NEW DELHI, Jan 4:
Delhi’s air quality improved significantly to the “moderate” category on Monday morning owing to rain and strong winds.
A Government forecasting agency said the air quality is likely to improve further to the “satisfactory” category.
The national capital’s air quality index (AQI) was 148 at 10 am. The 24-hour average AQI was 354 on Sunday and 443 on Saturday.
An AQI between zero and 50 is considered “good”, 51 and 100 “satisfactory”, 101 and 200 “moderate”, 201 and 300 “poor”, 301 and 400 “very poor”, and 401 and 500 “severe”.
Officials at the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said intense rains lashed Delhi and winds gusting up to 30 kmph swept the city on Sunday under the influence of a strong Western Disturbance affecting northwest India, dispersing pollutants.
The Safdarjung Observatory recorded 39.9 mm rainfall between 8:30 am on Saturday to 2:30 pm on Sunday.
More rain is likely on Monday. The maximum wind speed will be around 30 kmph, the IMD said.
The central government’s Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi said the AQI is likely to remain “moderate” to “satisfactory” on Monday and Tuesday.
It said the city’s ventilation index — a product of mixing depth and average wind speed — would be 5,000 m2/s on Monday and Tuesday.
Mixing depth is the vertical height at which pollutants are suspended in the air. It reduces on cold days with calm wind speed.
A ventilation index lower than 6,000 sqm/second, with the average wind speed less than 10 kmph, is unfavourable for the dispersal of pollutants. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, Jan 4:
At least 69 per cent parents are in favour of schools reopening in April, when the new academic session begins, according to a survey.
The survey, in which over 19,000 parents across the country were interviewed, also found that only 26 per cent of them approve of their children receiving the COVID-19 vaccine by April if it is made available by then.
“Sixty-nine per cent parents said given the current trends and situation with COVID, schools in India should start from April 2021 or after, when the next academic year begins, as many feared to send their children to school amid the outbreak. Further, 23 per cent said it should start from January,” the survey conducted by online platform Localcircles said.
“Only 26 per cent Indian parents approve of their children receiving the COVID-19 vaccine if it is made available by April 2021 or before the school session. Further, 56 per cent parents said they will wait for three months or more and then consider, based on data or findings,” it added.
Schools across the country were closed in March last year to contain the spread of COVID-19 and were partially reopened in some states on October 15. However, a few states have decided to keep them closed in view of a spike in the number of coronavirus cases there.
Bihar, Assam, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Sikkim are among the states that have reopened schools from this month for the students of Classes 9 to 12.
Delhi has already announced that the schools in the national capital will not reopen till a vaccine for the viral disease is available.
The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) had requested for the reopening of its affiliated schools in various states from January 4 owing to the upcoming ICSE board examinations, though no decision has been taken in this regard. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, Jan 4: India’s tax pie seems to have undergone a subtle change with a sharp drop in direct tax collections resulting from a disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 carnage on incomes.
The share of indirect taxes, which mainly comprise of levy on goods and services as well as import duty, has risen while that of direct taxes – made up of corporate and personal income tax – has gone down in 2020.
In an interview with PTI, Finance Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey said in a pandemic like this where the economy has been impacted, any large scale changes impact direct taxes more severely, whereas indirect tax collection is mostly proportional to business turnover and compliance.
“In a situation like this where the economy has been impacted and we are on the recovery path, the direct taxes are impacted more severely because the profitability of a company is not directly proportional to the turnover always. If your turnover reduces below a certain benchmark then the profit will not merely reduce, but it may get into a negative zone and therefore the company may not pay any income tax as it will be into a loss.
“Similarly, when we are in a recovery phase, the companies will take a longer time to come into the profitable zone to pay income tax. In the case of indirect tax, it is more or less proportional to the business volume and turnover and compliance,” he said.
While the government has officially not released direct and indirect tax collections, industry sources said the share of indirect taxes in overall tax collections rose to about 56 per cent, the highest in over a decade for the period. This follows a sharp 26-27 per cent decline in direct tax collections.
Direct taxes are a direct outcome of income levels while indirect taxes are mostly driven by consumption as demand for some goods is inelastic either because of they being essential in nature or not substitutable like petrol and diesel.
Excise collections rose in 2020 after the government raised the tax on petrol and diesel by Rs 13 and Rs 10 per litre, respectively. Customs collections, which reflect duty paid on goods imported, grew substantially in November and December. While the revenue in December was up 94 per cent to Rs 16,157 crore, in November it was up 43 per cent to Rs 11,598 crore.
Pandey said this buoyancy in Customs collection would be due to many factors, including the introduction of faceless assessment.
“We are doing the analysis as to what kinds of goods are getting imported and customs duty on those items,” he said. “We have also brought in CAROTAR rules wherein the import from FTA countries are also being subjected to greater scrutiny and we are ensuring that goods which have undergone requisite value addition in exporting countries only they are given the benefit of FTA. So these measures, along with an uptick in the economy, are yielding results.”
The havoc wrecked by the pandemic on tax collections – that is a reflection of the economic well-being of a nation – led to the first major showdown between the Centre and the states since the implementation of the GST regime three years ago.
Sharply split on political lines, states demanded Centre to compensate them – through borrowing or from its own coffers – for the loss of revenue in a year that saw 69-days of complete lockdown and gradual easing thereafter.
The sharp decline in GST collections has led to Rs 1.80 lakh crore shortfall in GST revenues on states. This includes Rs 1.10 lakh crore revenue loss on account of GST implementation and Rs 70,000 crore on account of the pandemic.
The Centre initially opposed the demand made by non-BJP ruled states, insisting that states should borrow against future accruals of GST. For days and weeks, it gave all kinds of reasons why states should borrow but one fine day it agreed to borrow and pass on the loans to states.
GST collections, which along with excise and customs duties form part of indirect tax kitty, seemed to have stabilised over Rs 1 lakh crore mark towards the end of the year as the economy reflated and touched an all-time high of over Rs 1.15 lakh crore in December. (PTI)