UPSC Quiz – 2020: IAS Daily Current Affairs Quiz Day 173

Solution (d)

To protect, preserve & promote various forms of folk, traditional art and culture throughout the country, the Government of India has set up seven Zonal Cultural Centres (ZCCs) with headquarters at Patiala, Nagpur, Udaipur, Prayagraj, Kolkata, Dimapur and Thanjavur. These ZCCs organize various cultural activities and programmes all over the country on regular basis for which annual grant-in-aid is provided to them.

Solution (c)

Puhar (also known as Poompuhar) is a town in the Nagapattinam district in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It was once a flourishing ancient port city known as Kaveri poompattinam, which for a while served as the capital of the Early Chola kings in Tamilakam. Puhar is located near the end point of the Kaveri river, aside the sea coast. It is mentioned in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea.

Solution (b)

The Maldives re-joined the Commonwealth, more than three years after the Indian Ocean island nation quit the association amid mounting criticism of its human rights record then. 

In 2016, the Maldives pulled out of the Commonwealth terming “unjust” the grouping’s decision to penalise the country over former President Mohamed Nasheed’s controversial ouster in 2012.

Solution (c)

In the Union Budget presented on Saturday, FM Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to remove the deeply unpopular dividend distribution tax (DDT).

Dividend income from shares and MFs will be now be taxable in the hands of the recipient — instead of the company of MF house — at applicable income tax rates.

dividend distribution tax is a surrogate tax and it obstructs the flow of foreign direct investment. Therefore, doing away with this tax can give a major push to investment.

The abolition of this tax can also boost market sentiment and make Indian equities more attractive.

The clamour had been growing for the abolition of DDT ever since the corporate tax cut in September. The task force on the direct tax code had also recommended scrapping this tax in order to boost investments.

Domestic companies at present are subject to DDT at 15 per cent of the aggregate dividend declared, distributed or paid. As it also includes a 12 per cent surcharge and a 3 per cent education cess, the effective DDT rate comes to 20.35 per cent.

A dividend is the sum that a company pays its shareholders from the profits it earns, and DDT is the tax levied on that dividend. Only a domestic company is liable to pay this tax. Even a company that is not liable to pay any tax on its income has to pay the dividend distribution tax.

The tax on dividends is a triple levy. Dividend basically means the distribution of a company’s after-tax profits. The tax paid by a company is the first level. DDT is the second level. The recently-introduced Super Rich Dividend Tax — the 10% tax on anyone who earns dividend income of Rs 10 lakh or above — is the third.

DDT applies to mutual funds as well. Because fund houses deduct DDT at source, dividends from MF schemes are tax-free for shareholders.

The DDT for debt funds is 25% for individuals and 30% for corporates. For equity MFs, the rate is 10% (along with surcharge and cess, it comes to 11.648%).

DDT was introduced for more efficient dividend tax collection from companies rather than shareholders.

Solution (d)

The shaheen is found in South Asia from Pakistan across to India and Bangladesh in the east and to Sri Lanka, central and south-eastern China, and northern Myanmar. In India, it has been recorded in all states mainly from rocky and hilly regions. The shaheen has also been reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal.