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Friday, December 14, 2012
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Professional News
INCOME TAX
Know these tax tweaks before you make your New Year plans  Article
Delhi : For many, December is the month for splurging — on Christmas shopping, New Year parties, vacations and so on. It is certainly not the time of year when you would pay attention to "boring topics" like saving, investing and tax breaks. It may not be a smart thing to do. This is because many organisations deduct tax from salaries in January, February and March, affecting your cashflows. Typically, organisations ask their employees to submit their investment declaration between December and early-to-mid January. That means, depending on the deadline set by your employer,
CUSTOMS
DRI cracks down on gold smuggling from Thailand
Delhi : The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Thursday raided several gold importers who were importing the precious metal from Thailand taking undue advantage of concessional duty, cracking down on a major nationwide anti-smuggling operation. The government has raised customs duty on gold in bid to curb imports that are largely responsible for the high current account deficit and weakening currency, but a spurt in smuggling threatens to undermine its efforts. "The operation is currently on...there was intelligence on a sudden jump in gold jewellery imports from Thailand," said an official with the organisation privy to the development.
SERVICE TAX
Service tax clauses are cumbersome  Article
Delhi : Service tax would easily qualify as the legislation which has witnessed maximum changes over the last 16 years. What started off as a simple tax on three services has now turned into a cash-cow for the Government with revenues budgeted at Rs 1,24,000 crore in the current fiscal. The negative list introduced in 2012 is expected to be a game-changer for service tax law as it is touted as a precursor to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) – if and when it comes. The Delhi High Court is turning out to be a good place to turn to for consultation on service tax.
SEBI
Sebi tightens dynamic price bands to prevent flash crashes at bourses
Maharashtra : Capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India has tightened the dynamic price bands for stocks on which derivative products are available after a set of erroneous orders placed by brokerage Emkay Global on October 5 led to the Nifty crashing over 15% within a few minutes of opening. The regulator on Thursday said stock exchanges should set the dynamic price bands at 10% of the previous closing price for stocks on which derivatives products are available, index and stock futures and also on stocks included in indices on which derivatives products exist.
Well-defined norms for money raising schemes needed, Sebi tells govt
Delhi : The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has approached the government, seeking a ‘well-defined’ framework for regulating various money raising schemes such as multi-level marketing and goat farming. “Sebi has written to the government seeking a well-defined framework for regulating money raising schemes like multi-level marketing schemes, timeshare schemes, emu farming, gold purchase schemes, goat farming and deposit collection for real estate development,” minister of state for finance Namo Narain Meena told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.
RBI
RBI rejects FinMin proposal for interest on CRR
Maharashtra : Ahead of the quarterly monetary policy, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has shot down the proposal of the finance ministry for payment of interest on cash reserve ratio (CRR) being maintained by scheduled commercial banks with the central bank. This is the second time the RBI is rejecting the government proposal on interest payment on CRR — the portion of deposits to be kept with the RBI — to banks.
Interest rate cut by RBI not seen at next policy meeting on December 18: C Rangarajan
Delhi : Prime minister's economic advisor C Rangarajan said on Friday he doesn't expect the central bank to cut interest rates at its next policy meeting on December 18. Asia's third largest economy is headed for the weakest full-year growth in a decade, at about 6 per cent, far below the near double-digit pace before the global economic downturn. But despite the slowdown, the Reserve Bank of India ( RBI) has not lowered interest rates since April because inflation has remained near 7 per cent, exacerbated by a weak rupee that has added to the cost of fuel imports.
Misc. Corporate Laws & Other Commercial Policies
After reforms in FDI, government accelerates approvals for mega projects, land bill
Delhi : The government swung into action with steps to accelerate approvals for mega projects, and approved a new law for land acquisition, acting decisively to spur investment and growth that have been marred by inter-ministerial tussles. To kick-start investments, it has decided to set up a cabinet panel headed by the prime minister to speed up clearances of projects of over Rs 1,000 crore. The Cabinet Committee on Investments will be a "game changer" that will cut red tape, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma told ET NOW.
