A record 72.42 lakh income tax returns were filed on the last day of such filing on July 31, taking the cumulative returns to 5.83 crore, near to the same levels of last year.

While initially income tax return (ITR) filing was slow, the pace picked up as the deadline neared.

“The surge of filing ITRs peaked on July 31, 2022 (due date for salaried taxpayers and other non-tax audit cases) with over 72.42 lakh ITRs being filed on a single day,” an official statement said.

The total ITRs filed till July 31, 2022 for assessment year 22-23 is about 5.83 crore, it said.

Last fiscal (2020-21), about 5.89 crore ITRs (Income Tax Returns) were filed by the extended due date of December 31, 2021.

Typically, return filers wait till the last day to file returns.

Over the last two financial years, the government had extended the deadline for filing ITRs to ease compliance for taxpayers battling Covid pandemic.

But this year the deadline was not extended by even by a day.

Through ITR, a person is supposed to submit to the Income Tax Department information about the income and the taxes due and paid on it during the year.

The Income Tax Department has prescribed 7 types of ITR forms, whose applicability will depend on the nature and amount of income and the type of taxpayer.

The tax department’s new income tax filing portal is now very robust to take the increased loads.

“The e-filing portal also set other benchmarks on July 31, 2022 including – highest per second rate of ITR filing: 570 (at 4:29:30 pm), highest per minute rate of ITR filing: 9573 (at 7:44 pm), and the highest per hour rate of ITR filing: 5,17,030, between 5 PM to 6 PM,” the statement said.

The initial pace of e-filing was relatively much slower with the first 1 crore ITRs for AY 22-23 being filed only by July 7.

The pace picked up marginally, with about 2.48 crore ITRs being filed by July 22.

“With the Government announcing that there would be no extension of the due date, there was a surge in filing of ITRs and by July 25, 2022, 3 crore ITRs had been filed. By the end of the day on 31st July,2022, 72.42 lakh ITRs had been filed, shattering all previous records (maximum being 49 lakh ITRs in 2019). In the month of July, 2022 alone, over 5.13 crore ITRs have been filed,” it said.

Out of 5.83 crore ITRs filed for AY 2022-23, 50 per cent of these are ITR-1 (2.93 crore), 11.5 per cent are ITR-2 (67 lakh), 10.9 per cent are ITR-3 (63.35 lakh) and 26 per cent are ITR-4 (1.54 crore).

“The number of ITRs filed during working hours (9 AM-6 PM) since 7th July, 2022 to 31st July, 2022 is around 3.31 crore, which is 58.77% of the total ITRs filed,” it said.

“Over 47% of these ITRs have been filed using the online ITR form on the portal and the balance have been uploaded using the ITR created from the offline software utilities.” 

Large number of taxpayers did their due diligence by comparing data of their income by viewing their Annual Information Statement (AIS) and Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS). A high rate of usage of AIS/TIS data was reflected by the fact that more than 5.03 crore taxpayers viewed/downloaded their AIS.

This year a large portion of the data for ITR-1 was already prefilled with salary, interest and dividend income making compliance easier for taxpayers.

For other ITRs 2, 3, 4, apart from this data, property details for rental income, brought forward losses, MAT credit was also pre-filled to further ease compliance for taxpayers.

NEW DELHI: Highlighting India’s robust economic health despite the COVID pandemic and geo-political situation, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said there is no question of India getting into stagflation or recession like other major economies of the world.

In her reply to the debate on price rise at the Lok Sabha, Sitharaman said, “We have never seen a pandemic of this kind. All of us were trying to make sure that people in our constituencies are given extra help. I recognise that everybody – MPs and state governments have played their role. Otherwise, India would not be where it is compared to the rest of the world.”

“So, I fully credit the people of India for this. Even against adversity, we are able to stand up and be recognised as the fastest growing economy,” she said.

The Finance Minister emphasized that due to the measures taken by the government, India is in a much better position than most countries.

“Repeatedly in the assessment of global agencies, India remains the fastest growing economy in the assessment of global agencies. This House irrespective of the party should feel proud of the country and its people. State governments have helped,” she stated in the Lok Sabha.

Referring to a survey, Sitharaman said there is zero possibility of India getting into recession.

Sitharaman said the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the US fell 0.9 per cent in the second quarter following a 1.6 per cent decline in the first quarter. “They start it calling an unofficial recession. There is no question of India getting into recession or stagflation,” said the Minister.

“Pandemic, second wave, Omicron, Russia-Ukraine (war), even today largest supply components in China are under lockdown. In spite of that, we have held inflation well within 7 per cent or below. That has to be recognised,” she told Lok Sabha.

