5 May 2024, The Indian EXPRESS
I-T clause to ensure MSMEs are paid on time creates hurdle
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GS3- Indian Economy and issues relating to Planning, Mobilization of Resources, Growth, Development and Employment
- A new provision in the Income-Tax Act in Budget 2023-24 that aimed to secure payments to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) within 45 days of supply of goods or services has resulted in a peculiar problem — that of large companies canceling orders to registered MSMEs and placing these with unregistered MSMEs.
- While some MSME associations have approached the Supreme Court against the new norm, the Union MSME Ministry is learnt to have reached out to industry players for solutions.
- It has asked stakeholders to suggest ways to resolve the issues arising from the I-T Act and to recommend possible alternate mechanisms for timely clearance of MSME bills.
Orange alert issued for 11 coastal states, warning of swell surge
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GS3- Disaster and Disaster Management
- Eleven coastal states and Union territories will continue to experience rough sea conditions with a high possibility of swell surge in the next two days, said experts.
- Hyderabad-based Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) issued an ‘Orange’ warning on Sunday, and stated, “There is a possibility of rough sea with swell surge warning over low-lying coastal areas of Kerala, south Tamil Nadu, Lakshadweep, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat, north Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal and Andaman and Nicobar islands till alerts are lifted.”
FSSAI allows higher pesticide residue levels in herbs, spices in certain cases
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GS2- Statutory, Regulatory and various Quasi-judicial Bodies
- Last month, the country’s apex food safety regulator approved a ten-fold increase in the maximum level of pesticide residue allowed in spices and herbs, which will be applicable in cases where the limits are not defined in Indian or international regulations.
- The default limit for spices was increased to 0.1 g/kg, as against the previous 0.01 mg/kg. The default MRL for other food products remains the same at 0.01 mg/kg.
Maharashtra gears up for tiger translocation to Sahyadri reserves in bid to revive numbers
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GS3- Conservation of biodiversity
- The Maharashtra forest department is gearing up for translocation of a few tigers from the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) in Chandrapur to Sahyadri, the lone tiger reserve in the state’s western region.
- The Sahyadri Tiger Reserve (STR) is one of only five tiger reserves in the country — Kaval in Telangana, Kamlang in Arunachal Pradesh,Dampa in Mizoram and Satkosia in Odisha being the other four — with zero tigers within the reserve and the translocation is part of a long-term plan to revive the population of the big cats in the northern Western Ghats forests.
Covid virus is still here. Why aren’t more people falling ill?
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GS3- Awareness in the fields Bio-technology
- It seems like a distant memory now, but just three years ago, India was in the midst of its worst phase of the Covid-19 pandemic.
- The month of May 2021 saw more than 1.2 lakh deaths — around 20% of all deaths attributed to Covid in the country so far.
- In the first three weeks of that month, more than 3 lakh positive cases were detected every day on average. Daily detections peaked exactly three years ago — on May 6, 2021 — when more than 4.14 lakh positive cases were reported.
- The crisis continued for at least two more months, even though cases and deaths declined steadily.
- Unlike many other countries, India did not face any more deadly Covid-19 waves. The Omicron wave of January-February 2022 saw a massive surge in infections, but not too many severe cases or deaths.
- And although a few cases continue to be reported even now — there were 850 active cases as of Friday, according to the Health Ministry — the pandemic no longer presents a serious threat.
Goldene: A sheet of gold that only one atom thick
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GS3- Awareness in the fields Nano-technology
- For the first time, researchers have created a free-standing sheet of gold that is only one atom thick. This makes gold the first metal to be formulated into (freestanding) 2D sheets — opening up a host of exciting possibilities for the future.
Bank lending to businesses grows by 16.3% in March
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GS3- Indian Economy and issues relating to Planning, Mobilization of Resources, Growth, Development
- Bank lending to businesses — industry and services sectors — grew by 16.3 per cent in March 2024 on a year-on-year (y-o-y), as against 12.5 per cent in the same period of last year.
- Outstanding bank credit to businesses stood at Rs 82.73 lakh crore (including the impact of the merger of HDFC Bank and HDFC Ltd) in March 2024, as against Rs 71.16 lakh crore in March 2023, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) data on Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit for March 2024.
Over 1/3rd anti-dumping duties levied in cases with sole or two producers since FY22
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GS3- Indian Economy and issues relating to Planning, Mobilization of Resources, Growth, Development
- Over one-third of anti-dumping duties imposed by the Finance Ministry in the last three financial years covered goods manufactured by either a sole domestic producer or just two producers, mostly from the chemical industry.
- Of the 46 anti-dumping duties levied in the latest three fiscals, 60 per cent targeted goods originating only in China and 26 per cent targeted goods originating in China and at least one other country.
- Moreover, the Finance Ministry levied an anti-dumping duty in 86 per cent of the cases recommended by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in FY24, a sharp rise from 42 per cent in the previous two fiscals.
