Order of AO can't be labelled as erroneous if passed after considering details and evidences furnish

IT: Where in proceedings under section 143(3), assessee on being asked by Assessing Officer filed several replies as well as details and evidences and Assessing Officer after considering same took one of views possible in matter, order of Assessing Officer could not be said to be erroneous insofar prejudicial to interest of revenue

Sec. 69 additions confirmed by applying 'Peak Credit' theory as assessee was practicing cash recycli

IT : Mere assertion that AOP is in existence cannot be accepted unless and until supported by clinching corroborative evidences

Maintenance charges for let out property are taxable as income from business and not from house prop

IT: Income derived from letting out out-fits, fixtures, furniture, etc., is not chargeable under head 'income from house property'

Tribunal rightly order for pre-deposit as Cenvat credit was fraudulently taken by assessee on raw ma

Cenvat Credit : Where assessee had perpetuated a fraud while availing Cenvat credit on raw material allegedly procured from various sources, though no such material was procured, Tribunal order directing part pre-deposit as a condition of hearing appeal could not be faulted

Capital gain arose from sale of investments made in a co. to promote agro industry

IT : Where assessee-corporation along with private entrepreneurs made investment in shares of companies which were formed with object of promoting agro/horticulture based industry in State, income arising from subsequent sale of those shares was to be taxed as 'capital gain' and not as a 'business income'

HC raps AO for initiating reassessment even prior to transfer of assessee's case to his jurisdiction

IT : Where assessee was residing at Chennai and was filing returns of income with Assessing Officer, Chennai, whereas his proprietorship concern was situated at Suratgarh and Assessing Officer, Suratgarh issued on him a notice under section 147/148 on 3-4-2006 for assessment year 2003-04, since proposal for transfer of jurisdiction over assessee from Chennai to Suratgarh materialized only on 21-8-2007, proceedings initiated by Assessing Officer, Suratgarh prior to this date could not be consider

Order of AO can't labelled as erroneous if passed after considering details and evidences furnished

IT: Where in proceedings under section 143(3), assessee on being asked by Assessing Officer filed several replies as well as details and evidences and Assessing Officer after considering same took one of views possible in matter, order of Assessing Officer could not be said to be erroneous insofar prejudicial to interest of revenue

There Is No Ban On Textile Import In Ghana

The government has not taken any decision to ban the import of textiles into the country, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, has stated.

“Let me emphasise that there is no government policy which is seeking to ban the imports of textiles into the country; what we are seeking to do as a government is to regulate the entry of all textiles into Ghana through defined and designated routes in order to have improved statistics and control illegal importation,” he said.

The minister was speaking at a national stakeholders forum organised by the Ministry of Trade and Industry on a national crusade against trade in pirated Ghanaian textiles. It is aimed at finding solutions to the eminent crises facing the country’s textile industry.

According to him, the policy of government to discourage imports of all categories of goods and to expand exports generally into the country remained a priority although imports must be done legally “to improve our foreign exchange standing in order to improve the growth of the national economy.”

The issue of trading in pirated textiles by the market women, particularly local designs and trademark, is not only an infringement on intellectual property but is also facilitating the illegal importation of pirated textiles into Ghana.

The issue about textile importation has generated a lot of controversy in recent years because of the impact it is having on the local textile industry.

Today, the production capacity of the local textile producers has drastically gone down beyond what can even sustain their businesses, a situation which compelled them to cry for government intervention.

New dimension

Meanwhile, a worrying phenomenon has arisen in relation to how designs of the local companies find their way outside the country.

It was against this background that the sector minister called for the protection of trademarks and designs of local textile manufacturers.

Mr Iddrisu also gave a hint that some workers of the local textile companies allegedly engaged in unlawfully trading some of the designs to their agents in China and India, something the minister said was as not acceptable. He, therefore, urged them to desist from that unpatriotic practice.

The debate about the influx of pirated textiles necessitated the formation of an anti-piracy tax force to check the menace, which made some inroads until its suspension late last year on the order of the President.

Advice to market women

The minister also advised the market women to desist from contributing to the collapse of the local textile industry.

“Do not engage in the importation of pirated textiles. It is still profitable to engage in legitimate business of imports of textiles. Do our country proud, show some patriotism and demonstrate respect that you will honour the president,” he said.

Sensitisation exercise

Meanwhile, a member of the task force and the vetting committee on the importation of African Textile Designs, Mr Appiah Donyina, said the taskforce would embark on various sensitisation exercises to educate people on the difference between genuine and pirated textiles.

Source:- spyghana.com

Cotton Exports Likely To Be Hit On Chinese Move To Cut Inventories

China’s plan to sell raw cotton cheap in the domestic market to cut down its inventories may hit exports from the country. With massive reserves to offload, allocation of import quota by the country has become uncertain.

China could cut the base selling price of 18,000 yuan/tonne (?1.84 lakh) of cotton by about five per cent to spur purchases, according to trade sources. This may diminish the arbitrage advantage offered by Indian imports. Now, Indian raw cotton is available for Chinese mills are at around 12,301 yuan.

Chirag M Pan, Chief Executive Officer of Rajkot, Gujarat-based Jaydeep Cotton Fibres, which shipped 40,000 tonnes of raw cotton, about 65 per cent of its exports, to China during 2012-13, says exports will come down significantly this year. “Since the Chinese markets are closed for New Year, we are not able to get the indicators on whether more import quotas will be issued. We have been receiving reports about a price cut, but nobody can predict Chinese policy.”

Unwinding inventory

According to the Chinese Government’s cotton news website cncotton.com, as on January 22, about 4.01 lakh tonnes of cotton found their way into the textile mills and garment factories jeopardising Indian exports.

Why China is doing this is not far to seek: A 2011 procurement programme to allay fears of cotton growers and encourage planting boomeranged. It had set a high floor price of 19,800 yuan a tonne (?2.03 lakh), at least 4,000 yuan higher than the prevailing global average, jacking up prices of domestic cotton yarn and making Indian imports attractive.

Last month China said it is unwinding the inventory it built over the last three years, and support growers through a subsidy programme.

The US Department of Agriculture estimates say by March 2014 China will be stuck with more than 58 million tonnes or 60 per cent of the global cotton inventory.

Import quota

DL Sharma, Managing Director, Vardhman Yarns and Textiles Ltd, said, “With such high reserves, I wonder if China will issue more import quotas.” It could cut back on duty-free import quota. The country has a complex “sliding tax” system, where imports above the quota attract duties in the range of 4-40 per cent.

Source:- thehindubusinessline.com

India Approves Financial Incentives For Sugar Exports

India's cabinet on Wednesday decided to give financial incentives for export of raw sugar to domestic mills, a decision that may push up global supplies and reduce near-term prices of the sweetener.

The government would give 3,333 rupees ($54) per ton on exports of raw sugar to compensate domestic millers buying cane from farmers at high state-fixed prices, but the cabinet would review the amount of incentive after a couple of months, a senior government official, who declined to be named, told The Wall Street Journal.

The industry has been saying they need such an incentive to enable them to ship out excess stocks.

Global traders have been closely watching the Indian government's plan to offer cash incentives for exports of raw sugar. India is the world's second-largest producer of sugar after Brazil.

The government will offer the cash incentive on exports of up to 4 million metric tons of raw sugar.

Indian sugar mills are stuck with piles of sugar after a bumper crop as domestic prices have dropped below the cost of production in the past year.

The Indian Sugar Mills Association said in a statement that it welcomed the government's decision in helping them dispose off 4 million tons of surplus sugar.

"This will give some of the much required liquidity to sugar mills," it said, adding that the move help them pay dues to cane growers.

Local sugar prices have fallen about 15% to 26,500 rupees ($426) per ton in the past one year due to a supply glut and mills have been struggling to pay the cane purchase price to the farmers.

Source:- online.wsj.com

Rice Exports From India Climbing To Record On Mideast Demand

Rice shipments from India, the world’s largest producer after China, will probably expand to a record as buyers from Iran to Saudi Arabia boost purchases of aromatic basmati grain used in biryani and pilaf dishes.

Exports are set to increase 7.8 percent to 11 million metric tons in the 12 months through March from a year earlier, said M.P. Jindal, president of the All India Rice Exporters Association. Sales of basmati may jump 14 percent to 4 million tons as cargoes of non-basmati varieties advance 4 percent to 7 million tons, he said in a phone interview.

Shipments are increasing from India as Thailand, once the world’s biggest supplier, is also set to boost exports. The Southeast Asian country has built record stockpiles big enough to meet about a third of global import demand under a buying program that started in 2011. Farmers are demanding the government sell the reserves to pay for their crop.

“India has an edge over other countries because of quality and price competitiveness,” said Faiyaz Hudani, an associate vice president at Kotak Commodity Services Ltd., a Mumbai-based broker. “When the output is high and the pace of growth is stable, there is no cause of concern.”

