Supreme Court says Centre, States have equal powers to make GST-related laws

• The apex court’s decision came while confirming a Gujarat High Court ruling that the Centre cannot levy Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) on ocean freight from Indian importers.
• The court emphasised that Article 246A (which gives the States power to make laws with respect to GST) of the Constitution treat the Union and the States as “equal units”. It confers a simultaneous power (on Union and States) for enacting laws on GST.
• Article 279A, in constituting the GST Council, envisions that neither the Centre nor the States are actually dependent on the other.
• The judgment said that though the Centre may have a larger share of power in certain instances to prevent chaos and provide security, the States still wielded power.
• After all, the court said, “Indian federalism is a dialogue between cooperative and un-cooperative federalism where the federal units are at liberty to use different means of persuasion, ranging from collaboration to contestation”.

Kufos scientists standardise techniques for artificial breeding of barb fish

• These freshwater species of barbs and carp used to be found widely in the Idamalayar Dam, Bhoothathankettu, and the Kol fields of Thrissur district.
• However, indiscriminate fishing and changes in habitat conditions have brought these species, especially Kuruva Paral, to the brink of extinction.
• The conservation measures being taken up by Kufos are supported under the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)-India High Range Landscape project that also aims to help trained aquaculturists among Adivasis to take up farming of these freshwater species.
• The project, even though launched in January 2020, was delayed by a year due to the pandemic.
• The brood stocks for Kooral and Pachilavetti have been stored at the freshwater aquaculture facility at Kufos.

Latest climate report underscores urgent need to act on drought

• The Drought in Numbers report is a collection of data on the effects of droughts on our ecosystem and how they can be mitigated through efficient planning for the future.
• According to the report, the number and duration of droughts around the world has increased by an alarming 29% since 2000. Globally, droughts between 1998 and 2017 caused economic losses of approximately $124 billion.
• If global warming reaches 3°C by 2100, drought losses could be five times higher than today’s levels. The largest increase in drought losses is projected in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic regions of Europe.
• Indian scenario: Many parts of India fall under the list of regions that are vulnerable to drought globally. India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reduced by 2 to 5% between 1998 and 2017 due to severe droughts in the country.

NGT is not an excessive case of delegation of powers to the Central government

• NGT was not an excessive case of delegation of powers to the central government.
• The NGT came into existence as a sui generis institution established for enforcement of environmental rights protected under the Right to Life (Article 21 of the Constitution).
• The National Green Tribunal has been established on 18.10.2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010 for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection.
• The Tribunal shall not be bound by the procedure laid down under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, but shall be guided by principles of natural justice.
• New Delhi is the Principal Place of Sitting of the Tribunal and Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai shall be the other four place of sitting of the Tribunal.

Respiratory syncytial virus and the toll it takes on young children

• The study is the first to examine RSV disease burden in narrow age brackets.
• According to the report the incidence rate in India is 53 per 1,000 children per year (5.3%) and there were an approximate 61,86, 500 episodes of RSV-associated acute lower respiratory infection in children below five years.
• Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is also called human respiratory syncytial virus (hRSV) and human orthopneumovirus.
• It is a common, contagious virus that causes infections of the respiratory tract.
• It is a negative-sense, single-stranded RNA virus, and its name is derived from the large cells known as syncytia that form when infected cells fuse.
• RSV is the most common cause of acute lower respiratory infection in young children.
• Globally, only 26% RSV-associated deaths occur in a hospital. This is particularly apparent in low- and middle-income countries.

Govt plans to construct 200 airports, waterdromes, and heliports across country in 4 years

• To achieve this target, the government has planned to construct 200 airports, waterdromes and heliports across the country in the upcoming four years.
• Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia said, the government is focusing on developing infrastructure and increasing the fleet size by putting in place a suitable ecosystem for civil aviation. He said, 67 new airports, waterdromes and heliports have been built in the last eight years as compared to only 74 airports that were built in the 70 years before that.
• The Minister appreciated the innovative capabilities of Indian scientists and engineers for developing the GAGAN Navigation System. Recently, Indigo became the first airline in the country to land aircraft using the indigenous navigation system GAGAN.

Rbi Directs Banks And Atms On Cardless Cash Withdrawals.

• In a circular, the RBI said, all banks, automated teller machine (ATM) networks, and White Label ATM Operators (WLAOs) may provide the option of ICCW at their ATMs.
• The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has been advised to facilitate Unified Payments Interface (UPI) integration with all banks and ATM networks.
• The RBI said, while UPI would be used for customer authorization in such transactions, settlement would be through the National Financial Switch (NFS) and ATM networks.
• The on-us and off-us ICCW transactions shall be processed without levy of any charges other than those prescribed under the circular on Interchange Fee and Customer Charges, it added.
• In a bid to check fraud, RBI last month said, it has been decided to permit all banks to introduce card-less cash withdrawal through ATMs. According to the central bank, currently, cardless cash withdrawal through ATMs is offered by a few banks.
• A transaction carried out at an ATM of the card-issuing bank is called an On-Us transaction. A transaction carried out at any other ATM is called an Off-Us transaction.