Investment In Iran’S Oil And Gas Will Benefit India And Iran

India and Iran have had economic relations for centuries. However, their relations entered into a new era after the partition of the Indian subcontinent into India and Pakistan, the Iranian Islamic republic revolution and the Iranian nuclear issue.



Following the partition of the Indian subcontinent, India lost its adjacency with Iran and the two countries followed divergent foreign policies arising out of the post-partition political developments ([i]). On the other hand, Iranian Islamic revolution changed Iran’s relation with the world including India. In the recent years and after the international sanctions against Iran’s economy, Iran and India are experiencing a new and complicated political and commercial relationship.



India-Iran commercial ties are mostly related to Indian import of Iranian crude oil. On one hand, India is the second largest buyer of Iranian crude oil. On the other, Iran is the sixth biggest supplier of crude oil to India ([ii]). Iran is also a major source for India’s imports of petrochemical substances.



Even after the sanctions imposed on Iranian crude exports, India and Iran have put in place a rupee payment mechanism for continuing oil trade, because foreign banks had refused to deal with Iran fearing penalties by the US.



India and Iran hold regular bilateral talks on economic and trade issues at the India-Iran Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) ([iii]). Recently, in the JCM, the opportunities for India to participate in various projects in Iran including in oil and gas sector is discussed ([iv]).



The two countries have held talks on various projects, including the IPI gas pipeline project, A long term annual supply of 5 million tons of LNG, development of the Farsi oil and gas blocks, South Pars gas field and LNG project, Chahbahar port project (Chabahar port is often referred to as the ‘Golden Gate’ to the landlocked Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries and Afghanistan).



The two countries have also signed a Bilateral Investment Promotion & Protection Agreement (BIPPA) and are in the process of finalizing a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA).



Indian companies which had or have a presence in Iran include ESSAR, ONGC Videsh Ltd. (OVL) and TATA. Joint ventures between India and Iran include the Irano-Hind Shipping Company, the Madras Fertilizer Company and the Chennai Refinery.



Benefits for Iran



According to the OPEC Annual Statistical Bulletin published on 2013, Iran has 157.30 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and 33,780 trillion cubic meters of proven gas reserves ([v]). It ranks third in the world in oil reserves and second in gas reserves ([vi]).



Iran’s economy is heavily reliant on oil and gas as its main source of foreign currency earnings. In fact, Iran’s hydrocarbon sector is the main pillar of the country’s economy. Revenues from oil and gas exports account for about 42.5% of government revenues and are Iran's chief source of foreign exchange ([vii]).



But the lack of foreign investment had already dragged down production of oil and gas in Iran. The foreign investment which results in transfer of technology and funds is an important element for the development of hydrocarbon sector which Iran lacked in the recent years.



Meanwhile Iran needs to increase its production and its position in the OPEC and to play a chief role in the petroleum market.



Iran shares several joint oil fields with its neighbors. Iraq, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Iran’s other neighbors by entering in to contracts with powerful oil companies have increased their production in their joint oil fields with Iran. But due to the international sanctions, Iran is not able to cooperate with those companies to develop its joint fields.



Therefore and since Indian companies have the technology and funds, Iran needs Indian investment in its hydrocarbon sector to increase the amount of oil and gas production. In fact, the Indian’s investment in Iran’s oil sector would have the following main results for Iran:



Benefits for India



In today’s world, the high ratio of the energy consumption reflects the development of countries and those without enough energy resources face many economic and political difficulties and have to prepare their required energy at any costs.



Because of its large population and the need for fast economic growth, India’s share in world energy demand is projected to increase from 5.5% in 2009 to 8.6% in 2035 ([viii]).



With high rates of economic growth and over 17 per cent of the world’s population, India has become a significant consumer of energy resources. The government hopes to maintain an annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of about 8–10 per cent over the next quarter century to meet its goals for poverty eradication. This level of growth will require India to at least triple its primary energy supply.



The Indian refinery possessed the capacity of 177 million metric tons by 2012. Therefore, India is getting to be a regional refinery center, so India needs safe and secure imports. It seems Iran is one of the best choices of India due to its geographical situation.



Although India’s natural gas production has consistently increased, demand has already exceeded supply and the country has been a net importer of natural gas since 2004. Iran has an enormous reserve of natural gas, which according to a 2008 estimate stands second only to Russia.



Already India imports more than two-thirds of its hydrocarbon requirements and any further escalation would adversely affect its energy security ([ix]).



Therefore India has to diversify its manner of energy supply. It seems that investing in other countries to explore and exploit their oil fields is the best way to supply more petroleum to India. Iran is close to India geographically and has good political ties with it. Furthermore the two countries have many cultural affinities that facilitate the India’s investment in Iran.



Yet, India has expressed its determination to continue to pursue its energy cooperation with Tehran ([x]). ,



View to the Future



After the Geneva agreement between Iran and P5+1 (UN Security Council permanent members Britain, France, Russia, USA and China as well as Germany), experts are so optimistic about the lifting of sanctions against Iranian oil and gas industry. Now many companies are waiting for the green light from the sanction-imposers to invest in Iran’s vast oil and gas fields.



According to Reuters, on December 4, the Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanegeneh named seven western oil companies which Iran wants back to Iran’s oil and gas sector which is a bright sign to oil companies.



After the lifting of sanctions, Indian companies by establishing joint-ventures, consortiums and other kinds of co-operations with those oil giants or even independently can participate in Iran’s oil and gas industry and increase the energy security for their country.



Iran can benefit itself from Indian’s companies’ participation in its hydrocarbon sector to promote its relation with India and increase its crude production. *Erfan Ghassempour is doing Masters in International Law at the Allameh Tabatabai University, Tehran, with focus on ‘Indirect Expropriation in the International Oil and Gas Arbitration’. As Bachelor in Law he wrote thesis on ‘The Role of United Nations on Prevention of Wars’.

Source:- indepthnews.info

Four Weeks In, Locals Feel The Pain Of China’S Shellfish Import Ban

China and Hong Kong have closed their doors to all shellfish imports from an area that stretches from northern California to Alaska. The move is costing the shellfish industry in Washington State hundreds of thousands of dollars. Ashley Ahearn reports.



The Chinese government instituted the ban in early December after finding two bad clams. One from Alaska had high levels of the biotoxin that causes paralytic shellfish poisoning. The other came from Puget Sound and tested high for inorganic arsenic. Washington does not test for arsenic in shellfish. 90 percent of the geoduck harvested in Washington are sold to China and Hong Kong. And the ban is having real impacts here.



Lydia Sigo: “We dive right out here in this area. That’s where we get the majority of our pounds is off this tract right here.”



Lydia Sigo stands on a dock on the Suquamish Tribe’s reservation near Seattle. It’s quiet on the water. No boats anywhere to be seen. The tribe is losing $20,000 dollars each day that the ban is in place.



“That’s been really frustrating because there’s about 25 divers in our tribe, that’s 25 families that really need to buy their kids Christmas presents or pay their mortgage, pay their rent. For me, I can’t keep going on like this for very long.”



To make matters worse, Sigo says, 40 percent of the money the tribal divers get from selling their geoduck goes to support the tribal elders.



"So this is affecting the entire tribe and other state divers, geoduck farms, people all over the state. It’s a huge industry and we spend that money in our local economies."



The shellfish industry in Washington is worth 270 million dollars annually, and China is the biggest market for exports. This is the broadest shellfish ban the Chinese have ever put in place. But it’s not the first time China has banned a major import from the U.S. Beef imports from the U.S. have been banned for the past ten years. More recently, China rejected about half a million tons of U.S. corn because it contained a genetically modified strain.



Chinese officials have been slow to reveal details of their shellfish testing methods. That’s prompted some to raise concerns about political motivations behind the shellfish ban. Tabitha Mallory is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Princeton-Harvard China and the World Program.



“It is possible that it could be retaliation for something. That has happened in the past.”



In 2010 China banned salmon imports from Norway after the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the political activist Liu Xiaobo. Mallory says it’s unclear what kind of larger political statement China could be making with the shellfish ban.



“I think it’s good to consider all the possible motivations for this, but I don’t think that we should write off the possibility that it is a legitimate accusation.”



The contaminated clam was harvested near the former site of a copper smelter in Tacoma, which had leached arsenic into the surrounding area. Washington state officials have now closed the area and are testing shellfish for arsenic. Results are expected in the coming days. The state is losing 5-$600,000 dollars each week the ban persists, according to state officials.

Source:- nwpr.org

Half Of Odisha’S Iron Ore Mines Lack Clearance: Panel

Ninety-four of the 192 iron ore mining leases in Odisha do not have the mandatory environmental clearances. And of the 96 that did have them, 75 have mined far beyond their permitted levels over the past several years, the Justice M.B. Shah Commission report on illegal iron and manganese ore mining has said.



The Hindu has accessed parts of the report, which is yet to be tabled in Parliament. It is the last one from the Justice Shah Commission.



The exhaustive five-volume report lays bare how the mines have continued to use a loophole in the law for years and flagrantly violate environmental and other norms to pump out iron at a time when international prices of the metal are booming. It is to be considered by the Union Cabinet before it is tabled in the next session of Parliament.



The report says 56 mining leases operated close to identified wildlife areas without adequate protection to wildlife. The mandatory forest clearances had not been obtained in several cases. Water bodies in and around 55 mines have been polluted. Water has depleted in natural streams in some cases and forestlands impacted adversely in several. A mining project within 10 kilometre vicinity of a protected wildlife area requires mandatory clearance from the National Board of Wildlife, which too was not obtained in several cases.



The Hindu contacted the offices of Union Minister for Mines and Minerals Dinsha Patel and Union Environment and Forests Minister Veerappa Moily for comments on the report, but neither returned the calls.



The Shah Commission held both the Central government authorities and the Odisha government responsible for the blatant and wide-ranging illegal mining that have continued unchecked for years. It has recommended that the entire extraction in all cases where leases operated without mandatory environmental clearances be treated as illegal and the market value — domestic or export — recovered from defaulting miners.