Difficult times for the telecom industry were over: PM
Delhi : India will address concerns worrying investors and provide a platform for driving growth in the telecom industry as it puts in place a forward-looking policy regime, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Thursday. He said that the difficult times for the Indian telecom industry were over as the government had taken several steps over the last year to ensure stability in the sector. "This sector had had to face some tough challenges in the past months. However, I believe that the period of difficulties is now coming to an end.
Free export policy for rice, wheat, cotton to continue: Sharma
Delhi : Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said on Thursday that the government will continue with the free export policy for rice, wheat and cotton this year.In September 2011, the ban on export of non-basmati rice and wheat was lifted and exports were put on OGL (Open General Licence) due to bumper food grains production in the country.“Due to higher production, the government has allowed export of rice, wheat and cotton. This will continue as we have enough supply,” Sharma said while addressing the All India Kisan Coordination Committee (AIKCC) here.Sharma said that stable farm export policy is necessary to ensure better income to farmers and the same has been communicated to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Govt presses the reforms pedal
Delhi : Panel to be set up to fast-track clearance of infra projects; Land Bill approved; 2G base price cut by 30% in 3 circles; Urea policy to incentivise fertiliser firms setting up plants A week after winning in Parliament the vote on 51 per cent foreign direct investment ( FDI) in multi-brand retail, the United Progressive Alliance ( UPA) government on Thursday gave a big push to its reforms agenda. The Union Cabinet cleared the much-awaited proposal to set up the Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) and amendments to the Land Acquisition Bill.
Govt bats for made-in-India IT products
Delhi : The government meets two objectives by pushing a made-in- India electronics policy: create a market for indigenous electronics products and safeguard the country from cyber attacks. The Centre will soon come up with a notification, which will make it mandatory for all government departments to procure a part of their information and technology (IT) requirements such as desktops, laptops, printers, etc, from domestic companies that manufacture the product locally.
Govt seeks Trai’s advice to check monopoly of cable cos
Delhi : To prevent monopolistic practices by cable distribution companies — local cable operators (LCOs) and multi-service operators (MSOs) — the government has sought the intervention of the sector regulator. As outlined by information and broadcasting minister Manish Tewari last month, the I&B ministry has now written to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) seeking its recommendations in the matter. The move comes after the government received several complaints and queries on the alleged monopolistic practices of large cable distribution networks in several areas/towns in the country.
Small landholdings make acquisitions costlier  Article
Delhi : If recent numbers about the state of the Indian economy are any indication, then all is not well. Growth of Indian economy slowed down to 5.3% in the third quarter of 2012, a nine-year low. Savings are falling, and so is investment. In September, the index of industrial production (IIP) fell by 0.4% from a year earlier. Exports fell for the sixth months in row, taking the October trade deficit to a 12-month high. In November, foreign exchange reserves dipped to $293.6 billion, down by $20.32 billion compared to a year earlier.
Finance & Money Markets
India Inc raises $4.29 bn via ECBs, FCCBs
Maharashtra : Indian companies raised $4.29 billion, through external commercial borrowings (ECBs) and foreign currency convertible bonds ( FCCBs) in October, to fund modernisation, foreign acquisitions, import of capital goods and onward lending. This is highest since December last year. In December 2011, companies had raised $4.4 billion from the ECBs and FCCBs. The comparable figure for last month, according to Reserve Bank of India ( RBI) data, was $2.77 billion. Of the total, $2.40 billion was via automatic route while $1.89 billion was raised through the approval route, which requires case-by-case approval from RBI.
Commodities
Oil at $60 or $120 Doesn’t Prevent U.S. Supplanting Saudis
Delhi : Whether crude costs $60 a barrel or twice that amount, the U.S. is almost free of depending on imported energy and positioned to supplant Saudi Arabia as the world’s No. 1 producer of oil. Even if U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate oil drops 30 percent from the current $86 a barrel, oil companies will boost production as new technologies allow them to extract crude from shale formations, said Ed Morse, the global head of commodities research at Citigroup Inc. The nation, which was last self- sufficient when Harry S.
Global aluminium makers switch to quarterly pricing in Asia
