Telangana Affairs
Telangana second in country in own tax income GSDP share
At 8% own tax income share of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) for budget estimates for this fiscal, Telangana is second only to UP (10.3%) in the country, according to the recent ‘State of Finance Report (2022-23)’.
The two states are followed by Jharkhand (also 8%), Kerala (7.9%) and Haryana (7.5%). The average GSDP-to-own-income ratio in the country is 6%.
A higher ratio of own tax income to GSDP indicates that the state has a better ability to collect taxes from its economic activities.A variety of factors influence tax collection, including income level, economic structure, tax rate and tax administration, according to analysts.
The report observed that the key sources of own tax revenue for states in 2022-23 is SGST (42%), sales tax/VAT (23%), state excise duty (14%), stamp duty (11%), vehicle taxes (5%), and electricity taxes and duties (3%). For Telangana, SGST share is (2.7%), sales tax/VAT (2.5%), excise duty (1.3%), stamp duty (1.2%) and other sources (0.4%).
According to the report, the GST Council has been given authority to decide on rates for a significant portion of state’s own tax revenue.
In 2022-23 fiscal, states have estimated that their own non-tax revenue will be about 1.3% of GSDP.The level of own non-tax revenue varies greatly across states.For instance, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand have estimated significantly higher non-tax revenue, primarily from mining royalties.
National and International Affairs
Indias first underwater metro service,The Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC)said that the East-West Metro Corridor project, is expected to be completed byDecember 2023.With this, another feather is being added to the crown of Kolkata Metro, the first metro railway in the country. Kolkata Metro, which started its journey in 1984, is being expanded to cover the whole city and its outskirts. The underwater metro, which will be running through the Hoogly river will connect the twin cities of Howrah and Kolkata.
The completion of the project will bring great relief to lakhs of commuters as it will connect the busy Howrah and Sealdah railway stations as well as the north-south line of the Kolkata Metro at Esplanade. Another attraction for travellers will be the twin tunnels under the width of the river. Passengers will pass under the water for half a kilometre in less than a minute, giving them a one-of-a-kind experience.
Dairy Development Policy
In order to complement and supplement the efforts of the States and UTs, the Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Government of India is implementing following animal husbandry and dairy development schemes for strengthening infrastructure across the country for enhancing milk production and procurement in the potential districts and States:
National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD)
Dairy Processing and Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF)
Supporting Dairy Cooperatives and Farmer Producer Organizations engaged in dairy activities (SDCFPO)
Rashtriya Gokul Mission (RGM)
National Livestock Mission (NLM)
Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF)
Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachand to be Nepals Prime Minister third time
Pushpa Kamal Dahal has been elected as the Prime Minister of Nepal again on December 25,2022.
President Bidya Devi Bhandari named Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ of the CPN-Maoist Centre as Nepal’s next Prime Minister.
Prachanda has been chosen as Prime Minister of Nepal under Article 76 Clause 2 of the Constitution.