Current Affairs-2019 September 20th

Daily updates of Current news and Current affairs making headlines of the day

Google Search: Hindi has emerged as the second-most used language globally on Google Assistant, the tech giant’s artificial intelligence-powered assistant, behind just English, according to the tech giant.

NATIONAL

• Ayodhya Case: The Supreme Court today decided to hear the Ram Janmabhoomi Title appeal for an extra hour from next Monday to conclude the hearing before the October 18 deadline fixed by it.
• Jammu and Kashmir HC: The Supreme Court on Friday said it has received a report from the Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court and it does not support claims that people in Kashmir Valley are unable to access the court there.
• Arrest of Chinmayananda: Former Union minister Swami Chinmayananda, accused of rape by a law student, was arrested today. The accused was arrested by the special investigation team (SIT) of Uttar Pradesh police from his residence ‘Divya Dham.
• Digital Payment Abhiyan: NASSCOM’s data Security council of India has collaborated with Union Ministry of Electronics and IT and Google India to launch a nationwide digital campaign Digital Payment Abhiyan. It aims at increasing awareness about cashless payment, educate end-users about the benefits of digital payment and provide online financial security.
• National Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Hub: On September 16, The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) inaugurated India’s first National Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Hub in Kolkata. It was developed by ICMR in association with the United States (US) Department of Health and Human Services.
• Rafale: Indian Air Force on Thursday received the first Rafale combat aircraft at the Dassault Aviation manufacturing facility in France.

INTERNATIONAL

• Climate change: Ahead of the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York City on Monday, students and adults influenced by Swedish teenage activist Greta Thunberga have taken to the streets to protest against climate inaction across the world.
• National Security Adviser of US: US president Donald Trump has announced that Robert C.O’ Brien will be the new national security adviser. He is currently working as a special envoy to hostage affairs at the state department and will be succeeding John Bolton who recently departed the NSA post.
• Lotus tower: On September 16, President of Sri Lanka (SL) Shri Maithripala Sirisena unveiled “Lotus tower” which is the tallest tower of South Asia that cost over $100 million. 80% of the funding cost of the tower situated in Colombo, Srilanka has been done by China under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It is a 350-meter-tall building having 17 storeys spread over an area of 30,600 sq. metres.
• Howdy Modi: Tulsi Gabbard, the first Indian-origin woman candidate for US presidential elections, has extended a warm welcome to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his visit to US to be held in Houston on September 22.

ECONOMY TODAY

• PSBs hold credit meet: Public-sector banks (PSBs) will hold public meetings with borrowers for distributing loans in 400 districts of the country to boost demand ahead of the festive season, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on 19^th September. In this initiative, the banks will take help from non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).
• Corporation tax rate cut: Nifty posts biggest single day gain in a decade after Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman cuts corporate tax to 25.17 per cent inclusive of all cess and surcharges for domestic companies. The S&P BSE Sensex jumped over 1,930 points to 38,024 points while the NSE’s Nifty50 index was ruling at 11,264, up 560 points. Sitharaman said the total revenue forgone on account of today’s measures would be Rs 1.45 trillion per year.
•  Hero Cycles will invest in E-cycles business: Hero Cycles is planning to invest around Rs 1,000 crore to support its e-cycles business. The money will be utilised for strengthening global design and R&D and for setting up a manufacturing unit. A part of the investment might also be used for building a strong retail distribution network.
• SIMS: The government on September 16, launched an online system to monitor steel imports, The Steel Import Monitoring System (SIMS) will provide advance information about steel imports to both the government and stake holders.

Highlights of Corporation Tax Rate Cut

• All domestic companies will be allowed to pay corporation tax at the rate of 22% (effective rate 25.17% including cess and surcharge). This would be subject to the condition that these companies do not avail of any tax incentives or exemptions. Moreover, no Minimum Alternative Tax (MAT) would be imposed on these companies.
• Any new domestic manufacturing company, incorporated on or after October 1, 2019, will be allowed to pay corporation tax at the rate of 15% (effective rate 17.01%) without MAT payment .these will be subject to the condition that the company does not avail of any tax incentives or exemptions and commences production by 31 March, 2023. Companies which are availing tax holidays at present can join the new regime once their tax holiday period ends.
• To provide relief to companies that continue to avail of exemptions and incentives, the rate of MAT has been reduced from 18.5% to 15%.
• Enhanced surcharge introduced by the Finance Act 2019 will not be applied to capital gains arising on sale of equity share in a company/unit of an equity-oriented fund or unit of business trust which is liable for securities transaction tax.
• Enhanced surcharge shall not apply to capital gains on sale of any securities, including derivatives, in the hands of Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs)
• Companies which have already made a public announcement of buyback before 5th July 2019 will get tax relief on buyback of shares.
• There will be an expansion in the scope of CSR activities. The companies can now spend 2% of the money on state or union government incubators, PSUs, state universities, IITs, public-funded entities.

• SENSEX –38014.62 (1921.15)

• NIFTY –11274.20 (569.40)

• GOLD (MCX 10 GM) –37727.00 (41.00)

• SILVER (MCX 1 KG)-46523.00 (-83.00)

• USD ($) / INR()-71.14 (-0.43)

   

Both the broader NSE index and the benchmark BSE index closed 5.3% higher, finishing the week with gains of more than 1.5%.

The rupee, which rose as much as 0.9% to 70.68 against the dollar after the announcement, pared some gains to trade at 71.05 by 1015 GMT.

GST HIGHLIGHTS

• GST Council on Friday doubled the tax on caffeinated beverages to 40 percent and slashed the rate on hotel room tariffs. The GST on caffeinated beverages has been hiked to 28 percent plus an additional cess of 12 percent as against the current rate of 18 percent.
• For hotels, nil tax for those with tariffs of up to Rs 1,000 per night. Hotels charging Rs 1,001 to Rs 7,500 per night room tariff would be levied with 12 percent tax as against the existing 18 percent.
• Similarly, the tax on room tariff of above Rs 7,500 has been slashed to 18 percent from the existing 28 percent.

Hindi Current affairs

• अमेरिका दौरे पर रवाना हुए PM मोदी, राष्ट्रपति ट्रंप से करेंगे द्धिपक्षीय वार्ता
• पीएम मोदी और मंगोलियाई राष्ट्रपति ने उलान बटोर स्थित भगवान बुद्ध की मूर्ति का किया अनावरण
• दसॉल्ट ने भारतीय वायुसेना को सौंपा पहला राफेल, 8 अक्टूबर को होगा वायुसेना में शामिल
• अगस्तावेस्टलैंड घोटाला: अदालत ने सीबीआई[CBI] को तिहाड़ जेल में मिशेल से पूछताछ की इजाजत दी
• ट्विटर की बड़ी कार्रवाई, हटाए हजारों फर्जी न्यूज अकाउंट्स