1) Conrad Sangma panel : The ministerial panel formed under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime for casinos, racetracks, and online gaming is likely to recommend a uniform 28 percent tax rate for the three categories.
- Currently, online gaming platforms pay 18% GST on the platform fee alone, rather than the total value including prize money. According to a KPMG report, the online gaming sector is expected to grow to Rs 29,000 crore by 2024-25, up from Rs 13,600 crore in 2020-21.
2) Nyingma Sect : Recently, the Nyingma sect has identified a boy from Spiti in Himachal Pradesh as the reincarnation of the late Taklung Setrung Rinpoche, a scholar known for his knowledge of Tibetan Tantric school.
- It is the oldest amongst the four schools and the second largest after Gelugpa sect.
- Nyingma in Tibetan means “ancient” and has roots going back to the 8th century
- It is also known as the Red Hat sect because its Lamas wear red robes and hats.
- Its teachings are mainly based on those of Padmasambhava, called Guru Rinpoche and Shantarakshita who were brought to Tibet.
- Buddhist teachings are classified into nine yanas with ‘Dzogchen’ being most important.
- Dzogchen (Great Perfection) philosophy revolves around pure awareness which can be achieved through meditation and learned from a Dzogchen master.
- The Nyingma School is also associated with Termas (hidden treasures).
3) Jallikattu : A tradition over 2,000 years old, Jallikattu is a competitive sport as well as an event to honour bull owners who rear them for mating. It is a violent sport in which contestants try to tame a bull for a prize; if they fail, the bull owner wins the prize.
- It is popular in Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, Theni, Pudukkottai and Dindigul districts of Tamil Nadu known as the Jallikattu belt.
- Jallikattu is considered a traditional way for the peasant community to preserve their pure-breed native bulls.
- In 2014, the Supreme Court banned the bull-taming sport, while the state government has legalised these events. Currently a petition is pending in supreme court.
4) Kuki-Chins : they are a Christian community from Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts, which shares close ethnic ties with people in Mizoram.
- The Kuki people are an ethnic group native to the Mizo Hills (formerly Lushai) in India. They constitute one of several hill tribes within India, Bangladesh and Myanmar. The Chin people of Myanmar and the Mizo people of Mizoram are related tribes of the Kukis.
- More than 270 members of the Kuki-Chin community from Bangladesh who entered Mizoram are being referred to as “officially displaced persons” in State government records, as India does not have a law on refugees.
5) MAARG Portal : Mentorship, Advisory, Assistance, Resilience and Growth, is a one stop platform to facilitate mentorship for startups across diverse sectors, functions, stages, geographies, and backgrounds. It is the National Mentorship Platform by Start-up India to help and guide new start-ups grow and flourish.
- MAARG Portal is being operationalized by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
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