1. Economy
14.
Why is this Indian online portal and wholesale market listed in
Notorious Markets List by US?
IndiaMart.com and Delhi’s
wholesale market Tank Road have figured in the annual American notorious
markets list.
The US Trade Representative
(USTR) has released the Notorious Markets List that highlights online and
physical markets all over the world that are allegedly engaged in trading
pirated or counterfeit products and services.
China tops the Notorious
Markets List. Indian e-commerce company IndiaMart.com and Delhi’s wholesale
market Tank Road have figured in the list. These platforms are reported to be
engaging in and facilitating substantial copyright piracy and trademark
counterfeiting.
Popular online marketplace
IndiaMart has 1.5 million suppliers and more than 10 million buyers. The USTR
states that, among its legitimate listings, the firm allegedly facilitates
global trade in counterfeit and illegal pharmaceuticals. The IndiaMart
disclaims all liability, delays responses and does not facilitate right holder
attempts to remove listings, the USTR alleged.
The stakeholders confirm
that Tank Road remains a market selling counterfeit products, including apparel
and footwear, noted USTR. The fake products from Tank Road are also reportedly
found in other Indian markets, including Gaffar Market and Ajmal Khan Road.
The USTR list urged India
to take sustained and coordinated action against these marketplaces, including
Tank Road market, previously-listed markets, and numerous other non-listed
markets in its territory.
Taobao, which is owned and
created by Alibaba group, is also listed in Notorious Markets List 2017. It is
China’s largest mobile commerce site and its third-most popular website.
(Source:
International Business Times dated 13.01.2018)
15.
DELAYED IT Refunds Cost CBDT 58k Cr in 9yrs CAG
The central board of direct
tax has incurred an expenditure of over Rs. 58,500 crore in the last nine years
only on interest paid to individuals and corporates for delayed refunds of
excess income tax paid to the department. The comptroller and auditor general
in its, report taxable in parliament on Tuesday has criticised the CBDT and the
revenue department in the finance ministry for not making budgetary provisions
for the interest to be paid on delayed refunds and incurring such expenditure
without the approval of parliament.
As in the past no budget
provision for interest on refunds was made in the budget estimates for the
financial year 2016-17 and expenditure on interest on refunds amounting to rs
2,598 crore was incurred by the department in contravention of provisions of
the constitution and in disregard of the recommendations of the public accounts
committee CAG observed.
It said an expenditure of Rs. 58,537 crore on interest payments had
been incurred over a period of last nine years without obtaining approval of
the parliament through necessary appropriation.
The CBDT, however, informed
the CAG that on the basis of opinion of the attorney general holding the
current practice of treating interest on refund as reduction of revenue and
with the approval of the ministry of finance recommendations of the PAC were
not accepted.
The CBDT classifies
interest on refunds of excess tax as reduction in revenue. However successive
CAG’s audit reports have commented on
this incorrect practice and observed that the department has failed to take any
corrective action.
(Source :
Times of India dated 20 December 2017)
2. Technology
16.
Indians consuming over 20x more data than three years ago: IT Minister
It’s no doubt that Reliance
Jio’s entry has changed the internet habits of Indians in a significant way,
and the country is already consuming the highest amount of mobile data. On that
note, Union Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad
told Lok Sabha that the average data usage per subscriber has grown
exponentially over the last three years.
Significant growth of
India’s subscriber base combined with affordable 4G and 3G data packs and
affordable smartphones have contributed to the massive data consumption habits
among Indians. According to Prasad, Indians were consuming 70MB on an average
in June 2014 and it spiked to a whopping 1.6GB in September 2017.
As a result of this, the
minister noted that a significant growth is recorded in the adoption of digital
payments and electronic delivery of services. The number of e-transactions, as
per e-Taal (Electronic Transaction Aggregation and Analysis Layer) portal, grew
from 241 crore in 2013 to more than 3,013 crore e-transactions in 2017.
“The number of digital
payment transactions per month has increased from 60.7 crore in December 2015
to 153 crore in October 2017,” he noted in his reply to Lok Sabha, PTI
reported.
The rural areas in India
have also benefitted from this growth. The Common Services Centres or CSCs
bring digital services to various corners of India. Out of 2.71 lakh CSCs that
are active across the country, 1.73 lakh are at Gram Panchayat level, the
report added.
Finally, Prasad also
mentioned that the total internet subscriber base increased from 259.14 million
in June 2014 to 429.23 million in September 2017, which includes users in rural
areas as well. Based on TRAI data, the total wireless subscriber base reached
to 1.18 billion, and 498.28 million of those users are from rural India.
(Source: International Business Times dated
4.1.2018)
17.
Where does Google stand on net neutrality front after blocking YouTube
on Amazon devices?
Google blocks YouTube
access on Amazon devices, and the consumers stand to lose the most.
Google and Amazon are among
the world’s biggest tech companies, but things don’t seem particulary right
between the two tech-giants at the moment. The latest feud in Silicon Valley
became more obvious and public on December 5 when Google said that it would
block its popular video-streaming app YouTube from two Amazon streaming
devices, criticising Amazon for not selling Google’s products on its platform.
