May 29, 2018 in Health Care and Wellness, News, Tips and Tricks

Electric Car Sales Set To Accelerate As Costs Fall And Production Scales Up

The Chinese-made $1.5million NIO EP9 at the Shanghai auto show. AP Photo/Ng Han Guan

The electrification of the transport system is set to accelerate in the late 2020s, with electric buses leading the way, a new report claims. Electric vehicle sales will surge thanks to tumbling battery costs and increasing scale in manufacturing.

Bloomberg New Energy Finance says that sales of electric vehicles (EVs) will reach 11 million by 2025 before racing to 30 million by 2030 as they become cheaper than petrol and diesel vehicles, up from just 1.1 million last year. By 2040, sales will have doubled once again to 60 million, which will be more than half of the market (55%). Electric cars will be 28% of the total market by 2030, while 84% of buses will be electric.

The transition will be led by China, which will account for half of sales in 2025, before falling back to 39% by 2030. Electric buses will dominate the market even earlier, by the late 2020s and here China is even more dominant – of the 300,000 e-buses on the road today, 99% are in China.

The rapid domination of e-buses will come about because the business case is so compelling – the total cost of ownership of electric buses is set to be cheaper than traditional models as early as next year.

This rapid growth means that oil demand for passenger cars is set to peak as early as 2022, just four years away, at 24.2 million barrels per day before declining to less than 16mpd by 2040. In the mid-2020s, sales of internal combustion engine cars will also start to fall as their cost advantage over EVs disappears and then goes into reverse. By contrast, the EV surge will require 2,000TWh of power in 2030, leading to a 6% increase in global electricity demand and displacing more than 7mpd of oil demand.

It will also lead to a significant increase in demand for lithium and cobalt, which are vital raw materials for battery production. Supply constraints for these two metals, along with the speed of the rollout of charging infrastructure and the rise of shared mobility – most of which will be electric – could slow the market’s growth.

Salim Morsy, senior transportation analyst, said: “While we’re optimistic on EV demand over the coming years, we see two important hurdles emerging. In the short term, we see a risk of cobalt shortages in the early 2020s that could slow down some of the rapid battery cost declines we have seen recently. Looking further out, charging infrastructure is still a challenge.”

Colin McKerracher, lead analyst on advanced transportation for BNEF, commented: “The big new feature of this forecast is electric buses. China has led this market in spectacular style, accounting for 99% of the world total last year. The rest of the world will follow, and by 2040 we expect 80% of the global municipal bus fleet to be electric.”

“Developments over the last 12 months, such as manufacturers’ plans for model roll-outs and new regulations on urban pollution, have bolstered our bullish view of the prospects for EVs,” McKerracher says.

Ali Izadi-Najafabadi, lead analyst for intelligent mobility at BNEF, added: “We predict that the global shared mobility fleet will swell from just under 5 million vehicles today to more than 20 million by 2040. By then over 90% of these cars will be electric, due to lower operating costs. Highly autonomous vehicles will account for 40% of the shared mobility fleet.”

The pace of electrification in transport will be fastest in Europe, where 44% of light vehicles will be electric by 2030, followed by China (41%) and the US (34%), while Japan will lag behind with just 17% of cars being electric. The market in India will be held back by a shortage of charging infrastructure and a lack of affordable models, so just 7% of cars will be EVs in 2030.

May 29, 2018 in News

Passport changes from June 2018

A day after Hindustan Times published a report that passports may no longer be valid proof of address as they may not have the last page, regional passport officer in Pune said that the changes will come into effect from June this year.

HT in its Friday edition had reported that passports may no longer be a valid proof of address for the reason that they may not have the current last page with the address of the passport holder. However, all the information will continue to be possessed by the passport office and the immigration department or security agencies.

JD Vaishampayan, regional passport officer, Pune said that the new passports will be issued from June 2018 once the existing lot is distributed.

“Basically at the time when the financial allocation is done, we decide an estimated number of passports that would be required for the entire year. So, by May 2018, the existing stock of passport will end. Consequently, by June we will start issuing new passports,” said Vaishampayan. The new passports will be printed at the India Security Press, Nashik, said Vaishampayan.