Source:- thehindu.com

Cotton Market Trade Activity Slumps Ahead Of Holiday

Trading activity came down on the cotton market on Tuesday as some leading buyers were on the sidelines ahead of birth anniversary of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, dealers said. The official spot rate was unchanged at Rs 6,650, they added. Prices of seed cotton in Sindh per 40 kg were inert at Rs 2500-3100, in Punjab rates were at Rs 2900-3400, dealers said.



In the ready session, around 12,000 bales of cotton changed hands between Rs 5900-7000, dealers said. Prices were firm as fine quality is in demand by the mills and spinners, cotton analyst Naseem Usman said. Seed cotton arrivals are coming down day by day and good type is short in demand, some were importing fine cotton from India to compete the world market, other brokers said.



They said that industries were facing problem due to shortage of gas and power in the country, it was learnt that the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Company Limited (SNGPL) did not restore gas supply to the industry for 48 hours in Southern Punjab, this factor is dragging us in the unforeseen uncertainties, other analysts said. NY cotton futures were down on Monday.



The following deals reported as 800 bales from Mir Pur Khas at Rs 5900-6000, 1500 bales from Mir Pur Dewan at Rs 7000, 400 bales from Ghotki at Rs 7000, 200 bales from Samandri at Rs 6625, 400 bales from Basti Malook at Rs 6650, 400 bales from Bahawal Nagar at Rs 6700, 400 bales from Vehari at Rs 6750, 800 bales from Rajan Pur at Rs 6800-6850, 800 bales from Bakhar at Rs 6800-6950, 400 bales from Rahim Yar Khan at Rs 6800, 800 bales from Khan Pur at Rs 6800, 1600 bales from Hasil Pur at Rs 6850, 1000 bales from Ali Pur at Rs 7000, 400 bales from Burewala (Conditional) at Rs 7000 and 1600 bales from Mian Wali at Rs 7000, they added.

Source:- brecorder.com

India-Iran Trade 15% Value-Addition Norm Likely To Boost Project Exports

After the ‘rupee payment mechanism’ for trading with Iran kicked in last year, India’s exports to the Gulf country rose steeply, as Iran needs to buy goods from India to make use of the rupees that it gets for its oil exports.



According to UCO Bank, which handles trade with Iran, India’s exports to Iran currently stand at about $500 million. This is compared with $40 million a year back – a sharp rise of over 12 times.



Interestingly, most of these exports are food items. UCO Bank has so far processed 3,112 letters of credit (LCs), involving goods worth Rs 17,463 crore, of which 960 LCs worth Rs 12,191 crore, or 70 per cent, were for food and agricultural products. And the commodity that witnessed the most dramatic rise in exports was basmati rice. While India exported Rs 2,034 crore worth of the aromatic rice in 2010-11, the figure jumped to Rs 6,166 crore in the first six months of the current year.



Now, the US government has eased restrictions on India (as well as China and South Korea) for buying more oil from Iran. Also, though not formally agreed upon, Iran wants India to pay 55 per cent of its oil dues in euros. Therefore, experts see Iran accumulating more rupees and the only way it can use the money is by buying goods and services from India.



Against this backdrop, India has begun encouraging domestic companies to bid for projects in Iran, such as for laying roads, building railway lines or factories. Last week, the Commerce Ministry met officials of public sector companies, notably BHEL, SAIL and IRCON, in this regard.



Such ‘project exports’ are typically high-value in nature and take time to secure. However, the Government ushered in another measure a few months back which could help boost exports in quick time — a manufacturer can import raw materials and export to Iran with only 15 per cent value-addition; other conditions, such as the goods should leave an Indian port and should reach an Iranian port, remain unchanged.



However, export under this ‘value addition’ facility is yet to happen. T.S. Mallikarjuna, Deputy General Manager with UCO Bank, in-charge of trade with Iran in the bank, presumes that exporters may not be aware of this facility.



UCO Bank has been holding meetings with exporters — one was held in Chennai on December 21 — to sensitise them about the opportunities that Iran now offers.



At the Chennai meeting, the officials said the bank had tie-ups with six Iranian banks for processing payments and would soon enter into pacts with four more.



This would make it easier and cheaper for Iranian importers to buy goods from India, said Arun Kaul, Chairman and Managing Director of UCO Bank.



The public sector bank last year accepted the responsibility of handling payments in India-Iran trade. Under the arrangement, oil refiners, such as IOC and BPCL, buy oil from Iran but make payments into an Iran account with UCO Bank’s Mumbai branch. When Iranians buy goods from India, UCO Bank pays the Indian exporters out of the ‘Iran account’.



This arrangement sidesteps the US-sponsored sanctions against Iran, which seek to deny Iran access to US dollars or Euros, with which it could possibly buy material and equipment for making nuclear weapons.



The sanctions have come in handy for India. Since the middle of last year, India has imported crude oil worth $8 billion from Iran without the outgo of a single dollar — a big relief at a time when the rupee was plummeting against the US currency.

Source:- thehindubusinessline.com

Gold-Hungry Traders Tap Indians Living Abroad

India, vying with China to be the top buyer of gold, has choked imports to narrow its trade gap and curb the outflow of dollars. The measures included raising the import duty to a record 10 percent and making it mandatory to export as jewellery 20 percent of all gold imports.



But non-residents who have stayed abroad for more than six months can bring in gold on payment of the import duty, irrespective of end use. Such is the demand that some traders are paying passengers' air fares if they agree to carry gold.



About 80 kg of gold was brought in by non-resident Indians (NRIs) this month on a flight from Dubai to Calicut in the southern state of Kerala, said an airport official who did not want to be identified.



Travel agents typically book about 20-30 tickets on a flight on behalf of NRIs, who are accompanied by people working for traders, said Bachhraj Bamalwa, director of the All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation, an umbrella body of more than 300,000 jewellers.



"These NRIs pay the duty, so there is nothing illegal about it," Bamalwa said. "These people are mainly labourers from Tamil Nadu or Kerala, who are given a free ticket."



Government officials estimate NRIs have imported a tonne of gold since mid-November, compared to nearly nothing in previous months. That's a boon for jewellers, many of which have been operating at half capacity due to a lack of stock.



Official gold imports fell to about 21 tonnes in November, less than half the monthly requirement, data from metals consultancy Thomson Reuters GFMS showed.



Gold premiums in India rose to a record $160 per ounce on London prices earlier in December.



"To take advantage of high premiums, agents have been increasingly successful in scouting for NRIs, and pay for their partial or full air fare," said Sudheesh Nambiath, an analyst with Thomson Reuters GFMS.



NRIs can save 125,000 to 150,000 rupees per kg on premiums even after paying the import duty, industry officials said.



The import curbs are also encouraging smuggling, with customs officials between April and September seizing nearly double the amount of smuggled gold nabbed in all of 2012, according to the customs department.

Source:- in.reuters.com

Rupee Ends Strong On Banks’ Dollar Sale

The rupee ended stronger on Tuesday as some banks sold dollars and the markets derived comfort from a recent decision of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to hold interest rates, expecting a fall in inflation going ahead, which prompted some investors to believe that the central bank may be shifting its monetary stance to support growth.

The rupee ended at 61.7950 per dollar, up 0.26%. The unit opened at 61.8350 and touched a high and a low of 61.77 and 61.9675 respectively.

On Tuesday, the currency market trading volume was thin, dealers said. “Some of the custodian banks were selling dollars and foreign institutional investors (FIIs), in general, have a feeling that the RBI is turning more growth-supportive,” said N.S. Venkatesh, treasurer at IDBI Bank Ltd.

So far this year, FIIs have bought domestic equities worth $19.7 billion, while in the previous year they bought $24.55 billion.

The decision of the US Federal reserve to withdraw monetary stimulus on a gradual basis too has come as a positive factor to the financial markets, Venkatesh said. “But we shouldn’t get too much complacent about that,” Venkatesh said.

Since January this year, the Indian currency has weakened 11% and has lost the third most after the Indonesian rupiah and Japanese yen among Asian currencies during that period.

India’s benchmark equity index, the Sensex, ended at 21,032.71 points, down 0.32%.

The yield on India’s 10-year benchmark bond ended at 8.87%, compared with its Monday’s close of 8.816%.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 80.530, up 0.10% from the previous close of 80.447.

Source:- livemint.com

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IT : Where expenses claimed by assessee pertained to establishment, travelling, stationery and printing, advertisement, publicity and business development, same were related to business of assessee and were allowable

Reassessment is for revenue's benefit, no fresh claims to be made in return filed in pursuance of re

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Exp. on Compact spinning system was revenue exp., as such system would work as an attachment to exis

IT : Where assessee was engaged in business of manufacturing of yarn, expenditure incurred by assessee on introducing 'compact spinning system' was revenue in nature and was thus an allowable expenditure

Decision made by ITAT after considering correct facts and arguments on impugned issue not prone to r

IT: Where while deciding issue, Tribunal took in account correct fact as also arguments and case laws cited, rectification of Tribunal's order could not be possible

No writ lies to HC which merely seeks issuance of writ of mandamus for implementing previous decisio

IT : No writ petition can be allowed to issue writ of mandamus to implement previous decision of High Court

Land Acquisition Act effective from January 1, 2014

CL : OTHERS : Section 1 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 - Enforcement of Act - Notified date of enforcement of said act

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Excise : Purchase of Gibberillic acid and 6 Benzyl aminopurine from outside and mixing them to produce plant growth regulator is, prima facie, a process of manufacture in view of Note 8 to Chapter 38 and resultant product is classifiable under Tariff Item 3808 98 40

ITAT denies to rely on another ruling which involved a different treaty and distinguished meaning of

IT/ILT: Where Tribunal on analysis of article 5 of DTAA between India and Korea treated Mumbai based project office as assessee's fixed place of business in India, such finding could not be termed erroneous on basis of decision of Court where treaty between India and Netherland was applied

Texas Leather Furniture Offers Custom Leather Furniture Hand-Crafted In The United States

There has been a movement in the past few decades on the part of many companies that sell leather sectionals in San Antonio to purchase cheap furniture manufactured overseas. This allows stores to sell leather recliners in San Antonio at rock-bottom prices, but ultimately does not save the customer any money and leads to frustration and disillusionment.



