North East Rising

EX-Bihar CM, Dec 12: RJD leader and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav kidney function can deteriorate at any time, the doctor treating him said on Saturday. Yadav is currently admitted at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi.

“Lalu Prasad Yadav’s kidney function can deteriorate at any time. It is difficult to predict. It is obviously alarming and I have given it in writing to authorities,” Dr Umesh Prasad said.

Nothing seems to be going well with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the party’s incarcerated chief Lalu Prasad Yadav over the last few weeks. Hearing on his bail petition in the excess withdrawal of Rs 3.13 crore from Dumka Treasury has been deferred thrice on November 6, November 27 and December 11.

The former Bihar CM landed in a row over an audiotape of him allegedly trying to bribe an elected legislator. An FIR was lodged in Bihar against Lalu Prasad Yadav for allegedly luring an MLA with the offer of a ministerial berth and for violating jail norms.

As many as 3 PILs were filed against him in the Jharkhand High Court for violation of the jail manual. He was shifted to his old address from sprawling 1 Kelly Bungalow to A11, a private ward on the first floor of RIMS in Ranchi on November 26.

The latest developments add to the woes of Lalu Prasad Yadav. Already ailing from many diseases, now, the doctor treating him says the RJD chief’s kidney function can deteriorate at any.

Lalu Prasad Yadav is known to have been diagnosed with diabetes, hypertension, and heart ailment. His kidney functioned at less than 40 per cent when he was brought to RIMS in Ranchi.

The latest health bulletin now suggests that the condition has deteriorated further. Yadav’s kidneys were functioning at stage 4 and the doctor treating him had said earlier that further deterioration in his condition would lead to new problems in which case, the RJD chief would need dialysis.

Eclipse, Dec 14: The world will be going to witness the last solar eclipse of 2020 on December 14, Monday. The S-eclipse will begin from 7:30 pm (IST) on Monday and it will end at 12:23 am (IST) on Tuesday. Monday’s eclipse will reach its peak at 9:43 pm (IST).

India will, however, have to sit this one out for it will begin after the sun has set. This is the second S-eclipse of 2020. The first one took place on June 21 and was visible from India.

A total solar eclipse

A solar eclipse is a celestial phenomenon that occurs when the disk of the moon passes between the sun and the earth. The shadow cast by the moon temporarily blocks the sun’s rays from reaching the earth. There are three types of S-eclipse – partial, total, and annual.

To gauge what kind of an eclipse it will be, astronomers use the concept of magnitude, which is the fraction of the sun’s diameter that is covered by the moon when the eclipse is at its peak.

The magnitude of a partial or annular S-eclipse is always between 0.0 and 1.0, while the magnitude of a total solar eclipse is always greater than or equal to 1.0. Monday’s eclipse will be a total eclipse for the duration of 2 minutes and 10 seconds, with a magnitude of 1.02.

Which parts of the world will be able to witness the eclipse?

Monday’s solar eclipse will not be visible from many parts of the world. Parts of Chile and Argentina in South America will bear witness to the total eclipse. The Pacific Ocean, parts of Antarctica, and the southern tip of South America will be able to see a partial eclipse.

Mandatory precautions like using special-purpose solar filters or ‘eclipse glasses’ in order to protect the eyes should be adopted by people. A solar eclipse should never be observed with naked eyes.

GST Registration, Dec 12: The government has cancelled Goods and Services Tax (GST) registration of over 163,000 business entities due to non-filing of tax returns for more than six months to curb the menace of fly-by-night operators who create bogus firms and fraudulently avail input tax credit (ITC) worth thousands of crores.

To handle the menace of fake firms and circular trading entities, GST officials have cancelled 1,63,042 registrations in the month of October and November this year due to non-filing of GSTR-3B returns for more than six months, the finance ministry officials said, requesting anonymity.

“All these business entities, who had not filed their GSTR-3B returns for more than six months, were first issued the cancellation notices and then their registrations were cancelled as per standard operating the procedure,” one of the officials said. GSTR-3B is a summary statement of business transactions filed by a registered entity every month.

In Ahmedabad zone alone, 11,048 GST registrations have been cancelled. In Chennai zone, 19,586 suo motu cancellations have been done so far in respect of GST taxpayers who have failed to file returns for more than six months, he said.

“Further, 28,635 registered entities who have not filed their GSTR-3B returns for more than six months as of December 1, 2020, have been identified and the tax authority has suo motu initiated cancellation process in these cases,” he added.

The tax authority has last month launched a massive crackdown against fake entities indulging in issuing bogus invoices to fraudulently usurp ITC. Within one month, the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) and Central GST Commissionerates have so far arrested 132 persons, including four chartered accountants and a woman for availing or passing on ineligible ITC fraudulently and have booked 1,430 cases against more than 4,586 bogus entities, a second official said.

“The tax authority is also scanning newly registered entities that have not provided correct details at the time of registration. Out of 720 deemed registrations granted between August 21 and November 16 this year, where Aadhaar authentication was not done, 55 deemed registrations have been identified for the discrepancy and the process of cancellation was initiated in these cases,” the first official said.