Hallmarking of Gold Jewellery and Artefacts
Why in news?
- The Union Minister for Consumer Affairs announced that Notification for mandatory Hallmarking of Gold Jewellery and Artefacts across the nation will be issued on 15th January, 2020 giving one year time period for implementation.
News summary
- The BIS (Bureau of Indian standards) Act 2016 has enabling provisions under Section 14 & Section 16 for making hallmarking of gold jewellery and artefacts mandatory by the Central Government.
- This will make it compulsory for all the jewellers selling gold jewellery and artefacts to register with BIS and sell only hallmarked Gold jewellery and artefacts.
- The draft Quality Control Order for mandatory hallmarking of gold jewellery and artefacts has been hosted on WTO website on 10th October 2019 for comments for a period of 60 days.
- As on 31st October 2019 there are 877 Assaying and hallmarking centres spread in 234 district locations across the country and so far 26,019 jewellers have taken BIS registration.
FASTags
Why in news?
- From December 1, lanes on national highway toll plazas across India will accept toll only through FASTag — fitted in a vehicle that pays toll automatically when the vehicle crosses the boom barrier of the toll plaza.
About:
- FASTag is a radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology sticker that can be installed on the windshield of any vehicle. By this, toll payments can be made directly from the pre-paid account linked to it, thus avoiding the need of vehicles to stop at toll plazas for payment of fees.
- Indian Highways Management Company Ltd. (IHMCL), a company promoted by NHAI, is implementing the National Electronic Toll Collection Program (NETC) in the country under the brand name “FASTag” which was launched in April 2016.
- A FASTag is valid for five years, and can be recharged as and when required.
- E-commerce portals like Amazon and PayTM sell these tags issued by various banks. They are available at 27,000 points of sale set up by 22 banks and the NHAI.
Showering GDP rate
Why in news?
- According to data released by National Statistical Office, India’s GDP growth rate slipped to a 26-quarter low of 4.5 per cent in July-September, due to contraction in manufacturing growth.
News summary
- The previous low for the country’s GDP growth was 4.3 per cent during January-March 2012-13.
- In July-September, manufacturing growth slumped to (-)1.0 per cent as against 6.9 per cent growth last year, while the “agriculture, forestry and fishing” sector recorded a growth rate of 2.1 per cent as against 4.9 per cent last year.
- At 4.5 per cent, the GDP growth rate is much lower than 5.3 per cent projected for July-September by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its October policy.
- With this, GDP growth rate for April-September, the first half of this fiscal, is now at 4.8 per cent as against 7.5 per cent growth in the year-ago period.
- Growth rate in terms of Gross Value Added (GVA), which is GDP minus net product taxes, has slowed to 4.3 per cent in July-September as against 6.9 per cent a year ago.
Gujarat terror law
Why in news?
- The Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime (GCTOC) Act, which received President Ram Nath Kovind’s assent.
Key highlights:
- The anti-terrorism law draws heavily from The Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), 1999, with two significant differences:
- The checks on interception of communication that are part of the Maharashtra law are missing in the Gujarat law; and
- The definition of “terrorist act” in the GCTOCA also covers “intention to disturb public order”.
- These differences make the Gujarat law tougher and broader in scope than MCOCA.
EB-5
Why in news?
- New rules governing the EB-5 visa of the United States came into effect, which include a significant increase in the investment amount required to obtain the visa.
About:
- The EB-5 is one of five employment-based immigrant visas that can be obtained in the United States (others being EB-1, EB-2, EB-3, EB-4). An immigrant visa allows its holder to live and work in the US permanently, as opposed to a non-immigrant visa like the H-1B.
- Under the US immigration rules, the EB-5 is a category of visa which enables an individual to apply for permanent residentship in the United States (also called green card) after meeting certain investment and employment-generation criteria.
The applicant is required
- To make the necessary investment in a commercial enterprise in the United States, and
- To create or, in certain circumstances, preserve 10 full-time jobs for qualified United States workers.
- The US uses the visa scheme to generate employment in what are called ‘targeted employment areas’. The TEAs consist of areas that have an average unemployment rate of at least 150% of the national average unemployment rate of the US, as well as certain rural areas.