Buying furniture in San Antonio should mean finding quality pieces that will last for many years to come. When customers visit a leather furniture store in San Antonio that sells cheap, foreign-made furniture, they end up buying "bargain" furniture that often falls apart after only a few years or simply does not look as rich and luxurious as quality leather furniture made domestically.



For this reason, San Antonio's own Texas Leather Furniture, located at http://texasleatherinteriors.com/show/living-room , refuses to "buy cheap." This store offers custom-made, quality, hand-crafted pieces in real leather that are made right here in the USA by trusted manufacturers. When customers buy a leather sectional, sofa or recliner at Texas Leather, they will immediately know that they are getting the best possible quality for their furniture dollar and are purchasing pieces that will last for a lifetime of use.



The Texas Leather Furniture showrooms in Austin and San Antonio are full of quality American-made pieces. Staff members are happy to talk to customers about the quality and workmanship evidenced by Texas Leather Furniture's selection.



About Texas Leather Furniture

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Source:- sbwire.com

Dobrá Tea Brings A Taste Of World Teas To Downtown Northampton

They fell in love over tea while attending college in Vermont, created a tea program for a shop near Glacier National Park in Montana and backpacked through China’s tea lands to learn about the centuries-old practice of growing and processing tea.



And after much soul-searching and good fortune, the couple in late November launched a Bohemian-style tearoom called Dobrá Tea Northampton at 186 Main St., in the space formerly occupied by Eclipse Restaurant.



The tearoom features more than 100 varieties of hand-selected, loose-leaf teas from around the world, as well as light fare of locally produced, chemical-free foods.



The couple believes operating a shop that focuses solely on tea fills a unique niche in a city that tends to revolve around coffee. Based on early results, visitors agree, said Alli Jukiro.



“Northampton is such a coffee town, so it’s wonderful to have a place where you can go to have tea,” she said. “We have felt so welcomed by the city and community.”



Dobrá aims to serve its tea in a soothing atmosphere designed to reflect the Bohemian, Moroccan, Middle Eastern, Asian and other cultures of the tea-drinking countries where much of its tea comes from. The space features numerous “nooks and crannies” where people can have quiet, intimate gatherings, a no-technology room where computers and smartphones are discouraged and a seating area screened off by beaded curtains for extra privacy.



“We want to serve tea as traditionally as possible, as it would be in the country of origin,” Joel Jukiro said.



Moroccan lamps, Chinese teaware, artwork and tea-related photos are displayed throughout the tearoom, and soft, non-English music serves as a backdrop. In addition to traditional chairs, the tearoom also has benches against walls and areas where people sit on floors. But it’s not solely about privacy. There is plenty of seating near the entrance where large windows face Main Street. In the few weeks since opening, Dobrá has hosted blind dates, business meetings and solitary tea drinkers.



“It’s kind of a blank slate,” Alli Jukiro said. “The atmosphere is anything you want or need it to be.”



Visitors to the tearoom can choose from hot and chilled tea options. Dobrá’s thick menu gives a history and description of each tea, and each of the shop’s seven employees, or “devoteas,” are knowledgable about the teas and can make recommendations. The Jukiros said each employee goes through a training period and must pass three tests showing they understand the history and science behind the teas that Dobrá serves.



The teas, which cost between $3 and $7 for a teapot or single-serving, are served in handmade pottery or in traditional vessels.



The Jukiros’ passion for tea began as customers at a Dobrá Tea in Burlington, Vt., while they were students at the University of Vermont, where the pair first got to know each other and plan their future. After graduation, they spent three years working on a community-oriented farm in northern Montana, where they developed a tea program for a teahouse in Whitefish. Wanting to “do something big,” the couple began plotting the biggest adventure of their lives — a several-month backpacking trip to the tea-brewing regions of China.



“We really wanted to see if tea was something we wanted to follow as a life path,” Joel Jukiro said.



As they ventured from one end of China to the other, the Jukiros soaked up the tea business from many experts including a husband-and-wife team who specialized in an exotic tea called Pu’er, a tea that is served in the Northampton Dobrá.



“We would sit for four hours a day, drinking tea and eating together,” Alli Jukiro said. “We learned infinitely more than we would have hoped.”



When they returned to the United States, the Jukiros worked at Dobrá Tea rooms in Portland, Ore., and Portland, Maine, before deciding to open their own shop earlier this year.



A fortuitous sequence of events landed them in Northampton two years after their first visit to Paradise City. After struggling for a number of months to find the right spot in the Boston area, the Jukiros returned to Northampton last spring to check out the Main Street location and meet the building’s owner. They quickly realized both the space and the community would be a good fit.



“In a city where people are constantly looking for the alternative, we’re striving to be a complete alternative to the regular dining experience,” Joel Jukiro said.



Dobrá Tea Northampton is the seventh United States store in the Dobrá chain. The franchise was started in the late 1980s in Czechoslovakia when a group of tea smugglers called the Society of Tea Devotees was formed to smuggle good teas into Prague from East Germany. The first Bohemian-style tearoom, Dobrá Cajovna, opened in Prague in 1993. A decade later, the concept spread to the United States with the opening of the first tearoom in Burlington.



Dobrá is open daily from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Dobrá hosts live entertainment including musicians, belly dancers and speakers, and intends to offer tea classes focusing on tea and tea culture.

Source:- gazettenet.com

Bashar Al-Assad's Secret Oil Lifeline: Iraqi Crude From Egypt

The Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad has received substantial imports of Iraqi crude oil from an Egyptian port in the last nine months, shipping and payments documents show, part of an under-the-radar trade that has kept his military running despite Western sanctions.



Assad's government has been blacklisted by Western powers for its role in the two-and-a-half year civil war, forcing Damascus to rely on strategic ally Iran - itself the target of Western sanctions over its nuclear programme - as its main supplier of crude oil.



A Reuters examination based on previously undisclosed commercial documents about Syrian oil purchases shows however that Iran is no longer acting alone. Dozens of shipping and payment documents viewed by Reuters show that millions of barrels of crude delivered to Assad's government on Iranian ships has actually come from Iraq, through Lebanese and Egyptian trading companies.



The trade, which is denied by the firms involved, has proven lucrative, with companies demanding a steep premium over the normal cost of oil in return for bearing the risk of shipping it to Syria. It also highlights a previously undisclosed role of Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon in Assad's supply chain, despite those countries' own restrictions on assisting his government.



Both the Syrian national oil company that received the oil, Sytrol, and the Iranian shipping operator that delivered it, the National Iranian Tanker Co (NITC), are on U.S. and EU sanctions lists barring them from doing business with U.S. or European firms, cutting them off from the U.S. and EU financial systems and freezing their assets.



Although firms outside the United States and EU are not subject to their sanctions, companies that do business with firms on sanctions lists risk themselves being blacklisted: Washington and Brussels regularly add companies and individuals from third countries to their sanctions lists if they are found to deal with companies already listed.



At least four firms from third countries that were added to the U.S. Treasury's sanctions list for Iran when it was last updated on December 12 were punished specifically "for providing material support to NITC", the Treasury said.



"We have been very focused on targeting Iranian attempts to aid the Assad regime through economic as well as military means," said a Treasury Department spokesman. He declined to comment on the specific activities described in the documents reviewed by Reuters but said companies and individuals had been added to the sanctions list for similar types of activity.



The cache of documents describing the trade between March and May this year was shown to Reuters by a source on condition of anonymity. Many details were corroborated by a separate Middle Eastern shipping source with long-standing ties to the Syrian maritime industry. Publicly available satellite tanker tracking data, provided by Thomson Reuters, parent company of Reuters, was used to confirm the movements of ships.



The documents refer to at least four shipments by four tankers named Camellia, Daisy, Lantana and Clove, each of which is operated by Iran's NITC and, say the documents, carried Iraqi oil from Egypt's Mediterranean port of Sidi Kerir to Syria.



According to the documents, Beirut-based trading firm Overseas Petroleum Trading (OPT) invoiced Syria for arranging at least two of the shipments and was involved in a third, while a Cairo-based firm, Tri-Ocean Energy, was responsible for loading Iraqi oil into at least one.



Both OPT and Tri-Ocean denied any involvement in the Syria trade, declining to offer an alternative explanation for what the documents and ship tracking data show.



An EU country government source said Tri-Ocean is already under scrutiny by the United States for suspected violations of sanctions against Iran, giving no further details. The U.S. Treasury spokesman declined to comment on specific investigations.



Iran's NITC declined to comment.



There was no evidence that the Iraqi or Egyptian governments were involved in shipping Iraqi oil through Egypt's port, as crude can change hands after first being exported.



Iraq has been criticised in the past by Western countries for allowing deliveries of supplies and weapons from Iran to Syria to pass through its airspace. Iraq's oil ministry did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The Iraqi government controls exports of crude from the country and has tried to restrict traders from re-selling its oil.



A representative of the Arab Petroleum Pipeline Company, which is known as SUMED and owns and operates Egypt's Mediterranean port of Sidi Kerir where the oil tankers loaded, had no comment. SUMED is half owned by the Egyptian state oil company EGPC and half by a group of four other Arab countries.



Tarek El-Molla, the chairman of EGPC, said that Egypt had banned state companies from dealing with Iranian oil and shipping firms, and that he was unaware of shipments to Syria.



El-Molla said a tanker flying the Iranian flag would not be able to berth at Sidi Kerir. The four NITC-operated tankers involved in the shipments have all been renamed within the past few years and were flying Tanzanian flags at the time they loaded in Egypt, a tactic Reuters has previously reported has been used by Iran to mitigate the impact of sanctions on its shipping since sanctions against Tehran were tightened in 2011.



