8th OCTOBER 2026 ENGLISH TNPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS PDF TNPSC SHOUTERS
Chief Minister Vijay Launches 'Dream Olympics 2036' Initiative
- Chief Minister Vijay launched the 'Dream Olympics 2036' initiative with the goal of enabling athletes from Tamil Nadu to win a higher number of medals at the Olympic Games.
- Chief Minister Vijay awarded a cash prize of ₹1.55 crore to Vidya Ramraj, who won three medals including a gold in athletics at the Asian Games.
- The 57th GST Council meeting was held in Delhi under the chairmanship of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Several decisions prioritizing the interests of traders and taxpayers were taken during the meeting.
- Notably, restrictions have been imposed on the arrest powers previously granted to GST officials. Furthermore, the threshold for initiating criminal proceedings regarding tax evasion has been raised.
- These measures aim to enhance transparency in GST enforcement actions and prevent businesspersons from facing unnecessary harassment or intimidation.
- Going forward, in cases of tax evasion, priority will be given to resolving issues through civil procedures such as the recovery of tax, interest, and penalties rather than resorting to immediate arrests.
- The minimum tax evasion threshold for initiating criminal prosecution has been raised from ₹1 crore to ₹5 crore. This move is expected to reduce criminal proceedings against small and medium-sized business owners. However, strict legal action will continue for cases involving large-scale financial irregularities.
- Guidelines were also issued during the meeting to alleviate the difficulties taxpayers face regarding Input Tax Credit (ITC) procedures and to expedite the process of tax refunds. Priority has also been given to a scheme for the rapid, automated disbursement of 90% of the refund amounts claimed by exporters and traders.
- Furthermore, to avoid the issuance of unnecessary or trivial GST notices, a threshold has been set below which notices (for amounts less than ₹10,000) will not be issued. Approval has also been granted to reduce the GST rate applicable to delivery service companies from 18% to 5%.
- Meanwhile, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the timeframe for processing refund claims has been reduced from 15 days to 10 days. Additionally, following the 57th GST Council meeting, the Finance Minister stated that permission has been granted to claim Input Tax Credit (ITC) on the GST paid by companies for employee insurance schemes.
- State Finance Ministers, representatives from Union Territories, and senior officials from the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs participated in the meeting.
