprises of CGST at 6% and SGST at 6% (4) The dealer has to collect Rs. 6,000 as Goods and Service Tax. Rs. 3,000 will go to the Central Government and Rs. 3,000 will go to the Gujarat government as the sale is within the state. India replaces Vietnam to become world’s second largest mobile phone producer (a) As per Indian Cellular Association (ICA) India has replaced Vietnam to become second largest producer of mobile phones in 2017. The top three mobile producing countries are China, India and Vietnam. (b) As per ICA data, annual production of mobile phones in India increased from 3 million units in 2014 to 11 million units in 2017. ICA National President- Pankaj Mohindroo. (c) The government has established a Fast Track Task Force (FTTF) under Ministry of Electronics and IT, which has set the target to achieve around 500 million mobile phone production in India by 2019, with an estimated value of USD 46 billion. (d) Top 3 Countries of Highest Mobile Phone Users:1-China,2-India,3-US, 4-Indonesia, 5-Brazil. West Bengal Launches Rupashree scheme for marriage of poor girls (a) West Bengal government has launched a scheme called “Rupashree”in order to provide marriage assistance to girls coming from economically weaker families with a budgetary allocation of Rs 1500 crore. (b) The scheme proposes to extend one-time financial assistance worth Rs 25,000 to the family of the girl whose annual income is up to Rs 1.5 lakh. (c) The monetary assistance will be provided at the time of marriage after the girl has attained the age of 18 years. (d) The state government had earlier introduced a scheme called Kanyashree Prakalpa, which sought to improve the status and well-being of girls. RBI bars Axis Bank from importing bullion for FY19 (a) The RBI had dropped Axis Bank the 3 rd largest private sector bank from a list of banks it has cleared to import bullion (Import of gold and silver) during the current financial year that began on April 1. 16 banks have been allowed to import the precious metals on its website. (b) Axis Bank was one of the leading importers for gold and silver among all the 19 lenders which were given the licence last year. Other banks dropped for the current fiscal include the South focused private sector lender Karur Vysya Bank and South Indian Bank. (c) The action comes a day after the central bank asked the bank to re-look at the three-year fourth term offered to Shikha Sharma as the managing director. 1441, Opp. IOCL Petrol Pump, CRPF Square, Bhubaneswar -751015 1 Ph. : (0674) 6556 677, 8093556677. Web : www.vanik.org , E -mail : [email protected] WEEKLY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR WEEK 13 & 14/52 (d) Previously Axis Bank appointed sharma as MD and CEO for 4th term as her tenure will end on May 31. (e) But now the bank has accepted a request from Shikha Sharma to shorten her reappointment period from June 1 to December 31, 2018. 2 April: World Autism Awareness Day (a) The World Autism Awareness Day was passed in the UN Council on November 1, 2007 and was adopted on December 18, 2007. (b) The theme of World Autism Awareness Day 2018 was 'Empowering Women and Girls with Autism'. What is Autism? (1) Autism is a lifelong developmental disability that manifests itself during the first three years of life. (2) It results from a neurological disorder that affects the functioning of the brain, mostly affecting children and adults in many countries, irrespective of gender, race or socio-economic status. Delhi becomes first city to roll-out BS-VI fuel (a) Delhi became the first city in the country to switch from BS-IV grade fuels to BS-VI.Delhi-NCR region on April 1, 2018 began supplying ultra-clean Bharat Stage VI grade fuel, both petrol and diesel. (b) Other cities like Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram, Faridabad, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune will also switch over to cleaner BS-VI grade fuel from January 1, 2019. However, BS- VI fuel will be rolled out in rest of the country by April 2020. (c) One of the major differences between BS-IV and BS-VI fuel is the presence of sulphur. The BS-VI fuel is expected to reduce the amount of sulphur released from 50 parts per million (ppm) to 10 ppm. (d) Moreover, the emission of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from diesel and petrol engines is also expected to reduce by nearly 70 per cent and 25 per cent respectively. (e) India had switched over to BS-IV grade fuel from April 1, 2017 following the directions of the court banning BS-III grade fuel. Nepal launches 'accessible' trekking trail for disabled, elderly (a) Nepal has launched its first accessible trekking trail in Pokhara city for the disabled and the elderly. (b) The 1.3-km section is a part of a 14-km long hiking path in the ridge connecting Nepal’s Sarangkot area to Naudanda. The trail offers a magnificent view of Mt. Annapurna, Fisthtail and Manaslu. (c) Nepal-President: Bidhya Devi Bhandari, Prime minister: Khadga Prasad Oli, Currency:Rupee, Capital: Kathmandu SIDBI celebrates its foundation day (a) The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) celebrated its foundation day this year on April 2, 2018. (b) It was established on April 2, 1990 through an Act of Parliament (thus, it is statutory body). It is headquartered in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. (c) An MoU was signed with The New India Assurance Co. Ltd. and two MSMEs were issued insurance policies. (d) Chairman SIDBI Dr. Kshatrapati Shivaji also launched 'Samridhhi- the virtual assistant' on banks revamped universal loan portal www.udyamimitra.in. During the day, a ‘Bankability Kit’ (brought in partnership with Bank of Baroda and IDBI Bank) was also launched. (e) SIDBI acts as the Principal Financial Institution for the Promotion, Financing and Development of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector Enterprises A Manufacturing Enterprise is A Service Enterprise is an Proposed Amendment an Enterprise engaged in Enterprises which are engaged in Units Producing Goods and Manufacturing or Production or providing or rendering of Rendering Services in Processing or Preservation of Services and investment in terms of Annual Turnover Goods (finished/ Original Cost/equipment provided that the total unfinished/Raw Materials) (including land, building and Amount: where Investment in Plant and fittings) where Investment in Machinery: Equipment: Micro Does not exceed Rs. 25 lakh. Does not exceed Rs. 10 lakh. Does not exceed Rs. 5 crore. Small More than Rs. 25 lakh but does More than Rs. 10 lakhs but does not More than Rs. 5 crore not exceed Rs. 5 Crores. exceed Rs. 2 Crores. but less than Rs. 75 crore. Medium More than Rs. 5 Crore but does More than Rs. 2 Crores but does not More than Rs. 75 crore but less than not exceeds Rs. 10 cr. exceeds Rs. 5 Crores. Rs. 250 crore. China's Tiangong-1 space station burns up over South Pacific (a) China's Tiangong-1 space station re-entered the Earth's atmosphere and burnt up and landded in middle of the South Pacific Ocean near world’s ‘spacecraft cemetery or graveyard’. (b) Tiangong-1 (Heavenly Palace or Celestial Palace-1) was China’s first prototype space station or space laboratory. It was placed in orbit in September 2011 as part of China’s efforts towards building its own space station.