Reuters reported that Global producers of aluminium ingots are turning away yearly premiums in favour of quarterly pricing for 2013 term shipments to Asia to take advantage of spot premiums that scaled records this year. Traders said that Global producers required buyers in Asia to pay premiums or a surcharge to secure physical metal over the cash London Metal Exchange aluminium price based on the quarterly main Japan ports premium. The move will make the MJP premium, seen as the Asian benchmark and which typically reflects spot premiums, more important than previous years.
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Dell reboots from PC maker to IT solutions company
 Just a few miles away from the Austin Convention Centre, the venue for this year’s Dell World 2012 is the Texas University where Michael Dell first got the idea for making computing devices. Many years later, the promoter of the now $60-billion company is executing a new idea - to take Dell beyond PC into services and solutions space. INTEGRATING SOLUTIONS What this means is that instead of just selling boxes, Dell is now integrating storage, servers, networking solutions along with a wide portfolio of services to become a full-fledged IT company. “We have travelled millions of miles from where we started. But what we do today is very different from what we did even five years ago.
India Inc. investments abroad drop $6.4 b so far this fiscal
 Indian companies’ overseas investments in the first eight months of the current financial year were lower by $6.372 billion compared to the corresponding year-ago period. In April-November 2012 period, outward investment by Indian companies was at $17.443 billion, against $23.815 billion in the year-ago period. N. S. Venkatesh, Chief General Manager (Treasury), IDBI Bank, attributed the slowdown in overseas investment to: major companies that were on the block after the last financial crisis being already taken over; Indian companies finding better returns in the domestic market; and/or the Euro zone crisis deterring them from making investments. According to RBI data, in November, Indian companies invested $2.311 billion in their overseas ventures against $2.034 billion in the year-ago period.
Apple, 4 publishers bid to end EU price-fixing probe
 Apple, the world's biggest technology company, and four publishers ended a European Union antitrust investigation after regulators accepted their offer to overhaul pricing models for digital books. Apple promised to end certain pricing agreements with the four companies and exclude certain clauses for five years after the EU said it was concerned that the deals were a form of collusion that raised retail prices. The iPad maker previously took a fixed percentage of 30 per cent of the e-book prices set by the publishers. The companies made an offer to settle the investigation in April.
As global consumers shop for mobiles, Apple outshines rivals
 Apple’s stock may be sliding as investors fret about growing competition, but store visits and interviews with smartphone and tablet shoppers in 10 cities around the world suggest consumers share little of that negativity. With tablets and other mobile devices the gadgets of choice this holiday season, Reuters canvassed over 70 shoppers and store employees across Sydney, Seattle, Palo Alto, Shanghai, Bangalore, Singapore, Paris, London, Mexico City and Boston for insight into what does and doesn’t beckon.
Banking
Provisioning norms to hit profitability of NBFCs
Maharashtra : The proposed asset classification norms and standard asset provisioning norms of the Reserve Bank of India are expected to impact the profitability of the non-banking financial companies ( NBFCs). Shriram Transport Finance Company (STFC) Managing Director and CEO Umesh Revankar said, “Our customers are primarily those who don’t get finance from banks. Therefore bringing them at par with bank customers, is not very good for us.” The central bank has suggested asset classification norms for non-performing assets to come down to 120 days from April 1, 2014 and to 90 days from financial year 2015-16. At present, NBFCs can classify loans as bad assets after 180 days.
Public sector banks put over R1,500 crore stressed loans on block
Maharashtra : Banks are willing to offload their stressed assets to asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) at discounts of about 30-40% of the outstanding amount, say bankers and officials from ARCs. Bankers say at these levels of discount, it is viable to make the sale of distressed assets as it offsets the provisioning and legal expenses that banks have to otherwise incur to maintain these accounts in their books. After seeing negligible auctions of stressed assets in 2011-12 and for the most part of this financial year, the last two months have seen banks announcing a slew of auctions.
Economy
 India
Companies' clampdown on office space in 2012 results to 1 lakh fewer white-collar jobs
Don’t make too much of IIP numbers, says Raghuram Rajan
The 'Aadhar' of Direct Cash Transfer is more of assumptions, less of ground-level realities
34 schemes identified for cash transfers: Chidambaram
RbI: Expect inflation to moderate in 2-3 months
Textile sector aims 100% garment export growth
 