ASSAD'S BEIRUT OIL DEALER



Syria imported up to 17 million barrels of crude oil between February and October, of which roughly half came directly from Iran and half from Egypt's Sidi Kerir port, according to the Middle Eastern shipping source. The cache of documents reveals that at least half of the oil from Egypt's port was Iraqi crude.



Lebanese oil trading firm OPT arranged the shipments with Syria's internationally blacklisted state-owned oil company, Sytrol, operator of the one functioning refinery still under Assad's control. The documents show the firm invoicing Sytrol for almost $250 million for two deliveries of Iraqi crude it had arranged in March and May to Syria's Banias refinery.



In a letter to Sytrol's marketing manager dated April 4 of this year, OPT asked for a payment advance of around $50 million and detailed previous deals with the Syrian state oil company.



"Our company (OPT) has and continues to secure the state's needs in oil and oil derivatives in the recent period and was able to secure this despite major difficulties and challenges," said the letter from an OPT official, Abdelhamid Khamis Abdullah, whose name appears frequently in the correspondence. It was not possible to ascertain his exact role at the company.



The letter states OPT had already provided Sytrol with almost 5 million barrels of crude, diesel, and cooking fuel. The price for each barrel of Iraq's Basra Light crude in the invoices is between $15 and $17 above the official Iraqi price at that time, equivalent to an extra $15 million for each tanker.



OPT denied being involved in selling oil to Syria.



"We dispute all what you mentioned in your below emails," an OPT employee said in an email, without providing a name. The company offered no alternative explanation for the documents.



Egyptian oil firm Tri-Ocean Energy, which has brokered deals for OPT in the past, loaded at least one cargo of Iraqi crude onto an Iranian tanker that was delivered into Syria by OPT at the end of May, according to the documents, which say the oil was delivered to Syria on the Iranian tanker Clove on May 26.



Tri-Ocean's senior trading director Ali Tolba denied in an email that his company supplied Syria with crude or had loaded Iraqi oil onto Iranian tankers. He and Tri-Ocean's CEO, Mohammed el-Ansary, did not respond to a request from Reuters to review the documents seen by Reuters. Syria's Sytrol did not respond.



THE MILITIA MONEY MAN



Sytrol has used a blacklisted businessman close to Assad as intermediary to transfer money to OPT, according to the documents. In a letter from OPT to Sytrol on March 14 of this year, OPT requested payment through Ayman Jaber.



Jaber, who runs a company called Al Jazerra, is himself on U.S. and EU sanctions lists, which means firms or individuals doing business with him can themselves be added to the lists. When it listed Jaber a year ago, the U.S. Treasury accused him of coordinating state-sponsored pro-Assad militia groups known as Shabiha in the port of Latakia.



"Please could you pay the value of approximately $130 million plus 1.8 percent transfer fee into the account of Mr. Ayman Jaber, the head of Al Jazerra, at the central bank so he can transfer it into our accounts abroad," OPT wrote. In another letter three weeks later, OPT confirmed receipt of around 375 million euros from Al Jazerra, transferred from the account of Ayman Jaber.



At least two other firms mentioned in the documents had names and logos similar to companies based in the EU, which would be directly subject to European sanctions forbidding them to deal with Sytrol or NITC. In both cases, European head offices denied any relationship with Syrian offices using their names.



Some of the documents confirming the arrival of the oil in Syria were stamped or signed by a shipping agency called Med Control Syria. Jhony Matnious, a manager at the company in Damascus, told Reuters by email that the crude imports were Iranian through a government agreement between Damascus and Tehran.



Med Control has a head office in Greece, which lists Syria as a branch office on its website with the same address, logo, phone number and email as in the documents. A manager there denied any relationship with the Syria office:

"We had an agency agreement in Syria but it was never active and we never had any business in that country," said Sam Papanikolas.



Documents showed some shipments were certified by a quality control firm called Inspectorate, owned by Paris-based firm Bureau Veritas. A Bureau Veritas spokeswoman in Paris said Inspectorate had previously employed a subcontractor in Syria but had stopped since October 2011, and any certificates this year would have been issued without the firm's knowledge.



After leaving Iraq, the crude oil was delivered to Sidi Kerir on the 200 mile (320 km) SUMED pipeline, which runs from the Red Sea to the port west of Alexandria, where it was loaded onto Iranian ships.



According to Reuters AIS Live ship tracking data, which monitors the location of oil tankers via satellite, the four ships each sailed north towards Syria. Each ship switched off its satellite signals just before the delivery date in Syria, then reappeared on satellite tracking shortly after. In some cases the satellite data also contains information about cargo weight, which confirms that the cargo was unloaded while the ships' signals were shut off.



"Aiming to cut off a regime from oil supplies is very very difficult," said Ayham Kamel, Middle East and North Africa analyst at Eurasia Group consultancy in London said. "Especially as the regime still has a few allies."

Source:- ndtv.com

HC set aside sec. 153C assessment initiated on basis of docs not belonging to assessee

IT : Where documents on basis of which Assessing Officer initiated proceedings under section 153C did not belong to assessee, assessment framed under section 153C to be cancelled

Indian Iron Ore Mining Mess - Mining Villages Witness Change

Times of India reported that since the total closure of iron ore mining dealt a huge blow to the economy rendering thousands jobless, the mining villages are witnessing a change in terms of quality improvement in the environment.



EIA Resource and Response Centre, Goa which conducted a rapid survey to determine the impact of ban on mining in the state said that “Residents from villages around the mines at Netravali, Sanguem, Goa, have indicated positive results due to the stoppage of mining in the area.”



There has been a huge improvement in the quality of stream water and yield of local produce. Hence if the ban on mining continues, one could surely expect other such positive changes in future.



The study said that "Even though 'mining dependents' are claiming loss of income due to stoppage of mining, 'there is a section of the public benefiting economically by way of agriculture and exploring new options."



It was also found that the ban forced people to re think and venture into different occupations. Post mining ban cultivators discovered that their chillies and cashew produce increased while earlier the dust would coat the plants and rot the flowers.



Traditional fishing communities have also noticed a rise in the 'mendios' in Chicalim along the bank of Zuari. The route was earlier used for transportation of ore by barges causing water pollution.



Some truck drivers have started going back to agriculture as a way to sustain and clear their loans from the banks. A truck driver, with the closure of mines in Sirigao, Bicholim, has managed to bounce back as a motorcycle pilot.

According to economist and Member of Rajya Sabha Mr N K Singh, the worst is not over for the Indian economy. India may achieve short term reprieve through expenditure compression. However, it may not be sufficient to bring macro economic stability in the medium and long term.



Mr Singh, who was India’s Revenue Secretary from August 1996 to August 1998 and Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, felt that the prevailing policy would shift the fiscal pressures to the next year.



He said Business Line after the launch of his book The New Bihar here that “The difficult decisions on subsidy and public expenditure rationalisation have been postponed. Those are necessary if you want to have a fiscal deficit that is acceptable in the medium term.”



According to him imaginative steps taken by the RBI in reducing the current account deficit through the dollar swap window, coupled with reduction in gold imports, was one reason for the short-term reduction in Current Account Deficit.



Slackening of oil prices post Syria crisis and lifting of sanctions on Iran is another reason.



He said that “These are not long abiding factors. In the long term, exports need to pick up far more significantly. The fact that export growth has not gone up despite the rupee depreciation and improved competitiveness, suggests that new markets and products are far more problematic. People are worried that given the regulatory hurdles and labour laws, the Indian manufacturing activity has become globally uncompetitive.”



According to Mr Singh, the slowdown in India is primarily because of domestic policy paralysis and less of exogenous factors. The worst is not over, Mr Singh said and pointed out that investor confidence remains weak, interest rates are high and food inflation continues to be a matter of concern.



He said that “Temporary reprieve has been obtained and serious problems have been brushed under the carpet.”



According to Mr Singh, confidence over the RBI’s enhanced capability to manage inflows has seen less impact of Fed tapering.



However, bulk of the tapering is yet to be done and its impact will be visible in the long run.



He said that “The best bet is that there won’t be further outward flow. But we do not know. How much and to what extent the markets have factored in is what time will tell.”

Source:- steelguru.com

Trust registration can't be revoked if its settler claims sec. 80G relief on donations given by him

IT: Merely because settler of trust had claimed deduction under section 80G on donations made to assessee trust, same could not be basis for cancellation of registration granted to trust

Finmin Economist Suggests China Cues To Boost Exports

As the commerce ministry gears up to present a new three-year export strategy, a senior finance ministry economist says India’s exports can grow by 30 per cent annually to take its share in world trade to 4 per cent in five years from 1.6 per cent today.



“This is not impossible, China has done it,” the economist, H A C Prasad, told Financial Chronicle. What needs to be done is give a big push to , electrical and engineering exports. This will do the trick. Most of the top 100 globally imported items are from these sectors, and textiles, he reasons.



India has only five items with at least 5 per cent share in the top 100 list. Of these, only two items, diamonds and jewellery, have a 20 per cent share, according to Prasad.



“Till now our focus has been on exporting what we can, that is supply-based. We have to shift to a more demand-based approach of these items in which we have basic competence. In fact, there are many simple items in the top 100 list which we can focus on,” says Prasad.



Growing at 30 per cent is not difficult. India achieved an average export growth of 20 per cent during 2003-08. In two of these years the growth was 29 per cent and 31 per cent. India’s share in global merchandise exports increased from 0.5 per cent in 1990 to 1.6 per cent in 2012. At the same time China’s share increased from 1.8 per cent to 11.1 per cent. India’s services export share increased from 0.6 per cent to 3.2 per cent; China’s from 0.2 per cent to 4.4 per cent.



India has already come out with a new electronics policy aimed at attracting up to $400 billion in investments over the next 10 years. The policy is expected to raise exports as well as cut imports of electronics, the latter having grown substantially.



Last year electronics imports were worth $32 billion, next only to oil and gold. The government thinks that if electronics manufacturing is not stepped up electronics imports may touch $300 billion in 10 years.



The government aims to replicate the success of automobile manufacturing in the electronics sector also. The auto sector raised engineering exports manifold to become one of the fastest-growing export sectors. This year engineering export growth has dropped to 14.6 per cent; earlier years saw over 30 per cent growth.



The commerce ministry will surely fail to achieve $500 billion annual export target by March due to the global economic meltdown. It is now working out a strategy to reset exports target to earn more than $500 billion in the three years.



“There are lessons to be learnt from China, which kept its currency stable for decades. That made Chinese manufacturing competitive and helped rapid growth in exports. In India the rupee keeps on depreciating, hiding the deficiencies in our manufacturing,” according to Atul Joshi, MD and CEO of India Ratings & Research.



Unless our manufacturing is competitive, our exports cannot grow at the brisk pace of 25-30 per cent on a sustained basis like China’s, he says. Prasad does not subscribe to this view. “Economists have started saying that the recent pick-up in India’s exports and the fall in Chinese exports is due to the depreciation of the rupee and appreciation of the yuan, which is far from the truth.”



India’s merchandise exports are basically dependent on world GDP and world import growth. The effect of exchange rate changes is marginal, he says. What needs to be tackled is volatility in the exchange rate, which impacts exports.



More importantly, competitiveness must be enhanced by improving the ease of doing business in India and reducing both credit and non-credit costs. This should be an important agenda for the coming years, he adds. The cost of export from India is $1,170 per container; from China it is $620 in China and from the OECD countries $1070. India’s cost of import is $1,250 per container; China’s $615 OECD’s $1,090.



Improving trade facilitation will make India’s exports price competitive like China. Prasad also says the focus should be on speeding up free trade agreements and regional trade agreements.

Source:- mydigitalfc.com

Energy Trade: Pakistan Moves Closer To Electricity Import From India

At a time when the international court has allowed India to divert water from the Neelum Jhelum River for the Kishanganga Dam in Indian-controlled Kashmir, Pakistan is set to sign an initial deal for import of electricity from Delhi to overcome a crippling power crisis.



Sources told The Express Tribune that the Ministry of Water and Power had sent draft of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to the Law Division for vetting, before signing it to pave the way for electricity import.



The previous government had taken an initiative to buy electricity from India to overcome the energy crisis in Pakistan. Former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani had given the go-ahead for electricity import.



“The two sides are likely to ink an MoU for electricity trade,” a source said, pointing out that this was going to happen despite the fact that Delhi had succeeded in getting a decision in its favour from the International Court of Arbitration.



The court has permitted India to divert water to the Kishanganga Dam, which will hurt 900-megawatt Neelum Jhelum hydropower project being set up in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).



India has offered to supply about 500MW of electricity in the beginning and this plan could be implemented within a year by laying a transmission line.



http://i888.photobucket.com/albums/ac89/etwebdesk/500MW_zpse66f9c33.jpg



A senior government official said Pakistan felt that it could import 2,000-2,500MW of power from India to tackle the acute shortage which had hit its economic growth bringing it down to 3% a year.



India has also expressed interest in exporting oil, but since Pakistani refineries produce low-quality oil whereas India produces oil of Euro 2, 3 and 4 standards, they cannot press ahead with the plan.



“Now, the World Bank has come up with a proposal, saying it can provide technical assistance for conducting a feasibility study of the power import programme,” an official said.



Delhi had told Islamabad that it faced problems in interconnection of power, however, Pakistani officials insisted such issues would be resolved later and the two sides were now set to sign an MoU for electricity trade, he added.



Sources said preliminary discussions with India were under way and tariff matters still needed to be finalised.



“However, the MoU will be an initial commitment to India,” the official said, adding the government of Pakistan was also working on other power import projects like Casa-1,000MW and electricity purchase from Iran.



Pakistan is currently importing 35MW of electricity from Iran to meet requirements of Gwadar, while work on increasing it by 100MW is going on. The two sides signed an agreement on the project in 2007.



Pakistan also has another project in the pipeline for import of 1,000MW of electricity from Tajikistan under Casa-1000 programme. Feasibility report of the project has been finalised and work is expected to be completed by 2016.



The country’s power production ranges between 10,000MW and 16,000MW against total installed capacity of 20,800MW. Globally, most countries generate 80% of their power requirements from their installed infrastructure, but Pakistan’s generation capacity only meets 65% of the needs due to old plants, poor maintenance and high circular debt.



Source:- tribune.com.pk

Export Earnings Must Be Converted Into $ At Rate Ruling On Date Of Licence'

For redeeming our EPCG Licence, what exchange rate should be taken, when we receive the payments in Indian rupees through a freely convertible Vostro Account of a Non-Resident Bank, in accordance with Para 2.40 (b) of the Foreign Trade Policy? We have approached our bankers with the payment advice copy of the Non-Resident Bank concerned, but they are unwilling to give us any certificate of equivalent foreign currency value. Please inform how to proceed.

As per DGFT Policy Circular no. 8 dated 28.05.1998, export proceeds realised in any currency shall be converted into US dollars at the exchange rate prevailing on the date of issuance of the EPCG licence which has been endorsed on the reverse of the licence, with a view to ascertaining whether the export obligation has been fulfilled or not.



What are "switch" bills of lading and when they are sought?

"Switch" bills of lading are a second set of bills of lading issued by the carrier (or by the carrier's agent) in substitution for the bills of lading issued at the time of shipment. The agent who is asked to issue the second set is often at a port other than the load port. The reasons for seeking the 'switch' bill of lading could be that the original bill names a discharge port which is subsequently changed (for example, because the receiver has an option or the goods have been resold) and new bills are required, naming the new discharge port. The other reason could be that a seller of the goods in a chain of contracts does not wish the name of the original shipper to appear on the bill of lading, and so a new set is issued, sometimes naming the seller as the shipper. The third situation could be when the goods were shipped originally in small parcels, and the buyer of those goods requires one bill of lading covering all of the parcels to facilitate his on-sale. It could also be that one bill of lading is issued for a bulk shipment which is then to be split into multiple bills covering smaller parcels.



For making payment to a non-resident or foreign company, the remitter is required to submit form 15CA and 15CB to an authorised dealer. I understand that some private banks accept an undertaking from their clients in lieu of 15CA and 15CB. Is it in order?

Rule 37 BB of the income Tax Rules, 1962 has been amended through notification no. 58/2013 dated 5.8.2013. Sub-rule (2) of the said Rule 37BB says that the information in Form No. 15CA shall be furnished electronically to the website designated by the Income-tax Department and thereafter a signed printout of the said form shall be submitted to the authorised dealer, prior to remitting the payment. Form 15CB is not required if a certificate from the Assessing Officer under section 197 or an order from the Assessing Officer under sub-section (2) or sub-section (3) of section 195 is produced before the authorised dealer.

Source:- business-standard.com

Rupee Closes At One-Week High On Rbi Chief's Comments

The rupee strengthened on Monday to its highest level in nearly a week, boosted by the central bank chief's comment on reluctance to "overtighten" monetary policy after leaving interest rates unchanged in a surprise move last week.



Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan said the central bank had tilted towards keeping rates on hold even before November consumer and wholesale price inflation data were released.



In an interview to television channel ET Now, he said when growth is weak, we have to be careful of "over-tightening".



"The governor's comments helped the rupee a bit. At least, the market now thinks that the central bank will consider growth as well when framing monetary policy," said Hari Chandramgethen, head of foreign exchange trading at South Indian Bank.



"I expect some support for the dollar/rupee around 61.65 levels with the pair broadly holding in a 61.60 to 62.40 range until the year-end."



The partially convertible rupee closed at 61.9525/9625 per dollar compared with 62.04/05 on Friday.



The rupee rose to as high as 61.8350 after Rajan's comments, its highest level since December 18.



Traders said gains in the domestic share market throughout the day also boosted sentiment for the rupee.Indian shares edged higher as blue chips gained on continued foreign inflows despite last week's decision by the US Federal Reserve to start reducing its bond purchases, although a fall in Infosys capped broader gains.



Dealers will continue to monitor movements in other Asian currencies and the euro for near-term direction in the absence of any major domestic factors with volumes also lower on account of year-end holidays globally. In the offshore non-deliverable forwards, the one-month contract was at 62.42 while the three-month was at 63.23.

Source:- businesstoday.intoday.in

Liquidator rightly adjudicated claims by leaving bank as no charge against property was created in b

CL: In absence of creation of charge in favour of bank in respect of immovable properties of company-in-liquidation, Official Liquidator would be justified in adjudicating claims by keeping bank excluded in respect of an amount realized from immovable properties

Defects in panchnamas don’t affect validity of search, yet remedial steps are needed to avoid this p

IT: There was certainly lapse and failure to comply with the requirements of search and seizure manual as the panchnama did not contain names of petitioners and does not record any suspension of search, yet such lapses won't affect either the validity of the search or nullify notice under section 153A of the Act

Sec. 35ABB doesn’t deem sums paid on telecom licenses as capital exp., it is operative when exp. is

IT : Sec. 35ABB doesn't deem all the payments under the terms of a telecom license to be capital expenditure

No denial of sec. 10(23C) approval on possibility that assessee would pursue non-charitable objects

IT : Mere possibility that society in future might pursue non-Charitable activities, would not constitute grounds to reject approval under section 10(23C)(vi)

MCA acts stringent towards certifying professionals to curb defective filing leading to high pendenc

COMPANIES ACT. 1956 : Ministry of Corporate Affairs' Advisory to All Certifying Professionals (CA/CS/CMA) on Defect Free Filing of All Eforms in MCA21 Portal in Accordance With Provisions of Companies Act, 1956

Sums paid to truck owners to execute transportation contract won't attract TDS in absence of a sub-c

IT: Where assessee was responsible for entire transportation job assigned by company to assessee and there was nothing on record to show that assessee had sublet his work to other truck owners, provisions of section 194C were not applicable on payment made to truck owners

Sec. 11A doesn't apply to recovery of refund which granted under exemption notification

Excise : Section 11A does not apply to recovery of refund granted under exemption Notification No. 32/99-CE

