Uttarakhand Affairs
No green nod for Sukhatal development, Uttarakhand high court told
In the ongoing hearing of the Sukhatal beautification project, the State <a href="https://exam.pscnotes.com/<a href="https://exam.pscnotes.com/Environment-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Environment-impact-assessment”>Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) informed theUttarakhand that it never received an application forSukhatal development, when it’s mandatory for the state to get environmental clearance (EC) fromSEIAAbefore starting any such project.
The court was also informed that Sukhatal is part of a wetland. The HC, which had issued notices to the SEIAA and state wetlands management authority during the last hearing, has again sent a notice to the latter. During the last hearing, the court had ordered to stop all construction on Sukhatal lake bed and the stay is still in effect.
National and International Affairs
Indias first underwater metro service,The Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC)said that the East-West Metro Corridor project, is expected to be completed byDecember 2023.With this, another feather is being added to the crown of Kolkata Metro, the first metro railway in the country. Kolkata Metro, which started its journey in 1984, is being expanded to cover the whole city and its outskirts. The underwater metro, which will be running through the Hoogly river will connect the twin cities of Howrah and Kolkata.
Kolkata Metro RAILWAY Corporation has taken up the difficult take of making the tunnel with the help of German machines and the best experts. Work inside the tunnel is still in progress.
As far as the cost of construction of the underground metro is concerned, it costs about Rs 120 crore per kilometre to build the tunnel but the manufacturing cost of the tunnel underwater, which is deep in the Hooghly river costs increased to around 157 crores by per kilometre.
GST collections in December up by 15 percent to Rs 1.49 lakh cr
According to a government announcement, Indias goods and Services tax receipts increased 15% year over year in December to Rs 1.49 lakh crore ($18.07 billion), suggesting robust economic activity throughout the holiday season. In November, revenue from goods and services taxes totaled Rs. 1.46 lakh crore.
The total amount of GST revenue collected in December 2022 was Rs 1,49,507 crore, of which the CGST portion was Rs 26,711 crore, the SGST portion was Rs 33,357 crore, the IGST portion was Rs 78,434 crore (including Rs 40,263 crore from the collection of GST on goods imported), and the Cess portion was Rs 11,005 crore (including Rs 850 crore collected on import of goods).
The government made a regular settlement of Rs 36,669 crore to CGST and Rs 31,094 crore to SGST from IGST.