Govt releases Rs. 6,000 crore to States as GST compensation

Finance ministry has released the seventh weekly installment of Rs. 6,000 crore to the States to meet the GST compensation shortfall.Out of this, an amount of Rs. 5,516.60 crore has been released to 23 States and an amount of Rs. 483.40 crore has been released to the three Union Territories with Legislative Assembly Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir and Puducherry which are members of the GST Council.The remaining five States, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim do not have a gap in revenue on account of GST implementation.Government had set up a special borrowing window in October to meet the estimated shortfall of Rs. 1.10 Lakh crore in revenue arising on account of implementation of GST.  The borrowings have been done in seven rounds.The amount released this week was the 7th instalment of such funds provided to the States.So far, an amount of Rs. 42,000 crore has been borrowed by the Central Government through the special borrowing window.

-Himgiri, which is the first of the three Project 17A ships being built at Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited (GRSE), Kolkata was launched on Monday.She made her first contact with the waters of Hoogly River at 1:35  PM  at the launch ceremony where Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat was the Chief Guest.In keeping with Naval traditions, Madhulika Rawat, spouse of the CDS launched the ship to the chanting of invocations from the Atharva Veda.Under the Project 17A program, a total of seven ships, four at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) and three ships at GRSE are being built with enhanced stealth features, advanced indigenous weapon and sensor fit along with several other improvements.Ministry of Defence in a statement said that the launch of ‘Himgiri’ has showcased GRSE’s commitment towards the building of three state-of-the-art warships of P17A for Indian Navy.

-BJP has swept Zilla Panchayat Polls in Goa. Polls were held on Saturday and counting was held on Monday.In North Goa Zilla Panchayat elections ,BJP secured sweeping victory by winning 19 Seats out of 25.In south Goa, BJP won 14 seats out of 25.  Congress won only one seat in North Goa and 3 seats in South Goa.Out of 50 ZP constituencies, polling did not take place in two. Polling was canceled in Navelim due to the death of a candidate, while in Sancoale, the BJP candidate won unopposed.This was the first election in Goa since the coronavirus pandemic began.In all 200 candidates were in fray. The elections were held on ballot papers.

-Reserve Bank of India has made Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) money transfer facility operational round-the-clock. The announcement to this effect was made by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das. In a tweet, he said it has been decided to make RTGS available round the clock on all days of the year from last night. RBI Governor said, India has become one of the few countries in the world to operate its RTGS system round the clock throughout the year. The move is aimed at giving a push to digital payments in the country. Earlier, RTGS transaction facility was available for customers from 7 am to 6 pm on all working days of a week, except the second and fourth Saturdays.

-Bangladesh on Monday observed the Martyred Intellectuals Day to mark the day of brutality when Pakistani forces killed hundreds of intellectuals including teachers, doctors, journalists and others in Dhaka and other parts of Bangladesh in 1971. On 14 December 1971, just two days before Bangladesh got liberation, the Pakistani occupation forces with the help of their local collaborators named Razakar, Al-Badr and Al-Shams, went on a torture and killing spree of the most prominent intellectuals of the country.The horror of the torture and killing came to light after Bangladesh attained independence on 16 December 1971.President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid tribute to the martyred intellectuals on Monday.Wreaths were placed at the Martyred Intellectuals Memorial in Dhaka on their behalf.Calling the martyred intellectuals as the conscience of the nation, President Abdul Hamid in his message said that they played a crucial role in the liberation war to create public opinion.Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called upon the people to unite against the conspiracies of the killers of 1971 and war criminals.