“The test of a man's or woman's breeding is how they behave in a quarrel. Anybody can behave well when things are going smoothly.”
George Bernard Shaw
“किसी पुरुष या महिला के पालन-पोषण की आज़माइश तो एक झगड़े में उनके बर्ताव से होती है। जब सब ठीक चल रहा हो तब अच्छा बर्ताव तो कोई भी कर सकता है।”
जॉर्ज बर्नार्ड शॉ
he Section 56 (2) (vii b) in the Income Tax Act is referred to as Angel tax. These taxes are imposed on startups. Say a startup SSS sells one lakh shares to a person X. Selling price of one share is Rs 5000. Now SSS gains 50 crores. Say the actual market value of the share is Rs 2000 per share. So 20 crore rupees is the actual market value. SSS made 30 crores of rupees profit. So SSS has to pay angel tax on the 30 crores rupees!
During Union Budget 2023, Finance Minister Smt Nirmala Sita Raman proposed to amend the Angel tax. Now, the equity amount received by the startups will be subjected to income taxes and not angel taxes. Meaning, the entire 50 crores of rupees, that is, the total amount the startup received by selling the shares is subjected to income tax! Earlier, only 30 cores were subjected to taxes.
Startups are disappointed. Most of the investors of the startups, that is, the share buyers are from foreign countries. Already startup investments have been decreasing. In 2022, it fell by 33%. The new change in Angel Tax is to further affect the startup investment
Deepfakes is the process of mimicking the voice of a person. Talking in their tone and style; like a mimicry. However, here the mimicry is done using the software. Therefore, the deep fake is the process of mimicking a person’s voice using an online tool.
By the end of January 2023, netizens used the features of “voice cloning” and “speech synthesis” of Eleven Labs. Eleven Labs is an online site providing AI speech software. Using the features in the software, the netizens created voices of popular stars Emma Watson, Ben Shapiro, and Joe Rogan. But the messages were abusive and spread racism. Celebrities are now raising their voices against this. And thus, the voice of deep fakes in news.
The voice created is artificial. However, it sounds human-like. The major challenge of a voice-deep fake is cloning a voice. It takes weeks or even months to clone a voice. Artificial Intelligence can create copies of voices after listening to the speaker for just 3 seconds! To create an audio file using an online tool, you just have to upload the voice of the person. The file should be at least 3 seconds long. The person should be continuously speaking in the audio file. After you upload this file, the software clones the voice of the speaker. You should then give the text. The software gives you the net output where Emma Watson or other stars (whose voice you uploaded) speak the text!
T he development in the northeastern states has always been slow as compared to the Indian mainland. This is mainly because the states are covered with forests and the percentage of the tribal population is high. Also, natural factors hinder the development of the region. For instance, Brahmaputra is called Sorrow of Assam. Frequent earthquakes occur in the region. There are anti-socialistic groups, Naga insurgencies, etc; Chinese interference in the border; the Inrush of Rohingyas and many more reasons that hinder the development of North Eastern India. To fasten the development process in the region and to link the region with the rest of the mainland, the Government of India has launched the Yuva Sangam Registration portal.
The development in the northeastern states has always been slow as compared to the Indian mainland. This is mainly because the states are covered with forests and the percentage of the tribal population is high. Also, natural factors hinder the development of the region. For instance, Brahmaputra is called Sorrow of Assam. Frequent earthquakes occur in the region. There are anti-socialistic groups, Naga insurgencies, etc; Chinese interference in the border; the Inrush of Rohingyas and many more reasons that hinder the development of North Eastern India. To fasten the development process in the region and to link the region with the rest of the mainland, the Government of India has launched the Yuva Sangam Registration portal
The main objective of the portal is to connect with the youth in the northeast region. The portal was launched under the spirit of “Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat”. Through the Yuva Sangam initiative, youths in the region will travel across different parts of the country and learn about different cultures in India.
It is important to educate the youths and provide them with skills to develop the North Eastern Region. Chinese infiltrations are increasing in the region. GoI has to earn the trust of the locals in the region. Therefore, there is a necessity of inclusive development.
The Union Budget has announced Rs 2,516 crore for computerisation of 63,000 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) over the next five years, with the aim of bringing greater transparency and accountability in their operations and enabling them to diversify their business and undertake more activities.
PACS are village level cooperative credit societies that serve as the last link in a three-tier cooperative credit structure headed by the State Cooperative Banks (SCB) at the state level. Credit from the SCBs is transferred to the district central cooperative banks, or DCCBs, that operate at the district level. The DCCBs work with PACS, which deal directly with farmers.
Since these are cooperative bodies, individual farmers are members of the PACS, and office-bearers are elected from within them. A village can have multiple PACS. PACS are involved in short term lending — or what is known as crop loan. At the start of the cropping cycle, farmers avail credit to finance their requirement of seeds, fertilisers etc. Banks extend this credit at 7 per cent interest, of which 3 per cent is subsidised by the Centre, and 2 per cent by the state government. Effectively, farmers avail the crop loans at 2 per cent interest only.
A report published by the Reserve Bank of India on December 27, 2022 put the number of PACS at 1.02 lakh. At the end of March 2021, only 47,297 of them were in profit. The same report said PACS had reported lending worth Rs 1,43,044 crore and NPAs of Rs 72,550 crore. Maharashtra has 20,897 PACS of which 11,326 are in losses.
The attraction of the PACS lies in the last mile connectivity they offer. For farmers, timely access to capital is necessary at the start of their agricultural activities. PACS have the capacity to extend credit with minimal paperwork within a short time.
With other scheduled commercial banks, farmers have often complained of tedious paperwork and red tape. For farmers, PACS provide strength in numbers, as most of the paperwork is taken care of by the office-bearer of the PACS.
In the case of scheduled commercial banks, farmers have to individually meet the requirement and often have to take the help of agents to get their loans sanctioned. NABARD’s annual report of 2021-22 shows that 59.6 per cent of the loans were extended to the small and marginal farmers.
Since PACS are cooperative bodies, however, political compulsions often trump financial discipline, and the recovery of loans is hit. Chairpersons of PACS participate in electing the office-bearers of DCCBs. Political affiliations are important here as well.
Dr Hema Yadav, director of Pune-based Vaikunt Mehta National Institute of Cooperative Management pointed out that while SCBs and DCCBs are connected to the Core Banking Software (CBS), PACS are not. Some PACS use their own software, but a compatible platform is necessary to bring about uniformity in the system.
Computerisation of PACS has already been taken up by a few states, including Maharashtra. The Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank has plans to directly lend to PACS in districts where the DCCBs are either financially weak or have lost their banking licence. In such a scenario computerisation of PACS would help.
Written by Parthasarathi Biswas
Source: Indian Express, 8/02/23
“An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.”
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), Writer
“प्रातःकाल का भ्रमण पूरे दिन के लिए वरदान होता है।”
हेनरी डेविड थोरो (१८१७-१८६२), लेखक
