Kumaraswamy says his govt will complete full term

Agencies
August 30, 2018

Bengaluru, Aug 30: The JD(S)-Congress coalition government in Karnataka has "taken off" smoothly and will complete the full term without hiccups, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said here today on completion of 100 days in office.

The coalition government is "secure" and there are no differences between the ruling allies, he asserted, and strongly criticised the BJP for "creating confusion" among people by constantly questioning the stability of his government.

"How can anyone say the government has not taken off when the Centre has appreciated the state for its relief work in flood-hit Kodagu. Even the President of India has praised the state for taking active steps to provide the relief," Kumaraswamy said at a press conference here.

"Only an active government can think of announcing Rs 4,500 crore farm loan waiver and relief from indebtedness to small farmers, landless agricultural labourers and those from the economically weaker section," he said.

Kumaraswamy hit out at the BJP, saying the opposition party was living in an imaginative world.

"Since land denotification and crimes are not happening, Yeddyurappa feels that our government has not taken off. But for this, what else the BJP leaders can talk about. BJP leaders are living in an imaginative world," he said replying to a query on BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa' remark that the coalition government has not yet taken off fully.

Asked if political rumblings and differences have been sorted out with the ruling partner, Kumaraswamy said, "We can resolve only if there are fights. There are no fights."

He said that the coalition government is "secure" and will complete the term without hiccups.

On senior Congress leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah's comments about becoming chief minister again, fuelling speculation that all is not well within the coalition government, Kumaraswamy said: "Everyone should have the aspiration to become a chief minister. Anybody can become a chief minister. Yeddyurappa can also. You cannot grow in politics if you don't have aspiration."

Congress leader and Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara, who was present at the press conference, also ruled out any serious differences between the coalition partners.

"All decisions are being taken with proper consultation. Even farm loan waiver was announced after a discussion between the coalition parties," he said.

Senior Congress leader and Revenue Minister R V Deshpande said that a common minimum programme has been chalked out and decisions are taken accordingly. "There are no internal differences nor any fights."

Earlier during the day, Kumaraswamy called on Congress president Rahul Gandhi and expressed gratitude for the party's support on completion of 100 days of the coalition government in Karnataka.

In a brief meeting, he also urged the Congress chief to help speed up the process of expansion of the cabinet and appointment of chairman for corporation boards in the state.

The state chief minister also met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and submitted an interim memorandum seeking release of Rs 1,118.40 crore relief funds for flood-hit eight districts including Kodagu in the state.

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Agencies
June 29,2020

New Delhi, Jun 29: Witnessing azure skies and breathable air for the last three months, Delhi on Monday recorded deterioration in its air quality, with particulate matter with diameter of 2.5 and 10 microns -- too small to be filtered out of the human body -- standing at 52 and 297 micrograms per cubic respectively.

Gufran Beig, Project Director of System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), said that the sudden spike in air pollution is due to a mild dust storm blowing from Rajasthan.

"Since the wind direction is changing and moist air is coming in, the air quality in Delhi will become better by tomorrow," Beig told IANS.

Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data showed that the overall air quality near Delhi Technical University (DTU) area stood at 326 micrograms per cubic, followed by 308 at Narela and 307 at Mundka.

Out of 36 stations, the AQI in as many as 30 stations was above 200 micrograms per cubic till 1 pm on Monday.

The System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research categorises air quality in the 0-50 range as good, 51-100 as satisfactory, 101-200 as moderate, 201-300 as poor, 301-400 as very poor, and above 400 as severe.

According to SAFAR's website, "PM 10 (coarser dust particle) is the lead pollutant. AQI is likely to improve to moderate category by tomorrow, and further improvement is expected by July 1."

Researchers indicated that PM 10 and PM 2.5 will be 170 and 47 micrograms per cubic on Tuesday.

With no vehicles plying on the roads or industries shut due to the lockdown since March 25, Delhi's air quality had improved drastically.

