Birth certificates no longer a must for passport
You no longer need to show your birth certificate to get a passport. Continuing the process of simplifying passports for Indian citizens, the government informed Parliament this week that Aadhaar or PAN card among a host of documents could be used to establish proof of birth. According to the Passport Rules, 1980, all applicants born on or after 26/01/1989, had to submit a birth certificate, a mandatory provision. Now they can submit any one of these — transfer/school leaving/Matriculation Certificate issued by the school last attended/recognized educational board containing the DOB of the applicant; PAN Card; Aadhaar Card/E-Aadhaar; driving license, Voter ID cards, even LIC policy bonds.
Snapdeal sale to Flipkart hits roadblock as founders want Infibeam buyout
The board of struggling online marketplace Snapdeal (Jasper Infotech Pvt. Ltd) is again divided about the company’s proposed sale, casting doubt about its future. Snapdeal co-founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal are pushing for a sale to Infibeam Inc. or getting Snapdeal to survive as an independent company by cutting both a majority of jobs and the size of its business, two people familiar with the matter said.
Number of taxpayers under GST set to eclipse that of previous tax regime
The number of registered taxpayers under the goods and services tax (GST) is set to exceed those in the previous indirect tax regime as early as this week, a development that is likely to give the government more room to spend on welfare or cut taxes. As of mid-Friday, 7.95 million applicants had sought GST registration. That is 99.3% of the 8 million tax base under the earlier system that comprised assessees of state value-added tax (VAT), service tax and central excise duty.
Paying bills on time can get you loans easily
Beginning this year, the Reserve Bank of India has made it mandatory for each credit bureaus in India to give one free credit report a year to every consumer who requests one. This was done to make people more aware of their credit health. Following this move, many online financial services aggregators tied-up with credit bureaus to provide consumers their credit scores and reports. The catch here being that you would have to share your personal information, which could later be used for targeted marketing campaigns.
Amazon offers $70-$80 million for FreeCharge
Online e-commerce giant Amazon has made a late bid for FreeCharge, the digital payments platform owned by troubled e-commerce marketplace Snapdeal, a development that comes at a time when the Gurgaon-based company is also in discussions to sell its payments unit to Axis Bank and telecom operator Bharti Airtel’s mobile wallet Airtel Money. According to two sources aware of the development, Amazon’s bid is in the range of $70-$80 million (Rs 466 crore- Rs 532 crore), with a term sheet signed by the Seattle-headquartered e-commerce behemoth and Jasper Infotech, which owns and operates both Snapdeal and Free-Charge, last week.
Start-ups can help find solutions to India’s problems, says Missile Woman of India, Tessy Thomas
Eminent scientist Tessy Thomas today called upon the youth to take up initiatives like start-ups to help the government fight challenges in sectors like health, environment, and education. Thomas – known as the ‘Missile Woman of India’ – was speaking at the Convocation 2017 of the Birla Institute of Technology and Science here. “The quality of Indian graduates coming out from such institutes would also have a significant impact on the global economy as many of the students join the MNCs and global corporates. It is worth reminding ourselves of this goal as India today is faced with challenges in the domains of health, sanitation, housing, environment and education and cannot be resolved by the government alone.
Amma canteen for serving people, loss not right: Tamil Nadu CM K Palaniswami
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami today asserted that Amma canteens, offering low-cost food, were service oriented for the welfare of the poor and would continue to be administered well as before. The usage of the term ‘loss’ was not correct, he told reporters here when asked about reports that the government was contemplating sizing down the number of the canteens, named after late chief minister Jayalalithaa, in view of reported loss made by them. “Government is giving funds and Amma Canteens are being run. There is no question of loss or profit,” he said.
Shivraj Singh Chouhan warning: Will hang officials upside down if cases are not cleared in a month
In a stern warning to district collectors, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said at a meeting that he would hang top revenue officials upside down if he found out that undisputed revenue cases were pending for more than a month. According to sources in the BJP, Chouhan issued the warning on Saturday at a BJP state executive committee meeting in Bhopal while responding to a leader’s demand that the government should improve the system of disposal of revenue matters.
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