Current Affairs 3rd July 2019
Important Current Affairs
Current Affairs 3rd July 2019
Japan officially resumes commercial whaling after more than 30 years
Japan resumed commercial whaling for the first time in more than three decades after Tokyo's controversial decision
They decided to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission (IWC).
With this, Japan joined Iceland and Norway as the only nations to allow commercial whaling despite the IWC moratorium.
The last commercial hunt of Japan was in the year 1986.
Japan announced the withdrawal from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) moratorium on whale hunting
It began in 1985 to give endangered and overhunted whale species.
Japan joined the compact in 1988
The gesture to curb commercial whaling in Japan.
From 1985 to 2017, Japanese vessels caught and killed nearly 17,000 whales
The meat often ended up for sale in stores and restaurants.
About IWC:
It is an international body set up under the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW).
- ICRW governs the commercial, scientific, and aboriginal subsistence whaling practices of fifty-nine member nations. It was signed in Washington, D.C., United States, in 1946.
- Headquarters — Impington, near Cambridge, England.
- In 1986, it adopted a moratorium on commercial whaling. This ban still continues.
YUVIKA 2019
ISRO has launched a special programme for school children called Yuva Vigyani Karyakram or Young Scientist Programme.
Highlights of the programme:
- The programme aims at imparting basic knowledge on space technology, space science and space applications to the younger ones with the intent of arousing their interest in the emerging areas of space activities.
- Under the programme, three students each will be selected to participate in it every year from each state and union territory, covering CBSE, ICSE and state syllabus.
- The eligibility for being chosen for the programme includes those students who have finished 8th standard and are currently studying in the 9th standard.
- The selection will be based on the academic performance and extracurricular activities of the students, as per the selection criteria already circulated to the chief secretaries of the states and administrators of Union Territories.
- The students belonging to rural areas have been given special weight under the selection criteria set by ISRO.
Cabinet approves a hike in MSP for all Kharif Crops of 2019-20 Season
Giving a major boost to the farmers’ income, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the increase in the Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for all kharif crops for 2019-20 Season.
The move will lead to increased investment and production through assured remunerative prices to the farmers.
Details:
The MSPs for all kharif crops of 2019-20 season have been increased as follows:
- For the kharif crops of 2019-20, Government has increased the MSPs of soyabean by Rs 311 per quintal, sunflower by Rs 262 per quintal and sesamum by Rs 236 per quintal which is a major step towards increasing the income of farmers.
- Government has increased the MSPs of tur dal by Rs.125 per quintal and uraddal by Rs.100 per quintal. This willhelp address the issues related to requirement of pulses in view of the need to meet the nutritional security and protein requirements of a large section of population.
- The MSP of Jowar has been hiked by Rs 120 per Quintal while in case of Ragi it has been hiked by Rs 253 per quintal. The Move comes in the backdrop of the need to promote cultivation and consumption of nutri-cereals. Besides, India celebrated 2018 as the National Year of Millets and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Council has approved India's proposal to observe an International Year of Millets in 2023.
- For cotton (medium staple) and cotton (long staple), the MSP has been increased by Rs. 105 per quintal and Rs. 100 per quintal respectively.
- The highest percentage return to farmers over their cost of production is for Bajra (85%) followed by urad (64%) and tur (60%).
About MSP:
What is it?
In theory, an MSP is the minimum price set by the Government at which farmers can expect to sell their produce for the season. When market prices fall below the announced MSPs, procurement agencies step in to procure the crop and ‘support’ the prices.
Who announces?
The Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs announces MSP for various crops at the beginning of each sowing season based on the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP). The CACP takes into account demand and supply, the cost of production and price trends in the market among other things when fixing MSPs.
Why is it important?
Price volatility makes life difficult for farmers. Though prices of agri commodities may soar while in short supply, during years of bumper production, prices of the very same commodities plummet. MSPs ensure that farmers get a minimum price for their produce in adverse markets. MSPs have also been used as a tool by the Government to incentivise farmers to grow crops that are in short supply.
India ratifies OECD's convention to check tax evasion
- The government announced that it had ratified the international agreement to curb base erosion and profits shifting (BEPS).
- This has been done in a bid to stop companies from moving their profits out of the country and depriving the government of tax revenue.
Base Erosion and Profit Shifting
- BEPS is a tax avoidance strategy used by multinational companies by exploiting gaps and mismatches in tax rules to artificially shift profits to low or no-tax locations.
- In order to combat this, many countries entered into agreements to share tax information with each other to enhance transparency and make such profit shifting that much harder.
- Here, profits are shifted from jurisdictions that have high taxes (such as the United States and many Western European countries) to jurisdictions that have low (or no) taxes (so-called tax havens).
- The BEPS Action Plan adopted by the OECD and G20 countries in 2013 recognised that the way forward to mitigate risk from base erosion and profit shifting was to enhance transparency.
About the convention
- India has ratified the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (multilateral instruments (MLI)).
- This was signed by the Finance Minister in Paris on June 7, 2017 on behalf of India, along with representatives of more than 65 countries.
- The MLI is a result of concerted work by the G20 countries to tackle the issue of base erosion and profit shifting, something that affects them all.
- India was part of the Ad Hoc Group of more than 100 countries and jurisdictions from the G20, OECD and other interested countries, which worked on the finalizing the text of the Multilateral Convention.
Impact of the MLI
- The MLI will be applied alongside existing tax treaties, modifying their application in order to implement the BEPS measures.
- It will modify India’s tax treaties to curb revenue loss through treaty abuse and base erosion and profit shifting strategies by ensuring that profits are taxed where substantive economic activities generating the profits are carried out.
Practice Questions for Mains:
1) जी-8 के बाद जी-20 की स्थापना बहु राष्ट्रीय संगठनों की सार्थकता को रेखांकित करने के लिए की गयी। ओसाका में हालही में हुए जी 20 सम्मलेन में जिस तरह से द्विपक्षीय-त्रिपक्षीय बैठकों का दौर चला वे जी-20 के बहु राष्ट्रीय संगठन को कमज़ोर करते हैं। आप अपना तर्क सोदाहरण प्रस्तुत करें।
http://epaper.jansatta.com/c/41003506
2) Discuss the impact of global warming on the future of Indian Economy and jobs.
http://epaper.indianexpress.com/c/40985696