According to a study conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, if the low levels of air pollution reached during the lockdown period are maintained, India's annual death toll could reduce by 6.5 lakh.

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Agencies
July 13,2020

New Delhi, Jul 13: The Income Tax Department has facilitated a new functionality for banks and post offices to ascertain TDS applicability rates on cash withdrawal of above Rs 20 lakh in case of a non-filer of the income-tax return and that of above Rs 1 crore in case of a filer of the income-tax return.

In a statement, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said that now banks and post offices have to only enter the PAN of the person who is withdrawing cash for ascertaining the applicable rate of TDS.

So far, more than 53,000 verification requests have been executed successfully on this facility, a statement by the CBDT said.

"CBDT today said that this functionality available as 'Verification of applicability u/s 194N' on www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in since 1st July 2020, is also made available to the Banks through web-services so that the entire process can be automated and be linked to the Bank's internal core banking solution," it said.

On entering PAN by the bank or the post office, a message will be instantly displayed on the departmental utility: "TDS is deductible at the rate of 2 per cent if cash withdrawal exceeds Rs 1 crore", in case the person withdrawing cash is a filer of the income-tax return.

In case the person withdrawing cash is a non-filer of income tax return, the message shown would be: "TDS is deductible at the rate of 2 per cent if cash withdrawal exceeds Rs 20 lakh and at the rate of 5 per cent if it exceeds Rs 1 crore."

The CBDT said that the data on cash withdrawal indicated that huge amount of cash is withdrawn by the persons who have never filed income-tax returns.

To ensure filing of return by these persons and to keep track on cash withdrawals by the non-filers, and to curb black money, the Finance Act, 2020 with effect from July 1, 2020 further amended IT Act to lower threshold of cash withdrawal to Rs 20 lakh for the applicability of this TDS for the non-filers and also mandated TDS at the higher rate of 5 per cent on cash withdrawal exceeding Rs 1 crore by the non-filers.

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Agencies
May 20,2020

In a bid to help struggling small businesses in Covid-19 times, Facebook has introduced Shops to help set up a single online store for customers to access on both Facebook and Instagram.

While Facebook Shops is being rolled out from Wednesday, the company will introduce Instagram Shop, a new way to discover and buy products in Instagram Explore, this summer, starting in the US.

The social networking giant also announced that it will invest in features across its family of apps to inspire people to shop and make buying and selling online easier.

"Creating a Facebook Shop is free and simple. Businesses can choose the products they want to feature from their catalogue and then customise the look and feel of their shop with a cover image and accent colours that showcase their brand," Facebook said in a statement late Tuesday.

Any seller, no matter their size or budget, can bring their business online and connect with customers wherever and whenever it's convenient for them.

People can find Facebook Shops on a business' Facebook Page or Instagram profile, or discover them through stories or ads.

"From there, you can browse the full collection, save products you're interested in and place an order — either on the business' website or without leaving the app if the business has enabled checkout in the US," informed the company.

Last month, Facebook announced $40 million in grants for 10,000 small businesses in the US to help them get through these challenging time.

The grants will go to small businesses in 34 locations where Facebook employees live and work.

The company said that in Facebook Shops, users will be able to message a business through WhatsApp, Messenger or Instagram Direct to ask questions, get support, track deliveries and more.

In the future, they will be able to view a business' shop and make purchases right within a chat in WhatsApp, Messenger or Instagram Direct.

Later this year, Facebook will add a new shop tab in the navigation bar, so people can get to Instagram Shop in just one tap.

Facebook said it is making it easier to shop for products in real time.

Soon, sellers, brands and creators will be able to tag products from their Facebook Shop or catalogue before going live and those products will be shown at the bottom of the video so people can easily tap to learn more and purchase.

"We're starting to test this with businesses on Facebook and Instagram, and we'll roll it out more broadly in the coming months," said the company.

Facebook is also working with partners like Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, ChannelAdvisor, CedCommerce, Cafe24, Tienda Nube and Feedonomics to support small businesses.

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