Government policies, leadership stories and much more
In view of the challenges faced by taxpayers in meeting the statutory and regulatory compliances under Goods & Services Tax (GST) law due to the outbreak of the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, the Government has issued notifications, all dated 1st May, 2021, providing various relief measures for taxpayers.
The gross GST revenue collected in the month of April’ 2021 is at a record high of Rs. 1,41,384 crore of which CGST is Rs. 27,837 crore, SGST is Rs. 35,621, IGST is Rs 68,481 crore (including Rs. 29,599 crore collected on import of goods) and Cess is Rs. 9,445 crore (including Rs. 981 crore collected on import of goods). Despite the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic affecting several parts of the country, Indian businesses have once again shown remarkable resilience by not only complying with the return filing requirements but also paying their GST dues in a timely manner during the month.
The Ministry of Finance, Government of India has decided to provide an additional amount of uptoRs 15,000 crore to Statesas interest free 50 year loan for spending on capital projects. The Department of Expenditure has issued fresh guidelines in this regard on the “Scheme of Financial Assistance to States for Capital Expenditure” for the financial year 2021-22.The Finance Minister had in her budget speech announced that the Centre would take measures to nudge States to spend more on infrastructure and to incentivize disinvestment of their public sector enterprises.
Considering the present pandemic situation of COVID-19 and for meeting the demand of medical devices, Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India has permitted the importers of medical devices to import the following categories medical devices for three months from 28.04.2021 onwards,
The Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs (CCSCH) has finalised and recommended quality standards for four spices; cloves, oregano, basil, and ginger, during its fifth session held virtually from 20th -29th April 2021. The committee forwarded these four new standards to the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) for adoption at final step 8, as full -fledged Codex standards.
India has imposed anti-dumping duty on imports of a chemical used in foam making from four regions, including the EU and Saudi Arabia, for five years to guard domestic players from cheap shipments. The duty was imposed following recommendation of the commerce ministry’s investigation arm Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), which conducted a probe into alleged dumping of ‘Toluene Di-Isocynate’ from the EU, Saudi Arabia, Chinese Taipei and the UAE.
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to discuss the measures needed to improve Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) Supply for COVID management. PM instructed that these Oxygen Concentrators should be procured at the earliest & provided in states with high case burden.
Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare (DAC&FW) is working to identify Traditional Organic Areas to transform them into certified organic production hubs. The Government of India has certified 14,491 ha of such area under Car Nicobar and Nancowry group of islands in UT of A&N Islands. This area becomes the first large contiguous territory to be conferred with organic certification under the ‘Large Area Certification’ (LAC) scheme of the PGS-India (Participatory Guarantee System) certification programme.
For the first time, farmers of Punjab have started receiving payments directly into their bank accounts against sale of their Wheat crop. About Rs 8,180 crore has already been transferred directly into Punjab farmers’ account.
Indian Oil’s Chhotu, 5 kg FTL (Free trade LPG) cylinder does not require customer’s address proof. Customers can avail Indian Oil’s Chhotu cylinders through Indane distributorships, and other point of sales like IndianOil Retail Outlets, Kirana stores, and local supermarkets.