She further said, “4,000 banks in China are reported to be going bankrupt. In India, the gross NPAs (Non-Performing Assets) of scheduled commercial banks is at a 5-years low of 5.9 per cent in 2022. So our NPAs are improving. The government debt to GDP Ratio of many countries is in triple digits including Japan, Greece, Bhutan, Singapore, the US, Portugal, Spain, France, Sri Lanka and Canada. But the central government very consciously controlled its debt and it is at 56.29 per cent of the GDP at the end of 2021-22 compared to the 59.9 per cent revised estimate that year.”

According to IMF data, Sitharaman said the general debt to GDP ratio is 86.9 per cent including the Centre and the state.

In July 2022, the Minister said the country has garnered the second highest level ever since the introduction of the GST which is 1.49 lakh crore. “In April 2022, it was 1.67 lakh crore which was the highest we reached. This is the fifth consecutive month that collections have been above Rs 1.4 Lakh crores,” she said.

Quoting former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan, she said, “On Saturday, Raghuram Rajan said that ‘RBI has done a good job in increasing foreign exchange reserve in India, insulating India from problems being faced by neighbouring countries such as Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

“Differentiating India from its vulnerable neighbours, Raghuram Rajan further added that ‘New Delhi is less indebted’, calling it a good sign, the Minister said.

Amid Sitharaman’s reply to the debate on price rise, Congress members walk out from Lok Sabha.

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has said that Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh, Pawan Khera, Netta D’Souza along with others conspired to “launch a tirade of false scathing and belligerent personal attacks” on BJP leader Smriti Irani and her daughter, who are neither owners of the restaurant in Goa nor have they ever applied for the licence for food and beverages at the eatery, as alleged.

The high court said the statement made by three Congress leaders are in the “nature of slander and seem to be bogus with malicious intent,” to intentionally subject Irani to a “great public ridicule” and “to injure the moral character and public image” of the BJP leader and her daughter.

The remarks were made by the high court while perusing the documents placed before it in a civil defamation suit filed by Irani, the Minister for Women and Child Development, against the three Congress leaders.

The high court’s order, in which it had on July 29 issued summonses to three Congress leaders on the civil defamation suit, was uploaded on the court’s website On Monday.

The high court has also asked them to take down tweets and other social media posts on allegations levelled against the union minister and her daughter.

“I have perused the various documents on record, particularly, the show cause notice dated July 21, 2022, issued by the Government of Goa, office of Commissioner of Excise, which has been addressed to one Anthony Dgama, and not to the plaintiff (Irani) or her family members.”

Considering the documents on record it is clearly seen that there was no license that was ever issued in favour of the plaintiff or her daughter. The plaintiff or her daughter are not the owners of the restaurant. It has also been established by the plaintiff prima facie that the plaintiff or her daughter never applied for license.

“Neither the restaurant nor the land on which the restaurant exists is owned by the plaintiff or her daughter even the show cause notice issued by the Government of Goa is not in the name of the plaintiff or her daughter. All these facts have also been affirmed in the affidavit by the plaintiff,” Justice Mini Pushkarna said in her 14-page order.

Irani has filed a defamation suit against the Congress leaders for allegedly making baseless and false accusations against her and her 18-year-old daughter.

The high court said since the plaintiff commands an esteemed position as a minister in the Government of India and considering the nature of her public office, there is immense public glare and scrutiny of any information about her in the public domain.

“Defendant nos. 1 to 3 (Congress leaders) have conspired with each other and other individuals and organisations to launch a tirade of false, scathing, and belligerent personal attacks on the plaintiff and her daughter with a common motive to malign, defame and injure the reputation, moral character and public image of the plaintiff and her daughter,” it said.

The high court said it was of the considered view that the statements made by the Congress leaders are in the “nature of slander and seem to be bogus with malicious intent, only to garner the highest amount of viewership thereby intentionally subjecting the plaintiff to a great public ridicule”.

It added that “Plaintiff (Irani) has made out a prima facie case and balance of convenience lies in favour of the plaintiff and against the defendants”.

The high court has also passed an interim injunction directing the Congress leaders to remove from social media the allegations made against Irani and her daughter.

The court said in case the defendants fail to comply with its directions to remove tweets, retweets, posts, videos, and photos from social media concerning the allegations made against Irani, and her daughter within 24 hours, social media platforms Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube shall take down the material.

Irani’s action came after the Congress leaders alleged that her daughter Zoish Irani ran a bar illegally in Goa and also targeted the minister over this, demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi sack her from his Cabinet.

“After seeing the documents placed on record and the excerpts of the press conference, I am of the prima facie view that slanderous and libelous allegations have been made against the plaintiff without verifying actual facts. Great injury has been caused to the reputation of the plaintiff and her family in view of the various tweets and re-tweets which have been followed the press conference carried out by the defendants,” the judge said.

The high court said there is an imperative need to protect the reputation of an individual, least to say, that of the plaintiff who is a respected member of the society and esteemed member of the Union Ministry.

