SC to decide whether Inland Container Depot & Container Freight Station are infra-facilities for sec

IT: SLP granted against High Court's ruling that ICDs and CFSs are infrastructural facility entitled to deduction under sub-section (4) of section 80-IA

Govt. allows e-registration and e-payment of fees under FCRA

FOREIGN CONTRIBUTION/FEMA/ILT/INDIAN ACTS & RULES : Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Rules, 2015 – Amendment in Rules 9, 12, 17, 18 & 24; Substitution of Rules 13, 16, Forms FC-1 to FC-10 and Insertion of Rule 17A

Educational-trust would remain charitable if it is selling books for certain amount to attain its ob

IT : Where assessee-trust engaged in imparting of education, received certain amount from sale of books, cassettes etc., said activity being incidental to attain main object and without any profit motive, first proviso to section 2(15) would not apply to assessee's case

On remand, Commissioner can't overturn findings of Tribunal

Excise & Customs : Where department did not challenge Tribunal's order holding that 'cocoa powder' is 'flour', same had attained finality and was binding on Commissioner; therefore, on remand, Commissioner could not have revisited same issue and rendered a finding contrary to that held by Tribunal

Assessee is entitled to interest on refund of self-assessment tax, says Madras HC

IT : Where assessee paid a tax on assessment under section 140A and later on said amount became refundable due to appellate proceedings, assessee was entitled to interest under section 244A on amount of refund

Process of cold-rolling of hot-rolled stainless steel pattis/pattas amounts to ‘manufacture’

Central Excise : Where assessee :

ST on overseas commission agency services utilized exclusively for export of goods is eligible for r

Service Tax : Refund of service tax paid on services used for export of goods cannot be denied on ground that drawback is claimed

Powers given for examination and verification under sec. 131 can be invoked before and after search

IT : Powers under section 131(1A) given to five specified authorities are not hindered by conduct of search; It can be invoked both before and after conduct of search

You Are Here:Homemarket Rupee Falls To Lowest Level In Over 2 Years Against Dollar: 10 Facts

The rupee fell an over 2-year low of 67.09/dollar on Monday amid risk aversion in emerging market assets ahead of the US Fed meet later this week. This is the lowest value of the rupee since September 4, 2013.

Here are the latest updates:

1) At its day low, the rupee hit a low of 67.09 versus Friday's close of 66.88 per dollar. It traded at 67.05 as of 2:27 p.m.

2) The rupee is expected to trade in a range of 66.90 and 67.30 per dollar on Monday, according to Edelweiss Securities.

3) The rupee had closed lower for seven out of nine trading sessions this month; the currency fell 2.1 per cent against the dollar in November, making it the worst-performing emerging Asia currency.

4) The weakness in the rupee comes amid concerns that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in the US for the first time in nearly a decade on Wednesday.

5) Foreign investors have been selling in both equity and debt markets ahead of the crucial Fed meeting that begins on Tuesday. Since November 1, FIIs have sold about Rs 12,000 crore in Indian equity markets, pushing the rupee lower.

6) The Reserve Bank of India has been intervening in the rupee currency futures market to defend the currency. The central bank is also seeking to prevent wild swings in bond markets by agreeing to pay higher interest rates to investors at bond auctions. It is also buying bonds in the open market to stop yields rising too much. (Read here)

7) The rupee can fall to 67.80 per dollar this week, said Edelweiss Securities. "Given the Fed meeting over next two days, we expect a highly volatile week," the brokerage added.

8) The recent weakness in China's yuan currency, which hit fresh 4-1/2 year lows on Monday, also impacted emerging market currencies such as rupee, traders said.

9) The People's Bank of China on Monday continued guiding the currency lower, setting the yuan/dollar official midpoint at its weakest since July 2011. If China devalues its currency meaningfully, then there is a risk for rupee to depreciate to 68-70 against the dollar next year, Deutsche Bank added.

10) The currency market has also been impacted by the selloff in equity markets. The Nifty has shed 4 per cent in December to a three-month low of 7,575.

Source :ndtv.com
 

India's Coal Imports May See First Drop In Five Years On Output Jump

NEW DELHI: India's annual coal imports are set to fall for the first time in five years as domestic output surges under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's push to expand domestic mining and eventually stop thermal coal imports by 2017.

Shipments into the world's third-largest coal importer nearly halved in November versus a year ago and should decline this month, leading to an overall annual decline, Coal Secretary Anil Swarup told Reuters on Monday.

"This month too imports could be as bad," Swarup said. "India's power generation has gone up but coal stocks are still high, which reflects Coal India's output growth."

