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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 25 March 2022

::NATIONAL::

State Legislatures have the power to tax lotteries organised by other states: Supreme Court

The judgement came on the appeals filed by Karnataka and Kerala governments and set aside the orders of Karnataka and Kerala High Courts which held that they lacked the legislative competence to levy tax on the lotteries.

About:

Whether “betting and gambling” include “lotteries” and whether States have the competence to tax them as per Entry 62 of IndianConstitution.
Whether Entry 40 of List I restricts the power of States to levy tax on lotteries organized by other states.

Apex court observation:

Lotteries come within ambit of ‘betting and gambling’ as appearing in state subject under Entry 34 List II of Seventh Schedule.
Lotteries, except those organized by the Government of India or Government of a State covered under Entry 40 List I, come withinState subject.
Entry 40 of List I does not take away the power of States to levy tax on other-state lotteries.
Court observed that in case of an apparent overlapping between two Entries, the doctrine of pith and substance has to beapplied to find out the true nature of a legislation and the Entry within which it would fall.

Dare 2 era DTB

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology Dr. Jitendra Singh today announced the launch of Data-Driven Research to Eradicate TB- “Dare2eraD TB” on the occasion of World TB Day.

About:

The Minister said that Dare2eraD TB will be the umbrella TB program of DBT comprising of following key initiatives-

a.   InTGS - Indian Tuberculosis Genomic Surveillance Consortium;
b.   InTBK Hub- Indian TB Knowledge Hub- Webinar Series;
c.   Host Directed therapies against TB and developing an evidence-based regimen for treating extra-pulmonary Tuberculosis.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

4th Conference of the Parties (COP-4)to the Minamata Convention on Mercury

Minamata Convention on Mercury, adopted in 2013 at Geneva, is the world’s first legally binding treaty toprotect human health and environment from adverse effects of mercury.

About:

It is named after the city in Japan that became the epic centre of Minamata disease, aneurological disease caused by severe mercury poisoning, in the 1950s.
India signed the MC in 2014 and ratified in 2018.
It came into force in 2017.
At the meeting, Indonesia as well as the United Nations have introduced a globaldeclaration that calls on parties to the Minamata Convention (MC) on Mercury totackle global illegal trade of mercury.
Non-binding declaration calls upon parties to
Develop practical tools and notification and information-sharing systems for monitoring and managing trade in mercury.
Exchange experiences and practices relating to combating illegal trade in mercury, including reducing use of mercury inartisanal and small-scale gold mining.

League of Arab States

In a UNSC meeting Indian foreign secretary called for greater policy alignment between the U.N. andthe LAS (League of Arab States).

About League of Arab States or Arab League:

It is an intergovernmental organisation (IGO), a voluntary association of independent Africanand Middle East countries whose peoples are mainly Arabic speaking.
It aims to strengthen ties among the member states, coordinate their policies, and promote their common interests.

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:ECONOMY::

Reserve Bank Innovation Hub

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das inaugurated the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH) in Bengaluru.

About:

The RBI has set up RBIH as a wholly owned subsidiary with an initial capital contribution of ₹100 crore.
The Hub has an independent Board with S. Gopalakrishnan as Chairman and other persons from industry and academia as members.
RBIH aims to create an ecosystem that focusses on promoting access to financial services and products for the low-income population in the country.
The Hub would bring convergence among stakeholders - BFSI Sector, Start-up ecosystem, Regulators & Academia - in the financial innovation space.

::SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY::

GSAT 7 satellites

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has given the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN)for procurement of a GSAT 7B satellite, along with equipment like Night Sight (image intensifier), 4X4 light vehicles, and Air Defence Fire Control Radar (light).

What are the GSAT 7 series satellites?

GSAT 7 satellites are advanced satellites developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to meet the communication needs of the defence services. The GSAT 7 satellite was launched in August 2013 from an Ariane 5 ECA rocket from Kourou in French Guiana.
It is a 2,650 kg satellite which has a footprint of nearly 2,000 nautical miles in the Indian Ocean region. This satellite is mainly used by the Indian Navy for its communication needs.
The GSAT 7 provides a gamut of services for military communication needs, which includes low bit voice rate to high bit rate data facilities, including multi-band communications.
Named Rukmini, the satellite carries payloads in UHF, C-band and Ku-band, and helps the Navy to have a secure, real time communication link between its land establishments, surface ships, submarines and aircraft.
The satellite was injected into a geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) of 249 km perigee (nearest point to earth), 35,929 km apogee (farthest point to earth) and an inclination of 3.5 degree with respect to the equator.

What will be the role of the GSAT 7B satellite?

The GSAT 7B will primarily fulfil the communication needs of the Army. Currently, the Army is using 30 per cent of the communication capabilities of the GSAT 7A satellite, which has been designed for the Indian Air Force (IAF).

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