Representative image. Days after several websites were hacked by foreign “hacktivists” to protest comments made against Prophet Mohammad, a government body responsible for financial regulations has come out with a list of cybersecurity norms to wall up against such attacks. In an internal advisory, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has asked the principal chief commissioner of customs, central tax and customs and others to host websites of all zones on National Informatics Centre’s Data Centre or on cloud infrastructure provided by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology-empanelled service providers. The advisory dated June 13 also said the design of websites should be along the guidelines drawn by NIC for Indian Government Websites (GIGW). “Website and data security is of paramount concern in the present times in view of increasing security threats. Hackers continuously attempt to explore security vulnerabilities available in the websites … [Read more...] about Tax body issues guidelines for securing websites, procuring IT services
Central board of indirect taxes and customs cbic
Here’s what the new TDS rule means for social media influencers
Content creators are making calls to tax experts, chartered accountants and influencer marketing agencies to understand what a new clause, Section 194R in the Income-tax Act which is applicable to social media influencers, means for them. Ocean Sharma, an e-sports player with an Instagram following of 328,000, is reaching out to his CA friends to find out more about the new provision which mandates tax deducted at source (TDS) on freebies influencers receive from businesses for sales promotion. It was Budget 2022 -23 that had brought in the provision of TDS at 10 percent for any person providing any benefit or perquisite exceeding Rs 20,000 in a year to a resident arising from the business or profession of such resident. For influencers, this means that they will have to disclose the free samples they receive from brands or companies while filing their income tax return and TDS will be applicable if the freebies are retained by them since such items will be deemed a … [Read more...] about Here’s what the new TDS rule means for social media influencers
Modi govt @ 8 | Eight reforms that stand out
Representative image (Source: ShutterStock) Since coming to power in 2014 the Narendra Modi government has brought about several economic reform measures through a mix of legislative and policy changes. Here are eight measures that stand out. PM Jan Dhan Yojana: On August 28, 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the ambitious Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), promising to end “financial untouchability” through the world’s biggest banking-for-all scheme. The plan envisaged universal access to banking facilities with at least one basic banking account for every household, financial literacy, access to credit, insurance and pension facility. The objective was to channel all welfare entitlement payouts such as NREGA payments to beneficiaries’ bank accounts through the Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) scheme. Eight years later the scheme has achieved far more than what was envisioned. As on May 21, 2022, there were 454.1 million beneficiaries banked so far with a … [Read more...] about Modi govt @ 8 | Eight reforms that stand out
Modi govt @ 8 | Pandemic hides economy’s past troubles as restart button hit again
Any assessment of a government's performance invariably ends up at the economic door. At the start of Narendra Modi's ninth year as prime minister (PM), it is then pertinent to ask: how has the Indian economy fared so far? Making any straight comparisons between now and May 2014 would be unfair given the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. And even before the pandemic's end, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine upended all calculations again. "No one country today can plan for its recovery...because of these kinds of disturbances. Our recovery, not just of India, but for countries everywhere, will be severely hampered," Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had noted in late February a day after Russia attacked Ukraine. But it must not be forgotten that India has attempted to kick-start its economic recovery multiple times in the last eight years. The first of these was soon after Modi took charge as PM in May 2014. Working in tandem with Raghuram Rajan at the Reserve Bank of … [Read more...] about Modi govt @ 8 | Pandemic hides economy’s past troubles as restart button hit again
The Forbes World’s Most Influential CMOs List: 2022
Conny Braams from Unilever; Dara Treseder from Peloton; Forbes CMO Hall of Famer Antonio Lucio; and Frank Cooper III from Visa. Illustration by Alexander Wells for Forbes. Recognizing the 50 Most Influential CMOs in the World By Seth Matlins , Managing Director, Forbes CMO Network Additional reporting by Diane Brady , Emmy Lucas , Olivia Peluso , Lauren Debter , Isabel Lord , Katherine Dunn T wo hundred years before it was first used as a verb, “influence” was a noun denoting the stars’ ability to affect human lives and destinies. Today, we consider “influence” less astrologically and more practically, focusing on the chief marketers who wield it to shape the character and destinies of the brands and businesses they help steward. The link between marketing and influence has always been inextricable. After all, a chief marketer’s job is about nothing more than it is the influencing of attitudes and behaviors in … [Read more...] about The Forbes World’s Most Influential CMOs List: 2022