Rising sales may benefit Indian shippers such as KRBL Ltd. (KRB), LT Foods Ltd. (LTFO) and Kohinoor Foods Ltd. (KFL)

India is targeting production of 106.3 million tons in the year through June, compared with a record 105.3 million tons in 2011-2012, according to the Agriculture Ministry. The harvest would add to global inventories estimated at 109 million tons in 2013-2014 by the London-based International Grains Council.

Thai Stockpiles

The price of Thai 5-percent broken white rice, a benchmark grade, fell 23 percent in 2013, the most in at least five years, and was at $460 a ton yesterday. A slump to $370 by March is possible as grain is offloaded from state granaries, according to Chareon Laothamatas, president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association. Rough-rice futures on the Chicago Board of Trade rose 0.6 percent to $15.625 per 100 pounds yesterday.

Thailand may not be able to find enough buyers for its stockpiles because major importers in Africa and the Philippines increasingly prefer grain from Vietnam and India, according to Darren Cooper, a senior economist at the council.

“Thailand will try to dispose of the stockpiles at whatever price it gets,” said B.V. Krishna Rao, managing director of Pattabhi Agro Foods Pvt., an Indian exporter. Shipments may not be affected by rising Thai sales as the two countries catered to different markets, he said.

Basmati Demand

The U.S. Department of Agriculture expects Thai inventories to reach a record 14.7 million tons this year, compared with 6.1 million in 2010. Shipments will probably be 8.5 million tons, the USDA forecasts.

Basmati rice exports from India are climbing as Iran is building reserves, said Jindal at the exporters association. Sales to Iran jumped to 1.28 million tons in the nine months through December, exceeding the 1.07 million tons for whole of 2012-2013, according to the association. The country is India’s biggest buyer of basmati and imports 1.5 million tons annually.

“The price of basmati was good this year and overseas demand was more throughout the year from all countries including Iran and Saudi Arabia,” Jindal said on Feb. 4. “Exports to Iran are higher as it buys for keeping certain reserves.”

India supplies 65 percent of the overseas basmati rice market, while Pakistan accounts for the rest, according to the state-run Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority. Saudi Arabia and Iran are the two major buyers of Indian basmati, while Africa is a major destination for non-basmati varieties.

Source:- bloomberg.com

Learning With The Times: India's Gas Pricing Demystified

Before 1987, ONGC and Oil India Ltd fixed gas prices. But from January-end 1987 the government began regulating prices on a cost-plus basis. The last revision under this so-called administered price mechanism was effective July 2005. When the government began bidding out oil and gas blocks under the New Exploration and Licensing Policy (NELP), it opted for marketdetermined rates for gas.

The producer enjoyed marketing freedom but needed to get the pricing formula approved through 'arm's length pricing'. (This is a transaction where buyers and sellers act independently. They have no relationship with each other. This ensures that both parties are acting in their own selfinterest and are not subject to any pressure or duress from the other party). In 2006 the first controversy began when Reliance Industries invited bids from users and arrived at a price of $4.32 per million metric British thermal units. The matter was referred to an empowered group of ministers headed by Pranab Mukherjee which agreed on a price of $4.20 a unit after suggesting a few changes to RIL's formula, including elements to do away with volatility.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved a new formula based on recommendations of a committee headed by C Rangarajan, chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the PM. The new policy was based on the price of Indian liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports. Then, the weighted average price at major trading hubs in the UK, the US and Japan was also calculated. Finally, a simple average of the prices of imported LNG and the average international price was calculated. Based on this formula, the current price of domestically-produced gas works out to $6.7 a unit, which will go up to $8.4 a unit from April when the new fi ve-year pricing policy kicks in.

The change was undertaken because the current pricing policy expires at the end of March 2014. The Rangarajan Committee had suggested the new formula arguing that no market-determined arm's length price was available in India and is unlikely to happen for several more years.

Apart from the impact on consumers, many, including some MPs, have alleged corporate influence in policy formulation. Some cabinet ministers questioned the rationale for price revision although officially, the government has maintained that the guidelines will help incentivize investment and check cartelization.

Source:- timesofindia.indiatimes.com

India Average Containerized Scrap Import Prices Rise To $376.25 A Ton In January

India's average containerized scrap import prices rose by 1.2% month-on-month to $376.25 a ton in January this year, as per the latest figures released by the The Steel Index (TSI).

The turn of the year brought a renewed sense of optimism to the Indian market, with momentum increasing throughout January, and relatively strong demand for finished steel products bringing sub-sequent price rises.

A weakening of the Rupee towards the end of the month served to make scrap imports more expensive as buyers found their purchasing power reduced. This meant sourcing domestic scrap where possible became a more favourable option for buyers.

This shift in sentiment and the weakened Rupee began to be reflected in the price of scrap imports, rising US$12/tonne throughout the month from $370 a ton to $382 a ton.

The majority of material was sourced from the Middle East and South Africa, which was largely sold at a significant discount compared to the material sourced from the UK and Europe later in the month. The smaller mills tended to source these lower grades of Middle Eastern origin, or secure domestic material.

Source:- metal.com

Global Cues To Keep Domestic Gold Prices Firm

Gold prices on domestic spot and futures market are set to rule firm, taking cues from the global market.Gold seems to have overcome the technical barrier of $1,275 an ounce, while short-covering is also keeping prices firm. Aiding the yellow metal further is US Fed Reserve chief Janet Yellen’s comment that the central bank would be measured in its steps to pare the stimulus programme.

This could mean that the US Fed may not rush through to end the stimulus programme through which money is pumped into the economy by buying bonds and other assets. The stimulus, aimed at boosting the economy, has already seen two cuts this year by $10 billion each in January and February to $65 billion a month.

The trade could get further cues from the US jobless report and weekly retail sales due later in the day.Gold holdings in SPDR Trust, world’s biggest gold backed exchange-traded fund, remained unchanged at 797.85 tonnes.

But all is not glittering for gold as Goldman Sachs in a report overnight said that prices could drop to $1,050 an ounce by the year-end. Depreciation in emerging-market currencies may hurt jewellery demand, it said.

“The path will be more of a slow grind lower over the course of the year unlike last year as markets will wait for strong economic data to confirm that US economic growth is accelerating and that the US Federal Reserve will continue to reduce the accommodative monetary policy,” Goldman Sachs said in the report.

Analysts say gold needs a compelling reason to discourage investors from resorting to profit-booking. In the Indian context, currency movements will also matter as a weak rupee against the dollar makes imports of gold, crude oil and vegetable oils costlier.

By mid-day in Asia, spot gold ruled at $1,291.78 an ounce and gold futures maturing for delivery in April at $1,291.50.Spot gold on NCDEX in the domestic market ended a tad lower at Rs. 30,080 for 10 gm.Gold futures maturing for delivery in April on MCX and NCDEX are likely to rule firm over Rs. 29,000.

Crude oil prices will rule firm with US stockpiles dropping to eight-month low. Forecast of the cold spell continuing in North America is likely to add fuel to rising prices.

Brent crude for delivery in March ruled at $108.61 a barrel and US crude for delivery the same month at $110.08.With Brazil offering soyabean at competitive prices and China switching to the South American bean from US deals, the oils and oilseed market will come under pressure. Profit-booking is also likely in the futures market.

Soyabean on Chicago Board of Trade for delivery in March ruled at $13.27 a bushel. Crude palm oil on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange opened higher at 2,648 ringgit or $796 a tonne.

While projections of a higher carryover stocks continue to cast shadow on corn (industrial maize), warm US weather is dragging wheat.CBOT wheat for delivery in March ruled lower in Asia at $5.86 a bushel and corn for the same month at $4.39 a bushel.