The judge further said, “I deem it expedient to pass an ad-interim injunction directing defendants 1-3 (Congress leaders) to delete and remove the allegations, video of impugned press conference dated July 23, 2022, and the contents linked to the same “, published against the plaintiff from all the social media platforms, namely, Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.”

The matter has now been listed for further hearing before the court and registrar on November 15 and August 18, respectively.

NEW DELHI: A 35-year-old Nigerian man living in the national capital, with no recent international travel history, tests positive for monkeypox, said official sources on Monday.

This is the sixth monkeypox case in India and the second case in Delhi.

The patient is admitted to Lok Nayak Jaiprakash Hospital which comes under the government of Delhi.

India has reported six monkeypox cases so far including four from Kerala and two from Delhi.

The government of Kerala declared on Monday the first death due to monkeypox. A 22-year-old man who had tested positive for monkeypox in UAE arrived in India on July 22 and was admitted to a hospital on July 27 after again testing positive for monkeypox.

“The situation is well under control, there’s no panic here as of now. The person had direct contact with only 10 people including family members and a few friends. 20 people quarantined so far,” said Renjini, Member, Education and Health standing committee.

The Centre has formed a task force in the wake of monkeypox cases in India to monitor and provide guidance to the government on the expansion of diagnostic facilities and to explore vaccination for the infection in the country.

The decision was taken during a meeting which was attended by Cabinet secretary, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, Additional Secretary (PMO) and other senior officials.

“The team will be headed by Dr VK Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog and members including Secretary, Union Health Ministry, Pharma and Biotech,” sources told ANI.

Meanwhile, a contact list and route map of the deceased youth has been prepared. Contact persons are advised to undergo isolation.

The central government is on an alert even as the count of infections in some other countries has risen.

NITI Aayog’s member (Health) Dr V K Paul said that there is absolutely no need for any panic as the government has taken significant measures to keep the disease in check.

In an interview with ANI, Dr Paul sought to assert that there was no need for any undue panic but added that it was still important that the country and the society stay vigilant.

“There is no need to panic, as of now, but one must report in time if they spot any symptoms, he said.

According to World Health Organization (WHO), more than 18,000 cases have been reported from 78 countries.

“The monkeypox outbreak can be stopped if countries, communities and individuals inform themselves, take the risks seriously, and take the steps needed to stop transmission and protect vulnerable groups,” said Dr Tedros, Director General, WHO on Thursday.

Monkeypox is a zoonotic disease caused by the monkeypox virus, which belongs to the same family of viruses that causes smallpox. The disease is endemic in regions like West and Central Africa but lately, cases have been reported from non-endemic countries too, according to the WHO.

Nasheman News

STREE SHAKTI MAHOTSAVA celebrated Women’s contribution in 75 years of India’s Independence. On this occasion Chief Guest Hon’ble Dr. Karan Singh was present along with Hindi eminent writer Alka Saraogi in the presence of prominent Hindi writer Chitra Mudgal along with many eminent persons.

Dayawati Modi Stree Shakti Samman (instituted in 1998) the winner for the twenty-first award is Alka Saraogi an eminent Hindi writer. Her edited book, ‘Terah Halfaname‘ a collection of short stories of prominent women writers of Independent India, published by Vani Publication was launched by Dr. Karan Singh. Here, for the first time in Hindi, stories of Anita Desai, Mahashweta Devi, Qurratulain Hyder, Indra Goswami, Ismat Chugtai, Krishna Sobti, Chitra Mudgal, Vishwapriya Iyengar, Anjali Khandwala, Kamla Das, T. Janki Rani, Urmila Pawar and Vedihi are presented here.

Alka Saraogi’s first novel ‘Kalikatha via Bypass’ won the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award in 2001 and was published by Editions Gallimard in French, Insel Verlag in German, Neri Pozza in Italian and Siruela in Spanish. She has six novels to her credit. She quoted, “Each award given to her has given credential to her journey as a writer and motivated her. Women can be the epitome of Shakti in every field they venture into, and utopian harmony is only possible when society will realise this“

Who is the real Author? Vidusi Viddyottama or Mahakavi Kalidas? By Dr. Kamal K Mishra, with a forward by Dr. Karan Singh, introduction by Dr. Satyavrat Shastri, preface by Dr. Satyavrat Shastri and supported by Rekha Mody and English trans-creation by Dr. Shovana Narayan; the cover of this path breaking research commissioned by Stree Shakti was released. The research in Hindi and English will be published by Motilal Banarsidass Publishing House in 2023.

The first Gender Influencer Award was bestowed upon young Devansh Saraf for his short film X or Y.

Rekha Mody, Founder & President of Stree Shakti – The Parallel Force remarked, “Empowerment of women is the panacea for all universal ills. Women’s literature is the key to understand the concerns, challenges and ambitions of women.In the twenty first century, the works of Mahakavi Kālidāsa are being looked at from a gender perspective.”

