Questions :-

1) Which of the following countries share border with Iran?

1. Kuwait
2. Armenia
3. Turkey

Select the correct answer from the codes given below:

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

2) Great Barrington Declaration sometimes seen in news is related to:

1. alternative approach to the COVID-19 pandemic
2. reducing the impact of land degradation
3. Implementation of Universal Health Coverage
4. Setting up of Bretton Woods Institutions

3) Which of the following correctly defines the term Fragile five?

1. group of tropical countries under increased risk from global pandemics
2. a category of mammalian species under immediate threat of extinction
3. emerging market economies too dependent on unreliable foreign investment
4. least developed island nations under risk of submergence due to global warming

4) Which of the following is/are correctly matched?

1. Galapagos Islands – Peru
2. Bougainville Islands – Papua New Guinea
3. Dodecanese islands – Italy

 Select the correct answer using the code given below:

1. 1 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 2 only

Explanation –

• Galapagos Islands – Ecuador
• Bougainville Islands – Papua New Guinea
• Dodecanese Islands – Greece

Important news :-

1) A herd of around 25 elephants from Nepal’s Shuklaphanta National Park reached the tiger reserve in Uttar Pradesh almost a month back.

Pilibhit Tiger Reserve:-

• Pilibhit Tiger Reserve is located in Pilibhit district of Uttar Pradesh and was notified as a tiger reserve in 2014.
• It is one of the few well-forested districts in Uttar Pradesh.
• It forms part of the Terai Arc Landscape in the upper Gangetic Plain along the India-Nepal border.
• The habitat is characterized by sal forests, tall grasslands and swamp maintained by periodic flooding from rivers.
• The Sharda Sagar Dam extending up to a length of 22 km is on the boundary of the reserve.
• The tiger reserve got the first international award TX2 for doubling the tiger population in a stipulated time.

2)What is Input Tax Credit?

Input credit means at the time of paying tax on output, you can reduce the tax you have already paid on inputs.

Say, you are a manufacturer – tax payable on output (FINAL PRODUCT) is Rs 450 tax paid on input (PURCHASES) is Rs 300 You can claim INPUT CREDIT of Rs 300 and you only need to deposit Rs 150 in taxes.

3) About GST Council

• The GST Council is a constitutional body that aims to bring together states and the Centre on a common platform for the nationwide rollout of the indirect tax reform.
• It is an apex member committee to modify, reconcile or to procure any law or regulation based on the context of goods and services tax in India.
• It dictates tax rate, tax exemption, the due date of forms, tax laws, and tax deadlines, keeping in mind special rates and provisions for some states.
• The predominant responsibility of the GST Council is to ensure to have one uniform tax rate for goods and services across the nation.

How is the GST Council structured?

The GST is governed by the GST Council. Article 279 (1) of the amended Indian Constitution states that the GST Council has to be constituted by the President within 60 days of the commencement of Article 279A.

According to the article, the GST Council will be a joint forum for the Centre and the States. It consists of the following members:

1. The Union Finance Minister will be the Chairperson
2. As a member, the Union Minister of State will be in charge of Revenue of Finance.
3. The Minister in charge of finance or taxation or any other Minister nominated by each State government, as members.

Terms of reference-

Article 279A (4) specifies that the Council will make recommendations to the Union and the States on the important issues related to GST, such as the goods and services will be subject to or exempted from the Goods and Services Tax.

They lay down GST laws, principles that govern the following:

• Place of Supply
• Threshold limits
• GST rates on goods and services
• Special rates for raising additional resources during a natural calamity or disaster
• Special GST rates for certain States

4) Lifeline for telcos as govt. offers four year moratorium on dues-

5) 28% in filing of cases in 2020: NCRB

• 28% increase in the registration of cases in 2020 in the country compared to 2019, primarily owing to the violation of COVID19.

Facts related to NCRB –

• Formed    – 11 March, 1986
• HQs           – Delhi
• Motto        – Empowering Indian Police with Information Technology
• Parent Department- Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)
• Current Director- Ramphal Pawar (IPS)

NCRB, is an Indian government agency responsible for collecting and analysing crime data as defined by the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Special and Local Laws (SLL).

6) PM launches Sansad TV, calls it voice of the House :-

Sansad TV, a news channel combining the Lok Sabha TV and the Rajya Sabha TV, was launched on Wednesday at a function presided over by Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Speaker Om Birla.

The LSTV, which was the brainchild of former Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, has been functioning for 15 years and the RSTV for 10 years.

When Parliament is in session, both channels will continue to operate as before bringing in the live telecast. But when it is in recess, only Sansad TV will be telecast.