Source:- thehindubusinessline.com

Case remanded to analyze additional evidence furnished by assessee to substantiate ALP of transactio

IT/ILT: Matter remanded where assessee had collated supplementary evidence to corroborate arm's length nature of its international transactions in adherence to principles

HC sets aside ex-parte order as date of hearing was not specified to assessee when he was seeking mo

CST & VAT : Where no fixed date of hearing was specified to assessee and assessee had requested for grant of more time, passing of revisional order ex parte was violative of principles of natural justice and was set aside with remand of matter

Provisional liquidator posseses powers of Court; he can invite claims made by or against company: HC

CL : Provisional liquidator has power to invite claims having regard to provisions of section 446(2)(b)

Retainer fee to doctor would attract sec. 192 TDS instead of sec. 194J if terms of contract prove hi

IT : Cumulative effect of agreement with retainer-doctor is decisive as to whether TDS to be deducted under section 192 or under section 194J

AO can't invoke addition under sec. 41(1) merely on basis of time barred liability, rules HC

IT : Where assessee had outstanding creditors for goods and Assessing Officer made addition in income of assessee under section 41(1) on basis that with respect to 14 creditors liability was outstanding for more than three years, Assessing Officer was not justified in his view

Deemed export to be treated at par with physical export for purposes of Rule 5 of CCR

Cenvat Credit : Deemed exports are to be treated at par with physical exports for purpose of rule 5 of CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004 and, accordingly, assessee is eligible for refund thereunder in respect of deemed exports

RBI puts curbs on intra-group transactions by banks; releases guidelines for the purpose

Banking : Guidelines on Management of Intra-Group Transactions and Exposures

Tribunal to consider notional tax effect as well while admitting revenue's appeal, rules HC

IT : While considering amount of tax effect for purpose of preferring appeal by revenue, Tribunal is required to consider notional tax effect as well

CESTAT directs Central Registry to update records within 24 hrs in case change of address of advocat

GST : Names of Advocates/Consultants not Appearing in Cause List of Certain Cases – CESTAT Data to be Updated Within 24 Hours

SEBI advises brokers not to depend on single software vendors to avoid trading disruptions

SEBI : Safeguards to Avoid Trading Disruption in Case of Failure Of Software Vendor

U.K. Sinha’s term extended by two more years as SEBI’s Chief

SEBI : Section 4 of The SEBI Act, 1992, Read with Rule 3 of The SEBI (Terms and Conditions of Service of Chairman and Members) Rules, 1992 - Management of The Board – Extension of Appointment of SEBI Chairman W.E.F. 18-2-2014

New Form for FDI details; RBI mandates mention of foreign residence and Greenfield or brownfield inv

FEMA/ILT : Foreign Direct Investment – Reporting Under FDI Scheme: Amendments in Form FC-GPR

CAT’s clean chit to YRF; its tie-up with single screen owners to exhibit ‘Jab Tak Hai Jan’ was not a

CL : Conditions put by opponents, film producers, on single screen theatre at time of release of one of their film that if they wanted to exhibit that film, they would have to simultaneously agree to exhibit their other film at time of Diwali did not violate provisions of section 3(4) of Competition Act, 2002

No business profits arose from frequent share dealings if resultant profits were taxed as capital ga

IT: Where income from similar transactions of sale and purchase of shares had been accepted as short-term capital gain in earlier as well as in subsequent years, such gain could not be assessed as business income for relevant assessment year

ITAT affirms concealment penalty as assessee surrendered income after detection of sham transaction

IT : Where Assessing Officer had conducted enquiries into matter of sale of shares prior to surrender made by assessee and duly established on record that said share transactions were sham and bogus, he was justified in levying penalty under section 271(1)(c) in respect of addition made for those transactions

HC rejects observations to Tax Board as assessee failed to show contract giving rise to such finding

CST & VAT : When contract/scheme relied upon by Tax Board is not produced by assessee before High Court, then, inspite of fact that Tax Board is final fact finding authority, High Court cannot blindly follow observation of Tax Board, since same had been serious challenged by VAT Department; matter was remitted back accordingly

Investment of sales consideration provides sec. 54F relief even if construction isn't completed with

IT: Where consideration received on transfer of property had been invested by assessee in construction of residential house, merely because construction was not complete in all respects within stipulated period, benefit of section 54F, should not be rejected

Sec. 14A disallowances must be as per set method even if assessee says that no sum is incurred on ex

IT : Disallowance as per section 14A(2) is required to be made, even if assessee claims that it did not incur any expenditure in earning dividend income

HC admits winding up petition as co. was commercially insolvent and it failed to pay its debts

CL: Winding up order of respondent-company was passed on its inability to pay debt though reasonable time was afforded to it to repay same

Bad-debts written off against provisions created thereof in earlier years would be allowable under s

IT: Where trade advances becoming unrealizable, provision was made and profit was loss account was debited in earlier year, same was to be allowed when written of in subsequent year

CIT(A) had to admit additional evidence as assessee failed to appear before AO due to doubt over his

IT: Where assessee was prevented by sufficient cause in not appearing before Assessing Officer while framing assessment due to confusion relating to jurisdiction of Assessing Officer, in such circumstances, Commissioner (Appeals) as well as Tribunal relying upon additional evidence produced by assessee were justified in deleting a part of addition made by Assessing Officer

No cap gain if profit from revaluation of fixed asset was credited to partner's capital a/c as no 't

IT : Deduction on account of bad debts was allowable to assessee since debts were outstanding since long and assessee wrote off same as irrecoverable in its books

HC nods to ex-parte assessment under UP VAT as bogus transactions were found by department during in

CST & VAT : Where entries made in accounts cannot be verified and, on investigation by department, are found bogus and fictitious reflecting a mere paper transaction, department is right in proceeding with best judgment assessment

Additions on estimated basis doesn't attract concealment penalty; HC reiterates the principles

IT: When addition is made on estimate basis, no penalty is sustainable

India To Focus On South Korea To Enhance Generic Exports

India is planning to focus its eyes on South Korean markets to push and promote its generic exports to the peninsular region. As part this initiative, the Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil) with the support of ministry of commerce is planning to organize an India Pavilion at ‘Korea Pharm’ from June 10-13, 2014.



Moreover, with India entering into CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) and also a signatory of FTA with South Korea, there is good scope for improving bilateral trade between the two nations particularly in the active pharmaceutical ingredients segment.



At present the South Korean pharmaceutical market is the 10th largest pharmaceutical market, globally. The industry is highly fragmented, with almost all the domestic pharmaceutical companies having a strong portfolio of generic products rather than expensive, branded drugs.



For the entire pharmaceutical industry, an increase in insurance coverage, an ageing population and favourable government initiatives are expected to drive future growth. Improved Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), changing demographics, and government support have contributed towards making the South Korean pharmaceutical industry attractive for multinational companies.



The South Korean government has signed Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with the US, Europe and India that are aimed at improving the IPR framework in the country and making the pharmaceutical industry more attractive for foreign investment.



In view of ample scope to grab business in South Korea, India is attempting for second time with India Pavilion to push and promote its generics export. As part of this, Pharmexcil is organizing India Pavilion at Korea Pharm exhibition where the council will take the opportunity to exhibit India’s strengths in APIs, chemicals, and laboratory and packaging materials.



As a part of this, the council has called upon interested members from the Indian pharma industry to take part in this event and make up maximum from this opportunity to grow their export business in South Korea. “As an assistance to take part in India Pavilion, Ministry of Commerce, Govt. of India is also providing financial assistance of Rs. 1.5 lakhs under the MDA (Marketing development assistance) scheme for companies whose export turnover for the previous year is less than Rs. 30 crores,” informed Raghuveer Kini, executive director, Pharmexcil.

Source:- pharmabiz.com

It Sector Exports May Grow 13-15% In Fy15: Nasscom

Indian software and BPO export industry is likely to see about 15 per cent rise in revenue in FY15, according to National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom).

This effectively means a $15-17 billion of incremental revenue in the next fiscal year, one of the most bullish growth targets given by Nasscom in the last couple of years.

In the last fiscal, the industry clocked a growth of 10.2 per cent which was lesser than the original growth of 11-14 per cent prediction by the body.

The industry’s export revenues are estimated to touch $86 billion in the current fiscal and hover between $97-99 billion in the next fiscal. The overall industry’s revenues this fiscal are estimated to be $118 billion.

Nasscom said that concerns over the US Immigration Bill remain even as some of the more “worrisome” issues have been taken care of partly. “There are certain provisions which are a matter of concern although more worrisome concerns have been addressed to some extent,” Nasscom president and former telecom secretary R Chandrashekhar told reporters here while presenting the industry outlook for FY15.

The Immigration Bill proposes higher visa fees and enhanced audits by US agencies, which are likely to hurt the domestic IT industry. Stating that Nasscom had done its best to convince US lawmakers and the government, he said, “It is not that our concerns have vanished or disappeared.”

The next four to five months, when the Bill goes to the US Congress, will be critical, Nasscom chairman Krishnakumar Natarajan said.

‘“We continue to have a very optimistic outlook. We believe the export revenue will grow by 13-15 per cent to reach $97 to $99 billion in FY15,” Natarajan said.

Nasscom also highlighted the upcoming challenges for the sector, which includes the uncertainty in the wake of approaching general elections this year, currency fluctuation, global regulatory hurdles such as the US Immigration Bill.

Nasscom said that the estimate is the reflection of how they see the industry right now based on conversations with clients — a majority of which expect to spend higher on technology compared to this fiscal.

Natarajan said the focus of the industry is clearly on digitisation (with focus on social media, analytics, mobility and cloud) and innovation with almost 1,000 to 1,200 start-ups emerging in the country, playing across the spectrum from e-commerce to education.

Source:- indianexpress.com

Oil Imports From Canada Could Benefit Ril

Canada, the world’s third largest oil reserve (Behind Saudi Arabia and Venezuela) could be India’s savior with regards to the ever-increasing oil prices.

