General Studies – II
Government Policies
1) Do you think that the Micro Small Medium Enterprises selling online need simpler Goods and Services Tax rules? Comment (200 Words)
Refer - Business Line
General Studies – III
Economy
2) Cooperative federalism needs to be applied for cooperative and non- cooperative banks to realise their socio-economic potential. Discuss (200 Words)
Refer - Business Line
Environment
3) The big cats can co-exist in India only with the right incentives in place for all stakeholders. Analyse (200 Words)
Refer - The Hindu
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
IAS Parliament 2 years
KEY POINTS
· GST Council during its 47th general meeting, brought both offline and online sellers on the same footing with respect to mandatory registration of GST.
· With this decision, any seller whether online or offline having an aggregate turnover on all India basis below the range of Rs 40 lakh, is exempted from mandatorily registering for GST.
· The Finance Bill 2023 further extended the applicability of composite schemes (fixed rate of GST on annual turnover) to online sellers.
· While both these relaxations allow such sellers to sell goods only within their State, it would encourage MSMEs to sell online.
· However, the existing GST regime needs further simplification to reduce the compliance burden.
· The additional compliance obligations associated with PPOB include providing seller records, maintaining books of accounts, interacting with their authorised representatives and assisting tax authorities.
· Further, the sellers would also have to bear the overhead cost for the premises and tax compliances.
· Such compliance burdens prevent small sellers from building a nationwide consumer base, as they tend to hesitate to place inventory outside their parent States.
· This change would give the option to the sellers to place the inventory in the warehouse of the marketplace or any other place that the seller deems fit.
KEY POINTS
· State governments have a great responsibility in promoting non-financial cooperatives without any dispute over jurisdiction.
· Currently, there are about 10 lakh cooperatives, of which 1.05 lakh are financial cooperatives.
· Poor corporate governance has been the main reason behind the failure of many cooperative banks.
· The balance sheets of about one-third of the newly licensed UCBs are unsound. UCBs reported more than 1,000 cases of fraud in the last five years.
· Accordingly, provisions relating to banking companies would now apply to cooperative banks for better governance like amalgamation without a moratorium, the RBI superseding the board of directors, the appointment of MD based on fit-and-proper criteria, etc.
· Milk cooperatives are a grand success in India. Seventh, cooperatives as a business model can be pursued in multiple areas such as post-harvest processing, warehousing, and packaging.
· Cooperative banks can raise money through public issues and private placements of equity or preference shares with prior RBI permission.
· Amendments do not apply to PACS or cooperative societies lending for long-term requirements of agriculture. If cooperative banks want to grow in a competitive environment, they must lift their governance.
· Alternatively, the State governments should concentrate on non-financial cooperatives rather than waste their time and energy on turf wars relating to financial cooperatives.
KEY POINTS
· India’s tiger population in 2022 was at least 3,167 cats, according to the results of the quadrennial census of the tiger population.
· There is a fair chance that the 2022 numbers may be revised upwards as a full analysis of the census numbers remains to be done.
· However, this does not mean that tiger numbers are ordained to grow in perpetuity. The ‘Status of Tiger’ report warns that all of India’s five main tiger zones, while largely stable, face challenges of deforestation and loss of tiger habitat.
· The Western Ghats, while one of the most biodiverse spots globally, also hosts some of India’s most populous tiger reserves.
· Serious conservation efforts are needed to help, for instance, tiger population recovery in Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh.
· Experts have said India’s reserves, in their present state, ought to be able to sustain populations of up to 4,000, and with expanded efforts at improving fledgling reserves, these numbers can increase.
· Showcasing conservation efforts ought not to come at the expense of ensuring the right to livelihood and dignified living of communities, who often live the closest to these majestic wild creatures.
· The cheetah, the leopard, the lion and the tiger can co-exist in India only with the right incentives in place for all stakeholders.
