Daily Current Affairs 26th March 2020

Daily Current Affairs 25th March 2020 Today’s Important Topic’s For UPSC Preparation

1. GOVERNMENT EXTENDS TAX DEADLINES TO JUNE 30.

2. TOKYO OLYMPICS MOVED TO 2021 OVER VIRUS CARE.

3. ENCOURAGE DOORSTEP DELIVERY: CENTRE.

4. U.S. COULD BECOME VIRUS EPICENTRE: WHO.

5. ECONOMIC PACKAGE SOON, SAYS FM.

6. RBI ADVANCES VAROABLE RATE TERM REPO AUCTION.

GOVERNMENT EXTENDS TAX DEADLINES TO JUNE 30 Deadlines for filing income tax and GST returns have been extended to June 30, as part of a slew of relaxations of financial year-end compliance announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The changes were prompted by the shutdown of large parts of the country in a bid to control the spread of the COVID-19 viral infection, so that taxpayers were not forced to endanger their health in a bid to meet compliance requirements.

Charges: Bank account holders would not be charged extra for using a debit card to withdraw money from the ATMs of other banks for the next three months.

Charges for not meeting minimum balance requirements would also be waived.

Bank charges for digital transactions were also being reduced.

Income tax returns for the financial year 2018-19 can now be filed until June 30, with the interest rate on delayed payments reduced to 9% from 12%.

The last date for linking Aadhaar with PAN has also been extended from March 31 to June 30.

Other taxpayer compliance deadlines, including for investment in savings instruments or for rollover benefit of capital gains, under the Income Tax Act and other laws have also been extended.

The deadline for filing GST returns for March, April and May, as well as for opting for the composition scheme, has been extended to June 30 for smaller companies — with less than ₹5 crore aggregate annual turnover — without any interest, late fee or penalty being charged.

For bigger companies, only interest would be charged at the reduced rate of 9%.

The date for filing annual GST returns for 2018-19 has also been extended to the last week of June.

Deadlines for the Vivaad se Vishwas and Sabka Vishwas schemes for defaulting taxpayers are also being extended.

Threshold raised: The Centre has also decided to raise the threshold of default under Section 4 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, from ₹1 lakh to ₹1 crore in order to prevent triggering of insolvency proceedings against Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.

Statutory corporate requirements are also being relaxed at this time, including filings in the MCA-21 registry, mandatory board meetings, residency requirements for independent directors and deposit reserve requirements.

The Finance Minister added that customs clearance operations would run around the clock, all seven days of the week, till the end of June.

For fisheries imports, the validity of sanitary permits were being extended, while other requirements were being relaxed.

Sabka Vishwas Scheme: Sabka Vishwas Scheme was announced in the Union Budget 2019.

It is related to indirect tax It is a Legacy Dispute Resolution Scheme.

The scheme targets those taxpayers who want to close their pending disputes related to Service Tax and Excise Tax(now subsumed under Goods and Services Tax).

This scheme offers amnesty (official pardon) to those who wish to disclose any previously undisclosed tax liability without any penalty or prosecution.

The two main components of the Scheme are dispute resolution and amnesty: The dispute resolution componentis aimed at liquidating the legacy cases of Central Excise and Service Tax that are subsumed in GST and are pending in litigation at various forums.

The amnesty componentof the Scheme offers an opportunity to the taxpayers to pay the outstanding tax and be free of any other consequence under the law.

The most attractive aspect of the Scheme is that it provides substantial relief in the tax dues for all categories of cases as well as full waiver of interest, fine, penalty, In all these cases, there would be no other liability of interest, fine or penalty.

The Scheme is especially tailored to free the large number of small taxpayersof their pending disputes with the tax administration.

Sabka Vishwas scheme

Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme: The Vivad se Vishwas Scheme is to do for direct tax-related disputes exactly what Sabka Vishwas did for indirect tax-related disputes.

The scheme launched by the Finance Ministry offers a complete waiver on interest and penalty to the taxpayers who pay their disputed taxes on or before March 31, 2020.

Its key objective is to collect taxes and at the same time reduce litigation.

The Scheme intends to reduce revenue shortfalls of the GoI. The scheme is to remain open till June 2020.

