1) India and Pakistan Exchanged list of Nuclear Installations: Exchanges of list happened under Agreement on the Prohibition of Attack against Nuclear Installations and Facilities between India and Pakistan.
- The agreement was signed in 1988 and entered into force in 1991.
- Agreement mandates two countries to inform each other of nuclear installations and facilities to be covered under the agreement on first of January of every calendar year.
- This is 33rd consecutive exchange of such lists, the first one having taken place on January 1, 1992.
2) New Packaging Rules: Recently, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has made printing of ‘date of manufacturing’ and ‘unit sale price’ mandatory on all packaged commodities effective from January 1, 2024.
- For example, a packaged wheat flour of 2.5 kg will have a unit sale price per kg, along with the Maximum Retail Price (MRP).
- Earlier, companies were given the option to either print the ‘date of manufacturing’ or ‘date of import’ or date of packaging on the packaged commodities.
3) Railway for Persons with Disabilities(PwDs): The government has released draft guidelines to make Railways more user-friendly for PwDs as part of “Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan”.
- They comply with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.
- Guidelines suggestions in the draft
- Accessibility features such as text-to-speech and user-friendly pictograms for website.
- Low-height ticket counters with accessibility signage and accessible help booths manned by “Divyangjan Sahayaks”.
- Development of a dedicated mobile app and a one-click template
4) Health tax: Public health researchers recommended implementing a health tax ranging from 20% to 30%, in addition to the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
- Currently, sugar is taxed at 18% GST, sugar-sweetened beverages attract 28% GST and a 12% additional cess,
- India is the largest consumer of sugar in the world.
- An average Indian consumes five times the WHO recommended threshold for free sugar intake per year.
- Impact of imposing health tax: It will help control obesity, tooth decay, risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers.