Nasheman news

Mumbai: SDA Bocconi Asia Center, the pan-Asia hub for SDA Bocconi School of Management, today announced the admissions for International Executive Masters in Business (IEMB) for the academic year 2022-2023. The program has been customized for mid-senior level professionals to accelerate their careers and is designed to sharpen leadership skills and bridge the knowledge gap. The program will commence in October 2022.

The course enables participants to begin the program at a required common level of understanding of key concepts and methods.  The classes will be conducted two weekends per month for a duration of 15-months with a two-week International Immersion in Milan. The participants will be awarded a certificate of completion on successful completion of the program. IEMB is a full Alumni status Specialised Master’s Program with credits under ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System) according to the Italian University Law.

The program has been designed for executives with minimum 8 years of work experience or young entrepreneurs. The past cohorts represented an average work experience of 15 years with 24% class being at C-Suite executives and 37% being AVP/Directors, Heads, etc. The cohort also has 24% women representation and 10% expatriates.

The curriculum of the course deep-dives into the understanding the concepts of Accounting for Decision-making, Project Management, Foundations of Marketing, Corporate Finance, Foundations of Strategy, Operations Management, Supply Chain Management, Human Resource Management, Data Analytics for leaders, Business-Government Relations & Business Ethics, Business Communication, Individual Leadership & Influencing, Macroeconomic for Business, etc. The program gives an opportunity to the program participants to explore their horizons with cross-functional expertise and to learn from experience and interaction with faculty and peers. It will allow the candidates to develop the necessary competencies and attitudes to navigate their careers to the next level.

Prof David Bardolet, Dean, SDA Bocconi Asia Center said, “The companies are facing complex and uncertain market conditions in this post-pandemic era. New managerial and leadership skills are mandatory to be ready to navigate these challenges and seize the opportunities offered by the fast-paced digital context. The International Executive Master in Business is therefore a crucial step in adapting to these challenges, whilst accelerating the career. This program will enhance leadership and critical thinking skills, increase cross-cultural knowledge, and pave the way for you to become a future-ready leader”. 

Prof Veronica Vecchi, Director – Executive Education & Professor of Practice Business Government Relation, SDA Bocconi Asia Center said “IEMB is a window on the leading management practices, a professional escalator, and access to a new community”.

SDA Bocconi Asia Center takes a well-rounded approach to admissions and is inviting professionals to join SDA Bocconi’s global community. The Candidates are required to take a 30-minute online test crafted for professionals or submit valid GMAT scores taken after 1st January 2019. Interested candidates can register.

About SDA Bocconi Asia Center: 

SDA Bocconi Asia Center is a Pan – Asia hub that has been delivering Executive Education and Postgraduate Programs designed and implemented by SDA Bocconi School of Management, Italy, since 2011. SDA Bocconi is one of the few Business Schools that hold the so-called “triple crown”, three of the most prestigious international accreditations: AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA. SDA Bocconi School of Management has a legacy of over 50 years in management training. SDA Bocconi has been ranked 13th in the world and 5th in Europe in the Financial Times Global MBA rankings 2022. SDA Bocconi’s Executive Education has been ranked 7th in The Financial Times 2022 Executive Education. The Executive Education combines two rankings: Custom Programs and Executive Open Programs. The school’s mission is to help individuals, companies, and institutions grow by promoting managerial culture, knowledge, and innovation. SDA Bocconi Asia Center offers a unique approach towards promoting knowledge through SDA Bocconi School of Management industry – relevant research and teaching. The SDA Bocconi Asia Center makes international education accessible to learners.

NEW DELHI: India logged a single-day rise of 20,408 new coronavirus infections, pushing India’s total tally of COVID-19 cases to 4,40,00,138, as the active cases declined to 1,43,384, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday.

The death toll has climbed to 5,26,312 with 44 new fatalities, the data updated by the government at 8 am said.

The active cases comprise 0.33 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.48 per cent, the health ministry said.

A decrease of 604 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 5.05 per cent.

The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 4.92 per cent, according to the health ministry.

The number of people who recovered from the infection surged to 4,33,30,442, and the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.20 per cent.

According to the ministry, 203.94 crore doses of COVID vaccines have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4, 2021, three crore on June 23, and four crore on January 25 this year.

The 44 new fatalities include six each from Maharashtra and West Bengal, four each from Haryana and Karnataka, three each from Gujarat, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh, two each from Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Madhya Pradesh and one each from Chandigarh, Delhi, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Odisha and Sikkim.

A total of 5,26,312 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,48,097 from Maharashtra, 70,451 from Kerala, 40,143 from Karnataka, 38,032 from Tamil Nadu, 26,308 from Delhi, 23,565 from Uttar Pradesh and 21,352 from West Bengal.

The health ministry has stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

“Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that the state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.