Bitcoin Bank Custodia Sues Federal Reserve, Demanding Decision On Master Account
Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Bitcoin bank Custodia today sued the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City charging they have “unlawfully” delayed for 19 months acting on its application for a master account with the Federal Reserve. The bank, chartered in Wyoming under a crypto-friendly statute passed in 2019 allowing for “special purpose depository institutions,’’ says the master account would reduce its costs and is “vital” to its core mission of providing a bridge between digital assets and the U.S. dollar system. According to the suit, the Federal Reserve has a legal obligation to act within a year and states on its own paperwork that it ordinarily takes just five to seven days to act on a master account application. Custodia’s suit alleges the Kansas City Fed’s processing of its application was moving along until the Spring of 2021, when the main Federal Reserve got involved. The suit seeks to force the … [Read more...] about Bitcoin Bank Custodia Sues Federal Reserve, Demanding Decision On Master Account
CEO Boot Camp Frameworks And Insights
Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin This week, PrimeGenesis gathered seven CEOs from its clients for a day to share insights and learning. The CEOs came from pharmaceuticals, forensic engineering, die-cast manufacturing, consumer products, agriculture, retail and sports. This note lays out the frameworks discussed and insights the CEOs shared across strategic, organizational and operating leadership as well as personal influence and impact. Strategic Leadership Strategic leadership is about focus. The fundamental questions are where to play and how to win. How to win choices in turn all flow from the enterprise’s core focus. As Michael Porter taught us, all enterprises design, produce, sell, deliver, and serve in one way or another. The most successful enterprises have a primary focus on either design, production, delivery or service in addition to selling which all must do. Certainly, different parts of the same enterprise may have different areas of … [Read more...] about CEO Boot Camp Frameworks And Insights
Google Stockholders Reject Activists’ Claim Israel Cloud Deal Causes Harm
Stakeholders of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, overwhelmingly voted down a proposal to reassess a $1.3 billion Google Cloud contract with Israel. The proposal’s backers alleged the contract would support human rights violations against Palestinians. Amazon stakeholders have submitted a similar proposal. A BDS-sponsored initiative urged a major tech company to reassess a data center deal with the Israeli government over accusations of apartheid, but most of the company’s shareholders voted against the proposal earlier this month. The proposal had the backing of several organizations aligned with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, according to a website started by the initiators. Shareholders of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, who filed the proposal in May, claimed contracts between Google and “militaries and militarized policing agencies” would likely cause harm, highlighting Israel’s cloud services Nimbus Project as an example. “Project … [Read more...] about Google Stockholders Reject Activists’ Claim Israel Cloud Deal Causes Harm
Meralco rates down for the fifth straight month
The Manila Electric Company (MERALCO) announced today the fifth consecutive month of lower power rates, as overall electricity rates for a typical household consuming 200kWh decreased to P9.0414 per kWh this September from last month’s P9.5674 per kWh. The downward adjustment of P0.5260 per kWh will mean a decrease of around P105 in the typical household’s total bill. The fifth straight month of electricity rate decrease represents a total downward adjustment of almost P1.52 per kWh since April 2019. Lower WESM charges lead to overall generation charge decrease From P4.9620 per kWh last month, generation charge for September went down to P4.5191 per kWh, a decrease of P0.4429 per kWh. The generation charge decrease is primarily due to lower charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM). WESM charges decreased by P3.6503 per kWh mainly due to improved supply conditions in the Luzon grid. The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) did … [Read more...] about Meralco rates down for the fifth straight month
The Edge | Rahim & Co Kota Kinabalu Housing Property Monitor (1Q2022): Signals of growth seen for KK housing market
This article first appeared in City & Country, The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on June 13, 2022 - June 19, 2022. The Sabah residential property market rebounded strongly in 2021, with 4,805 transactions worth RM1.941 billion recorded (Photo by Shahrin Yahya/The Edge) - A + A The Sabah residential property market ended 2021 on a better note compared with the start of that year and this upward trend is likely to continue in 2022, according to Rahim & Co regional manager (Sabah) Max Sylver Sintia in presenting The Edge | Rahim & Co Kota Kinabalu Housing Property Monitor 1Q2022. The houses monitored have shown resilience during these challenging times, with good activity on the secondary market, he says. “The positive growth recorded by our samples indicates that the secondary market is active, especially for properties in good locations that are well maintained. The demand for these properties is quite strong as their value is sustainable, with … [Read more...] about The Edge | Rahim & Co Kota Kinabalu Housing Property Monitor (1Q2022): Signals of growth seen for KK housing market