Oil companies in India, particularly Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) could receive a shot in the arm as cheaper Canadian crude from Alberta oil sands will reach Indian shores in large quantities four years from now. The production volume right now is quite low; however, it would be ramped up by 2018 with the assistance of a pipeline from the reserve to the east coast. The oil then would be transported to India using ships.

Oil imports from Canada are seen as having a significant impact on the revenues of companies. Take the example of Mukesh Ambani’s RIL- Canadian crude can be 14% cheaper for them than the Indian basket. This could turn out to be even cheaper with proper infrastructure for transport in place. An oil ministry official explained that it costs $11-12 per barrel for the transportation of oil by rail from Alberta (located in western Canada) to export terminals on the east coast of the country, and then further shipping the oil to India. India could therefore buy this oil at around $14-15 per barrel lower than the price at which oil is procured at in other markets.

Oil output from Alberta could reach 1.1 million barrels per day. India, at present imports 3.86 million barrels, mostly from West Asia. If Indian companies can get hold of a major chunk, it could mean costs going down, leading to huge savings on oil import bill and oil subsidies. In 2012-13, India’s oil imports grew by 9.22% to $169.25 billion from $154.96 billion in 2011-12. In the current fiscal, crude oil imports are seen rising to about 196 million tonnes from the 184.795 million tonnes it imported in 2012-13, but relatively low prices have been a solace.

Canadian high commissioner Stewart Beck is aware of the huge interest firms like RIL hold in his country’s oil deposits. “It (discount) has been as high as $ 40 and probably hovering around $20-25. Reliance has the biggest refinery in the world and they very much like synthetic crude because they can develop a lot more products. The new IOC refinery is also interested in synthetic crude. You get more value from the same barrel of conventional crude,” said Beck.

Another reason why companies are pursuing oil sands is because of their nature.They are a natural mixture of sand, water, clay and a type of heavy oil called bitumen. Bitumen must be removed from the sand and water before being upgraded into crude oil and other petroleum products. What is more, the synthetic oil extracted from oil sands can help refiners develop a wider range of petroleum products.

Source:- groundreport.com

India's Trade Deficit Narrows On 77% Drop In Gold Imports

India's trade deficit narrowed in January, helped by a 77 per cent drop in imports of gold and silver while exports ticked up, improving the outlook for the country's fragile current account balance.

The trade ministry said it had recommended easing curbs on gold imports, prompted by the brighter trade picture.

The trade deficit stood at $9.92 billion last month compared with $10.14 billion in December, a trade ministry official said on Tuesday.

Merchandise exports rose 3.79 percent year-on-year to $26.75 billion, compared with a 3.5 percent annual growth in December.

Imports fell 18.07 percent year-on-year to $36.57 billion led by a 77 percent drop in gold and silver imports on the year.

India expects to keep the current account deficit down under $50 billion in the fiscal year to March 2014. The shortfall was a record $87.8 billion in the previous 12-month period which had precipitated a record fall in the value of the rupee against the dollar last summer.

Source:- timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Rupee Trims Gains; Still Up 3 Paise To 62.40 Vs Dollar

The rupee trimmed its initial gains but was still quoted higher by 3 paise to 62.40 per dollar in late morning trade on Tuesday on mild selling of the US currency by banks and exporters.

The rupee resumed higher at 62.37 per dollar as against the last closing level of 62.43 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) Market and firmed up further to 62.33 per dollar.

However, it trimmed its initial gains and was quoted at 62.40 per dollar at 1045 hours on some demand for the U.S. currency from banks.

It moved in a range of 62.33 and 62.44 per dollar during the morning deals.

In Hong Kong, the dollar fell further in early trade against other major currencies, as global investors awaited Janet Yellen’s first testimony as the new Federal Reserve chief, later in the day.Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex rose by 75.23 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 20,409.50 at 1045 hours.

Source:- thehindu.com

Cenvat credit on input to be reversed if they were sold in local market after being found unfit for

Cenvat Credit : Where Cenvated inputs have been removed as such from factory and sold outside in cash on claim of being unfit for use, credit taken thereon is liable to be reversed and extended period of limitation is invocable therefor

HC consents to reduction of share capital as no objection was filed either at Board meeting or befor

CL: Where reduction of share capital of petitioner-company was a commercial and business verdict approved by majority of its shareholders and, moreover, no objection was filed even after notices were published giving wide publicity, petition seeking confirmation of reduction of share capital was to be allowed

Non-availability of PAN of payee-customer was a reasonable cause for belated filing of TDS return; p

IT: Non-availability of PAN of payee-customer was a reasonable cause for belated filing of TDS return; penalty deleted

Excise proceedings can't be relied on by department to allege turnover escaping assessment under VAT

CST & VAT : Mere issuance of show-cause notice by Central Excise Department cannot lead to presumption that there was evasion of excise duty as well as evasion of VAT so as to initiate 'turnover escaping assessment' proceedings under VAT

ITAT allows assessee to prove that loss arising on jobbing transaction wasn't speculative; case rema

IT : Where assessee, a share and stock broker, apart from business undertaken for and on behalf of its clients was also engaged in trading in shares as well as jobbing on own account and Assessing Officer treated loss incurred by assessee on jobbing activity as speculative loss, matter was sent back to Assessing Officer to enable assessee to present its case of jobbing transactions as non speculative in terms of section 43(5)(c)

Debt Recovery Tribunal can execute recovery certificate against a property situated outside its juri

Banking Laws : DRT at Mumbai could get recovery certificate executed by its recovery officer in respect of property situate at Vapi in State of Gujarat under jurisdiction of DRT-Ahmedabad

Withdrawal of revaluation reserve not to be reduced from book profit if wasn't added back while crea

IT : Where revaluation reserve is created after 1-4-1997, in terms of proviso to clause (i) of second part of Explanation to section 115JB, amount withdrawn from said reserve in an assessment year commencing after 1-4-1997 would not be reduced from book profit unless book profit of such year had been increased by those reserves

HC nods to stay of demand as earlier ITAT granted stay on similar issue and facts remained unchanged

IT: Where Tribunal in earlier years on very same issue in dispute had conclusively indicated in its order that assessee had a prima facie case for stay of demand, in absence of any change in circumstances, assessee's application for stay of demand during relevant year was also to be allowed

DTA clearances by EOU in excess of permissible limits would be liable to full duty

Excise & Customs : Where assessee-EOU had made excess DTA clearances over and above permissible limit, assessee was liable to full duty thereon and mere pendency of application for further permission cannot avoid levy of duty

A comparable ceases to be so for the period it operated under extra-ordinary circumstances

IT/ILT : Transfer Pricing : A comparable ceases to be so for the period it operated under extra-ordinary circumstances

Developer of housing project need not to be owner of property as well for claiming sec. 80-IB relief

IT: For purpose of allowing deduction under section 80-IB(10), it is not necessary that assessee, a developer of housing project, should be owner of property as well

Sec. 40(a)(ia) disallowance to be considered as business profits for purposes of sec. 10A relief

IT: Amount of statutory disallowance under section 40(a)(ia) has to be considered as business profit eligible for deduction under section 10A

CLB could not interfere in internal affairs of Co. where it had complied with statutory obligations

CL : CLB would not interfere with decision of company as regards acceptance of resignation of director if company and its directors complied with statutory obligations

In extra-ordinary circumstances a comparable ceases to be so

IT/ILT : Transfer Pricing : A comparable ceases to be so for the period it operated under extra-ordinary circumstances

SC: Revenue to disburse interest at 15% if sum seized during search exceeds sum required to meet tax

IT: Where amount retained under section 132 exceeds amounts required to meet liability under section 132B(1)(i), revenue is liable to pay simple interest at rate of fifteen per cent on expiry of six months from date of order passed under section 132(5) to date of regular assessment or re-assessment, as the case may be

Business and Commercial brand equity is goodwill and entitled to depreciation; HC followed SC ruling

IT: In view of order passed by Supreme Court in case of CIT v. Smifs Securities Ltd. [2012] 24 taxmann.com 222, Tribunal was justified in allowing assessee's claim for depreciation in respect of intangible assets, viz; business and commercial brand equity

Prior to 01-06-2007, turnkey contracts were not liable to service-tax

Service Tax : Turnkey/Works contract are, prima facie, not liable to service tax prior to introduction of works contract services w.e.f. 1-6-2007

HC raps revenue for denying approval to trust on basis of seized docs without following principle of

IT: Where on basis of documents seized during search, Commissioner opined that Chairman of Board of Trustees had undisclosed income and, thus, approval sought by assessee-trust under section 80G(5)(vi) was denied, in view of fact that copies of seized documents were not furnished to assessee, there was violation of principle of natural justice and consequently, impugned order was to be aside

Liberalised Trade With India To Benefit Millions

The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Monday said liberalised trade with India will benefit tens of millions of people on both sides of the divide while reducing food import bill which is above five billion dollars.



Fears among Pakistani business and agricultural community including textile and pharma sector are unsupported, it said.

Intra-regional trade will get a boost when both the governments lift trade barriers to bring a major change which will have a positive impact, said Dr. Murtaza Mughal, President PEW/

He said that all the major political parties and key business associations are supporting trade liberalization with India but some sectors are voicing concerns to avoid competition with Indians.

Worries regarding Indian products flooding Pakistani markets are mostly baseless which amounts to underestimating skills and resilience of the business community, he noted.

Murtaza Mughal said that liberalisation will help exporters gain increased access to a much larger market while importers will save transport costs.

Apprehensions among some manufacturers have been addressed by the government anti-dumping laws and countervailing duties that can be imposed any time, he said.

Similarly, fears in the agricultural sector are due to lack of information as lower priced Indian agricultural products will benefit producers as well as masses, he said, adding that half of agricultural income come from the livestock sector which will face no competition.

Producers of major crops will not be affected, rather it will augment overall supply while vegetable imports and exports will help the two countries balance gap between supply and demand.Both the nations should strive for improved infrastructure and customs facilities to promote bilateral trade.

Source:- onlinenews.com.pk

Yellen Is Bullish Factor For Gold Ncdex Spot Prices Set To Top Rs. 30,000

Gold is set to rule firm with spot prices likely to top Rs. 30,000 for 10 gm and futures ruling above Rs. 29,000 on Tuesday.In the global market, gold has vaulted higher on hopes that the new US Federal Reserve Chief Janet Yellen could spell out some sort of slowdown in the tapering of the central bank’s stimulus programme. Since January, the programme (to pump money into the economy by mopping up bonds and other assets) has been pruned twice by $10 billion each to $65 billion. The cut in the stimulus followed signs of recover in the economy.

Yellen will testify before the US House Financial Services Committee later in the day where she could respond to issues relating to the labour market and the pace of tapering.

Last week’s economic data has particularly been disappointing with the economic growth again showing signs of slackening. This has led to rising bets that the tapering of the stimulus could slow down.

Aiding the rally in gold currently is the return of the Chinese after the Lunar New Year holidays. That has resulted in physical buying in Asia. China has already topped India as the largest gold consumer, with demand exceeding 1,100 tonnes last year.

Rolling favourably for gold are holdings in the world’s biggest gold-exchange trade fund, SPDR Trust, ruling unchanged at 797.05 tonnes after posting a 0.5 per cent gain last week.

Eyes are also on India, where the Government could ease curbs on imports and may even cut Customs duty after the Congress President Sonia Gandhi wrote to the Commerce Ministry for a review of the measures that made shipments into the country difficult.

In the domestic market, currency movements could also matter since a weak rupee against a strong dollar will make imports of gold, crude oil and vegetable oils costlier.

By mid-day in Asia, spot gold zoomed to $1,285.59 an ounce and gold futures maturing for delivery in April to $1,285.30.

Spot gold on NCDEX ended at Rs. 29,950 for 10 gm on Monday.

On MCX and NCDEX, gold April contracts could exceed Rs. 29,000.

Crude oil prices are likely to rule steady on bets that stockpiles in the US decreased. This has driven West Texas Intermediate crude prices to $100 a barrel. However, improving Libyan supplies could cap gains.

Brent crude contracts maturing for delivery in March ruled at $108.71 a barrel, while US crude at $100.10.

The oils and oilseeds market is likely to come under pressure on the US Department of Agriculture projecting an unchanged ending stocks, higher Brazilian crop and lower demand for soyameal.

On Chicago Board of Trade, soyabean contracts maturing for delivery in March slid to $13.25 a bushel. Crude palm oil on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange dropped to 2,608 ringgit or $782 a tonne.

Wheat prices are set to head higher on the USDA projecting a lower carryover stock as well as Argentine exports. Corn (industrial maize), on the other hand, is expected to head south on projections of higher-than-expected stocks.

CBOT wheat for delivery in March was up at $5.87 a bushel but corn for delivery the same month slipped to $4.42 a bushel.

Source:- thehindubusinessline.com

Sugar Export Subsidy Likely To Be Fixed At Rs3,500 Per Tonne

Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar to provide a subsidy of Rs3,500 per tonne on export of four million tonnes of raw sugar, involving an expenditure of Rs1,400 crore, in a move to boost sales and bail out the cash-strapped industry.

The CCEA had twice deferred the decision on fixing the export subsidy as the food ministry had proposed a lower subsidy of Rs2,200 per tonne against the Rs3,500 proposed by Sharad Pawar.

The difference was resolved at a meeting of Pawar with finance minister P Chidambaram and food minister K V Thomas on Friday.

Food minister K V Thomas said the Rs3,500-subsidy per tonne of sugar exported will cost the government Rs1,400 crore over a two-year period, against Rs800 crore under the earlier proposal of Rs2,000 per tonne subsidy.

The subsidy will be borne largely from the Sugar Development Fund under the food ministry and the subsidy amount will be reviewed after export of 2 million tonnes of raw sugar, he added.

The matter will now be placed before the cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA).

After factoring in the Rs3,500 per tonne subsidy, sugar mills could still lose around Rs1,000 per tonne considering the current raw sugar futures prices in New York, say analysts.

"At Rs3,500 per tonne subsidy, mills would still be making losses, but sugar can be exported. This is because mills' realisation from exports would be slightly higher than domestic sales, thanks to low local prices of sugar," Indian Sugar Mills Association director-general Abinash Verma had said last month.

India, the world's second biggest sugar producer, is sitting on huge opening stock of sugar.

The country is also expected to produce 25 million tonnes of the sweetener in the current (2013-14) marketing year (October-September), against demand for 23.5 million tonnes.

Sugar mills in India are faced with mounting cane price arrears they owe to farmers that has reached Rs10,000 crore from about Rs3,000 crore at the start of the current marketing year in October 2013.

The government had, in December, extended a Rs6,600-crore interest-free loan to the sugar industry to help them make payments to sugarcane farmers.

Source:- domain-b.com

Govt Appoints Two Directors On Coal India Board

State-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL) today announced appointment of two new non-official part time directors on the company’s board.

Both the directors — Indranil Manna and Shri Prakash — will be on the board of CIL for a period of three years with effect from February 6, 2014,

The company said in a filing to the BSE.Manna, Director, IIT, Kanpur and Prakash, Ex-Member (Traffic), Railway Board are “appointed as non-official part time directors on the board of the company by the Ministry of Coal for a period of three years w.e.f. February 6, 2014,” it said.

Source:- thehindubusinessline.com

Sa Keen To Set Up Processing Units In Punjab

South African High Commissioner to India France Morule has evinced interest in setting up agro-processing joint ventures in Punjab, especially in packaging and marketing kinnow juice, since the state is a major producer of kinnow and South Africa, too, is a leader in the production of citrus fruits, besides having a substantial fruit processing sector.

Morule has invited state Chief Minister P S Badal to lead a business delegation to South Africa to explore the potential in agriculture, coal, food processing, textiles and hosiery because, with South Africa being a duty free zone, there is potential to export from there to other parts of the world.

Badal has formally invited the envoy, who recently visited Punjab, to lead a high-level delegation of progressive farmers from South Africa to the four-day progressive agriculture summit at Mohali from February 16-19. He has also urged Morule to send a team of agro-processing experts to Punjab, to explore ways of enhancing value-addition in other fruits such as guavas and peaches.

According to Vikramjit Singh Sahney, South Africa's honorary consul for Northern India, 80 per cent of the agricultural produce of South Africa is processed, compared to a mere two per cent in Punjab.

Source:- business-standard.com

Deemed STCG under sec. 50 qualifies for sec. 54EC relief as deeming fiction only provides mode of co

IT : Capital gain computed under section 50 qualifies for exemption if investment is made out of sale proceeds towards prescribed bonds under section 54EC

Indian Shrimp Export Peak

The huge growth in production Andhra Pradesh and other States on the East Coast experienced, boosted exports of vannamei to almost double in quantity compared with the first three quarters of the last fiscal year to 134,000 tonnes vs. 69,000 tonnes.

In dollar terms, the jump was an astounding 173 per cent over the previous fiscal’s first three quarters, that is to say, from USD 540 million to USD 1,474 million.

The Marine Products Export Promotion Authority (MPDA) reported that in the first nine months of the current fiscal year (April 2013-March 2014) seafood exports from India reached a record peak of USD 3.66 billion, largely driven by sales of frozen shrimp.

The frozen shrimp accounted for one third of exports of fishery products, while in dollar terms, the percentage was 65 per cent: 229,010 tonnes were exported for USD 2.39 billion.

Vannamei variety alone constituted 81 per cent of in terms of quantity of the total exports of shrimp.

This upsurge, according to Anwar Hashim, a leading exporter and former president of Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI), was due to two major factors; a serious fall in the production and export of shrimp from South East Asian countries owing to diseases, and the lowering of the countervailing duty (CVD) on Indian shrimp in the USA.

The production in South East Asian countries had been severely impacted by the spread of the Early Mortality Syndrome (EMS). The supply from Thailand, the world’s second largest shrimp producer, nearly fell to a half from its normal production of 500,000 tonnes per year, The Hindu reported.

Besides other leading producers like Vietnam and Malaysia have been badly hit as well. Their processing plants started to depend on import from India in order to meet their commitments with European and US importers. Therefore, India was presented with a chance to enhance its exports.Likewise, China and Taiwan turned to India to get resources mainly for re-export.

This favourable context encouraged Indian new farmers in the States on the East Coast to venture into vannamei.USA is the largest import market with a 51.24 per cent share of the total Indian shrimp exports. South East Asian countries account for the 16.10 per cent, followed by the EU with 15.82 per cent, and Japan with 4.94 per cent.

Source:- fis.com

India Refutes Us, Canada Allegations Of Subsidised Wheat Exports

India is collecting data to refute allegations of subsidised wheat exports made against it by the US and Canada at the World Trade Organisation.

“The allegations are false as they are based on the faulty assumption that the administration cost of procuring and storing wheat in the country is almost half the acquisition price of the foodgrain,” a Commerce Department official told Business Line.

The Ministries of Commerce and Agriculture are now working out the actual costs involved in each stage right from when the crop is sent out of the farms up to the point of distribution, the official added.

If the US and Canada can prove that India is selling subsidised wheat, the country could be either forced to stop exporting at the existing prices or face penalties. The two countries raised concerns about the on-going export of 2 million tonne of wheat by Food Corporation of India – the Government agency responsible for procuring foodgrains from farmers and distributing it – at a recent meeting of the WTO’s Committee on Agriculture.

Canada complained about India lowering the floor prices for wheat exports from $300 per tonne to $260 per tonne which was less than the price of about $275 per tonne being offered by other exporters in the global market.

The US said India was selling wheat at prices lower than its acquisition cost. It argued that although FCI’s acquisition price from farmers was at an estimated $220 per tonne, which is much lower than the price at which India was exporting wheat, if one would add administration costs to it, the actual cost would be much higher.

Indian officials, however, contend that the numbers are over-estimations. “The US has assumed administration costs at 40 per cent of the total acquisition cost which is way too high,” the official said.India will supply its own estimates of administration costs of wheat when the Committee of Agriculture meets next.“Our officials and economists are working on the numbers. We will be ready with it soon,” the official said.The issue of subsidised food procurement by FCI for the country’s Food Security Programme was a matter of great debate at the recent WTO meeting in Bali.

Source:- thehindubusinessline.com

U.S. Brings Second Trade Action Against India For Solar Power Imports

The United States wants India to remove allegedly illegal local sourcing requirements of its national solar program.In a legal action filed with the World Trade Organization, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative claimed that the domestic content requirements for India’s National Solar Mission (NSM) discriminate against solar cells and modules manufactured in the U.S.

“These unfair requirements are against WTO rules,” said U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman. “These types of ‘localization’ measures not only are an unfair barrier to U.S. exports, but also raise the cost of solar energy, hindering deployment of solar energy around the world, including in India.”

In 2010, India launched the first of three phases of the NSM, which is aims to deploy 20 gigawatts of grid connected solar power by 2022.

In February 2013, the U.S. challenged similar domestic content requirements in Phase I of the NSM program in formal consultations with the WTO. The consultations failed to resolve the dispute.

Under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, India is supposed to treat imported products as favorably as domestic products.Phase II of the NSM also limits funding to solar projects using solar cells and modules manufactured in India.

Source:- forbes.com

Commissioner has no jurisdiction over TPO administratively

IT/ILT : Commissioner has no jurisdiction over TPO administratively and he cannot revise order passed under section 92CA(3) by TPO

Floating restaurants aren't 'goods'; its construction tantamount to work contract

CST & VAT : Construction of floating restaurant at agreed sides does not amount to sale of goods, but, amounts to works contract liable to tax accordingly

Civil courts can't grant injunction in respect of an action to be taken pursuant to SARFAESI Act

SARFAESI : No injunction can be granted by any Court or other authority in respect of any action taken or to be taken pursuant to SARFAESI Act

Delay in filing appeal due to negligence of consultant was valid reason to condone delay, rules HC

IT: Delay in filing appeal due to negligence of staff of assessee's consultant was condoned in view of fact that assessee's appeal raising same question for earlier assessment year had been admitted

Delhi Public School allowing use of its name, logo and motto was liable to service-tax under 'franch

Service Tax : Where agreement does not provide for sharing of risk/profits/losses by one party and entire expenditure/risk/benefits is to be borne/enjoyed by other party, there is no joint venture

Agriculture land located beyond limit of municipality in year of sale can't be taxed

IT: Where assessee had acquired agricultural land in a village and in year in which he sold said land it was not within limits of nearest municipality or corporation or cantonment board, land sold by assessee was agricultural land not falling within definition of capital asset

Interest on I-T refund is a statutory obligation; no need to seek authorization for payment from Par

IT/ILT : Section 234D of The Income-Tax Act, 1961 - Refunds - Interest on Excess Refund - CBDT's Clarifications on News Reports About Huge Interest Paid by Government on Refund of Excess Taxes During 2006-2007 to 2010-2011

CLB allowed single shareholder to call EGM when other shareholders turned hostile and denied to coop

CL : Where there were only three shareholders of company, namely, petitioner and respondent Nos. 2 and 3 and petitioner despite being majority shareholder was unable to call a meeting of company due to non-co-operation of respondent Nos. 2 and 3, CLB directed that petitioner being a single member of company present in person or by proxy would be deemed to constitute requisite quorum for holding and conducting extraordinary general meeting of respondent company

ITAT denies to reckon period of holding of stock-in-trade before its conversion into capital assets

IT: Where property held as stock-in-trade is converted into investment, for ascertaining as to whether property is a short-term capital asset or a long term capital asset, period for which said asset is held by assessee's as capital asset (investment) alone has to be reckoned

Mere making an unsustainable claim of prior period exp. wouldn't invite concealment penalty: HC

IT : Mere making of claim of deduction of prior period expenses which was ultimately found to be unsustainable would not by itself amount to furnishing of inaccurate particulars of income so as to pass a penalty order under section 271(1)(c)

Waterfront royalty recovered by State Govt. was not an 'intellectual property service'

Service Tax : Intellectual property rights are rights available with individual/ person; therefore, 'Waterfront royalty charges' recovered by State Government for usage of Waterfront under its sovereign rights cannot be charged to service under Intellectual Property Services

Any device usable in integration with computer comes within expression 'Computer'

IT: Any device used along with computer with an integrated function comes within ambit of expression 'computer' and, hence, entitled to claim of depreciation at rate of 60 per cent

AO can't initiate search proceedings if authorization to search wasn't issued in name of person to b

IT: Where authorization under section 132 was not issued in name of assessee-firm, Assessing Officer could not proceed under section 158BD

SC: No judicial authority shall intervene where there is a valid clause of arbitration to resolve di

Arbitration & Conciliation Act: Supreme Court directed parties to resolve their disputes through arbitration when arbitration clause in agreement between parties was valid

If AO has doubts over info furnished in return he can issue scrutiny notice to call for further deta

IT: In case, Assessing Officer has any doubts on information and supporting documents in return, he is required to issue notice under section 143(2)

Revenue directed to lift attachment order as assessee agreed to furnish bank guarantee against tax d

IT : Where assessee was ready and willing to furnish a bank guarantee to extent of liability that might arise on conclusion of assessment, revenue was directed to lift attachment order over bank account and stock of assessee

HC slams Tribunal for ordering pre-deposit without first considering assessee's case on merits

Central Excise : For deciding question of waiver of pre-deposit, prima facie case as raised by assessee is required to be considered and where same was not considered, matter was remanded back

Profits rightly deduced on estimation basis from invoices as assessee failed to produce cash book ev

IT: Where assessee did not produce cash book and related vouchers for verification as required by Assessing Officer, Assessing Officer rightly rejected assessee's books of account

11-Year-Old Suspended For Turning In A Plastic Toy Gun

Many schools have ‘zero-tolerance’ weapons rules, but a Chicago school went a little too far last month when they interrogated, scrutinized and suspended an 11-year-old boy for a plastic, non-firing, toy gun.

Even worse, the 6th grader, Caden Cook, voluntarily turned in the gun to school security after realizing he had mistakenly taken it to school.

The Rutherford Institute, a nonprofit civil liberties group, has taken up the boy’s case on behalf of his mother, Edith Fraustro.

“According to Caden’s mother, Ms. Fraustro, Caden was waiting in line to be patted down on Friday, January 31st, when he realized that he had mistakenly left in his sweater pocket a toy plastic gun which he had played with the previous night…” a letter from Rutherford Institute President John Whitehead to the Director of Chicago Public Schools reads. “Caden alerted the security personnel to his predicament.”

