18-10-22 Daily -Goa- GPSC Current Affairs

The recent hike in excise duty on beer will net the cash-strapped Goa government an additional Rs 50 crore on an annual basis. Goa’s liquor , which sells close to six million cases of beer every year, has accepted the Rs 10-12 increase in prices, but cautioned the government against tinkering with prices of hard liquor on the eve of the tourist season.The state earns around Rs 500cr a year on excise collections.

The Goa government hiked the excise duty on beer by Rs 10-12 per bulk litre, while leaving the excise duty on Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL) and foreign liquor unchanged. Attempts to increase excise duty on IMFL and foreign liquor will have a ripple effect on Goa’s tourism industry and the coming wedding season, said a major alcohol retailer and wholesale dealer.

Goa, which has always been known for cheap alcohol rates and liberal drinking policies, is no longer the country’s cheapest liquor destination. Hard liquor rates in Delhi,Haryana, and Chandigarh are more affordable, and many north Indian travellers have stopped purchasing hard liquor while flying back Home after a wedding, holiday, or business trip.

NHAI InvIT is the Investment trust sponsored by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to support the governments National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP). NHAIs InvIT is a Trust established by NHAI under the Indian Trusts Act, 1882 and SEBI (Security and Exchange Board of India) regulations.

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime MinisterNarendra Modihad approved the NHAIs Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) in December 2019, and the company had started to meet investor groups the following year.

Infrastructure investment trusts are institutions similar to Mutual Funds, which pool investments from various categories of investors and invest them into completed and revenue-generating infrastructure projects, thereby creating returns for the investor.

The Union Government has filed a fresh affidavit before The Supreme Court, through the Ministry of Social and Empowerment, stating its current position on the inclusion ofDalit Christians and Dalit Muslims in the Scheduled Castes listand on the petitions challenging the constitutionality of Para 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, which allows only members of Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism to be identified as SCs.

The Union government said it had examined the issue and noted the demands from Dalit Christian and Dalit Muslim communities for inclusion in the SC list and accordingly formed athree-member Commission of Inquiry headed by former Chief Justice of India Justice K.G. Balakrishnanto look into all aspects of the matter. It said this was done because the issue is a seminal and historically complex sociological and constitutional question that requires a definitive study and extensive consultation with all stakeholders.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on October 21, 2022 said most of the “hotspots” in the country are almost free from anti-national activities now and the situation in major security theatres has improved over the last eight years of the Narendra Modi government.

He said more than 70% decline has been recorded in incidents of violence that were reported from insurgency-hit areas of the Northeast during this time period and this is an indicator of a “happy Northeast”.

Same was the situation in Jammu and Kashmir as well as in the states affected by Naxal violence, the Minister said while addressing top Police and paramilitary forces commanders at the National Police Memorial in the Chanakyapuri area here on the occasion of the National Police Commemoration Day.

To bolster investments in solar power projects, the (ISA), in its General Assembly meeting here on Tuesday, approved the Solar Facility, a payment guarantee mechanism expected to stimulate investments into solar projects through two financial components a Solar Payment Guarantee Fund and Solar Insurance Fund.

The thrust of the facility is to attract private capital to flow into underserved markets in Africa. The ISA would aim to crowdsource investments from various donors across the globe and proposed projects in Africa would be able to purchase payment guarantees or partial insurance premium from these funds.