ITAT upholds postponement of recovery of TDS on salary until verdict of HC was delivered on rule 3

IT: Where assessee did not deposit TDS on perquisites in terms of order of High Court wherein validity of rule 3 of Income-tax Rules, 1962 was questioned and same was still pending for finality, recovery of TDS amount to be postponed till finality of judgment of High Court

Total No. of workers working in similar units to be aggregated to fix up eligibility for sec. 80-IB

IT: Where assessee was having another unit of same activity, workers engaged in such unit was also required to be taken into consideration while computing total number of workers employed by assessee for purpose of section 80-IB deduction

Machinery used for manufacturing of milk products would also be eligible for investment allowance, r

IT: Process of making milk products, i.e., ghee, butter milk, flavoured milk etc., from milk amount to manufacture and, therefore, plant and machinery used for such process are eligible for investment allowance

AO can't slap concealment penalty on assessee merely for claiming exp. on basis of Apex's Court verd

IT: Where assessee under bona fide belief claimed expenditure, disallowance of such expenditure could not result into penalty under section 271(1)(c)

Only excise authorities can recover customs duty on violation of condition applicable for concession

Customs : In case of goods are imported at concessional rate of duty for Manufacture of Excisable Goods and conditions of concession are violated, jurisdictional Assistant/Deputy Commissioner of Central Excise is empowered to issue notice; hence, notice issued by Commissioner of Customs is bad in law

Tribunal's order won't be interfered if IT department couldn't point out any wrong law in such order

IT/ILT : No interference was required with Tribunal's order where Tribunal deleted disallowance of royalty payment on merits and department could not point out that wrong law had been applied by Tribunal in its order

Broker couldn't be penalized for trading in scrip if no evidence was found to prove manipulation of

SEBI : Simple trading by a broker in a particular scrip without any proved nexus between trades with other so called group of brokers and clients is not per se punishable

Onion Markets Head For Glut Despite Drop In Mep

Notwithstanding the reduction in the Minimum Export Price (MEP) of onions by the Union government, the wholesale markets are heading for a glut and decline in prices after around six months of short-supply and skyrocketing prices.



The MEP, which was $ 1,150 per tonne, was reduced to $ 800 on December 16 and further to $ 350 per tonne on December 20, as wholesale markets in the onion growing regions continued to get flooded with the arrivals of the late Kharif crop. Unlike the Rabi season crop that can be stored for over six months, the Kharif variety is highly perishable and cannot be stored over a month. This compels the farmers to sell it at whatever price it fetches.



The downward revision in the MEP has come after a series of agitations by onion farmers in various parts of Maharashtra, demanding remunerative price for the commodity as prices that had peaked to over Rs 50 a kg in the wholesale markets had crashed to Rs 9 a kg following fresh arrivals.



Officials expect that the lowering of the MEP would enable traders to export more as they would be in a better position to compete in the international markets with their counterparts from Pakistan and China. In the process, the falling prices are expected to rise in domestic wholesale markets, providing relief to farmers.



Though the lowering of the MEP has eased the situation a bit, with the average wholesale price at Lasalgaon - the biggest onion market in the country - rising from Rs 9 to Rs 13 a kg, it might not help in the long run, considering that there is going to be abundant supply of the commodity in the next few months.



In Nashik district alone, the area under onion cultivation in the Kharif season has gone up from 6,626 hectares last year to 17,473 hectares in 2013. On the other hand, the area under onion grown during the late Kharif season has increased from 21,104 hectares in 2012 to 31,197 hectares this year. Consequently, the production of onions is expected to go up from 1.21 lakh tonnes to 3.49 lakh tonnes in the Kharif season and from 3.32 lakh tonnes to 5.92 lakh tonnes in the late Kharif season.



The summer crop that was harvested in April-May and hoarded by traders for better prices (since its shelf life is six months) is exhausted. The wholesale markets are receiving the Kharif crop and early arrivals of the late Kharif crop that will continue to flood the markets till April, when the fresh Rabi crop will be harvested, adding to the abundance in supply.



The situation that prevailed in the last six months, with prices rising and consumers raising hue and cry, is reversing with the fresh arrivals. Now, it is the turn of the farmers to agitate, demanding higher price for the commodity. Organizations like the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana and local politicians are already demanding that the MEP be totally scrapped. Their argument is that removal of the MEP would encourage traders to buy more onions from the domestic markets as they would be able to compete better in the international markets. In the process, the downslide in prices in the wholesale markets would stop providing relief to farmers.



The large-scale fluctuation in onion prices is a result of inconsistent government policies. For instance, even as onions were being hoarded and prices had risen to an all-time high of around Rs 56 a kg in the wholesale markets two months ago, the government did not include the commodity in the Essential Commodities Act, to check hoarding.



Onions had been placed under the Act by the NDA government in 1999 (after debacle in four state polls in 1998). But when the UPA returned to power in 2004, onions were deleted from the commodities listed in the Act. Besides, the state and the Union governments woke up too late this year and did too little to overcome the situation despite clear signals of an onion crisis last summer, considering the drought situation that had affected the area under cultivation.

FEATURED ARTICLES

Source:- articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Jindal Steel, 13 Others Served Notice On Non-Use Of Coal Blocks

indal Steel and Power Ltd has just 20 days to explain why it has failed to develop coal blocks allotted to it. If it fails to convince the government, it could be penalised, and forfeit its licence.



The coal ministry has served show-cause notices to JSPL and 13 other companies that had failed to develop their allocated coal blocks including Hindustan Zinc on December 20.



When contacted, a JSPL sokesperson said: “We have received the showcause notice. The end use project for this coal block has already been set up long time back. We have taken all the required steps for development of the coal block. We will send a suitable reply to the showcause notice.”



The government had formed an inter-ministerial group last year to review the progress of coal blocks allocated to companies for captive use and recommend action for delays in development of mines.



According to the letters sent to the 14 companies, the coal ministry has demanded to know “…why the delay in development of the coal block (s) should not be held as violation of terms and conditions of the allocation... And why the coal block should not be de-allocated.”



The companies that got notices include AES Chhattisgarh Energy Pvt Ltd for Sayang coal block, Madhya Pradesh State Mining Corp for Morga-I coal block and Hindustan Zinc for Madanpur (South) coal block.



The ministry has also asked companies “to furnish a detailed status note on the progress of end use plant(s) (EUPs) for which the coal block was allocated.”



The ministry recently issued notices to eight companies, including Adani Power, Jayaswal Neco, for delays in mine development.

Source:- hindustantimes.com

Steel Firms Struggle As Auto Makers Turn To Local Parts

Indian steel companies are seeing high demand from auto makers owing to their indigenization drive and expect it to accelerate with economic growth seen to pick up pace after the general election next year.Demand for automotive steel such as inner components and outer body parts comprises just 7-8 million tonnes (mt) a year out of India’s total production of about 78 mt, but is growing at 10-20% a year even as overall demand growth lags economic growth.

Little wonder then that top steel companies are increasing their manufacturing capacity to entrench themselves in this segment and several have roped in foreign partners for the high-technology products needed.

“Everybody has a programme to double the capacity,” said Nittin Johari, whole-time director, finance, Bhushan Steel Ltd, which has been making auto-grade steel for the past 15 years. “This sector has been growing for the last so many years… The growth will accelerate after one year.”

Johari said the outlook for 2014 is that the incoming government will spur economic growth and interest rates may drop, which could help recover demand for automobiles, and thus for auto steel as well.

Annual car sales in India, the second fastest expanding auto market after China, plunged to the lowest in a decade in April and is expected to remain depressed for the full fiscal year ending 31 March.

Car sales fell 8% to 142,849 units in November compared to a year ago, according to Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam). Yet, demand for steel from auto companies rose fast as they choose to buy steel locally rather than import it to cut costs.

“Steel companies are aggressively targeting import substitution as it has become expensive to import steel owing to the weaker rupee,” said Goutam Chakraborty, an analyst at Emkay Global Financial Services Ltd. The rupee has depreciated by 12% against the US dollar this year.

“Many foreign auto companies are comfortable buying from steel companies from their own countries in the local market—so that is another factor driving localization,” Chakraborty added.

South Korean steel maker Posco sells steel imported from Korea but processed in India. Japan’s Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corp. has a joint venture with Tata Steel Ltd for manufacturing 600,000 tonnes of automotive cold-rolled sheets. Another Japanese company JFE Steel Corp. has a joint venture with JSW Steel Ltd to manufacture auto-grade steel.

Double targets

Leading steel companies are not just doubling capacities, they are also coming up with more products.

“Tata Steel sells around 1mt of flat products to the automotive industry and we expect it to double in next five years,” said a spokesperson from Tata Steel. “The company currently has a leading market share position and would like to maintain this position by enriching its product mix (skin or exposed auto body panels and high-tensile products).”

Tata Steel has invested in new technologies—for example, continuous annealing process line—to meet the growing needs of customers who were dependant on imports thus far.

Bhushan Steel sees its auto steel capacity rising to 4-4.5 mt in five-seven years from 2.2 mt now, Johari said.

Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) supplies about 0.5 mt of steel to the auto sector and this is expected to double after modernization, its spokesperson said.

To get closer to their auto clients, companies are setting up processing plants in the auto plant hubs, top steel companies said.

“We are in the process of establishing more service centres near various auto hubs,” SAIL’s spokesperson said.

JSW Steel is setting up four processing centres to meet demand for flat steel across India, a company official said.

Local sourcing

As part of a larger strategy to pare costs, car market leader Maruti Suzuki India Ltd plans to reduce imports to $1.6 billion in fiscal 2015 from $2.5 billion in fiscal 2012, Mint reported in September 2012.

The key components targeted for localization are diesel engines and transmission components. Content sourced from local vendors makes up as much as 96% of Maruti Suzuki cars. But at least 30% of the content is imported by the vendors, who are compensated by Maruti for the adverse impact of any currency fluctuations.

Other firms, too, have set aggressive localization targets to pare costs.

