I.
Technology
18. Amazon, Flipkart
challenge new Indian tax on online sellers
Amazon and Walmart’s Flipkart are among
online retailers demanding that India scale back a proposed tax on third-party
sellers on their platforms, saying the burden of compliance will hurt the
fledgling industry. The online retail industry is braced for a possible 1% tax
on each sale made by sellers on their platforms from April if the proposal is
approved by Parliament next month.
The move is part of a broader plan by
the government to increase tax revenues and counter a sharp economic slowdown
due to weakening consumer demand. But the tax will hurt the country’s fledgling
e-commerce sector, according to a presentation prepared by the Federation of
Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) for the government.
The Finance Ministry declined to
comment. Some third-party sellers are also pushing back against the tax,
arguing that it would negatively impact their working capital, adding that they
already contribute to a nationwide sales tax.
This tax will be ‘extremely detrimental
to the growth and sustenance’ of small online sellers and make the model
‘unviable’, Unexo Life Sciences, a seller of healthcare products on Amazon’s
India website, said in an email to the Central Board of Direct Taxes. Online
vendors, or sellers with revenue of less than half a million rupees in the previous
year, as well as brick-and-mortar retailers, will be exempted from the new tax,
although they are subject to the nationwide sales tax.
The tax would apply to the income of
drivers on ride hailing firms, such Uber and Ola, as well as sales on restaurant
aggregators, including Zomato and Swiggy.
(Source:
in.reuters.com)
II. World News
19. Coronavirus could
damage global growth in 2020: IMF
The coronavirus epidemic could damage
global economic growth this year, the IMF Head said on Sunday, but a sharp and
rapid economic rebound could follow. ‘There may be a cut that we are still
hoping would be in the 0.1-0.2 percentage space,’ the MD of the International Monetary
Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, told the Global Women’s Forum in Dubai.
The full impact of the spreading disease
that has already killed more than 1,700 people would depend on how quickly it
was contained. ‘I advise everybody not to jump to premature conclusions. There
is still a great deal of uncertainty. We operate with scenarios, not yet with
projections, ask me in 10 days,’ Georgieva said.
In its January update to the World
Economic Outlook, the IMF lowered the global economic growth forecast in 2020
by 0.1 percentage point to 3.3%, following a 2.9% growth the previous year, the
lowest in a decade. The MD said it was ‘too early’ to assess the full impact of
the epidemic but acknowledged that it had already affected sectors such as
tourism and transportation.
‘It is too early to say because we don’t
yet quite know the nature of this virus. We don’t know how quickly China will
be able to contain it. We don’t know whether it will spread to the rest of the
world.’ If the disease is ‘contained rapidly, there can be a sharp drop and a
very rapid rebound’, in what is known as a V-shaped impact, she said.
Compared to the impact of the Severe
Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2002, she pointed out that China’s economy
then made up just 8.0% of the global economy. Now, that figure was 19%. The
trade agreement between the United States and China, the world’s first and
second economies, had reduced the disease’s impact on the global economy.
But the world should be concerned ‘about
sluggish growth’ impacted by uncertainty.
‘We are now stuck with low productivity growth, low economic growth, low
interest rates and low inflation,’ the IMF chief told the Dubai forum.
(Source:
www.business-standard.com)
III. Health
20. Coronavirus
disease advice for the public – Basic protective measures suggested by WHO
Wash your hands
frequently
Wash your hands frequently with soap and
water or use an alcohol-based hand-rub if your hands are not visibly dirty.
Why? Washing your hands with soap and
water or using alcohol-based hand-rub eliminates the virus if it is on your
hands.
Practice respiratory
hygiene
When coughing and sneezing, cover mouth
and nose with flexed elbow or tissue – discard tissue immediately into a closed
bin and clean your hands with alcohol-based hand-rub or soap and water.
Why? Covering your mouth and nose when
coughing and sneezing prevent the spread of germs and viruses. If you sneeze or
cough into your hands, you may contaminate objects or people that you touch.
Maintain social distancing
Maintain at least 1 metre (3 feet)
distance between yourself and other people, particularly those who are
coughing, sneezing and have a fever.
Why? When someone who is infected with a
respiratory disease like 2019-nCoV coughs or sneezes, that person projects
(ejects) small droplets containing the virus. If you are too close, you may
breathe in the virus.
Avoid touching eyes,
nose and mouth
Why? Your hands touch many surfaces
which may be contaminated with the virus. If you touch your eyes, nose or mouth
with your contaminated hands, you may transfer the virus from the surface to
yourself.
If you have fever,
cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical care early
Tell your health care provider if you
have travelled in an area in China where 2019-nCoV has been reported, or if you
have been in close contact with someone who has travelled from China and has
respiratory symptoms.
Why? Whenever you have fever, cough and
difficulty in breathing, it’s important to seek medical attention promptly as
this may be due to a respiratory infection, or any other serious condition.
Respiratory symptoms with fever can have a range of causes, and depending on
your personal travel history and circumstances, 2019-nCoV could be one of them.
If you have mild
respiratory symptoms and no travel history to or within China
In such a case, carefully practice basic
respiratory and hand hygiene and stay at home until you have recovered.
Practice general
hygiene measures when visiting live animal markets, wet markets or animal
product markets
Ensure regular hand washing with soap
and potable water after touching animals and animal products; avoid touching
eyes, nose or mouth with hands; and avoid contact with sick animals or spoiled
animal products. Strictly avoid any contact with other animals in the market
(such as stray cats and dogs, rodents, birds, bats). Avoid contact with
potentially contaminated animal waste or fluids on the soil or structures of
shops and market facilities.
Avoid consumption of
raw or undercooked animal products
Handle raw meat, milk or animal organs
with care to avoid cross-contamination with uncooked foods, as per good food
safety practices.
(Source: www.who.int)
21. Over 1 lakh
deaths in 29 cities due to air pollution: Study
While Environment Minister Prakash
Javadekar is often heard claiming that there is no correlation between air
pollution levels and premature deaths, the latest Indian study published in a
leading international journal suggests a close correlation.
In fact, over one lakh deaths in 29
Indian cities may be attributed to the rising PM 2.5 levels. According to a
study by two IIT Kanpur experts, published in the latest edition of the
environmental journal ‘Science of the Total Environment’, the national capital heads
the pack. Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and Ahmedabad are not far behind. Delhi tops
the list of 29 cities with a million plus population.
The study adds that Ischemic Heart
Disease (IHD) is the leading cause of death accounting for 58% of the PM
2.5-related premature deaths. The most affected are children under the age of
five and the ‘productive age group’ of 25-50 years, suggests the study titled
‘Cause and Age, Specific Premature Mortality Attributable to PM 2.5 Exposure:
An Analysis for Million Plus Cities’. This paper has used the 2016 data for the
29 cities as that is the latest year for which the registered all-cause death
data is available from the Civil Registration System. It is modelled on the
basis of the 2015 Global Burden of Disease report.
The study has been authored by air
pollution expert Mukesh Kumar of IIT Kanpur along with Prateik Saini. Kumar
also authored the 2015 report on sources of air pollution in Delhi. ‘While
studies have also been done earlier, this one is based on Ischemic Heart
Disease and actual measured data on PM 2.5-related mortality. The data is
age-specific and cause-specific and therefore helps us interpret and show the
clear correlation between pollution levels and death rate,” Kumar stated.
(Source: www.economictimes.com)