Record production from state-owned producer Coal India has driven the turnaround. The company's April to November output rose 9 percent to 321.4 million tonnes, as it opens a mine a month to double output to 1 billion tonnes this decade.

Prime Minister Modi has made boosting the coal mining sector a key program of his government in order to provide electricity to all 1.2 billion people in the country. Toward that, the government has fast-tracked environmental clearances, making land purchases easier.

Swarup said it was difficult to predict a figure but imports could fall to 170 million tonnes or less this fiscal year ending March 31, from about 212 million tonnes last fiscal year.

That would be the first fall since 2010/11 and the second since 2002/03. India measures imports by a fiscal year starting on April 1.

India's November imports sank to 11.6 million tonnes, down 49 per cent from the year before, while for April-November it was down 12 per cent at 112 million tonnes.

Indonesian imports have suffered the most as Indian domestic production has increased since the majority of their production is thermal coal. The country accounts for more than half of India's total coal imports.

Australian and South African imports are still needed since they mainly export high-quality coking coal used to make steel. India, which wants to triple its steel capacity to 300 million tonnes by 2025, does not have enough reserves of coking coal.

 

Source :economictimes.indiatimes.com

No penalty merely on admission of undisclosed income during search proceedings

IT : Penalty under section 271AAA could not be levied merely on admission of assessee during search proceedings and there must be some conclusive evidence before Assessing Officer that entry made in seized documents represented undisclosed income of assessee

Cotton Production Down But High Stocks Reining Prices: Icac

fter five consecutive seasons of excess supply, overall global production of cotton has fallen below the estimated consumption in the 2015-16 season but international prices continue to remain weak due to very high levels of stock, the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) has said .

Notwithstanding a slew of support measures by governments across the world that touched a record $10.4 billion in 2014-2-15, production of cotton was below demand, ICAC said in a statement released at the conclusion of its 4-day 74th Plenary meeting in Mumbai.

Large stocks accumulated as a result of governments' intervention from 2011-12 to 2014-15 would remain the key factor in determining the fundamentals of the cotton market for the foreseeable future, it said observing that demand for cotton continues to expand at a slow rate as a result of sluggish world economic growth and strong competition from synthetic fibers, especially polyester.

In order to improve the prospects for cotton, the ICAC endorsed the recommendations of its Private Sector Advisory Panel, foremost being to ensure that fiber-content labels on textile products were more visible so that consumers could make informed choices, and also promote transparency in the supply chain.

The committee also favoured conducting a study on the economic factors underlying the growth of polyester production and demand, to enable members to better understand the dynamics of competition among fibers. It also advised members to encourage an increased diversification of the uses of cotton, including composites and technical textiles, and a wider use of cotton by-products throughout the value chain, to add value to the sector.

The Committee endorsed the recommendation received from the Private Sector Advisory Panel (PSAP) regarding the need to standardize phytosanitary certificates and recommended that the Secretariat work with members to raise awareness of this issue within the World Trade Organization.

The ICAC was informed that although contractual disputes had decreased in the last year, improvements were required in the enforcement of arbitration awards. All members of the Committee are signatories of the 1958 Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (commonly known as the New York Convention), but claimants were often unable to get their awards enforced, which was impacting the cotton trade and consumption.

The ICAC reaffirmed its support for a multilateral trading system under the aegis of the World Trade Organization, whose representative presented a summary of the current status of talks on the commodity ahead of the forthcoming 10th Ministerial Conference of the WTO to be held in Nairobi later this month.

Source :fibre2fashion.com
 

COMPAT sets aside penalty of Rs. 6,316 crores on 11 cement companies

Competition Act, 2002: COMPAT sets aside the impugned order passed by the CCI whereby the appellants were held guilty of having acted in violation of Section 3(3)(a) and 3(3)(b) read with Section 3(1) of the Competition Act, 2002 and penalty @ 0.5 times of net profit was imposed on ten appellants (manufacturers of cement) and penalty of 10% on total receipts for two years was imposed on the Cement Manufacturer's Association. COMPAT also, remitted the matter to CCI for fresh adjudication of the

CCE(A)'s order can be challenged through writ without going before CESTAT if principal contentions w

Excise & Customs : Non-consideration of assessee's principal contentions by adjudicating authority/Commissioner (Appeals) amounts to violation of principles of natural justice; therefore, writ petition filed against order of Commissioner (Appeals) is maintainable because appeal remedy before Tribunal is not effective in such cases

Exp. on issuance of sweat equity to employees is capital exp.