 International
European Central Bank to be banking watchdog of European Union
Bernanke wields tools to cut unemployment rate
India, China set to propel global airline industry growth
Doha reflects weakening ambition
No side yielding ground in US fiscal cliff negotiations
Swiss Bankers Fight Against Risks Posed by White-Money Strategy
 
Markets Today
NSE
5,879.60
0.48%
BSE
19,317.25
0.46%
NASDAQ
2,992.16
0.00%
     
USD
54.49
 
EURO
71.33
 
JPY(100)
65.06
 
GBP
87.86
 
 
Corporate Watch
Hitachi, Panasonic to make India base to access Africa, Middle East; plan Rs 5,700-cr investments
West Bengal : Hitachi and Panasonic, Japan's two biggest corporations, plan to invest more than Rs 5,700 crore in India as they have identified the country as one of their biggest bets for growth and a base to expand in Africa and Middle East markets.Hitachi, which held its first board of directors meeting outside Japan in its 102-year history in New Delhi on Thursday, announced Rs 4,700-crore expansion plans that include building 5 manufacturing plants.
‘Infosys will stick to its strategy, is going in the right direction’
Karnataka : Infosys, which is facing a possible downgrade from brokerage houses for the first time in several years, has said that it will stick to its business model and not change course. “The character of an organisation will come out in tough times. There will be pressure to change course. But the moment you succumb, you will fall. We will stick to our Infosys 3.0 strategy. We are going in the right direction,” V. Balakrishnan, a key board member of Infosys and India Business Head, told Business Line. US FISCAL CLIFF Balakrishnan, till recently the CFO of Infosys, said that if the US fiscal cliff talks are resolved,
Puravankara Projects plans 6-m sq ft township in Bangalore
Maharashtra : Puravankara Projects plans to launch a 6-million sq ft residential township on 60 acres in Bangalore. The township is expected to generate Rs 2,500 crore in revenue. The project, ‘Provident Sunworth’, will have two BHK units (883 sq ft) priced at Rs 29.75 lakh and three BHK (1,082 sq ft) priced at Rs 35.96 lakh, all inclusive. Overall, 5952 apartments will be built over a period of five years by Provident Housing, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Puravankara Projects. The development is located off Mysore Road,
JSW Steel plans to raise output
West Bengal : JSW Steel, India's largest private sector steelmaker, plans to raise production if iron ore supplies improve. 'Our capacity utilisation has come down to 70 per cent in the wake of disruption in ore supplies. If more mines come back into production and NMDC hikes its output, we hope to raise it to 80 per cent. We would like to maintain our guidance for steel production at 8.5 million tonnes for the year,' Seshagiri Rao, joint managing director of JSW Steel & group CFO, said.
Kingfisher imposes FII cap to make room for investor
Maharashtra : Kingfisher Airlines Ltd(KING.NS), in stake sale talks with Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways and other investors, has capped foreign portfolio investment in the company at 3 percent, carving space for a foreign investor to buy as much as 46 percent of the embattled carrier. India allows foreign investment of up to 49 percent in local carriers. Overseas institutional investors currently hold 2.46 percent of Kingfisher, according to stock exchange data.
Reebok India stands by its Rs 870-cr fraud allegations
Delhi : Even as a Gurgaon police investigation into the alleged fraud in Reebok India point to a loss to the company of Rs 11.3 crore, the sportswear maker reiterated its earlier claim that wrongdoing by two former top executives caused the firm a loss of Rs 870 crore. The probe, by a special investigation team (SIT) of the police, says that former managing director Subhinder Singh Prem and former Chief Operating Officer (COO) Vishnu Bhagat had only caused a loss to the company worth Rs 11.3 crore, while the money made by the duo for themselves was much less.
