Daily Current Affairs : 24th and 25th December 2020

Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE

Topics Covered

  1. Cairn Energy Case
  2. Jallikattu
  3. 3D Printer
  4. Brexit deal
  5. Contributions of Rabindranath Tagore
  6. Facts for Prelims

1 . Cairn Energy Case


Context : The Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague has ruled that the Indian government was wrong in applying retrospective tax on Cairn. India has been ordered to return up to $1.4 billion to Cairn Energy PLC of the U.K. after an international arbitration overturned tax demanded retrospectively — an award the government indicated it may challenge.

What is the dispute all about?

  • Like Vodafone, this dispute between the Indian government and Cairn also relates to retrospective taxation.
  • In 2006-07, as a part of internal rearrangement, Cairn UK transferred shares of Cairn India Holdings to Cairn India. The Income Tax authorities then contented that Cairn UK had made capital gains and slapped it with a tax demand of Rs 24,500 crore.
  • Owing to different interpretations of capital gains, the company refused to pay the tax, which prompted cases being filed at the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) and the High Court. While Cairn had lost the case at ITAT, a case on the valuation of capital gains is still pending before the Delhi High court.
  • In 2011, Cairn Energy sold majority of its India business, Cairn India, to mining conglomerate Vedanta. Cairn UK was however not allowed to sell a minor stake of about 10 per cent by the income tax authorities. Authorities had also siezed Cairn India shares as well as dividends that the company paid to its parent UK firm.

What has the arbitration court said?

  • In its judgment, the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague said Cairn Tax Issue was not just a tax related issue but an investment related dispute, and therefore under the jurisdiction of the international arbitration court.
  • Akin to the ruling in the Vodafone arbitration case, the PCA at The Hague has once again ruled that the Indian government’s retrospective demand was “in breach of the guarantee of fair and equitable treatment”.
  • It has noted that Cairn UK’s argument that the demand on them was made after the Vodafone retrospective tax demand, which has since been set aside by Indian courts.

What is retrospective taxation?

  • As the name suggests, retrospective taxation allows a country to pass a rule on taxing certain products, items or services and deals and charge companies from a time behind the date on which the law is passed.
  • Countries use this route to correct any anomalies in their taxation policies that have, in the past, allowed companies to take advantage of such loopholes. While governments often use a retrospective amendment to taxation laws to “clarify” existing laws, it ends up hurting companies that had knowingly or unknowingly interpreted the tax rules differently.
  • Apart from India, many countries including the US, the UK, the Netherlands, Canada, Belgium, Australia and Italy have retrospectively taxed companies, which had taken the benefit of loopholes in the previous law.

2 . Jallikattu


Context : The Tamil Nadu government has permitted jallikattu to be held across the State during the coming Pongal season. But the bull-taming sport would be subject to fresh restrictions in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

What is Jallikattu?

  • It is a traditional bull-taming sport organised in Tamil Nadu during Pongal. Also known as Eruthazhuvuthal or Manju virattu, the sport involves a natively reared stud that is set free inside an arena filled with young participants.
  • The challenge lies in taming the bull with bare hands. Ideally, participants try to grab the bull by its horns or tail and wrestle it into submission. A few also tend to latch on to the bull by clinging to the hump at the back of its neck. The participants are usually young men in their 20s
  • The practice dates back to as far as 2000 years ago, according to a few historical accounts. It mainly was active in the districts of Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, Theni, Pudukkottai and Dindigul of Tamil Nadu until its ban in 2011. Organisers of the event argue that it is closely associated with village life and the bulls are specially reared for this purpose. Breeders often claim they treat the bulls like their own children and spend large sums of money towards their upkeep. Many participants, however, are either fatally gored, trampled or mauled by the bull.

What is the controversy surrounding Jallikattu?

  • In 2011, during the UPA rule, the Environment Ministry added bulls to its 1991 notification banning the training and exhibition of bears, monkeys, tigers, panthers and dogs.
  • The notification was challenged in the Supreme Court and was upheld in 2014. Under the NDA government, the ministry in 2016 modified its earlier notification and declared that the sport could continue despite the existing ban.
  • This was in direct contravention with the apex court order, and was duly challenged by animal welfare organisation such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

How it is still continued

  • Due to these protests, on 21 January 2017, the governor of Tamil Nadu issued a new ordinance that authorized the continuation of jallikattu events
  • Tamil Nadu legislature passed a bipartisan bill, with the accession of the Prime Minister, exempting jallikattu from the Prevention of Cruelity to Animals Act (1960).

