BackNews in Numbers | 9.1 million new taxpayers brought under income tax net
In other news, Tata Steel's Q4 consolidated net loss narrows to Rs1,168.02 crore
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0.88 degree-Celsius
What is it? The magnitude by which April 2017 was warmer than the global mean temperature from 1951-1980 (base period).
Why is it important? The deviation makes last month the second-warmest April in history, according to American space agency Nasa. Last year’s April was 1.06 degree-Celsius warmer than the base temperature and was the hottest. Both 2015 and 2016 clocked high temperatures consistently, with 2016 being the warmest year in history, a result of carbon dioxide and other human-led emissions into the atmosphere. This year the mercury has not shot up as much as in 2016 but since February has clocked second-highest temperatures ever.
Tell me more: Modern record-keeping of temperatures began in 1880 and 2017 would be its 138th year.
Rs1,168.02 crore
What is it? The consolidated net loss of steel major Tata Steel in the fourth quarter of 2016-17.
Why is it important? The loss was less than the fourth quarter of FY16 (of Rs3,041.88 crore) but it marks the removal of an obstacle to merging its European operations with the German ThyssenKrupp in a joint venture. The pensions scheme at its UK operations had been the hurdle. This quarter, the loss was primarily due to exceptional items amounting to Rs4,069 crore, which included resolution of the pension claims of its UK employees.
Tell me more: Consolidated profit before exceptional items were added amounted to Rs3,352 crore in Q4 FY17.
9.1 million
What is it? The number of new taxpayers brought within the income tax ambit by the authorities after the demonetisation drive.
Why is it important? The new taxpayers amount to almost 25% of the count of taxpayers last season (2015-16). Finance minister Arun Jaitley says out of the new taxpayers in the net this year, 1.8 million have been identified with cash transactions not in line with their income profiles.
Tell me more: More than 972,000 of those under the scanner have responded to the I-T department’s queries, providing answers for 1.3 million bank accounts with cash deposits of Rs2.89 crore.
$234 million
What is it? The amount Incred, a non-banking financial company backed by Anshu Jain, former co-chief of Deutsche Bank, aims to disburse by March next year, primarily to the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) sector.
Why is it important? It comes at a time when big banks, saddled by bad loans, are shying away from lending to SMEs. Incred said in April that it has disbursed Rs100 crore (or a little over $15 million) in the first 100 days of its operations.
Tell me more: Non-banking financial companies in general have been getting more active in the SME sector, and have doubled their market share in this segment in the last five years, according to credit rating agency Crisil.
3.8 million
What is it? The number of plastic pieces on the beaches of Henderson Island.
Why is it important? Henderson Island, located in the South Pacific Ocean, is uninhabited, remote, and visited only once in five to 10 years. It has the highest concentration of human activities-generated debris—estimated to weigh over 250,000 tonnes—recorded anywhere in the world, washed ashore by the sea, and serves as an indicator of marine pollution.
Tell me more: The nearest major population centre to this Unesco World Heritage site is 5,000 km away.
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