Current Affairs Questions

Explanation :

• GST Council is an apex member committee to modify, reconcile or to procure any law or regulation based on the context of goods and services tax in India.
• It is a constitutional body under Article 279A.
• It was introduced by the Constitution (One Hundred and First Amendment) Act, 2016.

Structure

According to the article, GST Council will be a joint forum for the Centre and the States. It consists of the following members:

• The Union Finance Minister will be the Chairperson
• As a member, the Union Minister of State will be in charge of Revenue of Finance
• The Minister in charge of finance or taxation or any other Minister nominated by each State government, as members.

Functions

• The GST Council dictates tax rate, tax exemption, the due date of forms, tax laws, and tax deadlines, keeping in mind special rates and provisions for some states.
• The predominant responsibility of the GST Council is to ensure to have one uniform tax rate for goods and services across the nation.

Explanation :

• The Raja Parba of Odisha is one of most popular festivals of the state.
• This is a three-day-long festival dedicated to Bhuma Devi, the consort of Lord Vishnu, Raja Parba celebrates womanhood.
• The festivities begin a day before Mithuna Sankranti and conclude two days after that.
• The first day of the festival is called Pahili Raja, the second is Mithuna Sankranti and the third Bhu daha or Basi Raja.
• The preparation begins one day before Pahili Raja, and it is called Sajabaja. Primarily, it is a time for the unmarried girls to prepare for their matrimony.
• They follow various customs related to the festival by consuming nutritious food like Podapitha, not walking barefoot, taking a bath on the first day, and merrily swinging on ropes attached to a tree.
• During the Parba, Odia people do not undertake any construction works or tilling that requires the earth to be dug. And by not doing such activities, they pay ode to the Mother Earth who needs a break from routine work.
• The festival concludes with a custom called Vasumati Snana or the bathing of Bhuma Devi.
• This festival is also associated with the end of the summer season and the arrival of the monsoon.
• And therefore, it is also associated with agriculture and cultivation related communities and activities.

Explanation :

On 3rd June, 2020, the government announced the renaming of Kolkata Port Trust after Syama Prasad Mukherjee at a function to mark the 150th-anniversary celebrations of the port trust

Kolkata Port

• The Kolkata Port is the first Major Port as well as the only riverine port of the country.
• It came to be governed by a Trust on October 17, 1870, on appointment of the Commissioners for Improvement of the Port of Calcutta as per Act V of 1870.
• It features in The First Schedule, Part I—Major Ports of the Indian Ports Act, 1908 and is governed by the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963.

Explanation :

• On the occasion of the World Environment Day (5^th June, 2020), Andhra Pradesh government launched an online waste management platform to handle liquid waste, hazardous, and non-hazardous solid waste and air pollutants.
• The Andhra Pradesh Environment Management Corporation (APEMC), which will handle the platform, will henceforth be responsible for safe disposal of all industrial waste generated in the state.
• The APEMC will streamline collection of the waste from industries, sort and streamline the waste as hazardous or non-hazardous or e-waste according to category, and scientifically dispose it off at various waste disposal centres.
• It will work in close coordination with Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB), with a strong regulatory framework to handle the waste from cradle to grave,” Reddy said.

Need

• Andhra Pradesh has a large number of industries falling under red and orange categories, which generate significant quantities of liquid waste, hazardous and non-hazardous solid waste and air pollutants.
• They also generate other waste like e-waste, which needs to be addressed. As of now, the waste management system is not adequately organised to handle the total quantity being generated.
• Hence, there is a requirement for an appropriate system intervention to streamline and scientifically dispose off the waste generated in the state.

Explanation :

• Uttar Pradesh government has completed skill mapping of migrant workers who have returned from other states during lockdown and this mapping will help them getting work near to their places.
• The list includes construction workers, painters, carpenters, drivers, electricians and persons associated with electronics, security guards, furniture and fitting workers and auto-repair mechanics.
• The government has constituted Migrant Commission which will ensure employment as well as social security for the migrant workers.
• It has also decided to offer insurance to secure the lives of migrant labourers and called for a scheme to ensure job security for them in the state.

Explanation :

• The Mizoram government has granted industry status to sports, a move aimed at generating employment.
• Through the new status, the government hopes to commercialise sporting endeavours and woo investors.
• Sports and its infrastructure will be eligible for availing of subsidy, loan and assistance from private and government sources.

Explanation :

• The Katkari is a Scheduled Tribe mostly belonging to the state of Maharashtra, located primarily in Raigad and in parts of Palghar, Ratnagiri and Thane districts as well and in some places of Gujarat.
• They are bilingual, speaking the Katkari language, a dialect of the Marathi-Konkani language.
• The name Katkari is derived from a forest-based activity – the making and barter or sale of Katechu (kath) from the khair tree (Acacia Katechu).
• In Maharashtra, the Katkari has been designated a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG), along with two other groups included in this sub-category: the Madia Gond and the Kolam.
• The British administration had classified them under the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871.

Explanation :

• As the labour shortage is imminent owing to exodus of migrant labourers amid the ongoing lockdown, farmers in Punjab seem all set to go for direct seeding of rice (DSR).
• DSR refers to the process of establishing a rice crop from seeds sown in the field rather than by transplanting seedlings from nursery.
• In transplanting, farmers prepare nurseries where paddy seeds are first sown and raised into young plants.
• These seedlings are then uprooted and replanted 25-35 days later in the main field with standing water.
• In DSR, as flooding of fields is not done during sowing, chemical herbicides are used to kill weeds.

Advantages

• Water savings
• Less numbers of labourers required,
• Saves labour cost and
• Reduce methane emissions

Disadvantages

• Seeds are exposed to birds, rats, and snails.
• High weeds infestation
• Non-availability of herbicides.
• High requirement of seeds when compared to transplanting.

Explanation :

• Port of Call means an intermediate stop for a ship on its scheduled journey for cargo operation or taking on supplies or fuel.
• It can be defined as the port of a country where cargo or a passenger (cruise) ship halts to discharge or load the cargo or to embark or disembark passengers.
• For the cruise ship, port of call is the premier stop from where they take on passengers for their cruise holidays.
• For cargo ships, a port of call is a port attended within a voyage to load or unload the cargo, or for bunkering or repairs carried out on the ship etc.
• Port of Call can include both inland harbours and marine seaports that cater to vessels transiting internationally.
• When a vessel makes the initial customs entry into a country, the first port which it will attend will be considered as the “First Port of Call”.
• Presently India has six ports of call. They are Kolkata, Haldia, Karimganj, Pandu, Shilghat and Dhubri.

Explanation :

• Konark Sun temple was built by King Narasimhadeva I of the Ganga Dynasty (1238-1264AD) in the 13th century.
• It is located in Eastern Odisha near the sacred city of Puri.
• The temple is designed in the shape of a colossal chariot. It is dedicated to the Sun God.
• There are two rows of 12 wheels on each side of the Konark sun temple.
• The seven horses are said to symbolize the seven days of the week.
• The temple was used as a navigational point by European sailors. They referred to it as the ‘Black Pagoda’ due to its dark colour.
• Also called the Surya Devalaya, it is a classic illustration of the Odisha style of Architecture or Kalinga Architecture.
• Declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1984, it remains a major pilgrimage site for Hindus, who gather here every year for the Chandrabhaga Mela around the month of February every year.