Those who avail the scheme after March 31, 2020 are to pay additional amount, that is along with interests and penalty.

There are more than 400,000 cases that are eligible to avail the scheme.

This involves Rs 9.3 lakh crores.

However, experts believe that under COVID-19 crisis, it is essential to extend the date of deposit date beyond March 31.

Vivad se vishwas scheme

TOKYO OLYMPICS MOVED TO 2021 OVER VIRUS CARE Olympics games were started in 776 BC on Mount Olympia in the honour of Greek God “Zeus”.

The modern Olympic Games were started in Athens the capital of Greece on 6th April, 1896 with great efforts made by French nobleman, Baron Pierre de Coubertin.

The Olympics Games are organised after every four years. he Olympic flag is made up of White Silk and contains five interviewed rings as the Olympic Emblem.

The Official Olympic Motto is “Cititus, Altius, Forties”, a Latin Phrase meaning Swifter, Higher, Stronger.

Women have been allowed to compete in the Olympics since 1900.

From 1924-1992, the Winter and the Summer Olympics took place in the same year. Now, they’re on separate cycles and alternate every two years.

The 2012 London Games were the first Olympics in which all participating countries sent female athletes.

The five rings of the Olympic symbol – designed by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, co-founder of the modern Olympic Games – represent the five inhabited continents of the world.

The six colors – blue, yellow, black, green, red, and the white background – were chosen because every nation’s flag contains at least one of them.

Olympics Logo

India at Olympics: India first participated at the Olympic Games in 1900, with a lone athlete (Norman Pritchard) winning two medals- both silver- in athletics.

The nation first sent a team to the Summer Olympic Games in 1920, and has participated in every Summer Games since then.

India has also competed at several Winter Olympic Games beginning in 1964.

Indian athletes have won a total of 28 medals so far, all at the Summer Games.

For a period of time, India national field hockey team was dominant in Olympic competition, winning eleven medals in twelve Olympics between 1920 and 1980.

The run included 8 gold medals total and six successive gold medals from 1928–1956.

Why in News?

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics, originally scheduled to be held from July 24 to August 9, have been postponed to 2021.

The first such delay in the Games’ 124-year modern history, as the COVID-19 crisis wrecked the last international sporting showpiece meant for this year.

Flame to stay in Japan: The Olympic flame will stay in Japan.

It was also agreed that the Games will keep the name Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020.

The move would be a devastating blow for Tokyo, which had won widespread praise for its organisation, with venues finished well ahead of time and tickets massively oversubscribed.

The IOC has come under increasing pressure in recent days to postpone the Games, scheduled to start on July 24, with nearly 2.6 billion people across the planet in lockdown to prevent the further spread of COVID-19.

IOC: International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committeeis a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Founded by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas in 1894, it is the authority responsible for organising the modern Summer and Winter Olympic Games.

The current president of the IOC is Thomas Bach of Germany, who succeeded Jacques Rogge of Belgium in September 2013.

ENCOURAGE DOORSTEP DELIVERY: CENTRE The Home Ministry on Tuesday issued a set of guidelines to be followed by the States to contain COVID-19.

It asked all “enforcement authorities to note that these strict restrictions fundamentally relate to the movement of people, but not to that of essential goods”.

List of essential services remains unchanged since March 22nd Janata Curfew.

The Ministry said all commercial and private establishments shall be closed, except for shops, including ration shops dealing in food, groceries, fruits and vegetables, milk, meat, fish and fodder.

However, district authorities may encourage and facilitate home delivery to minimise the movement of individuals outside their homes.

The Ministry said “delivery of all essential goods, including food, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment through e-commerce� would be allowed.

The National Disaster Management Authority issued an order asking the States to act against any person violating the containment measures under provisions of Sections 51 to 60 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

Besides legal action under Section 188 of the IPC, punishable by up to two years in jail and and a fine.

But the offices of defence, Central armed police forces, treasury, public utilities (including petroleum, CNG, LPG, PNG), disaster management, power generation and transmission units, India Post, the National Informatics Centre and early warning agencies would be exempted.

Hospitals and all related medical establishments, including manufacturing and distribution units such as dispensaries, chemist and medical equipment shops, laboratories, clinics, nursing homes and ambulances will continue to remain functional.