IT: Where Sweat Equity Shares were issued to two employees by assessee company for value addition in form of their vast experience in new business concepts and professional experience and, accordingly, value addition took character of an intangible asset, issuance of shares was capital expenditure

As Cheaper Imports Increases Copper Industry Sends Sos To Government

NEW DELHI: India's three copper majors — Hindalco IndustriesBSE 2.42 %, Vedanta Ltd and Hindustan Copper Ltd—have warned the government that the sector is facing an imminent shutdown in the face of a surge in cheaper imports from Japan and Asean countries, which could jeopardise the Narendra Modi-led government's 'Make In India' initiative.

Operating at 75% of capacity, the industry has cautioned about further cuts in production that could impact 10,000 jobs, blaming freetrade agreements or FTAs, which would allow an influx of duty-free copper by 2021, for making the entire sector unviable.

The development assumes significance amid a tepid global commodity market that is seeing demand shrink as China's hunger for resources is slowing down in tandem with its growth. The copper industry's SOS call comes within a month of the Modi government decision to impose a 20% safeguard duty on import of some steel products for 200 days, after a similar clarion call from local steelmakers.
 

 

Source :economictimes.indiatimes.com

Indian Leather Products To Be Showcased In Dubai

DUBAI: Indian leather products such as footwear, garments and accessories will be showcased at a 2-day exhibition beginning here tomorrow.

The event is being organised by India's Council for Leather Exports, the Indian Embassy in UAE, Consulate General of India, Dubai and India Trade & Exhibition Centre(ITEC) M.E.

It will be inaugurated by Indian envoy in the UAE Anurag Bhushan in the presence of Padma Shri M Rafeeque Ahmed, Chairman, Council for Leather Exports and Sudesh K Aggarwal, Chairman ITEC M.E.

The event on December 15-16 will focus on showcasing India's finest leather & leather products ranging from finished leather, leather & non leather footwear, footwear components, leather garments, leather goods & accessories etc.

The event has received wide support with more that 250 brands and companies who have registered to attend the event which includes top buyers and industry leaders.

"Indian leather sector has been included as one of the 'Focus Sectors' under 'Make in India' Programme of the Prime Minister. A turnover target of USD 27 billion (as against present turnover of USD 12.5 billion) has been set for the leather industry under Make in India, which is to be achieved by 2020," said M Rafeeque Ahmed.

The tremendous growth potential offered by Indian leather industry both on export and domestic fronts, provides scope not only for sourcing high value leather products and footwear but also for joint ventures/technical collaborations etc. for UAE entrepreneurs.

The Council for Leather Exports is the single largest and Apex trade promotion orgnisation of the strong and rapidly growing Indian leather & leather products industry.

"The export of leather and leather products increased manifold over the past decades and touched USD 6.5 billion during 2014-15 recording a cumulative annual growth rate of about 13.10 per cent (5 years).

"India's export of leather and leather products to UAE increased from USD 69.05 million in the year 2009-10 to USD 284.06 million in the year 2014-15, growing at a CAGR rate of 32.69 per cent," Ahmed said.

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com

Shipping bills can't be converted into drawback shipping bills if drawback wasn't claimed due to non

Excise & Customs : As per Rule 12 of Drawback Rules, 1995, conversion of free shipping bills into drawback shipping bills, is permissible only if drawback was not claimed by exporter 'for reasons beyond his control'; merely because assessee was not aware of correct legal position would not afford any such ground that it was beyond his control

India's November Vegetable Oil Imports Rise 13% Y/Y: Trade Body

Import of vegetable oils is up by 13% in November according to data complied by the Solvent Extractors' Association of India.Import of vegetable oils during November 2015 is reported at 1,342,435 tons compared to 1,189,934 tons in November, 2014, consisting of 1,337,936 tons of edible oils and 4,499 tons of non-edible oils- up by 13% mainly due to

Excess supply of veg. oils in international market coupled with low price and and Nil export duty by Indonesia and Malaysia boosted their export to India.

Domestic edible oil industry and farming communities are hit by the current upward trend of edible oil imports, which has increased by 24% during 2014-15 over the same period of last year (14.4 million tons of edible oil was imported from Nov.,2014 to Oct.,2015). It is a well known fact that globally the prices of edible oil are historically low since 2008, and had affected the domestic players.

No reassessment on 'Dell' due to rejection of revenue recognition method on extended warranty

IT: Rejection of system of accounting maintained by assessee in subsequent year cannot be a reason for reopening an already concluded assessment