Earlier, confirming that changes could happen from “next series” of passport being issued, Surendra Kumar, under secretary of policy and legal matters and visa division at ministry of external affairs, said that the new decision has been taken to protect details of passport users. “The decision to keep the last page of passport blank has been taken to protect the details contained,” said Kumar.

According to officials, the details of the passport holders are in the back-end with the officials. Since 2012, all the passports have had a bar code and by simply scanning them, the information can be accessed. Currently the first page of passport has the photograph as well as other details of the passport holder; the address is printed on the last page.

Speaking about whether these changes in the passport are being done to make Aadhaar the only residence proof , Vibhuti Kumar Bhushan, regional passport officer, Kolkata said, “These changes have nothing to do with the importance of Aadhaar card. Passport is basically a travel document.”

Besides the changes in address, the MEA is also considering changes in colour of passport.

Currently, passports are issued in three colours: white for government officers or to those people who visit other countries for official work of the government; red for diplomats; and blue for all others across two categories — those who require emigration check (ECR) and those who do not (ECNR).

Soon, however, those in the ECR category will have orange passports, Kumar said. This will increase the speed of the process of emigration as the colour of the passport will make it clear whether the emigration check is required or not. The printing of the new ECR passports will be done at the India Security Press at Nashik. In this case too, existing ECR passports will be valid.

Reactions

Dr Kiran Shinde, paediatrician, a Pune resident who practices in Saudi Arabia said, “The decision by the Government of India should be welcomed. In peak hours when I travel to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from India, average time required to clear the process of emigration is one hour. Different queues should be made for the ECR and the ECNR category of passport holders to avoid any confusion. With proper planning and execution, this is certainly a good change and will be quite helpful for the passenger”.

Daud Khan, sales associate, Panasonic from Kuwait said, “In the larger context, the overall idea appears to be good. This will certainly help in crowd management and will save the time consumed in the immigration process. However, it will be too early to comment whether the decision is good or bad. What concerns me is the implementation of it and how well is it received by other countries. Government endeavors are infamous for grave mismanagement and preparation in India. The bearers of ECR Passports are uneducated people. Ergo, if anything goes wrong in another country or even in Indian airports people will panic which can invite some serious problem. Government of India should take such issues in cognizance while preparing the guidelines of implementation of this change”.

Pathan Atahar Khan, a resident of Beed said, “I visit Gulf countries quite often. This year I will be going to Haj Yatra. In this ‘Yatra’ many people belong to the ECR passport category. We are very happy with this customer friendly decision of the government of India. This decision will cut short the lengthy time taken for the process of emigration check. However, the government of India must ensure that for lacking the information of these changes, it does not create a chaos amongst the common man”.

RPO Pune said, “Now that the official decision regarding the changes in the passport have been taken, we will also formulate the policies regarding informing the same to our passengers. However, it will be very premature to speak on any decisions concerning the same.”

Source by hindustantimes

May 29, 2018 in News, Only Happened In India, Tips and Tricks

DR DRILL of GST System on 2nd June 2018

Dear Taxpayer,

GSTN is tentatively planning Disaster Recovery Drill of GST System on Saturday, 02^nd June 2018 between 09:00 to 15:00 Hrs. GST system services will NOT be available during this time.

You are requested to plan your GST related activities on GST portal accordingly. Inconvenience, if any, is regretted.

Regards, GSTN Team.

May 29, 2018 in News, Tips and Tricks

INCOME TAX SAVING: NEW TAX RULES WHICH WILL HELP YOU SAVE TAX IN FY2018-19

As the new financial year has already begun, people have started mulling over where to invest and how to save tax during this year. Here are the key tax changes which may impact your cash flows and investment decisions for FY2018-19.