Google said that it will no
longer offer YouTube app support on Amazon’s screen-based Echo Show smart
speaker and Amazon Fire TV in response to Amazon’s reluctance to sell Google’s
products.
In its statement Google
said: “We’ve been trying to reach agreement with Amazon to give consumers
access to each other’s products and services. But Amazon doesn’t carry Google
products like Chromecast and Google Home, doesn’t make its Prime Video
available for Google Cast users, and last month stopped selling some of Nest’s
latest products.”
“Given this lack of
reciprocity, we are no longer supporting YouTube on Echo Show and FireTV. We hope
we can reach an agreement to resolve these issues soon,” the world’s
largest internet search titan added.
Meanwhile, Amazon had
previously stopped selling many of Google’s hardware products on its e-commerce
platform and since 2015 Amazon has refused to sell Google’s Chromecast video
and audio-streaming dongles.
Amazon seems to refrain
from selling Google products that compete directly with its own, such as Amazon
Echo range (which compete with Google Home) and Fire TV (which compete with
Google’s Chromecast).
Both Google and Amazon
compete with each other in many areas including cloud computing and selling
voice-controlled smart speakers like the Google Home and Amazon Echo Show. But
both companies are also advocates of net neutrality. Google’s decision to block
YouTube access might be completely based on a business and more importantly a
“product” perspective, but it does raise questions about its position
in the net neutrality debate.
In September this year,
Google removed YouTube access from the new Echo Show for “violating terms
of service.” Google had said that Amazon’s implementation of YouTube
blocked what Google considered critical features. This shows that Google wants
to impose its own rules on how YouTube is rendered on Amazon’s devices, but
that doesn’t seem to imply that Google is seeking control. However, by
selectively blocking customer access to open a website, it does bring in net
neutrality into the picture.
Amazon said in a statement:
“Echo Show and Fire TV now display a standard web view of YouTube.com and
point customers directly to YouTube’s existing website. Google is setting a
disappointing precedent by selectively blocking customer access to an open
website. We hope to resolve this with Google as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, Google clearly
states that it supports net-neutrality in one of its “Take Action”
blog posts.
“Internet companies,
innovative startups, and millions of internet users depend on these
common-sense protections that prevent blocking or throttling of internet
traffic, segmenting the internet into paid fast lanes and slow lanes and other
discriminatory practices,” a blog post by the company reads.
“Thanks in part to net
neutrality, the open internet has grown to become an unrivaled source of
choice, competition, innovation, free expression and opportunity. And it should
stay that way.”
(Source:
International Business Times dated 4.1.2018)
3. Science
18. Lava tubes near moon’s north pole
with hidden tunnels may provide access to water. NASA scientists discover small pits near the lunar north pole that could provide
access to the underground network of lava tubes.
A new study suggests that
astronauts may be able to access water hidden under the moon’s surface. NASA
scientists have discovered small pits near the lunar north pole and believe it
could provide passageways to a huge underground network of lava tubes that
could even provide shelter to astronauts and lead them to the water supply.
Also Read:
Scientists believe massive ice sheets on Mars could create oxygen for humans
The SETI Institute and the
Mars Institute made the announcement about the new discovery after analysing
data NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). According to SETI, these pits
could help astronauts find underground water on the moon. These pits are
“sky-lit” entrances to a network leading to huge underground caves
formed millions of years ago.
The news pits were
identified on the Philolaus Crater, which is close to the lunar North Pole.
These pits appear as “small rimless depressions, typically 50 to 100 feet
across (15 to 30 meters), with completely shadowed interiors.”
“The highest
resolution images available for Philolaus Crater do not allow the pits to be
identified as lava tube skylights with 100 percent certainty, but we are
looking at good candidates considering simultaneously their size, shape,
lighting conditions and geologic setting” said Dr Pascal Lee, planetary
scientist at the SETI Institute and the Mars Institute.
The pits are located along
lunar sinuous rilles, which are believed to be lava tubes that were once
underground tunnels filled with streams of flowing lava.
Earlier, researchers had
discovered 200 pits on the moon with several identified as skylights, but the
recent discovery is the first published report of possible lava tube skylights
near the lunar north pole.
“Our next step should
be further exploration, to verify whether these pits are truly lava tube
skylights and if they are, whether the lava tubes actually contain ice. This is
an exciting possibility that a new generation of caving astronauts or robotic
spelunkers could help address,” Dr. Lee said.
“Exploring lava tubes
on the Moon will also prepare us for the exploration of lava tubes on Mars.
There, we will face the prospect of expanding our search for life into the
deeper underground of Mars where we might find environments that are warmer,
wetter, and more sheltered than at the surface.”
“This discovery is
exciting and timely as we prepare to return to the Moon with humans” Bill
Diamond, president and CEO of the SETI Institute, said in a statement. “It
also reminds us that our exploration of planetary worlds is not limited to
their surface, and must extend into their mysterious interiors.”
(Source:
International Business Times dated 16.1.2018) _
