Thangka Paintings
Tibetan Thangka Paintings by traveller historian Rahul Sankrityayan to stay at old Patna museum.
- Belongs to – Tibet
- An ancient Tibetan Buddhist art form which depicts Buddhist deities.
- Uses – As a means of gaining merit, in death rituals, during meditation, and in Buddhist ceremonies.
- Flourished about 1000 years back in Tibet as culmination of confluence of Indian, Nepalese and Chinese traditions.
West Bengal: State Day & State Song
West Bengal government notified Poila Boisakh as State Day and Banglar Mati Banglar Jal as State Song.
- Poila Boisakh – 1st day of the month of Boisakh of the Bengali calendar year and is named as Bangala Divas.
- Poila Boisakh – an important festival celebrated by Bengali communities across West Bengal, Tripura, Jharkhand, and Assam.
- Banglar Mati Banglar Jal song – written by Rabindranath Tagore.
New Packaging Rules
Recently, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has made printing of ‘date of manufacturing’ and ‘unit sale price’ mandatory on all packaged commodities effective from January 1, 2024.
- For example, a packaged wheat flour of 2.5 kg will have a unit sale price per kg, along with the Maximum Retail Price (MRP).
- Earlier, companies were given the option to either print the ‘date of manufacturing’ or ‘date of import’ or date of packaging on the packaged commodities.
Health tax
Public health researchers recommended implementing a health tax ranging from 20% to 30%, in addition to the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
- Currently, sugar is taxed at 18% GST, sugar-sweetened beverages attract 28% GST and a 12% additional cess.
- India – Largest consumer of sugar in the world.
- An average Indian consumes 5 times the WHO recommended threshold for free sugar intake per year.
- Impacts: It will help control obesity, tooth decay, risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers.