Jeff Bezos has announced that he would step down as the chief executive officer of Amazon in the third quarter of 2021. In a letter, Bezos said he would "stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives" but would pivot towards philanthropic initiatives, including his Day One Fund and Bezos Earth Fund, and other business ventures in space exploration (Blue Origin) and journalism (The Washington Post). The 57-year-old executive was further quick to announce Andy Jassy as his successor, who also heads Amazon Web Services - one of Amazon's most profitable ventures. Similarly, several leaders and tech CEOs took to social media to congratulate Jassy on his new role, and send their best wishes to Bezos.

Among the leaders, Google's parent Alphabet's CEO Sundar Pichai was among the first to wish Bezos farewell as the chief officer of Amazon. Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, also congratulated both Bezos and Jassy while noting the latter's accomplishments. Chairman of the US-based commercial real estate company WeWork and COO of Softbank Marcelo Claure congratulated Bezos on joining the "Executive Chairman" club. Founder of Fable and board member of Spotify Padmasree Warrior also lauded Andy's for his new role.

The Delhi High Court has temporarily restrained Future Group from selling its retail assets to Reliance Industries Ltd, an interim win for Amazon which is opposing the deal with an eye to dominate a large and vital consumer market.

The court today ordered the Future Group and officials to ensure the status of the indebted Indian retailer's assets are maintained as is, putting on hold any further steps toward completing the $3.4 billion sale to billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance conglomerate. Amazon alleges that the deal violates its own contract with Future Group and had filed an urgent petition last week seeking the suspension. The order can be challenged in a higher court.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has proposed 100 Agri Infra Cess on alcoholic beverages
under the AIDC Scheme or Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess Scheme. This agri
infra cess will be applicable on all alcoholic products — Brandy, Whisky, Scotch, Burbon, etc.
This 100 per cent agri infra cess will be applicable from 2nd February 2021 though the budget
proposals are supposed to get implemented from 1st April 2021.
"To ensure the imposition of cess does not lead to additional burden in most of these items on the
consumer, the basic customs duty (BCD) rates have been lowered. This cess shall be used to
finance the improvement of agriculture infrastructure and other development expenditure," the
Finance Ministry said in a statement.

In the midst of an economic slowdown induced by the ongoing pandemic, the Hon’ble Finance Minister must grapple with the challenging task of encouraging consumption for economic revival against our peaking fiscal deficit in the upcoming Union Budget, 2021. Tax proposals will play a key role in this balancing act.

To begin with, the Government is likely to focus on the basics, for giving relief on the personal income tax front. For instance, the Government may consider continuing the reduced TDS rates by 25% for another fiscal year to ensure extra liquidity. Additional relief in the form of special deductions for COVID related health expenses would be a welcome step too. Other measures, such as increasing the basic exemption limit or increasing the threshold of section 80C deductions under the Income-tax Act, could also encourage saving and ensure more spending money in the hands of individual and HUF taxpayers.  

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has reduced the notice period for telecom companies to use new spectrum to offer new technology to six months. This is likely to speed up the rollout process of 5G which will take place after the spectrum auction slated for March 2021. Previously, the notice period for telecom companies to start a new technology using the available spectrum was one year.

"In case of switching over to different technology while rolling out the networks for compliance of roll-out obligations, information regarding the new technology should be given at least six months before any new technology base station is offered for testing," news agency PTI cited the amendment in the spectrum auction clause released by the DoT.