In case of funerals, a congregation of not more than 20 persons will be permitted.

All persons who have arrived in India after February 15, 2020, and all such persons who have been directed by health care personnel to remain under strict home/institutional quarantine for a period as decided by local health authorities, failing which they will be liable to legal action under Section 188 of the IPC. No option but physical distancing

U.S. COULD BECOME VIRUS EPICENTRE: WHO The World Health Organisation said on Tuesday that the U.S. could become the global epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Britain joined the ranks of countries in lockdown to try to hold back the virus, and data showed business activity collapsing from Australia and Japan and Western Europe at a record pace in March, with the U.S. showing expected to be just as dire.

Around 3,77,000 infections have been reported across 194 countries and territories as of early Tuesday, according to a Reuters tally, more than 16,500 of them fatal.

Very large acceleration: WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said there had been a “very large acceleration� in infections in the U.S. Over the previous 24 hours, 85% of new cases were in Europe and the U.S. As of Monday, the virus had infected more than 42,000 people there, killing at least 559.

Asked whether the U.S. could become the new epicentre, Ms. Harris said: We are now seeing a very large acceleration in cases in the U.S. So it does have that potential.

Of the top 10 countries by case numbers, Italy has reported the highest fatality rate, at around 10%, which at least partly reflects its older population.

The fatality rate globally is around 4.3%, though national figures can vary widely according to how much testing is done.

Britain on Tuesday began curbs on movement without precedent in peacetime after Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered everyone to stay at home.

U.S. COULD BECOME VIRUS EPICENTRE

HANTA VIRUS The Centre for Disease Control says that the virus is spread mainly from rodents.

It goes on to say that infection with any of the hantavirus can cause hantavirus disease in people.

There are several different hantaviruses, with a different geographical distribution and causing different clinical diseases.

Each hantavirus is specific to a different rodent host.

Transmission of the virus to humans occurs through the inhalation of infected rodent urine, droppings, or saliva.

Orthohantavirusis a genus of single-stranded, enveloped, negative-sense RNA viruses in the family Hantaviridae of the order Members of this genus may be called orthohantavirusesor simply hantaviruses.

They normally cause infection in rodents, but do not cause disease in them.

Some strains cause potentially fatal diseases in humans, such as hantavirus hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), or hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), also known as hantavirus

cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS), Why in News?

Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, a man in China’s southwestern Yunnan province has died of hantavirus, a disease spread by rodents.

Hanta Virus

RBI ADVANCES VAROABLE RATE TERM REPO AUCTION The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to to advance the first of the two variable rate term repo auctions to March 26 from March 30.

The central bank had announced two such auctions of ₹25,000 crore each on March 30 and March 31 to address the additional demand for liquidity.

On a review of the rapidly evolving financial conditions and taking into account the impact of disruptions caused by COVID-19, it has been decided to advance the first auction scheduled for March 30, 2020 to March 26, 2020.

There is no change in the auction scheduled for March 31, 2020.

As a special case, standalone primary dealers (SPDs) were also allowed to participate in these auctions along with other eligible participants.

It has been decided to temporarily enhance liquidity available to SPDs under the Reserve Bank’s Standing Liquidity Facility (SLF) from ₹2,800 crore to ₹10,000 crore with immediate effect, in order to facilitate year-end liquidity management by SPDs. This enhanced facility will be available till April 17, 2020, the RBI said.

Repo Auction: An auction conducted by the central bank of a country (RBI in Indian context) to inject cash into banking system.

Central Bank(RBI) lends money to commercial banks. Commercial banks deposit government and listed corporate bonds as collateral.

Reverse Repo Auction: An auction conducted by the central bank of a country to remove excess cash from the banking system.

Here central bank issues sovereign bonds to absorb the excess liquidity.

Commercial banks can buy these bonds because they will get some interest on their excess deposits.

Repo Rate and Reverse Repo Rate

WORDS OF THE DAY Insolvency: Insolvency is essentially the state of being that prompts one to file for bankruptcy.

An entity – a person, family, or company – becomes insolvent when it cannot pay its lenders back on time.

Bankruptcy: Bankruptcy is a legal declaration of one’s inability to pay off debts.

When one files for bankruptcy, one obliges to pay off what is owed with help from the government.