Benjamin Franklin had rightly said that only two things are certain in this world – death and taxes. So, while there can’t be any escape from taxes, particularly if someone has taxable income, everyone tries to save as much tax as possible. As the new financial year has already begun, people have started mulling over where to invest and how to save tax during this year. However, saving the maximum tax is not possible without looking at the changes introduced in the Union Budget 2018. So, let us review the key tax changes which may impact your cash flows and investment decisions for the financial year 2018-19:

1. Standard Deduction for Salaried Individuals and Pensioners

The Finance Act, 2018 re-introduced standard deduction of up to Rs 40,000 for salaried taxpayers. Such deduction is allowed in lieu of the current transport allowance of Rs 19,200 (Rs 1,600 p.m.) and reimbursement of medical expenses of Rs 15,000 p.a. The net benefit for the employees already claiming a deduction for transport allowance and medical reimbursement will be Rs 5,800 (Rs 40,000 – Rs 19,200 – Rs 15,000).

“It is important to note here that pension received for past employment is also taxable as salary. Therefore, the benefit of standard deduction will also be available to pensioners. Till now pensioners were not allowed any exemption for transport allowance or medical reimbursement. Therefore, it will result in additional Rs 40,000 tax- free income for all pensioners,” says Chetan Chandak, Head of Tax Research, H&R Block India.

2. Enhanced deduction u/s 80D

Earlier, an individual was allowed a maximum deduction of up to Rs 30,000 in respect of expenditure incurred by him for the medical insurance for himself, his spouse or children. He was also allowed additional deduction of up to Rs 30,000 for the expense incurred for the medical insurance policy for his parents. The deduction of Rs 30,000 was restricted to max Rs 25,000 if the insured persons were less than 60 years of age.

“In case the assessee himself or his/her spouse or any of his/her parent was 80 years or more and was not covered under any insurance policy, then the deduction u/s 80D he/she was allowed to claim for the medical expenditure incurred on the health of such a person was Rs 30,000. The Budget 2018 extended this benefit to all senior citizens (i.e. 60 years and above),” says Chandak.

Also, this limit has now been increased to Rs 50,000 from the existing Rs 30,000 in case of all senior citizens (i.e. above 60 years). In a nutshell, an individual taxpayer can claim a maximum deduction of up to Rs 1 lakh under Section 80D if he or his family members and his parents are 60 years or above.

A summary of deduction allowable under Section 80D is explained in the table given below:

Nature of amount spent	Family Member		Parents
Nature of amount spent	Age below 60 years (value in Rs)	Age above 60 years (value in Rs)	Age below 60 years (value in Rs)
A. Medical Insurance	25,000	50,000	25,000
B. Central Govt Health Scheme	25,000	50,000	–
C. Health Check-up	5,000	5,000	5,000
D.Medical Expenditure	–	50,000	–
Maximum deduction	25,000	50,000	25,000

Further, in case of single premium health insurance policies which cover more than one year, the deduction shall be allowed on a proportionate basis for all those years for which health insurance coverage is provided, subject to the specified monetary limit.

3. Deduction limit under section 80DDB raised to Rs 1,00,000

This deduction u/s 80DDB is allowed to an individual or HUF taxpayer who pays for the medical treatment of critical illness for himself or any other family member. At present, this deduction is allowed up to Rs 80,000 for the very senior citizen, up to Rs 60,000 for the senior citizen, and Rs 40,000 in any other case.

The Budget 2018 has raised the limit of deduction under this section to Rs 1,00,000 for all senior citizens (i.e. any one above 60 years in age). There is no change in the deduction allowed for expenditure incurred in any other case. i.e. for person who is below 60 years of age.

4. Bank interest up to Rs 50,000 will be tax exempt for senior citizens

A new section 80TTB has been introduced from AY 2019-20 which allows deduction of up to Rs 50,000 to any senior citizen (above 60 years) having interest income from deposits with banks or post office or co-operative banks. Aggregate interest earned on saving deposits and fixed deposits will be eligible for deduction u/s 80TTB up to Rs 50,000.

“No deduction under section 80TTA shall be allowed to the senior citizens claiming the benefit u/s 80TTB starting AY2019-20. Further, the corresponding amendment has been proposed in section 194A to provide that no tax shall be deducted at source from payment of interest to a senior citizen up to Rs 50,000,” says Chandak.

5. Enhanced Tax Benefit on Gratuity

Gratuity received on retirement or on becoming incapacitated or on termination or any gratuity received by the widow of the deceased employee, children or dependents was till now exempt up to Rs 10,00,000 as per the recent changes in the Gratuity Act. This exemption will be enhanced to Rs 20,00,000. So the taxpayers who are going to retire or receive gratuity starting 1st April 2018 will be able to claim higher exemption.

