MAHARASHTRA

Maharashtra government asks Centre for Rs 8,500 crore GST dues

The Centre owes the cash-strapped state government Rs 8,500 crore in GST compensation. The newly minted non-BJP government in the state wrote to the Centre asking for settlement of dues.

Sources say state borrowings had shot up by Rs 10,000 crore this year, mainly on account of the delay in GST compensation since August. In 2018-19, new borrowings by the state government stood at Rs 20,000 crore. In 2019-20, new borrowings between April and November alone amounted to Rs 22,500 crore, said sources.

The state is the top GST earner nationally, and accounts for 15% of the country’s GST revenue.
The state did not receive GST compensation of Rs 4,400 crore for August-September, which was due by October 15. It is also awaiting GST compensation of Rs 4,100 crore for October-November, which is to be paid by December 15.

So far, the state had filed claims for both periods with the Centre and sent a reminder for the payment of the August-September dues.

The Goods & Services Tax (Compensation to States) Act, 2017, provides for compensation to the states for loss of revenue resulting from the implementation of GST. If the revenue growth of states is lower than 14% annually, then the compensation is to be provided out of a fund.

This fund gets money through the levy of a cess on products such as automobiles, pan masala and tobacco products. The GST compensation is to be provided to states till 2022.

INTERNATIONAL

Abu Dhabi selected as world’s leading sports tourism destination

Abu Dhabi has been selected as the world’s leading Sports tourism Destination at the 26th edition of the World Travel Awards (WTA) being held in Muscat.

This is the seventh time in a row that Abu Dhabi has been selected for this coveted award.

Abu Dhabi shined as a premium destination once again for sports tourism in 2019 after hosting some of the world’s top sporting events, such as the FIFA Club World Cup 2017 and 2018, the first edition of the UAE Tour, the AFC Asian Cup 2019, the Special Olympics World Games 2019, the UFC 242 showdown and the Brazil vs South Korea international friendly match.

Sports tourism has been labelled by the United Nations World Travel Organisation, UNWTO, as one of the fastest growing sectors of tourism worldwide.

WADA bans Russia from all major sporting events

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)banned Russia for a four-year term from all major sporting events. The decision was made at Wada’s executive committee in a meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland. Under the ban, the Russian national flag and anthem will not be allowed at events such as the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics and football’s 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

After a three-year suspension for Russia’s vast state-sponsored doping scandal, Russia had to hand over data to Wada as a condition of its controversial reinstatement in 2018. The ban comes after Russia’s Anti Doping Agency (Rusada) was declared non-compliant to manipulate laboratory data that was handed over to investigators in January 2019.

NATIONAL

Andhra cabinet approves Disha Act providing for harsher punishments for crimes against women

The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet approved the enactment of the Andhra Pradesh Criminal Law (Amendment) Act also known as the Disha Act that provides for harsher punishments, including death sentence to those guilty of heinous crimes against women.

As announced earlier in the assembly by Chief Minister, in the presence of adequate conclusive evidence in cases of crime against women such as rape, acid attacks among others the judgment must be pronounced within 21 days and trial must be completed in 14 days.

The cabinet also approved the Andhra Pradesh Special Court for Specified Offences against Women and Children Act 2019, which allows the establishment of special courts in each district to address crimes against women and children.

The bill allows taking actions under Indian Penal Code section 354 (E) against those who upload posts on social media that degrades women’s reputation.

For the same, first time offenders would be punished with two years imprisonment, second-time offenders with four years of imprisonment.

Anti-Maritime Piracy Bill was tabled in Lok Sabha

External affairs minister S. Jaishankar introduced the Anti-Maritime Piracy Bill 2019 at Lok Sabha. The bill seeks to provide for stringent punishment, including death penalty or life imprisonment, to those involved in piracy at sea.

The Bill includes a provision of automatic death penalty was against the law.

The Bill said that any person who commits any act of piracy shall be punished with imprisonment for life or with death if such person in committing the act of piracy causes death or an attempt thereof.

The Bill was drafted to keep up with India’s commitment to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which concluded in 1982. India had ratified the UNCLOS in 1995.

National Tribal Dance Festival to be held in Raipur from Dec 27-29

A three-day National Tribal Dance Festival will be held in Chhattisgarh’s capital Raipur from December 27 to 29.

In the event international folk artists from 23 states and six other countries are expected to take part and portray their respective tribal folk culture.

Nearly 1,400 artists belonging to 151 art troupes from 23 states and guest artists from six countries including Sri Lanka, Belarus, Uganda and Bangladesh will participate in the three-day programme.

Government to implement Vocationalisation of School Education scheme

The Ministry of Human Resource Development is to implement the Scheme of Vocationalisation of School Education under Samagra Shiksha. It is an integrated scheme for school education.

A vocational subject is offered for Classes IX to XII along with the general education to provide necessary employability and vocational skills for a variety of occupations under the scheme.

The scheme has been implemented in 8654 schools, with reported enrolment of more than 10 lakhs students till 2018-19.

The basic contents on Goods and Services Tax (GST) have been included by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) in the textbooks of Economics, Accountancy and Business Studies at different stages.

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