26 July 2024, The Indian EXPRESS
SC: Royalty on minerals not tax, right of states
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GS2-Issues and Challenges Pertaining to the Federal Structure
- India’s states have the power to tax mining activities, and collecting “royalties” from mining leaseholders is entirely separate from, and does not interfere with, the power to impose taxes, a nine-judge Constitution Bench ruled on Thursday (July 25).
- Following the judgment, states can generate additional revenues in the form of taxes on mining activities and on the land used to conduct these activities.
Top 500 firms likely to get ‘quota’ for interns based on CSR spend
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GS3-Indian Economy and issues relating to Planning, Mobilization of Resources, Growth, Development and Employment
- THE GOVERNMENT plans to talk to the top 500 companies and mutually agree on a “voluntary quota system” for taking on board interns under the employment package announced in the Budget 2024-25.
- The “quota system” would be based on the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expenditure of these companies, Finance Secretary TV Somanathan told The Indian Express.
- “Details are yet to be worked out, and will be done in consultation with the industry. We might perhaps have some kind of voluntary quota system, mutually agreed upon, saying that you will take so much or this much based on your CSR expenditure.
- We will also permit them to use their backward and forward supply chain for skilling,” Somanathan said.
Disappointed with timing, symbolism of Modi’s visit to Russia: US
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GS2-Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and Agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests
- The United States is disappointed about the symbolism and timing of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Russia visit at a time when it hosted the NATO summit here, a senior State Department official has told the lawmakers, who have expressed concerns over the increasing India-Russia ties.
- “I could not agree with you more about our disappointment about the symbolism and the timing of Prime Minister Modi’s trip to Moscow.
- We are having those tough conversations with our Indian friends,” Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu told American lawmakers at a Congressional hearing here on Tuesday.
Shah-led committee approves disaster mitigation projects
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GS3-Disaster and Disaster Management
- A high-level committee headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday approved several disaster mitigation and capacity building projects for various states that include combating urban flooding and checking glacial lake outburst floods.
- The committee gave its nod to nine proposals for funding from National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF) and National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).
- Among the proposals approved include six projects in Telangana, Gujarat, Karnataka, West Bengal and Maharashtra at a total cost of Rs 2514.36 crore for urban floor management.
In Laos, Wang & Jaishankar discuss ties
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GS2-Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and Agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests
- India and China on Thursday discussed complete disengagement along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) at the earliest and normalcy in bilateral relations.
- External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of the ASEAN meetings in Vientiane, Laos, to review the situation and take forward the discussions held in their last meeting in Astana earlier this month, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
Govt launches revamped scheme to facilitate skill loans up to Rs 7.5L
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GS2-Government Policies and Interventions for Development in various sectors and Issues arising out of their Design and Implementation
- A revamped ‘model skill loan scheme’ for skill development courses was launched by the government on Thursday, with a fresh maximum loan limit of Rs 7.5 lakh — up from the previous amount of Rs 1.5 lakh.
- In her budget speech on Tuesday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced that the model skill loan scheme will be “revised to facilitate loans up to Rs 7.5 lakh, with a guarantee from a government-promoted fund”. “This is expected to help 25,000 students every year,” Sitharaman had said.
Kamala, an American story
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GS2-Effect of Policies and Politics of Developed and Developing Countries on India’s interests, Indian Diaspora
- A week, they say, is a long time in politics. In the last two weeks, America has seen the assassination attempt of a former president, Donald Trump, the forced abdication of a sitting president Joe Biden, and the rapid acclamation of Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee.
- Together, the three developments have injected new life into the US elections scheduled for November and turned the race into a close battle, and a sharp contest of political ideas.
- Last week seemed to herald a boring battle between two old white men, Trump and Biden, who were getting ready to repeat their 2020 contest.
- This week has raised hopes for the first-ever woman to be elected as the US president. Kamala Harris also happens to have both African and Asian lineage.
- Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, had migrated from Tamil Nadu to the US for higher studies in California.
- There she married a fellow student from Jamaica, Donald Jasper Harris. Kamala was brought up by her mother after her parents separated.
Google map brings new navigational features
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GS3-Science and Technology- Developments and their Applications and Effects in Everyday Life
- Google Maps is introducing a handful of new features for Indian users, including capabilities to find EV charging points and book metro tickets in a few Indian cities.
- It will also finally let users know if they should take a flyover or the service road next to it. “Flyover guidance has been one of the most requested features from our users, we have heard you and acted on it, “ said Lalitha Ramani, the general manager of Google Maps India, at a press briefing on Thursday, July 25.
Mining and power of states
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GS2-Issues and Challenges Pertaining to the Federal Structure
- In an 8-1 majority ruling Thursday, a nine-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court upheld the power of states to levy royalty on extraction of minerals from their land and said they can also tax the lands which comprise mines and quarries.
- The majority verdict, delivered by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud writing for himself and Justices Hrishikesh Roy, A S Oka, J B Pardiwala, Manoj Misra, Ujjal Bhuyan, Satish Chandra Sharma and Augustine George Masih, overruled the 1989 decision of a 7-judge Bench in India Cement Ltd vs State of Tamil Nadu which said royalty is tax and state legislatures lack competence to levy taxes on mineral rights because the subject matter is covered by the Minerals and Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, enacted by Parliament in exercise of powers under Entry 54 of List I (Union List) of the Constitution.
Why AI’s present and future bring some serious environmental concerns
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GS3-Conservation, Environmental Pollution and Degradation
- In its annual environment report released earlier this month, Google reported a 13% increase in its emissions footprint in 2023 compared with the previous year.
- The rise was attributed mainly to the increased electricity consumption in its data centres and supply chains.
- Google said its data centres consumed 17% more electricity in 2023, and added that this trend was expected to continue in the coming years because of greater deployment and usage of its artificial intelligence (AI) tools.
Lis Teriosis outbreaks in US and Canada: What you need to know
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GS3-Science and Technology- Developments and their Applications and Effects in Everyday Life
