The country’s digital tax, popularly known as the ‘Google tax’, came into effect over a year ago. It is chargeable at a rate of 2% on consideration received by non-residents who operate digital businesses targeting, among other things, the Indian market. The equalization levy could apply to the selling price …
Read More »Twitter India’s head called in for police questioning over refusal to remove video ‘inciting communal violence’ – reports
Manish Maheshwari, Twitter India’s managing director, was given one week to provide an in-person statement at a police station in Ghaziabad’s Loni district, according to a notice obtained by local media. He was asked to answer for controversial footage showing the beating of an elderly Muslim man earlier this month, …
Read More »India’s exports & imports continue to boom in post-Covid economic recovery
According to preliminary data from the Commerce Ministry, imports soared as well, by 98% to $19.59 billion during the period. Exports surged 52% to $7.71 billion during the first week of this month, and by about 40% to $6.35 billion in the second week of June. Overall, during April-May, exports …
Read More »New, ‘GREEN fungus’ case reported in India, adding to 3 other color types of infection developing in Covid patients
A 34-year-old man in Madhya Pradesh, a large state in central India, is believed to possibly be the first patient diagnosed with the new type of fungus, local media reports. Scientifically known as Aspergillosis infection and said to be relatively uncommon, it affects the lungs. The man had been treated …
Read More »India strips Twitter of legal immunity for ‘3rd party content’ amid row over new regulation – reports
The social network became the first American platform to lose the legal protections on Wednesday, with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology claiming the site had not yet come in line with new social media rules implemented in late May, according to several local media outlets. “Due to their …
Read More »Why Beijing loves portraying India as a mere pawn in America’s Cold War with China
Love is in the air Love seems to be in the air in Indo-US relations. The two nations now seem to be closer than ever before – geopolitically as well as militarily. Ever since the West started to consider India a ‘rising power’ in the early 2000s, the political elite …
Read More »Global crackdown on Big Tech mounting as India plans to expedite Amazon & Walmart antitrust probe
The probe launched by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in January 2021 was initiated following a complaint alleging that the companies promoted select sellers on their platforms and that deep discounts stifled competition. Both Amazon and Flipkart have denied any wrongdoing. Two people familiar with the issue told Reuters …
Read More »Local officials resign in India as filmmaker faces sedition case for comparing government Covid-19 response to ‘bioweapon’
Young filmmaker and actress Aisha Sultana made her comments during a televised five-person debate, in which she accused the authorities of Lakshadweep, an archipelago territory off India’s southwestern coast, of bungling the response to Covid-19. “I can say this clearly that the central government has deployed a bioweapon,” Sultana said …
Read More »Vaccines for everyone over 18, says India’s Modi, as Delhi vows free rations for 800 million people until November
In a national address on Monday, PM Narendra Modi said that 25% of the vaccination program will be handed back from the states to the central government within the next two weeks. “The Centre is taking back total control of vaccination now,” he stated. Modi said that the nation’s supply …
Read More »India issues ‘last notice’ to Twitter urging it to comply with new digital information rules or face ‘unintended consequences’
The notice was issued by India’s ministry of electronics and information technology on Saturday. The ministry told Twitter that it was “dismayed to note that your responses to the Ministry’s letters neither address the clarifications sought by this Ministry nor indicate full compliance with the Rules.” The warning is the …
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