Hero MotoCorp Ltd, India’s largest two-wheeler brand, has also launched a cost-saving drive, which, among other things, encourages vendors to source raw materials such as high-grade steel locally, according to a Pune-based supplier to the company, who did not want to be named.

To stave off the risk associated with currency fluctuation, car makers such as the local arm of Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co., and Nissan Motor Co. are also working on increased local sourcing.

Source:- livemint.com

No TDS on disbursement of Government aid even if it is in shape of payment of patient's medical bill

IT : Where low income group patients were provided aid by State Government under a scheme but bill were raised in name of patients and payment were made by State Government on behalf of such patients, section 194J was not attracted

A Big Push To ‘Made In India’ Cars

In a sign of its growing stature in car manufacturing, India is emerging as an export hub of global auto firms not just for small cars but also for big cars such as mid-size sedans and utility vehicles (UVs). Export of big vehicles has been on the rise as an increasing number of global brands are now selling India-built sedans and UVs in other markets.



During April-November 2013, exports of sedans reported a growth of 29 per cent at 77,987 units when compared with 60,512 units in a year-ago period. Share of big cars in total car exports has increased to 21 per cent from about nine per cent in March 2012.



Export of entry-level sedans (include Hyundai Accent, Maruti Swift Dzire and Toyota Etios sedan) and mid-size sedans (Nissan Sunny, Volkswagen Vento and Ford Fiesta, among others) grew by 28 per cent and 31 per cent, respectively, during the period.



In 2012-13, exports of these vehicles more than doubled at 91,478 units when compared with 43,903 units in the previous year, according to statistics of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).



“Sedan and UV exports from India have indeed been showing a rising trend. Manufacturers have ramped up their capacity for these vehicles due to the increasing domestic demand and have also concurrently started focusing on exports to optimally utilize their capacities,” Ajay Srinivasan, director, CRISIL Research, told The Hindu.



“While it is little early to say that India has started establishing itself as a manufacturing base for high-end cars, we do visualize the strong growth in sedan and UV exports to continue. The same factors that have made India an attractive small car manufacturing hub – huge size of the domestic market giving economies of scale in manufacturing, strong growth potential, and ample availability of labour and engineers – make India a potent force in the exports of high-end cars as well,” he added. The biggest start was provided by Nissan when it started exporting India-built premium sedan Sunny in January 2012. Nissan has been shipping Chennai-built both hatchback Micra and Sunny to various markets.



Europe’s largest car maker Volkswagen has also been selling ‘Made in India’ Vento across three continents. Recently it started shipping the cars to Mexico, which will become the single largest export market for Volkswagen India.



Along with sedans, UVs are also scripting a success story with their exports increasing to 23,556 units from 4,793 units during April-November 2012 period. Currently, Renault is the largest UV exporter from India, followed by Ford and Mahindra & Mahindra.



Both Renault and Ford have drawn up major export plans for their premium compact SUVs Duster and EcoSport, respectively. Chennai-built Ford EcoSport is being sold in 10 markets. While India’s small car export story is intact, export of bigger cars is also expected to grow strongly as the global OEMs have started realising that vehicles produced here can be sold anywhere in the world, competitively. Mr. Srinivasan also believes that increasing number of car makers would get into exports of high-end cars from India in the future. “Focus on exports also helps manufacturers better manage downturns in the domestic market,” he added.

Source:- thehindu.com

Plan Seeks Reduction In Duty For Imported Wines

The Indian Grape Processing Board has submitted a proposal to the Union government seeking a three-slab reduction in import duty for imported wines, instead of directly cutting it down from 150% to 40%. The board has said the cut will result in more inflow of imported wines in the country causing a notional loss for the wine sector to the tune of Rs 5,000 crore.



The board will also submit another proposal to the Centre to discuss the possibility of the country becoming a member of international organisations like the World Wine Trade Group (WWTG) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) to promote wine and encourage bilateral trade of wine with other countries along with removing trade barriers among other things.



Jagdish Holkar, chairman of the board, said he had raised the issue before the member countries of the WWTG, including the non-European Union (EU) countries, in a recent meeting in Washington DC so that the board could get global support.



"The Union government is in talks with the EU to bring down import duties to 40%, which is drastic. If the duties are directly brought down to 40%, then India will become a dumping ground for imported wine. Therefore, we are trying to exert pressure on the government to rethink its decision to reduce import duty keeping in mind the global platform," he said.



Holkar said membership of the WWTG and APEC will help the country facilitate exchange of information as well as develop expertise in removing trade barriers. "For instance, Thailand has high import duties of 300%-400% on wine, which makes it difficult to enter the market there. Also, bilateral trade in case of wine, which does not exist currently, can also become a possibility if India becomes a member of these organisations," he said.

Source:- timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Follow The Reasoning On Deferred Litigation

Official litigation policy says in revenue matters, an appeal shall not be filed if the amount involved is not very high or is less than the monetary limit fixed by the revenue authorities. It also states appeals shall not be filed if the matter is covered by a series of judgments of the tribunal in question and the high courts, which have held the field and not been challenged in the Supreme Court (SC).



It also says no appeal shall be filed where the assessee has acted in accordance with the long-standing practice and also merely because of a change of opinion on the part of the jurisdictional officers.



In the case of CCE vs Techno Economic Services Pvt Ltd [2010(255) ELT 526 (Bom)], the Bombay high court observed the Central Board of Direct Taxes had taken a policy decision in March 2000 not to file appeals or references wherein the tax effect is less than the amount prescribed in the instructions issued from time to time. This was to reduce litigation before the HCs and the SC. The decision has definitely reduced the volume of litigation, enabling officers to concentrate on cases involving heavy stakes.



The HC asked the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) to adopt a similar policy, for these and related reasons, including reducing the burden on the courts and on the revenue department.



Accordingly, on October 20, 2010, the CBEC prescribed monetary limits below which an appeal shall not be filed in tribunals/courts on excise, customs and service tax matters. The Finance Act, 2011, gave necessary powers to CBEC to do so with effect from the earlier date.



The monetary limits were revised on August 17, 2011. Accordingly, the department is not to file appeals before a tribunal where the duty/tax amount is less than Rs 5 lakh. The limits for not filing appeals before HCs and the SC are Rs 10 lakh and Rs 25 lakh, respectively. These limits also apply for matters involving refunds.



However, the monetary limits will not be a consideration on matters before the revisionary authority in the finance ministry or where the constitutional validity of the provisions of an Act or Rule is under challenge or where a notification or instruction or order or circular has been held illegal or unconstitutional. Also, decisions or judgments not challenged in appeal or accepted by the department for reasons of monetary limit do not have precedent value.



The relevant laws make it abundantly clear that no person, being a party in appeal, shall contend that the department had acquiesced in the decision on the disputed issue by not filing an appeal, where an appeal has not been filed by the department following instructions issued for not filing one below the monetary limit.



CBEC recently reiterated this point and advised its counsels/representatives in the tribunal to plead that a judgment accepted for reasons of low amount should not be relied upon by the appellate forum.



So, the trade must take note that on all matters involving amounts less than the monetary limits prescribed, the department is at liberty to agitate the issue in subsequent proceedings till the matter is settled on merits.

Source:- business-standard.com

Over 40% Groundnut Shelling Units Down Shutters

Lack of export demand for peanuts in the international market has posed a major threat for the groundnut shelling units in Saurashtra.Moreover, industry sources informed that new export regulations for shelling units has also adversely affected the business.



Since the beginning of the current season in October 2013, shelling units of Gujarat have not received good business from overseas buyers. Exporters are demanding peanuts at lower rate, which is not viable for shelling units.



"We have disparity in price as exporters are demanding groundnut for Rs 51 per kg but our production cost is about Rs 53 a kg. In this condition business is not viable and as a result shelling units have to close their operations", said Mukund Shah, president of Gujarat Oilseeds Processors Association (GOPA).



According to Shah, there are more than 2,000 groundnut shelling units of in Gujarat. Out of these about 40 per cent units are not operational. The rest of the units are also operating at reduced capacity.



The trade body also held responsible, the registration rules for lower business.



As per DGFT notification dated January 3, 2013, exports of groundnut have been subjected to registration with APEDA along with controlled Aflatoxin level certificate issued by APEDA recognized laboratories.



Shah said, "New rules for shelling units is very costly and time-consuming. Hence small shelling units can not afford it. Some of the shelling units have already changed operations and shifted to other commodities."



"Overall demand in the international market for Indian peanut has declined due to heavy selling by the USA as they have large carry-over stock of groundnut. But we are hopeful that demand will prop up after January 2014.", said Kishor Tanna, President of Indian Oilseed and Produce Export Promotion Council (IOPEPC).



According to market sources, Africa is also offering peanuts at the lower rate.



As per IOPEPC data, during April to October 2013, India has exported about 211,765 tonnes groundnut. Last year in same period it was 341,678 tonnes. This year export has declined by 129,913 tonnes mainly after government's notification.



Vikram Duvani, managing director, Rachana Seeds Industry, Junagadh said, "Demand from China and other Asian countries are very nominal and in the near future, there is no hope for good demand for Indian peanuts."



Meanwhile, Arrival of groundnut has increased to 150,000 bags (1 bag = 35 kg) in Gujarat. Price of groundnut is ruling at Rs 600-725 per 20 kg. The IOPEPC has estimated kharif groundnut production fir this year at 4.91 million tonnes from five states - Gujarat, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu - which account for close to 90 per cent of total output. This is higher by 2.1 million tonnes as compared to Kharif 2012, when the crop was only 2.81 million tonnes in these states, owing to monsoon failure.



The, Solvent Extractors' Association of India recently issued a kharif crop estimate of the Central Organization for Oil Industry & Trade. The report stated kharif groundnut production for 2013-14 would be 4.71 million tonnes, against last year's 2.62 million tonnes.



For Gujarat, it has estimated the production at 2.5 million tonnes.

