4 July 2023

• GST at six: GST completed its sixth anniversary. June 2023 collections crossed 1.6 lakh crore rupees, the fourth time since inception.
• Social justice: Protests in France after police killed a teenager of Algerian descent exposed the limits of French assimilation policy.
• Space science: Confirmation of low-frequency gravitational waves marks a major step in testing Einstein's General Theory of Relativity.
• Affirmative action: The US Supreme Court's ruling limiting race-based college admissions brought the India-US comparison back into focus.
• Buddhism: Dharma Chakra Day observed on the full moon day of Asadha. This is the second most sacred day in the Buddhist calendar.

GS area: Economy (Taxation)

Goods and Services Tax came into force on July 1, 2017, under the 101st Constitutional Amendment. July 2023 marked six years of its operation.

• Constitutional basis: Article 246A (inserted by the 101st Amendment) empowers both Parliament and state legislatures to make laws on GST. Article 279A constitutes the GST Council.
• GST Council: The apex committee with the Union Finance Minister as chairperson, state finance ministers, and one representative of the Union Territory with legislature. It makes recommendations on tax rates, exemptions, and the model law.
• Five tax slabs: 0, 5, 12, 18, and 28 per cent. A cess on luxury and demerit goods sits on top of the 28 per cent slab.
• Revenue milestone: GST collections for June 2023 crossed 1.6 lakh crore rupees for the fourth time since inception. Average year-on-year revenue growth from 2018-19 to 2022-23 was approximately 3 per cent above nominal GDP growth.
• Achievements: Replaced around 17 central and state indirect taxes. Created a common national market. Digital compliance tools (e-way bills, e-invoicing) improved system-wide accountability.
• Persistent gaps: Petroleum products, natural gas, aviation fuel, alcohol for human consumption, and electricity remain outside GST. Cryptocurrency and online gaming have been contentious classification issues.

Static linkage: GST (Economy); 101st Constitutional Amendment; federal fiscal relations.

GS area: Society, International Relations

French police killed 17-year-old Nahel M. in Nanterre during a traffic stop. Nahel was of Algerian descent. The killing triggered widespread protests across France, reigniting the debate about systemic racism and France's "melting pot" model of assimilation.

• French model: France does not collect racial or ethnic statistics, and public institutions are constitutionally colour-blind. Critics argue this "republican universalism" obscures structural discrimination.
• The data: People of Black or North African descent in France are approximately 20 times more likely to be subject to police identity checks than others.
• Colonial background: France controlled Algeria from 1830, and most African colonies gained independence by 1962. About 32 per cent of France's population under 60 has at least one ancestor from outside Europe, primarily from Africa.
• India's contrast: The comparison frequently made is between France's "melting pot" model (assimilation into a uniform national identity) and India's approach, described as a "salad bowl" that permits cultural diversity to coexist within a common constitutional framework.

Static linkage: Social justice, minority rights, comparative politics.

GS area: Science and Technology

An international collaboration of observatories confirmed the existence of low-frequency gravitational waves permeating the universe, sometimes called the gravitational wave background. India's Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) near Pune was among the six major radio telescope arrays that contributed evidence.

• What gravitational waves are: Ripples in the fabric of space-time produced by the acceleration of massive objects. Einstein's General Theory of Relativity predicted them in 1916.
• First direct detection: High-frequency gravitational waves from merging black holes were first detected in 2015 by LIGO.
• Low-frequency waves: These arise from supermassive black hole mergers at the centres of galaxies. They oscillate over years to decades and are detected using pulsars as natural clocks rather than laser interferometers.
• LIGO-India: India's own laser interferometer gravitational-wave detector is being built in Hingoli, Maharashtra, expected to begin operations around 2030.

Static linkage: Space science, scientific instruments, India's S&T milestones.

GS area: Polity, Society

The US Supreme Court limited the use of race-conscious admissions at universities, effectively ending affirmative action in higher education. The ruling sharpens the contrast with India's reservation system.

• India's system: Reservations are constitutionally anchored in Articles 15(4) and 16(4), which allow the state to make special provisions for socially and educationally backward classes, SCs, and STs.
• The Indra Sawhney ceiling: The Supreme Court in 1992 set a 50 per cent cap on reservations, with narrow exceptions.
• Target groups: Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes, determined by constitutional orders and the Mandal Commission recommendations.
• US system: Race-based affirmative action in higher education operated through diversity criteria in admissions, not quota-based reservations. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is the foundation.
• Key difference: India uses fixed numerical quotas in government education and employment; the US used holistic, non-quota diversity criteria that the court has now further curtailed.

Static linkage: Fundamental rights, social justice, comparative constitutional law.

GS area: History, Culture

Dharma Chakra Day is observed on the full moon of the Hindu month of Asadha, which in 2023 fell on July 4.

• What it marks: The first sermon (Dhamma Cakka-Pavattana Sutta) delivered by the Gautama Buddha after his enlightenment, at Sarnath in present-day Uttar Pradesh. The day is also called Guru Purnima and Asadha Purnima.
• Significance: Considered the second most sacred day in the Buddhist calendar after Buddha Purnima (Vesak).
• Organisation: The Ministry of Culture organises the annual celebration in cooperation with the International Buddhist Confederation.
• The Four Noble Truths: The content of the first sermon. These, along with the Noble Eightfold Path, form the doctrinal foundation of Buddhism.
• Sarnath: One of the four most significant Buddhist pilgrimage sites. The Dhamek Stupa there marks the traditional site of the first sermon.

Static linkage: Buddhism and its spread, heritage and culture (History, Art and Culture).

• Dharma Chakra Day (July 4): Also marks the beginning of the monastic rainy-season retreat (vassa). Called Esala Poya in Sri Lanka and Asanha Bucha in Thailand.
• Gutti Koya tribe: A tribal group from the Andhra Pradesh-Chhattisgarh border. Their language, Koya, belongs to the Dravidian family. Their major biennial festival, Sammakka Saralamma Jatra, takes place at Medaram village in Warangal district.
• eSARAS mobile app: Launched by Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) to support product marketing from women self-help groups. Focuses on handicrafts and handlooms.
• India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway: A 1,360-km road corridor from Moreh in India to Mae Sot in Thailand via Myanmar. About 70 per cent of construction is complete. It is part of India's Act East policy.