6. NPS withdrawal exemption extended to non-employees

Any amount received by an employee from the National Pension System (NPS) either on closure or opting out from the scheme is exempt up to 40% of the total accumulated balance in his NPS account at the time of withdrawal. Till now this exemption was not available to non-employee account holders. The Budget 2018 has extended the said benefit to all NPS subscribers.

7. No capital gains tax if the variation in stamp value and the actual consideration is up to 5%

Earlier, if a taxpayer sold an immovable property for a consideration which was less than the value adopted by the Stamp authorities, then the stamp value was deemed as the actual sales consideration. “This treatment resulted in higher amount of capital gains even if the seller had not actually gained anything due to such higher stamp valuation. Further, such difference in the stamp value and the actual consideration disclosed by the parties was also taxed in the hands of the buyer. This resulted in hefty double taxation,” says Chandak.

In order to minimise hardship in case of genuine transactions, now no adjustments shall be made in a case where the variation between stamp duty value and the sale consideration does not exceed 5% of the sale consideration.

Source – financialexpress.com

May 27, 2018 in News

Reality Check: These Photos Prove That King Ravana Lived In Lanka

Lord Rama along with his army of apes had crossed the sea to reach Lanka from where they rescued Sita from brought her back to India.

Let’s take you on a tour of Sri Lanka, where you can see what event of Ramayana happened where, and how the place actually looks like today.

1) These caves, shown in the pictures, are called Ravana’s Caves in the picturesque town of Ella. These are believed to be built by Ravana for secret passages through mountains. Excavations by the Sri Lankan Archaeological Department have proved that these caves are man-made and not naturally formed, and they show human habitation dating back more than 25,000 years.
Source by daily.bhaskar..

May 27, 2018 in News

SSC CGL Exam Notification 2018 – SSC Recruitment

Organization Name: Staff Selection Commission
Organization Website: www.ssc.nic.in / www.ssconline.nic.in
Name of the Posts: Group B & C
Name of the Exam: Combined Graduate Level Examination 2018
Age Limit: 18 to 32 years
Educational Qualification: Bachelor’s Degree
Mode of Apply: Online
Application Fee: Rs. 100/-
Closing Date: 04.06.2018

Educational Qualification:
Applicants should have possessed in Bachelor’s Degree from a recognized University or Institute with at least 60% marks in Mathematics at 12th standard level OR Bachelor Degree in any subject with Statistics as one of the subjects at Degree level.
Desirable Qualifications: Chartered Accountant or Cost & Management Accountant or Company Secretary or Masters in Commerce or Masters in Business Studies or Masters in Business Administration (Finance) OR Masters in Business Economics.

Age Limit & Relaxation:
Applicants age limit should be between 18 to 32 years as on 01.08.2018. The upper age limit 05 years for SC/ST categories, 03 years for OBC categories, 10 years for PWD categories candidates & other relaxation as per Govt. norms.Readmore…….

Source by:-examfinder

May 27, 2018 in News

Income Tax Returns (ITR) Filing: Steps To E-Verify Using Aadhaar OTP

Tax payers can use Aadhaar based e-verification of their Income Tax Returns (ITR) for making ITR filing easier and quicker, informed UIDAI on it’s official twitter handle. UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority Of India) is mandated to issue an easily verifiable 12 digit random number as Unique Identity – Aadhaar to all residents of India, as mentioned on the official website of UIDAI. 16.65 crore individuals have verified their PAN (Permanent Account Number) with Aadhaar. They can now also instantly e-verify their income tax return using Aadhaar OTP, the tweet further added.

