Inner Line Permit biggest gift to people of Manipur by PM Modi:
Paper:
Mains: General Studies- II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations.
Why in News?
- The Inner Line Permit was granted to Manipur in 2019.
Key Details:
- The concept of Inner Line Permit (ILP) originates from the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act (BEFR), 1873.
- A concept drawn by colonial rulers; the Inner Line separated the tribal-populated hill areas in the Northeast from the plains.
- To enter and stay for any duration in these areas, Indian citizens from other areas need an Inner Line Permit (ILP). Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram are protected by the Inner Line, and lately, Manipur was added.
Inner line permit (ILP)
- The Inner Line Permit (ILP) is an official travel document issued by the concerned state government to allow inward travel of an Indian citizen into a protected area for a limited period. It is obligatory for Indian citizens from outside those states to obtain a permit for entering into the protected state.
- The ILP keeps an account of people entering the state (good for security issue), can help people with permits move freely, can protect indigenous culture and identity.
- However, the issue of ILP is questionable in the context of a democratic system of governance. Also, several studies have stated that it is not effective for economic growth and case studies have revealed that it has not helped the Nagaland state.
Way Ahead:
- It is often said that the present ILP system is based on the archaic laws of the country, and the states with ILP system have not shown any significant performance with regard to the protection of identity and property rights of the indigenous people.
- Apart from that, there seem to be some dilemmas between the market economy, democracy and ILP system.
- Experts have called for discussion over the implementation of the ILP system involving all stakeholders.
Govt. defends new rule under GST regime
Paper:
Mains: General Studies- II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations.
Why in News?
- The government has defended its new rule under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, mandating cash payment of at least 1% of tax liabilities for businesses with a turnover of over ₹50 lakh per month, instead of using their input tax credits to discharge their entire tax dues.
Key Details:
- The new rule introduced by the Government under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime mandates cash payment of at least 1% of tax liabilities for businesses with a turnover of over ₹50 lakh a month, instead of using their input tax credits to discharge their entire tax dues.
- The Central government has defended the new rule stating that these fears were unwarranted and “only risky or suspicious dealers and fly-by-night operators” would be affected by the new rule.
- Revenue Department sources claim that the move intends to curb fake GST invoice fraud. Several entities with a turnover of ₹6 crores a year (or ₹50 lakh a month) would be excluded from the ambit of the rule.
- Official data suggest that just four lakh taxpayers supply a value greater than ₹50 lakhs a month, while only around 1.5 lakh of those pay less than 1% tax in cash.
- Further, it was said that the new rule will impact 45,000 units and this amounts to 0.37% of the total businesses registered in the GST system.
Issues:
The criticism came in from all quarters. Several chartered accountants and taxpayers over social media have expressed concerns that the mandatory cash payment would adversely affect small businesses.
This could lead to an increase in their working capital requirement and make GST a more complex indirect tax system than what it already is.
EU nations roll out mass vaccination
Paper:
Mains: General Studies- II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations.
Why in News?
- The vaccination drive began in European Union countries with the goal of ensuring vaccine coverage for all adults through 2021.
Key Details:
- Hope has been expressed by several leaders and medical experts that vaccination is a potent weapon in the fight against the virus.
- The EU population is around 450 million and arrangements have been made to secure more than two billion doses with a long term goal of injecting all adults during the course of 2021.
- The vaccination drive has prioritized frontline workers and the elderly owing to their increased vulnerability.
- The governments have arrived at a common goal to ensure that there is equal access to the vaccines across the region.
- But even before the vaccination drive kick-started, there were signs of lack of cohesion with Hungary rolling out the vaccine a day prior to what was decided.
- The distribution of the Pfizer-BioNTech shot presents tough challenges. The vaccine uses mRNA technology and has to be stored at very low temperatures of about -70 degrees Celsius.
- Maintaining such a low temperature for a long time is bound with difficulties.
- Refers to delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite the availability of vaccine services.
- Is complex and context-specific varying across time, place and vaccines.
- Is influenced by factors such as complacency, convenience and confidence.
- Preliminary surveys pointed out to high levels of hesitancy towards the vaccine in countries from France to Poland. Leaders of the 27-country EU are promoting the vaccine and trying to reduce vaccine hesitancy.
Daily virus cases below 19,000 after 6 months
Paper:
Mains: General Studies- II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations.
Why In news?
India’s daily new COVID-19 caseload dropped below 19,000 after six months.
Key Details:
- The total number of coronavirus cases in India have crossed 10.1 million, but there is a cause for optimism as the number of daily fresh cases has been steadily declining.
- The daily fresh cases hit a peak of 98,000 cases on September 16th; and December 26thwitnessed a registering of 19,000 fresh cases.
- In terms of mortality, it has been noted that 10 States/Union Territories account for three-fourth of new deaths, with Maharashtra being in the pole position registering the most casualties (60) with West Bengal and Delhi following.
Total active caseload
- As per the Health Ministry’s data, India’s total active caseload has declined to 2.78 lakh (2,78,690) currently. This is the lowest after 170 days.
- India has reported a trend of sustained decrease in the number of active cases. India’s present active caseload consists of 2.74% of India’s total positive cases.
Recovery cases
- The total recovered cases stand at 97,61,538. The gap between recovered cases and active cases is nearing 95 lakhs and presently stands at 94,82,848, said the Ministry.
- Kerala reported the maximum number of single-day recoveries with 3,782, followed by West Bengal and Chhattisgarh.
- 37% of the new recovered cases are observed to be concentrated in 10 States/UTs.
- The dip in daily fresh cases along with data suggesting that there was no spike nationally despite the festive season, winter and large gatherings without masks, and physical distancing, is a piece of positive news but people and the health authorities cannot get complacent with the emergence of the new coronavirus strain.