Key Reforms Approved at the 57th GST Council Meeting

• The 57th GST Council meeting approved compliance reforms to simplify GST registration, refunds, Input Tax Credit (ITC) and litigation.
• It recommended removing arrest powers of GST officers, raising the prosecution threshold and reducing general penalties.
• No GST rates were changed, and the reforms are expected to take effect from 1 April 2027.
• GST Rate Decisions: Rates will be reviewed once a year and take effect from the next financial year.

Impact on Businesses, Taxpayers and Federalism

• Ease of doing business: Simpler registration, faster refunds and smoother ITC help MSMEs and small taxpayers.
• Trust-based administration: Removing arrest powers and cutting penalties makes GST enforcement more compliance-friendly.
• Less harassment: Faceless assessment and limits on arbitrary checks reduce rent-seeking.
• One Nation, One Market: Fewer inter-State checks ensure smoother movement of goods.
• Predictability: An annual cycle for rate changes helps businesses plan and price better.
• Cooperative federalism: Consensus in the GST Council shows the Centre and States working together.

GST Council: Constitutional Provisions and Key Facts

Additional GST Facts

• GST was introduced by the 101st Amendment Act, 2016 and came into force on 1 July 2017.
• Article 246A gives Parliament and State Legislatures concurrent power to make laws on GST.
• The Council’s Secretariat is in New Delhi, and the Union Revenue Secretary is its ex-officio Secretary.
• GST is a destination-based consumption tax, so revenue accrues to the State of consumption.
• Dual GST consists of CGST, SGST, IGST and UTGST, and IGST applies to inter-State supplies.
• Removing arrest powers reflects the decriminalisation and ease of doing business approach.

Why in News?

• The Swedish Academy announced the Nobel Prize in Literature 2026 in Stockholm, awarding it to Canadian poet Anne Carson.
• She was honoured for bold and inventive works that engage with the classical tradition and create new forms for contemporary literature.

Nobel Prizes: Key Facts and Institutional Details

Important Facts

• Nobel Prizes are presented on 10 December, the death anniversary of Alfred Nobel.
• Nobel Prizes are given in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, Peace and Economic Sciences.

Debate Over Unnecessary Angioplasty

• Keralam CM V D Satheesan called for a campaign against “unnecessary” angioplasty, and the Indian Medical Association (IMA) agreed that overuse should be avoided but cautioned that broad claims could delay life-saving treatment.

Angioplasty (PCI): Procedure and Medical Uses

• Angioplasty is a procedure to open a narrowed or blocked coronary artery and restore blood flow to the heart muscle. It is medically called Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI).
• A thin tube called a catheter is passed through the wrist (radial) or groin (femoral) artery to the blocked spot, and a balloon is inflated to widen the artery.
• A stent, a small mesh tube, is usually placed to keep the artery open.
• The blockage is caused by atherosclerosis, the build-up of fatty plaque in the arteries.
• It is life-saving in an acute heart attack, but in stable coronary artery disease it often gives no extra benefit over medicines.

Angioplasty: Medical and Constitutional Linkages

Super El Niño and Delhi-NCR’s Winter Pollution Risk

• An expert article warns that a Super El Niño may reduce wind speed, cut western disturbances and trap pollutants over Delhi-NCR this winter, and calls for a shift from a city-centric to an airshed-based approach under NARFI.

Causes of Pollution and the Airshed-Based Approach

• A Super El Niño has already influenced India’s monsoon, which ended with a 13% rainfall deficit, the highest in a decade, while Delhi recorded a 17% surplus.
• It can reduce wind speed over north India, which prevents the dispersion of PM2.5 from stubble burning, vehicles, biofuel and waste burning.
• Western disturbances are likely to be almost absent, so there will be fewer rain spells to wash out pollutants.
• A milder winter with cool nights and stagnant air may lower the surface inversion layer and trap pollutants near the ground.
• Stubble burning has reportedly shifted from morning to evening, and MODIS-based fire detection may miss many of these fires.
• Under NCAP, funding is judged by PM10 reduction, which gave disproportionate attention to dust over PM2.5 sources.
• NARFI, developed by NIAS under the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser, proposes an airshed-based approach, or a satellite airshed where the full airshed is too large.

Air Pollution: Key Concepts and Policy Framework