Current Affairs in Short: 1 September 2021

EAM Jaishankar to visit 3 central European countries from September 2 to 5

•External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr S Jaishankar will be visiting Slovenia, Croatia, and Denmark from September 2 to 5, 2021, to review the bilateral relationship with the 3 central European countries.

•Slovenia, which currently holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, has invited EAM Jaishankar to attend an informal meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of EU Member States on September 3, 2021, informed the Ministry of External Affairs.

•During his visit to Slovenia, EAM will hold a bilateral meeting with the Foreign Minister of Slovenia Dr Anze Logar. EAM will attend the Bled Strategic Forum (BSF) in Slovenia and participate in the panel discussion on ‘Partnership for a Rules-Based Order in the Indo-Pacific’.

•During his visit to Croatia, EAM will hold bilateral talks with Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman and the Croatian Leadership.

•During his visit to Denmark, EAM will co-chair the 4^th round of the Indo-Danish Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) along with Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod. The JCM will review the bilateral cooperation under the Green Strategic Partnership established during the Virtual Summit in September 2020.

Karnataka: Lion tailed macaques come on roads for food due to shrinking forest cover

•Lion tailed macaques (LTM), an endangered species living in the rainforests of Western Ghats, Karnataka, come on roads of Agumbe Ghat to find food due to shrinking forest cover and absence of native fruit-bearing trees in the forests.

•Ajay Kumar Sharma, an environmentalist stated that this is a sad situation for the lion tailed macaques. They are known to be shy animals who reside in the high canopies of native fruit-bearing trees. Lion tailed macaques (LTM) are on the verge of extinction.

•Since the replacement of the native trees with Acacia and Nilgiris, the LTMs do not have food in the forests. This has lead to such a drastic behavioural change in these animals. They are being spotted sitting on the sides of roads waiting for travelers to throw food.

•The Deputy Conservator of Forest of Someshwara Wildlife Sanctuary has passed an order asking travelers to not stop at Agumbe Ghat, however, environmentalist Sharma argued that the authorities should take measures to ensure enough food for these animals rather than stopping the travelers.

Goa becomes 1^st state in India to give free water to people, says CM Pramod Sawant

•From September 1, 2021, Goa will become the first state in India to supply water free of cost to its citizens for consumption up to 16,000 litres under the ‘Save Water to Get Free Water’ scheme.

•The ‘Save Water to Get Free Water’ scheme was launched on August 31, 2021, under which the households in Goa will not be charged for water for consumption up to 16,000 litres. It is expected that 60 per cent of households in Goa will get zero bills from September 1 onwards.

•People living in flats or complexes will be able to benefit from the scheme. Small businesses restaurants will be transferred from the industrial to commercial segment for water billing so that they will also benefit from the scheme.

•Small businesses and restaurants will not be required to pay industrial bills from now onwards. One-Time settlement (OTS) has also been extended by 2 months to facilitate payment of pending bills.

Gross GST collections jump 30 per cent to Rs 1.12 lakh crore in August 2021

•The gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue collection has jumped 30 per cent on a year-on-year basis to Rs 1.12 lakh crore in August 2021, the Ministry of Finance stated on September 1, 2021.

•The official release stated that the revenues from domestic transactions (including import of services) in August 2021 were also reported 27 per cent higher compared to August 2020. Even compared to revenues in August 2019-20, there is a growth of 14 per cent.

•The gross GST revenue in August 2021 at Rs 1.12 lakh crore includes Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) at Rs 20,522 crore, State Goods and Service Tax (SGST) at Rs 26,605 crore, Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) at Rs 56,247 crore (including Rs 26,884 crore from import of goods), and Cess at Rs 8,646 crore (including Rs 646 crore from import of goods).

•After the settlement by the government of Rs 23,043 crore to CGST and Rs 19,139 crore to SGST from IGST as regular settlement and Rs 24,000 crore as IGST ad-hoc settlement between Centre and States/UTs, the total revenue of Centre and States in August 2021 was Rs 55,565 crore (CGST) and Rs 57,744 crore (SGST).

•Economic growth, anti-evasion activities, action against fake billers are the contributing factors towards increased GST revenue collections above Rs 1 lakh core mark for nine months in a row. It had dropped below Rs 1 lakh crore mark in June 2021 due to the second wave of COVID-19.

Indian Naval Aviation to be awarded President’s Colour on September 6

•President Ram Nath Kovind will award the Indian Naval Aviation with the President’s colour on September 6, 2021, at the ceremonial parade at INS Hansa in Goa.

•The President’s Colour is the highest honour that is awarded a military is awarded in recognition of its exceptional services to the nation.

•The Postal Department of India will also release a Special Day cover to mark the occasion. Indian Navy was the first among the Indian Armed Forces that was awarded the President’s Colour on May 27, 1951, by India’s first President Dr Rajendra Prasad.