PIB Summary- 2nd July, 2021 | PIB (Press Information Bureau) Summary - UPSC PDF Download

Stock Limits and Movement Restrictions on Specified Foodstuffs (Amendment) Order, 2021

Context:

Stock Limits and Movement Restrictions on Specified Foodstuffs (Amendment) Order, 2021 has been issued with immediate effect from 2 July 2021.

Details:

• As retail prices of dal continue to increase and the long gap in monsoon rain casts a shadow over Kharif sowing, the central government has stepped in to control further price rise.
• Through this order, stock limits have been imposed on wholesalers, retailers, millers and importers of pulses.
• As per the order, stock limits have been prescribed for all pulses except moong until October 31 for all states and union territories.
• Wholesaler traders can stock 200 tonnes (but not more than 100 tonne of one variety) while retailers can stock a maximum of 5 tonnes.
• Dal millers can stock 25 per cent of their annual installed capacity or the last three months of production, whichever is higher.
• The government has been trying to reign in the retail prices of pulses in the previous months.
• In March-April, it had asked the state and UT governments to take stock of pulses and their trade. Even an online system was developed to monitor the stock.
• When these steps failed to have the desired cooling down effect on prices, the central government tweaked the import policy by shifting tur, urad and moong — all three major Kharif pulses — from restricted to free category from May 15 to October 31.
• A direct effect of this notification would be the crashing of wholesale prices once the mandis start after the weekend. With Kharif sowing underway, this will impact the decision of farmers on whether to go for pulses or other crops this season.

INS Sarvekshak

Context:

Indian Naval Ship (INS) Sarvekshak departs Colombo after completion of survey assistance.

Details:

• Indian Navy’s Hydrographic Survey Ship Sarvekshak successfully completed survey action around the site of the Singapore-registered container ship MV X-Press Pearl that had caught fire off the coast of Colombo.
  (i) After burning for 12 days, X-Press Pearl sank and was declared a total loss.
  (ii) The incident was deemed the worst marine ecological disaster in Sri Lankan history for the chemical products that spilled.
• INS Sarvekshak, equipped with state-of-the-art survey equipment including the Side Scan Sonar, was deployed at the request of the Sri Lankan Government.
• The survey of the wreckage area would facilitate issuance of advisory to both mariners and fishermen, and subsequent removal of debris by Sri Lankan authorities, thereby ensuring safety of navigation for marine traffic operating through Colombo port.

INS Sarvekshak:

• INS Sarvekshak is the Indian Navy’s Hydrographic Survey Ship that is based at the Southern Naval Command at Kochi.
• It is fitted with state-of-the-art survey equipment like Deep Sea Multibeam echo sounder system, Side Scan Sonar, Sound Velocity Profilers, and a fully automated digital surveying and processing system. In addition, the ship carries a Chetak helicopter.
• In the past, INS Sarvekshak has also undertaken foreign cooperation surveys in Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Seychelles, Tanzania and Kenya.

OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework tax deal

Context:

India joined the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework tax deal.

Details:

• A majority of the members of OECD-G20 Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting, including India, adopted a high-level statement containing an outline of a consensus solution to address the tax challenges arising from the digitalisation of the economy.
• The proposed solution consists of two components:
  (i) Pillar One, which is about re-allocation of an additional share of profit to the market jurisdictions, and
  (ii) Pillar Two, which consists of minimum tax and subject to tax rules.
• Some significant issues, including share of profit allocation and scope of subject to tax rules, remain open and are yet to be addressed.
• Further, the technical details of the proposal will be worked out in the coming months, and a consensus agreement is expected by October 2021.
• According to the Finance Ministry statement, India is in favour of a solution that will result in allocation of meaningful and sustainable revenue to market jurisdictions, particularly for developing and emerging economies.

- Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS)

Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) refers to the strategies used by multinational companies to avoid paying tax, by exploiting the mismatches and gaps in the tax rules. Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) is mostly prevalent in Intellectual Property (IP) intensive Technology domain (companies like Google, Apple etc) and the companies in Life Sciences domain like Pfizer, Merck etc.

- How Does Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Work?

Tax is levied on the multinational company by the Government as a percentage of the profit or income of the multinational company. Using the loopholes, the multinational company shifts its income or profit to another country which could be a tax haven. As a result, the country which helps the multinational company generate its revenues does not get any tax or there is tax erosion due to the shifting of income or profits by the company.

Issues with BEPS

• BEPS practice is a major problem since nations have lost tax revenues to the tune of $ 100 billion to $ 240 billion annually, as per statistics put out by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The above revenue which is lost is equivalent to 4 % to 10 % of the total income tax revenue at a global level.
• This undermines the fairness and integrity of tax systems because businesses that operate across borders can use BEPS to gain a competitive advantage over enterprises that operate at a domestic level.
• when taxpayers see multinational corporations legally avoiding income tax, it undermines voluntary compliance by all taxpayers.

