DAILY CURRENT
AFFAIRS: 20TH MAY 2017
(DAILY NEWS INDIA)
1.
GST COUNCIL FINALISES TAX RATES ON 80-90% GOODS, SERVICES
i.
The Goods and Services Tax Council headed by Union Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley and comprising representatives of all states has finalised tax rates on
80-90% of goods and services under 4 brackets (5%, 12%, 18% and 28%). Essential
items of daily use have been kept in the lowest bracket of 5%.
ii.
The GST Council also approved 7 set of rules for the Goods and Services Tax
regime that will be rolled out from July 1, 2017. GST will replace 16 current
levies (7 central taxes and 9 state taxes), consequentially
iii.
GST rates on 6 categories of products—gold, bio-diesel, footwear, beedi and
cigarettes, textiles and agricultural implements—will be finalised in council’s
next meeting scheduled to be held in Delhi.
2.
PALESTINE PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS 4 DAY VISIT TO INDIA
i.
Mahmoud Abbas – President of Palestine, arrived in India for a 4-day official
visit. During the course of his visit, Mr. Abbas held extensive talks with
Indian PM Narendra Modi on key bilateral, regional and international issues
including the Middle East peace process.
ii.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas presented a mosaic and an artwork to PM
Narendra Modi with his name written in it in Arabic.
ii.
India and Palestine signed five MoUs
3.
INDIA RANKS AT 154, BELOW SRI LANKA AND BANGLADESH, ON HEALTHCARE INDEX
i.
India has ranked 154th among 195 countries on healthcare index in Lancet
medical journal’s report titled ‘Global Burden of Disease’. Perfo rmance of
countries was assessed for a period of 25 years from 1990-2015, based on death
rates from 32 diseases that could be avoided by effective medical care.
ii.
This study has been funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The
Indian healthcare industry has been growing at a phenomenal rate. During
2008-20, it is expected to clock a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 16.5%.The
industry size is expected to touch US$ 280 billion by year 2020.