Daily confirmed COVID-19 deaths per million people

I think the most appropriate metric to compare effect of corona virus across countries is to see Daily confirmed COVID-19 deaths per million people by country.

This can be seen here: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/new-covid-deaths-per-million?tab=chart&time=2020-05-20&country=BGD+BRA+CHN+DEU+IND+IRN+ITA+PAK+RUS+SGP+ZAF+ESP+LKA+THA+GBR+USA+OWID_WRL

How to test internet connectivity on Linux

Without ping

#!/bin/bash
wget -q --spider http://google.com
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
    echo "Online"
else
    echo "Offline"
fi

-q : Silence mode
--spider : don't get, just check page availability
$? : shell return code
0 : shell "All OK" code

Without wget

#!/bin/bash
echo -e "GET http://google.com HTTP/1.0\n\n" | nc google.com 80 > /dev/null 2>&1
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
    echo "Online"
else
    echo "Offline"
fi

Source: https://stackoverflow.com/a/26820300/490192

COVID-19 comparison across countries

This site provides very good charts where we can add countries and see a comparison of the COVID-19 situation in them. This link compares India with US, UK, Italy, Spain, China, South Korea and Japan

https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/total-cases-covid-19?country=CHN+IND+ITA+ESP+USA+KOR+JPN+GBR

How to check security vulnerabilities in your Node.js packages

npm i --package-lock-only
npm audit --registry=https://registry.npmjs.org

Reference: https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/audit

Budget 2020-21 - Income Tax - Which scheme is better - New or Old?

I calculated Income tax for different income levels with proposals in Budget for FY 2020-21 considering only two exemptions below for different income levels using this calculator: https://cleartax.in/paytax/taxcalculator.

1. 1.5 lakh under Section 80C (investments)
2. 25000 under 80D (medical insurance) 

I have not included the following exemptions allowed under Old scheme specifically - 

1. Standard deduction of 50,000/- in Old scheme as it is available only to Salaried employees (NOT to businessmen, self-employed or retirees).
2. Exemption for donations under Section 80G.
3. Brought Forward Capital Gain Losses from earlier years.
4. NPS under Section 80 CCD as most people do not opt for it due the 
1. Lacking indexation benefit even though held for long.
2. The compulsion to buy an annuity at retirement age

You can use the calculator https://cleartax.in/paytax/taxcalculator to calculate the tax for your specific case.

Results below.

Income	Which is better? (Old/New)	Difference
5 lakhs	Same	0
7.5 lakhs	Old	Rs. 10400/-
10 lakhs	Old	Rs. 2600/-
12.5 lakhs	Old	Rs. 10400/-
15 lakhs	New	Rs. 23,400/-
20 lakhs	New	Rs. 23,400/-
25 lakhs	New	Rs. 23,400/-
30 lakhs	New	Rs. 23,400/-
35 lakhs	New	Rs. 23,400/-
40 lakhs	New	Rs. 23,400/-

Important Note: Under Old plan, salaried employees can claim the standard deduction of Rs.50,000/- and so save a tax of Rs.15,600/-.

In this particular situation discussed above.

• The old scheme is better if income is less than 15 lakh. The new scheme saves Rs.23,400/- for salary above 15 lakhs.
• If you avail interest benefit of Rs.2 lakh from home loan, the Old scheme is always better.

Helpful articles

• https://cleartax.in/s/income-tax-slabs
• Six income tax slabs in, 70 exemptions out: Impact on taxpayers
  
  
  Read more at:
  https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/wealth/tax/six-income-tax-slabs-in-70-exemptions-out-impact-on-taxpayers/articleshow/73861843.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
• https://cleartax.in/s/income-tax-slabs#c