Steps to e-verify Income Tax Returns (ITR) using UIDAI’s Aadhaar:

1. Log in to income tax e-filing website (incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in)

2. Click on ‘Aadhaar’ link from left hand side menu (Also read: New Income Tax Return (ITR) Forms Seek Salary Breakup, GST Number. 10 Points)

3. Enter your PAN number, Aadhaar number, name as per Aadhaar and other details

4. Click on ‘Link Aadhaar’. Your Aadhar number will be linked to your PAN after validation

5. Now, upload your ITR through the Income Tax e-filing website

6. Click on ‘I would like to generate Aadhaar OTP to e-Verify my return’

7. A One-Time Password (OTP) will be sent to the mobile number registered with Aadhaar. This OTP will be valid only for 10 minutes (Also read: New Income Tax Return (ITR) Forms Introduced, Tax Slabs For FY 2017-18)

8. Enter the OTP you received on your registered mobile number. Click submit

9. A message will be displayed ‘Return successfully e-Verified’. Now, download the Acknowledgement’

10. This acknowledgment will also be sent to registered email id. You have successfully e-verified your income tax return (ITR)

Source by:-ndtv

May 27, 2018 in News, Tips and Tricks

Xiaomi’s Mi Credit offers instant loans up to Rs 1 lakh to MIUI users in India

Expanding its portfolio of value-added internet services, Xiaomi has launched its own instant lending platform Mi Credit in India. The platform lists financial loan providers that MIUI users can access to apply for quick loans.

MIUI users can avail personal loans from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1 lakh from the only loan provider listed on Mi Credit, Kreditbee. Xiaomi claims that loans can be initiated in 10 minutes through Mi Credit with simple KYC verification. All loan verification and user information input is done on the partner platforms, while Mi Credit only lists loan providers.

“Xiaomi provides internet services to give our users a complete mobile internet experience, and MIUI functions as an open platform for us to deliver our wide range of internet services, such as content, entertainment, financial services and productivity tools. The connectivity between our devices and the seamless integration between hardware and internet services enable us to provide our users with better user experience. Mi Credit is another big step in bringing an important internet service to India and we trust that our users would be able to truly benefit as the service becomes more sophisticated,” said Manu Jain, Vice President, Xiaomi.

Notably, Kreditbee is the only loan provider listed on the Mi Credit. While Xiaomi’s lending platform is exclusive to MIUI users, Kreditbee on its own is available acorss the Android ecosystem via its mobile application, and is expected to make an appearance on the iOS platform some time soon. Thus, even non-MIUI users can also avail loans from Kreditbee.

All that is to know before getting a loan from Kreditbee

Kreditbee calls itself an instant personal loan platform for young professionals which offers them salary advance up to Rs 1 lakh with different repayment tenures. The first is personal loan between Rs 1,000 and Rs 9,900 which has to be repaid within 15 days of the loan processing date. The next is a short-term personal loan starting from Rs 10,000 to Rs 1 lakh. The loan repayment tenure varies from 30 days to 90 days, depending on the loan amount.

The Mi Credit website lists the monthly interest rate at 3 per cent for loans up to Rs 1 lakh from Kreditbee. “For 15-day loan products from Rs 1,000 to Rs 9,900, we charge a flat interest at 1.48 per cent (annualized interest rate: 36 per cent per annum). For 30-90 day loan products from Rs 10,000 to Rs 1 lakh, we charge an annualized interest rate of 36 per cent per annum,” Kreditbee says.

Kreditbee also charges a processing fee ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 1000 depending on the loan amount. This processing fee is deducted up front from the loan amount and before it is disbursed to the loan applicant’s account.

Source by

May 27, 2018 in News

Mukesh Ambani’s latest punch: Reliance Jio Rs 199 offer to hit Bharti Airtel, Idea revenues

Rs 199 Jio offer impact: After billionaire Mukesh Ambani-run telecom player Reliance Jio launched a new postpaid plan at Rs 199, global brokerage firm CLSA has cut its revenue estimates for Bharti Airtel and Idea-Vodafone. According to the firm, there is risk of Jio’s latest post paid plan on the incumbents. Earlier this month, Reliance launched a new postpaid plan at Rs 199 offering 25GB of data and unlimited voice and SMS. Under the plan, it is also offering international roaming rates of Rs 2/min for voice, Rs 2/MB for data and Rs 2/SMS. Further, it the company is also offering Rs 500/day roaming pack with Unlimited voice/data/SMS.

