News zone

Under ground water Crisis According to a World Bank report, at least 21 Indian cities are moving towards zero ground water level by 2020, which has already set the alarm bell ringing for policy makers and urban planners. The case of Latur, one of the districts from Marathwada region in Maharashtra, still haunts public memory. Poor monsoon, over exploitation of groundwater and lack of policy planning forced the Latur Municipal Corporation to announce that they can provide water only once in a month. The crisis forced the government to send water through railways and a large number of farmers and residents had to move out of the city, bringing the city's economy to standstill. According to Rajendra Singh, an expert on water management, “the over exploitation of groundwater, unplanned construction, mindless destruction of environment in the name of development and no water management plan on the part of government has resulted in the current situation. The government must take u...

The India Post Payment Bank Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, September 1, 2018, launched a payments bank of the Department of Posts that will take banking to the doorstep of every citizen through an unmatched network of post offices and almost 3 lakh postmen and ‘Grameen Dak Sewaks’. The India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) will be like any other banks but its operations will be on a smaller scale without involving any credit risk. It will carry out most banking operations like accepting deposits but won’t advance loans or issue credit cards. The payments bank will accept deposits of up to Rs 1 lakh, offer remittance services, mobile payments/transfers/purchases and other banking services like ATM/debit cards, net banking and third-party fund transfers. Communications Minister Manoj Sinha said the IPPB would be available through 650 branches and 3,250 access points. Deposits in any account that exceed 1 lakh would be automatically converted into post office savings ac...

THE DIGITAL PAYMENT METHODS   The Digital India programme is a flagship programme of the Government of India with a vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. “Faceless, Paperless, Cashless” is one of professed role of Digital India. As part of promoting cashless transactions and converting India into less-cash society, various modes of digital payments are available. 1. BANKING CARDS: Banking cards offer consumers more security, convenience, and control than any other payment method. The wide variety of cards available – including credit, debit and prepaid – offers enormous flexibility, as well. These cards provide 2 factor authentication for secure payments e.g secure PIN and OTP. RuPay, Visa, MasterCard are some of the example of card payment systems. Payment cards give people the power to purchase items in stores, on the Internet, through mail-order catalogues and over the telephone. They save both customers an...

GOODS AND SERVICE TAX Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill, 2014 received the assent of the President of India on 8th September, 2016 and became Constitution (101st Amendment) Act, 2016, which paved the way for introduction of GST in India.                                             Constitution (101st Amendment) Act, 2016 was enacted on 8th September, 2016, with following significant amendments:  (a) Concurrent powers on Parliament and State Legislatures to make laws governing goods and services. It means there will be dual control of State and Central authorities for all assessees.  (b) As per Article 246A, the power to levy GST has been given to the Parliament as well as to   Legislature of every State.      CGST – enacted by Central Government of India.      IGST – enacted by Central Government of ...

The government mandates that individuals who earn a specified amount of annual income must f ile income tax return (ITR)  within a pre-determined due date. For the assessment year 2018-19 (financial year 2017-18), August 31, 2018 is the  deadline for individuals  to file income tax return. Income tax is levied on individual taxpayers on the basis of a slab system where different tax rates have been prescribed for different slabs. There are three categories of individual taxpayers- individuals (below the age of 60 years) which includes residents as well as non-residents, resident senior citizens (60 years and above but below 80 years of age) and resident super senior citizens (above 80 years of age).  In the general category (below 60 years) ,  1. Individual with annual income up to Rs. 2.5 lakh is not liable to pay income tax 2. Individual with an income between Rs. 2.5  lakh and Rs. 5 lakh, the five per cent slab        is...

TIPS TO USE INTERNET BANKING SAFELY 1. Always use genuine anti-virus software To protect your computer from phishing, malware, and other security threats always use genuine anti-virus software. Anti-virus helps in detecting and removing spyware that can steal your sensitive information. 2. Avoid Using Public Wi-Fi or Use VPN software The biggest threat of an open Wi-Fi network is that the hacker can sit in between the end user and the hotspot and can trace all the data without any difficulty. Hackers see unsecured connection as an opportunity to introduce malware into your device. So, usage of public Wi-Fi hotspots for internet or mobile banking and making payments on ecommerce sites should be avoided. However if you are a regular public Wi-Fi user, consider setting up a VPN software on your computer. It creates a secure tunnel between the computer and the internet and prevents hackers from intercepting the traffic.  3. Check for latest updates...