1.India, Japan ‘non-contact’ naval drills in Arabian Sea begin today
News: India-Japan maritime bilateral exercise (JIMEX) began on 26th September in the northern Arabia Sea.
Facts:
- India-Japan maritime bilateral exercise (JIMEX) is conducted biennially.
- JIMEX series of exercises commenced in 2012 with a special focus on maritime security cooperation.
- The last edition of the exercise was held in 2018 off Visakhapatnam, India.
Other Exercises between India and Japan
- Dharma Guardian: Annual joint land military exercise
- Shinyuu Maitri: Joint Air Force exercise.
- Exercise Malabar: Trilateral Maritime with the USA.
News: World Tourism Day is celebrated every year on 27th September. United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has designated 2020 as the Year of Tourism and Rural Development. On World Tourism Day 2020, the Ministry of Tourism with Quality Council of India has launched SAATHI an initiative to assist the hospitality industry to continue to operate safely.
3.Destination North East-2020″ Festival
News: Ministry of Home Affairs has launched Destination North East -2020. It aims to introduce various cultures of the country to each other along with the tourist destinations of the North East
4.Invisible killer threatens India’s sandalwood forests
News: India’s sandalwood trees, particularly of Karnataka, are facing a serious threat with the return of the destructive Sandalwood Spike Disease (SSD).
Facts:
- Sandalwood Spike Disease is characterized by huge reduction in leaf size which is also accompanied by stiffening and reduction of internode length.
- At the advanced stage of the disease, entire shoot gives the appearance of a spike inflorescence. The spiked trees die in 1-2 years.
- The disease was first reported in Kodagu in 1899.
5.Retrospective taxation: the Vodafone case, and the Hague court ruling
News: The Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague has ruled that India’s retrospective demand of Rs 22,100 crore as capital gains and withholding tax imposed on Vodafone for a 2007 deal was in breach of the guarantee of fair and equitable treatment.
Facts:
- Retrospective taxation allows a country to pass a rule on taxing certain products, items or services and deals and charge companies from a time behind the date on which the law is passed.
- Countries use this route to correct any anomalies in their taxation policies that have, in the past, allowed companies to take advantage of such loopholes.
6.Where are the funds collected through cess parked?
News: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, in its latest audit report of government accounts, has observed that the Union government withheld in the Consolidated Fund of India (CFI) more than ₹1.1 lakh crore out of the almost ₹2.75 lakh crore collected through various cesses in 2018-19.
Facts:
- A cess is a earmarked tax that is collected for a specific purpose and ought to be spent only for that.
- Every cess is collected after Parliament has authorised its creation through an enabling legislation that specifies the purpose for which the funds are being raised.
- Article 270 of the Constitution allows cess to be excluded from the purview of the divisible pool of taxes that the Union government must share with the States.
- The government has levied 42 cesses at various points in time since 1944.
