GST collections drop to six-month low of ₹ 98,202 crore in August

Average collections this financial year are still above ₹ 1.02 lakh crore

Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenues slid to a six-month low of ₹ 98,202 crore in August 2019. Average collections this financial year are still above ₹ 1.02 lakh crore, however. 　

"The total gross GST revenue collected in the month of August, 2019 is ₹ 98,202 crore of which CGST is ₹ 17,733crore, SGST is ₹ 24,239crore, IGST is ₹ 48,958 crore and cess is ₹ 7,273 crore," the government said in a release. "The total number of GSTR 3B Returns filed for the month of July up to August 31, 2019 is 75.80 lakh."　

The revenue collected in August 2019 was 4.51% higher than what was collected in the same month of the previous year. 　

"During April-August 2019 vis-à-vis 2018, the domestic component has grown by 9.11% while the GST on imports has come down by 1.43% and the total collection has grown by 6.38%," the release added.

‘Rhythm + Flow’, Netflix Hip-Hop Music Competition Series, Sets First-Look Teaser

The first look and premiere date for Rhythm + Flow, Netflix’s first music competition series, has been unveiled. Featuring hip-hop icons Cardi B, Chance the Rapper, and T.I. as judges, the series debuts Oct. 9.

The judges will search for the next hip-hop sensation, bringing together industry legends across a multi-city search in hip-hop epicenters Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta and Chicago, to find raw talent and help undiscovered artists pursue their come up.

Companies involved in the show include Gaspin Media, Jesse Collins Entertainment, and Get Lifted Film Co.  Executive producers are Jeff Gaspin for Gaspin Media; Jesse Collins for Jesse Collins Entertainment; Nikki Boella; John Legend, Mike Jackson, and Ty Stiklorius for Get Lifted Film Co.; Jeff Pollack; Cardi B; Chance the Rapper; and Tip “T.I.” Harris

Cardi B debuted the teaser during her co-headlining set at the 2019 Made In America Festival. New episodes of Rhythm + Flow will roll out each Wednesday, with different phases of the competition featured across 10 hour-long episodes:

• Week 1 (Wednesday, October 09): The Auditions (episodes 1-4)

• Week 2 (Wednesday, October 16): Cyphers, Rap Battles & Music Videos (episodes 5-7)

• Week 3 (Wednesday, October 23):  Samples, Collaborations & Finale (episodes 8-10.

'Catastrophic' Hurricane Dorian turns into category 5, NHC says

Hurricane Dorian has been elevated to a category 5 storm, the National Hurricane Center said via Twitter on Sunday morning.

"#Dorian is now a category 5 #hurricane with 160 mph sustained winds. The eyewall of this catastrophic hurricane is about to hit the Abaco Islands with devastating winds," the tweet read.

"Life-threatening storm surge and very heavy rainfall also expected… Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion," the NHC said in a separate advisory. 

Millions of residents along the Southeastern U.S. coast are on high alert amid warnings the storm would move northeast after battering the Bahamas, threatening Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.

The NHC also issued a tropical storm warning for parts of Eastern Florida ⁠— north of the state's Deerfield Beach to Sebastian Inlet ⁠— meaning tropical storm conditions are expected in the area generally within 36 hours.

"Interests elsewhere in southern and central Florida should continue to monitor the progress of Dorian. Additional watches or warnings may be required for portions of the east coast of Florida today," the center's statement said.

This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.

American Air Pulls 737 Max From Schedule Through Early December

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American Airlines Group Inc. is removing the Boeing Co. 737 Max from its schedule for another month, forcing the cancellation of 140 daily flights through Dec. 3, as the carrier awaits U.S. regulatory approval to operate the grounded plane.

The airline “remains confident that impending software updates to the Boeing 737 Max, along with the new training elements Boeing is developing in coordination with our union partners, will lead to re-certification of the aircraft this year,” American said in a statement Sunday.

American announced its decision two days after United Airlines Holdings Inc. pulled the Max from flight plans until Dec. 19. Southwest Airlines Co., the largest operator of the Max, has taken the aircraft out of its schedule through Jan. 5.

The Max, Boeing’s best-selling jet, has been grounded worldwide since March 13, following two crashes within five months that killed 346 people.

— With assistance by Justin Bachman

France Is Still Cleaning Up Marie Curie’s Nuclear Waste

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In 1933 nuclear physicist Marie Curie had outgrown her lab in the Latin Quarter in central Paris. To give her the space needed for the messy task of extracting radioactive elements such as radium from truckloads of ore, the University of Paris built a research center in Arcueil, a village south of the city. Today it’s grown into a crowded ­working-class suburb. And the dilapidated lab, set in an overgrown garden near a 17th century aqueduct, is sometimes called Chernobyl on the Seine.

No major accidents occurred at the lab, which closed in 1978. But it’s brimming with radio­activity that will be a health threat for millennia, and France’s nuclear watchdog has barred access to anyone not wearing protective clothing. The lab is surrounded by a concrete wall topped by barbed wire and surveillance cameras. Monitors constantly assess radiation, and local officials regularly test the river. “We’re proof that France has a serious nuclear waste problem,” says Arcueil Mayor Christian Métairie. “Our situation raises questions about whether the country is really equipped to handle it.”