After turning in the toy, Cook was allegedly subjected to an interrogation with intimidation tactics, threats and accusations of lying by Vice Principal Timothy Daly — all before his mother was even notified of the incident. After being interrogated, Cook was suspended for one day and required to participate in counseling and psychiatric evaluation before returning to school. The suspension will remain part of Cook’s permanent record.

According to Whitehead, “the entire incident has been greatly distressing for Caden and his family, resulting in nightmares for the 11-year-old and a complete loss in trust in the school system to act judiciously In loco parentis such that Ms. Fraustro removed both of her children from the District in order to homeschool them.”

Sadly, Cook’s situation is becoming far too common. At the end of last year, an 8-year-old boy in Florida was suspended for pointing his fingers like a gun and a 12-year-old in Rhode Island was suspended for having a mini gun key chain the size of a quarter. Earlier last year, a West Virginia eighth grader was arrested for wearing an NRA t-shirt to school.

The zero tolerance policy has gone so off-track that some legislators have decided to act. After a Maryland second grader was suspended for eating his Pop-Tart into a shape that his teacher thought looked like a gun, Florida lawmakers decided to form a policy that would protect students from getting into serious trouble for harmless objects. The ‘Pop-Tart’ school-gun bill cleared its first hurdle just last.

Source:- redalertpolitics.com

HC slams revenue for initiating reassessment in relation to matters dealt with in block assessment

IT : Reopening of assessment in relation to a matter which is subject matter of block assessment is evidently without jurisdiction

Additions made by enhancing rate of profit deleted as no incriminating materials were found during s

IT : Enhancement in profit rate was not justified where revenue failed to point any special circumstances for estimation of high profit

Fruit, Vegetable Markets Under Health Department Scanner

Fruits and vegetable markets in the state will be periodically inspected by the health department officials to check if they contain harmful chemicals like insecticides or pesticides beyond acceptable limits.

The health department is planning to intensify its efforts to keep a check on fruits and vegetable markets in the state. The health department on January 23 wrote to all chief medical health officers (CMHOs) in the state to conduct periodical inspections and monitoring of major fruit and vegetable markets. Along with the directions, the health department has attached a circular of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, which has all the details of how the periodical inspections and monitoring of major fruits and vegetable market could be done.

A senior health department official said they have already directed the CMHOs to conduct periodic inspections so that they could check the use of carbide in ripening of fruits. As per the surveillance plan for fruits and vegetable, the health department would collect samples of seasonal fruits and vegetables. Minimum number of 10 of each fruit and 10 of each vegetable would randomly be collected from each market in every three months.

As per the directions, analysis of fruits and vegetables will be done on physical parameters, heavy metals and crop contaminants and microbiological parameters. In microbiological parameters, there is total plate count, yeast and mold, E. coli, coliforms, B. cereus, salmonella, shagella would be checked in vegetables and fruits as they are harmful for health.

The officials have been directed to send the samples collected to laboratories authorized by the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India. However, a government-run laboratory official pointed out that so far samples of milk, mawa and other milk products come to them for testing but the samples of fruits and vegetables never came for testing.

Source:- timesofindia.indiatimes.com

India May Produce Record 263.2 Mt Foodgrains This Year: Sharad Pawar

Foodgrain prouction is likely to touch a record 263.2 million tonnes (mt) this year, beating the previous high of 259 mt achieved two years ago, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said today.

"The country is likely to achieve record 263.2 mt foodgrain production this year. This would be about 4 mt higher than the record of 259 million tonnes achieved two years ago," Pawar said at an agricultural exposition here.

The foodgrain production fell marginally to 255.36 mt in the last crop year (July-June) due to drought in some parts of the country.

A good monsoon along with improved sowing of both kharif (summer) and rabi (winter) crops have improved prospects of a better foodgrain production this year.

India has now emerged as the world's top rice exporter and second-top exporter of wheat and cotton. The country is also the top producer of milk and horticultural crops, Pawar said highlighting progress made in the farm sector.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO), in its recently-released advanced estimates for the current fiscal, has projected 4.6 per cent growth in agriculture and allied sectors, up from 1.4 per cent a year earlier.

Impressed with the exhibitions by 92 successful farmers, the minister also called upon others to emulate their success stories for improving their production and prosperity.

The five-day exposition, Krishi Vasant, has been organised by the Centre and Maharashtra along with industry body CII. It also showcases the history of agricultural research accomplished in last the 100 years by ICAR.Nearly five lakh farmers are expected to visit the event, an official release said.

Source:- financialexpress.com

Iran And The Global Nuclear Picture: William Fickinger

The negotiations now taking place concerning Iran’s nuclear program can only be understood with knowledge of a few key facts about uranium enrichment, power production and weapons, as found in dozens of “nuclear states” worldwide.

Uranium ore is mined in many places ranging from Australia to Kazakhstan to Canada, and it is widely available on the world market. The ore contains two types of uranium: mostly the heavy isotope uranium-238 (U-238) and less than one percent of the lighter uranium-235 (U-235). The lighter form is needed to sustain a chain reaction in either power reactors or a bomb. A chain reaction is created when a neutron hits a uranium nucleus, breaking it apart, releasing a lot of energy and shooting out more neutrons which hit other nuclei. U-235 breaks apart more easily than U-238 because it has three fewer neutrons, and it’s largely the neutrons inside the nucleus which act as a glue holding it together.

Enrichment increases the fraction of U-235: the ore is converted to a gaseous form and put into spinning cylinders. The U-238 moves toward the outside; the desired U-235 is drawn out near the spin axis. The gas is then converted back to uranium metal. To function in energy production the fraction of U-235 must be increased to three percent -- low-enriched uranium, or LEU. For a bomb, it must be raised all the way to 90 percent -- highly-enriched uranium, or HEU.

The amount of enrichment which a centrifuge can do is measured in a unit called an SWU (Separative Work Unit). The Perry Nuclear Power Plant near Cleveland, which produces 1.3 gigawatts of power, needs about 120,000 SWU’s per year. A simple nuclear bomb requires about 10,000 SWU’s. In other words, any country that enriches uranium for its power plants will necessarily have the “capacity” to produce enough for a few nuclear bombs.

Let’s look at enrichment, power production and nuclear weapons all around the world. Currently there are 31 nations with significant nuclear power programs: the United States, Russia and Japan, each producing around one fifth of their electricity; France at three-quarters; the United Kingdom at about half; South Korea at one-third -- ranging down to India with less than 4 percent and Iran, less than 1 percent. Other nations will soon join in: For example, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates have arranged with South Korean companies to build and operate reactors in their countries.

Among those 31, only 15 do their own enrichment. Nine of these produce some HEU for weapons: the United States, Russia, China, United Kingdom, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea and, presumably, Israel. The other six limit their product to LEU: Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands and, so far, Iran.

The remaining 16 countries have no enrichment facilities and must buy their LEU from commercial firms in other countries. There is currently more than enough LEU available on the world market to supply all potential buyers.

It should be pointed out that there are other ways to make a chain reaction without using enriched U-235, such as in “heavy water” reactors and in plutonium reactors. These have been developed in several countries and any effort to control nuclear weapon production must take these other techniques into consideration.

Iran has been working on expanding its enrichment facilities, but its only significant power reactor, at Bushehr, is still fueled entirely by uranium bought from Russian suppliers. Iran is getting more attention than other nuclear countries partly because of strained relations with Israel and with the Sunni states. The big question at the Geneva negotiations is whether Iran must discontinue all enrichment and buy LEU for power production, or whether intrusive and unannounced inspections will make it impossible for Iran to produce HEU.

Many arms control experts argue that, given the determination by many in the Iranian government to maintain their own source of LEU, intensive inspections provide the best deterrent available. It is unlikely that the imposition of additional sanctions will lead the Iranian leaders to discontinue their enrichment program or to allow effective inspections. Sanctions will only strengthen the position of those seeking a full nuclear weapons program.

Source:- cleveland.com

Miners' Greed To Make Quick Money Led To Cartelisation: Vinod Nowal

Iron ore miners and steel makers in Karnataka are blaming each other for cartelization. Vinod Nowal, deputy managing director, JSW Steel Ltd and President of Karnataka Iron and Steel Manufacturers’ Association explains the stand of the steel industry to Mahesh Kulkarni. Edited excerpts:

Steel mills including JSW Steel have been buying iron ore in the e-auctions even when the prices were very high. What makes you to suddenly make allegations of cartelisation by iron ore miners?

As long as the Monitoring Committee is vested with the power to fix the price based on prevailing pan India iron ore prices, the private mining companies were restrained to hike the prices indiscriminately. Unfortunately, when the right to fix the price is shifted to private mining companies, unfair practices crept in, showing a pattern of increase in prices not aligning with the price trends in the international market nor in India nor NMDC.