7)Indian troops in Russia as part of SCO exercise:-

A team of 200 Army and Air Force personnel are in Russia to participate in Exercise Peaceful Mission, being held between the member-states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) from September 13 to 25 that also includes Pakistan and China.

What is SCO?

• SCO is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation.
• It’s a Eurasian political, economic and military organisation aiming to maintain peace, security and stability in the region.
• It was created in 2001.
• The SCO Charter was signed in 2002, and entered into force in 2003. It is a statutory document which outlines the organization’s goals and principles, as well as its structure and core activities.
• The SCO’s official languages are Russian and Chinese.

8) Fresh start for report on data protection Bill –

9) U.S., U.K., Australia form new partnership –

A week before a meeting of Quad leaders in Washington DC, the Biden administration, on Wednesday, announced a new trilateral security partnership for the Indo-Pacific between Australia, the U.K. and the U.S. (AUKUS).

Speaking to reporters ahead of the announcement, senior (Biden) administration officials outlined a trilateral grouping that was security focused, suggesting it was different from — but complementary to — arrangements such as the Quad.

18 month plan

• A central feature of the partnership would involve a trilateral 18 month effort to help Australia acquire nuclear powered submarines which are quieter, more capable (than their conventional counterparts) and can be deployed for longer periods, needing to surface less frequently.
• The partnership would also involve a new architecture of meetings and engagements between the three countries and also cooperation across emerging technologies (applied AI, quantum technologies and undersea capabilities).

Editorial of the day

1) Hardly the India-China century Deng envisioned

CONTEXT of the editorial:-

There have always been political tensions between India and China over:

• Each country’s territorial claims over land controlled by the other,
• China’s “all-weather” alliance with our hostile separated sibling, Pakistan,
• India’s hospitality to the Dalai Lama, who was granted refuge when he fled Tibet in 1959.

India’s efforts for better relations –

India has usually shown no desire to rock the boat. Its actions and statements have usually been designed not to provoke our northern neighbor.

To relegate the border problem to the back burner while enabling trade relations with China (now worth close to $100 billion) to flourish.

India-China Diplomatic Relation –

India engages with China diplomatically in

• BRICS (an association of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa
• Annual summits of RIC (Russia-India-China).
• India is an enthusiastic partner in the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the New Development Bank (NDB), formerly referred to as the BRICS Development Bank.

The Chinese strategy-

• Rather than merely patrolling, they have established a fixed presence in these areas well beyond China’s own ‘Claim Line’, occupied the “Finger Heights” near Pangong Tso Lake, pitched hundreds of tents, constructed concrete structures and built additional kilometres of road along the LAC.
• The objective seems to be to extend Chinese troop presence to the intersection of the Galwan river and the Shyok river, which would make the Galwan Valley off bounds to India.
• China’s strategy seems to be to consolidate the LAC.

The economic angle –

Yet, India is far too dependent on China for other vital imports — such as pharmaceuticals, and even the active ingredients to make them, automotive parts and microchips.

CONCLUSION –

• Taking into account all the factors, the range of considerations seems to leave only two strategic options for India:
• Reconciling itself to playing second to an assertive China in the region.
• Seeking strength and leverage by aligning itself with a broader international coalition against Chinese ambitions

2) ‘Know the enemy, know self’ is sound professional advice

Sun Tzu, Chinese general, military strategist, writer, and philosopher, famously said, “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles”

CONTEXT–

India has hostile relations with both northern and Western Neighbour. India’s north East part has also witnessed insurgencies over the years, Where India is sharing borders with China, Myanmar and Bangladesh. Also India has been a victim of cross border terrorism over the years.

A structured process

Knowing the adversary and yourself is a three-step process. First, gathering information (the adversary’s and your own), its distillation into knowledge and finally recommending options to decision-makers; the third step is critical for national leadership.

Pragmatic leadership seeks advice from knowledgeable people. Thus, the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) and NITI Aayog advise the Government and offer options on key issues.

The situation in India-

• In most of our professional military institutions, instructors are service officers posted-in from field/staff appointments who do their two/three-year tenure and move on.
• So there is no time to become an ‘expert’. Instead of guest lectures, having domain expert permanent lecturers in the need of an hour. 
• There are some sign of optimism is this direction, we have seen a change in some institutions. The Naval War College in Goa invites an eminent academic from abroad to run capsules on operational art. 
• These practices must to carry forward to the other academies as well.

Indian Defense University Project –

The Indian Defence University (IDU) project (earlier INDU — Indian National Defence University) is languishing after its foundation stone was laid in 2013 near Gurgaon.