Source:- business-standard.com

Gold Facing First Annual Price Drop Since 2000

Barring a late price surge, gold's value will suffer its first annual drop since the start of the millennium, while the precious metal risks further losses in 2014.Gold stood at $1,205 an ounce Friday on the London Bullion Market, down almost 27 percent in 2013 on weaker demand and easing inflation -- snapping twelve years of uninterrupted annual price growth.That leaves gold, whose twin drivers are jewellery demand and investment buying, set for its the first annual price loss since 2000 when its value had fallen by 5.6 percent.

"There are two distinct factors behind the gold price decline this year," Macquarie banking group analyst Matthew Turner told AFP.

"The first one is obviously the investor sell-off," he said, citing a sharp slump in demand from so-called exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that allow investment without trading on the futures market.

According to Turner, ETFs are on course to have sold 840 tonnes of gold this year with the metal's haven status dented by signs of economic recovery despite ongoing strains across the eurozone.

Gold's value took a knock during 2013, also from growing speculation that the US Federal Reserve would start to scale back its quantitative easing (QE) stimulus programme that propped up the world's biggest economy by billions of dollars.

Gold in June hit a three-year low at $1,180.50 an ounce on Fed speculation, before bouncing back.

It came close to matching this level at the end of last week as the US central bank ended months of speculation by finally announcing it would start to scale back its stimulus next month.

Turner said gold demand had fallen for a variety of reasons, including "a growing anticipation of the Fed ending QE... a reduced sense of crisis around the world and the fact that inflation has fallen in most countries this year, especially in the US".

He added: "This last point is very important -- the concept of QE leading to inflation has not really happened." Gold is seen also as a hedge against rising prices.

Fed tapering of its $85-billion-a-month QE policy is meanwhile set to boost the greenback, making dollar-priced gold more expensive for countries using other currencies, further weighing on demand.

Gold has been pushed lower also by rising supply, Turner said, noting that global gold mine output was increasing amid falling purchases by central banks.

In a further blow, the government of top consumer India has hiked gold customs duty three times this year to curb imports and rein in its current account deficit.

"In the very near term, Fed monetary policy stimulus will continue to be the big driver of gold prices, with improving economic data in the US increasing bets of (further) stimulus withdrawal," said National Australian Bank (NAB) economist James Glenn.

The US central bank last Wednesday announced that it would cut QE by $10 billion (7.3 billion euros) a month to $75 billion from the start of 2014. Analysts are forecasting further $10-billion cuts throughout the course of next year.

While NAB predicts that the price of gold will drop to $1,050 an ounce by late 2014/early 2015, Commerzbank is forecasting the metal to reach $1,400 by the end of next year as global monetary policy stokes inflation.

"Gold is... likely to gain greater acceptance again from Western investors as a means of hedging against a loss of purchasing power due to inflation and currency devaluation," they said in a research note.

Source:- nation.com.pk

Rupee Inches Up To 61.94 Per Dollar At Open

The Indian rupee was trading higher at 61.94/95 per dollar on Monday morning compared with its close of 62.04/05 on Friday, tracking slight gains in most Asian currency markets.

Traders will monitor the domestic stock market for further cues on the direction of foreign fund flows. The benchmark BSE Sensex was trading flat almost 50 points higher in early trade. The MSCI index of Asian shares ex-Japan rose 0.4%.

Asian currencies were trading mixed versus the dollar. The US currency extended losses against the yen and euro on profit-taking Monday following solid gains last week, but analysts said upbeat sentiment over the improving US economy would continue to provide long-term support.

Traders expect the pair to hold in a 61.80 to 62.20 range during the session.

Meanwhile, the benchmark 10-year bond yield falls 3 basis points to 8.77% after Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council chairman C. Rangarajan was quoted as saying inflation is easing in December.

According to media reports, Rangarajan said headline inflation and retail inflation will ease to 6.5% and 9.2%, respectively, in December on falling vegetable prices.

Longer-dated US treasury debt prices rose on Friday, which are also providing some support to bonds.

Source:- livemint.com

Trust not acting in violation of sec. 13 if it pays reasonable royalty to its members for using its

IT : Where revenue was not able to establish that royalty paid by assessee was unreasonable, same was to be inferred as adequate and reasonable coming within clause (c) of sub-section (2) of section 13

Sum paid for copyright in a film for term more than that given in Copyright Act excludes it from ter

IT/ILT : Consideration for perpetual transfer for 99 yrs of copyrights in film is not "royalty"

RBI asks banks to mark NPAs to credit card account dues of which have remained unpaid beyond 90 days

BANKING : Prudential norms on income recognition, asset classification and provisioning pertaining to advances - Credit Card Accounts

RBI asks banks to mark NPAs to credit card account due of which have remained unpaid beyond 90 days

BANKING : Prudential norms on income recognition, asset classification and provisioning pertaining to advances - Credit Card Accounts

Objects of a newly formed trust and not its activities to be examined for granting registration unde

IT: Where trust had approached authority for registration under section 12A within a span of eight months of its formation, only objects of trust for which it was formed would have to be examined for one to be satisfied about its genuineness and not its activities

Power to extend time-limit can't revive already expired assessment

Excise : Where time-limit for framing assessment under Sales-tax law had already expired without any order extending such time-limit, any subsequent order extending period of limitation cannot clothe Assessing Officer with jurisdiction to frame assessment

Sum paid for copyright in a film for a term more than that stipulated in Copyright Act excludes it f

IT/ILT : Consideration for perpetual transfer for 99 yrs of copyrights in film is not "royalty"

SEBI eases FIIs norms; permits FIIs to invest in India using opaque structure to comply with laws of

SEBI : Declaration and undertaking regarding PCC, MCV or Equivalent Structure by FIIs

Ad hoc provision for warranty without any scientific basis shall be disallowed, Madras HC says

IT : Where provision for warranty cost was not created on a scientific basis, same was not allowable

Support services from holding co. not treated as FTS for not satisfying 'make-available' clause

IT/ILT: Services rendered under pretext of routing administrative services treated as 'technical services' – Whether when 'make-available' clause is not satisfied the sum paid for technical services shall not be taxable as FTS under Article 12 of India-Netherland DTAA - Held Yes

SEBI rationalizes periodic call auction mechanism for illiquid scrips

SEBI : Rationalization of periodic call auction for illiquid scrips

Genuine purchases from related party at prevailing market rate rules out sec. 40A(2) disallowances

IT: Where appellate authorities having found that assessee had in fact made purchases but purchase price was inflated, confirmed disallowance to extent of 25 per cent, same did not give rise to any question of law

SEBI seeks adherence to deposit mandate by debt segment members; asks exchanges to employ system for

SEBI : Deposit requirements for members of the debt segment

MCA exempts Vessel Sharing Agreements of Liner Shipping Industry from being treated as Anti-Competit

COMPETITION ACT : Section 3, read with section 54 of the Competition Act, 2002 - Prohibition of Agreements - Anti-Competitive Agreements - Notified agreements which are exempt from provisions of section 3

Trusts registration couldn't be cancelled merely on denial of sec. 10(23C) relief in subsequent year

IT: Registration under section 12A could not be cancelled on basis of denial of exemption under section 10(23C)(vi) in subsequent year

RBI asks banks to create ‘Deferred Tax Liability’ on special reserves created under I-T Act

IT : Deferred Tax Liability on special reserve created under section 36(1)(viii) of the Income Tax Act, 1961

No clandestine removal if excess quantity was in retail packs to avoid breach of weights and measure

Excice : Excess quantity packed in retail packs to avoid violation of Weights & Measures Act doesn't amount to 'clandestine removal' and when such products are liable to duty on basis of MRP declared and not on basis of quantity cleared, supply of such minimal excess quantity does not lead to loss of revenue

Matter remanded as AO taxed exchange reserve without stating reasons to establish its relation with

IT: Where Assessing Officer did not mention reasons as to why exchange variation reserve accounts (EVRA) related to fixed assets, matter would be remanded for fresh adjudication

Service Tax Defaulters To Face Arrest From January 1

Come January 1 and thousands of service tax defaulters who have not bothered to avail of the one time Voluntary Compliance Encouragement Scheme (VCES) are likely to be arrested. VCES is an amnesty scheme for those who have never filed their service tax returns as well as those who have stopped doing so. Launched by finance minister P Chidambaram, the scheme gives benefits like waiver of interest and fine on tax dues to the defaulters who come forward to pay up.



Highly-placed sources told TOI that the Hyderabad zone of the service tax department has got a 'green signal' from the finance ministry to launch the strictest action against defaulters, including arrest and immediate recovery of the money by attaching property or bank accounts.



Meanwhile, the department is leaving no stone unturned to give wide publicity to the scheme slated to end on December 31. Apart from putting up kiosks, mobile teams have been formed to reach various corners of the city in the next two weeks to persuade people to pay the tax. Officials are reportedly working even on weekends. However, sources revealed that the response is still lukewarm despite the closure date being barely 10 days away. "At present, the department is getting one or two odd cases of VCES per day," said an official, adding that recently a leading regional language TV channel paid Rs 80 lakh dues after being issued summons.



Ahead of the massive crackdown, the service tax wing of the Central Board of Excise and Customs has constituted teams to persuade defaulters to file returns. "In the recent past, we were forced to arrest some defaulters in construction, multimedia companies and security agencies. We found that they were not depositing the service tax collected from customers with the department. These are the cases of deliberate and criminal evasion. Apart from such evaders, there are thousands who are yet to get registered with the department while scores have stopped filing their service tax returns," a senior official said.

Source:- timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Self-proclamation of dominance by enterprise in its red herring prospectus won’t prove its actual do

Competition Act : Self acclaims by enterprises in their own documents like red herring prospectus cannot be taken as evidence of dominance per se

Management fee paid to establish new factory isn't operational exp; excludible to determine PLI for

IT/ILT: Where management fees were paid towards setting up of new factory, it would not constitute operational expenses and same should be excluded while computing operating profits of assessee in determining profit level indicator (PLI)

Construction of toilets under a contract and not for social service can't be deemed as 'charitable'

IT: Construction of dry latrines under contract awarded by State development agency cannot be said to be 'charitable purpose' for granting registration under section 12A