Even though steel companies were buying iron ore at high bid prices earlier due to shortage, the recent pattern of unfair price fixation at Rs 5,000 per tonne by certain mining companies has left no option except to resort to certain actions against this unfair practice.

The iron ore miners have alleged that 2-3 big steel companies have formed a buyers' cartel and trying to put pressure on mining firms to reduce prices?

The bid prices have been increasing in the E-Auctions over base prices due to acute shortage of iron ore. If 2 to 3 steel companies can influence the price, the E-Auction price could be at base price only. When E-Auction bid prices are known to all which are higher than base prices, it can be conclusively said that it is mischievous and misleading to make a false allegation of forming a buyers’ cartel.

The greed to make quick money even at the cost of causing enormous damage to environment which led to mining ban with consequent pain and anguish to the steel industry, has now resurfaced by way of unfair price fixation in the E-Auction taking advantage of severe shortage of iron ore in Karnataka.

Is it true that only 3-5 steel companies buy almost 75% of the iron ore produced in Karnataka?

The Monitoring Committee has restricted the companies who can participate in the E-Auction and also restrained the participants in buying ore beyond their requirements. The mining companies are used to disseminate misleading information by saying earlier that Indian Steel companies cannot use fines and therefore they are to be exported.

Now in order to justify unfair pricing with an intention to make excessive profit at the cost of Indian economy, they are now making false allegation of cartel when the iron ore has been sold in E-Auction at a premium to the base price and when the base price itself is unfairly fixed.

Why did steel mills from Karnataka bought ore from other states and NMDC ore were left unsold?

Most of the steel plants, pellet plants and sponge units in Karnataka are either closed down or operating below the potential capacity due to acute shortage of iron ore. In these circumstances the steel companies are constrained to buy some quantities from other states to keep their furnaces running. Why would a steel company buy iron ore from other states by paying extra Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 per tonne towards the freight charges if the ore of the same quality and quantity is available in Karnataka.

Private sector miners say that NMDC has been pricing their ore abysmally low to benefit a very few steel producers. What is your stand on this?

It is known fact that NMDC has been following export parity pricing consistently to sell ore in the domestic market. It is not uncommon for a developing country like India to follow export parity pricing for domestic sales.

In fact, there are several examples worldwide of export parity pricing being followed by mining companies in Brazil, South Africa and China. It is relevant to note that even NMDC tweaked its export pricing formula after mining ban which in fact increased the prices to the domestic steel companies relative to that of earlier formula.

Why did NMDC, which sold its iron ore at Rs 4,110 per tonne on December 10, 2013, suddenly reduced it to Rs 3,227 on December 23, 2013. What caused such sudden downward revision in the price of iron ore, which is supposed to be in short supply in Karnataka?

This information is once again erroneously represented. The base price fixed by NMDC on December 10 was Rs 2,250/- per tonne from Donimalai and on December 23, it was Rs 2,190/- per tonne and Rs 2,050/- per tonne from C&B block of Kumarswamy respectively.

The difference in the prices is accounted by varying loading costs at different mines. The bid price being quoted was higher than base price majorly due to acute shortage which the steel industry has been complaining. Besides, the bid prices as mentioned in the question were also different due to varying Alumina, Silica and quality parameters for the ore auctioned.

The steel mills have been buying iron ore at subsidized prices from NMDC. But, they sell steel at Rs 38,000 per tonne, which is same as in Japan, when Japan's cost of iron ore is three times that of India.

This is again fallacious argument. The domestic iron ore prices determined by NMDC are based on export parity. Absolutely there is no subsidy. In fact, the steel companies are burdened with high interest rates of over 12% when the interest rates overseas is less than 2% and the steel companies are compelled to compete with these international steel players where there is no level playing field.

The current hot rolled coil prices in USA is $745 per tonne, Europe $610 per tonne, China $480 per tonne, India $575 per tonne, Japan $650 per tonne. The prices in each country are governed by different parameters and governing regulations.

What would be your next course of action, if your plea for appointing a price regulator is not considered by the Supreme Court?

At the current cost of production we incur Rs 40,000 per tonne of steel and given the current selling price of Rs 34,000 per tonne, we will end up losing Rs 6,000 per tonne of steel. We have borrowed huge amount of loans and we cannot afford to pay interest and lose money by buying high cost iron ore.

We will not be left with any other choice but to close down our steel plants, which will be a disaster not only for us, but the governments will lose revenue to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore by way of.

Source:- business-standard.com

'India May Produce Record 263.2 Mt Foodgrains This Year'

Foodgrain prouction is likely to touch a record 263.2 million tonnes (mt) this year, beating the previous high of 259 mt achieved two years ago, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said today.

"The country is likely to achieve record 263.2 mt foodgrain production this year. This would be about 4 mt higher than the record of 259 million tonnes achieved two years ago," Pawar said at an agricultural exposition here.

The foodgrain production fell marginally to 255.36 mt in the last crop year (July-June) due to drought in some parts of the country.

A good monsoon along with improved sowing of both kharif (summer) and rabi (winter) crops have improved prospects of a better foodgrain production this year.

India has now emerged as the world's top rice exporter and second-top exporter of wheat and cotton. The country is also the top producer of milk and horticultural crops, Pawar said highlighting progress made in the farm sector. The Central Statistics Office (CSO), in its recently-released advanced estimates for the current fiscal, has projected 4.6 per cent growth in agriculture and allied sectors, up from 1.4 per cent a year earlier.

Impressed with the exhibitions by 92 successful farmers, the minister also called upon others to emulate their success stories for improving their production and prosperity. The five-day exposition, Krishi Vasant, has been organised by the Centre and Maharashtra along with industry body.

Source:- business-standard.com

Textile Export Subsidies Distort Normal Trade, Turkey Tells India

India has to phase out textile export subsidies gradually as it has reached ‘export competitiveness’, says Turkey Trade Minister Nihat Zeybekci. Zeybekci, who was in India recently, spoke to Business Line on the areas of bilateral cooperation between the two countries, a possible Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement and how it wants to keep this relationship separate from its stance in multilateral agencies like the World Trade Organisation.

Turkey, along with some other countries, has questioned the sops given to textile exporters in India. Is this a serious issue for the country?

On request of the US in February 2010, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Secretariat calculated the export competitiveness of textile and apparel products from India. These calculations clearly showed that India has reached export competitiveness on the said products at least in 2007, if not earlier.

Therefore, India has to phase out its export subsidies gradually over a period of eight years starting not later than 2007. In that sense the implementation of new export subsidies programme or the extension of existing programme is disturbing the normal flow of business.

How does it hurt Turkey?

It has a potential to hurt Turkey’s interest both in the domestic and international markets. Export subsidies have the most trade distortive effects. Our textile and apparel producers are competing with Indian textile and apparel exporters in domestic and export markets.

India’s textile and apparel export to Turkey has increased significantly in the last couple of years. Turkey’s textile and apparel exports were around $17 billion in 2013.

This figure shows that Turkey’s textile and apparel producers have to compete with subsidised India textile and apparel producers in the domestic and export markets.

From a wider perspective, our political and economic relations with India are at their best. I am confident we will find an amicable agreement on such issues.

Last year, Turkey had removed safeguard duties on India cotton yarn exports. Is there still discomfort amongst the Turkish industry on the issue?

In order to protect our domestic cotton yarn manufacturers in December 2008 we started implementing safeguard measures for all cotton yarn imports without any discrimination.

We started consultations with India in 2012 in WTO and subsequently decided to eliminate the safeguard measures on cotton yarn imports as of January 1, 2013. Cotton yarn is a crucial component of our textile production and we monitor its production and import very closely. However, we have not received any complaints from our producers since the elimination of the measures.

What are the possible areas where India and Turkey can cooperate?

We have complementary economies. Moreover, as developing countries, we have been dealing with similar problems. Turkey’s strong historical and cultural relations with Central Asia, Caucasia, West Asia and Mediterranean Regions enable us to extent our economic and commercial ties to these regions.

We can make it comfortable for Indian companies to do business in these countries more profitably. India can provide same opportunity to Turkish companies in South Asia.

I met the Indian Commerce and Trade Minister Anand Sharma and we decided to start talks on Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement within next the three months and conclude the agreement as soon as possible. Construction sector is an area where Turkish companies can explore opportunities in India.

Turkey needs $130-billion investment in order to meet its high electricity demand. Renewable energy is an area which has gained importance.

Technology transfer from India will be beneficial for manufacture of equipments for solar and wind power plants in Turkey. Another area for cooperation is establishment and rehabilitation of hydropower projects.

There is a need to increase the frequency of flights operated by Turkish Airlines and commencenew destinations by the Airlines, encourage tourist exchanges and cooperation in the field of SMEs, and cooperation in agriculture and education sectors.

Source:- thehindubusinessline.com

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