3 . 3 D Printer


Context : Ground-plus-first floor building in Kancheepuram, has been fully constructed using only a 3D printer and a special concrete mix by L&T, the engineering and construction conglomerate,

About the News

  • Concrete building was made using a fully automated 3D printer with an indigenously developed concrete mixture and some manual labour.
  • The special concrete mix used by the printer has been prepared using the same concrete composition used for regular construction materials.
  • The company hopes the project would play a disruptive role in the construction industry.
  • Success of the building project lies in its construction, executed in both vertical and horizontal methods using reinforced bars and welded mesh. The building project was executed at an open project site and completed within 106 printing hours.
  • The vertical and horizontal methodology formulated for the 3D building project meets the provisions of the Indian codes for construction. The cost is also optimal, compared to what is spent on traditional manpower and material-intensive construction

About 3D Printing

  • 3D printing (sometimes referred to as Additive Manufacturing (AM)) is the computer-controlled sequential layering of materials to create three-dimensional shapes. It is particularly useful for prototyping and for the manufacture of geometrically complex components. It was first developed in the 1980s, but at that time it was a difficult and expensive operation and so had few applications.
  • 3 D printing systems developed for the construction industry are referred to as ‘construction 3D printers’. A 3D digital model of the item is created, either by computer-aided design (CAD) or using a 3D scanner.
  • The printer then reads the design and lays down successive layers of printing medium (this can be a liquid, powder, or sheet material) which are joined or fused to create the item. The process can be slow, but it enables almost any shape to be created.

4 . Brexit


Context : Political leaders in Europe on Thursday hailed the belated sealing of a U.K.-EU post-Brexit deal that aims to to lay the groundwork for long-term future cooperation.

What is Brexit?

  • Brexit – or “British exit” – refers to the process of the United Kingdom leaving the EU after 47 years in the economic and political alliance of European countries built from the ashes of World War Two.
  • Following a referendum that the “vote leave” camp won by 52-48% in June 2016, Britain became the first country to leave the EU, a union of now nearly 450 million citizens that stretches from the Atlantic to the borders of Russia and Turkey.
  • Britain’s formal departure on Jan. 31, 2020 was heralded by supporters as a recovery of political sovereignty for the country of 66 million people.
  • Opponents saw it as an historic setback to European integration that could cause unprecedented economic damage and risk renewed strife on the Irish border, the only land frontier between the bloc and the UK.
  • Since its formal departure, London has followed established rules of close-knit cooperation on everything from trade to student exchanges, but this transition phase expires at midnight on Dec. 31.
  • The new agreement includes transition periods and review clauses, meaning that more negotiation lies ahead on fisheries, trading rules and much besides.

What does the deal cover?

  • The two sides have been in complex negotiations since March to try to keep their trade in goods flowing from Jan. 1, 2021. The deal announced on Thursday means that this goods trade – roughly half of the $900 billion of annual EU-UK commerce – will remain free of tariffs and quotas.
  • However, goods moving between the UK and the EU will be subject to customs and other controls, and extra paperwork is expected to cause major disruptions.
  • The deal was negotiated on top of a formal Withdrawal Agreement reached last year, which ensured that extensive controls would not be put back on the sensitive border between EU member Ireland and the British province of Northern Ireland.
  • The third key element of the deal is dividing up fishing quotas between Britain and the EU.
  • The deal does not envisage cooperation on the same level as before Brexit in many areas. Financial and business services, the backbone of UK exports, are only included to a small extent.
  • The same is true of cooperation on foreign policy, security and defence, while provisions for transport, energy and civil nuclear cooperation will be below current levels.
  • Mobile roaming, mutual recognition of professional qualifications, access to legal services, digital trade and public procurement are other areas where cooperation will be downgraded.
  • While the EU and the UK agreed not to require visas for travel, free movement of people will end. That means EU citizens going to the UK, and vice-versa, will be subject to border screening and no longer be able to use biometric passports to cross swiftly through electronic gates.

