Lok Sabha passes amendments to Central, Integrated GST laws to levy 28% tax on e-gaming, casinos (GS Paper 2, Governance)
Why in news?
- Recently, the Lok Sabha passed amendments to Central, Integrated GST laws to levy 28 per cent tax on e-gaming, casinos.
- The Central Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2023, and the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2023, has been proposed to levy 28 per cent tax on the full face value and bets in online gaming, casinos and horse race clubs
Key Highlights:
- The amendments pertain to insertion of a provision in the Schedule III of the CGST Act, 2017, to provide clarity on the taxation of supplies in casinos, horse racing and online gaming.
- The amendment in IGST Act relates to inserting a provision to impose GST liability on online money gaming provided by offshore entities. Such entities would be required to get GST registration in India.
- It will also provide for blocking access to online gaming platforms located overseas in case of failure to comply with registration and tax payment provisions.
Background:
- The amendments to the Central GST (CGST) and Integrated GST (IGST) laws were approved by the GST Council.
- The council had approved levy of 28 per cent GST on full face value of entry level bets in online gaming, casinos and horse racing.
Bunch of new Placenta in chip devices can help making pregnancies safe
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
Why in news?
- Recently, the researchers at IIT Bombay and ICMR-NIRRCH-, Mumbai, have developed devices called placenta-on-a-chip (POC).
Why it matters?
- A bunch of devices mimicking the placenta at various stages of pregnancy can help in drug discovery, study of toxicity of chemicals like caffeine, and understanding the effects of conditions such as preeclampsia and diabetes mellitus during pregnancy.
- In pregnancy, the placenta shields the baby from harmful drugs and chemicals. But some can still cross this barrier and cause harm to the baby in the womb. Thus, pregnant women are not given most medications and they continue to suffer.
- Determining which medicines can be given during pregnancy that would not cross the placenta is a daunting task.
Key Highlights:
- They have used microfluidic technology which can integrate processes, to create an environment that represents basic organ structure and functions of the placenta.
- The placenta in a lab dish developed by them allows different cells to interact with each other, incorporate mechanical properties and mimic the blood flow, which closely resembles the in-vivo condition.
- Among various available POC models, these devices are more suitable for probing placental development as well as diseases caused due to defects in the placenta.
- Also, patient-specific sample screening will be possible for personalised medicine.
Future prospects:
- The placenta-on-chip will enable early detection of adverse conditions and allows researchers and healthcare professionals to observe, study, and identify potential issues that may arise during pregnancy.
- Placenta-On-Chip technology offers novel advancements in making pregnancies safe.
- It enables the study of placental function, detection of complications, personalized medicine, and the development of new therapies.
Way Forward:
- This will lessen the need for animal use and revolutionize the pharma industry to enhance the lives of countless people worldwide.
- Patent filing is under process for this technology that offers benefits to both the industry and academia.