CLSA has cut Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea revenue and EBITDA estimates by 2%-16%. Further, the research firm has also cut EPS over FY19-21 CY (Calendar Year). The firm has maintained a buy rating on the shares with a target price of Rs 535. Bharti Airtel shares were trading at Rs 364.8.

Earlier, a Jefferies report said that the sharp discount launched by Jio would make incumbents respond to it which may further cut average revenue per user (ARPU) for Bharti and Idea. “This is at 50 per cent discount to comparable packs by incumbents and 60 per cent discount to postpaid ARPUs. We have been concerned on Postpaid as it contributes 20 per cent plus of revenues. With the sharp discount launch by Jio we expect incumbents to also respond and thus expect further decline in ARPU for Bharti and Idea. This is likely Jio’s first offer aimed at enterprise market. Remain cautious on the sector,” the Jefferies report said.

According to the firm, postpaid makes up only 7 per cent of Top 3 operators subscribers, and contribute 20 per cent plus of their revenues. While the ARPU for the segment had dropped 25 per cent it was lower than that witnessed in prepaid, it said.

“Incumbents will, in our view, have to respond to Jio’s plan and cut plan prices. Any 10 per cent cut in postpaid prices will lead to around 2 per cent cut in overall ARPU. Any 10 per cent cut in postpaid prices will lead to 12 per cent/6 per cent EBITDA (Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) hits for Idea and Bharti respectively,” Jefferies said in its report.

Source by financialexpress

May 27, 2018 in News

WHAT IS E-AADHAAR? HOW TO GET IT ONLINE

Did you know that digital Aadhaar card or ‘e-Aadhaar’ can be used just like an Aadhaar card in physical form? Yes. This was said by the UIDAI or Unique Identification Authority of Indiaon microblogging site Twitter. E-Aadhaar is a digitally signed, verifiable document “as valid as the Aadhaar letter delivered by post”, said the UIDAI, the issuer of the 12-digit Aadhaar number – also known as Unique Identity Number (UID) – as well as Aadhaar card. “You can use e-Aadhaar as your Aadhaar letter,” the UIDAI said. The Aadhaar card-issuing body also shared a link to its website, uidai.gov.in, which provides assistance to Aadhaar card holders and applicants.

“E-Aadhaar is as valid as Aadhaar letter… It is a digitally-signed legally valid document as per the Aadhaar Act 2016,” said the UIDAI.

The UIDAI offers many services online through its portal. One of these facilities enables an Aadhaar holder to download a digital copy of his or her Aadhaar card. This tool can be accessed through the ‘Download Aadhaar’ link on the UIDAI portal’s homepage. The Download Aadhaar tool enables a user to download a digital copy of his or her Aadhaar card, called ‘e-Aadhaar’, by entering any of the Aadhaar number (UID), Aadhaar Virtual ID (VID) and Aadhaar enrolment ID (EID), according to the UIDAI website.

This facility requires the user to enter any of the three numbers – UID, EID or VID – along with details such as full name and PIN code.

e aadhaar uidai website
The facility works on an OTP- or one-time passcode-based method wherein the identity of the user is verified by an SMS sent to the user’s mobile number registered with Aadhaar. “Your personal details will help us for authentication,” reads a message by the UIDAI portal.

After entering the required details, the user may proceed by clicking on the ‘Request OTP’ button.

In the next step, the user is required to submit the OTP received via SMS. This OTP is sent by the UIDAI on the mobile number registered with Aadhaar. The user may click ‘Download Aadhaar’ after entering the six-digit OTP in the given field.

e aadhaar uidai website
The UIDAI portal leads the user to his or her Aadhaar card. This digital Aadhaar can be saved on a computer or emailed.

Other than SMS-based OTP, the ‘Download Aadhaar’ tool also works with TOTP or time-based OTP. A TOTP is generated by an algorithm through mobile app mAadhaar and is valid only for 30 seconds. It is a way to circumvent the traditional SMS based OTP.

Meanwhile, the UIDAI has set up a dedicated Twitter handle to address customer queries. Users will be able to reach the Aadhaar Help Centre via Twitter handle ‘Aadhaar_Care’.

Source By: https://www.ndtv.com

Electric Car Sales Set To Accelerate As Costs Fall And Production Scales Up