5 . Contribution of Rabindranath Tagore


Context : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday emphasised that Visva-Bharati embodied Rabindranath Tagore’s vision for the country. The university was also an essence of “Atmanirbhar Bharat” (self-reliant India), he noted.

Contributions of Rabindranath Tagore

  • Bengal Partition : The Bengal Partition took place on October 16 in 1905 and this sparked a nationwide protest. The Indian National Congress had started the Swadeshi Movement where Indians denounced all British items and use all native items. Rabindranath Tagore wrote the song Banglar Mati Banglar Jol (Soil of Bengal, Water of Bengal) to unite the Bengali population. He started the Rakhi Utsav where people from Hindu and Muslim communities tied colourful threads on each other’s wrists. In 1911, the two parts of Bengal were reunited.
  • Going Against Conventional Education – Tagore was against conventional classroom education. He believed that interaction with nature is essential for learning. On December 29, 1918, Tagore laid the foundation stone of Visva Bharati University. He remodelled education as a holistic development process where teachers would be more like mentors guiding students towards emotional, intellectual and spiritual upliftment. He invested his Nobel Prize money in building the campus and a town in Bolpur, West Bengal. He named the place as Shantiniketan, the abode of peace. His educational reforms are included in many curriculae across the world.
  • Renouncing Knighthood : The British were overwhelmed by the genius of Tagore. A lot of his works were translated before the First World War. After the war ended, Tagore was offered the knighthood by the royalty. But this was the time when Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place in Amritsar on April 13, 1919. Tagore renounced the title as a protest against the brutal genocide by the British military.
  • Tagore as a poet : Tagore owns the title Viswa Kavi or poet of the world because of his universal ideology. At a time when India was struggling to find the right language of freedom movement, Tagore advocated the idea of global integrity and that the man himself is a gateway to the world. The identity of India after independence was closely based on Tagore’s ideology of peace and universal brotherhood.
  • National Anthems Of India And Bangladesh : He is the only person, who has written the national anthems of two countries. The national anthem of India (Jana Gana Mana…) that was originally composed as Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata in Bengali by him was adopted by the Constituent Assembly of India as the national anthem on January 24, 1950. The national anthem of Bangladesh (Amar Sonar Bangla…) was written in 1905 by Rabindranath Tagore.
  • Famous Literary Work : Rabindranath Tagore is known for several evergreen works. Some important ones being: ‘Ghare Baire’. Gitanjali, his collection of poems, won him Nobel Literature Prize in 1913 and the first edition had an introduction by WB Yeats.

6 . Facts for Prelims


FDI in DTH

  • The Union Cabinet approved 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in direct-to-home (DTH) services, extension of the licence period from 10 years to 20 and a reduced licence fee.

Merger of four government-run film and media units

  • The Cabinet approved the merger of four government-run film and media units — the Films Division, the Directorate of Film Festivals, the National Film Archives of India and the autonomous body Children’s Film Society — with the National Film Development Corporation.
  • The Films Division, established in 1948 and the oldest of the four units, was created primarily to produce documentaries and news magazines as publicity for government programmes and to keep a cinematic record of Indian history. The National Film Archives of India was established in 1964 with the primary objective of acquiring and preserving Indian cinematic heritage. The Directorate of Film Festivals was set up in 1973 to promote Indian films and cultural exchange.
  • The merger also brings into the fold an autonomous organisation, the Children’s Film Society, which was founded in 1955 with the specific objective of providing children and young people value-based entertainment through the medium of films.

Lending Activity

  • Legitimate public lending activities can be undertaken by banks, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) registered with RBI and other entities who are regulated by the State governments under statutory provisions, such as the money lending acts of the States concerned.

Rajaji Tiger Reserve

  • The Rajaji Tiger Reserve is set to welcome the first big cat from Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve on Thursday, in the first such relocation in Uttarakhand aimed at tiger population management.
  • Rajaji National Park is an Indian national park and tiger reserve that encompasses the Shivaliks, near the foothills of the Himalayas. It is spread over three districts of Uttarakhand: Haridwar, Dehradun and Pauri Garhwal

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