Important Topics in News 19th December 2022

Important Topics in News 19th December 2022 : It will cover all the topics from current affairs which have very high probability to be asked in the competitive examinations like UPSC, SSC, IBPS, State PSC and other competitive examinations in India.

Golden Jubilee of North Eastern Council (NEC)

On this occasion, Prime Minister inaugurated “Grih Pravesh” programme in Tripura for the beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Was Yojna.

About North East Council

• NEC was established in 1972 as a regional planning body that coordinates the for economic and social development of the eight states in the north eastern region of India.
• It is headquartered in Shillong, Meghalaya.
• It works under the administrative control of Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region.
• Union Home Minister is the ex-officio Chairman of NEC.

On this occasion, Union Home Minister highlighted the need to accelerate campaign against drug with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

About Zonal Councils in India

• Zonal Councils were established by the Government of India in 1956 under the States Reorganisation Act as a regional body that promotes cooperation and coordination between states in a particular geographic region.
• Five Zonal Councils were set under SRA 1956 name North, Central, Eastern, Western and Southern Zonal Council.
• These Zonal Council are chaired by the Union Home Minister and comprises representatives from state governments and Union Territories.

Important decision taken by GST Council in the meeting

• Recommendation given by council to promote trade :
  • decriminalise GST offence such as obstructing or preventing any officer from discharging their duty, deliberate tampering of material evidence etc
  • doubling of threshold of tax amount for launching prosecution from ₹ 1 crore to ₹ 2 crore
• Reduced GST on husk of pulses to zero from 5% and on ethanol from 18% to 5%

About GST Council

• GST Council is a constitutional body established under Article 279A of Indian Constitution, introduced through 101 Constitutional Amendment Act.
• It is headed by Union Finance Minister and have representatives from both Union and State Governments.

• PTF was set up in 2014 to compile a comprehensive list 40 communities across the nation that should be included in Schedule Tribe (ST) list on priority basis.
• It has recommended some names that considered to be included in list are Pulayan Community in Tamil Nadu, Konda Kumari Community in Andhra Pradesh, Kandha Kumbhar, Jodia, Chuktia Bhunjia, Mankidia, Porja etc in Odisha.
• Recently opposition parties questioned the inclusion of community recommended by PTF in ST list by the government.

• IWI Summit recently held with the theme of “Restoration and Conservation of Small Rivers in Large Basin”.
• It has given emphasis on Mapping and Convergence of 5P’S – People, policy, plan, project and programme.
• Important recommendations :
  • need to build consensus on to form National River Framework among all stakeholders which will determine parameters for monitoring river health, process and responsibilities
  • establish a system for exchange of information in water related issues

• Rajasthan High Court has recently ordered a complete prohibition on reducing the area of sanctuary. It also directed the government to complete the formalities of declaring the area surround the sanctuary as eco-sensitive zone at the earliest.
• Sanctuary is located in That Desert, Rajasthan and also part of Shekhawati Region.
• It is the only sanctuary in India with a good number of Blackbucks in an almost treeless, saline and flat land.

• Global Antimicrobial Resistance and use Surveillance System (GLASS) Report 2022 has been released by World Health Organisation (WHO).
• This report annually since 2015 to foster antimicrobial resistance surveillance and inform strategies to contain AMR.
• This report marks the end of early implementation phase of GLASS and provides a summary of of five years of national AMR surveillance data contributed to GLASS from its initiation.