Rapid Fire
Rapid Fire Current Affairs
- 18 Jan 2023
- 4 min read
UNSC 1267 Committee
The ISIL and Al Qaida Sanctions Committee of the UNSC (1267 Committee) has placed Abdul Rehman Makki - the key planner of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), on its sanctions list.
The move was made possible after China withdrew the “technical hold” that it had imposed in June 2022 when the US and India tried to get Makki on the global terror blacklist.
Read More - India-US proposed to list Makki under UNSC 1267 Committee
IT Amendment Rules 2022
Under the notified amendments to the IT Rules, 2021, MeitY proposed a draft rule [Rule 3(1)(b)(v)] under which social media platforms will have to take down content that has been “fact-checked” as false by the PIB’s (Press Information Bureau) fact check unit.
The notified amendments to IT Rules 2021 aim to impose a legal obligation on intermediaries to make reasonable efforts to prevent users from uploading certain categories of harmful/unlawful content. The new provision will ensure that the intermediary’s obligation is not a mere formality.
Read More - Amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021
Windfall Tax
The Government has reduced the windfall profit tax levied on domestically-produced crude oil as well as on the export of diesel and Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF), in line with softening international oil prices.
Windfall taxes are designed to tax the profits a company derives from an external, sometimes unprecedented event. These profits can’t be attributed to something the firm actively did, like an investment strategy or an expansion of business but are rather unearned and unanticipated gains.
The government levies tax on windfall profits made by oil producers on any price they get above a threshold of USD 75 per barrel. The levy on fuel exports is based on margins that refiners earn on overseas shipments.
Read More - Windfall Tax
Saudi and Houthi Rebels Revive Talks
Amid Yemen's longest ever pause in fighting - more than 9 months - Saudi Arabia and Iran-backed Houthi rebels have revived back-channel talks in an informal ceasefire.
The roots of the Houthi movement can be traced to “Believing Youth”, a Zaydi (oldest branch of the Shia sect) revivalist group founded by Hussein al-Houthi and his father, Badr al-Din al-Houthi (early 1990s). However, the movement turned political and started attacking the “corrupt” regime of Ali Abdullah Saleh (in Yemen) and his support for the US’ war on terror.
The rapid rise of the Houthis in Yemen set off alarm bells in Saudi Arabia which saw them as Iranian proxies which led to Saudi begin a military campaign in Yemen in March 2015.
Read More - Houthi Rebels, India’s Operation Rahat in Yemen