Moody's cuts PNB, Canara & BoB outlook to negative
Maharashtra : Rating agency Moody’s on Thursday revised its rating outlook to negative from stable for three public sector banks (PSBs), saying their worsening asset quality was exerting pressure on profitability and capital. These three — Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda and Canara Bank — have witnessed a rise in both gross non-performing assets ( NPAs) and the restructured loan portfolio. Moody’s said these banks were particularly challenged by the prevailing operating environment, characterised by high inflation and high interest rates.
Wheels India stock surges 15.4% on open offer by Titan Europe
Tamil Nadu : The stock of Wheels India surged 15.4 per cent or Rs 114 to a life-time high on the BSE, after one of its promoters made an open offer to buy 14.38 per cent stake from public shareholders. Wheels India opened at Rs 815.05, a gain of Rs 74.95 or 10 per cent. Titan Europe Plc. along with Titan International Inc. has made an open offer to buy 14.38 per cent stake in TVS group company Wheels India for about Rs 103 crore.
Mistry to take over as Tata Motors’ chairman December end
Delhi : Automobile major Tata Motors announced the appointment of Tata Sons’ chairman-designate Cyrus P. Mistry as its chairman effective Dec 28, 2012. “The board of directors of Tata Motors announced the appointment of Mistry as the chairman of the board with effect from Dec 28, on the retirement of Ratan Tata,”
Deutsche Bank India gets capital infusion of Rs 1,054 crore
Maharashtra : German banking giant Deutsche Bank on Thursday said that it has infused an additional capital of Rs 1,054 crore into its India operations to fund its growth plans. The capital infusion, which takes the total capital base to Rs 7,000 crore, is the second infusion in 2012 and the sixth since 2007, the bank said in a statement. “This capital infusion will enable us to further deepen our client franchise here. In particular, we will further expand our transaction banking and retail banking,” Deutsche Bank India chief executive Ravneet Gill said.
Proxy advisory firm raises red flag on corporate governance structure of Indian companies
Maharashtra : Proxy advisory firm InGovern has raised a red flag on the average tenure of independent directors and statutory auditors of top listed companies in India. About 22% of independent directors have served on their companies' boards for more than nine years and audit committees of only 45 companies are composed of 'only independent' directors, according to the firm's India Proxy Season 2012 Analysis special report,
 
Tenders & Assignment
Department Of Water Resources
Description :Expression of interest for External audit Odisha community tank development and management society in premises of superintending engineer, central minor irrigation circle, plot no-A-8/2 Bhoi nagar

Last Date : 19/12/2012

Address :OCTMP,Superintending Engineer,Central M.I Circle Campus Plot No-A-8/2,Bhoi Nagar,Bhubaneswar,Pin-751022 Odisha

Phone :0674-2542252
 
Chhattisgarh Rural Road Development Agency
Description :Expression of Interest from Suitable CA Partnership Firms Registered with Comptroller & Auditor General of India for Outsourcing of Execution & Management Services in the area of accounting & taxation.

Last Date : 21/12/2012

Address :Chhattisgarh Rural Road Development Agency, Vikas Bhawan, Civil Line, Raipur

E-Mail :cg-itno@nic.in
 
Rural Development And Panchayati Raj Department
Description :Expression of interest for Engagement of internal audit firm as internal auditor of state society and 25 district societies for three years from 2012-2013.

Last Date : 23/12/2012

Address :Pudhu Vaazhvu Project,No.91,St.Mary's Road,
Abiramapuram,Chennai 600018.

