Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the corporate tax rate for companies
with over Rs 400 crore turnover will be gradually cut to 25% and the government will
support wealth creators.
In her maiden Budget last month, she had cut corporate tax for companies with annual
turnover of up to Rs 400 crore to 25% from 30% earlier.
India is the world’s largest emitter of anthropogenic sulphur dioxide, which is produced
from coal burning, and greatly contributes to air pollution, a study claimed on August
19.
According to an analysis of a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
data released by environmental NGO Greenpeace on August 19, India has more than
15% of all anthropogenic sulphur dioxide (SO2) hotspots in the world detected by the
OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument) satellite.
The major SO 2 emission hotspots in India are Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh, Neyveli
and Chennai in Tamil Nadu, Talcher and Jharsuguda in Odisha, Korba in Chhattisgarh,
Kutch in Gujarat, Ramagundam in Telangana and Chandrapur and Koradi in
Maharashtra.
The NASA data also highlights other hotspots across the globe, with the Norilsk smelter
complex in Russia being the largest SO 2 emission hotspot in the world, followed by
Kriel in Mpumalanga province in South Africa and Zagroz in Iran.
Environment experts called for strict action on coal power plants. They said these
plants should not be given a free hand to continue polluting and causing a health
emergency situation in the country.
In the next three decades the deregulation of the steel market (abolition of freight
equalisation) and imports having been put under open general license led to a
paradigm shift to the concepts of supply, capacity creation through differential
technologies, SME’s role, demand assessments, competitiveness, pricing and export
strategies, Sushim Banerjee, DG, Institute of Steel Growth and Development said.
ArcelorMittal may face a tough challenge in reviving the fortunes of Essar Steel after
paying a huge premium for the acquisition amidst falling steel prices and bleak outlook
for the sector.
Also, global steel demand is expected to remain subdued with the ongoing trade war
between the US and China and uncertainty over the US elections slated for next year.
In India, steel prices recently dipped below the ₹40,000 a tonne mark for first time in
the last two years due to weak demand. Globally, steel prices have fallen 18% to $490
a tonne from about $600 a tonne when ArcelorMittal first placed its bid for Essar Steel
in early 2018.
The government may consider amendments in the real estate law RERA, if required, to
make it more effective, Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Durga Shankar Mishra
said. He said that the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry will soon take up the model
tenancy law to the Cabinet for approval and then the same will be circulated to states
for implementation.
There is a need to establish a dedicated team for implementing technology innovations
to solve business problems in the real estate sector, according to a Naredco-KPMG
report.
The report, which was released on the 15th national convention of NAREDCO-Housing
for all 2022 “Real Estate Inflection point: Readying for the future”, said that to enable
technology adoption in the real estate sector, a strategy should be developed for
leveraging innovation to achieve strategic business objectives.