- Measures taken by India to solve the BEPS issue

Indian is playing an important role in the BEPS Project initiated by the OECD. India is working on amending its laws to tackle the problem of BEPS.
India has already implemented some of the important recommendations of the BEPS project through amendments in its domestic tax laws such as 

1. Country-by-Country Reporting (CbCR) – It is part of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Action Plan 13. As per Indian Income Tax Act, Section 286(2), the CbCR is required to be submitted by an Indian affiliate of a foreign-parented group or Indian parent company.
   (i) India and the U.S. signed an inter-government agreement for the automatic exchange of country-by-country (CbC) reports.
   (ii) This will reduce the compliance burden for Indian subsidiary companies of U.S. parent companies.
   (iii) This is a key step in making India compliant with the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project, of which it is an active participant.
2. Thin capitalization – Thin Capitalisation refers to a condition where a company is financed with a high level of debt compared to the equity (highly leveraged)
3. Secondary Adjustments –  On 30 September, 2019, Rule 10CB of Income Tax rules amendments were notified by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).
4. Patent Box tax regime – It was introduced in India by enacting new Section 115BBF as per Finance Act, 2016.

The Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) was signed by former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Paris on June 7, 2017. The provisions in the framework will come into effect from 2020-21 for bilateral tax treaties.
The Convention ensures consistency and certainty in the implementation of the BEPS Project in a multilateral context. The Convention also provides flexibility to exclude a specific tax treaty and to opt-out of provisions or parts of provisions through making of reservations.

- Benefits for India 

• The Multilateral Convention will enable the application of BEPS outcomes through modification of existing tax treaties of India in a swift manner.
• It is also in India’s interest to ensure that all its treaty partners adopt the BEPS anti-abuse outcomes.
• The Convention will enable the curbing of revenue loss through treaty abuse and base erosion and profit shifting strategies by ensuring that profits are taxed where substantive economic activities generating the profits are carried out and where value is created.

BEPS Project – Launched by OECD

• Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development launched the BEPS project to tackle the problem of tax avoidance, to bring in a transparent tax environment and bring in more synergy to the international tax rules.  
• There are 15 Action Plans that are being implemented by 135 countries.
• Countries now have the tools to tax the company that is generating profits and value in that particular country.
• These tools also reduce disputes.

Covid-19 Vaccine Update

What’s in News?

Based on recommendations from the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI), the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) approved the vaccination of pregnant women against COVID-19.

COVID-19 New Virus Strain

A new strain of the coronavirus emerged in the United Kingdom and has spread to other countries including India.

• According to some sources, this variant could be about 70% more transmissible than the original strain.
• India reported positive cases of the new strain around the end of December 2020.
• More than fifty countries, including India, have imposed travel restrictions to and from the UK.
• The new strain is called SARS-CoV-2 VUI 202012/01 or “B.1.1.7.”
• It was first discovered in September in the southeast of England.
• This strain emerged independently and is not related to another new strain that emerged in South Africa in mid-December.
• The new strain includes a genetic mutation in the “spike” protein that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus uses to infect human cells.
• There are concerns that although there may not be much change in the symptoms and the mortality rates remain the same, if the virus spreads more efficiently it may lead to increased hospitalisations, that strain the health systems.
• But experts say that there is a high probability that the vaccines being prepared for the virus would work for the new strain as well.
• As on 11 January 2021, there were 96 cases of the new UK mutant strain in India.

COVID-19 Vaccine

According to the WHO, there are over 50 vaccine candidates for COVID-19 in various stages of clinical trials.
Currently, the following vaccines are under trial in India for the fight against COVID-19:

- COVID Vaccines in India

• COVAXIN
  (i) This is India’s first indigenously developed COVID-19 vaccine.
  (ii) It is developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) – National Institute of Virology (NIV).  
  (iii) The vaccine received approval for phase I & II human trials from July 2020.
  (iv) Then, after phase III trials, in January 2021, the vaccine received approval from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for restricted use in emergency situation.
• Covishield
  (i) Covishield is co-developed by the University of Oxford and British-Swedish company AstraZeneca in collaboration with the Serum Institute of India (SII).
  (ii) This vaccine has also been approved under the restricted use in emergency situation.
  (iii) The government of India signed a purchase order of 11 million doses with SII for Covishield.
• ZyCoV-D
  (i) This vaccine has been developed by pharmaceutical company Zydus Cadila and it is the third vaccine in India to receive the DCGI nod for phase III human trials.
  (ii) This is India’s first DNA plasmid vaccine.
• Sputnik V
  (i) Sputnik V is the first registered vaccine against Covid-19 created on a human adenoviral vector platform.
  (ii) It was developed by Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute.
  (iii) The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, is investing in the production and promotion of the vaccine abroad.
  (iv) In India, it has tied up with Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories.
  (v) Currently, phase II human trials are going on.
• Biological E’s novel Covid-19 vaccine
  (i) Biological E. Ltd is a Hyderabad-based vaccine and pharmaceutical company and it has entered into an exclusive license agreement with the Ohio State Innovation Foundation.
  (ii) Phase I/II phase human trial is going on.

Sardar Patel National Unity Award 2021

Context:

Nominations for Sardar Patel National Unity Award-2021 Open till 15 August 2021.

Sardar Patel National Unity Award-2020

• Sardar Patel National Unity Award is the highest civilian award in the field of contribution to the unity and integrity of India.
• The Centre has instituted the award in the name of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, India’s first Home Minister.
• The Award seeks to recognize notable and inspiring contributions to promote the cause of national unity and integrity and to reinforce the value of a strong and united India.