News

BENGALURU: The government is considering amending its rules to completely remove the provision under which citizens can receive duty-free ‘gifts and samples’ valued at under Rs 5,000 from overseas, after finding its rampant misuse by Chinese ecommerce vendors, senior officials ET spoke to said. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBITC), which formulates policy concerning levy and collection of customs, was considering a cap on the number of gifts an individual can receive, but has decided against it given the complexity in its implementation. “There were multiple legal options we were looking at, one being limiting the number (of gifts) to four per individual. But to implement this practically would be difficult, so we’re looking at a policy that prohibits the clearance of gifts altogether,” said a senior government official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The customs department began cracking down on ecommerce imports … [Read more...] about Government may bring ‘bad’ news for those shopping from Chinese apps and websites

Singapore political figure Brad Bowyer on Monday corrected a Facebook post questioning the independence of state investment firms following a government request, in the first use of the country's new "fake news" law. Bowyer used "false and misleading" statements alleging the government influenced decisions made by state investors Temasek Holdings and GIC, according to a statement on the official government fact-checking website. Bowyer said he had placed a correction notice with a link to the government statement above his Facebook post following a request to do so under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA). "I have no problem in following that request as I feel it is fair to have both points of view and clarifications and corrections of fact when necessary," Bowyer said in a statement on Facebook. "In general, I caution all those who comment on our domestic politics and social issues to do so with due care and attention especially if you speak … [Read more...] about Singapore’s “fake news” law used for the first time over Facebook post

NEW DELHI: Telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has sought urgent relief from finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman for the stressed sector, seeking a cut in levies such as licence fees and goods and services tax (GST), as part of a four-part agenda. Prasad has also urged that the Rs 36,000 crore that’s accumulated as input tax credit due to the telecom companies be adjusted against future GST levies. “I have met with the chief executive officers of the telecom service providers to discuss the steps to be undertaken for sustainability and growth of the telecom sector,” Prasad said in his August 22 letter to Sitharaman. ET has seen a copy of the note. The development follows Prasad’s meeting with Vodafone Idea chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla and new CEO Ravinder Thakkar on August 20. Prasad has proposed an “urgent” reduction in GST on telecom equipment, first to 12% and then lower, from the current 18%. He told FM that telecom networks were part of the … [Read more...] about Ravi Shankar Prasad may soon have ‘good news’ for India’s telecom companies

The Singapore government on Friday ordered social media giant Facebook to correct a post made by one of its users, marking one of the city-state's first attempts to enforce its new law to combat so-called "fake news." The Singaporean minister for home affairs, K Shanmugam, said in a statement that he had instructed the office administering the law "known as the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act" (POFMA) to issue a Targeted Correction Direction, which requires the company to publish a correction notice on the user's Facebook page. The post in question had been published last Saturday on the States Times Review page, administered by blogger Alex Tan Zhi Xiang. The post included allegations surrounding the detention of a supposed whistleblower as well as accusations of election tampering, which the Singaporean government derided as "scurrilous" and "false" claims. The POFMA office on Thursday told Tan to correct his post, but the blogger, who has said he is an … [Read more...] about Singapore orders Facebook to correct post under anti-fake news law

Pharmaceutical industry researchers are putting resources into possible preventative drug treatments, she said. The NIH is also working in partnership with a number of private firms on the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, a five-year study looking at changes in brain structure and function in 400 people with cognitive impairment, 200 people with Alzheimer's and 200 healthy individuals. The data from that project is available online to researchers worldwide, Ryan said. … [Read more...] about Alzheimer’s Disease: Bad News and Good News