Phone :044-43443200

E-Mail :pvpstate@gmail.com
 
Government Industrial Training Institute
Description :Appointment of Chartered Accountant for Sulabh Operation of Cash/Accountant Testing for Institutes.

Last Date : 26/12/2012

Address :Government Industrial Training Institute Haridwar Uttaranchal
 
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
Description : Expression of interest from Chartered accountant Firms, Comptroller of professionally skilled/qualified audit personal for short listing as auditor for conducting quarterly internal audit of the accounts of sarva shikhsa abhiyan, national programme for education of girls at elementary level, kasturba Gandhi balika vidhyalaya and block resource centers programme for the financial tear 2012-13

Last Date : 26/12/2012

Address :New Co-Operative Building,Shyamali Colony,Doranda,Ranchi-834024

Phone :0651-2410519

E-Mail :jeperanchi@rediffmail.com
 
Jodhpur Vidyut Vitaran Nigam Limited
Description :Internal audit work in various circle, division & subdivision offices on contract basis.

Last Date : 27/12/2012

Address :Jodhpur Vidyut Vitaran Nigam Limited
Jodhpur Rajasthan
 
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited
Description :Expression of Interest form interested Eligible Cost / Chartered Account firms for Appointment as Consultant for Review & Advice on Allocation of Overheads to capital Expenditure in MTNL

Last Date : 31/12/2012

Address :Mahanagar Doorsanchar Sadan,
9,CGO complex,Lodhi Road,New Delhi-110003
 
Bihar Education Project Council
Description :Appointment of Concurrent auditors for financial year 2012-13

Last Date : 31/12/2012

Address :BIHAR EDUCATION PROJECT COUNCIL  Shiksha Bhawan, Campus of Rastrabhasha Parishad, Saidpur, Rajendra Nagar, Patna-800004

Phone :0612 2667164
 
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited
Description :Expression of Interest for appointment as Consultant from Cost/Charted Accountant firms for review and advice on allocation of Over Head to capital expenditure in MTNL as per A.S.10 for the financial year 2012-13 and onwards

Last Date : 07/01/2013

Address :The Sr. Manager (Accounts-I)
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd.
Room No. 4502 4th Floor 9, CGO Complex
Mahanagar Door Sanchar Sadan Lodhi Road
New Delhi-110 003
 
 
Reminders
 Tenders
Central Bank Of India 15/12/2012
Andrew Yule And Company Limited 15/12/2012
Indian Overseas Bank 15/12/2012
Orissa State Seeds Corporation Limited 15/12/2012
Indian Institute Of Information Technology And Management 17/12/2012
Shipping Corporation Of India Limited 17/12/2012
Allahabad Bank 17/12/2012
Social Welfare Department 18/12/2012
Panchayat And Rural Development Department 19/12/2012
CENTRAL BANK OF INDIA 20/12/2012
National Fisheries Development Board 20/12/2012
 
Notifications & Circulars
INCOME TAX
NOTIFICATION NO. 53/2012 (Delhi) 05/12/2012
In the notification of Government of India, Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue, No. 51/2012, dated 23rd November, 2012 bearing S.O. 2777(E) and published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, section 3, sub-section (ii), dated 23rd November, 2012—
CUSTOMS
Circular No. 29 /2012-Customs (Delhi) 07/12/2012
Regarding functional control of Special Valuation Branches
SEBI
CIR/MRD/DP/34/2012 (Maharashtra) 13/12/2012
Pre-Trade Risk Controls
RBI
Notification No.RBI/2012-13/328 (Delhi) 13/12/2012
Progress report on frauds
Notification No.RBI/2012-13/329 (Delhi) 13/12/2012
Frauds-Classification and Reporting
Notification No.RBI/2012-13/327 (Delhi) 12/12/2012
Implementation of Section 51-A of UAPA, 1967-Updates of the UNSCR 1267(1999) / 1989(2011) Committee's Al Qaida Sanctions List
 
 
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