50th GST Meeting and its Outcome:
- Levy 28% GST on online gaming, horse racing, and casinos on full value: The GST council agreed that there should be no distinction between ‘game of skill and game of chance.’
- The council announced that the GST on restaurants inside Cineplex attracted 5% GST against 18% earlier. Before the change, movie tickets below Rs 100 were taxed at 12%, while those above the threshold attracted 18% GST.
- Further, the meeting also decided to exempt GST on import of cancer drug Dinutuximab, and Food for Special Medical Purposes (FSMP) used in the treatment of rare diseases. Currently, the drug attracts a 12% integrated GST.
- Clarity on the taxation of Multi Utility Vehicles (MUV) was provided. The Council has agreed to the recommendation to levy a 22% compensation cess for MUV, but Sedan has not been included in the list.
- Council to set up an appellate tribunal.
Biofuels: Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels, such as oil.
- First generation–1G biofuels are produced from consumable food items containing starch (rice and wheat) and sugar (beets and sugarcane) for bio-alcohols, or vegetable oils for biodiesel. However, the yields of 1G biofuels are low and can have negative impacts on food security.
- Second generation–2G biofuels are mainly obtained from non-food feedstocks such as forest/industry/agricultural wastes and waste or used vegetable oils.
- Third-generation –3G biofuels, known as ‘algae fuel’, are derived from algae in the form of both, biodiesel and bio-alcohols. Although the yield of 3G biofuels is approximately 10 times higher than 2G biofuels, producing adequate algal biomass and scaling up extraction techniques are as yet unresolved challenges.
- Fourth generation – Like the third generation, 4G biofuels are made using non-arable land. However, unlike the third, they do not need the destruction of biomass. This class of biofuels includes electro fuels and photo-biological solar fuels.
Urban 20 (U20) Summit: It is a city diplomacy initiative launched on December 12, 2017, at the One Planet Summit in Paris. It provides a platform for cities from G20 countries to facilitate discussions on various important issues of urban development including climate change, social inclusion, sustainable mobility, and affordable housing, and propose collective solutions.C40 Cities (C40) and United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) convene the U20 under the leadership of a Chair city that rotates annually, based in the G20 host country. This year it was chaired by the City of Ahmedabad.
eDAR Project: The Integrated Road Accident Database (iRAD) / e-Detailed Accident Report (eDAR) Project is an initiative of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), Government of India and is funded by World Bank. The project aims to develop an Integrated Road Accident Database (iRAD), to enrich the accident databases from every part of the country. The project would generate various types of insights by analysing the collected road accident data across the country through the implementation of data analytics techniques.
