Amazon said Tuesday that it bought 11 jets from Delta and WestJet airlines to boost its growing delivery network and get orders to shoppers faster. The company said it’s the first time it has purchased planes for its delivery network. Over the past couple of years, Amazon has been leasing planes to build its fleet.

Having a mix of both leased and owned aircraft in our growing fleet allows us to better manage our operations,” said Sarah Rhoads, vice president of Amazon Global Air, in a blog post. Seattle-based Amazon has been working to deliver most of its packages itself and rely less on UPS, the U.S. Postal Service and other carriers. Besides its fleet of planes, Amazon has also built several package-sorting hubs at airports, opened warehouses closer to where shoppers live and launched a program that lets contractors start businesses delivering packages in vans stamped with the Amazon logo.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari talks about measures to boost electric vehicle production, assures govt support to lockdown-battered MSME sector, says the govt has taken several steps for benefit of farmers, and lays out details of a multi-modal hub in Nagpur. 

He explains that the most important development for the country is infrastructure development… In my office in Delhi, we have put up a statement by former American President John F Kennedy: ‘American roads are not good because America is rich. But America is rich because American roads are good.’ Prosperity comes from roads. India has a huge potential for infrastructure development. We have the potential of making at least 300 airports. We have already completed 100 new airports. We can launch seaplanes. The service is already available in Gujarat at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel statue (Statue of Unity in Kevadia in Narmada district) … And, we can convert our rivers, lakes and dams into water ports. This is going to encourage tourism, and will go on to provide employment

With department's intelligence and focused with data analytics and information from agencies, the government has launched a massive crackdown on GST evaders, initiating action against 7,000 entities including arrest of 187 — a campaign that contributed to buoyancy in tax collection, Finance Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey said on Sunday. The government netted a record GST collection of Rs 1.15 lakh crore in December 2020, helped by the action against tax evaders alongside pick up in the economy.

In an interview to a news agency, Pandey said action against fake invoicing racket in last one- and-a-half months has led to arrest of 187, including five chartered accountants and one company secretary. "Many of them including some managing directors are in jail for last 40-50 days. There are few large companies which too are found involved in taking fake bills through multiple layers, thereby evading GST and income tax. So they have also been booked," he said.

GST collections touched a record high of over Rs 1.15 lakh crore in December, reflecting festive demand and reflating economy.

The gross GST revenue collected in the month of December 2020 is Rs 1,15,174 crore and is the highest since the introduction of Goods and Services Tax from July 1, 2017, the Finance Ministry said in a statement. 

"This is the highest growth in monthly revenues for the last 21 months. This has been due to combined effect of the rapid economic recovery post-pandemic and the nation-wide drive against GST evaders and fake bills along with many systemic changes introduced recently, which have led to improved compliance," the Finance Ministry said in a statement. The total number of GSTR-3B Returns filed for the month of November up to 31st December 2020 is 87 lakh.

Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar has said that the Indian economy will grow at the rate of 10 per cent in 2021-22 in "real terms." He noted that owing to the coronavirus lockdown and other curbs amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the country will reach "pre-COVID level" by the end of 2021 as the growth will happen in positive numbers, particularly in Q4 of 2020-21.

"Our economy will grow at 10% in 2021-22 in real terms. By the end of next year, we will reach pre-COVID level. Growth will be in positive figures in the fourth quarter of 2020-21," Kumar told ANI.

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted the economy, leading to job losses and businesses being shut. Nevertheless, as the government relaxed lockdown curbs, the economy began manifesting revival signs.